In the late Qing Dynasty, a family surnamed Zeng moved to a village in the south of the Yangtze River. It stands to reason that although this village is small, it is also rich in water and soil, rich in products, and the villagers have a good life, but the Zeng family is strange. Three years later, their family and the villagers are out of place, and the economic situation is the same as when they first came.

What was even more strange was that the Zeng family of three could not pick their shoulders or lift their hands, and they did not have any skills to earn a living. Therefore, some people speculated that the Zeng family was a fallen aristocrat, but if so, they should have some knowledge, right? Who would have thought that the family could not read a single large character, and none of them could read and study?

The most curious thing is that they would rather go hungry for several days than accept the kind help of the villagers. On weekdays, they only rely on Old Man Zeng and his son to pick up some cow dung or dead branches in the dark and sell them for money.

In this way, in the discussion of the villagers, the Zeng family has always maintained a sense of mystery, becoming the talk of everyone after dinner.

On the tenth day of the third year of the new year, it was rare for Old Man Zeng to not work. He got up early, carefully carried a small bag of copper plates, and went into town. He walked into the largest rice shop in town and told his clerk that he wanted to buy the best white rice in the store.

The man at the rice shop was stunned for a moment, and then he was happy: "Father Zeng, I advise you to take a look at the rice here. With your little money, you can only buy less than half a catty of high-quality white rice. Although the brown rice here is a little inferior, it can carry a large bag back, which is more hungry than white rice."

Old Man Zeng's face sank and said, "What nonsense, I want white rice, and I want the best of you here, weigh it for me!"

The man had no choice but to start counting the money in Old Man Zeng's bag. The copper plates were all polished and shiny. It seemed that every copper plate had been turned over and over in Old Man Zeng's hands many times! After counting the money, the man found a very small pocket and put white rice in it.

Old man Zeng took the rice bag, and there were tears in his eyes. He hid the rice bag in his arms with great care, hunched over, and left.

That night, Old Man Zeng called his wife and children to the bed and solemnly took out the small bag of rice. When his wife saw the white rice, she couldn't help crying. Old Man Zeng's tears also dripped non-stop.

It turned out that the Zeng family was one of the richest families in the imperial city, and Old Man Zeng's grandfather saved the driver by chance a long time ago, so he was rewarded by the emperor. The Zeng family has been shaded by their ancestors for several generations, and to the generation of Old Man Zeng, it is already extravagant. Not only are the children and grandchildren ignorant and unwilling to make progress, but even their relatives rely on the name of the Zeng family to run rampant outside and be domineering.

After a long time, the Zeng family had already made countless enemies. After the new emperor ascended the throne, although he could think of the Zeng family's salvation back then, he could not resist the impeachment memorials and countless spittle stars of the ministers and officials.

Old Man Zeng said to his son Zeng Yang, "Three years ago today, the Emperor scolded Father in front of the civil and military officials, saying that Father was ignorant and greedy for pleasure. If he was separated from his ancestor's blessing, he would not be able to live for even a year. Father was anxious at that time, and actually talked back to the Emperor, saying that our Zeng family is not so easy to starve to death, let alone one year, three years can last."

Aunt Zeng wiped away her tears and said, "Thanks to your father's words at that time, the emperor gave our family a last chance." Saying that, she handed Bai Mi to her son, "The emperor promised that as long as our family is not supported by others and can live on its own for three years, we will let go of the past and restore the title."

Old Man Zeng sighed: "I have enjoyed all my glory, and I never thought that it would be so difficult to make a living outside. In the past three years, your mother and I have been exhausted. If we didn't have this hope, how could we survive today? Now that we are all old and have a long way to go to the capital, we can only rely on you..."

Old Man Zeng solemnly handed the bag of white rice to his son and instructed, "Back then, the emperor said that our family was like a huge rat. Generations of people didn't think about working, and they didn't know how much rice they ate for free. If you return to Beijing in three years, you have to bring back high-quality white rice to prove that our Zeng family can support themselves without relying on royal grain. This bag of rice was saved by my father in the past three years. Take it to the capital well, our family depends on you!"

The next day, Zeng Yang took the small bag of white rice and went to the capital in the expectation of his parents.

On the way, life was naturally difficult, but Zengyang never dared to move the bag of white rice, just went up the mountain to pick up some firewood for a meal, and ate a full meal. After a hungry meal, he passed through one village after another.

On this day, Zeng Yang came to a small town with empty hands, so he had to go up the mountain to collect firewood. From dawn to the scorching sun, he finally picked up a load, changed five copper plates, and was about to buy a biscuit to satisfy his hunger. Unexpectedly, he reached out and touched it, and found that the bag containing rice had scratched a big hole at some point, and there was not much left of a bag full of rice!

