Poor but talented scholar

Chapter 3 This account is not right

He first looked at the amount owed to his own family.

On the 27th of the third month, I borrowed half a bushel of grain.

On the third day of the fourth lunar month, I borrowed forty coins.

On the ninth day of the fourth lunar month, we will receive spring water once.

It's written very clearly.

Lu Chuan's gaze moved downwards, sweeping over two more rooms before stopping.

A moment later, he reached out and pointed to a line of words.

"My uncle just said that my family borrowed half a bushel of grain last month, and that's how it's recorded in the accounts."

"But if I'm not mistaken, the fourth family also borrowed half a bushel a few days ago."

"Since both are half a bushel, why does my family record it as half a bushel, while the fourth branch records it as an equal bushel?"

The people in the courtyard were all stunned by what they heard.

Lu Youcai frowned: "What do you mean by half a bushel or a full bushel? You can borrow whatever you want. Stop showing off."

Lu Chuan flipped through the account book.

"Borrow as much as you need, that's all."

"But if Uncle had really done this, he should know that there are two types of fighting: flat fighting and pointed fighting."

"When the grain measure is full and leveled, that's one unit. If it's piled high, then there's a little more. In the countryside, the biggest fear when borrowing grain to repay it is that things won't be done properly."

"My family borrowed half a bushel of grain. If it's recorded as a full bushel, then we can repay it according to the full bushel, and there's nothing to complain about. But if we verbally say it's half a bushel, and it's also written as half a bushel in the account, then when it comes time to repay the grain, we'll calculate it according to a full bushel..."

"Then this half-dou (a unit of dry measure) is no longer half-dou."

Lu Youcai was taken aback at first, then his face darkened.

"Nonsense!" he snapped. "The way it's recorded in the accounts is the clan's own rule. Who gives you, a junior, the right to make such a fuss?"

Lu Chuan ignored him and continued looking at the accounts.

"And here too."

He moved his finger and tapped another line.

"The fourth branch borrowed half a bushel of grain, recorded on March 22nd. However, the spring planting seeds borrowed on the same day were not recorded until the end of the month. If I remember correctly, the clan's rule is that grain, money, and seeds are always recorded separately and not delayed beyond three days."

"This transaction took eight days to complete."

"Looking further down, the sixth family borrowed twenty coins, recorded on the first day of the fourth month, but there was no seal afterward, only a horizontal line drawn next to it. If this was a transaction, then there should have been a supplementary record. If it wasn't a transaction, then whose twenty coins are they?"

With each word he spoke, Lu Youcai's face darkened further.

By the time he finished speaking, the veins on Lu Youcai's forehead were bulging.

"That's enough!"

He slammed his hand on the table.

"These are the clan's accounts! You're just a kid who hasn't even grown up yet, do you really think you can pick out the right and wrong after just a few glances?"

The slap was quite forceful, startling the mother under the eaves, who turned pale and instinctively wanted to step forward, but was stopped by a look from her sixth uncle.

Lu Chuan did not move.

"Since you say I'm mistaken, then let's check it stroke by stroke."

"If I am wrong, I will apologize in front of the two elders."

"If I'm not wrong..." he paused, "then what my uncle just said about my family owing the clan will have to be recalculated."

After he finished speaking, the courtyard fell into a deathly silence.

Lu's mother's hands were trembling as she gripped the rag.

Lu Xiaoman stood by the door, not daring to breathe.

Even Uncle Liu raised his eyes and looked at Lu Chuan seriously for the first time.

This child is too mature.

If it were an ordinary teenager, being scolded by his uncle in front of him, he would probably be too weak to continue, let alone keep talking.

But Lu Chuan didn't.

Uncle Jiu brought the account book back.

"Youcai, do you need to explain the points this child mentioned?"

Lu Youcai opened his mouth, his face turning ashen.

"Uncle Jiu, I... I usually keep records of more than one family, so it's common for me to make mistakes."

