Turning Antagonist to Protagonist: He is Both Soft and Fierce-Chapter 163 - 158: From Now On, I Only Trust Sister-in-law
Now the onlookers understood that the woman hadn’t lost her money and just wanted to get money for free, making her previous comments about the salad stall untrustworthy.
Perhaps she was really short of two cents.
The woman was speechless, realizing that Lin Qiao was digging a hole for her, and after glaring at Lin Qiao fiercely, she stormed off.
Lin Qiao secretly curled her lip and then looked at Song Tingfan, giving him advice like an elder, "Uncle, not everyone is as honest as you. There are good people and bad people in this world."
"You need to learn to distinguish between them, you know?"
Song Tingfan thought for a moment and nodded earnestly, "From now on, I will only trust Madam Tingfan, Grandpa, and Grandma."
Lin Qiao was startled and sheepishly touched her nose, "Okay."
The remaining over a pound of salad sat without buyers for a while, and Uncle Li from the noodle stall smiled and said, "Madam Tingfan, how about I cook two bowls of noodles for you, and you give me the leftover salad."
A bowl of noodles cost five or six cents, and the salad was just vegetables, so the exchange was about the same value as two bowls of noodles.
Lin Qiao was also hungry, so she nodded, "Okay, Uncle Li, I’ll give you two more cents to add some meat to Uncle’s bowl."
"No need, no need, I still haven’t paid you for those cakes earlier."
Uncle Li quickly cooked up two bowls of noodles, with generous portions, and put meat in both bowls afterward.
Although he said that, Lin Qiao couldn’t not pay, so she counted out four copper coins and placed them on the noodle stall.
Uncle Li quickly handed them to Song Tingfan, pretending to be annoyed, "Why are you being so polite? Just eat!"
Song Tingfan looked at his sister-in-law, wondering whether to take the copper coins. Seeing her nod slightly, he took them.
He had just picked up his bowl of noodles when a hand used chopsticks to transfer some meat into his bowl, "Madam, I have enough, you eat for yourself."
Lin Qiao held her bowl, "Eat more, it’ll help you grow."
"I have enough."
Song Tingfan stubbornly tried to return the meat to her, and after a brief struggle, Lin Qiao relented, "I just need one piece, I’ve been gaining weight lately, my clothes are becoming tight."
This was true, despite the recent hard work, she’d also been eating a lot.
Upon hearing this, Song Tingfan seriously evaluated her from top to bottom. She wasn’t fat, nor was she thin.
The word he recently learned from the teacher flashed in his mind: "Gracious and elegant."
The teacher said it described a woman’s soft and voluptuous figure.
"You’re not fat, just right."
He’s not good at flattering people, so after speaking, he blushed a bit shyly.
"I don’t believe it, you definitely want to coax me into eating meat." Lin Qiao playfully fluttered her eyes.
Her eyebrows curved, her gaze soft, extremely pretty. Song Tingfan blushed even more, hesitantly looking away, "No, no...it’s true."
"See, Uncle admits it himself, I’ll just eat one piece of meat." Lin Qiao picked a piece of meat into her bowl and then gestured for him to eat his noodles obediently.
After eating several bites of noodles, suddenly someone asked how much the basket was, and Song Tingfan quickly put down his bowl and chopsticks, "Eight cents each."
"That’s so expensive, can it be cheaper, five cents?"
"Auntie, look, the bamboo strips are very fine, stronger than the coarse ones."
"Come on, cheaper, cheaper, I’ll take two for five cents." 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
"Auntie, the lowest is six cents, you can take it if you want."
The basket did look better than others, and wasn’t too big. It was just right for a woman to carry. She hesitated, "Okay, six cents it is." Then she paid him twelve cents.
Song Tingfan counted the copper coins twice, and the woman chuckled, "Don’t worry, I won’t shortchange you."
"Thank you, Auntie."
Song Tingfan gave the copper coins to Lin Qiao and then continued eating his noodles. After the woman walked away, he commented, "Madam, she’s a good person."
Giving twelve cents made her a good person? His logic was too simple, but Lin Qiao didn’t say anything and just nodded.
After finishing the noodles, they packed up the stall and didn’t immediately return to town but went to the fabric shop. The boss was calculating accounts when he heard footsteps and looked up, happily greeting them, "I almost thought you weren’t coming today. I was going to visit your house tomorrow."
"The shopkeeper of the Ruyi Shop asked me to pass you a message, saying they want to set up a booth in a few days. They asked if you’d join? If so, go tomorrow. This time they want to learn a few moves."
A relaxed job walking around could earn silver, Lin Qiao was certainly willing to do it, "I’ll go, I’ll head to the county town tomorrow."
"Great, I’ll be going to the Ruyi Shop to get supplies tomorrow, you can come with me."
The boss took a few glances at her, her face like a peach without rouge, if she weren’t married, matchmakers would surely have beaten down her doorstep.
But it’s not just that Widow Song is good-looking, she’s also quite capable, supporting a family of four on her own while providing for Uncle’s studies.
Lin Qiao nodded, "Thanks, Boss."
She took out some drawings and continued, "I’ve sketched a few recently, take a look if you want them?"
The target market in town was mostly workers, so the designs were relatively simple.
"Sure." The Boss looked for a while and paid her two and a half taels of silver.
After chatting a bit, Lin Qiao got ready to leave, when suddenly someone tugged at her sleeve, the young man’s voice slightly magnetic, "Madam, do you like that cyan outfit?"
She looked up at the outfit, the cyan one was a thin spring top that she designed, "What’s up?"
Song Tingfan scratched his head, "I’ll buy it for you."
Madam said her clothes were tight.
Lin Qiao was briefly stunned, turning to look at him, his eyes sincere, her heart hit by something evident, feeling slightly complicated, "Uncle, I still have clothes, no need to buy."
"It’s tight."
After saying this, Song Tingfan asked the boss, "How much is the outfit?"
The Boss directly mentioned the cost price, "A hundred and twenty cents will do, the outfit hanging is exactly your sister-in-law’s size, she can try it on."
Although the money at home was with his sister-in-law, Song Tingfan had saved quite a bit of pocket money, enough to buy an outfit. He looked expectantly, "Madam, will you try it on?"
Lin Qiao was about to refuse but seeing the young man clearly eager to buy clothes for his sister-in-law, she nodded.
After the boss took down the clothes, she went to the back room with them.
Once worn, she found it tight, cough, this time it wasn’t the waist, it was the chest.
She called out beyond the wooden door, "Boss, do you have bigger sizes?"
"A bit tight? Can’t be."
The Boss didn’t believe it, knocked, and entered to look, then said, "Where is it tight? It’s just right."
The sound insulation wasn’t great here, and Lin Qiao worried Song Tingfan might hear, so she gestured at her chest. The Boss followed her hand, looked, "Is it tight at the chest?"
A voice not quiet at all.
Lin Qiao: "..."
She nodded.
The Boss admired her chest, "You’ve really got a big chest, it’d be a shame if you didn’t remarry."
Lin Qiao: "..."
She interrupted, "Do you have bigger sizes?"
"I do. I’ll get one for you."
The Boss went out then quickly handed her another set of clothes.
A while later, Lin Qiao came out after changing, "Uncle, how is it?"
