Picked Up the Female Lead When She Was Young (GL) - Chapter 28

“What are you two whispering about?” Lin Qiushui gave up sparring with Zhao Tianhang and called out to Xia Wanshuang.

“Talking about Langlang’s ab muscles.” Mentioning this topic silenced the two male companions.

Lin Qiushui was consumed by grief whenever this topic came up. He had once boasted that he would train for a month to get abs and surpass Zhou Qinglang. The result? Two days of effort left his abdomen sore, and he resigned himself to being a ‘salted fish’ (a term for a lazy person).

As for Zhao Tianhang, as a scholar, his gentlemanly principle was to use words, not fists. He had once lost a three-round arm-wrestling match to Zhou Qinglang, two to one. Although he had a great build, abs were non-existent.

“Hey, look at those abs, they’re so long and wide, just like the big, round pot at the hotpot place. Let’s get a yuanyang (split) pot. How about a tomato base?” Lin Qiushui awkwardly changed the subject, not wanting to revisit painful memories.

“I want the spicy one.” Xia Wanshuang declared that hotpot without spice was soulless.

“I don’t know how you can eat so much spice.” Zhao Tianhang recalled the fear of being dominated by Xia Wanshuang’s spicy chicken.

The day before junior high started, the four of them had dinner at Xia Wanshuang’s house. Xia Wanshuang cooked, making spicy diced chicken, mapo tofu, and boiled beef slices. Lin Qiushui suffered from a raw and swollen behind that night. As someone who could only tolerate mild spice, he swore off chili afterward, only ordering mushroom or tomato base for hotpot.

“It tastes good.” Xia Wanshuang hadn’t realized Lin Qiushui had such a low tolerance. The chili in Tongli wasn’t even that spicy. In any case, Xia Wanshuang handled it fine, but it gave Lin Qiushui a huge trauma.

Zhao Tianhang didn’t eat spicy food either, purely because he grew up eating light flavors. Jiang Wan’s cooking was always mild or slightly sweet, so Zhao Tianhang couldn’t handle spice very well.

Zhou Qinglang was different. She used to eat everything, but after moving out with Xia Wanshuang, Xia Wanshuang cooked to her own taste, often making Sichuan or Hunan dishes, or using universal chili peppers, so Zhou Qinglang also developed a taste for spice.

••••

After arriving at the destination, Zhou Qinglang and Lin Qiushui locked up the bicycles, and the four of them entered the hotpot restaurant.

Hotpot has the best atmosphere when eaten together. Lin Qiushui ordered the yuanyang pot, half spicy and half tomato. When the pot base arrived, Lin Qiushui saw the floating dried chilies and peppercorns on the spicy side and felt a phantom ache in his butt.

The hotpot restaurant was divided by carved wooden partitions, and the décor was dominated by deep red, giving it a Jianghu (martial arts world) vibe. The air was filled with aroma. A table of girls next door were eating and discussing their favorite celebrities or gossiping. The table in front had a young couple, their movements intimate, chatting softly—simple, down-to-earth, and full of life.

Because it was a new restaurant, the service and hygiene were excellent. Xia Wanshuang prepared to get up to mix the dipping sauce, but Zhou Qinglang held her down. Xia Wanshuang gave up and watched as Zhou Qinglang, Lin Qiushui, and Zhao Tianhang went together, leaving Xia Wanshuang to watch their bags.

Zhou Qinglang scooped chili, Lao Gan Ma chili crisp, crushed peanuts, and cilantro into a bowl and placed it aside.

“I’m done. This must be Shuangshuang’s. I’ll take it over for her.” Lin Qiushui saw the bright red chili in the small bowl and then the chili in the pot base, thinking that girls were truly terrifying.

“Leave it. I’ll take it myself.” Zhou Qinglang pouted and spooned a large amount of vinegar into her own bowl.

“Tsk, you’re that petty? You watch your sister too closely.” To Lin Qiushui, Zhou Qinglang was his legal cousin. Their relationship was fine—they could play basketball, fight, and Zhou Qinglang would even let him copy her homework—but Xia Wanshuang was completely off-limits.

Due to the favor of letting him copy her homework, Lin Qiushui was Zhou Qinglang’s informer in Class 1. But Lin Qiushui truly felt Zhou Qinglang was too much. She was a teenager, yet she clung to her sister every day. It was far too childish.

“Say that again and I’ll make you eat from the spicy pot.”

“You monster!” Lin Qiushui left in indignation and went back to the table to complain to Xia Wanshuang about Zhou Qinglang’s excessiveness.

