How I Tamed My Wolfish Husband Back in 80s-Chapter 182 - 184: Far Away_1

Li Qiao returned to school, the time approaching 2:10 PM.

The dormitory was empty. She headed straight for the classroom with her book in hand. Ma Hongxiang waved at her, and just as she barely sat down, the bell rang for class.

Ma Hongxiang said, "You were almost late. What kept you?"

Li Qiao said, "Didn’t I mention this morning that I was out renting a place and buying daily necessities? After class, if you have time, I can teach you math. Did you bring your book?"

Ma Hongxiang couldn’t hide her delight, "I did." She had originally planned to go to the library to read it.

After class, the two stayed in the classroom until they got hungry and then left together to eat in the cafeteria. When they were getting their food, Li Qiao saw Xue Lingqing, took the initiative to greet her and cozy up, "Hello, Professor Xue."

Ma Hongxiang, who dreaded interacting with teachers, braved a greeting.

Xue Lingqing had lost the sternness she had in class and said with a gentle tone, "Why are you eating so late?"

"Aren’t you the same?" Li Qiao said. She deliberately sat opposite Xue Lingqing, with Ma Hongxiang sitting beside her. Ma Hongxiang nudged her intentionally, leaving her puzzled. She glanced back then continued chatting with Xue Lingqing, asking about matters like skipping grades and preparing for graduate studies.

She had seen a report in the newspaper she used as padding today that mentioned the reinstatement of the graduate school system this year.

She had already completed two years of university study, with courses similar to the current ones. If she started over, would it not be a waste of time? Her plan was to skip to the third year and continue from there, later taking the examination to become a graduate student at the same university. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

Xue Sufen had hinted to her about her financial situation, suggesting that with Professor Xue’s title and backing, if she were to become his graduate student, it would make it much easier to apply for a teaching position at the university afterward.

Ma Hongxiang exclaimed in shock, "You’re already thinking of skipping grades at the start of the school year? How would you skip? Have you finished learning all the knowledge in the books?"

Li Qiao said, "I’ll ask."

Xue Lingqing looked at her and then lowered her gaze, "I’ll need to ask as well."

Although Li Qiao didn’t get a detailed answer, she was already very happy and focused on eating her meal.

Ma Hongxiang, feeling constrained by the teacher’s presence, ate with small bites.

Li Qiao, having finished her meal, put down her chopsticks and belched, sighing, "The food at the school is really good."

Xue Lingqing smiled, "Isn’t it good at home?"

"It’s good too, but not as abundant as the school’s." Li Qiao took out a watch from her pocket to check the time; it was almost 7:30 PM.

Ma Hongxiang glanced over, "Your watch looks really nice. Isn’t your family from the countryside? Do your parents still have spare money to buy you a watch?"

Li Qiao said, "It was a gift from the educated youths in the village."

"From a guy?" Ma Hongxiang asked, filled with curiosity.

Xue Lingqing’s gaze swept over discreetly.

Li Qiao frankly said, "Both men and women. They’re repeating the year, and I bring them notes and test papers to work on every week. They wanted to thank me, so they chipped in to buy the watch."

Xue Lingqing said, "Take your time eating."

"Goodbye, Professor Xue," Li Qiao said with a beaming smile.

Following her lead, Ma Hongxiang said goodbye to Professor Xue and waited until Xue Lingqing had left before she asked, "How many of them got into university in the end?"

Li Qiao said, "All of them got in..."

"Awesome!"

"When I was greeting the teacher earlier, what did your nudge mean?" Li Qiao asked, bringing it up.

Ma Hongxiang was embarrassed, "I was trying to tell you to leave quickly, eating at the same table as a teacher is stressful."

Li Qiao said, "You have to overcome the pressure. It’s also very important to have a good relationship with teachers in university."

"To have?"

"To get along, I mean to get along," Li Qiao stressed. The word ’to have’ isn’t really a good word these days.

....

Li Qiao and Ma Hongxiang returned to the dormitory and on the way, Xue Sufen informed them of a class meeting, so they both turned around to enter the classroom with her.

