Chapter 226

The new robe on Mei Ruochu was, of course, not prepared by himself, but given by Miss Xu.

Recently, he had been following the agreement he had made earlier, going to the Xu family to decipher their intricate account books after his shift.

To others, these books were impossible to decipher, but he had his ways.

After his own private ‘review’, he had roughly identified several different styles of handwriting from those scribbles.

Calling them handwriting was somewhat misleading, as the children didn’t know how to write at all, but untrained children held pens in all sorts of ways.

Different ways of holding the pen resulted in different points of emphasis, and he observed these subtle differences.

Afterward, he had the children, including Xiao Yuan, continue to help with the bookkeeping as usual when Miss Xu was too busy to handle it herself.

After observing for a few days, he was able to match the handwriting to the individuals.

As he matched them, he also observed each person’s habits when drawing symbols.

For example, Xiao Yuan liked to draw circles, with each circle representing one penny.

The process sounds simple, but because he didn’t want to disrupt the original operation and daily management of the Xu family, it took quite some time.

After he had the results, he began to organize the accounts.

Miss Xu gave him the account books for the past three years, but in reality, only this year’s was needed—after all, she had paid the highest-grade commercial tax upfront, so it could only be an overpayment, which the authorities would not refund.

So, only calculating this year’s accounts was necessary.

Because he had already figured out the ‘translation’ method for the cryptic accounts, translating them into common text and then calculating them was particularly simple for Mei Ruochu.

In just a few days, he made a new account book for Miss Xu.

“For the previous two years, although I didn’t redo the accounts, I have reviewed them. Every year, after the onset of winter and before the year-end, business at the shop is always better than usual. Mrs. Xu also makes twice as many pastries to sell than usual, so the overall earnings in silver should be about this much.”

How much a shop can earn is definitely a trade secret, so Mei Ruochu did not say it out loud but instead dipped his finger in tea and wrote it on the table.

After Miss Xu had read it, he casually wiped it away with his sleeve.

“So, your family doesn’t need to pay taxes at the highest rate.”

When Miss Xu initially sought his help, it was both because she believed in her ability to judge people and because she felt the urgency of the year-end.

She didn’t usually smile much, as she was a woman holding up the household, and too many smiles on her face might lead to unwarranted thoughts from others.

But with the huge burden lifted from her heart after three years, she exhaled a long breath and smiled with relief.

Mei Ruochu quickly averted his gaze and continued, “Regarding the accounts in the future…”

Miss Xu cut in briskly, “After the New Year, I plan to arrange a schedule for Xiao Yuan and the others to take turns attending classes at Lady Chu’s women’s school. I don’t expect them to learn much, but at least they’ll recognize a few characters and won’t be scribbling on these account books.”

Mei Ruochu was slightly moved and praised, “Mrs. Xu is truly benevolent.”

After working at Xu’s for so many days, Mei Ruochu’s understanding of Xiao Yuan and the other children deepened.

Most of these children either had no parents or were abandoned by their parents who intended to sell them.

Miss Xu adopted them and even paid them wages, albeit not much, but it was definitely conscientious.

Now, hearing that she wanted to send Xiao Yuan and the others to school further proved that she treated these non-relatives as her own siblings.

Because he couldn’t help but think of Shen Cui, who had taken care of him for many years, Mei Ruochu finally softened his tone and said, “Regarding the wages, you can decide how much to give.”

In fact, he had intended not to take any money, considering it as helping children like Xiao Yuan.

After all, he had also been cared for by others before he got to where he was now.

But after observing for a while, Mei Ruochu found that Miss Xu was shrewd but not mercenary, with a firm character deep down, and she was not willing to owe others.

So he said that.

However, after saying this, the smile on Miss Xu’s face gradually diminished.

Naturally, it wasn’t because she wanted to go back on paying wages, but settling the wages meant that Mei Ruochu didn’t need to come anymore in the future.

After being stunned for a while, Miss Xu forced a smile and said, “Yes, it’s time to settle the wages. But I realized what I just said was wrong. Why should Xiao Yuan and the others go to the women’s school when they can just study here with you every day, learning to read and write…”

Mei Ruochu declined, “I have been busy with my own affairs recently, so…”

It wasn’t that Mei Ruochu, with his status as a top scholar, didn’t want to teach these children.

He was actually quite willing to come to Xu’s place. It was full of the bustling atmosphere of the marketplace, lively but not noisy.

Sometimes, while working on the account books inside the house, he would look through the window and see Xiao Yuan and the others playing and laughing in the courtyard.

When Miss Xu deliberately came out of the kitchen with a rolling pin to “scare” them, he would be reminded of the good times in the academy.

But now, he and Mu Er Pang, Shen Ao Shuang, and a few others had also established themselves in the Hanlin Academy, and the Emperor had started summoning him to the palace to give lectures to princes and princess.

Lecturing to the palace required thorough preparation, and they couldn’t afford to be negligent at all.

Moreover, yesterday, the Emperor suddenly asked Shen Ao Shuang about water conservancy, and Shen Ao Shuang felt his answer was not satisfactory.

He immediately informed the others at Cui Wei, and it was very likely that when the Emperor summoned them again in a few days, he would ask them about this issue.

Answering such practical questions related to people’s livelihoods was really difficult.

So he had to prepare for those as well.

Miss Xu didn’t expect him to refuse outright and said, “I didn’t expect you to finish today. The money chest has pieces of silver and copper coins. I’ll have them exchanged for you tomorrow.”

