Lin Qiao quickly responded, thinking that this villain was just a twelve-year-old boy, what was there to be afraid of?
The panic and unease she felt upon arriving here had finally diminished a bit.
She comforted him with a gentle sentence, "Little Uncle, don't be afraid. I'll call for help soon."
"Okay."
Song Tingfan sat quietly in the cave, listening to the gradually receding footsteps. His previously calm heart began to panic again.
Sister-in-law will return.
She will return.
Will she return?
Images flashed through his mind of her leaving him again and again.
He stood up, attempting to climb once more.
Meanwhile, Lin Qiao didn't know who to find for help; she only recognized Li Guifen and the others. After calling them, a group of people hurriedly went up the mountain.
...
Falling once more, the young boy's fingers began to bleed. Pain was visible on his face, yet he ignored it, biting his lip and continuing to climb.
Chaotic footsteps approached, accompanied by a woman's urgent voice, "Little Uncle, are you okay?"
"Sister-in-law." Song Tingfan raised his head abruptly, unable to conceal the joy in his eyes. The previous anxiety was swept away, and his eyes reddened.
Pitiful like a little bunny.
The villain was a tearful little bunny.
Thinking of this, Lin Qiao almost laughed out loud but held back, anxiously responding, "Little Uncle."
Lin Han and the others threw a rope down and pulled him up. Lin Qiao examined him from top to bottom, finally reaching out to touch his arm, "Does it hurt?"
Song Tingfan looked at her in a daze, the worry on her pretty face. He clenched his hand into a fist to hide his injured fingers, slightly concealing them behind him, "Sister-in-law, I'm okay."
Lin Qiao's gaze lingered on his face, seeing some dirt marks but his eyes were exceptionally clear, even reflecting her image.
Her heart softened inexplicably; she was not a warm person but rather very slow to warm up.
This young villain had "touched" her heart.
Sigh, since she was here, she might as well accept it. From now on, the villain would be her "son."
Thinking of this, she angrily patted his shoulder, scolding like an elder, "Don't you dare go to the back mountain alone again."
No need to add unnecessary drama; she couldn't handle it.
Seeing her angry, Song Tingfan instinctively felt fear, but this time there was an added emotion.
He nodded obediently, "Okay."
Lin Han looked at Song Tingfan disapprovingly, "Tingfan, don't go up the mountain alone. It's dangerous. Luckily, this hunting pit didn't have any traps." He sighed, not blaming him, as Song Ting was the only man in the Song Family.
Song Tingfan nodded, no longer timid when facing Lin Qiao, instead responding like a little adult, "Uncle Lin, I'll be careful from now on. Thank you, Uncle Lin."
...
Returning home, Lin Qiao sent him to change clothes and went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. She was familiar with burning firewood, having played the role of a serving girl tending to the fire back when she was a casting extra.
Throughout the entire scene, she was tending the fire, jokingly saying she had burned her soul out in the process.
Ms. Jia laughed, saying she had gained another skill.
Unexpectedly, it really came in handy.
Staring at the stove, she couldn't help but mumble, "I want to go home."
Just as she spoke, she caught sight of Song Tingfan standing in the doorway, and her heart skipped. Had he heard?
Song Tingfan clearly had heard, as his initially joyful eyes quickly turned downcast. He sullenly said, "Sister-in-law, you can leave. Don't worry about me."
So sister-in-law still wanted to leave this home.
Lin Qiao heard this and thought it was bad but didn't explain immediately. Instead, she lowered her head, pursed her lips slightly, adopting a very sad demeanor, and lowered her voice, "Little Uncle, I miss my in-laws and husband."
"Last night I dreamt of my husband; he asked if I was doing well with Qiao'er and Tingfan. I said we were well, and then he vanished."
"Little Uncle, I miss my husband..."
She choked back tears, raising her hand to cover half of her face as if she were very sad.
Song Tingfan wanted to comfort her but hesitated before awkwardly saying, "Sister-in-law, I'll roast a rabbit leg for you."
Feeling guilty, he shouldn't have thought that way about sister-in-law.
Lin Qiao wiped the corners of her eyes, lifted her head with a forced smile, "Little Uncle, let me do it."
Seeing her like this, Song Tingfan felt extremely guilty, biting his lip, "Sister-in-law..."
Lin Qiao raised her hand to pat his head, "It's okay, Little Uncle. As long as you're here, this place will always be home, so take care of yourself."
She paused, looking at him seriously, "Little Uncle, you're all sister-in-law has."
In the future, someone would echo this sentiment back to her.
...
After辰时, Song Tingfan fiddled with some common medicinal herbs drying in the corner of the yard. The villagers recognized these herbs, but few climbed the mountains to find them, especially during the busy farming season.
This year he dug up quite a few, though his aunt took more than half.
He packed them in a cloth bag and weighed them—two jin and one tael—eight cents a jin, so they could earn seventeen cents.
Two jin of rice could be bought with it.
He felt a sense of joy, "Sister-in-law, the herbs weigh two jin and one tael."
Lin Qiao didn't recognize these herbs and didn't ask how much silver they would fetch, praising him with a smile, "Little Uncle, you're amazing."
Song Tingfan shyly scratched his head, "Sister-in-law, I'll go to town to exchange it for money."
Upon hearing about going to town, Lin Qiao also wanted to go, hoping to find some work for pay.
Otherwise, at this rate, she'd starve before raising Song Tingfan properly.
"Little Uncle, I'll go with you."
Xingyu Village was the most remote village near town. Song Tingfan hesitated, "Sister-in-law, we won't get back today. We'll have to sleep in an abandoned temple."
Previously, he always slept alone in the abandoned temple outside town.
An abandoned temple, a pivotal plot point.
Lin Qiao knew about that temple; the original body was violated by Song Tingfan there.
However, that only happened after the brothel incident.
If not for someone's arrival, the original body might have been violated to death.
At that time, Song Tingfan's mindset was already twisted, and he was extremely vengeful towards the original body, hating her for selling him to the brothel.
The original body later got pregnant, but she took abortion medicine and died in the process.
After waking from this nightmare, she was drenched in cold sweat and didn't dare close her eyes for several days, haunted by those scenes every time she did.
An inescapable fear.
The more she remembered, the more panicked she became. Lin Qiao quickly shook her head, trying to rid herself of those fragmented nightmare images, "Then we'll sleep in that abandoned temple."
The weather was hot, the dirt road baked and cracked, and the heat seeped through their shoe soles to their feet, causing them to sweat heavily.
Halfway along the road, Lin Qiao couldn't help but lift her feet now and then, and Song Tingfan noticed this, scratching his head, unsure how to help her.
They reached town three-quarters past申时.
It seemed Song Tingfan had sold herbs here before because he headed directly to a herbal shop, where the shopkeeper bought everything, smiling, "Dig up more; there aren't many sellers during this hot weather." He counted out seventeen cents and handed it to Lin Qiao.
Lin Qiao didn't accept it, indicating Song Tingfan should do so himself. He paused before extending his hand to accept the money, then offered it to her, "Sister-in-law, this is for you."
"Little Uncle, keep it yourself," Lin Qiao still refused to accept his money.
Song Tingfan pressed his lips and said, "Sister-in-law, it's for you."
Seeing his insistence, Lin Qiao thought for a moment, then split it in half, "I'll save the rest for you, for when you marry a wife later."
When marriage was mentioned, Song Tingfan became shy, stammering, "I won't marry a wife."
Lin Qiao chuckled, reaching out to tousle his hair, "Won't marry a wife and live with sister-in-law forever?"