Chapter 240: Understanding Between Sisters-in-Law
The Bai family straddled the worlds of military and politics. Although they had achieved notable success in both arenas, their second son, Bai Xiangguo, was a soldier. Naturally, the Gu family’s resources and connections in the military were vastly superior—better by leaps and bounds.
Mother Bai could not help but feel immensely grateful for her future in-laws’ generosity. She knew this marriage would heavily impact her son’s professional trajectory. She silently resolved that if her son ever dared to mistreat Gu Tingying in the future, she would be the absolute first person to put him in his place.
For her part, Second Aunt Gu wanted to extend a favor to the Bai family from the very start. By showing such magnanimity, she ensured her daughter would be treated with the utmost respect and dignity once she wed into their household. This strategy had been explicitly outlined by Grandma Gu: even when your child marries out, you must provide them with enough backing to protect them.
With neither the Bai nor the Gu family finding any fault with the betrothal gifts and dowry, the next logical step was to select an auspicious wedding date. The elderly matriarch of the Bai family had selected a handful of viable dates, which naturally had to accommodate the rigid holiday leave rotations of both Bai Xiangguo and Gu Tingying. After narrowing down the options, she respectfully requested that the Gu family make the final selection.
The proposed dates were May 1st, June 6th, July 7th, August 18th, September 8th, and September 28th.
It was currently the end of February. May was far too rushed to coordinate a high-ranking military wedding. June was the exact month Wang Chunmei was scheduled to give birth, and the end of August was when Sheng Wanyan’s due date fell. Mother Gu had already formally cleared her executive calendar for August, September, and October; she intended to travel to the northern base to personally manage Wanyan’s postpartum confinement care.
Therefore, July emerged as the most practical choice. As for Wang Chunmei’s upcoming confinement, Mother Gu no longer held this particular daughter-in-law in her heart, so the thought of taking care of her never even crossed her mind. She would happily help look after the newborn grandchild when the time came, but as for Wang Chunmei herself, Mother Wang could handle her.
Since Wang Chunmei’s heart belonged exclusively to her maiden home, it was only fitting that the Wang family shoulder the burden of her postpartum recovery.
Ultimately, the Gu family selected July 7th. The Bai family was delighted by the choice and immediately returned home to deliver the news to their own elders.
The Bai household was sprawling and lively. Old Master Bai had raised five children—three boys and two girls. Father Bai was the eldest sibling, and each of his brothers and sisters was thriving within their respective professional sectors. Despite the large number of children, the siblings maintained an exceptionally close, harmonious relationship. Even the married daughters frequently returned to support their parents’ estate.
The credit for this domestic harmony belonged entirely to Old Mrs. Bai. She was a deeply wise, kind-hearted matriarch who possessed an extraordinary eye for selecting daughters-in-law. Because she had trained three flawless daughters-in-law to manage the family’s branches, the old lady didn’t have to fret even if a grandson occasionally brought home a difficult spouse. After all, the senior daughters-in-law she had polished over the decades were more than capable of handling any domestic friction.
In their household, a new bride could grumble or harbor hidden agendas if she wished, but if she thought she could outmaneuver a mother-in-law who had spent half her life learning at Old Mrs. Bai’s feet, she was sorely mistaken. If any woman actually managed to defeat one of those seasoned matriarchs, the old lady would gladly welcome her as a guest of honor, pouring a few drinks just to ask for her strategic advice!
This extraordinary family governance was precisely why Grandma Gu had approved of the alliance at the very first introduction. With such a brilliant, discerning matriarch steering the Bai clan, her granddaughter would never suffer an injustice after marriage.
Both of the elderly matriarchs were incredibly wise women. Except for the disastrous spouse Gu Tinghao had stubbornly chosen for himself, every single daughter-in-law anchored to the Gu line was an exceptional individual. Although Gu Tingxiao and Sheng Wanyan had navigated a modern, unarranged courtship, Wanyan had instantly secured Old Madam Gu’s absolute nod of approval.
Only Wang Chunmei remained the singular source of chaos within the clan. It ultimately traced back to her husband—a foolish, short-sighted man. It was no wonder Gu Tinghao’s military promotions had completely stalled. Burdened with a toxic, manipulative wife dragging him down, he was lucky to have avoided a formal demotion, let alone secure an advancement.
Whenever Old Mrs. Gu thought of Wang Chunmei, her temper flared, forcing her to consciously shift her focus toward her future grandson-in-law to restore her mood.
Bai Xiangguo: “…” It is truly my supreme honor to serve as a visual palate cleanser for General Gu’s wife.
Upstairs, Sheng Wanyan let out a quiet, regretful sigh. Because her due date was pinned to the end of August, she would be heavily pregnant by July, making it physically impossible for her to travel down to attend Gu Tingying’s wedding.
