The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 503 - 502 Pei Ke Goes on a Blind Date

Chapter 503: Chapter 502 Pei Ke Goes on a Blind Date

Seeing Shen Mingzhu nervous, Li Bing hurriedly comforted her, "Don’t worry too much, it isn’t a major illness. From the scan, we suspect liver cirrhosis. We still need to conduct a more detailed examination. Find some time to bring your uncle here for another hospital visit."

Upon hearing this, Shen Mingzhu immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Not wanting to delay matters of health, the next day, she took Pei Ke to the hospital.

The examination results came back: it was clinical stage two liver cirrhosis, not too severe, with symptoms of venous blockage and varices.

Through medication and a careful diet, the condition can be alleviated and improved to prevent further deterioration.

It’s important to know that once liver cirrhosis reaches clinical stage five, there’s a significant risk it could worsen to liver cancer.

When Pei Yang got home in the evening, Shen Mingzhu told him about it.

"The doctor said the diet should be light, and he must quit smoking and drinking. Especially alcohol, as it’s hugely damaging to the liver. You’ll need to keep an eye on your uncle from now on and prevent him from drinking. Tomorrow, I’ll have Sister Yu put away all the alcohol at home and move it to the family compound."

Since it concerned Pei Ke’s health, Pei Yang took it seriously, "I’ll keep an eye on my uncle and won’t let him drink."

Yet, Shen Mingzhu still felt uneasy.

Although Pei Ke lived with them, he was, after all, an elder, and they couldn’t restrict him as if he were a prisoner.

Moreover, Pei Ke had his own house on the next street, and he would sometimes stay there. There were always times when they couldn’t supervise him.

"We should find an elderly companion for your uncle sooner rather than later. It’s inevitable he feels lonely by himself and wants to drink a little. Once he has a partner, with someone to talk to, life will be better. This would also encourage him to quit smoking and drinking."

Pei Yang wholeheartedly agreed with Shen Mingzhu’s idea.

Shen Mingzhu was a person of action. Two days later, she took Pei Ke to a matchmaking meeting.

The woman was named Cui Lianying, five years younger than Pei Ke. She was a former colleague at Feng Huiying’s factory. Her husband had died years ago, and she raised her three children on the salary from the match factory.

Now that her children had all settled down, she was laid off and stayed at home, helping her son and daughter-in-law take care of her grandson.

After a long time living with her daughter-in-law, conflicts were inevitable, so Cui Lianying thought about finding another partner to avoid meddling in her son and daughter-in-law’s life.

To be honest, Cui Lianying wasn’t particularly attractive.

Possibly due to the hardships of raising three children over the years, although she was a few years younger than Pei Ke, she appeared older.

Thin and dark-skinned, with pale eyes and lips, she bore an air of exhaustion wrought by life.

Although Shen Mingzhu knew Cui Lianying was a decent person, externally, she felt Cui Lianying wasn’t a match for Pei Ke, so she had never arranged for them to meet.

Even though Pei Ke was older than Cui Lianying, he looked to be in his early forties. He was neatly dressed and upon closer inspection, there was an elegant handsomeness about him.

She felt that Pei Ke could find a woman who matched him better in all aspects.

Today’s meeting was also conducted with the mindset of getting it over with sooner rather than later.

Cui Lianying was an extremely shy and timid woman. Throughout the meal, she barely dared to make eye contact with her or Pei Ke, offering only monosyllabic responses like "mm," "ah," and "oh."

Shen Mingzhu’s dissatisfaction with her grew.

Even though she didn’t approve of Cui Lianying, she still presented the prepared gifts after the meal.

Two boxes of mooncakes and confectionery produced by the food factory.

It was intended as an apology for what she considered Cui Lianying’s wasted trip.

On the drive back.

Although Shen Mingzhu thought it unlikely Pei Ke would be interested in Cui Lianying, she politely inquired about his impression of her.

"I think Xiao Cui is quite nice. We should get to know each other better," Pei Ke said.

Pei Ke’s response clearly exceeded Shen Mingzhu’s expectations, and she found herself unsure how to continue the conversation.

