CHAPTER 29: CHAPTER 29: HOW CAN HE WEAR SISTER-IN-LAW’S CLOTHES

Fifteen minutes later, the Song Family’s main room.

Two dishes were placed on the table, along with two pairs of bowls and chopsticks. Lin Qiao first scooped a big bowl of rice for Song Tingfan, "You must be hungry, eat more."

Song Tingfan obediently nodded, took the bowl and placed it on the table. Then he felt around inside his clothes and glanced at her. He immediately pulled out an item and said quietly, "Sister-in-law, this is for you."

Lin Qiao’s gaze fell on the cloth bundle. She reached out to take it, puzzled, "What is it?"

After unwrapping it, she found it was a pair of embroidered shoes made from ordinary coarse cloth, with a red flower and green leaves embroidered on them—not elegant, but not unattractive either.

She hesitated for a moment, "Did you buy these for me, little brother?"

"Yes."

Song Tingfan nodded awkwardly and then carefully asked, "Sister-in-law, do you like them?"

One must like whatever the bad guy buys.

Without any hesitation, Lin Qiao smiled gently, "I like them."

She quickly asked again, "Little brother, where did you get the Silver Coin?

Hearing that his sister-in-law liked them, Song Tingfan’s eyes sparkled, and he grinned widely. Then, hearing the latter part, he hurriedly explained, "Sister-in-law, I didn’t steal the family’s Silver Coin."

Previously, his sister-in-law accused him of stealing Silver Coin and gave him a beating.

No matter how much he explained, she wouldn’t believe him.

Thinking of this, he quickly added, "Sister-in-law, I really didn’t. I exchanged cicada shells for Silver Coin in the past few days. I just wanted to buy a pair of shoes for you and didn’t mention it."

Not expecting such a big reaction, Lin Qiao quickly realized that the original self must have accused him of stealing Silver Coin before.

She really didn’t suspect him of stealing Silver Coin. Considering he hadn’t been home these past few days, she guessed he had been in the mountains finding ways to make Silver Coin.

She shook her head and explained, "No, sister-in-law never said you stole Silver Coin."

"Sister-in-law was just wondering since you haven’t been home these days and was asking you about it."

Unexpectedly, his sister-in-law believed him; Song Tingfan’s eyes brightened, a little unbelievable, but ultimately joyful.

The young boy seemed a bit naive at this moment.

Facing his bright eyes, Lin Qiao couldn’t help but sigh once more that the villain was like a cute little white rabbit, pure and silly.

Ahem, she was like a big bad wolf, deceiving him and "winning his heart."

She slightly guiltily touched the embroidered shoes, showing that she liked them very much, "Little brother, the shoes are beautiful, I like them very much, but don’t buy shoes for sister-in-law next time, save your Silver Coin for yourself."

The boy’s eyes curved into crescents, "Sister-in-law, I will buy for you in the future."

Sister-in-law liked it, sister-in-law liked the shoes he bought.

The villain was really too lovable, Lin Qiao felt somewhat heartened about him.

Her conscience was bothered.

She stroked his hair, "Okay, when little brother succeeds in the future, then buy shoes for sister-in-law."

"By that time, sister-in-law will stick with you, little brother won’t be able to get rid of me."

Song Tingfan widened his eyes and shook his head earnestly, "I won’t drive sister-in-law away, I’ll treat sister-in-law very well, for a lifetime."

"Alright, alright, let’s eat now." Lin Qiao smiled and didn’t take his words to heart.

Just as they finished eating, the sky darkened, the wind blew the jujube tree with a "swishing" sound, and the clothes on the line were blown to the ground.

The two hurried out to collect, but couldn’t beat the rain that started pouring down.

Country folks called it "soybean rain," strong but brief.

In this moment, both their clothes got wet as they carried them indoors, Lin Qiao wiped the rainwater off her forehead, then looked at Song Tingfan, "Little brother, quickly change your clothes."

