Grass and mustard reign supreme

Chapter 29 Hiding Clumsy
Yang Can's courtyard and Deacon Li's courtyard are separated by only one wall, and the two courtyards have the same architectural layout.

When Yang Can returned to his residence, Wangcai was dozing off on the table.

Upon seeing Yang Can return, Wangcai rubbed his eyes and stood up, saying, "Master Yang, Master Li said that I will serve you from now on."

Yang Can nodded; he knew that Wangcai was a slave boy.

In those days, those of lower status than commoners included servants and slaves.

The status of servants was slightly higher than that of slaves. They were generally miscellaneous households with special skills, such as musicians and craftsmen.

As for servants, they were even lower in status, belonging to private property, and could be bought and sold at will.

If you want to give it as a gift to someone else, then you should do so according to the owner's wishes.

Therefore, Li Youcai giving Wangcai to Yang Can was just a matter of a word.

Yang Can said, "I know, Wangcai, it's so late, no need to serve you, go to sleep."

Wangcai agreed and left the main room.

The building layout is the same as Deacon Li's, and Wangcai even tidied it up with Pan Xiaowan in the afternoon.

He knew perfectly well where he should sleep, so he went straight to the side room.

His bedding had already been moved over by evening.

Yang Can was feeling a bit tipsy and tired. He returned to his bedroom and found that the bedding was all new and ready, so he went to sleep.

The next morning, Wangcai swept the yard and fetched well water for his master to wash up when he woke up.

Then he waited eagerly under the eaves for Yang Can to take him to breakfast.

Their three meals a day are provided centrally.

Of course, if someone who has reached the position of deacon has a family and is willing to cook for themselves, that's fine too.

The place where meals were served was called the "Women's Kitchen Courtyard" in the inner quarters and the "Lower Kitchen Room" in the outer quarters.

The kitchen was divided into a "large canteen" and a "small canteen," and Yang Can naturally ate in the small canteen.

Most of the managers I met at yesterday's welcome banquet were having breakfast.

Because of last night's drinking session, they have grown closer.

As soon as Yang Can entered, the managers greeted him warmly, creating a harmonious and pleasant scene.

Yang Can glanced around and, not seeing Li Youcai, asked, "Does the head steward not usually eat in the 'lower kitchen'?"

Accountant Li replied with a smile, "The Grand Steward has married a beautiful young wife, so naturally he can't bear to let her get up early to prepare soup, and she usually eats here."

However, our Grand Steward is a heavy drinker, and he always gets drunk. The morning after drinking, he almost always misses mealtime.

"I see."

When Yang Can worked as a screenwriter, he often dined here.

However, he hadn't paid special attention to Li Youcai's movements at the time, so he was unaware of this.

When Yang Can arrived, the kitchen staff brought out his food.

Yang Can's breakfast consisted of two snacks, two side dishes, and a bowl of wontons.

The dessert was yam cake with candied jujube paste. The snow-white yam cake was cut into thumb-sized squares and topped with candied jujubes.

With one bite, you can taste the smooth and delicate yam puree, the sweet but not cloying jujube filling, and the subtle fragrance of osmanthus.

There are also two lotus leaf steamed buns made with high-quality flour, which can also be considered a snack.

As for the two side dishes, one was spiced smoked fish chunks made with thick-fleshed Longhe catfish.

First marinated, then fried, and finally braised, the sauce is bright red and glossy. One bite reveals a crispy exterior and tender interior, with the five-spice flavor penetrating deep into the flesh.

The other side dish was pickled turnips, finely shredded and tossed with a little sesame oil.

In addition, there is a bowl of shepherd's purse and pork wontons, made with fresh shepherd's purse from early spring and hind leg meat from free-range pigs.

Add some dried shrimp, and the soup base is made with old hen, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots to enhance its flavor.

Yang Can's special cooking standards were only on par with Li Youcai's in the outer quarters, far exceeding those of the stewards.

As they were both butlers, they ate the same meals as their masters.

In other words, it's all the work of a private chef, only the food standards are lower than those of the main restaurant.

While eating, Yang Can chatted with accountant Li and other managers.

After everyone finished breakfast chatting and laughing, Yang Can returned to his residence.

Yang Can first familiarized himself with the inside and outside of his small courtyard. When the sun was high in the sky, he saw Li Youcai walking unsteadily towards him.

His forehead was covered in bruises, and behind him followed Lai Xi, who carried two boxes on a shoulder pole.

Upon seeing Yang Can, Li Youcai smiled and said, "As expected, the clan leader summoned me and gave me some instructions."

This box contains various booklets about the six major estates and three major ranches.

"Take this and look at it carefully. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask Accountant Li for help."

Yang Can quickly thanked him, then glanced at the Nike logo on his forehead and subtly inquired:

"Brother, did you rest well last night? Are you still hungover?"

Li Youcai laughed and said, "I drank a bit too much last night. Look at the way I bumped my head. I hope you can forgive me."

"Thanks to your kind sister-in-law, she patiently washed me and then fed me a hangover soup spoonful by spoonful. Otherwise, I'm afraid I'd feel even worse." As he spoke, he moved his neck, gently touched his forehead, and explained to Yang Can with a smile, "Your sister-in-law was afraid I'd vomit after drinking, so she made me use a higher pillow. See, this is what 'stiff neck' looks like, hahaha..."

