When the Tsundere Rival Turns Into a Cat - Chapter 1

The summer sun blazed like fire, leaving everything wilted and listless. Behind the teaching building of Fuhua High School in Jiangcheng, a group of students had gathered, with a tall girl at the center clearly leading them.

Li Xingcan—the cherished daughter of Jiangcheng’s wealthiest family and the bottom-ranked student in Class 2, Grade 12 of Fuhua High.

Rolling up the sleeves of her sun-protective jacket, she eyed the trembling junior before her. “Where was this cowardice earlier? Are you going to talk, or do we need to help jog your memory?”

“N-no…”

The boy pressed against the wall shook his head in fear, breathing rapidly. As Li Xingcan took another step forward, he hastily raised his arms to shield his head. “I’ll talk, I’ll talk! Everything’s in—”

“Splash!”

His words were cut off by a bucket of water dumped from above. The crowd behind scattered, but Li Xingcan, standing at the front, took the full brunt of it.

“Run, quick!”

Someone shouted from upstairs. Li Xingcan wiped the water from her face and looked up just as the culprit met her gaze—only to immediately duck back and vanish.

One of her followers patted the water off her shoulder. “Who the hell was that? Some idiot with a death wish?”

“You deal with him. I’m going after that person.”

With that, she sprinted toward the stairwell. To her surprise, the culprit hadn’t fled—instead, they stood waiting in the second-floor hallway.

“Did you throw that water? Are you with them?” Frowning, Li Xingcan shook her soaked sleeves and advanced step by step.

“You’re the one bullying the weak, yet you act like you’re in the right?”

Standing firm, Jiang Qingyue met her gaze steadily, her voice calm but unwavering. Though she had just transferred to Fuhua High today, she’d already heard plenty about Li Xingcan’s notorious reputation. Witnessing such blatant bullying, she couldn’t just stand by.

“Seems to me you’re the ones exploiting weakness. If I’m not in the right, does that mean you are? Why don’t you go rob a bank while you’re at it?”

Li Xingcan scowled at this apparent accomplice, sizing her up. The girl wore a blue uniform from another school, her long hair tied in a ponytail, a large black backpack slung over her shoulders. Her face was pretty, but her expression was infuriating.

“Unreasonable.”

Jiang Qingyue wrinkled her nose in disgust and pushed past Li Xingcan, heading for the stairs.

“Did I say you could leave?”

Li Xingcan reached out to grab her arm, but the other girl was faster—dodging effortlessly and leaving her grasping at air.

Watching her retreating figure, Li Xingcan gritted her teeth and raised her voice. “What class are you in? What’s your name?”

From the stairs, Jiang Qingyue looked down at her. “What, planning to come after me? My name’s Jiang Qingyue. I’ll be waiting.”

With that, she turned and left.

Li Xingcan stood rooted in place, silently repeating the name. Jiang Qingyue, huh? Just you wait.

——

Only once she was out of Li Xingcan’s sight did Jiang Qingyue exhale in relief. She knew Li Xingcan was trouble, but turning a blind eye wasn’t in her nature. If she comes for me, I’ll handle it.

She made her way to the principal’s office—today was her first day at Fuhua High, and her class assignment still hadn’t been finalized.

“This is Mr. Yang Liusong, homeroom teacher for Class 2, Grade 12. You’ll be joining his class during your time here.”

After the principal finished speaking, Jiang Qingyue turned to look at the homeroom teacher beside her. The middle-aged man greeted her cheerfully, and she returned the greeting politely.

Then the two of them walked to the classroom together.

As soon as they entered, all eyes curiously fell upon Jiang Qingyue—the new transfer student!

Instantly, it was like a drop of water hitting boiling oil—the classroom erupted with excitement.

Looking at this group of rowdy monkeys, Yang Liusong felt like he’d entered the Flower-Fruit Mountain. He sighed helplessly at Jiang Qingyue and pointed to the only remaining seat in the corner. “You can sit there for now. We’ll rearrange seats after the break, so we’ll talk about it then.”

Jiang Qingyue glanced over. It was the seat by the corner in the last row, but with only about twenty students in the class, even the back row was close to the blackboard. It wouldn’t be a problem.

