Turning Antagonist to Protagonist: He is Both Soft and Fierce-Chapter 208 - 203: How About Letting Tingfan Marry Our Daughter?
When Li Guifen arrived, the shop was bustling with people, and before long, she rolled up her sleeves and got to work.
She worked until it was past noon.
On just the second day of opening the shop, Lin Qiao was already exhausted. Though setting up a stall was tiring, she could manage on her own after some back and forth.
Now, even with three people, it was hard to keep up.
"Mom, are my sisters-in-law free?"
Hearing this, Li Guifen understood her intentions and advised, "There’s nothing urgent, but daughter, don’t ask family members, and don’t ask people from the village either."
The daughter had a good heart, wanting to help the family, but matters concerning money could easily cause conflicts, and besides, they’re not easy to command for work.
The villagers were the same; any dissatisfaction would spread from mouth to mouth, ruining her reputation.
Lin Qiao thought Li Guifen would be happy, unexpectedly she disagreed, the original mother was truly whole-heartedly good to her daughter.
"Alright, I’ll find someone in town."
"Look for someone who lives in town, otherwise it would be very troublesome." Li Guifen wiped her sweat.
While they were talking, Song Tingfan went upstairs to fetch something, and during this time, they didn’t notice a man sneaking two pastries from the side of the shop.
But an old woman beggar saw him, and she grabbed the man who had stolen from beside her, "Thief, thief!"
The people around heard the commotion and looked over, as did Lin Qiao and Li Guifen, and Lin Qiao recognized the old woman from the other day who had begged for noodles.
The thief was caught, became angry and ashamed, tried to shake her off, but couldn’t, and raised his hand to slap her.
The old woman was hit so hard her head spun, but she still gripped him tightly.
Without thinking, Lin Qiao grabbed a rolling pin and rushed over to hit the man hard, causing him to release the old woman due to the pain in his arm, then grabbed the stick aimed at him, "You damned girl, looking to die!"
As soon as he spoke, he was punched, stumbling a bit, then angrily hit the young guy who appeared out of nowhere.
As he raised his hand, the cakes fell out of his sleeve.
Lin Qiao was stunned for a moment, then quickly worried, "Uncle, be careful."
Her worry was unnecessary. Song Tingfan’s long years of drawing a bow gave him great strength, coupled with some martial skills, it didn’t take long for him to pin the thief to the ground.
By then, Lin Qiao had already helped the old woman up, noticing she was unconscious, hastily carried her on her back, "Uncle, take him to the Pavilion Chief."
The old woman was light, running with her wasn’t an effort.
"Daughter!"
Li Guifen wanted to follow, but then thought of the unattended shop and stayed behind.
...
At the pharmacy
Fortunately, there weren’t many people when they arrived, and the doctor checked immediately, frowning, "Her body is very weak, afraid it’s time to prepare for the end."
Lin Qiao was stunned, "Doctor, do your best to save her, I’ll pay."
She roughly understood the old woman was hit because of them.
Before the doctor could speak, the old woman weakly opened her eyes, slightly shook her head, indicating not to treat her.
She was grateful to the young lady for the few pieces of cake she gave her.
Lin Qiao felt uneasy, the old woman had only eaten a few of her cakes.
Ah, human nature is such a complex thing.
Some would sell people for money, while some would risk their lives to repay the kindness of a few cakes.
"Doctor, treat her."
"Her condition is not good, even if medicine helps keep her alive, it’s hard for her to survive without proper recovery..." The doctor thought the chance of a full recovery was extremely low.
In the end, the doctor prescribed some medicine to boost her strength under Lin Qiao’s insistence.
Lin Qiao, carrying the old woman halfway, met Song Tingfan, who offered to carry her, slightly out of breath, "Sister-in-law, let me carry her."
"No need, help me with the medicine." Lin Qiao worried swapping might discomfort the old woman, so she didn’t change, anyway, she wasn’t heavy.
Seeing her unwilling, Song Tingfan had to take the medicine, worried, glanced at the old woman, "How’s grandma?"
"Needs proper care." Lin Qiao whispered.
Back at the shop, Lin Qiao laid the old woman on the bed, then fetched water to wipe her face.
Beside her, Li Guifen quietly asked, "How is she?"
"Needs proper care." Lin Qiao pulled a blanket over the old woman.
Hearing this, Li Guifen paused for a moment, when downstairs, she pulled Lin Qiao over, "Daughter, you plan to care for her?"
"Mm."
"How long will that take?"
"Until she recovers."
"Ah? You..."
Li Guifen didn’t quite agree, but thinking the old woman suffered because of the shop, she couldn’t finish her sentence, looked at her for a while, sighed, "You’re such a soft-hearted girl."
Soft-hearted people don’t have an easy life.
Lin Qiao wasn’t just soft-hearted, she was grateful to the old woman, not for the two stolen cakes, but for her heart.
She smiled without responding.
Seeing her silent, Li Guifen didn’t speak of it further, then remembered something, "Tingfan earlier scared me when he jumped down from the loft."
Hearing this, Lin Qiao turned to look at Song Tingfan, who was boiling the medicine, "You jumped down from the loft?"
At that time, he was anxious, didn’t think and jumped out from the window, Song Tingfan scratched his head, "Not high."
Indeed it wasn’t high, he had jumped a one-and-a-half-zhang tree before.
"Even if not high, you can’t jump from the loft." Lin Qiao slightly strict, with some authority of an elder sister-in-law.
Song Tingfan was ready to admit his mistake, when she said, "Stand up and walk to me."
He paused for a moment, then stood and walked a few steps, chuckling, "I’m fine." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎
Seeing he was truly alright, Lin Qiao sighed in relief, "Still able to laugh, next time I’ll hit you."
Unaware that her concern for Song Tingfan had become instinctual.
Li Guifen watched their good uncle-niece relationship, suddenly had a thought, if Tingfan could marry her daughter, it would be great.
Tingfan was a child they had seen grow up, sincere and good-hearted, surely would treat her daughter well.
With this thought, she looked at the tall Song Tingfan, reinforcing that idea.
...
Song Tingfan went to check his results, securing a spot for private schooling within the top ten, Lin Qiao was naturally pleased, helped him enroll, and rewarded him with two hair ribbons.
Originally she intended to reward him with clothes or shoes, but since he only wanted hair ribbons, she complied.
Li Guifen helped share this good news with Song Qin and Song Rong, both of whom smiled until their faces wrinkled upon hearing the news.
Late at night, in the main house of the Lin Family.
Lin Han sat by the bed, removing his shoes, just about to lie down when his wife spoke, "Han, what do you think of this boy Tingfan?"
"No need to ask, in the whole village, only Tingfan is presentable." Lin Han replied without hesitation, his tone revealing a fondness for Song Tingfan.
If he had such a grandson, he could laugh even in his sleep.
"Would it be okay for Tingfan to marry our daughter?"
As soon as Li Guifen spoke, Lin Han choked, "Cough, cough, cough..."
He glared at her, "What are you thinking..."
Mid-sentence, he stopped himself, realizing their daughter was only three years older than Tingfan, and she was only nominally married to Tingfan’s brother.
There was nothing wrong with it.
On the contrary, he thought it quite suitable, Tingfan made him more at ease than outsiders, "Why did you think of it?"
