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Chapter 618: Chapter 608 Tidy Up
The military spouses from the city had asked Shen Yunfang a lot about the Capital, and by the end, it was still unclear whether they had come to flaunt their superiority or ask for favors.
Shen Yunfang didn’t care about these distinctions; her principle was simple: she wouldn’t allow herself to be taken advantage of. If you aimed sarcastic remarks at me, I’d reply with a few pointed words to rile you up. If you were polite, I’d treat you warmly in return.
Fang Yan and Zhang Ping were relatively fine in the end, but Qu Fanhua, perhaps because of her job, which entailed frequent interaction with mature ladies, had picked up some of their undesirable habits and always tried to put down Shen Yunfang, who came from a rural background and was a regimental commander’s wife, in conversation. She even shamelessly asked several times if Shen Yunfang could get television tickets, insisting that if Yunfang could, she should help her get a few.
Listen to this, she just opened her mouth and expected Shen Yunfang to get her some, just like that, not considering herself an outsider at all.
Shen Yunfang, of course, would not indulge her; why should she go out of her way for someone who looked down on her? Dream on.
Shen Yunfang chatted politely with everyone for over ten minutes, then excused herself by saying she had matters to attend to and asked the group to leave.
Her senses sharp, she had just closed the door when she heard Qu Fanhua’s complaints outside, "Did you see that? That’s rural folk for you; they’ re just subpar and don’t pay attention to courtesy at all. We come all the way to visit her with good intentions, and she doesn’t even serve us any fruit or pastries. She shooed us out before we even had a proper conversation. What urgent matters could she possibly have, as if we couldn’t tell she was just trying to get rid of us."
"Enough, stop talking. We’re still at her doorstep; it’d be terrible if she heard us," that was Fang Yan’s voice.
"So what, if she hears? What can she do to me? Her husband holds a higher rank than mine, so what? She’s still a bumpkin at heart," Qu Fanhua’s voice grew fainter.
Half an hour later, Li Hongjun returned home with their two kids, who had played to their hearts’ content.
Shen Yunfang recounted the recent events to her husband Li Hongjun in detail. In the end, she received new instructions from Hongjun, "Ignore those old hags. They’re all learning bad habits, depending on their status as city folks to throw their weight around, creating trouble for their husbands. I bet their husbands won’t accomplish much with wives like them." He seemed to be laying the blame entirely on their husbands. His wife had just arrived, and they had already started causing trouble, looking down on her as if she was an easy target. Well, they would just wait and see.
Shen Yunfang felt satisfied. When she was wronged, her husband stood up for her, as he should. Otherwise, what was his use?
Later, before the semester started, Li Hongjun took her and their children to visit his superiors, as well as the commanders of a few other regiments. Yunfang’s role was to participate in spousal diplomacy, and through these visits, she noticed that as her husband’s rank increased, the demeanor of the wives seemed to naturally elevate. These commanders’ wives, though not very warm and some quite proud, maintained their dignity and refrained from making derogatory remarks toward Yunfang. Shen Yunfang thought this was acceptable; she didn’t intend to become close friends, so a cordial distance suited her fine.
After Li Hongjun had taken his wife and children on a stroll around the military area, he let things take their course.
Now that there were no concerns on that front, Shen Yunfang spent her days taking the kids out shopping and visiting the Agricultural University in Z Province to register, just waiting for the school term to begin and to be assigned her classes.
A few days later, several young soldiers Li Hongjun found took just one day to whitewash their home from the inside out. At that time, there weren’t any other types of paint available except for white lime, which indeed made the house look bright and white but couldn’t be touched without getting it all over you. There was no helping it given the circumstances; even if they wanted to spend money, they couldn’t find better paint.
That day, Shen Yunfang prepared a feast for these young soldiers to thank them for their hard work on her home, free of charge. It would have been remiss not to show some gratitude. Of course, before the soldiers left, she tried to give each of them a red envelope, but they, with flushed cheeks, refused the money, tossed the envelopes aside, and ran off, saying they couldn’t accept it as it would be against discipline.
When Li Hongjun came back, Shen Yunfang told him about what happened. Something felt wrong about having others work without pay; she felt indebted, and that wasn’t right.
Li Hongjun thought about it and realized that indeed there was such a regulation in the army, but privately, if you had a good relationship with someone, buying them a little gift was still acceptable.
Now Shen Yunfang had a direction, and later she took her two children out shopping again to choose gifts for others, a major project indeed.
Later, Shen Yunfang indeed bought some gifts for the five young soldiers. They weren’t very expensive, but they were very practical. Giving gifts was an art; one had to give something that touched the recipient’s heart.
Afterward, Li Hongjun took advantage of his time off to go to the department store in the county and brought back a refrigerator and a washing machine. As he carried them up from downstairs, many people saw him, and when they knew what they were, envy, jealousy, and resentment bloomed in their hearts, making his family rather famous.
Shen Yunfang didn’t care about that; once the appliances arrived home, she directed Li Hongjun on where to place them and then plugged them in to test them. Only after confirming they worked did she feel relieved.
The next day she went to see Master Yang, and after arriving, she saw that all the furniture made for her home was taking shape and was placed in the courtyard.
Shen Yunfang inspected each piece and couldn’t help but praise Master Yang’s craftsmanship, which was extremely good. None of the furniture used a single rivet, and upon testing, she found each piece to be very sturdy.
"How’s it? Is the style correct?" Master Yang was quite confident in his workmanship.
"Yes, it’s right, all pretty good," Shen Yunfang said as she opened a four-doored wardrobe to inspect it. The partitions inside were designed according to her own ideas, and even the rod for hanging clothes in the middle, made of camphor wood, was so considerate.
"All right then, if there’s no issue, I’ll have my son start varnishing," Master Yang said with a smile.
He had been busy these days, but he was happy. With this furniture, every time he finished a piece, he would display it in the courtyard. In the past half a month, several people had already asked about the prices, admiring the styles of the furniture, and it was foreseeable that his family’s business would surely not decline in the future.
Shen Yunfang observed the furniture, still in its natural wood color. Master Yang had used top-quality pine for her furniture, which was really good wood. If it was painted, it would be such a waste. Besides, the smell of paint was not healthy for humans, while the natural color and scent of the wood were quite fashionable as naked furniture in later generations.
"Master Yang, this furniture doesn’t need varnish. Just keep this color," she said.
"What? No varnish, just this wood color?" Master Yang was surprised.
"Yes, I don’t like the smell of paint, and this natural color is very nice. It looks quite special in the house just like this. Just help me sand the furniture until it’s smooth," Shen Yunfang instructed.
Master Yang didn’t quite understand her ideas, but as the employer had the final say, she got what she wanted. "Okay, if you don’t want it colored, then I’ll sand it for you."
He was a man of action, summoning his son and an apprentice, they began sanding with coarse sandpaper. Sanding had its techniques: first, they used coarse sandpaper for an initial sanding, followed by finer sandpaper. If it wasn’t smooth enough, a layer of putty would be applied to continue the sanding.
Shen Yunfang watched on the side, and she didn’t let them use putty to smooth it out, insisting that fine sandpaper alone would suffice. But later, after listening to Master Yang’s suggestion, she agreed to have a layer of clear varnish applied to the furniture to protect it. Shen Yunfang sniffed the varnish and, finding it odorless, compromised.
