The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 251 - 250 Shameless Fu Family Members

Chapter 251: Chapter 250 Shameless Fu Family Members

Murphy’s Law tells us that the things you hope least to happen are bound to occur.

Today is Chinese New Year’s Eve, and early in the morning, Pei Yang had brought Pei Ziheng along to clean the house and put up the spring couplets.

Shen Mingzhu was treated like a delicate porcelain doll by the father and son duo; they wouldn’t let her do anything except sit, rest, and give orders.

As they were busy in the midst of their work, the front door was banged on so hard it seemed to shake the heavens.

When the door opened, a large group of people was standing outside, led by Hu Guifen’s in-laws. However, there was no sign of Fu Shouchang.

Seeing the door open, Mother Fu and Father Fu, with the crowd behind them, attempted to charge inside but were blocked by Pei Yang, standing steadfastly in the doorway.

His tall and strong figure, coupled with the iron-clad aura earned from his time in the military and on the battlefield, emanated outwards when he wasn’t smiling, having quite a deterring effect.

"What are you doing?"

Father Fu exclaimed angrily, "What are we doing? We’re here to settle accounts with you!"

Mother Fu simply sat down on the doorstep, crying and choking up, "Everyone come and judge for yourselves. My son and daughter-in-law have been harmed by their entire family..."

The residents of the family compound loved to watch the excitement, and they quickly arrived upon hearing the news, cramming the hallway so tightly no one could pass.

Some were holding green onions, some were peeling carrots, and others even carried meat cleavers.

"What’s happened to the Pei family this time?"

"I heard they harmed someone’s son and daughter-in-law..."

"Really, Pei Yang’s family just attracts trouble. Can’t they keep the peace during the New Year’s celebrations."

"You’re telling me..."

Amidst the barrage of accusations and interrogations from the Fu family, Shen Mingzhu finally understood the situation.

The night before last, Fu Shouchang and his cousin Fu Xingping were robbed on the street. One was stabbed while the other got his head cracked open. At that moment, both were lying in the hospital.

Shen Mingzhu was simply speechless and infuriated. They must have thought her an easy target to pin every broken pot and bad deal on.

She didn’t bother with more words and went straight back inside to call the police.

Meanwhile, Pei Yang was arguing with the Fu family, "It’s not about who yells the loudest. Your son was robbed, and instead of going to the police to catch the criminals and seek justice, you come here causing trouble. What kind of sense does that make?"

The residents of the family compound might have enjoyed watching drama unfold, but they were all reasonable people.

Once they knew the whole story, quite a few began to speak up in defense.

"Right, Pei Yang and his wife are neither the police nor your relatives. Why are you bringing this mess to their doorstep?"

Father Fu, hopping mad, shouted, "If it wasn’t for them persuading my daughter-in-law to work in the city, my son wouldn’t be in this mess!"

Shen Mingzhu had finished calling the police. Today being New Year’s Eve, coupled with the falling snow, a response from the police station wouldn’t come quickly.

Mingzhu, standing behind Pei Yang, heard Father Fu’s unreasonable tirade and instantly retorted with a cold sneer, "Was it me pointing a knife at Hu Guifen’s neck, forcing her to go to the city with me?"

"I invited her to work in the factory, provided her with food and accommodation, and paid her more than thirty yuan a month. How have I wronged her in any way?"

Seeing her temper flare, Pei Yang turned back to soothe her, "Go back to your room and rest. I’ll talk to them."

Under these circumstances, Shen Mingzhu was nowhere near able to sit still.

Father Fu’s aggression was only greater than Fu Shouchang’s and he glared thunderously at Shen Mingzhu. Had Pei Yang not been there to block him, he probably would have charged in to attack her.

"For all the work Guifen has done for you, if not credit then she at least has put in hard labor. She made a small mistake, and you had her arrested by the police to be sentenced to reform through labor. You heartless bastards of a family! I curse your offspring to be born without anuses!"

Mingzhu was pregnant and her emotions were already on edge; hearing such vile words left her shaking with anger.

