The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 490 - 489: A Chance Encounter with Zhao Dafa, Hitching a Ride

Chapter 490: Chapter 489: A Chance Encounter with Zhao Dafa, Hitching a Ride

Zhao Dafa almost spat out his soup when he glared at his son for a good while before swearing, "Do you fucking think you’re ordering dishes at a restaurant, wanting whoever you please?"

Zhao Yun stiffened his neck, "Anyway, I don’t care. If you’re going to find me a stepmom, it has to be to my liking. I think Aunt Hongmei is pretty good. If you insist on marrying Aunt Hui, then I’ll run away from home."

When Zhao Dafa came out of his son’s room, Liang Xiaowen greeted him with a smile, holding her test paper.

"Daddy, I got a 100 in math this time."

Looking at the bright 100 on the test paper, Zhao Dafa’s face broke into a smile.

Having suffered from his own lack of education, he really hoped his children could study more. Seeing them achieve good grades made him exceptionally happy and satisfied.

"You did well. What reward would you like?"

Liang Xiaowen replied sweetly and coyly, "I don’t want anything. I have a dad, a mom, and a big brother now. I feel very blessed. I hope our family can be together forever."

"Good girl, it’s getting late. Go back to sleep."

"Mm, Dad, you should rest early too. Good night."

Watching his stepdaughter’s obedient figure, Zhao Dafa couldn’t help but feel worried.

...

The next day, Zhao Dafa went to the bank to withdraw money and coincidentally ran into Shen Hongmei who was conducting business at the counter.

In the past, he definitely would have gone up to greet her.

But after his son told him last night that he wanted Shen Hongmei to be his stepmother, Zhao Dafa now felt uncomfortable at the sight of her and hurried into the VIP room before Shen Hongmei saw him.

Ten minutes later.

Zhao Dafa came out of the VIP room with a bag of money and glanced at the counter subconsciously. Not seeing Shen Hongmei, he let out a sigh of relief.

However, as soon as he stepped out of the bank, he saw Shen Hongmei standing next to his Santana.

"Brother Zhao, it really is you."

Shen Hongmei seemed to be waiting for him specially, and greeted him with a smile as soon as she saw him.

Zhao Dafa pretended to have just noticed her, "Hongmei, are you here to handle some business?"

"Yeah, the factory needs some funds, President Shen asked me to come and get it."

Shen Hongmei subtly patted her handbag and said cheerfully, "Brother Zhao, if you’re heading back to the company, could I catch a ride with you?"

Zhao Dafa’s company was in the same direction as the food factory. Getting off at the door of Zhao Dafa’s company, Shen Hongmei could take a tricycle for one yuan to get to the factory.

She had several thousand yuan in cash in her bag; it wasn’t safe to take the bus, and taking a cab would cost five yuan.

Although she could get reimbursed for the money, she thought it wise to save where she could.

Zhao Dafa couldn’t refuse, especially since Shen Hongmei didn’t know anything, and also because she had helped his son with his homework.

It was already June and standing in the sun for a few minutes, Shen Hongmei had worked up a sweat. Once she got in the car, she took out a handkerchief to wipe her face and neck.

In the narrow space of the car, the faint scent from the woman made its way into Zhao Dafa’s nostrils, and thinking of what his son had said, an inexplicable restlessness arose within him.

He raised his hand and turned up the air conditioning to the max.

Seeing this, Shen Hongmei thought that Zhao Dafa had turned up the AC because he saw she was too hot, and was grateful, "Thank you, Brother Zhao. You can just drop me off at your company’s door, and I’ll take a tricycle back to the factory."

After chatting with her casually about everyday matters, Zhao Dafa asked offhandedly, "Have you found a partner yet?"

"Not yet."

Seeing Zhao Dafa as an older brother figure, Shen Hongmei was very straightforward without any coyness.

"You should be looking, you’re not that young anymore, by the way, how old are you?"

"26," Shen Hongmei answered, then added, "I’m not in a rush though."

