Bestie Falls in Love with Me

The next day, six o'clock.

After the summer vacation, Qin Ze postponed his morning exercise schedule from 5:30 to 6:00. There was no need to rush his pace of life so much.

In the bathroom, the sound of rushing water and brushing teeth could be heard, the door ajar.

Qin Ze didn't even need to guess; it was Wang Zijing inside. Qin Baobao was the type to cling to her blanket for an extra second whenever possible, and she would argue vehemently, "A woman's skin ages easily if she doesn't get enough sleep."

He sat in the living room, pulled up the Points Exchange Store, and browsed through the various categories.

His current points: 400 points.

Not a lot, but enough to exchange for some minor skills. However, it wasn't enough to exchange for skills in a specific system. For example, stock trading. Stock trading is a vast field of knowledge, broadly divided into "technical analysis" and "fundamental analysis," requiring a wide range of knowledge covering many industries. Therefore, the Points Exchange Store didn't offer stock trading skills for exchange.

Some say that technical analysis doesn't exist in the Chinese stock market, which is partly true but not entirely. The stock market is a game of strategy, where big players use every means to exploit retail investors and their peers, while retail investors try to snatch food from the big players' teeth. But retail investors can never be a match for the big players. For example, big players can bribe the media to promote good news, attract retail investors to buy in, and then sell their shares at a high price. Those retail investors who get trapped are called suckers.

In addition, there is an invisible behind-the-scenes manipulator controlling the stock market. This manipulator is invincible, dominating the stock market and making huge profits. In its presence, any institution is just a retail investor.

This June, the behind-the-scenes manipulator started to act again, and the lukewarm stock market rose by several hundred points in just one month.

Therefore, Qin Ze began to pay attention to the stock market, hoping to follow behind the behind-the-scenes manipulator and get a share of the pie, while also preparing to be tricked by it.

Qin Ze had a special feeling for the stock market. The Qin family had once gone through a "difficult period," and they even sold an apartment, which was considered a lifeline by the locals in Hu City. Later, the Old Man made a fortune in the stock market, which helped the family overcome the difficulties. Old Mom and his sister admired the Old Man to death.

Qin Ze was studying history at that time, and looking at his father, who was admired by the two women in his family, he recalled what Xiang Yu said when he saw Qin Shi Huang's tour: I should take his place.

Wang Zijing came out of the bathroom and saw Qin Ze sitting on the sofa in a daze. She was also stunned for a moment, then greeted him with a smile, "Up so early?"

"I got up early to exercise, and I saw that Zijing-jie was washing her face and brushing her teeth, so I sat down and waited."

"Are you going out for a run too?"

"Too?"

Qin Ze and Wang Zijing smiled at each other, "Let's go together."

Qin Ze led Wang Zijing for a jog in the nearby park. At half past six, the sky was bright, cars were speeding by, and people who were going to work early had already left home.

Wang Zijing was wearing a white tracksuit, her long black hair tied into a ponytail, full of energy, with a towel around her neck.

Qin Ze was wearing a cheap tracksuit worth a hundred yuan, which Qin Baobao had bought for him during a mall promotion.

"We only have an hour," Qin Ze said, turning his head and smiling.

Wang Zijing stared at him with her eyes, blinked, and asked curiously, "Why?"

"Because after half past seven, the park belongs to the square dancing aunties."

Wang Zijing chuckled.

Five minutes later, they ran into the park and jogged slowly along the winding stone path.

Half an hour later, Qin Ze stopped.

Wang Zijing stopped with him, tilted her head, and said with a smile, "Can't go on anymore?"

Qin Ze smiled. He remembered a saying: A man can't say he can't do it; even if he can't, he has to.

Of course, he wouldn't say such an old-fashioned and vulgar thing. Saying it would deduct points in a girl's mind. But there are many immature men who always like to show off in front of girls, making themselves seem unique. In fact, according to Qin Ze's rich theoretical knowledge, never show off easily in front of girls, because it's easy to become an idiot.

So Qin Ze shook his head and smiled, "I'll stay for half an hour to practice boxing."

Practice boxing?

Wang Zijing stared at him suspiciously for a while, then said "Oh," "Then I'll run on my own."

Qin Ze watched her figure slowly running away, touched his nose, it seemed like... he had inadvertently failed to show off and made a fool of himself.

He retreated to the lawn on the side, closed his eyes, his spine slightly arched, his legs open, his body followed the flow of qi, and the qi followed his will.

His hands embraced his Dantian, the large circle covering the small circle. Before long, he felt a surge of heat rising from his Dantian, flowing to all parts of his body following his physical movements. It felt a bit like the legendary "circulating the heavens."

The System said that the Energy Cultivation Manual only required one hour of exercise per day, and more would not be beneficial. The principle was like studying; burying oneself in study was not necessarily good. A person's learning ability and exercise ability had limits.

Qin Ze was once again disturbed by the dynamic music of the square dancers. He opened his eyes, his eyes bright and clear, his divine light restrained.

On the stone path, Wang Zijing stood prettily, her eyes curious and surprised, sizing him up.

"Tai Chi? Internal Martial Arts?" Wang Zijing asked.

