Turning Antagonist to Protagonist: He is Both Soft and Fierce-Chapter 113 - 108: He Doesn’t Seem to Want Sis-in-law to Like Brother
Song Tingfan thought for a moment, then softly said, "But this isn’t right, the teacher said those who steal are petty people."
Lin Qiao: "..."
She twitched at the corner of her mouth, how should she teach him, should she say the teacher was wrong?
She thought carefully, "So, little uncle, don’t learn from them. Be a man who stands tall and proud."
Upon hearing "a man who stands tall and proud," Song Tingfan glanced at her, then lowered his head, uncomfortably rubbing the tips of his feet together.
He was selfish.
Not a man who stands tall and proud.
Lin Qiao didn’t know what he was thinking, and seeing he wasn’t speaking, she said no more.
Luckily, many old customers recognized people, so after Lin Qiao lowered the price, the spicy dried fish and spicy dried meat were all sold out.
Although she earned a little less, there was still a profit of two hundred cents.
Thinking that she wouldn’t go to town before the New Year, Lin Qiao took Song Tingfan for a stroll around town. While passing a hairpin stall, an old lady suddenly called out to Song Tingfan, "Young master, buy a hairpin for the young lady to make her happy, it’s not expensive, just twelve copper coins."
Upon hearing this, Lin Qiao’s eyebrows twitched helplessly. Lately, many people had mistaken Song Tingfan for her husband. Although he was tall enough, his face was still a bit youthful.
But it wasn’t really others’ fault, it was mainly because her face was small. Although her figure wasn’t short among women, she seemed very petite next to a young man.
She was just about to explain when she heard the young man bargaining, "Will you sell it for ten cents?"
She wanted to speak again, but the old lady gladly agreed, "Yes, young master, which one do you want?"
"The lotus one." Song Tingfan saw the lotus hairpin at first glance; his sister-in-law loved lotus hairpins. Thinking of this made him a little content and happy, and he carefully took out his money bag and counted out ten cents for her.
His sister-in-law often gave him silver coins for pocket money now, and he rarely bought anything, keeping it saved up. Now he had hundreds of cents on him.
The old lady collected the copper coins, handed him the hairpin, and happily said, "Young master, you have a good heart. May your family be harmonious and may you have a big fat son in the coming year."
Lin Qiao couldn’t help but cough, and Song Tingfan quickly waved his hand to explain, shyly saying, "Grandma, she’s my sister-in-law."
"Ah, she’s your sister-in-law! I thought you two were a couple, you look so well-matched." The old lady realized her mistake and felt a bit embarrassed, lowering her head to fiddle with the hairpins to cover it up.
She added, "You two have a great uncle-sister-in-law relationship, surely your family is harmonious as well."
After leaving the stall, Song Tingfan touched the hairpin in his hand, glanced at Lin Qiao, hesitated for a while, and then carefully handed the hairpin over, "Sister-in-law, I give this to you."
Lin Qiao couldn’t possibly refuse his good intention, she reached out to accept it, her eyebrows forming crescent moons as she said, "Little uncle, it’s really pretty." She said, then pinned it on her hair bun.
She turned her head to face Song Tingfan, "Does it look good?"
The hairpin was a bit crooked, and Song Tingfan instinctively raised his hand to straighten it for her, looking very seriously for a while, "Looks good, sister-in-law looks good in anything."
He wasn’t lying, his sister-in-law was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
Seeing him swear with such sincerity, Lin Qiao was amused, "Little uncle, you have a sweet mouth."
...
Sitting on the donkey cart back to the village, curious people asked Lin Qiao how much she sold. Lin Qiao chuckled and said she didn’t earn much silver coins.
Then they indirectly asked how to make it, and Lin Qiao explained without reservation how to make dried spicy fish and dried spicy pork.
There were already a few families selling in town; if more families joined, the price would definitely drop, and it’s possible they wouldn’t sell out and even might lose money.
Well, Lin Qiao was never a great philanthropist.
Returning home and resting for a while, Lin Qiao saw Song Qin with a hesitant look as if she wanted to say something but didn’t. So she asked, "Grandma, what’s the matter?"
