Witty Wife, Better Life
Chapter 549 - 539 Why are you so stubborn?

Chapter 549: Chapter 539 Why are you so stubborn?

Shen Yunfang had a lovely afternoon nap at home. There was no class with Teacher Cai in the afternoon, so in principle, she didn’t have to go to school anymore.

This term she had more free time, which is why she often cooked delicious meals at home and invited Ma Liguo’s family over for dinner in the evenings.

She had already arranged to have dinner at home that evening. Yunfang lingered in bed for a while and then saw that it was almost three o’clock. At that point, she got up, went out to buy groceries, and started preparing lunch.

Now that there was a small market in the neighborhood, it was much more convenient to buy vegetables and meat than before, although the prices were slightly higher than at the Supply and Marketing Co-op.

Shen Yunfang strolled around the market, bought a piece of tofu, picked out two Open River fish from a vendor, and also grabbed a piece of pork weighing over two pounds before heading home to cook.

In the evening, she stewed a pot of fish with tofu, steamed a rack of flower rolls on top, and fearing not having enough food for everyone, she also stir-fried some shredded cabbage with pork. The new vegetables hadn’t come in yet, and she didn’t dare bring out the greens from her own space for Ma Liguo’s family; that would be too conspicuous.

When it was about time, she changed her clothes and went to pick up the children. When she reached the bottom of the building with the kids, she saw Ma Liguo’s family of three also on their way over.

They had come straight here for dinner after work without wasting any time.

The kids were exceptionally delighted about eating fish; at this time, having fish was even rarer than having pork.

"Mommy, this fish is so tasty, I want to eat the fish eyes," Manman’s little bowl was already filled with fish meat her mother had picked out for her.

"Alright, you three little ones can share the two fish," Shen Yunfang scooped out the fish eyes, giving one to each child, with the last one, of course, going to her own youngest, Manman. The youngest child always gets such privileges.

"Be careful of the bones. When you eat, test it carefully. Don’t just gulp it down without thinking," Mu Huazhen also warned her own children.

Stewed fish was delicious, but the process of feeding it to the children was a bit stressful for the mothers.

"Got it," Ma Chaofan answered like a little adult.

When the kids were nearly done eating, Pangpang nudged Ma Chaofan, and the little firecracker immediately understood the cue, asking, "Auntie, can I watch TV? "

After this year’s Spring Festival, Shen Yunfang had bought a television: a classic 14-inch color TV from Peony brand. Since the color TV entered their home, Ma Chaofan had become like their third child, resolutely refusing to go home until eight or nine o’clock each evening.

Latterly, the adults from both families had set television-watching times for the children: starting from six in the evening until eight, and then Yunfang would take her children and walk little Ma Chaofan back home, or Ma Liguo and his spouse would come to pick him up. On Saturdays, they were allowed to watch for an extra hour.

At first, the children were not very satisfied with this arrangement, but as time went by, they all got used to it.

Once the kids had gone to watch TV, Ma Liguo finally asked, "What’s wrong? You look a bit off today." Even though the change wasn’t very significant, Ma Liguo and his wife knew Shen Yunfang well enough to notice that she wasn’t in high spirits.

"You noticed that, huh." Shen Yunfang touched her face. She had tried her best not to show it, but when her heart was troubled, her face just gave it away.

"How could you not notice?" Mu Huazhen took a chopstickful of the fish meat that had been stewed to perfection, imbued with flavor, and was particularly delicious today.

"What’s the matter? Spill it. If it’s something minor, my wife and I can help you out. If it’s something major, we can offer you some advice," said Ma Liguo, speaking earnestly.

"It’s not a big deal." It wasn’t something that couldn’t be discussed, so Shen Yunfang went on to narrate the incident where Qiu Shuping, Li Hongqi, and a few others had started fighting at the school that day.

Upon hearing this, Mu Huazhen immediately slammed her hand on the table, "What did you say? Your mother-in-law hit you and you just took it? How could you be such a softy? You didn’t even fight back? Oh my, just look at you, you definitely got the short end of the stick without throwing a punch." Mu Huazhen loathed injustice and couldn’t stand the idea of someone being hit without retaliating, regardless of who it was.

Shen Yunfang was speechless. If someone didn’t know better, they might think she was the one who got hit. "I wanted to hit back, but no matter what, that person is Li Hongjun’s mom. For every day that I am with Li Hongjun, she’s my elder. I can disregard her as a person, but hitting her... I really couldn’t bring myself to do it." She touched her nose, blaming her own restraint and high standards. She just couldn’t bring herself to hit an elderly person.

"What a softy, what else did you say? You’re just a complete softy," Mu Huazhen exclaimed, frustrated as if she were chastising her own child.

"Oh dear, wife, wife, calm down, calm down," Ma Liguo quickly tried to soothe his wife.

"And you’re telling me?" Shen Yunfang felt that any reasonable person couldn’t have done it.

"Why wouldn’t you hit back? It’s fine for her to hit you, but not okay for you to retaliate? There’s no law or logic in that anymore. If it were me, I wouldn’t care who it was—if anyone dared lay a finger on me, I would tear their whole arm off," Mu Huazhen said fiercely.

"Sister-in-law, you’re a cop, try to maintain some image, okay? Besides, Brother Wu is sitting right here. Mind what you say a bit, yeah?" Shen Yunfang said with a smile, looking at the couple across from her. She figured that if she fueled the fire any further, the two were sure to have a showdown.

"Yunfang, let it go already. You know how your sister-in-law is like a firecracker, yet you’re still provoking her," Ma Liguo wasn’t pleased either, feeling like the heat from other people’s fires was about to burn him too.

"Don’t get upset over nothing. Your mother-in-law isn’t like that at all. Whenever you come to our house, doesn’t my mom treat you like an ancestor on a pedestal? If you could actually hit an old lady like that, then you really would be something else," Ma Liguo wanted to remind his wife not to be swayed by outsiders and to maintain stability and unity within the family first and foremost.

"That’s true," Mu Huazhen agreed, remembering her mother-in-law was indeed kind-hearted and probably had the best temper. "I was speaking about Yunfang’s mother-in-law. If she’s going to be unreasonable and difficult, you need to show her she can’t just walk all over you," said Mu Huazhen.

"Stop giving such reckless advice. If Yunfang hit her mother-in-law, what would you have Hongjun do?" Ma Liguo didn’t see it the same way his wife did. Unlike his impulsive wife, he was a man with a different perspective on things.

"What’s there to do? Just side with whoever is right," Mu Huazhen believed the matter to be straightforward, with the entire problem stemming from Li Hongjun’s mother. Since Li Hongjun was sensible, he shouldn’t allow his wife to be mistreated.

"It’s not so simple," Ma Liguo shook his head. "If Yunfang fought with her mother-in-law and Li Hongjun came back, who do you expect him to side with, his mother? No matter what his mother did, she’s the one who gave birth to him. If the old lady is unreasonable, it’s already enough for the children not to act like her—how can they get physical with an elder? That would just show that they don’t have any better sense than the old lady."

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