Chapter 69 – The Self-Pitying Stepsister in a Historical-Era Novel (END)

Ever since that incident where beauty saved the hero, Wu Yu and Nie Sheng had become an unofficial couple with a mutual understanding. Afterward, their interactions no longer needed to be secretive or overly cautious like before.

Wu Yu's coworker, Xu Yangzhu, even teased her: she and another colleague had tried matchmaking in earnest but failed, while Wu Yu, without even trying, ended up finding someone by accident.

Wu Yu only responded with a faint smile. She didn't want to say much about it—lest people think she was bragging.

Dating during this era was still quite innocent. Wu Yu and Nie Sheng had been seeing each other for half a year, and all they'd done in private was hold hands. As for hugging and kissing, Nie Sheng didn't dare cross that line.

Wu Yu didn't take the initiative either. After all, when it came to such things, if a woman was too eager, it could cheapen her. And besides, she wasn't the one losing out.

To be honest, Nie Sheng did have impure thoughts, but he wouldn't dare act on them. If he ever tried something before marriage, his parents would probably beat him black and blue together.

When Nie's parents found out their son finally had a girlfriend, they were overjoyed—the burden in their hearts finally lifted.

After all, Nie Sheng had gone twenty-two years without a single romantic inclination, always buried in his data and experiments, just like his father. His emotional stagnation had continued until Wu Yu came along and broke the stalemate.

In fact, in the previous timeline, Nie Sheng had lived his whole life alone, never finding the person who moved his heart.

Nie's mother had even warned him harshly in advance:

"If you can't bring this girl home, don't bother calling yourself my son."

As for Nie Sheng's feelings for Wu Yu—they were beyond words. On the very first day they became a couple, he handed over all his savings to her.

Wu Yu did a token refusal but eventually accepted it. After all, with the money in her hands, it would make any man think twice before trying anything shady.

Of course, she still gave him a small monthly allowance for spending.

This arrangement made Nie Sheng absolutely ecstatic. To him, her accepting his finances meant marriage wasn't far away.

Wu Yu did a quick estimate—Nie Sheng had saved over 2,000 yuan. For someone who had only worked for two years, that was impressive.

She later found out that Nie Sheng was an engineer at a national research institute, which explained his high salary.

Though this amount still couldn't compare to Wu Yu's savings of over 3,000 yuan, hers came from her father's ultimate sacrifice, while Nie Sheng had earned his with his own hands.

Still, Wu Yu felt no guilt or inferiority about it. In her view, if she were willing to take risks on the black market, money would be no trouble at all. But she chose not to.

When Wu Yu turned 19, the two of them went and officially registered their marriage. As for the wedding ceremony, they planned to wait until Nie's father finished work in the lab.

Before that could happen, however, an unexpected event threw their plans off course: Wu Yu got pregnant.

She was nearly in despair. Every time she and Nie Sheng were together, he used protection. Who knew things would still go sideways?

Wu Yu gritted her teeth internally:

"It must be the poor quality of family planning products in this world! Those little 'tadpoles' still broke through the line. Too bad I couldn't use the ones in my space—this wouldn't have happened otherwise."

Wu Yu had originally planned to take the college entrance exam once it was reinstated, graduate, and then consider having kids. But now the deed was done—there was no turning back.

When Nie Sheng saw her low mood, he got so scared, thinking she didn't want the child. He practically burst into tears.

Wu Yu was left speechless. She finally pulled out the big guns:

"If you keep crying like this, what if our kid picks up your habit?"

Nie Sheng immediately stopped sniffling and beamed with joy.

During her pregnancy, Nie Sheng doted on her like an empress. He took charge of all her meals, even preparing lunch ahead of time and delivering it to her at work.

He used up his annual leave to care for her, and later, after his mother returned, she took over.

But Nie Sheng wasn't idle—he kept her company on walks, massaged her legs at night… In short, aside from being unable to bear the child himself, he took care of everything.

The only painful part was Wu Yu's horrible morning sickness in the first few months. She would throw up everything she ate and even dry heave until her stomach produced bile.

If she hadn't secretly been drinking glucose solution from her space, she likely wouldn't have been able to keep the pregnancy.

Later, a hospital check-up revealed that the original host's lingering internal injuries hadn't fully healed; her recovery in recent years was only superficial. That's why the pregnancy was so difficult.

When Nie Sheng saw the state she was in, he slapped himself several times right in the hospital and swore to Wu Yu:

"One child. That's it."

He then quietly underwent a vasectomy, without saying a word to Wu Yu.

It wasn't until she noticed his pale face and questioned him repeatedly that he finally told her the truth.

After this, Wu Yu's impression of Nie Sheng improved even more. Where there had once been more admiration, now there was affection.

As for 100% romantic love? That was unlikely. Wu Yu's greatest love would always be herself. She could only ever give herself her full, unconditional devotion.

In the later stages of her pregnancy, the baby was very active, often kicking and punching her belly. Nie Sheng grew a bit resentful of the little troublemaker.

But once their son was born, looking just like Wu Yu, Nie Sheng instantly turned into a doting "dadzilla" and never again mentioned discipline.

As for Nie's father and mother, they doted on their grandson even more than their son. If Wu Yu hadn't been firm with her parenting, the kid would've likely grown up a spoiled little brat.

Two years later, Wu Yu successfully passed the college entrance exam and was admitted to the top university for traditional Chinese medicine. Sadly, she wasn't especially gifted in medical studies—she absorbed about 40–50% of what her teachers taught, with her strongest subject being acupuncture.

But Wu Yu was satisfied. After all, she hadn't studied medicine to become a legendary master. She just wanted to gain another practical skill.

After graduating and starting work in a hospital, Wu Yu gradually heard updates about the Sun family.

It was said that Sun Yan was later forced by his father to marry a wife. But due to lingering psychological issues, he was mocked by her for being "useless," and they eventually divorced—leaving behind a child.

As for Sun Lanting, she returned to the city and took over Yang Mother's job, but paid no mind to her biological mother's well-being. Yang Mother spent her final years in misery and neglect.

Wu Yu only treated these stories as idle gossip. As long as the Sun family didn't come to bother her, she had no intention of wasting any energy on them.

In this lifetime, Wu Yu was doing pretty well: her in-laws were sensible and helped care for the child after retirement, and Nie Sheng handled the household affairs.

The only regret was that Nie Sheng, due to his poor health, passed away before she did.