Reborn in the 1970s — Married a Proud Rough Man

Chapter 89: Chapter 44: 4th Sister-in-law, My Brother Is Broke

For now, all they could do was wait. The national college entrance exam hadn’t even been reinstated, much less the era of Reform and Opening-Up. They couldn’t make any moves even if they wanted to. The only option was to save money.

For dinner, they weren’t planning to eat at Second Great-Aunt’s house. They would eat out and then go home.

At the Jie residence, the courtyard gate was shut tight. In the yard, Mr. and Mrs. Xie sat together. Jie Jingwei and Xu Chunyan stood off to one side. Liu Guihua supported Xu Chunwang on a stone bench, wailing dramatically. Jie You had been sent over to Second Great-Aunt’s house, Shen Qing was working in her room, and Jie Jinghun was by a window, enjoying the show.

She wasn’t his mother-in-law, and that wasn’t his brother-in-law. Since they weren’t here for him, it was none of his business. He simply stayed in his room, watching the drama unfold from a safe distance.

”Mr. Xie, Mrs. Xie, you have to get justice for my son!” Liu Guihua wept.

She couldn’t make a fuss about her daughter’s face. Her daughter’s face was injured, yes, but she had also slashed Jie Jingchen in the process. By any measure, she couldn’t kick up a storm about that.

But her son’s condition was plain for all to see.

At that moment, Liu Guihua was incredibly thankful that Qin Mei had dislocated her son’s jaw. It gave her the perfect, righteous excuse to confront Jie Jianguo and Qiao Yanqiu and spin her tall tale.

Qiao Yanqiu remained silent, her face dark. Liu Guihua’s objective was simple: she wanted money.

She had examined Xu Chunwang’s jaw, and there was truly nothing she could do about it.

Mr. Xie shot Jie Jingwei a stern glare before turning to Liu Guihua with a relatively calm tone. ”Mrs. Liu, I can’t just take your word for it. Let’s wait...”

”Mr. Xie, what’s that supposed to mean?” Liu Guihua cut him off, clearly displeased. She pointed at Xu Chunwang’s jaw. ”Take a look at my son’s jaw! Do you think this is fake?”

”Your son’s jaw is certainly real,” Mr. Xie said pointedly. ”However, I find it very hard to believe that my fourth daughter-in-law is the one who dislocated it. Putting aside whether she even has that kind of ability, just compare your son’s size to hers.”

Forget Qin Mei; even Jie Jingchen would be dwarfed by Xu Chunwang’s sheer size.

Liu Guihua erupted. Letting go of Xu Chunwang, she plopped herself right down on the ground. She began slapping her own fleshy thighs with both hands and wailing.

”Oh, the injustice! The Jie Family is using its power and numbers to bully a poor mother and her son! Somebody, anybody, come help! Come and be the judge! That wife Jing Si married is a menace! She dislocated my son’s jaw, and then she came after me with a kitchen knife! Director Jie and Doctor Qiao are just letting their fourth son and daughter-in-law attack us! I’m going to the police!”

Mr. Xie’s expression soured. This was giving him a splitting headache.

With Mr. Xie there, Mrs. Xie held back from her usual tactic of throwing money at the problem to make it go away. After almost a year of quiet, she was back to stir up trouble at their home again.

”Jing Er,” Mr. Xie said sternly. ”Figure out a way to get your mother-in-law to leave.”

”Dad.” Jie Jingwei’s expression was inscrutable. He shot a cold glance at Xu Chunyan beside him and lowered his voice. ”Dad, I really don’t know what to do. You see the state my brother-in-law is in, and you know what my mother-in-law is like. She’ll argue until she’s blue in the face even when she’s wrong. Now that she thinks she has the upper hand, do you really think she’ll back down?”

”She claims your fourth sister-in-law did it. Do you believe that?” Mr. Xie asked quietly.

Jie Jingwei didn’t answer right away. Instead, he turned to Mrs. Xie, who was sitting near him, and asked pointedly, ”Aunt Qiao, do you believe it?”

”I don’t believe it,” Mrs. Xie replied, not entirely meaning it. ’Qin Mei was an expert in traditional Chinese medicine and knew the body’s pressure points like the back of her hand. Dislocating a jaw would be child’s play for her. The real question was, how did Qin Mei get close enough to Xu Chunwang to do it?’

”So you don’t believe my mother, and you don’t believe me either,” Xu Chunyan sneered. ”Dad, Aunt Qiao, Jing Er, I’ll say it one more time: my brother’s jaw was dislocated by our fourth sister-in-law. And it’s also true that she threatened my mom with a kitchen knife.”

”And why would Xiao Mei dislocate your brother’s jaw? Why would she threaten your mother with a kitchen knife?” Mrs. Xie asked in a cold voice.

”I don’t know,” Xu Chunyan said, playing dumb. She wouldn’t dare tell the truth.

’Jie Jingwei knew exactly what kind of person his brother-in-law was. Qin Mei was devastatingly beautiful; how could his brother-in-law see her and not lose his mind?’

’Qin Mei was Jing Si’s wife, and Jing Si protected her like the apple of his eye. His brother-in-law was lusting after her—did anyone really think Jing Si would stand for that?’

’Honestly, he didn’t believe for a second that Qin Mei had dislocated his brother-in-law’s jaw. But if someone told him *Jing Si* had done it? That, he would believe.’

”Give your mother the money so she can take Chunwang home,” Jie Jingwei told Xu Chunyan.

With his father present, Jie Jingwei didn’t want the situation to get any uglier. His only option was to pay out of his own pocket to make the problem go away.

Xu Chunyan gritted her teeth. ’Her plan had been to get money out of Qiao Yanqiu and split it with her mother. She hadn’t seen a single cent, and now he expected *her* to pay? Fat chance!’ ”Jing Er, what are you thinking?” she snapped. ”Look at Chunwang’s jaw! Do you really think my mom can just take him home like this?”