Turning Antagonist to Protagonist: He is Both Soft and Fierce-Chapter 175 - 170: A Villain’s Instinctive Rejection of Xu Hu
Fulaoyun is an inn in the town, mainly catering to the residents of nearby mountain temples, and business is quite good.
Lin Qiao naturally understood their meaning, estimating that they wanted to buy her cold dish recipe. Well, if the foolishly rich want to buy it, she would naturally sell; at worst, she could sell something else.
She could do many things.
Several people went to Fulaoyun, and the attendant poured them tea. After a while, the shopkeeper came, a female shopkeeper, or perhaps she should be called the female boss.
Liu Fuzhu, a woman in her thirties, looked much younger than others her age. She glanced at Song Qin and Song Rong, "Luzi, take the grandpa and grandma to have some hot food."
Song Rong shook his head, "We won’t eat."
"Grandpa, Grandma, you go ahead. I’ll come to find you in a bit." Lin Qiao naturally understood that Liu Fuzhu had something to say.
Song Qin and Song Rong hesitated for a moment, then followed the attendant.
Liu Fuzhu didn’t like beating around the bush, "I want to buy your cold dish recipe. How much silver are you selling it for?"
She spoke directly, and Lin Qiao also spoke directly, "Thirty taels."
It sounded steep at first, but she could earn that much in a few months; it was just a bit tiring.
Thirty taels for a recipe wasn’t expensive, but it wasn’t cheap either. Liu Fuzhu paused for a moment, "Once you sell it to us, you can’t sell it elsewhere."
"Of course." Lin Qiao nodded without hesitation.
Liu Fuzhu appreciated her straightforwardness, "What about the cake recipe?"
Lin Qiao shook her head, "That one is not for sale; it’s a family heirloom skill."
She relied on cakes to open her shop, and she could guarantee that she was the only one who could make cakes in An Yuan.
She would definitely be able to make money then.
Family heirloom skills indeed should not be passed on, and Liu Fuzhu didn’t insist, "Thirty taels, then. When can you teach the cook?"
She still needed to take Song Rong and Song Qin to the pharmacy for a check-up, so it was definitely not possible today. Lin Qiao thought for a moment, "I’ll come tomorrow. I have other things to do today."
"Alright, I’ll pay you the silver tomorrow." Liu Fuzhu was clearly not reassured by her, and it was normal. If it were Lin Qiao, she wouldn’t trust a stranger either.
After exchanging a few words verbally, they didn’t say much. After leaving Fulaoyun, Lin Qiao took Song Qin and Song Rong to the pharmacy, where the doctor was diagnosing someone. After a while, he waved them over, "Who’s being seen?"
"My grandpa and grandma. Grandpa has had a sore back recently and feels weak, and Grandma has been coughing at night." Lin Qiao looked at Song Qin and recounted the recent symptoms.
Song Rong and Song Qin hadn’t expected she would get them checked out, and both were momentarily stunned, feeling complicated inside. Song Rong knew his back ache was likely an old ailment from his younger days, and he didn’t want to spend money on treatment, "I’m fine, no need to see. Just check your Grandma."
"I’m fine too, no need to see." Song Qin waved her hand.
Whether they wanted to or not, they needed to be seen, as they were crucial in ensuring the male protagonist didn’t become embittered. Lin Qiao insisted on the doctor checking them out. In the end, there weren’t any serious problems, and the doctor only prescribed a few packs of herbal medicine.
Even so, it cost over two hundred cents, which took most of the day’s market earnings.
No wonder villagers rarely visited the town doctor when they got sick.
Song Qin and Song Rong felt guilty, looking at Lin Qiao, wanting to say something but not knowing how.
"Grandma, Grandpa, since we’re living together as a family, we must all stay healthy. Silver isn’t more important than health. Besides, the family isn’t short of silver now." Lin Qiao paused and added, "Even if we didn’t have silver, I’d beg for money to get you treatment."
