Chapter Summaries

After the imperial examinations were canceled, Gu Zhengchen returned home to find his family ruined by debt and his sister Gu Qingqing at risk of being sold to Wang Youcheng. As Wang Youcheng forced Gu Qingqing to sign a bond of servitude, Gu Zhengchen intervened and demanded to know whether he had asked her brother's permission.

• Gu Zhengchen recalled how the canceled examinations had cost his family their savings, land, and social standing, and resolved to pull himself together.
• Wang Youcheng offered to erase the Gu family's debt if Gu Qingqing became his maid, then pressured her by describing her mother's failed attempt to borrow money from the Zhao family.
• Gu Qingqing agreed to sign only if Wang Youcheng returned her family's ten mu of land.
• Wang Youcheng seized Gu Qingqing's hand and tried to force her thumb onto the contract.
• Gu Zhengchen grabbed Wang Youcheng's wrist and challenged him for trying to buy his sister without her brother's permission.

Gu Zhengchen stopped Wang Youcheng from tricking Gu Qingqing into his household and challenged the Wangs with the law, but Wang Fugui gave him seven days to repay the family’s debt. After learning their mother had gone to borrow money, Gu Zhengchen took Gu Qingqing into town with a two-cash Hongwu Tongbao as the family’s seed capital.

• Gu Zhengchen tore up Wang Youcheng’s fraudulent indenture and warned him that forcibly taking Gu Qingqing over a private debt could earn him eighty strokes.
• Gu Zhengchen cited the Code of Laws to counter Wang Youcheng’s threats, and Wang Fugui arrived and ordered his son home after slapping him.
• Wang Fugui told Gu Zhengchen to repay the debt within seven days or become a tenant, and Gu Zhengchen accepted.
• Wang Fugui and Wang Youcheng plotted to keep the Gu family from rising again, while Wang Fugui warned his son to stop speaking about Gu Pi.
• Gu Zhengchen learned that his mother had gone to borrow money and decided to take Gu Qingqing into town to find a way to earn some.
• Gu Qingqing showed Gu Zhengchen a two-cash Hongwu Tongbao, and he declared it the seed capital for the family’s rise.

Gu Zhengchen decided he had to enter officialdom to protect himself and his family, but first he needed to earn six strings of cash within seven days. While gathering information in Teng County with Gu Qingqing, he learned that his mother had been kneeling outside the Zhao Family’s gates and that rumors said the family might break his engagement.

• Gu Zhengchen concluded that gaining power through officialdom was his only way to avoid being bullied, though he would need a recommendation to enter the abolished examination system.
• Gu Zhengchen left word for his mother and took Gu Qingqing to Teng County to find a way to repay his debts within seven days.
• Gu Zhengchen studied the town and listened at a tea stall, where townspeople discussed the Battle of Lingbei and local families.
• Gu Zhengchen heard that his mother had knelt outside the Zhao Family’s gates for two days and that people believed the Zhao Family might break his engagement because he had supposedly gone dim-witted.
• Gu Zhengchen left the tea stall with Gu Qingqing after reciting a fierce poem, while a refined middle-aged man asked Instructor Xu who he was.

Gu Zhengchen confronted the Zhao Family after Madam Gu begged them for help, using his status as a juren to force his way inside. He rejected Zhao Feng’s demand to exchange six strings of cash for breaking his engagement to Ya'er, leaving the dispute unresolved.

• Madam Gu knelt outside the Zhao Family gate and pleaded for help, but Zhao Shun threatened to have her removed.
• Gu Zhengchen arrived, struck Zhao Shun three times, and kicked open the gate before entering with Madam Gu and Gu Qingqing.
• Zhao Shun warned Zhao Feng that the Gu family had arrived, prompting Granny Xu to hide behind a screen.
• Zhao Feng offered six strings of cash on the condition that Gu Zhengchen void his marriage agreement with Ya'er.
• Gu Zhengchen called the money a loan, slammed it onto Zhao Feng’s table, and told him to take it back.

