The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 359 - 358 Earning Money

Chapter 359: Chapter 358 Earning Money

After being mocked by Ma Sufen, Shen Baolan didn’t dare to talk back like before.

Zhou Shuhuan was seldom at home and ignored her and her son. Without her husband as a backbone and no capital to make money, she couldn’t stand tall in her husband’s family.

However, her submission and humility did not appease Ma Sufen but instead made her feel Shen Baolan was worthless, and her words became more and more sharp.

"All from the same village, but why the difference? Others do business, open factories, booming with success, and even buy big houses, yet you can’t even find a job. It’s an embarrassment to speak of!"

The hurtful nature of those words was no different than driving a knife into Shen Baolan’s heart.

Shen Mingzhu didn’t care about the ties of the same village and wouldn’t lend her a hand, even her in-laws looked down on her, thinking she couldn’t compare to Shen Mingzhu.

Humiliation and unwillingness burned fiercely in Shen Baolan’s chest.

She was determined to make money; she wanted everyone to see that she, Shen Baolan, was not inferior to Shen Mingzhu!

...

Days passed, and Shen Baolan still hadn’t found a job.

Even the jobs she had looked down upon, like washing dishes and cleaning, were no longer available.

Ma Sufen’s patience had completely run out, and she was unwilling to continue helping her with the child.

It was mainly because Yuanbao, that is Zhou Fu, was too troublesome; he would cry at the slightest displeasure, and once he started crying, it seemed endless, only stopping when he was held and rocked.

Yuanbao had been strong since birth, and now he was even more of a chubby kid, weighing around seventeen or eighteen pounds. Ma Sufen was getting on in years and didn’t have the energy or strength to hold and comfort Yuanbao every day.

Having no choice, Shen Baolan toughened her heart and sent Yuanbao back to her parents’ home, asking Liu Cuihua to help raise him.

Liu Cuihua was already taking care of her own grandchild. Looking after one child or two didn’t make much difference.

However, Tian Wenfang, her sister-in-law, was not pleased with Shen Baolan sending her child back to her maternal home.

With Liu Cuihua needing to work in the fields, caring for her nephew fell to Tian Wenfang.

It was hard enough to take care of her own child, who would be willing to help look after her sister-in-law’s child?

But she didn’t really have a choice, from her mother-in-law and father-in-law to her husband, the whole family doted on the sister-in-law dearly.

After settling her child, Shen Baolan returned to the city to continue her job search.

That day, Ma Sufen suffered from back pain, so Shen Baolan helped pick up her stepson, Zhou Hao, from school.

As soon as he walked out of the school gate, Zhou Hao began clamoring for Shen Baolan to give him pocket money to buy soda.

A bottle of soda cost fifteen cents, but Shen Baolan searched all her pockets and found only five cents.

She had no job and the financial power at home was in her mother-in-law’s hands; these five cents were what she had scrimped and saved.

Five cents was not enough for a soda, but it could buy a cup of cool water.

Cool water was made by adding coloring and saccharin to cold boiled water. It was a beautifully colored drinking water served in clear round glass cups, very popular among children.

Summer had arrived, and the weather was getting hotter. After spending a day playing at school, drinking a cup of ice-cold sugary water or soda was an ultimate delight for the children after class.

Looking at the sugar water stall surrounded by children, Shen Baolan suddenly had an idea.

"Mom, can you lend me some money? I want to start a sugar water business..."

In the evening, Shen Baolan excitedly shared her idea with Ma Sufen, "The cool water business can be profitable. A pea-sized amount of coloring and a few saccharin tablets can make a big bucket of water. Selling it for five cents a cup, you can easily make two yuan from one bucket."

The business was a good idea, but Ma Sufen had suffered big losses before. She was reluctant to let Shen Baolan get involved in business, nor did she believe Shen Baolan could make money from it.

Seeing that Ma Sufen was unwilling to lend her start-up capital, Shen Baolan ran back to her maternal home again.

Although Liu Cuihua was also not optimistic about Shen Baolan’s sugar water business, she after all was her own flesh and blood. Unable to withstand Shen Baolan’s persistent nagging, Liu Cuihua gritted her teeth and lent her twenty yuan.

Shen Hao had learned carpentry and had gone up the mountain to cut wood, making a small pushcart and wooden box for Shen Baolan.

The wooden box had a round hole on top, lined with thick foam, and the hole was covered with a thick quilt to store popsicles.

With the help of her family members, Shen Baolan finally set up a syrup stand at the entrance of the elementary school.

...

By the time Shen Baolan packed up and returned to the residential compound, it was already 8 p.m.

Ma Sufen had eaten dinner early and was chatting with people in the residential compound.

Seeing her pushing the cart back, many people smiled and joked, saying that the Zhou family was also going to have a female boss.

Ma Sufen glanced at her daughter-in-law, who was struggling to push the small cart into the shed, with no intention of helping. Instead, she scoffed, "Her? Become a boss? I’d be thankful if she doesn’t cause me trouble."

Soon, Shen Baolan carried the wooden box and emerged from the shed holding unsold sodas.

Seeing her drenched in sweat, someone teased, "Baolan, how’s business? Making any money?"

Shen Baolan wiped her sweat and said with a frown, "What money? It’s just enough to break even."

Hearing that, no one laughed. Instead, they offered her words of encouragement.

"No worries, take it slow. You’ll make money eventually."

"Business isn’t that easy. If making money was that simple, everyone would be doing it."

Shen Baolan kept sighing, regretting her decision, "Exactly. I’d have been better off getting a job. Business is too hard."

Hearing her lament like this, everyone couldn’t help but offer their sympathy and pity.

"Mom, come back early later. I have something to tell you."

Upon hearing her daughter-in-law’s words, Ma Sufen’s face immediately darkened.

She didn’t think Shen Baolan had anything good to talk about. It was probably about losing money and wanting to borrow more.

There was no way she would lend money to this wasteful daughter-in-law!

Ma Sufen purposefully dawdled until almost 10 p.m. before returning.

As she entered, Shen Baolan greeted her eagerly, "Mom, why did you come back so late?"

Ma Sufen shot her a look, "Don’t be a busybody. I’ll come back whenever I want. What’s it to you?"

Shen Baolan didn’t take offense to her rude attitude, "Mom, I need to talk to you. Come to the room with me."

"I won’t go, and I don’t want to listen."

Seeing this, Shen Baolan had no choice but to close the living room windows and draw the curtains before taking a bulging cloth bag out of the room.

"Mom, take a look at this."

Ma Sufen stared at her suspiciously, refusing to take it, probably fearing it contained something undesirable.

Shen Baolan quickly unfolded the cloth bag to reveal its contents.

It was full of colorful banknotes.

Ma Sufen’s squinty eyes suddenly opened as wide as bells, "Where did this money come from?"

"Mom, this is all the money I made today from selling syrup and popsicles!"

Ma Sufen, with a face of disbelief, "But, didn’t you say you didn’t make any money?"

Shen Baolan said proudly, "If I hadn’t said that, what would I do if everyone knew that selling drinks was profitable and started competing with me?"

As if unable to handle such a turnaround, Ma Sufen was stunned for a good while before coming to her senses. When she spoke again, her tone was completely different from when she had entered, filled with warmth and eagerness.

"Baolan, how much did you earn today?"