The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 496 - 495: Equal Disdain

Chapter 496: Chapter 495: Equal Disdain

It was summer, and there were plenty of street food vendors on both sides of the street, selling various cold cuts, stir-fried rice noodles, beef rice noodles, and the like.

Pei Yang, catering to Shen Mingzhu’s taste, picked and chose various items to buy, and by the time he returned to the restaurant, Shen Mingzhu happened to be walking out with a bowl of noodles.

Their eyes met.

"You’ve finished eating?"

"How come you’re back?"

Both spoke almost simultaneously.

Noticing a hint of mood in her voice and glancing at the plastic bag she was holding, Pei Yang somewhat understood what was going on and walked up to her with a smile.

"Are you angry? Thought I went to send my second brother back to the dormitory?"

Shen Mingzhu gave him an indifferent look, "Who has the time to be angry with you? If I had that spare time, I’d rather go home to sleep early."

"Want to sleep now? Wait until we get home, and I’ll sleep with you."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Shen Mingzhu kicked him.

Pei Yang didn’t really feel the kick and even laughed, holding up what he bought, "I got some cold cuts and skewers, as well as beef rice noodles. Give me some face and eat a bit more with me, will you? I didn’t really eat enough tonight."

Shen Mingzhu glared at him and turned to open the door.

Pei Yang followed her inside with a smile.

Once inside the restaurant, Pei Yang chose a clean private room and laid out everything he had bought on the table.

There were cold cuts like dried tofu, kelp, edamame, pig trotters, chicken feet, skewers such as lamb, beef tendon, pork belly, various vegetables, and a big bowl of beef rice noodles.

A table full of choices greeted them with an enticing aroma.

Shen Mingzhu didn’t stand on ceremony, picking up a pig trotter and gnawing away at it.

Pei Yang went to the kitchen to get a clean bowl, picked two chopsticks full of beef rice noodles, added some soup to them, and placed them in front of Shen Mingzhu before sitting down to eat together.

"How does it taste?"

"Not bad."

Even though it was just street food, everything was made with genuine ingredients, and one could taste the real flavor of the food itself, unlike in the future where it’s all about technology and harsh preparation.

Seeing her gnawing away contentedly, Pei Yang also took a pig trotter, removed the skin and tendons for her, and placed them in front of her, while he gnawed on the remaining meat.

"Zhou’s sister moved out of Zhao’s place."

Shen Mingzhu looked up, "When did that happen?"

"This afternoon."

Shen Mingzhu continued gnawing on the pig trotter, but her mood obviously improved quite a bit.

Pei Yang laughed, "Do you dislike Zhou’s sister that much?"

Shen Mingzhu glanced at him, "You’re just realizing this now?"

Pei Yang pushed the edamame and kelp towards her, "Don’t just eat meat, have some veggies, too. Watch out you don’t feel sick from all that late-night eating."

Shen Mingzhu picked up a knot of kelp and stuffed it into her mouth, feeling it wasn’t quite enough to satisfy her, she asked Pei Yang to go and buy a bottle of beer.

Pei Yang mocked her without reservation, "With your tolerance for alcohol, you want to go to work tomorrow after drinking a whole bottle tonight?"

"I just want to drink, are you going or not?"

Shen Mingzhu rebelled with her words, but when Pei Yang really brought back the beer, she only dared to drink one glass.

Eating meat and drinking beer was truly comfortable, especially on a summer night.

"Next month is uncle’s birthday. It’s a big one since he’s turning fifty. Should we arrange something?"

Pei Yang added some peeled edamame to her bowl of beef rice noodles, "Uncle doesn’t want to make a big deal of it; he’s been away from Fengcheng for so many years and has drifted away from the relatives. He doesn’t wish for too much contact, just a meal with the family would do."

Shen Mingzhu sipped on her beef rice noodles, chewing as she looked at Pei Yang.

Pei Yang laughed, not knowing why she was staring, "What’s up?"

Shen Mingzhu swallowed the food in her mouth, "I’m thinking about whether we should find an old companion for uncle."

