Picked Up the Female Lead When She Was Young (GL) - Chapter 30

After returning home, Xia Wanshuang was still furious. She opened her social media app and launched into a furious rant directed at Zhao Tianhang.

As for why Zhao Tianhang? Zhou Qinglang was his future wife. When his future wife was looked at that way, who else should she complain to?

Zhao Tianhang, for his part, was also utterly shocked, sending back a string of exclamation points.

[Zhao Tianhang]: What a monster, he’s absolutely despicable!

[Zhao Tianhang]: I’m going to rip into Lin Qiushui. What kind of person did that idiot introduce?!

Xia Wanshuang looked at the screen and slowly typed a question mark.

[Xia Wanshuang]: Is Lin Qiushui the main issue?! Ah! Langlang was being bullied by someone!

Zhao Tianhang fell silent. If I’m being honest, he thought, I’ve only ever seen Zhou Qinglang bully others. While their little sister Langlang was young, she was fierce.

[Zhao Tianhang]: You’re right! That person is no good! I’ll tell that blockhead Lin Qiushui to stay far away from people like that. How can our Langlang suffer such injustice!

[Xia Wanshuang]: That’s true. Tell Lin Qiushui to stay away from people like that, so he doesn’t get corrupted.

Xia Wanshuang felt much better after the rant. She saw Zhou Qinglang at her desk, completely unaffected and doing homework, and felt relieved. She took a sip of fruit tea to cool down.

[Zhao Tianhang]: By the way, my mom is away on a business trip today. Can I crash at your place for dinner? Adopt me, little sister.

[Xia Wanshuang]: Sure. When you come over, grab a bottle of vinegar at the downstairs supermarket. We ran out.

[Zhao Tianhang]: Does Zhou Qinglang grow up drinking vinegar?

Xia Wanshuang loved spice but disliked sourness, but Zhou Qinglang loved vinegar. She also liked sweet and sour flavors, and vinegar was essential for dishes like noodles or rice noodles. The last time they all went to eat braised chicken, the generous way Zhou Qinglang poured vinegar stunned both Lin Qiushui and Zhao Tianhang.

Xia Wanshuang didn’t know if it was a matter of genetics, but people from Haicheng tended to eat more sour food. Zhou Qinglang was originally from Haicheng and spent her early childhood there, which might explain her particular fondness for vinegar.

[Zhao Tianhang]: Besides vinegar, do I need to bring anything else?

[Xia Wanshuang]: No, we have everything.

[Zhao Tianhang]: Alright, then I’ll bring two bottles of vinegar. Just in case Zhou Qinglang doesn’t have enough to drink (a double entendre for being jealous).

Zhao Tianhang used the double entendre again. There was no helping it—Zhou Qinglang was simply too easy to get jealous. She got unhappy whenever anyone got close to Xia Wanshuang.

Xia Wanshuang looked at the chat history, sighing, Zhao Tianhang still knows how to care for his future wife.

••••

Xia Wanshuang initially thought it would just be Zhao Tianhang, but he brought Lin Qiushui along.

Lin Qiushui walked in heavily, collapsing onto the sofa like a dead dog, looking as if he had suffered some inhuman torture.

“What happened to you?” Zhou Qinglang shot him a look of disgust but poured him a cup of water.

“You girls are terrifying. Shopping is the absolute worst. I’m exhausted.” Lin Qiushui said weakly. His feet hurt, his arms hurt, but the aunts in high heels were still full of enthusiasm. They were still energetic after all that time, and he was only mercifully released when they saw Zhao Tianhang coming to find him.

“Your stamina is just terrible.”

“You think everyone has enormous strength like you?”

“Weakling.”

“Waaah, Shuangshuang, your sister is bullying me!” Lin Qiushui whined, looking tearfully at Xia Wanshuang, who was in the kitchen and didn’t receive the signal.

Zhao Tianhang covered the idiot’s mouth, telling him to stop spreading his mental pollution. Lin Qiushui muffled a few sounds before managing to free himself.

