Picked Up the Female Lead When She Was Young (GL) - Chapter 35

After walking with Zhou Qinglang for a while and making sure she had recovered, Xia Wanshuang returned to the stage to organize the scripts.

The Women’s 4x100m was followed by the Men’s 4x100m, the last event of the day, with one more day to go tomorrow. Lin Qiushui also participated in the 4x100m, but when Xia Wanshuang read his draft, she officially just said, “Go, Class 1!”

“Some people’s hearts are biased all the way to the Pacific Ocean, they won’t even cheer for me.” Lin Qiushui was still in a great mood because he won first place. He complained jokingly, but his smile was irrepressible.

“It’s important to have self-awareness.” Zhao Tianhang gave Lin Qiushui a cool comment while wiping the sweat off him with a towel.

“Zhao Dog, you’re unhappy if you don’t pick on me for a day, aren’t you? I should let those girls who call you ‘Prince Charming’ come and see this. ‘Gentle Prince,’ puke, puke, puke.” Lin Qiushui made a retching gesture. He was only acting at first, but maybe because he had just finished running, he actually felt a bit nauseous.

“Idiot.” Zhao Tianhang frowned, massaging Lin Qiushui’s stomach and asking Xia Wanshuang to hand him some water.

“Are you okay?” Xia Wanshuang also passed him a tissue. It was strange. Zhao Tianhang had been a polite and gentle little gentleman since childhood, but when he encountered the mischievous Lin Qiushui, the two were like a bickering couple, with Zhao Tianhang always teasing him. If the System hadn’t been dormant and she didn’t lack information on the supporting male characters, Xia Wanshuang would genuinely suspect Lin Qiushui was some kind of second male lead, which would explain the bizarre dynamic with Zhao Tianhang.

“I’m fine, I just haven’t fully recovered. What should we eat later? I’m starving.” The Sports Meet ended earlier than usual, and the school didn’t hold the restless students for self-study, so classes were dismissed early.

“I’m okay with anything,” Xia Wanshuang wasn’t picky about food.

“I’ll eat whatever Sister eats.”

“No kidding, little vinegar pot. Your opinion is the same as Shuangshuang’s. Just stay quiet. Zhao Dog, what do you want to eat?”

“Up to you.”

“Then let’s go browse the snack street. Let’s go, let’s go, back to class to grab our stuff.” There was no homework during the Sports Meet, but they still needed to pack their bags. Zhou Qinglang and Lin Qiushui’s parade clothes were still in their classrooms.

••••

Zhou Qinglang returned to her class. She had already placed the clothes she took off today inside her backpack. She didn’t need to bring anything else, so she just went to grab her backpack.

Her fingers froze before they even touched the bag.

Someone had been through her backpack. Zhou Qinglang had a habit of keeping the zipper pull neatly aligned at the bottom, but now the zipper pull was tilted up, meaning someone had opened it.

Zhou Qinglang opened her bag, and her expression darkened when she saw what was inside. Inside were indeed her clothes, but when she pulled them out, they were torn and ragged pieces of fabric. Her white shirt had been slashed, and her skirt was ripped with large holes.

Students who saw this gasped. The class monitor rushed over.

“What happened? Did someone enter our class?”

“I don’t know, I just came in myself.”

“Who did this? That’s so awful.”

“Is this aimed at our class? It must be someone from another class. We don’t have anyone like that in our class, do we?”

“That’s terrifying…” The students talked in low voices, creating a humming sound.

“Everyone, quiet down.” The class monitor clapped his hands on the desk to silence the room. “This is a serious incident. I don’t know if it’s someone from our class, but I hope not. Who was the first person to enter the classroom after the Sports Meet ended?” The class monitor was furious. Zhou Qinglang had just won an honor for their class with her comeback victory; how could this happen to her?

The monitor had initially thought Zhou Qinglang was difficult to talk to because she looked cold and unapproachable, but after communicating with her, he found she was quite nice. She signed up for what he asked her to, and she would answer questions about her studies. She was actually a very good person.

“I was the first person in. I didn’t see anyone else when I came in.” A boy raised his hand. He had rushed back to class first.

“Did anyone see who went near Zhou Qinglang’s seat?” The students shook their heads.

