Chapter 218: Captain Wu’s Mother
But now, Mother Sheng suddenly realized that if her future granddaughter could be even one-tenth as good as Wanyan, she would wake up laughing from her dreams.
She suddenly felt that giving birth to a boy wasn’t what mattered; raising a truly capable, useful person was the most important thing! What was the point of having a grandson if he just grew up to be a parasite on the family? Besides, if she had a brilliant granddaughter, it wasn’t out of the question to eventually bring in a devoted son-in-law to carry on the line…
Sheng Wanyan kept a straight face, but internally she was amused. She really is my mother.
Wanyan had no idea that her financial success had completely shifted her mother’s traditional views. From that day on, Mother Sheng would treat her future granddaughters dozens of times better than any grandson.
“Hurry up and eat,” Mother Sheng urged, snapping back to the present. “Don’t let yourself get too hungry. And listen to me—don’t breathe a word about this income to anyone. Let’s just keep our heads down and quietly make our fortune.”
Wanyan laughed softly. She hadn’t expected her usually boastful mother to show such shrewd restraint.
“Especially your brother and sister-in-law,” Mother Sheng added protectively. “Don’t let them know the exact numbers.” She truly cared for Wanyan and had no intention of expecting her daughter to financially carry Sheng Wanze.
“Mom, don’t you want me to help my brother?” Wanyan asked, testing her.
“Your brother isn’t helpless, and your sister-in-law isn’t a freeloader,” Mother Sheng replied firmly. “If they ever face a real crisis, of course you two siblings should support each other. But if there’s no emergency, expecting a younger sister to maintain her older brother’s household defeats the purpose of them building a life together, doesn’t it?”
Wanyan nodded. It was a very fair point.
“If anyone asks, just tell them you make a hundred yuan a month from your writing and translation. That way, people won’t think it’s strange that you live so comfortably, and your in-laws won’t have any room to look down on you.”
After all, Gu Tingxiao earned about a hundred yuan a month including his mission bonuses. If Wanyan brought in another hundred, their combined income would be staggering. The Gu family would have absolutely no reason to find fault with her.
“Mom, you really are wise,” Wanyan smiled.
“Of course I am!” Mother Sheng raised her chin proudly. Without her sharp wits, this family would have been taken advantage of long ago. Her job was to protect her son and daughter, and she wouldn’t let a soul bully them.
With Mother Sheng playing the shield, Wanyan’s daily life became incredibly peaceful. She no longer had to deal with any unreasonable neighbors, as her mother’s combat skills were unmatched.
Within days, Mother Sheng struck up a close friendship with Aunt Xie, and the two frequently coordinated trips into the city or the local countryside to forage for fresh supplies. With Aunt Xie acting as her guide, Mother Sheng quickly mapped out the social dynamics of the compound, successfully absorbing every piece of local gossip.
She soon figured out exactly who harbored grudges against her daughter and who had tried to provoke her in the past, and she systematically began firing back. Even Captain Wu’s mother—a notoriously harsh woman who had essentially sold off her own daughters—was no match for Mother Sheng’s relentless sharp tongue.
However, Captain Wu’s mother was a woman who knew how to read the wind. Realizing that Mother Sheng was the mother of her son’s direct superior, she tried to smooth things over by showing up at the Sheng house bearing a selection of health supplements.
But Mother Sheng had already thoroughly uncovered how Zhang Zhaodi had previously targeted Wanyan. The moment the old woman crossed her threshold, Mother Sheng unleashed a wave of biting sarcasm, deliberately laying bare Zhang Zhaodi’s past misdeeds right in front of her mother-in-law.
The moment they returned to their apartment, Zhang Zhaodi was subjected to a severe beating by the old matriarch.
“I told you to stop causing trouble for my son!” the old woman shrieked, striking her. “You actually had the audacity to offend his superior’s family? Why don’t you look in the mirror? There isn’t a single soul in this entire compound stupider than you!”
It was true. In a military compound, what sensible wife would actively provoke the family of her husband’s boss? Everyone else spent their days trying to build rapport and curry favor. It was a massive blunder that could permanently stall a man’s promotion, yet Zhang Zhaodi had been too dense to recognize her own position.
Sheng Wanze was her husband’s captain, and Gu Tingxiao outranked him even further. Her behavior had been incredibly presumptuous.
