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

The weather was getting hotter and hotter, and Xia Chu was becoming increasingly lazy and unwilling to move. She would break into a sweat if she moved. She was too lazy to even go to Yin Ge Garden, and stayed at home every day. Whenever she didn't leave her room, she wore short sleeves. Cuihua fanned her, but the wind was still hot.

Even worse off than her were Da'an and Xiao'an. Even though they'd shed their fur for the summer, they were still hot. When the sun wasn't so strong, they'd swim in the small pond to cool down. By midday, the water in the pond was already heated.

Cicadas kept chirping in the trees: It’s hot, hot, hot... The noise made people even more upset.

"It's so hot. It seems to be especially hot this year." Xia Chu lay on the couch with a thin layer of sweat on his back.

"It's the coldest time of the year. It will be fine in a few days." Cuihua comforted her, fanning herself even harder.

"Stop fanning, don't your hands feel sore?" Xia Chu looked at her face which was also covered in sweat. She was also a teenager, and it made her heart distressed. "Take a break. Cui Ya is still cleaning. Let her take a break too. It's so hot."

Cuihua put down her fan and wrung out a wet towel. "Miss, please wipe it. I'll go tell Cuiya to rest for a while."

"Yeah." Xia Chu wiped his face and neck and felt a little more comfortable.

After a while, Cuihua came back, but did not come in. "Miss, Mr. Zhao is here."

"Oh," Xia Chu was about to ask him to come in, but then she realized it was her own room and it would be inconvenient. She was wearing too cool a coat, so she needed to change into something else. "I'll be right out."

Zhao Huazhang brought two buckets of ice and some drinks for Xia Chulai. After drinking a bowl of iced drinks, the temperature of his whole body dropped.

Xia Chu sighed, "It's cooler."

"You don't have an ice cellar at home, so I'll have Qingsong send you two buckets of ice every day." Zhao Huazhang felt very distressed when he saw her hair was wet. "I have a summer resort in the mountains, why don't you take your friends there to stay for a few days?"

"Ah? Is it cooler than here?" Xia Chu seemed to be stunned by the heat and turned his head slowly.

Zhao Huazhang nodded. "The temperature in the mountains is lower, and there are ice cellars there, so it's convenient to use ice."

"Okay, come back after the coldest days of winter. I feel like I'm going to get heatstroke every day." Xia Chu said dejectedly.

"When are you going? I'll have someone arrange it." Zhao Huazhang watched the sweat on her face, rolling down from her hairline and sliding all the way to the tip of her delicate nose. When he came to his senses, he realized that he had reached out and gently caught the drop of sweat on his fingertips.

Xia Chu looked back at him in confusion, then looked at the sweat beads on his fingertips, not knowing what was going on.

Zhao Huazhang didn't know why he suddenly stretched out his hand. He was also stunned for a moment before quickly retracting it. The drop of sweat was obviously cold, but his fingers seemed to be burning. He turned his head away embarrassedly, "You are sweating."

Yes, of course. Who wouldn't sweat in such hot weather? Xia Chu blinked and suddenly realized that there was not much sweat on Zhao Huazhang's face, only a few fine beads of sweat on his forehead. Moreover, he was dressed tightly, with a cross-collared robe wrapped neatly around his body, and there were no beads of sweat on his exposed neck. How did he do that? She asked curiously, "Aren't you afraid of the heat?"

"Fortunately, I'm not that afraid of the heat." Zhao Huazhang's ears burned under her gaze. "I've been like this since I was a child."

"Such a good physique?" Xia Chu looked at him curiously, and couldn't help but reach out and touch Zhao Huazhang's hand on the table.

Zhao Huazhang felt as if he had been pricked by a needle and almost pulled his hand back, but he managed to hold it back. He curled his fingers together and clenched the soft little hand in his palm.

"There's no sweat on your palms, are you really not hot?" Cuihua's eyes almost popped out of her head. Xia Chu hadn't realized anything was wrong yet, as if she had discovered a new toy. Zhao Huazhang's hands were so big, a whole circle bigger than hers, they could completely wrap around hers. Dry, warm, with a few calluses on the palms. "Your hands are so big!" She moved closer, observing Zhao Huazhang's fingers. They were also longer than hers, with raised veins on the back of the knuckles. She couldn't help but press them.

Zhao Huazhang looked at her tenderly as she turned her hands over and over, his eyes full of doting and indulgence. "Your hands are small."

"Look." Xia Chu straightened her palm and compared it with his. Her palm was bigger than hers, and her fingers were longer. Furthermore, his palm was hard, and obviously stronger than hers. "I envy you. It's great that you're not afraid of the heat. Your palms don't even sweat."

What was there to envy? He felt his hands were no different from anyone else's, and wondered why Xia Chu was so curious. Zhao Huazhang didn't understand, but he thought her reaction was adorable. The touch of his palm was smooth, soft, and itchy. Perhaps because she didn't cook much these days, her skin had become even more delicate and smooth.

Cuihua couldn't hold it in any longer and coughed twice. Xia Chu turned around and asked with concern: "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"No," Cuihua glanced at Mr. Zhao and found that he was a little dissatisfied. But dissatisfaction was not an option! They weren't even married yet! How could they be so intimate? The young lady was too bold! Seeing that the young lady didn't understand what she meant, she stepped forward and poured her a cup of tea, "Miss, have some water."

"Oh." Xia Chu let go of Zhao Huazhang's hand, picked up the teacup and took a sip. She really didn't realize what a big deal it was to touch someone's hand, and she didn't get what Cuihua wanted to say at all.

Zhao Huazhang rubbed his fingers together with a sense of loss. His palms felt empty, even a little cold. He wanted to hold that hand, to hold it forever.

"Play chess? Gomoku?" Xia Chu rubbed her hands. Zhao Huazhang was the only one who always lost to her. Playing chess with him was incredibly rewarding. Sometimes she thought Zhao Huazhang shouldn't be so bad, but his expression didn't give the slightest hint of acting. But who cares? As long as she had fun playing, that was all.

Cuihua took out the Gomoku chess set and then stood behind the ice bucket, fanning herself. This would provide some cool air and make her feel more comfortable.

Zhao Huazhang glanced at Xia Chu's expectant expression and curled his lips slightly. Losing Gobang is harder than winning, especially when it comes to losing without leaving a trace, without being noticed. Especially when Xia Chu's smug look after winning is so satisfying, it's hard not to join in the fun. It's more interesting than winning.

Cui Ya poured Qingsong a glass of water, and the two of them squatted outside on the porch to watch the dog.

An and An were like two blankets, lying on the ground with their limbs spread out, trying to get as much of their body surface in contact with the cold ground as possible. If the floor became warm, they would move to the side.

Xiao An stuck out his tongue, looking completely devoid of his usual spirit. Da An occasionally licked the water in the bowl in front of him, his eyes half-lidded, as if he were about to fall asleep.

Qingsong looked at it for a long time, and suddenly asked: "Can't you shave it? Wearing fur clothes in such hot weather will make the dog go crazy."

"Ah?" Cui Ya tilted her head. She looked inside the room and saw the young lady was playing chess seriously. "I'll ask the young lady later if she wants to shave her head."