“You are?” Qian Duoduo guessed that this pretentious old man was Song Zhanglao, but deliberately asked. Song Zhanglao’s information was similar to Elder Bi’s, only he was younger, just over five hundred years old.
The old man with swollen eyes put down the Spiritual Tea, shook his robes, “This old man’s surname is Song…”
The Orange Robe Disciple behind the counter stood up and shouted at Qian Duoduo, “You’ve met Jin Zhendian Song Zhanglao, why aren’t you bowing?”
Qian Duoduo cupped his hands and bowed, “Outer Sect Disciple Jin Buhuan, greetings to Jin Zhendian Song Zhanglao.”
Song Zhanglao took a slurp of tea, “I don’t know what the Sect is thinking, sending a young brat like you to be Jin Zhendian. Perfect, this old man hasn’t returned to the Sect in a long time, so I can finally rest. Do you have anything else? If not, I’m leaving.”
The snoring in the shop stopped; it seemed the two sleeping Disciples had woken up.
On the way here, Liu Boli had instructed Qian Duoduo that the first step in taking over a Sect shop was to take it over clearly.
The amount of goods and gold coins in the Sect must be handed over without a single item or coin missing. Otherwise, if the accounts don’t match in the future, it will all be Qian Duoduo’s responsibility.
Song Zhanglao didn't mention the word “handover” at all, which hid a huge pitfall.
“I do,” Qian Duoduo said with a smile.
Staring with his goldfish eyes, Song Zhanglao still remained silent.
Qian Duoduo took out the mission Jade Slip, tossed it into the air, “By order of the Sect, Jin Buhuan has come to be Jin Zhendian. Elder Song, please hand over the Sect shop to me and inventory the items and gold coins in the shop.”
This mission Jade Slip would record the takeover process. As soon as the Jade Slip was tossed, the three people behind the counter hastily put away their fur mats, sandalwood tables, and dice. The lights in the shop brightened, illuminating everything inside and out clearly.
Qian Duoduo scanned the shop; the counters, Magic Treasures, and equipment were all covered in dust. Clearly, they hadn’t been cleaned in a very long time.
Even the dog kennels at Buhuan Estate were cleaner than this place.
Tapping his finger on the teacup, Song Zhanglao looked towards the Orange Robe Disciple.
“Junior Brother, these are the accounts.” The Orange Robe Disciple pulled out a Jade Slip and poked it over with one hand.
Qian Duoduo didn’t even glance at him, loudly ordering, “Close the shop doors, gather the shop assistants, and read the accounts.”
Closing the shop doors, gathering the shop assistants, and reading the accounts—this was, of course, also the standard handover procedure taught by Liu Boli, allowing no room for objection.
“Hmph…” Seeing Qian Duoduo display his authority, Song Zhanglao snorted a rough breath from his nose and cast a look at the two Blue-Robed Disciples.
One of the Blue-Robed Disciples ran out from behind the counter and closed the Sect shop’s main door. The other pushed open the door behind the counter and ran inside.
The front section of the Sect shop was the storefront, the middle section contained dormitories and workshops, and the back section was the warehouse.
In a short while, five Disciples, all in blue robes, came out from behind the door. All nine Disciples in the shop, one orange and eight blue, were now present.
Song Zhanglao pointed at Qian Duoduo, “This is the new Jin Zhendian, Outer Sect Disciple Jin Buhuan.”
The nine Disciples looked at each other, but no one spoke.
“Clap!” Qian Duoduo suddenly slapped the counter, startling everyone.
“Shop assistants, report your names!” Qian Duoduo glared at the Orange Robe Disciple. If you are not benevolent, then I will not be righteous.
Since Song Zhanglao deliberately didn’t mention the matter of the shop assistants reporting their names, Qian Duoduo didn’t need to be polite. If he didn’t put on the air of Jin Zhendian, he wouldn’t be able to suppress the shop assistants.
Pretending, who doesn’t know how to do that?
The Orange Robe Disciple looked at Song Zhanglao, who closed his eyes.
“Chu Tianqi,” the Orange Robe Disciple, seeing no one support him, softened and said softly.
“Can’t hear you, is an Inner Sect Disciple’s Spiritual Qi insufficient?” Qian Duoduo roared, deliberately letting his spit fly onto his face.
These people, who were ridiculed by Ba Ling Sect, Shengling Sect, and the passersby in Kongfang City, were still acting arrogant in the shop. Qian Duoduo didn’t know what capital they had?
