My Wife is Unbeatable in the Whole World, Touch Me If You Dare!

At noon, Chen Qi almost fainted from hunger, but could only eat a few bites of dry hard bran cake.

This day felt longer than a month to him.

Returning home at night, he devoured his dinner ravenously, didn't even want to take a bath, and had no time to think; as soon as his head touched the pillow, he fell into a deep sleep.

At 5 a.m. the next morning, he was awakened by the family's servants.

Today, he still had to experience a day in the life of the family's servant.

Half awake, he pinched his nose and emptied the chamber pot, fed the horses, chopped wood, and by the time he finished all this, it was almost noon. While cleaning the courtyard, he finally couldn't hold on and fainted...

When he came to, a woman was watching over him by his bedside, silently shedding tears, and she complained to Chen Tieniu: "It's all your fault, my son is going to take the exam to become an advanced scholar and a great official, why did you make him suffer like this..."

Chen Tieniu also looked wronged; it was the son's own request, and he dared not oppose it.

If it affected the imperial examination, there was no remedy for regret.

Chen Qi opened his eyes, no longer looking confused.

The experiences of these two days had led him to the answer to the question.

The family's tenants and servants were not poor because they were not working hard.

The tenants toiled hard for a year, but in the end, their harvest couldn't even cover the rent, forcing them to sell their sons and daughters just to avoid starving to death.

The servants woke up early and worked late, like oxen and horses, working year after year, and their wages were only ten taels of silver, often deducted on various pretexts; a single illness could wipe out all their savings.

In the past, he was solely focused on the imperial examination, never even considering what kind of lives these people around him were living.

In these two days, he had talked to many tenants and servants.

After thinking, he came to a conclusion.

The reason for their poverty and hardship is not their lack of effort; on the contrary, they have already exerted themselves to the utmost to survive.

It is because there are gentry and aristocratic families like the Chen Family, who own vast lands and wealth but are unwilling to treat the common people kindly, that these people live poor lives. Their greed and harshness are the reason for the common people's suffering.

And he, Chen Qi, was one of these people.

The teacher once said, "When poor, one should preserve their integrity; when prosperous, one should help the world."

The Chen Family was quite prosperous, and with the current family estate, it would last for generations.

Although they couldn't help the whole world, they could at least help some people.

Chen Tieniu looked at Chen Qi as if seeing his son for the first time, incredulously saying, "What did you say, reduce the tenants' taxes by half, give the servants double wages, have you gone mad from studying?"

It was hard to believe that someone who had studied for twenty years could say such things.

Did he really think the Chen Family was running a charity?

If not for him, those tenants would have to flee with their families; he provided food and clothing for these servants and even paid them wages, wasn't that enough, what more could they want?

Chen Qi said slowly, "Doing these things won't affect our Chen Family much, but it could make the tenants and servants' lives better. No matter how much silver we earn, we can't use it all. Why not take some and let more people live without worrying about food and clothing?"

"Why, do I owe them something?"

Chen Tieniu frowned at his son, angrily said: "Why are you thinking like this, I spent a thousand taels of silver for you to learn this? From tomorrow on, you should not attend those lectures anymore!"

Chen Qi was indifferent, shrugged, and said, "I can skip the classes, but if I get surpassed by others and fail to become an advanced scholar, I hope father won't blame me..."

"..."

Chen Tieniu couldn't say any more.

The imperial examination was a matter of great importance, not to mention reduced rent and higher wages; as long as his son succeeded, even returning to the days of absolute poverty, he would be willing.

His lips trembled; he lowered his head and said, "Ahem, the lectures must be attended, but... can I also sit in on your teacher's class, Dad wants to see if this Six Subjects' Scholar is really the fallen Wenquxing, with three heads and six arms..."

He really wanted to see this Six Subjects' Scholar, to see the culprit who turned his well-behaved son into this.

At noon the next day, Chen Qi returned home and said to Chen Tieniu: "The teacher says outsiders can audit the class but need to pay a hundred taels of silver as an auditing fee, and can only sit in the last row, without asking any questions..."

Chen Tieniu hesitated for a moment and, in desperation, said, "It's just a hundred taels of silver, I'll pay it!"

Inside the Imperial Examination Hall.

Li Nuo was lecturing on Confucian classics, and a hundred students were attentively listening.

He usually taught books and music in the morning, horse riding and archery in the afternoon, and the classics in the last class of the day, finishing just in time to go home and rest.

At this moment, the students' attention was fully on Li Nuo, not noticing the figure sitting in the back corner, out of place with them.

Chen Tieniu was sitting with his legs crossed, leaning against the wall, watching the young figure at the front.

Though the Six Subjects' Scholar was handsome, he didn't have three heads and six arms, showing no sign of being extraordinary.

Listening to his lecture, a trace of disdain appeared at the corners of Chen Tieniu's mouth.

These Confucians, seriously, what do the common people's lives have to do with them? Everything he had today came from his own hard work and labor, as long as those people were as diligent as he was, they could have lived a better life long ago.

However, as he kept listening, the disdain on his face gradually disappeared.

Some distant memories began to surface in his mind.

Everything he had today was the result of leaving his hometown and working hard.

And the reason he left his hometown was to pay for his mother's medical treatments, having sold the family's land; after a year's toil, not only did he not earn a penny, but ended up owing rent to the landlord.

In desperation, he had to leave his homeland and seek a new livelihood.

If... he were to say if...

If he had had a few acres to farm back then, he would not have been roaming far and wide, risking life and death for survival.

Wasn't the Chen Family's tenant his past self?

As time went by, the disdain on his face completely faded, and he focused his whole attention on the young man at the front. Having never studied much in his life, Sun Tieniu began to ponder a question.

How should a person live their life?

Earn the most money?

Become the biggest official?

Bed the most, the prettiest women?

Or something else entirely...