"Shen Chuan?" she said softly.

Hearing the voice that couldn't be more familiar, Shen Chuan's eyes were filled with deep surprise: "Is it really you?"

He looked her up and down, "You...you've lost so much weight, I almost couldn't recognize you!"

You know, when he first met her, she was still a chubby country girl weighing 200 pounds, standing on the street, chubby and round.

Shen Chuan doesn't judge people by appearance, otherwise he wouldn't have become friends with her in the first place. However, when he saw that she had lost weight and turned into an absolute beauty, he couldn't help but be happy for her.

When she was in town, she was often looked down upon and laughed at because she was fat.

"You remember mine, don't you?" he asked.

"I remember." Su Xiaoxiao nodded with a smile. "I'm the son of the dean of Wutong Academy. We first met at Jinji. I saved a choking child and you heard about me. The next day I set up a stall in front of Jinji and you bought ten cakes. You asked me why I didn't give you one and said I gave all the six cakes to the previous customers. I said that was the opening business and you should be the first one to come tomorrow and I'll give you one."

"Then I was the first one to come. I waited for a long time and was scolded by my dad."

Shen Chuan took over her words and suddenly laughed. She recounted the story of how they met in great detail, making him feel as if he were in another world.

Su Xiaoxiao looked at his Imperial College uniform and asked, "Are you studying at the Imperial College?"

Shen Chuan smiled and said, "I am the top scholar in Qingzhou and was recommended to enter the Imperial College."

Su Xiaoxiao said sincerely: "Congratulations, Dean Shen must be very happy."

She remembered that Dean Shen had worked as an official in the Hanlin Academy and had a good relationship with Xiao Chonghua. When Xiao Chonghua went to Qingzhou and fell seriously ill, he recuperated in his Wutong Academy.

Shen Chuan took her to treat Xiao Chonghua, and she got to know Xiao Chonghua and Jing Yi.

Shen Chuan once went to the provincial school to study. He was not in a good condition for a while, and Su Xiaoxiao was worried about him for a while, but he had adjusted himself when she saw him the second time.

He is a man with a strong heart. It is not surprising that he could pass the imperial examination and become Su Xiaoxiao, the top scholar in the imperial examination. Some people are destined to be extraordinary.

There was no change in Shen Chuan's appearance, but his eyes were more profound and mature. After all, he was a man with experience.

Shen Chuan actually had a lot to say to Su Xiaoxiao, but he didn't know where to start.

He opened his mouth: "Are you here to look for Ergou?"

Su Xiaoxiao asked: "Have you met him?"

Shen Chuan smiled ashamedly: "On my first day here, I was almost bullied by some students from the capital, but Su Ergou and his brothers beat them away."

Su Ergou is now the undisputed bully of the Imperial College.

He had taken good care of the siblings in the countryside, but when he came to Beijing, the situation was reversed and he was protected by Su Ergou.

Shen Chuan said with emotion: "I just found out that you are from the Duke of the Guardian's Mansion. Fortunately, I had the foresight to buy your cakes. Otherwise, where would I go to get the support of the Duke of the Guardian's Mansion?"

Su Xiaoxiao asked seriously: "Isn't it because I cook delicious food?"

"Haha!" Shen Chuan was amused.

With this smile, all the strangeness and estrangement caused by not seeing each other for a long time were completely eliminated.

"Has Dean Shen come to the capital?"

"No, my father doesn't want to go back to Beijing anymore, so I came here alone."

Dean Shen had suffered suppression from his colleagues in the Hanlin Academy. He had seen through the filthiness of officialdom and was unwilling to go along with it. He could not tolerate any grain of sand in his eyes. It would be a good thing for him to go back and be a leisurely dean.

The two talked for a while, and then the carriage from the Duke of Protectorate's Mansion arrived.

Su Ergou saw his sister, jumped off the carriage, and ran over waving his arms: "Sister!"

His younger brothers who were standing at the door ready to greet him said: Boss, you are being so childish and it makes us lose face!

Su Xiaoxiao touched Su Ergou's head and said, "Well, you've grown taller again."

