Ye Shiqi, this girl, was smarter than her elder sisters, shattering adults' perception that a woman without talent is virtuous.
In the eyes of the elderly farmers, sons were the pillars of the household; the more sons a family had, the better. It was already difficult enough to provide for them, let alone afford their education.
A family would struggle to support just one or two book-loving and somewhat clever boys in their studies—a truly difficult endeavor.
The most renowned in the village was now the Scholar, with not a few emerging from the population. It was said to be due to the favorable feng shui of their ancestral graves which, despite never having been seen emitting blue smoke in this village, produced many strong men capable of becoming high-ranking officials in the capital.
