Chapter 76: Pan Yue’s Tension
“Just take it since I’m offering. I bought it especially for you,” Pan Yue insisted, gently but firmly ensuring her new sister-in-law accepted the gift. “If you ever run out, just let me know and I’ll buy you another jar.”
Sheng Wanyan decided not to persist with a polite refusal. It would seem overly formal and strained, and she knew she could always find another occasion to return the favor with a thoughtful gesture of her own.
Wanyan stepped across to her own room and brought back her wedding gifts for the couple: a classic charcoal-black sweater for Sheng Wanze and a vibrant, festive red one for Pan Yue.
“I knitted these myself,” Wanyan said with a warm smile. “Every member of our family has a custom one.”
The moment Pan Yue laid eyes on the brilliant red sweater, she was absolutely enchanted. In this day and age, high-grade red wool yarn was an exceptionally rare commodity, let alone enough to complete an entire matching knit set.
Wanyan’s craftsmanship was flawless. She had chosen a stylish, relaxed silhouette that allowed room for a comfortable underlayer, making it look equally elegant whether paired with trousers or a winter skirt.
“Oh, thank you so much, sister! You are incredibly talented,” Pan Yue exclaimed, her fingers tracing the fine stitching. “The color is absolutely gorgeous.”
Seeing her new sister-in-law cradling the garment with such genuine delight, Wanyan smiled, relieved that her long hours of secret labor inside her space had been entirely worth the effort.
“Go ahead and eat, sister-in-law, then try to catch some rest. I’ll head back outside to help Mom entertain the neighbors.”
“Alright. Thank you for all your hard work today, Wanyan.”
Pan Yue found herself deeply fond of her husband’s younger sister. Wanyan was poised, reliable, and handled social dynamics with a refreshing, easygoing grace that made her incredibly comfortable to be around.
When Sheng Wanyan returned to the kitchen, Mother Sheng felt an immediate wave of relief. With her daughter smoothly managing the kitchen logistics, the burden of preparing the evening meal became significantly lighter.
Today was a momentous family milestone, and the celebratory dinner had to be executed flawlessly. Mother Sheng deployed all her culinary expertise, while Wanyan took charge of the stovetop to simmer a massive pot of chicken soup.
She placed a whole, plump bird into the seasoned water to boil. Once it was perfectly tender, she would lift it out, chop it into clean portions, and serve it with a savory dipping sauce as a standalone meat platter. Preparing the chicken this way ensured the meat retained its juices and never tasted dry, while leaving behind a rich, concentrated broth.
Wanyan subtly enhanced the soup with traditional nourishing herbs from her stash—including plump red dates, aromatic angelica root, and wolfberries—creating a perfect winter tonic to restore her family’s energy.
Once the soup fire was dialed down to a steady simmer, Wanyan pivoted to clean and prep the fresh fish for her mother. A wedding dinner absolutely required a fish course to symbolize abundance and prosperity for the new marriage, and it had to be a masterfully braised dish. Mother Sheng and Sheng Wanyan spent the entire afternoon huddled over the counters, orchestrating the final feast.
“Come, come, everyone! Please eat, drink, and be merry,” Grandpa Sheng called out, raising his hand to address the gathered table. “Today is a joyous day for our clan. Let’s share a toast.”
The family rose in unison, clinking their vessels. The men enjoyed their premium liquor, while the women and children raised bottles of sweet, chilled soda.
“To a long, blissful marriage! May our esteemed in-laws enjoy the feast to their heart’s content.”
The members of the Pan family nodded, their faces alight with genuine smiles. Over the past forty-eight hours, they had witnessed exactly how deeply the Sheng family cherished their daughter. Every single meal featured an abundance of fish and choice meats; it was entirely obvious that out of sheer respect for Pan Yue, the Sheng family hadn’t spared a single copper cent or ration coupon.
“Don’t just stand on ceremony, comrades! Pick up your chopsticks and dig in!” Grandma Sheng urged warmly.
The guests didn’t need to be told twice, happily diving into the rich spread. To the family, this intimate, home-cooked feast was infinitely superior to the chaotic, watered-down spreads typically served at commercial wedding banquets where endless tables of acquaintances had to be fed. Every ounce of premium meat was reserved strictly for their core circle, granting the hard-working laborers a rare opportunity to indulge in a truly spectacular meal.
