Naturally Precious

Even the chief managers of these shops were not allowed to enter Shen Xuan's office at will, so when Shen Ruiqing was led in, there was no one inside.The account books that are in charge of the Shen family's lifeline are neatly stacked on the bookshelf, he opened his lips blankly, he couldn't believe that his eldest brother was actually busy in such a place.

Bringing people to a place that belongs to him alone, Shen Xuan suddenly became interested, and sat down at the table with Bao'er in his arms.Originally, it was impossible for two people to sit in one person's seat, but Bao'er was used to nestling in the elder brother's arms, and without him saying anything, he hugged the man's waist and sat down on his lap.

"Big brother is here to make money? I always feel that the room is so dark... It must hurt your eyes to keep looking at the account book." Looking around, Shen Ruiqing didn't find anything, and looked up at Shen Xuan, " Brother must have worked hard."

"It's just that the windows aren't open and the lights aren't on, so it's dark inside the room." Hearing Bao'er's words of concern for him, the man smiled slightly, and gently picked him up, so that he could completely Leaning on him, "Brother just brought Bao'er here today, and Bao'er is grown up now, can I teach you how to read the account book?"

Blinking his round eyes, he obediently said "Yes", and Shen Xuan had already taken out a ledger with a red line in it.

"This is last month's account... I haven't read it yet, so I just took Bao'er to take a look together." The paper was opened, and besides the normal income and expenditure recorded in black, there were many marked in red The place.Shen Ruiqing knew every word, and after a careful look, she could roughly understand it.

"Brother... What does the word Qi mean? Why is it red? Qi Pei stole something from our house?" Seeing the word "Qi", Bao Er popped out of Qi Pei's head, and looked at Shen curiously. Xuan, "If he does something bad, Ruiqing will go to school and beat him tomorrow."

Shen Xuan glanced at the ledger, then looked at Bao'er with a serious face, and couldn't help but twitch a smile.

"How could it be? The Qi family doesn't sell rice. If the family wants to eat, they have to come to our house to buy rice. But both of them are merchants, and they have been friends since the previous generation. Naturally, it won't be like selling to outsiders. ...The price is always lower than that in the store, so it is specially marked in red."

"That's it..." Bao'er nodded half-understood, and suddenly saw a line of small characters at the bottom, "Brother, what is the county character? It didn't indicate that you bought something, why did you just charge us directly?" Was the money deducted?"

The man's eyelids drooped slightly, and he intentionally leaned close to his ear, and said in a low voice: "This is the money paid to the magistrate every Jigong... Does Bao'er understand?"

Shen Ruiqing was taken aback by him, her eyes widened in disbelief, he had never been in contact with such a thing, and she immediately opened her mouth, "This...is this a bribe?"

Then the next second, his mouth was covered by a pair of big hands.

Shen Xuan was just teasing him on purpose. Although there was no one inside or outside the room, she deliberately put on a serious and nervous look. After glancing around, she put down the one and stuck it to his ear again, her lips Almost touching the soft earlobe——

"These things can't be known by others... Bao'er has to keep it a secret, you know? Otherwise, the eldest brother will go to prison."

Shen Ruiqing nodded desperately.

This encounter frightened Bao'er again, and she was full of thoughts that Shen Xuan would go to prison, so she was also emotionally depressed afterwards, only leaning against her elder brother, as if she could gain some peace of mind in this way.

Seeing that he teased him so hard, Shen Xuan couldn't help feeling a little annoyed, put down those ledgers, and kissed him lightly on the forehead.

"Stupid Bao'er, I'm just kidding you. Several big merchants in the city will do this. Although it's against the law, it's also a private rule. The county government has taken advantage of it, so how can they let eldest brother go to jail? He realized that the younger brother didn't like these accounts, so he simply threw them aside, "Bao'er doesn't like it, big brother won't force Bao'er to learn. Are you hungry? Yuxianglou is just across the street , brother take you there for lunch, okay?"

But Shen Ruiqing's attention was still on the matter just now.

"Brother really won't go to jail? In case these things are told—"

"Absolutely not, even if there is such a day, the eldest brother will take Bao'er and escape far away, okay?" A pair of deep eyes were full of Bao'er's face, and he couldn't help but lower his head. Kissed that delicate cheek, "Hey, I heard Bao'er's stomach growl, go have lunch."

When he said this, Shen Ruiqing's eyes, which were drooping because of worry, stared round, "No way! The stomach obviously didn't growl! You must have heard it wrong!" Hungry, how could it be that the stomach growled?

"That's Bao'er, you didn't hear it, I heard it several times when my elder brother hugged you... Come on, be good, let's go, I'll buy you a golden cake on the way."

