Reborn in the 1970s — Married a Proud Rough Man

If she could, she wouldn’t even want to live in the same courtyard as Granny Guo.

There was a broom nearby. The second auntie picked it up, swept the ground clean, then walked over to Qin Mei. She crouched down to help put her shoe on. ”I’ve cleaned it for you. Don’t be grossed out. Hurry and put it on. With your medical skills, you understand better than I do that you’ll get sick if your feet get cold.”

”Second Auntie, please don’t...” Qin Mei was horrified. She couldn’t possibly let the woman help her with her shoe. Fighting back her disgust, she squatted down and put the shoe on herself.

The stench of filth lingered in her nostrils. Qin Mei frowned slightly just as Li Axiu’s voice erupted from inside the courtyard.

”Liu Guihua, if you say one more bad word about my daughter, believe me, I’ll rip your mouth to shreds!” Li Axiu, unable to stand it any longer, stormed out of the house.

”Li Axiu, have I said a single thing that’s wrong? You can know a person’s face, but you can’t know their heart. My Chunyan was such good friends with your daughter, she gave her heart and soul! And how did your daughter repay her? The daughter you raised is really something else! She went on and on about how she wouldn’t marry anyone but Jing Si, but the moment she saw Jing Si marry someone else, your daughter shamelessly climbed into my son-in-law’s bed! Is that any way for a person to behave?” Liu Guihua roared.

Li Axiu took a deep breath, planted her hands on her hips, and let loose with both barrels. ”Did my daughter climb into your son-in-law’s bed? It was clearly my daughter being kind and helping your daughter take care of Jie You...”

”Helping take care of Jie You means helping herself into my son-in-law’s bed? Was she being kind? Her intentions were downright malicious!” Liu Guihua cut Li Axiu off.

”It was your son-in-law who lusted after my daughter! Your son-in-law forced himself on my daughter!” Li Axiu bellowed.

”Bullshit! It was your shameless daughter who seduced my son-in-law! Your daughter saw how inseparable my son-in-law and Chunyan were, so she despicably drugged him! He was only with her because he was under the influence of drugs! Your daughter...”

”Liu Guihua, I’m warning you, my patience has its limits. If you dare slander my daughter again, I won’t be so polite!” Li Axiu viciously interrupted Liu Guihua.

The two women argued fiercely, neither telling the whole truth. Liu Guihua insisted that Lin Yaru had seduced Jie Jingwei, while Li Axiu insisted that Jie Jingwei had forced himself on Lin Yaru. They went back and forth, their argument escalating into chaos.

Soon, just arguing wasn’t enough. The two of them started to fight.

Xu Chunyan, who had been standing silently to the side, didn’t step in to stop them or to help when they started brawling. Liu Guihua had lost a lot of weight, and she was physically stronger than Li Axiu anyway. Xu Chunyan wasn’t the least bit worried her mother would be at a disadvantage, so she just watched with cold eyes.

”How did it come to a fight?” Ma’s mother was a little worried.

”The way Liu Guihua is cursing out Teacher Lin... if it were me, if someone cursed my daughter like that, I’d have fought her to the death by now,” Granny Guo huffed.

Everyone fell silent. ’Granny Guo is famous for favoring sons over daughters. Would she really fight to the death to protect her own daughter?’

”No one’s going to get killed, right?” The second auntie grew fearful.

”Xu Chunyan isn’t worried. Why are you, Second Auntie?” A hint of slyness appeared in Qin Mei’s eyes as the corners of her mouth curved into a carefree smile.

”That’s true,” the second auntie said with a laugh.

Mr. Lin couldn’t sit still in the house any longer. He rushed out to see his wife pinned to the ground by Liu Guihua, who was slapping her face, first with the left hand, then the right. He was scared out of his wits. ”Axiu!”

Mr. Lin charged forward and tried to pull Liu Guihua off. With Mr. Lin’s help, Li Axiu found a new burst of energy. It was two against one, and just as they were about to turn the tables, Xu Chunyan joined the fray.

And so, it became Xu Chunyan brawling with Li Axiu, and Mr. Lin wrestling with Liu Guihua.

A neighbor’s bucket was still sitting in the courtyard, and she worried it would become a casualty of the melee.

BANG BANG BANG! The neighbor pounded on the gate. ”Open up!”

The crowd looked at the neighbor, perplexed. ’Is she going in to help? What a good neighbor!’

”Old Lin! Axiu! You can fight all you want, but be careful not to break my bucket!” the neighbor shouted anxiously.

”...” went the crowd.

Alright, they had thought too highly of her. She was just worried about her bucket.

