Cheng Yan woke up to find himself a seven-year-old boy in Meishan during the Northern Song dynasty.
The good news: his family had ties to the Su clan.
The bad news: his cousin was Su Shi.
Worse still, another cousin was Su Zhe, and his third uncle was Su Xun.
Cheng Yan quickly faced facts: this was no family circle for slacking off.
He had hoped to live quietly as a lazybones, eating and drinking for free, then find a wealthy wife when he grew up and live off her. But everyone around him was a budding literary giant. The adults talked about studying nonstop, and his cousins kept asking if he knew how to write poetry.
So Cheng Yan played the obedient child while using bits of knowledge from the future to improve the family’s meals, make money, start an academy, and shake up the literary world.
Years later, Su Shi was famous throughout the land.
Someone asked Cheng Yan, “Are you a literary giant too?”
Cheng Yan shook his head earnestly.
“No, I’m just a literary giant’s cousin.”
Everyone asked, “Then who came up with all these new methods, new writings, and new businesses?”
Cheng Yan fell silent for a moment.
“Maybe my cousin taught me well.”
Ai! ! ! ! !