Zeng Yang was shocked, wasn't this the sky and earth? How could that be good? Zeng Yang had no idea at once, and pitied him, a half-old child, so terrified that he squatted on the roadside and cried loudly, crying so much that he forgot to be hungry.

There was a date seller by the roadside. Seeing that Zeng Yang was crying pitifully, he came to ask. Zeng Yang wept and said that he had traveled thousands of miles to the capital, and told him that his most important token was gone.

The jujube seller was not surprised: "What token?"

Zeng Yang twitched and said, "A bag of rice."

The jujube seller was happy: "Haha, how difficult is this? I have money, you can go and buy another bag."

Zeng Yang wiped away his tears, raised his head and said, "No, my father said that even if there is no way out, you can't accept any alms from others."

The jujube seller was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but smile. He felt that it was rare for this child to have such a backbone, so he decided to help him. The jujube seller thought for a while and said, "Since you say so, I won't force it. Otherwise, if you buy me a green jujube, I will have a way not to give you alms, but to help you. What do you think?"

Zeng Yang looked at the man, then at the basket of green dates, and felt that the man in front of him did not look like a liar, but the green dates in the basket were really not very good, and they looked very healthy. It was estimated that he had not opened today.

Zeng Yang thought about it for a long time, but there was nothing he could do about it, and even if he was cheated, it was only a green jujube, so he bought one with suspicion, put it in his mouth, bit it, and spit it out immediately, wow, it was so sour! The jujube seller laughed "haha", picked up the jujube on the ground, and said, "Lend me this jujube pit for ten days.

In this way, Zeng Yang was doubtful and uneasy, and stayed in the small town for ten days. Fortunately, the jujube seller did not break the contract, met Zeng Yang as scheduled, and handed the jujube core to Zeng Yang. Zeng Yang looked at it and couldn't help but be shocked: the jujube core has been reborn, and in only three days, this unsightly jujube core has turned into a beautifully carved painting boat! Before the family fell, Zeng Yang had seen this kind of toy, this is a micro-carving!

The jujube seller said that he had already retired, and it could be considered that the two of them were destined, so this time he made an exception. He asked Zeng Yang to take the micro-sculpture to the West Street Cultural and Play Store, saying that it was given by a jujube seller surnamed Song in the east of the city, so that he could exchange it for a bag of white rice, maybe even the travel fee to Beijing.

When Zeng Yang heard this, he knelt in front of the jujube seller with a "plop" sound: "Master, please accept me as your disciple!"

The jujube seller said that he had been sealed for many years and refused to accept disciples, but he had been entangled for several days, begging bitterly and sincerely, and the jujube seller finally agreed.

After three months of hard training, the jujube seller said to Zeng Yang, "It is up to the master to get started, and the cultivation depends on each person." After leaving this sentence, the jujube seller closed his door and left. No matter how much Ren Zengyang asked, he did not want to teach anymore. So Zeng Yang paid farewell to his teacher and continued to go to Beijing while practicing. He stopped and stopped along the way, practiced his skills diligently, and passed through thousands of mountains and rivers, enduring ups and downs.

Finally, five years later, Zeng Yang was dusty and ragged, and when he arrived in the capital, he knelt down on the throne hall. He said he had an appointment with the Holy One, and now he is returning to the capital to face the Holy One.

The emperor thought for a long time, and finally remembered what had happened. He sneered and looked at Zeng Yang, who was like a beggar, and said, "I have a word, no begging, can there be a breach of contract?"

Zeng Yang knelt on the ground and said loudly, "Xiaomin has never received any charity."

"Also, what about the rice you promised me?"

Xiaomin has finally lived up to expectations of the Sage. Xiaomin's rice is not the best, but it is hard to find in the world."

The emperor became interested when he heard it: "Really? Show it to me."

The servant presented the tray, and there was only a single grain of rice in the huge tray. When the emperor saw it, he was furious: "You bastard, you dare to tease me!"

Zeng Yang was unhurried and said, "Your Majesty, please watch carefully." The emperor took a closer look, and it turned out that the grain of rice was an exquisite micro-sculpture: a light boat traveling with the wind, a fisherman sleeping on the boat, carving kung fu is amazing, the work is vivid and ingenious!

The emperor was overjoyed and couldn't help but sigh: "This is indeed a rare rice, one grain can be worth a thousand catties!"

From then on, Zeng became famous and opened a school to recruit apprentices, and the whole world was full of peaches and plums, becoming a generation of micro-carving masters. The descendants of the Zeng family all inherited their crafts, cultivated their bodies and raised their morals, and the family really flourished.