Chapter 1: Siblings

‘Toc, toc, toc.’

The knocking on the door woke Qin Ze from his sleep. Sunlight penetrated the window screen. Outside the window, vehicles sped by. Qin Ze opened his eyes, one hand pressing his puffy face, and the other supporting his body. The hangover pain made his head feel like it was cracking open, and his surroundings were spinning.

The knocking continued annoyingly.

"What is it?" He grumbled.

"I'm hungry..." Outside the door came a soft, slightly hoarse voice.

"I know, I know." Qin Ze feebly responded, fumbling around for his clothes with his eyes half-open.

"Come quickly," The voice outside was also weak.

After finding his clothes at the foot of the bed, he hurriedly put them on.  He still couldn't stand firmly. Sudden dizziness made him lose balance and fall on the edge of the bed. His mind went blank, and in his confusion, he heard a sound:

[Analyzing time: June 19, 2017.]

[Analyzing space: Unknown!]

[Analyzing host: Suitable.]

[Iris, locked on!]

[DNA, locked on!]

[Automatically updating the system.]

What was this voice?

Qin Ze stood up, grimacing in pain when suddenly his mind cleared.

He opened the curtains and the warm, dazzling sun poured down like honey. 

He squinted his eyes at the steady flow of traffic outside. It was a semi-new condominium, founded in 2004. In the distance, there were tall, expensive buildings from the city's CBD (Central Business District).

It was Monday, June 2017.

The living room was a mess, dishes were everywhere and on the table was last night's leftover pizza. By it, was an empty box of Margaret Strawberry Cake.

In addition to the leftovers, the table was full of cocktails, wine, beers, and champagne bottles. Gold paper flowers covered the floor. It was the outcome of last night’s party.

Qin Ze gently sighed, prepared some large garbage bags, and started putting the empty wine bottles in one by one. Then dumped the leftovers in another. Dragging the garbage bags out, and disposing of them, in the big garbage bin outside. 

Tired, he went to the bathroom and rinsed his face. Only then did he feel fully awake and alive.

He calmly entered the kitchen, first removing the skimmed milk from the fridge, pouring it in a glass, and setting it in the microwave on low intensity for 2 minutes. Then he started poaching some eggs, frying bacon, and plunged two lettuce leaves in boiling water. In less than ten minutes, a light breakfast was ready. 

He placed the food on the living room's dining table and separated it into two servings. He then turned and went to the kitchen again. There was half a bag of toast in the fridge, which was delicious with peanut butter.

Qin Ze was ready for breakfast and headed to a room, not his bedroom, but another. This house was about 80 square meters, with two rooms, one hall, one kitchen, one bathroom, and a balcony with excellent lighting. 

Qin Ze had lived here, ever since he attended elementary school, this house was part of the city's school district houses*. It was not far off from the city's CBD, and there was a subway station nearby.

[T/N: The school district houses are a concept of property and real estate in China. Students in this area can enter the nearest school without exams.]

Adding those factors to the demolition of Qin Ze's primary school several years ago, the house's value increased tenfold over ten years.

Qin Ze attended a university two blocks away. He had wished to experience campus life. But on the first day of his freshman year, his snobbish and lazy big sister grabbed his bag and insisted she was responsible for sending him to school. 

As a result, at the intersection two blocks away from the university, she took a turn. And mischievously led Qin Ze with his luggage to the new condominium.

"Hey, this isn't the way to the university, is it?"

"Yep," His beautiful sister brushed her hair back and said, "Let's put your luggage away."

Qin Ze exclaimed, "I knew you weren't so kind as to send me to school for no reason."

"What's so good about living on campus? It's just a bunch of people crowded into a messy dormitory, isn't it better to live with a beautiful woman like me?" His big sister said righteously.

"Thanks, so~ much." Qin Ze pouted sarcastically, "but I'm not interested at all. I've lived with you since forever."

