The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 238 - 237 Qin Jinlian is kicked out of the hospital room

Chapter 238: Chapter 237 Qin Jinlian is kicked out of the hospital room

With Ning Yuan’s departure, the spacious house became empty and quiet.

Yan Yi sat alone on the sofa, tilting his head back and pouring half a glass of golden liquor down his throat. The burning pain from the alcohol, fierce like fire, still couldn’t suppress the guilt and self-reproach in his heart.

Fortunately, the child in her womb was fine.

Otherwise, he feared he would never be able to forgive himself for the rest of his life.

...

After Zhong Qing left, Pei Yang briefly told Shen Mingzhu about the chaos at Hengxing the day before.

Upon hearing this, besides being distressed that he had endured the cold all night, Shen Mingzhu felt more self-reproach and regret.

"I really should have listened to you at the time. I shouldn’t have been so eager for quick success. I should have been steady and thorough."

Pei Yang rubbed her face gently, a tender smile in his brow, "I am also to blame. I didn’t stop you at that time. Besides, when they’re determined and we’re unsuspecting, it’s not like we can avoid it just by wanting to."

Shen Mingzhu was very perplexed, "Why though? Our factory is so small; it’s hardly enough to offend a big company like Hengxing."

After pondering, Pei Yang shared with her the issue of Shi Guangsheng wanting to buy the apple soft candy from him.

"I suspect that our recent cooperation with Hengxing might have impeded Xiyuan Candy Factory’s plans. That’s why they colluded with Huang Yuan to stage this whole thing, which allows them to satisfying their superiors and suppress us at the same time."

Pei Yang was so engrossed in sharing his insights with Shen Mingzhu that he didn’t notice the icy coldness creeping over Pei Ziheng’s pale little face.

Xiyuan Candy Factory, Shi Guangsheng, the scum that hurt Mom, so it was him.

"Wife, you just focus on taking care of the baby. I’ll handle the factory issues. My brother, sister-in-law, and I will first try to sell some candy to pay the workers, so everyone can go home for the New Year sooner. We’ll figure out the rest slowly."

"Okay."

Shen Mingzhu held his hand, somewhat reluctant to let go.

Maybe it was because of the pregnancy, but she felt a bit spoiled, really wanting him to stay with her, and yet knowing he had to go out and work.

Otherwise, the family of four would truly be left in the cold.

"Be careful yourself."

"Mhm."

As her partner, Pei Yang could naturally feel the changes in her emotions and enjoyed such changes, savoring his wife’s dependency and coquettish behavior.

He touched Shen Mingzhu’s clean little face affectionately and stood up to leave.

"Dad, I’ll go with you to the factory."

"No, you stay here with your mom."

Pei Ziheng walked up to Shen Mingzhu, who was looking at him, and said warmly, "Mom, how about I ask Auntie Hongmei to keep you company? I’ll go to the factory to help Dad."

Shen Mingzhu stroked his head, "Okay, go ahead."

Pei Ziheng grabbed the back of her hand and kissed it, "Be good, Mom. I’ll be back soon to keep you company."

Pei Yang: "..."

That little rascal, she’s my wife!

...

When the father and son arrived at the food factory, Shen Chaobei and Old Zhu were unloading goods.

Pei Yang rolled up his sleeves and joined in the work.

Pei Ziheng found Shen Hongmei and asked her to go to the hospital to check on Shen Mingzhu.

After that, he started wandering around various parts of the food factory. Daya thought he was playing hide and seek and happily followed around behind him.

Before long, Pei Ziheng dashed out from the workshop and scampered off to the office on his little short legs.

Pei Yang glanced over twice but paid no mind and continued with his work.

...

Shen Mingzhu was dozing off when she suddenly heard someone calling her name. As she opened her eyes, she saw Shen Xiangnan, Qin Jinlian, and Shen Jianguo, who had apparently arrived without her noticing.

The three of them stood at the foot of the hospital bed, looking somewhat uneasy and excitedly at her.

"Take a seat," Shen Mingzhu sat up and waved the three of them over.

Qin Jinlian planted herself on the bed while Shen Jianguo sat on a stool, and Shen Xiangnan remained standing.

