Divorced woman with child travels through time

Wang Erniu asked curiously, "Why did you buy this, wife?"

"Make a bag so you can just carry it around later," Chen Wenfang explained.

"Can't you just carry it with a rope?"

“That’s a little different; this one will make you look more prestigious,” Chen Wenfang said with a smile.

"Then, wife, let's see what you make later?" Wang Erniu said, holding up the paper.

"Yes, I'll still be in charge. Let Aunt Hu do it later; she's better at handicrafts," Chen Wenfang said honestly.

The two then went to a seed shop and changed their original order of 300 catties of sugar every three days to 500 catties every three days.

The shopkeeper readily agreed, and seeing that Chen Wenfang and her companion were about to leave, he said with a smile, "Madam Chen, this year's sugarcane harvest in the south is abundant, so the price of sugar has been adjusted. It's now seventy wen per jin."

"That's great, thank you so much, Mr. Li." Chen Wenfang was also happy; the price reduction meant lower costs for her as well.

“There’s one more thing,” Boss Li said in a low voice. “A merchant somehow found out that he also ordered 100 catties of the sugar you ordered from me. I’m afraid someone is trying to steal your business. Madam Chen, you should be careful. This person is not a good person. I’ve raised the price for him to 95 wen per catty, so that he can take your business.”

"I see," Chen Wenfang said with a smile and bowed. "Thank you very much, Mr. Li, for your kind intentions."

Wang Erniu also clasped his hands in thanks.

The two then headed towards Chen's restaurant.

Chen Wenfang asked Wang Erniu, "Husband, who do you think bought the sugar? Is it trying to steal our sugar?"

Wang Erniu said, "When business grows big, people will naturally copy it. I will investigate and find out the truth, my wife, don't worry."

Chen Wenfang nodded, and as soon as she entered the door, Chu Yi pulled her upstairs.

"What's wrong?" Chen Wenfang asked with a smile. "You're a grown woman, why are you so flustered?"

"Godmother, there's something I want to tell you." Chu Yi swallowed hard, a little nervous.

"What is it? Tell me." Chen Wenfang also became serious.

"I want to manage my monthly allowance myself from now on." Chu Yi finished speaking in one breath, looking at Chen Wenfang cautiously.

Chen Wenfang chuckled and said, "I thought it was a big deal. You're in charge of the accounts yourself, and I arranged for you to distribute the monthly allowances here. Just go and collect your allowance and then do the accounting."

"Okay, thank you godmother, hehe." Chu Yi was so happy that he ran downstairs and wrote a big entry in the ledger. Chen Wenfang opened the storeroom and gave him his silver. The monthly salary, bonus, and New Year's money, etc., added up to about one hundred and fifty taels.

On the first day, he took the silver and put it carefully on his person. He then asked Chen Wenfang for leave and went out. Chen Wenfang could only instruct him, "Don't waste money. Save it for when you marry a wife."

"I understand, godmother, I won't waste money." Chu Yi was still immersed in the joy of receiving the money, and happily threw down these words before running off.

Wang Erniu was finalizing an order with a merchant when he saw Chu Yi leave. He asked Chen Wenfang, "What's wrong with Chu Yi? Why are you so happy?"

Chen Wenfang was struggling with the particularly stiff oil paper in her hand, and said without looking up, "He took all his wages, probably to buy something." How come this paper won't turn back after being folded? It seems the only way is to sew it up with a needle.

Wang Erniu frowned. He occasionally checked the accounts and found that the first day of the month had more than a hundred taels of silver in savings. He was eating and sleeping at Chen's place, so what did he need so much silver for? Could he have been cheated? Although the child was clever, he was still a boy, and Wang Erniu was practically his father.

"Hanyang, help me find out what that kid in the first year of junior high has been up to lately?" Wang Erniu asked Hanyang to check on him.

Although Wang Hanyang had reservations, he still went.

After lunch, when there were fewer customers, everyone sat and took a break, with only occasional customers coming in to buy something. Chen Wenfang took some oil paper and placed it on the table. "Fourth Aunt, come and sew a bag for me."

Chen Wenfang placed the square tote bag, which she had finally folded according to her idea after much effort, into her hands and said, "Please sew a circle around these four small holes for me, and sew a tight circle around the bottom and the sides where I applied glue, because I'm worried the glue will easily fall apart."

Aunt Hu opened and closed the bag, examining it closely. "The employer is really skilled. This looks quite nice; it's as straight as a ruler."

"Mother, what are you saying? The master clearly used a ruler to break it." Ke Zi was obviously a spoiled and rebellious girl.

Chen Wenfang didn't mind. She touched her small bag and smiled, "Keke is right. Go find me two ropes about the length of my forearm."

"Okay." Ke Zi was pleased with the praise and left happily.

Xiaoling and Wang Niangzi watched Aunt Hu sew paper bags. To be honest, Aunt Hu's stitches were incredibly tight and straight, just like those made by a sewing machine.

Chen Wenfang was genuinely impressed and praised, "Fourth Aunt's skills are truly exceptional, amazing!"

Xiaoling blinked and said, "Boss, if this is made of cloth, wouldn't it be less likely to break?"

Chen Wenfang laughed and said, "Xiaoling is right, but making them with cloth would be more expensive, and they'll stick together when you put snacks in them. Paper bags are better."

The others nodded as if they understood, Ke Zi found a rope, Chen Wenfang threaded it onto the rope, tied a knot, and a shopping bag exactly the same as in her previous life was made.

Chen Wenfang brought over several bags of pastries and put them in one by one. The quality was good; she put in more than five pounds of pastries, and it still had room to hold more.

Chen Wenfang walked around carrying her handbag, then asked with a smile, "How is it?"

Mrs. Wang replied, "I must say, it's much better than carrying it with a rope."

"Yes, yes, it looks more impressive." The crowd around praised, "This one is good, it holds a lot."

Chen Wenfang smiled and said, "Okay, make more of these later. From now on, we'll give you a free bag with every five jin (2.5 kg) purchase, and print our Chenji brand on it. We'll have a huge customer base."

"Hehe, the boss really knows how to think," Aunt Hu praised.

Chen Wenfang arranged for Wang Hanyang to order a batch of oil paper and paint it with Chen's brand, just in time to pack peanut brittle.

In Lijia Town, in the dilapidated temple where Chu Yi used to live. Chu Yi is confronting a boy who is about the same height as him. Behind the boy stand six or seven little kids who are also imposing, glaring at Chu Yi defiantly.

Chu Yi said sincerely, "Big Bear, think about it, really? If you trust me, I guarantee you won't go hungry, and neither will your little brother."

The boy named Big Bear was very strong, with a muscular build, and was about the same height as Chu Yi. Chu Yi had eaten well that year and had grown taller, almost 1.4 meters. Big Bear said with suspicion, "Is the eldest young master of the Chen family making fun of us? Why would he want to support us for no reason?"

Chu Yi adopted a businessman's tone and said, "Of course I won't raise you for free. We can sign a contract. I will train you and find someone to teach you martial arts. When you grow up, you can come to our Wang Family Village to protect us for the rest of your lives. I won't let you work for nothing. You will be paid wages, clothes, and have enough to eat and wear all year round. But there is one thing: you must be loyal. If I find out that anyone dares to betray our Chen Family, you know what I can do."