Turning Antagonist to Protagonist: He is Both Soft and Fierce-Chapter 127 - 122: Suddenly Feeling... a Mother’s Gratification

Chapter 127: Chapter 122: Suddenly Feeling... a Mother’s Gratification

The young man couldn’t hide his thoughts. After being praised by Madam Tingfan, his cheeks flushed. "When we get home, I’ll make more. We can still sell for a few more days."

Although today wasn’t as good for selling, some people still bought, earning a bit of silver.

Throughout the year, what children loved most was the New Year, and although the antagonist wouldn’t say it, Lin Qiao knew he was quite happy.

She shook her head with a teasing tone, "No more making, let’s buy some things later. I’ll make you something delicious, guaranteed you haven’t tried it."

She paused, blinked her eyes, and said, "Our family also needs to celebrate the New Year."

The words "our family" warmed Song Tingfan’s heart.

He has a family, a sister-in-law, and grandparents.

He nodded obediently, "Okay."

There weren’t many people selling vegetables today, so Lin Qiao weighed some lamb, twenty cents per pound, and bought about two pounds.

Lin Qiao put it in her basket, "Uncle, let’s go back..."

Suddenly seeing something, she fell silent and then walked into a shop.

Song Tingfan hurriedly followed.

Seeing the two coming in, the shopkeeper beamed, greeting, "Want to buy firecrackers? One cent each."

Lin Qiao took a look; they were like regular fireworks but with beautiful patterns on the red paper, and they were sold individually.

She turned to Song Tingfan, "Uncle, want to play with it?"

A single firecracker for one cent was expensive; without a thought, Song Tingfan shook his head, "No."

Not playing meant wanting to play, cough, Lin Qiao thought of a woman’s perspective, she said to the shopkeeper, "Can you go cheaper? Two for one cent? If so, we’ll buy ten cents worth."

Two for one cent isn’t sold anywhere, the shopkeeper would have frowned if it weren’t for the young woman’s good looks.

But his smile disappeared, "How’s that possible? Two for one cent, you can’t buy it anywhere in An Yuan, miss, look at my firecrackers, so nice, and they look even better when they explode."

"Come, I’ll light one for you to see."

He said while taking a firecracker, placing it a little outside the store on the open ground, then took out a fire to ignite the fuse. The fuse was long, with no immediate explosion to worry about.

Lin Qiao underestimated the firecracker’s power. With a "bang," red paper shreds scattered everywhere.

She was startled, instinctively patting her chest.

The watching children jumped with joy, clapping vigorously.

The shopkeeper, with a proud look, "Miss, didn’t fool you, right? Just one is loud enough. If you set it off at your doorstep, others might get envious."

"Shopkeeper, how about fifteen for ten cents? If so, I’d come back next time to buy more." Lin Qiao attempted to haggle.

Fifteen for ten cents still had a profit of four or five cents, the shopkeeper pretended to be displeased, "No, no, I’ll just give you two extra."

"Shopkeeper, we’re just selling a few things in town for the New Year, haven’t made much copper coin. I’m thinking my little uncle hasn’t played firecrackers before, want to buy some for him to play with."

"Alright, I’ll give you three, really seeing your hardship, no more haggling or it’ll lose its meaning."

Upon hearing this, Lin Qiao knew that was the best she could get, she gratefully said, "Thank you, shopkeeper, I’ll come to you for incense and candles another day."

To make the shopkeeper believe she was indeed poor, she counted the copper coins twice, afraid to give an extra cent.

Her cautious manner made Song Tingfan a bit emotional. It was all for him that his sister-in-law was willing to spend like this.

He reached out and took the firecrackers handed over by the shopkeeper, carefully placing them in the basket.

There were many people in town today. For the moment, there were no donkey carts available for the return trip, and the two walked home with their baskets on their backs.

The snow wasn’t thick on the road, but stepping down still left deep footprints. Lin Qiao’s shoes were short, sometimes loosening when stepped on.

After noticing after a few times, Song Tingfan quickly walked ahead, stepping firmly on the snow to leave footprints, "Sister-in-law, I’ll go ahead, you step on where I’ve walked."

Lin Qiao was momentarily stunned, suddenly feeling...like a contented mother.

A little comforting warmth.

"Okay."

The two walked one behind the other, Song Tingfan occasionally looked back and seeing his sister-in-law’s footsteps overlapping his own gave him a strange satisfaction.

His sister-in-law no longer stepped in the snow.

That joy soon faded as Cheng Sheng’s carriage stopped beside them, the driver who knew them well smiled and said, "Tingfan, Madam Tingfan, Mr. Cheng said you should ride with us to save a trip."

"No need, uncle. We’ll wait for the donkey cart." Lin Qiao politely declined without thinking much.

"No point waiting for Zhou Family’s donkey cart. It’s gone to the county; we saw it on the road earlier." The coachman lifted the curtain, inviting them onto the carriage.

Denying again would be somewhat impolite, so Lin Qiao had to nod, "Thank Mr. Cheng and you, uncle." Then she gestured for Song Tingfan to go first.

Song Tingfan didn’t like the teacher’s carriage; he wanted to walk with his sister-in-law, but she might catch cold. He muttered, "Sister-in-law, you go up first," while assisting Lin Qiao.

Lin Qiao said no more, entered the carriage, and saw only Cheng Sheng inside, which was unusual.

Soon, Song Tingfan also came in, placing the two baskets together, cautiously moving them to avoid touching his sister-in-law or the teacher.

His uncomfortable sitting position would likely cause his legs to go numb by the time they reached the village. Lin Qiao extended her hand, moving the basket toward her side, "Uncle, move it over a bit." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"Sister-in-law, let it be here with me." Song Tingfan pulled the basket back again.

His strong grip made Lin Qiao lean forward slightly, "..."

Unable to move the basket, she reached to hold his arm, "Then you sit a bit closer."

Song Tingfan hesitated, then somehow managed to shift over, leaning on Lin Qiao’s shoulder and awkwardly staring at the carriage ceiling.

Cheng Sheng glanced at them, finally focusing on Lin Qiao.

Having seen her a few times, she was quite unlike the previous Widow Song.

He had seen the previous Widow Song, always reserved, with an air of widow’s inferiority.

But he didn’t think much; after all, it wasn’t his business.

Though even deep thought would yield nothing as he wouldn’t guess Widow Song had changed "hearts."

Song Tingfan naturally noticed the teacher looking at his sister-in-law, pursed his lips; why did the teacher always look at his sister-in-law?

After a while, he said, "Teacher, I have a sentence I don’t understand."

Cheng Sheng looked over, assuming a teacher’s demeanor, "Which passage, speak."

"Yijue jiayou, miqi zhizhi."

"This sentence means..."

At first listening to their conversation, later unknowingly, she fell asleep, only woken up by Song Tingfan calling her, and by then, they had reached the village.

Lin Qiao got off the carriage, just about to say thanks when Song Tingfan had already spoken, "Thanks to Mr. Cheng for today."

"You’re welcome, study hard." Cheng Sheng nodded slightly, then the coachman drove the carriage away.

Lin Qiao didn’t think much, gratifyingly looked at Song Tingfan, "Uncle is like a little adult now." Having said that, she went into the house without waiting for his response.