Chapter 14: Fighting Poison with Poison

For three consecutive days, Qin Man and Jiang Cong went to the county farmers’ market to sell persimmons. After deducting some expenses, they earned a total of twenty yuan.

Now, only the last two hundred persimmons remained, and one final day of selling would be enough to finish them off.

On the fourth morning, Qin Man and Jiang Cong took the remaining persimmons to the county market and set up their stall at the usual spot.

Using the excuse that they were selling an exotic variety, Qin Man quickly attracted customers. People came in a steady stream to buy persimmons, and even some returning customers from previous days stopped by to buy a few more.

By around eleven o’clock, the persimmons were completely sold out, earning them the last ten yuan.

Looking at the money they had made, the two of them exchanged satisfied smiles.

“Let’s go home!”

Qin Man carefully tucked the money into Jiang Cong’s canvas bag.

However, Jiang Cong had other plans—he wanted to visit the newspaper office to see if there were any writing assignments available. Any extra income was a bonus.

“Let’s not rush. I’ll check if the newspaper office has any articles for me to write. Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?”

Jiang Cong was always concerned about whether she was hungry or thirsty, asking her every now and then.

Qin Man shook her head. She wasn’t hungry yet.

“I’m fine. Let’s go to the newspaper office first. I’ll go with you!”

She was curious about what a newspaper office looked like in this era. With the rapid development of the economy, the internet would eventually replace newspapers, but for now, many older people still read them daily.

The county’s newspaper office was probably just a small local paper, mainly covering regional news.

“Alright, but if you get hungry, let me know!” Jiang Cong reminded her as he gently tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

Qin Man smiled and nodded. Then, Jiang Cong temporarily left their basket at a nearby supply and marketing cooperative, paying a two-cent storage fee before heading to the newspaper office with Qin Man.

The walk took about twenty minutes. The newspaper office was located in a bustling area of the county.

Its name was simply “County Daily”, confirming that it was indeed a local publication covering small-town affairs.

The office had three floors, bustling with activity as employees came and went. Many people recognized Jiang Cong and greeted him as he arrived.

“Xiao Jiang, here again?”

“Good afternoon, Xiao Jiang!”

“Good afternoon!” Jiang Cong responded with a friendly nod.

A sharp-eyed colleague quickly noticed Qin Man standing beside him.

“This must be your wife, right? She’s beautiful!” A slightly older woman teased with a smile.

Since Jiang Cong had mentioned before that he had a family, including a pair of twins, it wasn’t surprising that his colleagues knew about it.

Jiang Cong smiled in acknowledgment and casually took Qin Man’s hand.

“Jiang Cong, you’re just in time! There’s an article you can write!”

At that moment, a young woman’s voice called out. A girl with her long hair tied up in a half-ponytail and wearing a white floral dress ran down the stairs.

She had delicate features and a rosy complexion, her bright smile radiating warmth. But the moment her eyes landed on Qin Man—especially noticing their intertwined hands—her smile faltered slightly.

Qin Man caught this fleeting expression and couldn’t help but think, This husband of mine really attracts attention everywhere he goes.

She smiled at the girl politely, but there was a subtle sense of territorial claim in her gaze.

Qin Man was naturally stunning, making the girl’s delicate features seem rather ordinary in comparison.

“Xiao Yang, what’s the article about? Can I take a look?” Jiang Cong was focused on the work and hadn’t noticed the silent rivalry between the two women.

Xiao Yang was the girl’s surname, and that’s what everyone at the office called her.

Xiao Yang forced a smile and gestured toward the stairs.

“Come upstairs. I’ll show you.”

She led the way, guiding the couple to the second floor.

The first floor was crowded with people handling miscellaneous tasks, including locals purchasing newspapers. The second floor, however, was where the real work happened, with offices and meeting rooms. The third floor served as the cafeteria and break area.

In this era, most writing was still done by hand. After editing, it would be typeset and printed using an old-fashioned printing press. The second-floor office housed only a few machines and two bulky desktop computers—rare and valuable items.

“Liu, Jiang Cong is here. Didn’t you have an article that needed writing?” Xiao Yang approached a busy workstation where a man, referred to as “Brother Liu,” was working.

Brother Liu looked up, then rummaged through his desk drawer before handing Jiang Cong a stack of blank pages.

“I’ll give you a rough idea of the article’s main theme. You can write it in your own style. Once it’s done, I’ll review the first draft. If it’s good, I’ll proceed with typesetting and printing!”

As Jiang Cong and Brother Liu got into their discussion, Xiao Yang found a chair for Qin Man and poured her a glass of water.

“Here, have some water. Jiang Cong might take a while.”

Qin Man looked at the stainless steel cup filled with freshly boiled water—a nostalgic sight.

She accepted it with both hands, smiling as she thanked Xiao Yang.

“Thank you!”

In this scorching heat, drinking hot water… was this fighting poison with poison?