Chapter 217: Wonderful Accounts Like Weaving

Xiao Yu took the rather thick summary ledger, sat before the desk, and without knowing whether she understood it or not, flipped through it until it made a rustling sound.

After waiting for a long time, Xiao Yu was becoming somewhat impatient, and only then did Huang Qing finally wipe the fine sweat from his forehead and hand a ledger into Duan Rong's hands.

Duan Rong took the ledger, glanced at Huang Qing, and said, "Brother Huang Qing, I'm sorry, I've troubled you."

Huang Qing was stunned for a moment and said, "Not at all? It is I who was too slow."

Duan Rong said, "It was my lack of consideration; I only thought of catching up with Brother Huang Qing and didn't expect that you might not be familiar with this Document Repository."

Seeing that Duan Rong was not only not angry at his slowness but instead explained it to him in a sincere tone, the heart that had been hanging in Huang Qing's chest suddenly settled.

Huang Qing smiled and said, "It's alright, I should be familiar with it after finding things a few times."

Duan Rong took the ledger, flipped directly to the end, and glanced at the final balance of money after the summary.

He raised his head, looked at Li Jun, and asked, "Isn't there quite a lot of money in these accounts? Why does Xu Lao always make excuses that there is no money in the accounts and drag on paying that sum?"

Xiao Yu and Huang Qing did not understand the meaning behind Duan Rong's words and looked at him somewhat blankly.

But Li Jun was suddenly very embarrassed; he gave an awkward smile and said, "I will go and disburse the money owed to Escort Duan for these past few months to you right now."

Duan Rong smiled and said, "That would be excellent!"

Not long after Li Jun went out, he brought back five banknotes, along with five receipts, and had Duan Rong sign them one by one.

Duan Rong took back his money and was immediately in a great mood.

Xiao Yu looked at Duan Rong and said, "Are you here to audit the accounts, or to collect debts?"

Duan Rong glanced at Xiao Yu and smiled, "How about I share ten taels with you?"

"Get lost!" Xiao Yu glared at Duan Rong with her beautiful eyes and lowered her head to look at her own ledger.

Duan Rong was fine, but Li Jun and Huang Qing on the side were somewhat infatuated as they watched Xiao Yu's coquettish expression.

Duan Rong smiled nonchalantly and continued to flip through the ledger in his hand.

After multiple life-and-death tempering sessions and the baptism of slaughter, Duan Rong's temperament at this moment was no longer what it had been when he first arrived in this realm.

Duan Rong suddenly pointed to an item in the summary entries on one page and said, "Where is the detailed ledger for this item? Find it for me to see."

Huang Qing looked at that item; he was familiar with the content of this item, but with so many ledgers in this room, where was he supposed to find it?

Huang Qing once again looked at Li Jun with a pleading gaze.

This time, Li Jun ignored him directly.

Xiao Yu glanced over here, turned her head, and said to Li Jun, "I have nothing to do for the moment; you are familiar with the Document Repository, go help him find it."

Seeing that Xiao Yu had spoken, Li Jun had no choice but to walk over, look at Huang Qing, and say, "Come, come here! I will teach you the method of distributing the numbering order of the ledgers on these shelves."

There were still five days left, and Li Jun did not want to help Huang Qing find things every day; he might as well teach him the method of how to find them.

Although there were many ledgers here, they were placed according to a certain pattern. After all, Huang Qing was an Apprentice Accountant and was already very familiar with various entries. Once Li Jun explained it once, he immediately saw the light, and in a while, he found the few detailed ledgers for the item Duan Rong wanted and handed them to Duan Rong.

Duan Rong took the ledgers and just flipped through them casually, putting on a show; he never intended to audit the accounts properly at all.

Xiao Yu had the same intention, and the two were almost in tacit agreement.

As Duan Rong flipped through the ledger, he suddenly saw that Li Jun, not far away, was actually holding an abacus.

Duan Rong smiled and said, "Isn't Master Li Jun known as the best at Mental Calculation? Why is the abacus still never leaving your hands?"

Xiao Yu was a straightforward person by nature; having her pretend to look at ledgers here felt even more tiring to her than escorting goods.

She was just feeling bored when she suddenly saw Duan Rong ask an interesting question, so she immediately raised her pair of beautiful eyes and looked over curiously.

