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Chapter 699: Chapter 689 My Dad Says He Wants to Live Alone
"What did your dad want to talk to you about?"
After Li Hongjun left, Shen Yunfang simply couldn’t sleep, so she closed her eyes and waited in the room, keen to overhear what her father-in-law might have wanted with Li Hongjun.
Li Hongjun took off his shoes and climbed onto the kang bed, stretching his big feet into his wife’s blanket, "Nothing important, just rambling on about some useless stuff."
Shen Yunfang looked at him suspiciously, feeling that he wasn’t telling the truth.
"What are you looking at? There really wasn’t anything," Li Hongjun asked with a hint of amusement, "Oh, right, I shouldn’t say there was nothing Actually, my dad just told me he doesn’t want to move with us to Z Province. He’s used to living here and fears he won’t be able to adapt there."
Of course, Li Hongjun couldn’t admit that his own dad had said this out of anger at him, but Li Hongjun truly had no way to satisfy his father’s ideals of robbing the rich to help the poor, so he could only agree with him, thinking this was also a way to show his filial piety.
"Where your dad lives isn’t my concern, but now that your eldest sister-in-law is fed up with him, is he planning to move in with your eldest sister? A month or two might be bearable for your sister’s husband, but I doubt he’ll cope if it’s any longer," Shen Yunfang said with a frown.
Although she was pleased that the old Li wouldn’t be accompanying them to Z Province, if he stayed behind just to be a nuisance to Li Xianglian, she’d feel embarrassed. After all, with sons around, there’s no justification for burdening a daughter with elder care.
"No, my dad said he wouldn’t stay with anyone, he’d just live by himself in the old house."
Upon hearing this, Shen Yunfang looked at him incredulously, "If your dad lives alone in the old house, who’s going to cook for him, who’s going to do his laundry? Don’t tell me he can take care of it all by himself."
Though old Li had been a soldier and knew how to cook and do laundry, he had rarely done those chores after so many years of being taken care of at home. Now, to think of him living alone, he wouldn’t even know how to manage, or else why would he have moved to his daughter’s after leaving his eldest son’s place a while ago?
"Of course, we can’t let dad live all by himself at his age, I wouldn’t be at ease," said Li Hongjun seriously.
Shen Yunfang let out a snort. Old Li was in his sixties but in better shape than Li Hongxing, and she thought Li Hongjun, as his son, was being rather heartless with his words.
"Cough cough, my dad said he wanted to live alone, but he asked us to hire a caretaker to come and make three meals a day for him and do his laundry occasionally—that would do. He wants to keep the retirement money we give him every year for himself. Having money in hand would make it convenient for him to buy whatever he wants without depending on anyone else’s mood," Li Hongjun explained, recounting his father’s own words. Apparently, after staying with his eldest son’s family last year, he had often found himself at the mercy of his daughter-in-law’s moods, and the old man had his own grievances.
Shen Yunfang paused, pondered his words, then asked, slightly confused, "Hey? Why do I feel like we’re getting the short end of the stick here? Are you saying that the retirement money we give should go directly to your dad?"
Li Hongjun nodded.
"And then your dad also wants to find a caretaker who can look after his daily needs," Shen Yunfang continued.
Li Hongjun nodded again.
"So, who’s going to pay for this caretaker?" Shen Yunfang asked, voicing her skepticism.
Li Hongjun coughed, "What I’m thinking is, we could take the caretaker’s fee out of the retirement money first, and then give the rest to my dad."
After thinking a bit more, he added, "Actually, my elder brother provides the grains, and there isn’t much else for my dad to spend money on."
Shen Yunfang looked at him and asked with a frown, "How much do you plan to spend a month on hiring a caretaker?" In her view, if they spent a hundred yuan to hire someone, it simply wouldn’t be enough, let alone have money left over. That would be an extremely cheap labor force.
"She just needs to come over and make three meals and wash clothes once or twice a week. Considering it’s just for my dad, an old man who doesn’t have extravagant needs, I reckon five or eight yuan a month should suffice." The eight yuan was actually his own addition; his dad had mentioned that even five yuan wasn’t too little.
Shen Yunfang’s mouth twitched, "Do you have someone in mind?"
She thought it was unlikely. Li Hongjun had been away from home for many years, and even during his occasional visits, he stayed indoors and rarely met people. Where would he find a suitable candidate?
"Hmm, it’s Aunt Xue from our village," Li Hongjun replied.
"What is the situation with Auntie Xue?" she persisted with her questions.
Li Hongjun couldn’t come up with an answer, he couldn’t even remember who Auntie Xue was.
"I really don’t know, my dad just mentioned that this person is quite suitable. I’ll go to my eldest brother’s place later to ask around, and if it’s appropriate, I’ll find time to ask if they’re willing."
As expected, Shen Yunfang knew that’s how it would be.
"Alright, but you need to inquire carefully. This concerns your dad, and you can’t be careless or negligent. Otherwise, if any issue arises later, your mom will tear you apart when she gets back," Shen Yunfang said, her words tactful yet filled with concern.
Having seen plenty in the future, cases where old men hire nursemaids only for the young nursemaid to take over and the wife to be ousted were commonplace on television, giving her reason to be extra cautious.
Afterward, Li Hongjun went off to Li Hongxing’s place to gather information, only returning half an hour later, followed by a string of little tails.
Each one was bouncing around, giving her no chance to ask detailed questions, so Shen Yunfang had no choice but to get up and tend to these insatiable little tyrants.
"Second aunty, let’s make dumplings with you," Erdan said, nearly drooling at the sight of the meat stuffing in the basin.
"No need, it’s getting late, won’t your mom worry? Hurry back home," Shen Yunfang said, kneading dough while glancing at the children gathering around her.
Goudan, confident he would be heading to the Capital after the New Year to try his luck, now considered himself too grown-up to play with a bunch of kids, so that afternoon’s gang was led by Erdan.
"My mom wouldn’t worry about us at all. She’d rather we didn’t come back, so she could save a few pounds of grain," Sandan squatted nearby and retorted.
Shen Yunfang was exasperated. Her sister-in-law’s parenting skills were unparalleled.
"Even so, you can’t help with this. Look at your little paws; they’re so dirty. All of you, don’t move, or else you won’t get to eat dumplings tonight," Shen Yunfang said, seeing them reach for the dough in her hands, quickly using food as leverage.
This method worked.
The children all held their hands up to their faces, scrutinizing their cleanliness.
"Mommy, Manman’s hands aren’t dirty," Manman said, slightly upset as she extended her tiny hands again for her mom to inspect.
Without even looking, Shen Yunfang asked, "Did you play with snow this afternoon?"
"Snow is white," Manman understood her mom’s implication.
"Girl, you only see the surface, not the essence. Think about how snowflakes come floating down from the sky..." Shen Yunfang patiently explained to them how snowflakes are formed.
The children listened for a bit, then all ran off, mainly because their second aunty was too long-winded.
Shen Yunfang hadn’t even taken a breath of relief when the children came running back, ’thump thump thump.’
Each one holding up their little hands to show her, "Second aunty (Mommy), we all washed our hands."
Well, there was no stopping them now. Shen Yunfang resigned herself to leading a DIY lesson, teaching the children how to make dumplings together.
When it came time to cook the dumplings that evening, they were a mixed bag of well-made and poorly-made ones. A layer of dumpling filling floated in the pot, a result of the children’s imperfect packing.
But it wasn’t a disaster, the children weren’t picky, and found the dumplings they had a hand in making especially delicious.
