Red Mansion Taoist

Chapter 16 Taking over
  Jia Qiang walked out of the Gongyuan, thinking about Yin Kewei's words in his mind.

Yin Kewei almost made it clear to him that the person behind Wen's recommendation was none other than Jia Zhen of Ningguo Mansion, and he personally wrote the recommendation letter for admission to the Imperial Academy.

Yin Kewei's words confirmed Jia Qiang's guess. Jia Qiang knew very well that Jia Zhen would never wave her hand.

However, he has the status of a scholar, and after he enters the Imperial College, even if Jia Zhen wants to touch him, he will not be able to do anything to him easily without proof.

The status of being a student of the Imperial College is a very important talisman.

Walking out of the crowd again, he saw Lao Shuntou trotting up to him excitedly.

"Congratulations, master!" Lao Shun bowed his head and congratulated.

"Go back home first and then show you the reward!" Jia Qiang waved her hand and said.

Jia Qiang, who got on the carriage, saw through the carriage window that the gate of Gongyuan was truly a gathering place of sorrow and joy in the world.

Being a scholar in the examination means officially becoming a member of the literati. Although they are only the lowest group among the literati, they can call themselves scholars from now on.

In addition, being a scholar is also a must for participating in the provincial examination in the future, and scholars also have corresponding benefits.

Scholars can be exempted from corvee service, no longer have to work as free coolies for the government, and can own several acres of land tax-free.

You can also meet an official without kneeling down. If you make a mistake, you will not be punished. If you want to get rid of this kind of treatment, you must take off the title. In this aspect, a scholar can wear a coiled collared gown and a square headband. scarf and boots on feet.

Scholars can also wear swords and go out to study at will without any restrictions. If they are ordinary people, they will be guided by the government when traveling far away.

It can be said that becoming a scholar has become a different level of existence in terms of social status.

Of course, in the capital, a small scholar really means nothing, and even low-level officials must act with caution.

"Let's go!" Jia Qiang lowered the curtains and said in a deep voice.

The courtyard became lively with Jia Qiang's return. Even the two rough girls understood the benefits that the master could bring by becoming a scholar.

"Master, let me change your clothes!" Jade held a pile of clothes in his hand and said to Jia Qiang with a slight smile.

"It's hard for you, but I prepared carefully!" Jia Qiang looked at the style of the clothes and knew that this was a set of Confucian shirts that only scholars could wear.

Jade happily changed Jia Qiang into a Confucian shirt, including a Confucian scarf on her head, a blue shirt with a coiled collar, and a pair of boots embroidered with plum and bamboo on her feet.

Although Jia Qiang is still very short, after putting on this outfit, her unique elegance is revealed in her small body.

Jia Qiang looked at the dense stitching on the clothes and the casual embroidery. These were all made by Jade in a month.

A touch of emotion arose in his heart, and he finally had some recognition of this family.

"Jade, follow me to the rouge shop this afternoon!" He thought for a while and said to Jade.

"Really?!" Jade's eyes lit up and she resisted the urge to jump up.

As a girl, she was already interested in cosmetics such as rouge. After following Jia Qiang for a month, all the cosmetics she used were brought from Jia's house, and some of them were almost used.

She also had some money, but she had no chance to buy rouge and gouache in this month.

Not long after, Lao Shuntou drove Jia Qiang and Feicui away from home in a carriage.

Jia Qiang was wearing a Confucian shirt, and hanging on her waist was the dagger she brought from Ningguo Mansion.

Even with his height, he couldn't carry a long sword, so a short sword was just right.

After getting off the carriage wearing this outfit, he looked up at his own rouge shop.

The Rouge Shop is in a good location, and the whole street is very prosperous. After all, it is the property of the Jia family, and the Jia family's industry occupies a relatively good position in the capital.

Jade walked into the rouge shop first, and the clerk hurriedly stepped forward, only to find that the female customer was not acting like a normal buyer, but was looking around at the decorations in the shop.

This image is like looking at the decoration of your own home, which makes the waiter forget what he wants to say.

Jia Qiang followed and entered, which made Jade think of what needed to be done.

"Call your shopkeeper to meet the boss!" Jade pretended to be mature and said to the waiter.

