At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Zhao Ji, a native of Hunan, first lived in Gusu City as a beggar, then became a thief. Unexpectedly, he later became a wealthy local man, and even some of his descendants became high officials. He was also honored as the old man, and his experience of becoming rich was also quite legendary.

When Zhao Ji was still a thief, there was a wealthy family in the city. Only his sister-in-law and sister-in-law were widows, and their husbands were all deceased. They had no sons, so it seemed that they would become extinct. Fortunately, the daughter-in-law of the third child was pregnant and had not yet given birth. The sister-in-law and sister-in-law all hoped to have a son and inherit the incense of the ancestral hall. That year, during the Qingming Festival, the family went to the countryside to worship their ancestors and visit the tomb, and the two sisters-in-law went together. The journey was very long, and it took three days to go back and forth. Because the three daughters-in-law were pregnant and it was inconvenient to travel far, they stayed at home alone, leaving an old woman to take care of.

At dusk, he climbed over the wall and went in. He saw the third wife and the old woman carrying a lamp out to patrol the door. Zhao Ji took this opportunity to sneak into the third wife's room and quietly hide in a hidden place to observe.

After the third daughter-in-law and the old woman returned to the room, the third daughter-in-law sat under the lamp and read a book. The old woman waited on the side, but seemed drunk, and kept urging the hostess to go to bed. The third daughter-in-law said, "Close the door and sleep by yourself, don't disturb me here." So the old woman went out with the door closed.

After a while, a young man pushed open the door and walked in. Zhao Ji thought he was a fellow and a thief, but he wondered why he didn't wait for the woman to fall asleep, and he was well dressed.

When the third daughter-in-law saw the young man come in, she stood up in fear and was about to scream, but the young man took a step forward, hugged the woman and asked to share the bed. The third daughter-in-law refused and struggled desperately, calling the old woman loudly, but there was no response at all.

Seeing that his third wife did not obey him, the young man drew a sharp blade from the boot and forced her to say, "If you dare not obey, I will kill you!"

The third daughter-in-law angrily scolded: "Our family is innocent, and I must not be defiled by you rascal tonight! If you want to kill, kill, I would rather die than obey!"

When the young man saw it, he really put the knife to the woman's neck and forced her to submit.

Although Zhao Ji was a thief, he was forced by hunger and cold. When he saw this scene, he was extremely angry. He suddenly jumped from behind the young man, grabbed the knife, stabbed the young man, and hit the forehead.

The third daughter-in-law was suddenly shocked and couldn't make a sound.

Zhao Ji was full of righteous indignation, pushed open the door and shouted loudly, "Catch thieves!"

When the neighbors heard the shout, they all came with sticks in their hands and asked together, "Where is the thief? Who are you?" Zhao Ji had just forgotten that he was here to steal out of righteous indignation. Only then did he come to his senses and laugh out loud, saying, "I am a thief. But there is something worse than a thief, please come with me?" and led everyone into the room of the third daughter-in-law, who had avoided going to another room. I saw a man lying in a pool of blood, holding a candle and shining a light. He was a neighbor to the west, but fortunately he was not killed. Someone asked him why he came here, and he was silent. When someone asked Zhao Ji, Zhao Ji explained what he had seen. The two were tied up and sent to the official for investigation.

After dawn, the two were sent to the official residence by the crowd. The young man bit back, saying that Zhao Ji had an affair with the woman and that he went that night to catch the rape. Zhao Ji said, "I am a thief, who in Gusu City does not know? Even if that woman does not keep her chastity, she would not want to commit adultery with a thief."

Therefore, Zhao Ji recounted the night events in detail from the beginning, and told all the theft cases he had done over the years to prove that he was indeed a thief. The county official checked the theft case book and believed what he said to be true. The teenager was tortured and interrogated, and the teenager then confessed the truth. It turned out that he had long coveted the beauty of the third daughter-in-law, and that night he also left house of the third daughter-in-law. The old woman had already received his bribe and his accomplice.

The case came to light, and the county magistrate punished the young man and the old woman according to the law, commended the woman's chastity, and released Zhao Ji for his righteousness.

