Bestie Fell in Love with Me

The next day, six o'clock.

After summer vacation began, Qin Ze had pushed his morning exercise schedule back from five-thirty to six. There was no need for life to move at such a frantic pace.

From the bathroom came the sound of running water and toothbrushing. The door was half-open.

Qin Ze did not even need to guess that Wang Zijing was inside. Qin Baobao was the sort of lazy person who would cling to her blankets for even one extra second, always insisting that lack of sleep made women age faster.

He sat in the living room, opened the points exchange store, and browsed through the categories.

He currently had 400 points.

It was neither much nor little. It was enough to exchange for some minor skills, but not enough for skills from an entire system. Take stock trading, for example. Stock trading was a profound field, broadly divided into "technical analysis" and "fundamental analysis," requiring extensive knowledge across many industries. Therefore, the points exchange store did not offer stock-trading skills.

Some said China's stock market had no such thing as technical analysis. That was reasonable, but not entirely true. The stock market was a game of competition. Market Makers used every possible method to devour retail investors and rivals on their level, while retail investors tried everything to snatch scraps from the Market Makers' teeth. But retail investors could never be a match for Market Makers. For example, Market Makers could bribe the media to promote positive news, lure retail investors into the market, then dump their own stocks at high prices. Those retail investors who got trapped were called bag holders.

Besides that, there was an invisible black hand manipulating the stock market from behind the scenes. That black hand was invincible. It roamed the market, raking in enormous profits. Before it, every institution was merely a retail investor.

This June, the black hand had begun moving again. The previously lukewarm stock market had risen by several hundred points in just one month.

That was why Qin Ze had begun following the market, hoping to trail behind that black hand and drink a little soup, though he was also prepared to get burned by it.

Qin Ze had a special attachment to the stock market. The Qin family had once gone through a difficult period and had even sold one of the houses that Shanghai City locals regarded as their lifeblood. Later, Old Man had maneuvered brilliantly through the stock market and made his first fortune, helping the family pull through. Old Mom and his sister practically worshipped Old Man.

At the time, Qin Ze had been reading history. Looking at Old Dad, whom the two women in the family admired so much, he recalled what Xiang Yu had said when he saw Qin Shi Huang on parade: "He can be replaced."

Wang Zijing emerged from the bathroom and saw Qin Ze sitting on the sofa in a daze. She paused, then smiled in greeting. "You're up so early?"

"Getting up early to exercise. I saw Zi Jin Jie washing up, so I sat here and waited."

"You're going out for a run too?"

"Too?"

Qin Ze and Wang Zijing exchanged a smile. "Let's go together."

Qin Ze led Wang Zijing on a light jog toward a nearby park. At six-thirty, the sky was fully bright. Cars sped by, and people heading to work had already left home.

Wang Zijing wore a white tracksuit, her long straight black hair tied into a ponytail. She was bursting with energy, with a towel draped around her neck.

Qin Ze wore a cheap tracksuit worth a hundred yuan, something Qin Baobao had casually bought for him during a mall promotion.

"We only have an hour," Qin Ze said with a smile, turning to look at her.

Wang Zijing gazed at him, blinked, and asked curiously, "Why?"

"Because after seven o'clock, the park belongs to the aunties doing square dances."

Wang Zijing burst out laughing.

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

Half an hour later, Qin Ze stopped.

Wang Zijing stopped with him, tilted her head, and asked teasingly, "Can't go on?"

Qin Ze smiled. He remembered a saying: A man could not say he couldn't do it. Even if he couldn't, he still had to make it work.

Naturally, he would not say something so corny and vulgar. Saying it would cost him points in a girl's eyes. Yet so many immature men loved showing off in front of girls, trying to make themselves seem different. In fact, based on Qin Ze's abundant theoretical knowledge, one should never casually show off in front of girls, because it was easy to end up looking like an idiot.

So Qin Ze shook his head and smiled. "I'm saving half an hour to practice martial arts."

Practice martial arts?

Wang Zijing stared at him suspiciously for a moment, then gave an "Oh." "Then I'll keep running by myself."

Qin Ze watched her slowly receding figure, rubbed his nose, and thought that it seemed he had accidentally failed at showing off and made himself look like an idiot instead.

He stepped onto the grass at the side, closed his eyes, slightly curved his spine, spread his legs, and let his body follow his qi, his qi follow his intent.

His hands encircled his Dantian, a large circle covering a smaller one. Before long, he felt a warm current surge from his Dantian and flow through his limbs with his movements. It was somewhat like the legendary sensation of circulating qi through the heavenly cycle.

The system said that the Energy Cultivation Manual only required one hour of practice a day; doing more brought no additional benefit. It was like studying: burying one's head in books was not necessarily good. Human learning capacity and training capacity both had limits.

Qin Ze was interrupted once again by the energetic music of the square-dancing aunties. He opened his eyes, which were bright and clear, his vitality restrained within.

Wang Zijing stood prettily on the stone path, studying him with curious and astonished eyes.

