This chapter is brought to you by Lilyj, thanks for the ko-fi! (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･
President 6
Tang Xi and Ye Qian exchanged a few more whispered words before they suddenly noticed that more and more people in the classroom were sneaking glances at them.
His face flushed red, and he fell silent, thinking that maybe he had spoken too loudly and the others had overheard.
Talking during class, even in hushed tones, wasn’t a good habit.
With his cheeks still tinged with pink, Tang Xi sat up straight and focused intently on the blackboard, trying to shake off his embarrassment.
On the blackboard, Teacher Huang was passionately explaining a classical Chinese passage, holding a piece of chalk in hand. Since he wasn’t a young teacher, he absolutely despised using PowerPoint. Despite the school being equipped with expensive and advanced teaching tools, he never used them. Instead, he preferred the traditional approach—one hand holding a textbook, the other scribbling key notes onto the blackboard.
In no time, the once-clean blackboard was filled to the brim with neatly arranged annotations.
Although Tang Xi had already self-studied human elementary to high school knowledge, this wasn’t Earth. Classical Chinese here looked similar but had subtle differences, making it difficult to fully understand. The more he listened, the more confused he became, his eyes glazing over in bewilderment.
Ye Qian looked up from his book and caught sight of Tang Xi’s dazed expression—his big eyes filled with confusion, his cheeks still slightly pink from earlier. His skin looked so soft that it seemed like it would feel amazing to the touch.
Ye Qian unconsciously rubbed his fingers together but said nothing. Instead, he lowered his head and began taking notes.
While note-taking was a common thing for students, this was the first time Ye Qian had ever taken Chinese class notes so seriously. With his naturally brilliant mind, classical Chinese translations came effortlessly to him. Forget note-taking—he had always just gone through the motions even with his homework.
He was more focused on participating in math competitions, and his practice papers and learning progress were always ahead of the teacher’s syllabus. Faced with such an outstanding student, the teachers would often turn a blind eye.
If anyone had a problem with it, they could try surpassing his first-place ranking in the entire grade. Unfortunately, no one ever could, so they had no choice but to accept it.
Technically, he had no need to take notes at all. Yet, after glancing at Tang Xi’s lost expression twice, he continued writing.
By the end of class, Tang Xi had barely understood anything. He clutched his head in frustration.
Skipping the lecture wasn’t an option—after all, as a senior student, pop quizzes could happen at any time, and he couldn’t just turn in a blank paper. He considered asking his system for help, but 1551 informed him that this would come at an additional cost.
Already drowning in debt before even earning a single point, the broke little cat Tang Xi had to abandon the idea.
Just then, Ye Qian suddenly slid his notebook over to him.
“You can borrow my notes to study.”
“Really?” Tang Xi’s eyes lit up instantly. He took the notebook, staring at the neat and beautiful handwriting, his face full of gratitude.
Ye Qian smiled. “Really, if there’s anything else you don’t understand, feel free to ask me anytime. I also have notes for other subjects, do you want them?”
Even he himself was a little surprised after saying this. Normally, many people would come to him with questions, but this was the first time he had ever taken the initiative to offer help. In fact, if someone asked too many questions, he would usually subtly but firmly redirect them to the teacher. But now, he felt like no matter how many questions his little deskmate asked, he wouldn’t find it annoying at all.
Tang Xi nodded eagerly, like a little chick pecking at rice, his eyes practically glowing with excitement.
Seeing him like this, Ye Qian suddenly fell silent, feeling a little overwhelmed—almost as if a small animal was relying on him and acting cute.
Tang Xi didn’t notice his reaction. Instead, he was enthusiastically praising 1551 in his mind.
[1551, look! As expected of the child of fate, he’s such a nice person!]
1551 responded half-heartedly: [Mm-hmm, oh, okay.]
Sensing something was off, Tang Xi asked: [What are you doing?]
With the villain absent, 1551 had completely slacked off—even sneaking in some leisure time during work.
Caught red-handed, it showed no remorse and answered righteously: [I’m reading.]
