Divorced woman with child travels through time

Holding the detailed register of soldiers in his hand, Wang Erniu couldn't help but feel melancholy; it contained only a few strokes of the pen.

In the third year of the Xiangxing era, the town of Lijia was flooded, and disaster relief efforts were underway!

In the fifth year of the Xiangxing era, a landslide occurred, and disaster relief was needed!

In the seventh year of the Xiangxing era, the river dike breached, and disaster relief was needed!

In the third year of the Zongde reign, during the repair of the river embankment, injuries occurred! The following two striking words are: "Useless!" Such fine soldiers, in their prime, yet these high-ranking parasites simply wanted to dismiss them. And this was just the tip of the iceberg in the Song Dynasty.

That night, he had a detailed conversation with his wife about soldiers' pay and benefits. His wife seemed to have a natural affinity for soldiers like them and insisted that he must pay their salaries on time every month, no matter what. He asked her curiously why.

She said that in her time, people were equal, and soldiers were called "People's Liberation Army soldiers." In earthquake relief and disaster relief, they always stood on the side of the poor and were the most trustworthy people. In any accident, they were always the first to rush to the front...

What would such an army be like? Wang Erniu kept thinking, what if he had such an army? Wouldn't that be amazing! He suddenly realized he didn't dare to think about it anymore. He just asked around and learned about the composition of such an army. After getting a general understanding, he finally had the soldier register in his hand. He had obtained it from the original archives of the county government. After carefully reviewing it, he found it full of loopholes. The records of merits were just crossed out casually, while the mistakes were clearly recorded. For example, someone got into an argument on a certain day and drank too much during drills and was punished with ten lashes and a fine of one hundred taels of silver! It was impossible to read through. Even so, he forced himself to finish reading through the existing hundred or so veterans. They were mostly from good families. He could roughly identify the few cunning and treacherous ones and simply dismissed them.

After careful discussion, the couple decided that the person in charge of managing the soldiers needed to be a thoughtful, upright, and gentle individual who could complement Wang Erniu. The same principle applied to managing the ranks. Just as a general needs a strategist, the person in charge was called a political commissar. So they assigned Wang Hanyang to lead Chu Yi in this task.

Wang Erniu wished he could copy everything. That other world was so powerful. According to his wife, its technology was so advanced that it could fly and travel anywhere. China in the future was the world's number one power. How powerful it was! Of course, it was worth learning everything from it.

As they chatted, the conversation drifted to all sorts of weapons, vehicles, and equipment. Wang Erniu kept talking to her until midnight, until Chen Wenfang finally couldn't stay awake any longer, and the two of them finally went to sleep. Even so, it was enough to get his blood pumping. He had a vague idea in his mind, or perhaps it was possible that with a wife like her, he could create and change a different Song Dynasty...

Excited and unable to sleep all night, Wang Erniu rubbed his sore eyes at dawn, glanced at his sleeping wife beside him, got up, went to the training ground, and practiced boxing for an hour before calming down. "Don't rush, don't rush," Chen Wenfang advised him. "Take it one step at a time. Protecting our country and safeguarding our home requires taking each step steadily and surely to grow stronger."

Thinking of this, Wang Erniu suppressed his urge to tell Wang Hanyang. His wife had such a strange secret; what would happen to her if others found out? He was still too weak to protect her.

Looking at the old soldier's back, Wang Erniu silently thought to himself, "Don't worry, I will lead you all to a better life."

Li Daquan spent three coins to take an oxcart and it took him half an hour to get to the village. Xiawu Village is located in a low-lying area with many ponds. Most people make a living by raising fish and growing lotus roots. As a result, many people suffer from rheumatism and pain in their hands and feet by middle age. Li Daquan's wife, Mei Niangzi, is one such person. She often suffers from back and leg pain and cannot get out of bed during the coldest days of winter. Even so, she still sits on the bed and tries to embroider handkerchiefs to supplement the family income.

The eldest daughter in the family, Li Xiuer, is already fifteen years old. This girl, who should be getting married, stays at home to do chores because she feels sorry for her mother.

Because of the damage to her health during the birth of Xiu'er, Mei Niangzi had to recuperate for a long time before giving birth to her second son, Li Fusheng. Fusheng was only six years old. Perhaps because his mother was in poor health, the child she gave birth to was also born with a weak constitution. That's why Li Xiu'er was unwilling to get married and supported the family on her own. Fortunately, in the past two years, they had obtained sweet potato seeds, which could be planted in any field, vegetable patch, or wild slope, and the family had not gone hungry since.

Li Xiuer was chopping pig feed when Li Fusheng, wearing trousers with two holes in the back, four patches, and two more holes in the knees, was tapping and banging on the grass in the yard with a stick, seemingly playing with something. Hearing the sound of the oxcart, he looked up, dropped the stick, and rushed out, shouting, "Father's back!"

Li Xiuer looked up in surprise, "Father!"

Li Daquan, carrying a full load of things, beamed with joy on his ruddy face. He happily led Li Fusheng home.

"What is this, Daddy!" Li Fusheng smelled the faint sweet fragrance emanating from the paper package, and his saliva unconsciously dripped to his lips.

Li Daquan walked and laughed, looking at him and saying, "It's a snack, given to us by the lieutenant. We'll eat it when we get home."

“Then I’ll carry it for you, Dad!” Li Fusheng was very sensible.

"No need, this is a bit heavy, Daddy, take it!" Both father and son smiled contentedly.

Li Xiuer also came out to greet him.

"Father! Why are there snacks this time?" Li Xiuer naturally took the things from his hands.

"My dear daughter! Your father has a good superior, life will be much better from now on, haha." Li Daquan handed them two bags, still carrying a sack of coarse flour on his shoulder. He was overjoyed.

The father and daughter arrived at their doorstep quickly. The old woman from the house across the street saw them from afar, and after the three of them went inside, she spat on the ground, "Pah! Have they climbed up the social ladder now? Who are they showing off all these bags to? You poor wretches!"

Unaware of the situation, Li Daquan's family was overjoyed when Li Fusheng excitedly opened the paper package of pastries, carefully picked up a piece of Sachima, and gently broke off a small piece to put in his mouth.

"Mmm, Mom, this is so delicious, you should try it!" He nodded repeatedly as he ate, and carefully took a piece with his slightly dark little hands and held it to Mei Niangzi's lips.

"Oh, alright, Mother will try it!" Madam Mei said with a loving expression. Although her family was poor, her two children were truly sensible.

"Mmm, this is so sweet. Fusheng, eat it. Mother doesn't like it." Mei Niangzi licked her lips. The snack was indeed delicious, but she still pushed it to the children.

Unaware of the danger, the two children happily picked up the snacks and began to nibble on them little by little, reluctant to finish them all at once.

Li Daquan saw this and felt sorry for her. He took a piece and forced it to her lips. "Wife, please eat. Our Shangguan is a good man. Although we can't afford these, I think we will get more in the future. Try it, don't be reluctant to eat it."

"Sigh, alright~" Mei Niangzi couldn't refuse, so she wrapped it in a handkerchief and ate it delicately. Seeing that he wasn't eating and was just grinning at them, she forced it into his mouth.

Li Daquan chuckled to himself, then took a piece and ate it. It was indeed delicious—fragrant, soft, and fluffy. The clouds in the sky must taste just like this.