The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 492 - 491: Breaking Up

Chapter 492: Chapter 491: Breaking Up

After dinner, Zhou Hui prepared to take her daughter to dance practice as usual, but heard Zhao Dafa unexpectedly offer, "I’ll drive you there."

The mother and daughter were both surprised.

"Thank you, Dad, you’re the best!"

Liang Xiaowen happily ran up to Zhao Dafa to act coquettishly in front of him.

Zhao Yun let out a cold snort, put down her chopsticks, and went back to her room upstairs.

Liang Xiaowen made a face at Zhao Yun’s retreating figure, then turned around with a sweet smile and said to Zhao Dafa, "Dad, I’ve really improved a lot in dance lately; Teacher Tong even praised me."

"Not bad; let’s go."

Zhao Dafa drove, with Zhou Hui in the passenger seat, and Liang Xiaowen sticking her head out from the back seat, chattering to the two adults about amusing happenings at school.

Laughing and talking all the way, they looked like a happy family of three from a distance.

The car quickly arrived at the dance studio downstairs.

Before getting out of the car, Liang Xiaowen looked at Zhao Dafa in the front seat, her eyes spinning, "Dad, since you’re free today, why don’t you take Mom to see a movie? She really loves movies but has no one to go with her."

Zhao Dafa turned and smiled at her, "If we go to the movies, who will pick you up after your class?"

"I can go back by myself."

"It’s too late for you to walk alone; it’s not safe. Alright, go to your class."

Liang Xiaowen got out of the car reluctantly.

Zhou Hui watched her daughter enter the dance studio cheerfully, then turned around, wanting to say something to Zhao Dafa, but he spoke first.

"Let’s find a place to sit and talk."

Zhou Hui nodded, her heart inevitably pounding.

Could it be that he wanted to talk about getting the marriage certificate?

Thinking this way, Zhou Hui couldn’t help but feel expectant.

Once the certificate was obtained, she would be Mrs. Zhao in all propriety. First, she would change her daughter’s surname to Zhao and then find a way to get Zhao Dafa to buy her daughter a big apartment.

If he could buy her a shop too, that would be great; she could earn an extra income from the rent.

And one more thing: she was determined to have a son with Zhao Dafa.

She was just over thirty years old and was still able to have children.

Zhou Hui calculated all this as she followed Zhao Dafa to a teahouse opposite the dance studio.

"Dafa, just say whatever you want to say."

After sitting down, Zhou Hui couldn’t help speaking up when she saw Zhao Dafa silently fiddling with his teacup for a long time.

Zhao Dafa put down the teacup and looked at her, "Hui, I’ve considered it seriously. Let’s forget about the certificate."

The smile that had yet to form on Zhou Hui’s face froze.

Zhao Dafa picked up the teacup and took a sip before continuing, "I bought a three-bedroom apartment at Lanxin Garden, and it’s already been decorated. You can move in and live there."

"Also, take with you the cash gifts we received before and the jewelry I got for you and your daughter over the years, and I’ll give you an additional twenty thousand yuan in cash."

"Take these as my compensation to you; it’ll be enough to raise Xiaowen until she graduates from college."

An apartment, cash gifts, jewelry, and twenty thousand yuan in cash: all together, the amount came to near one hundred thousand, if not seventy or eighty thousand.

In an era where the average annual income didn’t exceed one thousand, this sum of money was really quite substantial.

Tears streamed down Zhou Hui’s face, "Dafa, what have I done wrong? Just tell me, and I can change."

"We’re not suitable."

"How are we not suitable? Haven’t we been living well together for all these years?"

Zhao Dafa chuckled sarcastically, "You and your daughter have been living well, but Xiaoyun is unhappy and doesn’t like you. Right from the start, I told you I had no other requests, only hoping that you would take good care of Xiaoyun."

Zhou Hui cried out in grievance, "I wanted to be a good stepmother, but no matter what I did, Xiaoyun always had a bias against me."

