The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 479 - 478: Father and Son Vie for Favor

Chapter 479: Chapter 478: Father and Son Vie for Favor

The ambulance hadn’t reached the hospital when Shen Baolan woke up.

Once she found out there was a fee for the ambulance, she ignored the medical staff’s attempts to stop her and forced her way out of the vehicle, fleeing on foot.

Halfway through her escape, spotting a public phone, Shen Baolan instinctively turned toward it and made a call to Fucheng.

After getting through, Shen Baolan remembered it was daytime and prepared to hang up, but someone on the other end picked up.

"Who are you looking for?"

"Zhou Shuhuan from room 504."

Not expecting much, Shen Baolan thought, by now, Zhou Shuhuan should be at work.

Just as she was thinking this, she heard Zhou Shuhuan’s voice from the other end of the line, "Hello?"

Overjoyed, Shen Baolan exclaimed, "Shuhuan, it’s me!"

"Yeah, what’s up?"

Shen Baolan was incredibly excited; Zhou Shuhuan had called home only once since his move to Fucheng.

She had been calling Fucheng every now and then, but never managed to catch Zhou Shuhuan on the line.

"Shuhuan, how are things over there for you? Did you seal any deals?"

Zhou Shuhuan didn’t directly respond to her question, "How is everything at home? Are mom and dad healthy?"

Shen Baolan gave a truthful response but then remembered her main purpose, "Shuhuan, I have to tell you, that couple Shen Mingzhu and Pei Yang is beyond shameless!"

"What did they do?"

"Pei Yang opened a pager store, and it’s doing really well, but that store should’ve been yours; Shen Mingzhu stole your opportunity!"

Zhou Shuhuan pinched his brow and didn’t really take Shen Baolan’s words to heart, assuming it was just her old habit of being unable to see Shen Mingzhu succeed.

"If there’s nothing else, I’m going to hang up."

As he finished talking, without waiting for Shen Baolan to respond, he hung up the phone.

Shen Baolan hurriedly called back, wanting to ask Zhou Shuhuan if he’d succeeded in business, but after calling twice and getting a busy signal, she gave up.

...

Zhou Shuhuan returned to his dormitory, lit a cigarette from under his pillow, and leaned against his metal-frame bed, shrouded in a thick cloud of smoke and an aura of deep melancholy and dejection.

After getting a job in the electronics factory, he worked during the day, and at night, when his colleagues went out, he would secretly stay in the dormitory to study and dismantle gaming consoles.

Although he had made some progress, he was still a long way from setting up his own business.

And Pei Yang’s store was already up and running.

It wasn’t home appliances as initially agreed, but pagers.

Just like gaming consoles, pagers were destined to be a hotspot for several years to come, sure to be enormously profitable.

He knew about these trends from his dreams, but Pei Yang didn’t know his dreams and yet managed to precisely pick the most lucrative industry.

Such luck and skill were hard not to both envy and admire.

...

Pei Wenping specifically took advantage of her free time at noon to stop by Pei Yang’s store to show support and also pick out a pager for herself.

After taking care of the network registration and selecting a number, Pei Wenping pulled out her wallet.

"How much do I owe you?"

"It’s free."

Pei Wenping bristled, "Don’t give me that, just hurry up; I still have to rush back to the factory to work."

Pei Yang said, "Honestly, it’s free, sister—it’s a gift from me and our uncle."

Pei Ke also chimed in, urging Pei Wenping to accept the gift.

Pei Wenping, not in the mood for a drawn-out conversation, left 2,500 yuan on the counter, "That’s all I have; if it’s not enough, you two can cover the rest."

After she said this, she picked up the pager and left.

Once Pei Wenping had left, Pei Yang revealed to Shen Mingzhu the full story.

Chen Yi had already paid for the pager that Pei Wenping chose, and fearing that Pei Wenping wouldn’t accept the gift, he claimed it was free.

Shen Mingzhu had only one thing to say, "If only you had known today, why did you bother in the first place."

"Let’s not talk about him now."

Like magic, Pei Yang pulled a pure silver hairpin from his pocket, its head adorned with a carved jadeite magnolia bud.

