Reborn in the 1970s — Married a Proud Rough Man

”So? Did you take a liking to my cousin?” Jie Jingchen asked teasingly.

Qin Xiang’s mouth twitched. ”Why are you playing matchmaker? I have no plans to get married for now.”

”You’re already twenty-five,” Jie Jingchen reminded him.

Qin Xiang waved his hand dismissively. ”What’s wrong with twenty-five? I’m absolutely not getting married before I’m thirty.”

Listening to Qin Xiang’s bold declaration, Qin Mei strongly disapproved. People married young in this era. Waiting until thirty to even consider marriage would make their parents worry, though in later generations, it would be common to be unmarried at thirty. ”If you meet the right person, you can consider getting married.”

”Too bad I haven’t met the right person yet.” Qin Xiang spread his hands.

Qin Mei blinked. She pulled Jie Jingchen, who was standing between them, aside and leaned close to Qin Xiang to ask in a low voice, ”You really didn’t take a liking to Jie Jingchen’s cousin?”

”Nope.” Qin Xiang shook his head. Based on looks alone, Jie Anqi wasn’t his type.

”Then what kind of person are you looking for?” Qin Mei asked. ’If my brother wants to find a girl from Shijiu City, I can ask Second Aunt to help keep an eye out for him.’

”I want to find...” Qin Xiang actually thought about it seriously for a moment before telling Qin Mei, ”My ideal partner, besides being good-looking, has to have a good character. She can’t be too aggressive, but not too meek either. It’s best if she has a bit of an edge to her gentleness.”

”Alright, I’ve got it. I’ll ask Second Aunt to keep an eye out for you,” Qin Mei said readily.

”Little sister, even our parents aren’t anxious about me getting married, so why are you in such a hurry?” Qin Xiang was exasperated, seeing how serious Qin Mei was.

”I’m already married, and you’re not. Aren’t you embarrassed?” Qin Mei shot Qin Xiang a look.

’I really want to remind her how her marriage came about. Has she forgotten? But then again, she has amnesia. Who knows what Jing Si told her? He probably fabricated some tragic, beautiful love story that moved her to tears.’

”Why should I be in a hurry? The Qin family isn’t counting on me to carry on the family line.” Whether he married or had children, his parents didn’t worry at all. They had always given him a free rein. No matter what he did, even if it was a dead-end path, his parents would encourage him to follow it through.

His parents truly weren’t worried about his marriage in the slightest. Even if he chose to marry into his wife’s family, they would let him go and support his decision.

”There are three ways to be unfilial, and having no heir is the greatest. This has nothing to do with carrying on the family line,” Jie Jingchen said out of the blue.

”Speaking of carrying on the family line, Jing Si, you have a difficult task. You not only have to continue the Jie Family line, but also the Qiao Family line. You and my little sister need to have at least two kids—one with the surname Jie, and one with the surname Qiao.” Qin Xiang shifted the topic to Jie Jingchen, clearly laying out how many children they should have and even what their surnames should be.

Qin Mei looked at Qin Xiang, speechless. This was his way of pressuring them to have kids. She had pressured him to get married, so he was pressuring her to have children. He’d even decided on their surnames—Jie and Qiao. ’Talk about fair and equal treatment.’

Jie Jingchen squeezed Qin Mei’s hand and sneered. ”How could two be enough? We’ll have at least three. One with the surname Jie, one with the surname Qiao, and one with the surname Qin.”

Qin Mei looked up, gazing at Jie Jingchen’s devastatingly handsome face. ”Why don’t we have a few more? We might as well collect all the Hundred Family Surnames.”

Jie Jingchen fell silent.

”HAHAHA.” Qin Xiang couldn’t help but burst out laughing. ’The Hundred Family Surnames... Only my little sister would say something like that.’

Sitting on a stool, Jie Jingshan also couldn’t help but laugh when she heard what Qin Mei said.

”They don’t need the Qin surname. The Qin family isn’t short on heirs to carry on the name,” Qin Xiang said. He felt he was already superfluous; they really didn’t need a child from his sister, a daughter of the family, to take the Qin surname.

”Do you even get a say in what our children’s surnames will be?” Qin Mei couldn’t help but look at Jie Jingchen mockingly.

”Why wouldn’t I get a say? I’m the child’s father. I call the shots,” Jie Jingchen said arrogantly.

”Don’t forget, the child’s grandfather is still around,” Qin Mei reminded him. ’Grandpa has a say. Mother-in-law gave birth to three children, and all three have the surname Jie. Not a single one was named Qiao. Although Jing Qi will change his surname to Qiao later, that’s something for the future.’

’My appearance has changed a lot of things. At the very least, Jing Qi’s legs are healed. Whether he’ll still change his surname is anyone’s guess.’

