The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 812 - 811: Reporting

Upon learning that someone had reported her for engaging in a male-female relationship at a hotel, Ren Jingshu was both speechless and angry.

Although she explained the reason for going to the hotel to her counselor immediately, the counselor clearly had doubts and left after giving a series of dubious warnings.

Finding a payphone capable of making international calls, Ren Jingshu composed herself and dialed Zhao Yun’s dormitory.

The call was quickly answered, "Hello?"

"Zhao Yun, it’s me."

"Hehe, I guessed you would call. I’ve been waiting for you all night."

"I just had a talk with my counselor that delayed me."

"No problem, did you watch last night’s NBA game? I played and even scored."

"I watched it, you performed really well, the last three-pointer was awesome."

Unlike the affirmation from Pei Ziheng, the praise and affirmation from a girlfriend tasted like the sweetest sugar in the world, filling one with deep feelings of sweetness and happiness.

"Jingshu, how have you been lately? I’ll come back to visit you after the NBA season ends."

"I’m fine, focus on your games."

"Yes, I will, I definitely won’t disgrace you. Jingshu, I miss you so much, do you miss me?"

"Yes."

After a pause, she shyly replied, "I miss you too."

After the call with Zhao Yun, Ren Jingshu felt much better.

However, she couldn’t just let the reporting issue slide, as reputation is critical and must not tolerate defamation.

After lunch, Ren Jingshu went to a department store, bought a bag of snacks, and took it back to her dorm.

"Jingshu, did you get paid? You bought so many treats for us."

"No, it’s for another reason."

Seeing her dorm mates curiously looking at her, Ren Jingshu explained with a smile, "My boyfriend made his NBA debut last night and performed exceptionally, I wanted to share the joy with everyone."

Hearing this, everyone in the dorm appeared surprised.

"NBA? Not the NBA I’m thinking of, right?"

"No way, Jingshu, you really have a boyfriend?"

Ren Jingshu nodded, "Yes, didn’t I tell you when school started?"

Her roommate chuckled, "You did mention it, but none of us have ever seen him or heard you talk about him. We all thought you were just making it up to turn down your suitors."

Others nodded in agreement.

Ren Jingshu explained, "He has been studying at the Basketball Academy in M Country for the last two years. He just signed with the Seal Team in August, and now he’s a professional basketball player."

After she finished, the dorm was filled with amazement and envy.

Although they weren’t particularly interested in basketball, the idea of dating a guy who played basketball was very appealing.

Zhao Yun could not only play basketball but was also a professional player and an NBA player, which seemed incredibly prestigious.

"Jingshu, you’ve been too modest! Having such a great boyfriend and keeping him hidden for two years."

"If I had such an awesome boyfriend, I’d hang his photo on the wall to show off!"

Once the dorm quieted down, Ren Jingshu explained her absence from last night:

"Last night, I stayed at the hotel just to watch his game. If you guys are interested, next time I can invite you all to watch together."

"Sure, sure, it’ll be a great chance to see what your boyfriend really looks like."

In the afternoon, no classes were scheduled, and after explaining to the people in her dormitory, Ren Jingshu went to the performance troupe.

There would be a business reception performance over the weekend, and everyone in the troupe practiced their respective routines.

Ren Jingshu approached the troupe leader, Si Weijian, and proposed to treat everyone in the troupe to dinner that evening.

Although Si Weijian was puzzled, he readily agreed to help her organize the gathering.

Before they knew it, evening arrived.

All members of the performance troupe gathered in a private room at Joyful Hotel, encompassing nearly forty people including performers, logistics, and office staff, spread across four tables.

"Leader, is there some good news in the troupe? It’s not the holiday season, so what made you think of treating us all to a meal?"

Once Si Weijian had arranged the menu and returned to the private room, someone couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity.

"You’ll have to ask Jingshu about that, she’s the one paying today."

Upon hearing this, everyone’s eyes turned to Ren Jingshu.

Ren Jingshu smiled and explained, "A few days ago, it was my birthday, and I originally intended to keep it low-key, but yesterday’s conversation made me realize that I’m lacking in many aspects of interpersonal relations. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the leader and all of you for your care and ask for your continued guidance on where I can improve."

"Besides celebrating my birthday, there’s another piece of good news, my boyfriend has signed with the Seal Team and has become a professional basketball player, and last night was his debut. I don’t mind if it makes you laugh, but to watch his game, I specifically went to stay in a hotel last night."

After she finished speaking, everyone in the private room raised their glasses to express their congratulations and best wishes.

Ren Jingshu noticed that a few girls who had gone out with her to the dinner the night before looked somewhat uncomfortable.

It seemed that one of them must have reported her.

The counselor refused to reveal the informant’s identity, but aside from her roommate, the only other people who knew she hadn’t returned to the dorm were these members of the troupe.

After dinner, she pulled aside a few people and straightforwardly brought up the matter of being reported.

"I don’t know which of you did it, but I don’t want it to happen again because my retaliation might be beyond your expectations."

Ren Jingshu’s tone was very calm, even gentle, but the threat and warning in her words made the girls feel uneasy. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

After she left, the girls started blaming and shirking responsibility among themselves.

"I told you not to do this, but you wouldn’t listen—now look, she’s got a grudge against us."

"It’s her own fault, not returning to the dorm at night and sneaking off to a hotel."

"She wouldn’t go complaining to the leader, would she? The leader always protects her; he’ll definitely scold us."

"I had no idea her boyfriend was an NBA professional player; she sure kept it quiet."

Outside the private room, Ren Jingshu discreetly put away her recording pen and turned to leave.

As long as these people didn’t trouble her anymore, she didn’t want to escalate the situation.

All being part of the same performance troupe and spending so much time together, she did not want to waste her precious time on internal conflict.

...

Zhao Dafa was overjoyed about Zhao Yun’s brilliant NBA debut, so much so that his smile was almost crooked.

He spent the entire day on the phone.

He notified every relative, friend, and acquaintance within his network circle, and even then, he still felt it wasn’t enough and discussed with Shen Hongmei about throwing a grand celebration party for their son.

"Of course we should have a celebration, but now is not the right time. The season has just started and will continue for several more months. Let’s wait till the season ends and Xiaoyun comes home, then we can properly celebrate for him. Being high-profile now would only add pressure and trouble for him."

Persuaded by Shen Hongmei in this way, Zhao Dafa calmed down, dismissed the idea of hosting a celebration party, and couldn’t help but reflect,

"Hongmei, you’ve grown a lot in the last two years, thinking about things much more maturely and thoroughly than before."