How I Tamed My Wolfish Husband Back in 80s-Chapter 131: Outrageous_1

"The results come out tomorrow and we have to fill out our college preferences. I’m so nervous, are you nervous?" Hu Xiufang’s heart pounded uncontrollably at the thought of their exam scores, muttering to herself, "You’ve got an admission notice already, so it doesn’t matter if you don’t do well."

Li Qiao: "Are you nuts? What’s there to be nervous about with scores around 600?"

"I’m worried that a teacher might have marked my paper wrong or added up the scores incorrectly." Hu Xiufang was fraught with anxiety, having slept poorly for the past couple of days.

Li Qiao laughed at Hu Xiufang’s self-imposed worries: "They wouldn’t just have one teacher for marking and tallying scores, would they?" She believed the chance of such errors occurring in such an important exam was very low.

She consoled Hu Xiufang a bit.

Then she took out some flaky candy that she had bought from the Peony Commune and handed it to Hu Xiufang, "Try some, it’s really tasty and sweet."

Hu Xiufang bit into it and felt its sweetness spreading on her tongue, her worries seeming to ease a bit: "Sweet. These candies are expensive, my family only buys a couple during New Year’s or the fair, I haven’t eaten them in a long time."

Li Qiao simply shared some with her.

"No need," Hu Xiufang refused, she was just expressing her feelings casually.

Li Qiao: "I’ve got another bag here, just take it. We’re old friends, what’s there to be polite about?"

Hu Xiufang smiled: "Hmm."

As they were talking, Hu Hai called for Hu Xiufang to get ready to go home.

Li Qiao was about to ask her to stay but remembering how Qin Jin came back with a sour face last time after escorting Hu Xiufang, she simply said, "See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow." Hu Xiufang walked out, and Li Qiao watched her leave before returning to feed Old Mrs. Qin the candy.

Old Mrs. Qin after tasting a piece: "Not bad at all, did you buy this on the street?"

"Bought it from the Peony Commune."

"You’ve walked such a long distance. How have you and Jin been eating and sleeping these days?" Old Mrs. Qin asked with concern. "You look like you’ve lost weight."

Li Qiao said, "It’s been hot these days, I’ve been sweating a lot; probably why I’ve lost some weight. As for sleeping, we just set up a tent and stayed outside at night, kept a campfire and mosquito coils burning, and when hungry, we ate in a small restaurant."

Old Mrs. Qin then asked, "And what about showering?"

"We went swimming in the river during the hottest part of the day." Li Qiao previously only knew how to do the freestyle, but Qin Jin taught her backstroke and diving, and she even learned how to take the plunge.

In truth, she wanted to keep having fun, but the nights were too hard to bear. He was restless, played all sorts of tricks, and dealing with him was exhausting.

Old Mrs. Qin thought, how can a young lady swim in the river? Isn’t the water too cold? What if you catch a chill? That brat! He has no idea how to pamper his wife. As anger began to rise, Qin Jin reported, "Granny, I’m going to play."

"Didn’t you just come back from playing? You’re not allowed to leave!" Old Mrs. Qin commanded, but when she turned, Qin Jin was already riding away on his bicycle.

Old Mrs. Qin cursed furiously, "Dare you not to come back!"

Li Qiao smiled and went back to sleep. Later, she joined Old Mrs. Qin to knit and listened as the aunts spontaneously gossiped about the Yu Feng family.

Feng Bing was now missing an ear and divorced, so no girl was willing to be with him. He had recently started something with Widow Wang from the village.

Yu Feng stood in front of Widow Wang’s house cursing daily. Widow Wang, unable to bear the disgrace, locked her door and took her child away to avoid the storm. With no woman around, Feng Bing was irritable at home all day long.

And Peng Chunhua, who had returned to her parents’ home, was coaxed back by Feng Hu. Seeing the situation and fearing Feng Bing might go crazy and hurt her and her child, she returned for a second time to her parents’ home, and once again, Feng Hu stayed at his father-in-law’s place.

Li Qiao listened quietly; she wasn’t interested in Feng Bing’s affairs. She just wanted to know why there was still no news about the lawsuit she had filed. Wasn’t she supposed to get a response within a week? How many days had it been?

