“Huang Zhonghua from Xiangyang Village?”
At the mention of the familiar name, Qin Man lowered her eyes.
Carefully recalling the novel’s plot, she realized she had overlooked an important part.
Huang Zhonghua was a minor character in Flying Years. In the early part of the story, he had been a sent-down youth working in the production brigade of the village next to the original host’s, and he had known Zhou Huaimin for years.
If Zhou Huaimin insisted on verifying the story by calling the commune’s post and telecommunications office to contact Huang Zhonghua, Huang would definitely side with Zhou Huaimin and help smear her name.
After all, admitting to it would have little impact on Huang himself.
Qin Man lowered her head without saying a word.
That only emboldened Zhou Qiaohong.
“My brother has been patient with you out of gratitude because your grandfather saved his life,” she snapped. “But that doesn’t mean you get to bully an honest man like this!”
She sneered inwardly.
She already had another man, yet she still shamelessly came all the way to the provincial capital. For all anyone knew, she might even be carrying someone else’s child.
“Besides, our families cut ties a long time ago.”
If her brother’s engagement to Tian Dan fell apart, her promised factory job would go up in smoke as well.
She had already bragged about it to everyone.
How was she supposed to face people after that?
Her sharp, spiteful expression made it obvious she wanted nothing more than to drive Qin Man away.
The Tian family stood silently, half-convinced.
If the Zhou family had truly broken their promise first, Zhou Huaimin shouldn’t have been able to name the educated youth so specifically.
Taking a deep breath, Tian Jinrong seemed inclined to believe him.
“Settle this,” he said cautiously.
No matter what, the engagement banquet had already turned into a spectacle. It would become the talk of the town.
He wanted to take Tian Dan home immediately, but seeing the stubborn determination on his daughter’s face, he relented.
The tide had shifted once again.
Tian Dan’s mother, Chen Yuxiu, was the director of the Women’s Federation and often handled mediation. She was patient and composed.
After calming Tian Jinrong down, she turned to Qin Man.
“Young lady, since you’ve already fallen in love with someone else, you should understand that feelings can’t be forced.”
“Huaimin honored the engagement all this time. It was you who broke it first.”
“And last summer, he even saved our Xiaodan. Our Tian family approves of him.”
Her words were flawless.
On the surface, she was mediating the dispute.
In reality, every sentence subtly placed the blame on Qin Man.
At the same time, she completely cleared Tian Dan of any wrongdoing.
Chen Yuxiu made it clear that Tian Dan and Zhou Huaimin had only met by chance the previous summer and that there had never been any affair while he was supposedly engaged.
If Qin Man came here making a scene, Tian Dan was simply an innocent victim caught in the crossfire.
“Young lady, your parents are gone. Life can’t have been easy for you back in the village.”
“Since your grandfather once saved Huaimin’s life, how about this…”
In front of all the guests, Chen Yuxiu spoke calmly.
“From now on, I’ll make the decision. Huaimin will give you ten yuan from his monthly salary every month.”
“In-laws, we can’t do that!”
Ten yuan!
That meant one hundred and twenty yuan a year.
Liu Amei froze.
She worked as a temporary employee at the textile factory and earned only eighteen yuan a month.
Her son Zhou Huaimin had just been promoted to company commander, and although his salary had risen to sixty-two yuan and fifty cents, giving away ten yuan wasn’t difficult.
But why should he?
Chen Yuxiu frowned.
As expected of someone from a small, insignificant family—so shortsighted.
If she hadn’t valued Zhou Huaimin so highly, she would never have made such an offer.
Seeing Liu Amei clutching her heart as though someone were cutting out a piece of it, Chen Yuxiu said firmly,
“If your family won’t pay, then I’ll pay it myself.”
“That’s… that’s not what I meant.”
Faced with Chen Yuxiu, Liu Amei immediately shrank back.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Zhou Huaimin giving her a subtle nod.
After a brief moment of thought, she quickly agreed.
“Ten yuan every month. I’ll accept it on Huaimin’s behalf.”
Whether the money was actually paid or not would ultimately be up to the Zhou family.
The important thing now was preserving the engagement and keeping the Tian family satisfied.
