Reborn in the 1970s — Married a Proud Rough Man

”You either contribute money or you contribute effort. If you’re not doing either, then don’t even think about it,” Li Chunlan couldn’t help but add.

Though their two families weren’t as rich as their sister-in-law, they weren’t lacking for money. It was just a question of whether they were willing to spend it. In the past, their sister-in-law had always fronted the cash while their two families provided the labor, and she’d even give them some compensation for their trouble. Now, their sister-in-law had become stingy. She was willing to pay for their mother’s hospitalization but refused to compensate them for their work. Jie Jianye and his wife didn’t have a problem with this, but Jie Jianjun and his wife certainly did. If there was no compensation, she wasn’t going to lift a finger to help.

Mr. Xie’s head throbbed. It was true what they said: even an honest judge can’t settle family disputes. For years, his second son and daughter-in-law had gotten used to demanding things from Yan Qiu. Now that Yan Qiu had suddenly stopped indulging them, they were starting to cause a scene.

”Li Chunlan, you’ve gone too far,” Chen Xiuhua said, targeting only Li Chunlan. She’d let her husband, Jie Jianye, deal with his brother, Jie Jianjun.

”Have I said anything wrong? If you won’t take care of our mother, fine. You pay, and I’ll take care of her. I’ll even take time off work to see her through her recovery until she’s discharged.” Li Chunlan was now at loggerheads with Chen Xiuhua.

Qin Mei, holding her enamel cup, took a few steps back to stand beside Shen Qing. There were many examples of siblings turning against each other over the care of an elderly parent.

”Our sister-in-law already said she’d pay. And your family—are they as rich as *her* family?” Chen Xiuhua said, looking at Li Chunlan with contempt.

Seeing that the two sisters-in-law were about to start fighting again, Mr. Xie barked an order at his sons. ”Jianye! Jianjun! Tell them to shut up.”

The command, backed by paternal authority, worked. Each brother grabbed his wife and pulled her back.

”Yan Qiu.” Mr. Xie looked toward his silent wife.

Mrs. Xie shot them a sidelong glance, then looked at Mr. Xie and said, ”I’ll pay for your mother’s hospital fees. But as for An Lin’s wife’s hospital fees, why on earth should I pay for those?”

The implication was clear: she wouldn’t pay a single cent for Zhao Hong’s hospital fees.

Qin Mei gave Mrs. Xie a thumbs-up. ’Money doesn’t grow on trees. If she pays for Zhao Hong’s hospital fees now, they’ll probably ask her to pay for Lin Yaru’s next.’

Thinking of Lin Yaru, Qin Mei tapped her forehead. ’Xu Chunyan is still aggressively trying to trick Lin Yaru into taking abortion pills.’

’Almost five months pregnant... To get rid of the baby at this stage is just cruel. Hasn’t carrying the child for over four months sparked any maternal love in her at all?’

”Sister-in-law, what’s that supposed to mean?” Chen Xiuhua started shouting.

Li Chunlan gloated, ”Don’t you understand what our sister-in-law means? She’s not paying a single cent for your daughter-in-law’s hospital fees. You’re on your own for that.”

’Not pay for Zhao Hong’s hospital fees? That’s unacceptable!’ Chen Xiuhua’s voice turned sharp as she demanded, ”Sister-in-law, how can you go back on your word? You already promised!”

”What did I promise?” Mrs. Xie retorted.

”You were just assuming things. Our sister-in-law never promised to pay your daughter-in-law’s hospital fees,” Li Chunlan added, twisting the knife.

Qin Mei couldn’t help but look at this fourth aunt of Jie Jingchen’s. The fact that she wasn’t siding with his second aunt was truly impressive.

Chen Xiuhua was struck speechless. ’It’s true, Sister-in-law only said she’d pay for our mother’s hospital fees, not Zhao Hong’s. But I went on and on about it, and she didn’t object. Wasn’t that a tacit agreement? In the past, she always just went along with it and obediently paid up.’

’Sister-in-law has changed. She started changing ever since Jing Si got married.’

Chen Xiuhua shot a resentful glare at Qin Mei, her eyes accusing her of being the main culprit. Gritting her teeth, she stubbornly insisted, ”Her silence was an agreement.”

”Silence doesn’t just mean agreement. It can also be a wordless protest.” Qin Mei’s almond eyes narrowed. If Chen Xiuhua hadn’t glared at her, she would have continued to observe coldly from the sidelines. But since she had, well, tough luck. She was going to meddle.

Watching Qin Mei, who seemed to thrive on chaos, Mr. Xie felt another headache coming on. Mrs. Xie, however, said approvingly, ”My daughter-in-law is the one who truly understands me.”

”We’ll pay for what is our responsibility. For anything that isn’t, we won’t pay an extra cent. Just because we have money doesn’t mean we have to be a charity. Isn’t it better to save it for ourselves?” Qin Mei’s primary goal seemed to be provoking people to the point of apoplexy.

Shen Qing glanced sideways at Qin Mei. ’She really has the guts to say that.’

Qin Mei had the confidence to say it because she had backing. Jing Si’s doting on her was all the backing she needed. Shen Qing was actually quite envious of the couple.

”Who the hell do you think you are? We elders are discussing things. What right does a junior like you have to butt in? Didn’t your parents ever teach you that juniors shouldn’t interrupt when elders are speaking?” Chen Xiuhua glared furiously at Qin Mei.

Before Qin Mei could fire back at Chen Xiuhua, Mrs. Xie jumped in to protect her own. ”Chen Xiuhua, if you don’t know how to talk, then just shut your mouth. My daughter-in-law’s upbringing was excellent. It’s not your place to stand here and criticize her.”

”Talking back to an elder, you call that an excellent upbringing? Sister-in-law, if she dares to talk back to me today, she’ll dare to talk back to you tomorrow.” Chen Xiuhua’s words were clearly meant to drive a wedge between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.