A Splendid Farmstead: A Poor Scholar’s Road to the Imperial Exams

Modern young man Su Yan wakes up one day as Su Sanlang, a young boy in ancient Qinghe Village.

Before him stands a low mud-brick house. In his bowl is wild-greens porridge thin enough to reflect his face, and beside him are his family, gaunt and pale but watching him with concern.

Faced with abject poverty, Su Yan doesn’t blame fate. He rolls up his sleeves and resolves to use his knowledge from beyond his time to improve his family’s life, starting with the food on their table.

He soon discovers, however, that though the family is poor, their love runs deep.

His taciturn father silently sharpens every bamboo pen for him while he studies at night.

His gentle, resilient mother spends long nights doing embroidery for a few copper coins, every last one of which goes toward the paper, ink, brushes, and inkstone in his hands.

His honest, hardworking eldest brother takes on all the heavy labor so he can have more time to study.

Even his little sister secretly picks the sweetest wild fruit for him while gathering greens.

In the warm harbor called home, Su Yan’s heart is gradually soothed.

He teaches his family to identify ordinary plants on the mountain behind their home and turn them into herbal tea to sell to the town’s teahouses, earning their first fortune.

He makes a few changes to modern bookkeeping methods to help his father, who takes odd jobs in town, keep the accounts straight and avoid being cheated.

In his spare time, he and his little sister clear a small patch of garden in the courtyard and plant fruit and vegetables brought down from the mountains...

Life gradually improves, and hope takes root amid the quiet, steady rhythms of daily life.

For Su Yan, who has already mastered the classics, the imperial examination path feels more like a journey that simply needs to be followed step by step.

He advances steadily through the county, prefectural, and provincial exams.

When the news arrives that he has passed the prefectural-level examination and earned the title of Xiucai, all of Qinghe Village erupts in celebration.