My Uncle Put Me Through School, So I'll Repay Him by Becoming the Top Scholar

I was born in the 1960s. In a poor and backward rural village in Sichuan lived a farming family. My father’s name was Ren Tianci, and my mother was Zhang Cuihua. I was the eldest daughter, named Ren Xiaowan. I had a younger brother named Ren Fugui. Our family was so poor we barely had enough to eat, and every day felt like a year. My parents always favored my brother, leaving all the dirty and exhausting work to me. They thought I was a burden. In the end, with too many mouths to feed and too little grain, they threw me out of the house. My uncle couldn’t bear to see that happen, so he took me in as his adopted daughter and paid for my schooling. I repaid him by coming first in the imperial exams...