"Why should I be angry? What you said is not true at all!" Qin Man still kept smiling.

"Right! Miss Yang Ru?"

Yang Ru could no longer laugh, and even her smile looked a little ugly. She was just forcing herself to laugh.

"Jiang Cong has been away for four years. I have spent much more time with him than you have!"

"But so what? He still doesn't like you. You are a girl, why are you so upset that you have to get involved with a married man? You should be the one who gives up when you see the difficulty!"

"My husband has already told me about you, but I didn't take it seriously. After all, he is so outstanding, it is normal for him to have some flowers and plants around him. People who have seen roses will not be attracted by wild flowers!"

Yang Ru came here on purpose to disgust Qin Man, but Qin Man didn't fall for it and showed her the charm of words. This is what it means to say the most irritating words in the most elegant tone!

"You are really generous! I live with him day and night, I don't believe you don't mind at all!" Yang Ru didn't believe there was such a generous woman.

But she would be wrong. Qin Man's behavior was not magnanimity, but self-confidence.

She is confident that her man is firmly in her hands and no one can snatch him away!

"That's nothing. After all, I'm the one lying next to him every night. I'm not like some people who are always fussy about what they can't get. That's called shamelessness!

Miss Yang, I don't have time to chat with you anymore. Next time, use less perfume. Just enough is classy. Overuse is cheap and vulgar!"

Qin Man felt like she was about to be suffocated by the odor. She was probably using half the bottle of perfume!

Qin Man was too lazy to waste time talking to her. She was almost late for work and couldn't eat any more. She simply threw the buns into the trash can and walked into the department store without looking back.

Yang Ru gritted her teeth. If this wasn't on the street, she would have to tear that woman's mouth apart for daring to humiliate her like that.

Qin Man did not tell Jiang Cong that Yang Ru had come to provoke her this morning, and she did not see Yang Ru again for some time afterwards.

Yang Ru acted as if nothing had happened and continued to show her affection to Jiang Cong every day, which made him develop the ability to automatically ignore and block her. No matter how annoying she was, he could stay out of it.

On the 20th, Jiang Cong received his first salary from the No. 1 Middle School in the city, which was put in a paper bag.

There was also a monthly school subsidy, 20 catties of grain coupons, and 10 catties of meat coupons.

It can be exchanged for 20 kilograms of rice and 10 kilograms of pork, which are welfare subsidies given by the school to teachers.

It is now 1984, and ration coupons have not yet stopped being used. Ration coupons occupied the stage of history for a full thirty-eight years, until the country stopped issuing them in 1985. After a full eight years of sedimentation, they officially withdrew from the stage in 1993. Since then, ration coupons have been discontinued and recycled.

Jiang Cong happily took his salary home. In the evening, he picked up Qin Man from get off work and solemnly handed her the first teacher's salary in his life.

"Manman, this is my salary, please count it!"

Qin Man just remembered that today was the day Jiang Cong paid wages. He was so self-conscious that Qin Man felt that he was a teachable kid!

After counting, the total amount was fifty-six and a half yuan, plus some grain coupons and meat coupons.

Twenty kilograms of rice is enough for two people to eat for a month. They have to go to work, so they only cook at night. Ten kilograms of meat coupons can be exchanged for ten kilograms of pork, which is about enough. This is the benefit of being a people's teacher, full of benefits!

"These eighteen yuan are for rent, and these ten yuan are for buying honeycomb coal. The weather is getting colder, so we need to buy more honeycomb coal to keep at home. Take these food coupons, and exchange them for rice and meat when you get off work tomorrow. Together with the money left in your hand, we will have a total of thirty-eight and a half yuan. These five yuan are for your pocket money!"

Qin Man immediately planned her salary and bought daily necessities for the family and condiments for the kitchen, which she would purchase during her rest time.

"I worked a few days last month, so I should get some salary at the end of the month, probably around a dozen yuan!"

Qin Man counted on her fingers. She worked five days last month and sold a refrigerator and a washing machine, earning her a commission of 10 yuan. Her base salary was 45 yuan a month, equivalent to 1.5 yuan a day. However, she did not work full time last month. Manager Peng said that since she had just arrived, she would be paid by the day, only 1 yuan a day, and would be considered full time only from the second month onwards.

Then she could pay him 15 yuan as salary, and use the money to go to the market to buy two autumn clothes for Jiang Cong and herself, and sell some goods on the street, as long as it could keep them warm.

Last time, she spent 11 yuan to buy two pairs of clothes in her hometown. She still feels bad now! Fortunately, you get what you pay for. These clothes are comfortable to wear and they don’t pill or wrinkle easily.

"I don't need so much pocket money. Three dollars is enough for me. I can eat at school for free at noon, and breakfast is only a few cents. Even if you give me five dollars, I can't spend it all!"

Jiang Cong felt that he didn't need that much money. He didn't smoke or drink, so what did he need so much pocket money for?