”Our first child will have the surname Qiao, whether it’s a boy or a girl.” This wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision for Jie Jingchen; he had been thinking this way even before they were married.

’Qin Mei had no opinion on the child’s surname; she was fine with Jie Jingchen deciding. However, if their child’s surname was Qiao, her mother-in-law would be thrilled, but what about her father-in-law? Would he agree to his own grandchild taking the Qiao surname?’

”The surname Qiao is great,” Qin Xiang agreed.

”It is great. Let him inherit the Qiao Family,” Jie Jingchen said.

Qin Mei’s mouth twitched. She glanced at Jing Qi, who was sitting to the side. The person meant to inherit from the Qiao Family was Jing Qi, yet Jie Jingchen wanted his own child to do it.

Jie Jingshan met Qin Mei’s gaze, paused for a moment, then narrowed her eyes and gave Qin Mei a brilliant smile.

Qin Xiang instantly realized the issue and quickly clarified his position. ”I don’t have such greedy thoughts. I just genuinely thought it would be nice for your child to have the surname Qiao. I’m not trying to covet the Qiao Family’s assets.”

The Qin family wouldn’t dare covet the Xiangjiang Qiao Family.

”You say your intentions are pure in wanting the child to have the Qiao surname. Do you even believe that yourself?” Qin Mei rolled her eyes. ’In this generation of the Qiao Family, my mother-in-law is the only heir. She gave birth to three children, all of whom are qualified to inherit from the Qiao Family. The Qiao Family wanted one of the children to take their surname, but Granny was dead set against it. She threatened to kill herself over it, and only then did the two Qiao elders give up.’

’Her mother-in-law had told her all this during one of their chats. Her mother-in-law was also aware of Granny’s intentions. Granny wanted all three children to inherit from the Qiao Family, but she refused to let any of them take the Qiao surname. To put it bluntly, Granny wanted to wipe out their direct line and take over the Qiao Family herself.’

’She also understood her mother-in-law’s purpose in telling her this. Her mother-in-law wanted the child she and Jie Jingchen had to be surnamed Qiao. In truth, Qin Mei had no opinion on her child’s surname. Whether it was Jie or Qiao, it would still be their child.’

Qin Xiang was struck dumb. He felt the frustration of being unable to defend himself. ’Heaven knows, I truly don’t have that kind of greed.’

”Fourth Brother, Fourth Sister-in-law, when are you going to have a baby?” Jie Jingshan asked suddenly.

The three of them all looked at her. ’Is Jing Qi pressuring us to have kids now, too?’

”Your fourth sister-in-law is still young. We don’t plan on having children for the next three years,” Jie Jingchen told Jing Qi firmly.

A shadow crossed Jie Jingshan’s eyes. Remembering her mother’s instructions, she put on a bright smile. ”Fourth Brother, Fourth Sister-in-law isn’t that young. People her age already have kids running all over the place. Fourth Sister-in-law, you guys can start thinking about having a baby.”

’Qin Mei wanted to say that it wasn’t that she didn’t want to have a child. They’d have to have one sooner or later, so it was better to do it sooner while she was young and could recover quickly. She didn’t have a problem with it, but Jie Jingchen disagreed. He was very insistent on the matter, wanting to wait a few years before even considering it. There was nothing she could do.’

Qin Mei didn’t throw Jie Jingchen under the bus. ”Mom has to work. We don’t have anyone to help us with the baby.”

”It’s fine, I’ll watch the baby for you.” Jie Jingshan patted her chest. Before her legs were healed, she wouldn’t have dared to say such a thing, but now that they were, she could say it with confidence.

Qin Mei smiled, shot a sidelong glance at Jie Jingchen, and then looked at Jie Jingshan. ”You won’t have time. You need to take the college entrance exams.”

”Little sister.” Qin Xiang looked at Qin Mei with a horrified expression, wanting to cover her mouth. ’She really dares to say anything. How could she mention taking college entrance exams?’ ”Little sister, be careful what you say.”

Remembering they were outside, Qin Mei didn’t argue with Qin Xiang. She stuck out her tongue and covered her mouth.

’Jie Jingchen watched her. She actually listened to Qin Xiang. If it had been him, all he would have gotten was one of her grand speeches.’

After waiting for half an hour, Jie Jingjue came to pick them up. He drove them home, then drove to the machinery factory.

Granny was sitting in the courtyard, Grandpa was in the kitchen heating water for baths, and Xu Chunyan was inside, helping Jie You with homework.

When Granny saw them return, she only had eyes for Qin Xiang. She waved him over. ”Xiao Xiangzi, come here. I have something to tell you.”