Picked Up the Female Lead When She Was Young (GL) - Chapter 45

For Xia Wanshuang, high school life wasn’t significantly different from middle school life, except for sitting right next to Zhou Qinglang as deskmates.

What’s it like to have your clingy little sister become your deskmate? Xia Wanshuang felt it was probably like soaking in honey cloyingly sweet.

In middle school, Xia Wanshuang still had some independent space.

Being in different classes meant they weren’t constantly glued together, but now it was different.

They were virtually inseparable 24 hours a day.

Although this was also the case in primary school, Xia Wanshuang felt the two situations were fundamentally different.

The feeling of being clung to by a soft little girl evokes overwhelming maternal love.

But the feeling of being clung to by a girl taller than her, with a slender waist and long legs…

Xia Wanshuang woke up yet again, gently pushing away the hand wrapped around her waist.

She decided it was time for her and Zhou Qinglang to have some private space. Her daughter was growing up; being constantly stuck together wasn’t healthy.

When Xia Wanshuang brought it up, Zhou Qinglang was shocked.

“Sister… didn’t we agree to sleep together…?” Zhou Qinglang sounded a little wronged. They had clearly agreed to share a room when they first moved in.

“Langlang, but you’re a big girl now. If you’re always with me, don’t you feel like you don’t have any private space?”

Zhou Qinglang shook her head.

Xia Wanshuang: “…”

Fine. The issue wasn’t really about being inseparable; Xia Wanshuang didn’t mind that much. The real reason she brought it up… she’d noticed that Zhou Qinglang wasn’t sleeping very “properly” lately.

It was hot in the summer. Although Xia Wanshuang had the AC on, she didn’t leave it running all night, setting it to turn off automatically. This meant it got hotter in the second half of the night, and she and Zhou Qinglang would kick off the blanket.

But even when the room wasn’t cool, Zhou Qinglang’s hand would invariably find its way around her waist.

With the short pajamas worn in summer, that hot, scorching hand would move up and down, then return to its starting place.

The first time, Xia Wanshuang was startled awake by the touch and realized Zhou Qinglang was fast asleep; the movement was unconscious. If it were just a quick touch, it would be fine, but Zhou Qinglang would find a cooler spot on her body and rub it repeatedly.

After three days of this, Xia Wanshuang wasn’t sleeping well in the second half of the night, so she decided not to turn off the AC. If it wasn’t too hot, they wouldn’t kick off the blanket, and Zhou Qinglang wouldn’t search for a cool spot.

But things weren’t as she expected.

Even with the blanket on, Zhou Qinglang’s hand was still accurate and practiced, and yesterday it almost touched a sensitive area.

Xia Wanshuang decided: Separate rooms. They absolutely had to sleep separately. Otherwise, she might wake up one day to find her back buttons undone, and that wouldn’t do.

Zhou Qinglang was uncooperative.

Appealing to her emotions and reason was useless. It was as if all her arguments bounced off a protective shield; Zhou Qinglang simply didn’t listen.

Xia Wanshuang pressed her temples and decided to tell the plain truth.

“Ah… I, I, I???” Zhou Qinglang froze, her unhappiness instantly replaced by panic.

She had no idea!!! It was unconscious!!! It was actually unconscious!!!

“And so I haven’t been sleeping well these past few days…”

“Sister, I’m sorry! Give me another chance! I definitely won’t do that tonight!” Zhou Qinglang was so frantic she was using exclamation marks, watching Xia Wanshuang with damp eyes, practically ready to swear to the heavens.

“If you still… then I’ll be packing up the other room for you.”

“Mhm!”

Zhou Qinglang glared at her hand. She couldn’t remember anything, she was completely unaware, and yet this hand had taken a huge advantage.

To ensure she slept properly, Zhou Qinglang took a new blanket and kept a distance from Xia Wanshuang, covering herself tightly.

At 3:50 AM, the lights outside were sparse. Zhou Qinglang wasn’t sleeping deeply.

The moment she groggily touched Xia Wanshuang, she woke up instantly.

Zhou Qinglang stiffened her hand, looked at Xia Wanshuang’s sleeping face, slowed her breathing, and planned to slowly pull her hand back. If she messed this up, her sister would make her sleep in a separate room.

As she pulled her palm away, it brushed against cool, smooth skin. Zhou Qinglang’s breath hitched. She withdrew her hand with difficulty, rubbing her fingers. Her face was red, and she was wide awake.

Xia Wanshuang slept comfortably, but when she opened her eyes, she was startled by the red veins in Zhou Qinglang’s eyes.

“Langlang, you didn’t sleep at all, did you?”

“I slept.” Zhou Qinglang answered. She hadn’t lied to Xia Wanshuang; she had indeed slept in the first half of the night. In the second half, she was too excited to sleep.

“Then why are your eyes so red? Get the eye drops. I’ll put some in for you.” Zhou Qinglang fetched the eye drops from the cabinet and lay flat on the bed for Xia Wanshuang to administer them.

“Sister.”

“Hm?”

“I thought about it. Maybe we should sleep in separate rooms after all.” Zhou Qinglang closed her eyes as the drops went in. The unabsorbed drops looked like tears, wetting her lashes.

“Why the sudden change of mind?” Xia Wanshuang was surprised. Zhou Qinglang had vehemently refused to sleep separately before. Why did her opinion change overnight?

“I think it’s right to have a little private space… Sister is right.” Zhou Qinglang answered with her eyes closed, not letting Xia Wanshuang see what they revealed.

Zhou Qinglang couldn’t bear to sleep separately, but she made the decision because of last night. She had clearly tried to control herself, yet she still unconsciously reached out to touch her sister.

