SGEIRS -Chapter 574 The Fourth Year

As the year drew to a close, the residence became busy once again.

Though the New Year had not yet arrived, the festive atmosphere was already growing strong. The servants of the household all wore smiles, eagerly anticipating the coming celebrations. Every year during the New Year, the marquis’s residence rewarded its servants, and it meant an extra sum of income for them.

The New Year’s Eve family banquet was warm and joyful.

Only this year, one person was missing from the table. Gu Xiuwen had gone traveling and studying with his teacher and did not return for the New Year. He shared the same teacher as Meng Chengzhang, and whenever Meng Chengzhang returned, he would return as well.

Although Madam Zhang did not get to see her youngest son, she felt proud that he was studying under a renowned teacher. In her happiness, she drank a few extra cups of wine during the banquet, and even her usually irritating husband seemed more pleasing to the eye.

Old Madam Gu looked at the harmonious scene of the entire family and felt deeply comforted. In the past, Madam Zhang and Madam Chen often quarreled, scheming against each other over trivial gains. Without her presence, those two sisters-in-law would have caused even greater trouble. Yet ever since A-Yao married into the family, Madam Zhang and Madam Chen had gradually ceased their hostilities. They were now sometimes able to get along peacefully, occasionally even sitting together to chat—something she had never dared to imagine before.

Madam Zhang held her mother-in-law in great awe. Seeing Old Madam Gu’s gaze fall on her repeatedly, she immediately felt as if she were sitting on pins and needles, fearing she had done something wrong. Uneasily, she asked, “Mother, why are you looking at your daughter-in-law like this? Did I do something wrong?”

The moment those words left her mouth, Gu Jingsheng shot his wife a sharp glare. Ever since their marital fallout, the affection they once shared in their youth had long vanished. Whenever they met, the air was tense, and he rarely showed her a pleasant expression. Now, believing she must have displeased his mother, he immediately scolded her, “Madam Zhang, what have you done to anger Mother again? Hurry and apologize. Mother is kind-hearted—so long as you sincerely admit your mistake and correct it, she will surely forgive you this time.”

Madam Zhang was left speechless, her heart turning cold. What a wonderful husband she had—an expert at kicking her when she was down. Even couples without affection would still remember that husband and wife were one and help each other speak a few good words. Yet before his mother had even said she was at fault, he had already condemned her and ordered her to apologize.

Gu Xiuyuan and his wife, as well as Gu Xuanyi, all frowned and cast disapproving looks at Gu Jingsheng. But with the elders present, it was improper for them, as juniors, to openly criticize their father.

Old Madam Gu spoke gently, “You didn’t do anything wrong. In fact, you’ve improved quite a bit. I’m very pleased.”

Caught completely off guard by the praise, Madam Zhang felt both shocked and honored. After so many years of marriage, her mother-in-law had never once praised her—she had praised Madam Chen several times instead, something Madam Zhang had resented for years, believing it was because her natal family was of lower status. Now, like a student who had long sought her teacher’s approval and finally received it, all her long-held grievances melted away in an instant. Her eyes immediately grew moist. She didn’t even understand why her mother-in-law said she had improved—she hadn’t done anything in particular, and she was even estranged from her husband.

Old Madam Gu then turned her gaze to Gu Jingsheng, finding him increasingly disappointing. Back then, he had knelt before her, swearing he would marry no one but Madam Zhang. Yet now there was not the slightest trace of marital affection left, and he showed no regard for her dignity at all. In a stern voice, she admonished him, “Eldest son, husband and wife are one body, sharing honor and disgrace. Setting aside the fact that your wife did nothing wrong, even if she truly had made a mistake, you should bear it together with her—instead of scolding her without distinguishing right from wrong.”

Gu Jingsheng felt utterly embarrassed and responded awkwardly, “Mother is right. I was at fault just now. I should have asked clearly first.”

