The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 313 - 312: She, Shen Baolan, is Still Stronger than Shen Mingzhu

Chapter 313: Chapter 312: She, Shen Baolan, is Still Stronger than Shen Mingzhu

Wang Hongcheng had been eyeing the fresh flower cakes and snowflake crisps in Shen Mingzhu’s hands for a long time.

He had started out in the pastry business himself and enjoyed some glory for a few years, but with the opening of policies in the past two years, more and more people had entered the business world, increasing competition and leading to a decline in the bakery’s profits year after year.

This was why he had initially signed a profit-sharing agreement with Shen Mingzhu rather than buying out the mooncake recipe with a lump sum payment.

Not to mention that Shen Mingzhu was unwilling to sell the mooncake recipe, he also couldn’t bear to fork out a thousand or so dollars at once.

After all, he hadn’t been certain whether the mooncakes would sell at the time.

As it turned out, his judgment was correct; the mooncakes were well-received upon their launch and even secured a large order from Hengxing.

He had wanted to kick Shen Mingzhu to the curb and enjoy the big cake that was Hengxing all by himself, only to find out that Hengxing recognized only the Ronghua brand, which forced him to begrudgingly give Shen Mingzhu a cut of five thousand dollars.

Although he had also made a good sum from the Ronghua mooncakes, who would ever complain about having too much money?

He could have earned even more!

What made him more envious and resentful was that Shen Mingzhu had actually introduced such trump products as the fresh flower cakes and snowflake crisps, earning pots of money.

He had secretly approached two pastry chefs from Shen Mingzhu’s food factory a while back, attempting to buy them off with money.

It was to no avail, though.

Before Shen Mingzhu hired any pastry chefs, she performed background checks to confirm they had good character and no bad records before employing them.

Moreover, Shen Mingzhu also offered generous wages, with a base salary of fifty, plus commissions and bonuses; the monthly income generally reached eighty to ninety dollars.

The pastry chefs preferred to continue working stably at the food factory, where they could earn a thousand dollars a year, so why ruin their livelihood over the meager benefits offered by Wang Hongcheng?

Furthermore, with Hu Guifen’s previous lesson there for all to see, no one dared to take the risk of ending up in jail, to earn unethical money and ruin their future.

However, Wang Hongcheng was determined to get his hands on the recipes for the fresh flower cakes and snowflake crisps.

In his view, it would be best if Shen Mingzhu were willing to sell the recipes; even if she refused, once the food factory closed down, he could easily spend a high price to poach the two pastry chefs to Fushun and he was confident they could recreate the fresh flower cakes and snowflake crisps.

Wang Hongcheng’s calculations were clicking in his head, and he hummed a little tune, pleased with himself.

...

"This surnamed Wang, this yellow weasel, he even has the nerve to come asking to buy our recipe; he must be dreaming!"

Upon learning of Wang Hongcheng’s intentions, Shen Hongmei was indignant, glaring at Wang Hongcheng’s retreating figure, wishing she could tear him to pieces right there and then.

"Calm down, keep your cool, don’t forget our main business."

Hearing Shen Mingzhu’s reminder, Shen Hongmei tempered her anger somewhat and looked at Shen Mingzhu with admiration, "Mingzhu, you’re so strong, knowing he’s the one who got Brother Yang arrested, you could still hold back from cursing him out."

"If cursing him out were useful, I would’ve made sure he ascended right there and then. When you strike a snake, you must hit it at its vital spot; if you can’t hurt the enemy, don’t waste your effort. It’s better to save that energy to track down the counterfeit dens."

Shen Hongmei nodded, taking the lesson to heart.

At the police station, although she still couldn’t see Pei Yang, the attitude of the police station staff had clearly improved a lot, even agreeing to help her deliver food.

Shen Mingzhu was extremely grateful.

After about a half-hour wait, the staff member returned the thermal container to her.

Stepping out of the police station’s gates, Shen Mingzhu immediately opened the thermal container and, seeing the half a bun left inside, a smile appeared on her face.

She had put a note in the bun; if he was safe, he was to leave half of it.