Sheng Wanze privately recognized that this lifestyle shift was entirely his younger sister’s doing. Since stepping foot back into the Sheng household, he had enjoyed two consecutive days of pure luxury.
Though it carried the weight of a grand wedding banquet, the event remained a private, beautifully coordinated dinner between the two immediate families. As the twilight deepened, the Pan family gathered their belongings and safely commuted back to their quarters at the state guesthouse.
After helping her mother scrub the kitchen down to a pristine shine, Sheng Wanyan took a hot shower and retreated to her bedroom. However, the second her door clicked shut, she decided to slip directly into her spatial dimension to sleep for the night.
With a passionate pair of newlyweds occupying the literal next room behind a thin partition, she was highly skeptical of the apartment’s primitive sound insulation. Wanyan possessed a flawless sense of self-preservation; she had absolutely zero desire to be kept awake by awkward late-night noises.
While Wanyan curled up on her comfortable, modern mattress inside her quiet space, the newlyweds next door sat on the edge of their red-blanketed bed, their eyes wide with a sudden, beautiful wave of mutual shyness.
“I’ve already carted in a fresh basin of hot bathwater for you,” Sheng Wanze murmured, his voice dropping an octave as he stepped closer. “The rest of the household is already fast asleep.”
His suggestive tone sent a brilliant crimson flush spreading across Pan Yue’s cheeks. She scrambled up, frantically digging through her wooden trunk to retrieve her change of clothes.
“I… I’ll go wash up right this instant,” she stammered.
Pan Yue clutched her pajamas to her chest and practically bolted toward the washroom, her face radiating so much nervous heat she felt as though she might start smoking.
As for how the late-night martial battle unfolded, Sheng Wanyan remained blissfully ignorant. She only noted that when Pan Yue emerged from the bedroom the following morning, her complexion was beautifully rosy and glowing, though her gait was distinctly stiff and awkward.
Sheng Wanze, on the other hand, looked remarkably refreshed and bursting with energy, hovering attentively around his new bride as he helped her prep the morning breakfast.
The moment Mother Sheng stepped into the living room and clocked their synchronized movements, she immediately moved to intervene, waving her hands to push them toward the chairs. As an experienced married woman, she knew exactly how physically uncomfortable and exhausting that first morning could be for a young bride. Furthermore, the Sheng clan harbored absolutely zero desire to dominate or haze their daughter-in-law. When Mother Sheng had married into the family decades ago, Grandma Sheng had treated her with absolute kindness, so she naturally intended to pass that legacy of grace down to Pan Yue.
“Go sit down and rest for a bit,” Mother Sheng commanded softly, turning to glare at her son. “You rough, thoughtless boy! You truly have no idea how to properly cherish your own wife.”
She gave Wanze a sharp, maternal swat on the arm. Sheng Wanze rubbed his sleeve, looking thoroughly amused and crying out silently in his heart over the unfair accusation. He had spent the previous evening repeatedly reassuring his wife that their household didn’t observe strict, archaic rules, but Pan Yue had flatly refused to believe him. She had been terrified that if she slept in on her very first morning as a daughter-in-law, the neighbors would brand her a lazy, spoiled city woman.
What if word spread through the building that Sheng Wanze had married an idle wife who shirked her duties?
In this traditional era, a woman simply didn’t lounge in bed the morning after her wedding. Failing to rise before dawn wouldn’t just trigger malicious gossip among the neighbors; it was historically a direct slight to a mother-in-law’s authority. The initial morning was viewed as the ultimate test of a bride’s domestic character, and Pan Yue refused to be careless.
“Mom, please, I’m entirely rested,” Pan Yue insisted with a shy smile, trying to reach for the cooking utensils. “Let me handle the breakfast layout today.”
“Absolutely not. You youngsters go sit your behinds down and rest,” Mother Sheng chided gently, firmly wrenching the spatula from her fingers and herding the couple out of the kitchen. She was a woman who had navigated these exact waters; how could she possibly fail to recognize the telltale signs of exhaustion?
