Wang Cai turned at the sound, a guileless smile on his face. "Young master, what could be wrong with me? Please don't frighten your humble servant!"
Wang Gang asked impassively, "Did you know about the accountant's affairs?"
"I knew nothing!" Wang Cai immediately wiped away his smile, his expression solemn. After meeting Wang Gang's eyes for a few moments, hesitation surfaced on his face again, and he said slowly, "I did notice a little, but I'm too stupid to figure out how that bastard was doing it, so I could only let him be!"
"Mm. Lack of ability and lack of character are two different things!" Wang Gang tapped the table lightly. "But you suspected him of lining his own pockets. Were you never tempted?"
"I wouldn't dare!" Wang Cai's heart jolted, but he forced himself to remain calm and declared with righteous conviction:
"The old master took me in when I was little, taught me to read and how to conduct myself. I could never repay the Wang family's kindness in this lifetime. How could I possibly do anything so filthy!"
"Mm. That does make you sound as though you have some conscience!" Grief also rose on Wang Gang's face. Only after a long while did he say, "But this world has no shortage of people whose words don't match their hearts, so when we judge someone, we can't just listen to their words. We must watch their actions too! Don't you agree?"
"You are absolutely right, young master! It was because I failed to understand that principle that I made such a terrible mistake!"
As Wang Cai spoke, he knocked his head against the floor and said remorsefully:
"Young master, please remove me from my managerial post! I'm truly too stupid for this job. From now on, I'll just lead your horse and hold your stirrup!"
"Get up! Just speak. What are you kneeling for!" Wang Gang picked up another ledger and leafed through it. "Wang Cai, how many years have you worked in this shop?"
"Young master, I came to the shop as an apprentice when I was fifteen! I'm thirty-two this year!" Wang Cai wore a guileless smile.
"Oh, seventeen years!" Wang Gang sighed softly. "Seventeen years, from apprentice to shop assistant, then manager, and finally shopkeeper. It hasn't been an easy road!"
"It was all thanks to the family's trust and nurturing!"
Wang Gang smiled at him and continued, "As an apprentice, you hoped to become a shop assistant. As a shop assistant, you hoped to become a manager. As a manager, you could hope to become the shopkeeper. But once you became the shopkeeper? What then? There was nothing left to hope for!"
Wang Gang looked at the two men in the room, his tone growing deep. "Then you looked back and saw that business was getting better and better, yet what went into your own pocket wasn't even a fraction of it!"
"Why!" Wang Gang sprang to his feet and said furiously, "Why should others enjoy the money I earned!
"Must I be like a silkworm, working myself to death spinning silk and weaving a cocoon, only to be scalded in boiling water so someone can reel off my silk and make cloth! Only ever making wedding robes for the rich! Why! I refuse to accept it!"
"I wouldn't dare!" Wang Cai dropped to his knees, his head lowered and cold sweat streaming down his forehead, but a flash of resentment passed through his eyes.
"You wouldn't dare! But you did!" His face filled with anger, Wang Gang took out a booklet and flung it over with a rustle.
Its pages spread in midair, and it landed right in front of Wang Cai. He glanced at it, and his pupils contracted sharply. The booklet was actually the record of the goods he had taken from the cloth shop!
"You've made quite a bit of money over the years, haven't you! You even played the trick of borrowing a hen to lay your own eggs right here in the shop!" Wang Gang lifted his tea and took a sip. "Very clever. Much cleverer than that accountant of yours!"
Wang Cai knew this would not end well! He simply stood up, his face twisted, no trace remaining of his guileless, foolish manner.
"Yes! I refuse to accept it! Why should you take the money I earned by pouring my heart's blood into running this shop and enjoy it yourselves!
"Look at your fine silks, your lovely wife and beautiful concubines. How much of that did I earn!
"Why should I earn money to support you, yet still have to bow and scrape and thank you for tossing me a mouthful of food!
