Yang Xiaoyun gave Qin Man a Plum Blossom-brand bar of soap. Hearing that Qin Man was anxious about finding a place to live, she quickly said,
“Xiaoman, stay at my house for now. You can move into the hospital dormitory once it’s your turn.”
The hospital dorms had relatively good conditions.
The problem was that some retired employees refused to vacate their rooms, so accommodations were always in short supply.
Song Qingsong lowered his head in thought.
“I honestly haven’t heard of anyone renting out a house.”
Most city residents had permanent homes.
Occasionally, when families had many children and one of them got married, they would partition off part of their apartment in a workers’ housing building, but it was rare for anyone to rent out an entire place.
“In recent years, with all the political campaigns, the houses belonging to people who were sent down or denounced were confiscated or occupied.”
“If you get involved with one of those vacant houses, it’s easy to attract the attention of the Revolutionary Committee.”
There simply wasn’t much of a rental market in the provincial capital.
Qin Man knew that, but she wasn’t ready to give up.
“How about I ask around myself?”
Now that her job was settled, she wanted to collect the money Zhou Huaimin owed her as soon as possible, then return to her village to transfer her household registration.
Traveling from the provincial capital back to the village required more than ten hours by train, including a transfer.
Even if everything went smoothly, the round trip and paperwork would take at least six or seven days.
She wasn’t familiar with the area around the Provincial Hospital.
The Zhou family already regarded her as an enemy. If they set a trap, she could easily fall into it.
Having read the novel, Qin Man understood the male lead’s personality perfectly.
He possessed a ruthless determination.
That ruthlessness wasn’t directed only at others—it applied equally to himself.
Zhou Huaimin firmly believed that only by enduring hardship could one rise above others.
Even though Qin Man had ruined the marriage alliance between the Zhou and Tian families, he wouldn’t give up so easily.
After all, marrying into a powerful family was a crucial step in his plans for advancement.
Now that they had become enemies, Zhou Huaimin would never let the matter rest.
Of course, Qin Man had no intention of letting it go either.
The original owner of this body had suffered for years.
Two thousand yuan wasn’t enough to erase all of that.
Not to mention that Qin Man herself had nearly been trafficked in the original owner’s place, almost creating another tragedy.
After thinking it over carefully, Song Qingsong said,
“Finding a house isn’t something that has to happen immediately. While you’re back in the village these next few days, Yang Xiaoyun and I can help you ask around.”
Since she’d be working at the hospital, it made sense to find somewhere nearby.
That way she wouldn’t waste hours commuting.
Especially in Bingcheng’s freezing winters—walking outside for an hour could leave your hands and feet numb for quite some time afterward.
Song Qingsong had considered everything carefully.
Qin Man immediately replied,
“If there’s nothing suitable nearby, somewhere farther away is fine too.”
She actually had a bicycle stored in her special space.
The only problem was that it looked far too modern and sophisticated to bring out in the 1970s.
For the sake of having her own place, Qin Man was willing to compromise on almost everything else.
The leftover chicken soup from the previous night was turned into three bowls of chicken noodle soup by the cafeteria chef.
Qin Man shared the meal with Yang Xiaoyun and Song Qingsong.
Afterward, she washed the aluminum lunch box and insulated container until they were spotless before heading to the hospital ward.
If Tan Zheng wasn’t there, she’d simply leave them in the room for the Tan family’s housekeeper to collect when she brought the next meal.
Just as Qin Man reached the doorway, someone inside heard her footsteps and stood up.
Yao Yingying was wearing a wool overcoat and had a neat ear-length haircut.
Her complexion was rosy, but her eyes widened with irritation.
“Didn’t the doctors already make their rounds before they got off work?”
Ever since everyone at the hospital learned that Tan Xiwen came from the military compound, their attitudes had changed dramatically.
To put it bluntly, they were all trying to curry favor with Tan Zheng.
They didn’t even stop to consider their own backgrounds.
A toad dreaming of eating swan meat.
In less than an hour, Yao Yingying had already driven away several visitors.
She was thoroughly annoyed.
Standing firmly in the doorway, she made no effort to let Qin Man inside.
Her gaze fell on Qin Man’s name badge before glancing at the sleeping Tan Xiwen.
