The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 433 - 432: Returning to the Village for the Mid-Autumn Festival
Chapter 433: Chapter 432: Returning to the Village for the Mid-Autumn Festival
Shen Mingzhu smiled and explained, "Mrs. Ning, in addition to the twenty thousand boxes of mooncakes you’ve ordered, I’ve also donated an extra five hundred boxes in the name of the food factory as a way to support your charitable work."
Yan Jing nodded, "Thank you very much."
"You’re welcome, I should be the one thanking you for your support and trust."
Yan Jing handed over a check she had prepared in advance.
Shen Mingzhu took the check, and before she had a chance to look closely at the amount, she heard Yan Jing say, "There’s an event at the end of the year in Ao City. I’ve been invited to judge a cooking competition. I heard from Susu that you have a keen interest in gourmet food, would you like to go check it out?"
Seeing Shen Mingzhu’s surprised expression, Yan Jing smiled lightly and said, "When I found your postcard on the plane, I accidentally saw the message on it. It’s clear that Miss La enjoys your company very much, otherwise she wouldn’t have specially invited you to visit Ao City."
"Mrs. Ning, you’ve misunderstood. Actually, I’m not very close with Miss La, we’ve only met twice. Her leaving me a postcard was probably just a gesture of politeness."
"I see," acknowledged Mrs. Ning.
Watching the Ning Family villa recede in the rearview mirror, Shen Mingzhu couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief.
She had originally thought that Yan Jing had approached her for mooncake orders on account of Yan Su’s connection.
But Yan Jing’s attitude when mentioning La Shiran made her realize that Yan Jing might have misunderstood her relationship with La Shiran.
Now that Yan Jing knew her encounter with La Shiran was merely a chance meeting, she probably wouldn’t approach her for mooncake orders anymore.
...
This year’s Mid-Autumn Festival, Shen Mingzhu, accompanied by Pei Yang and the children, returned to Shenjiagou.
Visiting her maternal home for the festival was one reason, and another was for this year’s harvest of sour dates.
Upon her arrival in the village, Village Chief Shen Dequan joyfully led her up the mountain to view the sour date yield for the year.
The sour date trees in Shenjiagou were all wild and naturally grown, but ever since Shen Mingzhu started buying sour dates in the village, what was once deemed inedible even by pigs became a sought-after item among the villagers.
Last year, a dispute almost broke out over the ownership rights of the sour date trees in the village.
It was finally settled when Shen Dequan made a firm decision and divided the wild sour date trees on the hillside among everyone.
Guoguo sat on Pei Yang’s shoulders, pretending to ride a horse. It was her first time on the mountain, and she was thrilled.
She found everything fresh and exciting, and kept clamoring to catch rabbits.
At the beginning of the year, Shen Jianguo had caught a pair of wild rabbits and brought them home for Guoguo to play with.
Guoguo was so delighted that she insisted on sleeping with the rabbits on her bed, which resulted in them being smothered to death.
Distraught, Guoguo cried for days and was inconsolable.
It was Pei Ziheng who somehow found a little puppy and brought it home, which finally soothed her.
The puppy didn’t last long before Guoguo accidentally choked it to death with a glutinous rice ball.
Since then, Shen Mingzhu only dared to let her daughter keep turtles.
After all, turtles are strong survivors.
Speak of the devil, on their way down the mountain, they actually encountered a villager who had caught a wild rabbit.
The wild rabbit was plump, seemingly weighing five or six pounds, and was being carried by its hind legs.
Upon seeing the wild rabbit, Guoguo’s eyes lit up. She refused to leave, insisting on having the villager’s rabbit.
The villager, eager to please Shen Mingzhu, was willing to give the wild rabbit to her.
After all, Shen Mingzhu was now a big boss, and the entire village depended on her to buy the sour dates, pinning their hopes on her for prosperity.
However, Shen Mingzhu didn’t just take the rabbit for free; she paid three yuan for it at market price.