She nodded and walked over, setting down her things and organizing her desk. The neighboring seat was a complete mess, with many items spilling over onto her side. She could only push them back. Several enthusiastic classmates crowded around, chattering away—it seemed the new student wasn’t hard to get along with.

——

Li Xingcan had used the excuse of returning to the dorm to change clothes to skip an entire class. By the time he leisurely strolled back, the bell for the next period had already rung.

Pushing open the back door of the classroom, Li Xingcan immediately noticed someone new sitting beside his usual spot—and that back looked oddly familiar.

Thud.

His hand slammed heavily onto the desk as Li Xingcan smirked at the person he’d just met not long ago. “Well, well. Fancy meeting you here, Jiang Qingyue.”

Jiang Qingyue looked up, equally surprised by the coincidence.

Their eyes locked, sparks practically flying between them.

The classmates who had been about to greet Jiang Qingyue froze in place, their gazes darting back and forth between the two.

“You know each other?” Fu Duosui, who had grown up with Li Xingcan, spoke up. In theory, she knew almost everyone Li Xingcan did.

“Not really. She’s with that guy from the first year—the one who poured water on me upstairs.”

The moment Li Xingcan said this, the expressions around them shifted instantly. Strange glances were thrown Jiang Qingyue’s way before everyone quickly dispersed.

Jiang Qingyue naturally noticed this sudden change in attitude. Her gaze returned to Li Xingcan. So the isolation starts already? This Li Xingcan really lives up to his reputation.

As the others scattered, Li Xingcan took his seat. Before he could say anything else, the homeroom teacher burst in like a whirlwind. “Li Xingcan! Come with me!”

Li Xingcan swallowed his words and glared irritably at Yang Liusong. “What now?”

“To the principal’s office! You really are a troublemaker! This time, not only did you hack the school network, but you also broke into the student records database?” Yang Liusong was so furious his hair stood on end as he dragged Li Xingcan away.

Li Xingcan rolled his eyes at the teacher’s exaggerated reaction and followed him to the principal’s office without a care.

The atmosphere was tense. As soon as Li Xingcan entered and the door closed behind him, he found a seat, crossed his legs, and looked at the white-bearded principal. “First of all, let me clarify—I only accessed the school network to check the surveillance footage. If you won’t investigate the thief, I’ll do it myself. What’s the big deal?”

“You even hacked into the student records database. Do you realize how serious personal information crimes have become in recent years?” The principal spoke with grave concern. “Li Xingcan, you’d better tell the truth. Did you just take a look without tampering with anything or stealing any student data?”

“What would I want with that stuff?”

Li Xingcan frowned. This morning, the entire Class 3-2 had been robbed—her wallet and other classmates’ valuables had mysteriously disappeared. Since the school administration had never been proactive about such matters, they’d had to investigate themselves.

They’d checked the surveillance footage and cross-referenced it with the student database’s facial records, successfully identifying the thief—a freshman from Grade 1. Just as they were about to interrogate him for the stolen items’ whereabouts, his accomplice, Jiang Qingyue, had thrown a basin of water at them. She’d need to check later whether they’d managed to recover everything.

Snapping back to the present, Li Xingcan looked at the two before her. The principal seemed hesitant to speak further. A sudden realization struck her—she remembered seeing an encrypted section in the database during her unauthorized access. She hadn’t had time to crack it then. Could there really be something shady hidden there?

Before she could finish her thought, the principal waved his hand dismissively. “Although this caused some damage, let’s consider the matter closed. Teacher Yang, you decide on Li Xingcan’s punishment.”

“Understood, Principal,” Yang Liusong responded, somewhat puzzled by the abrupt conclusion but relieved his student wouldn’t face serious consequences.

Without waiting for further discussion, Li Xingcan stood up and left. She planned to crack that encrypted section immediately to see what it contained. As for punishment? Her family had donated all three buildings on campus—what were they going to do, call her parents?

Hands in her pockets, she returned to the classroom. The moment she entered, a wallet came flying toward her. She caught it deftly and glanced inside—it was hers, with everything intact. Apparently, the thief had been caught too quickly to take anything.

