Friends

"Open up, open up! Time to get up!"

Before Fu Qian could respond, the person outside was already shouting. It was Qin Mingze's voice.

Fu Qian cast a lingering glance at his noodles, then got up to open the door.

Besides Young Master Qin, who had visited yesterday, there was also a harmless-looking young man in his twenties.

The two men silently exchanged a look with Fu Qian as he opened the door.

"Have you been this free lately, Young Master Qin? Did you lose your job?"

Fu Qian looked at Qin Mingze expressionlessly.

"Lose my job, my ass. It's Saturday! Xiao Yu and I came over to hang out."

Qin Mingze nearly spat all over Fu Qian's face. He pushed the door open and squeezed his way inside.

Classmate Xiao Yu smiled helplessly, greeted Fu Qian, and followed him in.

Classmate Xiao Yu's full name was Wu Qingyu. He was also an old friend of Fu Qian's, a friend they shared with Qin Mingze.

Twenty-four-year-old Wu Qingyu was a student at a prestigious medical school, currently doing his internship. Apparently, he was being worked to the bone, with his days and nights all running together. Fu Qian hadn't seen him for a month or two.

Ugh!

Qin Mingze rushed all the way into the living room and plopped down on the sofa, letting out a satisfied groan.

"Nothing beats lying down like this. My neck's been acting up these past couple of days."

Wu Qingyu was even more dramatic. The moment he touched the sofa, he stretched out and didn't move.

"Spill it. You two didn't come all the way over just to mooch off my sofa."

Fu Qian glanced at the noodles on the table.

"Make it quick. I haven't eaten yet."

"You're eating that?"

Qin Mingze looked at the table, his face full of horror.

"Forget it. Xiao Yu and I brought some food. Grab something from the bag."

Wu Qingyu, still sprawled out, listlessly handed over a bag.

"Nothing's going on. Xiao Yu and I both happened to have the day off, and he said it'd been ages since he'd seen you, so we came to hang out. Our weekend get-togethers have been on hold for way too long."

Qin Mingze explained without batting an eye.

Qin Mingze and Wu Qingyu were among the few people who ever came to Fu Qian's place.

Once upon a time, Fu Qian had been a sunny, outstanding student.

With his exceptional intelligence, for a long time he'd been the "other people's kid" parents loved to talk about, and the nightmare of countless classmates.

But after his parents died in an accident when he was ten, Fu Qian's personality changed completely. As he put it, he'd seen through it all.

After spending several months pondering the meaning of life, he promptly kicked words like studies, socializing, the future, romance, and career out of his vocabulary. He'd grown into the person he was today.

Naturally, he'd ended up with few friends. These days, his social circle basically consisted of Qin Mingze and Wu Qingyu.

"You have the day off today?"

Fu Qian looked at Wu Qingyu, who was sprawled out like a boneless heap. Wu Qingyu gave a grunt to confirm.

"Didn't you say you were so busy you could barely breathe, with no time off at all?"

"I am busy!"

Wu Qingyu pulled a pillow over his face, his voice sounding like a sleep-talker.

"Running errands, night shifts, putting labels on things, and whenever I get a little time off, I still have to write papers. I even dream about papers now... So I came over to unwind."

"Right? Bring out your console and let's play. It's been ages, and I'm itching to get back to it."

Qin Mingze patted Fu Qian.

It was worth mentioning that although Fu Qian often didn't know where his next meal was coming from, he had a full set of gaming equipment at home and made sure to keep it up to date. For instance, the reason he'd been eating dirt lately was that he'd just bought the latest game console.

As for why, well, as someone who'd given up on ambition, Fu Qian had plenty of free time. Gaming was a great way to get a dopamine hit.

At the same time, writing text for indie games was one of his sources of income. As Fu Qian put it, you had to understand the context in which your work would be used; doing a little research was important.

"What are we playing today?"

Young Master Qin rubbed his hands together, the most excited of the three.

These days, video games were an essential topic of conversation for young single men.

The three of them had played countless games together. With his professional training giving him nimble fingers, Wu Qingyu had always been head and shoulders above the others.

But Fu Qian was no longer the man he'd once been. His control over his body had reached an unbelievable level.

Fu Qian beat the two of them mercilessly without changing expression. In the end, Qin Mingze flew into a rage and kicked him out of the game.

"Any progress on your latest career plan?"

As he trounced the still half-asleep Wu Qingyu, Qin Mingze asked as casually as he could.

"It's only been one day."

Fu Qian thought, Here it comes at last.

He'd noticed the two of them carefully watching him for a while. At Qin Mingze's question, he switched off the console.

"Come on. What's really going on with you two today?"

Qin and Wu exchanged a look. Finally, Wu Qingyu stammered out an explanation.

"Yesterday, Brother Qin came rushing over and said you seemed a little off. He was worried something was wrong with your health, so he insisted on dragging me over to check on you."

"Xiao Qian."

Qin Mingze looked serious, too.

"I understand how eager you are, but you need to take it slow when you work out. Some shortcuts can seriously harm your health."

Then he turned around.

"He's really okay?"

"I'm confident about that, at least."

Wu Qingyu yawned.

"I don't know how Xiao Qian trained, but he's clearly in great shape. I doubt even ten of me could take him."

"But how did he get in shape so fast? I can't wrap my head around it!"

Qin Mingze looked at Wu Qingyu as if his whole worldview had collapsed. Wu Qingyu merely shrugged.

"Well, actually, I left out a few details yesterday."

Fu Qian was touched that his two good-for-nothing friends had gone out of their way to check on his health, so he decided to come clean about some things.

So there really was more to it!

Qin and Wu immediately sat up straight, their eyes shining.

"I've actually picked up another part-time job lately. It pays pretty well, and working out is just a side benefit."

"Pays pretty well? Is it physical labor?"

Qin and Wu were both taken aback.

"Mostly. I have to use my brain now and then, too, and technique's important."

Qin and Wu stared at him, wide-eyed.

"You must be getting a lot of exercise, then?"

"Not always, but sometimes I have to repeat things over and over, which can be a pain."

"Take care of yourself."

The two of them were speechless.

"Wait a minute."

After a moment of silence, Qin Mingze's expression shifted several times. Suddenly, he stood up and started taking off his clothes.

"Holy crap!"

Wu Qingyu was dumbfounded by the sight and instinctively rubbed his face.

"I'm not awake yet, I'm not awake yet. I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming!"

He rubbed his face for a while, then let out a wail.

"Why am I dreaming about not finishing my paper?!"

"Take off your clothes and put mine on."

Qin Mingze tossed the clothes he'd taken off to Fu Qian.

"What for?"

"Just put them on."

Once Fu Qian was dressed, Qin Mingze pulled out his phone and took several pictures from different angles. When he was done, he snapped his fingers.

"It'd be such a waste not to make use of those muscles. We're about the same height, so I'll just photoshop your head out and replace it with mine. I'll be irresistible to girls."

Fu Qian turned to look at Wu Qingyu.

"If you had this much shamelessness, you'd have finished your paper already."

"...I'll pass."