The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 258 - 257: Birthday Party

Chapter 258: Chapter 257: Birthday Party

Pei Ziheng’s birthday was March 20th, which happened to be a Sunday.

Apart from some classmates in Pei Yang’s class and a few friends of Zhao Yun, Shen Mingzhu had also invited quite a few children from the family compound.

With limited space at home, Shen Mingzhu borrowed the senior activity center of the family compound and started decorating a day in advance.

A square was formed in the center of the venue with long tables, surrounded by balloons of various colors, the ceiling draped with multicolored streamers, and at the center of the wall, the words "Happy Birthday Pei Ziheng" were spelled out with colorful balloons.

Besides that, Shen Mingzhu had prepared table tennis rackets, badminton rackets, shuttlecocks, chessboards, and more, for the children to play with at the birthday party.

However, all of this was done in secret, without telling Pei Ziheng.

Although Pei Ziheng was reluctant for Shen Mingzhu to go through so much effort for his birthday, when she proposed throwing him a birthday party, his heart couldn’t help but swell with anticipation and longing.

In Pei Ziheng’s mind, a birthday party should be prepared in advance, at the very least with balloons and ribbons for decorations, and a variety of candies, snacks, and beverages prepared.

But as the date of his birthday approached, there was not the slightest sign of preparations at home.

Even on the evening before his birthday, the house was still quiet and cold, showing no signs of a birthday party the next day.

At night, Pei Ziheng lay on his bed, a small body carrying a heavy sense of loss.

Mom must have forgotten, right?

I heard that pregnant women tend to have memory decline and become forgetful.

Should he remind Mom?

Pei Ziheng turned over and looked at the pitch-black starry sky outside the window, blinking his eyes.

Forget it, Mom is already having a hard time carrying the baby; let’s not cause her any extra trouble.

Tomorrow, he could use his saved pocket money to treat his friends to fried skewers and soda for his birthday.

Yeah, let’s do that.

Pei Ziheng closed his eyes, heavy-hearted.

The next morning, Pei Ziheng got up and discovered that home was as usual.

Dad was busy in the kitchen making breakfast, and Mom was washing her face in the bathroom.

Mom loved to look beautiful and would wash her face clean every day with facial cleanser, then apply a fragrant face cream.

"Mom."

He stood at the bathroom door, his heart unable to hide the anticipation.

But it seemed Mom really had forgotten his birthday; she just called him in to wash up.

It’s okay, Mom surely didn’t forget on purpose.

Pei Ziheng comforted himself silently.

At the breakfast table, he noticed that today’s breakfast was hand-pulled noodles with a golden fried egg on top.

He picked up his chopsticks to eat but noticed Dad opposite him was eating wontons.

He turned toward Mom next to him, and Mom was also having wontons.

"Don’t look around anymore, eat quickly. This is the longevity noodles your mom got up early to make for you. You have to eat it all in one go without biting through it."

Hearing Dad’s instructions, he immediately looked to Mom beside him.

"Happy birthday, my son. You’ve grown another year older," Mom said tenderly as she touched his little head.

Pei Ziheng felt both happy and disappointed.

Happy that Mom remembered his birthday, but disappointed that she seemed to have indeed forgotten about the birthday party.

But it didn’t matter, Mom had made him longevity noodles.

The noodles were chewy, the fried egg was aromatic, and it all tasted delicious.

After breakfast, Mom took out his birthday gift—it was actually a scooter.

With its wooden handlebar and footboard, the hand grip and axle polished to smoothness, and water-resistant lacquer coating, and the four rubber wheels secured beneath the footboard, it was lightweight to carry and stable to ride.

"Do you like it? I designed it myself, and your Dad made it for you by hand."

"I love it!"

It didn’t matter if there was no birthday party; he had a scooter.

For a kid his age, owning a scooter was simply the best.

Mom said she wanted to take him downstairs to try a round on the skateboard to see how it felt, and he had the same idea.

But then, Mom brought out a brand new set of clothes, saying that one must wear new clothes on their birthday.

Fine, whatever Mom says is right.

The family housing complex seemed to have a celebration today; outside the senior activity center, many beautiful balloons were tied up.

He didn’t pay much attention, refocused his gaze, stepped onto the skateboard, and moved forward, enjoying the delightful sensation of flying, feeling as elated as if he truly were soaring through the air.

"Son, there seems to be some event over there; let’s go have a look,"

Mom always enjoyed lively scenes, so of course, he had to accompany her.

"Pei Ziheng, why have you only just arrived?"

Zhou Hao and those other annoying brats were also there, so irritating.

"Pei Ziheng, happy birthday!"

"Happy birthday!"

What’s going on? How did they know today was his birthday?

"Pei Ziheng, your scooter still has a handle; it looks fun, can I borrow it to play?"

No way! Scram! Don’t touch!

"Son, come in quickly."

Seeing Mom waving at him from the entrance of the activity room, he hurriedly picked up his skateboard and dashed through the crowd towards her.

Upon entering, he was stunned by the beautifully decorated and festive birthday venue.

He wasn’t dreaming, was he?

He turned to look at Mom beside him, and she was also looking at him, with such tender eyes and a beautiful smile.

"Son, happy birthday!"

Tears welled up in his eyes; so Mom hadn’t forgotten about his birthday party after all.

"All right, no more crying. Today, you should be happy. Why are you sniffling?"

Looking at Mom squatting down and wiping his tears with a handkerchief, he was filled with guilt and self-reproach.

He really was a big fool for misunderstanding that Mom had forgotten his birthday.

"Mom, I’m sorry."

"I thought you had forgotten the birthday party."

Mom held him tenderly and said, "Silly boy, even if Mom forgets to eat and sleep, she wouldn’t forget your birthday."

Mom, thank you, and also, I love you.

Forever and always.

...

Today’s senior activity center was as lively as a kindergarten, filled with the children’s cheers and laughter.

Many from the housing complex stood outside the activity room windows, peering in with curiosity.

"I heard that throwing this birthday party cost nearly a hundred yuan."

"Shen Mingzhu sure is willing to spare no expense for her stepson’s birthday, making such a fuss."

"Her stepson is not like other stepsons, he loves her even more than a real son. Now that she’s pregnant again, if she has a daughter, her life would be perfect."

"Yeah, one son and one daughter, truly enviable."

Such bustle was definitely not something Shen Baolan would miss.

Watching Shen Mingzhu, her face full of smiles, handing out birthday cake to the children, waves of envy and jealousy surged within her.

"It’s just that the kid has never seen his real mom. If one day his real mom shows up, let’s see if he’ll go with her. By then, Shen Mingzhu’s efforts will be in vain, wailing too late." There’s always someone with sour grapes.

"That’s true, the child isn’t her own flesh and blood; there will always be a distance."

Everyone glanced at Shen Baolan, whether they intended to or not.

After all, besides Shen Mingzhu, she was the only other stepmother present and had always had a strained relationship with her stepchild.

However, Shen Baolan couldn’t be bothered with people’s snide remarks; her mind was preoccupied with just one thought.