Proficient in Traditional Chinese Medicine

"Should we bring her along?" Qin Ze asked his teammates.

"No." Li Liang refused outright.

Liu Ziqiang and Zhao Baliao said they didn't care.

Qin Ze invited her into the game and joked, "What if she really is a girl?"

The second match went much more smoothly than the first. After over half an hour of getting used to each other, their mid laner was no longer so clueless. At the very least, she followed instructions. She seemed to know Qin Ze was the team's core; whenever he placed a marker, she obediently listened. If Qin Ze told her to go bot lane, she eagerly ran to bot lane. If he told her to take dragon, she eagerly took dragon.

Three wins in a row.

Qin Ze checked the time. It was one-thirty in the afternoon, and he had a major course at two.

"I'm logging off. Go play by yourself."

"Nooo, nooo, I'll reach Silver if I win one more game. Great god, please carry me. Mwah." She spoiled and acted cute.

"No. I have to go to class."

"Hohoho, are you really an elementary school student?"

"Change 'elementary' to 'college'!"

"Which university do you great gods attend?"

"Shanghai City Finance University."

"I'm from Shanghai City too! Yay!"

"Oh."

"Play again next time?" she asked tentatively.

Qin Ze replied with an "Mm," then quit the game, settled the account, and shut down the computer.

He had two major classes that afternoon. Qin Ze didn't dare let his soul drift away and his thoughts wander like he did during Open Classes. Even after he entered university, old man kept a close eye on his grades. He often recited this piece of chicken soup: "If you don't work hard while young, you'll only grieve in old age."

Old man was full of despair for Qin Ze's future...

But Qin Ze's ability was limited. After every class, he could understand at most half of it. He wasn't the studious type either, incapable of dedicating his free time to academics. Qin Baobao used to drag him to the library often, but after she graduated, he immediately said goodbye to the library.

At six in the evening, after finishing the day's classes, Qin Ze returned to the dorm with his roommates. Their room had not escaped the usual filthy, messy, terrible state of a boys' dormitory: a trash can that hadn't been emptied in a week, filled with suspicious balled-up tissues; yesterday's takeout containers on the table; and some dirty clothes. Fortunately, the air didn't smell too bad.

Qin Ze stripped off the sheets and quilt cover that he hadn't slept on for months, stuffed them into a plastic bag, and prepared to take them home to throw in the washing machine.

The four of them chatted in the dorm. Li Liang suggested they continue their battle at the internet café that night, and everyone unanimously agreed. Qin Ze happily agreed as well. He had quite the gaming addiction and hadn't played in a while.

"Check the Campus Forum! Hurry, check the Campus Forum!" Zhao Baliao howled.

Qin Ze and the others opened the Campus Forum in confusion. One post had been pinned and featured, with a highly sensational title: "Face-Slapping Emperor Appears, Furiously Slaps School Hunk Zhang Mingyu."

The post gave a detailed account of the exciting process in which Zhang Mingyu had been humiliated by an unknown nobody during the Finance Department's Open Class that morning. The writing was polished, first suppressing then elevating the mood, making the story full of twists and turns. It was followed by several pictures.

The first showed the projected excerpt in Russian. The second showed Zhang Mingyu reciting passionately. The third showed Qin Ze's back as he wrote furiously across the blackboard. The fourth showed Zhang Mingyu's gloomy face.

In the seven or eight hours since that morning, the post had already received over three thousand views and 999+ comments.

"Pics or it didn't happen. I believe it now."

"Nicely done."

"I'm convinced."

"What the hell? Who's picking on my male god?"

"Why isn't there a front-facing photo? Everyone, Dox him."

"His back doesn't look like much either. Trash like this thinks he can compare to my male god?"

"Face-slapping my ass. Lanzhou Pancake."

"Zhang Mingyu has so many die-hard fans. I heard about this from classmates who were there. Apparently, the professor assigned everyone homework: translate that Russian passage and write their thoughts. Then Zhang Mingyu arrogantly stood up and said there was no need, that it was child's play. He recited it in Russian on the spot, showing off at the slightest disagreement. The students all applauded. Then the Face-Slapping Emperor suddenly stood up and shouted, 'I have a different opinion!' He strode onto the podium with his head held high, scribbled out a Chinese translation, and refuted Zhang Mingyu's view... My classmate said he and his friends were all completely stunned."

