Chapter 24

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Chapter 24: Want To Snatch It From The Cat?

“Ah-yee ya-ya——”

“Smack.”

The alarm clock was silenced by a slap. Dressed in pajamas, the girl half-squinted her misty, sleep-laden eyes, staring blankly out at the still-dark sky.

It was six o’clock. By the time she found Mi Xiaoliu’s place, it would be just about the agreed 8:30. If she was lucky, she might even be early.

She checked the mirror—sure enough, a cowlick stuck up on her head. It was more noticeable with her short hair, although by boyish standards, it was actually on the longer side.

She moved her right arm around a bit—just about healed. Modern medical techniques were impressive. This kind of treatment wouldn’t leave any lasting issues, but the price was far beyond what an average family could afford.

As an ability-user in the special police unit, she did at least enjoy decent medical benefits.

She crept about as quietly as she could while washing up, but still ended up being blocked at the front door.

“No school today. Why are you up so early—off to fight someone? Already forgot how your arm got hurt?” Her mother stood coldly at the doorway.

“Getting up early isn’t illegal, is it?” Yiwen replied with a radiant smile—one she wore often, like with classmates she neither knew well nor disliked.

“Your brother’s been exhausted all week from his normal school. Don’t go waking him.”

Those words—normal school—always sounded like barbs in the ears of ability-users.

Compared to regular schools, the Academy for ability-users was indeed lax. There was little pressure, and even getting in didn’t require any test scores—looser than many technical colleges.

Likewise, it was also harder for ability-users to find jobs after graduation. Many people simply didn’t want to work alongside them.

Sure, entrepreneurs welcomed ability-users as workers. A physically-enhanced person could do the work of ten, and a telekinetic could replace million-dollar machines (Not even counting maintenance). You could pay them just a few thousand a month, and they’d be grateful.

The more capable the ability-user, the more they were resented.

“We work so hard and still might fail, while you—someone who might not even have a real diploma—get hired just because you awakened some power.”

As kids, they might have been admired. But once people grew up and accepted they were just average, those “special” people were nothing more than overworked employees with extra arms under their armpits, liable to snap and destroy something without warning.

After a few large-scale strikes, even major companies started reconsidering their hiring practices. Most of the workforce was still made up of regular humans—no company could afford to indiscriminately hire mutants who spent their school years learning to control their powers.

The police, of course, didn’t care. After nightly patrols, they’d often send someone to escort her home or to school, just in case her terrible sense of direction made her late the next morning.

To many parents, the so-called “normal schools” were like comparing a top-tier university to a private trade school when lined up with ability-user academies.

“I have a date,” Yiwen replied with a fake smile, emphasizing the word date.

“A date? Dressed like a guy to seduce girls? Let me see your bag.” Her mother clearly didn’t buy it, reaching for the sports backpack on Yiwen’s back.

Yiwen didn’t dodge, just watched quietly as her mother grabbed the bag and rummaged through it.

—

Compared to gaming or shopping, Yiwen was more into sports. But judging from how Mi Xiaoliu had only stood around the track yesterday, clearly uninterested even after being invited, he probably didn’t like exercise. He couldn’t even finish a lap during the initial fitness test.

That level of poor fitness was almost suspicious. If he really was faking it, he’d definitely make sure not to let it show if she took him out for sports.

“So clean.” That was Yiwen’s first thought upon seeing Mi Xiaoliu’s room.

It was nothing like a typical boy’s room. She’d been in her brother’s room—everything randomly strewn about, the occasional ripe sock smell when the windows hadn’t been opened, and wadded-up tissues in the trash during summer that she just chose to pretend didn’t exist. Teenagers…

But Mi Xiaoliu’s room wasn’t just clean. Aside from a few empty bun wrappers in the trash, it was borderline bare—only the most basic furniture, and nothing else.

No kettle, no pot, no cups. She even saw him rinse his mouth after brushing by cupping tap water with his hands to drink.

“You shouldn’t drink tap water long-term. You could get kidney stones,” Yiwen warned as she set the bag of cat food she brought on the table.

Seeing the cat napping on the balcony reassured her. The cat was alive and sleeping soundly in a makeshift little bed crafted from the box it had come in, padded with some old clothes. Crude, but serviceable.

When the boy walked over, Yiwen saw his face behind the glasses for the first time.

Very clean. A clean face alone could bump up a guy’s appearance a few notches.

His eyes weren’t misshapen from wearing glasses long-term. Now without them, he squinted slightly, making it hard to make out his eye shape.

That was about all she could say. Clean and delicate didn’t necessarily mean handsome.

“Kidney stones?” Another unfamiliar term.

Sasha quickly chimed in: “It’s a kind of illness. But don’t worry, Master. Even though your body has poor recovery from disease, most illnesses will still heal over time. It just might be very painful.”

“Mmm.” Mi Xiaoliu reached for something on the table but didn’t find it.

“Your prescription must be really strong,” Yiwen said, handing him his glasses.

“Mmm.”

After he put them on, she patted the bag of cat food. “This is for you.”

Mi Xiaoliu tore it open and took a bite.

Not bad.

Another bite.

Yiwen was stunned. “That’s not for you to eat! Didn’t you see the label? It says cat food!”

“I can’t eat it?”

She gave it to him, but he couldn’t eat it?

“People generally don’t eat it…” Yiwen was speechless. She poured the food into a small bowl in front of the cat’s bed. Even the bowl was meant for humans.

She picked up a piece of kibble and waved it in front of the sleeping cat’s nose. The cat sprang up and dashed to the bowl to start munching.

Close one—any later and it might’ve starved.

“Pets shouldn’t eat human food all the time. It’s bad for them.” Yiwen squatted to gently smooth the cat’s fur. All her earlier frustration melted away. “Have you taken it to a vet?”

“…” Mi Xiaoliu stared at her silently.

Yiwen instantly understood—there was no way he had the money for that.

“Then let’s take it to a vet later… I’ll pay.” She hesitated before saying the last part.

Why was she spending so much on a guy she barely knew?

But she really liked this cat. If not for her family situation, she would’ve adopted it herself.

“Have you named it?” Yiwen asked.

“A name?” Mi Xiaoliu was stunned.

Aren’t names just something you’re born with?

“Master, humans are usually named by their parents, while pets are named by their owners. Like my name—I was named by you,” Sasha explained.

“I was too?”

“No. Your current name was made up by the landlord just to fill in the three-character requirement for school registration. The landlord isn’t your parent.”

Mi Xiaoliu squatted down, staring at the cat that was busy eating.

It looked so happy. He wanted to snatch the food for himself.

“Let’s call it Dog.”

“Absolutely not,” Yiwen said, exasperated.

Mi Xiaoliu kept staring at the cat.

After a while, he focused on its dark eye-rings and decided, “Let’s call it Circle.”