Gu Zhengchen ended his engagement to Zhao Ya'er by tearing up the marriage contract, then searched for a way to rescue his impoverished family. He planned to earn money by writing an opera for a wealthy household and began considering how to make white sugar.

• Gu Zhengchen rejected Zhao Feng's offer of money, tore up the marriage contract, and declared that he was the one ending his engagement to Zhao Ya'er.
• Gu Zhengchen returned to Dayan Village with Gu Shi and Gu Qingqing and began listing wealthy households in Teng County and their interests.
• Gu Zhengchen decided to write The Legend of the White Snake for the opera-loving Liang Family, taking care to avoid the imperial ban on certain theatrical subjects.
• Gu Zhengchen asked Gu Shi whether Master Sun loved sweets, learned that truly white sugar was not yet available, and began forming a plan to make it.

Gu Zhengchen brought his unfinished opera, The Legend of the White Snake, to Liang Heng, hoping the celebrated opera enthusiast would help him earn money and improve his family's fortunes. Liang Heng was captivated by the lyrics and invited Gu Zhengchen inside, giving him a chance to begin reclaiming what the Gu family had lost.

• Gu Qingqing told Gu Zhengchen she enjoyed watching plays, and he continued compiling the lyrics for The Legend of the White Snake.
• Gu Zhengchen asked Gu Shi and Gu Qingqing to borrow a funnel-shaped earthenware bowl and prepare muddy water and a cooking pot, saying he was going to make money.
• Gu Zhengchen delivered his visiting card and the first two acts of The Legend of the White Snake to the Liang residence.
• Liang Heng read the lyrics, praised them, and ordered Liang Fengyang to invite Gu Zhengchen inside so he could obtain the rest of the play.
• Liang Fengyang personally welcomed Gu Zhengchen, who realized his plan had worked.

Gu Zhengchen sold Liang Heng part of The Legend of the White Snake while concealing his authorship, then left with two strings of cash. Liang Heng suspected Gu Zhengchen’s transformation was connected to the mysterious Ma Decao and ordered inquiries into him.

• Liang Heng questioned Gu Zhengchen about The Legend of the White Snake, and Gu Zhengchen traced the tale’s origins to earlier stories.
• Gu Zhengchen explained his five levels of human needs and bluntly asked Liang Heng for money.
• After bargaining, Gu Zhengchen sold Liang Heng the middle portion of the play for two strings of copper coins and promised the ending the next day.
• Gu Zhengchen asked Liang Heng to keep his authorship secret because he intended to become a court official.
• Liang Heng asked Chen Niang for her opinion of Gu Zhengchen, and she judged him worldly and perceptive rather than foolish.
• Liang Fengyang told Liang Heng that Gu Zhengchen had recently shouted Ma Decao’s name, so Liang Heng ordered people to investigate and avoid offending the mysterious man.

Gu Zhengchen bought dark sugar and a large fish with money he earned from writing, then began making white sugar at home. He left his family wondering whether his process could turn the black syrup white.

• Gu Zhengchen bargained with Shopkeeper Yang for dark sugar and bought ten catties, promising to return for more.
• Gu Zhengchen carried the sugar and a five-catty fish home, where neighbors and his family reacted with surprise.
• Gu Zhengchen told Gu Shi that he had earned two strings of copper coins from selling his writing and planned to make white sugar to repay the family’s debts.
• Gu Shi shared the fish with neighbors before serving dinner to Gu Zhengchen and Gu Qingqing.
• After the meal, Gu Zhengchen melted five catties of dark sugar with water while Gu Qingqing worried that it would not become white sugar.

Gu Zhengchen used yellow-clay water to refine black sugar into white sugar, then made more to sell in the county town. Meanwhile, Zhao Feng plotted to use Gu Zhengchen’s looming debt deadline to arrange a meeting between Ya'er and Zhang Shiping and restore the Zhao Family’s reputation.

