The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 652 - 651: Divorce

Chapter 652: Chapter 651: Divorce

As Qiao Ya finished speaking, Zhou Shuhuan took over the conversation and said to Pei Yang, "Yang, it’s been a long time since I went to Ao City, just in time to take this opportunity to go there and have fun with you guys."

With that said, Pei Yang found it difficult to refuse and could only agree with a smile.

After finding a simple restaurant to eat, Zhou Shuhuan drove both of them back to the hotel to rest, and meanwhile, he told them that he had arranged a dinner for the evening. Once they had rested, he would come to pick them up for dinner and meet a few friends.

Pei Yang didn’t refuse the dinner invitation but declined Zhou Shuhuan’s offer of transportation. He directly asked for the restaurant address; he and Shen Mingzhu would take a cab there in the evening.

Once at the hotel, after washing up and changing into a clean nightgown, enjoying the cool air conditioning, Shen Mingzhu finally felt revitalized.

She somewhat wanted to call the kids. Even though she had called them after getting off the plane, she still missed them and wanted to hear their voices.

She glanced at the time, 1:30 PM. The kids were probably napping. She decided to wait until they woke up to call.

Shen Mingzhu got up, drew the blackout curtains, turned off the lights, leaving only one bedside lamp on, then lay back in bed, covering herself with a thin blanket to take a nap.

Before long, Pei Yang emerged from the bathroom after his shower, climbed into bed, and scooped her up into his arms with the blanket.

"Sleeping?"

"Mhm, tired."

Hearing her say she was tired, Pei Yang didn’t make any more noise and instead adjusted his hold on her, then snuggled up to her head and blissfully closed his eyes.

Having the chance to go out and have fun with his wife alone, even sleeping felt wonderful.

...

Shen Mingzhu was woken by some talking. She opened her eyes to find the bed beside her empty, with the bathroom door closed and voices faintly coming through, suggesting someone was on the phone.

She turned over, planning to sleep some more when the bathroom door opened right then.

"Awake?"

Pei Yang leaned over her, carrying some weight but not feeling heavy, obviously not putting all of his weight on her.

"What time is it?"

Shen Mingzhu asked with her eyes closed, her voice heavy with drowsiness, somewhat coquettish.

Pei Yang felt a delightful itch in his heart, unable to resist giving her cheek a kiss.

"Almost five o’clock, let’s get up. Shuhuan called, said everything’s arranged, and told us to come over early."

Shen Mingzhu opened her eyes and looked askew at the man, "What splendid activities have you arranged that you’re so eager to attend?"

"I didn’t, you’re wronging me!"

With that, he playfully bit her face as punishment.

Shen Mingzhu, covering the bitten spot, complained, "Are you a dog or something?"

"Yep, woof, woof woof~"

Shen Mingzhu, amused by the man’s thick-skinned antics, lost the urge to sleep but still felt too lazy to get up, "You go ahead, I don’t want to."

"Shuhuan specifically set up a banquet for both of us; how can I go alone?"

As he spoke, he picked up her hand and kissed it, "Come on, wife, just to give me face. If you don’t like Qiao Ya, just ignore her."

Although Shen Mingzhu hadn’t said it, Pei Yang could sense her dislike for Qiao Ya, guessing that her reluctance to attend the banquet was because of Qiao Ya.

Although Zhou Shuhuan hadn’t explicitly said anything, both noticed that Qiao Ya’s relationship with Zhou Shuhuan was abnormal.

As a woman with regular principles, Shen Mingzhu indeed had no fondness for Qiao Ya’s identity and didn’t want to have too much interaction with such a person.

"Let me ask you something, do you and He Tao all secretly admire Zhou Shuhuan? You know, with the flag at home flying high and colorful banners waving outside?"

Facing Shen Mingzhu’s interrogation, Pei Yang vehemently denied it, "Nonsense! What’s there for me to envy about him? They should envy me for having such a wonderful wife like you!"

Shen Mingzhu sneered, "So, you’ve known about this all along? Pretty tight-lipped, huh? Kept it watertight."

Pei Yang admitted honestly, "I didn’t know. We only had our suspicions. Shuhuan mentioned last year that he wanted a divorce, but Shen Baolan disagreed. He didn’t return to Fengcheng either, so the couple has just been dragging it out like this."

Shen Baolan, of course, would not agree to a divorce.

Initially, when Shen Baolan schemed to replace the original wife by pushing her into the water, securing Zhou Shuhuan—the potential stock—was precisely to gain wealth and status.

After enduring for so many years, she finally saw Zhou Shuhuan become successful. How could she willingly make room for another woman?

...

By the time the two of them arrived at the place for dinner, the evening lights were already lit.

Besides Zhou Shuhuan and Qiao Ya, there were a dozen other men and women accompanying them, seated at two tables.

The men sat at one table, the women at another.

Compared to the men, there were fewer women. Together with Qiao Ya and Shen Mingzhu, there were six in total, and they opened a bottle of red wine.

Qiao Ya was very adept at socializing, continuously throwing out topics to liven up the atmosphere, while also ensuring she didn’t neglect her guests by dominating the conversation.

Fairly speaking, in terms of social interaction, Qiao Ya was several levels above Shen Baolan.

If it were Shen Baolan, she would probably just ask where you bought your dress, what her man does for a living, how much he makes in a month, or she would drag you into chatting about some neighborhood gossips.

It’s not that one shouldn’t gossip; after all, gossiping is in a woman’s nature, but it has to be the right occasion and with the right people.

Throughout the meal, people kept offering toasts to Shen Mingzhu, but she declined them all under the pretext of preparing for pregnancy.

When the meal was nearly over, Shen Mingzhu went to use the restroom, and Qiao Ya insisted on accompanying her, saying she didn’t want to neglect her.

"Sister-in-law, here, wipe your hands."

"Thank you."

As Qiao Ya wiped her hands, she sized up Shen Mingzhu in the mirror.

Today, Shen Mingzhu was dressed more casually than usual, in a loose white T-shirt and denim shorts, wearing black sandals—a typical southern attire. Yet, her fair, snow-white skin drew particular attention, especially her a pair of long, slender legs, which could turn heads on the street.

"Sister-in-law, you take such good care of yourself, you don’t look like you’ve had a child at all."

Shen Mingzhu smiled at her, "I’m getting old, can’t compare with you young girls."

"Not at all. If you and I stood together and said you were my younger sister, people would believe it."

Shen Mingzhu looked at the other’s youthful face and couldn’t help asking, "Do you know about Zhou Ge’s family situation?"

Qiao Ya smiled knowingly, "You mean Sister Lan, right? I know, we’ve met."

Shen Mingzhu had initially wondered if Zhou Shuhuan had deceived Qiao Ya about his marital status, which prompted her tentative questioning. Unexpectedly, Qiao Ya knew exactly what she was getting into.

"Zhou Ge suggested divorce to Sister Lan a long time ago, but she has been refusing. However, it won’t be long. Within this year, Zhou Ge will resolve this matter."

"Sister-in-law, I know how you all see me, thinking I’m an immoral woman. Honestly, I don’t care about those opinions. To me, the process isn’t important; what matters is the result."

"Zhou Ge will stay in Fucheng, marry me, and we’ll build our own family. He already has two sons, and I’ll just give him a daughter."

To this, Shen Mingzhu only wanted to say one thing: I don’t understand but I respect it.

After the meal, Pei Yang was taken to a bar by Zhou Shuhuan, while Shen Mingzhu declined Qiao Ya’s suggestion to go for karaoke, making the excuse that she needed to take care of her health, and returned to the hotel first.