Qin Man caught the look in Liu Amei’s eyes and immediately became wary.
She searched her memory of the novel and fixed her gaze on Zhou Huaimin.
“I have one more condition.”
“You’re still not satisfied?”
Liu Amei looked as though she wanted to tear Qin Man apart. She bit her lip so hard it bled.
Over the years, the family had pinched every penny and managed to save only a few hundred yuan. Their relatives weren’t well-off either, so if they wanted to raise a large sum, Zhou Huaimin would have to borrow money from his comrades in the army.
He had only recently been promoted to company commander, and now he’d have to owe everyone favors.
Liu Amei felt dizzy with rage.
The restaurant dining hall was in complete disarray.
The waiters had begun clearing away the dishes. Zhou Guojun finished seeing off the textile factory leaders, tugged at his sleeve awkwardly, and said,
“Man-girl, the Zhou family owes you. I’ll apologize to you on Huaimin’s behalf.”
“Uncle Zhou, let’s not talk about that.”
Everyone at the textile mill knew Zhou Guojun as an honest man.
But Qin Man had read Flying Through the Years. She knew he had been aware that the original Qin Man had been sold by traffickers.
He had struggled with his conscience for less than a day before convincing himself to ignore it.
To protect the family’s interests, the life of his benefactor’s granddaughter simply didn’t matter.
Qin Man despised people like him even more—those who hid their cruelty behind a mask of honesty.
Trying to play the emotional card with her?
He had picked the wrong person.
That trick didn’t work on Qin Man.
“Uncle Zhou, Aunt Zhou. Back when Huaimin and I were engaged, my family had nothing valuable. The only engagement token we gave the Zhou family was my grandfather’s military merit medal.”
Qin Man’s grandfather had been a veteran of the Korean War, earning military honors in battle.
That medal had been the Qin family’s greatest treasure.
In the novel, there was a plot point where one of the comrades Grandpa Qin had saved later rose to a very high position in Beijing.
After learning about the Qin family’s connection to that powerful man, Zhou Huaimin had used the military medal to establish contact.
It was largely because of that influential figure’s support that Zhou Huaimin’s business flourished after China’s Reform and Opening-Up.
Meanwhile, the original Qin Man had been imprisoned deep in the mountains for years.
Not once during all those years had anyone in the Zhou family grown a conscience.
Instead, they continued benefiting from her suffering.
“Qin Man, we only moved into the textile factory housing a few years ago. During the move, the medal was lost.”
Without thinking, Zhou Huaimin lied.
His instincts screamed that he must never return the medal.
Qin Man folded her arms and raised an eyebrow.
“Really? Then I don’t want the two thousand yuan anymore. I’ll just mail this letter to your military unit.”
“Are you threatening me?”
Zhou Huaimin stared at her coldly, his face expressionless.
Qin Man smiled sweetly.
“Huaimin-ge, why would I threaten you?”
Liu Amei hurriedly interrupted.
“I put the medal away myself! I’ll go find it!”
More than anything, she wanted to sever all ties with Qin Man as quickly as possible.
She feared Qin Man would continue making trouble. Not only could the Tian marriage fall apart, but her son’s military career could be ruined as well.
In Liu Amei’s eyes, Tian Dan was only average-looking and wasn’t worthy of her son.
She had heard that a senior officer in the military district had an only daughter who performed in the military arts troupe and lived in a two-story house.
Perhaps they could use the same “hero saves the beauty” trick again and marry Zhou Huaimin into an even more influential family.
“Then it’s settled.”
Qin Man snorted softly, pulled over a chair, and sat down, rubbing her aching forehead.
Yang Xiaoyun rushed over and hugged her tightly, her cheeks flushed with excitement.
“Xiaoman, you’re incredible!”
She had fought the Tian family and the Zhou family all by herself.
Watching them slink away in humiliation felt unbelievably satisfying.
Qin Man stood up, pulled over chairs for Song Qingsong and Yang Xiaoyun, and apologized.
“Xiaoyun, I dragged you into this. I…”
She was referring to the explicit letter about Zhou Huaimin’s “little brother.”
