When the Tsundere Rival Turns Into a Cat - Chapter 34

The two walked back to Li Xingcan’s home. Since Li Xingcan had been away earlier, the housekeeper had temporarily returned to the Li family estate. Naturally, Li Xingcan needed to call and ask her to come back.

After making the call, Li Xingcan turned to Jiang Qingyue, who was still standing in the living room. “The housekeeper will be back soon. If there’s anything you’d like to eat, you can let her know.”

“I’m fine with anything,” Jiang Qingyue replied. She had never been picky and had no particular requests.

“Alright, then I’ll have someone bring over some essentials for you first.”

Since Jiang Qingyue had taken all her belongings earlier, daily necessities naturally needed to be repurchased.

“No need. I have everything in my suitcase. I’ll head to my room first.”

With that, Jiang Qingyue pulled her suitcase toward the room she had stayed in before.

“Wait!”

Li Xingcan stopped her and took the suitcase from her. “Don’t stay in that room. Move to the guest room next to mine.”

“Why?” Jiang Qingyue, now without her suitcase, had no choice but to follow Li Xingcan upstairs.

“Because…” Li Xingcan paused on the stairs and looked at Jiang Qingyue. “Because I assigned you that room back when I disliked you. It’s not a good room—it doesn’t even qualify as a proper guest room.”

Jiang Qingyue understood. It seemed Li Xingcan had had a change of heart.

“If that’s the reason, there’s no need to move. I was fine staying there. It’s only for a few more days anyway—no point in making a fuss.”

“No, I won’t feel right about it. That room is small and stuffy, with a tiny window. It’s not comfortable. The guest room upstairs is always kept tidy. Just stay next to me.”

Li Xingcan flatly refused and continued carrying the suitcase upstairs. Jiang Qingyue had no choice but to follow.

As Li Xingcan had said, every room was spotless. When they reached the room next to Li Xingcan’s bedroom and opened the door, Jiang Qingyue saw that it was indeed much larger than her previous one—only slightly smaller than Li Xingcan’s master bedroom.

“Not bad, right?”

After setting down the suitcase, Li Xingcan walked over to open the window, glanced around, then pointed toward the bathroom. “The ensuite here is more spacious too.”

Unable to refuse such hospitality, Jiang Qingyue relented. “Alright, thank you.”

“Also, my room is right next door. You can come find me anytime.” Li Xingcan extended the invitation with unusual enthusiasm.

Jiang Qingyue hesitated but ultimately didn’t reject the goodwill, nodding. “I know.”

After that, Li Xingcan seemed at a loss for words. She glanced at Jiang Qingyue’s suitcase. “Do you need help unpacking?”

“No!”

Only then did Jiang Qingyue sense something amiss. Though her relationship with Li Xingcan had improved significantly, it wasn’t to the point where Li Xingcan would be this… attentive, was it?

Unfazed by the rejection, Li Xingcan looked around, confirming there was nothing else she could assist with. “Then I’ll go change first. You should change too—the temperature’s dropped today. Don’t catch a cold.”

“Alright.”

Jiang Qingyue watched as Li Xingcan left her room, feeling increasingly puzzled. Was this really Li Xingcan? What was she up to?

On the other side, Li Xingcan remained completely unaware of how unusual her current behavior was. After returning to her room and changing clothes, she began contemplating her plans for the next few days.

How could she make Jiang Qingyue happier? What were Jiang Qingyue’s usual hobbies?

As she pondered, Li Xingcan realized she actually knew very little about Jiang Qingyue. She only knew Jiang liked studying—was she supposed to accompany her doing practice problems then?

No, that wouldn’t do.

After racking her brain without reaching any conclusions, Li Xingcan decided to seek external help. Checking the time, she figured Xuan Yu should have finished erasing Fu Duosui and the others’ memories by now.

Li Xingcan first sent Fu Duosui a message:

Volcano: Duosui, if a friend is going far away and might never be seen again, and she’s extremely sad, what could be done to cheer her up?

