The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 253 - 252: My Mom Won’t Let Me Play with Fools

Chapter 253: Chapter 252: My Mom Won’t Let Me Play with Fools

Although Shen Mingzhu didn’t like to go out, she didn’t neglect social interactions because of it.

She made candy boxes and gift boxes for Pei Yang and his son to take to relatives and friends’ homes for New Year visits, and to share the good news of her pregnancy.

When relatives and friends learned of her pregnancy, they all brought gifts to congratulate her.

During the first few days of the New Year, it was quite normal for relatives to visit each other, so the activity at the Pei family’s didn’t draw much attention from the neighborhood, as everyone was busy with their own New Year visits.

On the fourth day of the New Year, Zhao Yun and his son also visited the Pei family.

Zhao Yun, though not very scholarly, was known for his loyalty. When he learned that the food factory was having difficulties, he pestered Zhao Dafa at home until he managed to drag him along to purchase two hundred pounds of apple taffy.

Out of gratitude, Shen Mingzhu also gave a candy box and a pastry box to Zhao Dafa.

Perhaps having heard about Shen Mingzhu’s pregnancy from his son, Zhao Dafa specially brought gifts to congratulate her.

The fact that his son had passed the end-of-term exams after so many years of study delighted him to no end.

Although he was uneducated, he understood the principle that one becomes influenced by one’s company.

His visit was intended to foster a closer relationship between the two families, hoping his son would become closer to Shen Mingzhu and her son, and thus become more ambitious.

Zhao Dafa was very generous with his gifts, which included high-quality cigarettes and liquor, as well as bird’s nest, ginseng, and shark fin, supposedly to help Shen Mingzhu to nourish her health.

Shen Mingzhu couldn’t refuse and had to give Zhao Yun a big red envelope as a reciprocal gesture.

Zhao Dafa, being a busy man, sat for a short while before taking his leave, but left his son Zhao Yun behind.

He had often heard his son speak of how warm and happy the Pei family was and how gentle and virtuous Shen Mingzhu was.

Today, seeing it for himself, he found that the reputation was well-deserved. Rather than taking his son home to cause trouble, it was better to leave him at the Pei’s.

"Mom, Zhao Yun and I want to go to the arcade for a while."

The two children hadn’t been playing in the bedroom for long before they ran to Shen Mingzhu to ask for permission.

"Go ahead."

Shen Mingzhu, herself unable to go out, was happy to let Pei Ziheng go out and play more.

After New Year’s, her son would be almost six, and it was fitting for a child of that age to go out and play rather than be cooped up at home like a little old man all day.

She gave them a coin for spending money and temporarily "confiscated" Zhao Yun’s big red envelope to prevent the two children from misusing money while out.

Zhao Yun wasn’t angry at Shen Mingzhu’s "meddling".

Having grown up without a mother, he had never experienced the feeling of being disciplined by one.

He felt very happy that Shen Mingzhu was willing to discipline him.

...

Just as they walked out of the apartment building, they ran into Zhou Hao and a few children playing.

"Pei Ziheng, come play with us!"

Zhou Hao, holding his toy machine gun, shouted triumphantly at Pei Ziheng.

The toy machine gun in his hand was the latest model of the year, bought for him by his well-off stepfather from the Capital, making him the only one in the complex to have it, and drawing the envy of the other kids.

But what he wanted more was Pei Ziheng’s envy.

The parents always praised Pei Ziheng for his good grades and intelligence, but what did that matter, Pei Ziheng didn’t have the toy machine gun in his hands!

Pei Ziheng ignored Zhou Hao and walked straight past with his little short legs.

Not content, Zhou Hao caught up to him, "Pei Ziheng, I’m talking to you, why are you ignoring me?"

Pei Ziheng glanced at him, "My mom doesn’t let me play with fools."

Zhou Hao: "..."

After walking a distance, Zhao Yun looked back at Zhou Hao, who was pretend-firing his machine gun at them, and happily said to Pei Ziheng, "Aunt Mingzhu letting you play with me, doesn’t that mean I’m pretty smart?"

