The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 197: I Will Only Marry Once in This Lifetime, There Won’t Be a Next Time

Chapter 197: Chapter 197: I Will Only Marry Once in This Lifetime, There Won’t Be a Next Time

Shen Baolan had never been called ugly before in her life, her face flushed blood red.

"If there’s nothing going on between you and Shen Mingzhu, then why was she riding in your car home at eleven o’clock at night? The people in the family compound all saw it."

Hearing this, Zhong Qing spoke up, her volume neither too loud nor too soft, but loud enough for the surrounding guests to hear.

"Mingzhu is my good friend, and he is my fiancé. It’s not safe at night, so I had my fiancé drive Mingzhu home. What’s the problem with that?"

Ning Yuan sneered, "Getting a ride in a car makes you suspect there’s something going on. Then you specially come to sit by me, I might even suspect you’re trying to seduce me! Don’t try to seduce me, I’m not interested in freaks."

Laughter erupted from those around.

Shen Baolan, having lost face, slinked away.

Watching Shen Baolan’s retreating figure out of the corner of his eye, Ning Yuan hurriedly picked up the teapot to add some hot water to Yan Yi’s cup.

"Don’t be angry. What era is it already, and still such feudal and vulgar thoughts..."

"I’m not angry."

Yan Yi’s response stopped Ning Yuan’s reassurance in its tracks.

Yan Yi lifted the teacup and took a sip. The tea leaves were mediocre, the water subpar, but he drank with relish.

It was the first time in his life he was involved in a scandal, and the subject was her, which he found quite nice.

He even wanted to know whether her husband knew about the scandal and what he thought about it.

...

At twelve o’clock, the wedding officially began.

The ceremony was simple. Shen Mingzhu and Pei Yang stood on the stage to thank all the guests. After bowing, that was all.

Just as the two were preparing to step down, someone suddenly yelled from below, "Kiss!"

A single stone stirred up a thousand waves, and all the guests started to egg them on, almost lifting off the roof with their shouts.

Pei Yang turned his head to look at his bride’s blushing cheeks, and couldn’t help but bend down.

Shen Mingzhu felt shy and embarrassed, but didn’t dodge and closed her eyes, letting Pei Yang lean down to kiss her lips.

"Oh——"

The atmosphere of the wedding banquet instantly reached its climax, laughter and the sound of egging on rising and falling in waves.

Yan Yi watched the kissing couple on stage, his face neither happy nor angry, but the teacup in his hand now faintly cracked.

...

Inside, Shen Baolan felt sour.

If she hadn’t had that dream, she definitely would have chosen Pei Yang on the day of the blind date, and then she would have been the one standing on the stage in a wedding dress.

Though Pei Yang was not able in certain respects, his looks were truly handsome, especially as the groom today—tall, handsome, and dashing, enough to dazzle any woman.

Moreover, Pei Yang really doted on Shen Mingzhu, handed all his salary over to her, bought her gold bracelets and gold rings, and had arranged such a grand wedding for her.

He not only borrowed six cars to form a wedding convoy but also chartered a bus to bring all of Shen Mingzhu’s relatives from her maiden home to the city, and hosted a banquet at a restaurant, spending a total of two thousand yuan in the process.

Originally, all of this glory should have been hers.

...

Before the toast, Pei Yang went to the restroom. As he came out, he saw Shen Baolan standing at the restroom entrance.

Pei Yang, planning to ignore her, was about to leave when Shen Baolan suddenly said to him—

"Shen Mingzhu is having an affair with that Yan guy!"

Pei Yang stopped in his tracks and turned his head.

Shen Baolan was frightened by his gaze, deep as an abyss, but still mustered the courage to gossip about Shen Mingzhu, "When you’re not at home, Shen Mingzhu runs out every three days, and she is with that Yan guy. Many people have seen them, if you don’t believe it, you can ask the people in the family compound."

"Wife of Shuhuan, I don’t normally hit women, but if I hear half a word of slander about Mingzhu from you again, I’ll make sure you’ll be searching for your teeth all over the floor. I mean what I say."

After a cold warning, Pei Yang turned and left the restroom.

Shen Baolan stared at his retreating figure, her heart almost bursting with jealousy.

