Sister, Please Have Some Self-Respect, I'm Your Sister-in-Law - Chapter 11

The Song family received some unexpected guests.

They were female relatives from Madam Song’s side of the family, accompanied by their daughters of marriageable age, who had come for a “visit.”

It was obvious to anyone with eyes that their true intentions lay elsewhere. They were likely after Song Qingshuang, the Song family’s eldest daughter, known for her beauty, talent, and control over some of the family’s affairs.

In the garden pavilion, a tea party with a subtle tension was underway.

As the hostess, Song Qingshuang handled the situation with grace. Her expression remained as cool and distant as ever, though the occasional slight furrow of her brow betrayed a hint of impatience.

The ladies and young women subtly probed her preferences, praised her domestic skills, and even had a cousin in a peach-colored dress cooing about how much she admired Sister Qingshuang’s “steadfast and dignified” demeanor, expressing a desire to “stay by her side and learn from her.”

Lin Yuehe, seated a little apart and pretending to focus on flower arranging, had her ears perked up like a rabbit’s. The rose branch in her hand nearly got squeezed dry.

Stay by her side? Learn from her?

Pah! That’s like a fox wishing the chickens a happy New Year!

The little jealousy jar in her heart shattered with a clang, sending a sourness rushing to her head.

Losing control for a moment, Lin Yuehe’s flower arrangement, originally composed of several chrysanthemum buds in a plain white porcelain vase, erupted into full bloom with a series of popping sounds. The flowers instantly transformed into flamboyant, golden “afros,” nearly pushing aside a delicate jasmine blossom beside them.

“Oh!” A young lady sitting across from her gasped, pointing at the vase. “These chrysanthemums… they’re so… vibrant, aren’t they?”

Lin Yuehe lowered her head, wishing she could bury her face in the flowers.

Help! My Golden Finger has betrayed me again! This jealousy is too powerful!

Song Qingshuang’s gaze was drawn to the wild arrangement. Seeing Lin Yuehe’s desperate attempt to disappear into the floor, amusement flickered in her eyes.

She had naturally recognized the relatives’ intentions and sensed Lin Yuehe’s agitation.

Though she didn’t understand why her sister-in-law was reacting so strongly, the sight of Lin Yuehe’s puffed-up cheeks and forced composure struck her as… rather amusing?

Just then, the cousin in the peach-colored dress spoke again, her voice dripping with saccharine sweetness:

“Sister Qingshuang, I’ve heard your chess skills are exceptional. Would you perhaps be willing to offer this humble sister some guidance?”

As she spoke, she rose to approach Song Qingshuang.

Alarm bells blared in Lin Yuehe’s mind!

This won’t do at all!

Thinking quickly, she sprang to her feet with such force that she nearly knocked over a nearby vase.

“Oh dear!” she exclaimed, successfully drawing everyone’s attention.

Clutching her stomach, she forced a pained yet apologetic expression. “Forgive me, forgive me! I… I must have eaten something bad this morning. My stomach feels quite unwell. I’ll have to excuse myself!”

As she spoke, she kept a close watch on the cousin out of the corner of her eye, ensuring she had no chance to get near Song Qingshuang.

Song Qingshuang, observing Lin Yuehe’s exaggerated performance, understood her little scheme perfectly. The amusement in her heart only deepened.

She rose gracefully and addressed the group with a casual air. “In that case, I’ll escort my sister-in-law back to rest. Please enjoy yourselves.”

With that, she moved to Lin Yuehe’s side, offered a light supporting arm, and murmured, “Let’s go.”

Lin Yuehe, feeling like she’d been granted a pardon, quickly leaned “weakly” against Song Qingshuang, allowing herself to be half-dragged, half-carried away from the pavilion.

Once they were far enough away, out of sight of the others, Lin Yuehe finally let out a long sigh, and her “illness” instantly improved by more than half.

“Done with your act?” Song Qingshuang asked, releasing her grip and looking at Lin Yuehe with an unreadable expression.

Lin Yuehe’s face flushed red as she twisted her fingers together, mumbling softly, “I… I really was feeling a little unwell…” Her voice lacked conviction.

Seeing her like this, Song Qingshuang couldn’t help but sigh softly. She reached out and gently smoothed the stray strands of hair that had been disheveled during Lin Yuehe’s “performance.”

