My Sister is a Superstar

Chapter 52: Mistake

At 2:30 in the afternoon, Qin Ze and Zhang Ya watched a movie. The plot was none other than the usual bitterness before sweetness. Qin Ze watched until he was sleepy, but Zhang Ya was very engrossed in the movie. She would watch a while before eating some popcorn; sometimes, she would even feed him as if they were really a couple.

At 4:30, they followed the crowd and left the theater. Zhang Ya was still happily reminiscing about the movie they just watched. “It’s so good! I love this type of touching love story.”

Qin Ze could only smile.

Afterward, they went to get some food. This time, it was Zhang Ya’s turn to treat. Many bourgeois were walking back and forth, and some men wearing suits would turn around and steal a few glances at her. If Qin Baobao was here, more heads would turn; and Qin Ze was used to it. The only difference was that the passers-by did not look at him with angry and indignant gazes of a beautiful woman dating an ugly man like in the past. This time, there were quite a few handsome men and pretty girls who sighed.

Firstly, it was because Qin Ze looked better. Secondly, Zhang Ya was still not as pretty as Qin Baobao.

Qin Ze had a set of pretty women scoring conditions, and he would judge them on criteria like appearance, figure, and skin with his professional point of view.

Qin Baobao: 9 points.

He always felt that a perfect beauty did not exist. Of course, this did not take her temper into consideration; if not, his sister would fail.

Wang Zijin scored 8.5 points.

The missy from the capital lost to Qin Baobao in terms of figure and appearance.

As for Zhang Ya, Qin Ze gave her 8 points. 8 points was the dividing line for goddesses; women were only considered to be goddesses if they scored 8 points and above.

After eating dessert, they walked around aimlessly and used it to digest their food. Zhang Ya was much kinder than Qin Baobao and did not take advantage of Qin Ze. If it were Qin Baobao, she would definitely buy all sorts of things and squeeze him dry of his allowance. His sister’s belief was that her brother’s items were hers and her items were still hers.

Unwittingly, they arrived at The Bund by the Huangpu River.

It was a breezy summer day.

Zhang Ya stroked her messy hair that was blown by the wind and smiled lightly. “The first few years after coming to Shanghai, I’ll run to The Bund every other day and look at the view. After a while, I felt that it’s just like that; and there was nothing special about it.”

“Your house is near Chong Ming, right?” Qin Ze asked.

“Mm.” Zhang Ya nodded. “In my Grandpa’s generation, Chong Ming did not belong to Shanghai.”

“I know, it was under Songjiang right?”

“At that time, Chong Ming was very poor. Even up till now, my family isn’t well-to-do. When I was young, I only had four sets of clothes a year for the four seasons. I must keep my winter clothes properly so I can wear it during spring.” Zhang Ya stood by the river and turned around to smile; her dimples were faint. “I also have a brother, and he’s two years younger than you; however, he isn’t as useful or handsome as you.”

“If Qin Baobao heard that, she would laugh her head off.” Qin Ze laughed.

Zhang Ya could not help but laugh.

“When I was in middle school, I had a dream.” Zhang Ya stood prettily and leaned her head sideways. “I wanted to study hard and leave Chong Ming to earn money so that my parents won’t have it so tough. Then, I’ll find a dependable guy. He has to be very outstanding and loves me very much. It’s okay if he doesn’t have money; I can work hard with him. Then, we’ll buy a flat in Shanghai, pay for our mortgage, give birth to children, and provide for them the best education and environment to grow up in.”

“This isn’t only one dream.”

“Stop interrupting me. I’m telling you about my life and my inner thoughts.”

“Okay, then, have you realized your dream?”

“Almost. I’ve found the guy I like, and he loves me, too. He’s also very outstanding, mm, similar to you.”

Qin Ze almost spat out in laughter. “You’re obviously just sucking up to me.”

