The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 637 - 636: Shen Hongmei’s Regret

Chapter 637: Chapter 636: Shen Hongmei’s Regret

"Mr. Zhao, I’ve dug up some news..."

Ren Yan faltered, and Zhao Dafa spoke calmly, "Go ahead, what’s the matter?"

"It’s about your wife. She has been asking all over for loans these past few days."

Zhao Dafa was puzzled, "Why does she need to borrow money?"

"It’s not clear, but she has asked quite a few people for loans, and now there are rumors outside that Dafa’s funds are tight, which is why suppliers are frantically coming to settle accounts."

Although the real estate industry has been booming in recent years, there is no shortage of bad bosses who have gone bankrupt and fled due to mismanagement, and the suppliers are also forced to be on edge, fearing they might become the next casualty.

Seeing Zhao Dafa silent, Ren Yan couldn’t help but say, "Could the delay in signing with Longchang Real Estate have something to do with the wife’s borrowing?"

"I will handle this matter. You’ve had a long day, so go back and rest early."

Hearing Zhao Dafa say this, Ren Yan said no more and left.

After Ren Yan had gone, Zhao Dafa did not immediately return home.

Since the matter was related to Shen Hongmei, it was not appropriate for Ren Yan to discuss it in front of her, so he had asked Zhao Dafa to step outside.

"Secretary Ren has left; why aren’t you going inside?"

Seeing Shen Hongmei coming out from the house, Zhao Dafa casually put out his cigarette, "I was just about to enter."

Shen Hongmei looked at him with a caring gaze, "Are you preoccupied with something? Why not talk to me about it?"

Zhao Dafa gazed at her for a moment and nodded, "Let’s take a walk then, and talk."

"Sure."

Shen Hongmei turned around, gently closing the gate, and then affectionately took his arm, ready to listen.

"Hongmei."

"Hmm?"

"Why didn’t you tell me if you needed money?"

Shen Hongmei was momentarily stunned, and the next second, she guessed that her borrowing might have come to Zhao Dafa’s knowledge.

However, at this moment, she still did not realize the severity of the situation, "Dafa, I don’t want to rely on you for everything; I want to resolve things on my own."

"But you are my wife now, and your every action is closely related to me."

Zhao Dafa’s tone remained relatively calm, even though Shen Hongmei’s actions had caused significant repercussions for him and his company.

Whether as a man or as a husband, he was rational enough and responsible.

Shen Hongmei, though foolish, had an inkling of something, "Dafa, what’s happened?"

Zhao Dafa briefly explained the company’s situation.

Learning that her borrowing had caused such trouble, Shen Hongmei was so anxious she was close to tears.

"I’m sorry, Dafa, I had no idea it would come to this; what should we do now? Should I go explain to them that the borrowing was my personal action, and you knew nothing about it..."

Zhao Dafa interrupted her comfortingly, "Hongmei, I’m not blaming you. Let’s consider this a lesson. From now on, you must discuss everything with me first, understand?"

Shen Hongmei nodded vigorously, filled with regret and self-reproach.

If only she had known, she wouldn’t have been so stubborn!

The next day, Zhao Dafa gave Shen Hongmei three hundred thousand, telling her to pay off all the debts she owed and also to settle the overdue rent with the landlord.

Shen Hongmei went to great lengths to explain to every lender that the money was borrowed without Zhao Dafa’s knowledge, that the company was running well, and Zhao Dafa was not short of money, and so on.

People said nothing, but were still skeptical in their hearts.

If she really had money, why would she need to borrow from outsiders?

Therefore, even though Shen Hongmei paid back all the borrowed money, suppliers kept coming to settle accounts, and Zhao Dafa could not refuse to pay.

If everyone else has settled and you haven’t, does it mean your company’s accounts are empty?

Once such rumors spread, competitors would inevitably take the opportunity to press down, and the consequences were unimaginable.

