How I Tamed My Wolfish Husband Back in 80s-Chapter 309 - 311: No More Drowsiness_1

"You’re too kind."

Ma Ling came out the door to chime in, "Not at all, if I had your brains, I could probably be sitting in the director’s position by now."

Li Qiao didn’t dare agree; she couldn’t perform autopsies, let alone take a closer look. She could never achieve the director’s position in her lifetime. She changed the subject, "Do you want to go down to the river to catch crayfish after walking the dogs?" freewēbnoveℓ.com

"The sun is too harsh. You’re not afraid of getting tanned, but I am. How about we go shopping? I want to buy a dress like the one you’re wearing," Ma Ling said.

Li Qiao thought to herself, isn’t it also hot when you go shopping? Isn’t it cooler by the river with the shade of the trees? She said, "I’ll give you one in a few days."

Ma Ling had her own principles, "No reward without merit, I’ll buy it myself."

"This was made by my grandma, you won’t find one just like it. I really don’t want your money, I sincerely want to give it to you," said Li Qiao.

Upon hearing this, Ma Ling stopped insisting, "At least let me pay for the postage."

"The postage doesn’t cost much. If you really want to give something, just treat me to a meal of noodles," Li Qiao proposed.

"Deal!"

Ma Ling’s mother asked, "Did your grandma learn tailoring?"

"I suppose so. She can use a sewing machine and an overlock machine. She’s particularly good at needlework; the sweaters I wear in the winter are mostly made by her." After chatting idly with Ma Ling’s mother for a moment, Li Qiao left with Ma Ling.

The two first had noodles at a nearby noodle shop, then went to Xu Feng’s home.

Ma Ling greeted Mr. and Mrs. Xu with familiarity and introduced Li Qiao to them.

Mr. Xu stared at Li Qiao for a while, "You look familiar."

"A friend of Ling Ling, how could you have seen her?" Mrs. Xu sized up Li Qiao, finding her incredibly handsome with rosy cheeks, pink lips, and large, bright eyes. If her son could marry such a woman, she would be willing to live a few years less.

Li Qiao confirmed Mr. Xu’s recollection, "We have met before. Last summer, I went to the post office, and you helped me look for my admission notice."

"I remember now," Mr. Xu said with a smile. "You and Feng are colleagues."

Li Qiao nodded in acknowledgment.

Ma Ling got to the point and made their purpose known to Mr. and Mrs. Xu.

"Sure, but the dog needs to be taken out for a walk every day, and it must be leashed, or it might bite someone."

"It won’t bite me, will it?" Li Qiao asked apprehensively.

Mr. and Mrs. Xu were also worried; to the dog, Li Qiao was a total stranger. "Why don’t you come over to feed it every day? Get familiar before you take it for a walk."

Li Qiao had no better solution.

....

After leaving Xu’s house, Li Qiao invited Ma Ling to come and sit at her house.

"Aren’t we going to catch crayfish?" Ma Ling asked.

"Didn’t you complain about the sun?"

"You can lend me a straw hat."

"No problem." Li Qiao went home to get nylon lines and a bucket, and then she went to the market to get some chicken intestines.

They strolled to the riverbank.

The breeze was cool, and the leaves above rustled. Ma Ling happily squinted her eyes, "I thought it would be very hot in the wild, but it’s quite cool."

"There are many trees here for shade."

They chatted while searching for a spot to catch crayfish, and soon half a bucket was full.

"Let’s have dinner at my place tonight," Li Qiao suggested.

"I’d love to."

Li Qiao and Ma Ling returned home with their bounty.

"You clean the crayfish at home, and I’ll go buy some beer," Li Qiao said.

"The two of us drinking beer? Are you planning on not letting me go home today?"

Li Qiao grinned and, after going out to get the beer, she returned to find Ma Ling had scrubbed the crayfish clean.

"I didn’t remove the crayfish’s vein; let’s just deal with it when we eat."

"Fine by me," Li Qiao wasn’t picky.

Ma Ling said, "It’s still early. I’ll go home and tell my parents, so they don’t go looking for me late at night."

"Okay," Li Qiao saw her out and waited until she was far away before going back to lock the gate.

She entered her room to read for a while.

The banging against the wall adjacent to Yan Xiaoyu’s house was relentless.

She simply sat in the yard, drinking tea to pass the time.

About an hour went by.

Ma Ling returned, carrying a bag.

Li Qiao asked, "What did you bring?"

"A change of clothes. My mom said that since you’re scared, she wants me to stay with you for a few more days. I can go back home after you get used to the Xu family’s dog."

Li Qiao was naturally happy, so she immediately started to prepare a room for Ma Ling, even moving over the electric fan with a timer from her grandmother’s room.

In the evening, Li Qiao made spicy crayfish while Ma Ling helped out.

By the time they finished, it was already dark.

"It’s cool in the yard, but it’s a shame it’s too..." dark.

Without finishing her sentence, Ma Ling was interrupted by a snap.

Li Qiao switched on the light above the door, instantly brightening the yard.

The light attracted flying insects.

Li Qiao lit mosquito coils to keep them away.

The two girls sat side by side, chatting and eating.

Ma Ling had lots of gossip, such as a neighbor nearby who had been seeing someone, got married, and had two children within three years. For some unknown reason, she ran away, leaving her children behind. When her family finally found her, she was living with another man and had had another two children with him in three years.

Li Qiao couldn’t understand - four children in six years? Was she doing nothing but getting pregnant or giving birth? Couldn’t she watch some TV?

Even without TV, doing farm work was also an option.

Better than constantly having children.

How could she possibly take care of so many!

And then, for example, Liao Fan was engaged.

Li Qiao was completely shocked, "Engaged? To whom? I didn’t even think to ask, why haven’t I seen Liao Fan around the team?"

"With your classmate, Hu Xiufang, in early July. Now she’s off studying with Xu Feng."

Li Qiao: "..." Hu Xiufang didn’t even tell her.

But she hadn’t received a letter from Hu Xiufang for a while.

Was it lost or she just didn’t write one?

She needed to ask her when she saw her next.

Did she even consider her a friend or not?!

To be engaged and not even tell her!

....

The two of them talked until they were tired; the crayfish and beer were all finished.

After washing up, they went back to their respective rooms to sleep.

Li Qiao was about to fall asleep when the ghostly sobs from the night before reached her ears, sending a shiver through her body.

Ma Ling also shivered and nearly fell out of bed. She turned on the light and stepped out of her room, exchanging a knowing look with Li Qiao: "Now I realize why you insisted on keeping me here; this is far too scary. It’s even worse than the corpses in the operating room," especially being woken up by a horrific sound when one is sleeping best. "It’s immediately so shocking that you can’t even feel sleepy. It must be the tenant next door!"

"But she won’t admit it, and she might even lash out in response," Li Qiao was drained by the whole ordeal.

Ma Ling: "We should give her a taste of her own medicine!"

Li Qiao: "I can’t make ghostly wails, can you?"

Ma Ling: "..." She indeed, could not. "It’s like being strangled at the throat here. This constant disturbance night after night isn’t a solution. Maybe you should ask to stay in the dorm at work tomorrow."

Li Qiao was not pleased; why live in a dorm when she had a spacious courtyard at home?

"If only we could amplify this sound, if all the residents could hear it, there would definitely be a thorough investigation. The culprit wouldn’t dare do it again under the pressure."

Li Qiao: "Unless we move the public address system to our house." The company’s loudspeakers were not available for loan.

"How about you leave the lights in your room on, and then you can come sleep in my room?" suggested Ma Ling.

"Okay then," Li Qiao agreed. It seemed like the only solution.

....