Turning Antagonist to Protagonist: He is Both Soft and Fierce-Chapter 144 - 139: From Now On, He Wants to Be with His Sister-in-Law
The two of them left the fabric shop and found a small inn nearby, though it was still so expensive it was like having teeth pulled.
A room cost fifty cents, and Lin Qiao, thinking she had some silver coins on hand, asked the shopkeeper for two rooms.
She handed Song Tingfan the key, "Uncle, keep it safe."
Song Tingfan took the key, its cold touch making his heart feel heavy.
But he didn’t know why he felt that way.
"What’s wrong? Afraid to sleep alone?" Lin Qiao saw him staring blankly at the key and instinctively thought he was scared to sleep alone in an unfamiliar place.
He wasn’t scared, but he wanted to stay with his sister-in-law; whenever he stayed with her, he felt peaceful and wouldn’t dream of his dad, mom, and brother.
And his sister-in-law hitting him.
Song Tingfan’s tone was a bit anxious, "Umm, sister-in-law, can I... stay in a room with you, I’ll sleep on the floor..." He was so nervous he clutched his clothes tightly.
Lin Qiao thought for a moment, took back the key, and asked the shopkeeper to change it to a room with two beds. The shopkeeper didn’t make things difficult for them, giving Lin Qiao a refund of ten cents.
The shopkeeper chuckled, "After the ninth hour, calling for hot water will cost extra silver coins, so call earlier."
Lin Qiao nodded, "Shopkeeper, how do we get to the lake in town?"
"Turn left when you exit and keep walking; in about a quarter of an hour, you’ll see Anhe Lake. But it’s not fun now; go at night for the lights; it’s dazzlingly beautiful," the shopkeeper added. "You can visit East Street; many outsiders like to stroll there."
"Thank you, shopkeeper."
Lin Qiao turned to Song Tingfan and asked, "Uncle, do you want to go for a stroll?"
"If sister-in-law goes, I’ll go."
"Then let’s go."
...
Neither of them was familiar with the town and had to ask their way to East Street. It was bustling with people and lined with vendors selling all sorts of things.
They walked along, looking and enjoying themselves. Lin Qiao spent hundreds of cents to buy a hairpin for Song Qin and a pair of thick-soled summer shoes for Song Rong, which would prevent slipping for the elderly.
She turned around to ask Song Tingfan what he liked, seeing him staring dazedly at the masks on a stall, "Uncle, do you like masks? If you do, I’ll buy one for you."
Song Tingfan’s eyes welled up, and to keep her from noticing, he lowered his head and said, "No, I don’t like them."
His dad promised to buy him a mask as a birthday gift but never did...
Lin Qiao understood his demeanor, guessing he was feeling nostalgic and sad again.
She sighed inwardly, then picked up a painted face mask, put it on, and deliberately roughened her voice, "Guess who I am?"
"I am the West Mountain Demon, are you afraid?"
Song Tingfan looked up at her, the eyes behind the mask bright and reflecting his own face. Suddenly, the heaviness in his heart vanished.
He grinned foolishly, "Not afraid."
"Not afraid? I’m going to eat you!" Lin Qiao made clawing motions with her hands, continuing to tease him.
Song Tingfan squinted his eyes in laughter, cooperatively nodding, "Afraid."
Lin Qiao took off the mask, stood on tiptoe to put it on him, glanced a few times, and praised, "Uncle looks handsome in a mask too."
Song Tingfan blushed a bit and raised his hand to take it off, but Lin Qiao held his hand down, "Keep it on, it’s a gift from your sister-in-law."
"How much for the mask, uncle?"
"Twenty-five cents."
"Uncle, give me a discount, twenty cents. I’ll come back to buy again next time."
"Alright, alright, remember to come next time."
With the mask on, Song Tingfan remained motionless, watching the woman counting copper coins, feeling something in his heart breaking free.
It felt strange, yet he couldn’t hide his delight.
His sister-in-law was good to him, she bought him a mask.
It was like a beautiful dream where the sister-in-law who often hit him no longer did, she even saved money for his studies, treated grandpa’s illness, and bought him clothes... 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
Sometimes he felt scared, scared this kind of sister-in-law would disappear.
Thinking of this, he shook his head, dismissing those bad thoughts. He wasn’t going to let his sister-in-law disappear; in the future, he would live with her.
Lin Qiao had no idea that buying a mask had triggered the youth’s deep thoughts. She looked up at the sky; it was almost dusk, "Uncle, let’s find a stall to eat noodles, then go back, put down our things, and head out to see Anhe Lake."
"Okay." Song Tingfan carefully removed the mask.
They randomly picked a noodle stall, ate, went back to put down their things, and by the time they left the inn, the sky was already a dull gray. It was getting dark by the time they reached Anhe Lake.
Yet it was anything but dark; lanterns were lit along Anhe Lake, making everything clear and distinct in their bright light.
Right now, Anhe Lake was lively, with various lantern stalls, the exquisite lanterns catching Lin Qiao’s interest for a long while. Beside her, Song Tingfan pulled out his money bag, "Sister-in-law, which one do you like? I’ll buy it for you."
Buying a lantern was pointless and also not cheap; even the cheapest cost over ten cents.
Lin Qiao shook her head, "No need to buy, just looking is fine."
A twenty-cent mask was bought for Song Tingfan without a second thought, but she hesitated at spending over ten cents on a lantern for herself.
If she had thought it through, she might have realized she was too caught up in the role.
However, she didn’t realize this and was instead drawn by a sound not far away, "Uncle, let’s go over and see; it looks like there’s a lantern riddle contest."
Watching her back, Song Tingfan glanced at the lanterns, pursed his lips, and followed along.
Indeed, there was a lantern riddle contest; solve five to earn a wish lantern, which was a candle-lit lantern floated on the lake.
Lin Qiao wanted Song Tingfan to have fun—not necessarily to win the lanterns, just to enjoy himself, "Uncle, do you want to give it a try?"
Song Tingfan hesitated, looked at the pile of wish lanterns, and nodded, "Okay."
To solve a riddle, you only needed to take down the tag next to the lantern and then check the answer at a nearby table.
It was Song Tingfan’s first time with lantern riddles, so he was a bit nervous about not being able to solve five.
He wanted to give his sister-in-law a lantern.
Lin Qiao waved to him from the side, "Uncle, don’t worry, I believe in you!"
Song Tingfan nodded and then carefully studied the riddles. He had only studied for a few months, so some characters were unfamiliar, but luckily he recognized more than half.
Still, it took quite some time.
The boy stood in front of one lantern for a long time, and a man in a robe impatiently pushed him aside.
Caught off guard, the boy staggered, and then saw the man take down the tag. The man scoffed, "Standing there for so long with such an easy riddle; if you don’t know how to play, don’t. It’s embarrassing."
Lin Qiao hastily supported Song Tingfan, "Uncle, are you alright?"
Song Tingfan shook his head, looking a bit dejected, "It’s okay."
He only had two tags in hand and needed three more.
"Uncle, don’t worry, just do your best. Here, I’ll play with you," Lin Qiao’s glance caught sight of the man who had bumped into Song Tingfan earlier, and she added, "Uncle, you try this one, and I’ll try that one."
With his sister-in-law joining in, Song Tingfan felt more at ease. He looked once at his sister-in-law beside him and continued solving the riddles.
Lin Qiao walked to the man’s side who had bumped Song Tingfan, glanced at the riddle, took down the tag, and softly chuckled, "Wow, don’t know such an easy one? If you don’t know how to play, don’t."
She lowered her voice enough for only the two of them to hear, "What an embarrassment."
