I May Have Seen a Fake Little Brother

Rain or shine, Qin Ze kept up his morning training. After breathing in the fresh and exhaling the stale, he returned home drenched in sweat, carrying breakfast for Qin Baobao.

From the bathroom came Qin Baobao's soft, magnetic voice as she practiced individual notes. Her voice was lovely, her lung capacity was excellent, and she had strong control over her vocals. She truly had the makings of a singer.

Qin Ze did not need to envy his sister in that regard. His singing voice was even better than Qin Baobao's, but his lung capacity was lacking. He could handle soothing, low-pitched, slow-tempo songs. But with fast-paced songs, especially ones requiring sustained breath control, he easily went off-key or simply "ran out of air."

After breakfast, the siblings headed out together. Qin Baobao wore an OL Suit today, the very image of a workplace goddess, especially with that seductive face that made most women wary and resentful. She was charming, alluring, and pretty, but lacked the mature, captivating grace of an adult woman.

She was probably the beautiful version of a silver spearhead with a wax shaft.

In the elevator, Qin Baobao gathered her loose curls from in front of her shoulders and swept them behind her back. Linking arms with Qin Ze, she softly asked, "Should I take you to school?"

"No need." Qin Ze shook his head. There were several young office workers in the elevator, and they kept sneaking glances at the exquisitely made-up Qin Baobao. They could not hide the amazement in their eyes.

"Aren't you starting dance practice? You're wearing that to the company?" Qin Ze was surprised by her outfit.

Qin Baobao gave him a look as if he were an idiot. "There are private lockers in the Dance Studio. I'll change after I get to the company."

"Oh."

"What have you been tinkering with these past few days? You keep holding that laptop and never keep me company." Qin Baobao pouted, looking like an alluring neglected wife, making the few young men tremble all over. They wanted nothing more than to kick Qin Ze aside: Let go of that girl and let me have her!

Qin Ze was used to his sister spoiling and acting cute. He remained unmoved.

Ding!

The elevator arrived on the first floor. Everyone surged out of the car, and as the doors slowly closed, Qin Ze looked back. Qin Baobao stood gracefully inside the elevator, smiling gently and waving at him.

He arrived at the "office classroom" right on time. Professor Li was very satisfied with Qin Ze's rigorous academic attitude and efficient, accurate abilities. He praised him in front of everyone, but Qin Ze always felt that the praise was hollow, bland, and somewhat perfunctory.

After pondering it, he understood. In Professor Li's eyes, Qin Ze was his father's ghostwriter. Why would anyone need genuine sincerity to praise a ghostwriter?

At noon, he arranged to meet his roommates at the cafeteria entrance so they could eat together.

Qin Ze arrived a little early and waited by the main entrance. Students entered the cafeteria in groups of two or three to fill their stomachs. After standing there for a while, he felt that everyone around him, male and female alike, was looking at him strangely. He was far too familiar with those probing gazes. Back when he pretended to be a couple with Qin Baobao while shopping and eating out, men passing by would look at them exactly like that—cautious, yet not bothering to conceal themselves.

Instinctively, Qin Ze looked to the side. Qin Baobao was not there.

They were looking at me?

There aren't flowers on my face. I'm perfectly normal. Damn, what did I do to deserve this treatment?

I'm not Qin Baobao, and I'm not a panda.

In the past, when he had stood beside his panda-like sister as mere bamboo to complement her, apart from feeling pride and envy and countless other emotions, he had never truly understood it. But now that he had become the panda, the gazes shooting at him from all directions felt unbearably awkward. He was sitting on pins and needles—that was exactly how this felt.

Being a panda wasn't easy. I'll never again say how lucky you are to do nothing but eat and wait to die.

While he was lost in wild thoughts, the three guys finally arrived.

His roommates were beaming with excitement.

The moment Li Liang saw him, he said, "Qin Ze, you've become an internet celebrity."

Liu Ziqiang said, "666."

Zhao Baliao said, "You're treating us today, no question."