Just as he was preparing to intensely tickle Zhao Tianhang for revenge, his phone vibrated a few times.

“That jerk has the nerve to ask me why!” Lin Qiushui looked at the text message, his face full of annoyance. Zhou Qinglang glanced over and saw the message was from that Xu Ning.

Lin Qiushui had already been informed by Zhao Tianhang on the way over about Xia Wanshuang’s complaint that afternoon, and he found the whole situation disgusting. He was just about to call and yell at the guy.

“Look at the kind of person you introduced to Shuangshuang.”

“I didn’t think he was that perverted! His family has business dealings with mine, that’s how I know him, but our friendship is just casual.” Lin Qiushui was genuinely a second-generation rich kid, but he was exceptionally low-key. He didn’t like to show off, so people just knew he always wore nice clothes and ate well, assuming his family was wealthy, but they didn’t know how wealthy. Xu Ning, on the other hand, was flamboyant: fancy cars, frequent visits to clubs, and already chasing women before he was an adult. His life was extravagant.

“I was careless. I just wanted to introduce Shuangshuang to a big deal.” Lin Qiushui thought Xu Ning definitely wouldn’t lack for women and would only go for adults or high schoolers. He never expected him to be so twisted as to flirt with Zhou Qinglang. Even though Lin Qiushui often bantered with Zhou Qinglang, he considered her a sister. Given Zhou Qinglang’s age, the thought of Xu Ning made him feel utterly sick.

“When are you going to grow a brain?” Zhao Tianhang poked Lin Qiushui’s head, wondering why his thinking was so naive.

“I don’t like the sound of that.” Lin Qiushui looked unhappy, threw his phone aside, and ignored Xu Ning completely. He pounced on Zhao Tianhang, tickling him for revenge.

Zhou Qinglang watched the two blockheads wrestling and hugged her book, retreating to a corner.

In the kitchen, Xia Wanshuang was chopping vegetables when a sudden sound in her mind made her hand shake, nearly cutting her finger.

[Xia Wanshuang]: System, are you back from the dead?

[System]: Waaah QAQ

[System]: It was so hard for me to be forced into hibernation! Shuangshuang, are the male and female leads doing okay lately?

[Xia Wanshuang]: They’re great, just great. The plot is going perfectly. Look how much Tianhang cares for Langlang.

Xia Wanshuang took out her phone, found the chat screen showing the two bottles of vinegar, and assured the System that she was telling the truth.

[System]: That’s good =w=

The System came and went in a hurry, falling back into slumber.

Xia Wanshuang continued chopping vegetables, slicing millet chili into rings. Green peppers and dried chilies were lined up nearby. If Lin Qiushui hadn’t come, it would have been fine, but his presence reminded Xia Wanshuang of Xu Ning, which made her angry. As a result, she couldn’t resist making a few more spicy dishes.

Seeing the spicy shredded pork with green peppers, stir-fried clams, and braised fish drenched in chili on the table, Lin Qiushui almost ran out the door.

“Shuangshuang, am I not your dearest friend anymore!”

“No one ever admitted that.” Zhou Qinglang shot a knife-like glare. Lin Qiushui’s expression became even more heartbroken.

But when Xia Wanshuang brought out the sweet and sour pork and stir-fried cucumbers, Lin Qiushui’s expression changed instantly.

“I knew it! Shuangshuang, you still love me! Mwah!”

“That’s for Tianhang.” Xia Wanshuang’s words crushed Lin Qiushui’s fantasy. Zhao Tianhang accepted the plate with a grin and, for once, served Lin Qiushui a bowl of rice, wishing him a good meal.

“I, Lin Qiushui, would rather die than eat a single bite of spice! I’d rather eat four one-dollar cornbread buns!” Lin Qiushui threw down a threat, then picked up his bowl and ate through his tears. He kept panting as he ate, his mouth red from the spice, and he never stopped gulping water.

