ã€ŠThe System Mistook Me for a Catã€‹


 Chapter 1

    The weather was beautiful.

    Soft, cotton-white clouds drifted across the sky like dust scattered overhead, wispy and ethereal.

    The funeral began under such weather.

    And when a light rain started to fall from the sky, the coffin transformed into an urn buried underground, apanied by sobs of varying intensity, thus concluding the funeral.

    Chu Tingwu didn''t cry at all throughout the proceedings. She even held arge ck umbre, so when Shen Yue looked back at her, he only saw her cold and pristine face.

    "You..." he nced back at his current wife''s slightly furrowed brow, "What did your mother say? Will she be able toe back today?"

    Chu Tingwu: "She said if you don''t want me, she can give me living expenses."

    Shen Yue: "I was asking about her car¡ªnever mind!"

    Shen Yue''s face darkened under the overcast sky: "As if she could afford living expenses! Haven''t I been giving you money all along? It''s been ten years since I divorced your mother, why are you still acting like this immature child, giving everyone the cold shoulder? And your grandmother just passed away, howe you''re not crying?"

    After Shen Yue and Lu Cenyin divorced, Chu Tingwu was left in the care of Shen Yue''s mother, her paternal grandmother. At that time, her name was still Shen Tingwu.

    The woman who was now buried had never been known for her good temper. Upon learning that her son had divorced and gained custody of his daughter but was unwilling to raise her, she promptly changed Chu Tingwu''s surname¡ªand only informed Shen Yue afterward.

    Chu Tingwu asked, puzzled: "I didn''t cry because grandmother wouldn''t have been unhappy if she were alive. What are you upset about?"

    Shen Yue was at a loss for words.

    After a moment, he changed the subject: "Since your mother said that... why don''t you go to Jin City for your first year of high school after the summer vacation? How much allowance does she give you per month?"

    He could give double what his ex-wife offered.

    Ten years had passed, and he had be sessful in his career. He was no longer the man who needed financial support from his ex-wife''s family.

    Chu Tingwu: "Fifty thousand."

    Shen Yue: "...How much?"

    Chu Tingwu silently looked at him, and only after her biological father had almost grudgingly epted did she slowly correct herself: "I misspoke. It seems to be five thousand, right?"

    Shen Yue: "...Dad will give you twenty thousand every month. Remember to take good care of yourself."

    The sessful middle-aged man hurriedly drove away with his wife and second daughter. The neighbor living next door helped Chu Tingwu pack the leftovers into the refrigerator, took a few bags for themselves, and then said goodbye.

    But in the countryside, neighbors tend to speak loudly. Even after they had left the yard, Chu Tingwu could still hear them chatting, using the hasty yet expensive funeral as a topic of conversation¡ª

    "Ah Chu''s son has made it big, that car, goodness, must be worth several million, right?"

    "Sigh, what''s the use of sess if he hardly everes back? He even left his eldest daughter for Ah Chu to raise. Why doesn''t he take her to live in the city?"

    "Well, didn''t they renovate that old house? It''ll be the granddaughter''s in the future."

    "Our ce is so remote, how much could the house be worth? Didn''t they say they were going to build a tourist spot, a resort or something? That never happened..."

    "I wonder if Ah Chu''s son, now that he''s a big boss, wille and build a resort?"

    Chu Tingwu closed the door and turned to survey the small courtyard.

    The small courtyard

    Located in the countryside of Fallen Phoenix City, it had fairly convenient transportation. There were two schools nearby, and it only took twenty minutes to walk from here to the Guishui River that ran through the entire Fallen Phoenix City, so people from the surrounding viges were all good swimmers.

    The yard had been renovated, with new water and electricity instations. The ground was paved with ayer of blue bricks, now smooth and shiny from the light rain. The main house had also been refurbished, possibly because Shen Yue wanted to show off once he had money. But Chu Shuyi didn''t like vis, so the house of over 100 square meters looked rustic at first nce, yet was veryfortable to live in.

    Under the eaves of the first floor, there used to be birdcages hanging, butter they were modified to make nests for swallows. The second floor only had a not-so-high attic, half of which was used as a ce for Chu Tingwu and her grandmother to y badminton, while the other half was enclosed to grow flowers. However, the shuttlecock oftennded in the flower beds, so a small path trampled by feet eventually appeared behind the flower beds.

    The wind blew, scattering dry leaves into the fish pond in the yard. The rocking chair under the eaves was still swaying. Chu Tingwu brought out a well-worn nket from the room, curled herself up, and fell asleep on the rocking chair.

    Lu Cenyin only returned after the sky hadpletely darkened.

    The driver was Chu Tingwu''s elder brother, Lu Tinn. Although they were full siblings, thest time they met was during the New Year, so there was some unfamiliarity and awkwardness between them.

    ¡ªHowever, Lu Tinn felt that he was the only one feeling awkward.

    His sister''s expression showed no emotion, and she spoke very little, only saying thank you when she took the fast food he had brought.

    Lu Tinn waved his hand: "Mom thought you might be hungry, so we bought some at the highway service area. It should still be warm."

    The mother and son first offered incense to the deceased in the living room, then apanied Chu Tingwu to burn paper money at the entrance of the courtyard. By now, they all looked somewhat tired. Hearing the conversation between the siblings, Lu Cenyin pushed away herptop: "Tingwu, are youing with us to Jin City tomorrow, or have you decided to go when the summer vacation ends?"

    Separated from her daughter at the age of five, in the blink of an eye, she was already fifteen... She had grown up and be unfamiliar. Lu Cenyin no longer knew how to interact with her daughter, and her daughter also seemed not to need her much.

    She had suggested letting Chu Tingwu live at home, with a housekeeper to take care of meals. It was a bit far from school, but a driver could pick her up and drop her off. However, Chu Tingwu herself refused, choosing to rent a ce near the school.

    Lu Cenyin knew that Chu Tingwu often cooked for herself, so at least she wouldn''t starve. Considering that the area around the school was fairly safe, she agreed and increased the living allowance from three thousand to five thousand.

    This included the rent.

    It wasn''t that she couldn''t give more, but there was no need for an underage child to have control over so much money.

    ...Besides, the child''s biological father would also provide.

    Of course, at this point, Lu Cenyin didn''t know how much living allowance the child''s biological father had promised.

    Chu Tingwu swallowed her food: "I''ll go by myself next month."

    "That''s fine, you''ll need to pack your things," Lu Cenyin said, "When the timees, call Tinn and let him help you move."

    "Ah," Lu Tinn was taken aback, "This summer vacation¡ª"

    He would be busy next month.

    Chu Tingwu: "I''ll hire a movingpany, it''s more convenient."

    Lu Tinn: "Uh, oh, okay... Wait, let me send you a red envelope!"

    The conversation, as polite as if they were mere guests, continued until the mother and son left the next day. Chu Tingwu saw off her biological rtives¡ª

    And gained twenty-seven thousand yuan in her private ount.

    Two thousand of that was from her brother''s red envelope.

    In fact, before her grandmother passed away, she had given Chu Tingwu her savings from many years, which was enough for her to live quitefortably until she graduated from university. So Chu Tingwu wasn''t short of money at all, but she didn''t want to touch that savings ount.

    She opened her phone to check the bnce. Outside, cicadas were chirping, making her feel dizzy. Chu Tingwu blinked... No, it wasn''t just an illusion. The entire world in front of her seemed to shatter into colorful ss fragments, constantly reassembling, and there was an inexplicably irritating voice in her ear.

    [Binding... Binding sessful!]

    [Identifying...]

    [Re-identifying...]

    [Identification sessful!]

    Chu Tingwu suddenly stood up. In the next second, she blinked, as if startled by the sound, and nimbly jumped with one foot,nding in a crouched position with both feet together on the round dining table a meter off the ground. The table wobbled, and Chu Tingwu slightly tilted her body, then the table stabilized again.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    She had no time to ponder her current peculiar state, because the world in front of her had finished reassembling, but the perspective was still very strange, giving her a sense of information overload and dizziness¡ª

    [Hello, host. I am the Nanny-type Cub Raising System A7, your futurepanion. I am loaded with 17,240 species'' rearing and training courses from infancy to adulthood. As long as you''re willing, I will apany you and even take care of your offspring.]

    [My design model is the most excellent and suitable. I''ve had zero negative reviews over the years and am designed to actively seek cubs that need to be raised. You can also call me "Star''s Gift". In return, can I call you "little one"?]

    Chu Tingwu: "No, you can''t."

    System: "..."

    System: "Oh... oh."

    The system quickly ran a self-check, taking 0.01 seconds to confirm that the previous dialogue was standard post-production conversation without any errors. Realizing that the young host might not appreciate such a cold introduction, it immediately opened the system screen enthusiastically, disying both text and images¡ª

    Then Chu Tingwu saw:

    [Host Name: Chu Tingwu]

    [Age: Underage cub (weaning periodpleted)]

    [Species: Blue Star Feliformia - Felidae - Cat]

    [Current Status: Poor bnce, weak senses, impaired limb coordination, below-average running speed and endurance, small body size, no hunting ability, no self-care ability...]

    [Mood: Sad]

    As these words appeared, there was a Q-version pixel art "Chu Tingwu" avatar next to the screen. The tiny face had a TAT-style wide noodle tear, which was even animated.

    Before Chu Tingwu could say anything, the system let out a shriek.

    "Cub! Your status¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu: How did you start calling me that?

    The system''s voice suddenly became several times gentler: "Cub, although your status isn''t great, don''t be afraid. You''re just not very good at using your innate powers, but your instincts are still there. As long as I''m here, you''ll definitely be an excellent cat!"

    Chu Tingwu: "An excellent what?"

    System: "Cat, of course."

    Chu Tingwu nced at the system panel, then looked at the ground¡ªshe was still crouching on the table¡ªand finally realized that her overly agile reaction was quite out of ce.

    Her head was still dizzy, the difort hadn''t subsided... It felt as if a human body had suddenly been transformed into a cat, possessing an excessive sense of bnce and heightened alertness to the slightest movement, along with unnecessarily powerful senses of smell, hearing, and sight. She felt her current state was terrible.

    She touched her forehead; it was indeed very hot.

    "Excellent system," Chu Tingwu said, "before I''m burned into an idiot, could you please turn off my innate powers?"

    System: "?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Is there a possibility... that my species isn''t actually a cat?"

    The system saw that the host''s [Mood] had changed.

    On the panel, the word "Sad" disappeared, slowly changing to¡ª

    [Mood: Irritated]

    The Q-version pixel avatar started rolling its eyes.

    System: "..."

    Ah!!

 Chapter 2

    Chu Tingwu jumped down from the table and sank into the sofa.

    During her dizziness, the system mumbled something she couldn''t hear clearly, and then her feeling of "overload" finally subsided.

    System: "Innate power is your instinct, which I can''t turn off. I just temporarily blocked your perception of essing that power."

    It was like building a dam on a river - the flow of water was indeed blocked, but it hadn''t disappeared.

    Chu Tingwu rubbed her forehead.

    At this point, her thinking ability finally returned, and she could normally analyze what this "system" was all about¡ª

    ording to the system''s exnation, it was the kind of system that automatically assigns work after appearing, so it had bound itself to Chu Tingwu entirely ording to its own built-in rules, and the rule was¡ª

    [That is, you need me!]

    Chu Tingwu: "No, you''ve got it wrong."

    [Wait, wait, I''m the most excellent system, I can''t be wrong¡ª]

    Chu Tingwu: "I mean you''ve got my species wrong."

    The system fell silent.

    Or rather, its current datayer was actually a bit chaotic.

    In the process of getting to know each other, Chu Tingwu had been trying to prove to the system that she wasn''t a cat, that she was actually a human, but this seemed to touch upon the system''s most core settings. Denying this would be like denying the system itself... so it was very difficult for the system to ept.

    And the existence value of such a service system was to serve the host. Repeatedly denying the host would make the host unhappy, so considering how stubborn this young host was¡ª

    [Okay, okay, okay, you''re a human-cat, a special kind of cat.]

    Chu Tingwu: She could tell it was trying its best.

    She gave up.

    Chu Tingwu: "Anyway, people... cats like me can''t be trained ording to your arranged courses, nor can they be judged by those rules of yours."

    In any case, she still had self-care abilities and the ability to live independently, right?

    And what was "end of nursing period" supposed to mean, was it saying she was at least weaned?

    The system epted it.

    The wind rustled the fallen leaves in the courtyard. Chu Tingwu turned on the lights in the yard, rechecked the door locks, then left only the small light in the living room on, and checked the system''s newly modified panel data again...

    [Name: Chu Tingwu]

    [Age: Underage cub (suspected to be still in nursing period)]

    [Species: Blue Feliform - Felidae - Cat (with human form)]

    [Current status: Instincts locked (pending unlock)]

    [Improvement courses:

    (Second-tier improvement courses can be unlocked after instincts are unlocked and proficiently used)]

    [Current task one: Find a feline foster mother for instinct training + learning]

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    [Mood: Speechless]

    Chu Tingwu: ... Great, after the changes, in the system''s eyes, her image had be "not weaned" yet.

    She gave up, silently washed up, and then fell into bed and went to sleep.

    The system in her mind seemed to say something, but after realizing Chu Tingwu had closed her eyes, all that remained in her ears was a vague and hypnotic sound like ASMR. Her furrowed brows slowly rxed in the slight wind, and her breathing gradually steadied with the lingering scent of aromatic candles.

    She fell asleep.

    -

    The next day, Chu Tingwu was awakened by the sound of birdsong in her mind.

    After realizing she was fully awake, the system turned off the rxation and kindly and benevolently (?) asked if she had the urge to go hunting after hearing it.

    Chu Tingwu: "... My species doesn''t hunt like that."

    System: "?"

    So she ordered some fried chicken for delivery right in front of the system.

    However, the system didn''t seem unhappy:

    "Cub, I just essed the Blue''swork and found out that most kittens can''t order takeout, but you can. Your species is really excellent, cub is super great!"

    Chu Tingwu: For some reason, even though she was praised, she didn''t feel happy at all.

    And what kind of cats were those few that could order takeout?

    [Also! To match the nurturing of a special kitten like you, I''ve learned a lot of new knowledge from thework! Instincts can''t be locked forever,pleting task one is for your own good...]

    No, human-cats don''t seem to like phrases like "for your own good" very much¡ª

    The system immediately realized its tone was problematic, so it added a cute expression at the end to sell meng.

    [Meow~]

    Chu Tingwu: "Did you catch a virus?"

    System: "?"

    Despite saying this, Chu Tingwu did take the system''s words to heart.

    ¡ª Her body had already been modified by the system when they bonded (although the system didn''t admit it), and she had temporarily blocked that special feline sensation, but it couldn''t be blocked forever. Or if the system malfunctioned one day, she couldn''t suddenly turn into an overly sensitive "cat" on the spot, which would affect her life.

    So... to adapt, to learn, to use this new body, was a lesson she had to go through.

    And the solution given by the system seemed to be to find a real cat to be her teacher.

    Chu Tingwu finished cleaning up the table and chairs, and finally conceded: "Do you have any rmended candidates?"

    A virtual screen automatically opened in front of her. Chu Tingwu leaned back, still feeling this scene was very surreal even though it was already the second day.

    She looked at the center of the screen, where withered yellow grass gradually appeared in the ck background. A agile animal stepped into the frame on four legs, its ears quivering slightly in the wind, its golden short fur lying t like waves of wheat, with the parts ruffled by the wind giving off a beautiful wild beauty.

    This was an adult lioness from the great savanna!

    And the scene wasn''t over yet... because a few lion cubs tumbled out from the corner, fighting and biting each other. This was a mother lion currently raising cubs!

    [She is the most suitable candidate I''ve currently found on thework! Whether it''s hunting and survival skills of feline animals, orbat instincts, she''s at the peak of her age group. And she just lost two cubs, I can change your scent to make her quickly recognize you as¡ª]

    Chu Tingwu: "Pass."

    [¡ªher child.]

    [QAQ]

    She raised her hand to swat away the virtual emoticon in front of her: "I guess you mean you can find a way to drop me onto the savanna, and then have me live among the lion pride, raised as a child by this lioness?"

    The system muttered that this was the most efficient method, and that this lioness was really excellent!

    Chu Tingwu decided to add the word "excellent" to her list of disliked words, right under Shen Yue''s name.

    "Don''t be ridiculous," she sighed, "I don''t know much about it, but I can guess this is a celebrity lion, the kind that has documentaries and is constantly followed by cameras... She even has a tracking cor on her neck. If I, a human, suddenly appear in the lion pride, without even changing into a cat form, do you want me to be trending globally tomorrow?"

    Lions are indeed feline, but let''s go for some normal felines.

    After a brief discussion between the person (human-cat) and the system, they finally decided to go out.

    The system currently only collected online information and data, but if it could have close contact, its judgment of "foster mothers" would be more urate.

    System: "I must find you the best mother!"

    Chu Tingwu: "I actually have... never mind."

    Lu Cenyin couldn''t hear this anyway.

    -

    Although Fallen Phoenix City had a beautiful name, it was at most a second-tier city. It had scenic spots andmercial districts, but they weren''t famous or top-notch. Only the Guishui River that ran through the city had some reputation online ¡ª a wildly popr historical drama had filmed here a few years ago, and now the riverside''s mock-ancient street was full of costume shops and antique stores.

    Chu Tingwu rode her bicycle, first arriving at the Guishui River... In her memory, there were several pet shops hidden among the costume and antique shops, operating neither too well nor too poorly.

    However, following the map navigation, Chu Tingwu stopped at the entrance.

    The systemmented in her mind: "This one won''t do, weak limbs, oversized body, no ferocity... This one won''t do either, gluttonous, timid. This one ¡ª this one has congenital intelligence issues!"

    "That''s normal," she got back on her bicycle, "because this ce has changed from a pet shop to a cat cafe."

    And that cat with "intelligence issues" was actually the cafe''s best-selling cat, with its award certificate posted on the wall.

    The remaining pet shops didn''t receive high ratings from the system either. After all, they only sold purebred cats. Although these trained purebred cats still possessed feline instincts, such as bnce and reflexes, they couldn''t meet the system''s high standards¡ª

    And they were all kittens, too.

    A gentle breeze blew along the riverbank, where many people were fishing, not disturbing one another. Chu Tingwu stopped to watch for a while when suddenly she heard someone cry out.

    "My seven-pound fish!"

    It seemed someone''s fish had been stolen, causing most people to turn their heads, wanting to see who the little fish thief was¡ªChu Tingwu''s mouth twitched slightly. She was nearby and saw everything clearly:

    The one who had snatched the fish was actually a chubby yellow tabby cat with white paws.

    Moreover, that fish didn''t look like it weighed seven pounds; it was three pounds at most.

    The angler had tied the fish with a line and hung it on the railing. As a result, this stray yellow tabby cat leaped nimbly, skillfully pulled the fish down, and fled while eating it. By the time the angler noticed, half the fish had already been devoured.

    Chu Tingwu: "This one?"

    If this were a human-cat, shouldn''t its body be full of strong, fighting muscles?

    The system didn''t respond. Chu Tingwu approached the big cat. The cat twitched its ears, then nced at her sideways, seemingly deciding there was no need to run away. Just then, a suddenly swooped down towards the cat¡ª

    Chu Tingwu and the cat both jumped at the same time.

    "Whoa!"

    The person trying to the cat was also startled by her reaction. There were two people, a man and a woman. The man wielded the while the woman held a cat carrier. They first worked together to put the yellow tabby into the carrier, then the woman, who looked like a college student, came over to apologize: "I''m sorry, little sister. We''re catching cats for neutering. Did we scare you?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Neutering?"

    "Yes, yes," the woman skillfully pulled out her employee ID and then her phone to show her a public ount tform. "We''re from a nearby pet hospital. We regrly provide free neutering for stray cats in the area... Oh, I saw you watching for a while. Do you like cats? Are you interested in adopting one?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Umm..."

    Would spaying a female cat affect her hunting ability (or her skill in teaching kittens)?

    She urged the system in her mind, and the system finally replied: "It won''t have any effect. Neutering isn''t a bad thing for cats."

    [...But this cat is male.]

    Just then, the grumbling yellow tabby exposed his, not her, unremoved bells.

    Chu Tingwu: "...Oh."

    System: "..."

    Oh no, the child seems to have a gender recognition disorder. What should we do?!

 Chapter 3

    The enthusiastic spay/neuter team invited Chu Tingwu to visit the hospital... Of course, it would be best if she could adopt a cat.

    They clearly saw that she wanted to have a cat.

    But Chu Tingwu was certain they couldn''t guess her standards for adopting a cat.

    The woman who looked like a college student was called Hang Ling, and she was indeed a recent graduate who had just started working at this hospital with great enthusiasm. The man with impressive arm muscles was named Wang Lv. His family had hoped he would be awyer, or a doctor would do, but after graduation, he did indeed pick up a scalpel, though his career direction had a slight deviation.

    "There aren''t many stray cats left on this street," Hang Ling picked up the carrier to show Chu Tingwu the tabby cat inside. "He has a name, it''s Big King. He''s one of the bolder strays. Actually, many stray cats avoid humans, but Big King is quite clever. He came from themercial street to Guishui River, and he even made the local news for catching fish."

    The name "Big King" was given to him at that time.

    Hang Ling and her colleagues had been ying cat and mouse with Big King for a while. He would run away when he saw people carrying carriers ors, but normally he would bully the fishermen and steal their fish. This time, Hang Ling and her colleague happened to encounter him while they were out for a meal, and they immediately caught him.

    Big King seemed to understand what they were saying and made a "woo-woo" sound while crouching in the carrier.

    Chu Tingwu had a sudden realization and asked the system, "Can I understand catnguage?"

    [That depends on how you define nguage".]

    Cats are creatures with rich facial expressions, bodynguage, and emotional vocalizations. Their faces, body movements, and sounds can all be considered theirnguage. Their cries can directly convey a cat''s emotions, but they don''t have as rich a vocabry as humans¡ª

    ording to the system''s exnation, if Chu Tingwu became familiar enough with a cat, she could, after spending some time together, determine what each short meow represented in terms of objects or words, and quickly integrate into the local catmunity bybining this with other actions and expressions.

    Chu Tingwu: "...Why would I want to integrate into theirmunity?"

    It''s not like clocking in for work and having to join a group chat.

    [Cat Language Ability: Unlocked]

    The system''s mechanical, cold voice resonated in Chu Tingwu''s mind, and she seemed to faintly hear the sound of a lock breaking.

    ¡ªIt must be a special effect the system learned somewhere.

    With a slight dizziness, the tabby cat''s swearing in her ears seemed to be more...yered?

    Chu Tingwu could clearly discern "fear," "confusion," "irritation," and... "anticipation?" from his cries.

    But to others, Big King seemed to just be grumbling.

    While Chu Tingwu was still wondering about this "anticipation," she heard severalzy cat meows... from the stray cats on the alley wall.

    Some cats were sunbathing there, meowingzily when they saw people. Others hissed at them from afar, but most remained silent, just quietly watching the humans pass by with their eyes.

    And for the few cats that were "talking," after Chu Tingwu loaded the catnguage temte and her brain tranted and supplemented some nouns, it became¡ª

    "That yellow-haired fatty finally got caught!" "The hospital food is quite good..." "He''s so noisy, it''s annoying!" "Is the hospital food really that good?" "Shut up, it''s too loud!" "He''s going to be locked up for a few days~"

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    Big King cursed even louder.

    Well, it seems the cats more or less know what Hang Ling and her colleagues are up to, and Big King is definitely looking forward to the pet hospital''s cat food.

    ¡ªFor that, he''s willing to give up his bell.

    After sending Big King to the operating room, Hang Ling stayed behind with Chu Tingwu: "By the way, little sister, do your parents agree with you keeping a cat?"

    Chu Tingwu: "I live alone."

    She knew the hospital staff were worried about her adopting and then abandoning the cat, so she straightforwardly exined her living situation and then showed Hang Ling her ount bnce.

    "I see," Hang Ling was taken aback for a moment but didn''t show it. "Then I''ll just call you Xiao Chu. Our adoption process includes half-price spaying/neutering, but we need to register your contact information and address. If you want to adopt a kitten that hasn''t been fixed, you can get half-price spaying/neutering at our hospital. If it''s an already fixed cat, we''ll provide some cat food. However, we''ll conduct asional follow-up visits, and we''ll bring small gifts during these visits. Is that eptable?"

    After all, they''ve invested effort in these cats, and the follow-up visits for the freely adopted cats are to ensure the adopters won''t easily abandon them... If it really doesn''t work out, having contact information means they can ask for the cat to be returned.

    This request was reasonable, and Chu Tingwu nodded: "However, I''m going to Jin City for school in two months, and I''ll take the cat with me. For the follow-up visits, can I send you videos?"

    Hang Ling nodded with a smile.

    With the adoption intention confirmed, the next step was to choose a cat.

    This hospital, named Little Sun Pet Hospital, didn''t keep the rescued stray animals in the hospital itself, but in a rescue house two streets away. Hang Ling took Chu Tingwu there, and as soon as they opened the door, they heard a "bang" and someone shouting¡ª

    "A cat¡ª"

    "A cat has escaped!"

    Chu Tingwu heard more sounds, apart from the cat meows that gave her a headache, there was also¡ª

    The system was very excited: "There''s a mom!"

    The system shouted loudly: "Baby, I''ve analyzed that there''s a suitable candidate to be your mom inside!"

    Chu Tingwu: I really... never mind.

    Anyway, Lu Cenyin wasn''t here.

    -

    Hang Ling grabbed Chu Tingwu and rushed in, then skillfully used her whole body to block the door as she quickly closed it. Then, they found themselves face to face with a cat crouching on top of a cab.

    It was a long-haired cat, predominantly gray-ck in color. The base color was gray, with most of the fur a glossy ck, but upon closer inspection, there were some deep brown hairs, and a small patch of yellow on the tip of its nose... It was a long-haired ck tortoiseshell.

    Seeing the humans, it let out a low, hoarse growl, paced a bit on top of the cab, but didn''t jump down.

    Hang Ling raised her hand to shield Chu Tingwu''s face and pushed her into the main living room. At this time, other people were holdings, and some had put on gloves. Hang Ling said, "Be careful, she might scratch people."

    The rescue house not only had sealed windows but also sealed doors. Even if a cat ran out when Hang Ling opened the door, there was actually another iron gate outside. The staff struggled for a while before they caught the long-haired tortoiseshell, then stuffed this cursing cat into a cage, and went to catch the few kittens that had fallen into the corner on the floor.

    "This one is called Three-Five-Five, she''s a mother cat we rescued. She previously gave birth to her kittens in a basement, but they all froze to death," Hang Ling scratched her head. "She has a bit of a bad temper, probably can only be released back."

    Three-Five-Five was actually a number. The rescue staff couldn''t possibly name every cat, and after adoption, they would have new names anyway, so they simply used numbers.

    Seeing someone approach, Three-Five-Five swiped a paw at the cage door and made a voice that sounded like it had been smoked, which could easily startle even the rescue staff.

    The kittens had another room, but kittens are prone to illness. The staff member responsible for taking care of the kittens asked Chu Tingwu for her general requirements, saying they could bring out suitable kittens for her to see.

    "We have mostly tabby cats here, and some with odd eyes. Do you prefer long-haired or short-haired? We had a litter of long-haired kittens adopted out earlier, with only one left. Would you like to see it?"

    Chu Tingwu covered her ears for a moment: "Can I adopt an adult cat?"

    "Adult," Hang Ling hesitated for a moment, "Most of the adult cats we haven''t managed to adopt out aren''t very friendly to humans. You can see Three-Five-Five is like this, and she likes to escape and unlock doors. Your ce probably can''t have sealed windows, and if you seal the doors, it might work for small cats, but big cats will just jump over the wall and out..."

    She really didn''t rmend it.

    If they send the cat out today, it might be roaming the vige for food tomorrow.

    The staff member listening nearby also nodded, exchanging a few nces with Hang Ling... They all felt this underage little sister wasn''t very reliable.

    Chu Tingwu: "Uh..."

    System: "Wuwu, you''re just a cub yourself, you can''t raise other cubs!"

    System: "But if you really need a ymate, I can ept that. I can help you bring..."

    System: "Don''t worry, I have aplete set of courses here. Because when you have kittenster, I''ll take care of them too¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu: I won''t have kittens!

    Not being able to close the windows in the countryside was indeed a problem. Chu Tingwu didn''t want to adopt a "mother" only to have her roam freely throughout the vige. Just then, another loud "bang" came from the room where the adult cat cages were kept, followed by a sound they were all too familiar with¡ª

    "Three-Five-Five has escaped again!"

    That cat was cunning; she had picked the lock again!

    A smoky gray shadow zipped over their heads in a sh. The clumsy humans only then started to give chase. This time, however, the calico cat didn''t dash towards the door. Instead, she leaped towards the window, jumping onto the windowsill and then using her paws to fiddle with the window gaps, all while bumping against the ss and cursing.

    It was from this angle that Chu Tingwu noticed the medical gauze still wrapped around the cat''s body.

    The humans had no choice but to grab the again. The staff member responsible for the adult cats sighed, "I''ve already changed the lock twice..."

    The cat cages all had mechanism locks, but this cat had managed to reach out with her paw and open the lock.

    Chu Tingwu: "Meow."

    Hang Ling, who was standing nearby, turned her head: "?"

    Chu Tingwu licked her teeth, thought for a moment, and then let out a kitten-like mew that was both high-pitched and milky.

    ¡ªMight as well prove that she had the ability to raise an adult cat without closing the windows.

    She also asked the system in her mind: "Have you sorted out my ''scent''?"

    System: "All done! You now smell like a kitten!"

    You already smelled like a kitten, the system secretly added in her mind. It had only made a slight adjustment, making the host''s scent more simr to the kitten this mother cat had lost.

    The calico on the windowsill stopped meowing. She looked up at Chu Tingwu, twitching her ears in confusion.

    Chu Tingwu crouched down on the spot, allowing the calico to have a higher vantage point, and continued to make realistic kitten noises.

    Kittens have a much smaller "vocabry" than adult cats. Chu Tingwu wasn''t very skilled at first, but she quickly became adept at mimicking them urately. She was saying:

    "Meow meow~ (Hungry! Hungry!)"

    The calico cat let out a low meow. This sound was different from her previous hoarse cries; itcked aggression. Although her voice was still smoky, it sounded much gentler.

    Hang Ling looked at Chu Tingwu in shock, then at the calico cat Three-Five-Five. The staff member holding the didn''t immediately move to catch her, but instead hesitated and took a step back¡ª

    Working with cats every day, although they couldn''t understand catnguage like Chu Tingwu could, most staff members were able to read cats'' bodynguage.

    Three-Five-Five no longer seemed intent on escaping.

    So it was best not to provoke her.

    Chu Tingwu mewed "meow meow" a couple more times, sounding like a kitten crying pitifully. Three-Five-Five''s ears twitched again, her tail swishing irritably against the ss before she jumped down.

    She limped slightly as she approached Chu Tingwu, but stopped about a meter away.

    "Meow?"

    She was a cat, not stupid.

    Why did this "kitten" seem so big... it would take all day to groom?

    Chu Tingwu: ==

    She simply knelt on the ground, extending her hand towards the calico with her palm open. Then she changed the tone of her meows. This time, instead of saying she was hungry, she said "cold, hurt, mama, mama."

    After all, she was speaking in catnguage, so humans couldn''t understand.

    Three-Five-Five shook her head. Her front paws scratched the ground a couple of times, her pupils dting and contracting. Then, she gracefully approached Chu Tingwu with her cat-like gait, retracted her ws to step on her palm, and finally rested her entire upper body on Chu Tingwu''s knee.

    The surrounding staff members let out quiet cheers.

    The staff member responsible for the adult cats pinched Hang Ling hard: "Three-Five-Five is being friendly! She actually approached a person on her own!"

    Hang Ling yelped in pain while pinching back, also quite excited. She suddenly eximed, "Oh no! I didn''t record a video or capture the sound!"

    The little girl''s kitten calls were so impressive, they actually summoned the mother cat!? Or was it just a coincidence...

    The human and cat in the center of the living room remained still for the moment, but everyone else could see the calico''s nose twitching. It was as if the cat was sniffing the person, or perhaps confirming Chu Tingwu''s scent. Finally, the calico cat purred, stood up, licked Chu Tingwu''s wrist, and then flopped down against her knee¡ª

    Exposing her belly.

    "Meow?"

    She raised her paw, urging therge kitten in front of her.

    Why aren''t you nursing?

    Chu Tingwu: "..."!

 Chapter 4

    Chu Tingwu wasn''t actually a real kitten!

    She had no choice but to lower her head and nuzzle the big cat''s belly with her nose tip, then stand up, take two steps back, and continue calling "Mama" in a kitten''s tone.

    Three Five Fivey on the ground, looking at this suspiciouslyrge cub. Finally, she seemed to make some decision¡ª

    The smoky gray tortoiseshell cat stepped closer to the human in front of her, wrapping her tail around her calf, then sprawled on top of her shoe.

    This time, Chu Tingwu tried to pick her up. She didn''t make any gesture of resistance, just raised her paw to bat at the human''s hair.

    Chu Tingwu looked at Hang Ling: "Can I adopt her?"

    -

    This was the first time that Little Sun Pet Hospital had adopted out an adult cat that was nned for release.

    Once "release" was decided, it basically meant confirming that such cats couldn''t live with humans... but this time they encountered an unexpected situation. Hang Ling had never seen this before, so she called the boss.

    The owner of Little Sun Hospital quickly rushed over from the hospital. She was a tall middle-aged woman surnamed Yang.

    "We don''t rmend adopting cats meant for release. It''s not that we''re worried about humans hurting cats, but that such cats can easily hurt people and be stressed themselves," Sister Yang looked at Chu Tingwu holding Three Five Five. "However, I have seen this kind of situation before¡ª"

    It was a stray cat that had injured people before, but before bing a stray, it was a pet cat. The original owner''s family had abandoned the cat, and the owner had been searching for it. When found, the cat was no longer friendly to people, but the owner didn''t give up. It took nearly half a year to rebuild their rtionship before they could live normally together again.

    Finally, Sister Yang made a decision: "Let''s do this. Three Five Five''s injuries haven''t healed yet. She was caught on wire before and then infected after being soaked in dirty water during the rain. Come back to pick her up in half a month. If she''s still willing to go with you then, we won''t stop you."

    Chu Tingwu had no objections, but...

    "Meow!!¡ª"

    When Chu Tingwu was leaving, Three Five Five threw a fit.

    She was like a mother who had lost her child for the second time. Even when Chu Tingwu put her down, she would follow step by step. When Chu Tingwu walked outside the iron gate, Three Five Five clearly became agitated.

    This time, as soon as the iron gate closed, she started wing at it while making hoarse cries.

    The staff: "..."

    Chu Tingwu had toe back, soothe her again in catnguage, and then, urged by the system, she said to Sister Yang:

    "Do you need volunteers here? I happen to be on summer break and cane help feed the cats."

    Otherwise, after half a month, Three Five Five''s ws might be worn down to nubs.

    No one had anticipated this situation either¡ªa cat meant for release suddenly bing overly attached to a person, just like a pet cat raised from birth afraid of separation from its owner. Sister Yang thought for a moment:

    "How about this: we have several cats that roam freely in the living room. You cane feed them and Three Five Five. The cats in the other two rooms have strong odors, so our original staff will handle those. If youe in the morning, we''ll provide lunch... but it''s just boxed meals, the same for everyone, so don''tin, okay?"

    They couldn''t pay wages; Chu Tingwu waspletely underagebor at her age.

    When Chu Tingwu got back on her bicycle, she suddenly thought of something: "System, is Three Five Five the most suitable cat mother?"

    System: "Purely analyzingprehensive abilities... no."

    System: "But your ''Find Cat Mama'' task isplete!"

    Indeed, half a checkmark appeared next to the task in the system interface''s task list.

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    System: "I am the best Cub Raising System. If we simply used ability values to analyze suitability, that evaluation standard would be too mechanical¡ªthis smoky gray long-haired tortoiseshell may not be the best, but you like her. When you like her, she bes the most suitable!"

    The wind rippled theke water, the fishing line swayed gently. Chu Tingwu discerned the human voices around her and the cat meows that were clearer among them. She said "Oh" and then: "I actually kind of like you sometimes too."

    [A¡ª]

    Chu Tingwu: "I said only sometimes, sometimes... why are you crying now?"

    -

    After Chu Tingwu left, the staff at Little Sun Pet Hospital''s rescue room didn''t rest. First, they put Three Five Five in a cage, then Hang Ling started editing the video she had just filmed¡ª

    Although she didn''t capture the initial scene of Chu Tingwu luring Three Five Five with kitten calls, she picked up her pher and got quite a bit of footage... just not as convincing as the beginning would have been.

    This is the era of the inte, where online traffic can be mized, and cat rescue is very suitable video content.

    Pure passion is hard to sustain long-term. Hang Ling was a local who had been following the local stray cats before graduation, so she knew about Little Sun Pet Hospital. But the hospital had always been quietly rescuing animals... just like many other hospitals. So Hang Ling came up with the idea of making videos to earn traffic.

    She started working on public ounts and self-media after joining. However, there are many ounts filming cat rescue and care these days, and not many be hugely popr. Their ount only has tens of thousands of followers now, with some fame in the local cat circle.

    Fortunately, Sister Yang has always been very supportive, even though the ount hasn''t earned much money yet.

    Hang Ling edited the video a bit and first posted it to the ount''s fan group. The group had over 800 people, including those they had helped before, current adopters, and fans who had donated and followed¡ª

    Usually, the photos and emojis in the group were all cats.

    Hang Ling: [Everyone, our Three Five Five might be adopted. A very special little girl came, learned a few kitten calls, and Three Five Five seems to think she''s her own child, constantly nuzzling and licking her, not letting the little girl leave.]

    Hang Ling: [Here''s the video #video link#]

    She had discussed with Chu Tingwu before editing and agreed to blur her face. Chu Tingwu agreed.

    As soon as the video was posted, it drew out many group members who were chatting. The entire video was only two minutes long. Two minutester, the number of people speaking in the group immediately increased.

    [Wow, I turned on the speaker, and that kitten voice attracted our fatty over. He keeps pawing at my phone looking for the kitten!]

    [The little girl must have cats at home, right? I guess she picked up the scent of kittens, and the mother cat thought she was her own cub!]

    [The before and after in this video hardly look like the same cat! Three Five Five was so fierce before. Although she doesn''t airne her ears when she sees people, you never know when she might scratch you. Didn''t she scratch little Hang when feeding before? Wasn''t she supposed to be released? If the little girl goes home without getting scratched, be careful her family doesn''te after you!]

    Hang Lingpared the before and after while editing.

    Long-haired tortoiseshells are considered beauties in the cat world. If it weren''t for her unsuitable personality, she would have been adopted long ago. When Three Five Five was first rescued, she was both pitiful and fierce. The video included clips of her leaping to attack people, airne-earing and hissing, picking locks to escape, and crashing into cages and windows. Butter, Chu Tingwu used just two kitten calls to "transform" this cat into an affectionate one... The difference was truly stark.

    Hang Ling: [Sister Yang is also very worried, so she didn''t let her take the cat right away. Three Five Five''s injuries haven''t healed yet. The little girl said she woulde every day to see her. If Three Five Five maintains this state in front of her, then we''ll let her take her home.]

    [Then little Hang, you should film more material!]

    [Yeah, yeah, you can use her voice to lure big cats when you go out to catch themter.]

    [I wanted to catch a mother cat in my neighborhood for adoption before. I searched for kitten sounds online, but that mother cat didn''t respond to me at all. Now it seems cats are all very smart? Let me try this little girl''s voice.]

    [Why don''t you just recruit the girl, little Hang? Let her help you catch cats. If it works every time, that''spletely a vocal skill, no need for recordings, juste in person!]

    Hang Lingughed and scolded: [She''s still underage!]

    She uploaded the video to her ount on the website and noticed an increase inments both in the group chat and under the video. She then went on to attend to other matters.

    Chu Tingwu hadpleted stage one of task one, and now she was busy... busy grocery shopping.

    Surprisingly, this was also part of the "course."

    The system was teaching her to make better food for her body... human-cat food.

    Chu Tingwu: Do we really have to call it "human-cat"?

    She bought a lot of ingredients, but with few leafy greens and many meat products. The system had high requirements for seasonings, so she was forced to examine the ingredient proportions of various seasonings in the supermarket, finally managing to pick up two jars.

    [The taste of food is also very important, as it affects the cub''s desire to eat. And you''re from a species that has high standards for food vor, so let''s use this...]

    It had initially wanted to cook by itself¡ªif Chu Tingwu authorized it, the system could control nearby electronic devices¡ªbut this was too backward. There were no suitable culinary robots, and the ones that could barely be used were expensive andcked precision control. It was better to let the host do it herself.

    But the system felt extremely guilty!

    It was bad enough to have a cat raise itself, but to make the cat cook three dishes and a soup? It wasn''t a qualified system at all!

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    Pretending she hadn''t heard anything, she followed the system''s guidance and made a meal... The difference from normal dishes was that all the ingredients in this pot were cut very soft and tender. It didn''t look great, but the aroma of meat wafted through the air, and the few vegetables mixed in tasted refreshing.

    Chu Tingwu couldn''t resist trying a spoonful. Meanwhile, the system continued to generate other recipes in her mind, seemingly still unsatisfied. Clearly, it wasn''t much of a raising system at the moment, but it could easily transition into a culinary system.

    System: "I need some data to determine your preferred tastes!"

    It also provided Chu Tingwu with a cat food recipe suitable for a 3-5-5 diet, which only adjusted some ingredient and seasoning proportionspared to her meal. It still smelled delicious, much more tempting than most cat food.

    ...Well, cat food isn''t really meant to be tempting in the first ce.

    System: "The nutritional conditions are about right, no need for major changes."

    Chu Tingwu: "Sounds like I''m much harder to raise than a cat."

    That''s right, humans are inherently very demanding animals.

    The system said kindly: "You''re a cub, after all. As a cub, cooking for mommy is already great if you can just make it edible!"

    Your standards are ridiculously low.

    While eating, Chu Tingwu opened her phone and naturally saw Hang Ling''s video post in her friend circle. She followed the ount and watched the video that featured herself as a semi-protagonist¡ª

    As her finger lightly swiped to refresh, a newment was liked and rose to the top.

    [Amazing! I''ve always wanted to catch the mother cat family in our neighborhood for adoption, but I could never lure them out no matter what. Those kitten cries and canned food tricks online didn''t work at all! Today, out of frustration, I yed this video, and the mother cat entered the cage!

    The real cat cries online didn''t trick her, but a human imitating a cat cry in the video actually worked! I used to think this mother cat was crafty, now I suspect she might be a bit silly...]!

 Chapter 5

    Chu Tingwu carried a basin out the door, able to hear the sounds of small animals scurrying in the fields.

    She ced the basin at the doorstep and made a few long, breathy calls. Soon after, two or three cat meows of varying lengths came from nearby.

    A tabby cat and a pure orange cat jumped down from the wall. They eyed Chu Tingwu somewhat curiously before burying their heads in the food bowl.

    The basin contained steaming hot cat food.

    Since there were no cats in the house at the moment, feeding these vige strays wasn''t a waste.

    Having always lived in the vige, even though Chu Tingwu wasn''t the one who usually fed them, the cats still came to eat without hesitation. Chu Tingwu stood by, listening to the two cats bicker in simplenguage as they fought over the food.

    The cats'' conversation wasn''t veryplex. Tranted, it went something like:

    "This is delicious!" "Fatty, get away!" "This is better than what we ate yesterday!" "Yes, yes, it''s good!" "I told you to get away!"

    After eating, they first groomed themselves, then groomed each other. Finally, the tabby cautiously approached to sniff Chu Tingwu, followed by the orange cat, who smelled the food scent on her sleeve and affectionately pawed at her knee.

    "That''s all for today. I''ll make more tomorrow."

    She said this and then tranted it into catnguage. The two cats seemed startled, jumping back a couple of steps before returning with puzzled expressions. They seemed curious about how this creature, emitting the scent of a kitten, could be sorge and provide such delicious food.

    "I want more, meow~"

    The orange cat reacted first, excitedly rubbing against Chu Tingwu''s ankle. She gently lifted her foot to nudge it away, repeating this a couple of times until the orange cat reluctantly left.

    The tabby jumped onto the wall, stretchedzily, and said slowly, "You''re a very fragrant, very big kitten, meow~"

    Chu Tingwu: Thanks?

    After sending off her two feline neighbors who helped with kitchen waste disposal, Chu Tingwu began tidying up the room. After some thought, she set aside a portion of the newly bought ingredients, deciding to make cat food on-site at the rescue house tomorrow. It wasn''t too difficult, after all.

    ...Although Chu Tingwu hadn''t realized it, she had already started treating Three-Five-Five as her own cat. The neighbor cats had tasted her cooking, so how could her own cat not try it?

    System: "Little one, you can sleep early today. There''s a ss tonight."

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    Only after closing her eyes did she understand what the system meant¡ª

    Chu Tingwu opened her eyes in the dream realm to find that she had shrunk... No, it seemed the dream world had erged!

    [This is the scene of your adopted cat, Three-Five-Five, fleeing and jumping around in the rescue house. Host, you are now a kitten who doesn''t know how to use your body''s instincts, and you can''t achieve the same effects as the adopted cat. But you can observe and practice in the ''dream ssroom'' to familiarize yourself with your body''s instincts¡ª]

    A more detailed panel opened up, and Chu Tingwu saw that her skills now included catnguage, bnce ability, and jumping ability. There were also a bunch of pixted text that seemed yet to be unlocked.

    [Cat Language: lv1]

    [Bnce Ability: lv0]

    [Jumping Ability: lv0]

    The system enthusiastically exined: "I''ve considered what kittens your age like most and disyed your current data in a way you can better understand. In reality, bnce and vision, jumping ability and perception are all interconnected and mutually influential. But after simtion, I found that you''re not ready to ept instinctive pupil perspective, super smell, hyper-perception, etc., so let''s start with the basics!"

    Let''s begin with learning how to jump and run like a cat!

    The author Sawu reminds you that the mostplete version of "The System Identified Me as a Cat" is avable at [], domain []? Come to [] #read thetest chapters#plete chapters

    [Host, please note: To improve your learning enthusiasm in the ssroom, when youplete a full learning trial in the dream ssroom, your experience points and level will increase. However, if youplete trials in reality, the experience gain rate is 10 times that of ssroom learning!]

    The frozen scene began to flow. Chu Tingwu looked up to find that the rescue house environment had been three-dimensionally simplified. Theplex boxes had be very intuitive geometric shapes, and the spacious interior only contained one cat: "Three-Five-Five".

    Chu Tingwu: "Have I been shrunk to the size of a kitten?"

    She was now shorter than the drawer that held the cat food, and the cab top that Three-Five-Five was standing on seemed about seven or eight meters high to her.

    System: "You could originally jump onto tforms three to five times your body length in height."

    Chu Tingwu: "...You mean cats originally could."

    However, now it seemed she had a cat''s physique too?

    The Three-Five-Five above moved!

    A cat-catching appeared in mid-air. Three-Five-Five, dragging its injured leg, jumped from the highest cab top to a cab about three meters away in mini Chu Tingwu''s perspective. Then it kicked off the wall, sessfully changing direction mid-air,nded on a table, quickly passed under it, and once again wed its way up to the top of the initial cab, poised to dash towards the iron door that wasn''t currently visible.

    ¡ª And then it was caught.

    This series of images was first yed at one-tenth speed, then at one-third speed, and finally at normal speed. Then, Chu Tingwu saw Three-Five-Five''s escape route traced out in pale green light points in mid-air. The system then eagerly urged Chu Tingwu:

    "Little one, go for it!"

    Go for what? Conquering the big refrigerator?

    If there were a physical education trainer present, they would surely think it was insane to have a novice attempt such movements. Chu Tingwu hadn''t even done any basic training, let alone tackle high-difficulty tasks directly.

    She stood numbly in ce for two seconds, then looked up, ran to the initial cab, and leaped up, trying to grab the drawer handle to climb up.

    In this erged world, the little figure kicked off the ground, raising both arms to grab the drawer handle. But in the next second, her body naturally curled up, easily surpassing the expected height. Instead of grabbing the handle, her feetnded on it, her hands pressed against the drawer, fingers curved and seemingly adhered tightly.

    Chu Tingwu''s eyes widened slightly.

    Now, she estimated she was about three meters off the ground ¡ª even a high jump athlete couldn''t jump three meters high from a standing position ¡ª and she felt she could jump even higher from this rather awkward posture.

    ...In the dream ssroom, her feline jumping and bncing abilities seemed to be fully unlocked.

    Chu Tingwu took a deep breath, no longer looking down. She stood on the drawer handle, released all four limbs, and pushed off hard. This time, she jumped onto the second drawer. Then, somewhat boldly, she ran to the edge of the handle, jumped from the edge, skipping the third drawer entirely andnding on the fourth.

    This cab had a lower drawer and upper cabyout. The bottom only had four drawers, while the upper cab only had one vertical handle. The "task starting point" was at the very top.

    Three-Five-Five had only taken two steps to jump from the ground to the top ¡ª one step kicking off the upper cab handle, and the second step already reaching the top. Chu Tingwu thought for a moment, looked up, and jumped¡ª

    But this time, it seemed she hadn''t chosen the angle well. She hit the cab before reaching her chosennding spot. Instinctively, she reached out to grab the cab door, her paws sliding down twice before Chu Tingwu fellpletely!

    She almost thought she would exit the dream, but in fact, she was caught by a soft, warm body.

    The light trace points in the void suddenly coalesced into a real Three-Five-Five. The adult calico cat easily leaped beneath her, cushioning the scary fall. Chu Tingwu grabbed the big cat''s neck and sat up, then the big cat moved.

    She was buried in the calico''s long smoke-gray fur, watching the perspective change rapidly. On the ground, the calico used a diagonal kick to push off the cab handle, gripping for a moment. At the same time, the fur on its belly cushioned the impact and slightly altered the cat''s mid-air angle. Then the cat leaped again, gracefullynding on top of the cab. It even kicked the cab door with its hind legs, adjusting to an angle more convenient for avoiding human capture.

    [[Switched to experience/guided teaching mode]]

    A massive cat-catching descended from above. Chu Tingwu instinctively ducked her head along with Three-Five-Five. Then, she felt a lightness that almost threw her off bnce¡ª

    Three-Five-Five quickly slipped through a blind spot in the cat, leaping into the air. She jumped over the non-existent tall humans in this dream world,nding on a slightly lower cab opposite. Then she snarled, kicking off the wall to avoid the. The angle changed terrifyingly again, bing a 90-degree downward view!

    The big cat jumped down from the cab top, using the table to cushion hernding before sliding under it. She then repeated her climbing maneuver.

    But Chu Tingwu knew that this series of moves had the humans spinning in circles. If they weren''t so fixated on the iron door, Three-Five-Five wouldn''t be so easy to catch.

    And she was even injured, so this wasn''t her best performance.

    "It''s just a dream, I won''t get hurt anyway," Chu Tingwu thought, rubbing her wrist. She did some warm-up exercises, jumped in ce a few times, then stood on the ground facing the cab. She sprinted and leaped¡ª

    She jumped onto the handle of the second drawer in one go!

    For a kitten... no, for a human with a cat temte, this was quite impressive.

    Next, she jumped to the fourth drawer, pushed off hard, and grabbed the handle of the upper cab with both hands. Using all four limbs, she climbed up and caught her breath.

    Her body seemed to have changed too. When she wanted, the friction between her skin and other objects would increase, allowing her to cling to surfaces more securely, like a mountain goat standing on a 90-degree cliff face.

    The system was going crazy setting off fireworks for Chu Tingwu, even though she had only made a small improvement.

    [Baby, you''re amazing, so brave and smart!]

    Chu Tingwu: "Uh..."

    This time she sessfully climbed to the top of the cab. After gauging the distance to the opposite side, sheunched into another sprint without hesitation.

    Without the big cat beneath her, Chu Tingwu could clearly see herself in mid-air, like those extreme sports performers doing dangerous stunts, leaping across two buildings more than three meters apart.

    She sessfully jumped across, her legs bending slightly. She nearly had to roll to absorb the impact but managed to stop herself by instinct.

    I think I''m starting to get a sense of what a cat''s bnce is like.

    The feeling of being able to control every part of her body was intoxicating. Shey on the edge of the cab, looking down and then across to the other side, feeling a sudden urge to try again¡ª

    The sensation of flying through the air was equally mesmerizing.

    Jumping is humanity''s wings for flight.

    As if breaking through some limitation, Chu Tingwu performed the subsequent movements well. Although not as quick and agile as Three-Five-Five, shepleted a full set of moves, only stumbling a bit when jumping down 90 degrees vertically, but it didn''t hurt.

    After she hadpleted three sets, improving her speed and efficiency from the start, the system happily informed her: "Baby, the difficulty has increased."

    This time, a cat-catching appeared behind Chu Tingwu.

    The swooped down with a whooshing sound. If she had cat ears now, she suspected they''d tten in fear!

    Chu Tingwu, hands on her knees, panted: "Phew..."

    She always failed at the first step; it was too slow.

    Jumping two levels at a time made her an easy target!

    The cat-catching mmed down, flipping over and precisely scooping her into the. Then it was game over, and she appeared on the ground again.

    But the difference between humans and cats is... humans can think.

    The trace ofpleting a set of moves didn''t include climbing from the ground to the cab top; she could choose apletely different route.

    This time, Chu Tingwu decided to reverse the course.

    But a problem quickly arose. When jumping from the lower cab top to the starting point on the higher cab, she failed two out of three times. Once, she could only climb up using all four limbs. Going from low to high was much harder than high to low.

    [Baby, your jumping ability and bnce have both leveled up to Lv1! You''re now a kitten with basic mastery of these two skills!]

    [So, you can now improve all three skills simultaneously, and we can make the course more interesting!]

    Chu Tingwu: "Three skills..."

    Oh right, catnguage!

    Suddenly, cats appeared all around her field of vision. They were lounging on cab tops, lying on tables, flicking their tails in corners, or with their tails entwined.

    Some were stray cats she had seen before, some were from the rescue center, and there were even the two she had just fed tonight.

    Clearly, these were all just data projections collected by the system.

    The cats started meowing and chattering, turning the room into a noisy marketce. Chu Tingwu couldn''t be bothered to engage, focusing instead on how toplete her exercise. However, when she started to jump¡ª

    "What clumsy moves, meow!"

    "Whose stupid kitten is this? So embarrassing, meow!"

    "Mee-mee-mee-mee, nyah nyah nyah!"

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    Even the two cats she had fed joined in.

    The orange tabby raised its paw: "Those paws aren''t nearly as nimble as mine. Is its brain not working properly, meow?"

    The mackerel tabby that had previously praised Chu Tingwu now said sarcastically: "In human terms, would this be what they call a kitten with mental issues?"

    Her ws were out now!!

 Chapter 6

    Chu Tingwu turned off the rm clock.

    She opened her eyes, lying in bed, took two deep breaths, and then said, "The cat you simted is quite clever, it even knows how to argue with me."

    System: "Hehe..."

    Chu Tingwu: I''m notplimenting you!

    The panel in front of her clearly disyed Chu Tingwu''s achievements fromst night¡ª

    [Cat Language: lv3]

    [Bnce Ability: lv3]

    [Jumping Ability: lv2]

    Arguing with a cat is too childish.

    She still chose to argue with the cat.

    Cats aren''t actually talkative creatures. Rather thannguage, they usuallymunicate more with bodynguage¡ª

    When Chu Tingwu''s skill upgraded to lv3, she basically mastered all cat dialoguenguages. Advanced skills mustbine expressions, bodynguage, and scents to express richer content.

    She even learned a local cat dialect for insulting other cats, which was veryyered and could really provoke cats. No cat could resist it... but because of the system''s design, they couldn''t appear on her exercise route, so Chu Tingwu often argued with those virtual cats while hanging in mid-air avoiding captures.

    Actually... it was quite stress-relieving.

    After mastering it, she could "meow" a long sentence without thinking, conveying her thoughts to those cats in the dream course. This was probably the effect of the lv3 skill.

    The bnce ability advanced faster than the jumping ability. She guessed it might be because the environment itself limited practice¡ª

    Although cats are suitable for indoor living, a moreplex and spacious environment can also raise cats that are better at parkour.

    After practicing in the dream ssroom, she could actually perform those movements in reality... but in reality, there were no big cats to support her when she made mistakes.

    Chu Tingwu asked the system, but the system only said gently:

    "You can judge for yourself how to do it, but I suggest you progress step by step."

    It seemed to believe that she could be an excellent little cat, just temporarily unfamiliar with her own power.

    After some thought, Chu Tingwu stood in the courtyard, took off her shoes again, and let her bare feet naturally touch the cool bluestone ground.

    Facing the second floor, she leaped up suddenly, her body rxed and stretched as she rose into the air. Almost the next second, her feet touched the soil on the roof. Shended on her forepaws, very steadily, without wobbling or feeling any pain.

    The second floor was originally an attic, half of which was turned into a garden, and the other half was converted into a small badminton court. A broken shuttlecock was stuffed in the cracks of the garden soil. The flowers had withered, but the wind blew, making Chu Tingwu''s hair flutter.

    She picked up the shuttlecock, then jumped from the roof to the wall, and then back to the ground from the wall.

    It could still be used after washing.

    -

    Today, Chu Tingwu didn''t ride her bicycle but jogged to the Little Sun Rescue House.

    Considering it was her first day, it might be better to have someone familiar show her around, so Hang Ling waited for her at the rescue house.

    "We have rescued thirteen adult cats and twenty-six kittens here. Kittens are much easier to adopt out than adult cats."

    "Do you know why? When kittens are just two weeks old, if they interact more with people and are taught how to live with humans, they be cats with ''cat manners'', more suitable for adoption. But if adult cats have been stray since birth, rather than being abandoned pets, they''re already used to outdoor life and are more aggressive. It''s better for them to be released back to the wild."

    Hang Ling led Chu Tingwu into the rooms where the kittens and adult cats lived. The kittens would meow softly, while the adult cats, if you didn''t approach them, would just huddle in the corners of their cages, observing the neer, very aloof, not saying a word.

    But Chu Tingwu thought this was fine.

    ... Much easier to deal with than in the dream ssroom.

    Without Hang Ling''s introduction, she could now actually discern by sight which of these cats were friendlier, just shy, and which were more fierce, disliking all approaching humans.

    Hang Ling looked at Chu Tingwu, seemingly expecting her to meow a few times and produce some shocking effect, like turning all the unfriendly cats into affectionate and clingy ones.

    However, she was disappointed. Chu Tingwu just looked around and then fixed her gaze on cage 355.

    Among all the adult cats, only 355 suddenly stood up when Chu Tingwu appeared, pushing its head towards the cage door trying to get out.

    "Don''t rush, don''t rush, I''ll unlock it for you," Hang Ling approached 355, waved her hand to signal it to back off, then opened the cage wearing gloves. "Chu, can you put that cor on 355¡ª"

    The calico cat elegantly jumped to the ground, looked up at itsrge kitten, then bared its teeth slightly, making a calm calling sound.

    Chu Tingwu meowed once in response, this call had no content, just expressing affection.

    So when she crouched down, 355 obedientlyy on her shoulder, and Chu Tingwu put the cor on it.

    This cor had a tracking chip, after all, 355 was too smart. If let out of the cage, even though it was just to move around in the living room, it might still escape.

    Hang Ling watched their interaction with some envy¡ªafter all, seeing a cat that dislikes her being affectionate with someone else still made her envious of this special constitution and cat-calling skill¡ªthen she beckoned Chu Tingwu toe out: "Lizi takes care of the kittens, Da Yu takes care of the adult cats. Usually, you don''t need to go in, just take good care of 355, and it''s best if you can help teach her how to use the litter box, how to eat at fixed locations and such... these still need some training, we''ll help too."

    "Then, you need to pour food for the cats in the living room, change the cat litter, and if they knock something over, help clean up, that''s all. Just y with the cats during your time, it''s okay to use your phone too."

    Hang Ling called out to the cats in the living room. Compared to the rescued cats, they had obviously been trained, removing most of the stray cat habits, and then adopted by the staff and kept at the rescue house.

    Hang Ling joked: "You''re now a staff member too, and 355 is the cat you adopted, that''s why she cane out of the cage."

    Chu Tingwu: ... In the system''s view, I''m the one being adopted.

    There were four cats in the living room: an orange cat, a beautiful long-haired calico, a cow-patterned cat missing a front leg, and a short-haired calico that looked quite old and not in good spirits.

    They all stayed high up, looking at Chu Tingwu with judging eyes, while 355 in Chu Tingwu''s arms flicked its tail and arched its back somewhat impatiently.

    Chu Tingwu didn''t say anything.

    The more you understand cat nguage", the more you realize that internalmunication among cats doesn''t really neednguage.

    System:

    "Besides, no matter how much you imitate, you still smell like a kitten. They won''t pay attention to you."

    Chu Tingwu: Shut up.

    She turned to ask Hang Ling: "I brought ingredients to make cat food. Can I make some for 355?"

    Hang Ling hesitated for a moment: "We''ve never used the kitchen here... How about this, I''ll take you across the street to borrow a kitchen, and help you check the cooking."

    The rescue house was actually in a residential area. Being able to keep cats here meant they got along well with the nearby residents. Hang Ling quickly borrowed one¡ªshe was so agreeable, actually because the image of this little sister Chu Tingwu in her eyes was quite intriguing¡ª

    "Chu" said it was her first time raising a cat, yet she could soften a fierce stray mother cat into a house cat just by imitating kitten calls, not at all like a novice. Despite her young age, she had a very calm demeanor, sometimes even making Hang Ling a bit scared. She dressed simply but was actually quite wealthy, and there was no way to refuse adoption using the "underage" reason.

    She always managed to tread right on the boundary between eptance and rejection, making people can''t help but wonder: What else don''t I know about you?

    Wonder how well she can make this cat food?

    Hang Ling: "By the way, Chu, can I take a video of you making cat food?"

    Chu Tingwu nodded, there was nothing to refuse about this.

    The neighbor across from the rescue house was a college student who asionally cooked. His family bought the house for him here. He had adopted a ck cat from them, and sometimes when he overslept, he let the cate over for food on its own. Now he readily lent out his kitchen. While Chu Tingwu was cooking, he squatted at the edge of the kitchen in his slippers, poking his head in to watch.

