Reborn in the 1970s — Married a Proud Rough Man

Chapter 137: Chapter 59: Jie Jingchen, You Lied to Me

”Second Auntie, hold on.” Qin Mei got up and chased after her.

Second Auntie’s eyes lit up, and she stopped to wait for Qin Mei.

”Second Auntie, let me check your pulse.” Qin Mei led Second Auntie back into the house.

”No, don’t worry about it. These are just my old problems. I’ve put up with them for decades, and now I’ve got one foot in the grave. There’s no point in wasting money,” Second Auntie said dejectedly.

”Second Auntie, you’re an excellent cook. The food you make is delicious, and I love it,” Qin Mei said as she had Second Auntie sit down in a chair.

Second Auntie looked at her, feeling like they were talking at cross-purposes. She was talking about her illness, while Qin Mei was praising her cooking. She couldn’t understand it. ’What on earth did her cooking skills have to do with her illness?’

”I’ve been eating the food you make, so how could I possibly charge you a consultation fee? If I took your money, what would be the difference between me and an ungrateful wretch, Second Auntie? Don’t you agree?” Qin Mei’s eyes crinkled into smiling crescents.

”Yes,” Second Auntie nodded blankly. Realizing what she’d just said, she immediately corrected herself. ”No, that’s not what I meant, Fourth Wife of Jing. What I mean is, with your miscarriage, Doctor Qiao is busy with work and doesn’t have time to look after you. Jing Si is at home recovering from his injury, and he’s a man—how would he know how to take care of someone? The Jie Family’s relationships are complicated, and your own family isn’t around. Who else is there to count on?”

”We’re neighbors, and Doctor Qiao has always been very good to my family, helping with this and that. Now that her actual daughter-in-law needs looking after, I certainly couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. Doctor Qiao gave me money and coupons. I’m just helping you buy groceries and cook. It’s a small effort, and it’s completely separate from my old health problems.”

Second Auntie had wanted to ask Qin Mei to treat her, but when she thought about how Qin Mei had charged Granny Guo ten yuan just for writing a prescription, she found it too expensive and didn’t dare to ask.

She had dropped hints to Qin Mei, but it seemed Qin Mei hadn’t caught on. She had been leaving in disappointment, not realizing that Qin Mei had understood after all.

”Second Auntie, your hand.” Qin Mei sat down across from her.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Second Auntie extended her hand toward Qin Mei.

Placing her fingertips on the woman’s wrist, Qin Mei carefully took her pulse. A moment later, Qin Mei stood up and took out three packets of herbs from her organized collection. Lacking any kraft paper to wrap them in, she simply tore three pages from Jie Jingchen’s notebook.

Qin Mei smiled faintly and asked, ”Second Auntie, do you know how to brew herbs?”

Second Auntie glanced at the herbs in Qin Mei’s hands, then looked back at Qin Mei and nodded firmly. ”I do.”

”Three times a day,” Qin Mei said, handing the medicine to Second Auntie.

Second Auntie took them, her gaze filled with gratitude and disbelief as she looked at Qin Mei. ”After I drink this, will my old problems be cured?”

Qin Mei shook her head with a wry smile. ”Second Auntie, I’m not a miracle worker. This medicine is just to help regulate your system.”

Second Auntie was stunned for a moment, then her face clouded with worry. ”Fourth Wife of Jing, are you saying that my condition is hopeless?”

Qin Mei’s mouth twitched. ”Second Auntie, that’s not what I mean.”

But Second Auntie’s brow remained furrowed, clearly unconvinced by Qin Mei’s words.

Qin Mei sighed and explained, ”Once your system is better regulated, you won’t catch colds so easily. The joint pain you get on rainy days is from rheumatism; give me some time, and I’ll make a few medicinal plasters for you to apply. As for the coughing and incontinence... Second Auntie, you’re getting on in years. I really can’t do anything about that.”

Second Auntie’s face lit up, and she patted her kneecaps. ”As long as you can treat my joint pain, nothing else matters.”

’The joint pain truly tormented her. It was so bad that sometimes she couldn’t even get out of bed. As for the coughing and incontinence, all women their age who’d had children experienced it. Everyone understood, so it was nothing to be embarrassed about.’

”Fourth Wife of Jing, how much is it?” Second Auntie asked. ’Fourth Wife of Jing was being very considerate. She hadn’t written a prescription and just gave her the medicine directly, saving her the fee. Second Auntie was very content.’

”No charge,” Qin Mei said with a helpless smile.

Hearing this, Second Auntie immediately protested. ”That won’t do! You already saved me the prescription fee, so you must accept money for the medicine.”

”Second Auntie, this medicine isn’t expensive. They’re just common herbs. Just consider it a token of my gratitude for all your hard work cooking for us...”

