Chapter 161: Pan Yue Is Pregnant
How could her husband’s family, who live in the city, be satisfied with a daughter-in-law who came straight out of the country?
Captain Wu’s wife was so stung by that sharp retort that she exploded instantly, drilling a vicious, venomous glare into Sheng Wanyan.
But Wanyan wasn’t the type to tolerate a stranger pointing fingers at her. Why don’t you look in the mirror before you try to start something? she thought. To put it bluntly, how did a mere company commander’s wife have the nerve to cause trouble for a deputy regimental commander’s wife? This woman clearly didn’t care about making life difficult for her own husband. No wonder Captain Wu could never get promoted, no matter how hard he worked.
Wanyan rolled her eyes with practiced grace. Seeing the woman’s furious face, she sneered inwardly. She had never lost a verbal duel in her life; she knew exactly how to twist the knife in the most fatal spot.
As a result, Captain Wu’s wife was left choking on her own rage, completely speechless and reduced to nothing but silent glares. Wanyan didn’t care in the slightest what the woman thought of her, as long as she kept herself in a good mood.
Seeing how thick the tension had become, Aunt Xie offered a few superficial words to smooth things over, but in her heart, she was secretly giving Sheng Wanyan a massive thumbs-up. She truly admired Wanyan’s unapologetic, fearless attitude.
In this world, people bullied the weak and feared the strong. If your fists weren’t tough enough, others would always treat you like an easy target.
“We’re all part of the same military family here,” Aunt Xie said, her voice dropping into a stern, authoritative register. “Sister-in-law Wu, you’d better mind your tongue from now on. Don’t go bringing unnecessary trouble to Captain Wu, understood?”
Hearing the political commissar’s wife say this, Captain Wu’s wife felt her heart skip a beat. Captain Gu was her husband’s direct superior. If Sheng Wanyan went home and complained to him, wouldn’t it directly sabotage her husband’s chances at a promotion?
In an instant, all the aggressive bravado drained out of her. Terrified that Wanyan might actually be angry enough to complain to the leadership, she clamped her mouth shut. She didn’t dare say another word aloud, though she viciously cursed Wanyan in her mind for being petty.
“I hear you, Aunt Xie…” she muttered through gritted teeth, her face dark as she lapsed into a sullen silence.
Wanyan shrugged her shoulders, mildly disappointed. She had expected a spectacular showdown, but the whole thing had fizzled out before it even got started. What a pity, she thought, shaking her head. What an absolute pity.
Still, the interaction gave her a clearer understanding of why the city-born military wives were so reluctant to mingle with the rural ones. There really was a massive chasm between their worldviews.
Wanyan didn’t think coming from the city made anyone inherently superior. However, through her conversations with the urban wives along the way, she had noticed they tended to be more independent and forward-thinking. Some of their progressive ideas were things the traditional, rural wives wouldn’t even dare to dream of.
For instance, when it came to communicating with their husbands on an equal footing, the city wives possessed a natural confidence backed by their maternal families. But to the rural wives, such an dynamic was unthinkable. In their eyes, men were the ultimate authorities, the pillars of the household, and everything had to revolve around them. The friction between the two groups wasn’t a matter of simple snobbery; it was a fundamental clash of values.
But realistically speaking, the city wives had earned their right to a bit of pride. Wanyan noticed they didn’t actively look down on anyone or cause scenes; even if they didn’t run in the same social circles, they still nodded and greeted everyone with polite distance. As for the others who chose to be arrogant or give people the cold shoulder, Wanyan’s attitude was simple: Have you done anything extraordinary? Have you personally made a massive contribution to the nation? If not, why should anyone look up to you for no reason?
Wanyan couldn’t quite grasp how people of this era viewed social hierarchy. She only cared about associating with people who shared her values, and she had no desire to collect a horde of superficial friends. As long as someone didn’t actively try to harm her, she had no reason to dislike them. Maintaining a peaceful, polite facade was perfectly fine by her. But if someone decided to shatter that peace, she wouldn’t hesitate to tear down the tent entirely.
