Chapter 241: Wang Chunmei Comes Back For Dinner
Even though three hundred yuan seemed like an exorbitant amount of money, Sheng Wanyan knew it was necessary. While she and Gu Tingxiao were stationed miles away, the four senior elders of the family remained entirely dependent on the physical presence of the eldest brother and sister-in-law.
It wasn’t just the endless supply of nutritional supplements; there were new seasonal clothes for the four elders, daily snacks to keep them comfortable, and premium cuts of meat to ensure their diets were rich and satisfying.
Furthermore, when the elderly inevitably suffered from physical ailments or seasonal discomfort, it was always the eldest sister-in-law, Liang Zhenna, who shouldered the burden of personally nursing them.
Those daily acts of devotion and grueling domestic labor were infinitely more valuable than a mere three hundred yuan, and much of that sacrifice remained invisible to outside observers.
But Wanyan and Gu Tingxiao refused to adopt the mindset that just because they couldn’t physically witness the labor, it didn’t exist.
They were stationed thousands of miles away at the northern frontier; they could not simply dump the entire generational responsibility of caring for the aging patriarchs onto the eldest branch and wash their hands of it. The eldest brother and his wife had their own demanding careers, their own young child to raise, and still managed to care for the four elders after their exhausting work shifts.
If Wanyan and Gu Tingxiao couldn’t contribute their physical labor to the household, the very least they could do was contribute their capital!
Over the following days, Gu Tingxiao steadily hauled an abundance of premium provisions back to the main villa. Watching the mountain of supplies grow, Liang Zhenna couldn’t help but deeply admire Wanyan’s meticulous attentiveness and profound generosity.
Yet, even as she appreciated the gesture, Liang Zhenna felt a wave of anxiety over whether the young couple was draining their own savings.
“Wanyan, this is entirely too much,” Liang Zhenna said softly, reaching out to gently hold her sister-in-law’s hand. She was genuinely touched that Wanyan recognized the intense labor she poured into the estate, but as the future matriarch of the Gu clan, her mindset was rooted in the collective survival of the entire family.
She instinctively worried about the financial stability of the younger branches and constantly searched for ways to alleviate their burdens. As the old proverb dictated: when one branch prospers, the entire tree thrives; when one suffers, all feel the rot. Raised in an elite, scholarly household, Liang Zhenna understood this structural truth better than anyone.
“You and Tingxiao are stationed out at the military base, and with a new baby arriving soon, your expenses are going to skyrocket,” Liang Zhenna urged. “You must conserve your capital.”
“Please don’t worry, Sister-in-law,” Wanyan smiled warmly, squeezing her hand in return. “Tingxiao and I have calculated our finances perfectly.
“Under normal circumstances, you carry the entire weight of caring for the elders. Because we are stationed thousands of miles away, we physically cannot step in to share that daily burden. So please, do not refuse these provisions. Caring for our elders is a collective responsibility that belongs to all of us. If we cannot be physically present to offer our labor, allowing us to contribute financially gives us profound peace of mind while we serve out at the base.”
Hearing Wanyan’s heartfelt explanation, Liang Zhenna was deeply moved.
Wang Chunmei lived right here in the Capital compound, yet she remained entirely blind to the immense sacrifices Liang Zhenna made, acting as though the survival and comfort of the Gu elders had absolutely nothing to do with the fourth branch.
Fortunately, Gu Tinghao remained a dutiful son at his core; he quietly utilized his own allowance to purchase four premium tins of milk powder for the elders every month.
Wang Chunmei, however, never spared a single thought to acknowledge the crushing domestic load the eldest sister-in-law carried. In Wang Chunmei’s twisted logic, because the senior elders drew massive state pensions and salaries, and because they ultimately resided with the primary heir, all of their wealth would inevitably be inherited by the eldest branch anyway. She was terrified of spending a single cent on the elders, convinced she would suffer an economic loss. Yet she conveniently ignored the fact that the family assets had already been officially divided in a rigorously fair and just manner!
How the two senior patriarchs chose to distribute their own state pensions and executive salaries was entirely their own prerogative.
Liang Zhenna honestly couldn’t fathom what went through Wang Chunmei’s mind. Why was she so pathologically petty?
To put it in the bluntest terms possible: the elders of the Gu family were towering, historically significant figures holding immense national power. Any daughter-in-law possessing an ounce of strategic foresight would realize that demonstrating genuine filial piety now would yield astronomical dividends and political protection in the future.
Yet Wang Chunmei was completely incapable of grasping even this basic transactional logic! It was truly difficult to determine whether the woman was dangerously cunning or simply profoundly stupid.
Seeing Gu Tingxiao haul such a massive, expensive cache of luxury goods into the living room, Mother Gu grew instantly anxious, fearing her son was unilaterally squandering the couple’s funds without consulting his wife.
She quickly pulled him into a quiet corner. “Tell me the absolute truth,” she hissed, her voice low. “Did you explicitly discuss these massive expenditures with Wanyan before executing them?”
“This volume of goods costs a staggering amount of money! Once your child is born, your household expenses are going to multiply instantly. Wanyan is such a sweet, accommodating girl; you absolutely cannot just drain your accounts on your own authority without securing her consent!”
Gu Tingxiao furrowed his brow, entirely confused by his mother’s rapid-fire panic. What on earth was she imagining?
