Turning Antagonist to Protagonist: He is Both Soft and Fierce-Chapter 80 - 75: Lin Family Quarreling, Villain Feels Sorry for Sister-in-law
Lin Qiao followed her words and replied with a "good sister-in-law" demeanor, "If it really were this way, Grandma and Grandpa would be content."
Her words were indeed sincere, if the antagonist had many children and blessings, the ending would certainly be perfect.
Her life would be spared then.
Song Qin smiled and nodded.
"It definitely will be, Tingfan’s blessings lie ahead!" Old Mrs. Wang said with a cheerful grin.
The entire Song’s second family only had Song Tingfan left, as people say, surviving a great ordeal leads to blessings.
Moreover, I heard that Song Tingfan was doing well in his studies. The village head discussed with the teacher that if it continued this way for another year, the village would pay for his education.
But it’s not clear if this is true or false, just overheard someone mentioning it.
"I’ll take Granny Wang’s good words." Lin Qiao smiled.
It seems the Li Family has "eyes" on the Song Family. Just as we were speaking, Mrs. Li entered with her child without even knocking, "I just saw you weren’t home, back so soon, that’s really quick."
Clearly implying that the Song Family did it on purpose.
"Yes, I heard on the way that Aunt Li was coming to bring blessings with the child, so we turned back." Lin Qiao seemed to not catch her words, rose up and handed her a stool.
Mrs. Li originally wanted to throw a few jabs at the Song Family, but Lin Qiao’s response left her without an edge, she sneered, "Blessings, blessings. Blessings come after financial fortune."
Old Mrs. Wang couldn’t help but purse her lips, thinking the Li Family was really too much, who asks for money like that, does everyone lack face and manners like their family?
Since the Li Family was so provoking, Lin Qiao certainly wouldn’t "let her off," she hesitated slightly, finally turning to Old Mrs. Wang, her look hard to express, "Granny Wang, could I borrow one cent, I’ll pay you back in a couple of days."
Borrowing money to deal with them, one cent of silver, the Li Family would have to accept it even if they were unhappy, and they couldn’t say it was too little. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚
Old Mrs. Wang paused for a moment, then responded, "Oh, oh, oh," before saying, "Why not! I’ll go home and get it for you."
"Oh, should I lend you a few more cents? You have it tough too."
"No need, I wouldn’t be able to pay it back, I just borrowed ten cents from my parents’ house a few days ago." Lin Qiao bit her lip.
"Oh, I’m not going to pressure you to repay it." Old Mrs. Wang said and after finishing her sentence, she went out, soon returning to hand her one cent.
"Thank you, Granny Wang." Lin Qiao accepted and immediately handed it to Mrs. Li, sincerely saying, "Aunt Li, don’t mind it, this is all there is."
Looking at the single cent, Mrs. Li Wang appeared disdainful, yet she still snatched it with a sarcastic tone, "Thanks." Then she left with the child in her arms.
As Old Mrs. Wang watched her retreating figure, she muttered under her breath, "Can’t understand how her skin is so thick."
People with thick skins remain so, Lin Qiao handed one cent back to her, "Thank you, Granny Wang."
"Thank me for what! Do you have any need for silver? If not, I’ll lend you some more, no rush to repay it." Without any prompting, Old Mrs. Wang reached out to take it back, asking with concern.
"We have." Lin Qiao’s face showed a bit more earnestness.
The Wang Family, aside from the Lin Family, was good to them.
"Really or not?"
"Really, more real than eggs."
Old Mrs. Wang said nothing more, after taking the money, she exchanged a few words with Song Qin and left.
...
It was originally said to brush off the Li Family, unexpectedly Mrs. Li went in front of Mrs. Lin Wu and Mrs. Lin Xu, gossiping about how Lin Qiao borrowed money from her family.
Lin Qiao found out the next day coming back from town, the design she provided last time was picked by a family, and the boss of Jinxiang Cloth Shop finally gave half a tael of silver, plus the handkerchiefs embroidered by Song Qin, it totaled over 600 cents.
She bought a few catties of rice, two catties of meat, and pulled some cloth to make clothes.
Perhaps someone saw the basket’s contents while on the donkey cart, and spread the word to Mrs. Lin Xu and Mrs. Lin Wu.
