"The princess is in the lake."

The four simple words were written on a thin piece of mulberry paper, and after reading it, Ann Ning lit the mulberry paper on the candle on the table and watched it turn to ashes.

"I'm going to go out." She said quietly, discernible from her expression, but her tone was unusually resolute.

A maid stood in the lower corner, nodded yes, and then suddenly remembered something, and couldn't help asking, "But Madam, the account books will be done tomorrow." ”

An Ning held her forehead with her heavy bun: "Let Ge Sheng do it." ”

"What?" The maid exclaimed: "Young master, he is only ten years old, madam, you are too difficult for him." ”

"Ten years old is not too young." An Ning nodded in acknowledgement, then pulled out a thick account book from the table and placed it on the table, then stood up.

"It's going to be too flat soon." An Ning said lightly.

"I don't know how long I'm going to be on this trip, but whatever happens outside, stay in the lodge and don't go out and wait for me to come back."

The maid heard the solemnity of her tone and nodded yes.

"Got it, ma'am."

……

……

"What?" Ge Sheng couldn't believe what Rika said.

Obviously got up on time as usual, went to the kitchen to make himself a cup of cereal porridge, and then was about to go to the yard to practice Taipingquan, but Pear Blossom told An Ning's mother that she had something urgent to go out in the morning, so she didn't need to prepare breakfast for her, and at the same time, this year's account books were handed over to him for processing.

"Yes." Pear Blossom nodded heavily: "Madam said that young master, you should almost go through the experience, so I specially gave you a question to test." ”

Ge Sheng took the thick account book with a bitter face, and then asked casually: "When will it be finished?" ”

Rika thought about it for a while, and finally decided to tell him the truth: "Tonight." ”

"I want to die." Ge Sheng was in pain.

"But young master, you have to live well." Rika patted him on the shoulder and said seriously, "This is the master's last wish." ”

"Uh-huh." Ge Sheng remembered the meaning of his name again, and suddenly had an idea: "Is it okay to find someone to help?" ”

"This ......" Rika thought for a moment, "Madame didn't say no. ”

"However, there is no gentleman who can settle accounts within a radius of ten miles."

"That's just what you don't know." Ge Sheng smiled mysteriously, then picked up the account book and raised it: "I'll go down the mountain, first find me a book I haven't read." ”

"Yes." Rika frowned, thinking about which other books the young master hadn't taken out.

"Also, I'm not coming back for dinner at noon." Ge Sheng looked back and added.

……

……

Ge Sheng walked three or four miles down the mountain with two books and an account book, and came to the side of the great lake, which was not supposed to be inhabited, but at this time there was a white igloo standing by the lake.

Ge Sheng was already familiar with this place, and walked into the igloo along a zigzag curve along the marked mark on the ground.

A girl in white was sitting there, looked up at him, showed a look of surprise, and then raised her finger and wrote in the air.

"Not tomorrow?"

"Ugh." Ge Sheng was a little embarrassed, so he had to put the account book on the ice table in the room: "Please Xiao Jiu, please do me a favor." ”

The girl known as Xiao Jiu was actually between a girl and a girl, and the white dress on her body was obviously a little smaller, but there was still no sign of replacement, she didn't answer, but stretched out her hand and looked at the account book seriously, and finally nodded slowly after a long time.

The boy who was so happy that he almost cried wanted to hug her twice and kiss her hard, but when he saw her faint and slightly cold look, he thought about it or gave up, just thinking like this, but saw that the little girl seriously stretched out a little hand as white as jade to him, although he didn't say a word, but he looked like you know.

Ge Sheng sighed, and handed her the tightly wrapped "Anecdotes of Lan Ye" from his arms: "This is the twenty-forty-fourth book, my family is almost half of the books you have read." ”

"And half there." That Xiao Jiu didn't say a word, but simply wrote quickly in the air with his left hand, but the reason was very clear.

"Yes, yes." Ge Sheng nodded angrily and funny: "Look at it first, count it first?" ”

Xiao Jiu didn't answer, but he had already opened the booklet, divided it in half and handed it to Ge Sheng.

Ge Sheng nodded with a wry smile, took out a bundle of calculation chips from his arms, and also opened it and handed it to Xiao Jiu half, after Xiao Jiu took it, the booklet was opened, and the calculation chips were opened, the left hand turned the page to record, and the right hand fiddled with the calculation chips, and for a while, the fingers were running like flying, and a string of numbers was filled in the corners of the book.

