This is a hitherto untold story of a young peasant named Hu, who tried to find the secret of getting rich. He lived by cultivating rice and worked in the paddy fields, nurturing his rice crops by hand. Following long drought periods, the yield of rice diminished drastically; he consequently decided to abandon his village forevermore. His decision to leave was strengthened through the legend about peasant Xīmēng (known also as Xī), who moved to the Emperor’s town of Luoyang, where he became fabulously rich.
