The road to wealth of a peasant widow

Inside the museum, outside a special exhibition hall for cultural relics, two teenagers had just come out after viewing the exhibition.

"You know, the cultural relics we just saw were all collected by the Liu family abroad. They used various methods to purchase them, then transported them back to China and donated them to relevant national departments. This is how this exhibition came about."

A boy of about fourteen or fifteen who came to see the exhibition said to his companion.

"There are so many precious cultural relics. It must cost a lot of money to buy them. This is really a big deal!"

His companion was a girl about his age, and she couldn't help but marvel at what he said.

"That's nothing. The Liu family has been around for nearly a thousand years. It's no exaggeration to say that they are an aristocratic family. The family business is huge and involves every aspect of life. Many of the big brands we are familiar with are owned by their group. I heard that many of the cutting-edge technologies currently on the market have the shadow of the Liu family behind them."

"It's so amazing. I've never heard of it before." The young girl sighed.

"Although the Liu family has been passed down for a long time, they have always kept a low profile. They only have control over many of their businesses, but they don't use the Liu name. A while ago, my dad and his colleagues at the newspaper wanted to interview a member of the Liu family, so they looked up relevant information and found out that this family is so awesome!"

"Tell me quickly, what did you find out?" the girl couldn't help but ask curiously.

"The Liu family is not only economically powerful, but also has many talented people. According to statistics, during the feudal dynasty, the Liu family produced a total of 42 Jinshi, many of whom became high-ranking officials and powerful figures at the time. There were four prime ministers alone. In modern times, many scientists and well-known scholars have emerged. For example, Ms. Liu Heyun, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics a while ago, is from the Liu family."

"Wow, that's amazing!"

The girl opened her mouth in surprise.

The boy said more excitedly: "Don't you want to apply to Yucai Women's University in the future?"

The young girl became excited: "Yes, this is my first choice. I want to apply for its medical school. Even though it is difficult, I must get in!"

Although Yucai Women's University only enrolls female students, it is a leading comprehensive university in China with good development in all disciplines, especially its medical and financial majors, which are very advantageous.

"This Yucai Women's University has a history of nearly a thousand years. Its predecessor was the Yucai Women's School. The founder, Ms. Chen Cui, was the ancestor of the Liu family. During the feudal Zhou Dynasty, a women's school was established, which was a pioneering work at the time!"

"Ah, I only know that it has a long history and that its founder is Ms. Chen Cui, but I didn't know she was from the Liu family. Isn't her last name Chen?"

The girl said a little confused.

"This Ms. Chen Cui is the mother of the three founders of the Liu family. It can be said that Ms. Chen Cui has made an indelible contribution to the rise of this family and its inheritance to this day. The Liu family was originally just an ordinary farming household. After her husband passed away, Ms. Chen Cui started a business to earn money to send her three sons to school. Later, Liu Changping, Liu Changfu, and Liu Changan successively passed the imperial examinations and became officials, changing the fate of the family. The most amazing thing is that Ms. Chen Cui was originally an illiterate peasant woman. She asked her sons to be her teachers and began to learn to read and write. She actually reached the level of being able to read and write. Moreover, according to the information handed down, Ms. Chen Cui's handwriting is actually quite good. This is a very incredible thing for an ancient woman in her thirties. So later some people said that her learning process was the reason why she later founded the Yucai Girls' School."

"It's amazing! An illiterate farm woman learned to read and write through her own efforts. She also founded a girls' school, allowing more girls to receive education and changing the status of women. It's amazing!"

The young girl exclaimed, she felt that she had received too much information today and she wanted to go back and digest it.

"Yes, Yucai Girls' School has been around for thousands of years. It has gone through several wars and changes of dynasties. It has moved its location five times, but it was rebuilt every time the situation improved. It has remained standing forever. This is simply a miracle."

Over the past thousand years, countless women have received basic education in this school, and then entered society and started families, influencing generation after generation.

"This may have something to do with the economic and political strength of the Liu family. Otherwise, how could a girls' school that was not in line with the mainstream at the time remain safe and sound during the chaotic period of the feudal dynasty?"

"That's right. The Liu family started to rise from the three founders. Their wives were also from the powerful and aristocratic classes at the time, but each had her own style and were well-known pioneering women at the time. This was very important for the education of their children and the inheritance of future generations. As the saying goes, marrying an unvirtuous wife will ruin three generations. Choosing a good wife is also very important for future generations. If it weren't for Ms. Chen Cui's enlightenment and wisdom, there would be no Liu family. These three wives also shined in various fields and influenced dozens of generations of the Liu family."

"It seems that their power started from their ancestors. The reason why we ordinary people are ordinary is because our ancestors were too ordinary." The girl said angrily.

"Stop talking like that. The living environment in ancient times was so harsh. If our ancestors were ordinary, their bloodline would have been cut off long ago and drowned in the long river of history. How could they have passed on their genes to the modern era and given rise to our generation?"

The boy laughed.

The girl looked thoughtful. "That's true. Every ordinary person like us is born with the help of our ancestors. I'm going to ask my dad about the history of our Wei family and whether there are any great figures in our ancestors that I don't know about!"

"Hey, your last name is Chen. Do you think there were any important figures among your ancestors? Have you asked your father?" the girl asked with interest.

"I want to, too. I asked my dad a long time ago, but he said that our ancestors were just kiln builders and charcoal sellers, and there wasn't any outstanding person!" said the boy somewhat disappointedly.

"Forget it, forget it. Didn't I just say that for ordinary people like us, being able to live in the present is already a feat of our ancestors. Don't think too much about it. At worst, we can start our own business and let our descendants be proud of us!"

The girl comforted him.

"Well, I will work hard to make our descendants proud of us in the future!"

The boy emphasized the word "we" and looked at the girl with a smile.

The girl finally reacted and couldn't help but scolded, "Go to hell, how dare you take advantage of me? Who said you are 'us'?"

As she said that, she stretched out her hand and pounced on him. The boy kept dodging and the two of them laughed and made a scene.

End of the book