Chapter 277: The Package Sent by the Gu Family
No one could guarantee the exact timeline of a deployment, so in their world, no news truly was the best news.
With her heavy chores finished, Mother Gu found other ways to keep herself occupied. She pulled out all the baby items, washing them thoroughly once more and sterilizing them with boiling water. When she wasn’t doing that, she was harvesting the mature vegetables from the garden plot and sowing a fresh round of seeds.
Before anyone realized it, Mother Gu had already been stationed at the northern base for two whole months. Ever since their violent encounter in the lane, Liang Qian hadn’t dared to cross her path again. After all, Mother Gu had already proven she wasn’t afraid to use her fists, so there was no point in looking for a second thrashing.
Liang Qian spent her days bitterly nursing her grievances. In her mind, Mother Gu now held an utterly dreadful impression of her entirely because Sheng Wanyan was a master at playing the victim and complaining. Yet, looking at Mother Gu’s refined bearing and the high-end fabric of her clothes, Liang Qian could tell at a single glance that the Gu family was extraordinarily wealthy and prestigious.
The stark contrast between her own mother-in-law and Mother Gu was a constant, painful sting. While she was subjected to a relentless daily scolding from her husband’s mother, Sheng Wanyan and Mother Gu coexisted in flawless harmony. Whenever Mother Gu had a free afternoon, she would happily pedal off to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy fresh meat for Sheng Wanyan, frequently returning with tins of malted milk and bolts of premium cloth.
Meanwhile, having lost her position in the art troupe, Liang Qian was forced to survive entirely on her private savings and the remains of her dowry. But because she refused to curb her love for fine clothes, social comparison, and baking expensive pastries, her funds were nearly depleted.
Worse still, Captain Du handed every single copper coin of his military salary directly over to his mother. Since the Du household had not yet formally split into separate branches, Liang Qian couldn’t secure a single penny of his income. Mrs. Du locked the money away tightly, completely refusing to spend a dime of it to improve their daily standard of living. Day after day, they sat down to meals of coarse vegetable buns and bitter wild greens, without even a speck of meat in the pot.
When Liang Qian finally complained to her husband about the deprivation, his attitude toward her turned significantly harsher and more impatient than ever before. He snapped that his mother would never harm him and was simply hoarding the savings to secure the future of his unborn children.
Liang Qian was thoroughly enraged by his response. How could these people be so incredibly backward and short-sighted? She opened her mouth to argue, but before she could utter a word, Captain Du dragged her roughly toward the bedroom, demanding she focus entirely on giving him a son.
Time marched steadily forward, and by the end of June, Sheng Wanyan’s pregnancy reached its eighth month, leaving her just eight weeks away from her due date. Her belly had grown as round and taut as a massive balloon, completely blocking her view of her own feet whenever she looked down.
Throughout this critical stage, Mother Gu looked after her with unmatched devotion. Every single time they returned from a prenatal checkup, she strictly implemented the obstetrician’s directives, managing the household by the book. Sheng Wanyan felt a profound, wordless gratitude toward her mother-in-law. Had she been left to navigate these grueling final months entirely on her own, she wouldn’t have been able to endure the physical and mental strain.
It would have been a massive relief if Gu Tingxiao had returned on his original schedule. But now that his deployment had stretched past the deadline, having an experienced family elder anchored in the house was the only thing keeping her from spiraling into anxiety. Mother Gu’s constant, steady presence provided a vital sense of security. At the very least, whenever the dread became too heavy to bear, she had someone to share the burden and talk to.
Yet, she was fully aware that Mother Gu was suffering through the exact same agonizing wait.
Sheng Wanyan exhaled a long, heavy breath, trying to dispel the suffocating depression lingering in her chest. She no longer prayed for Gu Tingxiao to rush home; she only pleaded with the heavens to keep him safe. He carried his own profound responsibilities, his own inescapable helplessness, and his own quiet longings. If his duty called him into the shadows, then her responsibility was to fiercely safeguard their home, ensuring he had a smooth, untroubled journey back to them.
“Wanyan, come look! A massive parcel just arrived from your eldest sister-in-law. Come see what’s inside,” Mother Gu called out, her voice bright with forced cheer as she hauled a heavy package into the living room.
The Gu family in the capital was well aware that Sheng Wanyan was entering her final trimester, so they had packed a substantial bounty of baby supplies.
“Look at this tiny brass gong and miniature drum,” Mother Gu murmured fondly, pulling the toys from the box. “You can tell at a single glance that your grandmother bought these. And these soft diapers—they must have been hand-stitched by your eldest sister-in-law herself. Look, there are even matching little hats and tiny socks.”
Surveying the mountain of beautifully prepared items, Sheng Wanyan could feel the immense love and meticulous effort the Gu family had poured into the package.
“And look at this toy tank,” Mother Gu chuckled, holding up a beautifully detailed miniature model crafted entirely out of spent bullet casings. “This had to be made by your father’s own hands. Honestly, if this baby turns out to be a little girl, how is she supposed to play with a tank? What if she falls in love with the machinery and insists on driving real tanks when she grows up?”
