The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 371 - 370 The First Birthday Ceremony

Chapter 371: Chapter 370 The First Birthday Ceremony

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Despite being extremely busy, Shen Mingzhu still found time to return to her hometown for Erya’s full moon celebration.

The nickname "Erya" was given by Qin Jinlian.

Shen Mingzhu suspected that if Du Juan had a second daughter, Qin Jinlian would likely give her the nickname "Sanya."

However, Daya, Erya, Sanya was still better than constantly calling for a little brother.

...

Shen Mingzhu went back home on her own Mulan bike, not letting Pei Yang come along, but only taking Pei Ziheng, who was on summer break.

The full moon gift prepared by Shen Mingzhu was a silver lock, two sets of baby clothes, and in addition, she gave fifty yuan as a cash gift for Du Juan and her husband.

It was hot, and with so many things going on at the factory, Shen Mingzhu didn’t plan to stay long; she planned to return to the city with Pei Ziheng after the meal.

Jia Yuemei handed Erya over to Qin Jinlian to look after and enthusiastically walked Shen Xiangnan out of the village.

"Little sister, now that I’ve had a child and Xiangnan has almost mastered his skills, about that matter of helping Xiangnan open a restaurant, isn’t it time to make good on that promise?"

Shen Mingzhu had been so busy recently that she had completely forgotten about this matter.

"Let’s wait until after the Mid-Autumn Festival. Right now, the new factory is being renovated, and we need to rush the production of mooncakes. I’m too busy to handle it."

"Alright, then it’s settled."

As if afraid she would change her mind, Jia Yuemei hurriedly confirmed the arrangement.

...

After Erya’s full moon celebration, the renovation of the new factory was officially completed.

Shen Mingzhu spent half a month cleaning and airing out the place before moving in on August 1st.

Following the move, the lease on the old factory also happened to expire.

The new factory’s premises were five times larger than the old one, not only accommodating office buildings, production workshops, warehouses, and raw material storage, but also a dormitory building that could house hundreds of employees.

After the move, the number of factory employees increased dramatically from fifty to a hundred.

To facilitate management, Shen Mingzhu revised and improved the personnel management system, covering all aspects including but not limited to recruitment, appraisals, rewards, and penalties.

At the same time, the Marketing Department and the Finance Department were also established.

The Marketing Department was further divided into four subsections responsible for product development, sales, promotion, and distribution.

The person in charge of the distribution department was someone Shen Mingzhu had already had in mind—Old Zhu.

Old Zhu not only had extensive driving experience but also was familiar with the road conditions in Fengcheng and surrounding towns.

However, as the factory currently couldn’t afford to buy vehicles, Shen Mingzhu could only provide Old Zhu with two human-powered tricycles and recruited an apprentice for him. The master and apprentice were responsible for distributing goods within the city area.

...

Just a few days after moving to the new factory, it was time for Guoguo’s first birthday celebration.

As Pei Ziheng’s school entrance celebration had just taken place last month, Shen Mingzhu didn’t plan to make a big deal for Guoguo’s first birthday and only invited close relatives and friends. In total, two tables of people were welcomed at home.

Although the event wasn’t grand, Shen Mingzhu prepared the birthday rituals very carefully, consulting many elders and devising a detailed procedural plan.

The first step was the hand-washing ceremony: a basin of clean water was prepared, and inside, apples, green onions, and rice were placed, symbolizing safety, intelligence, and wealth respectively.

Then, using the water from the basin, she washed her daughter’s hands and face.

Next was rolling off disaster: she took cooked eggs, peeled them, and rolled them over her daughter’s body, from head to toe, front to back.

"Roll off the disaster, disaster keep away."

The sequence included other rituals like wearing a hat, putting on gold, combing hair, conferring blessings, the grabbing ceremony, and foot imprints, among others.

The grabbing ceremony especially took quite an effort to arrange.

The items prepared by Shen Mingzhu for the grabbing ceremony included brushes, ink, paper, inkstone, books, abacus, gourd, spoon, green onion, longevity lock, ruler, and gold ingots, placed around her daughter.

The adults gathered around, each voicing their recommendations.

"Guoguo, grab the gold ingot."

"Grab the green onion."

"Grab the abacus."

