The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 469 - 468 Good Days Ahead

Upon receiving Pei Yang’s call and learning that he had safely arrived, Shen Mingzhu felt relieved.

"Have you had dinner?"

"I’m eating right now, I’m calling using the hotel’s phone."

After a pause, Pei Yang continued, "I’m with Chen Yi, he’s familiar with the area and has wide connections. With his help, my chances of securing the provincial distribution rights are bigger."

Shen Mingzhu chuckled. "Is he willing to help?"

"He doesn’t dare not to help, he’s still thinking about my sister."

Shen Mingzhu laughed, "You really have the nerve, you just beat him up the other time, and now you’re asking for his help again."

"One thing at a time, he helps me, and I will remember his favor, but if he dares to bully my sister again in the future, I’ll still beat him."

Shen Mingzhu didn’t want to say more. "Go and eat, and rest early after that."

"Mhm."

After hanging up, Shen Mingzhu sat on the sofa thinking for a while, then got up and went to the second floor.

In the study.

Pei Ziheng was sitting at the desk, reading a book.

Guoguo was lying on a small sofa against the wall, covered with a floral blanket, already asleep.

"Mom."

Seeing her come in, Pei Ziheng put down his book and got up.

Shen Mingzhu made a shushing gesture and bent down to carry her daughter into the room diagonally across from the study.

It used to be a nursery, redecorated before last Spring Festival; now it was her daughter’s private room.

To prevent Guoguo from climbing around and playing too much, protective rails had been added to all the second-floor windows, including the balcony.

After coming out of her daughter’s room, Shen Mingzhu moved forward with a smile upon seeing her son standing in the hallway.

"Your dad has safely arrived in Shanghai City."

Pei Ziheng nodded, his face cool and handsome.

Shen Mingzhu touched his head and asked, "Feeling sleepy?"

Pei Ziheng shook his head.

Shen Mingzhu, wrapping her arm around him, headed to his room, "Let’s chat for a while, it’s been a long time since we had a heart-to-heart."

"Okay."

Pei Ziheng’s room was just like him, clean and beautiful, without a speck of dirt in sight.

Every item was neatly placed in its proper spot.

Shen Mingzhu had seen Zhao Yun’s room; it was really no different from a pigsty.

They say children are of two types, those who come to collect debts and those who come to repay favor.

Clearly, Pei Ziheng was the latter.

Shen Mingzhu casually picked up the winter vacation homework from the desk and flipped through it. Not to mention whether the answers were right or wrong, just the sight of the flowing handwriting was pleasing to the eye.

"Your birthday is coming up, is there any birthday gift you’d like?"

Pei Ziheng thought for a moment and said, "I want a birthday cake made by Mom’s own hands."

Shen Mingzhu smiled, "That’s easy, what else?"

Pei Ziheng shook his head.

Having a birthday cake made by his mom every year was happiness enough for him.

He wasn’t greedy.

Suddenly, Shen Mingzhu’s smile faded, and she looked at him seriously, "Ziheng, you’ve grown up, and there are things that Mom doesn’t want to keep from you anymore."

"Some relatives and elders think you’re not my biological child and believe that your dad and I should have another child of our own, our own son. Whether you’ve heard these voices or not, I want to tell you, in your mom and dad’s hearts, you are our own son."

"We won’t have another child. In this lifetime, we have and will only have you as our son."

Pei Ziheng couldn’t describe his feelings, his chest seemed to be on fire, a blaze that made his eyes hot and swelling with emotion.

"Mom."

He couldn’t help but choke up.

It wasn’t that he didn’t feel wronged; he too desperately wished he were his mother’s biological child.

But he wasn’t, and he had no way to change his birth or his parents.

He almost wanted to take a knife and cut out the tongues of those who had encouraged his mother to have another child. freewebnøvel.coɱ

At the same time, he was very scared.

Scared that his mother would listen to those people, would have a new son with his father, and would no longer love him.

At this moment, his mother’s assurances tenderly soothed all the agitation and anxiety in his heart.

"Mom, if you and Dad want to have another one, that’s okay, I’m the big brother, and I’ll love him just like I love Guoguo."

Shen Mingzhu touched his head, "A promise is a promise, mom said no more children, so there won’t be any more. Mom has limited energy, loving you and your sister is enough, no energy left to love other children."

In Pei Ziheng’s dark eyes, there seemed to be falling stars, bringing speckled light.

...

"Zhou, you’re a city dweller, cultured and skilled. It’s comfortable to cling to a secure job at home, what made you leave and come here to suffer with us illiterates?"

Facing his coworkers’ teasing, Zhou Shuhuan explained with a light smile, "I just wanted to try my luck. I’ve lived half a life and haven’t even stepped out of my house, it’s embarrassing to talk about."

His coworkers couldn’t understand his fiery ambition, "Zhou, you really don’t know a good thing when you have it. We only go out to work because our homes are too poor; if we were not short of money, who would want to come here? Being at home with a warm bed and your wife and kids, that’s what living is."

Zhou Shuhuan just smiled and remained silent.

The coworkers chatted about everything under the sun while drinking.

The drink was the cheapest bulk white liquor, which burned the throat with one sip. The snacks were peanuts and pickled vegetables, brought from their hometowns.

Zhou Shuhuan felt an unexplainable delight and exhilaration from these austere days, as if his soul had been set free.

Above all, he was full of confidence and hope for the road ahead.

He had traveled thousands of miles to Dongguan City, to work as a general worker in an electronic factory that produced Subor game consoles and learning machines, not just for the hardship, but because he knew from his dreams that this industry would make a fortune in the coming years.

...

After finishing her work, Shen Mingzhu went to the bank with her passbook, intending to transfer all the money in her account to Pei Yang, to prepare for any sudden need.

However, when she checked her account at the bank, there was an extra sixty thousand yuan in it.

She asked the bank staff to help her look into it and found that it was a foreign currency remittance from Ao City.

Uncertain about the origin of the funds, Shen Mingzhu didn’t dare to touch the sixty thousand yuan.

After transferring the money and leaving the bank, she found a public phone that could make international calls and tried to reach Pei Ke, wanting to ask if it was Pei Ke who had sent the money.

She called twice but no one answered.

Shen Mingzhu could only go back to the factory first, planning to try again in the evening.

Pei Ke was working as a security guard in an office building, on rotating shifts, so he was probably on the day shift today.

...

"That’ll be fifty cents. Come again next time."

Once Shen Baolan finished her current business, Liu Cuihua took the chance to ask quietly, "How much do you earn in a day?"

Shen Baolan looked around and whispered something in Liu Cuihua’s ear.

"So little?"

Liu Cuihua’s eyes widened.

Shen Baolan was unperturbed, "What’s so strange about that? There are plenty who earn more than me."

With her heart afire, Liu Cuihua said, "Baolan, I’ve been thinking about getting your brother and sister-in-law to come to the city to learn to set up a stall like you. Farming in the countryside doesn’t show money; half the village has gone out to work."

"You haven’t seen that Jinlian; she got a silver bangle recently and keeps flaunting it around the village, as if she’s afraid no one will see it."

"Frankly, it’s Shen Mingzhu who had the foresight, getting her brothers to the city to make money early on. If you had half her savvy, our family would’ve been well off by now."

Liu Cuihua’s words were filled with praise for Shen Mingzhu, and Shen Baolan was not pleased.

"What’s the rush? Good things come to those who wait, our family’s good days are yet to come!"

"I’ve heard that line from you since you got married, no less than eighty or a hundred times!" Liu Cuihua scoffed.