The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 412 - 411 Shen Mingzhu’s Warning

Chapter 412: Chapter 411 Shen Mingzhu’s Warning

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Shen Xiangnan was not only not angry about Jia Yuemei’s dismissal; he was secretly pleased.

The child cried every night, preventing him from sleeping well and leaving him listless during the day.

"If she’s dismissed, she’s dismissed. Take the child and go home."

Jia Yuemei, furious, picked up a potato and hurled it at Shen Xiangnan. "Are you even a man? Just letting your wife be bullied like this."

Shen Xiangnan dodged quickly, avoiding the flying potato, but the neatly stacked bowls behind him were knocked over and shattered on the ground with a clattering noise.

Shen Xiangnan glanced at the broken pieces on the floor, and his temper rose.

"What’s this fuss about? I told you before to send the child back to your mother’s. You wouldn’t listen, and now you’re panicking. It’s all your own doing!"

Julie heard the commotion and came into the kitchen, saw the smashed bowls, and began to tally the damage on the spot.

"Eight bowls are completely smashed, and another twelve have chipped edges and can’t be used either. That’s twenty bowls in total. At thirty-eight cents a bowl, that’s seven dollars and sixty cents in total, which will be deducted from your wages."

Jia Yuemei was so angry she was hopping mad.

...

"...Little sister, you have to stand up for me. That woman surnamed Zhu is just a worker, while we’re actually family. Her dismissing me is a clear sign she doesn’t respect you at all, right?"

After Jia Yuemei finished crying her grievances, Shen Mingzhu calmly asked, "Manager Zhu wouldn’t have dismissed you for no reason. What was the reason?"

Jia Yuemei dared not reveal the truth. "What reason could she have? She just doesn’t like me."

"If you want to discuss fairness, then tell me the whole truth. If you can’t do that, I can’t help you."

Jia Yuemei had no choice but to talk about the voting matter.

"It’s all Liu Shuqin’s fault, and her sister’s. We initially agreed to vote for Peng Ling, but then those two turned around and joined forces with Peng Ling against me. They must have colluded beforehand, wanting to drive me out!"

"Little sister, be careful of that Zhu. She’s no good. She’s driving our own people away, and who knows what schemes she might have in mind."

Shen Mingzhu spoke calmly, "If one person says you’re not doing well, it might be her issue. But if everyone thinks you’re not doing well, then it’s time for you to look for the reason within yourself."

"To be honest, you don’t have to worry about your livelihood now. Just focus on taking care of the child. Isn’t that much more comfortable than Yang Lizhen’s life? Or is it that you’re tired of these good days?"

Even Jia Yuemei, in all her naivety, could sense Shen Mingzhu’s threat and immediately resigned herself to fate, picking up the child and slinking away with a grey face.

...

In the blink of an eye, it was March.

In the evening, Shen Mingzhu was packing Pei Yang’s luggage for his trip to Rongcheng.

This trip to Rongcheng was not only for the annual National Liquor Trade Fair but also to replace Du Juan at the branch office for a while.

He would be staying there for over a month, during a time when winter was giving way to early spring, thus requiring quite a bit of luggage.

Pei Yang sat cross-legged on the bed, watching her pack and chatting about Du Juan and her husband’s second child.

As the conversation picked up, Pei Yang leaned in close to Shen Mingzhu’s face, "Wife, why don’t we have another child too?"

Shen Mingzhu put the folded shirt into the suitcase without looking up, "If you want another, give birth yourself. I don’t mind how many you have."

"If only I could," Pei Yang toyed with her nightgown strap, "Having another child in the house could make it livelier."

Shen Mingzhu gave him a reproachful look and pulled back the garment strap, "Easy for you to say. Will you be the one taking care of the baby? Two children are enough for me. I don’t have the energy for more. If you want a big happy family, go have them with someone else."

"What are you talking about!"

Pei Yang grabbed her garment strap, pulled her onto the bed, flipped over her, "Don’t ever say things like that again. If I’m to have children, it’ll be with you. If you don’t want to, then we won’t have any more."

Under the light, the man’s eyes were deep and gentle.

The thought of being apart for a month made Shen Mingzhu’s heart inevitably fill with reluctance.

She wrapped one arm around his neck and with the other hand, she touched the tip of his nose, "Take care of yourself when you’re away, and remember who you are. Keep your distance from the opposite sex."

Pei Yang touched her nose with his, a particularly contagious laugh escaping him, "Afraid I’ll be seduced away by another woman?"

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"If I’m not afraid, you’re done for," she said.

"Don’t just talk about me, you too. With a face that attracts so much attention, I’m even less at ease," he said, caressing the corners of her eyes.

Shen Mingzhu laughed, "You better take care of yourself, because if you dare to make me wear a green hat, I’ll make you wear two."

"You wouldn’t dare?"

"Try me and see if I dare."

Pei Yang pinched her cheeks and punished her by biting her pouted lips.

Shen Mingzhu winced in pain, "Are you some kind of dog?"

"I’m a wolf, the kind that eats people, awoo~"

"Ah haha..."

Listenting to the playful noises coming from the room, Pei Ziheng turned his head to look at his quiet sister leaning on his shoulder sucking her thumb, then turned and went back upstairs.

"Guoguo, do you want to sleep with brother tonight?

"Yes, sleep with brother."

Guoguo replied in her milky voice, her big pretty eyes blinking flutters of lashes.

...

At the end of March, Du Juan came back to Fengcheng with the kids.

The two-month-old baby reeked of milk, with a tiny bundle of facial features and pinkish skin.

The moment Shen Mingzhu took the child, it was as if she’d returned to when she first became a mother; her heart melted into a puddle.

Guoguo, too, absolutely adored her new brother, clinging to the swaddling clothes and staring without even blinking.

"Brother."

"Yes, this is your brother."

"Brother, brother."

Guoguo chanted, clapping her hands, overjoyed as if she had obtained a new toy.

Seeing mother and daughter both fond of the child, Du Juan teased with a smile, "Guoguo likes the little brother so much, you might as well give her a real one of her own."

"Even though Ziheng takes to you, in the end he’s someone else’s child. What if his family comes looking for him later? It would be better to take advantage of your youth and give Guoguo a real baby brother."

Shen Mingzhu had been making clicking noises with her tongue to entertain her nephew, but she looked up immediately upon hearing this.

"Sister-in-law, please don’t say such things in the future. In my heart, Ziheng and Guoguo are both my children. Even if his family comes looking for him, at most we’ll just have one more relative. Ziheng was raised by me, I know his character," she said.

Outside the door, Pei Ziheng quietly listened to the adults’ casual conversation in the living room, then turned and walked back into the courtyard, intentionally making some noise.

Shen Mingzhu glanced at the clock on the wall and said to her daughter, "Brother’s back from school."

Hearing that brother was home, Guoguo immediately lost interest in the little brother and happily scampered on her short legs toward the door.

"Brother!"

Pei Ziheng squatted down and hugged the soft little figure full of warmth, conjuring a lollipop as if by magic.

Hugging the lollipop, Guoguo smiled with her big eyes crinkling into crescent moons.

"Little glutton."

Pei Ziheng chuckled softly as he tousled his sister’s little nose and picked her up, stepping into the house.

"Mom, Auntie," he greeted.

After greeting them, Pei Ziheng intended to put Guoguo down so he could go upstairs to put away his bag and change his clothes, but Guoguo clung to him and refused to let go, so he had no choice but to carry her upstairs.

Watching the affectionate siblings, Du Juan was tempted to say something, but then she thought of Shen Mingzhu’s words about treating Pei Ziheng as her own son, and she swallowed her words back down.

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