Turning Antagonist to Protagonist: He is Both Soft and Fierce-Chapter 185 - 180: Becoming Someone’s Servant

Lin Qiao tried to decline several times, but couldn’t, so she had to accept it. Then, she took a donkey cart back to the village. Her ankle, which she had twisted a few days ago, throbbed slightly with pain, so she bent down and gently pinched it a few times.

By the time she returned to the village, it was already around the fourth or fifth quarter of the Si hour. The women and men passing by frequently looked at her with eyes filled with sympathy, pity, disdain, and views of impurity.

That day, it wasn’t just the Song and Lin families who went; others from the village were there too, so naturally, word got around.

She was clearly the victim, so why did she have to endure the strange looks from the people?

The original owner’s breakdown and the villain’s descent into darkness were indeed a lament of the society of that era; they were not the only ones—there were many more like them.

But after all, she was not a teenager anymore. She ignored them and quickly went home.

Song Tingfan, who was supposed to be studying, was now in the courtyard, along with Zhou Ping and an unfamiliar family from the village.

The uncle in a gray short jacket was surveying the place while saying, "The space is spacious enough, but it’s a bit old and needs renovation. Eighteen taels of silver is too expensive, Tingfan, make it fifteen taels."

This house, which Song’s second family built years ago, used good materials and cost more than twenty taels of silver, not including the land.

Lin Qiao recalled how Song Tingfan mentioned selling the house before and immediately guessed what was happening. Amused yet helpless, she said, "Uncle, what are you doing?"

Upon hearing her voice, Song Tingfan turned to look at her, startled. He hadn’t expected his sister-in-law to return so early.

He picked at his fingers, hesitating a bit, and then muttered softly, "Selling... the house."

It was as she thought. Lin Qiao shook her head without a second thought, "No selling allowed."

Zhou Ping let out a sigh; he had advised Song Tingfan for quite a while, but he persisted in wanting to sell, "Tingfan, I said the same thing—don’t sell the house. Think of another way. If worse comes to worst, ask the village to chip in a bit."

Song Tingfan couldn’t think of any solutions anymore; they were still short of tens of taels of silver, and nothing valuable was left at home, except the house.

"Grandpa Zhou, we’re not selling the house. Sorry to trouble you to come this way."

Lin Qiao saw them off, glancing around the courtyard, and looked at the silent young man. She said again, "Did you coax Grandpa and Grandma out to sell the house?"

"Where would we live if it’s sold? Even if we can’t get the silver, I won’t allow the house to be sold. Even if it means I have to pawn myself to a brothel, the house cannot be sold."

It might not come to that, but it was close enough.

If the villain had nothing left, not even a house, then what hope would he hold onto?

Song Tingfan was adamant that he would not allow his sister-in-law to pawn herself to a brothel, stubbornly saying, "I won’t let it happen."

This kind of "foolishness" of the villain, Lin Qiao didn’t know what to say. Now she understood why in her past life, despite the original owner’s beatings and scoldings, he was still good to her.

He was simple-minded.

She almost wanted to knock on his head to see what it was made of, "Song Tingfan, are you stupid?"

His sister-in-law suddenly scolded him, and Song Tingfan became at a loss, nervously pinching the corners of his clothes.

Seeing this, Lin Qiao sighed, "Forget it, I’ll just have to keep a closer eye on things in the future. We’ve gathered enough silver and money, don’t worry anymore." She spoke as she showed him the silver and money.

Upon hearing that they had gathered enough, Song Tingfan’s first reaction wasn’t joy but a dazed question, "Where did it come from?"

"I sold you for it."

Using his previous words, Lin Qiao playfully teased him, expecting to see a frightened expression. Instead, his eyes widened slightly, and he seemed vaguely relieved, "Is it enough?"

Lin Qiao: "..."

Unable to resist, she raised her hand and knocked on his forehead, scolding him playfully, "Were you really planning to sell yourself? Do you know what happens when you’re sold? Working for a wealthy family is already good, but if you end up in..." a brothel, you’ll become a servant."

She didn’t finish the latter half of the sentence.

She quickly explained, "Some of the soaked silver and money were exchanged, and the boss of the cloth shop lent me some silver."

The young man’s eyes lit up, "Really?"

"How could it not be? Otherwise, how would I have come by it? I don’t have the skills to steal, ha."

Lin Qiao couldn’t help but laugh, "The school session starts soon, go to school. Where are Grandma and Grandpa?"

"They’ve gone to the field to dig some Houttuynia cordata."

After Song Tingfan finished speaking, he stood still. Under her gaze, he hesitated and then said weakly, "I gave the silver for the tuition back to the teacher. I can’t go to school anymore."

Lin Qiao: "..."

"What else have you done?" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Song Tingfan nervously fiddled with the corner of his clothes and confessed everything, "Big brother lent me eighteen taels of silver."

He paused, "The clothes from the county were sold to Tie Dan, and the bow and arrow were sold too..."

Lin Qiao: "..."

He had worked fast indeed. Had she come back any later, would he have sold himself too?

She rubbed her forehead in frustration, "Go and redeem all of it back."

"Never mind, I’ll go with you."

She gathered a few things and went with Song Tingfan to redeem everything. Fortunately, the families were all easygoing.

Thinking about how these families had been worried about her over the past few days, she went and weighed a few pounds of meat, intending to make dumplings for lunch.

On the way, she encountered two uncles carrying hoes, muttering to themselves.

"The Lin family is selling land at six taels of silver per acre. It’s so cheap. I’ll go take a look in the afternoon, and if it’s suitable, I’ll buy it." After speaking, he glanced in Lin Qiao’s direction.

Lin Qiao paused for a moment, then changed direction toward the Lin family. The Lin family was currently selling grain to the Fan family. For rural people, grain was something that couldn’t be sold, unless the family, like the Fan family, were landlords.

It wasn’t hard to guess why. She sighed inwardly; her stony heart was slightly softened. She feared owing people favors the most, "Father, Mother, what are you doing? Selling things to help me gather ransom money?"

Lin Han didn’t respond, nor did Li Guifen.

Instead, it was Mrs. Lin Wu who spoke, reassuring her, "Sister-in-law, with everyone in the family chipping in, we’ll definitely gather enough. Don’t worry too much."

Her sister-in-law had initially been willing to lend her money, and understanding and kindness were reciprocated in her eyes.

"Exactly, with the family gathering the money together, we can make it." In the morning, Mrs. Lin Xu even returned to her mother’s home to borrow three taels of silver.

Not only her, but Lin Shan also went to borrow five taels of silver from his boss; the elders lowered their heads to borrow from people in the village.

The whole village knew of what Song San’s family had done; those with a good relationship lent more.

For those who didn’t have a good relationship, their words were unbearably sarcastic.

The family managed to gather nearly twenty taels of silver, and with the sale of land, they should be able to gather fifty taels of silver.

If they didn’t help her, Lin Qiao wouldn’t mind. But they did help her, and for a moment, her heart felt complicated yet warmed. She looked at Mrs. Fan and said, "Granny Fan, sorry, but we’re not selling the grain."

Mrs. Fan glanced at her and sighed. The poor child endured hardships, having married into Song Er’s family to bring luck to her brother’s leg treatment, and now being sold to a brothel by Song San’s family.

Any other woman might have already been desperate enough to drown herself.

"It’s okay, I heard about your difficulties. I’ll lend you ten taels of silver. No need to rush to pay it back."

This matter was something that her husband had mentioned to her last night, and they decided to lend if they could.