The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 105 Pei Ziheng is Actually Not Pei Yang’s Biological Son

Chapter 105: Chapter 105 Pei Ziheng is Actually Not Pei Yang’s Biological Son

"Ziheng’s mom, Ziheng’s mom——"

After dropping Pei Ziheng off at kindergarten, Shen Mingzhu was getting ready to head home when she heard Jiang Jing calling her from behind.

She stopped and turned around.

Jiang Jing caught up in a hurry, her face twisted awkwardly, "Ziheng’s mom, let’s walk together, I have something to say to you."

Shen Mingzhu remained noncommittal.

Looking around and seeing that there weren’t many people nearby, Jiang Jing leaned in close to Shen Mingzhu and said in a volume only they could hear, voicing her grievances, "Ziheng’s mom, the thing about you and Pei Yang, I swear I didn’t spread the word. That day I just casually mentioned it to Tao Mingming’s mom. If I had known she had such a big mouth, I definitely wouldn’t have told her."

Shen Mingzhu turned to glance at Jiang Jing, sneering inwardly.

She initially thought Jiang Jing had come to apologize, and even considered giving her a chance.

To tell the truth, she had a decent impression of Jiang Jing before, and had even thought they could become close girlfriends.

Ha~

Shen Mingzhu pinched her thigh hard, forced her eyes to redden, and then, under Jiang Jing’s puzzled gaze, she stormed off toward Wei Hong, also known as Tao Mingming’s mom, not far ahead.

"Mingming’s mom, I never offended you, so why did you go around telling everyone that Pei Yang and I are sleeping in separate beds?"

Wei Hong, engrossed in a conversation with a mom she was on good terms with, was caught off guard by Shen Mingzhu’s abrupt accusation and became furious on the spot.

"Ziheng’s mom, you need to show evidence when you make accusations, when did I spread any gossip about you?"

Shen Mingzhu pointed at the dumbstruck Jiang Jing behind her, "It was Wa Shiting’s mom who said it. She told me she didn’t spread the word to anyone else, only you knew. If it wasn’t you who told, then who else could it be?"

Jiang Jing never expected Shen Mingzhu to confront Wei Hong so directly without playing by the rules, and was momentarily stupefied.

Wei Hong had a fiery temper, and upon hearing Jiang Jing dragging her into the mess, she immediately confronted Jiang Jing.

"Jiang Jing, are you crazy? You can’t keep your mouth shut, and then you throw the blame on others, have some shame!"

Jiang Jing’s face turned beet red as she retorted, "I only told you about this incident..."

"Go to hell, your mother-in-law was there too when you told me that day! You whitewash yourself completely, and then paint others as the villains..."

Soon, parents who had finished dropping off their kids and were preparing to return home, as well as bystanders, surrounded the bickering duo, forming three layers inside and three outside to watch the drama.

Shen Mingzhu flicked her sleeves and walked home, leaving without a trace.

——

When she got home, Pei Yang was mopping the floor, doing the cleaning.

Seeing her return, he casually took out a pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet and placed them in front of her.

After changing her shoes, Shen Mingzhu stared at Pei Yang’s back as he mopped and began to talk about the argument she had with Shen Baolan that morning.

After listening, Pei Yang, without lifting his head, replied, "I’ll go over to Shuhuan’s place tonight and talk to him about this, tell him to take care of his wife."

Shen Mingzhu walked carefully on the dry parts of the floor in her slippers.

"Now, everyone in the housing complex knows about your problem, don’t you have anything to say?"

Pei Yang straightened up, leaning on the mop as he looked at her with a half-smile, "Whether I’m good or not, you’d know if you tried."

Shen Mingzhu glanced at him, her cheeks flushed with a rosy glow, making Pei Yang’s heart tickle as if a kitten’s paws were scratching it.

"That day the soothsayer said you are still that, is it true?"

