NOVPUB
Chapter 684: Chapter 674: Return to the Old House
The second day bright and early, Li Hongjun and his wife were woken up by their two kids making a commotion next to them.
"Daddy, Mommy, get up, the sun’s gonna shine on your butts." Manman, feeling a bit jealous that mom and dad were so close together, hurriedly squeezed her chubby body between the two, finally feeling content.
Pangpang wouldn’t be so childish, instead, he stealthily moved to the edge of the kang bed and lifted the blanket, beginning to tickle his dad’s feet.
"You two little rascals, looking for a spanking, huh?" Li Hongjun was so alert that he woke up as soon as the kids started their mischief. With a stretch and a hook of his big foot, he pulled the one causing trouble under the blanket toward him.
Pangpang screamed in surprise at the sudden turn of events. Then he felt a smack on his little bottom.
"Not behaving again?" Shen Yunfang, still with her eyes closed, accurately found her son’s little bottom and gave it a pat.
"Mom, I’m already an adult, you can’t spank me." Pangpang was full of embarrassed indignation.
This remark made the other three in the bed burst into laughter.
"Alright, our little grown-up, hurry up and get dressed. It’s so cold today; don’t catch a cold," Shen Yunfang said, pulling the children’s cotton trousers out from under the blankets and urging them to get dressed quickly.
In the north, people sleep on kang beds; light a fire before bed, and the blanket stays warm all night long. But by the time they get up in the morning, that heat has mostly dissipated, making the room extra cold. Even though her kids were strong, Shen Yunfang, the ever-cautious mother, urged her children to dress quickly just in case.
Li Hongjun also pulled out his and his wife’s cotton trousers from under their blankets, "Come on, not just the kids, you get dressed quickly too."
"Hee-hee, yes, Mommy, you get dressed quickly too." 𝑛𝘰𝘷𝑝𝘶𝑏.𝑐𝘰𝘮
By the time the whole family got dressed and came out, Li Xianglian had already been busy in the kitchen for quite a while.
"Big sis, how come you got up so early?" Shen Yunfang quickly went into the kitchen to help. She looked around and sure enough, there was no sign of Li Xianghe. But Jiajia was sitting by the stove, tending the fire for her mom.
"I’m getting older and can’t sleep much, so I got up early to cook." Li Xianglian was busy putting dough in the pan, "The water is ready, Jiajia, give your auntie a ladle."
"Okay," Jiajia cheerfully agreed.
Shen Yunfang couldn’t let the young girl fetch water for her, so she quickly took the ladle from Jiajia’s hand, "Jiajia, you sit. Auntie can do it herself."
"It’s okay, Auntie, I do this often. I’ll ladle it for you," Jiajia really wanted to do something for her aunt.
"No need; I’ll do it myself."
Shen Yunfang and Jiajia struggled back and forth several times until finally, she managed to ladle the water and took it out for the kids and the men to wash up.
By the time they had all tidied up, big sister Li had finished preparing breakfast.
Now with the addition of Pangpang and Manman, one kang table definitely wouldn’t be enough, so Shitou led the kids to eat together while the adults sat at the kang table.
During the meal, Big Sister Li asked with concern if the sister-in-law was settling in alright since it was her first time at their house. She was worried she might not be a good enough hostess.
Shen Yunfang was rather casual about it. This was a visit to her legitimate relatives’ home, after all, and there wasn’t much to complain about; besides, she was staying for just one night and would be leaving today, so of course she had settled in.
Li Hongjun directly told Old Man Li that, after the meal, he would ask his brother-in-law to borrow a car and take them all back home. After all, with the New Year around the corner, it wasn’t proper to keep staying at his big sister’s house. Having their own home and business, it really wasn’t right to continuously trouble a married daughter.
After reflecting on it overnight, Old Man Li had come to understand the current state of affairs. As an old bachelor, his eldest’s daughter-in-law was too fierce, his youngest was still in prison, and as for his oldest daughter, because of previous incidents, they weren’t close. His youngest daughter was even less likely to rely on—he’d be lucky if she managed to take care of herself. After adding it all up, he realized that he could probably only depend on his second son and his wife. People naturally assess the situation and position themselves accordingly. Now that he understood his place, he naturally adjusted his stance. So when the second son said he wanted to go home, the old man didn’t say a word, just nodded his head to show he understood.
Li Xianghe didn’t object; in fact, she, too, felt uncomfortable staying at her big sister’s home. Although she could eat for free, everyone would take the chance to say a few words to her, making her feel uneasy. Living at her big sister’s, she still felt somewhat guilty.
So, after the meal, this group of people began to pack their things.
Shen Yunfang had nothing much to pack; when she had moved her luggage down yesterday, she hadn’t unpacked, so she could just take it as it was. But she did take out the gifts she had brought for Big Sister Li’s family.
Each of the three children got a set of new clothes, and for Big Sister Li and her husband, there were two pieces of wool fabric. Of course, there were other miscellaneous gifts, too, which made Li Xianghe green with envy.
Old Man Li’s and Li Xianghe’s luggage wasn’t much, just a small bundle containing the clothes they usually wore; that was it.
Li Xianglian, on the other hand, had more to pack. She took some of everything—firewood, rice, oil, salt—anything she could think of, she packed some for her younger brother, considering that they basically had nothing back home. With the New Year coming up, they needed supplies to celebrate.
Seeing her take so much stuff, Shen Yunfang quickly tried to refuse, "Big sister, you don’t need to take so much. There’s a supply cooperative in the village that has everything one might want to buy. Besides, I was planning to take the kids to the market, they’ve never experienced it before."
"I haven’t taken that much for you, just some essentials. Besides, you won’t be staying here for long, so what’s the point in buying so much? If you don’t finish it, it’ll be wasted," Li Xianglian didn’t stop, continuing to load things onto the vehicle.
Seeing Shen Yunfang trying to protest, Liu Jianjun intervened, "Yunfang, it’s okay, just take these little things. If you don’t, your big sister will just end up sending them to you later."
Since her brother-in-law had said so, Shen Yunfang didn’t insist any longer. Then, Liu Jianjun drove the horse-drawn cart, with seven or eight people sitting on it, surrounded by a heap of belongings, all the way to Taoshu Village.
Because it had been late last night and both Pangpang and Manman were too tired and fell asleep, today was their first real glimpse of the rural scenery, and both kids were very excited. Pangpang couldn’t restrain himself and jumped off the cart to run along with the horse, while Manman, wanting to imitate her brother, was sternly told off by her mother, leaving her to watch her brother play enviously.
With a mix of playing and laughter, they finally arrived at Taoshu Village.
Though it was cold outside, the period before New Year meant that many people, now leading better lives, would go to the market to do their New Year shopping. Thus, after entering Taoshu Village, the horse cart ran into several neighbors.
Shen Yunfang could tell that among the people who greeted Old Man Li, a couple clearly seemed to take pleasure in his misfortune. It seemed the Li Family’s troubles had become the village’s gossip.
The journey home was intermittently punctuated by stops, but they finally arrived.
Old Man Li got off the cart and opened the yard gate, and the gate next door creaked open as well.
Wang Dan walked out.
