Divorced woman with child travels through time

Aunt Liu made cornbread, stir-fried cabbage, and wild vegetables that evening. Chen Wenfang secretly learned to recognize quite a few wild vegetables from her: lamb's quarters, reeds, purslane, and a dish of pickled vegetables and cured meat. She felt like she vaguely recognized all of these wild vegetables. During the meal, Aunt Liu kept saying, "Eat more! Although the vegetables aren't great, there's plenty."

"Thank you so much, Auntie," Chen Wenfang said, her eyes reddening. For Chen Wenfang, who was used to refined foods, coarse grains were almost impossible to swallow, but her body, accustomed to hunger, ate with relish. She chewed slowly; food was precious to her, a person who was penniless. Aunt Liu thought Chen Wenfang was very well-mannered and had proper manners when eating, something rarely seen in the countryside.

Chen Wenfang hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Aunt Liu, I just arrived here, and my cousin isn't here either. His room doesn't have much stuff. Could you lend me some grain? I'll definitely pay you back after the autumn harvest."

Aunt Liu looked at her husband, Liu Hai, and said, "Mrs. Chen, you and your child have had a hard life. We're not a wealthy family either, and we don't have much food. We'll just give you ten catties of cornmeal. You don't need to pay us back. We've come here as refugees, so we'll help you if we can."

Chen Wenfang said gratefully, "Thank you, Uncle Liu Hai, thank you, Aunt Liu. I will definitely repay you after the autumn harvest."

After the meal, Liu Hai brought out ten catties of cornmeal, and Chen Wenfang borrowed a hoe. It was the transition from spring to summer, around the Qingming Festival, time to plant melons and beans; they had to hurry, otherwise they'd have nothing to eat in the fall. Aunt Liu then gave her a pile of seeds: corn, soybeans, broad beans, peanuts, loofah, green beans, pumpkins, radishes, and more. Chen Wenfang silently accepted them, secretly resolving that she would repay their kindness when she had the money.

As dusk approached, Liu Hai asked Liu Qinghe to help escort Chen Wenfang and her son home. Aunt Liu also packed four cornbreads and two cabbages for her to take home, which Chen Wenfang readily agreed to. Liu Qinghe, nicknamed Dazhuang (Big Strong), lived up to his name—he was strong and dark-skinned. Carrying the grain, he walked quickly, but when he noticed Chen Wenfang and her son couldn't keep up, he ran back to walk with them. When Chen Wenfang asked him a question, he blushed and took the seed and vegetable bag from her hand, saying, "Sister-in-law Chen, I'm strong, I'll help you carry it."

"Chen Wenfang said, "Then I'll trouble you." Because Chen Xuanyu was small and weak, Chen Wenfang carried the baby on her back and followed Dazhuang home.

Dazhuang put down his things and said, "Sister Chen, I'm leaving."

"Hey, Dazhuang, wait a minute!" Chen Wenfang ran to the kitchen, grabbed a few pieces of kudzu root, put them in a bowl, and chased after the child out of the yard. But the child had already run off. Sigh... Chen Wenfang tidied up, washed up, and held the child as they went to sleep. The night passed uneventfully.

The next day, Chen Wenfang got up early. While the child was still asleep, she heated up the pancakes, ate a few bites, and then lit a fire in the stove with thatch roots and kudzu roots. The firewood burned very slowly, so she didn't have to keep an eye on the fire.

Picking up a hoe, Chen Wenfang prepared to start turning over the wasteland. First, she pulled out the weeds; the land had been cultivated before, so apart from the weeds, it was relatively easy to turn. Halfway through, the child came out, and Chen Wenfang went to the pot, took out some still-warm flatbread, gave one to the child, and then continued turning the soil. She had at least rested for a few days, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to handle it. After a whole morning, Chen Wenfang had only turned over one-third of the land, and her back ached from exhaustion. Clearly, she wasn't used to farm work.