Turning Antagonist to Protagonist: He is Both Soft and Fierce-Chapter 243 - 238: Recruitment Moved Up

Seeing him remain silent, she sat on the edge of the floor seat and continued, "I know I may be meddling, but it’s for your own good. I figure while I’m still young, I can help take care of the children, making things a bit easier for you all then."

"I’m not insisting you marry anyone in particular. Both Grandma and I hope you’ll find someone you truly like to marry."

"You don’t usually like to go out and play with Tie Dan and them, always sticking to me, so you hardly meet any young girls. I just thought I’d help you keep an eye out."

He was still silent, so she asked, "Do you have a girl you fancy? If you do, just tell me. The family will definitely agree, no one will say no."

The young man’s hand in the bedclothes tightened slightly. He didn’t want attention; he had already made up his mind.

But he didn’t dare say it.

"Sister-in-law, can I wait two more years?"

Two more years would be enough.

Lin Qiao didn’t know what he was thinking. She thought he was tired of the matchmaking, afraid he would be averse to it, so she agreed, "Okay, whether it’s two years or a few more years, I won’t force you, as long as you’re happy."

She truly hoped for his happiness, but definitely not at her own expense...

...

Since that day, Lin Qiao never brought up matchmaking with Song Tingfan again.

The stifling night welcomed the first torrential rain of the summer, strongly pounding on the roof, seeming like it would punch a hole any moment.

Lin Qiao was startled awake from her sleep, vaguely seeing a dark figure by the window. Startled, she blurted out, "Who?"

"Sister-in-law, it’s me." Song Tingfan, worried the rain would come in and wet her blanket, got up to close the window.

Lin Qiao realized, breathed a sigh of relief. Her first instinct was to think of a villain.

Thinking about villains still frightened her.

"It’s raining heavily?"

"Yes." Song Tingfan returned to his bed, turned to look at the covered curtain, "Sister-in-law, are you afraid?"

Upon hearing that, Lin Qiao turned to face the curtain, "Not afraid, are you?"

"A little."

"Then pull the curtain open."

Lin Qiao lifted her hand to open the curtain, vaguely seeing the shadow on the bed not far away, and said, "Don’t be afraid, I’m here."

"Okay." The boy’s joyful voice was hidden in the sound of the rainstorm.

After a while, the room returned to calm again, and Lin Qiao fell asleep once more.

Outside the house, it was still pouring, but the day gradually brightened.

The shops on both sides of the street began to half-open their doors one after another. Old women, men, women, and others took brooms to sweep away the rainwater accumulated at the door.

Lin Qiao arranged her hair while going down the loft. At this time, a tall figure at the door was sweeping with a broom.

"Uncle, when did you get up?"

"Just got up." Song Tingfan turned at the sound and saw her wearing a goose-yellow dress, unable to help but steal a couple more glances.

Lin Qiao noticed his gaze, looked down, and teasingly smiled, "Not looking good?"

Wearing a dress made it inconvenient to work, so she didn’t wear them often. As her clothes from the previous day weren’t dry, she wore this one.

It shouldn’t be too busy this afternoon anyway.

"Looks nice, Sister-in-law looks best in goose-yellow." Song Tingfan shyly scratched his head.

"Alright, then I’ll wear it every day." Lin Qiao said, then went to wash up, followed by a simple breakfast.

She began another day of work.

With today’s rain, business indeed wasn’t great, but at least not too many cold noodles were prepared.

The rainwater at the door was swept away, piled, and swept away again.

Turning to wash a bowl, rainwater accumulated again at the door. She took a broom to sweep it, and suddenly two men rushed in; even holding umbrellas, their clothes were wet.

The taller man said to Lin Qiao, "Lady boss, two bowls of hot noodles, please."

"Alright." Lin Qiao placed the broom by the door, washed her hands, grabbed two handfuls of noodles, and threw them into the soup to cook.

Meanwhile, Song Tingfan prepared the seasonings.

"How long will this rain last? At this rate, who knows when we’ll finish notifying. With sudden orders, we’re suffering."

"Sigh, tough jobs are all ours."

"That’s right, the monkey curries favor with the boss, so he gets to inform the county. We don’t, so we’re assigned to towns and villages."

"I really don’t want to do this anymore. I’m thinking maybe I’ll just head to the frontier later this month. These years, it’s been stable there; I won’t have to fight, and I’ll have silver coins to spend."

Although their voices were low, Lin Qiao and Song Tingfan heard them.

Recruitment was moved up?

Lin Qiao brought the noodles to the table, smiling, "Are you two lords?"

The tall one thought she wanted to flatter, so he maintained a lofty demeanor, "What does it matter?"

"Nothing, I just thought if you were lords, I’d treat you to the noodles. You work hard to protect us ordinary citizens." Lin Qiao’s flattery rolled off her tongue.

This pleased the two "errand runner" government officers, and their expressions softened. The shorter man picked up a pair of chopsticks and sampled some noodles, "Thanks then."

Lin Qiao brought them some pickles, then probed, "Are you recruiting, my lords?"

"Yeah."

"Wasn’t it supposed to be in October?"

"The Empress Dowager’s birthday is in October, so it’s moved two months early. It’s a bit rushed; we need to finish recruitment by August 15th, hence notifying even in this downpour."

It’s only the third of August today, so there are only twelve days. Lin Qiao instinctively glanced at Song Tingfan, then asked, "Still registering in the village?"

"Yep, if he wants to go, it should be fine."

The tall officer glanced at Song Tingfan and added, "You need to hurry. The registration book is due tomorrow afternoon, and there will be a physical check afterward."

The check is just to see if there are disabilities.

If recruitment numbers exceed, selections are made based on height and physique.

"Okay, thank you, Lord." Lin Qiao thanked them.

A quarter of an hour later, the officers left. Lin Qiao looked at the silent young man, unable to guess if he wanted to go, "Uncle, do you still want to go?"

Song Tingfan didn’t speak for a moment, then nodded after a while, "Yes."

"If you want to go, we’ll return to the village when the rain lets up a bit this afternoon."

Lin Qiao cleared the table, washed the dishes, then went upstairs to pack. After a while, Song Tingfan came up too.

She didn’t turn around, "Uncle, pack everything up; we won’t be coming to the town for a while."

Thinking about how there weren’t many days left, the family would just stay home together.

Song Tingfan looked at her back, his eyes showing reluctance, "Sister-in-law."

"Hmm?"

He called but didn’t speak further, so Lin Qiao turned to gaze at him, "What’s up?"

Song Tingfan quietly pinched the corner of his clothes, nervously asked, "Do you want me to go?"

Upon hearing that, Lin Qiao didn’t answer immediately. She pondered for a moment, "No."

"But Uncle needs to walk his own path. You can’t always stay by my side."

Not wanting was not a lie. She did feel a bit reluctant; after all, they had been together for a while, and feelings had grown to some degree.

Having received a response, the heaviness in Song Tingfan’s heart eased a bit. He earnestly promised, "Sister-in-law, I will come back."