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Chapter 343: Chapter 333 Eye for an Eye
After boiling a pot of water, Shen Yunfang thought it over and decided that, since Li Hongjun had been away for so many days, he surely hadn’t had anything good to eat. She’d better make him some delicious food to nourish him.
However, she guessed wrong this time, as Li Hongjun came back before dinner time.
Sure, Li Hongjun was now the deputy battalion commander, and for reporting to the leaders, it was sufficient to have the battalion commander take the lead.
Upon arriving home, Li Hongjun saw his wife brandishing a spatula by the stove, while also calling out to the house, "Pangpang, did you hear what Mom said?"
At the appropriate moment, Pangpang’s cries of "ah ah" could be heard from inside the house.
Li Hongjun looked back outside, then turned around and gently closed the door, quietly approaching his wife. Suddenly, he stretched out his hands and embraced her, and both of them froze.
Of course, they were both startled.
Shen Yunfang, suddenly gripped from behind, shivered with fright, never expecting to encounter a libertine in the military family quarters.
But she immediately recognized from the warm breath by her ear that it carried the scent of her husband Li Hongjun, and then knew for certain that it was Li Hongjun who had come home.
Li Hongjun was also scared because when he embraced her, he held her around the stomach. His wife’s previously slim waist had apparently gained a layer of fat, which was impossible—his wife had a physique that wouldn’t put on weight. And, and, why did it feel like there was movement on her stomach, as if something in her belly had just kicked his large hand?
Shen Yunfang, holding the spatula, slowly turned around. The tall and imposing yet slightly haggard figure of Li Hongjun came into view. Without seeing him, she hadn’t felt it, but now that she saw him, Shen Yunfang felt a pang of emotion.
Li Hongjun stared blankly at his wife’s lower abdomen. But she was wearing baggy clothes, and to the naked eye, it really wasn’t noticeable.
"Wife, are we, are we going to have another one?" Li Hongjun asked tentatively as he laid his hand on his wife’s evidently larger stomach.
"Ah, ah..."
Before Shen Yunfang had a chance to speak, Pangpang began to cry out from inside the house.
Well, her son Pangpang really was a little master at disrupting the mood. She also remembered that she hadn’t finished stir-frying the vegetables, quickly pushed Li Hongjun away, and said, "Alright, go inside and check on the child first; we can talk about it later."
At that point, Li Hongjun remembered he also had a son, looked reluctantly at his wife, and turned to go in and see his son.
But not long after, Li Hongjun came out again. He stood at the door of the east room, where he could turn his head to see his son in one direction and his wife in the kitchen in the other.
"Stop looking. If the child is fine, go wash up quickly. I’ve boiled water for you," said Shen Yunfang. Although she had a thick skin, being watched like that by Li Hongjun made her uncomfortable, and she didn’t even know how to properly wield the spatula anymore.
"Alright." Considering his own condition, he really should wash up, so Li Hongjun agreed promptly.
Shen Yunfang breathed a sigh of relief as the intense gaze was no longer following her, making her work more efficient.
Ten minutes later, she served the last dish from the pot just as Li Hongjun finished washing up and returned.
Seeing that his wife was about to move the kang table, Li Hongjun hurried over and lifted the table before her, "Don’t touch this, it’s heavy; I’ve got it."
Shen Yunfang looked at him, thinking his actions were really unnecessary. When he wasn’t home, wasn’t she the one doing everything? But she also understood that it was best not to dampen his enthusiasm at this time, so she allowed it, letting him do as he wished.
Together, the two of them laid out the dishes, and then the family of three surrounded the dining table and began to eat.
Shen Yunfang first arranged a spot for her son so he could sit firmly in front of her. Only then did she bring over a bowl of warm rice porridge, letting her son hold the spoon himself and dig in.
The rice porridge was made by her, soaking the rice until soft, then grinding it into a powder before cooking it into a thick gruel, with an egg yolk added. Pangpang really liked it.
Li Hongjun watched anxiously from the side, afraid his oldest son might bump the little one, "Wife, let me hold Pangpang," he said, reaching out to pick up the child.
Shen Yunfang glanced at him sideways and asked, "Are you sure?"
Li Hongjun firmly nodded his head; he had been the one taking care of his son since he was little. There was nothing to be uncertain about.
Shen Yunfang didn’t say anything, snatched the little rice bowl from the hands of Pangpang, and placed it directly in front of Li Hongjun.
Pangpang had been happily eating one spoonful after another, even though his face was smeared with rice porridge. But why was his little bowl taken away? Dissatisfied, Pangpang let out a cry and then, using hands and feet, climbed out from his mother’s arms and headed straight for his little bowl.
So Pangpang successfully settled into Li Hongjun’s lap.
Li Hongjun gave his wife a triumphant look, and Shen Yunfang just shrugged her shoulders, hoping he would still be so pleased with himself after a while.
Li Hongjun was delighted watching his eldest son eat spoonful after spoonful with such earnestness, admiring his son’s chubby little face that he found so endearing.
It wasn’t long before Pangpang finished the rice porridge in his small bowl. Then holding the spoon tightly in one hand and the bowl in the other, he turned around and started yelling "ah" at the person behind him.
But his face was all covered with porridge, and the spoon and bowl were messy inside and out. With this turn, much of the rice porridge rubbed off on Li Hongjun’s body.
Li Hongjun saw several sticky globs on the front of his shirt, and hearing his wife’s unkind laughter, he finally realized what her "Are you sure?" had meant. Turned out his son was a little mucky devil.
Pangpang didn’t understand, adults sure are troublesome, what’s there to laugh about!
Shen Yunfang reached out to take her son back, had him sit properly in front of her again, and then swiftly served him another half bowl of rice porridge. Watching him eat, she then said to Li Hongjun, "Hurry up and take your shirt off, I’ll wash it for you later. Your son has a strong destructive power and a huge appetite, you’ll need to get used to it quickly."
Li Hongjun obediently took off his shirt, leaving just a tank top underneath, thankfully it wasn’t cold in the room.
Watching his son eat spoonful after spoonful of rice porridge, he nodded in agreement, "My eldest son really can eat."
So the couple started to recount their son’s growth over the past few months at the dinner table. Naturally, it was Li Hongjun asking and Shen Yunfang answering.
Shen Yunfang didn’t hold back anything, telling her husband about all the embarrassing things their son had done in the past few months, making him laugh until he couldn’t close his mouth.
Pangpang didn’t pay any mind to his disreputable parents. They always took joy in hearing and seeing his embarrassing actions, so boring.
After the two finished talking and laughing, the meal was nearly eaten up. Shen Yunfang took the small bowl away from her son’s hands, not letting him continue to scrape the bottom, and began to clean him up. Li Hongjun was in charge of tidying up the table and washing the dishes.
By the time the husband and wife lay on the kang bed able to chat leisurely, little Pangpang was already asleep in one corner of the kang, blowing bubbles.