Pei Ziheng glanced at him without expression, "You’re just not as obviously foolish."

Zhao Yun: "..."

...

Once he left the family compound, Pei Ziheng didn’t head to the arcade but instead took the tram to the urban village where Shi Yizheng lived.

After Shi Yizheng was imprisoned, his wife ran off with someone else, and his elderly mother took his son back to their old rural home to live.

He went back to his old home for the New Year but returned on the first day itself.

Bearing a criminal record, the villagers all avoided him and gossiped behind his back, so he wasn’t keen on staying in his old home either.

Seeing Pei Ziheng seek him out once again, he stared in silence for a while before letting Pei Ziheng in.

Zhao Yun also wanted to follow inside but was sent away with a sentence from Pei Ziheng, "Keep watch for me outside."

"Oh!"

Zhao Yun then really stood outside the door, looking around like a door god.

Idiot.

The corner of Pei Ziheng’s mouth lifted slightly as he closed the door, turned around, and had an in-depth conversation with Shi Yizheng.

Ten minutes later, Pei Ziheng came out the door, leaving with Zhao Yun.

Shi Yizheng stood at the door, watching the two leave.

Zhao Yun kept looking back as he walked, his curiosity buzzing like a hundred thousand ants crawling inside him, "What did you need him for?"

"To deal with a bad person."

"Who?"

"The one who harmed my mother."

"Oh."

Even though Pei Ziheng hadn’t revealed anything, Zhao Yun was quite pleased, feeling that Pei Ziheng saw him as a good brother to trust him with such an important secret.

...

From the first to the fifth day of the New Year, Qin Jinlian went out visiting neighbors after each meal, happily chatting about everyone and everything, but every so often, she couldn’t help glancing toward the entrance of the village.

It was obvious to everyone what she was looking out for.

"Jinlian, it’s already the fifth day. Hasn’t your son-in-law returned yet?"

"Return what return? The trip is bumpy. I don’t want my grandchild to be jostled."

"Yo, your Mingzhu is also pregnant? How many months now?"

Qin Jinlian couldn’t hide her pride, "Nearly three months."

"Then she is indeed earlier than Cuihua’s daughter, I heard she’s two months in. She hasn’t returned this year either."

Though Qin Jinlian said she didn’t mind her daughter and son-in-law not visiting her, deep down, she was actually looking forward to it.

For a woman her age, the filial piety of her children was what allowed her to stand tall in the village.

Knowing that Liu Cuihua’s son-in-law also hadn’t returned, she felt somewhat consoled.

But once she returned home, she couldn’t help complaining to her husband and son, "It’s true that a married daughter is like spilled water. It hasn’t been long since she got married, and she doesn’t even think to visit. Such an ingrate."

Shen Jianguo snapped at her immediately, "What nonsense are you talking about? The road to the village is narrow and slippery. What if Mingzhu, who is carrying a child, has an accident?"

Shen Chaobei agreed, "My younger sister was already showing an unstable pregnancy. She needs to rest in bed. It would be too taxing to visit her maternal home. You, as her mother, should be more sympathetic."

Shen Xiangnan added, "The last time we went to the city to see Mingzhu, you managed to upset her with your words to the point her belly hurt. If it were me, I wouldn’t come back either!"

Even the usually quiet and well-behaved Daya raised her small head, "Auntie, she won’t come back."

Her husband, son, and granddaughter, each with their own remark, stabbed at Qin Jinlian’s heart like knives.

With teary eyes, she went back to her room, unable to comprehend why the whole family sided with her daughter instead of her, their own mother.

...

Pei Yang returned home after visiting relatives and saw Shen Mingzhu curled up on the sofa like a lazy cat, a smile inevitably seeping into his eyes.

After hanging up his coat on the wall and warming his hands by the heating pipe, he sat down next to Shen Mingzhu and picked up a sour mandarin from the coffee table to peel.

"So you’re really not going back to your mother’s home this year?"

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