Originally, Shen Mingzhu thought that the soothsayer was deliberately brought by Shen Baolan to irritate her, but today, Shen Baolan suddenly brought up Pei Ziheng’s origins with such conviction that it made her doubt whether what the soothsayer said might be true.

Seeing her inquire, Pei Yang didn’t hide anything; he sat down and told her all about Pei Ziheng’s origins.

Pei Ziheng was actually not Pei Yang’s biological son.

It took Shen Mingzhu quite a while to digest this fact.

Pei Ziheng was the orphan of Pei Yang’s platoon leader from his time in the army. His mother had died from complications after giving birth to Ziheng. Ziheng was then given to his uncle to raise, but his uncle’s family already had several children and was so poor that they could hardly make ends meet and could not afford to raise Ziheng.

When Pei Ziheng went to deliver the condolence money, the six-month-old was as skinny as a kitten. Not bearing to see that, Pei Yang brought him back home.

"The platoon leader once saved my life. By raising Ziheng and preserving his family line, I have repaid his kindness."

"Does Ziheng not have any other relatives?"

"His biological grandparents are no longer alive. He has just one uncle, who with his own children already struggles to find enough food, is unable to care for Ziheng. The relatives on his mother’s side are in the same situation, each poorer than the last."

Saying they were poor, but how much could a baby possibly eat? The real reason was that they simply did not want to take on this responsibility without any compensation.

"From now on, Ziheng will be my own son."

Upon hearing her words, Pei Yang laughed, "From the day I brought Ziheng home, I have considered him my own son. You are my wife, so my son is of course also your son."

Shen Mingzhu didn’t respond, but thought to herself, your son is your son, my son is my son.

They are not the same.

Previously, although she called Pei Ziheng her child, she mostly saw him as the villain from the book, intent on correcting his ways so that he wouldn’t end up with the tragic fate described in the book.

But now, she was determined to treat Pei Ziheng as her own child, to protect him with her wings, to care for him with all her heart, and to help him grow up healthy.

These two attitudes were different.

The former was out of a sense of duty and responsibility, while the latter was a genuine desire to care for Pei Ziheng selflessly.

---

In the afternoon, after picking Pei Ziheng up from kindergarten and bringing him home, Shen Mingzhu took him to her room to have a private talk.

"Ziheng, I have something very important to tell you. Before I say it, I want you to know that no matter what happens in the future, you are my son, and I am your mother. I will always be by your side, understand?"

Pei Ziheng nodded, his dark eyes sparkling with bits of light, like twinkling stars in the night sky.

Shen Mingzhu gently, slowly revealed the secret of his origin to Pei Ziheng.

She had thought long and hard before making this decision.

Although Pei Ziheng was only five years old, his mind was much more mature than those of other children his age.

Moreover, with Shen Baolan’s indiscretion, it was only a matter of time before Pei Ziheng’s origins would become common knowledge. Rather than letting Pei Ziheng hear rumors about his birth from strangers and be psychologically affected, it was better for her to tell him.

"Ziheng, your biological father was an extraordinary man, a martyr, a hero worthy of respect from all of us. Even Pei Dad’s life was saved by him. And your biological mother, she didn’t mean to leave you. She gave her life for yours. She loved you very much."

"Pei Dad and I love you too. Although you no longer have your biological parents, you still have us. Other children only have one set of parents, but you have two dads and two moms. You are more fortunate than they are."

These arguments, which Shen Mingzhu had racked her brains to prepare over a day, seemed like childish fibs to Pei Ziheng.

But he still listened intently to every word.

He already knew he wasn’t Pei Yang’s biological son in his past life.

All he cared about was whether the woman before him would continue to treat him well after discovering he was not biologically related to the Pei family.

"...Ziheng, I’ll tell you a secret, a secret only the two of us know, one that can’t be told to a third person."

"Okay."

Pei Ziheng lowered his thick eyelashes, concealing the unusual gleam in his eyes.

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