Reborn in the 1970s — Married a Proud Rough Man

Lin Yaru was stunned. Would that really work? ”But...”

”No buts. You have witnesses. Jie Anlin and Zhao Hong are your witnesses.” Xu Chunyan thought viciously, ’Even if I can’t completely crush Qin Mei this time, I’ll at least make her pay dearly.’

Lin Yaru understood.

At the third-floor stairwell, Qin Mei ran into Mr. Xie scolding his son.

Qin Mei thought, ’When I followed Xu Chunyan up to the fourth floor just now, these two weren’t in the third-floor stairwell. Now that I’m about to leave the hospital, here they are.’

’Should I just pretend I don’t see them and go downstairs, or wait until my father-in-law is done scolding his son?’

”Dad, I was wrong.” Jie Jingwei’s admission was so prompt and proper that Mr. Xie found it hard to continue his lecture.

Mr. Xie’s gaze was stern. He lowered his voice and asked, ”Jing Er, what exactly is going on between you and Xu Chunyan?”

His former daughter-in-law, his current daughter-in-law... not a single one of them was trouble-free. Yan Qiu was magnanimous and accommodating toward his former daughter-in-law, but with his current one, she was completely unforgiving.

”She’s my ex-wife and Xiao You’s mother. What could be going on?” Jie Jingwei’s eyes darted away. Xu Chunyan treated him like a treasure and revolved around him. Lin Yaru, on the other hand, treated him like dirt and seemed to wish him dead.

Being with Lin Yaru was mutual torture. Being with Xu Chunyan, he was comfortably taken care of. Whenever Lin Yaru made him angry, he would go to Xu Chunyan to vent.

He lusted after Lin Yaru’s body, but Xu Chunyan was his emotional solace.

”Bring Xiao You back. Don’t leave her with Xu Chunyan anymore,” Mr. Xie said in a commanding tone.

”Bring her back? Who’s going to take care of her? My current mother-in-law? Or should we have Aunt Qiao do it?” Jie Jingwei asked. With Xiao You in Xu Chunyan’s care, he had a legitimate excuse to go see her openly. Once Xiao You was back, he would have to sneak around. If he got caught then, he’d be unable to defend himself. A morality charge was a serious matter, especially for illicit relationships. A light sentence meant reform through labor; a heavy one meant a bullet to the head.

Who would take care of Xiao You was indeed a headache. Given Li Axiu’s character, would she treat Xiao You well?

Mr. Xie didn’t trust leaving Xiao You with Li Axiu. Having Yan Qiu take care of her wasn’t realistic either; Yan Qiu’s workload was heavy, and she often didn’t come home when she was busy.

His fourth daughter-in-law was at home and had a lot of free time. She and Jing Si didn’t have children, so having her take care of Xiao You would be the most suitable arrangement. But Xiao You didn’t like her, and she didn’t care for Xiao You either. If he asked her to look after the child, forget her refusing—Jing Si would be furious with him.

”Jing Er, you should see less of Xu Chunyan in private,” Mr. Xie reminded him cryptically.

Jie Jingwei shuddered. He met Mr. Xie’s gaze, which was so sharp it seemed to peer right into his soul, and guiltily looked away. ”Dad, what are you worried about?”

”I’m worried you’ll rekindle an old flame with her,” Mr. Xie said bluntly.

Those four words—”rekindling an old flame”—made Jie Jingwei’s heart pound. ’Could Dad really know?’ ”Dad, she’s my ex-wife and Xiao You’s mother. I’m remarried, and Yaru is pregnant with my child. How could I...”

”Jing Er, personal misconduct is a very serious matter,” Mr. Xie stated plainly.

Jie Jingwei completely lost the courage to argue. He was exposed before his father.

”Jing Er, you’re divorced from her, so stop meeting in private. You’re remarried now; you need to be faithful to your marriage. Your current mother-in-law is no pushover,” Mr. Xie warned.

Jie Jingwei lowered his head, remaining silent.

”If you keep two-timing, you’re bound to sink. Don’t ruin yourself. Jing Er, you need to figure out your priorities. If it comes to a morality charge, even I can’t save you.” Mr. Xie had said all he could; saying more would be pointless.

Mr. Xie turned around and his eyes met Qin Mei’s.

Qin Mei had been listening with great interest. She hadn’t expected Mr. Xie to turn around so suddenly, catching her completely off guard with no chance to hide.

’Awkward? Getting caught eavesdropping? It’d be a miracle if it wasn’t.’

’Should I greet him? The atmosphere isn’t right for it.’ Qin Mei decided to adopt a wait-and-see approach: if the enemy doesn’t move, neither do I.

”Xiao Mei, what are you doing here?” Mr. Xie, the sly old fox, acted completely unfazed.

