"Couple" Day Trip

After finishing the lunch Qin Ze made, Wang Zijing rubbed her slightly swollen belly. Her appetite should have been poor; every time her period came, she felt listless and had a poor appetite. But Qin Ze's cooking skills changed her usual 颓废, and she ate two large bowls of rice. She felt much more energetic.

She grumbled inwardly that Qin Ze's cooking was too delicious, while envying Qin Baobao for having a "dedicated chef."

After the meal, Wang Zijing and Qin Ze went for a walk. Qin Ze pointed to the ubiquitous shared bikes on the roadside and suggested, "Let's ride bikes around town."

Wang Zijing was immediately tempted. After many years, she hadn't toured Hu City in a long time.

"How do you use these bikes?"

"You scan the QR code with your phone, download the app, pay a deposit, and then you can ride. It costs one yuan each time," Qin Ze said. "Shared bikes are very popular, a favorite of many office workers. They ride them to the subway station every morning. I occasionally ride a bike to school too."

Wang Zijing bit her lip and shook her head, "Let's forget it, I don't have any money."

Qin Ze was speechless, "Are you serious? You don't even have a hundred yuan?"

Wang Zijing nodded pitifully.

Qin Ze didn't quite believe it, but he wouldn't press the issue. He had that much emotional intelligence.

"I'll send you a red envelope," Qin Ze said.

Wang Zijing wanted to say, You can give me a ride. Her eyes flickered, and she saw that the shared bike was just a bike, without a seat for carrying passengers. She pursed her lips, "Okay, I'll pay you back when I have money."

The two of them rode their bikes, aimlessly wandering the streets of the big city. Qin Ze, considering her period, deliberately slowed down. As a result, they only reached PuDong after riding for more than an hour.

Both of them were covered in sweat and stopped by the roadside to drink water.

As the largest financial center in the country, Hu City's core is PuDong. And LuJiaZui is the core of PuDong. The Oriental Pearl Tower is located here. When Qin Ze was in elementary school, the school organized a spring outing to the Oriental Pearl Tower. Back then, it was the city's signature building, but now it's outdated. The Global Financial Center was completed in 2008, replacing its position in SH. Foreigners visiting SH for tourism always choose the Oriental Pearl Tower, but locals don't care to come.

Wang Zijing pointed to the current tallest building in SH, excitedly asking, "What's that building? It didn't exist when I was in high school in Hu City."

"SH Center Building," Qin Ze squinted, gazing at the unparalleled high-rise. "It was completed in 2016. At that time, Qin Baobao was still working at the CDB Building. I came here a few times. It was different every day, built so fast. Now it's the tallest building in SH, second in the world."

The SH Center Building is the tallest building in SH, standing in LuJiaZui in a three-legged stance with JinMao and the Global Financial Center, with a very modern and fashionable atmosphere.

Wang Zijing nodded excitedly, "Shall we go in and take a look?"

Qin Ze hesitated, "It requires a ticket, and it's very expensive."

Wang Zijing tilted her head, her dark eyes fixed on him.

Qin Ze's mouth twitched, "Okay, I haven't been there either. Let's just broaden our horizons. It's the highest sightseeing platform in SH, after all."

After the Center Building was completed last year, Qin Baobao once dragged him to play, but at that time, it only accepted internal testing sightseeing tickets and was not open to the public. Later, he came again at the end of the year, but the endless crowds made the siblings' scalps tingle, so they never got to play.

Wang Zijing showed a brilliant smile.

Even though it wasn't a holiday, the number of tourists in the Center Building was shockingly high. Qin Ze waited in line for at least half an hour before finally buying sightseeing tickets.

They entered a spacious and luxurious elevator, which traveled at a speed of 18 meters per second, reaching the 121st-floor observation hall at a height of 561 meters in less than a minute. As they poured out of the elevator, Wang Zijing whispered in Qin Ze's ear, "The staff's English is terrible."