“Class Monitor, maybe it was someone from another class. Even if it’s someone from our class, they wouldn’t admit it.”

“That’s right, why would a bad person admit to doing a bad thing?”

Zhou Qinglang frowned slightly, a little impatient. She threw the shredded clothes into the trash can and zipped up her backpack. “You won’t find out. Let’s go.” Many students were waiting to leave. If the monitor stopped them any longer, there would be more complaints. And her sister was waiting for her outside; Zhou Qinglang didn’t want to waste time.

Zhou Qinglang left with her bag, one hand in her pocket. The class monitor opened his mouth to say something, but deciding she was right, he returned to his seat, planning to tell the teacher about the incident later.

“Little vinegar pot, you’re so slow! Did your class have a meeting? You took forever.” Lin Qiushui leaned against the wall. They had been waiting for a while.

“Someone went through my bag and ruined my clothes,” Zhou Qinglang summarized the incident. When her eyes met Xia Wanshuang’s, her face showed a hint of grievance. Although she didn’t care much about the clothes or who did it, getting to act spoiled to her sister felt kind of nice.

“What? That happened?”

“Do you know who it was?” Xia Wanshuang disliked this kind of scheming among students when she was a teacher, and she liked it even less now that it was happening to Zhou Qinglang.

“No, no one in the class saw anything.”

“I’ll help you ask tomorrow and find out who the blind one is.”

“It’s probably a girl,” Xia Wanshuang said, taking Zhou Qinglang’s hand.

Cutting clothes is often driven by anger and jealousy. Xia Wanshuang had encountered this during her teaching career. It might be jealousy of a peer’s excellence, or because of a loved one’s attention, which drives emotional venting behaviors like this.

“It has to be a girl! What guy cuts someone else’s clothes for revenge? Guys are more likely to steal clothes—unless the guy is a bit effeminate, of course.”

Finding the culprit wouldn’t be hard. Xia Wanshuang sat down in her living room and laid out her plan.

“Qiushui, first, go talk to your buddies, ask around. It’s okay if you don’t find anything, but you need to create a buzz.”

“Got it! That means talking tough, right? I’m good at that. Tell them they’ll get a beating when we find them.”

“You can’t actually beat them,” Xia Wanshuang cautioned. She still didn’t approve of escalating to violence like Lin Qiushui suggested.

“I know, I’m just making threats.” Lin Qiushui gave an OK sign, meaning it was totally fine; it’s what he wanted to do anyway.

“I’ll go in and out of the teachers’ office and spread the word that I must find that person and give them a demerit, putting public pressure on them.”

“That’s a good move.” Lin Qiushui gave a thumbs-up. He would stir things up in private, and Xia Wanshuang would do it publicly. He would threaten a beating, and Xia Wanshuang would threaten a demerit. The culprit would surely freak out.

“Tianhang, you help me build the momentum. Just say that someone saw the person. I know you understand what I mean.”

“Okay, no problem.” Zhao Tianhang was skilled at putting on a mysterious, profound look to bluff people. He knew what Xia Wanshuang wanted him to do: add fuel to the fire, which was rather interesting.

“As for you, Langlang, you’ll say you’re willing to settle privately. If the person apologizes to you, Lin Qiushui won’t jump them, and I won’t ask the teacher for a demerit.”

“And then, we just wait for that person to fall into the trap.” Xia Wanshuang tapped the table, her eyes narrowed.

The culprit was a student and didn’t have strong psychological resilience. Using public opinion to wage psychological warfare would make the culprit break down first. On a small scale, this was a prank; on a large scale, it was a sign of psychological instability and bad conduct. For a student, a mark on their permanent record was an unknown yet fatal threat because teachers constantly warned them that a stain on their record would be a lifelong flaw that future schools and employers could see.

“This move is truly brilliant.” Lin Qiushui smacked his lips, carefully considering it. It would definitely work.

“Is Langlang someone anyone can bully? She just came to school, and she has to deal with all this nonsense.” Xia Wanshuang leaned back against her chair, exuding an air of calm authority.

“Sister is so amazing.” Zhou Qinglang hugged Xia Wanshuang from behind, her expression full of admiration. She loved seeing her sister retaliate for her; it made her feel cherished by the whole world.