[Reading what?] The curious little cat perked up.
[“How to Double Your Points” and “Get Rich Quick Tips Every Successful System Swears By.”] 1551 replied with great satisfaction.
[Oh.] The little cat’s response was cold and indifferent.
Tang Xi stopped chatting with the system because, all of a sudden, more and more classmates had gathered around him.
Between the second and third periods, there was an extended break. Freshmen and sophomores had to go outside for their scheduled exercises, but seniors were exempt. As a result, some gossip-loving classmates started to crowd around.
The students bombarded him with questions.
If it were just an ordinary transfer student, they wouldn’t be this curious. But the new transfer student was simply too adorable—he looked soft and easy to tease. On top of that, many of them had already seen the post Chen Yuxin had made, so they eagerly joined in on the excitement.
Although their overwhelming enthusiasm was a bit too much for Tang Xi to handle, he could still feel the kindness in their actions. Feeling a little shy, he did his best to respond. When he couldn’t answer a question, he would simply widen his big, innocent eyes and gaze at the person asking, melting their hearts to the point where they completely forgot what they had just asked.
This was a trick he had learned when he was a cat—whenever he encountered a kind stranger, he would dilate his pupils and look at them with the helpless charm of a kitten fully relying on them. More often than not, the person would end up dazedly taking him to a convenience store to buy him delicious ham, entirely forgetting about their own impending tardiness to school or work.
Ye Qian watched as his new deskmate was surrounded, leaving no room for escape. An unexpected sense of discomfort welled up inside him. He lightly knocked on the desk, drawing everyone’s attention, and said warmly, “Class starts in five minutes. Next up is English. Have you all finished your English preparation?”
The English teacher was notoriously strict, frequently calling on students to answer questions about the new lesson before class began. Those who couldn’t answer had to stand for the entire period—an absolute nightmare for the senior-year Class 7 students.
Hearing the campus heartthrob’s words, most of the students immediately panicked, shouting, “Oh no, I forgot! Quick, let me borrow your notes!” And just like that, the crowd scattered in a flurry.
The few students who were confident in their English and had nothing to worry about also respectfully gave Ye Qian face by politely leaving.
Only the class’s sports committee member remained. Looking a bit nervous, he said to Tang Xi, “My name is Chen Ruili. If you ever want to walk around and get familiar with the school, just come find me. I can show you around.” His slightly tanned face was turning visibly red from holding back his shyness.
Tang Xi nodded. Of course, he still remembered this warm-hearted boy who had just helped him find the teacher’s office.
Receiving a response, Chen Ruili returned to his seat, satisfied.
Now that the commotion had died down, Tang Xi turned to Ye Qian with an apologetic expression and said, “Sorry, did they disturb you? They were probably just curious about the new student. It should be fine after this break.”
At the same time, he thought to himself that if the next class was still crowded, he would voluntarily give up his seat to avoid disturbing anyone.
Animals always have sharp instincts, and his intuition told him that Ye Qian hadn’t been in a great mood just now.
Ye Qian still had a faint smile on his face.
“You don’t have to worry. I won’t be upset,” he reassured, pausing briefly before adding with a meaningful tone, “But classmate Chen is our class’s sports committee member, so he’s usually quite busy. If you really need someone to show you around the school, you can come to me instead.”
Tang Xi had never attended school before and wasn’t sure if high school sports committee members were truly that busy. But since the child of fate had said so, it must be true.
Ye Qian really was a good person. If not for him, he might have foolishly gone to bother the sports committee member. This must be what humans call polite small talk, right? Humans are so hard to understand. Luckily, I didn’t actually go bother him—otherwise, I’d just be a clueless little cat who can’t even recognize polite invitation.
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Seeing Tang Xi obediently nod in response, Ye Qian couldn’t help but reach out and ruffle his soft hair.
In his human form, Tang Xi’s hair was as black as ink, slightly wavy, and looked fluffy and soft—irresistibly touchable.