"Don't be like that. It's so inconvenient to live alone! I have to clean everything by myself, and the water dispenser's always empty, it's so tiring to keep refilling it. And since I don't cook, the kitchen gets covered in dust! Also, when I go home at night, I could be followed by a pervert... *whimper*."

One moment, Big sister was awe-inspiring and inviolable. The next, she became a little girl acting up.

"I don't want to live with you even more now. I don't wanna be your babysitter," Qin Ze added, "and the school doesn't allow students to live outside. It's mandatory."

"Don't worry, brother, our father has taken care of it. All the procedures came through." 

"I don't believe it." 

Qin Ze took out his cell phone and dialed. After a while, a solemn voice came from the other side, "ah, Ze, what's the matter?" 

"Dad, I want to live on campus." Qin Ze said bluntly. His sister reached out and pinched him fiercely.

"There is no need to live on campus. We have a house beside the university town. You can live with your sister. She lives alone. Your mother and I are worried." The head of the family finished talking and hung up. 

His big sister was admitted to Fudan University with excellent results, while Qin Ze, her younger brother, struggled with scores that barely reached the minimum required. Had it not been for the fact that his father was a professor in that Finance University, it may not have admitted him.

There was a huge difference in IQ between the siblings. Qin Ze knew he and his sister were not blood-related. In his childhood, he overheard his mother's phone call. Her harsh words made him understand that one of them was not from the Qin family.

Their mother had called secretly, not naming the child. Qin Ze didn't know who was taken in and who wasn’t. At the time, he was still very young. He told his sister in a hurry, and she threatened him, "Ze, you were picked up by the side of the road. Don’t tell this to anyone. If you do, I will sell you."

After so many years, Qin Ze still didn't dare to delve into it, fearing that his family would be fragmented.

They had a tacit understanding, it was as if it never happened.

Since they were children of a faculty member, living outside the campus was okay. Qin Ze sighed.

Three years later, Qin Ze was a junior. His sister was two years older than him. She graduated last year and worked in a foreign company as the general manager's secretary.

Pushing open the door, there was a faint smell of perfume mixed with alcohol. The room was dark, the curtains were tightly drawn, and the air-conditioner was blowing cold air. A woman was lying on the bed, covered with a thin blanket, her arms and legs outstretched. Just from the way she slept, you could see how careless she was.

Qin Ze turned off the air conditioner, opened the curtains, and pushed the windows open, letting the sweet breeze pour into the room and blow away the smell of alcohol.

"Breakfast is ready, get up!"

The woman's disheveled, maroon curly hair covered her face, and the lazy pig continued to sleep soundly.

Qin Ze recalled yesterday’s events. It was his sister’s birthday, so she invited many friends over for a party. The girls all looked well-behaved and nice, but after a bit of alcohol, all of them were exposed to be drunkards, drinking, and drinking all night.

Big sister dragged her little brother out of the kitchen, stopping him from drinking any more. He remembered only drinking a few bottles though.

I got up even though I felt like hell, what gives you the right to sleep in!

Qin Ze lifted the thin blanket, and shouted loudly: “Get u-!”

His voice got stuck in his throat. Big sister had a very attractive and well-built body. She was not the type that liked staying at home, frequently going out for jogs, dancing, and working out.

Damn it, this woman wasn’t wearing pajamas! 

A few moments ago, she was preparing to get out of bed, so she changed into her underwear, about to put on clothes. But before she could, she got tired, and crawled back to her bed…

“You sick pervert, where are you looking at?!” His big sister threw a kick to Qin Ze’s face, grabbed the blanket, and covered her body. Her beautiful face paled, “I didn’t think you were like this, Qin Ze.”

Qin Ze rubbed his red face, “Yo, when did you become so fit? Are you trying to impress some guy?”

“What guy? There's no one like that. I’m already so old, but I never fell in love. Life is so unfair.”

“Go get changed,” Qin Ze rolled his eyes and left.