The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 882 - 881: It’s Not Like She’s My Own Flesh and Blood

Chapter 882: Chapter 881: It’s Not Like She’s My Own Flesh and Blood

Pei Tang rushed out the front door and saw a white helicopter flying in their direction, eventually landing on a small patch of open ground in the center of the residential area.

Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking at the nearby helicopter, Shen Mingzhu turned and asked her son, "Did you rent it?"

Pei Ziheng shook his head, "No."

Shen Mingzhu was about to nod but then heard her son say, "I bought it."

Shen Mingzhu wanted to ask when he bought it and for how much, but she swallowed her questions after they crossed her mind.

Her son had grown up and should have his own space and privacy, and she, an old mother, needn’t be so meddling in everything.

With this thought, she instead urged her two children to be careful when traveling.

Pei Ziheng earnestly agreed.

After watching the helicopter shrink into a speck in the sky, Shen Mingzhu then turned and went back inside the house.

...

"Brother, look, that’s our school!"

Inside the cabin, Pei Tang tightly clutched her brother’s arm with her left hand and pointed with her right hand at the sky-blue, matchbox-like solitary building on the ground, excitedly saying:

"If we landed right now, and my classmates saw me getting off a helicopter, wouldn’t that be so cool?"

Pei Ziheng laughed lightly, "Want to go to school?"

Pei Tang quickly shook her head, "No, it’s not easy to get out, I haven’t had enough fun yet."

After she spoke, she pointed like discovering a new world at a white building a bit farther away, "Is that our mom’s food factory?!"

"Yes."

"And that building over there, is that dad’s company?"

"Yes."

The helicopter circled over the city for about ten minutes until Pei Tang had her fill of the view, and then it veered toward the suburbs to roam.

...

As dusk fell, the sunset was fiery, turning the whole sky a brilliant red.

Shen Mingzhu, having finished a day’s work, stretched lazily and got up to walk to the floor-to-ceiling windows to relax her nerves as she watched the sunset that resembled a painting.

"Di-di-di-di."

The sound of a QQ message alert came from the computer.

Shen Mingzhu sat back at her desk and clicked on the blinking avatar in the QQ friends list.

Shen Hongmei: [You had the foresight, just hiding at home and not going out, I’m almost annoyed to death by reporters.]

Shen Mingzhu: [It’s just this once, it will get better after a while, if it’s really bad you could also rest at home for a couple of days.]

Shen Hongmei: [No need for that, I’m going on a business trip tomorrow, won’t be back until next week.]

Shen Mingzhu: [Hard work.]

Shen Hongmei: [It should be, I’ll bring you some local specialities when I come back.]

Shen Mingzhu: [Okay, thank you.]

While chatting with Shen Hongmei, the door to the study was pushed open, and Pei Yang’s head popped in from the outside.

"Wife, done with work?"

"Almost." Shen Mingzhu typed away and spoke to the man at the same time, "Call and ask Ziheng where he is."

"Ziheng is back?"

"Yes, came back at noon, took Guoguo out to play."

After closing the study door, Pei Yang pulled out his phone from his pocket, dialed his son’s number as he entered the bedroom, and casually shut the door behind him.

The call connected quickly, and Pei Yang cut straight to the point, "You and Guoguo eat out tonight; don’t come back before 10 PM."

Pei Ziheng was speechless, "Other parents worry about their children coming home late; you, on the other hand, are worried about your children coming home early. Are you even a father?"

"It’s not as if he’s my own blood."

Pei Ziheng: just couldn’t refute.

In the bustling arcade, Pei Tang was speeding on a motorbike seat. Seeing Pei Ziheng return after finishing a phone call, she shouted while keeping her eyes on the screen:

"Bro, I’m playing one last round!"

Pei Ziheng gently patted her head and said softly, "Go ahead and play. When you’re done, I’ll take you out for a steak."

"Aren’t we going home?"

Instead of answering, Pei Ziheng asked back, "So do you want to go home for dinner or play around a bit more?"

