When Lu Fan first walked into Knowledge and Action Academy, his heart had been brimming with excitement and apprehension. He had paid dearly for this opportunity.
Lu Fan had not been born into a good family, but he had never resigned himself to fate. In order to change his destiny, he had always studied the classics and their meanings with painstaking care, never daring to slack off in the slightest.
Yet poverty inevitably took its toll. Not only had he lacked the money to buy books and could only borrow others' books to copy by hand, but whenever the farm was busy, he had no choice but to set aside his studies and return home to work the fields.
Lu Fan had two older brothers. Neither held much interest in studying, nor did they have any particular thoughts about their family's circumstances. Aside from occasionally envying the extravagant lives of wealthy landlords, they only complained that the government would not hand out silver to them, allowing them, like xiucai, to draw money and grain directly, sparing them from daily toil that brought scant harvests by year's end—most of which still had to be handed over.
Indeed, the Lu Clan were tenant farmers. Their ancestors had once owned land, but it had long since all been sold away.
Whenever this happened, Lu Fan would comfort his two brothers, telling them that only by striving to learn, gaining knowledge and ability themselves, could they change their fate. Mere complaints were useless.
His two brothers always scoffed at this.
His parents, however, treated Lu Fan very well. Though the family was poor, they did their best to provide for his needs. This made his two brothers deeply jealous, and they were always looking for chances to order Lu Fan about so he could