Divorced woman with child travels through time

After distributing the wages, Chen Wenfang locked the money box, had Wang Erniu carry it, and led the children home.

After everyone left, Uncle Liu Hai gathered some hay and soybeans to feed the horse. Seeing the horse obediently lowering its head to eat, he couldn't resist walking over and affectionately petting it. Da Zhuang and Shi Tou also turned around, and Shi Tou said, "Dad, can I pet it?"

Uncle Liu Hai said, "Of course, it's so handsome."

Dazhuang stroked its neck and asked, "Dad, when will our family have a horse?"

Uncle Liu Hai laughed and said, "No rush. Our family and Fang'er will not only have horses and carriages in the future, but also houses, fields and land. We will never have to worry about food and drink."

Dazhuang and Shitou both nodded seriously, quite agreeing. Since Sister-in-law Chen came, they have had many things they had never eaten before, and they have also been wearing thick cotton-padded clothes and shoes, so they no longer have to suffer from the cold.

Chen Wenfang followed Wang Erniu home. Just as they sat down, the rice shopkeeper brought over the glutinous rice. Chen Wenfang paid for the rice with cash, then took a bag of rice to the kitchen. Wang Erniu readily followed, carrying one bag in each hand and two more bags on his shoulder. Chen Wenfang thought Wang Erniu was incredibly compatible with her; he seemed simple-minded, but his emotional intelligence was remarkably high.

Wang Erniu lit the fire, and Chen Wenfang first soaked the glutinous rice in a large basin, then quickly stir-fried some meat slices, cooked some noodles, and ate them hastily.

Although Chen Wenfang bought everyone some snacks in the afternoon, the snacks weren't enough to fill them up. They still wanted something hot. Whenever this happened, Chen Wenfang would especially miss instant noodles. Chen Wenfang thought that she would make some instant noodles when she had time. Next time, she could just add hot water and eat them. How convenient! After eating the noodles, she led the children to wash up and then rested.

The next morning, Chen Wenfang got up early, only to hear noises coming from the kitchen. After getting dressed, she went to the kitchen and saw Wang Erniu already steaming glutinous rice. "What's going on?" Chen Wenfang asked. "Brother Erniu, why are you up so early?"

Wang Erniu chuckled sheepishly and said somewhat embarrassedly, "I woke up early and knew you were going to steam glutinous rice, so I started steaming it first to save you the trouble of getting up and doing it yourself."

Chen Wenfang couldn't help but smile. The man's face turned red. One pot of rice had already been steamed. Chen Wenfang took it out, scooped some hot water to wash her face, and then took down the glutinous rice cloth bag. She replaced it with a clean cotton cloth and continued steaming the glutinous rice. After steaming, she rinsed the glutinous rice with cold water, drained the water, and laid it out on a straw mat in the main room to dry.

Chen Wenfang went next door to wake up the children, including Chu Yi. After they were all ready, each of them ate a bowl of glutinous rice with some pickled vegetables. It tasted pretty good. If you didn't like salty food, you could just eat the rice with some syrup. After breakfast, all fifty jin of glutinous rice was steamed. Chen Wenfang and Wang Erniu rinsed it in cold water and then dried it inside the house. The tables and kang beds in each room were filled with straw mats or cotton cloths. The gate to the courtyard and the main house were locked, but the doors to the rooms were open. Luo Xiaohei had grown quite a bit and was left at home to guard the house. With the windows closed, no one should be able to come in. Chen Wenfang thought it would be better to leave Dazhuang at home to help watch the house.

Chen Wenfang led the children to Aunt Liu's house to ride in a horse-drawn carriage, while Wang Erniu carried a hundred catties of dried rice. When they arrived at Aunt Liu's house, Uncle Liu Hai had already set up the carriage. In the morning, he had taken some time to cut some grass for the horses with Dazhuang and Shitou. He didn't know what the horses liked to eat, so he just cut some randomly. Unfortunately, the horses wouldn't eat it. Uncle Liu Hai told Chen Wenfang with some regret.

Chen Wenfang smiled and said, "It likes to eat carrots, so you can feed it these. Uncle Liu Hai, please ask around in the village if anyone grows carrots. They can sell them to us at the average vegetable price, and then I'll settle the payment with you."

Uncle Liu Hai happily agreed. Fang'er was helping him establish prestige in the village. In the past, even a child who was just starting out in the first year of junior high school would be looked up to more, let alone him. Carrots are something every family grows, and plenty of people will come to sell them when the time comes.

Chen Wenfang led the children onto the horse-drawn carriage, and the group quickly arrived in town. They set up their stall as they had the day before, selling fried sugar and rice popcorn. The rice popcorn business was booming, just like the day before, for several days in a row. Chen Wenfang and the others were exhausted. On the fourth day, as they were about to close up shop, an aunt appeared who asked if she would buy syrup. Seeing that the syrup was quite good, Chen Wenfang bought five jars of it from her. The price was naturally lower than what she paid to people in Wangjiazhuang, mainly because she was worried that if too many people brought syrup later, the price would be too high and it would be difficult to handle. And indeed, from the sixth day onwards, people kept coming to deliver syrup, and the quantity increased day by day. Chen Wenfang checked the quality of each jar, tasted it, and naturally accepted the good ones. She didn't hesitate to refuse the poor ones. Chen Wenfang's personality was well-known in the market, and most people wouldn't make a fuss about it.

However, Chen Wenfang remained cautious and bought a silver hairpin. Whenever syrup was delivered, she would accept it in front of everyone. She would insert the hairpin into the syrup to test if it turned black. If it didn't, she would accept it. So far, no syrup had turned black, but Chen Wenfang still tested it every time she accepted it. She couldn't help it; business had been booming lately. Although it was unthinkable for someone under Lord Ouyang to poison a fellow businessman, she felt it was better to be safe than sorry, especially since she was in the food business.

Chen Wenfang's actions made her famous again in the market. Some people were surprised that Madam Chen was so clever, and some unscrupulous people gave up their idea of ​​swindling her. This was a good thing for Chen Wenfang.

After working for more than ten days straight, making smoky rice and selling rice candy every day, Chen Wenfang's business finally slowed down a bit. She could only sell about 60 catties of smoky rice a day, and about 100 catties of rice candy. However, Chen Wenfang was still very happy because she could still earn a lot of money.

That day, as Chen Wenfang and the others were packing up their stall, a woman of similar age to Chen Wenfang approached, leading a child of about three years old. She looked at Chen Wenfang and said, "Are you Madam Chen? I heard you're buying syrup. I have two jars here; could you take them?"

Chen Wenfang stepped forward to examine the syrup. The color was good. She then took out a silver hairpin from her sleeve and tested it. It hadn't turned black. She paid for it and was about to tell Chu Yi behind her to take it away and put it away properly when she noticed that after Chu Yi glanced at the woman, he immediately squatted down and hid under the table. What was going on? Chen Wenfang was very surprised and quietly saw the woman off.