The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 434 - 433: Blasting Jia Yuemei

The little girl was not only barefoot, but her pants were also significantly too short, revealing her thin, bony ankles and the knuckles of her feet.

Perhaps embarrassed by Shen Mingzhu’s gaze, the little girl unconsciously curled her dusty toes.

Shen Mingzhu withdrew her gaze, landing on the little girl’s pointed and thin face, "How old are you?"

"I’m 8 years old."

Zeng Fengxian hurriedly answered on her behalf.

Shen Mingzhu was somewhat surprised, for the girl looked so thin and small, she thought the girl was about Daya’s age.

"Haven’t gone to school?"

Zeng Fengxian immediately began to lament their poverty, talking about how the family had no money, how they had an extra child to feed, and how they were fortunate enough to have enough food to eat.

Perhaps out of shame for falsely claiming the Mid-Autumn Festival gift package, the little girl kept her head down from the beginning to end, not uttering a word, her hands clutching the worn hem of her clothes, looking very uneasy.

"I want to talk to her alone for a moment."

Upon hearing this, Shen Dequan hurriedly gestured for the little girl to go outside with Shen Mingzhu.

Zeng Fengxian, watching the two figures, one in front of the other, turned to Shen Dequan with a smile, trying to curry favor, "Uncle Dequan, what does Mingzhu want with my Dani, huh?"

Shen Dequan glanced at her irritably, "I’ve already said that only children who go to school can get stuff, so why did you call Dani over? For such little things, aren’t you ashamed?"

Zeng Fengxian gave a sheepish grin, "If it’s free, why not take it? The woman’s a big boss; she’s got plenty of money and won’t miss a little bit."

"That’s something Mingzhu reserved for students as a token of her goodwill, what’s that got to do with you? If you want to take it, send Dani to school!"

Zeng Fengxian rolled her eyes almost to the heavens, "Easy for you to say, can you pay for the school fees? Her parents don’t care about her. Isn’t it enough that I keep her alive so she can have something to eat?"

"You keep her alive? Washing clothes, cooking, feeding chickens, feeding pigs; is the work she does for you not enough? You better be satisfied!"

Zeng Fengxian pursed her lips, "Anyway, I have no money."

Outside the wattle gate.

Shen Mingzhu smiled and asked the little girl, "What’s your name?"

"Dani."

"Do you want to go to school?"

Xu Dani looked puzzled and lost as she stared at her, obviously lacking an understanding of what going to school meant.

Or perhaps, schooling had never been an option in her life.

"Can you write then?"

Xu Dani still shook her head.

Seeing this, Shen Mingzhu stopped asking further questions and, with a hint of pity, reached out to brush off some grass clippings from the other’s hair.

"Once you start school, you need to study hard. Only by studying can you find a way out, get the chance to escape your current poverty, and someday be in charge of your own life."

Xu Dani didn’t fully understand Shen Mingzhu’s words, but she nodded in agreement anyway.

Subconsciously, she thought this beautiful lady must be very powerful, and surely her words were correct.

...

Once Shen Mingzhu and Shen Dequan had left, Zeng Fengxian immediately pulled Xu Dani and asked her what Mingzhu had said and whether she had received any gifts.

Xu Dani shook her head.

Zeng Fengxian didn’t believe her and searched Xu Dani from head to toe, but indeed found nothing, and in her disappointment, she couldn’t help but scold Dani fiercely.

After leaving Zeng Fengxian’s home, Mingzhu learned more about the situation of Xu Dani’s uncle’s family with the help of Shen Dequan, and then proposed to sponsor Xu Dani’s education.

Shen Dequan was very happy about this.

Though he was born in the old society, he wasn’t an old-fashioned conservative.

On the contrary, he was very supportive of the village children attending school and often preached the benefits of education to the villagers.

That the original owner and Shen Baolan could finish middle school was also thanks to his years of persistent persuasion.

After the details were settled for Xu Dani to go to school, which the village head would manage, Shen Mingzhu turned around and headed back to her parents’ house.

