At this mont, an old man from the household where the vicious yellow dog ran with his hands on his hips ca out cursing, "Which rotten bastard smashed my dog?"
After speaking, he saw Song’s second family, the two in-laws, and unhappily shouted, "Tingfan, was it you who did it?"
"It bit people." Song Tingfan admitted without dodging, wearing a stern expression.
"Where did it bite? Lift it up and let see! I see you’re both fine!" Old Man Xu unreasonably spat.
Lin Qiao frowned, no wonder the vicious dog bites people, it turns out the dog’s owner isn’t any better.
Just as she was about to speak, she heard a young boy’s angry voice from the side, "If it really bit soone, I would have beaten it to death!"
If it bit his sister-in-law, he would have smashed it to death.
She turned her head, and the boy’s jawline was set straight, looking like a little adult.
It surprisingly made her sense a manly aura.
"How dare you speak like that! You little brat without a mother to teach you." Old Man Xu was infuriated and cursed without thinking.
"At least you had a mother, and she taught you to be an old rogue."
These people really are disgusting, always dragging the villain’s parents into it, Lin Qiao rebuked, and then added, "I thought the dog was vicious, turns out it’s the owner who’s vicious, blaming the person who hit the dog when it bites soone—it’s true enough what they say about not blaming the dung, bla the maggot."
She was able to quote local sayings without effort, she’d heard enough to say a few phrases herself.
Seeing Old Man Xu opening his mouth ready to curse again, she said: "Mr. Xu, don’t take advantage of being old to bully us in-laws. If you curse my little brother again, I won’t care if you’re an elder or not."
"Oh? You want to beat up?"
"As a junior, I don’t dare, but Madam Tingfan won’t let anyone bully Tingfan, and since I’m a widow, I don’t care about my reputation."
Seeing him stay silent, Lin Qiao secretly pursed her lips, picking on the weak.
"Old Man Xu, if you ask , your dog is really annoying, it bites anyone it catches." A woman from the neighboring yard ca out with a tray, speaking up unhappily for the two in-laws from Song’s second family.
The dog from the Xu family was indeed hateful, biting people every day, it had been ntioned to the Xu family several tis, but Old Man Xu always had a foul mouth, saying he raised it and it was none of their business.
The village was uneasy but had nothing to say.
"None of your business, ddling in other people’s affairs like a dog chasing a rat." Old Man Xu was notorious in the village for his bad temper.
Odd and annoying.
"Old Man Xu, don’t twist things. If your dead dog runs into my house soday, I’ll beat it to death with a few sticks. Your temper is weird, but mine is even weirder. Taking advantage of being old to bully the in-laws and not letting others speak, your face is thicker than the ground." The woman’s husband ca out, pointing at him and cursing him, not giving him any face at all.
Seeing everyone had co out, Old Man Xu retreated into the house muttering curses.
Song Tingfan adjusted the rice on his shoulder and then took the umbrella from Lin Qiao’s hand, "Sister-in-law, let’s go ho."
Seeing him pressing his lips, Lin Qiao sighed in her heart, a child lacking love is indeed sensitive and vulnerable. She gently patted his arm, "Little brother, bad people get what’s coming to them, don’t take his words to heart."
She paused for a mont, winking dotingly, then added, "Little brother, I’m like half a mom to you too."
"Sister-in-law promises you’ll have a better life than other children. Pinky swear." She said, extending her finger.
Song Tingfan glanced at her and then extended his finger to pinky swear, promising earnestly, "I’ll also make sure sister-in-law, Grandpa, and Grandma have a good life."
"Good, our whole family will be well."
"Mm."
...
Not long after returning ho, the snow started falling heavily, covering the yard with a thin layer. Lai Cai and Jinbao rolled around on the ground, covered in snow, and ca running into the main room, snuggling up to Lin Qiao as if wanting to play together.
Usually, when Song Tingfan went to study, the two dogs were mostly fed by Lin Qiao.
Lin Qiao patted their heads while laughing, pretending to be angry, "If you keep rubbing, I’ll hit you, go play by yourselves."
Lai Cai and Jinbao understood hand gestures. Seeing her pointing outside, they dashed out on all fours.
After baking by the fire for a while, Lin Qiao began drawing designs. This ti she had saved six or seven sketches; with a little more effort, she’d have three more, then five taels of silver would be hers.
Counting it, there would be about ten taels of silver, enough to rent a shop in town to sell so things.
Song Tingfan obediently recited characters beside her. Compared to the wobbly strokes at first, his handwriting had beco much more neat.
Song Qin was doing embroidery on the other side, and Song Rong was making bamboo baskets a little further away.
Most of the day, besides eating their noon al, everyone busied themselves with their own activities until it beca dark and they stopped their work.
The vast snow disappeared into the night and gradually reappeared.
The sky cleared.
Everywhere you looked was a beautiful white blanket.
The tightly shut house couldn’t keep out the cold. Lin Qiao shivered as she got out of bed, quickly putting on her cotton-padded skirt.
Even though she was ntally prepared, opening the door still allowed cold winds to blow right through her, freezing her face numb.
Once she recovered from it, she saw a snowman built on the edge of the yard, with a green grass ring on its head; its mouth and nose were still being worked on.
"Little brother, why are you building a snowman? Aren’t you cold?"
Seeing his sister-in-law stretch her hand to catch snow the day before, he thought she might like it. Song Tingfan grinned foolishly and shook his head, "Not cold."
He eagerly added, "Sister-in-law, is it nice?"
"Nice, it’s my first ti seeing a snowman in person." Lin Qiao wasn’t lying; she hadn’t seen real snow many tis, so she’d never built a snowman.
"Then every year from now on, I’ll build a snowman." The boy’s eyes were bright, pure, and clean.
"As long as little brother isn’t afraid of the cold." Lin Qiao smiled, picking up a branch from the ground and sticking it in on one side.
Song Tingfan had another thing on his mind, that every year he would build a snowman for his sister-in-law.
It was sothing else he could do for her, bringing him satisfaction, as he happily attached the snowman’s nose.
...
Today, they needed to go to town to sell things. Song Tingfan specifically asked his teacher for a day off. Lin Qiao originally didn’t want him to go, but he insisted, so she let him.
Fortunately, the snow wasn’t thick, and the donkey cart could barely move, though it was a bit of a struggle. Old Zhou was sparing the donkey, carrying two people less than usual.
By the ti they arrived in town, it was already between 7 and 9 a.m. By then, it was already quite busy, and the streets where stalls were set up had been cleaned.
This ti, their spot was a bit further back. Lin Qiao put down her backpack and took a breather before helping Song Tingfan with his load.
Then she set up the tripod and displayed the dried spicy fish and spicy pork. To let people taste it, Lin Qiao specifically set out a bowl of cut samples.
Once everything was ready, Song Tingfan raised his voice to shout, "The fragrant and cheap dried spicy fish and pork, don’t miss out, cheap and delicious."
Lin Qiao couldn’t help but laugh before helping to shout, "Everyone co and taste, if you don’t like it, you don’t have to pay."
Hearing about the tasting, many people ca over, and Lin Qiao handed them bamboo sticks, "Grandfathers, grandmothers, uncles, aunts, co taste, made it ourselves. It’s perfect for the festive season as a snack, gift, or treat for kids."
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