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

Zhang Sanlang stood under the porch in the backyard, looking at the empty back building. The door was open, a few straws were scattered on the ground, and there were more than ten jars of pickled vegetables left in the corner.

He was engrossed in watching when a lively commotion arose at the alley entrance, a mixture of voices and the neighing of horses.

A moment later, he heard Old Sun call him.

Zhang Sanlang quickly walked to the courtyard gate and peered out.

Three carriages were parked in the alley. The lead carriage was fully loaded, covered with a tarpaulin, and bound with several ropes. The two carriages behind it were also full, their carts weighed down by the weight of the load.

Qian Laohei jumped off the first vehicle, his foot slipped when he landed, but he steadied himself by holding onto the shaft.

He wore a slightly worn blue cotton robe, with a new hemp rope tied around his waist, and a few hairs on the mole at the corner of his mouth trembled in the wind.

Upon seeing Zhang Sanlang, he immediately put on a smile, bowed, and walked over, saying, "Zhang Qianxing, I'm sorry to bother you."

Zhang Sanlang glanced at him. "Manager Qian, it's been a long time."

Qian Laohei's smile widened, and he bowed even lower. "You flatter me. Just call me Laohei. I'm just a gofer and a smooth talker; you're one of the owners!"

He straightened up, gestured with his chin toward the cars behind him, and said, "Officer Feng instructed me to bring you the year-end distribution and account books for your review. There's not much, so please don't mind."

Zhang Sanlang glanced at the three carriages, said nothing, stepped aside to let them in, and said, "Come in and sit down."

Qian Laohei responded and winked at the men in the car.

The men jumped out of the truck and began unloading the goods.

Qian Laohei followed Zhang Sanlang into the courtyard, but stopped at the entrance of the main room, not daring to go in.

Zhang Sanlang pointed to the folding chair, "Sit."

Qian Laohei then sat down on the side, half of his buttocks hanging off the edge, with both hands on his knees.

One shouldn't hit a smiling face, especially since three cartloads of valuable goods made it difficult for Zhang Sanlang to give him a hard time. So he poured a bowl of hot tea and gestured for him to come.

Old Qian hurriedly took the book and placed it on the corner of the table. He then took out two account books from his pocket and handed them over with both hands. One was thick, and the other was thin. The thick one was titled "General Income and Expenditure Book" on its cover, and the thin one was titled "Detailed List of Items".

Zhang Sanlang took it and opened the thinner book.

The first page lists each person's initial investment and share.

Zhang Sanlang's finger stopped on that line, and he looked up at Qian Laohei in surprise, "The warehouse has only been in operation for two months, and I only own 15% of it, how could I have 45 guan?"

Qian Laohei smiled ingratiatingly, "Zhang Qianxing, please let me explain."

He leaned forward slightly and lowered his voice a fraction, "Ever since Chen Youde's house was raided and the warehouse was sealed off by He Lantou and his men, Clerk Feng has been keeping an eye on it and has not allowed anyone else to go in and investigate."

"The amount reported by He Lantou is only a small portion of the goods in one of the warehouses. You are unaware of the details here. Therefore, Clerk Feng specifically instructed me to explain it to you."

Zhang Sanlang's brow twitched slightly.

Qian Laohei continued with a laugh, "You were too busy at the time, and the warehouse inventory documents had already been signed and stamped by Tao Yasi, so you didn't go to the site to check them and made the accounts according to the documents. So apart from the three yamen officers and He Lantou, no one knew the real situation."

Zhang Sanlang nodded without saying anything.

He opened the thick ledger and quickly glanced at it.

Two hundred and thirty-one strings of cash, eight hundred and sixty-five coins.

The goods were valued at over 300 strings of cash.

The mules, horses, carriages, and boats are valued at four hundred strings of cash.

Thirty-two taels of gold and two silver balls were also found, with a total weight of four hundred and fifty taels.

