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Chapter 712: Chapter 702 Old Man Lee Has Been Good Long Enough
Afterwards, Li Hongjun and his wife really stopped bothering.
Niuniu also lived in that house with Old Man Li for several days. During that time, Shen Yunfang would always bring a pair of chopsticks for Niuniu to use, but she didn’t care at all about any other housework. She left all the worries to Old Man Li alone.
As one might imagine, Old Man Li couldn’t even take care of himself properly, otherwise, he wouldn’t have been arranging for his son to find him a caretaker. So, after living with Old Man Li for a week, Niuniu finally couldn’t endure it any longer and called his younger son over.
"Hongjun, when you have time, could you take Niuniu back to the Sun Family? After all, she’s not a child of our Li Family, and it’s also not good for her to stay here all the time as it could lead to gossip."
Li Hongjun didn’t take the bait. If he sent the child back, and then she was sent here again, his dad wouldn’t say anything and would just keep her, ending up making him look bad as the uncle; it’s a thankless task his wife wouldn’t allow him to do.
"What? My words don’t carry weight anymore, is that it? If you’re not going to do it, then I will send her back myself." Old Man Li didn’t expect his son to deny him face, and some anger started showing on his face.
Li Hongjun nodded, "Well, Dad when will you go? I’ll go find Big Brother to help you hitch up the donkey cart. It’s too cold these days, and it’s not safe to walk there." He didn’t struggle at all and readily agreed.
Old Master Li had already disagreed with their arrangement regarding Niuniu, so it was up to him to deal with it. As his children, they could only support whatever their father wanted.
Clearly, Old Man Li didn’t expect his son to respond that way and stood there, unsure of what to do next. Normally, after he had spoken like that, a filial child would quickly self-reflect and offer to relieve their father’s burdens, not deliberately agree with him to make him angry.
"It’s almost time for lunch. I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave now. How about this, Yunfang will cook early, and after you and Niuniu have eaten, then you can go. I am going to look for my big brother now to ask him to come over to eat later; after you all have eaten, he can take you there." Li Hongjun continued to make arrangements, as if he hadn’t seen his father’s scowl.
Slap!
"You don’t need to be so kind, I don’t need you to meddle in my affairs," Old Man Li shouted angrily. 𝔫𝖔𝔳𝖕𝖚𝔟.𝔠𝔬𝖒
Li Hongjun glanced at the broken smoking pipe in Old Man Li’s hand, then at Old Man Li himself. He said nothing, just got ready to leave.
"Also, don’t bother with the matter of finding a caregiver for me; I’ll find one myself." Old Man Li said these words out of anger.
But Li Hongjun took him seriously. He’d almost left through the door before he stopped and replied, "Alright, if you find someone yourself that suits your taste better, I won’t interfere. I’ll bring over the elderly care money for this year in a bit; you handle it yourself." Then he walked out.
"This unfilial son, unfilial son, he’s really making me mad," Old Man Li covered the area around his heart, feigning distress, "This is just like what the old wife said, ’once you have a daughter-in-law, you forget your mother.’" These words he muttered under his breath, just venting his frustrations.
Old Man Li wasn’t as muddled as Qiu Shuping, who would blurt out anything that was on her mind. He was clearheaded about the situation with his children; now he could only rely on the elderly care money his second son gave. So even though he was angry, he only dared throw a small tantrum and couldn’t really afford to fall out with his second son and his wife.
"What’s going on? Why the arguing?" Shen Yunfang was cooking in the main room when she heard the conversation at the door loud and clear.
She was also quite surprised. Li Hongjun had always been a filial son; how could he have angered Old Man Li to such an extent this time?
"Nothing much, it’s just that my dad has had enough of the child and just now told me to take Niuniu back. I didn’t agree and said I would find Big Brother later to hitch the donkey cart so that he can take her himself. The old man got a bit upset," Li Hongjun explained, still rather euphemistically.
Shen Yunfang smiled and didn’t express an opinion, but in her mind she kept complaining. It was because she hadn’t lifted a finger to take care of the kids, so Li’s old man, after being the good guy at home for a week, couldn’t stand it anymore and was ready to dump the children elsewhere.
"That’s right, the kids just showed up at our place, and we inexplicably took them in for a week, then we’re just going to send them back without whispering a word about it? What would that look like? It would make your sister, with her irresponsible mind, think this is just fine. She’ll treat Niuniu even less like a child and just send her over whenever she wants. When we’re here it’s one thing, even if we don’t take care, I can’t possibly watch Niuniu go hungry or cold. But what if we leave? If she throws Niuniu out like this again, who is going to get up early to let Niuniu in? With this cold, it could really freeze someone to death," said Shen Yunfang while she worked on something in her hands.
Creak...
Li’s old man opened the door and came out, just in time to hear his daughter-in-law’s last sentence. It was unclear how he interpreted it, but he left through the front door with a dark face, without looking at the two of them.
"I didn’t say anything wrong!" Shen Yunfang was somewhat baffled. She hadn’t bad-mouthed anyone. She spoke well of them, didn’t she? Why did it seem like she had been caught bad-mouthing someone?
"Hmm, I know," said Li Hongjun, patting his wife soothingly.
As the two of them were talking, Manman and Pangpang burst through the door.
"Mom, grandpa scolded me," Manman said, looking wronged and seeking comfort from Shen Yunfang.
Shen Yunfang quickly wiped her hands and pulled her daughter close, "What happened? Tell mom all about it."
"Just now, my sister and I were playing at Uncle’s house with Brother Sandan, and grandpa came and said my sister was naive." Pangpang mimicked Li’s old man’s tone, "You’re so big and still don’t know how to help with household chores, just know how to play dumb. You can tell she is spoiled rotten, all because of your mom."
"Wow, mom, grandpa scolded me." Manman finally couldn’t hold back her tears, "Brother Sandan and brother were playing with me, and grandpa only scolded me." After finishing her words, she burst into tears. She had never been spoken to like this in her life, nor had she ever felt such palpable malice from someone else, and it had genuinely frightened the little girl.
Shen Yunfang tried hard to put on a smile and said to the two kids, "Manman, don’t cry anymore. If you cry, you won’t look pretty. Grandpa just doesn’t know how to talk. He is old, and he wasn’t really trying to scold you. Let’s not lower ourselves to his level, okay?"
"Come on, you’ve been playing all morning, you must be hungry by now. Go inside, mom will get you something tasty."
Manman cried for a good while but finally gave in under the sweetness of her mother’s coaxing, her sobs slowly subsiding, thankfully without any more tears falling.
After seeing the kids were okay, Shen Yunfang got them some jerky to eat and then pulled Li Hongjun into the main room.
Shen Yunfang didn’t say a word, just looked at Li Hongjun.
Li Hongjun frowned, knowing that his wife was expecting him to take a stand.
"We’ve lived in our hometown for a while now, and I don’t see the need to stay any longer. What do you think, should we go straight home or stay in Gaijiatun for a few days before going back?" Li Hongjun was also very angry about his father taking his temper out on his kids. There was no sense in it; if adults were difficult to scold, he shouldn’t take it out on the children. What was the point?
Shen Yunfang was satisfied with his stand, so she didn’t push him further, "Okay, no need to go back to Gaijiatun. Let’s go straight home. We’ll leave this afternoon. I’ll go pack our things in a bit." She walked toward the house, already decided. If Li Hongjun could still endure, then she would take the children and leave, letting her brother-in-law bear it alone here, best he could turn into a Ninja Turtle.
