The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 635 - 634: Slapping Oneself in the Face

Chapter 635: Chapter 634: Slapping Oneself in the Face

"It’s fine, let Guoguo eat it. This cookie is sugar-free."

Hearing Ren Jingshu say this, Pei Ziheng looked down at the ingredients list on the cookie package, saw that it really didn’t contain sugar, and then opened it and handed a piece to Pei Tang.

Pei Tang took a bite and, while chewing, examined the cookie in her hand, "These cookies taste kind of weird."

Upon hearing this, Pei Ziheng broke off a small piece and put it in his mouth.

Seeing this, Zhao Yun also asked Pei Ziheng to break off a piece for him to try.

"Jingshu, why are these cookies so dry and scratchy?"

Ren Jingshu explained, "These are whole wheat cookies. They don’t contain sugar and also have less fat, so eating them won’t make you gain weight. I usually eat them when I’m hungry during dance practice."

Zhao Yun grumbled, "These are way too nasty, almost like pig feed."

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Pei Ziheng and his sister across from him staring at him, and he suddenly realized he had spoken out of turn.

By calling the cookies pig feed, wasn’t he implying Ren Jingshu was a pig?

Luckily, Ren Jingshu was not angry, "I eat them mainly to control my diet and maintain my figure. If they tasted really good and made me want more, would they still be effective for losing weight?"

Upon hearing this, all three couldn’t help showing sympathy for Ren Jingshu.

Dancing is physically demanding, and it’s tough enough to control your diet usually, but to only be able to nibble on the distasteful "pig feed" when hungry was simply tragic.

Bringing the topic back, Pei Tang looked at Zhao Yun, "Brother Hei Xiong, have you eaten pig feed before?"

Zhao Yun was startled, then pretended not to hear and continued nibbling on the small half-piece of cookie in his hand.

"Brother Hei Xiong?"

"Brother Hei Xiong, why are you ignoring me?"

Confronted with Ren Jingshu’s peculiar gaze, Zhao Yun was annoyed and gritted his teeth at Pei Tang, "Didn’t I tell you, don’t call out randomly!"

Pei Tang blinked her big eyes, "You told me not to call you that in front of outsiders, but Sister Ren isn’t an outsider, right? You surely don’t consider Sister Ren an outsider, do you?"

Zhao Yun: could not come up with a rebuttal.

"Brother Hei Xiong, have you eaten pig feed before?"

"Of course not, can humans even eat that stuff?"

"Then how do you know what pig feed tastes like, or if it tastes the same as this cookie?"

Zhao Yun: "..."

Was he expected to confess in front of his girlfriend about the embarrassing time when he was a child, starving at his relative’s house, and sneaked pig feed to eat?

"Ziheng, why aren’t you managing Guoguo? She talks so much."

"I don’t think so."

After counterattacking, he added, "I’m also quite curious, have you ever eaten pig feed?"

Ren Jingshu added softly, "I want to know, too."

Zhao Yun: "..."

Under his girlfriend’s expectant gaze, Zhao Yun clenched his teeth, "Fine, I’ll tell you, but you can’t laugh."

All three nodded in agreement.

"...I have!"

All three burst out laughing simultaneously.

Before revealing this secret, Zhao Yun felt quite uneasy about being ridiculed, but after spilling it out, he felt relieved.

"Laugh all you want, I was poor when I was little, with nothing to eat. If it weren’t for stealing pig feed, I would have starved to death!"

Hearing him say that, the laughter among the three slowly subsided.

Making fun of embarrassing stories is normal, but laughing at others’ suffering is impolite.

Ren Jingshu looked at him, "Let me tell you an embarrassing thing from my childhood."

"What is it?"

"When I was a kid, I used to secretly slap my cheeks every day."

"Why would you hit yourself?"

Under their curious gazes, Ren Jingshu confessed with a blush, "Back then, I heard that slapping your cheeks could slim down your face. I had baby fat, with lots of chubby cheeks, and I wanted a slimmer face."

"And then? Did your face get slimmer?"

Ren Jingshu shook her head, "My face swelled up from the slapping, and my mom thought I was allergic and took me to see a doctor. The doctor realized my cheeks were swollen from being slapped, and thinking I was abused, kindly reported it to the police."

With a self-deprecating laugh, she added, "I’ve felt embarrassed about it ever since."

