Others Level Up, but I Pursue Cultivation!

[...]

[You curiously observed everything around you, but you found that everything had become enormous, causing you to feel afraid in your heart.]

[Just as you were about to speak, you heard the sound of crying nearby...]

[You realized it wasn't that things around you had grown larger; you had become smaller... You had turned into a baby!]

[In this lifetime, you were born into a poor farming family during a time of war, with people barely surviving...]

[Fortunately, your family had three acres of good farmland, so life was somewhat manageable.]

[As you gradually grew up, you learned that there were six people in your family in total.]

[Besides your parents, you had three older sisters.]

[You were the youngest in the family, but you were the most cherished. Even though meat was scarcely seen during those times, your father still traveled over a dozen miles to exchange grain for a couple of ounces of lard from the landlord.]

[Life went on day by day like this. Despite the poverty, every year during the New Year, you could wear new clothes, and at least once or twice a month, you could enjoy lard.]

[In contrast, your old mother wore patched-up clothes, and your three sisters had gone without any oily food for months.]

[But your family gratefully accepted it because you represented hope for the family.]

[When you turned six, your eldest sister turned fourteen and got married to an honest man from the neighboring village, with two old hens as her dowry.]

[You didn't understand what marriage meant; you only knew that from then on if you wanted to see your eldest sister, you would have to walk over a dozen miles, and you wouldn't see her often in a year.]Nôv(el)B\\jnn

[When you turned eight, it was time for your second sister to get married.]

[Your second sister was pretty and married a teacher in his thirties living at the end of the village.]

[This teacher was said to have passed the Scholar exam over a decade ago but had never advanced further nor married.]

[Your bookish brother-in-law didn't seem easy to get along with, and his family was poor. When your second sister got married, she didn't bring back a dowry; instead, she took a few new quilts.]

[But your parents were very happy because it meant you could start studying...]

[Your teacher was naturally your second brother-in-law.]

[He frequently used a thin cane to hit you on the buttocks, even for trivial matters like using a paper book for something it shouldn't be used for.]

[To you, these were trivial matters...]

[You didn't love studying, but you especially loved teasing the neighbor's dog, Da Huang.]

[Da Huang was a skinny yet fierce dog, but it wagged its tail only at you.]

[Although you didn't love studying, you seemed very smart. You could memorize the content from the books after reading them a few times.]

[When you were twelve, your second brother-in-law came to your house, which was rare. He had always looked down on poor children's families.]

[Your second brother-in-law told your parents that you had amazing talent, that you were the smartest student he had ever seen.]

[If you could go to the city to take the Scholar exam, perhaps you could pass!]

[But at that time, your family was very poor. Your mother had lingering health issues from giving birth to you and still couldn't do heavy labor.]

[That year, your third sister got married; she married far away in the county, seemingly to become a concubine in a landlord's home.]

[You had seen that landlord before, who had a fat head and big ears, and often looked at people with disdain.]

[With your third sister's marriage, the family gained an old yellow cow and a few strings of Copper Coin.]

[By then, you were already twelve and very bright... you knew this money came from selling your sister.]

[So you had a big fight with your parents, refusing to take the Scholar exam; you just wanted your third sister to come back...]

[Later, your second brother-in-law took you over a dozen miles and then by vehicle to the county.]

[At your third sister's husband's house, you saw your long-unseen third sister.]

[But the once lively and always cheerful third sister now had a tear-streaked face.]

[From your second brother-in-law, you learned that your third sister wasn't living well. Although she was a concubine, she did maid's work and was also beaten and scolded by the landlord's legitimate wife.]

[Your second brother-in-law told you, if you could pass the provincial examination, they wouldn't dare beat and scold your third sister anymore!]

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[You believed him!]

[So you tried hard to study for the first time, for the sake of your family!]

[You got up at the crack of dawn every day to head to your second brother-in-law's school and only returned home after the sun had set.]

[Because lamp oil was expensive, you could only go to bed once the sun had set.]

[Your talent was astonishing. In just half a year, you had thoroughly studied hundreds of books from your second brother-in-law's home!]

[Your knowledge had even surpassed that of your second brother-in-law, and you felt ready to take the provincial exam!]

[But your second brother-in-law said you weren't ready!]

[He wanted you to go to the county to read more books and apprentice with the county magistrate...]

[To send you to the county to study, your parents sold the old yellow cow.]

[On the day they sold the cow, you saw your father cry for the first time in your life.]

[After selling pots and pans, you finally had the opportunity to study in the county.]

[Because you had no place to live, you had to temporarily stay at your third sister's husband's home, which resulted in your third sister being beaten and scolded a few more times.]

[You observed all this, swearing to pass the provincial exam and give your family a better life!]

[Thus, two years passed...]

[In your fifteenth year, you took the Scholar exam.]

[The mere Scholar exam was no challenge to you.]

[You came first in the Scholar exam, becoming the top-ranked candidate...]

[The following spring, you took the provincial examination.]

[You passed, but only came in second...]

[The first place went to the county magistrate's youngest son. You didn't understand why he scored higher than you, even though he hadn't read as many books or written as well as you did.]

[But it didn't matter; after passing, your family's circumstances were completely different!]

[You made a special trip to your third sister's husband's home; the once arrogant brother-in-law now greeted you warmly and flatteringly...]