CHAPTER 64: CHAPTER 59: SHE’S MY SISTER-IN-LAW, YOU CAN’T CALL HER THAT

At this time, it was already late at night at the Lin Family’s door.

Li Guifen saw Lin Qiao and the others off, "It’s too late, Da Sheng, Shanzi, you take Grandma Song and Grandpa Song back."

Lin Sheng and Lin Shan responded in agreement.

Lin Qiao thought that Song Qin and Song Rong’s vision wasn’t good, so she didn’t refuse. The group walked one after another.

On the field ridge, Lin Sheng and Lin Shan carried Song Qin and Song Rong on their backs.

Song Tingfan turned his head to look a few times behind him before finally stopping, reaching out, "Sister-in-law, let me guide you."

"Okay." Lin Qiao really couldn’t see clearly and almost slipped just now. She reached out and grabbed his wrist.

The boy’s palm had some calluses, feeling a bit uncomfortable to touch, and she subconsciously rubbed it with her thumb.

Her unintentional movement made Song Tingfan’s body stiffen. Sister-in-law, touching his palm.

He didn’t dare to hold tightly, just awkwardly leading her over the field. Suddenly, he let go of his hand, feeling a bit disappointed.

Lin Qiao had no idea her actions had stirred the antagonist.

...

It was a dream.

On the large wooden bed, two figures were intertwined.

"No more, um, Tingfan, no more." The woman panted and begged below.

The man continued his actions, "Qiao’er..."

...

The crowing of the rooster heralded the morning, and Song Tingfan sat up abruptly, gasping. Then he felt something below and reached to touch it.

Damp.

He had wet the bed.

The young boy didn’t know what a wet dream was.

At this age, wetting the bed, recalling the scenes in the dream, he...

Embarrassed and flustered, he quickly got up and changed into clean clothes, carrying them out the door.

Lin Qiao happened to open the door and saw him holding clothes, slightly puzzled since he had changed last night.

But she didn’t think much of it; he was always clean, "Uncle, put them in the basin, I’ll wash them later."

Song Tingfan didn’t dare look at her, stammering, "Sister-in-law, I’ll wash them myself." With that, he grabbed the basin and ran out quickly.

Lin Qiao felt a bit inexplicable but soon put it out of her mind and went to the kitchen to finish breakfast.

From getting up to going to school, Song Tingfan didn’t dare look at Lin Qiao.

Just before entering the school, Lin Qiao held his arm, concerned, "Uncle, what’s wrong? Not feeling well?"

"N-no." Song Tingfan shook his head, stammering.

At that moment, Zhou Tiedan came running with a cloth bag, panting, "Tingfan! We’re going to be late, hurry inside."

Seeing him, Lin Qiao remembered something, took some maltose from her sleeve, "Tiedan, here, as promised."

Zhou Tiedan was surprised to receive the maltose and thanked her joyfully, "Thank you, sister-in-law, thank you, sister-in-law."

Song Tingfan’s issue with him calling her sister-in-law was long forgotten.

The world is big, but maltose is bigger.

Song Tingfan pursed his lips unhappily, softly saying, "Sister-in-law, I’m going in now."

"Okay, go ahead." Lin Qiao raised her chin slightly, gesturing for him to enter.

At his seat, Song Tingfan took out his pen and ink, and Zhou Tiedan laughed quietly while taking out his own, "Tingfan, your sister-in-law is so nice; she really gave me maltose."

Song Tingfan pursed his lips, "She’s my sister-in-law, you’re not allowed to call her that."

Zhou Tiedan suddenly remembered calling her sister-in-law and quickly slapped his own mouth, "Tingfan, I didn’t mean to."

"You’re not going to stop helping me get bird eggs, are you?"

"Tingfan, don’t be so petty, I only called her sister-in-law twice, and didn’t do anything. Tingfan, Tingfan..."

