Turning Antagonist to Protagonist: He is Both Soft and Fierce-Chapter 222 - 217: A Heroine Reminiscent of a Villain
The young daughter-in-law from the Zhu family suddenly turned pale, looking at her in horror.
Having lived here for a long time, Lin Qiao’s personality had gradually emerged. It never felt abrupt; if anything, she seemed to be propping up the household.
Perhaps the young daughter-in-law from the Zhu family had spoken with the man from the second branch of the Fan family, and fearing they might be ousted, Fan Er came to the shop to find her.
At that time, Lin Qiao was busy serving porridge. When she saw him, she was not surprised, "What do you want?"
Judging by appearance alone, Fan Er looked simple and honest, but he indeed said those words back in the mountains that day.
Indeed, whether a man is honest or not has nothing to do with his appearance.
Fan Er glanced at her, "I... I want a bowl of noodles."
"Two taels or three taels?"
"Three taels."
"Okay, have a seat inside. It’ll be ready soon."
Li Guifen leaned closer to Lin Qiao, glanced at Fan Er, and curiously whispered, "Why is he here for noodles?"
Not that it was strange; it’s just that basically no one from the village comes back here to eat.
She knew very well that while they outwardly wished their business well, they secretly hoped they’d lose money.
"I don’t know." Lin Qiao actually had some guesses, after all, she’d been quite clear about things.
However, this wasn’t something she could tell Li Guifen, otherwise, she’d know that she and a villain once eavesdropped on people by a thatched corner.
At this moment, a crisp voice of a little girl came, "Madam Song."
Looking up, Lin Qiao saw Song Tingfan, Zhou Tiedan, and Zhou Baoying approach, and she warmly smiled, "Baoying, come here, I’ll treat you to some cake." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
This was the only girl she’d seen appearing beside Song Tingfan.
Similar to a heroine.
"Thank you, sister-in-law." Zhou Baoying, with her two braided pigtails and round little face, looked utterly adorable.
She took the cake and immediately gave it to Song Tingfan, "Tingfan, you eat."
"Zhou Baoying, why don’t you give it to me? He isn’t even your brother." Zhou Tiedan wasn’t envious of Song Tingfan; he was envious of the cake.
Silly boy, lacking perception, Lin Qiao couldn’t help but laugh, then handed him a piece of cake, "There’s some for you."
"Sister-in-law, you’re so good. Sister-in-law, be my sister-in-law, I’ll definitely treat you well." Zhou Tiedan thought of something and quickly added, "Being a wife is also fine."
Even knowing he just wanted to eat all the time, Lin Qiao couldn’t help but laugh and cry, "Don’t talk nonsense, or your mother might come for me later."
Zhou Tiedan was about to say more when he was bumped forcefully, causing him to stagger. Watching Song Tingfan’s back as he went upstairs, he complained to Lin Qiao, "Sister-in-law, Song Tingfan has been over the top lately; he’s always bullying me. When the teacher calls me to answer questions, he never secretly prompts me, causing me to get hit on the palms ten times."
"You deserve that, who told you not to study hard."
Zhou Baoying couldn’t stand his complaints and immediately spoke well of Song Tingfan to Lin Qiao, "Tingfan is great; he didn’t bully us. It’s my brother who’s bad!"
"Zhou Baoying, are you going against your own kin?" Zhou Tiedan glared at her disapprovingly.
Zhou Baoying nodded, "Yes, Tingfan is the best."
Lin Qiao clicked her tongue a few times internally. Capturing the heart of a future wife from a young age was not without merit, as she then tried building a relationship with the ’sister-in-law,’ "Here, have another piece of cake."
"Thank you, sister-in-law," Zhou Baoying obediently replied.
Lin Qiao found the future sister-in-law more and more agreeable and glanced at Song Tingfan, who was about to help out downstairs, "Uncle, go play with Tiedan and the others."
Song Tingfan did not respond verbally, swiftly cleared the bowls and chopsticks from the table.
Zhou Baoying ran over to help, "Tingfan, let me help you."
