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

Xia Chu nodded. Her mother's worries were understandable. Since her eldest brother rarely spoke, she offered some words of advice. "There's no war going on right now. Listen to Zhao Huazhang and eliminate all the bandits nearby. If you're worried, mother, I can go find Zhao Huazhang and, based on our childhood friendship, ask him to take in my eldest brother and look after him."

"Let me think about it." Dong Xiaohuan frowned, "Let me think about it. I'll go to the shop first."

This was no small matter, and Dong Xiaohuan wanted to discuss it with Wang Yong. However, given Wang Yong's personality, he was likely to praise his son's ambition.

Thinking of this, Dong Xiaohuan smiled. No wonder the boss seemed to have some troubles recently.

During dinner, Dong Xiaohuan saw that everyone had almost finished eating. She wiped her mouth and looked at her eldest son. "Xiaotian, your sister said you want to join the army?"

"Oh?" Wang Yong was cleaning up the leftovers and stopped talking when he heard this. "Good boy, you have a bright future."

Dong Xiaohuan couldn't help but hit him, "Isn't being a soldier dangerous? Is Xiaotian your son?"

"Mom..." Xia Tian was about to speak when Wang Yong raised his hand to interrupt him and looked at his wife. "Xiao Huan, serving the country is the dream of every ambitious man."

Dong Xiaohuan remained silent and began to clear the table.

"Mom." Xia Tian was already hesitant. In his heart, family was the most important thing. Seeing his mother unhappy, he had decided to give up. "I won't go. Don't be angry."

Dong Xiaohuan paused and sighed, "If you join the military camp, mother won't be able to see you even if she wants to. If you are sick or injured, mother won't be able to take care of you. If you are wronged, no one will help you. You will suffer so much when you go out alone. It's not that mother doesn't want you to go, but I will always be worried..." As she spoke, her eyes slowly turned red.

"Xiao Huan..." Wang Yong was most afraid of seeing her tears, so he quickly went forward to hug her and comfort her. "Then don't let him go. Don't cry."

"Mom, I won't go. Don't be sad." Xia Tian panicked.

"Mom..." Xia Chu took out a handkerchief.

Wang Qiuyu walked up to Dong Xiaohuan, hugged her waist, and called her mother in a low voice.

Zhang Zhou and Guan Xu also approached worriedly.

Dong Xiaohuan turned her face away and wiped away a tear that had just fallen. She felt a little embarrassed with her son, daughter, and husband all surrounding her. She pulled up the corners of her mouth and smiled, "Look at me. I shouldn't be like this."

"It's all my son's fault. Don't be sad, mother." Xia Tian's knees softened and he knelt down.

Dong Xiaohuan was startled by the kneeling, "Hey, hurry up, kid, I don't blame you."

After a while, Dong Xiaohuan calmed down. She took Xia Tian's hand and patted it, "Your father is right. A man's ambition is to travel far and wide. Your mother can't be so selfish as to confine you at home."

"Mom, if you don't want me to go, then I won't go." Xia Tian said solemnly.

"Go ahead, my son is so capable, he can become a general." Dong Xiaohuan touched his head, then regretted it and said, "No, I won't. As long as he's safe, that's all."

After this matter was settled, Dong Xiaohuan was busy cleaning up, but she always felt like something was missing.

But Xia Chu told her that she couldn't bring too many personal belongings into the barracks. After all, the uniforms and bedding were all there, and everyone had the same things, so she gave up.

Joining the army is not something you can do just like that. Xia Chu and Xia Tian went to the military camp and met Zhao Huazhang.

This was just a small matter for Zhao Huazhang, so he agreed immediately and asked Xia Tian to come over the next day.

On the day of departure, Dong Xiaohuan got up before dawn.

Wang Yong opened his eyes dazedly, "What should I do?"

As Dong Xiaohuan put on her clothes, she asked, "Cooking for Tian'er, do you want to make some more dry food?"

Wang Yong yawned. "It won't take an hour to get there by car, and less than half an hour to get back by horseback. I don't need to bring any dry food. I can sleep a little longer, and there's no need to rush so early."

"I can't sleep." Dong Xiaohuan put on her clothes and sat on the edge of the bed. "I feel so empty inside."

"I'll be back after the holiday. We're so close. If you miss him, go and bring him some food and supplies." Wang Yong pulled her down and held her in his arms. "Sleep a little longer, be good."

Everyone in the family took a day off that day and sent Xia Tian all the way to the military camp.

Xia Chu seemed unable to understand Dong Xiaohuan's feelings. They were too close here and there was no sense of separation.

The aftereffects of Xia Tian's absence only became apparent over the next few days. The sound of his martial arts training disappeared in the mornings, and there was no one around the dinner table.

Xia Chu opened the door in a daze in the morning and saw a figure standing in front of the door. He subconsciously called out "Good morning, eldest brother", only to find out that it was his second brother.

Dong Xiaohuan was listless for a few days, so she dragged Xia Chu along to a military camp in the suburbs. Xia Chu had gotten darker and thinner, but he was in high spirits, clearly adapting well.

After seeing her son, Dong Xiaohuan finally felt at ease. She returned to her shop duties and, by the way, inquired about the girl Zhang Zhou liked. Unfortunately, Zhang Zhou, though easygoing on the surface, refused once the subject was brought up, and he went to live in the academy.

"You should take care of your sons. It's not a good thing that none of them are getting married! Are they going to live out their lives alone?!" Dong Xiaohuan couldn't find anyone, so she could only get angry at the child's father.

Wang Yong didn't dare to get angry, and coaxed, "Children and grandchildren will have their own blessings, why rush?"

Dong Xiaohuan glared at him, then thought of Xia Chu, "Xiaochu, it's time for you to choose someone."

"How old is Xiaochu?" Wang Yong's eyes widened. "Don't worry, wait until her brothers are successful before you find someone else."

"Fifteen." Dong Xiaohuan actually felt that her daughter was still young, and she was reluctant to let her go. Once she got married, she would no longer be at home. Just thinking about it made her feel uncomfortable and sad. "I've seen that none of those who came to propose marriage are worthy of my Xiaochu."

"Hey!" Wang Yong's eyes lit up. "If not, wait until Zhang Zhou passes the imperial examination, then we can take him in as a son-in-law."

Dong Xiaohuan was also a little tempted, but then shook her head, "Which good man would want to be a son-in-law? I think the final result of those who marry into the family is not very good. No way."

Wang Yong thought about it and said, "Let's talk about it later. He's still young."

Xia Chu didn't know that she had escaped a disaster. She had adapted two songs and was pulling Zhang Zhou to listen to them to see if they worked.

After the song ended, Xia Chu looked at Zhang Zhou expectantly, "Second brother, how is it?"

"The music lingers in my ears." Zhang Zhou savored it for a moment and commented, "The first song has a cheerful rhythm, reminding me of my carefree childhood. The second song is quiet, as if I were standing under the moonlight."

Such a high evaluation? Xia Chu said happily: "Then can I exchange it for money?"

Exchange for money? If other scholars heard this, they would probably loudly denounce the music as tainted with money and dirty. Zhang Zhou didn't think so. He pondered for a moment and said, "You are not a famous master, so I am afraid it will be difficult. Why don't you give me the music score and I will show it to our teacher."

"Great, great." Xia Chu wanted it more than ever and gave him the music score immediately.