Chapter 224: Gu Jingjing’s Little Awkwardness
“Mom isn’t angry.”
Gu Tingting gently stroked her children’s heads to calm them down.
When little Gu Jingjing saw her parents arguing earlier, she had been so frightened that she scrambled to hide behind Sheng Wanyan, her tiny frame trembling.
“Third Aunt…”
Jingjing’s eyes welled with tears as her small hands clutched the hem of Sheng Wanyan’s clothes, a clear trace of fear lingering in her expression.
“Jingjing, you’re staying behind to sleep with Grandma tonight,” Mother Gu said, her heart aching at her granddaughter’s pitiful state. What an absolute nightmare of a woman Gu Tinghao had brought into this family!
“I want to sleep with Third Aunt,” Jingjing whimpered, looking up at Wanyan with wide, hopeful eyes.
She deeply envied her cousins. Her older cousin, Gu Jinfang, was thoroughly adored by his mother, Liang Zhenna. Her other cousin, Lin Longyi, and her little cousin, Lin Xiayu, were fiercely loved by their mother, Gu Tingting. Only Jingjing felt like she didn’t have a mother who cherished her. Her third aunt was incredibly gentle, wonderfully kind to children, and never fought with her third uncle. Since her aunt didn’t have any children of her own yet, could she… could she step in and be a mother to her?
“Your third aunt is pregnant, sweetheart. Grandma will take you to bed,” Mother Gu insisted, gently but firmly refusing to let the little girl disrupt Wanyan’s rest.
Wanyan was carrying Gu Tingxiao’s very first child, and the entire household was treating her with the utmost vigilance. Tingxiao was the only one of his siblings who hadn’t yet contributed to the next generation, so everyone had been eagerly awaiting this milestone.
Hearing that Sheng Wanyan was pregnant, Gu Jingjing stared blankly at her aunt’s flat stomach, and tears immediately spilled over her cheeks. Wanyan remained silent as she watched the child. She was a notoriously light sleeper to begin with, and in her current condition, she simply lacked the capacity to care for someone else’s toddler through the night.
“Come along now, Grandma will take you to your room.”
Mother Gu scooped the weeping girl into her arms and headed down the hall. Gu Tingting and her family bade everyone goodnight and retired to their wing. After witnessing such an exhausting family circus, the old general and his wife looked thoroughly drained, and the eldest brother and sister-in-law carefully helped the elderly couple back to their quarters to rest.
Left alone in the quiet corridor, Wanyan exchanged a long look with Gu Tingxiao. He reached out, took her hand, and guided her back to their private suite.
“Don’t dwell on it anymore, honey,” he murmured.
Wanyan couldn’t settle down. She tossed and turned restlessly beneath the heavy blankets until Gu Tingxiao gently shifted over, pinning her shifting body securely against his chest.
“Tingxiao, don’t you find Wang Chunmei and Jingjing’s behavior a bit bizarre this time?” Wanyan asked, a dark suspicion taking root in her mind.
Gu Tingxiao was a seasoned officer; how could he possibly miss the subtle behavioral cues?
“Are you suggesting… now that Wang Chunmei is pregnant again, she wants to pawn Jingjing off on…”
Before she could vocalize the rest of her theory, Gu Tingxiao pulled her flush against his chest, wrapping his strong arms securely around her. “Wanyan, Jingjing has biological parents, both of whom are alive and perfectly healthy. Even if they weren’t, she has grandparents and an entire clan right here under this roof; she is far from an orphan. Given the Gu family’s standing, no matter how volatile or eccentric Tinghao and his wife become, no one will ever be permitted to mistreat that child.”
His solid reassurance allowed Wanyan’s racing mind to steady. She wondered if her pregnancy hormones were simply causing her to overthink. Still, Wang Chunmei had seemed entirely unhinged ever since her new pregnancy was confirmed, constantly boasting that she was carrying a son. From her performance at dinner, it truly looked as though she was attempting to engineer a scenario where she could adopt Gu Jingjing out to the third branch.
The raw dependency and desperate expectation she had captured in little Jingjing’s eyes moments ago left her feeling a bit chilled. Wanyan recognized that she was fundamentally a very protective, self-interested woman. She wanted to focus all her love on her own unborn child and lacked the maternal margin to take on anyone else. From the split second her pregnancy pulse was verified, she had vowed to give her baby the absolute finest life the world could provide. She didn’t possess a naturally boundless, altruistic heart. As an aunt, she was more than happy to provide financial support, guidance, and familial affection—but the one thing she could never offer the girl was motherly love.
Sheng Wanyan shook the lingering thoughts from her head and burrowed deeper into Gu Tingxiao’s warmth. “Do you hope our baby is a boy or a girl?” she asked softly, curious to see what kind of father this stoic man would become.
“As long as the child is yours, I will love it implicitly,” he answered without a moment’s hesitation. He held zero traditional preferences regarding gender. This child would be the physical manifestation of his love for his wife, and he would protect and cherish his own flesh and blood fiercely, whether it was a son or a daughter.