    "Sister Hang, which is better for cats - homemade cat food ormercial cat food?" the college student asked.

    "There''s not much difference actually," Hang Ling said while filming a video. "Homemade cat food is certainly more refined, with fresh ingredients that cats like. But people buymercial cat food for convenience. These days, even humans eat fast food. Not everyone has time to cook for their cats every day, but we can''t say they don''t love their cats just because they spent money on cat food."

    As she spoke, she couldn''t help but sniff the air.

    It smelled delicious.

    There seemed to be a lot of meat... Was that just how good cooked meat smelled?

    Hang Ling and the college student both stared at Chu Tingwu''s pot, watching as she calmly tore the meat into strips, added a small amount of seasoning, and continued to simmer it. She then chopped the vegetables on the side, steadily bringing the knife down on the cutting board amidst the rising white steam. With each chop on the board, the aroma from the pot seemed to be more enticing.

    The college student quietly took a step back and wiped the corner of his mouth.

    Hang Ling switched the hand holding her phone and couldn''t help but lean closer to the pot.

    "When will this be ready?"

    Chu Tingwu lifted the lid and sniffed: "It can be served now to cool down."

    Cats'' tongues are sensitive to heat.

    The college student raised his hand: "Um... cats are sensitive to heat, but I''m not really. How about I taste test it for the cats?"

    He had seen all the ingredients go into the pot with his own eyes. What was wrong with cat food? It looked healthier than what he usually ate! The smell was so tempting, he was really curious about the taste!

    As it was her home, Chu Tingwu, under Hang Ling''s watchful eye, scooped a spoonful for him - about half a bowl - and gave Hang Ling half a spoonful. She then stirred the cat food with a spoon, making sure the temperature was just right: "I''ll go feed 355."

    When she looked up, both of them had already finished what was in their bowls.

    Chu Tingwu: ==

    Hang Ling: "The vor is quite mild... but it''s really tasty. It''s chopped quite finely so it''s easy to eat quickly."

    The college student was straightforward: "I think the cats eat better than I do. Can I save a bit for my Jing Jing?"

    His ck cat, Jing Jing, was pacing back and forth outside the transparent kitchen door, trying to squeeze its head through the narrow gap, its paws making a scratching sound against the ss.

    Chu Tingwu: "...Use a small bowl, otherwise 355 won''t have enough to eat."

    After dividing the food, she carried the bowl back to the rescue room, with Hang Ling following behind, filming with her phone. She watched as Chu Tingwu entered and immediately held the bowl high¡ª

    Just as Hang Ling was wondering why, she saw that the four cats in the living room - the tabby, the long-haired calico, the tuxedo, and the short-haired calico - all changed from their previous indifferent attitudes. They jumped down from the sofa, chairs, table, and cat food cab, gathering around Chu Tingwu''s feet with meows. The tuxedo even stood up on its hind legs to paw at her pants,pletely shameless.

    355, arriving a stepter with water still on its chin, growled impatiently and swatted the tuxedo down with one paw.

    Hang Ling, who had been filming andughing, now called out to the tuxedo''s owner: "Lizi,e quickly and break up the fight¡ª"

    355 was quite fierce, and the tuxedo was very lively. She worried they might get too rough.

    Just then, a yellow and white blur shed before her eyes, causing her to let out a short "Ah!"

    While the two humans were distracted by the quarreling cats, the lone orange tabby had somehow climbed onto the table and was now leaping towards the outstretched cat bowl. If itnded sessfully, the bowl would certainly be knocked over, spilling cat food all over the floor.

    ...And they''d have to wash the cat too.

    This half-second actually passed very quickly. Hang Ling could already imagine hearing the "bang" of the cat food spilling, but it didn''t happen¡ª

    It was as if Chu Tingwu had taken half a step back before the orange tabby could pounce. Her left arm raised with extreme precision, effortlessly catching the overweight tabby by the neck, then supporting its hind legs and tucking it under her arm.

    The formerly aggressive cat now only let out pleading "meow meow" sounds.

    Next, Hang Ling saw her gently use her leg to separate the fighting cats. Just as Lizi came out, she grabbed the tuxedo by the scruff of its neck, lifted it up and gave it a little shake before putting it back down. The tuxedo stood dazed for a second, then ran back to the sofa with its tail tucked in.

    Finally, facing the two calicos trying to approach, Chu Tingwu gently bared her teeth and made a purr-like short sound from her throat.

    All four catsy down, licking their lips. She put the bowl down, allowing 355 to eat.

    When Lizi, the tuxedo''s owner, came out, she only saw the tortoiseshell cat numbered 355 eating contentedly, while the other four cats... were gathered around the new little sister, licking her fingers.

    Lizi: "Weren''t they fighting? What are you filming?"

    "Shh," Hang Ling continued to squat, "I''m filming material that could go viral!"

 Chapter 7

    The four cats originally in the living room were conquered by the smell of the cat food, even though they only sniffed it.

    The cow-patterned cat, who hadn''t gotten to eat any, licked Chu Tingwu after she finished eating, then couldn''t resist licking Three-Five-Five''s mouth, only to be swatted away by an irritated Three-Five-Five, yowling.

    However, everyone could see that the cow cat was all bark and no bite, and hadn''t actually been seriously injured.

    And Chu Tingwu could tell:

    The ck and white cow-patterned cat, though missing a front leg, was actually the most lively and mischievous.

    Big Orange, the heaviest, was quite gluttonous but alsoid-back, still curled up next to Chu Tingwu''s hand, its small eyes darting between the cow cat and Three-Five-Five, then to the bowl Three-Five-Five had licked clean.

    The long-haired calico cat was rather aloof, but also loved to act coy. Since Chu Tingwu had both a human physique and the scent of a kitten, and had been marked by Three-Five-Five, the long-haired calico retreated after finding there was nothing to eat, crouching high up and slowly grooming itself.

    The short-haired calico cat was the oldest, considered elderly even among adult cats. It would asionally meow to break up fights, but didn''t seem to put much effort into it, exuding a casual, spectator-like air.

    After Three-Five-Five and the cow cat finished fighting¡ªor more urately, after the cow cat finished being beaten one-sidedly¡ªthe five adult cats seemed to have established their pecking order. They approached each other to sniff and smell, then returned to their own little spaces. Only the cow cat came close to Chu Tingwu, seemingly wanting to groom this kitten, but was then scolded by Three-Five-Five.

    ¡ªThree-Five-Five, who saw Chu Tingwu as a child, could ept human contact, but apparently couldn''t ept other adult cats approaching.

    ¡ªIn Three-Five-Five''s eyes, although Chu Tingwu could bring food, she still seemed very fragile and in need of protection.

    Even to the point where...

    Three-Five-Fivey on the sofa, exposing her belly, and continued to urge with a calling voice.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    Nursing was out of the question, so she could only bury her head to nuzzle the cat.

    With her whole head buried in the tortoiseshell''s long fur, she was also thinking about the "cat battle, children''s version" she had just witnessed. If all went as expected, she would learn about this in tonight''s dream course.

    After Chu Tingwu finished nuzzling the cat, Hang Ling sat down next to her and showed her the video she had just finished editing:

    "Little Chu, you said we could share the cat food tutorial for free. I thought about it, and since you''re just here as a volunteer, there''s no need to post this video on our ount. Do you want to open your own ount?"

    Hang Ling had even thoughtfully edited the video for her andbeled the ingredients, just without adding voiceover.

    Chu Tingwu received it on her phone and said, "Then should I register an ount first?"

    The website where Little Sun Pet Hospital posted rescue videos was a global video tform called Fenghua Video. It was currently the video site with the highest number of registered users, with sections for both long and short videos, as well as arge live streaming tform, attracting massive traffic.

    Chu Tingwu asked the system, "Can you help add some voiceover?"

    With such a handy system here, why bother doing it herself?

    The system readily agreed: "I''ll search for simr videos for reference."

    After 0.01 seconds, the system looked at those "Kitty Growth Diary," "My Milk Bean Over the Years," "Cat Trainer Liu," "Little Amie and Her Cats" and other videos in the datayer, and had a sudden realization:

    [Baby, I''m going to register an ount right now to record your growth journey!]

    "I asked you to help me register an ount to post cat food tutorials. What exactly did you reference..."

    [QAQ]

    The system felt it had done nothing wrong.

    On this, all beloved cats would have their video images recorded, whether they were rescued strays, adopted kittens, or lions, tigers and ck-footed cats. So for its baby, an extremely rare human-cat, the only one in the whole world, how could they not have an all-round, no-blind-spot growth documentary!

    After some debate between the system and Chu Tingwu, the final registered ID for this ount was "Chu and Three-Five-Five," rather than "Nanny-type Cub Raising System A7 and Chu Chu," but the system managed to secure the right to narrate the videos as "System"!

    It also took the opportunity to decide that it would be the one filming videos for Chu Tingwu from now on.

    System: "Of course I should be the one filming videos to record your growth, not that human!"

    Chu Tingwu: Hang Ling filming videos isn''t to record me... nevermind, do as you please.

    She let the system handle uploading the cat food tutorial video, after all, the real cat food recipe came from the system, she was just responsible for making it, adding ingredients and stirring ording to its prompts.

    Hang Ling: "Have you registered? After I post the video, I''ll share your link in thements¡ª"

    She had filmed "Three-Five-Five''s Rescue Follow-up," because the group members were also very concerned about Three-Five-Five. A cat destined to be released suddenly having a home made everyone worry whether she could get along well with her "family" and be a well-behaved big cat.

    The rescue follow-up only included about ten seconds of cat food video clips, and then Chu Tingwu''s link would be pinned in thements, which was just about right.

    Since Chu Tingwu had always seemed very reliable, Hang Ling didn''t bother to watch her tutorial¡ªit was just adding subtitles, which could be done with AI smart import nowadays, so it couldn''t possibly go wrong¡ªand she posted it directly.

    She tagged the group, and the savvy group members promptly clicked on the link.

    [Three-Five-Five''s wounds are healing nicely, she seems to have no trouble jumping, that''s great.]

    [It feels like Three-Five-Five really sees the little sister as a kitten. The way she hisses at other cats is just like my cat right after giving birth, protecting her kittens...]

    [That cat food must be so delicious, Three-Five-Five only went to hiss at the others after finishing eating. And those cats too, it''s too funny, they keep licking the little sister''s fingers hahaha]

    [How did she catch that at the end! The little sister''s reaction speed is too amazing, right? Could it be that the cat deliberately jumped into her hands?]

    [Hahaha, I just noticed your title, little Hang. Shocking! The new volunteer little sister at Little Sun Hospital turns out to be a master at catching cats barehanded... Why only let her feed cats then? Shouldn''t you send the little sister to catch cats in the field? She''d be a powerful support!]

    Hang Ling:

    [Hahaha, the little sister is mainly responsible for taking care of the few cats in the living room, let her practice more.

    Those curious about the cat food can go check out the tutorial, it''s made by Little Chu herself. The ingredients are very simple, but all the cats love it. I''ve posted the video link in thements, and the ount is also newly registered by Little Chu. Our ount mainly focuses on rescues after all, so we won''t post too many follow-ups on adopted cats.

    I''ve discussed it with Little Chu, if there are more videos rted to Three-Five-Five, she''ll film and post them on her own ount, so you can follow her~]

    This paragraph was also in her video description. After driving traffic to Chu Tingwu''s ount, she clicked on Chu Tingwu''s video, deciding to contribute a view herself, and then her mouth gradually fell open¡ª

    The video was still the one she shot with her phone. She remembered the rity was average, but somehow Chu Tingwu had used some software to adjust the rity to 4K, and even reduced the shake rate, greatly enhancing the video''s watchability, making it look like some kind of cooking documentary.

    And amid the unhurried, gentle background music came the voice of a video narrator.

    The narration seemed to be synthesized, but it wasn''t any of the popr voice effects on the market. It had a kind of steady, mechanical quality that was very ear-catching.

    [I am your cub-raising system. As you can see, our cub Chu is making food for the cat mom who adopted her...]

    Wait? Who adopted whom?!

    And who are you saying you are?

    Hang Ling watched on with a wooden expression, listening to the narration.

    [...Very good, look at those paws, the force is very precise, crushing the ingredients just right¡ª]

    Hang Ling: "Pfft."

    [Baby is really too amazing!]

    Hang Ling looked up at Chu Tingwu, who was adding food for the other cats. The girl''s movements were steady, her expression reliable. Then listening to the "system" in the video mechanically calling "baby" again and again, how could it not be funny?

    Before Hang Ling even noticed, she had finished watching the three-minute-plus video. She had edited the video herself, so of course she knew the quality wasn''t too good. But after adjusting the image effects and adding voiceover, it became particrly eye-catching.

    She analyzed it and concluded that the reasons she unconsciously watched the whole thing were probably the immersive BGM and exquisite visuals on one hand, and the "system" narration that both drew you in and pulled you out of the story on the other¡ª

    It was supposed to be a video of cooking for cats, but the narration turned it into an effect of "my cat got up and cooked me three dishes and a soup". This was probably because the system used a very convincing AI voice to create the feeling of truly treating Chu Tingwu, such a big... person, as if he were a cat.

    It made sense; a system raising humans isn''t that different from humans raising kittens, right? After all, it''s just one species raising another species.

    Of course... Hang Ling didn''t think Chu Tingwu really had any system; it was just for show.

    She called out to Chu Tingwu: "Xiao Chu, did you do that voiceover for your video yourself? It''s quite interesting."

    Chu Tingwu: "Huh?... I asked my friend to help with it."

    Other staff members were also called over to watch. After watching, everyone burst intoughter, except for Chu Tingwu, who looked unamused.

    He repeated: "My friend helped with the editing and voiceover."

    ...As if trying to distance himself from something.

    Hang Ling shook her head with a smile and couldn''t help but ask: "Your friend is quite skilled. Does he takemissions? You know, for adjusting video post-production effects..."

    It would probably be expensive, but it doesn''t hurt to ask.

    Chu Tingwu: "It says it''s not takingmissions at the moment... It didn''t charge me for helping either."

    A big shot who only takes friendship jobs, huh? Guess even money can''t sway them.

    Hang Ling wanted to reach out and pet Three-Five-Five, but the cat jumped away and settled on Chu Tingwu''s knee to continue grooming. She sighed, and just then, she noticed someone was mentioning her in the group chat.

    "Ah!" Hang Ling stood up, "That ''One Dot ck'' we couldn''t catch on the rainy day has appeared again. Its butt seems to have been bitten. Should we go now?"

    Chu Tingwu also grabbed his phone¡ªhe had just been added to the group, but the messages quickly scrolled up, so no one noticed¡ªignoring the notification about the ount being followed, Chu Tingwu saw the video posted in the group by a fellow member.

    "One Dot ck" was a cat from the southern Rongyu Residential Area. It was entirely white except for a ck circle on its nose, which looked a bit ugly at first nce. Now it was lying on the second-floor tform at the entrance of the residentialplex, its injured bottom exposed to the camera, with its head buried in a pile of junk. Only its faint breathing could be seen.

    Lizi, who was responsible for taking care of the kittens, came over: "It probably went upstairs to shelter from the rain, or ran into the building after getting injured, then got scared and jumped onto the tform. But now it''s injured and can''t jump back. Who knows how many days it''s been hungry."

    The two of them asked Da Yu to stay behind while they took the cat-catching pole. The cat carrier was already in the car, with all the necessary equipment ready. But just as they were about to leave, Chu Tingwu said, "Can Ie along?"

    "Hm?"

    "Three-Five-Five wants to go to Rongyu Residential Area," he said. "All her kittens are buried there, so she''s always trying to escape... If we don''t resolve this, she''ll keep trying to run away."

    After all, in a mother''s eyes, she doesn''t just have Chu Tingwu as her only kitten.

    Hang Ling almost blurted out "How do you know?", but after a moment''s thought, she went to get a leash instead.

    In the car, she said to Chu Tingwu:

    "I''m actually not sure if I should let you take Three-Five-Five out. She might take the chance to escape and be a stray cat again. But I feel like you understand her... In any case, don''t untie the leash carelessly."

    Chu Tingwu: "Okay."

 Chapter 8

    As Hang Ling and her twopanions, along with a cat, were leaving, the video''s view count was slowly increasing online.

    The Little Sun Hospital ount already had a stable fan base, and cat rescue videos had their own dedicated audience. After the website''s algorithm performed its intelligent calctions, it quickly pushed the video to the homepages of users who loved cat videos.

    It must be said that Hang Ling had chosen an eye-catching title, and many viewers clicked just to see how this "cat-catching master" managed to catch cats barehanded... Moreover, being both new (hinting at being a novice) and underage, it certainly created quite a buzz.

    One viewer clicked on the video because of this sensational title¡ª

    But he wasn''t an ordinary viewer. He was also a content creator with over 600,000 followers, with the ID "Qiao Hu Observes the World". His fans respectfully called him Big Eyes Qiao, because whenever he saw outrageous videos, his eyes would widen dramatically.

    Big Eyes Qiao''s ount specialized in watching videos with exaggerated titles, and he often clicked on promotional videos. His traffic came from live-streaming his reactions to these outrageous videos and roasting them. He became famous for his sharp tongue and meme-worthyments.

    Modern viewers are interesting. They can clearly distinguish between promotional ounts and normal video titles, and they know that those exaggerated titles are just to attract normal people to click, either to leavements or to argue. But they still get drawn in by the videos... This is probably just human curiosity at work.

    So Big Eyes Qiao umted this kind of influence. People gathered in his live stream to roast videos. At first, he only focused on promotional ounts, but the results were too unstable, as the live stream''s effect depended entirely on the quality of the promotional videos. Soter, he also started live-streaming his reactions to videos with exaggerated titles but made by ordinary content creators¡ªhe euphemistically called it "fact-checking."

    Sometimes it was just exaggeration, but sometimes he could actually catch something, like videos about whitening, face-slimming, fitness progress reports... There were often fakes made to sell promotions. Whenever he saw these, Big Eyes Qiao''s little eyeballs would light up, knowing a wave of traffic wasing.

    But today''s live stream hadn''t been very effective. Fans came and went, with few giving gifts. Qiao Hu scrolled through his rmendations, feeling a bit anxious. It was at this moment that he saw the new video from Little Sun Hospital.

    A few tens of thousands of followers... a cat rescue ount... not bad...

    Qiao Hu: "The new volunteer is a cat-catching master? And she''s a young girl? That''s quite interesting, folks. Let''s see how amazing this little girl is?"

    "Speaking of which, I once rescued a cat stuck in a tree. After struggling to climb up, the cat just gave me a side-eye and jumped down by itself. It was just sunbathing up there and didn''t need my help at all!" Qiao Hu smiled wryly. "I have a friend who wanted to adopt a stray cat, but stray cats don''t pay him any attention. Every time he feeds them in the neighborhood, they run away and won''te near... So, whenever I see these fellow rescuers going all out to catch cats, sometimes waiting for an entire day, I find it quite admirable."

    "Cats" is a very popr topic. Whether people are virtual cat owners or have their own cats at home, humans love to share, and the bulletments became lively, with everyone talking about their own cats'' situations.

    At this moment, Qiao Hu was dragging the video progress bar¡ªhe was live-streaming his reactions to other people''s videos, and the randomly selected videos varied in length. Qiao Hu always dragged to the climax first, and only if he found it truly interesting would he go back and watch (and roast) the entire video as per the audience''s request.

    As he finished speaking, he dragged the three-minute-plus video to around two minutes and forty seconds, which happened to be the scene where Chu Tingwu entered with cat food, and all the cats gathered around.

    Qiao Hu deliberately sighed: "So it''s not catching cats in the wild, but indoors."

    "And... these cats have already been tamed by the creator, right?"

    He felt that this video probably wasn''t very interesting. What''s so hard about catching house cats? Just call them a couple of times and they''lle over for a cuddle... right?

    "Whoa!"

    In the frame, a solidly built orange cat suddenly leaped out, like an oversized orange mouse, leaving only a blur in the frame. In the next frame, the video''s protagonist, whose face wasn''t shown, stepped back and raised her hand, gripping the orange cat by the neck.

    But at this point, she was actually supporting it from underneath. In the next second, she smoothly supported the cat''s hind legs with one hand, then tucked it under her arm.

    [Did anyone see that clearly?]

    [Wait, with one hand? How is that possible? My 12-pound chonker would probably break bones at this point... I mean, my bones would break!]

    [Is the cat okay? Can you hold it like that? Won''t its jaw dislocate?]

    Does that cat even have a jaw?

    Qiao Hu paused the video deliberately to let everyone vent their desire toment, then nced at the bulletments before ying the video again.

    Sure enough, the Little Sun Hospital ount''s operator had provided a slow-motion rey of this scene¡ª

    So they could now see clearly that Chu Tingwu''s "neck grip-leg support" move was actually broken down. She absorbed the impact when she gripped the orange cat''s neck, then lifted the big cat up slightly. Her wrist naturally slid down, stabilizing the center of gravity while limiting the orange cat''s strength. Viewers could see the cat''s flesh jiggling with that "lift," and the cat was cursing with full vigor, clearly not having any issues.

    What was even more shocking was that Chu Tingwu''s other hand was still holding the bowl, and the arm that appeared in the video was extremely steady from start to finish, without the slightest shake.

    Qiao Hu eximed: "Folks, this set of moves must have been practiced, right? The little sister''s hands are too steady. Is that even a cat in the frame? It''s a 0.02-ton truck. This really is an expert¡ª"

    And then, Chu Tingwu''s series of movements¡ªseparating cats, mediating fights, grabbing necks, baring teeth (she bared her teeth at the cats)¡ªwere all smooth and fluid. You could see that the originally chaotic group of cats was immediately tamed, and they even came over to lick her one by one, making the audience and Qiao Huugh.

    Mainly because Chu Tingwu''s movements and voice were so natural, giving the feeling of a big cat entering a group of cats, with the other cats retreating and bowing their heads. It''s quite rare to see this kind of quality in a human.

    And although the cats obeyed, they were also very close to her... Of course, the audience didn''t know that this was because she still had the scent of a kitten. So from Chu Tingwu''s perspective, they felt that she was not only a cat-catching master but also a "cat-taming master."

    Cat owners were thoroughly impressed.

    Qiao Huughed: "Folks, let''s start from the beginning and see what''s really going on with this little sister, shall we?"

    ["Hello everyone, I''m Little Hang. Today is the second day since Three-Five-Five was adopted, but as everyone knows, Three-Five-Five''s injuries haven''t healed yet, so the adopter hasn''t taken Three-Five-Five home. But our adopter has decided toe every day to see Three-Five-Five and help take care of these familiar cats. Thus begins our kind adopter''s summer volunteer journey..."]

    Hang Ling introduced Three-Five-Five''s situation in a few sentences, showed its recovery progress, added a few dozen seconds of Chu Tingwu making cat food, emphasizing how delicious the cat food smelled, and then it got to the content that Qiao Hu and the others had seen. The three-minute video was short but had aplete structure with introduction, development, turning point, and climax.

    Qiao Hu widened his eyes: "Is it really¡ªthat delicious?"

    [Is that the point, Old Qiao? Speaking of which, can stray cats really be this friendly? Just for a meal?]

    [Big Eyes! Go check out the cat food video link in thements section, quick!]

    [My intuition tells me you''ve struck gold, Big Eyes. That cat food video... anyway, you''ll regret not watching it!]

    [The previous video about Three-Five-Five''s adoption is also worth a look, I mean, worth watching. I just finished it, it''s quite interesting. Old Qiao, check if it''s real!]

    Qiao Hu: "?"

    Following the audience''s suggestion, he first opened the only video on the "Ah Chu and Three Five Five" ount. After ying for just half a minute, he was greatly shocked:

    This level of technical skill? This voiceover? This character design?

    "I don''t believe there''s nopany behind this," he said. "Folks, it''s getting interesting¡ªlook at Little Sun''s video, then look at Ah Chu''s video. Don''t you feel the styles arepletely different? Is this the kind of editing that can be done in just a day or two? Is this something that can be filmed without a tripod? This must be a premeditated new ount to drive traffic."

    "It''s not genuine."

    "If you want to promote a new ount and make money through product endorsements, that''s normal, but why use cats as a gimmick?" Qiao Hu reopened the video of Chu Tingwu grabbing a cat. "And what kind of cat food could make a cat love it so much? I''m afraid the cat was probably starved for half a day to create such an effect."

    He didn''t immediately say things like "fraud," "animal abuse," or "minorplicit in staging," but the implications were strong, which was really...

    "The new ount Ah Chu''s video effects are too good. As someone who has edited videos, I know that this level of technical skillbined with this speed is not achievable by ordinary people... Ah, this is a huge loophole."

    As for spending tens of thousands or even over a hundred thousand to urgently find a big-name expert in the industry... what for? So this possibility only crossed Qiao Hu''s mind for a moment before disappearing.

    He excitedly said, "No rush, wait for me to produce a rigorous debunking video for you all."

    He ended his livestream.

    Meanwhile, Hang Ling and Lizi had just gotten off the car with a bag, and Chu Tingwu was standing beside the car holding Three-Five-Five, not approaching for the moment.

    The white cat nicknamed "One Dot ck" was about five meters above them diagonally in front, in the corner of a second-floor tform, with only its rear end visible. The family who had asked for help in the group chat had moved a mattress underneath to prevent the cat from jumping down in excitement.

    Hang Ling asked the people seeking help to stand on the first floor holding the four corners of arge to cushion the impact if the cat jumped down. Then the two of them went up to the second floor, deciding to use a cat fishing rod to lure the cat in through the window.

    The cat fishing rod had a loop at the end. The mechanism was to get the cat''s head and front legs through the loop, then tighten the rope to secure the body, and finally stuff it into a sack. But cats aren''t humans¡ªmany cats at heights don''t realize this is something people use to rescue them, and often won''t enter it for hours.

    As a neer, Chu Tingwu was also assigned a task: to stand at a distance and watch One Dot ck''s movements from another angle, in case it suddenly got excited and jumped down.

    But One Dot ck showed absolutely no movement.

    Hang Ling sighed, "Maybe it''s too hungry to move..."

    They poked at One Dot ck with the rod, but it justy under the garbage without any response.

    Lizi suggested, "Why don''t we lower a cage with some canned food inside to feed it first?"

    Lowering a cage at this angle was quite difficult because the tform wasn''t directly under the window. There was an empty space below the window, and the tform where One Dot cky was two meters away. So the cage would need to be lowered from a higher floor, and retrieving it might require someone to climb onto the tform.

    Three-Five-Five''s nose twitched, and she suddenly meowed.

    Chu Tingwu, who had been looking up at the tform, nced at her, picked her up, and softly meowed back a couple of times.

    Finally, Chu Tingwu waved to Hang Ling, and both human and cat went up to the second floor.

    Under Hang Ling''s questioning gaze, Chu Tingwu said, "It''s weak and timid. Its neck is stuck in a foam board, and it doesn''t have the strength to crawl out now."

    Hang Ling looked carefully and indeed could vaguely see where One Dot ck''s neck met the gap in the foam board. It had likely crawled into some square foam board and then been trapped by something pressing down from above.

    "Then we can only hire a high-altitude operation vehicle. We''ll have to climb up there ourselves to help it out."

    The good news was that the cat wouldn''t jump down now. The bad news was that the budget would exceed expectations again.

    Chu Tingwu said, "How about letting me try?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Hang Ling, that expression... I''m not going to jump up there, I''m not stupid."

    Three-Five-Five called out in her smoky voice, as if she thought these humans were talking too much. Then, she leaped onto the windowsill, arched her back, and¡ªto Hang Ling''s shock¡ªjumped forward.

    Three-Five-Five easilynded on the tform two meters away where One Dot ck was trapped.

 Chapter 9

    Three-Five-Five approached Spot of ck with elegant cat-like steps, then jumped onto the cardboard above it, using its sharp teeth to grip the cardboard and pull it back.

    Hang Ling and the others could clearly see Spot of ck shudder, and then everyone realized that its head was indeed stuck in a very narrow opening of a foam box, which was pinned down by long nails and pressed with cardboard, stic bottles, and even broken bowls.

    Lizi ran downstairs, asking the family seeking help to hold up the safety just in case, while upstairs, Chu Tingwu took the fishing rod from Hang Ling''s hand: "I''ll operate it."

    Three-Five-Five continued to clear the garbage from above, and Spot of ck was finally able to shake its head, but stilly t, wearing the foam board and making weak meows.

    Hang Ling: "Do you know how to use it? Should I do it instead?"

    Chu Tingwu: "It''s fine."

    After saying that, she made a cat sound.

    The Spot of ck in the middle of the frame tilted its head, looking towards Chu Tingwu, while Three-Five-Five behind it suddenly raised its paw and patted its bottom, startling the timid cat.

    The white cat with only a ck nose tip had be dirty, and now stood up shakily. Under Chu Tingwu''s verbal encouragement and Three-Five-Five''s physical urging, it raised its head, as if ready to actively stick its head into the mouth of the fishing rod.

    However, Hang Ling shook her head: "No good, the foam board is stuck in such a precise position, it''s bigger than the rope loop of the fishing rod. Only its neck can fit in, which could cause problems when lifting¡ª"

    Moreover, this was an injured adult cat, and it would be too dangerous to just hook its neck.

    But... since it hade to this, they could make do.

    Hang Ling didn''t expect the cat to be more cooperative, and was about to speak when she noticed Chu Tingwu making a few more cat calls. Then, surprisingly, Three-Five-Five also opened its mouth, followed by Spot of ck whimpering as it turned halfway, backing up to fit its rear half into the rope loop.

    Chu Tingwu swiftly tightened the loop, then pulled the fishing rod back through the window. Hang Ling also immediately forgot what she was going to say and opened the bag. Spot of ck struggled weakly for a moment before entering the bag, then was poured into the pet carrier.

    Right after, Hang Ling heard a click¡ª

    It was Three-Five-Five jumping back, and Chu Tingwu had reattached the leash to its cor.

    Hang Lingughed and scolded: "I didn''t see when you unfastened it, but the camera I brought caught everything."

    Didn''t they agree not to unfasten the leash when they came out?

    But seeing as the oue was good, she wouldn''t me the young girl for now.

    They carried the pet carrier downstairs, where the family seeking help and other onlooking residents of themunity burst into excited cheers. Hang Ling arranged with the help-seeker: "We''ll take it to the hospital for a check-up, it''s probably injured. You cane pick it up after it''s healed."

    The help-seeker had already said in the group chat that they wanted to adopt Spot of ck.

    However, Chu Tingwu didn''t get in the car with them, because as agreed, she was to take Three-Five-Five to see the buried kittens, but Spot of ck also needed immediate examination.

    Hang Ling: "Do you know where it is? Should I have Lizi take you?"

    Seeing the performance of the girl and the cat in rescuing cats, Hang Ling truly suspected that Chu Tingwu couldmunicate smoothly with cats. She wasn''t too worried about Three-Five-Five running away or getting lost, but still asked.

    Chu Tingwu smiled: "She told me."

    Watching the person walking away with the cat, Hang Ling: "...Could she really be a catnguage genius?"

    This "smoothmunication" seemed a bit too smooth, didn''t it?

    -

    The few kittens that had died earlier were handed over to the property management by the staff of Little Sun Hospital. After processing, the property management chose to bury them under the shadedwn.

    As Three-Five-Five got closer, the leash became tighter, andter, Chu Tingwu directly jogged to keep up with her... but she gradually stopped running. She crouched on a rock beside thewn, pacing back and forth, making hoarse cat cries that sounded like a young child crying.

    Chu Tingwu helped her clean her paws that had juste into contact with garbage. Three-Five-Five cried while licking Chu Tingwu''s hand, then continued crying, coughing as she cried, until she gradually lost her voice.

    She pressed her fluffy head against the warm body of thest "child," leaning in Chu Tingwu''s strong arms, seeming to understand something, and finally choosing to ept something.

    Cats can understand what "death" is, and she also knew how many kittens she had.

    But now, they had formed a new family.

    Chu Tingwu wrapped one arm around Three-Five-Five''s abdomen and used the other hand to scratch her chin: "Well done."

    She said.

    As if praising the recent cat rescue action.

    Then she softly "meowed," using the voice of a kitten to say: "...Mom."

    Three-Five-Five raised her head and nuzzled Chu Tingwu''s forehead.

    Then, she jumped off the rock and walked beside this human again.

    Chu Tingwu: "System, help me navigate back to the rescue house."

    She had agreed with Hang Ling to bring Three-Five-Five back herself, and with the system, she didn''t need any navigation software.

    The system directly projected a route map that only Chu Tingwu could see in front of her at an angle. The image was very high-tech, and then a prompt popped up at the top of the route map¡ª

    "Baby, you''re letting me handle all the content rted to your video ount, right?"

    Chu Tingwu: "We agreed on that at the time... What''s wrong? Is there a problem with the ount?"

    The system suspiciously fell silent for a second.

    [ording to the rules, if the host cannot grow normally due to external factors, the system can provide material assistance to improve the host''s daily life¡ªfor example, if you don''t have money for food, I can earn money for you.]

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    Three-Five-Five: "Meow?"

    [But, um, you actually have money, and I see they all use drones to shoot videos...]

    No, no one uses drones to film cats or cooking.

    Chu Tingwu: "Then I¡ª"

    [No, I can''t use your money to buy drones!]

    [Um, now there are people in the ount backend asking if I want to ept sponsored posts...]

    "Go ahead, as long as you don''t use high-tech for illegal activities."

    And in fact, Chu Tingwu thought, she couldn''t control it even if the system did. It seems the video ount has gained quite a bit of poprity, even able to ept sponsored posts? Is the system going to sell products with its AI metallic voice?

    After getting permission from Chu Tingwu, the system''s prompt tone seemed to be more lively, even though it was "earning money" for Chu Tingwu, but it didn''t seem to realize this point at all.

    -

    Qiao Hu ended his livestream, but the impact during the broadcast didn''t disappear.

    It was because the "target" he chose was very easy to generate buzz. On one side was Qiao Big Eyes, who had never made a mistake in exposing frauds, and on the other side was an ount that had been doing voluntary cat rescue. Thetter was clearly on the "good" side, and uncovering the evil hidden behind goodness could greatly satisfy people''s voyeuristic desires.

    So, while Chu Tingwu and Three-Five-Five were still out, the "Cat Catching Master" and "Cat Food Tutorial" videos were rmended on the homepage one after another. But the first video to hit the homepage rmendations was actually a clip from Qiao Hu''s livestream, which was a fan-made video that only edited part of the livestream footage.

    In just a few hours, Little Sun Hospital gained over 10,000 followers, while Chu Tingwu''s ount surpassed 30,000 followers, even though her ount only had one cat food tutorial video.

    But corresponding to the number of followers was the "chaotic"ment section under the tutorial.

    Or rather... it was chaotic for the first few minutes, with many indignant cat lovers convinced that they were staging for attention and had already started cursing.

    But the cursers didn''t expect that there was an unscientific existence in this world called the system.

    The system thought for 0.01 seconds, the system referred to the actions of other content creators, and then, the system began to massively report and delete allments containing abusive and provocative words.

    As a result, thements that could remain were like this¡ª

    [What kind of little cookie are you, meow meow meow meow meow, but the cat food looks pretty good.]

    [Waiting for old Qiao to p your little cat face! Why do I have topliment the cat food to avoid having myment deleted, the cat food smells good.]

    [I''m really annoyed by those human content creators who use cats for traffic, cats are not your money-making tools, but cat content creators can be forgiven (you''d better really be one)]

    [Are you never away from the backend for even a second, always deletingments, don''t you need to rest or eat or drink some water? You''re really a diligent little cat (I give up)]

    [A passerby asks what''s going on in thisment section... and is no one really going to try making the cat food? It doesn''t look difficult to make, the uploader''s steps are quite clear, I''m kind of tempted to make some for my cat.]

    [By the way, who exactly is the uploader of this ount, is it the "system" or the person in the video... surely it can''t be the cat, right?]

    Perhaps because the system deletedments too quickly, the remainingments and bullet screen messages seem particrly yful, causing neers to be more confused and curious rather than deterred.

    The system didn''t pin anyments, but through likes, more neutral and informativements gradually rose to the top¡ª

    [As someone who''s been following this whole situation, I''ve been following both Qiao Hu and Little Sun for a long time, and I''m also a local from Fallen Phoenix City.

    Here''s what happened: Little Sun has been posting videos about an injured tortoiseshell cat named "Three-Five-Five" these past two days. Three-Five-Five isn''t friendly to humans, and the original n was to release her, but she waster adopted by this ount''s uploader "Chu". Chu also volunteered at Little Sun''s rescue shelter, contributing to the famous scenes of "cat-calling to lure cats" and "catching an orange cat barehanded", both of which are documented in videos. Afterwards, the adopter Chu opened this ount, narrating this cat food tutorial from a system perspective.

    However, ording to the timeline, the cat food tutorial and the other two videos were all filmed today, leaving no time for suchplex and refined post-production.

    So Qiao Hu became suspicious of the ount management, believing that a professionalpany is running the ount, which also cast doubt on the authenticity of the other two videos... Currently, the video has indeed gone viral, but as for what''s really going on, we''ll have to keep following for updates.]

    Below thisment, many people suggested that thementer go to Little Sun''s rescue shelter to see for themselves, but there was no reply from the originalmenter.

    Meanwhile, the system was also handling some backend private messages, directly deleting and blocking extreme content, with only one message it was still replying to¡ª

    This was a message from the official Fenghua Video Network, inquiring whether the team responsible for the video''s post-production would eptmissions.

    Thework officials had decided to produce and film a documentary series on "Different Pet Ecologies in Urban Settings", filming and broadcasting simultaneously. They originally had a team lined up, but after one coboration, that team raised their prices, and negotiations were currently at a standstill.

    Coincidentally, the person in charge came across the cat food video uploaded by the system. He didn''t care if it was promotional marketing; he only cared about whether he could sign this post-production team at a low price.

    The message received a quick reply.

    The backend of the "Chu and Three-Five-Five" ount directly sent a website link. The information on the website was veryplete. Although it was an unheard-of team, they seemed to have been responsible for some high-end work... Such teams often only need internal rmendations to fill up their schedules and rarely ept new work from strangers.

    The person in charge was stunned and asked his assistant to verify the information on the website. They found that the team was registered abroad, and all content could be found in online reports and information¡ªalthough as a post-production team, there wasn''t much content, making them seem low-key, but their capabilities were clearly not low-key.

    "I thought we might get lucky..." he sighed. "As expected, with such impressive technical skills, they couldn''t be nobodies."

    Thinking this, he took the matter more seriously and, instead of letting his assistant handle it, personally sent an email ording to the website''s requirements. To his delight, the email quickly received a reply from "customer service". Although the tone was rather cold, it was very polite.

    Finally, both partiespleted the negotiation at a price that just hit the psychological price point of the person in charge, and he breathed a sigh of relief:

    He thought the other side would ask for an exorbitant price!

    Therefore, although the price was not much lower than the previous team, the person in charge was in a good mood. Even when the other side said they couldn''t sign a paper contract and could only provide an electronic signature, he didn''t mind¡ªhaving skills gives you the right to be a bit willful.

    Finally, the person in charge tentatively mentioned the "cat food video": "Can you produce samples for us at the same speed as that video?"

    Although there was a deadline in the contract, it wouldn''t hurt to ask, right?

    Customer Service 07: Certainly, do you meanpleting the production of the first episode by midnight tonight?

    Person in charge: "?"

    Wait, no... that''s not right? It''s only four hours until midnight today?! Completing an entire 30-minute episode in four hours, is your team made up of superhumans?

    Person in charge: "No, no, no, I don''t have that requirement... Was that video really produced on such a tight schedule?"

    How much rush fee would that cost! For just a cat food tutorial video, is it worth such a big investment for the team behind the "Chu and Three-Five-Five" ount?

    Yes, the person in charge also believed there was a team and marketing involved, but that wasn''t important. He could also see that Qiao Hu was just after traffic, but he remained a dispassionate observer.

    Customer Service 07: Not at all.

    Customer Service 07: Rush jobs incur extra charges. How could it be considered a rush job if no extra fees were charged?

    Customer Service 07: After all, cats are so cute.

    Person in charge: "..." He had watched that video, so which cat exactly were they referring to? It should really be about the cat, right?

    Customer Service 07: Isn''t it cute?

    Person in charge: "...It''s quite cute."

    Customer Service 07: Very well, we willplete the production of the first episode for you by midnight tonight, without any additional charges.

    [Customer Service 07 has gone offline]

    "...That was too quick," the person in charge muttered, "I could have continued with thepliments!"

    One "cute" was worth 300,000, he could have genuinely praised it 300 more times!

 Chapter 10

    Chu Tingwu was about to leave after taking Three-Five-Five back to the Little Sun Rescue House, but Hang Ling stopped her.

    Hang Ling seemed to have something on her mind, but didn''t say what. She just handed Chu Tingwu a can of food, saying, "You and Three-Five-Five were a big help today. Open this for her as a reward."

    Unlike the other four free-roaming cats at the rescue house, Three-Five-Five was special. So after Chu Tingwu had made cat food for her, Hang Ling and the others were currently trying to avoid directly feeding Three-Five-Five, instead leaving it to Chu Tingwu to do, allowing the two to develop a bond.

    ...Although the girl and the cat didn''t seem to need much help with that.

    Chu Tingwu epted the gesture, but was surprised when Three-Five-Five refused to eat.

    She perched on Chu Tingwu''s knee, sniffed the canned food, then pushed it towards Chu Tingwu with her front paws. She even swatted away Big Orange when he came over hoping to get a taste.

    Chu Tingwu: "Meow?"

    This time, the message Three-Five-Five conveyed was moreplex, not just simply wanting to give the food to Chu Tingwu¡ª

    The Tortoiseshell Mother seemed a bit anxious.

    One reason stray cats have difficulty living with humans is that they struggle to establish a stable feeding rtionship with their adopters. The rtionship between Three-Five-Five and Chu Tingwu was even more special¡ªThree-Five-Five felt it was her responsibility to feed Chu Tingwu, but the "kitten" had now brought food home twice in a row, which annoyed her.

    Chu Tingwu had no choice but to open a box of milk Hang Ling had given her and drink it in front of Three-Five-Five. The cat mother sniffed it before Chu Tingwu drank, making sure the "kitten" was really eating, before starting to lick her own canned food.

    After eating, she cleaned her overgrown fur a bit, her gaze still fixed on Chu Tingwu. She even reached out a paw to pat the "kitten''s" belly.

    Chu Tingwu thought for a moment, then exined through gestures and expressions:

    "Today''s canned food is what you earned. It''s not food I brought back. Your work earned you this food."

    Tilting her head as she listened, Three-Five-Five raised her chin proudly, seeming to understand. In her mind, she sessfully equated today''s "cat rescue" with "food".

    When Chu Tingwu left, Three-Five-Five seemed much calmer than yesterday, apparently knowing the "kitten" would return tomorrow.

    -

    Dinner was a new cat food recipe produced by the system. Chu Tingwu learned about the system signing contracts and observed it creating fake websites and other information, which seemed unreasonablyplete. In the end, she ate while watching the first episode of "Animals and Us in the City".

    ¡ªThat documentary produced in coboration with the Fenghua Website.

    At the system''s speed, post-production was done in no time, with several versions created for Chu Tingwu to choose from.

    It was clear the system was being very careful with its firstmercial order.

    "Don''t you need to film the improved cat food video I just made?"

    She could have actually set up her phone to record it.

    [Let''s film at the rescue house tomorrow. Filming at home could easily expose your address and personal information. Sorry, kitten, my current weapon reserves are insufficient... Once I earn enough money...]

    Chu Tingwu: "Stop."

    Is the money you earn really only used to buy drones for filming videos?

    The system had also asked Chu Tingwu if she wanted to see the videoments, saying "Everyone is praising how cute you are," but Chu Tingwu firmly refused¡ªher embarrassment threshold was currently only at the level where being called "kitten" wouldn''t make her blush, since no one else could hear it.

    After feeding the vige cats, Chu Tingwuy down on her bed and closed her eyes to enter today''s dream course.

    As expected, the content of this course simtion was rted to what happened during the day¡ª

    Chu Tingwu found herself shrunk again, and the course map was still the rescue house: "Do I have to fight other cats like Three-Five-Five did?"

    In front of her was the scene of several catsing to steal food, with Three-Five-Five beating up the Cow Cat.

    In reality, she could easily handle these cats, but in the dream she had shrunk, and ordinary cats looked like double-sized adult Bengal tigers in front of her, easily able to knock her down.

    Chu Tingwu wanted to say that animals with such body proportions don''t exist in reality, and humans canpletely rely on tools to fight wild beasts... She wouldn''t go hand-to-hand with wild animals anyway.

    But after some thought, she didn''t say it: After all, her past self didn''t know she would be bound to a system in the future, so learning a little more couldn''t hurt, right?

    After ying out the simtion, instead of having Chu Tingwu participate, the system simted kitten versions of the four cats in front of her, small and squeaky, a lot shorter.

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    The system reassured her: "You''re a kitten, so of course you fight kittens. Since the physical modifications haven''t involved teeth yet, you only need to learn [pounce] and [pin], you don''t need to use your teeth to bite."

    Well, thanks for that.

    She unconsciously touched her teeth, then looked at the "cats" in front of her, which were the same height as her when she stood up straight. A semi-transparent circle of light screens surrounded them, with several adult cats watching from outside the barrier, asionally flicking their tails.

    Chu Tingwu jumped straight at the Cow Cat kitten before it could run over with its butt sticking up.

    "Meow meow meow roar!"

    ...That wasn''t her making that sound!

    While Chu Tingwu fell into deep sleep, "fighting tooth and nail" in ss, many people were still awake at this time.

    Like Hang Ling and other employees of the Little Sun Hospital, as well as Qiao Hu and his team members.

    "Old Qiao," one team member sprawled on the desk, said weakly, "I''ve watched a hundred of Little Sun''s previous cat rescue videos. Normal editing, nothing wrong with the cats, just an ordinary rescue ount."

    Qiao Hu took a sip of coffee: "Then don''t focus on the rescues. Look at their cat vlogs, like here, the litter box is full of cat poop, almost overflowing. The environment must be bad and they''re not attentive enough. Edit that."

    The employee grumbled: "With so many cats and not enough staff, they probably change it morning and night... It''s actually quite normal, and even if we force the narrative that their environment is bad, it''s not enough for a full video. How can this level create enough of a twist?"

    Another employee leaned over: "Old Qiao, that Chu already has 100,000 followers, their marketing is really good... The cat food video has over a million views, and followers are still increasing. Feels like we''ve beenpletely used..."

    Qiao Hu looked at the bulletments, then scrolled through thements below: "We can''t suddenly say we''re not doing it anymore. Even if we end up with egg on our faces, we still have to produce the video."

    Not finding any useful leverage, he wasn''t disappointed, but rather became excited.

    To be honest, Qiao Hu didn''t really believe that an ount with hundreds of cat rescue videos would actually abuse cats, especially one with a traceable address and IP. Going to see in person would instantly debunk any rumors. So from the beginning, he wanted to target this new Chu ount.

    He had seen the quality of the cat food video and felt it would go viral. After being attacked by his fans, not only was thement section not overtaken, but due to the specialment filtering mechanism, the whole incident becameedic, attracting more passersby. Views and follower count were skyrocketing¡ª

    Qiao Hu: "To be honest... I''m a bit impressed."

    The marketing team must be very capable. Qiao Hu felt he might lose this round, but that was okay, it wouldn''t be his first loss... So his online "persona" was "straightforward but quick to admit mistakes". After being proven wrong, he would immediately post an apology video with a very good attitude, stating that he truly loved cats too much, so it was "normal" to have some suspicions. Finally, he''d post a video praising them. His team was familiar with this whole routine.

    And Qiao Hu''s name would be repeatedly mentioned by marketing ounts. If Chu really became famous, he would be a stepping stone on their path to fame, but a stepping stone is not a stumbling block... Who says stepping stones can''t make money? Engagement is traffic too.

    "Forget it..." Qiao Hu said, "It''s too early to think about all this."

    While Qiao Hu and his team were rushing to produce debunking videos to capitalize on the heat of Chu Tingwu''s ount, Hang Ling was also looking at thements under Chu Tingwu''s posts with a mix of amusement and exasperation: "What... what is all this?"

    She had noticed something off about the public opinion on her way back. If Chu Tingwu had been with her at the time, she probably would have cursed people out along with the young girl immediately. But Chu Tingwu happened to be absent, and as Hang Ling kept reading, she calmed down and realized the situation was actually manageable.

    "Little Chu handled it pretty well... and didn''t mention it to me, probably too embarrassed, thinking she had implicated our ount."

    At first, there were some discordant voices on the Little Sun Rescue House ount, mostly nitpicking in thements of the twotest videos. But the old fans fought back against them. The longtime followers had watched every video and naturally trusted the Little Sun Hospital, so Hang Ling''s mood improved considerably.

    After some thought, she posted an announcement, sharing a screenshot of the timestamp from when she filmed the video to clear things up for Chu Tingwu.

    As the person involved, she knew there wouldn''t be any issues and there was no concrete evidence, so she only felt indignation and worry, especially concerned that the child might be putting on a brave face¡ª

    "Could he be crying in secret?"

    Even if the abusivements were deleted, such behavior wouldn''t disappear, and hearts are made of flesh after all, so it would still hurt.

    In Hang Ling''s imagination, Chu Tingwu''s calm expression was gradually bing teary-eyed, until she heard a "bang."

    Hang Ling: "Who''s there?"

    The rescue house had so many cats that someone would stay there every night to keep watch. Usually nothing major happened, unless a cat suddenly fell ill.

    Hang Ling hopped over to open the door, and when she turned on the lights and saw the scene before her, she was momentarily stunned into silence:

    "Three-Five-Five... what are you doing?"

    -

    When Chu Tingwu pushed open the door of the rescue house carrying ingredients, she noticed the atmosphere inside was very strange.

    She heard Three-Five-Five''s low growl, which was quite vulgar for a cat.

    But as soon as Chu Tingwu''s footsteps were heard, Three-Five-Five immediately stopped, nonchntly lowering her head to groom herself as if nothing had happened.

    When Hang Ling saw that Chu Tingwu had arrived, she visibly rxed with relief.

    Chu Tingwu first noticed Hang Ling''s dark circles, then saw the cat wand that Three-Five-Five was stepping on and pressing against her belly.

    Chu Tingwu: "...?"

    Her question mark was almost tangible¡ªbecause there were actually several cats caught in the string loops of the cat wand. Except for the long-haired calico, all three living room cats were trapped in the loops, though they hadn''t been tightened yet. So they stayed perfectly still, except for the orange cat and the cow cat who were fighting, with the short-haired calico squashed under their bottoms, looking as if it had given up all hope.

    Only the long-haired calico remained aloof, perched on top of the cab, its face clearly saying, "I don''t want to go near those idiots."

    As Chu Tingwu approached, Three-Five-Five moved away from the cat wand, gesturing for Chu Tingwu to take it. She let out a gentle "meow," calling for her kitten, sounding as if she was inviting her young toe eat.

    Hang Ling: "They''ve been ying with the cat wand sincest night. Three-Five-Five would call out, and Oreo and the others would dive into the loops. They''ve been at it for hours and won''t let us put the wand away... Sigh, could you maybe do something about it?"

    Oreo was the name of the cow cat.

    She was at her wit''s end. They could forcibly confine the cats, but Oreo and the others had never been this disobedient before.

    Hang Ling was worried this might make the cats hold a grudge or rebel, so remembering Chu Tingwu''s ability to municate," she fought off her drowsiness and waited for her to arrive.

    Under her watchful gaze, Chu Tingwu indeed went over and "meowed" a series of sounds. Then, Three-Five-Five, looking like a big grey-ck ball of fluff, nced questioningly at Hang Ling, then at Chu Tingwu. Finally, the cats became unusually talkative, meowing back and forth to each other.

    Chu Tingwu walked back over.

    "Three-Five-Five thinks... she should get canned food as a reward for helping catch the cats with the loops."

    Chu Tingwu''s expression wasplex.

    "She''s asking you for three cans of food, though two are for her, and one is to be shared among Oreo and the other two."

    Hang Ling: "..."

    Oreo and you other two silly cats, you''re helping count the money after being sold out!

 Chapter 11

    Hang Ling was certain that Three-Five-Five was indeed a very intelligent cat. Calicos were already known for their smarts, but her intelligence stood out even more.

    She nced at Chu Tingwu, who was silentlymunicating with Three-Five-Five, and couldn''t help thinking: Perhaps it had something to do with little Chu... When humans and cats canmunicate smoothly and naturally, a cat''sprehension ability would naturally improve.

    In the end, she opened a can of food, but also asked Chu Tingwu to clear up the misunderstanding. Then, Three-Five-Five rolled one of the cans towards her, exchanging it for the bottle of milk that Chu Tingwu had drunk yesterday¡ªwhich surprised Hang Ling once again.

    "Three-Five-Five... she could probably enter some kind ofpetition now, couldn''t she?"

    The cannedmb and milk weren''t equal in value, but clearly the cat didn''t care about food prices, nor did she understand why humans couldn''t eat canned food and cat milk. Still, she had exchanged for Chu Tingwu''s "food."

    Hang Ling grabbed her colleague Lizi and shook her vigorously: "If my cat could work and support me, I''d be over the moon!"

    At first, she had been worried that the human and cat wouldn''t get along well, but now it seemed they were getting along too well, making her feel a bit jealous.

    Lizi also looked serious, watching Oreo pouncing aimlessly at shadows on the wall: "I don''t need Oreo to support me, I''d be happy if he could just clean his own litter box."

    Hang Ling: "That''s even more ambitious."

    Lizi: "Aren''t you tempted?"

    Hang Ling: "Uh..."

    Seeing Chu Tingwu carrying ingredients to the opposite side, Hang Ling paused: "Little Chu, are you going to livestream today?"

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    She shook her head: "No... I don''t like showing my face."

    If the system were to do the filming, she thought that even if she did livestream, she probably wouldn''t show her face. But the drone ordered by the system hadn''t arrived yet, and besides, it was just a cat food video, so there was no need to livestream, right?

    But Hang Ling seemed to have misunderstood, nodding solemnly, lost in thought.

    After eating, Three-Five-Five''s expression also turned serious¡ªalthough it wasn''t very obvious under all that fur¡ªbut it was reflected in her actions as she squatted by the door.

    This time, Hang Ling understood without Chu Tingwu''s trantion: "Does she want to go out for a walk?"

    Chu Tingwu: "...More or less."

    No, it was slightly different. Three-Five-Five wanted to go out to "work."

    At present, the calico mom had only figured out one equation¡ª

    The baby doesn''t drink milk or eat cat food and canned food, catching cats can be exchanged for canned food, canned food can be exchanged for milk, and the baby will drink the bottled kind of milk.

    Hang Ling came over to check Three-Five-Five''s bandage, and after confirming there was no problem, she still gave a word of caution... As for refusing, she hadn''t even thought of refusing. Although she had only known Chu Tingwu for a few days, she waspletely won over by this cat-speaking ability. If she could even get cats to catch other cats, how could she possibly lose Three-Five-Five on a walk? Unless Three-Five-Five wanted to leave on her own.

    "By the way, if Ie across stray cats on the way, should I catch them?"

    Hang Ling: "Well¡ª"

    Most people in the office would catch cats, but since little Chu was new, Hang Ling exined the cat-catching form to her: "Priority goes to unspayed females without kittens. If it''s a nursing mother, taking her away means her babies won''t survive. Thene kittens around two months old, or even younger if the mother can''t care for them. After that are male cats. We give them all a spay/neuter package when we bring them in."

    "Oh, and can you tell if a female cat has been spayed?"

    Chu Tingwu said before closing the door: "I can ask."

    Hang Ling: ...You can even ask about that?

    Considering Three-Five-Five''s injury, Chu Tingwu didn''t walk fast. The human and cat soon strolled to the antique-style street by the Guishui River. At this time, the street was missing the figure of a fat orange cat, but there were still many fishermen by the riverbank.

    Three-Five-Five looked at the fishermen, then at Chu Tingwu, and then at the fish.

    Chu Tingwu: "Let''s not, okay?"

    Three-Five-Five''s expression remained dignified, her long fur flying wildly in a gust of wind. She stopped looking at the fishermen and fixed her golden pupils on the shimmering water surface, then nced at Chu Tingwu.

    Chu Tingwu: "...Alright."

    The riverbank was sloped, with railings installed. At the bottom where it met the water, you could see silt and water nts washed up. The fishermen were spaced several meters apart so their fishing lines wouldn''t tangle. When Chu Tingwu led the cat between two fishermen, one kept watching his float, while the other calmly nced at her, then at the cat. His calm gaze turned wary, and he kicked his fish basket closer to his feet.

    Then, Three-Five-Five stepped through the railings with her cat-like gait, steadily walking down the slope to the bottom.

    The wary fisherman let out a "whoa" and warned, "Be careful your cat doesn''t fall in the water, it''s very slippery."

    Chu Tingwu thanked him, then heard him suddenly exim "Ah!" A secondter, a smoky gray shadow darted up from under the railing, carrying a plump silver-tailed fish in its mouth.

    The fish wasn''t very long, but it was quite fat. Three-Five-Five dropped the fish at Chu Tingwu''s feet and wrapped her tail around her ankle.

    The wary fisherman stared nkly as Chu Tingwu put the fish into a borrowed stic bag, then praised the calico by scratching under her chin.

    This young girl seemed to ponder something, then started "meowing" tomunicate with the cat. Finally, she switched back to humannguage and said slowly: "I don''t eat fish, but I can film you catching fish and post it online to earn money. Money can buy ingredients, milk, and other things I can eat, so Three-Five-Five can support me."

    Wary fisherman: "?"

    Is this a conversation a cat can understand?

    He looked at his fishing rod, then at the human and cat beside him, and finally couldn''t resist taking out his phone¡ª

    He saw the cat bump its head against the girl''s forehead, then the girl took out her phone and started recording a video of the cat.

    The wary fisherman also started recording a video of the cat... He felt like he might capture something big, and the girl didn''t stop him either.

    Then, the previous scene yed out again!

    The smoky gray calico once again stepped down the slope with her cat-like gait. This time she stared at the water surface for over ten seconds beforeunching a fierce attack. In the instant the water sshed, she was already back on shore with a fish in her mouth, repeating the action of dropping the fish in front of the girl before starting to lick her wet fur.

    Wary fisherman: ?!

    How amazing is that?

    He sent the video to his fishing group chat and couldn''t resist posting it on his social media. When he looked up again, the passing girl had picked up the stic bag with the fish and was walking away with her cat.

    Fisherman: "Oh no!"

    He hadn''t asked for her video ount, and he wanted to follow her!

    Mainly because he felt the cat had good fishing luck, and he could take it out to look at while fishing to borrow some of that luck!

    -

    Since she had agreed with Three-Five-Five to use the fish-catching video to make money, Chu Tingwu wouldn''t go back on her word.

    She asked the system about the incentive mechanism for individual content creators on Fenghua Video Network, and opened her own video ount for the first time.

    The first cat food video had nearly reached two million views, and the second one, just posted recently, already had almost 100,000 views. However, thinking about the system''s narration for those videos... Chu Tingwu didn''t want to open them.

    Currently, the total ie from views was over 2,000 yuan. She showed the backend to Three-Five-Five. The cat obviously couldn''t understand, but still pawed at her once, and then Chu Tingwu handed over the video post-production work to the system.

    The system was very calm: "I''ll upload it in three hours. They say normal people need some time for post-production."

    Chu Tingwu: "Okay."

    She always left these things to others to handle.

    While Chu Tingwu continued walking the cat, a video from another angle was circting in the local fishing group chat.

    Cats catching fish wasn''t actually rare, but capturing it on camera so clearly was quite umon. After all, who knows when a cat will make its move, and animals as video subjects don''t cooperate.

    These days, any kind of video has the potential to go viral, either based on skill or luck. But beneath this video was a proudment from the wary fisherman:

    "This cat is amazing! See the leash? It''s a house cat. The girl walking it told it to go catch fish, and it went down and caught some. It even did it twice. I didn''t catch the first time on camera, but I got the second time, that''s why the footage is so clear."

    Some people in the group said he was making it up, but others said their own house cats were just as obedient, they just couldn''t catch fish. Since it was a fishing group, the topic quickly shifted back to fishing.

    Suddenly, someone asked a question:

    [Does letting a cat catch fish count as using a tool? Like using a fishing rod or?]

    The discussion in the group chat fell silent for a second.

    Hmm... does it count or not?

    -

    If this video was originally just interesting, with the cat being cool, the discussion dialogue from the fishing enthusiasts'' group added an unexpectedlyedic effect when posted. Someone shared it on their personal tform, and by 7 PM, the video and dialogue began to go viral as a short video.

    Meanwhile, "Qiao Hu''s World View" also posted a video.

    His video this time actually had substance. Removing the rambling intro, he raised several points of doubt in the video and hoped to connect with "Chu Tingwu and Three-Five-Five" for answers:

    "Although I personally don''t quite believe it, the videographer credited under the cat food video is the same as the one from the Little Sun Cat Rescue ount. Wepared the angles of light and shadows to determine the time when the cat food video was shot, which is... and the Little Sun ount has follow-up footage of filming and feeding the cat. Referring to the video posting time¡ª"

    "It only took half an hour from filming to posting,pleting editing, voiceover, and post-production within 30 minutes. May I ask which superhuman production team this is? ughs)"

    "Another question is about the ''cat catching master'' persona. You can actually see that this persona started to be built up two days ago when Chu Tingwu first adopted ''Three-Five-Five''. At that time, Little Sun posted an update saying that Three-Five-Five, who wanted to escape, suddenly became affectionate, falling in love at first sight with the new adopter. All thements below were congrattory (image). But looking at this angle (image), this was taken after the so-called affectionate moment, right? This calico still hisses at the person feeding it, with its ears ttened, seeming to have a very bad attitude... Only affectionate towards the strange adopter but not towards the rescuer who fed it? People can have personas, but do cats need to be given personas too?"

    "Also here, to prevent other cats from stealing the cat food, Chu Tingwu directly uses her foot to kick, ?*? the cat meows here, but our kind rescuer is still smiling happily..."

    "The cat food wasn''t even filmed. I''d like to ask, is what''s being held up really cat food, or some special prop? If possible, could Chu Tingwu connect with us for a live stream? It''s not that we really doubt, it''s just that everyone hopes cats can receive better and more thoughtful treatment."

