The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 846 - 845: Lodging a Complaint

Having learned the full story,

Zhao Dafa put down his soup bowl and took Shen Hongmei’s hand to comfort her, "You’ve done everything you could; leave the rest to fate. You must believe in Sister Shen; she’s capable of handling the people and matters around her."

Shen Hongmei nodded gently, "Mhm."

"I have something in my pocket; can you get it for me?"

"What is it?"

As Shen Hongmei asked, she stood up and picked up the suit jacket from the single-person sofa, feeling a set of keys from the right pocket.

She turned her puzzled head to look at Zhao Dafa.

Zhao Dafa, holding his soup bowl and smiling, said, "I bought a similar unit next to Guoguo’s new house for Huanhuan, so the two sisters can continue to be neighbors."

Shen Hongmei looked at the keys in her hand, then at Zhao Dafa, unsure whether she felt more surprise or more moved.

But then she heard Zhao Dafa say, "Since they say I’m your support, shouldn’t I show some action to confirm it?"

Although it was said in jest, it clearly showed his attitude to support the mother and daughter.

And this simple statement, far more than the costly house in her hand, moved Shen Hongmei even more.

"Thank you."

"Between family, there’s no need to be polite with me."

His words mirrored her earlier ones, amusing Shen Hongmei with a bittersweet feeling.

By the time they finished washing up and went to bed, it was nearly eleven o’clock.

Under the lamp, beauty beckons the more you look.

Gazing at Shen Hongmei, whose svelte figure was accentuated by her satin slip dress, Zhao Dafa’s heart inevitably stirred.

His hand had barely extended before being held down.

"What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?"

Although Shen Hongmei was usually passive in marital intimacy, she was always accommodating to Zhao Dafa, seldom refusing.

Shen Hongmei didn’t answer but instead reached for the bedside table, pulling out a document.

"I went for a checkup at the hospital this morning."

"Are you feeling unwell?"

Shen Hongmei handed him the document, "You take a look."

Zhao Dafa sat up from the bed, took the paper, and started to read it earnestly.

Seconds later, his solemn expression mixed with surprise and disbelief.

"You’re, you’re pregnant again?"

Shen Hongmei nodded with a smile, "About a month and a half."

Zhao Dafa tossed the pregnancy test aside, took her hands in his, his eyes sparkling as they fell on her belly.

"Why didn’t you tell me earlier?"

"At first, I wasn’t sure either, worried it was just a false alarm due to a health issue."

Zhao Dafa’s eyes beamed with joy, "Are we having a third child?"

"Mhm."

Zhao Dafa embraced his head, overwhelmed with happiness, "This surprise is too much; I need a moment."

"Then you take your time, I’m going to sleep."

Seeing her laying down to sleep, Zhao Dafa also lay down and considerately covered her with the blanket.

"Let’s sleep together, getting to bed early and rising early is good for the baby."

"Then turn off the light."

"Okay."

...

That night, Shen Chaobei was furious upon learning that his son had talked back to Shen Mingzhu at the birthday party and lashed him violently with a duster.

Shen Zilong had been spoiled since childhood, hardly ever being scolded, let alone beaten, and his cries were heart-wrenchingly loud.

No mother could bear to see her own son suffer, and Du Juan was no exception.

"Mom, Mom, save me!"

Shen Zilong was also quick-witted; seeing that his father was seriously disciplining him, he turned to his mother, crying for help.

Du Juan, already compassionate, could not sit idly by when her son called out—she immediately intervened to stop her husband.

"Enough, that’s enough; do you want to beat him to death?"

Shen Chaobei, although a strict husband, valued affection and filial piety even more.

If his son dared to talk back to his aunt today, he would dare to talk back to his own parents tomorrow, and he must be properly disciplined to make him remember the lesson.

Seeing him raise the feather duster to hit his son again, Du Juan snatched the feather duster and threw it on the floor.

"Shen Chaobei, is this ever going to end!?"

Shen Chaobei was stunned by the shout.

Although the couple had their differences at times, they had never yelled like this before.

"Dad, Mom, please don’t argue, it’s all my fault for not watching over my brother properly."

Looking at his anxious and frightened eldest daughter, most of Shen Chaobei’s anger dissipated.

He softened his tone and said to Du Juan, "Let’s go, take Dandan with us, we’re going to Sister Shen’s place to apologize."

"If you want to go, go yourself, I’m not going."

After saying that, Du Juan returned to her room and took her son with her to avoid Shen Chaobei taking him out.

Watching the closed bedroom door, Shen Chaobei deflated, scratching his head and reluctantly picked up his keys to leave.

...

"Sister Shen."

Seeing the worn-out Shen Chaobei, Shen Mingzhu understood immediately.

"There’s no need to come all the way here, a phone call would have been enough."

Shen Chaobei blamed himself, "I’m not good with words, nor do I know how to say anything pleasant. I’ve already disciplined Dandan, and you know what your sister-in-law is like, she’s strong, and with the factory not doing well, she’s inevitably anxious, please bear with her."

"Mm, I understand, I’m not angry, you shouldn’t argue with your sister-in-law over this."

Seeing that she was genuinely not angry, Shen Chaobei finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ah, when we were poor, we lived happily, but now that we have money, why does it feel worse than before?"

Shen Mingzhu pondered, "Perhaps it’s because happiness and wealth aren’t necessarily equivalent."

...

Although Shen Hongmei intended to keep a low profile, the news of her second pregnancy quickly spread among her close friends.

Knowing that Zhao Dafa was about to become a father again, Pei Yang was green with envy. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

After dinner, Pei Yang took the initiative to take the task of walking the dog with his daughter.

Passing by a small shop with a freezer, Pei Yang stopped his daughter, "Guoguo, do you want some ice cream?"

Pei Tang glanced at the freezer a few steps away, then back at her dad with a suspicious look, "You’re smiling like the Big Bad Wolf."

"What kind of way is that to talk?"

Pei Tang blinked, "Just telling the truth."

As his daughter grew older, she became harder to fool (or deceive).

Pei Yang muttered in his heart while patiently kneeling down, "Dad needs a favor from you, and if you agree, I’ll treat you to a month’s worth of ice cream, plus take you out to play wherever you want, how about it?"

Pei Tang thought for a moment, then crisply said, "Tell me what it is first."

Pei Yang took out his wallet and bought two sticks of ice cream.

When he came back, he found Demu looking at him earnestly, so he turned around to buy another stick and then found a small park to sit and enjoy it.

Demu lay in front of the father and daughter, hugging his ice cream and licking it with relish.

"Guoguo, would you like a little brother or sister as cute as Huanhuan?"

"No."

Pei Tang answered unequivocally without hesitation.

"A little brother or sister would be so cute. As the older sister, they would listen to everything you say. If you tell them to go east, they wouldn’t dare go west."

Pei Tang fluttered her eyelashes, shining like black jewels, "Dad, do I look stupid to you?"

"Why would you say that?"

"Right now, I’m the youngest in the family, and Mom, Brother, and you all dote on me the most. Why would I give up such a good life to have a sibling that competes for attention?"

"You can forget about it. I won’t help you convince Mom to have a little brother or sister. Even if you and Mom want to have one, I don’t agree!"

Pei Yang: "..."

After all that talking, not only did he fail to achieve his goal, but he was also forced to make a lot of promises just to keep Pei Tang from telling Shen Mingzhu.

It turned out to be a loss on both fronts.

When they got home, Pei Tang went straight to her brother to complain.

She had only agreed not to tell her mother, but she did not promise not to tell her brother.