Free Web NovelChapter 145: Chapter 145: Surprise
Tang Yuanxiao refused without a second thought. "I’m afraid we won’t have time then..."
Miao Zhi cut him off. "Captain Tang, I haven’t even said what day it is, and you’re already saying you don’t have time."
She looked toward Su Li. "You’ll come, won’t you?"
Su Li looked at the provocative young girl. The corners of her lips curled into a small smile as she shook her head slightly. "If I’m still here then, I’ll definitely go. I wouldn’t want to disappoint you."
Unlike Miao Zhi’s confrontational approach, Su Li was unhurried and calm, her voice gentle and soft. Yet her eyes were cool, holding a hint of mockery, as if she were watching some kind of joke.
Miao Zhi met her gaze and instantly felt a prickle of discomfort. A retort escaped her lips before she could stop it.
"What do you mean, ’if you’re still here’? If you’re not here, where else could you possibly go? Are you just afraid you’ll make a fool of yourself and don’t dare to come?"
The words tumbled out of her mouth like machine-gun fire. By the time Tang Yuanxiao tried to stop her, it was already too late.
"Miao Zhi, what are you saying? She’s my wife. Apologize."
His expression darkened. He pulled Su Li behind him and fixed his gaze on Miao Zhi as he spoke.
Miao Zhi felt a pang of regret as soon as the words were out, but when Tang Yuanxiao yelled at her, her pride flared up, and that flicker of remorse disappeared.
"Why should I apologize? It’s the truth! She overestimated her own abilities wanting to take the college entrance exam. Now she knows how embarrassing it is. Does she think just anyone can get into university? Hmph."
Instead of apologizing, she became even more defiant.
Tang Yuanxiao’s expression was terrifyingly dark. Just as he was about to speak in a grim voice, Su Li suddenly let out a soft chuckle.
"I’ll be there for sure."
In stark contrast to Tang Yuanxiao’s grim expression, Su Li was all smiles. She wasn’t angry, nor was she looking down her nose at the girl, but for some reason, the sight made Miao Zhi incredibly uncomfortable.
Su Li’s gaze made Miao Zhi feel like a petulant, unreasonable child. The hint of tolerance in Su Li’s eyes created an invisible gulf between them, leaving Miao Zhi with the feeling of being utterly exposed.
More than Tang Yuanxiao’s angry rebuke, this tolerance—more than any high-and-mighty disdain or contempt could—was what truly made her feel humiliated.
Miao Zhi’s face instantly flushed crimson. "I’ll be waiting!"
She spat out the words and stormed out of the room, ’deciding that from this moment forward, she truly hated Su Li!’
Back in the room, Tang Yuanxiao looked at Su Li. "She’s just a disrespectful kid. I can make her apologize..."
Su Li shook her head, cutting him off. "There’s no need."
She watched Tang Yuanxiao quietly for a moment, then suddenly spoke. "Tang Yuanxiao, actually... I got into university."
Tang Yuanxiao froze. "What?"
’Why... Why had she never told me?’
’No, wait... Before, Su Li had said she wouldn’t be going to work, and Little Tang Mo had also said his mom was going to go to school with him!’
Tang Yuanxiao’s Adam’s apple bobbed. It was a long moment before he found his voice.
"When Momo said before that you were going to school with him... was this what he meant?"
Su Li nodded. "Yes. He knew."
Tang Yuanxiao looked at Su Li, suddenly at a complete loss for words.
’So... Su Li had gotten into university all along.’
’Six months ago, Su Li must have already been planning to take the exam. She hadn’t told him; she’d just acted on her own.’
’He hadn’t even known when she took the exam. He’d only found out about that from a letter from Qin Caihua.’
’He knew that if Qin Caihua hadn’t told him, he likely would still be in the dark about her even taking the exam.’
’If Miao Zhi hadn’t come today, he never would have learned that she had gotten in.’
Tang Yuanxiao forced a smile that looked more painful than tears.
"Su Li... even if we weren’t getting a divorce, I wouldn’t have objected to you taking the college entrance exam, much less going to university..."
