When the Tsundere Rival Turns Into a Cat - Chapter 5

Li Xingcan sat in the living room, opening her laptop while casting a sidelong glance at Jiang Qingyue, who seemed engrossed in memorizing vocabulary. Without hesitation, she cranked the volume to maximum.

As the game loaded, an overwhelming barrage of sound effects, in-game callouts, and Li Xingcan’s own shouts filled the room. Even Jiang Qingyue, usually unshakably focused, couldn’t ignore such a deafening source of noise pollution.

“Push! Push! Are your eyes glued to your ass? Can’t you see my position?! Someone’s flanking left—cover me! Fall back! Fall back!”

The clatter of Li Xingcan’s mechanical keyboard mixed with the chaotic audio and her frantic commands created utter pandemonium. Jiang Qingyue could no longer make out the vocabulary recordings. Frowning at Li Xingcan’s dizzyingly busy screen, she stood and retreated to her room.

This was exactly what Li Xingcan had intended. Glancing at Jiang Qingyue’s retreating figure, she allowed herself a small smirk—she’d won this round.

“You have been slain!”

The triumphant smirk vanished instantly at the announcement. Li Xingcan whipped her attention back to the screen, only to find her character already lying dead.

“Ace.”

In the blink of an eye, her entire team had been wiped out.

Li Xingcan cycled through the spectator view in disbelief. What the hell were her teammates doing?!

Her head throbbed from the intensity, her vision swimming. Whether it was the unfamiliar environment or the discomfort of the sofa, her gameplay felt completely off. She forced herself through two more matches before slumping back in defeat—any longer, and she might’ve smashed the laptop.

Standing to stretch, Li Xingcan took deep breaths to calm herself when her phone buzzed with a notification. A message from one of her group chats popped up.

Mumu: The prodigal daughter has finally returned!

Duosui: Woo-hoo! Today? What a coincidence—I’m out of town!

Mumu: …

Mumu: Hey! Anyone else here? No warm welcome for my grand return? @Volcano @UseRedPacketsToWakeFriends @LifeWithoutTrollingIsMeaningless

Mumu: What kind of ridiculous names are these? Only Xingcan’s is halfway normal.

Volcano: When do you get home?

Li Xingcan typed a reply, and the chat quickly erupted into lively discussion. Mumu—real name Lin Xie—had grown up with Li Xingcan, Fu Duosui, and the others. She’d spent the last semester studying abroad, so they hadn’t seen her in half a year.

As the conversation grew more animated, typing became tedious. “LifeWithoutTrollingIsMeaningless” made a suggestion.

Leaf: How about we all meet up? I’ve got free time lately—when are you guys available?

Li Xingcan read the message as others chimed in. She considered her schedule.

Volcano: I’m free today and tomorrow morning. The day after, I have a city league match and leave tomorrow afternoon. Pick a time.

Fanzi: Let’s do this afternoon. I’ve got a family dinner tomorrow, but I’m free any other day. Worst case, we can all go cheer Xingcan on at her match and hang out afterward.

Mumu: Afternoon it is, then. We’ll go support Xingcan the day after. Plenty of time to mess around!

Duosui: Wait for me! I’m currently stranded on a deserted island!

Ye Zi: Hahaha! Just won’t wait for you!

…

The gathering was finally set at Li Xingcan’s place. Lin Xie came straight from the airport, while Zhao Fan and Tao Ye would each make their way over separately.

Next was preparing some food, drinks, and entertainment for later—nothing too troublesome, as everything was quickly delivered.

Since Tao Ye and Zhao Fan lived nearby, they arrived earlier. The three exchanged knowing glances and grinned upon seeing each other. “Long time no see!”

They’d attended the same schools since kindergarten, but things changed in high school. Tao Ye and Zhao Fan went to an elite private school in Jiangcheng. Originally, Li Xingcan and Fu Duosui were supposed to join them, but after their parents discussed it, they decided not to indulge the kids and instead sent them to the strictly managed Fuhua High School.

Though separated by schools, they’d kept in touch regularly, so it didn’t make much difference.

Li Xingcan ushered the two inside. “You two busy bees—so hard to pin down for a meetup!”

