The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 396 - 395: A Beating

Chapter 396: Chapter 395: A Beating

Shen Mingzhu opened her eyes to the familiar face of Zhong Qing.

"You’re awake? Do you feel better?"

Shen Mingzhu subconsciously sat up from the bed, but her head spun with a weightless dizziness, and she almost fell back onto the bed had Zhong Qing not steadied her.

"Hiss, what happened to me? My head is so dizzy."

"You passed out."

Zhong Qing propped up the pillow to make it easier for her to lean against and soothingly explained in a soft voice, "You drank alcohol and were lacking oxygen, which caused you to faint in the private room. My mom thought you were drunk, so she brought you to a room to rest and then called me to take care of you."

Shen Mingzhu did not doubt her.

There was a pot of food heated by charcoal on the table, and indeed, burning charcoal in an enclosed space posed the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

"Drink some water, it will help speed up your metabolism and you will feel better."

"Mm, thank you."

A cup of honey water indeed made her feel somewhat better.

...

After seeing Shen Mingzhu home and the Pei Family’s front door closed, Zhong Qing finally leaned back on the car seat with a sigh of relief.

"Let’s go home."

Hearing her listless voice, the driver said with concern, "Miss, rest for a bit, I will wake you when we arrive home."

"Mm."

Zhong Qing appeared to rest with her eyes closed, but how could her mind be at peace.

She was just a hair’s breadth away from ruining her best friend’s life.

...

When Zhong Qing entered the door, it was already 9 o’clock.

In fact, the car had arrived outside the house half an hour earlier, but she knew what she would face upon entering and did not want to step through the door.

Chu Yuqing was trimming a wax plum plant at the coffee table.

At fifty, she had a strikingly youthful appearance, wearing an apricot-grey cheongsam with a khaki checker-pattern wool shawl over her shoulders, exuding a graceful and elegant beauty that belied the heart of a malicious woman inside.

"You’re back?"

Zhong Qing’s mother regarded her daughter’s cold, angry gaze as if it was nothing, continuing to meticulously trim the vase in front of her.

"Go to the study, your father has been waiting for you for a long time, he’s very angry tonight."

Not a single word of concern, not asking whether her daughter had eaten or if she was hungry even though she came home so late.

"Remember to call Yinyin and Xiaomin down for fruit."

Zhong Qing turned a deaf ear and went straight upstairs.

Only when her footsteps were no longer audible did Zhong Qing’s mother put down the scissors, taking the pruned wax plum vase with satisfaction to place on the tall cabinet at the entrance.

...

Even though she had prepared herself to face a storm, standing in front of the study’s mahogany door, Zhong Qing still couldn’t stop the trembling and fear in her heart.

It seemed as if the door before her led to the gates of hell.

"Dad, I’m back."

"Mm, close the door."

Zhong Jiping’s voice was very calm, his face wore a gentle smile, like a kind father.

But as soon as Zhong Qing closed the door behind her, the man completely stripped away his facade, revealing the ferocity and fangs of a beast.

Zhong Jiping grabbed her slender, alabaster neck with one hand, his eyes fierce, "You’re becoming bolder, daring to ruin my plans."

"I didn’t."

Zhong Qing strained for breath, her pale face turning purple-red from the lack of oxygen, "I did it for the Zhong Family, you really can’t touch her..."

Zhong Jiping let out a cold laugh, "I will investigate this matter. If you dare lie to me, I won’t let you off easily."

With that, he released his grip.

Zhong Qing collapsed weakly to the floor, bent over, trying to calm the pain from the suffocation.

"Slap!"

The solid whip struck her slender back, causing her body to tremble.

And this was just the beginning.

Zhong Qing stuffed a handkerchief she had prepared into her mouth, biting down hard to avoid making any noise inadvertently.

As the whip struck her body repeatedly, her complexion grew paler, and cold sweat mixed with tears dripped onto the floor.

