The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 73 - The Woman Who Is Organized and Has Taste
Chapter 73: Chapter 73: The Woman Who Is Organized and Has Taste
Chapter 73 -73: The Woman Who Is Organized and Has Taste
Today, the Pei Family was as bustling as a busy market.
Shortly after breakfast, a group of mothers who were good friends with Shen Mingzhu started arriving one after the other to bring her vegetables.
One brought a bunch of green onions, another brought two radishes, and another brought half a cabbage.
The gifts weren’t much, but they were all gestures of goodwill, and Shen Mingzhu accepted them without hesitation.
After delivering the vegetables, they also took the opportunity to chat about the latest gossip concerning the Zhou family.
“…Shen Baolan, that troublemaker, I don’t know what got into her, but she’s been egging Zhou Shuhuan on to go into business.
Can you imagine how angry Aunt Ma must be?
Just a couple of years ago, Zhou Shuhuan ended up in prison because of his business antics, and Aunt Ma has since become once bitten, twice shy.”
“Aunt Ma made a fierce declaration—if Shen Baolan dares to persuade her son to do business again, she’ll kick Shen Baolan out of the house and won’t even want to see her unborn grandchild!”
Pei Yang whispered to his son—
“Is this how your mom usually exchanges information with them?”
Ever since they talked about the topic of “mom” last night, Pei Yang had started referring to Shen Mingzhu as “your mom” in front of Pei Ziheng.
At first, Pei Ziheng wasn’t used to it and felt awkward, but after hearing it several times, he adapted.
“Yeah, when she picks me up from school, she also gossips with the other moms.”
“Does your mom really like gossip?”
After thinking for a moment, Pei Ziheng said, “She doesn’t like to talk, she likes to listen.”
So, his wife was a fan of spectacles, huh?
Now he knew how to appeal to her tastes.
As he was thinking this, he saw his wife and one of the gossiping mothers looking his way.
Pei Yang quickly smiled, and the mother returned the smile, though her expression seemed a bit odd.
After the woman left, Pei Yang asked Shen Mingzhu, “Were you talking about me just now?”
“Yes”
“And what were you saying?”
They were discussing your old issues with Shen Baolan.
While Shen Mingzhu inwardly muttered complaints, she tactfully changed the subject and instructed Pei Yang to move the barbecue stove from the balcony to the living room.
The barbecue oven, weighing dozens of pounds, seemed light as cotton in Pei Yang’s hands.
After moving the oven, Shen Mingzhu brought out flour, and Pei Yang, eager to help, rolled up his sleeves.
Free labor, there to be used.
After adjusting the proportion of flour, yeast, and warm water, she let Pei Yang knead the dough while she went to the kitchen to prepare the beef filling.
Pei Wenping had given them a pound of beef yesterday, and just now someone had brought over some green onions.
She planned to bake a beef pancake.
She would save some for themselves and give the rest to Pei Wenping and the mothers who brought vegetables, as a way of returning their kindness.
While she was chopping the beef, someone knocked at the door.
As Pei Yang was kneading the dough and his hands were dirty, Shen Mingzhu thought it might be a mother bringing more vegetables.
Without calling Pei Ziheng, she went to open the door herself.
But when she opened the door, to her surprise, it was Zhou Shuhuan.
The cleaver in her hand startled Zhou Shuhuan, “Pei Yang’s wife, what are you…?”
Shen Mingzhu quickly hid the cleaver behind her, “I’m chopping beef.
Come in, Pei Yang is kneading dough.”
Zhou Shuhuan stepped in just in time to see Pei Yang raising his flour-coated hands.
“Shuhuan is here.
Have a seat, I’ll be with you in a moment once I’ve finished kneading this dough.”
Zhou Shuhuan walked to the dining table, pulled up a stool, sat down, and started talking to Pei Yang while watching him knead the dough.
“What’s this for?”
“Mingzhu wants to make some pancakes.”
Zhou Shuhuan glanced towards the kitchen, listening to the rhythmic chopping sounds coming from within, his gaze unconsciously taking in the Pei Family’s living room.
The floor tiles were so polished they reflected light, and items on the tea table, bureau, and corner stands were neatly arranged.
There was a round-bellied white porcelain vase on the tea table, filled with several bunches of dried camellias.
