Divorced by her husband's family and rejected by her own! She defiantly turned her life around

"Old Liu, I've heard that going to the county school costs quite a bit!"

"My Zhou'er doesn't need to worry about expenses when he goes to study at the county school. The local magistrate has already recognized his talent and knows he has a bright future. He has already given him 100 taels of silver to help him go to school."

"Old Liu, are you telling the truth? Someone is willing to give your son 100 taels?"

"Why would I lie to you? The 100 taels of silver are on Zhou'er."

Why does everyone want to study? That's the benefit of studying: as long as you have talent, plenty of people will give you money.

My son is just getting started; the money will be pouring in later.

"Old Liu, I really envy you for having such a studious son."

"We'd love to send our children to school, but we're too poor to afford it!"

"This book isn't something anyone can just read; you need talent. Talent is very important, you know?"

The villagers were unhappy with what Granny Liu said, as if only her son was good at studying and all the other children were good-for-nothings.

"Old Liu, it's true that you need talent to study, but according to you, your son is studying just to make money."

This is outrageous! If your son becomes an official in the future, won't he be a corrupt one? Where do corrupt officials get their money? They get it from exploiting ordinary people like us.

I don't want a corrupt official to emerge from our village. The plays say that officials should uphold justice for the people, but have you ever seen a corrupt official who truly stands up for the people? If they don't bully us ordinary folks, we should be burning incense in gratitude!

"What nonsense are you talking about? How could my son be a corrupt official? He will definitely be a great and honest official who will be remembered for generations to come, and he will be ennobled and appointed as a minister in the future."

The reason I'm talking about making tons of money is because my son is a good official and it's a reward from the imperial court.

Do you know that in the imperial court, as long as you do a good job as an official, you will be promoted and become rich. The emperor will reward you with a lot of gold and silver jewelry, big houses, big estates, and a large number of servants.

You ignorant people have such shallow thinking. I've been exposed to this through my son's influence, and I'm much more knowledgeable than you all.

"Old Liu, what kind of knowledge do you have? Aren't you just like us, all peasants?"

"If you want to show off, wait until your son passes the imperial examination and becomes a scholar."

"Hey, kid Zhao, I'm telling you, I'm more knowledgeable than you guys, don't you believe me? Listen carefully:"

"There are houses of gold in books, there are houses of gold in books, there are houses of gold in books, there are houses of gold in books..." Granny Liu thought for a long time but couldn't think of the next sentence. She remembered the phrase "houses of gold" when Lu Yunzhou said it.

"Why has Granny Liu stopped talking?"

"Oh dear, people get old and forget things over time. Anyway, there are still several sentences to come."

My son Zhou'er said that this book has gold, grain, carriages, and beautiful women—basically everything! Now you know the benefits of reading, right?

The villagers were completely baffled by what Granny Liu was saying. "Are these things even in the book?"

Seeing everyone staring in disbelief, Granny Liu was incredibly proud. After showing off enough, she swayed home. In such a good mood, everything in the house seemed pleasing to the eye, and she even gave Zhou Xiangxing's two children two extra pancakes.

Those 100 taels of silver notes were like a heavy blow to the hearts of some people in the village, constantly reminding them that the Lu family had 100 taels of silver notes.

Lu Yunzhou, who was reading in the study, overheard the conversation between his mother and Aunt Huaihua. Liu Shi was doing so well after leaving him; if he were to do worse than Liu Shi in the future, he would be laughed at by everyone.

He wanted to be superior to others and to control the discourse, so he unconsciously tightened his grip on the pen.

He had no idea that his mother's boasting in the village would lead to his house being burgled that very night.

Village chief Wei Yuanguang also heard about this. He didn't expect Liu Siyue to send things to Xu Dashi's family, but she didn't send anything to his family. He had helped a lot at the time. If it weren't for his help, Liu would not have been able to get a divorce so easily.

"Honey, don't worry about it. Whether they give it to you or not is their choice."

Didn't Granny Liu say that her son is also going to study at the county school? Wouldn't that mean he'll be in the same academy as our son?

I just can't stand Granny Liu's smug attitude. She says things like her son is the reincarnation of the God of Literature. It's infuriating to hear that.

Someone is offering to sponsor his son's schooling, so why isn't anyone offering to sponsor our son?

"We've poured all our resources into supporting him, and he's been taking the exams for several years now, but he still hasn't passed the lowest level. If this continues, we really won't be able to afford it anymore."

"Old man, what should we do?"

"There's always a way out. Let's take it one step at a time. We've been paying for this for so many years and spent so much money. It would be really hard for me to give up now."

"If Liu Siyue could help us out because of the favor you did for her in the past, our lives wouldn't be so difficult."

Wei Yuanguang was in a bad mood. "Old woman, bring me that jar of good wine from home. I'm going to Liujia Village."

What are you doing in Liujia Village?

"Let's go find Liu Maoquan. It seems we can only learn the charcoal-making method from him."

Wei Yuanguang, carrying a jar of wine, strolled alone to Liujia Village. When the villagers met him, they politely greeted him with "Happy New Year" or "Hello, Village Chief Wei."

He walked all the way to Liu Maoquan's house. The door was ajar, so he went straight in. "Is Brother Liu home?"

Liu Maoquan recognized the voice and quickly came out of the house. "Oh, it's Brother Wei! What brings you here today?"

"Just now, Liu Siyue went to Bainiwan to deliver something to Xu Dashi's family, and the villagers were talking about it all over the village."

A bunch of women came over and were talking to the old lady. I had nowhere to go, so I brought a jar of good wine and invited you to come and have a couple of drinks.

"That's great! I'll ask my wife to prepare a couple of dishes, and we brothers can have a good drink and chat."

"Old woman, go and get us two dishes. It's the New Year, we brothers should have a good drink."

"Okay, I'll go cook for you right away, just wait here!"

"Maoquan, spring planting is just around the corner, how should we plant the land?"

"I don't know. We'll definitely plant rice. Yesterday, the village held a meeting and they told us to plant chili peppers, but I haven't decided whether to."

"Chili peppers? What are chili peppers? Why grow those things?"

"Chili peppers, they say they taste almost the same as dogwood. That kid Liu Jinsheng said Liu Siyue told him to plant them. What are they supposed to do with them? I don't know."

And we have to buy those seedlings from her.

Wei Yuanguang started to ponder, "This stuff must be useful, otherwise they wouldn't let the villagers grow it."

"What else did he say about the chili pepper?"

He also said that he would buy the chili peppers for 15 cents a pound after they bear fruit.

Wei Yuanguang said, "That's the key point. She can't let everyone plant it haphazardly."

"Maoquan, if your family registers for the program, could you register for two more mu of land? I'd like to farm it too."

Without a second thought, Liu Maoquan readily agreed, "Okay, no problem."

"Maoquan, aren't you upset about not getting your share of the profits from burning charcoal?"

"Of course it hurts, it would be a lie to say it doesn't."

"Would you like to make money by burning charcoal?"

"I'd like to, but I have neither the place nor the skills, so it's pointless to even think about it."

"How about we partner up to make charcoal? What do you think? We can build the charcoal factory in our Baini Bay."

"You know how to make charcoal?"

"I won't."

"Then what you said is as good as nothing, isn't it?"

"How can this be just empty talk? Whether this matter can be accomplished depends on you."

If you succeed in this, you won't have to do anything; you'll get 30% of the profits.

"What do you want us to do? Let me hear it."