Jiang Wenxiu was once the daughter of the richest man in the land, but after her family fell into ruin, she married into a farming household.
She was kind to her neighbors and supported her entire clan.
Who could have known that when her husband died in an accident, his family would join forces with the clan to kill her and seize her property?
Surrounded by wolves, she hurriedly won over a widower from the next village and ran away with him.
Everyone said the next village was so poor they could barely feed themselves, and waited to see Jiang Wenxiu suffer there.
But after waiting and waiting, they discovered that the neighboring village had acquired clan lands, built workshops, and opened a clan school.
The widower Jiang Wenxiu had married had even passed the imperial exam and become a jinshi.
And they discovered that Jiang Wenxiu had brought about all of it.
Li Yue had fled with the Li clan and hoped to change his fate by passing the imperial exams.
But he was poor!
That fallen lady Jiang from the next village looked like she came from no ordinary family.
Why not try to win her over?
He never expected her to lead the entire Li clan to prosperity.
The Li clan rose from making a modest living through small business to passing the imperial exams and entering government service.
(Content warning: a widow and a widower get together; neither is sexually inexperienced. No transmigration, no rebirth.)
Overall, it's pretty good, with the later parts being quite engaging. However, the initial setup for the nephew made it seem like he'd become a big shot—intelligent and favored by a renowned teacher—and I assumed the court politics would mainly revolve around him. But it turns out that even towards the end, after the exams, there's practically no description of him entering officialdom…
First comment 😄 I really liked the author's previous book, "The Rise of the Earl's Family," and I hope this one will be just as great.
I really enjoyed the author's "The Rise of the Earl's Family," and I check back regularly to see what new books the author has. I recently read a farming novel, "The Secret of Nanqiao Village," and it was my first time reading one, so I was surprised by how good it was. Since this author's work is also a farming novel, I immediately started reading it. It's so good!
Reading the whole story was very moving. The female protagonist struggled to survive as an orphan, while the male protagonist was also from a poor farming family. They sought a way to rise in the cracks between powerful families, relying on their own wisdom and abilities. They understood and supported each other.
Initially, the female protagonist spared no expense to save her husband's family, while also valuing the knowledge and character of the people in Li Village. After getting to know the Li clan, she cultivated her own power to take revenge on Master Jiang. Her trust in the male protagonist gradually grew as she came to understand him, but she also kept her options open, not simply offering altruistic assistance.
Anyway, it's always the case that men marry women who are of higher social standing, and the women provide various resources to the men. Several couples were like that.
The story is complete and flows smoothly. It's written with varying degrees of detail and brevity, and a good sense of pace. Good and bad characters are clearly distinguished. The village of Sanxi is bad, and the village of Lijia is good, highlighting the importance of leadership.
Aside from the somewhat rushed ending, the first part of this book is quite compelling. It portrays the rise of a poor family through the united efforts of different characters. Each character is distinct, and the strategies employed by the family members, both overt and covert, are also very well done.
Keep up the good work, author! It's really good!
It was pretty good, but the ending was too sudden. I feel like it would have been more like another 100 chapters to make sense. 😄😄😄