With Chen Yuxiu stepping in to mediate, Qin Man’s disruption suddenly appeared to have a motive in the eyes of the guests.
The country girl had come to the city for money.
Seen that way, the Zhou family seemed more than generous.
Yang Xiaoyun grew anxious.
She whispered,
“Xiaoman… what do we do?”
Ten yuan a month was certainly no small amount.
Qin Man earned work points as a barefoot doctor back in the village.
But if she accepted the money, it would be tantamount to admitting she’d had an affair with an educated youth, ruining her reputation.
After Chen Yuxiu proposed compensation, the state-owned restaurant fell silent.
Even the head chef poked half his body out of the kitchen, craning his neck to watch the drama unfold.
“Auntie, I don’t want the money.”
Qin Man’s expression was resolute as she flatly refused Chen Yuxiu’s offer.
A flicker of surprise crossed Chen Yuxiu’s face.
“Is it… not enough?”
“Young lady,” someone chimed in as a peacemaker, “that’s already a generous offer. Don’t push your luck.”
Qin Man closed her eyes, suppressing the wave of disgust rising inside her.
There was a reason the Tian family had met such tragic ends in the novel.
They came from privilege.
Deep down, they carried an unquestioned sense of superiority and looked down on others from above.
Chen Yuxiu claimed she wanted to make amends, but in reality, every word was another carefully dug pit.
Fine.
Then she wouldn’t spare the Tian family any embarrassment either.
Standing atop the chair, Qin Man was just about to continue when Song Qingsong suddenly tensed.
He jumped up on the spot and yanked the noose down from the ceiling beam.
Qin Man’s hand grasped at empty air.
Song Qingsong had anticipated her next move.
If she kept crying now, people would only assume she was greedy and wanted even more money.
The effect would be greatly diminished.
“You don’t seriously think you can smooth over a broken engagement with just ten yuan a month, do you?”
Qin Man’s face was deathly pale as she let out a miserable smile.
Looking directly at Chen Yuxiu, she said firmly,
“Auntie, I know you mean well.”
“But have you ever considered… that perhaps the Tian family has been deceived by Zhou Huaimin as well?”
Those words gave the Tian family a graceful way out.
From beginning to end, Qin Man’s target had only been Zhou Huaimin and the ungrateful Zhou family who had repaid kindness with betrayal.
Without giving Zhou Huaimin a chance to interrupt, Qin Man rummaged through her cloth bag and pulled out a thick stack of yellowed envelopes.
“Auntie Zhou and Zhou Qiaohong both claimed I’d fallen in love with an educated youth, and that our families had cut all ties.”
She opened one of the envelopes.
“Then tell me… what are these?”
“I didn’t bring the older letters because there were too many. These are just from the past year.”
“There are twenty-eight letters in total.”
She handed one to Chen Yuxiu and passed the rest to Song Qingsong and Yang Xiaoyun.
“Last July 16th… wasn’t that right after Zhou Huaimin and Tian Dan first met?”
Dabbing at the corner of her eye with a handkerchief, Qin Man continued,
“In this letter, he wrote that meat was in short supply in the city and asked me to gather some dried chicken and duck from the countryside and mail them to the textile factory.”
“The recipient was Comrade Liu Amei.”
“Isn’t that Zhou Huaimin’s own mother?”
It wasn’t just food she had mailed.
Zhou Qiaohong had also written to Qin Man, saying she couldn’t find a job at home and asking Qin Man to send her the money she earned selling medicinal herbs.
“I’ve kept every remittance receipt.”
“The recipient was Comrade Zhou Qiaohong.”
The previous night, Qin Man had carefully gone through all the letters the original owner had brought.
Each one had been wrapped in oil paper and treasured like a precious keepsake.
The original Qin Man had come to the city full of hope.
She could never have imagined things would end like this.
“For years, while my parents were still alive and our family had enough to get by, we sent them rice and flour every single year.”
As Qin Man spoke, she truly stepped into the original owner’s emotions.
Grievance.
Disappointment.
Heartbreak.
The moment Zhou Huaimin saw the letters, his expression tightened.
“Mom… Qiaohong…”
“When did all of this happen?”