S.C.I. (Volume I) - New Year Side Story

New Year Side Story - The Little Cat and Little Mouse

Just after the New Year, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao welcomed a bout of intense physical labor... Don't get the wrong idea, the two of them were moving houses!!

Since they had already started living together, their original police dormitory felt a bit too small, so the two of them pooled their money to buy a three-bedroom apartment.

The location wasn't far from Gongsun's apartment, and it took about ten minutes to drive to the police headquarters. Whether visiting neighbors or going to work, it was very convenient.

Only, on the day of the move...

Zhan Zhao looked at a room full of boxes and a room full of people, and asked Bai Yutang, "What is going on here? Why is everyone from the SCI here?? Even Lisbon is here?!"

Bai Yutang massaged his temples powerlessly, "I only asked the twins to find a few people who could help move... Who would have known~~"

"Many hands make light work, you know~~" The twins picked up feather dusters and waved them at the crowd. "Everyone, split up and get to work~~~~"

……………… Ten minutes later ………………

"Ah! Lisbon, what are you biting?!"

"That sofa has a zebra print, is it treating it like a real zebra?"

"Gongsun, would you stop arranging the tableware like a set of scalpels?!"

"What's wrong with that?"

"Who can eat a meal like this?"

"Gongsun, darling, come over here, it's too dusty there."

"Big brother, how did you manage to put your shoes in the washing machine?"

"You domestic-blunder idiot!"

"Dead twins, stop touching people's clothes in the wardrobe!!"

"Wow, the pajamas are silk ~~ and there's a Hello Kitty version too!"

"Don't go looking at people's pajamas casually!"

"Bai Chi, stop pasting Doraemon posters on the wall, this isn't a nursery!"

"Can't I? It's so cute ~~"

Finally, a completely exasperated Zhan Zhao roared, "All of you! Get to the study and sort the books right now!!!!"

A bunch of people were herded into the study.

Right before their eyes were several boxes of books, with Ma Han and Zhao Hu placing them onto the bookshelf one by one.

"Tsk ~~ No fun!" Da Ding and Xiao Ding curled their lips.

Zhao Hu gave a wry smile, "We'd all better stop playing around, or we won't even be finished organizing by tomorrow at this rate."

"Huh?" Ma Han pulled a book out of an old box of books, and a photo slipped out from inside.

Picking it up, the rest of the group curiously crowded around to take a look...

They saw a photo of two chubby, fair, and tender babies sitting on a bed.

One was wearing a white bridal dress, and the other was dressed in a little blue suit. The two babies had their heads pressed against each other—kissing.

Everyone's jaws dropped in shock.

Bai Chi's face flushed red, "Wow ~~ So cute."

Zhao Zhen's eyebrows raised high, "Although they've grown up, you can still tell from their facial features... that the one wearing the bridal outfit is..."

The entire SCI crew nodded in unison, "It's the boss!"

Gongsun pushed up his glasses, "Make a copy of that!"

The most excited one was Bai Jintang, who snatched the photo away. "Why do I have zero recollection of this? Why would I forget something so important?!"

The twins rubbed their chins and exchanged a glance.

Da Ding: "You wouldn't be able to tell... Zhaozhao actually ended up being the one wearing the groom's outfit."

Xiao Ding: "True, appearances can really be deceiving!!"

At that moment, Bai Yutang, who was carrying a box past the door, poked his head in curiously and asked, "Why is it so quiet in here... Ah ~~~~"

Crying out in shock, he rushed in and reached out to grab the photo from Bai Jintang's hand.

Bai Jintang quickly pulled his hand back, hiding the photo behind his back.

Bai Yutang grabbed hold of him, "Give it back to me !!"

Gongsun swiftly caught the photo, "No way!"

"Yutang? What are you doing?" Hearing the commotion at the door, Zhan Zhao walked in as well. "Why so loud... Yaah ~~~~"

Zhan Zhao pointed at the photo in Gongsun's hand, "Why is that here?!"

Bai Yutang was pinned down by Bai Jintang and couldn't break free, so he had to shout at Zhan Zhao, "Mousie, hurry up and grab it back ~~~"

Zhan Zhao dropped what he was holding and lunged to grab it. Gongsun stepped back to dodge, accidentally knocking over a stack of books...

With a crash, the books tumbled down. Amidst the pile of books, a paper box had fallen along with them, and a stack of photographs inside fluttered out and scattered all over the floor...

Everyone lowered their heads and let out a simultaneous gasp ~~~

They saw that those photos were all group shots of those two babies—chubby and rosy-cheeked ~~~~ wearing cute outfits, hugging each other while fast asleep, fighting, playing, eating snacks, and hugging to kiss...

