What a lucky world!

Chapter 6: Excellent people can get full scholarships wherever they go to study abroad!

Zhang Mu is eating noodles!
Although he planned to eat some food that could replenish qi and blood, Zhang Mu finally chose a bowl of vegetarian noodles.

Those who cannot afford the tuition fees have no time to eat meat.

After taking two big mouthfuls of noodles, Zhang Mu finally felt a little warm in his stomach and began to think about raising tuition fees.

On the surface, he still needed five taels of silver to pay for the escort agency's training.

But after paying all the money, what did he eat and drink during the month he learned martial arts?
One tael of silver is equivalent to 1000 copper coins. According to the original owner's living expenses, the monthly rent is 250 copper coins. He only eats two meals a day, breakfast and lunch, which is 20 copper coins a day, which is 600 copper coins.

But as the old saying goes, the poor are good at literature and the rich are good at martial arts. Once you start practicing martial arts, you will have an extremely high demand for energy intake, which cannot be supported by this kind of consumption.

He was already older and had missed the stage of strengthening his muscles and bones. If his diet did not keep up, his progress in cultivation would be seriously hindered, which would be counterproductive.

The price of the meals provided by the escort agency to the apprentices is an additional fifteen taels per month. Zhang Mu felt that no matter how hard he worked, he would need to spend at least half of the money on food.

That’s eight taels… no, seven taels of silver.

After counting everything, what he still lacked was not five taels, but twelve taels!
What about income?

It is the end of the month now, and I will receive the monthly salary for the new month in two days, which is one or two taels of silver.

Still eleven taels short!
Until he finished showing off his bowl of plain noodles, Zhang Mu still hadn't figured out how to quickly get eleven taels of silver.

But he didn't have time to waste any more time, so he stood up and planned to return to Yuanwei Escort Agency.

Although he nominally kept watch yesterday, he didn't say he could rest today. He had been back home for half the morning because of the Tianji Ranking matter, and now he had to go back obediently. Otherwise, what would happen if his salary was deducted?
Corporal punishment is allowed, but deducting money is absolutely not allowed!
……

Following the path they came from, Zhang Mu walked for about quarter of an hour and still entered the escort agency from the side door. He walked to the accounting courtyard in a familiar manner. At this time, there was already someone in the accounting office.

Yuanwei Escort Agency is equipped with a chief accountant in the accounting office, who is the head of the accounting office and is in charge of the agency's accounts.

There are two accountants under the big accounting office, Liu Zuo is one of them, and he is the person in charge of the specific accounts.

Under the accountant are assistants like Zhang Mu, a total of five people, who mainly do odd jobs in the account office, such as exchanging silver and money, verifying expenditures, and transcribing accounts.

When Zhang Mu arrived, Mr. He, the head accountant, and Mr. Wu, the accountant, had already arrived. Several accountants were busy in the yard. Zhang Mu was also looking for a good catch when he suddenly heard Mr. He shout, "Zhang Mu, come here."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Mu hurried over and came to Mr. He.

Mr. He, whose full name was He Bilai, was in his forties, slightly overweight, sporting a fashionable goatee, and a ruddy complexion. While he appeared to be a good-natured individual, Zhang Mu had witnessed Mr. He nearly come to blows with a senior escort over a difference of one hundred taels of silver on his account. He was the kind of man who couldn't tolerate any injustice, earning the chief escort's trust.

"Liu Zuo also came to keep watch last night?" Why did he ask directly?

Zhang Mu had already prepared a plan. He nodded and said, "He came over at midnight yesterday and treated me to a midnight snack. Then he said he wasn't feeling well and left."

"Hmph, feeling unwell?" He Bilai sneered, "Sooner or later, you'll die at the hands of a woman."

After saying this, he looked at the sky again: "It's not time to go to work yet. It seems that I have been too lenient during this period of time!"

Zhang Mu lowered his head and did not respond.

At this time, He Bi heard him say, "You go sit in his seat and finish calculating the account books that should be calculated today, and hand them to me before leaving work."

Zhang Mu was stunned and looked at He Bilai with some surprise. He was just a clerk, and checking the accounts was the job of the accountant.

"Just do it when I tell you to." He Bilai waved his hand. "I've been observing you for a while. You have a good understanding and a solid foundation in mathematics. You'd be suitable for promotion to accountant. Today, you'll temporarily replace Liu Zuo. If Liu Zuo still refuses to change his ways, you'll be the new accountant in the future."

As soon as he finished saying "Why come here", the guys outside looked at Zhang Mu with envy, but it was just envy. After all, they knew that Zhang Mu's ability to calculate accounts was better than theirs.

"What are you still standing there for? Get busy. I can't finish all the month-end accounting work by myself." Mr. Wu, the accountant who had been busy with the accounts, also stood up and smiled at Zhang Mu.

Zhang Mu also realized that the original owner was also ambitious, so he would show himself in front of Mr. He from time to time. This was also one of the reasons why Liu Zuo wanted to frame the original owner.

