Chapter 188 - 76: I’m Going to Work
"Fourth Wife of Jing, you’re putting the toilet inside the house?" Second Auntie was dumbfounded and full of suspicion. ’A toilet inside the house? Is this young couple out of their minds?’
"It’s great this way." Qin Mei didn’t explain further. ’People of this era, especially the women, have probably spent most of their lives around here. It has limited their imagination and shackled their minds. If I hadn’t transmigrated from a future era, my own thinking wouldn’t be this progressive either.’
"What’s so great about it? For them to use the toilet, they’ll have to go through your room." Second Auntie disapproved. "A toilet inside the house—won’t it stink?!"
"This is a private toilet, not a public one." Qin Mei looked at Second Auntie’s worried expression and gave a helpless smile.
"You’re not going to let them use the toilet?" Second Auntie was very surprised.
"There’s a toilet at home, and there’s a public one outside too." Qin Mei had built the toilet for her own convenience, not to serve the public. ’Anyone who wants that convenience can just build one themselves, like I did.’
"You won’t let your parents-in-law use it either?" Second Auntie asked in a low voice.
Qin Mei fell silent. ’There were many people in the family, and one toilet wasn’t enough. Especially when you ran into someone who hogged it, her mother-in-law would get really desperate. If she needed to use the one in her room, she wouldn’t stop her. As for her father-in-law... would he even have the nerve to use the toilet in his daughter-in-law’s room?’
Seeing Qin Mei’s silence, Second Auntie took it as a yes and asked again, "What about Jing Qi?"
"We built toilets in all three of these rooms." The implication was clear: Jing Qi had a toilet in her own room and wouldn’t need to use hers.
"Three..." Second Auntie was even more shocked, holding up three fingers. "Fourth Wife of Jing, what on earth are you thinking?"
She didn’t just build one—she built three.
Jing Si and his wife had built three toilets, meaning there were now four in the courtyard. How were those of them who had to use the public toilet supposed to feel?!
’So envious, so jealous!’
"For convenience." Qin Mei had lived at the Sun Family’s home for half a year, and every trip to the toilet had been an ordeal. ’If you want to be healthy, your toilet has to be perfect.’
Second Auntie fell silent. ’To have money and ideas... that’s what it means to know how to enjoy life!’
The toilets weren’t finished yet. You could bathe in them, but you couldn’t use them as toilets, so they waited until they were completely done. The kitchen was ready, and Second Auntie had taken Qin Mei to the provisions store to pick out all the pots, bowls, and pans.
"Second Auntie, thank you for all your hard work." Qin Mei smiled and waved at her.
"Hard work? It was nothing." Second Auntie was carrying snacks for her kids—all good stuff, all bought by Qin Mei. Whenever she helped Qin Mei, Qin Mei made sure she was well compensated. "Don’t be a stranger. If you need anything, just ask. Fourth Wife of Jing, that’s a lot of stuff. Let me help you carry it to the kitchen."
"No need, Second Auntie. We’re already at the door. I’ll just call Jie Jingchen out to help," Qin Mei politely declined.
"Alright then." Second Auntie didn’t insist and happily went home, carrying her string bag.
After watching Second Auntie leave, Qin Mei faced the courtyard, raised her voice, and shouted, "Jie Jingchen!"
In this era, with no cell phones, communication was done by shouting.
Jie Jingchen came out of the kitchen. Seeing Qin Mei moving things into the courtyard, he strode over to the sink, turned on the tap, and washed his hands. Besides the pots, bowls, and pans, there was also a pile of seasonings. Looking at the complete set, Jie Jingchen’s eyes flickered. ’She’s a disaster in the kitchen, so for her to buy such a complete set of seasonings, it’s clear Second Auntie deserves all the credit.’
There were large pots and small pots, large bowls and small bowls, large basins and small basins.
"Qin Mei, why did you buy two large pots?" ’Is one a spare?’
"Second Auntie said food tastes better when cooked in a large pot. One is for stir-frying, and the other is for heating bathwater." Qin Mei piled the seasonings into one of the large pots and, under Jie Jingchen’s shocked gaze, began dragging it toward the kitchen. The pot scraped against the ground with a piercing shriek.
Watching Qin Mei’s rough handling, Jie Jingchen was genuinely worried. ’She’s going to scrape a hole right through the bottom of the pot.’
Jie Jingchen shook his head helplessly, picked up the other large pot, and carried it into the kitchen. Qin Mei dragged her pot inside, didn’t bother to organize anything, and went back into the courtyard for more things. After three trips, she had finally moved everything into the kitchen.
"You put all this away. I’m going to rest for a bit." Qin Mei’s job was buying; she didn’t do cleanup.
"You worked hard," Jie Jingchen said with a smile.
