Rebirth Counterattack with Space
Chapter 199 - 191 Turning Point

Chapter 199: Chapter 191 Turning Point

"Grandma, please do a good deed for the day and keep Luoluo company. When we were walking in the courtyard yesterday evening, we ran into her stepmother and sister again. They kept offering to spend more time with Luoluo, but how can I feel at ease letting them anywhere near Luoluo?"

Pei Kun also began to persuade Zhang Min.

After all, his own grandmother was getting on in years. Although she seemed quite healthy and nimble in her movements, she indeed had her share of various aches and pains, leftovers from earlier years spent braving gunfire and bullets alongside Grandpa without the opportunity to properly take care of her health.

In the past two years, their family doctor had repeatedly reminded her to exercise more and walking was the best kind of exercise for someone of her age. However, Grandma didn’t like to move much. The older she got, the more stubborn she became, and no amount of persuasion seemed to work on her.

Helpless, the family could only think of all sorts of ways to coax her into going out for walks.

Since Luoluo had become pregnant, he had also started to get busier. Consequently, Luoluo made it a point to drag her out for shopping or walks more often, killing two birds with one stone...

"What’s the matter with you, always having something to do? You’re never around because you’re so busy, and it’s already bad enough that you’re absent seven or eight times out of ten when it’s time to walk with Luoluo. Now you can’t even spare time on Sundays?"

Zhang Min squinted her eyes dangerously and scrutinized her grandson suspiciously. "Are you really that busy? You’re not using it as an excuse to fool around outside now that Luoluo is pregnant, are you? If I find out anything, I won’t tolerate it, even if you’re my grandson."

"That’s such an injustice; it shouldn’t be like this. Luoluo, help me dig out the quilted jacket from the bottom of the chest later, I need to bring it with me when I go out today," Pei Kun lamented exaggeratedly.

"What do you need a quilted jacket for in this hot weather?" Zhang Min asked curiously.

Once she heard this, Luoluo knew that Pei Kun was up to something funny, so she buried her face in her bowl and chuckled quietly.

"If Kou E can have snow in June while bearing injustice, why can’t I have snow in September while bearing injustice?" Pei Kun said loudly and righteously.

Pei Qingyuan and Pei Shaohua couldn’t help but shoot him a sidelong glance. It was rare to have a chance to speak up authoritatively in front of the family’s de facto "leader."

"..."

Zhang Min was speechless for a while before retorting sarcastically, "You really know how to take care of yourself, only thinking about bringing a quilted jacket for yourself and not considering your wife, child, or us, the elderly and infirm."

"..." Pei Kun was stunned, confused about what his grandma meant. Was she directly upgrading to accusing him of being "unfilial"?

Indeed, the older the ginger, the spicier. Pei Qingyuan and Pei Shaohua, who had been listening to the conversation silently the whole time, couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

"I don’t want to live anymore, I’ll jump into the Yellow River... Wuuu, it’s not fair, Grandma, I’ve really been busy. Don’t believe me? Ask Grandpa. And you are clearly on the ’Once you have a great-grandchild, you don’t need the grandchild anymore’ train."

Pei Kun, feeling extremely wronged, moved his face close to Zhang Min, seeking her comfort, while looking at her with a pitiful expression, "It’s over, am I going to fall out of favor?"

"It’s true, Pei Kun has indeed been a bit busier lately." Pei Qingyuan, unable to bear seeing his grandson suppressed any longer and moved by compassion, spoke up to back him up. Pei Kun was so touched that he teared up and smiled gratefully at him. After all, Grandpa was family.

After the reform and opening up, Pei Qingyuan acted swiftly to resume his old trade. In a very short period of time, he had expanded and strengthened the family business.

He did intend to train his son to take over the business early on, but unfortunately, his son had been injured in the womb and had been frail and sickly since birth. The boy had always enjoyed painting and now teaches traditional Chinese painting at a university. Pei Qingyuan cherished his son and could not bear to make him give up the career he loved, so he did not force him to take over the family business.

When his grandson Pei Kun was born, Pei Qingyuan worried that he would be as frail as his father. Luckily, the boy was healthy and lively from a young age, and exceptionally sturdy. He became the king of the kids... and as he grew up, he developed a real interest in business, so now he is learning by his side.

"Ah, then I really wronged you," said Zhang Min, confident in her grandson and teasing him solely for everyone’s "amusement."

So, she pretended to tousle Pei Kun’s hair in a muddled way, and immediately after, she pushed him away with distaste, "Go away; you’ve fallen out of favor a long time ago. Ever since Luoluo came into our life more than ten years ago, I haven’t paid much attention to you. Look how promising Luoluo is, not long after entering our door, she’s bringing us new members to the Ding Family."

"But half of that military award is mine, isn’t it?"

Pei Kun hung his head low, aggrieved, and only dared to mutter softly. He no longer dared to raise his voice.

Having a verbal sparring, he never managed to get the upper hand in front of his sharp-tongued grandmother, who could infuriate people without paying a price. Of course, even if he could, he wouldn’t dare to take advantage of her. He was afraid of being settled by his grandfather afterwards.

Everyone heard, but pretended not to have heard, and couldn’t help but give him sympathetic glances. Yet no one comforted him. Even Ding Luoluo was just snickering and enjoying the spectacle on the side.

Ding Luoluo chuckled to herself. While others might not know, she knew all too well that Pei Kun was known for his "poisonous tongue" outside because he was so harshly teased by his own grandmother at home.

"What, you ran into that mother and daughter again yesterday?" Zhang Min frowned; this time she was truly annoyed. She was very sick of the Ding Family’s mother and daughter duo.

In fact, it wasn’t just her; including Ding Luoluo, no one in the Pei Family liked those two.

Ding Luoluo’s maternal family also lived in the same neighborhood, but her father’s current wife was not her birth mother. Her birth mother was nothing more than a village lady who had never seen much of the world, unlike her cultured stepmother who shared a deeper bond with her father.

Therefore, her half-sister from her maternal family had never been close to her since they were not born of the same mother. Ever since Ding Luoluo’s mother passed away and she was brought to live with her father at the age of eight or nine, these two repeatedly ostracized and bullied her, both openly and secretly.

Ding Junshan originally worked in a state-owned enterprise. Although he didn’t hold a high position, he eventually started his own business at the encouragement of his wife and owed much of his success to the Pei Family’s help. Without the latter’s assistance, he wouldn’t have been able to live in the same neighborhood as the Pei Family.

Because of the glory borrowed from the Pei Family, his company still depended on the Pei Group for sustenance, which is why Ding Junshan always felt somewhat inferior when facing the Pei Family.

Busy with his business, he hardly meddled in household affairs. As long as no major trouble was stirred up, he would generally ignore it. Moreover, compared to the timid and reserved eldest daughter Ding Luoluo, he showed favoritism to Ding Tiantian, his sweet-talking younger daughter who grew up under his watchful eye.

With his stepmother frequently instigating against her, Ding Junshan even despised this bashful eldest daughter, thinking she was just like her birth mother – unfit for society.

The young Ding Luoluo had a difficult life in that household, which further ingrained her feelings of inferiority and lack of self-confidence.

The turning point in her life began when she met Zhang Min at the age of eleven.