Li Jun originally did not want to answer Duan Rong's question, but as soon as he saw Xiao Yu also raise her head and look at him curiously with her beautiful eyes, his heart suddenly fluttered.

Li Jun then smiled; although his eyes seemed to be looking at Duan Rong, his peripheral vision kept glancing at Xiao Yu as he said, "Being the best at Mental Calculation just means that my speed and accuracy in Mental Calculation are first-rate by comparison. However, under large-scale verification, the accuracy of Mental Calculation can never compare to Abacus Calculation. Besides, long-term Mental Calculation is also very draining on one's spirit; under the depletion of spirit, both speed and accuracy will decrease."

Duan Rong nodded; he had to admit that what Li Jun said made some sense.

After Li Jun finished speaking, he finally dared to glance at Xiao Yu. Seeing that Xiao Yu seemed very interested, he continued, "Actually, my Mental Calculation is just simulating Abacus Calculation in my mind. Therefore, this method of mine is also called Mental Abacus Calculation or Virtual Abacus Mental Calculation."

Xiao Yu was interested in the question Duan Rong asked; at this moment, when Li Jun started to talk about some dry technical terms, she lowered her head again to look at the ledger.

Seeing that Xiao Yu had no reaction to his boasting, Li Jun could not help but sigh in his heart.

Duan Rong's eyes suddenly flashed as he said, "Master Li Jun, may I borrow your abacus for a look?"

Li Jun hesitated for a moment, but still handed over his abacus, saying, "This Copper Abacus has been with me for more than ten years. It was crafted for me by my grandfather when I first started learning Calculation Rods."

Duan Rong was slightly surprised in his heart; copper in this realm was not cheap, and he said, "Master Li Jun also comes from a family with a scholarly tradition?"

Upon hearing this, Li Jun said, "My family has been accountants for three generations."

While the two were talking, Duan Rong had already taken the abacus from Li Jun's hand; the abacus was made of pure copper, and it felt cold to the touch.

Duan Rong borrowed the light to look at the Copper Abacus in his hand.

This abacus was not very large; after all, copper was not cheap, and a copper abacus would be too heavy if it were too large, and it was not meant to be used as a weapon.

Under the mottled light, Duan Rong could see that the surfaces of the Calculation Beads were polished until they were shiny and bright, but the inner cores of the beads had all grown a layer of blackened copper patina; this abacus clearly had some years on it.

Looking at the abacus before him, Duan Rong suddenly said to himself, "Spirit Reader."

As this thought flashed through Duan Rong's mind, a set of data immediately appeared before his eyes.

Artifact: Copper Abacus

Spirit Artifact Tier: Third Tier

Devour Requirement: Host Spirit Power Level 3 (Satisfied)

Devour Effect: Calculation Rod Mastery, Virtual Abacus Mental Calculation, Wonderful Accounts Like Weaving Mastery.

Looking at the data before him, Duan Rong was surprised in his heart: Three masteries? This abacus was actually a Third Tier spirit artifact.

Duan Rong's heart stirred as he stared at those three devour effects. Thinking of the last one, Wonderful Accounts Like Weaving, he thought that with this devour effect, he would probably be able to understand these accounts. After these few hours, Duan Rong felt that pretending to audit the accounts was even more tiring than actually auditing them.

He then said to himself, "Devour!"

Almost the instant the word "devour" flashed through his mind, the data panel before Duan Rong's eyes flickered and blurred, and then it dissipated.

Duan Rong smiled, handed the copper abacus back to Li Jun, and casually praised, "A fine object!"

Afterwards, the few of them each went about their own business in the dimly lit dark room.

Li Jun had long since seen that Duan Rong and Xiao Yu were merely putting on an act; they could not understand those account books at all. Furthermore, when the two audited the books, they just flipped through them blindly. He never saw them take notes, let alone cross-check anything. At the very least, the two had flipped through several account books without even touching an Abacus. What? Were they doing Mental Abacus Calculation just like him?

However, Huang Qing was no longer so nervous. He was a quick-witted person by nature; once Li Jun explained it, he understood the logic behind the categorization and arrangement of the account books. Whenever Duan Rong asked him to find any account records, he could find them very quickly.

(End of chapter)