Witty Wife, Better Life

Chapter 268: Chapter 258: The Househusband

Li Hongjun’s return brought a happy and warm New Year for the family of three.

In the past few days, Li Hongjun fully demonstrated the excellent qualities of a domestic husband, not only cooking a variety of postpartum meals for his wife three times a day but also ensuring his son had enough to eat while taking care of him comfortably. _{𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑝𝑢𝘣.𝘤𝑜𝘮}

Day or night, whenever his son cried out, it was certainly Li Hongjun who rushed over first to take his son to pee and learn to change his diapers, doing an impressive job. To put it bluntly, if he had milk, Shen Yunfang would probably be out of a job.

At first, Dashuan’s wife wasn’t sure about Hongjun, a grown man, taking care of Yunfang’s postpartum needs. But after a few visits, she was completely reassured and went home telling Dashuan that she had never realized Hongjun was such a meticulous man. He was even more thorough and attentive than she had been.

Of course, the direct beneficiary of Hongjun’s capability was Shen Yunfang. She spent her days lying on the kang, and even breastfeeding was made easy by Hongjun placing the baby in her arms. Yunfang thus enjoyed a few days of blissful life as a pampered lady, being waited on hand and foot. Pangpang, the little one, was also doing well, being constantly coddled and fed. He slept well, ate well, and ultimately, he got even chubbier.

The last beneficiary in the household was Taxue. After listening to Shen Yunfang’s talk about hygiene and preventive measures between children and pets, Li Hongjun implemented an ironclad policy for Taxue, the only furry animal in the house that could come into contact with their son. Despite the freezing winter, he warmed a pot of water and bathed Taxue—or rather, to be accurate, he gave her a bath.

Though Taxue had grown into a big dog, it was still no match for its male owner in terms of force. In the end, Taxue could only submit to being scrubbed in the water. After emerging from the bath, its fur clung to its body, dripping with water, and its legs shook from the cold, making it look like a drowned rat. It wasn’t until it got placed next to the brazier by its owner that its condition improved.

Every week, Taxue had to endure this kind of torture. Hongjun also completely stripped Taxue of the honor of bringing the urine pot to the young master. From then on, Taxue could only stand by the kang, watching the young master.

As for going to Taoshu Village, Hongjun didn’t mention it, and Yunfang didn’t bother to ask. Anyway, she was in confinement and definitely couldn’t go back. If Hongjun had intended to, he would have gone by now. As for what exactly happened when Hongjun went home before the New Year, he didn’t spell it out, but from bits and pieces, it was clear that it wasn’t anything good.

However, after the fifth day of the lunar year, Hongjun went out for three days straight, leaving in the morning and returning at night. Yunfang was very curious and asked him what he was up to, and Hongjun just gave her a mysterious smile and told her that she would know in a few days.

After the Lantern Festival, her family indeed received a pleasant surprise.

Qiu Shuping, accompanied by Li Xianghe, came over to help Shen Yunfang with her postpartum care.

Yunfang was dumbfounded, as she was only a few days away from finishing her postpartum rest.

She had given birth on the twenty-first of the twelfth lunar month, and now it was already the sixteenth of the first lunar month. In less demanding families, she would have already been allowed to get up and go about her business. The arrival of her mother-in-law and sister-in-law at this time made her wonder whom they were intending to provide postpartum care for.

But since they were already at the doorstep, even if Hongjun was still angry with his parents at this time, he couldn’t possibly prevent his birth mother from entering their home. So Qiu Shuping swaggered in and sat at the top of the kang.

Yunfang, as the daughter-in-law, could no longer lay idly on the kang, so she had to sit up alongside her. Pangpang was moved to the inner side of the kang, with his position given to his aunt.

As Qiu Shuping sat on the kang, she began to pull items out of the basket she had brought with her. "We don’t have much at home, but during the summer, our old hen laid some eggs that I couldn’t bear to eat, so I salted them. Now that Hongjun is back for the New Year, I brought a few for him to try."

Yunfang pursed her lips. The old lady was really interesting, probably afraid that Yunfang would take advantage of her. So she specifically brought salted eggs, which a woman in postpartum shouldn’t eat, making it clear that they were for her son.

Although she understood her mother-in-law’s intentions, Yunfang had never been interested in acquiring the Li family’s belongings. Thus, she was content whether she received something or not and would continue living her life just the same.

Li Hongjun was even colder toward his mother’s visits. He was particularly displeased that his mom showed no concern for his wife.

Being the disfavored daughter-in-law wasn’t something anyone could help, and the only thing he could do was to be extra caring toward his wife.

When Shen Yunfang saw her mother-in-law pull out ten salted chicken eggs from the basket and then sit silently, neither she nor the child beside her gave any attention. Li Xianghe was also not like before, instead bowing her head in a shy manner.

With everyone sitting in silence, something had to be done. Glancing at her watch and seeing that it was almost noon, Yunfang quickly instructed Hongjun, who was sitting by the door, "Hongjun, it’s almost lunchtime. Hurry up and prepare some food. Mother and Xianghe must be hungry after walking all morning."

Shen Yunfang meant well as any activity could break the current uncomfortable silence, and as a daughter-in-law, being kind to her mother-in-law in front of men could perhaps earn her some points or at least show her husband how virtuous she was. But her attempt to brown-nose backfired spectacularly.

"Hey, don’t move, Hongjun, don’t move. What’s a man like you always doing in the kitchen? Mother never taught you that," Qiu Shuping glared at her daughter-in-law, then surveyed the room and eventually called her own daughter, "Xianghe, you go cook. You’re a grown girl about to get married; how can you lack such awareness?" Although she was addressing her daughter, her gaze was fixed on Shen Yunfang, indicating that it was really meant for her.

"Mother..." Li Xianghe called out softly, then hurried to the hall looking embarrassed.

Yunfang shivered involuntarily. What on earth was that voice?

The noise in the room awoke little Pangpang, who began to whine.

Just as Yunfang was about to pick up the child, Li Hongjun took broad strides to the edge of the bed.

"You haven’t finished your confinement. Go lie down and rest over there, I’ll handle this," Li Hongjun signaled for his wife to lie back down on the bed, leaving a seat for his mother.

Qiu Shuping, hearing this, curled her lips in disdain. How precious she is, still lying down, it’s just giving birth to a child. As if nobody else has ever given birth. She herself had five, but never received such treatment as her daughter-in-law did now.

Watching her son skillfully check the baby’s diaper, she knew he must have done it often at home and felt somewhat bitter. She leaned over to check on the child and agreed that he looked quite alright.

"Good heavens, step aside, man. This isn’t a job for you, I’ll do it," Qiu Shuping said, pulling the small mat from under Pangpang’s body toward herself.

"No need, mother, I’ll do it," Shen Yunfang insisted, not trusting her mother-in-law to handle it herself.

"Oh, don’t you bother, you are our Li family’s great heroine. You go and rest," she said.

The sardonic tone in her voice made Yunfang really want to give her a piece of her mind. Of course, she only thought about it.