The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 296 - 295: Old Stories of Matchmaking

Chapter 296: Chapter 295: Old Stories of Matchmaking

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"Wah wah..."

At two o’clock in the middle of the night, Little Guoguo cried just as she usually did.

Shen Mingzhu turned on the bedside lamp, slipped into her slippers, picked up her daughter from the crib, and started to soothe her while unbuttoning her blouse.

Click click click.

Having gotten milk, Little Guoguo stopped crying, sucked vigorously with her eyes closed, her tiny mouth opening and closing like fish lips.

Creak.

The door was pushed open, and Shen Mingzhu instinctively looked back to see the man tiptoeing in, and instinctively asked, "Why are you down here?"

Pei Yang closed the door gently, approached her, his gaze resting on his daughter’s face for a moment before looking up at her.

"I’m used to it, I can’t sleep when I hear Little Guoguo cry; I came down to check."

Although getting a vasectomy was only a minor surgery, in order to ensure Pei Yang had good sleep for recovery, Shen Mingzhu had specifically asked him to squeeze in with their son upstairs for the past couple of days.

"It’s nothing, go back to sleep," she replied softly.

Pei Yang refused to go back upstairs, took off his shoes, lay down on the bed, hands clasped behind his head, watching the mother and daughter, "I’ll just sleep down here. I can’t get proper rest upstairs, I’m always worried about the girl disturbing you."

"I’m not used to not smelling the scent of milk on you."

Shen Mingzhu glanced at the man in the bed, didn’t say anything, but the corners of her mouth lifted slightly.

Once she finished breastfeeding, Pei Yang got up and took Little Guoguo to burp her.

Shen Mingzhu lay back in bed, watching the father and daughter wandering around the room, her eyelids soon grew heavy.

After making a couple of rounds in the room, Pei Yang, seeing Shen Mingzhu had fallen asleep, walked over to the bedside, one arm cradling his daughter, the other pulling up the blanket to cover her.

"Yi ya~"

Perhaps smelling her mother’s scent, Little Guoguo started to get restless.

Pei Yang quickly got up, carried his daughter away, and whispered soothingly, "Guoguo, don’t fuss, Mom is asleep."

"Ah~"

Little Guoguo yawned, her tiny pink mouth wide open, and her eyelids began to droop.

Five minutes later, Pei Yang put the slumbering girl back into the crib, covered her with a little blanket, bent over to watch for a while. Seeing that she didn’t wake up, he tiptoed back to the bed, turned off the desk lamp, and twisted into position to wrap the person on the bed into his arms.

...

Life wasn’t going as well for Shen Baolan, who had gotten her wish for a son.

Ma Sufen was getting on in years, and she also had to care for the eldest grandson, her energy was not up to par, the father and son Zhou Shuhuan and Zhou Chuanxiong were even less reliable, and the Zhou family couldn’t afford to hire a nanny, so since Little Yuanbao was born, Shen Baolan had been raising him on her own.

Little Yuanbao was big and ate a lot, needing to be fed seven or eight times a day. After being fed, he would poo, which meant changing diapers, and after changing diapers came washing them.

Shen Baolan was busy on her own like a spinning wheel, nonstop. To make things worse, Little Yuanbao was particularly troublesome at night, causing the whole family to sleep poorly.

Adults could bear with it, but Zhou Hao was still a child; when woken up, he would cry nonstop. Not only did the Zhou family complain, but the entire building’s residents were equally filled with grumbles.

Finally, the Zhou family decided to simply send Shen Baolan, along with her grandson, back to her mother’s home for her postpartum confinement.

In fact, for Shen Baolan, going back to her parental home for confinement could be seen as a blessing.

Back with her family, with the help of her relatives, she could get some relief.

But without comparison there would be no harm.

She and Shen Mingzhu had gotten married almost at the same time, both to urban families, and had children back to back.

When Shen Mingzhu had her baby, her husband not only bought a big house and hired a nanny, taking meticulous care, but also held a grand full-month celebration.

