How I Tamed My Wolfish Husband Back in 80s-Chapter 228 - 230: Scapegoat_1

Lv Qian dragged the entire class into the water with one sentence, each of them worried that Lv Qian would rat them out.

Then they started to think that Li Qiao’s issue might actually be true.

"The innocent can clear themselves—why worry about what others say if she has nothing to do with the school doctor?"

"Isn’t her making a scene with the teacher proof enough that there’s something going on between her and the school doctor?"

Moreover, there’s no smoke without fire—why is everyone talking about her and not about others?

At this moment, the classmates also had various opinions about Li Qiao.

"So you think you are in the right?" Mr. Che bellowed, red-faced with anger. "You call yourself a university student, but I see you as nothing but a gossipy woman at the village entrance. Write a two-thousand-word self-criticism and apologize to Li Qiao."

Lv Qian did not dare to disobey and meekly turned towards Li Qiao, saying sincerely, "I’m sorry."

Li Qiao was still furious, "I won’t accept it! I’ve not only reported this to the school but also called the police. Wait for the police to come for you! And for those spreading rumors, you’d better hope I don’t find out who you are, or I’ll report every single one." She warned them like killing the chicken to scare the monkey.

Upon hearing this, Lv Qian was panicked, worrying about being taken away by the police.

Mr. Che was also stunned.

Li Qiao actually had a backup plan, but he knew if this wasn’t handled well, it could be detrimental to Li Qiao’s future, so he tacitly approved of her approach.

He reiterated the prohibition on spreading rumors among classmates, warning of recorded demerits for violators. "Did you all hear that?"

"We heard," the classmates said.

Only then did Mr. Che leave the classroom.

As soon as the teacher left, the classmates started to disperse.

Lv Qian, fearful of the police, stopped Li Qiao and begged for mercy, "Li Qiao, can you please retract your complaint against me with the police?"

"No, you must face the consequences of your actions." Li Qiao walked away.

The classmates comforted Lv Qian one by one, criticizing Li Qiao for making such a fuss. The bold ones said that there was an eighty to ninety percent chance that the rumors were true; otherwise, why would she be so agitated?

Li Qiao had not gone far; she came back and slapped the outspoken classmate without a word, then pulled out a doctor’s certification: "Look carefully! I did not have an abortion! I went to the hospital yesterday to treat a bad cold I caught because I missed classes the morning before to go hiking with Xue Sufen; her whole family can testify." As for the idea that she had an abortion because she was carrying someone else’s child, if she did, having the child’s father not kill her would be a miracle. You all really love making up stories.

The slapped classmate looked at Li Qiao in shock.

Xue Sufen chimed in, "Indeed, we went hiking together, and Professor Xue was there; they both caught bad colds at the same time due to their frail health."

With Xue Sufen’s clarification and the doctor’s certification,

people stopped their gossiping.

Li Qiao shot a glance at Xue Sufen. Finally did something decent! She put away the certification and left.

Ma Hongxiang caught up to her, whispering, "You’re really fierce, giving Ai Mingshan a slap like that. Next time she sees you, she’ll probably take a detour."

"A good person gets bullied, and a nice horse gets ridden. When faced with injustice, you must fight back with all you can. Otherwise, people will only bully you more fiercely," Li Qiao stated decisively.

Inspired, Ma Hongxiang agreed, "Mhm." She paused, then asked, "I don’t know why those people were so sure you had been to the infirmary." She had often stayed together with Li Qiao and knew nothing about it.

Li Qiao said, "Aren’t rumors just made up randomly?"

Someone close to her must have done it.

Because they had no other way to deal with her, they had to start yellow rumors about her.

It had to be admitted, it was a simple and crude effective method.

Because, whether she cleared it up or not, it would have a certain impact on her.

"That’s true," Ma Hongxiang cursed those who spread the rumors for Li Qiao.

"..."

.....

Li Qiao returned to her dormitory, opened her storage locker, and took out the manuscript she was planning to translate in the library.

