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Chapter 570: Chapter 560: Fart...
Shen Yunfang’s arrival brought new vitality to the field hospital. The four wards surrounding Li Hongjun’s were filled with his own soldiers, those who had been wounded on the same mission as him.
In these past days, they would ask Xiaohai every day whether their commander had awakened, and every day the news was bad. They could only suppress their sadness, lying coldly in their beds, praying that the commander would wake up, would get better.
Now that they knew Commander Li’s wife had come, they were excited and all requested that the nurses find wheelchairs and crutches for them. They wanted to see their sister-in-law and offer her their apologies.
The young nurses dared not agree to such a request lightly; after all, the soldiers were either missing arms or had broken legs. It hadn’t been a month since they left the operating theater. They couldn’t be allowed to just wander around.
The head nurse, being older, was quite adept at dealing with such stubborn patients. She scolded them until their faces turned beet red. However, with all the commotion, Shen Yunfang became aware of their presence and took the initiative to visit their ward.
When each of them saw their sister-in-law, tears welled up in their eyes, feeling that they had let her down. It was their fault the commander was injured.
Shen Yunfang listened quietly as they took turns apologizing. From their words, she preliminarily deduced that Li Hongjun’s serious injuries must be related to them, but as for the specifics, they said nothing. Shen Yunfang sighed, understanding it was a military secret.
"You don’t need to feel sorry for me, nor feel guilty. Hongjun will wake up; he will get better," Shen Yunfang managed a slight smile.
Shen Yunfang had been there for six days, feeding Li Hongjun a pill of Essence of Life daily since the first day, a total of six days. Li Hongjun hadn’t awakened, but his complexion had greatly improved.
Yet that wasn’t enough; she needed him to wake up and fulfill his responsibilities as a husband and father. 𝘯𝑜𝘷𝘱𝘶𝘣.𝘤𝘰𝑚
Over these days, she had tried many methods, following the doctor’s advice to chatter to Li Hongjun about anything and everything. In order to stimulate him, she even shared the recent events involving Li Hongqi and Qiu Shuping in the Capital-- emphasizing their capture for committing a crime. But even this news failed to provoke any response from Li Hongjun.
In the evening, after sending Xiaohai to rest, Shen Yunfang sat in front of Li Hongjun’s bed for a long time, until it seemed like she might fall asleep right there. Then she was heard sighing softly, "Aren’t you going to wake up? Don’t you know how to pity me? I’ve told you so much, and it’s all been in vain. Do you have to be so stubborn? You’re grown up now, with two children. How can you be so immature? You should know that if you don’t wake up today, I’ll send you to the operating room tomorrow morning. The best outcome then is that you become like a fool, sillier than your children. Have you thought about the consequences of that? I won’t talk about myself; you clearly don’t care, but let’s talk about the children you love so much. Think about a few years from now, when your son and daughter go to school, and their classmates learn that their dad is a fool. Think about how much ridicule the children will face, and even the teachers won’t favor our kids, and still..."
Shen Yunfang rambled on for a long time until she was parched and weary. Seeing that Li Hongjun remained lifeless on the bed, she steeled her heart, rose to her feet, and leaned in closer, "This is my last resort. If you still don’t wake up, you can live as a fool then, letting your children endure eternal mockery." Though she spoke harshly, her hand trembled too much to move an inch closer to his mouth.
Shen Yunfang blinked back tears into her eyes. These nights, she had almost cried herself dry; during the day, with Xiaohai, the nurses, and Li Hongjun’s brothers around, she never let herself cry, no matter how sad she was. She only allowed herself to weep in silence when night fell and she was alone with Li Hongjun.
As a woman, she felt this might be the hardest time of her life.
In the end, Shen Yunfang slowly extended her hand to Li Hongjun’s mouth, pried it open, and one by one, inserted the Essence of Life pills into his mouth.
"I only have these twenty-six Essence of Life pills left, I’m giving you all we have left in the hopes that they will work and you’ll wake up immediately." In reality, she was clutching at straws; she knew it was useless to consume the Essence of Life like this, and it wasn’t some miraculous cure that worked instantly. Although it had significant health benefits, it required time to improve the body’s structure.
"You don’t know, but when your mom came to the Capital and saw me for the first time at the school, she came up to me and slapped me across the face. I was so stunned that when I came to, I wanted to kick her, but I still had some sense left in me at that moment. Out of respect for her being your mother, I redirected my kick to your brother instead."
"You have no idea, your dad and your eldest brother are now living in our courtyard house in the Capital, because your mom got arrested. If things don’t take an unexpected turn, she’s definitely going to be sentenced. Your dad is even trying to pull some strings to get her out, or if not her, at least your brother. You wouldn’t have thought your dad to be so heartless, would you? Faced with choosing between his partner of three or four decades and his newborn son, he actually chose the son. I’m not lying; these were your dad’s exact words."
"I used to think your dad was quite decent, except for being too gullible and not very discerning of right and wrong; overall, he seemed like a good person. But after this episode, I’ve realized that men, no matter how nice they talk, change when real trouble comes."
"If you were in your dad’s situation, what would you choose, me or your son?"
"Ah, sometimes I think about it, and I can’t really blame your dad for being callous. From the perspective of a wife, he seems heartless, but if I were in his shoes, I guess I’d choose my son too. Isn’t there a saying in the military about the camp being made of iron while the soldiers flow like water? The more I think about it, the more it rings true. A man might be mine now, but who knows about the future; however, my son, born of me, will be my son for life."
"Bullshit..."
"Don’t talk like that. Now we might seem all lovey-dovey, but with time, who knows if you’ll change your heart? You also have that troublesome mother who could whisper anything in your ear... Li Hongjun..." As Shen Yunfang prattled on, she finally sensed something was amiss. She stared disbelievingly at the eyes that had cracked open just a sliver.
Li Hongjun struggled to swallow, and yet he managed to squeeze two words from his throat, "Bullshit..."