The response came immediately in the form of a phone call from Fu Duosui.

“Who’s going away? And how far could it be that you’d never see her again? If she can’t come back, can’t we just go visit her?”

Fu Duosui clearly thought Li Xingcan was talking about someone in their friend group, like Lin Xieshui.

“It’s not one of us—it’s Jiang Qingyue.”

Li Xingcan figured even if Xuan Yu had erased Fu Duosui’s memories about demons, she should still remember Jiang Qingyue. After all, Jiang being a demon was only a small part of her identity, unlike Ding Pei who had known Yuer was a demon from the start.

Indeed, Fu Duosui only retained partial memories of Jiang Qingyue, which made her particularly shocked.

“You mean Jiang Qingyue is your friend? Are you crazy? Weren’t you two like fire and water?”

“Uh…” Li Xingcan hesitated, realizing Fu Duosui’s memories of Jiang had been erased beyond what was necessary, seemingly stuck at an earlier point in time. This made it hard to explain.

Under Fu Duosui’s insistent questioning, Li Xingcan scratched her head. “Actually, we weren’t really that incompatible—just some misunderstandings that got cleared up. No big deal.”

“Huh?” Now it was Fu Duosui’s turn to be confused. “So you really consider her a friend now?”

“It’s complicated. Anyway, she’s returning to her hometown, and I want to make her happy before she leaves. Any good ideas?”

Li Xingcan pressed on.

“School starts tomorrow—what fun can we have there? Maybe buy her some gifts, or our class could throw her a farewell party?” Fu Duosui suggested after some thought.

“A farewell party? Wouldn’t that just rub salt in the wound?” Li Xingcan immediately rejected the idea. Jiang Qingyue’s situation was different from transferring schools—she wanted to study but couldn’t anymore. What kind of farewell would that be?

“Then what should we do? By the way, haven’t you two been absent from school for a while? What’s going on with you?”

Fu Duosui only remembered this when school came up, feeling like she’d forgotten something but unable to recall what.

With her memories wiped, she didn’t even know this much. Li Xingcan made up an excuse. “Just staying home, nothing serious. Never mind, I’ll figure it out myself.”

“Since you’re home, why don’t I come over? I’m free anyway, might as well help you brainstorm.” Fu Duosui, unable to sit still for even a moment, was ready to head out immediately.

“No! Don’t come. See you at school tomorrow. That’s all for now.”

Li Xingcan quickly declined and hung up the phone. Jiang Qingyue was still here, and having Fu Duosui and the others come over would require explanations that might make Jiang Qingyue uncomfortable. Better to forget about it.

Since Fu Duosui wasn’t an option, Li Xingcan had to figure things out on her own.

Maybe Fu Duosui had a point—giving a gift wasn’t a bad idea.

Slouching on the sofa, Li Xingcan browsed gifts for Jiang Qingyue on her phone. Many modern items wouldn’t be usable or allowed in the demon realm, which made things tricky.

Would Jiang Qingyue like shiny gemstones or something similar?

Probably not.

After racking her brain for a while, Li Xingcan decided it was best to ask Jiang Qingyue directly. She got up and left the room—this time, Jiang Qingyue’s room was right next door, making things much more convenient.

Jiang Qingyue hadn’t closed the door, so Li Xingcan could see her sitting at the desk, pen in hand, intently reading a book spread open in front of her. She hadn’t noticed Li Xingcan at the doorway.

Perhaps what Jiang Qingyue loved most was books.

Li Xingcan could easily gift her an entire library, but the problem was—where would all those books be stored in the demon realm? And how would they be transported?

If she only gave a few books, though, Li Xingcan had no idea what kind Jiang Qingyue would like. She had no clue about this sort of thing—it was really frustrating.

She decided to set the matter aside for now. The gift could wait until the last day before Jiang Qingyue left. Giving it now would only bring the sadness of parting forward.

Besides, Li Xingcan didn’t want Jiang Qingyue to think that gifts were the only way she showed her care.

With that in mind, Li Xingcan knocked and entered, glancing at what Jiang Qingyue was writing—notes summarizing key points from her studies.

