Transmigrated into a minor official in a county government, with children at home waiting for rice t

He closed the booklet and placed it next to the fish basket. "All two thousand three hundred taels are here."

Zhang Sanlang looked at the two baskets of silver and said, "Take out three hundred strings of cash from them and distribute them to the brothers at the dock. Make sure to pay the twenty or thirty men under your command well, especially San Dao and the others who did a lot of work running errands."

He Lantou glanced down at the silver in the basket. "Third Master, this silver is specially for you. If you want to reward them, I'll take three hundred strings of cash from the warehouse. Ten strings for each person will be enough for them to live on for a whole year."

Zhang Sanlang nodded. "The almshouse costs money for rice, charcoal, and fuel. They recently took in a few disabled and sick elderly people, and the medicine alone is a considerable expense. With these two thousand strings of cash invested, it should last for two or three years."

He Lantou nodded.

He thought for a moment, then spoke cautiously: "Third Master, to be honest, by waiving the principal, waiving the interest, and cutting the interest by half, the brothers and merchants at the docks will all remember your kindness."

"From now on, if you need anything from the dockworkers, just say the word. However... while it's certainly a great act of charity that you're using so much money to subsidize the orphanage, it's at your own expense."

Zhang Sanlang's lips twitched slightly. "Brother He, compared to money, I value my future more. But the more you chase after a future, the further it gets. Just focus on doing what you should and can do right now, and it will come to you on its own."

Upon hearing this, He Lantou chuckled twice, said goodbye to Zhang Sanlang, and then took his leave with Liu Sandao.

Xi Mei and her brother, along with the Lin sisters, who had just returned from next door, came over together when they saw the door was open. Lin Qiao'er greeted Zhang Sanlang when she saw him, then pulled Lin Xiu'er back into her room.

The remaining siblings, Ximei and Qingge, had their eyes light up when they saw the two baskets of silver.

Qingge couldn't help but reach out and take a piece of silver, looking up at Zhang Sanlang, "Dad, give me two coins."

Zhang Sanlang glanced at him. "What do you need the money for?"

"Buy some candy." Qingge took a copper coin from his pocket and held it up for him to see. "I have one now. Dad, give me two more, and we'll have three. The malt candy that Granny Wang sells at the street corner costs three coins for a big piece. That'll be enough for me for three days."

Xi Mei squatted on the ground, counting the silver coins while scolding him, "Sister Yun gave you your daily candy this morning, and you finished it in half an hour. Didn't Father say he was going to limit your candy intake?"

Qingge pouted, "That's because I'm hungry. I'll eat slowly this time, really."

Zhang Sanlang looked at him, his lips twitching. "Where did you get the money?"

Seeing that the money wasn't bringing in any more money, Qingge'er looked unhappy. "Grandpa Sun gave it to me. He said it was a reward for Cege and me sweeping the floor for him. Dad, you're even stingier than Grandpa Sun!"

Zhang Sanlang leaned against the wall, glancing sideways at Qingge'er. "Sweeping the floor once, and you're only worth one copper coin? Your Grandpa Sun really spoils the child. Three copper coins for candy? Do you know that many families only earn a dozen or so copper coins a whole day's work?"

Seeing his father's unfriendly expression, Qingge quickly hid the copper coin behind his back, as if afraid it would be taken back. "Father, then give me one coin. Just one coin. I'll save up one more coin and that will be enough."

Zhang Sanlang resisted the urge to slap him, and finally pulled out a coin. "Go out and play. Don't cause trouble here."

Qingge'er happily accepted it, "Good dad! Let's go! Let's go!"

He clutched two copper coins, shuffled a couple of steps toward the door in his slippers, then turned back, looking longingly at Ximei, "Sister, you have so much money in your account, can you spare me a coin?"

Without even looking up, happy Mei'er shouted, "Get out!"

Qing-ge shrank his neck and said, "Okay!"

Zhang Sanlang withdrew his gaze and looked at happy Mei'er, "No need to count anymore, it's two thousand three hundred taels. Have the household accounts been settled?"

When asked, happy Mei quickly took out the booklet she always carried with her from her bosom.

Zhang Sanlang took the booklet and flipped through it. The pages were filled with entries that outsiders couldn't understand.

His finger stopped on one of the lines, which had a drawing of a donkey with a +50 symbol next to it.

"Uncle Sanbao asked for fifty more coins this month, saying the soles of his shoes were worn through. I bought him a new pair for forty-five coins, and gave him the five coins left over."

Zhang Sanlang closed the booklet, sat cross-legged on the ground, and said, "happy Mei'er, sit down. Father has a few words to say to you."

happy Mei looked around and, seeing there were no stools or anything like that, plopped down on the pile of silver, which meant she didn't have to look up to talk.

The oil lamp on the wooden cabinet cast a warm glow on her face, revealing a hint of maturity in her features.

Zhang Sanlang looked at it with increasing affection and couldn't help but smile and praise it, "You keep a good record. You know what to spend money on and what not to spend it on. You're much better than your father was back then."

"But bookkeeping only shows where the money went; managing money involves another level of skill. Do you know how to get people to do the work for you?"

happy Mei thought for a moment, "Is enough money enough? For example, if I give Qing Ge a penny, he can run around me three times."

Zhang Sanlang nodded. "Yes, that makes sense. However, if you want someone to work for you, paying them wages is only natural. But getting someone to follow you wholeheartedly is another matter entirely."

He sat up a little straighter. "For example, if you have a handful of millet and scatter it on the ground, the chicks will gather around. After they've pecked at all the millet on the ground, if you scatter another handful, they'll still gather around you."

"But if you stop one day, they will wait for a while. If they wait too long, they will think that you will not scatter rice today, and then they will leave."

happy Mei listened attentively, resting her chin on her hand, without rushing to ask any questions.

"So you can't scatter all the rice at once. Scatter a handful today, a handful tomorrow, so that they know you still have rice on hand each time."

Zhang Sanlang looked at her and said, "If there's one chick that pecks the most, you can give it a little extra sprinkle. When the other chicks see that, they'll peck even harder."

Upon hearing this, happy Mei asked, "Father, isn't this a trick?"

"That's true. But it's less effort for them to follow you than to find food on their own. You can feed them easily, and they can eat comfortably, so it's a win-win situation."

Xi Mei'er was silent for a moment, then lowered her head to look at the account book. She traced a few lines on the cover with her finger, and when she looked up, the light in her eyes was different than before. "Father, you're right. I understand."

"Understand what?"

"You need to understand that money shouldn't be spent recklessly. You need to know how long you can spend it, what you should spend money on, and what you shouldn't spend money on. It's like raising chickens; you can't feed them too little, you can't feed them too much, and you definitely can't not feed them at all."

Zhang Sanlang grinned and patted her on the head. "Our Ximei is so smart! That's right, if you don't feed her, the chicks won't follow you. If you feed them too little, they'll follow you, but they won't stick close."

"Overfeeding won't do either. If the chicks are full, they'll just run off to play outside, like Qing-ge'er, and forget all about their father and sister."