Turning Antagonist to Protagonist: He is Both Soft and Fierce-Chapter 82 - 77: Looking for a Wife Like Sister-in-Law
There was still some time before dusk, so there was no rush to cook. Lin Qiao started frying some crispy meat first, filling the kitchen with a delightful aroma. Song Tingfan wasn’t particularly greedy, but he couldn’t help swallowing a few times.
His gaze gradually fell on the woman, who was holding chopsticks in one hand, stirring the cooked meat in the pot to prevent it from sticking, while placing more cooked meat into the oil with the other hand.
The rising steam made her cheeks blush, her eyes looked misty, with a hint of allure. The slightly lowered eyelids, coupled with her naturally upturned eye corners, gave her a natural charm.
He shyly touched his nose; his sister-in-law looked as beautiful as a fairy.
No, even more beautiful than a fairy.
His praise for the fairy was purely because she looked attractive.
Some of the cooked meat was ready. Lin Qiao filled a bowl and brought it out for Mrs. Xu and Mrs. Lin Wu to eat, "Big sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, eat while it’s hot."
Mrs. Xu and Mrs. Lin Wu, looking at the crispy meat, felt even more embarrassed. Mrs. Xu awkwardly looked at Lin Qiao, her tone a bit uneasy, "Sister-in-law, we won’t eat, you have it yourselves."
She felt too ashamed to eat her sister-in-law’s crispy meat.
"Big sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, are you disliking my crispy meat?" Lin Qiao jokingly handed them chopsticks.
Mrs. Xu and Mrs. Lin Wu quickly waved their hands, and Mrs. Lin Wu pursed her lips, "Sister-in-law, I..."
"Second sister-in-law, try one." Lin Qiao picked one up and brought it to her mouth. Mrs. Lin Wu was stunned for a moment and opened her mouth to eat it.
At this point, any dissatisfaction with her sister-in-law had long disappeared. Instead, she felt she was being petty.
Then, Lin Qiao picked one up for Mrs. Xu too, didn’t say anything, and went back to the kitchen.
As soon as she stepped into the kitchen, she said, "Uncle, go check on grandpa and grandma. Why is it taking so long to pick scallions from the vegetable field?"
"Okay."
Song Tingfan put down the fire tongs and ran out. Shortly after, he ran back, "Sister-in-law, grandpa and grandma are talking to Grandpa Wang, and I’ve brought back the scallions."
He noticed his sister-in-law’s rolled-up sleeves had slipped down. Hesitating a bit, he timidly asked, "Sister-in-law, do you want me to roll up your sleeves?"
Hearing this, Lin Qiao glanced at her sleeves. Her hands were oily, so she nodded without a second thought.
Song Tingfan walked over, lowering his head to roll up her sleeves. When his gaze fell upon her fair wrists, he awkwardly averted his eyes.
He was about the same height as her now. Lin Qiao noticed the tiny scratches on his face, "Uncle, did you get scratched by the grass?"
The tall grass in the mountains could reach a person’s height; she’d been scratched several times.
Suddenly, she leaned closer, and the warm breath hit Song Tingfan’s face. He awkwardly leaned back a bit, stammering, "Uh-huh, I got, uh, scratched while picking up firewood."
Asking just about getting scratched by grass made him stutter, Lin Qiao thought, "..."
It wasn’t like he was clawed by a woman.
The more innocent he was, the more she wanted to tease him—cough, no, she meant to teach him to thicken his skin. "Uncle, be careful next time. If you get your face hurt, you won’t find a good-looking wife, ha." She couldn’t help but laugh after saying this.
The sister-in-law often talked about wives, so Song Tingfan wasn’t as shy as before. He bit his lip, seriously rebuking her statement, "I don’t want a good-looking one."
"What kind of person does uncle want?"
Lin Qiao curiously looked at him. If she knew what kind of person the villain liked, she could look for girls earlier. As soon as he came of age, she could arrange it and solve the big issue on her mind.
Even though the villain was now innocent and sensible, she couldn’t feel completely at ease. The villain in her dreams had been too cruel; just recalling that scene made her shiver.