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

Qin Ze pondered for a moment. "You could say it's Internal Martial Arts. It's not Tai Chi. Strictly speaking, it doesn't belong to any school. I just came up with it myself."

"I don't believe you," Wang Zijing said bluntly.

"When I was little, my stomach was weak. Whenever I exercised, I'd throw up again and again. Later, I heard that practicing martial arts could improve one's health, so I researched all kinds of Internal Martial Arts online, pieced together bits and pieces, and created this style. And surprisingly, it worked really well. I haven't thrown up since."

"My stomach is weak too." Wang Zijing's eyes sparkled. "Can you teach me?"

"No, you have to pay tuition."

Wang Zijing looked pitiful. "I don't have any money."

"Then I won't teach you." Qin Ze refused without hesitation. The Energy Cultivation Manual required the system to guide one's sense of qi. If others merely learned the movements, it would be useless.

"Alright." Wang Zijing sounded regretful, but her smile did not fade, nor did she get angry over it.

Qin Ze admired her greatly. This older sister was graceful and open-minded, with high emotional intelligence. Being around her felt like a spring breeze. If it had been Qin Baobao, she would have started acting unruly. Qin Baobao's principle was: whatever belonged to her little brother belonged to his older sister, and whatever belonged to his older sister still belonged to his older sister.

Qin Ze and Wang Zijing headed back together, circling around the aunties "dancing gracefully." Wang Zijing was drenched in fragrant sweat, wiping herself again and again with her towel. Strands of hair clung to her cheeks, her face flushed, making her look charming and alluring.

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

"Yeah. One year of internship, then graduation."

"Have you sent out your résumé?"

"No. I don't plan to intern for now. I'm resting at home."

Wang Zijing pursed her lips and smiled. "Bao Bao said you were lazy, and I didn't believe her. I thought, how could someone who writes songs and cooks so well possibly be lazy? Now I believe her, but I think she got it wrong. You're not lazy, you're... lacking motivation."

Qin Ze snorted with laughter. "You might as well just say I have no ambition. No need to put it so tactfully."

Wang Zijing giggled. "I had to leave you some dignity."

"Actually, I've been ordinary since I was little. Unlike Qin Baobao, who always got excellent grades. At every parent-teacher meeting, Old Man was so proud. So he often told me, 'If you were half as smart as Bao Bao, I'd wake up laughing from my dreams.' I thought I was pretty average too. Nothing remarkable, just a mediocre person. Mediocre people should live mediocre lives. Standing out has nothing to do with me. As long as I behave myself, that's enough. Anyway, everyone thinks I'm ordinary, so they won't place high expectations on me." Qin Ze smiled as he spoke.

Wang Zijing nodded with a smile.

Qin Ze glanced at her. "At a time like this, shouldn't you encourage and praise me tenderly? Take the chance to open up my heart. A plot like 'my best friend's little brother has a crush on me' would be pretty interesting."

Wang Zijing was so amused by him that she giggled uncontrollably, her body trembling like a flower in the wind.

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

Qin Ze laughed. Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw an electric scooter speeding toward them from behind, heading straight for Wang Zijing.

"Watch out."

He placed one hand on Wang Zijing's shoulder, wrapped his other arm around her waist, and pulled sharply. Wang Zijing crashed headfirst into his chest.

The electric scooter sped past, but it still grazed Wang Zijing's calf. She let out a pained moan.

The rider turned around to look. Seeing that nothing serious had happened, he turned his head back and sped away.

"Rushing off to reincarnate, Little Devil?" Qin Ze shouted angrily at his back.

Life in a big city moved quickly, and it was understandable to be in a hurry for work, but that did not mean one could charge around recklessly and endanger others and oneself.

Since the Shanghai City subway had been built, accidents had frequently occurred because people rushed for time and crowded against one another. Only after safety railings and glass doors were installed on the platforms did things improve.

Qin Ze helped Wang Zijing sit by the roadside and rolled up her pant leg. Her fair calf had been scraped, and bright red blood was seeping out.

Qin Ze let out a breath of relief. "Good, good. Put some iodine on it, and it'll heal in three to five days." Then he cursed, "If he'd seriously hurt you, I'd show him a beating."

Wang Zijing gently pulled down her pant leg and smiled. "My bestie's little brother hasn't even developed a crush on me yet, and you're already trying to make 'My Sister's bestie Fell in Love with Me' happen?"

"You saw right through me." Qin Ze chuckled. His understanding of Wang Zijing rose another level. She was generous, appropriate, naturally friendly, neither awkward nor excessively reserved, and she could take a joke.

Why say not excessively reserved rather than not reserved at all? Because she was still reserved. She would not let Qin Ze touch her calf.

Qin Ze took a detour to buy Wang Zijing a bottle of iodine, but she paid for it herself, not giving him the chance. They bought small steamed buns, Soy Milk, and fried dough sticks from a breakfast shop. When they returned home, Qin Baobao was already up. Seeing the two return together, she looked half-scrutinizing and half-confused. "What were you two doing?"

"Running." Wang Zijing smiled as she set the breakfast on the table, then turned and went into the bathroom to shower.