"Hahaha, good, that's exactly what I've been waiting for, Auntie!!"
"We'll be people who've drunk with the top scholar in the future, how proud we are!"
"Yes, yes, oh my, this feels like a dream, it's so unreal."
"Who can disagree? I never imagined that Yinyin and Huahua would grow up so fast. It's such an honor to witness this!"
The villagers all spoke with reminiscence, their faces filled with congratulations and a sense of honor.
…
In a small mountain village
When the old family members, who had finally found a place to live after going through countless hardships and spending all their money, heard the news, they felt as if the sky had fallen.
"How is this possible? She's only 13 years old! Am I crazy, or has the world gone mad?"
"I've taken the exam for so many years and still haven't passed, so why did she pass on her first try? Why did she have such a smooth journey all the way?"
Uncle Zhi was the most agitated. His eyes were bloodshot, and he felt as if fate had played a cruel joke on him.
He was always proud of his academic ability, having passed the imperial examination for the first degree of the imperial examination, making him the only scholar in his family.
But now his own niece, whom he once looked down upon, has easily accomplished what he had always dreamed of but could never achieve!
How can this not drive you to despair? How can this not drive you to despair?
He had always been proud and confident that he would one day pass the imperial examinations, but suddenly he felt his Dao heart shattered. He slumped to the ground in despair, laughing and crying as if he had gone mad.
"ah--!!!!!"
He suddenly burst into tears, then violently tore the book in his hand to shreds.
"Why? Why?"
The light in his eyes slowly faded, and his gaze gradually lost focus.
Looking at his family's impoverished home, which had been emptied of all their assets to support his education, and his parents' worried faces, he smiled bitterly. For the first time, he felt self-doubt and defeat, realizing that all his persistence over the years had been a mistake.
He's a complete waste of space!
"Son, don't be like this! Zhihua must have just gotten lucky! We mustn't give up, we'll definitely pass the exam!!"
"It breaks my heart to see you like this!! Waaaaah..."
When the old lady saw that her son seemed to have lost all his vitality, his eyes filled with pain and resentment, she felt her heart clench.
However, she also felt a sense of desolation, a deep regret and remorse, and a heavy heart.
If that incident hadn't happened, if there hadn't been any preference for sons over daughters, if the mother hadn't sided with the first wife, and if both children had been treated fairly, would everything have been different?
Will they also rise to prominence along with their pets? Will they live a life of luxury, eating and drinking the finest food and wearing gold and silver? Will they enjoy a life of wealth and honor?
Life is getting worse and worse now, and we can only eat coarse food every day!
The old man, his hands trembling, kept puffing on his cigarette, shaking his head and sighing incessantly.
The more he thought about it, the more depressed he became. In the end, he couldn't catch his breath. He couldn't figure out if they had really done something wrong. He was so angry about this bombshell news that he fell ill and was bedridden. He felt that they were really blind.
"Sigh, old man, do you think things would be different if we had treated Yinyin and Huahua better back then?"
Tears of regret streamed down Old Lady Zhi's face. She held Old Man Zhi's hand tightly, as if drawing strength from it, her eyes filled with self-reproach and longing.
"If we had raised them properly back then, we would be the ones admired by the world now, right? We would probably be living a wealthy life, waited on hand and foot by servants and maids, wouldn't we?"
"People will remind us that we are the grandparents of the top scholar in the imperial examination? We'll be respected wherever we go, right?"
"well--!!!"
Unfortunately, it's too late for regrets; everything has already been settled.
They deserve their current predicament because they are petty and intolerant.
Looking at their now impoverished home, and thinking of their beloved family, who were now highly praised and admired worldwide—a status they could no longer reach—they felt as if they were in a different world.
The eldest aunt of the Zhi family was consumed by jealousy and couldn't sleep night after night. The thought of her aunt, who had almost become the top scholar, made her feel extremely heartbroken.
…
"Tch, what are you bragging about? What kind of family connection are you trying to claim? Just because we share the surname Zhi doesn't mean she's your cousin! What a joke!"
"The top scholar's family only has three members! Look at your poor and pathetic appearance, yet you still dare to dream big?"
"Hehe, you braggart, I'm not playing with you anymore."
The villagers who were playing with Zhifu at the village entrance all walked away with disdain when they heard him say that the top scholar in the imperial examination was his cousin. They thought he was shameless.
The top scholar is such a splendid and lofty person, how could he possibly be tainted by him?
The two are like the bright moon in the sky and a speck of dust on the ground! How can they be compared?
Why don't you take a piss and look at yourself in the mirror? Do you even deserve it?
Tu left behind a dejected and saddened Chifuku. He looked helplessly at his suddenly departed companion, his eyes vacant and lost as he lowered his head and murmured softly, "But, what I said was true, wasn't it?"
…
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