“You don’t need to do that again,” she said quietly. “They’re just unimportant people.”

Her fingertips brushed against Lin Yuehe’s earlobe, sending a faint, ticklish shiver through her.

Lin Yuehe froze, gazing up at Song Qingshuang’s clear, beautiful face, so close she could see the faint warmth in her eyes. Her heart pounded like a drum, and the world seemed to fade away, leaving only this person before her.

“I… I just didn’t want them bothering Eldest Sister…” she said, her voice muffled and tinged with both grievance and righteous protectiveness.

Song Qingshuang looked into Lin Yuehe’s eyes, seeing only pure worry and protectiveness. Her heart softened slightly.

She attributed Lin Yuehe’s overly zealous protectiveness to her insecurity, seeing her as her only support.

“I know,” Song Qingshuang said, withdrawing her hand. Her tone returned to its usual calm, yet it carried a warmth she rarely showed. “Let’s go back. I’ve asked a maid to clean up that ‘spirited’ flower of yours.”

Lin Yuehe followed closely behind her, her eyes fixed on her back. Her heart felt like an overturned honey jar, overflowing with sweetness.

Though Sister Qingshuang might have dismissed it as childish nonsense, she had successfully driven away a potential rival and earned exclusive tenderness!

That evening, after Lin Yuehe recounted her “sister-protecting mission” with dramatic flair, Song Zhiyuan burst into laughter, slapping his thigh.

“Ha ha ha! A stomachache? Could you come up with a worse excuse? My Eldest Sister is too smart to fall for that!”

Lin Yuehe stiffened her neck. “So what if she saw through it? She didn’t call me out! She even fixed my hair! That’s practically an endorsement of my right to protect her!”

Song Zhiyuan shook his head with a tsk. “Hopeless, utterly hopeless, my ally.”

Lin Yuehe grabbed an apple and shoved it into his mouth with pinpoint accuracy. “Shut up! I’m happy!”

Lin Yuehe munched on another apple, her heart swelling with determination. Protecting Sister Qingshuang is my duty, no question about it! As for those other girls? One comes, I “get sick”!

Autumn deepened, and Lin Yuehe’s little garden entered its harvest season. Yet her secret crush felt like it was still midsummer, burning so fiercely it frightened even herself.

To express her feelings “appropriately,” she decided to create a small flower bed in a corner of the garden, planting seasonal flowers and herbs.

Her first choice, naturally, was roses.

“It has to be subtle, understated, look like they grew wild, the kind you’d stumble upon by accident…”

Lin Yuehe muttered to herself as she carefully planted rose cuttings in the soil, cautiously regulating her power output, determined not to repeat the “watermelon speed-grow” or “mushroom meeting” disasters.

She imagined the roses slowly taking root, sending out new shoots, and one crisp morning, offering Song Qingshuang a delicate fragrance and a few vibrant blooms outside her window.

Just the thought made her lips curl into a wild grin.

But ideals are often grand, while reality is harsh, especially when reality is bound to a Golden Finger prone to “excitement.”

That afternoon, Song Qingshuang found herself with a rare half-day of leisure. She strolled into the backyard, curious to see what new contraption Lin Yuehe was tinkering with.

From a distance, she spotted Lin Yuehe kneeling in a corner of the garden, her back turned. Her shoulders twitched rhythmically, as if she were… wrestling with the soil again?

“Yuehe?” Song Qingshuang called out softly.

Lin Yuehe, who had been utterly focused on trying to make the rose cuttings “grow slower,” nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden voice. Her hand jerked, and the carefully controlled power she’d been channeling surged forth like a wild horse breaking free of its reins!

“I’m doomed!” Lin Yuehe wailed inwardly.

What followed left even the worldly-wise Eldest Miss Song utterly stunned.

The rose cuttings, freshly planted and expected to droop for days, began to sprout and leaf out at an astonishing rate, as if by some magical enchantment. Stems thickened, leaves turned a glossy, vibrant green, and plump buds burst forth in rapid succession.

Then, right before Song Qingshuang’s eyes, the buds began to bloom, not one or two, but dozens—popping open like champagne corks!