After a round of pleasantries, upon learning that she was over two months pregnant, both Shen Jianguo and his son Shen Xiangnan were particularly elated.

Only Qin Jinlian began to berate her, "You make trouble day in and day out, not even knowing you were pregnant. Lucky for my grandchild that he’s blessed with good fortune and didn’t have his little life tossed away by your antics."

With event piling upon event in the past days, Shen Mingzhu had been trying hard to regulate her mood for the sake of the baby. Now hearing Qin Jinlian’s nagging, her anger surged.

"If you came here today just to spout this nonsense, then leave right now. Don’t irritate me further."

Qin Jinlian glared at her, "You think you’re in the right? We’re all aware of the trouble at your factory, throwing so much money into making apple candy. Now that it’s done, nobody wants your candy, with heaps of it left on your hands. What do you plan to do?"

"Mom, ease up a bit, the little sister will figure something out," Shen Xiangnan tried to appease her with kind words.

Qin Jinlian barked, "What solutions can she have? If she had any, she wouldn’t be lying here. She had good days ahead of her, but she chose to mess around with that broken factory. She even ruined her son-in-law’s secure job, and now the factory’s a mess. What will you do when you can’t repay the bank loans?"

"How did I end up giving birth to such a fool? Why can’t you be like Baolan, stay at home and take care of the kids, and let the men handle earning money?"

"You’ve made a big fuss for so long, haven’t earned any money, and even landed yourself in the hospital. Do you have any idea how much it costs to stay in the hospital for a day? You..."

"Ah, it hurts so much."

Seeing Shen Mingzhu suddenly clutching her belly and crying out in pain, Qin Jinlian, Shen Jianguo, and Shen Xiangnan were all startled.

"Little sister, what’s wrong?"

Shen Mingzhu weakly pointed at Qin Jinlian, "My stomach starts to hurt the moment I hear her voice."

Qin Jinlian’s face turned red with embarrassment, "What nonsense are you talking about..."

"It hurts so much, get her out of here, my stomach really hurts!!"

As Shen Mingzhu continued to cry and shout, everyone in the ward looked at Qin Jinlian with a peculiar expression.

The father and son felt shamefaced and had no choice but to drag Qin Jinlian out of the ward.

"Mom, just wait outside, don’t go in and disturb the little sister. She’s pregnant right now, don’t upset her to the point of causing harm," said Shen Xiangnan, being brutally honest, which felt like daggers to Qin Jinlian’s heart.

"How could this ungrateful girl talk back to me? I gave birth to her and raised her, and now she loses her temper at me. Now that she’s grown wings, she looks down on me, her old mother," Qin Jinlian lamented.

Shen Jianguo snapped, "You’ve got it coming! Why did you even come to the city? You’ve never said one nice thing upon arrival, always barking and barking, who’d want to listen to that?"

Qin Jinlian was beside herself with injustice, "Am I not doing this for her own good, hoping she could lead a stable life? Ever since she started that factory, I’ve not had one peaceful night of sleep."

"You and peaceful sleep? Your snoring at night is louder than thunder!"

Qin Jinlian wished for a hole to crawl into as her husband laid bare her flaws in front of their son.

Just then, Shen Hongmei arrived.

Seeing the three of them outside the ward, she greeted them with a smile and beckoned them inside.

While Shen Dashan and Shen Xiangnan did go in, Qin Jinlian didn’t dare to enter, fearing Shen Mingzhu would kick her out again. She sat alone on the corridor, wiping away tears.

Why was she so unlucky? Her daughter didn’t care for her, and even her man and son weren’t on her side.

...

Pei Yang had just sent Old Zhu away and was about to close the gate when he heard Shi Guangsheng’s voice from behind him, "Manager Shen, are you busy?"

Pei Ziheng was sitting behind the desk, lost in thought, when he saw Pei Yang bringing Shi Guangsheng in. A coldness flashed through his deep eyes which he quickly concealed by lowering his gaze and getting down from the desk. He then wisely took Daya, who was playing with marbles on the ground, and left the room.

Shi Guangsheng looked around the office environment and feigned a few exclamations of praise before getting to the point of his visit with Pei Yang.