At six-thirty in the evening, Li Liang met up with Old Wang and the others from Dorm 304 and led everyone to a grilled fish restaurant near the school. There were eight people from the two dorms, so they ordered two eight-pound Big Black Fish, six or seven plates of side dishes, and a case of beer.
This grilled fish place was not far from campus, just a fifteen-minute walk away. It was one of Dorm 303's regular "cafeterias" for group dinners because its grilled fish was especially authentic... Qin Ze and Li Liang were locals from Shanghai City, Liu Ziqiang's home was in neighboring JS, and Zhao Baliao looked like a Northeastern man at a glance. They could not really tell whether it was authentic or not, but it was definitely delicious.
Half an hour later, two grilling trays were brought over. The server lit the alcohol fuel in the burners and set down the trays.
The eighty-percent-cooked Big Black Fish lay in a bubbling, bright-red oily broth, covered with Red Chili Pepper, cilantro, tofu skin, shiitake mushroom, onions, and other vegetables. Beneath it was a layer of bean sprouts, luncheon meat, lotus root slices...
Steam billowed up, and the fragrance of fish filled the air. The guys' appetites were instantly whetted.
"Wait!" Li Liang pressed down with his hand, stopping Zhao Baliao and the others, who were about to pick up their chopsticks. He took a breath. "Today, I want to thank all you brothers. That damned Zhang Mingyu is a vile piece of trash, rotten to the core. Whether he was really targeting Qin Ze or not, I was the one who got hit. You could have swallowed your anger and let it go; even if I got hit, it would have been for nothing. When he said we should bet on basketball, even I thought we had no chance of winning. But you guys didn't back down, and in the end, you actually fucking won. That felt damn good. But that's still not what I want to thank you for. It's that you didn't take the money and settle it privately... I won't say any sappy nonsense. We were brothers before, and we'll still be brothers in the future. If any of us has trouble, just say the word. I'd take a knife in the ribs for my brothers without hesitation."
"No need for knives in the ribs," Old Wang said gloomily. "I don't have money left to take a girl out on dates. The losses are too heavy."
Li Liang twisted his hips, pinched his fingers into an orchid pose, and said in a soft, delicate voice, "This humble lady awaits her lord at any time."
Qin Ze and Zhao Baliao slowly shuddered. Their eyes met, and they roared in unison, "Second Battalion Commander, where's your Italian Cannon?"
Liu Ziqiang rolled his eyes. "With a freak like this, even my Italian Cannon would misfire."
Qin Ze ate until seven-thirty, then left early. He had not drunk any alcohol. His roommates knew he had taken on "work," so they did not force drinks on him. Otherwise, with their top contributor sitting there, they would not have stopped until they drank him under the table.
Qin Ze took a moment to message Qin Baobao. "I won't be home for dinner tonight."
"Okay!" Qin Baobao replied succinctly. Qin Ze strolled leisurely toward the subway station. He had barely stepped onto the platform when he received another message from her: "You go eat whatever you want. I'll wait for my little brother to come home and cook for me."
Even through the screen, he could smell the heavy resentment and anger.
Qin Ze cursed, swiped his card and left the station, then bought a strawberry butter pastry, a Tuna Sandwich, two egg tarts, and a box of yogurt from a nearby Paris Baguette.
He got home before eight since it was only a ten-minute trip.
He opened the door and entered the nearly ninety-square-meter apartment. The entryway light was off, the room lights were off, and only a glass chandelier illuminated the living room. Stirring, forceful music echoed through the empty, dim space. Qin Baobao was watching some ridiculous anti-Japanese war drama.
She sat cross-legged on the sofa, wearing casual shorts and a white camisole, her hair tied in a bun hairstyle. Her forehead was smooth, exposing her snowy white, slender neck and rounded, fair shoulders. Below that was a slender waist that narrowed abruptly.
She glanced sideways at Qin Ze, then continued watching her anti-Japanese drama without saying a word.
Qin Ze placed the cake, egg tarts, and yogurt on the glass coffee table in front of her. "You didn't eat dinner? I brought you some cake."
Qin Baobao gave a little humph.
Qin Ze said helplessly, "We played basketball at noon and won. My roommates treated us to dinner tonight, so it was hard to turn them down."
