Chapter 247: Liang Qian Gets Married
Sheng Wanyan nodded, entirely understanding her parents’ decision.
Her father’s promotion had come suddenly, and asking for such a long leave right afterward was bound to stir up gossip. It was inevitable that someone would make a fuss over it.
“Alright, I’ll have Tingxiao take you to the station then.”
Sheng Wanze had already returned to his unit, so there was no telling if he would be out on a mission by the time they left. It made sense to let Gu Tingxiao—the son-in-law currently on leave—go see them off.
Mother and daughter chatted for a while longer. When lunchtime rolled around, Mother Sheng hurried back home.
Gu Tingxiao went to the kitchen to prepare lunch. A simple bowl of noodles was more than enough for the two of them. He fried up two eggs to go with it, and because he had kneaded the dough with so much strength, the noodles turned out wonderfully chewy.
“Comrade Gu Tingxiao, your noodles are absolutely delicious,” she praised playfully. “The baby and I are very satisfied.”
Hearing her formal, teasing tone, Gu Tingxiao decided to play along.
“As long as you are satisfied, it’s my honor.”
He looked at her with such intense, doting affection that tenderness seemed to practically overflow from his eyes. Being stared at like that made Sheng Wanyan blush.
“Ahem… keep up the good work,” she said, clearing her throat. “Now, time to assign chores. You wash the dishes… and I will take the baby to go rest.”
Sheng Wanyan handed out the tasks with a straight face, making Gu Tingxiao nod with an amused smile. She quickly stood up and retreated to her room, practically scurrying away.
Damn it! He’s too tempting… Sheng Wanyan thought to herself. You have no shame. Seduced by a handsome face!
Back in her room, she opened the package sent by the Capital Newspaper. Inside were deposit slips for two months’ worth of royalties, amounting to several thousand yuan. Sheng Wanyan stored the slips safely into her spatial domain, then checked the new batch of books they had sent for translation.
There were five of them, all still focused on firearms. The accompanying letter mentioned that the publisher hoped she could translate even more if she had the time, as this technical information was in incredibly high demand.
Sheng Wanyan touched her belly. Translating five books a month was already a heavy workload for her. In the beginning, she had only done one or two a month. Then it had increased to three, and now five. Keeping up with this pace while pregnant was becoming difficult. Unless she took advantage of the time dilation inside her space, it would be nearly impossible to take on any more work.
Thinking about it, Gu Tingxiao was scheduled to return to his unit next month. Once he was back at work, she would have plenty of uninterrupted time to enter her space. It made sense to take on extra work now; after the baby was born, her free time would disappear completely. She might as well translate more and earn the extra money while she could.
She wrote a reply letter, planning to mail it tomorrow when she went into the city to withdraw her funds.
Suddenly, Sheng Wanyan paused. She remembered that the credit union was fated to go bankrupt in the future. If that happened, any money deposited there would vanish into thin air. It looks like I’ll need to withdraw all my savings after the baby is born and keep it safe in my space, she decided.
Sheng Wanyan handed their household passbook and the new withdrawal slip to Gu Tingxiao, asking him to pull out all the funds. At the same time, she gave him the letter to mail to the newspaper. Gu Tingxiao didn’t ask any questions and simply did as she asked.
As for her personal wealth, she also had the dowry money her parents had secretly given her. Sheng Wanyan planned to withdraw those private funds only after she gave birth; otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to explain the source of such a large amount if Gu Tingxiao asked about it.
For now, she would only withdraw the money Gu Tingxiao already knew about. Since he was a soldier, having him withdraw a large sum was much safer. Even if someone in town had malicious intentions, they wouldn’t dare target a military officer.
As a translator, Sheng Wanyan worked from home and had plenty of free time every day. She wanted to help with the cooking, but the moment Gu Tingxiao saw her near the stove, he would immediately usher her away. His dramatic overreactions to her doing simple chores practically gave her a heart attack.
Knock, knock, knock.
Hearing a rap at the door, Sheng Wanyan went to answer it and found Auntie Xie standing outside.