"It's really worthy of Xiao Jiu." Ge Sheng thought so, but didn't say it. I also opened the booklet, put the calculation chip in a familiar position, and began to calculate.

That booklet is the account book of the entire Fengmian Villa in the second half of this year, the land tax of the surrounding tenants, the money borrowed from each family to Fengmian Villa, and even the income expenses of the villa itself in the past six months, are all recorded in this thin bill.

And what he and Xiao Jiu have to do now is to summarize everything and sort out a report with rigorous income and expenditure.

It looks complicated, but it's actually more complicated to do.

Most of the field taxes are in kind, rice, millet, wheat, cotton, linen, arrowroot, and silk, which are collected in the treasury, and the amount must be clarified, and the currency must be converted.

It's a hassle of all the time, but it's nothing compared to borrowing. Borrowing is not only cash, the east family is less cloth, the west family is short of medicine, the south family owes money, the north family lacks food, and the villagers often have countless human debts between them, repay each other, and there is no shortage of such things as bond transfers.

As for the final input cost, it is not difficult at all, it is complicated.

A foot of cloth, a bucket of rice, rouge gouache, sugar cake preserves, and bits and pieces of expenses and long-term workers must be recorded here, but you have to settle them one by one.

And Xiao Jiu nodded, as if unconsciously opening it and starting to settle.

If Ge Sheng hadn't heard it with his own ears, he would have believed that this was definitely his stepmother deliberately making things difficult for him, but the one who gave him this errand was his own mother who couldn't kiss anymore.

Fengmian Villa is not a big place, it occupies a small hill, and the surrounding fields of one hundred and eighty miles are under its control, and when it was placed a little earlier, there is also a saying called three hundred food yi. But how can the Fengmian Villa plus the master and the maid plus the long worker, plus the cat who temporarily lives on the mountain, did not exceed the number of two hands, and the account room on weekdays was concurrently served by the mother, but how could the mother run out silently at this most critical time, and the job of the accountant fell to the only male owner in the villa with an order.

If it weren't for Xiao Jiu, Ge Sheng would probably be able to count it out if he worked hard, but if he didn't die, he would have to shed his skin.

As for Xiao Jiu, Ge Sheng doesn't know much, but the only thing that can be confirmed is that she is not from here, because the place where she lives is obviously within the jurisdiction of Fengmian Villa, but this little girl has never paid half a copper plate to Fengmian Villa, and the household registration statistics have nothing to do with her.

Ge Sheng thought for a moment: she was the kind of person who came out of here with a "hula" sound like magic, and the time was about half a year ago.

Half a year ago, someone found that there was suddenly a small house made of ice by the holy lake, so he reported to Ge Sheng's own mother, after all, he was the master of the three hundred food towns, but Ge Sheng's own mother was not interested in this, to be precise, since Ge Sheng remembered, I didn't remember when his own mother was full of interest, a sentence of "what's the matter with me", this igloo is not everyone's business, anyway, the people inside rarely meet with others, and the black owner who does not pay taxes and food does not care, and what can he or she manage.

So Xiao Jiu lived here, Ge Sheng as a member of the master's family, and was next to him when others reported, so after a boy's adventure, he caught a lively Lori in the igloo - this girl who called herself Xiao Jiu.

Anyway, when they met, they fought for some reason, and then Ge Sheng regretfully didn't fight - this is not a shame, for a nine-year-old boy and girl, girls can often perfectly suppress each other in terms of combat effectiveness.

And then maybe there is a tendency to be addicted, in short, Ge Sheng came here more and more often, until finally he became an existence that could not be bombed away, and many things naturally happened in between, but these things cannot be recalled here.

Because Xiao Jiu is finished.

Xiao Jiu put away the calculations, closed the account book and pushed it to Ge Sheng, and then naturally picked up the "Anecdote of Lan Ye" and opened it and read it, not at all I did something very powerful, come and praise my consciousness, but "Well, I'm done." "That's a feeling.

Although Ge Sheng knew the ability of the girl in front of him, he still opened it and swept it, Xiao Jiu's characters were very classical block scripts, with round and plump strokes, Ge Sheng knew that only those families with far-reaching inheritance would teach such words, but he was not too surprised - because he himself was taught such words by his own mother.

