NOVPUB
Chapter 619: 609
When this batch of furniture was moved back to the family residential area, it once again caused a sensation. There were even more onlookers this time, after all, so much furniture filled an entire large truck.
Li Hongjun was directing things below, while several young soldiers helped carry it upstairs, and Shen Yunfang was upstairs telling the soldiers how to arrange it. Around the large bus downstairs, quite a few military wives gathered to watch the commotion.
"The furniture is nice, but why isn’t it painted? They’ve spent a fortune already; why skimp on this final touch?" Painted furniture is in fashion now.
"Oh, you don’t understand, I heard it was the young wife of Commander Li who suggested this, what was it?" This one knew only half of the story.
"Don’t like the smell of paint." This person was in the know.
"Commander Li’s family really must be rich." There was a tone of envy.
"That’s for sure, just the other day I saw them bring home a refrigerator and a washing machine, and now just a few days later, they’ve gotten so much furniture."
"I heard from Sister Qu that Commander Li’s family also has a color TV."
"Wow, that’s really something else. Commander Li’s family must be landlords or something, how can they be so wealthy?"
"Hey, don’t talk nonsense."
"Then how come their family is so wealthy?"
Indeed, they were all in the military, these folks were just managing to eat their fill, and even the more well-off ones only made a few nice clothes to wear. Yet Commander Li’s family was so capable; they seemed to have everything, probably even more than the division commander’s family. 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
After watching the young soldiers place the last chair, Shen Yunfang smiled and sent them on their way.
"Yunfang, your place really turned out beautiful with what you’ve done," said Chen Zhaodi from the house across the street. Her husband was not from the same unit as Li Hongjun, but this couple was quite amiable. After a few interactions with her, Yunfang became quite familiar with Zhaodi, who had come over to help out voluntarily as she had matters to tend to at home today.
Of course, in the month that Yunfang had been here, aside from Zhaodi from across the street, she managed to get along with a few other military wives. However, most of them came from rural areas. Those from the city generally had jobs and thus didn’t have much to do with Yunfang, who was free to wander around during the daytime.
"It’s not that beautiful; it just looks tidier," Yunfang said modestly. "Zhaodi, do you have a sewing machine at home that I could borrow? I want to make some tablecloths and sofa covers."
"Sure, but do you know how to make them?" Zhaodi looked at her somewhat skeptically. She heard that Yunfang came from the countryside where making one’s own needlework was common. However, she had also heard that Yunfang was a college graduate, who must have been very studious. With that kind of background, whether she knew how to sew was questionable.
Yunfang felt a bit embarrassed as she indeed was not very skilled at needlework, but to say she didn’t know at all wasn’t true either; she just wasn’t very meticulous.
Seeing the look on Yunfang’s face, Zhaodi figured out what was going on, "Hehe, making you, a university graduate, handle needle and thread is indeed making things hard for you. Alright, tell your sister what you want to make and how you want it done, and I’ll make it for you."
"That would be wonderful," Yunfang was genuinely pleased. She was still wondering if the sewing machine would be hard to learn, but now she didn’t have to worry about it.
Just as Li Hongjun came upstairs, Yunfang told him to look after the children at home while she took several pieces of colorful fabric and went across the street to Zhaodi’s house.
"What kind of style do you want? You tell me," said Zhaodi after setting up the sewing machine and asking Yunfang what she wanted to make.
Yunfang felt she might not be able to explain clearly, so she took a stack of paper and sketched out the designs she wanted for the tablecloth for the table and the curtains.
"Sister, can you understand this? Please help me make these two things first." Yunfang handed the drawings she held toward Zhaodi.
"It’s drawn so clearly, how can you not understand it?" Sister Chen was shocked by the skill Shen Yunfang had just shown. "Xiaoshen, you draw really well. Did they teach you this in school?" She watched as Xiaoshen wielded the pen and with just a few swift strokes, a picture came to life—so simple, yet it looked just like the real thing. She was thoroughly impressed.
"Nope, I just doodled this myself." Studying agriculture had really nothing to do with painting.
"Goodness, your doodling is better than others’ serious work," Sister Chen said as she took a piece of floral cloth from Shen Yunfang, once again lost for words. "What? Xiaoshen, you’re using such fine cloth to cover the table? That seems like a waste."
The cloth Shen Yunfang brought out was a white cotton fabric with a small blue flower pattern that, in the eyes of people today, was considered good enough even for making shirts.
"Not a waste at all. I put it out exactly because it’s pretty. It’s pleasing to the eye, and just looking at it makes me feel like I could eat an extra bowl of rice."
Sister Chen curled her lip, "If it were me, I’d never use it that way. If, like you said, it made each of my three rascals eat an extra bowl, we’d never make ends meet in our household."
Shen Yunfang laughed heartily at that. It was true—extra food could indeed be a burden for another family.
The two women chatted and laughed together, and in less than half an hour, they had produced the tablecloth and curtains that Shen Yunfang wanted. Shen Yunfang took them home to try them out and was very pleased with the results. She then had Li Hongjun cut a thick piece of plastic cloth according to the size of the table and place it on top, which made the whole kitchen look much brighter.
She also went to the bedroom to hang up the curtains, and the whole bedroom seemed much cozier.
"Wife, don’t bother with those things for now, and make the bed first. I’ve wiped down the bed frame several times," Li Hongjun was particularly proud of their sturdy new bed and couldn’t wait to try with his wife that night to see if it was as solid as it looked.
"Mhm, okay, I’ll do it right away." Shen Yunfang had yet to grasp his implication and naively opened the wardrobe to pull out the bedding to begin layering them on the bed.
The mattress had been made back in the Capital, tailored to a size of one meter eighty and stuffed with twelve pounds of cotton, so one could imagine its thickness.
Then she spread a beautiful pink floral sheet over it, arranged matching pillows at the head of the bed, followed by a double quilt covered with a duvet of the same pattern. The sides draped down just a little, making the large bed look even more beautiful than the new beds of newlyweds.
Li Hongjun liked it too, but what he imagined was his wife lying naked amidst these pink flowers, which made him itch with desire.
"Wife, our bed looks so nice. Come, lie down on it, and let me have a look," said Li Hongjun, who acted before he could think and pressed his wife down on the freshly made bed.
"Hey, what are you doing with no decency at all?" Shen Yunfang reprimanded, quite annoyed as she was pinned down on the bed.
"I just think these flowers are really nice. If I laid you on them, it would definitely look even better. Wife, wife, come on, let me help you undress." Li Hongjun shamelessly moved closer, reaching out to strip his wife bare.
"Don’t, be careful..." Shen Yunfang intended to remind him that he hadn’t closed the door yet, but before she could finish, the bedroom door was pushed open by their two children.
"Daddy, what are you doing pressing down on Mommy?" Pangpang asked, not understanding the situation.
"Nothing, Mommy accidentally fell while making the bed. Daddy was trying to help Mommy up, but then I also lost my balance and fell," Li Hongjun buried his head in the quilt, inwardly groaning, but he maintained a serious tone to explain.
"Oh, Daddy, you need to be more careful. What if you hurt Mommy?" Pangpang didn’t approve and criticized him.
"Yeah, Mommy, get up quickly, can you make Manman’s bed too? Manman wants to play on the bed," Manman loved the little bed he shared with his brother, but without the quilt, it was too uncomfortable, so he came to look for his mother.
"Alright, sweetheart, Mommy will go make your and your brother’s beds now," said Shen Yunfang calmly as she wriggled out from beneath someone and decided it was safer to keep her distance from Li Hongjun during the day.