“Yan’er! I thought I was seeing things. You two really are back.”
When Auntie Xie had gone out earlier and spotted Gu Tingxiao riding his bicycle, she had assumed she was hallucinating. The weather was so cold that every household was practically hibernating, and very few people ventured outside. She had figured the couple wouldn’t return until Captain Gu’s leave was fully over.
“Auntie, please come in and sit,” Sheng Wanyan invited warmly.
Auntie Xie waved her hand. “Oh, I won’t come in. I just wanted to come by and see if it was really you. Captain Gu still has a month left on his leave, doesn’t he? Why are you back so soon?”
Sheng Wanyan explained, “My parents are heading back to Chengdu next month, so we came back early to spend some time with them.”
Auntie Xie’s face dawned with a look of realization. “Ah, no wonder.”
Glancing at Sheng Wanyan’s growing belly, Auntie Xie felt guilty keeping a pregnant woman standing in the freezing doorway. But she was bursting with fresh gossip she just had to share.
“Actually, let’s go inside so we can chat,” Auntie Xie decided, stepping through the doorway.
Sheng Wanyan smiled, nodding, and went to pour her guest a warm glass of sugar water.
“Oh, you don’t need to go through any trouble with that big belly of yours! Plain water is fine!” Seeing Sheng Wanyan bustling about in her condition made Auntie Xie so nervous her heart almost jumped out of her chest.
“It’s no trouble at all. I’m just pregnant, my legs aren’t broken,” Sheng Wanyan teased gently. She actually preferred moving around from time to time; if she just sat still all day, she would die of boredom.
“You’re about five months along now, right?”
“That’s right.”
Auntie Xie mentally calculated the dates. It had been about three months since Sheng Wanyan first returned to the capital. There was only about half a year left until the baby was born. Time really did fly.
“Let me tell you the big news,” Auntie Xie leaned in conspiratorially. “Liang Qian is getting married!”
Sheng Wanyan raised her eyebrows in surprise. She hadn’t expected Liang Qian to tie the knot so suddenly—it had only been two months. Wasn’t she just making eyes at Gu Tingxiao during the last art troupe performance?
“Hard to believe, isn’t it?” Auntie Xie asked, seeing her reaction.
Sheng Wanyan nodded. Although she had only crossed paths with Liang Qian once, she knew the woman was fiercely proud and stubborn. Liang Qian had been entirely unwilling to accept that she couldn’t have Gu Tingxiao, so who would believe she had happily moved on and gotten married just a few months later?
“It was Chief of Staff Liang who forced her to settle down,” Auntie Xie whispered. “She’s already turning into an old maid—she’s twenty-three this year! If she didn’t get married soon, the whole compound would start gossiping. Not to mention, during that last performance, the visiting leader from the capital had some serious opinions about her behavior. He even reprimanded Chief of Staff Liang a few times over it.”
Sheng Wanyan could see how her own actions played a part in that fallout, but she also knew clearly in her heart that she and Liang Qian were now undisputed enemies.
“Who is she marrying?” Sheng Wanyan asked. She needed to be prepared, especially since she couldn’t allow anyone to interfere with Gu Tingxiao’s career.
Auntie Xie’s face wrinkled in distaste at the thought of the groom. “It’s Battalion Commander Du from next door.”
Sheng Wanyan couldn’t believe her ears. Had she heard that right?
“Yan’er, what do you think Chief of Staff Liang is thinking? Actually agreeing to marry his daughter off to Battalion Commander Du. He was married before and already has a five-year-old daughter. If she marries him, isn’t she just walking in as a stepmother?”
Sheng Wanyan was stunned that a woman like Liang Qian would marry a man who already had a child. Battalion Commander Du was a rough, hard-working man from the countryside. Worse yet, everyone knew his previous wife had divorced him because she couldn’t endure the constant torment from his overbearing mother.
With Liang Qian’s prominent family background, it would have been effortless for her to find an excellent match. It was baffling that she had chosen to marry so far beneath her station.
