The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 604 - 603 Run If You Can’t Win!

Chapter 604: Chapter 603 Run If You Can’t Win!

Two thousand?!

Upon seeing the total amount of compensation requested on the lawsuit, Shen Baolan was so angry she clenched her teeth in fury.

That Shen Mingzhu, a bloody millionaire, was she treating her and Zhou Shuhuan like cash cows to be slaughtered?

She had just extorted five hundred thousand from Zhou Shuhuan not long ago, and now she wanted to swindle another two thousand from her.

In your dreams!

The compensation that Shen Mingzhu demanded wasn’t an arbitrary lion’s mouth; a thousand was for emotional distress, and the remaining thousand included but was not limited to:

The expenses for hosting the Shenjiagou people at a restaurant, as well as subsequent labor and processing fees for helping them arrange jobs, and so on.

In the end, all the trouble brought by Shen Baolan and her daughter was going to be on their own tab.

Including the raucous disturbance Shen Baolan and her daughter caused, Shen Mingzhu also had someone take photos and record evidence, which she handed over to her lawyer, and the claim for one thousand yuan in emotional damages was raised to two thousand.

"What do we do? Shen Mingzhu is really vicious, asking us to compensate two thousand just like that."

The annual average income of the people in Shenjiagou was less than a thousand; two thousand yuan was practically the life of Liu Cuihua.

Shen Baolan could afford to pay, but she would rather die than willingly give Shen Mingzhu a single cent for nothing.

"You tell Shen Mingzhu not to think that she’s the only one who can hire a lawyer, I can find a lawyer too! I refuse to believe that no one can deal with her!"

When Shen Hongmei retold this, Shen Mingzhu was indifferent, "Let her fuss, there’s no need to bother."

She had already entrusted the matter entirely to her lawyer, who had given her a one hundred percent guarantee of victory.

...

It must be said that Shen Baolan and her daughter were two remarkable specimens, treating such an important matter as a lawsuit with the sole intention of saving money, scouring every lane and alley in Fengcheng and finally settling on the cheapest third-rate law firm.

The lawyer, with his many years of experience in losing cases, suggested the mother and daughter settle privately.

Shen Baolan didn’t want to go to court, but bowing her head and admitting her wrongs to Shen Mingzhu was even worse than death!

After leaving the lawyer’s office, the mother and daughter decided that if they couldn’t win, they’d run!

Where to run? To Fucheng, of course!

So, Liu Cuihua packed her bags overnight and took the train to Fucheng with Shen Baolan.

Shen Baolan’s plan was very appealing, with Liu Cuihua in Fucheng, she could help look after the children, and Shen Baolan could free up time to work at the electronics factory, earning money and keeping an eye on Zhou Shuhuan; once in Fucheng, Shen Mingzhu wouldn’t be able to do anything to her no matter how capable she was.

A win-win-win!

...

Two days later, the trio arrived safely at the Fucheng train station. After asking around, they finally found Zhou Shuhuan’s electronics factory.

Zhou Shuhuan was dissatisfied with Shen Baolan’s fait accompli, but since they were already there, he could only lead them back to his living place to settle in.

As for Shen Baolan’s proposal to help out in the factory, Zhou Shuhuan didn’t reject it either.

There were many orders and tight deadlines; an extra pair of hands meant extra strength.

Considering Shen Baolan had no technical skills, Zhou Shuhuan assigned her to a packaging position, which was the simplest task that one could learn immediately.

To be fair, Shen Baolan was indeed a skilled laborer, and Liu Cuihua was diligent as well, taking excellent care of the grandson every day, handling cooking, housekeeping, and everything else without a hitch.

With the help of the mother and daughter, Zhou Shuhuan’s life was indeed much easier and he gradually accepted their presence.

In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.

Seeing as three days had gone past the court date without incident, Shen Baolan and Liu Cuihua’s hanging hearts finally settled down.

As the old saying goes, those without long-term worries are bound to have near-term anxieties.

Though Liu Cuihua was relieved to have moved past the lawsuit, something else weighed on her mind.