“She just lacks a sense of security.” Xia Wanshuang smiled, aware of Zhou Qinglang’s over-dependence on her, and acknowledged that it was probably getting out of hand.

When she was little, it could be explained as a child’s possessiveness and lack of security, something that should improve as she grew older. But now, it seemed to be worsening.

Xia Wanshuang thought about talking to Zhou Qinglang about maintaining some distance when they got home, but the thought vanished when Zhou Qinglang cooked the first slice of meat and placed it in her bowl.

To Zhou Qinglang, Xia Wanshuang was the closest person in the world. But was Zhou Qinglang any less significant to Xia Wanshuang?

She had been in this world for over four years—not a long time, but not a short one either. She had experienced so much that she vaguely felt this was reality, and her past life had become hazy.

The only thing that reminded her that she was here on a mission was the System.

But the System had been silent for months.

At first, Xia Wanshuang hadn’t noticed anything wrong when the System was silent for an entire day. It wasn’t until the second and third days that she realized something was missing. The System had told her that due to the lack of continuous supply, its energy was running low and it had to enter hibernation to ensure its future operation. It went from appearing once a week to once a month. Xia Wanshuang calculated that it had been four months since the System last spoke.

The System’s silence gradually blurred the lines for Xia Wanshuang. She couldn’t describe how she felt, only that she wanted to quietly raise her ‘cubs,’ watching them be happy together.

If she didn’t have to act as the love rival, that would be even better. Xia Wanshuang was actually quite afraid that Zhou Qinglang was too dependent on her, which might lead to some bizarre plot twist where she willingly handed over her boyfriend.

“Shuangshuang, Shuangshuang, what are you spacing out about? Did you hear what I just said?” Lin Qiushui called out a few times, bringing Xia Wanshuang back.

“Hm? I was spacing out. What did you say?”

“I asked if the apartment on Qingcheng Road has been rented out.”

“Haven’t found the next tenant yet. Why?” Xia Wanshuang raised an eyebrow at Lin Qiushui, waiting for him to continue.

••••

After receiving the copyright fees, Xia Wanshuang hadn’t just put the money in the bank to collect interest or invest in stocks. She used most of the money to purchase another property on Qingcheng Road, which was a very good location. She invested the remaining money in a milk tea shop and received dividends regularly. Although she didn’t have a large amount of spare cash now, it was enough for her daily expenses, plus the monthly rent, so she was living quite comfortably.

The Qingcheng Road apartment was near No. 1 Middle School. Xia Wanshuang’s previous tenants were two high school students who moved out after their college entrance exam, and she hadn’t found new ones yet. She planned to live there temporarily when she and Zhou Qinglang went to No. 1 Middle School, but that was still over a year away, so there was no rush.

“I know someone who wants to rent it. I can introduce him to you. The type that’s loaded with money, so you can gouge him a bit.” Lin Qiushui mumbled indistinctly while scooping up a shrimp paste ball.

“That’s so generous of you?” Zhao Tianhang raised an eyebrow, the meaning dual.

“He’s going to bring different people back anyway, maybe not the same one. What’s wrong with charging more?” Lin Qiushui looked self-righteous, took a sip of orange juice, and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

“But Shuang’er, if you mind, you don’t have to rent it.”

“As long as he doesn’t damage my apartment, the price is the price. I can rent it.”

“Alright. I’ll have him contact you later.”

Xia Wanshuang agreed and continued to cook hotpot. After they finished eating, the four of them got on two bicycles, riding side-by-side on the same road, and then split at the fork.

As soon as Xia Wanshuang got home, she tossed her backpack, took off her shoes, and collapsed onto the sofa. The main color theme of the house was blue, which Xia Wanshuang favored. It had three bedrooms, two living rooms, and one bathroom, simple and cozy.

Xia Wanshuang originally intended one room for a study, one for herself, and one for Zhou Qinglang. But when they moved in, Xia Wanshuang was only twelve, and Zhou Qinglang was only eight. The girl shyly and obediently expressed that she wanted to share a room with her sister, so they ended up in the same room, leaving the other bedroom empty as a storage room.

“Sister, drink some water.” With autumn approaching, the water heater at home was always on. Zhou Qinglang poured Xia Wanshuang a cup of warm water and placed it in her hands. The warm water flowed down her throat into her stomach, bringing a pleasant warmth.

“I’m a little too full.” Xia Wanshuang rubbed her stomach, melting into the sofa.

Zhou Qinglang placed her hand on Xia Wanshuang’s stomach, mainly over the stomach area, rubbing it clockwise to help digestion. Xia Wanshuang was rubbed into a drowsy state, like a cat with its belly exposed. When a person eats too much, blood rushes to the stomach to aid digestion, leading to mental fatigue.

