Witty Wife, Better Life
Chapter 273 - 263: Release Upon Completion of Sentence

Chapter 273: Chapter 263: Release Upon Completion of Sentence

After giving Qiu Shuping and her daughter both money and goods, they finally sent the two away in the afternoon.

Li Hongjun and his wife exchanged a glance, both sighed. This noon had been truly exhausting.

"Finally, they’re gone. I haven’t even done anything yet except talk to your mother for a bit, and I’m already this tired," Shen Yunfang dragged her bedding from the edge to the middle of the kang, sprawled out on it, and thought how truly comfortable it was.

Shen Yunfang wasn’t afraid of hard work, but conversing with people really drained her. It might be a lingering effect from thinking too much in her past life.

Li Hongjun nodded silently, feeling tired as well. He couldn’t understand why he hadn’t felt this way before getting married. Although he knew his mother was difficult to deal with, he never felt like this.

Of course, before he joined the military, she was the only woman at home, holding all the financial power, not having to argue or fight with anyone, and even her harsh behavior had limits. After he enlisted, he couldn’t come home more than a few days a year. During those days at home, his mother, eager for his salary, couldn’t be won over with cajoling, let alone defy her in any way. Now the situation had changed since he was married, the salary in his hands belonged to his wife. His mother could not stay calm anymore as she fought to maintain her status in her son’s heart, especially when it came to the money he held.

The two parents hugged their son and took a belated afternoon nap, waking up only after four o’clock when it had already turned completely dark outside.

After getting out of bed, Li Hongjun lit the oil lamp in the room and then turned to ask his wife still on the kang, "What do you want for dinner tonight, do pig’s feet work for you?"

"No, that’s enough pig’s feet. Let’s have something else," Shen Yunfang quickly shook her head. Even the best foods grow tiresome after a few meals. What to eat tonight?

Li Hongjun knew his wife was considering her options and didn’t disturb her, instead sitting at the edge of the kang gazing at his son.

"Why don’t you make some lamb offal soup, and bake some flatbread too." Shen Yunfang couldn’t decide on anything else, so she chose something she hadn’t had in days from the list of postpartum foods she knew she could eat.

Over the past half month, Li Hongjun had honed his cooking skills, preparing a variety of postpartum dishes for his wife. Since postpartum meals were generally low in salt and spices, they all tasted somewhat similar, making it easy for Li Hongjun to manage.

"Okay, you just lie down, I’ll go cook," Li Hongjun made sure his son was snug under his little blanket, put on his cotton padded jacket, lit another oil lamp, and then went to the main room to start cooking.

Even though Shen Yunfang’s space contained ready-made food, the couple, like any ordinary pair, cooked their meals every day. They both felt that as long as time allowed, having someone busying about with three meals a day made for a real sense of home life.

One hour later, Li Hongjun brought the food into the room and placed it on the kang, handing the chopsticks to Shen Yunfang.

"Did I just hear someone crying outside?" Shen Yunfang asked as she took a sip from her bowl.

After serving his wife a bowl of lamb soup, Li Hongjun served himself a bowl, adding a little salt to it.

"Yes, someone was crying outside." He had also heard someone crying in the village when he went out to bring in some firewood, but since it was too far to make out anything specific, and once he closed the door behind him, he couldn’t hear the crying anymore.

Shen Yunfang only heard a cry or two when Li Hongjun went out to open the door. Usually, she would be too lazy to care about such things—whoever wanted to cry could cry. Right now, however, she was incredibly bored. Having been confined to the kang for a month, stuck in such a tiny space without anything to do, she was going stir crazy, which was why she specifically asked about it when it seemed like something was happening outside.

"I wonder whose family it is and what happened," Shen Yunfang mused as she continued eating.

Li Hongjun kept quiet, as he didn’t know what to say, and besides, he wasn’t the meddlesome type.

The problem finally came to light four days after Shen Yunfang had finished her month-long confinement.

On the day Shen Yunfang’s confinement period ended, she was free at last. Li Hongjun had heated several pots of water for her, and she took a good bath in the house, scrubbing away a layer of grime, finally feeling refreshed and revived.

For lunch, Shen Yunfang cooked her own meal. After eating tasteless food for a month, she really craved some braised spare ribs, but of course, that was just a wishful thought. For the sake of her son, she had to watch her diet.

Shen Yunfang made herself a dish of scrambled eggs with tomatoes and a sweet and sour fish, while she cooked a large plate of braised spare ribs and a big bowl of seaweed and sauerkraut stew for Li Hongjun. The two of them ate their four dishes without looking up or stopping.

During that month, not only did Shen Yunfang suffer, but Li Hongjun had also had enough of his own cooking. Now, eating the food made by his wife, he truly felt it was great to have a wife.

After the meal, they wrapped up Pangpang in a big quilt, and Li Hongjun carried him as they headed to Elder Shen’s house.

Since the quarrel with Elder Shen during the meal at their house before the New Year, the two families hadn’t really interacted much during the festival.

Shen Yunfang was grateful for Elder Shen’s care since she had arrived in this time period, and although she disapproved of some of his protective behavior, she still considered him a good elder overall.

Besides, it wasn’t beneficial for the two families to remain in a standstill. Moreover, Shen Yunfang was about to join the military soon, and she needed Elder Shen to write her a letter of introduction. Elder Shen was a senior, and it was fine to give him some respect. As the younger generation, they should take the initiative to greet the elder for the new year and mend the relationship, which wasn’t disgraceful.

Fortunately, the timing of Li Hongjun and his wife’s visit was impeccable, as Shen Yunxiu and her husband were not at home. Without such a troublemaker around, the situation was easier to handle. Although Elder Shen didn’t smile, his furrowed brows relaxed when he saw them carrying gifts and the baby to visit him.

"Elder Shen, happy new year," Shen Yunfang sweetly called out, "Hongjun and I have come to see you."

"Hmm," Elder Shen grunted from his nostrils, "You’re here, have a seat."

"Oh, Pangpang came too, come and let grandma take a look," Elder Shen’s wife hurriedly put things aside and came to take the baby from Li Hongjun’s arms.

"Hongjun, put the baby on the kang. Pangpang is so heavy, don’t tire out grandma," Shen Yunfang quickly instructed.

Li Hongjun placed the child directly onto the kang.

"Oh, how heavy can a one-month-old baby be, I won’t get tired," Elder Shen’s wife wasn’t insistent on seeing other people’s children. It was just habitually necessary to check on the child, starting a conversation with compliments on the child.

She lifted the blanket covering the baby, and seeing Pangpang’s chubby little arms and legs flailing about, she fell in love instantly, "My, he really is chubby. Look at these little hands and feet, dimpled all over. And this little face, so white and plump; he’s going to be quite the handsome young man when he grows up."

All mothers love to hear praises of their children. So, the two mothers started chattering heartily around the baby. But soon, the conversation veered off course.

Then, from Elder Shen’s wife, they heard about how just a few days ago Shen Yingxue and her mother sat crying in the courtyard in the dead of winter.

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