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

The dealer was anxious. "Miss! Most donkeys have bad tempers. Don't you want to think about it?"

Xia Chu walked straight to the donkey shed and said, "Let me take a look first. If they are good, I will buy two."

She wasn't much of a livestock expert, though. They said she had to check the teeth and all. But when it came to pinching a donkey's mouth, she felt a bit hesitant. So she looked at the dealer and said, "Please pick two for me. If things don't work out, I'll come back to you." This was her usual tactic, and it often worked. Credibility and reputation were crucial at this time, and a shop's reputation depended on word of mouth. If it tarnished its reputation, it was close to bankruptcy.

As the saying goes, good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels a thousand miles. Traveling far is difficult these days, so most people shop nearby. If a store rips you off in the morning, the news will spread by the afternoon.

There was a new living creature in the house. Da'an and Xiao'an went forward to sniff it, and scared the two donkeys so much that they stretched their necks and kept braying "Kung-ang-kung-ang".

Seeing how excited they were, Da'an ran away from them. But Xiao'an started barking excitedly, and the whole house suddenly became noisy, making Xiachu's eardrums almost explode.

"Xiao An!" Xia Chu grabbed Xiao An's ears and dragged it forward, pinching its mouth with one hand, "Shut up! You're making me die!"

Xiao An rolled his eyes at Xia Chu without struggling.

Xia Chu let go of its ear and poked its forehead, "I'm going to let go, be quiet, do you hear me?" After that, he let go of Xiao An's mouth. Xiao An shook his head, pounced on him with a howl, and licked Xia Chu's face with saliva.

Xia Chu was extremely disgusted, but could not suppress Xiao An's excitement. She could only cry for help: "Da An!"

Daan rushed over, knocked the stupid brother away, and slapped Xiaoan on the head with his paw several times before it calmed down. Daan squatted majestically in front of Xiaoan, barking non-stop, as if he was scolding his brother.

Xiao An lay on the ground, yelling from time to time.

Cuihua couldn't help laughing when she saw this. She wiped Xia Chu's face with a handkerchief and said, "Da'an and Xiao'an are just like human beings."

"Da'an needs to take care of it." Xia Chu couldn't stand the smell of Xiao'an's stinky saliva and went to wash her face. "I haven't taken them out to play for a long time. Da'an is fine, but Xiao'an might be holding it in. I'll take them out for a run when I go to my grandparents' house in a few days." As she said this, she thought of the donkey she had just bought, and her eyes lit up. "Let's go ride the donkey!"

"No, miss, I, I'm a little scared. Can't I go on foot?" Cuihua had never ridden any animal before, and she was panicked at the thought of it.

"I'll teach you!" Xia Chu had thought it through. She'd already tried to see if someone could hang a carrot in front of the donkey on a stick. Besides, compared to a horse, a donkey wasn't very tall, so it wouldn't be that hard for Cuihua to climb up.

The new resident whetted the appetites of the whole family. Wang Yong walked around the donkey a few times with his hands behind his back. "It's a good choice. It looks strong."

"Why did you suddenly buy a donkey?" Dong Xiaohuan asked with a smile.

"It's for transportation. I plan to ride it to my grandparents' house tomorrow and take An and Da An for a walk." Xia Chu happily patted the donkey's head. "This one is called Huihui, and the other one is called Heihei." She looked at Wang Yong and said, "Dad, I'll buy one for you and Mom. Our whole family will go out riding donkeys. It will be so majestic."

Dong Xiaohuan was at a loss for words. "The shop is so close, why would I need a donkey? I don't even know how to ride one."

Wang Yong actually thought about it for a moment, "I heard donkeys are stubborn and difficult to ride."

When Wang Qiuyu heard this, she immediately dropped the fodder in her mouth and stopped feeding the donkey. "Sister! I want one too! I'll ride it to the academy! Let me show off my power!"

"I don't want it anymore." Guan Xu was a little disgusted. The donkey looked gray and not very good-looking.

"You don't want it." Dong Xiaohuan pressed her youngest son's forehead and pushed him away. "Even your third brother didn't want it."

"Then I'll try it tomorrow. I'll go back and forth to my grandparents' house. If this donkey works well, I'll buy two more." Xia Chu ignored Wang Qiuyu. He was young and playful, and donkeys weren't easy to tame. If he got distracted or bumped into something, that would be a minor issue. But if he bumped into someone or hurt himself, that would be a serious problem.

"I don't want it. If you really want to buy one, buy one for your father." Dong Xiaohuan refused. "With so many animals suddenly appearing, I wonder if this donkey will be noisy. Will it bray in the middle of the night?"

"That shouldn't be the case. Doesn't it have to sleep at night?" Xia Chu said.

"Sister, sister, sister..." Wang Qiuyu broke away from Dong Xiaohuan and moved closer to Xia Chu, acting coquettishly. "Please buy me one too, dear sister. Please, I really want one."

Xia Chu was a little softened by his pestering and was about to give in. But Guan Xu, in order to avoid riding the donkey himself, grabbed his brother and took him away.

If Qiu Yu rode a donkey, Xia Chu would definitely not be able to bear to see him walk, so she would definitely buy him one. Guan Xu thought donkeys were too ugly and their brays were unpleasant, so he really didn't want to ride one.

"Um, um..." Wang Qiuyu was dragged away by his third brother with his mouth covered. He was extremely anxious but unable to resist.

During dinner, Wang Qiuyu poked at his bowl and didn't eat properly, his eyes kept wandering between Xia Chu and his parents.

How can I get my sister or dad to buy me a donkey? If I could ride a donkey to the academy, my friends would definitely envy me! There are people in my class who ride horses, but horses are too expensive. He didn't know he could ride a donkey before. My sister is almost willing to give in. I'll go and ask my third brother for money later when he's not paying attention. Maybe in a few days I can ride his donkey! Wang Qiuyu thought happily.

Because Cuihua strongly refused, Xiachu finally gave up teaching her to ride a donkey. But she couldn't let Cuihua run after the donkey, so she rode the donkey herself and set off with An and Xiao An.

She dangled a carrot in front of Huihui's eyes, and Huihui, sure enough, began to trot. Changing direction was easy; she simply moved the carrot. She happily strolled out of the house, holding An and Da An's leashes in one hand and the carrot in the other.

Ordinary people have never seen a woman riding a donkey, let alone such a beautiful girl. She received countless surprised glances along the way. When they reached the outskirts of the city, there were not so many people around, so Xia Chu let go of the dog leash and told Da'an: "Follow closely and watch over your brother."

Da An was fine, but Xiao An had already run away the moment he let go. Xia Chu wasn't too worried, though. Xiao An was naughty, but he wouldn't get lost, and Da An was right behind him.

Although the donkey was a little shaky and not as fast as a horse, it was still fun. She happily patted Huihui's neck and said, "Be good. I'll give you carrots when we get there."

Huihui didn't know whether he understood or not, so he raised his head and called out a few times.

Xiao An ran around like crazy, but was chased back by Da An. The two dogs circled her and then ran away again.

She walked along the official road, with farmland on either side. The seedlings swayed gently in the breeze, like waves rippling across a green ocean. Each seedling brimmed with life, its leaves gleaming emerald green in the sunlight—the color of life, the most beautiful painting gifted by nature.