The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 820 - 819, The First Day of the New Year

Unlike the father and son who disliked sweets, Pei Tang found himself with preferences more like Shen Mingzhu, particularly joyful about eating glutinous rice balls on New Year’s Day.

Furthermore, Shen Mingzhu had put in extra effort to make the rice balls colorful, making Pei Tang extremely fond of them, eating more than the father and son combined.

After breakfast, the family of four drove back to Anping Town.

This year marked the second anniversary of Qin Jinlian’s death, and just like last year, they needed to return to Shenjiagou to pay their respects.

When they arrived at the residence in Anping Town, the whole family was still having breakfast.

As a married-out daughter, Shen Mingzhu could choose not to return to her parental home for the New Year’s celebration, but it was obligatory for the brothers, Shen Chaobei and Shen Xiangnan, to return according to the unwritten traditions and rules of rural life.

No matter how successful you are away from home, during New Year’s, you still need to return and be the dutiful son or grandson.

After not seeing her for a while, Jia Yuemei had gained quite a bit of weight, her face almost round now, Shen Mingzhu barely recognized her at first glance.

By contrast, Du Juan seemed especially thin, even to the point of looking gaunt.

As they left, Shen Mingzhu deliberately rode in the same car as Du Juan and after showing some concern for her health, they talked about the management of the food factory.

"You’ve been working hard recently. This period must be the most difficult since the establishment of the food factory. Can you manage?"

Du Juan smiled, "What else can I do but hang in there?"

Shen Mingzhu contemplated, "I plan to return to the factory in March."

Du Juan, who had been looking out the car window, turned her face startled and surprised.

"Why do you suddenly want to come back?"

Shen Mingzhu jokingly self-mocked, "After resting for three years, even my bones have gotten lazy. It’s time to come back."

Saying this, she patted Du Juan on the shoulder, "Once I take over the work, you can take a break, adjust properly, and even go on a trip."

Du Juan nodded and agreed.

...

After paying respects to Qin Jinlian, the large family did not immediately return to Anping Town but stayed in the old house to discuss its renovation.

The old house was decrepit and during last year’s storm, the walls of the north and west rooms had collapsed by half, the gray tiled roof also leaking everywhere.

After discussing all morning, everyone agreed to flatten the old structure and build a new building, the cost of which would be borne by the brothers, Shen Chaobei and Shen Xiangnan.

On the way back, Jia Yuemei whispered to Shen Xiangnan, "This time building the house, the little sister isn’t contributing money, so she’ll have no part in the division later."

Shen Xiangnan looked at her disdainfully, "Besides those few contracted lands, what else is there? If you like farming, go back and do it yourself. Keep it all, no one will fight you."

"Who knows, what if we get lucky with demolition or something in the future?"

"You must have let the tofu go to your brain yesterday, thinking about demolition. You sure have high hopes."

"Why shouldn’t I hope? Didn’t my cousin’s mother’s home get demolished because a railway was built nearby, and the government compensated them with several thousand yuan?"

"Spread over each person, that’s just several thousand yuan; you think the little sister cares about that much?"

"Several thousand yuan or not, isn’t a small mosquito leg still meat?"

"I don’t care to talk anymore."

"Fine, let’s not talk then!"

The couple started the New Year off with idle frustration over Jia Yuemei’s baseless speculations.

...

Du Juan didn’t go back to Anping Town with everyone; instead, she split ways halfway and went back to her parents’ house with Chaobei and their two children.

Du Juan’s family home was in Yushu Village.

As the name suggests, towering elms lined the village from one end to the other. During the times of clothing and food scarcity, the villagers relied on selling elm seeds to survive the famine.

There was still no highway to Yushu Village; the road from the village to the town was seven or eight miles away, accessible only by motorcycle or on foot.

Traversing the mountains and hills was tough, not only for the coddled Shen Zilong who couldn’t bear it, but even for Du Juan, who was used to the route and was left out of breath.

During a rest halfway, Du Juan stared at the winding mountain path and said,

"When we have money someday, the first thing I want to do is turn this path into a highway."

Hearing Du Juan say that, Shen Chaobei also added, "Exactly, once there’s a highway, we can drive back instead of walking."

"If we cooperate with Luo Sen, perhaps this wish could be fulfilled next year."

Du Juan’s voice was low, mixed with the noise of her son Shen Zilong nearby, causing Shen Chaobei to hear her unclearly:

"What did you say?"

"Nothing, let’s go."

"Oh."

Shen Chaobei called to their son and daughter to follow behind her and hurry along.

...

On Mingzhu’s end, she arrived back in Anping Town just in time for lunch.

Following the father and son from the Shen Family’s idea, reheating last night’s New Year’s Eve dinner leftovers and boiling a pot of dumplings would suffice.

But Mingzhu didn’t want to eat leftovers, so the father and son had no choice but to comply, getting out the home-cured pork, chicken, and duck to cook in a big iron pot.

Cooking the cured meats took some time, so everyone sat in the courtyard, nibbling on snacks to stave off hunger while chatting.

Mingzhu took this opportunity to discuss post-new-year work plans with Xiangnan.

Although Shenji was a catering business, it was somewhat related to a food factory, and she had some initial plans in mind to integrate catering with food production to spark some unique ideas.

"Mom, are you going back to work after the holidays?"

Seeing her daughter’s surprised yet joyful expression, Mingzhu smiled and hugged her daughter affectionately, "Do you think I won’t be able to manage you if I go to work?"

Pei Tang sat on her lap, her legs moving as if rowing a boat, "It’s not that. Every day we have to get up early for school and work, while you can sleep in at home. I was jealous. Now, you have to work too."

Mingzhu was both amused and exasperated, pinching her daughter’s chin, "Do you think your mom was born to just sleep in at home? When Mom was your age, just like you, I had to get up before dawn to go to school."

Xiangnan chimed in cheekily, "Little sister, you’re exaggerating. You were lazier than Guoguo as a child. You wouldn’t get up unless the sun shone on your bed, and you were late to school two days out of three. If you weren’t afraid of working in the fields, you wouldn’t have gone to school at all."

This was the original owner’s behavior, yet Mingzhu couldn’t refute it.

Pei Yang teasingly leaned over, "Were you really that lazy as a child?"

Before Mingzhu could get angry, he continued, "When I was little, I was mischievous, and you were lazy. Isn’t that a match made in heaven?"

Pei Tang, full of curiosity, asked, "Mom, weren’t you scared of the teachers scolding you for being late to school?"

Xiangnan was about to speak but was silenced by Mingzhu’s stern glare, swallowing his words back.

"Times and environments were different; you can’t compare. Back then, we were so poor we barely had enough to eat, needing to work in the fields while attending school. It was difficult to focus solely on academics. But for you, you are fortunate ones, not needing to worry about livelihood, so there’s no reason not to focus on your studies."

Pei Tang obediently nodded, "Oh."