Reborn in the 1970s — Married a Proud Rough Man

Chapter 263 - 100: Trouble at Home

Persuaded by Granny Yu, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law exchanged a look. The woman, still in her postpartum confinement, handed her nursing baby to Lijuan. Hearing the little one’s cries only strengthened her resolve.

And so, a deafening scream erupted. Lijuan, holding the baby, felt her heart pound in terror.

Qin Mei, Granny Yu, and Jie Jingshan emerged from the deputy factory director’s house. As Granny Yu pushed Jie Jingshan, she stared enviously at the thick stack of ten-yuan bills in Qin Mei’s hand.

Qin Mei pulled out a ten-yuan bill and handed it to Granny Yu. "Granny Yu, this is for you."

Granny Yu was taken aback. She stared at the bill Qin Mei offered and didn’t dare take it, looking at her in astonishment instead. "Fourth Wife of Jing."

"A referral fee." Qin Mei had wanted to say it was for her trouble, but on second thought, "referral fee" seemed more appropriate. Qin Mei understood how the world worked. If she didn’t give Granny Yu a cut, the woman would lose her motivation. After a few referrals, her enthusiasm would wane. But by giving her a share, the money would ensure her enthusiasm and drive only grew.

’Once the Reform and Opening-Up policies are fully in place, I’ll make this business bigger and better.’

"Fourth Wife of Jing, I really can’t accept this money." Granny Yu was tempted, but she rationally refused. When Qin Mei insisted, Granny Yu relented and accepted the money with some embarrassment.

’Qin Mei earned a hundred and gave me ten. If I refer more clients to her, won’t I earn more? If I make ten referrals a month, I can earn a hundred yuan just from that!’

’My God! That’s a staggering amount.’

’The combined monthly salaries of her son, daughter-in-law, grandson, and granddaughter-in-law—all four of them—didn’t even add up to two hundred yuan.’

"Fourth Wife of Jing, it’s already past noon. Come on, let’s go to my place. I’ll make you both something delicious," Granny Yu invited warmly.

Qin Mei didn’t refuse and went with Jing Qi, whom she pushed, to Granny Yu’s home.

After lunch, Qin Mei and Jing Qi stayed for a while longer. Just as they were about to leave, an old woman about Granny Yu’s age came running over. Her granddaughter had given birth over a month ago, but her milk supply was severely low. To make matters worse, she had twin boys who refused to drink formula, and the whole family was at their wits’ end.

The whole family had scraped together a hundred yuan to ask Qin Mei to come to their house and perform the massage for the woman’s great-grandsons.

Having just eaten, the thought of another vehicle ride made Qin Mei frown. But Granny Yu said they also lived in the cotton mill compound, in the house at the very end of the alley.

By the time the massage was over, the sun was about to set. Qin Mei gave Granny Yu ten yuan and hurriedly left, pushing Jie Jingshan.

Having earned twenty yuan in a single day, Granny Yu was grinning from ear to ear. She told Qin Mei and Jie Jingshan to be careful on their way. If Qin Mei hadn’t firmly refused, she would have insisted on escorting them all the way home safely.

’The Fourth Wife of Jing is my personal God of Wealth. I have to make sure to worship her properly.’

Qin Mei and Jie Jingshan still didn’t take a vehicle, walking home with Qin Mei pushing Jing Qi instead. On the way, they encountered commuters getting off work on their bicycles. Afraid they might accidentally get hit, Qin Mei kept Jie Jingshan as close to the side of the road as possible.

Stopping and starting cost them a lot of time. Passing by a grocery store, Qin Mei pushed Jie Jingshan inside to buy vegetables. By this time of day, the produce was no longer fresh and the meat was sold out, so she bought a beggar’s chicken to take home.

The sky was gradually darkening. Just as they entered their alley, they ran into Second Granny. Qin Mei smiled and greeted her. "Second Granny, it’s so late. Shouldn’t you be at home making dinner? What are you doing wandering around here?"

"Fourth Wife of Jing." Second Granny looked nervous. She pulled Qin Mei aside, glanced around warily, and whispered, "Where did you take Jing Qi? Something’s happened at your house."

"Happ—" Before Qin Mei could finish, Second Granny clapped a hand over her mouth.

Second Granny put a finger to her lips. "Quiet. Don’t let anyone hear."

Recalling what Xu Chunyan had said yesterday, and what Jing Qi had said yesterday morning, Qin Mei had a bad feeling. ’Could Aunt Zhang have really made her move? She’s being a bit too impatient.’

Qin Mei played dumb and asked in a low voice, "What happened?"

