The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 553 - 552: Meeting an Old Friend

Chapter 553: Chapter 552: Meeting an Old Friend

— Love and lack of love are very clear.

— In Zhao Ge’s heart, you are clearly very important, a woman worth his devotion.

All day, these words tumbled through Shen Hongmei’s mind, leaving her restless.

It was not easy to endure until the end of work, but Shen Hongmei left as soon as she could grab her bag.

"Sis, you’re here, what kind of yarn are you looking for today?"

Shen Hongmei was a regular at the yarn shop, and the shopkeeper recognized her. Upon seeing her, she smiled and greeted her, then casually showed her two bundles of yarn.

"These just arrived a couple days ago, new process, 50% wool, nice color saturation, and good luster. You can knit sweaters, scarves, or socks. It’s very warm and not expensive."

Shen Hongmei felt the yarn and thought the quality was quite good. If it was for herself or to buy for a family member, it would indeed be sufficient.

"Shopkeeper, I want some better yarn."

"We have that, of course!"

The shopkeeper immediately smiled and took two bundles from behind the shelf, "This one is 100% pure wool, and this one is even better, it’s cashmere, though it’s also more expensive."

Shen Hongmei touched the cashmere; it felt really nice, soft, and delicate. She could imagine how comfortable and close-fitting a sweater knit from it would be.

"Is this the best you have?"

Hearing her question, the shopkeeper paused, "Just wait here!"

After saying this, she turned and ran into the back room. When she came back, she held a small bundle of fine yarn in her hand.

"Girl, look at this, Angora rabbit wool, warmer than cashmere and it feels even better against the skin."

Shen Hongmei felt it, it was not only smooth to the touch, but it also had a gloss that was slightly better than cashmere.

"I’ll take this one, one and a half pounds."

The shopkeeper looked at her, "This one’s not cheap, 20 yuan per ounce. This is a scarce item, and the price is non-negotiable."

"No problem, I want this one. Do you have it in gray? For size 16 needles."

"Sure, I’ll get it for you."

Seeing that Shen Hongmei was serious, the shopkeeper quickly fetched three bundles of gray rabbit wool yarn for her to choose from.

Shen Hongmei was torn between beige gray, light gray, and dark gray.

The shopkeeper eyed her with a knowing tone in her voice, "Girl, you’re buying this to knit a sweater for your beau, aren’t you?"

Shen Hongmei’s cheeks burned as she nodded.

The shopkeeper teased, "I could tell right away. You young girls, you need to think twice about buying yarn for yourself that’s 20 yuan per pound, but for your beau, you don’t even blink at 200 yuan per pound."

"Girl, don’t mind me being nosy, but don’t be foolish. Men, you don’t need to be too good to them; they are all ungrateful. The nicer you are to them, the less they appreciate you."

Had she not met Zhao Dafa before, Shen Hongmei would have thought the shopkeeper was right.

But now, she knew clearly that there are exceptions in this world.

Zhao Dafa was that exception.

During their time together, Zhao Dafa seemed to be very conscious of the fact that he was ten years older than her, and he often took great care of her.

Actually, Shen Hongmei didn’t feel that Zhao Dafa was old at all.

In the end, Shen Hongmei chose beige gray. Lighter colors make one look younger and also enhance one’s complexion.

She thought that Zhao Dafa would probably like it.

...

Drama Club.

As Zhao Yun walked with a bulky burlap sack on his shoulder, he twisted his head and asked Pei Ziheng, "What do you need this for?"

Pei Ziheng glanced at him, "You’ll find out soon."

"Pfft, still keeping secrets."

Zhao Yun complained verbally, but he still carefully placed the burlap sack on the motorcycle footrest. After Pei Ziheng was seated, he rode the motorcycle back home.

When they were about a hundred meters away from the Pei Family residence, Pei Ziheng asked Zhao Yun to stop the bike.

Zhao Yun braked and looked back, "What’s wrong?"

Pei Ziheng jumped off the bike, took out a key, and pointed at Shi Yizheng’s rented courtyard, "You first park the bike here."

Though confused, Zhao Yun still complied.

After parking the bike, Zhao Yun pointed to the burlap sack on the footrest and asked, "So what about this?"

"It’s for you to wear."

Zhao Yun’s head filled with question marks, "What?"

"Guoguo wants to see Brother Hei Xiong. You put it on, let Guoguo have a look."

"...Why don’t you wear it?"

Pei Ziheng extended his hand, "Let’s decide with rock-paper-scissors."

Zhao Yun thought this was fair and quickly played rock-paper-scissors with Pei Ziheng.

