Chapter 1: Do Not Wait for No Flowers to Break Branches

  Advise you not to begrudge golden thread clothes

  Advise you must cherish your youth.

  When flowers bloom, they should be picked immediately.

  Don't wait until there's no flower before breaking off the branch.

  "Golden Thread Robe" by Tang Anonymous

  In the third year of the Yonghui era of the Great Tang Dynasty, in early spring, February, the spring breeze still carried a thick coolness, but outside the city of Yizhou, willows were already swaying, peach blossoms were blooming, and tourists were strolling in twos and threes, with faces full of joy, under the green mountains, green waters, and peach blossoms, reciting poetry, composing verses, drinking wine, and singing songs.

  Half a day ago, Xiao Jiading unexpectedly traveled through time and space to the Tang Dynasty. At this moment, he was wearing a suit and sneaking around, dodging pedestrians as he walked along the edge of the peach forest.

  He was a postgraduate majoring in legal history, passed the judicial examination, and worked as a lawyer in a law firm after graduation. Just when he was doing well, he was suddenly sent to the Tang Dynasty through a time tunnel.

  After experiencing the terror of narrowly escaping death, the wonder of ancient times and the uncertainty of the future in this half-day period, he finally gradually calmed down and figured out that he had traveled to the third year of Yonghui in the Tang Dynasty, outside Yizhou City in Shudao. His Western-style suit and short hair made almost everyone who saw him look at him like a monster, so he didn't dare enter the city and thought about finding a place outside the city to get a set of clothes.

  He walked through the peach forest and came to a mountain foot, where he saw several households, one of which had a courtyard with a few sets of coarse cloth clothes drying in the sun.

  He felt a thrill of excitement, looked around to make sure no one was watching, and saw that the door of the house next door was also tightly closed. He then took off his suit and trousers, tiptoed inside, took down a set of clothes from the drying rack, as well as a piece of cloth for wrapping his hair, and a pair of straw sandals. He hung his own suit, trousers, brand-name leather shoes, and tie on the rack, effectively swapping them.

  This suit, trousers and leather shoes are all Italian imported brand-name clothes. Xiao Jiading spent two big cases' agency fees to buy them when he was a lawyer to keep up appearances. Exchanging this set for a coarse cloth short-sleeved shirt is really losing money, but there's no other way. It can only be comforted as making a profit by suffering a loss.

  He had emptied his pockets before he came in and now wrapped the handkerchief around them, ready to put them on again when he went out. He was about to leave when suddenly he stopped dead, staring at the gate of the courtyard with terror. When he came in, he hadn't noticed that beside the gate there was a doghouse! At this moment, a sturdy vicious dog was glaring at him fiercely, its mouth open revealing sharp teeth.

  No wonder this family doesn't need someone to look after their house, it turns out they have a fierce dog at home!

  Xiao Jiading was sweating, he wasn't afraid of fighting, from a young age he had been in countless street fights, but he had never fought with a dog before. Looking at the fierce dog's sharp teeth, his heart skipped a beat. When it came to dealing with dogs, there was no need to consider saving face, if he couldn't handle it, it would be better to retreat.

  Xiao Jiading rushed to the dog with a flattering expression and whispered: "Hey! I'm not a thief, I'm using this high-quality clothing fabric to exchange for your master's coarse cloth clothes. Your master has taken advantage of me. Don't be like a dog biting Lu Dongbin, not knowing good people..."

  That fierce dog didn't care about those things, it just stared at him fiercely and stepped closer step by step.

  Xiao Jiading's forehead was sweating, and he suddenly remembered that dogs are afraid of bending down, thinking it was going to pick up stones to hit him. Xiao Jianding immediately bent down, pretending to pick up stones. The fierce dog was startled, took a few steps back, and when it found out that Xiao Jianding hadn't picked up any stones, it revealed its ferocity, opened its big mouth, and pounced on him silently!

  My god! A biting dog doesn't bark! This dog is definitely for real!

  A good man does not fight with a dog! Run away!

  Xiao Jia Ding turned around and rushed to the front of the fence, exerting himself to jump up, and actually nimbly cleared the half-person-high fence, and even surpassed it by a lot!

  How can I jump so high?

  Xiao Jiading was shocked and delighted, in college, his five-item qualifying exam high jump was barely qualified, how could he suddenly clear this half-person-high fence? And the action was as elegant as Liu Xiang's hurdles!

  Xiao Jia Ding didn't have time to think carefully, his peripheral vision had already seen the fierce dog also lightly jump over the fence and chase after him, he immediately spread his legs and used all his might to sprint forward.

  He felt the trees on both sides flying backward quickly, and he almost flew up himself.

  What's going on? Xiao Jiading was even more surprised and puzzled, he had never run so fast before. This speed, even the Olympic hundred-meter champion wouldn't be much better than this, right?

  He ran out for a while, glanced back with the corner of his eye, and immediately burst into laughter. He stopped abruptly, and that fierce dog had already been left far behind. Standing in the distance, it looked at him with confusion, probably thinking, "How can this person run so fast?"

  Xiao Jia Ding burst out laughing and pointed at the fierce dog: "Bring it on! Come chase me if you dare! You little thing! Hahaha!"