Zhang Ya giggled. “We have saved almost enough money. By the following year—latest, we’ll have enough for the first payment for our flat. However, my family wants to buy a flat for my brother in Shanghai, which he could use as his bridal flat. My parents asked me to lend them money, but I don’t want to.”

Qin Ze listened quietly and did not interrupt her.

“I’m also not young anymore. I’m twenty-five, and the best period of my life as a woman is about to be over. I must buy a flat earlier and get married. Also, Cheng Yi and I bought wealth investment products, and it’s hard to take the money out.

“I’ve been working for two years, and I did gradually remit back tens of thousands of dollars. I’m covering for my brother’s living expenses. He had just graduated from university, and it’s still too early to buy a flat. It won’t be too late if he buys a few years later.”

Qin Ze shook his head and did not smile. The housing prices in Shanghai were a deep pit. They could not just buy it just because they wanted to. If they had the abilities, they should buy as early as possible.

However, he also did not support Zhang Ya ‘lending’ her hard-earned money and savings to her brother for him to buy a flat.

It was undeniable for a man to rely on their parents, but why should he rely on his sister? He needed to get married, but so did his sister. Just because he wanted to prepare for his bridal flat, it did not mean that his sister had to contribute her savings. This did not make any sense.

“It’s still better for you locals. You don’t have to fret over mortgage payment.”

“Hey, you still have a chance.”

“What?”

“My family has a car and a flat. My sister is also your best friend. Zhang Ya, you should just dump your boyfriend.” Qin Ze tempted her. “Follow me, and you don’t need to work so hard for ten years.”

“That’s true.” Zhang Ya squinted her eyes and laughed, “However, Sister isn’t someone to change something that had already been settled on. It’s a pity that I already had a boyfriend before I met you. My first love is my support. How romantic. We have no fate with each other.”

Qin Ze nodded and passed her a cigarette stick. Both of them stood by the river and puffed.

“I also have a dream,” After a while, Qin Ze said suddenly.

Subconsciously, Zhang Ya asked, “What dream?”

Qin Ze said slowly, “I have a dream. I dream that one day, every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low. The rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together…”

Before he finished his sentence, Zhang Ya laughed and interrupted. “Stop acting. This is Martin Luther King’s signature speech ‘I Have a Dream’.”

Qin Ze said helplessly, “Don’t expose me. Are you formidable just because you’re cultured?”

“Hahaha, Qin Ze, you’re so interesting. I really like you.”

“Don’t, I don’t want to be the friend of a married woman.”

At six in the evening, Qin Ze sent Zhang Ya to the train station and walked around alone. Unknowingly, he walked to The Bung again; and he stood by the river as he stared at Oriental Pearl Radio & Television Tower.

He was alone for half an hour, and he wanted to go home. Looking at the time, Qin Baobao should already be on the way home after work.

Just as he thought of that, his ringtone suddenly sounded. His sister called, “Qin Ze, where on earth have you been? Zijin said that you weren’t at home the entire afternoon.”

“I was hanging out with Zhang Ya outside. I just sent her to the train station. I’m coming home now.”

His sister’s voice suddenly became harsh. “What’s there to hang out between you two? Where’s her boyfriend?”

“I think he went on a business trip.”

“Let me tell you, don’t have wrong ideas.”

“I know, I know.” Qin Ze kept rolling his eyes.

After he finished his sentence, Qin Ze stared blankly at him. A woman was walking over from the side of the river and was wearing clothes that Qin Ze definitely did not know the brand of. At this day and age, there were very few women who he actually admired; and he could not guess this woman’s age. It felt as though she could be at the prime of her life at age twenty-five, and she could also be at a charming age of thirty. Of course, she was pretty, elegant, demure, and refined; Qin Ze’s sharp senses could feel her sharpness.

The woman carried her handbag and walked past Qin Ze nonchalantly.

“Why are you in a daze? Are you back yet?” His sister’s frustrated voice sounded from the phone.

