CHAPTER 39: CHAPTER 39: THE VILLAIN CARES TOO MUCH ABOUT HIS SISTER-IN-LAW

The ditches of Xingyu Village run through the whole village. In summer, the water only reaches the ankles of adults, flowing gently.

Several men, including Niu Er, were catching crabs in the ditch. From afar, they saw a woman swaying her hips as she walked over, and they excitedly whistled.

Niu Er held a small crab in his hand and tossed it into the bucket. With a lewd expression, he clicked his tongue and said, "Widow Song’s hips are really something! Swinging all over the place."

"And her chest, too — it’s quite impressive, bouncing up and down."

"If only I could touch it."

He climbed onto the bank barefoot and sleazily blocked the way of the young woman approaching, "Widow Song, why don’t you play with us? I’ll take you crab catching."

Lin Qiao was just about to look for them. She glanced at him, "Are the walls of my yard easy to climb over?"

Niu Er wasn’t afraid of her at all. He admitted it outright, grinning cheekily, "Widow Song is quite fierce, daring to pour slops!"

"Let me have a feel, and I won’t trouble you."

Originally, he thought Widow Song would be scared, but she wasn’t. She even chuckled lightly, looking quite pretty with that sly smile.

Niu Er felt itchier just looking at her. As he was about to tease her again, he heard her say, not too softly, "Next time you climb over the yard wall, I’ll chop off your manhood."

Lin Qiao’s real nature is just like that, not gentle, one might even say "fierce."

She wasn’t afraid of Niu Er talking around, as no one really believed the words of someone like him.

Although there had already been an incident before, Niu Er always felt that Widow Song was fragile and lacking a man. When he heard such harsh language from her, he was momentarily stunned: "..."

When he came to, he was amused, throwing his head back in laughter, Widow Song threatening to cut off his manhood.

He lay down and let her chop, believing she wouldn’t dare.

He put his hands on his hips and arrogantly said, "I’m standing here, and you don’t even dare, hahaha."

"Ha... ah!"

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain below, and he yelped in agony, bending over to clutch his lower half.

Lin Qiao raised an eyebrow, nonchalantly withdrawing her leg, and smiled warmly, "I’m not kidding."

She glanced at the others beside her and added, "The same goes for you all."

The men next to her were completely frightened, instinctively covering their lower halves, and stared at her dumbfounded.

Has Widow Song gone mad?

Niu Er recovered, angrily pointing at her, shouting, "Widow Song, hissing... you wait for me!"

"Watch if I don’t deal with you, I refuse to bow down to Niu!"

"Niu Er, I’ll warn you just once — next time it won’t just be a verbal warning." Lin Qiao neither dodged nor flinched.

It was broad daylight, and people were coming and going, witnessing Niu Er bullying Widow Song over there.

Old Man Jiang quickly scolded, "Niu Er! What are you up to! Bullying Madam Tingfan again!"

"Da Liang, Er Jiang, Sanhe, go help quickly."

Immediately, several men ran over, shielding Lin Qiao behind them.

Old Man Jiang pointed at Niu Er angrily cursing, "Are you an animal, Niu Er? Bullying women!"

Niu Er hadn’t said anything yet when a soft and weak voice was heard, "Grandpa, I’m fine, you all should leave."

It seemed she didn’t want them involved.

Old Man Jiang instinctively thought she was afraid they’d get implicated. He glared at Niu Er and added, "Madam Tingfan, don’t worry, they wouldn’t dare cause trouble at our house! I’ll have his dad teach him a lesson later."

Niu Er looked at Widow Song, who lowered her head in panic and fear, with a look of disbelief.

"..."

He squeezed out, "Widow Song, it was you who kicked me just now!"

"I’m sorry, I kicked you, I’m sorry..."

Lin Qiao instantly teared up out of fear, crying one tear after another, apologizing and bowing repeatedly.

Niu Er thought it didn’t sound right, why did it seem like he was falsely accusing her?

