The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 100: The Forceful Kiss

Chapter 100: Chapter 100: The Forceful Kiss

"Zhou Shuhuan, you coward who hits women, if you’re so capable, go strut around outside. You’re useless and unattractive; marrying you was just my bad luck for eight lifetimes..."

"Stop making a scene and come back home with me!"

"I’m not going back. I just want to make a scene right here to let everyone know what a piece of trash you, Zhou Shuhuan, are..."

Listening to the intense arguing between Zhou Shuhuan and Shen Baolan outside the restaurant, Shen Mingzhu couldn’t help but glance at the man who was calmly sipping soup.

"Aren’t you going to go out and try to stop them?"

"It’s tough even for a judge to settle domestic affairs; what can I do? Even if Shuhuan and I are good brothers, it doesn’t mean I should interfere in his family matters."

That was true.

The two of them sat there in the restaurant, enjoying the drama, while the restaurant owner and waiters peeked from behind the curtains.

After about seven or eight minutes, the arguing outside the restaurant finally subsided.

The shop owner and the waiters went back to their work.

After sitting for another two minutes and guessing that Zhou Shuhuan and Shen Baolan had probably left, Shen Mingzhu yawned and got up to signal to the man that it was time to go home.

After walking a few steps, she realized that the scoundrel of a man was still sitting firmly in place.

Shen Mingzhu turned back, "Let’s go."

Pei Yang gazed at her with deep eyes, "I’m dizzy. I can’t walk. I need someone to hold my hand."

"..."

Shen Mingzhu gritted her teeth, turned back, and reached out her hand to the man.

Pei Yang took her hand, his eyes bright with joy as he stood up.

Once they stepped out of the restaurant hand in hand, they found that Shen Baolan hadn’t left; instead, she was sitting alone on the curb, wiping away tears.

Zhou Shuhuan was nowhere to be seen; he probably went back on his own.

Shen Mingzhu felt no sympathy for Shen Baolan, a pregnant woman left on the street in the middle of the night. She just glanced twice and was ready to leave.

But when Shen Baolan saw the two of them, she called out loudly in their direction, "Pei Yang, come over here and help me up—"

Shen Mingzhu turned her head to look at the man beside her.

Pei Yang showed no sign of stopping. Instead, he grasped her hand tighter and quickened their pace.

"Wife, hurry up. It’s freezing."

Although it was March, the winter in Fengcheng was long, and the temperature was still close to zero degrees at night.

"Pei Yang, my stomach hurts—"

Seeing that the two continued to ignore her, Shen Baolan’s cries became even louder and more pitiful.

Pei Yang still didn’t stop but instead started to jog while pulling Shen Mingzhu along.

Soon, they ran into the residential compound. The gatekeeper, seeing them return hand in hand, cheerfully praised their affection for each other.

Pei Yang gave the gatekeeper all the loose cigarettes he got from his buddies, making the gatekeeper grin from ear to ear.

After entering the residential compound and walking just a few steps, Pei Yang suddenly sat down on the flower bed and refused to move.

Shen Mingzhu looked at him in bewilderment, "What are you doing sitting here? Aren’t you going home? Come on."

"I don’t want to go back."

"Well, you can sit here all you want. I’m going home."

As soon as Shen Mingzhu finished speaking and started walking away, Pei Yang grabbed her wrist. He used just a little force, and she lost her balance, falling right into his lap.

Shen Mingzhu tried to get up, but the man’s arms were like iron rings, firmly wrapped around her waist, immobilizing her. Meanwhile, he rested his large, fuzzy head on her shoulder, holding her as if she were a velveteen doll.

"Wife."

It could have been the nearness or the night, but his voice sounded somewhat forlorn and lonely.

Feeling a pang of softness, Shen Mingzhu stopped struggling.

It was cold at night, but it felt quite warm with the man holding her like this.

"I will work hard to make money in the future, earn a lot of money, buy you a big house, and let you live a good life. You won’t have to be like at your parents’ home, where you didn’t even have your own room."

"I will treat you well. Whatever you want, I’ll buy it for you. Let’s have a good life together, alright?"