And when she touched her consciously, she actually… wanted to touch her more.

Too strange.

Her heart was pounding.

Zhou Qinglang still remembered her inexplicably agitated nerves last night.

She hadn’t really been thinking about anything, just touching her fingers in a daze.

The moment her finger brushed her sister, pulling her hand back was incredibly difficult.

This couldn’t continue. If she fell asleep again, she would surely do the same thing.

Though reluctant, rather than having her sister ask her to move, she decided to say it first.

This way, her sister might have a better impression of her. She had to let her sister know that she had grown up.

“Okay, then I’ll go tidy up the other room later.” Today was a school holiday, so Xia Wanshuang had time to clean.

As she laid out the bedsheets for Zhou Qinglang, Xia Wanshuang felt a little sentimental.

Her daughter had grown up.

Though she was the one who suggested separating, Xia Wanshuang felt a pang of reluctance.

A buzzing static suddenly crackled in her mind, making Xia Wanshuang wonder if it was her ears ringing.

[System]: ???

[System]: You just separated rooms???

The System saw the female lead, who was now taller than Xia Wanshuang, and felt a little suffocated.

[Xia Wanshuang]: Tongtong, you’re back from the dead!

[System]: QAQ Shuangshuang, are you really going to be able to follow the Love Rival script like this?

The System was desperate. It was supposed to be a role-playing game where she opposed the female lead, but Xia Wanshuang had stubbornly played it like a parenting/management simulation game.

[Xia Wanshuang]: We can! Everything’s great now. Tianhang really dotes on Shuangshuang.

Xia Wanshuang assured the System that the main relationship thread was still intact, and the male and female leads’ feelings were progressing smoothly.

[System]: Really? Don’t lie to me.

The System was skeptical. Watching them as children, they really didn’t seem to have much affection.

[Xia Wanshuang]: We’re on the same side. Why would I lie to you?

[System]: That’s true, haha 😀

[System]: Can I watch Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf now?

The System hadn’t watched it in ages. Now that it was awake, it felt like it could hold on a little longer.

Xia Wanshuang had just finished setting up Zhou Qinglang’s bed.

She went to the study, booted up the computer for the System, and searched for the show.

The familiar sounds of bleating and oinking echoed in her mind. Xia Wanshuang sat at the computer, her eyelid twitching.

Six years had passed.

The children from back then had grown up, but the System was still stuck in its childhood phase, seeming a bit dim.

“Sister, why are you suddenly watching Pleasant Goat?”

Zhou Qinglang entered the study and looked confused at the screen showing the blue-bell-wearing sheep.

“I remember you used to love watching this.”

“No, Zhao Tianhang was the one who loved watching it.” And Zhao Tianhang was always dragging her to watch it. Under the gaze of Xia Wanshuang and Jiang Wan, she always felt obliged to watch it with him.

[Xia Wanshuang]: Did you hear that! Tongtong! Did you hear that! This is the feeling of childhood sweethearts! Shuangshuang even remembers what cartoons Tianhang liked to watch as a child!

Pure love!

[System]: Hahahahaha Slowy Goat is so silly hahahaha

[Xia Wanshuang]: …

Since the System couldn’t perceive anything too far from Xia Wanshuang, Xia Wanshuang had to sit at the computer desk, letting the System watch the cartoon.

She minimized the window and opened her writing software.

“Sister, are you going to be busy now?” Zhou Qinglang saw Xia Wanshuang open the writing software and knew she was starting work.

“Mhm. Remember to clean your room.”

“I’ll go now.” Zhou Qinglang closed the study door and shuffled off in her slippers to clean.

Zhou Qinglang swept and mopped the room. She placed a joint photo of herself and Xia Wanshuang on the desk.

She had to put her sister’s photos on the wall too.

Zhou Qinglang thought about it and decided to put up several, since she had a massive collection of her sister’s photos.

The small box containing her sister’s hair was safely locked in the cabinet.

The doll pillow her sister bought was placed by the bed. Her closet was empty except for a few of her own clothes, so she had to go get a couple of her sister’s things to hang up.

Xia Wanshuang waited until the System went into sleep mode, shut down the computer, and went to Zhou Qinglang’s room to see if she had finished tidying up.

She stepped inside, saw the arrangement, and was completely bewildered.

Half the wall covered in her photos?

Is that her pillow on the bed?

Is that the book she didn’t finish yesterday on the desk?

Xia Wanshuang opened the closet, her mind filled with ellipses. Why are there so many of her clothes in this closet…?

“Langlang, did you move my entire closet in here?”

“I only took a few things. Sister’s clothes smell nicer. If I hang them with mine, my clothes will smell nice, too.”

They’ll smell like Sister.

Zhou Qinglang considered her reason to be perfectly adequate, while Xia Wanshuang felt speechless.

“What about these photos?” Sister, enough is enough!!!

Xia Wanshuang was becoming increasingly worried that if she ever had to act out the love rival scenario, Zhou Qinglang would simply surrender her husband. This is terrifying.

“Since I can’t sleep with Sister, I’ll just look at Sister more. They’re right opposite the bed, so I can see you as soon as I open my eyes.”

“But I’m right next door…”

“But I miss you, Sister.” Zhou Qinglang hugged Xia Wanshuang from behind, rubbing her head against Xia Wanshuang’s. Xia Wanshuang had her hair up today, exposing a patch of pale neck.

Zhou Qinglang smelled the fragrance on Xia Wanshuang’s neck and, on a sudden impulse, lowered her head and licked it.