The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 505 - 504 The Little Cotton-padded Jacket Has a Draft

Chapter 505: Chapter 504 The Little Cotton-padded Jacket Has a Draft

Before leaving the movie theater, Ma Chao couldn’t help but look back at Shen Hongmei.

The boy accompanying her was handing her a bucket of popcorn. She smiled sweetly, the very image of someone immersed in love.

She used to be like this in front of him too.

The boy wore a short-sleeve shirt and jeans, which were very fashionable at the time, and looked handsome and well-established—a cultured youth with a proper job.

Ma Chao felt a bitter taste in his heart.

Ultimately, it was his male pride that was hurt.

The better Shen Hongmei’s life was, the more it proved his lack of foresight. He feared that the people in the village were laughing at him, saying he had dropped a watermelon to pick up a sesame seed.

Besides, he bore some resentment towards Shen Hongmei.

He resented her for not cherishing their past relationship and not willing to lend him money, causing him to miss the opportunity to become a permanent teacher.

The one and only permanent position had been taken by a female teacher who came into the school after him.

Her teaching ability wasn’t exceptional, and her seniority was low, but she had a good partner who helped her out.

If Shen Hongmei had been willing to help him, he would have been a permanent teacher by now.

Not only would his salary have increased significantly, but having the title of permanent teacher was also prestigious.

He also wouldn’t have felt pained about the five yuan movie ticket and let his wife down.

On the way home, Ma Chao’s heart was tumultuous.

After dropping off Chu Yinxui at home, Ma Chao made an excuse that he had to go on a house visit and rode his bicycle out again.

Ma Chao returned to the movie theater but didn’t go inside; instead, he hid behind a camphor tree across from the theater.

Around nine-thirty, Shen Hongmei and Liang Kean came out side by side from the movie theater.

They retrieved their bicycles and pushed them forward together.

Ma Chao followed them from a distance.

After delivering Shen Hongmei to her dormitory and watching her enter, Liang Kean turned his bicycle around and rode back.

Ma Chao followed Liang Kean for a while and then suddenly sped up to catch up with him.

...

By the time Shen Mingzhu and Pei Yang returned home after watching the movie, Pei Ke had already returned and was sitting on the sofa watching TV with the two children.

Seeing her come home, Guoguo was the first to leap into her arms, begging to be hugged.

"Mama."

Shen Mingzhu bent over to pick up her daughter and pinched her little nose, "Did you listen to your auntie?"

Guoguo nodded vigorously, "I did."

Seeing Pei Ziheng also approaching, Shen Mingzhu reached out to tousle his hair, "What about auntie?"

"Auntie went back."

Hearing this, Shen Mingzhu put her daughter down and said while changing her shoes, "Go find your clothes and take a bath, it’s time to get ready for bed."

Guoguo pouted, her eyes twinkling like those of a kitten.

She was clearly waiting to be coaxed.

Shen Mingzhu lovingly held her daughter’s cheeks and kissed them, "Be good, and tomorrow I will make you a dessert you’ve never had before, okay?"

Guoguo’s dark eyes immediately lit up, and she obediently followed Pei Ziheng upstairs to get clothes.

"Uncle, when did you get back?"

"I came back early, around seven o’clock."

"Didn’t you have dinner with Aunt Cui?"

Hearing Pei Yang discussing Pei Ke’s blind date with him, Shen Mingzhu also took an interest and moved closer to join the conversation.

...Her kids needed dinner, so after coming down the mountain, I dropped her off at home first, then I came back."

Shen Mingzhu interjected, "So if Aunt Cui moves in with you, who will take care of her kids?"

"If she moves out, her eldest daughter-in-law’s mother will move into the city to help look after the kids."

The eldest daughter-in-law of Cui Lianying came from a rural background, and apparently, she too was widowed.

It’s rather interesting that a grandmother would not stay at home to take care of her grandson but move to the city to look after her grandchild instead.

```

However, this was someone else’s family affair, and Shen Mingzhu didn’t ask any more questions.

Before long, the two children each came down the stairs, holding their clothes.

Although her daughter had just turned three, Shen Mingzhu always intentionally trained her daughter’s self-care ability, letting her do small things like eating, drinking water, and picking up clothes on her own as much as possible.

"Mommy, I’ve washed and I’m clean!"

After coming down, Guoguo was the first to run to Shen Mingzhu, her round little face brimming with excitement.

"Yesterday you bathed first, today it’s brother’s turn."

With a puffed face, Guoguo turned to look at Pei Ziheng, "Brother~"

Seeing her intent, Pei Ziheng walked over with a slight lift to the corners of his lips and pinched the tender flesh on her cheek, "Go on, you can bathe first today."

"Thank you, brother, you’re the best, brother, mwah."

The flattering and playful little mannerisms amused the whole family to no end.

After laughing, Shen Mingzhu took her daughter by the hand to the bathroom for a bath.

Last year, the house had been equipped with a water heater and a showerhead, making bathing much easier since they no longer needed to boil the water and carry it to the bathroom.

Once in the bathroom, Shen Mingzhu filled the little bathtub specially for her daughter with hot water, and then began helping her daughter undress.

"Mommy, do you want money?"

Hearing her daughter’s words, Shen Mingzhu teased, "Do you want to give your pocket money to Mommy?"

Shen Mingzhu’s birthday gift to her daughter was a little piggy bank, and from now on, she wouldn’t collect her daughter’s New Year’s money anymore but let her put it in the piggy bank instead.

Guoguo whispered mysteriously into her ear, "Mommy, I know where there is money, do you want it? If you do, I can take you to get it."

Shen Mingzhu didn’t take her daughter’s words to heart and casually replied okay, "After you’ve washed and are clean, you can take Mommy to get the money."

"Mhm."

After bathing and wrapping her daughter in a towel to dry her off, she slipped her into a pure cotton bunny sleep dress.

Once dressed, Shen Mingzhu affectionately patted her daughter’s little bottom, "Alright, let’s go out."

Guoguo tugged at her to walk outside, "Mommy, I’ll take you to get the money."

"Let Mommy wash the bathtub first."

"No, let’s go now."

Shen Mingzhu had no choice but to follow her daughter to the second-floor room.

Upon entering the room, Guoguo scurried to the wardrobe, pulled open the bottom drawer, and took out all the clothes, revealing the drawer’s base.

With a press, the base popped up, revealing a shallow compartment underneath.

"Mommy, look, so much money!"

And indeed, it was quite a bit.

Shen Mingzhu stared at the money in the compartment and snickered, then turned and headed to the corridor—

"Pei Yang!"

Pei Yang came hurrying up the stairs, "What’s up?"

Shen Mingzhu pulled him into the room, pointing at the money in the wardrobe drawer, "What is this?"

Pei Yang looked at the money, then at his daughter who was innocently standing to the side, and shook his head like a rattle.

"Where did this money come from? I have no idea."

"You don’t know!"

Shen Mingzhu hit him and then grabbed his ear, "Stop pretending, who else would know about the hidden compartment in the drawer if not for you, the one who had the wardrobe custom-made?"

"Ouch, gentle, I’m wrong, honey. I won’t do it again."

Hearing her husband openly admitting to hiding private money, Shen Mingzhu released her hold, declaring on the spot that she was confiscating the money.

Pei Yang was angry but dared not speak out.

Shen Mingzhu chuckled coldly, took out all the money in front of him, placed it on the small desk, and started counting it one by one.

After all, it was secretly saved up private money, so there were both large and small denominations, with hundred-yuan notes and also one-yuan notes.

But after counting the money, Shen Mingzhu was stunned.

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