Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 1720: Chapter 1720: Can’t Stay Idle

Bai Zebo thought Bai Ruozhu was intentionally testing him, so he became very serious and resolved to carefully and quickly check through the account book to leave a good impression on his cousin.

Sometimes people’s potential is limitless. Once Bai Zebo made up his mind, he amazingly worked faster than usual, which made Bai Ruozhu genuinely impressed.

She knew that Grandpa, the clan leader, didn’t like to boast without reason, and since he praised Bai Zebo’s accounting skills, he must indeed be good.

Just then, Lin Ping’er brought in tea and dimsum with her maid and upon seeing them, said, ”Ruozhu, you’re really something. Zebo and the others are guests, yet you don’t let them rest. Is this how you treat guests?”

Before Bai Ruozhu could respond, Bai Zebo smiled and said, ”Auntie, you misunderstood. It’s because cousin is coaching me.”

Bai Ruozhu felt a bit embarrassed, as she was clearly enlisting his help, but now she would definitely have to properly guide this cousin.

Soon, Bai Zebo finished reviewing one account book and found two problematic areas. Bai Ruozhu looked over them and said, ”Why don’t you calculate what the correct figures should be?”

It was unlikely that her subordinate was falsifying records, so it was more likely that there were calculation errors.

”Sure, I’ll calculate it,” Bai Zebo said, taking a small abacus out of his sleeve and started using it with a flurry of clicks.

Bai Ruozhu was not accustomed to using an abacus, but she appreciated Bai Zebo’s habit of carrying one with him. That was true dedication, like a swordsman who never parts with his sword.

After calculating for a long time, Bai Zebo finally found the correct numbers, and Bai Ruozhu, after checking them, nodded in satisfaction.

Bai Zebo continued to look through the remaining books on his own; he was a diligent and enthusiastic child. In contrast, Bai Zeji was sitting there feeling very bored. He wanted to help but he studied literature, not accounting, so he could only drink tea and eat dimsum.

Bai Ruozhu turned her head and said with a smile, ”Brother, you can also take a look. Once you enter the Study Palace in Beiyu, there will be arithmetic classes.”

”Yeah, I remember you participating in the Eight Academy Competition before and even taking first place in arithmetic,” Bai Zeji said, full of envy and admiration.

Bai Ruozhu felt a bit embarrassed and explained, ”I benefited from the opening of the female school early that year. Otherwise, with my level, I couldn’t have gotten into the Girls’ School at the Beiyu Study Palace. My arithmetic is decent, but I definitely have a severe subject bias.”

Bai Zeji laughed upon hearing this, and Bai Zebo paused his abacus work to join in the laughter. ”But cousin, you’re amazing anyway. It’s like you can do accounting without an abacus. How do you do it?”

Bai Ruozhu winked and said, ”Guess!”

Bai Zeji and Bai Zebo were both momentarily stunned, then realized that Ruozhu was still as playful and easygoing as before, without any pretense.

Bai Zebo continued to bury his head in checking the accounts; even though cousin said ”guess,” he believed she would eventually explain it to him.

As he got to the last book, Bai Zebo took noticeably longer than before, and he frowned from time to time.

Bai Ruozhu thought he might be confused. After all, Bai Zebo was quite young; achieving his current level was already impressive.

In the end, Bai Zebo looked up, somewhat hesitantly, and said, ”Cousin, it seems your subordinate might be falsifying the accounts.”

Bai Zeji immediately stood up nervously, glanced at Bai Ruozhu, and then glared at Bai Zebo, saying, ”Did you look carefully? You can’t make such claims lightly.”

Bai Ruozhu also thought Bai Zebo might have been mistaken, but she leaned over, and Bai Zebo pointed out several places for her; they were all very subtle issues. With her current state, she surely wouldn’t have checked so carefully. But when these minor issues were combined, they showed falsified entries.

”I’ve checked them several times. Our shopkeeper recently showed me an account book with past falsifications from a branch, which was similar to this but not as well-concealed. That’s what made me think of it, so I reviewed it several times and confirmed it,” Bai Zebo said.

Bai Ruozhu took a deep breath. She was furious inside but didn’t want to show it in front of her cousins, or it would be awkward.

”Zebo, good eye; you’ve done me a big favor,” Bai Ruozhu said with a smile.

Bai Zebo, seeing her so calm, curiously asked, ”Cousin, didn’t you already know and were just testing me?”

”I didn’t know, but it’s just a subordinate; there’s no need to get angry. I’ll just arrange for someone to handle it,” Bai Ruozhu said with a smile.

”See, Ruozhu has the poise. One shouldn’t get angry at such dishonest people in the first place,” Bai Zeji praised her.

Actually, the inner voice in Bai Ruozhu was screaming, clearly very angry, but for the sake of her unborn child and her own ”poise,” she had to stay calm.

Bai Ruozhu didn’t shy away from the two, directly sent for Sui Ge, who had come a long way to deliver the account books. He was also fortunate as he hadn’t returned to the Capital while handling matters at North Mountain, thus avoiding a misfortune.

”Mistress, is there a problem with the accounts?” Sui Ge saw Bai Ruozhu’s serious expression and sensed something was amiss.

Bai Ruozhu pointed to the account book with issues and asked, ”Which subordinate is responsible for this?”

Sui Ge opened it, took a look, and quickly said, ”It’s under Chen Fenghuo.”

”Arrange for someone to investigate who Chen Fenghuo has been in contact with recently. The accounts are false. I suspect he’s not embezzling silver. There’s been a lot of unrest lately, so keep an eye on our people to ensure they’re not being bought off,” Bai Ruozhu instructed.

Sui Ge straightened up, ”Alright, I will set off immediately to investigate and make sure to keep an eye on the subordinates.”

He was now appointed as the head steward by Bai Ruozhu. If a subordinate betrayed her, he would also be held accountable for inadequate supervision.

After Sui Ge left, both Bai Zebo and Bai Zeji felt a bit awkward, but fortunately, it was almost lunchtime. Bai Zehao came back from outside and started talking to them about business, and they also inquired about the situation in Beiyu City, which made them somewhat worried about the current situation.

In the following days, Bai Ruozhu felt too idle and could only tease Dengdeng, guide Guoguo on medical skills, or watch her father and Xu Huilin do woodworking, feeling like she was becoming a freeloader.

She wasn’t someone who could stay idle for long, and soon had new ideas. Since the domestic situation wasn’t good, she could develop business abroad.

Thinking about making money energized her, and she became spirited, quickly grabbing paper and pen to draft a business plan.

Bai Zebo often came to seek her advice. Bai Ruozhu had a great impression of this cousin, so she thought about involving him in this endeavor for some training.

”Zebo, I’m thinking of engaging in some export trade. Are you interested in working with me?” Bai Zebo came to visit again, and she directly asked.