Turning Antagonist to Protagonist: He is Both Soft and Fierce-Chapter 207 - 202: Watching a Young Boy and Feeling Restless
Even though the young man usually reacted quickly, he was stunned this time, only grabbing his clothes to cover himself after a few moments, his face turning red as if it might drip blood.
At the same time, Lin Qiao quickly lowered the curtain, her usually not-so-blush face now red all the way to her ears, though her speech was steady, "You forgot your underpants; I left them at the door for you to get yourself." She said, placing the underpants on the chair beside her, then quickly left the doorway.
Thankfully, she didn’t look down; otherwise, she might have gotten a sty.
The young man in the inner room stood there dumbfounded for a while before reaching out to grab the underpants at the door.
Lin Qiao glanced over, and her mind automatically generated a picture. In her daze, her hand touched the hot edge of the pot, and she immediately recoiled, bumping into the wooden ladle by the stove with a "thud."
"Sister-in-law, what happened?" The young man’s voice came anxiously from behind the curtain.
Lin Qiao blew on her burnt fingers, "It’s nothing, the ladle just fell."
Has it been too long since I’ve seen a man? Seeing a little boy made my heart flutter.
Okay, barely counts as a man.
...
About fifteen minutes later, Song Tingfan came out of the inner room, and it was unclear whether his face was red from the heat or from earlier embarrassment.
He quickly glanced at his sister-in-law, finally focusing on her completely red ears.
Lin Qiao, unaware her ears betrayed her, pretended nothing happened, "Little uncle, watch the pot; I’ll go wash up."
"Okay." Song Tingfan placed the dirty clothes in a bucket.
Lin Qiao took the clothes into the back room. About to say not to come in, she reconsidered, thinking it would seem deliberate.
Song Tingfan had good hearing and clearly heard the sound of water pouring in the back room. He felt an inexplicable embarrassment and moved slightly away.
Just now, when she spoke of Song Tingfan’s pants off, Lin Qiao realized her own undershirt was off too. She looked at the undershirt in her hand that she changed out of, "..."
With summer approaching, the outer clothes were thin, wearing them alone was impossible.
She tried calling out, "Little uncle."
"Sister-in-law, what’s up?" Song Tingfan walked over, standing by the door to listen.
Lin Qiao, feeling somewhat embarrassed, "Ahem, I took off my undershirt. It’s in the top cabinet."
"Okay."
After speaking, the sound of footsteps came from outside, approaching and then moving away, then his voice came again, "Sister-in-law, it’s at the door."
Lin Qiao reached out to grab it, groping several times before getting hold of the clothes, and after a while, came out of the back room.
Facing the young man’s face, she somewhat guiltily shifted her gaze to the fish in the basin, "The fish’s been gutted?"
She realized how ridiculous she sounded, asking if the fish was gutted when it was already sitting there prepared.
It was clearly an act of overcorrection.
At this moment, Song Tingfan was also out of sorts, stammering something, "Yes, just gutted."
Lin Qiao: "..."
She changed the subject, "Do you want it steamed or braised?"
"Either is fine, I’ll eat whatever sister-in-law makes." Song Tingfan bent down to pick vegetables off the floor, then moved them aside to organize.
Lin Qiao found her interactions with the "villain" increasingly awkwardly bashful.
If she didn’t know it was impossible, she’d have thought it was the budding of a secret crush.
Thinking back and forth, she blamed the children’s book, blamed earlier when the curtain was lifted, and finally blamed the shop being too small.
After eating, there was no longer much sound outside, only intermittent chirping of insects.
Lin Qiao swept the floor clean, laid down a straw mat and a sheet, planning to sleep on the ground herself, "Little uncle, you sleep on the bed."
Song Tingfan wouldn’t let her sleep on the floor, choosing the ground instead, "The bed’s hot; I don’t like it."
He wasn’t lying; last night he sweated from the heat.
Only he could come up with such an excuse, Lin Qiao: "..."
She held it in but couldn’t resist laughing, "Alright then."
When she got in bed, Song Tingfan finally extinguished the candle, and not knowing how much time had passed, the intermittent noise from next door came again.
Lin Qiao, having been busy all day, couldn’t resist the sleepiness, waking briefly before falling into a deep sleep again.
Song Tingfan, however, couldn’t sleep. After a while, he gently turned over, looking at the bed beside him, the moonlight beyond the window faintly outlining her silhouette.
He wasn’t stupid; he knew he seemed to have different feelings for his sister-in-law.
But he didn’t understand what those different feelings were.
He only knew he wanted to be with his sister-in-law for a lifetime.
His sister-in-law couldn’t marry someone else.
He wanted to marry her.
...
Before dawn, shops in the town began opening one after another. Thanks to yesterday’s opening, many people knew there was a Fan’an Cake Shop in town. The cold noodles were cheap and tasty, though the cakes were delicious but expensive.
Soon after opening, people came in to eat cold noodles, while some dockworkers wrapped them in paper to eat on the go.
"Young lady, pack me a bit more, will you? I’ll come back next time."
"Sure thing, just make sure you buy from our shop next time, sir."
"Of course, hehe, seeing how pretty the young lady is, it’s a must to come again."
In a lady selling goods, it’s inevitable to be teased a bit. Lin Qiao didn’t mind, "Then it’s settled."
Seeing his sister-in-law being teased, Song Tingfan’s face tightened, taking over the cold noodle package Lin Qiao handed over, using a bit more force when giving it to the man.
The man felt a slight heaviness in his hand, glancing at him, but thinking it wasn’t intentional, laughed, "You little guy got quite the strength; wanna carry goods at the dock?"
He was no little guy, Song Tingfan said stiffly, "I’m not little."
"Hahaha, can’t take a joke. Young lady, I’m off then, see you tomorrow."
Lin Qiao glanced at him, knowing he was upset for her but being busy, couldn’t say much, lightly patting his arm to suggest not to take it to heart.
In this era of three wives and four concubines, women’s status was inherently low. Earning money exposed to the world, it’d be odd not to hear a few remarks.
"Miss, give me a bowl of two taels of cold noodles." Speaking was Mrs. Qin Li, buying noodles next door.
Yesterday, the smell had made her a bit envious, but she felt embarrassed to come over.
Lin Qiao nodded, offering three taels worth of cold noodles. Meanwhile, a woman similar to Mrs. Qin Li came over, seemingly from next door.
"I’ll have a bowl too."
After speaking, the woman gave Mrs. Qin Li a knowing look, teasing softly, "I say, your noise at night should be quieter."
Mrs. Qin Li understood what she meant, blushing slightly, "Did you hear?"
"How could I not, all that banging."
The woman looked at Lin Qiao and winked, "Miss, did you hear it too?"
Lin Qiao: "..."
She glanced at Song Tingfan out of the corner of her eye; he seemed to understand, his face flushing like a monkey’s bottom.
Great, this kid gets it now.
Previously worried he was a bit dimwitted, now concerned he knows too much.
Quickly, she handed them the cold noodles, "Being new here, I don’t have any welcome gifts, so the cold noodles are on the house."
She wanted to send them off quickly to prevent them from continuing the talk, which might lead to bad influence on the kid.
The woman was delighted, "Thank you, young lady." She said and left with the bowl.
Mrs. Qin Li was not as forward; she brought over four buns for them to eat.
