The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 597 - 596 Toy with Shen Baolan

Chapter 597: Chapter 596 Toy with Shen Baolan

Picking up, Shen Baolan’s proud voice came through the phone, "Shen Mingzhu, there’s something I forgot to tell you earlier. We looked at a house in Ruifeng Garden this afternoon and put down the money for it. The house number is 29."

All the houses in Ruifeng Garden are detached villas, each with its own serial number; number 29 was the very one Shen Mingzhu had her eyes on.

Shen Mingzhu feigned surprise, "Oh my, why did you buy that house? Haven’t you heard?"

"Heard what?"

"Never mind, it’s nothing."

Without waiting for Shen Baolan to ask more questions, Shen Mingzhu hung up the phone and disconnected the line.

If Shen Baolan could sleep tonight, write her name backwards.

Returning to the dining table and seeing that both children were patiently waiting for her, Shen Mingzhu couldn’t help but feel touched.

"Alright, let’s eat. After we’re done, I’ll take you to the night market."

"Yay!"

Despite the freezing cold outside, children seem naturally immune to the cold, excitedly forgetting themselves at the prospect of going out to play.

To avoid being hassled by Shen Baolan, once dinner was over, Shen Mingzhu left without even cleaning up, leading the children out the door.

It turned out her precautions were wise.

When they returned, the next-door neighbor mentioned that shortly after Shen Mingzhu had left, Shen Baolan had come by, waited for over an hour, and must have left only because she couldn’t bear the cold anymore.

...

Evening.

Just having soothed her daughter to sleep, Shen Mingzhu turned to see Pei Yang at the door wanting to come in and promptly got up to push him out, closing the door behind her.

"Guoguo just fell asleep, don’t wake her up."

After speaking, she caught a whiff of the strong alcohol scent on him and couldn’t help but frown in distaste, "You stink. Go take a shower."

"Do I smell that bad?"

Pei Yang intentionally blew his breath in her face, and Shen Mingzhu didn’t hesitate to give him a hard shove.

"Ouch!"

Pei Yang covered his mouth, playing the victim.

"Serves you right!"

Shen Mingzhu muttered quietly, then turned and walked downstairs.

Pei Yang followed clingily, reaching mischievously to pull her hair, "Hitting is affection, scolding is love."

Shen Mingzhu, feeling a sharp pain in her scalp, turned and kicked back at him.

Pei Yang grinned, bearing the pain, "Deep love comes with a kick."

Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, Shen Mingzhu turned to continue downstairs.

"Wife, I’m hungry. Is there anything to eat?"

"There’s dog shit. Do you want some?"

"If it’s yours, I’ll eat it."

"...Can’t you stop being disgusting?"

"Disgusting? Are you pregnant? Let’s have a check-up at the hospital tomorrow."

"Get lost~"

After the retort, the world suddenly spun, and she found herself hoisted onto a shoulder.

"Alrighty, then let’s go roll in bed, roll until dawn!"

"Put me down..."

...

In the still of the night, even dogs slept.

But Shen Baolan lay awake, tormented and restless, biting her quilt, unable to fall asleep.

Unable to find Shen Mingzhu, she could only call the seller, who assured her with all certainty that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the house.

But suspicion, once planted, grows like wild grass—wild and rampant.

She dared not tell her in-laws, as it was she who had persuaded Zhou Shuhuan to buy the house. If there was indeed something wrong with it, Ma Sufen would hardly let her off the hook.

It was driving her mad!

The next day.

"Shen Mingzhu!"

Looking at Shen Baolan standing outside the door, lifeless-eyed and with huge dark circles, Shen Mingzhu couldn’t help but laugh ungraciously.

"Yo, what happened? Did you sneak out to steal a cow in the middle of the night?"

Shen Baolan was too agitated to quarrel with her right now, "What exactly did you mean by what you said yesterday? Is there something wrong with that Ruifeng Garden apartment?"

"No, there’s nothing. I didn’t say there was a problem."

