Witty Wife, Better Life-Chapter 52 - 50 Getting Along

Chapter 52: Chapter 50: Getting Along

Chapter 52 -50: Getting Along

Shen Yunfang did some mental calculations. From what she heard, it would take about a day for him to travel from his army unit to home, so a round trip would be three days. If he stayed at home for two days, that meant he would have two whole days off remaining, which means he would leave the day after tomorrow.

She glanced at the sky; it was already afternoon. Once this guy finished his meal, he would probably arrive home when it was already dark. She ought to hurry up.

Since they were meat dumplings, after they were boiled for a while, she scooped them out of the pot.

“Come, they’re ready. Eat up,” Shen Yunfang placed the dumplings on the table, then handed a bowl to Li Hongjun, and set the bottles of vinegar and soy sauce to the side, signaling him to add whatever he liked.

Li Hongjun didn’t stand on ceremony, pouring some soy sauce into his bowl and started eating the dumplings with pickled veggies, bite by bite. Maybe the food was hot, he even stood up to take off his military green cotton-padded jacket, sitting at the table in a blue prisoner-like garment and wolfing down the food with gusto.

Shen Yunfang poured him a glass of water.

“Aren’t you eating too?” Li Hongjun noticed she hadn’t touched her chopsticks.

“No need, I’m full from lunch,” What meal was it even appropriate to eat at this time?

After making sure she really wasn’t hungry, Li Hongjun absentmindedly polished off a large plate of dumplings and an equally large serving of pickled vegetables.

Shen Yunfang clicked her tongue in amazement; she could eat a lot, but this man could eat even more than she could.

When Li Hongjun finally put down his chopsticks, Shen Yunfang began to clean up.

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Li Hongjun helped as well, but Shen Yunfang dismissed his efforts, “You’ve been on the move all morning. Take a break; you still have more travelling to do later.”

Li Hongjun looked at her, said nothing, and stopped insisting on helping.

The hot water in the house had been prepared in advance, so it didn’t take long for Shen Yunfang to wash and put away the dishes.

Then the two sat across from each other once again, facing the uncomfortable silence.

“I’m doing well, nothing much is going on. It’s getting late, why don’t you go back for today? I guess your parents must be waiting for you at home, right?” Shen Yunfang spoke awkwardly, as if she were chasing him away.

Well, actually, she was.

Regarding this fiance, from the day she crossed over, she had maintained one thought: he was Shen Yunfang’s fiance, not hers, Shen Feiyang. If she could just hold out until 1977, get into university, then she could naturally and amicably break up with him. After all, a university student and a soldier egg weren’t suited for each other in the slightest. Any man with dignity wouldn’t ignore such a discrepancy.

“I’ve already told my parents that I’d have a look at you and then head straight back to the unit,” said Li Hongjun, his face furrowing slightly. The visit home hadn’t been pleasant, and he didn’t really want to go back. He had originally planned to go to Gaijiatun to see her, help her out with some work—after all, she was just a young girl living on her own, undoubtedly struggling with some of the physical labor—then find a place to stay at a relative’s house in Shen Family for the night. He hadn’t expected her to have come into the county for the New Year. Now, her accommodation for the night seemed problematic.

“Then, uh, where will you stay tonight? Do you have relatives here in the county?” Shen Yunfang found herself at a loss.

It was normal in the countryside for visitors like Li Hongjun to find lodging with relatives for the night. However, now they were in the county, and Shen Yunfang only knew the Xue Family. It was rather impractical to ask Li Hongjun to stay with the Xue Family now. What to do?

Seeing Li Hongjun shake his head, Shen Yunfang suggested, “How about spending the night at the guesthouse? Did you bring a letter of introduction?”

Li Hongjun glanced at Shen Yunfang as if she were an idiot, “On New Year’s, which guesthouse is open?”

Shen Yunfang really wanted to sink into the ground. Whom was she doing this for? It wasn’t as if she had nowhere to stay, and what was with that look he gave her?

“No worries, when it gets late, I’ll just rough it at the bus station.” Li Hongjun had considered a few places, and the bus station seemed the most reliable.

Shen Yunfang truly didn’t think it was a good idea. In her opinion, since he knew there was nowhere to stay, he would be better off hurrying home while it was still light. Why would he insist on hunkering down at the bus station? In the dead of winter, just how cold would the waiting room be?

But just by chatting for a bit, she got a sense of Li Hongjun’s stubbornness. She figured that her words were unlikely to have any impact on him, so she decided to let it go. After all, she wasn’t the one who would suffer.

Shen Yunfang shook her sleeves, feeling there was nothing more to be gotten from him, and simply told Li Hongjun that she had work to do and that he could rest inside the house. Then, she left him in the house and went back to the warehouse to sort out books.

Li Hongjun was there to help out, and on hearing Shen Yunfang say this, he stood up and followed her to the back.

“What are you doing with these?” Li Hongjun asked upon seeing two piles of books on the ground. One pile was neatly arranged, with even the creased pages smoothed out. The other pile did not receive such nice treatment; they were haphazardly strewn about as a result of careless tossing.

Shen Yunfang thought for a moment and said, “These books are pretty good.”

Li Hongjun glanced at Shen Yunfang, wondering whether this girl was foolish or just bold. Even if she wanted them, she shouldn’t blurt it out like that. Wasn’t she afraid he would report her? Wasn’t this using her power for personal gain and undermining the foundation of socialism?

He tugged at his trousers and frowned as he crouched down.

Shen Yunfang had said something so equivocal just to see Li Hongjun’s reaction. For some reason, though they had agreed to break up amicably, she was now looking at him from the perspective of assessing a partner, trying to gauge his trustworthiness.

“From now on, it’s enough to keep such thoughts to yourself. Don’t be naively bold and share everything with others,” Li Hongjun advised.

“When have I ever been recklessly bold? I only said it because it was you,” Shen Yunfang rolled her eyes.

Unintentionally poignant words struck a chord with Li Hongjun. He felt his face growing warm and quickly coughed, saying, “There are too many books here, just pick a couple.”

Shen Yunfang looked up and raised an eyebrow at Li Hongjun.

“There are too many, and it’s too obvious a target.” It was too risky.

Shen Yunfang laughed, “I’m not stupid, how could I just take them out willy-nilly?”

Li Hongjun watched her in silence, waiting for her to give an answer.

“A wise man has his own clever plan.” She would have to be foolish to tell an outsider about her space.

“As long as you have a sense of measure, that’s fine.” Although Li Hongjun was worried, he still fully trusted her.

He also started to help sort out the books.

Shen Yunfang saw him placing several books she disliked into her pile, including a quotation book. She somewhat speechlessly watched him. Didn’t he have anything else to do?

“You’re not helping here,” she said.

“Then what else do you have to do?” Li Hongjun was not offended, asking good-naturedly, as he was there to help his future wife with chores.

Shen Yunfang thought for a moment; there really was something he could do.

“Do you know carpentry?”

“I can’t do complex work,” Li Hongjun touched his nose, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“Nothing complex is needed. I just want to nail some wooden boards into boxes. Can you do that?” Shen Yunfang shook her head, she wasn’t making furniture.

“I can,” Li Hongjun answered decisively.

“Great, then follow me.”

So Shen Yunfang took Li Hongjun to the pile of broken furniture to choose materials. She then led him to the duty room to select tools, told him the style and size she wanted, and left him outside in the cold to work. She, on the other hand, went back to select books.