”No, absolutely not. As I said, these are two different things. You have to take the money for the medicine. These days, life isn’t easy for anyone...” Thinking of the Jie Family’s situation, Second Auntie changed her tune. ”Nobody’s money just grows on trees.”

”Second Auntie, you cook for us, and I give you medicine. Let’s just call it an exchange of favors,” Qin Mei said. Seeing that Second Auntie was about to argue again, she added preemptively, ”Unless you’re going to stop cooking for us.”

”Oh, you child... Fine, fine. I’ll accept the medicine. Thank you, Fourth Wife of Jing.” Second Auntie took the herbs and left happily.

Qin Mei didn’t see Jie Jingchen anywhere. She looked all around but couldn’t find him. ’She still needed to ask him clearly if he had any other reactions besides the one in a... certain place.’

”That’s strange. Where could he have run off to at this hour?” Qin Mei stood in the courtyard, muttering to herself.

’Don’t tell me he ran off to find a mistress to ”put out the fire”? Jie Jingchen was handsome, had a great body, and came from a good family—the total package.’

’That Teacher Lin was deeply in love with him, a ”marry-no-one-but-him” kind of love. If Jie Jingchen went to her to ”put out the fire,” she would jump at the chance, serving him as if he were a king until he was utterly content.’

”Xiao Mei.” Mr. and Mrs. Xie had returned from work and saw Qin Mei standing in the courtyard, lost in thought. Mrs. Xie called out, but when Qin Mei didn’t respond, she walked over and tapped her on the shoulder.

Qin Mei jumped. Seeing it was her mother-in-law, a brilliant smile blossomed on her face as she called out sweetly, ”Mom, Dad, you’re back from work?”

Mr. Xie grunted in acknowledgement. Mrs. Xie looked at Qin Mei affectionately and asked with concern, ”What were you thinking about? You were so lost in thought, I called you several times and you didn’t hear me.”

’Thinking about Jie Jingchen and his mistress,’ Qin Mei didn’t tell the truth. ”I was just wondering when you and Dad would get off work. Mom, you and Dad must be tired from work.”

Mrs. Xie was taken aback, feeling touched. ’In all these years, Qin Mei was the first person to ever tell her that she must be tired from work.’

”Has Second Auntie finished making dinner?” Mrs. Xie asked. Qin Mei nodded, and Mrs. Xie took her by the arm. ”You must be hungry, right? Xiao Mei, if dinner is ready, you should go ahead and eat. Don’t wait for us.”

Qin Mei just smiled without saying anything. ’How was she supposed to respond to that? Nod obediently? They were her elders and had just come from work; she felt it would be improper not to wait for them to eat.’

Mrs. Xie took off her bag and handed it to Mr. Xie. ”Come on, let’s wash our hands and eat.”

”Mom, I don’t know where Jie Jingchen went,” Qin Mei said in a flat tone, though her heart was rippling with unease.

Mrs. Xie looked at the sullen Qin Mei, not seeming particularly concerned about her son. ”Never mind him. Let’s eat first. It’s dinnertime and he’s still out running around. Why bother with him?”

”Jing Wu isn’t back either,” Qin Mei added.

”There’s even less reason to worry about him. He never does anything proper, just loafs around all day like a delinquent.” Speaking of Jing Wu, Mrs. Xie’s eyes filled with disdain.

”I’ll go get Jing Qi,” Qin Mei said. ’What else could she say? Her mother-in-law had spoken. They were her sons, not hers. Why should she worry for nothing?’

”Alright, you go ahead.” Mrs. Xie let go of Qin Mei, washed her hands first at the basin in the courtyard, and then headed toward the kitchen.

Qin Mei went to Jing Qi’s room and wheeled him out toward the main hall. Seeing them approach, Mr. Xie waited at the doorway. The threshold was too high, so he helped Qin Mei lift the wheelchair into the room.

Qin Mei washed her hands, then went to the kitchen to help Mrs. Xie bring the dishes to the table. Mr. Xie went to get the bowls and chopsticks.

”Sister-in-law, Fourth Brother said not to wait for him for dinner,” Jie Jingshan said as she took the chopsticks Qin Mei handed her.

Qin Mei froze, her eyes flickering. ”He told you that before he left?”

”Mhm, he did,” Jie Jingshan said, nodding at Qin Mei.

’Not waiting for him for dinner... was he planning to eat at his mistress’s place?’ Qin Mei’s heart felt heavy. It wasn’t exactly painful, but it wasn’t a good feeling either. It was just... sour.

’Of course, the idea of Jie Jingchen having a mistress was just her own speculation. Whether it was true or not remained to be seen.’

’If her guess was wrong, everything would be fine. But if her guess was right, then her marriage to Jie Jingchen would be over.’