Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Back in high school, the boys in my class mocked me for having a large chest. They called me Big Boobs Girl.

And my best friend cut ties with me without the slightest hesitation.

Blinking her innocent doe eyes, she said, “But a lot of girls with big boobs really don’t respect themselves.

“And you dress like that… Aren’t you doing it on purpose to seduce people?”

So, in the year my hatred burned purest, I seduced the straight-A heartthrob she had a crush on and made him mine.

Before PE class.

I lay sprawled over my desk and said to the PE rep, utterly dead inside, “My stomach hurts… Can you ask for leave for me?”

Only after every classmate had left the room did I lower the hand pressed to my abdomen and sit up straight, my face blank.

I hated PE.

I hated the damp wind, hated the sticky sweat, and hated those gazes most of all-furtive and yet naked all the same.

In our last PE class, we had trained for the fifty-meter sprint.

When I crossed the finish line, several boys by the track were staring straight at me.

Zhang Kang, who stood at their center, nudged the classmate beside him with his elbow. “When Big Boobs Girl runs, they bounce so hard.

“What’s that kind of jiggle called again?”

His voice was neither loud nor quiet-just loud enough for me to hear.

Almost by instinct, I hunched over and caved my chest in.

I developed late. And that late-arriving puberty came fast and fierce.

After I developed, I lost my name.

“Big Boobs Girl” became my new designation.

Every break between classes, the boys led by Zhang Kang would gather in a cluster. While sizing me up, they would tell filthy jokes.

They said breasts got big from being touched, said girls with big chests were all sluts… Those words roared into my heart, telling me that having a large chest meant being lewd, filthy, and shameless.

I hated these two damned lumps of flesh on my chest, and I hated that lowlife Zhang Kang even more.

I wanted so badly to rush over and question him at the top of my lungs, but the topic itself carried an innate shame that sealed my mouth shut.

All I could do was look toward the circle of girls sitting by the track, desperate to blend in with the group.

But they all looked away from me in perfect unspoken agreement.

To them, I was the sacrificial offering pushed out from the flock.

As long as I drew the fire, the other sheep would be safe for the time being.

Refusing to give up, I waved at a girl with twin ponytails among them. “Luo Xing, for sit-ups later, do you want to pair up with me?”

Seeing this, one of the boys teased, “If she’s best friends with Big Boobs Girl, won’t she turn into Big Boobs Girl too?”

Zhang Kang replied, “Maybe. Birds of a feather flock together. Boobs of a size stick together, right?”

They burst into raucous laughter.

Hearing that, Luo Xing said in embarrassment, “No way! Li Zhuguang and I are not best friends!

“I’ll never become like her!”

Luo Xing had transferred here half a year ago.

Because her voice sounded similar to the cutesy, affected voices popular online, Luo Xing didn’t fit in at first.

When she was being excluded, I was the one who took the initiative to befriend her, accompanied her to the cafeteria, and helped her integrate into the group.

We would pass notes while the teacher copied things onto the blackboard, share our girlish secrets, then look at each other and smile.

Back then, her eyes had shone as she told me, “You’re my best friend.”

And now, she cut ties with me without hesitation.

I was completely isolated.

Lowering my lashes, I turned and went to the equipment room to get a barbell, preparing to use it to hold down feet for the sit-ups later.

When I bent down, another round of sharp inhales came from behind me.

Someone said regretfully, “Too bad we can’t bring phones to PE. Otherwise, I’d learn from Zhang Kang and take some pictures too. That photo was seriously hot…”

“Cut it out,” Zhang Kang interrupted him. “Come on, let’s go practice pull-ups.”

I walked through the empty classroom to Zhang Kang’s desk.

Zhang Kang was the physics class representative.

On the surface, he was sunny and motivated, had decent grades, and was very well liked by the teachers.

But in private, he was an out-and-out scumbag.

From inside his desk, I pulled out a sheet of scratch paper. Written on it were the words “Class 3, Grade 10 Big Boobs Ranking.”

My name was glaringly listed on the first line-“Li Zhuguang, D+.”

I forced down the urge to tear the paper to shreds, took out my phone, snapped a picture, and preserved the evidence.

After that, I dug Zhang Kang’s phone out from inside his desk.

The phone screen lit up, and I saw the lock-screen photo.

It was a side shot of a girl, taken in front of the library shelves.

The angle of the photo was strange, giving off a subtle sense of unease-as if someone had hidden behind a bookcase and taken it from below…

In the image, a girl in a school-uniform skirt stood on tiptoe, reaching up for a book on a high shelf.

