The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 824 - 823: Are You Sick?

Shen Mingzhu chuckled as she walked over, "Haven’t had your fill of looking yet? Planning to stare until flowers bloom?"

Pei Yang shifted his gaze from his watch, placed his hands behind his head, and leaned back onto the sofa, lamenting with her,

"Sometimes, I feel like an extra in this family. Here I am, the father, and my son is out-earning me."

"Then why don’t you move out? The three of us women can live on our own, and you can be by yourself."

Pei Yang glared at her with a deep-seated grievance, a look of hurt on his face, "You don’t comfort me, and instead, you rub salt in my wounds."

Shen Mingzhu rolled her eyes, "Be content. Not everyone gets to enjoy the blessings of children and grandchildren by fifty, and here you are, not even forty, already reaping the respectful offerings of your son. Others are envious of you."

Hearing Shen Mingzhu put it that way, Pei Yang began feeling indeed that he didn’t know when he was well off (unaware of the fragrance of the easy life he led).

Cheered by the thought, he couldn’t help but let his mind wander as he gazed at his soft, tender-looking wife under the lamplight.

"Honey..."

"I’m off to bed," Shen Mingzhu said curtly, quashing Pei Yang’s romantic notions. "Have to get up early tomorrow."

"Get up early for what?"

"Going to the factory."

"Aren’t you supposed to go back to work in March? There’s still four or five days to go."

"I haven’t worked for three years. I want to get in a few days early to acclimatize."

With that, Shen Mingzhu disappeared into the bedroom, leaving Pei Yang and Fugui alone in the living room.

Seeing the Demu curled up and sleeping soundly at the foot of the sofa, Pei Yang nudged it awake with his foot.

"You’re just a lone dog, and yet you sleep like a log."

The Demu slowly got up, tucked its tail between its legs, and headed toward its dog bed, looking back at him with a glance that seemed to say:

Are you sick or something?

...

The next day, after sending Pei Ziheng off to the airport, Shen Mingzhu made a detour to the food factory.

She arrived during the rush of employees swarming into the factory on bicycles and motorcycles.

To avoid delaying the workers, Shen Mingzhu parked her car on the street outside the factory gates and allowed the employees to go in first.

However, the Bentley Continental GT with its pearly paint was a sight to behold, and its grand, luxurious lines and design were hard to ignore for passersby.

"This car really is beautiful. Wonder which big boss’s ride it is."

"Could it be some foreign company visiting the factory for inspection?"

"That would be great. Look how well Hui Kang is doing after receiving Luo Sen’s investment. They’re prospering, building new plant facilities, even constructing new dormitories with six per room, each with its own balcony and bathroom."

"And that’s not all. Hui Kang is about to raise salaries soon—minimum 20% for regular employees."

"How nice. We might as well go work for Hui Kang!"

No sooner had they finished speaking than someone nudged their arm.

Glancing back, they realized that Director Du Juan was following behind them, and they suddenly dared not utter another word.

"Director Du, good morning."

Du Juan nodded a greeting and stepped past the group toward her office.

Once she was out of earshot, the female workers couldn’t help but whisper and blame each other:

"It’s your fault for bringing up Hui Kang out of the blue."

"I didn’t say anything wrong. Hui Kang really is doing better than us, and their wages are higher, too."

"Let’s just drop it, talk less."

Once inside the office, Du Juan walked over to the window.

Her window faced the direction of the factory’s main gate, where she could see the Bentley parked outside.

She had spotted the car as soon as she got off, and although she was curious about the owner’s identity, her pride as the general manager prevented her from going forward to inquire.

By the time it was half-past eight, the factory entrance had finally quieted down significantly.

The workshop workers started at half-past eight, while the office staff began at nine.

Shen Mingzhu put down the newspaper, started the car, and drove it towards the factory.

The guard did not recognize her car and came up to check right away.

"President Shen? Is that you? I thought it was some big boss."

The guard was an old timer at the factory and recognized Shen Mingzhu as soon as she rolled down the window. He cordially greeted her while admiring the Bentley with amazement.

"When did you get a new car? It’s beautiful."

"Uncle Ma, happy new year."

Shen Mingzhu smiled and handed over a small red envelope.

"Oh my, thank you, President Shen. I wish you good fortune and a rolling in of wealth in the new year!"

Uncle Ma couldn’t stop smiling as he tucked away the envelope, speaking auspicious words.

Shen Mingzhu nodded and pressed the accelerator, driving the car into the factory.

Seeing the Bentley drive directly into the factory premises, Du Juan immediately made a call to the gatehouse.

When she found out the owner of the Bentley was Shen Mingzhu, she turned around, walked out the door, and downstairs to greet her.

"Mingzhu."

Seeing Du Juan, Shen Mingzhu greeted her with a smile, "Good morning."

Glancing at the Bentley not far behind Shen Mingzhu, Du Juan teased while leading her towards the office building, "I wondered who it was, turns out to be you. Didn’t you say you’d start working in March?"

"Having been away for such a long time, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the pace, so I decided to come a few days early to adjust."

"That’s good. I had someone clean out your office in advance. Take a look later and if you need anything at all, just say the word and I’ll have it taken care of."

Shen Mingzhu gave her a smile, "You do your thing; don’t worry about me. Although I’ve been away for a while, this place is both a battlefield and a home to me."

"That’s great. I was worried you might not readjust."

...

Apart from a few potted plants she did not recognize, the office had not changed much from when she had left three years before.

Perhaps because it hadn’t been cleaned in the past few days, there was a thin layer of dust on the desk and the floor.

Shen Mingzhu was about to call the logistics staff to clean up when she heard hurried footsteps approaching.

Soon after, someone burst into the office, "President Shen!"

Seeing Huang Ju’s face full of excitement and eagerness, Shen Mingzhu smiled knowingly, "Long time no see."

Hesitating for a moment, Huang Ju suddenly stepped forward and hugged her.

"I heard from the office as soon as I got to work that you were back. I thought they were lying to me."

Patting her back, Shen Mingzhu chuckled, "Do you believe it’s true now?"

"Yes."

Huang Ju quickly let go and, noticing the cleanliness of the office, immediately fetched a cloth and mop to start cleaning.

Shen Mingzhu couldn’t dissuade her, so she let her be and chatted with her to catch up on the latest factory news.

After a while, Pei Wenping also came by and immediately asked about the Bentley parked downstairs.

"Did you get a new car? Not bad, a Bentley, over six million?"

Huang Ju, who had been busy cleaning, abruptly looked up, "Manager Pei, did I hear you wrong? Did you just say ’over sixty million’ or ’over six million’?"

"Looking down on your boss, aren’t you? Is a car worth only sixty million good enough for her to drive?"

Shen Mingzhu rubbed her forehead, "Alright, big sister, stop giving me a hard time. The car was a gift from Ziheng, for my 30th birthday."

Pei Wenping whistled in approval, "When you get back, why don’t you ask Ziheng if he’s missing a mom?"

Shen Mingzhu couldn’t help laughing, "You can call him yourself; he’s gone back to school."

Pei Wenping slumped down on the sofa, her gaze distant as she watched her, "With such an impressive son, why are you even coming back to work? Wouldn’t it be nicer to enjoy a life of leisure at home?"