Chapter 6: The Cat Tormentor

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The first class hadn’t even started yet, but the commotion had already reached the office. Wen Xulai, the homeroom teacher of Class Two, hurried over and first gathered the background from the other students.

“That dead cat was right in his desk. I saw him take it out after tidying up,” a male student said, pointing at the boy isolated by everyone. He felt inexplicably scared because the boy’s gaze had given him goosebumps.

Moreover, everyone was afraid after seeing the already foul-smelling dead cat, yet that boy acted as if nothing was wrong, holding the cat the entire time… it just didn’t seem right!

“I was the first one to come into the classroom,” a girl quietly raised her hand. “When I arrived, I didn’t smell anything strange. He… by the time I noticed the smell, I saw the cat in his hands.”

“So why did he bring a dead cat to class? That’s so sick…”

“I’m going to tell my dad. I don’t want to be classmates with him.”

Wen Xulai walked over to the boy and gently asked, “Wei Nanxing, can you tell me what’s going on?”

Wen Xiao was momentarily taken aback upon hearing the name Wei Nanxing, but he had long suspected something, so he wasn’t too surprised.

Wen Xulai looked at Wei Nanxing, who kept his head down, clutching the cat. He thought to have him calm down and put the cat down, but the boy held on tightly, so he had no choice but to let it be.

“Come with me to the office,” Wen Xulai said, then turned to the other students. “You all sit down and get ready for class. The teacher will handle this.”

Wen Yu’s expression darkened. Thinking about his younger brother being classmates with such a cat abuser made his heart uneasy.

Though harming cats wasn’t illegal, anyone capable of such cruelty toward cats could one day harm people. Living in such an environment would be dangerous for his brother.

He couldn’t let his brother stay in such a perilous place.

Just as Wen Yu was pondering how to persuade Wen Xiao to focus on class, he saw his usually indifferent younger brother unexpectedly leave the room.

Surprised, he even forgot to grab Wen Xiao.

Wei Nanxing said nothing and prepared to follow the teacher out the door when suddenly someone stood beside him.

Because of the cat incident, other students kept their distance from Wei Nanxing, creating a clear vacuum around him.

Wei Nanxing turned and saw a familiar face, slowly recognizing him.

They seemed to have met yesterday afternoon after school.

Wen Xiao squatted down and took a plastic bag from Wei Nanxing’s desk—it looked like the bag used to carry the cat.

If the little orange cat was indeed killed by someone else, and the bag was secretly placed in Wei Nanxing’s desk, this bag must be preserved.

“Teacher, I think someone deliberately put the plastic bag in his desk,” Wen Xiao said, unable to explain why he was speaking up for Wei Nanxing. But from what he saw yesterday afternoon, he didn’t believe Wei Nanxing had killed the cat.

Of course, he could be mistaken.

He now leaned toward the idea that the cat’s death had nothing to do with Wei Nanxing, even if Wei Nanxing was one of the childhood “F4s” he preferred to keep at a distance.

“You say someone deliberately put the bag in his desk. Did you see it happen?” Huo Zhanyan crossed his arms and looked up at Wen Xiao with a somewhat mischievous expression.

Wen Xiao wished he could just put the plastic bag over Huo Zhanyan’s face. Huo Zhanyan seemed restless unless he stirred up trouble every day.

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Maybe it would be better if Huo Zhanyan was uncomfortable all the time—exchanging his discomfort for world peace would be ideal.

“Teacher, I also think it was another student who put the bag in there,” Song Jingbai said from his seat, looking this way and even smiling at Wen Xiao as he glanced over.

Wen Xulai asked if he knew something.

“I trust my deskmate,” Song Jingbai blinked, causing Wen Xulai to rub his forehead.

He had thought Song Jingbai might know something, but hearing them talk, he realized it was indeed possible.

Just now, with all the kids chattering and Wei Nanxing not denying anything, everyone basically assumed Wei Nanxing was responsible, without considering other possibilities.

Now, thinking that another student might have killed the stray kitten and quietly placed it in Wei Nanxing’s desk—this possibility wasn’t entirely impossible.

Though it sounded bizarre, it was even more chilling.

Such behavior was obviously more malicious…

The cat abuse incident could be serious or minor. Some parents might come to the school demanding explanations or even request that Wei Nanxing be transferred to another class.

“Wei Nanxing, tell the teacher again, did you do this to the kitten?” the homeroom teacher asked softly.

