The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 106: Retribution is Swift

Chapter 106: Chapter 106: Retribution is Swift

"Ziheng, actually, I’m not from this world. I was sent here by the heavens specifically to save you, take care of you, and accompany you."

Was she finally willing to tell him her origin?

Pei Ziheng pushed down his true feelings and lifted his lovely face, his expression full of confusion and curiosity.

"Then, will you leave? When will you leave?"

While asking with his mouth, his heart thought, now that you’re here, don’t even think about leaving. If you dare to leave, I’ll lock you up.

Shen Mingzhu, oblivious to the little devil hidden in her stepson’s heart, smiled warmly, "Don’t worry, I won’t leave until you become an adult."

"And after I grow up, will you still leave?"

Shen Mingzhu thought for a moment and said, "If you want me to stay, then I will stay forever."

Pei Ziheng’s eyes shone, "Really? Then I want you to stay with me forever, to be my mom for my whole life."

"Alright."

Shen Mingzhu was very gratified that her stepson was so easy to please, and couldn’t help but hold him in her arms.

Pei Ziheng quietly allowed her to hold him, a slight smile hooked on his lips.

It’s so good, he has a mom now, a mom that belongs only to him, unique in all the world.

"Mom."

Shen Mingzhu, hearing this for the first time, thought it was an illusion, and was slightly stunned.

Until—

"Mom."

The son in her arms called out again. Only then did Shen Mingzhu wake from her trance and realize that he was indeed calling her.

—

Watching his son and daughter-in-law walking out of the room hand in hand, Pei Yang, who was tying his apron and sitting in front of the dining table picking vegetables, felt a twinge of sourness in his heart.

It was his daughter-in-law, after all. Why should he have to scheme and coax just to hold her hand, while his lucky son could do it every day?

"Ziheng, come help pick vegetables."

Seeing both mother and son looking at him, Pei Yang started to nonsense with a straight face, "I won’t be home often in the future, so you’ll have to be the little man of the house and help out your mom."

Pei Ziheng took this to heart and walked over without a word.

Silly son, so easy to please. If only his daughter-in-law was just as easy to deceive.

Pei Yang looked towards his wife.

Shen Mingzhu was sitting on the sofa, watching TV while folding clothes. The garments, carrying the scent of soap and sunshine, were turned into neat little squares by her delicate and soft hands.

The evening sunlight streamed through the balcony, cast upon her fair and lovely face, making her look so gentle and beautiful.

Pei Yang was mesmerized, feeling he could never get enough of looking at her.

At dinner, he suggested taking a family portrait over the weekend.

Shen Mingzhu was noncommittal.

Pei Ziheng was young and had no say. Of course, he wouldn’t refuse either.

Before they knew it, the weekend came. After breakfast, the family of three dressed up nicely and left the house.

Since they were going for a photo, Shen Mingzhu dressed up specially and even put on light makeup. The father and son also looked extra dapper in the outfits she had arranged for them.

All three were outstanding looking people and after dressing up, they were even more of a sight, drawing the gazes of neighbors who kept their eyes on them until they had left the residential compound.

"What a pity, Pei Yang is such a handsome young man, to have such an issue at a young age."

"His delicate wife must be suffering. With a face and figure like that, many young men in the compound can’t take their eyes off her."

"Have you heard? Pei Yang’s son isn’t even his; he was picked up!"

"Sheesh, so he had it all planned? Couldn’t have his own, so he picked up someone else’s to raise as his, no wonder he didn’t get married at such an age."

"Just using a fake son to pretend, and to deceive a good girl into marrying him, it’s simply shameless!"

...

Besides the family portrait, each of them also took some individual and couple photos.

They didn’t finish until noon.

Pei Yang took the mother and son to a nice restaurant for lunch, then to the cinema for a movie afterward.

All the movie tickets were brought over by Pei Wenping, who would bring a substantial amount every so often, until they piled up like a mountain at home. Shen Mingzhu was even considering becoming a second-hand dealer.

By the time they returned home after the movie, it was almost evening.