Pei Yang was momentarily stunned, "Do you have someone suitable in mind?"

Shen Mingzhu fished out a green pea from the soup, nibbling on it as she spoke, "If we want to find someone, we definitely can, just not sure what uncle thinks."

"Well, I’ll talk to uncle; you can start arranging it. Your judgment won’t be off," Pei Yang assured her.

"Of course."

The base soup for the beef rice noodles was made with beef bones and was enhanced with pickled mustard meat mince, making it savory, sour, and appetizingly refreshing to eat.

Before long, a bowl of beef noodles had made its way into Shen Mingzhu’s stomach.

Seeing her finished, Pei Yang picked up the bowl and was about to serve her more, but Shen Mingzhu directly blocked the edge of the bowl.

"I don’t want any more, just eat by yourself."

"What’s wrong, you dislike me, huh?"

"Good that you know."

"I don’t mind eating what you’ve eaten."

Meeting the man’s aggrieved gaze, Shen Mingzhu thought about it and realized that it was indeed true; Pei Yang always took care of leftovers she couldn’t finish.

But she was not accustomed to eating food others had nibbled on.

Even if that person was her husband.

She wouldn’t even eat snacks or fruits left over by Guoguo.

"It’s not that I dislike you. I equally dislike everyone."

Pei Yang: did not feel consoled.

Shen Mingzhu picked a pork trotter with the most meat and fed it into his mouth, "Ah, open up."

Thinking a single pork trotter would appease him? Wishful thinking.

But it did smell kind of tempting.

Forget it, just eat. Give her some face.

Mmm, truly delicious.

"How’s the business at the shop lately?"

Shen Mingzhu had almost had her fill and was leisurely peeling edamame, chatting with him.

"Very good."

The man wasn’t one to boast loudly, so if he said it was very good, it must be truly not bad at all.

Shen Mingzhu adhered to the principle that even in relationships as close as husband and wife, boundaries must be maintained.

Since the establishment of Pei Yang’s company, she rarely inquired about its performance. On the one hand, she didn’t want to pressure him, and on the other, she wanted to give him plenty of space and respect.

However, if Pei Yang took the initiative to talk to her about it, she would listen patiently and offer her opinions when appropriate.

"So, what’s the monthly turnover now?"

"Based on the current trend, I’m confident I can recover the agency fees within a year."

When it came to business, you could clearly sense a change in the man’s demeanor; confidence radiated from his eyes, like a sword about to be unsheathed—sharp and compelling, it even quickened her heartbeat.

...

Fucheng.

Outside an electronics store.

Seeing the store owner stop what he was doing, Zhou Shuhuan immediately stubbed out his cigarette and entered the store.

"Boss, how about it?"

The owner, pleased, patted the game console on the table, saying, "Not bad, it works with all the popular game cartridges currently in demand. Name your price."

"Two hundred."

The cheapest game consoles on the market start just over two hundred, but the one he made, in terms of both appearance and quality, was on par with Subor.

A genuine Subor console costs three hundred, yet his was only two hundred.

The owner laughed and shook his head, "That’s too high. With that price, I might as well add a little more and get a big-brand product. Why would I need yours?"

Zhou Shuhuan bit his lip, "One eighty."

The owner still shook his head, "One hundred, and I’ll take as many as you have."

Zhou Shuhuan expected the owner to haggle but didn’t foresee such a steep cut. In a moment of frustration, he grabbed his things and turned to leave.

The owner hurriedly caught up to him, "Young man, don’t be hasty. Come, let’s sit down inside; we can talk about the price."

The owner pulled Zhou Shuhuan into a back room, brewed a pot of fine Pu-erh tea, and chatted as they both took a sip.

After some back-and-forth haggling, they finally settled on a price of one hundred thirty.

"Young man, I’m in the business of selling legitimate products, not the kind without any guarantees. Your stuff is pretty good, but to get it into the market, you’ll need to package it properly, you understand what I mean?"

Zhou Shuhuan nodded.