NOVPUBEnforcer Li, upon seeing this, became quite curious and craned his neck for a look.
He could only faintly make out the squares drawn across the paper...
"What’s written on this? It seems Old Song is quite happy, now that’s rare..."
A sense of curiosity couldn’t help but rise in Enforcer Li’s heart.
After reporting for half the day, he hadn’t seen Song Dongyang crack a smile.
It was either slamming the table or cursing out loud, at best just frowning silently.
This change was indeed rare.
Just as Enforcer Li was pondering over this, Song Dongyang spoke up eagerly and loudly:
"Old Li, come, take a look at this."
Enforcer Li was startled and quickly walked over, taking the sheet of paper from Song Dongyang’s hands.
This time, he could see it clearly.
The paper wasn’t large, and had many squares drawn on it, but at the top of the squares was a line of graceful handwriting.
"Spirit Food Department October Material Use, Loss, and Inventory Chart?"
Enforcer Li read out loud, word by word, somewhat amazed.
"Is it from the Spirit Food Department?"
Wasn’t this another hotbed for accounting mess?
His gaze couldn’t help but move to the lines below.
It wasn’t long before his face showed surprise as he looked up, only to see Song Dongyang looking at him expectantly.
"Old Li, what do you think? Can you understand it?"
"This... it’s not too hard, no, I should say, it’s quite self-explanatory."
Enforcer Li chose his words carefully as he spoke.
At that, Song Dongyang immediately expressed his excitement:
"Exactly, it’s self-explanatory!"
"I’ve never seen anything like it before."
"This is great! Haha! I didn’t expect Cui Daqi to give me such a big surprise!"
"If every department compiled their material use and scheduling in this format, I can’t imagine how much work it would save me!"
Hearing this, Enforcer Li couldn’t help but look at the paper in his hand again, nodding slightly in agreement:
"The Hall Master is right, this ’chart’ does indeed save a lot of trouble... Minister Cui usually seems carefree, but I didn’t expect him to be so meticulously thoughtful at a crucial moment."
Song Dongyang also quite agreed:
"Exactly, I was about to start cursing, but this fellow gave me a surprise. I never saw him demonstrating this ability before."
"Perhaps Minister Cui felt this was just a minor administrative skill and thus was reluctant to show it."
Enforcer Li speculated.
"Perhaps, but no matter, they’ll all be here soon, I’ll ask him then."
Song Dongyang had a smile on his face, and his mood was rather smooth.
Perhaps he saw hope for disentangling himself from the mundane tasks.
Even after encountering the chaotic materials from departments like the Beast Control Department, Song Dongyang remained unusually calm.
Soon enough, a deacon came to notify him that the Ministers from various departments had gathered. Only then did he put down the pen in his hand and rose gracefully to go over.
...
"We pay our respects to Vice Master Song."
Inside a side hall of Diwu Hall.
Song Dongyang looked down at the ministers from various departments, his gaze resting on the inconspicuous face of Cui Daqi amidst the crowd, then nodded slightly to everyone.
"We are pressed for time, and in order not to delay the progress of the departments, I’ve called only the ministers here, for three matters..."
The ministers below all pricked up their ears.
A burst of noise followed.
"...The third matter is about the detailed reports of material use submitted by the departments."
Song Dongyang’s originally affable expression suddenly turned serious:
"Gentlemen, Master Xi has already instructed many times that we are currently facing a tight supply of materials in Diwu Hall. If we are not aware of how each department uses their materials, it’ll be hard to arrange for the overall plan..."
Most of the ministers below, except for a few, immediately became statues, as if adhering to the principle of ’turn a deaf ear to anything outside’.
Song Dongyang saw this and felt his teeth itch with irritation. He looked directly at one of them and said sternly:
"Minister Qi, about that record book you submitted earlier, tell me, how many Spirit Beasts are you using daily?"
Qi Yan, who was called out from the crowd, didn’t seem flustered. He frowned slightly and replied:
"Around twelve hundred."
Song Dongyang exploded with frustration:
"Then what does your record book state? Two hundred a day! That’s not even enough for the Longevity Sect!"
Qi Yan’s face could hardly maintain composure, and he said with a grim face:
"I’ll go back and have a word with the other vice ministers to be more careful."
"It’s not about being careful, it’s essential to organize the records properly, as they are a complete mess."
Although Song Dongyang tried to restrain himself, he couldn’t help but raise his voice as he continued talking.
Then he pointed out a few more people.
They were the ones who had submitted particularly poor documents.
Seeing the atmosphere in the hall becoming somewhat tense, Song Dongyang finally snapped out of his anger, the irritation on his face vanished in an instance, and he then showed a smile:
"Of course, there are also some who did an excellent job."
"Here, on behalf of Master Xi, I would like to particularly praise Minister Cui of the Spirit Food Department!"
"Minister Cui’s records this time are detailed and reliable, and his specially made ’record chart’ is simple and clear, saving Diwu Hall a great deal of effort and also accelerating our pace of integrating the overall situation..."
Hearing Song Dongyang’s somewhat formal speech, the ministers were all taken aback and looked at each other in astonishment.
"Record chart?"
"What’s that?"
They looked at Cui Daqi amidst the crowd with surprise.
Yet Cui Daqi appeared calm, with a composed demeanor as if nothing mattered.
But at that moment, Cui Daqi’s heart was blooming with joy.
