The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 625 - 624: Suspension

Chapter 625: Chapter 624: Suspension

"Here, take this!"

Zhao Yun stuffed the shirt he had taken off into her arms, "Use it to wipe your tears."

Ren Jingshu was startled and then threw the shirt back at him, "I don’t need it!"

"I have a towel."

Zhao Yun caught the shirt without putting it back on and sat next to Ren Jingshu, still holding it, "Towels are for sweat, my shirt is for your tears."

Ren Jingshu glanced at him, quickly turned her face away, and her ears reddened as she said, "Put your shirt on."

Seeing her shy, Zhao Yun felt overjoyed and raised his arm to show off his biceps.

"Check this out."

"I won’t look!"

Ren Jingshu sounded a bit annoyed, but her cheeks were flushed, a stark contrast to her usual cool and aloof demeanor.

Zhao Yun didn’t dare to truly annoy her and honestly put his shirt back on, but explained, "I’m not being a hooligan; I’m trying to tell you that I’ve got muscles all over, and I’m very strong. From now on, if anyone dares to touch a hair on your head, no matter who it is, I won’t be polite."

Ren Jingshu turned her head, looking at him with interest, "Who taught you all this?"

Naturally, Zhao Yun wouldn’t say it was Pei Ziheng who taught him, "These are my true feelings. Do you want me to cut open my heart and show you?"

"Sure, go ahead and cut, I’ll watch."

Zhao Yun: "..."

How come she’s not following the script?

Ren Jingshu was amused by his dejected look, "You really are a simpleton."

"You’re laughing, not angry anymore, right?"

Indeed, Ren Jingshu was feeling much better.

"Didn’t I tell you to not come looking for me?"

Her tone didn’t carry anger or annoyance, but rather a hint of coquettish reproach.

Zhao Yun replied, "Who takes things said in the heat of the moment seriously? That would be a pig-brain."

Ren Jingshu glanced at him and snorted lightly, "I think you’re pretty similar to a pig."

"Guoguo even says I’m a dog."

The dog of a bootlicker.

Ren Jingshu looked at him and suddenly smiled, "Zhao Yun, thank you."

"She actually said thank you to me, her first thank you to me! And she’s looking at me with such tender eyes for the first time, she must be deeply in love with me!"

In the face of Zhao Yun’s madness, Pei Ziheng acted as though he saw nothing. Pei Tang shook his head helplessly.

The King of Hell beckoned; there was no saving him!

...

Monday came around again in the blink of an eye.

While a morning meeting was in session, a ringing suddenly filled the conference room, causing everyone to exchange bewildered looks.

"Who is it?"

"Who dared to bring a pager into the meeting."

"It doesn’t sound like a pager..."

Amidst everyone’s astonished gazes, Shen Hongmei frantically pulled out her cell phone and cut the call.

"Sorry..."

Before she could finish her apology, the silenced cell phone rang again.

"If it’s urgent, go ahead and take the call outside."

Shen Mingzhu spoke, and Shen Hongmei, as if pardoned, quickly picked up the phone and hurried out of the conference room.

"The meeting will continue."

Outside the conference room, Shen Hongmei answered the call and lost her temper at the broker, "I’m in a meeting..."

"Mrs. Zhao, your stocks didn’t sell."

Shen Hongmei was stunned, "What do you mean? Didn’t I tell you yesterday to liquidate them at market open today, regardless of the price?"

"Yes, but this morning Fang Zheng released an announcement about a change in stock ownership; they’ve suspended trading on their shares."

Shen Hongmei felt a sinking feeling, "When will they resume?"

"It’s hard to say, could be three to five days, or ten days to half a month. They have to wait for approval from the Securities Regulatory Commission before they can resume trading."

"Hongmei."

As she was feeling anxious and frustrated, a familiar voice called out from behind her.

Shen Hongmei turned around, only then realizing the morning meeting had ended.

The managers began to leave the meeting room one after another, and as they passed her, they glanced at her, intentionally or unintentionally, because her complexion was indeed dreadful.

But she couldn’t care about that now, her mind was full of the suspension of Fang Zheng’s stock, filled with indescribable regret.

"President Shen, I would like to ask for some time off."

"What happened?"

