Picked Up the Female Lead When She Was Young (GL) - Chapter 57

While Zhou Qinglang was eating, her teammates also went to get lunch. After they finished, everyone continued with their practice.

“I’m going back to class now. Don’t push yourselves too hard; it’s not good to get sick.” Xia Wanshuang left a pack of tissues in Zhou Qinglang’s hand.

“Got it, we won’t.”

“Qiushui, that goes for you too. It’s so cold, and you’re wearing a short-sleeved shirt.” Xia Wanshuang looked at Lin Qiushui, who was back from lunch. She saw he had taken off his jacket again and was wandering around the court in a short-sleeved shirt.

“I just get too hyped up when I play basketball! Don’t worry, my immune system is great, I won’t catch a cold.” Lin Qiushui patted his chest, promising confidently.

Then, he sneezed. His teammates burst out laughing—instant karma.

“That was an accident. I’ll be fine once I start moving.” Lin Qiushui cleared his throat, picked up the basketball, started dribbling, and waved to Xia Wanshuang.

“I’m leaving then. Lin Qiushui, remember to drink lots of hot water when you get home.” Xia Wanshuang instructed, waved at Zhou Qinglang, and carried her bag back to the teaching building.

As she entered the building, she passed a girl. The girl was very pale—a sickly pallor—and had injuries on her forehead and face. She looked uncomfortable, frowning slightly.

Xia Wanshuang paused for a moment, then continued upstairs with her bag.

The evening self-study session was led by the homeroom teacher, who taught physics. Xia Wanshuang had a physics problem she couldn’t solve, and since Zhou Qinglang hadn’t returned from practice, she simply went up to ask the teacher.

The front and back doors of the classroom at No. 1 High School both had clear windows so the teacher could observe the hallway.

Xia Wanshuang was standing by the teacher’s desk when she saw a pale face at the door’s window.

Those eyes met hers suddenly, and the face immediately retreated. It was the same girl she had seen when entering the teaching building that afternoon.

The teacher continued explaining the problem. Xia Wanshuang returned her focus and, after understanding the approach, quickly solved the question.

The homeroom teacher nodded, giving Xia Wanshuang an approving look.

“Teacher, I need to go to the restroom,” Xia Wanshuang requested in a low voice. The teacher nodded, allowing her to go.

Xia Wanshuang walked toward the door, opened it, closed it carefully, and turned to face the girl outside.

The girl seemed startled by her action, instinctively stepping back, then stopped and pursed her lips.

“Are you looking for someone?” Xia Wanshuang asked in a low voice. Every class was currently in evening self-study, and the hallway was very quiet; a loud voice would be heard inside.

“I was looking for you.” The girl’s voice was very soft, like a breeze passing by the ear.

“They know you’re the one who called the security guards that day. They’re planning to corner you after school in the next few days. Be careful.”

The girl spoke quickly, then immediately turned and hurried away. Her figure vanished around the corner.

The hallway was silent, as if she had never been there.

When the girl had looked up, Xia Wanshuang had clearly seen her full face. Not only was her forehead injured, but her face was also swollen.

However, her expression was not one of panic or helplessness, but a kind of numb calm. When their eyes met, Xia Wanshuang could see the emptiness in her eyes, as if her soul had nowhere to go.

Xia Wanshuang looked at the silent winter night, her brow slightly furrowed.

••••

Xia Wanshuang wasn’t afraid of anyone trying to ambush her, but she truthfully recounted the incident to Zhou Qinglang.

“Why didn’t you tell me before? I didn’t even know you were the one who helped that person.” Zhou Qinglang clenched Xia Wanshuang’s hand, frowning deeply.

When she heard about the incident, she just dismissed it as unrelated to her.

She didn’t care who was bullying whom, or who stepped up, but now she realized this matter was directly connected to her.

“Was it something I needed to tell you?” Xia Wanshuang was taken aback. It was just a casual act; there was no need to specifically tell Zhou Qinglang.

“Of course, it was necessary.” How could Sister keep things from her? Zhou Qinglang was upset and hurt not by the event itself, but by the fact that Xia Wanshuang hadn’t told her.

Xia Wanshuang didn’t speak, just looked at Zhou Qinglang with obvious confusion.

“See, because you didn’t tell me, now someone is planning to bully you.” Zhou Qinglang quickly tried to cover her reaction when she saw Xia Wanshuang’s confused look. Actually, there was no need to mention it.

If it weren’t for the subsequent trouble, Zhou Qinglang probably wouldn’t have known this had happened to Xia Wanshuang at all.

Zhou Qinglang became aware of her own controlling nature.

Xia Wanshuang withholding things from her, combined with her reluctance to admit such strong possessiveness, made the two emotions suddenly tangle in her mind, leaving her irritated.

“Then let’s ride the bike home from now on. That way, they won’t have a chance.” Xia Wanshuang didn’t think those students would be daring enough to corner someone outside of school.

All they needed to do was prevent them from getting an opportunity.

Zhou Qinglang, however, didn’t think so. She never underestimated the malice of human nature and disliked any potential danger, especially when it threatened Xia Wanshuang.

Instead of hiding, it was better to face it head-on to eliminate future trouble. Even so, Zhou Qinglang still pretended to be obedient in front of Xia Wanshuang.

“Okay. We’ll ride the bike from now on. I’ll take you, so you won’t get cold. For lunch, let’s do what we did today, and eat together in the afternoon too.”