When her turn came to have a baby, she was sent back to her parental home for confinement, which was a clear sign that neither Shen Baolan, the daughter-in-law, nor the in-laws were valued.

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The villagers were all abuzz with gossip, even dredging up the petty details of the past matchmaking fiascos.

Many sneered at Shen Baolan’s lack of judgement, thinking she must have had water in her brain. Pei Yang was tall, handsome, and came from a good family, but she rejected him and chose Zhou Shuhuan instead, a man who was shorter, weaker, and had a criminal record. Now she’s brought trouble upon herself.

Even the incident where Shen Baolan had deliberately arranged for Shen Mingzhu to fall into the water, sabotaging her opportunity to meet a suitor, was exposed and quickly spread through the village.

Qin Jinlian, after getting into an argument at her daughter’s, was already on edge. Hearing this news, she immediately went to settle accounts with Liu Cuihua.

Liu Cuihua was not someone who was easily intimidated, retorting, "You said my daughter caused your daughter to fall into the water? Where’s the proof?"

The two women stood with their hands on their hips, arguing all afternoon, neither gaining the upper hand, but providing ample entertainment for the other villagers.

Although Zhou Shuhuan had sent Shen Baolan and her son back to her parents, he did have a bit of conscience, albeit not much.

So whenever he was free, he would bring some offerings to visit his wife and son at his in-laws’ home.

But as soon as he entered the village, some busybodies told him about the matchmaking incident from the past.

The moment Zhou Shuhuan learned the truth, it was as if he’d been struck on the head with a blunt object, his mind filled with a thunderous ringing.

He couldn’t count how many times he had regretted and mocked himself for not firmly choosing Shen Mingzhu back then.

He had resigned himself to his fate and was determined to make a good life with Shen Baolan.

After all, she had given him a son, and he wouldn’t be an ungrateful Chen Shiming.

But now he realized that missing out on Shen Mingzhu wasn’t his fault, but rather a result of Shen Baolan’s deliberate plotting and interference.

At that moment, all his regrets turned into resentment towards Shen Baolan.

The busybodies had mentioned the incident just for laughs, but they did not expect Zhou Shuhuan to throw the eggs and pork he was carrying onto the ground, his face turning an iron shade of blue before he turned and left.

Knowing they had caused trouble, the troublemakers quickly relayed the matter to Liu Cuihua.

By the time Liu Cuihua came out, Zhou Shuhuan was already gone; only the pork smeared with mud and the eggs shattered on the ground remained, evidence of Zhou Shuhuan’s anger.

Shen Baolan wasn’t too concerned about Zhou Shuhuan leaving in a huff.

Now that she had a son, she felt she had nothing to worry about.

...

After learning the truth, Zhou Shuhuan immediately wanted to find Pei Yang, to ask if he knew about this, to inquire whether Pei Yang had originally been interested in Shen Mingzhu or Shen Baolan. But after standing outside the Pei Family’s courtyard for what felt like half an hour, he lacked the courage to knock on the door.

"Brother Zhou, are you here to see Pei Yang?"

A gentle and pleasant voice sounded from behind him.

Turning, he saw Shen Mingzhu pushing her bicycle, and looking at her lovely and charming face, Zhou Shuhuan found himself speechless.

Just then, the gate behind him opened, and Pei Yang came out, holding his daughter in his arms.

"Shuhuan, what brings you here?"

With difficulty, Zhou Shuhuan forced a smile, "I have the day off today, just came to see how you all are."

Once inside, Shen Mingzhu parked her bicycle and went over to Pei Yang, smiling tenderly at their daughter.

"Guoguo, did you have your milk this afternoon?"

"She did, just finished a little while ago. Otherwise, she would have started fussing the moment she saw you," Pei Yang replied.

Watching the couple tenderly and harmoniously discussing their daughter, the words Zhou Shuhuan had wanted to ask suddenly became hard to utter.

He had wanted to ask Shen Mingzhu if she would have married him if she hadn’t fallen into the water, if he had chosen her.

He perhaps understood that asking or not asking was pointless and would change nothing.

He was just not content, resentful, even aggrieved.

And filled with deep jealousy.