Tao Ye and Zhao Fan exchanged glances before simultaneously slinging their arms around Li Xingcan’s shoulders from either side. “Who’s the busy one?! Every time we invite you, you’re unavailable, and now you’re blaming us? Li Xingcan!”

“Hey, hey—I’m gonna fall!”

The three horsed around noisily, killing time in the living room while waiting for Lin Xie before heading upstairs together.

Zhao Fan glanced at the computer Li Xingcan had brought downstairs. “Why’d you put your PC here? Isn’t the height difference between this and the couch awful for gaming?”

“Don’t even ask,” Li Xingcan said, shaking his head after a glance toward Jiang Qingyue’s room. “I was just in the mood, but losing three matches in a row nearly killed me. Help me carry this back upstairs later—we can play a few rounds together.”

“Spare us! You always rip into us when we game with you!” Tao Ye rolled her eyes and outright refused. “Think of something else fun. Li Xingcan, you can’t just game all the time—don’t you want to experience the amazing real world?”

Li Xingcan spread his hands. “Then what? You guys decide this time—saves me getting pissed off gaming with you and ruining my performance the day after tomorrow.”

“Exactly!”

Tao Ye immediately perked up, eyes gleaming, but before she could speak, Zhao Fan covered her mouth.

Adjusting his glasses with his other hand, Zhao Fan looked at her. “Something normal.”

Tao Ye’s face scrunched in displeasure as she pulled Zhao Fan’s hand away and plopped onto the couch. “Fine, how about just playing cards or something?”

Li Xingcan’s gaze flicked between them, eyebrows raised in suspicion. “Seems you two have some secrets.”

“Nothing much. Last truth-or-dare, she made me go to a haunted house, and the time before that, she insisted—”

This time, Tao Ye swiftly clamped a hand over Zhao Fan’s mouth. Clearing her throat awkwardly, she punched his arm. “How was I supposed to know you’d be so scared? I thought only Duosui was the chicken.”

Zhao Fan shot her a sidelong glance and pulled her hand down. “You weren’t scared? Weren’t you the one in the haunted house who—”

Mid-sentence, his mouth was covered again.

“You two are weird. Whatever—if we play truth-or-dare this time, it’s limited to this house only.”

Li Xingcan always felt something was off, but she couldn’t be bothered to care. Tao Ye had always been eccentric, prone to causing trouble in creative ways. Fortunately, Zhao Fan was the most level-headed among them, and with her around, there shouldn’t be any major issues.

After some casual chatting, Lin Xie, who had set off from the airport first, finally arrived. She stepped out of the car at the entrance, pulling a large suitcase behind her.

Tao Ye was the quickest to react, darting forward to greet Lin Xie. “Mumu! I missed you so much!”

“Stop.”

Lin Xie pushed the large suitcase in front of her, effectively blocking Tao Ye’s enthusiastic advance. “I appreciate the sentiment, but a hug isn’t necessary.”

“You’re rejecting me?” Tao Ye pouted, clinging to Lin Xie’s suitcase as if she were about to throw herself on the ground in protest. Lin Xie quickly intervened, “The suitcase has gifts for all of you.”

“Mumu, you’re the best!”

Tao Ye immediately straightened up, eagerly grabbing the suitcase to see what was inside.

Li Xingcan and Zhao Fan finally caught up, taking a look at Lin Xie. Half a year apart hadn’t changed her much—her oversized long sleeves and pants made her appear even thinner, and her pale complexion and perpetually grumpy expression gave off an aloof, antisocial illusion. In reality, though, she was an intermittent social butterfly, completely different online versus in person.

“After all this time, you’re still the same old deadpan face, huh?” Li Xingcan had spent so much time interacting with Lin Xie online that switching back to real-life interactions instantly brought back their familiar dynamic.

“Be grateful for this deadpan face. I got carsick and airsick—over ten hours combined. I’m literally risking my life to hang out with you guys today,” Lin Xie said with a faint look of utter despair. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, can you move so I can go throw up first?”

Li Xingcan and Zhao Fan immediately jumped aside. Why did she wait until the last second to mention something so urgent?!

