The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 567 - 566: The Foolish Son of Landlord Zhao

Chapter 567: Chapter 566: The Foolish Son of Landlord Zhao

"...I won’t come to see you during this time, lest I infect you. You should also be careful yourself."

Having finished speaking, Zhao Yun didn’t wait for He Liyi’s response and directly hung up the phone.

Guilty He Liyi hadn’t noticed Zhao Yun’s odd behavior; instead, she sighed in relief.

Her heart had leapt into her throat just now, for fear that her son would suspect her.

Fortunately, her son was at an age when his constitution was strong. As long as he recovered, he wouldn’t be infected again.

On this end.

Pei Ziheng analyzed to Zhao Yun: "Even if those medicines weren’t for her, she definitely came into contact with tuberculosis patients. Yet she deliberately concealed it from you, which can only mean she has a guilty conscience."

"Shut up!"

After shouting, Zhao Yun suddenly realized whom he had yelled at—it was Pei Ziheng.

Thinking about the cruel and ruthless ways Pei Ziheng dealt with people, he instantly felt a chill on his neck.

Having tuberculosis wouldn’t kill a person, but offending Pei Ziheng would definitely lead to a miserable death.

"I’m sorry, I was too loud just now."

"Ziheng, please don’t be angry with me. Just pretend I let out a fart."

Pei Ziheng gave him a glance, "What are you planning to do next?"

Knowing that he wasn’t angry, Zhao Yun breathed a sigh of relief, then became downcast again.

"While waiting for the results at the hospital, I doubted everyone I’m close to, even Aunt Hongmei. The only one I didn’t suspect was her."

"I just can’t understand. She’s my birth mother, and I’m her birth son. Doesn’t she care at all whether I might get infected?"

Pei Ziheng said thoughtfully, "Perhaps, you’re not her only son."

Zhao Yun glared at him. "How could that be possible? With her miserable life outside all these years, where would she find the extra energy to raise other children?"

"Have you seen her hands?"

Zhao Yun was puzzled, "What about her hands? I don’t know palmistry, what could I see?"

Pei Ziheng silently repeated "This is brotherhood" three times to himself, barely resisting the urge to kick the man flying.

"Her hands are clean and soft, without a single callus or scar, showing no signs of hard labor. Also, there’s a ring mark on the ring finger of her right hand, which suggests that these years she has had a husband and a family."

...

By the time Zhao Yun got home, it was almost ten o’clock.

Zhao Dafa was still out socializing and hadn’t come back. Aunt Deng considerately took Zhao Yun’s schoolbag and asked if he had had dinner or wanted a late-night snack.

Zhao Yun wasn’t in the mood to eat anything. He answered "No" and was about to go upstairs. As he reached the stairway, he thought of something, turned around, and walked over to Aunt Deng, seriously examining her hands.

Her skin was as rough as the bark of an old tree, her knuckles were thick, her fingernails flared out and marked with lines, and the palms and joints of her fingers had thin yellow calluses.

"Aunt Deng, do the hands of people who work year-round look like yours?"

Aunt Deng smiled and withdrew her hands, "Of course, we who do rough work, our hands are not pretty."

Zhao Yun remembered He Liyi’s hands, which, although not delicate jade fingers, were definitely not coarse.

At the Pei Family.

With Pei Ziheng coming back so late, Shen Mingzhu naturally had some questions.

Pei Ziheng didn’t conceal anything and explained that he and Zhao Yun had gone to the hospital.

Even if he didn’t mention it, Li Bing would have.

"Mom, both Xiaoyun and I are healthy, and we won’t go to see that person again. As for her identity, I’ll tell you when the time is right, okay?"

Compared to curiosity, Shen Mingzhu preferred to respect her son’s wishes.

"Alright, Mom can stay out of your little secrets, but you need to figure out a way to warn others to take precautions against her infectious disease, alright?"

Pei Ziheng nodded quickly.

Shen Mingzhu was still very confident in Pei Ziheng; after all, this son had never worried her since he was a child.

However, when she returned to her bedroom and lay down on the bed, she couldn’t help but share her feelings with Pei Yang.

"Time flies so fast."

Pei Yang was already too tired to keep his eyes open, but he still took an interest in what she was saying, "Why are you suddenly so sentimental?"