What she had intended to say was that she could find someone better for Pei Ke.

"Uncle, you really don’t have to rush into a decision. You can meet more people to see if there’s someone more suitable," she suggested.

"No need, I’m at an age where there’s nothing to be picky about," he replied.

Shen Mingzhu felt that Pei Ke’s mindset wasn’t right and was about to argue, but then she reconsidered - this was all about finding Pei Ke a companion. If he was happy, that was all that mattered.

Different strokes for different folks.

Having thought it through, Shen Mingzhu also lightened up, and began to offer Pei Ke advice on how to interact and get along with Cui Lianying.

Pei Ke was indeed open-minded and listened very attentively.

At night, lying in bed, Shen Mingzhu told Pei Yang about the blind date she had during the day.

After finishing her story, she couldn’t help but sigh, "Could it be that Uncle has been single for so long, he finds any woman attractive?"

Pei Yang was amused by her words and tilted his head to speak to her, "You’re not satisfied with Auntie Cui because you think she’s not pretty enough, but Uncle is looking for a life partner, someone who can live life with him."

"You think Auntie Cui’s personality is dull and she doesn’t talk much, but if you think about it from another angle, she’s not noisy and doesn’t stir up trouble every other day, isn’t that good?"

"Uncle isn’t foolish; he knows that pretty women tend to have bigger tempers..."

Shen Mingzhu kicked him, "Who are you saying has a big temper?"

"I wasn’t talking about you..."

Shen Mingzhu kicked him again, "So you’re saying I’m not pretty?"

Look, even now she won’t admit that she has a big temper.

Pei Yang reached over and grabbed her foot, appeasingly massaging it, "Stop kicking, you’ll hurt your foot and I’ll feel sorry."

Annoyed, Shen Mingzhu pulled her foot back and turned her back to the man, "Let’s sleep, turn off the light."

Pei Yang chuckled, turned off the lamp with a flick, then lay down close to her spine, his arm dominantly draped over her waist.

The man’s chest felt like a furnace, and his palms were also burning hot.

"It’s hot, don’t stick to me."

"That’s easy to fix, I’ll help you take off your clothes, then you’ll cool down."

"Get lost~"

...

In the blink of an eye, it was the 7th day of the 7th lunar month.

After breakfast, Pei Ke went back to his room to change into clean clothes, his hair meticulously fixed with pomade.

Today was the traditional Qixi Festival, and Pei Ke had agreed to go to the temple with Cui Lianying for a worship ceremony, and then have a vegetarian lunch at the temple afterward.

This was Pei Ke and Cui Lianying’s first official date following their blind date.

"Mingzhu, Ziheng, I’m heading out now. Guoguo, see you tonight."

Guoguo was savoring a piece of flying cake, and at his words, she lifted her greasy little paw to wave at Pei Ke, "Bye-bye, Great-Uncle Dog Head."

Pei Ke, happy-go-lucky, wasn’t bothered.

Shen Mingzhu gave her daughter a light pat, "Who taught you that?"

Guoguo blinked her crow-feather-like eyelashes, "Brother Xiaoyun."

"Don’t say that again in the future, it’s impolite."

"Ooh, okay. "

Answering, she went back to eating her flying cake.

Shen Mingzhu’s flying cake, golden and crispy, with pineapple jam filling, was loved by the entire family.

After scolding her daughter, Shen Mingzhu stood up, picked up the things from the coffee table, and chased after him.

"Uncle."

Pei Ke was just about to get in the car when he heard her and turned around, "Mingzhu, what’s up?"

Shen Mingzhu handed over the items in her hand, "This is skincare for ladies I asked someone to buy. Give it to Auntie Cui as a Qixi Festival gift."

In this era, people didn’t have the practice of celebrating the traditional Qixi Festival, nor did they think to prepare gifts.

Pei Ke had not only asked her for fashion advice for today, but he also borrowed Pei Yang’s car, clearly valuing his date with Cui Lianying, and she as his junior felt obligated to lend a hand.