The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 282 - 281: A House That Belongs Completely to Her

Chapter 282: Chapter 281: A House That Belongs Completely to Her

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"Sister Shen, Brother Pei, what do you think of this house? Although it’s a bit old, the maintenance is good, and it could definitely be lived in for another thirty years without a problem."

"The decoration and furniture may be a bit outdated, but they are all genuine redwood. If you buy this house, spend some money to renovate the walls, floors, and furniture, and you could move right in."

The house Zhao Dafa was showing to the couple was right on the same street where he lived, only that it was a bit old, a pre-liberation period house.

Red brick walls, black tiled roof, with a separate small courtyard.

Shen Mingzhu fell in love with the old house at first sight. Not to mention the seclusion of having a standalone courtyard, it could become a fortune in about twenty years if it were to be demolished and reconstructed.

This area was part of the city center, bound to become a prime commercial zone in the future! Even without reconstruction, the value of this house was set to soar.

Shen Mingzhu was secretly excited. "Brother Zhao, how much is this house?"

"Eleven thousand."

Zhao Dafa began to crunch the numbers for the couple. "The house has two floors, two living rooms, one kitchen, three bathrooms, and five rooms. The indoor area is two hundred and twenty square meters, and the courtyard and terrace come as a bonus. Oh, there’s also a basement, great for storing sundries or keeping wine."

It was indeed beautiful.

If this were thirty years later, such an old house would cost at least several tens of millions.

"Brother Zhao, I really like the house, it’s just that the price is a bit high. To tell you the truth, the most we can come up with is nine thousand."

Zhao Dafa scratched his head, "How about this, I’ll arrange a meeting with the owner, and you two can sit down and talk about it."

"Alright."

On the way back, Pei Yang couldn’t help but smile when he saw Shen Mingzhu’s joyful excitement.

"Do you like that house that much?"

Shen Mingzhu glanced at him, her eyes and brows brimming with the beauty of spring, "Don’t you like it?"

Before Pei Yang could reply, she started imagining out loud, counting on her fingers, "Five rooms: one for us, one for each of the two kids, and the remaining two—one as a study, the other as a guest room."

Most importantly, living in a standalone house is peaceful and comfortable; no more need to listen to the chatter of neighbors in a communal housing compound.

Pei Yang wrapped his arm around her waist, his voice deep and indulgent, "Since you like it so much, then let’s buy it."

"We don’t need to look at others?"

They had only started looking at houses since deciding to buy.

Pei Yang pinched her delicate chin. "Why be so fickle, love? Why look at others when we have found one we like?"

Shen Mingzhu playfully slapped his hand away. "Shouldn’t we compare with three before buying something?"

Pei Yang looked at her, his eyes deepening, "I don’t need to compare with others. When I see something I like, I know it’s the one."

Shen Mingzhu blinked, "Are you talking about me?"

Pei Yang laughed. "You’re not too slow."

After a pause, he added, "Let’s settle on this house then, no need to look at others."

Shen Mingzhu had no objections.

The meeting with the owner was set for a Saturday. Shen Mingzhu also brought along Pei Ziheng to see their prospective new home.

The owner was a young woman. It was said that the house belonged to her older generation, her two brothers had gone abroad, and she had married and moved to another place.

After her parents passed away, the old house had been vacant for several years.

For these decades-old houses, being lived in was what kept them alive; being empty, they could decay in just a few years.

"I’ve lived in this house since I was born, for twenty years. I wouldn’t want to sell it if I wasn’t so reluctant to let it fall into ruin," the owner said.

Upon learning that Shen Mingzhu wanted a bigger house for the addition to the family, the young woman readily knocked five hundred off the price, as an act of sincerity and blessing.

In the following days, they gathered funds, completed the transaction, and transferred the deed.

When registering the transfer, Pei Yang insisted that only Shen Mingzhu’s name be written.

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"In his words, ’Our home isn’t complete without you.’

There was another thing Pei Yang didn’t express, that without her, the home would have fallen apart.

No one could predict the future, but in that moment, Shen Mingzhu distinctly felt the man’s sincerity and commitment.

She accepted his affection.

After finishing the property transfer procedures, Shen Mingzhu returned to the old house.

Standing in front of the old house’s gate, tears flowed from her eyes without warning.

’Mom, what’s wrong?’

’Daughter-in-law, what’s the matter? Are you crying from happiness?’

With her eyes brimming with tears and laughter, Shen Mingzhu looked at the father and son. ’I have a home now.’

Although she hadn’t been here for a short time, and had gradually acquired a family, career, love, kinship, and friendship, it was not until this moment that her name was inscribed on this ancient and elegant house.

It was completely her house, not because she was someone’s daughter-in-law, or because of who her husband was.

Like a tree that had put down roots, she now had a sense of belonging.

Although Pei Yang might not comprehend her thoughts, he could feel her heartfelt joy and emotion.

This made him think that putting the house in his wife’s name was a very wise decision.

Pei Ziheng stretched out his little paw to grasp his mother’s hand, his pretty face contemplative.

So a big house could give Mommy a sense of security.

When he earned money in the future, he would buy Mommy lots and lots of big houses.

...

Regarding the purchase of the big house, there was someone even more delighted than the Shen Mingzhu’s family of three. That person was Zhao Yun.

With both families living on the same street, he could not only go to school with Pei Ziheng every day, but he could also dine at the Pei house every day!

Although the house was bought, making it comfortable to live in would still require a lot of work.

Considering it was a decades-old house, the wiring, pipes, walls, floors, and windows all needed to be replaced, and some old and unnecessary decorations had to be removed.

According to Shen Mingzhu’s requests, it was okay for the furniture in the house to be old, but it had to be clean and bright.

Pei Yang was busy with the food factory and renovating the new house, striving to get it ready for her to move in for the confinement period after childbirth, while also taking care of her.

Seeing the man visibly thinning and growing haggard, Shen Mingzhu was very distressed, but she really couldn’t help much; all she could do was try not to cause any trouble at home, be extremely careful every time she went out, continue to stay active, listen to music and the radio, and keep her mood cheerful.

Newborn clothes, bottles, diapers, blankets, formula, as well as her nightgowns, maternity pads, toilet paper, toiletries, and so on, were all taken care of by Pei Wenping. Even the nanny who could help with the postnatal care was found by Pei Wenping.

Shen Mingzhu often felt that her biggest contribution to having the baby was providing a womb.

The due date was August 7th, which was the start of autumn.

On the 4th, Pei Wenping came over specially to remind Shen Mingzhu to go to the hospital two days early for labor, to avoid any last-minute rush.

Shen Mingzhu thought it made sense and began packing up after dinner.

Actually, there wasn’t much to pack. Pei Wenping had prepared everything in advance and sorted it into different bags; she just needed to pack her household registration book, birth permit, and prenatal examination booklet.

Perhaps because she might be going to the hospital the next day for the delivery, Shen Mingzhu was a bit anxious and tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

Pei Yang soothed her for a while before he fell asleep himself.

Just after midnight, Shen Mingzhu suddenly felt something unusual in her body and quickly woke up Pei Yang, who was beside her.

Awakening, Pei Yang felt the wetness on the bedsheet, turned on the bedside lamp, and looked at Shen Mingzhu, asking, ’Wife, did you wet the bed?’

Shen Mingzhu was so angry she wanted to kick him under the bed.

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