Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 167: Experience Crushes All
“Even if you can read the ledger, there’s no way you could spot the flaw that quickly. These books were clearly prepared by experienced people, organized and planned in advance. We’re not boasting—we’ve investigated them for days without finding even the trace of a clue…”
The gray-haired accountant, who had just reported the findings to Landlord Li, stood up and, emotionally charged, directed a question at Zhu Ping’an.
Even though Zhu Ping’an could understand the ledger, he absolutely did not believe that Zhu Ping’an could have spotted the flaws so quickly. It was simply impossible!
This felt like a group of old hens in a henhouse, eagerly laying eggs, and then suddenly a pig barges in, pushes past the hens, and with a loud thud, steals an egg right in front of them.
How could that be possible? This was their field of expertise. How could a boy possibly beat them at it?
This was basically the mindset of the accountant.
“Exactly. What you’re holding is only a thin daily ledger recording transactions over a limited period. You haven’t compared it with the other books, reconciled the totals, or even calculated the entries in detail. I truly don’t understand how you can call it fraudulent. This is like pretending to understand a formation you’ve never studied…”
The accountant who had challenged him earlier recovered from his shock and immediately joined the others in mocking Zhu Ping’an, his tone heavy with sarcasm.
Landlord Li bent down, picked up his cap, brushed off nonexistent dust, and put it back on. As a businessman, he knew account books well enough to understand the accountants’ doubts, and he too found it hard to believe Zhu Ping’an could have spotted a flaw so quickly.
That was the confidence born of experience.
After hearing their doubts, Zhu Ping’an took the ledger from the maid and gently shook his head. With a faint smile, he slowly spoke:
“If you use your methods, then you’re naturally right. I indeed wouldn’t be able to spot it.”
What does that mean?
Is this disdain?
Young man, you’re insulting the entire accounting profession!
The accountants were as agitated as roosters ready to fight. Their faces flushed and their necks thickened. If they weren’t all scholars, they would have rolled up their sleeves and rushed at him.
“I have a very simple method, and no fake ledger can escape it,” Zhu Ping’an said, ignoring the agitated accountants.
“Nonsense! Utter nonsense!”
“Never heard of such a thing. Wild words! If there were such a method to spot fake ledgers at a glance, why have we never heard of it!”
“We’ve been dealing with ledgers for decades and have never encountered such a method. It’s simply absurd! Pretentious nonsense!”
The accountants were all fired up, unable to contain themselves, feeling that Zhu Ping’an’s words were an insult to their decades of experience and to the entire accounting profession. As a result, many of them stood up, rising in unison to attack the young man who spoke such outrageous words.
They unanimously agreed that such a method of auditing could not possibly exist!
“What you’ve never seen doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist,” Zhu Ping’an gently shook his head and spoke lightly.
The accountants were furious, and they criticized Zhu Ping’an’s words even more, accusing him of being pretentious, making things up, and spouting nonsense…
“You all sound reasonable, but…” Zhu Ping’an gave an honest-looking grin. “It isn’t quite like that. Tell me—can anyone here make a hard-boiled egg stand on the table on its small end?”
“What are you talking about? How could a hard-boiled egg possibly stand with the small end down on a table? This isn’t even related to the issue at hand, okay?”
“Exactly, this is impossible, you’re just changing the subject…”
The accountants all shook their heads, rising in unison to accuse Zhu Ping’an of evading the issue and changing the subject.
Zhu Ping’an grinned foolishly at them, remaining silent.
“Go and bring a plate of hard-boiled eggs,” the scheming young girl spoke up at this point, pouting her little lips and instructing the maid, Hua’er, to bring over a plate of hard-boiled eggs.
The maid, Hua’er, nodded and immediately ran off, her skirt swishing as she hurried along.
Soon, Hua’er returned, carrying a large bowl of hard-boiled eggs, her little face flushed from running.
The scheming young girl glanced at Zhu Ping’an, and Hua’er, eager as if offering a treasure, placed the large bowl of eggs in front of Zhu Ping’an.
“You’re not just saying that to get some eggs, are you?” Hua’er asked, holding the bowl with one hand and covering her mouth with the other, blinking her eyes and whispering with a teasing tone.
Your imagination really is something…
Zhu Ping’an was a little speechless. He wanted to flick the little maid on the forehead but stopped himself. This was in the Ming Dynasty, after all, and if anyone saw him, it would surely be misinterpreted as flirting with someone else’s maid—leading to all sorts of bad rumors. So he smoothly transitioned the motion into a gesture of taking the bowl.
Zhu Ping’an carried the bowl over to one of the accountants’ tables and set it down.
“Let’s try it and see whether it’s really impossible.” Zhu Ping’an gestured invitingly.
Although the accountants all thought it was impossible, one by one, they still tried to stand the eggs on their small ends.
One, two, three…
They stood, rolled, tried…
But none of them could manage to make the small end of the egg stand on the table.
“See? I told you it’s impossible to make the small end stand on the table. What’s the point of wasting time with this?”
Thus, the accountants all shook their heads, mocking and complaining.
Amid the accountants’ laughter and under everyone’s gaze, Zhu Ping’an slowly picked up a hard-boiled egg, held it by the small end, and gently tapped that end against the corner of the table.
The crisp sound caught everyone’s attention.
Then, under everyone’s gaze, Zhu Ping’an placed the egg, now with a cracked small end, onto the table. As he let go, the egg stood firmly on its small end.
One of the accountants immediately shouted:
“This doesn’t count! It doesn’t count! You cracked the eggshell! Of course, it can stand!”
Many of the accountants quickly joined in with objections.
Zhu Ping’an said seriously, “Exactly. You didn’t crack the shell; I did. That’s the difference. The same principle applies to auditing accounts. What looks impossible by one method may become simple once you change the approach.”
After finishing, Zhu Ping’an slowly glanced around at everyone, offering a silly smile.
As soon as his words fell, the accountants were left speechless, staring at each other in disbelief, as though struck by lightning…
The study room suddenly fell silent.