Witty Wife, Better Life
Chapter 289 - 279 Visiting Neighbors (Part 2)

Chapter 289: Chapter 279 Visiting Neighbors (Part 2)

"Made you laugh, these kids are such a worry." Auntie Wu felt a bit embarrassed; her youngest son was so shameful that it could make others think there were no rules in her family.

"Look at you, Sister, kids are all like this. When I was little, my mom used to say she could trick me away with just a piece of candy," Shen Yunfang genuinely didn’t mind.

It’s strange how people work; when you like someone, even if they make mistakes, you can be tolerant and forgiving. But if you find someone annoying, even if they do well, you still won’t rate them.

"Exactly. When the children were small, we really were poor. Back then, Old Wu was in the military, and it was just me at home with Xiaoyu... we barely had enough to eat from one meal to the next..."

Auntie Wu had found the right person to confide in, and the two women began to share the hardships of yesteryear. Auntie Wu talked about how hard it was when her child was young, and Shen Yunfang talked about her own childhood difficulties. Of course, Shen Yunfang’s stories were based on some memories and her own understanding.

After going round in circles, Auntie Wu remembered the things Shen Yunfang had brought and said with a stern face, "Yunfang, I’ll accept the biscuits and such, but take the rest back with you. What’s with bringing so much to my place? We don’t do that kind of thing between us."

"Oh my, dear sister-in-law, Li Hongjun always tells me by my ear that he and Big Brother Wu are good brothers, so why can’t I bring you a few things? It’s fine for you to bring chickens to my place, and I bring you a cabbage or some quails, how is that not okay? It’s not like I just grabbed anything, it’s just what we have at home..."

"We need to be clear on this, even if we have a good relationship, we can’t just take things from you young folks. Everyone has their own difficulties; Hongjun’s family has worries too. You guys just got married and must have next to nothing, and you still need to provide for the kids. Even if your house does have something, you should be saving, not giving it away everywhere. Take these things back with you later, and if you don’t, I’ll have to send them back myself," Auntie Wu said, pulling on Shen Yunfang.

"Sister, please don’t, we really do have enough at home. If you don’t believe me, ask Big Brother Wu, he must have seen it when we moved in." Shen Yunfang hurriedly pleaded; giving gifts shouldn’t be this troublesome.

Wu Guoqiang didn’t say anything, but he didn’t object either, because he had indeed seen a large cage of quails and a pile of cabbages, at least twenty or thirty, when Hongjun’s family moved in.

"Besides, Sister, do you know where I got these quails from?"

Auntie Wu looked at her skeptically, "How did you get them?"

"Do you remember when I first came to visit and took several quail eggs from you? I tried incubating them when I got home, and to my surprise, I managed to hatch a few little quails. I’ve been raising them ever since. So I should thank you. Without those quail eggs you gave me back then, how could we have quail eggs to eat every day? Li Hongjun even asks me to fry a few for him to enjoy with his drink every now and then."

"Now that I’ve brought you a few, they’ve just started laying eggs. Whether you want to keep them to lay more eggs or slaughter them to treat the kids, I’ll leave that up to you. I won’t interfere," Shen Yunfang explained.

Auntie Wu’s eyes lit up.

"Yunfang, you managed to breed a flock of quails from just those few eggs?"

"Indeed," Shen Yunfang said with a smile, nodding her head.

"Are they easy to keep?" Auntie Wu asked and then seemed a bit embarrassed, "I didn’t mean it like that, I was just wondering," she hastily added. Despite having quails back home, not many raised them. Most thought quail eggs were too small and didn’t see the value compared to chicken eggs, so the majority still raised chickens and ducks. Those who kept quails only had a few, maybe ten or eight at a time.

"Oh Sister, there’s no harm in asking. It’s not like I’m the only one raising quails. They are pretty easy to keep. Incubating them can be a bit tricky, the hatching rate is slightly lower than chickens or ducks, but they lay eggs quickly. And once they’re past their laying period, you can slaughter them as a treat for the kids; much more convenient than chickens," Shen Yunfang talked up the benefits of raising quails. She clearly saw the look of longing on Auntie Wu’s face just a moment ago.

