NOVPUB
Chapter 615: Chapter 605 Going on a Shopping Spree
Shen Yunfang glanced at Zhou Hua, who seemed eager for a spectacle, and then at Qiao Danfeng, who kept her head down and remained silent.
"As an outsider, it’s not my place to comment on such matters; after all, everyone knows their own family circumstances best. However, I believe if a military spouse is truly being wronged, or if someone is attempting to disrupt a military marriage, neither the organization department nor the logistics department would ignore the situation," Shen Yunfang said with official tact.
Being new to the community, she didn’t know which military spouses were telling the truth and which were lying. If she carelessly spoke her mind and it spread outside, it wouldn’t be good. While it wouldn’t bother her personally, she had to consider her husband, Li Hongjun. Thus, her current response was the safest option.
"That’s right, Danfeng, I’ve told you, that woman is a disaster in your home. If you care about Zhou Guoqing, you should stand firm and drive her out. That so-called niece has stayed for almost a month already. It would be so bad if she kept living there. If you can’t bring yourself to speak up, go find someone from the logistics department to address it. You’ve got to resolve this issue," Sister Gan tried to persuade Qiao Danfeng again.
Qiao Danfeng kept quiet, just bowing her head.
Zhou Hua curled her lips, likely disdaining Qiao Danfeng’s meekness.
Shen Yunfang quickly changed the subject, and the group moved on from the topic amidst laughter and chatter.
The casual chat went on until past ten o’clock, when Sister Gan, glancing at the clock in Shen Yunfang’s living room, said she had to go back to cook for her man. Shen Yunfang didn’t insist on her staying, rising to see the military spouses off.
Well, that morning had been a total waste, she thought, stripping off her outer garments and heading to the kitchen to start cooking.
The kitchen had already been cleaned up by her, and although not fully equipped with pots and pans, it was enough to make a simple meal.
By the time Li Hongjun got home, the dishes were already set on the table.
"Go wash your hands; dinner is almost ready," Shen Yunfang called, ladling out the last of the soup.
"Alrighty, it’s great having the wife around. Just look at this meal; it’s a huge improvement," Li Hongjun, seeing that the kids weren’t around, quickly leaned in to peck his wife on the cheek and playfully whistled.
Shen Yunfang playfully glared at him. He wasn’t like this when he was younger; why had he become so clingy with age? "Hurry up," she chided, "all talk and no action. Go, take your son and daughter to wash their hands too." 𝑛𝘰𝑣𝑝𝑢𝑏.𝘤𝑜𝘮
"Nonsense, when have I ever been all talk? Wait till tonight, and I’ll show you where else I’m capable," Li Hongjun whispered in his wife’s ear before dashing to the bedroom to grab the two kids, who were looking at picture books, to wash their hands.
Then the family gathered around the table to have dinner.
In March, when it was the lean period between the harvests, there really wasn’t much to choose from for good food. Shen Yunfang took the few potatoes she had at home to make a dish of stir-fried shredded potatoes with hot peppers and another dish of sautéed cabbage with fresh mushrooms. Then she took out a portion of sweet and sour ribs from her storage space and made a soup with kelp and dried shrimps. These dishes were quite impressive for meals at that time of the year.
"Didn’t you say you were going into the city today? How come you’re back so early?" Li Hongjun asked.
His wife had mentioned taking the kids out for a stroll in the city that morning, and he had thought he’d have to fend for himself at lunch. He didn’t expect her to be back so soon.
The military district was just around the periphery of the provincial capital, so heading into the city wasn’t difficult at all; even without bicycles, there were buses that ran into town here.
"Don’t even mention it. I had everything packed up and was ready to leave this morning, but before I could even step out the door, some people dropped by for a visit," Shen Yunfang recounted the matter of several military wives dropping in that morning. Of course, she relayed some of the key points they had discussed. She wasn’t clear if they had any ulterior motives, so she shared this to let Li Hongjun analyze it.
After hearing her out, Li Hongjun simply told her, "Don’t bother with them. We live our own life as we always have. Once you start working, you’ll have less contact with these people. Just don’t get involved in their business on purpose."
Shen Yunfang nodded to show she understood.
When it was a bit past one in the afternoon, she took the two kids and hopped on the bus to go browse around the provincial city.
After all, it was her first time in this area, and she wasn’t very familiar with the roads, so she didn’t ride a bike on her own. Instead, she decided to take the bus, to get to know the surroundings a bit better.
On the bus, she saw the Agricultural University of Z Province; there was even a stop there. The university lay on the edge of the provincial capital, conveniently on the same side as the military district, making the distance from the military district to the university not far at all. Shen Yunfang was very pleased.
It took about forty minutes of swaying and bumping before she finally arrived at their destination.
Shen Yunfang got off with her children at the busiest street in the provincial city. She headed straight for the largest department store there.
Though it wasn’t as bustling as the Capital, it was already much more prosperous compared to the surrounding cities, and the largest department store in the provincial city still had some nice things.
Shen Yunfang took the kids inside and began to browse, starting from the first floor. The building had four floors in total, with the first to third floors being regular department store areas—the first floor selling food like candy and biscuits, arranged in full displays; the second floor had textiles such as fabrics and wool, and the third floor had larger items like bicycles and sewing machines. The fourth floor stocked imported goods such as chocolates and coffee, which required Remittance Coupons.
When Shen Yunfang had just moved here, Li Hongjun had given her all the various coupons that had been issued to their family for the month, so she was not shy about spending while shopping.
After ensuring that she had taken good care of her two treasures, buying them some cookies and fruit they liked, she began to ’sweep goods’ with her children in tow. They needed more basins for washing vegetables at home, so she bought four; they were running short on bowls and chopsticks, so she picked up another ten bowls and plates; they didn’t have curtains at home yet, so she went to the fabric section on the second floor and tore off a few yards of thick fabric and floral cloth. Spotting some tough plastic cloths for sale, she bought a few meters of the stiffest variety. On the third floor, she saw refrigerators and washing machines—truly great stuff—however, she didn’t have the coupons for these appliances, and couldn’t buy them even if she had the cash. But she wasn’t discouraged; with these items available on the third floor, she believed the fourth floor should definitely have them too. She didn’t have coupons for a refrigerator, but she did have Remittance Coupons.
Once on the fourth floor, indeed, there were fridges, color TVs, and everything else one could need, with both foreign and domestic brands available. After considering for a while, Shen Yunfang decided to buy the largest capacity double-door refrigerator from the Shanghai Refrigerator Factory’s Shuanglu brand. Refrigerators were truly not cheap at that time, costing one thousand two hundred and sixty yuan, but she felt it was very worthwhile—a case of ’the sooner you buy, the sooner you enjoy,’ right?
Then, she opened another ticket to buy a washing machine of the same brand, a dual-bar model, for three hundred and fifty-seven yuan.
Shen Yunfang obviously couldn’t take these appliances home by herself; she could only pay for them first, take the delivery receipt, and wait for Li Hongjun to come by with the truck during his time off to pick them up.
After wrapping up these less important purchases, Shen Yunfang set her sights on the main objective of the day—furniture.
There was a furniture section in the department store, but it was quite small with only a few styles and types to choose from. After critically examining the available furniture, Shen Yunfang wasn’t satisfied with any of it.