"An oversight?" Uncle Jiu looked up at him. "One oversight is an oversight, two oversights are oversights, and three oversights are still oversights?"

"I--"

"If it was truly an oversight, so be it," Ninth Uncle slammed the account book on the table. "But just now you were here, saying that the third branch was dragging the clan down and wasting its resources, speaking so confidently. Now you can't even keep the accounts straight, what makes you think you can intimidate people here?"

Lu Youcai's face was burning hot, and his back was covered in sweat.

His visit today was not entirely about the accounts.

The third son's family was poor, his father was sick and his mother was weak, and he seemed like a good-for-nothing. He had originally planned to take advantage of the presence of the two clan elders today to lower the status of this family, so that they could be left out in the future when it came to distributing water and grain.

Who would have thought that a quiet and unassuming boy would bite a hole in the tent?

At this moment, Sixth Uncle slowly spoke.

"Brother Chuan".

Lu Chuan cupped his hands in greeting: "Sixth Uncle."

"Who taught you these things?"

Lu Chuan had anticipated this question: "No one taught me. My father didn't know many characters, and my mother couldn't understand the accounts, so I kept a few records for the family. As I remembered more, I learned some basic things."

Sixth Uncle hummed in agreement and then asked, "You can read?"

"I know some of it, but I figured it out myself."

Seeing this, Uncle Liu stopped talking, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.

Uncle Jiu flipped through two pages of the account book, saying as he looked, "Third brother's family accounts need to be sorted out again. Grain is grain, money is money, and the amount of grain should be clearly written down. In the future, if there are any borrowings of grain or grain in the clan, whoever handles it should be listed in the name. Don't make things unclear."

"Yes..." Lu Youcai lowered his head, his voice becoming soft.

After saying that, he seemed unwilling to give up and looked up at Lu Chuan.

"Ninth Uncle, even if some parts of the accounts are unclear, it doesn't change the fact that his family is now struggling to make ends meet. My third brother's illness means his medical expenses are a bottomless pit. We can't keep filling this hole for his family just because this kid knows how to flip through the books, can we?"

Sixth Uncle ignored him and turned to ask Lu Chuan, "Do you know your Seventh Uncle?"

Lu Chuan was taken aback: "I know, Uncle Qi at the east end of the village."

"He received some schooling when he was young." Uncle Liu put down his teacup. "Have you gone to see him?"

No.

Sixth Uncle hummed in response, seemingly lost in thought.

After talking for a while, the two elders stood up and prepared to leave.

Lu Youcai, still unwilling to give up, took two steps forward: "Sixth Uncle, Ninth Uncle, what this child said today about the accounts—do we still need to…?"

Uncle Jiu didn't even turn his head: "I've already said about the accounts; they'll be reconciled. Is there anything else you don't understand?"

Lu Youcai opened his mouth, but didn't say anything more.

Sixth Uncle walked to the courtyard gate, leaned on the doorframe, paused for a moment, and casually said, "When you have time, take this child to see your Seventh Uncle."

After saying that, he didn't turn around, but walked out the door with his cane.

Ninth Uncle followed behind, carrying the account book.

Lu Youcai stood there, his face ashen. He glanced at Lu Chuan, his lips moved, but he didn't say anything. He then turned and left without even closing the door.

Mrs. Lu finally breathed a sigh of relief; her palms were sweaty from clutching the rag for so long. She walked over and asked Lu Chuan in a low voice, "Are you alright?"

"fine."

Lu's mother looked at him, as if she wanted to say something, but then swallowed her words and turned to walk towards the kitchen.

Lu Xiaoman sidled up to Lu Chuan from the doorway and whispered, "Is the seventh uncle that Sixth Uncle mentioned the one at the east end of the village who can read?"

"Um."

Lu Xiaoman's eyes lit up. She looked around to make sure her mother had gone into the kitchen before whispering, "Does that mean you're going to study with Seventh Uncle?"

"I don't know yet."

Lu Xiaoman muttered, "You can definitely do it."