Turning Antagonist to Protagonist: He is Both Soft and Fierce-Chapter 128 - 123: Little Aunt, You Look Like a Newlywed
Originally, Song Rong was shoveling snow, but upon hearing the sound, he immediately tossed the shovel aside and went back to the main room to sit.
Qiao’er and Niu Niu, these two kids are kind-hearted; they didn’t let him work.
Song Qin was about to pick up the shovel to relieve the old man from being scolded when Lin Qiao spoke up, "Grandpa, I told you not to shovel snow! What if you catch a cold?"
"Grandpa, didn’t we agree? You’re not supposed to shovel snow!" Song Tingfan ran into the main room worriedly and held Song Rong’s hand, a bit cold to the touch, and quickly rubbed it.
Once his hands got some color back, he hurried to get the stove going.
"It’s alright, I know my own body. I stopped once I got cold." Song Rong carefully explained to the two kids.
Lin Qiao glanced at the young man; his face was tense, showing hints of anger.
Oh look, even little rabbits have their temper.
"Grandpa, don’t do this next time. You can dig the ground when it’s warm, but now that it’s cold, you might catch a chill."
"Okay, I’ll stop." Song Rong glanced at his grandson, then at Song Qin, gesturing for some help to say something.
Song Qin quickly replied, "He hasn’t been doing it for long, just a while."
This was her fault too, mentioning how thick the snow was in the yard.
Lin Qiao nodded, then changed the subject, saying, "Grandpa, Grandma, today we sold over five hundred cents."
Song Qin’s face was full of smiles, disbelief showing, "So much?"
"Yes, it’s all thanks to my little uncle’s skills; the children loved them." Lin Qiao never missed a chance to praise the antagonist.
The antagonist was gradually improved through compliments.
It was already afternoon, and Lin Qiao was a bit hungry. Judging by Song Qin and Song Rong’s looks, they hadn’t eaten either.
She went into the kitchen to get busy, preparing a hot pot.
She just wanted to eat like this, but whenever they ate slightly better, people in the village would gossip a lot.
Song Tingfan helped, and soon enough, they had the small stove with the pot on the burner.
Lin Qiao tossed some slices of lamb inside, followed by some vegetables.
This way of eating was quite common in the village; in winter, the food was cold, so the whole family revolved around the stove.
Lin Qiao served the lamb to the old couple, then to Song Tingfan, finally getting some for herself, spicing it with chili as she ate.
The warm spiciness drove away much of the chill from her body.
The woman squinted her eyes, shaking her head a couple of times, showing a bit of rare coyness; Song Tingfan’s lips gradually curled upward, handing her a piece of lamb into her bowl.
Although the broth wasn’t spicy, they all broke into sweats from eating.
Next door, the Wang family already smelled the aroma; Old Wang was a bit tempted and asked Old Mrs. Wang, who was holding their grandson, "What’s the Song Family cooking again? Smells delicious!"
"Didn’t expect Madam Tingfan to be so good at cooking."
People in the village said Lin Qiao was lazy and gluttonous, incapable of much, but upon getting to know her, they found Madam Tingfan was quite industrious, easily more than half the women in the village.
Hearing this, Old Mrs. Wang glared at him, thinking he was just craving food all day.
But she replied, "It smells good indeed; I’ll go ask what they’re cooking later, and we can make some tonight."
"Don’t forget to ask, alright?" Old Wang smilingly reminded her, worried she might forget.
...
After finishing their meal, the Song family prepared to set off some firecrackers, and Song Tingfan went to bring Lin An and Lin Ping over to join in the fun.
Lin An and Lin Ping were too young, so Lin Qiao didn’t let them set the firecrackers, only allowing them to watch.
Though Song Tingfan matured early, he still had the heart of a child; he stuck the firecracker in the snow, "Sis-in-law, you move back a bit, I’ll light it."
Lin Qiao held the two kids’ hands, moved back a bit, and upon seeing Song Tingfan light it, she quickly covered her ears.
Soon after, with a "bang", snow and red scraps of paper flew everywhere, decorating the ground prettily.
A small pit formed where the firecracker was.
Lin An and Lin Ping jumped excitedly, not scared at all.
The sound of the firecrackers soon attracted other children, along with many adults.
Zhou Tiedan came running fast in a red jacket, excitedly saying, "Tingfan, you’re lighting firecrackers? I have some too; three of them, my mom bought them for me." While bragging, he showed three firecrackers.
Then he buried one in the snow, borrowed the fire from Song Tingfan, and soon, another loud firecracker explosion followed.
The entrance to Song’s second family became bustling, gradually turning into the children’s firecracker spot.
Zhou Tiedan still had his last firecracker, reluctant to use it, thinking to wait until Song Tingfan finished his before lighting it.
He happily asked, "Tingfan, how many more do you have?"
"Nine more." Song Tingfan smiled, then carefully spread out the firecrackers for him to see, saying, "My sister-in-law bought them for me, thirteen in total."
Looking at the firecrackers in his hand, Zhou Tiedan felt envious; why did Song Tingfan have so many when he only had one left?
Why did Song Tingfan’s sister-in-law buy him all those firecrackers?
His own sister-in-law only bought him food.
He threw a fit, ran back home to his sister-in-law, who was munching on a sweet potato, whining, "Sis-in-law, buy me firecrackers, Tingfan’s sis-in-law bought him so many!"
Mrs. Xue Zhou had just tasted the sweet potato when it fell to the floor, deliciously sweet; she felt like crying, displeased, "What’s wrong with you, Tiedan? You dropped my sweet potato."
"Sis-in-law, all you do is eat rather than take care of me. Look at how good Tingfan’s sis-in-law is to him, making gloves, buying firecrackers."
Not mentioning it was fine, but Zhou Tiedan felt a bit aggrieved, hurt; did his sis-in-law dislike him?
He once brought bird eggs, even secretly ate eggs with her, not exposing her when caught.
Suddenly, he inexplicably acted up, Mrs. Xue Zhou: "..."
She picked up the sweet potato, blew on it a few times, then took a small bite, "I’ll buy it for you, lets your brother go to town now."
"Zhou Tiedan!! Are you itching for a beating?"
Zhou Tiedan’s brother, Mrs. Xue’s husband, came out with a wooden stick from the main room.
Zhou Tiedan quickly got up, hiding behind Mrs. Xue, who quickly shielded him, "What are you doing, hitting someone over buying firecrackers?"
"Just spoil him; someday you’ll know what I mean by ’bullying’ you." Zhou Tiedan’s brother said helplessly.
...
The Zhou family was bustling with activity, while at Song’s second family’s entrance, the firecrackers were almost finished.
Song Tingfan still had three left; he looked at Lin Qiao at the entrance and then carefully asked, "Sis-in-law, do you want to light a few?"
He found setting off firecrackers fun, so he wanted his sister-in-law to try too.
Lin Qiao, aiming to build rapport with him, nodded, and once he buried them, she lit them, moving a tad slow, getting showered with snow.
Unknowingly, a bit of childish delight emerged; her eyes curved, meeting Song Tingfan’s gaze, "Little uncle, it’s fun."
Song Tingfan grinned widely.
Beside them, Lin An noticed the red scraps on her head and body, "Auntie, you look like a new bride, very pretty." Saying so, he clapped his hands.
He had seen the Zhang family scatter red scraps when marrying a bride.
Upon hearing "new bride", Lin Qiao couldn’t help but laugh, pinching some red paper scraps to place on him, jokingly asking, "Well, what are you?"
Lin An’s eyes turned, pinching some red scraps to smear on Song Tingfan’s body, "Hahaha, little uncle is the new groom."
