The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 599 - 598: Inspecting the Project in Shanghai City

Chapter 599: Chapter 598: Inspecting the Project in Shanghai City

Finally managing to soothe the two kids to sleep, Chen Yi returned to the room exhausted and saw Pei Wenping packing her luggage. He asked subconsciously, "Are you going out?"

"You should bring your flight forward. I’ll go to Shanghai City with you and the others."

Like a pie falling from the sky, Chen Yi was both shocked and delighted.

"When do you plan to go? I’ll book the flight tomorrow."

"No need, Mingzhu already booked it for me, the day after tomorrow at ten in the morning."

After saying this, she turned back and explained to him, "This trip is for business, the factory will reimburse the cost of the flight and accommodation."

Chen Yi quickly nodded, "Okay, I got it."

The next day, Chen Xiaolu and her brother were especially happy to hear that Pei Wenping was going to Shanghai City, with Chen Xiaolu even taking the initiative to apologize to Pei Wenping, expressing her future understanding and respect for Pei Wenping’s ideas.

Mother and daughter were reconciled as before.

Two days later, the two families arrived smoothly in Shanghai City.

To give the children a perfect travel experience, Shen Mingzhu spent generously on the best five-star hotel in Shanghai City, even booking the top-floor presidential suite, which cost six hundred and sixty-six a night and was only available using Yan Su’s membership card.

Although it was expensive, it was worth it.

The hotel was located in the bustling city center, with luxurious and opulent interior decoration, boasting four bedrooms, a meeting room, a study, a dining room, a bar, an entertainment room, and so on.

What the whole family loved most was the 360-degree floor-to-ceiling windows. Standing in front of the windows, they could overlook the entire city, especially at night, offering a top-tier viewing experience!

As there were enough rooms, Pei Wenping and the twins stayed with Shen Mingzhu, experiencing the extravagant life of a capitalist.

That evening, Shen Mingzhu also treated everyone to a buffet at the only revolving restaurant in Shanghai City.

The restaurant was located on the top floor of a 27-story building, with an elegant and stylish environment, rich and diverse dishes, and rotated once every hour.

Tasting delicious food while enjoying the night view of the Bund was simply a heavenly delight.

The happiest were the four children, whose laughter filled the night.

Behind the top-notch enjoyment lay steep expenses, yet seeing her daughter’s sweet smile even in her sleep, Shen Mingzhu felt the money was well spent.

A night of sweet dreams.

The next day, after having the free breakfast at the hotel, Chen Yi took the kids out to have fun, while she set off to the Universal Vacuum Equipment Factory with Pei Yang and Pei Wenping.

This was her main purpose for visiting Shanghai City.

Previously, when she went to Lihua to discuss investing in the Chinese Character Paging System project, she happened to meet people from the Universal Vacuum Equipment Factory there discussing cooperation.

The Universal Vacuum Equipment Factory was one of the rare state-owned large factories in the country that developed vacuum freeze-drying technology.

Commonly known as a freeze-dryer.

The Universal Factory not only optimized the function and components of the freeze-dryer, but it also pioneered the addition of a microcomputer to the machine, using a microcomputer to replace manual monitoring of the production process, thereby achieving automated production.

Introducing a freeze-dry production line and developing freeze-dried snacks were Shen Mingzhu’s next plans and goals.

Upon arriving at the entrance of the Universal Factory, Shen Mingzhu got out of the car and was warmly surrounded by several people dressed in factory uniforms.

"Are you President Shen? We warmly welcome your visit to our factory."

Shen Mingzhu was somewhat flattered.

To avoid being turned away, she had contacted the Universal Factory before setting off for Shanghai City.

But she hadn’t expected them to send people to welcome her at the entrance.

For an established state-owned factory like Universal, they generally looked down on small private factories like hers. The fact that they agreed to let her visit the factory was already very courteous.

"President Shen, let’s talk inside the factory."

"Alright."

Shen Mingzhu nodded, lifted her foot to walk into the factory with the people from Universal, while Pei Yang and Pei Wenping followed behind her.

...

