My Sister is a Superstar - Chapter 32
Chapter 32: New Mission
Translator: Atlas Studios
Editor: Atlas Studios
Qin Ze could not be bothered to argue with her. He grimaced as he lifted his shirt. Blood was seeping out of his wounds. The kick had ruptured the wound.
Qin Baobao panicked when she saw the blood. She cried out and went to call for the nurse.
The nurse came and took a look. “Don’t worry, don’t worry. The wound just split a little. The stitches are still intact, or else it’ll be troublesome. I’ll clean your wound first.”
The nurse cleaned the wound with an alcohol swab and antiseptic and reminded him to take care of his wound.
Qin Baobao was relieved and began to grumble to her brother as she sat by the bed. “You’re so rash. You still have wounds on you, and yet you’re moving around.”
“I can’t let that woman ruin your face even if I get stabbed again, not to mention just rupturing my wound,” he said with a serious expression.
Qin Baobao spat. “Tch, don’t talk nonsense.”
However, a smile blossomed on her face, and her beautiful eyes were full of delight.
Then again, she pretended otherwise. “Is my face really important? No one wants to marry me anyway.”
“My sister’s face is more important than my life,” he said with a straight-face.
Qin Baobao immediately broke into a smile.
Qin Ze had a way with women… at least with his sister. Qin Baobao buying his clothes and his phone and shouldering his living expenses had to do with his talking skills for the most part. Of course, that had to do with her inability to plan her finances. She would always spend any spare cash she had, either on herself or her brother.
Before bed, Qin Baobao accompanied her brother to go visit Professor Li downstairs. She did not go in but stayed outside and waited.
Qin Ze knocked on the door politely and entered. The room was like a hotel room. It had a study table, TV, a bedside table, and a comfortable bed. The walls were painted sky blue.
Professor Li was talking to his wife.
“Why weren’t you more careful while crossing the road? Didn’t you see the traffic light? If the driver’s reaction was slower, you would not be here.” She grumbled.
“That cross junction was a two-way road. There were two traffic lights, the previous one was green… it’s fine, let’s not talk about it.” Professor Li tried to defend himself.
“But I heard a teacher from your school say that the police arrested your student today.”
Professor Li’s mood worsened at the mention of it. “You know that I took on a project from a company. A few days ago, the Old Qin put his son under me to learn the ropes. How could I say no to him? We’ve been colleagues for more than ten years.
“He’s intelligent and serious. He has a good attitude, and Yang Chen’s drinking happened to get in the way of things. I was upset and put Old Qin’s son in charge. However, Yang Chen bore a grudge, and he got someone to attack Old Qin’s son. The matter escalated, and it’s all over the net now.”
“Kids nowadays don’t think of consequences when they do things. How is Old Qin’s son now?” His wife sighed.
“It was pretty dangerous. I heard that he would not be here if it were any deeper or if it hit the arteries.”
“Old Qin only has a son, right? He’ll come after you if that happens.”
“That’s why I’m exasperated. How did something like that happen just like that? It’s like I spaced out for a bit, and it happened.”
“You can’t work like this. The school’s not too bad, but what are you going to do with your project? You’ll have to compensate them if you’re overdue.”
Professor Li’s expression turned gloomy. “The compensation’s two hundred thousand, and the project’s at its end already. Sigh, it’s all predestined.”
“What destiny? You’re throwing in half a year’s wages away; how are we going to live like this? I’m telling you, our son’s getting married at the end of the year.”
University professors are relatively well-paid. Even though two hundred thousand was not a small sum, it was not an impossible sum of money. The crucial thing here was the sky-high prices of property in Shanghai. Their son was about to buy his new home, and if they lose this two hundred thousand…”
“I took on that project precisely because I wanted to have enough for the downpayment of the place.”
“If we really can’t make it, let’s mortgage our home and get some money.”
The husband and wife stopped talking when they heard the knock at the door.
