The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 64 - Why is it different from the one in the dream
Chapter 64: Chapter 64 Why is it different from the one in the dream?
Chapter 64 -64 Why is it different from the one in the dream? freēwēbnovel.com
Shen Mingzhu was first startled, then panicked, and afterward vigorously pushed the man away, fleeing to a safe distance four or five steps away from the bed.
“What are you doing?!”
Meeting his wife’s fiery almond-shaped eyes, Pei Yang was a bit bewildered.
He was purely trying to tease his wife.
It was broad daylight, and he had just traveled home, weary from the journey.
Even if he wanted to do something, he didn’t have the energy.
But her overreaction was indeed beyond his expectations.
The force with which she pushed him and the look she was giving him now, it was not the way one would treat a husband, but rather as if she was treating him like some rogue harassing women.
Had he scared her?
In just a few seconds, Pei Yang’s mind had raced through countless possibilities, automatically filtering for the one that would not make him angry.
His wife must have been frightened by him to act so angrily.
“I was just playing with you, look how scared you got.
I’m not going to eat you, am I?”
Confronting the man’s teasing eyes, Shen Mingzhu too realized her reaction might have been a bit too much.
She uncomfortably adjusted her hair and said to the man, “Go keep Ziheng company next door for a bit.
I need to change clothes.”
“You change, I’ll keep my eyes closed and promise not to peek.”
After saying this, Pei Yang covered his eyes with his hands and with a low, childishly mischievous voice said, “My eyes are covered, you can change now.”
Shen Mingzhu made a kicking motion at the cheeky man, then turned to find clothes and headed to the bathroom to change.
Hearing her departing footsteps, Pei Yang lowered his hands, his face filled with regret.
He rolled around on the bed a few times, then buried his face in the pillow and sniffed it for a while before leisurely getting up and leaving the bedroom.
He hadn’t paid much attention when he first returned, but now taking a closer look, he noticed many changes in the living room, the tea table cloth, sofa covers, and fruit bowl had all been replaced with new designs, and there were even more potted plants on the balcony.
Having changed her clothes, Shen Mingzhu came out of the bathroom to find Pei Yang on the balcony, leaning over with curiosity examining the oven.
“Did you buy this to make a fire?”
“No, it’s for baking things to eat.”
“It’s so big, how much do you need to bake for eating?
Can you manage to eat all that?” Pei Yang teased.
“Mind your own business, mere mortal,” she retorted.
After saying this, Shen Mingzhu turned back to the living room and closed the balcony door.
Fengcheng was much colder than Xicheng Port, with outdoor temperatures several degrees below zero, cold enough to make one shiver uncontrollably.
Pei Yang, laughing, followed her back into the living room, closed the balcony door, and then walked over to a wall adorned with medals.
“Ziheng is this talented?
He even won a first prize.”
“That’s nothing.
Your son is much more capable than you think,” she said.
Hearing that, Pei Yang looked back at her, “Not my son, our son.”
Shen Mingzhu glanced at him, then silently took gloves and a rag from a cluttered cabinet, ready to clean the house.
Having been away for half a month, dust had settled everywhere in the house.
Pei Yang didn’t idle either, taking the initiative to clean the most difficult part, the kitchen.
The floor was mopped spotlessly, the stove shined brilliantly, and even the blades of the range hood fan were as clean as new.
The cheeky man was somewhat useful after all.
Shen Mingzhu looked at the kitchen, now sparkling clean, and sighed silently to herself.
“What would you like for dinner?” Pei Yang asked after washing his hands, wiping them with a towel and seeking her preference.
Before leaving, Shen Mingzhu had emptied everything from the fridge and turned it off.
Apart from grain and staple foods, there wasn’t even a leaf in the house.
Considering it was only the third day after New Year’s, whether there were vegetables for sale at the market was uncertain, so Shen Mingzhu suggested he buy whatever was fresh.
“Go to the bedroom and put on your coat.
