short series

The Butcher's Son's Path to the Imperial Exam

share time: 2025-10-05 00:32:42

Lin Aniu, the son of a butcher, grew up helping his father run the meat shop but spent every night reading old books. His father scolded him, saying "a butcher's hand can't hold a brush," yet turned around to exchange money from selling pig elbows for the best Hui ink; neighbors laughed at him, saying "a butcher's family can't produce a scholar," only Ah Zhu from the tea stall next door secretly saved him a bowl of warm osmanthus tea every day, saying "I'll wait for you to come back in official robes." But in the exam hall, the chief examiner despised the lard stain on his sleeve and threw his paper on the ground on the spot; the son of a noble even framed him for "smuggling cheat sheets" and wanted to disqualify him. Just as Aniu squatted outside the exam hall crying and burning his books, the homeless old man he saved years ago suddenly appeared—the old man took out a royal jade pendant and said, "I'm the retired Lord Li, specially here to find candidates like you who 'have the smell of smoke and fire on their hands, and the wisdom of sages in their hearts'...

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