Divorced woman with child travels through time

Chen Xuanyu buried his head in Chen Wenfang's arms and ignored him. Shi Tou persisted in shaking him, and Chen Xuanyu finally looked up at him and weakly called out, "Brother Shi Tou, it hurts so much."

Looking at Chen Xuanyu's swollen, bruised face and the large strangulation marks on his neck, Shi Tou burst into tears. He gently touched Chen Xuanyu's head with his small, tender hand and said, both angry and earnest, "Xuanzi, don't be afraid, Brother Shi Tou will protect you."

After saying that, she picked up Chen Xuanyu's pig head, blew on it gently, and whispered softly, "It doesn't hurt anymore, it doesn't hurt anymore."

Aunt Liu, who came in next, didn't know what to say, but silently sat with Chen Wenfang on the bed, watching her, secretly wiping away her tears. She didn't seem to mind the smell of urine and blood.

After a long silence, Aunt Liu finally couldn't hold back any longer. She hugged Chen Wenfang and whispered, "Fang'er, do you have... do you have..." She couldn't bring herself to say it; it was too cruel.

But Chen Wenfang understood. She shook her head, her face so swollen that her eyes were almost invisible, and said, "No, no, I just took advantage of her a little. I'm fine, don't worry."

Aunt Liu could no longer hold back and burst into tears, hugging Chen Wenfang. Thankfully...

Seeing Aunt Liu crying so bitterly, Chen Wenfang felt a pang of grievance and couldn't help but shed tears as well. This wretched place, lacking clothes and food, made everything inconvenient, and she had almost been defiled...

Seeing Chen Wenfang cry, Chen Xuanyu also started wailing, his face stinging from the pain. The four of them ended up crying together on the kang (heated brick bed).

After a while, Uncle Liu Hai arrived with the village chief Wang Youcai and several older men. They could hear some commotion behind them, so it seemed that some people had not yet arrived.

Everyone who entered the room was stunned by what they saw of Wang Ximao. He looked like a vengeful ghost, completely naked, lying in a pool of still-wet blood, surrounded by the stench of urine, his clothes scattered on the floor. However, there were no major wounds on his body. Looking at Chen Wenfang and her son, they were in an even worse state—disheveled, bruised, and dressed in tattered clothes, their arms covered in wounds, looking as if they had been ravaged.

Wang Youcai felt a pang of pity, sighed, picked up Wang Ximao's clothes from the ground and covered his body, then walked towards Chen Wenfang and said softly, "You must be Madam Chen, right? Are you alright? This matter should have been reported to the authorities, but I'm letting you know first."

Chen Wenfang raised her terrified face to look at Wang Youcai and said softly, "Village Chief, I believe you will give me a fair answer."

Wang Youcai was startled and couldn't help but take a step back. What a tragedy! This Madam Chen has been tormented like this.

Wang Youcai hurriedly explained, "Yes, yes, it's not your fault." After saying that, he called over two juniors, "Go to Lijia Town, explain the situation, and notify the county government to come over. This matter is under the jurisdiction of the county government." The two agreed and left.

After a moment of stunned silence, everyone began to whisper and discuss amongst themselves. More and more people arrived, both men and women, and soon Chen Wenfang's house was packed to the brim. Some children, seeing this, ran home to deliver messages to the people in Wangjiazhuang.

"Oh my god, look at this Mrs. Chen, it's terrifying!" This was an old woman.

"Wang Ximao was truly pitiful; he died beneath the peony blossoms."

"Madam Chen is a ruthless woman. She can really do that."

"Why can't you do it? Look at her son." It was the same old woman again.

"My goodness, Wang Ximao deserved it. He even hit such a young child."

He said to several old men, "The world is going to the dogs; even orphans and widows are being bullied."

"This is utterly indecent, utterly indecent!" This was Wang Xiucai.

"This Lady Chen has been violated, hasn't she?" Several women whispered among themselves.

"Look at her neck and chest, it's definitely her."

"I don't think so. The pants are fine, only the shirt is torn."

"Of course there is. She and her daughter are no match for Wang Ximao. Who knows what might have happened?"

What do you mean?

The woman whispered, "Maybe it was Lady Chen who stole Wang Ximao out of loneliness."

"How is that possible? Stealing someone and then killing them."

"That's right, that's right."

Aunt Liu couldn't stand it anymore and scolded, "What are you saying? In front of everyone, it was clearly Wang Ximao who coveted Chen Meizi's beauty. He waited at her door early in the morning, trying to defile her, and even threatened her by choking her son. When Chen Meizi resisted, she accidentally stabbed him, and he died. Who's to blame? Chen Meizi is still innocent."

The women fell silent after being reprimanded. Chen Wenfang watched coldly as they handled the situation, remaining silent.

Chen Xuanyu stared blankly at the people inside the room.

Wang Liutiao and Wang Laizi hid behind the crowd, not daring to show their faces. Wang Liutiao shivered at the gruesome sight of Wang Ximao's death, even though the May weather wasn't cold. They had only been chatting casually, and he had only been thinking about it, just joking around; he hadn't actually intended to do anything to Chen Niangzi. He hadn't expected Wang Ximao to actually do it, and Wang Liutiao felt a chill of fear. If he had acted impulsively, he probably would have been the one dead there.

Wang Laizi was also frightened. He hadn't expected Wang Ximao to actually come. He thought to himself, "Wang Ershen is going to go crazy now." He looked back and didn't see Wang Ershen. He wiped his sweat. When Ershen came, there would be a good show to watch. Wang Laizi wasn't sad. He was just afraid that Wang Ershen would blame him for going crazy.

Aunt Wang had just returned home from delivering eggs to the neighboring village. Wang Ximao had left early that morning, but she hadn't thought much of it; he was used to leaving early and returning late, who knew where he'd gone off to fool around again. When someone brought word that Wang Ximao was gone, Aunt Wang didn't believe it, thinking people were insulting her.