Reborn in the 1970s — Married a Proud Rough Man

”You don’t know how?” Qin Xiang asked, fully aware of the answer.

Qin Mei raised an eyebrow and shot a sidelong glance at Qin Xiang, who was teasing her. She puffed out her chest and said stubbornly, ”Of course I do. Who says I don’t?”

Watching Qin Mei put on a brave front, Qin Xiang suppressed a laugh and said with a straight face, ”You’re right. Cooking is such a simple task, any fool can do it.”

Qin Mei’s grip on the spatula tightened. ’I really don’t know how. Does that make me dumber than a fool?’ So that Qin Xiang wouldn’t look down on her, Qin Mei was determined to see this through today, no matter how difficult.

She had watched Jie Jingchen cook, and she had watched the second auntie cook. Mimicking their movements, she stirred the pot with the spatula.

Qin Xiang watched Qin Mei’s clumsy and stiff movements with a mixture of relief and worry. He was relieved that Jie Jingchen doted on his little sister as much as they did. But he was worried that now that Qin Mei had married so far away in Shijiu City, with no family around, she needed to be self-sufficient to keep from going hungry.

Qin Xiang decided that before he left, he absolutely had to teach Qin Mei how to cook. She didn’t have to cook all the time, but she needed to know how. That way, she could make her own meals when Jie Jingchen was at work.

”Little sis, it’s time to drain the rice,” Qin Xiang reminded her with a smile.

’Drain the rice?’ Qin Mei froze. She looked at the bamboo strainer and enamel basin that Jie Jingchen had already set out. Qin Xiang handed her a water ladle.

Qin Mei took it. ”Be careful,” Qin Xiang urged. ”Don’t get burned.”

”I know,” Qin Mei said defiantly. She took a deep breath but hesitated to move.

”Little sis, if you don’t drain the rice soon, it’ll turn into porridge,” Qin Xiang said. He wasn’t rushing her, merely offering a reminder.

Qin Mei shot Qin Xiang a glare. ”I like my rice on the softer side.”

Qin Xiang shrugged. Whatever made her happy. Qin Mei had thought Qin Xiang would offer to help, but to her surprise, he just stood by and watched. Taking a deep breath, Qin Mei gripped the ladle tightly and lowered it into the pot. A blast of scalding steam hit her, and she nearly dropped the ladle.

Gritting her teeth, Qin Mei scooped up a ladleful of rice and water and carefully poured it into the bamboo strainer. The steam obscured her view of the pot, forcing her to rely on feel alone.

Watching a flustered Qin Mei, Qin Xiang’s heart leaped into his throat. He was terrified she would burn herself. In the past, he would have taken over without a second thought, but today, he had to let her handle it on her own.

Following Qin Xiang’s instructions, Qin Mei poured the rice from the strainer into the steamer pot. She didn’t let out a sigh of relief until the lid was securely in place.

’I like cooking in the ding pot much better,’ she thought. ’It’s not as complicated as having to drain the rice.’

While the rice steamed on the back burner, it was time to stir-fry on the front.

Once again, under Qin Xiang’s guidance, Qin Mei washed the pot, heated the oil, and threw the pork ribs in to stir-fry. But the more she cooked, the more something felt wrong. ’Wait a minute. Jie Jingchen was supposed to cook the rice, and Qin Xiang was going to do the stir-fry. How did I end up doing both?’

”Weren’t you supposed to be doing the stir-fry?” Qin Mei asked, wiping a thin sheen of sweat from her forehead as she glared at Qin Xiang.

”You helped Jing Si with the rice, and now you’re helping me with the stir-fry. It’s perfectly fair,” Qin Xiang replied, smiling at her.

”Well, I don’t want to.” Qin Mei tossed the spatula aside. ”I’m not doing this anymore.”

Qin Xiang didn’t get angry. He just smiled and picked up the spatula. ’Can’t rush things,’ he thought. ’As long as she’s learned how to make rice, that’s good enough. It doesn’t matter if she can’t stir-fry. Plain white rice can still fill your stomach.’

When Jie Jingchen returned to the kitchen, he found Qin Mei standing off to the side, sulking, while Qin Xiang was cheerfully stir-frying.

”What’s wrong?” Jie Jingchen raised a hand and gently tapped the tip of Qin Mei’s nose with his finger.

”I need the restroom,” Qin Mei said, feeling very annoyed. She’d been tricked by Qin Xiang, but she had no proof.

Jie Jingchen watched her leave the kitchen before turning his gaze to the stir-frying Qin Xiang. ”Did you do something to upset her?”

Qin Xiang shook his head. ”You’re the one who upset her, not me.”

”I did?” Jie Jingchen was baffled. ’I do nothing but spoil her, how could I possibly have upset her?’

”Don’t get hung up on it. Drain the potatoes in that enamel basin,” Qin Xiang directed, putting Jie Jingchen to work. As long as Qin Xiang was in the kitchen, he wouldn’t let you stand idle; he’d be ordering you to do this and that.

Qin Mei saw Granny sitting in the courtyard, weeping and wiping away tears as she loudly cursed Jie Jingchen for being unfilial.

Jie Anlin was nowhere to be seen in the courtyard, and the packets of medicine that had been on the stone table were also gone. Apparently, Jie Jingchen had disregarded Granny’s objections and forcibly kicked Jie Anlin out.

”Stop crying and cursing. This is the eldest’s home. It won’t look good if the neighbors see this,” Grandpa said, trying helplessly to placate her.

Granny sniffled and retorted indignantly, ”It would be best if the neighbors saw! Let the whole neighborhood see just how Jing Si treats his own Granny.”

”Sigh!” Grandpa sighed. ”Jing Si didn’t do anything wrong...”

”He did nothing wrong? He defied me! He’s disrespectful to his elders and doesn’t respect his own brother!” Granny shot to her feet in a fury, cutting Grandpa off. In the past, right or wrong, her old man would always back her up without a second thought. They were always on the same side. Now, she felt like even he had turned against her.