Reborn in the 1970s — Married a Proud Rough Man

”Young Master, someone asked me to give this to you.” The butler handed a slip of paper to Jie Jingchen.

As Jie Jingchen’s eyes fell on the note, his gaze flickered. He quickly took it and unfolded it. On it was written a single word: ”Miss.” His pupils contracted, and he asked urgently, ”Where are they?”

”Young Master, it was a little boy who delivered the note. Would you like to see him?” the butler said.

Jie Jingchen paused for a moment. ’They’re being quite cautious,’ he thought. Shaking his head, he said, ”Never mind. It’s just a child’s prank.”

The butler’s mouth twitched. ’The Young Master’s reaction just now...’

Jie Jingchen handed the note back to the butler. ”Burn it.”

The butler took the note, pulled a lighter from his pocket, and set the paper alight right in front of Jie Jingchen.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! A knock sounded on the door.

Qin Mei pulled the covers higher, hiding her head completely.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! The knocking sounded again.

”Jie Jingsi, someone’s at the door.” Grumpy from being woken up, Qin Mei stretched out a leg to kick Jie Jingchen but hit nothing. She froze, opening her eyes. There was no sign of Jie Jingchen.

’Good grief, he’s up already.’

Qin Mei sat up, scratched her hair, threw off the covers, and sat on the edge of the bed to put on her shoes before going to open the door.

”Mom.” Seeing it was Mrs. Xie, Qin Mei was instantly wide awake.

”Xiao Mei, I didn’t disturb your sleep, did I?” Mrs. Xie’s voice was kind and gentle.

”Not at all.” Qin Mei flashed a grin at Mrs. Xie.

Mrs. Xie’s gaze went past Qin Mei. Not seeing her son, she asked, ”Where’s Jing Si? Doesn’t he have a room?”

Qin Mei gave an awkward smile. Jie Jingchen wasn’t in the room, and she had no idea if he was in the bathroom. ”Mom, are you looking for Jie Jingsi?”

Mrs. Xie shook her head. ”I’m looking for you.”

Qin Mei was a little baffled. ’She’s looking for me, but she asks about Jie Jingchen? What’s going on here? Does my mother-in-law want to tell me a secret?’ ”Mom, what did you need me for?”

”It’s nothing important.” Mrs. Xie pulled Qin Mei into the room and even closed the door.

Qin Mei’s mouth twitched. ’If it’s nothing important, why are you closing the door?’

Mrs. Xie pulled Qin Mei over to the sofa. Without beating around the bush, she got straight to the point. ”I heard from your grandmother that you didn’t manage to cure Jie Anlin’s... delicate condition.”

Qin Mei blinked. ’She heard it from my grandmother? Who did Grandma hear it from? I only ever told Jie Jingchen about this. I never told my grandmother, so it must have been him.’

’Jie Jingchen and my grandmother must be really close for him to share this kind of gossip with her.’

’Could it be that Jie Jingchen was just trying to get on Grandma’s good side? Grandma doesn’t care for her son-in-law, so she must dislike the Jie Family too, but she’d certainly love to hear their scandals.’

Qin Mei silently cursed Jie Jingchen for being so unscrupulous. ’A grown man like him, gossiping about the Jie Family with my grandma? Is that even appropriate? I’m obviously the right person for that job! It was a perfect opportunity to get closer to Grandma, and instead of letting me have it, he used it to suck up to her himself!’

Seeing Qin Mei remain silent with her eyes darting about, Mrs. Xie prompted her, ”Xiao Mei.”

’How am I supposed to answer that?’ Qin Mei thought for a moment, then nodded. ”That’s right, I didn’t cure him.”

Mrs. Xie sucked in a sharp breath. ’Zhao Hong is pregnant. My parents-in-law are overjoyed, my brother-in-law and his wife are ecstatic, and Jie Anlin feels like he’s finally redeemed himself, holding his head high and showing off to everyone.’

’In front of me, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law were making pointed remarks, implying Jing Si was the infertile one. They even said Qin Mei should treat Jing Si’s ”illness” and told me to persuade him not to be in denial about it.’

’If they knew that the child they’ve been so eagerly anticipating doesn’t even have Jie Family blood, I wonder if they could withstand such a devastating blow.’

Mrs. Xie could already picture their resentful and crestfallen expressions when they found out the child wasn’t Jie Anlin’s. And to be honest, she was starting to feel a bit of schadenfreude.

”Xiao Mei, don’t be discouraged. Your medical skills are incredible; you just don’t specialize in treating infertility,” Mrs. Xie said, patting the back of Qin Mei’s hand while holding back a smile.

’But her schadenfreude was followed by a conflicted feeling of regret. If Qin Mei couldn’t cure Jie Anlin, then the chances of her successfully treating Jing Si weren’t very high either.’

”Mom, it wasn’t my fault. There was nothing wrong with my treatment method or my prescription. Jie Anlin just didn’t follow my instructions.” Qin Mei felt helpless. ’If the patient won’t listen to me, what can I do?’

”What do you mean?” Mrs. Xie didn’t understand. ’Is there more to this story?’ she wondered.

Qin Mei took a breath and said in a complaining tone, ”I told him very clearly: one month of treatment, followed by a one-month break. No intercourse during that time. After that, I would have given him another prescription. He obviously heard me, but he didn’t take it to heart and couldn’t wait to start trying for a baby with his wife.”

Unlike when she spoke with Jie Jingchen, Qin Mei didn’t bluntly state her true intentions: she had been planning to use that final prescription to rip him off.