A bunch of younger brothers: This woman actually touched the boss’s head!

Su Ergou allowed himself to be touched obediently. It was not enough to touch the left side, so he also offered the right side to be touched.

"Sister, you..."

Dong! The bell of the Imperial College rang.

Su Xiaoxiao said, "It's time for class. You two should go. Shen Chuan, come to the Duke's Mansion for dinner with Ergou tonight."

"Okay." Shen Chuan agreed.

"Oh, Ergou, call your fourth cousin as well."

"Are you only calling me fourth cousin? Are you calling me second and third cousin?"

"...Scream, but Fourth Cousin must come!"

"Why?"

Su Xiaoxiao: "Write a letter."

Su Xiaoxiao returned to the carriage. The three little ones were still sleeping soundly and did not wake up until they arrived at the Duke of Huguo's Mansion.

Su Cheng knew that his daughter was coming today, so he specially arranged a shift with someone.

“Grandpa!”

When the three little ones saw Su Cheng swinging in the yard, they immediately became excited and pounced on him.

Su Cheng hugged the three little guys tightly: "Oh, have you gained weight? I can hardly hold you anymore!"

"Yes, it has grown taller!" said Xiaohu.

Su Cheng brought the three of them under a jujube tree. He would record the height of the three children once a month and carve it on the tree. It had been four months since the last time, and they had indeed grown a little.

Su Cheng picked them up one by one and held them high, and the three of them giggled with excitement.

"Do you miss grandpa?"

"think!"

"Erhu wants to too!"

"Little Axe wants it the most!"

"father."

Su Xiaoxiao stepped inside.

"Girl!" Su Cheng's eyes lit up, but soon his face darkened again, "Didn't Wei Ting give you food? Why have you lost so much weight?"

The fat cheeks are almost gone! Su Xiaoxiao smiled helplessly.

She is not too thin, just compared to before. Next to skinny beauties like Princess Hui'an and Princess Jingning, she is still a little plump.

But she herself is already very satisfied.

When Su Cheng saw his daughter and the three little kids, he was so happy that the smile never left his face.

"Where's the great grandfather?"

The three little ones went room by room looking for Qin Canglan.

They miss their big great-grandfather and want him to take them flying high.

"Great grandfather is not here." Su Cheng said to the three kids.

"When will great grandfather come back?" asked Da Hu.

Su Cheng smiled and said, "Next year if possible."

The three little ones went to play on the swing that Su Chengxin had made.

When Qin Canglan was mentioned just now, he couldn't help but sigh: "It would be great if your grandfather could go to war a few days later, so that he could see you all."

Su Xiaoxiao was stunned: "Going to war? Didn't they say they were just going north to transport food and grass?"

Su Cheng sighed, "Transporting food and grass is just a cover. Northern Yan has been restless recently, and there have been frequent bandit troubles at the border. They are called bandit troubles, but in fact they are all tests by the Northern Yan people. This war will be fought sooner or later."

In the evening, Su Ergou came back.

Shen Chuan and Su Xuan came with him. Su Qi and Su Yu, two brothers in distress, caught a cold and did not go to the Imperial College for classes today.

Wei Ting also came.

Wei Ting went to the Imperial College to pick up Su Ergou, but he ended up picking up a bunch of people.

Su Cheng, Su Ergou and the three kids went to pick fruit.

Su Xiaoxiao and her group sat down around a stone table in the courtyard.

There was a mat on the stone bench, so your butt wasn't cold at all.

Su Xiaoxiao looked at Su Xuan and said, "Fourth cousin, you came at the right time. I have something to ask of you."

"Are you talking about this?" Su Xuan took out a stack of letters from his wide sleeves and smiled quietly, "I've finished writing."

Su Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up.

Shen Chuan coughed lightly and took out a stack of letters: "I wrote it for you too."

As soon as Wei Ting took out the letters he had been writing all day in the government office, he saw two thick stacks on the table.

He was stunned and the corner of his mouth twitched.

Are pens this curled now? 　I just want to laugh out loud three times!

(End of this chapter)