Reborn in the 1970s — Married a Proud Rough Man

”Go back where you came from, and take Xiao You with you.” Jie Jingchen’s voice was frigid.

”Hmph!” Xu Chunyan snorted. ”You think I wanted to come? Xiao You was the one who wanted to see his grandpa, so I brought him. If we’re not welcome, fine. Xiao You, let’s go. We’re going home.”

Xu Chunyan had thought the little one would insist on waiting for his grandfather to get off work. But to her surprise, he happily agreed, which made her so angry she wanted to smack him.

”Xiao You, didn’t you say you wanted to eat some grapes?” Xu Chunyan said, holding her son’s greasy little hand and cooing in his ear. ”The grapes are ripe now. I just tried one, and it’s super sweet. I even picked a few bunches just for you.”

Xiao You, gnawing on a duck leg with his mouth covered in grease, glanced at the basket Qin Mei was holding. His little face was full of disgust. ”Mommy’s a liar. The grapes aren’t sweet at all. They’re crazy sour.”

Xu Chunyan gritted her teeth but kept a smile on her face as she continued to coax him. ”The grapes are ripe. They’re not sour anymore, they’re really sweet.”

”Not sweet! I don’t want grapes. I wanna eat my duck leg.” The little boy started pulling Xu Chunyan toward the main gate.

Xu Chunyan was furious. Xiao You didn’t like them, but she did! When Jie Jingchen wasn’t around, she’d dare to fight Qin Mei for them. But with him here, she didn’t have the guts.

The grapevine had been planted by Jie Jingchen. It was already there when she married Jing Er. She had assumed Aunt Zhang planted it, but Jing Er told her that Jie Jingchen had planted it as a child.

After making a fuss for a bit, Xu Chunyan left with Xiao You. Qin Mei looked at the grapes in the basket, especially the unripe bunch, and said regretfully, ”What a pity.”

Jie Jingchen looked at her. He didn’t ask what Xu Chunyan had wanted; he had heard their argument from the kitchen.

”I planted the grapevine,” Jie Jingchen said.

”Mm-hm,” Qin Mei hummed, then snapped her head up to stare at him in astonishment. ”What did you just say? You planted it?”

”That’s right. I planted it.” Jie Jingchen nodded. He was telling her this so that the next time someone dared to say, ’It’s not like you planted it,’ she could shut them down.

Qin Mei stared at him for a long moment, then glanced at the grape trellis and gave him a thumbs-up. ”Nice work. I’m going to wash the grapes.”

Jie Jingchen grabbed her arm. ”Xiao You said the grapes are sour...”

”That’s just a case of sour grapes,” Qin Mei cut in, setting the basket on the ground. She took out a bunch and walked over to the sink.

A peculiar emotion flickered in Jie Jingchen’s eyes. He pursed his lips but said nothing more.

After washing the grapes, Qin Mei plucked one off the stem and offered it to Jie Jingchen. ”Here.”

The grapes were completely natural, and Qin Mei’s mouth watered just looking at them.

Jie Jingchen didn’t take it. He gazed at her, his gentle eyes holding a deeper meaning. ”They’re too sour.”

Qin Mei rolled her eyes at him. ’Please, I’ve had grapes before. In my past life, there were countless varieties, and they were all unbelievably sweet.’

”Suit yourself.” Qin Mei popped it into her own mouth. The moment her teeth bit down, her mouth flooded with sourness. For someone who disliked sour flavors, it was an instant, brain-jolting wake-up call.

Qin Mei immediately spat it out, sputtering in disgust.

Qin Mei’s entire face puckered from the sourness. ”How is it so sour?”

Jie Jingchen thought she looked absolutely adorable. Seeing the drool that had formed at the corner of her mouth from the sourness, he raised his hand and wiped it away with the back of his hand. ”I did warn you.”

Qin Mei shook her head and handed the bunch of grapes to Jie Jingchen. ”I can’t handle sour things.”

Jie Jingchen took the bunch, placed it on the stone table, and watched as Qin Mei went over to the cucumber trellis. She picked one, didn’t even wash it, wiped the prickly skin on her clothes, and took a big bite.

The cucumber wasn’t particularly sweet, but it was very crisp. After a few more bites, the sour taste in her mouth finally faded.

Munching on her cucumber, Qin Mei stood under the grape trellis, staring at the clusters of fruit. ’The grapes from this era are a special kind of sour.’ ”Who even eats grapes that are this sour?”

”Jing Qi and Jing Wu love them. Third Sister-in-law and, er... Xu Chunyan loves them too,” Jie Jingchen said. He felt a little disappointed that his wife didn’t like the grapes from the vine he’d planted.

Qin Mei knew Jing Qi liked sour food. Apparently, Jing Wu did too. ’A man who likes sour things... that’s pretty weird.’

’As for Third Sister-in-law, I’ve never seen her pick any. But Xu Chunyan definitely loves them, or she wouldn’t have tried to pick all the ripe ones. If she had just taken a bunch or two, I wouldn’t have stopped her. But taking all of them? That’s going too far.’

Qin Mei took another bite of her cucumber and turned her head to look at Jie Jingchen. ”You don’t like them?”

”I don’t,” Jie Jingchen said, shaking his head.

Qin Mei raised an eyebrow. ”Jing Qi and Jing Wu both like them, but you don’t. Don’t you find that strange?”

”What’s so strange about it?” Jie Jingchen asked with a smile.

Qin Mei thought for a moment before saying, ”You’re all full-blooded siblings, from the same mother and father. Logically, you should like sour things too.”