The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 116: Refusing to Team Up with Yan Yi

Chapter 116: Chapter 116: Refusing to Team Up with Yan Yi

"First, isn’t a son considered family? Second, can’t I bring my son along on a mission?"

The two people whom Shen Mingzhu had rebuffed were left speechless, and the atmosphere became somewhat stiff.

Sun Feifei laughed and tried to defuse the awkwardness, "Shen Mingzhu, we were just joking. Why take it so seriously?"

Shen Mingzhu gave Sun Feifei a cold glance, "Funny, is it?"

Sun Feifei was embarrassed.

"I’m asking you, is it funny? How is it funny, tell me."

A friend who came with Sun Feifei stood up, "Hey, what kind of attitude is that? A bunch of adults are out to have fun, you bringing a child is indeed a burden, can’t people even make a remark?"

"How is my son a burden? Who did he burden? Burdened you? Or did he burden her, Sun Feifei?"

"Forget it."

Sun Feifei pulled back her friend, in a tone of one bearing insults and seeking to calm things down, "Shen Mingzhu, let’s just say I spoke out of turn..."

"What do you mean let’s just say you spoke out of turn, didn’t you speak wrongly? Did I break any rules by bringing my son? Which rule did I break?"

"No rules broken."

Yan Yi stood up to settle the dispute, "Family members have no restrictions; spouses, friends, siblings or children—all are fine, so there’s no need to dwell on this. If everyone is worried about being burdened, how about this, later on, we’ll just team up with Shen Mingzhu and her son."

No one else seemed to mind, except Sun Feifei, who looked sullen, her eyes filled with silent resentment towards Shen Mingzhu.

"I refuse," Pei Ziheng spoke up.

Most people looked at the mother and son with incomprehension or even slight condemnation, thinking that Pei Ziheng’s unruliness was due to Shen Mingzhu’s lack of discipline.

Only Sun Feifei secretly rejoiced, hoping that Pei Ziheng would continue to make trouble, ideally causing Yan Yi to get angry and change his mind.

Yan Yi walked up to Pei Ziheng, leaned over slightly, his tone very gentle, "Why don’t you want to team up with me?"

Pei Ziheng thought to himself that it was obviously because Yan Yi had ill intentions towards his mother; he said solemnly, "You and your friends, uncles, you all look like you’ve been spoiled and don’t do any work. If we team up with you, won’t my mom end up doing the work of four people? She’ll be worked to death."

Pei Ziheng was just short of explicitly using the word "disdain."

Even Yan Yi had no comeback for that reason.

Sun Feifei saw an opportunity and immediately chimed in, "Shen Mingzhu coming with her child, it would be better to pair up with someone like Xiangying, a husband and wife team. Yan Yi, you should team up with us."

Sun Feifei’s friend hurriedly agreed, "Yes, the two of you, big men, teaming up with a married woman isn’t quite proper, it might raise eyebrows."

Pei Ziheng was confused: "If that’s the case, then Uncle Yan definitely can’t team up with you either. A man and a widow being together, Uncle Yan won’t be able to clear his name no matter how many mouths he has."

Everyone was amused into laughter.

Sun Feifei blushed with embarrassment, angry yet not wanting to quibble with a child for fear of appearing graceless.

Yan Yi, amused, raised his hand, wanting to ruffle Pei Ziheng’s head but Pei Ziheng dodged away.

He didn’t mind and stood straight up, saying to Shen Mingzhu, "Let’s find a place to sit first. There are still people yet to arrive. Once everyone is here, I will announce today’s activities."

Shen Mingzhu nodded and led Pei Ziheng over to Xiangying’s side.

Seeing her approach, Xiangying waved happily, "Mingzhu, come over and sit."

After Shen Mingzhu sat down, Xiangying introduced her husband to Shen Mingzhu.

Once the greetings were exchanged, Xiangying couldn’t help but size up Pei Ziheng, praising aloud, "Your son is really handsome; he doesn’t look much like you, does he take after his dad?"

Shen Mingzhu looked worriedly at Pei Ziheng and said, "Not at all, his chin is quite like mine."

Perhaps influenced by Shen Mingzhu’s words, after another careful look at Pei Ziheng, Xiangying laughed and nodded.

"There is some resemblance indeed, and your son’s skin tone takes after you, both of you have such fair and tender skin, like a peeled egg."

Hearing Xiangying say this, Pei Ziheng turned to look at Shen Mingzhu beside him, secret delight surfacing in his dark eyes.

Sensing his thoughts, Shen Mingzhu warmly pulled him into her embrace, "Of course, my son naturally resembles me."

Pei Ziheng kept his lips pursed without speaking, yet his heart felt as sweet and happy as if he’d just eaten candy.