Qin Ze was completely baffled. "What are you talking about?"

Li Liang froze, astonished. "You don't know?"

"What am I supposed to know?" Qin Ze rolled his eyes.

Li Liang said excitedly, "You have the Lazy Cat APP, right? Go check Today's Focus in the homepage recommendations."

Lazy Cat was the country's largest video and news platform, so of course Qin Ze had the app on his phone. He took out his phone and opened it in confusion. After the polished interface lingered for a few seconds, it loaded.

Homepage recommendations!

Today's Focus!

At a glance, he spotted an eye-catching video. Its title read: Oh my god, a campus basketball god has appeared!

The thumbnail showed someone leaping into the air and forcefully slamming a basketball through the hoop. Even from the back, the guy looked somewhat damn familiar.

Without thinking, he tapped it.

It was a video of yesterday's basketball match between him and Zhang Mingyu. It was five minutes long and had clearly been edited, compiling exciting moments like steals, three-pointers, and one-handed dunks.

There were also an absurd number of Bullet Screen comments, and the video had more than three hundred thousand views.

"First."

"First."

"Second."

"Tell Daddy, what number am I?"

"One-handed dunk, 666."

"His three-pointers are amazing too."

"The guy shooting threes is so handsome."

"What school is this?"

"Lanxiang Excavator School."

"Whoever said Lanxiang, don't leave."

"Don't leave after school."

"Hahaha, the Bullet Screen is always more entertaining than the video."

"I give that block full marks."

"He jumped so high. He must be wearing Li Ning Sports Shoes."

"Fake Pig Set is Number One."

"Hahaha, that guy doesn't dare shoot threes anymore."

"That was insanely slick."

"Damn, that steal was practically supernatural."

"He stole it again. The opponent says: What just happened?"

"Twenty years of professional stealing."

"So handsome, so handsome, so handsome."

"Oh my god, another three-pointer?"

"This guy can do everything."

"No one can beat that shooting percentage."

"Is this really a match? It looks like a solo show!"

"This guy is practically all-rounder. Explosiveness, speed, shooting—he's probably at the level of a professional basketball player."

"College students these days have nothing better to do after eating than play ball. Back in our day, we studied hard and improved every day."

"Studied hard and improved every day? The person above has never attended college, right?"

"Hahaha, don't expose people."

Five minutes passed, and the video quickly neared its end. A ball soared high through the air from beyond the Three-Point Line toward the hoop. The spectators were fully focused and visibly tense, making it clear that the basketball game was nearing its conclusion.

At that moment, more than a dozen comments appeared on the screen: "High Energy Ahead"!

The basketball struck the rim and bounced high into the air. Several people beneath the hoop jumped almost at the same time, fighting to grab it. But just then, a figure came charging over, so fast he seemed to leave an afterimage. Then, he launched himself from the free-throw line, instantly rising above everyone's heads. His clothes and short hair danced in the wind, carrying a wild, breathtaking beauty of power.

He caught the basketball, his body arching in midair like a drawn bow. Bang! The hoop in the video shook violently.

A Slam Dunk!

The entire screen filled with neat, uniform "666" comments, overwhelming the display until it looked as though snowflakes covered it.

The video ended!

Qin Ze thought, Damn it, that little bastard Zhang Mingyu must hate me to death.

"Qin Ze, you're a famous man at school now."

"Have you received any love letters from girls?"

"Probably no love letters. You must have gotten plenty of challenge letters. Every girl in school wants to take you down."

Amid his roommates' chattering, they entered the cafeteria.

Afternoon sunlight streamed through the glass curtain wall. This was a one-hundred-and-fifty-square-meter Dance Studio with warm-toned elm floors. The girls wore fitted dance outfits, holding the barre as their slender, flawless legs rose and fell. The dance instructor, over forty but still in excellent shape, walked among them with a soft leather whip in hand, calling out frostily, "Up, down, up, down..."

This was the ninth-floor Dance Studio of the Star Arts Entertainment Building.

