Witty Wife, Better Life
Chapter 270 - 260 Li Xianghe’s Marriage

Chapter 270: Chapter 260 Li Xianghe’s Marriage

The meal left everyone at the table feeling especially suffocated. Qiu Shuping’s specialty was saying things people didn’t want to hear, a way to vent her dissatisfaction and jealousy. Shen Yunfang was in a decent mental state, treating her mother-in-law’s words as if they went in one ear and out the other, feigning ignorance while she focused on gnawing at her pig trotter. Li Hongjun’s brow hadn’t relaxed for the duration of the meal; watching his mother rant and rave, he silently got another bun for his wife, and only when he caught her approving gaze did his face clear up a bit.

Within ten minutes, all four people at the table had put down their chopsticks.

Li Hongjun and his wife wanted to eat quickly and end this torture as soon as possible, whereas Qiu Shuping and Li Xianghe, seeing good food, acted out of habit and rushed to eat. Even as Qiu Shuping never stopped talking, it didn’t slow down her eating speed.

With a slap of her chopsticks on the table, Qiu Shuping shouted, "Alright, everyone’s finished eating. Don’t be so lazy, clean up quickly." Her eyes were on Shen Yunfang as she spoke.

During the course of the meal, her jealousy had grown to the point of madness. It was this woman who had taken everything away from her son, and indirectly from her as well. Hmph, and she still wanted to enjoy the luxury of postpartum confinement? No way.

Shen Yunfang pretended not to see, shifted her position, and lay down next to her son again. Ah, she wondered when this cycle of eating until full and sleeping after waking would ever end.

Seeing that her daughter-in-law had ignored her, Qiu Shuping stood with glinting eyes, looking at her own son. "Hongjun, didn’t you say that your wife’s confinement period was almost over? Why is she still so lazy? After eating, she just lies down on the bed. Our Li family doesn’t indulge such lazy daughters-in-law." She refused to believe that her own son would contradict her to defend his wife.

"She still has a few days left before the end of her confinement," Li Hongjun indicated with his eyes for Li Xianghe to help him clean the table. If he had the time, he would have liked his wife to rest for a few more days.

"What’s a few days?" Qiu Shuping began to indignantly recount the stories of her days gone by. "Back when I had you kids, I didn’t have the luxury to rest and recover. I would have been happier to give birth in the field..."

She hadn’t finished her tale when Li Hongjun and Li Xianghe had already cleared the table.

After everything was tidied up, Li Hongjun saw his wife rolling her big eyes and knew that if his mother didn’t leave, she wouldn’t be able to get any sleep for her afternoon nap.

"You should leave early; the road is tough to navigate now."

Upon hearing this, Qiu Shuping was displeased. She had barely warmed her seat and they were trying to send her away? She was about to start a fuss when she heard Li Hongjun say something else, which stopped her from throwing a tantrum.

"Wait a few more days and my leave will end, then I’ll have to go back to the army. The weather outside isn’t great and time is tight, so I won’t be coming back before I leave. Later, I’ll pack some things, and mother, you can take them back and tell father."

"Hmph!" Qiu Shuping snorted through her nose, her disapproval evident.

Later, Li Hongjun stepped out for a bit, brought back a basket, and loaded his mother up with quite a few items: a piece of frozen pork, a frozen fish, ten frozen quails, and two pieces of frozen tofu.

Once packed, the basket was full, no less compared to what he had taken last time before New Year’s.

Qiu Shuping glanced at the basket from the corner of her eye, deep down pleased, but her face still carried a look of disdain.

Li Xianghe sat on the kang watching her second elder brother bustling about, it seemed they were getting ready to head back home, but their mother hadn’t brought up her matter yet, and she grew anxious, hastily tugging at her mother’s clothes.

It was then that Qiu Shuping remembered her youngest daughter’s situation.

She cleared her throat and said, "Stop being so busy, come over and sit down, I have something to tell you. Your wife should stop sleeping and listen too."

Li Hongjun placed the basket by the door and sat down on the edge of the kang, casually pushing his wife back down as she tried to get up, "Whatever you have to say to me, Yunfang listening won’t help; she can’t make the decisions anyway."

Qiu Shuping was pleased by these words, indeed, why would a woman make the decisions in the family, it should be her son who has the final say. So, she did not mind that her daughter-in-law was still lying down asleep, and started to tell her son about Li Xianghe’s situation.

Before the New Year, someone had introduced a suitor for Li Xianghe, reportedly a battalion commander stationed near the Capital. Originally, given that Li Xianghe was getting on in years, her opportunities were dwindling, and upon hearing that he was a battalion commander, especially that he was stationed in the Capital (she blatantly ignored the ’nearby’), she bashfully went to meet him.

The meeting turned out well; though the man was not as tall as Li Hongjun, he was not short either, and he had the trendy square face, giving off an "elite" vibe at first glance. When Li Xianghe first laid eyes on him, her heart fluttered wildly. The matchmaker, quite eloquent, was rather vague about the man’s background but painted his future in grand strokes. It seemed that marrying him was a step towards becoming the wife of a general.

Li Xianghe’s blood boiled with excitement, and her gaze toward the man softened even more.

After returning home, when the matchmaker inquired about their intentions, Li Xianghe, upon hearing that the man had taken an interest in her, suppressed her excitement and shyly agreed.

The members of the Li Family, including Qiu Shuping and Li Xianghe, were very satisfied with the suitor’s credentials as a military officer and battalion commander in the Capital. Old Man Li was a bit more sober-minded, but he wasn’t too concerned about the man’s modest family background. As long as the person was good, if the couple worked hard together in the future, they could definitely live a better life.

So, with mutual interest from both sides, the marriage was quickly agreed upon. Since the man was a soldier and it was difficult for him to come home, the wedding was set for March. The schedule was tight, but the Li Family was understanding; after all, they also had a soldier in the family and knew how difficult it was for a military man to return home.

Ever since the marriage was settled, Li Xianghe had been pondering her dowry. If she could bring more with her when she got married, her in-laws would think more highly of her, and she really wanted a sewing machine. So, she secretly spoke to her mother about it.

But Qiu Shuping knew her own daughter too well, even though Li Xianghe was her own flesh and blood, she couldn’t possibly provide her with a sewing machine as dowry. Let alone the fact that she didn’t have one, even if she did, it would have been reserved for her youngest son.

Therefore, the Li Family had a conflict over Li Xianghe’s dowry before the New Year. Eventually, Old Man Li, fed up with the passive-aggressiveness at home, came up with a compromise.

Since the family was already financially stretched thin due to their youngest son attending college, they couldn’t afford to buy Li Xianghe a sewing machine. So, he thought about writing a letter to his second son, hoping Li Hongjun could scrape something together; he planned to offset it against the money Li Hongjun would contribute for their old age care.

The eyes of both mother and daughter Qiu lit up at this idea, asking themselves why they hadn’t thought of it sooner, and they immediately presented a united front again.

Before Old Man Li could even send the letter out, Li Hongjun returned home. This way, there was no need to mail the letter anymore.

However, Li Hongjun’s previous visit home for the New Year had been unpleasant, and he hadn’t found the right time or opportunity to discuss this matter, so when Li Xianghe heard that after the New Year her father wanted her mother to visit her second brother’s place, she insisted on following. She realized that if she didn’t take her own matters to heart, nobody else would.

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