Witty Wife, Better Life
Chapter 158 - 152 Please Respect Yourself

Chapter 158: Chapter 152 Please Respect Yourself

The next morning, Shen Yunfang and her husband were woken up early by the commotion of Qiu Shuping.

As the new bride, Shen Yunfang was expected by her mother-in-law to prepare breakfast for the entire family, a custom that already existed. Shen Yunfang didn’t object; she was adept at cooking.

First, she relit the charcoal brazier in the room to warm it up before Li Hongjun came out of the covers, and only then did she, fully dressed, head to the kitchen.

However, upon entering the kitchen and seeing a basin of unwashed dishes on the ground, she felt disheartened, realizing she couldn’t escape this chore.

She heated a new pot of water and began washing all the dishes in the basin. This time, no one came to the kitchen to scold her for wasting firewood.

With the kitchen lacking ingredients, she went back to the room and scooped some millet from the bag on the kang bed, then returned to the kitchen and cooked a pot of fragrant, thick, sticky millet porridge. Considering Li Hongjun’s health, she also fetched two eggs from the basket in the room, washed them, and boiled them together with the porridge. The staple was sweet potatoes; she set up a grate over the pot, washed more than ten sweet potatoes, and placed them on top to cook.

There were still leftovers from yesterday’s banquet. Although Shen Yunfang wasn’t fond of them, she knew it wasn’t the time to waste. The leftover dishes from the banquet could be slightly reheated and eaten—every family did the same. So she warmed up the leftover dishes, figuring one dish for breakfast would be enough.

Next, she diced some potatoes, cut them into strips, blanched them, and seasoned them with soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar to create a sour and sweet side dish. She then washed several cabbage leaves and shredded them finely to make a simple salty dish.

After that, she called everyone in the house to eat. She then returned to her own room to help Li Hongjun get out of bed.

By the time the couple had washed up, the table in the western room was also set. She saw her mother-in-law and sister-in-law staring at her with stern faces.

Shen Yunfang helped Li Hongjun sit down on a stool, completely confused. She wondered if there was something wrong with her cooking or if they simply disliked her culinary skills.

But that didn’t seem right either. Back in the hospital, her mother-in-law had relished the food she made.

"Yunfang, you can’t be so wasteful in the future. Our Li Family is just ordinary folks. These eggs are meant to be saved and sold for money. Your elder brother has many children, your sister isn’t married yet, and your younger brother still needs to go to school. Money is needed everywhere; you can’t just eat the eggs so carelessly," Qiu Shuping pointed at the two boiled eggs on the table and said.

Wang Dan kept her mouth shut upon hearing her mother-in-law’s words, though it seemed she probably shared the same sentiment.

So, it was because of the eggs.

"Mother, Hongjun has injuries right now. The doctor specifically instructed that he needs to keep his nutrition up during this time." See, I didn’t cook these eggs for myself; they’re for your son to recover.

Qiu Shuping, left without a response, certainly couldn’t say her second son didn’t need the nourishment.

"Sister-in-law, by that logic, our family should indeed raise more chickens. Look at my sons, your nephews—they’re all grown up and have hardly ever eaten eggs. They also need to replenish their strength. My youngest son is already half a year old and still doesn’t know what an egg tastes like," Wang Dan said while lifting the child in her arms.

That’s it, no need to say more; she knew she was overstepping.

"Elder sister, I really didn’t know our family was this poor. Hongjun, didn’t you say you send money home to our mother every month? How come there’s money, but no eggs to eat? Where did the money go?" Shen Yunfang looked at Li Hongjun with a surprised expression.

Li Hongjun quietly ate and did not join in the conversation, but Shen Yunfang didn’t need him to speak.

Qiu Shuping hurriedly responded, "What can that little bit of money do? Your elder brother has many children, and your younger brother still needs to attend school. Money is needed for everything, isn’t it?"

She picked up the two boiled eggs on the table, gave one to the youngest grandson, and still placed the other in front of Li Hongjun.

"Eat it quickly, your wife cooked it for you. If it doesn’t reach your mouth, you’ll regret it..." She spoke the rest very softly, and no one at the table heard her.

"Alright, alright, it’s just an egg. Hurry up and eat your meal quietly." Li Wangcai’s temples throbbed, a hangover affliction.

Shen Yunfang was unceremonious, quickly peeled the egg in front of Li Hongjun, and put it into his porridge bowl, gesturing for him to eat quickly.

Li Hongjun smiled at his wife. His own body didn’t need nourishment, it was his wife who was so thin and needed something good to eat.

He picked up the egg in his bowl with chopsticks, intending to give it to his wife, but then he saw the eager little faces of Goudan and Erdan. After a moment of silence, he split the egg in half and gave each child a half.

Shen Yunfang bowed her head to drink porridge, thinking it might be better to sneakily cook eggs for Li Hongjun in their room in the future.

The family squeezed together and finished breakfast.

Afterward, Shen Yunfang was still the one to wash the dishes. The Li family members seemed to disappear after the meal, leaving behind only the new bride to clean up the table and wash the dishes.

Just as she finished tidying up the kitchen, she saw her sister-in-law Li Xianghe bringing a young girl into the house.

"Second sister-in-law, this is You Sisi," her tone contained a hint of boasting.

A hundred alpacas galloped through Shen Yunfang’s mind—Li Hongjun had predicted correctly. His little sister was truly overbearing, and had indeed brought You Sisi to their home the very next day.

"Hello, I’m glad to meet you, I’m You Sisi, a friend of Li Er-ge (second brother Li)," the girl said ambiguously. In this era, there were no such thing as male-female "friends"; they were all called comrades.

Shen Yunfang sized up the girl in front of her. She appeared to be around twenty, dressed spiritedly and not like the typical countryside person covered in patches. There wasn’t a single patch on her from head to toe, indicating her family’s likely good condition.

"Oh, I haven’t heard my Hongjun mention you. Maybe he forgot. We got married yesterday. Thank you for coming today to congratulate us." Shen Yunfang smiled warmly, but thought to herself if she could be Enemy Number One for the entire Li family. It seemed the more they could discomfort her, the happier they were. Deciding she had to move back to Gaijiatun as soon as possible to live comfortably.

She didn’t want to engage with this ’Sisi’ at all, but the woman clearly lacked tact, daring to ask to see her husband’s room right in front of the new bride. Was the bridal chamber something anyone could enter? She didn’t take a good look at herself.

"Xianghe, what are you trying to do? Don’t you know your brother is injured and needs rest? Why are you bringing irrelevant people to disturb him? Go play somewhere else," Shen Yunfang blocked the door, preventing them from entering.

"Sister Sisi is not an irrelevant person," retorted Li Xianghe, unsatisfied.

"Oh, then why don’t you tell me, what kind of person is she, and what is her relationship with your brother? Comrade You can also tell me, I’m all ears," said Shen Yunfang with a smirk.

"Back then, my second brother and Sister Sisi were really close. He even saved her once..."

"Xianghe, don’t say anymore," You Sisi interrupted with a sorrowful look, preventing Li Xianghe from continuing, then turned to explain to Shen Yunfang, "Yunfang, I can call you that, right? There’s nothing between me and second brother Li. I came because I heard he was injured and I was worried, I..."

"Hey, stop there, stop, I get it. But in broad daylight, for a young girl like you to enter a man’s room—it doesn’t sound good to others. You should really respect yourself."