Sister, Please Have Some Self-Respect, I'm Your Sister-in-Law - Chapter 10

Lin Yuehe’s cold healed remarkably quickly under Song Qingshuang’s attentive care, almost as if she were personally overseeing the recovery.

Perhaps the bowl of medicine, cooled and fed to her, contained some magical buff. She felt her body completely refreshed, and even the bare trees in the courtyard seemed graceful and elegant.

Of course, it could also be that her good mood made everything appear pleasing.

One day, feeling invigorated, she prepared to return to her old routine: tending her small garden, which had become the Song family’s “model vegetable patch.”

Clutching her small hoe and humming a modern pop song, she was about to loosen the soil around a row of chives when her mind unexpectedly drifted back to Song Qingshuang’s profile as she fed her the medicine.

Those long eyelashes, that focused gaze, those slightly pursed lips as she blew on the medicine, and those slender, delicate fingers…

Pop!

A soft sound, like something breaking through the earth, interrupted her reverie.

Lin Yuehe looked down and froze in shock.

At the base of the old locust tree beside her foot, and in the damp cracks between the nearby bricks, clusters and clumps of various shapes were sprouting at a visibly rapid pace… mushrooms?!

There were plump, bun-like button mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms with their brown umbrella caps, and even a few brightly colored (and possibly poisonous) fungi of unknown species!

They were all pushing their way out of the soil in a frantic rush, as if staging a sudden, wild mushroom party.

Lin Yuehe stared in disbelief.

She pressed her hand to her forehead, inwardly wailing, “Golden Finger Big Brother!” I just thought about Sister Qingshuang for a moment! Did you really have to get this excited? Are you trying to give me a bonus meal or send me packing?!

She glanced around like a thief, relieved to see no one was nearby.

She quickly crouched down, trying to shovel the overly enthusiastic mushrooms away.

But the moment her hand brushed against a plump button mushroom, as if sensing her touch, another even larger one popped up beside it with a pop.

“Not again?!” Lin Yuehe wanted to stomp her foot in frustration, but she was afraid of making more noise. Instead, she silently roared at the air, “Calm down! Calm down, will you?! This isn’t Happy Farm! You can’t just plant things willy-nilly!”

She frantically clawed at the soil, trying to bury the evidence, muttering under her breath, “Go back! All of you, go back! I didn’t call you in for work!”

“Sister-in-law, are you… talking to the dirt?”

A cool, questioning voice came from behind her.

Lin Yuehe froze, the shovel clattering to the ground.

She slowly turned to see Song Qingshuang standing behind her, her brow slightly furrowed as she gazed at the small “mushroom exhibition” before her, her eyes filled with confusion.

“E-Eldest Sister!” Lin Yuehe scrambled to her feet, instinctively kicking dirt over the most conspicuous colorful mushrooms.

She forced a stiff smile. “N-nothing! I was just checking how fertile the soil is… Heh, just… getting to know it better…”

Song Qingshuang’s gaze swept over the mushrooms, which had grown with unnatural speed and density, then lingered on Lin Yuehe’s flushed cheeks and fidgeting hands. After a moment of silence, she couldn’t fathom how so many different kinds of mushrooms could have sprouted in this corner overnight. It defied all logic.

But seeing Lin Yuehe’s mortified expression, as if she wanted to dig a hole and bury herself, Song Qingshuang decided not to press the matter further.

Perhaps… this girl just had extraordinary luck? Or had she secretly used some special fertilizer?

“These mushrooms…” Song Qingshuang pointed to the brightly colored ones.

“Some are too vibrant; they might be poisonous. Don’t touch them carelessly. The rest are edible and look fresh.”

She paused, her gaze softening as she looked at Lin Yuehe, whose face was nearly buried in her chest. Her tone carried a hint of indulgence and helplessness. “If you enjoy studying these, that’s fine. Just… be careful. Don’t hurt yourself.”

Lin Yuehe nodded vigorously, like a chick pecking at grain. “Yes, yes, yes! I understand, Eldest Sister! I’ll be very careful. I’ll… I’ll get rid of these right away!”

“Mm.” Song Qingshuang gave a slight nod, glanced once more at the strange mushroom cluster, and turned to leave.

After taking a few steps, she stopped and looked back, adding in her usual calm tone, “You’re still recovering. Don’t overexert yourself.”

Only after that graceful figure disappeared behind the moon gate did Lin Yuehe finally exhale deeply. Her legs went weak, and she nearly collapsed to the ground.

Lin Yuehe patted her chest, still shaken. “That scared me half to death… Golden Finger Big Brother, please, next time you get excited, can you give me a warning first?”

Resigned, she picked up her shovel and began cleaning up this “byproduct of love.”

As she dug, she couldn’t help but mutter, “But… Sister Qingshuang didn’t seem angry just now, did she? She was even worried about me? Hehe…”

With that thought, even these “troublemaking” mushrooms didn’t seem so annoying anymore.

