How I Tamed My Wolfish Husband Back in 80s-Chapter 112: Setting a Trap_1

The students, relieved of a layer of suppression, began to communicate freely.

But who would have thought Mr. Zhou would pull a fast one, barging into the classroom unexpectedly, calling out a few slick old hands and making them run laps outside as punishment.

Li Qiao thought to himself that it seemed teachers from decades ago knew this trick too.

After evening self-study, Li Qiao was the first to head back to the dorm.

Hu Xiufang stayed behind to finish two more problems before leaving, and Li Jinhua caught up, saying, "Why didn’t Li Qiao wait for you today? Is it because of me? In the future, you should walk with her, to prevent her from getting mad at you for betraying her, which could affect your relationship."

Hu Xiufang didn’t understand Li Jinhua’s roundabout way of stirring trouble between her and Li Qiao and said bluntly, "What betrayal among classmates? To describe Li Qiao as narrow-minded..."

Was she doing it on purpose for the other students in the hallway to hear?

Because of not tutoring Li Jinhua, Li Qiao was quietly gossiped about among the classmates.

Li Jinhua’s role in fanning the flames was undeniable.

His tutoring probably amounted to a waste of effort; such people don’t know gratitude.

....

Halfway on her way back, a junior from the same village called out to her, "Sister Xiufang, perfect timing. Big Brother Hai asked me to call you out; he’s waiting for you at the school gate."

After thanking him, Hu Xiufang dashed outside, met up with her own brother, and took the net bag and loose change from his hands.

"I thought you weren’t coming."

"How could I not come? How did the midterms go?" Hu Hai asked with concern.

"I’ve made some progress since before, still ranked second. My desk mate Li Qiao, the girl who went with me to the town competition, remains first. She’s already received an admission notice from Beijing University, impressive right?" Hu Xiufang bragged.

"Impressive? Beijing University is no small feat. The same seat, the same teacher, and she’s a sure university student, but you’re too shy to talk about your progress," Hu Hai said with a teasing smile.

Feeling slighted, Hu Xiufang retorted angrily, "Next time, I won’t tell you anything about school!" She started to walk away, then turned back after a couple of steps, "I heard from a classmate heading home that land has been apportioned in the village. Is our family short on fertilizer?"

Hu Hai said, "Don’t worry about the family affairs."

"It’s like this, my desk mate’s partner..." Hu Xiufang explained how Li Qiao’s family might be able to get fertilizer and added a reminder that the price could be high.

Hu Hai replied, "Fertilizer from the station isn’t cheap either. It used to be two jiao and five fen per kilo, now it’s four fen. And it’s hard to get. When will your classmate’s partner get the fertilizer? If it’s timely, we could buy from them. With transparent pricing outside, and since you two have a good relationship, she wouldn’t feel right charging too much. Ask her for more details, and I’ll check around the fertilizer station tomorrow."

"Okay," answered Hu Xiufang, and after walking some distance, she ran into Li Qiao and mentioned the fertilizer, "My brother wants to ask when your partner’s fertilizer is coming. He says the price at the fertilizer station has gone from two jiao and five fen to four fen a kilo. How much do you think your partner will sell it for per kilo?"

"That... in about ten days to half a month, I guess. It’s hard to say about the price, but we are classmates, so don’t worry. At most, I’ll charge a small fee for the errand, but I certainly wouldn’t profit off you," Li Qiao said.

"Ten days to half a month? Isn’t he worried that by the time it arrives, everyone will have bought their supply and he’ll be stuck with his?"

Li Qiao, not knowing the ways of business, optimistically said, "If they can’t sell, they can keep it for themselves or dispose of it at a low price. Fertilizer doesn’t expire if stored well."

The words "dispose of it at a low price" stirred the nerves of her roommates.

They decided to go home after morning study the next day to inform their families. It was highly unlikely that Li Qiao, a future university student with a solid reputation, would ruin her own standing by making money off her classmates.

They all signed up in a rush.

That made things difficult for Li Jinhua because she was clearly and unequivocally refused by Li Qiao when she signed up.

Jinhua planned to go home the next afternoon and complain; Li Qiao was even willing to sell to Zhao Li and Liu Lanlan, who had conflicts with her before, but not to her.

