The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 278 - 277: Underhanded Trick

Chapter 278: Chapter 277: Underhanded Trick

Dong Hua rushed into the office and, upon seeing his daughter safe and sound, his tense expression instantly turned into one of concern.

He scooped up his daughter, his voice urgent yet filled with indulgent warmth, "Xuanxuan, where did you run off to? You and your brother really scared me."

Perhaps feeling secure in her parent’s embrace, the little girl began to wail, her large, glistening tears falling like pearls off a string, arousing deep sympathy.

Dong Hua handed his daughter over to his son standing behind and turned to thank the kind-hearted person. However, he was surprised to recognize that it was Shen Mingzhu and her husband.

"Mrs. Pei, Mr. Pei, it turns out to be you. I really cannot thank you enough."

Shen Mingzhu smiled and exchanged pleasantries, "Housekeeper, what a coincidence, I didn’t expect it to be your daughter. The little girl is quite smart; she came up to me on her own, asking to find her dad."

Dong Hua thanked them repeatedly.

After Shen Mingzhu and Pei Yang left, Dong Hua turned and severely scolded his son.

"...Thank goodness it was Mrs. Pei and the others who found her. If you had lost your sister, see if I wouldn’t flay your skin."

Dong Zijian, hugging his sister, admitted his mistake with a guilty conscience and, afterwards, grew curious about Shen Mingzhu’s identity.

"Dad, do you know that lady?"

"She’s a friend of the young master."

Dong Zijian realized, and then he recounted the argument between Wang Hongcheng and Shen Mingzhu to Dong Hua.

As it happened, Dong Hua was at the sales event to make some purchases and also took his son and daughter with him to give them a glimpse of the world.

While he was handling matters, Dong Zijian wandered off alone with his sister, Dong Zixuan.

As they strolled around, they stumbled upon the scene where Shen Mingzhu was making a fuss about Wang Hongcheng underestimating women. Dong Zijian, engrossed in the spectacle and enjoying the drama, didn’t pay attention and lost track of his sister.

Fortunately, Dong Zixuan hadn’t gone far and was lucky enough to bump into Shen Mingzhu.

...

After leaving the office, Shen Mingzhu continued walking around the sales event with Pei Yang and they started talking about Dong Zixuan.

"What do you think, if I had a daughter, would she be as cute as the housekeeper’s?"

"Definitely, our daughter will have inherited the best from both of us."

Shen Mingzhu looked him up and down, "Come off it, what good traits can she inherit from you?"

Pei Yang was at a loss for words.

Though he considered himself not bad looking, deep down, he still hoped that his daughter would resemble his wife more, with soft, white skin, and she didn’t have to be too tall, just slightly taller than his wife would do. And as for her personality, being gentle and soft like his wife would also be quite nice.

Thinking this way, he realized, gosh, didn’t he have anything worth passing on to his daughter in his genes?

Was he that superfluous?

After finishing looking around the sales event, Shen Mingzhu went out of her way to visit the Fushun Exhibition Booth. Only after seeing that Fushun dared not use banners and loudspeakers again, did she feel satisfied and returned to the factory.

While Shen Mingzhu had vented her frustration, Wang Hongcheng was fuming.

After throwing a tantrum back at the factory, he brooded with a dark expression, pondering how to regain his face.

...

"The young master has returned."

Yan Yi nodded slightly, passed over his briefcase and car keys, lowered his head to change into slippers, and inquired about the situation at home.

After Dong Hua finished speaking, he casually mentioned the chance encounter with Shen Mingzhu at the sales event that day.

"...We owe a big thanks to Mrs. Pei, or else Xuanxuan might have been lost this time. It’s quite fateful; among so many people at the sales event, the little girl insisted on finding Mrs. Pei and clung to her without letting go."

Imagining that scenario in his mind, Yan Yi couldn’t help but smile, "She’s pregnant and naturally radiates a maternal aura, so it’s normal for Xuanxuan to feel attached to her."

