Yuexiang Pavilion

With Keke’s help, Jianxiu worked faster than ever.

Not only did she meticulously record every account, but she also calculated the total at the end of each ledger.

She couldn’t help but notice that the more she calculated, the more problematic their bookkeeping seemed.

Was this even a proper ledger?

It was merely a collection of numbers!

She just didn’t understand—why didn’t they record a total at the bottom of each day’s transactions?

Wouldn’t that save so much time?

Because of this, she now had to painstakingly organize the daily amounts one by one.

Only after sorting out each day’s figures and summing them up could she barely calculate the monthly total.

By the time Wu Mingtang returned to Yuexiang Pavilion with Zhang Feixuan and Zhang Feiyi, nearly half an hour had passed.

Meanwhile, Jianxiu had already accounted for almost a year’s worth of records.

Looking at her hard work, Jianxiu felt quite satisfied.

“Jianxiu, don’t tell me you’ve already finished all of these?” Wu Mingtang pointed at the stack of ledgers to her right.

“Yes, they’re all done,” Jianxiu said calmly.

Even she was surprised—she hadn’t realized she had completed so much without noticing.

Hearing this, Wu Mingtang stepped forward, randomly pulled out a ledger, and flipped through a few pages.

The moment he saw the neatly recorded numbers and annotations, he was completely stunned.

Even his speech became stammered.

“Y-you… how did you do this? This… isn’t this way too fast?”

After a moment of thought, Wu Mingtang suddenly lifted his head and looked at Jianxiu with suspicion.

“You didn’t just make up these numbers, did you?”

Jianxiu: “…”

Did he really think she was that kind of person?

Actually, Wu Mingtang felt a bit awkward after saying that.

Jianxiu seemed to sense his embarrassment and said, “We’ll be heading back now! There isn’t much left, so if you take a few more days to calculate, you should be able to finish it.”

Wu Mingtang: “…”

She finished in two quarters of an hour, while he would need several days?

No matter how he heard it, her words sounded like sarcasm.

Just as Jianxiu and the two boys were about to leave, Shopkeeper Wu quickly called them back.

Then he turned to the nearby waiter and asked, “Is the food I asked you to prepare ready?”

“Wait a moment, Shopkeeper! I’ll go check now,” the waiter responded politely before hurrying toward the kitchen.

“Shopkeeper Wu, you don’t have to be so courteous. This was just a small effort on my part,” Jianxiu said helplessly.

“What do you mean? It’s just some food from Yuexiang Pavilion. You can take it home for Zixuan to nourish himself. Besides, what you did in two quarters of an hour saved me several days of work. The money I made in those days is worth far more than this meal.”

“But speaking of which, you might need to come by again tomorrow.”

“You don’t mean to tell me that you want me to come back just to help you with the bookkeeping again, do you?”

“Not exactly, though I wouldn’t mind,” Wu Mingtang admitted. “But it’s not something I can just ask for so casually.”

Jianxiu: “…”

Wu Mingtang then recounted everything that had happened at Xuewen Academy earlier.

“Didn’t I already explain the method to the headmaster?”

“Well, he hasn’t learned it yet,” Wu Mingtang said matter-of-factly.

“So, you’re saying…”

“My guess is that he’ll ask you to draw a few for him tomorrow. He probably needs them urgently,” Wu Mingtang speculated after a brief pause.

Of course, this was just his assumption—he wasn’t entirely sure.

Hearing this, Jianxiu nodded in agreement.

Thinking about Mo Shanrui’s behavior in court today, she was quite satisfied.

At least he wasn’t a stubborn fool.

For someone like him, drawing a few sketches wouldn’t be too much trouble.

More importantly, he was the county magistrate.

In Quan Yong County, he was the most powerful person.

If she could use her sketching skills to build rapport with him, it would be a worthwhile connection.

Besides, after helping him, he would owe her a favor.

In the future, whether in business or regarding Zhang Zixuan, she might need to rely on him.

For some reason, she felt that Zhang Zixuan’s background wasn’t as simple as it seemed.

If she wanted to uncover his origins, she would have to start with Old Madam Liu.

This time, since Wu Mingtang knew that Jianxiu could drive a carriage, he simply let her drive his carriage home herself.

By the time they returned to Zhang Family Village, the sky had already begun to darken.

The weather was gradually getting hotter, so even though it was getting late, many villagers still gathered at the village center to chat.

“Hey, is that a carriage?”

Someone’s voice rang out, and everyone turned to look.

Zhang Family Village was poor—there weren’t even ox carts, except for the one owned by the village head.

So when they saw a carriage, it was no surprise they were shocked.

“That looks like Jian Xiu!” Aunt Zhao said with a smile.

Jian Xiu’s family was currently building a house.

Her daughter and son-in-law were helping out there, earning twenty copper coins a day, so she was naturally happy.

Besides, her daughter, Zhang Xuemei, had always been close to Jian Xiu.

Because of that, Aunt Zhao had also grown fond of Jianxiu.

“Aunt Zhao, listen to yourself! You make it sound like you’re so close to her,” Aunt Li sneered. “Only you would dare to associate with her. A woman who took her own mother-in-law to court—what kind of person could she be?”

Aunt Zhao wasn’t one to back down. If someone provoked her, she would argue back.

“Wow, your words sound so sour! Are you jealous she got five taels of silver? Besides, that woman wasn’t even her mother-in-law anymore. They have no relationship now. And honestly, wasn’t five taels the least she deserved? If your husband had beaten you like that, I bet you’d think five taels wasn’t enough!”

“You… You… What are you saying? Are you cursing my husband?”

“Oh, please! If my words alone could make things happen, I wouldn’t still be sitting here,” Aunt Zhao scoffed.