For Mei Ruochu, who used to sell goods on the street, pieces of silver and copper coins as wages were not a problem at all.

But seeing Miss Xu looking inconvenienced, he didn’t insist further and said he would come to collect it when it was ready.

After the eighth day of the ninth month, Mei Ruochu hadn’t been to Xu’s place. Today, he and Mu Er Pang went to congratulate their colleagues on their new home.

Although the other party had sent the invitation just the day before and had repeatedly asked them not to bring gifts, they couldn’t really go empty-handed.

So they set out early, discussing what to bring.

Almost unconsciously, Mei Ruochu suggested buying pastries from Xu’s place.

When he was helping out at Xu’s, Mrs. Xu often treated him specially, not just selling the usual pastries, but sometimes she would also make some complicated pastries for everyone in the neighborhood to taste when she felt like it.

Mei Ruochu wasn’t greedy.

Most of the time, he would bring them back to share with the people in the academy.

After trying those pastries, other ordinary pastries really couldn’t compare.

And this gesture was indeed light in gift but heavy in sentiment. It wasn’t going empty-handed, nor was it going against their colleague’s wish not to receive gifts.

The two went to Xu’s place.

They arrived early, so the first batch of pastries hadn’t come out yet, and there weren’t many people in line.

Xiao Yuan noticed him and happily shouted to the others inside, “The accountant brother is here!”

Ms. Xu hadn’t come out yet, so the other children rushed out and surrounded Mei Ruochu, talking to him excitedly.

One of the overly enthusiastic children directly pulled Mei Ruochu into the neighborhood, telling him not to wait in line.

It was meant as a kindness, but she forgot that she had just been kneading dough in the kitchen and got flour all over Mei Ruochu’s sleeve.

Mei Ruochu didn’t blame her, but it wouldn’t be appropriate to attend the banquet in such a robe.

He just said to Mu Er Pang, “I’ll probably go back to change clothes. You go ahead and buy the pastries. I’ll follow shortly.”

Xiao Yuan heard that they must have something to do today, so she glared at the companion who didn’t know any better and said, “Accountant brother, you don’t need to go home. We have your robe here!”

As they spoke, the two were ushered inside.

“Why would your robe be here?” Mu Er Pang asked Mei Ruochu curiously.

It was hard to imagine that Mei Ruochu, who was so proper, would leave his robe with Ms. Xu when he was working at Xu’s place.

Xiao Yuan overheard and happily said, “That’s because our master specially…”

Just then, Ms. Xu came out of the kitchen, carrying a rolling pin, looking imposing.

Xiao Yuan realized she had misspoken and, along with the child who had covered Mei Ruochu in flour, shrank to the side.

“It’s almost New Year’s. These kids are growing like weeds. I thought I should get them some clothes,” Ms. Xu explained somewhat awkwardly.

“I also thought since Mr. Mei hasn’t come to collect his wages for a long time, he probably didn’t want to receive those trinkets. So, I thought I’d get you a decent robe, fold it into your wages, and you wouldn’t refuse.”

The reason sounded a bit flimsy, but Mei Ruochu didn’t say anything.

After thanking her, he went into the main room to change his outer robe.

Now that Shen Cui asked about it, Mu Er Pang naturally didn’t remember to inquire about the earlier incident.

He just looked at Mei Ruochu with a smirk and said, “I know about this. It’s Mr. Mei’s ‘wages’ from working at Ms. Xu’s!”

Mei Ruochu blushed so much that he felt like he was bleeding.

Shen Cui patted him on the back and chuckled, “Eat your meal! It’s not about that. It’s about the water conservation question. Aozhuang and Ruochu have both answered it. The next one is probably you, so you better be prepared, right?”

Mu Er Pang immediately straightened up and quickly took a few bites of food before diving into the classroom to attend to official business.

Afterwards, the others finished their meals.

Zheng Shi and Xie Jiulu, as usual, took the dishes to wash, Shen Laoye ( Shen’s father ) went out for a walk, and Lao Buyu took Xiaoci to do homework.

In the main room, only Shen Cui and Mei Ruochu were left.

Shen Cui only gave him a glance, and Mei Ruochu knew what she wanted to ask.

His face reddened again, and he began to nervously rub the teacup with his fingers.

What else was there to not understand?

Shen Cui didn’t ask further, she just smiled and said, “Decide on the timing yourself, and be sure to let me know in advance so I can prepare early!”

Mei Ruochu’s parents were no longer alive, and the old hongle headmaster lived far away and was old.

Naturally, Shen Cui had to help with his marriage matters.

Although Xu Guniang was a girl abandoned by her family, in terms of etiquette, she must not be treated unfairly.

Things must be done properly!

Although Shen Cui said Mei Ruochu should choose the day to propose himself, she was already planning to write a letter to Cui Wuniang, or to visit Headmistress Chu when she had the chance to learn more.

“It’s not yet time,” Mei Ruochu immediately replied, “I’ve only known her for a short time, and… you haven’t met her yet!”

“I have seen her, haven’t I?”

“It’s not the kind of ‘seeing’ I mean,” Mei Ruochu said seriously.

Traditionally, when a man marries, he hopes his wife will be approved by his parents. Mei Ruochu’s words showed that he truly regarded Shen Cui as his elder.

Shen Cui understood and said softly, “Okay, I’ll get to know her!”