Witty Wife, Better Life-Chapter 56 - 54 Remember to Write to Me

Chapter 56: Chapter 54 Remember to Write to Me

Chapter 56 -54 Remember to Write to Me

“Keep this in your clothes, in case you get hungry on the road. It’ll be something to eat, and not too chilly,” Shen Yunfang nagged on.

She stuffed an aluminum lunchbox into his military coat, which had a pocket big enough for it, fitting the lunchbox just right.

Li Hongjun knew that inside were four flattened rice balls, each with a pickled vegetable filling.

“Just keep this in your pocket; it’ll probably be cold by the time you start your journey. Once you’re on the train, heat it on the stove for a while before you eat,” Shen Yunfang took out another aluminum lunchbox and put it in his military side bag.

It contained pork hearts and livers that had been marinated. Shen Yunfang had sliced them thinly and arranged them inside the lunchbox.

“Hmm, I got it,” Li Hongjun felt a sweet warmth inside. It felt so good to be cared for.

“If it’s not enough, just buy something on the train. Don’t hesitate to spend money,” Shen Yunfang continued her nagging, “Oh right, do you have any food coupons? I’ll get you some.”

Li Hongjun stopped the girl who was about to fetch the food coupons, “No need, you don’t need food coupons to buy things on the train.”

“Oh, that’s good. Well then, you, please be careful on your journey,” Shen Yunfang blushed from being pulled by him.

She recalled the scene from that morning when the two embraced in sleep, or more accurately, when she snuggled into his arms.

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine, but you should take care of yourself. If you face any difficulties, don’t bear them alone. Write to me, or seek help from your uncle,” Li Hongjun also began to ramble, figuring he must have been influenced by her.

Considering that distant waters can’t quench an immediate thirst, in case of an emergency, one has to rely on relatives nearby.

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“I’m departing now. Remember to write to me, and come visit me at the barracks next New Year. Also, keep this money. I didn’t spend much this trip home, so this is what’s left. Don’t deprive yourself when you’re home alone; if you want something, just go buy it.” Li Hongjun took out a handful of cash from his pocket, stuffed all of it into Shen Yunfang’s pocket, and then walked out through the procurement station’s gate.

Shen Yunfang didn’t expect him to leave her money, and she stood there, dumbfounded, suddenly feeling an inexplicable sense of loss.

“Right, I forgot to tell you, regarding the grain distributed by the team, don’t give it to anyone, and don’t give it to my parents either. I’m there to support them. You just need to take good care of your health.” Li Hongjun had walked a few steps before he remembered he hadn’t mentioned this and quickly came back to give her a serious reminder.

Thinking back to when he left home, and how his mother chased after him, scolding him for forgetting his mother now that he had a wife, it weighed heavily on him. He wasn’t that kind of person; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to send ten yuan home every month to support his parents. The way his mother and elder brother had acted this time truly disappointed him.

“Even if your parents personally demanded it, I should refuse?” Shen Yunfang raised her eyebrows. She was aware of the people of that era, who for the sake of a good reputation, could endure all sorts of grievances as a son-in-law or daughter-in-law, being foolishly filial to a fault.

“Just refuse. There are several of us brothers, earning enough to cover their expenses. You just take good care of yourself,” Li Hongjun looked at her frail figure, which he couldn’t possibly allow to provide all her hard-earned grain to his family.

Moreover, the situation at home wasn’t dire. Not to mention the many able-bodied workers at home, the public points earned yearly were enough for the household’s consumption. Additionally, he sent ten yuan to his family every month. How could they possibly depend on his future daughter-in-law’s hundred or so pounds of rice?

Shen Yunfang was surprised. She wouldn’t practice blind filial piety, and it was quite a shock that Li Hongjun was on the same page as her.

“I really have to go now. Remember to write to me, and visit me during New Year’s,” Li Hongjun repeated his instructions before turning and striding towards the station.

Initially, she was merely a responsibility to him, but after two days of being together, he had fallen for her. He began to look forward to their future life together, missing her even before he had truly left. Her sparkling eyes, her ever-changing little expressions…

Shen Yunfang waited until she could no longer see him before closing the gate. But for the entire morning, she couldn’t muster any energy for her tasks and was listless in everything she did. She must have been suffering from separation anxiety; transitioning from having someone to talk to, to being alone, required an adaptation period.

After consoling herself, she sat up and took out the money from her pocket, counting it bill by bill.

Before he left, Li Hongjun threw her a total of 120 yuan. Shen Yunfang held the money and squinted with a smile; her pockets were bulging once again. On the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, although she had a bit of a scare, she still made some money. She sold more than thirty bundles of chives and more than twenty heads of lettuce. As some haggled over the price and some did not, she couldn’t remember clearly, so she could only count up the total in the end, which amounted to 28 yuan and 49 cents. It wasn’t said for nothing that risk and profit coexist—seeing that she had made so much money at once, Shen Yunfang immediately felt that this was a venture worth continuing.

Now, with all the money added up, her net worth had soared to 160 yuan.

Yes, her rice meals wouldn’t be cut off now. Thinking of the certain someone who had contributed this money, Shen Yunfang decided to take some time to visit the supply and marketing cooperative and buy a few wine jars to brew some homemade wine as a reward for that someone.

Indeed, Shen Yunfang had acquired a new skill these past two days.

She found a handwritten book about brewing in the warehouse. The traditional characters were somewhat sloppy and hard to recognize, so she roughly understood it by guessing and deducing. There were sixteen different brewing recipes, most of which involved grains, and a few were for fruit wines.

Shen Yunfang judged that they must be ancestral recipes from some family. After returning to Gaijiatun, she could experiment with them.

With a new goal, Shen Yunfang was back to normal by the afternoon.

She did what had to be done, first collecting all the wooden boxes and racks in the yard into her space, then going to the warehouse to continue sorting out the books.

Soon it was the eighth day of the first lunar month, and at eight-thirty in the morning, Jian Hui arrived on time for work.

“Xiaoshen, happy new year,” Jian Hui said, smiling as she walked in.

“Happy new year, Sister Jiang,” Shen Yunfang replied with a radiant smile.

“Here, I didn’t have much to bring you, just some candy and a few seeds from home. Stick to the good luck, just a token gesture,” Jian Hui was good at building relationships, and seeing that Shen Yunfang was much more capable than Shen Yunfeng, naturally, she felt closer to her. Considering that this young girl was spending the Spring Festival alone, she felt a twinge of pity and decided to bring some seeds and sweets along to work.

“Oh, Sister Jiang, you’re so kind, thank you,” Shen Yunfang said with a sincere smile.

The two chatted off and on in the duty room.

Somehow, the conversation turned to the fact that Shen Yunfang’s fiancé was a soldier. Jian Hui exclaimed in surprise, “Then we really are fated. My husband used to be a soldier too, and he just demobilized and returned home in the past few years.”

Only then did Shen Yunfang realize that Sister Jiang had quite a deep background as well.

Her husband had transferred from the military to the county armed forces department three years ago and had climbed the ranks to become a leader over these few years.

The two, one a former military wife and the other a future military wife, found their relationship warming even further.

By noon, Shen Yunfang cooked and directly brought out food for Jian Hui as well, telling her not to bring her own meals in the future since leftovers weren’t as tasty as freshly made food, although Shen Yunfang didn’t have much delicious food left.

These days, she had been making white rice meals for Li Hongjun, and the small stock in her space had almost run out, so the only thing she could offer was cornbread.

Jian Hui also had her share of hard times and didn’t mind. She simply said she would bring her own food coupons the next day and let Shen Yunfang take care of the cooking.

Just like that, the relationship between the two grew progressively closer and better.