DLSRWAR Chapter 18 Choose which leg to break.

After the two-day final exams concluded, the school granted a two-day break before students had to return for another two weeks of classes before summer vacation.

Qin Yumian packed her things, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and headed to the station to catch a bus back to Xinghua Street.

When she arrived home, the place was empty and silent.

She retrieved her old flip phone and dialed Grandpa Qin’s number.

The phone rang for a long time before it was answered.

Grandpa Qin’s kindly voice came through the receiver. “Mian-ah, are you out of school?”

“Yes, I’m done.” Qin Yumian switched the phone to speaker mode, opened the window for ventilation, and asked loudly, “Grandpa, where are you?”

“I’m at your Grandpa Lu’s place, playing chess.”

Just as Grandpa Qin finished speaking, another elderly voice came through.

“It’s Mianmian, right?”

Grandpa Lu took the phone. “Mian-ah, don’t bother cooking dinner tonight. Come over to Grandpa Lu’s place instead.”

Qin Yumian did not hesitate or make excuses. She smiled and agreed, “Alright, Grandpa Lu.”

After hanging up the phone, Qin Yumian wiped down the table with a basin of water, mopped the floor, and watered the potted plants her grandfather kept. Once she was finished, she changed into clean clothes and headed out, carrying a wooden stick she had propped up by the door.

Little Shitou, who was playing in the yard, saw Qin Yumian and ran over with his two short legs, “Big Sister Mianmian, are you going to find Big Brother Xian?”

Qin Yumian nodded. “Do you know where he is?”

Little Shitou shook his head. “I haven’t seen Big Brother Xian today.”

Qin Yumian patted the little guy’s head and set off toward the few nearby internet cafés with her wooden stick in hand.

The internet café that Qin Xian frequented was a smoky, dilapidated place with mediocre equipment and slow internet but cheap prices. She often found him there.

However, this time, after searching the “A Space Internet Café” for a while, she could not find Qin Xian.

The internet café manager, who recognized Qin Yumian, poked his head out from behind the counter and said, “You’re looking for Little Xian, right? He didn’t come here today.”

Qin Yumian nodded to acknowledge the information, remaining silent throughout.

A man with a buzz-cut who had played games with Qin Xian remarked, “Qin Xian’s sister is acting like his mother, always coming to catch him as soon as she has a holiday. But this girl is quite pretty.”

The internet café manager, lounging in a recliner and eating sunflower seeds, commented, “How could she not be pretty? Her mother was a famous beauty in Sangcheng when she was alive. I heard she came from a big city.”

The buzz-cut man, now curious, asked, “Her mother wasn’t local?”

“Not really.” With nothing much to do at the moment, the internet café manager started chatting with the buzz-cut man. “However, her father is from our local area in Sangcheng. Back then, he got into university with the top score in the city. When he came back, he brought his girlfriend back with him, who was Qin Xian’s mother. They got married, had a modest wedding, and then stayed in No. 2 High School, with him teaching math and her teaching art.”

The buzz-cut man pressed, “Uncle, come on, tell me directly—how beautiful was her mother?”

The internet café manager, spitting out the sunflower seed shell, looked at the buzz-cut man and replied with a sigh, “How beautiful? Even after having two children, she still received love letters from students and confessions. How beautiful do you think she was?”

The buzz-cut man asked, “Was she more beautiful than her daughter?”

The internet café manager simply said, “They are on par.”

…

Norman Internet Café.

Qin Yumian looked up at the sign and thought to herself: If she found that little brat Qin Xian in here, she would give him a choice—

Choose which leg to break.

Clutching the wooden stick tightly, Qin Yumian raised her foot and stepped inside.

Norman Internet Café was the largest in Sangcheng. It was quieter than the “A Place Internet Café,” but the air was still filled with the pungent smell of smoke, and the sound of keyboards clicking filled the space.

In addition to the lobby, Norman also had private rooms, but they were several times more expensive than the ones in the lobby.

A young woman sat at the front desk, wearing light makeup. When someone entered, she lazily lifted her eyelids, continuing to apply lipstick while staring into a small mirror.

Qin Yumian approached and asked, “Excuse me, has a teenage boy named Qin Xian been here?”

The young woman, without looking up, replied, “I don’t know. If you want to use a computer, pay and get a machine number. If not, don’t bother us. We’re here to do business.”

Seeing she wouldn’t get any useful information at the front desk, Qin Yumian went directly into the lobby, searching for him with her stick in hand.

With dozens of computer stations, she checked each one, but still did not find Qin Xian.

He wasn’t at the internet café, nor was he out fighting—where could he be?

Just as Qin Yumian was about to leave, she caught a familiar glimpse out of the corner of her eye.

It was a teenage boy who frequently followed Qin Xian.

Tao Zihao, wearing headphones, was intensely focused on his game. Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“What’s up? We’re in the middle of a team fight,” Tao Zihao said irritably, shaking his shoulder and furiously clicking the mouse and keyboard.

The person who tapped his shoulder asked, “Have you seen Qin Xian?”

Without looking away from his screen, Tao Zihao replied without thinking, “Brother Xian is in Room 03.”

After the team fight ended, Tao Zihao finally allowed himself to check who had spoken to him. When he looked back, however, there was no one to be seen.

Tao Zihao scratched the back of his head, looking puzzled. “Could it be that I’m imagining things?”

At that moment, in Room 03.

The room had only two computers, which were more advanced than those in the lobby. The chairs were comfortable gaming chairs.

Qin Xian hung his slightly heavy headset around his neck, leaned back, and looked at the handsome young man beside him. “Brother Han, I didn’t expect you to be so good at games. And thanks for getting me the internet café membership. From now on, we’re good brothers, good buddies.”

Ye Hancheng waved his hand dismissively. “No big deal.”

It was just a matter of getting his little brother-in-law to go online a few times. In the future, when he marries his wife, he’ll need to ask his little brother-in-law to be lenient and help him smoothly win his wife.

Qin Xian added, “By the way, I heard from your friend that you’re here to play. Why haven’t you left yet?”

Ye Hancheng replied, “I transferred to Sangcheng No. 2 High School.”

Qin Xian: “…”

Qin Xian’s expression suddenly grew complex as he looked at the young man. “Is it because of my sister?”

Ye Hancheng: “…”

In front of his little brother-in-law, Ye Hancheng didn’t hide the truth and admitted openly, “Hm.”

“You really like my sister?” Liking her enough to transfer schools for her?

This time, Ye Hancheng fell silent, staring at the game interface on the computer without speaking.

Of course, he liked her.

After all, Qin Yumian was his wife with whom he had shared a bed and life for three years.

If he didn’t like her, he wouldn’t have done that kind of life’s great “harmonious” activities with her.

But his wife before rebirth was a delicate and pampered little thing who would sit in his lap and act coquettishly, often shedding tears at the drop of a hat. She knew just how to make him feel heartache.

In contrast, the wife he had met after his rebirth was a wild rose, a fighter, who wielded a stick as effortlessly as if it were a paintbrush. It often made him wonder if the previous wife was real at all.

Ye Hancheng leaned back in his chair, sighed deeply, and muttered, “It can’t be that I’m dreaming, right?”

…

Author’s Note: (Shouting loudly) You’re not dreaming!!! This is really your wife!!

——