The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 156: Leaving a Will

Chapter 156: Chapter 156: Leaving a Will

He’s dead?

Just as Pei Yang was horrified to see his own funeral, he suddenly heard voices outside the hall of the wake.

He hurried outside and was overjoyed to discover it was his wife.

Wife!

But no matter how loudly he yelled, she couldn’t hear him, instead talking with a man in a sad tone.

He recognized the man, it was Yan Yi who had previously given his wife a lift.

Just as he tried to get closer to hear what they were talking about, he suddenly saw Yan Yi wrap his arms around his wife.

Let go of her!

Pei Yang, like an enraged lion, charged over, shouting and howling at Yan Yi, throwing punches left and right, trying to push Yan Yi away, but it was all in vain.

He could only watch helplessly as his wife cried in the other man’s arms, as he heard Yan Yi whisper comforting words to her, "Don’t be afraid, I’m here for you, I will take care of you and your son from now on."

Get the hell away from her! My wife doesn’t need your damn care!!

Pei Yang was so furious he wildly swung his fists, but every punch passed straight through Yan Yi’s body, doing no harm or posing any threat.

Daddy!

Suddenly, he heard his son’s voice.

Turning around in surprise, he saw his son running towards him with little steps.

He opened his arms in joy, ready to embrace his son.

However, his son went straight through him and ran to Yan Yi, hugging his legs and looking up with a sweet face, calling Yan Yi Daddy.

Pei Yang was dumbfounded.

He circled around Yan Yi like a headless fly, cursing relentlessly, yet Yan Yi remained completely unmoved, holding his wife and son on either side, looking at Pei Yang’s portrait, smiling and saying, "Thank you for leaving me such a wonderful wife and son, I will take good care of them. Rest in peace."

I bought a watch last year!

Pei Yang burst out in rage, and woke up in fury.

The crew guarding him saw his eyes suddenly open, bloodshot, his gaze as wild and angry as a beast’s, startling them sharply.

"Captain Pei, did, did you have a nightmare?"

Pei Yang stared at the crew member for a while before suddenly letting out a sigh of relief.

Right, it was just a nightmare, not real.

But the overwhelming weakness that turned his vision dark made him acutely aware that if rescue didn’t arrive soon, everything in the dream could become reality.

He would die, and his wife and son would belong to someone else.

"Have you made contact with the rescue team?" he asked hoarsely.

The crew member shook his head in dismay.

Pei Yang closed his eyes, suppressing the weakness and the dizziness from the fever, "How much food and water do we have left?"

"Not much," the crew member replied, "The deputy captain has already reduced everyone’s ration to the minimum, but it will barely last for one more day. Also..."

The crew member looked at him, eyes filled with sorrow, "We’ve run out of medicine on board."

Hearing this, Pei Yang felt his vision grow even darker.

His life had been hanging by a thread, relying on the few emergency medicines on board. Now with no medicines left and rescue nowhere in sight, his life had truly begun its final countdown.

"Cough, cough!"

Overwhelmed by despair, Pei Yang couldn’t help but start coughing violently.

The crew member brought him a bit of water, in a pond porcelain cup the size of a fist, with just enough water to barely cover the bottom of the cup.

Yet, even this small sip of water, under the current circumstances, was incredibly precious.

Pei Yang tilted his head back, drinking every last drop of water from the cup before returning it to the crew member.

However, for someone with a severe fever, this bit of water evaporated without a trace as if it were dropping into a sea of flames.

After staring out of the porthole at the endless expanse of blue sea for God knows how long, Pei Yang licked his cracked lips, turned around, and asked the crew member taking care of him for some paper and a pen.

Maybe sensing what he intended to do, the crew member’s eyes suddenly reddened, yet the severe dehydration prevented any tears from flowing, leaving him only with sadness and despair as he fetched the paper and pen.

Luckily, it was his left hand that was injured, not affecting his ability to write with his right hand.

Pei Yang thought to himself sardonically, as he was supported by the crew member to sit up from the bed.

He was too weak, his body that could usually lift over a hundred jin of cargo with ease, now couldn’t even hold a fine pen steadily.

Using all his strength, he trembled as he wrote stroke by stroke on the paper: Mingzhu, though letters may bring us together, reading this brings a smile upon your face, if there is an afterlife, I hope we can meet a little earlier...

——

"Miss Shen, here is the five-thousand yuan cash loan you applied for, please keep it safe. The repayment date and method have been clearly indicated on the contract, just follow it for the return, and if you need an extension, contact me a month in advance."

"I can’t thank you enough, Director He!"

Shen Mingzhu put the five bundles of crisp banknotes and the loan contract into her bag and, after sincerely expressing her gratitude to the officer, hesitated before asking the question lingering in her mind.

"Director He, may I ask if the bank’s loan policy is always so lenient towards individual enterprises?"

Director He smiled slightly, "Of course not."

"Then why did you approve the loan for me directly?"

"It was Miss Zhong, Zhong Qing is our bank’s black card VIP with a guarantee from her, it’s not just five thousand, but fifty thousand or even a hundred thousand would be no problem."

Shen Mingzhu’s long-held confusion was finally cleared up, yet it raised other questions.

She didn’t know Zhong Qing at all, so why would the latter help her?

If Zhong Qing had ulterior motives, she didn’t even inform Shen Mingzhu about it, acting like it was a trivial matter, as light as the cloud and breeze.

Shen Mingzhu wasn’t one to obsess over things she couldn’t figure out, so she stopped thinking about it.

After all, she had the money in hand, and the contract clearly stated the two-year usage term, so she needn’t worry about being tricked with the loan.

Now that she had the funds, the next step was to find a location.

Shen Mingzhu had visited many places during this time and had seen several good spots, just short of finalizing one.

Two days later, after extensive scouting and negotiation, Shen Mingzhu rented a deserted cafeteria for an annual rent of one thousand five hundred yuan.

The cafeteria was about three hundred square meters in total, with a ready-made kitchen, boiler stoves, and storage rooms, which her workshop needed, so despite the rent being two or three hundred more than the other locations, she insisted on choosing this one.

After renting the place, there was cleaning to do, finding people for water and electrical renovations, wall refurbishing, water and fireproofing, and so on.

The third day after securing the location, Shen Chaobei and his family uprooted themselves to move in.

Shen Mingzhu had rented a one-bedroom apartment for the couple in a tube building a few hundred meters from the cafeteria beforehand, as a place to stay.

The couple was diligent and efficient, and in half a day they had the new place spotlessly organized, enjoying a warm pot meal there that evening.

After dinner, Shen Chaobei cleaned up the dishes, Pei Ziheng and Daya indulged in their own activities of reading and playing, while Shen Mingzhu chatted with Du Juan about the workshop matters.

In the midst of their conversation, Du Juan stood up and took out a floral cloth bag from her canvas tote.

Upon opening the bag, it revealed several thick bundles of banknotes, including old one, two, and five yuan notes, as well as new ten yuan notes.

She placed the bag of money in front of Shen Mingzhu, "Mingzhu, this is all the savings that Chaobei and I have accumulated this year, totaling one thousand two hundred yuan; consider it our investment stake in the business."

Shen Mingzhu looked at the money, her face clearly surprised.

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