There were many children in the family compound, so the residents’ committee built a special area for the kids to play in the southeast corner, complete with a sandbox, ping pong tables, horizontal bars, seesaws, and the like.

On days off or after school, the children always liked to play there.

Today was no different. A group of seven or eight children, aged five to ten, were gathered there, playing boisterously.

Someone saw Pei Ziheng returning and shouted at him loudly, "Pei Ziheng, come over—"

Pei Ziheng glanced over and then looked away, appearing utterly uninterested.

Shen Mingzhu, however, hoped her son would play more with other children his age and said, "Go play with everyone for a bit, get some exercise, don’t just mope around the house like an old man."

"Got it."

Seeing her son’s reluctance, Shen Mingzhu chuckled and patted him on the head.

"Good boy, I’ll make you sweet and sour pork tonight."

Pei Ziheng’s eyes lit up immediately, and he happily scampered off.

Pei Yang watched, both envious and jealous, thinking how nice it would be if his wife could cajole him like that.

——

A bunch of kids were playing with slingshots, aiming for the leaves of a banyan tree ten meters away, with the winner being the one who knocked down the most leaves.

Although there were no prizes or rewards, the world of children is pure and simple, and the glory of winning far outweighs any tangible reward.

Among the group, Pei Ziheng was one of the younger ones, but his aim was excellent, hitting the target nearly every time, leaving the other children thoroughly trounced.

Some kids, unable to save face, complained that they didn’t want to play with slingshots anymore and wanted to play something else.

After some discussion, they began to play hide and seek.

In Pei Ziheng’s eyes, hide and seek was absolutely the most boring game ever, bar none.

But with the thought of the delicious sweet and sour pork awaiting him that evening, he managed to suppress his impatience and went to find a place to hide.

He had just climbed into the banyan tree and hidden himself when he heard someone talking on the rooftop of the neighboring senior activity center.

"...I have no idea where Pei Yang found such a wild child. He couldn’t have paid for the kid, could he?"

"Hey, you can’t just say things like that. Trafficking people is a crime, and you can end up in jail for it."

Ma Sufen didn’t take it seriously but thought darkly about whether to secretly report it to the police. If the child really was bought by Pei Yang, then once Pei Yang was sent to jail, people in the compound would no longer be able to mock her son’s imprisonment.

However, she didn’t dare actually make the report.

Firstly, there was no certainty if Pei Ziheng was bought by Pei Yang, and if word got out, she could end up drowned in spit by the people of the compound.

Still, the thought of Pei Yang being impotent and unable to have a son gave Ma Sufen a schadenfreude thrill.

"Ah, it’s all fate. What’s the use of having a good eye and marrying a good wife if you still can’t produce a son? You can only raise someone else’s child and if its biological parents come looking, you’ve wasted all your efforts, like pouring water into a basket."

Shen Baolan chimed in, "Mom, don’t worry, I’ll make sure to give you a big, healthy grandson."

Someone teased, "Yo, Shuhuan’s wife, how can you be so sure it’s a boy? What if it’s a girl?"

"No way, I had Madame Ma do a reading, and she assured me it’s a boy!" she said, proudly rubbing her belly.

Although Ma Sufen didn’t like her daughter-in-law, Shen Baolan, she was still pleased to hear that the baby in her belly was a boy.

Now that there was a family planning policy in place, each household could only have one child, yet she might have two grandsons.

Maybe bringing this daughter-in-law into the family had some uses after all, especially since the fines for having an extra child weren’t cheap.

——

Seeing that it was getting late, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law happily prepared to go home and make dinner.

The staircase down from the building was outdoors with one side against a wall and the other side open.

Shen Baolan walked ahead with one hand on her waist and the other on the wall.

Ma Sufen followed behind, also holding onto the wall as she slowly descended the stairs.

No one noticed a white pebble fly out from the banyan tree and hit Ma Sufen right in the knee.

"Ah—"

Ma Sufen stumbled and was about to fall off the side of the staircase into open air when, in a moment of panic, she reached out to grab her daughter-in-law ahead.

Shen Baolan was thus dragged down, and together, they fell three meters from the staircase.

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