Chapter 180: Li Xiaonan’s Ghost Talisman
Gu Yan glanced at the Crown Prince and pointed to the long desk by the window, “There are some figures that need your review.”
“Alright!” Li Xiaonan responded readily, stood up, walked to the long desk, picked up a roll of transparent bamboo paper from the desk, unrolled it, and exclaimed in surprise, “Did Mr. Niu send this back?”
Gu Yan and the Crown Prince exchanged a look and smiled, “Yes, it just arrived. Are these the symbols you two agreed upon?”
“Yes, I wrote them for Mr. Niu, and Mr. Niu also finds them very useful. Shall I write them out?” Li Xiaonan pulled out a chair, sat down, leaned forward, and picked up the abacus.
Gu Yan and the Crown Prince stood behind Li Xiaonan, one on each side. Gu Yan pointed to the dense numbers on the paper, which was thin enough to be transparent, and smiled, “Can these scribbles of yours correspond one-to-one with the numbers?”
“Yes, it’s just twenty or thirty symbols. Once I write them out, you’ll understand. It’s fast to record numbers with symbols.” Li Xiaonan picked up a piece of paper and instinctively rubbed it. It was excellent matured Xuan paper; matured Xuan paper with this texture was extremely expensive.
Gu Yan reached out, pulled over the exquisitely carved, slender pen box on the long desk, opened it, and pushed it in front of Li Xiaonan.
Li Xiaonan looked at the more than a dozen beautiful charcoal pencils neatly arranged in the pen box. The pencils were sharpened exquisitely, arranged from thick to thin. Li Xiaonan reached out and stroked the row of charcoal pencils, sighing with satisfaction.
She loved the finest paper and beautiful stationery.
The Crown Prince watched Li Xiaonan pick a slightly thicker charcoal pencil and quickly write ten number symbols and their corresponding numbers on the matured Xuan paper. He said to Gu Yan with a smile, “How is her calligraphy?”
“Her ‘Zan Hua Xiao Kai’ is the best, very neat,” Gu Yan replied.
Li Xiaonan quickly wrote out twenty or thirty number symbols and pushed them forward. She first reviewed the dozen or so sheets of transparent bamboo shadow paper, then picked up a few sheets of matured Xuan paper, pressed them down with a paperweight, and began to list and calculate the character numbers sent by Niu Cheqian, writing with her right hand and flipping pages with her left.
“With her personality, her ‘Zan Hua Xiao Kai’ is surprisingly the best,” the Crown Prince remarked casually while carefully examining the dozens of symbols.
“She said she practiced ‘Zan Hua Xiao Kai’ to copy books for money,” Gu Yan replied.
The Crown Prince chuckled.
After filling one page, Li Xiaonan grabbed the abacus and quickly began to move the beads.
The Crown Prince and Gu Yan fell silent, watching from either side as Li Xiaonan rapidly moved the abacus beads with her left hand while writing numbers with her right.
Li Xiaonan calculated for nearly two hours straight. She pushed away the abacus, shook her tired and sore hand, and patted the stack of matured Xuan paper, laughing, “This must be a false account that Mr. Niu helped them create! These should be accounts for one to two months.”
The Crown Prince and Gu Yan exchanged a look and burst out laughing simultaneously.
“Can you redo these accounts? Preferably, do them side-by-side, one true and one false,” Gu Yan said with a smile.
“Yes, but it’s quite troublesome,” Li Xiaonan said, pinching her chin and frowning.
Restoring these numbers and listing them line by line was indeed quite troublesome.
“You don’t have to repay the silver you borrowed from me. I’ll give you another hundred taels,” Gu Yan said with a smile.
The Crown Prince raised his eyebrows.
“Am I that kind of person?” Li Xiaonan glanced sideways at Gu Yan. “You don’t need to give me another hundred taels. Consider it repayment for the human affection of letting me read in your library. Listing them all will take three to four days. Will it be here?”
Gu Yan glanced at the Crown Prince and nodded.
