The Big Cat's Morning Grumpiness

Six years ago, in Yizhou.

Rain poured down in torrents.

Xie Qizhi was startled awake by the sound of the door opening. He dimly saw a figure standing by the desk, closing the window, then pulling out tissues to wipe the raindrops from his books, carefully putting away the books he had read last night.

Xie Qizhi sat up, rubbing his eyes: "Auntie."

"Qiqi, you're awake?" The middle-aged woman turned around and said gently, "I've laid out today's clothes for you. Get up and change. Today is your first day of school, dress neatly to leave a good impression on the teachers."

Xie Qizhi saw the indigo shirt and cardigan hanging on the rack, nodding: "Okay."

She was Auntie Wang. Over the years, the Xie family's business had grown, and the couple had little time to come home, often being away. So they hired Auntie Wang to take care of the two children's daily lives. In total, she had been here for eight years.

This year, Xie Qizhi was twelve years old, a middle school student capable of self-care, so he shouldn't have needed so much worry. But Auntie Wang knew very well that the first ten years of his life had been spent moving between pediatric hospitals at home and abroad for treatment. It wasn't until last year, when a new drug from a US pharmaceutical company was launched on the market and proved effective for his symptoms, that the hospital allowed him to return to school.

Just the fact that he could survive was enough to make the adults worry to the point of heartbreak. His adoptive parents had no academic expectations for him. This time, being able to enter the middle school section of Yizhou High School—the same school as his older brother Xie Zhilan—was also thanks to connections and relationships.

Xie Qizhi had no experience interacting with peers. The people closest to him, besides his family, were only his treating physician and Auntie Wang.

Poor academic performance made it easy to be ignored by teachers; a quiet and clumsy personality made it hard to make friends; white hair and blue eyes were too prominent, easily attracting the attention of bad students and bullies...

Auntie Wang looked at Xie Qizhi's innocent face with pity, worrying herself sick with her random thoughts.

"Whenever you feel unwell, dizzy, or short of breath, raise your hand and tell the teacher immediately."

"For physical education, we'd better not participate in activities that require a lot of running and jumping, like soccer or long-distance running."

"If you have a conflict with someone, or if someone hits or scolds you, and the teacher can't resolve it, go find your brother. Qiqi, do you know where your brother's classroom is?"

"I know, my brother told me." After changing his clothes, Xie Qizhi went to the dressing room, took out a matching baseball cap, and put it on neatly in front of the mirror, trying to cover his bright white hair. "Auntie, is my brother downstairs? Is he going to school with me?"

Auntie Wang's voice drifted in from outside, nagging: "Your brother left early this morning. He didn't eat breakfast or bring an umbrella. He'll definitely get drenched on the way. I wonder if he'll catch a cold."

Xie Qizhi walked to the end of the hallway and pushed open the half-closed door. Because of the rain, the sky was very gloomy, and there was no one in the room.

His brother had already left.

Yizhou High School had both middle and high school sections in the same campus, but the entrances were separate. Xie Qizhi wanted to bring things to his brother, so he asked Uncle Wu to drive him to the east gate of the high school section.

It was now 7:40 AM, and the high school morning reading session was about to end. Xie Qizhi walked over holding his umbrella. Before he could explain, the security guard, seemingly recognizing the Xie family's car, didn't ask much and waved him in through the side gate.

He didn't know which class Xie Zhilan was in, but he remembered the general location. His brother had shown him photos: opposite the sycamore trees, in the middle of the three buildings, he studied in the class closest to the trees, sitting at the very last desk near the back door.

The rain gradually stopped. Xie Qizhi folded his umbrella and walked past the trees holding the paper bag.

Clearly, he had found the right place, and the back door was open, but there was no one sitting at the last desk; both seats were empty.

The classroom was noisy and bustling. Most were reading seriously, those whispering with eyes downcast were rushing to finish their homework, and those covering their faces with books and puffing their cheeks were eating breakfast.

Xie Qizhi blinked, wanting to laugh. Yizhou High School, a key school in the city dubbed "entering means one foot is already in Tsinghua or Peking University," didn't seem as high and mighty as his aunt had nagged.

No one paid attention to Xie Qizhi. He walked in quietly, flipping open a physics workbook on the desk. In the bottom right corner, a name was written in powerful strokes.

