At this point, Zhou Huaimin chose to sacrifice the pawns to save the king.
Pretending to know nothing, he looked shocked and asked,
“You’ve… still been in contact with the Qin family?”
Liu Amei reacted too slowly.
Qin Man’s bombshell had completely caught her off guard.
Zhou Qiaohong was quicker on her feet. Bursting into tears, she cried,
“Brother, it’s all my fault! I shouldn’t have asked Qin Man for money. I was just angry because she’d fallen for an educated youth and hurt you. I only wanted to teach her a lesson.”
It was a plausible excuse.
With Zhou Qiaohong providing the explanation, Liu Amei quickly caught on.
“Huaimin, I did it behind your back,” she said guiltily. “I’m sorry.”
No matter what, they had to protect Zhou Huaimin.
Watching the Zhou family put on their performance, Qin Man sneered inwardly.
Did Zhou Huaimin really think it was over?
Chen Yuxiu kept a stern expression, regretting everything.
She had warned her daughter long ago to marry someone from an equal family background.
Unfortunately, Tian Dan had been spoiled since childhood and never listened.
On top of that, Zhou Huaimin had once rescued her, so even if Chen Yuxiu wasn’t fully satisfied with him, she had no choice but to stand by the Zhou family’s side.
“Young lady,” Chen Yuxiu said, “calculate how much they’ve taken from you. Let the Zhou family compensate you.”
As long as Qin Man was willing to negotiate, they could at least buy some time.
Qin Man sighed.
“Auntie, I’ve already told you. Zhou Huaimin betrayed his promise. He’s a complete scumbag. Why won’t you believe me?”
Then she reached into her cloth bag again.
The moment Zhou Huaimin saw that, his eyelid twitched violently.
He lunged forward to stop her, but Song Qingsong stepped in first and blocked his path.
“If you think corresponding with Auntie Zhou and Zhou Qiaohong doesn’t prove anything…”
Qin Man pulled out another letter.
“…then here’s one Zhou Huaimin wrote to me just last month.”
She handed it to Yang Xiaoyun.
“You…”
Zhou Huaimin was on the verge of breaking down.
He hadn’t written to Qin Man in at least three or four years.
Where could such a letter have come from?
It hadn’t.
Qin Man had forged it.
If Zhou Huaimin could invent an affair with an educated youth out of thin air, then she could return the favor.
She had prepared it the night before, never expecting she’d actually need it.
Yang Xiaoyun accepted the letter and compared the handwriting to Zhou Huaimin’s.
She even asked several guests to verify it.
“That’s right.”
“It’s Zhou Huaimin’s handwriting.”
Someone even pulled out a magnifying glass for a careful comparison.
Qin Man remained perfectly confident.
She had become extremely skilled at imitating his handwriting.
Unless a professional handwriting expert examined it, the differences would be almost impossible to detect.
At that moment, all she wanted was to kick Zhou Huaimin straight into a filthy ditch.
What a disgusting piece of trash.
“Ahem!”
Yang Xiaoyun cleared her throat.
Under the puzzled gazes of the guests, she began reading aloud.
“My dearest Xiaoman,
Seeing your handwriting is like seeing you in person. As I sit by the window and secretly open the book, your photograph slips out…”
“Life in the army is busy and exhausting. I long to make greater achievements, because only then can I bring you to live with me.”
“Every night I lie awake thinking of you. My little brother always stands so proudly…”
The beginning sounded perfectly normal—a long, heartfelt confession of longing.
The second half, however…
Qin Man had deliberately put real effort into writing it.
As a doctor, she wasn’t shy about discussing sexuality.
She had written it that way for one purpose:
To land a devastating blow on Zhou Huaimin.
At first, Yang Xiaoyun read confidently, her voice rising and falling dramatically.
But the moment she reached the words my little brother…
She suddenly realized what she was reading.
Her face instantly flushed scarlet.
Qin Man had warned her the wording was explicit.
She simply hadn’t imagined it would be this explicit.
Even as a hospital nurse, Yang Xiaoyun was still unmarried.
She could barely bring herself to continue.
An awkward silence settled over the state-owned restaurant.
No one believed a young woman could have written something so shamelessly suggestive.
At that moment, everyone became convinced that Zhou Huaimin had been leading two women on.
On one hand, he was climbing the social ladder by courting the Tian family.
On the other, he was stringing along Qin Man back in the countryside, waiting faithfully for him.