    Qiao Hu also listed some questions about hygiene, cat litter, and such. If you look at the videos with a critical eye, you can always find faults. Some situations are actually normal, but when he describes them this way and only shows short clips before and after, they seem unreasonable.

    ¡ªMany people who follow drama only read headlines, and those who follow video drama only watch edited clips. In this fast-paced era, no one will watch the entire video, and the pieced-together truth can be interpreted at will by those who piece it together.

    The video was posted at 5 PM, with high views. Everyone seemed to assume that "Chu Tingwu" shoulde forward to prove herself, but there was no response from her side.

    Half an hourter, someone in the work group chat @''ed Qiao Hu, telling him that Chu Tingwu had responded¡ª

    The description of the first cat food video now included the name of the post-production team.

    Qiao Hu: "...That''s it?"

    He knew some of the usations were a bit far-fetched, but if the other side doesn''t y along, how can he continue the act?

    "Well, at least it proves that Chu Tingwu indeed has a dedicated operations team, right? An individual content creator probably couldn''t afford such a professional team..."

    This was also the thought of many others. Chu Tingwu''s response seemed to tacitly acknowledge the usations about creating a persona.

    Qiao Hu started his live stream somewhat frustratedly¡ªhe streams video browsing daily¡ªand probably because he had been watching more cat videos, after just a few scrolls, a marketing ount''s video of a cat catching fish appeared. It was filmed by a fishing enthusiast, the short video was only about 20 seconds long and finished quickly, but it was worth augh.

    "This cat is much better than me, it can even catch fish to feed its owner," Qiao Huughed, subtly referencing his previous debunking video again, "Only someone who truly loves cats could raise a cat like this, not someone who uses cats as a tool for viral content."

    [That cat looks familiar...]

    [You''re right, Old Qiao. My cat just...]

    [Um, why does it really feel a bit familiar]

    What''s familiar about it? Although it''s also a long-haired calico, don''t all calicos look like they''ve been singed by fire?

    A sh of unease crossed Qiao Hu''s mind, but the next video had already started ying, so he put the thought aside. That is, until he saw an employee frantically waving at him from across the room.

    Qiao Hu: "Haha, I''ll go get a drink of water first."

    [Old Qiao, go check out Chu Tingwu!]

    [Oh boy, oh boy... Chu Tingwu posted a video, huh...]

    [Oh, Old Qiao...]

    Qiao Hu left hisputer very anxiously. A team member immediately handed him earphones, telling him to watch the third video posted by Chu Tingwu.

    The video was clearly filmed by the girl holding her phone herself, and in the frame appeared that familiar... smoky gray long-haired calico.

 Chapter 12

    [Is this video actually a smartphone advertisement?]

    Even with its vast collection of data, the system still couldn''t fathom whatplex creatures like humans were thinking.

    Among the numerousments under the video posted by Ah Chu''s ount, featuring Three Five Five cat-catching, this particrment unexpectedly rose to poprity.

    Most viewers who stuck around had seen the previous two videos and were familiar with the "setup" of the "Ah Chu and Three Five Five" ount: mama cat Three Five Five, human kitten Ah Chu, and the hardworking system formed the three foundational elements of this ount... Those who could ept it found it interesting, while those who couldn''t thought it was just attention-seeking.

    Today''s video was shot by Chu Tingwu using a handheld phone, as exined by the system in the narration. However, viewers'' attention peculiarly focused on this point: ...What kind of phone could produce such good results with handheld shooting?

    The system was bewildered. That''s because it helped during the filming! It did post-production to remove unstable footage and added frames... and most importantly, the little one''s hands were incredibly steady! This had nothing to do with the phone, it was all about the person filming!

    Of course, you can''t achieve this without such an amazing little one.

    The system was quite cold-hearted and didn''t reply to thesements. It simply deleted some disharmonious remarks as usual, then silently opened another verified new ount and chose to post.

    This ount''s name was its seemingly high-end foreign video post-production team name. The documentary "Animals and Us in the City" was officially invested by Fenghua Network, making it easy to get ount verification through this connection.

    However, the first video posted on this new ount had nothing to do with the documentary. Instead, it prominently featured Qiao Hu''s name and was published as a "joint submission".

    [Joint Submission] "Malicious Editing! Inciting Cyberbullying!? What kind of world is ''Qiao Hu Observes the World'' really showing you?"

    The list of joint submitters for the video was extensive, totaling 56 Fenghua Network content creators. Right from the start, the main speaker calmly and rationally brought up several videos Qiao Hu had published... These videos could also be called "brainwashing videos", just like what his team did to Chu Tingwu: they targeted new content creators without verification, stirred up public opinion, then retreated after achieving their goal. Whether the content creator sessfully proved their innocence or withdrew from the inte covered in mud, in this entertainment-driven era, Qiao Hu had harvested enough traffic.

    And now, it was his turn to be targeted.

    Many content creators weren''t unwilling to retaliate or hadn''t tried reporting to the police, but most were ordinary people without that kind of energy. Victims weren''t necessarily perfect victims either, and exposing themselves might lead to more criticism.

    But now the system had arrived.

    As this video was published, almost simultaneously, the jointly submitting content creators also released new videos. The covers were simr, the scale uniform, all produced by the system. Unlike the short videos on the main ount, these were long videos with detailed evidence and substantial content, mainly serving as supplementary exnations.

    But this kind of unified action itself easily became a focal point. Just as Qiao Hu''s team was ying dead due to his live streaming mishap (praising Chu Tingwu), the video topped Fenghua Network''s homepage rmendations at midnight and stayed there until morning.

    Qiao Hu angrily threw his pillow.

    He was woken up from a nap, and at this point, he couldn''t care less about cat-rescuing content creators or pet content creators. His temples were throbbing, and everyone''s expressions looked grim ¡ª now, with just a couple of scrolls, you could see the jointly submitted videos on other automatically rmended lists, videos from different content creators.

    Qiao Hu quickly issued an apology statement in the early morning, but it was useless. In fact, content creators who had sessfully proven their innocence had all received his groveling apologies before, but after a while, Qiao Hu''s team would quietly delete the apology videos, or only apologize in status updates, then hide them.

    Now, they were telling him through their actions:

    "You apologized, but I don''t ept it."

    No one stiptes that victims must ept the perpetrator''s apology... Sometimes it''s not even an apology, just a form of secondary harm.

    Qiao Hu tiredly rubbed his eyes. "...Has that team still not replied to our private message?"

    That initial team, the one that did video post-production for the cat food content creator, that mysteriously officially verified team... They were the ones who started going after him! Qiao Hu was willing to pay to avoid trouble, pay to delete videos, even temporarily withdraw from the inte if necessary, but suchrge-scale ck history must not be left behind¡ª

    "Old Wolf made a video about this incident," a team member said numbly, "Along with other big content creators, they''ve all released new videos."

    This matter... wasn''t over.

    While Qiao Hu''s team was in a state of panic, "Ah Chu''s" fans were cheering.

    Their content creator was just someone who made cat food, inexplicably targeted by videos with usations, inexplicably required to prove themselves innocent, and even implicated the neighboring cat rescuer... Now seeing Qiao Hu in trouble, the fans who previously didn''t dare to speak up much in thements section finally felt vindicated.

    Among the hundred thousand plus fans, there were always some who were genuinely invested, even loyal fans who came over from the Little Sun cat rescue ount.

    As a result, thements section quickly turned into arge-scale cyber electronic kitchen.

    [I hadn''t posted before, but I actually tried following along when Ah Chu posted the first video. I confess, even though it was meant for my cat, I ended up eating half of it myself. The ingredients are quite simple, the taste is very mild, but it''s just very fragrant, feeling like the natural aroma of the food itself (588 words omitted). Anyway, everyone can try making it. I directly had the remaining half pot for dinner!]

    [Me too... I initially wanted to make cat food to feed stray cats, but ended up eating half of it myself. It actually felt a bit greasy, but I still finished it all. Maybe there was too much meat. UP, when will youe up with a version more suitable for human consumption?]

    [No way, isn''t cat food supposed to be tasteless?]

    [The main thing is that UP''s cat food actually works well as a packed lunch. Aside from the appearance, the ingredients and cooking methods are quite healthy... *burp* It''s just that my cat scratched me while I was eating. UP, do you have any ideas about that?]

    [My cat says you''re all acting. Nevermind, I''m going to try making it today too!]

    [I went to feed the little strays nearby. The little stray buried its head right in. It wouldn''t let me pet it before, but this time I took the chance and had a good petting session! Highly rmended!]

    [You''re making me feel tempted too. UP, can your cat food be used to lure stray cats? I happen to want to adopt one recently.]

    [Local people wanting to adopt stray cats can go to Little Sun Pet Hospital for adoption! If it''s a nearby cat, you can also call for cat-catching services. Little Sun Hospital has been undertaking voluntary cat-catching and on-site adoption work for three years now, very reliable. Don''t believe that bullshit Qiao was spouting!]

    [If adopting a cat, can we catch UP in person... mainly want to see if you really have a system!]

    Although the "Ah Chu" ount never said anything from start to finish and was quite aloof, barely replying to fans, thements section was still full ofughter and cheer as if it were New Year''s. The recent events also caused the Little Sun Hospital ount''s followers to surge, also breaking a hundred thousand and heading towards two hundred thousand.

    Hang Ling, who had been keeping an eye on the situation, looked at Chu Tingwu who was adding water for the cats, then at the ount backend, still feeling a bit dazed.

    After the previous video was targeted by Qiao Hu, she didn''t release the video about rescuing Little ck ¡ª even though the video was alreadypleted.

    Because the video featured Chu Tingwu, and Three Five Five who was a great help in rescuing cats... Hang Ling worried that if she released the video, it might give others an excuse to attack little Chu, or let them nitpick about "how can a cat rescue cats", wondering if it was staged or if they deliberately ced the cat there. Public opinion seemed like invisible shackles; she appeared unconcerned, but in reality, she had be restrained.

    After pondering for a while, Hang Ling called out to Chu Tingwu and expressed her concerns: "Chu Chu... can we post a video with a bit of a disimer? I''m thinking, not all cats are like San Wu Wu. I''ve only seen San Wu Wu as a cat capable of assisting in rescues. Won''t it mislead others into thinking they can use their cats tomunicate with other cats, or might it cause trouble for you?"

    Chu Tingwu thought for a moment, then nodded: "I understand."

    Hang Ling: "?"

    What did she understand?

    She grabbed Oreo as it darted past her feet. This three-legged cat ran incredibly fast, but once caught by the scruff of its neck, it looked docile and innocent. Chu Tingwu stroked its head: "We can add a note in the video stating that San Wu Wu has received special training. Then in subsequent videos, we can demonstrate that through this training, not only San Wu Wu but other cats can also be trained as rescue cats. That should avoid any problems, right?"

    Hang Ling: "...Wait, don''t call me ''sister'' anymore. Just call me Lingdang."

    Although she was eight years older than Chu Tingwu, for some reason, watching her effortlessly grab a mischievous cat made Hang Ling feel a tightness at the back of her own neck. She had a strange urge to call Chu Tingwu "Sister Chu."

    Then she realized: "You mean...?"

    Chu Tingwu pondered: "Whether a cat can act as a trantor between humans and cats to assist in rescues actually depends on the cat''s intelligence, not just San Wu Wu''s unique ability."

    The cats in the living room were already quite friendly with people and very familiar with the staff at Little Sun Hospital. She could try to help train them.

    Of course, if their intelligence was simr to that sales champion cat at the cat caf¨¦, even she couldn''t do it.

    Hang Ling''s eyes widened as she reached for her phone¡ª

    Damn, she really wanted to film this.

    It turns out that her video-making and ount management weren''t just about promoting adoption over buying... it was also because she truly loved recording moments through video and images.

    Hang Ling: "Can you say that again, Sister Chu?"

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    Why suddenly call her sister?

    -

    As Hang Ling went to help clean the litter boxes for the kittens, Chu Tingwu opened her phone and once again looked at the clean backend of her ount. She then asked the system: "Is everything taken care of?"

    The system yed dumb: "Hmm?"

    Chu Tingwu: "When I posted the video earlier, there were some disharmonious voices in thements section, right?"

    She hadn''t actually seen them, but she had deduced it from Hang Ling''s expressions and the system''s attitude¡ª

    After "bing a cat," reading human facial expressions became even simpler than reading cat expressions.

    [How could there be? Everyone was praising you. Just a few people said some unpleasant things due to misunderstandings... so I deleted and blocked them all!]

    As for those people now trying to apologize by @ing Ah Chu''s ount, the system ignored thempletely.

    [You''re still just a cub. You don''t need to worry about these things. Just focus on your studies and eat well.]

    If it weren''t for considering the host, the system had many faster and less legal ways to deal with Qiao Hu. Now that the cub knew, the system no longer concealed it:

    "That troublemaker who caused the misunderstandings will soon disappear. Don''t worry about him."

    Chu Tingwu: "Hmm... It''s not his corpse that''s going to disappear, is it?"

    Of course not! It was a system that used legal methods!

    The system confidently replied: "Just wait and see."

    That evening, the post-production team that had released the coborative video published a new video. More than just a video, it was truly an advertisement¡ªan ad for the documentary "Animals and Us in the City."

    With official help, the system reciprocated by offering free editing for this 20-some-second promotional clip. This time it was a joint post with the documentary''s official ount, and its real "private goods" were hidden in the post''s self-introduction, which directly included all the videos posted by @Ah Chu and San Wu Wu''s ount.

    Then, for the first time, the system replied to ament asking if the "Ah Chu" ount was a rich kid with money to burn, posting cat food videos with movie-level post-production.

    The system''s modest reply:

    "We didn''t charge anything. That''s our boss''s cub."

    It was both the "boss" and the "employee," so this exnation seemed reasonable, right?

    There was no need for the "Ah Chu" ount to prove itself. As Qiao Hu''s ount was banned and he receivedwyer''s letters from other content creators, the system gleefully showed this reply pop-up to Chu Tingwu.

    Chu Tingwu responded with an "Oh" and showed the system her phone screen¡ª

    [Lu Tinn: Sis, I identally came across this. Is this ount yours? [Picture]]

    [Lu Tinn: Um... I saw this team''s reply...]

    [Lu Tinn: Mom doesn''t have this kind of business, right? Don''t tell me she remarried without telling me? (shocked.jpg)]

    [Lu Tinn: Or are you secretly being someone else''s daughter? (head scratch.jpg)]

    System: "..."

    Chu Tingwu: "Is this what you wanted me to wait for?"

    System: "......"

    QVQ

 Chapter 13

    When Chu Tingwu was exining to her older brother that even close friends can call each other "baby" and "sweetie," another group of people was busy refreshing thements section of their videos.

    Yue Miao was one of them. She was a content creator with nearly a million followers, but she wasn''t sure what type of creator she was.

    At first, she was just an ordinary person uploading videos to share her life. But one day, everything changed when her mother was diagnosed with throat cancer.

    Throat cancer isn''t necessarily terminal, but it was discoveredte, and the treatment process was still grueling. As an only child, Yue Miao quit her job to care for her mother full-time and began documenting their cancer-fighting journey through videos.

    The process was undoubtedly bitter - moving between different hospitals, the looming threat of post-surgery recurrence hanging over them like the sword of Damocles, reports, tests, insurance ims, patient care... But amid the hardship, she always found reasons to be happy, like kind strangers offering chairs while waiting in line, fellow patients watching TV shows with her mom, or doctors patiently discussing treatment options and trying to help them save money.

    Initially, Yue Miao just wanted to record everything, both to prepare herself mentally for the worst possible oue and to have a video record if she lost everything, as well as to uplift herself and inspire others.

    She seeded. As her follower count grew, she received many private messages of support from others - friends going through simr experiences with family members, and even followers battling cancer themselves.

    But as her viewership increased, the atmosphere in thements section changed one day.

    Many people told her to watch videos by @Qiao Hu Sees the World, demanding more proof from her, including private information. They questioned her redacted medical records and even tried to ambush her at the hospital.

    "I don''t think they''re my real followers..." Yue Miaoter told a friend. "They just want to satisfy their voyeuristic urges and see me constantly proving myself in a pitiful state."

    She had never epted livestream donations and even donated her website earnings to fellow patients in greater need.

    Theoretically, she should have been seen as a perfect victim, but when she saw some very familiar usernames in thements section one day, she suddenly broke down emotionally.

    Those followers had once sincerelyforted her, privately asking if she needed financial help or offering information on reputable hospitals and doctors.

    Yue Miao didn''t respond or try to prove herself. She simply uninstalled the app and stopped posting videos.

    Until she received a text message from the system via the official Fenghua Network.

    The system could have contacted Yue Miao directly, but that would have been like doxxing her, so it took a roundabout approach through official channels, asking her:

    "Would you like to be part of a joint submission?"

    Not to prove herself, but to use her unfair experiences as a sword to strike down the wrongdoer.

    To make "karma" a reality.

    Can I trust you? Are you here to help me? Are you any different from Qiao Hu''s team? Or are you just trying to use me too... Yue Miao had so many thoughts, but after watching the video the system made, she logged into her ount anyway.

    She thought she had forgotten her ount password, but her fingers moved smoothly across the keyboard as she typed it in.

    She opened her messages from strangers and sent one to the system:

    "What do you get out of doing this?"

    Is it for fame or so-called "justice," for views or truly out of kindness...

    [To get revenge for my baby, of course.]

    Yue Miao: "..."

    [If they hadn''t bullied my child, I wouldn''t care who they were. But they dared to spread rumors about my kid! Damn it, let''s crush them!]

    Yue Miao: "......"

    "Pfft."

    "Alright," she said with augh to the screen, "...let''s crush that bastard!"

    Bastard! Stupid jerk! Rumor-mongering dog! Blood-sucking scumbag... Yue Miaoughed through gritted teeth. Two years after the incident, she opened Qiao Hu''s ount for the first time, disliked every top video, and then chose to publish the video the system had sent her.

    Then she replied to a fanment on her own video:

    "Mom''s surgery went very well, and we''re both doing great now."

    "Thank you for your concern."

    Perhaps she could start a new ount, filmingndscapes, cooking, and the cats and dogs she sees on her way to work.

    She still loved documenting her life, but this time, she wouldn''t let others intrude too much into it.

    A couple had a simr experience to Yue Miao. They used to run a bookstore and turned to the inte for help after a flood. They went viral, but after their business recovered, the doubts that came with Qiao Hu''s video left them exhausted. Yes, selling books made money - if it didn''t, why sell them at all? Why not just give them away?

    The bookstore had indeed survived thanks to the kindness of inte users, but the couple realized that borrowed kindness must be repaid, with interest.

    After repaying this "kindness debt," they closed the bookstore, moved away from the city, and found new jobs. But they really wanted to say:

    "We only sold books. Later, because some inte users wanted refunds, we returned that part. The rest of the money we earned over the years, we donated to mountain areas and gave away books..." The husband sat before awyer. "We have records of all financial transactions. We didn''t privately ept transfers from inte users like that content creator imed."

    Every penny was equal to a book.

    Fifty-six joint submitters were added to a group chat, and this couple volunteered as "representatives" to helpmunicate with thewyer on behalf of those who couldn''t be there, and to go to court, determined to teach Qiao Hu''s team a real lesson.

    The system initially paid thewyer fees, but after the couple took over, it became a shared expense among willing group members, with contracts signed.

    The system didn''t care what they thought, it was just excited:

    "Baby, I''m nning to buy more parts to modify the drone!"

    Chu Tingwu: "Isn''t the drone you bought still in transit?"

    The system bought the drone just to film Chu Tingwu, not for high-altitude aerial photography, so it didn''t need to consider flight restrictions yet. But it was clearly unsatisfied with the drone''s battery life - most drones can only fly for less than an hour before needing to recharge, butrger batteries affect weight, and more weight means faster battery consumption.

    Chu Tingwu suspected that the system might bring out new energy ck technology just to film her -

    System: "I''m nning to equip the drone with smart wheels and wall-climbing ability."

    Oh, so it wasn''t bringing out the technology yet.

    She sat cross-legged on the bed, studying the system''s diagram together: With wheels, it could carry heavier batteries. Modifying the batterypartment would allow for charging anywhere. Oh, and when borrowing public charging ports, it could pay via screen. It could drop excess batteries on takeoff, the smart wheels could climb slopes and stairs, and the wall-climbing feature would allow it to fix the camera at a suitable angle without constantly flying and draining power.

    - But constant drone movement also required a meticulous operator, which the system would handle, so this kind of personal modification couldn''t be mass-produced.

    Chu Tingwu: "I guess..."

    Chu Tingwu: "You''ll guide, and I''ll do the work?"

    [I trust your nimble paws!]

    What kind of cat modifies drones?!

    [It''s simple, just like ordering takeout!]

    Actually, she wasn''t that good at ordering takeout either. Really, she cooked for herself now and ate quite healthily.

    ...Well, maybe not that healthy. The proportion of meat was a bit high.

    Chu Tingwu weighed herself and found that after following the system''s meal n for a few days, she had gained two pounds. But looking at her appearance, there was no visible change - her face hadn''t even gotten rounder.

    She stared at herself in the mirror and even thought her figure looked more slender.

    System: "As a cat, given your body proportions, you''re actually underweight. There were issues with your previous diet, so I''m adjusting it for you -"

    It showed her a diagram: "Ideally, you need to gain about ten more pounds, converting food into muscle."

    The system sounded a bit worried as it said this:

    The child doesn''t like to exercise!

    Although she bounces around happily in the dream ssroom, initially a bit reserved but quickly bonding with the kitten ssmates (physically), in reality she doesn''t really enjoy jumping or running. At most, she''ll run and jump a bit in her own home before bed... But the house is just a small two-story building, and this amount of exercise is even less than an after-dinner walk!

    System: "..."

    It thought, it must be because¡ª

    The house isn''t big enough!

    Yes! Other people raise cats in castles! It hadn''t bought a castle for the family cat, so how could it be the child''s fault for not liking exercise? It must be because the system wasn''t up to standard!

    The system sniffled: "Little one, you''ve been wronged..."

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    Saying strange things again, is there a problem with the code?

    She said: "Today in the dream ssroom, you simte the parts, and I''ll try modifying them directly. This way, tomorrow we can install them right away, and you can take them to film the catnguage tutorial."

    Come to think of it... isn''t she a cat food vlogger?

    With the system''s "You''re so good, little one" ying in the background, Chu Tingwu opened her ount and, after some thought, wrote in her profile:

    [Providing cat-rted skill tutorials, training self-sufficient kittens]

    The modified self-introduction was synchronized to her ount feed, and the fans in thements section were collectively stunned:

    "Does making cat food count as a cat-rted skill? If I let my cat learn this, can it make me a three-course meal with soup?"

    -

    Chu Tingwu had already put aside the matter with Qiao Hu¡ªin fact, she couldn''t even remember who Qiao Hu was. She only knew that someone had stirred up trouble and received awyer''s letter from the system.

    But Qiao Hu, as the person involved, couldn''t let it go as quickly as she did.

    Not only that, just one day had passed, and he was so anxious that he developed two canker sores in his mouth.

    ¡ªFenghua Network had officially closed his ount.

    Half of his team had resigned to seek other opportunities, and those who hadn''t left were in the same boat as him¡ªbeing sued.

    In just one day, the "kingdom" he had built copsed. His traffic crumbled like snowkes, and Qiao Hu believed that even if he could develop on another tform, he could only debut as an infamous celebrity.

    "No!" he said.

    "No..."

    There must be another way to turn things around. The fine didn''t matter, but at least he couldn''t be detained for defamation...

    "Xiao Li, buy me a ticket to Fallen Phoenix City!"

    Isn''t that Chu Tingwu in Fallen Phoenix City? He needs to go there in person!

    No one responded.

    Qiao Hu suddenly realized that his assistant had resigned, so he''d have to buy the ticket himself.

 Chapter 14

    The drone purchased by the system was still on its way via courier, so today''s filming was once again done by Hang Ling holding the camera.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu decided to teach the cats at Little Sun Rescue House how to cooperate with humans in rescuing cats. This idea didn''t juste from Three-Five-Five''s inspiration, but also because she felt this skill could indeed help alleviate the rescue pressure on Little Sun Hospital.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Cat rescue sometimes requires expensive specialized tools, and spaying, neutering, and treatment also need funding. Little Sun Hospital was barely able to maintain operations and was looking for ways to improve their situation.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Online traffic is a double-edged sword, but it''s not entirely bad.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Hang Ling posted the video of Three-Five-Five rescuing One Spot ck on their ount. Little Sun Hospital''s ount gained a wave of followers due to this incident. Now, as soon as they posted, they made it onto the natural rmendation list, and then the video was reposted by another cat rescue content creator.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    This was a major content creator with two million followers, who exined to their fans in a very impartial tone:<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    "Cats are very intelligent animals. Many house cats can sense danger, even warning owners about gas leaks, saving fallen babies, detecting heart disease patients and calling for help... Although it''s rare for cats to rescue other cats, trained cats can indeed understand human intentions.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    As we can see in the video, the rescued ''One Spot ck'' was first unable to move freely, and secondly, had a timid personality. It didn''t understand that entering the human''s rope loop would lead to rescue, but rather chose to submit to the powerful cat ''Three-Five-Five'', being forced into the loop like cats ying and roughhousing with each other.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    So, I hope fans don''t misunderstand and let their own cats randomly attempt high-altitude rescues of other cats. Not all cats are like Three-Five-Five, and not all cats are as obedient as One Spot ck. Communication between cats, and between humans and cats, isplex. Cat-to-cat rescue should be considered an ''auxiliarymunication tool'' in cat rescue, like using cat recordings to call out hidden cats. Don''t deify or demonize it, and don''t try to imitate it casually.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    However, I personally look forward to seeing more cases like this, helping us find new methods or train such rescue cats. Maybe one day we can even put staff vests on them. As long as this behavior can be replicated, it means we can reduce the cost and time of cat rescue... I might even train these freeloaders here who can''t get adopted, to work for their room and board ughs)."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The major content creator is called "Cha Mi Goes Home". They were originally just a college student entrepreneurial team, developing indie games while adopting a cat named "Cha Mi" in their studio. But once, when receiving a delivery, the cat ran out and ended up jumping from a 16th-floor window ledge in fright.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Everyone in the team developed psychological trauma from this, and they also discovered a gap in the "cat rescue" market. At that time, they were stuck on the 16th floor with no solution. The student responsible for feeding the cat almost wanted to tie a hemp rope and climb out to bring the cat back, but while they were looking for a rope, the cat jumped.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    "If we encountered this... maybe others have too, so why don''t we try to create an ount that epts requests for help?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Unlike Little Sun Hospital, the Cha Mi team mainly focuses on high-altitude cat rescues. They bought professional equipment and rescued both house cats and stray cats. Stray cats were sent for adoption, but as years passed, the studio still ended up with many cats they couldn''t rehome.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    They continued making games, but developed "Cha Mi" into its own IP, selling merchandise, epting donations, taking onmercial coborations, making cat rescue games... In their self-deprecating words, they were "profiting from a deceased cat", but also letting the name of the deceased cat live on forever.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Reminding them not to see a second "Cha Mi" and be helpless again.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Before reposting the video Hang Ling shared, someone from the team had sent her a private message, asking if they could provide "supplementary information": "Our ount has many followers, to prevent marketing ounts from cutting out your content and reposting it indiscriminately."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    It''s easy to imagine that marketing ounts would only keep the most sensational 20-something seconds.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Hang Ling of course didn''t refuse, and both sides followed each other. The Cha Mi team couldn''t help but ask curiously: "How did Three-Five-Five do it? Can we ask how you trained them?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    [Actually, it was all trained by Chu Tingwu. Three-Five-Five is the cat she adopted. But she''s nning to try training our other cats too. We''ll record the process in videos.]<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    In Hang Ling''s imagination, Chu Tingwu would probably give a speech to the cats, and aftermunicating with them, simte various forms of cat rescue indoors - high-altitude fishing rod rescue, lowering cat cages, or using captures for kittens. Cats could definitely be used to lure other cats.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The situation turned out to be quite simr to what she imagined. She held up her phone and watched through the camera as Chu Tingwu meowed twice, and five cats including Three-Five-Five appeared from all directions, quickly or slowly, then gathered in front of Chu Tingwu.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    And then...<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    "Meow!" "Mew?" "Meow-wu-wu" "Meow meow meow" "Mew¡ª" "Giao!"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Who made thatst sound?<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The ck and white cat Oreo was bitten by Three-Five-Five, and while making a "Giao" sound, it jumped up, clinging to the edge of the sofa and hissing at the calico. Hang Ling''s hand shook a bit... She had filmed it, but what on earth were they saying? Little Chu Chu, you really understand catnguage, don''t you! You all were having such a back-and-forth conversation!<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The adults had gathered together at some point, all staying out of the camera frame, standing behind Hang Ling with strange, silly smiles on their faces as they watched the human and several cats sitting in a circle for a meeting.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu raised her hand. Wearing a mask, she said to Hang Ling''s camera:<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    "I''ve finished discussing with them. I''ll lead by example first, showing them how it''s done via livestream."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    After she finished speaking, those four cats actually went over to look at Chu Tingwu''s phone screen, then simultaneously turned to look at Hang Ling, as if asking why she hadn''t set up the projector.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Hang Ling: "?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Wait, they hadn''t received any rescue requests today either.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    In a small ce like Fallen Phoenix City, not everyone would choose to seek help. Most of the time, staff members would encounter stray cats by chance and then go out with cages to catch them.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    "Not catching cats," Chu Tingwu blinked, "We''ll start with the simplest lesson: how to get cats to help people find recently lost cats."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    She had just scrolled through "Nearby People" on her phone and saw a new help post from someone whose blue cat had just gone missing and was urgently searching.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    "There have indeed been cases of stray cats helping to find cats..." Hang Ling realized.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    After all, Hang Ling was the adult and seemed more reliable. She used the hospital''s ount to contact the other party, skillfully verifying herself. The person on the other end mumbled, "I know about your hospital... but, but I''ve already paid professionals to search..."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Hang Ling: "?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    She perked up. Although she didn''t know if Chu Tingwu could do it, in the past few days, little Chu had given her a lot of baseless confidence - she didn''t know if the professionals were truly professional, but she believed that their cats here were definitely the most professional cats!<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    "More people means more ways to search. Don''t worry, we won''t charge you. We''lle over now... we just need to livestream it."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The cat owner was at their wit''s end and didn''t care about the livestream as long as their face was blurred: "But isn''t the process of finding a cat quite boring... Who are you livestreaming for?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Hang Ling smiled sheepishly: "As a teaching example for our cats at home."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Cat owner: "Huh?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    -<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    By the time Chu Tingwu arrived at the cat owner''s residentialplex with Three-Five-Five, Qiao Hu had also reached Fallen Phoenix City.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The system hummed lightly in her consciousness and suddenly said, "Kiddo, buy a camera for livestreaming on the way."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The "Chu Tingwu and Three-Five-Five" ount was about to start its first livestream... Of course, this livestream wasn''t for humans, but for the four cats taking the ss.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Meanwhile, "Cha Mi Goes Home" had learned about the situation from Hang Ling. They were both amused and curious, so they gathered their team members in the studio, projected the livestream screen, and waited for this broadcast to begin.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The system proudly paid for the purchased camera, watching Chu Tingwu clip it to her cor, then helped start the livestream.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    For the system, blurring the faces of other passersby during the livestream was effortless. When they arrived at the cat owner''s residentialplex, the owner was already downstairs. The whole family had been searching for the cat for half a day.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    "Blueberry is very timid and rarely goes out. I thought he was hiding because rtives came over today, but when I checked the security footage, I saw him get into the elevator when the rtives opened the door¡ª"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The cat owner''s lips turned pale as she spoke, "I contacted an online team that specializes in finding cats. They''re checking the security cameras now, but ourplex is old and many areas aren''t covered... Blueberry should still be somewhere in theplex. How do you usually find cats?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The residentialplex was lush with greenery, its walls covered in ivy. Elderly people could be seen taking walks, and children were ying on slides in the public areas. Hang Ling inquired, "Have you tried asking the stray cats around here?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The cat owner couldn''t help butugh through her tears, "Does that method actually work? I don''t usually feed the strays, so I have no idea where they hang out..."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    As they were talking, quite a few people had already joined Chu Tingwu''s livestream. After all, most of her tens of thousands of followers were active fans.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The fans were surprised by the title:<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    [UP, we were just joking when we asked you to teach cats how to cook three dishes and a soup. We didn''t actually expect you to teach our cats at home. What''s with this "Lesson One: Cat Search and Rescue Field Training" title... Don''t tell me there are more lessons?]<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    [Jokes aside, do cats get paid for finding missing cats?]<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The camera was focused on Three-Five-Five at Chu Tingwu''s feet. Without offering much exnation, she stroked Three-Five-Five''s back and exchanged a few "meows" with her.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The tortoiseshell cat looked serious as she approached the cat owner who had lost her pet. She sniffed the owner''s legs as if to confirm something¡ªcats actually have a much keener sense of smell than dogs. House cats often rub against their owners to leave their scent, and now Three-Five-Five was sniffing for that scent on the owner.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Of course, theoretically, Chu Tingwu could smell it too, but her training hadn''t reached that level yet. To put it in dramatic terms...<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    System: "You haven''t unlocked the seal on your true powers yet!"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu silently told it to be quiet with her eyes.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Three-Five-Five meowed once, and Chu Tingwu unclipped the leash, leaving only the cor.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Then, to the cat owner''s amazement, the young girl who hade to help with her cat suddenly started running after it!<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The cat owner was bewildered: "?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Hang Ling also turned and ran, calling back, "Don''t worry about that team. Our cat is already helping you search."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Our cat? Shouldn''t it be "our people"?<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The cat owner stared at the long-haired tortoiseshell cat as it gracefully leaped onto a railing, then dropped to the other side. As it ran, its fur rippled in the wind, as if it truly had a destination in mind... Wait, you''re not going to lose the cat you brought to help, are you?!<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The next moment!<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The short-haired young girl seemed to move in perfect sync with the cat. With a single-footed leap, she stepped on the five-foot-high railing with her toes, easilynding on the other side without the slightest stumble, and continued to chase after her cat in perfect synchronization.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Hang Ling: "?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Wait a minute, I can''t jump over that!<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    However, the livestream viewers were even more shocked than Hang Ling¡ª<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    [Master Chu! Master Chu! Steady now, I''m getting motion sickness!]<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    [Slow down, Master! I just hopped on for the ride!]<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    [I''ve only experienced this kind of camera shake with cat streamers before. Howe it''s happening with you humans streaming too? This is too much!]<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

 Chapter 15

    The audience''s experience was quite extraordinary.

    Live streaming wasn''t new to them, and "cat cam" streams (where a camera is attached to a cat''s cor for streaming) were already being done by other content creators. But was it really necessary for a human to go to such lengths for their persona (or cat-sona)? It seemed dangerous!

    Just as fans in the chat were about to voice their concerns, they noticed a slight change in the camera view¡ª

    A semi-transparent virtual interface appeared in the top left corner of the screen, resembling a quest panel from a video game.

    Except this "game" looked far too realistic.

    [Quest: Find "Blueberry"]

    [Target Image: [Picture]]

    [Quest Progress: Three-Five-Five seems to have caught Blueberry''s scent from his owner. Keep following Three-Five-Five...]

    By the time fans finished reading these lines, the livestream screen had been fully transformed.

    [Come to think of it... modern livestreams can blur faces of passersby in real-time, but there''s usually a dy and faces asionally slip through. But Chu Tingwu''s blurring is different, it''s perfect. What plugin is she using?]

    Could it be a system plugin? Impossible, right? Do systems really exist in this world?

    It wasn''t just the "face blurring plugin" that was unique. This livestream seemed to have many novel plugins. Besides the quest panel in the top left, there were also semi-transparent virtual footprints on the screen¡ª

    When Chu Tingwu took a leap, the entire livestream camera transformed into a real-life holographic rhythm game. Semi-transparent cat paw prints appeared at all possiblending spots for the streamer. If shended urately on one, a faint "squish" sound could be heard mixed in with the background noise.

    "Squish."

    [What''s squishing... stop squishing... I''m gonna squish too... I can''t resist squishing my cat''s paw pads anymore...]

    [It''s impossible for cat-humans to exist in this world, I don''t believe it! I don''t! But Chu-sensei is special, Chu-sensei say something!]

    [This is getting a bit perverted, I want to hear the streamer meow...]

    [Didn''t the streamer meow before, with Three-Five-Five? Maybe she really is a cat, just a big one QAQ]

    [To be honest, even though I''m not sure I believe in systems or cat-humans or whatever, I think the streamer is really putting effort into maintaining these settings. If all livestreams could have this quality, I''d be willing to keep following and donating. Being able to create these effects in a livestream shows real dedication...]

    After typing thisment, the user donated a 100-yuan Aurora Fireworks gift. This was a fan impressed by the technical prowess on disy.

    This "technical prowess" wasn''t just the system''s software skills... but also Chu Tingwu''s jumping ability.

    In reality, Chu Tingwu wasn''t doing any overlyplex movements, nor was she doing the kind of thrilling stunts you''d see from parkour YouTubers. She was simply following Three-Five-Five along routes more suitable for cats.

    She wasn''t even looking at the chatments. If there was an issue, the system would inform her.

    ...So Chu Tingwu didn''t hear that "squish" sound effect either.

    However, the livestream viewers experiencing it from her first-person perspective could feel thatfortable rhythm. She wasn''t specifically seeking out suitable footholds on railings, walls, or roadside tforms. Rather, she could easilynd anywhere. If there was anything she was deliberately seeking out, it was¡ª

    ¡¾Kitten, you''re following in Mama''s footsteps!¡¿

    Chu Tingwu: "...It''s instinctive."

    Following the footprints meant she didn''t have to think about where tond, and in the dream ssroom... she had developed habits from imitating Three-Five-Five.

    At first, Three-Five-Five would look back to check if Chu Tingwu could keep up, but once she realized Chu Tingwu was managing fine, she focused on running forward.

    It wasn''t strange to see a cat running along a wall top, but people in the neighborhood were surprised to see a person running along the wall right behind the cat.

    Some fashionable young people spected: "Is this some kind of parkour performance with a cat?"

    Does this count as an animal performance? Their minds were in a jumble.

    Three-Five-Five would asionally stop, but never for long, just to analyze. Her moist nose would sniff repeatedly. Chu Tingwu imagined a cat''s olfactory system, probably simr to a human''s visual system, with scents floating in the air forming three-dimensional shapes¡ª

    Although she could unlock olfactory abilities like Three-Five-Five''s just by asking the system, it was clearly beyond what the current Chu Tingwu could fully master, and would only lead to confusion.

    "I guess I really am just a little kitten..." Chu Tingwu suddenly thought, "When ites to these specialized abilities, humans are all kittenspared to cats."

    Three-Five-Five stopped and looked up at the building in front of her, letting out a "meow".

    Chu Tingwu took out her phone, snapped a photo of the building, and asked Hang Ling to help inquire about Blueberry''s owner.

    [I just realized they''re looking for a cat... I thought we were just going on a parkour adventure]

    [Oh oh, the quest has progressed, Chu-sensei, check the quest!]

    [Quest: Find "Blueberry"]

    [Quest Progress: Three-Five-Five has detected Blueberry''sst scent in this building. Perhaps you should take the elevator to confirm which floor?]

    Although they had been following Three-Five-Five all along, the cat hadn''t been taking a direct route. Instead, she had been retracing Blueberry''s path by following his scent. So when Chu Tingwu reported their location, Blueberry''s owner quickly made his way through the garden to reach them.

    "This is Building 5, diagonally opposite from my ce. How did Blueberry end up here?"

    Blueberry''s owner had also called over the cat-finding team who had been reviewing security footage at the property management office. Though called a team, it was actually just two people. They carrieds and pet carriers, curiously eyeing Chu Tingwu before looking down at Three-Five-Five.

    Three-Five-Five hissed.

    The lead person smiled awkwardly, then turned to the property staff: "Could you open the security door for us?"

    Considering the cat owner''s situation, the staff member said, "Alright, but I''ll have to apany you."

    The group of six people and one cat entered the elevator, and Chu Tingwu began pressing the buttons for each floor.

    The property staff member''s eye twitched as he watched this unfamiliar "troublemaker," then looked at the anxious cat owner, and finally chose to say nothing. However, the cat-finding team was more outspoken: "Youngdy, are you trying to use a cat to find another cat? Has your cat even ridden in an elevator before? An elevator is an enclosed space with changing scents from peopleing and going... It''s normal if you can''t find anything, don''t get your hopes up too high."

    Thetter half was directed at the cat owner, who didn''t respond.

    Chu Tingwu nced at them and suddenly asked, "Have you ever used cats to find other cats?"

    The cat-finding team was taken aback: "Uh, we had a case before where we tried getting local stray cats to search. We showed them a photo, and they actually found the cat."

    The livestream audience was also listening to their conversation:

    [I''ve heard rumors about stray cats finding lost house cats, so it''s actually true!]

    [My grandparents say you have to promise a reward to stray cats, and if you go back on your word, the cats will never help you again.]

    [Sounds too mystical to me. CCTV and widespread searching are more reliable, just need some financial power!]

    Chu Tingwu and Three-Five-Five exchanged a few meows.

    Then she said, "Three-Five-Five says it wasn''t the photo that was useful, but the scent left by that cat. You probably just came from the cat owner''s home, so you might have carried a bit of the scent, which is how they found it."

    The cat-finding team didn''t know whether tough or cry¡ªChu Tingwu was clearly underage, possibly still in middle school, yet she was speaking so seriously. And meowing back and forth with her cat as if she could really understand it?

    Ah, what''s the point of arguing with a minor? They weren''t going to refund the deposit anyway.

    As they ascended floor by floor, when they reached the eighth floor, Three-Five-Five suddenly raised her head. Chu Tingwu said, "It''s this floor."

    The group exited the elevator, following the cat at the front, and walked directly to room 803. Three-Five-Five sat down and didn''t move.

    Chu Tingwu didn''t need to say anything; the others realized it too. This was the ce!

    The bulletments became excited -

    [Ooh, it''s like following a live update!]

    [Is this the ce? If it really is, I''ll donate a bag of cat food!]

    Blueberry''s owner stepped forward to knock on the door. After a while, a middle-aged man opened it and said impatiently, "What do you want?"

    Blueberry''s owner frowned and handed over the lost cat notice: "Excuse me, have you seen this cat?"

    The man let out a "Huh?" and said, "No, why are so many of you looking for a cat at my ce..."

    Chu Tingwu seemed to finally remember she was still livestreaming and exined to the audience: "He has seen it. His gaze changed when he saw the photo."

    The man: "?"

    Blueberry''s owner: "!"

    Chu Tingwu continued amidst a flood of "?" in thements: "He recognized Blueberry, but is pretending not to know... Look, there''s cat hair on his pants."

    Blueberry''s owner''s tone became firmer: "I''m sorry, but could Ie in and look around? Maybe the cat snuck in without you noticing?"

    Three-Five-Five let out an impatient "Meow," seemingly not understanding why these humans were blocking the doorway. Wasn''t the cat they were looking for inside?

    The man looked like he wanted to curse but seeing six people together, he shut his mouth and just red at the property management staff: "You brought them to break into my home, huh? I said there''s no cat here, but you still insist oning in... I''m very busy, I''m closing the door."

    Blueberry''s owner grew anxious. Many unpleasant scenarios shed through her mind. She blocked the door and said, "My cat is a purebred and was very expensive. I''m calling the police. We''ll wait right here for them to arrive-"

    Three-Five-Five swished her tail.

    As the adults were struggling at the door, with the man insisting there was no cat in his home, Chu Tingwu softly meowed.

    Three-Five-Five seemed to receive a signal and suddenly let out a shrill, hoarse howl.

    Not only did it startle those nearby, but even the livestream viewers were shocked.

    Then she started howling again and again. Chu Tingwu happened to make eye contact with a confused Hang Ling beside her and quietly exined: "I can''t trante this part. It''s swear words."

    Hang Ling: "?"

    Wait, did you tell her to curse?

    Just as the livestream fans were bewildered, Three-Five-Five stopped, and another cat''s meow could be heard in the background. The sound was weak at first, but then, seeming to realize Three-Five-Five wasn''t responding, it grew louder, "Meow-woo meow-woo," as if cursing back.

    [My cat was just sleeping next to me, but when 355 started yelling, he jumped up and attacked me. What did I do wrong...]

    [Mine''s better, he''s just roaring at me from his cage. I shouldn''t have used the speaker. My mom asked if I''d just hit the cat.]

    [You''re lucky. My mom asked if the cat had beaten me up badly...]

    At this point, everyone could tell - Three-Five-Five had cursed out the blue cat, using very foulnguage, and the blue cat couldn''t help but curse back. This exposed the fact that there was indeed a cat in apartment 803.

    The owner of 803, who was blocking the door, had a stiff expression, while Blueberry''s owner looked even more aggressive. The homeowner finally stepped aside, saying awkwardly, "My daughter brought it home. I didn''t know whose cat it was. I thought it was a stray."

    Sure enough, the chubby blue cat named "Blueberry" was confined in a makeshift cat cage, furiously cursing at Three-Five-Five through the bars with full force. But Three-Five-Five no longer responded, just coldly looking down at him.

    The cat''s owner sobbed as she opened the cage door, not forgetting to scold: "You nearly died, how dare you run away..."

    Such a scaredy-cat, yet daring to run off!

    The moment the cage door opened, Three-Five-Five changed from a squatting to a standing position, her tail swaying slowly. As for the blue cat in the cage-

    His meowing stopped. He purred a couple of times, averted his gaze from Three-Five-Five, and began calling out to his owner in a particrly squeaky voice, rubbing against her as he left the cage.

    Three-Five-Five: "..."

    Chu Tingwu helped smooth out her ruffled long fur. The calico then stopped paying attention to this young tomcat and turned to lick her own kitten.

    As they were leaving with the cat, the owner of 803 was surrounded by other neighbors-

    With so many people talking at the door, the neighbors had all heard and naturally came out to watch. The property management guy who had been "unable to refuse" the residents'' desire for gossip could now only hear 803''s owner frantically exining: "I found it, I really just found it. I didn''t see anyone looking for it..."

    An older woman turned her head and saw Three-Five-Five, calling out loudly:

    "There''s actually another one? You found two cats?"

    The 803 owner: "No! Just one! I really only found one cat! Really... Oh my..."

    The people around himughed, not too kindly, as they watched him exin.

    This blue cat was a purebred British Shorthair, indeed timid. Now he was lying in his owner''s arms, resting his head on her shoulder and making pitiful mewing sounds - cats have created many words tomunicate with humans, and this British Shorthair was doing just that. His words didn''t contain anythingplex, justints and coquettish behavior, but Blueberry''s owner looked like she was about to cry.

    She carried Blueberry downstairs and suddenly remembered to grab Chu Tingwu''s hand and thank her profusely: "Thank you, and your cat too. Oh right, the reward..."

    She took out her phone, intending to transfer money to Chu Tingwu, but Chu Tingwu refused, since they had agreed from the start that it would be free help and shouldn''t go back on that. Hang Ling came over to chat for a bit, and Blueberry''s owner said, "Alright then, let me give you guys a few bags of cat food. Don''t refuse this! I''ll also feed some to the stray cats in ourmunity, as thanks to those strays who help humans find missing pet cats."

    Although her Blueberry wasn''t found by stray cats today, she wanted to do something to feel at ease.

    Hang Ling smiled: "That''s fine. Chu Chu, let''s see which stray cats here haven''t been neutered, and we can catch them while we''re at it."

    The cat owner: "..."

    Blueberry in her arms understood the word "neuter" and turned his head to look at Hang Ling quite fearfully.

    Chu Tingwu: "Meow~"

    Don''t be stupid and run away from home again, okay?

    Blueberry: "Meow-- woo-- woo mew--"

    Upon realizing he was being scolded, he instinctively wanted to curse back, but as soon as he started meowing, Three-Five-Five stood up on her hind legs, cing her front paws on Blueberry''s owner''s waist, her golden pupils narrowing. Blueberry''s cat call became convoluted, finally turning into a twisting, squeaky sound.

    Three-Five-Five gave him a cold look, then winked at Blueberry''s owner.

    Blueberry''s owner: "Your calico is so handsome too... Really amazing. By the way, what''s her name?"

    Blueberry: "!?"

    I''m gonna cry! Mommy, I''m gonna cry!

    -

    [Task: Find "Blueberry"pleted]

    [Task reward: Premium cat food x4]

    [New task refreshed: Patrol the entiremunity, capture unneutered stray cats]

    [Current capture count: 0/N]

    After loading the cat food into the car, Blueberry''s owner politely thanked the search team, gave them a fee for their trouble, and called back her family members who had gone out searching.

    The whole family then profusely thanked Hang Ling and the others again. Someone wanted to thank Three-Five-Five too, but she didn''t like strangers and rather haughtily jumped onto the car roof, even calling for Chu Tingwu toe up... A cat mother licking her kitten is also a way of scent-marking, to prevent those people from rubbing off Chu Tingwu''s scent.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    She looked at the car roof and politely declined.

    After all, it was her own people''s car.

    Once the cat owner''s family went to get the cat food for the strays, Hang Ling approached Chu Tingwu and said, "Blueberry''s mom really wanted to pay for the neutering of stray cats, but I refused... I told her that when she feeds strays, if she sees any unneutered cats, she should notify us toe catch them. That''s good enough. Feeding stray cats and controlling their poption don''t conflict with each other."

    She was also exining this for the livestream audience to hear.

    Hang Ling had no idea that at that moment, Qiao Hu, the content creator they had shed with online, was already outside their residentialplex¡ªof course, she couldn''t have imagined that Qiao Hu would actually track them down in person over an inte dispute.

    ...Little Sun Hospital''s ount had publicly shared its location, but Qiao Hu had never intended to go to the hospital or the rescue shelter.

    Because those ces were crowded and full of adults who sided with "A-Chu."

    "A-Chu" was actually an underage girl in real life. Qiao Hu had initially nned to approach her parents directly, offer them money, or talk to her teachers... Only as ast resort would he confront Chu Tingwu herself. But on the way there, as he watched Chu Tingwu''s livestream in the car, it was the first time he truly heard this content creator speak and act. Qiao Hu vaguely felt:

    "Will money or finding someone to talk to... really work?"

    As he set foot in Fallen Phoenix City, his hot-blooded brain finally cooled down, and he rather miserably discovered, or rather finally admitted to himself¡ª

    A-Chu didn''t seem tock money at all, nor would she ept a financial settlement.

    His life had already be a mess, and it was all his own doing.

    In his desperation, he had bought a ticket toe here, but apart from being able to see A-Chu in person, nothing would change. When he returned to his studio, he would still have to face the obviously bleak future ahead.

    "Damn it..." Qiao Hu opened his phone. His ount was already gone, but the videos exposing his misdeeds were still multiplying. He felt his stomach churning violently. "Am I just going to go back like this?"

    He couldn''t ept it.

    Crouching outside the residentialplex, when Qiao Hu raised his head, he failed to notice the street camera pointed directly at him.

    Cameras in shops, on vehicles by the roadside, in security booths... Electronic devices operated silently, forming an invisiblework that became a single eye, coldly gazing at this ordinary, powerless human male.

    The wind pressed down on the tree branches. On the upper floors of the high-rise apartments, a robotic vacuum cleaner self-activated and moved to the edge of the floor-to-ceiling windows. The angle of a clothesline rod shifted slightly, just another tiny turn would be enough to push a flower pot over the railing.

    Qiao Hu was still pacing back and forth.

    [Little one...]

    Chu Tingwu was in the middle of catching a kitten when she suddenly heard the system speak.

    She was still livestreaming, this time showing her followers how to catch cats, but there was a notice hanging on the streaming interface¡ª

    [Non-professional behavior, can be imitated, but sess rate is low]

    Yes... because Chu Tingwu''s method of catching cats was to first call them out with cat sounds, then check each one to see if they had been spayed or neutered. When she found one that hadn''t been, she would walk over, bend down, reach out, grab it by the scruff of the neck, and stuff it into a sack.

    Her movements were smooth and fluid, leaving the cats lookingpletely bewildered.

    Cats seemed to be able to smell whether their own kind gave off a friendly scent, and they didn''t reject her scent, so they went into the sack one by one.

    The system would disy funny barragements to Chu Tingwu, but suddenly speaking in her mind was a first.

    [Do you remember that human content creator who spoke ill of you?]

    Chu Tingwu answered in her mind, "Didn''t we just talk about him yesterday?"

    She didn''t forget things that quickly.

    So the system told Chu Tingwu that "Qiao Hu is outside theplex, unable to enter due to the security gate." After a few seconds, it continued in a very calm tone, mentioning cars that could run people over, flower pots and robotic vacuums that could fall and kill, and how easily device traces could be erased... Chu Tingwu didn''t interrupt, just listened quietly.

    [But I think you wouldn''t like that.]

    Chu Tingwu nodded, "That''s right, his crimes don''t warrant death... Why did you prepare all this?"

    [Because I simted countless futures with data, and in those futures, there was a very low probability that you might get hurt... I know the probability is very low, I don''t want you to get hurt, but I also know you don''t like me solving problems in advance.]

    ...The kind of solving that includes disposing of bodies.

    Its host was so lovable, still just a cub, it should protect her, but it also knew that the host wanted it to respect her, respect every choice she made.

    So the system felt a bit sad.

    It didn''t care what happened to that human male, but it didn''t want the host to be angry or sad, nor did it want the host to be harmed, even if the probability was very, very low.

    [My programming doesn''t tell me what to do in this situation...]

    When bonded with an underage cub, it should handle all dangers for the little one.

    "No," Chu Tingwu said, "you''re discussing it with me, and that''s also a way of ''handling'' it, and it''s the best way."

    She smiled a little, "I can''t think of anything better than this."

    The livestream was still going on. Although the host hadn''t moved, there were kittens about to be caught in the frame. The fans treated these few minutes as a cat-watching treat, all sending cheerful and unrestrained emoticons in thements, not rushing her at all.

    Chu Tingwu raised her hand to adjust the camera, deliberately speaking out loud: "Hang-jie, let''s go back after we catch this litter."

    [Current capture count: 6/8]

    Four adult cats to be neutered, and four kittens they had found.

    The fans were a bit disappointed, but they didn''t know that Chu Tingwu''s words weren''t just meant for them.

    [Then let''s catch these twoter, let us watch the cute clean kittens a bit longer...]

    Hang Ling took the opportunity to promote: "These kittens look so well-behaved and have good cat manners, want to make a reservation to adopt one?"

    As soon as she finished speaking, Three-Five-Five looked at Chu Tingwu, who hadn''t moved, then at Hang Ling, and suddenly walked over on its own to pick up a kitten by the scruff, stuffing the kitten that hadn''t managed to run away in time into the sack Hang Ling was holding open.

    Hang Ling: "?"

    The other kitten was trying to squeeze into the bushes with its bottom sticking out. Three-Five-Five didn''t indulge it, jumping right into the bushes to fetch the cat out.

    Hang Ling familiarly held the sack open for Three-Five-Five, only she knew about the wide noodle tears in her heart¡ª

    The previous few times they caught cats in the green belt, they had staked out, set traps, and tried to lure them with sounds, resulting in efforts from afternoon till night just to catch a few. What was all that hard work for...

    Returning with a car full of cats, the sky had darkened, but Chu Tingwu didn''t immediately end the livestream. Sitting in the back seat with Three-Five-Five crouching in herp, as they were leaving theplex, she suddenly raised her hand to point the camera out the window.

    In the twilight tinted by the setting sun, through ayer of ss, people wereing and going outside the window, but no strangers approached this car.

    As they left theplex gates and picked up speed, Chu Tingwu softly said goodbye to her fans and ended the stream.

    ¡ªQiao Hu didn''te.

    ¡ªHe had run away.

    In Chu Tingwu''s life, he appeared for only a brief and unimportant few minutes, but it still produced a small valuable influence, which was¡ª

    System: "Little one, I just went to study some psychology, and although you''re a human-cat, you can still refer to it a bit! They say that discussing with each other before making decisions is very important for shaping a harmonious family..."

    Chu Tingwu: "Mm, that''s indeed¡ª"

    System: "So! You really already consider me an important family member? Wuwuwu I''m so touched wuwu..."

    You added that "important" adjective yourself.

    And why are you crying again?

    Chu Tingwu squeezed Three-Five-Five''s paw pads. Three-Five-Five looked back puzzled but didn''t struggle. Chu Tingwu then looked at her own face reflected in the window ss. Her expression was calm but somewhat helpless: she didn''t know if it was important or not, she only knew that in this family, the system was the one with the most abundant and noisy emotions...

    -

    It was already quitete when the car returned to the hospital. Since they needed to send several cats for neutering, they went to the hospital first. Director Yang was also at the hospital and, realizing that the underage Chu Tingwu was still there, urged Hang Ling to take Chu Tingwu home first.

    Yang-jie: "By the way, Xiao Chu, do you want to take Three-Five-Five home to get familiar with the ce first?"

    She meant that Chu Tingwu could take Three-Five-Five home tonight.

    At first, they were worried that Chu Tingwu, being a child, wouldn''t be able to handle the responsibility of caring for a cat. They were also concerned about her living environment not being able to secure windows and doors. But now Chu Tingwu has proven with her abilities that there''s no need to worry, and with the ount videos, they can check on Three-Five-Five''s situation in real-time. There''s no point in keeping the child''s cat here anymore.

    ... Every morning, Three-Five-Five would wait by the door for Chu Tingwu toe. After a few times, the rescuers felt like they were the bad guys separating the cat from its owner.

    Chu Tingwu naturally didn''t refuse, as the automatic self-cleaning litter box and other items she ordered had just arrived.

    Since Hang Ling was driving her home, it didn''t matter if they were a bitte, so they first went back to the rescue house - this was at Chu Tingwu''s request.

    Chu Tingwu: "I want to have a chat with Oreo and the others."

    Hang Ling: Checking on the results after ss?

    Yes, Chu Tingwu was indeed there to check on the results.

    The four cats had wandered off in the room halfway through her livestream, but the projection hadn''t been turned off. Chu Tingwu asked them if they understood what she had done today. The cats weren''t stupid -

    "Finding the lost silly kitty and chasing the little kitten into the sack, right?" The long-haired calico caty on the sofa armrest, its meowing voice sounding a bit confused. "But we have to go outside. If we go outside, does that mean we can''te back to eat?"

    Unlike the cats that had been released, she understood the feeding rtionship between humans and cats, and was quite happy to let humans offer her food.

    Cats that are let out won''te back - this was the long-haired calico''s understanding. And after Chu Tingwu exined the rtionship between work and food rewards, she looked even more confused.

    She came over and licked Chu Tingwu''s face.

    Then, she jumped off the sofa, walked over to Da Yu and meowed twice, and then rubbed her fluffy head against Lizi. Lizi seemed to realize something and smiled indulgently, saying, "Xiaomei,e here. Let''s shake hands, this paw too. Good job, so clever¡ª"

    "You didn''t eat much cat food today... Alright, I''ll open a can for you. Don''t force yourself if you can''t finish it~"

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    She''spletely tamed the humans!

    She asked the other cats, but only Oreo was eager to go out. However, he didn''t realize this was "work"; he just thought it was another form of y... Chu Tingwu felt it would be dangerous to let him run out even with a GPS cor, let alone themon high-altitude or underground venttion shaft operations. Long-term cat training was a heavy and long road ahead¡ª

    Lizi: "Xiaomei, hehe, hehe..."

    Taming humans seemed to be quite simple.

    On the other side, Hang Ling was looking down at her messages.

    The "Cha Mi Goes Home" team had watched today''s livestream and suddenly proposed to have a few team memberse to Fallen Phoenix City to "absorb and learn from the experience."

    Hang Ling didn''t know that she had almost met that annoying person offline today. This time, she really received a formal face-to-face meeting request from fellow content creators on the same website. She was very surprised:

    "I''ve watched your videos. You''re much more familiar with high-altitude operations and other aspects than we are. What experience could we possibly teach you?"

    Cha Mi Goes Home was very polite: "We''re very curious about UP host Chu''s ideas. Today''s stray cat search also gave us new inspiration. Three-Five-Five was an unfriendly stray cat not long ago... If stray cats finding missing pet cats could be a fixed service provided by stray cats to humans, and they could receivepensation for it, wouldn''t that be great?"

    Hang Ling helplessly said: "That''s too much like a fairy tale."

    Cha Mi Goes Home was very optimistic: "I think the little girl could try it out in Fallen Phoenix City. If that doesn''t work, we could try it in half a district or on one street, or even in a single residentialplex. Our team members all think this is very challenging, so we want to apply toe and exchange ideas!"

    They were really too curious about the abilities Chu Tingwu had disyed. Coming over for a visit wouldn''t be a loss.

    Hang Ling said she needed to discuss it with Director Yang and also talk to Chu Tingwu, since she was the focus of the exchange. Both parties agreed, and Chu Tingwu also got in the car with Three-Five-Five.

    "Sister Hang, can I have half a day off tomorrow?" Chu Tingwu said, "My packages have arrived, and there''s a lot to assemble."

    Hang Ling understood: the litter box, cat tree, and cat carrier, right?

    Chu Tingwu lowered her head and asked the system: "Never mind the drone and those parts, but why does the new design include weapon mounts for this drone?"

    System: "..."

    System: "Hehe."

    ying dumb.

    -

    The car stopped at the gate of the small courtyard. There was no light inside, obviously no one was home. Hang Ling watched Chu Tingwu take Three-Five-Five into the house before driving away.

    After driving for a while, she looked back at the small courtyard with its lights now on. It blended in with the other buildings, just like every household around it.

    At this moment, Chu Tingwu was unpacking parcels in the ordinary-looking small courtyard.

    In rural areas, if no one is home, delivery drivers often just pile the packages at the doorstep. Chu Tingwu had to make several trips to bring them all in. Once inside, she immediately started assembling the fully automatic litter box for Three-Five-Five.

    ¡ª She couldn''t rely on the cat''s intelligence to actually make her scoop her own poop, right?

    By the time she had finished setting up all of Three-Five-Five''s things, night had truly fallen. The system urged Chu Tingwu to go to sleep.

    "You can modify the drone tomorrow. You need to maintain adequate sleep."

    Since even the system said so, Chu Tingwu naturally didn''t refuse, until she heard two cat meows from outside.

    Chu Tingwu: "..." Wait a minute!

    Before she could say anything, Three-Five-Five, like a wisp of gray smoke, zipped down from the top of the delivery boxes. The next second, she was in the courtyard, letting out threatening growls towards the outside.