Qin Baobao said disdainfully, "What does that have to do with me?"
Qin Ze gave an "oh," pulled out materials, scratch paper, and pens from his shoulder bag, then went into his room and carried out his laptop. Listening to the noisy sounds of shells and gunfire, he focused on his work and ignored her completely.
Seeing how cold her brother was, Qin Baobao shot him a glare and gritted her teeth. "I'm learning how to tear devils apart with my bare hands."
You want to tear me apart, don't you?
Qin Ze muttered to himself and continued looking through materials.
The siblings remained in a Cold War for several minutes before Qin Baobao could no longer hold out. Her pale little foot lightly kicked him. "I'm hungry."
Qin Ze pointed at the things on the glass coffee table.
Qin Baobao puffed up in anger. "I want hot food."
"Eat it or don't."
Qin Baobao flew into a rage and pounced on him, choking his neck with both hands. "Watch me tear apart you shameless, dirty devil."
"I don't mind you calling me that, but you should ask whether the devils agree." Qin Ze leaned backward and pinned Qin Baobao beneath him. No matter how she flailed and rolled, she could not break free from the suppression of Five Finger Mountain. Over the years, Qin Baobao's position in their physical battles had declined like a river rushing downhill.
A few minutes later, Qin Baobao, defeated in the martial contest, curled up on the sofa hugging her knees, chewing cake while drinking yogurt.
Mathematical modeling was not exactly difficult, but neither was it easy. It depended on the scale of the model. Rigor was certain. It was like building with blocks: every block had a clearly defined place, and when assembled properly, they formed a palace. But if something went wrong somewhere, everything would come crashing down, and all previous effort would be wasted.
Qin Ze and the other employees were the model builders. Professor Li also participated, but most of his work involved checking and revising, ensuring that the mathematical models submitted by the students were flawless.
Modeling was ultimately not the same as building blocks. It involved a great deal of extended knowledge, formulas, and reference materials. There was no need to worry about the core materials, since Professor Li had them. For some ordinary materials, Qin Ze had to search online himself.
Time passed, and the anti-Japanese drama entered a commercial break. Qin Baobao stretched, rubbed her well-proportioned, firm calves, and could not hide her fatigue.
Qin Ze went to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water and found a cleaned chicken and a bag of mushrooms in the refrigerator. He suddenly understood why Qin Baobao had been sulking so irrationally earlier.
She had bought the ingredients and planned to eat her favorite chicken stew with mushrooms that night. Then she came home and found that, damn it, her little brother had gone out drinking and having fun instead of coming home, leaving her to fend for herself.
Qin Ze shook his head with a laugh. Why was she still like a child? Their parents had spoiled her too much.
When he returned to the living room, he saw her lying crookedly on the sofa, the straps of her camisole slightly loose, half asleep.
"Was training tiring today? Go rest early." Qin Ze sat down beside her.
Qin Baobao was clearly still sulking and ignored him, changing channels out of boredom.
Qin Ze had only made himself look foolish, but he was used to it. Did he not know what a terrible temper his own sister had?
When she was in a good mood, she hugged and kissed him, constantly calling him her good little brother and obedient little brother. She was only one step short of calling him her sweetheart.
When she threw a tantrum, she could ignore him for more than half a month.
Marrying a woman like this would be like marrying a Buddha statue. You would have to worship her properly.
Their parents probably knew about their daughter's terrible temper too. On one hand, they had Qin Ze move in to keep an eye on his sister, afraid that some guy coveting her beauty would trick her, take advantage of her, and then turn cold-hearted. On the other hand, they worked hard to find a rich and decent son-in-law with solid character. They had truly worried themselves sick.
Qin Ze felt that his parents were worrying for nothing. Qin Baobao might be helpless in daily life and have a bad temper, but do not forget that her IQ surpassed her younger brother's by eighteen streets. She could act cute and adorable, play a seductive vixen, or pretend to be an innocent girl next door. Her emotional intelligence was clearly not low either. The men who wanted to pursue her could line up from Hongqiao to Pudong. In twenty-five years, had anyone ever seen a man she favored?
