Chapter 435: Chapter 406: Xu Dagui’s Mother Is Still Alive
She tentatively soothed the woman, "Aunt Xu, don’t be afraid, we won’t hurt you."
"Are you hungry? I’ll feed you some osmanthus cake." Lin Qiao took a piece of osmanthus cake from her sleeve and held it to the woman’s mouth.
The woman was probably starving, she opened her mouth and bit down. Luckily, Lin Qiao withdrew her hand quickly, or she would have been bitten.
She quickly finished a piece of pastry.
Lin Qiao was just about to have Song Tingfan fetch some food from the carriage when he was already out of the courtyard and soon returned with food and water.
There wasn’t much to eat, only a few pieces of pastry. The woman still wanted to eat, looking at her hand without moving.
Lin Qiao fed her two sips of water, "Wait, we’ll eat when we get home."
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to give her anything to eat, she was just afraid the woman might not be able to handle too much food at once.
The woman seemed to understand and no longer looked at her hand but instead stared at her.
Lin Qiao didn’t avoid her gaze and smiled at her, which calmed the woman down.
...
After feeding her the sleeping pills, the woman began to doze off. After a while, Song Tingfan carried her onto the carriage.
Watching him handle her gently, Lin Qiao understood in her heart that he was trying to repay the debt to Xu Dagui.
The sleeping pills didn’t last long, and halfway through the journey, the woman woke up. Perhaps Lin Qiao looked familiar to her, she wasn’t panicked, just curled her feet and dared not move.
Lin Qiao naturally noticed and tried to distract her attention by talking, "Aunt Xu, look." As she spoke, she took out Song Ling’s rattle drum and gently shook it.
The sound wasn’t loud, so it wouldn’t startle anyone. The woman’s gaze fell on the rattle drum and her eyes sparkled a bit, as if she’d thought of something.
By the time they arrived home, it was already evening and the sky was dark. Afraid the woman would be frightened, Lin Qiao didn’t let Song Tingfan carry her but led her off the carriage instead.
At this moment, a child’s voice rang out, "Dad, Mom!"
The woman, startled, tried to run, and Lin Qiao quickly held her back, "It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s my child."
"Ling’er, keep your voice down, don’t scare Grandma."
Entering the house, Song Ling finally saw the woman. His eyes fell on her dirty face, and he was instinctively a bit scared, but he still asked, "Mom, what’s wrong with Grandma?"
"Nothing, she’s just a bit scared. Go ladle out a bowl of rice soup." Lin Qiao led the woman into an unused room. Without any sheets, she had her sit down first and then started spreading them.
When she looked at the woman again, there was no one on the bench. Startled, she was just about to leave and search outside when she suddenly noticed the woman curled up under the table, asleep.
She didn’t wake her up, after all, the woman had just arrived in a strange environment and couldn’t be expected to change immediately.
She covered her with a blanket, left the room, and closed the door. However, she didn’t lock it. The courtyard gate was locked; the woman couldn’t run out.
Considering how the woman had reacted in the afternoon, she instructed Song Qin and Song Ling to lock the door from the inside.
Just after emerging from Song Ling’s room, she saw Song Tingfan in the courtyard setting up two long benches with a plank placed on top. She asked curiously, "What are you making this for?"
"I’m sleeping here, you go back inside to sleep." Song Tingfan naturally didn’t feel assured about the woman, but he hadn’t thought of driving her out either.
It had been a tiring day for him as well, and Lin Qiao shook her head, "You go inside to sleep, I’ll sleep here."
"You can’t restrain her. Tomorrow I’ll get a doctor to check on her."
Song Tingfan gently stroked her head, then leaned down to give her a kiss, and said, "Go back to sleep, I’m here."
Indeed, she couldn’t restrain the woman. Lin Qiao thought for a moment and said, "I’ll sleep here with you, it’s a good chance to watch the stars."
Without waiting for Song Tingfan to respond, she went into the house to fetch a blanket.
Song Tingfan had no choice but to set up five more benches. Worried the plank was too hard, he placed a grass mat on top.
It took them a quarter of an hour to lay everything out.
Sleeping in the courtyard was quite cool, Lin Qiao moved closer to Song Tingfan, gazing at the twinkling stars, "The nights here are really beautiful."
Clean, unpolluted, and devoid of multicolored lights.
Hearing this, Song Tingfan hugged her a bit more tightly, "In the future, I’ll keep you company to watch every night."
Lin Qiao chuckled softly, a low laugh escaping, she lay on his chest, teasing, "I find you quite sweet-tongued, say a few more things."
Song Tingfan paused, unsure of what to say, and after a long silence, said, "Whatever you want to do, I’ll be with you."
"Alright, then be with me forever." Lin Qiao couldn’t help but be moved, and leaned in to give him a kiss.
The words "forever" touched the depths of Song Tingfan’s heart, and he sincerely said, "Alright, forever."
The young couple chatted for a long time, and only then did the night return to silence.
It was fortunate someone was keeping watch in the courtyard, as the woman did come out during the night. However, she didn’t do anything. Lin Qiao guessed she was hungry, so she went to the kitchen to heat up some food for her to eat.