Lin Xie rushed inside, leaving the other three to carry the suitcase in. They opened it in the living room.

Inside was a limited-edition figurine for Li Xingcan—over half a meter tall, taking up nearly half the suitcase even when disassembled. For Zhao Fan, there was a raw gemstone, letting her play her own version of a blind box. Tao Ye received a mysterious set of items, and there was also a box of snacks for Fu Duosui.

Li Xingcan’s eyes lit up as she immediately started assembling the figurine. The massive wings alone were breathtaking, and the entire piece was incredibly lifelike—a model not yet released domestically.

Meanwhile, Zhao Fan had already pulled out her phone to shine a light on the raw gemstone, examining it closely.

The only odd one out was Tao Ye. Though clearly thrilled with her gift, she didn’t inspect it further, quickly packing it back into its box.

By the time Lin Xie emerged from the bathroom, she noticed a door nearby slightly ajar before closing again.

She frowned, glancing at it. There wasn’t even a breeze—how had the door moved on its own?

Just as she was about to investigate, Li Xingcan stepped in front of her. “Feeling better?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Do you have someone else here?” Lin Xie looked toward the room behind Li Xingcan.

Li Xingcan glanced back—it was Jiang Qingyue’s room. She slung an arm over Lin Xie’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. Come on, let’s go upstairs.”

Hanging out with her own friends had nothing to do with Jiang Qingyue. There was no need to involve her.

The group carried their laptops and the snacks prepared by the housekeeper upstairs. Only then did Jiang Qingyue crack the door open again, peering out—but the living room was already empty.

These were all Li Xingcan’s friends, and she had no desire to meet them. When the noise outside had quieted down earlier, she thought they’d already left. But just as she was about to open the door, she saw someone and quickly closed it again.

After stepping out to pour herself a glass of water, she retreated back to her room and shut the door. This was Li Xingcan’s home after all—if she wanted to entertain friends, it had nothing to do with her.

The four friends went upstairs and set everything up in the private home theater on the second floor. They called Fu Duosui, but the signal was poor, and they could only catch bits and pieces of her saying to wait for her return before the call dropped.

Giving up on her, they started eating some snacks. Tao Ye, the most restless of the bunch, began fiddling with the large screen in the room. Before long, deafening music blared through the speakers.

Downstairs, Jiang Qingyue had initially thought Li Xingcan having friends over for a party wouldn’t affect her. But now, with the pounding ceiling and blaring music, she realized how wrong she’d been.

Still, she was a guest under someone else’s roof.

Taking a deep breath, Jiang Qingyue endured it.

As the sun set and the moon rose, the sounds of card games being replaced by mahjong tiles came from the next room.

When the moon reached the treetops, howling singing voices erupted from upstairs.

At midnight, the lights in Jiang Qingyue’s room suddenly went out, plunging her into darkness. Outside, footsteps of chasing and playing echoed through the house, along with someone’s frustrated outburst.

Apparently, someone had broken the rules during hide-and-seek by cutting the power.

…

Jiang Qingyue closed her book. Just how did these people have so much energy?

When the lights came back on, she rubbed her throbbing temples and forced her eyes open to check the time—it was already past 2 a.m.

Having reached her limit, Jiang Qingyue decided it was time to talk to Li Xingcan.

She opened her door to step out, only to come face-to-face with someone. The pale-faced woman initially gave her a lazy glance before turning back to study her carefully. “You… who are you?”

Caught off guard by the question, Jiang Qingyue hesitated. Before she could respond, Li Xingcan suddenly appeared from around the staircase corner. Her smile vanished the moment she saw Jiang Qingyue, and she quickly approached.

“What are you doing out here?” Li Xingcan frowned at Jiang Qingyue.

Any uncertainty Jiang Qingyue felt disappeared at Li Xingcan’s hostile tone. Her expression turned cold. “Do you realize it’s past 2 a.m.?”

“So what?” Li Xingcan retorted defiantly.

“I need to rest,” Jiang Qingyue emphasized.

“You didn’t consider my rest during your morning workouts, did you?”

The two stood their ground, neither yielding.

Lin Xie, having grasped the situation, stepped between them. “Hold on, no need to argue. Xingcan, it is late—we should head back. You both should get some rest.”