Yang Can was speechless. "Brother, do you have a pillow?"

Oh, if the footstool under the edge of the bed counts as a pillow...

Well then, with the husband's authority weakened, this is the only way to "strengthen oneself."

We're all men; the greatest kindness is to see through things but not say anything.

As the two were talking, Lai Xi and Wang Cai carried the two boxes into the study.

Li Youcai boasted to Yang Can about how considerate his young wife was to him, then proudly took Lai Xi and said goodbye.

Yang Can asked Wangcai to brew a pot of tea and bring it to the study. He then opened the two boxes and took out all the account books and documents inside.

The ledgers were arranged in an orderly fashion, according to their different estates, categories, and the dates on their covers.

Yang Can was initially worried that he wouldn't understand it, but when he opened the booklet and looked at it carefully, he found that it was very simple.

In this era, most account books were single-entry books, which recorded income and expenditure in chronological order, commonly known as "running accounts".

Slightly more complex ledgers use a "three-column" recording method, where income minus expenses equals the surplus.

As for double-entry bookkeeping, even its prototypes, such as the Longmen account and the Four-Legged account, had not yet been invented in this era.

Therefore, with Yang Can's modern knowledge, after a little adaptation to the accounting units, special terminology, and writing habits of this era, he could understand it at a glance without anyone teaching him.

For example, the account book reads, "No. 5 of the Heavenly Calendar, the third day of the twelfth lunar month, received three taels and eight mace of silver from Master Chen for silk. Paid five mace of silver for the servants' food and labor."

In plain language, it means "Voucher No. 5, December 3rd, income from silk sales was 3.8 taels, and expenditure on wages was 0.5 taels."

Yang Can only spent fifteen minutes to basically understand the accounting methods of these ledgers and the meaning of various specialized terms.

Then he grabbed a piece of paper, drew a table with a ruler, and began filling in the statistics item by item as he looked at it.

As an ordinary person who has received modern education, although I cannot be said to be an expert in any particular area, I have some knowledge in all areas.

Even if he wasn't an accountant, such a simple and primitive ledger is still more sophisticated than the methods used by the ancients to organize and compile statistics.

The farms, estates, and ranches handed over by the Yu family's second branch were managed in a simple manner, making accounting and statistics easy to compile and quick.

In just over an hour, Yang Can had already compiled several large ledgers. Through these statistics, he gradually gained an understanding of the industry he was about to take control of.

With this, Yang Can had a clear idea of ​​what was going on, and these problems wouldn't be difficult for him.

Yang Can tapped the table lightly for a while, thinking. Since he knew these ledgers wouldn't stump him, he wasn't in a hurry.

Right now, he doesn't want to settle things quickly, because his future path and direction depend on one thing settling down:...

Is the branch entwined with a fertile plant pregnant?

Before this matter is confirmed, Yang Can prefers to remain cautious and wait and see.

Moreover, he didn't intend to publicize his methods for collecting debts.

If this method gets out, at best he'll just be a remarkable accountant, clerk, or money clerk.

But his starting point is already higher than this, so there's no need for that.

Keeping his abilities a secret will only make him seem more mysterious and enigmatic.

Moreover, in the mind of his good elder brother Li Youcai, it would probably take him a month or two to sort out and understand these accounts.

Let Deacon Li misjudge; that way, he can gain more control.

Thinking of this, a sly smile appeared on Yang Can's face.

He locked his ahead-of-its-time "statistics table" in a cabinet, hung the key on his waist, casually scattered the other ledgers on the table, and then left.

He planned to go to Accountant Li and ask Li Damu to help him sort out the accounts, thus confirming that he was incapable of managing accounts.

Li Damu readily agreed to Yang Can's requests, let alone asked for his help.

Yang Can was the second steward, and was his superior, so he had no complaints about being assigned to sort out these accounts.

Li Damu said, "Deacon Yang, please rest assured. This is simply my duty."

However, the young mistress is currently sorting out the internal and external accounts, so I dare not neglect her.

"Once I've completed the tasks assigned by the young mistress, I'll immediately begin reviewing the accounts."

Upon hearing this, Yang Can laughed and said, "There's no need to know all six major estates and three major ranches at once."

Feng'an Village is the closest to our Tianshui City, so I'll trouble Mr. Li to first gather up the accounts for Feng'an Village.

Li Damu readily agreed and saw Yang Can out of the accounting office with a beaming smile.

He returned to his room, sat down, and opened the drawer under his desk.

There are two gold ingots inside, each weighing about half a pound.

Li Damu took out a gold ingot, rubbed it with the pad of his thumb, and muttered to himself:
"Second Deacon Yang, it's not that I don't want to help you, it's just that he's offering far too much..."

The "he" that Li Damu mentioned was none other than Zhang Yunyi, the owner of Feng'an Manor.

Master Zhang came to pay his respects today, arriving a step earlier than Yang Can.

　"Undercover Agent" is a new work by Jiu Tu, a veteran author. Welcome to read and appreciate it.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)