Since the little girl dared to push it over, there was naturally nothing wrong with it, and Ge Sheng's acceptance naturally couldn't look at it all, and a few simple spot checks were tacitly calculated in his heart, all of which were correct.

Sure enough, Xiao Jiu's thought as a matter of course passed through his mind, and then Ge Sheng stared at him.

"Xiao Jiu, is this word written wrong?"

Ge Sheng spread out the account book and pointed to one of the words "Zhi", which is the name of rouge, called Dai Zhixiang, but when Xiao Jiu wrote this name, the side and radical of "Zhi" were missing a vertical, but this is not a commonly used simple pen treatment.

"I'm used to writing." Xiao Jiu glanced at it, shook his head and wrote.

Maybe someone just has such a habit, as long as they can recognize it, Ge Zhu said to himself, and then he also stepped up his speed, and he still understands the basic common sense that he can't lose face too much in front of girls.

But in half a tea time, he finished counting his part, handed the half to Xiao Jiu for inspection, and leaned back in a chair and opened another book he brought.

He came in a hurry early in the morning, because the account books had to be cleared before dark, but at this time, Xiao Jiu had finished clearing, and the sun was just southerly, and it was still more than half an hour before noon.

Since you are not busy walking, it is not bad to sit here for a while in Xiao Jiu, Xiao Jiu's igloo is naturally a good place to cool off in summer, but in late autumn at this time, it is a little cold, fortunately, Ge Sheng has been taught by a fisherman since he was a child to play a set of Taiping boxing, and he does not feel cold when he sits in it.

Something is long, nothing is short, the girl's page turned page by page, the sunlight shone through the window lattice, the two did not say anything, they had been in this igloo for half a year, so familiar that there was no need to say much, such a quiet morning, it felt very pleasant to spend quietly.

Ge Sheng had read a story, read another story, and felt a little hungry, so he looked up at the sky, the middle of the day, noon, and it was almost time to go back.

Xiao Jiu saw the shadow on the table move, closed the book, and raised her head, she and the boy in front of her had known each other for more than half a year, so she naturally knew what he was thinking, so she wrote softly: "Let's have dinner." ”

Ge Sheng nodded.

So the two plates of dried sweet potatoes were brought over by Xiao Jiu, who came out of his seat and returned after a while, and put them on the table, Ge Sheng did not dislike the shabby food, and took out a strip very seriously and chewed slowly, very dry, very tough, with a hint of sweetness, it was a very ordinary dried sweet potato cut into strips and then dried under the sun, and it was also the food of the little girl in front of him.

He often comes and eats this kind of food, so he has been eating it for almost half a year, so he is not ready to waste it at all, because he knows that there are only ten plates of dried sweet potatoes like this here, which is her ration for a week, and after a week, she will have to spend half a day or even a day to collect.

But she is willing to share it with herself, and Ge Sheng is actually grateful for such trust.

So Ge Sheng is not prepared to waste at all.

This is a very strong guy, although Ge Sheng can bring her more and better food, but don't want is don't, no matter how much you say it, there is actually nothing to say.

The dried sweet potatoes were very filling, Ge Sheng had eaten seven or eight of them, and then took a sip of the water scooped from the holy lake behind him, and the little girl in front of him had already eaten it, and was licking a stone with her head down.

It was an ice-blue stone, with a slightly translucent texture, not big, at most the size of a child's fist, and it was tied around her neck with a rope, as if she were lying on her stomach and licking the bitter gall before eating.

But it's not bitter gall, and it's not before eating.

Ge Sheng was not surprised at all, because he had often seen this scene in the past six months.

The name of this stone is recorded in many ancient books, called salt stone, and the best salt stone is the crystallization of the sea, transparent and pure, and can be carved like a gemstone.

But the piece in the girl's hand is just a very ordinary rock salt, and if it is ground and taken to the market, it may be exchanged for four or five copper plates, and the reason why the girl licked it is also very simple.

She needs to eat salt.

After half a year, this stone is much smaller, but no matter how small, it is also salt.

Ge Sheng was not ready to say anything, nor was he ready to pity the girl in front of him, because he knew that this girl was actually more proud than he imagined, so he didn't need to pity him at all.

So Ge Sheng nodded, got up, and picked up the account book: "I'm leaving." ”

The girl nodded slowly, her fingers dancing in the air, drawing three short curved arcs, two downward and one upward, a symbol that anyone could understand.

A simple smiley face ∩_∩.

……

……