"Bro, play with me. Let’s play until seven, and then we can go for barbecue!"

Pei Ziheng chuckled.

At home.

After finishing the call with his son, Pei Yang turned to Shen Mingzhu and said, "Ziheng says they’re not coming back for dinner tonight; they want to play out longer and will only come home after ten."

Shen Mingzhu’s first thought was that her daughter was pestering her son and wouldn’t let him come home, so she couldn’t help but scolded her daughter a bit.

Pei Yang followed suit, "When Guoguo comes back, I must give her a good talking-to. A young girl staying out until ten o’clock, what kind of behavior is that?"

"I’m going to call Ziheng and have them come home earlier."

If she called now, wouldn’t it give everything away? Pei Yang grabbed the mobile phone from Shen Mingzhu, "It’s rare for Ziheng to have some time to spend with Guoguo. Your call would dampen their spirits. Don’t you trust Ziheng? He knows what he is doing. Anyway, let’s think about what to eat tonight, I’m starving."

Distracted by his change of topic, Shen Mingzhu also lost the intention of calling her son.

Cui Lianying and Pei Ke had gone on vacation to the Maldives, and Elder Sister Yu was resting at home due to her rheumatism acting up – both maids were away, so these past few days Shen Mingzhu had been cooking for herself.

With both her son and daughter not home, she wasn’t in the mood to cook, so she told Pei Yang to order delivery from a restaurant while she decided to take a bath.

Getting on in years, after a day’s work, she felt so tired that she just wanted to lie down and do nothing.

Soaking in the bathtub with added aromatic oils, every nerve ending felt relaxed, so comfortable that it made her drowsy.

After the bath, she went downstairs to find the round rosewood dining table already set with dishes.

Shrimp dumplings, siu mai, chicken feet, steamed ribs, egg custard tarts, crab roe fried noodles, pineapple buns, shrimp congee, and a dazzling array of dishes decorated the table.

"Is just the two of us going to finish all this?"

"Just eat whatever you like; whatever’s left, we’ll give to Fugui."

The German Shepherd sat squatting by the dining table, staring eagerly at the delicious snacks on it, and began wagging its tail ingratiatingly when Shen Mingzhu looked its way.

"Bring me your bowl."

As soon as Shen Mingzhu finished speaking, the German Shepherd dashed off to its kennel, brought back its bowl and placed it at Shen Mingzhu’s feet.

Shen Mingzhu took her chopsticks and picked a piece of each dim sum to place in the German Shepherd’s bowl, topping it off with a big scoop of shrimp congee.

Watching this, Pei Yang felt a surge of jealousy, "This dog eats better than I do."

Shen Mingzhu gave him a look, chuckling, "Why don’t you bring your bowl here, and I’ll serve you too?"

"Are you saying I rank lower than a dog in your heart?"

Shen Mingzhu pointed at the floor and teased, "Well, why don’t you squat here, and I’ll let Fugui sit in your place?"

The German Shepherd, panting: I don’t mind.

Pei Yang sheepishly said, "...I was just kidding, let’s eat."

After dinner, leaving the dishes for the man to clean up, Shen Mingzhu found the dog leash, ready to take the German Shepherd for a walk around the neighborhood.

"Wait for me to finish washing the dishes, and I’ll join you."

"You wash the dishes, I’ll walk the dog, why must we do it together?"

Shen Mingzhu replied while fitting the dog leash onto the German Shepherd.

Squatting in front of her and the German Shepherd, Pei Yang babbled, "We haven’t taken a walk together in days. It’s good for a couple to walk together after dinner as it’s conducive to a stable relationship. If you don’t wait, I’ll leave the dishes for our son to clean when he comes home."

Shen Mingzhu gave him a look, "You’ve got five minutes."

"Right on!"

Five minutes later.

Shen Mingzhu walked out with the German Shepherd, and Pei Yang with her, the two people and the dog happily set out.