Reborn in the 1970s — Married a Proud Rough Man

It was only then that Xu Jiali realized no one was backing her up. This was too strange.

”What the...” Xu Jiali turned her head, but her voice died in her throat. What was she seeing? Was that... her nephew? ’Oh my god!’

Xu Jiali’s gaze darted back and forth between Qin Xiang and Qin Mei. ’Wow, they really do look alike,’ she thought. ’I’d believe it if someone told me they were fraternal twins.’

’She’s unmarried, so it’s fine for her to come here and have fun,’ Xu Jiali thought. ’But Jie Jingchen is a married man. What is *he* doing here?’

With her famously short fuse, she decided Jie Jingchen’s mere presence here was his fault.

Xu Jiali conveniently forgot that Qin Mei was also married. People are selfish, after all. Since *she* was the one who brought Qin Mei here, there was nothing wrong with that. The one at fault was clearly Jie Jingchen.

Xu Jiali was absolutely livid. She was going to stand up for her friend and teach her ”nephew” a lesson. Letting go of Qin Mei, she rolled up her sleeves and lunged forward to give him a piece of her mind. ”Jie—”

But Qin Mei’s eyes were sharp and her hands were faster. She yanked Xu Jiali back, pulling her into an embrace.

In that split second, Qin Mei’s mind raced. ’Covering her mouth with my hand would look suspicious,’ she thought. ’Using my own mouth is the perfect solution.’

Xu Jiali’s eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head. Her exquisitely made-up face twisted in utter horror.

Jie Jingchen’s amber eyes stared sharply at the two women, an unreadable emotion swirling in their depths. The large hand he had resting on Qin Xiang’s shoulder clenched into a fist.

Qin Xiang’s lips twitched. ’Oh, little sis!’ he thought.

The others in the room, however, didn’t seem surprised at all.

’Sigh! What a shame,’ they thought.

Qin Mei released Xu Jiali. She smiled, her expression wild and unrestrained, but her voice was gentle. ”My friend, thank you for the surprise. I love it. It’s just... I think we’re in the wrong room.”

Xu Jiali tried to speak but found she was voiceless. She couldn’t make a single sound. ’What’s going on?’ she panicked internally. ’Why can’t I talk?’

Xu Jiali tried again and again, but still no sound came out. Her face was a mask of terror.

”My friend, are you so happy you’ve lost your voice again? The doctor just told you yesterday not to get too emotional, or your old aphasia might act up. Don’t worry, it’ll get better once we get you home and you take your medicine.” Qin Mei added the last part to reassure Xu Jiali.

Xu Jiali breathed a sigh of relief. So it was Qin Mei who had made her lose her voice. A moment ago, Qin Mei had pricked her with a needle. Though Xu Jiali was often scatterbrained, she wasn’t stupid. Seeing Jie Jingchen here, she realized Qin Mei’s behavior was not the normal reaction of a wife.

’There’s definitely something fishy going on here.’

”Come on, let’s go home.” Qin Mei had intended to just leave with Xu Jiali, but on second thought, she turned to the people in the room and said apologetically, ”I’m sorry to have disturbed everyone. As for tonight’s expenses... she’s paying.”

Xu Jiali didn’t want to be a patsy. ’On what grounds?!’ she wanted to scream. But since she was mute, she could only glare at Qin Mei indignantly.

”Hold it,” a burly man in a floral shirt and a thick gold chain called out, stopping them. He rubbed his chin, his voice gruff. ”Since you’re already here, why not stay for a few drinks?”

”Sorry, we’re busy. We have other things to do,” Qin Mei politely refused.

”Don’t make this harder than it has to be. My big brother told you to stay, so you’re staying,” the man with a scar next to the floral-shirted man snarled, slamming his hand on the table as he stood up and glared menacingly at Qin Mei.

”Oh my!” Qin Xiang exclaimed, shrinking back as if startled.

”Keep your voice down. You’re scaring him,” a glacial voice devoid of any warmth spilled from Jie Jingchen’s thin lips.

Qin Mei shot Jie Jingchen a subtle glance. ’You damn dog. We’ll have a long talk when we get home.’

Qin Xiang inwardly groaned. This was not good. Jie Jingchen, too, felt a headache coming on.

”Scarface, keep it down,” the man in the floral shirt snapped at him.

”Yes, Big Brother.” Scarface immediately reined in his hostility and turned to Jie Jingchen with a fawning expression. ”Young Master Qiao, my apologies. I lost control for a moment and scared your friend. Please, forgive me.”

Jie Jingchen shot Scarface a chilling glare. His dangerously beautiful face was a mask of pure arrogance. ”Tell them to get lost.”

Scarface was in a bind. His big brother wanted the women to stay, but Young Master Qiao wanted them to scram. He had no idea what Young Master Qiao was thinking, but he knew exactly what was on his big brother’s mind.

”Young Master Qiao, why tell them to get lost?” the man in the floral shirt asked as he lit a cigarette, took a drag, and exhaled a plume of white smoke.

”They’re an eyesore.” Jie Jingchen’s eyes darkened, and the chill emanating from him was palpable. The smile playing on his lips was terrifyingly cold.

”An eyesore? How could that be?” the man in the floral shirt said with a laugh. ”Just look at them. They’re beautiful enough to topple kingdoms. A real feast for the eyes.”

”Big Brother, they’re an eyesore *to Young Master Qiao*,” Scarface whispered as a reminder. ”The room is full of men. Young Master Qiao’s tastes are... different from ours.”

In Xiangjiang, no one dared to provoke the Qiao Family—not in the criminal underworld, and not in legitimate society.

”Young Master Qiao, you can’t be so selfish,” another handsome man in the room couldn’t help but chime in.