"No need," Song Tingfan refused without even thinking.
Seeing his own sister being rejected, Zhou Tiedan laughed heartily, "Rejected, huh? Serves you right!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than Zhou Baoying kicked him angrily. Though Zhou Tiedan was sore from the kick, he didn’t get mad; he just laughed on the side.
Lin Qiao had work on hand, and after a few words with them, she went back to being busy.
It seemed Fan Er didn’t get a chance to say anything to her, so he paid and left.
Busy at noon, Lin Qiao didn’t have time to fix any meals for Song Tingfan and the kids, so she let them take some silver coins and eat out.
The Zhou siblings probably had meals ready at home, so they rushed off as it was getting late.
Song Tingfan didn’t go out. With only about a quarter of an hour left before school, he ladled himself some porridge and ate it quietly with pickled vegetables.
Lin Qiao happened to see this and felt a bit softened, then apologetically said to the aunt who wanted to buy cold noodles, "Auntie, sorry, I need to take my uncle out for a meal. He needs to study in the afternoon, and he can’t concentrate on an empty stomach," she said as she tied her waist belt.
The woman, being a neighborhood resident, nodded straightforwardly, "Sure, I’ll come buy later then."
"I’m sorry to make you come back. I’ll bring it over later," Lin Qiao smiled as she apologized, then informed Li Guifen, who was washing dishes, "Mom, I’m taking Tingfan out for a meal; porridge won’t fill him up."
"Alright, go quickly then," Li Guifen nodded.
Song Tingfan shook his head, "Sister-in-law, I’m full."
"Put down the book bag, eat up, then go study," Lin Qiao insisted, to which Song Tingfan went upstairs and fetched his bag.
The two of them went to Fulaoyun. The inn was bustling with people, so Lin Qiao asked for help from Liu Fuzhu, who promptly had their dishes prepared and served.
Seeing Lin Qiao not eating, Song Tingfan said, "Sister-in-law, you should eat too."
"You eat quickly; I’ll eat when we get back," Lin Qiao had barely finished when Song Tingfan got up, quickly fetched a bowl of rice, placed it before her, and stubbornly said, "Eat together."
Lin Qiao smiled, didn’t say more, and picked a few pieces of meat for him, "Eat more, I’ll make something tasty for you later."
They had been busy these days, mostly having porridge and cold noodles at noon. No matter how delicious something is, it becomes tiresome after a while.
Knowing she was tired, Song Tingfan said earnestly, "I’ll cook when I come back."
Lin Qiao didn’t want to delay his meal, so she said nothing more.
When Song Tingfan went to the academy, Lin Qiao packed a meat dish and a bowl of rice from Fulaoyun to bring back for Li Guifen.
Li Guifen was wiping the table when she saw the meal Lin Qiao brought back and became a bit displeased, "You silly girl, why bring me meals; it’s so expensive!"
"It’s not expensive," Lin Qiao said, taking the rag from her hand and urging her to eat while it was hot.
"Next time, don’t bring it for me; your dad says I’ve gained weight. Have you eaten? Eat with me," Li Guifen was worried she hadn’t eaten.
Seeing her mother alternately worry about cost and whether she’d eaten, Lin Qiao felt warm inside and couldn’t help but laugh and cry, "I’ve eaten, stop worrying about me, just eat."
"You’re my daughter; if I don’t worry about you, who will?" Li Guifen feared being busy later and didn’t say much more, just started eating.
About three-quarters past noon, Fan Er came again, wanting a bowl of porridge. Li Guifen sensed something amiss; could it be Fan Er had some kind of interest in her daughter?
No, definitely not!
She quickly took the porridge from Lin Qiao’s hand, "Daughter, go buy me some needles and threads."
Lin Qiao looked at her strangely, quickly figuring out what was happening; could she be thinking Fan Er had feelings for her?
"..."
She really wasn’t that sought-after.
Though she didn’t feel like saying anything to Fan Er, she nodded, "Do you need thick or thin threads?"
