Chapter 215: A Messy Arrangement

Zhu Xiaoqi went to Liu Lu to call Duan Rong over.

Duan Rong walked into the back courtyard main room and immediately sensed that the atmosphere was not quite right; Xiao Zongting was sitting there with an unpleasant look on his face.

Xiao Yu was also sitting on a grand armchair below. Seeing Duan Rong enter, she merely glanced at him, though this time she did not leave the room to avoid him.

Seeing Duan Rong enter, Xiao Zongting raised his hand to point at the chair opposite Xiao Yu and said, "Sit. I have something to say."

Duan Rong sat down immediately and glanced at Xiao Yu. He surmised that this matter must be related to Xiao Yu, which was why she was willing to sit opposite him like this.

Xiao Zongting looked at Duan Rong and Xiao Yu, sighed, and said with an air of exhaustion, "At the escort agency's year-end meeting today, the Manager handed the task of auditing the accounts to the two of you."

"Auditing? Auditing what accounts?" Duan Rong was completely bewildered.

"Auditing the accounts regarding the escort agency's business from the first month to the twelfth month of this year," Xiao Zongting explained.

"Audit the accounts over at the Accounting Office?" Duan Rong asked in astonishment. He turned his head to look at Xiao Yu and asked, "Do you know how to read accounts?"

Xiao Yu cast a glance at Duan Rong with her beautiful eyes and said coldly, "No."

Duan Rong rubbed his nose and pondered to himself.

Auditing was a task for auditors and was highly professional. Even if the accounts in this world could not be as precise and item-heavy as those in the highly developed industrial and commercial civilizations of his past life, it was not something just anyone could handle.

Wasn't Ruan Fengshan just making a mess of things?

Duan Rong complained internally, then looked up at Xiao Zongting and said, "Neither of us knows how to read accounts. How are we supposed to audit them?"

Xiao Zongting darkened his face and said, "How would I know how you should audit them? You two figure it out yourselves! Report to the Backyard Accounting Office tomorrow morning. Five days from now, report the results of the audit to the Manager!"

After Xiao Zongting finished speaking, he picked up his tobacco pipe, put his hands behind his back, and limped out into the courtyard to smoke.

Duan Rong and Xiao Yu sat in the hall, looking at each other in dismay.

Although Xiao Yu usually kept Xiao Zongting in check and didn't let him smoke too much, she could see that he was clearly very depressed, so she did not speak up to stop him.

Duan Rong felt that this matter was a bit suspicious; how did both the mid-year inventory and the year-end audit fall to Xiao Zongting's side?

Was Ruan Fengshan using Xiao Lao as a pawn?

In fact, Duan Rong had guessed Ruan Fengshan's intentions immediately.

Ruan Fengshan's personal attendant, Zhou An, had originally been a very important figure within the Escort Agency; one could even say he occupied a key position in the power balance of the entire agency.

This was because Zhou An exercised Ruan Fengshan's authority and responsibilities.

However, after Zhou An died, Ruan Fengshan's authority and responsibilities were left vacant, and since he had a huge mess of other affairs to deal with, he often couldn't attend to the Escort Agency at all.

After much thought, Ruan Fengshan decided to temporarily hand over Zhou An's authority and responsibilities within the Escort Agency to Xiao Zongting.

Firstly, he valued the integrity in Xiao Zongting's bones, and secondly, he truly had no one else to use. He had treated Zhou An quite generously, yet he still ended up feeding a wolf that bit the hand that fed it.

Through Zhou An, Ruan Fengshan understood one thing: no matter how shrewd or capable a personal attendant might be, they could handle answering and receiving guests, but the authority and responsibilities within the Escort Agency must never be easily delegated. Once a person tasted the flavor of power, it was easy for their ego to inflate and for them to forget their status; this was even more true for those from humble backgrounds. Once they gained power, they easily lost their heads.

In fact, Ruan Fengshan was perfectly aware of Xiao Zongting's predicament, but what task didn't have its difficulties? So-called "letting a fellow Daoist die is better than dying oneself."

Xiao Zongting was indeed full of frustration; he and Luan Jingfu truly did not get along.

