The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 257 - 256: The Establishment of the Company

Chapter 257: Chapter 256: The Establishment of the Company

"Not bad, son, you’ve grown another three centimeters,"

Pei Yang was quite pleased with Pei Ziheng’s current height.

Three centimeters might not sound like much, but Pei Ziheng had measured his height just before New Year’s Day, and he was one meter twenty-five then. It’s been just over two months and he had grown another three centimeters, making his height now one meter twenty-eight.

Shen Mingzhu took a marker and neatly wrote the date on the one meter twenty-eight scale mark.

After writing, Shen Mingzhu affectionately pulled her son into her arms and pointed to the lowest date line on the wall with great joy on her face, "When mom first arrived, you were only this tall, and now you’ve grown so much, a full fifteen centimeters, son, you’re doing great."

Pei Ziheng’s bright black eyes fell on the gap between Shen Mingzhu’s fingers as she measured his height, his lips curving into a pleased smile.

He had grown taller, which was wonderful.

Growing taller meant growing up.

He wanted to grow up fast, so he could better protect his mother and sister.

...

After breakfast, father and son left together, one for work, the other for school.

Meihao Food Co., Ltd. was currently under construction, so Shen Mingzhu could either visit or stay at home.

She picked out a few pieces of fabric that relatives and friends had given her before, chose khaki and blue, and cut one meter twenty of each, planning to find a tailor to make two new pairs of pants for her son.

After packing the cut fabric into a bag, Shen Mingzhu was about to change her shoes and head out when suddenly someone knocked at the front door.

She opened the door to find two unfamiliar men.

"Hello, are you Shen Mingzhu? We’re from the narcotics brigade. We need you and your husband’s cooperation for an investigation," they said.

Although it’s said that those with a clear conscience need not fear a midnight knock on the door, having narcotics police show up unexpectedly still inevitably made Shen Mingzhu anxious.

She tried to maintain her composure and allowed the men in after checking their police badges.

The police appreciated her wariness and, noticing that she was pregnant, comforted her upon sitting down, "Mrs. Shen, don’t be nervous. We just need to ask you a few questions, it won’t take too long."

Shen Mingzhu nodded, "Go ahead and ask."

...

Choose the lesser of two evils.

After learning that he might be implicated in a capital drug trafficking crime, Shi Guangsheng chose to confess and receive a lighter sentence, divulging every detail about how he had bought poppy shells several times to frame his competitors.

After all, the penalty for framing someone and unfair competition was just a few years in prison, while drug trafficking could lead to the death penalty.

Following the clues provided by Shi Guangsheng, the narcotics team conducted an investigation and verification.

"... According to what Shi Guangsheng confessed, he bribed Hu Guifen and hid a significant quantity of poppy shells in the food factory. Could you tell us where those items are now?"

Upon learning of Shi Guangsheng’s arrest for drug-related charges, Shen Mingzhu could only think: What goes around comes around, no one is spared from the laws of karma.

"My son found those items. He recognized that they were bad and took them to the dump to throw away," she said.

In addition, she added, "If needed, I can go to the school right now and bring my son back to answer your questions."

Rumors can kill, and she was worried that having narcotics police go directly to the school could affect her son negatively and cause him harm.

Perhaps it was her sincere attitude, but the police did not make things difficult for her. They only asked that she bring Pei Ziheng to the narcotics brigade to make a statement before 6 p.m.

Once the police had left, Shen Mingzhu immediately called Pei Yang.

"How did it go?"

In the afternoon, as soon as father and son entered the house, Shen Mingzhu greeted them with concern.

Pei Yang reassuringly patted her, "It’s all right, things have been cleared up."

Shen Mingzhu breathed a sigh of relief, bending down to comfortingly touch Pei Ziheng’s cheek, "Son, were you scared?"

Pei Ziheng shook his head, "Mom, I’m not afraid of the bad guys."

"My son is so brave!"

Despite the scare, Shen Mingzhu still felt a great sense of satisfaction that Shi Guangsheng had received his just deserts.

It wasn’t long before she heard the verdicts for Shi Guangsheng and Hu Guifen.

Shi Guangsheng, for framing others, unfair competition, and causing injury, received a seven-year sentence, while Hu Guifen, for her good attitude in admitting guilt, was sentenced to only one year.

"The Fu Family knows it was Shi Guangsheng who arranged the robbery of the Fu Shouchang brothers and are now causing daily disturbances at the Shi’s, demanding compensation."

Shen Hongmei couldn’t help but sigh while talking with Shen Mingzhu about the Fu Family, "Old Mother Liu (Hu Guifen’s own mother) had been in poor health, and upon learning of her daughter-in-law’s misdeeds, fell ill and hasn’t been able to recover. It’s said she’s near her end, and one wonders if Aunt Hu regrets her actions."

Shen Mingzhu spoke evenly, "She chose her own path, and any regrets must be borne by her alone."

Shen Hongmei nodded, "With such a bloody lesson as Aunt Hu’s example, I reckon no one will dare to betray others for personal gain again."

Shen Mingzhu was noncommittal, "Human nature is very unreliable when tested, and only by taking precautions can one remain invincible."

Although Hu Guifen deserved her punishment, it was also a profound lesson for her.

...

March 1st, auspicious for a grand opening.

Meihao Food Co., Ltd. officially opened for business.

Although Shen Mingzhu was undisputedly the founding force, the legal representative was Pei Yang.

Previously, the incident involving Shi Guangsheng’s sabotage had truly frightened Pei Yang, and at his strong insistence, when Shen Mingzhu filed for the business license, she did so under Pei Yang’s name.

In this way, should anything go wrong with the company, Pei Yang would be the one legally responsible.

In Pei Yang’s words, he was the oldest, tallest in the family, and should bear the burden if the sky were to fall.

Pei Yang’s sense of responsibility moved her, and also served as a warning that she had to be even more cautious going forward, to prevent those she loved from falling into trouble.

After the opening ceremony, the food factory began production.

In addition to the existing offerings of spicy strips, dried tofu, potato chips, and apple gummies, Shen Mingzhu had gradually added hawthorn orange peel gummies, orange gummies, flower cakes, egg yolk pastries, and snowflake crisps.

With the introduction of new product lines, there was a surge in workload, and four workers were definitely not enough; it was time to expand the workforce.

However, this time Shen Mingzhu did not go back to the countryside to recruit but cooperated with the community women’s federation to employ some women with family difficulties or single mothers.

The world has always been harsh on women, and she hoped to help more females with her limited capacity.

Of course, she had her own motives as well.

Hiring female employees and helping them become independent and strong contributed to establishing a good and positive corporate image, which was beneficial to both her and the company’s growth.

Although she had decided to add five new products, Shen Mingzhu planned to start simple with the gummies.

With the launch of the hawthorn orange peel gummies and orange gummies, Pei Ziheng’s sixth birthday was also approaching.

Last year, Pei Ziheng celebrated his birthday at Pei Wenping’s house.

This year, Shen Mingzhu wanted to do something different.

"Son, how about I throw a birthday party for you? You can invite your close classmates and friends to come over to our house to play."

Pei Ziheng’s dark eyes landed on Shen Mingzhu’s slightly protruding belly, and he resolutely declined in consideration, "No need, Mom, I don’t want you to exert yourself too much."

"It’s not too much."

Shen Mingzhu stroked her belly with one hand while touching his little head with the other, smiling warmly, "Your sister would definitely be very happy to celebrate your birthday with you too."

"Okay then."

Besides planning the birthday party, Shen Mingzhu was also thinking of preparing a special birthday gift for her son.