The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 378 - 377: Sowing Discord

Chapter 378: Chapter 377: Sowing Discord

For her daughter’s birthday party, Zhou Hui had gone to great lengths.

She had not only decorated the house inside and out but also carefully selected the children to invite, either from families with strong economic strength or children of important department leaders.

As the invited guests had almost all arrived, Shen Mingzhu and Pei Ziheng were nowhere to be seen, Zhou Hui was displeased but did not show it in front of the guests. Instead, she smiled and instructed her daughter, Liang Xiaowen, to go to the Pei Family and ask Shen Mingzhu to come over.

However, Liang Xiaowen refused to go.

The shadow of being "taught a lesson" by Pei Ziheng still loomed over her heart; she would now even take a detour when passing by the Pei house.

Zhou Hui had no choice but to send the nanny to the Pei house to invite them.

The stepson had run off early in the morning, disappearing without a trace, and even if he were at home, he wouldn’t listen to her.

The nanny returned quickly, bringing the stepson and Pei Ziheng with her, but Shen Mingzhu was still missing.

Zhou Hui hurriedly asked Pei Ziheng, "Ziheng, where’s your mom?"

Zhao Yun rushed to answer, "Aunt Mingzhu had something to do today and was not at home."

After speaking, they took Pei Ziheng and ran upstairs.

Zhou Hui was infuriated inside, yet she had to suppress her frustration and explain to Mrs. Liu and the others.

Her leverage for getting these powerful and influential ladies to her home was the name of Shen Mingzhu, and now with Mingzhu’s absence, she was left unable to save face.

More than losing face, she was worried that these ladies would blame her, thereby affecting the Zhao Family’s business.

If it really came to that, Zhao Dafa would be even less likely to register their marriage with her.

Confronted with the questioning looks from Mrs. Liu and others, Zhou Hui quickly had an idea.

"Ah, Mingzhu had some urgent matters and had to leave; she probably won’t make it today."

Indeed, upon hearing that Shen Mingzhu would not come, the faces of Mrs. Liu and the others looked displeased.

They had come today with the intention of networking with Shen Mingzhu to exchange parenting tips.

"She must have had some emergency; otherwise, she would have definitely informed us. She had agreed to it yesterday, and I even reminded her to bring her child over early."

"Mingzhu is young; it’s inevitable that her actions are not always reliable. Please be understanding."

While appearing to make excuses for Shen Mingzhu, she was in fact implying that Mingzhu lacked integrity.

The ladies didn’t say much verbally, but their expressions clearly showed dissatisfaction with Shen Mingzhu.

What’s there to be so proud of as the boss of a small broken factory.

...

Around the corner of the stairs, Pei Ziheng turned expressionless and returned to the second floor.

...

In the yard, Liang Xiaowen and a few girls were jumping rope at her birthday party, having a great time.

That was until Zhao Yun led a group of boys into the yard as well.

Upon meeting the dark, ink-like gaze of Pei Ziheng, her heart faltered, and she stumbled, falling to the ground.

Zhao Yun laughed unapologetically.

Liang Xiaowen, with a flushed face, got up from the ground and yelled at him, "What’s so funny? Careful not to laugh your teeth out."

"I’ll laugh if I want, what can you do about it? Find another spot; we’re going to play basketball," he said.

In order to practice his basketball technique, Zhao Yun had pestered Zhao Dafa to remove the flower beds, pave the area with concrete, and set up a basketball hoop on the yard wall, so he could practice shooting when he had free time.

Liang Xiaowen was obviously not happy, "We were here first, why should we move for you?"

Twirling the basketball in his hand, Zhao Yun threatened nonchalantly, "If you don’t move, don’t blame me if the ball hits you."

With that, he threw the basketball forcefully towards the hoop, and it rebounded off the backboard back at them.

Liang Xiaowen ducked to the side, holding her head in fear, clearly frightened by the possibility of being hit.