"Upstairs, I'm dying. So this is the legendary case of trying to show off and getting screwed instead!"

"That slap was so hard I feel like my own face hurts."

"Zhang Mingyu excitedly offered his right cheek: Please continue!"

"Our Finance University has lots of talented people. Let that Rich Second Generation know there's always someone better."

"OP, ****. Zhang Mingyu forever, Zhang Mingyu is invincible, Zhang Mingyu shall reign for ten thousand generations... Zhang Mingyu smiled and lowered the gun pointed at my head!"

Most of the comments were people happily watching the spectacle, though there were also many supporters of Zhang Mingyu. They went back and forth with fierce words.

"Qin Ze, you're famous." Li Liang laughed so hard while reading the comments that he clutched his stomach in delight.

Qin Ze said worriedly, "Will I live to see tomorrow? Do you think Zhang Mingyu will hire an assassin to silence me?"

Zhao Baliao patted his shoulder and said solemnly, "Brother, have a safe journey. You can leave your Xunlei account to me without worry."

Liu Ziqiang laughed. "Before you go, let me see a picture of your sister."

"Get lost, all of you!" Qin Ze cursed with a laugh, tossed his phone onto the bed, and began taking off his pillowcase. He had almost forgotten the pillowcase.

Just then, Qin Ze's phone rang. He looked down and saw the caller ID: Big Sis!

Qin Ze answered and put it on speaker. As he removed the pillowcase, he said, "What is it?"

"Where are you?" Qin Baobao's sexy voice came through the speaker, slightly husky and slightly coquettish.

The three animals, Li Liang, Zhao Baliao, and Liu Ziqiang, stared straight at the phone, their eyes shining.

"I'm at school. What's wrong?" Qin Ze could tell immediately that something was up. Her voice was never this coquettish normally.

"Why aren't you back yet?"

"I'll be back later. I might just stay in the dorm tonight." Qin Ze said. Once they started gaming, pulling all-nighters was commonplace.

"If you don't come back, I'll jump off a building for you to see." Qin Baobao said tearfully.

"What happened?!"

"Great aunt is here..." Qin Baobao said miserably.

"I'm coming back right away." Qin Ze decisively hung up, grabbed the plastic bag, slung on his backpack, and strode toward the door.

Great aunt is here...

Coming back right away...

Fuck, that was a lot to unpack.

This kid really had a beauty hidden away in a golden house, yet he had disguised himself as a single dog among them.

The three roommates rushed him at once. One hugged his waist, one hugged his legs, and one turned around to lock the door.

"Are you guys insane? What are you doing?" Qin Ze was dumbfounded.

"You're not being honest, kid. I knew there had to be something going on if you hadn't lived on campus for three years."

"Who is she? Holy shit, her voice was so coquettish and sexy. I'm hard, and it's shameful."

"Confess and be treated leniently. Resist and be treated severely."

"Move, move. I don't have time to mess around with you." Qin Ze shook his body, throwing off the three clingy guys, pulled open the dorm door, and slipped out.

He jogged downstairs, then broke into a sprint.

Qin Baobao suffered from menstrual cramps, and he knew that. Back when she still lived with their parents, every period left her in so much pain that she seemed half-dead, like she couldn't go on living. Their mother took care of her then, while Qin Ze merely watched the show from the side, secretly glad he wasn't a woman. As she got older, the cramps became less frequent, though they still hurt occasionally. Qin Ze would run to the supermarket to buy brown sugar, then make her a cup of Brown Sugar Ginger Tea with a few dried red dates. Old mom had taught him all that. Qin Baobao was useless at daily life, so there was no way he could count on her to handle it herself.

"System, I saw medical skills available in the Points Shop. Is there anything that can treat menstrual cramps?"

"Host, please check for yourself."

"Fuck!" Qin Ze cursed, slowing from a run to a brisk walk as he opened the Points Shop. Daily Life: Medical: Traditional Chinese Medicine...

After anxiously searching for a long time, he finally found a prescription for treating women's menstrual cramps, along with a massage technique. The total cost was 80 points.

"Host, I suggest directly exchanging for 'Beginner Proficient in Traditional Chinese Medicine.' It only costs 150 points. After the exchange, you will automatically learn the massage technique and receive ten beginner prescriptions."

