Witty Wife, Better Life-Chapter 575 - 565 Have a Good Talk (Part 1)

The two of them lay in bed, seriously discussing their child’s matters as if it were all real. Eventually, it was just Li Hongjun talking; Shen Yunfang had gone silent.

Initially, Li Hongjun thought his wife had fallen asleep, and without realizing she wasn’t listening, he fell silent too.

After the hospital room quieted down for a while, Shen Yunfang suddenly spoke up, "Li Hongjun, your mother and your brother might be going to prison."

The hospital room fell silent again until Li Hongjun’s voice finally emerged, "What do you mean?"

When he was in a coma, Shen Yunfang had already told him all this, but at that time, he had been completely unaware, so upon waking up he was completely oblivious to these matters. Naturally, hearing such terrible news out of the blue was shocking, and it took him a while to gather himself before he could ask for details.

Shen Yunfang believed that Li Hongjun could handle the news, so she meticulously recounted everything that had happened after his mother and younger uncle came to the Capital. She concluded by saying that the authorities had already arrested them, and that Li Hongjun’s father and Li Hongxing had come from their hometown to deal with the matter. However, as far as she knew, the evidence was conclusive, and the sentencing of the few individuals involved was a certainty.

After Shen Yunfang finished recounting everything, the hospital room sank into silence once more, with only the sound of Li Hongjun’s ragged breathing to be heard. freёnovelkiss.com

It took a while before Li Hongjun managed to squeeze out a sentence between clenched teeth, "They got what they deserved."

"Yes, I think so too," Shen Yunfang nodded in the darkness. These people deserved their fate; had they not been greedy and troublesome, wouldn’t they still be working peacefully at their jobs, or lying quietly at home on the kang? "But your father and your elder brother don’t see it that way. Ever since the police summoned them, your father has come to me several times, hoping I could pull some strings to save your mother and your brother."

"We cannot agree to that," Li Hongjun said coldly.

"Of course, who am I? Just an ordinary college student who made it out from the countryside. I haven’t even graduated yet. Who could I possibly know? I cannot help with this. And I’m not afraid of making you angry—your mother and brother have caused me plenty of trouble during their stay in the Capital. The first slap I ever received was from your mother. I’m just an ordinary woman and I hold grudges. I don’t take pleasure in their misfortune, but I certainly don’t pity them," Shen Yunfang didn’t want to hide these thoughts from Li Hongjun. Even if they were to be sentenced, it wouldn’t be to life imprisonment. She had inquired about cases like Qiu Shuping’s; at most, it would be two to three years. For someone like Li Hongjun, it would be between three to ten years. This meant that Qiu Shuping could be free within a couple of years, and Yunfang didn’t want endless conflict with her in-laws. She hoped to sever ties with his family completely.

Of course, Li Hongjun was the Li Family’s son. If she were to forcibly cut him off, it would seem insensitive; they say a son does not despise an ugly mother, and a dog does not forsake a poor home. No matter how bad Qiu Shuping was, she was still Li Hongjun’s mother. Yunfang didn’t believe that Li Hongjun could just let go. She merely hoped to unilaterally sever the relationship with her in-laws.

Li Hongjun fell silent again. He couldn’t respond to that. Rationally he agreed with his wife, but emotionally, how could he disown his own mother?

"I know this situation makes it very tough for you. Later, your father said if I couldn’t do it, I should try to contact your comrades-in-arms to see if any of them could help. If I was too embarrassed to go, I should give him the address and he would beg them himself, even if it meant kneeling to them—he would persuade them no matter what," Shen Yunfang continued to speak.

"Making a fuss, cough, cough..." Li Hongjun became agitated upon hearing this.

"My goodness, why are you getting so agitated when we’re just talking?" Shen Yunfang hurriedly got out of her sick bed and walked over to Li Hongjun, "Let me give you some water, don’t cough. What if you tear a wound?" Not all of his wounds had healed, so even after so many days, he was still lying in bed, unable to get up.

"It’s nothing." Li Hongjun coughed a few times, and his face turned a little pale, but fortunately, he held his breath, and soon the urge to cough passed. He took several deep breaths and finally calmed down.

"I didn’t give him the address, I understand your family’s methods well enough. They would definitely go there wailing, and if the person doesn’t agree, they would kneel down, forcing them to agree. Your comrade-in-arms, even if he is very principled, wouldn’t have the heart to refuse such old folks; agreeing, however, would be a violation of discipline—that sort of thing can ruin someone’s life." Shen Yunfang understood this all too well.

"My dad isn’t like my mom," Li Hongjun said feebly.

"Right, the two of them have different styles. Your mom is more aggressive, and your dad is more subtle. But you can’t deny that over such a long time, they’ve both been shaped more or less the same. Why do you think your mom is so tough? It’s because your dad has spoiled her." Shen Yunfang had long seen that the root of the problem actually lay with Li’s father.

"My dad wasn’t like this before; he was a soldier too," Li Hongjun weakly defended his father.

"Yes, your dad was a soldier. But those upright and straightforward qualities of a soldier have been worn down by daily quarrels with your mother, or perhaps have been assimilated by them." Shen Yunfang said this bluntly and realized during this trip of Li’s father to the Capital that he wasn’t much better than his mother-in-law.

Li Hongjun fell silent again. He didn’t know what to say because he knew his wife was right.

Shen Yunfang simply didn’t go to lie down on her own bed anymore, but instead sat in front of Li Hongjun’s sickbed. Since they had already started, she decided to have a proper talk.

"How are you feeling now? If you are okay, let’s talk about your parents." She was mainly checking whether he could take the stress; if he could, she would speak, and if not, they would wait until he had fully recovered.

"I’m fine, you can talk. Say whatever it is you want to say."

"I’ve already told you about what happened before. I know your mom may have been instigated by your brother to do so many mindless things, but there’s no denying that your mom looks down on me. She has since we got engaged." Shen Yunfang spoke calmly.

"Before I got married, it was clear as day to me. But I thought that the person I was going to spend my life with was you, not your mom. I valued your character, not your mom’s. So, even under such difficult circumstances, I married you."

Li Hongjun suddenly remembered the promise he had made to her back then. He had said that he would not let her feel aggrieved, that he would take care of these issues. But what had happened now? His own mother, coveting his wife’s money, had caused such a ruckus at home and even falsely accused his wife of hitting herself. And he, as her husband, had not been there to protect her.

Thinking of this, Li Hongjun closed his eyes tightly, realizing that perhaps the most worthless person was himself.