Song Qin couldn’t hold back, her eyes reddening, "We’re a burden to you."
"What burden? You take care of the fields for Grandpa and Grandma after all." Lin Qiao glanced at the sky and changed the subject, "Let’s hurry home; our little uncle will worry if we’re late."
As the three were nearing the town entrance, they encountered Xu Hu. He seemed to be helping the boss of the fabric shop transport something and was driving a carriage.
Just as Xu Hu was about to leave, he saw them and reined in the cart, "Grandma, Grandpa, Little Sister, do you need a ride back to the village? I’m delivering fabric to the Fan Family in your village."
Knowing his intentions well, Lin Qiao definitely wouldn’t ride his cart. Just as she was about to refuse, he added, "The donkey cart from your village just left; you’ll have to wait a long time for the next one."
"Grandpa, Grandma, let me help you get on the carriage."
Xu Hu got off the cart and helped Song Rong and Song Qin onto it.
Song Qin and Song Rong mainly felt the lad was decent and wanted to learn more about him, so they got on the cart.
Lin Qiao had no choice but to follow.
Xu Hu glanced at her, suddenly feeling a bit shy. After they were seated, he drove the cart steadily toward the village.
Perhaps mindful of the people inside, the ride was slow and smooth.
By the time they reached the village, the sun was almost setting.
Song Qin got off the cart and kindly invited Xu Hu to stay for dinner, and Xu Hu, thinking he could spend more time with Lin Qiao, nodded in agreement, "I’ll deliver the fabric to the Fan Family and come right after."
"Good, make sure to come." Song Qin said with a smiling face.
After he walked away, Song Qin looked at Lin Qiao, tentatively asking, "Qiao’er, do you have any feelings for him? Xu Hu may not talk much, but he is earnest in words and actions and is a family-oriented person."
Lately, the most heard topic was about remarriage. Lin Qiao sighed, "Grandma, I’m not considering it for now; Little Uncle is still studying after all."
She treated them well, and naturally, they treated her well too. Song Qin said, in all earnestness, "Niu Niu studying has nothing to do with your matters; a girl’s best years for marriage are between fifteen and sixteen, and if you miss those, proposals will be tough."
It wasn’t a scare tactic; if a girl wasn’t married by fifteen or sixteen, she might still be a virgin, but others wouldn’t consider her suitable.
Lin Qiao felt the pressure from various relatives urging her, and not wanting to dwell on it, threw up her hands, "I’ll go cook, going to cook." With that, she picked up the basket and quickly went into the kitchen.
"You child..."
Song Qin was amused, then turned to Song Rong, "What do you think of this Xu Hu?"
"He’s alright." Song Rong replied fairly with a nod.
After a while, Xu Hu came in carrying a large sack of rice, and Lin Qiao, who was washing vegetables in the yard, looked at him upon hearing the sound.
Their eyes met.
Xu Hu, feeling a bit nervous, put down the rice, "I didn’t know what you needed, so I just bought something randomly."
"Brother Xu, we don’t need rice. Take it back with you later." Lin Qiao thought Xu Hu was quite nice, but she felt nothing for him.
"I bought it for you." Xu Hu noticed the water vat in the yard was empty and said, "Where’s the bucket? I’ll help you fetch water." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞
Before Lin Qiao could answer, he spotted the bucket and was off with the empty bucket.
With a new face at the Song Family, it wasn’t long before the whole village knew. When Song Tingfan was heading home from school, someone called out to him, "Tingfan, do you know the guy with the scarred face? Is he your relative? I just saw him helping your family fetch water."
A scarred face?
Song Tingfan instinctively thought of Xu Hu, biting his lip before running home. He arrived just in time to see Lin Qiao handing a facecloth to Xu Hu.
The warm images from last night’s dream flashed by, instinctively making Song Tingfan resistant, blurting out, "Sister-in-law." As he spoke, he ran over and wedged himself between Lin Qiao and Xu Hu.