From that upward angle, the hem of her uniform lifted, revealing a small stretch of snow-white waist and the lower edge of a pale purple bra.

It was a candid photo of me.

I hadn’t heard wrong-Zhang Kang, that bastard, really had been secretly taking pictures of me!

I clenched my teeth, my chest heaving.

When had this photo been taken? Who had seen it? Aside from this one, were there even worse photos?

Rage, disgust, humiliation, fear… countless violent emotions battered my nerves.

It was revolting!

Bastard! Bastard! Zhang Kang, that disgusting peeping creep!

Forcing down the nausea, I took a picture of his lock screen, then started trying to unlock his phone.

I knew that if I wanted to ruin Zhang Kang’s reputation for good, this evidence alone was nowhere near enough.

Over the past few days, I’d been paying attention to the way Zhang Kang entered his password. I should have been able to figure it out.

But after trying again and again, the screen only showed four words: “Incorrect password.”

Had Zhang Kang changed it?

I shoved the phone into my pocket in frustration.

Then I dug out Zhang Kang’s textbooks and workbooks and, on the cover of every single one, viciously wrote six huge words in red marker: “Peeping creep, go die.”

P.E. was the last class of the day.

The dismissal bell rang.

I stuffed Zhang Kang’s books back, slung my backpack over my shoulder, and got ready to go home.

At the turn of the stairs, I bumped into someone-Luo Xing.

She had just finished P.E., but she was already wearing her jacket, sweat pouring down her face from the heat.

When she saw me, her innocent, doe-like eyes flickered, as if she wanted to say something.

But I didn’t give her the chance.

Expressionless, I walked straight past her.

From the moment she drew a clear line between us, she became a traitor.

I hated scum like Zhang Kang, of course, but Luo Xing’s betrayal hurt me even more.

The fact that I was only thinking about getting back at Zhang Kang, and not about taking revenge on Luo Xing, was already the last bit of mercy I had left for our friendship.

…

I lived in an urban village.

After my parents passed away in an accident, Grandma and I had been scraping by on the insurance payout. We lived very frugally.

The urban village was dirty, chaotic, and run-down, but at least it was close to school, and the rent was cheap.

I unlocked the door with my key. “Grandma?”

I didn’t find Grandma. Instead, I saw a greasy, overweight middle-aged man walk out of the kitchen.

The landlord, who had let himself in uninvited, had half a cigarette dangling from his mouth. He shook the huge ring of keys in his hand. “I told your Grandma I’d be coming today to read the gas meter.”

After reading the meter, the landlord swaggered to the door.

Before leaving, his gaze swept over my chest.

“In the blink of an eye, the little girl has grown up.

“Girls really do change as they grow.”

That look was so familiar it made me sick. It was like a brazen tongue was licking across my skin, raising goose bumps all over my body.

I immediately hugged my jacket to my chest in warning.

I had seen the landlord lovingly hold his little son, and I had seen him gaze at his wife with eyes full of affection.

Did his wife and child know he would look a girl up and down so wantonly?

In front of others, he was a good husband and a good father.

So why, when he faced me, did he reveal such a disgusting expression?

After the landlord left, I leaned against the security door, hating this body of mine after puberty for the umpteenth time.

The next morning.

I hit the alarm clock by my bed and opened my eyes through sheer, murderous willpower.

Yesterday, I had taken Zhang Kang’s phone.

I had tried passwords until the middle of the night, but still couldn’t unlock it.

Furious, I went straight to the class group photo album, found an ugly picture of Zhang Kang, then pretended to be his parent on a certain lifestyle app and posted it, asking if he could become a child model.

Now, I opened the app.

Seeing the comment section full of insults, I finally got out of bed in satisfaction.

There was a boiled egg on the dining table, and porridge was still being kept warm in the kitchen.

Grandma had already gone out.

Despite her age, she couldn’t stay idle. She liked picking up bottles and cans to sell as recyclables.

I yawned as I walked to school.

When I passed a small alley, I stopped.

There was a stray calico cat in this alley. I called her Mimi.

Holding a sausage, I made little clicking sounds with my tongue as I walked into the alley.

Unlike usual, there was now a cardboard box in the alley.

A hole had been cut into the box, and several old school uniforms had been placed inside as padding. Had some kind person made Mimi a nest?

“Meow-”

A faint, weak mew came from inside the cardboard box.

I leaned closer, then widened my eyes.

Inside the box was a litter of tiny kittens, each with different markings.