Chapter 209: Zhang Zhaodi Gets Beaten
Sheng Wanyan sat back up, looking at him as she waited for him to speak.
“Wanyan…”
“You don’t want to sleep?” she asked.
Gu Tingxiao’s eyes lit up, though he still looked at her with a trace of uncertainty. “Can we…?”
Sheng Wanyan was speechless. When had she ever said no? “If you don’t want to sleep, then just forget it.”
She lay back down and pulled the quilt clean over her head. She was truly amused by him. What on earth was going on in that head of his? When did she ever say he wasn’t allowed into bed?
The more she thought about it, the funnier it became, until she couldn’t help but laugh out loud beneath the covers.
Gu Tingxiao, who was just about to climb onto the kang, heard his wife laughing. He carefully pulled back the quilt to find her smiling radiantly, and an instant rush of heat flared deep in his chest.
“Wanyan…”
“Quiet down.”
Sheng Wanyan playfully ignored him, but Gu Tingxiao just smiled. He slid onto the kang and wrapped his arms around her from behind, pulling her close as they settled down for the night. They didn’t need many words; a quiet understanding had already settled between them.
The next day, Sheng Wanyan was out in the courtyard translating her manuscripts when she heard Aunt Xie calling out from the front gate. She quickly swept the fresh fruit and translation materials from the table into her spatial dimension, then led Maodou over to open the door.
“Wanyan, let’s head over to Captain Fang’s place for a chat,” Aunt Xie suggested.
Today, the neighborhood women were gathering at Captain Fang’s apartment to swap gossip. The military wives on the base all had their own tight social circles. Captain Fang’s wife, Xu Guihua; Battalion Commander Wang’s wife, Yang Wanshu; Deputy Company Commander Feng’s wife, Qiao Hehua; and Aunt Xie all belonged to the same close-knit group.
In the past, Zhang Zhaodi would occasionally tag along. After all, their husbands worked closely together in the same unit, so they couldn’t cut her out entirely. Pan Yue used to visit them as well, and with her prestigious family background, she was warmly welcomed wherever she went.
Since Sheng Wanyan hadn’t visited any of the neighbors’ homes yet, joining them seemed like a wonderful way to socialize and ensure no one felt she was being distant or elitist.
“Wait for me, Auntie,” Wanyan replied.
She ran back inside, opened the pantry, and scooped out half a pound of roasted sunflower seeds. Slipping them into her bag, she followed Aunt Xie over to the multi-story residential building.
Captain Fang’s apartment was up on the fourth floor. When they knocked and walked in, they found the living room already bustling with familiar faces.
Unsurprisingly, Zhang Zhaodi was nowhere to be seen. Following the disaster at the auditorium the previous night, Captain Wu had returned home in an absolute fury. The neighbors had barely settled back into their apartments when Zhang Zhaodi’s agonized wails and screams began echoing through the walls.
It was clear Captain Wu had taught her a severe lesson. The woman was entirely too reckless; if her husband didn’t discipline her firmly, his entire military trajectory would be ruined.
Rumor also had it that Captain Wu had marched straight to the communications office to send a long-distance telegram home, demanding that his mother pack her bags and move to the military base to keep a strict eye on Zhang Zhaodi.
The moment Captain Wu’s mother heard that her son’s career was in jeopardy, she couldn’t sit still. She immediately began packing for the journey. Zhang Zhaodi’s greatest fear in life was her mother-in-law, and the mere news of the woman’s impending arrival had terrified her into absolute silence.
Old Mrs. Wu was a formidable, unyielding matriarch who treated her daughter-in-law with zero leniency, frequently resorting to verbal abuse and physical discipline. Back when Zhang Zhaodi first married into the family, she had lived under the old woman’s roof for a time, quickly becoming the primary target of her mother-in-law’s intense dislike.
Though the Wus hailed from the city, Captain Wu’s father was merely a low-level factory laborer, not a high-ranking official. Old Mrs. Wu had raised four sons and four daughters. She had systematically married off all four daughters to city residents—a transaction that was called “marriage” for the sake of propriety, but was essentially selling them off for profit.
Her four sons, however, were her absolute pride and joy, particularly her most accomplished third son, Captain Wu. When he ended up marrying a country girl like Zhang Zhaodi, the old woman had swallowed her disappointment, but she certainly hadn’t expected the girl to stir up a political disaster on the base. If she discovered that her daughter-in-law had nearly dismantled her precious son’s military future, she would undoubtedly make the girl’s life a living hell.
