Divorced woman with child travels through time

The next day, just as dawn broke, Big Bear was still asleep when he was awakened by a loud banging on the door.

"Get up! Hurry up!" Zhang Chang and the other Taoist priest had already eaten a bowl of spicy and delicious meat sauce noodles in the kitchen and were full. If he hadn't been thinking about practicing his skills, he could have eaten two more bowls.

Wuxin picked his teeth in the back, letting his senior brother bang on the door.

Big Bear, still half asleep, slowly went over and opened the door, then climbed back into bed and continued sleeping. The other children, however, remained unmoved, simply turning over in their blankets and continuing to sleep.

"Get up, kids, it's time to practice your skills!" Master Wuxin said earnestly.

Master Zhang Chang pulled on this one and then tugged at that one, but none of them moved.

Big Bear, fighting off sleepiness, mumbled, "It's not time yet! Madam Chen said that we're growing, so all the children can sleep until the end of Chenshi (7-9 AM), and no one in the village is allowed to disturb them."

"What...what kind of rule is this?" The two looked at each other, somewhat bewildered.

"It really works, otherwise look how tall I've grown in less than a year. Don't bother me, I need to sleep." After saying that, Big Bear rolled over the covers and went back to sleep.

The two old men looked at the sleeping babies in the room and their hearts softened.

"Alright, if Madam Chen is right, taller children are indeed better. Let's go practice our skills on our own first." Master Zhang Chang convinced himself and pulled Master Wuxin to the training ground.

Brother Nie and his group of roughnecks have just finished a fight and are having breakfast.

The women and aunties in the village were up early and busy at work, their activities bustling yet orderly, their voices soft and their laughter light as they chatted and laughed, creating a lively and vibrant atmosphere. It was truly a scene of everyday life.

"You know what, living here is actually quite nice," Wu Xin said with feeling upon seeing this.

"Hmm, you make a good point. I don't think I'm full yet. I'll go get another bowl of noodles. Anyway, the kids won't be up that soon." Zhang Chang rubbed his stomach and went to the kitchen.

"I think I'm hungry too, I'll go get a bowl."

The two old men shamelessly ate a large bowl of noodles with lots of meat, their mouths greasy from the food, before finally burping and strolling along the edge of the fields to digest their food.

Looking at the cola in the kitchen, Yanxia couldn't help but tease, "These two Taoist priests look thin, but their stomachs are quite large!"

“That’s right, such a big bowl, if you eat too much, it’s easy to get indigestion,” Chunlan said with a smile.

“You can’t say that. They love our cooking, which is a good thing. It would be best to keep them here. These children are the future hope of our village. The landlady said we need to find a better teacher to come and teach at the village. Then we’ll have both scholars and martial artists, and the children will all be successful. Your younger brother can also come and study here. The landlady said there’s no tuition fee.” Aunt Liu explained patiently and persuasively.

"That's great, it was my fault, I won't say it again next time." Yanxia obediently admitted her mistake.

Aunt Hu's eyes lit up. She thought to herself, "That's wonderful! Xiao Bo can go to school now. This child is a bit withdrawn. He just doesn't want to go to Wangjiazhuang. All the other children, big and small, have gone, but he won't. He can only go occasionally with the children in the village to learn to read and write."

It wasn't until the sun rose that the children got up and sat down to eat breakfast. Of course, Chen Wenfang also got up at that time. The two old Taoists strolled around the village twice and returned to the main house to find them eating steamed buns and drinking eight-treasure porridge in a lively atmosphere. They couldn't help but come over and chat.

“Madam Chen! If they sleep so late and don’t practice their skills diligently, how can they improve their health and become more skilled?” Master Zhang Chang muttered to himself.

Chen Wenfang ignored him and said with a smile, "Have you two Taoist priests eaten? How about another bowl of thick eight-treasure porridge? It's been simmering since yesterday, all night long. It's sweet, tender, and very good for the stomach."

“This…” Master Zhang Chang was still hesitating.

"I'll have a bowl!" Wu Xin had already sat down.

"Big Bear, bring a bowl for each of the two chefs!" Chen Wenfang shouted.

"Sigh!" After saying that, Big Bear came out carrying two large bowls and placed one in front of each person.

"Oh dear, how could I possibly accept this..." Master Zhang Chang said as he drank, his beard twitching.

"Ah, this tastes so good, how can it be so sweet?" Wuxin asked.

"I added some syrup to this, I'm sorry you two laughed at me. I have a sweet tooth, if you don't like it, you can ask Big Bear not to add it," Chen Wenfang explained.

Big Bear came out of the house again, took a large basket of boiled eggs, and distributed one to each of the children. After distributing them, there were still about ten left, so he put them directly on the table, and whoever wanted to eat could take one.

Master Zhang Chang nodded secretly. Sure enough, this Madam Chen was indeed a kind person, just as everyone said. She could make sure these children were fed and clothed without showing favoritism. The food on the estate was indeed good. However, sleeping in late was a problem. He slurped down a large bowl of porridge before getting down to business.

“Madam Chen, my husband and I have decided to teach here for a while to see if there are any children who have the good fortune to come up the mountain with us in the future. However, he changed the subject, “I will be teaching them from now on. They can’t be so lazy. They must get up early to practice their skills.”

Chen Wenfang slowly finished her porridge, thought for a moment, and then spoke up, "Esteemed Daoists, I, a woman, shouldn't be getting involved in these matters. However, these children were all orphans before, and to put it bluntly, they are all weak. If the village hadn't taken care of them for this period of time, they would probably have lost half their lives to even a minor illness. It's heartbreaking to see. Children are like saplings; only by sleeping and being well-nourished can their bodies grow stronger. That's the foundation. They can practice their martial arts during the day, and they are still too young to do much. It would be better for them to sleep and eat more so they can grow up quickly. You can also get some rest before getting up. What do you think?"

"Well! My wife is kind-hearted, so let her decide." The two old men finally backed down and stopped insisting.

After finishing their meal, the two Taoist priests led the group to the back mountain. Chen Wenfang, having nothing else to do, also took her maid to watch the excitement.

Coming down the back mountain, the villagers had cleared a lot of wasteland, with about a dozen plots along the hillside, all planted with sweet potato seedlings, lush and green with a hint of purple, which was quite a sight.

"Come on, kids, watch this, your master is going to show you a skill today." Master Zhang Chang stood on the highest point of the mountain and said to the children huddled around him. Without waiting for a response, he straightened his hair, tucked his whisk into his waistband, rolled up his Taoist robe, bent down, and jumped straight down, covering a distance of six square miles in an instant.

"Wow! This is a master!" Chen Wenfang exclaimed in amazement. The ground was at least a meter high and wide. Sure enough, all that food was worth it.

"Wow wow wow!"

"Jumped! Jumped!"

"Did he really jump? So high?" the children exclaimed, pointing and discussing amongst themselves.

"Wow, this is awesome!" Chen Xuanyu rubbed his hands together, eager to try it out.