The Four Young Masters of the Capital, the Four Great Beauties, Ancient Martial Arts Sects, the Ten Great Families—of course, Qin Ze and Wang Zijing had just been joking around. China belonged to the Party, not to families. There were no such badass, all-powerful clans.
In short, the "circulation" of power was an unspoken rule of the Party. Anyone who wanted to turn the country into a family inheritance could never succeed.
There was an old saying: wealth did not last beyond three generations. Likewise, neither did power.
Here, "not beyond three generations" meant gradual decline, not losing all power after the third generation.
Qin Ze and Wang Zijing left the SH Center Building. It was already half past five. Wang Zijing was feeling unwell and did not have the strength to ride a bicycle home, so Qin Ze took her on the bus. After an hour and a half of winding around, they finally got home.
That evening, Qin Ze looked up what women should eat during their periods, then cooked a relatively light meal. Of course, Qin Baobao's main dish, "chicken stew with mushrooms," could not be left out.
At the dinner table, Qin Baobao moved her chopsticks at lightning speed, her cheeks puffed out. It was delicious beyond words.
Qin Ze criticized her. "Sis, don't eat so disgracefully."
Qin Baobao tilted her head and made a face at him, then continued eating exactly as she pleased.
After dinner, Wang Zijing went into the bathroom to wipe herself down. She could not shower, take a bath, or wash her hair. Women really were troublesome.
Qin Baobao sat on her chair with her knees hugged to her chest, picking through the leftovers with her chopsticks. "Tsk, tsk, so thoughtful. Knowing your tissue-paper sister is on her great aunt, you really put some effort into this table of food."
Her tone was teasing, but her sweet, fair face was expressionless, and her beautiful, lively phoenix eyes were equally calm.
Qin Ze smiled. "I couldn't exactly keep feeding her rich food."
"Zijing said you went to the SH Center Building today?"
"Yeah."
"Was it fun?"
"Not bad. You could look down on all the mountains below. The view was nice."
Qin Baobao said sourly, "That's fate, isn't it? We went twice and never got to have fun there."
Qin Ze replied perfunctorily, "We can go next time too."
He lowered his head to look at the day's market index on his phone and study the sectors that had hit their daily limit.
After a long silence, Qin Baobao suddenly asked, "Are you trying to pursue Wang Zijing?"
"Not for now," Qin Ze thought. You don't know that your bestie is some official's daughter from the capital, do you?
He added, "But I do quite like your bestie."
Qin Ze and his sister had always talked about everything. He did not hide his thoughts from her.
Qin Baobao gave an "oh" and said gloomily, "Want your sister to help you?"
Qin Ze looked up at her. "Let nature take its course. Some other day, compile Zijing Jie's hobbies, habits, and so on, and send me a guide."
To Qin Ze, it was perfectly normal for his sister to help him pursue a girlfriend. Was a bestie closer than a younger brother?
Qin Baobao did not answer. She quietly watched Qin Ze as he lowered his head and played with his phone. His brows were sharp, his face handsome. For no reason at all, she felt melancholy. It was like the sense of crisis one felt when a son one had painstakingly raised—no, a younger brother—was about to be stolen away by another woman.
Qin Ze raised his head in surprise. "What's wrong?"
Qin Baobao came back to herself and instinctively lashed out. "Your Zijing Jie is an artsy young woman. She definitely won't be interested in you. Even though I said I'd help, you should give up on something so hopeless."
Qin Ze froze and stroked his chin thoughtfully. "An artsy young woman..."
He stared blankly ahead, apparently lost in thought.
Qin Baobao only felt a wave of bitterness rise in her heart. Before, he would definitely have snapped back at her. But now all his thoughts and attention were on Wang Zijing. And he had even said "not for now" and "let nature take its course."
What a load of crap.
July 13 was the day I Am A Singer premiered. As one of the hottest variety shows at the moment, it had an enormous fanbase.
At one in the afternoon, Qin Ze and Wang Zijing returned from a walk after lunch and opened the laptop to go online. Several news apps continuously pushed news about I Am A Singer. The publicity department had done plenty of groundwork. The online comments were lively too:
"Ahhh, it's starting, it's starting!"
"So excited, so excited!"
"I've waited a whole year."
"The singers from the previous season were all very capable. Even if they weren't famous or had already faded from popularity, their singing skills were incredible, and the song arrangements were great too."
"I wonder which singers they invited this season."
"As long as a song appears on I Am A Singer, it can basically rank in the top ten on Music Billboard. It's been a long time since I found a song I really liked. Can't wait, can't wait."
"A feast for the ears. See you tonight at nine-thirty on Dragon TV."
"I'll play a few rounds first, then watch the show after. Manual funny face."
"TM, what a trash show. It's nothing but rearrangements. No original songs at all? Total garbage. And yet so many people worship it. The most speechless part is that the guests are either washed-up or third- and fourth-rate. Can't they invite a pretty girl?"