“I’m coming back right away. Sister, can you conveniently go to the supermarket and buy some groceries? I’m afraid that I’ll be home late, and I won’t make it on time.”

“You only know how to slack.” His sister lamented and ended the call.

Qin Ze placed his phone back in his pocket and looked at the woman’s back view reluctantly.

Four muscular men wearing black suits suddenly blocked the woman’s path.

The woman that shocked Qin Ze seemed to be quite angry as she pointed at the men and scolded at the top of her lungs. The muscle men ignored her and were determined to continue blocking her path.

It was a typical street bully messing around with a lady from a decent family. Qin Ze’s desire to show off acted up, and without thinking, he sprinted over as fast as lightning.

When the four muscular men saw him rushing over ferociously, they were clearly stunned and could not react in time. One of them was kicked by Qin Ze to four or five meters behind. Immediately, the remaining three were furious; and they all went for him.

After experiencing what happened at the entrance of the Internet cafe, he knew that two punches are no match against two hands. Following the incident of an inexperienced person defeating a master by throwing out the rules of traditions, he slid back and called the system in his head. “Help me exchange for intermediate-level close-quarter combat.”

“Intermediate close-quarter combat requires 150 points to exchange. Do you confirm your choice?”

“Confirm.”

He did not have to open Points Mall to exchange for a skill; he could just say the skill’s name and exchange for it. This was a small function that Qin Ze recently discovered.

There was a whir in Qin Ze’s head, and insurmountable knowledge flooded his brain. His brain was shocked for a moment; enlightenment had a certain impact on the brain. For beginner-level skills, there was not much impact; for intermediate-level, there would be a short period of brain shock. For high-level skills, the effects were the most obvious; and he would have at least five seconds of brain shock.

He was experienced so he had widened the distance in advance to give himself some buffer time.

After that moment of shock, he saw a man in black rushing to him; and he struck his face with one punch.

Qin Ze opened up his legs and got ready in a squat position. When he lowered his head to avoid the punch, he struck his right punch out and hit the man’s abdomen. Peng! He boomed as he staggered backward and held his abdomen to vomit.

Qin Ze wanted to hit him even more, but the other two men in black had already run over. One of them fanned his hands apart and greeted his face with immense strength. It was enough to push Qin Ze against the wall and vomit.

The other one kicked his abdomen with all his might.

After being attacked from two sides—before he exchanged for close-quarter combat, he would have no other choice other than retreating. Using the enlightenment of the close-quarter combat, he was blessed to no end and squatted again; like a French cannon, he quickly avoided the coming slaps and kicked below at the same time. He harshly kicked the knee of the person who kicked his abdomen.

He bellowed again, and the fellow hugged his knee and fell on the floor. His face was as white as a sheet, and his experiences on the battlefield told him that his bone had broken.

Qin Ze flicked his vertebral and squeezed his abdomen. Power rushed into his legs, and he jumped up; with a kick of his ferocious foot, he settled the last man in black.

In a matter of tens of seconds, he had successfully defeated four muscular men. Other than the effects of the intermediate close-quarter combat, it was mainly because his internal practice had increased his strength, speed, reactivity, and tenacity.

To say it in a more martial-arts-novel kind of way, Qin Ze was an expert who cultivated both his internal and external energy while the few muscular men were impulsive people who practiced their external side.

Upon seeing the distinguished pretty girl walking towards him, he smiled as he flicked the non-existent dust. He did not do things like denying his credit.

“Who are you?” The girl stared at him with an inspection vibe.

Who would straight-up question the live savior’s name? This question was hard to answer as he could not open up his arms and say, “I’m Qin Ze. I was walking by and saw them bullying you so I immediately helped. Lady, you must have been shocked.”

Qin Ze glared at the few muscular men feigning their death to prevent them from ‘retaliating before their death’. He smiled. “Are you okay? Do you want to call the police?”

The woman shook her head. “No need.”