Divorced woman with child travels through time

Wang Erniu suddenly hesitated. He asked, "Fang'er, do you regret marrying me?"

Chen Wenfang was baffled. "Why would I regret it? I love you, so of course I'm going to marry you."

"But that's the Prince's residence. Don't you want to go?"

Chen Wenfang was still somewhat confused and said, "What does my marriage to you have to do with the Prince's Mansion?"

Wang Erniu found it somewhat amusing, but still said with a hint of jealousy, "What if that person is Zhao Lue? Would you be willing to go with them?"

Chen Wenfang realized what was happening and laughed, "Of course not. I didn't go with him back then, I won't go with him now, and I won't go with him in the future. It's just because you are you that I'm willing to marry you. It has nothing to do with him."

Moved, Wang Erniu hugged her tightly, rested his head on her shoulder, and said, "My wife, you are so good."

Chen Wenfang slipped her hands inside his large gloves and grasped his hand, laughing, "Of course I'm good! Would I marry you if I weren't?"

"Yes, yes, yes, my wife is the best, the best wife in the world." Wang Erniu smiled happily, his chest heaving. Chen Wenfang listened to his pounding heartbeat and felt very at ease. Wang Erniu felt a sense of loss and then regained her, but he was also quite melancholy. It seemed that he must keep a close eye on her from now on. Chen Wenfang, on the other hand, secretly thought that she must never be alone again, as it was easy for something to happen.

On the way, they met Qi Heng and the others who had rushed over. Wang Erniu clasped his hands in thanks and they went back.

Upon returning to Chen's restaurant, Aunt Hu was comforting the two little girls. Xiao Ke had already gone home, and as soon as Xiao Ling saw Chen Wenfang, she burst into tears and rushed to her side. "Mistress, you're finally back! You scared me to death..."

Xiao Ke also came over, sobbing, and tugged at her sleeve, saying, "Second sister-in-law, are you alright?"

After comforting one person and patting the other, Chen Wenfang said with a smile, "It's alright, it's alright. Xiaolingzi is so clever, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to come back. Thank you..."

The two children were comforted and then went home with peace of mind. Chen Wenfang also washed up properly before going to bed. Qi Heng even had someone deliver her hidden arrow. They didn't plan to go back to Wangjiazhuang because they were going to distribute porridge tomorrow. They couldn't easily tell others about being abducted, so they had to keep it to themselves and be more careful in the future.

The next morning, the brown rice and beans that Wang Hanyang had ordered a few days earlier were delivered. The business was open as usual today, but Chen Wenfang and a few other women had to work hard. They got up early to soak the rice in a large vat so that it would cook faster later.

Wang Erniu set up two large pots at the entrance of Chen's Restaurant, and brought out a table and bowls and chopsticks. The sign at the entrance also stated that today was a day for distributing porridge. The porridge was already cooking in the pots and had been cooking for about noon. Two long queues had formed at the entrance of Chen's Restaurant. Many poor people in tattered clothes were mixed in with their families, and there were also many refugees from the neighboring county.

Chen Wenfang was quite moved, as she had been in the same situation back then. However, she also knew that it was not good to stand out, as some things were beyond her control.

Wang Hanyang banged on the gong and called out, "It's time to distribute charity porridge! Everyone, please line up properly..."

The crowd slowly began to move. Chen Wenfang and Chef Wang's wife each carried a large ladle and began serving porridge to people. Some people brought their own bowls, which were old and worn, while others did not have bowls. After Chen arranged for them to leave their bowls, they were asked to do so.

"Here, catch it..."

"Thank you, my wife, you are truly a kind person..."

"Careful, it's hot! Here!"

"Thank you so much, Madam Chen..."

"Little one, hold on tight. Your bowl is too broken to hold it all. Use this instead..."

"Thank you, Auntie..." A beggar carefully took the old bowl from Madam Wang's hand, contentedly picked up the bowl of porridge, moved to the corner of the wall and began to drink. As the sunlight shone in, he squinted his eyes and slowly sipped with enjoyment.

Xiaoling and Ake watched silently from the side without saying a word. Many refugees squatted by the corner of Chen's restaurant to drink the porridge. They did not drive them away, but waited until they finished drinking before taking the bowls left by some people to the kitchen to wash. Madam Chen said that these bowls that had been used to distribute porridge could not be used for guests. They had to be washed and boiled in water with salt for half an hour before being used to distribute porridge again the next day.

The rice Chen Wenfang and his team bought wasn't good quality either; it was just some old rice mixed with beans. But at least it was cooked into a thick porridge, unlike the thin porridge served at other shops. So, in no time, the two large pots of porridge were finished.

Wang Hanyang brought out two large pots of porridge from the kitchen, adding some dried radish to make it more filling. In less than half an hour, before the two large pots of porridge had even been filled, there were only a few people left in line.

Wang Hanyang then banged the gong to stop distributing porridge and said that porridge would be distributed again in the next few days, for a total of five days. Presumably, all the porridge stalls in the town were distributing porridge on the same day, so not many people came to Chen's stall. Even after the four large pots of porridge were finished, not many refugees stayed. However, there were quite a few onlookers and diners.

Some regular customers joked, "Manager Wang, nobody drinks your porridge?"

Wang Hanyang smiled and said, "If no one is drinking, that's a good thing. It proves that no one is hungry. Isn't that good?" The old customer clasped his hands in return and said, "Manager Wang is very generous. What you said is indeed true."

Chen Wenfang and Aunt Hu and the others took turns distributing porridge, which wasn't tiring. After finishing today's porridge, they soaked the rice to make it easier to cook tomorrow. Old Wang hadn't cooked eight-treasure porridge these past few days, so he helped cook some to make it easier to distribute porridge to the refugees again tomorrow. For some reason, there seemed to be more refugees this year than in previous years...

The same thing happened the next day. Chen Wenfang and the others did not return to the village. They got up early to cook and distribute porridge. For three days in a row, until the fourth day, more and more people came to Chen's to wait for porridge.

Old Wang was dumbfounded when he opened the door. "What's going on?" What time is it? Chen's porridge is usually served at noon. It's only morning and the sun hasn't even risen yet, but the line at the door already stretches all the way to the market. Old Wang immediately went in and told them what was going on. The men who came out were also dumbfounded.

Chen Wenfang immediately spoke up, "Hanyang, have the rice shop owner bring over another batch of rice and flour. On the first day of the lunar new year, ask if any of the refugees are willing to come and help. Let them eat first. We must make sure these people have food today, otherwise things will get ugly, and we'll make trouble for them."

“Okay!”... “Okay”... The two responded and left.

Wang Erniu said, "I'll go see what's going on!" He then disappeared into the crowd. He learned that the refugees had come spontaneously. Over the past few days, there had been shops distributing porridge everywhere. After talking with each other, they discovered that only Chen's porridge was delicious, without any sand, and with a little salt added. Other shops didn't have these features.

Chen Wenfang suddenly realized why she hadn't understood the complicated look in Chef Wang's wife's eyes when she added salt, and why she hadn't taken the comment, "Mrs. Chen is such a kind person," as flattery.