The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 862 - 861 Regret

Looking at Du Juan’s noticeably haggard and thinner cheeks, Shen Hongmei, as a woman herself, couldn’t help but feel a touch of sorrow.

"In a situation like this, why didn’t Brother Chaobei come with you?"

Smiling wryly at the mirror as she tidied her somewhat disheveled hair, Du Juan said, "You know what he’s like. He can’t hold his liquor and he’s not good at mingling. His presence would just add to the chaos, so I’m better off on my own."

Shen Hongmei nodded in understanding, then began to express concern about Du Juan’s factory.

"Will you be able to start work before New Year’s?"

"I don’t know," her tone permeated with confusion and fatigue.

Although Shen Hongmei wanted to press for the reason, Du Juan deflected by smiling and changing the subject, showing concern for the child in her belly instead.

After a brief conversation, Du Juan’s assistant Wu Yongmei came over to hurry her back to the private room; several leaders from the Environmental Protection Bureau were waiting.

Shen Hongmei stopped Du Juan as she was about to leave, "Do you regret it? If you had chosen to stay at the food factory, you wouldn’t have to work so hard."

Du Juan turned around and smiled at Shen Hongmei, "Right now, all I can think about is how to get the factory up and running as soon as possible. I don’t have time to think about anything else."

Her evasion was an answer in itself.

But understanding without pointing it out is the dignity and unspoken agreement of grown-ups.

"Hang in there."

"Thank you."

Along the way back to the private room, looking at Du Juan’s pale complexion, Wu Yongmei couldn’t help but offer words of comfort:

"Everything will get better. The factory is already built, the equipment and staff are in place. We’re just waiting for one piece of paper. Once we get the approval, we can start working immediately."

"Yes, that’s why I can’t give up."

Du Juan turned her head and smiled at her assistant. Strangely enough, she suddenly remembered how she had assisted Shen Mingzhu in starting the food factory.

Back then, she was just like Wu Yongmei is now.

Close-knit, working in solidarity, always having each other’s backs.

But she also knew that she could never go back to how things were with Shen Mingzhu.

A dull ache sprouted in her heart, making it difficult to breathe.

At last, she realized what she had given up and how important it had been.

A sudden, spinning agony hit her, and she lost consciousness.

... freewёbn૦νeɭ.com

"Your sister-in-law just finished surgery and won’t wake up so quickly," Shen Chaobei explained in a low voice, looking exhausted in the hospital room.

Shen Mingzhu nodded, signaling Pei Yang to put down the gifts and fruits, then called Shen Chaobei out of the room to talk.

"Drinking caused a gastric hemorrhage, but the bleeding has stopped, and there’s no danger to her life. She just needs to rest and recover for a while," said Shen Chaobei with a worried frown.

While it was good that his wife was out of danger, it was critical time for their entrepreneurship; every day delayed felt like money slipping away like running water.

Understanding that Du Juan needed rest, Shen Mingzhu offered a few words of consolation to Shen Chaobei before taking her leave.

...

The next day after work, Shen Mingzhu carried the nourishing soup stewed by Cui Lianying and visited the hospital once more.

Just as she arrived at the hospital entrance, she ran into Jia Yuemei, who was preparing to leave.

"Back then, you were so good to her, bringing her and her husband from the countryside to the city to make a fortune together, supporting her to become the Executive Chef. But the moment she felt confident, she thought of leaving you to fend for herself. Now look at her, she has come face to face with karma, hasn’t she? Without you, she is nothing, and she’s even worn herself into a sickbed. Truly, it’s like divine justice," Jia Yuemei vented about her sister-in-law Du Juan while watching Shen Mingzhu’s reaction.

Du Juan’s plight may have pleased her, but she was more interested in using the opportunity to curry favor with Shen Mingzhu.

Shenji’s business was booming more than ever, becoming a golden goose.

She was counting on Shen Mingzhu to be so happy that she would just give Shenji to her man outright.

Even if she didn’t give away the entire Shenji, giving her man more shares would be good, as that’s all money.

Shen Mingzhu could clearly see through Jia Yuemei’s wishful thinking.

A couple of years ago, when Jia Yuemei gave birth to her second child, she gave Shen Xiangnan 5% of Shenji’s shares as a full-month’s gift.

Including the shares Shen Xiangnan originally held, he now had a total of 20% of Shenji’s shares.

However, clearly, this was not enough to satisfy Jia Yuemei.

"Sister-in-law, we’re all family here, so there’s no need to speak like an outsider in the future. It’s commendable that your sister-in-law has ambition and wants to start her own business. Likewise, if you and your husband also have aspirations and plan to leave Shenji to start your own business, I will fully support you."

Jia Yuemei was startled and quickly denied it, "Little sister, Xiangnan and I are determined to follow you and have no thoughts of leaving Shenji."

A joke it was, for Shen Xiangnan was the executive chef of Shenji, not to mention his generous salary, but he also received a substantial dividend every year.

Although ambitious, she was also aware of her limitations.

"No worries, sister-in-law. If you decide you want to leave, just say the word and I will treat you fairly and buy back the shares from my brother-in-law."

Seeing that her flattery had backfired, Jia Yuemei made an excuse to go home to cook and hurried off.

In the hospital room, Du Juan had woken up and was being taken care of by Shen Yan, drinking porridge.

When Shen Mingzhu arrived, Shen Yan considerately stood up to offer her seat.

"Aunt, please have a seat."

"You sit; I’ll sit on the hospital bed."

Shen Mingzhu smiled and patted her niece’s shoulder, placed the soup thermos on the bedside cabinet, and expressed concern for Du Juan’s health.

"The thermos contains a stomach-nourishing soup Aunt Ying made, have it later."

"Thank you for making the trip, I’m fine."

Du Juan smiled gratefully, but her smile also faintly revealed a sense of loss and guilt.

Shen Mingzhu didn’t stay long and left.

It was the end of the year, and there was a lot to do at the factory. She was kept on her toes.

Despite being busy, she had Xia Wushuang inquire into the reason behind Du Juan’s factory’s inability to start operations.

The inquiry revealed that the issue lay in the environmental protection assessment and approval stage.

From the initial stages of land acquisition and construction, Du Juan’s factory had passed environmental protection registration and approval.

However, at the completion of the construction, the factory was reported and the environmental bureau’s investigation concluded that some building materials did not meet environmental standards, demanding limited time for rectification.

In simple terms, it meant that all non-compliant aspects had to be dismantled and rebuilt.

But, easy to say, not so simple to do.

Dismantling and rebuilding was time-consuming, labor-intensive, and costly.

Moreover, this wasn’t really a big issue; most factories faced the same, and fundamentally, it was just an excuse to ask for bribes.

But giving bribes also requires finesse; it’s not just about wanting to give – the other party has to be willing to accept.

During this time, Du Juan had been running around trying to solve the issue, wining and dining, until she ended up in the hospital with a bleeding stomach.

After learning the full story, Shen Mingzhu called Shen Chaobei for advice.

The next day, Shen Chaobei delivered specially made tea gift boxes to the homes of the spouses of the officials responsible for the factory’s environmental review.

The day after the gifts were delivered, the factory received the approval document from the environmental bureau.

...

When Shen Mingzhu came home from work and saw Du Juan sitting with her husband Shen Chaobei on the couch, she wasn’t surprised.

"Why were you discharged? Didn’t the doctor say it’s best to rest in bed for a week?"

"That’s what I said too, but your sister-in-law insisted on being discharged."

Shen Chaobei took over the conversation, his tone mixed with dissatisfaction and concern.