His hand rose, then fell limply to his side. "Why would I ever stop you from going to school? It’s a good thing... You didn’t need to..."
There was no need to hide it from him, to guard against him like that.
’There was just no need...’
’He would never oppose Su Li’s education, and he would certainly never hold her back.’
’Going to university is such a wonderful, laudable achievement. He would have been nothing but proud of her...’
’But she didn’t understand...’
’In her eyes... what kind of man was he, really?’
Tang Yuanxiao once again recalled the strange question Su Li had asked him six months ago.
His trust in her had seemed so odd to her, as if she thought he was a man with no brain and no eyes, someone who just listened to rumors without any judgment of his own.
’Even now... it seemed Su Li still saw him as the kind of man who would forbid her from taking the exam and going to university...’
"Su Li, in your eyes, what kind of garbage am I?"
’What was it? What catalyst had made him into such a person in her eyes?’
After asking the question, Tang Yuanxiao turned and left the room without waiting for Su Li’s answer. freewebnσvel.cøm
His retreating figure... was the picture of desolation.
Su Li watched his retreating back, speechless. She took two steps to follow but stopped, her limbs feeling heavy and useless.
’How could she answer that? How could she explain?’
She couldn’t clearly explain her own reasons for subconsciously keeping the news about the exam and her acceptance from Tang Yuanxiao.
She hadn’t told him the news right away, but she hadn’t intentionally planned to hide it, either. She just... she just...
Su Li couldn’t explain it herself. She just stood there, stunned.
Perhaps someone else might think she hadn’t told Tang Yuanxiao to prevent gossip about her looking down on him now that she was university-bound, but that possibility truly hadn’t occurred to her.
She was just... just accustomed to being distant with Tang Yuanxiao, accustomed to not telling him about her own affairs. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
She also never imagined that telling him she’d been accepted to university would provoke such a response.
’So he thought university was a good thing; he’d never thought of stopping her...’
Hearing this, Su Li felt both surprised and yet, as if she had expected it all along.
’She must have had a premonition, hadn’t she? A feeling that Tang Yuanxiao wouldn’t object. After all, he wasn’t that kind of man.’
After Tang Yuanxiao left, Su Li sat in a daze for a while, until Aunt Chang brought over some dumplings she had just made.
"Yuanxiao and the others have huge appetites. It’s hard for me to make enough to fill them up, so I just brought you a few to try. It won’t be enough to make you full."
That’s what Aunt Chang said, but there were still plenty of dumplings on the plate.
Su Li had only managed to say "thank you" a couple of times before Aunt Chang waved her hand dismissively. "Don’t be so formal. It’s just a few dumplings, not worth the fuss. I’m heading back now."
Aunt Chang left, and Tang Yuanxiao returned soon after.
He had brought back food from the cafeteria, and from his expression, it seemed he had calmed down.
As they ate, Tang Yuanxiao asked Su Li, "How much does a year of university cost, roughly?"
Su Li paused for a second before processing his question. "It’s not too much."
She might not have thought it was a lot, but Tang Yuanxiao certainly didn’t think it was a small sum.
"Plus living expenses, the cost for a year isn’t small. But you don’t have to worry. I’ll figure something out for the money... Just consider it a loan. You can pay me back after you graduate and find a job."
Tang Yuanxiao knew there was no way Su Li’s family could afford her tuition. He was willing to help, but since she wanted a divorce, he knew she would refuse his charity. That’s why he’d thought of this solution.
"No, there’s no need to lend me anything. I have money."
Su Li hadn’t expected this to be the first thing he’d say. Feeling a mix of complex emotions, she quickly refused.
Tang Yuanxiao glanced at Su Li, clearly unconvinced.
In this era, it was no easy feat for an ordinary family, especially a rural one, to support a student’s education. It was common for entire families to work themselves to the bone, selling off everything they owned just to make it happen.
Before the start of each new semester, they would have to borrow money from all over, so desperate they might even consider selling their blood.
And that was just for high school or vocational school; university was a whole other level of difficulty.
A problem that an entire extended family couldn’t solve, yet Su Li could so casually say, ’I have money...’
