A small stove, with firewood on it, the faint scent of porridge wafting through the room. The room was originally small, and with the smoke from the firewood, a woman started coughing.

  "Mom, I'll do it!" Fifteen-year-old Li Rui came out, his eyes gentle.

  "Stop it, Rui'er. Let me handle these things. You just focus on studying and get a good score in the imperial exam for me. That way, I won't have to worry about anything else. Alas, if your father hadn't died so early, we wouldn't be reduced to this state." In fact, this woman was still very young, only around 33 years old according to memory, but she looked almost like a worn-out woman in her 40s or 50s, with a sickly complexion and an unhealthy look on her face.

  At this time, the porridge had been cooked almost done. The woman's forehead was slightly sweaty, holding a wooden spoon, she scooped out the thickest porridge and served him a bowl, then said: "Eat!"

  Holding the bowl with a thick layer of sediment, looking at the clear porridge in the pot, Li Rui was silent, a warm feeling surged up, mixed with sadness, and his eyes deepened.

  From memory, I knew that if I refused, Mother would get angry instead. She was ill and getting angry would only make her condition worse. It wasn't worth it, so I quietly drank it down.

  This Li Rui, of course, is Fang Xin. It's already been three days at noon, and the mother and son only eat porridge for lunch.

  I recall seeing a record that said in ancient times, poor and humble scholars would eat congee as their staple food, dividing it into several portions. Today I finally understand the truth of these words.

  The sunlight shone on his body, the sun had passed its zenith, Li Rui woke up with a start, he put down the bowl and entered his own room. In his own room, there was nothing but a bed and a desk, the most valuable thing being books.

  He pulled out the book and read it word by word, combining it with his memories. Fang Xin couldn't help but smile wryly at what he was reading. Most of it was from the Four Books and Five Classics, slightly different from what he had read in his past life. Probably due to a different version, Fang Xin happened to have read this one before.

  In fact, the second-order ancient text has already reached the level of a scholar, and this person was originally very diligent. At the age of 12, he passed the imperial examination for children and had been studying hard for three years. In fact, he also possessed the level of a scholar, but in some places, after all, it was just reading dead books, losing spirit and experience, and not fully understanding the classics. If he were to take the imperial examination for scholars, he might not necessarily pass, but now, combining memory, the classic words flowed from his heart, and suddenly became thoroughly understood.

  Now, without needing to read any more, Fang Xin closed the book and was examining his own body. This body was indeed very weak and needed rich nutrition and exercise to be maintained. Just as he was thinking this, suddenly there was a "pu" sound. A dagger shot in from the window with words on it: "New person? Come out and talk."

  Only two days and I've found myself, efficiency is still high, Fang Xin thought it would take some more time, but now it's out. Facing his mother He Shi, he said: "Mother, I'm going out for a bit."

  "Oh, are you tired from reading? It's good to take a walk outside." As Li Rui usually studied very hard. So occasionally going out, Madam He didn't worry at all, she put away the bowl and chopsticks, and immediately started spinning, which was the family's only source of income.

  Out of the gate, no need to point, relying on intuition, I walked to the right, after about five minutes, suddenly a person appeared and smiled: "Hello, how's the housing price recently? How expensive are cars?"

  "It's okay, 3,000 yuan per square meter, can be mortgaged. I bought a blue BMW for 400,000!" Actually, what he said didn't matter, it was just to confirm each other's identity, Fang Xin said casually.

  "Welcome, you can call me Shen Xia. The name here, and the horse carriage over there are mine." This person was young, wearing a silver crown, with an upright and majestic demeanor.

  "I am Li Rui, you also saw the situation."

  "Look at that, I didn't expect you to lose so badly, brother. Wasn't the time enough? Haha, newbies are like this, only giving 5 seconds to choose." Shen Xia said with a smile, sizing up his opponent.

  "So that's why I need Brother Shen's help."

  "It's a matter of course, but there are a few things I must tell you, perhaps you don't know." Shen Xia heard this and smiled faintly, with a few strands of sunlight sprinkled on him, he held a flute in his hand, playing with it, looking extremely carefree.

  "First of all, it's this world has fate, which is something we only understood after going through many things."

  "Is it just that one should never easily go beyond the norm in all things, or else they will attract attention?"

  "Brilliant, I've never met a newcomer as brilliant as you. That's how it is in this world, everyone has a basic destiny, and according to certain rules, small deviations are normal things, but if they exceed the limits, they will attract the attention of some extraordinary people, and if they get even bigger, they will even attract the attention of those above!" As he said that, Shen Xia pointed upwards.