However, the wedding gifts would have to be spectacular. Back during her own marriage, Gu Tingying had presented her with a beautiful silk scarf—a luxury token that had undoubtedly cost the girl half a month’s disposable income. Since Tingying routinely surrendered half her salary to her parents, the funds for that scarf had likely been scraped together through months of quiet, personal frugality. The women of the Gu line were remarkably generous to their own, never exhibiting a shred of pettiness.
As her third sister-in-law, Wanyan recognized it was her duty to provide a magnificent addition to her dowry. Turning the inventory over in her mind, she recalled the premium textiles and modern apparel archived inside her secret spatial dimension. She resolved to select two vibrant, crimson dresses from her stash to elevate her cousin-in-law’s bridal wardrobe.
Contented after witnessing the successful engagement, Wanyan crawled into bed to rest. The couple was scheduled to return to the northern base in a brief two weeks, meaning she needed to utilize this remaining window to discreetly infuse the elders’ daily water supply with her restorative spiritual spring water.
Lately, Mother Gu and Liang Zhenna had taken total control of the kitchen, making it highly inconvenient for her to slip into the food preparation areas. Fortunately, the family nanny who permanently managed the grandparents’ estate was scheduled to resume her duties in two days. Once the kitchen returned to a predictable routine, executing her secret wellness regimen would be infinitely easier.
Lulled by her plotting, Wanyan quickly drifted off to sleep.
When Gu Tingxiao slipped back into the bedroom to check if she had kicked off her blankets, he noticed her stomach shifting subtly beneath the quilts. The little sprout inside her womb was executing a lively midnight routine. Wanyan’s brow furrowed slightly in her sleep, her rest clearly disrupted by the baby’s acrobatics.
Gu Tingxiao gently pressed his large palm against her rounded belly, silently projecting his authority to soothe the restless child. Be good now, he thought fiercely. Do not cause your mother any discomfort.
As if the infant could genuinely decipher its father’s silent command, the wild movements gradually ceased, and the belly settled.
Because of her pregnancy, Wanyan was highly susceptible to severe, agonizing leg cramps during the night. Catching her shifting uncomfortably toward the foot of the bed, Gu Tingxiao immediately moved into position, using his strong hands to thoroughly massage her calves until her muscles relaxed into comfort.
Wanyan’s silhouette had rounded significantly, forcing her to sleep exclusively on her side; if she attempted to lie flat on her back, the weight of the pregnancy would constrict her breathing. Yet remaining pinned to a single side for hours triggered localized aches, requiring her to turn and adjust her positioning multiple times throughout the night. Gu Tingxiao remained entirely vigilant, waking alongside her every single time to adjust her pillows and alleviate her physical strain. Only when her brow smoothed completely did he allow himself to rest.
When the grandfather clocks struck the dinner hour, Gu Tingxiao gently guided her awake.
Wanyan’s daily itinerary had become incredibly consistent: a heavy wave of drowsiness routinely claimed her at two in the afternoon, keeping her asleep until the evening meal materialized. Once dinner concluded, she would indulge in a hot bath, read her technical journals for an hour, and immediately succumb to fatigue again by nine, sleeping straight through until the following morning.
Gu Tingxiao had quickly realized that the child in her womb was an absolute professional when it came to sleeping. If he didn’t actively wake Wanyan for her meals, she would remain dead to the world indefinitely, entirely dependent on the infant’s sleep cycle. But if he permitted her to sleep through her blocks, her blood sugar would crash, and she would wake up starving. Faced with a choice between prioritizing his child’s sleep or his wife’s nutrition, Gu Tingxiao chose his wife every single time.
Child: “…” Am I merely a biological third wheel here?
Wanyan rose, consumed a hearty dinner, and settled into the living room to chat comfortably with the elders.
Aware that the young couple had a mere half-month remaining before their deployment resumed, Mother Gu threw herself into preparing a massive inventory of specialty provisions, focusing entirely on optimizing Wanyan’s maternal nutrition.
Wanyan was equally determined to fortify the health of the four senior elders before her departure. She pulled Gu Tingxiao aside, tasking him with procuring a massive cache of high-end supplements. Gu Tingxiao maintained an extensive web of personal and military connections throughout the capital; utilizing his network to secure commercial goods was infinitely safer than trying to manufacture a plausible lie to explain why luxury items were suddenly materializing from her secret spatial dimension.
Wanyan pressed a stack of three hundred yuan into his palm, instructing him to hoard as many tins of premium malted milk powder, fortified milk supplements, and high-grade tonics as his contacts could provide for the grandparents and parents.
