Chapter 267: Gu’s Mother Abandons Wang Chunmei
With Grandpa Gu stepping in to manage the red tape, the arrangements for Mother Gu’s leave went incredibly smoothly. She was granted a full six-month leave of absence.
The moment her vacation was approved, Mother Gu went straight to the Overseas Chinese Store to stock up on supplies. Originally, she had planned to slowly buy items and mail them to Sheng Wanyan from time to time. But after this sudden crisis, she had to scramble to make all her preparations at once. She mentally resolved to have her eldest daughter-in-law purchase whatever she couldn’t fit and ship it over later when she had a free moment.
The rest of the family was entirely supportive of Mother Gu heading to Bing City to take care of Sheng Wanyan. The only one who threw a fit was Wang Chunmei.
Wang Chunmei’s own due date was only a month away, yet Mother Gu was simply abandoning her to go fuss over Sheng Wanyan! How could she possibly accept this? With Mother Gu gone, who was supposed to look after her during her postpartum confinement period?
“Mom, if you leave to take care of Wanyan, what about me?” Wang Chunmei demanded, her voice rising. “Am I not your daughter-in-law?”
Mother Gu fixed her with a freezing stare. “No. I don’t have a daughter-in-law like you. Besides, isn’t the Wang family the only family you ever care about? If you need someone to look after you during your confinement, let the Wang family arrange it!”
Leaving no room for argument, Mother Gu turned her back and continued packing her newly bought supplies alongside her own luggage.
In truth, because Mother Gu was going to be away for half a year, she had only invited the extended family over for a farewell dinner, which was the sole reason Wang Chunmei had even been permitted to enter the military compound.
Hearing Mother Gu’s sharp rejection, Wang Chunmei’s chest heaved with indignation. She shot a desperate, pleading look at Gu Tinghao, but her husband completely ignored her, entirely focused on playing with little Gu Jingjing.
Ever since her last major blunder, Gu Tinghao’s attitude toward her had changed drastically. He had stripped her of her access to the household finances and barred her from interfering in family decisions. Now, even during a major milestone like her impending labor, he refused to speak up in her defense. He had even moved his things into Gu Jingjing’s room to sleep, refusing to share a bed with her. Aside from ensuring she received proper meals from the government canteen for the sake of her pregnancy, he wouldn’t even step near her door.
“Tinghao!” she hissed, nudging him. “Say something!”
Gu Tinghao finally raised his eyes, giving her a flat, indifferent look. “Mom is right. When the time comes, you can just ask your own mother to come look after you.”
“What did you just say?”
Gu Tinghao didn’t bother wasting another breath on her. Turning away, he joined his father and eldest brother to help carry Mother Gu’s heavy bags to the station to see her off.
Left behind in the courtyard, Wang Chunmei stared at their retreating figures for a long time, a sinking feeling settling deep in her gut. Is the Gu family… truly casting me aside?
Looking around the room, she realized that not a single item Mother Gu had purchased was meant for her or her future child; every gift was meticulously chosen for Sheng Wanyan. It was as if the baby in her own belly had absolutely nothing to do with the Gu lineage. Was Mother Gu actively trying to make this unborn child resent her? Or did the family intend to keep the child after it was born and completely cast the mother out?
Anxiety swirled in Wang Chunmei’s mind as she desperately tried to think of a way to win back Gu Tinghao’s heart. She knew he wouldn’t dare divorce her within the next two or three years; after all, a newborn needed its mother. But what about further down the line? Would Gu Tinghao continue to tolerate her presence once the child grew up?
Shifting her gaze around the living room, her eyes landed on Gu Jingjing. Sensing the hostile stare, the little girl instantly scurried over and buried herself safely in the arms of the eldest sister-in-law.
Wang Chunmei scowled inwardly at the sight. Useless little ingrate. In the past, the girl had constantly curried favor with Sheng Wanyan, and now she was doing the exact same thing with the eldest sister-in-law. No matter how much she fawned over them, the family was never going to let them be formally adopted anyway. What was she trying to prove?
“Jingjing, come over to Mommy,” Wang Chunmei ordered, forcing a sweet tone.
Gu Jingjing, who was happily clutching a small plush rabbit her father had recently bought her, completely ignored the command. Having spent a significant amount of time under the protection of Grandpa and Grandma Gu, the little girl had grown incredibly confident.
“I don’t want to go to Mommy’s side. I want to sit with Great-Grandmother!” she announced pertly.
Gu Jingjing was incredibly sharp; she knew exactly who her true backing was—or rather, she knew exactly who her mother was terrified of. Clinging tightly to Grandma Gu, she scampered over to sit directly between the two family elders.
With Grandpa and Grandma Gu looming over the room, Wang Chunmei didn’t dare unleash her temper. Suffocating in her own shame, she could only slink out of the main house and retreat.
