Reborn in the 1970s — Married a Proud Rough Man

”Jing Wu, I don’t think that’s the right way to hammer a nail,” Zhang Haoyuan offered.

”What’s wrong with it?” Jie Jingjue didn’t want to take Zhang Haoyuan’s advice. He’d listened to him yesterday, and all his work had been for nothing.

When it came to home renovation, he was just an amateur, but Zhang Haoyuan was completely clueless. Yet, he loved to give advice, and if Jie Jingjue didn’t listen, Zhang Haoyuan would just drone on and on in his ear. It was infuriating.

”From my angle, it’s obviously crooked. It looks bad, and it’s probably a safety hazard too,” Zhang Haoyuan said.

Jie Jingjue glanced at where Zhang Haoyuan was standing and was left speechless. He was planning to build a row of cabinets right there. ’Forget it,’ he thought. ’I’m not going to argue with him. I’ll just ignore him.’

Without waiting for Zhang Haoyuan to come hold the ladder, he shouldered a long plank of wood, grabbed his hammer and nails, and climbed up.

Seeing that Jie Jingjue wasn’t listening, Zhang Haoyuan rushed over to steady the ladder, afraid he would lose his balance and fall.

”Be careful, don’t fall.” Zhang Haoyuan saw that with the plank, the hammer, and the nails, he didn’t have a free hand to hold on. ”Jing Wu, give me the plank. I’ll hand it to you once you’re up there and steady.”

”Jing Wu, Zhang Haoyuan,” Qin Mei called out, waving the popsicles in her hand. ”Take a break. Come have a popsicle before they melt.”

And so, the three of them sat in a row against the wall, eating their popsicles.

”Jing Wu, it doesn’t look like you’ve made much progress on the renovation,” Qin Mei said, looking around. The place looked exactly the same as the last time she’d visited.

It wasn’t that Jie Jingjue was slacking off—he was busy every day. He just didn’t have any tangible results to show for it.

”He builds something one day and tears it down the next. It’d be a miracle if he made any progress.” Zhang Haoyuan wasn’t gloating; he was just stating facts. He’d been staying here for a few days and had witnessed everything Jie Jingjue had been up to.

He was supposed to be here recovering from his injuries, but with Jie Jingjue’s renovations, it was so noisy that he could barely get any rest.

Jie Jingjue rubbed his nose sheepishly. ”Sister-in-law,” he said, embarrassed, ”didn’t you say there was no rush?”

Qin Mei shot Jie Jingjue a sidelong glance. It seemed her offhand comment had stressed him out. She patted his shoulder. ”There’s no rush. Take your time. We’re not looking for speed; we’re aiming for perfection.”

But this didn’t comfort Jie Jingjue. He started to wonder if he was being too hard on himself.

Zhang Haoyuan clapped Jie Jingjue on the shoulder reassuringly. ”Practice makes perfect,” he said. ”Build it a few more times, tear it down a few more times, and you’ll get the hang of it.”

Qin Mei looked at Zhang Haoyuan. For him to say something like that, he must have realized that Jie Jingjue wasn’t a professional contractor, but an amateur with a bit of a knack for it.

”This is for you.” Qin Mei pulled a letter of introduction from her crossbody bag and handed it to Zhang Haoyuan.

Zhang Haoyuan took it, already guessing what it was. Since Jie Jingjue was sitting right next to him, he didn’t try to hide it and opened it directly. She had actually managed to get him a letter of introduction under the name Qin Haoyuan.

Jie Jingjue glanced over, saw the name on the letter, and raised an eyebrow. ”Isn’t your surname Zhang?”

”I’ve changed it to Qin.” Zhang Haoyuan folded the letter and looked at Qin Mei gratefully. She had given him a chance to start over. ”Thank you.”

Jie Jingjue didn’t say anything else. Qin Mei had asked him to look after the injured Zhang Haoyuan and had explained his situation, but she had never mentioned changing his name.

”Do you want to go now, or wait for Ah Bing to deliver the herbs and have him take you back with him?” Qin Mei let Zhang Haoyuan decide for himself.