Chapter 151: Ancient Farmers’ Son (8)
Not only was the eldest daughter-in-law dazzled, even Mother Lin and Li Lanlan looked at Lin Shiheng’s gold jewelry with disbelief.
“This is... real gold?”
Hearing Mother Lin tremblingly ask, Lin Shiheng smiled and replied, “Mother, why would your son give you fake gold? Listen to what you’re saying.”
As he spoke, he handed over the box. Seeing Mother Lin receiving it, he explained in a casual tone that was loud enough for the eldest daughter-in-law to hear, “Today, I went to exchange the books I copied earlier for money. Coincidentally, I heard that the government office was hiring someone to calculate the year’s accounts. I helped them calculate, and the scribe was grateful to me. He gave me some silver taels and said he would visit our home another day.”
Of course, Lin Shiheng didn’t say these words just to show off. He was about to go to the imperial examination and would be away from home for a long time. The Lin family had long since split due to previous unpleasant incidents, and the eldest and second daughters-in-law were unfilial. Once he left, only the old, weak, sick, and the young Li Lanlan, who was a beautiful woman, would remain at home. It seemed unsafe no matter how you looked at it.
But he was, after all, a scholar, and coupled with his position as an accountant in the county, it was enough to make the villagers wary.
Moreover, he didn’t lie. The scribe did appreciate him. Every year, the county allocated funds for him to hire people to clear the accounts. This year, Lin Shiheng cleared all the accounts in one go, saving a large sum of money. Apart from the share given to Lin Shiheng, the remaining money naturally went into the scribe’s pocket.
In the official circles, the lower the position, the more one would look down on others. If the person who helped clear the accounts today was an ordinary person, the scribe would at most give some money without going out of his way to please. However, the speed at which the accounts were cleared and Lin Shiheng’s demeanor and actions were extraordinary. He was a scholar about to take the exam, and no one could say for sure about his future prospects. Naturally, the scribe wanted to curry favor with him while he was still just an ordinary scholar. Who knows when this seemingly ordinary scholar would become a high-ranking official in the future?
Just as Lin Shiheng instructed, if his family encountered any problems in the county while he was away, they could seek help, and he would try to solve them within his abilities. This way, he would gain a good friend who could clear a year’s worth of accounts in a single day. Why wouldn’t he do it?