How I Tamed My Wolfish Husband Back in 80s-Chapter 177 - 179: Farewell_1

The two returned to their posts and continued working.

As evening approached and work ended, Li Qiao prepared to go home, but was stopped by Xun Dong as she left the office hall, "Li Qiao, you’re perceptive. Tonight, follow us and observe."

"Okay." Li Qiao agreed, planning to meet up with Qin Jin first, "I bought you some shoes and clothes."

Qin Jin was extremely happy as it was the first time he had received a gift from her. "Try them on when you get home, let’s go!"

Li Qiao indicated that she would be working overtime and sent him back to the courtyard house first.

Qin Jin said, "I need to let Grandma know." And then he left.

Li Qiao returned to her department to wait, joining her colleagues when the time was right to head to the restaurant together.

Ma Ling and Xu Feng had arrived early and were already eating, no longer confronting each other, and chatting and laughing.

The four found a corner seat but made sure they could see the customers entering the door at a glance.

Li Qiao discreetly observed the scene; everyone was ordering and eating, nothing out of the ordinary.

Around half-past seven, Xu Feng stood up to go to the restroom located at the other end of the corridor.

Two men followed Xu Feng.

Noticing this, Liao Fan was about to follow suit, but before he could stand up, he felt a kick under the table from Li Qiao. He glanced down, and Li Qiao glared at him—it was still an undercover operation. Those two people following Xu Feng had their hands hanging down without any sign of carrying anything unusual, and they looked calm—couldn’t he tell they were just here to eat like everyone else?

Upon realizing what Li Qiao meant, Liao Fan casually picked up the teapot and poured her a cup of water.

Director Xun noticed a man seated at the entrance staring intently at Liao Fan and Li Qiao, and with a quick change of thought, he murmured, "Liao Fan and Li Qiao, pretend to be lovers."

"What?" Liao Fan was confused. One moment he was kicked to stay put, and the next, he was supposed to act like a couple with Li Qiao. Had they identified a target?

At this point, Xu Feng came out safely, signaling with his eyes that he hadn’t found anything.

Director Xun gave an almost imperceptible nod to let him continue eating.

By this time, Li Qiao had finished a bowl of rice, and Liao Fan said, "I’ll serve you."

Noticing the change in Director Xun’s expression, Li Qiao surmised they might have found the target. Her gaze swept around the room and noticed that the man sitting at the entrance had an odd expression, staring at her as if wanting to scrutinize her for kicking Liao Fan. She pondered for a moment, then imperiously ordered, "Go buy me an ice pop, too."

Liao Fan: "..." Where would he find an ice pop? "You sure have a lot of requests!"

Li Qiao slammed her chopsticks down, startling both Director Xun and Liao Fan’s colleague. She rebuked sharply, "Otherwise, why would I choose you as my partner?"

Liao Fan: ...She was a natural at acting—surely she didn’t bully losers like this usually, did she? Suddenly, he felt a bit envious of the loser.

He left to buy the ice pop.

No sooner had he stepped outside the restaurant than he heard faint footsteps behind him. As he turned, a knife was already before his eyes.

Instinctively, he dodged and deftly disarmed the attacker, pinning him down.

His colleagues arrived just then and helped subdue and take the assailant away.

Onlookers gathered around to watch the excitement.

Ma Ling remarked, "Why wasn’t Xu Feng the target of the attack?"

Xu Feng: "...."

...

Back at the police station, the department ended the day’s work.

Li Qiao prepared to go back to the courtyard house, but as she left the precinct, she heard the sound of a bike bell. It was Qin Jin.

"Are you done with things?"

Li Qiao gave an affirmative "Hmm" and then asked, "Did you try on the clothes?"

Qin Jin replied, "No, I’d just sweat on them, afraid they’d mold. The shoes fit well, though. Grandma praised your good taste. The clothes looked like they’ll fit when I held them up."

Li Qiao smiled, knowing it wasn’t easy to hear praise from Grandma.

She went back to the courtyard house to wash up before going to bed.

