Turning Antagonist to Protagonist: He is Both Soft and Fierce-Chapter 90 - 85: This Plot Is Leading to Her Death Ending
It turns out it really was a nightmare. Lin Qiao sat by the bed, reaching out to gently pat his back, patiently coaxing him, "Don’t be afraid, a dream is just a dream, not reality. Little Uncle, don’t be afraid, sister-in-law will protect you."
"What kind of nightmare did you have? Tell sister-in-law about it, and it won’t be scary anymore."
She simply thought he had a nightmare.
"I dreamt that sister-in-law... sister-in-law sold me off, didn’t want me anymore."
Song Tingfan, after all, was just a twelve-year-old child, still feeling uneasy and anxious. He looked at her nervously and added, "Sister-in-law, you wouldn’t abandon me, right?"
Compared to his apprehension, Lin Qiao’s heart skipped a beat, instinctively recalling the scene from the dream.
The antagonist actually dreamt that the original self sold him!
Is this plot heading towards my death?
The fear from the dream swept over her, and Lin Qiao couldn’t help but shiver. She quickly composed herself and seriously said, "Of course not, sister-in-law would never sell Little Uncle."
Resentment has a cause, debts have a source, antagonist don’t make a mistake.
She is just a stand-in!
The more she thought about it, the more panicked she felt, her seat seemed to be on fire, but she forced herself to sit still, she couldn’t panic, it was just a dream, it could still be salvaged.
She started to turn the tables, teasing, "Little Uncle, is that how you see sister-in-law in your heart?"
Upon hearing this, Song Tingfan felt much reassured. He quickly shook his head and subsequently felt a bit guilty; sister-in-law was very good to him, how could he think like that of her.
"No, sister-in-law is very good in my heart."
"Really, sister-in-law, are you mad?" He became a bit panicked towards the end.
His clear and pure eyes looked at her expectantly, as if she would cry if she got angry.
"Mad, sister-in-law is mad, how will Little Uncle coax me?" Lin Qiao’s words seemed to say so but were delivered with a teasing smile, it was clear she was joking with him.
Song Tingfan’s eyebrows immediately curved into a smile, somewhat shyly coaxing her, earnestly saying, "Sister-in-law, you are the best."
So easily persuaded.
Lin Qiao chuckled, "Sister-in-law is not mad anymore."
"Little Uncle, get up for dinner quickly."
Hearing this, Song Tingfan was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at the sky outside. It was already dim, probably past 3:00 PM.
He frustratedly slapped his forehead, "Sister-in-law, I didn’t mean to sleep this long." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺
Before sleeping, he wanted to wake up early to help sister-in-law with work.
"It’s okay, sleeping more will help you grow taller."
Lin Qiao thought as long as he doesn’t take her life, let alone him sleeping, she would even coax him to sleep.
...
Since this nightmare, Lin Qiao had been more "attentive" to Song Tingfan than before, daily asking with concern if he had any nightmares, and for seven or eight consecutive days, he hadn’t had any.
Lin Qiao thought she might have been overthinking it, she should have asked what kind of nightmare Song Tingfan had, to see if it matched her own dream.
It could be that Song Tingfan had some past trauma, hence dreaming about the original self selling him.
If that’s the case, it shouldn’t be a big deal.
But after so many days had passed, asking him again about what he dreamt, Song Tingfan might find it a bit puzzling.
One day, after lunch, while chopping firewood in the yard, Song Tingfan kept glancing at his sister-in-law who was picking vegetables nearby, her delicate brows slightly furrowed, she had been doing that a lot recently.
He was worried she might be sick, pursed his lips, and asked, "Sister-in-law, are you not feeling well somewhere?"
Preoccupied with her thoughts, Lin Qiao was momentarily taken aback by his question, "Huh? What?"
As soon as the words left her mouth, a hand landed on her forehead, the warmth clearing her mind, meeting the antagonist’s concerned expression.
