Chapter 27 Making Trouble Out of Nothing: Chen Junbo reached out and removed a fallen leaf from her hair...
Reluctantly accepting the task, Bi Fang waited in the main room of Lanxin Pavilion the next morning.
When Chen Junbo came downstairs, he saw him standing upright in the hall, dressed in a dark blue robe with his head bowed. "Why is it always this outfit? You always wear dark blue."
Bi Fang tilted his head, looking at his young master in disbelief. His brows furrowed slowly, and he asked inwardly, "Young master, would you like to take a look at how many moon-white suits you have in your closet?"
The master and servant had grown up with the old patriarch of the Zhang family since childhood, and had learned the old man's way of life perfectly.
Speaking of clothing, Old Master Zhang wore the same gray long gown all year round, adding a padded jacket in winter and wearing it alone in summer. But the people in the Zhang family knew that the old master had more than a dozen such everyday clothes, which he always wore and always looked new, saving him the trouble of choosing clothes.
Because of the many banquets Chen Junbo hosted, he acquired several new outfits. Bi Fang, a mere steward, chose the dark blue color favored by Jiangnan literati and, imitating the old master, had ten sets made.
At this moment, after receiving Chen Junbo's words, all he wanted to do was kneel before his young master and ask: Young master! For fourteen years, haven't I always been a dark blue-haired scholar?! How did I become an eyesore to you today?!
These days of being constantly criticized are unbearable, but he can't very well ask his young master why he's so picky. After much thought, Bi Fang realizes that it all started last night, and the root of the problem lies with the young mistress.
After seeing Chen Junbo off, he stood in the main room, squinting his eyes as he seriously considered his plan to bribe the celebrity Xiao Lu.
When Li Yang got up, half an hour had passed. Seeing Butler Bi waiting patiently in the main room, she smiled and said, "Good morning, Butler Bi..."
Bi Fang suppressed the mixed feelings in his heart, raised his head and gave the young mistress a bright smile like spring sunshine: "Good morning, young mistress."
Li Yang's heart pounded. She'd seen a ghost in broad daylight! Things hadn't been peaceful between the two of them since their first meeting, so why was Bi Fang laughing like that today? She wondered if the steward was planning to try diplomacy first, then resort to force.
To everyone's surprise, this steward turned out to be an excellent teacher when it came to accounting and money management. Under his patient guidance, the tea shop's accounts became much simpler in no time. Around noon, following his instructions, Li Yang compared the weather logs with the production records and was able to understand them somewhat.
It was three days later when Bi Fang used a red gold hairpin to confirm the identity of the 'celebrity' and conveyed his doubts to Li Yang.
After listening to Xiao Lu's words, Li Yang looked thoughtfully at the bright gold hairpin on her single bun: "You mean, Steward Bi asked you to ask me why Chen Junbai is always so critical of him?"
Little Deer nodded obediently: "Brother Bifang said that the young master has been making many complaints lately, which he finds very puzzling. He would like to ask if the young mistress knows the reason behind it."
Li Yang hurriedly replied, "How could I possibly know?!"
Even if I know, I can't say it! I can't very well tell Bifang that it was because I gave Chen Junbo a false title on the day of the marriage proposal, and then ran to Chen Junbo to show off, which caused Bifang to be implicated.
You absolutely mustn't tell!
Not to mention, the butler has now asked Xiaolu to relay the message.
What a joke! If this gets out, it'll be disastrous! She didn't want to provoke Chen Junbai again because of this. Now that the fire has spread to Bi Fang, she'd better just play dumb.
Having made up her mind, she lifted her feet onto the stool, hugged her knees, rested her chin on her knees, and sat like a hen, looking troubled. "I really don't know about this... Maybe, these past few days... it's like how girls have their periods? Perhaps, it will be fine in a few days?"
When this news reached Bi Fang, the poor steward felt as if the sky had fallen.
The following morning, when reviewing the accounts with Li Yang again, Bi Fang put in even more effort, showing off all his skills. He had observed clearly over the past few days that although the young mistress was only dealing with tea shop affairs for the first time and was unfamiliar with many of the usual practices, she learned much faster than the accountants and managers. In just three to five days, he had nothing left to teach her.