Having finished speaking, she noticed Zhao Yun and Pei Tang staring at her intently, which made her face feel even hotter.

"Do you think I’m kind of silly?"

Pei Tang shook his head, his eyes shining brightly, "Sister Ren, your smile just now was so beautiful."

Zhao Yun nodded vigorously.

He had been with Ren Jingshu for a month now, but it was the first time he had seen her smile.

Perhaps because of her clean and simple diet, Ren Jingshu did not suffer from acne like other teenage girls—her skin was as porcelain-white and clear as coagulated fat. Paired with her classical features, when she showed her teeth in a smile, she was stunningly beautiful in a way that could be described as "catching one’s breath at a single glance."

Ren Jingshu looked toward the brother and sister opposite her, "We’ve shared our embarrassing stories, now it’s your turn."

Zhao Yun replied immediately, "You’re asking the right person. Let’s start with Guoguo’s. The silly things she’s done from childhood to now could fill days and nights..."

"Don’t you dare!"

"I will! You’ve spilled all my secrets, so I’m going to air yours."

Pei Tang hopped off the table and ran to Zhao Yun, trying to cover his mouth, but being small and short-legged, she could only just barely touch the tip of Zhao Yun’s chin even with a hop and a skip.

As the young and the younger were frolicking, Liu Shan, Xiahou Dun, and the others arrived.

Famished, Pei Tang immediately grabbed a fried chicken leg and began to gnaw on it with gusto as soon as everyone was present.

While eating, she didn’t forget to remind everyone not to throw away the bones; she wanted to take them home for Fugui.

Pets were not allowed in McDonald’s, so today the siblings had left Demu at home.

Zhao Yun picked up a grilled chicken leg, peeled off the skin, and tore the meat off before turning to offer it to Ren Jingshu, who was sitting beside him.

"Jingshu, you eat this..."

Fuck, where did she go?

She had been right beside him just a moment ago, how could she just vanish into thin air?

As Zhao Yun was looking around, something tugged at his pants leg. Glancing down, he saw Ren Jingshu hiding under the table, her fair face flushed with embarrassment.

She was breathtakingly beautiful.

Looking at the beauty under the table, Zhao Yun felt his heart pound, "Jingshu, what’s wrong?"

"My sister has come, she’s over there at the bar..."

Following Ren Jingshu’s words, Zhao Yun looked up and saw three girls around sixteen or seventeen years old standing at the ordering counter.

The girl in the green dress was Ren Jingshu’s stepsister, Ren Yingying; the relationship between the sisters was always strained.

If Ren Yingying saw her, she would certainly complain to Mother Ren.

Mother Ren would be livid if she found out that Ren Jingshu had sneaked out to eat at McDonald’s during her dance practice time.

Zhao Yun ran over to the Pei siblings and whispered a few words to them.

...

"Hey, what’s wrong with you, kid? Can’t you watch where you’re going?"

Facing Pei Tang, who had splashed her with Coke, Ren Yingying was fuming.

"Lalalala, I did it on purpose, see if you dare to hit me!"

After making a face at Ren Yingying, Pei Tang turned around and ran out of the restaurant.

Rage almost bursting through her chest, Ren Yingying chased after her, with the two girls who came with her following closely behind.

While Ren Yingying and her party were distracted by Pei Chang, Zhao Yun pulled Ren Jingshu from under the table and slipped out through another door.

They ran down two streets before Zhao Yun stopped, looked back and reassured Ren Jingshu, "It’s okay now, all clear!"

"Let go of me first."

Hearing Ren Jingshu’s words, Zhao Yun realized that he had been holding onto her hand, or more precisely, he had been tightly gripping her wrist.

He quickly let go, his heart racing like a gopher’s frantic squeal.

He had finally held her hand!

Seeing Ren Jingshu rub the spot he had held, his face showed his nervousness, "Did I hurt you? Let me see."

Ren Jingshu didn’t respond, "You should go back. I’m worried about Guoguo; she won’t know how to handle it, and Yingying won’t let things slide."

After speaking, she added reproachfully, "What kind of ridiculous idea was that? You could have just lured them to the restroom."

"I did it on purpose. Since she’s always against you at home and I can’t do anything to her directly, aggravating her like this is the least I can do, right?"

Ren Jingshu was stunned.

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