How I Tamed My Wolfish Husband Back in 80s-Chapter 209 - 211: Mind’s Eye_1

Li Qiao advised Old Mr. Xue to win against Sir Tao from next door, and the latter specifically requested to play a game with Li Qiao.

Old Mr. Xue gave up his seat.

Li Qiao took a seat, "Sir Tao, please enlighten me."

Sir Tao smiled, "Quite modest."

Li Qiao made her moves, almost instantly knowing her next move as soon as Sir Tao placed his piece.

Sir Tao became increasingly irritated, "Are you cheating?"

Sir Xue said unhappily, "Where would she cheat?"

Sir Tao was frustrated.

Cheng Shuqin took the opportunity to butter up Xue Lingqing, "Sufen, Professor Xue could definitely beat Li Qiao, right?"

Xue Sufen, "Of course, just wait for me to call my uncle to play against Li Qiao."

Li Qiao said indifferently, "Winning is winning, it’s no big deal."

Hearing this, Xue Sufen suddenly lost the urge to call him over. Were Uncle’s skills so unimpressive that beating Li Qiao wasn’t worth boasting about, and losing would be too embarrassing?

She turned into the room.

Cheng Shuqin followed her, "Sufen, why aren’t you looking for Professor Xue?"

"Don’t want to look for him." Xue Sufen flopped onto the bed and picked up a book from the bedside table to flip through.

Cheng Shuqin kept her company for a while, then walked to the window and looked out.

She immediately noticed the pastoral-style paintings on the walls of Li Qiao’s courtyard. Amongst a crowd of ordinary houses, the wall paintings were particularly distinctive. She curiously said, "Sufen, look, that family has paintings on their wall."

"Li Qiao’s home," Xue Sufen said without lifting her head.

"That’s where Li Qiao rents. Isn’t it pretty small? Does it house seven or eight people? Can they all fit?"

"There are just three people in her family. Old Mrs. Qin, her partner, and her," Xue Sufen said.

In fact, that was enough space for them.

It was just that there was no bathroom, making it inconvenient to use the public restroom.

"She doesn’t have parents-in-law?" Cheng Shuqin continued to ask.

Xue Sufen, "Mhm."

Cheng Shuqin, "I want to visit her house, can you take me there?"

Xue Sufen was reluctant, "If you want to go, go by yourself."

Cheng Shuqin didn’t dare to go alone. But she had to visit Li Qiao’s house to understand the other’s family environment.

Know yourself, know your enemy, and you will never be defeated. "Li Qiao dresses pretty well; she also has many clothes. I really want to see what other clothes she has in her closet that she’s never worn."

A few words piqued Xue Sufen’s curiosity.

The style of the red coat Li Qiao wore was nice.

It wasn’t a bright red, but a slightly darker shade.

Moreover, the style wasn’t the form-fitting type sold in stores; it was looser, and you could tell at a glance that it was expensive.

But with Li Qiao’s allowance, she definitely couldn’t afford it.

If there were many clothes in the closet, it could serve as evidence of Li Qiao’s partner’s illegal activities.

With this in mind, wouldn’t Li Qiao be at her mercy?

As Xue Sufen thought about it, the heart she had just calmed began to stir again, and she and Cheng Shuqin went downstairs together.

Li Qiao was not in the yard, and Sir Tao from next door had left as well.

Sir Xue sat alone on a reclining chair, listening to the radio.

She said, "Sir Xue, where’s Li Qiao? Why aren’t you continuing to play chess?"

"Qiaoqiao has gone home. She beat Sir Tao, and he left in a huff," Old Mr. Xue said. "If Qiaoqiao has time the day after tomorrow, ask her over to our house. I really need to ask her how to play Chinese chess."

Xue Sufen laughed silently to herself, thinking: I couldn’t be bothered to invite her just to hear you all praise her.

...

Xue Sufen led Cheng Shuqin to the Qin family’s door and knocked.

The dog in the yard barked incessantly.

Li Qiao came out of the room.

Xue Sufen said through the crack in the door, "Li Qiao, it’s me."

When Li Qiao opened the door and saw Cheng Shuqin again, her expression grew even more displeased, "What is it?"

"I wanted to invite you out to a movie tonight," Xue Sufen made up an excuse on the spot.

Li Qiao, "I already saw one with my partner yesterday."

Xue Sufen interjected, "Aren’t you going to invite us to sit inside?"

