Rebirth of the High Family's Beloved

Yan Ci was stunned, "Master?"

Jiang Qingqing opened her big, sparkling eyes and blinked hard in affirmation.

"Yes, you will be a wife in the future, so you still need to know how to manage the household. You are free anyway, so why not learn from me?"

Yan Ci's mind was in a turmoil. The first thing he thought of was the women and children in the back house, which made him feel a headache. Then he thought of Aunt Zhao, and he felt happy.

Following Jiang Qingqing to learn how to manage the household actually means helping Jiang Qingqing deal with household affairs. Doesn't this give me the opportunity to deal with Aunt Zhao?

Just when I was worrying that there was no chance, someone sent me a pillow as soon as I felt sleepy.

"Okay." Yan Ci showed a little reluctance, but he was actually very happy in his heart.

Jiang Qingqing was very happy when she heard her daughter agreed. After all, in this family, her daughter was her only ally without conflict of interest.

There is no need to worry about what Yan Tonglin will say. I have already said that I would discipline Yan Ci more and let her learn more useful things. Isn't this one of the means of discipline?

The next day was a sunny day. Yan Ci dressed neatly and came to Zhilan Courtyard. When he sat down to drink a cup of tea, a pile of account books appeared in front of him.

Jiang Qingqing sat next to Yan Ci and briefly explained some basic knowledge about account reading, then handed the account book to Yan Ci, "Take a look first, and ask mother if you don't understand."

When you first start learning, you won’t be able to remember too much if you learn too much at once. It’s better to familiarize yourself with it first and then proceed step by step.

Yan Ci's mind was not on the account book, but he had to pretend to study it. When Jiang Qingqing returned to her desk, Yan Ci took a book from the top and opened it. The dark ink and the disorganized recording method made him feel headache.

It was closed after just one glance.

Yan Ci thought that he was not suitable for reading account books. The densely packed words hurt his eyes if he looked at them for more than one second.

"Um... Chunzhi, come here and read to me what's written on it?"

Chunzhi leaned over and said very embarrassedly: "Miss, I can't read."

Yan Ci not only had pain in his eyes, but also a little pain in his head. How could he not be able to read?

"Chun Tao, can you read?"

Chun Tao, who had just entered the room with some snacks, heard the question and hesitated for a moment before saying, "How many do I know?"

"Then come over here and read the account book to me."

Chuntao handed the snacks and fruits in her hand to Chunzhi, walked over and knelt beside Yan Ci, took out an account book and opened it.

"On the first day of September, I purchased 10 rolls of embroidered satin and 10 rolls of brocade satin. On the eleventh day of September, I purchased 15 rolls of antique fragrant satin and 15 rolls of finished brocade..."

"Wait, Wanhua brocade? What kind of brocade is that?" Yan Ci wondered.

Chun Tao scratched her head and said, "I haven't heard of it either."

"It's Huanhuajin." Jiang Qingqing came over at some point and took the account book from Chuntao. "Yes, it's the Huan in Huanxi." After saying that, she returned the account book to Chuntao.

Chun Tao was very embarrassed and said, "Miss, I can only recognize a few simple ones. I can't recognize too many."

What else could Yan Ci say? It was good enough that he could recognize a few of them. After all, the maid was not trained to be a female scholar.

"continue."

"…On September 21, I purchased: 20 pieces of Yuehua brocade and 20 pieces of some other velvet…"

What velvet?

Yan Ci didn't know what it was.

It's a kind of fabric anyway, the focus is not on the name, but on the quantity and price.

I listened to Chuntao talking for a long time about all kinds of velvet, brocade, and satin, but they were all purchased but not sold.

Yan Ci was very confused and took the account book to look at it. Chuntao had read out all the purchase and payment records on the top, but there was a blank line at the bottom for the purchase and payment records, which Chuntao had not read out.

No wonder there are only purchases and no sales.

This method of separation sounded so uncomfortable to her.

"Chun Tao, you've been reading for so long, go drink some water and take a break. I'll watch it for a while."

There was no other way, she had to go and see for herself in the end. Even though these piles of accounts looked like winding little worms in her eyes, it was better than giving her two and a half worms.

At least the head and tail can be connected.

After taking a closer look, the abacus in my mind was clattering. The total of the expenses and each individual expense seemed to be consistent, but when they were separated and combined, the loopholes appeared.

This cloth shop purchases goods on the first, eleventh, and twenty-first of every month, which means that the expenditure is made on these three days. In addition, on the last day of the month, the entire month's income, minus the budget for purchasing cloth for the next month, is handed over to the owner's expenses, which is recorded in the general ledger.

This cloth shop had a pretty good profit, with daily revenue of at least three to five hundred taels, and by the end of the month, when the general ledger was entered, there would be about ten thousand taels of silver.

But when Yan Ci watched the accounts being settled one by one and entered into the general ledger, the results were always slightly different from what she expected, but not by much, only about a thousand or eight hundred taels.

She had seen this little trick before when she was working as a clerk in the army with her father. It was not difficult to crack down on such a blatant form of corruption.

Yan Ci raised his head and looked at Jiang Qingqing who was busy looking at the accounts opposite her. As if she felt Yan Ci's gaze, Jiang Qingqing also raised her head.

"What's wrong? Is there something you don't understand?"

As he asked, he stood up and walked towards Yan Ci, looked at the cloth shop account book spread out in front of Yan Ci, and looked at Yan Ci again.

"If you don't understand, I'll teach you."

Based on Yan Ci's experience, she didn't understand most of it, so she couldn't ask the question directly, so she pointed to a place with heavier ink on the account book and asked, "Why is it 327 taels here?"

Jiang Qingqing took the account book and counted on the abacus. She couldn't help but wonder, "Oh, it's true. How come fifty taels are missing?"

"How does the owner of this cloth shop keep the accounts? Did he make a mistake?"

Jiang Qingqing was thinking, who is the owner of this cloth shop? Oh, it seems to be owner Zhao, whom I just met yesterday. He also manages the preserved fruit shop.

Successfully diverting the doubts, Yan Ci achieved his goal, stretched and said, "Mom, I'm tired."

Jiang Qingqing's attention was focused on the account, and she casually said, "Go and have a rest, and come back to study in the afternoon."

Yan Ci agreed happily and went out happily.

She was the last person to look at the accounts, but in order to achieve her goal as quickly as possible, she had to look at them. And once she looked at them, she found that as long as it was an account book, there would be problems.

She has indirectly told Jiang Qingqing about the problems she discovered, and the rest is up to her.

As long as Jiang Qingqing can firmly control the Yan Mansion in her own hands, then she, as a daughter, will have someone to rely on, and the day when she can rely on the power of others will not be far away.

When Yan Ci came again in the afternoon, he saw a lot of people standing in Zhilan Courtyard. Jiang Qingqing, accompanied by Nanny Ruan, was sitting on the chair in the middle with a mistress's style, holding an account book in her hand, with a serious look between her brows.

"Shopkeeper Zhao De."

Shopkeeper Zhao, whose name was called, walked out from the crowd and bowed respectfully to the mistress.

"Are you in charge of the Zhaoji Preserved Fruit Shop and the Zhaoji Cloth Shop on East Street?"

Zhao De smiled and cupped his hands, saying, "Madam, it's me."

"Well, explain to me, where did the missing 1,800 taels of silver go?"

Zhao De was stunned, thinking to himself that he had been seen through. But after all, he had been a housekeeper for more than ten years, so this little problem was not difficult for him.