Qin Ze walked in, still dressed in his patient’s uniform. “Professor Li, my dad said that you were in a car accident and that you were right downstairs. I came to visit.”
Professor Li was lying on the bed with his leg suspended. His right hand was in a cast, and there were scratches on his hands and skin. He looked rather downcast. His wife was seated next to him. She was in her mid-fifties and was rather well-maintained. There were only slight wrinkles in the corner of her eye. She looked like a gentle homemaker.
Professor Li seemed happy but not surprised. He knew that Qin Ze was in the same hospital.
“Qin Ze, are you feeling better?”
“I’m fine. I can go home after removing the stitches.”
“I have to apologize to you about this,” Professor Li said sheepishly, “Yang Chen’s too narrow-minded. I knew that, but I did not expect him to be this rash.”
Qin Ze laughed coldly. “His heart was not in the right place so it was easy for such thoughts to develop.”
Professor Li nodded. “That’s the saying. He will face the law.
“I’ve been paying attention to your matter, too. If you go to court, you have a high chance of winning. Even though you hurt them too, they struck first. Yours will count as self-defense.”
“My dad said that, too.” Qin Ze sat down on the sofa and waved to turn down the banana that Professor Li’s wife was handing to him. “Auntie, the doctor asked that I minimize my eating.”
Professor Li was tired after chatting for a while. Qin Ze was about to leave but thought of something. “Oh, right, Professor Li, while you’re in the hospital; what are we going to do with the model?”
That was one of his aims of visiting. He wanted to seek out what Professor Li was thinking. He wanted to take over the project but was afraid that Professor Li would think he was too young for it.
“What can we do? We can’t hope for him to get up and do work, can we? We’ll just have to pay.” Professor Li’s wife complained.
“How much?”
“When we first signed the contract, it stated two hundred thousand.” Professor Li sighed.
Qin Ze was stunned. Two hundred thousand was not a small sum. It was enough for the downpayment in a third-tier city.
“Professor Li, how about this? My injury’s not serious. If you trust me, I’ll take over.” Qin Ze tried.
He had the confidence to say that because he had traded for knowledge in this aspect. Completely such a complex modeling project alone was not impossible. It would just take a lot of time. Besides, this project was near the end. He could handle it alone.
Professor Li was tempted as he looked at Qin Ze. “Okay, no matter what, it’s worth a try.”
With that, he asked his wife to hand the USB over to Qin Ze.
Qin Ze left with the USB.
In the ward, Professor Li sighed as if a stone had been lifted from his shoulders.
“You, why did you give it to him? What if he ruins it?” His wife frowned.
“Since we’re going to pay, so what if it’s destroyed?” Professor Li glared at her. “You don’t know this, but I’m not depending on him but Old Qin. He’s still a student, and he hasn’t figured things out yet. However, Old Qin knows them. It’s much better for me to hand the thing to him instead of asking Old Qin directly. Old Qin has been running around these few days so there’s no use in asking him. However, since his son’s in charge, he has to help no matter what.
“There are only so many professors in the economics department. Since it’s the end of the semester, everyone’s busy so they might not be willing to help me. Besides, our time is limited, and understanding it takes time.”
“And Old Qin can manage that?”
“His level is higher than I am, and he helped his son a while back. He probably knows what I’m doing, and he’ll figure it all out in a day or two.”
Qin Ze and his sister returned to his ward. It was raining outside. The raindrops pelted on the window, and everything was blurry and the sound of the rain filled the air.
Qin Baobao wanted to go home to take a shower and change before she came back for the night, but she changed her mind while looking at the rain. She asked the nurses for clean bedding and a fresh patient’s uniform and took a shower in the ward’s bathroom.
Qin Ze felt lonely in the hospital, but he pretended otherwise. “Why don’t you go home? I’ll be fine alone.”
