When the Tsundere Rival Turns Into a Cat - Chapter 21

Li Xingcan’s smile vanished the moment her eyes met Jiang Qingyue’s. Was this black-and-white thinker going to assume she was bullying others with her influence again?

They both averted their gazes, and the rest of the exam proceeded without further incident.

After submitting the test papers, it was time for lunch. Everyone else bolted faster than the proctors, but Li Xingcan wasn’t in a hurry—Fu Duosui had promised to bring her food. Glancing ahead, she noticed someone even less rushed than her: Jiang Qingyue was still slowly packing her bag.

Would this girl ever stop making others worry about her?

“Aren’t you planning to eat?” Li Xingcan snapped, watching Jiang Qingyue dawdle.

Jiang Qingyue blinked, only then realizing Li Xingcan was speaking to her. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and stood. “I bought bread.”

Great. So she’d been meddling for nothing.

Face burning, Li Xingcan strode out of the exam room ahead of her.

For two days, it was the same routine—exam, self-study, exam, self-study. Though Li Xingcan and Jiang Qingyue walked to the testing hall together, they moved in silence, ignoring each other completely.

Finally, the last exam ended. The two walked wordlessly back to the classroom, keeping to opposite sides of the staircase.

Once inside, it was time for self-study again. Li Xingcan sat at her desk when she saw Zheng Wenbai enter through the front door, heading straight for Jiang Qingyue. After a brief exchange, Jiang Qingyue began packing her things.

Li Xingcan told herself she wasn’t being nosy—just curious—as she watched.

But Jiang Qingyue wasn’t just packing her bag. She cleared everything from her desk, then walked toward the back of the classroom.

Li Xingcan’s gaze followed her, catching the brief glance Jiang Qingyue shot her way before passing by without a word. Jiang Qingyue went to the bookshelves at the back, gathering even the textbooks she rarely used, leaving nothing behind.

When Jiang Qingyue, backpack on and arms full of books, followed Zheng Wenbai out of the classroom, the room erupted in chatter—though no one knew what was happening.

Yang Liusong entered to a cacophony and slammed his hand on the desk. “What’s all this noise? Think just because exams are over, you can slack off? Have you no sense of urgency at this stage?”

Li Xingcan stood. “Where’s Jiang Qingyue?”

The others turned expectantly to Yang Liusong.

He motioned for Li Xingcan to sit. “I was just about to explain. Several of Jiang Qingyue’s monthly exam grades have already been posted, and based on her results, she’s more than qualified for the advanced class. After discussion with the principal and others, it’s been decided she’ll transfer there.”

The class murmured in understanding—except for Li Xingcan, who frowned. “Which class? One or Three?”

“Why do you care? Worry about yourself! Handing in blank papers again—I’m definitely calling your parents this time!” Yang Liusong seethed.

Li Xingcan merely glanced at him before looking away indifferently.

Halfway through self-study, it was time for dinner. Li Xingcan, Fu Duosui, and Lin Xie headed downstairs together. As they passed the first floor, Li Xingcan glanced toward the classrooms—just as an acquaintance spotted them and waved.

Li Xingcan looked at the other person. “Did your class get a new transfer student today?”

“No, why do you ask?” The person shook their head in confusion.

“Then maybe she went to Class One?” Li Xingcan frowned slightly.

“Class One?” The person waved over another passing acquaintance. “Did your class get any new transfers?”

“Nope, who told you that?”

At this point, Fu Duosui and Lin Xie also sensed something amiss. “How many advanced classes do we have in our school?”

“Just our two classes are the advanced ones. Your Class Two is the international program, while Classes Four through Ten are experimental classes. The rest are regular classes. Transfer students usually go to the experimental classes.”

After hearing this, Fu Duosui nodded. “That’s possible. The probability is higher she went to an experimental class.”

The group continued toward the cafeteria, but Li Xingcan couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

While eating in the cafeteria, they had just sat down when some classmates spotted them and came over to join.

After exchanging greetings, Li Xingcan asked Ou Jin who had just sat down, “Ou Jin, do you know which class Jiang Qingyue transferred to?”

“Probably Class One or Three? Why?” Ou Jin looked at Li Xingcan curiously.

“Just asking. She’s not in Class One or Three, maybe she’s in an experimental class. Could you help me find out? How soon can you get the information?”

Under Ou Jin’s intensely curious gaze, Li Xingcan had no choice but to ask. Though Ou Jin was a gossip, their information network was unparalleled.

“Easy! One dinner break is enough. Wait till before the first evening self-study ends—I’ll get you all the details, even which row and seat she’s in.” Ou Jin agreed without hesitation.

On the way back to the classroom, Lin Xie noticed Li Xingcan’s preoccupation. “What’s wrong? You’re acting strange.”

“I don’t know, I just feel something’s not right.” Li Xingcan couldn’t explain it, but she felt unsettled.

Fu Duosui munched on snacks beside them. “I’ve noticed you always act weird when it’s about Jiang Qingyue, and you never tell us anything.”

“Can’t the food shut you up?” Irritated, Li Xingcan quickened her pace.

Fu Duosui widened her eyes, pointing at Li Xingcan’s retreating back to complain to Lin Xie. “Mumu, you’re my witness! What did I say to deserve that attitude? Isn’t this proof she’s acting strange?”

Back in the classroom, one period passed quickly. Li Xingcan checked the time—class was about to start again, but Ou Jin still hadn’t returned.

Just as she couldn’t wait any longer and was about to go herself, Ou Jin stumbled in through the back door, panting heavily.

“I—ran up and down four floors, back and forth, asked every class, confirmed with countless people—couldn’t find out which class Jiang Qingyue went to. Actually, she didn’t go to any class. She’s disappeared.”