The man leaned against her shoulder, speaking in low tones near her ear. His hoarse voice grazed her eardrum, making Shen Mingzhu’s ears itch, stirring up unusual feelings inside her.

"Pei Yang, let’s go back. It’s getting late."

"I’m not going back!"

The man’s tone carried a petulant edge, like a child denied candy.

Shen Mingzhu glanced at the man’s eyes, "But I want to go back, I’m tired."

Pei Yang was looking at her too, his voice laced with grievance, "So you don’t care about me anymore? I am your man, can you not even care about your man? How could you be like this? You’re so bad!"

It was unclear whether it was the alcohol getting to his head or his emotions spiraling out of control, but Pei Yang’s tone was noticeably extreme.

Shen Mingzhu tried to soothe him, "I’m not ignoring you, come back with me, okay?"

"Then answer me first, are you willing to live a good life with me? Answer me."

Shen Mingzhu thought to herself that even if she was willing, the opportunity was unlikely to come. Who knew whether he would live for a few more days or months?

Shen Mingzhu had not anticipated the scoundrel to launch a sneak attack while she was distracted.

Lips heavy with the scent of alcohol suddenly covered hers, and before she could react, her head was held in place.

The man’s breath, tainted with alcohol, filled all her senses.

It was hard to tell if it was the effects of the alcohol or the lack of oxygen, but Shen Mingzhu’s mind felt fuzzy, incapable of any thought or reaction, as she just sensed the man as if he was about to devour her alive.

"Shen Mingzhu!!!"

Just as she was nearing suffocation, a sudden explosive voice by her ear snapped her back to reality.

She shoved the man away and stood up from his lap.

As she stood upright, Pei Yang also rose, his towering frame completely blocking her.

It was as if he was shielding her modesty.

Indeed, that was Pei Yang’s intention. In this era, people were not as open-minded as they would be forty years later. Even between husband and wife, intimate acts in public were frowned upon.

In Pei Yang’s heart, his wife was fragile and shy by nature, and being seen in such a situation would surely embarrass her beyond measure.

Hence, his first instinct was to shield her from ridicule by standing in front of her.

Shen Baolan glared at Pei Yang, fuming with rage, "What are you doing!?"

Pei Yang coldly replied, "It’s none of your business."

"Bullshit!"

Shen Baolan was beside herself with anger.

She was so upset it made her want to go mad.

Upon witnessing Pei Yang embracing and kissing Shen Mingzhu, she felt envy and the bitterness of betrayal.

She thought Shen Mingzhu was having an affair, stealing her man.

Pei Yang had never liked Shen Baolan opposing his wife at every turn. Now, he was even more convinced that Shen Baolan was troublesome and didn’t want to waste more words on her, turning to leave while wrapping his arm around Shen Mingzhu.

Shen Baolan was desperate.

If they were already burning with passion outside, what would stop them from going even further once they got home?

"Shen Mingzhu! You stop right there!"

Seeing that Shen Mingzhu ignored her, Shen Baolan moved to chase after them, but Zhou Shuhuan emerged from nowhere and dragged her away.

"Zhou Shuhuan, let go of me!"

As Shen Baolan struggled and looked back, all she could see was Pei Yang’s large frame enveloping Shen Mingzhu’s petite figure as the intimate couple headed home.

On the way back home, Shen Mingzhu’s emotions gradually calmed down.

Upon entering the door, before Pei Yang could speak, she said goodnight first and went straight back to her room, bolting the door behind her.

Watching the closed door, Pei Yang’s mood felt as if it had shifted from the warmth of spring to the snow-filled chill of winter, cold and bleak.

And inside the room, Shen Mingzhu was far from as calm as she appeared; her heart still pounded fiercely, and when she closed her eyes, the palpitations from the man’s kiss uncontrollably surged. Even her body seemed to retain his scent.

It aggravated her tremendously.

Beyond irritation with the man’s coercive kiss, what annoyed her more was not just her lack of rejection, but also a certain sense of reminiscence and enjoyment.

——

"Zhou Shuhuan, you son of a bitch, you actually hit a woman, I won’t stay with you—"

The shrill cries of despair woke up the entire residence of the Zhou family building. Closed doors opened one after another as heads popped out to catch a glimpse of the commotion.

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