The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 792 - 791: The Heaven-Sent Will

After school in the afternoon.

Chen Chaolu and her brother, Chen Xiaochao, followed the surging crowd of students out of the school gates.

"Xiaolu, Xiaochao, over here!"

Turning towards the voice, they saw Mother and Father Chen waving at them from a short distance away, and the siblings excitedly ran over.

"Grandpa, Grandma!"

"Ah, my dears."

Mother and Father Chen each took a child by the hand, their faces creased with smiles.

"Come, come home with me for dinner. Grandma had your aunt make your favorite braised prawns and fried yellow croaker."

The siblings hesitated for a moment but ultimately couldn’t resist the enthusiasm of the two elders and followed them home to the Chen family.

However, the siblings were very considerate and called Pei Wenping before heading out to let her know.

...

"Here, eat more fish; you need to bulk up. You both look so skinny."

Mother Chen split a golden-browned yellow croaker in half and placed a piece in each of the siblings’ bowls.

"Thank you, Grandma."

Chen Xiaolu picked up a small piece of fish and placed it in her mouth.

Unlike her refined sister, Chen Xiaochao was much more unrestrained, grabbing a big bite of the croaker and talking while chewing, "Grandma, your eyesight is getting worse. I’ve actually gained two pounds."

Mother Chen scolded him, "Nonsense, where does it show? You look so skinny to me. Eat more, then you can grow up to be tall and strong like your dad."

Mentioning Chen Yi, the atmosphere at the dinner table suddenly turned frosty.

Father Chen reprimanded, "Just eat your meal, why bring that up?"

Yi Ling diffused the tension with a smile, "Eat the prawns, they won’t taste good once they’re cold."

As she spoke, she attentively placed two large prawns in each of the siblings’ bowls.

"Thank you, Auntie."

"What’s there to thank for? We’re all family here. Just let me know what you want to eat, and I’ll make it for you."

Yi Ling smiled warmly, her eyes filled with caring as she looked at the siblings.

In the past, they would have viewed Yi Ling as a kind and loving elder.

But now, aware that their uncle and aunt were contending for the inheritance left by their father, naturally they wouldn’t accept any overtures of kindness.

The siblings simultaneously avoided the prawns in their bowls and picked other dishes from the table to eat.

After dinner, while Yi Ling was tidying up, Father and Mother Chen, the siblings, Chen Liang, and his two children all sat on the couch watching TV— a whole family gathered.

"Xiaolu, Xiaochao, even though your father passed early, he was accomplished and left a substantial sum of money for you two. You’ll soon be moving to a larger house. You won’t have to worry about not having a good future."

As filial children, hearing this, they immediately invited Mother Chen to move to the new home with them.

But this was not what Mother Chen intended. "Your grandpa and I are getting old; we don’t have many years left. The only thing we can’t leave in peace is your little uncle."

"He’s not as accomplished as your dad, doesn’t make a lot of money, and the family is struggling. The grownups can grit their teeth and bear it, but Xiaoya and Xiaojin—they share the same bloodline with you. As their older siblings, you should support your younger brother and sister."

"Your Sister Xiaoya is almost ten and still has to squeeze into a small room to sleep with her biological brother. It would be laughable if word got out. Other kids are learning piano and dance, showcasing all their talents, but your Sister Xiaoya can’t even afford the tuition for English tutoring classes."

Mother and Father Chen went on with a myriad of such arguments, essentially looking to persuade the siblings to convince Pei Wenping to agree to Chen Liang and his two children inheriting Chen Yi’s estate.

They also endeavored to instill in the siblings the notion that they belonged with the Chen family, should support their cousins, and rely on each other through thick and thin.

Even resorted to sowing discord by bringing up Pei Wenping’s matchmaking issues, convinced that Pei Wenping would eventually remarry, and by then, if she bore brothers or sisters with a different father, she wouldn’t care whether they lived or died.

Children of fourteen or fifteen are at a sensitive and fragile age, how could they not be affected by such words?

...

Upon returning to the family quarters,

Chen Xiaolu cautioned her younger brother, "Don’t tell mom about the things you heard at Grandma’s."

"Why not?" Chen Xiaochao didn’t understand.

Chen Xiaolu replied, "Mom would definitely be unhappy if she knew."

Indeed, a daughter’s thoughts are more delicate, knowing how to be considerate of her mother.

"But what if mom asks us? What do we say then?"

"Just say they asked about our studies."

When they got home, Pei Wenping indeed asked what the members of the Chen family had said to the siblings.

The siblings managed to fool her.

Pei Wenping hadn’t expected her children would conspire to deceive her, believing that the Chen Family, being respectable people, wouldn’t use the children to achieve their ends.

Although the siblings had deceived Pei Wenping, they couldn’t stop the determination of the members of the Chen family.

Mother Chen nearly every day waited at the school gate, bringing food and drink for the siblings, expressing concerns and warmth, with two out of three sentences concerning the split of the inheritance.

In order to avoid the "entanglement" of the members of the Chen family, Chen Xiaochao chose to skip classes.

Chen Xiaolu didn’t have the courage to skip classes, but her mind wasn’t on the lessons either; she often got distracted and was critiqued by her teachers, becoming more silent and depressed.

After a unit quiz, Chen Xiaolu was called into the teacher’s office.

"Look at your score this time, 80 points! The test was all basic questions, and with your ability, you should easily have gotten full marks, but you lost a whole 20 points! Chen Xiaolu, do you realize what losing 20 points means when it comes to the middle school exams?"

"Also, if your brother doesn’t come to class tomorrow, I will have to call your mother and ask her to come to the school."

Hearing the mention of parent involvement, Chen Xiaolu panicked and repeatedly promised to persuade Chen Xiaochao to come to school; the teacher let it go at that.

The teacher was somewhat lenient about Chen Xiaochao’s absence from school partly because Chen Xiaochao had asked for sick leave in advance and partly because they were sympathetic to the siblings following the death of Chen Yi.

...

"Xiaolu!"

As soon as she stepped out of the school gate, she saw Mother Chen again.

"You’re finishing school so late today? Where is Xiaochao?"

Looking at Mother Chen’s concerned face, Chen Xiaolu felt only hypocrisy and revulsion.

"Can you please stop coming after us?!"

Mother Chen was left stunned.

Her granddaughter had always been a well-behaved girl, even when upset, she was like a little lamb, and she had never been disrespectful to her elders.

Chen Xiaolu, overwhelmed by days of frustration and anger, was unable to hold back tears: "To avoid you, Xiaochao isn’t even coming to school anymore. You just want dad’s inheritance; you talk so high and mighty, it’s disgusting! If dad knew how you are bullying mom and us after he passed away, he would never forgive you!"

Even though her granddaughter’s accusations hurt Mother Chen, she didn’t feel she was in the wrong; on the contrary, she thought Pei Wenping had led her granddaughter astray.

"We shouldn’t have let her raise the children. It’s only been a few days, and Xiaolu already dares to yell at me, her grandmother. We need to take back guardianship of Xiaolu and Xiaochao, or given more time, those kids will probably be taught not to recognize us at all!"

Yi Ling took the opportunity to stir the pot: "She insists on keeping Xiaolu and Xiaochao by her side, probably plotting exactly that, so the children’s share of the money will all go to the Pei Family."

As they were talking, a knock came from the door.

The members of the Chen family thought it was Pei Wenping coming to cause trouble, but when they opened the door, they found two unfamiliar men.