Chapter 217: Heavens, How Was Mrs. Ma PUA’d to This Extent? Ridiculous

"Granted, this is all very esoteric stuff, and no young people today know how to do it, but you can’t be so sure about the older generation."

"Whatever she believes, she’ll try to do to you. I’m just analyzing what she might do, not whether these things actually exist."

Gu Shengsheng said.

Mrs. Ma stood frozen, at a loss.

"Miss Gu, what you’re saying... it’s terrifying. My family... I’ve been married for almost ten years, and my mother-in-law has lived with me for so long. I can’t believe she would do something like this..." As she spoke, she started to cry.

Gu Shengsheng said, "Whether you believe it or not, the most important thing you should be doing right now isn’t standing here crying."

"Then what should I do? Miss Gu, you’re telling me that my mother-in-law, who has been so good to me, is a problem. I just can’t accept it."

Gu Shengsheng said, "Well, you can test her. For example, pretend you’ve lost this necklace and see how your mother-in-law reacts."

Just as Gu Shengsheng was about to say more, Mrs. Ma’s phone rang. "Hello, Mom..."

"Oh, you’re back? I’ll come down to get you."

As she spoke, Gu Shengsheng came out with her. Mrs. Ma said, "Miss Gu, you should go now. My mother-in-law is back."

"I’m sorry, Miss Gu, for the poor hospitality. If my mother-in-law found out I’ve been seeing outsiders these past two days, she’d be upset." Mrs. Ma’s tone was somewhat subservient.

The more Mrs. Ma acted like this, the more Gu Shengsheng felt something was wrong. ’She’s been completely gaslighted!’

She sighed and said, "Okay. Switch to the video call. I’ll take a walk in a nearby park, and I’ll listen in with my viewers. You can use a Bluetooth earbud to hear what I’m saying."

"If anything unusual happens, don’t panic."

"Okay." She nodded, still looking emotionally unstable.

Gu Shengsheng squeezed her hand. "If you want your child to be safe, you have to run this test. Anything that could harm your child must be thrown away. You are a mother, and you are your own person, not just someone’s daughter-in-law."

"Okay!" She nodded, quickly wiping away her tears.

Then she went out to greet her mother-in-law.

Gu Shengsheng found a bench to sit on and watched the situation unfold through the livestream’s video feed.

—

After Mrs. Ma helped her mother-in-law back inside, the old woman saw the necklace on the table and immediately picked it up to put it on her.

"This is such a precious thing. Do you know how much I paid to have this blessed? Why aren’t you wearing it properly? It’s to keep you safe." She urged earnestly, her face filled with worry.

Mrs. Ma avoided her gaze and said, "I’m sorry, Mom."

"I wasn’t feeling well, so I just..." She still didn’t know how to say she didn’t want to wear it.

Her mother-in-law fastened the necklace for her and said, "My dear, you must remember, I had this blessed for you. It cost so much money, not to mention all the effort. You can’t just toss it aside. How could you face us if you lost it?"

"The baby is almost due. This necklace will protect your child."

Just when Mrs. Ma didn’t know what to do, Gu Shengsheng’s voice came through: "She’s trying to numb you. Try voicing your own opinion."

Mrs. Ma clutched the newly fastened necklace at her throat and looked at her mother-in-law. "Mom... I really don’t want to wear it anymore. Can I just keep it at home?"

"You..." The mother-in-law was instantly upset. "How could I have such an unfilial daughter-in-law? Don’t you know we’re doing all of this for your own good?"

Gu Shengsheng could clearly hear the gaslighting, and the viewers also found it outrageous:

"Oh my god, I thought this mother-in-law was a good person, but it turns out she’s so oppressive..."

"I have a feeling there’s definitely something wrong with that necklace. The mother-in-law is shady."

"Looking forward to what happens next."

"..."

By now, 400,000 people were watching the livestream. Some were there for the drama, some were hoping for a ghost story, and others were watching to see if the streamer would get arrested for promoting feudal superstitions.

Gu Shengsheng continued, "Mrs. Ma, you can now try asking her what would happen if you don’t go to the hospital tomorrow."

"Because if she really plans on using Mr. Gu’s resurrection technique or something similar, the birth has to happen at a specific time. Tomorrow is the first day of the lunar month. The day after is not an auspicious day."

In reality, Gu Shengsheng was worried that the mother-in-law would force Mrs. Ma to have a C-section tomorrow, which would also increase the risk to her life.

But she hadn’t voiced this suspicion yet. Saying it now would only add to Mrs. Ma’s anxiety.

Mrs. Ma gave an imperceptible nod. Then, looking at her mother-in-law, she feigned a rare burst of anger.

"Mom! I already said I don’t want to wear it, so stop tormenting me!"

After saying this, she snatched the necklace from her neck and ran back to her room.

Once she was back in her room, Gu Shengsheng instructed, "Don’t move. Don’t open the door, and don’t show any weakness. Let’s see how she reacts."

Mrs. Ma hid by the door, listening to the sounds outside. Just as expected, she heard her mother-in-law crying and listing all the ways she had failed in her duties as a daughter-in-law.

Then, after about twenty minutes, her mother-in-law went into the hallway to take a phone call.

This time, Gu Shengsheng didn’t say anything, but Mrs. Ma already sensed something was wrong and couldn’t hold herself back.

She crept out and followed her toward the hallway.

Just as she got there, she heard her mother-in-law say to the person on the other end, "She’ll definitely be at the hospital tomorrow. Just be ready then."

The moment she finished speaking, the mother-in-law turned and saw her. "What is it?"

"Why did you come out here? Are you here to apologize to me?"

Mrs. Ma’s expression was complicated. "Mom, you just said to go to the hospital tomorrow. What for?"

"You misheard. It has nothing to do with you. I was just watching Douyin and repeating the lines."

She held up her phone, which was playing one of those cringey, low-budget short dramas popular with older people.

Mrs. Ma took the opportunity to say, "Mom, I’ve thought about it, and you were right. This necklace is a good thing. I’ll wear it."

The mother-in-law nodded, her face beaming with joy. "I knew it. You’ve always been so obedient. Today was just strange. Maybe your emotions are a little unstable because of the pregnancy."

Then she looked at her with great concern.

"Mom, sometimes I even feel that when you look at the baby in my belly, you’re not looking forward to *this* baby, but looking through it at something else."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" she said with a laugh. "Don’t say such silly things."

"Mom, have you always wanted a grandson? Because I have a feeling I’m carrying your granddaughter."

"Don’t be silly. I’ll love the baby whether it’s a boy or a girl," her mother-in-law said, beaming.

Hearing this exchange, the viewers in the livestream chat started to waver again:

"Streamer, she obviously seems like a normal mother-in-law! And she doesn’t seem to favor boys over girls. Did you make the wrong call?"

"Yeah, I think she seems pretty nice. Maybe they just need to talk it out instead of all this testing. They’re family, after all."

"Streamer, stop trying to sow discord. Seeing you like this today makes me not want to be a die-hard fan anymore."

"Streamer, you’ve already lost 20,000 followers."

"..."