"Of course I refuse to accept it. Why should I accept it!"
"Then why didn't you leave!" Wang Gang walked down and looked straight into Wang Cai's eyes. "My late father said you weren't forbidden to leave. Why didn't you leave!"
"I..."
Wang Cai opened his mouth to speak, but Wang Gang cut him off. "When you couldn't get anywhere with your studies or learn martial arts, why didn't you leave? Oh, you were afraid of starving to death then!
"When you were an apprentice and a shop assistant, why didn't you leave? You thought you weren't capable enough, that no one outside would give you an important position!
"But when you became a manager and then a shopkeeper, why did you still stay?"
Wang Gang suddenly barked, "Speak! Why did you still stay!"
Startled, Wang Cai stumbled a step backward. His mouth opened, but no words came out.
"Because you knew! Without the Wang family, you were nothing!"
Wang Gang said disdainfully, "Without the Wang family's protection, the more capable you were and the better your business did, the juicier a piece of meat you would be in other people's eyes!
"Perhaps you could leave the Wang family and run some small business, but how could that compare with your status as Shopkeeper Wang!"
Wang Cai's expression darkened.
Wang Gang's imposing presence suddenly surged.
"You're not wrong to resent it! Your efforts haven't received their due reward! Someone without backing like you isn't treated fairly in this world!
"You do have reason to feel resentment, but you shouldn't resent the Wang family, who raised you and taught you your skills! What you should resent is the way of this world!"
Overwhelmed by his imposing presence, Wang Cai retreated another two steps.
"But why don't you resent the way of this world? Why don't you dare complain to the imperial court about the injustice you've suffered? Why don't you dare cry out: are kings, nobles, generals, and ministers born to their stations!"
Wang Gang reached out and patted his face. "Because you're afraid! Because you're a coward! You can only act like a rat in a filthy gutter, secretly stealing a few things from your master's storeroom and feeling pleased with yourself!"
Wang Gang turned and walked a few steps, then suddenly turned back and pointed at Wang Cai. "If the Wang family could train one of you, it can train another eight or ten! Remember, you're the one who can't do without the Wang family, not the other way around!"
Wang Cai's legs gave way, and he slumped to the floor, his expression dejected. So the very thing he had relied on with such pride was actually this fragile and laughable!
"Uncle Zhong, you handle the rest!" Wang Gang sat back down, his expression cold.
Wang Zhong nodded and sighed, then looked at Wang Gang. "They're all old hands in the household. We shouldn't be too harsh, lest people gossip!"
Wang Gang nodded.
Wang Zhong continued, "First, he must return in full everything he embezzled over the years!"
Seeing that Wang Gang did not object, he went on, "Second, naturally, he can no longer serve as shopkeeper. We'll choose someone suitable from the shop to take over!"
After a moment's thought, Wang Gang said, "Expand that to all the family's shops!"
Wang Zhong nodded in assent, then looked at Wang Cai. "As for you, you have two choices. Leave the Wang family, or go to the estate!"
Wang Cai answered without hesitation, "I'll go to the estate!"
Wang Zhong nodded in satisfaction. "You are a clever one, after all!"
Wang Cai lowered his head without replying. He knew Wang Zhong's methods all too well. If he really left the Wang family, his life would certainly be worse than death! Life on the estate would be harder, but at least he would have a secure bowl of rice.
Waving Wang Cai away to return the money, Wang Zhong looked at Wang Gang with gratification. His handling of today's affair had exceeded Wang Zhong's expectations.
"Young master, how do you think we should handle the other shops?"
"Gather all the managers and shopkeepers, and inform them of Wang Cai's case! Give them a deadline to make good the shortfalls in their accounts!"
"What if some don't know what's good for them?"
"Then deal with them one by one! Also, reward shop assistants for reporting them! Put these shopkeepers and managers under the supervision of the masses!"
"Should we prepare anything first?"
"Mm, I need to go see my brother-in-law first!"