Everyone stared with their eyes popping out — It was just, way too cute ~~~~

Consumed by a mixture of embarrassment and rage, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang finally snapped and swept everyone out of the house.

The two of them returned to the chaotic study, sat down on the floor, and panted for breath from exhaustion.

Reaching out to pick up the wedding kissing photo from the floor, they saw a few characters written on the back: "September 1984, the babies are 4 years old." ………………………… The two of them exchanged a glance and couldn't help bursting into laughter.

Summer 1983.

The bouncing baby from the Bai family dragged the well-behaved, obedient baby from the Zhan family, aggressively storming into an S City kindergarten.

On their very first day of class, the two of them became the focal point of the entire kindergarten.

The teachers all chattered that two pretty little angels had arrived in the toddler class ~~ one lively, one well-behaved.

The other little kids in the toddler class also secretly peeked at the two little babies sitting together, always holding hands.

The Zhan family baby's skin was so white, with a faint translucency, giving off a dewy, tender feel.

Teacher Cao of the kindergarten found him more adorable the more she looked, so she reached out and gently pinched his cheek.

"Slap ~~" Little Bai Yutang at the side batted the teacher's hand away and said fiercely, "No touching, kitty is mine."

The Zhan family baby blinked those big eyes of his, and timidly nudged closer to little Bai Yutang, "Little Bai ~~ Weird auntie ~~"

"Ah, no, no, little Zhan Zhao, you should call me Teacher Cao." The young teacher waved her hands repeatedly, thinking to herself that she shouldn't have scared this jade-carved little baby.

Little Zhan Zhao blinked obediently, lifted his face, and called out in a soft, sweet voice, "Teacher Cao ~~" along with a big, sweet smile.

"Ya ~~~~" The young teacher screamed inwardly, so cute ~~~ This pretty baby's aura is pink, and he even has a tiny pair of white wings on his back.

Turning her face over, she saw that the little baby beside the little angel was glaring fiercely at her for some reason.

"Little Bai Yutang?" The teacher leaned in, thinking this doll was also super adorable, "Is something the matter?"

"..." Staring at the teacher for a moment, little Bai Yutang pointed a finger directly at the teacher's face, "Curly hair, pimples, yellow teeth ~~~ Heavy makeup, weird auntie !!"

Gasping in shock, Teacher Cao stood frozen on the spot.

Just as little Bai Yutang wanted to say more, little Zhan Zhao hurriedly reached out and covered his mouth, "You're not allowed to say that!"

Teacher Cao's wounded soul was comforted just a tiny bit... He really is a little angel.

"Why aren't I allowed to say it?" Little Bai Yutang pulled little Zhan Zhao's hand down. "I'm telling the truth!"

Little Zhan Zhao told him earnestly, "Precisely because it's the truth, you aren't allowed to say it!"

…………………… Poor Teacher Cao, petrified in the wind.

At lunchtime, little Zhan Zhao tossed all the green peppers, shiitake mushrooms, and carrots from his plate into little Bai Yutang's plate beside him. Little Bai Yutang then tossed all the green peppers, shiitake mushrooms, and carrots from his own plate into little Zhan Zhao's plate ~~ shoveling a couple bites of rice, “trading veggies” with each other, then shoveling a couple more bites of rice ~~ The two of them were stuck in an endless loop.

Auntie Xu, who was in charge of looking after the babies during lunch, couldn't watch anymore. She walked over and said, "You can't be picky eaters."

Little Zhan Zhao pouted, and pitifully poked the green peppers in his bowl with a spoon, "Peppers are bitter ~~~"

"Ya ~~~~" Auntie Xu, who was already a grandmother, screamed internally, "So cute ~~~ Little angel."

"Who made this rice?" Little Bai Yutang asked from the side.

"Ah, that would be me," Auntie Xu answered with a warm smile, "Is it delicious? The nutrition for every single meal is balanced, you know. I've been cooking for the kindergarten for twenty years."

"Dummy ~~~" Little Bai Yutang scraped his own cheek with one finger and said, "Green peppers need to be soaked in sugar water, the shiitake mushrooms look so ugly, and the carrots are boiled to mush ~~~ So gross, so gross ~~~"

Auntie Xu's jaw dropped as she stood frozen on the spot.

Little Bai Yutang wanted to keep talking, but little Zhaozhao covered his mouth in a flash, "You're not allowed to say it !!"

Auntie Xu was so moved she was almost in tears, this baby is so cute ~~~ So considerate.

"Why am I not allowed to say it?!" Little Bai Yutang pouted, "The food is so gross!"

Little Zhan Zhao said earnestly, "That granny has been cooking for twenty years and the food is still this gross. She has no talent."

"So we have to point it out. Make her properly learn how to cook!" Little Bai Yutang said with absolute righteousness.