Seeing that Li Yang would be able to finish reviewing the account books today and report back to Chen Junbo, Bi Fang bit her lower lip and pondered for a long time before sitting down opposite her in a flash: "Young Madam!"
Li Yang suddenly looked up and saw the butler opposite her with a bitter smile: "Young Madam, if I have acted improperly, please enlighten me, and I will kneel down and kowtow to apologize."
How could he possibly want to be subservient? It was simply that the way Chen Junbo had looked at him these past two days was more and more like looking at stale, cold tea. This morning, when his young master went out, he said, "Tsk, your name is really strange. Why is the pen square?"
If the previous explanations were somewhat understandable, Chun Chun was just making trouble out of nothing this morning. Chen Junbo practically pointed at her nose and said: "How come you're still alive!"
How can a butler who is disliked by his employer save himself?
He was quick-witted and, after making up his mind, he sought help from the mistress of his employer's household.
Li Yang's expression was quite interesting after hearing about Bi Fang's experiences over the past few days. It seemed she had discussed with Chen Junbai the fact that Bi Fang always wore dark blue? Or perhaps she had mentioned to Chen Junbai that Bi Fang's name was interesting? Had Chen Junbai so openly said that to Bi Fang?
Looking into Bi Fang's sincere eyes, Li Yang touched his nose, unsure of what to say. After all, she might be the 'reason'.
After thinking it over, she decided to change the subject. "No way. By the way, Steward Bi, the harvest on this estate this year is much less than last year. Is it because of insufficient spring rain?"
Bi Fang was taken aback. "Reduced? Young Madam, are you sure you've got it backwards? Last winter there was no snow, and the tea trees suffered from pests, resulting in a lower harvest. But this year, tea farmers are working day and night to process tea, they're too busy to handle it all, how could there be less?"
Li Yang: "Did we harvest even less tea last year? But this ledger says that there was not enough spring rain, so the harvest was halved."
She looked up, and the two of them frowned as they looked at each other.
I visited a tea plantation a few days ago; the tea farmers were diligently processing the new tea, so this year's harvest must be just as good. But why is this... on the ledger?
The two hurriedly looked through logs from similar years for reference, but couldn't figure it out.
"Steward Bi, Steward Bi!" The gatekeeper ran up to him and said, "The carriages to the Zhang residence are ready, but the young master and Miss Ziyan have already used both large carriages today. The rest are small carriages, and they are already full. There are still three porcelain vases that can't be loaded. You should go and take a look."
Upon hearing this, Bi Fang secretly glanced at Li Yang's expression.
Li Yang hurriedly said, "Go ahead and get busy, I'll check it myself."
As the servant hurriedly left, Bi Fang scolded, "What's the rush? You've forgotten the rules for relaying messages." A moment later, he added, "The requisition of carriages and horses is regulated. Yesterday, it was clearly registered that a small carriage was reserved for Miss Ziyan, and a large carriage was kept to deliver goods to the Zhang residence. What kind of work are you doing...?"
Oh, so it was a large carriage that Bi Fang had registered that the gatekeeper had given to Miss Ziyan for her use... Wait, a carriage, registered?
Li Yang's eyes lit up. The tea shop also kept records of comings and goings of vehicles, including the number of days they stayed and the amount of cargo each vehicle carried, all kept separately by the village guard. She buried herself in the pile of ledgers and searched through them, and sure enough, she found the vehicle records for the past two years.
Beneath the green shade of the white walls and black tiles, clusters of golden, jade-like fruits bend the branches, while loquats hang like jewels among the green leaves. A gentle breeze stirs them, and the ripe fruit falls to the ground with a "plop," its skin bursting open and splattering honey-like nectar, which seeps into the crevices, attracting a few ants.
As dusk fell, rows of ants gnawed on the rotten fruit or carried the fruit pulp back to their nest.
Li Yang squatted against the wall, using a small twig to block the ants' path.
"It's getting windy, why aren't you going back to your room?" The man's light footsteps, accompanied by a clear, urging voice, had already entered the courtyard.
Li Yang threw away the branch, clapped his hands, and looked directly at the other person. "I've been waiting for you."
These words were novel. Chen Junbo paused, and when their eyes met, he reached out to remove a fallen leaf from the young lady's hair.
Li Yang smiled and took a half step back before saying, "It's the tea shop's accounts; there's a deficit in them."
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