Chapter 552: I’m Sticking with You for Life!

When Li Yi and Jiang Xue arrived at the registration desk, they discovered it was actually the registration point for freshmen in the Physics Department.

After asking around, they learned that his wife needed to register at the freshman desk for the Management Department.

After confirming the location of the Management Department, Li Yi led Jiang Xue there.

The campus of Capital University is huge… no, it’s enormous!

Although someone had already given the couple directions, by the time they found the Management Department registration desk, it was already past 10:00 a.m.

There were more students registering at the Management Department than at the Physics Department, and the gender ratio was more balanced—unlike the Physics Department, which was almost entirely male.

Li Yi and Jiang Xue waited in line for over twenty minutes before it was finally their turn at 11:00 a.m.

There were three staff members at the registration desk: one man and two women, all middle-aged.

From what they had observed, the man in the middle seemed to be in charge, overseeing document verification, while the two women handled registration—their roles were clearly defined.

When he saw Li Yi and Jiang Xue approaching together, the male teacher in the middle immediately asked, “Are you both here to register?”

“This is my wife; I’m here to help her register!” Li Yi spoke up first.

Hearing this, both the teachers receiving the students and the students waiting in line behind them were slightly taken aback.

The young woman in front of them didn’t look very old—she might not even be 20 yet—so it was unexpected that she was already married.

If this had been two years ago, it wouldn’t have been unusual to see someone come to college after getting married—or even with a baby in tow.

But now, five years had passed since the college entrance exams were reinstated, and the government had implemented a policy stipulating that once a person got married, they automatically lost their eligibility to register for the exams.

As a result, it had become rare in the past two years to see married people taking the college entrance exams.

I never expected to encounter one this year!

The middle-aged male teacher looked at Jiang Xue and said, “Student, please present your admission letter, exam admission ticket, household registration booklet, and other relevant documents!”

Jiang Xue didn’t move; instead, she turned her gaze toward Li Yi.

Li Yi immediately took the admission letter and other documents out of the shoulder bag he was carrying and placed them in front of the male teacher.

After carefully inspecting Jiang Xue’s documents, the teacher turned to the female teacher beside him and said, “The admission letter and documents are all in order!”

He then returned all the documents to Jiang Xue and added, “Student, please go over to Teacher Jiang to register!”

Following the male teacher’s instructions, Jiang Xue walked over to the female teacher standing nearby.

After receiving a form, she leaned over the desk in front of her and began filling it out.

The registration form was quite lengthy; it took Jiang Xue a full three minutes to complete it before handing it to Teacher Jiang.

After reviewing Jiang Xue’s form, Teacher Jiang said, “Student, your registration is complete. Now you need to go to the Department of Management office on the second floor of this building and find Teacher Guo, the homeroom teacher for your accounting class. She will assign you a dormitory and inform you of the upcoming arrangements!”

“Teacher, do we have to pay tuition?” Li Yi suddenly asked.

Although he had long heard that college tuition was free these days, he was still somewhat surprised to see that his wife hadn’t actually paid anything when she registered.

“What tuition?”

“Tuition!”

The female teacher smiled upon hearing this and said, “Our school doesn’t charge tuition. In fact, you’ll receive a monthly living allowance of 19.5 yuan, and you can also apply for a monthly hardship subsidy of 2 yuan!”

“They actually give out money!”

After thanking the teacher, Li Yi took Jiang Xue by the hand and headed toward the three-story building in the back.

Once upstairs, Li Yi headed straight for the crowd and easily found the so-called Management Department office. Surrounded by a group of students, he spotted Teacher Guo.

Since the place was so crowded, the two had to wait in line for a while, but finally, at 11:30, it was their turn.

The homeroom teacher for the accounting class was a middle-aged woman in her forties. After reviewing Jiang Xue’s registration documents, she said with a hint of surprise, “Jiang Xue, are you already married?”

“Yes, teacher!”

“Do you have children?”

“Yes!”

“How old are they?”

“Over eight months old!”

