Reborn in the 1970s — Married a Proud Rough Man

Mr. Lin didn’t say anything. They had originally planned to go home and get a change of clothes for their daughter when they ran into Jie Jianjun and his wife, along with Jie Jianye and his wife. The couples said they were going to find Doctor Qiao to discuss the hospital fees, and Li Axiu immediately had a devious thought. Doctor Qiao was Jing Er’s stepmother, and now that Yaru was hospitalized, Li Axiu wanted her to cover all the expenses.

Li Axiu saw Mr. Xie striding over furiously and was about to go meet him, but Mr. Lin yanked her aside to hide.

”What are you doing?” Li Axiu demanded, very displeased.

”I should be asking you that. What do you think you’re doing?” Mr. Lin retorted, gripping Li Axiu’s wrist tightly.

”I saw my daughter’s father-in-law. I was going to discuss Yaru’s hospital fees with him,” Li Axiu said.

”Old Mrs. Jie collapsed, and An Lin’s wife had a pregnancy scare. If you hadn’t gotten into a fight with Xu Chunyan, would any of this have happened? Mr. Xie is furious right now. Is this really the right time to approach him about Yaru’s hospital fees?” Mr. Lin said.

”How is it not appropriate? Yaru is his daughter-in-law. It’s only right and proper that he pays for her hospitalization.” Li Axiu paused before continuing, ”And did I want to fight with Xu Chunyan? No! It’s the Jie family that’s shameless. Jing Er and Xu Chunyan are divorced, yet Xu Chunyan just brazenly showed up at Old Mrs. Jie’s birthday! Isn’t that a slap in the face to our Lin family?”

”Xu Chunyan was with Xiao You—”

”Excuses! It’s all just excuses! Xiao You has a right to be there, but does Xu Chunyan? What’s her status now? Does she have any self-awareness at all? And you saw it! Xu Chunyan was holding onto Xiao You and sat right next to Jing Er. She didn’t even let Xiao You sit next to him. No, she sat next to him herself, and so close, too! They were whispering to each other, all intimate and suggestive. It was disgusting to watch. You might be able to tolerate it, but I can’t,” Li Axiu fumed.

”Even so, you shouldn’t have been so impulsive. You have to consider the setting,” Mr. Lin said.

”Consider my ass! Old Lin, whose side are you on, the Jies’ or the Lins’? Xu Chunyan is shamelessly trying to steal your own daughter’s husband right in front of her, and you’re still—”

”That’s enough. Say no more. Let’s hurry home and get a change of clothes for Yaru,” Mr. Lin cut in.

”What’s the rush? Zhao Hong really did have a pregnancy scare, but our Yaru didn’t,” Li Axiu said. When Old Mrs. Jie had fainted and Zhao Hong started bleeding, Li Axiu saw that things were getting out of hand and had told Yaru to fake a stomach ache.

”If you’re going to put on an act, you have to see it through,” Mr. Lin reminded her.

Li Axiu said no more. Only after Mr. Xie and Qin Mei had entered Mrs. Xie’s office did Mr. Lin pull her away.

”All of you, shut up,” Mr. Xie barked, and the office fell instantly silent.

Mr. Xie was the eldest of his generation in the Jie family and also the manager of the machinery factory. His authority, derived from both his family and professional status, was effective.

Mrs. Xie was about to scold her husband, but her eyes widened when she saw Qin Mei. She shot a glare at Mr. Xie and demanded, ”You called Xiao Mei here?”

Mr. Xie’s mouth twitched. Faced with his wife’s glare, he flatly denied it. ”It wasn’t me.”

Mrs. Xie clearly didn’t believe him. She gave him a warning look that said, ’You’d better figure this out,’ then rose and took Qin Mei’s hand. ”Xiao Mei, this has nothing to do with you. You should go home for now.”

Qin Mei felt a bead of sweat roll down her back. ’It wasn’t my father-in-law who called me. I followed Shen Qing here.’

Qin Mei looked at Shen Qing, who was also looking at her. But it was Qin Mei who felt guilty. ’After all, I’m the one who followed Shen Qing here. I’m in the wrong!’

”Mom, I’m thirsty,” Qin Mei said, changing the subject.

Mrs. Xie paused for a moment, then let go of Qin Mei and turned to pour her a glass of water.

”Sister-in-law, I’m thirsty too,” Chen Xiuhua chimed in, her throat parched from all the arguing.

Mrs. Xie ignored her. Feeling the snub, Chen Xiuhua tugged on Jie Jianjun’s sleeve.

”Sister-in-law...”

”Shut up,” Mr. Xie barked just as Jie Jianjun opened his mouth.

”Big Brother, what’s the meaning of this?” Jie Jianjun felt utterly humiliated.

”Instead of staying by Mom’s bedside in her hospital room, you come here to your sister-in-law’s office to cause a scene. And you have the gall to ask me what I mean? Second Brother, I’m the one who should be asking you what you think you’re doing!” Mr. Xie’s expression was taut, his entire presence emanating an unchallengeable aura of authority and pressure.

”We... we just wanted to talk to Sister-in-law about... about our mother’s hospital fees,” Jie Jianjun said, his guilt obvious.

”Second Brother, Sister-in-law already said she’d pay for Mom’s hospital fees while the rest of us pitch in with our time and effort. But Second Sister-in-law wouldn’t have it. She insisted that Sister-in-law also pay for An Lin’s wife’s hospitalization. When Sister-in-law refused to be taken for a fool, Second Sister-in-law wouldn’t let it go,” Jie Jianye explained.

”Fourth Brother, that’s not right! What do you mean I ’wouldn’t let it go’? Whose fault is it that Mom is in the hospital? And whose fault is it that my daughter-in-law had a pregnancy scare?” Chen Xiuhua was seething.

Jie Jianye ignored Chen Xiuhua and continued to complain to his eldest brother. ”Big Brother, you don’t know how shameless Second Sister-in-law has been. She wants Sister-in-law to pay for Mom’s hospital stay and An Lin’s wife’s stay, too. But then she uses the excuse that she has to look after her own daughter-in-law, so she can’t look after Mom. She wants my wife to do it instead. But my wife has a job! We tried to compromise with her—she could watch Mom during the day, and my wife and I would take the night shift. But she refused.”