A Republican-Era Young Stepmother Story

Shen Lansheng was born into a declining family of scholars in Jiangnan. His mother died when he was young, and after his father remarried, his stepmother saw him as a thorn in her side.

When the master of the Gu family fell gravely ill, his stepmother seized the opportunity to send him to the Gus to bring good fortune, making him the sixth concubine of Old Master Gu.

In the third year of Shen Lansheng's marriage into the Gu family, Old Master Gu passed away.

The eldest young master of the Gu family returned from England, dressed in a tailored suit, handsome and refined, with deep eyes hidden behind gold-rimmed glasses.

At the funeral, this stepson in name only helped him to his feet. He did not call him “Stepmother” or “Concubine,” but simply said his name: “Shen Lansheng.”

Shen Lansheng knew perfectly well that his stepson, who had spent six years studying abroad, was no ordinary man.

But what he had already taken into his hands was not something he would ever give up again.

*

The day Gu Huaiqin returned to China, white funeral banners fluttered in the hall, and a faint orchid fragrance drifted through the smell of burning paper.

The first person he saw was not his father's memorial tablet, but the man kneeling before the coffin. Dressed in plain white mourning clothes, his slender waist cinched tight, tears glistening like pear blossoms in the rain, he looked just like a white magnolia blooming beside a grave.

Gu Huaiqin reached out to help this stepson’s nominal male stepmother to his feet. He had just one thought: The old man certainly knew how to pick them.

At first, he took Shen Lansheng for nothing more than a pitiful victim of feudal society. He had no desire to inherit the family business and planned to return to England as soon as the funeral was over.

But before long, Gu Huaiqin sensed that something was off.

The housekeeper and the accountant followed Shen Lansheng's instructions. The other concubines were close to him, his half-brother did his bidding, and his uncles watched his face before making a move. Even his usually strict grandmother treated him differently.

This seemingly frail stepmother from a feudal household had already quietly taken the entire Gu family into his hands.

Gu Huaiqin changed his mind. He stopped talking about returning to England and instead kept saying he would “inherit the family business.” Today, he reviewed the books; tomorrow, he visited family friends; the day after, he reorganized the textile mill. He played the part better than anyone.

*

Everyone in the Gu family thought the eldest young master had finally settled down and would uphold the family name.

That is, until one night, the stepson knocked on his stepmother's door long after dark.

Shen Lansheng opened the door in a thin robe, his slender waist appearing and disappearing in the lamplight. His voice was as soft as the spring rain in Jiangnan. “Huaiqin, what brings you here so late?”

Gu Huaiqin stepped over the threshold and took off his glasses, revealing eyes blazing with long-suppressed desire. “You know I don't want to inherit the family business. I only want you.”

Shen Lansheng placed a fingertip against his chest and gently pushed him back half a step. “The eldest young master should mind his manners. I am your stepmother, after all.”

Gu Huaiqin gripped his wrist and pressed him down onto the desk. “Then I hope Stepmother will show her stepson a little tenderness, too.”

Later, Shen Lansheng became the head of Jiangnan's largest industrial company, while Gu Huaiqin finally got his wish, holding him in his arms every night.

Refined scoundrel stepson x two-faced stepmother

Theme: Happiness is something you have to fight for yourself