The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 99 Shen Baolan Suffers Domestic Abuse

Chapter 99: Chapter 99 Shen Baolan Suffers Domestic Abuse

As night deepened, the bustling streets gradually quieted down, but the atmosphere inside the small restaurant remained lively and warm.

Dish after dish was added, and bottle after bottle of wine was ordered.

The group at the table drank until eleven o’clock, all of them ending up drunk and sprawled across the table.

Pei Yang and a few others were regulars at the restaurant, and the owner knew them well. Seeing them so intoxicated, he rifled through his phonebook and began calling their homes one by one to inform someone to come and pick them up.

Ma Sufen and her husband usually slept early, and having been tired from the birthday celebrations that day, they had each retired to their respective rooms by 9 o’clock. Whether it was from exhaustion or deep sleep, they weren’t woken by the restaurant owner’s call. Instead, it was Shen Baolan who was disturbed from her sleep by the ringing.

Yawning as she answered the phone, she heard that Zhou Shuhuan was drunk and needed someone to pick him up. Her first reaction was to refuse, but as she was about to speak, something crossed her mind, and she changed her tone to ask the owner who else was there drinking with him.

Upon learning that Pei Yang was also there, just as drunk and unresponsive, her heart promptly became lively.

After finding out that the owner hadn’t yet called Shen Mingzhu to fetch anyone, she told him not to bother dialing Shen Mingzhu’s number, claiming she would pass by the Pei family’s place and fetch Shen Mingzhu on her way out.

In those days, phone calls weren’t cheap, and since Shen Baolan was willing to help notify others, saving a phone call cost a few cents, the owner naturally was pleased and thanked Shen Baolan profusely.

After hanging up, Shen Baolan, full of excitement, dashed back to her room and started rummaging through her wardrobe for clothes.

Shen Mingzhu wasn’t concerned about Pei Yang coming home late; after all, they were all adults, and it was only natural for them to stay out late when getting together so infrequently.

Thus, even though Pei Yang hadn’t come home, she went to bed as usual after her routine nighttime preparations, leaving only a lamp on in the living room and placing a cup of boiled water on the coffee table.

She had just fallen asleep when there was a knock at the door.

Looking at the clock, it was a quarter past eleven.

The damn man, going out and not taking his keys, waking her up from her beauty sleep.

Irritated, Shen Mingzhu got out of bed to open the door, only to find not Pei Yang outside, but Feng Huiying from the apartment unit next door.

Feng Huiying’s husband, He Tao, was also one of Pei Yang’s close childhood friends.

Feng Huiying had received a call to pick up He Tao, but being timid and afraid of the dark, she came by specifically looking to accompany Shen Mingzhu.

Shen Mingzhu didn’t read too much into the fact that the restaurant owner hadn’t called her, figuring he probably didn’t have her number. So she grabbed a coat, took a flashlight, and set out with Feng Huiying to pick up her husband.

The small restaurant was just a street away from their residential compound, only a few minutes’ walk.

As Shen Mingzhu pushed aside the door curtain and entered, she saw that several people were sprawled on the corner table, with Shen Baolan standing behind Pei Yang, her hand poised as if about to do something.

"Shuhuan’s wife—" Feng Huiying’s call startled Shen Baolan.

Guilty and furtive, Shen Baolan pulled her hand back and looked toward the entrance. When she saw Shen Mingzhu, her expression clearly showed her surprise.

More than being angry, Shen Mingzhu felt confused by all of Shen Baolan’s actions.

If it was just lust and infatuation with Pei Yang’s appearance that motivated Shen Baolan, she could have chosen Pei Yang as a marriage partner after being complicit in a plot that led to the original host’s downfall.

Could it be that she was simply envious of the Pei family’s lack of in-laws compared to her own situation with Ma Sufen as a mother-in-law, leading her to regret her choices?

But did she even consider her own circumstances?

