Of course, there were also a few household heads with enough foresight to refuse to let their descendants spend their whole lives bent over the earth, facing the sky, tightening their belts, and eating bran and vegetables. They sent their sons and grandsons to the private school in town, foolishly hoping to change their circumstances that way.
The Old Su Family at the western end of the village was one such household.
The head of the family, Old Master Su Dehong, had studied for several years as a child. In his youth, he had worked as a shop assistant and served in wealthy households, so he could be considered a man who had seen the world.
He knew very well that only studying, and only passing the Imperial Examination, could bring someone success and make the Old Su Family's ancestors proud.
Thus, from the moment his eldest son, Su Yaohui, was born, he had painstakingly groomed him. Even if it meant the whole family had to eat bran and vegetables and go all year without seeing a drop of oil, he was determined to send the boy to the private school in town.
Unfortunately, his eldest son had never taken his studies seriously. By the time he was in his thirties, with children over ten years old and his own son preparing to take the imperial exams, all he had managed to become was a licentiate candidate. He had not even passed the examination to become a licentiate.
Being stuck halfway was the most awkward position of all.
If you called him a scholar, he was not even a licentiate. Yet he had all the foul habits of a scholar: he was fussy about everything, cared too much about his dignity, and was indecisive.
If you called him a farmer,