Wang Qiqi once again stepped lightly off the train. Although still a bit disheveled, it was far better than the image she'd held of hauling huge bags and luggage to register at school. "Are we staying in a hotel again?"

Zhu Lina shook her head. "No, we're moving into the new place today." Lina thought that since the house was already renovated, there was no need to bother with a hotel.

Shi Man froze. "We don't have to clean the house, do we?" Shi Man felt like she was about to faint. After an entire night on the train, receiving such unwelcome news immediately upon arrival made her wonder if Lina would really treat her this way.

"Someone has already been cleaning this morning. We'll just drop off our bags and then go buy necessities." Zhu Lina hailed a taxi, gave the driver the address directly, and headed for the new home. Although taking two buses would have been tiresome, a cab was better; they could get settled and rest, knowing that moving into a new home was going to be a hassle regardless.

Shi Man quieted down when she heard someone had already cleaned, but at that moment, she forgot a crucial detail: the furniture hadn't been moved in yet.

Wang Qiqi closed her eyes, leaning back against the rear seat. "Oh, right, Lina, did you buy the furniture?" Qiqi asked casually. She wasn't worried about her own room; she didn't need to buy a single piece of furniture for it, but Lina's and Shi Man's rooms were completely bare.

"The furniture is bought. My mom picked it up last time she visited the Capital," Zhu Lina suddenly remembered what Shi Man and Qiqi were implying. "But don't worry, Xiaoman, my mom only bought a bed, a nightstand, and a large wardrobe for your room. Nothing else. Mine is the same. For the living room, there’s just a sofa set and a coffee table, and a dining table set for the dining room. That’s it."

Shi Man had been dreaming of buying a princess-style bed, only to have that dream shatter so unceremoniously. She took a few deep breaths and could only endure it. "Thank you, Auntie." Truthfully, Shi Man didn't want to thank Zhu Lina's mother; this was tampering with her chance to be the master of her own domain.

"Don't worry, if you don't like them, you can always buy new ones," Zhu Lina replied, feeling a bit helpless. "What I meant was, when we get there, you won't have to worry about sleeping on the floor."

The first thing Shi Man did after stepping into the new house was bolt to her room. Looking at the furniture, she was stunned. She had to admit, "Lina, the furniture your mom chose... I'm quite satisfied." Shi Man knew that if she had insisted on a princess bed, it absolutely wouldn't have fit in the small room. But all she wanted was to visit a furniture store and experience looking at a princess bed. Yet, the bed Lina's mother bought was exactly the one she had seen in a magazine, and it looked quite expensive, too. "You made your mother spend too much."

"As long as you like it," Zhu Lina said. She recalled how surprised she had been when her mother told her she had already purchased the furniture. Her mother had assured her that Qiqi and Shi Man would be pleasantly surprised, claiming she had consulted many sales clerks who all recommended these styles, saying many young people preferred them. This relieved Lina immensely. She had worried that the salespeople had duped her mother, but it seemed few people could fool her mom.

Wang Qiqi slowly pushed open the door to her room, her heart filled with apprehension. Honestly, she had no idea how the room would be finished. The craftsman had only promised to do his best.

As the door slowly swung open, Wang Qiqi surveyed the room. She genuinely wanted to cry out in joy. Though it was just a cursory glance, overall, Wang Qiqi was extremely pleased.

To accommodate the platform, the technician had moved the radiator up. On the wall nearest the door, he constructed a floor-to-ceiling wardrobe. This setup meant the lowest section was for quilts, and the two upper racks were for four-season clothing. This left no space for socks or underwear, but Wang Qiqi had already figured out where those would go.

The wardrobe was integrated seamlessly with the platform. The platform area was next, and although there were no handles, the carpenter had painstakingly used hemp rope at every latch point, making it easy to open the cabinets without strain. The rope was set into grooves, so when someone lay on the platform, they wouldn't feel the hardware underneath. Wang Qiqi tested opening all the platform lids; they lifted very easily. Based on the door's width, Qiqi had asked the craftsman to build a bookshelf connected to a storage unit, allowing one's legs to rest on the floor, effectively turning the platform into a bench where two people could sit side-by-side.

After touring her room, Shi Man remembered Qiqi’s discussion with the craftsman about her room layout. She wondered if he managed to create the room Qiqi was hoping for. However, the moment she stepped into Qiqi’s room, Shi Man gasped.

Although Wang Qiqi’s room was the smallest of the three, walking into Qiqi’s room now, Shi Man realized it felt like the most spacious. There was a wardrobe on one side, and parallel to the door were a desk and a set of bookshelves, with the rest of the space dedicated to the platform.