He acted as if Qin Mei had just appeared, as if she hadn’t seen him scolding his son or heard him earnestly pleading with his eldest to turn back from the brink.

”I...” Qin Mei didn’t know how to answer for a moment. ’Should I tell the truth, that I came to the hospital after tailing Shen Qing?’ Deciding to tell him what he might want to hear, Qin Mei lied. ”Granny’s been hospitalized, so I came to see her.”

”You came to the hospital to see your Granny?” Mr. Xie was clearly skeptical.

Qin Mei gave an awkward smile. Forget Mr. Xie; she didn’t even believe it herself.

”Where’s Jing Si?” Mr. Xie asked. Whether her concern was fake or she was gloating, the fact that she came to the hospital at all showed she had some filial piety. And children with filial piety were good children.

”He ran into some trouble on the way and went with Gao Yang to deal with it,” Qin Mei said.

Mr. Xie didn’t press further. He looked at Qin Mei, not wanting to expose her lie, but couldn’t help himself. ”Your Granny is on the third floor. What were you doing on the fourth?”

To see Lin Yaru or Zhao Hong? Neither seemed plausible.

”I went to the wrong floor,” Qin Mei said, not blushing in the slightest.

”Come down. I’ll take you to your Granny’s room.” Mr. Xie beckoned to Qin Mei.

Qin Mei didn’t want to go, but she had dug this hole for herself, and now she had to jump in.

Mrs. Xie had arranged a private room for Granny. The room contained a hospital bed, a cabinet, and two chairs. The companion bed was folded up. Conditions in Huaxia were like this now, not comparable to Xiangjiang.

Inside the room, Granny lay on the hospital bed while Grandpa sat in a chair, watching over her.

”Dad...”

”SHH.” Grandpa made a hushing gesture and whispered, ”Quiet down. Your mother just fell asleep.”

”Grandpa,” Qin Mei called out softly.

Seeing Qin Mei, a trace of surprise flashed in Grandpa’s eyes, followed by a look of relief, but he didn’t say anything.

”Xiao Mei, why don’t you take a look at your Granny,” Mr. Xie said to Qin Mei.

Qin Mei was startled for a moment, but she didn’t refuse. ”Alright.”

”No need, it’s just your Granny’s old ailment,” Grandpa said, yet he moved aside, giving his spot to Qin Mei.

Qin Mei was speechless.

’This Grandpa,’ she thought. ’He says one thing but does the exact opposite.’

Qin Mei sat down, placed the pads of her smooth fingers on Granny’s wrist, and began to carefully take her pulse.

After a short while, Qin Mei removed her fingers from Granny’s wrist. Grandpa asked eagerly, ”Fourth Wife of Jing, how is she?”

”It’s nothing serious. She can be discharged in a few days,” Qin Mei said, smiling at Grandpa.

Grandpa was a sensible man, but he was completely suppressed by Granny. He was the type who was angry but didn’t dare to speak out. Under Granny’s domineering presence in the past, he had aided the evildoer. Now, he would occasionally put in a good word for the younger generation. He was only now, in his old age, trying to stand up for himself, but it was a little late for that.

”Mrs. Xie said the same thing.” Grandpa was completely relieved.

People of their generation had more faith in traditional Chinese medicine, but the state of it nowadays... SIGH...

”Dad, Mom’s fine, so you don’t have to worry. I’ll take you home,” Mr. Xie said, taking the opportunity.

”I’m not going back. I need to take care of your mother,” Grandpa refused.

”Dad,” Mr. Xie said helplessly, ”you’re getting on in years. Your body can’t take this kind of strain. We can’t have you collapsing from exhaustion just as Mom gets better.”

Grandpa huffed, but his stance was firm. Helpless, Mr. Xie looked to Qin Mei for help, but she gave him a look that said, ’Sorry, I can’t help you with this one.’

”You all should go do what you need to do. You don’t have to take care of your mother; I can handle it.” Grandpa then remembered something and said to Mr. Xie, ”Oh, right. The second and fourth couples went to find your wife.”

”What?” Mr. Xie’s expression changed.

”SHH! Keep your voice down.” Grandpa felt like hitting someone. His eldest son was always so calm, but whenever it involved Yan Qiu, he lost his composure.

Mr. Xie ran out of the hospital room. After a second’s hesitation, Qin Mei immediately followed.

In Mrs. Xie’s office, the endless arguing gave Li Axiu a splitting headache, and she pulled Mr. Lin away to leave.

”That Second Aunt and Fourth Aunt from Jing Er’s family are no good,” Li Axiu muttered cursingly.

”Axiu, where are we going now?” Mr. Lin asked Li Axiu.

Li Axiu shot Mr. Lin a glare and said, ”Where else would we go? Home, of course, to get a change of clothes for Yaru.”