The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 249 - 248 Disaster Lures Eastward

Chapter 249: Chapter 248 Disaster Lures Eastward

Hu Guifen’s in-laws were the Fu Family, and her husband’s name was Fu Shouchang.

Hu Guifen went to work in the city, which originally displeased the Fu Family. With the elderly and children at home, chores such as laundry, cooking, and childcare all depended on Hu Guifen. Once she went to the city, all these tasks fell on her in-laws.

That was until Hu Guifen brought back her first month’s salary.

Upon seeing the money, the attitude of the Fu Family did a complete one-eighty, and they became very supportive of Hu Guifen working in the city.

Afterward, Hu Guifen sent money home on time every month, much to the delight of the Fu Family, who couldn’t stop smiling.

In the blink of an eye, it was the end of the year.

The Fu Family eagerly awaited Hu Guifen’s return with money for the family to celebrate a prosperous New Year.

They waited and waited, and finally, when the food factory’s vacation started, and everyone else who worked there returned home with full wallets and packages, Hu Guifen was nowhere to be seen.

Once the Fu Family made inquiries, the situation was dire: Hu Guifen had been arrested by the public security!

...

Seeing the aggressively approaching Fu Family members, Pei Ziheng immediately stood in front of his mother to protect her.

"Who are you?"

The Fu Family didn’t take a little guy like Pei Ziheng seriously. Fu Shouchang reached out to push him aside—

"Don’t touch him!"

With a stern shout, Shen Mingzhu stopped Fu Shouchang in his tracks.

Taking the opportunity, Shen Mingzhu pulled Pei Ziheng to her side, shielding him firmly, her almond-shaped eyes coldly staring at the Fu Family members.

"Who are you people? What do you want?"

Fu Shouchang cursed loudly, "Ms. Shen, cut the crap, I’m telling you, if you don’t hand over my Guifen today, I’ll make sure you regret it!"

"It was you who insisted on taking my daughter-in-law to work in the city. Now look, no money was earned, and she’s been taken away by the public security. If you don’t give us an explanation today, we’ll fight it out with you!"

He then rolled up his sleeves as if ready to fight.

Shen Mingzhu immediately shielded her abdomen, quickly thinking of what to do next.

Pei Ziheng crisply said, "Are you Auntie Hu’s family? Auntie Hu was taken by the public security because she did something bad..."

"Shut your damn mouth. My daughter-in-law is known for her honesty and hard work in all the surrounding villages. Even if she did do something bad, it must have been because you all taught her to!"

Fu Shouchang cursed without care for detail.

At that moment, a nurse, hearing the commotion, rushed over to the ward, "What’s all this noise? If you want to argue, take it outside; don’t disturb the patients here."

At that time, doctors and nurses held very high authority in the eyes of the public.

Even as brash as he was, Fu Shouchang did not dare to make a scene in front of the nurse, "I’m here to find my daughter-in-law. It’s her. She took my daughter-in-law into the city, and now she can’t come back. Our three kids cry every day for their mother; we had no choice but to come here seeking justice."

The nurse wasn’t interested in their story, "Take whatever issues you have outside, and don’t make a noise in the ward!"

Shen Mingzhu and the Fu Family went outside to talk.

"Hu Guifen indeed was brought into the city by me. I brought her to the city to work and earn money, not to commit wrongful deeds..."

"Stop beating around the bush. My Guifen was brought into the city by you, and I’m just demanding a person," said Fu Shouchang with a fierce look, "Nobody’s leaving happy today unless you hand over my Guifen!"

Facing the unreasonable haggling of the Fu Family, just as Shen Mingzhu was beginning to feel a headache, suddenly, Pei Ziheng, looking up with his little face, asked her, "Mom, you give Auntie Hu such a high salary every month, and yet she still went to help bad people do bad things. It must be because the bad people offered her more money to bribe her, right?"

An idea flashed through Shen Mingzhu’s mind, and she had a plan.

