Divorced woman with child travels through time

Looking into her eyes, Aunt Hu felt a pang of heartache and nodded involuntarily. "Okay, Auntie agrees."

Chen Wenfang breathed a sigh of relief, turned to look at Wang Erniu, and said again, "Since you've agreed, why don't you move to Chen's workshop before the New Year if you're willing? We've already promised you to start work at Chen's, and the news must have spread by now. Our Chen's is a big name that attracts a lot of attention. If you don't move there now, you probably won't have a good New Year."

Aunt Hu paused, then said with some doubt, "Really? We're a poor family, surely we wouldn't be like that!"

Chen Wenfang smiled and said, "It's okay, Auntie. Take another look. If you really can't stand it anymore, just come to Chen's Shop. Our shop will stay open until the 29th of the lunar year. Just come find us when you've made up your mind."

Aunt Hu smiled and nodded, "Alright, then we'll take our leave now, so as not to delay your business." The two women got up and led the two children to say goodbye.

Chen Wenfang then instructed Chu Yi and Da Zhuang to pack some snacks, and watched them leave.

Uncle Hu's family had just come out of Chen's shop when Xiao Ding, who had bought incense and candles, bumped into them. Seeing Da Zhuang warmly seeing them off, and several people dressed in rags but carrying large bags and bundles, Xiao Ding immediately guessed that these were Chen Wenfang's poor relatives. They had family, but where was his young master? No one. Remembering his own daughter's unjust death, he was instantly filled with rage and resentment.

Xiao Ding clenched his fists, his hatred surging, wishing he could rush up and tear their mouths apart.

"Laugh, laugh, what's so funny? What's there to be happy about?"

"Hold on! You have to hold on, you can't beat them yet..."

"We can't afford to make a mess of things now. The young master and young lady's bodies are still warm. We can't do this. I have to keep this in mind. I'll settle this score with you one by one..." Xiao Ding silently finished speaking to himself and left quickly without looking back.

Chen Wenfang had just happily seen off Uncle Hu and the others. This feeling of finding a treasure filled her with joy and surprise. She never expected that she would be able to see her parents from her previous life in this strange world, especially her father who had passed away long ago. She was really happy. It seemed that she was not alone here.

When Chen Wenfang is unhappy, she wants to go shopping; when she's happy, she also wants to go shopping. These ingrained habits are hard to break. She just buys more when she has money and spends less when she doesn't.

But the children had already been taken out shopping by the men, so she had no choice but to pick two little girls from the shop, Xiao Kezi and Xiao Ling. She told Wang Erniu, and then took the two girls out for a stroll. It was perfect to bring the girls along, as she could also buy some cosmetics that women liked. Anyway, the cosmetics shop wasn't far from Chen's shop. Just then, a regular customer came in, and Wang Erniu called him over to discuss business, so he didn't come along.

The rouge shop wasn't far from Chen's Teahouse; they were both on the same street. It was only about fifty meters away. Chen Wenfang led her two little girls excitedly into the shop. The rouge shop was packed with female customers, ranging from seven or eight years old to fifty-year-old mothers. It was crowded, with people packed shoulder to shoulder. With the year-end approaching, everyone had some money, and naturally, their desire to look beautiful was undiminished.

"Take a look and see if there's anything you like. I'll buy it for you today," Chen Wenfang said with a smile.

Xiaoling and Xiaoke exchanged a glance and happily wandered around the store. Chen Wenfang said from behind, "But be careful not to stray too far from me. There are too many people, and you might not be able to find me if we're jostling around."

Little Lingzi obediently came over immediately, but Xiao Ke was different. He squeezed next to a jewelry cabinet and shouted loudly, "Auntie, I want this hairpin."

Chen Wenfang, holding Xiaolingzi's hand, squeezed through the crowd. She looked at it; it was a peach wood hairpin adorned with pink velvet flowers, quite charming. She smiled and said, "Do you like it? Buy it! What about Xiaolinzi? What kind does she like?"

Xiao Ke smiled happily and said, "Thank you, madam."

Xiaoling pointed to the pear blossom hairpin next to her and said, "I like this one."

“Okay, buy them all. Or how about we pick one for each of your mothers?” Chen Wenfang continued.

“Okay, okay, thank you, sir.” Xiao Kezi said sweetly, “Then I’ll pick out this camellia for my mother.” Xiao Ling replied, “I don’t have a mother, so I won’t pick one…”

Chen Wenfang couldn't bear to see the well-behaved and sensible Xiaoling like this, so she patted her head and said, "Why don't you pick out a hairpin for your grandfather? It'll be the same thing."

Xiao Lingzi looked up in surprise, "Really? Is that okay?"

Chen Wenfang laughed and said, "Of course! I said I'd pay the bill today."

"Okay, here you go..." Xiao Lingzi replied with the same enthusiasm as if she were serving a customer a dish, quickly picking out a men's hairpin.

"Let's choose this one!" Xiaoling said, pointing to an antique-style Zen wood hairpin.

"Okay. Mr. Zhang, bring me this, this, and that, and wrap them all up together," Chen Wenfang called out with a smile.

Mr. Zhang was busy with his work. "Wait a moment, wait a moment!" He looked up and saw Chen Wenfang. He immediately said, "Ah, it's Mrs. Chen who has time to come over. Please wait a moment, I'll wrap it up for you right away."

"Oh, no rush, business is booming, take your time wrapping them," Chen Wenfang replied with a smile.

Soon, Boss Zhang finished wrapping the hairpin. Chen Wenfang thought that Wang Xiaoer was alone and probably had no one to buy it for him, so she added a small bell of the same style, choosing the exact same hairpin as her grandfather, as a token of her affection.

Chen Wenfang paid the money and gave the items to the two little girls. Holding a girl's hand in each hand, she strolled slowly back down the street. Not far away, a carriage moved slowly with the flow of people, and a man watched the three of them with a furtive gaze.

As the carriage approached Chen Wenfang and her companions, a hand suddenly reached out from inside and struck her on the neck with a sharp "crack." Chen Wenfang instantly lost her strength and fainted. Several large hands quickly reached out from inside the carriage and dragged her inside.

The two children quickly realized what was happening and watched helplessly as Chen Wenfang was dragged into the carriage. Xiao Lingzi immediately shouted, "What are you doing? Let go of my wife!" An old woman next to her actually covered her mouth with her hand.

Xiao Kezi realized what was happening and was about to shout when several more passersby squeezed through the crowd, quickly separating the two of them. Their shouts were drowned out by the throng, and the carriage slowly moved forward. Xiao Lingzi was frantic. She bit down hard on the large hand covering her mouth. The woman, in pain, released her grip, squeezed through the crowd, turned, and disappeared from sight.