Hearing this, Xu Fanglian gave him a cold look. Just as she was about to speak, she saw Meng Ruyi shaking her head at her. It seemed that Ruyi wanted to handle this on her own. Xu Fanglian swallowed back the scolding that was on the tip of her tongue and stood aside.
Seeing that Xu Fanglian didn't say a word, the shopkeeper thought this was exactly what she had in mind. Suppressing the pride in his heart, he continued, "You're young. I won't argue with you this time. I suppose it's the first time you've looked at these things. It's understandable that you don't know."
The antique shopkeeper wore an arrogant look on his face. Meng Ruyi couldn't help but feel like laughing.
She first whispered a few words to the servant beside her, then looked at the shopkeeper and said, "Really?"
Lianqiao and Baizhi exchanged a glance. They knew that their young miss was about to start, so their faces were full of interest as they stood aside, eager to see what would happen.
This shopkeeper was such a fool! How dare he be rude to the young miss! It was his bad luck that the young miss happened to come to this shop today. He had just walked right into her hands. It was really karma!
"You're young. This..."
Meng Ruyi interrupted him, pointing at a section of the accounts and asking, "What's this? Can the shopkeeper and the accountant explain it to me?"
Hearing this, the shopkeeper's face changed. He quickly stepped forward and glanced at the place Meng Ruyi was pointing at, then regained his composure.
"This item was sold for two taels. Although it was a bit of a loss, we only found a flaw in it after we got it. And this item was brought by Young Master Song. I had no choice," the shopkeeper pretended to be troubled. Frowning at Meng Ruyi, he said, "How could I dare to reject the items brought by Young Master Song?"
Xu Fanglian's face suddenly turned cold.
Seeing this, the shopkeeper thought he had successfully sowed discord, so he continued, "Madam, although Young Master Song is your cousin, but..."
As he said this, he looked like he wanted to say something but hesitated. He even pretended to sigh at the ledger.
Meng Ruyi was amazed.
No wonder this man had made so many false accounts without being discovered. It seemed that on the one hand, he was lucky, and on the other hand, he was bold enough to even tamper with the items brought by Young Master Song.
Song Huaizhi had just started to take over other businesses last year, and this shop happened not to be under his management. Although the shopkeeper had heard of Song Huaizhi's fearsome reputation, he didn't take it seriously.
By a strange coincidence, it had become a blind spot. He was both bold and lucky.
Seeing Meng Ruyi deep in thought, the shopkeeper thought she was at a loss for words and was starting to doubt Song Huaizhi. So, there was almost a hint of joy on his face, which he managed to suppress. His nostrils flared, making him look like a fat fish out of water.
That Song Huaizhi who had emerged in the past few years was really lucky! The shopkeeper had long been annoyed with him but had never had the chance to say anything. Clearly, this man was just a down-and-out relative of Xu Fanglian, yet he was able to take over the shops. Who knew, in the future, he might even inherit the Meng family's fortune.
It was a pity that Xu Fanglian and Meng Chengliang only had a daughter. They would have to let this fortune fall into the hands of an outsider. If it were him...
This thought in his mind was like a persistent mosquito, constantly buzzing in front of the shopkeeper's eyes. Song Huaizhi was just a relative of Xu Fanglian, while he was on Meng Chengliang's side. The Meng family had the surname Meng after all. How could Song Huaizhi compare to him!
The more the shopkeeper thought about it, the more excited he became. He completely failed to notice the cold look on Xu Fanglian's face or the meaningful glances exchanged by Lianqiao and the others.
"Indeed," Meng Ruyi said.
There were two batches of this item. It was quite rare. The only advantage was that it couldn't be broken and was extremely tough. So, Song Huaizhi had bought it on a whim and given it to Meng Ruyi as a small gift. The inferior batch was sent to the shop to be recycled.
"Then, shopkeeper, tell me, what's this?"
Meng Ruyi pointed out one item after another, with a faint smile on her face.
This man was incredibly bold. At first glance, some items only incurred a small loss, but Meng Ruyi knew the value of these things. So, it was highly likely that he had resold them and pocketed all the money.
It seemed that after reselling them, he was still worried, so he sold a few unremarkable junk items at a high price.
This little trick seemed reasonable, but because there were so many accounts, Meng Ruyi had suspected something was wrong from the beginning but wasn't sure.
It wasn't until she saw a unique item brought by Song Huaizhi being resold twice.
Moreover, the shopkeeper's current words and actions had a strange taste to them, just like what Song Huaizhi had said. A person who had done something bad and, not being discovered, turned around to show off subtly with self - satisfaction.
This shop neither made a profit nor a loss, so it had never caught the attention of Xu Fanglian and the others. If it weren't for Meng Ruyi's thought of taking a look since she was already here, this shopkeeper wouldn't know how bold he would become.
He was simply shameless!
Thinking like this, Meng Ruyi finally pointed at the two items and said with a smile, "Shopkeeper, you're really a genius. You're born to be a good businessman."
"You can sell one item twice. Wouldn't that mean you're making another profit for free? If others don't know, they might think the Meng family is doing some shady business."
Meng Ruyi's tone was smiling, but her expression was so cold that the shopkeeper shivered. He suddenly woke up from his self - satisfied mood.
"This... this!" He quickly calmed down and said to Meng Ruyi, "I just made a mistake in writing. The accountant hasn't had time to check it yet. Thank you, miss, for your reminder."
As he spoke, the shopkeeper's hand reached for the ledger, trying to take this most crucial thing from Meng Ruyi's hands.
Meng Ruyi had been on guard against him. Seeing this, the servant beside her immediately stepped forward and grabbed the shopkeeper, pushing him to one side. Coldly, he said, "How dare you! How dare you lay hands on the miss!"
"Let go of me!" Realizing something was wrong, the shopkeeper immediately shouted, "I've been working for the Meng family for so many years. Even if I don't have any merits, I've at least put in a lot of hard work. How can the miss want to drive me away just because I told the truth, which was unfavorable to Young Master Song!"
"Madam, madam!" He looked at Xu Fanglian, and his eyes suddenly turned red. He exclaimed, "Please don't be muddle - headed and let the miss do anything to me!"
Meng Ruyi: "..." This man was both bold and stupid.
She couldn't understand how he could be so lucky. It was simply absurd.
[Hahaha, I'm dying of laughter. Although I don't know what Ruyi has discovered, it seems this shopkeeper has so much drama!]
[I love the face - slapping scenes. More, please!]
[Go, Ruyi! Kill him!]
Because there was a show to watch, the bullet comments instantly boiled over.
Now, as dawn was gradually warming up, there were more and more pedestrians on the street, and the shops on both sides had opened their doors.
Hearing the shopkeeper's shouts and seeing the crowd gathered at the door, many onlookers who loved a good show came over and started pointing and whispering.
"Hey, isn't that the shopkeeper of this shop?"
"Yes. Why is he being treated like this? Does the Meng family's young miss want to make an example of him?"
"Hey! This little girl is so young, yet she's so cruel. He's been working here for so many years. How can she make him feel so disheartened?"
"Exactly."
It was good that there were so many people. It could serve as a warning to others.
Meng Ruyi looked at him calmly, her eyes steady.