After dinner, aside from the eldest grandson of the first branch, Gu Yunxin, and the third branch’s Wanwan—both still young and not required to stay up—the children were sent off to sleep by their wet nurses once they grew drowsy. The rest of the family stayed together to keep vigil, chatting and laughing.

It wasn’t until midnight that everyone returned to their own courtyards.

At the fork in the path, after parting ways with the first and second branches, Meng Jinyao reached out to take Gu Jingxi’s hand. The icy touch made him stop in his tracks. He took her other hand as well, frowning. “Why are your hands so cold?”

Meng Jinyao replied, “I left my hand warmer over at Mother’s place and forgot to bring it back.”

Just then, Gu Xuanyi’s voice suddenly sounded from behind them. “Third Aunt, are you cold?”

Meng Jinyao instinctively turned her head and saw Gu Xuanyi, who had returned after leaving. Noticing her gaze on the hands clasped by her husband, Meng Jinyao felt a little embarrassed and quickly pulled her hands back. “Xuanyi, didn’t you leave with Sister-in-law just now?”

“I dropped something and came back to look for it.” As she spoke, Gu Xuanyi stepped forward and stuffed the hand warmer she was holding into Meng Jinyao’s arms. “Third Aunt, take this. Don’t catch a chill.”

Holding the hand warmer with both hands, Meng Jinyao glanced at Xuanyi’s hands and was about to return it when Xuanyi said, “Third Aunt, I’m not cold.” After that, she grabbed her maid and hurried back, whether in a rush to find her lost item or afraid Meng Jinyao would refuse the warmer.

Meng Jinyao watched Gu Xuanyi’s retreating figure, then lowered her head to look at the hand warmer in her hands. Threads of warmth spread through her palms, gradually chasing away the cold.

She said softly, “Xuanyi has grown up—she’s like a completely different person now. It’s just that the cost of growing up was too great.”

Gu Jingxi replied, “People must always pay the price for their wrong choices. But as long as one stops the losses in time, everything is still salvageable. Come on—there’s a strong wind tonight. Let’s go back and rest. We still need to get up early tomorrow.”

Meng Jinyao nodded and walked toward their courtyard, chatting nonstop with the man beside her. He responded to every sentence, the two of them seeming to have endless topics to talk about.

After returning to their courtyard, washing up, and lying down to rest, Meng Jinyao suddenly felt something slightly cool placed into her hand. She paused, lifted it to look, and discovered it was a pair of twin-fish jade pendants. The jade was of excellent quality—clear and lustrous, extremely valuable—though the craftsmanship was somewhat rough, as if made by an apprentice. Normally, such fine jade would never be entrusted to an apprentice, lest the finished product suffer—unless…

A smile bloomed on Meng Jinyao’s face. She looked at him with delight. “Husband, did you make this yourself?”

Gu Jingxi gave a low “Mm,” then added, “This is my New Year’s gift for A-Yao. It’s my first time making one, so it’s not very good. Do you like it?”

“I like it.”

As soon as she said that, Meng Jinyao pounced on him, planting several loud kisses on his face. Feeling that it still wasn’t enough, she leaned in and kissed his lips as well. Somehow, clothes gradually slipped away, and the world beyond them faded into nothing.

Afterward, Meng Jinyao lovingly stroked the jade pendant, reluctant to put it down. Thinking that she hadn’t prepared a New Year’s gift for Gu Jingxi, she suddenly felt she hadn’t fulfilled her role as a wife. “Husband, I didn’t prepare a New Year’s gift for you.”

Gu Jingxi’s eyes were gentle, a smile at the corners of his lips. “You did. Didn’t you just give it to me? I’m very satisfied.”

Meng Jinyao’s face flushed red. She shot him a shy, reproachful glance, then shifted closer and nestled into his arms, her heart feeling as though it had been filled with honey—sweet to the core.

This year, she was nineteen and he was thirty-two. It was the fourth year of their marriage. With time, affection had deepened; they already had a son, and their life together was loving and harmonious.