Turning Antagonist to Protagonist: He is Both Soft and Fierce-Chapter 72 - 67: Redeeming the Villain’s Bed

Lin Qiao responded without thinking, "I ran into him on the road."

"How do you feel about the exam today, Little Uncle?"

"I don’t know." Song Tingfan’s voice was a bit dull.

Lin Qiao sensed something was off and looked at him, realizing the issue was with the question he’d asked.

Was he doubting that she had something with Mr. Cheng?

She needed to clear this up.

"Little Uncle, where did Mr. Cheng go? Why didn’t he proctor your exam?"

"The village chief said Mr. Cheng went to help someone with a lawsuit." Song Tingfan bent down to pick up the little white dog, absent-mindedly petting it a couple of times.

Lin Qiao uttered an "oh," and added, "I was a bit surprised to see your teacher on the road."

After a pause, she continued, "Little Uncle, Mr. Cheng talked to me. He said you are doing very well in your studies and that if you keep it up, you have a good chance of becoming a scholar."

"Are you not planning to continue your studies, Little Uncle?"

Song Tingfan put down the little white dog and picked up the yellow and white dog, shyly saying, "Sister-in-law, I don’t want to study all the time." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Studying would take a long time and a lot of silver coins, and he liked hunting. If he became as strong as his father, no one would dare to bully their family.

"I know you’re a child with your own ideas, Little Uncle. As long as you don’t do anything against your conscience, Sister-in-law supports you."

Lin Qiao patted his head like an elder and added, "Sending you to study isn’t about becoming an official or getting rich; it’s just so you can be literate and sensible."

Song Tingfan nodded obediently. Just as Lin Qiao thought he was going to make some promises, he asked, "Sister-in-law, did you take Mr. Cheng’s carriage because of me?"

If it weren’t for the innocent look in his eyes, Lin Qiao would have thought he was jealous. Gosh, what was she thinking?

"Hmm, Mr. Cheng offered me a ride back, and I was afraid of what people might say, so I initially refused. It was only because he said he wanted to talk about you that I took the carriage."

Lin Qiao said this and then added, "Little Uncle, tomorrow morning take half a rabbit to Mr. Cheng."

Sister-in-law had refused him, so there was nothing between her and Mr. Cheng. Song Tingfan broke into a silly grin, "Okay."

"Sister-in-law, are you tired? Are you hungry? I’ll heat up some food for you."

He didn’t understand why he wanted Sister-in-law to have a good life but couldn’t stand her interacting with other men, regardless of their character.

It’s just that...

"No rush."

Lin Qiao pulled his arm and handed him something from the basket, "Little Uncle, see if these fit."

Song Tingfan didn’t need to open it to know they were shoes, "Sister-in-law, I have shoes."

"I noticed that apart from the ones you bought recently, the others are too small. I’ve even seen you rubbing your toes."

Lin Qiao patted his head again and explained, "I didn’t spend any money. The boss gave me a pair, so I exchanged them."

Sister-in-law thought of everything for him, and Song Tingfan was a bit moved, "Sister-in-law..."

"Try them on." Lin Qiao glanced around the courtyard but didn’t see Song Rong or Song Qin, "Where have Grandma and Grandpa gone?"

"Eldest Uncle took them out for a bit." Under her watchful gaze, Song Tingfan took off his shoes. Embarrassed by his dirty feet, he fetched water and washed them clean.

It’s not that he didn’t like cleanliness; his cloth shoes had holes that let in dust and dirt.

After washing thoroughly, he put on clean socks and tried the shoes on.

Lin Qiao squatted down to press on his toes. They were a little big, but it didn’t matter, "Do they feel comfortable, Little Uncle?"

"They’re comfortable." Song Tingfan knew the shoes were good; the soles were thicker than his old ones, and the material wasn’t stiff, but rather soft.