“Mu Mu, don’t mind her. If she’s not sleeping, she’s not tired,” Li Xingcan said, her gaze still locked on Jiang Qingyue though her words were for Lin Xie.

The commotion drew the other two over. They came downstairs and were visibly surprised to see Jiang Qingyue.

Lin Xie stepped between the two quarreling individuals, separating them with each hand, then walked over to Tao Ye and Zhao Fan. “It’s getting late and I’m sleepy. Let’s call it a night. Doesn’t Fanzi have a family gathering tomorrow? Can’t stay up too late. Everyone should head home now.”

Zhao Fan glanced at Li Xingcan’s furious expression and the cold-faced stranger who remained silent, nodding at Lin Xie before pulling away Tao Ye, who was still muttering about not having enough fun.

After everyone left, Jiang Qingyue headed to the kitchen for some water, feeling dizzy and uncomfortable. As she reached the dining table, a glass of water was handed to her. Looking up, she saw the weary face of the housekeeper—understandable, given all the noise that would keep anyone awake. Silently accepting the glass, she watched as the housekeeper returned to her room.

With their respective drivers and cars ready, the three gathered their belongings to leave. Li Xingcan saw them off at the door.

“Why don’t you stay over tonight? It’s really late,” Li Xingcan suggested.

Lin Xie shook her head. “No way. It’d be awkward to gossip about you right in front of you. We’ll discuss the sudden appearance of that mystery girl you’ve been hiding from us over text later.”

Li Xingcan: “…”

“She’s… just…” Li Xingcan struggled to explain Jiang Qingyue, finally settling on, “She’s a distant relative.”

“Oh~ See you.”

Lin Xie gave a casual wave before getting into the car and pulling out her phone. Zhao Fan and Tao Ye also waved goodbye and got into their cars. The next second, Li Xingcan’s phone began buzzing nonstop with messages.

Glancing at it, she saw even Fu Duosui had joined the conversation. Come to think of it, Fu Duosui didn’t know Jiang Qingyue was staying here either. The group’s excitement only grew—if even Fu Duosui, who was practically glued to Li Xingcan’s side, had no idea about this person, how strange!

Li Xingcan explained she was just the child of her father’s friend, but a barrage of questions followed:

Why didn’t you introduce her?

What’s her name? Whose family is she from?

Why is she staying alone with you?

…

Li Xingcan felt a headache coming on. If she couldn’t explain it face-to-face, there was no way she could make these self-righteous friends understand in the group chat. She decided to stop responding altogether.

The heated discussion in the chat continued. Li Xingcan watched the cars drive off before turning back inside.

As she entered, she saw Jiang Qingyue drinking water. Their eyes met, but Jiang Qingyue only gave her a cold glare before turning away.

She had the nerve to act like this?

Furious, Li Xingcan quickened her pace, intending to catch up and settle things once and for all. But Jiang Qingyue sped up as well, darting into her room and slamming the door shut.

Li Xingcan barely avoided getting hit in the face, skidding to a stop. Gritting her teeth, she stared at the closed door—was this her way of refusing to talk?

“Come out. We need to clear things up,” Li Xingcan demanded, pounding on the door.

“I have nothing to say to you. I’m resting,” came Jiang Qingyue’s icy reply.

“Resting? Fine, I’ll let you rest!”

Slamming her fist against the door, Li Xingcan’s anger flared even hotter. Jiang Qingyue had woken her up earlier without so much as an apology, but now that the tables were turned, she suddenly had complaints?

Heading to another room next to Jiang Qingyue’s, which was Li Xingcan’s music practice room, she opened the door and glanced at the piano, guitar, and cello inside, none of which satisfied her. Her gaze fell on the drum set in the corner, and she made her choice.

Leaving the door wide open so the sound could travel, Li Xingcan sat down at the dust-covered drum set. The drumsticks twirled deftly between her fingers before she caught them firmly, officially beginning her performance!

Jiang Qingyue had just lain down on the bed, thinking she could finally get some peace, when a sudden drumbeat startled her. Then, from the other side of the room, came the sound of someone playing the drums.

