Witty Wife, Better Life-Chapter 46 - 44 Fright

Chapter 46: Chapter 44 Fright

Chapter 46 -44 Fright

At noon.

“Sister Jian, I’m making cornmeal porridge with vegetables for lunch. I’ll bring you a portion, okay?” When two people are together, one can’t just eat while letting the other just watch.

Before noon, Shen Yougen had hurriedly brought her a bag of cornmeal and a few cabbages with a horse cart, of course, these were all from her own cellar at home.

“No need, I brought my own lunch.” Jian Hui didn’t think much of Shen Yunfang’s meals—after all, what could someone from the countryside possibly eat that was decent?

Shen Yunfang just courteously offered and wasn’t insistent, “Okay then, I’ll go cook.” As she was about to leave, she suddenly remembered something, “Sister Jian, the lunch you brought from home must be cold by now, do you need me to warm it up for you with a pot?”

“That’d be great, wouldn’t it be a hassle though?” Who would want to eat cold food when they could have it hot? Jian Hui was really tempted by Shen Yunfang’s offer.

“What hassle? It’s just a matter of adding a lid. Wait for me, when the food is ready, I’ll call you.” Shen Yunfang chuckled foolishly.

“My goodness, Xiaoshen, you’re really quite nice, nothing like your cousin at all,” Jian Hui commented.

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What does that mean? It looks like Shen Yunfeng doesn’t get along with this Jian Hui either.

“Heh heh, my mom always said I don’t have much guile and I don’t know how to deal with people. Sister Jian, if I ever do anything wrong, just tell me straight, don’t be polite,” Shen Yunfang always felt that at her age, being a bit naive made her endearing to others.

“Haha, your nature is just perfect for me. Don’t worry, since you and I could come together, it’s fate. I won’t hide anything from you,” Jian Hui followed her to the backyard, “By the way, it doesn’t seem like you have much honeycomb coal left. If you run out, there are coal briquettes by the wall in the front courtyard; feel free to use those. If you’re not used to them, there are plenty of broken tables and chairs in the backyard. If they’re too big, you can look in the cabinet in the duty room. There’s an axe, you can chop them yourself.”

“That’s really great.”

As the two chatted and ate, time flew by unusually fast.

When it was almost 2 p.m., Shen Yunfang clearly noticed that Jian Hui was getting restless, so she kindly suggested that Jian Hui leave work early. After all, it was the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, and with New Year’s right around the corner, there was plenty to clean and prepare at home. Besides, no one would come to the purchasing station, and she could watch the gate by herself.

That was actually what Jian Hui was thinking, she just didn’t want to bring it up herself. Seeing that Shen Yunfang was so understanding, after a bit of politeness, she happily accepted the suggestion.

Before leaving, she also told Shen Yunfang that she wouldn’t be coming from the 30th of the lunar month to the 7th of the New Year, she would just come to take turns with Shen Yunfang on the 8th, so that Shen Yunfang could have some time to wander around outside.

Shen Yunfang had known all along that she was just here to do the night watch during the New Year period; otherwise, Jian Hui and Shen Yunfeng would each have to come for a shift during these days. Her presence had freed up both of them.

After happily seeing off Jian Hui, Shen Yunfang went inside to simply put on some makeup, letting her hair down to cover most of her face, and changing into an old floral jacket she used to wear.

Without a mirror, she didn’t know how much of a difference this made compared to her usual appearance, or if it would fool others, but with what she had at her disposal, she could only be more cautious.

Dressed up, Yunfang locked the front door and, with a small basket slung over her arm covered by a cloth that made it impossible to guess what was inside, she strode towards the residential block she had already scouted out.

Upon reaching the block, she continued to employ her door-to-door sales technique from the day before, but this time with greater caution, knocking on just one door per unit, regardless of whether she made a sale or not, then immediately moving on to a different location.

Fortunately, her timing for peddling was pretty good, and indeed, the leeks and lettuce were very fresh. The residents in this block were all employees with fixed salaries. With New Year’s approaching, they were willing to splurge a little extra to buy some leeks to make dumplings filled with leek and egg stuffing.

And so, after nearly an hour wandering around the block, Yunfang had only a few bunches of leeks left in her basket; however, about half of the lettuce remained.

She estimated that if she knocked on a few more doors, she could sell off the rest; it was just a matter of sooner or later.

Just as Yunfang stepped out of one unit, preparing to try her luck in another building, she heard a jumble of footsteps approaching from a distance, mixed with the whisper-shouts of a boy going through puberty: “I saw her go into this building, let’s just wait for her at the bottom, we’ll definitely catch her.”

Yunfang’s heart skipped a beat, and on instinct, she bolted in the opposite direction, managing to hide in the stairwell of another building before those people could round the corner to the front of her building.

It was the child of the family who had bought her leeks; the boy had given her odd looks while inside and had been quieted down only after the woman who was buying the vegetables slapped him. Unexpectedly, the kid had turned her in the moment he had the chance.

Swallowing hard, Yunfang continuously reminded herself not to panic, assuring herself that they would definitely not catch her. Even if they did catch her, all her vegetables were in her storage space, and as long as she denied everything, they wouldn’t have any evidence to accuse her.

Taking a few deep breaths, she forced herself to calm down. After scanning her surroundings and making sure no one was nearby and that she was out of sight, she quickly discarded her belongings into her storage space and began to disguise herself, changing back into her usual clothes and tidying her hair neatly, revealing her face.

Seeing that they weren’t paying attention to this side, Yunfang took a deep breath and, without attracting any notice, walked out of the unit, circling the building and leaving the block.

Once out of the block, she quickened her pace involuntarily, afraid someone might be following her. When she passed by the bathhouse, she doubled back, thought for a moment, and decided to go in.

She paid five cents for the entrance ticket and entered.

Having no particular expectations for bathhouses of the time, she was already tense and irritated, which left her with little interest in noticing the bathhouse’s facilities.

Stripping herself quickly, she stood underneath the showerhead, turning her fear into strength as she scrubbed herself from head to toe with a towel, leaving her skin glowing red as if she were a boiled duck.

This outburst allowed her to completely regain her composure. Engaging in these kinds of speculative ventures, she realized that it was only a matter of time before she encountered a situation like today’s. It was better to face it sooner rather than later; it served as a wake-up call for her not to take things for granted anymore, as the business ideals from the future were not suited for this era.

Feeling two taels lighter, Yunfang stepped out of the bathhouse, refreshed and full of fighting spirit.

She glanced back and thought, “Damn it, I’m a proud descendant of a martyr, who am I afraid of!”