Chapter 219

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Protagonist:

Song Miao

The cart interior naturally did not hold Song Miao alone.

Because she had received Han Li's greeting, Dabing on the side also brought Liang Yan out to show their faces, waving goodbye to him; beside them, a whole crowd of students from the other carts were howling in a chaotic chorus of "Han the Leader," "Leader," "Farewell," "Meet again in the Capital," "Don't leave, let's travel back to the Capital together," and so on.

Listening to the ghostly wailing and wolfish howling nearby, Song Miao nearly laughed until her belly ached.

She waved goodbye along with them, and only when the mule cart had driven far off did she lower the cart curtain, blocking out the yellow dust rising outside.

Beside her sat another female escort guard; hearing such a commotion outside, she asked, "What sort of background does this Young Master Han, this Leader Han, have?"

Before Song Miao could reply, Dabing at her side hastily interjected, "Young Master Han comes from the Capital, and together with the officials of the Directorate of Waterways he helps dig canals, open channels, and build embankments and dams — all manner of affairs on the riverway fall under his charge!"

He added, "We are also riverway people! The other carts are filled with students borrowed from the Capital to help; I am helping the Young Lady as an assistant — we run the canteen!"

As he spoke, he puffed out his chest, wearing an exceedingly proud expression.

That female escort guard instantly grew solemn with respect, and hurriedly said, "Originally we were told we were escorting a group into the Capital, but no one explained their background in detail; so it turns out you are the ones opening the riverway! My apologies!! I know, I know! They all say that if this riverway works, later on Huai Prefecture's floods won't submerge things so terrifyingly again!"

She further praised, "Such a young lad, yet so capable!"

Dabing had spoken that earlier string of words with full vigor; now receiving praise, he first glanced at Song Miao, saw her smiling, and that smile was full of encouragement; he scratched his head, his voice dropping a few degrees, his face reddening, and said, "All right, a little bit capable — the Young Lady has praised me too!"

Four people in one cart, leaning against half a wall of luggage, chatting and laughing idly; the time on the cart was not so hard to endure anymore.

By midday, the convoy of mule carts stopped, and they found a tea house by the official road to rest and eat.

Song Miao got down a step later, only telling everyone to go ahead and help save seats; after the others left, she carefully collected the envelope Han Li had entrusted to her earlier into a wooden box, but when she went to put it in the cloth bundle, she turned it over and over and found no name on it.

Since she had been told not to fear looking, she simply opened it all up to distinguish the contents.

Inside, thick cloth was wrapped around them; unwrapping it, she saw one long and round, one long and square — both were stone seals.

Not long ago she had already received a name seal from Han Li once; seeing another now, Song Miao was not surprised, and first carefully examined that square seal.

Four characters were carved on the seal, arranged vertically and horizontally to form a pointed quadrilateral; vertically they read "Tingqing," horizontally "De yi."

She had long heard that Han Li's senior fellow disciple Chen Ting had another sobriquet, "Master Tingqing," so she knew this one was a leisure seal gifted to that old master; she silently recited it several times — sometimes reading "Tingqing Proud," sometimes "De Tingqing Yi," sometimes "Proud Tingqing" — each with its own meaning.

She looked at the characters and read them; the cursive script was carved with flying brows and dancing colors, especially that character "Yi" — the heart radical at the bottom, with its hook and dot, entirely resembled the long tail of some unknown animal, nearly curling up to the heavens, vividly as if that old master were right before her stroking his long beard and laughing heartily; truly delightful, truly seeing the seal is like seeing the person.

Song Miao looked a few more times, then rewrapped it and put it back in the box, and turned to examine the other one.

Unlike the square seal, that round seal was actually wrapped in a separate sheet of paper; unfolding the paper, two lines of characters were written inside.

"One shop seal, a token of my feelings."

The signature bore only the two characters "Zhengyan."

She turned the round seal over to look; carved on the bottom were the four characters "Song Ji Food Shop."

