At three quarters past the rabbit hour, the Minister's Estate was fragrant with the scent of pine-soot ink. Moli clutched *The Discourse on the Ways of Commerce* as she burst into Banxian Medical Hall. The hem of her dark cyan skirt was damp with morning dew, and the jade hairpin in her hair was carved with half an osmanthus flower—none other than the "anti-clumsiness ghost-face hairpin" Huwa had shoved into her hands the day before. Zhang Yifan was leaning over the accounting room windowsill, clicking the abacus beads. With the sound of the beads mingling with the chewing of the Old Cyan Ox, he didn't even raise his head. "Is Lady Xiao here to debate the ways of commerce, or to learn bookkeeping?"
"Naturally, to learn!" Moli slammed the ledger onto the desk, the four characters "no rhyme in commerce" on the plain silk still bearing last night's ink marks. "Just watch how this lady uses poetic rhythm and principles to whip this pile of chaotic beads into shape!" Huwa suddenly poked his head out from behind the medicine cabinet, holding a carving knife and half a piece of sesame candy. On the candy wrapper was drawn a ghost-face holding a wolf-hair brush. "Elder Sister Xiao, why don't you use the format of the *Classic of Tea* to keep the accounts! Brother Fan says tea has nine tribulations, and accounts have nine chapters, so even abacus beads can be brewed with the fragrance of ink!"
Zhang Yifan chuckled and slid over a stack of yellowed Renxin Ledgers. "The rice accounts …
Chapter 78