Guoguo was overjoyed to finally get the wild rabbit. She insisted on holding it herself, but her delicate arms couldn’t handle the strength, and she dropped the rabbit several times until it was stunned.
When they got back to the Shen Family residence, Shen Jianguo found a bamboo cage and put the wild rabbit inside it.
Guoguo squatted in front of the bamboo cage, playing with a wild rabbit for a while. Soon tired, she was carried into the house to sleep by Pei Yang.
Shen Mingzhu was discussing this year’s harvest period for sour jujubes with the village chief.
The processing of sour jujubes was complicated, and with the current manpower of the food factory, they could handle at most 300 catties a day.
To avoid the sour jujubes going bad due to not being processed on time, harvesting had to be staggered, with no more than 500 catties picked each day.
After negotiating the sour jujube harvest, Shen Mingzhu asked the village chief to have people take mooncakes and stationery from the trunk of the car.
In the village, all school-going children, regardless of age, could receive a Mid-Autumn Festival gift package.
Each gift package contained six mooncakes, two pencils, two exercise books, an eraser, and a dictionary.
She hoped that by this means, she could encourage the villagers to send their children to school.
The gift packages were handed out by Shen Mingzhu herself, as the children queued up to receive them.
For every child who received a gift package, Shen Mingzhu would ask a few brief questions about their situation, what grade they were in, how many points they scored last time, which subject they performed best in, and so on.
Soon it was the turn of a little girl in ragged clothes.
"What’s your name? Which grade are you in?"
Twiddling the hem of her garment, the girl’s voice was as tiny as a mosquito’s, "Second grade."
"Liar!"
"She doesn’t go to school. Her mom ran away, and her dad took a stepmom who doesn’t want her!"
Several children behind her shouted loudly.
The little girl’s gaunt face blushed instantly, and she turned and ran away in shame.
Shen Mingzhu took her eyes off the frail silhouette of the little girl and continued distributing gift packages to the children in line.
Only after the last child left with a gift package did Shen Mingzhu ask the village chief about the situation of the little girl who had run away earlier.
Through the village chief’s sighs, Shen Mingzhu learned that the little girl was from the next town over. Her biological father was notoriously lazy and extremely poor.
The little girl’s biological mother couldn’t endure the poverty and ran away with someone else to a distant place three years prior, never returning since.
The slothful man remarried last year, but his new wife refused to raise someone else’s loss-making child, so the lazy man sent the little girl back to her grandmother’s side.
Currently, the little girl was living with her eldest uncle’s family.
...
Under the guidance of the village chief, Shen Mingzhu arrived at the home of the little girl’s uncle.
Even from a distance, a strong scolding voice could be heard, "What’s the use of raising you? Everyone else got one, and only you didn’t. How can you be so stupid? You’re driving me crazy!"
Shen Dequan stepped forward to push open the wicker gate, frowning and asking the woman in the yard, "Fengxian, what are you doing? Your loud voice can be heard from far away."
Turning to see Shen Mingzhu and the village chief, Zeng Fengxian immediately put on a friendly face and warmly invited them into the house.
"Village chief, what brings you here?"
Zeng Fengxian spoke to Shen Dequan while her eyes kept glancing at Shen Mingzhu.
In the hearts of the people of Shenjiagou, Shen Mingzhu was even more respected than the Bodhisattvas in the temples, running large factories, driving cars, living in mansions—she was truly wealthy.
A mere flick from her fingertips could provide enough for their family to eat and drink lavishly.
Shen Dequan pointed to the little girl under the eaves, "Let your niece come over, Mingzhu has a few words to speak with her."
"Dani, come here, quickly!"
Zeng Fengxian frantically gestured to her niece, hoping she would endear herself to Shen Mingzhu.
As the little girl approached, Shen Mingzhu noticed not only her ragged clothes but also that she was barefoot.