In those times, everyone was poor. If not, Wu Hao wouldn’t have reacted the way he did, his eyes turning green at the sight of food. They say a growing boy can eat his father out of house and home, and even though Wu Guoqiang’s home was relatively well-off, with a monthly wage and a food allowance, the children still went hungry.

"Sister-in-law, do you want to try raising some quails? If you do, I’ll call you next time I’m hatching eggs. You should get the hang of it after watching a couple of times,"

Wu’s sister-in-law was quite tempted, but she was worried about not having enough food at home already. Where would she get the grain to feed the quails? "It’s better not to, just keeping two chickens at home is a struggle, and raising quails would be overstretched."

Shen Yunfang understood her concern, but remembering what Li Hongjun had said about how kind Sister-in-law and Brother Wu had been to him, and how, before they were married, Sister-in-law always invited him over for meals and never treated him like an outsider; and since Yunfang moved back, Sister-in-law Wu also came over to visit when she could and helped look after the children, the couple indeed seemed like good people to befriend. Hence, she decided to help them out a bit.

So Shen Yunfang shared with them how she raised the quails and fed them earthworms. Not only was Sister-in-law Wu enchanted, but Wu Guoqiang too stopped fiddling with his radio, listening attentively to their conversation.

After Shen Yunfang finished explaining, Wu Guoqiang immediately decided, "Let’s raise them, our family will raise them. Xue Ying, you learn carefully from your younger sister-in-law, we’ll raise quails too, so our daughter and son can eat plenty of meat."

"You old fool, as if no one knows what’s up with you. Are you really thinking about your daughter and son, or is it your craving for a drink again, wanting to eat fried quails to accompany your liquor?" Sister-in-law Wu teased her husband.

Wu Guoqiang, unfazed, glared, "What’s the problem? I’ll drink with Hongjun when the time comes."

The two women chuckled.

"Alright, Sister-in-law, I’ll shamelessly take advantage of you this time."

"Don’t put it that way. I’ve got a motive too. Once I’ve taught you how to do it, you’ll have to help me hatch the eggs," Shen Yunfang said, thick-skinned.

"Oh, that’s nothing, rest assured, leave it to me," Sister-in-law Wu assured her.

Having accepted the quails, Sister-in-law Wu was no longer polite about that big head of cabbage from Shen Yunfang. There really wasn’t much left in the way of autumn vegetables at home, just a few potatoes sprouting eyes. The couple, usually reluctant to eat them, had been saving them for when the children returned, to make a meal. Now with this cabbage, the kids would have enough to eat for a month.

After chatting for a while, Shen Yunfang brought up another matter, "Sister-in-law, are you free next weekend?"

"Yeah, what’s up?"

"Here’s the thing. Li Hongjun and I were discussing that we’ve just moved here and we’d like to find a time to gather some close friends for a meal together. We really should have organized this earlier, but Hongjun said Captain Wu and the others were away on training, which is why it’s been delayed until now. I’m thinking of inviting a few more people, and I worry I won’t be able to handle it all by myself, so I wanted to ask if you could come over and help then."

"Sure, that’s fine, but with so many guests, you’ll have to do some careful planning. Don’t leave yourselves strapped for the rest of the month after this meal."

Shen Yunfang, of course, understood her meaning and said with a smile, "We don’t have much at home, just going to cook some simple dishes. The only meat we’ll have is quails, that’s it for what we’ll eat."

"Oh, that’s just going to spoil those booze hounds," Sister-in-law Wu glanced at her husband with a smirk.

Shen Yunfang then addressed Wu Guoqiang, saying, "Brother Wu, don’t you go nitpicking. Hongjun said he’ll invite you all next week, one by one. I’m not going to handle it; I’m just here to ask Sister-in-law first."