"Better than mine," Qin Ze laughed.

Next, the two were shocked by the magnificent scenery before them. The entire PDX District was in full view, the Huangpu River flowed quietly, and ships passed by endlessly. JinMao, the Global Financial Center, and the Oriental Pearl Tower were all under their feet. The previously unattainable skyscrapers seemed like paper toys, stretching to the end of their vision.

Wang Zijing excitedly took pictures, pulling Qin Ze to take selfies together. The two leaned their heads together, smiling brightly.

Wang Zijing pulled Qin Ze to the glass curtain wall, with a height of more than 500 meters below them. She noticed that Qin Ze's face was stiff and his legs were a little shaky, and blinked, "Are you afraid of heights?"

Qin Ze nodded with a stiff face.

Wang Zijing immediately burst into laughter, bending over.

Wang Zijing laughed until tears streamed down her face, ignoring a certain someone's resentful gaze, and said softly, "I want to hear you sing 'Borrowing Five Hundred Years from Heaven'."

Qin Ze said unhappily, "Not in the mood."

Wang Zijing smiled lightly, "Hold my hand, sister."

So Qin Ze grasped her soft little hand and cautiously approached the glass curtain wall.

"Sing."

Qin Ze, with a slightly trembling voice, finished singing "Borrowing Five Hundred Years from Heaven."

Wang Zijing started laughing again.

Afterward, they went to the Science and Technology Museum to experience free VR. The game types were limited, with only "High-Altitude Single-Plank Bridge." It involved extending a single-plank bridge from a building hundreds of meters high. People walking on it could experience the thrilling sensation of "one wrong step leading to eternal regret." Qin Ze, who had a fear of heights, refused to try it no matter what. Wang Zijing, who had never played VR games, enthusiastically put on the VR glasses and walked on a wooden plank while Qin Ze stood by and watched.

From an outsider's perspective, it was just an ordinary wooden plank, but in the eyes of the person experiencing it, there was a height of hundreds of meters below. The 3D effect was particularly realistic.

Wang Zijing walked on the single-plank bridge with trepidation. Even though it was flat ground, she swayed from side to side, as if she would fall at any moment. She slowly walked to the center of the plank, then carefully knelt down and crawled forward along the plank. Qin Ze glanced at the display screen. At this moment, Wang Zijing was slowly crawling towards the end of the plank, with a height of hundreds of meters below the end, surrounded by clouds and mist, and distant streets.

Qin Ze was wickedly mischievous and gave her a push from behind just as she was crawling to the end. Wang Zijing immediately rolled off the plank. The girl let out a piercing scream, curled up, and didn't dare to move, only screaming louder and louder.

In her vision, she was falling straight down from a height of hundreds of meters.

"Hahaha..."

The people around laughed.

Qin Ze laughed so hard he bent over.

The staff came over to help Wang Zijing remove the VR glasses, with a teasing smile on their faces.

"Qin Ze, you're too bad," Wang Zijing, such a dignified and generous girl, chased Qin Ze all the way, hitting him, from the 121st floor to the 119th floor.

"I was wrong, I was wrong..." Qin Ze begged for mercy, standing still and letting her pinch him a few times.

"Baobao was right, you're just a scoundrel."

"Aren't you not afraid of heights? Hahaha..."

"But you can't, can't push me off the building. It was so scary." Wang Zijing recalled the thrilling experience just now, still feeling lingering fear, with tears in the corners of her eyes, and pinched Qin Ze a few more times, turning his arms blue.

Despite the bruises on his arms, Qin Ze still had to secretly praise Wang Zijing's good temper. If it were Qin Baobao, she would definitely be crying and having a real PK with him right now.

Forgot to mention, Qin Baobao also has a fear of heights.

"Hmph!" Wang Zijing glared, "I'm punishing you to treat me. I want to drink coffee."

There was a Western restaurant on the 119th floor. The two ordered coffee for thirty yuan a cup, sat by the glass curtain wall, drinking coffee, and admiring the vast and magnificent scenery.

