Picked Up the Female Lead When She Was Young (GL) - Chapter 47

Lin Qiushui was running around the living room, with Zhou Qinglang chasing him.

Zhao Tianhang was acting as a human pillar, being yanked back and forth by them.

“You’re too old for this nonsense. Be careful! I’m going to start cooking.”

Xia Wanshuang went into the kitchen. Before Lin Qiushui and the others arrived, she had already prepped the ingredients and cooked the rice. Now, she just needed to stir-fry the dishes.

“You can’t catch me! La la la la.” Lin Qiushui dodged skillfully, grabbing Zhao Tianhang’s shirt and hiding behind him.

Zhou Qinglang had initially chased Lin Qiushui to ease her own guilty conscience. Now that Xia Wanshuang was in the kitchen and out of sight, Zhou Qinglang felt no pressure. She stopped running, looking at Lin Qiushui with contempt.

“You’re too old for this nonsense.”

Lin Qiushui: “???”

Wasn’t it you, ma’am, who was just chasing me so vigorously?

“Little Vinegar Pot, you girls really change your minds faster than you flip a book.” Zhou Qinglang had stopped, so Lin Qiushui stopped dodging. He sat on the sofa, sighing melancholically.

“What do you mean ‘you girls’?” Zhou Qinglang sensitively caught the oddity in Lin Qiushui’s words and seized on it, demanding an explanation.

“You know Tong Yao from the class next to ours, Class 3, right?”

“How could I not? The girl who’s always pestering you.” Zhou Qinglang rolled her eyes. She didn’t have a good impression of that girl.

“Aiya, she’s not ‘pestering,’ and she’s not chasing me either. Besides, I don’t even like her. We’re just friends.” Zhou Qinglang glanced at Zhao Tianhang, who looked calm and said nothing.

“I don’t care if you’re friends or not. What about her?” Zhou Qinglang asked, sitting down next to Lin Qiushui.

Zhou Qinglang generally only paid attention to matters concerning Xia Wanshuang. The only reason she knew of Tong Yao was because of Lin Qiushui.

Lin Qiushui had started playing basketball intensely during the summer vacation before high school. He had played in middle school, but not as well as Zhou Qinglang, and after being crushed by her a few times, he stopped going to the court, or only went when Zhou Qinglang wasn’t there. But a month before summer break, Lin Qiushui came to Zhou Qinglang, asking for some pointers.

Although Zhou Qinglang would complain about him, he was still a good friend. If Lin Qiushui wanted to learn, Zhou Qinglang would naturally teach him, which usually involved dominating him on the court. Lin Qiushui, however, became more resilient and his skills improved dramatically.

It wasn’t until the start of high school that Zhou Qinglang realized why Lin Qiushui worked so hard on his basketball game: to look cool on the court.

Good-looking people are always the center of attention, and outgoing people are the center of conversation. Not long after school started, the news of a handsome boy in Class 2 who played basketball well had spread across the entire grade. Even senior girls would sneak by to watch. Zhou Qinglang was astonished by his vanity, but she never thought Lin Qiushui would actually manage to attract anyone.

Yet, quite a few people took the bait, and the most persistent one was Tong Yao.

Lin Qiushui was playing for attention from girls, but he wasn’t a player. He didn’t casually flirt. His only special treatment for Tong Yao was drinking the water she offered, and the fact that she was quite good-looking. It was a clear, delicate kind of beauty—she was skinny, looking like the wind might blow her over.

Zhou Qinglang disliked her. A small part of the reason was her perception of Zhao Tianhang’s emotions. She and Zhao Tianhang had practically grown up together. Since their consensus at the KTV, their relationship had improved, so out of loyalty to her “brother,” Zhou Qinglang didn’t like Tong Yao. A larger part of the reason was that Zhou Qinglang felt there was something wrong with Tong Yao’s personality and behavior.

Tong Yao actually dared to badmouth her sister. Although she was subtle, Zhou Qinglang could hear it.

