The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 883 - 882: Accompaniment is the Most Enduring Confession

Chapter 883: Chapter 882: Accompaniment is the Most Enduring Confession

After finishing their walk, they returned home just at 7:30. Shen Mingzhu turned on the TV to watch the local news while Pei Yang went into the kitchen to cut some fruit and brewed a rose black tea that Shen Mingzhu liked.

"Honey, ah."

Glancing at the strawberry fed to her mouth, Shen Mingzhu gently turned her head away, "I don’t want any, I don’t eat fruit at night."

"Have some, then I’ll accompany you to exercise, no need to worry about getting fat."

Shen Mingzhu threw a playful, skeptical look at the man, "Are you talking about real exercise?"

"That depends on you, I’m okay with either," Pei Yang said with a cheeky grin.

"Get lost," Shen Mingzhu laughed and scolded.

Pei Yang turned his head to the German Shepherd lying by the coffee table, "Didn’t you hear? She told you to get lost."

The dog looked expressionless: I may be an actual dog, but you really aren’t a decent human.

Unable to hold back her amusement, Shen Mingzhu playfully kicked the man, "I was talking to you."

"You ladies love to talk in contradictions, getting angry means you want to be coaxed, I get it."

With that, he pulled Shen Mingzhu onto his lap, his arms wrapped around her waist, hugging her tightly like a doll.

"What are you doing?"

"Coaxing you."

"I don’t need it, let go."

"Then you coax me instead, I need it."

"Are you still a child?"

"Am I or am I not, aren’t you the clearest about that?"

Defeated by the man’s shamelessness, Shen Mingzhu turned her head to watch the news.

The next second, her shoulder grew heavy, added by a furry head.

"I really wish it were just us two at home, able to hug you like this every day without anyone disturbing us, doing whatever we want."

Shen Mingzhu felt a sudden softness in her heart, turning back to look at the man.

Time seemed to have always been kind to him; his appearance was still as handsome and striking as when they first met, yet now he seemed more mature and refined.

Although their love had never been tumultuous, it was a love as enduring and comforting as a slow-flowing river.

But someone had said, companionship is the most enduring confession of love.

In this lifetime, how fortunate it is to meet someone who can’t bear to see you suffer even a little, and protects you completely.

"I’ve made up my mind."

"Made up your mind to have a third child with me? Then we should hurry, let’s go to the room now."

Shen Mingzhu hit him on the chest, annoyed, "Is your brain filled with nothing but that crap?"

"No, it’s also filled with you."

Amused by the man’s slick talking, "I’ve decided, I’ll retire when I’m forty." freewёbnoνel.com

"Have a third child after retiring?"

"Get lost~"

Shen Mingzhu rolled her eyes, speechlessly, and shook her dangling feet.

This gesture was rather childish, but on her, it didn’t seem out of place at all, instead, it was endearing in a girlish way.

"After retiring, let’s travel the world first, and when we’re done playing, go to the mountains and teach, start a Hope Primary School; when Ziheng and Guoguo are settled and have kids, we’ll come back and help take care of our grandchildren. By the time our grandchildren have grown up, our time will be about up too."

Pei Yang looked at her with a tender gaze, "Do you know what my dream is?"

Shen Mingzhu teased, "To have a third child? That’s a dream that won’t come true with me."

"I want to live just a bit longer than you," Pei Yang had said. "You live until 88, I’ll live until 89. I can’t bear to leave you alone in this world, waiting for death by yourself."

It would be a lie to say Mingzhu wasn’t moved, but instinctively, she teased, "Is there another possibility? If you were gone, could I find a young and handsome guy to live a rich and colorful life?"

"I suspect you already have that idea in mind, the kind of talk that could infuriate me to death."

Mingzhu couldn’t help but grin, "Aren’t I supposed to cheer you up? How can I do that if you’re not upset?"

After speaking, she leaned in to offer a kiss.

Pei Yang reacted quickly, clasping the back of her head and transforming the peck into a deep French kiss.

Their intense love blended with the night, casting a beautiful silhouette of their heads together against the dim curtain.

...

The night sky seemed a vast curtain sprinkled with tiny, twinkling stars.

Pei Tang leaned on her brother’s shoulder, counting the stars above her, "...18, 19, 20..."

Under the starlight, the young girl’s face was as pure and flawless as a jade disk, her beautiful almond eyes reflecting the scattered light, utterly captivating.

The tenderness in Ziheng’s eyes was more profound than the constellations above, "It’s time to head back."

"Just let me finish counting."

After responding, she complained to Ziheng, "Oh come on, brother, don’t interrupt me. Now I have to start all over."

Ziheng ruffled her hair, "If you can’t finish counting all night, are we supposed to sleep on the mountaintop?"

"That’s not necessarily a bad idea. I’ve never spent the night on the mountaintop before."

Her words were met with a playful knock on her head from Ziheng, "Let go of that idea. Unless you get married someday, you are never to spend a night outside by yourself."

Pei Tang hummed her dissatisfaction, "You, who travel all over the place and hardly see me twice a month, have the nerve to make such rules for me."

Ziheng’s voice deepened soothingly, "It’s different for us."

"How is it any different?"

"It’s dangerous out there. You’re a girl, and you’re beautiful; it’s easy for bad people with ill intentions to target you."

Pei Tang hummed, "Speaking of danger, aren’t you the most dangerous person around me? You’re not our biological parent’s child, no blood relation to me, yet you live under the same roof. What if..."

"There’s no ’what if.’"

Ziheng, unusually serious and earnest, cut off her words, then asked, "When did you find out?"

Pei Tang knew what he was asking, her eyelids drooping as she replied, "I’ve known since I was very young, heard grandma say you weren’t born to our parents, advising mom to have another son."

After speaking, she turned to look at him, her beautiful almond eyes assertive, "No matter whether you’re their biological child or not, in my heart, you’re my only brother, and I won’t let anyone take your place, not even a biological brother or sister."

So, that was the real reason you objected to our parents having a third child, not because you were afraid of losing their affection.

Ziheng, always calm and rational, capable of maintaining his composure even if the sky were falling, found himself at a loss for words.

He reached out to gently pull her into his embrace, planting a pure, untroubled kiss on her forehead.

Pei Tang buried her face in his chest, whispering softly, "I don’t want to go home just yet; I want to stay with you a little longer."

"It’s getting late, Mom will worry."

Pei Tang lifted her face from his chest and looked at him, "Will you still keep me company like this in the future?"

"Yes."

"Pinky promise."

Ziheng extended his right pinky, gently hooking it around hers.

Satisfied with the promise, Pei Tang’s eyes beamed joyfully, and looking up at the night sky, her almond eyes shone brighter than the stars, "Next time, I have to count exactly how many stars there are."

"Let’s go, time to head home."

"Okay."

Under the night sky, the siblings walked hand in hand down the mountain, their silhouettes—one tall, one short—creating a masterfully crafted beautiful shadow tableau.