Reborn in the 1970s — Married a Proud Rough Man

Chapter 111: Chapter 51: Jie Jingchen, Not a Miscarriage (Part 3)

Seeing how optimistic she was, Jie Jingchen didn’t have the heart to break down the grim reality for her. He could only warn, ”Qin Mei, if you run into Father Xu from now on, avoid him if you can. Act weak when you need to. Just don’t confront him directly.”

”Alright, alright,” Qin Mei readily agreed, though she was thinking, ’I won’t start anything, but I’ll be damned if I don’t finish it.’ ”Jie Jingchen, was the miscarriage part of your plan?”

Jie Jingchen stiffened. Under Qin Mei’s stare, his deep eyes darted away, and he shifted uncomfortably, as if sitting on pins and needles. His expression grew a little awkward. ”It wasn’t.”

That made sense, Qin Mei figured. She’d completely forgotten she was on her period, so how could he have possibly known? ”Quick thinking. I’m impressed with your ability to improvise.”

The corner of Jie Jingchen’s mouth twitched. So they were trading compliments now. ”You’re pretty quick on your feet yourself. Not a bad performance.”

”Oh, please. I’m not nearly as good as you,” Qin Mei said, waving a hand dismissively.

If Qin Mei hadn’t clutched her stomach and started screaming about a miscarriage, Jie Jingchen wouldn’t have suddenly changed his plan. It was just a coincidence that she was on her period, which made the miscarriage story very convincing.

Jie Jingchen’s original plan had been to let the police witness Father Xu attacking him. Then, by pulling some strings, even if he couldn’t get Father Xu thrown in jail for life, he could at least have him detained for a few days to take him down a peg.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! A knock sounded at the door.

They both froze, exchanging a look. Qin Mei reacted instantly. She kicked off her shoes, leaped into bed, pulled the covers over herself, hastily folded a washcloth, and placed it on her forehead.

As he watched her, a glint appeared in Jie Jingchen’s eyes. He reached out to neatly adjust the washcloth on her forehead, then called out in a low voice, ”Who is it?”

”Fourth Brother, it’s me,” said Jie Jingshan.

Hearing Jie Jingshan’s voice, Qin Mei breathed a sigh of relief and patted her chest. ’That scared me to death. If we were exposed right after we started, the fake miscarriage report Mom went to the trouble of getting would have been a complete waste.’

Jie Jingchen stood up, placed the enamel mug on the table, and then went to open the door.

”Fourth Brother, is Sister-in-law okay?” Jie Jingshan asked with concern. She had heard about the miscarriage from their fifth brother when she woke up and was extremely worried.

”Jing Qi, I’m fine,” Qin Mei said, sitting up and smiling cheerfully.

Jie Jingchen ushered Jie Jingshan into the room, then closed and locked the door behind them.

”Sister-in-law, you...” Jie Jingshan’s gaze fell on Qin Mei’s flat stomach, her expression full of pity.

”I wasn’t pregnant,” Qin Mei stated plainly. She knew Jing Qi was more reliable than Jing Wu, and Jing Qi was on her side. Qin Mei trusted that Jing Qi wouldn’t betray them; Jing Wu, however, was another matter entirely.

Jing Qi wouldn’t be swayed by money, but Jing Wu was short on cash and couldn’t resist its temptation.

If she wasn’t pregnant, then there was no miscarriage. Jie Jingshan breathed a sigh of relief, but still asked, ”But... Fifth Brother said you...”

Qin Mei leaned in and whispered in Jie Jingshan’s ear, ”I got my period.”

”What?” Jie Jingshan was stunned.

Qin Mei’s expression grew serious. She grasped Jie Jingshan’s hand and said earnestly, ”I didn’t have a miscarriage, I just got my period. Jing Qi, only you, me, your fourth brother, and Mom know about this. Do you understand what I’m saying, Jing Qi?”

Jie Jingshan looked at Qin Mei, thought for a few seconds, and nodded. ”I understand.”

Qin Mei didn’t relax her questioning, testing her further. ”And what if your third sister-in-law asks?”

’Jie Jingshan is young and has a disability, so others might overlook her. But Shen Qing wouldn’t. Jing Qi is very close to Shen Qing, so there’s no guarantee she wouldn’t tell her the truth.’

’It wouldn’t be the end of the world for Shen Qing to know, but at this critical juncture, the fewer people who know, the better.’

”My sister-in-law had a miscarriage. My second sister-in-law’s father caused it,” Jie Jingshan blurted out.

Qin Mei froze, not expecting Jie Jingshan to be so blunt. A pang of guilt hit her for encouraging a minor to lie. She cleared her throat. ”You don’t need to put it quite like that. You can say I was frightened. Yes, that’s it. I was just frightened.”

’Being beaten would leave marks, but being frightened wouldn’t require any visible injuries.’