It was clearly her who kicked him.

Suddenly, an angry shout was heard from afar, "Niu Er! I’m going to beat you to death!"

Niu Er’s spirit was shaken, his old man was here, and he immediately took off running.

Lin Qiao: "..."

Old Man Niu, nearly fifty years old, was still quite vigorous, running over without panting. He took off his shoe, shouting after the fleeing Niu Er, "If you don’t fetch back my shoes, just don’t come home!"

"You rascal, should have drowned you in the latrine back then."

"Old Niu, your Niu Er needs a good beating." Old Man Jiang maintained a pretty good relationship with the Niu Family.

Old Man Niu was furious as he mentioned his scoundrel son Niu Er, gritting his teeth in frustration and swearing helplessly, "Can’t catch him, but if I do, I’d definitely beat him to death."

He looked at the poor Widow Song, feeling embarrassed, "Madam Tingfan, I’m sorry, when I catch that scoundrel, I’ll definitely beat him."

Lin Qiao shook her head with red eyes, "Grandpa Niu, I’m fine."

Clearly very scared, yet she said she was fine, making Old Man Niu feel even more embarrassed. He insisted on giving her some vegetables afterward.

Even after giving the vegetables, he still felt ashamed.

"Madam Tingfan, I’m really sorry, I’ll surely give him a lesson."

"Grandpa Niu, it’s okay."

Lin Qiao shook her head, thanked the Jiang Family, and then headed home with her things.

When the road was clear, she reached up to rub her eyes. She’d cried too much lately, and her eyes were protesting.

It hurt.

...

As dusk fell, the setting sun spread across half of the sky.

Song Family, Kitchen

Lin Qiao just thought Song Tingfan should be back soon when suddenly a shadow darted in, startling her.

Then she was met with the anxious yet worried expression of a young boy, "Sis-in-law, are you alright?"

The boy’s eyes were red, his expression full of fury.

He must have heard about the incident this afternoon.

Lin Qiao was momentarily at a loss, but quickly regained her composure, lowering her head in an attempt to reassure him, "Little Uncle... I’m fine."

As she said this, she glimpsed his reaction out of the corner of her eye, seeing his eyes redden even more with anger.

Suddenly, he picked up a spatula by the door and turned around to rush out.

Lin Qiao was dumbfounded; the villain got agitated.

No way!

Realizing this, she quickly chased after him, grabbing Song Tingfan by the door, "Little Uncle."

"I’m fine, really fine."

She was afraid Song Ting might actually hurt someone with that spatula. Thinking of this, she held onto Song Tingfan’s hand with the spatula, continuing, "Listen to your sister-in-law, let go, be good."

Seeing he wouldn’t let go, she gently held his hand with her other hand, advising earnestly, "Little Uncle, are you thinking about doing something foolish?"

The villain said nothing, his lips pressed tightly, and she continued, "Your sister-in-law only has you to rely on, if something happened to you, your sister-in-law couldn’t live either."

The moment she touched his hand, Song Tingfan tensed up, and his gaze instinctively dropped to their joined hands. The woman’s hand was somewhat cool, probably because it had touched water.

Yet his palm was sweating warmly.

He felt a bit flustered and out of place.

Lin Qiao didn’t notice his awkwardness, and only when she saw him let go of the spatula did she breathe a sigh of relief, reminding herself silently not to overdo it.

The villain cared too much for his sister-in-law now, easily triggering his dark side.

Thinking of this, she changed the subject, pulled him indoors, and laughed, "Little Uncle, I made dumplings, would you like to try them?"

Once in the kitchen, she took a pair of chopsticks, opened the steamer, letting out steam, and once it dissipated a bit, she picked up a dumpling, handing it to Song Tingfan, "Little Uncle, here, have one."

"Careful, it’s hot."

Meeting her clear eyes, Song Tingfan oddly couldn’t hold her gaze, hurriedly taking the dumpling and stuffing it into his mouth, wincing from the heat, "Delicious... really delicious."