Turning Antagonist to Protagonist: He is Both Soft and Fierce-Chapter 195 - 190: Little Uncle Will Definitely Be a Good Husband in the Future
Lin Qiao naturally believed this and responded with a smile, "I trust you, little uncle."
With his sister-in-law’s approval, Song Tingfan’s grin almost reached his ears. "I’ll go help Grandma cook; you wait in the room for a while, sister-in-law."
He paused for a moment, "I thought you’d be back in a couple of days, so I washed the quilt cover. Grandma saw that the stitching was coming loose on the other set and decided to mend it, but it’s not done yet."
"Do you want to use mine?"
Fearing she might find it unclean, he quickly added, "I’ve washed it, really." Saying this, he raised his hand sheepishly in a vow.
Lin Qiao knew he was a clean freak and teased him on purpose, "Aren’t you afraid I’m dirty?"
"Not at all, sister-in-law isn’t dirty." Song Tingfan quickly shook his head and soon added two more words, "Smells nice."
After saying this, he realized what he had said, and his face turned beet red.
Lin Qiao hadn’t been used to washing with soapberry earlier and spent a few dozen cents to buy four bars of fragrant soap, planning for each family member to use one. But except for her, none of them used it.
The soap was indeed fragrant, but she didn’t think much of it. "Use the fragrant soap for washing, don’t be stingy. We can afford this little expense."
It wasn’t the scent of the soap; it was there even before they used it.
Song Tingfan didn’t say this, simply nodded obediently.
At this moment, Song Qin called from the kitchen, "Niu Niu, quickly bring in the meat."
"Coming."
Song Tingfan ran inside.
After the meal, Song Tingfan took out the quilt cover for Lin Qiao and changed it. Once changed, he looked as if he wanted to talk to his sister-in-law, but also wanted her to rest early.
Seeing this, Lin Qiao took the initiative to ask about his studies, "How’s your studying going?"
"It’s okay, the teacher has been teaching a lot of poems lately."
"Can you recite them?"
"I can recite and also write them."
...
The two chatted for quite a while before Song Tingfan returned to his room to sleep.
Lin Qiao slept for quite a long time and didn’t wake up until it was almost noon the next day. By then, Song Tingfan had already returned from school and was rolling shrimp pancakes in the kitchen with his sleeves rolled up.
She went in to scoop water to wash her face. "Little uncle, did you let the chickens out?"
"I fenced them by the door, they won’t peck at others’ vegetables."
Fearing the chickens clucking in the morning would disturb her sleep, Song Tingfan moved them to the door.
Seeing her wash her face with cold water, he quickly ladled warm water from a small pot into it and, with an air of a little adult, scolded her, saying seriously, "Sister-in-law, you shouldn’t wash your face with cold water."
"It’s hot, it doesn’t matter."
"It does, Grandma said women shouldn’t touch cold water."
On hearing this, Lin Qiao couldn’t help but laugh. This silly boy, Grandma was teaching him how to treat a future wife well, and here he was, applying it to her.
Still, she blinked and played along, "I was wrong."
He wasn’t blaming his sister-in-law; there was nothing wrong with her, she was wonderful. Song Tingfan quickly shook his head, "Sister-in-law, you did nothing wrong; it was I who failed to get you hot water."
Lin Qiao wrung out the wet cloth to wipe her face, glanced at him after hearing what he said, and smilingly said, "Little uncle will definitely make a good husband in the future."
Already knows how to take the blame initiative.
"Grandma, don’t you think so?"
By the stove, Song Qin chuckled at the uncle and sister-in-law pair, "You’re both good, very good."
Song Tingfan was teased into blushing, burying his head as he continued making fish pancakes.
He would definitely treat his sister-in-law well in the future.
After washing her hands, Lin Qiao took a slightly cold shrimp pancake and tasted it. She had to admit it was quite good, not greasy or fishy, "Delicious."
"If it’s delicious, eat more."
Song Tingfan was delighted and quickly gave her another, not forgetting Grandma and handed one to her too, then asked, "Where’s Grandpa?"
"Your grandpa went to the bamboo grove to get bamboo shoots." Song Qin took a bite of the shrimp pancake.
Song Tingfan was a bit sulky, "Why did Grandpa go for stuff again? Didn’t we tell him not to do that?"
Song Qin understood her grandson’s concern and comforted him, "Let your grandpa go, it’s good for him to move around a bit."
Lin Qiao agreed, ’Forcing Song Rong to stay home idly would sap his spirit, "If it’s not heavy work, let Grandpa go, it’s better than being bored at home."
Song Tingfan nodded and said nothing more.
After a while, Song Rong returned with a small basket of bamboo shoots on his back. Though his forehead was sweaty from the heat, he was in high spirits, cheerfully telling them, "The ones nearest the mountain were all gathered, I got these from higher up. They’re tender; Qiao’er can use them to stir-fry meat."
He went because he knew Lin Qiao liked eating them.
Lin Qiao helped him with the basket, "Grandpa, are your legs sore?"
"Not sore, just sweaty from the heat." Song Rong accepted a square cloth from Song Qin.
The fish pancakes were made quite late, so they just cooked a couple of dishes and had lunch.
The Lin Family received news from the village and found out their daughter had returned, so Li Guifen hurried over to see her. Seeing her daughter, wrinkles crinkled her face into a smile, but she kept nagging, "Why did you go so far, girl? Your father and I were worried sick."
"The boss asked me to go, I couldn’t refuse." Lin Qiao handed her a stool to sit on.
Song Tingfan obediently went to the kitchen to fetch some water, bringing out shrimp pancakes for her. Li Guifen gently patted his arm, "I’ve eaten already, take them back."
"Aunty, have some."
Song Tingfan handed her one; Li Guifen had to accept it, looking at him with an approving "good child" expression. "You’re such a kind-hearted child."
Looking at this child’s good nature, well, it’s not just him; the whole Song’s second family is kind.
Song Tingfan was a little embarrassed and glanced at his sister-in-law, "It was sister-in-law who told me to bring them."
Lin Qiao hadn’t said a word to him before, but Li Guifen understood and smiled, not saying more. She took a bite of the shrimp pancake, "This pancake tastes good, too. When I have time this afternoon, I’ll make some and invite you all over for dinner."
The shrimp pancakes were an excuse; she just wanted to invite them for a meal.
Talking about meals, Lin Qiao suddenly remembered something. She went out of the main room, and after a while, came back with eight pieces of clothing, placing them on the stool, "Clothes are cheap over in Changzhou, so I bought one for each of you, just in case they’re too small. I bought them a bit big so they can be altered."
She hadn’t bought clothes for Li Guifen and the others before, so she wasn’t sure of their sizes and just made estimates.
Seeing the clothes before her, Li Guifen was taken aback for a moment, quickly glancing at Lin Qiao, and suddenly her eyes reddened. She quickly bowed her head, "Child, you didn’t need to buy us clothes, it’s not like we don’t have any."
It wasn’t that she wanted her daughter to buy clothes; it was just that this gesture touched her deeply. Even if it was just a piece of rag, she would have been content.
"What you have is yours; what I buy is my intention. They’re not very fancy, just ordinary." Lin Qiao saw this and sighed softly inside.
That’s a mother’s heart.
Now she could somewhat feel it.
Sometimes the boy would give her something, and she felt the same way.
"They’re good enough." Li Guifen knew her daughter had been through a lot and had borrowed twenty taels of silver from her boss.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t given her some, but Lin Qiao didn’t accept it.
She then said, "How much did they cost? I’ll give you the money."
Lin Qiao blinked playfully and teased, "How about a few hundred taels?"