Shen Baolan, frustrated, pressed her, "You asked me if I had heard anything. What did you hear?!"

"Well, actually, it’s not much..."

"Spit it out!"

Shen Mingzhu deliberately dawdled, teasing Shen Baolan till she was nearly smoking with impatience.

"That area where Ruifeng Garden was built, it used to be a slaughterhouse. It’s said that such places tend to have heavier ’yin’ energy."

Shen Baolan’s eyes nearly popped out, "Is that all you wanted to say?"

"Right, haven’t you heard?"

Thinking about how she had spent a sleepless night worrying over such a trivial matter, Shen Baolan felt like eating Shen Mingzhu alive.

Shen Mingzhu didn’t care how angry she looked -- with a slam, she closed the door and went home to have breakfast.

"I’m going to Shanghai City in a few days."

The father and sons eating breakfast all looked up at her at once, and even the little Demu by the leg of the table wagged its tail, gazing curiously at Shen Mingzhu.

"Mommy, where is Shanghai City?" Pei Tang asked crisply.

Shen Mingzhu put the peeled egg white into her daughter’s porridge bowl, then placed the yolk in her son’s bowl.

While eating, she replied, "Finish your breakfast, then Mommy will show you on the map."

"Oh!"

Pei Yang put his peeled egg into Shen Mingzhu’s bowl, took another one, and started tapping it on the table while saying, "I want to go to Shanghai City too."

Shen Mingzhu asked him, "What will you do there?"

"Accompany you."

Shen Mingzhu rolled her eyes, "I have important matters to attend to."

"I have important matters too."

Pei Tang lifted his little head from the porridge bowl, pleading, "Mommy, I want to go to Shanghai City too!"

Shen Mingzhu took a bite of egg, glanced at her daughter, and then at her son, and nodded, "Then let’s go together!"

The two children had grown so much and had never traveled out of the province. It was a good opportunity to experience the bustling metropolis of Shanghai City.

...

"Why are you so selfish, only thinking about yourself, not caring about us! All the kids and friends at school have their moms taking care of them, only Xiaolu and I are like motherless wild children. If you really don’t want to take care of us, why did you have us in the first place?"

While Shen Mingzhu’s family was happily discussing their trip to Shanghai City, on Pei Wenping’s side, the matter had triggered a mother-son conflict.

Throughout the Spring Festival, Chen Xiaolu and Chen Xiaochao had been incessantly pestering Pei Wenping to quit her job in Fengcheng and move to Shanghai City with them.

After being repeatedly rejected, Chen Xiaochao finally lost his temper.

"Who taught you to talk to your mom like that? Apologize to her!"

"I won’t apologize. I didn’t say anything wrong!"

The hand Chen Yi had raised was stopped by Pei Wenping, and Chen Xiaochao took the chance to run out of the house.

"Go, keep an eye on Xiaochao."

Chen Yi stood still, looking at her with eyes filled with heartache and guilt, trying to say something.

"Go on!"

Finally, under Pei Wenping’s repeated urging, Chen Yi had no choice but to go after his son.

Pei Wenping turned around, looked at her daughter who was standing still in front of the couch, and said with a slightly choked voice, "Xiaolu, are you blaming me too?"

Chen Xiaolu slowly walked up to her, asking softly, "Mom, did you and dad get a divorce?"

"I heard Grandma talking with Dad. She said that you would not forgive Dad. Mom, did Dad do something wrong to you?"

Pei Wenping embraced her daughter, "No matter whether your dad and I will stay together or not, we will always love you both just the same."

"Mom, can you not divorce Dad? Please, as a favor to me, okay?"

Faced with her daughter’s plea, Pei Wenping felt an ache in her heart.

...

In the coffee shop.

Chen Yi and Chen Xiaochao were sitting across from each other. Chen Xiaochao, while eating his favorite banana split, said resentfully, "I really don’t understand why she refuses to go to Shanghai City. Is her lousy job more important to her than her own son?"

After Chen Xiaochao finished ranting, Chen Yi finally started to speak—