  The fierce dog indeed came rushing again, scaring Xiao Jia Ding to quickly turn around and run away. This time he ran far away, and when he turned his head back, he saw that the fierce dog had already become a small black dot, walking back, apparently it knew there was no hope of catching up with Xiao Jia Ding, so it could only give up and go back.

  Xiao Jia Ding's heart is beautiful, what's going on?

  His eyes rolled a few times, is it related to crossing? Did something mutate in the crossing and improve his running speed? Now that's good, with greased feet, fighting is no longer a worry.

  He hummed a little tune, put down the things in his hands, and picked up that piece of headscarf to wrap his head. This kind of scarf has four straps, two hanging behind the brain for decoration, and the other two are tied around the neck, called a hood. The common people call it a four-legged scarf. However, Xiao Jia Ding had never worn this thing before, so he didn't know how to do it, and simply wrapped it up like a Shaanxi northern sheep's stomach, then put on a coarse linen short shirt, packed his things, and headed into the city.

  He passed by the peach forest again, and this time he changed his clothes and escaped from the fierce dog's pursuit. Feeling great, he saw that it was still early in the day. The peach forest was located on the banks of a river with spring water, where painted pleasure boats were drifting, songs and dances were rising, willows were leaning on the shore, peaches and plums were fragrant on the shore, swallows were flying, and sandbars were visible on the river. A few mandarin ducks were either playing or sleeping, presenting another scene of spring colors. Watching this made his mood even more pleasant, so he walked in and found a peach tree with the most beautiful blossoms by the quiet river water. He sat down on the green grass beside a large stone half as tall as a person, hummed a slightly off-key tune, and took out the things he had previously taken from his Western-style clothes one by one, pondering what benefits these modern items could bring him in ancient times.

  A smartphone with only one grid of electricity left, no spare battery, and no electricity to charge. It's basically a waste. He took out the battery and kept it for later to see if he could use it again.

  Wallet, inside there is a stack of RMB and several supermarket membership cards, medical insurance cards, ID cards, bank cards, business cards and so on. When you get here, they all become worthless paper.

  A bunch of keys, useless things.

  A signature pen, now is the era of brush pens, no one will be interested in hard-tip pens, so this thing basically belongs to waste.

  A few chocolate caramels, these were the little girl's wedding candies from the law firm, casually stuffed into her pocket, maybe they'll still be of some use. Put them aside for now.

  A high-end electronic watch with a stopwatch function, the Tang Dynasty didn't have the electronics technology to replicate it. Damn it, if I had known I was going to travel through time, why didn't I bring a mechanical watch, which could also be used for replication?

  Finally, there is a small bag of chili seeds.

  Xiao Jiading's father had retired, and their home was on the top floor with a rooftop garden. His dad had transported a lot of soil up there and turned it into a rooftop vegetable garden, where he grew scallions, tomatoes, and other things. One day, his dad called him and said he wanted to grow some chili peppers, but the ones from the market were not flavorful because they were mass-produced in greenhouses. He asked Xiao Jiading to bring back a packet of chili pepper seeds when he came home. So, before returning home, Xiao Jiading went to the farmer's market and bought this small bag of chili pepper seeds. Unexpectedly, on his way back, a bolt of lightning struck, and he was transported through a time tunnel to the Tang Dynasty over 1,000 years ago.

  What's the use of chili seeds? Planting them? Is he going to be a farmer himself? No way. Just put them aside.

  Everything has been seen, nothing can help oneself, but he is not discouraged at all. The little tune hummed is even not out of tune. No matter, no things can help oneself, oneself still has a brain, a brain from nearly 1500 years later high-tech era, how could one be worried about finding a rice bowl?

  He put everything back in his pocket and was about to get up and leave when he suddenly heard the sound of laughter and chatter coming from afar. He looked up to see a group of handsome young men and beautiful women, accompanied by some servants, walking towards him.

  His gaze fell on a young woman surrounded by several men, who was only about 28 years old. She had a high bun and cloudy hair, slender eyebrows, skin as white as jade, beautiful eyes that sparkled like autumn water. There was also a golden ornament between her eyebrows, which made her face even more charming. She wore a crimson silk dress with gold embroidery, a narrow waist that could be grasped in one hand, an outer jacket with red sleeves embroidered with gold, and a trailing skirt. What was most unforgettable was her skin as white as jade, which seemed to glow with a soft pink light under the peach blossoms, giving off a sense of transparency. Her cherry lips were more sensual than the flower buds.

  Although this woman is considered a beauty, Xiao Jia Ding has seen many beauties and has become somewhat numb. If it weren't for a national treasure-level woman, it would be difficult to arouse his great interest. He prides himself on having a high "melting point" for beauty, so he only took one glance before shifting his gaze to others.

  Before he could take a closer look, they had already arrived under this peach tree. The beautiful woman obviously liked the peach blossoms very much and stood under the tree, saying in a silvery voice: "This is great! Let's set up our poetry club here!"

  Several men hastened to applaud and cheer, a little maid with two buns beside the woman saw Xiao Jia Ding sitting cross-legged behind the big stone, so she pulled the beautiful woman's sleeve and nodded towards him.