Turning Antagonist to Protagonist: He is Both Soft and Fierce-Chapter 209 - 204: After Spending Every Day Together, It’s No Wonder Feelings Develop
Li Guifen sat up straight and leaned in close to him, whispering, "Being together every day, it’s strange not to develop some feelings."
Lin Han thought carefully for a moment, his eyes slightly widened, and asked softly, "Are you saying that Tingfan has those feelings for the girl?"
Li Guifen couldn’t tell this point, she shook her head, "How would I know, that’s just what I think. I’m discussing this with you, if you think it’s okay, I’ll quietly hint to Tingfan."
Hearing this, Lin Han thought seriously, "What if the girl doesn’t agree? You know, the girl thinks about that Zhang family boy..."
"Why are you bringing up that worthless thing, it’s so unlucky, the girl hasn’t been interested in him for a long time. Even if it happens again, I won’t let the girl marry him. His mother tells him to go west and he doesn’t dare go east, and when his wife is bullied, he doesn’t even dare to say a word."
Mentioning Zhang Dong filled Li Guifen with anger, even though the girl’s situation wasn’t entirely his fault, whenever the girl’s affairs were turned into a mess by his mother, he never stepped up to explain a few words.
All kinds of dirt were thrown on the girl’s head.
If she wasn’t afraid the girl would blame her, she would have torn Zhang Dong’s mother’s mouth apart and given her a few good slaps.
The girl wasn’t her born child, she doesn’t know how to feel sorry!
Seeing his wife getting furious, Lin Han quickly patted his own mouth, "Alright, I won’t mention that good-for-nothing next time, but back to the point, I feel the girl wouldn’t agree."
Of course, Li Guifen knew this point, "The girl definitely wouldn’t agree. A few days ago she was still talking about finding someone for Tingfan. I just feel that if Tingfan could marry the girl, it would be great. Firstly, the girl will have a proper settlement, and secondly, Tingfan would definitely treat the girl well. Before..."
She paused, deliberately not bringing up the wrong choices the girl made before.
Lin Han understood what she meant, "Then you have to ask Tingfan if he’s willing first. If he’s not, don’t mention it, to avoid awkwardness between them."
"I know, I’ll find an opportunity to subtly ask Tingfan." Li Guifen felt a little more at ease thinking about Song Tingfan marrying the girl.
"Alright, just be mindful of your limits. Come, let me massage your shoulders, I saw you rubbing your shoulders when I came back." Lin Han gestured for his wife to sit beside him and then started to massage her shoulders.
Li Guifen sighed, "I’m fine, but I think the girl must be tired. This child doesn’t want me to get tired, she doesn’t let me do any heavy work, hurry up and finish what you are doing in the fields. When you’re done, help the girl deliver the cakes."
Hearing that the girl was tired, Lin Han’s face showed concern, "I’ll go with you tomorrow, most of the field work is done, there’s just a small patch left, tomorrow Dashan and the others can finish it."
...
Meanwhile, in the town
Lin Qiao sat by the bed feeding the old woman medicine, when she opened her eyes, they were red and cloudy.
After a while, Lin Qiao finished feeding her, and laid her back on the bed, "Granny, relax and sleep, take care of your health."
Then she looked at Song Tingfan who was standing still like a tree nearby, "Uncle, why don’t you go sleep at the inn?"
The bed couldn’t be slept on, not because she despised the old woman, but she was afraid of squishing her at night.
They could only sleep on the floor.
Song Tingfan wasn’t assured about her being alone in the shop taking care of the old woman, so he shook his head, "I’ll stay here."
Lin Qiao knew his temperament well and knew that persuasion wouldn’t work, so she didn’t say anything more.
At night, the two could only squeeze onto the floor, but the distance between them was enough for another person to sleep. Lin Qiao was exhausted and fell asleep shortly after lying down.
Song Tingfan fell asleep after her, getting up during the night to get water for the old woman to drink.
...
Busy for four or five consecutive days, Lin Qiao finally got used to this life, and during that time, she found a capable woman in town to help her.
That day, as it was approaching 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., Fan’an Shop was crowded with people.
"Little lady, why hasn’t my cold noodles come yet, I’ve almost finished my porridge."
"It will be ready soon."
Lin Qiao mixed the cold noodles and poured them into a bowl, just as she was about to pick it up, someone asked her for change.
She was about to call the helper auntie to serve it, but she saw the old woman serving the noodles to the customer. As she searched for the money, she said, "Granny, you shouldn’t be serving, be careful not to tire yourself out."
"I’m not tired." Granny Fan shook her head.
She had been here for several days and felt embarrassed.
She never thought anyone would take her in.
"If you feel tired, just take a break." Seeing her in good spirits, Lin Qiao didn’t say anything more.
Li Guifen was collecting dishes and added, "Auntie, just take a break, we can handle it."
She glanced out of the corner of her eye and laughed, "Tingfan, why are you here so early?"
With private school starting tomorrow, yesterday, Song Tingfan went back to the village to get clothes and check on how Grandpa and Grandma were doing at home.
"Couldn’t sleep." Seeing that the shop was busy, Song Tingfan quickly went upstairs to drop off his things, then came back down to roll up his sleeves and help out.
Having an extra person at the shop made things much easier, and within half an hour, there weren’t many people left in the shop.
Having spent a long time around the stove, Lin Qiao’s back was drenched with sweat. She took the opportunity to take a bath and came back out.
She looked at Song Tingfan who was sweeping the floor, "Uncle, how are Grandpa and Grandma?"
"They’re fine. Grandpa dug up a lot of bamboo shoots from the mountain and asked me to bring them for sale, I’ll go sell them later." Song Tingfan took out a backpack for her to see, it was full of peeled bamboo shoots.
The helper Mrs. Wang Tan took a look, "These bamboo shoots are so tender, they’d be delicious stir-fried with meat. Are you selling them? Let me weigh two." As she said this, she hurriedly took out the money, afraid the Boss would think she wanted them for free.
Lin Qiao smiled, she picked two and handed them to her, "Not worth much money."
Then she looked at Song Tingfan again, "When the sun gets high, better not go out, just leave them at the door. If they don’t sell, we’ll use them for cold noodles tomorrow, the cucumbers are almost gone anyway."
"Okay." Song Tingfan nodded, then thought of something and added, "Grandpa and Grandma want to come to town, but I didn’t let them."
The weather’s been so hot lately, sitting on a donkey cart all the way might be too much.
"Let them stay in the village, I’ll go back in a couple of days." Lin Qiao indeed couldn’t manage both ends, this shop couldn’t run without her, but she also wanted to take care of Song Qin and Song Rong.
She thought about saving some more money to buy a small courtyard in town.
In recent days, the girl has been asking about the old couple, Li Guifen knew she was worried about them. Every day she’d go back to check on the Song Family and occasionally invite them for meals, "Their legs and feet aren’t great, just let them stay in the village. I’ll have your dad and the others check on them often at home."
"When I went home the other day, your dad said he and Grandpa were playing cards and lost two cents, I really can’t stand your dad sometimes, always grumbling." She laughed out loud as she said this.
"Thank you, dad and mom." Lin Qiao’s tone became much closer.
"What thanks, I feel like this girl of yours needs a spanking."
Li Guifen laughed as she gently tapped her shoulder.
After talking for a while, Lin Qiao had to go deliver cakes to Fulaoyun. Seeing that Song Tingfan wanted to follow, she said, "Uncle, keep an eye on the shop, you know the mixtures, they don’t."
Song Tingfan, having watched for a day or two, could already grasp the quantities for the seasonings.
Hearing this, Song Tingfan hesitated for a moment, then nodded, "Okay."