Let’s head out early, and if we can’t find any vegetables, we’ll raid my sister’s place and make do with what we can get,” she instructed.
Shen Mingzhu had no desire to go out and endure the cold.
“Go by yourself, I’ll give you the money,” she said.
Pei Yang gently clasped her wrist.
“I can’t find the vegetable market.”
“Are you trying to fool ghosts?”
Pei Yang laughed.
“I’m not fooling you.
When I was in school, it was my mom and sister who did all the cooking and grocery shopping.
After that, I joined the army, and when I came back, I went to work in deep-sea fishing, barely being home the whole year.
The last time I remember going to a vegetable market was in the third grade to help my mom buy soy sauce.
Now, I don’t even know which way the market entrance opens.”
“…”
Watching Shen Mingzhu’s retreating back as she headed to the room, Pei Yang’s smile was like that of a big bad wolf who had just tricked Little Red Riding Hood.
Finding a vegetable market couldn’t be that hard; just ask anyone and they could find the way.
But he just wanted to go out with her, to go grocery shopping with her, to experience the feeling of marital bliss singing in harmony.
Was that too much to ask?
——
In winter, darkness falls early.
Just past six o’clock, every household had their lights on.
“What’s that smell?
Ah, the rice is burnt!”
Ma Sufen rushed into the kitchen only to see the pot billowing with smoke and started scolding Shen Baolan.
“What good are you, letting the rice burn while tending the stove!
What are you waiting for?
Turn off the fire quickly!”
Shen Baolan pursed her lips and turned off the coal stove.
“If you don’t like how I cook, then cook it yourself!” With that, she turned and left the kitchen.
Ma Sufen was so furious that she felt like stabbing Shen Baolan with dozens of imaginary knives, then she frantically moved the pot to the sink to rinse it with water, trying to cool it down and save the rice inside.
Shen Baolan had given up, but an entire family couldn’t just go without dinner, so Ma Sufen had to get to work.
After much huffing and puffing, she finally prepared a table full of dinner.
As soon as she set the table, Shen Baolan, drawn by the smell, emerged from her room and plopped down to start eating without a second thought.
Ma Sufen’s face looked as unpleasant as if she had eaten excrement.
She had reproached Shen Baolan for lacking manners before, but Baolan always shot back with the same retort, “Your grandson is hungry, do you want to starve him?”
To Zhou Quanxiong and Zhou Shuhuan, father and son, this was nothing new, and they went about eating their meals.
Ma Sufen, on the other hand, had to take care of her grandson first, unable to eat until he was finished.
Pitifully, after a busy evening, she couldn’t even enjoy a hot meal.
However, that evening Shen Baolan clearly had something on her mind.
She was only half done eating when Zhou Shuhuan called her to help with the soup, and it took several shouts before she heard him.
Zhou Shuhuan couldn’t help complaining when he took the soup, “What are you thinking about that you’re so absentminded during a meal?”
Looking at her husband, Shen Baolan said somberly, “Pei Yang came back this afternoon.”
Zhou Shuhuan was somewhat taken aback.
He had gone out to play cards in the afternoon and only returned home in the evening.
“I’ll go over to the Pei Family later then.”
He had always been like a brother to Pei Yang and missed him after not seeing him for a while.
Shen Baolan immediately chimed in, “I’ll go with you.”
“You’ll do no such thing.
The roads are dark and slippery at night.
If you fall and hurt my grandson, I will never forgive you!” Ma Sufen cursed outright.
Zhou Shuhuan also disagreed with Baolan leaving the house with him.
He somewhat disdained Baolan’s current appearance and didn’t want to lose face in front of his good brother.
With additional opposition from his father, Zhou Quanxiong, Shen Baolan had to put aside her intentions for the time being, planning to visit Shen Mingzhu the next day instead.
She had to find out why Pei Yang had come back.
In her dreams, Pei Yang had never returned home; one month from now, at the end of March, Pei Yang was supposed to have an accident.
Why was it different from her dream?
She had to figure it out.
