Chapter 424: Chapter 403: All Eyes on You, From Dawn to Dusk
Lin Qiao had to fetch a bucket of water and take some bowls to let them have a drink.
After a while, Song Tingfan arrived with the village chief, who was no longer Zhou Ping but Zhou Tietao.
Lin Qiao was a bit surprised, but thinking of Song Tingfan, she understood and greeted with a smile, "Tie Dan."
Zhou Tiedan was stunned for a moment, looked at Song Tingfan and then at Lin Qiao, finally scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed, "Tingfan’s wife."
Then he changed the subject, "Tingfan, let these people come to my place to register. Once noted, I’ll arrange houses for them. Just right, there are a few for sale in the village. Renting them today shouldn’t be a problem."
"Buy them all, how much silver?"
"Ah? Buy them all, huh? I’ll have to go back and calculate."
"Alright."
Zhou Tiedan left with a group of people, and Liuzhu and the servant Fu An went along.
Lin Qiao had grown tired of dry food these past days. After resting for a while, she went to the kitchen to work, with Song Tingfang helping with the fire.
Lin Ling, the child, was nowhere to be found, and Lin Qiao didn’t mind, as the village was just this big.
Soon, Li Guifen’s distinctive loud voice rang out, "Oh, my dear, dear, you’ve thought of grandma, when did you come back? Why didn’t you say a word."
"Just came back, grandma, I missed you and grandpa. Grandpa, can you take me to catch birds later?" The child’s joyous voice.
Next was Lin Han’s somewhat rugged voice, "Alright, alright, grandpa will take you to catch birds in a while, catch two."
Lin Qiao in the kitchen smirked, glanced at Song Tingfan, and said with a smile, "Learn from you, thinking of catching birds all day."
Song Tingfan pushed a stick of firewood into the stove, "Don’t want to."
"Want to stay home and watch you."
By that time, he no longer enjoyed catching birds on the mountain nor envied other kids running wild all day; he simply wanted to stay home with "sister-in-law."
Lin Qiao couldn’t help but "cough" and avoid looking at him with a smile, changing the subject, "Zhou Tiedan seems like a different person..."
The man’s deep voice interrupted her, "Don’t look at him."
Though the words were firm, the tone remained gentle.
Lin Qiao: "..."
She chuckled helplessly and rolled her eyes at him, "What are you thinking, I was just saying."
"Even saying is not allowed," Song Tingfan looked at her and added, "You can only look at me."
In the future, Zhou Tiedan shouldn’t come around the house.
Luckily, Lin Qiao didn’t know what he was thinking, or she’d really pull at him, "Alright, alright, just looking at you, from morning till night."
"Good." Song Tingfan’s eyes flickered with joy.
He was getting easier to please, just like before, Lin Qiao found herself amused. Just then, Li Guifen came in, "Girl, Tingfan, why didn’t you say you were coming back, had we known you’d come back today, we’d have cooked at home."
"Didn’t know when we’d get home, so we didn’t say. Knowing now isn’t too late either." Lin Qiao saw the sweat on her forehead, probably from rushing back from the field.
She handed her a handkerchief.
Li Guifen hadn’t noticed the scar on Song Tingfan’s face before, but while fetching water to wash her hands, she saw it and was startled, exclaiming, "Tingfan, what happened to your face?"
Song Tingfan instinctively turned his face slightly, "Nothing, just accidentally scratched."
"Where did you scratch it that such a long cut appeared, did you apply medicine?" Li Guifen, after the initial shock, was full of concern.
Lin Qiao knew that Song Tingfan’s "inferiority" wouldn’t go away just like that, considering so many years, she smiled and said, "Medicine has been applied, mom, could you help me pick some vegetables, please? There’s not much at home."
Li Guifen couldn’t help but glance at Song Tingfan, "Let me get a doctor to take a look later, picking vegetables is easy, I’ll let your dad go, his leg is quicker than mine."
"Da Han! Da Han!"
"What!" Lin Han quickly responded outside the kitchen.
"Go pick a basket of vegetables, the girl needs more for cooking."
"Alright, I’ll take Ling’er with me."
"Be careful, don’t let him tumble into the field."
"Got it, got it."
After getting the response, Li Guifen helped Lin Qiao wash the dishes. The bowls and chopsticks hadn’t been used for a long time, and had some black marks which were scrubbed off using loofah fiber, taking quite some time to remove.
After a while, Song Tingfan went out to get something, and Li Guifen leaned in close to Lin Qiao, whispering, "What happened to Tingfan’s face? Looks like a knife wound."
Lin Qiao didn’t want them to talk about this, so she honestly said, "His face got injured saving a child from a bandit."
"Ah, thank goodness it didn’t go deeper!"
Li Guifen appeared grateful and promptly said, "You’d better not despise Tingfan, he got that saving someone."
Unexpectedly being lectured instead, Lin Qiao was amused, "I know, you all don’t need to say."
"Your mother isn’t clueless, how long are you staying this time?" Li Guifen seemed a bit reluctant.
Her gaze fell on her lessening white hair, Lin Qiao suddenly found herself unable to say she wouldn’t live here in the future. After a moment of silence, she said, "Not leaving, staying in the village from now on."
