Yun Tangyin placed the enamel mug on the table, the bottom of the mug making a soft clinking sound: "What are you saying? The account books will have to be handed over sooner or later, why do you have to go through Mom's hands first?"
She bent down to pick up the cloth bag from the ground, tapping her fingertips on the cover of the ledger: "Or is this ledger something that can't be seen by anyone, and we have to pick an auspicious day to look at it?"
That's already quite a blunt statement.
Jiang Jianhua's face instantly turned a deep purplish-red, and he tugged at Fu Yuanshan's sleeve: "This..."
Fu Yuanshan straightened up, his peach blossom eyes fixed on the account book in Yun Tangyin's hand: "We saw that you were weak after you got married and were afraid that you would get tired. That's what Mom meant too."
"I'm not tired, thank you for your concern."
Without saying a word, Yun Tangyin opened the ledger to the first page and pointed her finger at the purchase list.
"Like the radio my second sister-in-law gave me, it looks bulky, but maybe there's a treasure hidden inside."
After turning a couple of pages, she suddenly looked up at Jiang Jianhua: "Second sister-in-law, the account says that you bought the same model for your parents' family, and it cost thirty-five yuan and eighty cents, right?"
Jiang Jianhua's eyes darted around: "Yes, yes..."
“But the serial number on the back of this radio,” Yun Tangyin turned the radio around and pointed to the stamp on the base, “is a defective product disposed of by the supply and marketing cooperative. Last week, it was listed at nineteen yuan and fifty cents.”
She suddenly laughed out loud, "Second sister-in-law is really generous with her gifts, even remembering to tie red ribbons to defective items."
Yun Tangyin saw it when she and Fu Yucheng were shopping at the department store.
She's not blind.
Jiang Jianhua's hands began to tremble: "I...I didn't know it was a defective product..."
"It's okay if you don't know."
Yun Tangyin flipped to the middle of the ledger and suddenly stopped.
"But why is the bill for the groceries for Mom 30% more expensive than the market price?" Yun Tangyin's fingertips made a soft sound as they traced patterns on the paper.
“I remember the price of pork here is 12 cents a pound, but the account says 16 cents. No matter what, Mom can’t eat 50 pounds of pork every day for a month, right? That extra money is 30 yuan a month… Oh, that’s just enough to buy a new radio.”
Fu Yuanshan's Adam's apple bobbed as he glanced at Jiang Jianhua beside him, a calculating glint in his eyes: "It's normal to record more to avoid insufficient funds for the end-of-month settlement."
Jiang Jianhua seemed to have sensed something, and his eyes flashed with disbelief as he looked at Fu Yuanshan.
She seemed to understand why Fu Yuanshan insisted that she falsify the accounts.
"Oh? What about the coal purchase bill?" Yun Tangyin suddenly slammed the ledger on the table, flipping through the pages to the last one. "The invoice even has the wrong date. There's no 31st in November."
After holding it in for a while, Jiang Jianhua realized he was about to take the blame for Fu Yuanshan, and suddenly screamed, "Fu Yuanshan made me change it! He said coal would be scarce in winter, and reporting more would save some for the family!"
"Shut up!" Fu Yuanshan slammed his hand on the table, splashing half of the hawthorn juice from his enamel cup.
"You...you used me!"
Jiang Jianhua lunged forward to tear him apart, but Fu Yucheng grabbed her shoulder and said, "Second sister-in-law, calm down."
Yun Tangyin slowly pulled out an oil paper package from the back of the radio, opened it to reveal several brand-new industrial coupons: "These coupons have consecutive numbers, so they should be welfare coupons issued by the factory, right? According to regulations, they should be registered and used, but this transaction wasn't recorded in the ledger."
She has a Taobao store, and she can tell what's hidden inside a radio just by glancing at it.
The two men came over in the middle of the night to secretly take back the industrial vouchers hidden here.
Yun Tangyin would not do as they wished.
