Chapter 508: You Can Test Him
"As to your claim that they wouldn’t have had the chance to study, that was wrong. All of them made a way to study so they could pass the exam," Arabella began.
"How would they have done it?" Narcissa was stubborn.
"Ivan’s family was once so poor that they could not afford to buy books. But since childhood, he went to read books every chance he got in a public library in their territory made by Count Cordelia.
"After Ivan read every book in the library, the Count then allowed him to read his personal collection of books. The Count even wanted to adopt him after seeing his potential.
"But Ivan refused and continued learning by reading and trying to apply what he learned. He even taught the people around him how to read and write. He also shared things he had read that he found would be beneficial to his family and their neighborhood.
"That was how Ivan kept improving through time and helped his family improve their quality of life.
"He made a lot of discoveries, inventions, and strategies that helped his family’s farms be successful. As the years went by, he kept learning and experimenting, and together with the Count and their people’s cooperation, they made Cordelia’s agriculture prosper.
"They also have a much better quality of life now than they had before. Ivan and his family are no longer poor. His family is the second most affluent in Cordelia most especially in terms of land. They rivaled Count Cordelia’s properties.
"Ivan was simply humble and still always referred to himself as someone poor. But it was because of the state of his earning situation here in the past when he only earned a small amount compared to the work he did. And even though he was the one who helped his family earn a fortune, he does not rely on his family’s money but only on what he earns here in here Riva."