NOVPUB
Chapter 539: What is Chapter 529 about?
"Mom, keep close and don’t just look around everywhere; if you wander off and get lost, we won’t be able to find you," Li Hongqi said after seeing his mother get off the train and constantly looking around in fascination. Everyone had moved on for a bit, but she was still standing in the same spot gazing.
"Ah, it’s my first time in the Capital, and it lives up to its reputation as a big city, truly bustling," Qiu Shuping marveled as she looked at the surrounding buildings.
Zheng Guilin tugged at Li Hongqi and gestured with her eyes to look around. Many people were giving them strange looks – it was quite embarrassing.
"Mom, let’s hurry on; we’ll have the chance to see more later. Let’s find a bus first and talk more when we get to my sister-in-law’s school," Li Hongqi came back, grabbed his mother’s arm, and started walking forward.
"Exactly, we’ll have plenty of time to walk around once we’ve taken care of our business. In-law, are you worried we won’t have enough time?" Zheng’s mother took her daughter’s hand and followed closely as they moved forward.
Indeed, the group that came to the Capital to ask Shen Yunfang for money totaled four people – Li Hongqi and his wife, along with both mothers. As for the fathers from both sides, they weren’t brought along. Zheng’s father had work, and given his leadership status, he felt it would be embarrassing to ask for money, so he didn’t come. As for old man Li, he simply didn’t want to come; he felt that, as a father-in-law, it was beneath him to ask his daughter-in-law for money. Moreover, Li Hongqi didn’t want his father there anyway because it would be problematic if he refused should Shen Yunfang suddenly become uncooperative. So, it was less stressful to leave him behind. Of course, another reason was that Li Hongqi felt that with the current team, securing money from sister-in-law Shen Yunfang was a sure thing, and so they came like this.
The party arrived early in the morning by train, stepping onto Capital territory and feeling a bit bewildered. Fortunately, Li Hongqi, although not the best character, was quite capable and managed to lead the group of women, asking around and eventually finding the Agricultural University where Shen Yunfang was.
"Mom, this should be the place," Li Hongqi said, comparing the address in his hand with the grand entrance to the Agricultural University, speaking to the women behind him.
"So what do we do next? This place is huge – how are we going to find someone here?" Qiu Shuping felt disconcerted.
"Who are you, and what is this about?" The gatekeeper had noticed the group fussing around the entrance.
"Ah, sir, hello there, we’re here to find someone," Li Hongqi, whose first impression was still somewhat presentable, replied.
"Who are you looking for? What year are they in?" The gatekeeper, realizing they were there to find someone – possibly relatives of a student – softened his tone considerably.
"We’re looking for Shen Yunfang. What year is she?" Qiu Shuping rushed to answer but quickly realized that all she knew was the name of her daughter-in-law, nothing more.
So after speaking, she turned to ask her younger son. Zheng’s mother and daughter also looked at Li Hongqi.
"Shen Yunfang, is she a senior?" The gatekeeper had heard about Shen Yunfang; he was aware of her.
"Yes, my sister-in-law is a senior this year," Li Hongqi nodded. He knew that his sister-in-law was among the first to enter the university after the resumption of college entrance exams, which meant she should be a senior by now.
"And you all are...?" The gatekeeper was still being responsible.
"This is my mom, Shen Yunfang’s mother-in-law, and I am her brother-in-law," Li Hongqi introduced succinctly.
"Oh, so you’re relatives of student Shen," the gatekeeper said with sudden realization. "You’ve come on the right day; Shen Yunfang has classes. I saw her come to school this morning, and she hasn’t left yet. You can find her once you go in."
For such visiting relatives, the gatekeeper usually didn’t hold them back.
"Sir, your campus is so big, where should we start looking for my sister-in-law?" Li Hongqi saw the gatekeeper was easy to talk to, so he tried to get chummy in order to find out where Shen Yunfang might be in the teaching buildings.
If they had to search without any clues, there was no telling when they might find her.
"Shen Yunfang should be in the laboratory building right now. If you walk straight from here without turning, you’ll reach the very end and then..." The gatekeeper was indeed very enthusiastic in helping his fellow countrymen, and he went on to explain Shen Yunfang’s location in great detail to Li Hongqi.
After thanking the gatekeeper, the group followed his directions towards the laboratory building.
"Hongqi, this school is nothing compared to yours. Look at the yard; there’s hardly anyone around," Qiu Shuping started to criticize as they walked around the Agricultural University campus.
Li Hongqi didn’t say anything, knowing full well that wasn’t the case. Although his own school was also a university, it couldn’t compare to the universities in the Capital. The buildings here were large and far more numerous than the ones at his school. Moreover, it was class time, so it was normal for the campus to be quiet.
"Hongqi, your school is better than this one, huh? Take me to see it sometime when you’re free," Zheng Guilin believed Qiu Shuping and looked at Li Hongqi with admiration.
"Yeah, when I have time," Li Hongqi responded noncommittally.
Following the gatekeeper’s directions, they finally reached the laboratory building. After asking around upon entering, they eventually made it to the third floor and found Shen Yunfang.
At that moment, Shen Yunfang was helping Professor Cai teach a lab class to third-year students. The experiment for the class involved dissecting leaves and then placing them under microscopes for observation and analysis, and Shen Yunfang was assisting Professor Cai in guiding the students on how to dissect and observe.
As everyone knows, dissection tables aren’t very spacious. When observing under the microscope, one has to get close to see clearly, so it’s inevitable for everyone to draw near while conducting experiments.
When Li Hongqi and the women pushed open the door and looked into the lab, they saw Shen Yunfang with her head close to a male student’s, engaged in some activity.
Qiu Shuping immediately let out a loud cry, startling several students whose scalpel blades veered off course, nearly cutting their own fingers.
"You slut, I knew you were no good, cheating behind my son’s back. Oh, you shameless thing, I caught you red-handed today. Let’s see how I’m going to deal with you!" Qiu Shuping shoved her son aside and charged straight towards Shen Yunfang.
Shen Yunfang was momentarily stunned; she couldn’t understand what was happening.
Or rather, everyone was startled by Qiu Shuping’s outburst, allowing her to rush from the entrance of the lab to Shen Yunfang’s side, where she slapped Shen Yunfang across the face.
It was only when Shen Yunfang felt the pain on her face that she realized what had happened. She instinctively moved back from the second slap that Qiu Shuping was trying to land, and with a swift motion, grabbed Qiu Shuping’s approaching hand.
"Let go of me, you shameless woman. So you’ve got the nerve to fight back, to grab me? Let go of me this instant!" Qiu Shuping struggled but couldn’t free her hand and began to curse vilely.
"Who are you people, going crazy like this, running into a classroom to hit somebody?" By then, the students in the classroom had also reacted, looking on with anger and disdain at the older woman who had stormed in and started hitting and cursing others.
