Reborn in the 1970s — Married a Proud Rough Man

Mr. Xie looked at Jie Jianjun. ’He has the means to help his wife’s family, but when it comes to arranging a place for my third sister’s children, suddenly he claims he can’t.’ ”Fine,” he said. ”If you can’t arrange it, I will.”

Before Chen Xiuhua could even feel happy, Mr. Xie spoke again, ”An Qi’s old room is empty. Let Third Sister’s kids stay there.”

”No,” was Granny’s first reaction. ”You have plenty of empty rooms at your place. Have them stay there.”

”Mom, we’ve already divided the family property,” Mr. Xie said.

”Divided the property?” Granny and Grandpa said in unison.

”Divided it again?” Chen Xiuhua and Jie Jianjun exclaimed.

”The west wing goes to Jing Si, the east wing to Jing San, and the south wing to Jing Wu,” Mr. Xie stated.

”A perfectly good courtyard, split into pieces. What a mess!” Grandpa lamented.

”What about the north wing?” Granny asked.

”Yan Qiu and I are living there,” Mr. Xie said, sidestepping the main point.

”Who does it belong to?” Granny insisted.

”Jing Ling.” Mr. Xie couldn’t hide it any longer.

”What?” Granny was shocked and surprised. ”What about Jing Er?”

”He gets all the housing assigned by the machinery factory,” Mr. Xie replied. He didn’t mention his promise to let him take over his position.

”Does that include the house we’re living in now?” Jie Jianjun asked tentatively.

”Yes.” Mr. Xie nodded.

”That won’t do!” Chen Xiuhua grew agitated. Mr. Xie shot her a sharp look. The house wasn’t theirs, so Chen Xiuhua lacked confidence and looked to Granny for help. ”Mom...”

”The house we’re living in now is supposed to be left to An Lin,” Granny said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

”Mom.” Mr. Xie laughed in exasperation at Granny’s words. ”Mom, let me remind you, that’s a house the machinery factory assigned to *me*. I’m not going to give it to my own son, but to my nephew instead? Do you think that’s realistic?”

”I don’t care. We’re living there now, and in the end, it’s going to An Lin,” Granny said stubbornly.

Third Aunt watched them argue over the house, her own matter completely forgotten. Her heart filled with bitterness. ’It feels awful to be seen as unimportant, to be so completely ignored.’

Leaving the state-run restaurant, Mrs. Xie left them and went to the hospital. There was a patient she was worried about, and she wanted to go back to check on them.

”Where are we going?” Qin Mei asked Jie Jingchen.

Jie Jingchen was holding Jie Duo. The little one had fallen asleep, her head covered in sweat. Qin Mei worried the child might get heatstroke.

”Home.” Before the word was even out of Jie Jingchen’s mouth, Jie Jinghun drove up in his car.

Jie Jinghun saw his niece was asleep, and noticing that only Jie Jingchen and Qin Mei were there, he asked curiously, ”Where are Dad and Aunt Qiao?”

”Dad, Granny, and the others are discussing something. My mom didn’t want to get involved, so she went to the hospital,” Jie Jingchen replied.

Jie Jinghun smiled knowingly and couldn’t help but glance at Qin Mei a few more times. ”The college entrance exam has been reinstated. Third Aunt wants her two sons to take it, but she’s afraid they won’t pass. She wants to bring them back and have Fourth Sister-in-law teach them.”

”The college entrance exam is back?” Jie Jingchen was stunned and looked at Qin Mei.

Qin Mei puffed out her chest, giving Jie Jingchen a smug look. Her eyes seemed to say, ’See what happens when you don’t listen?’ She had pleaded with him to study and prepare for the exam, but Jie Jingchen hadn’t believed her at all.

”Is the information reliable?” Jie Jingchen asked Jie Jinghun.

Qin Mei rolled her eyes. ’He still doesn’t believe me.’

”It’s absolutely true. The official announcement will be coming down soon.” Jie Jinghun’s eyes were full of admiration as he looked at Qin Mei. ’She’s practically a prophet!’

’Back then, my own sister-in-law had been swayed by Qin Mei’s spiel and decisively backed out of the family’s plan to send her to the countryside. I’m just glad my in-laws never came to confront Qin Mei about it.’

”How did Third Aunt find out?” Jie Jingchen asked.

”I don’t know.” Jie Jinghun shook his head. He had only greeted Third Aunt and hadn’t exchanged more than a few words. ”I didn’t tell her.”

Qin Mei thought about the date on the medical report. Their Third Aunt had known about this even earlier than he did and had even made preparations, like lying about being terminally ill. ’Was all that really necessary? If she wanted her sons to take the college entrance exam, she could have just had them sign up.’

”Wait a minute.” Thinking of Jie Jinghun’s last sentence, Qin Mei frowned and asked him, ”Third Brother, what do you mean she wants to bring her two sons back for me to teach?”

”However you’re teaching Jing Qi, you can just teach them the same way,” Jie Jinghun said.

”How does your Third Aunt know I’m teaching Jing Qi?” Qin Mei asked, confused.

”Granny probably told her,” Jie Jinghun guessed. ”It couldn’t have been anyone else. Granny isn’t particularly fond of Third Aunt, but she’s always calling her to complain about trivial family matters.”

’So that’s what they were after all along. They’ve really got some nerve. I barely even know them. Do they really think I’ll just agree to teach their sons because they asked?’

’Studying depends on talent. It’s easy to teach a top student, but it’s a real pain to teach a slacker.’