...

The next day, after breakfast, Li Qiao got into Qin Jin’s car and headed back to school unhurriedly.

Seeing Qin Jin looking displeased, Old Mrs. Qin spoke unfriendly, "The recent rain has made the weeds in the field as tall as our knees. Once you’ve checked the scores with Qiaoqiao, come back quickly to weed, understand?"

Qin Jin: "Alright." He had already been told last night, why repeat it today? Was it old age forgetfulness?

After they had driven a distance.

Qin Jin said, "Later, will you help me weed? You don’t have to do it, just keep me company."

Li Qiao, preoccupied with thoughts of the lawsuit, talked about it with him.

"Dr. Xun said to wait for the notice, let’s be patient, no rush." Qin Jin wasn’t truly keen on making a fuss; wouldn’t it be more straightforward to just give Feng Bing a good beating? He could deliver a set of iron fists tonight.

The two chatted as they arrived at the school.

The school gate was tightly locked, with a crowd of students gathered at the main entrance to check the posted exam results.

Li Qiao even noticed Cai Hechuan among them, before she could look away, Cai Hechuan turned his gaze towards her.

Li Qiao calmly looked away.

Qin Jin’s expression turned sour, damn, that guy must have specially come today to check his wife-to-be’s score.

"Li Qiao, you’re here too. I have no idea how we did on the exams," Du Xinxin greeted her, quite anxious.

"When will the school open its doors?" Wang Nannan murmured.

Just as they were talking, the old gatekeeper opened the doors. The students swarmed into the campus towards the place where the results were posted.

Fuck!

Li Qiao scored 689 points.

Even better than usual!

The people around her all offered their congratulations.

Li Qiao was equally surprised; could that essay she thought was terrible have only lost her one point?

Cai Hechuan was also shocked. A total of 690 points? Could Li Qiao’s level really have allowed her to score 689?

Han Ting got 643, Hu Xiufang scored 610.

The next two names belonged to students from the class next door.

Then came Wang Nannan, Zou Qing, and Liu Jing. Their scores were about the same as predicted, around the 560s.

This year’s passing score was 505.

Nearly three hundred students in the whole school, and only a few of them passed the exam, which was a significant increase in the admission rate compared to the previous year when only one person passed.

The teacher who posted the results couldn’t contain their joy: "Our school has the highest number of university students in the county, even the Top Scholar of the entire country is from our school."

Everyone was happy for Li Qiao, but more than that, they were impressed.

Below that were scores under 500. The school would suggest retaking the exam next year for those students who still had a chance of going to university.

Du Xinxin searched for a long time without seeing her own name, her scalp tingling with numbness, wondering if they had missed writing it down.

It was Hu Xiufang who told her: "Look, 456 points. Did you not perform well?"

Du Xinxin felt as if she had been struck by lightning, in disbelief: "How could I score so low?"

Li Qiao found it ridiculous too. Du Xinxin had revised with her, and she knew her level well; a realistic estimate was around 530 points, or at the very least 500 points. How could it be only 456?

With that score, she wasn’t even eligible to apply for a vocational college.

Du Xinxin broke down on the spot, crying, and everyone was at a loss for how to comfort her, standing silently by her side.

At this moment, a teacher called Han Ting and others into the classroom to fill out their college preferences.

Li Qiao: "You guys go ahead, I’ll stay with her."

After Han Ting and the others left, Du Xinxin sobbed: "They’re going to college, and I’m left here all alone... What should I do? I honestly estimated I would get around 530 points. I couldn’t have remembered that wrong."

Li Qiao was equally puzzled and after a long silence, she said, "Let’s ask the teacher and see if we can find your exam paper."

Like grasping at a lifeline, Du Xinxin clung to Li Qiao’s wrist: "Really? I just can’t believe I scored so low. I worked very hard. My foundation is weak, and I had lots of chores that Han Ting and the others helped with so that I could have time to study... And now, I didn’t pass, I’ve let them down....."

Li Qiao’s eyes reddened silently, as she gently patted Du Xinxin’s back.

Qin Jin watched from the side, admiring how kind-hearted his beloved was.

When someone cried, she felt their sadness too.

...