Second Granny hesitated, unable to bring herself to say it. She just told Qin Mei, "You should go home and see for yourself."

Qin Mei already had a good idea of what was going on, so she didn’t press Second Granny for details. "All right, then."

Qin Mei turned to push Jie Jingshan, but Second Granny stopped her. "You go home by yourself. I’ll take Jing Qi to my place. When things are sorted out, you can come to my house to get Jing Qi."

Jing Qi was unwilling, but Qin Mei considered that she was too young and the situation at home was unknown. Since it was Qin Mei telling her to go with Second Granny, Jing Qi naturally obeyed.

Second Granny pushed Jing Qi and left first. Only after they were some distance away did Qin Mei remember that Jing Qi was still holding the beggar’s chicken. She felt it would be awkward to call them back, so she just let Jing Qi take it to Second Granny’s house.

"Qin Mei."

Hearing Jie Jingchen’s voice, Qin Mei froze. She turned to look at him on his bicycle, her eyes flickering before she glared at him.

Jie Jingchen rode up to her and stopped. Qin Mei skillfully hopped onto the back and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Jie Jingchen, I just ran into Second Granny. She said something happened at our house. I asked her what, but she wouldn’t say, just told me to go home and see. She took Jing Qi to her place," Qin Mei said.

"You weren’t home today?" Jie Jingchen asked in a low voice.

Qin Mei shook her head. "Granny Yu came to get me. The deputy director of the cotton mill’s daughter-in-law had no milk, so I took Jing Qi to the mill."

Jie Jingchen didn’t press further, just humming in response. Qin Mei didn’t smell of milk. The last time had been an accident, with a good amount of expressed milk spraying onto her. This time, however, she had come prepared and avoided any mishaps. Only her hands had gotten milk on them; her clothes and hair were clean. After washing her hands, the smell was gone.

"Jie Jingchen, what do you think happened at home?" Qin Mei asked.

"Dad came home this afternoon," Jie Jingchen said, his words slow and deliberate. A chilling frost filled his amber eyes.

"What?" Qin Mei’s pupils dilated. She stared at his back in disbelief. "In broad daylight? Aunt Zhang is way too impatient! And your dad, too, coming home in the middle of the afternoon. Was it quitting time already? Jie Jingchen, I’m starting to seriously suspect your dad might have... feelings for Aunt Zhang, too."

"Dad has no feelings for Aunt Zhang," Jie Jingchen said with certainty. He then added, "He didn’t come home because of her."

"Then why?" Qin Mei asked, her voice tinged with emotion. Ever since she and Jie Jingchen had come to the Jie Family home, she had never once seen her father-in-law come home from work early.

"Xiao You," Jie Jingchen said.

Qin Mei fell silent. Her father-in-law doted on Jie You, his only grandson.

"They said something happened to Xiao You and told Dad to come home to see him one last time," Jie Jingchen said coldly.

"Did something really happen to Jie You?" Qin Mei was shocked. ’See him one last time? Did they have to go that far?’

Jie Jingchen didn’t answer, asking instead, "What do you think?"

’Of course not.’ Qin Mei snorted. "To actually use Xiao You to trick your dad into coming home... ’One last time,’ they even came up with that. Aren’t they afraid of their words becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy? Where’s Jie Jingwei?"

"He left on a last-minute business trip," Jie Jingchen said. "My second brother’s trip was definitely a coincidence. It was arranged at the last minute; no one knew beforehand."

A coincidence combined with a deliberate plot. In any case, Mr. Xie had been lured home.

"Did Aunt Zhang succeed?" Qin Mei asked. Even if he was a victim, as long as they slept together, this family would fall apart.

"I don’t know." Jie Jingchen’s face was grim, his icy gaze fixed in the direction of the Jie Family home. His thin lips pressed into a tight line.

"What about Mom?" Qin Mei asked, her expression grave.

Jie Jingchen hesitated for a few seconds before answering, "Mom’s working the night shift tonight."

"Mom’s on the night shift?" Qin Mei exclaimed. She hadn’t known that, but it wasn’t important. What was important was that Mom was on the night shift *tonight*. "Nighttime is the perfect opportunity. It would be so easy to drug your dad’s food at dinner to make it happen. Why do it during the day? And why use Jie You to lure him home? What on earth is Aunt Zhang thinking? And Xu Chunyan—didn’t she switch sides? Why would she still lend her son to Aunt Zhang for this scheme?"

At her words, Jie Jingchen’s whole body jolted, his tense frame trembling uncontrollably.

"Jie Jingchen, what’s wrong?"