The name had two characters, not his brother's, but Ying Huai.

His handwriting was very casual yet beautiful. Xie Qizhi didn't recognize what style of font it was, but it was much better than the copybooks he usually practiced.

"Physics homework is still missing two people. Whoever hasn't handed it in, do so voluntarily," a girl's voice rang out from the front.

"Handed in, handed in."

"I gave it to you just now, what's with the glare? Discriminating against weak students?"

"You just copied it, right? I don't discriminate against weak students, I only discriminate against you."

"No way, why do you keep targeting me? Why don't you target Brother Ying? Is he late again? Sister Miao, go block him at the back gate and you're guaranteed to collect them all." A crew-cut boy turned around to look, freezing when he saw Xie Qizhi. "Hey, who is that? Playing cosplay so blatantly?"

This sentence attracted quite a few eyes. Xie Qizhi retracted his hand, hearing that they seemed to be talking about him. As soon as he looked up, he met the gaze of a crowd looking over.

The child at the back door wasn't tall, his baseball cap worn very low, obscuring his face. Only his tightly pursed lips and pointed chin were visible. A few white locks peeked out from behind his ears, his white shirt and indigo cardigan neatly buttoned. This style was in stark contrast to normal high school students, looking like a boy stepped out of a manga page.

"Is that a boy or a girl?"

"Can't tell. An elementary schooler who hasn't hit puberty, how can you distinguish gender?"

"Is the white hair real or a wig? Doesn't our school ban dyed hair? The school beauty of the sixth grade last year dyed her hair tea-brown and was spotted by the head teacher who had sharp eyes, and her parents had to take her to cut it."

"Being this short, he's definitely not in our grade. Probably a middle schooler? Did he go to the wrong place?"

"Go ask. We're seniors after all, help him out a bit."

"Why don't you go help? If Ying Huai isn't here, isn't the class monitor here? He'll definitely be willing to take the kid."

"We don't even know if he's lost. He's standing at his desk; maybe Xie Zhilan teased him and dragged him here. Hmph, all the pretty girls in school are his sisters."

"Sister Miao is so sour. Ah! Xu Simiao, why did you hit me! If you're angry, find the right person to vent! The scumbag to you is Xie Zhilan, not me!"

The noisy classroom suddenly fell silent. Xu Simiao glared at the speaker: "Are you even worthy?"

Xie Qizhi: "..."

He raised his eyes to secretly observe Xu Simiao, seemingly hearing a few things about his brother that he didn't know, and moreover, things that weren't very good.

*Ring ring ring—*

The bell ending the morning reading rang. Someone left their seat, proactively walking toward Xie Qizhi.

Xie Qizhi didn't like contact with strangers, nor did he need help. He placed the paper bag on Xie Zhilan's chair, turned, and ran.

With a *thump*, someone happened to walk in from the back door. Xie Qizhi wasn't paying attention and crashed straight into his waist.

His blue baseball cap fell to the ground, stained by the rainwater on the steps. Xie Qizhi also almost fell, his head tilting back.

A hand reached out, firmly catching his arm.

Without the brim of the hat blocking his view, his vision suddenly brightened.

The boy was very tall, with broad shoulders and a straight back. Xie Qizhi had to look up to see his face clearly—a handsome face, but he looked like he hadn't woken up yet.

It was still drizzling outside. He hadn't brought an umbrella, and his bangs were slightly damp, dotted with tiny water droplets. When he looked down at Xie Qizhi, his black hair fell slightly to cover part of his eyes, making his already indifferent expression even harder to read.

His heart thudded. Xie Qizhi didn't know why he was suddenly so nervous.

This feeling wasn't like fear. Although this older brother looked a bit fierce, that fierceness was like... a big cat with a bad temper, perhaps even carrying a bit of a bad wake-up temper.

"Ying Huai, when can you ever come to school on time?" It was Xu Simiao's voice.

"Probably when I'm no longer sleepy," Ying Huai replied.

He let go of Xie Qizhi, squeezing past him to walk in, bringing with him a cold draft of rainwater.

Xu Simiao exposed him: "Is there any day you're *not* sleepy?"

Ying Huai pulled out the last row's chair and sat down, yawning lazily, his eyes half-closed as he said, "Nope."