“Yes, that sounds good.” Xia Wanshuang nodded, not overly worried about the situation. After all, she wasn’t a teenager anymore. If she were genuinely sixteen, she might be anxious about such danger, but with both her lives combined, she was forty-three.

She had many ways to resolve this kind of danger—none of which involved violence. More concerning to her than the threat was the frail-looking girl she saw tonight, who looked like she might collapse if the wind blew.

••••

Xia Wanshuang didn’t believe in fighting fire with fire, but the person next to her did.

Zhou Qinglang found out which class and who the girls were who had to give the self-criticism that day, and she kept the names in mind.

At lunchtime dismissal, Xia Wanshuang and Zhou Qinglang had just arrived home when Zhou Qinglang slapped her forehead.

“What is it?”

“I forgot something at school. I was going to bring it back. I’ll go back and get it now.”

“Hey… it’s fine to bring it back tonight. What is it? I’ll help you remember.”

“It’s nothing. I’ll go get it now. The school is very close anyway.” Xia Wanshuang’s home was a school district property, very close to No. 1 High School, about a four- or five-minute walk, or a little over a minute by bike.

Xia Wanshuang didn’t have time to stop her before Zhou Qinglang quickly left.

Wang Miao and the other three girls were sitting in their classroom, waiting. During the break after the third period, someone had passed a message for them to wait after school because someone wanted to talk to them.

“You don’t think someone is trying to fool us, do you?” One girl grew impatient, picking at her nail polish and standing up to walk around.

“The person who passed the message wasn’t from our class. They ran off too fast. We didn’t even get a chance to ask.”

“Let’s just go eat. I’m starving.” Wang Miao rubbed her stomach and looked at the person eating snacks. Among the four, Zeng Wei, the one eating snacks, was the leader.

“Let’s go.” Zeng Wei finished the last cookie and dusted the crumbs off her fingers.

“Later, we’ll find out which dog spread the message and who the hell had so much nonsense to talk to us about.”

Zeng Wei was initially curious, but after waiting several minutes and no one showed up, she was ready to chew someone out if they appeared.

Footsteps echoed down the hallway, as if from a casual stroll, and stopped at their classroom door.

“In a rush to eat? How about I invite you to eat shit in the restroom?”

A low, slightly lazy female voice spoke. The tall figure at the door was the short-haired girl, her hands in her pockets, looking at them coldly.

“Who the hell are you?”

“A top student, I think. I saw her speak at the flagpole.”

“Oh, another top student.” Zeng Wei’s voice was sarcastic, remembering the girls who caused them to be disciplined and lose face.

“You high-achieving students are always annoying. You came looking for trouble, didn’t you?”

Zeng Wei gave Wang Miao a look, and Wang Miao ran out into the hallway, shaking her head at Zeng Wei.

“You’re alone, and you dare to be so arrogant.” Zeng Wei walked up, smiling as she tried to pat Zhou Qinglang’s shoulder, then realized she wasn’t tall enough and hit the desk instead.

Wang Miao and the others closed the door, pushed the desks aside, grabbed chairs, and moved toward Zhou Qinglang.

Zhou Qinglang smiled and moved her shoulders.

Zhou Qinglang had studied combat techniques from Lin Qiushui’s coach.

Lin Qiushui enrolled in the class but mostly slacked off, while Zhou Qinglang completed the entire curriculum. She had also been in unrefined street fights when she was younger.

These girls in front of her, who relied on sheer numbers and dirty tricks, were nothing to Zhou Qinglang.

Cries of pain came from the classroom. Zhou Qinglang hit Zeng Wei’s back with a chair, kicked away another person who lunged at her, and leaned leisurely against a desk.

“That’s all you’ve got? Still trying to run?”

Wang Miao tried to open the classroom door to run and call for help, but a book flew and smashed against the door right in front of her. A little more to the side, and it would have hit the back of her head.

“Want to fight more?”

Zeng Wei’s face was covered in sweat. She shook her head frantically. Zhou Qinglang had dislocated one of her arms, and it hurt agonizingly whenever she moved. She had no strength left and no will to resist.

This person is ruthless, an experienced fighter. All four of them went at her, and she was still at ease. And every time she struck, it was aimed at a vulnerable spot. It hurt too much.

The other two were already on the floor, shrinking back.

“What did we ever do to provoke you…” Wang Miao’s face was swollen on one side from a punch. Her speech was somewhat slurred.

“I heard you were going to jump Xia Wanshuang?”

“No, no, she’s a good student. Why would we go after her? We have no grudge against her.”

Wang Miao’s heart sank. She quickly shook her head. They were still planning the ambush and hadn’t told anyone. How did this person know?

“Yeah, yeah, we don’t even know who you’re talking about. How could we go after her?” Zeng Wei also realized the gravity of the situation and agreed.

“Stay away from her. You better not appear within her line of sight. Did you hear me?”

“We heard you.”

“I never came looking for you today. Understand?”

Zeng Wei and the others were silent for a moment, exchanging glances.

“Do you understand?” Zhou Qinglang kicked the desk, and the girls flinched.

“We understand! We understand!”

Zhou Qinglang nodded in satisfaction, stood up, dusted off nonexistent dirt from her clothes, put her hands back in her pockets, opened the door to Class 13, and walked out slowly.

At the corner of the stairs, she saw a girl—expressionless, with a bruise on her forehead.

Zhou Qinglang walked past her as if she didn’t exist, humming a tune as she went downstairs.

She had to hurry home, or her sister would be waiting.