Round and plump clerical script, strokes and lines all clean and smooth; even an illiterate person seeing it would find it pleasing to the eye, looking very auspicious.

One look and it attracts wealth.

The more Song Miao looked, the more she liked it.

The luggage had long been stacked properly; she still did not mind the trouble of shifting and moving about, rummaging out a bundle pressed in the middle, finding the ink inside, first wetting a handkerchief with water to wipe the seal clean, dipping it in the ink pad, and since there was no paper on either side, only the paper note that had wrapped the round seal, she simply found a blank spot on that paper and stamped one.

An especially beautiful "Song Ji Food Shop" appeared on the paper surface.

When her own food shop reopens, she must certainly use it; if she makes fortune cakes again, or other pastries, the oil paper wrapping them on the outside can be stamped with this seal as a mark!

Stamped right in the center!

She admired the calligraphy and carving for a while, when suddenly a thought stirred; she untied the sachet from her waist, took out the name seal Han Li had given earlier, likewise dipped it in the ink pad, and looked for a place to stamp it.

That paper note was originally only the size of a child's palm; Han Li had left characters, and also stamped the "Song Ji Food Shop" seal, so the remaining space was already not much.

She searched around, and in the end could only squeeze it in between the "Song Ji Food Shop" seal and the two characters "Zhengyan" of the signature.

She did not think much while stamping; she only saw that below "Song Ji Food Shop" was "Song Miao" — one in clerical script, one in small seal script; though the scripts and styles differed, each had its own brush body and brush edge, very pleasing to the eye; but as she kept looking, she faintly sensed something was off.

Below "Song Miao" was "Zhengyan"; at a glance, one in clerical script, one in Palace Style script, stuck quite close together, they matched well and looked quite good — it was just that an unmarried man and woman's names pressed so close together was, after all, somewhat inappropriate.

Hesitating a moment, Song Miao in the end still folded that paper, tore off a small strip containing the area occupied by the "Song Ji Food Shop" and "Song Miao" seals, did not throw it away, but kept it together with the original paper, rolled it around the stone seals, put it back in the cloth bundle, placed it in the wooden box and locked it, then got down from the cart to eat.

While Song Miao tested seals in the cart halfway along the road, Han Li was inside a temporary shed built by the Huai Prefecture Riverway, examining accounts.

Before him lay several thick account books; the one on top, opened, was the Canteen General Ledger, and beside it the Flow Account — one clear, one detailed.

Kong Fuyang held a bowl; because a batch of students had left, yet the work had not lessened, he was naturally even busier.

At this moment he could no longer observe "no talking while eating, no speaking while sleeping"; on one side he slurped down soup-soaked rice, swallowing in a few mouthfuls, while saying to Han Li, "However you audit, the canteen's accounts are the cleanest — the Prefecture Yamen finished auditing and sent them back, and the one who delivered the account books kept saying, 'I've audited for ten-odd years, never done such an easy job.'"

Han Li did not take up this line.

He only feared that if he opened his mouth, a sentence like "You should also see who runs the canteen" would slip out, and then this fellow before him would spout some more messy wishes.

The canteen's accounts were indeed done with extreme clarity.

This clarity stemmed from the meticulousness of the original archives, and the account-reconciler's confidence and mastery.

Song Miao did things, and was never weary of the trouble; for instance, just the income and expenditure accounts had two copies — one was the true running account, the other was a running account sorted by different categories; every five days, every ten days, every month a summary was made, signed off separately by the storekeeper, the delivery person, and the receiver.

This summary was not a simple accumulation; she also did her own cross-checking — for example, which part of expenditure increased in the previous account period, why it increased, by how much, averaged out per head how much the personnel changed, and how the canteen adjusted next to balance it.

It sounds like a simple matter, but only those who have truly done it understand how difficult it is to do such a simple thing meticulously, and to persist in doing it.

First is the source of the numbers.

Everyone in the canteen, high and low, obeyed her commands; no one disobeyed; executing orders, they naturally gave not the slightest discount; different people mutually constrained and supervised each other, also preventing fabrication and random filling.

