Turning Antagonist to Protagonist: He is Both Soft and Fierce-Chapter 156 - 151: The Boy’s Awkward Thoughts

Lin Qiao glanced at the sky; there was still about an hour and a half until noon. She pondered for a moment and said, "Little Uncle, can you help me buy a chicken? Two or three pounds should be enough."

A banquet would definitely need dishes, and she seized the opportunity to sell more dishes.

Song Tingfan didn’t ask any questions, threw away the grass, and ran off. After a few steps, he turned back, sheepishly and timidly saying, "Sister-in-law, I don’t have that much money."

"Running so fast just now, I thought you had some, Little Uncle."

Lin Qiao didn’t have any money on her; she took out the house key and handed it to him, adding, "The money is still in the usual place."

Song Tingfan nodded, then ran off with big strides and quickly reached home. As soon as he opened the courtyard gate, Lai Cai and Jinbao pounced on him, and he hurriedly waved them away.

Then he opened his sister-in-law’s room, took out a box from the cabinet. Just as he opened it, Lai Cai pounced, causing the box to fall to the ground with a "crack," but fortunately, the money was stored in a bag.

After picking up the bag, he also picked up the box and suddenly noticed something—the box had two words engraved on the bottom, Zhang Dong.

If you didn’t look closely, you’d never notice.

Sister-in-law still keeps Zhang Dong’s things...

Even though sister-in-law clearly said she didn’t like Zhang Dong.

Sister-in-law lied to him...

His expression gradually darkened. After a while, he took the money and then put the money bag back into the box.

At this moment, his hand paused, taking out the money bag, and the next moment, the box once again fell to the ground with a "crack."

The young boy’s stubborn thoughts were taken out on the innocent box.

Lai Cai and Jinbao thought he was playing with them; Jinbao bit down on the box and shook it a few times, and the box couldn’t withstand the force, its lid coming off.

Song Tingfan uneasily scratched at his hands, then strode out of the room.

...

After a short while, Lin Qiao, Song Qin, and Song Rong came back, and each of Lai Cai and Jinbao was chewing on something. Initially, Lin Qiao didn’t see what it was, thinking they were at it with wood chips again.

While she was washing her hands in a basin, she found a small lock on the ground, picked it up, and realized it was the lock from the box, and then looked at the two dogs still gnawing.

She stood up and went inside the room to look; the box in the cabinet was gone, and the money bag was missing too—it must have been Song Tingfan who took it. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

She guessed it was Song Tingfan taking the money that drew the dogs’ attention to the box.

She picked up a broom by the door and gave the two dogs in the yard a swat each, "Lai Cai, Jinbao! Have I been too good to you? Huh? The only box in the house gets ruined by you!"

"You come here, let’s see if I don’t beat you, run! Where can you run? If you run off, don’t think about eating lunch!"

Song Qin and Song Rong were at a loss, so Song Qin asked, "Qiao’er, is the box broken?"

"Yeah, the lock even has a few tooth marks." Lin Qiao showed them the lock.

The two dogs probably knew they had done something wrong, panting with their tongues out at the gate, looking at their master.

Lin Qiao pointed with the broom, "Come here, sit properly."

The dogs, being clever, usually understood gestures, hesitated for a while, wagged their tails, and came over.

Lin Qiao raised her hand and hit their mouths, scolding, "The house is nearly torn apart by you, bite, bite and let me see! No lunch for you today."

When Song Tingfan came back with the chicken, he happened to see his sister-in-law hitting Lai Cai and Jinbao. He paused, a hint of panic and tension flashing in his eyes, "Sister-in-law...what’s wrong?"

Lin Qiao, who was furious with the two dogs, hadn’t noticed his stammer, showing him the lock, "Lai Cai and Jinbao chewed up the box."

"Huh?"

Song Tingfan wasn’t very good at lying; he squatted and hit Lai Cai and Jinbao lightly, "Why...why bite things randomly!"

Then he looked up at Lin Qiao, "Sister-in-law, I can make you another box."

"Alright, Little Uncle, hurry and help me kill the chicken, it’s getting late." Lin Qiao, focusing on the important matter, was too lazy to waste time on the dogs, planning to deal with them later when she wasn’t busy.

The two innocent yet not-so-innocent dogs squatted in the yard, panting with their tongues out, watching their male and female owners walk into the kitchen.

Song Qin pinched their ears a few times, admonishing, "Lai Cai, Jinbao, if you bite things again, we won’t keep you."

Dogs, being quite perceptive creatures, learn from punishment and won’t do it again next time. Song Rong fetched some rope from inside the house, "Tie them up for half a day, they’ll behave."

Lai Cai and Jinbao were being punished in the yard, while in the kitchen, Song Tingfan cautiously glanced at his sister-in-law, "Sister-in-law, I’m sorry, I..."

"Sorry for what? It’s not like you broke it." Lin Qiao replied dismissively with a playful smile.

"I... I didn’t close the door." Song Tingfan lowered his head, holding a cleaver in one hand and a chicken head in the other, severing its neck without blinking. Then he set the cleaver down, and hung the chicken over a bowl to drain the blood.

Watching his actions, Lin Qiao felt a chill around her neck, and couldn’t help but touch it, "Lai Cai and Jinbao have long deserved a scolding. A few days ago, I saw them scratching the door frame, leaving several marks."

Other than being mad at Lai Cai and Jinbao, sister-in-law seemed to have no other emotions, and Song Tingfan felt relieved, but thinking about the box, he felt a bit downcast.

Does sister-in-law still like Zhang Dong?

Is she just hiding it from him?

He bit his lip and softly asked, "Sister-in-law, where did the box come from?"

His voice was too low, and Lin Qiao was washing a pot with a brush, not hearing clearly, so she turned and asked, "Little Uncle, what did you say?"

"Nothing, nothing." Song Tingfan shook his head.

The whole chicken was cooked, cut into pieces, and seasoned for the family to eat at noon.

Song Qin, not usually a fan of spicy food, ate several pieces of chicken today, "Qiao’er, how do you know so much?"

With her acting skills, Lin Qiao easily deflected their question, "Just tinkering around, used to dislike hot dishes when the weather was warm."

"Qiao’er is really smart; if you were a boy, you’d definitely achieve much." Song Qin genuinely believed she was smart, making sketches, cakes, and cold dishes and all that.

Lin Qiao laughed, "If I were a boy, I’d definitely earn a lot of money."

This era was heavily patriarchal. It wasn’t obvious in the village, but you could see it in the bigger places.

She had been setting up her stall in the town for quite some days and rarely saw couples buying things together; even if they did, the wife would be carrying things, while the husband walked empty-handed in front, looking impatient.

Song Qin was amused, "Isn’t that true?"

Seeing the young boy next to her giggling foolishly, Lin Qiao picked up a piece of chicken and placed it into his bowl, "Little Uncle, you’ll definitely earn a lot of money in the future."

Though meant as a joke, Song Tingfan nodded seriously, "I’ll earn a lot of money to support sister-in-law, grandma, and grandpa."

All three of them, Lin Qiao, laughed, without taking it to heart.

It’s not that they didn’t believe him, they just wouldn’t burden him.

Lin Qiao blinked, "Little Uncle should support a wife and children instead."

Saying this, she remembered something and continued, "Yu Family’s Aunt mentioned it to me, thinking of matching Yan’er with Little Uncle. If you find it suitable, then maybe get engaged first and marry in a couple of years with a betrothal gift of two taels."

"Little Uncle, what do you think?"