The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 619 - 618: Lies

Chapter 619: Chapter 618: Lies

"Hello?"

"It’s me."

Recognizing the voice of Pei Wenping on the other end of the line, Chen Yi instantly became much more awake, his tone filled with concern and tension, "Wenping? What’s happened?"

Since their divorce, Pei Wenping had called him on fewer occasions than he could count on one hand, let alone in the dead of night.

It couldn’t just be because she couldn’t sleep and wanted to chat, although he wished it were so.

Pei Wenping didn’t want to call her ex-husband in the middle of the night either, but her straightforward nature meant she couldn’t keep things to herself. Without making this call, she wouldn’t be able to sleep at all.

"Have you been trading stocks recently?"

A phone call in the middle of the night just to ask this?

Chen Yi’s mind was a bit foggy, but he quickly replied, "Yes, I have. What about it?"

"Stop trading stocks!"

It was such a blunt statement that Chen Yi was startled for a couple of seconds before he could respond, "You’ll have to give me a reason, won’t you? What’s really going on?"

Pei Wenping told him about how Shen Mingzhu had lost over two million in the stock market.

"...Mingzhu is right, trading stocks isn’t much different from gambling. It’s fine to play with a small amount of money, but you absolutely can’t risk everything you have, and you shouldn’t borrow money to play the market."

"If you really must trade, first sever ties with Xiaolu and Xiaochao. Whether you live or die in the future, it won’t be their concern!"

Chen Yi, rubbing his forehead, chuckled bitterly, "Do you really need to use the kids as leverage against me?"

"Of course, it’s necessary. If you end up in debt, wouldn’t they suffer with you for the rest of their lives? If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t bother about your business," Pei Wenping snorted coldly.

"Alright, I’ll listen to you. I’ll stop trading."

"If you dare to lie to me, I..."

"I’m not lying. I won’t now, and I won’t in the future either."

Pei Wenping, who had meant to issue a harsh threat, found herself at a loss for words upon hearing his response and quickly hung up the phone.

Listening to the busy tone on the phone, Chen Yi smiled helplessly.

All these years, her temper hadn’t changed at all, yet how he still liked her for it.

...

The next morning, as soon as Shen Mingzhu woke up, she was startled by a huge face looming right in front of her, which jolted her out of her drowsiness.

"What are you freaking out about so early in the morning?"

She irritably pushed away Pei Yang’s face, cursing as she spoke.

Pei Yang was uncharacteristically serious, "I know everything. Why didn’t you tell me about something so big?"

Shen Mingzhu, completely bewildered, responded, "What do you know?"

"Don’t play dumb with me!"

Pei Yang cupped her face, squeezing and reshaping it with force, "Do I really need to extract the truth under torture before you’re willing to come clean?"

Shen Mingzhu tried to pull his hands away, and when she couldn’t, she began to get really angry.

"Let go of me! What have I done!?"

Seeing her get angry, Pei Yang quickly withdrew his hands, but his voice was still filled with discontent as he muttered, "Keeping such a huge secret from me, and now you’re mad."

Shen Mingzhu gave him an unapologetic roll of her eyes, "Either speak properly or get lost!"

"Did you lose money trading stocks?"

Shen Mingzhu was momentarily taken aback.

Seeing her silence, Pei Yang misinterpreted it as guilt and tried to comfort her, "So what if you’ve lost money? The sky isn’t falling. Why did you feel you had to hide it from me?"

Shen Mingzhu yawned and sat up from the bed, asking, "Who told you?"

"Chen Yi. He called me first thing in the morning."

He also shared how Pei Wenping had ordered Chen Yi not to trade stocks anymore.

"Are you saying it’s okay for the government officials to set fires but not for the common people to light lamps? You forbid me from trading, yet you do it secretly yourself."

Since the stock market became hot last year, Pei Yang had been tempted to start trading, but Shen Mingzhu adamantly opposed it, and he had given up the idea.

"I haven’t traded any stocks, and I haven’t lost any money. I lied to them."

Learning that Shen Mingzhu had fabricated the story of losing money to prevent Pei Wenping and the others from recklessly jumping into the stock market after Shen Hongmei and becoming victims, Pei Yang was relieved. Yet again, he realized something.

