Chapter 11 The Young Lady in the Wheelchair 11: What's wrong with you two?

The forced calm voice attracted the attention of the two people in the restaurant, who both turned to look.

Cheng Zhishu stood halfway behind the door, peeking in with half her face showing fear yet resilience: "Miss Xi, if you want to scold someone, then scold me, but don't scold Sister Shuang."

Xi Hanran: "..."

What's wrong with you?

Xi Congshuang smiled, thinking the person had already left, but unexpectedly returned. Even though she was so scared, she still showed gratitude.

Who says the female lead is bad? She's great, she's worth keeping.

Xi Congshuang comforted her, "It's okay, she's been under a lot of pressure from working overtime lately, and she's acting a bit crazy. You should go back."

To Cheng Zhishu, these words meant: "You should leave now, and let me face the storm alone!"

What's more, Xi Hanran looked at everyone with a "I'm going to eat you all up" gaze, which made her scalp tingle.

Cheng Zhishu was even less likely to leave, and she mustered up her courage to walk into the dining room, forcing a smile: "The weather is quite nice today, I'll take Sister Shuang out for a walk, hahaha."

Her thinking was simple: in the past, when she was scolded, she would either pretend not to hear it or find an excuse to slip out.

Cheng Zhishu moved very cautiously, almost turning her head every step of the way, as if afraid that Xi Hanran, who was covered in black energy, would suddenly attack and hurt people.

She was almost trembling as she approached Xi Congshuang, then pushed her away from Xi Hanran.

Xi Hanran couldn't take it anymore: "Are you two crazy?!"

Xi Congshuang turned around, looking surprised, and patted the armrest of her wheelchair: "Isn't this obvious?"

Xi Hanran: "..."

She made a point of coming back today. Why did she have to come all the way to Xi Congshuang to suffer all this on the weekend? Is she crazy?

Suddenly enlightened, Xi Hanran grabbed her bag from the living room and left. She no longer wanted to know what Xi Congshuang's purpose was.

Anything is fine, even an explosion is fine.

The woman, who exuded a woody fragrance, walked past the two of them and disappeared in an instant at the entrance of Wenhai. Cheng Zhishu was stunned.

A slightly cool hand patted the back of Cheng Zhishu's hand, and she asked, "Weren't you going to take me out for a walk? Why aren't you going?"

"Oh, okay!" Cheng Zhishu finally came to her senses and pushed the wheelchair.

Xi Congshuang straightened the blanket on her lap and asked, "Is it heavy? Should I do it myself?"

Cheng Zhishu didn't seem to mind. When she exerted force on the back of her hand, the veins bulged slightly. She said in a relaxed tone, "It's not heavy. I used to help my grandma fetch water in the countryside. The well was very deep, and I had to carry the buckets back to fill the water tank. This is much easier."

Belatedly realizing that this statement was incorrect, Cheng Zhishu racked her brains trying to find a way to justify comparing a pampered young lady to a water bucket.

Xi Congshuang's attention wasn't on that: "Grandma from the countryside? Didn't you grow up in Ping'an City?"

There are few records about the female protagonist's background, only a rough account of her ending, and it is unclear what happened between her innocent childhood and the bloodstained days.

I knew all along that the protagonist's background was always full of ups and downs, rarely smooth sailing, and everything was a stepping stone for her. In the past, Xi Congshuang would never have been in the mood to listen to the confession of someone who had made a mistake.

In her view, right is right and wrong is wrong, and no amount of hardship can change the facts.

But hearing what the other party said in person made Xi Congshuang's emotions fluctuate.

Her deep-seated curiosity, confined by her frail health, was aroused, and she inquired about the other person's past.

“I grew up in the countryside before junior high school.” Cheng Zhishu walked slowly, thinking slowly. “Back then, I lived with my grandma. She was very good to me. I miss her very much.”

"I went to fetch water that time because my grandma was sick and I wanted to cook noodles for her, but I found that the water in the water tank was empty, so I took a bucket to fetch water."

"..."

Little by little, an invisible pen sketched and drew in Xi Congshuang's mind, gradually outlining a complete human figure.

She was initially a short little girl who gradually grew into a young woman. As Cheng Zhishu spoke, she gained facial features and was no longer a blank person without any features.

Cheng Zhishu, who knew nothing about it, suddenly stopped talking, feeling a little embarrassed to continue.

It's such a small matter, and I don't think anyone would want to hear about it.

