Reborn in the 1970s — Married a Proud Rough Man

Eager to make a good impression, Chen Xiuhua had been busy in the kitchen since early in the morning. The fourth daughter-in-law, Li Chunlan, had also arrived early and headed straight for the kitchen.

Jie Jianjun wasn’t idle either; he was in charge of running errands and buying groceries.

Jie Jianye was playing chess with Grandpa while Jie Huating sat to the side, watching. Jie Anlin stayed by his wife’s side, stroking Zhao Hong’s baby bump from time to time, his face beaming with the joy of impending fatherhood.

“Why isn’t the eldest’s family here yet?” Granny asked, anxious for them to arrive.

“Granny, Second Brother is here,” Jie Anlin said, getting up to greet them. “Aunt Li, Uncle Lin, Second Brother, Second Sister-in-law, quickly, come on in.”

“My dear in-laws, what a rare visit! Please, come in.” Granny also gave them a warm welcome. It was her birthday, and she was happy from the bottom of her heart to have anyone come celebrate with her. Older folks just love a lively atmosphere.

“Granny,” Li Axiu began, “may your fortune be as vast as the Eastern Sea and your life as long as the Southern Mountains.” She then took out a red envelope and handed it to Granny.

“Oh, my dear, you shouldn’t have,” Granny said, her face wreathed in smiles. She gave the red envelope a little squeeze. It felt quite thick; there must have been a good amount of money inside.

Granny held Li Axiu’s hand, asking after her health, while Mr. Lin, making himself at home, went to watch Grandpa and the others play chess.

“Brother Lin, you come play with my dad,” Jie Jianye said, getting up to offer his seat.

“No, no, you keep playing. My chess skills are nothing to write home about,” Mr. Lin said modestly.

“Come now, my dear in-law, we’re all family. No need to be modest,” Grandpa said. “This boy’s skills are lacking. I’ll only get a good game if you play with me.”

“Well then, it would be rude to refuse. I’ll show you what little I know,” Mr. Lin replied. He adored chess, but with so many troubles at home lately, he hadn’t been in the mood to find a partner to play.

Jie Jianye stepped out into the yard. With two pregnant women in the house, he didn’t dare smoke inside. His cigarette craving was acting up, so he had to go outside the gate.

“Hey, Fourth, what are you doing smoking out here?” Jie Jianjun asked, raising an eyebrow at Jie Jianye as he returned from his shopping trip.

“Jing Er’s in-laws are here,” Jie Jianye said.

“Which in-laws?” Jie Jianjun asked.

“Which in-laws do you think?” Jie Jianye shot Jie Jianjun a sidelong glance and pulled a cigarette from his pocket. “Want one?”

“Sure,” Jie Jianjun said, setting his things on the ground and taking the cigarette Jie Jianye offered.

The two brothers squatted outside the wall, smoking. Jie Jianjun said, with a hint of schadenfreude, “I heard Jing Si and his wife got back from Xiangjiang yesterday. Hey, Fourth, don’t you think it’ll be awkward when Jing Si gets here and sees Teacher Lin?”

Jing Si was supposed to marry Teacher Lin, but he ended up marrying a girl from out of town. Then Jing Er divorced and married Teacher Lin. Just thinking about the relationships was awkward enough.

“Jing Er didn’t bring Xiao You,” Jie Jianye said, his meaning implicit.

“So he didn’t bring him,” Jie Jianjun said, not thinking much of it. ‘The old saying is true: a new wife means a changed father. That’s no lie.’

“It would be even more awkward if Xu Chunyan brought Xiao You to wish Mom a happy birthday,” Jie Jianye said.

Jie Jianjun paused in the middle of taking a drag from his cigarette, the implication dawning on him instantly. “She wouldn’t, would she?”

Jie Jianye glanced around warily, then leaned in close to Jie Jianjun’s ear and whispered, “After Jing Er and Xu Chunyan divorced, he’s been using ‘visiting Xiao You’ as an excuse to go to the Xu Family’s house and see Xu Chunyan.”

“That’s happening?” Jie Jianjun was clearly out of the loop. He asked a dumb question: “They’re divorced. What would he be going to see Xu Chunyan for?”

“What do you think he’s seeing Xu Chunyan for?” Jie Jianye rolled his eyes at his brother. ‘How could he not know something so obvious?’

Jie Jianjun fell silent and took a hard drag on his cigarette. “But he’s divorced from her. He’s remarried, and his new wife is pregnant. What’s he trying to get out of it?”

‘Once you’re divorced, you should make a clean break. What’s the point of this lingering connection?’

“Who knows what Jing Er is thinking. Anyway, it’s a real headache for the eldest brother.” Jie Jianye even felt bad for him. ‘Having too many children isn’t necessarily a good thing.’

Back inside, Li Axiu was chatting with Granny. Zhao Hong tried to cozy up to Lin Yaru, but Lin Yaru ignored her, maintaining an air of keeping everyone at arm’s length.

