The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 89: Qin Jinlian Steals Money, Shen Mingzhu’s Heart Grows Cold

Chapter 89: Chapter 89: Qin Jinlian Steals Money, Shen Mingzhu’s Heart Grows Cold

Yang Lizhen snatched the watch from her mother’s hand, her face flushing red with shame and anger, "Mom, what are you doing with someone else’s watch?"

Yang’s mother mumbled, "Yanyan insisted that your brother buy her a watch, or she won’t date him anymore. I thought this watch looked pretty, so I figured I’d take it for Yanyan to wear."

This reason was so ridiculous it almost made Shen Mingzhu laugh.

Yang Lizhen wanted a gold necklace, Qin Jinlian asked her for money, Yang Lizhen’s sister-in-law wanted a watch, and even Yang’s mother thought about scraping from her.

So she had become the Yang Family’s personal ATM?

No matter how proud and haughty Yang Lizhen was, she had no choice but to bow her head and apologize to Shen Mingzhu.

The watch was returned, and Shen Mingzhu was too lazy to pursue the matter further, as there was no point. She couldn’t exactly have Yang’s mother taken to the police station for a "chat."

If this family dispute was made public, Qin Jinlian and Yang Lizhen may just brush off their pants and return to the countryside, but she would become the laughingstock of the residential compound over their meals and tea.

After such an embarrassing incident caused by Yang’s mother, Yang Lizhen no longer had the face to stay. She immediately prepared to leave with the Yang family members, and Qin Jinlian followed suit, but was stopped by Shen Mingzhu.

"Mom, wait a minute."

"What is it?" Qin Jinlian looked eager to leave.

Shen Mingzhu had a mocking smile, "Are you sure you want me to say it in front of my sister-in-law?"

Yang Lizhen, who was heading out the door, couldn’t help but turn around to look at the mother and daughter.

Qin Jinlian hastily signaled Yang Lizhen to go ahead, "You go downstairs and wait for me. I just have a few words to say, and then I’ll come down."

Yang Lizhen didn’t say anything and led the Yang Family downstairs.

"Come on, just tell me what it is!" Qin Jinlian urged impatiently after the Yang family had left.

Shen Mingzhu stepped forward to close the door and when she turned around, the smile was gone from her face.

"Take it out."

"Take out what? I don’t understand what you’re talking about."

Seeing Qin Jinlian play dumb, Shen Mingzhu scoffed, "If you don’t take it out, from the moment you walk out this door, you can forget about ever stepping inside again, and don’t even think about getting another penny from me. I mean what I say!"

Qin Jinlian glared at her, "I am your own mother, do you even suspect me?"

"You still remember I’m your daughter, yet you steal from your own daughter’s head, do you have no shame?"

"You can’t deny it, I keep an account every day, I know exactly how much cash and ’coupons’ are in the wallet!"

Unable to deny it any longer, Qin Jinlian finally broke down, "I didn’t take much of yours, just fifty."

"It doesn’t matter if it’s fifty or five cents, taking without asking is still stealing!"

Qin Jinlian’s face turned beet red, then her eyes reddened, and she began to dab at her tears, "Do you think I want to do such a shameful thing? You refused to give your sister-in-law money for a gold necklace, what was I supposed to do?"

Seeing Qin Jinlian hadn’t given up on the idea of buying a gold necklace for Yang Lizhen, Shen Mingzhu was very angry.

"Let me ask you, if my sister-in-law gives birth to a daughter, what will you do? Will you let her keep giving birth? Can our family afford the fine?"

Qin Jinlian said hurriedly, "I had someone calculate her fortune, and the fortune-teller said that your sister-in-law is certain to have a boy!"

"Just a clack of the teeth, who can’t say that? I say my sister-in-law won’t have a boy!"

"Tish, tish, tish, don’t curse us with such ill words! Do you want our Shen Family line to end?"

Shen Mingzhu couldn’t be bothered to argue with Qin Jinlian and furiously demanded the money back.

Qin Jinlian fumbled for a while before pulling out twenty, "Here’s twenty back to you, and consider the remaining thirty as a token of respect for me and your father."

Shen Mingzhu scoffed, "Do you think I run a bank? I just gave thirty on the seventh day, and you’re asking for another thirty not even a month later. Pei Yang works through wind and rain, risking his life for his earnings—it’s barely over a hundred a month. If all that goes to you, do the three of us still get to eat?"