So Zhang Mu bowed to He Bilai and Mr. Wu, and ran to Liu Zuo's seat. However, he was also careful and did not sit directly on Liu Zuo's chair. Instead, he took a bench, sat on the side of the table, and began to check the account books.

Accounting wasn't difficult for Zhang Mu. Although he'd studied liberal arts in his previous life, he'd resolutely joined the entrepreneurial ranks after graduating from university. In the early days of his business, he'd even earned an accounting certificate through self-study to save costs.

In Zhang Mu's eyes, the escort agency's somewhat primitive accounting method was like a children's picture book, and all the economic activities were clear at a glance.

But soon, Zhang Mu frowned and found something wrong with these accounts.

Zhang Mu subconsciously wanted to circle it, but just as he raised the pen, he suddenly stopped.

He suddenly had an idea, a method that might allow him to smoothly transition into martial arts training.

Zhang Mu suddenly perked up, picked up a blank booklet, and began to write down his thoughts...

……

The sun sets and the sky turns golden.

A day passes in a flash.

Mr. Wu sat up straight, rubbed his wrist, then walked over to He Bilai's desk, placed the account book in his hand on the table, and said with a smile, "Brother He, I've finished my calculations."

He Bilai smiled, glanced at Zhang Mu who was still writing furiously, and said, "You go back first, I'll wait for him."

Mr. Wu bowed and said, "We have guests today, and my wife told me to come home early, so I won't be polite."

He Bilai nodded, and then Mr. Wu walked out of the accounting office.

About a quarter of an hour later, Zhang Mu stretched himself, picked up the account book he had copied, walked over to He Bilai, and handed it to him: "Mr. He, I've finished the accounting here."

"You're pretty fast! I thought you'd need at least half an hour..." He Bilai took the account book and said, "But there must be no mistakes, otherwise... hm?"

He Bilai just took a look at the account book handed to him by Zhang Mu, and his attention was immediately attracted. Then he flipped through a few pages, and then returned to the front, carefully observing each line. After finishing a page, he picked up another account book and opened it, comparing it with Zhang Mu's account book.

Seeing He Bilai like this, Zhang Mu felt a little relieved.

At least I didn't play the piano for the deaf.

the reason is simple.

The escort agency's accounting system was a very simple single-entry system, also known as a running account, which recorded all income and expenses in a single account. However, in addition to escorting, the agency's income also included things like martial arts training, regular security, income from land, and shop rentals. The expenses were even more diverse, so the accounts inevitably became increasingly confusing, and both statistics and accounting were a major undertaking.

Zhang Mu did not blindly adopt modern accounting methods, but used the ancient Chinese "Four Pillars Settlement Method" to re-record accounts.

The so-called "four-column settlement method" is to convert all income and expenditure items into four items, and finally balance the accounts according to the formula "beginning balance + new additions in this period - reductions in this period = ending balance".

Don’t understand what’s above? No problem, the result is a clearer account book.

Zhang Mu finished his calculations half an hour early, but this comparison took him a full half an hour. After he finished reading Zhang Mu's account book, he looked at Zhang Mu hesitantly and said, "Where did you learn this way of keeping accounts?"

Zhang Mu said with some fear, "I usually watch the gentlemen keep accounts, so I figured it out myself and thought it would be more convenient to write it down this way."

"I'm in such a rush today, so I thought I'd give this bookkeeping method a try."

"Mr. He, is that inappropriate? I can start over with the old method..."

He Bilai looked at Zhang Mu meaningfully, and after a while, he chuckled, "I didn't expect that such a talented person would emerge from the escort agency. I think you will be the next accountant sooner or later..."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Mu bowed quickly and said, "Mr. He, I'm sorry to bother you."

"If you find this method appealing, I would like to present it to the Escort Agency."

He Bilai shook his head and chuckled, "No reward without merit."

Zhang Mu looked at He Bilai and said, "To be honest, Mr. He, I also have something to ask for."

He Bilai pointed to the chair and motioned Zhang Mu to sit down.

Zhang Mu didn't sit down and continued, "First, I hope Mr. He will keep this a secret for me and don't tell anyone that this accounting method is my own. Whether it was created by you, Mr. He, or recorded in an ancient book that the escort agency accidentally found, it has nothing to do with me."

He Bilai was stunned at first, but then he understood the situation and nodded, "That's right. If this reputation gets out, you'll be considered an excellent accountant at best, but those who can't do anything about it will naturally hate you."

"Let alone other things, this booklet has revealed a lot of tricks." As he said this, He Bilai knocked on the account book that Zhang Mu had just given him.

Zhang Mu did not answer, but continued: "Secondly, I am willing to practice martial arts, but I am short of money. I would like to ask Mr. He for help..."

He Bilai looked at Zhang Mu, was silent for a moment, and did not ask about Zhang Mu's martial arts talent. He nodded and said -

"Can!"

(End of this chapter)