Chapter 263 New Bookkeeping Methods
During the five days I was away from Dahe Village, the household cash was managed by Cheng Zhao.
As soon as Cheng Wanwan had a free moment, he came over with the account book: "The income and expenses for the past five days are all here. Second Aunt, please take a look and see if there are any problems."
Cheng Wanwan opened the ledger. Although ancient ledgers were quite complicated, Cheng Zhao's records were well-organized and she could understand them completely.
"Expenditures are mainly concentrated on daily lard, honey, goat milk, and firewood," Cheng Zhao reported. "Currently, there is only one income, which is the final payment made by Master Wang two days ago when he picked up the goods. The money is all here."
He handed over a cloth bag filled with money.
At this moment, Wu Xiaochui also came over and took out a small notebook from his waist.
This little notebook was sewn together from coarse paper of different sizes. It was about the size of a palm and filled with many words.
Cheng Wanwan was somewhat surprised: "Little Hammer, you can write now?"
Wu Xiaochui said somewhat embarrassedly, "I learned some simple words from Si Dan: soap, honey, goat milk, wood ash... warehouse entry, warehouse exit, some numbers... I've learned all the words I need to use. Can you recognize them, Auntie?"
He handed over the notebook, and fearing a misunderstanding, he quickly explained, "These rough papers were Young Master Shen's calligraphy practice papers that he didn't want to throw away. I asked my second sister to help sew them up, so he can write some things down..."
Cheng Wanwan opened the notebook; the rough paper contained writing in charcoal.
"...One hundred bars of unscented soap have been delivered to the warehouse..."
"...Three large barrels of wood ash were put into storage..."
Just by looking at the inbound and outbound shipments, you can tell the factory's output. The first two days, the daily output was 100 bars, and the next three days, the daily output was 200 bars. 800 bars were put into storage, 300 bars were put out, and there are currently 500 bars of soap left.
These characters are written very neatly, in rows, and look very clear. They don't look like they were written by a child who has just learned to read.
Cheng Wanwan previously thought the child was clever and loyal, but now she thinks he is also very smart and has a tenacity that she has only seen in a few children.
“Come, I’ll teach you a simple way to keep accounts,” she said with a smile. “If Zhao’er isn’t interested, she doesn’t have to learn it. The main thing is to teach Xiao Chui.”
Cheng Zhao said earnestly, "I want to learn."
Every time his second aunt taught him something new, it stimulated his thinking.
He sat down and listened attentively to the lesson.
Wu Xiaochui earnestly tugged at his collar, wiped his hands, and listened attentively to Cheng Wanwan's lecture.
"Mom, I want to hear too." Zhao Sidan moved a stool and sat down on the side.
Shen Zheng also came out of the room: "Although I am not interested in these things, I must also know what Brother Cheng knows."
Zhao Ergou dragged over a stool: "Of course, I can't be left out."
Teaching one person is teaching, and teaching a group is also teaching.
Cheng Wanwan began to speak slowly.
“Writing numbers one through ten is too complicated. They’re used for writing invoices and payments to prevent fraud, but we can actually simplify them for daily bookkeeping… I’ve written all ten numbers here. See, isn’t it much simpler…” she said with a smile. “Once you’ve mastered the numbers, you need to learn how to simplify bookkeeping. First, separate incoming and outgoing goods; don’t write them all on one piece of paper. Second, separate categories; soap on one sheet, wood ash on another… This makes it easier to understand inventory levels…”
"Learn how to draw a table. I'll draw a rough one for you to see, and you'll understand. The first column is time, the second column is quantity, the third column..."
"Have you memorized everything?"
The five children listened with great interest, as if they had opened the door to a new world.
Zhao Ergou and Cheng Zhao are good at bookkeeping, so it might be a bit difficult for them to suddenly switch their thinking. Shen Zheng and Zhao Sidan aren't interested in these things, so they just listen.
Only Wu Xiaochui, who was originally a blank sheet of paper, was the easiest to absorb ink from. He easily memorized the ten numbers.
He immediately said, "I'll go draw up the tables right now, reorganize the inbound and outbound records, and then bring them to Auntie to see."
He was about to leave in a great hurry.
"Wait a minute." Cheng Wanwan got up and brought a stack of papers from the room. "Have your second sister bind these papers together for record-keeping."
Although this is not Xuan paper, it is still a relatively good Kaihua paper. Shen Zhengcheng and Zhao usually use this for writing articles, but for practicing calligraphy, they use coarser paper, which is of lower quality.
Wu Xiaochui's eyes lit up. He wanted to refuse, but after thinking for a moment, he wiped his hands, took the stack of papers, and carefully held them in his arms.
His aunt gave him a chance, was willing to believe in him, and nurtured him, so he will never let her down.
He turned around to review what he had just learned.
Cheng Wanwan hadn't had a proper rest since returning home. She was just about to pour herself a cup of tea and sit down for a while when Master Yu arrived.
She poured a cup of freshly brewed tea and asked Zhao Sidan to serve it to the teacher.
Master Yu took a sip of tea and found it incredibly fragrant and unforgettable. Zhao's tea was indeed something special.
He stroked his beard and said, "These past few days I've been observing Jing Si's scholarship and found that he's made rapid progress. Perhaps he could try for the county examination next year."
Cheng Wanwan learned a little about the imperial examination system of this era.
The current dynasty has an open literary atmosphere, and the court encourages people to participate in the imperial examinations. Even merchants can pursue official careers.
The first hurdle in the imperial examination was the county examination. After passing the county examination, one could take the prefectural examination. Only after passing these two major examinations could one be called a student. After becoming a student, one had to go through an even more difficult hurdle, the prefectural examination. Those who passed the prefectural examination were called scholars.
Although becoming a Xiucai (a scholar who passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations) grants one an official title, it is the lowest rank among all official titles, representing only the first step in a long journey.
This shows just how difficult the imperial examinations were in ancient times.
But once someone passed the imperial examination, it meant a complete transformation for the whole family, with their social status rising several levels.
The reason Fan Jin went mad after passing the imperial examination was because passing it was incredibly difficult...
Cheng Wanwan did not require her children to take this thorny path. Not only was the process arduous, but even if they passed the exam, they would still have to face the intrigue and backstabbing in officialdom. One wrong move and they could be demoted or dismissed, and all their years of hard work would be for nothing.
Even so, she respects any choice her children make.
She looked at Zhao Sidan: "Sidan, do you want to take this path?"
Zhao Sidan nodded without hesitation: "Whether I can do it or not, I want to give it a try."
“Jing Si, if you’ve made up your mind, then I’ll have to rearrange your studies.” Master Yu looked at Cheng Wanwan. “Jing Si has to study martial arts and read books every day, so could we give him less work?”
Zhao Sidan quickly said, "My mother doesn't assign me any work, so I have to do it myself. I can't expect my older brothers to do everything."
Cheng Wanwan patted the little guy's head.
When he first came to Dahe Village, this kid was very immature, with the mentality of a seven or eight-year-old child. In the past six months, Sidan has grown up quickly, and in a while, he will become the pillar of the family.
With four sons, each with their own strengths, she, the elderly mother, can now enjoy her retirement in peace.
Oh no, she's only thirty-three! What's the point of taking care of retirement? Making money is the right thing to do!
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