Picked Up the Female Lead When She Was Young (GL) - Chapter 19

Zhou Qinglang’s words and her innocent, adorable smile greatly eased the emotions in Xia Wanshuang’s heart, bringing a smile to her face.

Xia Wanshuang walked into the house, poured herself a glass of water, and slowly drank it on the sofa.

“Sister, are we not going out today?”

Zhou Qinglang stood in front of Xia Wanshuang, asking cautiously.

She could sense that Xia Wanshuang was in a bad mood—not angry, not sad, but a kind of dejection and low spirits. Zhou Qinglang didn’t know what to do. She could only watch Xia Wanshuang helplessly, asking her question in a small voice, afraid of disturbing anything.

“We’re resting today. I haven’t had a chance to properly show you around. We can go out for a walk tonight.”

Xia Wanshuang smiled. The gloom on her face receded like a tide, leaving only gentleness when she faced Zhou Qinglang.

Rallying one’s spirits is instantaneous; being dispirited is a continuous loop.

Xia Wanshuang had already tried to encourage herself internally, but the words she told the system hadn’t truly sunk into her heart.

Xia Wanshuang didn’t want this negative energy to affect Zhou Qinglang. She took her homework out of her backpack and meticulously finished it, feeling a strange exhaustion.

The sparrows outside the window rested on the branches, then flew away. The branches swayed slightly in the light, and the shadows on the ground moved with them.

Outside, she could hear the sounds of children laughing and playing. Xia Wanshuang put her things away and pressed her temples.

“Sister…”

Zhou Qinglang wanted to say something. Her lips moved, but she didn’t know what to say.

Xia Wanshuang tilted her head, adopting a listening posture, but when no words followed, she didn’t press her. She shifted her foot, frowned slightly, and involuntarily let out a sharp intake of breath.

“Sister, what’s wrong?”

Zhou Qinglang became worried and rushed to Xia Wanshuang’s side.

“Nothing, my foot just aches a bit.”

A child who hasn’t experienced much hardship has delicate skin. Moreover, the little girl’s body was weak. Xia Wanshuang had walked a lot today, and her mind had been weighed down. Now that she was finally relaxing, she realized her foot was hurting—sore and swollen.

Xia Wanshuang lay on the sofa, took off her socks, and rubbed her foot.

“Sister, you have blisters on your foot.”

Zhou Qinglang’s brows furrowed. A child making that expression looked quite serious.

“Really?”

Xia Wanshuang looked at her foot and saw that she did have blisters. They were chafed, and there was more than one. Some had already burst, which explained the sharp pain.

“I think there’s some ointment at home somewhere.”

Xia Wanshuang squinted, trying to recall where she had last seen it, but she couldn’t remember.

[System]: I found it! It’s near the dressing table. There’s ointment there. Shuangshuang, go get it and put some on!

Xia Wanshuang moved to the bedroom, retrieved the medicine, and also grabbed the sewing kit. She sat down on the bed.

“Langlang, could you get me a basin of water? Not too much, just warm water.”

“Okay, I’ll go right now.”

Zhou Qinglang rushed to the bathroom, grabbed the basin, and filled it with water, internally urging the water to flow faster.

Zhou Qinglang carried the water into the bedroom. Xia Wanshuang immersed her feet. The broken skin stung with a sharp, fiery pain upon contact with the water.

After cleaning her feet, Xia Wanshuang began to prick the blisters.

Zhou Qinglang watched, heart pounding, staring intently.

Xia Wanshuang endured the pain to pop all the blisters, gently squeezing out the clear liquid, wiping it clean, and starting to apply the medicine, but she struggled to reach them.

“Sister, I’ll help you. Just lie down. If I hurt you, just tell me.”

Zhou Qinglang took the ointment and cotton swabs from Xia Wanshuang’s hands without question. She knelt by the bed and gently held Xia Wanshuang’s foot.

“Oh, no, no need, Langlang. I can do it myself.”

