Reborn in the 1970s — Married a Proud Rough Man

”Meimei, you don’t have to work so hard. I can earn money. I can support you.” Jie Jingchen held her wrist, his eyes full of doting affection.

As if mesmerized, Qin Mei met Jie Jingchen’s fiery, loving gaze and threw herself into his arms.

The smile on Jie Jingchen’s face deepened. He suddenly understood the feeling of splurging a fortune just to see a beautiful woman smile.

He admitted to himself that he was completely smitten. He had decided she was the one for him, for this lifetime.

Jie Jingchen raised his hands to embrace her, but Qin Mei pulled away. She sat cross-legged, looking at the numbers in the passbook and chuckling happily.

’Money. She loved it.’

She felt a sense of sweet relief after a long struggle; Jie Jingchen had finally handed over his savings to her.

A man who uses sweet talk isn’t necessarily a good man, but a man willing to hand over his savings to you definitely is.

Jie Jingchen’s expression relaxed, his face brimming with a smile. He sat on the edge of the bed, watching the cheerful Qin Mei. ’If money makes her this happy, I should have told her sooner.’

”Meimei.”

”Hm?” Qin Mei responded, her eyes still glued to the passbook, unable to put it down.

”Meimei, from now on, all the money I earn will be yours,” Jie Jingchen promised. She loved money, but she wasn’t greedy.

Qin Mei stared at him. The smile on Jie Jingchen’s face was as warm as the winter sun. ’He said he’s giving it *to* me, not for me to *keep safe*. Giving and safekeeping are two completely different things.’

”Just your little monthly salary?” Qin Mei’s gaze was probing. His monthly wages from the machinery factory were less than what she earned from a single lactation massage session.

”You think it’s too little?” Jie Jingchen stroked her soft, smooth hair.

”Do you think it’s a lot?” Qin Mei retorted. ’He hasn’t been completely honest with me. Even Jing Qi gets dividends from the Qiao Family, so how could Jie Jingchen not have any? Jing Wu must have some too, but he’s so unreliable they probably don’t give his share directly to him.’

’Jing Wu is poor. Genuinely poor.’

”I think it’s decent,” Jie Jingchen replied.

Qin Mei opened her mouth, but in the end, said nothing. ’As long as he’s happy.’

He wasn’t being forthcoming, but she wasn’t angry. After all, she hadn’t been completely honest with him either.

”Jie Jingsi, when did you put the passbook in my iron box?” Qin Mei asked curiously. There was only one key to the cabinet, and she kept it in her crossbody bag. Jie Jingchen had never asked her for it, so he had clearly put it in there secretly.

”You guess,” Jie Jingchen said with a mysterious smile.

”Yesterday,” Qin Mei guessed casually.

A glint appeared in Jie Jingchen’s eyes. ’Does she have to be so half-hearted about it?’ ”Wrong guess.”

”If you won’t say, then forget it.” Qin Mei wasn’t interested. ’I’m not a mind reader. I could guess all day and never get it right.’

”The first time you deposited money,” Jie Jingchen revealed.

”That early?” Qin Mei was stunned. ’The very first time I deposited money, he put his own passbook in my iron box, but he never told me, and I was careless enough not to notice.’ ”Didn’t you say you had no money?”

Jie Jingchen let out a scoff, his tone teasing. ”I lied.”

Qin Mei fell silent. ’If I try to play mind games with Jie Jingchen, I’ll be utterly defeated.’

Holding up the passbook, she flicked it a few times and glanced sideways at Jie Jingchen. ”Are you really giving this to me?”

’This is a hundred thousand, not ten yuan.’

”I gave it to you a long time ago,” Jie Jingchen said with a smile.

Qin Mei was quiet for a moment. ’He gave it to me a long time ago but didn’t tell me. How insincere. If I hadn’t complained today about him not giving me any money to spend, would he have just kept it a secret?’

’Oh well. For the sake of this hundred thousand, I’ll forgive him.’

In this era, even ”ten-thousand-yuan households” were rare, let alone someone with a hundred thousand. It just went to show that being born was a matter of skill; if you were born into a wealthy family, your starting point was the goal an ordinary family might struggle their whole lives to achieve.

Qin Mei put the passbook away, returned the iron box to the cabinet, and locked it. Instead of putting the key back in her bag, she found a thin string. She considered wearing the key around her neck but decided against it, hiding it away instead.

Lying back down on the bed, Qin Mei’s mind was filled with money. ’A hundred thousand yuan... how big a stack of ”Great Unity” bills would that be?’

She hadn’t slept well last night and had woken up early, so it wasn’t long before she drifted off to sleep.

Hearing her steady breathing, Jie Jingchen leaned over and pecked her on her red lips. He got out of bed carefully, put on a shirt and pants, and left the room.

