Turning Antagonist to Protagonist: He is Both Soft and Fierce-Chapter 219 - 214: Song Tingfan Has a Girl He Likes
Seeing them getting along well, Lin Qiao felt slightly relieved and glanced at the bed in the main hall, "The house hasn’t been renovated in a long time. I want to hire someone to refurbish it and add two more rooms."
Indeed, this courtyard was a bit old and even leaked during the rain a few days ago. Song Rong nodded, "It does need some fixing up. Later, Tingfan and I will take care of it, no need to hire anyone."
"It can’t be done in a day or two; we need to hire someone." Lin Qiao didn’t dare let him do it, given his age.
Song Qin nodded, "I have a few taels of silver. It should be enough for some refurbishment."
"You guys don’t need to worry about it. I’ll handle these matters," Lin Qiao shook her head, not letting them worry.
Suddenly, a familiar voice came from outside, "Sister-in-law!"
Soon, Zhou Tiedan came running in with a basket of vegetables.
Lai Cai was startled and immediately barked at him. Lin Qiao quickly called out, "Lai Cai! He’s a guest!"
Lai Cai stopped barking but kept a close watch on Zhou Tiedan, as if ready to bite if he dared to bully the owners.
Zhou Tiedan wasn’t afraid at all and stuck his tongue out at the dog, grumbling, "Lai Cai, how could you be so ungrateful? I even fed you bones."
He ran into the main hall and put the vegetables on the table, greeting, "Granny, Grandpa, Granny Fan, hello."
Song Qin answered with a smiling nod and pulled out a chair for him, then turned to Song Tingfan, "Niu Niu, go get some rice candy."
From the moment he heard Zhou Tiedan call sister-in-law, Song Tingfan had worn a sour expression.
Zhou Tiedan was really annoying.
He stayed put, "There is none left."
These snacks were usually kept in his room.
A few days earlier, when Song Qin went to his room, she had seen some there and thought he had forgotten, so she chuckled, "You haven’t been back in a while, so you must have forgotten. I’ll go get it."
Being "exposed" by Granny, Song Tingfan pursed his lips. Knowing that Granny’s legs weren’t great, he stood up, "I’ll go look for it."
As he left, Lai Cai and Jinbao followed him out.
After entering the room, Song Tingfan scolded the two dogs with a stern face, "Don’t let him in again, or no food for you."
Then, reluctantly, he took the rice candy his sister-in-law had bought him and placed it on the table.
Zhou Tiedan wasn’t the type to be polite. He took the rice cake and started eating, completely unaware that his good friend was already quite annoyed with him.
Song Qin remembered something and, with a chuckle, asked him, "Tiedan, is your mother arranging matches for you to see?"
Zhou Tiedan was a year older than Song Tingfan, and at fourteen, it was time to look at matches.
Zhou Tiedan felt a bit embarrassed, then shook his head earnestly, "I don’t like them; they’re not good-looking."
The brides his parents found were all too dark.
Everyone at the table suddenly laughed.
Lin Qiao teased him, "How good-looking do you want them to be? Would someone like me do?"
Watching his sister-in-law’s cheerful eyes, Song Tingfan felt as bitter as eating sauerkraut.
"Yes, as good-looking as sister-in-law," Zhou Tiedan nodded very pleased.
Lin Qiao laughed so hard her stomach ached, and just as she was about to say something, she saw Song Tingfan get up and leave. She assumed he was going to the outhouse, so she didn’t ask.
Though she didn’t ask, jealous Song Tingfan pursed his lips even tighter. He took his bow and arrow, ready to head out, but even in anger, he mentioned where he was going, "I’m heading to the mountain."
Lin Qiao was oblivious to his mood, glancing at the sky, "It’s too sunny now, you might get heatstroke, don’t go."
"It’s not hot."
Song Tingfan strode out of the yard, taking ten steps without his sister-in-law chasing after him, gripping his bow tightly.
Sister-in-law talks to Zhou Tiedan but not to him.