"I’m telling you, you need to keep a close eye on that Qiao lady," she said.

Shen Baolan, perplexed, "Which Qiao lady?"

Liu Cuihua, with a face full of ’how could I have given birth to such a silly daughter’ exasperation, said, "Qiao Ya, your son-in-law’s female secretary! She flounces around all day by your son-in-law’s side; you never know if he’ll get any wild ideas."

"There’s no man in this world who doesn’t indulge in an affair!"

Shen Baolan’s mind conjured up the image of Qiao Ya, a girl in her twenties, sprightly and vivacious, so tender one could seemingly squeeze water from her.

"Can it be? A young and pretty girl like her, could she fancy a divorced older man like Shuhuan?"

"Better safe than sorry. If something really happens between them, it’ll be too late to stop it!"

...

During lunch, Shen Baolan deliberately chose a seat close to Qiao Ya.

While eating, she surreptitiously observed Qiao Ya.

To be fair, Qiao Ya’s features weren’t particularly beautiful, certainly not as much as Shen Mingzhu’s.

But her youth was an advantage, her skin was fair and smooth, her figure well-proportioned. She wore a strappy floral dress with a sheer knitted bolero over it, exuding youthful charm from head to toe.

With Liu Cuihua’s reminder echoing in her ears, a sense of crisis surged in Shen Baolan’s heart.

"Xiaoqiao."

"Sister Lan, are you looking for Brother Zhou? He’s out discussing business."

Seeing Shen Baolan approaching, Qiao Ya explained with a smile.

Shen Baolan clutched her chest, pretending to feel unwell, "I’m feeling a bit dizzy and nauseated, could you please go buy some medicine for me?"

Qiao Ya took her at her word, showing concern, "Do you need to see a doctor? There’s a clinic just outside."

"No need, it’s just my old problem. Just buy me a box of Huoxiang Zhengqi Water, I’ll be fine after drinking a couple of sachets."

Hearing this, Qiao Ya hurriedly grabbed her purse and rushed out the door.

As soon as Qiao Ya left, Shen Baolan immediately got up and closed the office door.

"I’m feeling much better now, thank you. I’ll give you the money for the medicine another day."

"It’s no trouble at all."

After seeing Shen Baolan off, Qiao Ya returned to her workstation and continued with her work.

The next day.

"Xiaoqiao, please get the delivery note and contract for Zhitai."

"Okay!"

Qiao Ya took out the keys from the drawer, opened the filing cabinet against the wall, and found the folder labeled Zhitai.

"Brother Zhou..."

Seeing Qiao Ya’s face stricken with panic, Zhou Shuhuan instinctively tried to calm her, "Don’t panic, what happened?"

Qiao Ya was on the verge of tears, "The contract and delivery note for Zhitai are missing!"

Zhou Shuhuan’s electronics factory mainly did contract manufacturing, and Zhitai was a major long-term client. The two companies settled accounts by payment terms.

Simply put, Zhou Shuhuan needed to present the contract and delivery note to Zhitai to collect his payment.

Now that the contract and delivery note were gone, if Zhitai decided to deny the accounts, Zhou Shuhuan would have no recourse.

Just as Zhou Shuhuan was at his wits’ end, Qiao Ya informed him of even worse news.

"I’ve checked; the contracts and delivery notes for Changsheng and Dazheng are also missing!"

Looking at the tearful Qiao Ya, Zhou Shuhuan’s mind went blank for a moment.

Zhitai, Changsheng, and Dazheng’s orders accounted for ninety percent of the factory’s revenue.

If they couldn’t collect payments from all three, not only would the electronics factory go bankrupt, but he would also be saddled with nearly ten million in debt.

Zhou Shuhuan broke out in a cold sweat, "Such important documents, all lost, how could you let this happen?!"

With the office off-limits to outsiders and the file cabinet locked, with only Qiao Ya having the key, it was hard for him not to direct his anger at Qiao Ya.

"I really don’t know what happened, I even take the keys with me to the restroom..."

As Qiao Ya spoke, she suddenly remembered something.