A Chao Through the Four Seasons

Story blurb: 1. A Chao's father was from overseas. His parents died in a shipwreck. The ship's captain was from Jiang Chao, and after making inquiries, he sent A Chao back to his maternal grandparents' home. Sixteen-year-old A Chao was strikingly beautiful, with red lips, white teeth, and features like a painting. He was good at every kind of work, but no one showed interest in him because he had a pair of icy blue eyes. His maternal grandparents weren't kind to him, but they weren't cruel either. Having a sixteen-year-old young master at home without a marriage match could affect the marriage prospects of the other children, so they started arranging a match for him. A Chao didn't like the men his grandparents chose for him. He wanted to find someone himself. One day, he met Teacher Xie from the Imperial College, and his eyes lit up. His mother had told him that when choosing a husband, he should look for someone handsome and educated. Then they wouldn't have to spend money sending their children to school. Teacher Xie was learned, taught at the Imperial College, and came from a small family. A Chao thought, I want Teacher Xie. After that, he appeared in front of Teacher Xie from time to time. Then one day Teacher Xie fell into the water. Remembering the tales where a hero saved a beauty, A Chao jumped into the river with a splash. After A Chao pulled Teacher Xie to safety, the teacher asked him, "What's your name?" A Chao beamed. "My name is A Chao." Before long, Teacher Xie really did marry A Chao. 2. When Xie Linzhou transmigrated into the role of the Imperial College teacher who was always used as a foil for the male lead, he was in the middle of teaching a group of "problem students" about the Book of Diverse Crafts. Everyone at court knew that the male lead, Xie Heng, was the Imperial College's anchor. His students were all legitimate sons of aristocratic families and young top scorers in the imperial exams. Whenever he lectured, the hall was silent, and even the emperor praised them as "pillars of the state." And the students assigned to Xie Linzhou? They were the "leftovers" passed from one classroom to another: sons of military officers who loved practicing with weapons, merchant kids obsessed with flowers, plants, insects, and fish, and distant relatives of noble families who could barely recognize all the characters. His colleagues secretly laughed at him for getting stuck with a rotten mess, and the students waited to see when the new teacher would be driven away. Then news came from the border of a great victory. The one who had improved the city's defensive weapons and earned outstanding military merits was the military officer's son who only knew how to wield weapons. Then the Imperial Kitchen introduced a new pastry that took the capital by storm, created by the merchant's son. Then the court published a new edition of Practical Methods for the People throughout the land, and its author was none other than the supposedly "illiterate" young nobleman. Only then did everyone realize that Xie Linzhou had never believed in the idea that "a rotten piece of wood cannot be carved." He had always patiently nurtured every student's mind, used tailored teaching to break down prejudice, and embraced the words of many schools of thought with an open mind, putting him ahead of the Imperial College's reforms. Reader's guide: 1. Dual perspectives, family life, and everyday trivialities 2. The entire story is already written Please add my upcoming story to your collection: The Struggle of a Poor Scholar Blurb: 1. Pei Ji was born into the Great Zhou dynasty, and before he was even three, he was caught up in a flight from famine. His parents died of an epidemic. His seven-year-old brother, Pei Jinghan, shouldered everything on his skinny frame, apprenticed himself to a hunter, and ventured deep into the mountains to earn enough rice to send Pei Ji to school. Clutching the bloodstained fur from his brother's kill, Pei Ji secretly vowed: Once I succeed in my studies, I'll make sure my brother lives well. No golden finger, no benefactor falling from the sky, just a kerosene lamp and a broken writing brush. He studied day and night, passed the county-level civil service exam at fifteen and stunned the countryside, then came first in the palace examination at eighteen and became a successful candidate in the highest imperial exam. To help support his family, he used the experience of his previous life to write stories and earned his first pot of gold. To help his older brother fulfill his wish, he brought him together with Liu Shian, a young master who had fallen on hard times. The little family lived happily ever after. To win someone's heart, he met Shangguan Yu, who had never been loved by his parents, and the two grew close through his stories before pledging themselves to each other for life. After moving to the capital with his family, he started out as a low-ranking sixth-grade official. The court was full of political intrigue, factional struggles, and hidden daggers. Colleagues trying to push him out? He answered with a record of achievements. Corrupt officials framing him? He outmaneuvered them. Powerful nobles pressuring him? He stood firm and protected the people's livelihoods! Others relied on their connections to rise. He advanced through hard work. From an orphaned child of humble origins to a prime minister with power over the court, Pei Ji proved with his life: There are no shortcuts for the poor. You rise through sheer hard work! And in the end, all those who had protected him as he grew up would be sheltered beneath his wings, living peacefully and securely for the rest of their lives. 2. Shangguan Yu was the least loved son of the Shangguan family. The day he was born, his family was demoted to commoner status. His parents decided he was a curse, and the rest of the clan treated him as a disgrace to the whole family. The grand merchant household had everything, from carved beams and painted rafters to fine clothes and delicious food, but not a single place where he could feel safe. Though Shangguan Yu had grown up surrounded by wealth, he had experienced the warmth and coldness of human relationships from an early age. The brotherly affection and parental love that others took for granted were, to him, unattainable dreams. Only when he hid in the quiet study and lost himself in the worlds of storybooks could he temporarily forget the chill around him and find a moment of comfort and peace. Then, one year, an anonymous author's Records of a Poor Family quietly made its way into his hands. The resilience and warmth between its lines, and the characters' struggles and perseverance in the face of hardship, brought tears to the eyes of Shangguan Yu, who had lived in loneliness for so long. It turned out that there were people in this world as lonely and helpless as he was, yet able to defy the odds and change their fate through sheer courage. He frantically searched every bookshop in the city, hoping to meet the author who wrote under the name Anonymous. Theme: Everyday life among ordinary people, plain and peaceful