Second is the direction and framework of the cross-checking.

Song Miao herself was the head manager, and did not assign anyone else, but wrote it herself.

Her mind was clear enough, and she understood all processes and affairs thoroughly enough; the framework was large, focused on the overall situation, so she would not drill into a trivial detail and pursue it relentlessly; the readability was naturally completely different.

It is indeed not difficult, but this is extra work; not doing it is also fine; the person doing it gains not the slightest benefit; even after it is done, it may not be used; naturally no one would do this thankless, laborious task.

But for those who audit and verify accounts, those who reconcile and manage the general ledger, and those who next want to run the kitchen in the same way, with such clear accounts and analysis, they can save who knows how much effort and avoid who knows how many detours.

Han Li had already turned to the last few pages; at this moment he added up several large figures together, carefully verified them, confirmed they matched the flow account and the sub-ledgers with no discrepancies, specially pulled out those few comparison documents Song Miao had done alone, set them aside, and only then said: "It's done, close the books."

Kong Fuyang put down the bowl in his hand and walked over.

Han Li did not yield his place to him, but shifted the account books and specially pointed to a blank spot, saying: "Sign here."

Kong Fuyang did not think much of it, honestly wrote his name, set down the brush, picked up his bowl again, and sighed as he muttered: "Song Xiaoniangzi has returned to the Capital, now even meals can't be eaten properly — before, even the ordinary big-pot rice on the riverway, queuing up for a bowl, the taste was passable, now we can only make do perfunctorily."

Han Li had held back for half a day without praising, but led by this remark, finally said: "Actually the Prefecture Zhou Ya kitchen's food isn't extremely bad, it's just that it's transported all the way, still hot, steamed too long — someone as meticulous in everything as Stall Owner Song is, after all, hard to find."

Besides them in the room, there were also a few students who stayed behind, and also Lu Wenming, all eating.

Earlier when Han and Kong were discussing accounts, the others all listened quietly; now seeing they finally spoke of the food, they chimed in one after another.

"Exactly, these mustard green leaves are steamed yellow, looking watery, eating them they're salty, though not inedible... sigh!"

"You say how does Hua Prefecture Zhou Ya do it? Clearly the food isn't bad, the meat is whole, this battered fried meat should be fragrant fresh from the wok, pity transported so far, steamed until the skin is soft, full of steam, not tasty at all!"

"When Song Xiaoniangzi managed the food, it would never be like this!"

For a moment everyone missed the riverway kitchen Song Miao managed.

"Song Xiaoniangzi always timed the dishes; if they had to sit long, she either steamed or braised them, even pan-fried, deep-fried, or stir-fried dishes were foods that didn't mind sitting..."

"Precisely, that evodia pan-fried tofu — sigh, can't say it, once I start talking my mouth waters!"

Seeing everyone complaining, Lu Wenming came out to placate: "That can't be the same; we're just attached, the Prefecture Zhou Ya kitchen makes extra along with their own to send over and send us away, mainly they care about their own people inside, naturally can't be bothered to think more, whatever they eat, we eat!"

Then said: "When we return to the Capital, we'll just go find Song Xiaoniangzi ourselves and beg for food!"

Hearing this, immediately someone started counting on their fingers when they could return to the Capital, and others kept mumbling about the good dishes they ate before.

"I like that young ginger duck, don't know if Song Xiaoniangzi's food shop will sell that dish then!"

"Young ginger duck is tasty, but that pork bone soup with shrimp is even better! I want to order that!"

"That shrimp I asked last time, Song Xiaoniangzi said the Capital possibly doesn't have it; if we go back wanting to eat it, changing the variety, without such rich shrimp paste, it won't be that taste."

"Then change to another, change to that meat and egg soup, also tasty!"

"Eating that is not as good as ordering that fermented black bean and evodia mandarin fish! Song Xiaoniangzi said meat and egg soup is particularly easy to make, even wrote the recipe, if you want it, come copy a sheet from me, go back and have your family make it following it, or learn to make it yourself!"

