Of course, there are a few heads of households who have a long-term vision and are unwilling to see their descendants spend their entire lives working in the fields. So they tighten their belts, eat coarse food, and send their children and grandchildren to private schools in the town, hoping to change the status quo in this way.
This is the situation of the old Su family at the west end of the village.
The old man in charge of the family, Su Dehong, went to school for a few years when he was young, worked as a waiter outside when he was young, and also worked for wealthy families. He can be said to have seen the world.
He knew very well that only by studying and passing the imperial examination could he succeed in life and bring honor to the Su family.
Therefore, the eldest son Su Yaohui was carefully nurtured since he was born. Even though the family had to eat coarse food and not have any money to eat all year round, they still sent him to a private school in the town.
Unfortunately, the eldest son was not serious about studying. When he was in his thirties, his children were in their teens and his son was about to take the imperial examination, but he only managed to become a student and could not even pass the exam to become a scholar.
The most embarrassing thing is that you are neither up nor down.
Although he is a scholar, he is not even a scholar. Instead, he has the bad temper of a scholar. He is picky about everything, cares about face, and has an indecisive personality.
You could say he's a farmhand, he can't do farm work, he doesn't have any skills, in short he's just half-hearted in everything he does.
The old man originally wanted to place his hopes on his second son, Su Huaian, but unfortunately, his second son was dull and not good at speaking, and was definitely not good at studying. He was however good at farm work.
In addition, the family was already extremely poor because of the need to support their eldest son, so he had to give up his plan temporarily. It was not until the birth of his eldest grandson Su Yichen that a glimmer of hope was rekindled.
Although Su Yichen is a coward who cannot endure hardship or do farm work, fortunately he is smarter than his father, loves to study, and has good grades.
The old man was very pleased. He led his family to live a hard life and used all the money he could save to pay for his eldest grandson's education.
Fortunately, the old man himself had received a few years of education when he was young, and a few years ago, after a coal mine was built in the mountains behind, he went to the mine and got a job as a small manager, earning two taels of silver a month, which saved the whole family from starving to death.
The original body, Su Yiqiao, was the maid of the eldest wife of the old Su family, Su Da Ni, fourteen years old this year. She had a rude personality, was selfish, and was lazy.
He is the kind of lazy person who won't even pick up the broom if it falls over.
It's the kind of laziness that makes one's own little house almost as dirty and messy as a doghouse.
It's the kind of lazy person who has messy hair and doesn't wash it for a month or so.
It's the kind of laziness that makes you refuse to wash the dirty clothes that are piled up in the corner and are almost moldy, and the cuffs and collars are shiny with grease.
This gene that brings laziness to a new level was learned from her mother, Zhou Lihua.
Influenced by her since childhood, Su Yiqiao and her eight-year-old younger brother Su Yihao have always only cared about themselves. From time to time, they would steal other people's cucumbers, dried sweet potatoes and the like.
This time, the reason why Su Yiqiao and his younger brother Su Yihao appeared in the mine was to steal coal.
Coal is an important material used in smelting iron and making weapons. The state prohibits ordinary people from mining and using it privately.
But because coal is very durable and can be used as firewood and for heating, there are still some wealthy families who secretly purchase it.
The original body, Su Yiqiao, was instigated by a close friend from the same village, and after learning from her grandfather that the mine had been shut down for a few days, she secretly entered from an abandoned passage on the other side of the coal mountain, preparing to get some coal out and sell it for money to buy food.