Grandma Gu gently patted Gu Jingjing’s head, a smooth smile on her face. “The little thing is quite clever, isn’t she?”
Gu Jingjing looked up at Grandma Gu, beaming. After all, hadn’t her great-grandmother been the one to teach her exactly how to handle these situations?
“The child is highly teachable,” Grandpa Gu agreed, chuckling.
Delighted by the praise, Gu Jingjing happily ran off to her own room, retrieved her sketchbook and colored pencils, and sat down quietly to draw. She was five years old now and no longer shared a room with her parents. Instead, she had been moved into the spacious bedroom that originally belonged to Gu Tinghao and Wang Chunmei before their marriage.
Mother Gu had personally assigned the room to the little girl. As for Gu Tinghao and Wang Chunmei…
Haha. Wang Chunmei could forget about ever spending another night sleeping in that master bedroom. Gu Tinghao was welcome to return whenever he pleased, but Wang Chunmei was firmly barred from crossing the threshold.
The following afternoon, Sheng Wanyan received a telegram from the Capital confirming that Mother Gu was officially en route to Bing City.
With both Gu Tingxiao and Sheng Wanze away on their deployment, she decided to ask Pan Yue’s father to arrange for someone to meet Mother Gu at the station. After all, their families were bound by marriage, and relying on Father Pan was far better than troubling distant acquaintances.
Father Pan agreed without a second thought. General Gu Ronglong had already called him personally regarding the logistics, so he promised to dispatch his personal guards to ensure a smooth pickup when the train arrived.
With the transportation secured, Sheng Wanyan set to work cleaning and preparing the spare bedroom for her mother-in-law. Pan Yue noticed the activity from across the lane. Quickly handing little Huzi over to the watchful eyes of Grandpa and Grandma Sheng, she hurried across the snow-free path to help.
“Wanyan, let me handle the sweeping,” Pan Yue said, gently taking the broom from her hands. “You’re heavily pregnant, you shouldn’t be bending down to scrub floors.”
“Thank you so much, Sister-in-law. Sorry to trouble you.”
Pan Yue waved her off with a warm smile. Back when she was pregnant and navigating her own move, her sister-in-law had been the first to offer endless support. This was simply a matter of mutual care; since Wanyan treated her with such genuine affection, she naturally wanted to return the gesture. “What’s the point of being a family if we can’t look after each other?”
Pan Yue worked efficiently, quickly sweeping the dust from the concrete floor, wiping down the wooden wardrobe with a damp cloth, and helping her spread the fresh linens over the bed. The spare room featured a traditional heated kang, but because the brick surface was incredibly hard, Sheng Wanyan had sewn a thick, quilted mattress padding to line it. Without a proper layer of cushioning, sleeping on the brick would leave a person’s joints stiff and aching.
Once the room was immaculate, Sheng Wanyan pulled three large, crisp apples from her kitchen and insisted Pan Yue take them home.
“You’re the one who is pregnant, you need the nourishment more than I do,” Pan Yue protested, trying to push them back.
“Sister-in-law, please take them. We have plenty of fruit in the house, and the moment my mother-in-law arrives, she’s bound to bring a massive haul of supplies from the capital. If we don’t start clearing out our inventory now, half of it will end up spoiling.”
Pan Yue saw through the gentle excuse, knowing Wanyan was simply finding a graceful way to provide extra treats for her household. She didn’t push the matter further, accepting the fruits with a grateful nod. “Alright, then I won’t stand on ceremony with you.” She resolved to bring over some of her own specialty dishes the moment she prepared a good batch.
Sheng Wanyan smiled and nodded. To her, these fruits were just simple snacks to satisfy a craving, and she was more than happy to share her abundance with her family.
Calculating the transit timeline, she figured Mother Gu’s train had departed the previous afternoon, meaning the journey north would take roughly five days. Realizing that it would be highly suspicious to constantly bring fresh luxury items into the house once her sharp-eyed mother-in-law moved in, Sheng Wanyan decided to proactively restock the apartment’s physical pantry before her arrival.
She pulled a substantial inventory from her spatial domain: mostly premium fine grains and choice cuts of meat, balanced by rustic staples like sweet potatoes and sweet corn. Since it was already May and the winter snows had melted, she focused on pulling out cured and dried meats that could store safely without freezing. She ensured the household would have a flawless, abundant supply of food to last through the entire six months of Mother Gu’s stay.
She also stacked a massive supply of firewood in the backyard shed, supplementing the fuel with a large delivery of coal briquettes. As for fresh produce, she pulled a modest selection of seasonal vegetables to line the kitchen shelves.
Once Gu Tingxiao returned from his mission, she planned to have him turn the soil in their backyard vegetable plot and private garden so they could plant fresh seeds. Technically, the planting season began next month, but currently, the only able-bodied male left in their immediate circle was the elderly Grandpa Sheng—and the only other boy was a tiny, milk-drinking infant.