His finger slowly traced across the paper, stopping at the few lines of numbers, and he was quite shocked: the hidden goods of the three warehouses were worth more than 1,700 strings of cash!

It was four hundred more than the huge sum deposited into the official funds!

Qian Laohei glanced at his face and lowered his voice even further, "Actually, Tao Yashi knew as well. But he didn't want to get involved in these deals, so he only took twenty taels of gold and that was it."

Zhang Sanlang forced himself to remain calm and continued to look through the account books.

The income and expenditure records for each year are kept page by page, with the annual net profit ranging from three to four hundred strings of cash.

Fifteen percent of three hundred strings of cash is exactly forty-five strings of cash!

When Qian Laohei saw him turn to those pages, he said, "According to Feng Yasi, this year's dividends are not calculated based on two months, but on the whole year. Your 15% is 45 guan."

Qian Laohei leaned forward again, "I've already delivered 150 strings of cash to Clerk Feng. I also received 15 strings myself. It's all thanks to Clerk Feng and Zhang Qianxing. I was just running errands and doing my bit."

Zhang Sanlang glanced at him.

Qian Laohei quickly averted his gaze, rubbed his hands together, and chuckled awkwardly, "Clerk Feng also said that Zhang Qianxing just separated from the family and his family's wealth is a bit thin. The distribution of provisions will be done according to the rules, but the New Year's goods should be distributed more generously."

He stood up, walked to the door, and called out to the workers who were still unloading goods in the yard, "Bring in those last few boxes too!"

Zhang Sanlang closed the account book and placed it on the table.

He picked up the teacup, took a slow sip, and looked at Qian Laohei.

Qian Laohei stood at the door with his back bent and his hands hanging down in front of him, a smile that he dared not let go of.

Zhang Sanlang put down his teacup. "Officer Feng has gone to great lengths. You've also worked hard. Please thank Officer Feng for me when you get back."

Qian Laohei nodded hurriedly, "I've got it. Does Zhang Qianxing have any other instructions?"

Zhang Sanlang shook his head.

Qian Laohei bowed again, backed out of the main room, turned and walked into the courtyard, waving to the workers, "Hurry up and move it, don't dawdle."

The workers went in and out, unloading the goods from the truck and carrying them to the backyard as Zhang Sanlang instructed.

It took the five of them a good half hour to finish moving everything.

Qian Laohei was the last to leave. Standing at the courtyard gate, he cupped his hands in a respectful gesture to Zhang Sanlang and said, "Zhang Qianxing, I'll head back now. Please feel free to give me any instructions."

Zhang Sanlang nodded reservedly.

Qian Laohei jumped onto the carriage, cracked the whip, and the three carriages drove out of the alley one after another.

Zhang Sanlang stood under the porch, looking at the backyard.

After everyone left, Ximei and Qingge rushed to the backyard to see what was happening.

The three men, father and sons, were stunned and looked at each other speechlessly.

Rice, flour, wine, cloth, salt, tea, dried fruit, candied fruit, cured meat, cured fish, leather goods, porcelain, bamboo ware, and several bolts of silk and fine linen were neatly stacked.

Five wooden boxes were placed on the ground, their lids slightly ajar, revealing heavy copper coins inside.

Xi Mei walked over, glanced at the five wooden boxes, then turned to Zhang Sanlang, "Father, so much money! What did you do...?"

Zhang Sanlang's throat bobbed. "Go and call your Grandpa Sun, and also Afang, Azheng, Sister-in-law Sun, and Ayun to come and help."

happy Mei responded and ran away.

Zhang Sanlang bent down and picked up a wooden box. He weighed it in his hand and found it to be over fifty catties. He then knew that each box contained about nine strings of cash.

He first carried the five wooden boxes into the backyard bedroom one by one. Qingge followed behind him, supporting the bottom of the boxes with both hands, his little face turning red. "Dad, let me help you."

Zhang Sanlang couldn't help but laugh, "The little rascal's eyes are glued to money!"