Reborn in the 1970s — Married a Proud Rough Man

”Granny, I’m not working today,” Jie Anqi said, then added with a bashful look, ”Granny, I came here to tell you and Grandpa that I fell in love with Qin Xiang at first sight. I’m going to marry him. Thank you for introducing him to me, Granny. You’re the best, setting me up with such a wonderful person.”

Grandpa and Granny were stunned, unable to react for a long moment. Finally, Granny took Jie Anqi’s hand and patted it gently. ”An Qi! Xiao Xiangzi isn’t right for you.”

Jie Anqi was surprised. Granny was the one who’d introduced them, praising him to the high heavens. Only a day had passed, and she was already changing her tune. ”Granny, that’s not what you said yesterday. You said Qin Xiang was handsome, from a good family, generous, and a worthy man to spend a lifetime with. You even said we were a perfect match made in heaven.”

Granny felt a pang of shame. ’This mess is of my own making!’ ”An Qi, I didn’t have all the facts yesterday. It’s Granny’s fault. Listen to me, you and Xiao Xiangzi are not a good match.”

”Granny, why have you changed your mind?” Jie Anqi pressed, refusing to drop the subject.

”Your Granny despises his rural household registration,” Grandpa spoke up.

Hearing this, Jie Anqi let out a sigh of relief and smiled. ”Granny, I don’t care about that.”

”You don’t even care about a rural registration? An Qi, what nonsense is this?” Granny looked at Jie Anqi with suspicion.

Jie Anqi had a city household registration; she would never look for a partner with a rural one.

”I’m going to marry him,” Jie Anqi said stubbornly.

”An Qi, you need to think this through. If you marry him, you’ll have to go live in the countryside. Can you tolerate that life? Don’t forget, we pulled every string we had just to keep you from being sent down to the countryside as an educated youth, getting you that job at the department store instead,” Granny reminded her.

’Go to the countryside with Qin Xiang? Absolutely not.’ Jie Anqi squeezed Granny’s hand back, shaking it coaxingly. ”Granny, would you really have the heart to send me to the countryside?”

”Of course I wouldn’t. That’s why you and Xiao Xiangzi aren’t a good match,” Granny said, stroking Jie Anqi’s braid.

”After he and I get married, we’ll both stay here,” Jie Anqi said.

Granny’s hand froze on the braid, and she stared at her in shock. ”He’ll marry into our family?”

”An Qi.” Grandpa also shook his head in disapproval. A family would only have a man marry in if they had no sons. They had sons and grandsons; they didn’t need their granddaughter to bring a husband into the fold.

”Granny, you dote on me the most. Our family has a house anyway, so please just agree, okay?” Jie Anqi continued to wheedle.

”Our family has a house, but *you* don’t,” Granny said.

”I will! You can go talk to my mom and dad and have them give me the house the machinery factory assigned to my dad. I’ll use it for my marriage,” Jie Anqi said.

”Are you crazy?” Granny stared at Jie Anqi in disbelief, shocked that she had her eyes on that house. ”That house is for An Lin.”

”My brother and sister-in-law look down on that house,” Jie Anqi said with conviction.

Granny took a deep breath and poked Jie Anqi on the forehead. ”An Qi,” she reminded her, ”don’t forget, the house we’re living in now belongs to your eldest uncle.”

”Eldest Uncle and his family live here. It’s so nice, they’d never move back to that other place.” Jie Anqi was very envious. This courtyard was large, every room was spacious, and best of all, it had its own toilet.

”This courtyard belongs to your eldest aunt,” Granny said, poking Jie Anqi’s forehead again. ’I can’t just think about the present; I have to consider the long term. What if my eldest son and daughter-in-law div—’

’Pah, pah, pah! What nonsense am I thinking? In the Jie Family, there are only widows, never divorces.’

’Back then, she couldn’t stand Zhang Hongyan and had made things difficult for her in every way, but even then, she never thought of making her eldest son divorce her.’

Qin Mei sat in the courtyard sunning herself, and listening to Granny’s words, she found them laughable. ’Granny is such a hypocrite, saying one thing to one person and another to the next. She’s always going on about how this courtyard belongs to the Jie Family, but the moment Jie Anqi wants the factory-assigned house from her second son, the courtyard suddenly belongs to her daughter-in-law.’

’Granny wants to take over this courtyard, while Jie Anqi wants the factory-assigned house from her uncle. They really are alike.’

Qin Mei surveyed the courtyard. ’A siheyuan! In the future, when property prices skyrocket, a courtyard house like this will be worth a shocking amount of money. I like it, too.’

”My eldest aunt’s courtyard is my eldest uncle’s courtyard,” Jie Anqi said.