"Xiaoyun does indeed lack manners sometimes, for which I apologize on his behalf. Let’s just part on good terms."

Zhou Hui’s tears fell like rain as her emotions surged, "Everything was fine, and now you suddenly want us to separate. I won’t accept it! Have you fallen out of love with me and now that you have someone new, you want to kick me to the curb? Is it Shen Hongmei?"

Zhao Dafa felt a pang in his heart, instinctively wondering if Zhou Hui had found out about his son wanting Shen Hongmei to be the new stepmother.

"Why are you dragging other people into this?"

He rarely spoke harshly, which made Zhou Hui inevitably feel guilty.

As Shen Mingzhu had thought, she didn’t believe there was anything improper between Zhao Dafa and Shen Hongmei. Her confrontation had only been about making Shen Mingzhu uncomfortable.

Bringing up Shen Hongmei at this moment was a move of sheer desperation, hoping to make Zhao Dafa change his mind.

At this time, she could not let Zhao Dafa know about her altercation with Shen Mingzhu.

"Dafa, my mind is in chaos, and I misspoke. We’ve lived together for three full years, Xiaowen and I can’t live without you. Please don’t send us away. I promise I will treat Xiaoyun well in the future. Just give me one more chance."

Zhao Dafa had heard similar words before, and this was not the first time.

To be fair, Zhou Hui hadn’t done anything terribly wrong; she had just been a little selfish.

He had always been lenient before, always thinking that getting together wasn’t easy and maybe things would slowly improve over time.

But it wasn’t until recently, seeing the interaction between Shen Mingzhu and her stepson at the dinner table, that he realized he could find a much better mother for his son.

Wasn’t he working himself to the bone to give his son the best of everything?

"Hui, my mind is made up. Find some time to move out with Xiaowen to the new apartment at Lanxin Garden. As for the twenty thousand yuan, do you want it in cash or shall I transfer it to your bankbook?"

"I don’t want it, I don’t want anything, I just want our family to be together, Dafa..."

Zhao Dafa tried to persuade her, but Zhou Hui refused to break up or move out.

As Zhao Yun had said, she was as sticky and hard to get rid of as chewed gum.

Zhao Dafa couldn’t bring himself to forcefully kick out the mother and daughter. After all, a couple owes each other courtesy even for just a day’s marriage. He simply stopped going home and stayed in hotels every day, hoping that Zhou Hui would calm down after a few days and see reason.

When Zhao Dafa didn’t return home for several days, Zhou Hui, heartbroken and unable to eat or drink, was noticed by Zhao Yun who, though dim-witted, guessed what was happening and ran to find Zhao Dafa at his company after school.

"Boss Zhao, have you had a falling out with Zhou Hui?"

"Show some respect, is Zhou Hui someone you can just call out?"

Zhao Yun pouted, "That’s not important. First, tell me, have you broken up with her?"

Zhao Dafa habitually reached for a cigarette to smoke, but he withdrew his hand after glancing at his son.

Zhao Yun stepped forward, took out a cigarette for him, flicked one into his mouth, and then lit it with a lighter.

The entire sequence took less than five seconds, executed so smoothly that Zhao Dafa was left dumbstruck.

"You little rascal, who did you learn that from?"

"From you, isn’t that how you light cigarettes for those leaders? It’s called ’Like father, like son; no pup is born a cur.’

Zhao Dafa: "..."

...

"Mom, is Uncle Zhao really not wanting us anymore? What are we going to do in the future?"

Zhou Hui hugged her daughter close, her heart aching, "Don’t worry, Mom won’t give up that easily."

Although Zhao Dafa had offered her a significant amount in compensation, compared to Zhao Dafa’s entire fortune, it was just a drop in the bucket.

Moreover, Zhao Dafa was on a roll in his career, with business booming more each year.

Even if she had to leave, Zhao Dafa shouldn’t think he could send her off with just that little bit of money!

Zhou Hui secretly made up her mind.