At eight-thirty that night, Qin Ze remembered that he still had several pieces of clothing unwashed in his room. He set aside his work, grabbed the clothes, darted into the bathroom, tossed them all into the washing machine, and set the timer for thirty minutes.
One sibling worked without distraction while the other devoted herself to studying the divine art of Tearing Devils Apart. It continued until the washing machine beeped. Qin Ze came back to his senses, ran to the bathroom to hang up his clothes, and as he walked from the balcony to the living room, he heard Qin Baobao's soft, seductive voice. "Qin Ze, help me wash my clothes."
Qin Ze knew that his sister was kindly giving him a way to repair their "terrible relationship," so he hurriedly said, "Where are your clothes?"
"In the basket in the bathroom. Remember to wash underwear separately from clothes and pants."
"Okay."
Qin Ze efficiently left two purple pieces of underwear in the basket and washed the clothes and pants first. It only took a moment to pour in detergent, so it was no trouble.
Half an hour later, the laundry was done. It was now nine-thirty, and Qin Baobao would probably take a shower and return to her room soon. She always went to sleep punctually before eleven.
Qin Baobao rubbed her sore butt and ordered Qin Ze to hang up the clothes. Qin Ze got angry.
"Qin Baobao, don't you have hands and feet? I'm not your servant. Go yourself if you want to. I'm busy."
Qin Baobao curled her lips and shuffled into the bathroom in slippers. A few seconds later, she screamed, "Qin Ze, did you leave tissues in your pockets again?"
Qin Baobao sprang out like a tiger, one hand on her waist and the other holding up her pleated mini skirt.
Qin Ze looked closely and saw fine white paper scraps stuck all over the pleated mini skirt.
He had made this mistake before. He had left tissues in his pockets and forgotten to take them out before putting the clothes in the washing machine. They had tumbled around with the clothes and turned into scraps that stuck everywhere, impossible to brush off.
Even as Qin Ze felt guilty, he also sensed something was wrong. He stood up in confused bewilderment and ran to the balcony to inspect his own clothes. They were clean, without a single paper scrap.
He understood instantly and glared at Qin Baobao. "Bullshit. Get over here and look at my clothes. There aren't any paper scraps on them, which rules out my tissues."
Qin Baobao suspiciously stood by the balcony and glanced over them. Then she pattered back to the bathroom, quickly finding a ruined clump of tissue in her own clothes pocket.
Qin Ze followed behind her and hummed. "See? It was yours. I'm not taking the blame for this."
Qin Baobao said angrily, "You washed the clothes. You didn't check the pockets, so you should take the blame."
Naturally, Qin Ze would not argue with his sister. Never reason stubbornly with a woman; they would always have more experience than you.
Having found a chance to retaliate, Qin Baobao pinched Qin Ze hard for quite a while before angrily going to hang the clothes.
At 10:15, Qin Baobao came out wrapped in a bath towel and sat on the living room sofa drying her hair. The roaring noise made Qin Ze miserable, and he said impatiently, "Go dry your hair in your room."
Qin Baobao made a face at him, scooted her butt closer in his direction, and deliberately turned the hair dryer to full power.
Qin Ze rolled his eyes and began singing for his own amusement, using it to fight his sister's noise attack:
"Just because, among the crowd,
I glanced at you one more time,
I could never forget your face.
I dream that one day we might meet again by chance.
From then on, I began to miss you in lonely silence.
When I miss you, you're at the edge of the sky.
When I miss you, you're right before my eyes.
When I miss you, you're in my mind.
When I miss you, you're in my heart.
I'd rather believe we made a promise in a past life,
That the love story of this life will never change..."
At some point, the hair dryer fell silent.
Qin Ze turned his head and saw his sister's vixen-like face framed by loose, disheveled hair, filled with rapture. Perhaps it was an illusion, but her watery phoenix eyes seemed veiled in misty rain.
"What song is that?" Qin Baobao asked softly.
Qin Ze's heart skipped a beat. I've been exposed. Without changing expression, he lied, "I wrote it myself. I was just singing randomly."
"Y-you wrote it..." Qin Baobao's small red lips parted slightly.
The most lethal kind of showing off was the invisible kind!