"Ziheng, take your mother back to the room to rest!"

Pei Yang was visibly angry. After speaking, he pushed the Fu family out and slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

"Pei Yang!"

Mingzhu, worried about Pei Yang dealing with the Fus on his own, called out instinctively, and her hand was suddenly grasped by a soft, warm little hand.

She instinctively looked down—

"Mom, they’re unreasonable people. Don’t let them ruin your health because of their nonsense."

Looking at her son’s sensible and handsome little face, Shen Mingzhu’s emotions gradually calmed down as she gently stroked her belly.

Indeed, for the sake of the little life in her belly, there was no need for her to compete in a war of words with the Fu family.

"Mom, let’s sit on the sofa and let Dad deal with the bad people."

"Mm."

Shen Mingzhu felt a bit better as she watched her son lead her to the sofa.

...

Outside the door.

The Fu family, unprepared, staggered as Pei Yang pushed them, almost falling over. They immediately wanted to start a fight with Pei Yang.

"You dare to fight? I’ll take you on!"

Father Fu raised his hand to strike at Pei Yang’s face.

Pei Yang, battle-hardened, subdued Father Fu with a single move.

Mother Fu, seeing her man unable to win, turned and kneeled down to the elder who had come with them, wailing with tears streaming, "Village chief, you must stand up for us!"

The village head helped Mother Fu up and then spoke with the officialese of a peacemaker, implying two things.

One was for Pei Yang to release Hu Guifen and to pay her the wages she was owed.

The second was for Pei Yang to compensate the Fu family for medical expenses, arguing that Fu Shouchang had gone to the city to find Hu Guifen and that Hu Guifen had been arrested because of Pei Yang’s report to the police, so it was all Pei Yang’s fault.

Pei Yang nearly laughed in anger.

He had seen plenty of shameless people, but this level of shamelessness was a first for him.

"Since you’ve come knocking, let’s make things clear today and have everyone here judge for themselves!"

"Hu Guifen violated regulations by leaking the production process and formula of the apple soft candy to Manager Shi of Xiyuan Candy Factory. I fired her and withheld her wages. Any objections?"

All the employees knew how important the production process and formula were as core secrets to a factory.

Leaking core secrets to competitors was undeniably driving the factory toward its downfall.

Being fired and withheld wages was already letting her off too easily!

This kind of treachery deserved to be locked up and fed prison food!

"Your daughter-in-law broke the law and almost caused the food factory to go bankrupt, and you still have the nerve to come here causing trouble when they haven’t even bothered you? Have you no shame?"

"Exactly, if it had been a state-owned factory, such a person would be directly arrested and executed!"

The Fu family were all illiterate and, hearing the word "executed," were so frightened that they shrank their necks, not daring to make a sound.

Father Fu and Mother Fu were equally terrified.

Was the crime their daughter-in-law committed so serious as to warrant execution?

Having won the initial battle, Pei Yang pressed his advantage. He publicly disclosed one by one the numerous misdeeds committed by Hu Guifen, such as stealing contracts and causing heavy losses to the food factory, as well as slandering Shen Mingzhu.

Now, not only were the Fu family nearly drowned by the spit of the housing compound residents, but even the village head, whom the Fu family had asked for help, was unwilling to back them up any longer, dropping the line "I can’t manage your family’s business" before walking away.

With the departure of the village head, the villagers and relatives who had come with the Fu family also grew uneasy.

Just then, the police from the police station arrived.

Seeing the officers in uniform, those villagers and relatives who were still hesitant quickly dispersed like birds and beasts.

"What happened? Who called the police?"

Pei Yang pointed at Father Fu and Mother Fu, and gave the police a brief explanation of the situation.

The officers were adept at dealing with such matters and, with just a few words, made Father Fu and Mother Fu leave in disgrace.

Seeing the excitement was over, the residents of the housing compound also scattered and went back to their own homes.

Shen Baolan missed the heat of the moment. When she ran downstairs, she only saw the police leaving the housing compound and eagerly grabbed someone to ask, "What happened? Was Shen Mingzhu arrested?"