The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 367 - 366 Shen Mingzhu’s Counterattack

Chapter 367: Chapter 366 Shen Mingzhu’s Counterattack

Shen Mingzhu immediately called Du Juan on the phone and informed her of the news that Jia Yuemei had given birth to a daughter.

"That’s good."

On the other end of the phone, Du Juan’s tone was unabashedly joyful, "Mingzhu, send some gift money on our behalf, and I’ll pay you back when I return."

"Yeah, that’s a small matter. Big sister, how are you feeling?"

From secretly having an IUD removed to the whole process of expecting a second child, Du Juan never hid anything from her.

Counting the days, it was almost three months now.

"Everything else is okay, just that the morning sickness is quite severe, I basically vomit whatever I eat."

Shen Mingzhu comforted her, "Such severe morning sickness often indicates it’s going to be a boy."

That was something Feng Huiying from the family courtyard had told her, though she didn’t believe it at first.

However, she indeed didn’t suffer much from morning sickness when she was pregnant, and Jia Yuemei was the same with mild symptoms, and the result was, both had daughters.

"Hopefully."

Shen Mingzhu paused to consider, then reminded her, "Big sister, although work is important, your and the baby’s safety comes first. If it really doesn’t work out, take a break for a while. I can send someone over to cover for you. There’s plenty of time to make money later; it’s not urgent."

"Mingzhu, don’t worry, I know what I’m doing."

...

It wasn’t more than a couple of days before Qin Jinlian came to the city to find Shen Mingzhu because Jia Yuemei had given birth to a daughter.

"...Waiting and hoping, but in the end, it’s still a girl. You don’t know how many people in the village are making fun of our family, saying that the three siblings are all destined to have girls, and what’s the use of making more money."

"Especially that old thing Liu Cuihua, she’s been coming over every day to mock me. She’s now quite proud since she has both grandsons and granddaughters, and her daughter’s cold-water stand is making money, she even walks with her nose in the air..."

After Qin Jinlian finished her tearful complaints, Shen Mingzhu calmly spoke up.

"Who says money is useless? Money is a good thing. With money, having a second or a third child is no issue."

With Shen Mingzhu’s guidance, Qin Jinlian came around.

Yeah, she had two sons, and if both sons tried for a second child, she didn’t believe she couldn’t end up with a grandson.

"Mingzhu, your eldest brother and sister-in-law listen to you the most. Talk to them, tell them to hurry up and have the second child. Since they are now in another place, even if they get pregnant, no one in the village would know."

Shen Mingzhu noncommittally replied, "Don’t worry about the eldest brother and sister-in-law; you just take care of the second brother and sister-in-law."

Qin Jinlian hesitated, "The fieldwork is not much at this time, I’m thinking about going to the city to do some small business, earn a little more money, what do you think?"

"Aren’t you looking after the sister-in-law during her postpartum care?"

Qin Jinlian pouted, "What’s there to look after for a girl, just seeing her annoys me."

Although Shen Mingzhu did not have much affection for Jia Yuemei, as a woman, she did not agree with Qin Jinlian’s preference for boys over girls.

"Regardless of boy or girl, it’s the second brother’s own flesh and blood, your own granddaughter. You are the mother-in-law; caring for your daughter-in-law during her postpartum period is only proper. Grudges from not caring during postpartum are unforgivable. Mom, think about it carefully."

With her reminder, Qin Jinlian indeed hesitated.

Qin Jinlian was not a terrible mother-in-law. Her reluctance to care for Jia Yuemei was partly due to disappointment at not having a grandson, and partly because she couldn’t stand the villagers’ ridicule, particularly that of Liu Cuihua, and wished to escape.

Convinced by Shen Mingzhu’s persuasion, Qin Jinlian decided to care for Jia Yuemei during the remainder of her postpartum period before coming to the city.

...

Tian Wenfang went to Shen Baolan once again.

This time it wasn’t about Tian Dayong finding a wife but about Hei Houhou.

Hei Houhou, for hooliganism, had been detained by the police station for three days and fined fifty yuan.

Hei Houhou’s family went to the Tian Family about this, demanding they pay the fifty yuan as well as covering Hei Houhou’s medical expenses for a hand injury and his lost wages, totaling eighty yuan.

Hei Houhou’s family and the Tian Family were relatives, but now they were at odds over this eighty yuan.

