Turning Antagonist to Protagonist: He is Both Soft and Fierce-Chapter 117 - 112: Could It Be He’s Interested in Lin Qiao?
Song Liu dared not speak against the elders of the Wang Family, but Niu Er was her peer, so she immediately shouted, "Mind your own business, you’re just a scoundrel poking your nose into other people’s affairs. Could it be you fancy Lin Qiao?"
Niu Er, never caring about reputation since he had done every petty crime under the sun, spat, "Who I fancy is none of your business, but I’m certainly not interested in an ugly fat woman like you, both ugly and grotesque."
Perhaps feeling he hadn’t been mean enough, he added, "Even if all the women in the world died, I wouldn’t spare you a glance."
"Almost made me puke, ugh~" He added dramatically as he pretended to retch at the end.
Niu Er certainly had a venomous tongue, and Lin Qiao bit her lip, trying to stifle a reaction.
Any woman would be embarrassed to be insulted by a man like this. Song Liu pointed at him, trembling, and blurted, "My guess is you’re sleeping with her, that’s why you’re helping her. Why don’t you just marry her then!"
"I’d love that, even half a chance would do. You make her marry me, and I’ll take her immediately," Niu Er imagined, considering that even Widow Song, a widow, was far better than others in the village. She was quite a beauty after all.
They say all women are the same in the dark, but that’s a lie. Some are so ugly they scare you even with the lights on.
"Auntie, how can you insult me like this? Even though I’m a widow, I’m still pure and innocent."
Lin Qiao’s tears fell like beans, one after the other. She raised her hand to the sky, making a pledge, "If I’ve been unclean with anyone, may lightning strike me down, bringing a horrible death."
"I know what others think and say about me. Every time it makes me suffer, wanting to hang myself at night and join my husband."
"But my only younger brother is left at home, I..."
The woman choked with sobs, unable to speak for a long time.
The people around looked on uncomfortably; alas, Widow Song was indeed in a hard place.
Niu Er had seen Widow Song put on a show before and naturally didn’t believe her, popping melon seeds while observing Lin Qiao. Widow Song knew how to act; her tears fell easily, tugging at people’s hearts.
Suddenly, he was bumped hard, dropping the seeds on the ground. Eyes widened, he cursed, "Who the hell..."
Seeing who it was, he quickly appeased, "Oh, it’s the little brother-in-law. No problem, no problem."
Once he married Widow Song, he intended to use his ’brother-in-law’ status to discipline Song Tingfan, who showed no respect for him.
Song Tingfan didn’t know what had happened but saw his sister-in-law crying and instinctively felt it was Song Wang who bullied her.
He picked up a stool angrily and shouted at Song Liu, "Get out, or I’ll hit you!"
Song Liu, frightened, stepped back, trembling. "Song Tingfan, what do you want to do!"
"Get out, just get out!" Song Tingfan’s eyes were bloodshot, clearly loathing Song Liu and Song Ming.
Lin Qiao was so scared she forgot to act, but soon realized it and held Song Tingfan back, "Little uncle, put it down, don’t hit them. Aunt and Uncle are elders."
"They’re not, they bully people."
Song Tingfan held the stool tightly, his emotions near the breaking point.
Then Song An arrived, seeing Lin Qiao and his parents crying bitterly, he suddenly raged, "Song Ming! You’re pushing too far. I haven’t even settled the score for what you did to our parents, and now this!"
"Don’t you have a conscience? Our parents worked tirelessly to send you to school, and you’ve forgotten?"
At that time, the village had no school; they had to go to town to study. The roads weren’t like this smooth, and after rain, they were full of pits.
Some people’s conscience couldn’t be awakened with mere words, Lin Qiao knew that very well, but seeing Song Ming’s indifferent demeanor, she felt injustice for Song Qin and Song Rong.
Song Rong, who had been silent, spoke, his voice hoarse, "Song Ming, I expect nothing from you brothers, nor do I owe you anything." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞
"Today, I want to make it clear, I’m not following you anymore. I demand the silver you received back then to be returned, or we’ll see each other at the government office."
Suddenly, the surroundings fell silent.
Song Rong glanced around at the people outside, inwardly sighing bitterly. He had been proud all his life, never expected to become a laughingstock in his old age.
He continued, "If it weren’t for Qiao’er and Tingfan, I might’ve been dead by now."
"We’ve never sat at a table for a meal at Song Ming’s house, eating leftovers in the yard, and never had a bed to sleep on, sleeping in a straw hut, enduring the wind and sun. In cold winter, we shivered all night."
"In freezing weather, they sent us old folks to the mountains to collect firewood. My wife’s health was poor; she came back shivering in a straw pile, unable to speak. I knelt to beg them for a doctor, but they refused, outright saying that it’d be better if we died..."
Recalling those vicious memories, his eyes slowly moistened.
Soon, he pointed firmly at Song Ming, "If we report to the authorities, unfilial sons like you would be exiled to the borders."
"Don’t think we lack the resolve. We’ve seen through it all; if you don’t return the silver, we’ll see each other at the government in three days."
He truly saw through it, willing to discard his dignity to leave some silver as protection for Qiao’er and Niu Niu.
Song Liu and Song Ming’s faces changed abruptly, unable to believe their parents would sue them at the government office.
In An Yuan, filial piety was paramount. If parents reported their children, severe punishment would follow—men exiled, women enslaved.
A few years ago, a family had faced this fate.
Mrs. Song stood by, gloating, "Third brother, third sister-in-law, if you knew this would happen, why did you act the way you did?"
Once the third family returned the silver, her family could get half.
"Shut up!" Song An only then realized the suffering his parents had endured, his tone unusually harsh.
Mrs. Song immediately fell silent.
Suddenly, Song An punched Song Ming, hurling insults, "You’re a worthless scumbag."
Song An, a seasoned hunter with strong hands, caused Song Ming to cry out in pain, falling to the ground. Before recovering, Song An grabbed his collar, punching him a few more times as Song Ming yelled out in agony.
The Lin Family arrived amid this chaos. Li Guifen, seeing her daughter with red-rimmed eyes, disregarded everything and grabbed Song Liu’s hair, "Bullying my daughter, are you?"
Song Liu doubled over in pain.
Lin Qiao winced, "..."
The original’s mother was indeed a good mother.
Suddenly a concerned voice sounded near her, "Daughter, are you okay?"
Turning around, she saw Lin Han’s anxious and worried expression, oddly touched. She replied earnestly, "I’m fine."
"That’s good, that’s good," Lin Han sighed in relief, repeating himself.
People fighting, others trying to break it up, the chaos was overwhelming. Zhou Ping, having heard the commotion, rushed over, sternly ordering them to stop.
Sweeping his gaze from Song An to Song Ming then to Song Tingfan and Lin Qiao, "The family is in shambles! Which family behaves like yours?"
"Can’t you handle your matters properly?"
"Song Ming, you and your wife are no longer villagers here, so I can’t interfere with you. But as an elder, I want to remind you that everyone gets old, and everyone must walk this path."
"Your parents are old and exhausted. Yet you mistreat them; can your conscience bear it?"
Niu Er, finding the spectacle amusing, chimed in flippantly, "Their conscience was eaten by dogs. What else is there?"