Her son possessed the fierce, unyielding stamina of an active military officer, and he had undoubtedly put his poor bride through a grueling trial the previous night. Pan Yue’s legs were visibly trembling just from standing against the counter—did the girl honestly think her mother-in-law was blind?
Pan Yue looked at her husband, completely at a loss, while Sheng Wanze merely spread his hands in an ‘I told you so’ gesture. He had repeatedly promised her that his mother would never enforce archaic dawn duties, let alone hold an early morning sleep against her, but his stubborn bride had insisted on rising before the sun just to showcase her devotion.
When Sheng Wanyan stepped out into the corridor to brush her teeth a few minutes later, she caught the tail end of the sweet kitchen standoff. Squinting her sleepy eyes, she quietly finished her morning routine, downed a boiled egg and a roasted sweet potato from the counter, and slung her bag over her shoulder to head out for her shift.
Realizing that resting was no longer an option with the household awake, Pan Yue settled down to assist Mother Sheng with the remaining tasks. Mother Sheng tracked her nervous, overly eager movements with a soft, understanding smile. This new daughter-in-law of hers was truly endearing; she was simply so desperate to please that she couldn’t bring herself to sit still.
Sheng Wanze could only hover anxiously half a step behind his wife, keeping a watchful eye on her profile, terrified that the lingering stiffness in her legs might cause her to stumble. He secretly wondered how he had never noticed his beautiful bride possessed such an unyielding, stubborn streak.
“Xiaoyue, why don’t you sit down and help me pick through these fresh greens? They’ll be absolutely perfect for our stir-fry tonight,” Mother Sheng instructed, handing over a wicker basket.
“Right away, Mom!”
The moment she was assigned a concrete domestic duty, Pan Yue’s anxieties vanished, replaced by a surge of bright energy. She quickly pulled up a small wooden stool, sat down, and began meticulously sorting through the vegetables.
Mother Sheng gave the young couple a few more gentle household reminders before grabbing her coat to head to her own shift. Before stepping out the front door, she charged them with keeping an eye on the apartment line. “Make sure you two look after the house today.”
“Don’t worry, Mom,” Pan Yue chimed in instantly, her chin held high. “I’ll ensure everything here is kept in absolutely flawless order.”
A short while later, Grandma Sheng emerged from her bedroom, beautifully dressed in her new winter garments. Noting the lingering, tightly wound tension in Pan Yue’s shoulders, the old matriarch immediately formulated a plan to help the girl unwind.
“Xiaoyue, grab your coat. Come step outside with grandma to help me select some fresh cuts at the market.”
“Wonderful! Let me quickly step into the room to change my shoes, Grandma,” Pan Yue replied eagerly, her face brightening.
She hurried back to the bedroom to adjust her outfit, leaving Sheng Wanze behind. Since Grandpa Sheng required dynamic assistance around the apartment, Wanze stayed back to manage the household chores and look after the patriarch.
The moment Pan Yue stepped into the open-air market alleys flanking the tube-shaped buildings, she was instantly spotted by a cluster of local neighborhood matrons.
“Auntie Sheng! Is this lovely young lady your new granddaughter-in-law?”
“My goodness, she is absolutely stunning! Look at that exquisite, radiant face!”
“Make sure you two work hard to fill the cradle with a houseful of babies! That way, Auntie Sheng can finally enjoy the immense blessing of four generations thriving under one roof!”
Pan Yue was instantly surrounded by a dense circle of enthusiastic, gossiping middle-aged aunts. Hearing the boisterous, blunt demands for children, her cheeks flushed so hot she wished she could bury her face directly into the dirt out of sheer embarrassment.
Grandma Sheng smiled proudly, intentionally pulling Pan Yue closer so the entire neighborhood could register her face, ensuring the girl would be fully recognized and protected within the community moving forward.
“Yes, indeed, this is our Wanze’s wife,” Grandma Sheng announced to the crowd, her voice carrying a tone of absolute authority. “I expect all of you to look out for our Xiaoyue and treat her with kindness moving forward.”
She paused, shooting a warm, affectionate look at the blushing bride beside her. “As for how many children the newlyweds choose to bring into this world, that is entirely up to their own timeline. Our only priority as elders is to ensure the little ones are raised with honor and proper education.”
