The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 220 - 219: Reconciliation (Minor Revision)

Chapter 220: Chapter 219: Reconciliation (Minor Revision)

"Little sister, what on earth happened? Did you have a fight with Pei Yang?"

Seeing Shen Mingzhu’s despondent look, Shen Chaobei became very anxious.

Seeing that Shen Mingzhu was unwilling to speak, Du Juan quickly nudged her husband and gestured with her eyes for him to go after Pei Yang.

Shen Chaobei got the hint and took off running toward the factory entrance.

Du Juan steadied Shen Mingzhu and began to comfort her, "It’s nothing serious, it’s inevitable for a couple to argue..."

Before she could finish her sentence, they heard Shen Chaobei’s voice from outside the factory gate—

"Pei Yang, why are you standing here?"

Shen Mingzhu immediately went towards the factory gate, Du Juan, and Shen Hongmei instinctively followed her.

Once outside the factory, they saw Pei Yang standing ramrod straight beside the food factory’s wooden sign, like a poplar tree.

For some reason, seeing that he hadn’t left suddenly made Shen Mingzhu feel a bit better.

When he saw her coming out, Pei Yang slightly turned his head to the side, avoiding eye contact with her.

The tall man, over one meter eighty, now looked like a child who had been wronged, his arrogance tinged with hurt.

Shen Mingzhu felt a pang in her heart, opened her mouth to say something, but her throat felt terribly tight.

Shen Chaobei was like a monkey in a melon field, his eyeballs whirligigging back and forth between them.

"Why did you two argue? What’s there to fight about when you’re earning money? Do you think you’re not earning enough?"

"Mingzhu, Pei Yang, let’s talk it over nicely, we’ll go inside first."

After Du Juan spoke, she dragged her husband by the hand and motioned for Shen Hongmei to go back inside the factory.

Only the couple was left at the gate.

After a moment of silence, Shen Mingzhu took the initiative to speak up, "Why didn’t you leave?"

Pei Yang turned around and hummed, "Are you disappointed? Do you wish that I had stormed off because of you?"

"I didn’t think that."

Seeing that he was quite angry, Shen Mingzhu stepped forward and tugged at his sleeve a few times, "Alright, don’t be mad."

Pei Yang grabbed her wrist and started walking.

Caught off guard, Shen Mingzhu staggered a few steps before catching up, "Where are we going?"

"Home."

"I haven’t taken my bag."

Pei Yang stopped, dropped in a tough tone "You wait here, I’ll go get it," and then turned around and went back into the factory.

Shen Mingzhu watched his indignant figure retreating, her lips involuntarily curling up.

Inside the factory, Shen Chaobei, Du Juan, and Shen Hongmei were quietly discussing the couple’s quarrel. Seeing Pei Yang return alone without Shen Mingzhu, Shen Chaobei immediately asked, "Where’s the little sister?"

In front of his brother-in-law, Pei Yang regained his usual composed demeanor despite Shen Mingzhu being as stubborn as a rock usually.

"Big brother, sister-in-law, Mingzhu and I need to deal with something, so we’ll head back first. Please look after the factory."

Shen Chaobei wanted to speak, but Du Juan took the lead, "Okay, no problem, you two go on."

After leaving instructions, Pei Yang went to the office, picked up Shen Mingzhu’s handbag, checked the file cabinet and the safe to make sure they were locked, and then left.

As soon as he was gone, Shen Chaobei immediately expressed his confusion to his wife, "Everything was fine this morning, how did they suddenly start quarreling?"

Du Juan gave him a look, "What’s so surprising about that? Which couple doesn’t argue from time to time?"

Shen Hongmei chimed in, "Couples may quarrel at the head of the bed but will reconcile at the foot. Wait till they come to work in the factory tomorrow, they’ll surely be lovey-dovey again."

After hearing the two of them talk, Shen Chaobei scratched his head and let go of his worries.

...

Although Pei Yang didn’t say a word to her and only left her with his cold back and the back of his head, looking at the backpack hanging from his shoulder, made to seem like a tiny, delicate toy against his tall frame, Shen Mingzhu couldn’t help feeling good.

"Pei Yang, slow down a bit, I can’t keep up."

Pei Yang kept ignoring her, but his pace slowed down.

With a slight smile on her lips, Shen Mingzhu quickened her steps to walk alongside him, and took the initiative to link her arm through his, "What are you really mad about, huh? Tell me."

