The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 167: Unprovoked Kindness, Either a Scoundrel or a Thief

Chapter 167: Chapter 167: Unprovoked Kindness, Either a Scoundrel or a Thief

Shen Mingzhu walked up to the counter and knocked twice.

Shen Hongmei, who had been buried in the accounts, straightened up, and upon recognizing Shen Mingzhu, her face immediately lit up with surprise and delight.

"Mingzhu, is that really you? When did you get back?"

"Came back to take care of some things, I’m leaving this afternoon."

While speaking, Shen Mingzhu took a moment to survey the surroundings of the guesthouse.

It was called a guesthouse, but in reality, it was just a two-story red brick house with a total of five rooms; except for one that was occupied, the other four were vacant.

Shen Hongmei picked out the airiest room for her, changed the sheets and duvet cover to clean ones, and whispered to her, "Normally, the beddings are only changed once a month."

Inside, Shen Mingzhu shivered; however, she did not forget to express her thanks.

This drew a teasing smile from Shen Hongmei: "Why stand on ceremony with me?"

After changing the beddings, Shen Hongmei attentively offered her some water.

Gazing at the enamel cup that appeared less than clean, Shen Mingzhu had no desire to drink from it.

"Mingzhu, you’re really amazing, you even started your own factory."

Dragging a chair to sit opposite her, Shen Hongmei’s face showed undisguised envy and admiration, "Think back to when we were fifteen or sixteen, everyone in the village said you were the laziest, sure to end up unmarried. Who could have imagined? Not only did you get married, but you also married into the city, and now you’ve become a big boss. I mentioned it to my old middle school classmates, and they didn’t even believe me."

Shen Mingzhu smiled, "What about you? How have you been lately?"

Talking about her recent life, Shen Hongmei’s smile faded quite a bit, her tone tinged with a touch of sadness and melancholy.

In junior high, Shen Hongmei had a boyfriend from her grandmother’s side—childhood sweethearts. The boy’s name was Ma Chao.

After finishing junior high, Ma Chao was admitted to high school and went to study in the city.

The expenses for schooling in the city were high. For the past two years, Shen Hongmei had been using the money from her job to support Ma Chao.

Regrettably, her heartfelt contributions could not escape the curse often seen in educated men; a month before, using the excuse of needing to concentrate fully on the college entrance exams, Ma Chao broke up with Shen Hongmei.

"...Actually, I knew a while ago that he had started seeing a teacher’s daughter at school. People told me about it last year. I originally thought he would be mindful of our past and wouldn’t abandon me. I gave him everything..."

As she spoke of the grievous matter, Shen Hongmei couldn’t help but cover her face and weep.

Shen Mingzhu passed her own handkerchief over, "Want to make him regret it?"

Shen Hongmei lifted her head, her face filled with puzzlement.

"I’m still short an assistant. If you’re willing to come work at the food factory with me, I’ll give you a base salary of thirty-five, plus a commission based on sales performance. I predict your monthly income won’t be below fifty, of course, provided that you can accomplish the tasks I set."

With tearful eyes, Shen Hongmei said, "But this still won’t make him regret it. His grades are pretty good; he should be able to get into a vocational high school, and once he graduates, he’ll have a secure job, much better than me."

Shen Mingzhu scoffed lightly, "Just a vocational high school, nothing to make a fuss about. Come work with me, and I’ll guide you to get a university diploma through self-study exams, how about that?"

Shen Hongmei was startled, then burst into laughter, "Mingzhu, stop joking. When you were studying, your grades were worse than mine."

"I’ve already taken the self-study exams and successfully passed four subjects. Unless something unexpected happens, I should receive my self-study undergraduate diploma from Fengcheng University in two years."

Realizing she was serious, Shen Hongmei’s smile gradually turned into shock.

...

Learning that Shen Mingzhu would rather stay in town than come home, Qin Jinlian grumbled through the whole afternoon. After she finished, she dug out an old aluminum lunchbox passed down in the family, stuffed in two yellow steamed buns, and added a bit of vegetables.

Shen Chaobei watched Qin Jinlian’s actions with bewilderment, "Mom, we’ve already eaten, where are you going?"

"Eat your meal, I’m taking something over to your little sister."

