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Chapter 573: Chapter 563 Gradually Getting Better
"Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere? Let me go find a doctor for you, just wait," Shen Yunfang confirmed the person really had woken up and couldn’t fall back to sleep. She then walked to the door to call a passing nurse, hastily summoning Doctor Wang over.
After sending someone to fetch the doctor, Shen Yunfang returned to the bedside, "No... it doesn’t..." Li Hongjun, thanks to the warm water he had earlier, didn’t have as rough a throat, but anyone could tell how hard it was for him to speak.
"All right, don’t talk, we can chat more once you’re feeling better," Shen Yunfang pitied him, feeling as if each word he uttered was accompanied by great pain.
At that moment, Doctor Wang also hurried over. Shen Yunfang promptly made room, stepping aside to watch the doctor examine Li Hongjun.
"Very good, as long as the patient is awake, there’s no problem. Eat well for a few days, and you’ll regain your strength," Doctor Wang said with a slight smile, feeling a surge of pride seeing her patient come to. She instructed Shen Yunfang on some nursing precautions before leaving.
"Sis-in-law, the company commander is awake, huh?" Xiaohai returned to the ward right behind the doctor and immediately noticed the company commander lying on the bed, eyes open.
"Yes, he just woke up not long ago." Shen Yunfang was also happy, her tone of voice noticeably brighter. Doctor Wang had already confirmed that Li Hongjun was completely out of danger, and that after some rest and proper nutrition to heal his wounds, he would soon be back to his strong self.
"That’s great, commander, you’re alright. I’ll go report to the higher-ups right now," Xiaohai said jubilantly, like a child, but then he remembered his duty. Such significant news had to be reported to his superiors.
"Hey, don’t forget to bring back the rice soup when you come back," Shen Yunfang called out to him as he ran off.
Seeing him gone, Shen Yunfang closed the ward door and sat back down by the bed, "Who sent this Xiaohai? He’s certainly lively, not at all like a soldier." In her opinion, soldiers should be like her husband Li Hongjun, composed and dignified.
"Don’t talk, are you still thirsty? I’ll feed you some more water," Shen Yunfang almost talked to herself, not really expecting Li Hongjun to answer. With his current condition, there was no point in causing each other more distress.
It wasn’t long before Xiaohai returned with a large box of rice soup, placing it on the table before rushing off again to report to his superiors.
Shen Yunfang shook her head, unconcerned about him. She found a bowl and spoon, washed them quickly, and scooped out some of the rice soup from the box, stirring it with the spoon to cool it down.
Feeling it was just about right, she tasted it first, finding the temperature perfect, and then brought a small sip to Li Hongjun’s lips. 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝒑𝙪𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝙢
"Come on, open your mouth, I’m going to feed you some rice soup. The doctor said you haven’t had a drop to drink in so many days, you can’t start with solid food right away, your stomach won’t bear it. You’ll need to sip some liquid food first, and this rice soup is nutritious. Xiaohai simmered it in the canteen for half a day until the rice released its essence," Shen Yunfang rambled on.
Li Hongjun watched his wife without blinking, and upon hearing her words, he cooperated by slightly opening his mouth. How long had it been since he’d seen his wife? Twenty-five months and eleven days. Since the day he left, he had been missing her. On the battlefield, every time he faced danger, he clenched his teeth and persevered. He told himself that he had to survive; only if he lived could his wife and child be happy. Otherwise, who would wholeheartedly take care of a twice-married wife and willingly raise another man’s child? However, in the end, when he saw his superior in danger, he rushed in without a second thought. As he felt the intense pain, there was only one thing in his mind: he might be about to let his wife down.
Thankfully, thankfully, he woke up again.
Li Hongjun’s head couldn’t move, so Shen Yunfang fed him very carefully, afraid of choking him with the food. The feeding was slow, and sometimes, when not careful, the rice soup would spill from the corner of Li Hongjun’s mouth. Shen Yunfang would then use a handkerchief to gently wipe it away.
Xiaohai came back after making a phone call and, seeing such a sweet and tender scene, felt a bit embarrassed and stepped back out.
More than ten minutes later, only half a bowl of rice soup had been fed. Shen Yunfang dared not feed him too much and poured the remaining soup into a thermos she had taken out from somewhere. This way, the rice soup would still be warm when she fed Li Hongjun an hour later.
"Sis-in-law, did you bring the thermos? It’s so much more convenient with it. You have no idea, our place is so remote there’s nowhere to even buy one," Xiaohai overheard noise outside and came in, just in time to see his sister-in-law pouring rice soup into the thermos.
This field hospital was the closest to the front line, extremely near the border, with basic and limited facilities—essentially, there was nothing to buy. Most of the doctors here were military medics temporarily transferred from other hospitals.
Having been there for many days, Shen Yunfang had only glanced around hastily on the day she arrived, and since then had solely focused on Li Hongjun without paying attention to anything else.
"We had one at home, so I brought it over. Keeping the rice soup here saves the trouble of having to heat it in the canteen later when feeding your battalion commander," Shen Yunfang said quite naturally.
When she first arrived, she had brought a big black bag, the contents of which were unknown to others, so taking out a thermos now wouldn’t arouse any suspicion.
And so, on the first day that Li Hongjun woke up, Shen Yunfang fed him half a bowl of rice soup every hour, allowing his stomach to gradually get used to eating again. That evening, injured comrades from the next room came to visit Li Hongjun; Shen Yunfang wasn’t sure what they saw, especially since Li Hongjun still couldn’t speak. Fortunately, Li Hongjun had slept in the afternoon and had just woken up not too long ago, still somewhat spirited, so Shen Yunfang let the ill comrades interact with each other.
Of course, these visitors were very considerate. After chatting for a while, they all left, understanding that Li Hongjun had just woken up and was not yet fully spirited; they couldn’t delay his recuperation.
The next afternoon, with Dr. Wang’s approval, Shen Yunfang asked Xiaohai to cook some millet porridge and began feeding it to Li Hongjun. The afternoon of the third day, they switched to lean pork porridge...
After all, Li Hongjun was young with a strong constitution. Though he looked like he was on his last legs just a few days ago, under Shen Yunfang’s meticulous care, he had improved significantly in just a few days. Most importantly, he could speak now, no longer struggling to voice each syllable like when he first woke up.
After he regained the ability to speak, a certain high-ranking officer made a personal visit to the ward, having heard about Li Hongjun, the war hero.
Indeed, while Li Hongjun was comatose, his first-class merit honor had been announced. Shen Yunfang didn’t care much for such honors; with or without them, life had to go on. However, she knew that Li Hongjun cared deeply. With such recognition, his military career would certainly advance much further.
