Top Scholar

Chapter 131 Dividends
After having a farewell dinner and saying goodbye to his classmates, Su Lu returned to Sweet Water Diary.

It was almost the end of the year, and Sweet Water Shop was once again delivering goods to its regular customers' homes. The shop was deserted, with only the proprietress and Su Youcai doing the accounting behind the counter.

The two worked seamlessly together, one flipping through the ledgers and calling out numbers, the other using an abacus to count. They even exchanged glances, creating a very affectionate scene, making Xiao Tiantian seem like an eyesore.

Seeing Su Lu enter, Xiao Tiantian breathed a sigh of relief; finally, someone was there to watch the play with her. She quickly went to greet him and took the food box from Su Lu's hands.

"Brother, you're on vacation?" Xiaotian asked happily.

“Yes, it takes a month.” Su Lu nodded.

"Can you take me to Erlangtan for a few days? I miss Xiaojinbao." Xiaotiantian eats dog food every day and is having indigestion. She wants a change of environment to give her stomach a rest.

"Of course, no problem. But we're going to the county town tomorrow," Su Lu said with a smile. "How about I take you with me to the county town for the New Year?"

"Huh?" Xiaotian looked at the proprietress; she couldn't make such a big decision.

"Go ahead, go ahead," the proprietress waved her hand and said, "I'll be busy for a while before the New Year, and I won't have time to cook for the kids."

“I’ve been cooking all the time lately…” Xiao Tiantian mumbled, then asked, “Mom, are you going to celebrate the New Year?”

"The temple fair starts on the first day of the Lunar New Year, so I can't go anywhere." The proprietress announced the last number and said, "You can just spend the New Year with your brothers."

"Oh." Xiaotian was a little disappointed, but still nodded obediently.

The proprietress sighed inwardly, "Silly girl, if you don't go, how will I have an excuse to go?"

On the surface, however, she pretended not to notice her daughter's little mood and excitedly called out to Su Lu, "Son, come quickly and take a look at this year's accounts!"

"You figured it out so early?" Su Lu was also looking forward to it and quickly stepped forward.

"The last batch of goods was picked up this morning. The next batch from the distillery won't arrive until after the New Year." Su Youcai nodded, put down his pen, and said, "Your mother said to settle the accounts before you leave, so the family can have some fun!"

"Let me see how happy I am!" Su Lu rubbed his hands excitedly as he took the final account from his godmother.

In these days, people have broken through the limitations of the previous generation's 'single-entry ledger,' and merchants generally use two ledgers. The ledger records each transaction and income and expenditure in chronological order, which is equivalent to 'original vouchers'.

Then, the cash flow records are periodically summarized into the general ledger by income and expenditure to facilitate profit calculation. There is also a dedicated accounts receivable and accounts payable column for easy overview.

Su Lu turned to the summary page and saw that the profit column was divided into two items. One was 'Sweet Water Profit', which had a total annual profit of 295 taels, but 150 taels had already been distributed as dividends, so the remaining profit for this item was 145 taels.

"That's really impressive!" Su Lu praised sincerely. To be able to make such a profit during the off-season in the second half of the year, his godmother is truly, truly, truly capable!
"Keep reading," his godmother urged him to turn the page, as if presenting a treasure.

Su Lu flipped to the second page, 'Profits from Wine,' and glanced at the number—five hundred and eighty taels!

He couldn't help but gasp. "Dad, you didn't miscalculate, did you? So much?"

"How could such a simple account be wrong? Arithmetic is one of the six arts of a gentleman." Su Youcai rolled his eyes at him and said confidently, "Back in the day, when our distillery settled accounts at the end of the year, we always had to ask me to do the abacus calculations!"

"Oh, oh." Su Lu nodded, flipped through the details at the back, and it was indeed quite simple. A total of 80,000 catties of wine were sold, with a sales fee of ten wen per catty, for a total income of eight hundred taels.

The total cost of marketing, transportation, and labor was 220 taels, so the profit was naturally 580 taels.

It's astonishing how the middlemen seem to be making all the money...

"We never expected the profit margin to be so high. It's mainly because the brothers at the distillery worked so hard that they managed to brew another 40,000 jin of wine after the order fair!" The proprietress exclaimed, "Even if Erlang wine is brewed quickly, the people have to keep up."

"Isn't it all thanks to your four hundred taels?" Su Youcai was actually better than Youma at providing emotional value; besides writing poems, he could also flatter the landlady to her heart's content.

"Once everyone received their wages, they truly saw hope, so of course they had to fight tooth and nail to hold onto it!"

These words were indeed directed at the clansmen, yet they caused the proprietress's heart to flutter, her eyes sparkling with a gentle warmth as she gazed at Su Youcai. She bit her lip and said, "Second Brother..."

Xiao Tiantian closed her eyes: 'It's too sweet, I really can't eat anymore...'

"Ahem." Su Lu coughed, reminding them to be mindful of their behavior, especially since there was a child involved.

Then I turned to the third page, 'Total Profit'—725 taels.

Among them, 'accumulated surplus' is one hundred taels.

The distributable profit is 625 taels. "We will continue to operate next year, so we can't distribute all the profits," the proprietress explained. "Therefore, we have kept 100 taels as capital to cover various expenses."

"Understood." Su Lu nodded. 'Surplus reserves,' he thought, and said with a smile, "Six hundred and twenty-five taels of silver is more than enough!"

He did a quick calculation: his family owned 16% of the shares, which meant they would receive exactly 100 taels! Wouldn't his aunt be overjoyed?
But the godmother didn't see it that way. Instead, she said, "The commander owns 20% of the shares and should receive 130 taels. He should also give us a small amount as a token of respect. I'll give him 200 taels, and that will be fine. The rest is all ours!"