“Mom, initiating this purchase was entirely Wanyan’s idea,” he explained smoothly. “Don’t worry. We discussed the logistics thoroughly beforehand.”
Hearing his calm reassurance, Mother Gu let out a massive sigh of relief, patting her chest to steady her racing heart. “Thank goodness. That’s wonderful.”
Once her panic subsided, Mother Gu immediately sought out Wanyan, taking the girl’s hands in hers and showering her with intimate, heartfelt praise.
“Wanyan, my sweet girl, please do not spend your money so extravagantly next time,” Mother Gu urged affectionately. “Your father and I draw our own substantial salaries. You are about to deliver your first child; you must prioritize hoarding your capital for the baby’s future. As children grow, the avenues requiring financial investment only multiply.”
Having raised four boys of her own, Mother Gu understood precisely how terrifyingly expensive cultivating a child could be.
Take the eldest brother’s son, Gu Jinfang, for example. The boy possessed such a bottomless, ferocious appetite that a single meal threatened to bankrupt his parents’ monthly grocery budget. In fact, Liang Zhenna and Gu Tingye were genuinely terrified to conceive a second child, deeply fearful they might produce another voracious eater and inadvertently plunge the entire household into starvation! They simply couldn’t afford to raise another bottomless pit. One gluttonous heir was stressful enough; if a second arrived, the eldest brother would likely have to tap into his own future coffin funds just to keep the pantry stocked.
Mother Gu quietly diverted the vast majority of the premium supplements directly to the two senior grandparents; she and Father Gu were still robustly healthy and didn’t require such intense fortification.
Watching her distribute the goods, Wanyan smiled softly but said nothing. She knew that when the national economy eventually opened up and modernized in the future, Father and Mother Gu would never have to worry about securing luxury goods again. For now, however, the massive influx of provisions significantly alleviated the crushing financial and domestic pressure resting on the eldest brother and sister-in-law. After all, premium nutritional supplements were astronomically expensive on the current market. Even though Liang Zhenna and Gu Tingye commanded a combined monthly income exceeding two hundred yuan, the baseline costs of maintaining an elite household and archiving funds for Gu Jinfang’s future education drained their accounts rapidly.
Naturally, the sheer volume of luxury goods Wanyan and Gu Tingxiao had procured couldn’t be hidden from Wang Chunmei’s highly surveillance-oriented eyes.
Watching from a distance, Wang Chunmei mocked the couple mercilessly in her mind. What absolute fools. They squander a fortune buying premium goods for the old fossils—isn’t that just throwing cash straight into the fire?
They were truly a pair of absolute idiots. If they were trying to curry favor to secure a larger inheritance, this was a terrible strategy! What was the point of investing capital in the elderly? Exactly how many years did Old Master and Grandma Gu realistically have left to live anyway?
Wang Chunmei stroked her protruding belly, a calculating glint in her eye. She decided that when she officially entered her postpartum confinement period, she would manipulate the situation to force Mother Gu to transfer some of those premium, hoarded provisions over to her quarters. She needed to maintain peak physical health to ensure she produced an abundant supply of breast milk for her future son!
That boy was Mother Gu’s direct biological grandson; Wang Chunmei refused to believe the old woman would sit back and watch her precious grandson starve for milk.
However, Wang Chunmei’s calculations were entirely disconnected from reality. Mother Gu had absolutely zero intention of managing her postpartum confinement. As for the infant in Wang Chunmei’s womb—while Mother Gu was indeed the grandmother, she was not the primary parent. If the biological mother and father lacked the basic competence to secure provisions for their own child, why should the grandmother panic on their behalf?
At worst, the responsibility would fall entirely on Gu Tinghao. Wang Chunmei clearly intended to weaponize the infant as a hostage to extort resources, but Gu Tinghao would never permit his own flesh and blood to starve; he would simply have to handle his wife’s manufactured crises himself.
Once the household nanny returned from her holiday leave and restored order to the kitchens, Wanyan seized the opportunity. Whenever the main living areas were clear, she quietly slipped into the kitchen, covertly infusing the family’s simmering soups and rice pots with pure, restorative spiritual spring water from her spatial dimension.
She was incredibly meticulous, adding merely a drop or two per batch. However, over the course of a half-month of continuous exposure to the spring water, the baseline vitality and physical complexions of the senior family members improved dramatically.
Occasionally, Gu Tinghao would visit the main villa to bond with little Jingjing and stay for dinner, unknowingly reaping the profound physiological benefits of the spiritual water himself.
As for Wang Chunmei, following the old general’s terrifying, explosive banishment, she hadn’t dared to show her face near the main estate for weeks.
As the clock wound down on Wanyan and Gu Tingxiao’s military leave, it was time to host a formal farewell dinner to celebrate their safe return to the northern base.
Because Gu Tinghao was naturally attending the send-off, Wang Chunmei opportunistically tagged along, finally crossing the threshold of the main villa once more.
Seeing her enter, the family members remained entirely silent, refusing to initiate a confrontation. After all, Gu Tingxiao and Wanyan were departing the very next morning. It was imperative that the siblings enjoy a peaceful, harmonious final reunion, as there was no telling when Gu Tingxiao would secure his next rotation back to the capital.
Given Wanyan’s pregnancy timeline, returning for the next Lunar New Year was a logistical impossibility; by that time, their new infant would only be a few fragile months old.