Three months, about three hundred thousand characters—a little over one hundred thousand a month. On average, every day, she had to translate several thousand characters. The task was far from easy.

Cheng Shuqin and Xue Sufen entered the dormitory one after the other. The latter said, "Li Qiao, this wasn’t my doing."

Li Qiao looked at her, "Did I say it was you?" She had a grudge against Xue Sufen, too. If not for their elders’ relationship, they would have torn each other apart long ago.

However, this time Xue Sufen had bitten off more than she could chew.

She kept accusing Qin Jin of throwing the shoe too.

Revenge against her was not impossible.

Unfortunately, she had no evidence.

Moreover, she was even more suspicious of Cheng Shuqin.

She snorted coldly, clutching her books as she walked away.

Xue Sufen clenched her fist, "I’m just afraid you’ll go home and spread rumors." These kinds of rumors were not to be taken lightly; if the elders found out, they would surely pin the blame on her, and she would definitely be punished. How wrong would that be?

Ma Hongxiang also prepared to leave.

Cheng Shuqin said, "Ma Hongxiang, now that Li Qiao’s reputation has soured, aren’t you afraid of being influenced by associating with her?"

Ma Hongxiang didn’t want to offend anyone, "I’m just going to the library to study."

Xue Sufen too departed. She had started on her thesis, but it was still unfinished.

The dormitory was left with only Cheng Shuqin.

She took out a pregnancy test report, intending to place it under Li Qiao’s pillow, but Li Qiao rarely stayed overnight, perhaps once every fortnight. When the other party flipped the blanket, the paper would fall out, and roommates would have to see it; the rumor would have long since spread.

Stashing it in the locker then? Since the bracelet incident, Li Qiao had been locking it.

There were no books on the desk either.

The drawers were empty; placing the report there would be too conspicuous and too easy to expose herself.

She still needed a plan to solidify the rumor of Li Qiao’s pregnancy and abortion.

That way, even if the other party had a doctor’s certificate, everyone would believe the certificate was fake.

She also needed to inform Old Mrs. Qin about Li Qiao’s situation at school. First, to create discord between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law; once their relationship soured, Li Qiao would inevitably have disputes with men as well.

Then, when both grandmother and grandson confronted Li Qiao together, she would have quite a spectacle to enjoy.

.....

Li Qiao arrived at the library, where Old Mrs. Qin had already saved a seat.

She greeted her softly and began to translate the manuscript.

About half an hour later, Old Mrs. Qin passed a note, "Qiaoqiao, you just recovered from your illness; remember to take breaks at regular intervals."

Only then did Li Qiao put down her pen.

Old Mrs. Qin passed another note, "It’s been several days since I’ve seen Lingqing, why doesn’t he come to the library?"

Using lip reading, Li Qiao replied, "I don’t know, he might be busy with other things." She took a short break and then continued translating.

......

At half-past nine in the evening, Li Qiao and Old Mrs. Qin left the library.

Old Mrs. Qin said, "Qiaoqiao, without studying the textbooks, do you think you can manage to skip a grade in two months?"

"It’s manageable. I have it figured out," Li Qiao replied.

Old Mrs. Qin was reassured.

At night, there were people on the road carrying stoves and baskets on carrying poles, selling wontons on the sly, and their calls could be heard.

Old Mrs. Qin asked, "Are you hungry?"

Li Qiao replied, "Not hungry."

"I’m a bit hungry," Old Mrs. Qin licked her lips. It had been over four hours since dinner at five o’clock.

Li Qiao immediately called over the wonton seller, "How much for a bowl?"

"Eight cents a bowl."

"One bowl, please."

The seller set up his stall, turned on his flashlight, unfolded his table, and set up a small stool. The grandmother and granddaughter had hardly warmed their seats.

A familiar voice reached their ears, "Old man, two bowls of wontons, please."

"Right away! One yuan and sixty cents."

Li Qiao turned around, and it was Cheng Shuqin, accompanied by a young woman she did not recognize.

After Cheng Shuqin approached, she exclaimed in surprise, "Li Qiao, you’re here too!"