The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 692 - 691: Shen Baolan and Zhou Shuhuan Divorce 2

Chapter 692: Chapter 691: Shen Baolan and Zhou Shuhuan Divorce 2

"I can split the property in half with you, and I’ll also give you custody of Zhou Fu."

Hearing Zhou Shuhuan’s words, Shen Baolan responded with a cold laugh, "Zhou Shuhuan, you think I’m a sick cat because I don’t show my claws like a tiger? I slaved away bearing you a son and taking care of your entire family. And you? As soon as you strike it rich, you turn your back on me and conspire with outsiders to set me up. Have you no conscience at all?"

"I’m telling you, leaving you twenty percent is already me being generous. Don’t be ungrateful and force me to sue you!"

Shen Baolan hated Zhou Shuhuan to the bone, and Zhou Shuhuan, in turn, was full of anger and resentment towards her.

"Yes, I’m heartless and ungrateful, but that’s because you drove me to it! Shen Baolan, we’ve been married for so many years, you’ve caused so much trouble, you probably can’t even keep track yourself, can you?"

"I finally turned things around and made some money, but what about you? Instead of enjoying the good life, you made trouble every day. If it weren’t for Qiao Ya helping me, the electronics factory would have gone under! Do you think you’d even have the chance to be sitting here dividing property with me?"

Shen Baolan was always the kind of person who would argue even when she was clearly wrong. Naturally, she would not admit her own faults.

"You couldn’t keep your pants zipped up; don’t pin the blame on me! I suspected long ago that you were having an affair with her. If you’d just admitted it, none of this would have happened."

"All you want is her youth and beauty. Fine, I’ll let you have each other. Two million, plus 30% of the electronics factory’s shares. I want half of the car and house, not a penny less, or we’ll go to court and let the judge decide! But you better think it through. Once we’re in court, your dirty little affair won’t stay hidden anymore."

During this time, Gao Hualiang superficially stabilized Qiao Ya while secretly helping Shen Baolan hire a lawyer to investigate Zhou Shuhuan’s personal financial status, and employed private detectives to gather evidence of Zhou Shuhuan’s infidelity.

The reason Zhou Shuhuan found himself in such a passive situation was partly that he underestimated Shen Baolan, thinking that someone from the countryside couldn’t make much of a splash, and partly that he underestimated Gao Hualiang’s greed.

In the end, it was his own wrongdoings. If he had been willing to split the property evenly from the start, Shen Baolan might have agreed to the divorce.

From beginning to end, what Shen Baolan couldn’t bear to lose was the money, not the man himself.

Seeing that being tough didn’t work, Zhou Shuhuan played weak, "Shen Baolan, I wronged you, but you also ruined me. If it weren’t for your constant scheming, I never would have married you."

"If I hadn’t married you, I would have been successful and happy long ago. My whole life has been destroyed by your selfishness; how do you account for that?"

Others might think Zhou Shuhuan regretted marrying Shen Baolan after hearing these words.

But Shen Baolan understood, and she looked at Zhou Shuhuan in shock: "You knew all along?"

"Yes, I’ve known for a long time. You hate me for betraying you, but I hate just as much how you meddled and wrecked my original marriage!"

Shen Baolan felt no guilt or shame for her actions.

Just as when she pushed Shen Mingzhu towards the short-lived Pei Yang, she felt no remorse.

One must look out for oneself, or be destroyed by the heavens and the earth.

The heavens sent her a dream, and she was meant to use it to live a good life. What did the life or death of others have to do with her?

If anyone’s to blame, it’s their own bad luck.

"Zhou Shuhuan, cut the crap. Either give me the money swiftly, or we’ll see each other in court. Your move."

Seeing that Shen Baolan was unrelenting, Zhou Shuhuan stopped talking and left everything to his lawyer.

After hours of negotiation and bargaining from both sides,

they finally agreed that Shen Baolan would give up her shares in the electronics factory. Zhou Shuhuan would pay her a lump sum of five million cash in addition to the villa in Fengcheng, the Trendy Video Store, and the house in the residential compound.

The Trendy Video Store managed by Gao Hualiang wasn’t rented; it was bought by Zhou Shuhuan for two hundred thousand.

Besides that, Zhou Shuhuan didn’t pursue custody of his younger son, Zhou Fu.

Zhou Fu looked very much like Shen Baolan.

He detested Shen Baolan, and by extension, couldn’t bring himself to like this son either.