Granny loved hearing that and looked at Jie Anqi with satisfaction. But as much as she enjoyed the sentiment, she wasn’t going to be foolish. ”All right, stop coveting a house that isn’t yours. The Jie Family has plenty of sons and grandsons; we don’t need a man to marry in.”

”Granny,” Jie Anqi whined, resting her head on Granny’s lap and shaking it back and forth.

But Granny was unyielding and laid down an ultimatum. ”Xiao Xiangzi is not suitable for you. If you insist on marrying him, I won’t stop you. But you’ll have to follow your husband wherever he goes. That means you must go live with him in the countryside. Whether you choose a man from the country or a man from the city is up to you to consider.”

They hadn’t closed the door or the windows, nor did they lower their voices. From her seat in the courtyard, Qin Mei could hear every single word.

’In this era, the gap between the city and the countryside is enormous. I even wonder: did the original owner of this body fall for Jie Jingchen the man, or for his urban household registration?’

’Thinking of the dowry her brother, Qin Xiang, had prepared for her, I know the Qin family isn’t a poor one. The original owner’s hands were soft and delicate, not like the hands of someone who had done farm work.’

Qin Xiang stood at the kitchen entrance and called out to Qin Mei, who was sunning herself in the courtyard, ”Little Sis, call Jing Qi to come eat.”

”Okay,” Qin Mei answered.

”Fourth Sister-in-law, I heard,” Jie Jingshan said with a lovely smile as she opened her door, cautiously making her way out while holding onto the wall.

Qin Xiang turned back into the kitchen. Qin Mei stood and smiled at Jie Jingshan, waiting for her to get closer rather than going over to help. The two started walking toward the kitchen together, but before they could reach it, Jie Anqi and Granny hurried inside, dragging Grandpa with them.

Qin Mei paused, stunned. It was noon, and Grandpa hadn’t cooked. Qin Xiang and Jie Jingchen had already made lunch. The trio had shown up uninvited, but Grandpa and Granny were elders, so they couldn’t be turned away. Qin Mei started to worry if they had cooked enough rice.

’I was the one to drain and steam the rice, but Jie Jingchen was the one to measure it out. If there wasn’t enough to go around, it wasn’t my fault.’

Jie Jingchen watched the three uninvited guests arrive, his brow furrowing deeply. He said nothing, however, and simply went to get three more sets of bowls and chopsticks.

As Qin Xiang brought a vegetable dish to the table, Jie Anqi immediately rushed to be helpful, reaching for the plate. ”Brother Xiang, let me.”

’Brother Xiang?’ Qin Xiang was so startled his hand jerked, spilling some of the hot liquid from the dish onto his hand. He couldn’t help but hiss.

”Brother Xiang, did you burn yourself?” Jie Anqi asked, looking at him with a worried expression. She took the bowl from him, placed it on the table, and then tried to inspect his hand, but Qin Xiang pulled it away.

”I’m fine.” Qin Xiang shook his hand and walked over to the sink. He turned on the tap to run cold water over it while Jie Anqi followed, watching him with a worried look.

Qin Mei and Jing Qi entered the kitchen just in time to see Jie Anqi coyly offering her handkerchief to Qin Xiang. ”Brother Xiang, dry your hand.”

Hearing Jie Anqi call Qin Xiang ”Brother Xiang” made all the hairs on Qin Mei’s body stand on end.

”Thank you, but no thanks.” Qin Xiang coolly rejected her offer and wiped his hand on his apron.

Only then did Jie Anqi notice the apron Qin Xiang was wearing. She gazed at him with a look of worship and asked, ”Brother Xiang, did you cook all these dishes?”

”No,” Qin Xiang lied without batting an eye, taking a step back to avoid her.

”An Qi, come and sit down.” Granny couldn’t bear to watch anymore. ’This granddaughter of mine is so embarrassing! Qin Xiang’s attitude is perfectly clear, yet the girl is still shamelessly clinging to him.’

Jie Anqi wanted to sit next to Qin Xiang. Granny and Grandpa were sitting together, as were Qin Mei and Jie Jingchen, while Jing Qi sat alone. That left a spot for her and Qin Xiang. She quickly sat down, shuffling over to make space as she waited for him to join her.

But to her dismay, Qin Xiang walked over to Jing Qi and sat down next to her instead.

Jie Anqi’s expression flickered. Suppressing her anger, she said in a gentle voice, ”Brother Xiang, Jing Qi’s leg is injured. Don’t squeeze in next to her.”

Qin Xiang ignored her, turning to Jing Qi with a gentle expression. ”Jing Qi, what would you like to eat? I’ll get it for you.”