After Li Qiao had taken down the names, she too planned to go home during the lunch break the next day to ask her grandmother to reserve the fertilizer.

...

Soon it was the next day.

After lunch, Li Qiao took the list of classmates who wanted fertilizer and headed to the school gate to catch a minibus. There she happened to meet Han Ting delivering the graded midterm exams, so she changed her mind and said, "Don’t go yet, wait for me."

Li Qiao ran to the classroom, encountering Li Jinhua, who was hurrying outside.

"I’m going home to tell my parents you won’t sell fertilizer to me. You just wait and see!" Li Jinhua said, full of indignation, and left.

Pah! Li Qiao spat inwardly, then went back into the classroom to write a letter.

As she was about to seal the envelope, the image of her encounter with Li Jinhua flashed through her mind. She unfolded the paper and added Li Jinhua’s name to the list, knowing that the woman was good at making complaints, and Jin wasn’t home.

What if Li Shengcai and Dong Lamei came to make trouble?

What would she do if Grandma suffered for it?

She took the envelope and arrived at the school entrance just in time to see Li Jinhua boarding a minibus.

She glanced at the scene and walked straight to Han Ting to hand over the letter, instructing him to give it to Grandma immediately and make sure she read it right away.

Feeling uneasy, she added, "My partner is away on a long trip, and there’s only the old lady at home. Can you help look after her when you’re free?"

"No problem at all," Han Ting promised to keep an eye on the old lady and left with the letter.

Li Qiao went back to her dorm to sleep for nearly half an hour before returning to the classroom to grade the mid-term papers of the educated youths.

Du Xinxin was still at the bottom, but her score was consistent, 490. It was similar to the last practice paper she did, which showed her foundation had steadied; some focus on the major math, physics, and chemistry questions, along with training in language reading comprehension, and it would be easy to score over five hundred.

Han Ting was still the highest, with a score close to 630.

She marked the areas where each student was prone to mistakes and collected the papers.

At that moment, Li Jinhua and Hu Xiufang walked into the classroom, the former glaring at her.

Li Qiao pretended not to see.

Once Hu Xiufang had taken her seat, Li Qiao took out Han Ting’s draft papers to provoke Hu Xiufang.

"Help! If he came to school, he’d surely surpass you."

Li Qiao commented sensibly, "Perhaps." freewёbnoνel.com

The two whispered a discussion, but Li Jinhua cut in, dragging Hu Xiufang to tutor her.

Hu Xiufang was true to her word and turned to concentrate on explaining problems to Li Jinhua.

In her spare moments, Li Jinhua stole glances at Li Qiao, wondering if her parents must have reached the Qin family by now?

Let them make a fuss!

The bigger the scene, the better.

It would be perfect if they caused such a commotion that it’d reach the school, spreading the news far and wide that Li Qiao wouldn’t sell fertilizer to her own family.

Let Li Qiao gain notoriety at the school, a bad reputation.

"Li Jinhua, do you understand?"

"Ah?" Li Jinhua snapped back to reality, "Understood."

Hu Xiufang: "..." Her mind elsewhere, did she really understand?

...

The second class of the afternoon ended, and Dong Lamei and Li Shengcai arrived.

Li Jinhua thought they had come especially to find trouble with Li Qiao and was ready to enjoy the drama, but their slaps landed on her own face and body instead.

"You damned girl! I told you to get along well with your third sister, and yet you’re stirring up trouble again!"

Provoked by Li Jinhua’s exaggerated complaints, Dong Lamei and Li Shengcai stormed to Feng Family Village to confront Old Mrs. Qin.

Old Mrs. Qin produced the letter with Li Jinhua’s name written in black and white for three hundred kilograms of fertilizer.

She might not recognize other words, but she knew Li Jinhua’s name.

The amount was the same as the others.

Li Qiao was still concerned about her parents, so she had left some fertilizer for her family.

Now that the holiday was approaching, and Old Mrs. Qin was going to complain, would her rare initiative to soften her attitude towards her parents freeze over again?

And now that Old Mrs. Qin was ignoring her again, if she couldn’t get to the Qin family, how would she secretly get the acceptance letter?