The modest living room was meticulously arranged, fully proving that the lady of the house was both an excellent homemaker and someone with a real flair for creating ambiance.
Any man dwelling in such a warm home would undoubtedly feel happy.
Thinking of his own chaotic home, which was as messy as a pigsty, and then looking at the peaceful and harmonious Pei family, Zhou Shuhuan couldn’t help feeling a profound sense of bitterness and melancholy.
Seeing his gloominess, Pei Yang couldn’t help but offer words of comfort, “Even upper and lower teeth clash from time to time, let alone a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law living under the same roof, conflict is inevitable; no two tigers share one mountain, after all.
Didn’t Wenping used to quarrel with my mother all the time before she got married?
Don’t worry too much, no matter how much they argue, life must go on, mustn’t it?”
Zhou Shuhuan replied with a bitter smile, “Yang, you’re lucky to lead a peaceful life.
I came here today just to find some tranquility.”
“You envy me, yet I envy you.”
Zhou Shuhuan looked up, his face full of confusion and perplexity.
Envy him?
What was there to envy about him?
His career was struggling, his family was in discord, and his relationship with his wife was utterly dreadful.
Just six months into the marriage, he had completely lost any “desire” for his wife.
Living such a predictable and tedious life made him feel like he was on the verge of insanity.
As he was thinking, he heard Pei Yang say, “I didn’t even get to see my mother for the last time.
How much I wish she were still alive now, even if it meant constant quarrelling at home—I’d be willing.”
Zhou Shuhuan was silent, thinking to himself that if his mother were still alive, constantly fighting with his wife until the house became a den of chaos, Pei Yang wouldn’t feel this way.
Pei Yang had finished kneading the dough, and Shen Mingzhu had also prepared the beef filling.
It was time to make the cakes.
Shen Mingzhu’s method of cake-making was different from that of Fengcheng’s, which surprised both Pei Yang and Zhou Shuhuan.
In Fengcheng, people usually make meat cakes by pressing a dent into the ball of dough, stuffing in the meat filling, shaping it round, and then flattening it into a cake.
However, Shen Mingzhu’s cakes involved repeatedly rolling out the dough into thin layers, applying suet, a technique somewhat akin to making puff pastry.
The prepared cake bases weren’t baked immediately but were first fried in oil until both sides turned golden brown before being transferred to the oven to bake slowly over low heat until they became fragrant, crispy, and crunchy to the point of crumbling with each bite.
When the first batch of beef cakes came out of the oven, Pei Yang and Zhou Shuhuan each grabbed one and ate despite being scalded, unwilling to let go.
In no time, half of the beef cakes had vanished into the stomachs of the two men.
If not for Shen Mingzhu’s intervention, they likely would have devoured the entire batch of beef cakes.
An hour later, all the beef cakes were ready, and Shen Mingzhu wrapped ten in oiled paper, cushioned them with an old cotton-padded jacket, and asked Pei Yang to deliver them to Pei Wenping while they were still hot.
Pei Yang called Zhou Shuhuan to accompany him.
Subconsciously, he didn’t want to leave Zhou Shuhuan alone with his wife at home.
Even if Zhou Shuhuan was his brother.
Zhou Shuhuan had a motorcycle, Pei Yang rode the bike, and Zhou Shuhuan sat behind, holding the beef cakes.
Despite the cakes being thickly wrapped in oiled paper and a cotton padded jacket, the wafting aroma of meat kept assailing Zhou Shuhuan’s nostrils, tempting him immensely.
“Yang, can I sneak a cake?”
Craving the taste of the beef cakes, Pei Yang said while swallowing saliva, “Then take out two, and we’ll have one each.”
“Sure.”
The palm-sized cakes were gone in just a few bites.
“Yang, I want to eat another one.”
“…So do I.”
And so, they ate as they walked, and by the time they reached the bottom of Pei Wenping’s apartment building, only two cakes were left in the bag.
How could they give away just two cakes?
Rather than stopping halfway, they decided to finish them all and then head back home.
Thus, the two of them stood at the bottom of Pei Wenping’s apartment, wolfing down the cakes.
“What are you two sneaking around here for?” fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
Halfway through the feast, Pei Wenping came downstairs and caught the two snack thieves red-handed.
