The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 804 - 803: Reconciliation

Shen Mingzhu woke from her nap and wasn’t surprised to see her son resting on the living room sofa.

Although she tried to be as quiet as possible, by the time she re-emerged from the kitchen with a glass of water, Pei Ziheng had woken up. He propped himself up on the couch, his dark eyes gazing at her like two ink-jewels.

"Did I wake you? Go sleep in your room upstairs,"

Shen Mingzhu said with concern.

Pei Ziheng shook his head, his gaze falling on the glass in her hand. In a low voice with a hint of whining, he said, "I want some water."

Pretending to be obliging, Shen Mingzhu passed him the glass, "Drink up, I haven’t touched it yet."

"Thank you, Mom."

Seeing her son take the glass and drink slowly brought Shen Mingzhu some relief.

Pei Ziheng was a bit of a clean freak and had OCD; he didn’t like sharing everyday items with others. Usually, when Pei Yang used chopsticks to offer him food, he would refuse to eat. The fact that he was willing to drink water from her glass was clearly a sign of trust and favoritism towards her.

After Pei Ziheng finished drinking, Shen Mingzhu asked knowingly, "Why are you back?"

Pei Ziheng joked for once, "I was worried you might start a fight with your sister."

"It’s only for Guoguo that you would leave work aside. I always tell you to rest more, that your health is important, but you don’t listen to a word I say."

After speaking, Shen Mingzhu noticed that Pei Ziheng was staring intently at her. She raised her eyebrows,

"Am I wrong?"

Pei Ziheng shook his head, a faint smile appearing in his eyes, "Mom, are you jealous?"

"Jealous? I have nothing to be jealous of."

Shen Mingzhu retorted playfully and couldn’t help glancing towards the quiet second floor, "Is Guoguo asleep?"

"If you’re worried about Guoguo, why don’t you go check on her yourself?"

Shen Mingzhu’s face showed a slight embarrassment as her intentions were laid bare by her son. She picked up the glass on the coffee table intending to take a drink, but remembering that he had drunk from it, she got up and went into the kitchen to pour herself a fresh glass.

"Mom, don’t be angry with Guoguo. She’s still little and may throw a tantrum now and then. Just coax her, and she’ll be fine."

"You just spoil her. Spoil her until she doesn’t know the difference between heaven and earth, see if I care."

"I don’t want you to harm your health over small matters. You and Guoguo, you are the people I care about the most."

Looking at her son’s handsome, earnest face, the frustration Shen Mingzhu felt in her heart dissipated.

After appeasing Shen Mingzhu, Pei Ziheng said he needed to go back to work at the company.

Shen Mingzhu said with concern, "Since you’re already home, just rest for half a day. By the time you get back, it will almost be time to leave anyway."

"There are several proposals waiting for my decision when I get back."

"Erza, I know you have your own goals and aspirations, but haste makes waste. A healthy body is your most valuable asset. A river flows not for the sake of arriving first, but for its ceaseless current."

"Don’t worry, Mom, I’ll take good care of myself."

Shen Mingzhu, having gone through the struggles of entrepreneurship herself, understood the involuntary constraints of a high position and the responsibilities it entailed. Thus, she refrained from further persuasion.

"Then when you finish your work, come home early for dinner. I’ll cook something delicious for you."

"Okay."

After seeing her son off, Shen Mingzhu tiptoed upstairs.

Her daughter’s bedroom door was wide open. Peering inside, she saw no one there.

Shen Mingzhu walked further towards the study.

Approaching the study, she saw through the glass window that her daughter was diligently doing her homework at the large desk.

She stood silently watching for a few seconds, then turned and went downstairs, grabbing her keys and heading out the door.

Half an hour later,

Shen Mingzhu returned home. She arranged the pastries she had bought on small plates and freshly prepared a yogurt fruit salad, carrying it upstairs.

Elder Sister Yu and Cui Lianying watched her ascend, both sighing with relief.

"As a mother, who wouldn’t be tender toward their child?"

"Indeed, there’s no such thing as an overnight grudge between mother and daughter."

...

"Knock knock."

Hearing the knock at the door, Pei Tang lifted his head and saw Shen Mingzhu standing outside the study, her lips parted slightly.

"Aren’t you going to invite Mom in?"

Pei Tang pursed his lips, clearly still emotional, "I’m doing my homework."

"Then alright, I won’t disturb you."

As soon as Shen Mingzhu finished speaking, she truly turned and walked away.

Pei Tang froze for two seconds, then suddenly put down his pen and stood up to chase after her out of the study.

No sooner had he stepped out of the study than he was enveloped in a full embrace by Shen Mingzhu, who had been hiding by the door.

"Mom."

Feeling the warm embrace of his own mom, and that familiar scent he had grown accustomed to since childhood, Pei Tang’s nose tingled, and tears began to fall, plop, plop.

Shen Mingzhu gently wiped the tears from her daughter’s face and asked tenderly, "Are you hungry?"

Pei Tang shook his head instinctively.

He had eaten an entire chicken leg burger, plus fries and fried chicken legs; his stomach was fully satisfied.

But then he quickly realized that he couldn’t let his mom know he had "cheated" on his diet and hastily nodded his head.

Shen Mingzhu did not expose him, and brought out the pastries and fruit that had been placed in the next room.

"Eat something, then continue with your homework."

"Okay!"

Even though he wasn’t hungry, faced with his favorite pastries and yogurt fruit mix, Pei Tang impressively ate until his little belly was round.

Full and content, he snuggled into Shen Mingzhu’s embrace like a satisfied kitten.

Shen Mingzhu also relished this affection, gently stroking her daughter’s soft back with the palm of her hand.

"Mom, I know I was wrong. I won’t make you angry anymore."

"Mm."

Shen Mingzhu kissed the top of her daughter’s head, as a reward, hugging her even tighter, "Baby, Mom wasn’t really angry with you. I just hope you can be a responsible person. You need to follow through on what you say, and not make promises lightly without confidence in keeping them, understand?"

"Yes, I will try my best to finish my homework."

"You can do it, I believe in you."

Mother and daughter reconciled as before.

After pulling three all-nighters, Pei Tang finally completed all of her summer vacation homework just before the start of school, earning herself two big dark circles under her eyes.

Pei Yang felt sorry for his daughter, thinking that Shen Mingzhu had been too harsh. If the homework wasn’t done, it wasn’t done; what’s the big deal? After being scolded by Shen Mingzhu, he settled down.

As the kids started school, Shen Mingzhu had some free time and arranged to go out for morning tea with Zhong Qing and a few others.

"Have you lost some weight recently?"

Finally hearing someone say she had lost weight, Shen Mingzhu couldn’t hide her good mood, "It seems my week’s worth of cucumber crunching wasn’t in vain."

"Why would you crunch cucumbers?"

"To diet."

Zhong Qing reproached, "You’re not fat, why do you need to diet?"

Shen Mingzhu smiled, "The undertone of ’not fat’ is ’not thin’."

Zhong Qing was amused by her reasoning, "Why want to be so thin? I like you all plump and cute; it looks adorable."

"Back off, don’t come at me with that. No one can corrupt my determination to diet!"

Just as she finished speaking, the waiter pushed the mobile dim sum cart over.

"Let’s each have one to start with."

Shen Mingzhu glanced at the dim sum on the cart, waved generously, and ordered everything, additionally asking for stir-fried beef ho fun and seafood congee.

Zhong Qing sipped her tea, teasing her, "I thought you were dieting; why order so much?"

"That’s after I’ve eaten."

This brought laughter to everyone at the table, unable to help themselves.