• Gu Zhengchen boiled black sugar into syrup, let it set, and poured yellow-clay water into the basin despite Gu Shi and Gu Qingqing’s fears.
• The next morning, Gu Shi and Gu Qingqing discovered white sugar in the basin, and Gu Zhengchen explained that five jin of black sugar had yielded two jin and two liang of white sugar.
• Gu Zhengchen delivered The Legend of the White Snake to Liang Heng, bought twenty more jin of black sugar, and spent three days producing several jin of pure and inferior white sugar.
• Zhao Shun told Zhao Feng that Gu Zhengchen had bought black sugar and that the Wang Family’s repayment deadline was the day after tomorrow.
• Zhao Feng planned for Aunt Zhang to take Ya'er to the riverside when the Wang Family demanded repayment, while Yaowen brought Zhang Shiping there so the pair could meet and witnesses could see Gu Zhengchen humiliated.

Li Yi visited Liang Heng to invite him to teach at the county school, but Liang Heng declined. After learning that Gu Zhengchen was at Landlord Sun’s house seeking money, Li Yi went to investigate why Gu had earned the regard of both Liang Heng and Instructor Xu.

• Liang Fengyang told Liang Heng that Gu Zhengchen had entered town, and Liang Heng asked for him to be invited to watch the opera.
• Li Yi visited the Liang residence and asked Liang Heng to oversee teaching at the county school, but Liang Heng refused.
• A servant reported that Gu Zhengchen had gone to Landlord Sun’s house, prompting Li Yi to ask why Liang Heng wanted to see him.
• Li Yi recalled Gu Zhengchen’s broken marriage agreement and Instructor Xu’s intervention to spare him punishment.
• After hearing that Gu Zhengchen needed six strings of cash to repay the Wang Family or become their tenant, Li Yi headed toward Landlord Sun’s house to investigate him.

After failing to borrow money from Landlord Sun, Gu Zhengchen was followed by Magistrate Li Yi, who questioned him about his troubles and found his composure suspicious. Gu Zhengchen returned home facing the prospect of becoming a Wang Family tenant laborer, and Gu Qingqing discovered something startling in his bundle.

• Landlord Sun's servants threw Gu Zhengchen out, and he left Teng County carrying his bundle.
• At Three-Mile Bridge, Gu Zhengchen confronted Li Yi, teased him with an allusion to the Xianshou Stele, and confirmed he had failed to borrow money.
• Li Yi asked about Gu Zhengchen's broken engagement and debt, then concluded that Gu Zhengchen's calmness seemed strange.
• Zhao Feng celebrated Gu Zhengchen's setback, Wang Fugui sent a letter and gifts to Jin Dache, Liang Heng gave Liang Fengyang instructions, and Landlord Sun vowed revenge.
• Gu Zhengchen returned home and withdrew to his room as Gu Qingqing feared he would become a tenant laborer for the Wang Family.
• Gu Qingqing untied Gu Zhengchen's bundle and screamed in surprise.

Gu Zhengchen refused the villagers’ gathered money as repayment to the Wang Family, but Wang Youcheng humiliated and assaulted him. Gu Zhengchen broke Wang Youcheng’s ankle with an axe and challenged the Wang Family as witnesses watched.

• Yan Sanjing gave Gu Zhengchen money collected by Dayan Village’s thirty-two households, but Gu Zhengchen initially refused it before accepting the villagers’ support.
• Wang Youcheng snatched the money, scattered the coins, and threatened Gu Zhengchen while Zhao Ya'er watched from nearby.
• Wang Youcheng stamped on Gu Zhengchen’s hand and demanded that he beg, despite Yan Sanjing pleading for mercy.
• Gu Zhengchen struck Wang Youcheng’s ankle with a woodcutting axe, breaking it, then picked up the coins and asked who Wang Youcheng was to tread on him.
• Wang Fugui called Gu Zhengchen vicious, and Gu Zhengchen argued that his son had started the assault and that witnesses could testify.

