NOVPUB
Chapter 157: Chapter 151 New Wedding Night
Shen Yunfang entered the room and saw Li Hongjun lying on the kang, covered with the big red satin cotton quilt she had made, which looked quite harmonious.
But the room was really cold, drafty from all sides. When the house was built, it probably wasn’t intended for living, so the walls weren’t thick enough.
Shen Yunfang felt the temperature inside the room. When she exhaled, her breath frosted in the air. It was definitely below zero. Could people really sleep here at night? She stepped forward and put her hand under the bedding to feel it; at least the kang wasn’t made of ice.
"Have you been staying here the past couple of days?" Shen Yunfang asked.
"No, I stayed in the same room with my younger brother the last few days." Li Hongjun couldn’t sleep at all; he was waiting for his wife.
"It seems that I’ve dragged you down," Shen Yunfang sighed.
The temperature at night just wouldn’t do; it was fine for her with her strong constitution, but Li Hongjun was still sick. He was inherently weak, and if he got chilled, it would be she who would suffer in the end.
She went out into the yard and brought back an armload of firewood into the room, adding some to the kang stove to heat it up. Nevertheless, the temperature in the room wouldn’t rise for a while. She went out again and after searching the whole yard, finally found an iron basin with two holes in the bottom, hidden in a corner of the back courtyard.
Shen Yunfang placed it beside the kang, away from the pile of miscellaneous items, then kindled another fire in it.
"It’s lucky that I found this, otherwise I would have considered using our household’s iron basin." After Shen Yunfang had finished setting everything up, she removed her shoes, climbed onto the kang, and burrowed into the bedding to warm up. The room didn’t even have a lamp; everything had to be done in the dark. Fortunately, with the charcoal brazier lit on the floor, the room was somewhat visible.
"When the room warms up a bit, I’ll go fetch some water for you to clean up. You haven’t washed for days, have you?" Shen Yunfang stated more than she asked.
"Hmm." Li Hongjun responded in a muffled tone. 𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙥𝒖𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝒎
Shen Yunfang, noticing something off in his voice, turned her head to see Li Hongjun staring blankly at the ceiling with a nondescript expression.
"What’s wrong? Why the long face now?"
Li Hongjun didn’t speak for a while, and Shen Yunfang wasn’t in a hurry. She knew his temperament; he would speak eventually.
"I had said I would take good care of you, but on the first day of our marriage, I let you suffer. A woman’s big day, supposed to happen only once in her life, and the Li Family managed it like this. I blame no one but myself," he said.
"I thought it was something serious. I really don’t care about these things. If you truly feel that I suffered today, just be better to me from now on. That’s worth more than anything," Shen Yunfang sighed and spoke. She hadn’t expected to end up married like this. This was the result of having no parents. If she had had a father and a mother, today’s marriage surely wouldn’t have happened; they would have caused a huge fuss.
"Alright, it’s getting late. I’m going to fetch some water to clean you up, and then we should hurry to sleep. You got up so early this morning, you must be tired." Shen Yunfang said as she got up from the bed, put on her shoes, took the basin from inside the room, and left the house.
In the main room, the people had left, and a basin full of dishes still sat on the ground. Shen Yunfang acted as though she didn’t see them, lifted the lid from the pot, scooped out some hot water, and then drew some cold water from the adjacent water jar, testing the temperature to find it slightly scalding to the touch.
When she returned to the room, she lifted the bedding a bit and placed the basin on the kang. She tossed a towel in and began cleaning Li Hongjun’s face and hands.
"Am I doing alright?" Shen Yunfang asked as she worked.
"Good." Li Hongjun answered without the slightest hesitation.
"Better than your ’Silk Silk’?" Shen Yunfang moved the towel down, gently wiping his body along the gauze bandages.
"Which ’Silk Silk’? Who are you talking about?" Li Hongjun tried hard to ignore the effects her actions were having on him.
"Don’t think you can fool me," Shen Yunfang’s towel reached his lower body, "Confess and you shall be shown leniency; resist, and it will be more severe."
"Hmm~" Li Hongjun stretched the sound out long, "Hiss, be careful, will you? Are you trying to kill me?" Li Hongjun hurriedly grabbed his mischievous wife’s hand.
