Chapter 25 Actress Ru Fang, that damned vixen!

"You bastard, you've got a son, so you're using all your tricks on his own mother. Doesn't he even know who raised her with such hardship? Without me, would he be where he is today?!"

Chen Zhangshi overturned the tea tray on the table, and the porcelain shattered on the ground with a clatter.

"I gave birth to a son for nothing, he's a heartless ingrate! I went through all that suffering to give birth to this bastard, and he dares to threaten me for that girl!"

The shouts and curses came from the door, circled around the courtyard, passed through the hexagonal pavilion, and returned to the main room.

Seeing that she couldn't persuade them, Granny Sun quickly chased everyone out of the main room, saying, "Madam, please calm down, please calm down."

As she spoke, she went to the display cabinet and retrieved another tea set, poured some cold water, and handed it to Madam Chen. "Young Master was just acting rashly. He only has you in his heart. Whenever he gets something good, he always comes to you first to show his respect..."

"What a load of rubbish! I think he's just forgotten his mother after getting married!" Madam Chen slammed the empty teacup onto the table. "What's so good about that Li woman? Ruqing, tell me, that wretched girl, besides being passable in appearance, what does she have to offer? How did Bai'er fall for her? It's really strange! He grew up with a pure and abstinent heart, and I thought he really didn't inherit his deadbeat father's virtues."

"Oh dear, what's going on? Who is it that has upset the lady in broad daylight..." An exaggerated male voice rang out, its tone melodious and lingering, drifting in from the doorway like a feather landing on one's ear, tickling the back of one's neck.

The overpowering fragrance of gardenias wafted over with the movement of the newcomer's clothes, seemingly mixed with the sweetness of tea, and unconsciously softened Chen Zhangshi's complexion.

His gait was swaying, his red gauze wrapped in white silk, the hem of his clothes fluttering with each step he took on the blue bricks, each step a flower blooming.

Chen Zhangshi glanced at the man's eyes, her tone slightly cloying: "You've finally decided to come to my place today. Aren't you busy with your opera troupe?"

As her gaze swept across the room, Granny Sun coldly glared at the approaching man before walking straight out of the main hall.

"Oh, Madam, I'm here now~ Please don't be angry with him. I'm just a nobody, I have to do everything the troupe leader says, I have no freedom." The man lowered his voice and whispered close to Madam Chen's ear, his warm breath brushing against her earlobe, like a brush dipped in ink lightly brushing against her ear.

Before Chen Zhangshi could speak, her body went limp.

As Granny Sun turned to close the door, she caught a glimpse of the man whispering something in Madam Chen's ear, his hands already wrapped around the woman's neck and gently stroking her.

She closed the door, saying, "Go, go, go! What are you doing standing here shirking your duties? Watch out for your skin!" The two maids guarding the door then suffered an undeserved misfortune.

He said, "If Madam is not happy, then I will leave."

Madam Chen softened her voice and said, "I only said one thing to you, and now you can't even bear the slightest grievance."

The man said, "How could I? I can't bear to leave Madam for even a day. If it weren't for the troupe leader's orders, Rufang would wish she could be attached to Madam, accompanying her day and night. Wherever Madam goes, Rufang follows..."

His voice was soft and melodious, like the low murmur of a pipa. The sounds of warbling orioles and rustling willows drifted through the crack in the door, and all that could be heard was Granny Sun's stern face.

The rustling of fabric was accompanied by Chen Zhangshi's exclamation: "Oh, slow down... be gentle, be gentle, what's the rush..."

The man said, "Isn't this what my wife always likes the most? Be gentle, go slowly, will that ease her mind?"

"Oh! My nemesis, oh, my nemesis!" Chen Zhangshi's cries grew louder and louder.

Granny Sun stood outside the door, her eyes rolling upwards, only her nostrils still flaring out as she silently cursed: 'That damned elegant troupe, that damned Liu the vixen! Liu the slut! That worthless thing who uses her looks to please men! How come she wasn't stabbed to death when she went out? Ru Fang, Ru Fang, what kind of grown man is named Ru Fang? It sounds like he's no good!'

Suddenly, she remembered that she also belonged to the "Ru" generation, and started cursing again: "A grown man with the surname Liu, that sounds like a scoundrel!"

Now, the turmoil in the woodshed ended with Chen Junbai's high-profile sale of two first-class maids from Lanxin Pavilion. As for Madam Chen, after Chen Junbai personally invited the Fengya Troupe, she no longer had time to cause trouble for Liyang, and even her daily greetings were waived.