After catching their breath while leaning on a desk, Ou Jin added, “Maybe she transferred to another school.”

“Nowhere?!” Li Xingcan knew her intuition hadn’t failed her—something was definitely wrong.

Fu Duosui also noticed Ou Jin and came over to inquire about the situation. Upon hearing the news, she was visibly shocked. “What’s going on? Didn’t Old Yang say it himself? And when Jiang Qingyue left, it was that English teacher who escorted her. There couldn’t have been a mistake, right?”

“Maybe there weren’t any regular classes left today, so she went home to rest and will report to the new class tomorrow,” Ou Jin suggested, glancing at the two of them, thinking they were overreacting.

“I’m going out for a bit.”

Li Xingcan stood up and quickly walked out.

“Hey? Class is about to start—where are you going? I already checked everything!” Ou Jin thought Li Xingcan didn’t believe her.

Lin Xie also came over from the front row. After hearing Ou Jin’s explanation, she glanced in the direction Li Xingcan had gone and followed after her.

“But class is starting…”

Before Ou Jin could finish, Fu Duosui also left, wanting to see what was going on. But the bell rang, leaving her no choice but to watch them go.

Li Xingcan made her way to the lab building in the dark, with Lin Xie and Fu Duosui catching up quickly.

“What are you planning?” Lin Xie glanced toward the lab building.

“I need to check something.”

Li Xingcan entered the lab building and headed straight for the computer lab.

Fu Duosui, still confused by the situation, had to ask Lin Xie since Li Xingcan was moving too fast. “Check what?”

“The transfer procedures, surveillance footage—whatever’s useful. The principal discussed and decided, the homeroom teacher delivered the notice, and the English teacher escorted her out. There’s no way she could’ve just vanished into thin air.”

Lin Xie’s explanation made Fu Duosui realize what was going on.

When they reached the computer lab, the door was locked. Seeing the brand-new padlock, Li Xingcan walked over to a nearby classroom—unlocked since it had been used as an exam room earlier—grabbed a chair, and returned to the computer lab door.

Bang!

With one swift motion, she smashed the lock open.

Fu Duosui glanced at it and patted her chest. “Old Yang is going to lose it tomorrow.”

Once inside, Li Xingcan turned on the lights and booted up the computers. She was already familiar with the system—having hacked into it not long ago to review surveillance footage and help catch a thief for the whole class. Though the school had since upgraded its security, it wasn’t much of a challenge for her.

She opened several computers, hacked into the surveillance system, and pulled up footage—one from the hallway outside the principal’s office and another from the hallway outside Class 2-3. She assigned Lin Xie and Fu Duosui to watch them—one to see when the principal made the decision, the other to track where Zheng Wenbai had taken Jiang Qingyue.

Meanwhile, Li Xingcan attempted to hack into the principal’s computer to see if she could find Jiang Qingyue’s transfer documents.

“Are we overreacting a bit?” Fu Duosui switched between surveillance feeds, watching Zheng Wenbai lead Jiang Qingyue downstairs.

“Better safe than sorry. Have you never been kidnapped before?” Li Xingcan didn’t even look up, still focused on her task.

Fair point. Fu Duosui nodded and kept watching the footage.

Lin Xie sped up the playback, her eyes glued to the screen.

For a while, the only sounds in the computer lab were the clicking of keyboards and mice.

Li Xingcan soon realized the principal’s firewall was significantly stronger than the school’s system—this was going to be tricky.

If all else failed, she’d just sneak into the principal’s office and check directly.

As these thoughts crossed her mind, Li Xingcan recalled her last visit to the principal’s office—when she’d hacked into the student records database to investigate a theft. The principal had seemed unusually nervous then.

Realizing this, Li Xingcan immediately changed her target and hacked into the student database again. She remembered discovering a strangely encrypted section last time that she hadn’t managed to crack.

This time, the process went much smoother. Once inside the database, she located the encrypted section again and began cracking it.

One computer wasn’t enough, so Li Xingcan powered up all the computers in the lab, determined to uncover something tonight.

Under her relentless assault, the encrypted section didn’t hold out for long and was soon cracked.

To her surprise, it contained nothing particularly complex—just some very detailed records.

As Li Xingcan browsed through the files, she saw they contained personal information about certain students and their parents, complete with photos. The strangest part was that each person’s photo was paired with an animal photo.

Most people might assume these were family pets, but having witnessed Jiang Qingyue transform into a cat, Li Xingcan’s first thought was that these people might be like Jiang Qingyue—supernatural beings.

Looking at the timeline, some records dated back over ten years. Scrolling to the end, she found Jiang Qingyue and her mother’s file—the most recent entry.

The information about Xuan Yu and Jiang Qingyue was remarkably detailed, especially regarding Xuan Yu. Next to her photo was a picture of a completely black Xuan cat, and the description highlighted in red text: “Pure spirit bloodline with powerful heritage.”

Even just from the literal meaning, Li Xingcan could understand how special this was.

As for Jiang Qingyue’s photo, the space beside it was blank—perhaps because they hadn’t yet determined what kind of supernatural being she was.

No wonder the principal had been so nervous about her seeing these things. If the principal was really targeting these supernatural beings, then Jiang Qingyue and her mother could both be in danger.

Just as Li Xingcan was considering this, Lin Xie and Fu Duosui reported their findings.

Lin Xie spoke first, “I checked all available surveillance footage of the principal’s office that hadn’t been overwritten. Aside from the principal, the most frequent visitor was the new English teacher. Their interactions clearly show they’re acquainted.”

Fu Duosui added, “From tracking the surveillance footage, I can see Jiang Qingyue was led by this teacher to the faculty apartments—and she hasn’t come out since.”

The screen froze on the image of Jiang Qingyue entering the faculty apartments—several hours had passed since then.