26, ten years younger than him.

Distracted by his thoughts, Zhao Dafa said, "You may not be in a hurry, but your family definitely is."

"They can’t rush me; I make my own decisions."

"That’s pretty good."

With the thought of seeing things through to the end, Zhao Dafa drove her right to the factory door.

After all, it was just two streets away and would take less than ten minutes to drive there and back.

When getting out of the car, Shen Hongmei was quite embarrassed, "I said I would get off at your company’s door. Brother Zhao, I’ve troubled you."

Zhao Dafa nodded, "It’s a trifle."

"Alright then, see you later, Brother Zhao."

"Hmm."

Only after watching Shen Hongmei enter the gate of the food factory did Zhao Dafa snap back to reality. Thinking about what had just crossed his mind, his old face flushed as he turned the car around and headed back to the company.

...

That evening, Zhao Dafa drove home to freshen up, preparing to go out later for a social engagement.

Aunt Deng, out of habit, fetched half a bucket of water to help wash Zhao Dafa’s car.

Zhao Dafa often visited construction sites, so his car was always filthy.

While tidying up the passenger side, Aunt Deng found a gold plum blossom earring on the floor mat.

She casually pocketed the earring.

"Aunt Deng, have you seen my earring?"

While she was scrubbing the car, Zhou Hui suddenly appeared behind her.

Aunt Deng asked, "Madam, what kind of earring is it?"

Zhou Hui scoffed, "What kind, don’t you have a clue?"

Looking at Zhou Hui’s sarcastic demeanor, Aunt Deng subconsciously remembered the earring in her pocket.

Hisss, could it be that she saw her picking up the earring and suspected she intended to pocket it?

By heaven and earth, she only meant to return it to Zhao Dafa in private.

With her nanny’s sixth sense, she knew that a woman’s jewelry lost in the master’s car could easily stir up domestic strife if not handled properly.

With her expression changing continuously, Zhou Hui suddenly became serious, "Take it out yourself, it won’t be pretty if I have to search you."

Upon hearing this, Aunt Deng hurriedly fished out the earring from her pocket.

"Madam, I just found this in the car and was planning to give it to you after washing the car."

Staring at the small gold plum blossom earring in Aunt Deng’s palm, Zhou Hui stayed silent for a long time.

She kept asking Aunt Deng for something, merely as an excuse to create trouble, looking for a reason to accuse her of theft and suggesting to Zhao Dafa that they get a new nanny.

Yet to her surprise, Aunt Deng had indeed found an earring.

The earring was simple and elegant yet intricately made—the thin gold hook supporting a little gold plum blossom the size of a small fingertip.

It looked oddly familiar.

Where had she seen it before?

Zhou Hui took the earring without a change in expression, "I said I couldn’t find it, and here it was in the car. Where in the car did you find it?"

"Right on the passenger side’s floor mat."

Fearing Zhou Hui’s suspicion, Aunt Deng even opened the car door to point out exactly where she had found the earring.

"Hmm, I got it. There’s no need to tell Dafa about this trivial matter; he’s busy enough with important things every day."

Aunt Deng quickly nodded in agreement.

Back in the living room, Zhou Hui stared at the gold plum blossom earring in her hand, muttering to herself.

Whose could it be?

That night, as she lay in bed trying to sleep, Zhou Hui kept thinking about it.

In the middle of the night, she suddenly sat up in bed.

She remembered!

The next day, after Zhao Dafa left for the company, Zhou Hui also got ready and took the gold plum blossom earring to the food factory.

"President Shen, that Sister Hui is here again," said Pei Qiuxia as Shen Mingzhu was busy preparing for tomorrow’s recruitment.

Hearing Pei Qiuxia’s report, Shen Mingzhu couldn’t help feeling impatient.

"Send her away. Tell her I’m in a meeting."

Pei Qiuxia had been gone for less than two minutes when a series of determined footsteps approached the office door. Looking up, Shen Mingzhu saw Zhou Hui barge in, looking furious.