Qin Ze pondered for a moment, "It can be considered Internal Martial Arts, but not Tai Chi. Strictly speaking, it's not any school; I just cobbled it together myself."

"I don't believe it," Wang Zijing said, not giving him any face.

"When I was a kid, my stomach wasn't good. Whenever I exercised, I would vomit and vomit. Later, I heard that practicing boxing was good for health, so I researched various Internal Martial Arts online, pieced them together, and created this kind of boxing. Don't you know, the effect is really good; I haven't vomited since."

"My stomach isn't good either," Wang Zijing's eyes sparkled, "Can you teach me?"

"That won't do; you have to pay tuition."

Wang Zijing said pitifully, "I don't have money."

"Then I won't teach you." Qin Ze refused outright. The Energy Cultivation Manual required the System to guide the qi sensation; others would learn the moves in vain.

"Okay." Wang Zijing said regretfully, her smile undiminished, not getting angry because of it.

Qin Ze admired her. This older sister was generous and had high emotional intelligence, making it a pleasure to be around her. If it were Qin Baobao, she would have thrown a tantrum. Qin Baobao's rule of conduct: the younger brother's things are the older sister's, and the older sister's things are still the older sister's.

Qin Ze and Wang Zijing returned together, bypassing the "dancing" aunties. Wang Zijing was drenched in sweat, wiping it off constantly with a towel, her hair sticking to her cheeks, her face flushed, charming and moving.

"Qin Ze, Baobao said you're interning now, right?"

"Yeah. Interning for a year, then graduating."

"Did you submit your resume?"

"No, I don't want to intern for the time being; I'm resting at home."

Wang Zijing pursed her lips and smiled, "Baobao said you were lazy, and I didn't believe it. I thought someone who could write songs and cook so well couldn't possibly be lazy. Now I believe it, but I think Baobao is wrong. You're not lazy; you're... lacking motivation."

Qin Ze chuckled, "Why don't you just say I'm not thinking of making progress? No need to be so euphemistic."

Wang Zijing giggled, "Just saving you some face."

"Actually, I've been ordinary since I was a kid, unlike Qin Baobao, who has excellent grades. Every parent-teacher conference, my Old Man was beaming with pride. So the Old Man often said to me: If you were half as smart as Baobao, I would laugh in my dreams. I also think I'm very average, nothing outstanding, just a mediocre person. A mediocre person should have a mediocre lifestyle. Being in the limelight has nothing to do with me. I just need to be safe and sound, and that's enough. Anyway, everyone thinks I'm mediocre and won't place high hopes on me," Qin Ze said with a smile.

Wang Zijing nodded, with a smile on her face.

Qin Ze glanced at her, "At this time, shouldn't you be encouraging me and praising me with deep affection, taking the opportunity to open my heart? The plot of 'Bestie's younger brother secretly loves me' is so interesting."

Wang Zijing was amused by him and giggled, her body shaking.

She smiled, her eyes carrying a hint of reproach: "I'm not that familiar with you."

Qin Ze chuckled, his eyes catching sight of an electric scooter speeding up behind him, heading straight for Wang Zijing.

"Careful."

He placed his palm on Wang Zijing's shoulder, and with the other hand, he naturally wrapped it around her waist, exerting force suddenly, causing Wang Zijing to crash into his arms.

The electric scooter sped past, still grazing Wang Zijing's calf. She groaned softly in pain.

The guy on the electric scooter glanced back, and upon realizing that nothing major had happened, he turned his head and sped away.

"In a hurry to be reborn, you little devil." Qin Ze cursed at his back.

Life in big cities is fast-paced, and the desire to rush to work is understandable, but one shouldn't recklessly charge around, harming oneself and others.

Hu City's subway has been built for so many years, and accidents often occur, all because of rushing and overcrowding. Later, safety barriers and glass doors were added to the platforms, and the situation improved.

Helping Wang Zijing to sit down by the roadside, Qin Ze rolled up her trouser leg, revealing a fair and tender calf with a scraped wound, oozing crimson blood.

Qin Ze breathed a sigh of relief: "Luckily, luckily, a little iodine, and it'll heal in three to five days." After saying that, he cursed: "If he had injured you, I'd have shown him what's what."

Wang Zijing gently pulled down her trouser leg, smiling: "My bestie's younger brother isn't even secretly in love with me yet, and you're already thinking about 'falling in love with my bestie's older sister'?"

"You saw right through me." Qin Ze chuckled, his understanding of Wang Zijing deepening, generous, appropriate, naturally familiar, not pretentious, not overly reserved, and able to take a joke.

Why say not overly reserved, rather than not reserved at all? There was still some reservation; she didn't let Qin Ze touch her calf.

Qin Ze went out of his way to buy a bottle of iodine for Wang Zijing, which Wang Zijing paid for herself, not giving Qin Ze a chance. They bought steamed buns, soy milk, and fried dough sticks from a breakfast shop, and when they returned home, Qin Baobao was already awake. Seeing the two of them returning together, she was half scrutinizing and half suspicious: "What were you two doing?"

"Jogging." Wang Zijing smiled, placing the breakfast on the table, and turned to go into the bathroom for a shower.