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

Before bed, Dong Xiaohuan came to change Zhang Zhou's dressing, using a clean cloth boiled in water to wipe away the previous medicine. After just two wipes, Zhang Zhou was shaking with pain, sobbing with his mouth open.

Dong Xiaohuan's heart was in a knot. She couldn't wipe it off with the cloth in her hand. Tears welled up in her eyes. "Stop wiping it. Can't I just apply the new medicine directly?"

"I'll do it." Wang Yong took a step forward. "Be a man, just bear with it and it will pass."

Dong Xiaohuan pushed him and said, "Go away! You're so rough! If you scratch him again, he'll break his skin!"

"Let me do it." Xia Tian washed his hands carefully. This was what Xia Chu said. The cloth used to apply the medicine must be boiled and the hands must be washed with soap.

"Well," Dong Xiaohuan couldn't bring herself to do it, but Xia Tian made her feel more at ease than Wang Yong, "be gentle."

"Yeah." Xia Tian closed his eyes and calmed himself down, "Dad, turn his head away, don't let him see it."

Guan Xu wasn't afraid, and even described it, saying that this piece of skin seemed to be broken, and that piece of skin was sliding around. Xia Chu didn't see it, but just listening to it gave her goosebumps, and she had pictures in her mind.

Fortunately, most of the medicine was absorbed, with only some on the edges. But Zhang Zhou also cried and sweated, so Xia Tian helped him clean up and gave him another bath before he went to sleep.

Xia Chu returned to her room and spent half the night agonizing over what to make, even in her dreams. When the sun rose, she opened her eyes and decided to make hot braised skewers.

After Zhou Qin came, she went out with Xia Tian to buy groceries.

There was little food available at the time, and many things were out of stock. She bought some lotus root, kelp, and dried tofu. When she got to the butcher's shop and asked about offal, the butcher looked her up and down, "Girl, this stuff stinks. Do you really want it?"

Xia Chu knew that these things didn't smell good and would probably be disgusting when washed, so she hesitated. But thinking that this thing was a free pick-up and could make money, she gritted her teeth and said, "I want it."

"What are you putting it in?" The butcher brought a bucket over. The smell hit Xia Chu's face, and she almost vomited. Zhou Qin frowned and avoided him. He wouldn't let her wash this, would he?

Xia Chu was also frowned by the smoke, "Can you lend me this bucket? I'll bring it to you tomorrow."

The butcher had seen him come here frequently these past two days, and he always bought a lot. Since a bucket wasn't worth much, he wasn't worried he'd steal it. "Okay, go ahead and take it. I'll give you eight cents for this bucket."

Today's work was more than usual. Xiatian refused to let Xiachu wash, so she quickly slaughtered all the chickens. Then she took the bucket to the back and poured the water directly into the toilet. While washing this thing, she almost cleaned out the wood ash from the stove.

Xia Tian smelled the odor on his body and said, "Xiao Chu, don't do this anymore. I stink. I won't even have any wood ash to use tomorrow."

The other ones weren't too smelly, but the large intestine was... I almost vomited in the summer. He put his things down and went back to his room to change clothes. The smell was no different from falling into a toilet.

"You're quite clean now." Dong Xiaohuan smiled as she plucked the chicken's feathers. "When I first met you, I was wondering how long it had been since you washed your clothes. I wanted to change them right then and there. At that time, Xiao Zhou was still relatively clean after soaking in water, but you and that boy looked really dirty, your clothes looked like they were covered in mud. Only your face and hands were clean, so white and tender."

Xia Chu blushed. She was disgusted by the clothes she wore at the time, but she couldn't be naked. Her face was pale, perhaps because her clothes were too dirty.

"Am I white, mother?" Guan Xu stretched his face over.

Dong Xiaohuan pinched his little face. The child was so delicate, like a picture. "White, you are white too. If you put mud on your face and keep it out of the sun, won't you be white?"

Guan Xu tilted his head and thought about it, then felt that it was a compliment and grinned.

Xia Chu looked at Guan Xu's silly look and laughed.

Zhou Qin was chopping minced meat in the house. Luckily, she wasn't asked to wash the stinky stuff. Actually, chopping minced meat was quite nice. Once you get used to it, it wasn't that tiring anymore. Next time I have time, I'll go check out Wang's stall and see how good the business is. They sell out all the meat they get every day.

The hot-braised skewers were a new offering, so Xia Chu cut some for free, fearing others wouldn't be able to handle the raw meat, and explained in advance what parts they were from. Some people balked, while others figured it was free and the worst that could happen was a mouthful of disgust.

Unexpectedly, it didn't taste fishy at first, but rather spicy and fragrant.

"Hmm, it's not smelly at all? It's delicious." The first person who tasted it frowned and took a second bite. "It's quite chewy, and it goes well with wine."

Xia Chu took advantage of the situation and said, "Would you like some? One penny a bunch, three or four to go back and cut them up, and it'll be a dish to go with wine. This is also delicious when it's cold, the flavor is even stronger."

Seeing her serious expression, the man thought it was funny. "Okay, come... five skewers, and we'll have a couple of drinks when we get home tonight."

"Okay! You can pick for yourself." Xia Chu pointed to the ceramic basin containing the skewers. "Take whatever you want. They're all one penny a skewer. We have both meat and vegetables."

The first person said it was delicious, and many more tried it. Some even tried it but didn't buy. Xia Chu didn't care. Not everyone can handle offal; some simply can't get over it mentally. But it didn't matter; everyone has different tastes. It was cheap, so if I sold half of it, I'd still make a profit.

I closed the stall a little later today than usual, but I made more money selling hot braised skewers than fresh sausages. It's mainly because the cost is lower and the profit is higher.

As soon as Dong Xiaohuan got home, she rushed to cook dinner. Xiatian washed the food stall, while Xiachu helped wash the pots and pans. There wasn't enough wood ash at home, and the oil pans and food stall were greasy, so they had to be cleaned with soap nuts.

"Are you going to sell those offal tomorrow? If you don't have wood ash, will you use soap nuts to wash them?" Xia Tian asked.

Xia Chu thought for a moment and said, "You can buy some cheap coarse salt and wine to wash it. Flour works well too, and the amount you use won't be much, so it will increase the cost a bit."

It’s not a good idea to use these things to cleanse the intestines in the summer, but I subconsciously feel that it’s a waste to use them.

We held a family meeting over dinner and calculated the bills. We decided that washing with flour would be more cost-effective, and that the price of salt was still too high.

"There's plenty of wood ash in the village. Usually, the excess is dumped into the vegetable fields. I didn't expect there would be a shortage of this stuff." Dong Xiaohuan smiled and shook his head.

Wang Yong said casually, "How about I go to the village and get some more, and tell my father-in-law and mother-in-law about your good news?"

Dong Xiaohuan rolled her eyes at him. "You just had your day off, how can you have the time to go?"

"The latest case is closed, so I can take a leave." Wang Yong said.

"Then you go there. The wood ash in the village is fertile vegetable fields. You can get a sack of it for a few cents. Let my mother go. She's familiar with it." Dong Xiaohuan thought for a moment and said hesitantly, "It's not even three months yet. Isn't it too early to tell now?"

Wang Yong disagreed. "Let's just talk about it at home and not make it public. Mom has been worried about this for years, so let's make her happy."

Dong Xiaohuan nodded, "Okay."

The matter was settled, but it was too late to make it the next morning. After Xiatian washed off the dirt, he rubbed it with flour and it became clean again.