Chapter 1976 - Doubts
"This Dragon Gate Ledger works as follows: whenever a transaction occurs, enter four items: Jin (Enter), Jiao (Pay), Cun (Store), Gai (Owe). Simply put, Jin is income, Jiao is expenditure. Cun represents assets, Gai represents debt. Jin minus Jiao, Cun minus Gai—if Jin minus Jiao equals Cun minus Gai, it produces Mo. (Since the Western Han, China maintained the tradition of recording outflows in red, inflows in ink—hence Mo.) This represents profit. Calculating profit and loss on two parallel lines that balance is called 'Closing the Dragon Gate.'"
Having delivered this explanation, Advisor Xu was quite proud. With his cultivation, he'd already grasped the core essence of this Australian bookkeeping method from Huang Ping's earlier explanation. The so-called double-entry was merely recording one transaction twice. That equation business wasn't terribly different from checking account balances when Closing the Dragon Gate.
He stroked his beard lightly, regarding the two youngsters before him with a satisfied expression. This Team Leader Huang acted quite Australian, but looking closely, he was probably from servant background and hadn't studied classics. This new Comrade Zeng, however, carried the bearing of a scholar in his movements. Hearing he was a newly recruited "civil servant" in Guangzhou—a scholar shaving his hair and changing clothes to serve as a clerk for Australians—though future rapid advancement was inevitable, it still represented strange attire and loss of dignity. Sigh...
"So it seems, since Advisor Xu understands these accounts, implementing them shouldn't prove too difficult?" Huang Ping interrupted Advisor Xu's wandering thoughts.
"Reading through them slowly should pose no problem," Advisor Xu didn't demur, "but actually maintaining the accounts—I fear I'll need more time to study. At my age, sometimes even when I understand conceptually, I can't make the turn when it comes to writing. Please show forbearance..."
"Of course, of course," Huang Ping nodded. "Because everyone is employing the new bookkeeping method for the first time, we're providing a buffer period of approximately three months. During this interval, we'll conduct spot checks at any time. If errors are discovered, they can be rectified immediately without penalty."
"That shows great consideration." Advisor Xu cupped his hands in thanks.
"One more matter—how is your corporatization restructuring progressing?"
This was among the key initiatives promoted by the Guangzhou Finance and Tax Bureau, adhering to Finance Department directives. Traditional industrial and commercial enterprises often failed to separate family from enterprise. Even overseas merchants like Gao Ju were no exception—operating and household consumption funds were commingled. Tax work found it nearly impossible to verify specific capital, operating costs, and profits, and thus couldn't achieve "scientific" and "precise" taxation. Even economic census work was difficult to conduct.
"Master Gao has already issued instructions on this matter. The accounting office is handling it," Advisor Xu responded with measured composure. "Truthfully, Master Gao maintains numerous shops and properties under his name, plus equity participations externally. The situation is extraordinarily complex. Clarifying everything item by item genuinely cannot be rushed. Please be understanding."
The response was watertight. Corporatization restructuring was indeed highly complex, especially for large industrial and commercial households like the Gao family. The Finance and Tax Bureau had accordingly provided a fairly generous restructuring timeline. Huang Ping's reminder was merely a form of "continuous policy pressure" to prevent large households from dismissing this as a temporary gust of wind that would blow over.
Departing the Gao family compound, noon was approaching. Both their stomachs were growling. Advisor Xu didn't invite them to stay for a meal—everyone understood the Australian regulations—and even if he had, they wouldn't have dared accept.
Zeng Juan said, "Team Leader Huang, allow me to treat you to a meal. Consider it celebrating your promotion."
"Isn't that inappropriate?" Huang Ping hesitated. "Besides, I'm merely transferring positions. How can it be called 'promotion'?"
"Hehe, don't be modest." Zeng Juan usually addressed him as brother; now he deliberately strengthened the relationship. "Just come to my family's teahouse. Eat a few plates of dim sum to satisfy your hunger. My family's teahouse dim sum enjoys some modest fame in the neighborhood."
Huang Ping wavered but perceived nothing truly improper. They received meal allowances for field work—at worst he'd pay afterward. He'd long heard that Guangdong tea and dim sum were unparalleled on earth, but having been stationed in Guangzhou for some time, beyond the cafeteria, he genuinely hadn't sampled any authentic Guangdong tea or dim sum. He nodded. "Alright, then I'll impose upon your hospitality."
Spring in Guangzhou during the Little Ice Age was remarkably pleasant. The first collection period of the Guangzhou Finance and Tax Bureau concluded smoothly. Zhang Xiaoqi fulfilled her earlier promise and applied for two days' leave for the girls in the Tax Collection Hall, allowing these young women who'd been spinning continuously inside the Finance and Tax Bureau compound like prisoners under "house arrest" since arriving in Guangzhou to relax properly. Naturally, she didn't forget to grant herself a day off. Truth be told, she really hadn't toured Guangzhou properly.
Since the plague's end, after vigorous rectification by Liu Xiang and the Guangzhou Police Bureau, public health conditions had improved substantially. After large numbers of illegal "lean-to shops" were demolished, the originally "intestine-congested" main thoroughfares became far more navigable. Though ditch-clearing and canal-dredging projects hadn't fully concluded, the overall city appearance had improved dramatically. At minimum, it was no longer the "reeking garbage heap" Wen Desi had described.
