Chinese short story: The sad (happy) story of Li Yan

In the rural province where Li Yan was born, the villagers called her parents foolish. In some areas of China, it is legal to have a second child if the first-born is a girl, but not where Li came from. Additionally, many people bribed their doctors to reveal the sex of the child, yet Li's parents did not. It was said that Li was raised like a 'Little Empress' by her family: while other families demanded that their children work hard in the fields, her family instead stressed that she needed to study in school. However, Li's parents were still very strict and made sure their daughter applied herself. Time and time again, they reminded her that no matter how difficult it was for her to achieve success in school, she was not working as hard as they were working...
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