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

"Would you go out with Mom tomorrow to settle the accounts?" Jia Qingwu guessed she had nothing to do. Winter classes were off, and leaving the house was inconvenient. She stayed home all day, seemingly with little to do besides eating and drinking. Besides, in this weather, she didn't even feel like moving her hands, let alone playing the piano.

Having just been caught doing something wrong, Xia Chu didn't dare to disobey and nodded in agreement. She glanced at the green flowers and green buds on the ground and said, "It's just my greed, so mother will forgive them?"

"Okay." Jia Qingwu agreed, and Xia Chu went to wash his hands happily.

Cuihua and Cuiya didn't dare to move. Jia Qingwu walked to the main seat and sat down. "It seems that I have been too nice to you." Her voice was normal, but it made the two maids feel as if they were in an ice cellar.

"I know I was wrong!" Cuihua and Cuiya knelt on the ground, a layer of cold sweat on their backs.

"If it happens again, you know the consequences." Jia Qingwu didn't say anything else and turned back to the house to change clothes.

Cuihua and Cuiya then slowly got up and picked up the orange peels on the table. She picked up the remaining half basket of oranges and put a small plate with only five oranges on it.

The tea was replaced with Longjing tea given by Aunt Xu, which was specially found by Jia Qingwu and was very good at clearing heat.

They had indeed become increasingly lax in their behavior, seeing their cousin was so easygoing and kind to them. If this had happened to another master, they would have been spanked on the spot.

Xia Chu returned to find the basket gone, leaving only a plate. Furthermore, the oranges were less than half the size of a palm, so five wouldn't even be enough to fill a gap in her teeth. She looked at Cuihua and whispered, "Where are the oranges?"

Cuihua smiled and replied, "I've put it away. My cousin shouldn't eat so much anymore. The mistress found some good tea and it smells delicious right after it was brewed. She said it can clear heat. Would you like to try it, my cousin?"

"What kind of tea?" Xia Chu wasn't actually that greedy. It was easy to eat too many oranges.

"It's said to be West Lake Longjing tea, and the color is very beautiful when it is brewed." Cuihua poured her a cup, and the fragrance was overflowing.

Xia Chu didn't like tea, finding it bitter. She usually gave her honey water or scented or fruit tea. But this Longjing tea smelled like orchid, refreshing.

What a unique tea fragrance! The color is bright green, different from the tea she had drunk before, obviously not of the same grade.

She took a sip, a light bitterness spreading across her tongue, without any astringency. The bitterness was fleeting, and a mellow sweetness filled the air.

Huh? It's not hard to drink at all!

Xia Chu took another sip. The taste was smooth, completely unlike the tea he had drunk before. The bitterness lingered on the tip of his tongue for a long time, and then the sweetness and fragrance filled his mouth.

Is this the difference between good tea and bad tea? Xia Chu looked at the tea and felt that what she had drunk before might be... fake tea. She was also puzzled as to why anyone would like to drink such a thing. She must have been too ignorant. Real tea is delicious.

If I had known that tea tasted like this, I could have drunk it every day.

I don't know if it was because the tea's heat-clearing effect was too strong, or if there was something else going on, but within two days, Xia Chu's mouth ulcers had gone away, her throat was better, and the bright red pimple had faded, too.

On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, a pot of thick and sticky Laba porridge was cooked in the mansion. Not only the master, but also the servants could drink a bowl each for good luck.

Jia Qingwu was still busy checking the accounts, but Xia Chu was reluctant to go. Using an abacus was really boring. Besides, the account books looked so difficult to read; she couldn't quite make sense of them. "I have to write a song today and keep Ranran company, so I'm really busy. Mom, go check the account books yourself."

Jia Qingwu looked at her with amusement at her cheating appearance. Just as she was about to speak, Cuihua came from outside and announced, "Miss, the second lady is here."

After saying that, Jia Wanqing and Jia Wanlin walked in, both of them with joy on their faces, "Cousin, there is a temple fair today, let's go take a look."

Xia Chu raised his eyebrows and said, "Go!"

She agreed and then turned back to look at Jia Qingwu's expression. Jia Qingwu was not angry at all. She waved her hand and let her go, "Go ahead."

The three girls held hands, Jia Wanqing jumped up and down, and soon Xia Chu also jumped up and down. Jia Wanlin persisted for a while and then jumped up and down too.

Jia Qingwu couldn't help laughing and burst out laughing without even covering her mouth.

The three girls went out, even with servants and maids. Madam Jia asked Jia Junjie, the most idle of the family, to go with them, and when they arrived at the Jia family, they enjoyed the grand ceremony of a wealthy family's outing. Xia Chu finally realized how outrageous the old sayings of a young lady losing her handkerchief and being forced to marry a poor boy after someone found it were.

Not to mention anything else, in addition to the personal maid, wet nurse, and maid, he also brought a servant, a guard, and a coachman.

Let alone picking up the eldest lady's handkerchief, the others probably couldn't even touch the maid's handkerchief.

At first, Xia Chu was not used to the feeling of being surrounded by people inside and outside, but now she doesn't feel it anymore.

There were many people at the temple fair, but they had guards leading the way, servants behind them, and personal maids beside them. If they wanted to eat or play something, they just had to say it, and someone would naturally take care of it.

"Cousin, there's a circus over there. Let's go take a look." Jia Wanqing pulled Xia Chu and pointed at the flames rising into the sky in front of them.

"Let's go." Xia Chu agreed.

The maids hurriedly passed the message to the front, and the guards led the team to the circus, pushing through the crowd.

No matter when you watch it, it feels magical: breathing fire, a little girl spinning a plate with a stick, running through iron hoops, swallowing swords, breaking rocks with chests, stepping on burning coals...

Jia Wanqing clapped her hands in amazement. She'd mostly seen Xia Chu online before, but seeing it live was even more stunning. Jia Wanlin clutched his handkerchief tightly, his nerves tense the entire time.

When asking for a reward after the performance, Jia Wanqing threw a small piece of silver. The little girl was startled and knelt down and kowtowed.

"How come your plate doesn't fall? Can you teach me? Is there any trick?" Jia Wanqing stretched her head to ask, but was dragged away by Xia Chu.

"This is something people have been practicing since childhood. I don't know how long they have been practicing and how many times they have been beaten." Xia Chu explained to her.

"Just practice and you'll be good at it? How do you practice? I want to practice too, and show it to my grandparents after I'm done." Jia Wanqing didn't expect her cousin to understand this, so she grabbed her and asked.

"You'll get whipped for every plate you break. Practice for a few years and you'll be able to do it." Xia Chu glanced at her.

Jia Wanqing opened her mouth in shock, "Why do I have to be whipped again?"

"You can't learn without beatings." Xia Chu was actually just guessing; she hadn't practiced this before. But in opera and juggling troupes, children were either found or bought, and they started practicing from a young age. Beatings were common for those who didn't perform well. People are pushed to develop, and the higher the pressure, the more potential they can bring out. To the point where they can perform flawlessly in front of others, I'm afraid only the people involved know how many beatings they've received behind the scenes.

"How can you hit people?" Jia Wanqing said angrily.

Xia Chu smiled and said nothing.