Chapter 36: A Warm Encounter with the Maiden of the Mi Family

Xuzhou city had already fallen under the control of Cao Peng.

Throughout the night, Cao Peng pondered how to lure Liu Bei’s people to his side, so much so that at dawn the next day, he immediately summoned Chen Deng.

He instructed Chen Deng to make preparations at once, for he intended to meet with the prominent business family, the Mi clan of Xuzhou.

Chen Deng received the order and went ahead to notify the Mi family, while Cao Peng took his time to wash and groom himself before departing with his entourage.

Upon arriving at the Mi residence, he saw for himself the vast estate befitting a wealthy and influential clan. The grounds were immense.

Everything had been arranged in advance, and after Cao Peng arrived, several maidservants led him into the mansion.

Cao Peng was once again astonished by the opulence and extravagance of aristocratic families in this age of rigid social hierarchies.

The estate was adorned not only with exquisite pavilions and towers, but also lifelike rockeries, beautiful gardens, expansive lakes, and winding streams.

The grandeur of it all utterly eclipsed anything that could be called a “mansion” in later ages, those mere several hundred square meter houses.

While crossing a finely crafted white jade bridge, Cao Peng was so absorbed in the scenery that he failed to notice a young girl rushing toward him in a fluster.

The girl was clutching a stack of books, seemingly lost in thought and oblivious to her path.

As a result, she collided with Cao Peng.

“Ah!”

With a startled cry, the books she held scattered across the ground, and she found herself encircled by a young man's arm at her waist.

Cao Peng held the girl by her slender waist, his gaze fixed upon her face as pure as flawless jade, stirring the heart.

Being stared at so intently by a man, a blush bloomed on her fair cheeks.

Since receiving the reward of the Eight Directions Blade Technique from the system last time, and after a period of rigorous training, Cao Peng’s physique had become quite strong.

To hold such a slender girl in his arms for some time was no trouble at all.

Yet, in such a conservative era, to keep holding her by the waist was tantamount to impropriety.

Therefore, he courteously helped the girl to her feet and gently released his hand.

The girl stepped away shyly, murmuring an apology, “I’m sorry, I was thinking about something and didn’t see you.”

“No need for apologies, miss. I was at fault as well—I was distracted myself,” Cao Peng replied.

“Miss, he is…”

“It’s alright, you may leave for now,”

The maidservant was about to introduce Cao Peng, but he interrupted her directly and sent her away.

The girl seemed a little puzzled, but said nothing more and stooped to pick up the scattered books.

Cao Peng knelt down to help her.

“Miss, are you of the Mi family?” he asked.

She nodded, “Yes, this is my family’s residence.”

While helping her gather the books, Cao Peng noticed something—these were account ledgers.

“You help with the family accounts?” he inquired.

The Mi girl nodded, confirming his guess, then showed a troubled expression. “My brother assigned me this task, to check the accounts, but it’s really difficult.”

Hearing this, Cao Peng said, “To make amends for bumping into you, I can teach you a new method of bookkeeping—one that will double your efficiency.”

“You know how to keep accounts?” she asked in surprise.

Unaware of Cao Peng’s distinguished identity, she spoke without reservation.

“I know a little,”

Cao Peng opened the ledger and began to teach her.

“Writing numbers as one, two, three, four in words is too cumbersome—so many strokes, it’s rather tedious.”

“I’ll show you a method: this is 1, this is 2, this is 3…”

Once she understood his method in detail, the Mi girl’s lively eyes nearly sparkled with delight.

She was clever, and immediately grasped the underlying logic.

Although the calculation itself remained unchanged, simplifying one, two, three, four into 1, 2, 3, 4 made everything instantly clear.

To turn the ordinary into something miraculous—that must be what people meant.

“This is wonderful, sir! You’re so clever!”

The Mi girl was overjoyed, and Cao Peng felt pleased as well.

Compared to the girl’s playful and adorable smile, Cao Peng’s own seemed more like that of a gentle elder brother.

This warm moment was soon interrupted by an out-of-place voice.

“General, so this is where you are! We’ve been searching everywhere for you!”

It was Chen Deng, along with several heads of the Mi family, who had waited and waited for Cao Peng’s arrival with no sign of him, and had finally come out to look.

“Oh, so you must be…” The Mi girl recalled her brother mentioning that an important figure in Xuzhou would be visiting.

Cao Peng still wore his warm smile. “It seems we’ll have to continue our conversation another time. Farewell, Miss Mi.”

Having already charmed the Mi girl, Cao Peng lost much interest in the formal meeting with the Mi family.

With a polite but perfunctory smile, he casually made his excuses to the Mi family, thus ending his visit.