"Hahaha! You lost!"

Zhao Yun held up two fingers triumphantly against Pei Ziheng’s palm.

Pei Ziheng was indifferent, "The winner wears it, you won, so you wear it."

"You’re cheating!?"

"I never said the loser wears it."

"Then you should have said so earlier!"

"You didn’t ask."

"..."

Zhao Yun couldn’t contain his irritation. "No way, let’s do it again, and this time the loser wears it."

Pei Ziheng looked at him. "Man up. Can’t you handle losing?"

"Bullshit, can I not handle losing? It’s just wearing a bear suit, what am I afraid of?"

As he spoke, he quickly took the black bear costume out of the sack and slipped into it.

Pei Ziheng unexpectedly took the initiative to help by pulling up the zipper.

It wasn’t until he had the black bear costume on that Zhao Yun suddenly realized he might have been duped by his brother again.

Oh, it wasn’t might have— he definitely had been.

Giao!

Once they were back at the Pei family home, Pei Ziheng asked Zhao Yun to wait in the yard while he entered the living room alone.

"Brother~"

Guoguo was watching TV on the sofa by herself, and when she saw Pei Ziheng return, she hopped off the sofa with a little jump and ran toward him.

"Why did you come back so late? When are we going to see the big black bear?"

Guoguo grabbed his leg, tilting her face up, prettier than a doll’s, wiggling her bottom and pouting charmingly.

Pei Ziheng’s usually cold brows softened with affection. "Wait until I put my backpack down, then we’ll go."

"Okay!"

"Brother, where’s the big black bear? Is it at the zoo, or in the big forest?"

She couldn’t even wait for Pei Ziheng to put down his backpack and kept chirping with questions.

"Let’s go, I’ll take you to see the big black bear."

Pei Ziheng didn’t answer directly and instead took her little hand and led her to the yard.

"Brother, let’s go."

Seeing Pei Ziheng standing still in the yard, Guoguo urged in her baby voice.

Pei Ziheng frowned slightly.

According to the plan, Zhao Yun should have been waiting in the yard, but looking around, it was empty— not a "black bear" in sight.

He was just about to call out for Zhao Yun when Zhao Yun crept up behind the siblings without a sound.

Guoguo felt something fluffy touching her ear.

She turned around and there stood a big black bear right behind her.

A raspy, playful voice sounded. "Hehe, I’m the big black bear, and I eat little kids!"

Guoguo’s pupils dilated and the next second, she screamed and hid behind Pei Ziheng.

"Ah—"

"Brother, there’s a big black bear! The big black bear came to our house! It wants to eat me!"

Her voice was tinged with sobs, clearly frightened.

Pei Ziheng glared at Zhao Yun and while protecting Guoguo tightly behind him, he said in a cold voice, "Don’t be afraid, Brother will chase the black bear away for you!"

With that, he picked up a garden hoe from the ground.

"Fuck!"

Zhao Yun wrapped his arms around his head and ran. "Pei Ziheng, I’m trying to amuse your sister and you actually want to hit me, are you still human?"

"I am hitting you!" Pei Ziheng chased after him, swinging the hoe.

A bear and a man hilariously engaged in a "catch me if you can" act around the yard.

Guoguo forgot her fear for a while and laughed merrily, hopping and jumping around.

"Brother, go for it! Brother, go for it!"

Zhao Yun, burdened by the cumbersome black bear costume, could barely run after a while, so he turned around and faced off with Pei Ziheng.

Although Guoguo was small, she was protective. Seeing her brother fighting with the "black bear," she bent over, picked up a brick with all her might, and aimed for the "black bear’s" head.

"Fuck!"

Zhao Yun dodged with a roll.

Pei Ziheng was also quick to stop his sister.

"Guoguo, it’s me!"

Seeing Zhao Yun’s face appear from under the black bear costume, Guoguo paused and blurted out, "Brother Hei Xiong!?"

"So Brother Xiaoyun is Hei Xiong!"

"Hei Xiong Brother! Hei Xiong Brother!"

Guoguo excitedly jumped around Zhao Yun.

Zhao Yun collapsed on the ground gasping for air, not bothering to correct Guoguo’s misconception.

At that moment, he had no idea that by indulging her just this once, the nickname "Brother Hei Xiong" would stick with him for life.

...

After dinner, Shen Mingzhu took some freshly simmered soup and homemade snacks and went to the Zhong family’s home to visit Zhong Qing and the twins.

Upon arriving, she unexpectedly ran into an old friend she hadn’t seen for a long time.