Witty Wife, Better Life

Chapter 222: Chapter 215 Uninvited Guest 2

"Yunfang, you’re finally back..."

The woman facing the door turned around upon hearing a voice behind her, and it was Qian Xinxue, Shen Yunfang’s only aunt by marriage, who had not shown up for two years.

"Are you pregnant? How did it happen so fast?" Qian Xinxue’s tears were still on her face when her eyes widened in surprise as she observed the bump. "That has to be at least five months. Wasn’t it said that Yunfang’s husband is a soldier? How could she get pregnant so quickly?"

During those times, pregnancy was purely manual work. With professions like military personnel, where couples even if married often lived in separate places, it generally took years to conceive a child.

"Aunt, what brings you here?" Shen Yunfang, seeing that the visitor was her aunt, couldn’t muster a smile and could only greet her with a drooping face.

"Yun, Yunfang, this must be over five months, doesn’t your partner know?" Qian Xinxue looked genuinely shocked.

Shen Yunfang found it odd, of course her husband would know about her pregnancy, "He knows, how could I not tell him such a big thing. What’s the matter?"

Qian Xinxue, hearing her response, exaggeratedly breathed a sigh of relief and even patted her own chest, "Oh my, I was overthinking it then, it’s good that he knows, good that he knows."

’Overthinking?’ Shen Yunfang suddenly realized, this is because her aunt was worried that she was cheating, that the child in her womb wasn’t Li Hongjun’s.

In an instant, Shen Yunfang’s already thin patience vanished. Who would tolerate someone who looked down on them like that? She, who had always been upright, was actually suspected of adultery. It was absurd.

"Aunt, what exactly is your reason for coming? My uncle clearly stated you should tell him if you visit, and you shouldn’t just stand at my doorstep. Let’s go together to my uncle’s house," Shen Yunfang said with an unfriendly gaze. The last time her uncle intervened, it kept Qian Xinxue from daring to step across her threshold for two years; naturally, she ought to bring her relative to her uncle’s house now. She’d be foolish to stand here and listen to her nonsense.

"Hey, hey, Yunfang, what are you doing? Don’t go, I came to see you. Why go to your uncle’s house? I won’t go," Qian Xinxue saw that Shen Yunfang was truly about to walk toward the village after speaking and immediately became anxious.

How easy do you think it was for her to sneak her way here from the head of the village? And now she’s ushering her to someone else before she could even finish speaking.

Shen Yunfang didn’t care about that. She was utterly exhausted today, not physically, but mentally. She had just entertained a wave of her husband’s relatives in the morning, and then in the evening, another relative from her parents’ side had come. If they were truly relatives, she wouldn’t have minded, but they were wolves in relatives’ clothing. Mingling with them was tiring enough to make her head spin, especially now that she was pregnant and needed to avoid stress.

Seeing that Shen Yunfang really kept walking without looking back, Qian Xinxue lost her nerve. Had she come for nothing?

Glancing at the slightly swollen figure ahead of her, she quickly devised a plan. Without shying away from the dirty ground, she sat down with a plop, grabbing onto Shen Yunfang’s sleeve with one hand and covering her face while beginning to cry with woeful sobs.

The sound, with its high and low variations and its rhythm and intensity, caused Shen Yunfang’s temples to pulsate fiercely, and she had no choice but to stop.

In fact, it was because her sleeve had been grabbed.

She turned around and sighed deeply, wishing she could take out a bed to lie on for a while or even just a stool to sit on. After all, she had climbed up and down the mountain twice that afternoon alone. As a pregnant woman more than five months along, even if she was physically fit, she felt tired. But under the current circumstances, she was not allowed to lie down or sit, and could only stand.

Therefore, Shen Yunfang decided to stop walking. She knew that the person on the ground was waiting for her to ask whether they were really crying or faking it. Otherwise, they couldn’t continue their act. To get it over with sooner, she better ask quickly.

"Aunt, stop crying. Just tell me what’s up. I’ve been tired all day, and my belly feels a bit uncomfortable. Keep it short and to the point, please."

Qian Xinxue seized the moment, glad that Shen Yunfang was finally willing to listen to her. She quickly wiped away her tears, confident that once Yunfang listened to her, she could convince her, "Yunfang, are you tired? How about I get up so you can sit for a while?" Then she remembered that she was sitting on the ground, "Oh, let’s not stand outside talking, shall we go inside and sit on the kang to chat?"

Shen Yunfang said nothing, turned around, took out the keys from her pocket, unlocked the door with a click, and went into the courtyard first.

Qian Xinxue was overjoyed inside, considering this the first step to success. She didn’t dare to show it on her face, suppressing her glee and maintaining a sorrowful expression.

Shen Yunfang did not look back, or she would certainly have accused her of being too fake.

Qian Xinxue let her gaze wander all over the place as she followed inside. She took a turn around the room before finally joining Shen Yunfang on the kang.

"Ah, you go ahead and rest, I’ll boil some water for you," Qian Xinxue said considerately, "Don’t move; I’m familiar with your home. Back when your mother was alive, I often came to help out."

"No, Aunt, there’s no need to boil water now. There’s a thermos under the table; if you want water, pour yourself some. I’m truly feeling a bit ill, so I won’t be able to entertain you," Shen Yunfang pulled out a quilt and lay down on it. Her stomach was actually fine, but she really wanted to straighten her back. Carrying the baby all day had been exhausting.

Qian Xinxue stiffened for a moment and then forced a bitter smile on her face, which was still looking mournful, "Look at me, making a fool of myself. Your living conditions have improved, and you even have a thermos at home now. I’ve seen them but never used one."

Shen Yunfang didn’t join the conversation and didn’t know how to, so she just lay there silently without speaking.

Qian Xinxue walked over to the table, bent down to pick up the thermos from the floor, and then took out two clean porcelain cups, poured two cups of water, handed one to Shen Yunfang, and took a sip from her own.

Neither of them spoke, and the room fell into an awkward silence.

"Yunfang, your aunt has come to you, thick-skinned as it is, because there really is a matter," Qian Xinxue began, tears flowing again. She did not wipe them away, instead adopting a pitiful, trembling voice.

Qian Xinxue maintained herself well. At a glance, though she was already a middle-aged woman, she retained a certain charm. If it had been a man, he might not have been able to resist her act, but she had chosen the wrong target. Shen Yunfang only felt annoyed after listening.

"Aunt, just talk about the matter at hand, you don’t need to cry. If it were something minor, you probably wouldn’t have come to me. If it’s a major issue, I’m just a woman and can’t help you. To be honest, you’d be better off talking to my eldest uncle. He’s the production brigade leader; he has both the people and the authority. Just for my sake, if he can help you, he definitely will," Shen Yunfang explained calmly and realistically.

These words choked Qian Xinxue, but being an experienced person, such a setback couldn’t possibly beat her. After stifling a few sobs, she began to recount why she had come to look for Shen Yunfang.