Wei Nanxing stared at him, first nodding, then shaking his head. Wen Xulai was slightly stunned, unsure what the contradictory gestures meant.

Wen Xiao’s heart skipped a beat too, sensing that Wei Nanxing’s nod and shake reflected a dual interpretation of the teacher’s question.

Wei Nanxing never spoke and always responded calmly to others’ reactions…

Except for yesterday, when he guarded the kitten’s food in front of Wen Xiao, issuing a warning.

“He nodded, so that means he admitted it.”

“Anyway, I didn’t like him from the start. Good thing I didn’t become friends with him.”

Hearing such comments, Wen Xiao, who had just presented a new possibility by showing the plastic bag, no longer wanted to get involved.

But noticing the subtle change in other students’ glances toward him, he realized that by standing up, he had now been tied to Wei Nanxing.

Classmates feared Wei Nanxing for allegedly killing the kitten, so they also feared anyone who spoke for him.

Even children at this age think, “If he’s that kind of person, then those close to him must be the same.”

For the sake of a “harmonious” elementary school life, Wen Xiao took a deep breath and broke the homeroom teacher’s question to Wei Nanxing into two parts.

If the teacher’s question wasn’t specific enough, Wei Nanxing’s answers wouldn’t be clear either.

“Did you feed this kitten?” It was easier to understand this as: “Is this kitten yours? Do you take care of it?”

Wen Xulai seemed to understand and looked curiously at Wen Xiao and Wei Nanxing.

Under the teacher’s gaze, Wei Nanxing nodded.

“Then did you kill the kitten?”

Wei Nanxing shook his head.

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Wen Xiao finally understood and felt a complex mixture of emotions. Wei Nanxing could only give simple answers and could not express more.

It was like doing language exercises—Wei Nanxing could only answer true/false or multiple-choice questions, but couldn’t handle reading comprehension requiring fuller responses.

So, was Wei Nanxing suffering from an expressive disorder?

Wen Xulai had avoided using the word “kill” directly, trying not to shock the other students. But he hadn’t expected Wei Nanxing to have difficulty understanding.

Seeing Wei Nanxing shake his head, the teacher relaxed and said to the other students, “Wei Nanxing says he didn’t do it. We have to believe our classmate. The teacher will handle this. If someone really put the plastic bag in Wei Nanxing’s desk on purpose, we will find out who it was.”

Wen Xulai had already decided to check the surveillance cameras, and they could probably extract fingerprints from the plastic bag.

He clutched the bag tightly, knowing that most students at this school came from prominent families. Conflicts between students often involved family pressures.

He couldn’t afford to offend most of these parents.

Looking at Wei Nanxing holding the kitten, he gently patted his head and reassured him, “Don’t worry, the teacher will help find whoever hurt the kitten.”

Wen Xiao glanced at Wen Xulai, aware of the homeroom teacher’s concerns. Even if the real culprit was caught, it was uncertain if they could be severely punished.

If the true cat abuser couldn’t be exposed, the incident would become a permanent stigma on Wei Nanxing, even if everyone knew he wasn’t responsible.

Also, placing the dead cat in Wei Nanxing’s desk didn’t seem like a spontaneous act—it felt more like a warning.

Wen Xiao stared at the little orange kitten in Wei Nanxing’s hands, then suddenly ran downstairs. By the time he reached the flowerbed, he was panting. The other cats were nowhere to be seen.

Unexpectedly, Wen Yu silently followed him, showing no intention of going to class.

Wen Xiao recalled hearing praise for this elder brother being trained as the family successor. Wen Yu was always strict with himself; being late or absent was unimaginable.

“What are you doing here?” Wen Yu asked.

He was clearly worried Wen Xiao would get into trouble.

“Looking for the cats…” Wen Xiao searched through the bushes, afraid to see the bodies of the other two kittens. He remembered there were two more: a tabby and a calico.

Thinking of the orange kitten’s tragic fate, Wen Xiao hurried. He didn’t see any signs of the other kittens nearby.

“I’ll help you look,” Song Jingbai, who had somehow left the classroom, appeared.

He approached, standing before Wen Xiao, and noticed a leaf stuck in his hair. Gently, he plucked it off and smiled softly at him.

“I know where the kittens are.”

Song Jingbai noticed the junior high school uniform boy beside Wen Xiao was giving him a sour look.

“How do you know?” Wen Xiao frowned.

“Don’t forget, I live in the dorm, so I get to see them more than you do.”