37 A Bitter Smile
Zhuang Yang followed Song Hui Yao and Zhu Xiao Wan back to Prince Shen's Manor. He was beaming with blithe; he now could torture those bastards that had befouled with his family's kingdom. Then from cloud nine, he suddenly dropped back to earth.
"Go to Fragrant Rose and Sea Atoll and collect their revenue profit," Zhu Xiao Wan said blandly.
"But-"
Song Hui Yao let her sat on the grass then said, "Your father let you follow us so you could be of help and useful, not a burden."
Zhuang Yang slightly stomped the ground and compromised. He never did anything business-like; how was he suppose to talk to those shop and restaurant keepers? He was awfully bad at socializing and also had no communication skill. He had a lot of pride and was proud, his skin was not that thick to do something like this! He would be seen as an idiot if they wouldn't respond!!
Whilst Zhuang Yang was having a major conflict inside his head until it ached, Song Hui Yao settled beside Zhu Xiao Wan. She had lied down the moment Zhuang Yang left the area. She was lying on the lustrous green grass unmovingly with no mien on her visage; the sight was a little disturbing.
"You look like a carcass."
Zhu Xiao Wan remained unmoved. A beat later, her lips parted but no words came out and she closed it. She knew that she looked like a corpse.
Song Hui Yao was appreciating her appearance; even though she gave the impression of being a dead body, especially that dull and lifeless orbs that made it even more realistic. She was still exquisitely beautiful, like a flower that could never diminish its charm and pulchritude even when it withered.
Since she didn't say anything in response, he did not make efforts to probe.
About an incense stick later, Song Hui Yao heard her melodious voice saying: "What is a masterpiece?"
He raised his brows vaguely, "Something that people admire?"
"What if the masterpiece that is too perfect? To the point where people want to destroy it out of fear?"
Song Hui Yao glanced at her then stared at the horizon. "Imperfection make a masterpiece a perfection. If people want to destroy it, I'll make sure to keep the masterpiece safe and unscathed. Then I will continue to appreciate its grandeur."
"Why?"
When he heard her questioning 'why', Song Hui Yao's eyes seemed to wander into the far and distant past. He smiled, but it appeared to have a tinge of bitterness. Because of her price, Song Hui Yao's bitter smile was not seen by her, or anyone. "Why should the masterpiece be devastated, when it never maltreated the innocents?"
Another brief span of silence, Zhu Xiao Wan muttered soundlessly, "Never maltreated the innocents..."
-----
At Fragrant Rose, Zhuang Yang was waiting for Miss Sui to collect the money. Currently, he was sitting on a chair with a peeved face. It took him almost half the morning to convince her that he was here to help her boss collecting money!
'It's not like I want to be here. I was forced to go fetch someone else money!'
Miss Sui walked out and give Zhuang Yang a thin size stack of papers. Skimming through the first page and then the second page. Upon seeing the second page, his mouth became agape. About 500,000!?
"This month, our income is 532,784 gold coins." Miss Sui explained, "29 percents of it are used for buying more stocks, constructing another store, and others."
She took out a bank paper from her cache earring and placed it on the table. "This is a bank note, within this is 302,621 gold, 3 silver, and 12 copper coins - 80 percents of what remained."
"Why is there only 80 percents? What about the 20 percents?" Zhuang Yang was puzzled.
"Miss Xiao said that I can have 20 percents of the remaining profit." She took out another small stack of papers and showed it to Zhuang Yang. On its first page was:
"I, Xiao Wan agreed to give my shopkeeper 20 percents of my shop's profit until the day this contract no longer hold any importance(either the shopkeeper resigned from her job or the shopkeeper is dismissed.) The duties of the shopkeeper...
Sign,
Xiao Wan."