Qin Baobao felt bad for her brother and thought of the unreasonable couple. It would be troublesome if they came back to back trouble again. Her brother could not take all the fuss. “It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s just one night,” she said.
Qin Ze lay on the bed and listened to the sound of water from the shower and the raindrops pelting on the window. He turned on the computer and plugged in the USB. He opened the file and saw the abstract, followed by ten pages of the model mock-up.
This was a model analysis for a foundation.
His father was an economics professor, and he was an economics student so he had some understanding of private companies. The established companies had their own professionals build the models and analyze the projects. They usually did it all by themselves. Therefore, it was clear that the company Professor Li was working with was not of a big scale or was a new company.
He spent half an hour figuring everything out.
The door of the washroom opened, and Qin Baobao stepped out of the bathroom wearing the patient’s uniform and Qin Ze’s slippers as she dried her hair.
“I thought you were giving birth in the toilet.” Qin Ze looked at her.
She spent half an hour in the shower. He would take about ten minutes himself.
“What child, yours?” Qin Baobao rolled her eyes as she sat down cross-legged on the couch and continued to dry her hair. “They don’t even have the hairdryer,” she complained.
“Don’t use the hairdryer too often; it’s bad for your hair.”
“You’re annoying. You said that too when I dyed my hair.”
“I can’t be bothered with you.”
“Oh, right, when did you learn to play basketball? I saw the video on the Lazy Cat app a few days ago. That’s you in the video, right?” Qin Baobao glanced at him. Even when her hair was messy and damp, she looked beautiful. “I almost forgot about that. Tell me about it.”
“What? Didn’t you already see it? What’s wrong with knowing basketball? Which boy doesn’t know how to play basketball?” Qin Ze’s fingers flew across the keyboard.
“But that’s an insane level. I know how much you’re worth.” Qin Baobao pouted. “Slam dunk? You can jump that high? You’ve always been trash at sports.”
“Hey, trash has dignity, too; one can always learn.” Qin Ze turned to glare at his sister. “Qin Baobao, don’t always look down at me. You’re in Star Talent because of me.”
“Sigh, I forgot about that until you mentioned it. What’s up with songwriting? Did you really write it?”
Qin Ze’s heart skipped a beat. Have my changes recently been too drastic?
One could find a thousand and one ways to lie to friends, but they could never lie to their loved ones because they knew this person like the back of their hand.
“In a few weeks, you’ll be in a music variety show. If you’re successful, you’ll be a star. Isn’t this even more shocking? What’s writing a few songs compared to that?”
Qin Baobao’s mood improved drastically when she heard that. “That’s true.”
He managed to bamboozle her.
The two of them chatted as Qin Baobao looked down at her phone, and Qin Ze built his model. The rain was brewing up to be a storm. The TV was playing a historical romance drama.
At 10.30, Qin Baobao rubbed her eyes, tired.
“You go sleep first. You still have work tomorrow. I’ll sleep in a bit.”
“Okay.” Qin Baobao wrapped herself in her blanket and slept on the couch.
At 11.30, Qin Ze turned off his computer and went to the bathroom before he slept. When he returned, he found that Qin Baobao had taken over his bed.
“What are you doing on my bed? Go sleep on your couch. Hey, hey, don’t play dead. I’ll throw you out the window.”
Qin Baobao covered her head in the blanket. “The couch’s uncomfortable. I can’t sleep.” She whined.
“I’m the patient; it’ll affect the recovery of my wound if I can’t sleep well.”
“This bed can fit two.” Qin Baobao patted the space by her side.
Qin Ze’s bed was like a single bed in the hotel. There was room for both of them.
“Then, bring your blanket over.” Qin Ze gave in.
“That blanket smells. It hasn’t been washed in a long time. I refuse.” Qin Baobao protested.
After all, his sister was here to accompany him. She was a little of a neat freak. The bed was rather big enough anyway so he decided to put up with it for one night. She opened the blanket and lay down.
