The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 366 - 365: Men Are Easy to Placate, It Just Takes a Toll on the Waist

Chapter 366: Chapter 365: Men Are Easy to Placate, It Just Takes a Toll on the Waist

To prevent the Tian Family from making a comeback attack, Shen Hongmei spent most of her days in the factory and would take a security guard with her if she needed to go out. After work, she followed Shen Mingzhu back to the Pei Family home to stay.

Two days later, Pei Yang rushed back from Rongcheng.

When Pei Yang arrived home, it was two o’clock in the morning. Shen Mingzhu squinted her eyes at the somewhat disheveled man and thought she was dreaming.

"Why did you come back? You didn’t even call ahead of time."

Pei Yang’s deep gaze lingered momentarily on her snow-white and smooth shoulders and neck, then he walked over to the crib, looking down at his sleeping daughter while unbuttoning his shirt.

"You go to sleep first, I’ll go wash up."

As he spoke, Pei Yang had already thrown his shirt onto the bench at the foot of the bed and started to unbuckle his belt to take off his pants.

Under the light, the man’s body was lean, his muscles tight and smooth, his waist and abdomen exquisitely defined, and every line was just right, filling the air with a strong masculine aura that made Shen Mingzhu’s face inexplicably turn red.

"Hongmei is also staying at the house."

Hearing her reminder, Pei Yang pulled up the pants he had taken off halfway, removed his belt instead, and then picked up the dirty shirt from the bench at the end of the bed and put it back on.

Seeing Shen Mingzhu kept staring at him, he smiled and walked over, bending down to pinch her chin and intending to kiss her.

Shen Mingzhu dodged with a look of disgust, covering her nose, "Go wash up, you reek."

Pei Yang wasn’t offended by the missed kiss.

It was so hot, and after being cooped up on the train for two days and nights, it wasn’t just his wife who found him disagreeable—he also felt the sour smell of sweat on himself.

After Pei Yang took his change of clothes and washing stuff to the bathroom, Shen Mingzhu glanced at the clock on the dressing table and, after a moment’s thought, got up and went to the kitchen.

As soon as the noodles were in the pot, Pei Yang followed the scent over.

Feeling the man’s damp chest press against her back, a fresh minty scent rushed into Shen Mingzhu’s nostrils.

"Did you make this for me?"

The man leaned his wet head on her shoulder, his voice vibrating in her ear.

"No, I made it to feed the dog."

"Woof, woof woof."

Unable to help herself, Shen Mingzhu chuckled and turned to glare at him, "Go blow-dry your hair."

Pei Yang carelessly ran his hands through his hair, "No need, it’ll dry on its own soon."

Shen Mingzhu didn’t insist, as men’s hair did indeed dry quickly.

The noodles in the pot soon floated to the top. Shen Mingzhu turned off the heat, ready to scoop them into bowls, but the person behind her turned her around.

Shen Mingzhu glared at him, "What are you doing? I am scooping the noodles."

"Let’s have a kiss first."

As Pei Yang said this and leaned in, their lips were about to meet when suddenly from the doorway of the kitchen came—

"Mingzhu..."

Shen Hongmei, who had gotten up to use the bathroom, saw that the kitchen light was on and came to check.

"Brother Yang, when did you get back?"

After asking, Shen Hongmei also realized she had interrupted the couple’s moment and quickly blurted out, "I came out to use the toilet," before running off.

With the interruption gone, Pei Yang prepared to continue, but Shen Mingzhu was no longer in the mood.

...

At the dining table, Pei Yang bowed his head to eat the noodles while Shen Mingzhu rested her cheek on her hand, watching him eat.

"Weren’t you supposed to come back at the end of the month? Why did you come back early?"

While blowing on the noodles, Pei Yang looked up at her and said, "What do you think?"

Shen Mingzhu replied, "How would I know?"

Pei Yang looked at her with a smile that was not quite a smile, "You don’t know why I came back, but you did know to keep back military intelligence."

"When did I keep back military intelligence?"

Just as Pei Yang was about to speak, the bathroom door clicked open.

Shen Hongmei walked out of the bathroom, saw the couple at the dining table looking at her, and suddenly let out an embarrassed laugh, "Continue, I’m going to bed."

