Forcing Me to Be Reborn?!-Chapter 197 - 169 The Legendary Beautiful Stepmother

Chapter 197: Chapter 169: The Legendary Beautiful Stepmother

Chapter 197: Chapter 169: The Legendary Beautiful Stepmother

The next day, Cheng Zhu woke up in the morning before replying to the WeChat message Zhang Qiqi had sent late the previous night.

Both had told each other they were going to take a bath last night, intending to gauge through their subsequent responses after the temporary interruption whether their feelings had developed further through the date.

If Cheng Zhu had looked for her to chat after finishing his shower, that would undoubtedly have been a good sign.

But she waited and waited, to no avail.

Even when she took the initiative to send “I’m done with my bath” his reply was like a stone sinking into the ocean.

Such experiences were common for Zhang Qiqi, who was usually the one saying she was off to take a bath and then wouldn’t reply.

But who would have thought that today, the tables had turned!

—A complete reversal!

When Cheng Zhu woke up in the morning, he reluctantly made time to reply, a message that Zhang Qiqi found all too familiar.

“I took a hot bath yesterday and got so sleepy as soon as my head hit the pillow, I just fell asleep,” Cheng Zhu began making excuses.

If one were to actually calculate his sleeping hours, he had slept for a full eleven hours!

Was watching a movie as tiring as farming?

“No worries, I ended up sleeping late last night too,” Zhang Qiqi replied, even though she had only slept at midnight.

It’s the scoundrel who requires a scoundrel to grind, the sea queen who needs the sea king to torture.

—”Torture”.

After a brief reply and a routine effort at maintaining the relationship, Cheng Zhu said he was busy and had to go.

In fact, he didn’t have anything particularly important that morning, just a visit to [Persistent Visit]’s studio to bask in the cheers of the employees.

“No choice, as we briefly topped the rankings in our category last night, right?”

“Last night, everyone was already celebrating in the work chat.”

In high spirits, Cheng Zhu sent an 888 lucky red packet to the group, instantly heating up the atmosphere.

He never played games; the employees all knew that once the shop firmly secured the top spot, the boss would, as always, hand out red packets to everyone.

By noon, Shen Qingning, who was reading a romance novel in her room in a high-end villa complex in Hang City, heard a knock on the door.

“Ningning, it’s time to eat,” her stepmother’s voice came from outside.

“Okay, Auntie,” Shen Qingning replied, slowly closing the novel in her hands.

She personally preferred reading physical books.

The book she was reading was still a tearjerker.

The cool girl chose her romance novels with a steadfast principle of no torture, no reading. For some reason, she loved to dive into the intense love and tangled emotions in these books.

Her rational mind told her it was all unrealistic, and the content was fake.

But she was a reasonable person on most days, and when relaxing, she liked to read without overthinking.

These days, when reading her tragic romance novels, her mood was not particularly good.

Oddly, reading a medium-level torture book made her emotions fluctuate as if it were one of the most extreme kind.

The clear-headed girl knew the problem wasn’t with the book.

The book was the same as before.

The problem was with herself.

Ever since that night she had a heartfelt talk with Lin Lu, she often found herself distracted and restless.

Lin Lu was too straightforward, too honest, and since she had fallen for someone, she naturally chose to tell her best friend right away.

During the National Day holiday, Shen Qingning, when at leisure, mostly spent time reading.

Reading romance novels, one is bound to come across some sweet content.

After all, even a tearjerker wouldn’t be torment from start to finish.

Those who enjoyed such novels often excelled at picking sugar out of the shards of glass.

Every time she encountered a sweet scene, she would recall that muddled night, the night he took her to enjoy the evening breeze.

Because she was different from Lin Lu.

Between her and Cheng Zhu, there was just a little bit of sweetness.

Just that one night’s sweetness.

Sitting in her chair, Shen Qingning glanced at the cover of the novel.

Interestingly, the novel’s cover depicted one man and two women.

Wearing pajamas, she stood up from the chair and began to descend the stairs for lunch.

Her perfectly normal long pajama pants somehow gave off the impression of capri pants on her.

Just considering legs, this “Leg Goddess” of Technology University truly had no rivals.

When she arrived at the dining room, her stepmother, only two years older than Shen Minglang, had already seated herself and was pouring corn juice into a cup.

“Ningning, do you want some?” she asked.

“No thanks, water is fine,” Shen Qingning declined.

Shen Qingning’s stepmother, now 29, would be celebrating her 30th birthday in two months.

She was quite pretty, not stunning, but comfortably pretty, with an enduring, non-aggressive beauty.

This was one of the reasons she ended up as the stepmother of the Shen family—Mr. Shen felt quite assured about her.

At his age and with his success, he didn’t want a woman in the house who would stir up trouble, causing daily unrest.

Having a son like Shen Minglang was already worrisome enough.

Mr. Shen was very direct in explaining to his children that he would have no more children.

This had undoubtedly been discussed with his second wife as well.

However, had the stepmother been older, she might have tenderly assured, “It’s okay, I’ll treat them as my own children.”

Alas, she was simply too young—just two years old when Shen Minglang was born, an age still prone to bedwetting.

Speaking honestly, Shen Qingning herself had a good impression of her stepmother.