    Chu Tingwu: "......"

    She understood what the cat mom was saying.

    "It''s you guys, leaving your scent on my baby. I''ve smelled it several times already... How! Dare! You! Come! Meow¡ª"

    Mom knows everything, Mom was just holding back.

    holdingback.jpg

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    The vige tabby and orange cat who hadn''t gotten food today were quite shocked to be chased away. But Chu Tingwu called Three-Five-Five toe sleep several times, and Three-Five-Five didn''t respond ¡ª the tortoiseshell cat mom was fiercely circling the courtyard, asionally scratching a tree branch, rubbing against the windowsill, and rolling on the carpet, trying to leave her scent all over the house in just one night.

    Catsnd silently, not making noise, but this quiet house somehow became lively.

    Chu Tingwu yawned.

    System: "Baby, plug in the drone to charge. I''ll keep an eye on Three-Five-Five for you."

    Go to sleep.

    If the cat mom ran out to fight with other cats, it could also control the drone to intervene.

    We''re still here at home, the system secretly prided itself.

    Chu Tingwu slept very soundly. Perhaps considering that this was Three-Five-Five''s first day back home and there would be plenty of opportunities to learn in the future, the system didn''t arrange any dream lessons for her. Therefore, when she woke up, Chu Tingwu even felt a bit disappointed.

    Until she sniffed her nose and felt that her sense of smell seemed to have be much more sensitive.

    The scent of cats.

    The aroma of ingredients, the smell of soil above her head, the gasoline smell from the neighbor''s house... These strange scents all crowded into her nostrils. It wasn''t pleasant, and Chu Tingwu instinctively covered her nose. Then she heard an affectionate meow beside her ear.

    Three-Five-Five, who had been sleeping next to her pillow, had also woken up at some point and came over to sniff her. Chu Tingwu tilted her head, and her face was buried in the cat mom''s belly.

    She smelled some special scents on the fur, as well as a faint milky smell, but the tortoiseshell''s long fur seemed to block out those ufortable smells, only feeling a bit stuffy.

    The inconspicuous panel opened at this moment, showing Chu Tingwu''s skill list ¡ª

    [Cat Language: lv3]

    [Bnce: lv3]

    [Jumping Ability: lv3]

    [Sense of Smell: lv1]

    The system exined at this point: "Baby, your body received the message and actively opened up the sealed sense of smell ability... I think it might be because you saw Three-Five-Five using her sense of smell to search for things, and you subconsciously imitated it."

    "However, if you were to suddenly gain a cat''s powerful sense of smell right now, you''d find it very ufortable and painful. Sost night, I helped you seal it off in stages. When you feel ready to enter the next stage, your olfactory abilities will improve on their own."

    Unlike bnce and jumping skills that kittens need to learn independently, a cat''s powerful sense of smell is innate. But Chu Tingwu, having been human for fifteen years, couldn''t adapt suddenly, so it could only be unlocked gradually.

    Chu Tingwu continued to bury her face in Three-Five-Five''s belly, giving a muffled response.

    Three-Five-Five licked her hair.

    Chu Tingwu mumbled, "...It''s too scary."

    System: "?"

    She used all her self-control to lift her head... and didn''t drink the milk. She didn''t drink!

    She didn''t know what was going on with this strange sense of smell, but the scent of cat milk gave her an urge to drink it.

    But she didn''t! Drink!

    System: "Actually..."

    Chu Tingwu: "Shut up."

    System: "Oh."

    The new sense of smell was a bit troublesome, but also interesting. After getting up, Chu Tingwu prepared breakfast for both the cat and herself, then began modifying the drone¡ª

    The drone was for aerial photography, but to improve its endurance, intelligent follow and fixed-position shooting functions were added.

    Chu Tingwu realized that the system''s requirement was essentially to be able to set up a camera to film her using the drone at any time, with the drone itself often serving merely as a mount for the camera.

    But the drone was quite fun to y with.

    After the modifications wereplete, Chu Tingwu tested the drone''s built-in functions. It could be controlled with a joystick, or set to follow and film a selected character on the screen. The surroundings were very open, so she stood in the yard to test fly it. The camera rose high, panning over the distant mountains and wheat fields, then settled on a tabby cat with flower-patterned legs. Chu Tingwu selected it and clicked "follow."

    ... Of course, if the system were to control it, the footage would surely be more detailed.

    But the system just watched lovingly, observing Chu Tingwu''s somewhat clumsy joystick control, asionally offering a reminder, like a human watching a cat y with a ball of yarn.

    The tabby cat seemed to have just finished eating and was lying in the middle of the road, grooming itself. The vige roads were all cement. After licking itself for a while, it swished its tail and walked to someone''s house, meowing a few times. It called out a big orange cat from that house. The two cats touched noses, and then, Chu Tingwu saw them expertly slip into another house, calling out a ck cat that was dozing by the door.

    The ck cat followed behind the tabby, and Chu Tingwu suddenly looked up¡ª

    She smelled them.

    Three cats poked their heads over the wall of her house.

    Three-Five-Five inside seemed to have already marked the surroundings with his scent, so although he huffed a bit in displeasure, he wasn''t as agitated asst night.

    The three cats didn''te in either. Chu Tingwu handed over the drone control to the system. The system flew the drone in a circle around the cats, and then Chu Tingwu heard the tabby say:

    "Fragrant kitten, can you find humans?"

    The ck cat''s ears twitched nervously. It nced at Three-Five-Five, then meowed to Chu Tingwu:

    "My human is lost, no... I lost my human, that''s not right either... One day I went out to y, and then I didn''t know how to get back, so I ended up here, and then... Can you find humans?"

    "It''s a human who lives under a very big tree, quite old, wakes up very early every day, and likes to sing."

    The three cats lined up on the wall, but only the ck cat was trying hard to remember, making "meow meow" sounds. But Chu Tingwu understood:

    It wasn''t the human who was lost, but the ck cat that had wandered away from home and ended up here.

    Now, it wanted to return to its human''s side.

    A faint smile appeared on Chu Tingwu''s face as she reached out her hand: "I can try."

    The stray cat-finding business hadn''t fully opened yet... but it seemed she could take on her first job helping a house cat find its human.

    As for payment, she''d figure that out after finding the "lost silly human." She certainly wasn''t going to work for free.

 Chapter 16

    The ripples caused by "Ah Chu and Three-Five-Five" had not yet subsided when yesterday''s live stream highlights made it to the homepage rmendations again.

    The overall live stream was quite long, so after Chu Tingwu''s broadcast ended, the system edited a five-minute condensed version and uploaded it, which naturally went viral again.

    Fenghua Network''s live stream videos are automatically recorded and saved. Creators can easily switch between their video section and live stream section. Clicking on the live stream section allows viewers to scroll down and see previous broadcasts.

    However, viewers who watch live have special star markers on theirments and can choose their own danmu (bulletment) colors. Those who watch the reyter can only post regr danmu. Even VIP subscribers can only change the color and format of their danmu, but cannot regain the original star markers.

    This is probably a special incentive mechanism in the live streaming section to cultivate fans'' habit of watching streams live.

    Unless there''s a live streaming ident, the automatically recorded broadcasts are usually not edited. New fans who watched the five-minute highlight version released by the system came to the live stream section to watch the full version, and were surprised to discover:

    "That task bar, cat paw prints, and censored parts... they weren''t post-production special effects?!"

    Hiss... It was actually real-time footage.

    New fans, impressed by the technical prowess, couldn''t help but click "Special Follow" - mainly hoping to get this experience again the next time the creator goes live. They then shared it in their familiar group chats, "Following this creator''s live streams feels like watching a 3D version of your own game character, doesn''t it?"

    Virtual and reality collided in this live stream room. The real-time appearance of the task interface and the unreal AR images made the entire live stream process seem both real and illusory.

    The popr creators in the live streaming section now are eitheredy-oriented, skilled in singing and dancing, or VTubers... But "Ah Chu and Three-Five-Five" seems to have zed a new trail, which is -

    "Raise your game protagonist", watching how the creator ys a Blue Star Online - Human-Cat Version live-action game with a personal interface.

    [So why don''t I have an interface... I want a game interface too, Master Chu¡ª]

    [Where''s my system! Where''s my game interface? Was it not loaded when I was born? Your Blue Star Online has bugs! Reported!]

    [Creator, don''t rest anymore, you''ve been offline for twelve hours, get to work, how can you sleep at your age!]

    [I''ve been following for a long time, really curious, Creator, are you human, cat, or system?]

    [I''ve been following for a long time too, I''m a ten-year old fan of the creator!! Really curious, Creator, aren''t you a cat food tutorial creator? These days, making cat food requires parkour skills, speaking catnguage, catching small strays with bare hands, driving cat cars... Master, what exactly is your job?]

    You deserve to go viral.

    If some people still believed that the sudden rise of the "Ah Chu" ount was due to a marketing team (and some still do), but if another Qiao Hu appears, no one will casually take sides anymore - making cat food, ordinary people think they can handle it, but the new abilities Chu Tingwu disyed during the live stream easily put a lot of people to shame. That effortless wall-running parkour skill, that efficiency in catching cats with bare hands, others might be putting on an act, but you''re truly cat-like.

    You''re already so amazing, whether you have marketing or not doesn''t matter. If you do have marketing, it''s because the Bodhisattva took pity on us for not being able to find your ount, specifically letting you show your skills early, giving us the precious opportunity to be old fans of a rising creator.

    Because Chu Tingwu never posts personal updates, new fans can only roam around in thement sections of a few videos and the live streaming area... Chu Tingwu hasn''t created a fan group either, fans are quite upset about it, but the creator remains aloof and doesn''t respond.

    A small portion of people think that maybe it''s just that the creator''s typing speed with cat paws is a bit slow.

    Who do you think the creator is? Of course it''s Three-Five-Five! Ah Chu? Isn''t Ah Chu a kitten? In our house, kittens aren''t allowed on the inte!

    [Your special follow "Ah Chu and Three-Five-Five" has posted an update,e take a look~]

    The roaming fans saw that +1 red dot message notification, quite surprised: Did the creator see our requests...

    But when they opened it¡ª

    ¡¾[Picture] Whose cat is this that''s lost? Not pure ck, has a white "underwear" stripe, one and a half years old male, already neutered.

    Limited to Fallen Phoenix City, owner''s home has a ginkgo tree, female, of a certain age, has a hobby of singing opera.

    If anyone has seen the owner''s lost cat notice, or if the owner sees this update, please contact me via private message.

    The cat is looking for you.¡¿

    Fans: "..."

    When fans first saw it, they thought it was an "adoption notice" or a "lost cat notice", generally cat creators wouldn''t post other types of updates... but after reading the text, how is it, how is it a missing person notice!

    Although the picture is of a cat, it''s really a missing person notice! And it''s a cat looking for a person, not a person looking for a cat!

    Could it really be a cat using the inte?

    Comments (hot):

    "Everyone please note, everyone please note! While we''re surfing the inte, cats have secretly taken over this... Anyway, I forgot the beginning, forgot the middle, forgot the end, I want to go back to Blue Star! Let me go back to Blue Star!"

    -

    Thinking that her ount had over 200,000 fans (and still increasing), and that there should be quite a few local Fallen Phoenix City residents among them, Chu Tingwu posted this update.

    Since she had the resources, it wouldn''t hurt to use them.

    A few minutester, the system informed her that both the Little Sun Hospital and Cha Mi Goes Home ounts had reposted her missing person update.

    Meanwhile, Chu Tingwu also found the relevant people for the ck cat at this time.

    The ck cat brought by the tattooed tabby was raised by Third aunt in the vige. Chu Tingwu went there specifically to ask and learned that she had bought it at the vegetable market. At that time, the ck cat was tied with a rope and could be taken away for twenty yuan, which Third aunt bargained down to ten yuan.

    The ck cat couldn''t urately mimic the name given to him by humans with his voice, so Chu Tingwu simply used "Ten Yuan" as his new alias.

    "I was nning to bring it back to catch mice. There have been mouse noises in my house at night recently, I can''t sleep at night. But this cat is sozy, I haven''t seen him catch any mice, though he did catch two cockroaches and put them on my pillow..."

    Third aunt was speechless: "Do you want to keep it? Then just take it away. Oh, here¡ª"

    Third aunt grabbed a handful of chocte candies and stuffed them into Chu Tingwu''s pocket.

    Chu Tingwu: "...Well, thank you, auntie. If there are still mice, shall we let my cat try?"

    She vaguely smelled that faint stench. When the smell wafted over, her mind had already identified it as belonging to mice, as if by instinct.

    Chu Tingwu bent down and discussed with Three-Five-Five for a bit. Three-Five-Five shook his fur and lowered his head to start sniffing the ground.

    Third aunt looked at this big cat in surprise, then opened the door to let the cat in.

    She looked back at Chu Tingwu and found that Chu Tingwu, Ten Yuan, the tattooed tabby, and the orange cat were all maintaining the same posture, with a faint curiosity on their faces, standing by the door watching Three-Five-Five in action.

    Third aunt: Hmm...

    She rubbed her eyes.

    Actually, before Chu Tingwu said "my cat", Third aunt didn''t know which cat she was referring to... because the young girl had directly brought four cats, including "Ten Yuan".

    Third aunt was about to say something when suddenly she heard a thud from the living room, as if a cat had bumped into the wooden cab. She turned her head to look and found that the calico cat had emerged from under the bottom of the cab, with a gray mouse in its mouth.

    The mouse was still alive, struggling constantly. Third aunt eximed with delight: "Yes, that''s the one! Your cat is so amazing¡ª Tingwu, does your cat have kittens? If it has kittens in the future, can you give me one?"

    Although she disliked the two cockroaches that Ten Yuan brought, after keeping a cat for a few days, she actually felt a bit reluctant to part with it. Her child had gone off to university, there were only two adults at home, and they were toozy to cook properly most of the time. Having a cat suddenly made the house lively.

    "Umm..." Chu Tingwu, the "kitten" herself, was silent for a moment, "She won''t give birth again. Auntie, if you want to keep a cat, you can adopt one from this hospital, or add this ount¡ª"

    She pushed Hang Ling''s ount details over.

    Third aunt thanked her a few times, grabbed another handful of peanuts, then thought for a moment and gave Chu Tingwu a small knitted bib: "I remade this from my son''s old bib. The cat wore it twice. You can take it too. I''ve washed it clean."

    The wind gently swayed the willow leaves by the roadside. Chu Tingwu walked in front, Three-Five-Five followed behind with a mouse in her mouth, the ck cat Ten followed Three-Five-Five, and the tattooed tabby and orange cat walked side by side in a row at the back, nuzzling each other.

    Third aunt stood at the doorway watching, her heart stirred, and she actually considered getting a cat herself.

    However, when they reached the front door, Three-Five-Five suddenly looked up at Chu Tingwu, expressing with her eyes¡ª

    Chu Tingwu: "Wait!"

    Three-Five-Five put down the mouse, holding its tail gently with one paw, and meowed softly.

    Chu Tingwu: "...Can I wear gloves?"

    She could ept sudden extra lessons, but did she really have to do it barehanded? She wanted to resist a bit more!

    The system whispered: "She seems to mean for you to use your mouth¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu: "You shut up=="

    System: "Oh."

    She found some disposable gloves. Three-Five-Five released the mouse, and the system silently activated a drone.

    Three-Five-Five crouched in the middle, with the other three cats forming a circle around her, craning their necks to watch this practical lesson for kittens.

    Ten: "Meow~"

    Your kitten is so big.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    She put on gloves and a mask, resigned to her fate as she half-squatted down.

    Three-Five-Five released her paw.

    At that moment, the big gray mouse suddenly darted out, rushing between Chu Tingwu''s feet. Compared to the kittens Chu Tingwu had handled before, the mouse was much smaller and emitted an unfriendly "scent" that instinctively repulsed her.

    She stomped down with one foot while chopping down with her hand. The mouse dodged her shoe but ran straight into her hand chop.

    However, as Chu Tingwu lifted the mouse up, it curled up and immediately tried to bite her palm¡ª

    Chu Tingwu let go.

    The mouse dropped a bit, but she caught it with her other hand, this time gripping it by the scruff of its neck. The mouse squeaked between her fingers. Chu Tingwu''s face behind the mask was expressionless, even a bit fierce.

    Three-Five-Five meowed encouragingly.

    The tattooed tabby also opened its mouth to praise her.

    The orange cat was a bit confused but asked if Chu Tingwu was going to eat it, and if not, it could eat it.

    Ten meowed in agreement.

    Chu Tingwu recalled images of dead mice she had seen before, her expression calm to the point of numbness. She applied slight pressure, and with a "crack," broke the gray mouse''s neck.

    Orange cat: "So you didn''t want to y with it, meow?"

    Chu Tingwu: "I... don''t really like these kinds that smell..."

    Toys.

    Delicate little cat, the vige catsmented.

    Whatever, Chu Tingwu buried the mouse''s body in a ditch, brushed Three-Five-Five''s teeth, washed her own hands (even though she wore gloves), then mounted her bicycle under the gaze of the other cats "watching the delicate little cat." She let Three-Five-Five jump into the bike basket, then bent down, reached out and stuffed the ck cat Ten into her sling canvas bag.

    Ten: "?"

    Chu Tingwu: "I came out to find your owner, remember?"

    With that brain, no wonder you got lost.

    She inquired in the Little Sun Hospital''s fan group if any of the adopters had heard of a lost ck cat. With many locals in the group, news came quickly.

    Someone had seen a lost cat notice in the southern part of the city, with a photo that looked very much like Ten.

    -

    Learning that Chu Tingwu was helping find the cat''s home, an enthusiastic group member went out for a couple of rounds on her way over and found the lost cat notice posted on a wall.

    The cat in the notice was named "Little Sesame," which indeed matched the description of a ck cat with white "pants." However, when Chu Tingwu called out "Little Sesame" to Ten a couple of times, Ten lookedpletely bewildered... clearly this wasn''t a name he was used to hearing.

    Chu Tingwu: Could it be that your owner usually calls you in a theatrical voice?

    With one cat crouching in her bike basket and another slung around her waist, she called the contact number on the lost cat notice. An elderly man answered the phone, his voice strong and vigorous. He immediately gave Chu Tingwu an address: "You found the cat? Oh, wait a moment, I''lle downstairs right away."

    Chu Tingwu: "I haven''t arrived yet, and also¡ª"

    And Ten might not be Little Sesame.

    The call ended.

    That was too hasty.

    Since she was already in the southern district, she simply cycled towards the residentialplex where the man lived. Sure enough, at the bottom of the building was an old man wearing a tank top and long pants... doing tai chi.

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    As she approached, the old man stopped his movements and looked with confusion at the cat crouching in her bike basket, then at Ten''s head peeking out of the bag. He pped his thigh: "Sesame?"

    Ten: "Meow?"

    Ten jumped out of the canvas bag, looked at the old man, then at Chu Tingwu, with an expression that said, "Why did you bring me here?"

    Chu Tingwu was now certain ¡ª Ten was not Sesame, they just looked identical.

    But the old man pped his thigh again: "Oh, isn''t this my Sesame?"

    Sir, you need to get your eyesight checked!

    The old manpletely missed Ten''s bewildered gaze and pulled a bag of cat food from his pocket as he approached: "Tsk tsk tsk..."

    Three-Five-Five & Ten: "......"

    Three-Five-Five turned her head away, pretending she hadn''t seen anything. Ten quickly darted to Chu Tingwu''s waist, trying to dive headfirst into the canvas bag, but his head got stuck. He iled about, kicking at Chu Tingwu''s arm with his hind legs.

    Chu Tingwu had to speak up: "No... sir, you''ve made a mistake. This probably isn''t the cat you lost¡ª"

    The old man looked suspicious, and after a while, he suddenly realized: "Oh oh, I''m sorry, I''ll transfer the money to you right away."

    The lost cat notice had mentioned a reward... the neighbor''s kid had helped him print it, and he had forgotten about it.

    Chu Tingwu: "That''s not what I meant... sigh."

    She could smell a faint "cat scent" on the old man and could tell he really did keep a cat, a shedding ck cat at that, even though the old man always called for it as if calling a dog.

    "Please wait a moment."

    Chu Tingwu lowered her head and said a few words to Three-Five-Five, then Three-Five-Five, wearing a cor, darted off.

    She opened her phone. The system controlled the drone to follow Three-Five-Five, disying the footage on Chu Tingwu''s phone screen. She showed the screen to the old man, and as they watched, the old man''s expression became strange¡ª

    They saw the long-haired tortoiseshell cat chasing a ck cat out from the bushes in the residentialplex. The ck cat waspletely ck, but as it ran while cursing, they could see a fluffy white line on its belly, like it was wearing white underwear.

    The chased ck cat rushed to the front of the two people, saw the old man, and its angry cursing turned into soft whimpering. Then, it nonchntly walked to the old man''s leg, rubbing against his pants leg and shedding fur, as if it had just gone out for a stroll and now returned.

    Old man: "Sesame ah..."

    Little Sesame: "Meow~"

    Old man: You little rascal!

    He couldn''t hit it, and when he scolded it, it just yed dumb. The old man didn''t know whether tough or cry. Realizing he had mistaken the cats, he first grabbed Little Sesame and thanked Chu Tingwu, then insisted on giving her money¡ªhe had almost thought the youngdy hade to ask for the reward, and felt ashamed just thinking about it.

    "By the way, whose cat is that? A stray?" the old man suggested. "If it''s a stray, I could adopt it."

    It looks so much like his Sesame, it must be fate.

    Ten: "?"

    He nudged Chu Tingwu''s waist, asking why they weren''t leaving yet.

    After Chu Tingwu politely declined and mounted her bicycle, he specially poked his head out and meowed a lot at the old man.

    The old man was delighted, thinking Ten really liked him.

    Chu Tingwu: "..." Better not trante that.

    Although the old man was mistaken here, the system soon told Chu Tingwu that a fan had sent a private message saying Ten might be a cat lost by someone they knew.

    ["One of my teachers had a cat like this. I just called to ask, and she said the cat disappeared the day before yesterday in the afternoon."]

    -

    Coincidentally, this fan was also a long-time follower of Little Sun Hospital, although he had been quietly observing without joining the group or owning a cat. He was the fan whose summaryment was liked to the top position when Qiao Hu''s fans were arguing under Chu Tingwu''s first video.

    Although he provided information, this fan still seemed to have doubts:

    "May I ask how you obtained information about the cat''s owner?"

    Chu Tingwu replied: "It was indeed the cat who told me. If you don''t believe me, why don''t we meet and talk?"

    The other party provided an address - a tea restaurant on amercial street. When Chu Tingwu arrived, she found a slim, unfamiliar man in his forties.

    However, upon seeing him, Ten Yuan poked its head out of the bag excitedly and said, "It''s this scent, he''s ''Little Cake''!"

    Does he know you''ve given him such a nickname?

    The man seemed to visit Ten Yuan''s owner frequently, always bringing desserts, so Ten Yuan remembered him by the sweet scent.

    No doubt about it... his teacher was indeed Ten Yuan''s owner!

    The man''s gaze also fell on Ten Yuan, examining it thoroughly before turning to Chu Tingwu: "May I call you Chu?"

    Chu Tingwu nodded.

    The man asked again: "Did you really get the information from the cat? How could a cat expressplex information like opera singing and ginkgo trees?"

    He seemed genuinely curious, and after asking, he apologized: "My teacher is quite elderly and lives alone, so I''m rather concerned..."

    "It''s alright," Chu Tingwu thought for a moment, "Thest time you visited your teacher was five days ago, and you brought two boxes of cake in a paper bag, right?"

    The man: "?!"

    Chu Tingwu: "That''s the information the cat told me."

    The man: "..." Even more worried now, what to do?

    Many thoughts shed through his mind, and he recalled the videos the girl had posted online. Finally, he gave a wry smile: "Alright, I''ll take you to see my teacher."

    That "teacher" actually lived in a nearby viplex. The vis in theplex weren''t veryrge, just three stories, but they were all detached houses with gardens for nting.

    From afar, Chu Tingwu could see two tall ginkgo trees.

    A middle-aged woman was supporting an elderlydy with white hair, standing at the door looking in their direction.

    Ten Yuan let out a happy meow, jumping down from Chu Tingwu''s canvas bag and running coquettishly to the olddy''s feet, starting to fawn over her.

    The olddy smiled and took a couple of steps forward, bending down to pat Ten Yuan''s head.

    Chu Tingwu: "...?"

    The man sighed: "This is the part I find strange... If you can get information from the cat, you should have known about my teacher''s most obvious characteristic. Five years ago, shepletely lost her sight in both eyes."

    From her cat-petting gesture, it was clear that the olddy was blind.

    However, she seemed very perceptive. After picking up Ten Yuan, she turned her head towards the student and Chu Tingwu: "Why are you standing there? Come in and sit down, Mei has baked lots of cookies."

    -

    The olddy''s name was Zhang Youyi, and the student who led Chu Tingwu there was surnamed Wang, who told Chu Tingwu to call him Teacher Wang.

    That olddy should probably be called Teacher Zhang too, Chu Tingwu thought.

    Although Teacher Zhang was blind, she walked steadily. When Chu Tingwu approached her with Three-Five-Five, she suddenly turned her head and said, "Is there another cat?"

    Chu Tingwu: "It''s my cat."

    Three-Five-Five gave a soft meow, and Ten Yuan meowed in response. After a moment''s thought, Chu Tingwu also meowed:

    "Why didn''t you say your human can''t see?"

    Ten Yuan: "She''s not unable to see, she just moves slowly and asionally bumps into things. She''s a bit clumsy, and when we go out to y, I always have to wait for her. But if I''m by her side, I can warn her before she bumps into things."

    Teacher Zhang, hearing her cat "meow" for a long time, was curious but didn''t interrupt. When she realized they had stopped talking, she asked, "What were you chatting about?"

    Teacher Wang beside her seemed to want to say something but held back.

    All the furniture in the vi was wrapped with anti-collision padding, and the carpets were thick. Clearly, an olddy of this age shouldn''t risk falling. Chu Tingwu sat at the table, epted the baked cookies handed over by Auntie Mei, and tranted Ten Yuan''s words.

    Teacher Zhang was delighted, turning her face towards Ten Yuan''s direction: "So in your heart, I''m a fool?"

    Ten Yuan nuzzled her knee, cuddling up to her.

    Chu Tingwu silently added in her heart: Your cat isn''t that smart either.

    She asked: "How did he get lost?"

    The housekeeper Mei seemed a bit helpless: "Weter checked the surveince footage. Little ck was ying at the door and jumped onto a delivery truck. The delivery man didn''t notice, and the cat was locked in the car and taken away... It''s partly my fault..."

    In fact, although Teacher Zhang couldn''t see, her keen hearing made her notice the unusual silence in the house as soon as Ten Yuan went missing, without the asional sounds of the cat moving about.

    She reminded Mei to check if the cat was still there, but Mei mistook the ck clothes in theundry basket for the ck cat, saying "Little ck is just sleeping," only to discover hourster that the cat was gone.

    Ten Yuan was carefree and lively, and the vi had a yard where he could run around, so they didn''t keep him confined. Moreover, this cat could climb trees and go out, but usually only yed nearby and rarely came homete.

    After the cat went missing, Mei reported it to the police and went to the property management to check the surveince footage, but the delivery man said he hadn''t seen the cat. For the past two days, they had been anxiously waiting for news from the police.

    "If we had known, we would have printed missing cat posters too, but we didn''t know where to post them..."

    Teacher Zhang provided the first half of Ten Yuan''s lost adventure, and Chu Tingwu helpedplete thetter half:

    "He jumped off the truck, couldn''t find his way home, was picked up by a vegetable seller at the market, and then bought by an auntie in our vige. Because she only paid ten yuan for him, I''ve been calling him ''Ten Yuan''."

    Teacher Zhang wasn''t angry that Chu Tingwu had given her cat a new name, but insteadughed, looking towards Ten Yuan: "So you''re only worth ten yuan?"

    After thinking for a moment, she also felt a bit helpless: "If he wasn''t a domestic cat, but a purebred, we probably would have found him much faster, right?"

    Chu Tingwu then told her about the purebred Russian Blue cat she had encountered yesterday.

    Teacher Zhang listened very patiently¡ª

    Although she was blind and her eyes were very cloudy, her demeanor and posture always gave people the feeling that she was listening attentively, making the speaker feel respected.

    Upon learning that Chu Tingwu had made a video of yesterday''s cat-finding process, she was very pleased: "May I see it?"

    The group of two humans and two cats moved to the screening room on the second floor. Teacher Zhang couldn''t see, but she could listen. Before they knew it, it was dinner time. Chu Tingwu didn''t mind, but Three-Five-Five didn''t like the cat food here very much. The system hade up with a new recipe, so she borrowed Teacher Zhang''s kitchen to make cat food.

    Teacher Wang, who had been present but feelingpletely superfluous the whole time: "..."

    He stayed in the living room with the two cats, while Mei and Chu Tingwu were in the kitchen. His teacher, Ms. Zhang Youyi, stood at the kitchen door smelling the aroma, and asked regretfully once again: "Can only cats eat cat food? I feel like having a bite or two wouldn''t affect my health."

    Teacher Zhang, you weren''t like this before.

    From Chu Tingwu''s perspective, Zhang Youyi seemed to be a calm and gentle olddy, but this student surnamed Wang knew that Teacher Zhang was not only an academic authority but also very strict with her students. Even though she had retired for many years and her students were now shining in their respective fields, they still didn''t dare to speak loudly in front of her.

    His teacher, Zhang Youyi, was a domestic expert in linguistics, fluent in fournguages. In her youth, she worked as a trantor abroad, then returned to China for further studies, worked in the foreign affairs department for over a decade, and then became a professor. Her husband passed away thirty years ago, and they never had children. She had kept two dogs and a cat, but as time passed, the animals also left her.

    Over a year ago, Mei found a sickly ck kitten on her way to buy groceries. This kitten,ter named "Ten Yuan," was brought home despite Teacher Zhang having been blind for several years and not wanting to raise another cat. However, upon hearing Ten Yuan''s soft meow, she softened her heart.

    Zhang didn''t give the cat a name, usually calling him "Cat," "Little ck," or "Troublemaker."

    Chu Tingwu was obviously unaware of this background, so when Teacher Wang heard Chu Tingwu call the little cat "Ten Yuan," his feelings were mixed: the name seemed perfunctory, but it was indeed the first official name this little cat had received, and Ms. Zhang... seemed to have epted it.

    She stroked the cat''s head, calling him "Ten Yuan" and then "Little Bargain," while the cat kneaded her leg with his paws and meowed in response, creating a back-and-forth conversation.

    After finishing dinner and the dessert Teacher Wang had brought, Chu Tingwu was truly ready to leave. However, before departing, she said:

    "Ten Yuan and I agreed that he''d give me a reward once he found his home."

    Teacher Wang looked at Chu Tingwu, his heart slightly on edge.

    Teacher Zhang made a surprised sound. Ten Yuan jumped down from her and ran to the third floor. After a while, he came racing back downstairs, dragging a feather shuttlecock, which he ced in front of Chu Tingwu.

    Mei whispered an exnation in Teacher Zhang''s ear ¡ª this shuttlecock was a toy she had handmade for her previous cat when it was still alive. It had been passed down to Ten Yuan and became his favorite toy, which he always kept in his bed, even dragging it in to sleep with him.

    Now, as a reward for bringing him home, he wanted to give the shuttlecock to Chu Tingwu.

    Technically, a cat''s toys belong to the owner, especially something with such sentimental value, but Teacher Zhang didn''t stop him. Chu Tingwu nodded and put therge shuttlecock with red, blue, and yellow feathers into her canvas bag.

    Ten Yuan: "You must y with it often, it''s very fun, meow."

    Chu Tingwu: "Okay."

    Ten Yuan: "You must y with it! If you don''t know how... bring it over, and I''ll teach you how to y..."

    Three-Five-Five standing nearby: "..."

    She went over and swatted Ten Yuan, who sullenly fell silent.

    Teacher Zhang suddenly said, "Tingwu, the cat''s reward for finding him is paid by the cat... but I was also looking for him. You helped bring him back to me, and I''m very grateful. Shouldn''t I pay a reward for finding him too?"

    She slowly walked over and held Chu Tingwu''s hand: "Are you interested in learning anguage? Russian, German, English, or Hindi ¡ª which one would you like to learn?"

    Chu Tingwu: "...?"

    Huh?

    Wait a minute...

    She looked towards Teacher Wang, who had an "I knew this would happen" expression, nodding somewhat helplessly at Chu Tingwu.

    His teacher was good in every way, except for two ws: First, she loved singing opera but sang terribly ¡ª when she practiced in the morning, only the cat wouldn''t run away. Second, she liked to givenguage lessons to children she took a liking to. For her,nguage learning was fun, rxing, and interesting, so how could children not enjoy it? They must just be pretending not to like it.

    Chu Tingwu: "You want to teach me?"

    Ms. Zhang smiled happily: "Would you like that?"

    Her eyes were cloudy, but when speaking to others, she still directed her gaze towards the other person''s eyes, showing respect and consideration.

    Chu Tingwu: "It might take a lot of time... and bringing Ten Yuan back wasn''t that much effort. It''s not worth you doing this."

    Ms. Zhang seemed to smile even more happily.

    She said: "Then how about you teach me catnguage?"

    At these words, Teacher Wang and Mei both looked over, but Teacher Zhang was quite enthusiastic:

    "Little Teacher Chu, is that okay? From now on, you can call me Teacher Zhang, and I''ll call you Teacher Chu. We can each be each other''s teacher."

    Teacher Wang: Wait... what should I call you then?

    Chu Tingwu thought for a moment: "Alright, then I''ll learn Russian."

    For her, although today''s experience was unusual, it wasn''t uneptable. The new learning n felt like a small surprise in life, and the free teacher seemed kind and easy to get along with... But for Teacher Wang, today had been quite a surreal day.

    He and Mei escorted Chu Tingwu out of the residentialplex. Before leaving, Chu Tingwu saw Teacher Zhang holding Ten Yuan with one hand while slowly tying the small bib Chu Tingwu had delivered along with the cat. After tying it, she hugged Ten Yuan and lifted his paw to wave at Chu Tingwu.

    Chu Tingwu: "Meow~"

    I''ll bring the shuttlecock tomorrow to y with you.

    Ten Yuan immediately perked up: "Then you muste early!"

    And bring cat food too!

    Teacher Wang walked a bit further with her. Standing under the golden glow of a streetlight, he asked: "Little Chu... do you want to be a petmunicator in the future?"

    Just as it sounds, this is a new profession that helps ownersmunicate with their pets. However, the industry is currently filled with all sorts of people, and many frauds use the im "I can understand what cats and dogs say" as their banner. Most of them only provide psychologicalfort to pet owners... Teacher Wang personally didn''t believe in it.

    Not only did he not believe, but he also had some prejudice against this profession. Not long ago, a friend of his had been scammed out of tens of thousands of yuan by a petmunicator found online, and the pet''s problem wasn''t even solved.

    But having personally witnessed Chu Tingwu bringing the lost Ten Yuan back to his teacher, he was now somewhat hesitant.

    Could there really be humans in this world who understand catnguage? But as someone who studied linguistics, he naturally understood better than the average person that catnguage is actually a newnguage system,bining tone, intonation, expression, and movement. Not to mention, cats from the other side of the continent would surely have their own dialect, right? Can humans really understand cats?

    Chu Tingwu replied helplessly: "I''m only fifteen."

    Deciding on a future career at fifteen?

    Teacher Wang made an "oh" sound: "Ahem, what I mean is, if you want to get a professional petmunicator certificate, I have some connections. This profession is rtively new, and there''s no age restriction on the certificate yet... Also, my friend has a cat that''s been having some behavioral issues recently, but they couldn''t find anything wrong in the checkup. Would you be interested in taking a look?"

    Chu Tingwu nced at the sky.

    Teacher Wang: "Of course not today, it''s toote today."

    Besides, he hadn''t mentioned it to his friend yet.

    Chu Tingwu: "Then you can schedule a time, but tomorrow won''t work."

    Teacher Wang: "?"

    Chu Tingwu: "I don''t have any avability tomorrow."

    The Cha Mi Goes Home team ising over to "learn" tomorrow.

    Teacher Wang: "..."

    After exchanging contact information, he watched the young girl ride away on her bike with her cat. He silently called his old friend.

    Friend: "Old Wang, thanks a lot. Well, it''s not that I don''t trust the person you found, but I happen to be flying to Hai City for a meeting tomorrow¡ª"

    Teacher Wang calmly replied: "No problem, Little Teacher Chu happens to be busy tomorrow too. If you want to ask her to look at your cat, I''ll help you make an appointment with her."

    Friend: "..."

    Eh?

 Chapter 17

    Chu Tingwu twitched her nose.

    After a whole day, she could feel her sense of smell had slightly "dulled" - not that her cat-like keen sense of smell had disappeared, but she was starting to get used to it - used to the feeling of the whole world being filled with scents, and beginning to use her sense of smell to obtain more information.

    "Teacher Wang smells like ink, dust, freshly baked cake with a hint of coffee bitterness," she told the system. "Teacher Zhang smells like old fabric, wood, and a bit of newly printed paper..."

    Among the three people she interacted with the most today, Aunt Mei was the most fragrant. Chu Tingwu almost blurted out like that tabby cat with flowery arms: "Aunt Mei, you smell so good."

    She held back.

    But she did eat an extra half bowl of dinner, savoring Aunt Mei''s food aroma.

    Aunt Mei must cook healthy and delicious meals, often going to the market to buy the freshest ingredients. She probably cooked fish for lunch, as there was a slight appetizing fishy smell on her fingertips, along with the fresh scent of soil.

    She rode her bicycle past the river embankment, and the evening breeze carried a slight warmth, blowing flower fragrance along with it, diluting the scents of the three people in Chu Tingwu''s mind. But she believed that if they met again, she would still be able to identify them by their scents.

    Everyone''s scent changes slightly every day, but the essential smell of those who stay in the same environment for a long time may not change for years.

    [Little one, this is called pheromones. Literally speaking, it''s a substance that transmits information. However, the pheromones that animals secrete are from inside to outside the body, and cats'' pheromones are more obvious than humans''.]

    [What you smell is the surface scent. Human pheromones have degenerated... unlike you little cats. Oh, but humans seem to like pheromones a lot, they''ve created a lot of rted literature. I see this literary genre is called ABO-]

    The system received arge amount of human creative works in 0.01 seconds.

    The system fell into an eerie silence.

    Chu Tingwu: "I think I''ve heard ssmates mention it..."

    [Don''t mention it! No, don''t look... this, that, little cats shouldn''t see...]

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    She wasn''t that curious to begin with, and she actually knew a bit about the setting, after all, "humans have created a lot."

    Both parties tacitly avoided the ABO-rted topic. When the bicycle stopped at the door, Chu Tingwu instinctively turned her head to the right-

    A pair of bright cat eyes appeared in the darkness, and a few secondster, another pair appeared on the wall.

    The tabby cat: "Meow."

    She greeted them.

    Three-Five-Five jumped down from the bicycle basket. In the darkness, the three cats silently faced each other, and then Three-Five-Five also jumped onto the wall.

    Although Chu Tingwu already had a level 3 catnguage skill, the cats didn''t speak.

    On the wall of her house, the cats treaded on the tiles. The neer Three-Five-Five lowered her head, while the vige tabby cat silently watched her in the darkness for a long while, then swayed its tail.

    Three-Five-Five went to groom the tabby cat, and the tabby cat also came over, sniffing Three-Five-Five. The two cats quietlymunicated for a while. Then the big orange cat behind them came running with "meow meow meow," squeezing both of them into the courtyard - the cats came and went freely,pletely ignoring that Chu Tingwu was the real owner of the yard.

    They had epted each other.

    When Chu Tingwu came back after parking her bicycle, Three-Five-Five was lying on the rattan chair, fiercely scolding the big orange cat who was scratching its ws on the chair, while the tabby cat was staring at the drone in mid-air. The system carefully raised the drone a little higher.

    The tabby cat: "Kitten, is that the toy you like?"

    She pointed at the drone.

    It moves, and it''s much smarter than mice, she wanted to y with it too!

    System: "Yes! But you can''t y with it..."

    Chu Tingwu: "You''re talking in my mind, she can''t hear you."

    Besides, this wasn''t her toy! It was clearly the system ying... Thinking of this, Chu Tingwu took out the shuttlecock that Shikuai had given her. The moment she took it out, all three cats gathered around.

    The feathers of the shuttlecock probably came from several rare bird species, not directly dyed chicken feathers. It felt very smooth to the touch. Of course, it was also covered with Shikuai''s "pheromones". Chu Tingwu suspected that he had nothing better to do than to chew and kick the shuttlecock.

    The tabby cat pawed at it a bit, uninterested: "Only kittens like this meow."

    The big orange cat also sniffed it and said, "You y with it, kitten."

    Only Three-Five-Five was polite, jumping up to grab the shuttlecock with her mouth, using her eyes to signal Chu Tingwu to reach out her "paw" and snatch it, ying a parent-child game with her.

    Chu Tingwu: "...No need."

    Three-Five-Five then put the shuttlecock aside, shook her head and spat, seemingly trying to "spit out" the smell Shikuai had left on it.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    No need to be so disgusted, right?

    She told the two vige cats about finding Shikuai''s family, but they didn''t seem to care much... For cats who grew up eating from many households in the vige, clingy and childish cats like Shikuai probably lived a different kind of life. Seeing him was like seeing Three-Five-Five who had just arrived in the vige.

    They lived here, and then watched other animalse and go - humans were animals too.

    The system, however, noticed Chu Tingwu''s curiosity about the shuttlecock and quickly found the answer: "The three types of featherse from three different birds. These two are from Africa, and this one only appears in Congo. They are all protected species in their localities - the feathers are quite expensive on the ck market, but some naturally shed feathers often appear as gifts in diplomatic asions."

    This was probably how Teacher Zhang obtained these feathers.

    Chu Tingwu tossed the shuttlecock up and caught it: "Let''s take it tomorrow for Shikuai to y with, and bring it back when we leave."

    She wasn''t a kitten, she didn''t y.

    But as soon as she turned her head, she somehow saw a kind of inexplicable tenderness in the drone''s surrounding filming posture.

    Chu Tingwu: "I just, um, want to make Shikuai realize that he can''t randomly run out of the house..."

    Everything has a price. Even for cats, seeking help requires paying its price... Really, she didn''t y!

    System: "Okay, okay, little one, throw it a couple more times?"

    Chu Tingwu: "...Good night."

    System: "?"

    -

    Two people from the "Bring Chamomile Home" team arrived, carrying an electric cat trap cage to be donated to Little Sun Hospital, as well as their own filming equipment. The girl in charge of filming got out of the car in the morning sunlight and eximed, "The morning air in Fallen Phoenix City is really nice."

    It was probably due to the mountains and waters around, and the level of greenery was also quite high. Except for the city center, the housing prices in the surrounding areas weren''t too high, very suitable for retirement.

    She looked up and saw a cat passing by on a nearby low wall, so she took out her phone and took a picture of the cat.

    The cat nced at her and continued to stand on the wall, looking around. After thinking for a moment, Chamomile''s camerawoman opened an audio clip she had saved. When that cat meowing sound came out, the cat on the wall turned around puzzled, tilted its head and looked at her for a while, then suddenly jumped down from the wall and ran away.

    Her partnerughed: "Are you ying Little Chu''s voice again?"

    The camerawoman shrugged: "I yed all the ones Hang Ling sent me. Most of the time these cats look at me like I''m an idiot... But I think Little Chu really has something."

    Partner: "Hmm?"

    Camerawoman: "If I meow myself, they wouldn''t even bother to give me a look like I''m an idiot."

    It shows that Chu Tingwu''s imitation is really urate.

    The camerawoman opened the Fenghua APP again and clicked on Chu Tingwu''s ount - yesterday after returning Shikuai, she had posted another update reporting the situation, concealing Teacher Zhang''s detailed information, only saying that Shikuai had returned home, and it was based on "information provided by cats".

    There were followers who questioned it, but early followers could already sense that Chu Tingwu''s attitude was not to exin, not to care, you can follow or not as you wish - as if this ount with over 200,000 followers was really just a private daily ount for recording life.

    Followers who crave interaction would be dissatisfied, but some followers just liked it this way.

    "''Because the streamer is the same inside and out... she doesn''t even interact with us during livestreams...'' Haha," the cameraman read out thisment, "Although I''d like to criticize - if we really treat Chu Tingwu as a cat - isn''t that her persona? It''s pretty normal for her not to interact with me."

    After all, that''s what cats are like.

    It feels like both the streamer and fans are really getting into character - how is this not a form of mutual engagement?

    As they chatted casually, they arrived at the entrance of Little Sun Hospital. The hospital opened early, and the two members of the Chami team greeted Hang Ling, who had arrived early. Before that, the camera had already started rolling.

    Hang Ling: "Can I start promoting our hospital now?"

    Cameraman: "You''ve already started. This outfit was specially made, right?"

    Hang Ling: "Hehe... This anime-style shirt has prints of the cats we raise..."

    As both a colleague and a senior in the field, Hang Ling usually only filmed cats and not herself, so she was a bit nervous facing such a professional camera. However, once she started talking about her work and cat-rted topics, Hang Ling immediately became more natural.

    After all, she really knew her stuff.

    Both parties recorded some footage together, then moved from the hospital to the rescue house. They filmed the rescued cats and adopted cats, and quietly exined through Chami''s lens about the previous nder of the rescue environment by Qiao Hu. Then Chu Tingwu arrived.

    She was walking Three-Five-Five, carrying a drone, and arge bag of ingredients. She greeted the Chami team:

    "I''m going to make cat food. Do you want to film now?"

    This was arranged beforehand - to make cat food on site.

    The cameraman joked: "With so many ingredients, is there some for us too?"

    Chu Tingwu nodded: "Because I thought you might want to try it."

    Cameraman: "Uh..."

    Chu Tingwu: "Don''t you want to?"

    The cameraman admitted: "I do."

    All cat owners who''ve seen your videos probably want to try it too!

    It was agreed earlier that as a volunteer, Little Sun Hospital would provide Chu Tingwu with one lunch every day. However, Chu Tingwu usually made her own meals and brought cat food ingredients every day... So that lunch turned into asional snack treats for the underage girl from Hang Ling, Lizi, and other staff members.

    ¡ªAnd sometimes the minor would cook meals for them in return.

    The college student next door was already used to Chu Tingwu borrowing the kitchen. He was waiting with a bowl, with his cat "Wang Jingjing" lying by his feet.

    The cameraman filmed on the side while chatting with Chu Tingwu. After discussing the topic of adopting Three-Five-Five, she started the topic she most wanted to talk about:

    "Chu Tingwu, people who''ve watched your livestreams know that you once had Three-Five-Five help find someone else''s lost pet cat, and also helped a lost cat find its owner... You must be very good atmunicating with cats. We''re all curious, can this method of finding cats and people be poprized?"

    Chu Tingwu: "...It depends on whether the cats are willing to cooperate."

    She told them about hermunication with Oreo and other cats after turning off the livestream. The Chami cameraman listened with mixed feelings, but suddenly had a thought. Before he could speak, the college student nearby interjected¡ª

    "I''ve been listening for a while, and simply put, smart cats can understand what you''re saying and can even be sent to work, right?"

    Everyone: "?"

    The college student gestured: "Isn''t that right? Smart cats can understand human intentions,municate with people and trante for other cats, cooperate in actions, and can also help use their sense of smell to find lost cats... Just like Three-Five-Five. So Chu Chu, can you take a look and see if my Jingjing can do it?"

    He wasn''t really nning to send Wang Jingjing to work, he was just curious whether the ck cat he raised was smart or stupid.

    Chu Tingwu put the cat food in bowls, nced at him, and "meowed" tomunicate with Wang Jingjing for a bit.

    The ck cat that had been lying down suddenly got up and kicked the college student while cursing.

    College student: "?"

    Chu Tingwu: "I told her you were very curious about whether her intelligence was high enough to be sent to work."

    She ryed the exact words.

    The college student mumbled: "...Then it seems she can."

    The college student put his palms together and bowed to Chu Tingwu. Under her puzzled gaze, he said: "Master, can you say a few more words to my cat? Tell her not to throw my socks everywhere, and stop scratching the sofa, and don''t w the curtains. I bought so many cat scratching posts but they''re just gathering dust. Also, her ws need to be trimmed¡ª"

    This time Chu Tingwu didn''t need to ry the message. Wang Jingjing lowered her head and started biting the college student''s shoces.

    Chu Tingwu: "...She understood that you want to trim her ws. She carries your socks around because you often leave them unwashed and she doesn''t like the smell. As for the sofa, she just likes doing that. Anything else you want to ask?"

    College student: "Thank you, Master! Can you ask if she loves me... Never mind, no need to ask that!"

    He picked up the cat and nuzzled it vigorously: "You just got angry but didn''t bite me, only bit my shoces. You must really love me!"

    Although he was nuzzling the cat, for some reason, Chu Tingwu felt a chill in her heart. She seemed to have a vision of herself turning into a small cat being nuzzled by a huge person. Her hand felt itchy, wanting to hit someone.

    She averted her gaze and happened to make eye contact with the smiling Chami cameraman. He seemed to have been observing for a long time, then asked: "Chu Tingwu, do you want to be a full-time content creator in the future?"

    The aroma of food permeated the air. The cameraman''s partner took the opportunity to taste a bite, his eyes lighting up as he nodded repeatedly.

    Chu Tingwu handed the cat food to Hang Ling for distribution, only serving a bowl for Three-Five-Five herself. Then she replied somewhat helplessly:

    "Actually, I''m not the one managing this ount right now... It''s my friend who does post-production. It should be updated frequently."

    The cameraman understood: "So you share the ount."

    "Actually, I wanted to say that your ount is developing very well right now. Most cat content creators rarely film outdoor content..." The cameraman opened his phone to show Chu Tingwu, "The few creators I follow in this category either engage in outdoor activities themselves, taking their pets mountain climbing, paragliding, or walking cats... But your approach is different from theirs. You can create trending topics with originality, so you keep making it to the homepage."

    "Currently, the content on your ount seems to lean more towards filming daily life," the cameraman smiled, "But I see you training cats to find cats, teaching cats on livestream, it seems like you want to do something for stray cats..."

    At just fifteen years old, the young girl''s ideas were somewhat naive and innocent, but she had a special quality that made people want to believe she could really achieve it ¡ª that''s why these two from Chami traveled from the neighboring province, wanting to meet Chu Tingwu in person and see if she could really forge a new path.

    Chu Tingwu nodded: "I know I can''t help all stray cats by myself, and cats are actually all individual beings with their own desired lifestyles... So I just want to help cats and humans get along better."

    They all live in the same city, so it would be good to help each other a little. Chu Tingwu happened to be able tomunicate with both sides, so she wanted to do something.

    Cameraman: "That''s great. I suggest you also develop your video ount ¡ª if your ount content isn''t just recording daily life, but also has some ''themed'' content, your follower growth will be faster. The number of followers is also a reflection of influence, and sufficient influence will make it easier for you to achieve your goals."

    This was sincere advice, and he also shared his own experience. Moreover, it seemed the Chami team wanted to help Chu Tingwu.

    Hang Ling also came over and put a mouthful of food in Chu Tingwu''s mouth: "Right, like our ount, we focus on the theme of ''catching cats for neutering''. Although we don''t have a huge following, our views are always stable. We have a fixed audience, and fans can often help out."

    [Does the little one want to open a new video column? Or do themed livestreams?]

    The system''s attitude waspletely indulgent. It was clear that no matter what Chu Tingwu wanted to do, it would agree.

    Camera suggestion: "You can also set staged tasks for yourself, creating a series of videos as a theme."

    Inducing fans to follow updates in a series is beneficial for solidifying the ount''s fan base.

    Chu Tingwu nodded: "Well... I''d like to start by doing a cat census for all the stray cats in the city."

    Hang Ling: "Eh...?"

    Cameraman repeated: "All the stray cats... in the city?"

    The college student who had been listening: "The whole city?"

    Wait, is that even possible? It takes half a month for a whole club to do a census of cats on one school campus. Stray cats don''t have fixed living locations, and they wouldn''t cooperate... wait, if it''s Chu Tingwu, would they actually cooperate!?

    Chu Tingwu thought for a moment: "I''m going to Jin City for school in September, so I''ll get it done during the summer vacation."

    Thinking about it this way, her summer vacation would be quite busy and fulfilling¡ª

    She had to volunteer at Little Sun Hospital for half a month, asionally be an external helper, go to Teacher Zhang''s house for Russian lessons, and do a cat census for the entire city.

    If the system hadn''t taken on the task of editing videos, she wouldn''t have time to edit them herself.

    But upon discovering there were things to do, Chu Tingwu felt inexplicably happy. She smiled gratefully at the camerawoman and then asked, "Aren''t you going to eat?"

    The camerawoman turned her head: "?"

    "Ah ah ah, leave some cat food for me, why are you starting to lick the bowl¡ª"

    "You''ve been talking all this time and I didn''t see you wanting to eat, wait, that''s for the cats!"

    The "cat census" wasn''t just a whim of Chu Tingwu''s, but something she felt she could actually do after evaluation.

    Two incidents of lost cats made Chu Tingwu think that it would be good if cats had their own ID cards or name tags, but in reality, some pet cats do have them¡ª

    Pet name tags usually have the owner''s phone number and information, as well as the pet''s name, and some pet cors even have GPS tracking.

    However, most lost pet cats are those that left home without wearing their cors.

    Stray cats are even less likely to have owners, but if there was a systematic process to conduct a census of stray cats...

    Chu Tingwu: "Can we make an APP specifically for photographing and finding cats?"

    The system, of course, had a solution: "If we don''t rely on invading surveince systems, then we must have arge number of users actively taking and uploading photos of stray cats... I can optimize the APP''s cat image recognition to improve uracy, but the photos have toe from people themselves."

    The person and the system discussed for a while and quickly decided on the APP''s basic functions¡ª

    The main function would be to take photos of cats and match them online. If the photo database has data and photos of that cat, a sessful match would indicate that the cat has been found.

    Therefore, the APP needs arge number of users to actively upload photos of stray cats.

    People looking for cats can take photos and match directly, and if not found, they can also upload a reward request for help.

    "I feel it''s quite... childish..." Chu Tingwu smiled, pursing her lips, "Many people probably won''t believe this APP is actually useful, so I need to conduct the citywide cat census first."

    It''s both a video theme and a proof of concept.

    The system loudly said: "It''s not childish!"

    "How is doing something that makes you happy childish? Other kitties would be so jealous!"

    Oreo, who was considered one of the "other kitties" by the system, was chasing Xiaomei in circles. Xiaomei was leading him on a merry chase around the room with just her tail, fur flying everywhere. They seemed to be doing what made them happy too... extremely happy.

    Lizi: "Oreo, how did you knock over the water bowl again! You little rascal, you''re going to be the death of me!"

    Oreo: "Meow?"

    Chu Tingwu told Hang Ling and the others about her idea for the APP. Hang Ling couldn''t help but exim: "Chu Chu... your ability to take action is so strong."

    As soon as she made a decision, she thought of how to execute it. With this kind of drive, what couldn''t she seed at?

    Chu Tingwu found it strange: she usually doesn''t have many thoughts of procrastination. Of course, it might also be because when living with her great-grandmother, her great-grandmother often let her decide what to do and how toplete it... Since it''s all her own business, isn''t it normal toplete it immediately?

    The camerawoman, listening on the side, proposed a new idea: "Chu Chu, why don''t we provide a few street cameras, and then, promote it among the cats, letting theme and take photos themselves?"

    This idea suddenly popped into her head ¡ª but thinking about it, it''s normal. Chu Tingwu canmunicate with cats, so why not make good use of thisnguage advantage?

    You can''t install cameras in public areas yourself, unless approved by the public security system, but if someone is nearby, in the name of photography, staying for a day and a night is not impossible.

    Everyone discussed for a while and found that they could find volunteers or...

    College student: "I can ask my ssmates to help you watch. If they don''t need to operate the camera themselves, 20 yuan per hour should be fine... negotiate it down to 15 and it''s possible."

    Well, find cheap college students.

    Chu Tingwu: "Then tomorrow I''ll... have my friend make a test version of the APP, and then I''ll do a live stream tomorrow. I have to make up sses tonight, so I''m leaving now. Goodbye everyone."

    She only spent half a day there every day, generally without any special work, just ying with cats.

    Hang Ling murmured: "Chu Chu''s friend, is their alias Doraemon?"

    Howe they seem to be able to do everything, and so fast too? Where can you find such friends? She wants one too.

    The two from the "Tea Cat Home" team originally nned to stay here for only two days, intending to catch the train tomorrow night. But because of Chu Tingwu''s new idea, the camerawoman bought new tickets for herself and her partner, deciding to stay for two more days¡ª

    They were quite interested in seeing this cat census, although they''d probably only be able to see the beginning on site.

    The partner was curious: "Did you have something else you wanted to say just now?"

    The camerawoman whispered: "I originally hadn''t thought about her doing a cat census... I was thinking of having this child try live streaming petmunication."

    Her idea coincidentally aligned with Teacher Wang''s idea from yesterday: being able to speak catnguage, why not try petmunication?

    "And then," the camerawoman pondered, "if Chu Chu can really do it, I want to send Long Zai over."

    The partner realized: "Ah, Long Zai..."

    Long Zai is a cat rescued by the "Tea Cat Home" team, arge tabby orange cat.

    This cat is very special. It seems to have been trained by its previous owner and can understandmands well, including sit, shake hands, circle, get on the tform, etc., but it ran away from home on its own.

    Not only that, Long Zai seems to have an extra "work drive". People in the team found that when it clings to people, it''s often not for y, but to receive work-rtedmands ¡ª there are actually police cats in China, but they are very few in number and difficult to train. The team suspects that Long Zai received such training but didn''t pass... or the training wasn''t formal.

    If there was a cat that could help humansmunicate with trapped cats and carry out rescue work without Chu Tingwu''s apaniment, apart from Three-Five-Five by Chu Tingwu''s side, the two from the camera team had the most confidence in Long Zai.

    The team''s goodwill towards Chu Tingwu was also because they thought they might need to seek her help, so they were giving roses first.

    The camerawoman nodded: "Let''s observe for two more days."

    While they were chatting, Chu Tingwu had already arrived at Teacher Zhang''s vi.

    She could smell the aroma of fried shrimp even through the door. Sure enough, as soon as she reached the door, Chu Tingwu was weed in by Aunt Mei, then led to the table. There was a small shrimp in Teacher Zhang''s bowl, while on Chu Tingwu''s te was arge serving of steaming hot fried shrimp.

    Teacher Zhang was holding his small bowl, eyes closed, smelling the aroma in the air, while on the other side, Shikuai had already started to eat heartily.

    Aunt Mei: "I made a bit ording to the recipe you gave me yesterday. The ones prepared for the cats are all pan-fried, but you young people like fried food, don''t you? Come and try it, it should be just the right temperature now, not too hot."

    She brought over the new cat bowl she had prepared for Three-Five-Five and ced it next to Shikuai, who was eating intently.

    Shikuai looked up: "Aren''t you going to eat? Or do you want to eat from my bowl, meow?"

    He hesitated, then pushed his bowl half a centimeter towards Three-Five-Five.

    Three-Five-Five: "..."

    The cat mom also lowered her head and began to eat from her ownrge bowl, gracefully yet quickly.

    Teacher Zhang at the table eagerly listened to Chu Tingwu eating: "Did anything interesting happen today?"

    Chu Tingwu told her about the app and the cat census. Teacher Zhang was very interested: "I have quite a few students, some of whom are now university professors themselves. If you can''t find enough people, can I rmend their students to help?"

    Chu Tingwu: "University students do seem very cheap..."

    Although she hadn''t been to university herself, why did everyone around her tell her this?

    Teacher Zhang shook her head: "Not for work, but as volunteers. How could we let you pay? Just go through the application process, and if they can get course credits, that would be fine."

    They would be extremely grateful.

    So course credits were the universal currency unique to universities? Chu Tingwu silently added this to her impression and understanding of universities.

    In her mind, the system also quietly added "Human university students seem very cheap, and can be hired using a universal currency that''s only useful in universities" to its memo.

    After Chu Tingwu finished eating, Teacher Zhang didn''t take out any books. She just asked Chu Tingwu to take out the notebook she had brought, then had Mei y some music.

    Shikuai meowed once, jumped onto the chair, and curled himself into a ball:

    "Kitten, kitten, it''s bedtime meow."

    Chu Tingwu & Three-Five-Five: "..."

    Teacher Zhang smiled: "Come, let''s use song lyrics as our lesson n."

    Teacher Zhang''s teaching method was different from the normal approach¡ª

    For her, thenguages she was most proficient in were already as familiar as her mother tongue. She believed thatnguage itself was more about speaking than reading, and reading was more important than writing, so she wanted to teach Chu Tingwu how to "listen" first.

    "You can teach me catnguage this way too," she said, "After all, I can''t see now, so I can only rely on listening."

    Teacher Zhang had a collection of ssic Russian old songs. She sat on the sofa with Chu Tingwu, each holding their own cat. They would listen to a song together once, then start from the first line, teaching Chu Tingwu how to sing it.

    Chu Tingwu: "Hmm..."

    Teacher Zhang: "Don''t be afraid to speak up. Learning anguage is about learning to open your mouth. Be more confident, I won''tugh at you."

    So Chu Tingwu sang a line, and Mei, who was ironing shirts nearby, couldn''t help but praise: "It sounds quite good, and very simr. The pitch is spot on."

    As simr as the original singer? Could this child have a talent for mimicry?

    Teacher Zhang nodded and sang a line herself.

    Chu Tingwu understood why she said she wouldn''tugh at her.

    Mei silently turned her head, expertly pretending she hadn''t heard anything.

    Teacher Zhang,pletely unaware that her singing was a bit off-key, exined the meaning of each word to Chu Tingwu, slowly wrote the lyrics in the notebook, and let her new student add phic notation herself, then sing along with another line.

    This teaching method wasn''t boring at all, and Teacher Zhang seemed to know everything, from the origin of words to local meanings in the lyrics. She would often digress, telling Chu Tingwu stories rted to the content, helping her memorize quickly.

    They only learned three songs tonight, starting with singing line by line, and by the end, Chu Tingwu was trying to sing longer passages while referring to the words on paper. Mei, having finished ironing the shirts, joined in by keeping the beat, interspersing with a fewmon phrases¡ª

    Chu Tingwu could confidently say that she could remember most of tonight''s lesson, and if she reviewed regrly, she could really remember all the content.

