The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 460 - 459: Social Interactions

Afterward.

Pei Yang lay on his side and winced as his buttocks hit something cold; upon retrieving it, he realized it was the passbook he had tossed aside.

Shen Mingzhu, feeling a tickle on her nose, became annoyed and swatted it away.

"Stop it, I’m going to sleep."

Seeing her unbearably sleepy, Pei Yang also put away his teasing spirit, leaned in to place the passbook in the bedside table, turned off the lamp, and snuggled with her into a sweet sleep.

...

The next day.

Today was the day to play video games.

Early in the morning.

Guoguo dashed into the bedroom, clambered onto the bed with her little bottom poked up, sat on Shen Mingzhu’s stomach, and gently patted Mingzhu’s face with her soft little hands while she sweetly called out, "Mommy, wake up."

Shen Mingzhu reluctantly opened her eyes, grabbed her daughter’s mischievous little paws, brought them to her mouth, and pretended to eat them.

"You little rascal, disturbing Mommy’s sleep, I’ll eat your hands."

Guoguo giggled non-stop as she felt her mother’s teeth tickling her.

"Oww~"

Pei Yang, wearing a big, bad wolf mask, imitated the wolf’s walking posture, swaying his way toward the mother and daughter.

"Ah, the big bad wolf is coming!"

Guoguo shouted as she burrowed into Shen Mingzhu’s quilt.

Shen Mingzhu played along, pulling up the quilt, covered her daughter once she crawled in, and whispered, "Hide well, don’t come out."

From beneath the quilt, Guoguo wriggled and called out to her mother in a muffled voice, "Mommy, hide inside."

"I won’t hide, I’m going to fight the big bad wolf and drive it away."

"Oww."

Pei Yang continued to mimic wolf howls, but he took off the mask and bent down to kiss Shen Mingzhu on the lips.

"You want a duel? Let’s schedule a time."

"Roll~"

Shen Mingzhu retorted softly and turned over, intending to get some more sleep.

"I’ll sleep for ten more minutes, remember to wake me up."

Pei Yang pinched her earlobe, "What do you want for breakfast?"

Shen Mingzhu pulled up the quilt and covered her ears, "Anything."

Charmed by her cuteness, Pei Yang left the room with a smile in his eyes.

Hearing the door close, Guoguo slowly wriggled out of the quilt and peeked out her round, chubby little head, "Mommy, where’s the big bad wolf?"

"I drove it away."

"Will it come back?"

"It won’t come back."

"What if it does?"

"Then I’ll drive it away again."

"And if it comes back again?"

Shen Mingzhu stretched out her hand to pull her daughter close, embracing her tightly, "No more talking, sleep with mommy for a while."

"Mommy, are you scared?"

Her brother was afraid to sleep alone, which is why he always wanted her to accompany him.

"Mhm."

"Okay then."

No wonder Daddy always has to sleep with Mommy. She must be afraid to sleep alone too.

She snuggled obediently in her mother’s arms, smelled her mother’s pleasant scent, and soon fell asleep.

...

After breakfast and changing clothes, Shen Mingzhu bent down to kiss her soundly sleeping daughter on the face, picked up her bag, and left for work.

It had snowed last night, and the roads were somewhat wet and slippery, so Shen Mingzhu did not drive herself but took Pei Yang’s car instead.

Pei Yang’s car was fitted with anti-skid tires, and it felt safer to drive.

Throughout the journey, Shen Mingzhu leisurely did her makeup using powder and lipstick.

Pei Yang occasionally looked at her, finding her quite interesting.

"Are you really going to give me all the family’s money? Aren’t you afraid that I’ll lose it all?"

After this year, Pei Yang would be officially resigning from the food factory to start his own business.

The passbook had one hundred thousand yuan, almost all of the family’s savings.

Shen Mingzhu used her fingertip to blend her lipstick, making it look more natural and adherent.

She casually responded to his question, "If it’s lost, then it’s lost. If you lose it, just come back and work to pay off the debt for me."