Jiang Jianhua's face instantly drained of color, and he slumped into his chair: "I...I just forgot to remember..."
"Forgot?" Yun Tangyin squatted down and continued flipping through the ledger.
"But it says here that you used the coupons to buy two feet of polyester fabric and made a shirt for your sister. It's all recorded here. Why did you forget to record these coupons?"
Jiang Jianhua couldn't answer Yun Tangyin's question.
How did she answer?
She couldn't very well tell Yun Tangyin that she had secretly kept these industrial vouchers to buy a TV for Jiang Zhicheng and his wife, who were about to move to Northeast China, could she?
Jiang Jianhua looked to Fu Yuanshan for help, but Fu Yuanshan had already planned to sacrifice a pawn to save the king...
He didn't even glance at Jiang Jianhua.
Fu Yuanshan suddenly turned to leave, but Fu Yucheng stopped him with his arm: "Second brother, why don't you make things clear before you go?"
“There’s nothing to say!” Fu Yuanshan’s fists clenched until they turned white. “She did it herself. Tell Mom tomorrow and let her handle it.”
"Why is there nothing to say?"
Yun Tangyin closed the ledger, then suddenly laughed, her eyes glancing at Jiang Jianhua's trembling legs: "If these things get back to Second Sister-in-law's factory, she'll probably get a major demerit at best, and..."
“We admit it!” Jiang Jianhua suddenly lowered his head, his voice hoarse as if sandpaper had been scraped, “I will pay back all the money I embezzled tomorrow, don’t tell anyone else.”
Jiang Jianhua started crying as he spoke: "Sister-in-law, please, I..."
"The money must be returned, and the accounts must be corrected." Yun Tangyin stood up and took Fu Yucheng's arm. "If Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law go to the supply and marketing cooperative to return the radio and hand over the industrial coupons to the factory overnight, they might be able to avoid a scolding."
Fu Yuanshan pulled Jiang Jianhua toward the door, but Yun Tangyin stopped them at the door: "Leave the ledger behind."
The two exchanged a glance, gritted their teeth, left the ledger behind, and departed.
As for how they blamed each other after returning home, that's up to Yun Tang Yin Mei.
After the two fled in panic, Fu Yucheng closed the door and turned around to see Yun Tangyin smiling.
"What are you laughing at?" He walked over and wiped the hawthorn juice that had splashed on her hands.
“Laugh at them for being stupid.” Yun Tangyin leaned against him: “They think they can get away with it by balancing the accounts? I’m not an idiot.”
Fu Yucheng pinched her earlobe, his smile indulgent: "Yes, I knew you were amazing."
"Then why are you worried about me?"
Yun Tangyin looked up, her eyes and brows full of smiles, her watery eyes sparkling brightly.
"I was afraid you'd get tired." Fu Yucheng picked her up and kicked the red blankets as he walked towards the bed. "These things should have been done by me."
"But I like seeing you support me."
Yun Tangyin hooked her arm around his neck, her nose brushing against his burning earlobe: "So majestic."
Fu Yucheng placed her on the bed covered with red sheets, his ears turning red and his face burning: "Yinyin..."
"Um?"
"There's no one here now."
Moonlight streamed in through the window, casting their shadows on the wall. Fu Yucheng lowered his head to kiss her forehead, then the corner of her eye, finally stopping at her lips: "From now on, with me here, you don't need to worry about these things."
His kiss was careful.
Their breaths mingled, filled with tenderness. Fu Yucheng kissed Yun Tangyin, whispering softly in her ear, "Yinyin..."
The dim, warm light bathed the room in a warm hue.
Everything else was shut out. At this moment, Yun Tangyin was sleeping in Fu Yucheng's arms, thinking about what had just happened...
She really has nothing to be afraid of.
This is just the beginning.
Before Yun Tangyin could think it through, her train of thought was interrupted by Fu Yucheng's kiss on the corner of her lips: "Focus."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com