The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 482 - 481 Shen Baolan Goes Crazy

Chapter 482: Chapter 481 Shen Baolan Goes Crazy

Liu Cuihua was different from Shen Baolan.

She hadn’t believed in Shen Baolan’s so-called wealthy wife dream from the start, and naturally, she didn’t believe Shen Mingzhu could "predict" the death date of her daughter.

The reason she came to make a scene with Shen Mingzhu was, first, to seek justice for her daughter, and second, to try to extort some money.

After all, Shen Mingzhu was now a big boss, so wealthy that even a trivial leakage from her fingers would be enough for their family to live well for a while.

But she hadn’t expected that Shen Mingzhu not only didn’t succumb to her threats but also took the initiative to tell her to call the police.

Liu Cuihua’s anger surged, "Don’t think I won’t dare. I’ve already made inquiries. People like you who curse others to death have committed the crime of insult and will have to go to jail!"

Shen Mingzhu responded indifferently, "Aunt Cuihua, I’ll say it one last time, I didn’t curse Shen Baolan. If you don’t believe me, feel free to call the police, and let the public security investigate."

"Fine, fine, fine, you just wait here for me, I’m going to report to the police right now!"

Liu Cuihua left in a huff after speaking.

Shen Mingzhu obviously didn’t intend to wait on the spot and went straight back to her office to continue working.

Twenty minutes later, Liu Cuihua indeed brought two police officers from the local station to the factory.

When the police officers asked Shen Mingzhu if she had cursed Shen Baolan to death, Shen Mingzhu denied it categorically.

Liu Cuihua jumped up, "She’s lying! Officers, don’t believe her, my Baolan has been cursed by her to the point she can’t even get out of bed, her life is almost gone. She kills without spilling blood. Arrest her and punish her severely!"

Shen Mingzhu questioned Liu Cuihua, "How did I curse Shen Baolan? What did I say?"

Liu Cuihua was speechless.

Her daughter did nothing but cry, and kept saying she wouldn’t live long; she didn’t say anything else, and Liu Cuihua hadn’t asked.

The police officers asked Liu Cuihua to bring Shen Baolan, the person involved, over to clarify things in person.

Shen Mingzhu spoke up, "There’s no need for that trouble, Baolan should be at home now, right? Just call her, it’s the same to talk it through on the phone."

The police officers thought this was a feasible method and allowed Liu Cuihua to call Shen Baolan.

"Hello, Mom."

On the other end of the phone, Shen Baolan’s voice was weak and frail, a far cry from her usual strong and sharp-tongued self, suggesting she was truly frightened.

Shen Mingzhu discreetly curled her lip.

Liu Cuihua’s eyes shot daggers at Shen Mingzhu, "Baolan, the police are here, tell them everything Shen Mingzhu cursed you with, they will uphold justice for you."

Whether out of grievance or fear, Shen Baolan burst into tears.

"...She said, she said I should eat better when I get back."

"What else?"

"That’s all, sob sob..."

Liu Cuihua was dumbfounded.

The police were speechless as well.

Shen Mingzhu lowered her head to drink water, hiding the laughter she couldn’t suppress.

Liu Cuihua could hardly believe it, "That’s all Shen Mingzhu said, and it scared you like this? What’s wrong with your brain?"

Shen Baolan cried, "What she said is true, she can have dreams just like me! Everything she has now, she dreamed about it!"

Shen Baolan meant to imply that Shen Mingzhu had precognitive abilities, but to Liu Cuihua and the police officers, it sounded like Shen Baolan was delusional, almost insane.

Liu Cuihua kept asking several times, assuring herself that Shen Mingzhu only said that one ambiguous sentence and didn’t utter any words that directly or indirectly cursed Shen Baolan before finally backing down.

Telling someone to go home and eat well, since when is that a curse?

Although Shen Mingzhu did indeed intend to scare Shen Baolan on purpose, she had never said it, and who would know her true intentions?