She patted Su Lu on the shoulder and said with great enthusiasm, "How about that? Isn't your mother amazing?"

"Amazing, amazing, so amazing!" Su Lu quickly gave a thumbs up with both hands, but couldn't help glancing at Su Youcai next to him, thinking that he was even more amazing.

To think that such a powerful godmother could be so devoted and single-minded...

Isn't she also a succubus? It's just that unlike Wang Yangming, who only targeted men, her father specifically targeted young women.

~~
Their family's income comes from more than just this one source...

Inside the main workshop of Su's Distillery, Su Daji and Su Tai were also calculating accounts.

This morning, Su Tai, along with twenty strong young men, delivered the last batch of payments for the year from Sweetwater Store. The clansmen are all eagerly anticipating the New Year's distribution of money, so they need to settle the accounts quickly.
When the proprietress and Su Tai invested in the company mid-year, they had already settled the accounts for the first half of the year. Therefore, they only needed to calculate the accounts for the second half of the year.

"A total of 203,000 catties of red sorghum were purchased in the second half of the year, at a price of six wen per catty. The total amount due but not yet paid was 1,218 liang."

"The cost of medicine and other expenses is 800 taels and 600 cash. There are still 400 taels and 350 cash in unpaid wages."

"So the total expenses are..." Su Daji finished speaking and glanced at Su Tai, who was keeping the accounts.

"Two thousand four hundred and eighteen taels and nine hundred and fifty coins," Su Tai blurted out without using an abacus.

"Really?" Su Daji picked up the abacus and quickly calculated the amount, finding it to be exactly right. He couldn't help but praise, "You're just as good as your two brothers."

"Hehe, far from it." Su Tai scratched his head and chuckled.

"Here comes the exciting income—a total of 80,000 jin of goods were sold in the second half of the year, and the payment was all collected, not a penny less. It's fucking amazing!" Although the money was in hand, Su Daji still felt like he was dreaming.

In previous years, I always had to beg and plead to get a shipment, and then beg and plead again to collect payment. I was a pushover all year round, yet I still couldn't sell much or collect much. It was utterly miserable.
Now, things are great. I don't have to worry about anything, I just focus on brewing wine, and the money comes back in full. This is a joy I've never experienced even when Langquanjing was in charge...

"Forty cash per catty, the total income is three thousand two hundred taels. After deducting the cost, there is a surplus of seven hundred and eighty-one taels and fifty cash." Su Tai calculated the result in his head again and reminded his seventh uncle:

"Actually, there are still 40,000 jin of red sorghum and corresponding medicinal yeast, which are intended for use after the New Year when we start work. This expense should be accounted for next year to be more accurate."

"It's not like we're quitting next year, no need to be so calculating." Su Daji waved his hand and said, "According to the agreement when we invested, half of these 780 taels will be used to pay off old debts, and the other half will be divided among us!"

Su Ji's debts were not small. If they hadn't been on the verge of losing everything, they would never have been willing to give the boss's wife 30% of the shares.

Su Tai naturally had no objection, nodding and calculating: "My godmother has a 20% share, so she gets 78 taels. I have a 10% share, so I get 39 taels. The remaining 273 taels will be distributed among the clan. My grandfather said that our family will not participate."

“Hey, let’s keep things separate,” Su Daji said, “According to the rules, anyone over eighteen, regardless of gender, gets a share.”

“We can’t take any more, or the clansmen will gossip.” Su Tai shook his head and said, “We didn’t expect to make so much money back then, otherwise we definitely wouldn’t have taken even a tenth of it.”

"Hehe..." Su Daji thought to himself, the proprietress's 20% wouldn't go to anyone else. But he was completely convinced by the money he was paying, and said to Su Tai in a deep voice:

"We owe our success today to two things: the recipe for Erlang wine and the methods of the proprietress and your father."

"Otherwise, I wouldn't dare show my face in Erlangtan by the end of the year. I'd be afraid my creditors would tear me apart." He said with a sigh.

"The boss's wife can actually earn more by partnering with her family. At least she doesn't have to give up half of the profits to pay off our distillery's old debts! Our whole clan will remember this favor for a lifetime. Anyone who feels sorry for her now is a bastard who gave birth to a son without an anus!"

“My godmother is my godmother, and I’m talking about our sixth branch of the family,” Su Tai insisted. “You can’t just say you don’t want her anymore! Seventh Uncle has to at least give our family some face, right?”

"Alright, let's leave it at that for this year. I'll discuss it with the clan chief later and see how to compensate your family." Seeing that he couldn't refuse, Su Daji didn't insist. He then took out a list he had obtained from the clan chief, which listed the number of adults in each branch of the family.

As luck would have it, after deducting the nine adults from the sixth household, the remaining seventeen households totaled exactly two hundred and seventy-three! That's just enough for one ounce each!
Don't underestimate one or two taels; it adds up to a lot when divided among the households, averaging sixteen taels per household! The second household, which has never separated from the family, can receive a full twenty-eight taels!
Of course, their family was large, with forty people including children of all ages...

The sixth branch was considered to have a small population. The newly established branches, with even fewer people, would receive five, six, seven, or eight taels of silver each. Although the money wasn't much, there were fewer people in the household to spend it, so they were all essentially the same.

P.S. That's three updates today. Suddenly realized, three updates is still an extra update! The monk has been consistently adding extra updates. I can still ask for monthly tickets and subscriptions! (Pah, shameless bald thief!)

(End of this chapter)