Li Qiao’s gaze lingered on Cheng Shuqin. It was one thing for her to come, but why bring Cheng Shuqin along? Yet, if she refused, would Xue Sufen say she was being rude? If she went home and mentioned it to Sir Xue and Professor Xue, would they think she was stingy?

After hesitating, she said, "Come in then."

She better not have any ulterior motives, or she wouldn’t go easy on her.

Li Qiao led them into her room.

Xue Sufen looked around. The size of the room was about the same as Old Mrs. Qin’s, but the layout was completely different.

On the right wall by the entrance, there was a wall painting.

It depicted Li Qiao in a wedding dress and Qin Jin in a suit.

The background was a field.

Strangely enough, standing against such a backdrop, they didn’t look out of place at all.

Xue Sufen exclaimed in surprise, "You can even have wedding photos taken in your hometown?" Before this year, city men who got married would wear a Zhongshan suit if they were well-off, or a simpler robe if not. Suits were unthinkable, as were wedding dresses.

It was only after this spring that people started wearing them, but they were few and far between, and the wedding dresses weren’t white but pink or red.

Didn’t Li Qiao get married last year?

And the style of the wedding dress in the painting differed greatly from those in photo studios.

The dress in the painting was fluffier, and its design was more simple and elegant.

How much must that have cost?

Li Qiao said, "I imagined it myself." Qin Jin had seen the wall painting and said that once she graduated, he would definitely hold another wedding banquet and let her wear a wedding dress to marry him.

She really wanted to skip grades and graduate soon!

Xue Sufen didn’t believe her and continued to look around without responding. The room had an iron frame bed, and the bedding and sheets were pink and checked.

In the corner, there was a three-door wardrobe.

By the window stood a dressing table, on which rested a face cream commonly found in stores, priced at one yuan for a large bottle that lasted a long time.

Next to the vanity table was a locked wooden chest.

Xue Sufen asked, "Why don’t you have any shoes in your room?"

Li Qiao replied, "They’re in the wardrobe."

Cheng Shuqin had already opened the double doors of the wardrobe.

The two shelves below were filled with shoes, all cleaned to a shine.

Above, clothes hung, with men’s on the left, and the sight of a mink coat caught the eye. Wasn’t this sort of luxury item meant for export to earn foreign currency?

Sometimes there would be stocks in department stores, but they were expensive and in high demand.

Common people simply couldn’t get their hands on them.

Yet, Qin Jin actually owned one.

Women’s clothes were on the right, including sweaters, coats, and cotton garments—all of them in the latest styles.

Li Qiao scolded, "Cheng Shuqin, what are you doing?" She moved forward to close the wardrobe. "Who allows you to open someone else’s wardrobe the moment you enter their room? Don’t you know any manners?"

Xue Sufen saw it too and said, "Li Qiao, your family has a mink coat, too?"

Li Qiao didn’t see what was so special about having a mink coat. Remembering that there were none for sale in the stores, she became cautious. "My fiancé’s good brother from the countryside specially gathered mink fur to make it as a wedding gift for him."

"You also have quite a number of clothes," Cheng Shuqin said.

Li Qiao replied, "I bought them myself."

"Where did you get the money?" Xue Sufen persisted in asking.

Cheng Shuqin waited, eagle-eyed, for an explanation.

Li Qiao answered calmly, "The supply and marketing cooperative in my hometown liked the hand-knitted items I made, and they bought from me. Grandma helped me get some aunts from the village as apprentices to do the knitting. We made five cents for each piece, which included errands for delivery and quality checks. I saved up little by little, and here are the receipts to prove it."

Li Qiao took out the old receipts from the cooperative.

The receipt, which she brought over clipped in a novel she had been reading, just happened to come in handy.

Xue Sufen checked it and saw that for each order, they needed two hundred items, with the purchase price ranging from 0.15 to 0.25 yuan each.

There were also stamps from the cooperative and the signature of the person in charge.

It seemed that Li Qiao’s goods were indeed obtained through legitimate means.

She was finally convinced.

Li Qiao put away the documents and started to question, "Sufen, did you deliberately bring Cheng Shuqin here just to check my wardrobe? Are you trying to suggest again that my fiancé or I steal things? Even though we don’t get along very well, Grandma said that we are actually from the same hometown. She grew up with Sir Xue and Madam Xue and has a strong bond with them. She told me to get along with you, no matter what. But time and again, you join Cheng Shuqin in causing me trouble. Grandma even stayed up late knitting gloves for you, hoping you would get along with me, but look at you, an ingrate! Don’t bother coming over next time."

Li Qiao laid into Xue Sufen with a blunt directness, essentially showing her the door.