Qin Jinlian had no choice but to dig out another twenty, "Will it be okay if I take just ten? Don’t think I don’t know, you’ve made quite a lot from your egg cakes. Shen Baolan told me about it, said you’ve made at least several hundred."

"That’s my own business how I earn money," she snapped, "If you’re jealous, find your own way to make money. And another thing, hand over those ten yuan!"

Qin Jinlian pleaded anxiously, "It’s not easy for me to come to the city, and you won’t give me even ten yuan?"

Shen Mingzhu reached out and rummaged through her pockets, well what do you know, besides the ten yuan, there were quite a few food and meat coupons.

Shen Mingzhu was so angry that she went through every single pocket on Qin Jinlian, not stopping until she was sure there was nothing hidden.

Qin Jinlian stared at her with red eyes, "You wretched girl, you should at least leave me some travel money. Do you expect me to walk home?"

"Why did you come to the city? Was it for me? Whoever you came with can take you back. Don’t come to me!"

Qin Jinlian left in tears.

Shen Mingzhu didn’t soften at all, not giving her a single penny.

But when she got back to her bedroom and opened her purse, it turned out Qin Jinlian had taken not fifty, but eighty yuan.

Pei Ziheng was due to start school, and she had withdrawn one hundred cash from the bank yesterday, giving twenty to Pei Yang for pocket money. She had put the remaining eighty in her purse, intending to pay for Pei Ziheng’s tuition and living expenses the next day.

Shen Mingzhu was so mad she didn’t even eat dinner, while back at home, Qin Jinlian bragged triumphantly to her husband.

"Lucky I was prepared and hid thirty in my sock. Otherwise, the damn girl would have taken it all."

Shen Jianguo looked at her without a trace of warmth, "Stealing from your own daughter, how can you be shameless enough? Don’t you ever come to the city again. It’s embarrassing!"

"I’m her mother, I gave birth to her and raised her. Taking some money from her, what’s the problem? It’s what she owes me!"

Shen Jianguo, not wanting to hear any more, angrily slipped on his shoes and left the house.

Qin Jinlian rolled her eyes, reached into the shrine and pulled out a tin box. Opening it, she added the thirty yuan to the money already inside and put the box back into its place, calculating quietly to herself—

She had saved up to two hundred by now, which should be enough to buy a gold necklace for her second daughter-in-law. She planned to go to the town tomorrow to check prices and ask around.

Once she bought the gold necklace for her second daughter-in-law, and if she bore her a nice, chubby grandson, her life’s mission would have been accomplished.

Qin Jinlian blissfully planned her future, blissfully unaware that, for that thirty yuan, Shen Mingzhu had severed the little maternal affection that remained between them.

Though Qin Jinlian had infuriated her, Shen Mingzhu was someone who could let go of grievances. By the next day, waking up, she was no longer angry.

But that did not mean she had forgiven Qin Jinlian.

In fact, she had resolved to slowly cut ties with her parental home. Barring major life events like birth or death, she had virtually no intention of going back there anymore.

----

Today was Pei Ziheng’s first day back at kindergarten.

Pei Yang happened to have the day off and planned to accompany her in taking Pei Ziheng to kindergarten, only for her oldest sister, Pei Wenping, to show up just as they were about to leave.

Pei Wenping had been visiting their parents’ home more frequently lately, and every time she came back, it wasn’t to meddle but to bring them things.

Food, essentials, and clothes—she brought everything, saving the household quite a bit of money. In fact, Shen Mingzhu hadn’t had to buy groceries for almost a week, as they couldn’t even finish what Pei Wenping kept bringing.

But today, Pei Wenping didn’t bring groceries or meat; instead, she carried a green thermos that seemed to be filled with soup she had stewed and brought for them.

After dropping off Pei Ziheng at home and seeing that Pei Wenping had already left, Pei Yang was nowhere to be found either.

Shen Mingzhu went to the kitchen wanting to see what kind of soup Pei Wenping had brought over. She thought about making some wontons for lunch to go with the soup, which sounded delightful.

But after searching the entire kitchen, not only was there no sign of soup, there weren’t even any leftovers.

Did that bastard drink all the soup by himself?

Shen Mingzhu wasn’t exactly craving the soup.

It was mostly that Pei Yang would always save some of whatever Pei Wenping brought for her, and she was used to it. Now that he didn’t, she couldn’t help feeling somewhat disgruntled.

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