"It's too late, she's too old ~~~" Little Zhaozhao said with even more absolute righteousness.

…………………… Poor Auntie Xu, petrified in the wind.

During nap time.

Little Bai Yutang and little Zhan Zhao slept on the same bed ~~ Little Bai Yutang snatched little Zhan Zhao's pillow, little Zhan Zhao snatched little Bai Yutang's blanket, and then they started brawling. Little Bai Yutang left a bite mark on little Zhan Zhao's tender little arm, and little Zhan Zhao left a claw mark on little Bai Yutang's tender little leg.

Teacher Zhou, who was in charge of watching the babies sleep, saw that the two of them were fighting tooth and nail, and that little Zhan Zhao clearly had the upper hand, leaving the Bai family baby covered in claw marks ~

"No fighting!" Teacher Zhou stepped forward and pulled little Zhan Zhao away... Presumably she didn't gauge her strength right and pinched him too hard.

Little Zhan Zhao turned his head back to look timidly at Teacher Zhou. The moment the teacher saw his gaze, a deep sense of guilt instantly welled up inside her — did she hurt him??

Unexpectedly, little Bai Yutang right beside him raised his hand and slapped Teacher Zhou's hand right off little Zhan Zhao's shoulder. The teacher was startled ~~ This kid has an amazingly strong grip!!

Immediately afterward, little Zhan Zhao buried his head straight into little Bai Yutang's arms and started whimpering softly ~~ The teacher panicked instantly, her sense of guilt intensifying tenfold ~~ I didn't even use that much force, did I?!

"Bad person!" Little Bai Yutang hugged the miserably crying little Zhan Zhao with one arm and pointed straight at Teacher Zhou with the other, "You're abusing children, I'm calling the cops to arrest you!"

Hearing that, Teacher Zhou nearly collapsed onto the floor ~~ This kid is only three years old, his legal awareness is way too strong.

Bai Yutang paid her no mind, instead gently patting little Zhaozhao's back, "Kitty don't cry, I'll deal with her for you !!"

Before long, little Zhan Zhao, crying himself to exhaustion, fell asleep pillowed on little Bai Yutang's tummy.

Teacher Zhou was left laughing through her tears, realizing that those two darlings hadn't been fighting just now after all, but were merely playing around ~~

However, what Teacher Zhou hadn't anticipated was that her hellish teaching life was about to officially begin.

From then on, whenever little Zhan Zhao saw her, he would put on a terrified look. When the other kids saw it, they gossiped behind her back, saying: "Teacher Zhou is so fierce and terrifying, even someone as well-behaved as Zhanzhan gets scolded ~~~" From that day on, Teacher Zhou bore the infamous reputation of being a bad teacher.

During class, Teacher Zhou needed to teach the kids how to draw. Reaching her hand into the crayon box, she felt something soft instead, and somehow it seemed to be moving? Pulling it out to look, it was a bright green cabbageworm...

"Ya ~~~~~" Teacher Zhou screamed in terror, flung the entire box of crayons away, and sprinted off to wash her hands.

From then on, earthworms would inexplicably appear in Teacher Zhou's lunchbox, flies in her teacup, beetles inside her tissue box, and even a giant dung beetle inside her glasses case ~~~~~

Teacher Zhou was constantly on edge, living in a daze all day long, feeling as though the halos above the two exceptionally cute babies had turned into little pointed horns, and the wings on their backs had turned into little black tails.

Little Zhan and Little Bai's kindergarten life lasted a mere single year, because both little fellas were exceptionally smart and entered elementary school early.

When the two of them left kindergarten, the teachers all had tear-filled eyes. Don't get the wrong idea, it wasn't out of reluctance to part with them, but in celebration that the two little demons were finally gone!! At the same time, they shed a few drops of sympathetic tears for the elementary school teachers who would soon have to teach them ~~ The little devils were coming.

Summer 1984.

The Bai family baby, who had already started practicing judo, grabbed the Zhan family baby, who had started reading foreign language books, and heroically and grandly stormed into an S City elementary school.

A month later, they had cowed the entire school's teachers, kicking off their illustrious elementary school life.

In September, the two babies celebrated their fourth birthday, and the mothers of both families decided to throw a small celebration party for them ~~~~

When taking commemorative photos, the mothers of both families had a sudden brainwave and wanted to dress the two babies up as a groom and a bride.

Since Little Bai was younger than his "big brother Little Zhan" by an hour, he was chosen to be dressed as the bride.

"No, I don't want to dress as a bride, let kitty wear it!" Little Bai Yutang protested as he ran, resolutely refusing to wear women's clothing.

"How many times do I have to tell you, you need to call him big brother Little Zhan!" Mama Bai chased behind the little fellow who ran faster than a rabbit.

