short series

The Butcher's Son from a Poor Family: Daily Trials in the Imperial Exam

share time: 2025-11-13 12:30:17

Chen Aniu, the son of a poor family's butcher, clings to his absurd dream of "studying for the imperial exam"—clashing with his father's belief that "butchering is the only proper path." When his books are burned, he carves the Four Books into wood with a butchering knife; when his charcoal pencils are thrown away, he exchanges old paper by writing letters for neighbors. Even his pork stall becomes his "civic classroom": he understands tax principles from calculating meat prices, and records people's sufferings from customers' talks about disasters. On the day of the provincial exam, he wraps his paper in lard to keep it dry and writes not pretentious prose, but the warmth of his butcher family and the lives of ordinary people. When the red list with "Chen Aniu" stings his father's eyes, the father finally realizes: his son's dream was never to escape the butcher's life, but to let the butcher's story be heard by the imperial court.

mute, 2x speed, if you want to adjust, please click the controller bar to adjust