The day before there was no money to spare, yet today she bought cloth and meat.
Any normal person would think the money was supplemented by her parental family.
Mrs. Lin Wu and Mrs. Lin Xu didn’t initially mind the parents lending ten copper coins, but heard about their sister-in-law buying meat and cloth, and immediately thought the parents must have given their sister-in-law quite a bit of silver.
Mrs. Lin Xu couldn’t hold back, and asked her mother-in-law. Li Guifen truly hadn’t lent Lin Qiao any silver, that time when there was a tael of silver, Lin Qiao later returned it to her.
She insisted she hadn’t, but Mrs. Lin Xu and Mrs. Lin Wu kept at it, leading to a quarrel.
The more Lin Shan and Lin Sheng tried to mediate, the fiercer the quarrel got, with Mrs. Lin Xu and Mrs. Lin Wu crying to take the children back to their parental home.
Li Guifen was angry and told them to go, while Lin Shan and Lin Sheng tried to stop them, Lin Han sat in the main room without a word, looking displeased.
It was daytime, a good number of people gathered at the entrance to watch the commotion.
When Old Mrs. Wang came to deliver the message to Lin Qiao, Lin Qiao was cutting cloth with Song Qin, preparing to make clothes for Song Tingfan.
"Tingfan’s wife... uh, no, Tingfan’s sister-in-law, it’s not good, there’s a quarrel at your parental home." Alarmed, Old Mrs. Wang called her by the wrong title, then continued, "The matter of you borrowing money from your parental home was spread by the second daughter-in-law of the Li Family, now your two sisters-in-law are quarreling and want to return to their parental home, your mother is crying endlessly,"
Lin Qiao furrowed her brow, putting down the scissors, sighing silently, "Granny, I’ll make a trip."
...
In front of the Lin Family’s door
Mrs. Lin Xu, carrying a bundle and holding her child, stubbornly wanted to leave for her parental home, "Lin Sheng, get out of the way, this family never treated us as people. I get up early and stay up late, never complaining of hardship, yet it all went to the sister-in-law."
Saying this, she felt somewhat aggrieved, her voice choking up, "I can’t even bear to buy a pair of shoes for myself..."
"Wife, I’ll buy them for you." Lin Sheng anxiously held onto her, not letting her leave.
In the crowd watching, someone suddenly shouted, "Widow Song is here."
Soon, a young woman walked through the crowd, her pretty face carrying a hint of beauty despite the plainness.
Lin Qiao looked at Lin Xu and Lin Sheng at the entrance, thinking that she wouldn’t want to live with the antagonist couple in the future, or it might end up like the Lin Family.
"Big sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, listen to my explanation, I didn’t borrow silver from mother."
"Yesterday, when the second sister-in-law from the Li Family came by, I really didn’t have money, so I borrowed from Granny Wang. Granny Wang, concerned that I didn’t have money, asked if I did! I was embarrassed to borrow more, so I used mother as an excuse."
But Mrs. Lin Xu wouldn’t believe it, she stared at her with reddened eyes, "Where did you get the money for buying fabric and meat?"
"The money is from the handkerchiefs Grandma and I embroidered in exchange, we just exchanged it today. If Big Sister doesn’t believe me, you can ask the boss at Jinxiang Cloth Shop." Lin Qiao said earnestly.
Suddenly a boy’s hurried voice joined in, "Big Sister, it’s true, it’s the silver my sister-in-law earned from embroidering handkerchiefs, she works till late every day, her hands have lots of needle marks."
It was Song Tingfan speaking.
Today he was on a break, he’d gone hunting with Song An in the morning, and upon returning, heard from Song Qin about the quarrel at Lin’s family due to his sister-in-law.
It wasn’t a lie, Lin Qiao had indeed been embroidering late into the night lately, as she intended to buy some quilts for the winter.
Cotton was only produced in the north, nearly nonexistent in the southern land, so it was extremely expensive, costing about 200 cents per pound.
Many families in the village stuffed old clothes or chaff into quilt covers.
Before Lin Qiao could say anything, someone gently took her hand and spread it open, the boy’s voice carrying a tone of tenderness and grievance, "Sister-in-law’s hands have been pricked raw by needles."
