Chapter 221: Autumn Water Prose Unstained by Dust

Duan Rong suddenly folded the corners of the pages he had been reading in the ledger before him, closed it, and then stacked them into three piles in the order of their nesting.

Duan Rong placed these three piles of ledgers on the floor by the wall.

Huang Qing watched Duan Rong's movements, a flash of doubt in his eyes, and said, "Are you not putting the ledgers you've finished back on the shelves?"

Duan Rong turned his head and smiled, "Let's wait until all of them have been checked, then put them back together at the end."

Huang Qing looked at the honestly smiling Duan Rong and nodded; he felt that what Duan Rong said also made sense.

Moreover, Duan Rong had examined over thirty ledgers, but he had neither been seen taking notes on items nor using an abacus to verify calculations.

If one were to say he wasn't checking the accounts, he had looked through over thirty ledgers. If one were to say he was checking the accounts, he had merely flipped through them and closed them.

Although Huang Qing was doubtful in his heart, he had always believed in keeping out of matters that did not concern him. Furthermore, Duan Rong and Xiao Yu were the Principal's personal picks to come to the Accounting Office to check the accounts; he was merely an Apprentice Accountant, and Wang Dean had arranged for him to come to serve as an assistant to Duan Rong. As long as he did the tasks Duan Rong assigned him well, other matters had nothing to do with him!

How Duan Rong wanted to check the accounts was his own business!

Once the first item was checked, Duan Rong immediately began to set to work on the second item; this second item had been signed and confirmed by Xu Fuxian.

Duan Rong looked at this name and was slightly startled.

"Xu Fuxian... Xu Shouxian...?"

He did not believe that Xu Shouxian had written his own name wrong, because the two people's handwriting was completely different—one was slender and thin, the other thick and solid.

Duan Rong's heart suddenly stirred; he remembered that a few months ago, when he went to the East Ear Room to find Xu Shouxian to collect silver, as he stood in the Corridor knocking on the door, someone had walked out from the East Ding Room at the very end of the Corridor.

At the time, Duan Rong had felt that the person's appearance seemed somewhat similar to Xu Shouxian's.

At this moment, looking at these two names, Duan Rong could almost be certain that that person and Xu Shouxian were biological brothers.

However, this Xu Fuxian, while being the biological brother of Chief Accountant Xu Shouxian and also a Principal of the East Ding Room, did not seem to be Xu Shouxian's confidant.

Carrying his suspicions, Duan Rong began to set to work checking the second item.

Upon checking this, Duan Rong could not help but be greatly astonished. The accounts for this item did not use the complex, nested structure from before, but were very clear and simple, corresponding to only eight ledgers.

Moreover, the accounts were tight and seamless, with no discrepancies, and even the number of copper coins matched up.

A heavy doubt flashed in Duan Rong's eyes. "What is going on here? Xu Shouxian skims money himself, but doesn't let his own brother in on it?"

Duan Rong immediately dismissed this thought. Xu Fuxian's accounts were done too clearly and rigorously—one could call them "autumn water prose unstained by dust"—there wasn't even a single copper coin of discrepancy. This perhaps reflected some aspect of his character.

Duan Rong thought for a moment, placed these few ledgers directly on the desk, and continued to the next item.

Because the accounts Duan Rong was checking were all from the twelfth lunar month, the ledgers he needed were concentrated on the last few shelves.

After searching a few times, Xiao Yu and Huang Qing had become very familiar with those shelves, and their speed in finding ledgers was getting faster and faster.

And Duan Rong was also becoming increasingly familiar with the nested structure; with the two sides cooperating, the speed of checking the accounts picked up.

Meanwhile, Wang Dean led people to carry Li Jun to the nearest Medical Hall.

The physician sitting for consultations in that Medical Hall was a thin, middle-aged man.

Although Li Jun was unconscious, his breathing was normal, and he had no other symptoms; he was neither feverish nor in pain.

The physician looked for a long time but could not make heads or tails of it; he only asked this and that, and in the end, he just shook his head and said, "I fear he has contracted some strange, acute illness?"

