At a street corner not far away, several fashionable young women were walking together.
“Weiwei, look at that male comrade over there. Doesn’t he look like Doctor Qin from your hospital?”
Liu Wei looked up. The young man was wearing a black long overcoat; his height and appearance made him stand out in the crowd. She was just about to wave when she suddenly noticed the woman beside him—the very same woman she had seen at the train station yesterday, dressed exactly the same as before.
Her heart jolted.
Qin Lin… knows her?
Then what she said earlier—wasn’t she being too presumptuous?
What would Qin Lin think of her?
She felt deeply annoyed.
“It’s him.” She prepared to apologize and walked toward them.
“Qin Lin, you’re out shopping too? And this is your sister?”
Su Manman turned and noticed Liu Wei. Her smile slowly faded as she deliberately pretended not to know her.
“Who are you? I’m his sweetheart. My surname is Su.”
Qin Lin: “……”
Sweetheart? That sounded like something improper between a man and woman.
Liu Wei was shocked. This sudden revelation disrupted her thoughts, making her stutter.
“I… I’m his colleague. He’s never mentioned you. When did you two get together? And yesterday when you saw each other, why didn’t you greet each other?”
Su Manman looked at her calmly.
That question carried double meaning—on one hand probing Qin Lin’s attitude toward her, and on the other highlighting their unfamiliar relationship.
She smiled faintly.
“My matters with him have nothing to do with you, right, brother?”
Qin Lin nodded. “Mm.”
Liu Wei was speechless.
Su Manman glanced at the other women who had come with Liu Wei.
A hint of envy appeared in her clear eyes.
City girls were really pretty—well dressed and refined. How could she become like them?
Qin Lin lowered his gaze. “Manman, going home?”
It was too cold outside. Staying out too long could cause frostbite.
She refused to wear the new cotton coat, saying it smelled like pesticide and made her feel suffocated.
Su Manman snapped back to attention. “Alright.”
She also wanted to go back.
Everything in Beijing was good, except the weather—it was too extreme.
Freezing cold.
She had been out less than three hours and already felt frozen through.
Her body also felt uncomfortable again—an inexplicable itch that was even worse than before. Several times she wanted to scratch herself everywhere.
Clearly, they had already… combined yin and yang.
So why hadn’t her symptoms improved, but instead worsened?
Her grandmother wouldn’t have been wrong. What exactly was the reason?
“Comrade Liu, we’re leaving first.” Qin Lin’s tone was distant.
Liu Wei forced out a response. “Alright.”
After they left, Liu Wei’s friends immediately gathered around her.
“Weiwei, why did Doctor Qin leave? Didn’t you say he was interested in you? Why does he suddenly have a sweetheart?”
Liu Wei felt upset, but more than that, she was angry.
“I don’t know either. We were on a business trip together recently, and he was very attentive to me.”
Even at work, whenever she asked him questions, no matter how busy he was, he would always make time to guide her.
She had thought things between them were naturally progressing.
But now he suddenly had a sweetheart.
“He’s a scumbag! Is he blind? He’d pick some country bumpkin over a classy beauty like you? Look at how she dresses—bulky and shapeless. Even if she were given to me for free, I wouldn’t want her.”
“Let me go ask Qin Lin why he’s doing this to you.”
Liu Wei’s eyes flickered, and she stopped them.
“Forget it. We work in the same unit. We’ll see each other all the time. It would be awkward if things got too ugly.”
“You’re too easygoing.”
Everyone expressed injustice on her behalf.
One even suggested writing a complaint letter about Qin Lin’s moral conduct.
Liu Wei’s expression darkened as she silently approved their idea.
……
Qin Family Old Residence.
As soon as Su Manman entered the main hall, she noticed a middle-aged man sitting on the long sofa.
His features resembled Qin Lin’s by about thirty to forty percent.
Old Master Qin had said his eldest and second sons were only a year apart.
This must be one of them.
Sure enough, Qin Lin greeted him.
“Second Brother, what brings you here today?”
Qin Dingguo kept a stern face and scrutinized Su Manman from head to toe.
Childish face, refusing to study properly, insisting on getting married—he really didn’t understand what her family was thinking.
And his younger brother too—such a man, yet indulging in beauty and romance instead of focusing on his career. Useless.
He let out a cold snort.
“If I didn’t come, how would I know Dad actually agreed to arrange your marriage for you?”
Qin Lin replied calmly, “Second Brother, what are you dissatisfied with?”
Qin Dingguo choked.
“I…”
The old man had already said this marriage couldn’t be changed.
He originally planned to break through via his younger brother, but instead got pushed back.
Direct confrontation wouldn’t work. He needed another way to drive her away.
After some thought, he changed his tone.
“Grandpa said Manman doesn’t have a job. Staying at home too long will disconnect her from society, which is bad for her personal growth.”
Old Master Qin clearly agreed.
“Manman, your second brother has a point. Do you want a job? I can find one for you.”
Su Manman secretly rolled her eyes.
Who wants to work?
She had already been treating patients in the countryside, climbing mountains every few days until she was exhausted.
She thought coming to the city to marry would mean an easy life. But just a few days in, they were already trying to assign her work.
Do they just not want her to rest?
Still, everyone else in this family had jobs, except her.
That felt out of place.
She reluctantly said, “Fine. But I want easy work with high pay.”
Qin Dingguo was stunned.
“Where would there be such a job?”
A rural girl should be hardworking—why was she so lazy?
Su Manman sneered. “So you mean I must take a job that pays little but works me to death?”
Qin Dingguo: “……”
When did he ever mean that?
Luckily she wasn’t his daughter-in-law—otherwise he would be furious every day.
Qin Xingyun really wasn’t wrong. She truly lived up to her name: overbearing and unreasonable.
After thinking it through, he said,
“I do have a suitable position. A mediator at your second sister-in-law’s workplace just retired. The position is vacant. You’re articulate—you should be able to handle it.”
A mediator needed patience and a good temper.
With her personality, she’d probably start fights within days and get fired.
Then Qin Lin would realize how unreliable she was.
Over time, this family would no longer accept her.
Old Master Qin asked, “Is it far?”
Su Manman asked, “Does it pay well?”
Qin Dingguo replied, “Not far. East Gate Street area, about fifteen minutes by bicycle. Salary is forty to fifty yuan a month, plus grain and oil during holidays. Very good benefits. And you only need to work a few days every month.”
Old Master Qin nodded. “Manman, what do you think?”
Su Manman said, “Sounds fine. But what exactly does a mediator do?”
Qin Dingguo was speechless.
Did she not understand even the literal meaning?
“Mediate disputes—resolve quarrels between couples, neighbors, maintain social harmony.”
Su Manman understood.
So, a peacemaker.
And this counts as a job?
And it pays forty to fifty yuan a month?
Even village elders could do that.
What a pity they weren’t given such easy jobs. The world truly was unfair.
“Oh. When do I start?”
Qin Dingguo smiled meaningfully.
“Wait for my notice.”
“Alright. Thank you, Second Brother.”
Su Manman smiled sweetly.
Qin Dingguo’s eye twitched.
This girl changed expressions faster than a machine.