Witty Wife, Better Life-Chapter 787 - 777 Niuniu’s Illness

The visitors were Sun Chengbin and Li Xianghe.

When Shen Yunfang saw that it was them, her eyelids barely fluttered, and she didn’t even bother to move. Expecting her to get up and greet them now was wishful thinking, considering she hadn’t kicked them out just a few days ago solely out of respect for Li Hongjun’s reputation.

Indeed, the night Pangpang was hurt, this couple had come over wanting to apologize to her. But she was so angry at the time that she didn’t give face to anyone and simply shut the door on them. They couldn’t even enter their own house.

Later on, Sun Chengbin came by several more times on his own. Shen Yunfang did deign to open the door for him, allowing him inside, but the moment she brought up that issue, she would promptly shoo him away.

However, now that Li Hongjun was home, although she ignored the two of them, she didn’t get up to drive them out.

"Second Brother, Second Sister-in-law, have you not finished eating yet? Continue with your meal, please don’t mind us," Sun Chengbin said with a grin as he automatically took a seat on the sofa upon entering the room and seeing the food on the table.

But Li Xianghe didn’t possess that self-awareness. Even though she felt somewhat guilty coming over at this time, with her second brother back, he was the head of the household, so she wasn’t afraid of anyone. Therefore, upon seeing the full table of delicious food, she couldn’t help but make a few sarcastic remarks despite herself.

"Wow, Second Brother, the food at your house is really top-notch. Other families are eating chaff and vegetables, but you’re living like landlords. Hey, what is this dish? I’ve never seen it before," Li Xianghe said, referring to broccoli, also called cauliflower, which is a cultivar of cabbage. At this time, vegetable varieties in northern regions were limited to common produce like eggplants, chili peppers, and green beans; broccoli had not yet become a staple on the dinner tables of the masses, explaining why Li Xianghe was unfamiliar with it.

What Li Xianghe didn’t recognize was broccoli, which had been introduced domestically by the United Nations Development Programme a couple of years prior. The first project was in Inner Mongolia to expand the cultivation of plant-based materials and increase the variety of vegetables available on the domestic market, but it had not yet become widely popular, so it was normal for many people not to recognize it. Shen Yunfang learned about this through the school and got the seeds there, which is why she tried planting them experimentally in a greenhouse, with quite successful results. Knowing how nutritious broccoli is, once it was harvestable, she reserved quite a bit in her space and would prepare a meal with it for the children whenever she had the chance.

No one at the dining table responded to her, as Shen Yunfang really didn’t even want to see her, let alone hear her voice, which disgusted her. The children didn’t like this aunt either, so they all followed their mother’s example, heads down, eating without speaking.

The atmosphere became somewhat awkward.

"Oh, it really looks disgusting, I can’t believe you can actually swallow that," Li Xianghe continued, oblivious to the discomfort she was causing, with a look of disgust on her face.

Since no one from the Li family spoke up, Sun Chengbin said with a bit of a headache, "Xianghe, shut your mouth, will you? You’re not the one eating it, so why do you care so much? Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law haven’t finished their meal. Come sit down and don’t bother them while they’re eating." As he spoke, he forcibly pulled her to the sofa and made her sit down.

He was genuinely distressed over his wife. She was utterly blind to the situation and still insisted on showing off, embarrassing herself time and again, yet she took pride in it instead of feeling shame. After every provocation and defeat, she never learned her lesson and would provoke again the next time. You tell me, what kind of person does that, what kind of brain do they have?

"Second Brother, as soon as I knew you were back, I hurriedly brought Xianghe over to apologize to you and Sister-in-law. Also, a few days ago, I took Niuniu to see the doctor. I thought I should let you know as well," Sun Chengbin quickly explained the purpose of their visit, fearing that if something went wrong, his wife might say something else and they would be kicked out again, which would be utterly embarrassing.

That matter was related, and knowing that the second brother and sister-in-law both cared deeply about their own Niuniu, he mentioned it to have a chat. But his main purpose was to properly explain the situation with Shen Yingxue from a while back and to ask if the second brother could help speak up for him, so that his inspection reports might be less detailed.

This time, he was also implicated by Li Xianghe, called in by the higher-ups for a serious dressing-down, and explicitly told to go home and provide some ideological education to his spouse. As a military wife, there was no need to be literate or to have any academic credentials, but it was imperative to understand the big picture, to know what was allowed and what was not based on her status.

They didn’t say it outright, but if such incidents happened again, he guessed his military career would probably be over.

"You all go ahead and eat. Don’t let our arrival prevent you from enjoying your meal. We can talk after you finish," Sun Chengbin said, trying to ingratiate himself.

Li Xianghe pouted, clearly displeased, but remembering what her husband had told her at home, she refrained from making a fuss and sat quietly on the couch, waiting for everyone to finish eating.

Under such circumstances, how could Shen Yunfang and the others pretend as if nothing had happened and continue their meal? Reluctantly, the family hurried through an uneasy dinner. Shen Yunfang cleared the table and sent the children into their room to do their homework, leaving Li Hongjun to talk with the couple.

Li Hongjun looked at his sister’s defiant and dissatisfied expression, not even bothering to glance at her, and directly addressed Sun Chengbin.

"You took Niuniu to the hospital for a checkup. What did the doctor say?" Though he didn’t think highly of them, he still cared about his niece.

"The doctor ran all kinds of tests, and in the end, it was just like the second sister-in-law said. They told us Niuniu has autism," Sun Chengbin said, scratching his head over his daughter’s diagnosis. He had mainly heard about this condition from the second sister-in-law and was honestly baffled by what it actually was.

Li Hongjun nodded, "So what did the doctor say about treatment?" This was the crucial point. It didn’t matter what sickness the child had, what was important was knowing the method of treatment. The child’s health was paramount.

"The doctor gave us a long list of thirteen suggestions, which confused me completely. At the end, they told us that there’s no cure for it right now, that there’s no specific medication anywhere in the world," Li Xianghe said, dismayed by the news. After borrowing so much money for the child’s medical treatment, to be told that nothing could cure her was like wasting all that money.

The room fell silent. Shen Yunfang was washing dishes in the kitchen and listening to the conversation in the living room. When she heard the child was truly diagnosed with autism, she felt disheartened. She grieved for Niuniu, for the illness the child had, for being born in such times, and for having such parents.

"Didn’t the doctor say how we could improve Niuniu’s current condition?" Shen Yunfang dried her hands and came out to ask.

Alas, she was still not heartless enough.

Li Xianghe pursed her lips, not wanting to speak to the second sister-in-law at all, but with the second brother present, she didn’t dare show her true feelings to the sister-in-law in front of him, so she reluctantly answered, "The doctor was useless. If there’s an illness, one should prescribe medication, right? But no, they insisted on telling me to take better care of Niuniu. I mean, is that even reasonable? Isn’t it I who have taken care of my daughter since she was born? How else am I supposed to take care of her?" Li Xianghe voiced her resentment towards the doctor with displeasure written all over her face.