Liu Guihua used her weight to her advantage, scratching at Mr. Lin’s face while bodily pressing him back. Mr. Lin couldn’t fight back; all he could do was protect his face as he retreated step by step, until his back hit the courtyard wall, leaving him with nowhere to go.

Pushed into a corner, Mr. Lin used the wall for leverage. He brought his hands down from his face and, with all his might, shoved Liu Guihua.

RRRIP! The sound of tearing fabric was followed by a loud THUD.

Mr. Lin had pushed Liu Guihua over, and she landed flat on her back.

The Xu Family had been through a lot recently. Liu Guihua, devastated, had spent her days in tears and lost a great deal of weight. If she’d been at her weight from two months ago, no one could have pushed her over.

Liu Guihua had taken a hard fall. She was about to let loose a stream of curses when she felt a sudden coolness on her chest. Liu Guihua froze. She looked down, and her face instantly turned beet red with humiliation.

”AHH!” Liu Guihua shrieked, covering her chest with her hands. She glared venomously at Mr. Lin, who stood there dumbfounded, still holding a piece of fabric in his hand. ”You old pervert! You’re despicable, shameless, and vile! How dare you molest me!”

”I...” Mr. Lin couldn’t find the words to defend himself.

Xu Chunyan and Li Axiu also stopped fighting, their eyes drawn to the two. They hadn’t noticed before, but one look was all it took to shock them.

”Uncle Lin, how could you do that to my mom...” Xu Chunyan didn’t finish her sentence. She took off her jacket, ran to Liu Guihua, and draped it over her, covering the exposed skin on her chest.

Xu Chunyan’s cry of ”Uncle Lin” made Mr. Lin burn with shame.

”Old Lin.” Li Axiu’s face was grim. ’It’s one thing to fight, but why did you have to rip her clothes?’

”Axiu.” Mr. Lin wanted to explain, but he didn’t know how.

”Throw it away,” Li Axiu ordered.

Mr. Lin stared blankly, clearly not processing. Li Axiu pointed at his hand, and he finally understood, immediately dropping the piece of cloth.

’He’d gotten a clear look at Liu Guihua’s chest. She used to be heavy, but after her rapid weight loss, her once-plump breasts, now lacking support, sagged severely. Mr. Lin felt like he was going to have nightmares tonight.’

”Waaaah, Chunyan, I’m too ashamed to go on living!” Liu Guihua wailed, collapsing onto Xu Chunyan’s shoulder. ”Old Xu! Where are you? Come back! I’m being bullied! Waaaah, Old Xu, I’ve failed you! I don’t want to live anymore!”

”Mom, please don’t be like this.” Xu Chunyan hugged Liu Guihua, and the two of them sobbed uncontrollably.

The crowd outside the courtyard was completely bewildered. They looked at each other, confusion written all over their faces. ’What in the world is going on?’

Mr. Lin and Li Axiu were also dumbstruck.

”Old Xu! How could you be so cruel as to leave us, a widow and an orphan, all alone? When you were home, no one dared to bully us. Now that you’re gone, anyone feels they can push us around! That Lin bastard even molested me! Old Xu, I’m not clean anymore! I’ve let you down! I don’t want to live anymore!” Liu Guihua cried her eyes out.

Xu Chunyan stopped trying to console her. Instead, she joined in her mother’s wailing. ”Dad, come back! Come back and get justice for us! The Lin family is bullying Mom and me! The Lin family forced Jing Er to divorce me and marry their daughter, and now that old bastard from the Lin family has molested Mom!”

”Weren’t they just fighting? How did molestation get involved?” Ma’s mother asked, confused.

”Can a man and a woman fight without touching each other?” Granny Guo snorted disdainfully.

Ma’s mother fell silent. The second auntie couldn’t help but chime in. ”Sigh! It’s Axiu’s fault, too. How could she let Old Lin fight with Liu Guihua? Everyone knows Liu Guihua is the worst when she throws a tantrum. Once she gets her claws into you, you’ll be lucky to escape without losing a layer of skin.”

The neighbor, who shared the courtyard with the Lin family and saw them all the time, remained silent, not wanting to say anything.

Then, as if on cue, they all turned to look at Qin Mei, making her head buzz. ’Why are they looking at me?’

”Your mother-in-law, Doctor Qiao, has been hassled by Liu Guihua more than a few times over the years,” the second auntie complained with a touch of righteous indignation.

”That won’t happen again,” Qin Mei replied, a cold, mocking smirk playing on her lips.

”You’re right, it won’t. Jing Er has already divorced Xu Chunyan. She no longer has any right to come to the Jie Family and cause trouble,” the second auntie said, nodding in agreement.