She had told him about Shen Mingzhu being promiscuous, and yet he still defended Shen Mingzhu.

...

Despite Shen Baolan’s provocation, Pei Yang appeared indifferent on the surface, but inside he was nearly furious.

Although he trusted his wife in his heart, as a man, how could he not be sullen and jealous when he heard about his wife’s rumored affair with another man?

When he returned to the banquet hall and saw the soft and graceful figure of his wife from the back, his depression and jealousy drained away in an instant.

He strode forward, with a light touch encircling Shen Mingzhu’s waist.

Shen Mingzhu turned her head upon his return and handed him a glass of wine, while whispering instructions, "Chen Liang’s jug is mixed with boiled water, but your brother-in-law’s isn’t. Be careful when you toast later not to make a mistake."

"Mhm."

After she finished reminding him and caught a glimpse of his loving gaze, Shen Mingzhu couldn’t help but feel confused.

"What’s the matter?"

"Just listening to you talk."

"I’ve finished talking."

"You could talk about something else; I like listening to you."

Pei Wenping interrupted their affectionate banter, "Let’s go, it’s time to toast."

Pei Wenping and a female relative of the Pei Family paved the way, Shen Mingzhu and Pei Yang walked in the middle, followed by bridesmaids and groomsmen, as well as Chen Yi, Zhou Shuhuan, and others, starting the grand toast procession.

After toasting at each table, Pei Yang was responsible for offering cigarettes, while Shen Mingzhu would hand out wedding candies.

In those days, ordinary families would simply use a bag and grab a handful of wedding candies for each guest when distributing them.

Shen Mingzhu employed a method from the future, purchasing red foil paper to wrap the wedding candies, and using ribbons to tie them into butterfly bows.

It was not only pleasing to the eye but also fashionable and made it convenient for guests to take the candies home.

Besides various kinds of candies, the wedding sweets also included spicy strips and dried tofu produced by food factories, serving as indirect promotion for the factories.

They soon reached Yan Yi’s table.

Pei Yang took the jug from Chen Yi’s hand and personally filled Yan Yi’s cup, "Thank you for coming to mine and Mingzhu’s wedding."

"No trouble, I’ll come again next time."

Their gazes collided in mid-air.

Pei Yang gave a smile, "Then you’ll be disappointed, I’m only getting married once in my life, and once is for a lifetime. There won’t be a next time."

Yan Yi also smiled, "A lifetime is very long, it’s a bit too early to draw conclusions now."

"I can’t speak for others, but when I say something, I will make it happen."

Just as Shen Mingzhu finished distributing wedding candies at Yan Yi’s spot, Pei Yang wrapped an arm around her waist and asked tenderly, "Wife, will we love each other until we’re old, for a lifetime?"

Shen Mingzhu didn’t pay much attention to Yan Yi, only smelling the alcohol on Pei Yang, she thought he was a bit drunk from drinking too much and casually responded "Yes" before continuing to hand out wedding candies.

Pei Yang, not without pride, raised his glass to clink with Yan Yi’s, tilted his head back to drink it down, and then followed behind Shen Mingzhu, moving on to toast with the others.

Yan Yi sat back in his chair, his gaze following the harmonious couple, then reached over to grab a bottle of wine from the table and filled his empty glass to the brim.

...

Back at his place, Yan Yi placed the wedding candy on the coffee table, threw his coat aside, flopped down on the couch, and closed his eyes to sleep deeply.

When he opened his eyes again, it was already evening, Yan Su was sitting across from him, paging through a magazine.

"Where did you go this afternoon? Why did you drink so much? The whole place reeks of booze."

Yan Su put down her magazine and chastised, her gaze falling upon the wedding candy package on the coffee table.

"What’s this?"

She had noticed it upon arrival, and although curious, she refrained from opening it due to good manners and upbringing.

Yan Yi stared at it for a couple of seconds before recalling; it was her wedding candy.

He sat up from the couch and untied the ribbon on the candy package.

On the square gold foil paper, seven or eight candies of various types lay quietly, along with a few packets of dried tofu and spicy strips the size of matchboxes.

Yan Yi picked up one of the packets, and when he saw Mingzhu’s brand name on it, the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but curl up slightly.