“Gu Tingxiao, aren’t you even a little terrified that I might pull a stunt like Wang Chunmei? What if I secretly siphon our entire household savings and smuggle it back to my parents’ home?”
Throughout their six months of marriage, he had never once audited their finances or questioned her spending, acting as though the family capital was entirely beneath his notice. But after witnessing the fallout of Wang Chunmei’s betrayal tonight, she suddenly found herself craving his perspective. Perhaps it was just the pregnancy making her sensitive, but she found herself wanting to throw all sorts of random, hypothetical scenarios at him.
“Honey, you hold absolute executive authority over this household,” Gu Tingxiao replied smoothly, his voice vibrating against her cheek. “Whether you manage our resources brilliantly or burn them to the ground, I am right here to back your play and handle the aftermath.”
Wanyan’s lips curved into a wide, triumphant smile beneath the dark. This man truly possessed an impeccable talent for making her happy.
As she traced the family history, she realized that Gu Tinghao had initially harbored the exact same intense devotion for Wang Chunmei that Gu Tingxiao felt for her. Tinghao had weaponized his entire military standing, resisting the fierce objections of the clan just to marry the woman he loved. After their wedding, he had pampered her in every conceivable manner. Even when Wang Chunmei treated their daughter with blatant coldness, Tinghao had silently stepped in to compensate for the emotional lack, never uttering a single public word against his wife to preserve her dignity. Being fiercely spoiled by a husband wasn’t a tragedy in itself, but Wang Chunmei lacked a basic soul of gratitude. She only understood how to extract value without ever contributing, eventually exhausting Gu Tinghao’s profound devotion.
Wanyan wrapped her arms tightly around Gu Tingxiao’s neck. She didn’t care about the internal collapses of the other branches; she would simply view their drama as an external theatrical show, remaining thoroughly secure in her own dynamic.
Gu Tingxiao gently rhythmically patted her back, soothing her until she drifted off into a deep, peaceful sleep. Once her breathing evened out, he looked down at her sleeping face, tenderly brushing a few stray locks of hair from her forehead.
As a cold thought entered his mind, his expression hardened, and he let out a sharp, frigid click of his tongue. Wang Chunmei actually possessed the sheer audacity to try and pass her own biological daughter off onto his wife, proving she had zero respect for the boundaries of the Gu line. It seemed Gu Tinghao had grown entirely too soft in managing his household; perhaps the lack of a firm hand had allowed his wife’s delusions to flourish. For Tinghao to permit Wang Chunmei to play her manipulative games around Wanyan was a failure of duty. As your older brother, Tingxiao thought coldly, I have absolutely no intention of indulging either of you.
The following morning, Sheng Wanyan glided downstairs to have her breakfast. The moment little Gu Jingjing spotted her entering the dining room, she quietly shuffled over and climbed onto the stool directly adjacent to her.
Gu Tingxiao and Sheng Wanyan didn’t voice an objection. A child craving maternal security shouldn’t be penalized for the calculated sins of her parents. Furthermore, they were her uncle and aunt, so extending a natural degree of family warmth was only right.
“Jingjing, what would you like to eat? Third Aunt will scoop it for you,” Wanyan said gently.
The little girl glanced at the golden bowl on the table. “I want some millet porridge, please.”
Wanyan smoothly filled a bowl and set it before her. Gu Jingjing gripped her spoon, sipping the warm broth with meticulous care, constantly stealing shy, searching glances at Wanyan between bites.
“Come along, Wanyan, drink your fresh milk,” Mother Gu doted, stepping into the room. “You must ensure you secure an abundance of nutrients for the baby.”
She instructed the family nanny to set down three glasses of hot, fresh milk—one for Wanyan, one for Gu Jinfang, and one for Gu Jingjing. Wanyan thoroughly enjoyed milk and accepted the glass with a graceful smile.
Once breakfast concluded, Father and Mother Gu gathered their briefcases and departed for their respective executive offices. The eldest brother and sister-in-law followed suit, ushering young Gu Jinfang toward the waiting vehicle to drop him off at school.
“Goodbye, Grandpa! Goodbye, Grandma! Uncle, Aunt, and little sister, see you tonight!” Jinfang cheered, waving enthusiastically to the household before clambering into the backseat.
Wanyan smiled at his vibrant, boundless energy. The eldest brother and sister-in-law had raised the boy impeccably. He was beautifully poised, entirely free of social anxiety, deeply respectful toward his elders, and fiercely protective of the younger cousins.
Gu Jingjing watched her aunt’s smile, then turned her blank stare toward the driveway long after the vehicle had disappeared through the compound gates.
Does Third Aunt prefer lively, cheerful children like Jinfang? she thought, her small chest tightening. But I’m not vibrant or loud at all. Will Third Aunt grow tired of me?
