Chapter 41: Chapter 41

Seeing his wife's increasingly dangerous gaze, Comrade Gu immediately raised his hands in surrender. He got up to pour out the half-cooled foot-washing water, then pulled her into his arms with an amused chuckle to explain softly:

"What are you thinking? My mom has always been prone to overthinking. She must have misunderstood earlier."

"Misunderstood what?" An Ning glared sideways, making Gu Chen cough lightly:

"She misunderstood that you were holding a grudge because of the family's somewhat cold attitude earlier, which is why you refused to bring A-Heng back for so long."

An Ning rolled off him speechlessly: "Didn't I say before that long car rides aren't safe for children and they're more susceptible to viruses?"

The train speeds nowadays were painfully slow—it took days to travel from Kun City here. Adults could handle it, but it was pure torture for children, especially with the New Year approaching when all sorts of questionable people crowded the trains.

Not to mention bacteria and viruses, human traffickers were rampant these days.

Her precious A-Heng was so adorable—if anything happened, they'd regret it forever. Before the trip, she'd even made the system mark her son and prepared diluted Spirit Spring Water sugar syrup to bring along. Both parents had kept unblinking watch the entire journey.

As for the family's earlier coldness, An Ning truly hadn't cared much—her own attitude hadn't been great either. Besides, her mother-in-law had consistently sent generous gifts over the years.

Who would've thought the elegant Madam Yang, who appeared every inch the refined noblewoman, could be so... observant?

Well... not entirely surprising either.

Recognizing his wife's thoughts after years of marriage, Gu Chen chuckled:

"Don't worry, our mom isn't the type to be deliberately mean or look down on others. She just grew up privileged and has some ingrained class consciousness."

"At home, even Dad occasionally gets scolded by her!"

What Gu Chen didn't say was that if not for desperate circumstances during those turbulent years when the family needed protection, his mother might never have married his "country bumpkin" father.

Fortunately, his maternal grandfather had been sensible—donating most of the family assets to the PLA early in the war, combined with his father's military influence, allowed them to survive the political campaigns.

But certain habits of a pampered young miss were hard to break.

Understanding dawned on An Ning as she recalled the old couple's interactions at dinner.

Well, this world really was one giant romance novel.

After resting, the young couple spent the next day taking their son around. Having grown up in the capital, Comrade Gu had plenty of childhood friends here. In less than a day, Little Zhiheng's pockets were nearly bursting with red envelopes.

This didn't even include the "small gifts" from grandparents, uncles, and cousins. The boy's savings would easily double after this visit.

Unexpectedly, while occasional letters hadn't shown it, An Ning turned out to be surprisingly well-liked by Madam Yang in person. Besides doting on her grandson together, the two women went on shopping sprees, took photos, sketched, and even discussed calligraphy.

Sometimes when Gu Chen or his father tried to join, they'd be shooed away by the matriarch.

By departure day, Madam Yang's eyes were red as she clung to both daughter-in-law and grandson, reluctant to let go. She even gave An Ning her favorite emerald bracelet. If not for her father-in-law's stern disapproval, they might have returned with an extra family member.

This development shocked all three men in the family and left sister-in-law Wei utterly perplexed.

Only after boarding the train did Comrade Gu voice his amazement: "Never thought you'd get along so well with Mom."

Gu Chen found it incredible. Given their personalities, he'd expected at best peaceful coexistence, not this rapport. His mother's temperament wasn't easy to handle—even after all these years, his sister-in-law still occasionally lost her appetite over Madam Yang's nitpicking.

Madam Yang never raised her voice—she considered that beneath her dignity. She'd simply sip tea elegantly and give you a look—that natural aristocratic air alone could make sensitive people feel mortified. During their earlier cohabitation days, Gu Chen had overheard his sister-in-law pounding his brother:

"What does your mother mean with that look? Just because I served food a bit eagerly? Am I some lowly creature? My Wei family might not match yours, but we're not exactly poor either..."

This was precisely why Gu Chen hadn't insisted on bringing his wife and son home sooner.

One had to experience Madam Yang's presence to understand.

Wrapped in her new wool coat, An Ning side-eyed her husband without explanation:

"What can I say? Your wife happens to be intelligent, elegant, and beautiful!"

Fair enough, he thought, pausing at his wife's increasingly refined features. But he knew there was more to it—recalling certain similarities in their mannerisms, Comrade Gu began to understand.

Meanwhile, at the Gu residence...

When her mother-in-law still hadn't come down by 6 PM and the housekeeper Zhou was absent, sister-in-law Wei reluctantly went upstairs to check.

Pushing the door open, she found Madam Yang sitting by the bed, staring at a yellowed painting with an inscribed poem in her distinctive calligraphy—though Wei hadn't seen her write in years, she remembered vividly that day when the elegant woman in smoky-blue jacket and moon-white bamboo-patterned qipao had painted a sunset scene with effortless grace.

Wei had once been considered a beauty in the compound, yet beside her mother-in-law who was a decade older, she'd felt dull and colorless by comparison.

Back then, Madam Yang had also inscribed poems on paintings—though no one in the family could understand them. After the political campaigns began, she'd stopped writing entirely.

Come to think of it, in those early days, her mother-in-law used to burn incense daily too...

Wei frowned instinctively. As a purebred military family member, she naturally disdained such bourgeois affectations, considering them pretentious rather than cultured.

And her mother-in-law—after all these years of her father-in-law's devotion (envied by the entire compound), never once raising his voice at her—what exactly was she sulking about? Her moods changed like flipping a switch.

Seeing her mother-in-law absorbed and not wanting to disturb her, Wei retreated quietly.

But as the door closed, realization struck: So that indescribable quality about her sister-in-law... it came from Madam Yang!

Birds of a feather flock together, huh?

Considering their vastly different backgrounds, her brother-in-law's recent attentiveness compared to her own husband's neglect, Wei grew even more frustrated—were men just inherently masochistic, drawn to this type?