Song Qin hesitated a bit but eventually said, "The Zhang family came by this morning, inviting us to tomorrow’s wedding feast."
Upon hearing this, Lin Qiao secretly raised an eyebrow. Did this Zhang family really not fear she would cause trouble? Or perhaps they wanted her to give up?
Regardless, they were going to be disappointed. Zhang Dong’s looks didn’t match her aesthetic at all. In fact, she wasn’t interested in him.
As for what her former self saw in him, she couldn’t say.
Not hearing her answer for a long time, Song Tingfan pressed his lips into a straight line. He knew his sister-in-law liked Zhang Dong.
Others had said it, and he had seen it with his own eyes.
They had hugged beneath a tree.
He lowered his head and was about to get up to leave the main room when he heard his sister-in-law talk emotionlessly about the gift, "Just give them two cents, we don’t usually interact much."
"Ah?" Song Qin was a bit surprised. She originally thought Lin Qiao would send a bigger gift and they wouldn’t ask why, but she didn’t expect her to only send two cents.
Lin Qiao popped a peanut into her mouth, confused, "Is that too much? Well, grandma, you decide. I’m not too familiar with these things either."
Saying this, she inadvertently glanced sideways and met Song Tingfan’s dazed stare. Amused, she grabbed a handful of peanuts for him, "If you want to eat, shell them yourself. Sister-in-law won’t help you."
Song Tingfan was dumbfounded for a moment, then suddenly grinned, "I’ll shell them for sister-in-law."
What was he so happy about again? Sometimes Lin Qiao couldn’t understand his reactions, but as long as he’s happy, that’s fine.
...
On the day of Zhang Dong’s wedding, it became lively before the daybreak. The host family borrowed tables, and the neighbor borrowed bowls. Song’s second family’s table was borrowed, and so were five bowls.
The Wang family borrowed even more. Even a big iron pot was borrowed, which shows how close the two families are usually.
Actually, setting aside Zhang Dong’s mother and Zhang Dong, the Zhang family is quite well-connected in the village.
Many people went to the Zhang family to help. Lin Qiao didn’t go; she stayed home with Song Tingfan as he practiced characters.
Seeing Song Tingfan frequently glance at her, Lin Qiao asked puzzled, "What’s wrong?"
Song Tingfan shook his head.
Lin Qiao eventually realized; was he worried she would be sad because Zhang Dong got married?
"..."
She needed to clarify things.
"Little uncle, don’t overthink it. I don’t have any feelings for Zhang Dong. I wasn’t clear-headed before." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
Saying this, she sighed upon hearing the music outside, feeling a little nostalgic. She continued, "The day your brother and I got married was just as lively."
The sound in her voice lowered, a bit strained, "Little uncle, I miss your brother."
She needed to instill in this antagonist that she is deeply in love with his brother, eternally unwavering, faithful till death.
Fortunately, Song Tingyi had passed away; otherwise, she couldn’t utter such words in front of the real person.
Mentioning Song Tingyi, Song Tingfan pursed his lips; he felt sad and strangely suffocated for some unclear reason.
He sensibly comforted her, "Sister-in-law, my brother and I are very much alike."
"Look at me."
Facing his serious look, Lin Qiao: "..."
This was the first time she’d seen someone comfort others this way.
She looked at him and continued acting, "Little uncle, your eyebrows and eyes most closely resemble your brother’s."
"I don’t know what year it was, but I saw your brother and immediately thought he was really handsome, especially his eyes."
"Everyone says I was sold into this, but I know it’s not true, I like your brother." Saying this, she glanced at the antagonist’s reaction, who seemed a bit dazed, seemingly in disbelief.
Well, in reality, she didn’t even know what Song Tingyi looked like.
Sister-in-law likes brother...
Previously, Song Tingfan always wished sister-in-law would like his brother, so why wasn’t he happy when he heard it straight from her?
Instead, he felt somewhat sour and bitter.
So uncomfortable.
He felt like he didn’t want sister-in-law to like his brother.