"Shopping is hard work, especially when you have to carry everything," Qin Mei huffed, tilting her chin up and striding proudly out of the kitchen.
Qin Mei had just stepped out of the kitchen when Jie Jingshan’s voice called out, "Fourth Sister-in-law."
"Just a minute," Qin Mei replied, heading to the toilet.
After using the toilet, Qin Mei went to Jie Jingshan’s room. As soon as she saw Qin Mei, Jie Jingshan said eagerly, "Fourth Sister-in-law, I don’t know how to do this problem."
Qin Mei sat down next to Jie Jingshan, glanced at the problem, picked up a pen, and patiently began to explain it to Jing Qi.
Hu Wan’er had a miscarriage, but Mrs. Xie refused to let her have her month of confinement at home. She suggested that Mr. Xie arrange for them to stay in the house assigned by the machinery factory. Mr. Xie flatly refused. His parents and his eldest brother’s family were living there, and if his parents found out about Hu Wan’er’s miscarriage, the older generation’s taboo about it meant they would never agree to let her stay.
Mr. Xie could only have Jie Jingjue send Hu Wan’er back to the countryside. Aunt Zhang, however, refused to go back. Compared to taking care of her daughter during her confinement, she was more afraid that if she stayed in the countryside for too long, there would be no place left for her in the Jie Family.
After this incident, Aunt Zhang toned it down considerably. She didn’t dare to provoke Qin Mei anymore. Sometimes, when Qin Mei wasn’t home, she would scold Jie Jingshan a little, but otherwise, she obediently did the cleaning, laundry, and cooking. A month passed in relative peace.
The toilets were also finished, and Qin Mei was extremely satisfied. There was no water heater, so they still needed to boil water for bathing and carry it from the kitchen, but it was a massive improvement over the time before the new toilets were built.
After more than a month of rest, Jie Jingchen’s body recovered, and he went back to work.
"Qin Mei."
Woken from a deep sleep, Qin Mei was not in a good mood. She opened her bleary eyes, her tone unfriendly. "What is it?"
"I’m heading to work," Jie Jingchen said.
"If you’re going to work, then go. Why did you have to wake me up?" Qin Mei was furious.
"Breakfast for you and Jing Qi is warming in the pot..."
"I know, I know," Qin Mei cut him off, pulling the quilt over her head.
Seeing her impatience, Jie Jingchen swallowed the rest of his words, turned, and left the room. He got on his bicycle and rode to work.
After Jie Jingchen left, Qin Mei found she wasn’t sleepy anymore. She emerged from under the quilt, sat up, and ran a hand through her messy hair. Now that Jie Jingchen was back at work, she felt a strange emptiness inside that was hard to place.
’Still, it’s good that he’s working. If he didn’t, where would we get money to spend?’
Qin Mei got out of bed, slipped on her slippers, and first locked the door from the inside. Then she went to the toilet. After washing up, she came out, changed her clothes, and left her room feeling refreshed.
Qin Mei went to the kitchen and lifted the pot lid. Inside, two eggs and two sweet potatoes were being kept warm. Qin Mei took them out and put them on the dining table. They ate their meals in the kitchen, not in their rooms.
Qin Mei then mixed two bowls of milk powder before going to Jie Jingshan’s room to wake her.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! Qin Mei knocked on the door. "Jing Qi, are you awake?"
"Fourth Sister-in-law, I’m awake," Jie Jingshan answered breathlessly. It took her a long while to come and open the door.
Qin Mei saw that Jing Qi’s forehead was beaded with sweat and raised an eyebrow. "Secretly exercising in your room again?"
"Heh heh, Fourth Sister-in-law." Jie Jingshan’s gaze darted away, not daring to meet Qin Mei’s chiding look.
"Jing Qi, I’ve already told you. Take it slow, don’t rush. You can’t secretly add more exercises, and you can’t overexert yourself." Qin Mei gently guided Jie Jingshan toward the kitchen. Over the past month, Jing Qi had been incredibly diligent, neglecting neither her exercises nor her studies.
Jie Jingshan glanced at Aunt Zhang, who was washing clothes in the courtyard, and nodded obediently. "I know, Fourth Sister-in-law."
"Every time I tell you this, you say you know. And the result? You still secretly exercise in your room." Qin Mei shook her head helplessly. ’Jing Qi could be very obedient, but when she decided not to listen, she really wouldn’t. Just like Jie Jingchen, she has a rebellious streak.’
When they reached the kitchen, Jie Jingshan said excitedly to Qin Mei, "Fourth Sister-in-law, I timed myself! I can stand for a full minute now."
"Really? That’s amazing! Keep it up." Qin Mei smiled to encourage Jie Jingshan, but a bittersweet feeling welled up inside her. ’For a normal person, walking and standing are the most ordinary things. But for Jing Qi, standing for just one minute took almost every ounce of her strength.’