Reborn in the 1970s — Married a Proud Rough Man

Jie Jingchen shook his head with a faint smile. ”No, Mom just kept us here as hostages.”

Qin Mei shot Jie Jingchen a look and didn’t respond. ’Hostages, my foot!’

Qin Mei felt a little guilty. She had promised to wake up early to see her mother-in-law off, but she’d overslept. And the culprit who made her oversleep was looking smug. ’I should stick Jie Jingchen with a few needles and knock him out for a couple of days. That would give me a chance to rest and recover.’

Jie Jingchen gently caressed Qin Mei’s flushed cheeks and suddenly asked, ”Meimei, do you know what kind of people are in Room 206?”

It took Qin Mei a moment to register the question. Her mind went to what Xu Jiali had said, and she blurted out without thinking, ”Male escorts who entertain but don’t sleep with clients.”

Jie Jingchen’s expression darkened slightly, a flicker of shocked suspicion in his amber eyes. ”You knew, and you still went with her?”

’It’s a good thing they only entertain and don’t sleep with clients. If they did both, Xu Jiali would be a dead woman.’

First thing this morning, he’d had the butler send someone to investigate Room 206. The butler reported back directly that the men in 206 were male escorts kept by Xu Jiali. He specifically noted that they only entertained and didn’t offer sexual services. The men knew Xu Jiali’s identity and were just there to keep her happy; they hadn’t crossed any lines. Otherwise, Room 206 would have ceased to exist long ago.

Xu Jiali liked to play hard, but she had her limits, so their maternal grandparents let her be.

”Your little aunt arranged all the food, drinks, and fun. I don’t know my way around here, so of course, I just obediently followed wherever she took me.” Qin Mei would never admit that Xu Jiali taking her to a nightclub was exactly what she’d wanted. Everything had been going smoothly, too, until the mix-up with Rooms 206 and 209.

’And Xu Jiali... honestly. She can’t even tell a 6 from a 9. If she had just told me the number, *I* could have told them apart!’

”You two barely know each other. How could you trust her so much? Weren’t you worried she’d sell you out?” Jie Jingchen demanded. ’Given Xu Jiali’s wild and impulsive nature, it shouldn’t have been so easy for her and Qin Mei to hit it off. Qin Mei is usually so guarded. I can’t believe they ended up having fun together, and that Qin Mei actually let her guard down around her.’

”She wouldn’t dare,” Qin Mei said with certainty.

”What makes you so confident she wouldn’t dare sell you out?” Jie Jingchen asked, narrowing his eyes at Qin Mei.

Qin Mei hugged his arm, resting her head on his shoulder. ”She’s afraid of you. Even if you gave her a hundred times the courage, she still wouldn’t dare sell out your wife.”

And it was true, Xu Jiali really wouldn’t dare. But while she might not dare to sell her, she *did* dare to take her to a place like that, and that still angered Jie Jingchen. ”But what if she did dare?”

Qin Mei peeked at him and said flippantly, ”I’d help her count the money.”

Jie Jingchen’s expression froze for a second before it completely cracked. He roared in displeasure, ”Qin Mei.”

”Haha, I was just kidding. I was prepared. If she had dared to sell me, I would have made her regret the day she was born,” Qin Mei added, trying to backtrack.

”Prepared for what? Meimei, can you honestly say that her taking you to a nightclub wasn’t exactly what you wanted?” Jie Jingchen asked in a low voice, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

The night before last, Qin Mei had asked him to take her, but he’d refused. Since he wouldn’t take her, she just had Xu Jiali take her instead.

Qin Mei lightly tapped her own mouth. ’Damn my big mouth.’ She then blurted out a denial. ”It was what I wanted, yes, but let me make one thing clear: I wasn’t the one who instigated her to take me to a place like that. *She* said she wanted to take me somewhere fun, to let me see more of the world. And you know me, I never pass up a chance to broaden my horizons.”

”Broaden your horizons? At a nightclub?” Jie Jingchen let out a cold laugh, a hint of mockery in his cool gaze.

Qin Mei’s eyes flickered. She took a steadying breath and said, ”I’m trying to develop that product for men... COUGH COUGH COUGH... I’ve told you about it, you know the one. Of course I have to do some hands-on market research, and the market at nightclubs is very promising.”

”Hands-on. Market. Research.” Jie Jingchen forced the words out through gritted teeth. His handsome face was dark, and a storm was brewing in his amber eyes.

Seeing him like this, Qin Mei let go of his arm and scooted away. ”Jie Jingsi, you’ve got the wrong idea! It’s not what you think! I was doing market research, not... hands-on practice... PFFT, PFFT, PFFT, what am I even saying? That’s not it... Jie Jingsi, I swear to God, as long as you don’t cheat on me, I will absolutely never cheat on you.”

Jie Jingchen stared at her, his face cold and his gaze sharp. ’When she can’t explain herself, she resorts to making promises. Fine, a promise is a promise, but why did she have to drag me into it? What does she mean, ’as long as you don’t cheat on me, I will absolutely never cheat on you’?’

’Is she saying that if I make a mistake of that magnitude, she’ll just go hang out a shingle and start taking clients?’

Jie Jingchen let out a soft sigh. ’Don’t I know exactly what kind of person she is? What’s the point of getting worked up over this with her?’

”What’s in it for me?” Jie Jingchen asked.

Qin Mei’s eyes widened in utter astonishment. ’Is that it? Is he really letting it go this easily?’