The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 52 - No Money and Still Want to Learn to Rob by Force
Chapter 52: Chapter 52: No Money and Still Want to Learn to Rob by Force
Chapter 52 -52: No Money and Still Want to Learn to Rob by Force
Shen Mingzhu rolled her eyes and without turning her head, called into the room, “Pei Ziheng, someone’s here for you.”
Pei Ziheng was still asleep, and at the sound of Shen Mingzhu’s call, he sat up groggily with bleary eyes, looking towards the doorway.
Wang Xiuzhu waved at him with a beaming smile, “Ziheng, time to get up!”
Pei Ziheng looked at her expressionlessly, displeasure written on every part of him, right down to his hair.
Displeasure from being woken up.
Wang Xiuzhu glanced at the washbasin and toiletries in Shen Mingzhu’s hand and said, “I want to have a word with Ziheng.
Why don’t you step out for a while?”
Shen Mingzhu rolled her eyes, told Pei Ziheng “I’ll be right back,” and left.
Wang Xiuzhu, acting as if she was already familiar with the place, stepped into the dormitory.
Her face bore a gentle and kind smile, “Ziheng, let me take you to play on the steamboat, would you like to go?”
Pei Ziheng pursed his lips in silence, but the displeasure on his face seemed to lessen a bit.
With a look of victory, Wang Xiuzhu thought to herself, naturally, no child could resist the temptation of a steamboat.
“Normally, children are not allowed on the ship, but I especially asked an uncle’s friend to make an exception and let us go on board for a while.
This is also the ship your father usually works on.
You must want to see the place where your father works, right?”
There was no denying that Wang Xiuzhu’s proposal was irresistible to Pei Ziheng.
Added up, across two lifetimes, he had never seen the environment where Pei Yang worked, and he truly wanted to go and see it.
“Wait a moment, I’ll get dressed,” he said.
Seeing him relent, Wang Xiuzhu was elated, “Let me help you get dressed.”
“No need, I can do it myself.”
Looking at Pei Ziheng’s aloof and pretty little face, Wang Xiuzhu secretly thought this child was so difficult to deal with.
He must have been spoiled by Shen Mingzhu, that countrywoman.
Once she became Ziheng’s stepmother, she would definitely teach him to be a well-behaved and polite child.
Thinking this, Wang Xiuzhu gave Pei Ziheng an even more tender and kind smile while fishing for information, “Ziheng, do you usually dress yourself?
Doesn’t Shen Mingzhu help you?”
Pei Ziheng gave her a white look, “I’m not disabled.
Why would I need someone else to dress me?”
Wang Xiuzhu was taken aback, “But you’re still young; you should be taken care of by adults.
Your father married her exactly for that reason—to take care of you.
Otherwise, she has no value in this family.”
If Shen Mingzhu was the same malicious woman from his past life, indeed, she would not have been necessary.
But she was different; she wasn’t the same as that malicious woman.
“You’re wrong.
Auntie Mingzhu has other values in this family,” he retorted.
Wang Xiuzhu was about to ask what value that could be when she heard Pei Ziheng say, “With her here, those crooked melons and cracked jujubes with ill intentions won’t have a chance to step through the doors of my house.”
Wang Xiuzhu: “…”
She almost suspected that Pei Ziheng was implying something about her, but how could that be?
He was only four years old, and a four-year-old child wouldn’t understand these things.
It must have been Shen Mingzhu’s doing.
She always knew this woman wasn’t as simple as she seemed on the surface!
To actually teach a child all this nonsense.
It seemed inconceivable that a countrywoman could be so scheming.
She absolutely couldn’t let Pei Yang’s child be ruined by this calculating woman!
Meanwhile, Shen Mingzhu who was washing up didn’t have the slightest clue that she had just been firmly saddled with a huge scapegoat.
“Are you dressed?
Let’s go,” said Wang Xiuzhu.
Seeing Pei Ziheng had put on his clothes, Wang Xiuzhu made a move as if to grab his hand, but was avoided by Pei Ziheng with a look of disgust.
