The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 467 - 466 Pei Ke’s Wealth

"Hongmei."

Shen Hongmei turned around and wasn’t too surprised to see Ma Chao.

Ma Chao looked at her, "You finally came; I’ve been waiting for you for a while."

Shen Hongmei was puzzled, "What are you waiting for me for?"

Ma Chao glanced at the long line, "Wait until you get your report card, then we can go out and talk."

Although puzzled, Shen Hongmei did not refuse.

Although they couldn’t become lovers, there was still the camaraderie of being from the same hometown.

Shen Hongmei slowly moved forward with the line, while Ma Chao stood beside her, chatting idly with her.

"I passed another subject this time; with the previous ones, I’ve passed three subjects in total. Eight more, and I can get my bachelor’s degree."

Talking about this round of results, excitement was evident on Ma Chao’s face.

"Congratulations."

Shen Hongmei congratulated him sincerely, hoping to catch some of his good luck, so she might pass a subject as well.

Seeing her envy, Ma Chao comforted her, "It’s normal to not pass on your first try, consider it as gaining experience. Just try a few more times and it will be fine."

Shen Hongmei nodded.

After discussing their grades, Ma Chao showed concern for her personal affairs, "I have a colleague; he is registered in the city and is already a secondary teacher, but he’s a bit older than you, has been married once, and has a son. Would you like to meet him?"

"No need."

Ma Chao was not discouraged, "Then what kind of person do you want to find? I can keep an eye out for you."

"I don’t want to find anyone. Right now, I just want to earn money and get a diploma."

"By the time you get your diploma, it will be years from now. Why waste your best years for nothing?"

Shen Hongmei replied, "A good meal is worth waiting for; I’m in no rush."

Hearing her displeasure, Ma Chao did not continue the topic and started to talk about her work instead.

The line quickly moved up to Shen Hongmei.

"It’s normal not to pass. Your foundation is too weak, but it’s impressive that you have the courage to take the self-study exam."

Seeing Shen Hongmei come out of the office looking dazed, Ma Chao instinctively consoled her.

"I passed."

Ma Chao froze, "You passed? Which subject?"

Shen Hongmei handed him her report card, "Both of them."

Ma Chao stared at the half sheet of A4 paper sized report card, as if trying to burn a hole through it.

"I passed, I passed them both!"

Coming to her senses, Shen Hongmei was so excited she almost jumped up.

Ma Chao looked at her, his feelings as mixed as a bag of every-flavor beans, "Could it be a mistake in the scores? How could you pass two subjects at once? It’s unbelievable!"

Shen Hongmei didn’t mind Ma Chao’s doubt; after all, she hadn’t expected such good results herself.

"I have to rush back to work now, I’ll be going first."

Taking back her report card and tucking it into her bag, Shen Hongmei walked away with light steps.

Ma Chao watched her leaving figure, feeling an indescribable sense of loss and frustration.

It took him two years to pass three subjects, yet Shen Hongmei, with only a junior high school diploma, had passed two at once.

Maybe the major she chose was just easier to pass?

Yes, that must be it.

Thinking this, Ma Chao felt a bit better.

Then he remembered that he had something to discuss with Shen Hongmei, but she was long gone.

...

Knock knock.

"President Shen, are you busy?"

Seeing Shen Hongmei peeking around the office door, Shen Mingzhu smirked, "Come in."

"Hehe."

Shen Hongmei walked up to her and handed over her report card with both hands, "Take a look."

Shen Mingzhu took it, "Hmm, not bad."

With her praise, Shen Hongmei couldn’t help but feel even happier.

She closed the office door, turned around and knelt down before Shen Mingzhu with a thud.

Shen Mingzhu stood up in shock, "What are you doing?"

Shen Hongmei bowed her head to Shen Mingzhu three times before standing up, her eyes brimming with tears from excitement, "President Shen, I could pass two subjects, all thanks to your instruction. As the saying goes, ’One day as your teacher is like being your parent for life.’ Not only did you provide me with a living, but you also taught me principles and culture. From today on, you are like my second parents, on the same level as my own mom and dad."

Shen Mingzhu couldn’t help but laugh and cry but also felt appreciated.

After all, no one wants to meticulously mentor an ingrate.

She didn’t waste words, picked up her pen, and quickly wrote a few strokes on the report card.

Shen Hongmei took the report card, her face showing confusion, "President Shen, what does this mean?"

Shen Mingzhu patted her shoulder with a smile, "For every subject you pass, I’ll raise your salary by twenty yuan. You’ve passed two subjects this time, so I’m giving you a forty yuan raise all at once."

Shen Hongmei’s eyes suddenly widened.

A twenty yuan raise for passing a subject, and her major in Human Resources has a total of eleven subjects. If she passed all of them, wouldn’t that mean an increase of two hundred and twenty yuan to her salary?

To think, her current base salary was only a hundred yuan.

"President Shen, I appreciate your kindness, but I can’t accept it. You have already been more than generous to me, promoting me to manager, offering a high salary, and even studying with me. I can’t take so much money from you."

Shen Mingzhu looked at her, "I’m giving it to you because you deserve it. It’s rare to find an employee as capable and loyal as you. Just remember one thing, if you work with me, I will never shortchange you a single penny when it comes to money."

Shen Hongmei nodded emphatically.

Shen Mingzhu thought of something else, "When you have time, go and open a new passbook. The raise I’m giving you from now on should be deposited there; don’t tell your family about it, understand my meaning?"

"Understood."

Over the years, she had earned quite a bit, but she had given almost all of it to her family.

She wasn’t young anymore, and it was time to plan for herself.

...

After work, Pei Ke returned to his public rental room, locked the door, and drew the curtains. Then he took out a hammer and chisel and carefully chipped away at the concrete floor beneath the stove.

Soon, he exposed an A4-sized wooden board under the chiseled concrete.

After removing the board, about twenty blocks wrapped in oiled paper and the size of mahjong tiles were revealed.

Picking one up and unwrapping the oiled paper revealed glittering gold inside.

It might not have looked big, but each piece was solidly heavy, weighing one jin.

In total, ten kilograms of gold, worth about 60 per gram in the current market, amounted to 600,000 yuan, which was Pei Ke’s entire savings from his years in Hong City.

Pei Ke’s official job was as a security guard at a high-end office building, but he had been smuggling on the side.

Since the income from smuggling was illegal, he dared not deposit it in the bank or spend it recklessly, so he converted it all into gold and secretly hid it at home.

Now that he was planning to return to Fengcheng, he needed to launder the gold into clean money. freeweɓnovel.cøm

Pei Ke pocketed two pieces of gold, leaving the rest as is, and resealed them under the stove with new concrete.

The next day after work.

Pei Ke, with two pieces of gold, went to Kowloon Walled City to find Ma Chao, a man who specialized in money laundering, and exchanged the two pieces of gold for 45,000 in chips from a casino in Ao City.

These pieces of gold were originally worth 60,000 on the market, but with this transaction, the other party had taken a cut of 15,000.

There was no choice, this method was the simplest and quickest.

Once he went to the casino and made a round, exchanging the chips, the 45,000 would be considered legal income that he could send back home directly.