It was clear Li Xingcan had some training—the rhythm wasn’t bad—

But it was three in the morning!

She covered her ears with the blanket, but the noise still seeped through. Already exhausted with a pounding headache, Jiang Qingyue now felt every beat reverberate painfully in her skull. Anger flared up inside her, impossible to suppress.

Throwing off the blanket, she stormed out of bed, flung open her door, and charged straight into the next room.

Li Xingcan, seeing Jiang Qingyue barging in furiously, flashed a smug grin. “Weren’t you supposed to be resting? Did you come all this way just to enjoy my performance? How was it?”

“Enjoy my foot!”

Jiang Qingyue had had enough. She snatched the drumsticks from Li Xingcan’s hands. “What the hell are you doing? Just because you don’t want to sleep doesn’t mean others don’t need to!”

“Give them back,” Li Xingcan demanded, holding out her hand. “If you can’t sleep, that’s your problem. A little noise and you’re wide awake? Sounds like you weren’t that tired to begin with.”

“A little noise? Li Xingcan, do you have any common decency?”

Jiang Qingyue smacked Li Xingcan’s outstretched hand with the drumstick. Stung, Li Xingcan yanked her hand back, staring in disbelief. “You hit me?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Jiang Qingyue met her glare without flinching. “I know you’re just trying to torment me. Fine, I can deal with being tired and sleeping in tomorrow. But have you even thought about Auntie? She’s not young anymore—she has to wake up early every day to water your plants, clean, and take care of you. And you can’t even let her have a peaceful night?!”

Li Xingcan hadn’t expected Jiang Qingyue to shift the topic to the housekeeper. She hadn’t considered that angle, but that didn’t mean Jiang Qingyue had any right to lecture her.

Before she could gather her thoughts for a retort, Jiang Qingyue had already slammed the drumsticks onto the table and walked out.

Li Xingcan stood there fuming, itching to continue the argument, but Jiang Qingyue had already retreated to her room.

Glancing at her drumsticks, Li Xingcan scoffed. She decided not to press the issue—not out of respect for Jiang Qingyue, but for the sake of the housekeeper. She’d let it slide this time.

Closing the door, she headed upstairs, and the night finally settled into silence.

Three in the morning wasn’t even late by Li Xingcan’s standards. She woke up the next day at eleven without any trouble.

The first thing she did was check her phone. Over a dozen messages—mostly idle gossip from acquaintances—were left unanswered. At the top was their group chat, which she’d muted the night before. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have gotten any sleep.

Rubbing her eyes, she considered scrolling through the chat history, but the grayed-out message count showed over five hundred unread messages.

Never mind.

After just glancing at the last few random messages, Li Xingcan couldn’t be bothered to scroll up further. She turned off Do Not Disturb mode, tossed her phone aside, and stretched lazily.

Little did she know that this simple act of not scrolling up would cause her to miss their wildly imaginative speculations—and the only chance to get a clear explanation.

That afternoon, she would head to the city league competition venue to practice with her teammates before the official matches began the next day.

Li Xingcan was quite confident about this city tournament—no problems there. Since Lin Xie and the others were also going to the venue, she figured it would be a good chance to relax.

Waving her hand to open the curtains, Li Xingcan took a deep breath as she got out of bed, feeling completely refreshed.

She woke up at just the right time, allowing her to have lunch at home before heading out.

After washing up and going downstairs, she spotted the figurine Lin Xie had gifted her yesterday still sitting in the living room. The more she looked at it, the more she admired it.

Suddenly, she remembered she had a Lego set of the same design, roughly the same size, which would make a perfect display piece alongside it.

With that thought, Li Xingcan immediately began rummaging through boxes. She had so many collectibles that most were stored in the villa’s basement—originally meant for wine storage—but she had repurposed it to house her figurines and Lego sets instead.

After hauling it up from the basement, she realized it was still quite large—over half a meter tall, with massive wings. Carrying it was a bit of a struggle, especially since it was assembled from Lego bricks and required extra care.

Step by careful step, she successfully moved it to the living room and placed both pieces on the coffee table for admiration. A blissful smile spread across Li Xingcan’s face—they really were stunning.