Xia Wanshuang picked up her cup and drank some water. When she put the cup down, the bottom of the cup tapped the glass coffee table, making a crisp sound, as if celebrating that the matter was already settled.

••••

The plan proceeded as scheduled. Xia Wanshuang didn’t even go to the stage to read announcements during Zhou Qinglang’s 3,000-meter run, instead running alongside her.

“Shuangshuang spoils her so much. No wonder the little vinegar pot is spoiled and throws tantrums, drinking vinegar every day.”

“Unbelievable, you’re using idioms now.”

“Zhao Tianhang! Are you looking to die?!”

In contrast to Xia Wanshuang’s playful side, someone else was on edge.

“Time off? What’s wrong?” The PE teacher looked at the student standing before him, confused.

“I’m feeling a bit unwell, so I want to take two days off.”

“You can skip training if you’re not feeling well these days, but you can’t skip class. You need to keep up with your cultural studies.” Pang Lei was reluctant but nodded.

Everywhere Pang Lei went now, she heard talk about the incident. It was just cutting clothes, so why were people reporting it to the teacher, demanding parents be called, threatening violence, and giving her a hard time? Someone even claimed they saw someone enter Class 4 that day. Pang Lei couldn’t stand to stay at school for another moment. But if she missed class, wouldn’t that just make Zhou Qinglang suspect her?

Zhou Qinglang said she was willing to settle privately? Who would believe that? Pang Lei still remembered how Zhou Qinglang beat up Zhou Ying the other day.

Wait… Zhou Ying.

Pang Lei’s eyes lit up. She dug her fingers into her palm and went to find Zhou Qinglang.

Zhou Qinglang had just finished packing and was leaving the classroom when Pang Lei appeared and asked her to meet on the rooftop, claiming she had important information.

Zhou Qinglang went to the rooftop and listened to Pang Lei without expression. The setting sun scattered its light everywhere, and with the light behind her, Zhou Qinglang’s face was obscured.

Pang Lei couldn’t see her expression. Her heart was pounding, and her palms were sweaty.

Zhou Qinglang suddenly let out a cold laugh, making Pang Lei instinctively shiver.

“You’re being so kind, telling me something like this?” A gust of wind blew, lifting Zhou Qinglang’s hair. She lifted her head, her expression full of hidden meaning.

“I… I just can’t stand that kind of thing. She told me before that she wanted to mess with you, and I thought she was joking, but I didn’t think she’d actually do it,” Pang Lei stammered, her palms soaked with sweat.

“Oh?” Zhou Qinglang raised an eyebrow, a playful look in her eyes. “Don’t you know that Zhou Ying was the last leg of the 4x100m?”

Pang Lei’s face went white. She had been so eager to clear her own name that she hadn’t paid attention to that detail. She hadn’t been at the 4x100m, so she didn’t know Zhou Ying had competed.

“Walking right into the trap, are we?” Zhou Qinglang’s lips curled up. She put down her backpack and cracked her knuckles.

Pang Lei was an athlete but not a good fighter; she relied purely on brute force. Zhou Qinglang was different. Lin Qiushui had hired a coach for himself, and Zhou Qinglang had learned a lot by watching. She knew exactly where to hit to cause pain and where not to leave a mark.

Pang Lei fell to the ground, curled up in pain, her face pale.

“I think people like you won’t learn your lesson until you’re taught one.”

“My sister always says that while one should be kind, when others bully you, you should repay them in kind.”

Zhou Qinglang smiled and knelt down, pulling a small pair of scissors from her backpack—she kept them to snip threads on her sister’s clothes, and now they came in handy. Zhou Qinglang cut Pang Lei’s clothes. When her eyes fell on Pang Lei’s chest, her eyebrow shot up.

“What’s this?” The cold tip of the scissors touched her skin, making Pang Lei shiver. She was terrified of being hit again and answered honestly.

“A tattoo.”

“A person’s name?” The tattoo was two letters. Zhou Qinglang guessed casually.

“Yeah… I heard that if you tattoo the name of the person you love over your heart, you can be with them forever.” Pang Lei’s tone was self-mocking. It was a lie. Even so, they would never be together forever.

Zhou Qinglang looked thoughtful at this. She lost interest in cutting Pang Lei’s clothes, grabbed her bag, and walked away.