Chapter 8
Xiaobai swam too fast, and Lin Xing was so focused on chasing it that she didn't pay attention to the surroundings. When it finally stopped, Lin Xing realized that she was standing in front of the accounting office.
Lin Xing looked around for Xiaobai, but couldn't find it. It disappeared again. It was really mysterious. But since she was already there, Lin Xing decided to go into the accounting office to find out what was going on.
Lin Xing walked towards the table, and only the sound of her footsteps echoed in the silent accounting office.
The restaurant didn't have many account books. Before dinner, Lin Xing had already glanced through the account books of recent years. She guessed
It's almost certain. That corrupt official not only used banks to make money, but also spared no expense on restaurants.
Lin Xing placed the forged account books in front of her and stared at them in a daze. At this moment, footsteps were heard outside the house. Before she looked up, she heard Liu Lian's voice.
"Young shopkeeper, why are you here alone?"
"Sister Lian, I just came here to have a look." Lin Xing looked in the direction of Liu Lian, and then she found that there was another person behind her. "Why did you bring Huan'er with you?"
"How dare you say that? Huan'er felt sorry for you and wanted to bring you some tea, but you weren't here. I just happened to run into her, so I came here with her to look for you."
"Thank you so much, Huan'er. But Huan'er, you don't have to be so busy. It would be bad if you get tired."
While the two were talking, Liu Lian had already walked to the table. She saw the account books on the table at a glance, glanced at them one by one, and then continued to tease Lin Xing.
"I didn't expect that the young shopkeeper had such a good relationship with our restaurant."
"Sister Lian, what do you mean?" Liu Lian's incoherent words confused Lin Xing. Lin Huan obviously didn't understand either and looked at Liu Lian in confusion.
"The account books you randomly pulled out from your desk were all sorted out by Uncle Li. Isn't this fate? It's also unfortunate that you haven't talked much to each other."
Lin Xing immediately grasped the key point of the words. These account books were not taken casually, but they were actually sorted out by Uncle Li. It seemed that he should know something.
In order to avoid arousing the suspicion of Liu Lian and Lin Huan, and also to avoid implicating them, Lin Xing chose to pretend that nothing had happened.
"That's a coincidence. By the way, Sister Lian, didn't you say a few days ago that you would send someone to visit Uncle Li? How is that going?"
"The restaurant has been too busy these past two days, so no one can leave. I have already made arrangements, and I will go visit Uncle Li tomorrow."
"I'll go with you tomorrow. Uncle Li has been keeping the restaurant's bills for many years, so it's a good opportunity for me to go and ask some questions."
"I'll give the order right away. Little shopkeeper, do you need us to accompany you?"
"No need. The restaurant also needs someone to take care of it. This is not a big deal. I can do it myself."
"Then let's go eat now, or we'll have to eat cold food again."
"You guys go too. I have some account books to look at. I'll be there in a moment."
Liu Lian calmed down. Lin Xing looked at her in confusion and found that she was winking at Lin Huan. The next second Lin Huan came over and pulled Lin Xing. Only then did Lin Xing understand why the two of them came together, but it was too late, so she had to go eat.
After having her fill, Lin Xing collapsed on the chair, thanking them for carrying her to eat. It was at this time that Uncle Gui came to Lin Xing's side. Lin Xing quickly stood up and waited for Uncle Gui to speak.
"Shopkeeper, someone from the Shen family came just now and said that an important person will come to the capital the day after tomorrow. They want to hold a banquet at the Shen family to welcome the important person, and the banquet will be organized by our restaurant."
"Shen family?"
“It’s the family of Master Shen Ling who came to the restaurant today.”
"That's great, this will definitely make us a lot of money. But this is a serious matter, the things used in the banquet must be carefully checked, and the Shen family must not be able to catch us."
"Understood."
Liu Lian also came to their side at this time, and pretended to be a ghost behind Uncle Gui and asked, "What are you talking about?"
Lin Xing was amused by Liu Lian's expression, but Uncle Gui was obviously used to this kind of thing, and he said something expressionlessly that made Liu Lian collapse.
"We're talking about how you'll have to work harder tomorrow."
“No!!!”
Liu Lian's voice was so loud that everyone eating in the room heard it and everyone laughed.
Liu Lian pretended to be angry, put her hands on her hips and shouted, "Whoever is making fun of me, I won't let him eat tomorrow."
Everyone laughed even more happily.
After ending a tiring day in a lively atmosphere, Lin Xing also took Huan'er back to the dormitory to rest.
Lin Xing was walking on the road when she realized that the weather was very good today. Because the moon was bright and round, she suddenly remembered that the moon when she was a child seemed to be so bright.
Neither of them spoke. Lin Xing, who didn't want to be immersed in this atmosphere anymore, took the initiative to break the game of "whoever speaks first is a dog".
"Are you used to it these past two days? Are you tired?"
"I'm not tired. Everyone takes good care of me. I like it very much."
Lin Huan still spoke little, but Lin Xing felt that her voice seemed a little louder.
"That's good. If there's anything you don't like, you must speak up. We are all your family."
"Yes, I will."
Lin Xing kept looking for topics to talk about along the way. Apart from talking about the flowers she planted blooming, she also talked about how delicious the food was. What made her happy was that Lin Huan talked a little more, and it was all thanks to her.
The two of them first went to Lin Xing's bedroom. After saying good night to Lin Huan, she was about to close the door and rest, but Lin Huan called her name.