His wife really, really hated stock trading.

In fact, Shen Mingzhu didn’t hate stock trading. She knew that the vast majority of stock investors ended up as prey to be harvested. She believed she couldn’t outplay the capital, so she stayed out of it.

As for trading futures, it was because the money wasn’t hers, and she could afford to lose it.

In fact, she had also reduced her futures purchases and was investing more in industry, gold, and real estate.

In short, she would never put all her eggs in one basket.

...

After finishing her work, Shen Hongmei picked up her mobile phone and found a secluded spot to call her stockbroker, intending to have the shares in her account sold.

As soon as the call connected, she was greeted with the broker’s excited voice, "Mrs. Zhao, I have great news for you! Fang Zheng opened today with a 1% increase, and it’s still climbing. By the close of trading, it’s expected to rise by at least 2%."

The thought of selling her shares was abruptly extinguished in Shen Hongmei’s mind.

Just overnight, her account had grown by nearly twenty thousand. If the broker’s prediction held true, she could make nearly forty thousand in a single day—more than her total income from years of working.

Maybe she should wait a bit longer, sell when the earnings reached a hundred thousand.

...

"Mr. Chen, are you sure you don’t want to reconsider? The stocks, Shen Hua and Fang Zheng, are soaring today. Even if you sell tomorrow, you could earn an extra few hundred thousand!"

Over the phone, the broker was bewildered by Chen Yi’s decision to sell his shares.

The investors at the brokerage were frantically snapping up Shen Hua and Fang Zheng stocks; the more they bought, the more they earned, yet he insisted on selling.

He could make an extra hundred thousand in just one day.

Chen Yi was somewhat torn, but then he remembered his promise to Pei Wenping the night before.

There would be other chances to make money, but her rare concerns for him were precious, and he didn’t want to let her down again.

"Sell them, sell now. Have the money transferred directly to my account after the trade is complete."

"Alright."

...

The finance office.

"Ding-a-ling-a-ling..."

Pei Wenping was checking last week’s marketing data when she heard the phone ring and picked up without thinking, "Who’s this?"

"It’s me, Wenping."

Recognizing Chen Yi’s voice, Pei Wenping then divided her attention, "What’s up?"

"I’ve sold all the stocks."

"Oh."

"Do you want to come over and check?"

"I’ll be there the day after tomorrow."

"Really?"

Chen Yi was both surprised and delighted; his comment about checking was just a joke, but Pei Wenping was actually coming.

"What time on the day after tomorrow? Have you bought your ticket? Tell me how long you’ll stay so I can book a hotel."

"I’ve got it, it’s the 9 PM flight the day after tomorrow, and I’ll return on Sunday."

"Okay, call me before you board, and I’ll come to the airport with the kids to pick you up."

"Mmhmm."

After hanging up, her office mate Pei Qiuxia teased, "Tsk tsk, rich people really do live differently, jetting off to Shanghai City for the weekend."

Pei Wenping shot her a look, "Xiaolu and Xiaochao have their birthdays coming up next week. I’m just heading over early to celebrate with them."

Pei Qiuxia meekly replied, "Oh, right, I almost forgot. Xiaolu and Xiaochao’s birthdays are coming up."

"Prepare their birthday gifts early so I can take them with me."

"Why did I even say anything...?"

Feigning distress, Pei Qiuxia playfully slapped her own mouth, eliciting continuous laughter from everyone in the office.

...

Two days later, Friday.

After work, Chen Yi drove to the school to pick up the twins, planning to go to the airport to meet Pei Wenping’s flight.

Midway there, he encountered a florist and stopped to buy flowers, coincidentally running into the stockbroker who was also buying flowers for his girlfriend.

"Aye, Mr. Chen, you really sold at a loss! Your two stocks have risen quite a bit these past two days. If you had listened to me and not sold, you could have made at least an extra thirty!"

Compared to the broker’s regrets, Chen Yi, the man directly involved, was quite serene.

There was a time when he was nervously tied to the stock market’s fluctuations, unable to even eat or sleep properly.

It was only when he had sold all his shares, and saw that string of numbers in his bank account, enough to keep his family comfortable, that he suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of peace and calm.

It was as if he had returned to reality from an illusion, feeling a grounded sense of security.