How can someone travel through time and space and become a beggar?

Night fell, and silver moonlight shone across the courtyard. Xia Tian and his brothers moved tables and chairs and set them up beneath the osmanthus tree. Xia Chu cut a few sprigs of osmanthus, placed them in a vase, and set them on the table. Zhang Zhou then lit a jade rabbit lantern he had made and gently hung it from the tree.

Dong Xiaohuan placed mooncakes of different flavors on plates, and prepared two pots of osmanthus rice wine and two bunches of grapes. The family sat under the osmanthus tree, talking and laughing.

Looking at her children, now old enough to start their own families, Dong Xiaohuan was filled with emotion. "They were only this young back then." She compared them, especially Zhang Zhou, who was so young, yet he didn't want to live. Just for a few hundred coins for medical expenses, and not wanting to burden his brothers, he chose to jump into the river. "When they first arrived, they were all as thin as bamboo poles. At that time, I thought, if these were my children, how heartbroken I would be, and now they are my children."

"And they are all taken care of so well." Xia Chu continued.

The fact that they were adopted children wasn't something their family kept secret, and Wang Qiuyu didn't hide it. He'd known this from a young age, but he didn't hold it against his older siblings. He was spoiled by his older siblings, and no matter what mistakes he made as a child, they were always there to protect him. He wanted something, and even if his parents didn't satisfy him, his older siblings would do whatever they could to get him what he wanted.

He loved to eat lotus seed candy. His sister didn't really like it, but she always carried a small bag of it with her. She would comfort him when he was upset, and his brothers would take him out to play whenever they had time, so he was never bullied.

In order to take care of him, the third brother would come to see him after class every day.

He often heard other classmates talk about how bad their brothers were, how evil they were, and how scheming they were. He never understood why this was so, as he was happy every day, without any worries.

For example, at this moment, his favorite egg yolk mooncakes are the largest dish. If he can't finish them today, he can eat more tomorrow.

"I'll toast to Mom and Dad," Xia Tian said, raising his glass and standing up. "If it weren't for Mom and Dad, I don't know where I'd be now." The memory of begging, the abuse and beatings he endured, seemed so distant and vague that it seemed like a lifetime ago. His sister said that the human brain, in order to protect itself, tends to forget negative experiences, and he deeply agreed.

"I'd like to offer a toast to my parents as well." Zhang Zhou also stood up.

"Hey, sit down quickly, don't make me cry. We are family, why are you doing this?" Dong Xiaohuan's nose felt sore and she waved her hand to ask them to sit down.

"Mom, don't cry, or Dad will beat you up." Xia Tian joked, drank a full glass, and then sat down. Zhang Zhou did the same.

Guan Xu was holding half a mooncake in his mouth and hadn't reacted yet.

"If big brother and second brother want to drink, just say so. At the beginning, each of them secretly drinks a glass." Xia Chu joked.

Dong Xiaohuan chuckled and drank the wine in the glass.

Wang Yong patted his wife on the back and drank the wine in one gulp. However, he didn't like the sweet wine; it was bland.

Wang Qiuyu had already finished a mooncake and secretly licked a sip of rice wine. It was sweet, similar to the sweet osmanthus honey water that his sister had made. This was the first time he was allowed to drink, but only half a cup.

Xia Chuxiao listened to Dong Xiaohuan recounting their childhood stories, mainly Wang Qiuyu's. Influenced by their experiences, they were different from other children and were always a little cautious in their actions.

For example, when Wang Qiuyu was a child, he wet his bed and insisted that Xiao An had peed in his bed. He never considered that, at his young age, he only wet a small area. If it had been Xiao An, half the bed would have been soaked.

Wang Qiuyu turned a deaf ear to him. He had talked about these things so many times that he was tired of hearing them. But his mother loved to talk about them, and he had become numb to them.

Xia Chu raised her glass to the moonlight, and a melody suddenly appeared in her mind. She closed her eyes and hummed it over and over in her mind to deepen her memory, then ran back to her room and wrote it down on a piece of paper.

"I'll sing a song to liven things up." Xia Chu came out, holding her pipa, thinking of Su Shi's "Water Melody." This poem also existed in this world, though it wasn't as famous as it is today. She used to love Faye Wong's "When Will the Moon Rise?", and singing it now seemed fitting.

"I'm all ears." Zhang Zhou smiled.

"I'm so happy to have another treat! I love listening to Xiaochu sing." Dong Xiaohuan never hesitates to praise her children. In her eyes, everything her children do is the best. Look at this pipa. It's only been less than six months since I bought it, and it plays so beautifully.

"When will the bright moon appear? I raise my cup to ask the sky.

I don’t know what the palace is, but what year is it.

I want to ride the wind and go back, but I am afraid of the jade buildings and jade palaces.

It's so cold up there, I dance with my shadow.

How is it like being in the human world...?

After the song ended, everyone seemed to be still immersed in it. Dong Xiaohuan softly praised it a few times, "It's just that this song is not very cheerful, it seems to have a lonely flavor."

"If Xiaochu gave this song to Master Le, I'm afraid he would insist on making you his close friend." Zhang Zhou chuckled.

"I didn't write this tune. I forgot where I heard it, but I just thought it sounded nice, so I wrote it down." Xia Chu smiled. She preferred the upbeat pastoral tunes. "Brother should be able to recognize my style the moment he hears it."

"I prefer the songs written by Xiaochu himself." Xia Tian took a sip of wine and thought of his sister who had been missing for many years. He wondered if she was also looking at this moon tonight.

"Then I'll sing my own song." Xia Chu snapped his fingers together. Who doesn't want their music to be liked by others?

The Wang family watched the moon until midnight. Wang Qiuyu dozed off in a daze and almost fell off the stool. Wang Yong, who was next to him, held his head with one hand.

Dong Xiaohuan saw this and hurriedly said, "Qiu Yu is sleepy. You should go to sleep quickly. Those who are going to the academy, the government office, and the military camp tomorrow are all busy."

"I'll carry Qiuyu back." Xia Tian picked up his younger brother and carried him back to his room. He wiped his hands and face and covered him with a blanket. Wang Qiuyu didn't react at all and was almost snoring.

Xia Chu had just finished washing up and was lying in bed when she heard a gentle knock on the window. She thought she had misheard, so she looked over and saw a tall figure outside the window.

big brother?

She got up and opened the window, only to see an unexpected person. "Zhao Huazhang? You...you..."

Xia Chu looked around. The lights in the other rooms were off; everyone was obviously asleep. So how did Zhao Huazhang get in? Climb over the wall? What was he doing in the middle of the night?!

"I was so abrupt." Zhao Huazhang's face flushed red. He didn't know why he ran over on impulse. He stuffed the warm thing in his arms into Xia Chu's hands and jumped onto the roof.

What am I doing? Like a thief, picking through a girl's window in the middle of the night! But he still couldn't control himself and came.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival family dinner, he fished out a jade rabbit pendant. He'd bought it the year he'd successfully suppressed the bandits; the moment he saw it, he'd thought of the delicate, jade-like girl. But he'd never found a reason to give it away. He clutched the pendant, tossing and turning well into the night.

He also recalled that day on the mountain when Lady Wang was controlled by others but she refused to yield at all. She cursed and rolled down the hillside resolutely and stubbornly.

I remembered the moment she saw me, the fragility and helplessness that flashed through her. Though she was battered and battered, it still made my heart ache. Then, her eyes suddenly lit up, filled with sunshine, with joy and anticipation, as if she saw hope in a desperate situation. Who could resist a look like that, right?

He couldn't help wanting to see her, but when he saw her he felt timid.