The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 757 - 756 Buying a House

Chapter 757: Chapter 756 Buying a House

Although Pei Ziheng didn’t say a word, not even calling out "Dad," in Pei Yang’s eyes, his son was admitting his fault.

He grabbed a fruit beer and plopped down next to his son.

After pulling the tab of the fruit beer, he offered it forward, "Drink together?"

Pei Ziheng rolled his eyes, "You want an underage kid to drink?"

"You’re about to go to college, not a little kid anymore. Besides, what kind of alcohol is this? It’s basically a beer-flavored beverage, right, honey?"

Before Shen Mingzhu could speak, Pei Tang was already eager, "Daddy, I want to try the beer-flavored drink."

Pei Yang’s smile vanished, "You can’t drink."

"Why?"

"You’re still young."

"I’m not young, I’m starting second grade soon!"

Amused by his daughter’s innocence, Pei Yang laughed, "When you finish your college entrance exams, daddy will buy you a whole case to savor slowly."

Pei Tang pouted a little, "Alright."

"Let’s eat. It won’t taste good when it gets cold."

Shen Mingzhu urged, while passing slices of pizza to the father and sons.

Pei Yang took a bite of the pizza. The crust was crisp, the cheese rich and creamy, complemented by the hearty bacon and beef. It was way better than the pizzas back home.

Remembering the origin of the pizza, Pei Yang turned to his son, "How did you manage to get the owner to let you eat for free?"

"What do you mean, eat for free?"

Both mother and daughter looked at him curiously.

"Dad didn’t give me money for the pizza."

Pei Yang hadn’t anticipated his casual question would dig him a big hole, he quickly explained, "I was just joking."

After speaking, he quickly tried to recover from his slip, praising Pei Ziheng, "But seriously, our son is amazing. He got so much food without spending a penny."

"Son, how did you manage that?"

With the whole family’s curiosity piqued, Pei Ziheng shared his method, "I designed daily specials for the pizzas, from Monday to Sunday, introducing a half-price pizza each day. It was meant to attract customers and also promote other flavors in exchange for free pizzas from the owner."

"Brother, you’re awesome!"

"Son, that’s great!"

Even Pei Yang couldn’t help but feel comforted and proud of his son’s cleverness.

The cheeky kid really had some skills.

After eating their fill, Shen Mingzhu announced the house buying plan to the family and earnestly sought everyone’s opinions.

Pei Tang wanted a big house.

Pei Ziheng still insisted on a detached house.

Pei Yang said, "I’ll go with my wife’s choice, whatever she likes, I like."

Two days later, led by a real estate agent, the family of four arrived at a wealthy area located five miles northwest of Cambridge University.

The area had good security and an excellent location.

The house had three stories, excluding the storage room and garage, with about 200 square meters of living space, a beautiful lawn at the front, and a small garden at the back.

Everyone loved the size, style, and decor of the house, but Pei Ziheng was only dissatisfied that it was a semi-detached house, sharing the lawn, backyard, and garage with the neighboring house.

Pei Ziheng still preferred a detached house and didn’t want to share his home with strangers, even if he had lived in London for only a short time.

Shen Mingzhu said with a grand gesture, "That’s easy, just buy both houses."

The remark left the family of three quite surprised.

"Mom, you want to buy two big houses?"

"Honey, calm down."

The property prices at this location are exorbitantly high; buying one house is a struggle, let alone two—they’d likely end up bankrupt.

"Mom, I support you."

No one was happier than Pei Ziheng. He had plenty of money and loved spending it on his mother.

Even the mint green platinum bag that Pei Yang gave to Shen Mingzhu was something he had gone out of his way to order from abroad. He just lacked a proper reason and opportunity to give it to Shen Mingzhu.

Pei Yang thought he had appeased his wife with money, but little did he know he was being used by his own son and had been made a fool.

By then, Shen Mingzhu no longer kept secrets and revealed the real purpose of buying the house to the whole family.

Zhuang Xueqi planned to arrange for Mother Zhuang and Zhuang Xu to live in London. She was buying a property partly to arrange a suitable residence for the mother and son and partly as an investment.

Through asset exchange, the two townhouses were transferred to Shen Mingzhu’s name three days later.

Everything was done secretly.

Externally, Shen Mingzhu consistently claimed that the villas were rented for a friend to avoid unnecessary trouble.

It should be known that abroad, wealthy Chinese are the easiest targets for criminals.

Pei Yang’s vacation was limited. The day after housewarming, he returned to China alone, while Pei Ziheng and Pei Tang stayed in London for the summer holidays.

Five days after Pei Yang left, the empty villa next door finally welcomed its new owners—the Zhuang family mother and son.

Once the Zhuang family mother and son had settled in, Shen Mingzhu brought her siblings, along with the pizza and apple pie she had made herself, to visit.

Perhaps due to recent family changes, Zhuang Xu did not appear.

Mother Zhuang was polite to the family of three, but her eyes were shrouded in deep fatigue and gloom.

"Madam, what should we do with these pizzas and apple pies?"

After Shen Mingzhu left, the butler Lou Hua quietly asked Mother Zhuang, pointing to the food on the coffee table.

Lou Hua had come over from China with the Zhuang family mother and son; he was personally picked by Zhuang Xueqi, professional and reliable.

"I have no appetite. Take some to Xiao Xu to see if he’ll eat, and give the rest away."

"Alright."

Lou Hua carried the pizza and apple pie to the kitchen, cut small pieces of each onto a tray, and prepared a cup of grease-cutting lemon juice to take upstairs.

"Young master, this pizza and apple pie were sent by Mrs. Pei next door. Please have a taste."

Seeing Zhuang Xu lying on the bed motionless, Lou Hua sighed.

It had been two days like this, just lying there without eating or drinking; if this continued, his health would surely suffer.

"Maybe it’s better to call the lady. If it doesn’t work, we’ll have to take him to the hospital."

After reporting Zhuang Xu’s condition, Lou Hua went back to the kitchen to handle the remaining pizza and apple pie.

Mother Zhuang, worried about her son, went upstairs.

She knocked on the door and, upon seeing the scene in the room, almost thought she was seeing things.

"Xiao Xu?"

She approached her son, both shocked and delighted, and sat down cautiously, fearing that everything before her eyes would vanish like a mirage.

After finishing the apple pie, Zhuang Xu grabbed a piece of pizza and silently started eating, even choking from eating too hastily, his face turning red.

"Is there any more?"

Mother Zhuang was startled by her son’s question, "What?"

Zhuang Xu looked at her expressionlessly, "I’m not full."

"Yes, yes! It’s downstairs, I’ll go get it for you."

By the time Mother Zhuang hurried down to the kitchen, the remaining pizza and apple pie, as well as Lou Hua, were nowhere to be seen.

Shen Mingzhu opened the door and seeing the breathless Mother Zhuang outside, quickly asked with concern, "Mrs. Zhuang, what happened?"