"A strange, acute illness?" Wang Dean saw the physician's hesitant expression and felt his heart thumping, but he still said, "At the very least, please write a prescription so I can go get the medicine."

"This..." The physician was clearly in a difficult position, but he still wrote a prescription for Calming and Qi-Dispelling Powder and instructed, "After he takes the medicine, let him sleep for a night. If he still hasn't woken up tomorrow, you should try another Medical Hall."

Wang Dean took the prescription; he felt that there was a sense of shirking responsibility in the physician's words, but he still got the medicine and had the burly Apprentice Accountant continue to carry Li Jun, sending both the medicine and the person back to Li Jun's home.

Although the Apprentice Accountant was born burly, an accountant is not like an Escort; accountants do not practice martial arts. After this round of tossing and turning, he was already exhausted and was cursing Wang Dean in his heart.

Seeing Li Jun being sent back unconscious, his family was immediately thrown into a panic.

Wang Dean told Li Jun's father the physician's words exactly as they were, then made an excuse that there was still work at the Escort Agency and hurriedly dodged out of Li Jun's house.

Li Jun's father, while ordering someone to decoct the medicine, immediately went out again to invite another physician himself; hearing the physician's words as relayed by Wang Dean, it was clear he hadn't identified what illness Jun'er had, so how could he be at ease?

Wang Dean felt that by taking Li Jun to the Medical Hall, having him seen, and then sending him back home, he had already done everything he could.

After coming out of Li Jun's house, he returned to the Backyard Accounting Office of the Yuanshun Escort Agency.

Just as he walked into the East Yi Room where he was Principal, a young man stood up from behind the desk and said, "Chief Accountant Xu said that once you returned, you should go over there."

Wang Dean's eyes flickered. "Did Xu Lao say what it was about?"

"He didn't say. Only that you should go over once you returned."

Wang Dean nodded, turned his steps, and walked toward Xu Shouxian's Dongjia Room.

Wang Dean stood before the door of the Dongjia Room and knocked gently three times. He did not know how many times he had been here, but every time he stood before this door, he would still feel nervous.

After a few breaths, he heard a cough from inside the room.

Wang Dean then pushed the door open and walked in.

He saw Xu Shouxian sitting behind the desk, drinking tea while waving the palm-leaf fan in his hand.

At this time, Li Jun was not there either; there was only Xu Shouxian in the room. After Wang Dean entered, he pulled the door to a crack, walked obediently to Xu Shouxian's side, took the palm-leaf fan from Xu Shouxian's hand, and began to fan him slowly from behind.

While fanning, Wang Dean asked softly, "Xu Lao, you called me here—is there something you wish to instruct?"

Xu Shouxian took a sip of tea and said, "How is Li Jun?"

Before Wang Dean had come in, he had already anticipated that Xu Shouxian would ask about Li Jun.

"We went to the Medical Hall to have him seen, and I got the medicine."

"Afterward, I sent him home; his father is taking care of him. Although he is unconscious, his breathing and pulse seem normal. I expect it is not a major problem; after taking the medicine, he should recover quickly."

Xu Shouxian nodded and said, "That child's health has never been very good. Dean, have you ever heard of the saying, 'excessive intelligence leads to an early death'?"

Wang Dean said, "Brother Li Jun likely won't..."

Xu Shouxian suddenly turned his head to look at Wang Dean and said, "Since you know his health is not good, let him drink less alcohol in the future."

Upon hearing this, Wang Dean's heart skipped a beat, and the palm-leaf fan he had been waving continuously actually paused there for a few breaths before he began fanning again.

Wang Dean said, "Xu Lao is right; I will be mindful of it in the future."

After Wang Dean retreated from the Dongjia Room, his face was a mix of uncertainty.

It seemed he had truly been too clever by half in this matter. He had often invited Li Jun to eat only because Xu Shouxian valued him.

Li Jun was unconscious; did it really have to do with drinking with him? But the facts were no longer important; clearly, Xu Lao already believed so, which was why he had pointed him out just now.

"Li Jun, you must wake up! If anything happens to you this time, Xu Lao will surely vent his anger on me."

(End of chapter)