She pulled Qin Man into a quiet corner of the hallway and stared at her in disbelief.
“So you’re Qin Man?”
When she’d heard that a barefoot doctor had saved Sister Xiwen’s life, her first reaction had been disbelief.
Then countless thoughts had raced through her mind.
This Qin Man planned it all.
She’d been waiting for exactly this opportunity.
What a scheming woman.
“I’ll warn you now.”
Yao Yingying opened her small leather handbag, counted out five ten-yuan bills, and tried to stuff them into Qin Man’s hand.
“Just because you saved someone doesn’t mean you can casually get close to Tan… Sister Xiwen.”
“What do you mean?”
Qin Man’s expression turned cold.
She didn’t accept the money.
Yao Yingying let out a mocking laugh.
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“You saved someone, so you deserve this money.”
“And the Tan family already helped arrange a job for you.”
“Don’t get greedy.”
Stretching her neck arrogantly, anger was written all over her beautiful face.
She was, objectively speaking, a striking beauty.
Qin Man already had a guess.
“Is this your idea?”
“Or the Tan family’s?”
“Or… what exactly is your relationship with the Tan family?”
“Of course it’s my—”
Yao Yingying narrowed her eyes.
She had almost walked straight into Qin Man’s trap.
Looking wary now, she said,
“You don’t need to know things that don’t concern you.”
“But I suppose there’s no harm in telling you.”
“I’m Tan Zheng’s fiancée.”
As she said it, a rare look of shyness appeared in her eyes.
Qin Man pushed the fifty yuan back into her hand.
“You’re not married into the family yet.”
“So you’re not a member of the Tan family.”
“In that case, I’m not going to accept money from just anyone.”
The implication couldn’t have been clearer.
If the Tan family wanted to repay her, they should do it themselves.
Yao Yingying wasn’t qualified to speak on their behalf.
“You…!”
Yao Yingying was furious.
For the first time in her life, she’d been completely outmatched in an argument.
By the time she recovered her wits, Qin Man had already walked away.
Back in the hospital room, Yao Yingying sat there sulking.
Tan Xiwen had just awakened.
“Yingying, I think I heard you talking to someone at the door. Who was here?”
“Oh… it was just a nurse making rounds.”
“I didn’t want them to wake you.”
She hurriedly covered up the truth and handed Tan Xiwen a peeled apple.
Tan Xiwen shook her head.
“The doctor said I can only have rice soup for now.”
Hearing that, Yao Yingying simply took a big bite herself.
Crunch.
A large chunk of the apple disappeared.
It was juicy and wonderfully sweet.
Just then, Tan Zheng entered the room.
The first thing he saw was Yao Yingying happily eating the apple while occasionally teasing Tan Xiwen.
“Yao Yingying.”
“It’s getting late.”
“You should go home.”
Ordinarily, since they all lived in the same military compound, it was perfectly natural for Yao Yingying and Tan Xiwen to get along and visit each other.
But Tan Xiwen had just undergone surgery.
Only last night, she’d mentioned craving an apple.
And today, Yao Yingying was deliberately eating one right in front of her.
It was astonishingly inconsiderate.
“Brother Tan Zheng, you’re here?”
Yao Yingying immediately jumped to her feet, smiling eagerly.
Ever since childhood, she’d loved following behind Tan Zheng.
She had always dreamed of marrying him one day.
Now she was already twenty-two years old.
Yet Tan Zheng had never once mentioned marriage.
After Qin Man appeared, Yao Yingying had begun feeling an inexplicable sense of crisis.
The temperature in the hospital room seemed to drop several degrees.
Tan Zheng stared at her expressionlessly before pointing toward the door.
“So… you may leave now.”
“But it’s dark outside.”
“I’m scared.”
Yao Yingying shifted awkwardly from foot to foot and looked at him with hopeful eyes.
Tan Xiwen glanced out the window.
Night had already fallen.
It was pitch-black outside.
For a young woman to travel alone at this hour really wasn’t very safe.
“Little Brother,” she said softly, “I’m fine now. I’m recovering well.”
“Why don’t you walk Yingying home?”
“In another three days or so, I should be able to leave the hospital and continue recovering at home.”