When the stone contract table in Cyan Ox Village was covered in fallen pagoda tree blossoms, the elderly village chief's hands trembled as he gripped his abacus beads, his tobacco pipe tapping out tiny white flakes against the "advance deposit" column: "Lad Zhang, is it really safe for us to take all this gleaming silver?" The abacus beads bounced into the character for "trust" right atop a silver ingot, making him narrow his eyes.
Zhang Yifan shook his abacus beads and unrolled a bamboo slip. The beads bounced into the character for "promise" across a simplified edition of the Book of Lord Shang: "Does Uncle know the weight of 'a promise worth a thousand pieces of gold'?" He chuckled softly, and the beads rolled across the stone table into the shape of a "scale". "These silver ingots are just like abacus beads—pressed down upon the contract, they steady both ends."
A villager scratched his head: "But I can't read, how do I know what's written on the contract?" The beads immediately leaped into his palm, forming the character for "draw". Xiao Moli waved her brush with bold strokes, and the beads danced at the tip of her brush to form the character for "illustration"—right there in the comic, the Protagonist was measuring silver with abacus beads, Huwa was chasing villagers while holding the contract, and the village chief's tobacco pipe had transformed into a string of abacus beads, sending everyone into fits of laughter.
Chapter 176