Not long after Jie Jingchen left, Li Axiu arrived at the Jie Family’s home under the blazing sun. ”Jing Ling.”

Jie Jingling came out of the house. Seeing it was Li Axiu, her eyes flickered for a moment before she went to greet her with great enthusiasm. ”Aunt Li.”

”Oh, Jing Ling, you’re finally back.” Li Axiu took Jie Jingling’s hand, her eyes red-rimmed, acting as if they were the dearest of friends.

Jie Jingling was a bit bewildered. Her relationship with Li Axiu wasn’t that deep; they just exchanged greetings when they saw each other. If Jing Er hadn’t married Lin Yaru, their connection would have grown even more distant after so many years.

”Jing Ling, come on, let’s go over to our place for a bit,” Li Axiu said.

”Aunt Li...” Jie Jingling started to refuse.

”Yaru’s stomach is a little upset, and you’re a doctor...”

”Aunt Li, I’m just our village’s barefoot doctor. My skills aren’t that great. Yaru is pregnant. If she’s really not feeling well, she needs to go to the hospital,” Jie Jingling interrupted.

”Yaru wants to see you,” Li Axiu said.

”See me?” Jie Jingling was skeptical.

”Just come with me.” Li Axiu pulled Jie Jingling outside.

”Aunt Li.” Jie Jingling tried to resist but was dragged away by Li Axiu anyway.

Qin Mei slept until three in the afternoon, woken by the heat. Drenched in sweat, she sat up and looked at the oscillating fan. Seeing that Jie Jingchen was not in the room, she thought, ’That guy is the worst. Every time I fall asleep, he makes the fan oscillate. The breeze feels too weak when it’s not pointed right at me.’

Qin Mei went to the bathroom. After using it and washing her face, she decided to stay inside. It was too hot out, so everyone was in their rooms with their fans on.

Qin Mei left her room to look for Jie Jingling, only to see her returning from outside, soaked in sweat. Qin Mei asked in surprise, ”Sis, where did you go in this heat?”

Jie Jingling composed her complex thoughts, a smile appearing on her lips as she walked toward Qin Mei.

”I went to the Lin Family’s place,” Jie Jingling didn’t hide it from Qin Mei.

”The sun is so harsh. What were you doing at the Lin Family’s?” Qin Mei frowned. Lin Yaru was now her sister-in-law, and she was pregnant, so there was nothing wrong with Jie Jingling visiting her. But to go at this time of day... Qin Mei felt bad that she had to endure the heat. It would have been much cooler to wait until sunset.

”Aunt Li came looking for me. She said Yaru’s stomach was hurting, so I went to take a look,” Jie Jingling said with a smile.

Qin Mei’s brow twitched. She knew exactly what kind of intentions Li Axiu had. Still, Jie Jingwei and Jie Jingling were full-blooded siblings, so Qin Mei didn’t say much and just pulled Jie Jingling into the room.

”Amie, aren’t you going to ask me?” Jie Jingling asked, sitting on a chair and watching Qin Mei rummage through the wardrobe.

”I’m not curious.” Qin Mei found a handkerchief and handed it to Jie Jingling. ”Sis, wipe your sweat.”

Jie Jingling looked at the brand-new handkerchief, hesitating to take it.

Qin Mei smiled slightly and said, ”Sis, it’s new. I haven’t used it.”

Jie Jingling shook her head with a smile. ”Amie, you misunderstand. I’m not put off by it. It’s just a waste to use a new handkerchief on me.”

Seeing Jie Jingling about to wipe her sweat with her sleeve, Qin Mei felt a pang of heartache. The Jie Jingling of the past had lived a refined life and was very particular about hygiene. After coming to the countryside, she had adapted to the local ways.

”What waste? You’re my sister. Nothing is a waste when it’s for you.” Qin Mei quickly stepped forward and used the handkerchief to wipe the sweat from Jie Jingling’s face.

”You... Ugh, I’ll do it myself.” Jie Jingling gave in with a sigh of resignation, taking the handkerchief from Qin Mei’s hand and wiping the sweat from her face.

”Sis, this is for you.” Qin Mei gave a notebook to Jie Jingling.

”What is it?” Jie Jingling took it and opened it. Her eyes lit up. The handwriting inside was neat and elegant. It detailed which illnesses to treat with which medicines, and the dosages were all written out clearly. Jie Jingling stared at Qin Mei. ”This is...”

This single notebook, once completed, would be the key to curing all sorts of difficult and complicated illnesses.

”I wrote it. It’s for you,” Qin Mei said with a smile.

”For me?” Jie Jingling stared at her in disbelief. Her smile was so pure and natural, without a trace of falsehood. It was dazzlingly clear.

’Qin Mei’s medical knowledge is far beyond what I could have imagined.’