Divorced woman with child travels through time

When Chen Wenfang mentioned stockpiling grain, Wang Erniu smiled and said, "It's good that you've decided, my wife. Stockpiling more grain is not a bad thing. Just don't start selling the grain later, otherwise we'll have taken over all the business, and everyone will have complaints."

Chen Wenfang smiled helplessly. She hadn't intended to do it in the first place; it was purely out of good intentions.

So the two of them put their heads together and took out another thousand taels of silver, specifically for stockpiling grain, dried vegetables, and meat. Since they couldn't keep buying from their own town, they asked two merchants who regularly came to pick up goods to buy rice and flour, as well as a batch of two hundred sets of cotton-padded clothes, trousers, and shoes for adults and children. This was to prevent any mischievous children from getting their clothes dirty and having nothing to change into. People in ancient times were terrified of poverty; even an adult having one set of cotton-padded clothes for winter was considered good. They would have the merchants deliver the goods directly to them, secretly stockpiling supplies in case they ever needed them.

On the 21st day of the eleventh lunar month, the winter solstice, Wang Erniu led everyone to get up early. Before dawn, Brother Nie lit the lamp in the main room. Sister-in-law Nie tightened her cotton coat. It was really cold today. It looked like it was going to snow heavily. She wondered if fewer people would come to eat. Probably not. Who knew Chen Ji was so generous, offering meat without restraint? How could these people not come? Sister-in-law Nie thought to herself, her mind a jumble of thoughts.

As they went outside, they saw Li Huanqiu and his wife, who were also coming out. Li Huanqiu warmly moved closer to Brother Nie, and Aunt Li also took Sister Nie's arm. "The weather is really as the mistress of the house was right, it's unusually cold."

They lived in a house next to each other, with Hu Chengxin and Hu Si's house on the other side. They didn't come back to live there often, but this house was considered their home, and everything was neatly arranged.

Sister-in-law Nie laughed and said, "Yes, it's thanks to the kindness of our employer that they bought a lot of coal. My basement is full. Each family has 500 jin (250 kg) of coal. How can we possibly burn it all? The kang (heated brick bed) was really hot last night."

Aunt Li nodded with a smile, "That's right, I've never slept on a heated kang like this before. This coal is really a good thing." Thinking back to the dilapidated house where her brothers squeezed together, she realized that she had been living a very good life these past few days. Fang'er had only been here for a short time, but she had already visibly gained weight.

Sister-in-law Nie smiled sincerely, "My two kids are still asleep. The kang (heated brick bed) is warm, and the kids are sleeping soundly. They didn't make a sound all night. Shuang'er has even gained a lot of weight. Hehe."

"My Fang'er has gained weight too. She usually coughs every winter, but this year she doesn't seem to be coughing at all." Aunt Li said happily, and as she entered the yard, Aunt Liu was already there. "Good morning, Auntie!"

"Good morning, come help me boil water and kill the chickens and ducks," Aunt Liu said, taking a break from her busy schedule.

"Okay, sure." The two immediately went to help. The men were busy setting up ladders, catching the pig, and preparing to slaughter it.

The ladder leaned against the wall in the stone-paved courtyard, where the ground had been washed clean with well water. There was a wooden table more than half a meter high and a huge wooden tray for holding pig's blood.

Several grown men were herding pigs around the pigpen. First, they tied up a fat pig weighing about 200 pounds. The pig seemed to know its days were numbered and squealed loudly, waking the children. Chen Xuanyu jumped out of bed. "Fifteen, Hao, get up and go watch the fun!" The children looked at him sleepily. Before Hao could say anything, he had already dressed and run off. Da Xiong chuckled and quickly got up, as did Chengcheng next to him.

Chen Xuanyu went to the next room and patted each person on the shoulder, saying, "Get up! Hurry up and look, they're going to slaughter a pig..." After patting everyone, he rushed out before anyone could react, watching the others catch the pig while he screamed in surprise. Soon the children came over, a group of little kids watching the big fat pig in astonishment.

The men shouted, "Come on, move aside, don't get kicked!" Brother Nie yelled.

The fat pig kept grunting and struggling. "Ouch..." came a howl, "Wow..." and the children all retreated a little.

Wang Erniu took a knife, pressed down on the pig's head with one hand, and said, "It's ready, time to bleed it." He then turned to the children and said, "Those of you who are easily frightened, don't look." But he saw Chen Xuanyu leading a group of children watching him with great interest.

Forget it, worrying about nothing. Wang Erniu turned around and precisely plunged the knife into the pig's neck. The pig's loud squeals stopped abruptly, and it gradually stopped moving. Pig blood gushed out with a "splashing" sound, filling more than half a basin.

The group of children next to Chen Xuanyu looked at Wang Erniu with admiration, especially Da Xiong. After living in Chen's manor for a while, he learned that the best kung fu among them was the master, but unfortunately the master was too busy and went to town every day, so he didn't have time to teach them.

After draining the pig's blood, Wang Erniu swiftly and skillfully cleaved it open with a knife, removed the internal organs, and had them taken away for further processing. He then placed the pork on a cutting board, and boiling water was promptly brought over. Together, they lifted the pork into a large wooden tub to soak, making it easier to remove the hair later. They also made room to prepare for slaughtering the second pig.

"Breakfast is ready!" Aunt Liu called out as she came out. Chen Xuanyu had already eaten. "Time to eat!" The children swarmed after her again.

Chen Wenfang had just gotten up and was washing her face when she saw them. She yelled, "Chen Xuanyu, didn't you wash your face or brush your teeth? Come here right now!"

"Hehe!" Chen Xuanyu stepped halfway into the room and backed away, grinning as he said, "Mom, why don't you sleep a little longer? It's so cold and it's still early."

Chen Wenfang jokingly scolded, "Hurry up and wash! You have to wash your face and brush your teeth before you can eat." She then added to the group of children who had observantly gathered around, "You too, remember that?"

"Got it..." the children obediently replied in unison. They picked up their bamboo cups and toothbrushes, lined up, and skillfully brushed their teeth.

Aunt Liu brought hot water and washed the faces of the children one by one after they had brushed their teeth. After each child finished washing, they would say, "Thank you, Grandma Liu."

"Oh, go eat quickly." Aunt Liu was overjoyed. When will Dazhuang give her a grandson to take care of? Haha.

After washing their faces, the children sat around the table. Sister-in-law Nie prepared noodles for them and placed them beside the table. The children took turns eating the noodles, which were shredded pork and egg noodles. There was a large bowl on the table with hand-pulled noodles, golden-brown fried eggs, and a third of a bowl of shredded pork, sprinkled with bright green scallions and sesame oil. Da Xiong ate three large bowls, and he found that since coming to the village, he didn't seem to have such a big appetite. It seemed like he hadn't felt hungry in a long time.

Tie Tou was the same; he ate a big bowl and couldn't eat anymore. Not to mention the other children, Aunt Liu even gave each of them a poached egg. After eating more than half a bowl, they couldn't eat anymore, but they couldn't waste it, so Da Xiong took it and poured it all into his bowl and ate it, instructing, "Next time you can't eat this much, ask Auntie to give you less." Xiao Douya and Xiao Yi nodded obediently.

Lulu, who was sitting next to him, looked at him and thought, "This kid is quite good at being an older brother. He takes good care of his younger brothers."