Moreover, Tong Yao was always hinting to Lin Qiushui to buy her things.

Lin Qiushui was generally very accommodating to girls. It was acceptable when Tong Yao asked for water or cake, but a couple of days ago, she hinted that Lin Qiushui should buy her a women’s watch, which wasn’t cheap.

“It’s my birthday in a couple of days, and she said she wanted to celebrate it with me.”

“Lin Qiushui, if you dare bring her in front of us to gross us out, we’re done as friends.”

“How could I? There’s no way I’d agree. I haven’t even been drinking her water, and I haven’t gone to play basketball anymore!” Lin Qiushui was practically swearing to his innocence. Lin Qiushui trusted Zhou Qinglang and Xia Wanshuang completely. After Zhou Qinglang clearly expressed her dislike, Lin Qiushui knew where he stood. Moreover, Xia Wanshuang had also hinted that Tong Yao was rather manipulative.

Lin Qiushui naturally trusted Xia Wanshuang. Although Xia Wanshuang wasn’t the oldest among the four of them, she was the most mature and decisive.

He had thought things over, even asking Zhao Tianhang for perspective.

He felt Tong Yao’s attitude toward him was overly enthusiastic, and the hint about the watch confirmed it.

Though Lin Qiushui wasn’t short on cash, it was his parents’ money, and he wouldn’t spend it recklessly.

Lin Qiushui realized this and slowly started maintaining his distance from Tong Yao.

However, Tong Yao kept coming to find him. Lin Qiushui explained that people would gossip, and Tong Yao simply replied, Aren’t we friends? Lin Qiushui was silenced because he had been quite nice to Tong Yao before.

“That’s good then.” Zhou Qinglang patted Lin Qiushui’s shoulder in satisfaction.

At least this kid is smart.

If Lin Qiushui had actually invited Tong Yao to their group gathering, she would have beaten his head in.

“But…”

“Say it all at once.”

“After I rejected her, she seemed really sad, and then she twisted her ankle.”

“What kind of causality is that!”

“There was a step there, and she wasn’t paying attention, missed it, and twisted her ankle. She asked me to carry her to the nurse’s office.”

“Did you carry her?” Zhou Qinglang’s voice rose.

“Of course not! I helped her walk there. And then, at the nurse’s office, she told me she had a bit of a cold because she was frozen last night while preparing my birthday present.”

“I don’t know what to say. I just have one question: does she really like to drink green tea?” Zhou Qinglang always used the term “green tea” for people who acted innocently manipulative.

“I thanked her, told her to drink more hot water, and take medicine if she was sick.”

“And then?”

“That’s it. Then I came here for dinner.” Lin Qiushui answered honestly.

Zhou Qinglang immediately looked over and saw the barely contained smile on Zhao Tianhang’s face.

She couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for Tong Yao—she had fallen for this hopelessly dense guy, Lin Qiushui. Cold-hearted, impressive.

“Well done.”

“Huh?” Lin Qiushui was confused. Tong Yao ‘s expression after he spoke was hard to describe, but he didn’t feel like he said anything wrong. If you have a cold, shouldn’t you drink more hot water and take your medicine?

“Langlang, come and take the dishes out.” Xia Wanshuang called from the kitchen. Zhou Qinglang acknowledged her and got up to carry the food.

Seeing Xia Wanshuang, Zhou Qinglang’s breath hitched, but she forced herself to act naturally and picked up a plate.

“What were you guys talking about out there? It sounded lively.”

“About Tong Yao.” Zhou Qinglang put the dish down outside the kitchen and quickly hurried back.

It was as if she had finally found a reason to talk and laugh with Xia Wanshuang, so she didn’t have to dwell on the confusing things in her mind.

“Tong Yao? What about her?” Teacher Xia didn’t have a good impression of Tong Yao. Although Tong Yao, as a high school freshman, disguised herself well, her little tricks were perfectly clear to Xia Wanshuang.