While Zhou Qinglang was rubbing, she realized the person leaning on her had already fallen asleep. Zhou Qinglang carefully drew her hand away, picked up Xia Wanshuang, and carried her to the bedroom.

Zhou Qinglang had been strong since she was a child. Wanting to help her sister, she intentionally exercised and focused on growing taller, successfully transforming from a child who could only look up to her sister to one who could carry her sister.

Xia Wanshuang was vaguely aware of being placed on the bed, but she was too sleepy. Her eyelids drooped a few times, and she quickly fell asleep.

Zhou Qinglang adjusted the lighting, sat down at the desk, and started doing her homework. Zhou Qinglang finished her Political Science homework with her slightly scrawled handwriting, then took out Xia Wanshuang’s. She began writing out the answers for Xia Wanshuang’s Political Science questions in neat, precise penmanship. This subject involved a lot of writing, and her sister knew all the answers, so there was no problem with her writing it for her.

The phone suddenly vibrated softly in the room. Zhou Qinglang looked toward the source and took the phone out of Xia Wanshuang’s pocket.

QQ was the popular method of contact among students nowadays. Xia Wanshuang’s phone vibrated because someone had sent her a message. Zhou Qinglang logged into QQ and saw the message on the screen, her eyebrows tightening.

It’s this person again. Wasn’t the warning she gave him today enough? How dare he send a message to her sister.

[Chen Houyan]: Please, just meet me once. Let’s talk in person.

[Chen Houyan]: It’s my birthday today. My greatest wish is to see you once.

[Chen Houyan]: I know you don’t like me, but I really love you. From the moment you handed me a tissue at the beginning of the school year, I’ve been hopelessly in love with you [blush]

You’re in love with your mother, are you?

Zhou Qinglang’s face was grim, her fingers clenching audibly. Even through the screen, she was struggling to control her urge to hit someone.

Zhou Qinglang typed three words.

[Xia Wanshuang]: Where are you?

After seeing the address the other person sent, Zhou Qinglang slipped the phone into her pocket, glanced at the sleeping Xia Wanshuang, and quietly slipped out the door.

••••

Lin Houyan had arranged to meet in front of a flower shop. When Zhou Qinglang arrived, he was holding a bouquet of roses and looking expectant. Upon seeing Zhou Qinglang, his expression changed, but as Zhou Qinglang approached step by step, he bravely remained rooted in place.

“I think your parents gave you a fitting name, Houyan. You truly are shameless (Hou-yan can sound like a similar term for ‘shameless’). Did you treat my warning today as if it were a breeze?”

“This is between me and Xia Wanshuang. It has nothing to do with you.” Lin Houyan stammered, trembling under Zhou Qinglang’s looming shadow.

He kept giving himself a pep talk: Zhou Qinglang is just a child. If she hadn’t skipped a grade, she would still be in elementary school. There’s no need to fear her. But Zhou Qinglang was as tall as he was, and she had just humiliated him on the basketball court!

Remembering the shame and ridicule he faced during the day, Lin Houyan’s expression grew even darker.

“My sister’s business is absolutely my business. I truly don’t know how you have the nerve to harass her repeatedly, especially after my sister has already rejected you.” Zhou Qinglang’s tone was hostile. In her eyes, the person in front of her was no different from a toad wanting to eat swan meat.

He was scrawny, not what you’d call handsome, with a few acne spots. His grades were outside the top 200 in the grade, and he had no presence—just greasy and sleazy. Xia Wanshuang had rejected him several times, but he was like an unbeatable cockroach, constantly popping up. Lin Qiushui had blocked him once, but she didn’t expect this person to be so persistent.

“Her rejection is her business. It’s not your place to interfere. I didn’t ask to meet you, did I?”

“Who the hell gave you the right to be so confident?” Zhou Qinglang laughed in anger, unable to figure out where this person’s sense of superiority came from.

“You want to see my sister, right? My sister is here, waiting up ahead. Come on.” Zhou Qinglang’s smile was devoid of warmth. She walked forward with her hands in her pockets.

Lin Houyan followed, holding the roses, skeptical but following.

When they reached a secluded spot, Zhou Qinglang turned and delivered a swift kick. Lin Houyan was caught off guard and tumbled to the ground, the bouquet of roses flying out of his hands.

“Zhou Qinglang! You hit me!”

Zhou Qinglang scoffed, cracking her knuckles.

“Now, let me show you if I have the right to interfere in my sister’s affairs.”