"Wife, happy birthday."

Today was Shen Mingzhu’s 25th birthday.

After Guoguo turned one, Shen Mingzhu started growing her hair out, and now it reached her waist.

Dark and shiny, sleek and lustrous, it was like fine black satin.

Shen Mingzhu usually wore her hair up in a bun to work, using whatever she had at hand—be it a pencil or chopsticks—if she forgot her hair tie.

Shen Mingzhu really liked the style of the hairpin, but she said, "Haven’t you already given a gift?"

"In ancient times, when girls came of age, they would wear their hair up with a hairpin. When I saw this one, I thought about how beautiful you would look if you lived back then and used it to wear your hair up."

"Such sweet talk, have you been eating sugar?"

Pei Yang bent over and whispered in her ear, "You can try it when we get home tonight."

Though there weren’t many customers in the store at that time, Pei Ke and the sales staff were there. Several pairs of eyes watched the couple with amusement, causing Shen Mingzhu’s ears to burn.

"I’m leaving."

"I’ll walk you out."

"Mind your own business, I can walk by myself."

Once in the car, Shen Mingzhu wasn’t in a hurry to start it. Instead, she smoothed out her hair with her fingers and used the hairpin he had given her to put her hair up in a bun at the back of her head.

After putting it up, she checked her reflection in the rearview mirror from left to right. With a great mood, Shen Mingzhu started the car and drove off.

After being busy all day, she returned home from work to find several cold dishes already arranged on the table and a fragrant smell emanating from the kitchen.

Shen Mingzhu swapped her shoes and approached the kitchen doorway.

Sister Yu was bustling about energetically. Spotting Shen Mingzhu, she smiled and greeted her, "Madam, you’re home."

"Sister Yu, you’ve worked hard today."

"What work is it? It’s not every day we celebrate your birthday; it’s no trouble at all to do a bit more."

Shen Mingzhu said no more and turned towards the second floor.

Just as she reached the stairs, she saw her son and daughter standing at the top, both holding gifts in their hands.

"Mommy, happy birthday, may you forever be young and beautiful."

Pei Ziheng spoke first, and after he finished, Guoguo also said in her babyish voice, "Mommy, happy birthday, um, forever young."

Due to her young age, her speech wasn’t very clear.

Shen Mingzhu ascended the steps and opened her arms to embrace the two children.

"Thank you, my big treasure and little treasure; Mommy loves you both."

After a warm embrace, Shen Mingzhu began to open the birthday gifts from her children.

She unwrapped Guoguo’s gift first.

It being the first time she’d received a birthday gift from her daughter, she was somewhat excited.

It was a watercolor portrait of her. Though it looked nothing like her and could even be considered ugly, Shen Mingzhu was still very happy. A gift from her daughter was precious—even if it were just a blank sheet of paper, she would love it.

When she opened Pei Ziheng’s gift, Shen Mingzhu was surprised.

It was also a hairpin.

Made of red sandalwood, its head was carved with a plum blossom.

The carving looked somewhat rough and unrefined.

Suddenly, Shen Mingzhu recalled her son’s recent hand injury. "Son, did you make the hairpin yourself?"

Pei Ziheng nodded, his dark eyes falling upon the white jade hairpin at the back of her head, his face showing a hint of disappointment.

"I just learned not too long ago; it’s not well-made and doesn’t compare to the beautiful one Dad gave."

"Not at all, I really like such a heartfelt gift."

"Will you wear it?"

"Of course."

Shen Mingzhu removed the white jade hairpin and used the red sandalwood plum blossom hairpin to put up her hair in a bun once more.

"Does it look good?"

The two children nodded together.

Around six-thirty, Pei Yang came home and immediately noticed the red sandalwood hairpin at the back of her head, pausing in surprise.

As Shen Mingzhu went into the kitchen to serve soup, he followed her in.

Pinning her against the stove, he asked, "Why aren’t you wearing the hairpin I gave you?"

Shen Mingzhu looked at him, "This wooden hairpin was given by our son, he would be upset if I didn’t wear it."

"Then I’ll be upset too."

Shen Mingzhu was speechless. Might as well split her head into two!