Chapter 230: New Year’s Eve
Although the details surrounding Sheng Wanyan’s breakthrough in creating the revolutionary hemostatic medicine had been classified at the highest level of national security, individuals holding supreme command positions—like Father Gu and Old Master Gu—were naturally fully briefed on the matter.
After all, the military logistics branches had to report directly to the top brass. Even the formal approval of Sheng Wanyan’s eighty-thousand-yuan state bounty had been pushed through largely due to Father Gu’s quiet, decisive backing behind the scenes.
To him, her research was a phenomenal achievement that profoundly benefited both the state and the civilian population. It wasn’t just a critical asset for soldiers deploying on high-risk operations; it held immense, life-saving potential for ordinary citizens in their everyday lives. Furthermore, when the time was ripe to sign pharmaceutical export contracts with friendly foreign nations, her formula would single-handedly generate a staggering volume of foreign exchange reserves for the country.
Then there was the matter of Sheng Wanyan’s specialized translation work. As the commander-in-chief of the Capital Military Region, Father Gu kept a highly vigilant eye on the defense institute’s progress regarding advanced firearms research.
Old Master Gu, as a founding general of the republic, wielded immense, tangible authority within the high command. Consequently, he knew exactly where the translated technical manuscripts were being routed. This was a strictly confidential defense project, meaning the translation of blueprints and engineering data had to be entrusted exclusively to an absolutely ironclad, ideologically reliable individual.
Initially, Wanyan had merely translated general knowledge texts and literature for a prominent capital newspaper. Later, when the state finalized its blueprints to accelerate firearms research, the selection committee began vetting elite translators for confidential service.
The exact moment Sheng Wanyan’s personnel file landed on Father Gu’s desk, the commander-in-chief began to look at his third daughter-in-law in an entirely different light. Leveraging his direct oversight, Wanyan’s name was seamlessly added to the high-security shortlist.
The daughter-in-law of Commander-in-Chief Gu was textually beyond reproach, and since her husband was a decorated officer, she understood the brutal weight of military non-disclosure agreements implicitly. Furthermore, because Wanyan resided safely within a highly fortified military compound, the high command never had to fret over the security of her person or her research notes.
When she subsequently synthesized the hyper-effective hemostatic compound, her unparalleled brilliance could no longer be obscured from Old Master Gu and his peers at the top of the chain of command. Sheng Wanyan’s name was permanently etched into the minds of the nation’s senior leadership.
When those elite directors discovered she was a daughter-in-law of the Gu clan, their hearts were flooded with immense envy. The Gu family had successfully maintained their prestige across generations without a single sign of decline, and now, with Sheng Wanyan’s intellectual brilliance anchored to their line, the clan was poised to ascend to an even grander tier of national influence.
Because of this, both Father Gu and Old Master Gu had already begun mapping out long-term trajectories for Wanyan’s future career. One path led toward becoming a premier state translator; another toward the medical field; a third toward advanced pharmaceutical research; and a final, brilliant avenue toward the diplomatic corps.
Each required a specific catalyst to initiate, and since she was currently carrying a child, the high command was perfectly content to let the blueprints sit until she completed her confinement. As for which exact highway she chose to navigate, the elders would defer entirely to her own independent choice when the time came.
“Grandpa, I’ve eaten my fill,” Wanyan smiled, her voice pulling the old man from his thoughts. “I think I’ll take a stroll through the backyard to help digest my dinner.”
Old Master Gu snapped back to reality, a warm, genuine smile breaking across his hardened features as he nodded. “Go on, then. Take your time.”
“Third Sister-in-law, I’ll accompany you!” Gu Tingying piped up, setting her chopsticks down. She was entirely full, and she knew that with only senior elders remaining at the long table, staying behind meant she would inevitably transform into the primary target for parental lectures regarding her single status. As the saying went, a man who understands the timing of the wind is a true hero. Escorting her third cousin’s wife was the perfect, tactical escape.
“Excellent. You two run along,” Grandpa Gu instructed, looking at his granddaughter. “Tingying, ensure you exercise the utmost care in looking after your third sister-in-law.”
Gu Tingying nodded rapidly, vowing to execute the mission flawlessly.
With his cousin flanking her side, Gu Tingxiao’s protective heart finally settled. “Walk slowly, honey,” he murmured softly to Wanyan.
Wanyan offered him a brilliant smile, turned, and followed Tingying out to the snow-covered backyard.
The grandchildren had been squirming in their seats the moment they finished their rice, and they instantly charged out into the yard to launch a frantic snow battle. Wanyan and Gu Tingying stood near the edge, happily watching their antics.
Before long, the courtyard was filled with ringing, childish laughter. The commotion caught the attention of the Liang family’s children next door, who scrambled out into their own backyard to join the fun. Separated by the high brick security wall, the two groups of children began shouting challenges back and forth, initiating a fierce competition to see which household could construct the most colossal snowman before midnight.
The youngsters of the Gu line possessed an abundance of competitive military blood. The moment the challenge left the Liang children’s lips, they clamored to secure an absolute victory, throwing themselves into rolling massive drifts of snow. Seeing that it was a pure battle of playground pride, Wanyan and Gu Tingying refrained from participating, content to let the little ones handle the labor.