Gu Zhengchen resisted Wang Youcheng and gathered enough money to repay the Wang Family, while Wang Fugui watched for a chance to enforce their agreement. The chapter ended with Gu Zhengchen presenting the full sum and declaring the debt settled.

• Wang Youcheng demanded that Wang Fugui take Gu Zhengchen to the authorities, but Wang Fugui recognized their fight would likely bring both men only light punishments.
• Gu Zhengchen calmly collected the villagers’ coins, and County Magistrate Li Yi and Yan Bin praised his restraint and knowledge of the law.
• Zhang Shiping questioned Zhao Yaowen’s claim that Gu Zhengchen was timid, while Zhao Yaowen argued that Gu Zhengchen still could not repay his debt or enter officialdom.
• After counting the coins, Gu Zhengchen went into his room to fetch more money as Wang Fugui waited and Wang Youcheng accused him of stalling.
• Gu Zhengchen emerged with a bundle, added it to the collected coins to make six strings, and told Wang Fugui that the Gu Family-Wang Family debt was settled in full.

Gu Zhengchen paid the Wang Family six strings of coins, only for Wang Fugui to demand additional interest and leave the Gu Family still in debt. As Wang Fugui prepared to force Gu Zhengchen into tenancy, an unknown person interrupted him.

• Gu Zhengchen produced six strings of coins, astonishing the villagers and County Magistrate Li Yi, who realized Gu Zhengchen had been hiding his plans.
• Wang Fugui claimed the six strings covered only the principal and ordered Wang Quan to calculate the interest.
• Wang Quan declared that the Gu Family still owed three strings and seven hundred and eighty coins, leaving Gu Shi distraught and Gu Qingqing in tears.
• Wang Youcheng taunted Gu Zhengchen, and Wang Fugui ordered someone to bring out a tenancy contract.
• A booming voice entered the courtyard and challenged Wang Fugui for pressuring a provincial graduate over a small debt.

Liang Fengyang brought money that allowed Gu Zhengchen to settle the Gu Family’s debt to the Wang Family, but Wang Fugui then used the broken engagement to have County Deputy Jin Dache order fifty lashes. Gu Zhengchen redeemed the punishment with money and ended the chapter demanding that Wang Fugui return everything the Gu Family had lost.

• Liang Fengyang arrived with nine strings and seven hundred and eighty cash, and Gu Zhengchen accepted the money as a loan to settle the Wang Family debt.
• Wang Fugui declared the debt settled, then summoned County Deputy Jin Dache to punish Gu Zhengchen for repudiating his marriage contract.
• County Deputy Jin ordered his runners to restrain Gu Zhengchen and prepare fifty lashes, but Gu Zhengchen asked to redeem the punishment.
• Gu Zhengchen paid three strings and five hundred cash, and County Deputy Jin waived the lashes and left.
• Gu Zhengchen stopped Wang Fugui from leaving and demanded the return of everything the Gu Family had lost.

Gu Zhengchen demanded that Wang Fugui return the Gu Family’s ox and ten mu of farmland, then secured the return with Landlord Sun’s support. After Wang Fugui reluctantly sent for them, Gu Zhengchen told Gu Shi he would harvest their nearly ripe wheat himself.

• Gu Zhengchen declared that he would reclaim everything the Gu Family had lost and confronted Wang Fugui over the ox and farmland.
• Wang Fugui challenged Gu Zhengchen to take them back, while Zhao Ya'er and Zhang Shiping reconsidered Gu Zhengchen’s strength and potential.
• Sun Bing arrived after walking five li and confirmed that his promise to Gu Zhengchen still stood.
• Sun Bing told Wang Fugui that the Sun Family would pay any price for the ox and land deed, then insisted Wang Fugui return them.
• Wang Fugui ordered his accountant to fetch the ox and deed, and Gu Zhengchen told Gu Shi he would sharpen the sickle to harvest their wheat.