Cheng Sheng entered just in time to see Zhou Tiedan turning his head to talk to Song Tingfan. He pursed his lips, "Zhou Tiedan, stand up and recite the four sentences taught yesterday."

Zhou Tiedan’s eyes widened, nervously standing up, "Rice, rice, rice..."

What rice again? He forgot how to read the last two characters.

So difficult.

"Rice, millet, beans, wheat, sorghum, barley. These six grains, people eat."

Cheng Sheng recited, then walked to him with a ruler. Zhou Tiedan obediently stretched out his hand and received three hits, leaving his palm red.

It wasn’t too heavy, but Zhou Tiedan felt embarrassed being hit, tears welling up in his eyes.

Cheng Sheng added, "Call your mother here at noon."

Zhou Tiedan shuddered at the thought of his mother’s switch, pleading, "Teacher, can I not call my mom?"

"From the start of school until now, you never manage to recite when tested." Cheng Sheng kept a serious expression, then continued, "We already learned this earlier this year."

Zhou Tiedan didn’t dare speak, just quietly crying.

...

At noon, the village suddenly became noisy, "Zhou Tiedan, you stand right there. We send you to school to study, and what do you study? When the teacher asks, you don’t know a thing, while you know which tree has bird eggs in the mountains!"

"Mom, I’m sorry, please don’t hit me."

Hearing the commotion, Lin Qiao went to the door to look and saw from afar a woman chasing a child with a stick.

Next door, someone from the Wang Family was also watching. Wang Xu said in a customary tone, "Tiedan’s mom is chasing him again."

After watching for a bit, Lin Qiao went back inside and saw Song Tingfan writing big characters, "What happened to Tiedan?"

Song Tingfan still couldn’t meet her eyes, buried his head, "The teacher tested him, and he couldn’t recite."

"Oh."

The boy seemed a bit evasive, and Lin Qiao glanced at him a few times. From last night at the Lin Family, he seemed a bit strange. At first, she thought it was the maltose, but now it seems not.

Could it still be that Zhang Dong incident?

After a while, she sat beside Song Tingfan, glanced a few times, and praised, "Uncle, you write so well, I can’t even write like that."

Song Tingfan felt a bit awkward moving his brush, "Sister-in-law, I’ll teach you how to write."

"Sister-in-law is clumsy, can’t write."

"Sister-in-law is not clumsy."

Song Tingfan glanced at her, then quickly looked away, "I’ll teach sister-in-law to write your name. The character Lin should be written like this."

He slowly demonstrated, then handed the brush to Lin Qiao.

Lin Qiao pretended not to know how to hold the brush and started writing crookedly.

Song Tingfan couldn’t help but correct her, "Sister-in-law, the brush isn’t held like this; the index finger should be on top."

Seeing Lin Qiao still not holding it correctly, he reached to reposition her hand, "Sister-in-law, it’s like this."

Realizing what he’d done, he quickly withdrew his hand, his face turning red.

Lin Qiao was amused, inwardly teasing, pure little bunny.

She couldn’t hold back a chuckle but quickly stifled it, "Uncle, am I holding it like a dog’s paw?"

"N-n-not really." Song Tingfan’s eyes didn’t know where to settle.

Lin Qiao continued practicing writing.

Not long after, Song Tingfan noticed how clever his sister-in-law was, able to write both characters he’d taught today. To think it took him so long to recognize the character Qiao before. He was a bit delighted, "Sister-in-law, you should go to school; I’ll stay home and work."

His expression was earnest, not joking at all.

Lin Qiao hadn’t expected that comment, paused for a moment, and then affectionately patted his head, "Even if I go, it won’t be useful, just learning for leisure."

She playfully tapped him, "Uncle, don’t think about slacking off."

Song Tingfan quickly shook his head to explain, not wanting her to misunderstand, "Sister-in-law, I’m not slacking off, I’ve been studying seriously."

"Studying’s good." Lin Qiao stretched, feeling a bit thirsty, got up to go to the kitchen for some water.