Song Zhanglao smiled, a malevolent smile.
“Chu Tianqi!” The Orange Robe Disciple, his face red, spoke in a loud voice.
The Jin Zhendian was the superior of the shop assistants; whoever dared not listen was committing insubordination and could be punished according to Sect rules. At this moment, the Inner Sect Disciple’s authority over the Outer Sect Disciple was not effective.
“Hmm—” Qian Duoduo’s gaze swept across, landing on the Blue-Robed Disciple next to him, the one who had thrown the dice and called out “leopard.”
The Blue-Robed Disciple shivered and reported his name, “Shang Jiajin.”
Without needing to be urged, the one next to him said loudly, “Zhu Junliang.”
The eight Blue-Robed Disciples reported their names one after another, their eyes obediently looking at Qian Duoduo, no longer interacting with each other or looking at Song Zhanglao.
“Chu Tianqi, read the accounts,” Qian Duoduo commanded with a stern face.
Chu Tianqi, with a bitter expression, immersed his Spiritual Awareness into the Jade Slip in his hand and loudly read, “On the third day of the eleventh month, Dao Yuan 9780, Refining Spirit Sect Kongfang City Sect shop, the accounts show…”
Over a thousand types of items were read for almost an hour. Chu Tianqi’s mouth was dry and his tongue parched, yet he dared not ask anyone to take over. After finishing, he handed the Jade Slip to Qian Duoduo with both hands.
Qian Duoduo took the Jade Slip and asked, “Elder Song, do you have any objections to the items and quantities just read?”
Song Zhanglao shook his head and signed his name on the Jade Slip Qian Duoduo handed over.
Qian Duoduo handed the Jade Slip back to Chu Tianqi, “Now read the amount of gold coins.”
Items are items, money is money. This Chu Tianqi not reading the gold coins, who knows if it was intentional or unintentional.
They thought Qian Duoduo, a fourteen-year-old boy, knew nothing and was easy to bully. Who knew that Qian Duoduo had Liu Boli behind him, who had already clearly explained all the pitfalls in this handover.
Chu Tianqi swallowed a mouthful of bitter water, took the Jade Slip, and shouted loudly, “Refining Spirit Sect shop, account gold coins: 580,125 pieces of ordinary gold, 283 pieces of hao gold, 4 pieces of extreme gold.”
He stopped and looked at Qian Duoduo.
“What’s the net asset value?”
“Twenty-three million, eight hundred forty thousand.”
Qian Duoduo said impatiently, “Report the profit and loss of the Sect shop during Elder Song’s tenure.”
All this information was on the Jade Slip. This Chu Tianqi read the accounts like he was constipated, squeezing out a little bit when prompted.
Qian Duoduo was going to play the stern role to the end.
The heads of the nine Disciples in the shop all looked at Song Zhanglao, then all turned back.
“You—” Song Zhanglao’s swollen eyes bulged even more. His hand trembled, and a spiritual walnut rolled to the ground.
Qian Duoduo cupped his hands towards him, “My apologies, but I dare not skip the handover procedures.”
“During his one hundred and two months in office, the loss, loss, loss was forty-nine million, seven hundred eleven thousand, six hundred forty-four pieces.”
This number shocked everyone; the shop was as quiet as if everyone was in seclusion.
“Elder Song—” Qian Duoduo pulled the Jade Slip from Chu Tianqi’s hand and handed it to the slightly trembling Elder Song, his voice polite and respectful, “Elder, please double-check carefully, don’t make any mistakes.”
These accounts were originally made by him, so how could they be wrong? Qian Duoduo deliberately made him look again, to appreciate his own achievements for the Refining Spirit Sect.
Losing over forty million, and still acting like a great immortal! Qian Duoduo was truly impressed.
Song Zhanglao’s spiritual walnut was gone at some point. He took the Jade Slip, pretended to browse through it, then looked up and said, “The accounts are correct.”
“If it’s correct, then please sign. We will begin inventory immediately.” Qian Duoduo turned his head and said to the nine shop assistants, “During the inventory, everyone must not leave the vicinity of the mission Jade Slip. If there are discrepancies between accounts and items, or accounts and money, do not blame me for enforcing Sect rules.”
Song Zhanglao wiped the sweat from his forehead and sternly told Chu Tianqi and the others, “Jin Zhendian is serious about his work, you all must be fully alert and not be negligent.”
Hehe, Qian Duoduo had transformed from a young brat to Jin Zhendian.
When things are abnormal, when things are repeated, there’s always something fishy going on.