Turning Antagonist to Protagonist: He is Both Soft and Fierce-Chapter 149 - 144: No, I Want My Sister-in-Law

The next day was Song Tingfan’s thirteenth birthday. Lin Qiao got up early to cook boiled eggs and longevity noodles.

While she was busy in the kitchen, Song Tingfan came in with a comb, cautiously holding a bit of expectation. "Sister-in-law, Grandma said to ask you to do my hair."

Hearing this, Lin Qiao glanced at him. His hair was already gathered at the back of his head, just needing to be tied into a bun.

She understood the Song Qin family’s intention, which was to say that she was part of this family.

She smiled and said, "Okay, little uncle, wait a moment, I’ll wash my hands."

As she spoke, she washed her hands with water, dried them with a cloth, and then took the comb.

The kitchen was somewhat dusty, and she added, "Little uncle, let’s go out to comb your hair."

Song Tingfan sat in the courtyard while Lin Qiao stood behind him, gently combing his hair down thirteen times.

Lai Cai and Jinbao, presumably hungry, playfully nibbled at her pant leg. She sternly said, "Lai Cai, Jinbao, bite again and you’ll get a smack!"

Only then did Lai Cai and Jinbao settle down, with one of them darting out of the courtyard.

Lin Qiao continued to tie his hair. The male bun was simple, requiring only a little lift at the ponytail before securing it with a hairband.

The hairband was red, specially made by Song Qin.

The black matched with red suited the young boy, adding a few more hints of handsomeness, shedding the skinniness and rawness from their first meeting.

After examining him a few times, Lin Qiao smiled, "Little uncle is looking better and better."

"Did you wear the red undershirt I gave you last night?"

Mentioning the undershirt, Song Tingfan nodded shyly, "I wore it."

Afraid she wouldn’t believe him, he lifted his garment’s corner to show a hint of red.

"Good that you wore it." Lin Qiao handed the comb back to him and went back into the kitchen to continue working.

Soon, the longevity noodles were served. Lin Qiao handed a pair of chopsticks to Song Tingfan, "Don’t bite them off."

Looking at the longevity noodles, Song Tingfan’s eyes welled up slightly with tears. He had thought he wouldn’t ever have them again.

With everyone’s attention on him, he took the chopsticks and ate, from start to finish.

Song Qin happily said, "Niu Niu will surely have a smooth life ahead. Here, Gramma will roll you an egg."

"My Niu Niu is already a little adult, much taller than Gramma now. In the future, you will grow even taller, taller than your Grandpa was in his youth."

"Gramma hopes you can live a happy life." Speaking to the end, her voice choked a bit uncontrollably.

She didn’t know how much longer she and the old man could stay with Niu Niu. They wanted to see him marry and have children, so they could explain to the others in the afterlife.

And they could go peacefully.

Feeling the atmosphere turn somber, Lin Qiao quickly changed the topic to prevent others from dwelling on bad thoughts, speaking mysteriously, "Little uncle, close your eyes, I have something for you."

Upon hearing this, Song Tingfan looked at her with bright, clear eyes and then gently smiled. He obediently closed his eyes, his long eyelashes casting shadows, appearing pure and innocent. "Okay."

"Don’t open them until I say so." Lin Qiao turned to go to the room after saying this.

In the main room, Song Rong gently patted Song Qin on the back, signaling her not to cry. It was a good day.

Listening to the gradually approaching footsteps, the boy’s heart felt full and soon, the woman’s smiling voice said, "Little uncle, you can open your eyes now."

The first thing he saw was the woman’s vibrant and stunning face, which made his heart race.

Song Tingfan’s heart skipped a beat as he quickly averted his gaze, looking at what was in her hand instead.

It was the clothing from Ruyi Shop.

Without thinking, he shook his head, "Sister-in-law, I don’t want it."

He had asked the waiter and found out a piece of clothing cost more than two taels.

He wanted to save money to buy her a piece of clothing instead.

"Why not?"

"It’s too expensive."

Hearing his reason, Lin Qiao felt a bit pained for his thoughtfulness. This child always thought of others. She half-jokingly said, "Is anything more expensive than little uncle?"

"In sister-in-law’s heart, a hundred pieces of clothing aren’t as valuable as little uncle."

The words to cheer someone up came out without thinking, and being naive, the boy didn’t overthink it, even smiling broadly at the remark.

He accepted the clothing, "Thank you, sister-in-law." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Afterward, both Song Qin and Song Rong gave him gifts. Song Qin gave him a pair of shoes, and Song Rong made him a new bow and arrow.

The previous bow and arrow were made according to a child’s size, and Song Tingfan had grown a lot in the past half year, so the original ones became a bit small.

Ever since his parents passed away, he didn’t like celebrating birthdays. Last year, his sister-in-law scolded him all day, telling him to die...

Flashes of past scenes appeared in his mind, but he quickly shook his head decisively, thinking to himself that his sister-in-law’s "illness" had cured, she wouldn’t scold him anymore, and she wouldn’t hit him anymore.

No special guests were invited to the birthday celebration, just the Lin family, Song An’s house, and the Wang Family next door.

Li Guifen and the others came to help with the food preparations after breakfast, and for a while, Song’s second family was filled with joy.

Lin Qiao stayed mostly in the kitchen and didn’t come out much, sweating from the hard work despite the cold weather. Song Tingfan noticed it, feeling sorry but not knowing how to help, so he went to the room to get a cloth for her, "Sister-in-law, wipe your sweat."

"It’s okay, I’ll take a bath after eating later." Lin Qiao was busy stirring the food in the pot.

Suddenly, it went a bit dark in front of her, and something gently wiped her forehead and quickly retreated.

She caught a glimpse of Song Tingfan from the corner of her eye and smiled, "Thank you, little uncle."

"No need to thank me." Song Tingfan shook his head earnestly.

"Tingfan, quick, come out and help move the table." Song Rong’s voice came from outside, and Song Tingfan turned and ran out.

Watching his retreating back, Li Guifen felt a bit comforted, "Tingfan is truly sensible, caring for others."

She felt a bit more at ease, thinking that with Tingfan’s personality, he would surely treat Lin Qiao well in the future.

It wasn’t that she didn’t care for her daughter, she just feared that as they aged, they couldn’t take care of her even if they wanted to.

If she could, she preferred her daughter to marry again, so there would be someone who truly cared for her, and she would have a companion.

She and Lin Han had discussed it. If their daughter wasn’t willing to leave the Song Family, they would wait two more years until Song Tingfan came of age and could support the family, and then have a talk again with them.

Song Qin smiled, watching Lin Qiao busy, "Our Niu Niu isn’t nice to just anyone, it’s because Qiao’er is good to him that he is this way."

"It’s only right for a family." Li Guifen watched her daughter, who looked the same as before, but she felt something had changed.

Though she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was different.

After thinking for a while, she shrugged it off.

Three families sat at three tables, and Song Tingfan, the birthday star, was coaxed into drinking a bit of wine. After two cups, he was already feeling tipsy, lying down on the table to sleep.

Song An glared at Song Hao, "Letting you get Tingfan drunk."

Song Hao awkwardly said, "I didn’t know Tingfan couldn’t hold his liquor."

When he first drank, he wasn’t drunk off a whole bowl.

"Elder brother, it’s okay, little uncle will be fine after a nap." Lin Qiao explained with a smile, "Little uncle was happy today, so he drank."

"I’ll help him inside to sleep."

Song Hao got up to support Song Tingfan, who resisted him drunkenly, mumbling, "No, I want sister-in-law."