There would never be a second person in the world more qualified to interfere than her.

Zhou Qinglang was brutal, deliberately aiming for spots that hurt badly but wouldn’t leave too much of a mark. This was a technique Lin Qiushui had taught her—a specialized skill for doing bad deeds without leaving evidence.

Lin Houyan screamed in pain, shouting about reporting her to the police and the teachers.

Zhou Qinglang immediately stuffed the bouquet of roses into his mouth to silence him and placed her foot on the area most crucial to a man.

Lin Houyan’s eyes widened, his face filled with terror. The pain from below, combined with the fear of being disabled, surpassed the total of all the previous punches and kicks. Lin Houyan shook his head frantically, pleading with his eyes at Zhou Qinglang.

“Hitting a snake where it counts, I see.” Zhou Qinglang murmured, pressing the tip of her shoe down slightly.

Lin Houyan’s mouth was covered by rose petals, and his whole body was shaking like a sieve.

“Will you harass my sister again?”

Lin Houyan instantly shook his head.

Zhou Qinglang pulled back her foot, looking at her shoe with distaste. She stepped over a fallen rose petal and left the area.

Having chased away an annoying fly, her mood was much better.

Zhou Qinglang took out her key and opened the door. The sound of Xia Wanshuang’s voice immediately startled her as she closed the door, like a child who had just returned from doing something bad and feared being caught by a parent.

“Why did you go out?” Xia Wanshuang had just woken up and was slowly drinking a glass of hot water.

“I went out to buy some fruit.” Zhou Qinglang rattled the plastic bag in her hand and placed the fruit on the dining table.

“Then let’s make a fruit salad later.” Xia Wanshuang yawned and went into the room as she spoke.

“Okay.”

Xia Wanshuang planned to grab pajamas for a shower. Her clothes and Zhou Qinglang’s were mixed in the closet. As she grabbed her own pajamas, she took Zhou Qinglang’s as well.

Xia Wanshuang had initially intended to hang their clothes on opposite sides so they could easily grab their own, but Zhou Qinglang always hung hers on the wrong side, often mixing her clothes with her sister’s. After the first few times, Xia Wanshuang stopped bothering and let their clothes hang mixed together.

Zhou Qinglang did this on purpose. Every time she saw her clothes and her sister’s clothes touching in the closet, she felt a peculiar satisfaction.

••••

After her shower, Xia Wanshuang sat at the computer. Editor Zhu Xue was asking her about her new book. She hadn’t been active for nearly half a year.

The IP from the book she had previously sold was already filmed and broadcasted when she was in the sixth grade, and the response was excellent, especially the final major plot twist, which was memorable for many viewers. After that book, Xia Wanshuang wrote another modern novel, which was published. After that, she stopped writing.

Readers speculated if she was sick or had retired from writing. Xia Wanshuang simply replied that she was taking a break. She really was resting because she hadn’t decided what to write next. The break had lasted until now.

[Editor Zhu Xue]: How about you write another palace or domestic intrigue novel of the same type? The framework doesn’t have to be as grand as before. That genre has a huge audience now, and with the foundation of your previous book, as long as the quality isn’t too bad, selling the IP definitely won’t be a problem.

Zhu Xue was worried. Er You was the only Great God level author she managed, and she also followed her work. She didn’t want her to stop writing just like that.

[Er You]: I don’t want to write that.

Xia Wanshuang was naturally not going to turn down money, but she didn’t have the inspiration to start that type of book right now.

[Editor Zhu Xue]: Then how about a campus romance? That’s easy to write and has an audience. It’s also very easy to adapt and publish, but it has its limitations.

Campus romances could make money, but it was usually small money. Because the adaptation difficulty was low and the investment cost was low, it usually broke even or made a small profit. Small-budget web dramas really liked campus romances.

[Er You]: I can’t write campus romances.

This was Xia Wanshuang’s limitation. Although she was young now, only in the eighth grade, her soul lacked the youthful innocence, recklessness, boldness, and directness of this age. Furthermore, she didn’t know what the feeling of first love was like.

In her two modern novels, the relationships between the male and female leads were more or less mixed with benefits, a back-and-forth of desire and temptation, lacking the innocence of youth. The palace intrigue novel was even more extreme—the heroine killed the hero in the end, so what love was there to write about?

Her writing was seasoned. A few words could outline the treacherous power struggles of the court, but she couldn’t capture the ardor of young love.

[Editor Zhu Xue]: So, what are your next ideas?

[Er You]: I have one. I want to write crime fiction/forensics.

The person on the other side of the screen typed and deleted, finally sending four characters.