Dressing little Zhan Zhao in the groom's outfit was a breeze and was done in an instant. However, trying to dress little Bai Yutang—who was baring his teeth and resisting for dear life—in the bridal gown turned out to be a thousand times harder.

After the two panting mothers chased him around for ages without catching him, Mama Bai finally roared at the top of her lungs, "Jintang! Catch him for me!"

Bai Jintang, who was in the middle of tying little Zhaozhao's tie, walked over, subdued the fleeing little Bai Yutang in just two or three moves, dragged him over, and handed him to the two mothers. Then ~~~~ Little Bai was forcibly dressed in the bridal outfit.

They placed the still-dazed little Zhan Zhao—who had no clue what was going on—along with the displeased little Bai Yutang onto the bed.

Bai Jintang stood in front with a camera, powerlessly suggesting that the two of them lean a little closer together and smile ~~~~

The mothers of both families mischievously gave a push from behind the two babies ~~~~

The two unprepared babies bumped face-to-face, eye-to-eye, lip-to-lip — Choo ~~~~

It was precisely at that moment that Bai Jintang pressed the shutter.

Little Zhan and Little Bai's memories of big brother Jintang remained frozen on the image of that boy holding a camera and laughing head-over-heels.

Three days later, Bai Jintang went missing. When he returned a year later, he was a completely different person.

……………………

Little Zhan and Little Bai's elementary school career lasted only four short years. To this day, the two of them remain legends in S City's education sector: Bai Yutang held the school-wide and city-wide records for every single athletic event, while Zhan Zhao swept up the gold medals for all literature, history, and math/science competitions.

When the two of them graduated, they were similarly given a farewell send-off lined with cheering crowds ~~ The teachers joyfully packed off the two differently flavored little demons so they could go on to plague middle and high school teachers instead...

On that same day, 8-year-old little Bai Yutang formally declared that he would never call kitty big brother Little Zhan ever again!

Summer 1989.

Little Bai Yutang, now a third-dan in judo, dragged little Zhan Zhao—who could speak four foreign languages—and aggressively stormed into an S City middle school.

Two years later, they were ushered into high school by teachers acting as if they were sending off living Buddhas.

Summer 1992.

The two little fellas marched hand-in-hand into S City High School. By this time, their notorious names had spread throughout S City's entire educational circle, and the high school teachers were each on high alert.

Two years later, after the two of them joined forces to sweep clean every single award and record, they arrogantly stormed into university.

Summer 1998.

The two of them graduated from university.

Bai Yutang hoisted his backpack, sprinted onto the plane, and shouted back at Zhan Zhao who had come to see him off, "Little Cat Zhan, your Lordship is going off to join the military, you wait for me to come back!"

Zhan Zhao stood below the boarding stairs, shouting back in fury, "Dead rat, completely lacking loyalty, who's going to wait for you!"

Summer 2002.

Bai Yutang, now a handsome young man, sprinted down from a plane with a backpack slung over his shoulder, only to be told that Zhan Zhao had gone abroad to study.

Burning with rage, he picked up the phone, "Little Cat Zhan, how could you leave without even saying a word?!"

Zhan Zhao replied smugly, "You didn't tell me when you went to enlist either. We're even!"

Summer 2005.

Bai Yutang shouted at Zhan Zhao, who was sprinting off a plane hauling a box of books, "Cat, how did you get so skinny? Too broke to eat?!"

Zhan Zhao tossed his box, lunged forward, and grabbed the collar of Bai Yutang's trench coat: "Little Bai ~~~~ I want to eat sweet and sour pork ribs!"

Late autumn, 2006.

The SCI was established.

The two of them, busy for an entire day, finally got the room straightened out. After taking a shower, Zhan Zhao collapsed onto the bed and couldn't move an inch anymore — So tired.

Bai Yutang walked in holding a cute picture frame and placed it on the bedside table.

Zhan Zhao looked at the photo inside the frame and smiled, "Why put it out, it's so embarrassing."

Bai Yutang walked over to the edge of the bed, sat down, and gently brushed through Zhan Zhao's hair, "It's not bad ~~~~~ You were already mine twenty years ago."

"Feels like you were the one playing the bride!" Zhan Zhao propped himself up on the bed to sit.

"Doesn't matter ~~~~" Bai Yutang leaned in close and gently kissed the corner of his lips, "Anyway, you'll always be mine ~~~~"

Inside the exquisite picture frame on the bedside table, two rosy, tender babies were kissing each other face-to-face.

The two people, exhausted from the day, fell asleep side-by-side with their heads pressed against one another, while outside the window lay the dazzling night view of S City's glittering lights.

"Mousie, Happy New Year..."

"Mn ~~~~ Happy New Year, rat."