Sister-in-law likes Zhou Tiedan more than him.
Thinking of this, he felt uncomfortable inside.
Originally, Lin Qiao wanted to run after him but was stunned by Zhou Tiedan’s unexpected words, "Sister-in-law, don’t chase him. Tingfan’s going to meet a girl."
This shocked Lin Qiao, turning to look at him, curious, "What girl?"
Zhou Tiedan giggled, leaned in, and whispered, "Tingfan likes a girl."
Having eaten two pieces of the cake Song Tingfan gave him, he selectively forgot the confidentiality.
Hearing this, Lin Qiao was momentarily taken aback, unsure how to feel—a bit complicated, like an old mother finding out from someone else that her "son" likes a girl, "Who is it?"
"I don’t know, but it should be someone from the village," Zhou Tiedan also wanted to know who it was but couldn’t figure it out for days.
Song Qin and Song Rong looked somewhat pleased, after all, their grandson had a girl he liked.
"Tiedan, is this true?" Song Qin was somewhat skeptical.
"It’s true, I asked him, and he admitted it, but wouldn’t tell me who it was."
Zhou Tiedan took a bite of the cake, made a gesture for secrecy, and added, "Don’t tell Tingfan I said this, or he won’t get me bird eggs."
Regarding his obsession with getting bird eggs, Lin Qiao: "..."
"Tiedan, help us find out whose girl Tingfan likes. I’ll have Tingfan get you bird eggs then."
"He’ll be mad at me; last time I asked, he just said I’m annoying," Zhou Tiedan complained.
"I’ll tell him off..."
Before Lin Qiao could finish speaking, she saw Song Tingfan returning.
Song Tingfan hadn’t heard their conversation, walked in with a stern face, and stared directly at Zhou Tiedan, "Let’s go get bird eggs!"
If listened to closely, a little resentment could be heard.
He couldn’t let Zhou Tiedan keep talking with his sister-in-law.
Zhou Tiedan didn’t catch on and immediately grabbed two cakes, "Let’s go, let’s go, where are we getting them?"
Seeing the two leave, the people in the main hall began guessing house by house who the girl was.
Meanwhile, the one who leaked the secret, Zhou Tiedan, was in trouble.
Upon reaching the mountain, Song Tingfan pointed at a large tree, pursed his lips, "There’s a bird’s nest there, definitely has bird eggs. Climb up and get them."
Zhou Tiedan couldn’t climb trees. Looking at the tree, which was taller by half compared to himself, he shook his head, "I can’t climb up."
He wanted to try, but he was too chubby; climbing was strenuous.
He had to admit he had some self-awareness in this regard.
"You step on my shoulders." Song Tingfan crouched beside the tree.
Surprised at why he was allowed to step on his shoulders, Zhou Tiedan didn’t think much, rubbed his hands together, then stepped on his shoulders, struggling to climb up about three meters onto a tree branch, and shakily stood to look at the bird’s nest above; there was nothing there.
He shouted down, "Tingfan, there’s nothing."
However, there was no one under the tree anymore. Raising his gaze, he saw Song Tingfan walking up the mountain and shouted hastily, "Tingfan! I’m not down yet; I can’t get down, I’m afraid of heights."
Song Tingfan pretended not to hear; this place was on the outside of the mountain, it wouldn’t cause any accidents. The tree wasn’t tall, and the worst outcome of a fall was some bruises.
Best if he fell and bruised his bottom.
After catching a wild chicken in the mountain, Song Tingfan didn’t hunt more. On his way down, he saw Zhou Tiedan still on the tree, clinging to the trunk to get down.
He was a bit chubby with short hands, making it hard to hold onto the trunk. When he was only about one or two meters off the ground, he fell with a "thud," stirring up dust all around. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎
He spat a few times and then climbed up, seeing Song Tingfan not far away, patted off the dirt, and angrily questioned, "Song Tingfan, why did you leave? I wasn’t down yet."
