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Chapter 629: Chapter 619 Really Didn’t Expect It
The couple chatted all the way to their private plot of land, and seeing that there was no one around, they let their child play on the side while they set out to work in the field.
A few days ago, after the land had been tilled, it was left to dry in the sun. Yunfang had planted a row of pickling vegetables and scattered some spring onions around it. Since the temperature was still quite low, she bought some thin plastic sheeting to cover the row of pickling vegetables.
In just a few days, green seedlings had started to appear under the plastic sheeting.
Now, what the couple needed to do was to fertilize the remaining land, and in a month, they would be able to transplant the seedlings.
Of course, the fertilizer they used was organic, homemade manure, which they didn’t have on hand. It was Hongjun who took advantage of his rest time to cycle to the nearby villages to buy it.
After working in the field for a while, people also started coming with their shovels and hoes to work in the fields.
Next to Yunfang’s family plot was Sister Zhou, who was the wife of a deputy battalion commander. They didn’t know each other at first; it was only while working in the fields and chatting that they became acquainted.
Sister Zhou glanced at the diligently working Hongjun and motioned to Yunfang with her hand.
Yunfang raised an eyebrow and walked over, "What’s up, Sister Zhou?"
"Nothing much, just wondering if you saw Guoqing’s little cousin just now. Gosh, she’s so shameless. When I came here earlier, I saw Guoqing walking ahead with that woman, and his wife, Danfeng, following behind. It really was an eye-opener for me." Sister Zhou pulled Yunfang over to the fence to start gossiping.
"Hmm, when our Old Li and I came out earlier, I did see that little cousin coming out of the unit, but I didn’t see Captain Zhou." Yunfang shared what she knew as well.
Sister Zhou looked at Hongjun, who was bending over to work, and nudged Yunfang with her elbow, "Guoqing is under your Old Li’s command. Didn’t your Old Li share any news?"
"No, when Old Li is at home, he never talks about army stuff with me. If I ask, he just gets irritated, being so stubborn." Of course, Yunfang couldn’t betray her own husband, and besides, it’s fine for women to gossip among themselves, but involving men could easily sour the situation.
"Really, your Old Li is indeed serious." Sister Zhou felt somewhat sympathetic towards Yunfang but couldn’t say anything else, only that Colonel Li was a very serious person.
Indeed, most women thought that if a man shares everything with his wife, that’s a sign he treats his wife well, not considering her an outsider. Yunfang herself believed this. So when she said this, Sister Zhou misjudged, thinking that Yunfang did not have much status at home and that Colonel Li was still the head of the household.
"Ha, I heard that Guoqing’s mother sent another letter, saying she’s fallen ill and demanding Danfeng to go back to her hometown to take care of her. My goodness, that old lady’s intentions aren’t pure at all. With that grown-up niece still at home, she sent her daughter-in-law away. As if no one knows what she’s up to." Sister Zhou spoke disdainfully of the old Madame Zhou, finding it rare to see a mother who would so blatantly arrange things for her son.
"Sister, you know about this too?" Yunfang was somewhat skeptical of such news; how could others know so clearly about someone else’s family matters, which were not exactly honorable things? She figured it was just some old ladies’ rumors embellished with their own speculations.
"Ah, you might not believe it, but the news came from Zhou Hua herself. She even claimed to have seen the letter. There’s no faking that." Sister Zhou defended her credibility; she was not one to spread baseless rumors.
Yunfang didn’t expect Zhou Hua to be involved as well.
"How could she see Qiao Danfeng’s family letters?" Shen Yunfang still felt somewhat unable to understand.
"Oh, you’re at work every day, spending little time in our courtyard, so you don’t know, Zhou Hua and Qiao Danfeng are really close. Qiao Danfeng asks Zhou Hua for advice on every little thing. So, Zhou Hua knew about it," explained Zhou Hua’s sister-in-law.
Shen Yunfang frowned, recalling the day when they had come to her house; she really hadn’t noticed Zhou Hua and Qiao Danfeng being that close. Could it be that she had failed to observe it?
However, all these were other people’s family affairs. Talking about it was just indulging in a bit of gossip and wasn’t something to take seriously.
After Li Hongjun finished spreading fertilizer in the field and was almost done, Shen Yunfang finished chatting with Zhou’s sister-in-law, and the two of them greeted each other. Li Hongjun and his wife took their child and headed home, and that’s when Zhou’s sister-in-law started her work.
On the way back, they didn’t see the situation Zhou’s sister-in-law had mentioned. Maybe the people had strolled enough and gone home.
Downstairs, Shen Yunfang took a shovel back home to prepare bathing clothes, while Li Hongjun played with the child downstairs. When Shen Yunfang came down with the wash basin, she saw Li Hongjun holding a bag of stuff.
"This was just delivered by the wife of the second battalion commander, Xiao Qiang. Seeing me downstairs, she gave it directly to me. And there’s also this money," Li Hongjun explained where the bag came from.
Shen Yunfang put the wash basin on the ground and then took the bag to look through it. She made sure no one was around before saying, "Fang Yan really knows me well, to think she would buy all these odds and ends I love to eat and got me these. I’ll have to thank her properly next time I see her." Inside the bag, there was only a small piece of pork, hardly a pound, probably loin that people nowadays didn’t care for much, along with four pig’s trotters and some offal.
"In the future, don’t trouble others to buy such things," Li Hongjun said, not needing to ask to know what was going on. Buying meat wasn’t as difficult as it used to be, and his wife being able to get these pig’s trotters and offal that most people didn’t want spoke volumes.
"Mm, I’ve learned my lesson this time, don’t worry," Shen Yunfang pursed her lips, guessing this was probably Fang Yan’s intention. Luckily, she wasn’t too heartless, returning the unused tickets and money.
Regardless of what others brought back to her, everything had its social value.
"Alright, I’m going back up to take the meat home, just wait here for a moment," said Shen Yunfang, picking up the bag and heading upstairs once more.
That night, as the couple lay in bed, Shen Yunfang recounted the whole morning’s visit to the hall chief to her husband.
"I was thinking, if the price is really as the hall chief said, it’s not too expensive. I would lease it for seventy to eighty years, and it won’t be much money."
Li Hongjun looked at her and thought to himself ruefully, how can you, someone earning only sixty or seventy yuan a month, say more than ten thousand yuan isn’t expensive.
"Whatever you want to do, I have no objections. If you think it’s good, go ahead, but I have only one condition, you can’t exhaust yourself. The kids and I are your priority, understand?" Li Hongjun’s main concern was that his wife would take on too much and eventually neglect him and the kids, which he would not tolerate.
"Oh, you’ve said this so many times, don’t worry. Even if I start up a business again, you guys will always be my focus," Shen Yunfang quickly reassured him with a kiss, "I’m thinking of going to listen to the actual quote tomorrow, and then I’ll need to have a look at the place. If it’s suitable, I want to sign the contract quickly. If we move fast, we might even manage to harvest a crop this year."