A few days later, Captain Wu’s mother tried a different approach. She marched over to Wanyan’s courtyard, clutching a basket of premium supplements and wearing a forced, practiced smile.
Mother Sheng happened to be across the lane at the time, leaving Wanyan to handle the confrontation alone. As long as Wanyan accepted the gifts, the old woman believed the bad blood would be wiped clean, and her son’s military future would remain secure.
The moment Wanyan saw who it was, she kept the heavy door firmly braced and shouted over her shoulder, “Mom! Come over here quickly!”
She refused to accept a single item from this family. Pulling political favors or bribes could easily tarnish Gu Tingxiao’s clean record, and she wasn’t as brainless as Zhang Zhaodi.
Hearing her daughter’s urgent call, Mother Sheng ran across the lane. Spotting Captain Wu’s mother lurking on the threshold, she immediately stepped in, her tone dripping with ice.
“What is the meaning of this? Are you here to serve my daughter a trap?” Mother Sheng snapped. “Our household’s stance is entirely clear: we do not engage in underhanded gift-giving. My daughter is far too intelligent to fall for these tricks. Pack up your bribes and take them elsewhere.”
Captain Wu’s mother stood entirely speechless under the fierce rebuke. Her true intentions had been thoroughly seen through. She had hoped to manipulate the young woman; if Wanyan accepted the tokens, she would have leverage to prevent the captains from penalizing her son. With that small handle in her possession, Captain Gu wouldn’t dare act against her family.
But Wanyan hadn’t given her a single opening. She was entirely too sharp.
The old woman realized that every officer’s wife in this compound possessed a formidable brain, except for the foolish daughter-in-law her son had brought home from their village.
When the old matriarch returned to the apartment with a dark, furious expression, Zhang Zhaodi shrank into the corner, not daring to breathe. But the old woman’s wrath required a target, and she delivered a vicious slap across Zhang Zhaodi’s face.
Zhang Zhaodi clutched her stinging cheek, tears streaming down her face, but she didn’t dare voice a single complaint.
“Let me tell you something, Zhang Zhaodi,” her mother-in-law hissed. “If my son’s career suffers a single setback because of your stupidity, I will personally force him to divorce you and cast you out!”
The word “divorce” struck Zhang Zhaodi like a physical blow. She had fought so hard to escape her provincial life and secure a comfortable existence on the base; if she were divorced, her life would be utterly ruined.
“Mother-in-law, I was wrong,” she sobbed, trembling. “I swear I’ll never do it again.”
“Get out of my sight!” the old woman barked, kicking her out of the room before locking the supplements safely in her own chest.
Left behind in the cold hallway was a broken, weeping Zhang Zhaodi, and her two young sons who huddled together, too terrified to make a sound.
Sheng Wanyan could easily guess the domestic nightmare Zhang Zhaodi was currently enduring, but she felt no pity. She wasn’t a forgiving saint, nor did she possess a soft heart for malicious people. She simply didn’t believe that an adult woman could be entirely ignorant of the consequences of her actions. Everyone had to answer for their own behavior; no one was exempt from the fallout.
As for Captain Wu himself, he was well aware of his wife’s toxic nature, yet he had consistently permitted her to run wild. To put it bluntly, didn’t he secretly harbor his own bitter resentment against Sheng Wanze and Gu Tingxiao? After all, if a disaster befell either of his superior officers, he would stand as the primary beneficiary for promotion.
Still, a certain degree of superficial harmony had to be maintained on a military base. When the men deployed into dangerous territory, they ultimately had to rely on their comrades to watch their backs and execute rescues. As a wife, Wanyan’s priority was simply ensuring she didn’t disrupt that essential professional truce.
However, Captain Wu’s mother seemed entirely lacking in basic boundaries. Refusing to take the hint, she began showing up near Wanyan’s gate day after day, attempting to corner her whenever the evening cooking smoke began to rise. She stubbornly refused to believe she couldn’t break a young girl’s resolve with enough persistence and sweet talk.
The moment Mother Sheng caught wind of the persistent harassment, she marched straight over to Aunt Xie’s courtyard next door. Her daughter was currently in her fragile first trimester; if this old woman’s endless badgering caused her a fright or affected her health, the consequences would be catastrophic.