Jie Jingwei and Jie Anlin were talking with their heads together. With both of their wives pregnant, they had common ground. Since Jie Jingwei also had Xiao You, Jie Anlin was asking him for advice.

Li Axiu was growing quite resentful of Granny. Ever since Yaru had walked in, the old woman hadn’t shown her a shred of concern, nor did she seem to care about the baby in her belly. Yet, she kept reminding Jie Anlin’s wife to be careful with her pregnancy.

‘A grandson the old woman doesn’t favor marries a wife she won’t favor either.’

‘But for a grandson she does favor, she loves him and everything connected to him, so his wife gets her attention too.’

Li Axiu was starting to regret coming. She was the one who had paid for the red envelope. Ever since Jing Er married Yaru, he had completely changed. He wouldn’t spend a single penny, using her money while saving his own.

“Yaru, are you thirsty?” Li Axiu asked. ‘If I don’t care for my own daughter, who will?’

“I’m not thirsty.” Lin Yaru seemed listless. She had put on exquisite makeup today, but when she looked at herself in the mirror, she was still unsatisfied with the result.

‘Many pregnant women get that dewy glow, their skin so supple. But my pregnancy skin is sallow, I’m getting spots… I look like a hag.’

‘I despise myself like this, so what would Jing Si think?’

She hadn’t wanted to come to the machinery factory to celebrate Granny’s birthday. But if she didn’t come, she wouldn’t see Jing Si. She was torn, desperately wanting to see him, yet terrified of it at the same time.

“Second Daughter-in-law Jing, do you prefer sour food or spicy food?” Granny asked, looking at Lin Yaru with a smile. The concern was extremely perfunctory.

Her name having been called, Lin Yaru looked up at Granny, her gaze a bit unfocused. She gave an equally perfunctory, one-word answer. “Spicy.”

“Spicy, huh,” Granny muttered to herself. Was she disappointed? It didn’t seem so.

Li Axiu frowned. ‘Sour for a son, spicy for a daughter… this old woman is truly wicked.’ She cursed Granny a thousand times in her heart, but her face was all smiles as she said, “My Yaru might like spicy food, but she’s carrying a boy.”

“A boy?” Granny was quite surprised. She looked at Li Axiu and asked, “Who said so?”

“The Fourth Wife of Jing said so,” Li Axiu said smugly. With her daughter carrying a boy, she was full of confidence.

“Is the word of the Fourth Wife of Jing reliable?” Granny was skeptical. ‘The baby is still in the womb. Until it’s born, who can guarantee if it’s a boy or a girl?’

“Don’t you, as the grandmother, know how capable the Fourth Wife of Jing is?” Li Axiu retorted.

Granny fell silent. She thought to herself that when the Fourth Wife of Jing arrived, she would ask her to check on Xiao Hong too, to see if she was carrying a boy or a girl.

Li Axiu caught sight of Chen Xiuhua coming out of the kitchen from the corner of her eye. A sly smile touched her lips as she asked, “By the way, Granny, since Jing Si and his wife came back from Xiangjiang this time, did they bring An Qi back with them?”

The Jie Family had kept Jie Anqi’s situation an extremely well-guarded secret, not breathing a word of it to outsiders. But once, when Jie Jingwei was drunk, he had unintentionally let it slip that Jie Anqi had been sent to a mental hospital in Xiangjiang by Qiao Yanqiu.

Having someone in the family with a mental illness—if that got out, it would be a huge scandal.

Before Granny could even react, Chen Xiuhua flew into an uncontrollable rage, as if someone had stepped on her tail. “Jie Jingwei!”

“Second Aunt.” Jie Jingwei looked guilty. Jie Anlin also gave him a reproachful nudge. ‘Don’t air the family’s dirty laundry in public, doesn’t he understand that?’ “My father-in-law and mother-in-law aren’t outsiders.”

“My dear,” Li Axiu said to Chen Xiuhua, “don’t you worry. I would never spread something like this. We’re all one family, and I wouldn’t harm my own. I was just concerned about An Qi. Think about it, she’s all alone in Xiangjiang, a place she doesn’t know. If something happened, she’d have no one to turn to. How pitiful. Your eldest sister-in-law is too cruel. What did An Qi ever do wrong for her to harm her like that?” Li Axiu said, feigning sympathy.

An Qi was a constant pain in Chen Xiuhua’s heart. To have given birth to a daughter she couldn’t save… it would be a lie to say she wasn’t filled with grief and indignation.

Jie Anlin immediately cut in, “Aunt Li, An Qi is sick. The medical care in Xiangjiang is better than what we have here. Eldest Aunt meant well by sending her there for treatment. Mom,” he said, turning to Chen Xiuhua, “it’s Granny’s birthday today. Let’s not talk about unhappy things.”