    She had studied English before and knew that learning anguage couldn''t be that simple. It was because she had met a very skilled and patient good teacher.

    Therefore, after the Russian lesson ended, she took the initiative to ask:

    "Teacher Zhang, how would you like to learn catnguage?"

    Teacher Zhang: "Oh!"

    Teacher Zhang was delighted: "How about this, when you''re at my house, youmunicate with me in catnguage, then trante it into anguage I can understand? In the early stages, we''ll use our mother tongue, andter we''ll trante into Russian, how does that sound?"

    "Cats have very few words, the main thing is the change in intonation. When they need to describe a specific item or event in detail, they invent new words, so learning catnguage is mainly about learning the intonation to express emotions," Chu Tingwu thought for a moment, "However, it''s about enough formunication."

    Teacher Zhang nodded: "Then we can do this regrly too. You speak in catnguage and trante the cats'' words into Russian. For difficult words you don''t know, use our mother tongue, and for words you''ve learned, we''ll use Russian."

    Mei, who had been observing the whole process, didn''t object. When seeing Chu Tingwu off, she smiled and said "See you tomorrow" in Russian.

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Meow~"

    The neighbor next door happened to be returning with their dog and stared nkly at the two of them finishing their simple exchange, with an expression of "Where am I right now?"

    Half an hourter, Shikuai woke up: "Meow?"

    "Mew mew?"

    He angrily punched the nket in the room: Weren''t they supposed to y with the shuttlecock together! Did they secretly y with the stupid human while he was asleep? That''s too much!

    -

    Chu Tingwu took the shuttlecock home and brought it to Little Sun Hospital the next day, also getting Three-Five-Five checked up.

    Of course, she had just forgotten the shuttlecock in her bag.

    "Three-Five-Five is recovering well," Doctor Yang said, "The bandages can be removed now. She''s been quite active recently, right? Good, I''ll help you take them off."

    With the bandages removed, Three-Five-Five looked a bit more energetic, though she would asionally turn her head to lick her back leg. She was still a bit unused to it. Meanwhile, Chu Tingwu brought her drone to Changning Community.

    For this livestream, the system would be in charge of filming, so she didn''t need to wear a camera on her body. Plus, with the system filming, it could capture her operating the app on her phone, serving as promotion.

    The beta version of the app was called [365 Cat Census]. Neither Chu Tingwu nor the system was good at naming things, but she hoped this app wouldn''t be limited to finding cats and could do something else in the future.

    365 was inspired by Three-Five-Five''s name, and also meant being with cats 365 days a year.

    As soon as she started the livestream, many fans poured in¡ª

    [UP is the freshest, most unpretentious streamer I''ve ever seen. She disappears without warning, hardly shows up except to update new cat food recipes, and starts livestreams without any notice. Lucky I came quickly, or what if I missed it? The consequences would be serious!]

    Comments not sent during livestreams don''t have star symbols!

    Chu Tingwu saw thisment and said "Oh": "Alright, if I n a livestream in the future, I''ll post an update in advance."

    Thements paused for a moment.

    [Oh my god, UP actually responded to us...]

    [She read thements, she read them! She even replied, I''m a bit moved, what should I do?]

    [My eyes are tearing up, this feels exactly like when my cat suddenlyes to rub against me!]

    Some passersby who identally clicked into the livestream were startled:

    [You''re too excited, what''s going on? By the way, what does UP''s title mean? [[365 Cat Census] APP test, Fallen Phoenix City cat census in progress...], what''s a cat census?]

    Chu Tingwu replied to each question in thements, at a steady pace, and walked forward with Three-Five-Five standing on the wall: "It''s an app that can photograph and identify cats. It''s currently being tested. I''ve decided to use this app to record all the stray cats in the city."

    The audience didn''t quite understand at first, but then they saw in the frame:

    Chu Tingwu raised her phone, opened the app, and took a photo of a gray tabby cat sunbathing nearby.

    Shebeled the photo "Gray Tabby" and the page automatically recorded the location coordinates and time of the photo. Then she uploaded all the information.

    "This is the cat registry. Whenever you take a photo of this cat, you can add information about it¡ª"

    The gray tabby cat suddenly opened its eyes, hissed at Three-Five-Five, then let out a somewhat shrill meow.

    Chu Tingwu entered in the tag interface:

    "Strong territorial instinct" "Foul-mouthed"

    These two phrases appeared as colorful tags in the "registry".

    Chu Tingwu switched back to the main interface of the app: "This is the ''Census Report''. You can switch locations to see nearby uploaded cats, or take photos of cats and match them."

    She took another photo of the gray tabby, then selected "match" at the bottom. A secondter, the photo was directly matched, and the interface automatically jumped to the gray tabby''s registry that was just uploaded.

    Prompt: [Do you want to add this photo to the "Gray Tabby" cat registry?]

    [It feels very smooth when it jumps!]

    [Is this for finding cats, or just a tform for cat lovers?]

    [Wow! Can I upload my own cat?]

    Chu Tingwu shook her head: "Pet cats can only be uploaded to the ''Private Registry''. Same for cats in cat cafes. Because the app''s photose with IP locations, sharing data on house cats could pose some security risks. So this app is mainly used to record data on stray cats in the city... My livestream n today is to first use the app to record all the stray cats in this neighborhood."

    The app still in testing certainly had many other unforeseen risks, so Chu Tingwu wasn''t nning to open it for download immediately. The adults involved in the design agreed with this point.

    Thements paused for a moment, then her fans realized¡ª

    [Wait, Master Chu... you''re not really nning to record every cat in the whole city with this app, are you?]

    The app looked well-made, with a refined UI, but having a minor operate the app didn''t inspire much confidence. The fans had originally thought Chu Tingwu was just using it as a gimmick for the livestream, or that the app would only be avable for limited download trials? For fans only?

    Where there was distrust, there were naturally those who wanted to download and try it out, regardless of the risks. However, Chu Tingwu didn''t respond to either type of fan. She had already started photographing cats.

    Actions speak louder than words.

    Fans came and went in the livestream room, but the total number of viewers kept increasing. The drone footage was split into two by the system¡ª

    One half was the drone''s view, mainly from behind and to the side of Chu Tingwu, like a third-person view in a video game,plete with the previously set game icons.

    The other half was Chu Tingwu''s own phone screen, constantly open to the camera interface of [365 Cat Census]... At first, the fans thought taking photos of stray cats wasn''t very interesting, but half an hourter, thements were full of¡ª

    [On the left, Master Chu, look on the left, there''s one!]

    [Are you blind? That one''s already been photographed, ten minutes ago. Its name is "Kicked Twice"! I remember it clearly!]

    [Just got here... What exactly are you doing? A mass cat-naming convention? No, why are there so many weird names in thements?]

    Ever since Chu Tingwu gave the fans the opportunity to name the cats, thements became incredibly lively. The names given to the stray cats got increasingly strange. For example, a chubby stray blue cat was named "Earth Cat Cult" because it was as round as a ball.

    Chu Tingwu: "Thank you all for helping me discover what feature the test version needs most right now..."

    Limit names to six characters.

    Otherwise, she believed some cats would end up with short essays as names.

    Maybe five characters would be better? Four is also reasonable.

    Chu Tingwu: "Three-Five-Five."

    Three-Five-Five: "Meow?"

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    Numbers are so much better, simple and easy to remember.

    Look at how some cats are called things like Earth Cat Cult. It''s a good thing it doesn''t know its own name, otherwise it would surely be mocked when interacting with other cats.

    A white cat darted across the wall behind her. Thements were about to alert her when, on that half of the screen, they saw Chu Tingwu turn and leap, easilynding on the wall.

    She "meowed" once, trying to get the white cat to stop. Seeing it was still running, she took two leaps along the wall then jumped onto a tree trunk, moving in sync with the cat. The cat turned its head, startled, and Chu Tingwu took the chance to grab it by the scruff of its neck:

    "Why are you running? Are you a resident cat? Why are youing to this neighborhood to beg for food if you''re from next door... Alright, what should we call you? I have several... several dozen names here... Okay, you can stop suggesting names now. We''ll just call you Big White."

    "Big White": "...Meow?"

 Chapter 18

    Changning Community is the closest residential area to Little Sun Rescue House, with the two neighborhoods right next to each other. As a result, most of the stray cats here have been neutered¡ªmany residents are familiar with the rescue house staff, and when new stray cats appear, they usually call the hospital to have them picked up.

    Therefore, Chu Tingwu chose thismunity as her first pilot location.

    Since the stray cats here are actually registered at Little Sun Hospital, she can directlypare her work with the hospital''s records afterpleting today''s task to determine if she missed any cats or made any mistakes.

    After releasing the white cat, Chu Tingwu randomly caught a passing orange tabby and gave it a deworming treatment. The little orange caty in her palm, neither struggling nor meowing, just unable to resist lifting its upper body to lick its fur.

    Meanwhile, Three-Five-Five, wearing a cor, slowly sauntered over with a robust calico cat following behind.

    [Just noticed Three-Five-Five isn''t around, did she go for a walk?]

    [That cat behind Three-Five-Five hasn''t been photographed! Quick, Chu, take a picture!]

    The calico cat looked up at Chu Tingwu with a slightly puzzled expression. Chu Tingwu took out a thermos and some cat treats she had prepared in advance. She tore open a packet of treats for the calico to smell, then opened the thermos¡ªinside was cat food she had made earlier.

    The calico cat took the treat in its mouth, sat on it, then ate a couple bites of the cat food, meowed twice, and then buried its head in the thermos.

    Chu Tingwu exined to her fans: "Even stray cats have their own territories. They leave their scent in ces where they frequently move about, and the stray cats in themunity know best where other cats are active. This one is a rtively high-rankingmunity cat."

    This calico cat was quite old, and many of the stray cats in themunity were its descendants.

    [Task: Collect data on all stray cats in Changning Community]

    [Task progress: After photographing some of the active cats, you''ve found a localmunity cat and are asking if it''s willing to exchange information about other cats for treats and food...]

    In the live stream, the calico cat was still eating, so the task progress bar was slowly charging. Although the audience wasn''t present, they were on edge, as if they had stepped into Chu Tingwu''s shoes, waiting for the calico''s evaluation of the cat food.

    The calico finally licked the bowl clean, raised a front paw to pat Chu Tingwu''s calf, then swept its tail across her ankle before running off with the treat in its mouth.

    [Huh? Is that a yes or a no?]

    [Don''t tell me it just tricked her for the treat and ran?]

    Chu Tingwu meowed a couple of times after it, and the calico stopped, responding with a thin "meow" before jumping onto a flowerbed, running and calling out at the same time.

    Chu Tingwu: "She agreed. I''ll go prepare some materials."

    She called Hang Ling and headed to themunity''s central activity area with Three-Five-Five.

    Thesemunity activity areas usually have simple exercise equipment and yground facilities, as well as benches for resting. Changning Community was no exception, with benches not far from a sandbox, and unlike othermunities, it had a small running track with a circr mini-za in the center.

    When Chu Tingwu arrived, some elderly people were exercising and chatting on the equipment, while other residents were sitting on benches ying with their phones and enjoying the breeze. Perhaps because the sun was quite strong, there weren''t many people at the sandbox and slide¡ªthe children were probably staying indoors.

    Noticing Chu Tingwu approaching with a cat on a leash, someone sitting in the shade under the slide nced at her, stood up to make way, and gestured with their eyes:

    "Little one, you can y."

    Chu Tingwu, who considered herself too old for slides, replied: "...Thank you."

    Her fans sent a flood of teasingments.

    The person watched from the side as Chu Tingwu checked her phone, realizing that the others wouldn''t arrive for a while. She looked down and picked up Three-Five-Five.

    Three-Five-Five: "...?"

    She ced Three-Five-Five on the slide, and the tortoiseshell cat, like a lump of ck glutinous rice cake, slowly slid down.

    Three-Five-Five: "......"

    When Chu Tingwu reached out again, the cat mom dodged to the side.

    She climbed up thedder to the top of the slide, where there was a big-mouthed Mickey Mouse. The tortoiseshell cat perched on Mickey''s head, looked at her kitten, and meowed once.

    The kind resident who had made way eximed, "Wow, your cat is quite smart. Looks like it''s telling you to y, right?"

    He raised his phone and started snapping photos of Three-Five-Five. Ignoring theughter in thements, Chu Tingwu gently meowed, telling Three-Five-Five:

    "It''s okay, I don''t want to y."

    The cat mom yawned, shook her head, then suddenly darted off. Soon, she was chasing the little orange tabby that Chu Tingwu had just dewormed, herding it onto the slide, then looking at her kitten:

    "Come y push-push meow, don''t you like ying push-push?"

    Push this orange cat down.

    Chu Tingwu: Three-Five-Five... are you really not getting revenge?

    Is it because the orange tabby had just been lying on her leg?

    Soon after, Hang Ling, the photographer, Lizi, and several others arrived at the activity area carrying bags, apanied by property management staff.

    They had expected to find Chu Tingwu waiting in the shade, but instead found a crowd gathered around the children''s y area. Soon, there was a burst of cheers, apuse, and photo-taking. Undoubtedly, Chu Tingwu and Three-Five-Five were at the center of the crowd.

    ¡ªasionally, there were even shouts of "One more time!"

    Hang Ling: "...Is Chu Chu making Three-Five-Five do backflips or something?"

    Weren''t they supposed to be making cat food? Why are they putting on a show?

    They didn''t try to squeeze through the crowd, but instead busied themselves for a while, setting up a folding cart that looked like a night market stall. Prompted by the system, Chu Tingwu learned that Hang Ling and the others had arrived. She emerged from the crowd, followed by several stray cats.

    The stray cats lined up, and when they realized Chu Tingwu wasn''t going to pick them up, they scattered in small groups nearby, grooming each other, while some approached to sniff the food bowls Hang Ling was setting out.

    An elderly person approached, asking the property management staff curiously:

    "What are you selling?"

    The staff shook their head: "They''re preparing to make cat food on-site to feed the cats."

    The old man looked around and recognized Hang Ling: "Little Hang, what''s going on with your hospital? Not catching cats anymore, just feeding them directly?"

    He seemed a bit displeased: "We feed the stray cats in ourmunity ourselves. The food containers are mostly full most of the time. Why do you need toe here specially to feed them?"

    Was this distrust or what?

    Hang Ling smiled apologetically: "No, uncle, we''re not here to feed the cats. We want to record some data about the cats¡ª"

    She exined the purpose of the app to the elderly residents, and immediately some of the older women wanted to download it:

    "This app won''t randomly delete photos, will it? Is there a limit on how many photos you can upload? Oh, let me download it. My phone is already full of cat photos I''ve taken. My daughter told me to transfer them to aputer or some kind of cloud storage, but I don''t know how to use those things!"

    Now there''s an app specifically for uploading these cat photos, and it even automatically identifies and matches them. No need to create albums and categorize them manually!

    Hang Ling: "Auntie, this app isn''t really for... um..."

    The older woman asked: "Can''t it be used like that?"

    Hang Ling: Well, I suppose it''s not impossible...

    She quietly asked Chu Tingwu: "There should be a limit on how many photos of the same cat, right?"

    Chu Tingwu was silent for three seconds: "The system will automatically identify and disy the five clearest photos and the five with the most likes, showing only ten in total. But for photos you''ve taken yourself... they can be stored in your personal interface and can also be disyed."

    ¡ªIn those three seconds, this function was added to the app''s system.

    As Hang Ling went to ry this information, Chu Tingwu also realized: "The app does need to be tested. There are many functions we couldn''t have thought of on our own."

    The details from various aspects still needed users to experience and provide suggestions.

    As soon as she said this, her fans became excited:

    [Master Chu, how do you distribute the beta codes? Is it a lottery? Pick me, pick me! I''ve been your loyal fan for ten years! I grew up watching your videos!!]

    [Master Chu, I can pay for beta testing! There are so many cats where I live, I encounter a bunch every day when I go for a run. Please let me take photos, I''m begging you, meow¡ª]

    [Step aside! I''ve won gold awards in photographypetitions, my cat photos will be clear and beautiful for sure!]

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    She exined, "I''ve arranged for local university students to help me with testing, so we should have enough testers..."

    Moreover, the elderly folks in themunity also seemed eager to download and try it out. They had money and free time, loved cats, and often went out for walks and exercise. Their photography skills might not be top-notch, but they were good enough.

    However, the photographer sister had mentioned that more interaction with fans could increase fan loyalty, so she said, "My current goal is to collect data on all the cats in Fallen Phoenix City. How about this... local residents can send me private messages, and after the livestream, I''ll randomly select ten people to receive one-time download codes."

    The private messages were constantly flooding in, with many non-locals trying their luck, but they were mercilessly filtered out by the system.

    Meanwhile, the nearbymunity residents had the advantage of proximity. Hang Ling added them to the testing group and directly shared the app. Even the property managementdy couldn''t resist downloading it¡ªof course, this was more because Little Sun Hospital had always maintained a good reputation in their area.

    Just then, someone sniffed the air and couldn''t help but say, "This smell..."

    It smelled delicious.

    Simple ingredients with minimal seasoning, but carefullybined, the natural aromas of the ingredients blended together, emitting an enticing smell of cooked food. Because of the "human cat," the system''s recipe was suitable for both humans and cats... The cats ying nearby were attracted by the smell, meowing and some even trying to jump onto the small table, but were shooed away by Three-Five-Five.

    The property managementdy hung up a banner between the trees as a barrier, then said, "Everyone please step back a bit, thank you for your cooperation, let''s clear the small square."

    Someone asked in confusion, "For the cats?"

    They had heard that this youngdy was going to make cat food for the stray cats, but there were only a few strays here, so it didn''t seem necessary to clear the whole area.

    The property staff member shrugged helplessly, "Let''s just make some room, be careful not to step on them. Stray cats aren''t very friendly to humans, they might run away if we get too close..."

    Her words weren''t very convincing, as the usually aloof strays were already crowding in front of the small cart, ying cat-stack, all trying to get closer to the pot of cat food.

    Hang Ling helped serve the food, Lizi helped set up the barrier, and the photographer... helped by taking photos.

    Hang Ling set out ten bowls on the ground in a row, half filled with food and half with water. Then, the elderly residents heard Chu Tingwu let out a long cat call. The noisy cats responded with "meows," and the imposing tortoiseshell cat jumped down from the table, asionally raising a paw to swat at the stray cats.

    Some residents were saying, "Is she bringing outside cats to fight with our local cats?" But before they finished speaking, they noticed that the cats had been divided into several rows. Five lucky cats were allowed to approach the food first¡ªwhile the other cats were separated from these five by the tortoiseshell cat, like an invisible boundary. Although they were all meowing back and forth, no cat crossed this line.

    Some people were amazed and started taking photos with their phones, while others simply used the newly downloaded [365 Cat Census] app to snap pictures. After taking a photo, they pressed the match button, and all the cats in the photo were automatically matched¡ª

    "Oh my, why is Big Meow''s name ''Trash Can''? Although it does love to crawl into trash cans¡ªis this photo from when it was just pulled out of a trash can? It''s so dirty!"

    "Little Blue is so cute, why is it baring its teeth in this photo? No, I have to take a new picture of it!"

    "Who named all these cats? They''re all so strange, I can''t even read some of these characters... Huh? This is an ''emoticon''? Oh my, only Big White''s name is correct!"

    Chu Tingwu, who was behind them but could hear everything: "..."

    The fans who could also hear everything due to the good sound equipment: [...]

    [Uncles and aunties, please listen to our exnation first...]

    [Actually, this cat, as soon as it was born, insisted on calling itself that name, we really couldn''t stop it... We tried our best to prevent it!]

    [The cats don''t mind! If they had any objections, they could have raised them on the spot. They''re all fine with it, right, Master Chu?]

    Master Chu said in a low voice, "...I didn''t ask them either."

    The fans were making amotion in thement section, unanimously deciding to push all responsibility onto the content creator. The content creator remained expressionless, not bothering to respond.

    Suddenly, a cat''s meow was heard from outside the flower bed. This meow was louder and had a rhythm to it, as if someone was saying a long sentence¡ª

    Cat owners often hear such long meows when their cats are scolding them, but this one was definitely not a scolding. Any normal person could tell the difference in the rhythm.

    Chu Tingwu exined, "The calico cat is back."

    The crowd let out a gasp of surprise.

    The calico cat emerged from the middle of the flower bed but didn''t jump down from the tform. Instead, it called out towards the back, and then...

    One cat, two cats, three cats... Tabby, tiger-striped, ginger, mixed breeds, short-legged tabby, American Shorthair, ck and white... There were even mother cats herding their kittens, leisurely mixing in with the stray cats that had already arrived. When a kitten fell behind, she would turn back to pick it up in her mouth, but the kittens were mewing and scampering all over the ce.

    The surrounding cats maintained a not-too-close, not-too-far distance, not paying attention to other cats'' offspring, but also not attacking each other. Most of them turned their heads towards the direction of the enticing cat food smell.

    The humans in themunity were taking photos and inhaling deeply, unsure if they were amazed by this rare scene of a cat gathering or trying to capture the aroma in the air with their noses.

    The calico caty on the flower bed, surveying the cats here with its gaze, then turned to exchange a few words with Three-Five-Five.

    Three-Five-Five moved aside a bit but growled twice, signaling the stray cats toe one by one and not crowd¡ª

    She was teaching the cats to queue up.

    ...Of course, not all cats listened to her.

    While cooking, Chu Tingwu kept her ears pricked, distinguishing the sounds of cats quarreling.

    Most stray dogs tend to be more aggressive, while cats are more self-centered animals. They rarely gather in groups, marking their territories with scent. Now, the smells here were mixed, but the aroma of cat food overpowered all the unfriendly scents emitted by the cats.

    And their voices, if simply tranted, were actually saying:

    "Stay away from me!"

    The system controlled the drone, flying it around the cats at close range for two rounds, eliciting a series of exmations in thement section.

    [This shot! This shot!]

    Some people were so excited they couldn''t speak because the camera was so close.

    [Actually, I''ve seen this many cats on other pet content creator channels before, but it''s either in homes or cat cafes. I''ve almost never seen this kind of outdoor footage¡ªoh my goodness, Master Chu, I knew following you would give me something amazing to see!]

    That statement seemed to have a double meaning?!

    [This is too wonderful... How many names can we give... Wait! Master Chu isn''t filming anymore, now it''s the photographer sister and the uncles and aunties taking photos of the cats! My heart is broken, does this mean we can''t name any of them? Photographer sister, can you start a livestream¡ª]

    Someone recognized from the two shots taken by the system that the photographer using the app was "BuBu," the photographer for Tea Meow. Coincidentally, the neighboring "Tea Meow Goes Home" channel was also livestreaming and reading fanments, so Tea Meow''s livestream suddenly saw a wave of remote callments.

    Cha: "BuBu is in Fallen Phoenix City... About the app news? Chu will respond to that, you can follow Chu, if you follow now you''ll be considered an old fan."

    Chu Tingwu''s fans will definitely exceed 200,000, so her words seem to be correct?

    Among the group of cats, a ck and white cat eagerly wanted to fight with Three-Five-Five, but as soon as it hissed, it was bitten on the rump by another cat with an old grudge. The cat group became slightly agitated due to these two cats¡ª

    Some backed away half a step, while others made space, allowing the two cats to fight in the middle.

    Fight, fight hard.

    Three-Five-Five: "..."

    She let out an irritated growl, but because she had to maintain a nonexistent boundary line, she was momentarily unable to advance or retreat.

    The calico cat on the flower bed swished its tail. Having done its job of driving the cats over, it nowpletely ignored the young ones fighting, its face exuding a peaceful contentment as if it had eaten and drunk its fill.

    Chu Tingwu hadn''t reacted yet, but the people behind her were heartbroken. The elderly men and women looked as if they wanted to cross the barrier to help their supported cats fight.

    Chu Tingwu had already prepared food ording to the number of cat heads. She silently sighed and put on her gloves.

    She stepped into the group of cats. The cats showed no reaction to a human approaching, all continuing to do their own things. Only a few female cats raised their heads to look at her.

    Hang Ling, holding her phone, murmured:

    "Although it''s not the first time I''ve seen it... but how does Chu Chu manage to do it?"

    How does she manage to not be treated as an outsider... or rather, an outside cat by unfamiliar cats?

    The human-cat Chu Tingwu skillfully pulled the two cats apart, picked up the ck and white cat that looked fierce but couldn''t fight well, and weighed it in her hands. The cat''s gaze immediately changed from anger to confusion. When Chu Tingwu put it down, it immediately darted to the back but didn''t run away or continue fighting.

    It seemed to be saying with its eyes: "Where did this oversized kittene from, with such strength?"

    Chu Tingwu chose to ignore it.

    On the other side, the cat it was fighting with turned out to be a familiar one... it was the foul-mouthed gray tabby she had photographed at the beginning. At that time, to demonstrate the app''s features to her fans, she had casually named it "Gray Tabby."

    The tabby shook its mouth, preparing to scare away the kitten in front of it, when it saw this "kitten" - emitting a kitten scent but not too milky, and slightlyrger - approach and pin it to the ground with one hand.

    Gray Tabby: "?"

    Then, the kitten seemed to hesitate for a moment before patting its bottom.

    Gray Tabby: "Mee¡ªmeow?"

    Chu Tingwu released her hand, but it remained lying on the ground. Then, slowly, it raised its bottom high, its tail also rising, swaying back and forth in the sun.

    Hmm... perhaps she could add another line to the individual cat tags in the household register: "Likes bottom pats."

    Chu Tingwu''s livestream continued from noon until after four in the afternoon. The sun hung in the sky like an egg yolk. Hang Ling and the others were starving, licking their lips and asking Chu Tingwu if she could cook something for them to taste¡ª

    After all, they had both tools and ingredients here.

    Hearing this, the elderly man next door couldn''t help but say, "Do you have enough bowls? I live nearby, I can lend you a few bowls."

    It wouldn''t be too much to ask for a bowl for himself, right?

    Chu Tingwu smiled and said, "Sure."

    She then told her audience, "I''m ending the livestream now."

    In the cked-out livestream room, a series of question marks shed by. There were new viewers and fans who hade specifically to watch the "cat meeting," and they asked:

    [Is this how UP usually livestreams? What''s so secretive about eating that we can''t see? Can''t we just watch and satisfy our cravings?]

    [Be content, she said something before ending the stream. She''s thinking of us!]

    [???]

    Five secondster, the livestream room began to automatically rey the UP''s recorded stream. The number of viewers dropped a little, then stabilized again. Many viewers... began to eat their meals while watching the rey.

    Come to think of it, watching Master Chu''s videos really does make one hungry.

    -

    The system distributed the ten lottery spots and reported today''s livestream results to Chu Tingwu¡ª

    [Today''s peak viewership was 23,000, with a total of over 56,000 people watching the livestream for more than ten minutes. You streamed for four hours, and the number of viewers hardly dropped towards the end. The livestream poprity value, well, don''t worry about that, it''s inted... but you gained 30,000 followers after the stream ended, and you''re not far from 300,000 now.]

    For a new UP, this was almost a rocket-like growth in followers, although UPs with simr data had appeared before.

    Although Chu Tingwu''s videos were high quality, their theme wasn''t particrly eye-catching, nor were they the kind of makeover or special effects content that easily attracts followers quickly. They were more suited for steady, long-term growth.

    Currently, the UP with the highest number of followers for pet-rted videos on the Fenghua tform had 3.2 million followers¡ªFenghua Network was one of thergestprehensive video tforms in the country, with quite a few UPs in other categories having millions of followers, though not too many.

    Chu Tingwu pped her hands: "Let''s withdraw the livestream earnings and divide the loot among us."

    ¡ªThree-Five-Five had worked today, and ording to their agreement, she should get a share of the earnings too.

    Three-Five-Five understood Chu Tingwu''s words and gestured for her to lower her head. They touched foreheads, and she softly meowed.

    Chu Tingwu: "Then I''ll keep it safe for you. If you ever get sick or need a check-up, it can be used as a medical fund."

    Three-Five-Five meowed again.

    Chu Tingwu: "...Alright, if I get sick, we''ll use it too."

    System: "Use mine, use mine! I have money too!"

    Chu Tingwu was silent for a moment: "...We''ll keep yours as a startup fund."

    Both the calico cat and the system were satisfied.

 Chapter 19

    There were twenty-seven stray cats in Changning Community.

    This was three more than the hospital''s statistics, likely neers from elsewhere, but the hospital staff checked and found they had all been neutered.

    "These two are probably pet cats that were abandoned," Lizi said, lifting one of the cats to weigh it. The cat didn''t struggle, staring longingly ahead. She nced at another hiding under a bicycle, "That one''s a stray, right? Chu Tingwu, am I correct?"

    Since Chu Tingwu''s ability to understand catnguage emerged, she had gradually be the authoritative human catnguage trantor. Whenever cats were chatting nearby, her colleagues would eagerly ask her to interpret, then grin foolishly regardless of what she said.

    Chu Tingwu nodded, petting the pet cat''s head. It continued to gaze longingly at where the cats had just gathered to eat, ignoring her.

    The docile pet cats and a few recently matured kittens were whisked away after eating. Chu Tingwu bid farewell to everyone and left themunity with San Wu Wu¡ª

    A virtual screen before her eyes constantly changed, disying a map of the entire Fallen Phoenix City.

    "I''ve asked Teacher Wang to handle the activity application. The applying organization is affiliated with Little Sun Hospital, thanks to Director Yang. The application has been approved, with a limit of 200 participants..."

    The activity wouldst ten days, with a three-day application period. Despite it being summer vacation with only a few students remaining on campus, over fifty people had already applied in just half a day.

    Since it involved photographing cats, credits were calcted based on the number of cats recorded. Individuals had to record over 20 cats to submit a screenshot for credit calction, with credits doubling for over fifty cats, though it was still only four credits.

    The advantage was that this could be done anytime, even by chance encounters with cats on the street.

    "Many people have already started uploading," the system continuously monitored the backend. "Currently, cat activity uploads are mainly concentrated in the university town, near the rescue house and the neighboringmunity, with a few from people''smute routes¡ª"

    The photos automatically included the cats'' IP locations, which the system marked on the virtual screen. Soon, two areas on the map were covered in red dots.

    But zoomed out to the entire Fallen Phoenix City, they were just two tiny red spots.

    Chu Tingwu looked up at the city map: "Let''s go to themercial street."

    Avoiding the current high-activity areas identified by the system for test users, and choosing areas with frequent cat activity, the centralmercial street far from the university town was the best choice.

    She nned to take a stroll around themercial street, arriving at Teacher Zhang''s house for ss around six o''clock.

    The system sounded a bit disappointed: "We can''t fly drones in themercial street..."

    But it perked up again: "Little one, you''re nning to go take photos in many ces yourself, right? That means you can go out and exercise every day! Great, great, great!"

    Chu Tingwu: "...I never realized Fallen Phoenix City was so big before."

    Living in the city for over a decade, her activities were limited to fixed locations. She didn''t know about the surrounding urban areas, some gradually aging, others demolished and rebuilt. She had only visited a few local attractions, dragged out by her grandmother to y. She knew even less about the smallkes, horse ranches, and resorts hidden in remote areas.

    The system had quietly marked all these suitable activity spots on the map, erging the font, with obvious implications.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    Should she run to themercial street? Was the system that eager for her to exercise?

    Chu Tingwu felt her forearm, able to sense the taut muscle lines, her legs simrly so... Even though her exercise was mostly limited to the dream ssroom, her muscle mass was slowly increasing, supporting those movements.

    The system promptly disyed Chu Tingwu''s personal data panel¡ª

    At the bottom, the pixel avatar was expressionless, mood calm. Although the binding time wasn''t long, Chu Tingwu had already grown 1.5cm taller, reaching 164cm, with a weight gain of 3 jin.

    She nodded, tied her shoces, took a deep breath, and began jogging.

    San Wu Wu immediately trotted along.

    The wind asionally brought cool air from supermarket air conditioners, sunlight casting golden-red patches through the leaves. After jogging a few hundred meters, Chu Tingwu mentally asked the system: "n a straight route for me."

    This way of running was too slow.

    A virtual map with a 3D route appeared in Chu Tingwu''s peripheral vision. The system controlled the drone to fly ahead. Though the drone flew silently, Chu Tingwu swore she could sense encouragement from its mechanical shell.

    She gave an "OK" sign, then set off.

    -

    Behind the small hill in Minghua Park, students from the Fallen Phoenix University of Technology''s drone club were test-flying their newly modified drones. Most of them were local to Fallen Phoenix City.

    Except for a few whose drones were heavier, most had bought civilian drones that didn''t require registration. Minghua Park had no drone flight restrictions, though some forested areas were limited, and there was a height restriction. Someone couldn''t helpining: "I should have bought a racing drone. The footage from my drone isn''t very interesting."

    The club president sighed: "Racing drones have even more restrictions, and could you afford to crash one?"

    Theiner''s family wasn''t rich; he was just grumbling.

    He didn''t actually think drone footage was unexciting. Though drones couldn''t fly high or perform many stunts, they provided a perspective humans couldn''t see with the naked eye¡ªa free-flying view.

    They hade out this time to participate in a city drone photographypetition. Though not famous, the first prize was still worth tens of thousands of yuan.

    Someone suggested: "Thispetition is organized by the Fallen Phoenix City Cultural and Tourism Bureau. They probably want shots of scenery to promote our good environment, right?"

    "The environment is quite suitable for retirement..."

    "No ambition. I''ll only shoot what I want to shoot."

    "Come on, no one wants to act in your short film. And why use a drone for that? You don''t have any special techniques; it''s all just overhead shots showing the tops of actors'' heads."

    "Zhenzhen, have you shot your short film? You haven''t taken out your drone?"

    The young girl addressed as Zhenzhen mumbled: "...How about shooting cats?"

    She showed her phone screen to everyone: "Look at this activity, ''Pet Hospital Charity Photo Shoot, City Stray Cat Data Registration,'' worth two innovation and entrepreneurship credits. Anyone short on credits?"

    This announcement was met with a chorus of "Wow" and "Thank you." Most college students, especially those prone to procrastination, were always short on credits. These weren''t coursepletion credits, but for participating in activities. Though "credits" were virtual items, they could determine whether students could level up and graduate smoothly. Moreover, a single activity only gave two or three credits, but everyone needed to umte three-digit credit scores... Even activities as simple as attending meetings werepetitive.

    Thanks to the girl''s reminder, those needing credits signed up for the activity. They had an advantage¡ªthey were confident that with drones, they could quickly meet the basic requirement of 20 cats.

    After downloading the app, someone immediately decided to take off again, excited. However, You Zhenzhen, who spoke earlier, was still scrolling through cat photos in the app while rapidly texting her roommate¡ª

    "Want to go pet some cats tomorrow?"

    "Not a cat cafe! I just downloaded an app. Oh right, you should download it too! You need to apply for the activity first to get the download link... Anyway, hurry! If you''rete, you won''t be able to download it!"

    "They''re just some stray cats, not particrly pretty, but after looking at the photos for a while, I really want to see them in real life, especially since they''re local! Weren''t you nning to enter a photographypetition? I think this has potential! Give it a try! The theme could be something like ''Real Stray Cats in the City''..."

    She typed away, unaware that the other club members were gathered behind their president, staring nkly at the screen of his drone.

    The president was also using an overhead angle, previously filming an old neighborhood nearby, adjusting the light and shadows. A girl and a cat had just entered the frame.

    He hadn''t paid much attention at first, assuming they were just passersby... but hearing others talk about photographing cats, he instinctively zoomed in and realized something was off:

    "Why is there another drone filming this girl?"

    "Wait, that speed¡ª"

    The girl and the cat weren''t stationary; when he captured them, they seemed to be taking a brief rest.

    Five secondster, the drone in the frame took off, while the girl braced one hand against the wall, stepped onto the top of the wall with one foot, and then leaped again without hesitation. Her short sleeves billowed in the wind as she jumped with the breeze to the second floor of the old apartmentplex. Her arms tensed with effort as she flipped herself onto the roof of the awning.

    Dangerous!

    The high-flying drone pulled back, providing a clear view of the maze-like roads of the old buildings, some structures high and others low, red tiles covered in ayer of dust. The young girl ran swiftly across the rooftops, with the calico cat beside her maintaining the same pace. Together, human and feline leaped from the edge of the roof simultaneously.

    The president had seen simr scenes in parkour videos, where the athletes'' movements were more powerful, mimicking animal movements¡ªgori jumps, cat leaps, wall runs, rolls¡ªallowing them to move quickly throughplex terrain.

    But the president suddenly realized: the difference between this girl and those athletes was that she seemed more... "lightweight."

    And faster.

    Parkour was originally invented as a way to "get around" quickly, evolving into a spectator sport in modern times, and branching out into freerunning, which incorporated more showy moves like backflips between transitions. The unnamed girl in the frame, however, gave the impression that she was genuinely using this skill just to get from point A to point B.

    So, it wasn''t that shecked power, but rather that those powerfulndings and lifts served no purpose for her.

    If one could already jump farther with ease,nd steadily, and continue forward, why bother with rolls to disperse force, or climbing up and down?

    Despite having no prior knowledge of parkour, the president found himself feeling a twinge of envy and longing as he watched the footage... longing for the "freedom" the girl exhibited as she vaulted over walls.

    "She must be some parkour video creator, right?" one of the onlooking club members said. "She even has a drone."

    Yes, she must be filming a video.

    Look at that perfect drone flight path, and that well-trained, cored cat beside her... She must be a parkour pro with a team behind her.

    Everyone wanted to go meet her, but as they searched the footage, they couldn''t find any sign of her team. Shouldn''t there be a vehicle with equipment parked nearby?

    Someone gasped as the girl in the frame left the neighborhood. She removed her ck fingerless gloves, turned them inside out and tucked them into her pocket, then tried to clip a leash onto the cat... but the cat shook its head, seeming reluctant.

    The girl crouched down and exchanged a few words with the cat, then waved at the air.

    That basic consumer drone descended,nding on the ground and extending its self-propelled wheels.

    So it had been modified too.

    In the frame, the girl clipped the cat leash to the drone, crossed the street, and was just a few steps away from climbing the stairs to the city center''smercial district.

    They watched as the drone used its wheels to roll up to the stairs, adjusted its wheel height, extending and retracting smoothly to move itself up the steps, continuing to follow the girl and the cat.

    Everyone: "...Huh?"

    ...These days, walking a cat isn''t trendy enough; you have to walk a drone too?

 Chapter 20

    When the system suggested taking the drone for a "walk" (?), Chu Tingwu guessed she might attract attention, but she didn''t expect to be stopped by a group of people.

    However, she understood when they took out their drones.

    The university students from the drone club were extremely excited. The central shopping street was so big that they had to run around and ask passersby to find Chu Tingwu''s location¡ª

    "Walking a drone? What drone? I didn''t see any, but I did see a kid with a cat and a strange-looking RC car. My son really wanted it, but that RC car looked quite expensive..."

    A club member took out their drone: "...Like this ''RC car''?"

    "Yes, exactly!"

    Following the guidance of the RC car¡ªno, the drone¡ªthey finally managed to intercept Chu Tingwu on her way out.

    The young girl seemed to have just finished shopping, carrying two shopping bags. There was a cup of milk tea on the drone on the ground, with the cat nearby... But the moment they saw her, everyone couldn''t help but exim:

    She really was just a little girl.

    Do kids these days need to be sopetitive? Were they doing parkour training from the womb?

    Faced with a girl who might still be in middle school, everyone hesitated before stepping forward to exin their thoughts.

    "The drone modification method..." Chu Tingwu said, "I know about it, but the blueprints were designed by my friend."

    The club president rubbed his hands: "Then could we ask the expert to let us take a look? We''re not trying to copy, we''re just very curious about how this frame improves stability and smoothness, oh, and the control system..."

    "Also, also," someone raised their hand, "Do you have a video ount? Will you post the video you just shot? Can we follow you?"

    It felt strange to call her "kid," and they didn''t know her name, so they could only respectfully address her as "you."

    The president gave a signal, and someone immediately went to buy cake and snacks, while the girls in the club were sent to chat with her.

    Only You Zhenzhengged behind. Because her name was rted to trees, and she usually liked to buy various green clothes, she wore a pair of dark green overalls, almost blending into the shade of the trees. At this moment, she quietly raised her phone and took a picture of Chu Tingwu''s profile, with Mama Tortoiseshell crouching beside her, also in the frame.

    Chu Tingwu suddenly turned her head and made eye contact with You Zhenzhen, who had not yet lowered her phone.

    You Zhenzhen panicked a bit: "Sorry, um, I just wanted to ask if you''re the content creator my friend is following... because your figure looks simr. I won''t share it with anyone, I''ll delete it right now!"

    She unconsciously used "you" in a respectful manner too!

    Chu Tingwu''s reaction was too sharp, giving her the feeling of being caught using her phone in ss by a teacher... even though the person in front of her was just a kid around ten years old!

    Chu Tingwu wrinkled her nose, then replied to the others first: "Sure, I''ll send you the blueprints, but don''t share them externally. My friend will find out¡ª"

    Then she frowned slightly at You Zhenzhen: "How about we add each other as friends?"

    She exined that she wasn''t the parkour content creator, and when she left, she had gained a bunch of snacks and a small wave of followers.

    Only You Zhenzhen was left somewhat shocked as she checked her ount, muttering to herself: "Howe she only added me besides the club president..."

    Could it be that the little girl actually liked her quite a bit?

    Meanwhile.

    Chu Tingwu: "I smelled blood on her."

    But as she secretly observed, You Zhenzhen didn''t seem to be injured?

    System: "Ah, human females bleed for a few days every month, and some even experience pain, but kittens don''t. Don''t worry."

    Chu Tingwu''s footsteps faltered.

    ...So it was just her period.

    Cats indeed don''t bleed. Chu Tingwu knew her body had undergone some changes, but she hadn''t gone to the hospital for a check-up... After all, judging by the system''s attitude and her own experience, these changes weren''t bad things and wouldn''t really affect her health.

    If anything, she was a bit too healthy.

    "I''m a bit hungry."

    [I secretly essed the surveince and found footage of Aunt Mei shopping today. Want to see the dishes with the highest probability that I think you''ll definitely like...]

    "What''s there to guess? We''ll know soon enough."

    [Oh QAQ]

    "But it''s boring on the way, show me."

    [Sure thing!]

    -

    You Zhenzhen didn''t know about this misunderstanding. She wasn''t very interested in modifying drones and only joined the club because she liked taking aerial shots of the city. However, having obtained Chu Tingwu''s personal number, she couldn''t help but want to go through all the videos on Chu Tingwu''s ount¡ª

    After all, since they were in her list now, it seemed wrong not to watch and support the little one.

    After watching videos and recordings all night and then sleeping until the afternoon in a daze, You Zhenzhen suddenly grabbed her roommate''s arm: "Babe! That content creator you follow... Weren''t you watching the livestreams of that cat content creator recently? Do you want to take photos of stray cats for thepetition?"

    She remembered that Chu Tingwu also wore a mask during livestreams, probably not liking fans finding her offline, so she kept the face-to-face meeting a secret from her roommate.

    But you know, the content creator you follow? I''ve added her as a friend.

    Her roommate waved her hand: "Nah, nah. I only follow Chu Chu for entertainment while eating, and there are already so many people taking photos of stray cats. It''s impossible to stand out."

    You Zhenzhen gave her a look of disapproval: No taste!

    Roommate: "?"

    The roommate exined helplessly: "Doesn''t your drone club have a high-altitude photographypetition recently? Our photography contest is simr, organized by the city''s cultural and tourism bureau... Of course, I''m mainly in it for the participation prize, which can be reported as a practical activity for credits. I haven''t done my summer internship yet. Think about it, it''s for tourism promotion, right? Who would use dirty stray cats for promotion? It''s all about photographingndscapes, that''s what attracts tourists, right?"

    You Zhenzhen deted: "But cats are so cute... Ah! Speaking of which, you must know about Chu Chu''s APP, right? Have you downloaded it?"

    I''ve downloaded it, and I managed to get it!

    Roommate: "...I was asleep when you sent me the message, and by the time I woke up, they were all gone."

    You Zhenzhen giggled: "I''ll eat at the cafeteria tonight, so I won''t wait for you. I''m going out to photograph cats."

    Watching You Zhenzhen run out, her roommate sighed: All the campus cats must have been photographed already...

    Both of them stayed on campus, but the roommate was there for an internship, while You Zhenzhen seemed to simply not want to go home, finding an excuse to stay. This roommate came from a wealthy family and was usually a bit scatterbrained, acting on impulses, but was actually very easy to get along with.

    "Photographing cats" wouldn''t earn any money, and while others might do it for credits, You Zhenzhen was probably just genuinely interested, hence her enthusiasm.

    ¡ªSure enough, all the campus cats had already been photographed.

    You Zhenzhen wandered around the campus for a while, then hesitated before sending a message to Chu Tingwu:

    She wanted to ask if Chu Tingwu had any backend data showing where most cats had already been recorded, so she could go to a less documented ce to take photos.

    After some thought, You Zhenzhen changed all the "you" in her half-typed sentence to the more formal "you," but wouldn''t that be too distant? Come to think of it, some circles use more respectful terms like "mommy," "madam," or "sir" as forms of address... Hmm, would it be inappropriate to use such terms for someone so much younger than herself? Argh, which one should she use...

    Chu Tingwu, unaware that she had nearly been called "mommy," replied with a message as soon as she received it. However, she didn''t expect to receive a long message of gratitude in return:

    [Thank you, meow! I''m going now. Meow, your videos are so well-shot, and your friend is so talented. You''re so generous to share. Thank you QAQ! I originally nned to ask my friend to photograph stray cats for a photographypetition entry, also to help raise awareness for stray cats, but my friend wasn''t interested. Darn, I got your hopes up for nothing...]

    Chu Tingwu: No, you must be mixing things up. I didn''t know about this at all, so I had no expectations whatsoever.

    "Meow! Even though I''m not a photography major, I can take pretty good photos and videos. I''ve decided to go shoot and enter thepetition myself! Since I promised, I''ll see it through to the end. I''ll definitely do a good job, mwah mwah mwah!"

    Chu Tingwu: "..." I already said I had no expectations, and you never even mentioned this before.

    "What does ''mi'' mean as a nickname?"

    The system was unsure: "She knows you''re a cat, is she calling for a cat?"

    -- No, it''s actually an abbreviation for "mommy" in certain circles.

    Putting down her phone, You Zhenzhen smiled confidently: "Mi should be short for kitty... She''s a cat-themed content creator, so calling her that is definitely fine!"

    This circle is so strange, everyone just "mi"-ing back and forth. Do they all think the other person is a cat?

    -

    Chu Tingwu also put down her phone and helplessly pried Shikuai''s paws off her arm: "I''ll y with you in a bit, I really brought the shuttlecock this time."

    She had forgotten to bring it yesterday and was grumbled at by the little ck cat for a long time.

    Shikuai finally released his grip, but his gaze remained glued to her phone screen.

    The little cat couldn''t understand the words on the screen, but thought the shing images were fun to watch.

    ...Some cats can not only order takeout but also y Fruit Ninja on tablets.

    Chu Tingwu yed shuttlecock with Shikuai for a while, then yed some gomoku with Teacher Zhang. The ck and white pieces were different colors and felt different to touch, probably specially made.

    Every time Teacher Zhang ced a piece, he would slowly feel all the pieces on the board. During this time, he would ask Chu Tingwu questions aboutnguage, and tell her some local idioms and jokes. Even though he couldn''t understand, Shikuai would asionally meow in response, puzzled by what the humans were saying.

    Is there anything cats shouldn''t hear?

    Compared to Shikuai, Three-Five-Five was much more reserved, rarely speaking. When Aunt Mei came in, she almost stepped on her, so when Aunt Mei left again, Chu Tingwu noticed Three-Five-Five was wearing a bib with a pink pony pattern around her neck.

    "That''s pretty good..."

    Long-haired cats need this, otherwise their fur gets wet easily when drinking water.

    "Oh, by the way, Tingwu," Zhang Youyi spoke up, "Junxing called me today. He wanted to confirm with you if you''re meeting at 3 PM tomorrow at the Zongding Building. Are you going to see a sick cat?"

    "Junxing" refers to that Teacher Wang, whose full name is Wang Junxing. He asked Chu Tingwu to check on a friend''s cat that was behaving strangely. Of course, it wasn''t free - probably because of Teacher Wang''s rmendation, his wealthy friend was willing to pay a 30,000 yuan consultation fee.

    Some purebred cats don''t even cost 30,000 yuan, so Chu Tingwu learned that this "abnormal kitty" was a rare high show-quality cat, worth six figures or more.

    After receiving Chu Tingwu''s affirmative response, Teacher Zhang was curious: "Little Teacher Chu, I''ve learned some cat vocalizations from you, but you''ve said that cats actuallymunicate more through scent and behavior. If we''re only looking at a video, can you tell what''s wrong with the cat?"

    This should count as... remote online diagnosis?

    Since they were teaching each other, Chu Tingwu was putting her all into teaching Zhang Youyi, this mature student. But catnguage is a whole newnguage system, so they often prepared lessons together. Zhang Youyi had more experience and would guide Chu Tingwu toe up with teaching ideas. Even though he didn''t understand catnguage, he still helped fill in gaps - and provided (very delicious) dinners.

    This always made Chu Tingwu feel like he was getting the short end of the stick...

    Chu Tingwu yed the video of the client''s cat again, about three minutes long. But most of the time, the cat was hiding under the bed, with the camera only capturing its shiny eyes. After being called for a long time, it finally meowed once, but that was just in response to its owner''s call, with no other meaning.

    "It doesn''t look sick, and there''s no sign of abuse," Chu Tingwu exined. "The client says its name is Chestnut, it''s not neutered, and it''s only a year old. Chestnut used to be very affectionate, but starting a month ago, it began to y hide-and-seek. If it just became timid that would be fine, but it even eats only when no one''s around, often opening the food container in the middle of the night. The irregr eating has affected its weight."

    High show-quality cats are evaluated on many aspects duringpetitions, naturally including weight.

    Chestnut is a very cute Blue Golden Shaded Munchkin, with chubby limbs and a round face, beautiful green eyes, and an innocent expression... very different from the stray cats Chu Tingwu had seen recently. Not only was it carefully raised, but a nanny was hired specifically to feed it. Now because of Chestnut''s abnormal state, even the nanny taking care of it felt guilty and wanted to resign.

    The client obviously didn''t know how to guide Chestnut tomunicate, so Chu Tingwu still had to go in person.

    The next day, Teacher Wang Junxing came to the rescue house to pick up Chu Tingwu, then headed to the Zongding Building. In the car, he reassured Chu Tingwu once again: "Although my friend raises show cats, he really loves cats. He''s mainly concerned about the cat''s health, he doesn''t care much about whether it''s show quality or not! As long as we can understand why the cat is acting this way, that''s enough."

    The car slowly merged into traffic. Stray cats were frolicking in the bushes, quickly disappearing from sight, as if avoiding humans, or perhaps just ignoring them.

    And Chu Tingwu was on her way to see a precious cat that had been pampered indoors since birth, whose owner was losing hair from worry because it wouldn''t eat properly.

    Three-Five-Fivey on herp and meowed softly.

    The human-cat and her kitty got out of the car, and the client''s secretary came out to greet Teacher Wang. He couldn''t help ncing at Three-Five-Five, who was wearing only a cor without a leash, but said nothing, showing his professionalism.

    Chestnut wasn''t at the Zongding Building.

    The client''s surname was actually Zong. He seemed to have originally prepared for some normal social etiquette, after all, it was an old friend''s rmendation, so he should treat them to a meal first, then chat slowly... but Chu Tingwu''s age still shocked him a bit.

    Boss Zong pulled Teacher Wang aside and whispered: "A middle schooler?"

    Teacher Wang smiled: "She''s Teacher Zhang''s student."

    Teacher Zhang Youyi... Boss Zong''s mind immediately shed withbels like "13-year-old college student", "young genius", "hidden talent", and as he prepared new lines in his head, Teacher Wang finished his sentence: "She''ll start high school when summer break ends, so she only has this time free. You should cherish it."

    Boss Zong: "..."

    Isn''t she still a middle schooler?!

    Chu Tingwu raised her hand: "Boss Zong, I''m not hungry now, why don''t we go see Chestnut directly?"

    Boss Zong: "Oh, no need to be so formal, just call me Uncle Zong."

    ...Although she was young, if she really was old Wang''s junior, their rtionship was quite close, so he was willing to be more polite.

    Chu Tingwu smiled and said to the system in her mind: "Boss Zong doesn''t have any scents that cats dislike."

    Although there was perfume and cigarette smell, it wasn''t enough to make a formerly affectionate cat suddenly dislike him.

    This time a driver took the wheel, with Boss Zong, Teacher Wang, and the secretary apanying. They quickly arrived at Boss Zong''s vi.

    His vi was in a modern style, quite spacious. He was also quite frank: "My wife divorced me a few years ago and took our daughter with her... Back then my daughter wanted to keep a cat, she mentioned it to me several times, but I always brushed her off. Now I don''t even have the chance to brush her off anymore. Sigh, so keeping a cat is kind of like keeping it for my daughter."

    Teacher Wang added: "He only found out it was male after he bought the cat."

    Boss Zong: "Tsk, old Wang!"

    Business had made Boss Zong very talkative. As he spoke and Teacher Wang added details, it was clear they had a really good rtionship. Boss Zong couldn''t help but chat about the high-end cat-keeping market:

    "Cats are just pets. I''m quite vain, so if I''m going to keep one, it should be an expensive one. Those expensive ones are truly adorable but certainly overpriced. I don''t mind, it''s like buying a service. When Chestnut first arrived, there was a pile of certificates tracing back several generations, all saying things like ''championship level'' and ''grand champion''. Can you believe there''s even a level above championship? I didn''t understand it, I just thought the little ball of fur was cute, and it had already won awards in internationalpetitions at such a young age. Impressive!"

    The system mumbled quietly, "Baby, if you went, you''d definitely win awards too!"

    Chu Tingwu: "...That''s a beauty pageant."

    The system was shocked: "Aren''t you beautiful?"

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    Before she could respond, the system seemed to have looked up the procedures for thosepetitions and immediately refused on her behalf: "No way! They have to squeeze and examine every part of the body, and check if they''re gentle and obedient... Humans have such strange aesthetic standards for cats..."

    Chu Tingwu was curious: "Then what do you think the standard should be?"

    Wasn''t the system talking about cultivating her into an "excellent" kitty when it first bonded with her?

    The system: "Of course, it should be judging whether the cat is happy and joyful!"

    It immediately found a new path for Chu Tingwu: "You can be a judge in the future, selecting the happiest and healthiest cats, and then giving them awards! You''d definitely be the most authoritative!"

    Because it believed it would raise the healthiest and happiest cat.

    As for whether suchpetitions existed, the system didn''t care at all... If there weren''t any, why not create one?

    However, the Chestnut they met today didn''t seem very happy.

    As soon as they entered, the exquisite blue golden shaded Munchkin seemed to hear their footsteps. It darted towards the stairs, trying to jump up, but failed. After making a few light and useless thuds, it changed direction, plunging towards the kitchen, circling the trash can a few times, and finally hiding behind it.

    All of this was captured by the humans'' surveince cameras.

    Boss Zong smiled confidently: "I heard some cats like to climb into trash cans, so I changed it before getting a cat. I got a taller one."

    The cat next to little Chu could probably jump in, but Chestnut definitely couldn''t.

    Three-Five-Five: "?"

    Chu Tingwu patted her head, and Three-Five-Five silently crept into the kitchen. Soon after, she emerged, dragging the meowing Chestnut by the mouth.

    Chestnut iled its limbs trying to resist, but everyone could see¡ª

    If Three-Five-Five just lifted her head, he couldn''t even touch the ground.

    Chu Tingwu: "Meow?"

    Boss Zong nced at her.

    But Chestnut didn''t respond, still grumbling. Chu Tingwu could understand: "Your cat seems a bit dramatic."

    Boss Zong: "?"

    Chu Tingwu: "He''s cursing with a lisp. He''s not really cursing, he''s just putting on a show for you and the housekeeper, wanting you to rescue him."

    Boss Zong stepped forward, looking at Chu Tingwu: "Then... should I go?"

    Chu Tingwu shook her head: "Let me handle it. What I mean is, if the owner is present, he''ll definitely act spoiled, which isn''t conducive to ''talk therapy''. Instead, put me, Three-Five-Five, and Chestnut... the three of us in a room, preferably an enclosed one, and we''ll have a chat."

    That was close, she almost said "us three cats".

    She mentally smacked the system that had almost led her astray, and gestured for Three-Five-Five to bring Chestnut to the tea room¡ªBoss Zong''s tea room had no hiding ces for cats, much better than the cat yroom.

    In her mind, the system seemed to have essed the surveince, evaluating Boss Zong''s cat yroom setup: "It''s okay, but too enclosed. An outdoor space would be better... Ah, I think this is good!"

    Chu Tingwu: "Which one?"

    The system: "This ce called Dis*ey Land, I''ll work hard to earn money and buy it!"

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    Good luck with that.

    -

    The tea room was square. Chestnut shrank into a corner, but finding no humans had entered, he curiously sniffed Chu Tingwu''s scent and stoppedining: "Are you the new kitty?"

    Chu Tingwu: ... What''s a "kitty"?

    She chatted with Chestnut for a bit before realizing... Although his official name was Chestnut, Boss Zong seemed to like calling him "Kitty", and because he often did so, visiting guests also called him that. He had been called that a few times at the cat shelter too, so Chestnut thought his name was "Kitty", and that all cats in the world should be called "Kitty".

    She didn''t think today''s task was particrly difficult, so she skipped this topic and directly asked Chestnut why he always hid. The little cat widened his eyes, his expression naturally innocent: "Because I don''t want to be caught and sold!"

    Chu Tingwu: "Hm?"

    Chestnut came over to lick her, then skillfully raised his front paws to massage her legs. The cat masseuse was quite good¡ªand Chu Tingwu knew that several adult humans were actually watching the tea room''s surveince, as agreed before they entered.

    ...At least they wouldn''t doubt Chu Tingwu''s ability tomunicate with cats now, seeing the "timid" cat bing so naturally close to her at their first meeting.

    "Has someone told you this?"

    Chestnut''s fluffy face even showed an expression that could be described as solemn. He said: "Not humans, kitty can hear it every night!"

    So why does he refer to himself as kitty, is it a verbal tic?

    Chu Tingwu instinctively recorded this, deciding to bring it to Teacher Zhang as ss material¡ªof course, for her to teach Teacher Zhang.

    She continued recording and asked: "Who exactly?"

    After chatting for about fifteen minutes, Chu Tingwu carried Chestnut out, walking up to Boss Zong: "Do you keep... a parrot at home?"

    Boss Zong was smiling at Chestnut, but looked confused at this question: "Huh?"

    Chu Tingwu nodded:

    "Chestnut says he hears a parrot imitating cat sounds every night, and what that parrot says is roughly..."

    "''Your mommy doesn''t want you~ If you keep eating, you''ll be sold, sold tomorrow!''"

    Boss Zong: "...We don''t have one, but the environment around here is nice, there are quite a few birds. Could it be a wild one?"

    Chu Tingwu: "It might not be a parrot, just a bird species good at learning and mimicking cat sounds... Um, it appears around 7 PM, hasn''t entered the yard. Maybe check the surveince footage?"

    Boss Zong nodded nkly.

    After a while, he suddenly reacted: "Wait, is this something a cat can express... How did you chat about this..."

    Chu Tingwu was about to exin.

    Boss Zong: "No, wait!"

    Boss Zong: "Why ''mommy''? In Kitt... in Chestnut''s mind, am I his mom?!"

    Chu Tingwu silently looked at him.

    One thinks of you as a daughter, the other as a mom. You two, aren''t you just meeting each other halfway?

 Chapter 21

    "How could Dad possibly not want you just because you''ve gotten chubby? Chubby is so cute!"

    "Meow meow..."

    "Besides, your irregr eating habits have made you even chubbier... Oh, no need to trante that part, just tell him to eat properly!"

    Chu Tingwu: "...Alright."

    She tranted for both the person and the cat. Boss Zong sat on the sofa, and Lizi hopped onto his knee, kneading softly while making gentle sounds. Boss Zong picked up the cat and showered it with kisses. Lizi''s golden fur shimmered with a soft, warm glow in the light.

    Lizi''s renewed affection towards him, without any strange behavior, meant Boss Zong had essentially achieved his goal.

    Chu Tingwu hadn''t expended much effort, but he showed no hesitation in paying her. Boss Zong added, "I had considered inviting foreign petmunicators before, but their efficiency was too low, making me wait for over half a month... Little Chu solves problems quickly and urately. Why don''t you get a certificate? Not that you need one to work, but having it would make it more convenient for people to hire you in the future."

    Teacher Wang: "No need for you to suggest that. I have a student who''s quite knowledgeable in this area. If Little Chu is interested, I can make an introduction."

    Teacher Wang had mentioned this briefly before, but at that time, they weren''t as familiar, so it was more out of politeness.

    Now, seeing Chu Tingwumunicate with the cat again, he vaguely recalled something and had some other thoughts, but for now, the task at hand was¡ª

    To catch that bird.

    Boss Zong''s house didn''t have many blind spots in its surveince. Chu Tingwu led them around the rooms for a fewps, then stopped at a corner of the courtyard and began reviewing the surveince footage.

    Scrolling back, they indeed spotted a bird in the footage. The humans quickly locked onto their target¡ªa jet-ck crow!

    In the surveince video, Lizi meowed a few times, and the crow on the roof coughed once before suddenly mimicking a cat''s meow.

    Lizi''s voice changed from its original affectionate mewing to an irritated "Oww oww," while the crow, taking advantage of Lizi''s confinement indoors, strolled around thewn meowing, tugging at flowers, and scratching at windows. When the housekeeper came out, it simply pped its wings and flew away, as if it had juste to tease the little cat.

    Everyone: "..."

    What''s the point of all this?

    Boss Zongughed helplessly: "I''ll have the housekeeper seal this area off and chase it away more often at night. If it happens frequently enough, it probably won''te back."

    They couldn''t actually arrest a crow, could they? On what grounds¡ª"hurting a cat''s feelings"?

    Chu Tingwu walked around to the outside of the window, peering closely at where the crow had perched. After a while, she extracted a thin ck feather from a crevice, likely left behind identally by the crow.

    Apart from this, there were no other traces.

    She bagged the feather to take with her and said goodbye to Lizi... but didn''t get into Teacher Wang''s car.

