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Chapter 394: Chapter 384 I Am the Stepmother
The next day, in the morning, Li Hongjun personally took Pangpang and Manman to the nursery, showering them with affection all the way until he could no longer see the children.
Afterwards, Shen Yunfang took Li Hongjun to the siheyuan, letting him, the head of the household, take a look at their family’s first house.
Inside the siheyuan, it could be said to be even more chaotic than when Mrs. Zhao lived there. The house was filled with various old-style furniture that Shen Yunfang had scavenged from the recycling station, and the courtyard was filled with tiles for house repairs. The bottles and bowls that Shen Yunfang had picked out at the recycling station yesterday had also been placed in the courtyard by Ma Liguo, making the place look messy from the inside out.
Li Hongjun took a lap around and was quite satisfied with the house. He had high praise for Shen Yunfang’s boldness in making the purchase, "Wife, from now on, you should be like this. If you like something, just buy it without thinking about anything else."
Shen Yunfang rolled her eyes. She didn’t need him to say that. Having her own money was the one advantage for a woman; she dares to spend it.
"I don’t need you to say that. If I like something, it means that the thing is really good and worth buying," she bragged, "Alright, I wanted to ask if you have any opinions on how to renovate this house." After all, Li Hongjun was the head of the family. She had taken the initiative to buy the house, so she also had to at least ask for his opinion on the renovation; otherwise, it would seem quite negligent.
"No, just do whatever you like; I have no objections," Li Hongjun said straightforwardly. To be honest, he might spend less time living in the house himself. It would mostly be his wife and children staying there, so his opinion wasn’t important. What mattered more was that they were happy and comfortable in their home.
"However, you have to remember one thing. I support you in everything you do. The only request I have is to take good care of our two children," Li Hongjun instructed seriously.
"I don’t need you to say that. They are my own son and daughter," Shen Yunfang muttered under her breath. In fact, she felt a bit guilty. As Li Hongjun spoke, she suddenly remembered that just the day before yesterday, she had forgotten to pick up Pangpang and Manman on time for something or other. Although the children eventually made it back to the Ma Family safely, she still reflected seriously afterward and decided she would definitely not let such a situation arise again.
After touring the siheyuan, the two of them went to the Chinese Store and Shen Yunfang bought Li Hongjun two casual outfits.
Li Hongjun didn’t want them, considering it unnecessary. He had two military uniforms that he could alternate between, and spending money on anything else seemed wasteful. He thought it would be better to save that money to buy his wife and children a few more good clothes.
But Shen Yunfang saw it differently. People judge by appearance as much as a horse is judged by its saddle. Li Hongjun looked the most handsome and commanding in uniform, but there had to be times when it wasn’t convenient to wear it, so having a couple of outfits on hand was indeed necessary.
Actually, Shen Yunfang wanted Li Hongjun to change out of his uniform once he was out of the army, so he wouldn’t have to always give up his seat and stand when taking public transport.
With Shen Yunfang’s insistence, the clothes were bought in the end. After that, Shen Yunfang also bought a set of clothes for Li Xianghe.
When she visited the hospital yesterday, she didn’t see Li Xianghe bringing any clothes to change into. So today, she thought of buying a complete set for her older sister-in-law from top to bottom. With the child still undergoing treatment and no telling how long it might be, she couldn’t very well never change her clothes, could she?
She initially wanted to buy a set for Jiajia as well, but when she visited the hospital yesterday, she only saw Jiajia’s size as she lay on the hospital bed, and she wasn’t sure about the fit. She thought it would be better to wait until the child got better, then she’d take him to the store and let him pick something he liked himself.
"Come on, let’s buy some food for you to take with you," Shen Yunfang put away the clothes and asked Li Hongjun to carry them as she headed toward the food section.
Li Hongjun frowned, "No need. It’s not for very long; I can just hold out until I get back to the army to eat." He wasn’t a child; why did he need to bring food with him?
"Are you planning to wait until you get back to the base to eat all of this?" Shen Yunfang was very surprised; she hadn’t expected that was his plan. "Do you not care about your stomach anymore? From here to your base, if you take the evening train today, you’ll only arrive tomorrow afternoon, that means you’ll be hungry for a whole day and night. If you’re going to do that, why bother going back to your base? You might as well starve to death." Shen Yunfang was very angry that he didn’t cherish his health. If their family were poor, she wouldn’t have said anything, but he clearly knew they had enough money. The money might not be abundant, but it was certainly enough for their family to eat and drink. How could he still abuse himself like this? If something were to happen to him, would she be left alone to support the children?
Li Hongjun felt helpless. Before he got married, it was normal for him to go hungry for a meal or two; he would just tough it out. But ever since he married Yunfang, his wife would never allow him to do that. Actually, his health was good; it was fine. But seeing his wife so concerned about him made him very happy.
"Then there’s no need to bring all of this. They sell boxed meals on the train, and if I get hungry, I’ll just buy one to eat." Li Hongjun didn’t really like those snacks; they were more for women and children. He was satisfied with having normal meals.
Shen Yunfang thought about it and agreed. Eating those things would be cold anyway, and it was indeed better to have something warm, even though the boxed meals on the train were definitely not tasty.
"That’s fine, but don’t you say you’ll eat when you’re hungry. You’ve already lost all your credibility with me. I demand that you eat your meals on time. Can you do that?" Shen Yunfang asked bossily. "If you don’t eat properly, I won’t feed your daughter and son enough either." In the end, she even threw in a threat, but however one heard it, the threat didn’t seem very intimidating.
Li Hongjun couldn’t help but laugh, "Don’t worry, for the sake of our children having enough to eat, I will definitely complete the mission."
"Just keep joking." Shen Yunfang retorted and couldn’t help but laugh as well.
What a situation this was.
But they still needed to buy some food. Even if Li Hongjun didn’t take anything with him, he still had to deliver some to Li Xianglian, who was in the hospital taking care of Jiajia. If they got hungry at night, there would be nowhere to buy food, so they needed to prepare some in advance.
Shen Yunfang saw canned goods inside the display cabinet and asked the salesperson to open two cans for her, one with orange segments and the other with haw slices.
Li Hongjun looked at them; there was nothing for his son and daughter, "Comrade, could you please open one more of each for me?"
Shen Yunfang turned to look at him with suspicion. Hadn’t he just said he didn’t want to bring anything?
"Pangpang and Manman don’t have any yet." The mother of the children had forgotten, but he, as their father, had to remember to provide for his own kids.
Shen Yunfang looked at him with exasperation. This man was spoiling his children to no end.
Afterwards, she picked out some cookies, sausages, and Dabaitu Milk Candy, which could last for a long time, for Li Xianglian, as well as some Changbai cakes that could also be kept for quite a while, buying a pound of the milky sweets.
Li Hongjun essentially got a share of whatever Shen Yunfang bought for his own kids, leaving Shen Yunfang quite exasperated. She was still staying at the guest house with the children, and now she had to figure out where to put all these things.
Of course, their final destination was Shen Yunfang’s storage space. Li Hongjun instructed that these items should be taken out for the children to eat when they got home. Whatever others had, his own children should have too; he didn’t want his children to suffer.
Well, she was the stepmother, and Li Hongjun was the biological father.
