The four young masters of the capital, the four great beauties, and the ten big families were of course just Qin Ze kidding around with Wang Zijin. China was ruled by the party, not powerful families.
Overall, the dissemination of power was the party’s unspoken rule. There was no way for a family to dominate.
There was an old saying: wealth would not last more than three generations. By the same logic, neither did power.
However, it meant that power would weaken over time—not that all power would be lost after the third generation.
When Qin Ze and Wang Zijin left the SH center building, it was already 5:30. Wang Zijin was not feeling well so she did not have the energy to ride the bike back home. Instead, Qin Ze took her to take the bus. After half an hour, they were finally home.
At night, Qin Ze looked up what dietary foods women on their periods should watch and came up with a light meal. Of course, the main dish was Qin Baobao’s chicken mushroom stew.
At the dinner table, Qin Baobao’s chopsticks moved rapidly; and her cheeks were stuffed.
“Sister, eat more daintily please,” he criticized.
Qin Baobao tilted her head and made a face at him. She would eat however she felt like.
After the meal, Wang Zijin went into the bathroom to wipe herself down. She could not shower or bathe; neither could she wash her hair. Women were such a pain.
Qin Baobao hugged her knees on the chair as she picked on the leftover food. “How thoughtful. You really did put a lot of effort in knowing that your Sister Zijin is on her period.”
Her tone was teasing, but her expression and eyes were even.
Qin Ze smiled. “We can’t always have extravagant meals.”
“Zijin said that the two of you went to the SH center building today?”
“En.”
“Was it fun?”
“It wasn’t too bad. Everything looked tiny, and the view was good.”
“This must be an affinity. We’ve been there twice, and we’ve not managed to go up.”
“We can go there next time, too,” Qin Ze said dismissively.
He looked down to study the stock market’s numbers today.
After a long silence, Qin Baobao asked suddenly. “Are you wooing Wang Zijin?”
“No for now.” Qin Ze replied. Don’t you know that your best friend is a daughter of an official from the capital?
“But I quite like her,” he added.
Qin Ze and his sister talked about everything, and he did not hide his feelings.
“Oh,” Qin Baobao responded. “Do you want me to help you?” she asked gloomily.
Qin Ze looked up at his sister. “Let nature take its course. Just send me a summary of Sister Zijin’s likes and habits. Send me a strategy.”
Isn’t it normal for your sister to help you woo your girlfriend? Is your best friend closer than your brothers?
Qin Baobao did not reply but stared quietly at Qin Ze. He was looking down and messing around with his phone. His eyebrows were defined, and he looked good. She got sentimental as she watched him. The son, no—the brother that she had raised was about to be stolen by another woman.
Qin Ze looked up in surprise. “What’s up?”
Qin Baobao returned to her senses. “Your Sister Zijin is the artsy type. She wouldn’t go for you. Even though I said I’ll help you, you’d better not do hopeless things like that,” she said instinctively.
Qin Ze paused and touched his chin. “Artsy type…”
He was spaced out, thinking of something.
Qin Baobao felt jealousy well up in her. He would usually rebut her, but now his thoughts and attention were all on Wang Zijin. What not yet and let nature take its course?
Lies.
July 13th, the day of ‘I am a Singer’s airing…
As one of the hottest variety shows, it had a solid fan base.
At one o’clock, Wang Zijin and Qin Ze returned from their post lunch walk. They turned on the laptop and looked at the news promoting ones for ‘I am a Singer’. The PR had done well promoting it, and there were a lot of comments from netizens.
“Ahhh, it’s starting, it’s starting.”
“I can’t wait; I can’t wait.”
“I waited for a full year.”
“The last season’s singers were amazing. Even though they were not very well known or are past their prime, but they were really good at singing, and their rewrites were incredible.”
“I wonder if they would invite those singers to take part in the show this season.”
“Any song that appears in ‘I am a Singer’ will rank top ten in the billboards. I haven’t found a favorite song for a really long time. I can’t wait; I can’t wait.”
“It’s going to be a feast of music. 9:30 PM, see you at Dongfang Satellite Channel.”
“I’m going to play a few rounds before I watch the show.”
