Witty Wife, Better Life-Chapter 583 - 573 If You Can Wait That Would Be Great

Although the curly-haired woman was lying facing away, her ears were sharply tuned in, listening intently. When she heard Shen Yunfang say her man was in the military, she scornfully curled her lip as if to say, what’s so special about a stinking soldier.

But not everyone agreed with her. "I could tell your man must be a soldier just from looking at him," said the white-haired carriage chief with a chuckle, sticking his head out to see Li Hongjun. "Hey, young man, where are you serving?"

The two men began to chat, and when the carriage chief learned that Li Hongjun was being transferred to the Capital for treatment after being seriously injured on the battlefield, he was filled with respect.

As they talked, it was nearing eight o’clock in the evening, and the sky outside the window had darkened.

The announcement came over the loudspeaker that the lights would be turned off in an hour and urged passengers who had not yet washed up to hurry.

Shen Yunfang quickly took a thermos out of her black bag (actually, from her space), preparing to serve Li Hongjun his meal.

"You haven’t had dinner yet?" The carriage chief thought they had already eaten.

"We had just finished lunch when we got on the train, and we went to sleep right afterward. We weren’t hungry. Now, well, we’re starting to feel a bit peckish." Li Hongjun enjoyed chatting with the carriage chief and thought well of him, so he was more talkative than usual.

Shen Yunfang tidied up the small table, which basically meant stacking things up, placed her thermos on top, and then unscrewed the lid, releasing the aroma of the dumplings.

"Oh, you’ve got some nice food there, dumplings." The carriage chief, like an old child, even peeked into the thermos to have a look.

"Uncle Bai, if you don’t mind, join us for some," offered Shen Yunfang politely. Ordinary people couldn’t just eat other people’s food, especially someone like him, a big official who had seen it all. It was unlikely he’d care for their meager offerings.

"No need, no need, I’ve eaten just before getting on the train. I’m getting on in years, and if I eat too much before bed, I get indigestion, which is uncomfortable," said the carriage chief, waving his hand. "Don’t mind me, go ahead and eat. The lights will be out soon."

Shen Yunfang didn’t insist any further, and after helping Li Hongjun sit up, the two of them began to eat, alternating bites.

The carriage chief probably felt awkward watching the couple eating, so he got down, put on his shoes, and went off to wash up.

Seeing that the woman in the upper bunk across from them seemed to be asleep, facing inward, Shen Yunfang took a bowl of soup from her space, and the two shared it.

She wasn’t worried about the woman pretending to be asleep; as long as she wasn’t seen, it was fine. Hearing something was no issue; she could always deny it.

Li Hongjun, indulging his wife, didn’t approve of her unsafe behavior, but seeing her drinking happily, he could only keep watch in all directions and be on guard, while, of course, not staying silent.

After Shen Yunfang finished the soup, she put the bowl back into her space, and then they continued eating dumplings.

Both of them had hearty appetites, a small bucket of dumplings was simply not enough for them, so Shen Yunfang kept adding more into the thermos while eating. By the time Director Bai came back from washing up, there was still half a bucket of dumplings left in their thermos.

Director Bai, smelling the meaty aroma from the dumplings, decided he’d better squat in the toilet for a while.

When he came back again, the young couple had finally finished eating, and Shen Yunfang was cleaning up the thermos.

"The washing room is less crowded right now, you two better go quickly," Director Bai said as he took off his shoes and climbed to the upper bunk.

"Ah, that’s great, we can’t have our Li Hongjun getting squished," Shen Yunfang said while helping Li Hongjun up, then they took their toiletries and went to freshen up.

After the lights were out, Director Bai was still very sociable and chatted with Li Hongjun and his missus about all sorts of things for a long time. All of them had much social experience and carefully avoided sensitive topics, so the conversation was very congenial. freewёbnoνel.com

The next day, the curly-haired lady on the bunk above Shen Yunfang unconsciously joined their conversation. After all, one cannot pretend to sleep for two days in a row without getting moldy from lying in bed.

During the conversation, it was revealed that the curly-haired lady’s surname was Yuan and her name was Yuan Lishu, a director at the Capital Power Bureau. She was returning to her hometown to visit her family.

Through their talks, Shen Yunfang noticed that Director Yuan was quite a fashion-forward woman, confident from doing well in her job. That, inevitably, made her a bit self-satisfied, accustomed as she was to being pampered by her subordinates, sometimes losing her bearings and having a tendency to look down on people.

But to say that she was a bad person would not be accurate. It could be that Shen Yunfang had too little contact with her to see her true nature. Nevertheless, Shen Yunfang no longer treated Yuan Lishu as tersely as she had at first, and for some unknown reason, Yuan Lishu had become much more restrained in her temper and behavior, showing more warmth in her conversations with everyone. This allowed the group, all headed to the Capital, to get along harmoniously for the remaining day and a half.

For the remaining day and a half, Director Yuan and Director Bai went to the dining car for meals. Shen Yunfang joined them in the dining car, but after getting her food, she returned to eat with Li Hongjun, as his condition wasn’t suited for dining there.

Although they did get their meals, what the young couple actually ate behind closed doors was a secret only known to the two of them.

On the last day, the train arrived at the station after eleven in the morning.

Shen Yunfang began packing up her things from the morning, and so did Director Yuan above her bunk. After all, she had taken out almost everything from her bag, and couldn’t afford not to pack up early.

Yuan Lishu looked at her own bag, then at Shen Yunfang’s, and finally couldn’t resist quietly saying to Shen Yunfang, "Xiaoshen, can I talk to you about something?"

"What is it, Director Yuan?" Shen Yunfang responded. After knowing Yuan Lishu’s name and position, she no longer called her ’sister,’ a form of address common among ordinary folks, and instead used her title to be more formal.

"Hehe, I heard that your home is in a rural area, and Director Bai also said that now the land in the countryside belongs to the individuals, and you harvest a lot of grain. I was wondering, do you have any surplus grain at home? If you do, could you sell me some? I won’t ask for a handout. I’ll pay whatever it’s worth. I’m not short on money, and if you’re in need of any coupons or something, I could also get some for you," Yuan Lishu said. Her family was large, and she and her husband had to provide some grain for their in-laws’ families every month, so they were always running short. Sometimes she even risked going to the black market, but she couldn’t stand the exorbitant prices. Seeing that Xiaoshen seemed approachable, she hoped to get some grain from her. Aren’t old farmers supposed to be good for that?

The people in the carriage were taken aback by her words. Shen Yunfang exchanged glances with Li Hongjun, and then she smiled, "It’s not that I don’t want to help you, Director Yuan, but you’ve got the wrong person. I used to be from the countryside and I farmed the land, but now I’m in university, and my household registration has long been changed to the city. I don’t have any land to farm anymore. However, I’m studying agriculture in university, so if you can wait until after I graduate, I’ll certainly heed the national call to farm some land. By then, if Director Yuan wants to buy some grain, I’ll definitely deliver it right to your door."