Song Tingfan shook his head, "Sister-in-law, it’ll dry soon."

"Come on, go change, don’t catch a cold." Lin Qiao saw he still hadn’t moved and was about to speak again when something crossed her mind.

He only had two sets of summer clothes.

Both of them were wet now.

She quickly stepped back into the house and soon brought out her own clothes and handed them to him, "Little brother, wear sister-in-law’s first, then change back after the clothes are dry."

"Sister-in-law, I don’t..." Song Tingfan paused, and suddenly his face turned beet red.

How could he wear sister-in-law’s clothes?

Lin Qiao underestimated how conservative gender norms were in this era; she only thought he was shy about wearing women’s clothes, she chuckled, "Little brother, it’s fine. We’re at home, no one can see, sister-in-law won’t tell your buddies."

Speaking softly in an encouraging tone, "Good, little brother, quickly go change."

This trick worked quite well on the villain, he obediently went to change.

The villain liked being coaxed by others.

In women’s clothes, the villain looked quite delicate, if not for the sharper features compared to women, no one would recognize him as male.

Lin Qiao suddenly had a whim of taking the villain into the entertainment industry, for sure he’d have loads of fangirls.

Facing her gaze, Song Tingfan awkwardly tugged at his collar but still obediently said, "Sister-in-law, I’ve changed."

"Little brother is so good."

Lin Qiao snapped back to reality, went to get the fire bowl to dry the clothes, the two had nothing to do, so sat around the fire.

The rain outside continued, but had lessened compared to before, shouldn’t take long to stop.

It didn’t take fifteen minutes for the rain to stop, clouds dispersed, and the sun came out; shortly after a heatwave hit.

The neighbor’s things probably got drenched directly, grumbling loudly, "God, why didn’t you rain early or late, but at noon? How does one live?"

"The dried vegetables are soaked, they’ll spoil! Hurry, spread them out!"

Lin Qiao felt a bit relieved that she didn’t have anything out drying today, she took the clothes out to dry again.

Song Tingfan’s clothes were dried, he went to his room to change, he came out holding the clothes, cautiously said, "Sister-in-law, should I take them to wash?"

"What wash? You just wore them for a bit." Lin Qiao chuckled, teasingly glancing at him.

Song Tingfan stiffly explained, "I wore them, dirty."

"Little brother is a clay doll? How is it dirty?"

Lin Qiao took the clothes, seizing the moment to earn more favor, "Is little brother a clay doll? I don’t mind if it’s dirty."

"Unless little brother thinks sister-in-law is dirty?"

"No, sister-in-law isn’t dirty, sister-in-law smells nice."

Song Tingfan spoke too hurriedly, missing a few words, realizing it, he blushed deeply and quickly added, "I meant sister-in-law’s clothes smell nice."

"Little brother likes fragrances? Next time I use soap pods to wash clothes, I’ll add more for you." Lin Qiao hadn’t thought much of it, she intentionally teased him.

A proper man doesn’t care for fragrances, Song Tingfan didn’t want sister-in-law thinking he wasn’t a man, he hastily waved his hands, "Sister-in-law, I don’t like fragrances, I, I..."

He’s a man, doesn’t like scents.

He stammered, unable to speak, making Lin Qiao laugh, seeing his face getting redder, she held back her laughter, "Don’t be shy, sister-in-law is just teasing you."

Just then, a gong sounded in the village, "Dong, dong, dong!"

Lin Qiao quickly got up and went to the doorway to see what was happening, saw someone far off holding a gong, but didn’t shout anything.

She turned her head back towards the main room calling, "Little brother, do you know what’s happening?"

Song Tingfan’s face was still a bit red, he came out and glanced outside, "The school is opening."

School?

Lin Qiao’s eyes lit up, the villain must go to school.

She felt part of the reason the villain grew astray was due to lack of education, otherwise, he wouldn’t do things that completely went against morals and ethics.

She thought for a moment, "Little brother, do you want to go to school?"