Someone who loved studying had to drop out, while someone like Li Xingcan, who disliked school, had no choice but to attend. Where was the fairness in that?

Jiang Qingyue knew it was Li Xingcan as soon as she heard the sound. Finishing the section she was writing, she looked up at Li Xingcan standing silently beside her. “Is something wrong?”

“Nothing major. I just wanted to ask if there’s anywhere you’d like to go or anything you’d like to do?”

Li Xingcan knew this approach might lack surprise, but she was self-aware enough to realize that a hastily prepared surprise might just end up startling Jiang Qingyue. This was the safer option.

Jiang Qingyue thought for a moment and actually had an answer. “I was planning to go to school. All the recent test papers are there—I forgot to bring them back last time. I should check how far along the curriculum is, or I’ll fall behind.”

Li Xingcan hadn’t expected it to be school, but considering it was Jiang Qingyue, it made perfect sense. She nodded. “Alright, I’ll go with you now.”

“No need. It’s close—I can go alone.”

“I’d feel better if I came. Zheng Wenbai is still at school, right? What if her memory wasn’t completely erased and she tries something? It’s safer if we go together. Let’s go.”

Finding a reasonable excuse to prevent Jiang Qingyue from refusing, Li Xingcan quickly pulled her along.

The school was only a five-minute bike ride away, but walking would be tiring, especially under the scorching midday sun.

“I have a mountain bike in the garage. Can you ride one?” Li Xingcan wasn’t old enough for a driver’s license, and calling a driver would take time—she didn’t want to wait.

Jiang Qingyue shook her head, “I’ve never ridden one before.”

“It’s fine,” Li Xingcan thought for a moment. “Mountain bikes don’t have rear seats, but there are shared bikes by the roadside. I’ll scan one and take you with me.”

“We could also just walk,” Jiang Qingyue said, a little worried.

“Trust me!”

Li Xingcan patted her chest confidently, full of assurance. Since she had already decided to take good care of Jiang Qingyue these next few days, she would absolutely keep her word.

After leaving the villa area and reaching the other side of the road, sure enough, there were parked shared bikes. She scanned one with her phone and successfully unlocked it.

“It’s easy, hop on.”

Li Xingcan tested the bike first, then stopped in front of Jiang Qingyue, beckoning with certainty.

Jiang Qingyue hesitated but didn’t want to reject Li Xingcan’s kindness. She could only try sitting on the rear seat—her first time ever, and she was genuinely nervous.

“Hold onto me tight, it’ll be fine.” Li Xingcan took Jiang Qingyue’s hands and placed them around her waist, urging her to hold on firmly. With a strong push of her foot, they smoothly set off.

At first, Jiang Qingyue felt a little shy about embracing Li Xingcan, but once they started moving, she realized riding a bike was far more precarious than she’d imagined. With no support for balance other than Li Xingcan herself, her hands, which had been lightly resting on Li Xingcan’s waist, instinctively tightened around her clothes, pulling them closer together.

The quiet afternoon street was filled with the rustling sound of wheels rolling over fallen leaves. A breeze carrying the faint chill of autumn brushed past them, lifting the ends of Li Xingcan’s hair and lightly tickling Jiang Qingyue’s nose.

Her keen senses caught the faint fragrance in Li Xingcan’s hair, mingling with the scent of fallen leaves and sun-baked asphalt in the wind. Though this mix couldn’t compare to the fresh, clean air of the demon realm, Jiang Qingyue found herself liking it even more.

The scenery along the road didn’t flash by as it did when riding in a car, nor was it completely ignored in the usual rush of hurried footsteps. Now, Jiang Qingyue could finally take a closer look—the trees, the lawns, the buildings—and at the end of it all stood their school.

Li Xingcan… do you really have a way to let me stay?

Her gaze lingered on Li Xingcan’s back. Though Jiang Qingyue didn’t hold much hope for Li Xingcan’s promise, she couldn’t help but feel a flicker of anticipation.