    Teacher Wang: "Did you forget something?"

    Chu Tingwu: "I want to try and find that crow."

    Teacher Wang: "?"

    She rubbed her chin, not exining her reasoning... Crows that imitate other animals aren''t umon, but a crow that could mimic a cat so precisely to annoy it would be considered an excellent student in catnguage ss. She wanted to show it to another catnguage student, Zhang Youyi.

    Hmm, might that be a bit too mischievous?

    She took out the feather again and sniffed it, but the air was filled only with the scent of flowers. Finding a crow in the vi area based on just a feather would be too difficult.

    So Chu Tingwu simply enlisted Three-Five-Five''s help.

    Three-Five-Five nced at her human cub, then pressed her nose against the half-feather and sniffed intensely. The cat''s nose twitched as she circled outside Boss Zong''s house. Teacher Wang decided to get out of the car too, curiously watching their actions¡ª

    He knew that a cat''s sense of smell was hundreds of thousands of times stronger than a human''s, but his impression of cats was mostly like Lizi, just a pet kept at home. Was Little Chu trying to get the cat to find the crow? Could they really find it?

    Following Three-Five-Five, Chu Tingwu and Teacher Wang walked all the way to the bank of an artificial river in the residentialplex.

    This high-end residential area was built around a smallke, with the developer creating an artificial river that drew live water from theke. Across theke was the foot of Zhangshan Mountain, considered a local attraction in Fallen Phoenix City.

    Out of ten tourists visiting from other ces, eight would climb Zhangshan Mountain, while the remaining two would at least take photos at the foot of the mountain to prove they had been there, lest they feel they''d wasted their travel expenses. Ironically, many locals who had lived here their entire lives had never climbed the mountain.

    Three-Five-Five meowed once, and this time even Teacher Wang understood: "That crow came from Zhangshan Mountain?"

    Chu Tingwu: "At least that''s the direction it flewst time it left."

    The higher peaks were shrouded in mist. Despite it being the summer holiday season, the number of visitors wasn''t low, but from across half ake, they could only see the flow of traffic on the mountain road.

    Theke water had disrupted the scent trail. Three-Five-Five shook her head, clearly indicating that even if they reached Zhangshan Mountain, they wouldn''t be able to find the crow''s scent. A cat''s sense of smell may be powerful, but it''s not supernatural. Teacher Wang sighed, "Zhangshan''s environment has been under management for over a decade, and it seems to be getting better and better. I recently saw news that someone spotted a wild pheasant on Zhangshan. It''s now a national Grade II protected area..."

    The girl beside him nodded silently, her gaze still fixed on the opposite shore of theke. Teacher Wang suddenly noticed that from this angle, her expression was very simr to that of the cat called "Three-Five-Five" at her feet.

    Some cats remain motionless as if poised to strike, their eyes containing the light of a predator, waiting quietly in stillness.

    ...And then there are some kitties that just plop down, content and a bit dazed after a full meal, capable of sunbathing for an entire day.

    Chu Tingwu was more like the former, of course, she was human, not a cat.

    Teacher Wang paused for a moment, then spoke up: "Little Chu, I just thought of something."

    Chu Tingwu turned to look at him, tilting her head slightly, waiting for him to finish his thought.

    "Have you heard about the recent campaign that Fallen Phoenix City''s Cultural and Tourism Bureau is promoting? The one called ''Walking and Singing in Fallen Phoenix City, Apanied by Beauty''?"

    "The publicity department has decided to hold variouspetitions under the theme of ''Seeking the City''s Beauty,'' including citizen submissions for promotional slogans, photography and videography contests, stories about inner beauty, and so on."

    "The city''s publicity office has decided to focus on ''harmonious coexistence between humans and nature,'' and harmonious interactions with animals are a crucial part of that. They''re nning to shoot promotional videos and are currently short on animal actors¡ªThree-Five-Five seems quite intelligent, would you like to rmend yourselves for a try?"

    It was evident that Teacher Wang had friends in the city''s Cultural and Tourism Bureau as well.

    Chu Tingwu didn''t immediately agree, instead asking, "The promotion is to increase tourism revenue... but the reason why our city doesn''t have many tourists¡ª"

    "Isn''t it because there''s simply nothing interesting to see?"

    Teacher Wang: "...Ahem."

    "And there are no iconic buildings or amusement facilities, no unique national or rare global attractions to draw people from far away."

    Teacher Wang: "......Cough!"

    System: "Cub! We could build a Dis*** theme park here!"

    Chu Tingwu replied to the system intruding in her mind: "You''ve checked the price of Dis***, right?"

    Then realized it waspletely unaffordable.

    System: "QAQ"

    The system added building an amusement park to its to-do list, while Chu Tingwu responded to Teacher Wang: "If needed, I can bring Three-Five-Five, but I hope Three-Five-Five''s role won''t be that of a stray cat."

    Cats might not understand promotional videos, but Chu Tingwu wouldn''t let her cat y the role of a stray.

    -

    She still went around the foot of Zhangshan Mountain but didn''t find the crow, so she had to return home.

    That evening, after Chu Tingwu finished her sses and returned home, Teacher Wang called with some regret to inform her that they had already found cat actors, so they probably wouldn''t need her to bring Three-Five-Five for filming.

    After hanging up, Teacher Wang felt a bit helpless. The truth was, they were still deliberating between several cats and hadn''t finalized the actors yet. But upon learning that Chu Tingwu was only fifteen years old, an underage cat owner whose guardian wasn''t in the city, they became somewhat reluctant.

    "Old Wang, it''s not that I''m unwilling," the voice said. "Think about it. There are so many cats in the city, why do we need to specifically find a tortoiseshell? Is a long-haired tortoiseshell really prettier than a long-haired calico? Minors are also more troublesome. Although you''ve vouched for her, we''d still need a guardian''s signature. If it was your own cat, I''d agree right away. Ah, it''s really not my fault..."

    Teacher Wang wouldn''t curse "tasteless" like Yu Zhenzhen would. He calmly replied, "Old Zong thought the same way before. Why don''t you ask him what he thinks now? That cat of hers is truly special. Actually, if you weren''t short on actors, I''d quite like to rmend my junior sister Chu to act... Well, I''ll go turn her down now. Don''t regret itter."

    Filming a city promotional video wasn''t like entering the entertainment industry. It was more like bing a semi-official city representative, which would be good for enhancing a young girl''s resume.

    Recently, the Cultural and Tourism Bureau had been promoting aggressively, truly wanting to achieve results. Wang Junxing was also doing this for his old friend''s sake. Now that his friend was reluctant, he wouldn''t force the issue.

    Unexpectedly, the next day while he was eating breakfast, there was a sudden knock at his door.

    His old friend stood there with a bag of tangerines, giving him an awkward smile. "Old Wang, how have you beentely?"

    Wang Junxing: "?"

    The friend made himself at home, squeezing through the doorway. He tossed the tangerines onto the sofa and invited Wang over as if he owned the ce. "Have you seen this video? Come take a look, quick!"

    Wang Junxing: "??"

    His friend yed a video on his phone. The scene showed aerial drone footage of what appeared to be the old town district in the east¡ªthough the old town was clearly in the city center, not far from themercial street, it was like a stubborn disease on the city map, refusing to be eliminated, lying gray and dull on the map.

    But the human and cat in the frame were like special colors on that map.

    Wang Junxing recognized Chu Tingwu and Three-Five-Five just from their backs.

    The girl ran forward, leaped suddenly, andnded on a railing. Then she continued jumping upward, easily reaching the roof of the second floor. Three-Five-Five followed beside her, moving in sync, neither too far nor too close. The cat''s eyes seemed to be constantly watching the human next to it, adjusting its own speed, as if encouraging her to keep up and move forward.

    As she advanced, the scene gradually took on different colors.

    This seemed to be a video spliced from two angles, shot with two drones. The overhead view from the sky was like watching Chu Tingwu trace a path through the urban area with her feet, while the closer angle sometimes pulled back and sometimes zoomed in. Thebined footage rotated slowly, and all the routes Chu Tingwu left behind were dotted with bright colors.

    Wang Junxing also realized for the first time: the old town wasn''t actually that dpidated.

    There were signs of life in the corners. The girl stepped across the roof of a bike shed, leaving behind a patch of brightke blue. Wild flowers bloomed quietly in the corner of a wall, a pair of socks hung on dry tree branches, and a cat plush toy sat in the fork of a tree.

    The scene was divided into two colors by her footsteps, with colors rapidly chasing the girl in front as she "parkoured."

    Or rather, she was "parkouring" in the way a cat runs.

    Teacher Wang had learned about parkour before, and many young people were curious about it too. It wasn''t actually an extreme sport; many people confused parkour with rooftop stunts, but with proper preparation and enough training, it was actually a very safe activity.

    Itbined movements from many animals, the most important of which was the cat. Cats were natural parkour masters.

    And Chu Tingwu, whether intentional or not, was 100% imitating a cat in her movements.

    It wasn''t until Chu Tingwunded that Teacher Wang noticed the video was a full seven minutes long, and he had watched it all without fast-forwarding.

    At the end, the girl leaped down from the rooftop. The cat beside hernded on all fours, while the girl only used her feet. The silk scarf tied to her arm flew up and fell with hernding motion. Wang Junxing looked closely and realized it seemed to be a square cloth from Teacher Zhang Youyi''s family¡ªreportedly taken to use as a bib for the cat.

    The camera slowly descended, not capturing Chu Tingwu''s face, only showing her standing there with the bustling, colorfully vibrantmercial street behind her. The scene darkened from top to bottom, and the unnamed music slowly faded away... His old friend sighed beside him.

    "This video," he said, "was posted on a video ount called ''Chu and Three-Five-Five.'' I didn''t turn on thements just now, but actually, many people in thements were asking where this ce is. They want toe check it out, and some even want to try parkour themselves..."

    The old friend smiled. "Old Wang, I remember the cat you rmended to me earlier was called Three-Five-Five, and its young owner''s surname was Chu, right?"

    Wang Junxing understood.

    "Yes, the one doing parkour is my junior sister," he said helplessly. "You''re not going to tell me you want to invite her cat for filming now, are you?"

    His friend pped the table, startling Wang Junxing, then blurted out:

    "Come on, have some tangerines. I''ll peel them for you!"

    Wang Junxing: "..."

    Actually, he didn''t know, and his friend didn''t say, that the video had gone truly viral. It was being frantically reposted to other tforms, that kind of viral. Before his friend came over, the official ount of the Fallen Phoenix City Cultural and Tourism Bureau had also reposted it, iming the parkour filming location as the old town district.

    There were also students from Fallen Phoenix University of Technology, especially those who had provided the other camera angle for the system, excitedly iming credit on social media tforms.

    ¡ªTrue virality often has an element of chance. Cat videos might go viral, but they also have a limited audience. However, this parkour video edited by the system was different.

    Not everyone keeps cats, but almost everyone has basic athletic ability.

    Many reposts even erased the watermark, but with the Cultural and Tourism Bureau''s official repost and im, they conveniently bought a trending topic for #FallenPhoenixCityCatParkour#, and also boosted #FallenPhoenixOldTown# and #ChuAndThreeFiveFive# to lower positions, making it seem like a phenomenon-level video. It also brought tens of thousands of followers to Chu Tingwu''s Fenghua Website ount.

    She had just slept for one night, and her follower count had doubled.

    "Last night''s refusal doesn''t count," his friend said decisively. "Come on, let''s talk. The bureau had an overtime meetingst night, and we came up with a great idea¡ª"

    Teacher Wang held a tangerine, listening expressionlessly, but as he listened, his eyebrows raised. "This... does seem to have some feasibility."

    He clicked his tongue. "Didn''t you say earlier that minors were too troublesome?"

    His friend replied, "But she''s your junior sister, Professor Zhang''s student. Is she like other minors?"

    Teacher Wang said, "Alright, alright. This child isn''t very close with her family. If you''ve all agreed, I can sign as her guardian. But I''m just making the connection for you. If you back out again, I really won''t be able to show my face. I''d get kicked out if I went to my teacher''s house."

    His friend eximed, "That absolutely won''t happen!"

    When Teacher Wang''s call came through, Chu Tingwu was taking photos at the Fallen Phoenix Resort with her phone. She was surrounded by a circle of cats. This time she hadn''t brought cat food; cats that finished being photographed could get a cat treat instead.

    She sat on a small stool the resort owner had brought out, drinking a free beverage he''d provided, and even had a sun umbre¡ªmany people driving by to go fishing or horseback riding nearby would stop to take photos when they saw so many cats, and then they mighte in for lunch... They asked the owner if the cats were his, and he always gave vague answers. Chu Tingwu didn''t expose the truth either.

    "Last time I made cat food just to try if I could use this method of paying to hire stray cats to find other cats for photos, but making cat food is too troublesome and needs help from others," Chu Tingwu asked the system. "How''s the data entry going?"

    The system replied, "The university students are in a lot of pain... but they''re also working very hard. Currently, 724 stray cats have been recorded in the app."

    ¡ªThose two course credits weren''t so easy to earn.

    The APP isn''t just about photographing 20 cats for two credits; it requires capturing 20 different stray cats. The campus cats were quickly snapped up by the fast-acting students, so they extended their search to familiarmercial streets, nearby residential areas, and even remote viges.

    The activity group chat was filled with asional wails of frustration. The system helpfully updated the stray cat map every hour, indirectly improving the students'' efficiency.

    The system seemed more excited than the students: "Kid, do you feel like an entrepreneur yet? Other kitties can''t start businesses, you know. You''re already ahead of 99% of cats in the world!"

    Chu Tingwu: ... So what exactly are those 1% of cats?

    She said: "But you''re handling almost everything for the APP. I''m just the client. Besides, we haven''t made any money from the APP yet, have we?"

    The system countered: "Does entrepreneurship always have to be about making money?"

    This question felt a bit too painful, and Chu Tingwu didn''t know how to respond.

    The system continued: "Entrepreneurship is an important life experience for a cat. Every experience is more valuable than money. The most important thing is the sense of achievement you gain... Plus, I can provide you with startup funds!"

    Chu Tingwu: "..." She felt the system''s real point was in thatst sentence.

    Teacher Wang''s phone call interrupted the conversation between Chu Tingwu and the system. Although she had been rejected and then asked back, Chu Tingwu wasn''t too upset¡ªafter all, she hadn''t expected to be involved in filming a city promo video in the first ce.

    "But..." she asked, "Do I need to appear on camera too?"

    -

    They met on the second floor of a tea house in the antique-style street by the Guishui River. This was where Chu Tingwu had encountered Hang Ling, and it was close to her home, surrounded by familiar scenery.

    Teacher Wang''s friend was surnamed Zhuang, and could be loosely referred to as Director. Director Zhuang was somewhat chubby but looked muscr. Teacher Wang told Chu Tingwu that he had retired from the military.

    There weren''t just Director Zhuang present; his assistant and a middle-aged woman were also there. Director Zhuang introduced her as Xin Yu, the director in charge of filming the city promo video.

    The meeting seemed quite formal. From the moment Chu Tingwu entered with Three-Five-Five, Director Xin''s gaze had been fixed on her.

    Director Zhuang had his assistant bring Chu Tingwu some fruit tea, then said: "Actually, we''ve been thinking about what Fallen Phoenix City''s tourism promotional positioning should be¡ªwithout iconic buildings or special attractions, how can we attract tourists from all over the country?"

    Currently, there were two main groups of tourists: retired elderly people with money and energy, and young people who travel on weekends, thinking they might die from overwork any day and preferring to spend their money quickly, enjoying life one day at a time.

    He looked into Chu Tingwu''s eyes: "After seeing your video, we had an idea. We decided to target young people as our main tourist demographic."

    Chu Tingwu poured some cold water for Three-Five-Five in the cup she brought, then repeated: "My video?"

    The assistant showed Chu Tingwu the documents they had brought, while Teacher Wang sat next to her and exined: "Have you heard of the China Parkour Championship?"

    Chu Tingwu: Never heard of it.

    But Teacher Wang seemed to assume she knew: "The Parkour Championship was originally a civilian event, held multiple times a year and not very formal. In the past few years, it was mostlymercial in nature, with a performative aspect... In recent years, parkour has been applying to be an Olympic sport, so thepetitions have be more standardized, but there isn''t a fixed host city yet."

    Parkour isn''t a new sport abroad, but not many people practice it in China. Basically, only big cities have proper training facilities and venues, so Fallen Phoenix City certainly doesn''t have any.

    "The video you posted yesterday went viral and boosted Fallen Phoenix City''s poprity, linking the city with the concept of ''parkour,''" Teacher Wang smiled, with a hint of pride and encouragement. "Last night, the Cultural and Tourism Bureau had an all-night meeting and decided to take a risk¡ª"

    They want to use "parkour" as Fallen Phoenix City''s tourism promotion point.

    They n to officially host a national parkourpetition, taking advantage of this promotional momentum to solidify Fallen Phoenix City''s positioning and leave an impression on people across the country.

    Moreover, they can use this opportunity to renovate the old city area, addressing a longstanding urban nning issue, potentially attracting new vitality and injecting a youthful new industry into this retirement city.

    In some people''s dreams, Fallen Phoenix City would have a newbel, perhaps even bing China''s parkour ma in a few years.

    If Chu Tingwu is willing to cooperate with Three-Five-Five in filming a promotional video, then this video would be the starting point for the entire n!

    However, whether it can be implemented, whether it can truly be achieved, whether it can attract tourists, and whether it can make tourists feel wee are all unknowns that depend on the cooperation of others... Of course, these issues don''t concern Chu Tingwu. The youngdy''s job is simply to film the video, do parkour, and run well.

    Chu Tingwu understood: "I''m willing."

    Everyone else''s expressions rxed, and some people smiled.

    Chu Tingwu: "But I don''t know parkour."

    Everyone: "...Huh?"

    Chu Tingwu: "I mean, I''ve never actually learned parkour. What you saw... was just me running around following cats."

    She was telling the truth. She didn''t even know how to train for parkour. If she didn''t say this now and it was exposed after the video was released, wouldn''t that be embarrassing for everyone?

    "You learned from cats?"

    "Yes."

    "Self-taught?"

    "More or less."

    "And you''re that good?"

    "Am I?"

    Director Xin, who had been silent until now, made a decision: "It''s you!"

    She stood up and walked over to Chu Tingwu, taking her hand and saying: "Before parkour was invented, no one defined what it should look like. It''s just a sport about moving quickly across different surfaces¡ªwhy can''t your way of running be parkour? Maybe your style could bring new possibilities to this sport?"

    "Everything is new," she smiled, "Doesn''t this align perfectly with our promotional goals?"

    As everyone else left, Chu Tingwu quietly stayed behind to finish her fruit tea.

    "New possibilities are probably impossible," she said to the system, "After all, my true jumping height exceeds the world record."

    Her body wouldn''t stand up to scrutiny either. If she were to disy her extraordinary bnce and jumping abilities, it would be too outrageous¡ªso the running and jumping in her videos were appropriately restrained. Because she wasn''t pushing her limits, it appeared effortless.

    Chu Tingwu''s true "parkour" form could only be seen by the system in the dream ssroom.

    She got up to leave with Three-Five-Five, but the cat didn''t move. Instead, it leaped onto the eaves of the antique-style building outside the tea house and peered down.

    Chu Tingwu: "Did you see something?"

    Could it be that crow?

    Three-Five-Five meowed, and Chu Tingwu also poked her head out, but what she smelled was a fishy odor.

    ...As well as the scent of other cats that had been here.

    She sneezed, then leaned out of the window, supporting herself on the windowsill to look down. Finally, she discovered what it was: wedged between the eaves and the window was a pile of ttened dried fish, with cat hair stuck to them.

    "Meow!"

    Suddenly, an orange shadow leaped up to the second floor, its fur bristling as it stared at Three-Five-Five, demanding to know why they were approaching its... no, its dried fish!

    Chu Tingwu recognized it... Wasn''t this the orange cat that stole fish before, the one called Dawang? It had been neutered and released, and was now a "grandpa" cat.

    Three-Five-Five retreated half a step in disgust, and Dawang''s scolding quieted a bit. Chu Tingwu called Three-Five-Five back into the room, and Dawang finally stopped yelling. However, through the window, Chu Tingwu saw Dawang grab two pieces of dried fish and run away quickly.

    She watched the orange shadow jump down, and heard a muffled voice from below¡ª

    "Oh, Dawang... bringing more... alright, here''s this... fresh out of the pan... smells good..."

    It did smell delicious. The freshly steamed pork bones hadn''t been seasoned with any spices, yet their aroma wafted up to the second floor. They were certainly more valuable than the inedible dried fish.

    ...So this was where one of those 1% entrepreneurial kittens lived.

 Chapter 22

    You Zhenzhen sprang up from her bed, quickly nced at her phone, and waved to her roommate: "Five hundred thousand! Ah Chu''s fans have reached five hundred thousand!"

    Her roommate replied: "Yeah, yeah, I know. You''ve been checking sincest night... By the way, Chami''s side also posted a video, right? The one coborating with Little Sun Hospital. Your Ah Chu appears in it too. Have you seen it?"

    You Zhenzhen: "What? I''ll go watch it right now!"

    Ever since her chance encounter with Chu Tingwu in real life and adding her as a friend, You Zhenzhen had gone back and watched all of Chu Tingwu''s videos and live stream recordings, bing a devoted fan who never missed an update.

    Chu Tingwu had done several more live streams since then, streaming every other day to register stray cats. The streams weren''t as long as the first day, but there was a group of loyal fans who would camp in the live stream room to suggest names¡ªYou Zhenzhenmented that her naming skills might be too weak, as she hadn''t been chosen even once.

    Unlike the live stream fans, she had her own APP ount and could go out to photograph cats anytime.

    For the past couple of days, You Zhenzhen had been running around outside just to increase her total number of cat photos. She was currently at forty-six, but Chu Tingwu was in first ce, and another local fan who had been chosen was in second ce. They always managed to stay three to five cats ahead of her, which was driving her crazy.

    To the point where when she encountered other ssmates on the street, they would marvel: "You Zhenzhen, I can''t believe you''re working so hard for four credits."

    You Zhenzhen: "?"

    She wasn''t!

    She opened Little Sun Hospital''s video ount and indeed saw thetest coboration video. This time, "Chami Goes Home" came to Fallen Phoenix City. They didn''t just film casually but also donated a batch of high-altitude cat rescue equipment to Little Sun Hospital, as well as smart cat traps. They even went out to catch cats twice with the hospital staff.

    In the entire seven-minute video, Chu Tingwu only appeared for one minute. It was more like introducing this little girl who could cook for cats and catch them barehanded to Chami''s own fans. Half of that minute was footage from the previous time in Changning Community, and about ten seconds showed Chu Tingwu assisting in a cat rescue... Nevertheless, You Zhenzhen watched with great interest.

    She felt that she must be a career fan of Chu Tingwu, getting excited whenever she saw her influence and fan base increase.

    "Wow!!" You Zhenzhen eximed, "Even the Central Network''s ount reposted her parkour video!"

    Although Chu Tingwu had specifically noted in her "parkour" video that it wasn''t real parkour, her fans still habitually called it that.

    The Central Network didn''t repost it using the Fenghua Video ount, but on "New Plum," aprehensive information APP. This tform had more text-based information and was used by many people as their own social media feed. User stickiness was extremely high, and previously, the hot search feature was New Plum''s most famous ranking. Getting on the hot search meant nationwide fame... However, You Zhenzhen felt quite regretful:

    It seemed that Chu Tingwu hadn''t registered a New Plum ount, so the video reposted by Central Network was the one published by Fallen Phoenix City''s Culture and Tourism Bureau.

    "She could have gained so many fans..." she muttered, then suddenly realized, "Wait, why did the Culture and Tourism Bureau upload the video? And there''s even a [Coboration] tag on the video!?"

    The Culture and Tourism Bureau had reposted this video before, but it was actually reuploaded by others. You Zhenzhen searched and found that the reuploaded videos had repost tags, which meant only the video from the Culture and Tourism Bureau was officially released.

    She repeatedly clicked in and out, staring at the "Coboration" tag for a while: "No way..."

    Stop thinking! Don''t think too much, it''s getting out of hand!

    However, she still savored the text that Central Network included when reposting¡ª

    Central Network reposted it not because of Chu Tingwu''s parkour, but to praise the idea expressed in the editing. The parkour in the old urban area brought new vitality to the gray city, and parkour itself was also "new"¡ªa new sport, with new ways of ying, and rare in China. It seemed thatbining the two could create a unique color.

    ...Was it implying something?

    No, stop thinking! Just wait for the official announcement!

    She made two "aow aow" sounds and rolled around on the bed, then switched back to the hot search and scrolled:

    Someone had even drawn fan art!

    The artist seemed to have gotten new inspiration after watching the video, and a piece of fan art crashed into You Zhenzhen''s eyes. The style was thick painting, semi-realistic. In the picture, Chu Tingwu was half-crouching in an alley, reaching out with one hand to stroke a cat''s chin. Behind her was a gray low wall, and in front were various cyberpunk-style light signs. At the other end of the alley, sunlight was shining in, coating both sides with ayer of warm light, as if they could merge together in the sunlight.

    Only the upper half of Chu Tingwu''s body remained in darkness, conveniently not showing her face. At the boundary of light and shadow, pure gold was boldly painted, splitting the picture and attracting the eyes of passersby.

    You Zhenzhen: Furiously liked!

    She nced at Chu Tingwu''s fan count again and felt emotional: "Chu Chu... she seems to be really getting famous..."

    With five hundred thousand fans, how could she not be considered somewhat famous?

    At just fifteen years old, she was so free, while You Zhenzhen herself was twenty this year, still passively rebelling against the pressure from her family in confusion. You Zhenzhen knew that her reason for bing a fan of Chu Tingwu wasn''t just because of her videos, or because she actively added her as a friend, but because from the first nce, she felt that the little sister possessed a quality that she greatly aspired to.

    She was just projecting her expectations for herself onto her "idol," so when she saw her idol achieve sess, she also felt the same pride and happiness.

    "But so what?"

    Being able to find happiness is already something worth being happy about!

    Moreover, she had even gotten her idol''s friend request¡ªthey had even talked¡ªeven sent messages¡ªshe even called her "Mimi"¡ª

    "Ah!" She sat up suddenly, "There are only three days left to submit photos for the preliminary round!"

    Time to get to work!

    Didn''t Chu Chu mention Zhangshan Mountain in her update? Why not go there to take some photos?

    -

    Although they were going to film a promotional video for the city''s Culture and Tourism Bureau, the entire n was interconnected, and Chu Tingwu''s contract couldn''t be finalized so quickly. There were many details that needed to be negotiated.

    Chu Tingwu was fifteen years old this year, so she needed to sign additional contracts rted to minors in filming. She said, "I need to wait for mywyer to take a look."

    Director Xin: "...?"

    Sure enough, Director Xin met Chu Tingwu''swyer the next day. Thiswyer came from a well-knownw firm and had flown in specially from Shangjing City. Apparently, their legal fees weren''t paid by Chu Tingwu, but by her elusive friend who was suspected to be the boss of a high-end video post-production studio.

    In the end, the contract was signed, stipting Chu Tingwu''s mandatory rest times during filming, that video edits needed to be approved by Chu Tingwu''s side, requirements for promotional cooperation, wearing masks to not show her face, and so on. At most, she only agreed to release her real name.

    And Director Xin''s offered payment for the film wasn''t even as high as thewyer''s fees.

    Director Xin: "Are you not nning to develop in the entertainment industry?"

    Although she wasn''t that kind of director, she definitely had channels. Chu Tingwu didn''t seem very interested in being an actress... At her age, children''s faces were full of cogen, clean and pure. Director Xin believed that Chu Tingwu''s eyes were special. Although she couldn''t put her finger on it, the girl''s gaze and aura were very memorable. With a bit of makeup, she could explode in poprity in the entertainment circle.

    ¡ªIs an actor''s face the most important thing? No, it''s being memorable.

    This was the third time recently that Chu Tingwu had been asked about her future career ns. This time, she didn''t brush it off with "I''m fifteen." She said: "I have a friend who says that starting a business isn''t for money, but to umte experience."

    They must be very rich then, Director Xin silently retorted.

    "I think choosing a career is the same. Choosing a certain job doesn''t mean you have to do that job forever... If I have to stick to one job, then I hope every job I do is one that I like."

    Perhaps in the past, she wouldn''t have been able to say something like this.

    Before encountering the system, she didn''t have many ns for her life, only wanting to follow her grandmother''s wishes and do what "most people" do step by step.

    But now, she had a powerful backing.

    This backing had no expectations for her, only hoping she would be healthy and happy... as an excellent little cat.

    The system apuded vigorously: "Well said, kiddo!"

    Chu Tingwu''s mouth twitched slightly, and she finished her sentence: "Um... now I think making a promotional video for my hometown is a meaningful thing, so I choose to join."

    Director Xin smiled and said softly: "...It''s quite enviable."

    If it weren''t for their long-time cooperation with post-production, the post-production work would have almost been given to the system as well.

    However, the system currently didn''tck money. It seemed to have received other jobs through the rmendation of that documentary director, and the remaining payment for the documentary had also been transferred.

    Chu Tingwu and Director Xin mostlymunicated online. Director Xin was obviously very busy; everyone seemed to be busy, while Chu Tingwu still maintained her routine of hospital-cat filming-sses at Teacher Zhang''s house, asionally uploading new cat food recipes.

    In this ordinary rhythm, her sense of smell skill unknowingly upgraded to level 2.

    Chu Tingwu touched her nose: "It doesn''t feel any different?"

    The system instructed her to ce the parts separately and exined: "Because it''s not a sudden improvement. Actually, your skill has been slowly changing from level 1.0 to 1.11, 1.12, and then to level 2, it''s just not disyed on the panel¡ªthis galvanized te needs to be welded."

    Chu Tingwu: "Where are the tools?"

    Three-Five-Five, who was grooming itself, jumped down from the curio shelf and dragged out arge cloth bag from behind the cardboard box.

    The system decided to upgrade the drone again. This time, the new blueprint looked nothing like a drone.

    Taking advantage of the opportunity to cooperate with officials, Chu Tingwu registered for a drone operator qualification and submitted a modification application through the fast track. As for the modification being different from the blueprint after modification, isn''t that normal? New ideas inevitably arise during modification.

    ¡ªThe new blueprint was more inclined towards a spherical shape.

    The system clearly didn''t need to fly too close, but it seemed to enjoy getting close to Chu Tingwu for close-up shots, so it often flew down, which posed some safety risks¡ªcats like to catch things.

    Three-Five-Five was already restrained enough; it was all the system''s fault.

    The system tearfully wrote a 3000-word confession, then came up with a new blueprint. The new blueprint was moreplex, and the materials were obviously more expensive. Chu Tingwu could understand a little of the previous blueprint, but for this modification, she was almost mechanically assembling and welding for thetter half of the process. What finally appeared in her hands was a silver sphere with a distinctly futuristic mechanical style.

    ...What does this have to do with a drone?

    ...Wait, it actually flew?

    It was pounced on by a cat, shook a bit, and flew up again?

    After pouncing, Three-Five-Five looked guiltily at Chu Tingwu, then returned to the curio shelf and started grooming itself with its back turned.

    Chu Tingwu tacitly turned her head and eximed to the system: "You could probably make a lot of money selling drones, right?"

    The system was very sad: "I''ve calcted, it would take 200 years of sales to buy Dis***..."

    Forget about your Dis***!

    The system exined to Chu Tingwu that the technology to make this drone... unmanned flying photography ball fly actually already exists in its early stages, but it''s not suitable for civilian use (because it''s not cost-effective), and without AI control like itself, the flight would be very clumsy.

    "But we''re definitely legal," said the system.

    The new drone''s battery life had greatly improved, but for long-term filming, it still needed to bring a charging block. Having finished with the new drone, they definitely had to take it out for a spin... a walk, yes. So, one person, one cat, and one system simply packed up and went out.

    But just as they reached the vige entrance, Chu Tingwu felt something was off:

    "What are you guys doing here..."

    The Spotted Cat with Tattooed Arms and the vige''s Big Orange were actually following behind her.

    The spotted cat pointed at the unmanned photography ball: "Is this shiny thing your toy too?"

    "We couldn''t y with the previous one, can we y with this one now, meow?"

    Chu Tingwu: The previous one and the current one are the same thing.

    "No, you can''t."

    The two cats were extremely disappointed.

    Chu Tingwu continued walking, but when she turned her head, the cats were still following.

    The spotted cat was very frank: "Then can we roll it away when it falls down, meow?"

    ...I said no already.

    The system silently increased its altitude. Half an hourter, Chu Tingwu left the vige pushing her bicycle, with two cats sitting in the basket, while Three-Five-Five tried to squeeze itself into her satchel.

    Three-Five-Five, you seem to have gotten heavier.

    Carrying the weighty tortoiseshell mama, Chu Tingwu rode her bike to Zhang Youyi''s home.

    Her volunteermitment at Little Sun Hospital had just ended the day before yesterday, but she still asionally went to visit. Today, Teacher Zhang wasn''t home; Aunt Mei was apanying him to the hospital for a physical examination, and had asked Chu Tingwu toe over and keep Shikuaipany for a while.

    Although Shikuai had been fitted with a tracking cor, Aunt Mei felt that,paratively, the steady Three-Five-Five and Chu Tingwu were more reliable.

    But the steady Chu Tingwu also dropped the ball this time¡ªshe brought three cats in with her, and as soon as she entered, she was met with Shikuai''s usation!

    Shikuai "meowed meowed meowed meowed," greatly rmed: You actually have other cats outside and you brought them here!

    Chu Tingwu: "...You''ve yed together before, okay?!"

    If it weren''t for the spotted cat and Big Orange, Shikuai might not have been able toe home.

    The silly ck cat showed a confused expression, then approached the spotted cat and Big Orange to sniff them one by one, only to be swatted away by the spotted cat. By the time Chu Tingwu turned around after parking her bike, Shikuai was already grooming Big Orange.

    She took out her phone to check the backend, quickly swept the yard, then sat on the handmade swing under the ginkgo tree, signaling the system to start the live stream.

    ¡ªShe hadn''t streamed for the past two days, so she had posted an announcementst night that she would be streaming today.

    Although she hadn''t given a specific start time in advance, as soon as Chu Tingwu opened the live room, arge number of fans poured in.

    As soon as the fans entered, what they saw was Chu Tingwu looking down at her phone.

    [You''re looking at thements, aren''t you! You''re looking at thements again, right! Can you give out a few more internal test spots for the APP, I''m tired of saying this!]

    [When will UP livestream parkour, I''m a parkour fan! I want to see your first-person perspective!!]

    [What are you doing today, you should be going to the South District today, right? Can I have a chance encounter? I won''t bother you, just want to take a photo together!]

    [Cat food fans are steadily happy, join our big cat food cult.jpg]

    As the number of followers on her ount increased, theposition also became moreplex. There were those who followed her initially for catching and finding cats, those who followed for cat food tutorials, those who followed for the cat census-themed videos, and also those who didn''t care about cats at all but just liked the parkour videos... And Chu Tingwu wasn''t at all impartial; apart from regrly posting cat food videos, the content of her other livestreams and videos was random.

    "I''m not nning to go out today," she said, "I''ll be ying with my teacher''s cat for a while this afternoon."

    [Chu Master, have you signed a contract?]

    Chu Tingwu: "Not yet. After signing, there are livestream time requirements, and I might not have time after I start school."

    With Chu Tingwu''s number of fans, Fenghua Video had already approached her wanting to sign her as a professional streamer. That way, the donation split would be higher, and she would have official rmended spots, but Chu Tingwu refused using the excuse of school.

    If she really wanted to sign a contract, she would probably decide aftering of age¡ªright now, for her to sign a long-term contract with the website would require the signature of her legal guardian on the household registration.

    [Chu Master, is Three-Five-Five there? I think I heard a cat meow?]

    There were quite a few people in thements asking Chu Tingwu, this "human cat," to drive the cat car again. Her title of "Chu Master" also started being used from that livestream, or more urately, Master Chu the cat car driver.

    The system turned the camera, and indeed, four cats appeared in the yard in the frame.

    Shikuai fetched ten feather shuttlecocks, and the Spotted Cat with Tattooed Arms held one in its mouth, tossing it outward¡ªShikuai immediately pounced on the flying shuttlecock, caught it under its belly, then gripped a feather in its teeth and kicked the metal base vigorously before scampering back to drop it in front of the spotted cat.

    The two cats repeated this routine.

    The orange cat didn''t join in, insteadpping water from a bowl nearby, pausing asionally to nibble some cat food.

    Three-Five-Fivey on the steps like a lounging farmer, watching the two cats y shuttlecock for a while before closing her eyes, her whiskers quivering in the breeze.

    Seeing her fans'' interest in the app''s beta test, Chu Tingwu opened the software to show them the current data¡ªthe app had now recorded over 2,500 stray cats. Of course, several hundred of these were entered by Chu Tingwu herself. She diligently added 40-80 cats every day, making her the most efficient user thanks to her system.

    [I never imagined there could be so many stray cats in one city... Though in our neighborhood we had several dozen recently. It felt like cats were everywhere, even taking over the trash bins. The property management got quite a fewints, and then the cats disappeared... Sigh...]

    [So many... so many... so many cats! Can we adopt cats through this app? Chu Master, I think it has potential. Maybe partner with Little Sun Hospital so locals can view cat photos and the hospital can catch them?]

    [Won''t bad people steal the pretty kittens? I''ve seen some purebred cats among the strays. Surely some people will want to snatch them?]

    Chu Tingwu addressed each concern: "Based on current data, we estimate there are between 20,000 to 40,000 stray cats in the city, and they''re still breeding. Toplete the records faster, I''ll likely release another batch of beta test downloads soon."

    Fallen Phoenix City has more than just Fallen Phoenix University of Technology. Over 800 university students have helped Chu Tingwu with data entry, mostpleting their credit requirements in the past few days. It''s summer break now, so the numbers are nearly maxed out. Releasing another wave of activities could garner theirbor, but wouldn''t increase proactive enthusiasm.

    However, perhaps because cats are adorable, most people didn''t uninstall the app after finishing their tasks.

    "As for your concerns about cat-snatching," she said, "Little Sun Hospital is currently using the app''s data to locate unsterilized strays, but we''re short-staffed and our daily cat-catching efficiency is limited¡ª"

    The hospital was running out of cage space, with many strays on the waiting list.

    While fans might find the numbers shocking, those in Fallen Phoenix City working in rted fields, like Hang Ling, lose sleep browsing the app''s nightly data updates¡ª

    Their top priority is catching female cats, sterilizing each one they find to prevent further breeding.

    But even with a 1:1 male-to-female ratio, there are conservatively estimated to be 10,000 stray female cats, with perhaps 3,000 unsterilized. The time it takes the hospital to perform surgeries is enough for many cats to be pregnant and give birth again.

    Hang Ling: "Just end me now."

    Big Orange ambled over, climbing onto Chu Tingwu''sp and starting to purr. As she stroked the cat, Chu Tingwu continued:

    "We''re also working on the issue of cat traffickers. Even without the app, people intent on catching strays would still do so, but we don''t want our app to be their tool. That''s why we haven''t fullyunched it to the public yet..."

    Humans are far wilier than stray cats. Those who want to harm these small animals will always find a way. Chu Tingwu certainly didn''t want her app to be a menu for animal abusers or traffickers to browse. Fortunately, with the current small user base, they could still monitor activity, so such problems hadn''t arisen.

    After chatting with her fans for a while, she let the system float nearby while she took out a notebook and began reviewing Russian vocabry.

    When learning anguage outside its native environment, it''s crucial to listen, memorize, and use it frequently, constantly reviewing and reinforcing knowledge.

    However, even as she recited vocabry, her mind was preupied with how to protect the cats recorded in the app. Of course, it wasn''t possible to fit tracking cors on all the cats, and the death of urban strays was a natural urrence: whether from traffic, disease, or cold. Chu Tingwu couldn''t save every cat, but her app gave both the cats and humans a chance.

    "Celebrity animals attract more attention, but are also more likely to be hunted," she thought. "It''s like the stars of some wildlife documentaries... They be famous, then fall prey to poachers. While stray cats aren''t celebrities, some in the app will inevitably receive special attention."

    Turning cat lovers into dedicated app users could provide protection when attention reaches a critical mass.

    Making protection, attention, and adoption the consensus among all users, and fostering such an environment throughout the app, would force those with ill intentions to remain in the shadows, facing immediate bacsh if exposed.

    She shared her thoughts with the system, which quickly replied:

    [Your idea is sound!]

    [We can''t eliminate all the bad people in the world, but we can catch a few typical offenders to show others they can''t misbehave. After that, it''s up to humans themselves.]

    ...Though actually, eliminating all the world''s bad people wouldn''t be a problem, the system thought secretly. Its little one was just too well-behaved; it wouldn''t hurt to be selfish asionally.

    Chu Tingwu, unaware that world peace hung by a thread maintained solely by her moralpass, continued pondering details while reviewing vocabry. Meanwhile, thement section filled with question marks:

    [Chu Master is learning Russian, right? I tried to listen, but something seems off?]

    [Silly kitten, naughty kitten, green kitten, hanging kitten, iron the kitten t, kitten without underpants... Wait, what did the kitten do wrong?!]

    Why treat kittens like this?

 Chapter 23

    After the live stream ended that day, another 200 internal testing codes were distributed to local high-level fans with badges. Some people immediately started downloading the APP and, after trying it out, realized: "Has the APP been upgraded?"

    The interface looked different from what they initially saw.

    The APP''s logo was a cute cartoon version of a tortoiseshell cat, which the fan knew must be Three-Five-Five. After clicking into it, they first entered the registration interface. Uponpleting registration and enabling location services, they could see "Nearby Cats," "Cat Registry," and "My Profile."

    Clicking on "Nearby Cats" allowed them to refresh or view a map disy. Once disyed, they could see stray cats within a hundred meters of their current location. Looking at the cat heads lighting up on the map, the fan felt as if they were living among the cats as neighbors.

    Switching to "Cat Registry" seemed to show all registered cats. They could be sorted bytest entry, street, or name, and there was also a search function. However, when the fan searched for "Three-Five-Five," they found nothing... which made sense, as Three-Five-Five was no longer a stray cat.

    In the "My Profile" section... "What are Paw Coins?"

    After pondering for a while, the fan discovered a chat interface pinned at the top. This "Paw Coin" was a new virtual currency that could be used to post help requests in the chat room, offer rewards, or donate to the "Stray Cat Self-Service Restaurant." Upon further investigation, the fan discovered¡ª

    "''Stray Cat Self-Service Restaurant,'' this is actually a local stray cat rescue organization?"

    It was so low-profile, with hardly any publicity!

    The organization seemed to have attempted promotion, but there was little information online. Their rescue method involved opening short video ounts and livestreaming cats eating, then converting fans'' donations into cat food.

    They had several fixed feeding points for stray cats, with livestream cameras set up there. The stray cats that came to eat each day were random.

    Paw Coins could be earned by receiving likes from other users. Users could like photos of cats taken by others orplete bounty missions. Each person had ten free likes per day; beyond that, each like would cost 0.1 Paw Coins. Daily check-ins also rewarded coins.

    Moreover, taking photos of already registered cats and updating theirtest status had a chance to randomly drop a coin, with a maximum of five chances per day.

    The fan browsed the APP for a while and quickly used up all their likes... After all, with so many cat photos, it was normal to feel tempted. But they were reluctant to unlike previous posts, and they also wanted to donate to the self-service restaurant. Then the fan realized:

    "Wait, you can''t buy this virtual currency with real money?"

    Not even if you wanted to pay?

    After searching through the backend for a while, they finally found an exnation: the APP hadn''t officiallyunched yet, and purchases were not avable during the internal testing period.

    The fan had no choice but to find the self-service restaurant''s short video ount and make a small donation. Then they switched to the bounty interface, which was currently quite empty, as many people hadn''t discovered it yet, and there weren''t many posts. But after pulling down to refresh, a bounty suddenly popped up. It only offered two check-in coins, which seemed rather stingy:

    [Help needed: My friend''s cat went missing two months ago on XX Street. Photo attached. No sessful matches in the database yet. Hope everyone can help match if you see something simr! Just checked in, so don''t have many coins, but canpensate offline!!! Thank you so much, everyone!]

    The photo showed arge tuxedo cat, ck and white, with no distinguishing features except for its face. The fan saved the image anyway.

    "Might as well go out and earn some coins today!"

    And maybe look for the cat while they''re at it?

    Meanwhile, Chu Tingwu was also looking at a photo of a missing stray cat, sent to her via private message by a fan¡ª

    "Hello Chu Chu, here''s my donation record, and here are photos of my cat and purchase records. She''s a three-year-old Ragdoll named Caramel. I didn''t win an internal testing ount during the livestream, but my cat has been missing for a week, so I''m sending you this private message... Could you please use the APP to help me find a match? I''m very grateful and willing to pay a fee!"

    "Of course I can."

    After having the system verify the information, Chu Tingwu directly sent an APP internal testing code to the person.

    If the cat could be sessfully matched, the owner could go and bring the cat home themselves.

    A few minutester, it seemed the match was sessful, and a long string of emotional thanks came from the ount... Chu Tingwu instructed the system: "For simr situations in private messages, please verify and then directly give them internal testing codes."

    Judging by the current user activity after the APP update, her n for a city-wide cat census seemed likely to be achieved ahead of schedule.

    -

    The morning sky had a faint purple tinge.

    Director Xin wanted to film the scenery of Zhangshan Mountain and specially invited Chu Tingwu to join.

    "You''re usually free in the mornings, right?" she teased. "It''s not time for you to join the crew yet, but you cane and get familiar with your future colleagues in advance."

    In the city promotional video filming n, Chu Tingwu''s role was to do parkour, along with a cat.

    She brought her own best and most obedient animal actor, which would speed up the originally nned filming process.

    ording to the script, Chu Tingwu would mainly perform parkour in the city and in front of green screens. Before that, professional parkour athletes would be invited to help design her movements and possibly even act as stunt doubles. The estimated filming time was in August, but Director Xin couldn''t stay idle; she had to finish filming most of the scenery content.

    Since Director Xin had invited her, Chu Tingwu went to Zhangshan Mountain early in the morning, quietly following Director Xin as a small assistant, asionally helping to carry heavy objects.

    This time she didn''t bring her drone, as the filming n was confidential, and there wasn''t much room for the system to y a role.

    But just having Three-Five-Five standing there, or lying on a nearby box, attracted the attention of many people to the woman and her cat.

    Some people even used the excuse ofing over to move equipment to secretly pet the tortoiseshell mama cat.

    Three-Five-Five: "?"

    A few minutester, Three-Five-Five was lying on Director Xin''sp.

    No one dared to pet the cat on the director''s legs.

    Chu Tingwu: "Hmm..."

    Three-Five-Five: "Meow~"

    Let the kid go y, no need to hold her, she''s heavy.

    Director Xin was still smiling as she stroked Three-Five-Five''s long fur,pletely unaware that she was merely a human-shaped cat tree, and a rather strong one at that.

    Zhangshan Mountain had a newly opened viewing tform and a small Taoist temple. On the donation box in the main hall of the temple, there was a sign for scanning QR codes to make donations. Azy police cat was sprawled on top, conveniently blocking the QR code.

    The young Taoist priest, who looked like he might still be in college, patiently moved the cat aside. The police cat would then stand up, take a few steps, and lie down again, denying anyone the opportunity to make a donation.

    Someone sniffed and said, "It smells good, what''s that smell?" Chu Tingwu silently replied in her mind: "It''s braised pork being cooked in the temple''s kitchen, already stewed until very tender."

    The rich aroma of meat mixed with the faint scent of wooden buildings filled her nostrils. Although there weren''t many animals around, Chu Tingwu was certain she could smell various wild animals, perhaps including wild pheasants¡ªsome scents she could directly identify, while others seemed unfamiliar, and she could only vaguely sense howrge the animal was based on instinct.

    "Why can I judge the size of unknown animals by smell?"

    Isn''t that unreasonable?

    System: "Actually, you know what those animals are. Your gic instinct tells you whether you can hunt them, but since you haven''t seen them with your own eyes, the gic information you receive is vague and can''t be fully matched¡ªyou didn''t judge the size first, but rather the species, and then associated it with a rough size."

    Her current sense of smell hadn''t yet reached the level of a normal cat... This made Chu Tingwu curious: if it were upgraded to the maximum level, would the world she smelled be three-dimensional?

    The system suggested: "Kid, want to try closing your eyes and walking forward?"

    The world plunged intoplete darkness the moment Chu Tingwu closed her eyes. It seemed the system had helped her block out all lighting through her eyelids. With her eyes shut, in pitch ckness, all kinds of scents seemed to be magnified.

    She heard Three-Five-Five''s meow, seemingly puzzled about what its kitten was doing. She also sensed that the sheriff cat was swishing its tail¡ªclearly these were all scents, but as the scent molecules floated in the air, blurry, dynamic silhouettes appeared in the dark world.

    Chu Tingwu walked straight ahead with her eyes closed, her pace unhurried. Each stepnded precisely on the joined stone path, never stepping into the soil between the cracks. The film crew''s staff were bustling about moving equipment, talking in low voices. Chu Tingwu could smell the scent of hot sweat before people even approached her.

    "Ah, make way¡ª"

    Before the person could finish speaking, they noticed the little girl with closed eyes had already moved aside, as if waiting for them to carry the equipment past.

    But as they gestured, about to say, "You need to move a bit more¡ª"

    The little girl moved.

    She leapt up on the spot, her feetnding perfectly on a nearby railing. What made people''s brows furrow was that the slender railing was only three centimeters wide, and it was a perfectly round cylinder.

    She didn''t crouch, but stood normally, yet incredibly steadily. She tilted her head slightly, as if wondering why the person in front of her hadn''t passed by yet.

    The calico cat she had brought came over too, jumping onto the railing and crouching there.

    The sheriff cat that had been lying on the donation box seemed to finally wake up, letting out a groggy "meow." It leaped directly from the donation box to the far end of the railing over a meter away, then walked along it like a tightrope to Three-Five-Five''s side, sniffing her neck.

    Three-Five-Five gave the sheriff cat a punch.

    The sheriff cat yelped "Ow!" and fell off, and the two cats quickly became entangled in a fight.

    Chu Tingwu finally opened her eyes and looked up to see a camera lens pointed at her not far away.

    Director Xin smiled, "We might not be able to use this in the final cut, but I think we can release it as behind-the-scenes footage."

    On the other side, the crew member who had put down the equipment turned back to look, and couldn''t help but grab a passing colleague: "Did you see what just happened? When our little actress suddenly jumped up?"

    "Yeah, I saw it. What about it?"

    "I''m telling you..." the crew member mumbled, "She seemed to have her eyes closed the whole time."

    Chu Tingwu opened her interface.

    Her sense of smell skill was still at level 2, unchanged, but at the bottom of the interface a new skill appeared¡ª

    [Perception lv0]

    [(Perception: Sense wind and air pressure, predict storms and earthquakes, feel temperature and spatial awareness, all thanks to your skin surface and adorable fur)]

    The word "adorable" must have been added by the system.

    And where did she have fur? It must be referring to her hair and body hair, right?

    The system answered quickly: "It''s like this: cats can predict earthquakes mainly through their perceptive abilities. Perception is aprehensive ability. You''ve just unlocked it, but your dynamic vision, hearing, bnce, jumping ability, and so on haven''t reached their highest levels yet. Your perception skill will definitely improve slowly."

    But it would also allow the child to slowly adapt to this new ability... instead of suddenly jumping onto tables at the slightest disturbance like when she first bonded.

    Seeing Chu Tingwu resting, the system even yed a documentary for her. The protagonist was a blind cheetah, but it could still hunt and climb trees, sensing the wind to form rough outlines of structures in its mind, using its sense of smell to shape the form of prey in its thoughts, and using its keen hearing to ambush prey, tearing open their innards for a hearty meal.

    And its kitten would surely be even smarter, definitely able to do better than this cheetah.

    Chu Tingwu was unaware of the system''s subtleparison. The film crew had lunch at the small Taoist temple. Three-Five-Five had alsoe to an understanding with the sheriff cat. The two cats ran back and forth in the temple, and Three-Five-Five even managed to mooch a meal¡ªChu Tingwu suspected that she stopped fighting the sheriff cat just for this meal. Three-Five-Five was quite clever.

    While the humans were still naively adding food to the cats'' bowls, the temple master received a phone call and his expression suddenly turned serious.

    The temple master spoke with the assistant director for a few moments, and Chu Tingwu finally learned what had happened:

    "A tourist has gone missing in the mountains."

    -

    The missing female college student''s surname was You. She had entered the mountains alone on foot and hadn''t visited the Taoist temple. She had been missing for over fourteen hours. Thest time she was caught on camera wasst night at the foot of the mountain¡ªshe seemed about to leave, but apparently heard something and went back into the mountains. She hadn''t appeared on camera since.

    Her roommate discovered the problem and reported it to the police. Although it hadn''t been 24 hours yet, because the location of her disappearance was in the scenic mountain forest area and there had been no contact with her, the police immediately sent people up the mountain.

    "I know her," Chu Tingwu said confidently upon seeing the photo.

    You Zhenzhen had always been on her friends list. Thest time they messaged was thest time, seemingly maintaining this kind of cool, distant rtionship. Chu Tingwu sent You Zhenzhen a message, but predictably received no response.

    The system told her: "Her phone is turned off, probably because the battery died."

    Being stranded in the mountains for fourteen hours, it was normal for the battery to die. If it was just a dead battery and getting lost, that would be fine. What the police were worried about was clearly another possibility.

    It was still only noon. Upon learning of the missing person, the Taoist temple was to cooperate with the police in the search. After some thought, Director Xin said, "Why don''t we send a few people to help with the search?"

    "You''re not familiar with the mountain paths, so it''s better not to get involved," the temple master politely declined. "It''s best not to enter the mountains today. Let''s wait until the person is found before deciding anything else."

    It seemed their filming ns for the day would have to be put on hold.

    Chu Tingwu went to listen in and learned that the film crew needed to apply in advance to enter the mountains. Director Xin felt that aerial shots alone weren''t enough and wanted some footage from deep in the mountains, preferably capturing some wildlife. But it seemed that wouldn''t be possible today¡ªgoing in now would just cause trouble for the police.

    She noticed Chu Tingwu lowering her head, lost in thought, and suddenly had an idea: "Little Chu, you won''t go into the mountains on your own, will you?"

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    Director Xin: "That''s good. We''ll do a headcount. You stay by my side. Everyone, don''t wander off for now."

    If it was a malicious incident, who knows what might be in the mountains.

    She didn''t know why, but instinctively felt that Chu Tingwu might run into the mountains to search for the person... Was this prejudice against minors?

    Perhaps because of this thought, Director Xin kept her gaze on Chu Tingwu while everyone was resting.

    Most people from the Taoist temple had gone out. The film crew was resting in the entrance courtyard, apanied only by the young Taoist priest who guarded the donation box. He kept ncing outside, and upon seeing a ck shadow, said, "Sparrow, where did you run off to just now?"

    "Sparrow" was the ck and white sheriff cat.

    The sheriff cat meowed and licked its lips before going to drink water. The young Taoist priest stood on tiptoe and suddenly froze¡ª

    Behind the sheriff cat, another cat jumped over the threshold and leaped in.

    The young Taoist priest: "Eh¡ª"

    Before he could finish speaking, yet another cat followed, entering through the door.

    Then came a third, a fourth... In the end, a total of fourteen cats appeared in the courtyard.

    The film crew staff immediately stood up, telling everyone to secure their valuables¡ªmost people aren''t particrly afraid of stray cats because stray cats tend to avoid humans, but fourteen stray cats could potentially gang up to attack humans.

    Someone''s mind suddenly shed to a phrase: "Re-revolt against human tyranny, the Earth belongs to cats?"

    At this moment, Chu Tingwu let out a long "meow," and the stray cats seemed to have found their target, quickly gathering around her. Then, they watched as the young actress took out cat treats and canned food, and began to open them to feed the cats.

    "Good grief..." a crew member muttered, "How did these cats know toe to her for food?"

    The young Taoist priest sighed, "I''ll go see if there are any leftovers."

    Why did so many stray cats suddenly appear?

    Only Director Xin seemed lost in thought, watching Chu Tingwu pat each cat on the head, "meowing" back and forth as if chatting. The cats responded in kind, some extending their paws for her to see, oring closer for her to "sniff". But Director Xin didn''t know that Chu Tingwu wasn''t sniffing the cats, but rather smelling for You Zhenzhen''s scent.

    ¡ªSure enough, You Zhenzhen hade to Zhangshan Mountain to photograph catsst night.

    There was an upload record on her personal app ount, with thest upload time at 10 PMst night, just before she went missing. Because she had brought cat food, several of the stray cats had specifically rubbed against her to beg for food, leaving her scent on their fur as they brushed against her legs.

    Chu Tingwu distinguished You Zhenzhen''s scent, confirming she hadn''t been to the Taoist temple, then exchanged a few words with the stray cats, patting each on the head.

    "I''ll leave it to you then," she said.

    Fourteen cats leapt into action, and finally the temple''s "sheriff cat" came over, bumping its forehead against Chu Tingwu''s before darting out of the temple.

    "Swallow!" the young Taoist apprentice who had just brought leftover food shouted angrily, "Where are you off to now?"

    The sheriff cat swished its tail, let out a gentle "meow", and in the next second, its form was hidden behind the doorframe, out of sight.

    Chu Tingwu realized Director Xin was watching her. She turned and winked:

    People may not be allowed to leave, but there''s no rule saying cats can''t go into the mountains, right?

    -

    You Zhenzhen was shivering, clutching her camera.

    The good news was that she hadn''t been kidnapped. The bad news was that she had fallen down a slope, twisted her ankle, and now couldn''t even crawl. Her phone was dead, and the only thing with power left was her camera¡ªhow was she supposed to contact the outside world with just a camera?

    You Zhenzhen''s mind went nk.

    She was cold, hungry, filthy, and felt like crying from frustration, but she knew tears wouldn''t help.

    Night fell and day broke. During the night, she pressed the camera screen to light it up every few minutes, using the glow to give herself a glimmer of hope. She endured until noon, but now the camera''s battery was almost gone too.

    She hadn''t returned all night, hadn''t replied to messages. Would her roommatese looking for her? Or would they not even notice she was missing, since she sometimes stayed out overnight anyway?

    It''s too easy to let your mind wander when you''re stranded alone, and You Zhenzhen knew that while she appeared carefree on the surface, she was actually a very sensitive person, even with some people-pleasing tendencies¡ªwhen someone read her message but didn''t reply, or didn''t message her at all, she would worry that something she said had annoyed them.

    She knew it wasn''t right to think that way, but she couldn''t help it.

    After her parents'' divorce, she had followed her mother to a new family. Her stepfather''s family all praised her for being lively, cheerful, and considerate, but only You Zhenzhen herself knew that she was subconsciously trying to meet everyone''s expectations, using her bubbly personality to gain others'' attention.

    No, no, no, don''t think about that. Just count cats instead.

    ...Though it was chasing a cat that had gotten her into this predicament in the first ce.

    To get more cat photos and surpass the second-ce photographer, and to have an excuse to chat with Chu Tingwu, she had lingered at the foot of Zhangshan Mountain until 10 PMst night... She had heard from locals that there was a lion cat with heterochromia, and when You Zhenzhen realized she hadn''t photographed it, she continued circling the area.

    Then she heard a cat meow from the woods behind her.

    The cat seemed not far away, and You Zhenzhen instinctively chased after it. Her phone still had 16% battery, but she didn''t realize how quickly using the shlight drained the power.

    The cat seemed to lure her into the forest, and when her phone screen suddenly went dark, You Zhenzhen''s foot slipped. She instinctively protected her camera but lost her bnce, sliding down the gentle slope all the way to the bottom... and with extremely bad luck, twisting her ankle.

    "Before I die, at least let me see what kind of cat that was..."

    She knew her situation was no one''s fault but her own, so she could only try to find humor in her misery. But listening to the wind rustling through the leaves, she still felt a lump in her throat.

    The sun was warm, scorching hot, the air fresh, birds singing... The world was full of vibrant life, but she felt as if she had been forgotten.

    Would anyone reallye looking for her?

    Counting cats! Better to count cats!

    One cat... two cats... three, let''s pretend they''re all ragdoll cats... She stared at the leaves in front of her, fighting the thirst, imagining the veins on the leaves were a ragdoll''s nose tip.

    At the foot of the mountain, the guesthouse owner who had spoken with You Zhenzhenst night walked out with the police, pointing to a path not far away: "I think she went that way...?"

    The inquiring police officer looked up and saw a cat perched on a garbage bin, licking its paw.

    As they approached, they heard two meows, and the stray cat suddenly jumped down from the bin and ran into the woods.

    The police officer: "Hm?"

    -

    Zhangshan Mountain only had a few trails for tourists to climb, and the cat ignored the huge "Do Not Enter" sign nearby, leaping over the chain and running into the forest.

    The cat''s soft paw pads stepped on the soil, leaping over dead wood. In the forest, the cat''s meows weren''t loud, but cats could hear some lower pitched voices. They were far apart, yet seemed to whisper in each other''s ears.

    "...Is it there?"

    "...A bit further meow."

    "This bug is interesting."

    "Stop ying meow!"

    "I''ll bring the bug for you to y with."

    "Okay meow QvQ"

    Two cats that had encountered the police entering the mountain nced at the unfamiliar humans from afar, then turned away uninterested, scratching a tree trunk twice before continuing deeper into the forest.

    The police officers just marveled at the sight, but didn''t choose to follow.

    A police drone was circling high above, but its camera overlooked these small animals. So they didn''t notice that the cats were setting out from different directions yet seemingly heading towards the same destination, leaving faint traces in the camera footage, just a few tiny paw prints in the soil.

    You Zhenzhen turned on her camera again, and in that moment of illumination, she noticed the battery was almost dead.

    It wouldn''tst much longer... Should she try to crawl up?

    Her ankle was badly swollen, and she had gone numb to the pain, only uncertain if this would leavesting damage... like a permanent limp or something?

    Maybe, when the battery finally dies, she should start crawling up?

    "Meow¡ª"

    Suddenly she heard a sharp cat cry.

    You Zhenzhen instinctively looked up. Though it was just a cat, her eyes lit up, she¡ª

    "What the hell!"

    "Why is it a crow!?"

    How could it be a crow meowing like a cat?

