Witty Wife, Better Life

Chapter 477: Chapter 467: I Actually Forgot About This Big Matter

"Captain, who are you writing to? Is it a letter to your sister-in-law?" a young soldier quietly crawled over from a distance and saw their captain writing a letter, very serious about it.

"Hmm." Li Hongjun didn’t pay attention to the newcomer, one hand propping up the letter paper and the other holding a small pencil, meticulously writing the letter stroke by stroke.

He had to write neatly, lest his wife get the wrong idea upon seeing it. With her suspicious nature, who knew what she might think about the dangers he faced here.

"Ah, having a wife must be nice. After we win this battle, I’ll also go home and take a wife," the young soldier lay in a mound of earth, dreaming of a blissful future.

Having finished the letter with difficulty, Li Hongjun folded it, put it in an envelope, and tucked it into his chest pocket before he finally had time to attend to the person beside him. "If you still want to go home and take a wife, then you need to get rid of that misplaced sympathy of yours."

The smile on the young soldier’s face stiffened, and then with some annoyance, he said, "Captain, it was just a kid. Who would have thought he’d have a gun?" He truly hadn’t expected a random child running out on the road would turn out to be a lethal young soldier. If the captain hadn’t kicked him down, allowing him to dodge that bullet, he’d likely be buried in this land by now.

"What about a child? A child can just as well pick up a gun and fire a round at you. Always remember, we are at war, it’s either your life or mine. Be vigilant against anyone other than your own comrades. That is, if you still want to live and go back to take a wife," Li Hongjun said coldly.

Ever since they stepped onto the battlefield, he had given these reminders, or warnings, to every member of his squad. But how many really listened and took it seriously? Only with a lesson in blood did they set aside their contempt and genuinely regarded every enemy with caution.

And it was his wife who had reminded him of all this. He remembered her saying that if her country were in the situation Vietnam was in, she would take up whatever she could as a weapon to resist. Killing one was breaking even; killing two meant a profit.

After joining the battlefield, Li Hongjun had more than once silently thanked his wife for her worry, her distrust, and her attentiveness. Without her prior warnings, he might have ended up like so many others, forever staying here.

Indeed, with his wife’s reminders, ever since he arrived on the battlefield, he had never underestimated anyone or let down his guard. This allowed him to avoid countless dangers and survive until now.

Initially, when he came to the border, since they went straight from the party school to the battlefield, the higher-ups had great expectations for their batch, equipping them with manpower and assigning them different tasks.

Li Hongjun chose to lead his people deep into enemy territory. Over the past half a year, he and his small squad had infiltrated primeval forests, raided Vietnamese army stations, and intercepted enemy convoys. Because his squad appeared and vanished unpredictably, they earned the nickname ’Ghost Squad,’ establishing a modest reputation on the border.

The young soldier immediately stood at attention and promised, "Please rest assured, Captain. I will learn from this lesson, put away my sympathy, and treat every enemy seriously."

Li Hongjun nodded and softly said, "I hope we can all return safely."

On the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, Shen Yunfang came with her two children to see off Li Xianglian’s family.

"Alright, everyone go back. We’re leaving now," Liu Jianjun, seeing that the train station had started checking tickets, hefted the luggage onto his shoulder.

Ma Liguo reached out to help him, "Brother-in-law, after the autumn harvest this year, if there’s nothing wrong back home, come over here, and we’ll have a drink together."

"Sure, I’ll definitely come," Liu Jianjun said cheerfully.

"Big sister, when summer vacation comes, and the children are alright, let them come over to play," Shen Yunfang said, still somewhat reluctant to part with the kids.

None of these children were unpleasant, and after a month of living together, their affection for each other had warmed. It wasn’t just her who was reluctant to let go; even her own daughter Manman was currently holding onto Jiajia’s hand, unwilling to part.

The child wasn’t even this reluctant when her father left. Of course, she was younger then and didn’t realize that her father would leave and never return.

"Sure, if there’s nothing serious, I’ll let them come," Li Xianglian replied politely, though she had no real plans to let the children come during the summer vacation. Not to mention anything else, just the round-trip train tickets for three kids would cost a fortune.

"Mom, did you really agree? You really agreed? Oh! That’s awesome, Auntie, I’ll come over for the summer vacation." Shuanzi was still young and took his mother’s word seriously, overjoyed to bits.

Li Xianglian looked at her youngest son and shook her head.

In the final send-off, the Liu family boarded the train home.

After watching the train pull away, Shen Yunfang returned to Hongsheng Community with her children and Ma Liguo.

Ma Liguo went to work, while she took the children to the courtyard house to see if there was anything left to tidy up.

The Liu family had been very careful during their month stay in the courtyard house, and had cleaned up a bit before leaving, so there weren’t many traces left behind.

The remaining honeycomb coal was piled up against the wall, and each door in the courtyard had a ’Fu’ character on it, confirming that people had lived here not long ago.

Shen Yunfang walked through every room to make sure that the water, electricity, and gas were all safe before taking the children back home.

Before long, it was time for school to start again, and Shen Yunfang resumed her routine of going between home, school, and the nursery.

In mid-March, Shen Yunfang received two letters from her hometown one after the other. The moment she saw the envelopes, she froze.

Good heavens, she had actually forgotten such an important thing.

The Monkey Stamp! The Monkey Stamp was issued in February this year. How could she forget such a big thing?

Shen Yunfang didn’t even take time to read the letters. It was just noon, and school was letting out, so she made a beeline for the post office closest to the school. But when she got there and asked, they had already run out of that particular Monkey Stamp.

Not giving up, Shen Yunfang visited several more post offices and, since they had no full sheets left, she managed to buy a dozen or so individual eight-cent stamps.

Sitting on the curb, Shen Yunfang nibbled on a stuffed bun, her heart filled with regret. How could she let such a great money-making opportunity slip by?

If she had missed the chance, then there was nothing to say, but now that she had caught it, she hadn’t seized it, which was incredibly frustrating.

Shen Yunfang sighed, stuffed the bun into her mouth in a few bites, then wiped the grease from her hands and took the two letters out of her pocket.

She looked them over and decided to read the letter from Li Xianglian first.

The letter was mainly to let her know they arrived home safely; Li Xianglian and her family were all well and told Shen Yunfang not to worry.

After reading it, Shen Yunfang neatly folded the letter and put it back into the envelope, then took out the other letter.

The address on the letter was from Taoshu Village, and Shen Yunfang thought it must have been mailed by her in-laws, Li Hongjun’s parents.

She had never received such a letter before, as her in-laws would write to their son Li Hongjun if there was anything. She had not attained that privilege yet.