Pei Yang glanced at her and said icily, "You tell me, what am I mad about?"

Shen Mingzhu blinked her glistening almond-shaped eyes, "Are you mad because I gave you too little of the shares? How about I give you more, half of them?"

Pei Yang swiftly peeled her hand away, so angry that he was nearly fuming at the top of his head.

"Shen Mingzhu, are you trying to anger me to death? Do you want to infuriate me to death, so you can get a new man?"

Shen Mingzhu shook her head vigorously, like a rattle-drum, "I’m not, I didn’t."

"Then talk less nonsense to piss me off!"

She was really furious, and harsh words slipped out.

Shen Mingzhu glanced at him, "Have you made up your mind? You really don’t want it? Once this chance is gone, it’s gone for good."

Pei Yang sneered, "Do you think I joined your food factory for those crappy shares? Who cares about your crappy shares! Who does?!"

Seeing him nearly explode with anger, Shen Mingzhu quickly tried to smooth things over, "Alright, alright, it’s my fault. I won’t bring it up again, okay?"

Pei Yang huffed and strode away.

Shen Mingzhu subconsciously followed him, but with the man’s long legs taking quick, large steps, it was quite a struggle for her to keep up.

"Slow down, I said I wouldn’t bring it up again. Why are you still angry?"

"No one to coax me, can’t calm down."

Fine, she’ll coax him.

"Hand me your bag."

Pei Yang passed his bag to her.

Shen Mingzhu fished a shiny gold-wrapped Ferrero from the bag and offered it to him.

Pei Yang looked at it but didn’t take it, "What’s that?"

"Chocolate."

As she spoke, Shen Mingzhu peeled off the aluminum foil and held the chocolate ball to his mouth.

Pei Yang eyed the dark Ferrero with furrowed brows, "Are you sure this thing is candy, not mud?"

"It’s sweet, eat the sugar and no more being mad, okay?"

Pei Yang grunted, bit off half, and put it in his mouth.

Shen Mingzhu looked at the half piece of Ferrero left in her hand, thinking the man intentionally left her half, and was about to put it in her mouth when he grabbed her hand, "Don’t think about stealing my candy."

"..."

Greedy bastard, even knows to guard his food.

Shen Mingzhu said with annoyance as she handed him the half piece, "Here you go."

"Feed me, ah."

Seeing the man open his mouth smugly, Shen Mingzhu shoved it in forcefully.

"Cough cough! Are you trying to murder your own husband!"

Seeing her walk on ignoring him, Pei Yang quickly caught up, "Are you angry? Why are you so petty? Okay, I’ll let you have it."

As he said this, he pinched her chin to feed her the half-eaten Ferrero, which Shen Mingzhu slapped away irritably.

The chocolate melted in his mouth immediately, and Pei Yang obviously wasn’t really going to feed it to her. He was just looking for an excuse to tease her, to give himself an out.

...

When they got home, it was just in time for dinner. It was a bit late to cook rice, but fortunately, there were dumplings in the fridge from a few days ago.

A large plate of dumplings was boiled, served with egg flower soup, a simple meal.

"Wife."

While eating dumplings, Shen Mingzhu suddenly heard Pei Yang call her and looked up, "What is it?"

Pei Yang looked at her, his well-defined face showing a seriousness she had never seen before, "I know what you’re worried about."

"The problem is with me; I didn’t make things clear to you in advance. The food factory is your hard work, and you want to make it successful; I support that and will help you wholeheartedly. But this is only temporary, maybe a year or two, maybe two or three years. Once the food factory is on track, I’ll step back to do something else, something I want to do."

Shen Mingzhu suddenly realized why he was so angry.

Her offer of shares to him was like putting a price tag on his feelings and efforts.

For him, it was a hurt, and even more, a letdown.

The misunderstanding came about partly because Pei Yang didn’t share his true feelings with her, and partly because she hadn’t lived up to her role as a wife.

She had put most of her energy into the food factory and their son, inadvertently neglecting Pei Yang, the pillar of their family.

"Have you figured out what you want to do later?"

"I have some ideas, but I’m not sure whether I’ll pursue them."

"Let’s hear them."

"I’ll tell you later."

Pei Yang looked at her, his eyes holding a certain expectation and hint, "If you really want to know, you can ask me nicely."

Shen Mingzhu chuckled, "Get lost."

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