Chapter 40: An Extortion Opportunity Delivered to the Door
Zhang Qin burst into tears. “Wanwan, how can you speak about Xuyang like that?”
“You can’t destroy him just because you can’t have him!”
“I’m begging you. Would it help if I got down on my knees?”
The local precinct had mentioned that Lin Wan was married and that her husband was a military officer. However, Huo Xiao had explicitly instructed the precinct and the post office bureau not to disclose his specific details, so Guo Xuyang had no idea that the man married to Lin Wan was Huo Xiao. He assumed Lin Wan had just tricked some low-ranking officer.
Guo Xuyang grabbed Zhang Qin forcefully. “Qinqin, don’t beg her!”
“Lin Wan, name it. Exactly how much money do you want to finally leave me alone?”
Lin Wan let out a scoff, stood up, and extended her hand. “First, hand over the voice recorder hidden in your bag. Then we can talk about other things.”
The original novel mentioned that Guo Xuyang possessed a portable voice recorder. When he was avenging Zhang Qin, he had used this exact recorder to deal with Zhang Qin’s two older brothers, recording ironclad evidence so they could never recover. This recorder had been obtained by his maternal uncle during a raid on a capitalist’s home and was later gifted to him.
Guo Xuyang’s expression shifted drastically. His hand instinctively twitched toward the canvas military satchel he was wearing.
How did Lin Wan know about it?
Lin Wan sneered mockingly, “You wanted to catch me on tape to turn around and sue me for extortion, didn’t you? If I asked for too little, I’d rot in a prison cell; if I asked for too much, I’d get sent straight to the firing squad, right?”
“Zhang Qin, you and your husband are truly malicious!”
“You two are such ungrateful wolves!”
“It was completely unnecessary of me to show a good heart and save Guo Xuyang in the first place!”
“I should have just watched him roll around with Xu Hui, and then reported them to the authorities for improper sexual conduct!”
Boom, boom, boom.
Zhang Qin’s head buzzed furiously. She waved her hands in a total panic. “No, Wanwan, really, no. We didn’t want to sue you; we just wanted you to withdraw the case.”
“We…”
The veins on Guo Xuyang’s hands bulged out like earthworms. The gaze he directed at Lin Wan was practically spitting fire.
Lin Wan let out a cold scoff. “Not giving it up?”
“Then I’m leaving.”
“Thanks for the free meal.”
“Wait!”
“Here!”
Left with absolutely no choice, Guo Xuyang reluctantly pulled the voice recorder out of his bag.
Lin Wan took a look—well, well, it was actually a Sony. The recorder was still actively taping!
She hit the stop button, rewound the tape, and pressed play. Sure enough, it blared out their conversation from moments ago.
Lin Wan chuckled at the playback. The faces of the Guo couple turned thoroughly deathly pale.
“Now you can state your terms, right?” Guo Xuyang wanted nothing more than to strangle Lin Wan to death right now.
Lin Wan: “Let’s step outside to talk.”
The state-owned restaurant was too crowded. If someone happened to overhear, it would leave a hidden vulnerability.
Leaving the state-owned restaurant, Lin Wan walked beneath the shade of a tree by the roadside. “A permanent job placement.”
“I want a shop assistant position in the commercial sector.”
“An assistant post at a vegetable company, a meat processing plant, a soy sauce factory, or a supply and marketing cooperative—any of those units will do.”
Comrade Huang Guixiang lacked formal education and couldn’t handle other types of work. Guo Xuyang’s father, Guo Yongnian, served as a cadre in the Bureau of Commerce, so securing a shop assistant position might be exceptionally difficult for others, but it wasn’t nearly as hard for him.
Guo Xuyang was pushed into a complete fit of rage. “Lin Wan, don’t you dare cross the line!”
His original plan had been to wait until his parents’ anger subsided, and then have his father arrange a post for Zhang Qin at the supply and marketing cooperative. That way, when Zhang Qin accompanied the military, she could simply process a job transfer straight to the cooperative at the base. Otherwise, there were far too many military wives living at the base, and even more waiting for job allocations. If Zhang Qin had to wait for the military to allocate a job for her, she would have to wait until the year dot.
But if his father gave this job vacancy slot to Lin Wan, it wouldn’t be easy to squeeze another person into the commercial system anytime soon.
Lin Wan shrugged, too lazy to waste words with him. She turned on her heel and strode away.
Zhang Qin wanted to chase after her, but Guo Xuyang held her back. Zhang Qin could only watch helplessly as Lin Wan boarded a public bus.
She asked anxiously, “Brother Xuyang, what are we supposed to do now?”
Guo Xuyang took a deep breath. “Let’s go home first before deciding.”
Back at the Guo residence.
Zhu Xianju and Guo Yongnian hadn’t gone to work; instead, they were waiting at home for Guo Xuyang to bring back news.
