Turning Antagonist to Protagonist: He is Both Soft and Fierce-Chapter 166 - 161: Song Tingfan, You’re Having Springtime Thoughts
Song Tingfan has always been sensible, almost never speaking such slightly willful words, so Lin Qiao was taken aback.
Then she thought for a moment, realizing that she hadn’t been away for several days without returning in over half a year; it was normal for him to be unaccustomed to it.
In the past, she would have agreed to him, but recently she heard that the school was going to have exams, so she comforted him with a coaxing tone, "Little Uncle, be good. I’ll be back soon. Next time, when you have a long break, I’ll take you and Grandpa and Grandma to the county to play."
Sister-in-law disagreed, and Song Tingfan bit his lower lip, "Alright."
He hesitated for a moment, nervously adding, "Sister-in-law, you will come back, won’t you?"
Turns out, he was afraid she might not return, causing Lin Qiao to feel both amused and helpless. She blinked and teased, "Don’t you want me to come back?"
Song Tingfan couldn’t handle teasing. Upon hearing this, he hastily blurted out, "No, I want Sister-in-law to come back, I don’t want you to leave."
"Silly Little Uncle, where else would I go if not back here? This is my home." Lin Qiao smiled, giving him an affectionate glance, then thought of something as she looked at the peach tree in the yard, and said, "I’ll come back when the peach blossoms bloom, and then I’ll make peach blossom cake for Little Uncle."
This peach tree was transplanted by Song Tingfan from the mountain last year, not only peach blossoms but also many other flower species.
The peach blossoms had already started to bud, and they would fully bloom in a few days.
Song Tingfan looked at the peach tree outside, "Okay."
...
To appease her "child," Lin Qiao specially saw him off to the school before leaving.
Zhou Tiedan was the last to enter the school again. After sitting down and taking out his book, he took a few breaths and suddenly noticed something, laughing, "Tingfan, your book is upside down, what are you thinking, having some spring fever?"
Immediately, all the kids in the school looked over.
Song Tingfan didn’t want to talk to him, so he turned his book right side up, but couldn’t concentrate on the words.
What’s Sister-in-law doing, could she be talking to that person?
Seeing that he wasn’t responding, Zhou Tiedan had a mischievous grin, "Tingfan, you must be lovestruck, so tell me, who do you like in the village?"
Thinking of something, he rushed to add in a whisper, "You’re not allowed to compete with me for Yu Hehua."
Song Tingfan still ignored him, making Zhou Tiedan even more curious, "Tingfan, tell me, I promise I won’t tell anyone."
With the constant chatter in his ear, Song Tingfan glared at him, feeling somewhat frustrated, "Don’t bother me."
"Song Tingfan, you’re not manly at all, there’s nothing wrong with saying it. Look at me, I told you I like Yu Hehua." Zhou Tiedan rattled on, but Song Tingfan still wouldn’t pay him any attention.
Zhou Tiedan rolled his eyes and moved his mouth.
Hm, if he won’t say it, he won’t say it, he’ll find out eventually.
When he does, he’ll scare him half to death.
Hm, then he can threaten him to collect bird eggs every day.
Meanwhile, the carriage was already on the main road, and it would take another hour or so to reach the town.
Lin Qiao had never been this way, surprisingly finding it close to a large river, stretching out of sight.
The pristine scenery was a sight to behold.
"Where does this river lead?"
"I don’t know," the Boss shook his head.
Xu Hu, who was driving the carriage, knew, so he responded, "It goes through the entire An Yuan."
Lin Qiao nodded, "Oh," and let the conversation drop.
The Boss couldn’t resist asking Lin Qiao for her opinion, speaking softly, "What do you think?"
Lin Qiao didn’t want to bluntly say she wasn’t impressed, so she tactfully responded, "Brother Xu is nice, but our personalities might not match. I’m quite chatty, and if I’m quiet, I’d probably get stifled."
The Boss understood what she meant—that she wasn’t interested and didn’t persist, smiling, "That’s just how he is, no worries. I’ll introduce you to someone else next time."
Her second brother was worried Lin Qiao might latch onto Xu Hu, but she wasn’t interested.
Even though Lin Qiao wasn’t interested, Xu Hu indeed was.
Upon reaching the county, Xu Hu found an inn and directly booked one room for three days, and two single-night rooms.
He handed Lin Qiao the key to the three-day room, earnestly saying, "This place is close to the shop, just a few dozen steps away."
"No need, I know how to pay for it myself." Lin Qiao quickly took out a silver coin, Xu Hu didn’t take it, so she handed it to the Boss instead, who ended up returning it to her.
Lin Hu and the Boss had a scheduled meeting with someone that afternoon to look at fabrics, not for the Ruyi Shop, so after lunch, everyone parted ways.
At Ruyi Shop
Chun Niang, hearing that Lin Qiao had arrived, told her girls to take a break and went to greet her.
The young woman in the shop had fair skin and delicate features, standing out remarkably.
She smiled, "The young lady seems to have filled out a bit."
"I’ve been eating too much recently, I should cut back," Lin Qiao chuckled.
Chun Niang shook her head, disapprovingly saying, "You’re just right, don’t slim down."
As they talked, they made their way to the dance practice area. Once the door opened, a dozen women looked over.
Most of them had seen Lin Qiao before, and immediately showed some dissatisfaction, but didn’t express it openly.
Chun Niang had a sharp sense of people and could see through it, "This is Young Lady Qiao’er, she will be wearing the Nanchunhua Liushang this time."
As soon as these words were spoken, the room cooled down. The Nanchunhua Liushang was the most beautiful outfit for the upcoming showcase.
For this piece of clothing, the women had both openly and secretly tried many ways to curry favor with Chun Niang, but in the end, it was given to a young woman.
It was impossible not to feel upset inside.
Immediately, they all liked Lin Qiao even less.
Lin Qiao couldn’t care less whether they liked her or not; she had long been used to this feeling from ages ago.
Chun Niang paid no attention to their reactions, instructing them to continue practicing the previous moves, then personally teaching Lin Qiao.
The more she taught, the more surprised she became by how quickly this young woman learned, mastering the moves taught in just a couple of hours.
For the next three days, Lin Qiao basically stayed at the Ruyi Shop. Naturally, there was no shortage of being ostracized, but she couldn’t be bothered to deal with it.
On the afternoon of the third day, Chun Niang handed out the costumes, advising them to get familiar with them and keep them safe.
The Ruyi Shop provided meals, and at dusk, Lin Qiao wrapped up her costume and brought it to the dining hall, sitting alone as usual.
She had just picked up her chopsticks and taken a couple of bites when someone sat across from her. Looking up, she saw a girl with an oval face, her eyes strikingly beautiful, with light brown irises rather than the typical black.
She was the most beautiful among all the girls.
And also Zhu’er, who had ended up with a stomachache just before going on stage last time.
Seeing Zhu’er glance at the costume she placed on the bench, she looked at the soup in her hand.
No wonder she had been sabotaged with a stomachache.
She took the costume and placed it on her lap, speaking lowly, "Is once as a target not enough?"
She paused a moment, "If you spill soup on the costume, not only will I miss the showcase, but you might never get another chance."
Taken aback, Ling’er panicked, then denied, "I don’t know what you’re talking about."
"You know it well yourself. I just want to earn some money to support my family, I won’t be staying here long. Your hostility shouldn’t be towards me."
Lin Qiao took a sip of soup, then said, "I’m the kind of person who always seeks revenge for wrongs done. If you mess with me, I’ll surely get back at you."
