CH 122

Mo Yan knew Mr. Cao’s illness was in the heart, and the medicine was his wife and Cao Zhang. However, they wouldn’t come back for a while.

“Zhao’er, you have to find a way to make your master happy, and make him go out for a walk more often. He can’t just stay in the hospital all day.”

Zhao’er seemed to have thought of something, “Master said there weren’t many in the clinic, so we have to go buy some.”

Speaking of medicinal herbs, Mo Yan thought of the land her family owned, “Zhao’er, then go with him. He’ll only get better if he does things he likes. It’s also a good learning opportunity for you. Can you help me find out which medicinal herbs are easy to sell, grow quickly and are worth a lot?”

Zhao’er scratched his head and frowned, “Sister, I’m afraid…”

Lu Junming said, “Okay, don’t make it hard on the kid. If you want to go, I’ll go with you.”

Chi Jie seemed to have noticed something, and touched his nose with his thumb, “Mo Yan, I think you want to say something to me, but keep being interrupted by Lu Junming.”

That movement was the action of a stereotypical delinquent. Mo Yan nodded repeatedly and said, “Yes! We need to have a good conversation sometime.”

Lu Junming tapped the silverware with his chopsticks, “I refuse!”

Chi Jie and Mu Yan said in unison, “Shut up.”

At this time, Chuzi came in with a food box, “How did my elder brother provoke you?”

Lu Junming said, “You see! This is how a true brother should be like!”

Chi Jie snorted, “I only need Mo Yan as a friend, she isn’t your sworn sibling!”

Chuzi didn’t know what to say, and Lu Junming wanted to knock on the silverware again but was stopped by Mo Yan, “My mother said only beggars knock on silverware.”

Chi Jie echoed with a smile, “That’s right, mine said the same.”

Lu Junming shoved a piece of meat in his mouth and stopped talking.

They didn’t drink today. After eating, Mo Yan wanted to settle finances with Lu Junming. Zhou Liangsheng said that he was good at arithmetic and could help out too. Chuzi helped Ze Wu clean up the table and took Zhao’er to Dengyun Tower to return the dishes, then went straight back to Jiaolan Courtyard.

Mu Yan opened the ledger, but Lu Junming wasn’t eager to read it. Zhou Liangsheng looked at it and said, “Sister, your ledger is too messy. It’s troublesome to add up the numbers and easy to mess up. Income and expenses should be recorded separately and tallied up daily, then re-calculated every month.”

Hearing the logic in his words, Lu Junming said, “Then when the workshop opens, you’ll be our accountant.”

“Me?”

Mo Yan also agreed, “You’ll get a good salary, and you don’t need to stay here every day as long as you manage the accounts well!”

Zhou Liangsheng said happily, “My father hopes that I can be an accountant in the future. He’ll be overjoyed to hear this news. After this, I won’t go to school anymore.”

This time, Mo Yan and Lu Junming spoke in unison, “No, you still have to study. You can come over here after school and during the holidays.”

“Alright!”

Zhou Liangsheng went through all of Mo Yan’s finances. After calculation, the storefront had made a net profit of 60 silver taels in the past six months.

The goods from the Upper Valley accounted for over 20 silver taels. According to the 50-50 split mentioned previously, Lu Junming should be given around a dozen silver taels.

After hearing that, he said, “There’s no need, it wasn’t easy for you to earn this money. You just have to return my investment fee.”

Mu Yan tore off the purse and slapped it on the table, “Then I’ll use this money to be a shareholder of the workshop.”

“That’s fine.”

Zhou Liangsheng helped to count. There were more than thirty taels of silver in Mu Yan’s purse. Excluding Lu Junming’s investment and split of the profit, there were a few silver taels left. She said it was to repay him for the clothes and fabrics he gave her.

Zhou Liangsheng looked at Lu Junming, “Since she’s becoming a shareholder, you have to write a shareholder statement. How much of the shares should she take?”

Chi Jie covered his mouth with his hands and coughed dryly, “I think she should get 50%!”

Lu Junming and Mo Yan spoke in unison again, but this time they had different opinions. He agreed, but she said, “No! The biggest taboo in business is muddled accounts, and I don’t want to take advantage of you. You bought this yard for eighty taels, so I’ll take a quarter of the shares. The money can be used for repairs and buying tools.”

Chi Jie spoke up again, “Since Yan’er is investing, I want to join too.” He also took out twenty silver taels and put them on the table.

Lu Junming pushed the money back to him, “I have starting capital, I don’t need this!”

Chi Jie pushed back the money to him, “If you don’t let me become a shareholder, do you want me to work for you for nothing? My wages are very high.”

Lu Junming thought for a moment and said, “Okay! But even if you become a shareholder, you can only have a maximum of 20% of the total shares.”

That was less than Mo Yan, Chi Jie pouted, “Why, I want to have the same amount as Yan’er.”

Lu Junming couldn’t help but grit his teeth and said, “Chi Jie, I’m only letting you buy shares because you’ve come so far. If you don’t want to, then don’t. Also, stop calling her Yan’er.”

Chi Jie didn’t show weakness. He pushed the money and said, “I want the same amount of shares as Yan’er. If you don’t agree, I’ll call her that every day.” Then, he called her that thrice in a row.

Lu Junming frowned and said, “Alright, fine, but if I hear you call her that ever again, you won’t even get 10% of the shares.” [1]

Zhou Liangsheng wrote the shareholding agreement, and the three signed it. Both Lu Junming and Chi Jie’s calligraphy were good, but Mu Yan’s was extremely ugly. She regretted not practising calligraphy seriously in her previous life.

Lu Junming couldn’t help laughing after reading her writing, “Yan’er, I’ll teach you how to write properly someday!”

Mu Yan nodded, but looked at Chi Jie, “Chi Jie, your handwriting is not bad either! Did you practise for a long time.”

He replied disdainfully, “I did design, so naturally…” Then, he seemed to realise something, and changed his words, “I come from the same school as Lu Junming, after all.”

“Then which school did you graduate from?”

Before he could answer, Lu Junming replied for him, “The largest academy in the Upper Valley, Pingning Academy.”

Chi Jie echoed, “Yes! We were deskmates.”

Lu Junming insisted on sending Mo Yan back to the shop, saying that he was looking for someone to do repairs. Zhou Liangsheng said that he knew someone, and the three left the workshop together.

Chi Jie watched them turn the corner and disappear, then kept standing there. Ze Wu asked from the side, “My lord, do you like Miss Mo Yan?”

With dull eyes, he said, “Maybe we can leave this place together.”

Ze Wu became a little anxious, “Young master, you and Mr. Lu are very good friends. As the saying goes, you shouldn’t bully a friend’s wife, and he likes Miss Mo Yan.”

Chi Jie sighed helplessly, “What are you talking about!”

“Didn’t you just say that you were going to elope with Miss Mo Yan?”

“Who said we’re going to elope, I meant…forget it, you’ll say I’m insane again. I’m ill, I shouldn’t be held accountable for my words!” After saying that, he turned and went back to the workshop.

Post-translation notes: I was hoping the author would throw a curveball and Chi Jie wasn’t actually a transmigrator.

I’m sorry for the missed update, I was busy revising since I had four tests this week and I have three more next week. I’ll try and get one out on Tuesday. As always, thank you so much for your continued support!

[1] The jealousy in Lu Junming’s eyes…he’s way too possessive.