Chapter 57: Great, I

Du Shanü only discovered at dusk that someone was missing from the home.

Lately, to gain a good reputation, she has been distributing free rice all day in the city.

She leaves before dawn and returns only after nightfall, keeping very busy.

She came home early today and immediately went into the newly built house to check on Leitie's progress.

After great effort she made it to mealtime, and as soon as she sat down——

Eh! Chinu isn't here!

That's quite a rare occurrence!

Ordinary commoners have few places to go out at night, and even more so in a remote border town.

Usually after finishing dinner, when it gets dark, she would take Yu Baobao to admire the moon and jade, and then Chinu would cling to them like a ghost.

This household basically follows this routine every day——

Eat dinner, admire the moon, fondle little hands, happily slip into the room under A Chou's dead‑eyed stare, then Chinu would thrust a leg between them, forcing them to let Chinu sleep in the middle......

They have been waging this guerrilla struggle like this for over ten days.

Today, as the sky was about to darken, Chinu still hadn't returned?!

That would mean tonight Yu Baobao could shout his throat raw and no one would come to his rescue!

Du Shanü chuckled to herself, and after laughing she finally asked:

"Did Chinu say where he was going today? His wanted notice is still up in the city."

Surely he hasn't run into danger again, has he?

We hardly have any wild cats at home—catch one and we lose one!

If he really was caught, we'd have to think of a way to bail him out......

Yu Baobao timely raised his hand o(*^▽^*)┛:

"I know! Nuonu said he was going to buy some cotton today."

"Last night he said our chatting while he was in between was too noisy, and he wanted to buy a knife for us—two blades, four holes——"

No need to be so specific about it!

Du Shanü scratched her head and finally remembered this matter:

"It seems I told him before bed to deliver the labor contract to Afang; I don't know if they heard it."

Anyway, whether they heard or not, Chinu's temper is very tsundere—his answer is always 'If you make noise again, I'll give you two blades, four holes.'

But though he says that, if they did hear him, he handles things very well, flawlessly.

If he heard and wasn't asleep, he should have gone to deliver the item.

Du Shanü relaxed a little and then asked Ouyang Yan about the household affairs.

These days Ouyang Yan's face clearly showed fatigue; hearing this, he replied:

"I was about to mention this—spicy sour noodles are selling very well; besides our own stall, neighboring villagers and several nearby taverns and eateries have come to inquire about orders."

"They have no grain, but they can pay in silver; I decided on my own, at a price of eight cash per jin, to sign contracts with the six surrounding towns and twelve taverns, supplying fifty jin per shop each day. After deducting the wages of the two mill workers and the cost of buying firewood and mountain goods, we can steadily earn four taels of silver each day."

"As for stored grain, we originally had a hundred shi, but the Wife Master has been distributing two shi of free rice each day for fourteen days straight, so the reserves have decreased considerably. Still, the plan to expand the granary is underway; I intend to build another cellar, and later, if we have surplus grain we'll store grain, and if not, we'll store some of the weapons the Wife Master and Leitie have developed.... which is also excellent."

Obviously, compared to ten‑odd days ago, Ouyang Yan seems to have finally figured out how to act as the Chief Accountant.

Compared to before, when Du Shanü had to decide everything, now he can make many small decisions on his own.

Du Shanü gave a slight nod of approval, and Ouyang Yan's weary face brightened a bit:

"In short, our current situation is: we have about sixty taels of silver in reserve, and fifty‑six shi of grain left."

"I don't handle silver; I only manage the stored grain. If the Wife Master needs to check the grain, she can call me anytime."

That's more like it!

Whether or not it matches up, hearing this clear report feels very comfortable!

Du Shanü didn't really prepare to nitpick over every bit of silver and grain; she waved her hand casually and said:

"No need; from now on, just keep working hard."

This was merely a comforting word of encouragement.

But who would have thought that as soon as his words landed, Ouyang Yan could no longer hold back, setting down his chopsticks blankly and muttering:

"I often wonder, am I truly happy being alive......?"

Du Shanü: "?"

Yu Baobao: "?"

The A Chou, Leitie, Ouyang An trio, who were busy puffing away: "?"

What's this?

What nonsense are you spouting?

Ouyang Yan's eyes glazed over, his face showing anguish:

"This morning a customer bought half a jin of loose‑sold noodles for five cash, insisted there was a speck of dirt on them, and demanded I buy them back for ten cash or he'd cause trouble. I pulled up the record of 'five cash sold', finally persuaded him to sell the noodles back to me for eight cash, just noted 'eight cash repurchase', when he immediately pulled out his money again and said, 'Forget it, just sell me again for three cash—I need to bring something home to explain to my wife.'"

"So I sold the item to him again for three cash, but not long after his wife came back. She's not unreasonable; she just said she wanted to return the goods to me and also make up four cash so I could exchange them for half a jin of new ones......."

The clatter of that speech fell, and even Du Shanü slowly stopped chewing.

Everyone was staring at Ouyang Yan's dazed state——

"Five cash sold, eight cash repurchased, three cash sold again, then collecting four cash for exchange?"

"What, what thing?"

"Well, is this a loss or a gain?"

In that instant, everyone saw stars and was stunned speechless.

Du Shanü reacted quickest, burying her head back in her rice, thus saying nothing more.

Ouyang Yan was still in pain; on his face, which still retained its charm, the affected, pretentious air he'd had while sipping tea was gone.

Only the despair of having been battered by life and accounts:

"Keeping these accounts isn't the slightest bit hard; hardship is reserved for the living, and I'm about to die, hahahaha!!!"

Du Shanü: "......"

The dumbfounded crowd: "......"

Well then, well then, there's no need for that!!!

Du Shanü tried to smooth things over:

"Eat, eat, whose cooking is this today? It's really good."

"Ah, yes yes yes! Hurry up and eat......"

"Glug glug......"

A group of people lowered their heads to eat bitterly, who would have thought Ouyang Yan wasn't planning to let them off at all; he simply gave them a resentful look and asked those present:

"Do you say we've lost or gained?"

The crowd's expressions turned fearful in an instant: (a scared face)

Detestable.

In the end, they still couldn't escape this.

Although she's a science and engineering student, Du Shanü really doesn't like doing business with an abacus!

Du Shanü began calculating in her mind, about to respond, when she heard a voice from the direction of the door; someone replied coldly:

"We lost one wen, but we still have the ingredient money."

"It's this simple and you still can't figure it out; do you really need to ask?"

Fool, fool, Chinu!

Chinu has returned!!!

The crowd's expressions became even more fearful in an instant, and even Ouyang Yan, who had just been teasing others, changed his face.

Chinu's expression darkened; he strode over the threshold with his long legs, blocking most of the light at the doorway.

He stepped forward menacingly, his aura pressing, lunging straight at Du Shanü's face, speaking each word with a pause:

"Get up, I want to take your seat."

?? The world's fiercest little lynx baby is about to return to his throne (crossed out)