The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 55 - Pampering Her

Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Pampering Her

Chapter 55 -55: Pampering Her

While Pei Yang and Shen Mingzhu were entangled on the balcony, Pei Ziheng walked over to the bed, where Pei Yang’s luggage was placed.

With his back towards the dormitory, Pei Yang’s broad and sturdy figure shielded Shen Mingzhu so thoroughly that neither of them could see inside the dormitory.

Pei Ziheng quickly found the seaman’s book in the luggage and surreptitiously slipped it into his pocket, then restored the zipper of the luggage to its original state.

“Dad, I’m going to pee, I’ll be back soon.”

Pei Yang turned back and looked at his son, “Can you find the way?”

“I can find it, just turn left outside the door and walk to the end.”

Pei Yang nodded in satisfaction, “Go on then.”

The gazes of both involuntarily followed Pei Ziheng’s tiny figure, and it was not until the dormitory door closed that Shen Mingzhu retracted her gaze, and Pei Yang also turned his face to look at her again.

They stared at each other, eye to eye, for a moment.

Pei Yang was the first to speak, “Don’t rush into getting angry, listen to me explain first, okay?”

Shen Mingzhu replied irritably, “Do I have a choice?”

“No, you must listen.”

Although Pei Yang’s voice contained laughter, there was an undertone of undeniable firmness, which was likely due to his years in the military and work habits, as well as his personality.

Well, it seemed that the Pei Family members all had quite strong personalities.

Pei Yang briefly recounted how he met Wang Xiuzhu, “…When my master first told me about this, I hadn’t met you yet.

For my master to introduce such an outstanding girl from his own family for a blind date, I’d have been a fool not to accept.

Later on, my mother had an accident, and after dealing with her funeral, I went to Shenjiagou, met you, married you, and by the time I returned, Wang Xiuzhu was already at my master’s home.

That evening, I dined at my master’s place and it was the first time I met her.

I made it clear to her and my master and his wife then, and they all knew I had a wife.

Today was an accident, I was only focused on watching you and didn’t expect Wang Xiuzhu to do something like that.”

“Huh, so it’s my fault?”

“Yes, it’s your fault for being too beautiful, it enchanted me completely,” Pei Yang said with a smile in his eyes.

Shen Mingzhu rolled her eyes wordlessly, yet her face inexplicably flushed with heat.

Maybe it was the man’s serious and correct attitude, or his pleasant voice—whatever it was, her anger deflated like a balloon with a punctured hole, hissing away into nothingness.

The public restroom was obviously busier than usual today.

Several men, bare-chested and wearing only pants, crowded in front of the water station.

These sailors had just returned today, laughing and joking as they bathed and washed their hair.

The communal bathroom with hot showers was on the first floor, requiring water tickets.

They were all too lazy to go downstairs and directly showered with cold water in the restroom.

After all, for those who had been wandering the seas for years and experienced countless storms, taking cold showers in winter was routine.

Taking a hot shower downstairs would actually invite ridicule and jokes from their mates.

When little Pei Ziheng appeared in the public restroom, the noisy restroom suddenly went quiet for a moment.

“Whoa, where did this kid come from?”

“He seems to be from the second officer’s family, I saw the second officer carrying him earlier by the docks.”

“Ha, this is Pei Yang’s son?”

A twenty-something young man wiped the water from his face and curiously approached Pei Ziheng, scrutinizing him from head to toe.

“Why doesn’t he look much like Pei Yang?”

Pei Ziheng’s face immediately darkened.

“Haha, just kidding, you look so much like Pei Yang.”

The young man laughed heartily while reaching out to touch Pei Ziheng’s face, but Pei Ziheng dodged with disdain.

“Oh, still shy, are you?

Don’t worry, we won’t pick on the little ones!”

Ignoring the sailors’ teasing, Pei Ziheng walked to the toilet cubicle with his little short legs.

The other sailors made way for him while laughing, and some playfully splashed water on his face, which annoyed Pei Ziheng whose face was as cold as ice.

“Remember to take off your pants, don’t pee on them!”

Pei Ziheng, squatting in the toilet like a little mushroom, was annoyed by the sailors’ jokes but couldn’t do anything about it.

Fortunately, the sailors were only verbally teasing him and didn’t actually come over to watch him squat.

Pei Ziheng’s small body was just right behind the low walls of the toilet cubicle.

He took out the seaman’s book from his pocket and expressionlessly tore it up bit by bit.