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

...

Downstairs, siblings Zhong Yin and her brother were watching TV while eating sweet, fragrant mangoes.

The fruit, air-shipped from tropical regions, cost the equivalent of half a month’s income for a lower-class family.

"My sister loves mangoes the most, I’ll take some up to her."

Zhong Yin picked up two slices of golden mango flesh and was about to head upstairs but was stopped by Chu Yuqing.

"Your sister is discussing important matters with your father in the study. Don’t go up and disturb them."

"Oh."

Chu Yuqing’s voice was gentle, and Zhong Yin didn’t doubt her.

"Then I’ll save it for sister."

After speaking, she saw her brother Zhong Min continuing to eat voraciously and went to take the entire fruit plate away.

"Stop eating, save some for sister."

Despite pursing his lips in dissatisfaction, Zhong Min didn’t fuss or insist on eating more.

Seeing his reaction softened Zhong Yin’s heart, and she handed him another piece of mango flesh from the plate.

"Here’s one more for you."

Zhong Min happily took the mango and continued to savor it.

Zhong Yin called him a "glutton."

Chu Yuqing looked at the siblings, her eyes and eyebrows softened.

...

More than ten minutes later, Zhong Jiping came down from upstairs, looking refreshed and dressed in a coat ready to go out.

Zhong Yin was the first to greet him, "Dad, are you going out so late?"

"Yes, I have work to do. Your sister has caught a cold and is resting in her room. Don’t disturb her."

Zhong Yin was puzzled, "Sister seemed fine when she came back."

"Just listen to your father."

Chu Yuqing softly scolded her younger daughter, helped her husband straighten his collar, and reminded him to be careful and come home early.

Anyone would have praised her for being a gentle and virtuous wife.

...

After instructing the nanny to take Zhong Yin and Zhong Min back to their rooms to rest, Chu Yuqing took medicine and water to her eldest daughter’s room.

The room’s door was locked from the inside, but Chu Yuqing wasn’t angry. She patiently knocked on the door, with the determination to keep knocking until it opened.

Finally, the door was opened.

Chu Yuqing placed the tray on the bedside table, looking condescendingly at her daughter curled up on the bed, "Take your clothes off, I’ll apply the medicine."

"I don’t need it, get out."

"If you don’t apply the medicine, the wound will scar, and your father won’t be happy."

Seeing that Zhong Qing was unresponsive, Chu Yuqing continued, "Will you do it yourself, or should I call the nanny to help you?"

Zhong Qing closed her eyes and began to unbutton her shirt.

She couldn’t let the nanny see the wounds on her body, or eventually, her siblings would also find out.

As the clothes fell away, a series of raw lash wounds twisted gruesomely across her slender and pale body, like blood-red venomous snakes.

Any other mother would likely have taken up a knife and flayed the person who hurt her daughter to this extent alive.

She just handed the anti-inflammatory medicine and water to Zhong Qing, her voice so calm it didn’t even resemble that of a mother, it hardly seemed human.

"Take the medicine."

Then, she began to treat the wounds on Zhong Qing’s body.

Even as Zhong Qing trembled with pain, Chu Yuqing didn’t pause or offer any comfort.

Instead, she inquired with interest about Shen Mingzhu, "Yan Yi could have any type of woman he wants, why would he take an interest in someone like Shen Mingzhu? You’re not lying to me, right?"

Zhong Qing turned her head, her voice intermittent from the effort of suppressing the pain, "Last year, Shen Mingzhu was, framed by competitors, it was Yan Yi, who called in the K9 unit to help her, if you don’t believe it, go check yourself."

Chu Yuqing had heard about this incident. Yan Yi might have been born into privilege, but he always played by the rules and was seen as an exemplar among the youth.

Using police dogs privately was rather unorthodox.

And to think it was for a married woman?

Chu Yuqing scoffed at her daughter, "You really are useless, can’t even keep your own man in line."

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