Witty Wife, Better Life-Chapter 48 - 46 New Year

Chapter 48: Chapter 46 New Year

Chapter 48 -46 New Year

Early in the morning, Shen Yunfang headed straight for the Tin Sheet Warehouse, aiming for the large heap of porcelain.

She was very poor and lacked everything. Although she had already bought some pots and pans at the market, she still didn’t have enough for day-to-day life. Additionally, she always made some food in advance and stored it in a space, which required containers to hold it all. However, no matter how poor she was, she did not like to use old bowls and chopsticks.

Partly because she was slightly obsessive about cleanliness, but more because she was somewhat delicate by nature.

Of course, it was another matter entirely when it came to collecting.

Because those who came to sell scrap or to transport it were careless, the porcelain pieces were generally not intact. However, Shen Yunfang came with the mindset of looking for bargains, so she did not care whether they were complete or not. As long as they looked nice, and looked like antiques, she picked them out. She had watched some treasure appraisal programs and knew that even shards of some porcelain could sell for astronomical prices.

So, she picked out some bowls and plates that seemed rather high-end. More than thirty bowls, more than forty plates—none of them identical. They were of various patterns and sizes, and laid out on the table, they looked quite festive.

While picking, she was dazzled by the beautiful patterns on the bowls, finding each one more attractive than the last, loving every one she saw. In the end, there were too many, and she had to carefully choose her favorites and the most complete ones. As for whether there were any hidden pieces of blue and white porcelain, she had no way of knowing, as she wouldn’t have recognized it even if it had been placed right in front of her.

She would just have to carefully store them and wait for a treasure appraisal program to air on CCTV, then have each piece evaluated one by one.

Xue Family.

“Jialong, could you go and invite Yunfeng’s cousin over for a reunion meal later? It’s sad for a young girl to be alone outside during the New Year,” the Xue mother mentioned this first thing in the morning and called out to the young couple lounging in their room.

“Mom, there’s no need. My cousin is a bit odd. If she comes to our house for a meal, she’ll feel uncomfortable. Let’s not bother her and just eat by ourselves,” Shen Yunfeng, who was getting cozy with Xue Jialong in their room, immediately rejected the idea upon hearing her mother-in-law’s suggestion to invite her cousin over for a meal.

Upon hearing her daughter-in-law’s words, the Xue mother’s smiling face faded, but she said nothing else and returned to her own room.

“Your daughter-in-law really knows how to act, huh? It’s the New Year and she neither cooks nor says anything. But what can I say? She’s pregnant. Still, her cold nature really chills the heart.” Xue mother started to grumble dissatisfaction to her husband.

“What’s the matter now?” Xue father was sitting on the kang, watching TV.

The Xue family was wealthy, and both father and son worked in popular industries like the department store sector, so two years ago, when the county just got television, they got one for their home.

“What’s the matter? It’s like you’re implying I, as a mother-in-law, am picking faults for no reason,” said the Xue mother, already unhappy with the tone of her husband.

“Oh, look at you, getting all upset again. That’s not what I meant. I was just asking if there was something the matter with Yunfeng,” said the Xue father, who had long since learned that he must immediately soothe his wife, or else his ears would suffer.

“Hmph, there is no ‘something the matter’, I just feel that your daughter-in-law is too cold-hearted,” and so the Xue mother repeated the earlier conversation with her daughter-in-law to her husband.

“Just think about it, if she can be this way with her own cousin, what will happen to us when we’re old? She might just roll us up in a mat and throw us out. She should never have been brought into this household.” The Xue mother was full of complaints, remembering how she had disapproved at first. Her son had been desperate, and her husband had persuaded her. In the end, after much pestering by the two men, she agreed to let the daughter-in-law join the family. And now, she could see true character revealed through these actions.

Xue father said nothing more. Having watched his daughter-in-law become a part of their family over a long period, he too had noticed her pettiness, how even after living with them for quite some time, she remained the same. But it was too late for regrets; his son had already married her, and moreover, they were expecting a grandchild soon.

“Let’s wait and see if Yunfang can change for the better after having a child. Anyway, it’s up to you to keep our house in order.”

“Of course, I’ve come to realize that with such a daughter-in-law, my son might as well not exist. Hmph, I don’t expect anything from them anymore. In the future, they better not expect anything from me either,” the Xue mother thought to herself that she definitely had to keep a tight grip on her and her husband’s money. If they were ever to rely on the daughter-in-law to care for them in old age, it would all depend on those savings.

Gaijiatun.

“I wonder how Yunfang is doing in the county?” Shen Yeqing sat cross-legged on the Kang, picking up the small wine cup and taking a swift sip.

Granny Shen was busy serving food to her grandsons. Hearing the old man’s words, she gave him a glare, “Is there even a need to ask? With her sister Yunfeng right there, she won’t be neglected. Stop worrying about nothing and just eat your meal.”

Shen Yeqing’s remark was merely a sigh, but thinking it over, his wife’s words made sense; he then picked up his wine cup again and resumed eating and drinking.

As for Shen Yunfang, she indeed had a rather good New Year on her own.

No one disturbed her, and she was in charge of the entire courtyard.

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During the New Year’s days, the food was certainly not a concern. Since it was a waste to keep the stove burning empty, she stewed pork bones with sauerkraut each day early in the morning. By the time dinner came in the afternoon, the aroma was simply irresistible.

On the evening of the thirtieth, she made several batches of dumplings all by herself, some filled with chives and eggs, others with pork and Chinese cabbage. If she stayed up late, she’d cook a few as a late-night snack.

She also took out a pheasant from the space and stewed it with potatoes.

In short, she didn’t shortchange herself these days. After all, it’s about bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new. If she couldn’t enjoy good food during the first few days of the year, what pleasures could be expected from the rest of the year? She wanted to bring herself luck, hoping her life would keep getting better in ’73.

Of course, she didn’t neglect her duties either. From the collection of porcelain wares, she picked several vases she liked, washed them, and tossed them into the space, hoping to indulge in some artistic pursuits in the future.

Furthermore, Shen Yunfang sorted through the books in the warehouse.

Since there were simply too many books for a quick sort-through, she sat on a small stool in the warehouse whenever she had time, organizing the books one by one.

And truly, she found quite a few overlooked treasures.

Firstly, she collected a complete set of textbooks from elementary to high school. She planned to sit for the college entrance exam in ’77. Although she was a college student in her previous life, she hadn’t touched a textbook in years and wasn’t sure how much she still remembered. Therefore, she would need to pick up the textbooks for revision when she had spare time.

Secondly, she found a book that she currently needed. It was about how to grow mushrooms, its cover gone, with no visible title. Shen Yunfang initially didn’t care much about it until she casually flipped through it and saw an illustration of mushrooms. This prompted her to read carefully. Upon inspection, her heart leapt with joy – it was like being handed a pillow when drowsy.

In her previous life, she had engaged in mushroom cultivation. She had planned to collect some spores from wild mushrooms this year to start cultivating her own mushrooms, whether for personal consumption or sale.

But how would she explain to others how she suddenly knew how to grow mushrooms? It was unheard of for someone in the area to cultivate mushrooms at home.

Now with this book, should anyone ask, she could point to it as her source of knowledge, claiming she learned by reading and figuring it out on her own.

Besides, she found some thread-bound books which she wasn’t sure were rare copies, but they seemed quite valuable and old, so she collected them all, along with any manuscripts.

Despite her efforts over the past few days, she had only uncovered the tip of the iceberg. To comb through the entire warehouse of books would be a long and drawn-out process.