Witty Wife, Better Life
Chapter 324 - 314 is destined to disappoint them.

Chapter 324: Chapter 314 is destined to disappoint them.

"Uncle, are you home? I’m here," Shen Yunfang said as she noticed the courtyard door wasn’t locked and pushed it open to enter the Shen Family’s courtyard.

"Oh, Yunfang is here! Come in quickly, we’ve been waiting for you," Aunt Shen’s voice came from inside the house.

When Shen Yunfang entered the room, she saw Aunt Shen putting on shoes, getting ready to step down from the heated brick bed, while Uncle Shen was still sitting beside the Kang table, puffing on his dry pipe.

"Auntie, no need to get up. I’m not a stranger, there’s no need for you to fuss over me," Shen Yunfang quickly took hold of Aunt Shen, and then handed over the items she was carrying. "I was in a hurry bringing the kids back, didn’t have time to go shopping, but as luck would have it, I stumbled upon a market and bought two pieces of clothing. Take a look, Auntie, see if they fit," she said.

Aunt Shen wasn’t really in the mood to care about clothes at the moment, but it was Yunfang’s kind intention, and it wouldn’t be right not to look. So, she opened the bag and took out the clothing to check.

There weren’t any new styles at the market. It was summer, and the consignment store had men’s undershirts and women’s coats. Seeing that they were all made of pure cotton and reasonably priced, Shen Yunfang bought several pieces. They were just right to give away as gifts.

"Hmm, they fit well, very nice. Yunfang, we’re all family. Next time you come home, you don’t need to buy these things," Aunt Shen said with a smile as she looked at the clothes.

"I didn’t buy much, just saw them and thought they’d definitely fit you and Uncle. I can’t come home to see you more than once a year, and it doesn’t really cost that much," Shen Yunfang replied with a genuine smile.

"Alright, put the things away," Uncle Shen said from the side. "Yunfang, come and sit, tell Uncle about how things are in the army, are you adjusting well?"

She had been asked this question several times that day, so her answers were all the same. Shen Yunfang told Uncle Shen about life in the army and assured him that she was coping well and didn’t have any problems adjusting.

Uncle Shen nodded, "That’s good, that’s good."

Aunt Shen, who was beside them, seemed anxious and kept giving her husband meaningful glances.

Clearing his throat, Uncle Shen then asked, "Hongjun didn’t come back with you? That boy, to let you and the child come back all alone without a worry, he doesn’t seem to fret over such a long journey."

Shen Yunfang defended Li Hongjun with a smile, "Uncle, Hongjun is out on a mission and can’t come home for a while. I was the one who felt a bit homesick and wanted to see you all, so I decided to come back with the child. Besides, this isn’t my first time traveling this way, and Pangpang was very well behaved. We were safe."

Uncle Shen was taken aback for a moment. He had only heard Shen Yunfang mention that Li Hongjun was away on a mission and would take a long time to return.

"What, he’s out on a mission again?" The last time something happened to Yunfang, Uncle Shen had called Li Hongjun and understood that if Hongjun was on a mission, even if it were an emergency, he wouldn’t be able to come back. Thinking of this, he frowned again.

"Yeah, I have no idea what the mission is either. He won’t let me ask, says it’s confidential, so I don’t bother with that. It’s good timing for me to bring the child back and stay for a couple of days." Yunfang was well aware of why her uncle and his wife were so eager for Hongjun to return with her, but she knew she was bound to disappoint them. The whole situation with Yunxiu was orchestrated by Hongjun; how could he possibly help her afterwards? It would already be a display of conscience if he didn’t kick her while she was down.

"Alright, it’s good you’re coming back!" Uncle Shen wasn’t sure who he was referring to, "Have you eaten yet? Why didn’t you bring the child over?"

"I’ve eaten. Just now, Auntie Wang insisted on keeping me for dinner. I couldn’t refuse, so I ate a little at her place. The child is over at her house too, which is perfect because her two kids can play with Pangpang. It saves me the trouble of bringing him here, where he’d just make a fuss and we couldn’t talk properly," Yunfang explained.

This time, Uncle Shen remained silent, merely nodding.

After staying at Uncle Shen’s house for about half an hour, Yunfang took her leave to go home. It was getting late, and she hadn’t rested well since starting her train journey yesterday; she needed to go home and rest properly for a couple of days.

As for what Uncle Shen had been holding back all day, she could guess about eighty or ninety percent of it, but she didn’t want to get involved in Yunxiu’s affairs and didn’t have the capacity to anyhow. She and Hongjun, one a broken soldier and the other a housewife, how could they intervene in the affairs of the Capital people’s families? So she might as well take a break.

Upon returning to Auntie Wang’s house, Dashuan’s wife had already come back and, pointing at a sack at the corner of the wall, said, "I bought you twenty pounds of rice. I couldn’t find any white flour, but this should tide you over for a few days. If it’s not enough, I’ll get some more for you."

So, that evening, Yunfang went home not just with her eldest son but also a small bag of grain, a basket of chicken and quail eggs prepared by Auntie Wang, enabling her to start cooking for herself at home from the next day on.

Yunfang spent several quiet days at home, playing with her son during the day and picking vegetables in the backyard when he slept. Whenever she had a moment, she would slice up vegetables and lay them out to dry. Before long, her yard was lined with drying nets.

She also found time to visit her secret base once, where the land, left uncultivated and unfurrowed this year, was now overrun with tall weeds.

Yunfang had deep feelings for this place; she had dug up every bit of soil here with a shovel, and all the ridges and furrows were made painstakingly by her own hands. It was tough to see the land go to waste after just a few years of not being farmed, but what could be done? They couldn’t possibly keep their family split between two places just for the sake of tilling the soil.

One day, the Shen Family received another letter from Yunxiu, which left Aunt Shen lying on the kang sobbing after she read it.

"This is really killing me. My girl is suffering so much in someone else’s house, and you, you old fool, still have the mood to sit there smoking," Aunt Shen vented her frustration at Uncle Shen, upset that he didn’t seem to care at all about their daughter’s suffering and was just sitting there smoking.

"What else can I do if I don’t smoke? What can I do about the current situation? Tell me, what can I do?" Uncle Shen didn’t argue with Aunt Shen but asked her calmly. The old couple had been planning to visit their daughter in the Capital. After all, even if the Fang Family was from the city, they shouldn’t mistreat their daughter like that; this is a new society, and feudal practices were supposed to be a thing of the past. Even without Hongjun’s help, Uncle Shen had made up his mind to go and ask old man Fang directly what was so wrong about his daughter that warranted such treatment. If it really was her fault, then it meant that the Shen Family had failed in their duties, and they would bring their daughter home. If it was the Fang Family’s mistreatment, then that just wouldn’t do. Just as the old couple had settled on this course of action, Yunxiu’s letter arrived, insisting they should not come, without giving any reasons why not. Simply put, they were not to come.

Uncle Shen was truly at a loss now; he wasn’t the Emperor, he couldn’t just flick his sleeve and have things sorted out. He knew nothing, so what could he possibly resolve?

Aunt Shen, still fretting over her daughter’s situation and knowing Yunxiu didn’t want them to come, thought of Hongjun. She hoped that Hongjun might have a comrade in the Capital, especially someone in an official position, who could check on Yunxiu. It didn’t matter how, but they needed to show the Fang Family that the Shen Family had connections too; that way, Yunxiu wouldn’t be bullied anymore.

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