Witty Wife, Better Life-Chapter 569 - 559

Following Xiaohai to the entrance of Li Hongjun’s ward, Shen Yunfang turned to look at him and said, "Xiaohai, you’ve had a hard time these past few days."

"Sister-in-law, it wasn’t hard," Xiaohai said shyly.

"How could it not be hard? Alright, now that I’m here, you don’t have to stay here all the time. If I need anything, I’ll call you." Shen Yunfang was genuinely grateful to this young soldier for taking care of her husband during this time, and by saying this, she also had her own motive—she wanted some alone time with Li Hongjun.

Xiaohai was a clever person and saw the subtext in his sister-in-law’s words, so he didn’t insist anymore, "Then alright, Sister-in-law, you go accompany the commander. I’ll go to the cafeteria to see what’s left to eat. You must have rushed over here and didn’t have lunch, right? Let me fetch something for you."

Upon hearing that, Shen Yunfang realized she actually hadn’t eaten lunch indeed; these frantic days had diminished her appetite to the point where she didn’t feel hungry even when skipping meals.

"Thank you for that." Shen Yunfang knew that even if she wasn’t hungry, she had to eat. If she were to collapse, her family might really fall apart. Li Hongjun was still waiting for her care, and their two children were also waiting for her at home.

"No need to thank me, no need, this is all part of my duty," Xiaohai said before he grabbed the food container from the ward and ran off.

Shen Yunfang watched as he disappeared from view, then slowly closed the ward door before sitting down at the bedside, looking at the comatose Li Hongjun without saying a word.

After a long while, Shen Yunfang sighed and said, "Today, I heard from Doctor Wang about your situation, and when she told me about the consequences of you undergoing a craniotomy, my first thought was to give up. Not because I fear you might become foolish or anything like that, but because I know you’re too stubbornly proud. I think that if it were up to you to choose, you’d rather close your eyes forever than live like that."

She said this while gently touching his bandaged arm.

Of course, the man in the bed couldn’t respond to her, and she didn’t expect a response either; she continued speaking to herself, "Actually, in my opinion, it’s better to live a lousy life than to die. As long as we’re alive, other problems don’t matter. Even if you really do go through with the craniotomy and become foolish, I won’t abandon you. At worst, it’ll be like raising three kids instead of two—I’ve raised two children already, so I’m not afraid of taking care of one more."

Shen Yunfang’s hand slowly moved upward until it reached Li Hongjun’s face, precisely, his lips, "But I can’t do that. I’m afraid you’ll resent me afterward. You can’t be so selfish though. You need to understand that you’re not just a soldier; you’re also a husband and a father. You have to be responsible for me and the children. If you keep sleeping like this, what are we to do? All you do is sleep, and that leaves me very lonely." She said, sighing, almost picturing her lonely future days, "You should understand, when a woman feels lonely, anything could happen. You wouldn’t want me to sneak over the wall behind your back, right? So, to avoid any stains on your reputation, you must wake up and get better."

"As for me, I’m quite democratic. Doctor Wang said that if you don’t wake up within a week, it will be difficult for you to wake up at all after that. So, I’m giving you six more days. If you don’t wake up within these six days, don’t blame me for being heartless—I will definitely have to send you to the operating table. Even if you become foolish then, you’ll still have to live properly for me," Shen Yunfang declared, reaching a point where she felt like pinching him in exasperation, but seeing his body, she realized there really was nowhere to do so. The only part of him that was exposed—his face—had sunken in from days of being comatose. Ah well, better to wait until he’s better to pinch him then.

"Although I’ve had some adventures, I’m no fairy, so there’s only one way I can think of to help you build up your strength. If you don’t want to become an idiot, then you’ve got to put in some effort too, understand? We’ll attack from the inside and out, our efforts combined like a pair of swords. That little blood clot, I really don’t think it’s a big deal. You agree with me, right?" Shen Yunfang said as her fingers, which were caressing Li Hongjun’s lips, now held a transparent blue capsule-shaped object, and in her other hand appeared a cup of boiled water.

"If you don’t speak up, I’ll take that as agreement. Don’t blame me later on and back out," Shen Yunfang stuffed an Essence of Life capsule into Li Hongjun’s mouth, but given his current state, he couldn’t swallow on his own, so she had to take a sip of the boiled water herself, stand up, lean over, and transfer the water from her mouth into his.

"Sister-in-law, I’m back. It’s good I went; the cafeteria still had... Oh, sorry, sorry, I’ll step out, I’ll step out." Xiaohai didn’t expect to witness such a startling scene, so when he came back from the cafeteria with the food, he simply barged into the sickroom without hesitation and saw his sister-in-law in an intimate moment with the battalion commander.

Shen Yunfang hadn’t expected Xiaohai to return at such a coincidental time, not too early, not too late, just in that moment. It seemed he had misunderstood, but she wasn’t planning on explaining. They were a married couple—what was the big deal with kissing her own man?

Fortunately, she had managed to feed him the medicine. She took a handkerchief to wipe the corner of Li Hongjun’s mouth, then straightened her clothes and opened the door nonchalantly, allowing Xiaohai to come in.

Xiaohai, carrying the lunch box, blushed more than Shen Yunfang who felt guilty. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

"Sister-in-law, there wasn’t much food left in the cafeteria at this hour, so I just got you a bit. Have a bite to tide you over, and when it’s mealtime in the evening, I’ll get you some good food," Xiaohai said as he put the lunch box on the small table next to the sickbed, with a side glance at Battalion Commander Li on the bed, realizing he hadn’t woken up yet and mumbling to himself about how bold his sister-in-law was, yet how lucky Battalion Commander Li was.

"It’s fine, I’m not picky," Shen Yunfang said good-naturedly. "Xiaohai, I forgot to ask you earlier, is there someone in the other bed?"

There were no private rooms available, and even if there were, they wouldn’t be for someone of Li Hongjun’s rank to occupy. Therefore, this was a two-person sickroom, but currently, only Li Hongjun was the patient there, leaving the other bed empty.

"No, no, there’s only Battalion Commander Li in this sickroom. It was specially arranged by the commanders; they wanted Battalion Commander Li to have a good place to recover. Though the conditions at the field hospital aren’t great, this is considered the best room already," Xiaohai quickly reported.

Upon hearing this, Shen Yunfang nodded in approval. She found it convenient that only Li Hongjun was in the room. With an empty bed next to him, she’d have a place to sleep at night. As Li Hongjun’s recovery time was uncertain, she had to make sure she stayed well-fed and rested. She couldn’t afford to fall ill herself.

Xiaohai then explained that during Li Hongjun’s recovery, all medical and food expenses were covered by the military unit, and both the Food Coupons and cash were in his charge. Originally, only the caregiver’s food costs were covered, but now that Shen Yunfang was there, the unit would provide for both of their needs. Of course, if Li Hongjun woke up, Xiaohai would then have three people’s food and Food Coupons to manage.