Gu Ci, a modern PhD in Chinese Language and Literature, travels through time to a poor farming family in Dafeng. The elders of the household have studied diligently for half their lives but have never succeeded in the imperial examinations, and the entire family survives on wild vegetables and tree bark. To feed his family, he uses his poetry and prose to help the wealthy student Xue Mingyang out of a difficult situation. While earning money to improve his family's living conditions, he keeps a low profile and quietly deepens his scholarly knowledge. He cares for the girls in his family, teaches them to read and write, and protects their dignity. After entering the academy, he conceals his talents and patiently builds his foundation, gradually revealing his true abilities through classical texts, poetry, painting, and couplets while resolving conflicts among his peers. With the ambition to use scholarship to benefit the world, he steadily advances toward the county-level imperial examination. Through his talent and virtue, he brings warmth to his family and wins the admiration of those around him. In an era that reveres literature, he relies on his own efforts to break through the barriers imposed on poor families and writes a story of a young man striving to rise.