"With the last two months of salary and the bonus, Hu Guifen would have gotten at least a hundred yuan. But she chose to ignore the legitimate money and instead helped others harm me, nearly causing the food factory to close down. What do you think she was after?"

The Fu Family members looked at each other in bewilderment.

What’s the point?

Pei Ziheng "kindly" cleared up the confusion for the Fu Family, "The bad guys definitely spent more than these hundred dollars to bribe Auntie Hu. Auntie Hu was captured because of the bad guys’ doing, and it’s only right that the bad guys should compensate you."

"If it were me, if the bad guys refused to compensate me, I’d make a scene at their homes and their factories, go to their relatives and friends to cause trouble, and let everyone know about the wicked deeds they did behind their backs!"

Watching the Fu Family members being coaxed away by her son with just a few words, Shen Mingzhu heaved a sigh of relief, sat on the corridor, and held Pei Ziheng in her arms.

"Erza, thankfully, you were here today."

Pei Ziheng’s tender little hand patted her back lightly, "Mom, don’t be scared, I will protect you and sister, and won’t let the bad guys bully you."

"Yeah, yeah, my son is the best in the world, and I won’t accept any objections."

Pei Ziheng’s lips curled into a smile, his heart as sweet as if he had drunk honey.

After Shen Mingzhu went back to the ward to pack up, Pei Ziheng trotted down the stairs with his little short legs and caught up with the Fu Family members.

"Uncle Fu, I have a few words I want to say to you alone."

...

Hu Guifen was just an ordinary rural woman, ignorant and timid. Before the interrogators even employed any tactics, she spilled the beans and confessed everything.

Shi Guangsheng was summoned to the police station for a "tea chat" the next day.

Shi Guangsheng was different from Hu Guifen; he was shrewd and cunning, and all his meetings with Hu Guifen had been out of sight of others.

Although he promised Hu Guifen many benefits verbally, in reality, he hadn’t given her a cent.

Without physical evidence, and relying solely on Hu Guifen’s testimony, there wasn’t enough to convict him.

The police station interrogated him for two days and couldn’t figure out what had happened, and without solid evidence, they had no choice but to release him.

Walking out of the police station unscathed, Shi Guangsheng arrogantly put a cigarette in his mouth, and leisurely rode his motorcycle home.

Upon arriving at his doorstep and seeing several unfamiliar faces sitting on the stairs, Shi Guangsheng didn’t pay much attention. He took out his keys to open the door.

"Are you Shi Guangsheng?"

Hearing someone call out to him, Shi Guangsheng turned around and was met with a fist the size of a clay pot smashing down.

"Stop hitting, stop hitting! Let’s talk it out, who are you guys?"

Shi Guangsheng’s cunning and meanness were of no use in front of someone like Fu Shouchang, a rough country fellow, and he could only beg for mercy.

Fu Shouchang grabbed his collar with one hand and clenched the other hand into a fist, his face fierce, "I’m Hu Guifen’s man! You’re the one who instigated my wife to do bad things, getting her to end up in jail!"

Shi Guangsheng naturally denied everything, and even tried to deflect the blame to Shen Mingzhu. But Pei Ziheng had already anticipated his counter—

"Mr. Shi, stop playing dumb with me. It’s not the first or second time you’ve done such things. You have a cousin named Shi Yizheng, right? You know full well how you wronged him back then. If you dare not pay up today, I’ll go have a chat with Shi Yizheng!"

Shi Guangsheng’s pupils quivered, his face clearly showing fear.

Shi Yizheng had a violent temper, and if he found out that it was him causing trouble behind the scenes, he might just chop him up with a knife.

Shi Guangsheng had no choice but to pay up to avoid disaster.

After some negotiation, Shi Guangsheng gave the Fu Family five hundred dollars to settle the matter.

The Fu Family members left happily, not noticing the dark, terrifying expression on Shi Guangsheng’s face behind them.

Being a bad seed himself, Shi Guangsheng was all too aware of how greedy someone like Fu Shouchang could be. Getting entangled with such a person, he would never have peace in this lifetime.