Xia Wanshuang eventually told him he didn’t have to eat the spicy dishes. Lin Qiushui ate the cucumbers, his eyes watering with gratitude.

After dinner, Lin Qiushui immediately went to text Xu Ning, utterly despising his extravagant lifestyle, and then proceeded to spam him with articles.

Xu Ning was in the middle of flirting with a beautiful girl, just about to get down to business, when his phone started vibrating frantically. Xu Ning suppressed his anger, picked up the phone, and saw Lin Qiushui cursing him. Just as he was about to throw the phone away, he saw a stream of links.

Shocking! Too much doing it causes hair loss and premature aging!

Warning! A man died from premature ejaculation due to excessive doing it!

99 Secrets Men Must Know: Can cause The Little Brother to shrink!

Advice from an Old Chinese Doctor! Too much doing it will make you a ‘quick shooter’!

There were also many images. Xu Ning literally felt his desire shrivel up. He pushed the girl off him, picked up his phone, and started firing insults back at Lin Qiushui.

Lin Qiushui was never one to back down from a verbal confrontation. Sitting on Xia Wanshuang’s sofa, he was determined to anger Xu Ning into a cerebral hemorrhage. Zhao Tianhang watched from the side, while Zhou Qinglang went into the kitchen to wash dishes.

••••

Xia Wanshuang was about to join the dishwashing when she received a call from Jiang Wan.

“What’s wrong, Auntie Jiang?”

“Shuangshuang, I’m on a business trip today, and I ran into someone on the street who called me ‘Er You.’ It scared me, so I hurried away.”

“Are you in Haicheng?” Xia Wanshuang was stunned. What an unbelievable coincidence. How could they run into each other?

“Yes, I was just having dinner with a client. I met her in the bathroom after the meal. I told her she had the wrong person and left. It shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“That person is probably my editor. It’s fine.”

“As long as it’s fine. After all, I’m not the real Er You.” Jiang Wan chuckled softly on the other end, her voice slightly distorted by the phone.

“How are you doing lately? Is the writing going smoothly? I haven’t seen you start a new book in a while.”

“The new book is being prepared.”

“Good. I’ll keep an eye out for it. Tianhang says your grades are still excellent. Keep up the good work.”

“Thank you, Auntie Jiang. You too, please take care of yourself.”

“Do you want me to bring you back any local specialties from Haicheng?”

“Hmm… could you buy a bottle of local vinegar?”

“Oh? Sure. That must be for Langlang. No problem. When I get back from the trip, let’s get together again.”

“Okay.”

The call ended. Jiang Wan looked out the window and saw a girl lingering by the hotel entrance. She looked about twenty-four or twenty-five, still very young. It seemed from the moment she saw Jiang Wan, she had been convinced she was Er You, chasing her all the way from the restaurant to the hotel.

Jiang Wan watched for a moment, then sighed. It was autumn now, and the night temperature in Haicheng was much lower than in Tongli. The girl standing downstairs wasn’t dressed warmly, and she would undoubtedly catch a cold if she stayed there.

She wasn’t Er You, and she couldn’t let anyone know that the real Er You was Xia Wanshuang. After all, Xia Wanshuang was still very young when she wrote those books. It would be bad if someone noticed the abnormality.

Jiang Wan couldn’t remember when she first sensed that the person inside Xia Wanshuang had changed. She was suspicious when Xia Wanshuang wrote her first book, and by the second, she was practically certain. That wasn’t something an inexperienced child could conjure up out of thin air. The writing showed the author had a very deep background, and Xia Wanshuang occasionally exhibited a very mature side—a feeling that couldn’t be faked.

Jiang Wan had once probed gently, and she and Xia Wanshuang reached a tacit understanding. They both deliberately avoided stating the truth, maintaining the status quo.

Zhuo Tong had once expressed amazement, but Jiang Wan had smoothed it over by saying Xia Wanshuang was a genius who simply read a lot of books.

The one who left had left, and the living had to continue living.