After all…
Qin Man’s figure was far more attractive than Tian Dan’s slender, flat frame.
“Zhou Huaimin, you’re disgusting!”
Tian Dan’s face turned crimson as tears welled up in her eyes.
She raised her hand and slapped Zhou Huaimin across the face.
Then, covering her face, she ran out of the restaurant.
“Xiaodan, listen to me!”
Panicking, Zhou Huaimin rushed after her.
Before he could leave, Tian Jinrong’s face darkened like the bottom of a scorched pot.
Through clenched teeth, he warned,
“Zhou Huaimin, I’m telling you right now—stay away from my daughter!”
With that, Tian Jinrong grabbed Chen Yuxiu and hurried out.
The remaining guests lingered, eager to watch more of the spectacle.
The Zhou family had no choice but to apologize to each guest one by one and see them off.
When nearly everyone had left, Zhou Huaimin looked down at Qin Man from above.
After a long silence, he finally asked,
“What are your terms?”
He had underestimated her.
He never expected a country girl to be so calculating.
He even suspected that Song Qingsong had been advising her behind the scenes.
Keeping Qin Man in the provincial capital was a constant threat.
He wanted to settle everything quickly and then hurry to the Tian family to apologize.
No matter what, he had to win Tian Dan back.
“My terms are simple.”
“I want two thousand yuan.”
Not two hundred.
Two thousand.
The moment Qin Man named the amount, Liu Amei nearly jumped into the air.
“Have you lost your mind?”
“Two thousand yuan is enough to marry ten wives!”
Even if the entire family saved every penny without spending a cent, it would still take them three years to accumulate that much.
The Zhou family all had jobs.
In a rural village, two thousand yuan was enough to support someone for a lifetime.
“You wasted years of my life, kept dragging things out, and even tried to secretly trade me in for a wealthier family.”
“Don’t I deserve that money?”
Qin Man folded her arms.
She was no longer the meek, submissive girl she’d pretended to be.
The act was over.
No more pretending.
“Zhou Huaimin…”
“When I was nearly trafficked…”
“…I saw your second uncle, Zhou Guoqing.”
She didn’t need to say another word.
Zhou Huaimin was smart enough to understand exactly what she meant.
“He’d only seen your photograph!”
Liu Amei clutched her aching chest and screamed hysterically.
“If he mistook someone else for you, that’s perfectly understandable!”
No matter what, the Zhou family could never pay.
Otherwise, she’d rather grab Qin Man’s rope and hang herself in the state-owned restaurant.
Beside her, Zhou Qiaohong exploded in anger.
“Qin Man, you’ve got some nerve!”
“Two thousand yuan is enough to buy me a decent job!”
Getting into the textile factory wouldn’t even cost that much.
With enough gifts and connections, a thousand yuan would usually do.
The Zhou family simply couldn’t afford two thousand.
“Then find me a permanent job in the city.”
“If you do that, I won’t ask for the money.”
Qin Man’s true goal had always been to stay in the provincial capital.
The village was the original owner’s home, but it still felt unfamiliar to her.
More importantly, she wasn’t the original Qin Man.
The longer she stayed around people who knew the original owner, the greater the risk of exposing herself.
“In your dreams!”
“I don’t even have a job yet, and you expect me to find one for you?”
Zhou Qiaohong wanted nothing more than to slap Qin Man across the face.
She raised her hand, trembling.
But fear flashed across her eyes.
She worried that if she struck this “crazy woman,” it would only create even bigger trouble.
At this point, even her clever older brother had been outmaneuvered by Qin Man.
After lowering his head in thought for a while, Zhou Huaimin finally spoke.
“Two thousand it is.”
“But my family doesn’t have that much cash.”
“Give me three days to gather the money.”
Qin Man hadn’t expected him to agree so readily.
“Fine.”
Her original intention had been to force him to find her a job.
Instead, Zhou Huaimin didn’t even bother bargaining and immediately chose to pay.
Qin Man suspected he was digging another trap.
But whatever came, she’d deal with it.
Whether he outsmarted her—or she outsmarted him—remained to be seen.
This so-called male lead might very well end up trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice instead.
“Then it’s settled.”
“Three days from now, at three o’clock in the afternoon.”
“We’ll meet in the alley west of the state-owned restaurant.”
Zhou Huaimin named the meeting place.
Liu Amei’s eyes darted around.
She seemed to understand what her son was planning.
A vicious gleam flashed deep within her eyes.