Madam Xu snorted coldly. She had observed it when she first arrived. The alleys around the shop were all blue brick and tile houses, clean and tidy. It can be seen that the people living around this area are ordinary people in the capital. Although they are not wealthy people of high officials, they are all residents who have enough food and clothing. If they put in some effort to run the business, mainly selling medium and high quality cloth, although they cannot make a fortune, it will also be a considerable income.
When the family property was divided last night, Li looked unwilling to take over the two shops. She looked like she was avoiding them. She thought that the two shops were not only not profitable, but they might even have to pay money every year. She would never believe that there was nothing fishy on the books. Hu was so smart that she could find a penny from the cracks in the ground. Would she not take advantage of the shops to make some money
When the clerk saw Mrs. Xu and her group enter the shop, look around everywhere without asking the price, he was too lazy to pay any attention to them. He moved a stool and sat at the door to bask in the sun, turning his head from time to time to stare at them, fearing that they would steal the cloth.
After a long while, the shop owner slowly came over. The clerk hurriedly greeted him and said, "Shopkeeper, these people have been in the store for a while, but they didn't mention buying cloth."
Mrs. Xu had noticed the situation at the door long ago. She waited for the shopkeeper to enter the store, looked at him and asked, "Are you the shopkeeper of this shop?"
The shopkeeper was about fifty years old, with a white beard and a blessed face. He stroked his beard and said, "That's right, madam, what can I do for you?"
Madam Xu took out a piece of paper from her sleeve, unfolded it and showed it to the shopkeeper, then said, "I am the eldest wife of the Xu family. Now this shop has been divided among us. From now on, our eldest wife will be the owner of this shop."
The shopkeeper's smiling face seemed to be struck by lightning. He stared wide-eyed and looked carefully at the piece of paper in Mrs. Xu's hand. It was clearly written in black and white. It was the contract for this shop.
"This... why did the boss come so early?" The shopkeeper wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled a little guilty.
Madam Xu shook her head and didn't respond to him. She looked around and said slowly, "I see that the business of this shop is very quiet." Even the shop selling rouge and powder across the street has better business than theirs. Madam Xu observed for a while and found that in less than two quarters of an hour, five or six groups of young girls and wives came in and out. It was far worse than the shop she had run before in Lu'an. Lu'an was not as prosperous as the capital.
The shopkeeper immediately put on a sad face and said, "Madam, you don't know that this shop is in a bad location. The people living around here are all poor people. They haven't made a new piece of clothing for three to five years. Even if they occasionally come to buy a few pieces of clothing, they have to pay half a day's price. The profit is pitifully low. We can only make a few trivial things. The goods we bought two years ago are still in the warehouse. If you don't believe me, I'll take you to have a look."
He still didn't believe it. He couldn't fool these women from the countryside with long hair and little knowledge!
Mrs. Xu waved her hands, she was too lazy to look. The shopkeeper was wearing a grey silk robe embroidered with golden blessings, it was brand new. The material was clearly the same roll placed on the counter in the middle of the shop. The new material was used to make clothes for them, so naturally the ones they sold were old and not good. She had been in the cloth business for several years, and this could not fool her.
"I have a lot to do today, so I won't go to the warehouse." Mrs. Xu said.
The shopkeeper's face lit up with joy.
"Bring over the account books of the shop for the past three years. I'll take a look at them." Mrs. Xu continued.
The shopkeeper's face suddenly lost its smile. "The accountant hasn't come yet. He has always been in charge of this account. I don't know the specific situation."
Mingyu snuggled up to Madam Xu and almost laughed out loud when she heard the shopkeeper say that. If he couldn't even figure out the accounts in the shop, what was the point of having him as the shopkeeper
Madam Xu didn't say much to him. Now was not the time to lose her temper, so she smiled and said, "Then let's wait for him here."
The shopkeeper carefully led Madam Xu and her group into the backyard of the shop, welcomed them into a side room, served them tea, and asked them to wait inside. He sent someone to find the accountant.
Mrs. Xu took advantage of this opportunity to take Mama Liu around the shop. She originally wanted to bring Mingyu along, but the little girl looked listless since she got up in the morning. She sat down quietly as soon as she entered the house, supporting her head with her hands, and no one knew what she was thinking about. When she was called, she seemed to be suddenly startled and started to move.
"Sit down and have a good rest." Mrs. Xu advised, thinking that her daughter had experienced too much yesterday and was tired. She told Lixiang to take good care of the young lady and she took Mother Liu out first.
The wing room was a bit old, and water seepage formed large dark yellow mottled marks on the wall. There was also a damp smell in the room. Mingyu looked at the wall absent-mindedly, but her head was thinking about what happened yesterday. Thinking of Sima Hong's back of kneeling and crying, and thinking of Zhuxiang saying that he was going to the northwest, her heart was like a mess, and she couldn't help but sigh heavily. This young man of noble birth was really not a bad person, and he had experienced the pain of his family being broken up. No matter what her mentality was, she hoped that Sima Hong could live the rest of his life in peace.