Xia Wanshuang was startled and tried to pull her foot back. She couldn’t let a child do something like this for her.

“Sister, please let me help you.”

Zhou Qinglang’s face held a pleading look, as if this was a very important thing she needed to do.

Xia Wanshuang paused, then conceded to the child’s wish.

She realized Zhou Qinglang was still so anxious and eager to prove that she was useful to her.

She’s just a child, yet she worries about so much.

Xia Wanshuang had only been focused on taking care of Zhou Qinglang, never considering Zhou Qinglang’s need to be needed.

Xia Wanshuang simply relaxed, resting her feet on the edge of the bed and letting Zhou Qinglang apply the medicine.

Zhou Qinglang applied it very gently and carefully. After placing the medicine on the broken blisters, she would lightly blow on the spot, as if to soothe it.

Xia Wanshuang lay there, feeling a lump forming in her throat.

After applying medicine to all the wounds, Zhou Qinglang didn’t leave. Instead, she hugged Xia Wanshuang’s leg, resting her face on her calf in a gesture of reliance.

“Sister… if… if I wasn’t here… would things be easier for you?”

Zhou Qinglang tried her best to make her voice sound light, but her lowered eyes showed she was on the verge of tears from sadness.

She possessed a wisdom and sensitivity beyond her years and understood some rules only adults grasped.

Precisely because she understood, Zhou Qinglang couldn’t stop herself from thinking about these things.

She had only lived with her sister for a few days, but the happiness these days brought her was more than the sum of many previous days.

She didn’t want to leave. She was afraid to leave.

Zhou Qinglang even thought about what would happen if she did leave. Even if she left, she would secretly come back to see her Sister Shuangshuang.

Sister Shuangshuang isn’t very strong and can’t carry a lot of things.

She would give her Sister Shuangshuang the money she earned from selling things, hoping she could live a better life.

The more Zhou Qinglang thought about it, the sadder she became, nearly crying into Xia Wanshuang’s leg.

Seeing Zhou Qinglang’s heartbreaking appearance, Xia Wanshuang couldn’t help but laugh softly.

“Langlang, what silly things are you thinking about?”

Xia Wanshuang leaned down and stroked Zhou Qinglang’s soft hair.

“You haven’t brought me any burden. On the contrary, you’ve helped me a lot. I would still have to do these things without you. But because I have you, these things feel more meaningful.”

Xia Wanshuang’s voice was unhurried, her words clear, and they all fell clearly into Zhou Qinglang’s ears.

“I didn’t just impulsively pick up a child to raise. I happened to meet you. You don’t have a home, and I don’t, either. Together, we are a family.”

Xia Wanshuang had initially been swayed by the system’s idea not to interfere with the timeline, not to be that flapping butterfly. If she hadn’t met Zhou Qinglang, everything would have proceeded as planned.

That day, she only extended kindness to a strange beggar, and who knew that beggar was Zhou Qinglang?

“Our meeting was destiny.”

Xia Wanshuang’s face held a gentle smile. This was likely fate.

Our meeting was destiny.

Destiny.

Zhou Qinglang’s mind was filled with this one sentence, unable to think of anything else.

It was as if fireworks had exploded in front of her, one after another, brilliant and dazzling, making her ears ring and her head spin.

This was the first time someone had said something like that to her, making her feel that she was loved.

This love was different from the love her grandmother gave her. Zhou Qinglang couldn’t quite describe it; she just felt like laughing and crying all at once.

“So don’t think like that anymore. Our Langlang is a wonderful child who deserves everyone’s love.”

Xia Wanshuang gently comforted Zhou Qinglang, wiping away her tears.

Zhou Qinglang realized she had been crying and burrowed closer to Xia Wanshuang.

Xia Wanshuang thought this was just a casual moment of comfort, words that would be washed away by the tide of time. She didn’t realize that someone would take them to heart, recalling them repeatedly through countless days and nights, transforming them into an intense desire and possessiveness, carved into her very flesh and blood, inseparable.

This is the destiny my sister spoke of.