Although the current arch-villain was still just a four-year-old toddler, the thought of her stepmother character being burnt alive by him made Shen Mingzhu's heart tremble.
She forced a smile that she believed to be kind, "Ziheng, you're awake?"
However, in Pei Ziheng's eyes, her smile seemed as sinister as that of a wicked witch.
Before Shen Mingzhu entered the book's world, she had been single for 22 years, never having dated, let alone raised a child.
Faced with her stepson's indifference, she adhered to her philosophy that if she wasn't embarrassed, then the embarrassment was on others. Smiling, she said, "You've just woken up and probably don't recognize me. My surname is Shen, and from now on, I will be taking care of you. You can call me Auntie Shen."
Pei Ziheng closed his eyes and turned his back on her, clearly not interested in engaging with her.
Shen Mingzhu didn't insist, preparing to leave with an iron box in hand, but behind her came a young, hoarse question.
"What's today's date?"
Before Shen Mingzhu could answer, Pei Ziheng suddenly rolled out of bed and ran towards the door, not even putting on shoes, his bare feet pattering against the tiled floor.
Shen Mingzhu followed him out and saw Pei Ziheng standing in front of a tear-off calendar, staring blankly at the days marked on it.
"Ziheng, what's wrong?"
Pei Ziheng turned to look at her, urgency written all over his little face, "Where's my dad?"
"He's gone…"
Before Shen Mingzhu could finish her words, Pei Ziheng turned and ran out the door.
Shen Mingzhu, reacting a beat too slow, followed him to the doorway and then remembered something. She stuffed the iron box underneath the sofa and grabbed the keys from the shoe cabinet before chasing after him.
"Ziheng, where are you going like this, not even wearing shoes?"
Shen Mingzhu reached the second floor and saw Pei Ziheng being held by a woman around fifty years old; she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ziheng."
Pei Ziheng and the woman both looked towards her.
"You must be the new bride of the Pei family, Pei Yang, huh? Oh, you're quite the looker. Pei Yang is so fortunate."
The woman gossiped as she sized her up, smiling ambiguously.
Shen Mingzhu smiled awkwardly, reaching out to take the child from the woman's grip, but Pei Ziheng twisted into the woman's embrace, evidently resisting Shen Mingzhu's approach.
"Don't take it to heart, dear. It's normal for young kids to be shy with strangers."
The woman comforted her while trying to hand Pei Ziheng to Shen Mingzhu.
Shen Mingzhu extended her arms to receive him.
Yet, Pei Ziheng refused to be held by her; even as she wrapped her hands around his lower body, his embrace tightened around the woman's neck like an octopus, crying out in protest.
"Ziheng, be good. This is the new mom your dad found for you."
"I don't want her! I don't want her to be my mom! I want my dad!"
Despite Pei Ziheng's fierce struggle, the fact that he was only a four-year-old child, still weakened from a serious illness, meant he was eventually coaxed and persuaded back to the Pei family home by Mrs. Yang.
"It's normal for children to be shy with strangers when they're young. He'll warm up to you after some time."
It was clear that Mrs. Yang was warm-hearted; she offered Shen Mingzhu comfort several times before she left.
Shen Mingzhu, of course, wouldn't hold a grudge against a four-year-old child. She glanced at Pei Ziheng, who was sitting barefoot on the sofa, and bent down to find a pair of shoes for him from the shoe cabinet.
"Get lost!"
She squatted in front of the sofa, preparing to put on Pei Ziheng's shoes when suddenly his little foot kicked out and hit her face.
Shen Mingzhu covered her nose, struggling to suppress the urge to beat the little brat.
"Fine, you don't recognize me as your stepmother, and I don't want you as my cheap son. You want to go to your father, don't you? Wait a couple of days for him to call back, and I'll have someone take you to him. Go live with him!"
After venting her anger, Shen Mingzhu tossed the shoes on the floor and turned to leave.
She had walked a few steps when she stopped and turned back.
Pei Ziheng on the sofa instinctively hugged his little head in defense.
The expected pain didn't come, and when he lowered his hands, he saw Shen Mingzhu smirking at him mockingly.
"Don't worry, I won't hit you. You're not my own child, I'm too lazy to bother with you."
These words were spoken by Shen Mingzhu with spiteful resentment.
The child might be little, but his kick was strong, almost breaking her nose.
Taking out the iron box hidden under the sofa, Shen Mingzhu twisted her body and returned to the master bedroom, slamming the door with a "bang."
Staring at the tightly closed door, Pei Ziheng's dark eyes were churning with surging hatred.
In his previous life, this malicious woman had been somewhat restrained when she first married into the family, not daring to be too harsh on him. But the moment his father met with an accident and died, she showed her true colors, not only beating and scolding him, but also torturing and abusing him. She made him eat dog food, kicked him out into the snow, and even considered selling him for money at one point!
Heaven had eyes, allowing him to be reborn.
Shen Mingzhu, this life would be your hell!
I will make your life worse than death!
But before he could take revenge on this wicked woman, he had to find a way to save his father, Pei Yang.
Unfortunately, he had awoken too late; by this time, Pei Yang was already on the train, and he could only wait till Pei Yang arrived at Xicheng Port to call and warn him.
In the master bedroom, Shen Mingzhu was sitting cross-legged on the bed, excitedly counting the "family fortune" Pei Yang had entrusted to her care.
Although there was only fifty in cash, the balance in the passbook was impressive: a total of more than two thousand three hundred yuan.
You must know, at this time the average urban salary was only about fifty or sixty yuan, so a savings of over two thousand yuan meant an exceptionally wealthy family.
Besides the cash and savings, there was an uncountable number of coupons in the iron box.
There were three hundred jin of food coupons, fifty jin of meat coupons, five hundred chi of cloth coupons, and no less impressive numbers of sugar, cigarette, and vegetable coupons, which made Shen Mingzhu exclaim with admiration.
These items were the accumulation of a lifetime of saving by the elderly Pei Family, meant for their son Pei Yang's wedding. Though it looked like a lot, it would all be spent on just one wedding celebration.
With so much money and coupons, it would be terrible if a thief stole them.
Shen Mingzhu immediately decided, planning to buy a safe the next day.
After securing the iron box with money and coupons, Shen Mingzhu started to organize her clothes into the wardrobe, while calculating her future path.
Although she couldn't understand how she had encountered something as bizarre as transmigrating, she was never one to dwell on it.
Considering her villainous stepson was still young and the plot of the book had not yet started, she had plenty of opportunities to set him straight.
Even if she couldn't correct his ways, she wouldn't abuse or torment him like the original owner of her body had done. As long as Pei Ziheng didn't hate her, he naturally wouldn't develop the evil thought of burning her alive.
At that moment, Shen Mingzhu couldn't have possibly imagined that Pei Ziheng had been reborn, nor could she have guessed that he was single-mindedly planning to settle the score with his malicious stepmother!