TFWYH – Chapter 123 Bookkeeping Methods

“But…”

“You’re treating me like an outsider?”

Otherwise, why would you always think you can’t take advantage of me?

Ling Yue was struck speechless.

True enough—at home, a daughter follows her father, a wife follows her husband, and if the husband dies, she follows her son. The eldest brother is the head of the household.

If her sister-in-law bought the house, then it was her brother’s. What business did a younger sister-in-law have meddling?

After all, a younger sister would eventually marry out into another family.

Ling Yue: …

Only just realizing it now, it seemed she was actually the outsider.

No, no!

She nearly let her sister-in-law’s words lead her astray.

“No matter what, I still have to give you money. It was agreed that you’d get twenty percent of the family’s business. That money—you can’t not take it, right?”

“…,” Tang Wan winced. She’d forgotten about that.

“It’s settled then. Once we get back, I’ll tally things up and hand you the money!”

Ling Yue saw her sister-in-law’s stiffened expression and the twitch at the corner of her lips.

If crooked logic won’t work on you, then I’ll hit you with straight reason!

Even though the house would belong to her brother, she herself was still part of the family. And right now, all the money-making ideas came from Tang Wan. How could she just sit back and let Tang Wan keep giving without doing anything herself?

Without Tang Wan, forget buying a new house—whether the family could even survive this winter would have been a problem.

One couldn’t live without gratitude, nor take another’s kindness as a matter of course.

Besides, everything she had came from her sister-in-law. Handing all the money over was only right.

True to her word, Ling Yue immediately rushed into her room once they returned home, not letting Tang Wan follow.

A short while later, she brought out over fifty taels of silver and handed it to her.

Tang Wan looked at the money but didn’t take it. Instead, she firmly demanded to see the account book.

Ling Yue had anticipated this and produced the ledger, handing it over. “Take a look!”

Tang Wan eyed her suspiciously, then took it.

The moment she opened it, her eyes spun like mosquito coils.

Ancient ledgers weren’t like modern ones—no Arabic numerals, only traditional large-character numerals.

Worst of all, there weren’t even tables—just long entries of income and expenses.

For example, “On such-and-such year, month, day: income XX taels, expense XX taels.”

If there were many entries in a day, it could run two or three whole pages. Absolutely maddening…

The small account book was packed from cover to cover with tiny characters.

After just two minutes of looking, Tang Wan silently closed it, her expression indescribable.

“You keep accounts like this? Doesn’t it exhaust you?”

Ling Yue looked baffled. “How else would I keep them?”

Tang Wan sighed, picked up a stick, and wrote the Arabic numerals one through ten on the ground. She beckoned Ling Yue over.

When Ling Yue crouched down, Tang Wan began teaching her.

The ten numbers were simple, and Ling Yue picked them up quickly.

Then Tang Wan drew a sample table beside them, with “Income” and “Expense” headings, neat and clear at a glance.

“Got it?”

“Got it!” Ling Yue’s eyes sparkled, her admiration for Tang Wan growing. “Sister-in-law, how do you know everything? This way the accounts are crystal clear—so much better than my method.”

“Let me see, let me see!” Little Ling Chen squeezed in, curiously peering at the numbers on the ground. “What’s this?”

“They’re numbers. This one’s one, this one’s two…” Ling Yue immediately put her new knowledge to use, taking on the task of teaching Ling Chen.

Through the window, Ling Yu watched the three squatting in the courtyard. A glint flickered in his eyes, and the corner of his lips curved slightly.

When Tang Wan entered later to change his bandages, Ling Yu spoke casually. “I’ve read broadly, but I’ve never seen numbers written like that. Where did you learn them?”

“…,” Tang Wan’s heart skipped a beat out of nowhere, though her face gave nothing away. “From an old book I once read.”