Reborn in the 1970s — Married a Proud Rough Man-Chapter 216 - 85: Bit the Tongue

"You..." Qin Mei glared at Jie Jingchen. "How could you just swallow it?"

Jie Jingchen said nothing. He leaned against the headboard, riding out the wave of pain. After some time, the agony subsided. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and noticed Qin Mei standing by the bed in her pajamas. He frowned. "Aren’t you cold? Get back in bed."

Qin Mei said nothing, ignoring him. She bent down, picked up the basin, and carried it to the bathroom.

"Qin Mei," Jie Jingchen called out.

"Don’t rush me. I’ll be right out." Qin Mei rinsed out the foot basin and put it away before coming out of the bathroom.

Qin Mei opened the cabinet and rummaged through a pile of medicine. A moment later, she returned to the bedside. Her expression was grim, but her voice was soft. "Open up."

Jie Jingchen stared at her, stunned for a few seconds, then obediently opened his mouth.

Qin Mei looked at his injured tongue, a flicker of guilt in her eyes. She sprinkled the medicinal powder onto it. The bitter taste made Jie Jingchen flinch and furrow his brow.

"Does it hurt badly?" Qin Mei sprinkled more powder on his injured tongue. Seeing him about to swallow, she immediately stopped him. "Don’t swallow it. Just hold it in your mouth for a bit."

"Bitter," Jie Jingchen said, his speech slurred.

"What?" Qin Mei couldn’t hear him clearly.

With his mouth full of medicinal powder and saliva, Jie Jingchen kept his lips pressed tightly together, afraid to open them. His entire mouth was filled with the acrid taste. For over a month, he had taken Chinese medicine three times a day and had long grown accustomed to the bitterness. But having Qin Mei tell him to hold it in his mouth was completely different from just letting it pass through on its way down to his stomach.

Seeing this, Qin Mei smiled knowingly. She put the medicine back in the cabinet and got back into bed, lying down. Jie Jingchen remained sitting up, looking down at her with a thoughtful expression.

Jie Jingchen nudged Qin Mei’s shoulder. She looked up at him. He pointed to his mouth, and from his expression, Qin Mei understood. "Hold it in a little longer."

Jie Jingchen wanted to ask if he should spit it out or swallow it later. The finger pointing at his mouth moved downward, tracing a path past his throat until it rested on his stomach.

"Are you asking if you should swallow it or spit it out?" Qin Mei asked.

Jie Jingchen nodded, a brilliant, gratified smile rippling in the depths of his dark eyes. ’So we do have some chemistry after all.’

Qin Mei didn’t know what he was thinking. If she did, she would have undoubtedly roasted him. ’He made it so obvious. If I couldn’t figure that out, I’d have to be a complete moron.’

"Swallow," Qin Mei said firmly, uttering the single word.

To distract Jie Jingchen and get him to hold the medicine in his mouth a little longer, Qin Mei sat up. Seeing this, Jie Jingchen pulled the blankets up for her.

Qin Mei returned to their previous topic, tilting her head and giving Jie Jingchen a strange look. "Jie Jingchen, it’s not your third brother who has a problem. You’re the one with the problem."

Jie Jingchen’s brow twitched. He wanted to argue with her, but he couldn’t speak.

Qin Mei thought for a moment before continuing, "The man is your third brother’s ex, and the woman is your third sister-in-law’s ex. Given their relationships, it’s a miracle they’re able to mind their own business as it is. As for discussing moving the dividing wall? Forget about your brother going to them to talk it over. Even if he did, they’d never agree."

’No wonder Jie Jingchen had such a complicated expression when I brought it up,’ she thought. ’Thank goodness I only mentioned it to him and didn’t suggest it to Jie Jinghun or Shen Qing.’

Jie Jingchen agreed with what Qin Mei said. His reason for suggesting it to Jie Jinghun had been simple: he was annoyed and wanted to provoke him on purpose.

Qin Mei had no interest in the relationship history of Jie Jinghun and Shen Qing, so she changed the subject. She rambled on by herself until drowsiness washed over her. With a yawn, her head tilted to the side, and she fell asleep on Jie Jingchen’s shoulder.

Jie Jingchen looked down at Qin Mei sleeping against him, his amber eyes filled with tenderness. He swallowed the contents of his mouth, calmed his heart, and carefully helped her lie down. Watching her sleep, a faint, doting smile touched his lips. He placed a kiss on her forehead. The moment he lay down, Qin Mei reflexively snuggled into his arms.

