Reborn in the 1970s — Married a Proud Rough Man

”Dad, Mom.” Lin Yaru had none of her usual confidence or beauty. Her hair was uncombed, her face unwashed, and her clothes unchanged. She looked haggard and utterly dejected.

”Yaru, don’t be afraid. Even if the sky falls, your father and I will hold it up for you.” Li Axiu hugged her daughter, patting her back comfortingly.

Inside, Mr. Lin smoked his dry pipe, his gloomy expression tinged with worry. ”Liu Guihua is notorious in this neighborhood for being an unreasonable troublemaker. Ever since Jing Er married Xu Chunyan, Liu Guihua has caused plenty of scenes at the Jie Family’s home. We’ve watched our fair share of the drama. And now, look. She’s come to our house to raise hell, making a spectacle of the Lin Family for all the neighbors to see.”

”This is no time for sarcastic remarks! Hurry up and think of a solution. How are we going to resolve this?” Li Axiu glared at Mr. Lin. Having witnessed Liu Guihua’s forcefulness before, she knew she couldn’t handle it.

Liu Guihua had been cursing in the courtyard for so long, shouting every foul and vicious word imaginable over and over. The Lin Family’s reputation was completely ruined.

”SIGH!” Mr. Lin sighed heavily.

”Stop smoking and go out there and stop her! Don’t let her keep screaming. If this goes on, how can our daughter ever show her face in public again?” Li Axiu wasn’t worried about her own reputation, but her daughter’s.

Mr. Lin looked at Lin Yaru, who was hiding in Li Axiu’s arms, and was kicking himself with regret. ”Your mother and I should never have agreed to let you conspire with Xu Chunyan.”

”Lin, what are you saying? Conspire? Is that any way to talk about your own daughter?” Li Axiu snapped.

”Our daughter ended up like this. You dare say you have no part in it?” Mr. Lin flared up too. ”Jing Si already has a wife, yet you still supported our daughter in her foolishness. She’s young and doesn’t know better, but you don’t either?”

”Is this my fault? Yaru and Jing Si were meant to be together! All those years he was a soldier, what did Yaru do? She waited for him at home and even took care of the disabled Jing Qi from time to time. Yaru treated Jing Qi like her own sister-in-law, always thinking of her whenever she had anything nice. And what was the result? Jing Si is a faithless bastard, and Jing Qi is an ungrateful brat! And don’t get me started on Qiao Yanqiu and Jie Jianguo. They’re no better. They knew Jing Si and our Yaru were a couple, but they still let him dump our daughter and marry another woman.” The more Li Axiu thought about it, the angrier she became.

The root of all this was that Jie Jingchen had married someone else. In their eyes, Jie Jingchen was the heartless man who had betrayed their daughter. Marrying another woman without even giving their family an explanation was simply going too far.

And Yaru, so devoted, still loved him just as much, even after he had taken a wife.

”Complaining about this now is pointless. Our daughter has already done the deed with Jing Er. She can never marry Jing Si in this lifetime,” Mr. Lin said, rapping his pipe on the table.

Hearing her father’s words, Lin Yaru’s sobs grew more heartbroken. She couldn’t accept it. She didn’t want to marry Jing Er. But her body had been defiled by him. Jing Si wouldn’t marry her even when she was pure; what chance did she have now that she wasn’t?

”Yaru, don’t be sad. If you can’t marry Jing Si, marrying Jing Er is fine too. The Jie Family is rich. At least you’ll live a comfortable life,” Li Axiu soothed.

”Mom, I don’t love him. The one I love is Jing Si,” Lin Yaru sobbed uncontrollably.

Her father could only sigh again and again. Now that things had come to this, they could only bite the bullet and see it through.

”Lin Yaru, you...” Liu Guihua let loose another string of unbearable curses.

Outside the courtyard, the eavesdropping neighbors had complicated expressions on their faces. The words were so vile, they felt embarrassed just listening to them, let alone saying them.

”That Liu Guihua,” Second Auntie said, shaking her head helplessly.

Unable to see into the courtyard, they could only listen. Qin Mei could only hear Liu Guihua’s filthy tirade, but not Xu Chunyan’s voice.

”Where’s Xu Chunyan?” Qin Mei whispered in Second Auntie’s ear.

Second Auntie had only heard that Xu Chunyan had brought Liu Guihua to the Lin Family’s home to cause a scene. She had eagerly called Qin Mei over to watch the drama unfold, but she wasn’t actually sure if Xu Chunyan had come.

Second Auntie asked a neighbor standing nearby. ”Jing Er’s wife... I mean, Xu Chunyan. Where is she?”

”She’s inside,” the neighbor replied. She glanced at Qin Mei, but directed her question to Second Auntie. ”Second Sister, you’re close with the Jie Family. I heard Jing Er and Xu Chunyan got divorced. Is that true?”

Second Auntie didn’t answer right away, looking instead at Qin Mei.

Qin Mei’s almond-shaped eyes narrowed. ’Why are you looking at me?’ she thought. ’She’s asking you.’

”They did. They really did. Divorced yesterday,” another neighbor chimed in, answering first.

The auntie next to them gave Qin Mei a strange look, hesitated for a few seconds, but couldn’t resist sharing. ”I heard that Teacher Lin was helping Xu Chunyan take care of Jie You at the Jie Family’s house. Somehow, she mistook Jing Er for Jing Si, and Jing Er mistook her for his own wife. So, you know... sparks flew.”