Zhao Nian's mother persisted: "Is this what you call an insult? You probably haven't seen a real insult. What good girl would owe so much money? Who knows how she got it? Anyway, I will never allow my son to be with someone who has so much debt."

After saying that, she grabbed Zhao Nian and tried to leave. Although Zhao Nian hesitated, he was eventually pulled away by his mother.

Zhao Nian's mother had a very loud voice, and after a few shouts, everyone in the restaurant was drawn over. At the dining table, Qiu Mang and Shi Nan stood there, Qiu Mang somewhat stunned.

Someone in the crowd scoffed disdainfully, "Tsk tsk, I've seen plenty of these gold diggers. They don't work properly and all they do is swindle money from men."

Shi Nan frowned and looked at the crowd: "What are you looking at? Get out of here!"

Zhao Nian and his mother had already left, and there was no more excitement to be had, so everyone dispersed.

Shi Nan pulled Qiu Mang to sit down, after all, she was the one who had brought them together. Now that Qiu Mang had been humiliated like this by the other party's mother, Shi Nan couldn't help but feel guilty.

"Amang, I'm so sorry. I misjudged you and made you suffer." Shi Nan raised her hand to tidy up Qiu Mang's slightly messy hair.

Qiu Mang forced a smile. "Sister Nan, it's not your fault, nor theirs. Actually, his mother's position wasn't wrong. You can see that she was doing it for her son's own good. Nobody wants their son to have a girlfriend who is a heavy burden."

Looking at Qiu Mang's slightly pale face, Shi Nan felt increasingly uneasy.

"Anyway, it was my fault this time. Next time, I'll introduce you to someone better!" Shi Nan said.

“Sister Nan, no need. His mother is right, I’m not in a good position to date right now,” Qiu Mang said.

"Nonsense! Who says you can't have love if you owe money? You're so young, you should enjoy life to the fullest. You should work hard to earn money and also have a sweet romance!" Shi Nan knew that she was being mistreated in her hometown and hoped that she could live the life of an ordinary girl. She also hoped that she could break free from the constraints of her family and bravely pursue her own happiness.

Qiu Mang smiled and said, "Sister Nan, who says you have to be in a relationship when you're young? I think the thing that can bring you a sense of security in this world is money! We should make more money."

When money was mentioned, Shi Nan suddenly remembered that Qiu Mang had mentioned owing 500,000 yuan in debt.

She looked into Qiu Mang's eyes and asked with heartache, "You said you owed 500,000, were you lying to me?"

She still couldn't believe that Qiu Mang, this well-behaved girl, would owe so much money.

“It’s true.” Qiu Mang said, then picked up the bowl and chopsticks on the table and started eating.

"What's going on?" Shi Nan stared at her with wide eyes.

"Sister Nan, don't rush, let's eat and talk. It would be such a waste not to eat all this food!" She had been poor for a long time, and not wasting food was a belief ingrained in her bones.

Seeing that she still had the appetite to eat, Shi Nan picked up her chopsticks as well. Upon learning that the 500,000 yuan debt was Qiu Mang's way of returning the bride price to her parents, Shi Nan angrily threw down her chopsticks.

"Your parents have gone too far! I thought our family's preference for sons over daughters was bad enough, but I never expected..."

"Sister Nan, this is actually quite good. Consider this 500,000 yuan as the money I use to redeem myself. From now on, they won't be able to control me anymore." Qiu Mang's expression was calm; she had long since let go of the past.

“What you said makes sense, but this 500,000…” Shi Nan still felt that 500,000 was too much of a burden for a girl who had just entered society.

"Sister Nan, it's okay, I can pay it back." Qiu Mang said as she used serving chopsticks to put food into Shi Nan's bowl.

The two chatted about other things, and the atmosphere gradually became more lively. After dinner, they spent the whole day shopping.

It was already 10 p.m. when Shi Nan returned home and knocked on Zhao Xiaoya's door.

Zhao Xiaoya yawned as she came to open the door. When the door opened, she saw Shi Nan holding a large durian and grinning at her.

"Ta-da... Xiaoya, I saw durians for sale while I was shopping today, so I bought one for you."

Zhao Xiaoya was somewhat surprised. Her salary wasn't high, and she often bought discounted fruit. As for durian, although she wanted to eat it, she never bought it.

"Shi Nan, you're too kind!" Zhao Xiaoya said.

"It's okay, don't you like to eat? Eat up! I recently landed a big order, so let's celebrate!" Shi Nan smiled, her eyes crinkling.

"Well, thank you." Zhao Xiaoya lowered her eyes and reached out to take the durian.

A few days later, Shi Nan and Qiu Mang worked part-time at Marriott in the evenings, and it was already 2 a.m. when they got home.

After washing up, the two lay in bed preparing to sleep. Just as they closed their eyes, they heard a loud knocking at the door.

Qiu Mang stood up, initially thinking it was her own door, but upon closer listening, she realized the sound was coming from the main entrance.

The sound grew louder and more urgent, showing no sign of stopping.

Qiu Mang frowned. Why would someone be knocking on the door in the middle of the night?

Before she could think about it, she heard the door open, followed by Zhao Xiaoya's slightly panicked voice.

"Who...who are you looking for?"

"Does Shi Nan live here?" a man's gruff voice rang out.

A man leaned against the wall by the door, reeking of alcohol. He was tall and dark-skinned, with his sleeves rolled up to reveal half of a tiger head tattoo, making him look menacing.

Zhao Xiaoya was somewhat at a loss. "What do you want to do?"

"I'm just asking you, does Shi Nan live here? Why are you asking so many questions!" The man burped, clearly impatient.

Zhao Xiaoya looked at the man, shrank back in fear, and then slammed the door shut.

She leaned against the door, panting heavily. The man continued to knock, the vibrations coming through the door. Still feeling uneasy, she turned around and locked the door.

Shi Nan came out of the bathroom and saw Zhao Xiaoya's panicked appearance. She pointed to the door and asked, "What's wrong?"

Zhao Xiaoya stepped forward and said, "I don't know. He said he was looking for you, but he smelled of alcohol and looked fierce. He didn't seem like a good person at all, so I locked him outside."

Zhao Xiaoya observed Shi Nan's expression and asked cautiously, "You don't actually know him, do you?"

Shi Nan walked behind the door, peered through the peephole at the outside, and frowned. "This..."

Zhao Xiaoya was startled. "You really know him?"

Qiu Mang also walked over and glanced outside through the peephole. "How did this scoundrel find his way here?"

Zhao Xiaoya's pupils shrank. "What's going on? You two know him? He doesn't look like a decent person. How did you meet him? Did you mess with someone you shouldn't have?"

"Hey! Shi Nan! I know you're in there, open the door for me! I told you I'd take care of you, open the door for your man!" the man outside shouted.