The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 461 - 460 Old Friends Visit

"Have you and Pei Yang never thought of having a second child?"

"Haven’t thought about it."

"You don’t want a son?"

"I have a son."

Qin Jinlian stood up to close the office door, walked over to the desk, and scolded her, "What do you mean you have? He’s someone else’s son; he has nothing to do with you and Pei Yang."

"Ziheng was raised by me, he is my son, and no one can take him away from me."

Qin Jinlian was so agitated she felt like taking a hammer and cracking open her head to see inside.

"Don’t be so confused. Can a fostered child be the same as your own? Guoguo is a girl, bound to marry off someday. You and Pei Yang earned such a large fortune, do you really want to hand it to someone else for nothing?"

Shen Mingzhu slammed the desk with a "bang," and coldly said to Qin Jinlian, "Mom, I’m telling you one last time, Ziheng is my son, and he will be my only son in this life. If any of you bring up his origins again, don’t blame me for turning my back on you!"

Qin Jinlian glared at her for a long time and finally slapped her thigh, "Stubborn girl, why can’t you just listen to the wisdom of your elders? You’ll suffer later for it. Just you wait, there’ll come a time when you’ll cry!"

"Rest assured, even if I cry, I won’t do it in front of you."

Qin Jinlian left, enraged.

With the nagging finally gone, Shen Mingzhu continued with her work. She hadn’t been busy for long when she reached for the phone on her desk and called Du Juan.

...

"...and that concludes our evening news for today. Dear viewers, good night."

Upon hearing the news anchor’s sign-off, Pei Wenping subconsciously glanced at the wall clock, got up to turn off the TV, and prepared to go to bed.

Just as she reached the bedroom door, the front door of the house opened.

Chen Yi came in covered in snow; seeing her, he paused slightly.

"Haven’t gone to bed?"

"About to."

After responding, Pei Wenping entered the bedroom and casually closed the door behind her.

Chen Yi stared at the closed bedroom door for a while, then turned and pulled the front door shut.

Just as Pei Wenping lay down, there came a gentle knock from outside the bedroom.

She got up to open the door and let Chen Yi into the room.

Although the two of them were in a state of agreed separation, when Chen Yi was home, they still shared a room.

Firstly, there were no spare rooms in the house, and secondly, it was to keep up appearances for the family.

Pei Wenping turned to go back to bed, but as she was stepping away, Chen Yi suddenly embraced her from behind.

The coldness, mixed with a strong scent of alcohol, enveloped her.

"Wenping."

Pei Wenping came to her senses, "Let go of me."

"I won’t."

Chen Yi buried his head in the nape of her neck, his warm breath seeping through the fabric onto her skin.

"Won’t you forgive me? What do I need to do, just tell me, okay?"

"Let go of me first."

Perhaps provoked by her struggling, Chen Yi suddenly turned her body around and kissed her.

Familiar and intense breaths invaded her, leaving Pei Wenping somewhat dazed, her mind a jumble, unable to think.

Seeing she did not resist, Chen Yi’s kisses grew deeper.

It wasn’t until the enamel water cup on the bedside table was accidentally knocked over that Pei Wenping snapped to her senses and pushed Chen Yi away.

"Sorry, I had a few too many drinks tonight, I couldn’t control myself."

Chen Yi looked at her, panting, and explained softly.

Pei Wenping silently picked up the cup, placed it back on the nightstand, got into bed, and got ready to sleep.

Chen Yi turned to close the bedroom door but bent over after taking just a couple of steps.

Seeing him motionless for a while, Pei Wenping couldn’t help but ask, "What’s wrong with you?"

"Stomachache."

Hearing this, Pei Wenping went to the living room to get him water and stomach medicine.

"Is there any food left in the kitchen?"

After taking the medicine, Chen Yi asked her.

"No more."

Chen Yi held his stomach, looking out of the window, "Things were better in the past. No matter how late I came home, you would always leave me some food, and sometimes, when I was writing till midnight, you would get up and cook noodles for me."

"In these two years in Shanghai City, no one left food for me, and no one cooked noodles for me in the middle of the night. I developed a stomach illness before I knew it."

"You deserve it!"

"Yeah, I deserve it."

Pei Wenping glared at him for a while, then got up and went to the kitchen.

A triumphant smile appeared on Chen Yi’s face.

While Pei Wenping was cooking noodles, Chen Yi just stood at the kitchen door, watching her busily at work, and suddenly said, "Wenping, come with me to Shanghai City."

Pei Wenping paused for a moment but ignored him, taking it as drunken babble.

"Shanghai City has much more potential for development than Fengcheng, and the education and medical services are better too. If you go over there, you can work if you want to, or study something if you don’t want to work."

Realizing that Chen Yi was serious, Pei Wenping decisively refused.

"I won’t go."

"Won’t you consider it?"

"Chen Yi, the only reason we’re still living under the same roof is because of Xiaolu and Xiaochao. I won’t follow you anywhere because you’ve long since stopped being trustworthy in my heart."

After she finished speaking, she placed the cooked noodles in front of him and went straight back to her room.

Chen Yi stared at the steaming bowl of noodles for a long while without moving.

Chen’s mother in the second bedroom cautiously closed the door and went back to bed.

She had planned to get up at night but hadn’t expected to accidentally stumble upon a secret between her son and daughter-in-law.

She lay in bed, her thoughts restless for a long time.

By the time Chen Yi finished eating the noodles and returned to the room, Pei Wenping was lying in bed, facing away from him, breathing steadily; yet a decade of marriage let him see at a glance that she was not asleep.

"Sorry, I took it for granted. I won’t bring it up again."

Pei Wenping didn’t speak, just silently closed her eyes.

Not waiting for her response, Chen Yi also didn’t say more, taking out the bedding from the wardrobe to make a bed on the floor.

...

"Madam, there are guests at home."

Upon receiving a call from Sister Yu, Shen Mingzhu hurriedly finished her work and drove home.

As soon as she walked in, she saw a familiar figure standing in the courtyard.

"Uncle?"

Shen Mingzhu greeted him with surprise, "When did you get back?"

"Just arrived this morning."

Pei Ke was beaming, pointing to the courtyard, "The house is beautiful."

Shen Mingzhu feigned a hug, "It’s cold outside, let’s talk inside."

"Alright."

There were two upright suitcases in the living room, obviously Pei Ke’s, and Guoguo was like a curious baby, circling around the suitcases.

Most suitcases in the country were still carry-ons, and those with wheels were rare.

"Guoguo, say hello, this is your grand-uncle."

"Grand-uncle."

"Good girl."

Pei Ke, delighted beyond measure, immediately opened the suitcase and took out a purple-haired doll.

"Here."

Guoguo’s eyes sparkled delightfully at the doll.

She had plenty of dolls, with golden, white, black, and red hair, but she had none with purple hair.

Though she was extremely fond of it, Guoguo didn’t immediately reach out to take it, instead, she turned her head to look at Shen Mingzhu.

"Take it, say ’thank you, grand-uncle."

With Shen Mingzhu’s permission, Guoguo joyfully embraced the doll, saying thanks to her grand-uncle, but her shiny black eyes were as if glued to the doll.

Seeing her happiness, Pei Ke was equally pleased.

"The shop assistant said this is a new model this year. I figured Guoguo would like it, so I bought one."

"You shouldn’t have spent the money. Have you had breakfast?"

After asking, she realized it was nearly noon. She quickly asked Sister Yu to buy some groceries to come back and prepare some home-cooked tastes for Pei Ke’s lunch.