Not to mention Tong Yao tried to set verbal traps for her. Xia Wanshuang had no respect for those small ploys.

Zhou Qinglang recounted the incident to Xia Wanshuang, which made Xia Wanshuang laugh.

It seemed that even the most delicate, manipulative girl couldn’t get ambiguous sympathy from a supreme, dense, straight man like Lin Qiushui.

When Xia Wanshuang laughed, Zhou Qinglang’s ears involuntarily started to burn again.

She immediately turned her back to Xia Wanshuang, grabbed a bowl, and hurried out of the kitchen.

As she rushed out, Zhou Qinglang’s eyes met Zhao Tianhang’s. Zhou Qinglang held his gaze for a moment, then inexplicably looked away.

A moment later, Xia Wanshuang brought out the last dish and called everyone to eat.

During dinner, they began planning how to celebrate Lin Qiushui’s sixteenth birthday.

“Can we do something special? I’m tired of dinner and singing, and we’ve been to the amusement park so many times.”

Lin Qiushui was eating happily, but his expression was listless.

Since meeting Xia Wanshuang and the others, they celebrated almost every birthday together—four birthdays a year.

While occasionally they celebrated with Jiang Wan or Lin Qiushui’s aunt, Zhuo Tong, it was usually just the four of them.

“Then where do you want to go?”

Xia Wanshuang honestly couldn’t think of any new places to go.

Everything they could do in Tongli, from singing to watching movies, they had already done.

“I don’t know either. You guys give me some suggestions.”

“Didn’t you really want to go whitewater rafting? Let’s go rafting.”

Zhao Tianhang suggested, making Lin Qiushui’s eyes light up.

“Hey, I really want to go, and it’s not too far from us. But to fully enjoy it, one day isn’t enough, and my birthday is on a Thursday.”

Lin Qiushui thought for a moment, then clapped his hands as if something occurred to him.

“Little Vinegar Pot’s birthday is just a few days after mine, and we’ll have classes then too. Why don’t we push mine back and move the Little Vinegar Pot’s forward, and celebrate both on Saturday? We can leave on Friday and head to the destination. What do you think?”

Zhou Qinglang’s birthday was before Xia Wanshuang’s, so they weren’t exactly three years apart, but only about two and a half years.

Zhou Qinglang’s birthday was close to Lin Qiushui’s. Lin Qiushui was turning sixteen, and Zhou Qinglang was turning fourteen.

“I think that works. What do you think, Sister?”

Zhou Qinglang thought it was a great idea. She felt the day of the celebration wasn’t important; what mattered was who she celebrated it with.

“Sounds good. Shall we settle on that?” This way, everyone would have time, and they could have a full day of fun.

“Then it’s decided.”

Although they decided to move the main celebration to Saturday, they still had to have dinner on Thursday.

Zhao Tianhang even ordered a cake for Lin Qiushui.

They were already full from dinner and couldn’t eat much of the cake.

A large portion was left over.

Xia Wanshuang was about to suggest putting it in the fridge for tomorrow when Lin Qiushui grabbed a paper plate and splat!—smeared it all over Zhao Tianhang’s face, then laughed hysterically.

Zhao Tianhang immediately retaliated, smearing a mouthful of cake back on Lin Qiushui’s face.

Xia Wanshuang and Zhou Qinglang were initially outside the combat zone, watching the two idiots smear cake on each other.

That is, until the war spread to Xia Wanshuang.

A chunk of cake flew off Lin Qiushui’s hand and landed on Xia Wanshuang’s face.

Xia Wanshuang calmly wiped the cake off, licked the cream, and quietly picked up a paper plate from the table, scooping a piece of cake onto it.

Xia Wanshuang usually maintained her composure and didn’t participate in the boys’ games, but when the atmosphere was charged, she didn’t care if she was twenty-seven or sixteen.

She smiled and charged with the cake.