Jie Jingwei and Xu Chunyan were witnesses. Father Xu only kicked once, which Jie Jingchen had helped her dodge. Before he could land a second kick, Jie Jingchen had pulled her to the ground, and then Jie Jingjue arrived with the police.

Saying she was beaten would seem like they were trying to frame him, but it was perfectly plausible that a shock could induce a miscarriage.

Never mind anyone else; even Jie Jingwei, Xu Chunyan, and Father Xu probably believed she had a miscarriage. After all, the blood was real.

”Fourth Brother, will Dad make Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law get a divorce?” Jie Jingshan asked Jie Jingchen.

Jie Jingchen’s breath caught in his throat. He hadn’t expected Jing Qi to ask him this question, and for a moment, he couldn’t come up with an answer.

”A divorce?” Qin Mei raised an eyebrow. ”I doubt it’ll come to that.”

’The Jie Family relationships are complicated. Jie Jingwei is the son of their father and his deceased first wife. The current wife, her own son, and her daughter-in-law already have a deep-seated grudge against the Xu Family. Honestly, this is a real mess to sort out.’

”With Xiao You in the picture, Dad won’t let them get a divorce,” Jie Jingchen stated firmly.

Jie Jingshan lowered her eyes, a hint of disappointment flashing within them.

Qin Mei shot Jie Jingchen a look, then turned to Jie Jingshan and asked tentatively, ”Jing Qi, do you want them to get a divorce?”

Jie Jingshan looked up, her large, expressive eyes filled with conflict. She nodded, then shook her head. ”I don’t want Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law to get a divorce, but I can’t stand seeing her family.”

”The Xu family is certainly repulsive,” Qin Mei agreed. ”Besides Xu Chunyan, the other three, with their looks and their imposing builds, make you want to keep a wide berth.”

All four of them are real pieces of work, with completely twisted values.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! The knocking started again.

”Fourth Brother,” called Jie Jingjue.

Jie Jingchen opened the door but didn’t let Jie Jingjue in. Instead, he pulled him out into the courtyard.

”Fourth Brother.” Jie Jingjue’s face was grim, and he gave Jie Jingchen a strange, hesitant look.

”Don’t look at me like that, or I swear I’ll punch you,” Jie Jingchen warned. The unconcealable pity in Jie Jingjue’s eyes annoyed him, stirring an impulse to hit someone.

”Fourth Brother.” Jie Jingjue put a hand on Jie Jingchen’s shoulder, his gaze locked on the top of his brother’s head. For a moment, it was as if he could almost see a patch of lush, green grass growing there.

”Jie. Jing. Jue,” Jie Jingchen growled, squeezing the name through his teeth. Barely contained fury simmered in the depths of his eyes.

”Fourth Brother, it’s about Sister-in-law’s medical report. I picked it up at the courtyard gate.” Jie Jingjue handed the report Qiao Yanqiu had prepared for Qin Mei over to Jie Jingchen.

A dark shadow fell over Jie Jingchen’s face, and a menacing chill emanated from him. His words were razor-sharp. ”Who told you to pick it up?”

’He’d intentionally dropped the report at the gate. The person who was supposed to find it hadn’t, and now Jie Jingjue had picked it up and brought it back to him.’

”Fourth Brother, the report says Sister-in-law is one month pregnant.” Jie Jingjue was trying to hint at something, but when he saw Jie Jingchen wasn’t picking up on his meaning, he frowned and spelled it out. ”One month. *One month!* Oh, my dear brother.”

Jie Jingchen’s impossibly handsome face was clouded with anger. He glared at Jie Jingjue, a dangerous light glinting in his amber eyes, and demanded in a frigid tone, ”What exactly are you trying to say?”

”Fourth Brother! My dear brother! One month!” Jie Jingjue repeated through gritted teeth. Seeing that Jie Jingchen still hadn’t gotten the hint, he steeled himself and said it plainly: ”Fourth Brother, one month ago, where were you? And where was Sister-in-law?”

In an instant, Jie Jingchen understood exactly what Jie Jingjue was implying.

’A month ago, he hadn’t left for his business trip to Shanghai, and Qin Mei was still with the Sun Family. So if she was one month pregnant, was the child... not his?’

Even the wisest person can make a mistake.

Jie Jingchen was annoyed. When his mother was writing the medical report, no one had noticed this problem. He looked at Jie Jingjue with a meaningful glint in his eye.

’Thank goodness it was Jie Jingjue who picked up the report. If Dad had found it, the miscarriage story would have been exposed. If his second brother and sister-in-law had gotten their hands on it, they would have absolutely used it to stir up trouble.’

”Mom left out a word. It should say one and a half months,” Jie Jingchen said calmly, then coolly tucked the report into his pocket.

Jie Jingjue looked at Jie Jingchen with pity, suspecting his brother hadn’t understood him. ”Fourth Brother, is this really just about Mom leaving out a word?”

”Jing Wu, I’m giving you a serious warning,” Jie Jingchen said in a commanding tone. ”You will forget about this report. And don’t you dare go spreading nonsense.”