Hei Houhou’s family believed that it was out of brotherly love that Hei Houhou had helped Tian Dayong to "kidnap" someone from the city, which led to his "misfortune."

The Tian Family, however, thought that Hei Houhou had brought it upon himself—who told him to act like a hooligan?

Finally, after the mediation by the village chief, the eighty yuan was to be borne half by each family.

But the Tian Family still didn’t want to pay, their son had failed to marry, turning them into a laughingstock in the village, and now they were supposed to cough up money? It was like losing a wife and a squadron of soldiers.

They called Tian Wenfang back home and gave her a good scolding.

After all, it was Tian Wenfang who had come up with the idea to "snatch" someone from the city.

The Tian Family demanded that Tian Wenfang pay this money.

Tian Wenfang didn’t want to pay the money either, and turned to Shen Baolan right away.

"Baolan, this was all your idea. It was you who said you’d help my older brother and Shen Hongmei get together. Now Hei Houhou wants my family to fork over forty yuan. You should pay this money," she said.

Shen Baolan, of course, was unwilling, "Why should I pay? It’s your Tian Family who wants a daughter-in-law, not me. Don’t come to me."

"If you don’t pay this money, then you can take Yuanbao back and raise him yourself. I won’t help you anymore," Tian Wenfang threatened.

In the past, Shen Baolan might have been intimidated by Tian Wenfang.

But now, her cold water stand business was getting better and better; Ma Sufen treated her like a Buddha, pampering her with good food and drink.

Even if she were to take her son Yuanbao back to the Zhou family, Ma Sufen would help look after the child. Shen Baolan had nothing to fear.

"Then forget it; send the kid back to me tomorrow," Shen Baolan said dismissively.

"Why should I send him back? He’s your kid; you should pick him up yourself," Tian Wenfang retorted.

"I don’t have time to pick him up. If you don’t send him back, just keep taking care of him for me," she said nonchalantly.

"Whether you pick him up or not, once I’m back, I’ll leave your kid at the village entrance. Don’t blame me if someone abducts him," Shen Baolan threatened.

"Tian Wenfang, you dare! If anything happens to my Yuanbao, your son’s life will be the compensation!"

"Shen Baolan, you’re ruthless. Don’t ever expect me to help you with the child again," Tian Wenfang retorted angrily.

"Please, who needs your help? I have plenty of people to take care of my child," Shen Baolan quipped.

Ultimately, Tian Wenfang couldn’t outdo Shen Baolan and the next day had Shen Hao send Yuanbao back to the Zhou family.

Although the little grandson was fussy and cried a lot, with the halo of Shen Baolan being able to make money, these small issues were no longer a problem; Ma Sufen was more than willing to care for her little grandson.

...

After serving Jia Yuemei during her confinement period, Qin Jinlian headed back to the city, planning to continue selling grilled sausages and stinky tofu.

But Shen Mingzhu wouldn’t let her sell those.

With the summer heat, food preservation could easily go wrong, and during this season, neither grilled sausages nor stinky tofu sold well.

Thus, Qin Jinlian also set up a cold water stand, and coincidentally, chose the same street as Shen Baolan to do business.

Qin Jinlian’s cold water stand had a richer variety than Shen Baolan’s.

She offered not only shaved ice and jellies but also homemade yogurt ice pops and a variety of sugar-water drinks.

The taste of the snacks and cold drinks were personally adjusted by Shen Mingzhu.

Other cold drinks only offered color and sweetness, whereas Shen Mingzhu’s cold drinks used white sugar and each color came with a different fruit aroma, even tastier than soda.

The packaging was plastic bags, immersed in iced water to chill. They could be sipped with a straw and taken away, which was much more convenient than Shen Baolan’s version, which required you to stand by the stall and finish the drink in one go.

Qin Jinlian had a booming business every day, making a killing and raking the money in until her hands were sore.

In comparison, Shen Baolan’s cold drink stand became quieter by the day.

Cold drinks and sodas were still okay, the former having a low cost and the latter being preservable, but ice pops wouldn’t last overnight; if they couldn’t be sold the same day, they all melted away.

With poor cold drink sales and too much loss on ice pops, by the end of the day, not only did Shen Baolan not make any money, but she also incurred losses.

...

Just before getting off work at noon, Shen Mingzhu received a call. Qin Jinlian and Shen Baolan had gotten into a fight and were both taken to the police station.

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