Song Qingsong wore a speechless expression.
Thank goodness Yang Xiaoyun had volunteered to read the letter first.
Otherwise, he would have been the one reading it aloud.
Just imagining the scene made him want to disappear.
“Brother Song, you’re not going to tell anyone, are you?”
Yang Xiaoyun made a slicing gesture across her throat as a warning.
Song Qingsong shook his head so hard he looked like a bobblehead.
Only then did Yang Xiaoyun reluctantly believe him.
She turned and grabbed Qin Man’s hand.
“Xiaoman, it’s fine. If anyone’s embarrassed, it’s Zhou Huaimin—not me.”
Then she hesitated.
“So… was there really some educated youth?”
“No.”
Song Qingsong answered for Qin Man.
“If there really had been one, why would Zhou Huaimin willingly pay two thousand yuan?”
“True…”
Yang Xiaoyun rubbed her nose.
Thinking of the two thousand yuan, she blinked.
“The alley west of the state-run restaurant has a black market.”
It was especially crowded in the afternoon.
Choosing to hand over the money there was clearly Zhou Huaimin taking advantage of Qin Man’s unfamiliarity with the city.
The meeting was scheduled for three days later, during Yang Xiaoyun’s work shift.
She wondered whether she should take leave to accompany Qin Man.
“Don’t worry, Xiaoyun.”
The Zhou family definitely wouldn’t let the matter end so easily.
Qin Man was certain Zhou Huaimin had another scheme in mind.
She didn’t want Yang Xiaoyun dragged into it any further.
She stood up and helped the round-faced waitress clean up the dining hall.
Leaning closer, she asked quietly,
“Comrade, do you still have anything available that doesn’t require ration coupons?”
It was already past lunchtime.
Song Qingsong and Yang Xiaoyun had helped her so much that Qin Man wanted to treat them to a meal.
She still had the money she’d borrowed from Tan Zheng, but not enough food coupons.
While the two were drinking water, Qin Man discreetly took a small porcelain jar from her storage space and slipped it into the waitress’s hand.
“This is for you.”
It was Qin Man’s homemade cold cream, better than anything sold in stores.
The waitress looked down.
The packaging was even prettier than the Yashuang and Pechoin creams she normally used.
It looked like something imported from Shanghai.
She quickly tucked the little jar into her pocket and beamed.
“Comrade Qin Man, my name is Jin Feng. I’m a waitress here at the state-run restaurant.”
During the planned economy era, working at a state-run restaurant was one of the best jobs around.
From the head chef to the waitresses—even the old gatekeeper—they all enjoyed excellent benefits and never lacked good food.
Jin Feng had rosy cheeks and looked exceptionally healthy.
After receiving the gift, her attitude became noticeably warmer.
“The Zhou family’s banquet used up all our meat and eggs today.”
Qin Man’s expression fell slightly.
Before she could say anything, Jin Feng lowered her voice.
“But we still have a few cans of beef from the Tianjin Canning Factory.”
Canned beef didn’t require ration coupons.
It was expensive and extremely scarce.
Whenever the supply cooperative received a shipment, most of it disappeared through internal connections before it ever reached the public.
Money wasn’t Qin Man’s problem.
Hearing that no coupons were needed, she broke into a bright smile.
“Could I ask the chef to make us beef noodle soup?”
Her storage space was packed with ingredients—fish, meat, eggs, dairy, everything.
Once she found a place to settle down in the city, she planned to cook a proper feast herself to thank Song Qingsong and Yang Xiaoyun.
Zhu Huifang had also helped her today.
Soon enough, word of her conflict with the Zhou family would spread.
Since Zhu Huifang had gone out of her way to help despite being only a daughter-in-law in the family, Qin Man wanted to prepare a gift for her as well.
“No problem!”
Jin Feng patted her chest proudly.
“The head chef is my dad!”
“Comrade Qin Man, just leave everything to me!”
Qin Man was speechless.
Her luck really was incredible.
She had casually chosen the kindest-looking person to give a gift to—and had accidentally found someone with powerful connections.