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Chapter 167: Chapter 160 Don’t Work So Hard
After leaving Old Shen’s place, Shen Yunfang supported Li Hongjun and went to sit at Wang Da Nainai’s home for a while, since the couple had looked after their home for so long. They couldn’t even have a restful New Year’s, and this kindness was something both husband and wife remembered.
Once they got home, Shen Yunfang hurried to make the bed, urging Li Hongjun to take off his shoes and lie down on the kang, as his disability had really taken a toll on him throughout the day.
That night, because they were back in their own home, Shen Yunfang felt a sense of belonging from deep inside, as if it were their wedding night all over again. She cuddled up next to Li Hongjun, who was very pleased to see this charming side of his wife, though he felt frustrated by his disability, yearning but powerless. He lay on the kang, panting heavily while watching his wife fumble around, and hoarsely called out, "You little vixen, too audacious. Just wait till I can move, I’ll make you pay back today’s debts a thousand times over."
Shen Yunfang couldn’t help but burst into laughter at his words, careful all the while not to disturb his injury. Li Hongjun’s childish words fully demonstrated that he was the epitome of someone who is physically impaired but strong in spirit.
Early the next morning, Shen Yunfang got out of bed and started to get busy. They hadn’t been home for days, and she hadn’t woken up early for a long while, so getting up at this time was a bit difficult.
"Why are you up so early?" Li Hongjun had woken up when she did and, seeing her getting dressed, asked hoarsely.
"It’s not early anymore. Because of you, I’ve been lazy for almost a month. I used to get up this early to start chores." Since she had gotten up in the night to add wood to the stove, it wasn’t cold in the house in the morning. But to avoid the temptation of crawling back into bed, she hurriedly pulled out the quilted trousers from under the covers and put them on. A dose of the cold air outside would wake her up.
Li Hongjun, hearing her say this, also silently got up and started dressing.
"What are you doing?" Shen Yunfang asked, puzzled to see him getting ready to rise as well.
"I’m getting up to help you," Li Hongjun said as a matter of course.
Shen Yunfang really wanted to tell him that with his current disability, he might end up making more work for her, but she also knew that a man’s dignity was not to be offended and the soul was fragile. It was better not to tell the harsh truth and just let him follow her around and watch.
So the two of them got up together and first went to the plastic shed in the backyard to collect eggs.
This was Shen Yunfang’s favorite daily activity. It wasn’t just collecting eggs; it was like picking up money.
Li Hongjun was shocked to see the plastic shed filled with chickens, ducks, and geese. He had heard that his wife raised a lot of chickens at home, but hearing about it was one thing, and seeing it with his own eyes was quite another.
The adult geese in the shed, seeing the intrusion of this stranger, Li Hongjun, on their territory, stretched their necks and prepared to nip at him with loud honks.
Shen Yunfang looked on with satisfaction at her defensively competent geese, "Not bad, you’re worth raising."
The geese were great at guarding the home, one of the reasons Shen Yunfang raised these big eaters not only for the goose eggs but also because raising chickens often attracted weasels. The geese could help guard the house at night.
"Raising so many at once, can you manage it?" Li Hongjun asked with a frown. There must have been over a hundred in the shed, not counting the smaller quails.
He looked at his wife’s slender frame, filled with worry and tenderness.
Shen Yunfang laughed upon hearing this, "It is a bit hectic, but right now they are at their peak for laying eggs. I can pick up a lot of them every morning, and all these are money." She certainly couldn’t say that raising them was easy, let alone that even with a hundred more she could still do it just as well. From past experience, she knew that she had to speak of her hard work and even exaggerate it so that it wouldn’t be in vain.
Of course, she couldn’t just say this to anyone, only to those who cared about her.
Li Hongjun frowned and said, "No amount of money is more important than health. I’ll send all my salary back to you in the future; don’t work so hard anymore."
"I know, I’m careful. I haven’t even begun to enjoy my good fortune yet, so I definitely can’t ruin my own health. Your money sent back is for my upkeep, and what I earn I’ll save, so I can move to the city if the opportunity arises," Shen Yunfang told Li Hongjun as he stood at the doorway, while she went inside to collect eggs.
"Why save so much money? Once you become a military spouse, the army takes care of everything," Li Hongjun said bewilderedly.
Shen Yunfang glanced at him with a burst of space in between her tasks, not wanting to dampen his spirits but seeing he was clueless, she still pointed out, "Do you really think your unit is some kind of paradise? That ragged place isn’t even as good as our village." With no village ahead and no shop behind, to buy something one would have to take a bus to the county.
Li Hongjun had heard such words from others before and hadn’t taken them seriously, but hearing them from his wife today made him feel a bit off.
"What’s the matter, you don’t want to go?" he asked, his tone a bit cross.
"Whether I want to go or not isn’t for me to decide; it depends on whether you work hard," Shen Yunfang didn’t care whether she was happy or not. After checking and seeing that she hadn’t missed any eggs, she stood up, grabbed the basket, and walked out.
"You’re not aware of your own situation? What’s there to be unhappy about, and what did I say that wasn’t correct? If it were just me, I wouldn’t be picky; I’d follow you wherever you go. I’m not new to hardship. But in the future, if we have children, your place doesn’t even have a school. Have you thought about the children’s education and such issues?"
Li Hongjun blinked hard, trying to remain composed. He had just gotten married and hadn’t even consummated the marriage yet; how could he be thinking about children now?
Shen Yunfang sighed and said, "I can see it now: although despised ’stinky intellectuals’ are looked down upon now, the country will need them for development in the future. Mere slogan-chanting won’t be enough; we’ll need knowledge and culture. So no matter what, my daughter has to go to school, and even me, if I get the chance, I should study too. Do you agree?"
The couple talked while they worked that morning, and Shen Yunfang gradually infused Li Hongjun with her desire to study. Li Hongjun wasn’t a conservative thinker, having suffered from a lack of education in the army, so he supported his wife’s wish to learn. Of course, even though he was supportive, it never crossed his mind that one day his wife would actually attend university.
After collecting the chicken eggs, they picked up quail eggs. When all the eggs were collected, Shen Yunfang took him to the western room to show him the earthworms and mushrooms she was raising, explaining she had learned how to do this from books. As for where the books came from, she didn’t say, and Li Hongjun’s mind automatically filled in the blanks—after all, they had worked on this project together.
That day, Shen Yunfang kept Li Hongjun busy with a full day’s work, although it was really just her working while Li Hongjun was there to chat.
But this was enough for him to appreciate the extent of his wife’s hard work.
When they closed the door and had two peaceful days to themselves, no one came to disturb them. After finishing the chores, Shen Yunfang would pull Li Hongjun onto the kang, give him leg massages, and talk about her time trapping sparrows in the mountains.
Li Hongjun listened with a smile and promised that once his leg was better, he’d join her in hunting in the mountains.