But no matter how gentle and pettable his little deskmate seemed, it didn’t justify touching his head on the very first day they met. Realizing this, Ye Qian quickly pulled his hand back as if he’d been electrocuted. “Sorry.”
Though he found it a little strange, Tang Xi generously reassured him that it was fine.
After all, this was the super nice person who had shared his notes—what was a little head pat in comparison? It’s not like he’d lose any fur over it.
Meanwhile, 1551 remained fully focused on reading in the system space, completely oblivious to the subtle atmosphere between the original protagonist and its host.
The next two classes passed without incident, except for the fact that Ye Qian kept passing Tang Xi his carefully written class notes.
Tang Xi happily accepted them all, but he still felt a little troubled.
Every time he said “thank you” to Ye Qian, the two girls sitting in front of them would always glance over, pretending it was unintentional.
Their gazes were strange—like they were barely able to contain their excitement.
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With his sharp instincts, the little cat could sense goodwill from them. Though he didn’t understand it, he didn’t dwell on it too much either.
As soon as school ended, he hugged the new books he had just received, eager to go home.
He had to return quickly so the butler wouldn’t grow suspicious.
Glancing around, he noticed that most of his classmates were leaving their books on their desks. Realizing this was the norm, he quickly put his books down as well, stacking them inside his desk.
Hardly any students went home at noon in this school—they all ate and rested on campus instead.
Ye Qian had just been about to ask if he wanted to go to the cafeteria when he suddenly saw his little deskmate darting toward the door. Before he could call out, Tang Xi had already disappeared from sight.
Left with no choice, Ye Qian could only sigh in regret.
The moment Tang Xi rushed onto the sports field, he crashed straight into someone coming from the opposite direction.
His nose smacked into a firm, cold chest, instantly turning red from the impact. A second later, his eyes started to well up too.
“Are you blind? How do you manage to run into someone this big—are you trying to act out some cliché high school drama—”
Shen Chensi’s irritated tone abruptly cut off when he saw the teary-eyed face looking up at him. He hesitated for a moment before finishing his sentence, though his voice had noticeably softened.
“—soap opera?”
…Was this a girl?
Shen Chensi wasn’t sure anymore. He was usually pretty harsh, but he wasn’t the type to pick on girls.
Tang Xi was in pain from the collision, his eyes welling up with reflexive tears, making him look especially pitiful. But he knew he was the one who had crashed into the other person first, so after silently taking two steps back, he covered his nose and mumbled, “Sorry.”
His voice was a little muffled, but it was clear and youthful, distinctly different from a girl’s.
Shen Chensi felt a bit stupid for freezing up earlier and couldn’t help but vent his frustration. “I didn’t even scold you—do you really need to cry?” You’re making it seem like I bullied you or something.
He didn’t say the last part out loud, but his expression made it obvious.
Tang Xi, ever patient, explained, “I’m not crying, it just hurts.”
Shen Chensi leaned in slightly, scrutinizing his especially watery eyes. “Liar.” The tears were literally clinging to his lashes.
For a moment, he got distracted—why did a guy need eyelashes that long and thick? Even his lower lashes were absurdly long.
Startled by the sudden proximity, Tang Xi frowned in mild annoyance. “I said I’m not crying.”
With that, he turned to leave, but before he could take a step, his wrist was caught. Confused, he turned back to look at Shen Chensi.
Shen Chensi himself didn’t know why he had instinctively reached out. But since he had already grabbed hold, he reflexively tightened his grip and blurted out, “Why is your wrist thinner than a girl’s?”
Tang Xi felt like his dignity as a young male cat was being challenged. He unhappily tried to pull his hand away but failed, so he glared at him. “Let go.”
Because his nose was still sore, his voice carried a slight tremble, making it sound soft and weak—completely lacking in intimidation.
Yet Shen Chensi still let go, purely because of that glare.
That look reminded him of a little animal bristling in anger—adorable even when puffing up, all while believing itself to be fierce.
And suddenly, he understood why he had grabbed him in the first place. It was the same feeling as teasing a small, feisty creature—his hands had acted on impulse, and he just couldn’t help himself.