Reborn in the 1970s — Married a Proud Rough Man

Jie Jingchen’s smile vanished. He spoke with grim resolve, ”If they don’t hurt you, then we’re family—our bones may break, but the sinews still connect us. But if they hurt you, I’ll be the one to sever those sinews.”

Qin Mei’s pupils shrank. She could see from his expression that he wasn’t just humoring her, much less spouting nonsense to make her happy.

Qin Mei thought for a moment, then began, ”But, your Granny said...”

”Whatever my Granny said is bullshit,” Jie Jingchen cut in. ’Your Granny said... your Granny said...’ Just hearing those three words made his blood boil.

Qin Mei burst out laughing at the rare curse from Jie Jingchen.

”Not angry anymore?” Jie Jingchen’s voice was gentle, his gaze full of tenderness.

”Stop rubbing, you’re going to rub the skin right off my face,” Qin Mei said, swatting the back of Jie Jingchen’s hand.

Jie Jingchen obediently let go of her face. Seeing her fair cheeks now red from his rubbing, he felt a mix of guilt and tenderness. He stroked her skin gently. ”Your skin is so delicate.”

Qin Mei rolled her eyes. ’I’m not even nineteen yet. In the prime of my youth, with all-natural collagen. Of course my skin is delicate!’

”Where’s your Granny?” Qin Mei asked casually. She had gone into the kitchen to grab the cleaver and had only heard Grandpa’s voice, not Granny’s. She knew Grandpa had taken Jie Anqi to the hospital, but she didn’t know if Granny had gone with them.

Jie Jingchen smiled slightly, raised his hand, and pointed to the room where Grandpa and Granny lived. He deliberately raised his voice. ”Granny is in her room, sleeping.”

Qin Mei smiled in understanding and also raised her voice, asking in mock surprise, ”Sleeping? With all this commotion, Granny can actually sleep?”

”Meimei, you don’t know my Granny. When there’s no trouble, she loves to stir things up. But when something really happens, she just lets Grandpa handle it and hides like a coward.” Jie Jingchen’s low voice was laced with sarcasm.

Hearing Jie Jingchen’s words, Granny was furious, but she didn’t dare come out and argue with him, because what he said was the truth.

Qin Mei smiled without a word, stretched lazily, and yawned. ”I’m sleepy. I’m going to my room for a nap.”

”Okay, go on back to the room.” Jie Jingchen leaned down and placed a kiss on Qin Mei’s forehead.

Qin Mei froze, staring at Jie Jingchen in surprise. The words slipped out, ”Aren’t you tired?”

’What she really wanted to ask was, ”Aren’t you going to join me?” But that was too suggestive; Jie Jingchen might get the wrong idea.’

Jie Jingchen just smiled, took the cleaver from Qin Mei’s hand, and ruffled the top of her hair. ”I still have to clean up this mess.”

Qin Mei nodded in understanding. ”You should clean it up well. Jing Qi would be scared if she came back and saw this.”

’Qin Mei didn’t care if anyone else got scared, but she couldn’t let Jing Qi be frightened.’

There was blood in the kitchen and all along the path Jie Anqi had run. Most notably, there were several bloody handprints on the door to Grandpa and Granny’s room. Anyone who didn’t know what happened would surely let their imagination run wild.

Jie Jingchen wasn’t too concerned. ’It’s not like Jing Qi hasn’t seen Jie Anqi’s crazy handiwork before. She’d figure it out with a little thought.’

”I’ll leave you to it, then.” Qin Mei patted Jie Jingchen’s arm, then turned and strode nonchalantly toward their room.

Jie Jingchen watched her go with a helpless, bitter smile. Then he looked down at the bloodstains on the ground, and his expression instantly darkened. His lips pressed into a thin line, and a dark, wild aura emanated from him.

When Qin Xiang returned with Jing Qi, he saw Jie Jingchen washing bloodstains off the ground. His face fell. He stopped his bicycle, his expression grave and worried. ”What happened?”

Jie Jingchen didn’t speak, but his eyes told Qin Xiang to take Jing Qi back to her room.

Qin Xiang understood completely. He helped Jie Jingqi off the bicycle, tossed it aside, and guided her back to the room.

Jie Jingshan was very curious, but she didn’t ask any questions, obediently following their arrangements.

Qin Xiang closed the door and hurried over to Jie Jingchen, his expression cold and urgent. ”Where’s my sister?”

”In her room, taking a nap.” Jie Jingchen scooped a ladle of water from the bucket and splashed it on the ground, using a broom to clean away the bloodstains. There weren’t many, just a few drops, but they were an eyesore.

The bloodstains were concentrated in the kitchen and by the door of Granny’s room. There wasn’t much in the courtyard, just drops where Jie Anqi had run past.

’If Qin Xiang had brought Jing Qi back a little later, he would have had it all cleaned up by then.’

”Whose blood is it?” Qin Xiang asked worriedly.

”Jie Anqi’s,” Jie Jingchen replied.

Qin Xiang breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn’t his sister’s. He bent down, picked up the bucket, and threw the water toward the main gate, while Jie Jingchen swept a few times with the broom.

He had thrown the knife, and it had embedded itself in the door. Terrified, Jie Anqi had frozen at the gate for a moment, which was why there was more blood there.

Qin Xiang went back to the courtyard and filled another bucket. He carried it over the threshold; the ground where Jie Anqi had walked was also dotted with blood. Jie Jingchen had been about to say they could just leave the stains outside, but when he saw Qin Xiang already splashing water, he could only follow suit. With Qin Xiang splashing water ahead and Jie Jingchen sweeping behind, the two worked in perfect sync.