Zhang Zhaodi was currently paralyzed with fear just thinking about it, but Captain Wu had dug his heels in, entirely ignoring her frantic pleas for mercy.
With Zhang Zhaodi out of commission and absent from the gathering, the other wives finally felt free to speak openly. They no longer had to guard their words or hide their thoughts. Zhang Zhaodi was notoriously untrustworthy; she had a terrible habit of gathering gossip from one household and running to another to twist the story.
She would play the confidante in public, only to stab people in the back in private, which had previously caused several explosive arguments between neighbors. Once everyone realized she was the source of the drama, they had stopped sharing anything of substance around her, terrified of becoming her next victim.
Since this was Sheng Wanyan’s first time visiting the Fang household, Xu Guihua warmly pulled her over to guide her to a seat.
“Sisters, I brought some sunflower seeds for us to share,” Wanyan smiled, setting the package on the table.
Xu Guihua slapped her thigh with a laugh. “Oh, look at you! Why did you bring snacks? I invited you over just so we could all get properly acquainted.”
“It’s nothing expensive,” Wanyan replied graciously. “Just a little something to keep us company while we chat.”
Watching her, Xu Guihua secretly marveled at how beautifully polished and refined city-raised women were when navigating social etiquette. “Alright, let’s open them up. We all have Captain Gu’s wife to thank for the treats.”
Xu Guihua scooped out a handful to distribute among the guests, and the women gathered tightly around the table to begin swapping stories.
“Did you all hear the racket when you got back to the building last night?” Xu Guihua asked, gesturing meaningfully toward the floor below.
The surrounding wives nodded in rapid succession. Zhang Zhaodi’s screams had been loud enough to wake the dead.
“What exactly happened last night?” Aunt Xie asked. Since she and Sheng Wanyan resided in the detached courtyards further down the lane, they remained entirely insulated from the building’s domestic noise.
One of the younger wives eagerly launched into a detailed play-by-play of the shouting match. As they listened, Aunt Xie and Sheng Wanyan exchanged a meaningful look.
“What do you think?” Xu Guihua mused, cracking a sunflower seed. “Once Captain Wu’s mother officially moves in, do you think Zhang Zhaodi will have a single peaceful day left?”
“Who knows? But thank goodness it’s not my mother-in-law moving into the building,” another wife chimed in.
Xu Guihua snorted. “Well, even if her mother-in-law did come, a woman like Zhang Zhaodi simply doesn’t have the leverage to defend herself. I, on the other hand, wouldn’t have a thing to fear.”
Her prominent family background was her ultimate shield; her own mother-in-law practically bent over backward to curry favor with her. Furthermore, while her husband was an exceptional officer, he possessed one highly convenient trait: he was completely henpecked and obeyed her every word. A little pillow talk went a long way; the moment she voiced an opinion, Captain Fang executed it without question.
“But what if someone like Captain Liu’s mother from the neighboring regiment moves in next door?” Qiao Hehua countered. “Wouldn’t that turn our entire compound upside down?”
The comment sent a collective shudder through the table. Every woman in the room knew the truth behind that statement. Captain Liu’s mother had traveled up from a remote rural village. The moment she joined her son on the base, she had made a career out of exploiting the neighbors, taking advantage of everyone she encountered.
Whenever she spotted a household utilizing premium goods or fresh ingredients, she would weaponize her advanced age, making absurd, manipulative comments to force them to hand over a portion of their supplies. If you complied, she would loudly proclaim you were a sensible neighbor. But if you dared to refuse, she would immediately launch into a public tirade, accusing you of bullying a helpless, elderly country woman.
She would spread her twisted narrative to anyone who would listen, until the entire residential area was under the impression that you were a cruel snob who looked down on provincial families. Worse still, she routinely subjected her own daughter-in-law to vicious verbal and physical abuse at home. Because the young woman hadn’t managed to conceive yet, the old matriarch openly referred to her as a broken hen that couldn’t lay a single egg.
Sheng Wanyan sat quietly cracking sunflower seeds, listening to the neighborhood drama unfold like an intensely entertaining theatrical play.
“Whether it brings good or bad utility, we’ll see soon enough,” Xu Guihua noted, turning to look at Wanyan. “But Aunt Xie and Captain Gu’s wife live far down the lane in the private courtyards, so you two don’t need to worry about the building’s chaos.”
Sheng Wanyan nodded with a polite smile. Regardless of who moved into the residential building, she had zero intention of playing the saint. In this difficult, scarce era, every family struggled to secure enough resources; she certainly didn’t have the leisure or the patience to entertain toxic, unreasonable people.
