The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 319 - 318: Food Factory Resumes Work

Chapter 319: Chapter 318: Food Factory Resumes Work

"Friends."

Hearing Yan Yi’s answer, Meiqian wanted to press on with questions but was subtly diverted by Yan Yi, "Did that person confess everything clearly?"

Meiqian smiled, "Yeah, pretty much got the whole picture. Thanks to his little brother-in-law, or it wouldn’t have gone so smoothly. Piling up all the charges, he won’t be able to escape seven or eight years in prison."

Yan Yi felt relieved.

In truth, such matters only required him to give an order, and plenty would be willing to do it for him.

But he wanted to do it himself, as if this way, he could fill some void and regret in his heart.

...

"Come on, what are you still sitting there for?"

Dressed and ready, Shen Jianguo glanced at Qin Jinlian, who was sitting on the bed, and urged her to hurry.

Qin Jinlian hesitated, "Forget it, I won’t go. Getting shut out and left to stand in the cold again, letting others laugh at me."

"Then just stay here in the house," he said dismissively.

Having said that, Shen Jianguo turned and was about to leave.

Qin Jinlian felt unwilling to give up and got off the bed, slipping on her shoes to follow him out.

"The old master has arrived, please come in. The lady is waiting for you to join her for breakfast," greeted Yu Dazu warmly as Shen Jianguo responded with a smile and stepped inside.

After taking a couple of steps and noticing Qin Jinlian hadn’t followed, he looked back and urged her, "Come in, what are you doing standing there like a door god?"

Qin Jinlian indeed wanted to follow inside, but looking at Yu Dazu, she hesitated to step forward for fear of being chased out again. That would be too embarrassing.

Just as she stood uncertain, Yu Dazu smiled at her and said, "Old madam, please come in."

Meeting Qin Jinlian’s surprised gaze, Yu Dazu explained with a smile, "No mother and daughter hold grudges overnight. This morning, the lady specially instructed me to prepare breakfast for both of you."

Even with Yu Dazu’s permission, entering the living room and encountering the gaze Shen Mingzhu directed at her still left Qin Jinlian very apprehensive.

"Have a seat. After breakfast, Pei Yang will take you out for a stroll," she said.

"Alright, that’s great. I’ve been to the city several times but never really had a good look around," Shen Jianguo replied cheerfully and pulled Qin Jinlian to sit down.

The breakfast consisted of rice porridge, eggs, vegetable buns, fried dough sticks, soybeans in sauce, and salty radish dices as sides. Although ordinary for the Pei Family, to the old couple, it felt particularly lavish.

In the countryside, having a bowl of millet porridge for breakfast was already good. Eating meat buns and dumplings was as joyous an occasion as celebrating New Year’s.

The elderly couple ate with red, delighted faces, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

After breakfast, Pei Yang led the elderly couple out, while Shen Mingzhu stayed at home to take care of the child and waited for news from Liu Yuehua.

Pei Ziheng took leave and didn’t need to go to school; together with Yu Dazu, the mother and son transformed an empty room upstairs into a playroom for Little Guoguo.

A thick carpet covered the cold, hard tile floor, the windows were fitted with safety nets, and a one-meter-high fence was added at the door.

Once they finished, Shen Mingzhu involved her son in the finer details of decorating. "When your dad has time, we’ll ask him to install a net from the ceiling. We’ll buy some colored paper and fold cranes to hang on the net, and we’ll make a beautiful wind chime to hang by the window, how’s that?"

"Okay, Mom," he agreed.

Shen Mingzhu, reminded of something, looked down and tenderly held her son’s delicate and beautiful face, "Let’s make two wind chimes, and hang one by your window. What color do you like?"

Pei Ziheng replied happily, "I’m okay with any."

"That won’t do. You must decide. Quick, pick the color you want the most."

After some thought, Pei Ziheng chose yellow.

Once they finished and returned downstairs, Liu Yuehua happened to call.