The two brothers left the shop in this way.

Today's sunshine was not too strong, and it was only a street away from Yuxiang Tower, so the two simply stopped taking the carriage and walked directly.Shen Ruiqing wasn't very hungry yet, she walked slowly around the stalls on the street, and within a few steps, Shen Xuan had already helped him get a lot of things.

Seeing Bao'er looking at the stall selling tiger-toed shoes, the man finally showed a little helpless expression.

"Ruiqing, these are children's clothes..."

"I know, I know." He naturally understood that the tiger-toed shoes were worn by a one or two-year-old child, but when he saw that silly look, he couldn't help but feel distracted, "It would be great if there was a child in the house." ..."

"Isn't there already a child in the mansion?" Shen Xuan raised her eyebrows and couldn't help but chuckle.Shen Ruiqing was still a little unresponsive, thinking blankly of who in the house had a newborn baby.When he saw his elder brother looking at him, he finally came to his senses and puffed up his cheeks angrily.

"Why is Ruiqing a child, she has grown up so much!"

"But Ruiqing is so much younger than elder brother, why isn't she a child?"

"It's obvious that you are too old..." He didn't dare to speak out, but just tilted his head gently and said, but Shen Xuan still listened to him, and rubbed his hair extra hard.

The two of them chattered like this and walked to the Yuxiang Building, when the waiter in the store saw the young master of the Shen family, he hurriedly greeted him courteously, and led him to the private seat on the second floor.However, before sitting down, a voice that displeased Shen Xuan sounded——

"Hey! Shen Baoer!! What a coincidence! I met you here!" Qi Peiben was wandering to the Yuxiang Building alone for dinner, and saw Shen Ruiqing just after ordering, and hurriedly stood up, taking two steps. He stepped up and patted the little shoulder, "What a coincidence, didn't you come to school today to stay with your brother at home? Why did you come here for dinner?"

His eyes were full of Bao'er, and he subconsciously ignored Shen Xuan who was on the side. He was so affectionate that he wanted to hook his shoulders together, "I just ordered food, and it's okay to eat alone, Bao'er, you really came at the right time. Come and walk with me—”

Shen Ruiqing blinked blankly.

Shen Xuan, who had been ignored all this time, coughed sullenly.

"Today, Mr. Shen just brought his younger brother to have a meal together, so he won't be at the same table with Young Master Qi." After seeing Qi Pei, the man's originally relaxed mood sank, his face was full of displeasure, even the usual I don't even bother to pretend to be kind.Qi Pei was taken aback, and looked at Bao'er at a loss, and then at the eldest son of the Shen family who was obviously unhappy.

"Hey...meeting is fate, and elder brother shouldn't be born like this. Come on, Xiaoer, bring all the dishes I ordered to this table just now, and let's make a table together." The fan in the room fanned, Qi Pei faced the fierce eyes of the eldest son of the Shen family, and forced a coquettish smile, "Bao'er, do you think it's okay?"

Shen Ruiqing's name was suddenly called, and she blinked stupidly.

"Ah... ok, ok... But it's just a meal... Bro, shall we sit down?" He looked up at Shen Xuan, then at Qi Pei who was fanning him attentively.It was hard for Shen Xuan to refuse any more, so she reluctantly gave an "um" to agree.

Qi Pei pulled Bao'er up and sat down on the chair.

There were only two stools on each side of the small table, Qi Pei and Shen Ruiqing sat together, so Shen Xuan had to go to the other side, as if being excluded.His complexion darkened again, but seeing Qi Pei and Bao'er's intimate appearance, he had to smile politely again.

"Master Qi seems to be crowned next month, right? The family also accepted the post that was handed over earlier, why are you still studying in the school like my family Ruiqing? At this age, you should also be learning to take care of shops. Business is."

Xiao Er handed over the menu.

Qi Pei originally wanted to talk to Bao'er more, but when he heard Shen Xuan asking himself, he quickly sat up straight, "What elder brother said is true, but my parents think it's better to read more books, and then I will get a good grade in the exam." .”

He thought that his answer was correct, but he didn't know that the "big brother" made Shen Xuan's mood sink again, and he almost couldn't even keep the smile on his face.And at this moment, Shen Ruiqing also spoke in a low voice, as if speaking for Qi Pei.

"Brother, Qi Pei is different from us. He is already a scholar, and the master said that he will definitely be a scholar."

"That's really young and promising." The man smiled, poured a glass of wine and handed it to Qi Pei, and poured another glass for himself, "Then toast to Shao Qi first? I wish you a title on the gold list."