Jie Jingchen’s body went rigid. He held her soft form and closed his eyes, but sleep was far from his mind.

The next day, late in the morning, Qin Mei was woken by urgent knocking on the door.

"Fourth Wife of Jing!" Second Aunt called out.

"Second Aunt, my fourth sister-in-law is still sleeping." Jie Jingshan opened the door. She was covered in sweat, her hair damp. To make it easier to wash her hair after her accident, her once waist-length hair had been cut short.

"It’s late in the morning, and your sister-in-law is still asleep... Jing Qi, what happened to you?" Second Aunt turned and was startled to see Jie Jingshan’s state. She rushed over to her. "Why are you sweating so much? Your hair is soaked! Are you sick, or just hot?"

Second Aunt reached out and felt Jing Qi’s forehead, then her own. Her temperature was normal; she wasn’t sick.

"Second Aunt, I’m fine." Jie Jingshan had been exercising and was covered in sweat. When she heard Second Aunt’s voice, she hadn’t wanted her to wake her sister-in-law, so she had rushed out to stop her without even changing her sweat-soaked clothes.

Second Aunt was still worried. She glanced outside. The sun was bright, but the temperature was pleasant—not hot enough to cause this much sweat. "Jing Qi, what were you doing in your room?"

"Exercising," Jie Jingshan admitted.

Second Aunt didn’t think much of it. Since Jing Qi’s legs were paralyzed, "exercising" just meant moving her upper body. She patted Jing Qi’s head, her gaze filled with pity. "Jing Qi, look at you. Your clothes are soaked. You need to change quickly, or you’ll catch a cold. Let me help you."

"Second Aunt, it’s okay. I can change by myself," Jie Jingshan declined.

"Alright then. Go on and change. It’ll be a real problem if you catch a cold." Second Aunt didn’t insist. She had business with Qin Mei, so she pushed Jing Qi’s wheelchair a little further into the room, closed the door for her, and walked toward Qin Mei’s room again. "Fourth Wife of..."

"Second Aunt." Qin Mei forced her heavy eyelids open. The moment she opened the door, she was hit by the piercing sunlight and raised a hand to shield her eyes.

Seeing Qin Mei in her pajamas with her hair in a mess, Second Aunt was reminded of the first time she’d seen her. Qin Mei had also been in her pajamas then, hair disheveled as she ran out chasing after Jie Jingchen. At the time, she had looked down on Qin Mei for being so unkempt and slovenly, mistaking her for a temporary nanny the Jie Family had hired to look after Jing Qi for a few days. Who would have thought she was actually Jing Si’s wife.

Lost in her thoughts, Second Aunt couldn’t help but chuckle.

"Second Aunt, what are you laughing at?" Qin Mei asked. It wasn’t a mocking laugh, but a genuinely joyful one.

"Fourth Wife of Jing, hurry inside." Second Aunt pulled Qin Mei into the house and locked the door behind them. The windows were closed and the curtains were drawn. Then, Second Aunt pulled Qin Mei into the bathroom.

"Second Aunt, do you need to use the bathroom?" Qin Mei asked, completely baffled. ’If she needs to use the bathroom, she should just use it. What’s the deal with dragging me in with her?’

"Zhang is outside. I’m worried she might be eavesdropping. It’s safer in the bathroom," Second Aunt said cautiously. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Qin Mei smiled in understanding. The bathroom was indeed secure. If Aunt Zhang wanted to eavesdrop, she’d have to go into the neighbor’s yard. There was the courtyard wall, and then the bathroom wall, which Jie Jingchen had soundproofed. The soundproofing was top-notch.

Second Aunt didn’t beat around the bush and got straight to the point. "Fourth Wife of Jing, can you make some more of that medicinal plaster?"

"I can," Qin Mei agreed readily. A flash of joy went through Second Aunt’s heart, but before it could show on her face, Qin Mei spoke again. "But not right now."

Second Aunt said, "Fourth Wife of Jing, the time is right. All the neighbors in the hutong know I have some of the plaster. But I promise you, they won’t report us... no, not us, me. Heh. Fourth Wife of Jing, I’ll be frank with you. For all these years, I’ve been secretly... well, you know."

Qin Mei understood, of course. In these special times, fortune favored the bold while the timid starved. If you didn’t find some unorthodox way to make money, it was hard to even make ends meet.

"Second Aunt, I’m not interested in a high-volume, low-margin business." Qin Mei raised a hand to rub her temples. From processing the raw herbs to making the final ointment, she did it all herself. Mass production would kill her.