The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 508 - 507: Dafa’s Thoughts

Chapter 508: Chapter 507: Dafa’s Thoughts

Shen Mingzhu quickly tidied up her daughter’s bed and opened the window to let in some fresh air before going downstairs.

By the time she reached the bottom of the stairs, her daughter was bouncing around, hugging a crystal bowl filled with jelly.

Seeing her mother coming down from upstairs, she immediately ran towards her with joy.

"Mommy! I found it!"

"Thank you, Mommy, this dessert is so pretty, what’s its name?"

Seeing her daughter’s eyes sparkle with happiness, Shen Mingzhu immediately felt that staying up late and the hard work from last night were worthwhile.

"This is called jelly."

"Jelly?"

Guoguo blinked her eyes, her doll-like beautiful face full of anticipation and excitement, "Like Guoguo’s fruit? Mommy, did you make it especially for me? Its name is the same as mine."

Shen Mingzhu affectionately tapped her on the nose, "Yes, that’s right."

Guoguo beamed, then turned and ran over to her father and uncle, and Pei Ke, proudly showing off, "Look, this is the jelly Mommy made especially for me, it’s mine."

Pei Yang and Pei Ke praised her in turns:

"Wow, our Guoguo is so blessed, Great-Uncle is so envious."

"This jelly is as pretty as our Guoguo, it must taste good too."

When it was Pei Ziheng’s turn, he slightly curled his lips and didn’t reveal that he had already eaten this jelly several times before Guoguo was even born.

He squatted down, his dark handsome eyes looking at Guoguo, "Will you share your jelly with your brother?"

"Of course."

Guoguo nodded without hesitation, "I also want to share with Daddy and Great-Uncle, and with Mommy, we’ll all eat it together!"

"Thank you, Guoguo, thanks to you, Great-Uncle will get to taste something delicious today."

Pei Yang made an eager face, "I really want to eat it, it must be delicious!"

Upon hearing this, Guoguo immediately laid the crystal bowl on the tea table and tried to grab a piece of jelly to give to her own daddy, like it was a cake. But as soon as her fingers pinched the jelly, it fell apart.

She froze for two seconds, looked around at everyone, and finally turned to Shen Mingzhu, her voice already tinged with a hint of a sob.

"Mommy, I ruined the jelly."

Shen Mingzhu approached with a smile to comfort her, "It’s as soft and slippery as tofu pudding, you can’t pick it up with your hand, you have to use a spoon to eat it."

Guoguo had an epiphany and immediately ran to the kitchen, brought out her usual wooden bowl and spoon, scooped some jelly from the crystal bowl, and offered it to Pei Yang.

"Daddy, here you go!"

"Thank you, Guoguo."

Pei Yang smiled as he accepted, poured the jelly into his mouth, and, while eating, praised, "Mmm, delicious, so good."

The fragrance emanating from the jelly had already made Guoguo crave it badly, and seeing her own daddy eating so happily, a line of clear drool promptly rolled down her mouth to her collar, amusing the whole family into hearty laughter.

Embarrassed by the laughter, Guoguo turned and buried herself into her brother’s arms, inadvertently smearing Pei Ziheng with her drool.

Pei Ziheng didn’t mind but gently took out his handkerchief to clean her up, then took the crystal bowl and scooped some jelly to feed her.

The jelly was beautifully pink, with assorted diced fruits from cans floating in the middle, including yellow peaches, cherries, pineapples, and pears.

Each mouthful was cool, smooth, melted at a touch, filled with a thick and sweet fruity scent.

"Wow, it’s so yummy."

Seeing Guoguo enjoying her food, everyone’s face showed indulgence and smiles.

The jelly had just been taken out of the fridge and was still quite cold, so Shen Mingzhu did not let her daughter eat too much. After a few bites to satisfy the craving, she covered the bowl and put it back in the fridge.

The homemade jelly didn’t contain preservatives and was prone to spoilage if left at room temperature.

During breakfast, Shen Mingzhu seized the moment to teach her daughter some safety knowledge.