It trained the reserve female artists recruited this year. Next door was a singing practice room with various instruments, and beyond that was a gym.

Outside the Dance Studio, quite a few male employees lingered under the excuse of going to the restroom or getting tea, admiring the girls' graceful figures and lovely faces. The one who drew the most attention was the girl in the corner; most of the male employees had come to see her.

Qin Baobao was stretching her leg against the barre. Her sharp, delicate melon seed face bathed in sunlight, her eyes narrowed like a lazy, sleepy fox...

Shanghai City was known as the Oriental Paris. It was the nation's economic center, with a permanent population of thirty million. With such a terrifying population base, beautiful women and handsome men were like weeds—cut down batch after batch, only to grow again with the spring breeze.

Especially at Star Arts Entertainment, a major capital player in the Entertainment industry, the women in the Dance Studio were unquestionably among Shanghai City's finest. Without some natural advantages, one would not dare enter the Entertainment industry. Yet among them, Qin Baobao utterly outshone every other woman, unrivaled and untouchable. It was not that there was truly no one in the Dance Studio prettier than her. There were one or two who could compete with her in facial beauty, but those who could compare faces could not compare figures.

Those who could compare figures lacked her looks. Qin Baobao had exquisite features like a Greek sculpture, captivating phoenix eyes, and a textbook seductive, foxlike face that could bring kingdoms to ruin.

They were all newcomers, colleagues, and future rivals. They secretly competed with one another.

Yet she wore an innocent expression as though she had no intention of competing for spring, willing to let all the flowers envy her.

It made the female newcomers grit their teeth in hatred.

At 4:30 p.m., today's dance training ended.

The dance instructor gave a few encouraging words and left at an unhurried pace.

The girls immediately began chattering. Some sat on the elm floor to rest, while others stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows and talked.

Qin Baobao unscrewed a bottle of mineral water and gulped it down. A locker key hung from her wrist. She opened her locker, took out her phone from her bag, and checked the time. There was still an hour and a half until work ended.

"He's incredible! How can he jump so high?"

A girl sitting cross-legged on the elm floor cried out in surprise. Several girls immediately gathered around her. Moments later, they gasped in amazement and began discussing it animatedly.

"I think the guy shooting baskets is really handsome, even more handsome than the male artists next door."

"Little Fresh Meat! Big sister loves Little Fresh Meat the most."

"Little Fresh Meat got blocked again."

"The guy blocking him isn't bad either. He looks pretty sunny, and isn't he the main character of the video? He's really amazing."

"Mm-hmm. If we were in high school, I'd definitely chase after him."

"Haha, I only care about looks. I only like handsome guys."

The girls watched intently until the video ended. Their formerly excited faces turned stunned, and they exclaimed softly, "Damn!"

A huge dunk!

No wonder the video had made the homepage recommendations. If it had been footage from a professional basketball game, it would not have been anything special or worth making a fuss over. But when such an incredible Slam Dunk came from an ordinary college student at a domestic university, the level of shock was completely different.

Qin Baobao moved closer and glanced at it. Smiling, she asked, "What are you watching?"

One girl smiled sweetly. "Nothing much. It's Today's Focus on Lazy Cat, a basketball game from some university. There's a Little Fresh Meat who's especially good."

Although they were jealous of Qin Baobao, they certainly would not show it. Their emotional intelligence was not that low; real life did not have so many brainless side characters.

Qin Baobao gave an "oh," showing little interest.

One girl said proudly, "I know this one. I watched it this morning. It's from Finance University in Shanghai City."

Finance University?

Little brother's Finance University!

The moment she heard it was her little brother's university, Qin Baobao became interested. She opened her locker, took out her phone, opened the Lazy Cat APP, and found the video in Today's Focus. The thumbnail made her freeze. That back looked so familiar.

She impatiently opened the video and watched it!

Five minutes later, Qin Baobao lifted her gaze from the video and stared at the golden, blazing sunlight beyond the window. Her beautiful face was completely blank.

Qin Ze?

I may have seen a fake little brother.