"What is it?"
"About the mundane."
As soon as the black man finished speaking, his head sank and he fainted on the spot.
In the first year of the Jiali period, the new emperor ascended the throne and there was a severe drought over a thousand miles.
Amid the cracked fields, a group of ragged refugees walked towards the capital, looking as lifeless as the walking dead.
An eight-year-old boy named Xu He followed the refugees, like a fallen leaf on the flowing water, rootless and bottomless, drifting with the flow.
Last year, my mother starved to death.
At the beginning of this year, the younger sister starved to death and the elder sister sold herself.
A month ago, my father was beaten to death by officials.
He should have died of a cold ten days ago. He was only breathing his last breath, but a kind old man gave him a sip of water and brought him back to life.
The old man took care of him for the following days because he thought he was a tough guy.
The uncle was named Xu. He had no descendants and hoped that his children would inherit his name.
Although my uncle's family has only been poor peasants for three generations.
"Xu Ge'er, let's go south in a few days, otherwise we will freeze to death in the winter."
"Don't you want to wait for the royal family to send food?"
"We can't rely on the old emperor anymore, so we might as well go south and be a tenant farmer. But the journey is long, and I don't know if my master and his wife can hold on."
Xu He followed the uncle who had no relatives or friends southwards. They were exposed to wind and rain along the way and saw many dead bodies of refugees.
The old man was not the only one who wanted to escape to the South.
Before winter, Xu He fled to the south and became a slave of the landlord along with Uncle Xu.
If Uncle Xu wasn't a blacksmith, the landlord wouldn't have accepted them.
Although Xu Ye and Xu He were not related by blood, he treated Xu He as his own son. He used his connections, kowtowed to him in various ways, and sent him to be a servant.
Although they were still slaves when they entered the landlord's household, they were considered good citizens and could take imperial examinations.
Xu He was a very competitive person. He could read ten lines at a glance and was extremely intelligent. Apart from being a little lazy, he was a promising person.
He also met a friend named Li, who was equally talented, able to read ten lines at a glance, and more diligent and studious.
Wealthy families all had the habit of raising children from other families. Although he came from a farming family, he received financial support and passed the examination to become a student at the age of 10.
When Xu He was eleven years old, Old Man Xu died.
Since then, Xu He seemed like a different person. He worked harder and no longer had money to go to a private school.
When he was 15 years old, Xu He used money to redeem his indenture, and Li Shengxian passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, which caused a sensation in the surrounding area.
He took the opportunity to marry the landlord's daughter.
That day, he was dressed in fine clothes and rode a horse.
That day, Xu He was beaten half to a cripple because of his infidelity, even though he paid silver to redeem himself, as a warning to other servants.
As for reporting to the police, there was no need to even think about it. Xu He was still a house slave when he was beaten.
The two looked at each other, then looked away and walked in different directions.
One is a scholar and the other is a disabled person.
Li Shengxian asked him why he didn't become the landlord's adopted son?
Xu He grinned:
"Straight fucking landlord."
He was unwilling to submit to his master, but Li Shengxian felt that as a scholar now, if he passed the imperial examination in the future, he would be on equal footing with his master.
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