The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 667 - 666 Beating the Kid

Chapter 667: Chapter 666 Beating the Kid

"Mom, I want the necklace, I want the necklace..."

Xun’s mom already felt a fire burning inside her, and unfortunately, her daughter kept pestering her insensitively, which made her emotions flare, and she smacked her hard.

"Wah!"

Having been slapped, Xun Sishi’s mouth twisted as she cried heart-wrenchingly, the sound agonizingly heart-tugging to any listener.

All the mothers present sympathized with the child on seeing Xun’s mom hit her.

"Sishi’s mom, if the child is disobedient, just talk to her nicely, why hit her? Look how pitiful she is crying."

Xun’s mom regretted it in her heart, especially seeing her daughter struggle to catch her breath through her tears, which made her ache inside. The criticism from the other parents made her lose face, and in anger, she grabbed her daughter and huffily walked away.

Seeing her leave without a word to anyone, one parent couldn’t help sneering, "She can’t discipline her own child and has the nerve to throw a tantrum!"

"Exactly, the child is young and ignorant, but isn’t she the mother also ignorant? Keeping the child’s things without returning them, how shameless!"

The parents didn’t say it out loud, but they looked down on the mother and daughter’s behavior in their hearts.

Once the people had gone, everyone boldly started criticizing the mother and daughter openly.

After venting, it was getting late, so everyone began to leave with their children, each carrying their "spoils of war."

The "spoils of war" were the fruits and vegetables picked in the yard today. Shen Mingzhu let everyone take whatever they could carry, leaving the parents beaming as though it were the New Year.

Although the items might not have been very valuable, they could be eaten for a few days at home, effectively saving several days’ worth of grocery and fruit expenses.

Saving meant earning; with food to eat, fun to have, and extra savings, how could they not be happy?

...

After sending the guests off, Shen Mingzhu checked her daughter up and down to see if she had been hurt during the squabble.

"Mom, I’m sorry."

Noticing the guilt in her daughter’s eyes, Shen Mingzhu deliberately put on a stern face and asked, "What do you think you did wrong?"

"Fighting is wrong."

Shen Mingzhu tenderly stroked the other’s head, "Since you know it’s wrong, then why did you still do it?"

"I taught her to."

Pei Ziheng, who had been silent, spoke up.

Pei Tang also seemed to find support, leaning toward her brother and habitually grasping his hand.

Looking at the siblings united against a common enemy, Shen Mingzhu secretly chuckled.

But, maintaining a serious demeanor, she continued the lesson, "Fighting is indeed wrong. No matter what we do, we must learn to address conflicts with reason and peacefully. However, in situations where reason fails to prevail, using other means to protect one’s interests is also not wrong, so..."

Shen Mingzhu gently patted her daughter’s shoulder, smiling, "You did nothing wrong today."

Pei Tang was both shocked and delighted, her previously tense face breaking into a radiant smile.

Joyfully, she took out a blue crystal necklace from her little cow backpack, ready to put it back around her neck, when a fair hand reached out and took the necklace.

"Brother, give me back my necklace."

Pei Ziheng flicked the necklace and said indifferently, "It got dirty after someone else wore it."

Pei Tang looked at the gleaming necklace, not seeing any dirt, but her brother said so, and there must be a reason, so she followed him inside to clean the necklace.

Shen Mingzhu did not interfere with the siblings anymore and turned to tidy up the tables and chairs.

In the kitchen.

Pei Ziheng scooped some clean water into a basin and found an old toothbrush, slowly scrubbing the necklace with toothpaste.

Pei Tang watched intently from the side, her face full of curiosity, "Brother, why do you clean the necklace with toothpaste instead of laundry detergent?"

"Sweat and air can cause silver necklaces to oxidize and form a black tarnish on the surface; toothpaste cleans this tarnish well and makes the necklace look new again."

While talking, Pei Ziheng rinsed the foamy necklace clean and then carefully dried it with a handkerchief.

"Here, it’s clean now."

Under the light, the freshly washed necklace sparkled with a silvery sheen, looking just as new.

Pei Tang’s eyes rounded with joy, "It really is clean!"

Pei Ziheng curled his lips into a smile and, after wetting his handkerchief with clean water, wiped the crystal pendant until it was spotlessly clear, then threaded it back onto the necklace.

"Mom, look, brother cleaned the necklace for me, it’s just like new!"

Although she was busy, Shen Mingzhu still stopped what she was doing and turned to look earnestly at the necklace around her daughter’s neck.

"Hmm, it is very clean. Did you see how your brother cleaned it?"

"I saw it, he used toothpaste."

"Then remember that, when your necklace gets dirty, clean it yourself with toothpaste."

"Okay, got it!"

Seeing the mother and daughter chatting animatedly, Qin Jinlian waved to her granddaughter.

"Guoguo, come here, grandma has something nice for you."

Pei Tang immediately ran over.

Shen Mingzhu continued tidying up.

Not long after, her daughter came running back, beaming, "Mom, look what grandma gave me!"

Seeing the Green Jade Gourd Pendant in her daughter’s hand, Shen Mingzhu was somewhat surprised.

She had assumed the nice thing Qin Jinlian mentioned would be candy or something, not a jade pendant.

She took the pendant to examine it, about the size of a thumb, lustrously green.

Shen Mingzhu returned the pendant to her daughter, "Keep it safe, don’t lose it."

"Okay!"

Pei Tang put the pendant into her little cow purse and then ran around the yard, one moment climbing trees, the next trying to pick lotus flowers from the pond, and soon after, whimsically wanting to catch fish.

Once the tidying was nearly done, Pei Yang carried back a large watermelon from the melon field.

After the watermelon was cut, Shen Mingzhu first prepared a plate for the siblings.

Having delivered the watermelon and returned to the arbor, Pei Yang and Shen Jianguo were nowhere to be seen, leaving only Qin Jinlian sitting there eating melon.

"A fan in the shop broke, and your dad asked Pei Yang to take a look at it."

"If something is broken, we should call someone to fix it. Can Pei Yang fix it just by looking?"

"Maybe Pei Yang can fix it; that’d save us some money," Qin Jinlian responded.

Shen Mingzhu didn’t continue on the topic and nonchalantly picked up a piece of watermelon, eating while asking about the jade gourd, "Where’d you buy it?"

"A jade dealer set up shop at the entrance of the farmers’ market a couple of days ago, selling these kinds of small jade pendants, all genuine, top-quality jade. The one I bought is called, what was it, oh, Imperial Green! Back in ancient times, that was something only the emperor would use."

Qin Jinlian munched on her melon while excitedly talking, her face’s wrinkles reflecting her joy, curving upwards.

"The dealer said that in the city, a jade pendant of such fine quality would sell for at least a hundred and eighty. After haggling for quite a while, he agreed to sell me six for ten each."

Seeing Qin Jinlian’s elated expression, as if she’d found a great bargain, Shen Mingzhu didn’t have the heart to burst her bubble about being swindled.

Because, no matter how much she spoke, the old lady would still do as she pleased.

This was a common ailment amongst the elderly, stubbornness, refusing to heed advice.

The more you try to stop them, the more they get annoyed with you, sometimes even to the point of making themselves ill.

So she let it be, thinking, once the money’s spent, there’s no more to spend; may as well let the old lady have her happiness.

Amused, Shen Mingzhu teased, "Buying so many all at once, are you planning to switch careers to selling jade pendants?"