The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 666 - 665: How It Was Given, Is How It Shall Be Taken Back

Chapter 666: Chapter 665: How It Was Given, Is How It Shall Be Taken Back

With the blue crystal necklace on, Xun Sishi flitted around the yard like a flower butterfly, showing off to everyone.

In contrast, Pei Tang, the birthday girl, was gloomily resting her chin on her hands at the table, staring blankly at Xun Sishi.

Shen Mingzhu patted her daughter’s head, "If you’re not happy, why did you agree to lend out the necklace?"

Pei Tang looked at her, puzzled, "Didn’t you tell me to lend it to her for a while?"

"I was only discussing it with you. You’re the owner of the necklace, and you have the right to refuse or agree."

Pei Tang pursed her lips tightly, her face suffused with melancholy.

"Guoguo, by choosing to lend out your necklace today, you made someone else happy, but at your own expense. So, if you don’t want to feel aggrieved in the future, you have to learn how to refuse, understand?"

Pei Tang muttered, "But if I refuse, won’t others say I’m stingy?"

"Think about it, why don’t the other kids ask to borrow your necklace? Don’t they like it?"

Pei Tang looked towards her friends surrounding Xun Sishi. Each one of them was gazing fervently at the necklace—it couldn’t be that they didn’t like it.

"The other kids know the necklace is your birthday present and something you cherish. A gentleman doesn’t take what others treasure, so even though they really like it, they wouldn’t make such a difficult request."

"But some people only care about their own happiness, sadness, and desires without considering other’s feelings. For such people, you don’t have to constantly accommodate and please them. We don’t owe her anything, so why should you feel stifled and aggrieved for her, right?"

Pei Tang nodded vigorously, happy, "Right! I won’t lend my necklace to anyone from now on!"

Shen Mingzhu felt that was enough and didn’t continue on the subject.

Biting off more than one can chew isn’t wise. There’s plenty of time in the future to teach her the principles and reasoning for getting along in the world gradually.

She changed to a lighter topic, "How did you manage to calm Han Xiuxiu today?"

Pei Tang was secretly proud, "She really liked my butterfly hair clip. I told her that as long as she stopped crying, I would give it to her, and then she stopped crying."

"Well done. You handled that well by understanding her psychology and resolving the issue. But if a similar situation arises next time, what will you do? You can’t always give away your things, can you?"

Pei Tang answered earnestly, "Stealing is wrong, and if Xiuxiu doesn’t correct her behavior, then I won’t play with her anymore."

Hearing her daughter’s response, Shen Mingzhu felt reassured.

She didn’t care whether her daughter would become successful, but she would never let her daughter be coaxed or bullied by others.

Besides the two minor disruptions by Han Xiuxiu and Xun Sishi, the birthday party was, overall, a success.

Apart from birthday wishes, Pei Tang received a multitude of small birthday gifts.

There were greeting cards, piggy banks, sketchbooks, pencil cases, and more.

Pei Tang had also prepared return gifts to thank her friends for coming from far to attend her birthday party.

The return gifts were handmade drawings she had done herself, mounted in seven-inch frames with blessings she had written on the back.

As the birthday party neared its end, Pei Tang handed out the framed drawings to each friend.

When she got to Xun Sishi, she stopped, "Sishi, can I have my necklace back now?"

Before this request, she had already approached Xun Sishi three times.

Each time, Xun Sishi would say she’d wear it a little longer, and the whole afternoon had passed this way.

Once again pressed by Pei Tang for the necklace, Xun Sishi not only showed no shame but clutched the necklace tightly with her hands.

Her protective posture was as if the necklace was now hers, and she was unwilling to return it.

This time, Pei Tang no longer indulged the other party and reached out her hand directly, "Give me back the necklace, it’s the birthday gift my mother gave me!"

"Sishi, hurry up and give back the necklace, it’s time for us to go home," her mother urged.

"I won’t!"

Xun’s mother tried to take off the necklace, but Xun Sishi turned and ran away to hide somewhere else.