"Don't you feel like you've escaped a disaster?" Qin Ze said with a smile.

"You're still talking," Wang Zijing took a sip of coffee, indignant.

"This is called reasonable venting. Don't always keep your worries in your heart. It's not good for your health and can lead to depression."

"How do you know I have something on my mind?" Wang Zijing narrowed her eyes.

"You came to Hu City to rely on Qin Baobao for no reason, and you don't have a penny. Tissue-sister, you're a woman with a story."

Wang Zijing held her forehead: "It's Zijing, not Tissue. Can't you SH people distinguish between alveolar and retroflex consonants? Baobao gave me the nickname 'Tissue' because she can't distinguish them."

"Hey, you're right," Qin Ze nodded: "The accents are like this throughout the coastal area, especially ZJ, where there's no distinction between alveolar and retroflex consonants at all. But we're used to it ourselves."

"Your sister will let you in on a secret," Wang Zijing said mysteriously, "I ran away from home."

"I'd believe Qin Baobao ran away from home, but not you."

"My family is forcing me to marry, the kind of evil arranged marriage. Of course, I didn't agree, so I had a big fight with my family and packed my things and left." Wang Zijing's tone was a little low: "They froze my credit cards and bank cards."

"Wait, wait." Qin Ze stroked his chin: "Your family is arranging a marriage for you, you don't agree, and they freeze your finances... Tissue-sister, are you sure you're not talking about a scene from a novel?"

Wang Zijing said dejectedly, "It's true."

"Don't be silly, what era is this, still arranging marriages? Even if it's an arranged marriage, why freeze your credit cards and bank cards? Oh, is the bank owned by your family? Your family said freeze..." Qin Ze was suddenly startled.

Wang Zijing hummed: "My great-grandfather fought in the War of Resistance, and my grandfather fought in the Liberation War. My dad is an official, freezing my bank cards and credit cards is just a phone call away for him. He just wants to use underhanded methods to force me to submit, what a joke."

Qin Ze swallowed: "Does your family live in a courtyard house in BJ?"

Wang Zijing nodded: "I lived there when I was a child, but not anymore, I live..."

Qin Ze swallowed again: "ZhongNanHai?"

"What?" Wang Zijing looked at him amusedly: "My grandfather still lives in the courtyard house, the old man is nostalgic. We moved out and lived on our own a long time ago."

Qin Ze almost knelt down and said: Heroine, please accept my knees.

"Sister Zijing... I hope it's okay for me to call you that, it's not offensive, is it? Does Qin Baobao know?"

Wang Zijing supported her cheek: "She should have an idea in her heart. When my dad was the mayor of Hu City, I came here to study in high school. She knows, but she didn't ask in detail, and I didn't say."

Qin Ze felt a thunderbolt strike his forehead. The sister in front of him was a genuine, pure-blooded second-generation Red.

Heavens!

"Tissue-sister, in your BJ, is there something like the Four Young Masters of BJ?"

"Pfft..." Wang Zijing almost spat a mouthful of coffee on his face, coughing with laughter: "Qin Ze, have you been reading too many novels?"

"Is it ugly?"

"Yes, yes, yes. There are also the Four Beauties of BJ, the Ten Great Families, and the Three Ancient Martial Arts Sects. Now, there just happens to be a young man of unknown origin and unclear lineage who has emerged out of nowhere, flaunting his power in BJ, slapping the faces of the Four Young Masters of BJ, overturning the Three Ancient Martial Arts Sects. Some of the Ten Great Families hate him to the bone, while others are trying every means to recruit him. The Four Beauties have all been taken into his harem, singing and dancing every night. In short, the situation is chaotic, with undercurrents surging. A small fry like me on the edge of the storm is so scared that I came to Hu City to avoid the limelight."

Qin Ze was still afraid: "So BJ is so chaotic."

Wang Zijing laughed so hard that she slid under the table.