Chapter 180: Chapter 74: Your Fourth Brother Won’t Agree

Qin Mei thought for a few seconds, then added, "Mom, when Jie Jingchen married me, he hadn’t retired yet."

Mrs. Xie fell silent. It made sense when she thought about it. If Qin Mei’s background had been questionable, the military wouldn’t have issued them a marriage certificate. "Xiao Mei, I’m sorry. I was being too cautious. I apologize."

Admitting your mistakes and apologizing wasn’t shameful. In this, Jie Jingchen was very much like his mother.

"Mom, I understand," Qin Mei said empathetically.

Mrs. Xie took Qin Mei’s hand. "Xiao Mei, I’d like to offer you a position at the hospital."

"I’m sorry, Mom, but my heart isn’t in it," Qin Mei declined.

"You really won’t consider it?" Mrs. Xie sounded regretful. Qin Mei was exceptionally talented. Losing someone like her would be a loss for the hospital, and for its patients.

"I won’t." Qin Mei nodded without the slightest hesitation. She wouldn’t work at the hospital, but she also wouldn’t refuse to help someone in need of treatment. "Mom, how about this? I can assist with any surgeries you can’t handle, but let’s forget about a full-time job."

Since Qin Mei had put it that way, Mrs. Xie couldn’t force the issue. "Alright."

"Mom, Jing Wu and Jing Qi are still waiting for me, so I’ll get going." Qin Mei withdrew her hand, making sure to add, "Mom, remember: you were the lead surgeon. I was just assisting."

"Alright, I know." Mrs. Xie gave Qin Mei a reassuring look. ’After this surgery, my standing in the medical world will reach a new level. But the credit isn’t mine, it’s Qin Mei’s. I feel ashamed to accept it.’

When Qin Mei got back to the car, her clothes were still stained with blood.

"Fourth Sister-in-law, are you hurt?" Worry filled Jie Jingshan’s face as she moved to check where Qin Mei was injured.

Jie Jingjue, who had fallen asleep in the car, was startled awake by Jie Jingshan’s words. He turned, looked at Qin Mei with bleary eyes, and asked with equal concern, "Fourth Sister-in-law, are you hurt? Before we left, Fourth Brother specifically told me to take good care of you. If you go home injured, he’ll skin me alive."

"I’m not hurt. It’s not my blood," Qin Mei explained casually. "Mom was performing emergency surgery on a patient, and I helped out a bit. The blood is from him."

Hearing this, both Jie Jingshan and Jie Jingjue breathed a sigh of relief. Still worried, Jie Jingshan checked her over anyway. Only after confirming that Qin Mei was uninjured did she finally relax.

"Fourth Sister-in-law, what do you mean you ’helped out a bit’?" Jie Jingjue asked. He had been waiting for so long he’d fallen asleep.

"Fourth Sister-in-law knows traditional Chinese medicine," Jie Jingshan said. "Combining it with Western medicine yields twice the result with half the effort."

Jie Jingjue paused for a moment, then changed the subject. "So, Fourth Sister-in-law, where to now?"

"Do you know of any mountains around here?" Qin Mei asked.

"I do." Jie Jingjue nodded. "Fourth Sister-in-law, you want to go hiking?"

"I want to go home." Qin Mei rolled her eyes. ’Taking Jing Qi hiking? He must be crazy.’

"They’re doing construction on the kitchen and bathroom. It’s really noisy. Are you sure you want to go home?" Jie Jingjue asked.

Qin Mei hesitated. ’I can’t help, and if I go back, I might not be able to resist giving directions. If I give the wrong ones, I’ll just delay the construction. Best not to go back and cause trouble.’

"I’ll take you two on an outing," Jie Jingjue suggested.

Qin Mei had no objections. She glanced at Jie Jingshan, who nodded in agreement. With a consensus reached, Jie Jingjue started the car and drove them on their outing.

The outing proved to be very fruitful. Jie Jingshan had a dagger with her, which Qin Mei used as a makeshift trowel to dig up a lot of herbs, especially dandelions.

"Fourth Sister-in-law, the trunk is full," Jie Jingjue reminded her.

"Fourth Sister-in-law, it’s getting dark," Jie Jingshan added.

Qin Mei took their advice. She got in the car, wiped the muddy dagger clean, and handed it back to Jie Jingshan.

"This was too spontaneous; we weren’t prepared. Next time, I’ll bring a hoe," Qin Mei said, her face breaking into a smile.

It was dark by the time they returned home. Jie Jingchen was standing at the gate to the courtyard, waiting. The knot of worry in his chest finally loosened when he saw them pull up. After Jie Jingjue parked, Jie Jingchen stepped forward to open the car door for Qin Mei.

"Jie Jingchen, we’re back," Qin Mei said, smiling up at him.

Jie Jingchen took in her dirt-stained clothes and her slightly messy hair, which was also flecked with mud. "Where have you all been?"

"Jie Jingchen, I dug up lots of medicinal herbs! I’ll boil some water tonight so everyone can have a medicinal bath," Qin Mei said with a wide grin.

Jie Jingjue opened the trunk. He fished the wheelchair out from the messy pile of herbs and set it on the ground. He then lifted Jie Jingshan from the car and placed her in it. After pushing her into the courtyard, he returned to help the others move all the herbs from the trunk.

Seeing the dirty trunk, Jie Jingjue silently went to fetch half a bucket of water and scrubbed it clean.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com