Shen Yunfang stealthily stuck her tongue out, as if she had accidentally touched something she shouldn’t have. "I really can’t be blamed for this, who told it to stick out like that?"
"Don’t change the subject. What’s the deal with this Sisi? From the sound of it, it seems like you and she have some unspeakable history?" Li Hongjun’s current condition didn’t allow for much rough handling, so the towel continued its journey downward, now reaching the feet.
"Don’t listen to Xianghe’s nonsense. She’s just not the sharpest tool in the shed and can never tell right from wrong. She’ll get her comeuppance."
"You’re really something as a brother, so cold-hearted even toward your own sister. Shouldn’t you charge forward to rescue her from danger?"
"I would like to, but with her brains, if I interfered, do you believe she would bring that Sisi straight to me the very next day?"
"That can’t be." Shen Yunfang thought to herself that even tigers couldn’t be that extreme; her second brother was already married, after all.
Li Hongjun didn’t speak, just closed his eyes.
"Ah..."
Just as Shen Yunfang was about to say something more, Li Hongjun opened his eyes and then put his hand to his mouth, feigning a cough.
Shen Yunfang whispered, "What’s up?" Why was he being so secretive?
Li Hongjun didn’t reply but instead sat up with some effort, pointed at the window, and signaled that someone was out there.
Shen Yunfang’s eyes darted around; she imitated Li Hongjun’s fake cough and then quietly put on her shoes, silently unlatched the door, suddenly opened it, and spotted someone crouched beneath their window, eavesdropping.
"Oh my goodness, you scared me to death." Qiu Shuping had just squatted by the wall and hadn’t overheard anything from inside when the sudden opening of the door startled her, making her clutch her chest, as if her heart might jump out if her throat were any larger.
Shen Yunfang looked at her with a grin, "Mom, what are you doing squatting under my window so late at night?" If you hadn’t been up to no good, you wouldn’t have been startled so badly.
Qiu Shuping composed herself a little, immediately realized that this situation was not good, and if it got out that she, as a mother-in-law, had been eavesdropping around her son’s corner, she could kiss her dignity goodbye. So, she adamantly refused to admit it, "What are you talking about? What do you mean I’m not sleeping and squatting under the window? I came to check on my son, and before I even knocked, you scared me. I’ll tell you, my son is still injured, you better not fuss over him." She treated Shen Yunfang as if she were some blood-sucking demon.
"Mom, what are you saying?" Before Shen Yunfang could say anything, Li Hongjun was already upset inside. What on earth was her mother talking about? It was their wedding night, for heaven’s sake, and she was making it sound so improper.
"I’m only thinking of your best interest. Really, you get a wife and forget your mother. I don’t care anymore, do whatever you want," Qiu Shuping hurried back to her own room.
Shen Yunfang watched as the figure disappeared before she turned back to close the door, securing it properly. The warmth in the room wasn’t much to speak of.
The two of them lay back down in bed, chatting away. Shen Yunfang, suddenly remembering the strange stories she had heard, and considering her mother-in-law’s behavior, abruptly asked, "Do you think your mother might actually come out in the middle of the night to bang on a basin?"
There was once a rumor about a wicked mother-in-law who was so afraid her son would be snatched away by his wife that she would go into the courtyard and bang on a basin every night at precisely midnight, causing enough disturbance to deflate any intimate moments that might have been about to happen. This was her way of maintaining some unspeakable secret control.
Li Hongjun didn’t speak; he just slightly shifted his body to find a comfortable position, and placed a hand on his wife’s body. Although they couldn’t do much, it was important to establish dominion.
The two of them whispered and laughed sweetly under the covers, and just as they were about to drift off, they suddenly heard an abrupt noise from the courtyard. Sure enough, someone was banging on a basin.
"Whose crazy cat is that, not staying at home and jumping around at this hour. Keep it down, everyone," she shouted.
Shen Yunfang perked up again, turning to Li Hongjun, "Tell me, if we really were up to something, and got scared by your mom like that, what could be the consequence?"
Li Hongjun’s face darkened, mainly because really, if it was a critical moment, and they got startled like that, anything could happen.