After all the students had arrived, their homeroom teacher Mr. Che arrived late and, after symbolically speaking a few sentences, distributed forms to be filled out for the transfer of household registration, then handed out a small booklet to each student.

Mr. Che stated, "Everyone must take good care of this booklet, as it will be needed when collecting allowances each month. Those particularly impoverished can apply for hardship assistance, which is three yuan and fifty cents a month. Get the form from the class monitor in private."

Ma Hongxiang asked, "Li Qiao, are you applying for hardship assistance?"

Li Qiao replied, "No, I’m not." She raised her hand to ask a question, "Excuse me, Mr. Che, shouldn’t we receive food rations every month when we transfer our household registration? Why is there no ration booklet?"

Mr. Che answered, "You’ll get the ration booklet after you graduate and are assigned work."

Li Qiao argued, "But there’s a college student from my hometown who has a ration booklet, and he even gets meat tickets and subsidiary food vouchers every month." The welfare treatments of Cai Hechuan are well known by folks from several nearby villages.

"Was it a university he was recommended to? It was canceled this year."

Li Qiao was stunned, "..." Thirty pounds of grain a month? To say it’s canceled just like that.

Ma Hongxiang whispered, "Do you think I should apply for the hardship assistance?"

"Depend on your actual situation."

"I’m a little afraid of being looked down upon by classmates."

Li Qiao responded, "Who cares what others think? As long as you respect yourself, that’s enough. You’re already a dragon among men by being here, so hold your head high, chest out, and exude confidence; be the most formidable presence like your mother. Go and get the form after class. With three yuan and fifty cents a month, that’s over forty yuan a year, which can buy quite a lot." If Qin Jin weren’t doing business or buying a house, she would definitely have applied for the poor student grant.

Why not take it if it’s free?

After Mr. Che concluded his instructions about discipline with Xue Sufen, he left. She then directly asked who was from a poor family and told them to come fill out the form with her immediately.

At first, no one approached, so she called out again, "Being poor is nothing to be ashamed of. Being unable to confront poverty head-on is shameful. Hurry up."

After some people came forward, Ma Hongxiang gathered her courage and approached Xue Sufen for a form.

Xue Sufen handed one to Ma Hongxiang, leaving one form left, and called out loudly, "Li Qiao, do you want it?"

All the students turned their attention to Li Qiao.

Li Qiao was wearing new clothes, her skin was snow-white, and her hair was jet-black.

Her demeanor was even more outstanding than the city girls and didn’t resemble someone from a poor family at all. She needed assistance?

Li Qiao smiled, "No need, thank you." She thought to herself, Xue Sufen is actually pretty decent, albeit with a bit of city person’s pride. Knowing she was from the countryside, Sufen went out of her way to look after her; truly a beauty with a kind heart.

At that moment, an older male classmate, rubbing his hands, said his family had little land but many mouths to feed and needed to apply for assistance.

Xue Sufen asked Li Qiao once more, "Are you sure you don’t want it?"

"Yes."

Only then did Xue Sufen hand the form to the male classmate. After a while, she started to collect the completed forms proactively. As she reached Ma Hongxiang’s seat, she still spoke very loudly, "Li Qiao, why won’t you take the assistance with your family being like that? What’s the use of pretending to be well-off?"

Li Qiao was at a loss for words. This woman probably thought that the poorest would be her, based on the house she rented.

But was it necessary to announce her family’s poverty so loudly?

Was it deliberate?

A shiver ran through her at the thought. Before she had traveled back through time to her university days, one of her roommates came from an impoverished background.

Everything she wore or used was cheap.

The others in the dormitory intentionally or unintentionally undermined her confidence until she developed depression and had to take a leave from school.

She had initially planned to apply for graduate studies under Professor Xue, but now she knew she had to start buttering up another teacher. After all, Xue Sufen was related to him, and if the whole family was bad news, her future would be doomed.

Counselor Xiang was assigned to guide some class, and Li Qiao would need to inquire about it for information—screening professors through him couldn’t go wrong.

With these thoughts, she subtly kept her distance from Xue Sufen.

After class, Li Qiao hesitated between returning to the dormitory or the hostel. Eventually, she chose the latter, as she felt happiest when with her partner.

....