The next day, August 30th, Li Qiao arrived at the department to find Ma Ling already there, talking about the case progress:

"I just came from the interrogation room. They said the suspect initially didn’t confess, admitting only to the attack on Liao Fan. They thought we were fools, but thankfully Director Xun could prove that the knife on him was the same one as the one used to kill the victim. Otherwise, that guy could’ve really managed to wriggle out of it. Eventually, he confessed, saying the woman insulted the man who didn’t dare to retaliate, too cowardly, and he wanted to remove such a worthless person from society for the sake of it. Pure lunacy."

"So, when did you and Liao Fan become an item? I couldn’t tell at all. I was wondering why he went out to buy popsicle for you."

Li Qiao found it quite amusing, "Wasn’t Xu Feng going to the bathroom? Liao Fan wanted to follow, so I kicked him, and Director Xun...."

Ma Ling laughed until she was out of breath.

Li Qiao worriedly added, "That guy’s thinking is so extreme, is he a bit sick in the head? Could he get a lighter sentence?"

"Being sick means you can kill people? They’ll still execute them by firing squad!"

Li Qiao was relieved.

Even if a mentally ill person commits a crime, they should be treated equally. If not punishing them means having their guardian bear the consequences.

Having understood the case, Li Qiao had no regrets. That day, Xun Dong didn’t arrange any work for her.

Next door, however, a bunch of printing tasks had been lined up.

Li Qiao was busy right up until it was almost time to leave work. After submitting the last print job, she said to the sister in the print room, "I won’t be coming tomorrow."

"Then who will do the printing jobs?"

"Weren’t you doing just fine before I came?" Li Qiao was somewhat speechless; some of the office clerks weren’t busy at all. After the start of autumn, she even saw one of the senior sisters in a private office knitting a sweater while on duty.

Whereas they, the little shrimps, had more work than they could handle.

Li Qiao went back to her own department to say goodbye to her colleagues.

Xun Dong gave her a pen as a parting gift.

Ma Ling said, "Director Xun, why didn’t you tell me you were picking a gift, I look so bad coming empty-handed?"

Xu Feng chimed in.

Li Qiao laughed, "It’s okay, friendship can’t be measured with gifts. Thank you, Director Xun, I’ll accept it."

"Remember to come back during winter break."

At his words, Li Qiao frantically tried to push the pen box back into his hands, saying that there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

Everyone laughed heartily.

Xun Dong said, "I was just kidding."

Only then did Li Qiao accept the pen, bid them farewell, and left. Stepping out of the office building, her heart felt sour, and she couldn’t help her eyes from reddening – she was about to leave her friends again.

....

On the thirty-first, Li Qiao was at home, packing her luggage.

Hu Xiufang and Hu Hai made a delivery to her house, with the latter asking Li Qiao when she was going to school.

"Tomorrow. How about you?"

Hu Xiufang replied, "Me too, tomorrow. It’s a pity we’re not headed in the same direction, or else we could have shared a ride and saved our families the trouble. I wanted to go by myself, but my brother insisted on going with me. Have you bought your ticket?"

"Yes, I have. A girl should not be traveling alone on a train, and you must never trust strangers when you’re out and about. Not even classmates, and definitely don’t drink the water they offer. College is more like a small society; it’s much more complex than high school," Li Qiao said.

She didn’t use to think so.

Now, she was increasingly aware that every step forward in life is an unknown challenge.

Hu Xiufang remarked, "You talk as if you’ve been to university."

Li Qiao chuckled lightly, "That’s what my colleagues told me." Xun Dong was a college graduate and had given her a lot of advice.

After chatting for a while, Hu Xiufang left.

Li Qiao finished packing her luggage and went out to enjoy the shade, where Peng Chunhua came over wearing slightly thick trousers and long sleeves, with a child in her arms, "Why are you not off to school yet?"

Li Qiao didn’t want to engage, as this woman, only twelve days after childbirth, would often wander to the doorway with her child, deliberately standing by the Qin family’s door.

The grandmother scolded her countless times for bringing bad luck, but she turned a deaf ear.

Peng Chunhua then said, "Look at my child, so different from the one you picked up." She lowered her voice and said, "I heard people in the village saying that the child you picked up was born by Jin’s woman outside, and that they left the child there on purpose for you to raise."

Li Qiao: "...." Damn! Who’s spreading such rumors? He was clearly a pure-hearted and naive young man! She retorted, "If Jin had a woman on the side, why would he marry me?"