Yet this was not the biggest trouble for Dafa Construction.

After delaying the signing of the project with Dafa Construction, Longchang Real Estate swiftly chose another contractor that was more capable and larger in scale and signed a contract with them at lightning speed.

These two events combined undoubtedly dealt a heavy blow to Dafa Construction’s vitality.

You must know that Longchang is an important client of Dafa Construction, and nearly half of the company’s profits over the past two years have come from cooperation with Longchang.

If it weren’t for Zhao Dafa having made a fortune in the stock market earlier, it would be hard to say whether he could survive this time.

Even faced with such a significant crisis, Zhao Dafa still did not utter a single word of blame towards Shen Hongmei.

Because he knew very well that blame would not solve any problems.

Instead, the more critical the situation, the more important it was to remain clear-headed and calm, to absolutely not throw oneself into disarray.

But Hongmei did not have Zhao Dafa’s courage and steadiness; she was filled with such regret that she turned blue and, for the first time, doubted her own entrepreneurial endeavors.

If she hadn’t started her own business, she wouldn’t have borrowed money from others, let alone drag Zhao Dafa into the loss of Longchang as a major client.

You must know that in the past two years, Longchang had brought profits to Dafa Construction amounting to no less than ten million, and the future was even more incalculable.

But all of this was ruined by her.

Even though Zhao Dafa did not scold her, she regretted it to the point where she could not forgive herself.

...

"Zhao Family has been having a hard time lately."

"Is that so?"

Seeing the indifferent expression on Zhong Qing’s face, Mrs. Liu had an idea and continued, "In the business world, everyone is shrewd. Seeing Longchang cutting off cooperation with Dafa Construction, they all quickly drew back, reluctant to continue any cooperation with Dafa Construction."

Simply put, Longchang is the big boss, the deeply-rooted big capital; whoever they choose will stand out.

Conversely, whoever they abandon will be eliminated by the market.

And the reason Longchang, two years ago, chose the then unknown Dafa was precisely because Zhong Qing had pushed for it and given the directive in the background.

Two years ago, she had learned about Shen Hongmei’s experiences from Shen Mingzhu and, out of empathy for the misfortune of another woman, coupled with her appreciation for Zhao Dafa’s character, she secretly lent a hand to Dafa Construction.

Now, all she had done was to take back the assistance she once offered.

As she had said, without Shen Mingzhu, Shen Hongmei’s luck was bound to run out.

...

The clock pointed to eleven.

Shen Hongmei finally waited for Zhao Dafa to return home from his social engagements. She greeted him with concern, "Brother Zhao, you’re back. I left some soup for you in the pot, let me warm it up for you. Come down after your bath to drink it."

"Don’t bother, I’m a bit tired today, I want to sleep."

Watching Zhao Dafa’s figure slowly ascend the stairs, Shen Hongmei couldn’t help but feel desolate.

Since their marriage, this was the first time Zhao Dafa had shown signs of weariness and indifference in front of her.

Her heart felt extremely uncomfortable, yet she couldn’t foster any blame or complaint, because she knew it was all brought upon by herself.

That Zhao Dafa didn’t lose his temper with her was already merciful enough.

The next day, after Zhao Dafa left for work, Shen Hongmei also dressed down and went out.

She had arranged to meet a few friends at a temple to burn incense.

With everything going wrong in the past month, and without the ability to solve the troubles, she could only pray to the gods and seek divine intervention to dispel the bad luck and misfortune.

On the way there, a friend asked Shen Hongmei if she was still in contact with Shen Mingzhu.

After receiving Shen Hongmei’s negative response, the friend hesitantly told her—

"Last night, your husband Dafa was having dinner with Shen Mingzhu alone at the Ginkgo Building. My cousin-in-law is the floor manager there and personally showed them to their table."

Last night?

Thinking of Zhao Dafa’s coldness towards her the previous night, waves of turmoil rose in Shen Hongmei’s heart.