The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 312 - 311 Wang Hongcheng Comes Knocking

Chapter 312: Chapter 311 Wang Hongcheng Comes Knocking

Yan Yi returned home and glanced at his father, seated on the living room sofa, handed his coat and car keys to the butler, and slowly walked over to sit opposite his father.

"Dad, you wanted to see me?"

His father looked at him, his face bearing the authoritative, intimidating expression that came from years ingrained in officialdom, "I heard you called in a police dog. What for?"

Calling in a police dog was no small matter, and Yan Yi’s father felt compelled to inquire further.

"Qingqing has a friend who ran into some trouble and asked for my help."

Yan Yi responded without changing his expression, managing the situation with ease.

Upon hearing this, his father didn’t pursue the matter further but instead showed concern for Yan Yi’s personal affairs.

Yan Yi answered each question in turn.

Yan Su placed a cup of water in front of Yan Yi and then sat down beside them, quietly listening to the father and son talk.

Half an hour later, the father went back to his room to rest.

Yan Su followed Yan Yi upstairs and, once they were inside the room, she hastily asked, "Is it because of Shen Mingzhu?"

"Mmm, she’s run into some trouble."

An ’I thought so’ expression appeared on Yan Su’s face, "What trouble has she gotten into now?"

Seeing Yan Yi looking at her with a smile, Yan Su couldn’t help feeling annoyed, "What are you laughing at?"

"I just think that you seem to be rather concerned about Shen Mingzhu now," he replied.

"I’m just asking casually," Yan Su said, concealing the discomfort in her heart.

Yan Yi briefly explained the trouble at the food factory. After listening, suspicion appeared on Yan Su’s face, "For such a small matter, you could have resolved it directly. Was there really a need to make such a big deal of using a police dog and causing dad to chide you?"

Yes, he indeed could have handled the matter directly, but— "It was her idea; I think she prefers solving it her own way."

Yan Su stared at him for a long while, at a loss for words.

She had always seen her brother as a calm, rational, and restrained man, strong enough to remain composed even if the sky were falling—a very qualified heir to the family.

But now, she realized her brother also had the potential to be a foolish ruler.

Yan Su was preoccupied with her thoughts, but she didn’t fail to notice the relaxed pleasure on Yan Yi’s lips, and she couldn’t help but say, "With such a big issue at hand, you seem to be in quite a good mood."

"Yes, I’m feeling quite good," Yan Yi admitted frankly, "I discovered today that she’s quite adorable."

Yan Su: "..."

...

Perhaps sensing the peril of her biological father, Little Guoguo, who usually fell asleep easily at night, just wouldn’t stop crying.

Shen Mingzhu and Shen Hongmei took turns trying to soothe her, but in the end, it was only when Pei Ziheng carried her upstairs that she finally quieted down.

Pei Ziheng’s room had a single bed, but thankfully Pei Ziheng was still young and Guoguo was too, so the brother and sister could share the bed without feeling cramped.

"Mom, you go down and sleep. I’ll take good care of Guoguo," Pei Ziheng said as he lay on his side, his tender little hand adeptly patting Little Guoguo gently, whispering to Shen Mingzhu, who was sitting on the edge of the bed.

Her son was not even seven years old—how could she trust him to take good care of a three-month-old baby?

"You keep soothing her. Once Guoguo falls asleep, I’ll carry her downstairs," she said.

Pei Ziheng nodded his head, dutifully assuming the responsibility of comforting his sister.

After waiting for about ten minutes and confirming that her daughter had fallen asleep, Shen Mingzhu bent down and carefully picked her up, tiptoeing towards the door. Before she even reached the doorway, the child woke up, her little pink lips parted in a wailing cry.

But as soon as Pei Ziheng took her, the crying stopped immediately.

After a few such episodes, Shen Mingzhu was physically drained and had no choice but to let her son sleep with her daughter to prevent him from accidentally pushing her off the bed in the middle of the night. She used a mosquito net to completely surround her son’s bed, tucking the net under the mattress so that if her daughter accidentally fell off, she would be caught by the net.

Having done all this, Shen Mingzhu finally left, looking back three times with every step as she went downstairs to her own bedroom.