Li Yi and Yan Bin debated whether Gu Zhengchen should be recommended for government service, while Gu Zhengchen recovered his family’s ox and land from the Wang Family. Zhao Ya’er regretted their broken engagement but was pulled away before she could speak to Gu Zhengchen.

• Li Yi told Yan Bin that Gu Zhengchen’s legal cunning made him wary of recommending the young scholar, though the court’s demand for local candidates pressured Teng County to act.
• The Gu Family’s yellow ox returned to Dayan Village, and Wang Quan presented the deed for the ten mu of land.
• Wang Fugui signed the land deed and returned it to the Gu Family after Gu Zhengchen warned the Wang Family to stay off his land.
• Zhang Shiping left after noticing Zhao Ya’er gazing at Gu Zhengchen, and Zhao Ya’er mourned her decision to reject him.
• Zhao Ya’er tried to approach Gu Zhengchen, but Zhao Yaowen stopped her and reminded her that their father was arranging her marriage to the Zhang Family.

After Gu Zhengchen recovered the Gu Family’s ox and land, he revealed that he could make valuable white sugar and brought Liang Fengyang into a business Landlord Sun had hoped to claim alone. Gu Zhengchen offered to share the production method only if Dayan Village became the workshop, leaving Sun Bing and Liang Fengyang surprised by his condition.

• Gu Zhengchen thanked Elder Yan and the villagers for helping the Gu Family recover its ox and land, and Liang Fengyang stayed behind for a meal.
• Gu Zhengchen thanked Liang Fengyang and Landlord Sun for helping his family, then told them he would not forget their kindness.
• Gu Zhengchen showed them white sugar he had made, and Liang Fengyang tasted it and recognized the business opportunity.
• Liang Fengyang demanded a share of the white sugar business, frustrating Sun Bing, who had expected the Sun Family to own it alone.
• Gu Zhengchen offered to provide the method for making white sugar if Sun Bing and Liang Fengyang made Dayan Village their workshop.

At a feast, Gu Zhengchen arranged a white sugar partnership with Sun Bing and Liang Fengyang while refusing a share of the profits, instead directing five percent to the villagers of Dayan Village. After learning that provincial examination graduates could keep slaves by calling them adopted sons and daughters, he decided his family needed helpers and asked where to find them.

• Sun Bing and Liang Fengyang proposed funding white sugar workshops and distributing the product through their family connections, then offered Gu Zhengchen a share of the profits.
• Gu Zhengchen refused a profit share because he feared it could endanger his future official career, and asked that five percent of the business profits be divided among the villagers of Dayan Village.
• Sun Bing and Liang Fengyang persuaded Gu Zhengchen to accept payment from each family for his white sugar-making method.
• Liang Fengyang suggested Gu Zhengchen buy adopted sons and daughters, and explained that the term was a way to acquire slaves while avoiding legal restrictions.
• Gu Zhengchen decided his family needed trustworthy helpers and asked where he could find adopted sons and daughters.

Zhang Xian urged Zhang Shiping to shoulder responsibility and proceed with his marriage to Zhao Ya'er, while Liang Heng approved of the white sugar business so long as it followed the law. In Dayan Village, Gu Zhengchen repaid the villagers tenfold for their earlier aid, then asked whether they wanted to get rich.

• Zhang Shiping told Zhang Xian about Gu Zhengchen, and Zhang Xian ordered the family to arrange Shiping's marriage contract with Zhao Ya'er and hold the wedding in the seventh month.
• Liang Fengyang showed Liang Heng the white sugar and explained Gu Zhengchen's modest share and generosity toward the villagers; Liang Heng approved the business but warned him to obey the law.
• At Gu Zhengchen's request, Yan Sanjing gathered the villagers at the Declaration Pavilion, where Gu Zhengchen announced he would repay their contributions tenfold.
• Gu Zhengchen and Gu Shi bowed to each household as Yan Sanjing distributed the money, and Gu Zhengchen then asked the villagers if they wanted to get rich.