"Ah—!"
A sharp scream cut through the morning. In an instant, the half-asleep teenager jolted awake, rolled right off his bed, and crashed onto the floor with a heavy thud.
No one could stay asleep after being startled like that. Since his precious holiday morning had been ruined, Zhou Yi simply rolled up the sleeves of his pajamas, fully prepared to teach the culprit a lesson they would remember.
"Ah—!"The piercing cries continued as Zhou Yi pushed open his bedroom door, marched to the other door decorated with a teddy-bear sign, and pounded on it fiercely.
"Charise Ferguson, unless you can give me a very good reason, trust me—I will make God Himself understand just how serious it is to wake me up."
"Don't come in! Go away!"A sobbing, panicked cry came from inside. That cry instantly burned out the last fragile fuse in Zhou Yi's head.
"What's going on? Charise, open the door—now! I'm your brother, I have to know what's happening to you!"
"No… no! Go away! I don't want you to see me!"Her voice rose again, then turned into muffled whimpers. She had clearly pulled a blanket over herself.
Not knowing what had happened only made Zhou Yi more anxious. All the adults were already at work; the only ones home were him and his younger half-sister, Charise. No matter what, he felt compelled to find out what was wrong with her.
With that urgency clouding all reason, Zhou Yi no longer cared about respecting private property. He gripped the doorknob and yanked hard. With a sharp crack, the dead-bolted door tore open.
Inside was the quintessential girl's bedroom—dolls, plush toys, cute trinkets everywhere. Normally the room's owner took meticulous care of everything, but now all the toys were thrown across the floor in chaos. And at the center of it all, Charise was curled up under her blanket like a frightened little hamster.
"Sweetheart, what happened? Charise, tell me."Zhou Yi strode to the bed and lifted the blanket in one motion—then froze, stunned.
"Dear God… what on earth is this?"
The sister he remembered was gone. Charise's brown hair had turned a deep wine-red, and her once-blue eyes were now an eerie emerald green. Strange patterns circled those eyes—Zhou Yi could tell they weren't makeup, but natural markings growing from her skin.
But that wasn't even the most shocking part. What truly terrified him was her ears—long, slender, and pointed like an elf's.
His half-sister… was an elf?God, You've got to be messing with me.
He could only comfort himself with that weak joke—but he knew something serious had happened.
On the TV, a military spokesperson passionately addressed a swarm of reporters:
"We must acknowledge that mutants—this species hidden among humanity—pose a potential threat to every human being. Their powers disrupt the natural balance and present tremendous risks to public safety and social stability. We urge every citizen of the United States to remain vigilant toward the mutants around them…"
Normally, Zhou Yi wouldn't have cared about such rhetoric. But right now, he found the military spokesman's face utterly detestable.
Mutants, a threat? Ridiculous.
He wrapped an arm protectively around his trembling sister and met his mother's worried eyes with firm resolve.
"No matter what, even if Charise is a mutant, she is still our family—and she's the most important person to us. For her sake, I think we should move to New York."
His mother, Zhou Lan, looked young and elegant—a Chinese-American who had once fallen in love with a Chinese-American officer. That romance gave birth to Zhou Yi. But, like every story doomed by a dramatic promise, his father had once said, "After this mission, I'll come home and we'll get married," and then never returned. And so Zhou Yi and Zhou Lan became a single-parent family.
That lasted until Zhou Yi was eight, when Zhou Lan fell in love with Anthony Ferguson, a banker from Los Angeles. They married quickly, and within a year, Charise Ferguson was born.
Unfortunately, Anthony died in a plane crash. Zhou Yi, who had never quite adapted to the surname Ferguson, changed back to his original name. The family once again became a three-person single-parent home—Zhou Lan, Zhou Yi, and baby Charise.
But unlike most single-parent households, Zhou Lan's career in fashion paid very well, and Anthony had left behind a generous estate and a large insurance payout. The family lived quite comfortably.
Especially after Zhou Yi's investment advice in the stock market earned enormous returns, the family never needed to worry about money again.
Since money wasn't an issue, Zhou Lan didn't object to moving. She only looked confused as she comforted her frightened daughter.
"I understand wanting to protect Charise, but why New York? We have many choices."
"I know what you mean." Zhou Yi sighed."Sure, moving west might be safer. But we can't let Charise hide in some rural town for the rest of her life. I want her to be accepted. I want her to learn how to live among ordinary people. That's why… I want to take her to Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters."
Zhou Yi had just explained the school to her—a place specifically for young mutants, dedicated to helping them integrate into society. For their family, the choice was clear.
"All right," Zhou Lan said, raising her hands in surrender. "If that's what you believe is best—for both you and Charise—then I agree."
She picked up her daughter gently."Oh, my poor little angel… You must be terrified. Don't worry. Mommy and your brother will protect you. Come on—let's get some sleep. Everything will be better when we wake up."
With that, she carried Charise into her bedroom. She trusted her son completely. Ever since Charise was born, Zhou Yi had acted not just as a brother, but almost a father. Though only eight years older, he outshone many adults in maturity and competence.
To speak bluntly, the person with the most authority in the house wasn't the mother of two children—it was sixteen-year-old Zhou Yi. His calm, organized mind kept the family steady, and as the only man in the household, he shielded them from countless troubles.
Zhou Lan knew this well. Her pride and trust in her son were limitless.
When their door closed, Zhou Yi impatiently turned off the TV. The remote shattered into pieces in his tightening hand, scattering across the carpet. He didn't care. He only stared at the blank screen and muttered softly:
"Mutants… X-Men… the Brotherhood… Looks like I'll have to deal with all of you."
In that moment, a fire seemed to burn behind his eyes.In this life and the last, there were things he had regained—and he would never allow anyone to take them away again.
With ample funds, Zhou Yi quickly sold off several assets and—through a familiar agent—purchased two excellent apartments in New York's Upper East Side. The properties were near Central Park and outrageously expensive, but well within his means after selling off most of his tech stocks.
He kept only shares from Stark Industries and Osborn Corporation. Everything else, he sold to avoid risk.
Next came planning their travel. He wanted to take Charise to Xavier's school as soon as possible, but a visible mutant traveling through public airports was practically begging for trouble.
He remembered clearly: the military had plenty of mutants locked up as test subjects, and he doubted they were all "prisoners."
So flying was out of the question. Without a private jet, airport security would expose Charise immediately.
After some thought, Zhou Yi decided on a motorhome. Slow, yes—but safe and discreet. That was all that mattered.
With the hard part settled, the rest was easy.
Charise wasn't in any condition to say goodbye to friends—not that Zhou Yi thought much of those friends anyway. Zhou Lan, whose fashion career didn't exactly yield long-lasting friendships, had no sentimental attachments either.
As for Zhou Yi…With memories of a past life, he had long been out of sync with kids his age. Any "friend group" he had now was nothing more than a setting he created—and was just as easy to discard.
All that was left was to leave.
By the time the sun rose tomorrow, their neighbors would discover—probably with great surprise—that the family living next door for years had vanished overnight.
Not that it mattered.For some people, the departure of a "perfect comparison child" from the neighborhood might even feel like a relief.