Still, compared to the "Ancient City" sets at Hengdian World Studios, this Guangzhou remained somewhat dilapidated. If anything attracted Zhang Xiaoqi to "tour," it was nothing more than the authentic seventeenth-century local customs.
After several "public security rectifications," the safety index within Guangzhou's city walls had risen to "Blue Zone" standards. Senators carrying weapons in this area didn't require security escorts. But for prudence, the Municipal Police Bureau had still assigned two plainclothes guards from General Affairs Section 10 to follow and protect from a distance.
Zhang Xiaoqi was too lazy to carry a pistol, so she gladly accepted the guards. After all, the recently disclosed "Witchcraft Case" had left her, as a mother, jittery for a spell. She'd even specifically inquired about placement arrangements for rescued women and children. She didn't want her two darlings encountering any risk.
Zhang Xiaoqi led Niannian and Guoguo down the street. Today she hadn't troubled the old Liu couple but had brought Nan Wan'er along instead. Compared to Aunt Liu, who was perpetually submissive and addressed her as "Madam" in every sentence, Zhang Xiaoqi found conversation with Nan Wan'er far more comfortable. Sometimes she wondered whether modern people's adolescence was extended, or ancient people simply matured earlier. Beyond a few centuries' cognitive gap, she connected with this girl more than ten years her junior on many subjects.
"Auntie hug... Auntie hug..." Niannian grew upset seeing Zhang Xiaoqi pick up Guoguo, tugging Nan Wan'er's sleeve and refusing to let go.
"Kiss Sister first, then I'll hug you... Mm... such a good girl." Nan Wan'er picked up Niannian and said to Zhang Xiaoqi, "Sister, you were absolutely right—small children compete too. Look, Niannian gets unhappy the moment you pick up Guoguo."
Though Zhang Xiaoqi habitually asked her to use "Sister," Nan Wan'er never dared address herself as "Little Sister," employing the "Older Sister" identity even in front of the children. This wasn't some fashionable concern about "fearing age," but genuine reluctance to appear overly "favored."
Nan Wan'er had grown up amid a household of women and understood acutely that gaining a superior's favor—for someone without foundation—was simultaneously blessing and disaster's root. Honor and disgrace often pivoted on the superior's whim. Chief Zhang was inexplicably kind to her, but she couldn't divine this "Sister's" intentions at all.
She'd initially assumed Zhang Xiaoqi intended for her to become Chief Wang's "Life Secretary"—"taking a concubine" for her husband. This would count as the "wifely virtue" expected from the mistress of a large household. Moreover, Senator Zhang had only three daughters, fully meeting the "no son" criterion for concubine-taking.
Becoming a "Life Secretary" for Chief Wang—she wasn't unwilling. Nan Wan'er understood her "status" very clearly. She'd been a "servant" since childhood. Even among disciples, there were hierarchies.
Chief Wang himself was a good person. Most remarkably, the "Principal Wife" Chief Zhang favored her. As long as she "knew her place," living peacefully would pose no difficulty...
But subsequent developments suggested otherwise. She observed that Chief Zhang liked her immensely, even barging into Chief Ai's quarters to retrieve her—obviously worried Chief Ai would make advances. Yet having extracted her, Zhang Xiaoqi didn't permit Chief Wang any opportunity for private meetings, seemingly guarding against something...
This bewildered Nan Wan'er. In her estimation, this causeless favor was more frightening and uncomfortable than Chief Du's various "theoretical" indoctrination sessions back then. But she dared not reveal this at all.
"Isn't that the truth. If not for genuinely loving children, raising Qingqing alone would suffice."
"Just one child? Would Chief Wang be willing?"
"Your brother-in-law? What would he have to object to? The belly is mine—naturally I have the final say."
"But Qingqing is a girl after all..." Nan Wan'er reflected that Chief Zhang's family was genuinely peculiar. Having three daughters, the father showed no anxiety whatsoever and spoke with evident pride. She couldn't comprehend it. Didn't daughters ultimately belong to their husband's families after marriage? Wouldn't the two Chiefs have no one to escort them in death or tend their graves after passing?
"What's wrong with girls? Honestly, Chief Du hasn't educated you sufficiently, haha. Look—do you lack food, clothing, or money now? Wearing that uniform, who dares look down on you? Aren't you better off than those men?" Zhang Xiaoqi jerked her chin toward a waiter scurrying about in a roadside shop. "In Usurper Ming, women couldn't eat or dress without relying on men. Marry a chicken, follow the chicken; marry a dog, follow the dog—that was that. Now it's Australian Song. We women have jobs and income. Why must we eagerly marry someone and treat ourselves as sold into another family? In my view, childbirth is so arduous—children should take our women's surnames..."
"But then wouldn't that make the husband a matrilocal son-in-law?"
"Pfft... what matrilocal nonsense. Guoguo is surnamed Wang, Niannian is surnamed Zhang. Did your Chief Wang marry matrilocally into our Zhang family? In Australia, it's perfectly normal for children in one family to take either father's or mother's surname."
"Is this truly so?" Nan Wan'er stared at Zhang Xiaoqi in disbelief. She knew something of the couple's relationship dynamics and had always assumed Chief Wang merely "feared his wife." But surrendering even the children's surnames—though they were girls, they remained Wang family daughters nonetheless. Wouldn't Chief Wang's ancestors die of outrage knowing this? Yet recalling her own assigned identity as "Sister" and "Brother-in-law," Nan Wan'er felt reassured again.
(End of Chapter)