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

Zhang Zhou slept until noon the next day, when he woke up hungry. The house was quiet and no one seemed to be home.

But Guan Xu and Qiu Yu both had to go to the academy today, Dad had to go to the government office, and Mom had to look after the shop, so it was normal that no one was around. He stretched, sat up, and suddenly smelled a fragrance that sounded like chicken soup.

Maybe it was stewed by his mother. Zhang Zhou smiled slightly when he thought of this, and quickly got up and went to the kitchen.

Xia Chu was squatting at the kitchen door, watching over the chicken soup on the small stove, and the aroma was coming from there.

"Xiaochu." Zhang Zhou called her.

Xia Chu turned around with a bright smile on her face, "You must be hungry, the chicken soup is ready."

Zhang Zhou smiled and nodded, "I woke up hungry."

"I'll serve it to you." Xia Chu took out a large bowl and said as she filled it, "This is what Mom made before she went out. I asked the doctor for help and he added ginseng, angelica, and astragalus to nourish you. Drink a couple of extra bowls. The hot water is in the pot, wash it and drink it."

"Okay, have you drunk it?" Zhang Zhou asked after scooping up some water.

"Let's have lunch later. Drink something first to fill your stomach. I'll make lunch soon. I'll put it on the table in the front hall for you. You can clean up and eat." Xia Chu held the edge of the bowl carefully. It was too full and a little hot.

Zhang Zhou frowned, wanting to take it but afraid of burning his sister, "Put it there and I'll take it."

"Oh, go wash up quickly." Xia Chu carefully escorted him to the front hall, her thumb burned red. She pinched her ear and returned to the kitchen, looking at the fish in the bucket with a bit of embarrassment. She didn't know how to kill fish, so why not skip lunch? They could all eat together when they got home tonight. Anyway, there was chicken soup for lunch, and later she'd stew some tofu with bamboo shoots and stir-fry some vegetables, which would be enough for her and her second brother.

She grabbed a handful of dried bamboo shoots and soaked them in hot water, then went to the vegetable garden to pick a handful of beans, washed and picked them, and cut the tofu into small pieces.

There is still some chicken soup left in the small stove. I will scoop some of it to stew tofu and bamboo shoots later. It will definitely be delicious.

After the dishes were prepared, she washed the rice and began to cook. Without electric rice cookers, rice had to be parboiled before being scooped out and steamed in a wooden barrel. If you wanted crusty rice, you could simmer it in a large pot.

After Zhang Zhou finished his chicken soup, his stomach finally calmed down. He felt warm all over, even a little sweaty, and it was a very comfortable feeling. He cleaned up the dishes and threw the bones to Da'an and Xiao'an. He went to the kitchen to see if there was anything he could do to help, but Xia Chu had almost finished the work. "I'll help you light the fire."

"You go take a rest, I can do it myself." Xia Chu stirred the rice in the pot. The water had turned white, and this was the rice soup. When they were young, Dong Xiaohuan would add a little sugar to the rice soup she served them.

Sweet rice soup tastes different from water. Although it tastes light, it has a bit of stickiness and rice aroma. They all like to drink it.

"Making fire isn't tiring." Zhang Zhou sat in front of the stove. "I missed the Mid-Autumn Festival this year. Is my brother back?"

"I'm back, and we all had dinner together tonight. My eldest brother didn't stay long, he just rested for the night and left." Because my second brother was taking exams this year, I didn't have a good Mid-Autumn Festival. I was supposed to go back to the village and have lunch with my grandfather. But Dong Xiaohuan was worried about Zhang Zhou, so she didn't even feel like going to the shop. She told Dong Xiaomao to bring the holiday gifts back and stayed home, not going anywhere, for fear that something might happen to Zhang Zhou while she was away.

Zhang Zhou thought about it, and felt a surge of guilt, but also a warm feeling. He was extremely confident that he could make the list this time, but he hadn't decided whether to continue taking the exam.

The rice was cooked. Xia Chu followed her mother's lead and added two bowls of rice soup with sugar, one for each of her and Zhang Zhou. She'd heard rice soup was incredibly nourishing and good for the body. She took a few sips and sighed, "I'll never tire of sweet rice soup."

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "When I was a child, my mother would always give each of us a bowl of rice when she cooked."

"I remember we all drank it when we were little, but mother was worried about Qiuyu's small stomach and didn't give him any food after he drank the rice soup. He cried so sadly and said that he was picked up and his mother didn't love him, so she secretly gave us the sugar water to drink." Xia Chu thought of the little guy Wang Qiuyu, crying with a wrinkled face. He looked so aggrieved, pitiful and funny.

"Mom could only give him a small cup, and he'd be fine after drinking it." Zhang Zhou still remembers being so nervous at the time, he quickly said he'd give his own to his younger brother. After all, they were adopted children, and Qiuyu was the only biological child. But because Dong Xiaohuan treated them well, Wang Qiuyu often felt like he was adopted as a child. With no one at home to explain things to him, he would always angrily complain that his mother only loved his older siblings. Fortunately, his older siblings loved him, otherwise he would have run away from home.

Thinking of this, Zhang Zhou felt a little amused and helpless, and was grateful for his parents' kindness to them.

Dong Xiaohuan came back and overheard it, and added, "Are you talking about drinking rice soup? That greedy boy was always making jokes when he was little."

"Mom." Zhang Zhou stood up and took the basket from Dong Xiaohuan.

"Mom is back. Would you like some rice soup?" Xia Chu asked, but she had already added rice soup and sugar to it and handed it over.

"Sweet." Dong Xiaohuan took a sip with a smile, "How's Xiaozhou?"

"I'm fine. I'll feel better after a good night's sleep." Zhang Zhou brought a stool and asked Dong Xiaohuan to sit on it.

"You've lost so much weight in just a few days. You need to eat some more." Dong Xiaohuan, enjoying her children's filial piety, sat down and continued, "Can I have the chicken soup?"

"I ate a big bowl." Zhang Zhou looked at his mother and found that she had also lost weight. He suddenly felt guilty and distressed. "Why are you losing weight too, Mom? I'll get you a bowl of chicken soup."

"You guys eat it, I just didn't sleep well, why do I need to drink this?" Dong Xiaohuan quickly refused. The herbs were not cheap. Although the family had enough food and clothing, she still couldn't bear to eat it herself.

"Mom, eat one bowl. There's still plenty." Xia Chu directly took the bowl and stuffed it into Dong Xiaohuan's hand. "Mom, you need to have a good rest these few days."

Dong Xiaohuan couldn't refuse, but she felt relieved. "Then I'll have a bowl too. Oh, Qiu Yu is still young and can't eat such a tonic. Put it away at night and don't let him see it."

Xia Chu chuckled, "I must hide it well, otherwise he will think he found it and won't let him eat the good things."

Dong Xiaohuan laughed out loud when she heard this, and Zhang Zhou couldn't help laughing too.

At noon, the three of them had lunch together. Dong Xiaohuan had come back to check on her son. Seeing that he was in good spirits, she felt relieved. She also bought some spare ribs. Zhang Zhou liked sweet and sour spare ribs, so she cooked them for him that evening.

After dinner, Dong Xiaohuan went to sleep for a while. She was relieved that her son was fine, and she felt tired again.

A few days after the exam, Dong Xiaohuan bought Zhang Zhou his favorite food every day to nourish him, vowing to regain the weight his son had lost.

No one at home asked about Zhang Zhou's exam; they were all concerned about his health. The Autumn Examination only took place once every three years. If he didn't succeed this time, he could try again next time, but his health couldn't fail. Few people passed the exam on their first try, and if he didn't, no one would say anything.