Translator: Atlas Studios
Editor: Atlas Studios
Knock, knock.
The sound of the door knocking roused Qin Ze from his sleep. Rays of sunlight shone through the screened window, and one could hear the noises of cars speeding by. Qin Ze opened his eyes. He propped himself up with one hand, and the other was pressing hard on his throbbing head. The hangover was giving him a splitting headache, causing his world to spin.
The knocking on the door was still going on, persistent and tiresome like a ghost in pursuit.
“Speak if you have something to report. Otherwise, withdraw yourself from my presence,” Qin Ze said with frustration.
“Your Majesty, this servant is hungry.” A soft pleasant yet raspy voice could be heard coming from the other side of the door.
“Alright, alright,” Qin Ze said weakly with his eyes half-opened as he searched for his clothes at the foot of the bed.
“Please hurry.” The voice outside sounded weak, too.
Qin Ze wore his clothes in a daze. Suddenly, he lost his balance and banged his head against the edge of the bed. His mind went blank. However, in his confusion, he could hear a voice.
“Matching time: 19 June 2017.”
“Matching space: Unknown.”
“Matching host: Lodging matched.”
“Iris locked.”
“DNA locked.”
“Updating automated system.”
What’s that sound?
Qin Ze grimaced as he stood, but his mind became clearer. He walked to the window and drew the curtains back. The warm but glaring sunlight poured in like a tide, causing him to squint. There was a constant stream of cars outside the window. This was a semi-new sub-district completed in 2004. In the distance, high-rise buildings were linked to one another. That was the CBD (Central Business District).
This was the midsummer of June 2017 in Shanghai.
Qin Ze faced the sun without focusing on it. His pupils reflected the constant stream of moving vehicles. It took him a while to remember that it’s Monday.
The living was littered with plates and glasses. Half a pizza from last night was sitting on the dining table. The cake box was empty. Apparently, the twelve-inch margarita strawberry cake was not eaten up but destroyed instead when it was used as ammunition. Besides the leftover food, the dining table was full of all kinds of alcohol like cocktails, beer, liquor, champagne, and baijiu—the strong distilled spirit unavoidable at Chinese social functions. One could build a wall with all those bottles. The floor was covered with confetti which was the aftermath of a full-blown party.
Qin Ze sighed softly. He retrieved the huge trash bag which he had prepared in advance and put the empty bottles in one by one followed by the leftover food. Once that was done, he dragged the trash bag out and placed it in a large trash bin in the corridor. He entered the bathroom feeling exhausted and finally felt alive after showering.
He went into the kitchen calmly. First, he took out the skimmed milk, poured it into a glass, and placed it in the microwave on low heat for two minutes. Next, he fried some eggs and bacon and blanched two slices of lettuce with boiling water. A simple breakfast was ready in less than ten minutes. He brought the food into the living room and placed it on the dining table. There were two portions of everything, which was just nice for two people. He turned and went into the kitchen again. There was half a loaf of bread in the fridge, and it would go well with peanut butter.
Once breakfast was ready, Qin Ze went into the bedroom. It wasn’t his but another’s.
The house was about eighty square meters with two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a balcony with excellent lighting. His parents had bought the place the same year he started primary school. It was located in a school district not far away from the CBD, and the subway was right at its entrance. University Town was two subway stations away. The primary school Qin Ze had attended as a child had relocated several years ago. The value of this house appreciated more than ten folds over the past decade.
Qin Ze was studying at a university in the University Town. His initial plan was to stay in the dorm so that he could experience life on campus. On the first day of school, his lazy older sister took complete responsibility and offered to send him to campus which she had never done before. In the end, she made a quick turn when they were only two traffic lights away from the university and kidnapped him, along with his belongings, to the house in the sub-district.
…
“Hey! This is not the way to the school.”
“Yes.” His beautiful sister stroked her hair. “Let’s put your luggage away before signing up.”
Qin Ze said loudly, “I knew you wouldn’t be this kind-hearted to send me to school without any reason.”
“What’s the big deal about staying in a dorm? There’ll be a bunch of you staying in a crowded and messy place. Isn’t it more cost-effective to stay with me, a gorgeous woman?” his sister said self-righteously.