Ever since the “Mushroom Incident” nearly exposed her secret, Lin Yuehe had been much stricter with her Golden Finger, terrified it might get excited again and turn the Song family’s backyard into some bizarre botanical garden.

Every day, she guarded against her own wandering thoughts like a thief, especially when near Song Qingshuang.

Yet, unrequited love was like spring weeds: the more you suppress it, the more wildly it grows.

One day, Lin Yuehe was crouched in her little vegetable garden, pinching off the tips and pruning the overly vigorous watermelon vines.

These watermelons were a secretly cultivated, improved variety—small but with thin rinds, sweet flesh, and abundant juice.

She planned to give the first ripe one to Song Qingshuang to taste.

As she carefully controlled her energy output, Lin Yuehe silently chanted to herself:

Stay calm, stay calm. It’s just planting melons. Don’t think about Sister Qingshuang drinking watermelon juice. Don’t think about the juice dripping from her lips as she eats. Don’t think about…

“Don’t think about what?” a clear voice asked from behind her.

Lin Yuehe startled so badly that the scissors nearly flew from her hand.

She whipped around to see Song Qingshuang standing on the ridge of the field, looking at her with mild curiosity.

Sunlight filtered through the melon leaves, casting dappled shadows across her elegant dress, making her look like a beautiful painting.

“E-Eldest Sister!” Lin Yuehe stammered, scrambling to her feet, unsure where to put her hands and feet. “N-nothing! I was just… telling the vines not to grow too wildly. To be more… restrained!”

Song Qingshuang raised an eyebrow, glancing at the robust vines with their lush green leaves and several small, round watermelons already forming. A hint of amusement colored her voice as she said, “They… don’t seem to be listening very well.”

Lin Yuehe chuckled awkwardly, scratching her head. “Heh, yeah, they’re a bit rebellious.”

Oh god, why does she always show up at my most embarrassing moments?! the little voice in her head screamed, pounding the ground in despair.

Song Qingshuang stepped closer, bending down to examine the small, round, emerald-green watermelons. A hint of surprise flickered in her eyes. “These are remarkably well-formed. I’ve never seen watermelons like this before.”

She reached out a slender finger and gently touched the smooth skin of one of the melons.

The moment her fingertip brushed the rind, Lin Yuehe felt the energy beneath her feet surge uncontrollably through the soil.

“No—!” Lin Yuehe mentally shrieked.

But it was too late.

The watermelon Song Qingshuang had touched visibly swelled with a pop, growing noticeably larger and turning an even more vibrant, enticing green. Even the nearby female flowers, which had been mere buds moments before, burst open one after another with soft plops, releasing a rich, sweet fragrance.

Lin Yuehe: “!!!”

Golden Finger Big Brother, enough already! This is extortion! Pure, unadulterated extortion!

Song Qingshuang clearly noticed the unusually rapid changes. She withdrew her hand, glanced at the melon, then at Lin Yuehe’s “life is meaningless” expression. A deeper confusion settled in her cool eyes. “This…”

“Good soil! It must be the good soil!” Lin Yuehe blurted out, her face flushed crimson, wishing she could vanish on the spot. “Our Song family’s land is a feng shui treasure, blessed with exceptional people and spirits! Even the melons are extra ambitious! Yes, that’s it!”

Song Qingshuang observed Lin Yuehe’s flustered state, beads of sweat forming on her nose, then glanced at the melon vines, which were clearly too ambitious. In the end, she didn’t press the matter further.

She simply felt that this sister-in-law possessed some strange abilities and… even stranger luck.

“It seems you’re quite skilled in this area,” Song Qingshuang remarked coolly, her gaze sweeping over the exceptionally lush melons. “When they ripen, they should be worth anticipating.”

Hearing this, Lin Yuehe immediately tossed her earlier embarrassment to the wind, her eyes lighting up.

“Don’t worry, Eldest Sister! I’ll definitely pick the sweetest one for you!”

Her tone was as if she had been entrusted with some supreme mission.

Watching Lin Yuehe’s face instantly brighten into a dazzling smile, Song Qingshuang paused slightly, that strange feeling surfacing again in her heart.

This undisguised joy seemed… to be growing more pronounced.

She instinctively attributed it to Lin Yuehe’s childlike nature, her elation at receiving approval.

“Mm,” Song Qingshuang replied, suppressing the inexplicable flutter in her chest and maintaining a calm expression. “You get back to work. I’ll just wander around.”

As Song Qingshuang walked away, Lin Yuehe let out a long sigh and collapsed to the ground, glaring at the few watermelon vines that had caused all the trouble.

“You traitors!” she hissed through gritted teeth. “You nearly got me killed!”

She poked the largest watermelon. “Especially you! Think you’re so special just because you grew fast?”

The watermelon wobbled slightly under her touch, as if responding with smug satisfaction.

That night, Lin Yuehe sat propped up on her elbows, gazing at the hazy moonlight through the window. A secret smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

The process had been a bit harrowing, but… Sister Qingshuang had praised her watermelon-growing skills and was even looking forward to tasting her watermelons.

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