This time, when Chen Yuxiu walked into the restaurant, she didn’t mention the cashier at all and acted as though nothing had happened.
“I heard you’re serving them today. I’d like three liang of donkey meat dumplings.”
As she spoke, she handed over her enamel lunch container.
The restaurant had actually sold out of donkey meat dumplings. The only ones left had been set aside for the staff.
But since Chen Yuxiu had already caused trouble once, the chef didn’t want to argue with her again, so he handed over all of the staff’s reserved dumplings.
When Chen Yuxiu carried the dumplings to the cashier’s counter, she suddenly slammed the enamel container heavily onto the tabletop. The chipped enamel struck the wood with a dull thud.
Wearing her blue sleeve protectors, Jin Feng calmly raised her eyelids.
She knew this woman couldn’t possibly have come with good intentions.
Sure enough, she was here to pick a fight.
“Comrade, there’s a sorghum brush from scrubbing the wok in these dumplings!”
Chen Yuxiu deliberately raised her voice.
Everyone in the dining hall turned toward the commotion, craning their necks to see what was happening.
Ignoring the curious stares, Chen Yuxiu wore a long face.
“So this is how your state-owned restaurant treats ordinary people? Is this how a state-run establishment fools the public?”
Qin Man was stunned.
The Chen Yuxiu she remembered had seemed perfectly reasonable—patient, composed, every bit the capable government official.
How had she gone completely off the rails after only two days?
Sure enough, appearances really were deceiving.
No matter how someone looked or spoke, you could never truly know what kind of person they were.
Faced with the provocation, Jin Feng remained unusually calm.
Without even looking up, she replied,
“Comrade, if there’s a problem, we’ll register your complaint first…”
She only wanted to get rid of Chen Yuxiu as quickly as possible so she could take Qin Man to look at the apartment.
Once the dinner rush started, the restaurant would be short-handed.
“Register it?”
Chen Yuxiu jabbed her finger hard against the counter.
“This is exactly how you bureaucrats brush off the masses! The people feed you, and yet they don’t even deserve a clean meal? Call your manager out here immediately!”
She even escalated it to a political issue.
“This is damaging the unity between the workers and peasants!”
“Director Chen,” Qin Man interrupted calmly, “there’s no need to be modest. As a Women’s Federation director, you’re part of the cadre class yourself.”
She couldn’t stand watching anymore.
It was obvious Chen Yuxiu was staging the entire scene herself.
If she wanted to throw a tantrum, then throw a tantrum.
There was no need to drag class politics into it.
In those politically sensitive times, one careless remark could get someone labeled and publicly denounced.
“You don’t need to trouble the restaurant staff. How much money are you trying to return to the Zhou family? I can deliver it for you.”
She was going to see the Zhou family anyway.
Passing along the money would only take a moment.
The only reason Qin Man stepped in was because she wanted to repay Jin Feng’s kindness as much as possible.
She also didn’t want Chen Yuxiu delaying her trip to see the rental house.
Now that the issue had been stated plainly, Chen Yuxiu looked at Qin Man in surprise.
Without wasting words, she said,
“The Tian family’s guests occupied three tables. Here’s fifty yuan. It’s more than enough.”
“All right.”
Qin Man put the money away.
“Do you need the Zhou family to write a receipt?”
A written receipt would serve as proof that the Zhou family had accepted the money.
The moment the Zhou family was mentioned, Chen Yuxiu’s expression darkened again.
“No!”
As the Women’s Federation director, she’d become the subject of gossip at work.
Unable to bear the humiliation, she’d taken leave from work and devoted herself to cutting all ties with the Zhou family.
Her husband, Old Tian, was probably having an equally miserable time at his workplace.
Everything was the Zhou family’s fault.
After Chen Yuxiu finally left, Jin Feng let out a sigh.
“Xiao Man, she was obviously just looking for trouble. You’re too kind.”
“It’s fine.”
Qin Man smiled faintly.
“As long as this matter isn’t resolved, Comrade Chen Yuxiu won’t give up.”
Asking relatives or friends to return the money would only embarrass her all over again.
Unable to find anyone suitable and unwilling to let the Zhou family gain even the slightest advantage, she’d turned her attention to the state-owned restaurant instead.
When it came down to it, this entire mess did have something to do with Qin Man.