Xi Congshuang, who was practically ready to apply color to her eyes, urged, "And then?"

Cheng Zhishu scratched her face with one finger, her ears burning slightly: "Then my grandma found out I went to the well and drew water, and she hit me."

In the past, wells in the countryside were not properly protected for ease of use. Even after tap water was installed, people still habitually used well water for cooking and drinking.

Firstly, they felt it was cleaner than tap water, and secondly, using well water was free.

Almost every child in the village has been warned by their family not to go near the well, because some children have drowned in it.

When Grandma discovered that the water tank was more than half full, her first reaction wasn't relief, but rather she was terrified and gave Cheng Zhishu a good spanking.

Finally, while buying popsicles for Cheng Zhishu who was sobbing, he told her how dangerous the place was and not to go any closer.

A few tears welled up in the little man's eyes, and Xi Congshuang covered her mouth and chuckled softly.

Cheng Zhishu laughed along, but didn't finish her sentence: "Later, Grandma's illness got worse and worse. She didn't have the strength to get up and take care of the household, let alone beat me for always filling the water tank."

*

Having distanced herself from Wen Can's side, Cheng Zhishu's condition seemed to be improving step by step. She spent her days studying, seemingly oblivious to everything else around her.

Her focused demeanor made Xi Congshuang sigh once again, truly admiring her status as the female lead, learning from every fall and preparing for the future.

I heard that Wen Can had several arguments, and the servants all said that Xi Hanran was making trouble for her brother.

As for how he was put in a difficult position, Mr. Liu didn't say. He was only busy crying to his older brothers and sisters. Chairman Xi didn't have time to return to the Xi residence, so he was temporarily spared from trouble.

Xi Hanran herself replied: "I don't have a brother. My mother didn't give birth to him. I don't know that parasite."

Just as she said this, Cheng Zhishu was walking home from school, carrying her schoolbag as she passed by.

Xi Hanran suddenly stopped talking and stared at Cheng Zhishu.

As it turned out, Cheng Zhishu didn't react at all. She nodded to the two people at the table and was about to go upstairs.

Xi Hanran had a habit of feeling uncomfortable if she couldn't do something bad, so she called out to someone, "Hey, Cheng Zhishu."

Cheng Zhishu finally stopped, took the earphone out of her ear with her other hand, and looked confused: "What's wrong? I was listening to English listening practice."

She let her hair down today, and the headphones were perfectly hidden underneath.

"..." Xi Hanran clicked her tongue, inexplicably annoyed. "It's okay, let's go, let's go."

Cheng Zhishu: "?" She went upstairs with her schoolbag on her back.

Xi Congshuang sipped her tea and said calmly, "Why did you provoke her?"

Even if other characters fall apart later on, they're still the female lead. Those who jump around like this are just cannon fodder in her life, destined to get nowhere.

Judging from the current situation, Xi Hanran is probably the most troublesome villain besides Xi Congshuang. She hasn't suffered any physical damage, but she has caused a lot of mental harm.

Anyone who has just been targeted would be in a bad mood if they ran into their sharp-tongued ex-aunt. In the original ending, Xi Hanran would probably have been doomed sooner or later.

Xi Hanran: "You're quite open-minded, so why don't you tell me why you're keeping these people around?"

"It's for dealing with you," Xi Congshuang said lazily.

Three thousand schemes, three thousand methods, and three thousand ways to deal with Xi Hanran flashed through her mind, determined to break Xi Congshuang's "three thousand ways to take your life".

She sneered, "I knew it, but telling you won't help, she's just..."

Xi Congshuang slowly continued what she hadn't finished saying: "Every time you two meet, it's either Xiao Shu who's been chased by something, or you who's like you've eaten something amazing. What a useful mental weapon."

Because her brain was sluggish from working overtime, it took her three seconds to process what she said. Xi Hanran slammed her hand on the table again: "Xi Congshuang, you called me a dog again!"

Xi Congshuang picked up her cup: "You've misunderstood, I didn't."

Upstairs, in a well-insulated room, Cheng Zhishu felt like she could hear something.

She took off the headphones that were playing the hearing test, listened carefully, and shook her head.

"It's just an illusion; nothing is making any noise."

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I commissioned two illustrations for the character design, and I've put them in the character section. I don't know if everyone will see them. But after adjusting them left and right, I still feel they're a bit flat. If you're interested, check them out on my Weibo; I've posted larger images there. [Applause]