The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 813 - 812 Aspiration

Hearing Zhao Dafa praise her, Shen Hongmei instinctively replied, "I’m already thirty. If I were still as impulsive as when I was young, then these years would have been lived in vain. Besides, I have a clear perspective as an outsider, while you are lost in the situation."

Zhao Dafa held her hand and sighed, "In the blink of an eye, we’ve both gotten old."

Shen Hongmei laughed, "Exactly, in a couple more years, Xiaoyun will be getting married."

Zhao Yun joined in the laughter, "Doesn’t that mean I should prepare to be upgraded to a grandfather?"

"You never know, it might not take two years. Xiaoyun has been quite constant with that Miss Ren these two years, who knows, they might impulsively make you a grandfather sooner."

Although Shen Hongmei joked, Zhao Dafa couldn’t bring himself to laugh, "That won’t do. The girl is still in school. I need to remind him, if he dares to mess around and harm her, I’ll break his legs."

Shen Hongmei’s smile faded, a slight bitterness in her heart. freёnovelkiss.com

If back then she had such a sensible and wise elder to guide her, she wouldn’t have made mistakes and wasted so many years.

But on second thought, if she hadn’t been with Ma Chao, she might have married another man early on and wouldn’t have the life she has now.

Everything in the world has its own arrangement.

You can’t change the past or predict the future, the only thing you can do is cherish the present.

The nanny brought over the just-awakened, continuously crying Zhao Yihuan, "Madam, Miss Huanhuan is causing a fuss."

"Give her to me."

Once in her mother’s arms, the recently tearful Zhao Yihuan immediately stopped crying. Her wet eyelashes fluttered as she called out to Shen Hongmei sweetly as "Mommy," then turned her little head and called out to Zhao Dafa as "Daddy."

Zhao Dafa, all smiles, pinched his daughter’s tender white fingers, more delicate than tofu, and teased, "The moment she can’t see her mother, she cries. Might as well change her name to ’little crybaby.’"

Shen Hongmei checked her daughter’s forehead with the back of her hand while explaining to Zhao Dafa, "She’s had a slight fever these past couple of days, inevitably a bit grumpy."

"Didn’t we get medicine from the hospital? Hasn’t the fever gone down yet? Maybe we should try another hospital."

"It should be fine now. Bring me the thermometer, I’ll take her temperature."

"Okay."

The thermometer was a bit cold, and Zhao Yihuan resisted fiercely, refusing to let Shen Hongmei place it in her armpit.

Seeing this, Zhao Dafa took the thermometer, warmed it in his palm, then handed it back to Shen Hongmei and took his daughter in his arms to distract her.

While their daughter was distracted by Zhao Dafa, Shen Hongmei successfully placed the thermometer under her armpit.

"Huanhuan, be good. Let’s go, Daddy will take you to see the big goldfish."

Zhao Dafa, holding his daughter close to ensure the thermometer didn’t fall out, walked towards the fish tank.

"Look at this one, it’s tail waving. Is it greeting our Huanhuan?"

"Ah, fish, fishy!"

Watching the affectionate interaction between father and daughter, Shen Hongmei couldn’t help but smile warmly.

Every day since giving birth to her daughter, she felt she was living in happiness and was sincerely grateful to Shen Mingzhu.

Without Shen Mingzhu, she would not have everything she has now.

...

Today, the nanny had taken a day off, and Shen Chaobei finally managed to lull his son to sleep. Glancing at the clock, he realized it was already half past ten.

At this hour, his wife Du Juan hadn’t returned home yet.

Just as he was about to call and ask if he should drive to pick her up, the home phone rang.

Mai Qiu, Du Juan’s assistant, had called. "Brother Shen, could you come down and pick up Director Du? She’s drunk, and I can’t get her upstairs."

After hanging up, Shen Chaobei immediately ran downstairs.

Upon arrival, he found Du Juan sitting on a marble block in front of the building, supported by Mai Qiu and still swaying, obviously quite drunk.

"How did you get this drunk again?"

Shen Chaobei complained while bending down in front of the stone block.

Although Du Juan was woozy, she hadn’t completely lost consciousness; seeing Shen Chaobei crouch down, she instinctively stretched out her arms and leaned on his back, mumbling to Mai Qiu:

"My husband has come to pick me up, you can go back now, thanks for your hard work today."

"Okay, Director Du, rest early."

While speaking, Mai Qiu hung Du Juan’s handbag on her wrist, courteously opened the security door for Shen Chaobei, and watched the couple ascend the stairs before turning to leave.

Back home, to avoid waking the two children, Shen Chaobei directly carried Du Juan into the bedroom and took off her high heels and overcoat.

After all the effort, he was drenched in sweat.

He didn’t even pause to rest, but went to the bathroom and filled half a basin with hot water to wash off her makeup.

With all this hassle, Du Juan sobered up quite a bit and sat up on the bed, saying she wanted to eat.

Shen Chaobei had no choice but to go to the kitchen and cook a bowl of egg noodles.

"Are you trying to ruin your health by drinking so much every day?"

Listening to her husband’s complaint, Du Juan swallowed the noodles in her mouth. "These drinks recently have not been without purpose; Deputy Director Hou has agreed that in a few days, he will bring Luo Sen’s inspection team to visit the factory. If we can secure Luo Sen’s investment, our factory’s size could double or more, and even an IPO isn’t out of the question."

Although Du Juan’s tone was light, her expression and eyes could not hide her pride.

For the sake of both public and private interests, Shen Chaobei naturally hoped the factory would do well, and his belly full of complaints turned into sympathy and understanding.

"You still need to take care of your health. What’s the use of earning all this money if you ruin your body?"

"I have my own measure."

Du Juan took another bite of noodles and said, looking at him: "Although the food factory was founded single-handedly by my younger sister, it’s also my career and dream. I must make it bigger and stronger, turning it into the first local public food enterprise in Fengcheng."

Faced with his wife’s strong and passionate career aspirations, Shen Chaobei had no choice but to support her.

...

In the kitchen.

Shen Mingzhu had just served the dishes into plates when Chen Xiaochao’s round head popped into the kitchen:

"Auntie, it smells great. What are we eating tonight?"

Shen Mingzhu turned back and listed the dishes, then asked, "Is your mom working overtime again tonight?"

Chen Xiaolu walked in behind her brother, sensibly helping Shen Mingzhu with the dishes while answering her question:

"My mom said she needs to be busy for several more days and told us to come to eat at your house these days. Auntie, you don’t mind, do you?"

Pei Wenping’s nanny had injured her leg a while ago, and she needed to rest for half a month. Pei Wenping, not wanting to hire a new nanny, planned to manage on her own for half a month. However, the workload increased unexpectedly this week, leaving her no choice but to have her twins mooch meals off Shen Mingzhu.

Shen Mingzhu laughed and patted Chen Xiaolu’s head, "What nonsense, having both of you here makes the house more lively. Go wash your hands and get ready to eat."

"Okay."

Although Shen Mingzhu didn’t mind having the twins over for meals, she couldn’t help but feel puzzled and concerned about Pei Wenping working overtime every day.

The food factory had been operating for many years and besides a few busy days of accounting at the end of the year, there was rarely overtime.