If Chen Yuxiu kept making scenes here, Qin Man worried the restaurant staff would eventually start resenting her.
Then the little perks she enjoyed whenever she came to eat would disappear.
Since it didn’t cost her much effort, she might as well play the peacemaker.
“Fine. But the Zhou family is notoriously petty. When you give them the money, I’m coming with you as a witness, just in case they try to deny receiving it.”
The problem had been resolved so easily that Jin Feng was in an excellent mood.
At first, she’d approached Qin Man with her own motives.
Now, she genuinely thought Qin Man was a wonderful person.
It was already getting late.
After informing her coworkers, Jin Feng jumped onto her father’s bicycle and pedaled furiously toward the Postal Street residential compound.
“Xiao Man, it’s the building on the left side of the compound entrance. First floor.”
After asking around once more, Jin Feng confirmed the address.
As Qin Man raised her hand to knock, she felt a little nervous.
Her mind was filled with arguments she could use to persuade the elderly couple to rent the apartment to her.
“Who’s there?”
The door soon opened.
A gray-haired elderly man stood there, looking surprisingly energetic.
The moment he saw Jin Feng, he recognized her.
“Young lady, aren’t you the waitress from the state-owned restaurant?”
“Yes, Grandpa, it’s me.”
Peeking through the doorway, Jin Feng saw the elderly woman inside cleaning the house.
“Auntie, you’re tidying up?”
“That’s right. Our train to Liaoning leaves tonight.”
The old man opened the door wider and invited both Jin Feng and Qin Man inside.
It was already late in the day.
The couple had finished packing their luggage and were only waiting to finish sweeping before leaving.
Curious why Jin Feng had come, the old man asked,
“Young lady, is there something you need?”
Qin Man’s heart skipped a beat.
Thankfully, she hadn’t wasted time arguing with Chen Yuxiu.
Otherwise, she would have arrived too late and missed the elderly couple altogether.
As it was, her timing couldn’t have been more perfect.
Walking through the residential compound, Qin Man had already noticed that every ground-floor apartment came with a small private courtyard.
Some residents had built outdoor kitchens there.
Others had turned the surrounding space into little vegetable gardens.
Now, however, everything was buried beneath thick winter snow.
Keeping her explanation brief, Qin Man said,
“Grandpa, Grandma, I’m an intern doctor at the provincial hospital. My household registration was recently transferred from rural to urban status, but the hospital dormitories are full, so I don’t have anywhere to live.”
She didn’t hide her intentions.
She wanted to rent their apartment.
“Please don’t worry. I’ll clean the place regularly, and both of my parents have passed away. I don’t have any relatives in the city who would be coming and going.”
If they were worried she might occupy the apartment permanently, there was no need.
After finishing, Qin Man nervously grasped the hem of her coat and waited for their answer.
The moment the elderly woman saw Qin Man clearly, she stood up without hesitation.
She walked to the cabinet, took down a set of keys, and placed them into Qin Man’s hands.
“My dear, here. Move in first. Just help us keep an eye on the place.”
The old man stared in surprise.
He had never expected his wife to make such a decision.
Quite a few people had come asking to rent the apartment before.
Some were newly married couples who had even offered to write formal guarantees.
The old man had agreed every time.
His wife had refused every single one.
Those people had all been acquaintances whose character they trusted.
But this young woman standing before them was a complete stranger.
They didn’t know her at all.
The old woman turned to her husband.
“Old man, do you remember? A few days ago, I went to the train station to pick up the package our daughter had sent.”
“There were so many people. Someone shoved me, and I nearly got trampled.”
The train had been about to depart.
The crowd surged forward in a frenzy.
She had fallen to the ground.
No one dared stop to help because they were afraid of missing their train.
“It was this young lady who helped me up. She even found one of the railway workers to get me a cup of hot water. By the time I’d recovered enough to look for her again, she’d already disappeared.”
The old woman warmly held Qin Man’s hand.
“My dear, you helped this old woman once. I don’t want your money. Stay here as long as you like.”
There was still some grain left in the house that they couldn’t take with them.
Qin Man was welcome to eat it as well.
After all, they wouldn’t be back until autumn at the earliest.
By then, the grain would probably have gone moldy or been infested with insects anyway.