Replies below read: "OP is an idiot. Bye, OP."
"If you don't like it, then get lost. No one is forcing you to watch."
"China's overall quality is so low because of haters like you."
"Looking to get cursed out?"
"MDZZ."
"You need a 250 IQ card."
"It's true there aren't any beauties. After all, not every beautiful woman can sing. But do you think original songs are that easy? Do classics just appear whenever you want them to? Rearranging songs is already very difficult."
"Seeing so many people cursing you out puts my mind at ease."
"Who says there are no beauties? Isn't host Yin Jia beautiful?"
"People like OP deserve to be cursed out."
"I have an mmp to say, but I don't know if I should."
Qin Ze looked away from the screen and asked Wang Zijing, "Qin Baobao finished recording several days ago, but she hasn't given us any hints. Did she get eliminated or not?"
Wang Zijing spent all day watching dramas. She reluctantly raised her head and said with a smile, "You know Bao Bao's temper. If she'd been eliminated, she would definitely take it out on the two of us."
Qin Ze laughed. "That's true."
At seven-thirty that evening, Qin Baobao came home from work, kicked off her high heels, and hurriedly said, "Quick, turn on the TV."
Wang Zijing scolded gently, "Put your slippers on first."
As she spoke, she got up and turned on the television.
"Eh, Bao Bao, why won't the TV turn on?" Wang Zijing pressed the remote for ages, but the LCD screen was completely blue, with no picture.
Qin Baobao slipped into her slippers and hurried over with a clatter. She fiddled with the TV for a long time, unplugging it and plugging it back in, restarting the signal receiver, but the TV was stubbornly dead set on keeping its blue screen.
"What the hell? It was fine a few days ago. It lets us down at the critical moment, just like Qin Ze." Qin Baobao got angry, her slender brows shooting upward.
Qin Ze was sitting on the sofa studying stock trading knowledge. Hearing that, he protested, "Hey, hey, you're pinning the TV's problems on me too? Isn't that too much?"
"Then come fix the TV." Qin Baobao raised her pointed chin.
"I didn't study electromechanical repair." Qin Ze expressed his helplessness. With the system, he was undoubtedly an all-around genius. One Skill Book could solve the problem. But he would not exchange one just to "fix the TV for his sister." Missions were not easy to come by, and neither were points. He had to cherish them while he could.
"Then was I wrong? Was I wrong?" Qin Baobao marched over aggressively and vented her frustration by viciously pinching Qin Ze's arm.
The siblings launched into an intense martial battle on the sofa. As expected, Qin Ze won a decisive victory. He twisted both of his sister's wrists behind her back and pinned her to the sofa. His sister flopped around like a fish, but it was useless.
"Qin Ze, let go! I forgive you!" Qin Baobao yelled.
"Pfft. I'm the one who doesn't forgive you."
"Zijing, come save me."
Wang Zijing watched the commotion from the side, giggling as she repeatedly waved her hands. "I'm not getting involved in your family business."
"If you don't save me, I'll spill all your secrets," Qin Baobao threatened.
"I don't have any secrets."
"Are you sure?"
Wang Zijing carefully thought it over, then looked at Qin Ze with limpid eyes and said softly, "How about sparing your sister's life?"
"Fine." Qin Ze gave her face and released his sister's hands.
Qin Baobao rubbed her wrists, shot him a vicious glare, then looked at Wang Zijing. She sat forlornly in the corner of the sofa, wearing a desolate, heartbroken expression as she pretended to complain, "A father's love and a mother's love can't compare to a wife's love. A brother's love and a sister's love can't compare to a wife's love."
Qin Ze muttered, "Psycho."
Wang Zijing covered her mouth and smiled.
With the TV on strike, they could only wait for the online version at midnight. Though it would be more than two hours late, online viewership should not be underestimated. Who still watched television these days?
Qin Ze was energetic enough to stay up all night without a problem. Qin Baobao, whose routine was normally very regular, grew drowsy. At first, she hugged a pillow and squinted. Then her head kept tilting, tilting, until it rested on Qin Ze's shoulder.
Wang Zijing was in much the same state. She wanted to sleep too, but this was her bestie's premiere show in her entertainment career. She could not exactly yawn and head back to her room to sleep. So she endured it at the side, nearly resting her head on Qin Ze's shoulder several times before forcefully stopping herself at the edge of the cliff. She was not Qin Baobao. Qin Baobao could openly kiss Qin Ze.
She could not do that.
Qin Ze wrapped an arm around his sister's slender waist, breathing in her faint fragrance as he quietly waited for time to pass.
At midnight, the online version began.
Wang Zijing perked up and sat upright.
Qin Baobao was awakened by her younger brother. Her eyes were red, and the shimmering light in them reflected the glow of the computer screen.
"It's starting, it's starting." She said it delightedly.
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