She belatedly realized, "Little Uncle, I’m fine."
Just scared.
Ahem, of course, she didn’t say the last part out loud.
"Sister-in-law, let the doctor have a look at you." Song Tingfan was still worried. Recently, sister-in-law had been worried about his matters, afraid he’d have nightmares again.
"It’s nothing, just now, I was thinking about the New Year’s goods, not sure what to stock up on." Lin Qiao casually lied without batting an eye.
Song Tingfan watched her for a moment and then believed her without hesitation, earnestly suggesting, "Stock whatever sister-in-law wants to eat."
Upon hearing this, Lin Qiao moved a little closer to him, affectionately saying, "What does Little Uncle want to eat, sister-in-law will buy it at the market."
Uncomfortable with her closeness, Song Tingfan shifted back a bit, stammering, "Sister-in-law..."
"Anything is fine, really."
"Anything? How about eating sister-in-law?" Lin Qiao teasingly poked his forehead lightly.
Song Tingfan knew sister-in-law was teasing him, but he still shook his head, earnestly saying, "I won’t eat sister-in-law, really won’t."
His simple and naive demeanor amused Lin Qiao, her hands shaking, causing the vegetables to fall on the ground, blurting out, "Little Uncle, you’re like a little white rabbit."
No sooner had she spoken, she realized her mistake and quickly added, "Sister-in-law really likes it."
To the young ears, this sentence practically sounded like sister-in-law liked him, shyly pursing his lips, he glanced at her once, then once more.
"I like sister-in-law too."
Lin Qiao smiled, not taking it to heart, picking up the vegetables and continuing to fold them, bringing up the serious matter, "Little Uncle, tomorrow you’re on leave, let’s take the vegetables to town to sell, we’ll also take the dried fish from last time to sell."
She wanted to test if spicy dried fish would sell well, if it did, they could start a business.
Just relying on drawing to earn money wasn’t a long-term plan, she needed money in her hands, at least in case of some unexpected misfortune, she might still have a chance of survival.
In the dream, the original self hid and ran to avoid being found by the antagonist, without money, she had to eat scraps, several times dreaming about what the original self ate, the images clearer than a magnifying glass, she woke up retching for a long time.
Song Tingfan was about to agree when a woman’s voice interrupted, "Good news, good news."
Matchmaker Wang from the village wobbled in, though without a matchmaker’s mole, she was dusted in white powder and rouge, neither beautiful nor ugly.
Upon hearing "good news," Lin Qiao instinctively glanced at Song Tingfan, not blaming herself for thinking like this, a few days ago a family had subtly inquired about Song Tingfan.
Seeing her gaze, Song Tingfan awkwardly scratched his temple.
Song Qin and Song Rong, hearing the commotion, came out of the main room.
Matchmaker Wang’s lipstick-coated lips opened and closed, smiling so much her eyes were mere slits, "The Qian family in town asked me to propose, to take you in as a concubine, with a betrothal gift of twenty taels of silver."
This statement was clearly directed at Lin Qiao.
Lin Qiao, onlooker: "..."
Song Tingfan’s handsome face turned stern, Song Qin and Song Rong both looked displeased.
Matchmaker Wang went on talking to herself, "The Qian family sells grain, Widow Song, if you marry in you won’t have to worry about food."
"The Qian family said that as long as you marry in, they’ll give your little uncle’s household fifty catties of rice every year."
At this point, she paused, snickered softly, "If you give the Qian family a chubby boy, they’ll give you a shop, a shop is valuable, worth at least one hundred taels of silver."
"Mr. Qian may be over fifty, but he’s quite spirited, no problem in the marital bed."
"Widow Song, when are you planning to marry..."
Before she finished, an angry voice interrupted, "Get out! My sister-in-law won’t marry! No amount will make her!"
The young man picked up a broom to chase her out, his angry look had a bit of fierceness.
