Turning Antagonist to Protagonist: He is Both Soft and Fierce-Chapter 187 - 182: From Now On, Only Sister-in-law Can Hit Me
Li Guifen also leaned in for a look, feeling a bit distressed, "Your face is all swollen, Qiao’er, didn’t you finish that ointment last time? You should apply some for Tingfan."
"It’ll be fine soon." Song Tingfan thought that the medicine was expensive, so he decided not to use it and to save it for his sister-in-law.
It’s not that he thinks poorly of his sister-in-law, he’s just afraid of any unforeseen situations.
"If you have medicine, use it. It won’t hurt as much if you apply it." Li Guifen told Lin Qiao to take him to apply the medicine, then called out towards the door: "Big Han, come and make a fire."
"Coming."
Soon, Lin Han rushed in, unintentionally glanced at Song Tingfan’s face, and saw that half of it was red. "Tingfan, who hit you?" While speaking, he instinctively looked at Lin Qiao.
Lin Qiao: "..."
Li Guifen lightly punched him, and after Lin Qiao and the two uncles and nephews left, she explained, "It was his aunt who hit him."
"That woman just bullies Tingfan because his parents aren’t around. If Tingfan’s mother were here, she wouldn’t even dare to say a harsh word." Lin Han said angrily.
"That was in the past, though. Tingfan’s aunt has always been petty-minded all her life." Li Guifen picked up a basket and added: "Watch the pot for me, I’m going to fetch some green onions."
"I’ll go; your leg isn’t good." Lin Han took the basket and went out. After a while, he called Lin Sheng to come in and make a fire.
Inside the house
Lin Qiao used a wet cloth to clean Song Tingfan’s face, then lifted his chin to examine it carefully. The marks were quite severe.
He had been hunting in the mountains for years, so his skin wasn’t that "delicate," which showed how much force Mrs. Song used.
She frowned subtly, "Why didn’t you dodge?"
With his reactions, dodging Mrs. Song shouldn’t have been a problem. Most likely, he stood still, feeling guilty and foolishly let himself be hit.
Ah, who would have thought that the ruthless villain was so kind-hearted before he turned into a villain.
The gentle touch seemed to ease the burning pain on his face. Song Tingfan glanced at the girl, perhaps due to recent events, she seemed a bit thinner, her chin slightly pointed.
Her eyes slightly lowered, filled with soft concern.
He pursed his lips and smiled obediently, "I’ll dodge next time."
Despite being hit, he was still smiling. Lin Qiao gave him a playful glare, "What’s there to be foolishly happy about? Next time, no matter who hits you, you should dodge. If someone goes too far, hit back."
"Don’t worry about whether they’re an elder or not. They are elders only if they treat you well; if not, they’re just bad people, and there’s no need to be lenient with bad people."
"Don’t be afraid; I’m still here. As long as we’re in the right, we’ll fight back against them."
"Do you understand?"
The young man thought for a moment, nodded earnestly, and promised, "From now on, only my sister-in-law can hit me."
Lin Qiao: "..."
She couldn’t help but laugh, teasing, "Won’t you get mad no matter how I hit you?"
Without hesitation, Song Tingfan shook his head, "I won’t get mad, as long as my sister-in-law doesn’t leave me."
"Why would I leave you? I’m more afraid of my little uncle not wanting me."
"I won’t. I’ll always want you, sister-in-law, for a lifetime."
This sounded a bit odd, but somehow it didn’t feel wrong. Lin Qiao ignored it, "Then don’t be afraid. I’m still waiting to help you raise your kids. If you don’t want me to leave, tell me which girls you like, and I’ll go check them out."
Talking about his own marriage again, Song Tingfan blushed, thinking about what happened that night. He quickly glanced at her and stammered, "I... I can’t... marry a wife." 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶
He wanted... to marry his sister-in-law.
He wanted to take responsibility for her.
Luckily, Lin Qiao didn’t know what he was thinking; otherwise, she wouldn’t be laughing. She curiously asked, "Why can’t you marry a wife?"
"Too young." Song Tingfan looked around uncomfortably.
He planned to wait until he came of age, save up silver, and then tell his sister-in-law he wanted to marry her.
"Tie Dan’s mother is already looking for a wife for him. I’ll keep an eye out for you too." Lin Qiao finished applying the medicine and put the lid back on.
"I don’t want to look."
Song Tingfan was stubborn. Once he set his mind to something, he wasn’t easily swayed.
"Fine, fine, don’t look. We can look in a couple of years." Lin Qiao assumed he was in the throes of teenage crushes and hadn’t quite figured things out. Once he did, he would naturally bring a wife home.
She thought of something and said more seriously, "Little uncle, from now on, you can’t accept the silver your elder gives."
It’s because Song An was good to him that he wouldn’t resist Mrs. Song’s beatings, but Mrs. Song inherently wasn’t kind, and would only escalate her abuse.
She continued, "I’ll take care of the silver and money matters. Once things are settled, the family won’t lack money."
"Dad, Mom, and Brother are gone, but there’s still me as your sister-in-law to rely on. Just focus on your studies."
"Don’t worry, I won’t seek death. Others may not want us to do well, but we’ll live well on purpose."
Lately, he’d been subtly following her around, and she understood what he was worried about.
She had spent over half a year putting on this free act not to end herself but to survive.
As long as it didn’t end like her previous life, she could care less about people’s gossip. If she did care, she would have jumped to her death in her past life.
This role chose her well. If it chose someone who couldn’t handle pressure, the story would have ended long ago.
The "little bunny" who didn’t tear up when hit now had reddened eyes. He said in a strained voice, "Sister-in-law, will you wait for me to grow up? When I do, I’ll take care of you."
"Alright, when you grow up, you’ll take care of me." Lin Qiao ruffled his hair.
...
After a quarter past noon, Lin Qiao gathered some peach blossom cake and silver coins, and took Song Tingfan to visit Cheng Sheng.
The sound of knocking echoed, and Cheng Sheng, who was cooking in the kitchen, came out to open the door. Seeing the uncle-nephew duo from the Song family, he said, "Come in and sit."
To avoid gossip, the courtyard door was left wide open.
Not that he was concerned about his reputation; he’d already heard plenty over the years. Recently, the village was abuzz with talk about Widow Song, who was likely feeling burdened.
"Wait a moment, I’ll go stir the vegetables in the stove; they just went in."
Hearing that he was cooking, Lin Qiao wasn’t surprised. Though a gentleman stays away from the kitchen, Cheng Sheng lived alone, and if he didn’t cook, he’d starve.
"No rush, Mr. Cheng. You can finish cooking first. I apologize for coming at this time."
Cheng Sheng shook his head, signaling it was no trouble. After placing tea in front of them, he returned to the kitchen and came back after about fifteen minutes.
Seeing that he hadn’t eaten yet, Lin Qiao didn’t waste time being polite. She directly stated her intention, "Mr. Cheng, today Tingfan asked you for the leftover gift. I apologize greatly."
"This was my fault. This child meant well and was worried about me. If I hadn’t come back early today, he would have sold the family house."
"I’d like to make up the gift, so Tingfan can continue attending the school. Would that be alright, Mr. Cheng?"
Cheng Sheng shook his head, "No need to make up for it. He can just keep coming."
After speaking, he got up and left the main room, returning shortly with a money bag, which he placed on the table. "This is my savings from these years. It’s not much, just over twenty taels of silver. Take it to meet your urgent needs."
Even though the yearly gifts were significant, without fields or land, everything had to be bought, and his annual expenses weren’t small.
