The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 489 - 488 Zhao Yun Finds a Stepmother for Himself

Chapter 489: Chapter 488 Zhao Yun Finds a Stepmother for Himself

Ziheng’s suggestion that Xiaoyun choose Aunt Hongmei as a stepmother was actually not a haphazard match.

Zhou Hui, that woman, was selfish, scheming, and always seemed to add to his mother’s troubles from time to time.

Liang Xiaowen was no extinguished lamp either, full of machinations at such a young age, always trying to jostle for attention.

If they could seize this opportunity to drive the mother and daughter out of the Zhao Family and elevate Shen Hongmei, it would be good for Xiaoyun and their family, while also alleviating his mother’s worries.

Shen Mingzhu had always wanted to solve Shen Hongmei’s lifelong matter.

"Aunt Hongmei is not only hardworking and capable but also kind-hearted. Most importantly, Aunt Hongmei doesn’t have children. She would treat you wholeheartedly well."

"Even if she and your Uncle Zhao later give you a little brother, if you treat him well, he will naturally lean towards you and not think of competing with you for the inheritance."

Xiaoyun seemed lost in thought.

The next day.

After school, in an unprecedented move, Xiaoyun did not go home with Dafa to do homework or play video games, instead, he rode his bike to the food factory.

Once inside the factory, he parked his bicycle and found his way to the general office.

"Aunt Hongmei."

Shen Hongmei looked up and saw Xiaoyun poking half his body through the door. She asked with a smile, "Are you looking for President Shen? He went to the vegetable restaurant in the afternoon and has returned."

Xiaoyun uttered, "Oh," then asked, "May I come in?"

Shen Hongmei approached the door, reaching the almost as tall Xiaoyun, and explained, "No, the factory has regulations. The office area does not allow the entry of unrelated persons. You should go home early."

Xiaoyun looked at her, "I don’t want to go back."

"What’s wrong? Did you have a fight with your family?"

Xiaoyun dodged the question, "I’m a bit hungry, Aunt Hongmei. Can you find me something to eat? I’ll go after I’m full."

Shen Hongmei laughed, "Sure, what would you like to eat?"

"Anything tasty will do."

Shen Hongmei took him to the reception room, made him a cup of soy milk, and got some snacks like biscuits and chips from the snack cabinet.

"You eat. Once you’re full, go home. I need to go back to the office."

"Mhm."

Once Shen Hongmei left the reception room, Xiaoyun picked up the soy milk, took a couple of sips, and crunched into a bag of chips.

After eating his fill, Xiaoyun took out his homework.

"Aunt Hongmei."

Seeing Xiaoyun coming back, Shen Hongmei was surprised but didn’t appear angry or impatient.

"What’s the matter?"

"I don’t know how to do this problem. Can you explain it to me?"

Shen Hongmei took the homework book and glanced at it. She then checked the time on her watch and agreed, "Let’s go, to the reception room."

Once in the reception room, seeing the exam papers on the coffee table, Shen Hongmei naturally glanced at them.

"No wonder you don’t want to go back. You’re afraid of getting beaten by your dad when you get home, aren’t you?"

Xiaoyun felt a very strange sensation in his heart.

Even though he was being teased, he strangely found it very heartwarming.

"This time was an accident; the questions were all in my blind spots."

Shen Hongmei looked at him, "President Shen has said, the weak look for excuses, the strong find ways to improve themselves. Constantly improving yourself is the only way out."

Xiaoyun pushed the exam paper towards her, said with a grin, "Then Aunt Hongmei, help me improve."

Xiaoyun had said it casually and didn’t expect Shen Hongmei to seriously pick up a pen and start explaining the wrong answers.

Time ticked by, and by the time she had explained all the mistakes on the exam paper, the sun had already sunk below the horizon.

"Alright, it’s late. You’d better hurry home."

As Xiaoyun packed up his books and supplies, he said to Shen Hongmei, "Let’s go together."

"No need; I still have some work to catch up on."

After finishing, Shen Hongmei casually tossed the empty snack bags from the coffee table into the trashcan and picked up the soy milk cup to go wash it in the water room.