Li Xiang carefully observed Mingyu's expression, feeling uneasy for a long time, and finally made up her mind. She blushed and asked in a low voice: "Miss, are you... in love with the Second Master?"
Mingyu looked at Lixiang in surprise, and then said, "No!" She had complicated feelings towards Sima Hong, including guilt, shame, and gratitude. But after thinking about it, Mingyu didn't feel that she was attracted to him. The scene in Tianshui City where that idiot insisted on her help copying books and threw a toad on her skirt was still vivid in her mind.
When talking about the person in her heart, Mingyu's face flushed and a handsome figure flashed through her mind very quickly.
“Stop talking.” Mingyu waved her hand and couldn’t help laughing. It felt like two middle school girls secretly talking about their crushes.
Lixiang also felt her face getting hot and quickly drank some water to cover it up.
After a while, there was a knock on the door of the room, and Li Xiang said, "Come in."
The person who pushed the door open was the shopkeeper and a tall and thin man in his thirties wearing a blue silk gown, with an abacus tucked between his elbows and several thick books in his hands.
The shopkeeper was stunned for a moment when he saw that Madam Xu was not there, then he said with a smile, "Second Miss, where is the first Madam? Mr. Li, the accountant, is here, let's give her the account book."
Mingyu nodded and pointed to the table in front of them and said, "Put the account book here. Oh, do you have any pens and ink? Bring a set over. We need them."
Mr. Li, the accountant, asked in surprise, "You want to settle the accounts?" Seeing Li Xiang staring at him unhappily, he quickly changed his words and said with a smile, "Don't you want me to review it for you, Madam? No skipping of words.
Mingyu shook her head, "No thanks." There was contempt in this man's eyes, which made her feel very uncomfortable. There were not many women in this world who could read, and even fewer who knew arithmetic and could do accounting. But that didn't mean he could speak to her in such a contemptuous tone.
"Young lady, you don't know much." Accountant Li said with a smile, "The accounts in the shop are very complicated. It's not as simple as going to the street to buy rouge and hair ornaments, adding and subtracting..."
"What's wrong with you?" Li Xiang shouted, "Do you look down on others?"
When the shopkeeper saw that a quarrel was about to break out, he immediately stopped Accountant Li and said, "Don't do that. Miss, you are really overthinking."
Accountant Li was very unhappy, and felt that his authority in accounting was violated. He said with a sullen face, "Okay, leave the account books and abacus here."
"Put the account book here, and you can take the abacus. Our lady doesn't need an abacus." Lixiang took the account book and said unhappily.
Accountant Li was surprised for a moment, then his mouth curved up and his attitude softened a lot. He smiled and said, "That's fine. If you need anything, just call us. We'll be waiting in the shop."
At this time, Mrs. Xu came back with Mother Liu. The shopkeeper brought accountant Li to meet Mrs. Xu. They couldn't help but ask to review the accounts for Mrs. Xu, but Mrs. Xu politely declined, saying that she knew a little bit and would call them if she needed anything.
"This person is so annoying!" After they left, Li Xiang said angrily and complained to Mrs. Xu.
Mingyu opened the account book and said, "If you feel so guilty, there must be something fishy going on!" After that, he took a fine brush, dipped it in ink, and started to count stroke by stroke.
Madam Xu still didn't understand what Mingyu was calculating on paper. Anyway, the result was accurate, so she didn't bother to ask. She nodded and said, "If there is a ghost, chase him away. We don't want an accountant or a shopkeeper with dirty hands!"
Mingyu laughed and said softly, "The accountant can be driven away directly, but how can the shopkeeper be driven away directly? We can't find anyone to replace him at the moment. Do you want me and mother to stand behind the counter as shopkeepers? Dad will be very worried."
Regardless of whether the accountant was clean or not, Mingyu had no intention of keeping him. Ancient accounts were just addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, not as complicated as modern finance. She could do it alone. It was not cheap to hire an accountant, so why not save a lot of money without him? If this accountant Li was clean, they would pay him compensation. If Li was not clean, he would have to spit out the money he had taken.
After being dragged out by Accountant Li, the shopkeeper said unhappily, "What are you doing? What if they find out that the accounts are wrong?"
Accountant Li snorted, "I know the accounts I made. How can those two country girls tell anything wrong? Don't worry, I guarantee nothing will happen."
Even though the accountant had given his assurance and patted his chest loudly, the shopkeeper was still worried, "Don't take it lightly. I just found out that the Xu family has split up, and this shop will belong to the eldest branch of the Xu family in the future. It's not the time for your cousin to be in charge. If something goes wrong, they won't give you face!"
Accountant Li was a little impatient. "What could possibly happen? A bunch of blind women who can't even use an abacus dare to check the accounts? It's really hilarious!" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to subscribe and give me a reward on Qidian Mobile Network (). Your support is my greatest motivation.)
It is made by].
div>
BAIDU_CLB_LT_ID = "519311";