With that, she lifted her foot and walked outside.

"By the time you walk all the way to the town, little sister will have long finished eating..."

Shen Jianguo barred his son, grumpily saying, "Alright, let her go, she won’t be content until she’s made some fuss during the day."

Hearing this, Shen Chaobei sat down to have lunch with Shen Jianguo.

As the father and son ate and talked about the food factory’s affairs, learning that the factory would officially start operating next week, the wrinkles on Shen Jianguo’s face relaxed somewhat.

...

Shen Mingzhu had just lain down for a bit when there was a knock at the door; she thought it was Shen Hongmei, but upon opening it and finding Qin Jinlian, her mood soured instantly.

"What brings you here?"

Qin Jinlian let herself into the room and began looking around with her roving eyes, "What do you mean ’what brings me here’? You ungrateful girl, you’re back home and don’t even stop by for a visit; I’ve really raised you in vain."

Shen Mingzhu had heard this line so often her ears could’ve grown calluses; she didn’t want to beat around the bush with the other person, "Spit it out, what do you want?"

Qin Jinlian handed her an aluminum lunch box, "I brought you some food, the cornmeal bread you loved as a child, made from this year’s freshly harvested corn—it’s so fragrant."

Shen Mingzhu didn’t even give it a glance, past experiences had taught her, if someone offers kindness without reason, they are up to no good.

"Get to the point."

Qin Jinlian stammered, "The village notified everyone to pre-order next year’s seeds and fertilizers starting next month. A lot of this year’s corn seeds were eaten by rats, so your dad and I discussed and decided to mix the corn seeds with some pesticide powder before planting next year. The total cost is going to add up to a significant sum."

Shen Mingzhu’s smile didn’t reach her eyes, "Didn’t big brother just bring back fifty yuan for you and dad? Isn’t that enough?"

Qin Jinlian’s face turned sheepish, "How did you know that?"

Shen Mingzhu not only knew that Shen Chaobei had brought fifty yuan for the old couple but also knew that thirty was from Shen Xiangnan and the remaining twenty was from Shen Chaobei.

She had managed to get both brothers into the city for this very reason.

Between the two brothers, Shen Chaobei and Shen Xiangnan, one was sincere and accommodating, the other gullible and indecisive. If Qin Jinlian, the sly old mother, kept on manipulating them, it would eventually lead to discord between the brothers, and she’d have to clean up the mess.

Now that both brothers were in the city, under her supervision, she had more help while also having fewer worries.

Seeing no benefit to be gained, Qin Jinlian grumbled for a while and then left, not forgetting to take the lunch box with her.

...

In the afternoon, the three newly recruited female workers all arrived on time at the gate of the guesthouse.

Shen Mingzhu led the three back to the food factory and handed them over to Du Juan to settle in.

Shen Baolan always kept a close eye on the activities of the food factory. No sooner had Mingzhu brought the new workers into the factory than Baolan got wind of it and discussed the matter at the dinner table with her in-laws.

"... To keep one worker, including wages and room and board, it costs at least fifty or sixty yuan a month. She’s only just lost two workers, and without learning her lesson, she actually went back to her hometown and brought back another three. Her factory’s been set up for so long without starting operations; I really don’t know what she’s trying to prove, just squandering money..."

Zhou Shuhuan gobbled down the last mouthful of his meal, got up from the table without a word, changed his shoes, and stepped out.

Shen Baolan and the Zhou family were used to this; Zhou Shuhuan usually left after eating and didn’t return home until eleven or twelve at night.

After exiting the apartment building, Zhou Shuhuan stood around for a bit but didn’t head toward the entrance of the residential compound; instead, he walked deeper into the compound.

Shortly after, Shen Baolan also rushed downstairs.

She was bringing the car keys to Zhou Shuhuan but couldn’t find him by the bike shed, where his motorcycle was parked just fine.

As she wondered, an acquaintance entered the shed and, seeing her standing in front of Zhou Shuhuan’s motorcycle, asked, "Looking for Shuhuan? I saw him heading towards Building 5."

Building 5? Wasn’t that Shen Mingzhu’s place?

Baolan dashed out of the bike shed, fuming as she made her way toward Building 5.