Seeing her daughter stubbornly refusing to return the necklace, Xun’s mother could only negotiate with Shen Mingzhu, hoping to buy the necklace with money.

Shen Mingzhu didn’t directly agree or refuse but took a piece of paper and a pen, meticulously listing the production process, materials, and costs of the blue crystal necklace.

As Shen Mingzhu was writing, Pei Ziheng, who had been in the upstairs room, came down.

"Guoguo, come here."

Seeing Pei Ziheng waving at her, Pei Tang pouted her little mouth and ran over with a patter of footsteps.

"Brother, she took my necklace."

The voice carried a sobbing tone, clearly indicating she felt very wronged.

Pei Ziheng glanced over at Xun Sishi who was not far away, clutching the blue crystal pendant and smugly pleased with herself, then gently squatted down with a slight smirk, tenderly wiping away his sister’s tears with his fingers, speaking calmly and indulgently, "Crying won’t solve the problem. However you gave it away, that’s how you’ll get it back."

Pei Tang’s eyes widened, clearly not understanding.

"Use any method you can think of. Don’t be afraid, with brother here, even if you poke a hole in the sky, I’ll protect you."

Pei Tang thought for a moment, then turned and walked briskly towards Xun Sishi, who was not far away.

Perhaps sensing trouble, Xun Sishi turned to run, but after only a few steps, Pei Tang caught up with her.

"Give me back my necklace!"

"Mingzhu Auntie, Pei Tang is fighting with Sishi!"

Shen Mingzhu looked up and saw her daughter angrily grabbing Xun Sishi by the collar.

"Sishi!"

Seeing her daughter being bullied, Mother Xun hurried over.

Shen Mingzhu followed closely behind.

Pei Tang moved quickly and managed to get her necklace back before Mother Xun arrived.

Meanwhile, Xun Sishi sat on the ground, wailing dramatically because she "lost" the necklace.

"Pei Tang, why are you bullying my Sishi?"

Mother Xun, with her heart aching for her daughter, pulled her up and turned her anger towards Pei Tang without any politeness.

Shen Mingzhu stepped forward to embrace her daughter, then turned her head towards Mother Xun, "Your Sishi insisted on keeping the necklace and wouldn’t return it; my Pei Tang was merely retrieving her necklace. How does that become bullying your Sishi? But your Sishi, after borrowing something, acts as if it’s her own. Such manners truly are an eye-opener."

The gathered parents all sided with Shen Mingzhu, condemning the actions of Mother Xun and her daughter.

Mother Xun, having lost face on both the inside and the outside, still stubbornly retorted, "It’s just a broken necklace, can’t I just buy it from you with money? Just go buy another one if it’s that big of a deal."

Shen Mingzhu passed the list in her hand, "Here is the craftsmanship and cost of the necklace. Since your Sishi likes it so much, you can have another one made following this list. There’s no need for my Guoguo’s second-hand goods."

Mother Xun was about to reach for the list when another mother snatched it first.

"Let me see, my Hanhan has also been fussing at me all afternoon, insisting that I buy her one... Wow! It’s so expensive!?"

Seeing the total cost at the end, the parent hastily handed the list back to Mother Xun with a sheepish look.

"Forget it, it’s two hundred bucks. I can’t afford such an extravagance."

Upon learning the necklace was two hundred bucks, Mother Xun’s face turned red and white in turns.

She was unemployed, staying at home full-time to take care of the children and her in-laws. Her husband worked at a state-owned enterprise, earning just over two hundred bucks a month. The family of five relied on this meager income for their food.

Spending that money on a necklace for her child to play with would be madness!

"Oh, Sishi’s mom really loves her child, to give her such an expensive necklace. I myself would hesitate to wear it."

"What our families are like, what their families are like."

The parents’ teasing seemed lighthearted on the surface, but in fact, it was a sarcastic jab at Mother Xun for pretending to be more affluent than she was.

However, the young Xun Sishi couldn’t understand these subtle jibes and genuinely believed her mother could afford to buy her the same blue crystal necklace, immediately pleading loudly:

"Mommy, I want the necklace, I want the necklace..."