Whether it was the noise of adults that upset her, Guoguo turned her head around, looking about, then unsteadily got up from the ground, and staggered into her brother’s arms.

Pei Ziheng, seemingly helpless on the surface but delighted inside, picked up his soft little sister and carefully placed her back on the grabbing ceremony carpet.

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However, as soon as he let go, Guoguo immediately burst into loud crying with her mouth wide open.

Shen Mingzhu, Pei Yang, and Pei Wenping took turns trying to soothe her, but Guoguo would not stop crying unless Pei Ziheng held her.

In the end, they had no choice but to let Pei Ziheng hold her for the zhua zhou ceremony.

Guoguo was rather greedy; she grabbed two things, a gold Yuanbao in her left hand and a longevity lock in her right.

Wealth for life, and a longevity of a hundred years.

...

After the first birthday celebration, the adults chatted leisurely over tea downstairs while the children, led by Pei Ziheng, played in the upstairs study.

The study was spacious and even equipped with a ceiling fan.

Once the ceiling fan was turned on, the whole room was filled with cool breeze.

In front of the large desk, Zhao Yun was playing with a new handheld game console, with Chen Xiaochao’s head close to Pei Ziheng’s shoulder, watching intently.

For boys of this age, the allure of a handheld game console was utterly irresistible.

Although Pei Ziheng was playing with the console, he hadn’t forgotten his little sister and occasionally looked over at her.

Guoguo, Chen Xiaolu, and Liang Xiaowen sat on the cool mat, playing with colorful plastic snowflake building blocks.

Seeing his sister enjoying herself, he lowered his gaze and continued playing the game console with peace of mind.

"Wah——"

Suddenly, Guoguo’s crying could be heard.

Before Zhao Yun and Chen Xiaochao could react, Pei Ziheng had already dropped the game console and quickly walked over to his sister, bending down to pick her up.

With a glance, he noticed a clear red mark on his sister’s left cheek.

He gently patted the little one in his arms and looked down to ask Chen Xiaolu and Liang Xiaowen on the cool mat.

"What happened?"

Chen Xiaolu cast a look at Liang Xiaowen, "She pinched Guoguo’s face."

Confronted by Pei Ziheng’s eyes, filled with coldness and anger, Liang Xiaowen defensively explained, "Guoguo knocked over my blocks first."

Zhao Yun also came over.

Upon hearing Liang Xiaowen’s words, he immediately pushed her, "Are you sick? Guoguo is just a little girl, how dare you bully her!"

Liang Xiaowen wasn’t sitting stably and hit her head on the bookshelf behind her, immediately standing up with tearful eyes and running out of the study.

Pei Ziheng tenderly comforted the sobbing Guoguo in his arms.

The twins and Zhao Yun looked at each other, at a loss.

Chen Xiaochao said to Zhao Yun, "You’re done for, she’s definitely going downstairs to tattle."

"I’m not afraid of her at all."

No sooner had he spoken than a roar from Zhao Dafa came from downstairs, "Zhao Yun, get your butt down here!"

Under the twins’ sympathetic gazes, Zhao Yun nonchalantly made his way downstairs.

...

In the living room, Liang Xiaowen lay crying in Zhou Hui’s arms, while Zhao Dafa stood with hands on his hips, glaring at Zhao Yun, who was hiding behind Shen Mingzhu.

"You little rascal, come here!"

"Just say what you want to say, I’ve got great hearing and can hear you just fine."

Zhao Dafa became so annoyed he could barely contain his frustration, "Why are you picking on Xiaowen? Is this how you act as a brother, always bullying your sister? Apologize to Xiaowen right now!"

Zhao Yun snorted, "She started it by bullying Guoguo. If anyone should be apologizing, it’s her—to Guoguo and Aunt Mingzhu."

Upon hearing that her daughter had been bullied, Shen Mingzhu instinctively turned to ask Zhao Yun, "What happened to Guoguo?"

"Xiaowen pinched her face, and she’s still crying upstairs."

Zhao Dafa clearly had not expected there to be such a twist, and after a moment of surprise, he turned to look at his stepdaughter.

Tears in her eyes, Liang Xiaowen shrank back into Zhou Hui’s embrace, "I didn’t mean it, I only touched her lightly and she started crying."

Zhao Yun scoffed, "I only touched you lightly as well, so why are you crying so heartbreakingly?"

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