Reborn in the 1970s — Married a Proud Rough Man

That one sentence from Qin Mei, in particular—’If Xu Chunyan tries to set Lin Yaru up with Jie Jingchen, then I’ll set Lin Yaru up with Jie Jingwei’—made Second Auntie’s hair stand on end.

Qin Mei was rolling small medicinal pills, and Second Auntie, unable to sit idle, started helping her roll them.

Qin Mei politely declined, but Second Auntie insisted on helping, so Qin Mei had no choice but to let her.

The pills Qin Mei rolled were the size of soybeans. The ones Second Auntie rolled... well, they were a little smaller than sweet rice balls.

”Fourth Wife of Jing, what do you think? Is this okay?” Second Auntie asked. She wanted to get closer to Qin Mei so that Qin Mei could help her get rich.

Qin Mei gave Second Auntie a complicated look. ’This isn’t helping; it’s making more work for me,’ she thought. She would have to redo them. ”They’re too big.”

”Too big? I think they’re fine. One of these and you’d feel full.” Second Auntie was a master in the kitchen but inept at delicate tasks. She hadn’t been good at it even in her youth, let alone now that she was older.

”Second Auntie, this is medicine. If the dosage isn’t controlled properly, it could kill someone.” ’Feeling full? Does she think these are snacks?’ Qin Mei grumbled to herself.

”Ah? It’s that serious?” Hearing that it could be fatal, Second Auntie got scared. Cooking was her domain, and medicine was Qin Mei’s. ’Different trades are worlds apart,’ she thought. She, an amateur, shouldn’t be meddling. ”You’d better do it yourself.”

Qin Mei took the ”sweet rice balls” from Second Auntie to rework them. Second Auntie figured it would be awkward to just sit around, but she didn’t want to go home and face Granny Guo either. After a moment’s thought, she made up her mind. ”I’ll go buy groceries. I’ll make you all something delicious for lunch.”

”Second Auntie,” Qin Mei called out to her. ”Wait a moment.”

Qin Mei got up, went into the house, and returned with ten yuan and some meat ration coupons, which she handed to Second Auntie.

Since Second Auntie was going to cook lunch for them, they couldn’t let her pay for the ingredients on top of doing all the work.

Second Auntie accepted them with a cheerful laugh. Refusing would have seemed insincere; it wasn’t like they were short on such a small amount of money anyway. She happily took the money and coupons and headed off to the non-staple food store.

Everything in Xu Chunyan’s room, except for the large items, had been packed up and sent to the Xu Family. Jie Jingjue wasn’t sure if the large furniture should go to the machinery factory or to the Xu Family, so he decided to just leave it for now.

After a busy morning, he and Qin Xiang were so hungry their stomachs were growling. As they walked into the courtyard, the fragrant aroma of food filled the air. Jie Jingjue’s face lit up, and he pulled Qin Xiang toward the kitchen. ”Come on, you’re in for a treat today. Second Auntie’s cooking is famously delicious.”

In the kitchen, Jing Qi was helping Qin Mei set out the bowls and chopsticks while Second Auntie was ladling soup.

”Your timing is perfect. Second Auntie just finished cooking,” Qin Mei said with a smile, looking at the two who had just returned.

”Wow! Second Auntie, all of these dishes are my absolute favorites!” Jie Jingjue exclaimed dramatically. He had a sweet tongue and didn’t hold back, showering Second Auntie with praise.

Second Auntie was so pleased by his compliments that she couldn’t stop grinning. ”Alright, enough with the sweet talk. You must be hungry. Go wash your hands and eat. And you, Jing Si’s brother-in-law, don’t just stand there. Come and have a taste of my cooking.”

Qin Xiang looked at the several dishes on the table, all perfect in color, aroma, and flavor. He had to admit that experience truly counted for something. Second Auntie’s cooking looked absolutely mouth-watering.

Qin Xiang glanced at Qin Mei. ’My little sister really knows how to handle things,’ he thought. ’She can’t cook herself, and seeing that I don’t have time to cook, she finds someone else to do it. If you told me she wasn’t a hedonist, I wouldn’t believe you.’

Jie Jingjue went to scoop the rice, and Qin Mei took the filled bowls from him. Qin Xiang wasn’t idle either; he handed empty bowls to Jie Jingjue. Jing Qi sat and waited, and Second Auntie watched the scene with a gratified smile.

Everyone gathered around the table. It was Qin Xiang’s first time trying Second Auntie’s cooking, and after just two bites, he couldn’t stop praising her.

”Second Auntie’s ancestors were Imperial Chefs,” Qin Mei said.

”Imperial Chefs?” Qin Xiang’s charming eyes widened in surprise. ”No wonder! Thanks to my little sister, I’m lucky enough to taste food cooked by a descendant of an Imperial Chef today.”

Second Auntie grinned from ear to ear. Those two words, ”Imperial Chef,” were music to her ears.

”With the food being this good, did you save any for Jing Si?” Qin Xiang suddenly asked.

”...” Qin Mei paused, a spoonful of rice halfway to her mouth. A bitter feeling welled up inside her. Even Qin Xiang had thought of Jing Si, but she, his own wife, hadn’t had the same spirit of sharing.

Second Auntie had genuinely forgotten to save a portion for Jing Si.

”You didn’t save any?” Qin Xiang asked, insistent.

Well, that did it. Now Qin Mei felt thoroughly guilty.

”I’ll save some for him.” Qin Xiang put down his bowl and chopsticks, got up, and took a large bowl from the cupboard. Under the complicated gazes of everyone at the table, he spooned a bit from every dish until the large bowl was full. Only then was he satisfied, placing the bowl back in the cupboard.

Qin Mei wanted to point out that Jie Jingchen couldn’t possibly eat that much, but she swallowed the words before they could escape her lips.

’It was bad enough that she hadn’t saved any food for her own husband. If she now complained that Qin Xiang had saved too much, wasn’t she just asking for a lecture?’