Shen Mingzhu shared what Pei Ziheng had said upstairs with him, "...It seems like our son has suddenly grown up. He has his own secrets and can handle his affairs properly. When I first met him, he wasn’t even as tall as my thigh. Now he’s already up to my shoulder..."

Soft snores echoed in her ears.

Shen Mingzhu turned her head to look at the man who had fallen asleep, got up to turn off the light, and went to bed.

...

The next day, Pei Ziheng had Shi Yizheng find a way to clue in He Liyi’s nanny.

That very day the nanny quit the job, had a big argument with He Liyi, and spread the news all over the residential compound that He Liyi had tuberculosis.

This is serious!

The entire staff residence was in an uproar.

That very afternoon, He Liyi was forced to move out of the house Zhao Yun had rented for her.

"Xiaoyun, I’ve moved, now living on Qely Street. I have to tell you, the culprit who infected you with tuberculosis has been found. It’s Auntie Song; she has tuberculosis. I’ve already dismissed her. She’s too wicked, hiding her tuberculosis like that."

Zhao Yun tugged at the corner of his mouth, feigned anger, and said, "That unscrupulous old thing, I’ll go settle the score with her tomorrow."

"Hey, don’t!" He Liyi hurriedly stopped him.

If her son really went to confront Madam Song, then her tuberculosis couldn’t be kept a secret any longer.

"Forget it, she’s old, and contracting such a disease can be seen as divine retribution. Xiaoyun, are you feeling any better?"

Zhao Yun quickly coughed a few times, pretending to be weak, "No, I feel terrible all over now."

"Haven’t you taken any medication?"

"I have, but I still feel awful."

"This disease is like that..."

Realizing she had said too much, He Liyi quickly changed the subject, "Xiaoyun, I’ve thought it over. Let’s not hire a maid; it’s too expensive..."

"Okay, then we won’t hire one."

He Liyi was stunned.

When she said hiring a maid was too expensive, it was nothing but a pretense.

In the past, whenever she said this, Zhao Yun would never hesitate to give her money.

But today, had this trick really failed?

He Liyi didn’t ponder too much; she guessed that Zhao Yun might be in a bad mood because of his illness.

This was the perfect opportunity to display her maternal love.

"Xiaoyun, Mom can’t bear to see you suffer. I wish all your pain could fall on me. Why don’t you speak to your dad and ask him to send you to the hospital? That way, I can secretly come to see you, take care of you."

In the end, she added one more thing, "I’m not afraid of getting infected by you."

To hell with it, this is his dearly beloved mother.

Zhao Yun couldn’t help but laugh out loud, his eyes reddening with amusement.

He really was a complete idiot!

"Xiaoyun, what’s wrong?"

"Nothing."

Zhao Yun wiped his eyes, suppressing the urge to expose He Liyi’s hypocrisy.

Damn it, unbearable intolerance!

Zhao Yun hung up the phone on purpose and told Aunt Deng that if anyone asked for him, to say he had died.

Leaving Aunt Deng confused in the wind, he went to the Pei Family’s place.

"Ziheng, do you think I’m a huge idiot?"

"You’ve finally come to a correct self-assessment."

Zhao Yun: "..."

"If she wants money, she should just say it outright. Considering she gave birth to me, I’d give it to her."

Pei Ziheng was pleased with his brother’s enlightenment as he twirled his pen rapidly, "Clearly, she wants more than just a little."

"You mean, she wants to reconcile with my dad and become Mrs. Zhao?"

"It’s obvious."

Zhao Yun sprang up, "No way, I’ve got to warn my dad. If she goes to him and infects him with tuberculosis, that’s the end of it."

"She won’t."

"How do you know?"

"If she wanted to find Uncle Zhao, she would’ve gone the moment she got back. She knows your dad won’t be as foolish and easy to deceive as you."

"She wouldn’t dare show up in front of Uncle Zhao until she’s got you completely under her thumb."

Zhao Yun: !!!

...

Pei Ziheng’s guess was spot on; He Liyi didn’t dare show her face before Zhao Dafa, faking a terminal illness might fool someone as naive as a landlord’s silly son like Zhao Yun, but in front of the shrewd and astute Zhao Dafa, she’d be exposed in no time.

At least until she recovered from tuberculosis, she was not going to approach Zhao Dafa.

But her reluctance didn’t mean others wouldn’t approach him.

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