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Chapter 303: Chapter 293: None of Them are Good People
The other two people in the room, seeing that the atmosphere was not very good, took the hint and offered to leave. After all, dinner was over, and under normal circumstances, this would have been the time for everyone to sit on the heated brick bed and have a good chat, pass the time, and foster closer relationships.
But they could all see that Shen Yunfang was not in the mood, so they got up to say goodbye as well.
Liu Shuli had been wanting to leave for a while, and seeing that Sister Wu was also leaving, she couldn’t wait to drag her daughter away with her. Her heart wasn’t at peace either. Earlier, it was just her and Qiu Fengmei with the adults in the room, and she had seen Erni trying to force-feed Pangpang, watching the whole time without intervening. At the moment, she did not understand why she had just watched it unfold without stopping it, and by the time Tingting shouted out, it was too late to react. She was also too frightened to move, half-expecting that Pangpang might be in great danger. Although it turned out to be a false alarm, she still felt guilty.
She couldn’t help but question herself, wondering if deep down, she was still jealous of those who could give birth to boys and that was why she had just stood by and let it happen.
Liu Shuli was not a bad person, so when she had these thoughts, she became disconcerted and couldn’t stop feeling self-reproach. At this moment, the last person she wanted to see, or dared see, was Shen Yunfang. So she wanted to leave, to hastily retreat back to her own home.
Shen Yunfang truly wasn’t in the mood; all she wanted to do now was hold her child. She had had quite a scare today and needed time to recover.
After the guests in the east room had left, those in the west room also dispersed after two in the afternoon.
Since Shen Yunfang couldn’t bear to put her son down, she just wrapped a blanket around him and carried him out to see off the guests.
"Sister-in-law, you worked hard, the dishes you made are really tasty. One of these days, I’ll have your sister-in-law come over to learn a thing or two from you."
"Sure, just come over, I’ll teach you everything I know," Shen Yunfang said with a smile.
"Sister-in-law, I still don’t have a wife, so I can’t learn anything. Can I come over more often to freeload some meals and drinks?"
"Sure, when you come over, Sister will cook some delicious food for you," Shen Yunfang said generously.
"You sly old boy, what’s the act for? You married such a nice, capable, and virtuous wife; why the long face? Be careful not to scare your sister-in-law away."
Li Hongjun still wore a serious face and said nothing, just reached out to take his son from his wife when he saw her holding the child.
"Wow, this is your son, eh? He’s really chubby; it’s clear the Sister takes good care of him."
The people in the west room were unaware of what had happened in the east room. Of course, they had heard Tingting crying out for her mother, but they didn’t think much of it—it’s normal for children to seek their mothers. Besides, when Li Hongjun came back, he didn’t mention anything, so they didn’t pay it any mind.
At this moment, seeing Shen Yunfang carrying the child out, those who had not yet seen Li Hongjun’s son patted Pangpang’s cheeks. It would be a lie to say they weren’t envious.
"Hehe, that’s just how he is; you guys just don’t mind him. Otherwise, he’d annoy everybody, wherever he goes," Shen Yunfang glanced at Li Hongjun and then cracked a couple of jokes.
"Hehe, sister-in-law knows him best. Alright, we’re heading off now; you two should also get some good rest. You both must be exhausted after hosting us today," Wu Guoqiang said, leading everyone out.
"It’s not tiring at all, you guys should come over often," said Shen Yunfang as she and Li Hongjun escorted the group to the door.
Once they could no longer see anyone, the couple then returned to their room.
The two of them, almost as if by tacit agreement, didn’t speak a word and lay down on the kang with their son.
"My son was frightened today," said Li Hongjun after a long while, his voice low.
"Hmph, he’s having a great time. Where did you see him getting scared? I think it was the two of us who were frightened. He’s just silly, happy all the time." Shen Yunfang said irritably, poking Pangpang’s chubby little cheek with her finger.
The child had a silly look on his face, completely unaware of the danger he had just experienced.
"That’s for the best," Li Hongjun softened his expression as he watched his son’s carefree laughter with his wife. He didn’t see anything wrong with his son’s silly happiness, but the thought of the danger they faced today made him furrow his brows. "From now on, we can’t let that little girl into our house again."
"Yeah," agreed Shen Yunfang. "I may have only met Erni twice, but I feel that the child’s character isn’t good—in a way that’s not simply irritating like most children." Shen Yunfang refrained from saying the child was bad because as the parent of a victim, her assessment might be more personal and thus unfair to others.
However, she wasn’t so reserved when it came to the child’s mother.
"I didn’t mince words with Qiu Fengmei either. I really don’t like her one bit." Shen Yunfang ranted about Qiu Fengmei without restraint, criticizing her from head to toe, inside and out. "Hmph, and she even wanted to take the leftovers. Dream on—I’d rather feed them to a dog than give them to her. And her husband, shamelessly tagging along with his wife to scrounge for food and drink. I can’t see him as anything but trouble." That was pure venting.
As it happened, Li Hongjun nodded in agreement, indeed, no good. If a man can’t discipline his own child, letting them cause trouble for others, what kind of father would he be?
The Qiu Fengmei family had no idea that because of today’s incident, they had offended the grudge-holding couple, Shen Yunfang and Li Hongjun. Once Li Hongjun is promoted, the Qiu family won’t be far from being sent home from the army.
Afterward, Shen Yunfang discussed the situation with Li Hongjun, who analyzed it from a professional perspective. There were other adults in the room apart from Qiu Fengmei; for example, Liu Shuli was a teacher, an educated person. Though she might not be very knowledgeable, she surely knew that babies shouldn’t eat quail eggs, common knowledge she didn’t prevent happening. They lay on the kang with their child, analyzing back and forth.
Both of them were well-experienced and had a certain understanding of human nature and the human heart. So their analysis got pretty close to the truth and the situation.
In the end, Shen Yunfang pouted and concluded, "Everyone says how great and capable you soldiers are, but look at them—their own wives are out of control, their homes are a mess, and yet they dream of progress. I don’t see a single decent one." Shen Yunfang was speaking from her heart. She had been living here for almost a month and had met a few army wives. Each one of them had their own schemes. Interacting and speaking with them was either pretentious or hidden, making Shen Yunfang feel exhausted on their behalf.
"Among them, Wu Guoqiang’s wife is okay. Although she also has her own schemes, she’s not as annoying as the others. Her kids are all pretty good, too. Tingting, that little girl, is quite endearing." Shen Yunfang recalled that today, it was Tingting who alerted them, leading to her son being able to spit out the quail egg in time. It was uncertain what could have happened otherwise.
Seeing his wife approving of someone, Li Hongjun felt relieved. It wouldn’t be good if his wife had no one to talk to here. He thought that getting along with Wu Guoqiang’s wife was a good thing, regardless.
"These are all common human sentiments. Everyone who eats grains has their own little schemes; aren’t we the same? If you don’t like interacting with these people, then we won’t interact. You think Wu Guoqiang’s wife and her kids are nice, so visit her when you’re free. It’s all up to you. As long as you’re happy and comfortable, and you take good care of our son, that’s what matters. I don’t need you to curry favor with anyone for my sake. If I’m capable, I’ll climb up on my own. If not, I’ll take you and Pangpang back home to farm. No matter what, we’ll live our lives, and my wife doesn’t need to put herself through discomfort to please others," Li Hongjun concluded at the end.