"As long as they’re comfortable. Once Sister-in-law saves up more silver coins, I’ll buy a pair for Grandma and Grandpa, too." Lin Qiao actually had some silver coins saved, but she was thinking about buying two beds; Song Tingfan’s bed needed to be redeemed.

She would go to the family later after eating, though she wasn’t sure if she could redeem it.

"I’ll buy them." Song Tingfan carefully put away the new shoes and said, "Sister-in-law, I sold the bamboo basket to Mr. Lan for fifty cents." After speaking, he handed over the silver coin.

Lin Qiao didn’t tell him to keep it. Being stubborn, she divided ten cents and placed it in his palm, "Keep it on you; Sister-in-law might ask you to buy something occasionally."

"Okay." Song Tingfan accepted it obediently.

...

In the afternoon, Song Tingfan said he wanted to go to the back mountain, and Lin Qiao gathered her things at home and went out too.

After crossing the bridge and walking left for a while, she reached a place surrounded by wooden fences.

The gate was closed, and Lin Qiao stood outside and called, "Granny Zhu, are you home?"

A young man about seventeen or eighteen quickly came out, and seeing the young woman, he paused, "Madam Tingfan, is there something you need?"

"Tingfan caught a wild rabbit, so I’m here to share some with you." Lin Qiao said.

There’s no such thing as giving something for nothing, so there must be something she wanted help with. Zhu Gang scratched his head and hesitated a bit before opening the gate, "Come in and sit, Madam Tingfan."

He then called into the house, "Wife, come quickly and entertain Madam Tingfan while I fetch Mother."

"Coming, you go ahead." Zhu Gang’s wife, Mrs. Zhu Qian, wiping her hands on her apron, greeted Lin Qiao, "Madam Tingfan, have you eaten?"

"Yes, I have." Lin Qiao handed over the gift, smiling, "Eldest Sister-in-law Zhu, sorry to bother you."

"It’s no bother, sit down. I’ll fetch some dry peanuts for you." Mrs. Zhu Qian took the rabbit meat, smiling broadly, then went inside to get a bowl of dry peanuts.

She said, "Madam Tingfan, have some peanuts. Is there something you need today?"

Lin Qiao took a few peanuts symbolically, "I wanted to discuss something with you. Didn’t my family sell you a bed before, intending to make a new one, but that bed was made for Little Uncle by Father-in-law."

"You know, Eldest Sister-in-law Zhu, my father-in-law and mother-in-law are no longer with us, and I thought of redeeming it for Little Uncle as a memento."

"You’re talking about that bed? The third family’s been using it, but they’ve just made a new bed, so it’s been moved to the backyard. It’s a good thing you came early; otherwise, Father-in-law might have dismantled it to make benches." Mrs. Zhu Qian said with relief.

The Song Family’s bed was old, but the wood was excellent. If the third family hadn’t insisted on a new bed, Father-in-law wouldn’t have dismantled it.

The third family was short-sighted, unable to see good things, which made Father-in-law angry for days.

Lin Qiao was also relieved, glad she came, or the bed wouldn’t have been saved.

Soon, Old Mrs. Zhu returned, and hearing Lin Qiao wanted to redeem the bed, she was naturally happy to exchange it for silver coins as they no longer needed it.

Previously, the Zhu family bought it for 200 cents. Lin Qiao didn’t haggle because it depended on them to get it back.

Old Mrs. Zhu agreed to redeem it, and after Lin Qiao handed over the silver coins, she had her sons help carry it back to the Song Family.

When Lin Qiao opened the courtyard gate, two little puppies ran out wagging their tails. Seeing strangers, they started barking "woof woof woof."

Lin Qiao scolded, "Lai Cai, Jinbao, don’t bark."

Ahem, those names weren’t given by her; the antagonist had pondered for a long time to come up with them.

They’re a bit common, but if the antagonist likes them, it’s alright.

She fished out the key to open Song Tingfan’s room, quickly moving aside the grass mat and quilt, "Put it here."