Divorced woman with child travels through time

The day after Aunt Liu notified Wangjiazhuang, Aunt Chunxing delivered three jars of syrup early in the morning. Chen Wenfang asked Chuyi to watch over them.

Chen Wenfang opened the jar and looked at the syrup. Aunt Chunxing's syrup was of pretty good quality. Sure enough, it was the one Chen Wenfang felt she had learned best from the beginning. The syrup was clean and clear, and after tasting it, the concentration and sweetness were just right. It seemed to have been cooked well. Chen Wenfang smiled and said, "Auntie, you made this very well. I'll give you thirty-five coins per jar, three jars for one hundred and five coins. Here you go."

Aunt Chunxing was very happy. The syrup she made only sold for thirty-five coins at the market, and she even had to give away a jar for free. Now that everyone knows how to make syrup, there are so many people selling it that sometimes they can't even sell it all. This Mrs. Chen even gave away a jar; she's such a kind person.

Aunt Chunxing held Chen Wenfang's hand and said with a smile, "Madam Chen, thank you so much. I'll send you more later, please accept it."

Chen Wenfang smiled and said, "I'll take as many as you can get, don't worry."

Aunt Chunxing smiled, her wrinkles crinkling, and patted her hand as she said goodbye, "Alright, alright, Madam Chen, you're so kind. I'll come again later."

Chen Wenfang smiled and said, "Take care, Auntie."

The second person was Chahua, who delivered five jars. Chen Wenfang glanced at them; the quality was alright, but the concentration was a bit lower than Aunt Chunxing's. Chen Wenfang accepted them at thirty coins per jar. Afraid Chahua might be unhappy, she even put a dish of Aunt Chunxing's syrup on it for her to taste, explaining that it needed to reach that level of sweetness to be priced at thirty-five coins per jar. Chahua didn't say anything, tasted Aunt Chunxing's syrup, and accepted the money. Chen Wenfang didn't know whether she should deliver more.

Liu Ye and Chun Cao's syrup was the least satisfactory; they each made three jars, but Chen Wenfang only charged twenty coins per jar and accepted two. The other two jars were too old, and the syrup wasn't good either. Did they think I was easy to bully? Chen Wenfang wouldn't let anyone take advantage of her. The two women also tasted Aunt Chun Xing's syrup and left angrily. Chen Wenfang hoped they wouldn't come back to deliver. It was too shoddy.

Fifteen, that little guy, won't go to play even when Chen Xuanyu asks him to, but when Chen Wenfang takes Chu Yi, he just follows around behind her.

After the syrup delivery person left, Chen Wenfang led Chu Yi to see the syrup and taught him, "Look at this syrup, its cleanliness and viscosity. Try using chopsticks to dip it a little longer and see if you can taste it!" Chen Wenfang handed the chopsticks dipped in syrup to Chu Yi.

In the first year of junior high, he followed Yi Yi's example and asked curiously, "Madam Chen, why are you making me learn all this?"

Chen Wenfang smiled and said, "If this business becomes successful in the future, I will entrust the task of collecting syrup to you, and you will also be in charge of paying them."

Chu Yi was taken aback and waved his hand, saying, "I'm afraid that won't work. I'm too young to do it."

Chen Wenfang smiled, pointed to the jar she had just taught him, and made him turn around. She casually dipped her chopsticks into one of the jars, handed it to him, and said, "Try it and tell me, how much is a jar worth?"

Chu Yi tasted it and cautiously said, "This should cost thirty coins a jar."

Chen Wenfang encouraged him, "Look how well you've done! If I make my business bigger in the future, who will help me if not you? Your two younger brothers are still so young, aren't they?"

Upon seeing this, Chu Yi knelt down and said, "Chu Yi will certainly live up to Godmother's expectations and do a good job."

Chen Wenfang helped him up and said, "Don't kneel down all the time. A man's knees are worth gold. You should be a man who stands tall and upright. You're not allowed to kneel anymore, understand?"

Chu Yi stood up and respectfully said, "I understand, godmother."

Chen Wenfang smiled and nodded, then scooped two dishes out of the jar with a spoon and handed them to him and Fifteen, who was clearly drooling over them, saying, "Eat up, you'll have plenty to eat every day from now on. Take care of your teeth."