"Yes, that’s what I thought. Today was too rushed. When I’m free, I’ll have to visit and personally thank Mrs. Pei and Mr. Pei."

"How did she seem to be doing?"

Dong Hua replied with a smile, "Not bad, her complexion is ruddy, and she remains as elegant as ever."

Upon hearing this, Yan Yi fell silent inside.

Time flies, a blink of an eye and it’s been half a year since we last met.

Next time we meet, it should be for her child’s full-month celebration.

"Uncle Dong, help me order fifty boxes of Ronghua mooncakes in a while, I need them for gifting."

Hearing his instructions, Dong Hua hurriedly asked which Ronghua’s he should order from.

Yan Yi raised an eyebrow, "What, are there many Ronghua mooncake shops in Fengcheng?"

Dong Hua replied, "Not too many, currently there are two."

Half an hour later, a blue sports car arrogantly parked in front of the Yan Family’s gate.

Ning Yuan got out of the car, tossed the car keys, and walked through the Yan Family’s gate. Seeing Yan Yi standing by the pond feeding the fish, he cheerfully walked over.

"Old Yan, what did you call me for?"

Yan Yi didn’t even lift his eyebrows, slowly sprinkling the finely ground fish food on the water’s surface, "Your worthless capabilities, indeed never disappoint me."

Ning Yuan looked baffled, "What’d I do wrong? Come on, you called me in the middle of the night just to scold me?"

Yan Yi glanced at him, "I’m not scolding you; I’m merely stating facts."

Good lord, that hurts way more than actual scolding, okay?

...

After thinking for a few days, Wang Hongcheng finally came up with a brilliant idea.

Shen Mingzhu made him unhappy, so he had to give Shen Mingzhu a hard time.

Mingzhu Restaurant sold pastries—what if people found a cockroach or mouse droppings in them? Who would want to buy from them then?

Thinking of this, a sly smile crept across Wang Hongcheng’s face.

After lunch, Shen Mingzhu took her son back to the office to rest.

Just as she had set up the folding bed, the phone rang on her desk.

"Son, you go ahead and sleep. Sleep well and go to school. Mom has some errands to run."

After hanging up the phone, Shen Mingzhu reminded him a while picking up her bag and hurried out the door.

Pei Ziheng stopped her, "Mom, what happened?"

Facing her son’s dark, piercing eyes, Shen Mingzhu’s emotions slightly calmed, "There’s a problem at the shop, I need to check it out."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Pei Yang came in from outside, casually adding, "I’ll go. It’s too hot today; you shouldn’t run around outside."

Seeing his sweaty forehead and the sunburned redness of his face, Shen Mingzhu couldn’t help but feel a pang of heartache.

"Have you had lunch?"

Pei Yang picked up the water cup from the desk and took several gulps before answering, "It’s alright, I’ll just grab a couple of pastries on the way. What happened at the shop?"

...

A large crowd had gathered in front of Mingzhu Restaurant, where a woman in her thirties was holding up a box of flower pastries for all to see.

"Look, everyone come and see! This is the flower pastry I bought today, and inside the filling, there’s such a big cockroach—how disgusting! It almost made me vomit my supper!"

As the woman displayed this, waves of disgust erupted from the onlookers.

"Selling such expensive pastries, yet the hygiene is so poor, it’s utterly outrageous."

"I heard where they’re made is just some shabby little factory. Think about it, what good can come out of such a tiny factory?"

"Forget it; I dare not buy their flower pastries again. There are so many delicious pastries out there; it’s not like their’s are the only ones I can eat."

"I’m also not buying anymore. It’s too nauseating."

The employee, Luo Xiaofang, was so anxious that her face turned red, and her ears burned as she tried to explain to the crowd, but it was all in vain.

By the time Pei Yang arrived, this was the scene he saw.

He didn’t rush to intervene but instead took note of several people who were echoing and stirring up trouble amongst the women before stepping forward.

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