“Then I’ll start tomorrow. It’s too late today. Find me some blank account books, about ten of them,” Li Xiaonan said, then pointed to the row of charcoal pencils. “These are too thin, and these are too thick. The ones from here to here are just right. Prepare more.”
“Alright,” Gu Yan readily agreed.
“What do you want to eat?” the Crown Prince asked with a smile.
“Is there any more mochi?” Li Xiaonan asked softly.
That mochi was the best mochi she had ever eaten.
“Yes, I’ve had them teach the pastry chefs at the villa how to make it, so they can make it for you often in the future,” the Crown Prince said with a smile.
“Thank you,” Li Xiaonan said, then looked at Gu Yan. “I’m going back now. I’ll come again tomorrow.”
“Mm.”
Watching Li Xiaonan leave the flower hall, the Crown Prince smiled and said, “She only said you don’t need to give her another hundred taels. Your debt is still to be cleared. How much silver did she owe you?”
“One hundred taels,” Gu Yan replied with a smile.
The Crown Prince was taken aback in surprise, then clapped Gu Yan on the back and laughed heartily, “One hundred taels? Then you’ve gotten a great bargain!”
………………………………
The next day, as soon as the sun rose, Li Xiaonan arrived at the Prince’s Estate Villa. As before, a servant waited inside the second gate and led Li Xiaonan into yesterday’s flower hall.
Li Xiaonan buried herself in managing accounts all day. The two servants who attended her at the door were unfamiliar faces, but their attentiveness and skill left Li Xiaonan in awe.
As the sun set, Li Xiaonan had sorted out two account books. Her back and neck ached from exhaustion. She stood up, rotating her neck and twisting her waist, then kicked her legs. She said to the two servants at the door, “I’m going back now. I’ll come again tomorrow.”
The servants quickly escorted her to the second gate. Inside the second gate, Wan Jing was already waiting. After getting into the ox cart, Li Xiaonan, exhausted, slumped onto a large cushion.
“Shi Gun told me not to ask you anything. Don’t talk. I’ll give you a massage,” Wan Jing said, pulling Li Xiaonan to lie down properly and massaging her shoulders.
“Your hands are too light! Lighter, like this, upwards. A bit too high, come down a little. Yes, massage for longer. Wan Jing, your technique isn’t very good,” Li Xiaonan directed Wan Jing, adding a complaint.
“How many times have I told you? I don’t plan to work in the estate, so I haven’t learned to serve people! This is just a little bit I learned from massaging my mother’s shoulders. If you think it’s not good, I’ll have Shi Gun pick someone who knows how to massage to accompany you in the ox cart tomorrow!” Wan Jing retorted impatiently.
“You’re doing a good job. No need to find anyone else. Switch shoulders, lighter, lighter!” Li Xiaonan directed Wan Jing to massage her all the way. She got out of the ox cart at the Cai Lian Lane Entrance, yawning as she went inside.
After diligently sorting for four full days, Li Xiaonan had compiled eight thick account books. She stacked them on the long desk and patted them forcefully, completely satisfied.
She really loved the sense of accomplishment from completing a job!
Li Xiaonan stood up and paced around the spacious flower hall, jumping over something and then jumping back. She patted the stack of account books a few more times, picked up one, opened it, and looked at the neat numbers she had written, sighing with satisfaction once more.
She was so capable!
On this day, just after the early morning meal, Li Xiaonan returned to her home in Cai Lian Lane.
Mei Jie was boiling cowpeas and drying them, with Wang Yuting following Mei Jie, chatting and helping.
“You’re back so early today! There’s tea in the house, just brewed. Pour yourself some,” Mei Jie called out without stopping her work.
“Don’t mind me.” Li Xiaonan took a book from inside the house and sat in the old rocking chair under the corridor, reading leisurely.
Mei Jie and Wang Yuting continued their work and chatter.
“Where was I just now?” Mei Jie asked, sitting on a small bamboo chair washing cowpeas, while Wang Yuting carried a bucket of water from the well.
“You were saying that your brother, sister-in-law, and your eldest nephew came yesterday.”