Zhou Qinglang saw this and thought, How can this be?

Her sister had joined the fight! There was no way Zhou Qinglang could just watch.

She got some cake and threw herself into the fray too.

The four people turned into a chaotic mess, with cake flying everywhere.

“I quit, I quit! I’m tired, I’m tired!”

Lin Qiushui looked terrible, his face covered in cake. He’d practically given himself a cream mask. He waved his hands, panting, signaling a truce.

“That’s what you get for starting it.” Zhao Tianhang wiped the cream off his hands. By the end, no one was using utensils—it was all hands-on.

“My bad, my bad.” Lin Qiushui apologized sheepishly. He suddenly leaned forward and hugged Zhao Tianhang, patting his back.

“I really hope we can always be like this, the best of friends for life.”

Lin Qiushui sighed, then hugged Xia Wanshuang.

“Shuangshuang, we’ll be best friends forever.”

“Of course.”

Even if her life wasn’t that long, it would still be forever to her.

Before Zhou Qinglang could protest, Lin Qiushui released his hold and then hugged Zhou Qinglang.

“Little Vinegar Pot, even though you’re petty and constantly bicker with me, you’re my good friend too.”

The atmosphere suddenly turned sentimental.

Zhou Qinglang was stunned by Lin Qiushui’s unexpected sincerity, and then she was smeared with cake right across the face.

“Hahahaha! Got you! Didn’t get you before, but I got you now, hahahaha!”

“Lin! Qiu! Shui!”

The chase began again. Xia Wanshuang looked at the floor of her house and decided she would make Lin Qiushui clean it later.

“Tianhang, can you grab me the napkins?”

The napkins were closer to Zhao Tianhang. Xia Wanshuang lowered her head, preparing to deal with the cream, but after a moment, Zhao Tianhang didn’t move.

“Tianhang?”

“Hmm?”

Zhao Tianhang suddenly snapped back, looking at Xia Wanshuang with a blank expression.

“I asked you to hand me the napkins.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Zhao Tianhang handed the napkins to Xia Wanshuang, still seeming somewhat distracted.

“What’s wrong? Why are you suddenly spaced out?”

“I was thinking about the travel plan for Friday and the arrangements for Saturday. There’s a bus on Friday afternoon that goes straight to the destination.”

Zhao Tianhang mumbled, then fell silent. He picked up some napkins and started squatting down to wipe the cream off the floor.

When Zhou Qinglang finally vented her anger over the sneak attack, she forced Lin Qiushui to join in the cleanup.

Although the affected area wasn’t huge, the cream was greasy.

By the time they finished cleaning, all four of them were sprawled out on the sofa.

“I’m never playing with cake again.” Lin Qiushui looked exhausted, feeling like his back was broken from bending over to wipe the floor.

“No one wants to play with you either.” Zhou Qinglang wasn’t as tired, but her arms were definitely sore.

“Says the person who was so enthusiastic.”

“That’s what you get for getting my sister.”

“Clingy brat, pfft.”

“Mind your own business. You can’t imagine the perks of having a sister.”

Xia Wanshuang lay in the middle, listening to the two of them bicker back and forth, and smiled.

Outside the window, the cold wind howled, making the warmth inside the house feel all the more cozy.

Xia Wanshuang suddenly felt sleepy, thinking groggily how wonderful it would be if her life could just continue like this.

Her previous life was too lonely.

Although she kept herself busy with work every day and worried about her students, a part of her heart was always empty.

With her parents gone and her being alone, sometimes looking at the house with just herself in it, she felt a terrifying emptiness, like a cold wind passing through a hall.

After coming here, Zhou Qinglang filled that void. If she could just stay and never leave, that would be great.

She would watch Zhou Qinglang get married and have children, maybe even help raise them.

As Xia Wanshuang thought this, a feeling of reluctance welled up inside her.

She only had eight years left until she turned twenty-four.

Only eight years left.