"Qiqi, what are you planning to store under your platform? I'm worried I won't have enough space for my clothes..." Shi Man was highly curious about the platform in Qiqi’s room, especially since Qiqi's wardrobe extended right to the ceiling—she could definitely store more than Shi Man.

Wang Qiqi’s eyes darted around. "Not enough space for clothes? Once my luggage arrives, I'll see how much room is left." However, Qiqi estimated there wouldn't be much space left for Shi Man.

"Forget it," Shi Man realized. So much for being able to splurge on clothes. "Lina, are we going out to shop now?"

Zhu Lina sighed. "We have no bedding, no mats, and no pillows. We absolutely have to shop. Let's check what else we need and try to get everything in one go."

Ideals are lovely, but reality is crushing. The three of them made three separate trips before managing to purchase most of the essentials; some items would have to wait until tomorrow.

"We still need kitchen supplies, but Qiqi, do you think we need bowls and chopsticks?" Shi Man asked, lying on the sofa, enjoying the air conditioning while holding a shopping list.

"It’s necessary. In the winter, if none of us want to go out, we can have hot pot, or we can make desserts ourselves," Wang Qiqi explained. She knew they wouldn't be cooking full meals here, but simple fare was manageable. "Compared to the questionable food outside, or the breakfasts that are all consumed in the space, I’d rather make my own porridge and steamed buns."

Shi Man acknowledged with a nod. "I'll leave that task to you, Qiqi." She definitely wasn't going to do that sort of thing, but she also knew Qiqi would handle it even if she didn't volunteer.

Wang Qiqi knew they wouldn't pitch in. "Lina, have you compiled the bill?"

Zhu Lina nodded. "I've noted down all the shared expenses. Actually, Qiqi, I wanted to say I can cover the cost of the bowls and chopsticks."

"You've already provided so much. Letting us live in such a nice place for free without charging rent—Xiaoman and I should have been covering these costs. Since the three of us are splitting things, these should be shared too," Wang Qiqi waved away Lina’s offer. "Tomorrow, I plan to open an account." Wang Qiqi had been deliberating for days whether to tell Lina and Shi Man about the stock trading, realizing she couldn't keep it a secret from them for long.

Open an account? Shi Man thought Qiqi meant opening a bank account. "I want to go too. I need to open a bank account here anyway; it’ll be easier for my parents to transfer money to me." Shi Man raised her hand eagerly.

"I'm planning to open an account at a securities firm," Wang Qiqi explained. Although she had already transferred all her fixed deposits to her bank card, she realized the fees for withdrawing money across different regions were quite high. She needed to compare whether transferring the money to a Capital bank card once or withdrawing it physically would be more cost-effective. It was a pity that bank cards weren't linked to investment accounts yet; otherwise, an online transfer would mean zero losses.

Open an account at a securities firm? Shi Man scrambled up from the sofa, leaning over the backrest to stare at Wang Qiqi. "Qiqi, you're planning to trade stocks?" Although Qiqi was studying finance and would learn about the stock market, her speed in diving in was alarming. "But my uncles trade stocks, and they said they made quite a bit of money. My mom is definitely tempted."

"The market has risks. Even though the current trend looks good, we don't know when it might fall," Zhu Lina set down her documents and studied Wang Qiqi for a long moment, noticing the look of firm resolve on her face. She sighed inwardly. "My family's first major fortune came from my dad trading subscription warrants and then exchanging them for stocks—we made a significant profit. If my mother hadn't insisted on doing other things, and we had waited for the stocks to rise as my father suggested, our family wouldn't be where we are today." Even now, her father still traded, but the fluctuations weren't drastic; he wasn't as greedy anymore. As for the stock market, if someone without self-control enters, especially someone greedy, they can easily get trapped. Even though many people say the current market is a great bull market, it increasingly feels artificially inflated.

Wang Qiqi looked at their worried expressions and sat down, resting her head on Shi Man’s lap. "Actually, I've been researching all summer. The current market is still accessible. I want to take a gamble. If I win, my future will be excellent, and... and I don't think the current market will collapse so easily. How many people are actively trading stocks right now? When the entire public is discussing the market and everyone is hoping to get rich through stocks, that's when you should leave, because the market is about to crash." Even though the market began to slow down after the year 2000, it surged again within a few years, hitting six thousand points before beginning a steady decline that saw it struggle below two thousand. Before her rebirth, the stock market was hovering around two thousand, and while housing prices had dropped, they hadn't fallen back to the 2000 levels.

【The Unworried Dual Life】 In public, she is an elite student at a top university and a moderately well-known online writer. In private, she is an ability strategist serving the Empire, and the future daughter-in-law of the Empire's First Family. RS