The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 877 - 876: The Death of Shen Hao

In the visiting room of the detention center, Shen Hao earnestly persuaded Shen Baolan,

"Let’s go home. A melon forcibly twisted off its vine isn’t sweet. If Yuanbao doesn’t want to follow us, then let him stay with Shuhuan. If you miss him later, you can come to visit."

Shen Baolan couldn’t help but shed tears, "Yuanbao doesn’t acknowledge me as his mother, I can accept that, but Zhou Shuhuan has ruined the second half of my life, left me crippled. I can’t swallow this grievance, brother!"

"Shuhuan now has both money and power, and if we keep causing trouble, we’re the only ones who will suffer. The Qiao family gave ten thousand yuan, and I’ve decided once we get back, we’ll pay off our debts first. The rest should be enough for us to live on for a while."

"When the police return the two hundred thousand to us, we’ll build a big house first, then start a small business with what’s left. If you want to remarry, go ahead. If not, I’ll take care of you for the rest of your life. When Wen Fang and Yuanbao grow up and have their own families, their descendants will treat you with the respect due to an elder."

These words undoubtedly spoke to Shen Baolan’s heart.

She had traveled all the way to Fucheng to recognize her son, simply wanting to find support for herself in the latter part of her life.

But her own son didn’t acknowledge her, and she couldn’t contend with Zhou Shuhuan; fortunately, she still had a blood brother she could rely on.

Wiping away her tears, she let go of all her grievances along with them.

Shen Baolan nodded in agreement to go home with Shen Hao.

Upon receiving the news, Qiao Ya immediately arranged train tickets back to Fengcheng for the siblings the following day.

As for Shen Baolan, they would release her from the detention center before departure to prevent her from changing her mind and causing another incident.

That night.

Qiao Ya was celebrating with Zhou Shuhuan that they had finally managed to send away the plague-like Shen Baolan when they received a call from the police station.

"What’s happened?"

Seeing Zhou Shuhuan’s changed expression after the call, Qiao Ya quickly showed concern.

It took Zhou Shuhuan a while before he said, "Shen Hao is dead."

Qiao Ya was shocked, "What happened?"

...

"Shen Baolan, wake up, you can go."

Groggily, Shen Baolan looked at the warden who was waking her and took a long time to come to her senses.

"Get up and get dressed, you can go. Someone’s waiting for you outside."

It wasn’t until the warden reminded her again that Shen Baolan shook off her stupor and sat up from the bunk.

Upon leaving the cell, she found it was still dark outside; disoriented from sleep and without a watch, she couldn’t tell if it were evening or dawn.

"This officer is from the Nanhai District police station, he needs to speak with you."

Before she could grasp the situation, the warden pushed her into the police car.

On the car, looking at the police officer’s unfamiliar and solemn profile, Shen Baolan felt anxious, "Officer, what’s happened? Wasn’t it agreed that I’d be released tomorrow to go home?"

"You’ll know when we get there."

After a moment, she asked about Shen Hao, "Where’s my brother? Why didn’t he come to get me?"

The officer glanced at her and said, "We’re taking you to see him right now."

Hearing this, Shen Baolan breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that she would be able to go home once she saw Shen Hao.

She contemplated that once she got home and had the money, maybe she could "buy" back the daughters she had with Yang Fei, keep them close, and have someone to serve her when she got old.

Lost in her thoughts, the police car stopped in front of a hospital.

"Why are we at a hospital? Where’s my brother?"

From stepping out of the car, Shen Baolan’s heart inexplicably started to race.

The officer led her towards the morgue, tersely explaining that Shen Hao had been in an accident.

After convincing Shen Baolan to leave the detention center, Shen Hao planned to go to the post office to send the ten thousand yuan back home.

Being a lifelong villager, Shen Hao was not on guard in the outside world and was easily drawn into conversation by a pedicab driver.

In these times, ten thousand yuan was a fortune for the lower class.

The pedicab driver harbored evil intentions and, with the help of two accomplices from their hometown, robbed Shen Hao. Resisting fiercely, Shen Hao was stabbed several times with a switchblade by one of them.

The crime scene was quite secluded, and by the time a passerby discovered it and called the police, Shen Hao had already passed away.

Shen Baolan, already handicapped, could no longer stand upon hearing of her own brother’s death.

It took great effort for the police to help her into the morgue.

"Take a look, is this your brother?"

When the white cloth was lifted to reveal Shen Hao’s pale and cyanotic face, Shen Baolan felt as if she had been struck a heavy blow on the head.

"Brother!"

"Brother—"

Her cries of grief echoed down the morgue’s hallways for a long time.

...

Tian Wenfang and her eldest brother from her maternal family arrived in Fucheng on the third day, with Shen Dashan staying behind at home to care for Liu Cuihua and his grandson.

As soon as Tian Wenfang saw her husband’s body, she went insane, hitting and kicking Shen Baolan:

"It’s all because of you, you jinx! Why didn’t you die up in the mountains? What are you doing coming back?"

"You not only brought misfortune on your own mother, but now your elder brother too. You’ve practically torn apart our family. How can you still have the face to live?"

"Why don’t you go die! Why isn’t it you who died!!"

Shen Baolan stood there like a wooden figure who couldn’t fight back, while her sister-in-law beat and insulted her. Tears of regret flowed endlessly, like a dam had burst.

At her age, which woman doesn’t have a home, a business, children by her side?

Yet here she was, having suffered abroad for so many years, barely scraping by with her life, without even a nest to call her own, her body left crippled, her own son refusing to acknowledge her, and now the only brother she could rely on was gone. Who could she count on for the rest of her days?

"Ding-ling-ling..."

Pei Tang picked up the phone quickly, listened for two seconds, then ran to the stairway and shouted upstairs, "Mom, phone—"

Shen Mingzhu came out of her bedroom, slowly walked down the stairs.

Her face was covered with a pearl powder mask, her body draped in a loose white silk nightgown, swaying unsteadily as she descended the staircase.

Pei Tang blinked, "Mom, you look like a female ghost."

"Skin tight?"

Pei Tang shivered and said playfully, "Seems a bit, you haven’t beat me up for three days."

Shen Mingzhu gave a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, "Then I’ll satisfy you in a while."

Pei Tang, not the least bit afraid, chuckled, "Hits on me, pain on you, why bother?"

Shen Mingzhu always thought that her daughter’s thick skin surpassed her father’s by far.

"Shen Mingzhu, it’s me."

Shen Baolan’s voice came through the phone, muffled, as if she had been crying.

Shen Mingzhu raised an eyebrow, "What is it?"

"My brother is dead."

"Oh."

Seemingly unsatisfied with her calmness, Shen Baolan’s voice rose a notch, with a crying intonation, "I’m talking about my own elder brother, Shen Hao, he’s gone!"

Respecting the dead, Shen Mingzhu patiently expressed her condolences.

Shen Baolan couldn’t hold back her tears, and while crying, she rambled on about the causes and effects of Shen Hao’s accident.

Shen Mingzhu didn’t hang up; she was curious about how Shen Hao had died.

She had seen Shen Hao during the first day of the lunar new year when they went back to Shenjiagou to tend to the graves, a man full of life.

Learning that Shen Hao died after taking money from Qiao Ya, and that it led to a robbery, a thought instinctively popped into her head.

—Could there be more to Shen Hao’s death than meets the eye?

He took the money, and immediately after, someone targeted him. Even if it were a robbery, why did they have to stab the man to death?