In the past, Madam Chen Zhang loved to hire opera troupes, especially the elegant ones. Each time they started performing, it would last for several days. Everyone in the Chen household knew that the owner of the elegant troupe, Mr. Liu, was favored by the mistress of the house, so they all tolerated his usual bullying.

On one occasion, Liu Rufang bullied a maid in Baomotang. Knowing that she would not get away with it if she complained to Madam Chen, the maid tore off a white silk ribbon and tried to hang herself. After being rescued, she complained to Chen Junbai.

After that, the Fengya Troupe disappeared from the Chen residence.

Who would have thought that the young master would personally step in and invite Boss Liu back?

In the past few days, one exciting event after another has occurred at the Chen residence. Everyone has come to understand that the young master is competing with the madam for her sake.

The entire household immediately reached a tacit understanding: the young mistress is no longer the same as before; she is a mistress who cannot be neglected.

Li Yang was the last person in the Chen family to realize this unspoken understanding.

After leaving the woodshed that day, she went through a bath and changed clothes, then fell asleep immediately. It wasn't until several days later that she discovered that during those days, someone had brought bathwater to her room, the kitchen staff would send someone over to ask about her preferences, and she didn't even know how the key to the brass lock on Chen Junbai's study had ended up in her hands.

When she went outside for a stroll in the yard, she was surprised to find that the dusty little kitchen downstairs had been completely renovated and looked brand new.

She wasn't stupid, and she probably guessed that this was all thanks to the woodshed incident that made her famous. As for the specifics of what happened, she didn't care, and naturally, no one would tell her.

Anyway, life is much better now, so let's just keep living like this. Who would complain that life is too good?

But one should never forget the source of one's blessings. Now that Chen Junbo is backing him up, he has such a good life. Li Yang is thinking about how to repay him.

She quickly calmed down and immersed herself in the task of reviewing the account books.

If I finish checking Chen Junbai's tea shop accounts as soon as possible, it will be a way of repaying this young master for feeding me two roast chickens when I was stuck in the woodshed.

Now, Lanxin Pavilion is no longer as quiet as it used to be. Servants and maids come and go all day long, as if afraid that the young mistress will not see them.

Li Yang quickly had a table set up in the main room for checking accounts, and after asking Bi Fang for an abacus, pen and ink, he began to do abacus calculations.

To be honest, Chen Junbai's study was fully equipped with all these things. However, Li Yang dared not touch them. Firstly, this young master always needed to review the accounts in his study after returning home; secondly, Li Yang was afraid that if he accidentally broke the abacus, he wouldn't be able to afford to pay for it…

After a busy morning, she could finally sit down at her desk to look at the accounts. She only managed three pages before she was on the verge of collapse: What the hell is this? They're all account books, but how can they be so different from the wonton shop's accounts!

Although wonton shops are small and scattered, they operate with a sense of order and efficiency. Once the purchase of noodles and meat is verified, that's generally sufficient. If someone can calculate the exact amount of scallions, ginger, and garlic like Li Yang, then that's considered extremely meticulous.

Furthermore, Li Yang spends every day in the shop, so she knows exactly how many new customers have come that day. She also knows the names of all the regular customers who have been eating there for a long time.

Tea plantations, however, are entirely different. The amount of rain and sunshine throughout the year determines the opening day of the tea plantation, resulting in vastly different harvests. Furthermore, the price of tea leaves varies significantly depending on whether they are picked a day earlier or later, or whether they are pre-rain tea or pre-Qingming tea.

She flipped through an account book in her hand, getting a vague idea of ​​what was going on, but couldn't quite make sense of it.

When Chen Junbo returned to Lanxin Pavilion, she was wearing armbands, holding a pen in her hand, with another pen stuck in her hair, and her face was covered in ink stains like a cat. Anyone who didn't know better would think she was going to take the imperial examination.

Chen Junbo stood in front of her desk and glanced at her sideways: "Looking at the accounts?"

Li Yang tilted his head back from the ledger, looking utterly dejected. "...Yeah...Chen Junbo, were you slacking off? How many years have you been accumulating these accounts, waiting for me to come and see them..."

A fleeting crease appeared at the corner of the man's eye. "Have you figured it out yet?"

These words struck a nerve with Li Yang, and her voice lost its previous confidence. She was unwilling to admit that after studying for so long, she hadn't even grasped the basics. "About 70-80%..."

Chen Junbo replied in a deep voice, "Hmm, about 70-80%."

What does this mean? Li Yang perked up, raising his eyebrows and glaring at him. The man said, "Let's get it done for now. There's no rush to finish this ledger in one day."

Seeing the young woman still hunched over among the account books, Chen Junbai frowned and stepped forward.