It turned out there were parts of him that were like his mother.

It wasn’t long before everyone had arrived, and after allowing family members to introduce themselves, Yan Yi announced the content of today’s activities.

Do it yourself for self-reliance.

The group members participating in the activity totaled sixteen people, and including family members, there were thirty-two people in all, eight people per table, just enough for four tables.

Each pair of trainees and their family members formed a team, which needed to prepare a dish that could serve the people at all four tables.

There were also restrictions on the types of dishes: two cold dishes, four hot dishes, one dessert, and one soup.

First, the teams were formed.

Shen Mingzhu and Xiangying naturally ended up in the same team.

The other trainees quickly formed teams as well, and whether by fate or design, Yan Yi and Sun Feifei were left over.

The girl that Sun Feifei brought was named Zhao Fang, and the friend Yan Yi brought was named Ning Yuan.

Truth be told, the combination of these good-looking guys and pretty girls was quite a feast for the eyes.

It’s just that, it felt like the team of Sun Feifei wasn’t here to take part in the activity, but to get a date and find men.

It was one thing for Sun Feifei to have notions about Yan Yi, but Zhao Fang even started taking an interest in Ning Yuan. Her little glances kept shooting his way non-stop, practically drooling over him.

Tsk.

Once the teams were decided, the next step was to discuss what each team would make.

Although Shen Mingzhu was skilled in cooking, she came with the intent to have fun today.

April was a time when all things were coming back to life, everywhere was lush and vibrant, even the wildflowers by the roadside were blooming especially fresh and beautifully. Spending the weekend in such a place was simply too comfortable to describe.

For this reason, she had even worn a new dress. She didn’t want to be smoked by cooking fumes and end up smelling like oil, so she quickly discussed it with Xiangying and snatched the opportunity to make the cold dish.

She had it all planned out; she would make a raw radish salad.

She would choose red-skinned radishes, slice them into thin strips, marinate them with salt for half an hour, squeeze out the excess water, then add green onion, ginger, garlic, vinegar, soy sauce for mixing, and finally, a bit of sugar to enhance the flavor.

The radish salad would be crisp and appetizing once done.

When the others heard about the dish that Shen Mingzhu’s team was making, they teased her, "Shen Mingzhu, you’re really taking it easy, aren’t you? Mixing radish strips is such a simple task. Even if it’s inconvenient with a child, you can’t just do something so perfunctory."

"Exactly."

Several of the trainees echoed the sentiment, dissatisfied. After all, everyone wanted to make something easy and convenient.

To be fair, in the end, it was decided that the dish each team would make would be determined by drawing lots.

Shen Mingzhu was lucky, managing to draw the lot for cold dishes, which left the others with no room to complain.

Although the farm had a vegetable garden and a breeding area, not every kind of ingredient was available; some that weren’t had to be purchased down the mountain.

Therefore, Yan Yi asked each team to list the ingredients and condiments they needed so that the farm staff could prepare accordingly.

Shen Mingzhu was the one who decided on the dish for her team, so Xiangying left the task of listing the ingredients to her. Xiangying, on her own, went off with her husband to find out what the other teams were making.

Before long, Xiangying returned, excitedly pulling Shen Mingzhu aside to gossip: "Sun Feifei’s team also drew cold dishes like us, but guess what? They thought cold dishes were too simple, so they specially swapped with another team for a hot dish. They’re going to make squirrel-shaped mandarin fish!"

Frankly, Shen Mingzhu quite admired Sun Feifei for choosing such a complicated dish just to show off to the man she liked.

But, she also thought Sun Feifei was pretty foolish.

Given Yan Yi’s background and family situation, his standards for a partner definitely wouldn’t hinge on culinary skills.

If he wanted delicious home cooking, wouldn’t it be nicer to just hire a personal chef?

However, this was none of her business; she was only keen on being a happy onlooker.

Meanwhile, Ning Yuan was also murmuring complaints to Yan Yi about Sun Feifei.

"Seriously, what’s wrong with her? I specifically arranged a simple and relaxing task for our team, and she goes off and brings back something troublesome."

Yan Yi responded indifferently, "If she likes making things hard for herself, why should you worry?"

"I’m not worried. She can deal with the trouble she sought out by herself; I’m just waiting to eat."

Yan Yi remained noncommittal.

Ning Yuan glanced over at Shen Mingzhu and said with a teasing expression, "That Miss Shen, what’s going on with you two? You were eagerly helping her out earlier, and just now, you quietly pulled some strings to secure the cold dish for her. Sheesh, when did you become so charitable?"

Yan Yi’s eyes carried a hint of amusement, "Do you have a problem with that?"

Ning Yuan held his chin, eyeing him intently, "Something’s not right. You’re really not acting normal."

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