He hadn’t even entered when he heard Guoguo’s crying.

By the time he entered the yard, he saw Pei Yang, Pei Ziheng, as well as Shen Jianguo and Shen Xiangnan, several men of various ages, all surrounding and comforting his daughter.

Jia Yuemei held Erya in her arms, watching from the side as if watching a play.

"What happened?"

As soon as Shen Mingzhu returned, Guoguo’s cries grew even louder, tears falling like beans.

"Mommy, sob sob, bunny, sob sob..."

Only then did Shen Mingzhu notice the bamboo cage on the ground, its door open, and the wild rabbit was nowhere to be seen.

Her first reaction was that the wild rabbit had smashed the cage door open and run away. She was about to comfort her daughter with a few words when she heard Jia Yuemei say, "Little sister, you’re finally back. Quickly comfort your Guoguo. It’s just a wild rabbit. If it’s killed, it’s killed, what’s with the crying as if it’s life or death?"

For rural folk, game is akin to a delicious gift sent by the heavens.

While Pei Yang and his son were playing with Guoguo inside, Jia Yuemei had stealthily slaughtered the wild rabbit with Shen Xiangnan’s help, thinking they could have a nice meal at noon.

"Ziheng, take your sister outside to play."

Pei Ziheng obediently picked up Guoguo, who was crying so hard she couldn’t catch her breath, and headed outside.

Once the two children were outside, Shen Mingzhu stepped into the kitchen and directly flipped the pot containing the nearly stewed rabbit meat.

There was a loud "clang."

Everyone was shocked by her temper.

Pei Yang hurried over, pulling her away from the scalding iron pot and the hot, steaming rabbit meat on the floor to prevent her from getting burned.

"Little sister, what are you doing? A perfectly good pot of meat, just wasted like that."

Jia Yuemei stared at the meat scattered on the ground, the first to show her discontent.

Shen Mingzhu scoffed and retorted coldly, "Aren’t you greedy? Here’s the meat, splayed out on the ground. Go eat it! You’re a full-grown person; are you missing this one bite of meat that much? How did your greed not kill you!"

Being called greedy in front of the entire family, Jia Yuemei’s face flushed red, then turned pale, and back to red again.

Qin Jinlian glanced at her, and then at the second daughter-in-law, attempting to mediate, "Oh, come on, it’s just a wild rabbit. Xiangnan could just catch another one from the mountain, so is it worth getting so upset about?"

Shen Xiangnan and Shen Jianguo also tried to calm Shen Mingzhu down.

Pei Yang whispered, "Let it go, let’s go outside. The kids are still out there."

Although he too was not pleased that Jia Yuemei and her husband had slaughtered the wild rabbit without asking and made his daughter cry, his naturally rational male mind made him think this was not such a big deal, which is why he was not as emotional as Shen Mingzhu.

Shen Mingzhu pointed at Jia Yuemei, "Second sister-in-law, I’ll make it clear today. In the future, whether it’s even a single thread of yarn from my house, don’t touch it without my permission. If this happens again, I won’t be so easy to talk to!"

Even though she had flipped the pot and scolded someone, Shen Mingzhu’s anger had not abated, and she stormed out of the yard in a huff.

Pei Yang followed behind her.

Outside, Guoguo had stopped crying and stood under a jujube tree not far away, gazing up at it.

Shen Mingzhu followed her daughter’s gaze upwards.

Pei Ziheng stood on the tallest branch of the jujube tree, one hand holding onto a not-so-thick branch while the other stretched ambitiously towards a bird’s nest above his head.

The branch swayed under his weight, frightening Shen Mingzhu.

"Ziheng, come down quickly, don’t fall."

"Mom, I’m fine."

Pei Ziheng looked down and replied to her, then continued to tiptoe to reach the bird’s nest above him.

Shen Mingzhu turned back to look at the man behind her.

"You stand over there."

Pei Yang was puzzled, "For what?"

"You’re bulkier. In case Ziheng falls, you can cushion his fall."

"..."

Not in love anymore, huh?