As he watched the soggy pieces swell with the dirty water and wash away, leaving no trace, a smile finally appeared on Pei Ziheng’s face.

In this way, Dad wouldn’t die.

——

In the dormitory, Pei Yang was oblivious to the good deeds his eldest son was up to.

He studied Shen Mingzhu’s face as if he were looking at a rare treasure, making her face flush with heat.

“Let me down,” she said.

“First tell me, are you still angry?”

Shen Mingzhu couldn’t help but find this amusing.

“So if I’m not angry, you won’t let me down?”

“Mhm, that’s the plan.”

Shen Mingzhu was speechless.

“With that attitude of yours, my anger won’t go away.”

Pei Yang laughed.

“Then we’ll just stay on the balcony and enjoy the breeze, until your anger subsides.”

“…”

For some reason, Shen Mingzhu thought of that background music lyric: I’ve breathed in the evening breeze you’ve exhaled, does that count as an embrace…?

Pfft, stop!

Shen Mingzhu looked at the man.

“I’m not angry.”

“Really?”

“Mhm.”

“Little liar.”

Shen Mingzhu was puzzled.

“What did I lie to you about?

And why add the word ‘little’?

Where am I small?”

“In front of me, you’re small everywhere.”

“I was talking about size and age.

Where did your mind go?”

Seeing Shen Mingzhu’s gaze persistently directed at his chest, Pei Yang chuckled softly, and quickly changed the subject before she could explode, “If you’re not angry, then why did you start packing your bags to leave as soon as you got back?

If I hadn’t come back quickly, would I have had to catch you at the train station?”

“I was packing because I was taking up space in your closet.

I wanted to make room for you.

Besides, I’m not your criminal, so using the word ‘catch’ isn’t right.”

“Then what’s the right word to use?

‘Coax’?”

Shen Mingzhu turned her face away, unwilling to admit that when the man said “coax” with his deep and magnetic voice, she felt a bit fluttered.

“Really not angry?”

Pei Yang leaned slightly, tilting his face to look at her.

“Mhm.”

Right after she responded, her waist was suddenly clasped, and then she was on the ground. freewēbnoveℓ.com

After landing, Shen Mingzhu felt like she had instantly become a dwarf, needing to tilt her head up slightly to meet the man’s gaze.

“You won’t admit it when I say you’re small, but you’re only this tall compared to me.”

Pei Yang gestured the distance between his Adam’s apple and above her head.

“Did your family not feed you enough when you were a kid?”

Shen Mingzhu didn’t want to talk to you, and has blocked you.

Looking at her petulant small figure returning to the dorm, Pei Yang touched his nose.

Why is she angry again?

Such a little sulker.

——

After Pei Yang cleaned up, the family of three carried New Year’s goods and gifts to the Lin family for dinner.

Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve, and with both Lin Guofu and Pei Yang having just returned, Wang Huizhen had prepared an exceptionally rich array of dishes for tonight’s dinner: chicken, duck, fish, shrimp, crab, abalone, and sea cucumber – all were present.

When the three of them arrived, Wang Huizhen was bustling in the kitchen, with Wang Xiuzhu assisting her.

Seeing this, Shen Mingzhu also took off her jacket to help in the kitchen.

Lin Guofu looked at Shen Mingzhu’s figure and turned to Pei Yang with a teasing smile, “No wonder you’re not interested in Xiuzhu.

It turns out you found Mingzhu.”

Here, Lin Guofu wasn’t referring to her name, Shen Mingzhu, but using it as a rhetorical term.

Pei Yang smiled, thinking to himself that she was indeed a small, smooth, and lovely ‘pearl’, which made him want to pocket her and keep her hidden away.

In the kitchen.

While Wang Xiuzhu was preparing ingredients for salt-baked shrimp, she sneakily observed Shen Mingzhu peeling garlic.

Today, Xicheng Port wasn’t cold.

Shen Mingzhu wasn’t dressed heavily, with a snug apricot wool sweater as base and a wool skirt pairing, topped with a camel coat.

Before entering the kitchen, she had taken off the coat.

The fitting sweater and the A-line wool skirt accentuated her excellent figure.

Even with jealousy in her heart, Wang Xiuzhu had to admit that Shen Mingzhu was far superior to her in dressing and style.

“Shen Mingzhu, you country folks start doing chores from a young age, so you must have good cooking skills, right?”