  This is certainly not the Xiao family, but refers to... heaven!

  At this point, Fang Xin suddenly understood in his heart and said: "I understand, you continue."

  "I know my brother is coming, he must be at least third-level, with multiple abilities. Even if the environment is not good now, just wait a little longer and you can make a comeback. However, making a comeback requires methods, first we need to look at your birth chart, don't worry I've also learned some things, always pay attention to yourself and the people around you, give me your eight characters."

  "What about this body?"

  "That's right."

  Fang Xin recited from memory, and Shen Xia calculated it on the spot, then carefully examined his face.

  "Without going into details, I've already calculated your destiny and facial features. You have a bit of luck with wealth and power, but according to my estimation, in this lifetime, you can at most become a county magistrate, and your wealth will not exceed five million dollars."

  "Five hundred thousand taels of silver, is that five million pieces of white silver?"

  "It's almost the same, actually it's eight hundred coins for one or two, but there are still ways to do it. This world has many methods to legally break through fate, but the most useful is accumulating hidden virtues, this world emphasizes hidden virtues."

  Fang Xin's heart skipped a beat as he said, "Please clarify."

  "To put it simply, if you do good deeds, you'll get rewarded. It's that simple. Brother, your family is not well off, right? I also find it hard to give you money directly, but I can give you a reason. Later, I'll drop a package, and when you pick it up, return it to me. This way, I can use this as an excuse to give you some small tasks, and of course, you can also take my reward."

  "A small matter?"

  "Alright, come to my mansion and work as a copyist in the study. You won't be considered a servant. Then you can reasonably take back some money, not too much, two taels of silver per month. As for other things, I'll find an excuse to promote you. In short, even if it's not true, at least on the surface it has to be reasonable." Shen Xia said.

  After a moment of silence, Shen Xia thought he was dissatisfied, but this place really existed. In the past, there was once a delivery of thousands of gold, and as a result, both people were unlucky and noticed by others.

  Actually Fang Xin could hear from just a few words that the fate of this world is controlled very strictly, and as he thought about it, he immediately said: "This is already very good, my talent can be used to take the imperial examination to become a Xiucai this year."

  "This world, taking the imperial examination to become a scholar, not only requires talent and connections, but also good fortune. You may be destined to pass the exam and even become a jinshi, but it's not necessarily this year. If you want to pass the exam this year, you must accumulate good deeds. However, I can help you with that. I do good deeds every year, and if you help me, you can get some credit too. Just follow me now." Shen Xia said, raising his voice slightly.

  "Alright, I'll go down then." Upon hearing this, Fang Xin didn't say much either, bowed slightly and left first. After a while, the man also left, got into his carriage, and after not too long, went to another store, seemingly buying something. When he came out to get on the carriage, a small pouch accidentally fell to the ground. Fang Xin hastily picked it up and shouted: "Young master, your pouch has fallen!"

  After finishing speaking, he held the package and came to a horse carriage. Fang Xin stopped in his tracks, but before he could speak, the carriage door opened, and a 14 or 15-year-old maid walked out. She took one look at it and slightly bowed as a greeting: "This young master, this is indeed my family's young master's package."

  She took it in, seemed to say something, and came out: "This is the young master, this is what my family's young master rewarded you with."

  She took out a silver ingot, which was ten taels each.

  "The gentleman does not consider what is profitable, but rather what is right."

  He refused to accept it, at this time, everyone saw it, and someone shouted: "Li Rui, this is the reward given by the young master, your family is so poor, don't take it back to take care of your mother!"

  Fang Xin declined again, and the young lady had no choice but to return. A moment later, she came out again: "My young master appreciates you very much. How about this? You come to our mansion as a clerk, copy some books, earn a salary, and don't count as one of the people in the mansion?"

  At this time, Fang Xin nodded in agreement. Seeing that he agreed, Ya Tou let out a sigh of relief and said: "You should know Shen Fu, come tomorrow!"

  After finishing, he got on the carriage and left. Fang Xin bowed deeply, at this time, everyone gathered around and said: "You are really lucky, Young Master Shen let you do things, this is the mansion of the County Magistrate."

  In this world, Tongzhi is the deputy governor of Zhifu, a sixth-grade official, although he has no real power, but also a superior class.

  Fang Xin, however, bowed to everyone and deliberately said: "I am a scholar, how can I take on this task for small gains? It's just that my mother is suffering, and I want to relieve her worries. A gentleman loves wealth, but takes it in a righteous way. I will follow the teachings of the sages."

  After finishing speaking, he floated back home.