[Editor Zhu Xue]: You can try it.

[Er You]: I need time to prepare, it might take a while. If I get an outline ready, I’ll show you.

[Editor Zhu Xue]: Okay, no problem.

[Editor Zhu Xue]: By the way, are you going to hold a book signing event?

Xia Wanshuang’s third published modern novel was currently on sale, and a book signing would likely be very successful.

[Er You]: No.

Er You was a notoriously low-profile Great God author on the website. She never showed her face, hadn’t posted photos on forums, and all magazine/periodical interviews were text-only. Her published books only included a brief introduction.

Many haters maliciously speculated that she must be very ugly. Zhu Xue, who had seen her photo, was particularly annoyed. She had wanted to use the “Beautiful Author” gimmick when promoting the book, but Xia Wanshuang had stopped her.

[Editor Zhu Xue]: Then, our website is holding an author conference at the headquarters at the end of the year. Will you come?

[Er You]: No.

The website’s headquarters was in Zhou Qinglang’s hometown. Although the plot was already completely off the rails, Xia Wanshuang still wanted to adhere to the timeline, making sure the prescribed events happened at the prescribed time.

[Editor Zhu Xue]: Sister, you’re too cold-hearted, boohoo. Are you really not coming? I really wanted to see a beautiful woman in person.

Jiang Wan was older than Zhu Xue, so Zhu Xue always called her ‘Sister.’

[Er You]: I’m busy. No time.

Xia Wanshuang hadn’t forgotten that she was still a middle school student in the eighth grade and had school until the end of the year.

After chatting with Zhu Xue, Xia Wanshuang continued to look up information on her computer. Her decision to write crime fiction wasn’t a sudden whim. She had already read a lot of similar content, and then she moved on to reading various books, such as criminal psychology and forensics, and researching different cases from forums and newspapers. Some of the cases were too brutal and bloody, or too selfish and cruel, making her frown.

A cool, damp finger pressed on Xia Wanshuang’s forehead, gently massaging it.

“Sister, frowning all the time gives you wrinkles. Eat some fruit first. What are you reading that makes you so unhappy?”

“I was just reading about a case. A high school student, because he had a crush on the campus goddess, was mocked and bullied by her suitors. His already suppressed personality became even more silent. During one beating, he couldn’t bear the humiliation and jumped off a building to commit suicide. His mother had a mental breakdown upon hearing the news and killed herself by hitting her head against a wall. His grandmother, disoriented, fell from a building. The family of four was left with only the father.”

“After burying his family, the father tried to commit suicide by drinking pesticide but failed. Relatives spread rumors that he had a hereditary mental illness. Finally, the father couldn’t take it anymore and jumped to his death. The family’s inheritance was divided up by the relatives.”

It wasn’t excessively cruel or perverted. It seemed like just a mundane corner of life, yet every word was suffocating and revealed the selfishness of humanity.

Zhou, the Goddess’s Number One Follower, Qing, who just beat up the Open Suitor, Lang: ……….

Zhou Qinglang was silent for a moment. She took out her phone from her pocket, opened the group chat, found Lin Houyan, and sent him a period (.).

[Lin Houyan]: ?

[Zhou Qinglang]: Live well.

[Lin Houyan]: !!!

[Lin Houyan]: I truly know I was wrong! I will never bother her again! Please don’t threaten me anymore, please QAQ

[Zhou Qinglang]: …………

What’s wrong with this person? Can he not interpret the humanitarian care in her message?

However, seeing that he was jumping around so lively, he probably wouldn’t commit suicide. Zhou Qinglang was relieved and put the phone back in her pocket.

Xia Wanshuang read more information, her mind full of corpses. She couldn’t even eat much of the fruit.

“Sister, it’s late. Let’s go to bed.” Zhou Qinglang saw the clock hands pointing to eleven. She wrapped her arms around Xia Wanshuang from behind, urging her to sleep.

Xia Wanshuang closed the webpage. When she stood up, her chest brushed against Zhou Qinglang’s arm, and she gasped in pain.

“Sister, what’s wrong?” Zhou Qinglang immediately became nervous, seeing the look of pain on Xia Wanshuang’s face.

“It’s nothing.” Xia Wanshuang shook her head, her chest throbbing.

This was a normal part of development, but it really hurt when touched. The pain was sharp and throbbing.

“Did you hurt yourself somewhere? Let me see. I’ll blow on it for you.” Zhou Qinglang thought Xia Wanshuang might have bruised herself somewhere. But why wouldn’t she let her see?

Author’s Note:

Blowing on the boobies~