The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 872 - 871: Seeing Shen Baolan Again

In the blink of an eye, another New Year’s Eve arrived.

Before New Year’s Eve, Gao Hualiang and Huang Chunyu were both tried in court.

Gao Hualiang, as the mastermind and perpetrator of fraud and human trafficking, committed vicious and cruel acts and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison.

Huang Chunyu, as an accomplice involved in planning and assisting, was relatively less culpable and was sentenced to six years in prison.

The wrongdoers were finally brought to justice, but Shen Baolan’s family couldn’t feel happy.

Gao Hualiang’s assets in Thailand, which should have been returned to Shen Baolan as dirty money, had not been received yet.

"The day after tomorrow is New Year’s Eve, and we still haven’t sorted out the New Year goods. We’ve sold the pigs, and it’s still not enough to pay off debts. How are we going to get through this year!?"

At the dinner table, hearing Tian Wenfang’s complaints, Shen Hao and Shen Dashan, father and son, both looked worried.

The father and son usually worked at the furniture factory in town, earning enough to support the whole family.

But after the cold weather caused the furniture factory to close, cutting off their income, the family faced financial difficulties. Creditors pressed them to the point where they had to sell the family’s pigs and poultry.

The creditors were temporarily dealt with, but getting through this New Year would be tough.

"Hurroo, hurroo..."

While the whole family struggled to swallow their food, worried about the New Year, only Shen Baolan ate heartily, unaffected.

This meal was sour soup noodles, made by stir-frying sauerkraut in pork fat, adding water to boil, then putting in tofu and noodles.

Normally, this sour soup noodles would at least have pork or eggs in it.

These days, living standards in the village had improved significantly; many families had built new houses and bought motorcycles, and eating meat at every meal was not uncommon.

Yet their family was the exception, with their lives regressing; forget about meat, they were barely managing to get enough food.

"Baolan, slow down, no one is competing with you."

Tian Wenfang, already harboring resentment, was furious at her mother-in-law’s oblivious favoritism towards her daughter-in-law, slamming her chopsticks down hard.

The whole family was startled by her outburst, except for Shen Baolan.

Compared to the beatings and abuse she endured at the Yang Family, this little ruckus was nothing; it couldn’t affect her eating at all.

"Aren’t you eating? Then I’ll finish it all."

She slurped up the noodles along with the soup, then immediately filled her bowl again—a third helping.

Since being rescued, she had eaten like this at every meal, like an insatiable pig.

Fortunately, all this eating wasn’t for nothing; compared to her emaciated state when she first returned, she had gained quite a bit of weight.

Tian Wenfang was seething with anger, "Other than eating, what can you do? A perfectly good home, dragged down by you; if I were you, I would be too ashamed to live!"

Hearing his daughter-in-law criticizing Shen Baolan, Shen Dashan was a bit upset, "Enough, it’s almost New Year’s, let’s not make a fuss. It’s been hard for Baolan to finally be home. This year, we can finally have a reunion. That’s something to be happy about. As for the money, our current hardship is only temporary. Once the police return that two hundred thousand to us, life will get easier."

Hearing the mention of two hundred thousand, Tian Wenfang felt somewhat relieved.

But she still complained, "I’ve made so many trips to the police station, spent quite a lot on travel expenses, and each time they just tell us to go home and wait. Who knows how long we’ll have to wait."

Shen Dashan tried to soothe his daughter-in-law, "We’ve waited this long, a couple more months won’t matter. We’ll get that money eventually."

Tian Wenfang wanted to say more, but Shen Baolan, who had been quietly eating, suddenly spoke unclearly:

"After the New Year, I want to go to Fucheng."

Everyone stared at her.

"Nier, what are you going to Fucheng for?" Shen Dashan asked.

Shen Baolan lifted her sleeve to wipe her mouth and replied, "I am going to bring Yuanbao back. We had agreed that I would have custody of him."

The whole family exchanged looks.

As soon as Shen Baolan returned, she started asking about the whereabouts of her biological son. They only mentioned that Zhou Fu was taken away by Zhou Shuhuan but collectively hid the fact that they had taken five thousand yuan from Zhou Shuhuan and signed a declaration on Shen Baolan’s behalf renouncing custody rights.

Tian Wenfang was the first to jump out and object, "You make it sound so easy just clapping your jaws together, do you even have the travel expenses to go to Fucheng? It’s already hard enough supporting you alone; adding Zhou Fu to the family, will we even survive?"

Shen Dashan also advised, "Nier, let’s not rush this. We’ll make plans once we get the money back."

But Shen Baolan was determined, "I have to go to Fucheng. If I don’t have the travel expenses, I’ll borrow them! I want to bring Yuanbao back, and I have to settle accounts with Zhou Shuhuan!"

"This predicament I’m in today, it’s all thanks to that Zhou Shuhuan. Officer Shen told me that Gao Hualiang was enticed to seduce me by him! Now that Gao Hualiang is in prison, I won’t let the main instigator get away with it!"

With Shen Baolan saying this, the entire family also started thinking.

Exactly, their family’s current state was all because of Gao Hualiang, but Gao Hualiang was brought in by Zhou Shuhuan.

Now that Gao Hualiang is serving time, Zhou Shuhuan owes them an explanation.

After discussing it as a family, it was decided that Shen Hao would accompany Shen Baolan to Fucheng, leaving on the second day of the month.

...

On the first day of the month, after having breakfast early, Shen Mingzhu drove back to Shenjiagou.

She hadn’t returned to her hometown for New Year’s Eve, but on the first day, she needed to go back to sweep Qin Jinlian’s grave.

After paying their respects, Pei Tang wanted to stay longer on the mountain, so Shen Mingzhu and Pei Ziheng stayed with him, while the rest went back home.

They hadn’t wandered the mountain long when Pei Tang complained that the wind was too cold, prompting the three of them to head back down the mountain.

Right at the base of the mountain, they encountered Shen Baolan.

Initially, Shen Mingzhu didn’t recognize her.

Shen Baolan was wearing a bumblebee cap and was clad in grimy cotton clothes. She stood there, hands in her pockets, looking like a bulky bear.

"Shen Mingzhu."

Shen Mingzhu struggled to recognize the half-visible face from beneath the brim of the cap as Shen Baolan.

While Shen Mingzhu was sizing up Shen Baolan, Shen Baolan was doing the same.

When Shen Mingzhu drove into the village, Shen Baolan was at the village entrance, listening to several old women from the village chit-chatting.

Through the windshield, she saw Shen Mingzhu sitting in the passenger seat, her face still as lovely and radiant as when she was young.

Beside her, Pei Yang, driving the car, looked mature and handsome, clearly successful in his demeanor.

Especially after hearing the old women discuss that the car Shen Mingzhu was in was worth over six million, her envy couldn’t be hidden.

"Shen Mingzhu, I heard your family has struck it rich. You, your husband, and your son, all big bosses, making tens of millions a year,"

Shen Baolan’s tone carried a mix of fawning and flattering, which caught Shen Mingzhu off guard.

In all the years they had dealt with one another, Shen Baolan had always been passive-aggressive and sarcastic in front of her, and this was the first time she had taken such a low stance.

But knowing Shen Baolan as she did, Mingzhu guessed she wasn’t harboring any good intentions.

"Do you need something?"

"Just to chat, it’s been so many years since we last saw each other."

"I have nothing to discuss with you."

Left with no choice, Shen Baolan said, "I need a favor, and you’re the only one who can help me."