After Zhao Ji was released, he continued to steal as usual. One night, he was stealing from a township, and was caught by his master and fled. There were many people chasing him, and in a hurry, he got into a dead end again. When he couldn't find a way out, he suddenly saw a broken temple, so he climbed over the wall and went in. He wanted to hide under the shrine, not to knock down a mud statue next to him, and he tripped to the ground. In the coma, the person who was chasing him happily did not find it.

The sky was dim, and Zhao Ji walked down the steps. When he saw Kangxi's big money on the ground, he picked it up and walked forward in the dim morning light. When he came to a village, there was a stall selling cooked potatoes by the road, so he used the big money to buy potatoes to eat.

After a while, an old man came to buy potatoes and sat next to Zhao Ji. After eating, he got up and left, leaving behind a bag. Zhao Ji also got up to leave, and when he saw the bag, he knew that the old man had forgotten to be here. When he opened it, he found that there were two gold ingots, more than 100 silver ingots, hundreds of coins, and four account books, which recorded that the amount of silver that had not been collected was more than 10,000 taels. Zhao Ji was afraid that the seller of taro would see it, so he hurriedly covered up the bag. He thought to himself, "Is this a gift from God? How can the old man collect money when he loses these accounts? Even if it is given by God, he can't ask for it!" So he sat there and waited for the old man to come back. After sitting for a long time, the potato vendor became angry and said, "You only paid a penny to sit here for a long time without leaving. Do you want to spend the night here?"

Zhao Ji said, "No, I still want to buy something to eat." He took out a few pennies from the pouch and bought the potato while eating. After a while, the old man came in a hurry, sweating like rain. Seeing Zhao Ji still sitting there, he immediately asked, "Sir hasn't left yet? I forgot a pouch was here just now, did you see it?" Zhao Ji smiled and said, "If it wasn't for the old man's things, I would have left long ago!"

The old man took the bag, but did not open the inspection, did not say thank you, but only said, "My house is not far from here, please come and sit at home together!"

As soon as Zhao Ji thought about it, he followed. After walking for several miles, he came to a large mansion with a lot of wood piled up outside the door. The old man and Zhao Ji went in together and came to the middle hall. The old man entered the inner room, adjusted his clothes and walked out, bowed deeply to Zhao Ji, and said, "I am from Hunan. I have been setting up a wood factory here for many years, and the wood factories in various counties have been disposed of since then. The capital has been hundreds of thousands, most of which are on credit and recorded in the books that were lost just now. Fortunately, Mr. returned them to me, otherwise it would be over. Now please accept this thousand gold as a reward."

Zhao Ji was adamant about the remuneration. Seeing that he was sincere, the old man asked him what occupation he had always been in. Zhao Ji said shamefully and coyly, "No occupation!" Asked who was in his family, Zhao Ji said, "I am the only one who lives alone, and I have no family." He asked again, "Then how do you live?"

Zhao Ji saw that the question was urgent, so he simply said, "To tell you the truth, I am a little thief."

The old man was a little surprised and asked his name again, and he also said it. The old man suddenly realized something and said, "I heard that there was a righteous thief in the county seat who slashed a libertine and saved the reputation of a woman from a good family. Is that Mr.?"

Zhao Ji said, "Exactly." The old man sighed and said, "Sir's actions can be learned from the sun and the moon. Today, I see that the benefits are not taken, and it is clear and upright! It is difficult for those who are well-dressed to do it! My family has millions of dollars, and I can't find someone to trust. If you don't dislike it, sir, just follow me. It is better to be a gentleman than to be a gentleman on the beam if you use your clothes, food and wealth as your husband uses it?" Zhao Ji happily agreed, and has since settled down in the old man's house.

Zhao Ji knew a lot of words, so the old man sent him to collect the bills on his behalf. After two years in and out, Zhao Ji was diligent, cautious and precise, without the slightest sloppiness and laziness. The old man was old and had no son, so he recognized Zhao Ji as his son and took him back to his hometown. Because he had been away from his hometown for a long time, the villagers did not know that Zhao Ji was not the old man's biological son. Until the old man died, Zhao Ji inherited the entire estate. He had many children and grandchildren, including those who passed the entrance examination in the township and the official who observed the county guard (Taotai). His family is still a large household in Hunan.