Witty Wife, Better Life

Chapter 628: Chapter 618: Heart of the Eight Trigrams (Additional update 2 for Seafood Hotpot Snow)

The street was crowded, so Shen Yunfang decided not to add the two net bags she was carrying to her space and instead headed straight home by car.

After about an hour of swaying ride, she arrived back at the residential area for military families. On the way, she ran into a few military spouses she recognized. Despite their curious glances at her bags, she calmly greeted them and hurried home.

Once home, she put the snacks for the children into the refrigerator and the rest into her space. Then she checked the time, changed her clothes, and went to the kitchen to start cooking dinner.

By around five twenty, Li Hongjun arrived home with the two kids.

"Mom, what do we have that’s good to eat this year? I’m starving," Pangpang was the first to rush into the house and yelled loudly.

"It’s almost ready, if you’re hungry, go wash your hands quick," Shen Yunfang said as she took the pork stew with glass noodles out of the pot in the kitchen.

Among the family of four, the one who changed the most since moving to this side was Pangpang. Back in the Capital, due to Li Hongjun being away from home for two years, the impact on the child wasn’t small. At a young age, he was quite taciturn, like a little old man. But after moving here, he became much more cheerful. As Li Hongjun put it, he found like-minded buddies to misbehave with, making it impossible for him to keep up his serious front.

However, Shen Yunfang believed that it was Li Hongjun’s return that alleviated the weight on Pangpang’s heart, allowing the child’s true nature to show.

Regardless of the reason, they were delighted to see such changes in their child as parents.

"Mommy, Manman’s back. Did you miss me today?" Following behind, Manman burrowed into the house like a little cannonball and headed straight for the kitchen, insisting on a sweet moment with her mother first.

"I did miss you, my dear. Here, have a piece of meat to nourish you. Don’t let your brother see, or he’ll cry," Shen Yunfang said with a smile, looking at the child hugging her thigh. She picked a moderately-sized piece of meat from the plate, blew on it to cool it down, and then popped it into her daughter’s mouth.

Manman unapologetically gobbled down the piece of meat her mother brought to her lips.

"Mmm, Mom’s cooking is the best," she flattered without missing a beat.

"Hehe, if you like it, Mom will cook it for you every day, okay?" Mom Shen was tickled pink by her daughter’s sweet talk.

"Okay," Manman nodded vigorously.

"What are you doing, little sis? Go wash your hands quickly. No dinner if you don’t wash your hands," Pangpang said with a big brother’s authority after coming out of the bathroom and seeing his sister heading into the kitchen.

Manman shared a smile with her mom and both made a ’shush’ gesture. Then, like a cat who had stolen cream, Manman sneaked out with her hand over her mouth.

"Did you sneak a snack, little sis?" Seeing how Manman acted, Pangpang could tell she definitely sneaked something. His little sister was always like this, thinking no one would notice.

"No, no, I didn’t eat any meat," Manman quickly shook her head in denial, completely unaware that her protest only made it more obvious.

"Oh, you went and snuck some meat before washing your hands. I’m going to tell Daddy, no, I’m going to tell Mommy," Pangpang said angrily as he followed his sister into the bathroom to wash his hands.

"I didn’t sneak anything, not at all," Manman frowned, not convinced. She hadn’t snuck anything; it was given to her by Mom.

Listening to the two little ones bickering in hushed tones, Li Hongjun changed into his slippers and entered the kitchen, "Wow, the food is looking good today." He cracked a smile at first glance.

The whole family loved their meat, and they had made do with a simple meal at noon, so he was naturally delighted to have such a lavish dinner in the evening.

"Yeah, I’m in a good mood today, so I made something tasty for you guys." Yunfang showed her teeth in a grin, not hiding her cheerful mood at all.

Li Hongjun’s eyebrows rose, "Looks like today’s matter was settled then!" He knew his wife had gone to meet with that director Bai to discuss leasing some land.

Originally, he had wanted to ask someone to inquire about it for his wife—as he did have a few comrades at the province level who could pull some strings—but Yunfang insisted on trying it herself, saying that if she couldn’t manage, then she would ask him for help. Li Hongjun figured that was fair enough, so he let her go ahead with it, knowing he had her back anyway.

"Hmm, it’s almost done. I’ll fill you in later tonight. Right now, go check on your daughter. Have you washed your hands? Let’s start dinner. Oh, by the way, has Taxue come back?" At this moment, Yunfang suddenly remembered to ask about another member of the family.

Taxue had once sneaked out to play and ended up at the military dog training ground, mixing in with the others for a day. Consequently, Li Hongjun had to be called over because such behavior from Taxue was not permitted. After Li Hongjun negotiated—with whom and how, she didn’t know—Taxue became an unofficial member of the military dogs, heading out for training every day after breakfast like going to work. As far as she knew, nobody there really managed him; Taxue would either lie down to watch the training or strut in for a round. Despite this, he seemed to enjoy it and would always run home for dinner.

Both Li Hongjun and his wife felt that it would be somewhat inhumane to confine Taxue at home when they both had to work every day. So they turned a blind eye to his escapades.

"He’s back. Like he’d miss a meal," Li Hongjun turned around just in time to see Taxue enter the door.

"All right then, let’s eat."

After dinner, Li Hongjun and his wife took the kids and Taxue to the private plot of land. They tended to do this every other day, giving the kids a chance to experience life while also walking off the meal.

"Oh, finished dinner, have you?" Someone called out to them just as the family was heading downstairs.

"Yes, we’re off to take a walk around the fields after eating. Are you just getting off work?" Li Hongjun asked, his lips curving slightly.

The greeter was Wang, a colonel of the same rank as Li Hongjun.

"Exactly, just got back. I won’t keep you, I need to rush home for dinner. Go on your stroll," Colonel Wang greeted them and then strode off briskly.

They met a few more people along the way with Li Hongjun greeting the men and Yunfang chiming in with the women.

"Hey, look over there, that woman coming out from building two, see her? I’ve heard she’s the cousin of the platoon leader from our second battalion. She’s been here for almost two months now; I heard the platoon leader came back but this woman still hasn’t left. No idea what’s going on with their family," Yunfang said to Hongjun, spotting the woman who had just emerged from the building, eager to share the gossip.

Li Hongjun looked discreetly in the direction his wife mentioned, then turned his gaze forward, "Let’s steer clear of the Zhou family in the future; they don’t seem to know right from wrong."

"What happened? Spill the beans." She could tell there was a story there.

Li Hongjun’s mouth stretched into an even wider smile seeing his wife’s gossipy anticipation, "A while back, Zhou Guoqing returned from a mission, and I had a talk with him. I told him that if he wanted to continue serving, he’d need to sort out his family issues. Conduct issues are serious for a soldier. But, who knows what he was thinking; even after our talk, his ’cousin’ was still staying at his place. Higher-ups spoke to him too a few days ago, and there’s been no stir at his home since then. At this rate, it’s only a matter of time before he’s sent packing."