Pregnant with a five-month baby and the wife of her brother-in-law, Pei Yang wouldn’t look her way even if he were single and couldn’t find a woman for life.

It was simply illogical.

With a mocking smile, Shen Mingzhu approached Shen Baolan and studied her attire leisurely before pointing to Zhou Shuhuan, who was lying beside Pei Yang, "That one is your man; don’t get it wrong."

Shen Baolan stroked her hair sulkily and slowly ambled toward Zhou Shuhuan, her belly protruding.

Feng Huiying, looking thoughtful, glanced at Shen Baolan several times and then, after greeting Shen Mingzhu, helped her own husband, He Tao, to his feet and left.

Looking at Pei Yang’s sizable figure, Shen Mingzhu felt a bit of a headache. She asked the owner if they had settled the bill and ordered some sobering soup, thinking it would clear Pei Yang’s head a bit before they left.

While waiting for the hangover soup to be served, the families of the others also arrived. Seeing their drunken states, they cursed and led them away.

By the time the hangover soup was brought to the table, only Pei Yang and Zhou Shuhuan remained.

Shen Baolan, for some reason, didn’t wake Zhou Shuhuan to go home. Instead, she propped up her pregnant belly, grabbed a pair of chopsticks, and started picking at the leftover food on the table.

Fat as a pig and still so greedy.

Mingzhu silently berated her in her heart, then bent down to slap Pei Yang awake.

"Wife..."

Pei Yang rose from his stupor and as soon as he recognized Mingzhu, he immediately opened his arms and pulled her into a tight hug.

Not only did he hug her, but he also rubbed against Mingzhu like a child, constantly murmuring "wife, wife" with a look of pure joy on his face.

Across the table, Shen Baolan watched the scene, unable to swallow the food on the table out of jealousy.

It took Mingzhu quite an effort to push the drunken man away.

"Drink some soup, then go home and sleep."

"Oh."

Pei Yang, drunk, was void of his usual masculinity. He was incredibly obedient; he was given soup and he dutifully began to drink.

"Wife, the soup is delicious."

After a few sips, Pei Yang suddenly turned his head and smiled, speaking to Mingzhu.

Mingzhu replied with extreme perfunctoriness, "If it’s delicious, drink more."

"Do you want some?"

Mingzhu pushed the bowl of soup that the man handed her back, "I don’t want it, it’s just for you. Drink up quick."

"Alright."

Zhou Shuhuan was perhaps awakened by the sound of their conversation; he too gradually sat up, staring blankly with bleary eyes at the soup in Pei Yang’s hand.

Mingzhu glanced at Shen Baolan, who was watching Pei Yang intently while ignoring Shuhuan, and rolled her eyes speechlessly. She asked the boss for another bowl, scooped up half a bowl of hangover soup for Shuhuan.

"Thank you."

Zhou Shuhuan, so surprised by the gesture, accepted the bowl and began to drink in small sips.

Shen Baolan glanced at her own man, then at Mingzhu, and said sarcastically, "Wow, Mingzhu, you really care about my Shuhuan, don’t you? How about this, you take my place, and become the Zhou family’s daughter-in-law..."

Mingzhu was about to retort when—

"Slap!"

Zhou Shuhuan backhanded a slap across Baolan’s face.

Shen Baolan, holding her face, was dumbstruck.

Zhou Shuhuan, as if nothing had happened, finished the soup in one gulp, placed down the bowl, stood up, apologized to Pei Yang and Mingzhu, then grabbed Baolan and left.

"Let go of me! Zhou Shuhuan, you wretch, how dare you hit me! This isn’t over between us..."

"Shut up! Pei Yang is my brother, and his wife is from the same village as you. Listen to yourself, what nonsense you’re spouting! I warn you, if you dare talk nonsense again, I will break your mouth."

"Hit me, go on! Better yet, beat me until I lose the child, ah, I don’t want to live anymore—"

Although domestic violence is unacceptable, Mingzhu could only think about Zhou Shuhuan’s slap: Nicely done.