Divorced woman with child travels through time

"My wife, you heard me right, that's all you want." Wang Erniu hugged her and took a breath to refresh himself.

"Then you should save some money." Chen Wenfang took out her purse from her pocket, took out a few silver notes, and handed them to him.

"My wife is so good, kiss me!" Wang Erniu shamelessly imitated her and kissed her.

"Oh dear, we're an old married couple. I want to kiss you back!" Chen Wenfang shamelessly kissed him back.

"Hehe." Wang Erniu subconsciously laughed at her coaxing.

The carriage arrived at the workshop.

The workshop was, after all, a place where skilled craftsmen were frequently produced, and it looked quite impressive. It was fully equipped with all kinds of facilities. Chen Wenfang was curious and started to wander around inside. However, strangely, there were not many people inside.

Just as I was about to shout, a ten-year-old boy ran out carrying a book. His gray linen clothes were faded from washing, and his shoes had a hole in them.

"Who are you looking for?" The little boy had several heavy scrolls pressed against his thin arms, leaving marks on them.

"Uh? Is the person in charge here?" Chen Wenfang asked instinctively.

Although she didn't quite understand, she could guess. "My master went out to look for something and probably won't be back until very late," Xiao Tong replied, raising her head with difficulty.

Chen Wenfang leaned over to look and was startled. Her face was the size of a palm, and her eyes were as big as light bulbs. She was so thin that she looked unrecognizable.

"Ouch." She jerked her head back.

"What's wrong!" Wang Erniu, who was looking at a long knife at the door, asked.

The child was already struggling to hold the book, and when she startled him, he couldn't hold it steady anymore, and the book wobbled and was about to fall.

"It's alright!" Chen Wenfang replied. Seeing the book about to fall over, Chen Wenfang instinctively reached out and caught it, saying, "Where are you going to put it? I'll take it for you."

"The sun is shining brightly today, I'll take it out to air it in the yard," the little boy said softly as she obediently let her take it.

“Okay!” Chen Wenfang carried the scrolls and walked a few steps to the middle of the courtyard. There was a large stone in the middle with several scrolls of books on it. Chen Wenfang squatted down and helped him spread them out.

"Gurgle, gurgle..."

"What's that sound?" Chen Wenfang looked around curiously.

"I'm hungry," the little boy said shyly, clutching his stomach.

"You poor child," Chen Wenfang said, patting his little face. "Wait a minute, I'll go get you something to eat."

"No need, my master will be back soon, and he will bring me food," the child politely declined.

Upon returning, Shen Jianwei noticed a woman and her apprentice airing books in the sunlight. His expression softened, and he naturally ignored Wang Erniu, who was standing at the door ready to speak to him.

Wang Erniu awkwardly touched his foot and then entered the courtyard.

"What do you want?" Shen Jianwei came in carrying a package of unknown contents, her face still cold.

"I am the newly arrived pacification commissioner!" Wang Erniu bowed very politely. "This is my wife. She has some things to ask you."

"Oh."

"Master!" The boy stood up happily and rushed towards him.

"What's wrong?" Shen Jianwei, also dressed in gray linen, put down her cloth bag and asked softly.

The little boy looked at the sand peeking out from the scattered cloth bag and was slightly disappointed. After a moment of hesitation, he said sensibly, "It's alright."

"It's good that you're alright. After the books are dried and put away, I'll sweep the yard later."

Shen Jianwei turned her head back to look at the bag of sand, as if there were gold inside, completely ignoring the child's expression.

"Hey, didn't you notice he's hungry?" Chen Wenfang interjected, feeling sorry for him.

"Oh, right!" Shen Jianwei suddenly realized, "No wonder my stomach hurt earlier, we haven't eaten yet."

"I'm sorry, Little Deer, Master forgot to buy you something to eat. Wait for me to finish this and then I'll go." Shen Jianwei turned back and smiled apologetically at him before going back to look at the sand, feeling around in it with her hand.

"It's alright. Master, you go ahead with your work." Little Deer replied obediently as she picked up the broom beside her.

"This child..." What a troublesome master and apprentice. Chen Wenfang walked to the side, called over a guard, and gave him five taels of silver.

Seeing this, Wang Erniu looked at the large cleaver again, and casually picked it up and brandished it a few times.

After waiting for a while, Chen Wenfang got really bored. Seeing that Shen Jianwei wasn't going to pay attention to them anymore, she said, "Do you have any transparent glass here? I'd like to buy some."

"Transparent glass? You mean this kind?" Shen Jianwei became interested and took out two small round mirrors from a box next to her.

Chen Wenfang looked at it and said, "Isn't this something from a telescope? You can make this?"

"Oh, you know about telescopes. Glass is easy to make. I just want to know how these two things can be combined to see so far? I made a few pieces last time, but the results were not satisfactory."

"Isn't that just a regular pinhole camera? The glass plate is concave and convex, so it can magnify the image," Chen Wenfang said without hesitation.

"This!" Shen Jianwei exclaimed in surprise, her pupils dilating slightly and her mouth agape. "Could this lady please explain to me in detail?"

"We'll talk about it later! Let's eat first." Chen Wenfang looked at the waiter who was delivering food at the door and told him to set the table.

Shen Jianwei had no choice but to wash her hands and eat first, and Xiao Lu threw down the broom and came over.

As Wang Erniu sat down, he said, "Lord Shen, would you be willing to part with this knife? I really like it!"

"One hundred taels of silver per bundle. General, you can pay as you please." Shen Jianwei didn't even look up as he picked up his chopsticks and started eating.

"So expensive?" Chen Wenfang asked, biting her chopsticks.

“That was forged by me using black iron, and it took me half a year to complete.” Shen Jianwei raised his head and picked up a piece of mutton. “However, if Madam Wang is willing to guide me on how to make this telescope, I can give this knife to General Wang.”

"That's easy, I'll explain in detail later. But we can't just take this knife for free. I'll give you some silver, and you can make me a few pieces of transparent glass the size of books." Chen Wenfang looked at the little deer who looked like a reincarnated demon and felt sorry for him, so she put another piece of egg on his plate.

"That's fine then. What does Madam need such a large glass for?" Shen Jianwei had already eaten two bowls of rice and was adding more rice to her bowl.

Seeing this, Wang Erniu put down his bowl. He couldn't win against them, so he decided to eat at his residence that night.

"I'll tell you about it later once it's done," Chen Wenfang said, not intending to reveal anything.

They ate the meal clean, leaving not a drop of soup. They didn't know how many days they hadn't eaten. Chen Wenfang liked this kind of meal. After the glass problem was solved, she chatted with Shen Jianwei for a long time about the principle of pinhole imaging. Looking at the two unreliable people, she worried that they might starve to death next time she came. So she gave the waiter a deposit and asked him to deliver two meals to them every day.

After Xiaolu finished eating, her complexion improved significantly. Upon hearing her words, her eyes lit up as she watched Chen Wenfang and the others leave.

Wang Erniu was also very satisfied, as he had never had a suitable weapon.

The carriage hurried off to the money exchange; they hadn't withdrawn their money yet.