“It’s just a lousy show. It’s nothing but rewrite. Aren’t there any originals? Trash. Yet, some many people follow it. The worst is that the guests are past their prime or nobodies. Can’t they have a beautiful girl?”
The first reply went like this: “OP is an idiot. Bye OP.”
“You can leave if you don’t like it. No one’s forcing you to watch it.”
“Our national culture is like this because of people like you.”
“You’re asking for a scolding.”
“Dumb*ss.”
“You need an IQ upgrade.”
“It’s true that there are no beauties since not all of them can sing. However, do you think originals and classics come easily? Rewriting is already tough enough.”
“I feel better seeing so many people scold you.”
“Who said there are no beauties? Isn’t the host Yin Jia pretty?”
“OP just needs a scolding.”
“I’m not sure if I should call you a dumb*ss.”
Qin Baobao looked away from the screen. “Qin Baobao was down with filming a few days ago, but she didn’t tell us anything. Did she make the cut?” he asked Wang Zijin.
Wang Zijin was fixated on her show. “Don’t you know Baobao’s temper? She would definitely lose her temper on us if she didn’t make the cut,” she said with a smile.
Qin Ze laughed. “That’s true.”
At 7:30, Qin Baobao kicked out her heels when she returned home from work. “Hurry, turn on the TV,” she said urgently.
“Put on your slippers first,” Wang Zijin said.
With that, she got up to turn on the TV.
“Eh, Baobao, I can’t turn on the TV.” Wang Zijin pressed the remote several times, but the TV screen remained blue.
Qin Baobao hurried over and messed around with the TV. She tried plugging it in again and rebooted the antenna, but the screen was still blue.
“What? It was fine a few days ago. You can’t count on it in crucial times. It’s just like Qin Ze.” Qin Baobao was upset.
Qin Ze, who was studying the stock market, protested when he heard it. “Hello, I’m to blame for that? That’s too much.”
“Then, you fix the TV.” Qin Baobao raised her sharp chip.
“I didn’t learn electrical repair,” Qin Ze said. He was an all-rounded genius with the system, but he would not exchange for skills for the mere reason of fixing the TV for his sister. Missions were tough, but earning points was even tougher. He had to treasure them.”
“Then, am I wrong? Am I wrong?” Qin Baobao walked over and pinched Qin Ze’s arm to vent her anger.
The pair of siblings broke into a fight, and to no one’s surprise, Qin Ze won. He twisted his sister’s wrist behind her back and pressed her down on the sofa. She flopped around the sofa like a fish but to no avail.
“Qin Ze let go! I forgive you.” Qin Baobao cried out.
“Tch, I refuse to forgive you.”
“Zijin, save me.”
Wang Zijin laughed as she watched. “It’s a family matter; I’m staying out of this.”
“If you don’t save me, I’ll reveal all your secrets.” Qin Baobao threatened.
“I don’t have secrets.”
“You sure?”
Wang Zijin thought long and hard before she looked towards Qin Ze. “How about you spare your sister’s life?” she asked softly as she looked at Qin Ze.
“Okay.” Qin Ze gave in and let go of his sister’s hand.
Qin Baobao rubbed her wrist as she glared at her brother and looked at Wang Zijin. She sat alone in a corner of the couch and looked at her brother pitifully. “Parents are not as close as your wife. Siblings are not as close as your wife either.”
Qin Ze mumbled. “Crazy.”
Wang Zijin smiled.
Since the TV was on strike, they could only wait for the 12 AM web version. Even though it was more than two hours late, who even watched TV nowadays?
Qin Ze was energetic so staying up was not a problem for him. However, Qin Baobao who had a regular biological clock was dozing off. Her head tilted and tilted until it landed on Qin Ze’s shoulder.
Wang Zijin was in the same boat. She was sleepy, but this was her best friend’s debut on TV, and she could not just go to sleep. She struggled to stay awake and almost put her head on Qin Ze’s shoulder, but she managed to stop herself. She was not Qin Baobao, and the latter could kiss her brother openly.
She could not do that.
Qin Ze held his sister by the waist and took in her scent as time passed quietly.
At 12 AM, the web version began.
Wang Zijin was alert and sat up straight.
Qin Baobao was woken up by her brother. She stared at the computer blankly with red eyes as they reflected the screen.
“It’s starting; it’s starting,” she said excitedly.