The point cost was nearly double. Qin Ze hesitated for a moment, then decisively chose to exchange for "Beginner Proficient in Traditional Chinese Medicine." No one needed to teach him how to choose between a one-time solution and a permanent one.

There were pharmacies everywhere in the university district, and even two hospitals, one of them a grade a tertiary hospital. However, there were few stores selling Chinese herbs. That was only because there was a traditional Chinese medicine college nearby. He took the subway for two stops, sprinted to a Chinese medicine store to gather all the herbs listed in the prescription, then hailed a taxi by the roadside. Fifteen minutes later, he arrived at the entrance to his residential complex.

When Qin Ze opened the door and entered, Qin Baobao was curled up on the sofa. She hadn't even taken off her high heels. Clutching her stomach, brows tightly furrowed, she looked pale, with cold sweat seeping from her forehead and the tip of her nose.

"Why is it hurting again?" Qin Ze shut the door, tossed the things in his hands onto the sofa, and frowned. "Does it still hurt?"

Qin Baobao looked at him with kitten-like eyes. She didn't even have the strength to speak, only managing to gasp out one word: "Hurts~"

"Get to the bed first." He grabbed Qin Baobao's long legs clad in stockings, took off her high heels, slid an arm beneath her knees, lifted her in a bridal carry, and walked back to the bedroom.

"Ow, be gentler. Are you trying to hurt your big sister to death?"

When Qin Ze put her on the bed, he used a little too much force. Qin Baobao was jostled, and tears nearly came to her eyes.

Women were such a pain!

Qin Ze grumbled inwardly and reached for the buttons on Qin Baobao's chest. Her 36D breasts looked ready to burst through her clothes.

"What are you doing?" Qin Baobao was startled. Despite being in agonizing pain, she instinctively covered her chest. "Are you trying to molest your sister while I'm vulnerable? I never thought you were this kind of Qin Ze. Sob, sob, sob..."

"Sob your ass. Move your hand. Aren't you wearing another shirt underneath?" Qin Ze slapped away her hand and unbuttoned them one by one. The white undershirt fit closely, and once she lay down, it revealed her flat lower belly and navel.

"Your stomach hurts, and you don't know to loosen your clothes? They're strangling you this tight." Qin Ze complained nonstop as he moved to the foot of the bed, lifted his sister's long legs in stockings, and slowly pressed the Sanyinjiao Acupoint, then the Taichong Acupoint on the top of her foot. Three minutes later, he switched to the Xuehai and Diji acupoints, repeating the process.

Qin Baobao narrowed her alluring eyes and moaned, "Mm, mm, ah, ah," in time with Qin Ze's massage.

Half an hour later, Qin Ze's fingers were sore and his head was covered in sweat. He couldn't even turn on the air conditioner. "How do you feel?"

Qin Baobao touched her stomach and blinked. "It doesn't hurt anymore."

"It's only temporary relief. I'll brew you a bowl of medicine now. Lie down and rest. Don't use the air conditioner, cover yourself with a blanket, and keep warm."

"Brew medicine?" Qin Baobao froze. "Oh, right. What was with that massage just now? When did you learn that? Damn it, if you'd used it earlier, your sister wouldn't have suffered for so many years."

"I learned the massage technique from videos online, and I specifically went to a Chinese medicine store to ask an old Chinese doctor for the herbs. He said it works very well for menstrual cramps." Qin Ze said irritably, "It was because of your old problem that I've spent more than half a month learning this."

Qin Baobao sat up, her eyes shimmering as she smiled beautifully. Then she suddenly puckered her lips. "Good little brother, give me a kiss."

"Kiss my ass." Qin Ze turned and walked out of the room, carrying the herbs into the kitchen. He washed them clean, soaked them for ten minutes, put them in a soup pot, boiled them over high heat for fifteen minutes, then simmered them over low heat for ten minutes. Soon, a bowl of dark medicinal broth was ready.

"Ugh... it tastes awful." Qin Baobao took one sip and immediately pulled a bitter face.

"Good medicine tastes bitter." Qin Ze recited an age-old saying.

Under her younger brother's threatening gaze, Qin Baobao pinched her nose and gulped down the medicinal soup, then let out a very unladylike burp.