“Wait, Aunt Mingzhu hasn’t come back yet.”
“We don’t need to wait for her.
We’ll have our fun.
After we look at the steamboat, I’ll take you to eat something delicious.
Do you like shrimp?
There are shrimp as thick as your arm, one could stuff you full,” Wang Xiuzhu said.
The more Pei Ziheng listened, the more he frowned.
“You’re not taking Aunt Mingzhu on the steamboat?”
“Of course, the steamboat isn’t for outsiders.
I also had to make a lot of effort to get Uncle Sheng to agree to let you come onboard for a bit.
She wouldn’t even be able to get on if she wanted to.”
Just then, Shen Mingzhu came back to the dormitory carrying a washbasin and toiletries, and also overheard Wang Xiuzhu’s words.
Shen Mingzhu wasn’t particularly interested in boarding the steamboat, but she knew how much Pei Ziheng missed Pei Yang, his father, yet she didn’t trust Wang Xiuzhu to take Pei Ziheng out.
So she said to Pei Ziheng, “I’ll accompany you out, and when you go on the steamboat to play, I’ll wait for you below.”
Wang Xiuzhu rolled her eyes at her but didn’t say anything.
However, Pei Ziheng shook his head and sat back down on the bed.
“I don’t want to go anymore.”
Both Wang Xiuzhu and Shen Mingzhu were surprised.
Wang Xiuzhu tried hard to describe how much fun the steamboat was, attempting to persuade Pei Ziheng to go out with her, aiming to win over Pei Ziheng’s heart.
Ordinary four-year-old children like Zhou Hao might fall for it, but Pei Ziheng was no ordinary child.
He repelled Wang Xiuzhu with just one sentence, “I can wait for my dad to come back and let him take me and Aunt Mingzhu to play on the steamboat together.”
Shen Mingzhu’s face bloomed with a smile, while Wang Xiuzhu’s face looked as awful as if she had eaten shit.
You would think Wang Xiuzhu would finally settle down now, but no!
She was as resilient and hard to defeat as a cockroach.
“Shen Mingzhu, let’s have a talk,” she said.
“Let’s talk,” Shen Mingzhu responded nonchalantly, showing no sign of intimidation.
Pei Ziheng, watching her all ready to battle, sighed silently and, expressionlessly, picked up the small basin on the balcony rail and left the dormitory.
“Shen Mingzhu, name your price.
What will it take for you to leave the Pei Family?”
Oh, the audacity of the toad yawning – what a grandiose breath!
Shen Mingzhu said playfully, “Give me a reason.
Why should I leave the Pei Family?”
“I knew Pei Yang before you did.
If it hadn’t been for you, Pei Yang and I would already be together.
Shen Mingzhu, you’re the newcomer, you’re the third party who came between Pei Yang and me!”
Shen Mingzhu burst into laughter at this, “Since you’ve known Pei Yang for so long, why didn’t you make him marry you then?
If he’d married you, there would be nothing to do with me, right?”
Biting her lip, Wang Xiuzhu’s face was full of resentment.
“Shen Mingzhu, you just happened to have the luck of the draw, just that little bit earlier.
But you should know that a perfect family needs love to maintain and nurture it.
You two have no love between you; he married you just to have a free nanny for Pei Ziheng!
I hope you can step aside voluntarily, and rest assured I will do my utmost to compensate you.”
Shen Mingzhu laughed, “Give me a million, and I’ll divorce Pei Yang on the spot.
If I wait even a second longer, consider me the loser!”
Wang Xiuzhu’s eyes nearly popped out, “A million?
Why don’t you just rob a bank?”
“Didn’t you ask me to name my price?
Or do you think Pei Yang isn’t worth that much?
Or maybe, you just don’t have the money?
Really now, having no money and still trying to force your way, you’re quite the joker!”
Having successfully driven away her rival, Shen Mingzhu was in a particularly good mood, only to turn around and see her stepson, his little face puffed up with anger, glaring at her.
