Divorced woman with child travels through time

Ignoring the noise around her, Chen Wenfang said, "With so many people watching, what can I do with your evidence? Show it to me."

The man remained unmoved. "No, there are too many of you. Why don't you pay me?"

Wang Erniu asked, "How many do you want?"

The man smiled and said, "I don't need much, just fifty taels. Take it and I'll leave."

Before Wang Erniu could speak, Chu Yi cursed, "You wish! Get out of here right now! We've already reported it to the authorities. When the officials arrive, you won't be able to leave."

The man was slightly flustered, but then, remembering what the buyer had said, he calmed down and said, "There's something wrong with your stuff. Don't even think about getting away with this without paying compensation."

The situation remained at a stalemate, and before long, a constable arrived—it was Ma Liu.

Dazhuang explained, "We didn't run far before we saw Lord Ma Liu, and we just happened to inform him."

Upon seeing the officials arrive, the man immediately became much more obedient, bowing deeply as he fawned over Ma Liu, "Sir, it really is their stuff that's problematic. My brother fell ill after eating it and can't get up..."

Wang Erniu chuckled, "Didn't you just say he was dead? He's not dead now?"

The man ignored him. He simply handed the package to Ma Liu, who glanced at him and said, "Show Chen Niangzi and the others your bag of pastries. I'm right here; they won't do anything to you."

The man was quite displeased, but still handed the items to Chen Wenfang. After taking them and examining them, Chen Wenfang confirmed that the packaging was indeed her own paper package, as were the pastries. However, there were some slightly different powdery substances on them, and they even had a faint stone-like smell. Since her Sachima was made by rolling it directly in hot syrup, it was impossible for it to have any unknown powder on it, not even flour.

Ma Liu asked, "How is Madam Chen?"

Chen Wenfang said, "The items are indeed our family's."

Before she could finish speaking, the man interrupted her, arrogantly saying, "I knew it! There's something wrong with your stuff. Hurry up and pay me back." His ugly face was on full display.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Chen Wenfang wrapped up the pastries and handed them to Ma Liudao with both hands. "Sir, these pastries may have been poisoned or something else. As everyone knows, our Chen's products are made with the finest ingredients. Every ingredient has been tested for poison. We've also sold many recipes for Sachima. After the dough is fried, it's coated directly with syrup. There are no powders or anything like that on it."

"First day of the month, go and get a bag of Sachima for the adults to compare. It'll be very obvious. Also, this powder has a very faint odor, but you can smell it if you look closely."

Chen Wenfang explained earnestly to everyone.

The man looked like the sky had fallen. Didn't you say you wouldn't be able to tell? He still tried to argue, "Could it be that this stuff isn't fresh, has mold, and made me sick? You can just give me some money to get rid of it, it's better to lose money than to suffer a disaster."

"Dream on. If everyone were like you, no one would need to open a shop." Ma Liu interrupted his daydream. "Hmph, you'd better tell the truth. Once the physicians arrive, you won't have a choice."

"I'm not wrong, there's something wrong with their products."

Chen Wenfang's eyes darted around, and she came up with a mischievous idea. She squatted down next to the man lying down and said to Wang Erniu, "Husband, pry open his mouth. Didn't he say that he was poisoned by eating this? Let's feed him some more and see."

Wang Erniu understood immediately and squatted down, pried open the man's mouth. He was extremely strong, and his brother next to him couldn't budge him at all when he tried to pull him away.

Just as Chen Wenfang was about to pour the pastry into the man's mouth, the man on the ground rolled over and broke free, spilling half of the pastry in Chen Wenfang's hand.

Everyone stared in disbelief, including the man's brother.

“It turns out it’s really fake.”

"This guy is quite the actor; he didn't even notice when someone punched him in the face."

"Tsk tsk, that's right, he's a real man, but he shouldn't have gone astray."

The older man began, "Liangzi, why are you like this..." Realizing his words were inappropriate, he swallowed the rest.

"Brother, I didn't eat..." The man looked at his brother and told the truth.

"Why aren't you eating? This is a bad thing!" his brother shouted anxiously.

"You make it sound so easy, it's not like you're the one eating it!" Liangzi said angrily. "That person lied to you. He said that if you ate it, you would be unconscious for a day and then wake up. What if you didn't wake up? Luckily, I was careful. I caught a chicken at Old Tian's house and fed it to him. It died immediately. I went to check on it in the middle of the night last night, and the chicken was already stiff. How can I save it?"

Chen Wenfang was also startled, realizing she had almost poisoned someone.

"What did you say?" His brother's face changed drastically. "He actually dared to lie to us?" No matter how much money he made, his own brother was the most important.

The man clasped his hands and knelt down, saying to Wang Erniu and the others, "Master Wang, Lord Ma, we were bewitched and deceived by thieves, which is why we came here to swindle some money. This man knows that my brother and I depend on each other for survival. If my brother dies, I will fight you to the death. He is truly vicious. Please forgive us, Master Wang."

The onlookers marveled.

Ma Liu asked, "Who sent you?"

“We don’t really know either. Zhang Laizi from Nancheng usually gets us jobs. At most, he’ll swindle some money, and sometimes he’ll even help us with some things. He’s never harmed anyone,” Liangzi’s brother said sincerely.

Liangzi also knelt down and echoed, "I guarantee that we have never killed anyone. We swear that if we break this oath, may we be struck by lightning."

"Liangzi, what nonsense are you talking about!" His brother got angry again. "If you die, how am I supposed to explain this to our parents?" He quickly banged his head against the ground several times without any hesitation, and blood flowed down his forehead.

"I, Zhang Xiaolong, swear that every word I have said is true. If there is even a single lie, may I die a horrible death."

Ma Liu looked at him and said, "Stop kowtowing, get up first. I've sent someone to find Zhang Laizi. If it's true, it'll be considered that you've redeemed yourselves through meritorious service, but the punishment you deserve won't be less."

The two men stood up, bowed, and said, "Thank you, sir!"

Before long, another messenger brought Zhang Laizi. Zhang Laizi said that he did not know who he was. Usually, people would throw the jobs directly out the window onto the table, so he never closed the window at night.

Ma Liu said coldly, "You've got some nerve. You take on jobs without knowing anyone. Aren't you afraid of losing your head?"

Zhang Laizi cried and said, “Sir, I have no choice. I was born ugly, and no one wants me to work. I still have to make a living. My parents spent all their savings trying to save me when they saw that I had leprosy. I don’t even know how much they spent. When they heard that there was a miraculous medicine that could cure me, they had no money to use, so they had to go and collect the medicine themselves. But they both fell off a cliff and died. My parents have spent their whole lives on me. I can’t take my own life. I have to live to fulfill my filial duty.”