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

To save time, Xia Chu had the craftsmen buy the materials and just bill her when the time came. Materials needed to be ordered in advance, and they needed a significant amount, so it was impossible to bring them all back on the first trip. They had to demolish the house first, then dig the foundation. The bricks and tiles could be delivered in batches, perfect timing.

When Zhang Zhou's first letter arrived, Xia Chu had just returned from the construction site. Dong Xiaohuan came forward with the letter in her hand, "Xiaochu, your second brother has sent a letter. Take a look and see what it says."

Xia Chu ignored his dusty face and opened the letter, reading it quickly. It wasn't long, just a few words about the scenery along the way and the destination, expressing how well he was doing. Finally, he explained that he would continue delivering letters when he reached the next post station, so his family could rest assured.

"This letter is so slow." Dong Xiaohuan complained and put the letter away. When she looked up, she found her daughter's head was full of dust. "Oh, what have you been doing? Your hair is full of dust. Have you been rolling in the dirt?"

Dong Xiaohuan couldn't help laughing as she spoke, "I'll boil some water for you. Hurry up and wash yourself. You look so dirty."

"I went to see the new house, and there was a lot of dust from the demolition." Xia Chu didn't dare to pat his hair, for fear of getting dirt in his mouth.

After she cleaned up and came out, Cuihua took her dirty clothes to wash. Dong Xiaohuan stood at the door, "You and Cuihua went alone? How about I keep an eye on you next time, and you go to the shop to watch over it. At least it won't be so dirty."

"No need, mother. I'm not getting old. I was just curious today, so I went to take a look." Xia Chu's hands were sore from wiping her hair, so Dong Xiaohuan took over and continued wiping her hair. "You can't be lazy. Even though the weather is warm, it's not good to have wet hair."

"Thank you for your hard work, mother." Xia Chu giggled.

Busy times always pass quickly. It was already the end of winter when I received the news that Zhang Zhou had found the academy and settled down.

Dong Xiaohuan felt relieved. Xia Chu's Qianjin Club was already mostly built, and money was being spent like water.

The design of the membership card had been finalized, and it would be made of wood. The front was engraved with clusters of wisteria flowers surrounding a silhouetted figure, depicting Xia Chu. The back read: Hidden Song Garden.

The name Qianjin Club was just a casual mention at the time, and ultimately didn't make it to the finals. Li Yun said the word "club" sounded strange and didn't quite fit.

The wisteria was also chosen after their discussion. It's easy to grow and blooms beautifully. Xia Chu thought of a poem, "Wisteria Tree," by Li Bai: "Wisteria hangs from the cloud-like trees, its blossoming vines gracing the spring sun. Dense leaves conceal singing birds, fragrant breezes linger among beauties."

Finally, I took two words from this poem and used them as the name of the house.

Although Li Yun and the other two declined to participate in the investment, they continued to help Xia Chu and Mo Qingmei with their plans. They wrote out numerous plans, including what flowers to plant in the garden, what games and entertainment to prepare, the furnishings in the rooms, and the appearance of the furniture. Lin Lang drew a large number of blueprints according to Xia Chu's requirements.

The membership cards and furniture drawings had already been delivered to the carpenter at the beginning of summer. This was a big job, and a considerable deposit had been paid.

Zhang Zhou sent several more letters. Unlike others who only reported good news and not bad news, he also wrote about some of the troubles he had encountered. However, they were all minor matters that were quickly resolved. In short, he was living a good life.

Xia Chu read the letter and thought that scholars have a good mind. If they just kept saying "good things," Dong Xiaohuan would actually worry. Even with these minor annoyances, Dong Xiaohuan felt more at ease. After all, the place they were going was far and unfamiliar, so if everything went smoothly, it would seem a bit fake.

On the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Yin Ge Garden was officially completed. Xia Chu paid the craftsmen more money and had them pick up all the waste materials from the house and take them away. Jia Qingwu and all the servants in the house cleaned the entire house inside and out.

At the beginning of summer, he began to fill the house with things and also prepared to hire people to work.

Jia Qingwu knew that she wanted to buy someone, so she asked Aunt Xu to go with her.

Yin Ge Garden is divided into two parts, the front and back of which are divided into five luxuriously decorated VIP courtyards. They are separated by landscaping to prevent shouting from being heard by the next courtyard. There is also a storytelling hall where those who want to listen to stories and enjoy the hustle and bustle can have tea.

There are fifteen small courtyards in front of the house. The craftsmen designed them with good drawings. Although there are many courtyards, they are well arranged and do not appear crowded.

Xia Chu's biggest headache was naming the courtyards. She had originally wanted to pick nice-sounding flower names and use them directly. But Li Yun asked her that if she named them after flowers, she'd better plant them in the courtyards. Otherwise, when guests asked about them, she couldn't just say she picked them randomly, right?

So Xia Chu gave up on naming the flowers and turned to Li Yun for help. This job was too easy for Li Yun. She picked up a pen and quickly named each courtyard.

The furniture was mostly installed, but furniture alone was still not enough. Xiachu bought a lot of fabric and asked the girls to make curtains to decorate the room.

It was New Year's Eve in the blink of an eye. Xia Chu was still unaware and was about to go to Yin Ge Garden. She was stopped by Dong Xiaohuan and only then realized that it was already that late. However, she went out anyway.

The girls bought into Yin Ge Garden were all young maids, all of them from troubled backgrounds. Some had fallen on hard times and had no one to rely on, while others had been sold off because their families couldn't pay off their debts. The youngest was only eleven, the oldest no older than eighteen. But the garden couldn't be filled with only young people; there were also two middle-aged women. One, Qiu Niang, originally belonged to an official who fell into trouble and had all his servants sold off. The other, Hong Niang, was sold off because her family fell into poverty.

These two people not only know some words, but are also familiar with some taboos and etiquette.

Nanny Xu specially picked them out and asked Xia Chu to promote them to managers and let them teach and train the maids.

Qiu Niang was a little surprised to see Xia Chu come over today. After all, it was New Year's Eve and everyone would be at home with their family. But Xia Chu had completely forgotten about it and was only reminded by Dong Xiaohuan before leaving.

"Qiuniang, take this money and buy things for the New Year. I've been so busy these past few days that I almost forgot about the New Year." Xia Chu gave her ten taels of silver. "You must eat well during the New Year. I won't be here for a few days. I'll leave the others to you and Hongniang."

The heavy silver fell into Qiu Niang's palm. Even though she knew Xia Chu was easy to talk to, she didn't expect that she would give so much. Their clothes had been ordered and sent long ago. A string of wisteria flowers was embroidered on the chest, and under the flowers were the three words "Yin Ge Garden". So there was no shortage of clothes. Although there were more than 30 people in the garden, they couldn't afford so much money for food. She hesitated and said, "Miss, it's too much. I can't spend so much."

"Take it. Don't be stingy during the New Year. We'll all be eating meat together, plus the cost of vegetables these days. Everything is expensive during the New Year. If you don't have enough, come back to me." Xia Chu hurriedly gave a few instructions and went back. She had been running to Yin Ge Garden as soon as she opened her eyes recently. She had forgotten to ask her father and eldest brother if they would be on duty this year and if they would be free to come back for the New Year.