"Mingzhu, the matter you entrusted me with has been resolved," the voice on the phone rang out, "and someone should be going over to deliver the notices this afternoon."

"Director Liu, I can’t thank you enough!" Shen Mingzhu was overjoyed.

From the other end of the line, Liu Yuehua chuckled, "To speak well of you in front of the leaders, I’ve nearly worn out my mouth, but fortunately, it wasn’t in vain. I’ll leave it at that for now, I have another meeting."

"Okay, Director Liu, in a couple of days, I’ll definitely come to express my gratitude in person."

"Sure."

After hanging up the phone, Shen Mingzhu immediately embraced her son, who was by her side, and gave him a big kiss.

"Son, our factory has been unsealed!"

Pei Ziheng, with his face blushing from the kiss, clapped and cheered in sync, "That’s fantastic!"

Perhaps too engrossed in having fun, in the afternoon Pei Yang didn’t bring the two elders back home for lunch. Shen Mingzhu didn’t mind; after eating, she put her daughter to sleep and, feeling elated, went to the factory.

Around three o’clock, the staff from the Bureau of Industry and Commerce delivered the notice to the factory.

After politely seeing off the Bureau’s personnel, Shen Mingzhu called Shen Hongmei and Du Juan to join her in tearing off the seal and meticulously checked inside and out to ensure that production could resume normally the next day.

Once she was done with the busy work, Shen Mingzhu, while resting in the office, received a call from Yan Yi.

Yan Yi briefed her on the progress of the case.

Learning that Wang Hongcheng, the principal culprit, was arrested with irrefutable evidence ensuring he could not escape his punishment, Shen Mingzhu felt as if the pent-up resentment had finally been vented.

She sincerely thanked Yan Yi and expressed her desire to invite him and Zhong Qing to her home for a meal.

Yan Yi gladly accepted, setting the date for the 22nd, which was the day of Xiaoxue, the light snow in the lunar calendar.

Just as she hung up the phone, Pei Yang stepped into the office.

Having heard snippets of the conversation, Pei Yang asked casually, "Who are you inviting for a meal?"

"Yan Yi and Qingqing."

Shen Mingzhu candidly repeated to Pei Yang what Yan Yi had told her over the phone.

Knowing that Wang Hongcheng got what he deserved, Pei Yang, too, was greatly invigorated.

...

"I’ve always said the factory wouldn’t have any issues, see, isn’t it up and running as usual now?"

The next day, as the workers arrived at the factory with trepidation, they saw the factory gates wide open and all the seals from the Bureau of Industry and Commerce gone, they each heaved a sigh of relief.

A few of the veteran employees were unfazed, acting as if the three-day closure was nothing more than a trivial matter, oblivious to the fact that the current peace and stability were a result of Shen Mingzhu’s immense effort and toil.

Before starting work, Shen Mingzhu held a staff meeting to reiterate and emphasize rules and regulations, as well as to stress the importance of production safety.

The new employees, having experienced this closure incident, all realized the significance of adhering to discipline.

If the factory were to truly shut down, they would lose their hard-earned jobs and income.

Protecting the food factory was equivalent to safeguarding their own interests.

As a result, not only did the workers strictly adhere to regulations during work hours, they also put extra care and effort into their tasks.

After this ordeal, the factory had improved in both appearance and atmosphere, seemingly benefitting from the misfortune.

...

After spending three days in the city, Shen Jianguo was getting ready to head back to his hometown.

Qin Jinlian, who had grown fond of city life, was reluctant to follow him back and wanted to stay a bit longer under the pretense of helping Shen Mingzhu with the kids.

Shen Mingzhu flatly refused, "If you want to enjoy the city a little longer, that’s fine, you go ahead, but there’s no need for you to worry about Guoguo."

However, the next thing Qin Jinlian said nearly made Shen Mingzhu burst into laughter out of frustration.