I Became the Foil to the Protagonist of a Genius Scholar's Imperial Exam Novel

Xu Yan'an is the chosen one in The Rise of a Poor Scholar: The Chief Minister's Path to Power.

He could read at three, write poetry at five, and pass the entry-level imperial exam at seven and the next level at ten. Everyone said he was a literary star descended from heaven. Su Zezhi, meanwhile, was his foil: the Su family's foolish child, so tongue-tied he couldn't even recite the Three Character Classic in full.

The Xu and Su families were related, so Xu Yan'an had to call Su Zezhi his younger cousin.

Su Zezhi had transmigrated, and the moment he did, he realized he'd become the younger cousin who served as the foil to the genius protagonist of an imperial-examination novel, destined to be trampled into the mud.

According to the plot, the cousins Xu Yan'an and Su Zezhi would compete from childhood onward. At three, Xu Yan'an would start learning to read, while Su Zezhi would be unable to read and prefer playing in the mud. At five, Xu Yan'an would write poetry and astonish everyone as a child prodigy, while Su Zezhi would pee in the street and be mocked for having a tiny little thing.

Xu Yan'an would pass the entry-level exam at seven and the next level at ten, hailed as a literary star descended from heaven. Su Zezhi would get into trouble again and again at seven, then set the family home on fire at ten, earning the title of devil spawn.

Later in the story, Xu Yan'an would work hard, eventually come top in the imperial exams, marry a rich and beautiful woman, and reach the pinnacle of life. Su Zezhi, having done everything a little devil could do, would end up executed at the marketplace, his miserable fate serving to highlight Xu Yan'an's glorious life.

Su Zezhi, who'd just called a forty-year-old woman "Granny" and a pretty young woman "Big Sis," cupped his cheeks and smiled, his eyes crinkling. In his previous life, he'd been known as everyone's little sweetheart. Why not keep up the good work in this life and stay the darling of all the kindhearted big sisters?

A few things to know:

1. The male lead is everyone's little sweetheart, sweet-talking and calculating, and loves living off others.

2. The male lead won't clash with the original protagonist. There's more to life than taking the imperial exams. The original protagonist will sit his exams, while the male lead stays everyone's little sweetheart.

3. Mostly daily life, family affairs, and farming.

Theme: The genius next door, I'm the sweet potato