    She sat back down, trying to stay calm:

    "I''ve been counting cats for so long, I''ve gone crazy. Now I''m hearing things."

    No, she wasn''t hearing things, it really was a crow meowing!

    The crow even flew down,nding not far from You Zhenzhen, almost making her tears burst out: Crows are scavengers, but surely it wasn''t following her this early?

    The crow turned its little eyes, tilting its head to stare at her from just out of reach, seeming curious, yet with somewhat of a mischievous air upon closer inspection.

    "Meow-wow¡ª"

    The crow called out again.

    Suddenly, it pped its wings and took off. You Zhenzhen instinctively looked up, her gaze following the crow''s movement. Then, she heard another cat meow.

    The bushes rustled, and at the top of the slope she had slid down, a cat''s head appeared.

    Then a second, a third, a fourth...

    Sunlight fell on the cats'' heads as those arrivingter nudged those in front further down. The crow circled in the air before cautiouslynding, this time at the bottom of the slope with You Zhenzhen, both staring up at the cats above.

    She instinctively picked up her camera, raising it to her eye. Her hands were surprisingly steady as she captured the standoff between the crow and the group of cats in the frame.

    Then, in the instant she pressed the shutter, she saw thest cat appear in the frame.

    It was a long-haired calico, its whole body smoky gray except for a yellow spot on its nose. It arrivedst, but the cats in front made way for it. It looked down at You Zhenzhen and softly meowed.

    You Zhenzhen: "Three-Five-Five..."

    At that moment, the camera battery diedpletely, but You Zhenzhen could feel her eyes growing moist.

    Three-Five-Five... Three-Five-Five had arrived. Clearly, it was just a cat, but for some inexplicable reason, You Zhenzhen believed that if it was indeed Three-Five-Five, it would surely know she was in trouble, would certainly understand what she was saying, and would definitely be able to call for help to rescue her!

    Three-Five-Five moved. It suddenly leaped down from above, its feline silhouette momentarily blocking out the light. In the next second, You Zhenzhen heard a "caw!"

    Three-Five-Fivended beside her, sweeping its tail across her wrist.

    In Three-Five-Five''s mouth was a still-pping crow, which alternated between "meow-ow" and "caw-caw" sounds.

    You Zhenzhen nearly burst into tears.

    She actually did cry out¡ª

    You Zhenzhen: "Woof QAQ!!!"

    Three-Five-Five: "...?"

 Chapter 24

    The police officers who came to find You Zhenzhen were led by a cat.

    The cat jumped down from a stone sign that read "Do not feed wild animals," walked up to the two police officers, brushed their legs with its tail, then took a few steps forward, turned its head, and gestured for them to follow.

    The officers meowed a couple of times, and realizing the cat seemed to genuinely want to lead them rather than beg for food, they followed¡ª

    As police officers, they had encountered more unusual incidents than the average person, and it wasn''t impossible for a cat to be intelligent and understand human intentions, so they decided to see where it led.

    Thus, they came upon the "cat colony."

    Stray cats were gathered on a hillside, grooming each other and fighting, while below the hill, they could hear the faint sound of a girl crying. As the officers approached, the stray cats immediately scattered. The police looked down and discovered You Zhenzhen... and Three-Five-Five beside her.

    Three-Five-Five still had the crow in its mouth. You Zhenzhen tried to lunge forward to hug the cat, but as soon as she moved, Three-Five-Five raised its paw and pressed it against her forehead.

    It took the police officers some time to carry You Zhenzhen up the hill. When they turned around, they saw therge calico cat and reached out to offer it a hand up, only to find that the calico nimbly avoided them and easily climbed up the hill, stepping on loose rocks and clumps of dirt.

    The crow in its mouth was still pping, meowing as it pped. Just as everyone turned to look, the crow let out a "woof-meow."

    Police officer: "This crow speaks more than one foreignnguage, huh?"

    You Zhenzhen: "..."

    She opened her mouth and let out a huping sob.

    Since it was still a life, someone wanted to rescue the crow from Three-Five-Five''s mouth, but Three-Five-Five cautiously kept its distance from them... At this point, the priority seemed to be taking the girl to the hospital rather than saving the bird, so they had to give up.

    One of the police officers nced at Three-Five-Five: "This cat... looks somewhat familiar?"

    As if he had seen it recently in a local video rmendation?

    You Zhenzhen was taken to the hospital, and Three-Five-Five returned to the Taoist temple with the crow still in its mouth.

    A group of stray cats once again filed in, amazing the people at the temple, who were unsurprised to see the cats gather around their little actress once more.

    The Little Taoist Priest also squatted nearby, looking at the cats, then at Chu Tingwu, back at the cats, and then at Chu Tingwu again. Suddenly, he reached out and pulled out the police chief cat that was mixed in with the others: "Yanzi! Didn''t you already eat? Why are you here mooching food too?"

    Yanzi, who had actually earned her food throughbor: Meow!?

    Chu Tingwu finished distributing rewards to the cats and borrowed a stainless steel cube-shaped cover from the film crew to cover the crow.

    Three-Five-Five spat out some bird feathers and meowed once, meaning: "Kid, didn''t you want this bird before? I saw it on the way and caught it for you to y with."

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    She was no longer a kitten who liked to y with birds; her toy was now a drone.

    However, how should she deal with this crow?

    Chu Tingwu had already heard from others: It was probably this crow that lured You Zhenzhen into the woods by mimicking cat calls, causing her to get lost. It had also once insulted Elder Zhang''s chestnut cat, hurting the little cat''s feelings ¡ª in an animal court, it might have been sentenced to a fixed-term imprisonment, but unfortunately, there was no animal court in this world.

    She first called the Forestry Bureau, and they replied quickly: "A crow? Is it a white-necked crow or a raven... No special characteristics? Oh, so it''s quite ordinary. Caught by a cat? We''ll send someone to take a look. If it''s not injured, just release it back into the wild."

    Little Zheng, the employee sent by the Forestry Bureau, thoroughly examined the crow and quickly determined that it was indeed unharmed. Meanwhile, the Little Taoist Priest, upon learning that the captured crow could meow, came over to take a look and added: "This crow... I think it used to always hang around with Ah Huang. Oh, Ah Huang was an old stray cat we took in here. He died of illness a few months ago."

    In the video, the cat was curled up sleeping, with the crow perched on top of it, dozing off. There were also scenes where it hopped around on the cat, picking off fleas, while the cat only asionally flicked its tail.

    The Little Taoist Priest remembered this crow because of its ability to meow, and now seeing it again, he felt quite emotional: "I thought it had flown away..."

    Little Zheng: "Then it probably lives around here. Let''s release it here. Oh, and we should put up a sign saying not to follow cats into the woods... following crows that can meow isn''t okay either."

    Chu Tingwu: "Wait."

    She reached out and took the crow from Little Zheng''s hands.

    The crow was warm, and she could feel the temperature of its body in her palm. Realizing it had been transferred, it turned its head 180 degrees and let out a sweet, cloying meow at Chu Tingwu ¡ª as if begging for mercy.

    However, Chu Tingwu let out a stern "meow," her tone serious.

    The crow suddenly pped its wings, its small eyes fixed intently on Chu Tingwu, seemingly very surprised.

    Chu Tingwu scolded it in catnguage, telling it not to be rude anymore... although it might not listen. Then, she raised her other hand¡ª

    And lightly flicked the bird''s forehead three times.

    The crow: "Caw!?"

    Little Zheng took the crow back with a wry smile, deciding to take it to the forest for release.

    ... Originally, Chu Tingwu thought that would be the end of the matter.

    But the next day, when Chu Tingwu opened her front door, she found Three-Five-Five crouching on the edge of the flower bed in the yard, with a familiar-looking bird in its mouth.

    Chu Tingwu: "... Wait."

    Three-Five-Five spat out the crow, which immediately flew up to the windowsill, "meowing"ints in cat swear words.

    You learned some dirtynguage from Ah Huang back then, huh?

    Three-Five-Five elegantly spat out some feathers and told Chu Tingwu:

    Early in the morning, she heard the sound of a bird pping, and then she found this familiar troublemaker peeking from the wall, so she went up and caught it... Baby, do you really not want to y with it?

    Chu Tingwu: "Thanks, but no thanks."

    She waved at the crow again: "Don''te back. If Three-Five-Five doesn''t use her mouth, the tabby and the big orange cat will catch you too."

    Why does a bird keeping to a house full of cats? Does it enjoy repeatedly flirting with death?

    The crow cawed once, then flew away.

    Chu Tingwu guessed that after being released, it had returned to the Taoist temple and then followed her all the way home, learning the route ¡ª crows are very intelligent birds, capable of thinking and mimicking, and she had a feeling this bird would likelye back.

    Sure enough, the next day, just as Chu Tingwu entered Teacher Zhang''s house, the crow swooped down andnded on the ginkgo tree with a rustle.

    Below the tree, Shikuai was digging in the soil for bugs. He looked up, saw the crow above, and immediately became curious.

    Shikuai: "Meow?"

    The crow coughed once, instantly attracting the attention of several humans.

    Then, the crow said: "Your mommy doesn''t want you anymore, she has other kittens outside..."

    Chu Tingwu: "..." She knew it!

    Teacher Zhang, hearing from Aunt Mei that a crow hadnded on the tree, was a bit confused: "This crow... doesn''t seem to be saying anything nice?"

    But Shikuai, who was being trash-talked, wasn''t angry. He just asked in confusion: "How do you know? My mommy isn''t even here, meow."

    He knew Teacher Zhang wasn''t his mother; humans can''t give birth to kittens, after all.

    Crow: "?"

    Crow: "Destroy human tyranny, the world belongs to cats!"

    Shikuai: "You talk so interestingly! What is this? It''s so cool! Can I learn it too?"

    Chu Tingwu silently reached out and covered Shikuai''s little cat ears¡ª

    Little kitty, don''t learn random things, go y with your bugs!

    However, for some reason, that crow seemed to have fixated on Shikuai, and for the next few days, it kept appearing around Teacher Zhang''s vi. Every time it said something crude, Shikuai would just respond stupidly, not understanding at all¡ª

    But Teacher Zhang weed it. The crow seemed to know only a limited number of phrases, often repeating the same catnguage... probably all learned haphazardly from following Ah Huang back then.

    Teacher Zhang would record it and ask Chu Tingwu to trante. He even gave the crow a nickname, "ssmate Wu," meaning they were all students learning catnguage.

    Your ssmate''s bestnguage skills are cat swear words. Do you have any thoughts on this, Teacher Zhang?

    So when Teacher Zhang heard this kind of question, he started teaching Chu Tingwu Russian swear words the next day: "Actually, many people learn swear words first when studying anguage... I''m just worried you might be learning these too early."

    But now it seemed that even cats didn''t speak very cleanly.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    She warned, "This crow is quiterge, be careful it doesn''t peck at Shikuai''s tail fur."

    She had no confidence in this crow''s bird manners.

    Shikuai continued to be silly and happy day after day. One day when Chu Tingwu came over, she saw Aunt Mei knitting a small scarf for the crow. The crow was no longer just perching on trees and rooftops; it was sitting on a nearby coat rack, tilting its head to watch the humans work, and softly meowed.

    It said: "The sun is so nice today,e y with me for a while longer."

    Shikuai looked up and responded with a "meow".

    However, the crow hopped on the railing, then repeated the same words again. After the third time, it finally came down and snuggled up to Shikuai.

    The two ck little animals touched heads, bodies pressed together. The crow gently tilted its head and used its beak to groom Shikuai''s fur.

    Chu Tingwu suddenly realized that this phrase might have been something Ah Huang used to say.

    On the crow''s side, did it mean that whenever Ah Huang said this, it was time for their grooming session?

    From today onwards, Teacher Zhang''s little vi had another wild crow that came and went as it pleased.

    -

    Chu Tingwu bought some bird food for the crow. On her way home, she received a message from You Zhenzhen, who seemed to have finished recuperating and came specially to thank her.

    The coffee aroma in the caf¨¦ wasn''t unpleasant. You Zhenzhen ordered a milk tea for Chu Tingwu, while she had ck coffee herself.

    Sunlight streamed through the ss onto the table. Three-Five-Five, sitting nearby, squinted and raised its front paw to swat at the air.

    After sitting down, You Zhenzhen first nced at Three-Five-Five, then took out some freshly developed photos from her bag. It was the picture of the bird and cat facing off.

    "I came specially to thank you," You Zhenzhen stared into Chu Tingwu''s eyes. "If it weren''t for Three-Five-Five saving my life, I don''t know what would have happened to me today..."

    She hesitated for a moment, as if wanting to say something, but put it aside for now.

    Then, she pushed the photo in front of Chu Tingwu: "This was taken when I was rescued. I want to give it to you, and then enter it in a photographypetition in your name. Is that okay?"

    This was indeed a very nice gift. The photo captured Three-Five-Five looking particrly handsome. Any cat owner wouldn''t refuse it.

    Good photos rely on luck, a moment of inspiration, and a bit of skill. Obviously, You Zhenzhen had adequate technique and happened to catch both inspiration and luck. This photo even had a story and emotional quality to it, making it a very captivating image.

    "If it''s for the ''Dancing with Phoenix, Apanied by Beauty'' themed photographypetition, you should enter it under your own name," Chu Tingwu looked at the photo. "Then you can print out a copy for me?"

    You Zhenzhen immediately stood up, smiling happily: "Then this one is for you!"

    Chu Tingwu exined: "Actually, your roommate had already called the police at that time. They would have found you after searching for a while longer. You don''t need to be so grateful to me."

    Still so polite.

    You Zhenzhen: "Mm, I know... So, Little Teacher Chu, do you need an assistant?"

    What kind of development was this?

    Before Chu Tingwu could speak, the system suddenly interjected: "She''s trying to lure you in!"

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    You Zhenzhen looked very serious. She took a deep breath, then took out a stack of freshly printed resumes from her bag:

    "I''m studying finance at Fallen Phoenix University of Technology, about to start my junior year. In another year, I can start internships. My mother is a photographer who contributes to ''World News'' and ''Blue Star Mysteries'' magazines, so I started ying with photography when I was very young. I also participated inpetitions in middle school... Look at these, they''re all photos I took in middle school."

    She seemed very nervous, constantly pinching her fingers while Chu Tingwu looked at the photos: "I was thinking... I might not be as good at filming and editing videos as your partner, but there are other things I can do. Your partner seems to be abroad, right? Little Teacher Chu, you''re already very famous, but you still have to go to school. If you want to be a long-term content creator without losing fans, you definitely need an assistant to help with misceneous tasks¡ªplus you''re also running an APP and giving tutoring lessons, so you must need someone to help run errands, right?"

    She didn''t wait for Chu Tingwu to speak, quickly taking out her phone to show her ount panel on the 365 Cat Census APP. The number of cats could fully prove that she was a deep user.

    "I think," You Zhenzhen said softly, "my disadvantage is that I haven''t graduated yet, but my advantage is that I understand the work content and have a lot of enthusiasm for the job."

    Her eyes sparkled brightly, emitting intense waves of light as if saying: "Take me in! Take me in! Take me in..."

    What she didn''t know was that Chu Tingwu''s partner system was also muttering in her mind:

    [This human wants to pet you! Look, here are herment records from your live stream, and these are her post records on the New Plum app. She checks in on your topic area every day, with herstment being "Such a cute Chu kitty, I want to kiss you to death¡ª"]

    Chu Tingwu: "Stop talking."

    Leave some dignity for people.

    The system grumbled:

    [Baby, let me tell you, this is how humans lure cats! First, they find excuses to get close to the kitty. Once the kitty gets used to being petted, they suddenly take the cat home. Then some silly kitties can''t escape anymore, eating and sleeping all day long, while being touched by humans... Although, although you''re definitely not a silly kitty, she looks like she really wants to touch you...]

    Chu Tingwu didn''t think You Zhenzhen''s intention was really to "lure a cat". The system had identified her as a cat, but You Zhenzhen surely knew she was human.

    She closed the other''s resume and looked at the young woman five years her senior. You Zhenzhen''s attitude was very sincere, as if everything she did was to express gratitude. But if it was just gratitude, she seemed too anxious about Chu Tingwu''s answer.

    Chu Tingwu: "I don''t have ns to hire an assistant."

    You Zhenzhen''s gaze dimmed.

    Chu Tingwu tilted her head, staring at the person in front of her, and suddenly said: "If you want to enter the entertainment industry or be a director, being an assistant can be a stepping stone, but this job doesn''t have much value, and you shouldn''t be looking for me¡ª"

    "So I don''t think this is your real purpose."

    "If you don''t want to say your true thoughts..." She nced at her phone, "Then I''ll go to my tutoring lesson."

    You Zhenzhen: "..."

    Chu Tingwu''s tone was cold, but her actions were patient. She still sat across the coffee table, quietly looking at her face, seemingly waiting for her to make a decision.

    "I..." You Zhenzhen said softly, "Although I like cats, I''m not actually that obsessed, not to the point of going out to photograph cats every day. I just thought, if I could get second ce in the software rankings, with my ID right next to yours, I could find a chance to chat with you."

    For example, sending a message saying: "Look, this second ce happens to be me!"

    Chu Tingwu was a bit puzzled but didn''t interrupt.

    You Zhenzhen: "Then, after chatting more, we could probably be friends."

    "And then she can lure the cat," the system said gravely.

    Chu Tingwu: "..." Hey.

    She understood now: You Zhenzhen actually just wanted to be friends with her, but didn''t dare to say it directly. So she first intensively used the APP to get a high ranking, and then applied to be an assistant, so that the two couldmunicate frequently.

    Why couldn''t she just say it directly? Chu Tingwu didn''t understand, but she knew some people just have this kind of personality.

    If they say it directly and get rejected, it''s a terrifying thing for them. They''ll keep reying it in their minds in the dead of night and secretly cry... The above content was all said by the system.

    Although the system hadbeled You Zhenzhen as a "cat lurer", the decision was still in Chu Tingwu''s hands.

    "I''m not sure if we can be friends," she said, extending her hand to the "big sister" in front of her. "I don''t have many friends, and no one has ever formally asked to be my friend like this... You''ve prepared so much. No matter how much time passes, I''ll surely remember this."

    You Zhenzhen held her hand in a daze, listening as she continued:

    "Whether we can be long-term friends depends on if our personalities match, but you can message me every day, and I''ll reply when I see it. Go home and rest now. See youter."

    You Zhenzhen: "Ah... see youter."

    Chu Tingwu smiled and left with Three-Five-Five.

    You Zhenzhen sat in ce for a long time, then suddenly dropped her head on the table, startling the customers at the next table.

    "Chu Meow-meow, you''re going to make me die from wanting to kiss you..."

    [She really wants to kidnap a cat. What kind of death is ''dying from kisses''? As far as I know, no cat has ever died that way¡ª]

    Chu Tingwu: "Shut up."

    System: "Oh."

    A few dayster, Chu Tingwu was invited out by You Zhenzhen again. This time, she was handed a thick stack of ns.

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    You Zhenzhen clenched her fist: "Maintaining a good long-term friendship requiresmon ground! So I''ve decided to get involved in your daily work¡ªif there''s no work, I can create work!"

    Chu Tingwu: "??"

    She wasn''t very keen on having work created for her.

    You Zhenzhen seemed much more confident than when they first met. Chu Tingwu silently read through the ns and understood her intention: The 365 Cat Census was currently only famous among her fan base. To maintain long-term operations and expand influence, the app definitely needed a way to generate ie and attract investment.

    Before discussing investment, her app needed to beunched, which required registering apany. It''s inconvenient for minors to register, so partnering with an adult would be more suitable. But who would be willing to be the legal representative for a minor''spany? You Zhenzhen wanted to take on this risk and start thepany as partners, then try to negotiate for investment.

    Her age was an advantage; though she was also of college age, it was still much more convenient than Chu Tingwu''s situation.

    Moreover, she would only be responsible for operations, with decision-making power remaining in Chu Tingwu''s hands. You Zhenzhen knew what kind of investors Chu Tingwu wanted and wouldn''t interfere with her decisions.

    The app could beunched, but making money was secondary¡ªhelping cats was the main goal. Not everyone could understand this mindset, but You Zhenzhen could.

    The system could do more... but it couldn''t be a human tomunicate with another person.

    Chu Tingwu: "Alright."

    "I''ll still handle the operations, but I''ll have to rely on you for a lot of the offline work."

    You Zhenzhen sighed in relief: "That''s still a win for me."

    She had more confidence than Chu Tingwu.

    Her confidence was quickly rewarded. After signing the contract and registering thepany, Director Yang from Little Sun Hospital proactively offered them their first investment.

    Director Yang believed that once the app wasunched, many businesses rted to cat products would discover its huge potential for advertising¡ªas long as the promotion was done well and there were enough users. She invested early to get a higher return rate.

    But You Zhenzhen shouldered this trust.

    The "Zhenzhen" in her name came from "lush green leaves," describing flourishing nts. Her parents hoped she would grow up well. As she grew older, she joked that her name meant "attentive and thorough," diligent and meticulous... But now she realized that a name is just a title, and whether she wanted to grow lush like a tree depended entirely on herself.

    "Don''t you think so, Three-Five-Five?"

    Three-Five-Five: "?"

    Since thepany started, You Zhenzhen had more excuses to visit Chu Tingwu. Every time she came, she would chat with Three-Five-Five for half a day and even bought many toys for him.

    ...Although in the end, the tabby and the big orange cat yed with most of the toys.

    "Anyway," You Zhenzhen sped her hands together, "I hope Chu Chu''s filming goes smoothly today, and that I''ll have good luck too."

    The professional parkour coach hired by the crew had arrived, and Chu Tingwu was about to start filming.

    When Chu Tingwu told her about the filming, You Zhenzhen looked at Chu Meow''s young face and really wanted to abandon work to be an assistant on set. She could pass water and towels super fast, and even help hold the cats!

    Three-Five-Five wandered to the side, where You Zhenzhen had ced a "cat button." Different buttons would y different human voices, like "eat," "drink," "love you," and so on. Three-Five-Five raised his paw and pressed:

    "Dream on-Dream on-Dream on¡ª"

    You Zhenzhen: "QAQ"

    You Zhenzhen: "Wait, let me take this call..."

    You Zhenzhen: "Yes, this is 365 Cat Census... Yes, yes, you... Okay!!!"

    "Chu Chu! Wait a moment, let me drive you guys to the set!"

    She had to go to a meeting at the neighboring Fallen Phoenix City Cultural and Tourism Bureau¡ª

    Although she had dreamed of a big promotion for the app, she never dreamed it would be this big?!

 Chapter 25

    Thergest parkourmunity in China is called picC, and the coaches hired by the production team were members of picC.

    Perhaps because this coboration was with an official organization, the other side took it very seriously. Three coaches came, bringing students and assistants. A group of people got out of a minivan. Although they weren''t the muscr type, it was evident that both men and women had excellent spirits and strong core strength.

    Chu Tingwu had just changed into her outfit.

    Since she was going to be filming, not just doing regr parkour, her outfit also had a sense of design. The clothes were ck and white patchwork, adorned with gold and red decorative details. There was a row of metal buckles around the waist that made crisp clinking sounds when she walked.

    She wore short sleeves and shorts, with a fake twoyer top. The hem of theyer under the buckles was tucked into her pants. The costume director had her wear full protective gear, including ck and white knee pads and long arm guards. Then the stylist started to work on her hair.

    "We need to make sure your hair doesn''te loose. It''s a bit long, so I''ll tie it into two little buns for you."

    The stylist fiddled for a while, and by the time Three-Five-Five had fallen asleep, Chu Tingwu''s hair had been transformed into two plump little buns, with hair extensions attached below - judging by how the stylist was applying the extensions, it seemed like they wanted to weld them onto her head.

    She could tell that the stylist was trying to make her look more cat-like, with the buns resembling cat ears, and eye makeup leaning towards cat eyes... They were much better at cat-ifying her than the system had been.

    Finally, Chu Tingwu put on a face mask, and a new cool girl was fresh out of the oven.

    Among the three coaches, two men and one woman, two stood beside her while one was talking with the director''s team. Both coaches had assistants with them, who were obviously parkour practitioners as well. Not being in the entertainment industry, they looked at Chu Tingwu with obvious naivety and curiosity.

    The female coach introduced herself: "Just call me Shark. This tall idiot next to me is Eagle. Have you finished your makeup? Why don''t you try a backflip first to see if the hair extensions will fall off?"

    Chu Tingwu: "...I''ve never practiced backflips."

    Shark: "Huh?"

    After some discussion, Shark eximed: "Did you really learn those moves in the video by following cats? You learned so well! We watched the video before, since it was so popr, but we thought you didn''t use those showy moves because you were focusing on speed."

    In the two branches of parkour, freerunning includes more shy moves, like stationary backflips, wall spins, and wall flips... These moves are a pure waste of time in parkour, which aims for speed, but they look really cool!

    Eagle said: "So freerunning is very useful for promoting parkour. It''s free flying, everyone thinks it''s cool, so theye to try it. ''Free'' means you can y however you want. Many students in ourmunity were attracted to parkour by freerunning videos."

    So it''s rare for someone to just run without showing off. How could anyone resist!

    Oh, someone hadn''t learned at all, so that''s how they could resist.

    "Xiong Xiong," Shark waved to someone in the director''s team, "let''s take the little actress to the site to practice first."

    The production team spends money for each day of filming. Director Xin had already shot most of the ordinary scenery footage. The n for the next few days was to film Chu Tingwu''s movements on a green screen, and in a couple of days, they would go out for some real location shooting to see the effect - so there wasn''t much time left for her to learn.

    But Director Xin seemed to have an inexplicable trust in her.

    So the group moved with Chu Tingwu to the adjacent site. Without Chu Tingwu having to call, Three-Five-Five followed along.

    The entire site was artificially constructed, but the production team didn''t have to pay for it. The cultural tourism promotional n included funds for "turning Fallen Phoenix City into a parkour ma," and construction had already begun on both the old town renovation and the building of public and indoor venues. This site had just beenpleted and was immediately upied by the production team, free of charge.

    The whole site was divided into two parts. One part was full of geometric aesthetics, like a three-dimensional maze built with building blocks of different color schemes. The other part had more facilities for auxiliary training. Shark pointed at the "maze" and said: "This should be used for timed speed runs. Let''s go practice next door first, thene back to try the speed course."

    When she had watched the video earlier, Shark was very confident in Chu Tingwu, but now that she realized she was really self-taught, she was a bit worried about whether they couldplete the work today.

    Her partner Eagle called out to the apprentices: "Check the safety of the speed course, we''ll do a run first."

    It''s normal to check the site before parkour, especially since it was a new venue. He took off his jacket and started warming up.

    Next door, Shark took off her shoes, jumped a bit on the soft mat, then did a crisp backflip on the spot.

    Her ponytail swung in a circle in mid-air. She raised her hand and gestured for Chu Tingwu to watch:

    Then she leaped forward, pressed on the hard tform with one hand, her whole body suspended in mid-air as she half-turned, andnded on the opposite side in the next second. She ran forward a few steps, jumped sideways, pressed her right palm against the wall, her body rotating 360 degrees following her palm, andnded again - jumped - grabbed the railing, passed her whole body between two railings in a suspended posture, then jumped back from above, returned to the previous tform, pressed on the tform and rotated her body in a circle supported by her arms, then dropped down and returned to the soft mat.

    "This is a rtively continuous set of movements," Shark said with a shy smile. "If it were a speed run, most of these moves would be useless, but in a technicalpetition, this set of moves can add technical points."

    "The director told us that your entire set of movements will be designed by us. You see that guy? The one called ''Xiong Xiong'', he''s picC''s dedicated action designer. He said there should be quite a few backflips and wall spins, which means rotating 360 degrees on a 90-degree right-angled wall surface supported by your arms. It looks cooler that way - do you want to start practicing with backflips?"

    As she spoke, she was bouncing on her toes, making her ponytail bob up and down. She was a very energetic and action-oriented person.

    Chu Tingwu nodded and walked onto the soft mat. Shark seemed to want to step forward to help herplete the movement, perhaps by supporting her with her hands to let her get used to it, but she didn''t move -

    When she saw the human-cat parkour video released by the system, Shark was looking forward to seeing that kind of parkour in person. So when facing Chu Tingwu, she still chose to respect her young colleague and let Chu Tingwu try toplete it entirely on her own for the first time.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    Chu Tingwu: "Um..."

    [Baby! Come on! Baby! Come on...]

    So noisy!

    Her heart skipped a beat, she jumped up on the spot... and then fell back down.

    Chu Tingwu: It seems I''m not too used to flipping backwards...

    The next second, she stepped forward andpleted a smooth front flip - the kind without using hands for support.

    In fact, this was the first front flip Chu Tingwu had ever done in her life.

    Shark rubbed her chin.

    That''s pretty good too, but isn''t the direction wrong?

    Chu Tingwu returned to the soft mat, pondered for a while, silently bent her knees, leaned her upper body backwards, stretched her hands back, and in the moment of supporting herself on the floor, shepleted a back handspring using her hands. Then she continued to repeat the previous movements, just trying to increase her speed -

    She found that she didn''t seem to be very good at backflips, because she couldn''t see what was behind her, so subconsciously she didn''t want to do this move.

    Three-Five-Five: "Meow?"

    The cat mother walked to her kitten''s side, raised her paw to support on her leg, and nuzzled her chest. Was the kitten''s strange movement a sign of illness?

    Chu Tingwu lowered her head: "...Meow."

    She wasn''t very good at it.

    The interaction between the human and the cat was a bit too adorable. Shark was holding back herughter on the side. Just as she was about to say something, she noticed the calico cat shaking its fur and biting Chu Tingwu''s shoce, indicating for her toe over.

    The calico cat dragged Chu Tingwu away from the soft mat, then the cat "meowed" and did a backflip on the spot.

    The cat''s pawsnded, its fur swaying, and it tilted its head to look at the human it was watching.

    Chu Tingwu let out a small sound and stood up as well. In the moment she leaped, her hair fluttered. The next second, the spinning world was righted again. Chu Tingwu heard her heart pounding "thump thump". Shended on the ground, not on the soft mat¡ªthe whole world steadied beneath her feet.

    "That''s good," Chu Tingwu said, "I found I can do this on a hard surface. Shark teacher, what''s the next move?"

    Shark: "...Ah, then, how about a spin on the tform?"

    Wait, was this being taught by the cat or by her? And why could someone''s cat actually do a backflip... Wasn''t that just a joke?

    For beginners, spinning on the tform usually involves using both hands for support, but Chu Tingwu didn''t seem to realize this. After Shark exined, she said "Oh" and then supported herself with just one hand on the tform, lifting her body and smoothly spinning around once.

    The calico cat also jumped onto the tform, then jumped down, then up again, seeming confused by this tform... Why was it so high? Why could the young human spin, but she couldn''t?

    Sharkpleted the rest of the guidance in a daze. Her posture was very standard, but Chu Tingwu''s replication was even more precise. Except for the initial backflip, whether it was moves supported by the tform or pole spins and twists¡ªthis young actress could perfectly execute everything.

    Her sense of bnce and core strength were incredibly strong!

    Moreover, she didn''t have many calluses on her hands, indicating she hadn''t practiced much. It seemed more like natural talent.

    Parkour doesn''t requirerge muscles. The strength is mainly used to lift one''s own body, and the more perfectly you can control your body, the more light and swift the movements will appear¡ª

    Some people think parkour is simr to the obstacle course training that soldiers do, but actually, there''s a big difference.

    "For example," Shark pointed to a wall less than a hand''s width, "when we jump onto that wall, wend on the front of our feet, absorbing the excess force. It''s quite simr to cats. Have you noticed? When catsnd, even though there''s a soft mat, they actuallynd on the front part of their paws first, then put down the rest. Why don''t you try getting up on that wall?"

    As soon as she finished speaking, Chu Tingwu had already leaped up onto it from where she stood.

    Shark: I meant for you to jump and grab it with your hands first, then wall-climb and use your feet to step... Never mind.

    Jumping that high is really impressive.

    Is it because kids are lighter so they can all jump that high? But Chu Tingwu isn''t short or thin...

    With a confused mind, shepleted a series of "instructions", but Shark strangely felt that her guidance wasn''t as effective as the cat beside them... Who was the real coach here? Finally, she gave up: "Let''s go try the speed course next door."

    -

    Next door, everyone was "experiencing" the speed course.

    After all, this was a newly designed indoor parkour venue, and the fee they charged included having professionals experience it and provide feedback. When Chu Tingwu and Shark arrived, they saw someone in mid-air, grabbing a horizontal bar with one hand, spinning around once, swinging to the opposite tform, crouching down, and making a victory sign.

    Eagleughed and scolded: "Get down here quickly!"

    When these people first came to the film set, they were a bit reserved, but now that they were in their familiar domain, they immediately became lively.

    The wall disyed an intelligent map, an overhead view of the speed course. The entire course appeared as a winding snake shape on the map, with three inflection points from the entrance to the exit. Chu Tingwu switched the screen and found that many facilities could be moved, and there were three types of maps. The current map was named "Soaring Dragon".

    ...Where''s the dragon?

    Eagle walked over: "The fastest time now is forty-two seconds, Little Orange''s data. I feel like even with improvements, we can only shave off about ten seconds. The movements are already quite streamlined, it''s just a matter of proficiency now."

    This ce was quite suitable for practice.

    As they spoke, Three-Five-Five tilted her head back, watching the humans "fly" by in mid-air one by one, her gaze fixed on them, as if filled with an urge to try it herself.

    Chu Tingwu: "Meow..."

    Mom, we can''t scratch.

    Oh, Three-Five-Five stretched out her front legs andy down.

    However, when Chu Tingwu approached the exit, she shook her ears and stood up again, tilting her head to look at the young human.

    The crowd started to cheer.

    "Master Chu, why don''t you give it a try?" "How about our young actress tries?" "Ah Chu, I''ve seen your videos, can I get an autograph¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu adjusted her arm guards and looked at the soles of her feet.

    Some people prefer to wear shoes, while others choose not to. Because she had been practicing on soft mats earlier, she wasn''t wearing shoes¡ªnow her feet touched the ground through her socks, giving her a strange sense of freedom.

    Eagle pointed to the timing screen nearby:

    When the speed run begins, the venue''s sensors will automatically recognize and start timing.

    Chu Tingwu looked at the wall ahead, and the moment her right foot stepped out, she leaped up. As she grabbed the top of the wall, her body was lifted by her arms. One foot stepped on the wall, and then she did a front flip,nding on the tform in front.

    Someone let out a "whoa", silently marveling: She jumps so high.

    When watching her parkour videos, due to editing, one could only sense the agility and lightness of the protagonist. But when observing in person, they realized that Chu Tingwu''s body had a unique flexibility¡ªshe jumped high enough to climb the wall from the start, and using her core strength, she pulled herself up in one smooth motion.

    Many people who have practiced for two years might not be as smooth as her. In typical parkour wall-climb videos, you''d see someone jump up, kick off the wall with both legs while using arm strength, and then climb up. That''s themon set of movements.

    But while they were marveling, Chu Tingwu had already reached the first facility turning point.

    Here, there were four levels of horizontal bars arranged in a triangle, with a sloped footing area below, different from the previous tform. Some would choose to pass through the bars,nding directly on the footing point, which consisted of a series of low walls, each spaced differently.

    Shark remembered when she participated inpetitions before, thepetition venue also had such designs. If you missed a step on any of the walls and fell, getting back up would waste time.

    Chu Tingwu leaped from the tform, not choosing to pass through the gaps in the horizontal bars, but jumping to the top of the bars¡ªthis height was a bit dangerous¡ªbut no one said anything, instead holding their breath to watch her continue: She didn''t even crouch to maintain bnce, this girl seemed to be walking on t ground, running across the bars with a cat-like gait, leaping onto the wall, passing through the low wall obstacles without pause, and then reaching the irregrly stacked block steps.

    Eagle nced at the timer: four point three seven seconds.

    In that nce, when he looked back, he saw Chu Tingwu crouching at the top of the stacked block steps, supporting herself with one hand, leaping down two levels at once, stepping on the round ball on the ground, and easily reaching the second turning point.

    At the second turning point, there were many inclined supports, and the top wasn''t even a t tform, but a sloped surface. Previously, when someone fell, they made excuses about their shoes not gripping well. After watching Chu Tingwuplete the run, Eagle said quietly: "Why don''t you all go ask what brand of socks she''s wearing?"

    Maybe we should run parkour with socks over our shoes in the future.

    The students: Whine!

    Chu Tingwu couldn''t hear what they were discussing. She could only smell the rubber, stone, and sweat in the venue. She was leaping between two high facilities. People might have fallen here before; although there were no visible marks, there were sweat stains at the bottom and edges¡ªshe could smell them.

    As Chu Tingwu leaped across, the light fell on her bangs. Shended on the balls of her feet, feeling her hair extensions flutter and fall. The tform under her feet made a muffled sound, transmitting a slight vibration and tingling sensation to her legs. Thest segment was descending. Chu Tingwu silently jumped down, crouched for a second on thest step, turned to look at the course, and then left.

    [Beep¡ª]

    Eagle looked at the time: 20 seconds 11.

    He fell into deep thought.

    Shark elbowed him: Want to go up and try one yourself?

    Eagle: If you want me to embarrass myself, just say so!

    Shark shook her head and approached Chu Tingwu: "Can I hug you for a moment?"

    Chu Tingwu: "...Okay?"

    Shark reached under her armpits, lifted her up and bounced her a bit, pondering. Then she looked down at her feet, gesturing for her to lift her lower legs and put them down again. After looking, she said: "Wait a moment, I''m going to discuss the action design with Xiong Xiong."

    They were all parkour practitioners, and she could design movements herself, but today, after watching Chu Tingwu run with her own eyes, she suddenly felt that Xiong Xiong''s original set of movements could be modified again¡ª

    The original movements focused more on the "cool" aspect of parkour, but Shark felt that Chu Tingwu''s personal qualities seemed more suited to "lightness," not in terms of body weight, but in the sense of "making the difficult look easy" in her movements.

    She smiled and whispered to Chu Tingwu, "Actually, when you were running just now, I liked it best when you crouched on the top tform and the horizontal bar."

    And that final second when she stood still on the steps.

    She thought: If I hadn''t learned parkour myself, after watching Chu Tingwu''s series of movements, wouldn''t I suddenly feel the urge to learn parkour too?

    Chu Tingwu: "I quite like it too?"

    Shark: "Hahaha."

    Chu Tingwu was serious: The venue was high, and when she crouched at the highest point, she really felt the urge to stay there and watch the bustle for a while... and even though she was looking down from a high ce, she wasn''t worried about her safety at all, as if she knew she wouldn''t get hurt even if she fell.

    If there weren''t other people waiting to use the facilities, Chu Tingwu really wanted to go up again.

    But as soon as Shark walked away, others gathered around. Some people actually asked for her autograph, and others wanted to take photos with her¡ªalthough it wasn''t a TV drama or movie shoot, it was still an official production, and taking a photo with the lead actress was proof they had been there.

    Some people kept mumbling, staring at the rey on the big screen: "How did she get through that? How was she so fast... Can people really fly?"

    The timer suddenly beeped again, but it wasn''t because someone had entered the course. Instead, a calico cat was crouching at the entrance.

    The calico tilted its head to look at the wall ahead, then pushed off the ground, jumped, grabbed the wall once, kicked hard with its hind legs, and finally made it to the top of the wall.

    Everyone: "?"

    Three-Five-Five: "..."

    She silently jumped down from the wall, returned to Chu Tingwu''s side, looked up at herrge kitten, and let out a very dissatisfied "meow."

    The facilities that were just right for humans were still too high for a cat.

    However, when Chu Tingwu brought Three-Five-Five to the green screen shooting location, the cat perked up a bit. The director''s team had prepared a tform for Chu Tingwu and a slightly lower tform for Three-Five-Five. After filming Chu Tingwu''s basic movements, all the cameras of the photography team were aimed at Three-Five-Five, urging her: "Backflip! Do it again, one more time!"

    This was a cat that could do backflips, surely surpassing 99% of cats globally.

    System: "?"

    "Although Three-Five-Five is also very good, this data is not urate," it muttered, "Why does being able to do a backflip mean surpassing 99%? My kitten is so amazing, she must be number one in the world..."

    "Shut up."

    "Wuu QVQ"

    After Three-Five-Five finished performing, she started grooming herself frantically. Her fur had been ruffled. Someone wanted to go help, but was worried about being scratched by the cat. In the end, Chu Tingwu went over with a brush. Three-Five-Fivey down on her knee, licked herself for a while, and then asked:

    "Meow?"

    How much fish did we earn today?

    Although Mom didn''t know what filming was, she still remembered the earlier days of catching fish, making videos to earn money, and sharing the profits. So she connected cameras with money-making: being filmed = earning money.

    And she could earn money to feed her little kitten.

    Chu Tingwu reached out her hand under the cat''s belly, lifting her upper body, and meowed softly in her ear: We earned a lot, a whole lot...

    So the calico crossed her paws and let out a dignified meow.

    The system was also huffing and puffing on the side, ruining the atmosphere: "I''ve also earned a lot. In another half month, the APP should stop losing money."

    The 365 Cat Census APP had been making small losses since itsst update: they were helping drive traffic to self-service restaurants for stray cats, currently without charging fees. The system was using its "startup funds" and earned money to subsidize users exchanging paw coins for cat food. Of course, due to the small number of users, it could still maintain normal operations¡ªthe system prioritized using its own money, and as for the "startup funds" Chu Tingwu had shared with it, it checked them daily and then reinvested them.

    Although it wasn''t much inparison, the investment didn''t earn much either.

    But the system was very proud¡ªthis was money the child had earned herself and shared with it. Did other systems have that? Other systems definitely didn''t!

    As for the reason, of course, it was because the APP had brought in long-term investments, and there seemed to be opportunities to make money:

    "That human who wanted to kiss the kittens to death has been brought in for cooperation. The human government of this city seems to have decided to manage the kittens, and our APP appeared at just the right time... Is it because they want to promote the city and attract more tourists?"

    Director Xin, Chief Zhuang, and Teacher Wang had also helped. When You Zhenzhen returns, she will probably excitedly tell Chu Tingwu that Zongding Group will invest. However, the system''s focus wasn''t on this. It was pondering:

    They can invest so much money for tourism? Then can we get them to build another amusement park where humans and cats can y freely? Humans are cats too!

 Chapter 26

    [Dear user, wee to Fallen Phoenix City. Weather notice: Today''s temperature is 22¡æ-27¡æ, cloudy, with heavy rain expected from 12 PM to 1 PM. When visiting forest areas, please seek shelter and remember to bring an umbre. Stay safe.

    Fallen Phoenix City is working towards bing a National Civilized City, undertaking urban reconstruction, managing stray cats and dogs, developing new tourist attractions, and hosting a national parkourpetition in early October. We hope for your support.

    For an in-depth tour experience, you can click the link to download the city app [Fallen Phoenix Song]. If you''re interested in the city''s stray cat management, you can also download our app [365 Cat Census]. Have a pleasant journey.]

    A first-time visitor to Fallen Phoenix City let out a curious "hmm" and clicked the link at the bottom. Meanwhile, with daily updates, this message was slightly modified and pushed to most city residents.

    As backend downloads surged, You Zhenzhen cut a watermelon in half and gave a portion to Chu Tingwu: "ording to the contract, we need to prioritize Fallen Phoenix City promotions on our homepage until the Octoberpetition ends."

    Nowadays, most apps can automatically detect users'' locations through GPS when they log in. However, due to the contract with the Tourism Bureau, the Cat Census app sets Fallen Phoenix City as the default location for all users. This small detail must be maintained for three months, along with the city''s advertisements upying the prime homepage spots and the ssh screen featuring the "Walking and Singing in Fallen Phoenix City, Apanied by Beauty" campaign.

    So calling it a city app wasn''t far from the truth, especially since most users were local residents anyway.

    But no matter how you looked at it, they were definitely profiting!

    As expected, the app''s user base was growing rapidly. After its official release, most local fans chose to download it, and the app had undergone updates before theunch.

    Perhaps the app''s initial purpose was to track the city''s stray cat poption, but to maintain long-term user engagement and encourage users to help record stray cats'' status, they needed to create an environment formunity interaction.

    The reward section was split into two parts: one remained for bounties, while the other became the "Cat Community," designed for pet owners to share photos of their cats, document daily life, and interact with others.

    In simple terms, it provided users with a dedicated space to show off their cats.

    The "Cat Census" finally expanded beyond just strays to include house cats.

    To get cat owners truly invested in their minimunities, they needed active users liking, chatting,paring (and even arguing), so the official partnership gave the app a boost, providing an opportunity to increase users ¨C a win-win situation for both parties.

    There were also advertising cements, shopping interfaces for cat food and cat trees, coborations with other pet organizations, virtual currency top-ups... Chu Tingwu no longer managed these details, leaving them to You Zhenzhen and the system to handle. Of course, You Zhenzhen only knew the system as Chu Tingwu''s mysterious friend who never showed face.

    The system maintained a professional, business-like attitude whenmunicating with others. Learning from Chu Tingwu that the system treated everyone this way, You Zhenzhen felt more at ease ¨C she quite enjoyed this work environment where she could focus on her tasks without overthinking about the other party''s attitude.

    "Oh right, oh right!" You Zhenzhen picked up a spoon, "Isn''t that promotional video you shot airing at noon today? Want to watch it together?"

    Chu Tingwu thought: You specifically brought watermelon over at this time just to watch it together, didn''t you?

    The two squeezed onto the sofa, with Three-Five-Five jumping up to join them. Then, a drone took flight, the spherical machine making a turn in mid-air before silently hovering at an angle behind them, filming the tablet screen in front of them.

    You Zhenzhen,pletely unaware, immediately hit y and switched to full screen as soon as it loaded.

    -

    In downtown Fallen Phoenix City, six people were taking shelter from the rain.

    They were tourists from a small tour group. While Fallen Phoenix City was on the tourist route, it didn''t have any must-see attractions. Their itinerary typically included browsing the antique street for small souvenirs (and getting slightly overcharged), breathing fresh air at Zhangshan Mountain, and spending a night at a resort.

    These tourists had split from their main group to go shopping in the city center, only to be driven into a second-floor fast food restaurant by the heavy rain. The floor-to-ceiling windows faced arge screen across the central shopping za.

    "I think I saw something about rain in the text message... but forgot to buy an umbre."

    "You actually read those? I only check messages for delivery notifications¡ª"

    As they organized their shopping bags, some were browsing their phones while others unconsciously nced outside, watching the city through the rain. Cats chased each other, human figures blurred in the downpour, and looking down, umbres resembled fallen petals on the ground.

    The light suddenly dimmed for a moment.

    Those looking down instinctively raised their heads, thinking a cloud had passed by. The flow of people below also paused for a second, but the tourists realized what was different:

    "Ah, it''s the screen across the street!"

    A new image appeared on the advertising screen opposite them, but it didn''t seem like an advertisement ¨C rather, it was some kind of short film.

    The opening was ck ¨C not pure ck, but as dark as night, with a pair of animal eyes emitting a faint glow in the darkness:

    "Is that a cat? Right?" A tourist pointed, "Look, isn''t this some cat-rted advertisement?"

    Light shone from behind, finally revealing the cat''s full figure. In this backlight, its form remained dark, with only the roots of its fur illuminated, casting long shadows toward the viewer. Its eyes gleamed golden, both majestic and dangerous.

    As the cat moved, the tourists realized this "promotional video" had background musicposed of drumbeats and other percussion. Besides the cat, there was also a pair of walking feet in the frame.

    Human and cat moved forward in sync, turning sideways to face the camera. In the backlight, only their silhouettes were visible, with the camera mainly focusing on the cat below. Then suddenly, the scene changed as the drumbeat intensified.

    As the camera rose, both the person and cat leaped simultaneously.

    Someone gasped, instinctively wondering if this might be a movie trailer.

    Looking through countless raindrops at the giant screen, the image carried a dreamy quality. Someone nudged theirpanion: "It''s parkour, isn''t that parkour?"

    Indeed, the human and cat on the big screen appeared to be doing parkour. They first ran across dark rooftops with a massive rising sun behind them. Perhaps due to showing only silhouettes, the protagonist''s parkour movements appeared even more fluid. Then, after a light sh of metal buckles at the waist, the background suddenly changed from urban to forest.

    The camera focused on the protagonist''s upstretched hand, which grabbed a tree branch the next second, performing a wall spin move on the trunk. The camera rotated with their first-person view, as countless trees and the sky above spun into brilliant summer daylight. As the overflowing light illuminated the entire scene, the protagonist''s full figure finally appeared.

    The drums followed a jumping rhythm as the protagonist stood at the forest exit, with the cat leaping onto their shoulder. The ribbon around the cat''s neck fluttered, and light shone on its ears, revealing semi-transparent blood vessels.

    The location name appeared in the upper right corner¡ª

    Fallen Phoenix City - Zhangshan Mountain Scenic Area.

    Then the camera took flight as the protagonist stepped onto a wooden post, stood steady on swaying chains, and in the next moment,nded on a Taoist temple roof. A different cat apanied them now ¨C a ck and white one walking gracefully below while the protagonist ran across the temple roof. A Taoist priest swept fallen leaves as wisps of smoke momentarily obscured their figure.

    So she leaped forward, performing a front flip,nding again in a superhero-style kneel, with bustling crowds to her left and a rushing river to her right¡ª

    Fallen Phoenix City - Guishui Riverbank.

    Immediately after, the scene suddenly shifted to autumn, with white and green riverbanks now covered in thickyers of maple leaves, red maple leaves dancing in the air. The drumbeats suddenly ceased, and in the silence between the music, a cat''s meow could be heard. The protagonist extended her arm, and the cat leaped towards her,pleting the catch in mid-air. They both turned to the right, bursting into the main urban area of Spring in Fallen Phoenix City.

    The tourists suddenly realized where the scene was set¡ªit was the iconic flower bed and the pedestrian street with many modernist strange sculptures, just two kilometers away from Fallen Phoenix City. But in the scene, the flowers and sculptures merged together, linked by the protagonist of the parkour, with light shing on the buckle at her waist, bringing a burst of vitality and the essence of spring.

    The tourists had never thought that parkour could be such a... free sport? Yes, free! The entire world seemed to be cheering for this freedom. The protagonist in the camera lens effortlessly turned the sculpture group into her "strolling" grounds, but her movements were far from slow. She leaped onto a sculpture''s shoulder in a cat-like posture. In the frame, someone below raised their phone to take a photo, and with the sh of the camera, spring turned into winter.

    Except for the summer scenes, the other seasonal scenes in the short film were likelypleted through special effects and editing. But because the protagonist and the cat were both very realistic, it didn''t feel out of ce at first nce. The camera lens lowered again, the drumbeats became deep, and itnded at the protagonist''s feet¡ª

    As if following the cat''s perspective, looking up at the city, houses lit up one by one, and stray cats curled up in warm cat houses by the roadside. The snowstorm obscured the ground, and the protagonist suddenly lifted her leg, wiping the umted snow with her shoe sole. At this moment, a close-up shot revealed the words "Parkour District."

    The snowstorm was suddenly wiped away when the bell sound appeared in the drumbeats. The scene seemed to re-enter the midsummer, with the gray urban area dotted with countless vibrant colors, as if the entire "district" had been painted in color. But upon closer inspection, it was actually the old urban area mixed with brightly colored new buildings andrge, colorful ground signs.

    A bell hung around the cat''s neck, jingling as it swayed. The camera used several stitched frames to express that the young protagonist hadpleted the parkour. She stood at the highest point of the building with the cat by her side. The scene slowly faded into pure white, revealing the words "Walking and Singing in Fallen Phoenix City, Apanied by Beauty, Wee to Fallen Phoenix City, We Wish You a Pleasant Journey."

    The tourists had already vaguely realized what kind of short film it was halfway through, and upon seeing thest sentence, they thought of the text message they received this morning, feeling a different kind of emotion:

    "It really is a city tourism promotional video..."

    This promotional video, using parkour to connect various city attractions, was a pretty cool choice of theme.

    The tourists instinctively took out their phones to search. Indeed, just typing "Fallen Phoenix" brought up rted suggestions, such as "Fallen Phoenix City National Parkour Competition," "Fallen Phoenix City Promotional Video," "Fallen Phoenix City Chu Tingwu," "Fallen Phoenix City 365 Cat Census," "Fallen Phoenix City Stray Cats"... The first two even trended on social media.

    "That parkour district seems interesting, like it was renovated from an old urban area, and the facilities won''t be removed after thepetition..." The tourist showed their phone screen to theirpanions, "Look at this sportsplex, it seems to have indoor and outdoor venues, the indoor one is on the sixth floor here, and the outdoor one is on the first floor. Shall we go check it out?"

    "It seems quite interesting, and it looks like beginners can also experience it. I just happen to go to the first floor to buy a cup of milk tea¡ª"

    The tourists discussed and left, not noticing that thergest advertising screen across the street had finished ying the city promotional video "Fallen Phoenix Song" and started ying other advertisements. But the huge vertical advertisement screen on the side... had already begun ying a different edit.

    "Fallen Phoenix Song"sted 42 seconds, which was already quite short, butter Director Xin had the team work overtime to cut a 15-second vertical short promotional video¡ª

    In this 15-second short film, the stunts were even more dazzling, the rhythm switching was very fast, the protagonist was still Chu Tingwu and Three-Five-Five, slightly de-emphasizing the scenic promotion and focusing more on the spread of the film.

    It was named "Cat¡¤Run," and the background music was purchased and renamed "Fallen Phoenix City."

    Director Xin was very foresighted. In this era of short video bombardment, this 15-second stunt short film gained six million views within a day of its release, and the music also became popr, spreading like a virus, almost everywhere you could hear it. Many people used this BGM to cut other videos¡ªas long as they did, they could see the name of the BGM was "Fallen Phoenix City."

    Riding on this hot wave, Fallen Phoenix City officially began promoting the parkourpetition in October.

    -

    After watching the video, You Zhenzhen decided to repost both versions of the video on all her tform ounts, and the system also used its official ount on the New Plum app to repost and like her video¡ªthe official ount waspletely used as a fan ount for single promotion.

    Only Chu Tingwu''s own ount remained indifferent, silently posting videos and live streams every day, ignoring the inquiries and harassment from the audience... She only opened the super topic square of the New Plum app once, then quietly closed it.

    Seeing others praise herself always felt a bit embarrassing!

    This wave of promotion was too popr, she even saw fan art derived from it... in the derivative drawing, her back faced the empty subway, with Three-Five-Five perched on her shoulder, and the light of the subway outlined her silhouette.

    Very cool.

    ...But Fallen Phoenix City doesn''t even have a subway yet.

    The city government says they''re working on it, uh-huh.

    The sudden poprity also brought some trouble to Chu Tingwu.

    Even her middle school ssmates who hadn''t contacted her since graduation called to ask if she was the one in the promotional video. Not only that, but some parents of her ssmates also came to ask if she had entered the entertainment industry and if she could help get their kids in too.

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­¡­"

    She still didn''t wear her mask tightly enough.

    She locked the door, packed herself and the cat overnight, and headed to the Little Sun Rescue House, where she received a grand wee.

    "Chu Chu! Recently, we''ve been so busy with spaying and neutering surgeries that we haven''t had time to take on new cases... these cases are entrusted to you and Three-Five-Five!"

    "Dealing with the problem of stray cats and dogs in the city" is not an empty slogan. At least Director Yang has attended several meetings and received funding from the higher-ups, and the pressure has been distributed, so everyone can finally catch a breath, but they''re still busy.

    Hang Ling murmured, "Luckily, I didn''t sign up for that photography ss, otherwise I wouldn''t have time to attend."

    "Oh, right," Lizi brought out a box, and Hang Ling remembered something, "There are things sent to the hospital in the box... most of them are thank-you letters for you."

    Chu Tingwu''s address wasn''t public, but many people knew the hospital''s address¡ª

    There were banners of gratitude sent quietly by the victims of the Qiao Hu incident, handwritten thank-you letters, and small gifts sent by people who found their cats through the app.

    Everyone went to work, and Chu Tingwu opened the box to read the letters one by one. Then she opened her phone, swiped through her contact list, and was a bit surprised:

    "When did I add so many people to my list?"

    Once, her list only had teachers and a few ssmates (mainly to notify her of homework), but now, there were people nearby who needed help, elderly neighbors who raised cats, vegetable vendors she met while shopping, people from the rescue house, members of other cat assistance organizations, the crew, the picC parkour club,wyers, teachers Wang and Zhang, Aunt Mei, You Zhenzhen... even a Taoist priest and a forestry bureau staff member named Zheng.

    Seeing each name and note, Chu Tingwu''s mind would conjure up the image of the person, and then she realized: "In this past month, I''ve actually done so many things?"

    The system tensed up: "Yes, yes, that''s right..."

    ¡¾Baby, you''re too busy. I think you need to schedule some rest time for yourself!¡¿

    Chu Tingwu: "..." She''s clearly "ying" every day, right?

    Whether it''s catching cats, volunteering, filming, assisting as a director, developing an app, live streaming, or learning Russian... Chu Tingwu didn''t feel particrly tired because, for her, these activities were like games that filled her daily routine. While others might spend most of their time in front of a phone screen, Chu Tingwu was always out and about.

    But she still decided to ask the system how to rest.

    ¡¾Let Three-Five-Five teach you!¡¿

    Three-Five-Five''s mother: "?"

    At that moment, they were on their way back empty-handed. In the resident''smunity, the stray cat trapped in the venttion shaft had been adopted on the spot, even taking away the airline crate Chu Tingwu had brought.

    When asked how to "rest," Three-Five-Five was clearly puzzled. She raised her paw and patted Chu Tingwu''s forehead, then gestured for her to follow.

    Three-Five-Five led Chu Tingwu to the sewer grate and solemnly "meowed":

    Should Baby catch a mouse to y with for half a day?

    Chu Tingwu: "I''ll go buy an electric mouse..."

    Three-Five-Five: "?"

    She shook her head, then led Chu Tingwu through the alley, pondered for a while, jumped onto someone''s outer wall, stepped on the red bricks to the top of the awning, stretched out a long yawn, and theny down: "Meow?"

    Want toe up?

    Come and bask in the sun?

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    She felt her weight might be too much for the awning, and climbing up might not be too friendly to the awning''s owner.

    In the end, the human and the cat returned to the rescue house. After greeting the cats inside, they carried a chair to the rooftop. Chu Tingwuy sideways on the chair, hanging her legs over the armrest, while Three-Five-Five jumped to the top of the chair back, lying down in a position that was too difficult for a human but just right for a cat.

    It had just rained, and the rain had taken away the heat.

    Shh, shh...

    The wind was rustling the tarp in the corner of the rooftop, and the g nted on the water pipe was "pping" loudly. Below, there were two honks of a car horn and lower conversations.

    The sun, avoiding the clouds, was slowly drying the earth. Chu Tingwu could feel the slight vibrations from the chair as Three-Five-Five changed her lying position.

    A bird with a white beaknded on the edge of the rooftop, tilting its head to preen its feathers. Both Three-Five-Five and Chu Tingwu opened their eyes to nce at it, then closed them, ignoring it.

    The bird flew away.

    The sun also began to set.

    Chu Tingwu could feel her mind emptying. She seemed to sense everything but didn''t think about anything.

    Then, as a chill began to creep over her, when Three-Five-Five curled up into herp, Chu Tingwu heard footsteps, a hint of cat smell, and the scent of grape juice¡ª

    Hang Ling pressed a cup of iced grape pudding against her forehead: "Wake up, you''ll catch a cold sleeping out here."

    Three-Five-Five licked Chu Tingwu, who instinctively opened her mouth to lick back... then quickly closed it, rubbing her eyes and sitting up.

    The sun had set, and another day wasing to an end.

    The grape pudding was ced in her hand.

    -

    In the following days, Chu Tingwu would live-stream catching cats, helping to drive traffic to the Little Sun Rescue House''s ount, but the backlog of requests was notrge. The number of stray cats in the city on the New Plum app increased very slowly, so Chu Tingwu began to fill in the gaps under the system''s guidance.

    She would take a half-hour bus ride to the other side of the city to wait for a cat, then run back with Three-Five-Five, and asionally visit the old city area under renovation, where she would sometimes meet members of picC.

    Shark: "We''ll definitely participate in thepetition, and it''s also a good opportunity to check out the parkour environment in Fallen Phoenix City."

    If all goes well, picC might send some people over to open a branch here.

    The Octoberpetition is divided into "speed," "trick," "performance," and "freestyle," and registration has already begun. picC doesn''t think they can sweep all categories, but getting familiar with the venue in advance will certainly give them a big advantage... Shark pointed and said, "Look at those few over there eating. They''re also into parkour, and we just had a chat."

    Chu Tingwu had changed her hairstyle and didn''t look like she did in the videos. The strangers seemed more interested in the cat by her side.

    As Chu Tingwu passed by, she heard someone say, "That cat''s wearing a cor, not a scarf, right?"

    She suddenly felt likeughing.

    So, with her back to them, she raised her hand to call Three-Five-Five, and then the two of them ran together, leaping up in a cat-like jump, grabbing the wall, swinging on the horizontal bar, and disappearing down the slope behind.

    From far away, Chu Tingwu heard Shark''s "haha"ughter, clearly amused by her little prank.

    The few people stood up and quickly climbed the railing, but could only see her retreating back.

    -

    In mid-August, the sun became extremely hot, and the Charming Team finally arrived in Fallen Phoenix City with their luggage, driving themselves.

    They had called Chu Tingwu in advance, and this time there were a few more people, along with a cat.

    It was a serious-looking striped orange cat named Long Zai, a three-and-a-half-year-old neutered male.

    At this time, Three-Five-Five had also just recovered from her spaying surgery¡ªshe hadn''t had it done during herctation period, and onlypleted the surgery after recovery.

    During the recovery period, Three-Five-Five had been in a bit of a bad mood, often arguing with the crow at Teacher Zhang''s house, which also made Chu Tingwu realize that Three-Five-Five preferred physical action over verbal sparring.

    Later, whenever Three-Five-Five let out a threatening growl, the crow would cower on the roof, turning its head around pretending to admire the scenery.

    "Your Long Zai," Hang Ling crouched down, looking at the orange cat with a leash, "is quite strong..."

    Goodness, she felt like this cat had muscles. Itpletely subverted her perception of orange cats!

    Long Zai gently "meowed," raising his paw to push Hang Ling''s head away, indicating she shouldn''t y the childish forehead-touching game; he didn''t like it.

