Turning Antagonist to Protagonist: He is Both Soft and Fierce-Chapter 373 - 368: Your Father Is No Hero, but a Villain
"Even eating gold won’t do." Cuihua glared at her.
The two of them were at a standstill for a moment. Lin Ling held up three fingers, "Three times." Then opened her palm.
Cuihua didn’t soften her heart, and hit her heavily three times, lecturing her, "Why tear the books? After memorizing, you can pass them on to others. Look at how many children in the village have books."
"Your father..."
She paused, then corrected herself, "It’s not easy for me and your Mr. Xu to run a stall, starting early and finishing late."
"I know I was wrong." Lin Ling’s big eyes were filled with tears.
She looked just like a miniature version of someone.
Not a bit of it was from her.
Cuihua softened for a moment, but still said firmly, "Well, it’s good that you know. Go wash your hands and eat."
"Okay, Mom, I’ll get you a bowl."
Lin Ling washed her hands, tiptoed to the cupboard to get a bowl, and counted aloud, "One, two, three."
Cuihua watched for a while and couldn’t help but laugh, "Take one more. Grandpa Li will be coming for dinner later."
"Okay." Lin Ling carefully carried the bowl out of the kitchen.
Cuihua bent down to pick up the chopsticks that had fallen earlier; her round belly made it hard for her to bend. She adjusted her "stomach" up and quickly picked up the chopsticks.
After a while, she carried a dish out. Xu Dagui took it from her, "Let me carry it, you take a break."
Cuihua didn’t say anything, turned to get more dishes, and Lin Ling came over, holding her hand, saying in a childish voice, "Mom, can I not go to school tomorrow and go to the stall with you?"
"Why? Running a stall isn’t fun." Cuihua looked down at her.
Lin Ling said seriously, "To help Mom and Mr. Xu."
She paused, slightly discontented, then continued, "Those people are bad, they say Mom is ugly, but Mom isn’t ugly, Mom is beautiful."
"Mom, why do you have so many dark spots? The dark spots aren’t pretty at all."
Cuihua was a bit helpless, patting his head, "It’s not convenient to run a stall outside, you can’t tell anyone about it, otherwise Mom will be in danger, and danger means death."
"I didn’t say, I didn’t tell anyone."
Lin Ling was a bit scared, clinging tightly to her, "Mom, you won’t die, I’ll protect you."
"I know, Ling’er might be capable of it." Cuihua smiled softly.
When they came out carrying the dishes, there was a middle-aged man in the main room. Lin Ling called out happily, "Grandpa Li."
"Ling’er."
Li Jianping took something out from his chest pocket and handed it to him.
It was a figurine of an armored person holding a wooden sword.
Lin Ping’s eyes lit up, "Wow, a toy, Grandpa, how did you get it? Last time I went with Mom to buy one, but we couldn’t."
Cuihua glanced at the toy, "Uncle Li, don’t spoil him, how much Silver Coin, I’ll give it to you later."
"Give what? It’s not necessary."
Li Jianping liked Lin Ling very much, holding him on his lap, smiling as he said, "In a few days, General Song will come to the Capital. Many people will go to greet him, I’ll take you then."
"Really? I want to go." Lin Ling was very excited, cheeks flushed.
Cuihua hesitated for a moment, then said seriously, "No, you have to study."
"Mom, I want to go. I’ll study well after I’ve seen it." Lin Ling’s little face drooped, his little mouth pouted.
"No, having the toy is enough." Cuihua didn’t look at him, serving them food.
Lin Ling pouted but didn’t say anything more; if Mom said no, it certainly meant no.
Xu Dagui scratched his head, wanting to say a few words for the child, but looking at the woman’s face, he couldn’t say it.
"Da Gui’s wife, let him go. He’ll come back after he sees it." Li Jianping tried to persuade.
"Uncle Li, you don’t understand him. Once he goes out, he’s like a bird let out of a cage, expecting him to study with peace of mind is impossible." Cuihua showed no sign of wavering.
No one else said anything. After dinner, Cuihua saw Lin Ling silently return to his room. She sighed internally, wiped her hands, and followed him in, closing the door behind her.
"Once you’re done studying, you can go see."
"Mom, you’re fooling me. You won’t let me go." Lin Ling kicked off his shoes and lay on the bed, sulking.
Cuihua: "..."
This mischievous kid’s cleverness, she didn’t know who he inherited it from. Ahem, his dad was easy to fool when he was young.
She continued coaxing, "In a few years, you’ll definitely be able to go and see."
"No, in a few years, General Song will be old."
"... Ahem, probably not, General Song should be younger than Mom."
"No way, he’s not younger than Mom, Grandpa Jiang said he’s very old, with a lot of beard."
"..."
Cuihua had a headache, skillfully changing the subject, "Tomorrow, I’ll take you to town to buy your favorite cakes."
"Mom! You can’t change the subject, I want to go, Mom, let me go, I’ll see it and come back." Lin Ling raised his hand to promise, his small face very serious.
Cuihua: "..."
She rubbed her temples, hesitated, then nodded, "Going out, you have to wear black spots like Mom."
Seeing Mom agree, Lin Ling immediately climbed up, hugged her neck, and gave it a kiss, "Okay, Mom, put more on me, more than you."
Cuihua couldn’t help but laugh, patting his bottom, somewhat curious, "Why do you like General Song?"
"He’s a great hero, he fought a lot of bad guys."
"..., Go to sleep."
Lin Ling held onto her, looking serious, "Mom, is Dad really a great hero?"
His dad was dead, he had never seen him, Mom said Dad was a great hero.
Mentioning his dad again, Cuihua: "..."
Your dad wasn’t a great hero, not at all, quite the opposite.
"Hmm, your dad was a great hero, killed many bad guys, but you’re not allowed to tell others, your dad said when he left, he didn’t want others to know."
Lin Ling had heard this several times, nodded, and whispered, "I didn’t say, I didn’t even tell Mr. Xu, Dad is a great hero, and I want to be a great hero too."
Being a great hero is okay, just don’t end up like your dad.
Otherwise, she’d be scared to death.
Before Cuihua could say anything, he asked again, "Mom, tell me more about Dad. Last time you said Dad was great at studying, how so?"
Seeing his curiosity, Cuihua didn’t refuse, taking off her shoes and laying down, adjusting her belly, "Your dad was already quite old when he started studying, his writing was a mess at first, it was hard to look at."
"But your dad was diligent, finished the work at home, and then started practicing writing..."
After a long while, Lin Ling fell asleep in her arms, and Cuihua gradually stopped, looking at his little face, her heart felt soft. She gently tugged the blanket, then dozed off too.
When she opened her eyes again, the child beside her was gone. She smiled, got up, looked down at the skewed "belly," took off her clothes, revealing the small round pillow inside.
She adjusted it, wrapped it in cloth strips again, dressed up, looked carefully, saw nothing amiss, touched her belly, murmured, "Continuing like this won’t work."
Undeniably, she was Lin Qiao on the run.
These past few years, to avoid being found, she often changed places, pretending to be pregnant wherever she went, moving to another place when it was almost time to "give birth."
Repeating this, she had managed to stay safe for five years.
Cuihua had lost count of how many names she had taken on.
