The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 472 - 471: Pei Ke’s Gratitude

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Having hung up the phone and seeing the brother and sister quietly standing to one side, Shen Mingzhu’s face broke into a smile.

"Our great-uncle is safe now and will be back in a few days," she said.

Pei Ziheng nodded.

Guoguo joyfully clapped her little hands to express her delight.

Bending down to kiss her daughter’s cheek, Shen Mingzhu turned, gently touched her son’s head, and said, "You played a part in the successful rescue of your great-uncle too, and I thank you on his behalf."

Pei Ziheng shook his head. "Mom, no need to thank me. Our great-uncle is our family too."

"Exactly, we’re a family, and we should love and care for each other."

After praising him, Shen Mingzhu curiously asked Pei Ziheng how he had managed to save a thousand yuan in pocket money.

Though Pei Ziheng had indeed received quite a lot in New Year’s money over the years, he also spent no small amount on birthday gifts for her and toys and sweets for Guoguo.

"I earned it by tutoring my classmates."

Hearing this, Shen Mingzhu was somewhat surprised.

She knew that Pei Ziheng would go to his classmates’ homes on weekends and holidays to help them with their studies, but she had always thought it was just mutual aid among classmates.

"You charge for helping your classmates with their coursework?" she asked.

"Mm-hmm."

Pei Ziheng confidently replied, "If I didn’t charge, everyone would come to me, and I’d be run off my feet."

With that energy, he’d rather stay at home and play with his sister.

Shen Mingzhu chuckled. "Then how do you charge?" she asked.

"Two yuan an hour, and a minimum of ten class hours."

Goodness, that was not cheap at all.

"Do your classmates’ parents know about this?"

"They do."

Shen Mingzhu was relieved.

Tutoring fees weren’t low, and if some children privately gave her son money, but then their parents came knocking for a refund, that would be a messy situation.

"Erza, you’re so capable. At such a young age, you’ve learned how to earn money, which is better than many adults. I’m very proud of you, but..."

"I hope you can focus on your studies, enjoy your free time, grow up healthy and happy, and leave the matter of earning money to your mom and dad."

Though she wasn’t opposed to her son charging for tutoring, having too strong a profit motive wasn’t a good sign in a child who was only nine.

"Mom, once the remaining class hours are over, I won’t tutor them anymore," he said.

His well-behaved response made Shen Mingzhu subconsciously question whether she was being too overbearing.

"Never mind, do as you see fit. If you have time to tutor your classmates, go ahead, but just remember, if the classmate comes from a family in tough circumstances, don’t charge too much," she conceded.

Pei Ziheng nodded.

The students he tutored didn’t include the poor; they were all from wealthy and influential families.

Tutoring was just a pretense. His real aim was to build connections with those people and extract useful information from them.

"Brother, I want to ride the horsey."

Looking down at his sister, who clung to his leg and wiggled around like a little grub, Pei Ziheng’s eyes brimmed with fondness.

"Mom, I’ll take Guoguo out to play for a bit," he said.

"Go ahead, just be careful and come back early," she responded.

"Mm-hmm."

Pei Ziheng bent down to pick her up and carried her out to the backyard, placing her on the rear seat of the bicycle.

The seat was fitted with a tin chair that had a backrest and pedals on both sides to prevent the rider’s feet from getting caught in the bicycle’s wheels.

This special chair was made by Pei Ziheng exclusively for his little sister.

No one else, including his sworn brother Zhao Yun, was worthy of sitting in it, except for Guoguo.

"Off we go on the horsey," Guoguo cheered, content to be sitting on the bicycle.

Seeing her happiness, Pei Ziheng also showed a pleased smile.

He pushed the bicycle out of the yard, straddled it, and turned back to remind the one behind him, "Hold on to me tight."

"Okay~"

Guoguo stretched out her little arms and hugged his waist.

"We’re off."

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"Hmm!"

It was March, and the sunshine was splendid, with the camphor trees on both sides of the road sprouting fresh green leaves.

A bicycle carrying two figures, one tall and one short, wove through the greenery ahead, looking as beautiful as a painting.

...

After the children went out, Shen Mingzhu finally had a calm moment to think about the disposal of the gold that Pei Ke had on hand.