“I see your home is also in Beijing. So are you applying for a commuter program?” Teacher Guo asked again.

“Yes, I have to go back home every night!”

“Alright, then I won’t assign you a dorm room. But remember to come to Room 301 on the third floor of this building at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow for the class meeting. I’ll introduce you to the rest of the class then!”

“Okay, teacher. I’ll be there on time!”

“Okay…”

………

As soon as they stepped out of the classroom building and saw that there weren’t many people around, Jiang Xue gave Li Yi a light punch.

Then, with a pout, she said, “You did that on purpose just now, didn’t you?”

“What do you mean, ‘on purpose’?” Li Yi asked, looking completely confused.

“Keep pretending. Go ahead and keep pretending. You dare say you didn’t just tell those people on purpose that I’m your wife?” Jiang Xue said.

“You mean that?”

“Hmm…”

“I… I did it on purpose. You guessed right!”

Jiang Xue hadn’t expected this shameless guy to admit it so bluntly. She froze for a moment, then said, “Why? Now all the teachers and students know I’m married and have a kid. How embarrassing is that?”

“Is getting married and having a kid something to be ashamed of?”

“Not exactly!”

“There you go. I just wanted all those teachers and classmates to know that you, Jiang Xue, are already taken. That way, they’ll stop having designs on you—and stop hanging around you all the time!” Li Yi said with an air of authority.

“I never would’ve guessed it, but you’re really bossy!”

“I am a bit bossy, but it’s absolutely necessary!” Li Yi said.

“What’s the point? Do you think I’d run off with someone else?” Jiang Xue said with a laugh.

“I’m not worried about you running off with someone. I’m just concerned about preventing problems before they happen. Haven’t there been plenty of men and women over the years who’ve abandoned their wives, children, husbands, and daughters since going to college?”

Li Yi continued, “Remember that substitute teacher from our village elementary school, Li Yunqing? That jerk only got into a run-of-the-mill junior college, and in the end, he still ended up divorcing his wife.”

“And then there’s Wang Man, the wife of Zhong Sanwa from the neighboring village. She nearly starved to death when she came here to work on the commune back in the day. In the end, she married Zhong Sanwa just because his father was the village party secretary. But what happened? After she got into college, she divorced him and abandoned both her son and daughter!”

Actually, there have been far too many cases like this over the years—we hear similar stories almost every year.

And it’s not just about getting into college; some people are so desperate for a spot to return to the city that they’ve completely lost all sense of decency.

Especially in the last couple of years, ever since the authorities issued a notice prohibiting married young men and women from taking the college entrance exam, the divorce rate in rural areas has skyrocketed.

If even one person in the family isn’t content with the status quo, divorce is inevitable.

Jiang Xue listened intently. After Li Yi finished speaking, she said with a hint of confusion, “Why do you think that is? It’s just about going to college—why would they have to leave their spouse and children behind?”

“Can’t figure it out?”

“Yeah, I don’t get it!” Jiang Xue said.

“Actually, it’s easy to understand. It’s just that the environment has changed, and their perspectives have shifted. Before, everyone was surrounded by a bunch of old farmers with muddy boots; the people you married were the best in your eyes.”

Li Yi continued, “But now that they’re in college, they’re surrounded by exceptionally talented people. Compared to them, the men who once seemed honest and down-to-earth, or the wives who were gentle and virtuous, suddenly don’t seem quite the same.”

“More importantly, as you know, humans are social creatures. The more outstanding people are together, the more they attract one another. Over time, those who aren’t deeply attached to their original partners inevitably find it hard to resist temptation, and eventually end up with someone else…”

Before he could finish, Li Yi felt a tight grip on his arm.

Then he saw Jiang Xue, completely disregarding the stares of passing teachers and students, throw her arm around Li Yi’s.

“I would never do something like that. My man is the best there is—I’m sticking with you for the rest of my life!” Jiang Xue said earnestly.

“Hahaha, I love hearing that!”

“Typical…”

……….