Divorced woman with child travels through time

The next day, the snow stopped, and Chen Wenfang and the others still went to set up their stall. Fortunately, it hadn't snowed much the night before, so the roads weren't difficult to walk on.

As usual, Chen Wenfang and his team set up their stall, and customers came to buy things. After setting up their stall in the market, they had only been selling for a little over an hour when, sure enough, Chu Yi's mother came to make trouble again. Chen Wenfang was speechless; this woman was so annoying.

Li Shuxian was even more outrageous today. She had combed her hair yesterday, but today she hadn't combed it at all. Her hair was disheveled and she rolled on the ground twice, looking filthy. Then she got up and cursed. There were so many people today, and she didn't even bring that child. She must have some ulterior motives.

Chen Wenfang and the others remained silent, watching to see how she would perform. Li Shuxian shouted at the top of her lungs, making sure everyone in the market could hear her, "Everyone, come and see! This is Chen Niangzi! She stole someone else's son and raised him as her own. How shameless! Would you still buy her things?"

Sure enough, no matter the dynasty, the masses always love a good show. As soon as they saw someone actually arguing, the crowd immediately made room for her. In the crowded street, where people could barely squeeze through, they carved out a round space for her to perform in the middle. Chen Wenfang found it inexplicably funny. Well, she decided to wait until she finished speaking to avoid interrupting her and affecting her own arguing momentum. Wang Erniu and Uncle Liu Hai behind her also stopped what they were doing and stood in front, seemingly afraid that a big argument was about to break out. Chu Yi and Shi Wu also angrily stood in front of the cabinet. Chen Xuanyu was even more mischievous, carrying a stool and standing up with Xiao Ahao to watch.

Chen Wenfang's principle in arguing is that she can't get angry. If she doesn't get angry, she won't lose. Otherwise, if she loses, she'll be angry for a long time when she gets home.

Before Chen Wenfang could speak, as soon as Li Shuxian finished speaking, an enthusiastic onlooker immediately asked, "Which one is your son? How did Madam Chen steal your son?"

Seeing someone respond, Li Shuxian became even more smug. She jumped up and pointed at Chu Yi and Shiwu, saying, "This is my son, and that's my son too. They're all my sons. I don't know how, but she kidnapped them and they became her sons, calling her godmother. What kind of person is she? How can she be someone else's mother?"

Before Chen Wenfang could speak, Chu Yi said, "You are not my biological mother, but my stepmother. When we were sick, no one cared for us. I voluntarily sold myself to Madam Chen. It was my godmother who saved our lives. There were so many people there at the time. Everyone knew that we were sick and had stomach aches. This is not something you can say nonsense about, nor did she abduct us."

“Ask others how much it cost to treat this illness? If it weren’t for Madam Chen’s help, we would probably be dead by now. Ask yourself, if we were sick, could you afford the treatment?” Li Shuxian was speechless after being rebuked. Still unwilling to give up, she said, “I don’t care. If you sell yourself, you must pay me. I am your mother, and a stepmother is still a mother. Treatment is treatment, and selling yourself is selling yourself. These two things cannot be confused.”

Chu Yi was so angry that he was speechless after being confronted by her.

Chen Wenfang then asked, "Then how much silver do you think they would need if they sold themselves?"

Thinking of what happened yesterday, Li Shuxian immediately made an outrageous demand, saying, "You should at least give each person twenty taels of silver, so for two people would be forty taels."

The onlookers discussed among themselves, "Twenty taels, why don't they just rob them? Two little kids, at most two taels of silver each, they can't work, they just eat."

"Exactly, exactly! She's a stepmother after all; all she wants is money."

"Pah! Who does he think he is!"

Everyone started criticizing her, saying, "What kind of mother are you, trying to sell her child for money?"

Chen Wenfang glanced at her, then squeezed Chu Yi's hand reassuringly under the cabinet, saying, "So expensive? Fine, then I won't keep these two children. You can take them back. But the medical treatment cost me quite a bit, though not too expensive, eight taels of silver. And they eat white flour and rice every day at my house, and they're dressed very well. Look, you should give me some money for these past few months. Not much, just eight taels of silver for these months. Three times eight is twenty-four, plus clothes, cotton shoes, etc., give me thirty taels in total. You can take them back, okay?"

"Pah!" Li Shuxian's eyebrows shot up as she cursed, "You shameless bastard! You can't calculate things like that! Why don't you just rob me? What decent family spends eight taels of silver every few months? And what about the clothes he's wearing? Where would you get so much money? You've already bought them, and now you're saying you don't want them anymore?"

Chen Wenfang stretched out her hand, pretended to shake off some dust, and said casually, "You dare to sell two sick children for twenty taels each? How heartless! Aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning?"

Li Shuxian hesitated for a moment, then honestly said, "Then it should be at least five taels of silver each, okay? Look, Chu Yi is so big now, he can help you with chores. Five taels isn't expensive, it can't be any less."

Chen Wenfang thought to himself, "Why not just settle this matter while we're at it?" So he said, "Alright, here's the money." He then took out ten taels of silver from under his clothes. Li Shuxian was about to reach out and take it...

Mr. Li, the owner of the pastry shop, had been watching from behind for a while. What was going on? How did things turn out this way? Wasn't it supposed to be like he'd just brought the child over to him? He hurriedly rushed in, shouting, "What's going on? Didn't you sell the child to me? Why are you giving her now?"

When Boss Li realized that Li Shuxian was really unreliable, he wouldn't have stepped forward himself if he didn't still want to make money from the rice.

Oh dear, there's something wrong with this. Chen Wenfang turned around and exchanged a glance with Wang Erniu, then looked at Uncle Liu Hai and the others, and nodded knowingly. Seeing this, Chen Wenfang put the silver he had extended back into his hand.

Li Shuxian felt no regret, but was unwilling to retract her hand.

"Mr. Li, what's going on here? What's your relationship with these two kids?" Chen Wenfang asked him meaningfully.

Mr. Li felt a little guilty, but the thought of the written agreement gave him confidence. He pretended to be stupid and said, "These two children were sold to me by their mother herself for five taels of silver each. We drew up a written agreement. She said she would give them to me today. How come they are with you?"

Li Shuxian was displeased and said, "Didn't you call me over? You even gave me a packet of pastries, but you didn't give me all the money; you're still five taels short." She didn't mention selling the child at all; she only wanted the money.

The three were arguing, so what should they do? Ma Liu arrived with his men. "What are you doing? Blocking the road! You can't even get through. If you have something to say, go to the government office. If not, disperse... disperse..."