With the confirmation of Pei Yang’s safety, a huge weight lifted from Shen Mingzhu’s heart and her steps became noticeably lighter.

After visiting several snack shops that sold the food factory’s spicy strips and dried tofu but failing to find any useful clues, Shen Mingzhu had no choice but to return home empty-handed, to have lunch and wait for news.

...

Pei Yang’s arrest spread like wildfire throughout the family living quarters.

Despite the daily hardships after giving birth, Shen Baolan’s love for gossip hadn’t waned a bit.

Whenever she had a moment to spare, she would carry her chubby Yuanbao downstairs to join in on the chat.

She hadn’t expected to hear such earth-shattering news as soon as she stepped down today.

She immediately confronted the speaker, "Pei Yang was arrested? When did this happen?"

Perhaps too excited, Shen Baolan’s grip was so strong that she accidentally tore off a button from the person’s clothing, prompting them to give her a huge roll of the eyes.

Only after picking up the button from the ground did the person calmly share the news of the food factory being sealed off and Pei Yang’s arrest.

This year the food factory had expanded its recruitment, and that person’s sister-in-law had gotten a job there.

That person had gone back home to deliver some items today, and upon seeing that their sister-in-law wasn’t at work, they learned that the food factory was in trouble once again.

Listening to the story, Shen Baolan held her son and laughed crookedly, practically dying to run up to Pei Yang and ask if his face hurt.

Pei Yang had always claimed that marrying Shen Mingzhu was his good fortune and that she was born with a prosperous destiny for her husband.

And what now?

In no time at all, he had been implicated by Shen Mingzhu and ended up in the police station, where he might even face prison time.

In her opinion, Shen Mingzhu was more like a husband-jinx!

Even though her own husband had not been home for a month, at least he was still out there making money for her and their child.

That was far better than having Shen Mingzhu’s husband arrested.

Now that Pei Yang was in jail, Shen Mingzhu would have to raise two children by herself, especially since her own child was a useless girl!

Comparing their situations, she, Shen Baolan, was still in a better position than Shen Mingzhu, for at least she had a son who could be counted on for her future.

Pei Ziheng was still young now, easily coaxed by Shen Mingzhu, but once he grew up and got married, would he still care about Shen Mingzhu, his stepmother? She might as well take her own head off and give it to Shen Mingzhu for a stool.

The more Shen Baolan thought about it, the happier she became. She immediately rushed home with her son to gossip about Pei Yang’s arrest and potential imprisonment with her mother-in-law. Then, she also called Zhou Shuhuan’s workplace.

Upon learning of Pei Yang’s trouble, Zhou Shuhuan immediately went to the Pei Family’s house after getting off work.

Shen Mingzhu was grateful for Zhou Shuhuan’s concern but was very strict with her words and did not reveal the truth, saying only that the authorities were investigating and that everything would be fine once it was cleared up.

Seeing that Shen Mingzhu was emotionally stable, Zhou Shuhuan thought maybe Shen Baolan had been exaggerating the news, so he consoled her with a few words and left.

Not long after Zhou Shuhuan left, Zhao Dafa arrived.

He too had heard about the food factory incident and came to show his concern.

Shen Mingzhu dismissed Zhao Dafa with the same explanation.

Once Sister Yu finished preparing dinner, Shen Mingzhu packed some into a thermal container, asked Shen Hongmei to deliver it to the police station by bike. Meanwhile, she stayed at home waiting by the phone for news.

However, Shen Mingzhu wasn’t just sitting around waiting, she was pondering her next move in her mind.

If the police dogs failed to track down the counterfeit factory, then she would have to start with someone close to Wang Hongcheng.

After all, Wang Hongcheng was a businessman and likely wouldn’t handle such dirty work himself; he would surely find an assistant.

Who could Wang Hongcheng’s helper be? A loyal subordinate, a trusted friend, or a reliable relative?

As the clock hands imperceptibly pointed to nine, just as Shen Mingzhu was racking her brains over the identity of Wang Hongcheng’s accomplice, the phone in the living room suddenly rang.

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