"I have some personal matters to take care of."

Seeing that she was reluctant to elaborate, Shen Mingzhu didn’t press her and nodded in agreement.

Shen Hongmei grabbed her bag, and drove straight to the securities firm.

Although staying at the securities firm was useless, she had no other options and also had no mind for work.

Right now, she was solely focused on getting rid of the stocks in her possession.

This was more than a million yuan, an amount she couldn’t earn in a lifetime of working; she just hoped nothing would go wrong.

After this incident, she wouldn’t touch stocks again; Mingzhu was right, the stock market wasn’t for ordinary people like her.

Shen Hongmei’s thoughts were in disarray as she hoped for Fang Zheng to resume trading soon.

...

In the afternoon.

Seeing that Shen Hongmei hadn’t returned to the company, Shen Mingzhu, feeling uneasy, called her mobile phone.

No sooner had the call connected than a noise louder than the bustle of a vegetable market nearly burst her eardrums, and Shen Mingzhu hurriedly moved the receiver farther from her ear.

"Hello, Hongmei, where are you?"

"I, I’m at the securities firm."

Shen Mingzhu had already recognized that the hustle and bustle was all about intense discussions of stock codes.

"When will you be back at the factory?"

"President Shen, I’ve still got some things to deal with here..."

Shen Mingzhu interrupted her, "Is the private matter you mentioned stock trading?"

"I don’t have a choice, I really don’t know what to do now."

After understanding the whole story, Shen Mingzhu suggested that she should be honest with Zhao Dafa.

Such a big issue couldn’t be hidden forever.

Moreover, between husband and wife, one shouldn’t conceal major financial problems.

Already anxious and upset, Shen Hongmei didn’t appreciate Shen Mingzhu’s advice and instead lost her temper—

"Do you think I don’t want to say it? You know how hard it was for me and Brother Zhao to come together; do you really want us to argue over this?"

Shen Mingzhu was silent for a couple of seconds before speaking in a calm voice, "It’s up to you whether to tell him or not. I’ll give you a week’s leave so you can cool down and sort out your personal affairs. As for the work during your leave, I will have Wen Xiaoqin fill in temporarily."

After saying that, Shen Mingzhu hung up the phone.

Listening to the busy tone from the phone, Shen Hongmei’s face changed from cloudy to sunny continuously.

...

"Everyone, stop what you’re doing and listen up, I have two announcements to make."

In the administrative office, at Wen Xiaoqin’s words, everyone raised their heads.

"First, Manager Shen broke the rules this morning by bringing a mobile phone to the meeting, so according to company regulations, five performance points will be deducted, and a fine of ten yuan imposed as a warning to others."

As the words settled, the office suddenly buzzed with discussion.

It wasn’t unusual for Shen Hongmei to be fined; she wasn’t the only manager fined for forgetting to turn off a pager during a meeting. What everyone was curious about was why Wen Xiaoqin, a subordinate, was the one relaying the message when Shen Hongmei, the department’s top leader, was the one being fined.

Wasn’t this too much of a slight to Shen Hongmei?

Soon, everyone understood the reason.

"Second, Manager Shen needs to take a week’s leave of absence for some personal matters. During this time, I will take over her duties temporarily."

As soon as this statement was made, the entire office erupted.

"Didn’t she seem fine this morning? Manager Shen even told me to get the new employee’s probation report ready for her by tomorrow; how come she suddenly took extended leave?"

"Sss, could it be that she’s pregnant? Her face didn’t look too good when she left."

"Hard to say, it might also be that she lost money in stocks; I heard the stock market has been bad lately, a lot of people have lost money."

There were various speculations, but everyone in the administrative office unanimously agreed that Wen Xiaoqin was surely getting promoted!

This news spread through the factory like a gust of wind.

"Some people just can’t seem to get it right. When President Shen was looking for an assistant back then, everyone thought Wen Xiaoqin was the obvious choice, but then someone else swooped in. Now, after three years, that someone is still just an assistant, while Wen Xiaoqin is about to be promoted to manager!"

Inside the women’s restroom, two female employees whispered about Wen Xiaoqin’s promotion.

And one of the individuals being discussed—Huang Ju—was in the innermost stall, silently listening on.