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

Time always flies when you're busy, and in the blink of an eye it's already the twelfth lunar month. Most of the dowry is ready, and the remaining items are custom made, so there's not much else to worry about.

Because the two families had already engaged, Zhao Huazhang came in person to deliver the New Year gift. Xia Chu suddenly realized that they had not seen each other for a while.

Zhao Huazhang had the things carried in. After greeting the other people in the family, his eyes seemed to be glued to Xia Chu, and he was reluctant to look away for even a moment.

Xia Chu simply didn't dare to meet his gaze directly, pretending to look away, occasionally glancing at him from the corner of her eye. But every time she could meet his smiling eyes, Xia Chu couldn't explain what that look meant, but her heart beat uncontrollably and her face flushed.

Don't look at it! Didn't you see how my mother was laughing?

Xia Chu couldn't help wanting to hide away, she thrust the teapot in front of Zhao Huazhang and said in a somewhat aggressive tone: "Drink tea!"

"Why do you speak to guests like that?" Dong Xiaohuan scolded.

"Nothing, I'm thirsty. Thank you, Xiaochu." Zhao Huazhang didn't care at all. Although he wasn't that perceptive, he could tell that Xia Chu was shy. The corners of his mouth curled slightly, and his eyes were always smiling. "Have you been happy recently?"

Xia Chu understood his implication almost instantly. He was saying he missed her. She pursed her lips, trying to hold back her smile, at least not to smile too silly. "Not bad."

"Did you particularly like any of the snacks Qingsong sent? They are all made by the chef in the mansion. If you like any of them, I will send you more next time." Zhao Huazhang continued to ask.

Xia Chu thought for a moment. "Lotus cakes are delicious." She wasn't short of snacks on a regular basis. Jia Qingwu often sent them, Yin Geyuan also had plenty, and Zhao Huazhang also sent them. Their family never lacked snacks. Wang Qiuyu was gaining weight, and Dong Xiaohuan forced him to wake up early to exercise and run to the academy.

"Then send more next time."

Dong Xiaohuan watched the two of them go back and forth, then found an excuse to go to the kitchen. Smiling, she began preparing lunch. Zhao Huazhang's attitude reassured her. You have to like someone, otherwise, life is so long, it will become torture.

When Xia Chu saw Dong Xiaohuan leave, she glared at Zhao Huazhang unhappily and said, "Be more restrained. My mother must be laughing at you."

Her look was soft and effeminate, devoid of any intimidation. Zhao Huazhang's heart melted at the sight, and remembering that hug, he desperately wanted to hold her in his arms. He took a sip of tea, lowering his eyes to conceal his emotions. "It just feels like I haven't seen you in a while... I'll try my best."

Xia Chu was silent for a moment, "Have you been busy recently?"

"There are some. There are a lot of social interactions at the end of the year, and there are also some things going on in the military camp." The most important thing is to prepare the betrothal gifts. He has no experience, but he asked his grandmother and gave all he could. He was reluctant to let Xia Chu suffer any grievances.

After lunch, Zhao Huazhang didn't want to leave, but he had to return to the military camp in the afternoon as he had a lot of memorials to write by the end of the year.

Xia Chu walked him to the door, looking at his sticky eyes with reluctance to leave, feeling very uncomfortable. How could such a big guy be so love-brained?

She felt a little disgusted, yet also a little secretly happy. Seeing that there was no one around and Qingsong was walking towards the carriage, Xia Chu opened her arms and hugged him, then prepared to step back. Unexpectedly, Zhao Huazhang reacted very quickly and held her back, even lowering his head to kiss her forehead.

Xia Chu almost jumped up, but Zhao Huazhang let go before she could get angry. With a hint of satisfaction on his face, he reached out and touched her hair, "Wait for me."

"You scoundrel!" Xia Chu gave him a look of anger, turned around and slammed the door shut, his heart beating so fast it was about to jump out of his throat.

She reached out and held him down, thinking to herself, "What are you doing? Stop dancing! It's like we're having an affair! We're a legitimate engaged couple! What's wrong with a hug? A kiss, just a forehead kiss."

As she was thinking, she reached out and touched the still hot part of her forehead, feeling as if she had been scalded.

A New Year's gift was to be sent to Zhang Zhou in the capital, and my grandmother was thinking of him so much that she made a lot of preserved meat and sent it over, as well as various dried mushrooms and fungus.

Every time my family sent me gifts, there was always a lot of food. My grandmother, having heard how cold it was in the capital, bought leather from a hunter and made two pairs of leather boots and sleeves. I wonder how she, at her age, could sew such thick leather.

Dong Xiaohuan also prepared a lot of things, new clothes and new shoes, from head to toe, inside and out. Although she knew that these could be bought in Beijing with better styles, she was always worried that Zhang Zhou would be reluctant to spend money.

The clothes she chose were all made of high-quality materials, for she was afraid that her son would look down on others if he wore shabby clothes outside.

Zhang Zhou also sent over New Year gifts, which were all specialties from Beijing and things selected according to his family's preferences.

He also gave Dong Xiaohuan a gold hairpin. Knowing that Xia Chu was engaged, he also bought her a set of the latest headwear in Beijing. I don't know how much it cost.

Seeing this, Dong Xiaohuan was worried that her son didn't have enough money. Even though Zhang Zhou mentioned in his letter that he had no shortage of money, she still added another 300 taels of silver to send him.

When Xia Tian came back this time, Dong Xiaohuan started nagging again, "When are you going to get married? Your sister is ahead of you, and who knows what people will say about you in the future. Are you going to live out your life alone? Zhang Zhouyuan is far away, and I don't have any worries for him. Look at you, you're thirty years old. Who wouldn't get married at this age? Those who got married early would have sons in their teens now..."

Xia Tian looked at her sister with a pleading look, and Xia Chu suppressed a smile and turned away. She didn't want to get involved. Even though she had made up her mind, Dong Xiaohuan kept harping on about it. It was all about how couples get along, but the repetition was so overwhelming that it made her head buzz.

"Mom... I understand." Xia Tian knew that Dong Xiaohuan was worried about him, and he didn't show any impatience.

"You are so old now. Girls of similar age have already married and had children. Those who are younger think you are too old. It's hard for me to find a matchmaker now. Matchmaker Wang mentioned two. One was delayed because of mourning, and the other was delayed because the man regretted the engagement. I have seen them in person, and both of them are good-looking and have gentle temperaments. I will take you to see them secretly tomorrow. You are not allowed to refuse." Dong Xiaohuan glared at her with an expression that did not allow anyone to refuse.

"Okay." Xia Tian could only nod. In fact, looking at Zhao Huazhang's recent state, he seemed to have a little bit of interest. The joy that emanated from within was something he could almost feel after seeing it.

What does it feel like to like a woman?

He seemed to have never thought about it before, and he had no clear criteria in mind. Perhaps it was because he had seen too few women, not in the academy, not in the martial arts hall, and naturally not in the military camp.

"Brother is going on a blind date?" Xia Chu raised an eyebrow, "Mom, I want to go too."

"What are you going to do?" Dong Xiaohuan wondered.

"I'm just helping big brother to check things out." Xia Chu hugged her arm and acted coquettishly.

Dong Xiaohuan thought about it and said, "Then go ahead."