"Officers, when Shen Baolan came to see me that day, she looked unwell, sickly. Out of kindness, I told her to go home and eat more to nourish her body. I didn’t know she would imagine that I was cursing her," explained Shen Mingzhu.

Shen Mingzhu’s explanation was reasonable and justifiable.

The police officers classified the incident as a misunderstanding and advised Liu Cuihua not to cause any more trouble. Instead, they suggested she better go home and persuade the person concerned not to have wild thoughts, and then they left.

Liu Cuihua made a scene but gained nothing from it, so she dejectedly left.

However, word of the incident spread through the factory, and everyone treated it as a joke for amusement. For quite a long time, the phrase "go home and have a good meal" became a slang insult.

...

Liu Cuihua heeded the police officers’ advice and, upon returning to the Zhou family, began to persuade Shen Baolan—

"Shen Mingzhu said it herself, right in front of the police, that she was just worried about you because you looked unwell, and she wanted you to eat something good. Don’t think nonsense," Liu Cuihua said.

In the rural vernacular, Shen Baolan was so set in her ways that nobody could get through to her.

"How could she be so kind-hearted? We’ve been at odds since childhood, she’d love nothing more than to see me suffer. She must have had a dream, a premonition that I’m about to die. Mom, I’m not going to live much longer. Wuu wuu wuu..." Shen Baolan sobbed.

Liu Cuihua and Ma Sufen took turns trying to convince her until they were hoarse, but Baolan wouldn’t listen to a word and continued crying, making a ruckus, threatening to die.

Shen Baolan was just such a person—stubborn and obstinate.

Once she identified Shen Mingzhu as her lifelong nemesis, she was determined to fight forever.

Once she set her sights on Zhou Shuhuan as a good match, she would try every means to snatch him away.

Now, she was convinced that Shen Mingzhu had the same ability to foresee the future through dreams as she did.

She felt utterly hopeless and lived every day immersed in the fear that she wouldn’t survive until tomorrow.

Liu Cuihua had no choice but to seek out Shen Mingzhu again.

But this time, it wasn’t to pick a fight, but rather to ask Shen Mingzhu to persuade her daughter.

Shen Baolan had gone several days without eating or drinking, and if this continued, she really could lose her life.

Shen Mingzhu set a condition.

Liu Cuihua had no right to refuse, unless she didn’t care about her daughter’s life or death.

The next day.

Liu Cuihua and Ma Sufen dragged and coerced Shen Baolan out the door, and once outside the family courtyard, Baolan reacted to the sight of Shen Mingzhu as if she had seen a ghost.

"What are you doing here?"

Shen Mingzhu sized up Baolan’s ghastly appearance, chuckled softly, then turned and got into the car.

Liu Cuihua opened the rear door of the car and called for Baolan to get inside with her.

Baolan backed away repeatedly, her face deathly pale, as though what she was getting onto wasn’t a car but the road to the underworld.

"I won’t go, I won’t go, I want to go back!"

After saying this, she turned to run but was stopped by Liu Cuihua and Ma Sufen.

"Come with me, we’re going back to the countryside."

Liu Cuihua spoke and tried to pull Baolan into the car, while Ma Sufen pushed from behind.

Baolan was terrified out of her wits, struggling with all her might, kicking and flailing like a pig that couldn’t be subdued during the New Year festivities.

But having not eaten or drunk anything for several days, she was extremely weak and eventually was forcefully put in the car by Liu Cuihua.

To prevent her from causing more trouble in the car, Shen Mingzhu found a hemp rope in the trunk and prepared to tie her up.

Baolan clearly misunderstood something. Seeing Shen Mingzhu approaching with the rope, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted from fright.

Shen Mingzhu didn’t show any mercy because of Baolan’s fainting and firmly tied up her hands and feet before driving back to the countryside.

...

When Baolan awoke, she found herself back at her parents’ house.

She jolted upright from the kang bed, ran out, and saw her own mother and father as well as her brother and sister-in-law. The whole family was in the yard, talking about something.

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