Qin Ze was about to gaze up at the ceiling at a forty-five-degree angle. Yet Qin Baobao, who had just been quiet and well-behaved, intoxicated by the song, suddenly pounced on him like a hungry tiger pouncing on a sheep. She pinned Qin Ze beneath her on the sofa and shrieked, "Ahhhhhh!"
"Are you fucking having a seizure... Are you insane... Get up..." Qin Ze's face was buried in his sister's chest, and he nearly passed out.
After quite a while, Qin Baobao calmed her excitement, leisurely adjusted her bath towel, lifted her head, and looked gentle and tender. "A Ze... no, good little brother, did you really write that song?"
"More or less."
"More or less?"
"I haven't finished writing it yet."
Qin Baobao looked at him pitifully. "Then when will you finish it?"
"Depends on my mood... What does it have to do with you?"
"I want to debut as a singer. The company has been asking whether I have any more work these past few days, and I don't know how to answer, so I can only play dead." Qin Baobao put on a pitiful expression. "Yesterday, a top agent told me that there will be a singing variety show during summer vacation. If I can participate with an original song, it will be the fastest and best way to become famous. He'll consider becoming my agent."
Not bad. She had been noticed so quickly. It seemed Qin Baobao was one of the best among the trainee artists.
The further his sister went down this path, the more beneficial it would be for his future plans. But Qin Ze could not agree too easily. This woman had just been giving him attitude and pulling a long face.
He needed to let her know what it meant for fathers to lead sons, husbands to lead wives—no, for younger brothers to lead older sisters.
"So?" Qin Ze asked calmly.
"Teach me, teach me, teach me!" Qin Baobao vigorously shook his arm, spoiling and acting cute.
Qin Ze twisted his neck. "Ah, playing ball today was really tiring. My shoulders are a little sore."
"I'll massage them for you." Qin Baobao immediately understood.
"My legs are sore too." Qin Ze enjoyed the massage from his sister's soft, tender hands.
"I'll massage them." Qin Baobao endured the humiliation.
"The soles of my feet are sore too." Qin Ze pushed his luck.
Qin Baobao's ingratiating smile froze, and the corner of her mouth twitched. "The soles of your feet... need massaging too?"
Qin Ze shrugged. "It's fine if you don't. I'm not forcing you. It's just that inspiration is invisible and untouchable, so I can't guarantee anything."
"I'll massage them, of course I'll massage them. Your sister is going all out today."
"Oh my, please don't. You're the young lady of this household, a delicate noble lady. I couldn't possibly accept that."
Qin Baobao secretly gritted her teeth and said sweetly, "You're the only male heir in our family. In ancient times, you'd be the sole child responsible for carrying on the family line. It's only right for your sister to serve her only little brother."
As she spoke, she lowered her head to take off Qin Ze's socks.
Qin Ze rolled his eyes and pushed her hand away. "Enough with the fake act and that sarcastic tone. It's nauseating."
He would not really make Qin Baobao massage his feet. He could not bear to, and he did not dare to. Women were vindictive creatures, especially a high-IQ vindictive creature like Qin Baobao.
Clearly, Qin Baobao misunderstood him. Thinking that he would not yield to either soft or hard tactics, she cried out in humiliation and anger, "Qin Ze, don't go too far. If I can't make it in the Entertainment industry, don't think you can stay out of it. Watch me tell Old Dad that you encouraged me to quit my job and enter show business."
"Why don't you just say I made you shoot Island Nation films?"
Qin Baobao's eyes reddened. Angry, she reached out to twist him. "Come on, let's hurt each other."
Qin Ze sighed and said helplessly, "Fine, fine. From now on, I'll be your exclusive composer."
"Really?" Qin Baobao raised her brows.
"You can lie to anyone, but not your own sister."
"Good little brother, I knew I hadn't spoiled you for nothing." Qin Baobao changed her expression faster than turning a page and made to pounce over and kiss his cheek.
"Get lost." Qin Ze held a hand against her forehead and pushed her far away.
Qin Baobao went into her room to sleep. Before leaving, she turned off the LCD television. Qin Ze was left alone in the living room. He lit a cigarette and puffed away.
He closed his eyes, leaned back against the sofa, slowly exhaled a stream of smoke, and thought of that widely used piece of inspirational wisdom: The road ahead is long and far; I will search high and low.
Before you continue