Crimson, pale pink, butter yellow… The vibrant colors and layered petals exploded into a rich, overwhelming fragrance that nearly drowned the entire corner.

In just a few breaths, the area had transformed into an impossibly lush, dazzling, and utterly surreal rose thicket.

Lin Yuehe stood frozen, staring at the scene of this “Rose Riot,” wishing she could just die on the spot.

She didn’t even dare turn to see Song Qingshuang’s reaction.

Song Qingshuang was genuinely stunned.

She blinked, making sure she wasn’t seeing things. This… this completely defied her understanding of how plants grow.

She approached the thicket and hesitantly reached out to touch one of the velvety petals. The texture was real, the fragrance intoxicating.

“This…” Song Qingshuang turned to Lin Yuehe, who was still frozen in place, her voice filled with unprecedented confusion and a hint of curiosity. “How did you do this?”

Lin Yuehe’s brain raced, her CPU nearly overheating.

She whirled around, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace, and began rambling:

“Ahahaha… this… it’s probably… it’s because the feng shui here is especially strong! Yes! Especially strong! Just a few days ago, I even buried… buried a few dead fish here that are supposed to make flowers bloom faster! Yes! Dead fish are very nutritious!”

Song Qingshuang stared silently at Lin Yuehe, her gaze conveying, “Do I look like an idiot to you?”

Under that calm scrutiny, Lin Yuehe retreated step by step, her face growing redder and redder. Finally, she lowered her head in resignation, her voice barely audible:

“I… I just wanted to grow some flowers for Eldest Sister to see… maybe… maybe I’m just lucky, and they’re growing especially… enthusiastically.”

Seeing Lin Yuehe’s mortified state, as if she wanted to bury herself in the flower bed, Song Qingshuang’s lingering doubts were strangely replaced by a mix of amusement and an indescribable tenderness.

This child, she thought, she really goes to such lengths to please me, even making up such absurd excuses.

She once again attributed this “extraordinary” event to Lin Yuehe’s unique “talent” and luck, which even she herself couldn’t explain, and to that overly fervent desire to share beauty with her.

Song Qingshuang didn’t press further. She simply leaned in slightly, deeply inhaling the intense rose fragrance, and murmured, “It’s very fragrant, and very beautiful. You’re so thoughtful.”

No skepticism, no probing questions, just a simple affirmation.

Lin Yuehe’s head snapped up, her gaze colliding with Song Qingshuang’s eyes, which seemed softer than usual. The weight in her chest lifted instantly, replaced by an overwhelming surge of joy and gratitude.

Her nose tingled, and she nearly burst into tears.

“As long as Eldest Sister likes it!” she nodded vigorously, her eyes shining like they were filled with stars.

Song Qingshuang watched Lin Yuehe’s face transform from shadowed to radiant, her smile dazzling. She seemed to be growing accustomed to, and even somewhat fond of, this clumsy yet fervent warmth.

That evening, when Song Zhiyuan heard about the “Rose Riot” incident, he laughed so hard he nearly fell off his chair.

“Dead Fish Forcing Blooms?! Hahahaha! Partner, that excuse is so fresh and original, yet so obviously a lie! My Eldest Sister actually believed it? Is her crush on you that strong? But does this ‘Golden Finger’ you mentioned even exist?”

Lin Yuehe hugged her pillow, grinning foolishly. “If it didn’t exist, how else would you explain what happened recently? Besides, what do you know? This just proves Sister Qingshuang is willing to believe me, even when my explanations are full of holes!”

“Alright, alright,” Song Zhiyuan said, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. “Looks like your Golden Finger isn’t just a pervert; it’s also a show-off! Next time, are you planning to grow a heart-shaped sea of flowers for my Eldest Sister?”

Lin Yuehe seriously considered the feasibility of this plan before nodding solemnly. “Hmm, that’s worth considering.”

Song Zhiyuan: “…Never mind I said anything.”

He felt his partner’s crush was spiraling wildly out of control.

Meanwhile, Lin Yuehe drifted off to sleep, savoring Song Qingshuang’s words: “Very fragrant, very beautiful.”

As for the potential drawbacks of her Golden Finger? Well, she’d worry about that tomorrow.

Tonight, she’d let the scent of roses fill her dreams.

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