For the rest of the bumpy ride, the flatbed remained remarkably quiet. Wanyan’s display had left everyone with the distinct impression that she was not a woman to be trifled with.
If Wanyan had known what they were thinking, she would have been thrilled. If you think I’m dangerous, then stay far away from me.
After two long hours of rattling along the dirt roads, the truck finally rumbled into the city center. The moment the vehicle ground to a halt, the passengers began filing out to go about their business.
“Listen up, sisters-in-law! We gather right back here at three o’clock sharp!” the logistics soldier shouted over the noise of the street. “The truck leaves for the base at three on the dot!”
The wives nodded, hopped down from the truck bed, and quickly dispersed.
“Come along, Wanyan,” Aunt Xie called out warmly. “Let’s head over to the cooperative together.” The kind-hearted woman was worried Wanyan might lose her way in an unfamiliar town, but Wanyan had her own itinerary planned.
“Thank you, Auntie, but you go ahead,” Wanyan replied. “I need to stop by the post office to mail a letter first, and then I want to check if our furniture order is ready. I’ll swing by the cooperative last, otherwise I’ll be lugging heavy packages all over town.”
“Are you sure you know your way around?”
“I do. If I get turned around, I’ll just ask for directions.”
Aunt Xie nodded, though she still felt a prickle of maternal worry about leaving the young girl alone. However, she had her own errands to run and social calls to make, so she couldn’t play chaperone all day.
“Don’t worry, Auntie. When Tingxiao brought me into the city the day before yesterday, he took me down these streets specifically to help me memorize the landmarks,” Wanyan reassured her. She wasn’t lying; before reporting for duty, Gu Tingxiao had taken her for a long drive just to familiarize her with the local layout.
“Alright then, let’s meet back at the truck at three o’clock.”
“See you then, Auntie.”
Wanyan waved goodbye and headed straight for the post office, eager to send word to her family so they wouldn’t worry. The moment she stepped inside, she fired off a brief telegram to the Capital household. It was a concise, six-word update: Arrived safely. All well. Wanyan.
Next, she sat down to pen a detailed letter to her parents in Chengdu to let them know she had settled in comfortably.
What she didn’t realize was that back in Chengdu, the Sheng family was currently celebrating a monumental piece of news. Pan Yue was pregnant!
The discovery had thrown the household into a whirlwind of excitement, instantly eclipsing the bittersweet sadness of Wanyan’s departure. The very day after returning to Chengdu from the wedding, Pan Yue had been struck by a relentless wave of morning sickness. As an experienced mother, Sheng’s mother had recognized the symptoms immediately, and a trip to the hospital confirmed she was already more than two months along.
The news sent Mother Sheng into an absolute frenzy of maternal protectiveness. She began buying up every health supplement she could find and even threatened to quit her job entirely to stay at home and cater to Pan Yue’s every need. If Father Sheng and Sheng Wanze hadn’t firmly talked her down, she probably would have marched into her factory and resigned on the spot.
Ultimately, the family decided that Grandpa and Grandma Sheng would accompany Sheng Wanze and Pan Yue back to the military base to take care of her. Although the two elders were up there in years, cooking three daily meals and managing a household was well within their capabilities.
More importantly, Wanze’s duties meant he would frequently be deployed on missions, leaving Pan Yue isolated. If an emergency occurred while she was home alone, the consequences could be catastrophic for both mother and child.
This baby would be the first great-grandchild of the Sheng lineage, and the entire family treated the pregnancy with immense gravity. Even Grandpa Sheng, who famously rarely cracked a smile, couldn’t stop beaming, tossing back several celebratory glasses of wine before he finally calmed down.
The household was enveloped in pure joy, and Sheng Wanze, who was about to become a father, was so dizzy with excitement that he could barely sleep. Every single time Pan Yue woke up in the middle of the night to use the restroom, she would blink through the darkness to find her husband sitting bolt upright in bed, staring intensely at her belly in silent awe.