The guy was startled at first, but quickly realized what he was doing. The change of owner of the Rouge Shop was settled a month ago. The steward of the Jia family who was assigned to the Rouge Shop left, and all the accounts were handed over to the shopkeeper.

Both the shopkeeper and the three clerks in the shop had been anxiously waiting for the new owner for a month.

"Master, please wait for a moment!" The waiter bowed to Jia Qiang and said, then he turned around and ran towards the shop, shouting: "Shopkeeper, the new owner is here!"

"Xiao Dongzi, why are you so unruly and shouting!" The curtain behind the shop opened, and the fat shopkeeper who heard the sound scolded.

But as the curtain opened, the fat shopkeeper heard clearly what Xiao Dongzi said, and his eyes followed Jia Qiang.

"Second Master Qiang, we've finally waited for you!" The fat shopkeeper showed false excitement on his face. His fat body was not slow, and he came to Jia Qiang in a few steps.

"Jade, show him the contract!" Jia Qiang calmly ordered to Jade.

Jade took out the house deed and store deed of the store, which showed that Jia Qiang had complete ownership of the store.

The fat shopkeeper scanned the two contracts. In fact, even without reading the contracts, he knew the truth of the matter.

The fat shopkeeper had met Jia Qiang from a distance, but he had never forgotten Jia Qiang's appearance.

"Second Master Qiang, you don't need to look, Ning Guofu has already informed me!" The fat shopkeeper waved his hands and said. He looked at Jia Qiang's Confucian shirt and looked more respectful and said: "The young one's name is Ma Hongli, he is from our store. Shopkeeper!"

"Shopkeeper Ma, I don't care about Ningguo Mansion's accounts. Show me this month's accounts!" Jia Qiang waved her hand to Jade to put away the contract, and then ordered to Shopkeeper Ma.

"You go to the back for a cup of tea first, and I'll get the account book right away." Shopkeeper Ma made an invitation to Jia Qiang, and winked at Xiao Dongzi.

Xiao Dongzi opened the door curtain and welcomed Jia Qiang inside.

Jia Qiang did not refuse, he walked into the room.

In addition to the shop in the front, Rouge Shop also has a small courtyard and two rooms in the back.

Some of the rouge gouache being prepared was placed on a wooden frame to dry in the sun, which also filled the yard with a strong fragrance.

In the middle of the yard, there is a low table with a wooden chair next to it. It can be seen that shopkeeper Ma was resting here before. The tea on the low table is still there.

Xiao Dongzi stepped forward to collect the tea set, but Jade took it away. Jade didn't care about the tea prepared by Jia Qiang.

After a while, shopkeeper Ma brought the account books, and Jade also brought tea.

Jia Qiang picked up the tea cup with one hand, took a sip, and opened the account book with the other hand.

The account book is the entry and exit treasury account, a small rouge shop, with a lot of content on the account book.

Some of the goods in the rouge shop are finished products purchased directly, while some are purchased raw materials and then made into finished products by the workers.

There are many kinds of materials consumed in the preparation process, and the large and small accounts make the account book extremely complicated.

Shopkeeper Ma stood beside him, his fat face and eyes full of cunning.

Ever since he got the news that it was twelve-year-old Jia Qiang who took over Rouge Shop, and that Jia Qiang was kicked out of Ningguo Mansion, he knew that his good luck had come.

He didn't believe that Jia Qiang could find out what he had done.

Unfortunately, he didn't know how simple this math problem of adding more and subtracting was to Jia Qiang.

Jia Qiang asked for paper and pen, and he wrote while looking at the account book.

Shopkeeper Ma stood aside, looking at the strange numbers written by Jia Qiang, wondering what they meant.

Jia Qiang changed the capital numbers on the account books into Arabic numerals, and then performed calculations.

The account book was turned over page by page until the last page was completed, and the writing movement in Jia Qiang's hand stopped.

"Shopkeeper Ma, there is an error of one hundred and thirty-six taels in this account book. The number of materials delivered in a month, I need to check the warehouse!" Jia Qiang said calmly.

At this time, shopkeeper Ma's hair was dripping with sweat, sliding down his fat face. Some beads of sweat fell on his eyes, but he didn't dare to wipe them away.

He made his own accounts, and no one knew how much he was greedy, but he spent a lot of effort to make the accounts, and all his efforts were clearly calculated in just a moment.

(End of this chapter)