She wasn’t the kind to cause trouble. On the contrary, she often had to endure Shen Minglang’s temperament in the house and never complained to Mr. Shen.

Whether this was her natural disposition or high EQ was irrelevant.

She managed the household quite well.

Seated at the dining table, Shen Qingning accepted the glass of warm water from the maid and addressed her stepmother, “Auntie, I have something to ask you.”

Of course, she was referring to Star City, helping Cheng Zhu rent a commercial space.

The Shen family had shares in Star City, but they were registered under the stepmother’s name, Wang Yushan.

Speaking of which, Shen Minglang had a fit over her name: “Your name is Wang Yushan, my dad’s is Shen Guoqiang; do you really think your names pair well together?”

Using her name for the investment was simply to ensure she received an annual cut from the shopping center.

The money was for her everyday expenses.

Explaining to outsiders that she had dividends from the mall was better than saying her husband gave her living expenses.

To Wang Yushan, though Shen Qingning called her auntie, she was more like a friend or sister to her, not a stepmother.

She never put on airs in front of Shen Qingning.

“Just tell me, what do you want to ask?” She put down her glass of corn juice and looked at Shen Qingning.

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“Is there any space available for rent in Star City at the moment? Or any about to expire?” Shen Qingning asked.

“Let me make a call to find out,” Wang Yushan replied.

After saying that, she looked at Shen Qingning and asked, “What location are you looking for, and how big of a space is needed?”

“The more central the better, and as for size… let me ask,” Shen Qingning replied, picking up her phone to send a message.

“Are you asking for a friend?” Wang Yushan suddenly became interested.

In her mind, Shen Qingning didn’t have many friends, and the only one who had visited their home was Lin Lu.

But Wang Yushan knew Lin Lu; they had exchanged WeChat contacts when she last visited. If Shen Qingning were asking for Lin Lu, she would have mentioned her name directly.

“Mm, asking for a friend,” Shen Qingning said while typing to Cheng Zhu.

“Male or female?” Wang Yushan teased, trying to liven up the atmosphere.

Our Ningning doesn’t really have men in her life.

She’s too cold, extremely cold.

When Shen Minglang’s friends visited, Wang Yushan could tell they were even slightly scared of Ningning!

Of course, Shen Minglang himself was scared of his sister, utterly terrified!

Wang Yushan had a clear understanding: the highest authority in the house actually belonged to Ningning, followed by the doting father Shen, then Shen Minglang, with herself last.

Unexpectedly, Shen Qingning looked up and said, “A man.”

She immediately added details, frantically padding Cheng Zhu’s identity: “He’s a childhood friend of Jiang Wanzhou.”

“Oh, I see, a childhood friend of your cousin,” Wang Yushan thought, but her mind was not convinced.

Shen Qingning’s usual demeanor was rather indifferent, and she was extremely nice to the few she truly acknowledged and grew close to.

The problem was, it was difficult for others to gain her approval or become someone close to her in her heart.

Oh, because he’s a childhood friend of Jiang Wanzhou you’re proactively helping?

That doesn’t sound like you at all.

Unless Jiang Wanzhou asked for your help.

At that moment, Shen Qingning received Cheng Zhu’s reply and conveyed, “Around sixty square meters would be best, a little bigger is fine too.”

“What’s the shop for?” Wang Yushan inquired further.

She wanted to have all the information before making the call, to avoid repeatedly contacting them.

“I’ll ask,” Shen Qingning said again.

This made Wang Yushan feel even more suspicious. Ningning was known for her organization and wouldn’t be unaware of the commercial standards and plans of the shopping center.

Prime locations would definitely consider what kind of business you were running.

Upon receiving Cheng Zhu’s answer, Shen Qingning’s beautiful brows furrowed slightly.

She never would have guessed that Cheng Zhu intended to enter such an industry.

“What’s wrong?” Wang Yushan asked, noting her expression.

“He said a bubble tea shop,” Shen Qingning answered.

In her mind, that seemed as unreliable as opening a claw machine store by the school gate.

It was as doomed as Shen Minglang’s various failed ventures.

Many men considering entrepreneurship think of opening internet cafes, restaurants, bars, etc.

For women, it’s nail salons, beauty parlors, bubble tea shops, flower shops, and so on.

Nowadays, starting a branded bubble tea shop is usually a dead end.

They stand no chance against well-known brands with stores nationwide!

Setting up shop to suffer losses is the norm.

Moreover, normally speaking, malls like Star City are unlikely to allocate prime locations to unknown, self-started bubble tea brands.

Wang Yushan was also surprised to hear it was a bubble tea shop.

The person seeking a spot in prestigious Star City, preferably in a core location, was planning to open a bubble tea shop?

This didn’t add up at all.

What business does a bubble tea shop have in such a place?

Do you think you’re opening a Starbucks?

Such unnecessary initial investments and senseless hassle.

Wang Yushan expected Shen Qingning would drop the matter and have a serious talk with her friend.

To her surprise, Shen Qingning said, “Auntie, is this kind of thing a bit difficult to handle?”

Asking this meant her position was—difficult or not, it needed to be done!

This thought sprang to the pretty stepmother’s mind:

“Who exactly is the other party?”