The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 31 - Shot Himself in the Foot
Chapter 31: Chapter 31: Shot Himself in the Foot
Chapter 31 -31: Shot Himself in the Foot
Shen Baolan had never expected that not only did her attempt to humiliate Pei Wenping not go as planned, but it also backfired on her badly.
Not only was she lectured by the manager for a good half hour, but she was also required to write a 500-word self-criticism.
Shen Baolan didn’t dare tell her in-laws about the incident, but her silence didn’t mean others kept quiet, and plenty of people were keen to inform Ma Sufen about it.
By the time Shen Baolan got home from work, not only was she fiercely scolded by Ma Sufen, but she was also reprimanded by her father-in-law Zhou Quanxiong, and her husband Zhou Shuhuan didn’t say a word or come to her defense.
With tears rolling down her face, Shen Baolan felt wronged but had no choice other than to swallow her tears and grievances.
This was the path she chose, who else was there to blame?
However, seeing how protective Pei Wenping was of Shen Mingzhu and being a woman herself, how could she not feel a pinch of jealousy and envy?
“Shen Mingzhu, don’t be too smug.
My hardship is only temporary, but your days of suffering are still to come!” Shen Baolan thought to herself bitterly as she wiped her tears away.
When Pei Wenping learned that Shen Mingzhu was having trouble selling her mooncakes, she came over that very evening.
As soon as she entered, she said to Shen Mingzhu, “Pack up all the leftover mooncakes for me, I’ll buy them.”
At that moment, Shen Mingzhu thought it was the neighbors gossiping again and that their words had reached Pei Wenping’s ears.
“Big sister, you came at the right time.
I was actually planning to bring the mooncakes to you tomorrow.”
After speaking, Shen Mingzhu took out all the mooncakes and introduced each flavor to Pei Wenping, “Try a few first and see which flavor you like.
I’ll bake a couple of batches just for you.”
Pei Wenping found the Ice Skin Mooncakes rather novel, opened one, and upon tasting it, couldn’t stop praising how delicious it was.
“These mooncakes are so good!”
“This Ice Skin Mooncake is filled with mung bean.
If you like a different filling, I can also make those especially for you,” said Shen Mingzhu.
Pei Wenping continued to eat as she waved her hand, “No need, this is already very tasty.
Tell me how much for these, I’ll buy them all.”
It was then that Shen Mingzhu realized the purpose of Pei Wenping’s visit and felt a mix of emotions, “You don’t have to do that, big sister.
Feel free to take them if you like.
Let me know your favorite flavor, and I’ll make more for you later.
Or if you want to give them as gifts, I can package them in boxes to make them more presentable.”
Pei Wenping swallowed the last piece of mooncake and briefly explained what happened that morning with Shen Baolan.
After listening, Shen Mingzhu also got a bit annoyed.
She could tolerate Shen Baolan’s troublemaking as she had already returned the goods to her, but why did she have to go and create a scene with Pei Wenping?
Why was she always so troublesome?
“Big sister, Shen Baolan didn’t affect your work, did she?” asked Mingzhu.
Pei Wenping scoffed, “As if she has the power to do that.
I’ve been at the cotton mill for so many years, do they really think I just eat my food for free?”
Learning that Shen Baolan had been scolded by the management and had to write a self-criticism, Shen Mingzhu finally felt somewhat relieved, but she still thought that she needed to find an opportunity to teach Shen Baolan a lesson.
Otherwise, she would never stop her unreasonable hassling and it would be the death of her from annoyance.
The next day, Pei Wenping carried a bag of mooncakes, placing two on each of the leaders’ desks.
After making a round, there were a few left, which she shared with her colleagues in the office.
Owing to the fact that it’s hard to say no to generosity, especially when the mooncakes were indeed tastier than those bought from the outside, her colleagues in the office all placed orders, in a way to show respect for Pei Wenping.
Afterward, some leaders also came to Pei Wenping to place orders for mooncakes.
Pei Wenping registered each order meticulously.
As for Shen Mingzhu, since Pei Wenping was handling the mooncakes, she didn’t set up her stall and spent the day reading at home.
Not having sold any mooncakes was quite a blow to her, and she didn’t want to cause any more trouble because of the mooncake business, so she decided not to continue with it.
That evening, Pei Wenping brought her quite a few orders, and before leaving, she urged her to bake more, saying that she would also have her husband, Chen Yi, take them to his workplace to help sell them.
With such a supportive older cousin like Pei Wenping, Shen Mingzhu couldn’t slack off even if she wanted to.
Alright then, roll up the sleeves and get to work.
After pulling an all-nighter, Shen Mingzhu finished making all the mooncakes ordered by the employees of the cotton mill.
After taking Pei Ziheng to kindergarten, she went to buy gift boxes for packaging, and then personally delivered the mooncakes to the cotton mill.
Pei Wenping, who was very attentive, immediately noticed the weariness concealed beneath Shen Mingzhu’s makeup and chided her, “What’s the rush?
You could have baked them slowly during the day; nobody was pressing you.”
Even though her body was tired, Shen Mingzhu’s spirits were high.
“I couldn’t sleep last night, so I decided to stay up and get them done.”
Pei Wenping had a look of indulgent helplessness and asked if she had made extra.
Shen Mingzhu nodded eagerly, “I made five extra of each flavor.
I ran out of ingredients, so I could only make this many.
I’ll make some more after I get more ingredients and bring them to your place.”
“No need to bring them over.
I’ll come by to pick them up tomorrow and bring you the money then.”
After watching Shen Mingzhu leave, Pei Wenping initially wanted to ask the gatekeeper to help bring the mooncakes into the office.
But then she changed her mind and ran to the canteen to borrow a trolley.
When the canteen staff saw her borrowing a trolley, they casually asked what she needed it for.
Pei Wenping purposely spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear, “Oh, it’s nothing much.
Just moving some mooncakes.
The leaders at the factory thought the mooncakes made by my sister-in-law tasted good, so they placed some orders with me.
There, she’s just delivered them.
There are too many for me to carry alone, so I came to borrow a trolley.
I’ll return it as soon as I’m done.”
Everyone in the canteen knew that Shen Baolan had made a scene with Pei Wenping over the expensive mooncakes and ended up seeing her sell a whole cartload right after.
And the buyers were all leaders.
This made you think, did Shen Baolan lose face or what?
For a few dimes, she lost both her pride and dignity.
Was it worth it?
After being hit hard by both the leaders and her in-laws, Shen Baolan had no temper to speak of when faced with Pei Wenping’s provocation and face-slapping.
She kept her head down and remained silent, but inside she wasn’t willing to give in.
If it weren’t for her looking down on Pei Yang, Shen Mingzhu wouldn’t have had such dumb luck running into an older cousin as good as Pei Wenping.
Although Shen Mingzhu didn’t purposely broadcast her success in selling the mooncakes, her comings and goings, her deliveries, and her buying of supplies like flour, sugar, and beans, led everyone to guess that she had made a deal.
Everyone was green with envy.
When the news reached Ma Sufen, she just couldn’t wrap her head around it.
How could those expensive mooncakes sell?
Isn’t it better to spend that money on eating delicious meat?
Are the mooncakes so pricey that they take you to heaven?
Usually, Shen Mingzhu would pick up Pei Ziheng from kindergarten and then stop by the vegetable market to buy some groceries before going home.
But today, after buying the groceries, she had Pei Ziheng take them home first, while she sat by the flower beds at the entrance of the residential compound, chatting with a few of the older folks and waiting for someone.
A little after 6 p.m., Shen Baolan cycled into the residential compound.
Shen Mingzhu dusted off her butt and went to meet her.