The troublesome matter Pei Yang had mentioned on the phone was exactly this.

Pei Ke’s original plan was to use the casinos in Ao City to turn this money into legal income.

But having gone through this ordeal, Pei Ke didn’t dare to take that risk anymore.

In the end, with Zhuang Xueqi’s help, the gold was sold to a dealer shuttling between Hong City and Shenzhen City at a price twenty percent below market value.

Because of his unexplained absences from work, Pei Ke also blew his job, and after settling the gold issue, he packed up and followed Pei Yang back to Fengcheng.

The first thing Pei Ke did when he returned was to take out two hundred thousand and give it to Shen Mingzhu.

"Uncle, there’s an extra twenty thousand."

The total fine was two hundred and forty thousand, of which sixty thousand was originally Pei Ke’s money, and Shen Mingzhu had managed to gather one hundred and eighty thousand.

Pei Ke didn’t take the twenty thousand Shen Mingzhu offered back, "This money is for you and Xiao Yang. We owe you a lot this time. Without your help, I’m afraid I would have been finished in Ao City."

"Uncle, you are part of our family, and family can’t be measured with money," Shen Mingzhu said.

Hearing her say that made Pei Ke feel somewhat ashamed.

He felt like his act of giving money desecrated the family bond, "Mingzhu, I didn’t mean anything by it, just a little token of appreciation."

"Uncle, we’ve accepted your sentiment."

Seeing Shen Mingzhu’s firm attitude, Pei Ke could only take the money back and then shared his idea of buying a building nearby.

Shen Mingzhu agreed to keep an eye out for him.

After Pei Ke left, Shen Mingzhu allocated the one hundred and eighty thousand.

Out of this amount, one hundred and twenty thousand was their family savings, and of the remaining sixty thousand, fifteen thousand belonged to Pei Wenping, ten thousand to Pei Ziheng, and the rest were loans from Pei Yang’s relatives.

Shen Mingzhu counted out the money, placed it in envelopes, wrote names on them, and planned to return it the next day.

As she was counting the money, Pei Yang came into the room after his bath, and seeing her busy, he sat behind her, wrapping his long arms around her waist and resting his fluffy head on her shoulder.

"Wife."

"Yes?"

"Thank you. This is on behalf of my dad."

After saying that, he turned her face towards him, kissed her cherry lips passionately, and said with a smile, "This is my thanks."

Shen Mingzhu gave him a reproachful glance and continued counting the money.

"Not satisfied, huh? Then tell me, how do you want me to repay you?"

"There’s no need. Not only is Uncle your relative, but he is also mine, not to mention the great-uncle of our children."

Pei Yang, moved, rubbed his fluffy head against her neck, "I must have burned high incense in my last life to marry such a virtuous, gentle, and sensible wife this life. Why are you so good?"

The man’s hair was thick and coarse, tickling her neck.

Shen Mingzhu pushed him away impatiently, "Stop fooling around; go to sleep early. Tomorrow we’re going to Shanghai City to clinch the provincial agency deal."

Shen Mingzhu was still quite optimistic about the pager industry.

"Then you should sleep too."

"You go first."

"No, together, I want to sleep holding you."

Shen Mingzhu gave him a side glance, "Are you still a child? Needing someone to hold you to sleep."

"Am I still a child? Don’t you know?" Pei Yang teased playfully, "But I might have gotten a bit smaller recently, because I’ve been hungry~"

Shen Mingzhu kicked at him, "Get lost, you old lecher."

Pei Yang pulled her into his arms and bit her chin, his eyes filled with dissatisfaction and accusation, "Am I old? Where am I old?"

"You’re always older, at least older than me. I’m only 25, and you’re already 31."

Hearing this, the man let his fluffy head slump on her shoulder, his voice soft, "In the future, I’ll drink less, exercise more, and keep my body in shape to try to spend a few more years with you when I’m older."

You don’t have to, once you’re gone, I can find little wolves and little puppies—lots of dogs—to keep me company.

If she spoke those words out loud, the man would likely burst with anger.

As Shen Mingzhu thought this, the corners of her mouth couldn’t help but curve upward.