The wallet-thrower, Fu Duosui, gave her a thumbs-up. “Only you could pull this off. Name your lunch—it’s on me today.”

“What happened to that guy?”

With only Jiang Qingyue sitting between them, Li Xingcan deliberately asked Fu Duosui loudly enough for her to hear while glancing at the girl who was meticulously organizing her notes.

“Beating him up was going easy on him. Don’t worry, his life won’t be pleasant from now on,” Fu Duosui leaned back in his chair, his tone gloating. “Three whole years—gonna be tough.”

“His accomplice got off easier—only has to endure one year,” Li Xingcan’s pointed remark was clearly aimed at Jiang Qingyue, whom she stared at challengingly.

“Snap!” Jiang Qingyue slammed her pen on the desk, her face icy as she glared at Li Xingcan. “Do you think this is something to be proud of? Does bullying others give you some kind of thrill?”

“Hah,” Li Xingcan scoffed. “If we shouldn’t be proud, should you be instead?”

Looking at Li Xingcan’s attitude, Jiang Qingyue could only feel rage. “Disgusting.”

“Not as disgusting as you, you shameless hypocrite. After what you did, you should be keeping your head down instead of spouting nonsense. Who’s more disgusting here?” Li Xingcan fired back without backing down.

Their argument was interrupted by the class bell. Jiang Qingyue could only shoot Li Xingcan one last glare before preparing her textbooks for the lesson.

Seeing Jiang Qingyue fall silent, Li Xingcan ruffled through her messy pile of belongings, arranging a small mound suitable for sleeping, then lay down ready to meet the Sandman.

Before the teacher had even steadied herself at the podium, just as Li Xingcan was about to close her eyes, she saw Jiang Qingyue suddenly raise her hand. “Teacher, Li Xingcan is sleeping in class.”

Li Xingcan’s eyes snapped open instantly. Was this girl out of her mind?

Though the Li family had donated a building to the school—ensuring she wouldn’t face severe penalties like expulsion—she had been enrolled here precisely because of its strict discipline. So while the teachers might cut her some slack, minor punishments like standing in the corner or writing self-criticisms were still on the table.

As the teacher’s gaze turned toward her, Li Xingcan straightened up and shot a glare at Jiang Qingyue. Nosy much?

Jiang Qingyue acted as if she hadn’t noticed.

For the entire class, every time Li Xingcan’s head even hinted at drooping toward the desk, she’d catch sight of Jiang Qingyue’s hand twitching, ready to report her again. Even resting her head on her arm for a quick shut-eye was out of the question. It was pure torture.

Finally, the bell rang for the end of class. Li Xingcan had never felt a lesson drag on so long!

She collapsed onto the desk, only for the longer break-time bell to chime immediately after—meaning it was time for the mandatory group run.

Fu Duosui came over and patted Li Xingcan. “Come on, after the run, you’re coming to the store with me.”

“No way. I’m dead tired,” Li Xingcan muttered, now too exhausted even for the invigorating sound of the dismissal bell.

“So you’re skipping the run too?” Fu Duosui scratched her head.

“Yep.” Li Xingcan covered her head with a textbook, shutting down any further conversation.

As everyone else filed out for the run, Li Xingcan remained unmoving. Jiang Qingyue glanced at her before following the crowd.

The summer run was sheer torment. Everyone returned to the classroom drenched in sweat and grumbling—only to be met by their homeroom teacher storming in. Fu Duosui, who had been about to sneak Li Xingcan a snack, yanked her hand back in fright.

“Who skipped the run and got us caught? Our class is already dead last in discipline points—isn’t that embarrassing enough? More deductions!”

Yang Liusong’s booming voice nearly blew the roof off.

The class stayed silent. Then Jiang Qingyue raised her hand. “Teacher, it was Li Xingcan.”

Roused from her deep slumber, Li Xingcan was promptly rewarded with a 2,000-word self-criticism.

As Yang Liusong roared in her face, Li Xingcan shot a sidelong glare at Jiang Qingyue, grinding her teeth. This sneaky little snitch—all she knew how to do was tattle.