“Great. Thanks a lot.” Qin Ze’s mouth twitched. “Please forgive me for not being interested in staying with the person whom I grew up with under the same roof.”
“Oh, come on. It’s inconvenient for me to stay alone. I have to clean the house all by myself. I don’t even have the strength to change the water dispenser when I’ve run out of mineral water. On top of that, a thick layer of dust had gathered in the kitchen because I don’t know how to cook.” She started sniffling. The awe-inspiring sister from a moment ago had turned into a coquettish little girl.
“That makes it even more unappealing to stay with you. I don’t want to be your babysitter,” Qin Ze said, “Besides, it’s against the university’s regulation for a student to stay outside campus. They are very firm on this.”
“Don’t worry, my baby brother. Our father has got everything all figured out and made the necessary arrangements. Be a good brother and stay with your older sister.”
“I don’t believe you.” Qin Ze whipped out his cell phone and dialed a number. It took less than a full ring before he heard a low and stern voice from the other end of the phone. “What’s the matter, Ah Ze?”
“Dad, I wish to stay at the dormitory,” Qin Ze said bluntly. Upon hearing this, his sister reached out and pinched him mercilessly.
“It’s not necessary for you to stay in the dormitory. Isn’t our house near University Town? You can stay there and keep your sister company. Being a girl and staying alone in that house is causing me and your mom to worry about her. You can still go back and stay even if you’re living in a dormitory.” The head of the family made his point and ended the call.
His sister was accepted by Fudan University because of her outstanding grades. Qin Ze was overshadowed by her achievement as her younger brother. Even though he studied so hard he felt like hanging himself from the beam, he barely scraped past the minimum entry score for SUFE (Shanghai University of Finance and Economics) which was adjacent to Fudan. If their father wasn’t a professor at SUFE, it was virtually impossible for him—one of the lowest ranking students—to be accepted at the university.
The difference in IQ between Qin Ze and his older sister was huge. He knew he and his sister were not biologically related to each other. When he was a child, he had eavesdropped on his mother’s telephone conversation. Her fierce words led him to understand that either he or his sister was not a child of the Qin family.
The telephone call had been made in secret, and his mother had mentioned no names. Qin Ze had no idea which of them was the adopted child. At that time, he was still a young boy. Horrified, he went to his sister and told her everything. However, she threatened him as she said, “Ah Ze, it’s a fact that you were just a spare who had been given away. If you say a word about this, they will sell you away.”
Qin Ze still didn’t dare to probe after so many years. He was afraid the truth would break his family apart.
Both he and his sister had not said a word time as though they had made a silent pact.
Since Qin Ze was the child of a faculty member, there certainly was no issue for him to not live on campus as a freshman. He sighed softly.
…
Fast forward to three years after!
Qin Ze was already a junior in university. His sister was two years his senior. She had been working as a secretary for the General Manager of a foreign-owned company since her graduation last year.
He opened the bedroom door. The cold air coming from the air-conditioner, infused with a mixture of faint perfume and alcohol smell, greeted him. The room was dark with its blackout curtains drawn shut.
A woman was lying in bed under a thin blanket with all four limbs outstretched which resembled the Chinese character ‘eight’. From the way she was sleeping, one could tell how heartless this woman was.
Qin Ze turned off the air-conditioner, drew back the blackout curtains, and opened the windows. Sunlight gushed into the room, accompanied by a breeze that dispersed the stinky alcohol smell.
“Wake up! Breakfast is ready.”
The woman’s maroon curly hair was spread out so that it covered her face. She grunted a few times like a lazy pig and continued with her beauty sleep.
As far as Qin Ze could recall, yesterday was his sister’s birthday. She had invited all her close friends over to their house to party. The girls came in all shapes and sizes. They looked well-educated with an aura like a diva’s. However, after a few bottles of liquor, their true colors began to show. Every one of them could hold their liquor well, and they drank through the night. His witty sister then decided to drag her brother, who was in the kitchen, to help her with all her subsequent drinks. She, on the other hand, only had a few beers.
I managed to get out of bed even though I was completely wasted. Who gave you the right to sleep in?
Qin Ze lifted the blanket and shouted, “Wake up!”