"Would what's made be the same taste?? Song Xiaoniangzi's skill, my family and I what skill!"

Hearing everyone here every word and sentence not leaving Song Miao, either praising or praising by comparison, Han Li though silent, face not showing, in his heart inexplicably a thread of joy rose.

That joy truly had no reason, like honey dripping from a flower's tail, eaten into the mouth, clear and sweet, still carrying the fragrance of flowers.

Provoked by this fragrance and sweetness, it was as if a flower also sprouted in his heart out of nowhere, swaying as if beckoned open.

Han Li lowered his head, picked up the brush and dipped ink anew.

Opening the account book, he first went to look at Song Miao's name, then turned to the side — Kong Fuyang's had already been signed at a rather distant spot following the pointed place.

He tested the brush on scrap paper, saw the ink density suitable, the brush tip not bleeding badly, next to the two characters "Song Miao", signed his own name.

A moment after signing, he looked for a good while, he wanted to blow on it, but in the end didn't, hard-waited until the ink dried on its own, then put away the account book, carefully stored it, and also put away Song Miao's self-written comparison documents, preparing to take them to the Prefecture Zhou Ya in the afternoon to find Cen Dezhang, to get some benefits back for Stall Owner Song.

The events on the Hua Prefecture Riverway, Song Miao knew nothing of.

The party traveled by day and rested by night, finally arriving at the Capital one afternoon.

Everyone went to different places, bid farewell to each other, and the carts each returned to their own homes.

Seeing the sky color not early, Song Miao asked the driver to go deliver Dabing first.

Dabing however waved his hands repeatedly, saying: "I still have to help Young Lady move and put away luggage!"

"No need, I'm here! Besides, up front there's still Uncle Tian, no use for you!" that female escort guard said loudly.

Song Miao also said: "Gone two months, home is mostly worried too, I'll go back with you for a trip, give a greeting is good too."

Dabing declined for half a day, no choice, had to agree.

When arrived at the place, sure enough Song Miao sent the person inside, together with the Liu Family Uncle and Aunt praised Dabing from head to toe, then left.

Dabing rarely bashfully followed out to see them off, and reluctantly bid farewell to Song Miao, softly saying: "Tomorrow I'll come again to help Young Lady!"

Song Miao smiled: "Rarely back, rest a few days!"

Dabing refused to speak.

In his heart he both somewhat missed Uncle and Aunt and several cousins, and truly couldn't bear to part.

What he couldn't bear to part with was not only Song Miao, but also the Hua Prefecture Official Post and the rooms they stayed in on the return road.

Uncle's family naturally many good points, also looked after him, but living in the Capital, not easy at all, rooms fundamentally not enough.

He shared a room with his older cousin and two younger cousins, a big communal bed, one small box for things, entering and leaving accidentally stepping on each other's heels.

Now having gone to Hua Prefecture, tried one bed per person, didn't have to listen to teeth grinding and snoring, on the return road Liang Yan's sleeping posture also good, two people each had a cabinet compartment, comfortable, seeing about to return home and squeeze together with several brothers again, he found it very hard not to miss it.

Only hoping Song Xiaoniangzi can keep him long-term, and quickly open Song Ji, make it big, everyone under her can get a separate room, then he will definitely make a big cabinet to put things!

Having sent off Dabing, the cart turned toward Suanzao Alley.

Momentarily drove into the alley end, the cart stopped steady, Song Miao just jumped down from the cart body, heard a burst of footsteps, looked up, Song Ji Food Shop main door open, from inside walked out a tiny little person.

Seeing her, that little person widened eyes, delighted ran out thump-thump-thump, just ran a few steps, then turned back, thump-thump-thump ran back, ran halfway, shouted inside: "Mother! Mother! Elder sister is back!!!"

Finished calling, couldn't help turning back again, hurriedly pounced before Song Miao, hugged her leg and wouldn't let go, for half a moment, too embarrassed to say anything else, only shouted out: "Elder sister!"