Zhao Yun caught the basketball steadily, glanced at Liang Xiaowen who was hiding far away, and satisfied, tossed the ball to Pei Ziheng.

Pei Ziheng walked to a spot about five meters away from the basket, stood still, and raised his hand to shoot.

The basketball rolled around the rim twice before smoothly dropping through the net.

"Nice shot!"

Cheers from Zhao Yun and a few boys echoed in the courtyard.

After staring blankly for a while, Liang Xiaowen turned to a group of girls who were playing together and said, "Let’s go upstairs and play Jack Stones."

One girl watched Pei Ziheng’s shooting with rapt attention, her cheeks flushed with excitement, "No, you guys go ahead, I want to watch them play basketball."

The other girls also indicated that they no longer wanted to play and preferred to stay in the courtyard to watch Pei Ziheng shoot hoops.

In these girls’ hearts, Pei Ziheng was nothing short of a male god and an idol.

He was good-looking, intelligent, achieved high grades, and was even amazing at basketball.

Previously, Liang Xiaowen had also harbored a liking for Pei Ziheng, but now, in her eyes, Pei Ziheng was nothing but a devil, and she wished to keep as far away from him as possible.

But since her playmates were not leaving, she had no choice but to stay, though she stood far from the basket, fearing that Pei Ziheng might lose his temper and throw the basketball at her again.

Pei Ziheng made several shots in a row, each one hitting the mark, leaving everyone in the courtyard in complete admiration.

"This is boring, I’m not playing anymore."

Zhao Yun, who was watching with great interest, immediately said, "Why don’t we go to the arcade then?"

"Not in the mood."

"What’s wrong?"

Pei Ziheng didn’t respond, merely tossing the basketball to someone else and walking off to one side, listless.

Zhao Yun trotted after him, "Come on, tell me, what’s the matter?"

"Auntie Zhou is angry with my mom."

"What does she have to be angry about?"

Pei Ziheng hesitated before speaking, "Last night, Auntie Zhou came to our house and invited my mom to Xiaowen’s birthday party, but my mom had already made prior arrangements and couldn’t make it, so she declined Auntie Zhou, who seemed quite angry about it."

Zhao Yun, oblivious to Zhou Hui’s machinations, dismissed it casually, "Let her be angry if she wants to, who cares."

Pei Ziheng supported his chin, his eyebrows tightly furrowed, displaying a thoroughly dejected demeanor.

...

The birthday party ended, and the ladies each took their children home.

Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Chu lived in the same neighborhood, and Mrs. Liu warmly invited the latter to share a ride in her car.

On the way, Mrs. Liu spoke of Shen Mingzhu with unmistakable dissatisfaction in her tone, "...She seems quite smart, but her way of handling things is just unacceptable; if she couldn’t make it, she could at least have explained herself."

Mrs. Chu agreed, "Exactly! She just runs a small factory, how busy can she be? She’s too full of herself."

Liu Baona and Chu Lin were playing Pick-Up Sticks and, catching the adults’ conversation, looked up and asked, "Mom, are you talking about Pei Ziheng’s mom?"

Mrs. Liu, holding a grudge, scolded her daughter without a good temper, "Play your game, don’t interrupt the adults talking."

Rebuked out of the blue, Liu Baona’s temper flared up, and she immediately turned her back in a huff.

But the next second, the image of a young boy with a cold and pretty face and furrowed brows flashed across her mind, and she turned back around.

"Mom, you’ve misunderstood Auntie Shen..."

When Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Chu found out that Shen Mingzhu had never agreed to come to the birthday party in the first place, they grew even angrier.

However, their anger was not directed at Shen Mingzhu, but at Zhou Hui.

How dare a widow with a child in tow play them for fools like this! Unthinkable!

That very night, Mrs. Liu whispered into her husband’s ear, which led to a temporary halt of their cooperation with Zhao Dafa - but that’s a story for another day.