"Thank you, Sister Xiao Xing. I really like it here."
Lin Xing smiled gently and replied, "Me too."
Lin Huan left after she finished speaking. Looking at her jumping figure, Lin Xing felt that she must be very happy.
Lin Xing did not lie. Although it had only been two days, she had already regarded this place as her home. Sister Lian and Uncle Gui were like her family, and she must protect them.
Early the next morning, there was a knock on Lin Xing's door. She opened the door sleepily and found it was Sister Lian.
"Hey, my little shopkeeper, don't forget to go see Uncle Li today."
"I can't forget it, I can't forget it. I remember it in my heart."
"Then pack quickly. The carriage is ready and waiting in front of the restaurant."
"Okay, okay, okay."
Lin Xing didn't know how she got on the carriage. She only woke up completely when she heard the rooster crow. Lin Xing in the carriage wondered if she was not on the road. Is there chicken here too?
She drew aside the curtain and looked out, only to see a dilapidated village. It was much more dilapidated than the houses she remembered, and she couldn't imagine anyone living in it.
Lin Xing lowered the curtain in shock. Only then did she have a clearer understanding of the situation at this time. She also felt that the punishment given by those incompetent officials was too light.
Lin Xing lifted the curtain again, but this time she didn't let it go. She wanted to see everything in front of her with her own eyes.
The carriage drove for a while and then arrived at Uncle Li's house. Lin Xing was already lifting the curtain, so without the coachman telling her, she saw that Uncle Li's house had already been decorated with white mourning clothes.
As soon as she got off the car, people from Uncle Li's family came to greet her. The people accompanying them explained to them the purpose of Lin Xing and others' visit, and from them Lin Xing also understood what had happened.
Uncle Li has not been feeling well since he came back from the clinic, and sometimes he was not even conscious. He waited until last night before going. When Uncle Li's son found him, he was already dead.
They were about to leave after paying their respects as per the rules. Before Lin Xing left, Uncle Li's son gave Lin Xing a letter, saying that it was Uncle Li's instruction.
After returning to the carriage, Lin Xing opened the letter. In the letter, Uncle Li admitted to the falsification of the account book and the fact that he and County Magistrate Gao were in cahoots. He deeply repented of his mistakes and said that he was suffering every day, but now that the person has passed away, there is no point in saying anything.
Lin Xing put the letter away after reading it. The letter explained everything she wanted to know. Now that Uncle Li had passed away, she probably wouldn't be able to find out anything.
This incident had such a huge impact on Lin Xing that she sat like this all the way without changing her posture at all, and she didn't even realize that they had returned to the restaurant.
At the coachman's reminder, Lin Xing got off the carriage and almost fell down. It took her a long time to stand firmly, but she was still worried about the matter.
"Hey, what happened? Why does the young shopkeeper look so unhappy?"
This call brought Lin Xing back to reality from her dream, and she felt Liu Lian holding her hand.
Lin Xing forced herself to cheer up and said to Liu Lian, "Uncle Li passed away last night. When we went there, his family had already started preparing for his funeral."
"That's good. He passed away without suffering. Uncle Li has reached this age. This is a happy funeral. Don't be sad, young shopkeeper."
Liu Lian took Lin Xing back to the backyard and insisted that Lin Xing go back to rest, but Lin Xing couldn't sleep at all. However, in order to reassure Liu Lian, she obediently went into the house. When there was no sound outside, she secretly pushed the door open and went to the accounting office.
"Where are you going, little shopkeeper?"
Lin Xing just stood there in a daze, not daring to turn around, thinking of a thousand ways to deal with the situation in her mind. Liu Lian slowly walked around in front of her with an expression that said, "I'm listening to your story."
Lin Xing chuckled and chose to laugh it off, which was what she was best at.
"I just couldn't sleep, so I wanted to go help out. Our restaurant is so busy today, how can I, as the manager, go to sleep?"
"Alas, my little shopkeeper, you will be busy tomorrow. You should have a good rest now and don't think too much."
"Tomorrow? Do I have anything important to do tomorrow?" Lin Xing asked in confusion. Liu Lian was also stunned when she heard this.
"Oh, look at my memory. I forgot to tell the young shopkeeper. Someone from the Shen family just asked the shopkeeper to attend the banquet tomorrow as well. He must go."
"So sudden? Do you know the reason?"
"No, only that you must go."
"Got it. I'll go rest now."
Lin Xing walked into the house and closed the door. Liu Lian showed a relieved smile behind her. That's right, the child should have a good rest.
Compared to Liu Lian outside the house, Lin Xing inside the house couldn't smile at all. The Shen family obviously had bad intentions, but she didn't have the ability to refuse. She could not care about anything, but not the restaurant.
Lin Xing kept walking back and forth in the house, saying that she was taking a rest, but she felt like she had run eight hundred meters. She didn't believe that the Shen family had no connection with the money house and the restaurant. On the contrary, the Shen family was the one that benefited the most from the money house incident.
There was a major reshuffle of officials in Nanru County, and the Shen family had the opportunity to get their family members into officialdom. They were no longer ordinary wealthy businessmen. I heard that the Shen family used to have a close relationship with County Magistrate Gao, which made this banquet even more suspicious.
Knock, knock, knock, someone is knocking on the door.
"What happened?"
"Sister Xiao Xing, Uncle Gui asked you to go to the front yard. He said someone is looking for you."
It turned out to be Huan'er, which scared her. Lin Xing agreed readily, and Huan'er left first upon seeing this.
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