"Good heavens, such a huge house, so many rooms—can you really live in all these?"

Liu Cuihua looked at the three-story villa in front of her, feeling like her eyes weren’t enough to take it all in, everything was just too perfect.

"Xiaohao and Yuanbao, the two brothers, get one room each, Shuhuan’s parents take one, we take another, and there are just enough left for three more: one for the nanny, one as a study, and one as a guest room, just right."

Listening to Shen Baolan’s allocation of the rooms, Liu Cuihua found it oh-so-familiar.

Living in a big villa, driving a small car, and having a nanny to serve them—wasn’t that just like her daughter’s dream?

Liu Cuihua was beside herself with excitement, "You little rascal, you really made your dream come true? You’re going to be a genuine rich lady from now on!"

Shen Baolan proudly lifted her chin, "That’s right, now you must believe in my foresight, mustn’t you?"

Liu Cuihua was overjoyed, nodding her head like she was pounding garlic.

After her joy subsided, Liu Cuihua started to slyly inquire about how much Zhou Shuhuan had earned.

Shen Baolan always had a mind for finances; she intended to brush off the question, but a quick thought gave her another idea.

"We did earn quite a lot, but after buying the car and the house, and giving Shen Mingzhu and her husband half a million, we’ve got nothing left..."

Learning that her son-in-law’s money had been "swindled" by Shen Mingzhu and Pei Yang made Liu Cuihua’s heart ache as if it were being sliced.

Half a million! If only it were given to her instead.

First, she would build a lovely little western-style building, then open a shop in the city for her son and daughter-in-law to run, and also raise a big pen of chickens, ducks, and rabbits. They could slaughter chickens, ducks, and rabbits every day to eat meat and drink soup in various ways—what a beautiful life that would be.

Those damnable Shen Mingzhu and her spouse, their hearts were really black!

...

When Liu Cuihua returned to Shenjiagou, she ran into Qin Jinlian and a few villagers gossiping at the entrance of the village and strode over.

"Qin Jinlian, you’ve been unusually silent recently. Is it true that a barking dog never bites?"

Qin Jinlian was not one to suffer loss, "Liu Cuihua, did you eat shit? Your mouth stinks!"

"Qin, don’t act like you’re high and mighty; stuffing garlic in your nose to look like an elephant. Your whole family is full of black-hearted and rotten livers, worse than animals..."

"You old, undead bitch, what have I done to you for you to bite me like this the moment you show up..."

The two of them quickly came to blows.

The villagers, who initially gathered to watch the drama, tried to break up the fight, and someone even ran to get Village Chief Shen Dequan.

In front of Shen Dequan and all the villagers, Liu Cuihua cried as she accused Shen Mingzhu of her "evil deeds":

"She’s always currying favor with small kindnesses, but behind everyone’s back, she’s a treacherously vile person! Shen Mingzhu and her man swindled my son-in-law out of half a million! A full half million, she has no fear of being struck by lightning for taking that money, does she?"

"Shut your damn mouth!"

Qin Jinlian sprayed Liu Cuihua with spittle, "Keep boasting! As if Zhou Shuhuan, that good-for-nothing, could have any damn money. Half a million, why not say fifty billion while you’re at it?"

Liu Cuihua, hopping mad, told Shen Dequan and the villagers in detail how Zhou Shuhuan opened an electronics factory in Fucheng, made a fortune, bought a small car, and even purchased a big villa.

But after everyone heard the story, their first reaction wasn’t envy but a burst of laughter that filled the room.

Qin Jinlian laughed the hardest.

For the people of Shenjiagou, a fortune of a million was simply out of reach.

Even with all their capabilities—opening factories, restaurants, and selling pagers—Shen Mingzhu and her husband hadn’t made a million yet.

Zhou Shuhuan, the kind of scholar who couldn’t even fart with ten blows, went to Fucheng for a spin and came back with a million?

Did they really think that gold is found everywhere outside, just waiting to be picked up in sacks?

Seeing that no one believed her, Liu Cuihua got both angry and anxious, and just then, the sound of a car horn came from the road just outside the village entrance.