CHAPTER 18: CHAPTER 18: I REALLY LIKE SISTER-IN-LAW

Lin Qiao understood the child’s insecurity. She glanced at him and said, "What do you think? That I’ve left and don’t want you anymore?"

Such words need to be said clearly; otherwise, the child will always feel uneasy and may develop problems.

Song Tingfan pursed his lips and nodded timidly.

"Uncle, is that what you think of your sister-in-law?"

Lin Qiao pretended to be a little aggrieved and continued, "Sister-in-law is only close to Uncle now. This is my home; where else can I go?"

Then she lowered her voice, feeling downcast, "Uncle, do you not want Sister-in-law in this house? If so, I’ll pack my things and leave."

"I know Sister-in-law is a burden and will drag Uncle down. I’m sorry, Uncle. You must take care of yourself in the future." After she finished speaking, her eyes turned red, and soon large tears couldn’t stop falling. She raised her head, trying not to cry.

Just standing there, beautiful people evoke sympathy, not to mention crying like a pear blossom in rain.

Lin Qiao took this to the extreme.

Seeing her cry, Song Tingfan panicked and quickly waved his hands, "No, no, I really like Sister-in-law."

"Sister-in-law, don’t leave. I’m just afraid you’ll abandon me too." As he said this, his eyes turned slightly red.

"How could Sister-in-law abandon you? You are your brother’s only sibling, and Sister-in-law will definitely raise you," Lin Qiao said, holding back her tears as she looked at him. "Uncle, Sister-in-law sincerely wants to treat you well, so that when she reaches the underworld, she can give an account to your brother."

"These days, I dream of your brother every night. He keeps telling me repeatedly to take good care of you."

"How could I let down your brother’s love, and how could I let down your affection for me as your sister-in-law?"

She stopped speaking at this point, then turned her head to wipe her tears, looking through her fingers at the child’s expression, seeing him full of guilt and remorse.

She withdrew her gaze.

"Sister-in-law, I’m sorry. Don’t cry, I..."

Song Tingfan was at a loss, not knowing how to comfort her.

"Uncle, I’m okay. Don’t worry, I won’t leave." After saying this, Lin Qiao didn’t look at him. She squatted down, picked up a shovel, and stabbed the earth distractedly.

Song Tingfan saw that his sister-in-law felt aggrieved, very aggrieved, and couldn’t help but blame himself. Then he thought of something and quickly spoke, "Sister-in-law, I’ve found bamboo shoots, a lot."

He ran into the main house, quickly coming out with something. He opened the clothes wrapping the bamboo shoots to show her, "Sister-in-law, they are all for you to eat."

Seeing the atmosphere was just right, Lin Qiao wiped her eyes, then looked up at the bamboo shoots, her voice a bit hoarse, "Uncle, where did you find them?"

"A little inside the back mountain. No one goes there."

Song Tingfan carefully observed her, noticing her eyes were slightly red. He tightened his grip on the clothes, clumsily coaxing her, "Sister-in-law, I’ll stir-fry the bamboo shoots for you, okay?"

"Alright." Lin Qiao nodded without hesitation.

Song Tingfan sighed in relief, "I’ll finish it soon." He said as he hugged the bamboo shoots and rushed into the kitchen.

Perhaps he was running too fast and kicked the threshold, stumbling for a moment but quickly steadying himself.

"Uncle, be careful."

Seeing that she could no longer see him, Lin Qiao raised an eyebrow, feeling that Uncle was easily managed.

Very easy to fool.

Tsk, with her acting skills, not only as the wicked sister-in-law, even as a wicked stepmother, she could turn the tables and deceive the child.

Later, the face-slapping was too painful.

After a while, she washed her hands and entered the kitchen to help with cooking. Song Tingfan was still peeling the bamboo shoots. The shoots had tiny hairs, and touching them made his hands itch, so he wrapped them in a rag.

Lin Qiao took the rag, squatted on the other side of him, and hadn’t reached out when he hurriedly said, "Sister-in-law, don’t touch it; it’ll itch."

Even using the rag, he inevitably touched it, and his hands were already a bit itchy.

Of course, Lin Qiao noticed and said, "Uncle, let me do it. Go wash your hands with clean water."

"Sister-in-law, I am a man. It doesn’t itch." Song Tingfan didn’t let her do it, moving all the bamboo shoots to his feet.

A twelve-year-old child often talked about being a man. Lin Qiao found it amusing but didn’t show it on her face. "Uncle, even men can feel itchy. We’re all human."

Seeing he didn’t move, she reached out to peel the shoots herself, adding, "Let’s peel them together to be quick."

For a while, there was only the sound of peeling the shells, crisp yet lingering. Song Tingfan glanced up at his sister-in-law, her head slightly lowered, feeling inexplicably satisfied.

He was willing to live like this with Sister-in-law for the rest of his life.

For lunch, the two stir-fried half of the bamboo shoots, leaving many. Lin Qiao soaked them all in a pickle jar, adding some salt.

Song Tingfan was helping her and quickly scooped water for her to wash her hands when he saw she was done, "Sister-in-law, wash up."

Lin Qiao nodded, noticing her sleeves were a bit down. She looked at Song Tingfan, "Uncle, help me roll up my sleeves."

Song Tingfan paused, glanced at her fair arms, his face slightly reddened, and awkwardly reached out to roll them up.

Lin Qiao didn’t notice. While washing, she said, "Uncle, I bought some seeds. When the seeds in the corner of the yard sprout, let’s plant them together."

Song Tingfan nodded, curious, "Sister-in-law, were you sprouting seedlings earlier?"

"Yes, I don’t know how to plant, so I’m trying out," Lin Qiao shook the water off her hands.

"I know how, Sister-in-law. I can sprout seedlings. You need ashes."

"Uncle, you can plant?"

Lin Qiao was a bit surprised that a twelve-year-old child knew farming. Although people matured early here, kids his age were still playing.

Song Tingfan nodded seriously, "Uncle taught me. He said if you learn, you’ll have food to eat."

For rural people, knowing how to farm meant not starving, provided there weren’t natural disasters.

Lin Qiao responded with an "Oh," acknowledging the uncle’s kindness to the child, "Uncle, you are very capable. Teach me, uncle."

Being praised made Song Tingfan a little embarrassed; he scratched his head, "Alright."

Afterward, the two worked in the yard, molding mud balls. The sun went from overhead to hiding behind the mountains, the sky still a deep blue with hints of red.

"Finally done, so exhausting." The woman in the yard stood up and stretched.

The boy across from her went into the kitchen, quickly returning with a bucket of water, offering it to her, "Sister-in-law, would you like some water?"

A pair of pure, bright black eyes, like those of a deer.

Lin Qiao, a sucker for good looks, couldn’t help but glance a bit more. Not afraid of a villain being bad, but afraid of him being handsome. In a few years, this villain might even be handsome while doing anything.

...

In the following days, they waited for the seedlings to sprout, watering them morning and night. Lin Qiao stayed home doing embroidery, getting faster with each piece, though each took over two hours.

Song Tingfan wasn’t idle either, often going up the mountain to dig hunting pits. Since Sister-in-law didn’t allow him to hunt alone in the deep mountains, he dug pits on the outskirts, using dead mice to lure prey.

With many people on the outskirts, there were few animals. For days, there was no prey. This day, Song Tingfan found his covered pit tampered with, blood on the bamboo spikes, showing prey was taken.

He looked around but couldn’t tell who did it.

Hoping to earn some silver coins for the family, now taken by someone, he felt wronged and sad, standing by the pit for a while before heading down the mountain with his basket.