Stepmother

Apology

After the confrontation, Zhang Fu was brought to the house to apologize to the kids before dinner. Zhang Enlai just wanted to come with Zhang Fu and apologize but Zhang Dai wanted to follow, and Mother Zhang also wanted to come, in the end almost all of the Zhang family came. Most of them claimed to be coming with Zhang Fu, but in reality, they just wanted to see how the high and mighty Sun Baohai was living.

They came expecting a dirty-looking house with barely anything to eat but as soon as they walked in they were immediately proved wrong. The house that was once dusty and dirty now looked neat and well-decorated. The walls were painted and the furniture was basically sparkling. 

When they came, Sun Baohai had just started eating dinner with the kids. Sun Baohai did not like conserving meat for too long especially if it was pork, so he decided to cook the rest of the pork today. He made sweet and sour pork with rice, spicy potato pancakes, braised mushrooms, and stir-fried bok choy. Though the table was mostly filled with vegetable dishes, a dinner like this was still considered scrumptious during this time for farmers. So when the Zhang family walked in and saw the food they were taken aback.

"Kids stop eating, your cousin has something to say," Sun Baohai interrupted, and the kids obediently put their chopsticks down.

"Well go ahead Fu'er," Zhang Enlai said as he pushed his son in front of Sun Baohai, forcing him to take his eyes off the bowl of meat on the table.

"Da-" After coming to his senses, Zhang Fu wanted to protest but one sharp look from his dad was enough to cut off his protest. His mom might have spoiled him rotten, but his dad was different. He would be taught manners if he was lacking, and it was never pleasant learning from his dad.

"Qiqi, Xiao Xi, and Xiao Wan, I apologize for my rudeness and the hurtful words I said to you. I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me." Zhang Fu apologized as he bowed. These series of words and actions surprised Sun Baohai, and he couldn't help but look up at Zhang Enlai.

Though this man was just as evil as the rest of his family, he was also the smartest and most eloquent in the family but unfortunately his family would always bring him down. He did not stop his mom when his mom sent Zhang Jinhai to the army as they could excuse it as it being the eldest son's responsibility. But also during this day and age, how many times do you find a nice stepmother, so most people would just turn a blind eye to it, plus Old Man Zhang also did not object and at the time Zhang Jinhai did not show any rejection. 

But Old Lady Zhang was still not satisfied and decided to find the worst match for the eldest daughter; A widower who lived and Jinshua village known for his abuse toward his wives. Not only that, but the widower was thirty and Yingtai was only fifteen. This time both Old Man Zhang and Zhang Enlai opposed it, even the villagers were hell-bent on opposing it. Though they loved Jinhai they understood his position and knew that they couldn't really do anything about it, but Zhang Yingtai was a girl, how did she threaten Old Madam Zhang's children in any way? Zhang Enlain knew that this could not be excused and opposed his mother fiercely in order to protect his reputation as he just started out his business.

Old Madam Zhang did not expect to be met with such fierce opposition and could only let the matter go. Zhang Enlai and Old Man Zhang lowered their guards but would expect that not even two weeks later Old Widower Ji was caught together with Zhang Yingtai. Many villagers saw the look of fear in the eyes of Zhang Yintai and guessed what had happened. Though many villagers were very conservative some of the people Qi Shuchun had saved, had their sons go and propose marriages to save Zhang Yingtai, but Old Madam Zhang refused and even threatened to bring the Yamen.

Many people could only give up, but this evil deed of Old Madam Zhang remained deeply rooted in their hearts. Old Man Zhang, no matter how much of a horrible father he was, still had affection for his very first daughter, and started resenting Old Madam Zhang forming a rift in their relationship that would continue to get bigger in later years. He even went as far as to not give any affection to his second daughter as a sign of repentance to his first daughter. 

Zhang Enlai was also knocked down hard because of his mother. He had just started getting successful in business but before he could go further, his path to success was cut off by his own mother and her selfishness. Reputation plays a major role in business, and when people heard of what his mother did, they did not want to invest or collaborate with him, leaving him helpless. Even though he found some success, he still could not go beyond that because of his tarnished reputation, which caused a rift in his relationship with his mother.

Madam Zhang knew what she did caused a lot of damage and could only regret it every day. Not only did she push her husband away from her but she also lost the affection of two sons. Old Man Zhang no longer even shared a bed with her. He built a small temple behind the house and dedicated the rest of his life to repenting to his first wife. He knew that he already lost the chance of making it right with his kids the moment he lost the fight for Yingtai's marriage. So he only wished to repent for the rest of his life.

All of this happened just because this woman was so selfish and jealous. Se caused both the relationship between her and her husband and her and her kids. They said having pig teammates is worse than fighting a god-like opponent, and he couldn't agree more seeing the career of Enlai. 

"Do you accept your cousin's apology?" Sun Baohai snapped out of his daze and asked the kids. He did not plan to make the decision for the kids. It wasn't his feelings that got hurt.

"I don't mind," Qiqi spoke up, and the rest nodded.

"Okay then I guess this is resolved, I know you guys have your own dinner to get to so I won't keep you," Sun Baohai smiled. Zhang Fu wanted to stay but his dad gave him a cold look, that basically warned him not to court death, so he could only walk out with his head lowered.

"Have a good dinner sister-in-law, we will get going," Zhang Ai said bitterly, she also wanted to stay for dinner.

"Thank you, I still have to feed the baby so I won't see you off," Sun Baohai said politely.