In the morning, Shen Mingzhu was awakened by sunlight filtering through the curtains.

Usually, she woke up to the sound of her daughter’s crying, but today the room felt unusually quiet and empty, which she found a bit unsettling.

Once she was dressed and opened the door, she saw her son sitting on the sofa holding her daughter, waving a bell in his hand, tinkling melodiously, accompanied by her daughter’s giggles and happy sounds.

"Son, good morning."

"Mom, good morning."

Shen Mingzhu bent down to take her daughter, then asked her son with concern, "Did Guoguo bother you last night?"

Pei Ziheng shook his head, "Guoguo was well-behaved, slept through till dawn."

Perhaps smelling Shen Mingzhu’s scent, Little Guoguo began grunting and nuzzling her face against her mother’s chest, reminiscent of a piglet rooting around. Amused by this, Shen Mingzhu turned around and went back to her room to breastfeed her daughter.

While breastfeeding, Shen Mingzhu quietly pondered over the tasks she had to accomplish today.

...

After breakfast, as usual, Shen Mingzhu expressed half a bottle of breast milk to store in the fridge. Then she filled a thermos with porridge, added two peeled boiled eggs, a steamed bun, and some side dishes, and left the house with Shen Hongmei.

She planned to first go to the police station to deliver food to Pei Yang, though she wasn’t sure if she would be allowed to see him.

Afterwards, she would take a walk around the streets to see if there were any other brands of spicy strips or dried tofu that she had missed buying. Although Yan Yi had promised to help, she couldn’t just sit at home and wait without doing anything.

She hadn’t gone far when she ran into Wang Hongcheng.

"Yo, Director Shen, you seem busy?"

Seeing Wang Hongcheng, Shen Mingzhu immediately felt wary, and also worried that Shen Hongmei wouldn’t keep her cool, so she sent Shen Hongmei ahead with the items to wait for her.

Before Shen Hongmei left, she gave Wang Hongcheng a fierce glare.

Wang Hongcheng’s attention was all on Shen Mingzhu and did not notice Shen Hongmei’s glare. Even if he had, he wouldn’t have cared.

"Is there something you need, Manager Wang?"

"There’s a business deal I’d like to discuss with Director Shen." Wang Hongcheng smiled smugly, "I’ve heard about the troubles at your factory. You had a stroke of luck winning bids for People’s Shopping Mall and Baihui Department Store, only to have such bad luck afterwards. I hear both malls have suspended their cooperation with you, what a pity indeed."

Feigning anger and impatience, Shen Mingzhu said, "Speak plainly, I’m busy."

"Busy taking food to the station for your man, right? Now’s the time to treat him well while you still can. Food safety isn’t a small matter; a short sentence is a year and a half, a longer one is two to three years. Once he’s sentenced, it will be difficult for you to see him again."

"Out of respect for our past cooperation, I’m offering you a way out. Sell to me your recipes for the fresh flower cakes and snowflake pastries, as well as the Ronghua mooncake trademark, and I’ll give you five thousand."

Shen Mingzhu lifted her lips in a slight chuckle, "Does five thousand seem like a lot to Manager Wang? How about this: I’ll offer five thousand and one yuan to buy your Fushun Cake Factory. What do you think about that, Manager Wang?"

Wang Hongcheng scoffed coldly, "Shen Mingzhu, don’t be ungrateful. Your factory’s been sealed, your man’s been arrested, and your whole family is relying on you for food. You have a bank loan due in half a year; if you can’t repay it by then, you might have to use your house as collateral. The fact that I’m willing to offer you five thousand is already being generous."

As if swayed by his words, Shen Mingzhu looked down and pondered for a moment, her tone less fiery than before, "I’ll have to discuss this with my man first."

Wang Hongcheng, not suspecting any deceit, gave her a day to think it over, after which he would not wait any longer.

Shen Mingzhu was clear that this was nothing more than Wang Hongcheng’s bluff, aiming to put psychological pressure on her.

If Wang Hongcheng was a jackal, then the fresh flower cakes, snowflake pastries, and Ronghua mooncakes she had were like a fragrant piece of fat meat.

And how could a jackal give up the meat that was already in its mouth?