Reborn in the 1970s — Married a Proud Rough Man

Chapter 80: Chapter 41: Feigning Ignorance (Part 2)

”If you want to go to school, then you should,” Qin Mei said with a smile.

Jie Jingshan fell silent. The idea was tempting, but her legs... She took a deep breath. ’I have to trust my fourth sister-in-law.’ She sniffled, then said with a smile, ”Fourth Sister-in-law, I’ll go to school as soon as you heal my legs.”

Qin Mei smiled, removed the last silver needle, and helped Jie Jingshan lie down. ”Get some rest.”

Jie Jingshan murmured in agreement, closed her eyes, and fell asleep moments later.

When Qin Mei came out, she didn’t see Jie Jingjue. Instead, she found Jie Jingchen sitting on a rattan chair under a tree, reading a book.

”Done already?” When Jie Jingchen saw her come out, he closed his book, placed it on the stone table, and started to rise.

”Fourth Wife of Jing!” Granny Guo’s voice thundered through the courtyard.

Jie Jingchen froze and looked toward the courtyard gate.

Qin Mei’s heart sank. She glanced at the gate. ’For Granny Guo to show up now... Don’t tell me something’s happened to Su Kexin again.’

”Fourth Wife of Jing!” Granny Guo came in beaming, carrying a cut of meat in one hand and a jar of canned fruit in the other.

Qin Mei and Jie Jingchen exchanged a glance. Jie Jingchen stood up and walked over to her. ”Granny Guo, what can we do for you?”

”Jing Si, I’m not looking for you. I’m looking for your wife.” Granny Guo moved past Jie Jingchen and shoved the meat and canned fruit into Qin Mei’s hands. ”Fourth Wife of Jing, I bought this for you to thank you for saving my daughter-in-law and my unborn grandson yesterday.”

Holding the meat and canned fruit, Qin Mei felt a headache coming on when she heard the word ”grandson.”

Just yesterday, she’d written a prescription for ten yuan, but Granny Guo had made another woman share five yuan of the cost and had only paid her own five yuan with the utmost reluctance.

For her to show up today with meat and canned fruit just to say thank you... Qin Mei suspected Granny Guo had an ulterior motive.

”Granny Guo, you shouldn’t have. Besides, I was already paid for the prescription yesterday. You should take these back; your daughter-in-law is the one who needs the nutrition right now.” Qin Mei tried to hand the items back to Granny Guo.

’I don’t know how to cook, so I wouldn’t even know what to do with the meat. And I don’t like canned fruit—it’s too sweet.’

’But the problem isn’t whether I like them. I just don’t dare accept a gift from Granny Guo.’

Granny Guo placed the meat and canned fruit on the stone table, pulled Qin Mei down to sit, and beamed at her. The smile made the hairs on Qin Mei’s arms stand up.

”Granny Guo, if you have something to say, please just say it.” Faced with Granny Guo’s pointed smile, Qin Mei felt like she was sitting on pins and needles.

”Fine, I’ll be direct then.” Granny Guo sat up straight, took Qin Mei’s hand, and asked, ”Is my daughter-in-law carrying a boy or a girl?”

Qin Mei had already guessed Granny Guo’s motive, and it seemed she was right. She didn’t dare answer directly, so she said tentatively, ”Whether it’s a boy or a girl, it’s still your family’s child. As long as the baby is healthy, does the gender really matter so much?”

”Fourth Wife of Jing, I just want to know if it’s a boy or a girl,” Granny Guo insisted.

Not daring to give a rash answer, Qin Mei probed further. ”What will you do if it’s a boy? And what will you do if it’s a girl?”

Granny Guo didn’t beat around the bush. ”If it’s a boy, she’ll give birth. If it’s a girl, we’ll get it aborted.”

At those words, Qin Mei gasped. ’She’s seven months along,’ she thought, horrified. ’To just abort it on a whim... It’s cruel to the baby and torturous for the mother.’

”I don’t know.” Qin Mei pulled her hand away, her opinion of the woman plummeting due to her blatant preference for boys.

”Fourth Wife of Jing, just tell me! How could someone as skilled as you not know?” Granny Guo said, unconvinced.

”I’m not as amazing as you think. The baby is in your daughter-in-law’s womb, and I don’t have X-ray vision. How could I possibly know if it’s a boy or a girl? If you want to know the gender, take her to a hospital for an exam.” Qin Mei started to get up, but Granny Guo grabbed her and held her in place.

”An exam at the hospital costs money. Our family isn’t well-off. It’s just childbirth; it’s not worth that kind of wasted expense,” Granny Guo said with a laugh.

Qin Mei pressed her fingers to her forehead. ’The implication is that Granny Guo wants Qiao Kexin to give birth at home. It’s not that surprising; in this day and age, most women just have a midwife come to the house. The only problem is that it’s incredibly risky. If there are complications and they don’t get to a doctor in time, it could easily be a case of mother and child both dying.’

”Fourth Wife of Jing, you know traditional Chinese medicine. You can tell if it’s a boy or a girl just by reading her pulse,” Granny Guo said.

”I don’t know traditional Chinese medicine, and I certainly don’t know how to read pulses.” It wasn’t that Qin Mei wanted to lie through her teeth, but she didn’t dare tell Granny Guo the truth. If she said it was a girl, Granny Guo would drag Qiao Kexin to the hospital to have the baby aborted.

”But you can write prescriptions, and you know acupuncture...”

”I just don’t know how to read pulses,” Qin Mei cut in, interrupting Granny Guo.