“How did it go? Is the matter settled?” Guo Yongnian set down his newspaper, questioning Guo Xuyang.
Guo Xuyang’s expression looked utterly foul. “We’ll have to find another way.” He refused to compromise. Compromising would imply he was truly in the wrong.
Guo Yongnian knit his brows.
Zhu Xianju lifted her eyes to question Guo Xuyang, “Explain the specific details.”
Guo Xuyang didn’t want to speak. “Mom, stop asking. That Lin Wan is an absolute piece of garbage. If I compromise this time, who knows what kind of ridiculous stunt she’ll pull to blackmail me next time.”
“We absolutely cannot feed the greed of someone like her!” With that, he strode straight back to his bedroom, slamming the door shut with a loud thud.
Zhang Qin wanted to follow him inside, but Zhu Xianju called out to halt her.
“Since Xuyang won’t speak, you will. I assume you don’t want to see Xuyang’s future completely ruined either!”
“Keep in mind that Xuyang landing in this predicament was entirely caused by you!”
“Tell me everything, word for word. Do not omit a single detail, and do not exaggerate the facts!”
Left with no alternative, Zhang Qin had to lay everything out on the table.
Once she finished speaking, both husband and wife fell into absolute silence.
Zhu Xianju seriously questioned whether she had given birth to a afterbirth instead. Even an afterbirth couldn’t possibly be as completely stupid as he was. This child had clearly been highly intelligent in the past; otherwise, he couldn’t have risen to the rank of deputy company commander at such a young age. Why on earth had he transformed into this now?
They told him to go apologize, sue for peace, and display absolute sincerity to compensate her. Yet he did an excellent job of doing the exact opposite—going out there to fan the flames. Let alone Lin Wan, if it were Zhu Xianju herself, she would have delivered two ferocious slaps to this idiot’s face. What an absolute moron!
Unfortunately, this was her own biological son. The moment her son got tangled up with this Zhang Qin, he turned completely brainless. Zhu Xianju grew even more dissatisfied with her.
“Alright, go back to your room.”
“This matter is no longer your concern. Tell Xuyang that he should return to his unit exactly when he’s supposed to!”
Zhang Qin retreated to the bedroom in pure trepidation.
Zhu Xianju turned to ask Guo Yongnian, “Can we secure a shop assistant position at the supply and marketing cooperative?”
Guo Yongnian nodded. “Yes. We have a tacit understanding internally. The second son’s wife didn’t utilize her slot, so a quota was originally reserved for the third son’s wife anyway.”
“Tomorrow, have the third son’s wife process the onboarding procedures first, and then transfer it over to Lin Wan.”
Zhu Xianju nodded. “Then I will personally go find Lin Wan for a talk after I clock off this afternoon.”
“Not to mention, that young comrade Lin Wan’s brain is truly exceptionally sharp. She managed to deduce right from Xuyang’s words that he had brought a voice recorder. Or perhaps she wasn’t certain and was merely bluffing them.” Who could have guessed he would actually let himself get bluffed out. Zhu Xianju shook her head. Why couldn’t he just bite down with a death grip and refuse to admit it? If he resolutely denied it, what could Lin Wan possibly do? Did she actually dare to rob him by force? Robbing him by force would make her the one in the wrong. Given the value of a voice recorder, reporting it to the police would be more than enough to give her a very rough time.
Forget it. She had spawned this piece of garbage himself. She could only clean up the mess for him personally.
Zhu Xianju clocked off early that afternoon and went straight outside the machinery factory family compound to wait for Lin Wan.
She didn’t recognize Lin Wan either. It was the old gatekeeper uncle who helped call out: “Lin Wan! Someone is here looking for you!”
Lin Wan, who was humming a tune on her way home, spotted Zhu Xianju waiting outside the gatehouse. Her hair was cut evenly to her ears, pinned back meticulously with clips on both sides. A pair of glasses rested on the bridge of her nose, and she wore a white shirt and grey trousers paired with black leather shoes—a standard cadre outfit.
She walked toward Lin Wan with a smile. “Hello, Comrade Lin Wan. I am Guo Xuyang’s mother. I’m very sorry for the trouble he caused you!”
“Could I borrow a few minutes of your time? Let’s find another place to talk.”
“How about we head to the state-owned restaurant? I’ll treat you to dinner.”
Lin Wan nodded. “Sure!” She turned to the gatekeeper. “Uncle, please tell my mom that I won’t be back for dinner!”
Then she whispered secretly to Zhang Hongqiang, who had already spotted her and was sprinting madly toward her, “You and Mom eat a bit less at home. I’ll bring back meat for you two later!”
“Keep it a secret, got it?”
Zhang Hongqiang’s eyes lit up instantly, and he nodded vigorously.
