Witty Wife, Better Life

Chapter 347: 337

The New Year festivities were lively; on the thirtieth day of the lunar month, most people in the military family compound gathered in the auditorium to eat dumplings and watch performances together. The military wives put on two performances, both choral renditions of patriotic songs.

Perhaps due to the long preparation, their singing was quite good.

Nobody had ever asked her to participate in the performances before, probably out of consideration for her pregnancy or maybe it was because her popularity in the family compound had hit rock bottom. But Shen Yunfang didn’t mind at all, it was better not to be asked to perform; she was content with sitting in the audience and clapping along.

From the first day of the New Year, people from households with good relationships began visiting each other, eating and drinking together.

And that’s how the New Year passed, in high spirits and bustling with joy.

By March, Li Hongjun’s work returned to normal. Though he wasn’t sent on missions, he stayed busy within the military base, only able to return home to check on things during lunch and at night. Therefore, Yunfang began to consider on her own how to manage giving birth and the postpartum confinement period.

Given the current circumstances, she knew it was impossible to expect Hongjun to take time off to look after her during her confinement, as he had done last time. The concept of the "new good man" who prioritizes family over work wasn’t popular. Men at that time put the state and their work first, with family responsibilities coming second. So, hoping that he would take leave to tend to her during her confinement period was out of the question.

Yunfang, cradling her belly, pondered that even though Hongjun couldn’t take leave to care for her, he was home every noon and evening and could lend a hand. All she needed was to find someone to take care of the baby and the new mother during the day.

Under normal circumstances, either the mother-in-law or the bride’s mother would come to help, but it was impossible for Yunfang to ask Qiu Shuping; that would be asking for trouble. Her own mother had long since passed away, so her only option was to find someone nearby to help out.

After discussing it with Hongjun, they both agreed that asking Madame Wu would be most suitable. Madame Wu and Yunfang got along well, and with her proximity, she could easily help out, especially since Tingting was at preschool during the day, and Madame Wu was adept at handling the housework. In this situation, if they were to ask, Madame Wu would likely be willing to help. Of course, they also agreed that it wouldn’t be right to expect her to work for free. Although they couldn’t offer money, Yunfang decided that, after the confinement, she would buy new clothes for all of Wu Guoqiang’s children as a thank you.

While the couple’s discussions were going well, they hadn’t gotten to speaking with Madame Wu when Brother Dashuan made the long journey from Gaijiatun just to see Yunfang. Of course, he didn’t come alone; he brought Wang Family’s matriarch with him.

That afternoon, as Yunfang was cooking at home, she was stunned to see two people entering the house with Hongjun.

"Brother Dashuan, Madame Wang, what brings you here?" Yunfang said, her voice almost quivering from surprise. She was completely taken aback by the unexpected arrival of Dashuan and Madame Wang.

"What, aren’t we welcome here?" Madame Wang feigned annoyance.

"How could that be? I couldn’t be happier," Yunfang replied, her face breaking into a broad smile. "You must be tired, please, come in and rest." As she spoke, she moved forward to take the bundle from Wang Dashuan’s hands.

"Goodness me, step aside, look at you with such a big belly, how can you still be carrying things? Step aside and let Dashuan handle it," Madame Wang quickly pulled Yunfang aside, preventing her from taking over.

Wang Dashuan responded a beat too slow, stepping to the side to indicate it wasn’t necessary.

"Enough, let’s not stand around in the front room. Come on in and take a seat on the kang," Hongjun said as he stepped forward to support his wife, shaking his head at her unawareness of her own condition and thinking she couldn’t be left unsupervised for a moment.

"Right, right, how could I forget? Please, Madame, Brother Dashuan, let’s go inside and chat," Yunfang said as she pulled Madame Wang toward the house.

Once everyone was inside, they saw Pangpang standing by the edge of the kang.

"This must be Pangpang, he’s grown so big! Look, in just a few days of not seeing him, he’s already standing up so steadily." Wang Granny marveled at the child, who had changed so much in less than half a year.

"Yeah, he can not only stand now but also walk. He’s never quiet for a moment." Shen Yunfang complained, but pride was evident in her voice, "Pangpang, this is Granny Wang, call her Granny."

"Wawaa..." Pangpang, the little boy, didn’t enunciate very clearly, but still obediently followed and called out.

"Oh, he can talk now, how promising!" Wang Granny hurriedly hugged the child to her chest fondly, "Dashuan, quickly, get the pine nuts out for the child to eat."

"Yes!" Dashuan obediently put down the bag he was holding onto the kang, then proceeded to take things out one by one—a piece of cured meat, a pocket of pine nuts, a pocket of walnuts. All were things his wife had packed for Shen Yunfang to bring.

"There’s no need to bring anything; we have everything here." Li Hongjun felt moved and a bit embarrassed seeing Dashuan taking out the gifts one after another.

"Didn’t bring anything fancy, just some snacks for the kid," Dashuan said with a smile.

Once everyone settled on the kang, Shen Yunfang started to get lunch ready. Since the guests were already here, they might as well eat and talk.

It was obvious the two visitors had been in a hurry to arrive, likely not having eaten well on the road.

Luckily, Shen Yunfang liked to cook in abundance. She had sneakily made extra, which was just enough to feed everyone.

"I’ve wanted to come and see you for a long time. After Xiaojuan’s mother received the letter saying you were pregnant again, I’ve been thinking about you. Counting the days, you’re about due, right? I figured your mother-in-law might not be able to come take care of you postpartum, so I had Dashuan bring me over to see if I could lend a hand or something." Wang Granny affectionately took Yunfang’s hand and patted it, then reached out and touched her stomach, "Oh, this belly’s not small; you’re about to give birth, aren’t you?"

Tears welled up in Shen Yunfang’s eyes. Since arriving through time, she had never felt such profound affection from an elder, "Yes, I’m due in half a month. Granny, we still haven’t had the chance to honor you and now we’ve made you worry and burden yourself for us."

Ever since learning about Shen Yunfang’s pregnancy through the letter, Wang Granny’s daughter-in-law had been concerned.

Knowing what Shen Yunfang’s mother-in-law was like, they couldn’t count on her to take care of Yunfang’s confinement, so Wang Granny’s daughter-in-law had been calculating the days and discussing with Dashuan about coming to take care of Yunfang for a month.

However, Yunfang was due in April, right at the busiest time for spring farming. Even if Wang Granny’s daughter-in-law didn’t go to work, there were still two family-owned courtyards to manage. Leaving Dashuan alone at home wouldn’t be enough to handle everything. Wang Granny hadn’t done fieldwork for many years, she could manage the courtyard alright, but they couldn’t bear to have the elderly woman toil away.

The couple discussed back and forth but couldn’t come to a decision. Finally, Wang Granny said outright that if she couldn’t work the fields, then she would go and take care of Yunfang’s confinement, leaving Xiaojuan’s mother to manage the fieldwork at home. It would be a chance for her, an old lady, to see the city too.

After the Wang family had made their decision, they didn’t send a letter to Yunfang, figuring that with her due date approaching, Wang Dashuan simply brought Granny Wang to her.

Indeed, Granny Wang had never traveled so far in her life; she daring not go alone and thus had to be escorted by her son.

Shen Yunfang and her husband didn’t know what to say; it truly was an answer to their urgent prayers.