Zhao Yun belatedly realized that Shen Hongmei’s tutoring had delayed her work, so she had to work overtime.

Ziheng was right; Aunt Hongmei truly had a kind heart.

On the way home, Zhao Yun pedaled his bike with a whooshing sound, sometimes bending down, sometimes straightening up, like a happy little bird gleefully flitting through the woods.

When he got home, Zhou Hui and her daughter had already started eating.

"I thought you weren’t coming back to eat like your dad, so we didn’t wait for you."

Normally, Zhao Yun would have snapped back at Zhou Hui, but today he was unusually silent because he was in a good mood.

Having eaten his fill of snacks at the food factory earlier, Zhao Yun wasn’t very hungry. He casually took a few bites before going back to his room on the second floor.

As soon as he left, Liang Xiaowen made a face at his retreating back, "He’s always so surly, it’s not like we owe him anything."

Zhou Hui hushed her daughter in a low voice, "Don’t forget what I told you yesterday, let’s eat."

Liang Xiaowen puffed her cheeks and complained about the food on the table, "Aunt Deng’s cooking is getting worse and worse, it’s always the same few dishes. Mom, once you and Uncle Zhao get your marriage certificate, let’s fire her and find a professional nanny like Liu Yingying’s family has. Someone who can cook nutritional meals and also make steak and sushi."

Zhou Hui was curious, "How much does her nanny get paid a month?"

"It’s like a hundred."

Zhou Hui frowned, "That’s too expensive."

"What’s there to fear if it’s a bit expensive? Uncle Zhao makes so much money a year."

That was indeed true.

Zhao Dafa really lived up to his name, making a fortune each year, with his business booming more with each passing year, earning more and more money.

Zhou Hui had quit her job at the end of last year and was now focusing on being a housewife.

Zhao Dafa gave her five hundred yuan a month for household expenses.

Aunt Deng’s salary was seventy, so adding another thirty to hire someone better wasn’t out of the question.

However, Aunt Deng was an old nanny who had worked for Zhao Dafa for many years, so to let her go, they would need to find some major fault with her.

Zhou Hui calculated silently in her heart.

...

When Zhao Dafa came home, he was surprised to see Zhou Hui still up, sitting in the living room.

"Why haven’t you gone to sleep?"

Zhou Hui turned off the TV and stood up, "I saved you some soup. Have some, it’ll help sober you up."

Zhao Dafa nodded; after drinking all evening, having some hot soup was indeed comforting.

While Zhao Dafa was sipping the soup, Zhou Hui brought up the topic of getting the marriage certificate again, "Dafa, about what we talked about yesterday, what do you think?"

Zhao Dafa was about to answer thoughtfully when his son’s voice came from upstairs, "President Shen, come up here, I have something to talk to you about."

"You little rascal, acting as if you’re my father."

Although Zhao Dafa cursed aloud, he breathed a sigh of relief inside.

"Hui, let’s talk about this in a couple of days, I’m going to check on Xiaoyun."

He said, rising from his seat with the soup bowl and heading upstairs.

Zhou Hui felt annoyed inside but was helpless to do anything.

Once Zhao Dafa entered the room, Zhao Yun closed the door behind him and locked it, then picked up the test paper and handed it to Zhao Dafa.

"Dad, take a look."

Zhao Dafa glanced at the score on the test paper, raised his hand, and gave his son a slap on the back of the head, "You scored over ninety last time, and now you’re not even halfway there. You’re regressing the more you study!"

Zhao Yun covered his head, "I didn’t ask you to look at the score, look at the wrong answers. Aunt Hongmei has already explained them to me."

Zhao Dafa looked at him, "How come it’s Hongmei who’s going over your wrong answers, did you have another fight with Ziheng?"

"No fight, I went to Aunt Hongmei on purpose."

Zhao Dafa, not paying too much attention, continued drinking his soup until he heard his son’s next words—

"Dad, I think Aunt Hongmei is pretty good. I want her to be my stepmom."