Five million was no small amount for Zhou Shuhuan, he needed time to come up with the money. They agreed to meet outside the Fengcheng Civil Affairs Bureau the following week.

In those days, there was no mandatory cooling-off period for divorce. Once the divorce agreement was signed by both parties, the divorce procedures could be processed the same day.

"What? Five million? Why doesn’t she just rob me?"

Qiao Ya was about to explode with rage when she heard over the phone that Shen Baolan had demanded five million, as well as the villa and shop in Fengcheng.

Although the electronics factory was valued at over ten million, that was just a notional number, invisible and untouchable.

Yet, what Shen Baolan took away was real gold and silver, which directly emptied Zhou Shuhuan’s family fortune. How could she not be angry!

"Qiao Ya, don’t be angry, with the electronics factory, we will soon be able to earn back this money. I’ll buy you a big villa, decorate it to your liking, and I plan to bring my parents to live in Fucheng this time. From now on, we’ll settle down there and have a good life as a family," Zhou Shuhuan said, aiming to soothe her rage.

With Zhou Shuhuan’s sweet talking, Qiao Ya’s anger slowly subsided.

She was the complete opposite of Shen Baolan; from the beginning, what she cared about was Zhou Shuhuan himself, his capabilities. She firmly believed that with her help, Zhou Shuhuan’s future achievements would not be low.

Thinking this way, Qiao Ya was no longer heartbroken over the five million and the villa shop that Shen Baolan took away. Instead, she actively helped Zhou Shuhuan to raise funds.

...

On the other hand, Shen Baolan and Gao Hualiang were already celebrating their soon-to-be acquired tremendous wealth in advance.

The place was chosen by Gao Hualiang—a very stylish Western restaurant in Fengcheng.

With a handsome man by her side, enjoying the finest steak and red wine, listening to live piano music, under such extreme pleasure, what Shen Baolan had in mind was Shen Mingzhu.

So what if she’s more capable and beautiful? After working so hard for so many years, she still wasn’t as good as her. She was about to become a millionaire!

After dinner, Gao Hualiang took Shen Baolan for a walk in the park.

When they reached a flowerbed, it suddenly lit up.

On closer inspection, it turned out that the flowers and plants in the flowerbed were wrapped in colorful fairy lights, twinkling and very beautiful.

"Baolan,"

Shen Baolan was intently enjoying the view, when she heard Gao Hualiang call her.

Turning her head, she saw Gao Hualiang somehow produced a large bouquet of red roses and slowly knelt down on one knee before her.

"Baolan, from the first moment I saw you, I fell deeply in love with you..."

After a thousand-word declaration of love, Gao Hualiang took out a ring box from his pocket, opened it, and there was a sparkling diamond ring.

"Baolan, marry me!"

The surrounding area quickly filled with "onlookers" eager to watch the scene.

"I heard diamonds are really expensive, a tiny one the size of a mung bean costs thousands, this one’s the size of a pea, must be worth tens of thousands?"

"When I got married, I only had a gold ring, and it was made from old jewelry. And look at her, not only is her partner handsome, but he’s also giving her such a big diamond ring. If you compare with others, you’ll only end up resentful."

"I’m so envious of her, meeting such a handsome and deeply affectionate good man."

"Girl, he’s knelt down in front of everyone to propose, looks like he sincerely wants to marry you, you should quickly agree."

"Agree to him! Agree to him!"

With the encouragement of the "onlookers," Shen Baolan happily accepted Gao Hualiang’s marriage proposal.

Having been in a vague relationship for so long, except for the very last boundary, they had done everything else.

Each time, just before the final step, Gao Hualiang would stop, using "saving their first time for the wedding night" as an excuse, leaving Shen Baolan in a frustrating state of suspended excitement.

On the way back, looking at Gao Hualiang who was now her fiancé, Shen Baolan could no longer control the desire and longing in her heart, "Xiaogao, let me stay at your place tonight."

"Sister Shen, we can’t do that now," Gao Hualiang responded.

Shen Baolan became annoyed, "We’re engaged now, and you’ll be my man soon, what’s the problem? Are you despising me?"

"How could that be!"

Gao Hualiang hugged her and coaxed softly, "Sister Shen, I know how you feel about me, and I feel the same towards you, but you’re not yet divorced. If Zhou was to catch us and get a hold of something against us, all our hard work would be in vain."

With this reasoning, Shen Baolan also cooled down.

This money was the support for her next life; she absolutely could not afford to lose it.

Before she knew it, the day to proceed with the divorce had arrived.