After rolling up her sleeves, Song Tingfan quickly took a glance at her, his ears turning red. "Someone like sister-in-law."
Someone who cared for him and loved him like his sister-in-law.
Lin Qiao was stunned for a moment. Snapping out of it, she picked up the fried meat pot, pretending to be upset, "Is uncle saying sister-in-law isn’t good-looking?"
She understood that he merely depended on her, and it wasn’t meant in any other way.
Cough, the villain didn’t understand yet what wives were for.
Sister-in-law and a wife are not the same.
"No, sister-in-law is beautiful, the most beautiful, the best-looking I’ve ever seen." Song Tingfan quickly waved his hand.
The woman laughed, picked up a piece of crispy meat for him, and didn’t continue teasing him. "Uncle, later, call the big brother and others for dinner."
"Okay." Song Tingfan nodded naively.
...
It was the first time having so many people for dinner, they couldn’t all fit at the table, so some had to stand.
The Lin Family, perhaps due to an argument, remained mostly silent. Song An helped ease the atmosphere by chatting with Lin Han.
Mrs. Song was busy eating crispy meat, but she didn’t forget about Song Mei and Song Hao, continuously picking for them even when their bowls were full.
Song Mei and Song Hao felt a bit embarrassed. Song Hao tugged his mother’s sleeve, "Mom, stop picking."
"If you don’t eat, it’s a waste, eat more." Mrs. Song gave him an annoyed look; crispy meat was such a good thing, only made during the New Year.
Song Mei also couldn’t stand it anymore, "Mom..."
"If you don’t eat, I’m just eating it myself." Mrs. Song grumbled but stuffed another piece of crispy meat into her mouth.
Song An pursed his lips but held back from speaking. If he said anything, there’d be no peaceful meal.
The two pounds of meat used to fry crispy meat wasn’t much; Lin Qiao had taken most of it out for everyone to eat, now only a few pieces were left.
She reached out to give one each to Song Qin, Song Rong, and Li Guifen. In the big bowl, only one piece of crispy meat was left. Just as she was about to reach it, someone picked it up and quickly placed it into her bowl.
She turned her head to meet the youthful and handsome face of her uncle. "Uncle, eat it yourself."
"Sister-in-law, you eat." Song Tingfan seemed a bit embarrassed, disguising it by shoving food into his mouth and sneaking glances at her, wanting to see if she ate it.
To be honest, the villain’s acting wasn’t great. At least Lin Qiao saw his move, "..."
She pretended not to see it and ate it.
Song Tingfan lowered his head, satisfied, and grinned at the corner of his mouth.
After dinner, it was already dark outside. Lin Qiao saw Mrs. Lin Wu, Mrs. Xu, and Song Mei helping to clear the dishes and quickly stopped them, "Big sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, cousin, don’t, I’ll take care of it later."
"Sister-in-law, take a break; you’ve been busy for quite a while." Mrs. Xu swiftly gathered the dishes.
Mrs. Lin Wu nodded in agreement.
Lin Han’s mood seemed to ease.
Unable to refuse, Lin Qiao let them go ahead.
Until the two puppies in the yard started snoring, the Lin Family and Song Family members finally left.
Lin Qiao closed the courtyard door and rubbed her waist, relieved that the day’s drama was finally over.
"Sister-in-law." She didn’t know when Song Tingfan had appeared next to her.
Lin Qiao instinctively jumped a little, turned her head towards him, faintly seeing his face under the covers of night. "Hmm?"
"Sister-in-law, is your waist sore? Do you want me to massage it?"
"I’m fine. You better go wash up and get some sleep." 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
Song Tingfan stood still, and Lin Qiao understood his intention, "surrendering" to let him massage, "Thank you, uncle."
Once she sat down, Song Tingfan started massaging her shoulders with a gentle and earnest touch.
Lin Qiao felt a bit comfortable. This "son" was actually quite helpful.
Song Qin, watching their actions in the distance, smiled. The bond between these two uncle and niece was growing stronger, which made her feel more at ease.
She whispered to Song Rong, "Niu Niu needs to remember never to treat his sister-in-law badly."