Pei Yang laughed.

Shen Mingzhu checked herself in the mirror, satisfied, she snapped the compact shut and turned to ask him, "Have you thought about who’s going to take over your job?"

Pei Yang tapped on the steering wheel, "Still Chen Cheng, I guess. After all, he’s one of our own, so I feel more at ease."

Shen Mingzhu nodded, "Then let Chen Cheng temporarily handle the market, with Guan Qiang as his assistant. After the New Year, we can add a few new people to the marketing department. I have a feeling that next year’s sales will climb even higher, I need to think of ways to reserve more talent."

Pei Yang glanced at her, seemingly with something to say.

Shen Mingzhu, busy with her earrings, didn’t notice his mood.

"Haven’t you smelled something?"

Shen Mingzhu sniffed, "No, what smell?"

"A sour smell."

Shen Mingzhu’s first reaction was to look in the back seat of the car to see if a relative who had drunk too much the previous day had thrown up there, only to hear the man say, "Aren’t you being too nice to that Guan Qiang?"

Shen Mingzhu was speechless, "You’re thirty years old, and you’re jealous of a young guy?"

"You’re the one who treats him so well."

"Where have I treated him well?"

"He resigned, yet you wouldn’t let him leave, and now you’re promoting him like this. You don’t even care about Chen Cheng this much."

Shen Mingzhu rolled her eyes at him, explaining, "Guan Qiang’s family is not well-off. His mother needs to take medicine all year round, and he has a younger sister with congenital disabilities. With such a heavy burden at home and relying on his meager salary at the grain station, his family would hardly be able to make ends meet."

"Although he’s somewhat less capable at work, he makes up for it by being honest and reliable."

Moreover, as someone who came to understand later, Shen Mingzhu knew that in a few years the grain station would be optimized or even abolished, gradually phased out from the stage of history.

"Although the guys can endure more hardship, having only guys isn’t good either. We still need to hire a couple of female employees to balance things out."

Shen Mingzhu gave him a sideways glance, "If you’re that worried, then don’t go."

"I’m not worried."

"Whether you are or not, you know best."

Seeing that they were nearing the food factory, Shen Mingzhu took out the ceremonial money she had counted the night before, along with the passbook, and placed it on his lap.

"Take some time to go to the bank to deposit the money, and by the way, get five hundred yuan in new bills. Get some of each denomination, I need them for red envelopes during the New Year."

Pei Yang parked the car at the entrance of the factory, picking up the thick stack of gift money on his lap and weighing it, teasing, "After this banquet, we’ve actually made a profit."

"You think it’s all incoming with no outgo? This money will have to be paid back, little by little in the future."

As the saying goes, you have to give to receive.

...

She had been busy with the birthday banquet these past few days, and work had piled up.

After the morning meeting, Shen Mingzhu sat down and immersed herself in work.

Around ten o’clock, Qin Jinlian showed up.

"Call your brother and ask if they’re coming back for the New Year this year."

"They’re not."

Shen Mingzhu didn’t even look up.

Qin Jinlian glared at her, "You didn’t even ask, how do you know they’re not coming back?"

"The big brother said so last month."

Qin Jinlian’s face fell, "They didn’t come back last year, and they’re not coming back this year either. I can hardly remember what Chaobei looks like."

Shen Mingzhu glanced at her and continued working, "If they don’t come back, it’s because of what you did. Otherwise, you would be fighting over who gets to take care of the babies, making it difficult for big brother to take sides. It’s better for them not to come back, out of sight, out of mind."

"I’m willing to help them take care of the kids so they can make money with peace of mind. Did I do something wrong?"

Seeing that Shen Mingzhu ignored her, she sadly lowered her head and began to wipe away tears.

Shen Mingzhu was thoroughly engrossed in her work.

By the time she looked up again, half an hour had passed, and seeing that Qin Jinlian was still there, she said, "Is there anything else?"

Qin Jinlian cleared her throat and began to speak—