Xu Shouxian had been an accountant at the Yuanshun Escort Agency for decades, and the two of them had worked together for half a lifetime. Luan Jingfu had only been there for a few years, but for some reason, Xu Shouxian had been getting closer and closer to Luan Jingfu over the past two years, which had already made him uneasy.

Now with this inventory and audit, he had become the person monitoring Xu Shouxian!

Wouldn't Xu Shouxian then lean completely toward Luan Jingfu's side, singing in harmony with him and opposing him at every turn? How would he be able to continue as Chief Instructor?

In the main room, Duan Rong and Xiao Yu discussed some details of the audit carefully. After a few sentences, Duan Rong could already tell that Xiao Yu was also a complete novice.

However, Xiao Yu seemed to be in a good mood and was eager to try her hand at the audit.

Duan Rong shook his head inwardly.

It seemed that tomorrow he would just have to play it by ear.

Duan Rong chatted with Xiao Yu a bit more about nothing of substance, then took his leave, departed Xiao Zongting's courtyard, and returned to Liu Lu.

Backyard Accounting Office, inside the Dongjia Room.

Usually, only Xu Shouxian and Li Jun were in the Dongjia Room. But today, Xu Shouxian's two confidants, Wang Dean and Zhu Shicheng, were also there.

The four of them were meeting here to briefly discuss tomorrow's audit.

"Never mind two little brats, our accounts are airtight; who could possibly find anything?" Zhu Shicheng said, fawning as he looked at Xu Shouxian.

Xu Shouxian said, "Shicheng is right!"

As Xu Shouxian spoke, he glanced at Li Jun beside him and said, "The structure of our accounts was designed by Li Jun in the first place. It's like a nesting doll; to clarify one entry, one has to flip through a dozen different account books. These entries also correspond to a dozen other entries. After two or three layers of nesting, let alone two brats, even an old accountant like me would get dizzy."

Wang Dean laughed, "Brother Li Jun is truly a genius at Counting Rod Calculation and strategy. Looking at the accounts made over these two years, I am truly impressed to the point of prostration by this nested account structure. Chief Accountant Xu is even more sharp-eyed and skilled at appointing people! Brother Li Jun is so young, yet you dared to hand such an important task to him. Who else would have such courage?"

Xu Shouxian said, "Alright, stop the flattery. Let's talk about the specific arrangements for tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Wang Dean's face immediately turned red.

Zhu Shicheng smiled and cast a sidelong glance at Wang Dean; Wang Dean was honest, and this flattery was a bit too obvious.

Xu Shouxian saw both of their expressions. Zhu Shicheng didn't know it, but what Xu Shouxian valued was Wang Dean's honesty.

For a leader who is controlling and suspicious, as long as you can complete the work assigned to you, the more honest and seemingly foolish a guy is, the more likely he is to be promoted and trusted.

The next morning, Duan Rong ate breakfast and went to Xiao Zongting's courtyard, then went with Xiao Yu to the Backyard Accounting Office.

The two walked into the main hall of the Backyard Accounting Office.

Xiao Yu was, after all, stunningly beautiful. As soon as she entered, the eyes of those Apprentice Accountants lit up, and they all looked at her in unison.

Just then, a young man stood up from a chair in the corner by the hall door and smiled, "You two have arrived quite early."

Duan Rong and Xiao Yu heard this and immediately turned to look at the man. The man cupped his hands slightly and said, "Please follow me."

Duan Rong and Xiao Yu clearly did not recognize this person; they rarely interacted with the people in the Accounting Office anyway. Duan Rong asked, "Where to?"

The man said, "Chief Accountant Xu has already made arrangements for your audit. He has asked Deputy Chief Accountant Wang Dean to coordinate with you two. I will take you to see him now. If you need any cooperation, feel free to ask him."

Duan Rong rubbed his nose. Although they were the ones auditing and had been personally appointed by the Manager, he and Xiao Yu were ultimately only Escorts, not even Escort Heads.

Chief Accountant Xu indeed shouldn't have received them personally; arranging for Wang Dean, the Deputy Chief Accountant, was already a high-level reception and could be considered giving them plenty of face.

(End of chapter)