After saying that, she dashed back to the guest room.

Once the guest room door was closed, Pei Yang began, "The Tian Family hasn’t come to cause trouble these past two days, have they?"

"No, they haven’t come."

After answering, Shen Mingzhu suddenly realized what the man meant when he said she was keeping back military intelligence.

The incident of the Tian Family coming to cause trouble, she had briefly mentioned over the phone to Pei Yang, but had not brought up Hei Houhou.

"Who tipped you off?"

Pei Yang swallowed the noodles in his mouth and looked at her, "Don’t worry about that, just tell me whether you’ve been hiding any military intelligence or not."

"You were out of town, even if I told you, you couldn’t have helped."

Pei Yang put down his chopsticks. "You were bullied, and everyone at the factory knows about it, but somehow I, your husband, am the last to know. Does that seem right to you?"

Shen Mingzhu, knowing she was in the wrong, softened her tone. "I wanted to wait until you returned to tell you."

"I’m back now, so tell me."

"Don’t you already know everything?"

Pei Yang didn’t insist on her repeating the whole story but simply asked, "Which hand did he use?"

Shen Mingzhu glanced at him. "What do you want to know that for? Are you planning to chop his hand off?"

"The thought did cross my mind."

Pei Yang was somewhat serious.

On the train ride back, he couldn’t stop thinking about it, boiling with rage, wishing he could kill the man.

"Before you go and chop off his hand, why don’t we get a divorce first, so you don’t drag down me and the kids."

In the midst of Pei Yang’s incredulous and hurt expression, Shen Mingzhu continued, "If you get in trouble and end up with a criminal record, it will affect Ziheng and Guoguo, whether they join the military or take the civil service exams."

Pei Yang couldn’t refute her and could only grumble, "I can still give him a beating, though."

"I’ve already beaten him up."

Seeing the man deflate, Shen Mingzhu’s voice softened, "Hurry up and eat, then go to sleep."

Pei Yang lowered his head and continued eating his noodles.

Feeling sleepy, Shen Mingzhu got up and went to the kitchen to pour a bowl of noodle soup for him, setting it beside him. As she turned to head back to the bedroom to continue sleeping, her wrist was grabbed.

"Sit with me for a while."

With the man’s deep and earnest eyes, and his pleading tone, Shen Mingzhu couldn’t refuse.

"How are things with the branch company? Is your sister-in-law doing fine in her job?"

A trace of displeasure crossed Pei Yang’s face. "You care about performance, you care about the sister-in-law, why don’t you care about how I am doing there all by myself?"

Shen Mingzhu chuckled, "You’re a grown man, can’t you take care of yourself?"

Pei Yang stopped eating and didn’t speak, just fixedly looked at her to express his anger.

...

Men are still quite easy to appease, though it can be a bit back-breaking.

...

The next day, as expected, Shen Mingzhu woke up late.

By the time she arrived at the factory, the morning meeting had already ended.

Seeing Pei Yang busy at his desk, Shen Mingzhu couldn’t resist and kicked him, "Why didn’t you wake me up this morning?"

"I didn’t want to disturb your sleep and wanted you to rest more."

"It’s still your fault."

"Yeah, blame me."

Pei Yang appeasingly handed her the morning meeting minutes and the branch company’s performance report.

As Pei Qiuxia brought her rose tea, Shen Mingzhu sipped the tea while perusing the performance report, deeply engrossed when suddenly her view was obstructed.

She looked up at Pei Yang who had taken the report. "What are you doing, I wasn’t done reading that."

"Grinning so happily, I haven’t seen a smile from you since I came back last night."

Catching a glimpse of Pei Qiuxia snickering aside, Shen Mingzhu’s cheeks warmed, "We’re at work, stop fooling around."

"We’ll continue at home then."

Pei Yang placed the report back on her desk, and Shen Mingzhu was speechless, but the corners of her mouth involuntarily curled up.

It’s no wonder Shen Mingzhu was in such high spirits—the branch company’s performance was much better than she had anticipated, with the sales volume at the Rongcheng department store breaking ten thousand in just the first month.

While Shen Mingzhu was busy selecting staff for the Rongcheng branch, she received a call from home. Jia Yuemei had given birth.

It was a girl.

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