In the afternoon, everyone in the chamber of commerce was performing their duties and was extremely busy, especially in the accounting room, where the abacus was beating loudly.
In contrast, Zhu Linyuan, who was sitting at the counter in the lobby, looked a little out of place. He would be in a daze from time to time, with his thoughts written all over his face.
He had already gone to the place where the account books were stored to check to make sure he had moved them correctly. He was even more confused about where the account books upstairs came from.
Could it be that Tang Ji discovered it in advance and copied it beforehand?
Time flew by and it was already evening. The noise on the street dropped sharply. Many vendors were packing their things and preparing to go home. Pang Qing also parked his carriage outside the Jianghai Chamber of Commerce, leaning on the carriage and looking into the building.
Soon after, the door of the accounting room on the second floor opened, and several accounting gentlemen came out one after another. Tang Ji followed at the back, raised his arms and beat his shoulders, and deliberately raised his voice and shouted: "Accounting Wang, remember to lock the door!"
The old man who was still in the room nodded and replied, "Don't worry, Mr. Tang."
Immediately, a group of people went downstairs. Qi Zheng paused at the entrance of the stairs for a moment, his eyebrows covered with white frost slightly wrinkled. After hesitating, he walked to the counter and handed the key to Zhu Linyuan: "Brother Tang invited me to have a drink.
Please lock the door."
Zhu Linyuan noticed something unusual in Qi Zheng's tone and raised his head in confusion: "Old Qi, what are you drinking with that boy?"
"I promised him this morning. I can't refuse now. Let's go!" He put the key on the counter and turned around to find Tang Ji standing at the door calling him. He answered and followed.
This scene made Zhu Linyuan feel uncomfortable. Tang Ji had gradually become one with everyone in the Chamber of Commerce. If even Qi Zheng was on his side, it would be even more difficult to drive him away.
In an instant, Zhu Linyuan's eyes shifted to the bunch of copper ring keys in front of him, and then he slowly raised his head to look at the second floor. After resenting the pros and cons, he planned to go to the accounting room in person to see if there was anything wrong with the account books.
The backyard of the Jianghai Chamber of Commerce is not small, but the building for the guys to rest is arranged in the next street, so except for the guards on duty, no one else will stay in the building at night. After several people in power in the building leave,
They also packed up their things and ended their busy day.
At the entrance of the stairs, Wang Qian, the second accountant, hurriedly walked down. When he saw Zhu Linyuan, he did not forget to say hello with a smile: "Deacon Zhu, you haven't left yet."
"I want to lock the door. How come the king's accountant is here now?" Zhu Linyuan asked politely.
Wang Gan was about forty years old, a little bloated, but he looked very kind. He touched his belly and replied: "Aren't we going to check the accounts today? The accounts in our building were not sorted out today. Those guys ran so fast."
, so I can only clean up the mess... Oops, it’s getting late, so I’ll leave first, my wife and children are still at home waiting for me to have dinner, Deacon Zhu should also take care of his health!”
He bowed his hands politely, and after a few polite words, he anxiously ran out of the building.
Zhu Linyuan watched him leave with a smile. He stood up and looked around. The building was surprisingly quiet. He couldn't hear any noise. Except for the two guards standing at the door, no one else was seen. He raised his hand to his lips, coughed lightly, and walked slowly.
He walked over and said, "You go to eat first."
One of the guards turned sideways and clasped his fists and said, "Deacon Zhu, A Le will bring us food later."
"There's so much nonsense, just go as you are told." Immediately, Zhu Linyuan took out a piece of broken silver from his pocket and threw it over.
The two guards looked at each other and smiled, then reached out and took it: "Thank you, Deacon Zhu, it's just the Chamber of Commerce..."
"I have nothing to do today. I'll help you watch for a while. Go quickly." Zhu Linyuan waved his hand impatiently, trying to make the two of them disappear from his eyes as quickly as possible.
The guards were no longer polite, saluted again and turned to leave.
"Hey, Deacon Zhu is so kind. This is the second time he has invited us to dinner."
"Yeah, it's not like Deacon Lu who is digging around, walking around, finding a shop to have a good time and then coming back quickly, don't waste Deacon Zhu's time."
Hearing vaguely the two men praising him, Zhu Linyuan raised his lips slightly and closed the door of the Chamber of Commerce.
It was getting late, and the building became dim. Only a few traces of afterglow light hit the paper windows. There were water stains on a counter that had not been cleaned. The water droplets fell on the ground along the corners, making a "drip" sound.
There was a crash, and an unknown child stood in the nearby alleyway and screamed, startling Zhu Linyuan who had just lit the candle.
He looked around and felt a little uneasy, but he quickly comforted himself and walked upstairs with courage.
The sound of feet hitting the wooden planks echoed in the building, like the bells of hell's judgment.
From time to time, Zhu Linyuan walked outside the accounting room, turned his head and took a look twice. After making sure everything was safe, he skillfully found the accounting room key from a bunch of keys in his hand.
The key is inserted into the lock cylinder, and with a "click", the copper lock is opened.
He left the key on the brass lock, held the candle and walked straight to the wooden door of the back room. Just as he was about to push the door open, the door to the accounting room suddenly closed, and a loud noise came from outside.
Zhu Linyuan heard the sound of locking the door without thinking, walked quickly to the door, knocked on it, and shouted: "Hey, I'm still in there!"
He reached out and tugged on the wooden door again, and after confirming that he was locked inside, he immediately panicked, thinking it was some guard. He was about to reprimand loudly, but was interrupted by a voice coming from outside.
"I knew I could catch a 'big fish.' Deacon Zhu, tell me, why did you steal the account books?"
Zhu Linyuan knew it was Tang Ji's voice as soon as he heard it. He gritted his teeth and said angrily: "What are you talking nonsense about? Who stole the account book? I just came to check the accounting room. You actually want to slander me. If you know what I'm talking about, let it go as soon as possible."
I am going out."
Tang Ji, who was standing outside the door, smiled lightly and continued: "Ah, I can't be unlucky anyway. Deacon Zhu should shoulder this responsibility."
Hearing this, Zhu Linyuan became even more panicked. In this way, he confirmed that he had stolen the account book. He quickly shouted: "Boy, I advise you not to act recklessly."
"Ah~" Tang Ji yawned and continued: "I'm so tired. I'll leave first. I have wronged Deacon Zhu and stayed inside all night. I will lock the door for you. By the way, I will invite you tomorrow morning.
Shopkeeper Yue is here, I hope you can explain clearly when the time comes!"
As soon as he finished speaking, there were footsteps outside the house, and Zhu Linyuan's hands were sweating. If the shopkeeper knew that he had stolen the account books, not to mention the position of deacon, it would be a question of whether he could save his life. At this moment, he had no choice but to temporarily
He surrendered and shouted loudly: "No, don't leave. I took the account books. As long as you let me go, I will return the account books to you!"
There was a quiet moment outside the house. Just when Zhu Linyuan thought Tang Ji had left, there was another shout from outside: "What? Did you really steal the account book? Why did you do this?"
Zhu Linyuan was worried that his voice would alert the guards, so he quickly reminded: "Don't call me, let me go first, and I will take you to get the account book."
Tang Ji raised his brows and raised the corners of his mouth slightly: "Deacon Zhu, this is your decision. A gentleman's words are hard to follow!"
"Okay, stop inking, open the door quickly, none of us can escape if someone finds out." Zhu Linyuan knocked on the door anxiously.
Soon, the sound of unlocking came, and the door slowly opened, but the scene outside made him dumbfounded. He knelt on the ground with a plop and said in horror: "It's the shopkeeper~"