"Guoguo, Mommy has kept her promises to you, and you have to keep your promises to Mommy, okay?"

"Mm, I know!"

"So tell me, what things have you promised Mommy?"

Guoguo took a sip of milk and said with a milky voice, "No climbing high, no playing with sockets, no playing with fire, no going near water, no walking in the middle of the road, no talking to strangers."

"Good~"

Shen Mingzhu handed her daughter the peeled egg white and put the yolk into Pei Ziheng’s porridge bowl.

Ziheng, like her, didn’t like to eat boiled eggs but loved the yolks.

Guoguo, on the contrary, only ate the egg whites and not the yolks.

...

In the blink of an eye, it was the end of the month, and Pei Ziheng would be starting his third year of junior high school.

As he grew older, Ziheng had also grown quite a bit taller, and many of his clothes from last year no longer fit. Taking advantage of the time before school started, she specifically set aside a day to take the two children shopping for some autumn clothes.

Zhao Dafa heard about it from somewhere and gave her five hundred yuan, asking her to take Zhao Yun to the mall to buy two new outfits as well.

Shen Mingzhu naturally wouldn’t refuse such a small favor.

After shopping at the mall, Shen Mingzhu took the children to eat at the recently very popular McDonald’s.

After eating, they passed by an indoor amusement park. Guoguo clamored to play, so Shen Mingzhu took the kids in and let them play all afternoon.

By the time they got home, it was already evening.

Shen Mingzhu dropped Zhao Yun off at his home first.

Today she had bought quite a few things for Zhao Yun, including clothes, pants, shoes, socks, underwear, and the likes. Zhao Yun couldn’t carry them all by himself, so Shen Mingzhu helped him carry the items inside and took the opportunity to settle the bill with Zhao Dafa.

Seeing the bill, Zhao Dafa’s mouth twitched with anger, "You little rascal, I asked you to buy two new outfits, not to stock up on goods."

Zhao Yun stood firm, "That’s right, I even think I bought too little."

Zhao Dafa was so angry he was at a loss for words.

Shen Mingzhu was amused by the father and son’s bickering, "Brother Zhao, don’t be angry yet. Of the things Xiaoyun bought, half are for you. He picked them out himself."

Zhao Dafa wasn’t really that angry, after all, such an amount of money wasn’t much to him. Hearing Shen Mingzhu’s words, a smile broke out on his face, and his view of his son became much more favorable.

"Sister Shen, wait a moment, I’ll get the money for you."

"There’s no rush, you can give it to me anytime."

"I have it in my room, I’ll go up and get it now, just wait here."

With that, Zhao Dafa went upstairs.

"Aunt Mingzhu, please have a seat, I’ll get you some water," Zhao Yun offered.

Seeing Zhao Yun’s polite and sensible demeanor, Shen Mingzhu couldn’t help but feel that time was flying. It seemed only yesterday that Zhao Yun was a mischievous and naughty child, and now he had grown into a young teenager with a certain amount of steadiness.

Before Shen Mingzhu could fully admire the Zhao Family’s new home, Dafa had already come down with the money.

"Sister, are you and Xiaopei free tomorrow? I’d like to treat you to a meal."

Seeing the puzzled look on Shen Mingzhu’s face, Zhao Dafa explained with a chuckle, "It’s like this, my birthday is next month, but I will be out of town, so I thought I might as well celebrate it before the kids start school. It won’t be a big gathering, just a meal with family relatives."

Shen Mingzhu smiled and accepted the invitation.

Zhao Yun suddenly chimed in, "We should also invite Aunt Hongmei. Didn’t she have a boyfriend? She can bring him along so we can check him out."

"Hongmei’s relationship ended."

The end was good, marvelous even.

Dafa’s heart burst with joy, but his face showed sympathy, "I heard that young man was quite nice, how come it didn’t work out? That’s really a pity."

Zhao Dafa’s act had no flaws; if the Oscars were to see it, they’d have to give him an award on the spot.

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