The last few tis he could make excuses that his mind wasn’t clear at night, but now in the kitchen, when Lin Qiao saw him coming closer, she pushed him without thinking, not expecting to push him away.
Song Tingfan staggered and tripped over a bench, falling to the ground with a "thud".
Both of them were stunned. A trace of discomfort flashed in Song Tingfan’s eyes as he silently stood up and returned to the stove.
Lin Qiao, who had been the one in the right just a mont ago, felt a wave of guilt. Why did she use so much force!
She quickly tried to soothe him, "Tingfan, I didn’t an to, I just wanted to push you away, I didn’t an to knock you down."
"Did you get hurt from the fall?"
Seeing that he remained silent, she was sure he was angry.
Just as she was about to say sothing else, Mrs. Fan walked in, "What happened just now, there was a ’thud’ sound."
"Nothing, just a chair fell over," Lin Qiao naturally couldn’t admit she had knocked Song Tingfan down.
"Gave a fright, I thought one of you had fallen." Mrs. Fan realized she had said sothing wrong and quickly spat twice to ward off the bad luck.
Before long, Song Qin and Song Rong also got up, their spirits seed less vigorous than Mrs. Fan, and Lin Qiao was sowhat worried, "Grandma, Grandpa, are you still feeling dizzy?"
"Nothing much, just a bit sore," Song Rong waved his hand, indicating he was fine.
"Grandpa, let massage you a bit."
After he sat down, Song Tingfan massaged his shoulders, deliberately using a much gentler touch.
After massaging Song Rong, he also massaged Song Qin.
Seeing that they had decent appetites while eating, Song Tingfan and Lin Qiao felt slightly relieved.
They had originally planned to go out for a walk in the evening, but decided against it considering the elderly’s condition.
After a comfortable bath, Lin Qiao returned to the room where Song Tingfan was reading a letter, probably from the barracks.
He looked up at her, "I’m going out later and won’t be back tonight, rember to lock the door."
Upon hearing this, Lin Qiao nodded, "Go ahead."
She paused, "Tingfan, don’t be mad, I’m just not used to it yet, it’ll get better after so ti."
"Qiao’er, don’t push next ti."
Song Tingfan, being a man, had his pride a bit wounded being pushed by his wife.
As long as he didn’t get too close, she surely wouldn’t push, but Lin Qiao didn’t dare to say this, she nodded, "Okay."
...
For several days in a row, Song Tingfan had been busy, spending less than half a day at ho. Lin Qiao had an inkling that it was due to so security arrangents, likely for so important person.
She hadn’t been idle either, and yesterday afternoon, Wei Yun had soone send a ssage asking her to go to the Ruyi Shop today.
After changing into so clean clothes, she told Song Qin and the others, "I’m heading out, if Tingfan cos back, let him know I went to Ruyi Shop."
"Qiao’er, let go with you," Song Qin felt uneasy about her going alone.
Lin Qiao smiled, "No worries, I’m already familiar with the place after these few days."
As she left the courtyard and walked to the left, where a carriage could take her to the city, the alley was quiet with only a few won doing embroidery under a large tree.
The won glanced at her, and the one in a lake-blue dress greeted warmly, "Lady Song, going out?"
The whole alley knew she was the pretty wife of Vice General Song’s family.
"Yes, to the city," Lin Qiao replied.
The people here were generally kind to her, largely because of Song Tingfan.
"Going to the city? Could you bring back so pastry for ? My son keeps asking for it, and his father is too busy to buy it," the lake-blue woman paused before adding, "Lady Song, would you mind?"
Lin Qiao nodded, "What’s the shop called?"
"Hundred Lives Cake, if they have the soft kind, get that, if not, any kind will do," the lake-blue woman quickly handed her half a tael of silver, not worried about her being greedy.
"Alright," Lin Qiao accepted the money, and after a few more words, went to take the carriage.
The coachman was a middle-aged man with a slight limp. She heard from others that he used to be a cavalryman and got injured on the battlefield before becoming a coachman here.
"Lady Song, where to? I’ll give you a ride."
"To the Ruyi Shop in the city,"
There were others in the carriage, and Lin Qiao gave a polite smile.
The coachman chuckled, "Sure thing."
After a while, two more won boarded, and the carriage set off. As they left the alley, the sounds of bustling activities reached their ears.
Lin Qiao watched the long rows of stalls outside, amazed that although Lunan City was at the border, it was much more prosperous than their prefecture city.
She wondered if it was easy to rent a shop here.
Coming here, she definitely wanted to get the business going.
After a few monts, the carriage stopped, and the driver called out, "Lady Song, we’ve arrived."
"Thank you, uncle," Lin Qiao paid him with silver coins, then looked towards the shop on the left. The Ruyi Shop in Lunan City was smaller, but business was good.
It seed Wei Yun and his group had instructed them, as a helper led her straight to the attic once she inquired.
At this mont, Wei Yun was in the room listening to the shopkeeper report on the business of the Lunan City shop. Hearing a knock, he looked towards the door.
He raised his hand, "You can go now, we’ll talk later."
"Yes."
The shopkeeper exited, casting a glance at the young woman.
"Have you eaten?" Wei Yun took a sip of tea.
Lin Qiao nodded, "I have."
"Alright, let’s go then."
The two of them left the shop one after the other, then got into Wei Yun’s private carriage.
Lin Qiao, thinking that Wei Yun might be familiar with Lunan City, asked him, "Are shops here easy to rent?"
"Not easy, Lunan City is thriving. Ruyi Shop had to make connections to secure its rental back then. Are you planning to open a shop?" Wei Yun scanned her, the woman always looking frank and forthright.
After hearing it wasn’t easy to rent, Lin Qiao felt a bit troubled, but then thought, if she couldn’t rent, she’d set up a stall first; she’d eventually manage to rent one.
At this ti, Wei Yun added, "I’ll ask around for you."
Business is about mutual support, so Lin Qiao didn’t refuse, "Thank you, Mr. Wei."
"You’re welco; since you’re dedicated to Ruyi Shop, they will naturally treat you well."
Wei Yun’s aning was clear to Lin Qiao.
After that, neither of them said much, and not long after, the carriage ca to a stop.
In the distance from an attic, a tall man frowned instinctively at the sight of a man and a woman.
Gao Qiang leaned over the railing, observing closely, then turned with a look that seed to imply ’your wife is cheating on you’, "Vice General Song, your wife!"
"Where? Let see."
Originally sketching, Zhou Fu’an put down his pen and moved closer; sure enough, it was Vice General Song’s wife.
Fearlessly, he asked, "Vice General Song, is that man your relative?"
Seeing Song Tingfan remain silent, Gao Qiang felt his guess was correct and gave a cough, "Vice General Song, you should head ho."
Or else your wife might run away with soone else while you’re away.
They had been busy with tasks assigned at the camp these past few days, along with several dozen other colleagues, and hadn’t returned ho.
"Is the work done?"
Song Tingfan’s expression was tense, casting a sharp glance at them, prompting Gao Qiang and Zhou Fu’an to get back to work quickly.
After a while, the tall man stood up abruptly, coldly leaving a remark, "Finish before dusk, or take your punishnt yourself."
Once he had gone far, Zhou Fu’an pat his chest and whispered gossips, "Vice General Song must be going to catch an affair."
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