Fifteen happily accepted the food and started eating, but First Day said, "I'll save this for Xuanzai."

Chen Wenfang said, "He doesn't like it, you eat it yourself. He used to eat so much candy that he got tired of it." Chu Yi took it and slowly ate it. It was so sweet, so fragrant, so delicious.

The next day, Aunt Wang Er also delivered five jars of syrup, the jars still almost new. Chen Wenfang was quite surprised; Aunt Wang Er's syrup was remarkably clean and thick. It was a beautifully made syrup, and after tasting it, the sweetness was perfect—it was almost ready to be used as candy.

Chen Wenfang said to her, "Auntie, your syrup is very good. It's better than theirs. I'll give it to you at forty coins a jar. Five jars will cost two hundred coins. Please keep your money."

Aunt Wang Er accepted the money from Chen Fang with her aged hands, somewhat surprised.

Aunt Wang was quite reserved. She thought Chen Wenfang wouldn't accept the syrup she made, or if she did, she would at least make things difficult for her, given what had happened before. So she was quite surprised.

Aunt Wang said apologetically and with a touch of shyness, "Thank you, Madam Chen, you're so kind as to forgive my past mistakes and accept my syrup. I'm very sorry about what happened before."

Chen Wenfang said, “Let bygones be bygones. You don’t need to be so polite. It’s just business. The quality you provided is good, so I accepted it myself. It’s rare to find someone in our village who can do it as well as you. You can bring more when you have time. If all the syrup is made like this, I’ll buy as much as you want, and the price will be forty coins.”

Aunt Wang said gratefully, "Okay, I'll make more and send it over later." Aunt Wang took the money and turned to leave when Chen Wenfang called out, "Auntie, there are still jars." Then she gave her five new jars.

"So, the cost of the jar isn't included?" Aunt Wang was quite surprised.

"No, that doesn't count. Bring it back later and I'll change the jar for you."

"Okay, okay." Aunt Wang Er happily took the jar and left.

In the afternoon, Aunt Liu brought over some shelled peanuts. It weighed a little over twenty-two jin (approximately 11 kg). Chen Wenfang lent her the money according to the weight of the peanuts, even adding a small fee for her labor. Aunt Liu refused to accept it, so Chen Wenfang had no choice but to take it back.

When Aunt Liu saw the syrup in Chen Wenfang's room, she looked at the peanuts she had brought and said, "This amount of peanuts isn't enough, is it? You're collecting more and more syrup. What will you do when the peanuts run out?"

Chen Wenfang smiled and said, "Don't worry, I have a way. Aunt Liu, you're going to the market in a few days, right?"

Aunt Liu said, "Yes, we'll be going in a few days. I've calculated that there are only eight days left until the market day."

Chen Wenfang said, "When you come back from the market later, bring me three hundred catties of glutinous rice."

Aunt Liu nodded and said, "Okay, Fang'er, do you want to use glutinous rice?"

Chen Wenfang smiled and said, "Yes, it's delicious. If it's inconvenient for you to bring the oven, you can have the rice shop deliver it."

Aunt Liu laughed and said, "Your Uncle Liu Hai went to town and modified our wheelbarrow. Now it's a pushcart with two wheels, so it can hold a lot of things. You can rest assured."

Chen Wenfang exclaimed, "Uncle Liu Hai is really amazing!"

Let's leave that aside for now. As it turned out, just three days after Chen Wenfang started collecting the syrup, the first snow fell, thankfully light. It only lasted a day before the sun came out. A few days after the snow, Aunt Liu and Uncle Liu Hai took their stove and charcoal to the market to sell sweet potatoes.

Chen Wenfang, who was sensitive to the cold, dressed the children in cotton-padded clothes early on. Fortunately, cotton-padded shoes were also made early, and everyone wore them. In the days that followed, Chen Wenfang gave Chuyi some spare change, and Chuyi was responsible for collecting syrups delivered to him. As a result, Chuyi became very popular in Wangjiazhuang. He also became more and more confident.

Carpenter Wang also delivered the well cover and water pulley that Chen Wenfang had ordered. Now it will be more convenient to use water in winter, and there's no need to worry about the ground being slippery in the rain.