Mother Gu grumbled the words playfully, privately scolding Father Gu in her heart. She worried that if she didn’t clear the air, Sheng Wanyan might assume Father Gu only favored grandsons, which would create an awkward misunderstanding. Father Gu was a rugged, old-school soldier who genuinely believed handmade military models were the most precious heirlooms in the world, so he had dispatched his masterpiece without a second thought.
As she muttered, Mother Gu suddenly paused, realizing her words might have accidentally implied she expected a granddaughter. What if Wanyan has her heart set on a boy? Won’t that make her feel defensive? She certainly didn’t want to project any unintentional preference onto the unborn child.
Sheng Wanyan caught the brief flash of worry on her face and broke into a genuine smile. “Mom, the tank Dad crafted is absolutely beautiful. Boys and girls are exactly the same to me; there’s no rule saying a little girl can’t play with engineering toys.”
“Is that so? Well, your father’s craftsmanship is admittedly quite excellent,” Mother Gu noted, her shoulders relaxing significantly. She had been terrified that Sheng Wanyan might harbor the same toxic, backward mindset as Wang Chunmei.
Mother Gu could tolerate a daughter-in-law who held a traditional preference for sons, given that males carried the family surname into the next generation. But she absolutely loathed the way Wang Chunmei utterly neglected her daughter, treating her own flesh and blood with cold disdain and utility.
Mother Gu’s foundational philosophy had always been clear: since sons naturally inherited the family lines, daughters had an even greater obligation to cultivate exceptional personal skills and education. That way, a woman would always secure her own independence and path in life, completely insulated from the fear of being unable to survive on her own. Her own daughter, Gu Tingting, was a prime example—blessed with remarkable capabilities, she would never risk starving in the competitive world.
“The third child was absolutely obsessed with these models when he was a little boy,” Mother Gu reminisced, her eyes softening. “Your father spent half his weekends building them for him.”
She laughed softly, recalling how a young Gu Tingxiao used to shadow his father around the compound. Even as a tiny toddler, Gu Tingxiao never whined or threw tantrums; he would simply follow his father from room to room with a hilarious, deadpan expression on his face. Father Gu would get so thoroughly rattled by the silent, steady shadow that he couldn’t even use the restroom without finding the boy waiting directly outside the door. To secure a moment of peace, Father Gu would frantically assemble whatever toy model the boy wanted just to get his bathroom privileges back.
Mother Gu carefully unpacked the remaining contents one by one, eventually pulling out a thick envelope. It was a comprehensive family letter penned by Eldest Sister-in-Law Gu, detailing exactly who had prepared each item in the crate.
The rows of pristine cotton diapers had been meticulously hemmed by Grandma Gu during her quiet afternoons at the residence. The baby’s primary wardrobe and tiny shoes had been hand-selected and purchased by Eldest Sister-in-Law Gu, with Grandpa Gu and Father Gu happily footting the bill.
The assortment of charming wooden toys had been crafted by Eldest Brother Gu and his wife, who had spent their evenings carving and painting small animal figures. Back when their own son, Gu Jinfang, was an infant, Eldest Brother Gu would frequently deploy on dangerous missions, prompting Eldest Sister-in-Law to teach herself carpentry to keep her hands busy. The box contained beautifully woven grasshoppers, jumping frogs, and delicate yarn flowers.
Their second sister, Gu Tingting, had also used her recent administrative patrol through the provinces to source a collection of rare, high-quality practical goods perfect for a newborn’s development.
To Sheng Wanyan’s complete surprise, there was even a contribution tucked into the corner from the fourth branch of the family. It was a premium shipment of imported infant milk powder. It appeared that Gu Tinghao had successfully managed to wrest control of his own decisions away from Wang Chunmei’s toxic influence.
More importantly, it was a clear, silent gesture from Gu Tinghao, desperately attempting to mend his fractured relationship with his elder brother. During their last explosive confrontation, Gu Tingxiao had coldly declared that he no longer considered him a brother, a rejection that had clearly left Gu Tinghao haunted and desperate for a reconciliation.
Finally, the crate contained a massive supply of specialized nutritional supplements selected by Grandma Gu, alongside several vacuum-sealed parcels of high-quality meat from the capital’s central supply.
“With all of this delivered, we won’t have to buy a single extra thing for the nursery,” Mother Gu noted with a satisfied nod.
“You’re right, Mom. This bounty is more than enough to sustain the baby for a full year,” Sheng Wanyan agreed warmly.
Without losing a moment, Mother Gu gathered the fresh baby clothes to be laundered, while preparing a large basin of boiling water to thoroughly sterilize the handmade toys. Having lived under the same roof as Sheng Wanyan for two months, she had developed a deep appreciation for her daughter-in-law’s immaculate living standards. Her third daughter-in-law was exceptionally particular about hygiene, always insisting on scalding every dish, chopstick, and utensil with boiling water before it ever touched the table.
