"No, that's not what I mean. I mean, I'm not going to Nanjiang Medical University. I want to retake the college entrance examination next year, so I can stay at home this year and not have to worry about not being admitted next year," Jiang Yao hurriedly explained.
"You want to stay at home? What can you get by staying at home for a year? Besides, you say you're not going, then what were you thinking during the application?" Mrs. Lu chided, exasperated. "I don't know what to say, why..."
Jiang Yao was dumbfounded as she was bombarded with a series of questions. When she filled up the application, all she wanted was to stay away from Lu Xingzhi. Now that she was given a chance to be born again, she intended to amend her mistakes and redraft her life objectives. She regretted her decision, she wanted to approach Lu Xingzhi one baby step at a time, she wanted to live well with him as a loving couple.
Jiang Yao didn't know how to answer Mrs. Lu's questions, so she crossed her fingers and said, "Blame Xingzhi! I picked Nanjiang because he made me angry! If it wasn't for him, I would have definitely chosen Jindo!"
After she said it, Jiang Yao silently apologized to Lu Xingzhi for throwing him under the bus, but she could not find any other excuses.
Lu Xingzhu was stunned as he was suddenly accused by Jiang Yao. He dug deep into his memory, trying to remember what he had done during the period when Jiang Yao was applying for college that caused her to be unhappy.
The other members at the table were also trying to figure out what Lu Xingzhi had done at that time.
"At that time, Xingzhi was at the base, how could he have provoked you?" Lu Yuqing retorted. Then, she had a doubt of her own and glared at Lu Xingzhi. "During the application period, Mom said that you called home several days in a row and talked to your wife. Did you make your wife angry over the phone?"
Lu Xingzhi kept quiet. It was true that he had made phone calls back home several days in a row out of concern for Jiang Yao, but he was certain that they did not fight because they had not talked much anyway.
Could it possibly that the annoying phone calls had triggered Jiang Yao to change her mind and applied to Nanjiang?
After making such an assumption, Lu Xingzhi apologized. "Jiang Yao, I'm sorry."
As soon as Mrs. Lu heard the apology, she was relieved. Although she did not know what they had been fighting about, it was better for the young girl to be stubborn and throw a tantrum than Jiang Yao's intention to stay away from Lu Xingzhi, as what Lu Yuqing had claimed when she first came through the door. It was normal for couples to quarrel, but it was not normal for a spouse to want to keep their distance from their partner.
"Since you have decided, okay then, postpone attending college for a year. But it's not very wise for you to stay at home for a year. Why don't you go back to school and repeat the term for another year? This way, it would be safer, as you don't have to worry about your grades affecting the admission scores," Mrs. Lu suggested. "We can afford the fees for another year of senior year, so you can be rest assured and go back to school."
Only the loaded Lu family could say such a thing as they could afford the fees.
At that time, attending school was expensive. A lot of poor families could not afford to send their children to school. However, Mrs. Lu was calm and collected when she asked Jiang Yao to repeat the term as if she was talking about the weather.
"Thanks, Mom, but no thanks. I have confidence in myself, I don't have to go back to school." Jiang Yao shook her head and rejected her mother-in-law's generous offer. When she was a school doctor in the remote mountainous village, she had helped tutor a lot of children in their studies. She had even skipped the grades of several smart children and taught them junior high and high school subjects.