The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 27 - People and Money, Always Possessing One of Them

Chapter 27: Chapter 27 People and Money, Always Possessing One of Them

Chapter 27 -27 People and Money, Always Possessing One of Them

After Shen Baolan left, Shen Mingzhu went to the kitchen to boil water for a bath.

When she came out of the kitchen, she saw her stepson sitting on the couch, his piercing black eyes staring straight at her.

“While in the room, Zhou Hao asked me a question,” he said.

“What question?” she asked.

“He wanted to know who taught you to make egg cakes.”

Shen Mingzhu was rather speechless about Shen Baolan using Zhou Hao to snoop for information, but she was quite curious about how her stepson had answered Zhou Hao.

“I told him you learned by reading books.”

Shen Mingzhu lavished praise without stinginess, “Full marks for the answer.

If Zhou Hao asks you anything else in the future, you just answer like that.”

“Then do I get a reward?”

Hey, it seems that there are real benefits to letting the stepson play with other kids his age.

He’s become much more proactive than before, even actively asking for a reward now.

Shen Mingzhu asked excitedly, “What reward do you want?”

Pei Ziheng looked at her, his eyes filled with curiosity, “I’d like to know too, who taught you to make egg cakes.”

Is that it?

Shen Mingzhu sat next to her stepson and made up stories with the skill of placating a child, “As most people age, their experiences, wisdom, and insight tend to grow.

But me, I’m not most people.

I’m among the rare superhumans of this world, whose talents awaken with age, like cooking for example.

You could also think of it this way, I’m self-taught at making egg cakes, but that’s a secret, don’t tell anyone else, okay?”

Pei Ziheng watched her perform with an expression that said, ‘I’ll just quietly watch you make a fool of yourself,’ “Oh, in your world, are there many people like you who are self-taught?”

“…Hahaha!

Hahaha!”

Shen Mingzhu pretended to laugh heartily, but inwardly she was already getting the creeps.

For the first time, she realized just how eerily black her stepson’s pupils were, like a pair of black holes ready to swallow everything.

For a moment, she almost believed that her stepson had seen through her secret.

But she quickly regained her composure, “Xiaohuan, is this a new game you kids are playing these days?

Then what world do you belong to?”

“I come from hell.”

Shen Mingzhu: !!!

Indeed, a natural-born antagonist.

It seems there’s an anti-human demon factor in his bones.

“What about you?” Pei Ziheng persisted.

Shen Mingzhu didn’t want to admit that she had been driven to cold sweats by a four-year-old child.

“If you’re from hell, then I must be from heaven.

As long as you’re willing to be a good, honest, beautiful, and virtuous person, when I go back, I’ll take you with me.

That way, you can live in heaven and enjoy a happy life.”

But in reality, it was you who pushed me into hell to begin with, and now you’re saying you want to take me to heaven to live a happy life.

What a joke.

The mouth of a woman, full of deceitful lies.

Naturally, Shen Mingzhu had no idea what her stepson was thinking.

Seeing him stay silent and not pursue the matter further, she breathed a sigh of relief internally.

——

The majority of those working in the canteen kitchen were women, and when a group of women gathered to work, the conversation inevitably turned to children and men.

Shen Baolan was a new bride with a thin face.

Whenever everyone talked about matters of men and women, she would always listen in silence, never daring to join in.

But after hearing what Shen Mingzhu had to say about Pei Yang last night, she had been thinking about it so much she hadn’t slept well.

Today, as everyone started talking about it, she quietly asked a woman beside her with a red face.

The woman glanced at her and stifled her laughter, “The way you ask shows you don’t have much experience.”

It was as if Shen Baolan had been shown a new world, and she was shocked.

The person eyed her, “Do you really not understand, or are you pretending not to understand?”

Shen Baolan certainly wouldn’t admit it; she explained with a flushed face, “I do have it, I just don’t know if it’s the kind you’re talking about.”

The person leaned close to Shen Baolan’s ear and described it with a laugh.

Shen Baolan didn’t know how to respond appropriately, so she could only vaguely reply four or five times.

Shen Baolan forced an awkward smile, but her heart felt as cold and hollow as a radish soaked in a basin of water.

Being told that her husband was inept not even a month into the marriage—who could stand it?

But thinking it over, she hadn’t married Zhou Shuhuan for that sort of thing; what she was after was Zhou Shuhuan’s eventual success, which would allow her to live a good life.

With either a man or money, as long as she could secure one, she would always be better off than Shen Mingzhu.

No matter how capable Pei Yang was, what did it matter if he died in less than half a year?

By then, Shen Mingzhu would be left with nothing, not even catching a single benefit, and she’d even become a worn-out shoe!

Thinking this way, Shen Baolan felt much more balanced in her heart, but there was still some regret.

It was like finding a piece of jade in a bargain bin, only to get home and discover a crack on the jade.

It was indeed a case of imperfection in something beautiful.

—

After work, Pei Wenping, as usual, went to the bike shed to ride her motorcycle home.

Just as she exited the shed, she ran into Wang Defa, who had also come to retrieve his bike after work.

They usually just nodded at each other and passed by, but today Wang Defa went out of his way to stop Pei Wenping.

After dinner, Shen Mingzhu took out a sieve, preparing to sift the flour needed to bake egg cakes in a couple of days.

She hadn’t started sifting when Pei Wenping showed up at her door.

“Big sister-in-law, what brings you here so late?

Is something the matter?”

Seeing Pei Wenping’s serious expression, Shen Mingzhu subconsciously worried if she had done something wrong again and the other party had come to seek retribution.

“Sister-in-law, have you had dinner?”

Though Pei Wenping’s expression was stern, her tone was kind; this made Shen Mingzhu feel that Pei Wenping’s anger was not directed at her.

Could it be that she had had a fight at her in-laws’ and had come to her maternal home for comfort?

Shen Mingzhu hastily said she had eaten and then, concerned, asked Pei Wenping if she had eaten.

When Pei Wenping said she had, Shen Mingzhu was going to pour her a glass of water, but Pei Wenping stopped her.

“Don’t trouble yourself, sister-in-law.

I’m not thirsty.

Change your clothes, and let’s go out to take care of some business.”

Shen Mingzhu didn’t dare to ask more questions and quickly went to her room to change into clothes suitable for going out.

While choosing her clothes, she instinctively decided to wear pants instead of a skirt.

A woman’s intuition told her that Pei Wenping was going to take her to confront someone, and wearing a skirt would hinder them.

The sisters-in-law left the house, with Pei Wenping leading the way and Shen Mingzhu following behind.

After descending the stairs, Pei Wenping didn’t head towards the main entrance of the residential building but instead walked in the direction of another apartment building in the compound.

Could the big sister-in-law have had a falling-out with someone in the apartment complex?

“Big sister, where are we going?”

“Just up ahead, to the Zhou family.”

Hearing the word ‘Zhou,’ Shen Mingzhu’s heart skipped a beat, thinking it might be related to Shen Baolan’s in-laws.

“What are we going to do at the Zhou family’s place?”

Pei Wenping glanced at her, “Settle accounts!”

“…”