The two women drifted over to a pair of wooden stools sheltered beneath the deep eaves of the roof, sitting comfortably side by side as they watched the children roll snowballs through the falling flakes.
“Sister-in-law, exactly how many months along are you now?” Gu Tingying asked, turning to her.
This marked only the second time she and Wanyan had interacted closely since the grand wedding. During the marriage ceremony, she had only managed a fleeting glance through the crowd, recognizing that her third cousin had married an absolute beauty.
But after sitting down with her today, Tingying realized Wanyan was far more than a mere beauty. She possessed the ethereal, serene grace of a little fairy, yet her overall demeanor was remarkably nuanced. Beneath that gentle exterior lay a subtle, undeniable undercurrent of absolute authority and decisiveness—the distinct aura of a natural superior.
Tingying wondered if her mind was playing tricks on her. They were virtually the same age, yet in Wanyan’s presence, she felt an instinctual urge to defer to her, looking up to her as if she were a respected elder. It was an unexplainable phenomenon. Wanyan’s maiden family was respectable, but they were fundamentally a standard, working-class household from Chengdu. How on earth did her baseline demeanor eclipse the poise of the elite daughters raised within their high-ranking capital circles?
“A little over four months,” Wanyan answered softly. She had been back in the capital for half a month now, placing her pregnancy at precisely four months and seven days.
“Oh, that’s wonderful! Before long, our family line will welcome another precious nephew or niece,” Tingying smiled.
She paused for a fraction of a second, a sudden wave of anxiety hitting her chest. She worried her phrasing might cause offense; after all, she didn’t know Wanyan’s personal philosophy well, and she feared her sister-in-law might be hyper-fixated on delivering a male heir for her first pregnancy.
“What I mean to say, Third Sister-in-law, is that your little one must be incredibly well-behaved,” Tingying added quickly to smooth over the moment. “To have cleared four months without subjecting you to terrible morning sickness is a true blessing.”
Wanyan let out a soft chuckle, her palm resting gently over her stomach. “The baby truly knows how to love its mother. Honestly, if it turns out to be a little girl, I would be absolutely ecstatic.”
Wanyan held zero rigid preferences regarding the gender of her child. Whether a boy or a girl emerged, her duty to provide a rigorous, flawless education remained identical. However, raising a daughter in this complex world naturally brought a deeper layer of maternal anxiety regarding her long-term security. Her absolute greatest fear was raising a daughter who lacked emotional boundaries.
She could happily accept it if her daughter possessed an ordinary appearance, an average intelligence, or lived a completely quiet, simple life—but she would never tolerate her growing up to be a love-brained fool who sacrificed her dignity for a man.
Hearing her progressive outlook, Gu Tingying let out a quiet sigh of relief, thankful she hadn’t blundered into a sensitive topic. It was a profound blessing that her third cousin’s wife shared absolutely none of the toxic, short-sighted fixations that plagued the fourth sister-in-law, Wang Chunmei. How could a biological mother treat her own daughter with such systemic coldness? Wang Chunmei wasn’t an uneducated provincial woman; she held an executive director title at a factory, so her complete inability to comprehend basic maternal decency was mind-boggling.
Out in the yard, the children finished patting down their snowmen and immediately resumed their loud arguments through the brick partition, each side fiercely claiming victory.
“Our snowman is an absolute mountain!” Gu Jinfang shouted, standing on his tiptoes.
“Nonsense! Our creation is twice the size of yours!” the Liang children bellowed back in unison, their voices echoing over the wall.
The neighborhood kids locked horns in a grand verbal duel, Gu Jinfang leading the charge for the Gu clan as they traded boasts across the masonry.
Watching the absurd spectacle, Wanyan couldn’t control her laughter. The children couldn’t see a single inch of the opposing team’s creation through the solid brick wall, yet they were standing out in a blizzard, passionately debating the metrics of their respective snowmen. The bizarre, unyielding logic of childhood was thoroughly endearing.
Before long, the senior elders of the clan filed out onto the porch to join the fun, curious to see what had provoked such a raucous shouting match. The moment their eyes fell upon the children arguing blindly with a brick wall, the adults burst into deep amusement. It was a spectacular showcase of pure, stubborn youthful pride.
After a few more minutes of playful bickering, the clock neared the midnight hour—the designated milestone for the distribution of the traditional Lunar New Year red envelopes. Shifting gears instantly, the children abandoned the snowbanks and scrambled back inside the warm villa, arraying themselves in a neat, expectant line.
Old Master Gu took the lead, extracting a stack of crisp, thick red envelopes from his uniform jacket. Spotting the tokens, the grandchildren immediately moved to deliver their formal holiday respects to the patriarchs.
In this progressive era, the state had officially banned traditional full-kowtow kneeling when delivering New Year wishes, but the Gu clan maintained their own strict ancestral traditions and placed immense, unyielding weight on these historic milestones.
With the heavy front doors safely sealed and only immediate family members occupying the room, the children dropped to their knees against the plush rug, bowing deeply to offer their collective blessings to the gathered elders.
“We wish a magnificent, prosperous New Year to Great-Grandpa, Great-Grandma, Grandpa, Grandma, Father, Mother, Aunt, Uncle, Third Uncle, Third Aunt, Fourth Uncle, Great-Uncle, Great-Aunt, and Cousin-Aunt!” their voices rang out in perfect, joyful harmony.