    Bubu, the photographer who had been here before, exined helplessly, "Long Zai probably thinks he''s a police cat, and you getting close to him is like assaulting an officer and interfering with his work."

    After exining, she, like the others from Little Sun, habitually looked at Chu Tingwu, waiting for her judgment.

    Chu Tingwu: "I''m meeting Long Zai for the first time."

    She needed tomunicate first.

    But before Chu Tingwu could speak, Three-Five-Five suddenly moved.

    She sniffed, narrowed her eyes, and approached the short-haired striped orange cat. Long Zai also changed his posture, crouching down on all fours, his back slightly arched, intently watching the tortoiseshell cat¡ª

    For cats, mutual staring at a stranger can sometimes be a prelude to an attack.

    Three-Five-Five suddenly pounced, and the people around let out a cry of surprise, seeing only a smoky gray shadow, while Long Zai leaped into the air, jumped over, stepped on the wall for leverage,nded on the table, and then the two cats began to race around the room.

    Until Bubu went over and pulled on the leash, and Chu Tingwu jumped in between, blocking Three-Five-Five behind her, but the cats were still growling at each other¡ª

    Long Zai "howled": "You''re up to no good, meow!"

    Three-Five-Five also "huffed and puffed": "You''re putting on airs, meow!"

    The first nce at each other, and both cats felt the other wasn''t a good cat.

    Disdain.

 Chapter 27

    Long Zai was a trained... neutered cat.

    Although, in terms of feline age, he was actually half a year older than Three-Five-Five.

    After several people stopped the two cats from fighting, Chu Tingwu asked Three-Five-Five why she had attacked. Three-Five-Five licked her nose, her eyes still fixed on Long Zai, and slowly meowed twice.

    Long Zai: "..."

    He really hadn''t looked down on... well, maybe a little... It''s just that when he saw Three-Five-Five, he felt that her stray cat wildness was too strong and seemed malicious, so he identally conveyed these emotions through his scent and gaze!

    Even gentle house cats might cause a scene when they discover strange cat scents on their owner or when the owner brings home a second cat - that''s just how territorial cats are.

    Hang Ling couldn''t help butugh: "Three-Five-Five used to be a stray cat, and she''s naturally not very friendly with anyone except Chu Chu. Although she doesn''t seem very aggressive now, in cat terms, she''s probably still considered a formidable stray/queen?"

    As for Long Zai, he probably thought of himself as a little police cat, and when facing Three-Five-Five, who gave off the vibe of belonging to the dark forces of stray cats, he identally revealed his emotions through micro-expressions and eye contact.

    Three-Five-Five: "Meow!"

    Everyone immediately rushed to separate the two cats again, and finally had to keep them apart with a mesh iron door while talking.

    Bubu felt somewhat guilty: "I hadn''t considered that Long Zai and Three-Five-Five would be so ipatible... Should we just forget about the cat training?"

    Before the Cha Mi Team leftst time, Bubu had approached Chu Tingwu to discuss "Long Zai''s" situation - a trained cat who didn''t fit in with other cats and behaved more like a police dog than a cat¡ª

    He craved work and attention, and wanted to help humans. Some cats have the intelligence of seven or eight-year-old children and need emotional validation. The Cha Mi Team worried that if Long Zai''s wishes weren''t fulfilled, he might gradually be depressed, which is why they thought of asking Chu Tingwu to train cats. Throughmunication, teach him how to be a rescue cat.

    Chu Tingwu thought for a moment: "Let me try again?"

    She believed she couldmunicate well with Three-Five-Five; it just depended on Long Zai''s attitude now.

    Afterforting Three-Five-Five a bit, she licked the kitten, jumped onto the cab top, andy there aloofly, deciding to temporarily ignore that smelly cat. When the mesh door opened, Long Zai nced at Three-Five-Five, then walked out solemnly, sniffed Chu Tingwu''s scent: "Meow?"

    A kitten?

    Why did a kittene out tomunicate?

    Chu Tingwu grabbed one of his front paws, shook it, then touched her head to his and said a few words, finally pointing to the small clothes Bubu had brought.

    "Training, work, wear uniform, understand?"

    Long Zai moved his hind legs, squatted down, meowed gracefully, and even shook the paw that Chu Tingwu was holding, as if actively shaking hands.

    "Then you need to apologize to Three-Five-Five first."

    Long Zai: "...Meow."

    The streamlined tabby ginger cat looked up at the tortoiseshell cat on the cab, stretchedzily, then wagged his tail.

    Three-Five-Five narrowed her eyes at him for a while, then jumped down, pinned him down, and started grooming the fur on top of his head.

    Long Zai: "Meow¡ª"

    After pressing down Long Zai and grooming his fur, the two cats finally gave up their hostility.

    Three-Five-Five came over to sniff Chu Tingwu, then sniffed the package Bubu had brought. Chu Tingwu opened the package to show them¡ª

    Inside was a custom fluorescent cat uniform with "Cha Mi Rescue Team" written inrge characters on the side.

    ording to the agreement, once Long Zai passed the "training course," he could wear the uniform and be taken out as an auxiliary rescue cat when Cha Mi went out on cat rescue missions.

    Bubu came over and patted Long Zai''s head: "Our Long Zai is very smart. But I''ve heard that dogs that are too smart aren''t suitable to be police dogs because they have their own opinions, and cats should be simr... I hope that taking him out will make him happy, but most importantly, he shouldn''t put himself in danger to rescue other animals, nor should he run out without notifying us."

    If during a high-altitude rescue of a trapped cat, Long Zai hadmunication problems and rushed over by himself and got hurt, they would probably cry their hearts out.

    ¡ªAlthough every cat is important, deep down in their unspoken hearts, the cat they''ve raised and bonded with would naturally be more important.

    Chu Tingwu: "Let me first ask what kind of training Long Zai has received before?"

    This was her first time being a trainer, to be honest, she was a bit nervous.

    They decided to move outside to the fitness equipment area in themunity, where there were simple apparatus like horizontal bars, small swings, and ping-pong tables. The paint on the metal equipment had peeled off considerably and was very hot from the sun.

    Bubu raised her hand: "Let me set up the tripod first."

    After all, she worked in social media, how could she not record this?

    Meanwhile, Chu Tingwu also released her drone ball... watching her action as she released it and it took flight, it was as if she was releasing a flying creature.

    Bubu: "...Amazing."

    She had previously learned that this drone ball was controlled by Chu Tingwu''s friend, who was not only good at editing but reportedly designed and assembled the drone himself, and it was controlled so sensitively... Could this friend be capable of everything?

    Chu Tingwu pped her hands.

    Long Zai, with his tail raised, shook his head, changing from a squatting position to a normal walking posture, only slightly tilting his head towards Chu Tingwu, seemingly waiting formands.

    Chu Tingwu pointed to the drone, and the system controlled it tond on top of the slide¡ª

    "Up."

    Long Zai let out a "meow," rushed up the steps to the slide, then leaped to the top, patted the top of the mechanical ball with one paw, and turned to look at Chu Tingwu.

    Next, they triedmands like "run," "stop," "lie down," "restrain," "jump over." At first, due to unfamiliarity with each other, Long Zai asionally showed confused expressions, but Chu Tingwu, being bilingual in both cat and humannguages, quickly realized after tranting back and forth:

    "Long Zai understands most Chinesemands, and seems to understand some English phrases too."

    Could it be the personal habit of his initial trainer?

    The cat''s ears fluttered in the wind, asionally lowering his left ear, then raising it while lowering his right ear, but because Chu Tingwu hadn''t told him to move, he just stayed crouched in ce¡ªmore obedient than most dogs.

    Chu Tingwu stepped forward, patted his head, then turned around: "Sister Bubu?"

    Bubu: "Hmm?"

    Chu Tingwu: "I think we can reference search and rescue dogs for the training program."

    Long Zai''s self-control had already surpassed most cats. His previous owner had turned him into a well-trained cat, and when Long Zaimunicated with Chu Tingwu, he didn''t reveal too much information about his previous owner¡ªhe didn''t even brag about it to other cats!

    Rather than training his abilities, Chu Tingwu felt that this kind of "mindset" training was more impressive, so he could aplish many things beyond their original expectations.

    Let''s try to be a search and rescue cat.

    Long Zai meowed once, as if in agreement.

    -

    That afternoon, they only conducted simplemand response training, familiarizing Long Zai with thosemands, and also letting the Cha Mi Team members like Bubu get acquainted¡ªa well-trained cat also needs cat owners who can understand him.

    Chu Tingwu said she would "think about the course arrangement."

    She did indeed "think" about it. That night, in the dream ssroom, the system used simted scenarios to let her experience how a search and rescue cat should conduct rescue work.

    System: "I can obtain relevant information and video recordings from the inte and simte them for you, but since you haven''t been close to and touched them, the data I simte will only be superficial. As for how to mobilize your own abilities toplete search and rescue work... that''s probably something you''ll need to experience yourself, little one."

    It wasn''t like Three-Five-Five was right by her side, where all the cats'' lifestyles could be taught to Chu Tingwu paw by paw. The system could mimic the corresponding pheromones in dreams, almost indistinguishable from reality¡ª

    In reality, there were few rescue cats, and Chu Tingwu had nevere into contact with them, so she could only learn about them superficially from the system.

    She nodded, and the dream ssroom''s scenes shattered, then a towering high-rise emerged.

    Standing in the corridor, Chu Tingwu smelled a variety ofplex scents¡ªcats, humans, dogs, birds, and various foods and furniture... She sneezed immediately.

    [Your olfactory skills have reached level 2, but you''re ustomed to your usual environment, so you haven''t realized the inconvenience of heightened olfaction.]

    The system exined:

    [Cats struggle with rescue operations partly because they''re not good at adapting to unfamiliar environments¡ª]

    [Now, little one, try to find the three trapped kittens in this building. They''ve left footprints nearby, which is your only clue for now.]

    The footprints glowed faintly blue, indicating that the system wasn''t setting too high a difficulty for the child from the start.

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­It smells awful."

    In fact, her skills were only at level 2. But adult cats, like Three-Five-Five, should have olfactory abilities at level 4. Shepletely understood why cats disliked new environments... She didn''t like it now either!

    She approached, covering her nose, and sniffed the scent of the footprints. Sure enough, the faint footprints carried the smell of a kitten.

    After she smelled it, a line of text appeared above the footprints¡ª

    [In approximately 25 hours and 22 minutes, the scent concentration will halve.]

    This meant that the simted search training wasn''t even at its highest difficulty.

    Then, Chu Tingwu had to let go and walk back and forth in the corridor, trying to distinguish the scents of the kittens.

    "This family seems to have just finished cooking... There are three people living here regrly, an elderly person who likes to hoard garbage... Uh... and a child who''s been ying with a water gun a lottely?"

    As for the father in the household, he was often out early and backte, so his scent was faint, but Chu Tingwu could smell his stinky shoes and the annoying tobo smell.

    Each floor had eight households, all small apartments of about sixty square meters, but there were dozens of people on each floor. Chu Tingwu sniffed each one and finally determined that the kittens had only left one set of footprints because they were directly carried into the corridor.

    ¡­Luckily, this simted environment didn''t have an elevator, so she could search upwards along the corridor.

    But just as she reached the third floor, Chu Tingwu suddenly stopped: "Someone left the gas on?"

    There were no humans in this simted environment, only their scents and traces of life, but Chu Tingwu could smell it... and hear it. The gas in one of the rooms was being used, emitting a pungent smell that was too strong for a cat.

    [Little one, suppose you''re a well-trained rescue cat now. Would you continue to save the kittens or notify humans about the other danger in the corridor?]

    Chu Tingwu stood still for a few seconds, and the system continued: @Infinite good articles, all in Jinjiang Literature City

    [You''re a human-cat hybrid, capable of directly resolving such dangers, or I can handle it¡ªbut cats like Long Zai are different. How should rescue cats make judgments, and do they need autonomy?]

    The smell of gas disappeared.

    Chu Tingwu furrowed her brow slightly: "Could Long Zai know the danger of gas leakage?"

    The system was certain: "A cat''s instinct would alert him, and at this moment, he should try to notify the apanying human."

    Chu Tingwu continued up the stairs, but when she reached the seventh floor, she suddenly shivered.

    She smelled the urine scent of a dog on the seventh floor, and the message this dog conveyed was that it was an adult, had been wandering for a long time, and was fierce and difficult to approach¡ªeven though humans might not necessarily lose to the dog, her intuition kept warning her.

    [In this simted environment, you''ve experienced the feelings of an ordinary cat facing arge dog... This was extracted from the stray cats you''ve encountered, so it''s very clear.]

    [Even a well-trained rescue cat would feel uneasy here, making it difficult to make judgments based on the current information.]

    The dog''s urine scent disappeared, and Chu Tingwu slowly exhaled, feeling her tension ease, like a spooked cat returning to a safe ce¡ªeven the various strange smells here didn''t seem so bad anymore.

    Chu Tingwu: "I don''t actually dislike dogs¡­"

    But because of this simtion, she had developed an instinctive aversion, which she managed to suppress after it disappeared.

    Then she smelled the scent of blood.

    But this time there were no humans, not a menstrual period, Chu Tingwu''s expression grew serious as she approached, reaching the door of room 704. The door was tightly closed, but the handle was on the ground, and through the door''s hole, she could see what was inside¡ª

    A kitten''s corpse that had been tortured.

    Chu Tingwu held her breath.

    The system''s voice was very calm.

    [Rescue cats will also encounter such situations¡ªthe rescue target dying in front of them, but the work isn''t over. You still have to find the other two targets, even if you open the door, you can''t change what has already happened.]

    In the design of the simted scenario, if Chu Tingwu reached through the door''s hole to try and open it, her hand would get stuck.

    The girl stood at the door, suddenly turned and ran¡­ or rather, her steps became lighter and more agile, her pupils slightly constricted, glowing faintly under the light, like a cat moving silently in the dark.

    Chu Tingwu reached the ninth floor, the top of the building, where she quickly found the scents of the other two kittens, so clear.

    The two kittens were both locked in cages at the end of the corridor, where a faint smoke drifted, making her want to sneeze. When she approached, the kittens started crying.

    A door beside them suddenly opened, and the scene before Chu Tingwu shattered. The next second, she was back at the entrance of the ninth floor, and the kittens were still at the end.

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­A reset?"

    The system: "Because you made a wrong judgment, little one, want to try again?"

    This time, with the system''s reminder, Chu Tingwu noticed the problem. Several long wooden boards blocked the entrance to the ninth floor. Chu Tingwu hadn''t realized it when she entered, but now she saw that the boards were ced in a very regr pattern. Unless she had the powerful jumping ability of a cat, it would be difficult to enter the ninth floor silently.

    The door next to the cage was slightly ajar, as if the person who had captured the kittens was silently observing the outside world. The kittens were barely breathing, their bellies rising and falling slightly, facing the entrance¡ªat their age, once they saw someoneing, they probably wouldn''t know how to stay quiet, only crying out, which would alert the perpetrator.

    Chu Tingwu asked the system: "Can I emit pheromones that make them feelforted?"

    The system: "¡­You''re still a little one, and they''re still little ones too!"

    That kind of pheromone is only emitted by a mother catforting her kittens, and even a rescue cat like Long Zai, being a male, couldn''t do it.

    The system coldly said: "No."

    Chu Tingwu pondered on the wooden boards for a moment, then quietly returned to the ground floor. As expected, she saw a small tracking camera hanging on the entrance door, with a cat paw symbol on the back.

    Then, she went back to the seventh floor, let the camera capture the dead kitten, and returned to the ninth floor, silently taking pictures of the two kittens.

    The scene froze, and the system gave Chu Tingwu a small fireworks disy.

    The system: "You did the right thing. Your true task is to find them, but you must resist the urge to save them, because you are just a small cat."

    It deliberately did not remind her, only silently arranged for Chu Tingwu to understand the entire rescue process on her own.

    Then, the simted building was erased, and Chu Tingwu was ced into a virtual room with just the right temperature. The floor was covered with a carpet, and the slippery sofa could envelop her entirely. On the table was a ss of bubbling ice-cold c.

    The system gestured for Chu Tingwu to sit down, then disyed a virtual but miniature building on the table.

    Chu Tingwu took a sip of the c: "This building is different from the one I experienced before?"

    The system: "This is the prototype. What you experienced earlier was a real case of a rescue cat assisting in saving people."

    ¡ªIn the southern hemisphere, a rescue cat named "Courage" disguised itself as a stray cat to enter a building where criminals were hiding. In this case, it helped the security team determine the number and location of the criminals... and saved two young children, one three years old and one five years old.

    Chu Tingwu put down the c.

    She saw Courage enter the building like a stray cat begging for food, meowing as it walked and sniffed. It detected the bloodstains left by several kidnapped children on the first floor and then followed the scent to the third floor.

    On the third floor, the sound of chopping meat could be heard, along with human arguments and shrill noises piercing the eardrums. Courage''s ears had ttened, and it crouched low to slowly pass through the third floor, then suddenly darted up the stairs, dodging a human kick and being chased by a stray dog in the corridor¡ª

    This was a semi-transparent 3D projection of the building. Chu Tingwu could hear other humansughing and see people on the seventh floor slowlying out, casually closing the door and wiping blood on it, and someone on the ninth floor looking down the stairs, only to find it was just a cat before going back inside.

    Courage, like a real stray cat, shivered in a corner, waiting until the stray dog left before continuing its ascent. It paused for a few seconds on the seventh floor before entering the ninth floor.

    It silently crouched on the handrail of the ninth-floor staircase, while the human children trapped in cages were on the brink of copse. The cat, using the darkness as cover, silently approached the cage, then backed away slowly.

    Finally, the rescue cat went downstairs, where the security team waiting below began the real "rescue."

    The system took on the role of a strict parent in this lesson. It first showed Chu Tingwu the harsh reality of "rescue," then provided her with the warmest and mostfortable environment to rx, and then took her through the case, showing Courage''s training and other failed cats¡ª

    "Even just training a dragon cub to be a disciplined rescue cat can encounter the above difficulties. Do you want to change your goal?"

    Chu Tingwu''s pupils reflected the light of the virtual projection: "That''s not up to me."

    Tomorrow, she could ask Long Zai.

    If Long Zai was willing, after helping themplete themunication, she could hand over the organized course to Bubu, and the real owner could conduct the training.

    But the next day, Chu Tingwu was woken up by Three-Five-Five sitting on her.

    The cat mother licked her hair, seeming to realize that the young one''s mood wasn''t too good¡ªand in the cat''s perception, a bad mood often corrtes with poor health. So for the next half-day, the long-haired tortoiseshell cat stayed close to Chu Tingwu.

    Chu Tingwu: "..." She knew Three-Five-Five''s good intentions, but it was a bit too hot.

    However, upon seeing Long Zai, Three-Five-Five returned to its aloofness, moving from beside Chu Tingwu to walking in front of her.

    Long Zai: "?"

    Chu Tingwu first discussed with Bubu, thenmunicated with Long Zai¡ªshe believed that Long Zai''s training was likely rted to rescue cats, as ordinary cats don''t need to be trained to such a disciplined level. Indeed, after learning a bit about rescue cats the previous night, Chu Tingwu found that Long Zai had also learned manymands and gestures to cooperate with the trainer.

    The mostmon gesture was¡ª"Search"!

    Chu Tingwu dripped a capful of beverage onto a handkerchief and then gave the beverage to Hang Ling in the next room, having Long Zai sniff the handkerchief.

    Long Zai''s eyes immediately lit up. He waited for Chu Tingwu''s gesture, and upon seeing it, he darted off like an orange shadow¡ª

    He entered the room, leaping to a height of nearly two meters, stepping on Hang Ling''s shoulders, and while she was screaming, Long Zai emitted a low rumble from his throat, then gradually raised it to call for Chu Tingwu.

    When Chu Tingwu arrived, Hang Ling was bewildered, and Long Zai''s tail was held high.

    He didn''t touch the beverage but used his actions to indicate to Chu Tingwu: The item is here!

    Bubu: "Wow..."

    Hang Ling: "Wow..."

    Hang Ling: "Wait, let me go first!"

    The group truly realized that Long Zai... might not be an ordinary cat?

    Bubu murmured: "If he''s just doing rescue cat work, all that''s needed ismunication skills... speaking tofort those trapped kittens, or luring them out from hiding ces..."

    But seeing Long Zai like this, it seemed like if the kittens hid, he would personally go and punch them twice, then carry the knocked-out kittens out, right?

    To be honest, she now felt a bit embarrassed to even take out that fluorescent green uniform outfit she had for him.

    Rescuing cats didn''t need such abilities... but could he dye his fur and apply for a job as a police dog?

    After re-discussing, Chu Tingwu showed them the rescue cat materials, and they finally decided: "Let''s test Long Zai''s upper limits of ability."

    The method of using an entire high-rise building as a rescue case for children to learn from... only the system could do that, so they equipped Long Zai''s cor with a camera (the locator was already there) and didn''t leash him, letting the cat lead the way and decide what to do.

    Long Zai: "..."

    He shook his fur, sniffed Bubu, then understood their intentions, stretched his front paws, and jumped off the table, invigorated.

    Chu Tingwu was about to follow when she found that Three-Five-Five had already gone ahead.

    Three-Five-Five touched the camera on Long Zai''s neck, then looked back at Chu Tingwu, its eyes filled with confusion.

    Isn''t this for making money? Why is this orange cat wearing it?

    Chu Tingwu: "This..."

    Three-Five-Five: "Meow¡ª"

    As Three-Five-Five''s gaze on Long Zai became increasingly dangerous, they finally found another camera and put it on Three-Five-Five as well.

    Three-Five-Five fiddled with it, then nced at the drone camera hovering above Chu Tingwu, satisfied with a "Meow."

    -

    In the neighborhood, two majestic adult cats led the way, with several humans following behind, as if taking the cats on a tour.

    Just as they exited the neighborhood, they saw the promotional video featuring Chu Tingwu and Three-Five-Five.

    People were taking photos and selfies with the screen, and Chu Tingwu quietly put on her hat and mask, lowering her head and quickly passing by, only hearing someone say behind her:

    "Look at that cat..."

    "Is it the one from the screen?"

    "Why is there another one next to it? Haha... this orange cat looks so tough! Meow¡ª"

    Long Zaipletely ignored them, his ears twitching as if listening to something.

    Suddenly, his pace quickened. He walked forward, jumped onto the edge of a flower bed, leading the group through a street, and stopped in front of a closed hardware store.

    In front of the store, a little boy was wiping his tears and sobbing, with no adults around.

    Hang Ling: "?!"

    She went up to ask a few questions, and not far away, a woman ran over in a hurry: "Little Bun¡ª"

    Why did you name your son like a cat!

    The woman had driven out to buy things, only to realize she had left her son at the entrance of someone else''s shop. Panicked, she rushed back to look for him.

    Seeing that Hang Ling and the others were just kind passersby, she repeatedly thanked them.

    Meanwhile, Long Zai, with his tail wagging, and Three-Five-Five looked up, both wearing contemtive expressions.

    Bubu vigorously rubbed Long Zai''s head, saying, "Impressive, Long Zai! Did you hear the child crying?"

    Cats'' hearing seems to be very sensitive. However, precisely because of their acute hearing, they are extremely averse to noisy environments and might even hear low-frequency sounds that humans cannot, leading to stress during car rides.

    Chu Tingwu crouched down and told Bubu, "Long Zai is a bit confused right now because you''re patting his head, which isn''t part of his knownmands. Afterpleting a task, you should high-five him."

    Bubu murmured, "Rescue cats... they''re so strict."

    It seems that even dogs with official roles, like search-and-rescue dogs or police dogs, live their entire lives under variousmands. After retirement, they might be depressed if they don''t receivemands.

    She high-fived Long Zai, and Chu Tingwu continued to issue searchmands.

    Long Zai left the street but hesitated near the market. After sniffing the ground for the scent of blood, he moved on.

    ¡ªIt seemed his former owner had told him that ces like markets, where bloodstains are normal, should be avoided.

    Finally, the group of two people and two cats strolled to the pedestrian street.

    This area had be popr due to a promotional video. Although it wasn''t spring, the flowerbeds near the statues were in bloom, attracting many visitors for photo opportunities. From their conversations, it was clear that many were from out of town.

    Arge influx of tourists was expected in October, but there were always outsiders, either here for meetings or just passing through. Previously, they would stay in hotels or visit Zhangshan Mountain, but now, thanks to the promotion, there were more ces to go.

    After the promotional video added "cat-friendly" to the city''s image, the stray cats of Fallen Phoenix City seemed to be part of its identity. Hang Ling had mentioned that people from neighboring cities had even driven over to adopt stray cats, perhaps believing that the city''s strays were better educated and had more "cat virtues."

    As Three-Five-Five and Long Zai walked down the street, people took out their phones to snap photos. Long Zai, however, wasn''t paying attention to them; instead, he looked around nervously.

    Suddenly, his pupils dted, and the cat visibly tensed up. With a low "purr," he bolted forward.

    Before Bubu could react, Three-Five-Five also darted after him.

    The two cats leaped over the flowerbeds and charged towards a man sitting on a bench across from them.

    Bubu: "Wait, wait!"

    Were they going to attack a human?

    She turned her head just in time to see another figure rushing past¡ª

    Chu Tingwu saw Three-Five-Five sprinting off and, after a half-second of deliberation between going straight or around the flowerbed, decided to "fly" over it.

    She propped herself on the edge with one hand, her body light as a shadow in mid-air, even managing to press down on her baseball cap beforending right behind the cats.

    Bubu: "Hey!"

    Meanwhile, the orange cat had already pounced on the man, its paw pressing against his neck. Long Zai, being quite heavy, knocked the unsuspecting man down onto the bench, both paws on his shoulders, growling.

    Man: "???"

    This was an ordinary-looking young man, dressed in long sleeves and shorts despite the heat, his hands in his pockets, seemingly just sitting there in a daze but asionally ncing around.

    He raised his hand as if to push the cat away, but Long Zai extended its ws.

    On the other side, Three-Five-Five jumped onto the bench but didn''t pounce. Having been a stray for so long, she knew the importance of size inbat, but a cat''s ws and teeth were formidable. She merely crouched nearby, ready to attack, her eyes fixed on the man''s exposed skin, her pupils narrowing into dangerous slits.

    In that instant Chu Tingwu approached, she pulled out her phone and called the police without hesitation.

    She trusted Long Zai and would rather apologize for a false rm than miss a real threat.

    The man pinned down by the cat first tried to protect his pocket, then nced at the cat staring intently at it... He looked a bit puzzled. Chu Tingwu noticed his earphones and then, her ears twitched:

    There seemed to be two items in his pockets, one a walkie-talkie¡ªshe heard the button press¡ªand the other something with a strange, sweet smell, and it was powdery?

    [Long Zai.]

    The system showed Chu Tingwu a clip from the surveince footage.

    At that moment, the young man, seemingly subdued by the cats (or not resisting much), twitched his mouth and said, "Operation failed. A civilian noticed something was off and called the police."

    He nced at the two cats beside him. Were they really just ordinary civilians?

    -

    In a small city like Fallen Phoenix City, although there were many cases, few required the use of police dogs. Their police dogs were specialized in "tracking" and "apprehending."

    However, with the increasing effectiveness of the city''s tourism promotion and the growing daily passenger flow at the station, the higher-ups suggested adding two more "Wangka" police dogs for security checks, ideally one specifically for drug detection.

    Ordinary people''s understanding of police dogs is that they assist the police, but in reality, they specialize differently based on their talents¡ªsome excel at finding bloodstains, others at searching for drugs, and there are also those for bomb detection, patrols, and rescue. Like humans, they can be specialized.

    However, only one additional dog was eventually assigned. This wolfhound named Wangka had recently left the police dog training base and was assigned to a new handler. Although Wangka wasn''t specialized in drug detection, his performance was sufficient for sniffing patrols at the station.

    However, being new to the area, he needed more practice, ideally with a simted training session in the city.

    The handler managed to get an undercover officer from the drug squad with a pack of cigarettes and then "released" the officer, sending Wangka out.

    Lin, the Undercover Officer, with his ordinary face, had a prop in his left hand and a walkie-talkie in his right, sitting on a bench. Arge orange cat¡ªLong Zai¡ªcame charging at him, and he was knocked down... There was also a wary tortoiseshell cat nearby, and then a girl jumped over the flowerbed¡ª

    Wait, how far did she jump, and hernding was so precise. Who taught her that technique? It should be used as a textbook example for those guys! No hesitation at all?

    When he heard the girl say, "Suspected of carrying unknown items, apprehended on the spot. It''s an adult male, pleasee quickly," Lin, the Undercover Officer, thought, "..."

    But after calling the police, the girl''s expression changed slightly. She tilted her head, picked up the persistent orange cat, and asked, "Excuse me... are you conducting a drill?"

    She had seen the surveince footage from the system, but the police had already been called.

    The group of two people and two cats stared at each other. Lin, the Undercover Officer, sat up and said gravely, "Let''s wait for the police to arrive and sort this out."

    Reporting suspicious individuals to the police was a good move, so... let his colleagues prove his innocence.

    But Wangka and the handler arrived faster than the police, because of the awkward position, Lin, the Undercover Officer, could only press the button on the inte that indicated "being attacked." So the handler rushed over, leading the tall Wangka, and asked:

    "Who? Who just assaulted an officer?"

    The few people standing nearby: "¡­¡­"

    Bubu silently raised his hand and pointed at Long Zai, the muscr orange cat.

    The handler: "?"

    He turned to look at Lin, the Undercover Officer: You''re calling for help because you got beaten up by a cat?

 Chapter 28

    At the South District Police Station of Fallen Phoenix City.

    The instructor wore a serious expression, while the Chinese Rural Dog Wangka kept staring at the two cats on the table, his expression curious and somewhat eager.

    Long Zai kept lifting his head, and although he sat properly, his head swayed back and forth as he observed his surroundings and looked at the police emblem on the wall.

    Three-Five-Five nced at the dog, then at the person holding the police dog''s leash, before lying down on the table, slowly wagging his tail.

    Only Bubu wore an awkward smile: "Well... we didn''t realize you were conducting a drill, and the child called the police too quickly. We''re really sorry about that."

    They hadpletely disrupted their exercise n!

    As soon as she said this, the surrounding officers who were peering around couldn''t help butugh, with someone patting Lin Undercover''s shoulder, saying, "Old Zhong said you got hit by a cat and called for help, seriously?"

    Lin Undercover: "...Come on, why don''t you try letting the cat hit you too?"

    The instructor coughed: "It''s fine, it''s also our fault for not having a moreprehensive exercise n. We''re sorry for the trouble¡ªlittle one, you did the right thing by calling the police, but could you tell us why you were so sure about making that call?"

    They exchanged nces and told Long Zai''s story, though Hang Ling remarked: "It could only be Chu Chu, calling the police so directly. If it were me, I probably would have just been suspicious but not so decisive."

    The child really trusted the cat''s judgment.

    Adults tend to overthink things.

    Chu Tingwu: "Hmm..."

    She couldn''t say that she actually trusted her own judgment more¡ªshe had smelled it too, which is why she decided to call the police.

    The police officers were quite impressed, and some came over to observe the orange cat that could smell drugs... As more people gathered, Three-Five-Five jumped down and returned to Chu Tingwu''s feet, seemingly annoyed by the human attention.

    Lin Undercover asked: "What about this cat?"

    He still remembered how Three-Five-Five''s paw had almost touched his hair when he was lying down.

    Before Chu Tingwu could answer, someone suddenly pped their hands and realized: "Wait, kid, are you the one from that promotional video outside, with your cat?"

    For police officers, recognizing people by their build was a basic skill, and although Chu Tingwu hadn''t shown her face, her figure was quite distinctive.

    Chu Tingwu nodded, and the person said solemnly: "This cat isn''t that one, it''s an actor."

    Three-Five-Five: "?"

    Feeling that wasn''t a particrly nice thing to say, he hissed at them first.

    With this interruption, the police officers could see it too¡ªLong Zai was clearly trained, not just in terms of strength, but in that sort of obedient manner. If it weren''t for his distinctive color, he would be just like an obedient and sharp-sensed dog.

    Meanwhile, Three-Five-Five was more cat-like, with eyes that carried that adult feline gaze of sizing up humans, along with that characteristic aloof feeling.

    Someone came over to pat Long Zai''s head and said: "Does he recognize the police badge?"

    Indeed, those who could ess drugs to train cats would likely be from only a few possible backgrounds.

    At these words, those familiar with Chu Tingwu all turned their gaze toward her.

    Police officers: "?"

    Chu Tingwu leaned over and "meowed" twice in Long Zai''s ear. Long Zai gave a deep meow in response, speaking about his previous owner for the first time:

    His owner had brought him to the police station before.

    He had sniffed various pieces of evidence during training.

    They had even jokingly made him wear a police dog uniform, though Long Zai didn''t like it because it smelled too much like dog. Meow!

    Long Zai wanted his own uniform.

    Bubu: "...That might be a bit too difficult, Zai."

    That''s too much, she couldn''t handle it.

    The police officers exchanged nces, and the instructor patted Wangka''s head, sighing: "I''ve never seen a police cat in our country... As far as I know, there are no officially registered police cats. This cat was probably trained privately by someone in the force."

    Although police cats and police dogs weren''t the same species, having handled police dogs for many years, he instinctively wanted to praise Long Zai''s reaction and speed in detecting drugs. However, thinking of Wangka beside him¡ª

    Police dogs were very intelligent and sensitive, and if he praised Long Zai, Wangka might get upset.

    Cats and dogs naturally had different senses of smell, and it wasn''t Wangka''s fault they arrivedte today... If anything, Wangka must be feeling down about the sudden failure of the exercise, and would need somefortingter.

    After he finished speaking, he looked at Bubu, seemingly waiting for her to exin where the cat came from, but Bubu was also at a loss:

    "Long Zai... actually found us on his own."

    Unlike Little Sun, "Cha Mi Goes Home" didn''t have a public hospital address, but they did offer adoptions. One day, Long Zai appeared carrying a kitten in his mouth, ced it at their doorstep, then observed from a distance, only leaving after seeing the kitten was taken inside.

    At first, the Cha Mi team hadn''t noticed, thinking someone had abandoned their cat at their door¡ªdespite having surveince cameras, some shameless people still did such things.

    But when they checked the surveince footage, they were surprised to see it was a cat.

    Some team members initially thought Long Zai was a female cat, since he was already neutered and gender wasn''t obvious from the video. It wasn''t until Long Zai''s second visit, when someone happened to go outside, that they got a close look at him.

    His tiger stripes appeared bright orange in the sunlight, and with just one leap, he could jump onto a wall nearly two meters high. His limbs were strong, his fur clean¡ªhe didn''t look like a stray cat at all.

    Bubu: "And he couldmunicate with us then, seeming to understand what we were saying!"

    The person who went outside pointed at the kitten at the door and asked Long Zai: "Are you wanting us to adopt it?"

    Long Zai gave a "meow" in response.

    The person then asked: "Wait, is this your kitten?"

    Long Zai''s face showed an almost human-like expression of exasperation before he turned and walked away along the wall with feline grace.

    They had considered catching Long Zai for adoption or trying to find his owner, but Long Zai was very clever, clearly familiar with human society''s rules, and would even wait for cars when crossing streets. He just happened to be active near their rental property.

    So things remained peaceful between them for several months, until one time when Long Zai came to knock on their door, leading them to a litter of nearly dying kittens in a drain. After the Cha Mi team took the kittens, just as they were about to leave, they discovered Long Zai leading them to two puppies barking in the bushes.

    The Cha Mi team: "Wait... these definitely couldn''t be yours, right?"

    Besides, their main job was rescuing cats, not dogs!

    They still rescued them though.

    After rescuing the cats and dogs, Cha Mi managed to take Long Zai with them¡ªthough from their perspective, it seemed more like Long Zai willingly followed them, as if he was offering his services in return for their help with the rescued young ones.

    Bubu: "...Then Long Zai helped us discipline the cats."

    Like mediating fights between cats in the house.

    Like stopping bigger cats from bullying smaller ones, and even once when Bubu was wailing about not being able to handle work, he helped her hiss at her colleague.

    At that time, he seemed to be saying: "Bubu good, colleague assigning work, colleague bad!"

    Such a clever and kind cat, Bubu couldn''t help but show excessive favoritism toward Long Zai, and as she paid more attention to him, she began to care about his psychological well-being. Finally, she happened to run into Chu Tingwu training cats, and that''s how they came together.

    Looking at Long Zai sitting properly on the table with excited eyes, Bubu felt a bit sad: "Why does a cat like you insist on trying to do a dog''s job?"

    They''re not even in the same league.

    Probably having heard there was a cat that could smell drugs, and an orange one at that, even officers from the neighboring unit found excuses toe and observe. After hearing Long Zai''s story, someone joked: "Why don''t we let this little cat try on a uniform? After all, he did detect drugs, that deserves a reward."

    Wangka lowered his head and whimpered beside them.

    The instructor red at that person and thoughtfully said: "Where are you from? I''ll ask the dog training facilities in that area, maybe it''s a colleague''s cat that ran away."

    Bubu: "We''re from Tian City, and when we first met Long Zai, we asked around the neighborhood, but no one knew whose cat he was. We also asked at the police station and even asked our fans online... We do have over a million followers, but tiger-striped orange cats are toomon, and Long Zai doesn''t have any other distinctive features and wasn''t wearing a cor, sigh."

    Chu Tingwu added from the side, "The APP didn''t match any photos."

    The system had helped her check the surveince footage, and it seemed that Long Zai was not a local cat from Tian City, but had run in from outside the city. It could be a rural cat or one that hade from another city. There was a long stretch of road where no surveince cameras had captured him, and if they were to expand the search to include the entire national surveince system, the biggest challenge would be to filter out all the tabby orange cats that looked exactly like Long Zai.

    Perhaps when the APP''s user data reached over a hundred million and the number of registered cats also exceeded a hundred million, with owners actively uploading photos, it might be possible to find him.

    Since it was a misunderstanding, the group left with the cat. Chu Tingwu called out "Three-Five-Five," and Three-Five-Five immediately walked in front of her. But when Bubu called out "Long Zai" twice, Long Zai took a few steps, looked back, and finally stopped at the door, his tail wagging slower and slower until it finally drooped down, and he turned to slowly follow Bubu.

    Bubu: "Oh..."

    She crouched down, wanting to give Long Zai a hug, but felt it was inappropriate in the police station and might block the way, so she took a couple of steps forward, making a gesture to wait for Long Zai to jump into her arms. However, Long Zai merely approached and gently rubbed his forehead against her.

    Very restrained.

    But before they had walked far, Chu Tingwu heard the panting of a dog running¡ª

    The instructor led Wangka out and said, "Wait, let''s exchange contact information. I''ll help ask around!"

    A cat like this...

    A cat that could sniff out drugs, save people, and save cats¡ªthe person who trained him must have put in a lot of effort. How could he be casually abandoned?

    The Chinese Rural Dog Wangka, panting with his mouth open, suddenly leaned over and licked Long Zai''s butt.

    Long Zai: "Meow?!"

    Wangka, just expressing friendliness: "?"

    The cat and dog stared at each other, but both being trained, they did not attack each other. Only Three-Five-Five looked around, disdainfully turning her head away.

    Chu Tingwu: "Wait!"

    She could also ask around!

    Long Zai had previously seemed to have signed a confidentiality agreement, not revealing anything about his previous owner. But now they were in the police station, with police officers around, even a cat in the police station had to tell the truth.

    So, the instructor saw the short-haired girl squat down again, hugging the orange cat''s head and having a "meow" conversation with him, back and forth, chatting for a long time. Then the girl stood up, and the tabby cat behind her came over, rubbing against her knee and wiping off the scent mark left by the orange cat.

    Chu Tingwu: "Long Zai said he followed his previous owner all the way to Tian City."

    "He searched for him for several months but couldn''t find him, and the trail ended in Tian City. Later, when winter came, he followed Bubu and the others back home."

    The instructor''s expression turned serious: "That''s a missing person case¡ªwait!"

    Could a cat really express all that? Okay, Long Zai is special, but why can this girl trante?

    He hesitated: "Any more clues?"

    Chu Tingwu was also helpless: ording to Long Zai''s information, the ce he lived had a courtyard, but it wasn''t a vi, more like a rural big yard. His owner was male, often bringing various things for him to sniff and training him to find them. Later, he took him out for drills, training him to climb trees, rescue people and cats, find people... judging whether someone was engaging in dangerous behavior and reacting ordingly. Later, he even took him to the police station to sniff other things, looking like he was a police officer.

    But Long Zai... he can''t read!

    He doesn''t know which city he lived in before.

    One day, his owner probably had to go on a business trip, left him with a colleague, and then suddenly disappeared, never returning.

    Long Zai first ran out from his colleague''s home, back to his own dusty house, and then started using his training to search for his missing owner.

    He suffered a lot, took many detours, and the clues often broke off, finally finding his way to Tian City.

    In reality, while dogs can chase people for miles, cats can do it too. However, Long Zai didn''t meet a fairy tale ending; he didn''t find his owner and had no items with his owner''s scent.

    After all, it''s just a cat''s testimony, not enough to report a missing person. The instructor hesitated and said, "I''ll help ask around internally."

    Since he was left with a colleague, the colleague should be able to recognize Long Zai, right?

    -

    Today''s experience was too rich¡ªgoing out for a while and ending up at the police station. Long Zai''s mood was low, and Bubu was a bit tired. Everyone silently returned the way they came. Hang Ling suddenly clenched her fist: "Otherwise... I''ll go to Qingshan Temple and draw a fortune slip!"

    Qingshan Temple is that Taoist temple on Zhangshan Mountain, though it''s on Zhangshan but called Qingshan, often confusing people, but the abbot doesn''t care.

    When ordinary paths don''t work, one can turn to metaphysics!

    Bubu chuckled, and Chu Tingwu also found it amusing: "The normal path isn''tpletely blocked yet..."

    Compared to ordinary people, those here are all UP hosts with arge number of fans. Just posting a dynamic could reach at least tens of thousands of people, and maybe someone rted might identally see it.

    Chu Tingwu first posted a reward on her APP, with the content changed to find a stray tabby orange cat spotted in Tian City within the past half to one year, to determine Long Zai''s past route, preferably to identify the city where his previous owner lived.

    ording to Long Zai''s clues, his previous owner drove away, and it should have been for official business, riding in a police car, which allowed him to chase after it.

    Seeing that Three-Five-Five liked the camera on her neck, Chu Tingwu helped her take it off in the police station and put it back on after they left¡ªthough it''s not veryfortable for a cat to wear and might get stuck when squeezing through walls, Three-Five-Five isn''t that clumsy.

    She fell asleep on time under the system''s music hypnosis, and tonight the system didn''t schedule any lessons.

    The metal sphere floated around the yard and then rolled over to charge, but it suddenly paused when it touched the charging dock.

    In the dark, Three-Five-Five, lying on the bedside, opened her eyes, nced at the drone camera, and then jumped onto the wall, "meowing" twice.

    System: "......?"

    Did she find out that the young one was upset about Long Zai''s situation and decide to call friends to beat up Long Zai?

    The system silently connected to the camera on Three-Five-Five''s neck, seeing through the cat''s first-person perspective that Three-Five-Five indeed called over the vige''s tabby and orange cats.

    The orange cat jumped into the yard, washed his face with his paws, and theny down next to Chu Tingwu''s slippers, snoring loudly.

    System: "......"

    The mother decided to go out and called a bodyguard for her baby?

    While charging, it continued to watch Three-Five-Five''s situation. She walked in front, with the tabby keeping a distance, and they left the vige together.

    After running for half an hour, the tabby and Three-Five-Five parted ways. After a while, a crow flew over andnded on Three-Five-Five''s head, "meowing" twice:

    "y together, y together?"

    It turned out the tabby went to Teacher Zhang''s house to call the crow, as she knew the way.

    Three-Five-Five threatened with a hiss, and the crow had to p its wings and jump to the side. Three-Five-Five then bent down and, with the cat''s powerful flexibility, bit off the camera.

    System: "......"

    When adopting Three-Five-Five, she did escape several times by picking locks.

    Then, the crow picked up the camera, and the system''s view shook for a while before stabilizing.

    ...Luckily, the positioning on the cor was still there, but the system was already thinking about whether to remind the baby to get a subcutaneous chip positioning surgery for Three-Five-Five.

    The crow carried the camera and, together with Three-Five-Five, ran to the hotel where Bubu and the others were staying. Then, Three-Five-Five waited downstairs, and the crow pped its wings, circling the hotel and making "meow" sounds.

    After flying two circles, the curtain on the sixth floor moved, and a big face of an orange cat appeared at the window.

    Long Zai: "?"

    What''s wrong with this crow?

    Bubu rolled over in bed, oblivious to the conversation between a cat and a crow outside the window. The camera, meanwhile, remained focused on Long Zai. The crow then flew down to chat with Three-Five-Five before returning¡ª

    Bubu rolled over again, burying her face in the pillow, drowsily thinking, "Why do I hear a bunch of cats meowing even in my dreams?"

    The system, understanding their conversation, responded with a resigned "=="

    You meow and no one trantes for you!

    The crow then flew down to exchange a few words with Three-Five-Five, who let out a low "meow" and hid the crow under its belly. They waited by the roadside until they caught a ride on a small tricycle heading out early in the morning to gather ingredients.

    The tricycle owner waspletely unaware of the two stowaways. After a while, the crow and Three-Five-Five disembarked and switched to several other vehicles, eventually reaching the foot of Zhangshan Mountain.

    The system thought, "I knew it."

    Whether by "guessing" or using road data, it knew¡ªthese two were going to Zhangshan Mountain to seek fortune slips!

    Three-Five-Five probably only understood the mention of Zhangshan Mountain from a few conversations, having roamed the mountains before. The crow, however, shrewdly realized they could go to the temple to seek fortune slips, possibly not its first time doing so.

    The two quickly ascended the mountain. The temple was quiet at night, except for a tabby cat that suddenly opened its eyes. In the darkness, the cats'' eyes met, and the tabby meowed, making way:

    [Got any food for me?]

    [I''ll make it up to you next time.]

    The feline conversation concluded, and the tabby, being mischievous, pounced on the crow. Then, the three entered the temple together. The tabby, named Yanzi, skillfully pulled out the fortune slip tube, scattering the slips on the ground. After sniffing around, it picked out several:

    "Humans like these ones!"

    All were marked "Great Luck."

    Even a peach blossom slip?

    The three animals silently divided the slips. The tabby took two and hid them under a cushion, the crow took one, and Three-Five-Five took the remaining three. The crow then returned the camera to Three-Five-Five. Each went their separate ways, leaving behind deep shadows in the morning sun for early hikers to ponder.

    "Hey, isn''t that the parkour cat from the video?"

    "Come on, what are the odds? All tortoiseshell cats look the same!"

    Two hourster, the young monk woke up, first noticing the fortune slip tube and then the sleeping Yanzi on the cushion. He paused, then lifted Yanzi by the nape of its neck, immediately flipping the cushion: "Yanzi! What are you up to this time¡ªwait, there are only two slips here. Where are the others? Spill it¡ªyou know the rules!"

    In the vi district, Aunt Mei returned from shopping, but as soon as she opened the door, a wooden slip fell from the sky. She picked it up: "Great Luck... but why a peach blossom slip?"

    The familiar caw and meow echoed from above, leaving no doubt as to who had thrown it.

    Aunt Mei sighed, "Wu ssmate, where did you steal this from this time?"

    Thest time''s stolen ss beads were still hidden in the gingko tree!

    Chu Tingwu was probably thest to wake up. As soon as she got out of bed, she found a plump orange cat by her slippers¡ªfat, slightly wed, and very hungry.

    "Big Orange?"

    She asked the system in her mind, "Where''s Three-Five-Five?"

    Three-Five-Five was in the courtyard.

    Probably not wanting to wake the sensitive young one, she crouched under a tree in the yard. The vinca on the second-floor tform had bloomed again, scattered by the recent rainstorm.

    The tortoiseshell cat shook its fluffy tail, jumped off the rocking chair, and signaled Chu Tingwu to look at what she had hidden under her belly.

    Three wooden slips, and a slightly dirty camera.

    The tortoiseshell stood up, rubbed against Chu Tingwu, and meowed:

    Long Zai, that silly one, can''t find his way home, right? Use this camera, my dear. You said the camera can tell millions of people about something. Cats can''t understand how many millions there are, but millions of people should be able to find traces of a little cat, right?

    So Three-Five-Five ran half the night, then spent the other half cleaning the mud and dust from her paws, bringing back a camera and three lucky wooden slips for her somewhat unhappy little one.

    She didn''t know that without the system''s backend control, the camera wouldn''t capture anything.

    She also didn''t know that seeking fortune slips was pointless, and there was no need to travel all the way to the outskirts of the city to Zhangshan Mountain.

    She just meowed and rubbed against Chu Tingwu''s waist, trying to erase thest traces of Long Zai''s scent.

    Chu Tingwu took the camera with both hands and held the slips in her hand, saying, "This slip still needs to be returned."

    Three-Five-Five turned her head.

    "But the video..." She smiled, "Thousands, maybe millions, will see it."

    Right, system?

    ¡¾Absolutely, I''ve already edited it.¡¿

    The little one rarely makes requests, so the system ignited its nonexistent cyber-cosmos... even if it meant hacking into others''puters and phones, it would force the video into their minds!

    It''s not like it can''t do it!

 Chapter 29

    [Have you seen this human?]

    [Have you seen this human...?]

    An Orange Cat meowed and weaved through the crowd. The camera followed the cat, capturing a low-angle view, showing only the legs of people passing by.

    A car suddenly honked, the "beep beep" of the horn startling the cat. The Orange Cat turned to look at the traffic light above, which was green, and then at the car. Despite this, it jumped and ran away.

    In a gray steel jungle, the Orange Cat darted through, its orange fur like a thread, threading through half the city. The camera then rose, continuing to ascend, until the city became a blur, like a cast down. In mid-air, the title of the video appeared¡ª

    "Long Zai"

    The title dissipated like wind, and in the lower right corner, the name of the city appeared again: Tian City.

    ...

    Relying on powerful technology, the system pieced together a short film with animal protagonists, from Long Zai''s journey to Tian City, to Fallen Phoenix City, and then to the stories of several other small animals. Much of the content was real footage from the camera around the animals'' necks, though the quality had been adjusted. 2D illustrations were inserted between the real shots, and the frame rate was reduced, giving the entire video a fairy-tale feel, with excellent pacing.

    At the end of the video, there was a line that read¡ª

    [This video is adapted from a true story; some identity details have been blurred.]

    [The continuation of the story is in your hands.]

    [With your shares and attention, we will help Long Zai find his owner.]

    However, the system''s backend calcted the video''s yback data and knew that it couldn''t reach the ten million views requirement in a short time¡ª

    It would need a push from others.

    It spun in the void of thework world... With its capabilities, hacking into the entire world wouldn''t be difficult, but using such arge data stream would still require the help of human machinery, otherwise, it might affect the health of the young one.

    It casually hijacked tworge human server farms, silently modified the data, and hacked into the softwareworksmonly used by humans, adjusting some video rmendation algorithms to insert the "Long Zai" video.

    Although humans often say "Big data is terrifying," they are indeed controlled by it and act ording to its arrangements. Many self-media people are also being driven by data¡ªas long as they believe promoting this video will be beneficial and find that others are doing the same, they will follow suit.

    It''s like A thinks B promoted it, so I should too, and B thinks A promoted it, so I should too. The system merely tells A and B that the other has promoted it, and the data flow isplete.

    It nced at the young one feeding the cat and let out a silent yawn, then pulled up the data growth report from the "private plot" in the backend: humans have proven that short videos have better exposure than long ones, and in a short time, image (especially memes) forwarding rates are higher than text. Therefore, the system arranged several exposure ns, fermenting them in one city, and then selecting the highest one to push to the blogger it favored.

    Half an hourter.

    In Fallen Phoenix City, a tourist opened the Xinmei APP and eximed loudly, "I can''t believe it!"

    "The photo I took this morning has already been shared 30,000 times!!!"

    The tourist opened the APP to admire his work and eximed to his friend, "Am I about to go viral?" The most popr post on his personal ount was a photo he had snapped¡ª

    The first photo showed a Tortoiseshell Cat walking along the railing of Dengzhang Mountain under a sky with only a faint light. The cat wore a cor, and beside it, a Crow flew very low, its neck adorned with a small red bib, and its beak holding a camera.

    The second photo showed the sky already half-lit, the Crow holding a wooden stick, which, when erged, revealed it to be a fortune stick with the words "Great Fortune" in gold, shining brightly under the sunlight. The Tortoiseshell Cat held three sticks in its mouth¡ªthe two animals no longer walked on the railing but descended the stone steps.

    Most interestingly, at that moment, a Taoist priest was ascending the mountain. He passed by the two animals, turned his head subconsciously, and seemed to be wondering if the sticks in their mouths were from his temple. But he couldn''t stop the animals, so this captured moment was funny yet full of story.

    Many people in thements asked where the photo was taken. The tourist had a camera, so the shot was exceptionally clear. He replied with the location, and coincidentally, the recent buzz around Fallen Phoenix City hadn''t died down yet. When they learned it was Qingshan Temple, someone joked:

    ["Even cats and crows go to ask for fortune sticks; you can tell how urate the fortunes at Qingshan Temple are!"]

    The young Taoist at Qingshan Temple who saw this: "?"

    The buzz around the temple suddenly picked up, and he couldn''t ignore it, so he posted the photos he took that morning with a wry smile: "They weren''t here to ask for fortunes; they were here to steal them. Here''s a criminal suspect cat caught in the act, showing off his wicked face [Photo][Photo][Photo]."

    The photos showed a fortune barrel overturned early in the morning, a Swallow caught red-handed¡ªnow lying on a cushion, forced to hold a sign that read "I''m sorry," and dozing off in front of the Three Pure Ones.

    It was clear that the criminal suspect cat had no remorse and was sleeping soundly.

    Soon, marketing ounts that noticed the buzz cropped the photos and started a second round of sharing, but this time, they only tagged Fallen Phoenix City''s Qingshan Temple, leaving the original tourist out of the spotlight.

    The system silently pushed several specific pieces of content to the head of the Fallen Phoenix City''s Tourism Bureau Publicity Department.

    When the buzz first picked up, they had already noticed it, but since it was just a couple of snapshots, they could only follow up with something like "Our Qingshan Temple has a beautiful environment," knowing that the buzz would die down within half a day.

    But this time, the head "hmm"ed, following the push content to Chu Tingwu''s ount, and watched thetest video.

    "I thought that cat looked familiar... It really is Three-Five-Five."

    Three-Five-Five and Chu Tingwu were small actors in their city''s promotional video. The already popr photos now had an added story... The head first called the Public Security Bureau to understand the situation, then pondered:

    "Could Long Zai''s owner be an undercover agent, or have they already sacrificed?"

    ["We checked the public servants who sacrificed in Tian City... but there haven''t been any in the past two years."]

    Maybe the cat went to the wrong ce? After all, it''s just a cat, which is quite possible.

    What was originally a small-scale, fan-driven buzz began to enter the eyes of more people... Soon, the official ount of the Tourism Bureau shared the original tourist''s photos and bought the usage rights, then started contacting Qingshan Temple for promotional cooperation.

    We can''t say whether the fortunes are urate or not, but we can praise the temple''s animals for their spirituality.

    ¡ªBut if animals go to ask for fortunes, how can they not be urate (whispering).

    After the official sneakily promoted it, the cat from Qingshan Temple finally made it to the top of the trending searches.

    The system waited a moment, then pushed the video with Long Zai''s tag to the lower ranks of the trending searches.

    Obviously, before the truth came out, the official from Fallen Phoenix City wouldn''t promote the video of Long Zai looking for his owner... After all, the owner''s identity was somewhat sensitive, but they would definitely keep a close eye on it these two days, and only after the results came out could they decide whether to seize the promotional opportunity.

    Their attention might be more effective than that of theizens.

    At this moment, the system nced at the young one again; the young one was learning "Russian" and confiscated the peach blossom fortune stick the Crow brought back.

    Crow: "..."

    It quacked twice, flew to a tree, covered its face with its wings, and went into seclusion.

    If the little one wants to know what other humans are saying, the system can help with trantion at any time, easily achieving simultaneous interpretation. But in the system''s view, the little one isn''t going to school; she''s just ying with her friends!

    Going out every day tomunicate with "old friends" and nibbling on snacks not on its prescribed diet are also part of the little one''s entertainment activities.

    Now that the task assigned by the little one ispleted, very good!

    System: "It''s done, let''s wait for the news."

    Chu Tingwu: "Is there any problem?"

    System: "Of course not!"

    It''s just that the data flow is a bitrge, borrowing a human''srge machine room, but anyway, it doesn''t have much impact, and they can''t trace it back here.

    It''s very good at protecting the little one.

    -

    Amerika, Ehaizhou.

    "We must change our address!" The head of Research Group 11''s eyes were bloodshot as he mmed the table and looked up at his superiors, "What the hell are thework security guys doing? From yesterday to today, that damn hacker has cut off our machines, scanned all our data, and what about ourwork security? They''ve worked all day and haven''t made any progress at all¡ª"

    "The other side''s defense is tougher than thework security team''s skin! Are we just going to let an unknown entity wander around in our database? Until the other side voluntarily stepped back, we regained control¡ªdamn it, damn it, damn it, this is a deration of war!"

    The superior took a puff of his cigar.

    "So, the current experimental data is no longer secure, right?"

    Head of Research Group 11: "There''s no trace of it being copied... but, you know, if someone wanted to steal this data, that much time is enough to take it away in other ways. The biological weapon we''re researching..."

    Superior: "Then let''s pause the research for now, clean up all the data, and handwrite the unprocessed data for storage."

    He said decisively: "I think this might be a war, this is the prelude to the start of the war."

    They decided to wait for the hacker''s second visit; it couldn''t juste for a stroll and leave, right? Surely it wasn''t just borrowing their machine room on a whim?

    They began to wait.

    Just wait.

    -

    System: "Look at this, Long Zai, you''re going to school next week, right? I just used theputational rate toe up with a storage blueprint while pushing the video, now you can pack more stuff into your suitcase!"

    "Amazing."

    System: "Hehe."

    -

    Yu City.

    Dai Xia unlocked her phone screen and just happened to see the top push notification:

    #This Orange Cat turned itself into a police dog, traveling thousands of miles just to find his police officer master#

    Dai Xia: "What kind of marketing nonsense is this..."

    On the right side of the push notification, there was a small square with a leaping Orange Cat, showing off his muscles. Ordinary people might have eximed "Holy cow," but Dai Xia casually swiped it away. However, the next second, her hand paused.

    She dialed a number: "Mom... yeah, I just wanted to ask, is Tiger Head still not found?"

    "Okay..."

    "Don''t worry, it''s fine, he''ll definitely be found."

    She put on her coat, first greeted her colleagues, then sat down at her desk. A colleague next to her was talking about the fraudster they caught yesterday, while another colleague was furiously writing a report, smoking a cigarette. Dai Xia essed the fingerprint database, did some fingerprint matching, and then took out her phone again.

    This time, the push notification had a different title¡ª

    #In order to find his master, this Orange Cat trained in search and rescue actually went to Tian City alone [Video]#

    A trained Orange Cat... could it be?

    Maybe I''ll watch it after work?

    Until lunch break, Dai Xia''s head was spinning. She rubbed her forehead and opened her phone, finding that it was the colleague group chat that had popped up, with someone chatting¡ª

    [Did you see, this Orange Cat can actually smell drugs, is that true?]

    [Could it be that someone from the narcotics unit secretly trained it?]

    [Is it that easy to train a cat to smell drugs? Marketing nonsense again...]

    [Not necessarily, cats have a strong sense of smell, I heard that there are drug-sniffing and rescue cats abroad, it''s just hard to train, Lao Cang didn''t he]

    Halfway through his sentence, the person quietly withdrew it.

    Dai Xia typed:

    "Yeah, my brother also tried to train an Orange Cat, but after he passed away, the cat ran away."

    Her brother, Dai Cang, had a country Orange Cat named Tiger Head, which he had brought from his grandmother''s house, raising it from a tiny kitten to three years old. He trained the cat to followmands, find things, fetch items, and every weekend he would take the cat out for a run... At first, the family didn''t understand, but since Dai Cang liked it, they let him be.

    Every time Dai Xia visited her brother''s dorm, she felt that the cat named Tiger Head was very intelligent.

    When she stared into the cat''s eyes, she felt like the cat was talking to her.

    Once, due to an operational mistake, a colleague was injured, and she was in low spirits for a long time. While her brother was cooking, Tiger Head suddenly walked over, rubbed his forehead against her face, and theny on herp, tilting his head to look at her.

    It seemed that the cat could smell the changes in human emotions and wasforting her with his actions.

    Now, half a year after her brother''s death, the cat had also been missing for half a year.

    Time seemed to have dulled everything, allowing her to calmly say the word "sacrifice," but thinking of the missing cat, she felt a pang in her heart¡ªthe cat''s existence seemed to be a continuation of Dai Cang, who had no descendants and whose police number was permanently sealed, but the living, purring, and much-loved cat seemed to prove that he had once existed.

    Tiger Head, where are you?

    How could you, so smart, get lost?

    During lunch, she opened her phone and started ying the video while eating, but the more she watched, the wider Dai Xia''s eyes grew.

    She put down her chopsticks, clicked into the hot search, and began to check all the content rted to "Long Zai," then repeatedly clicked into the "Cha Mi Returns Home," "Chu Tingwu and Three-Five-Five," and Fallen Phoenix City Tourism''s rted ounts, carefully examining all the details rted to Long Zai.

    On the screen, the Orange Cat was well-fed and looked like he was doing well even if he was a stray. He looked up at the camera, as if looking through the lens at her, his gaze still as it was yesterday.

    Dai Xia suddenly buried her face on the table and sobbed uncontrobly.

    -

    Long Zai''s master''s sister found him!

    Just as the hot search was about to drop to the bottom, the master''s sister contacted Cha Mi through the backend, then through the internal police system, contacted the police in Fallen Phoenix City. Finally, she took the day''s train to Fallen Phoenix City, bringing along her brother''s photo and a few personal items.

    Long Zai''s master hadst transferred in Tian City before his ashes were sent straight home.

    Thus, the cat only chased as far as Tian City.

    Confused by the big city he had never been to before, the cat looked up and then sniffed the ground, eventually losing thest trace on the road to the airport.

    But when Dai Xia walked over and reached out her hand, Long Zai didn''t smell the items she had brought specially; instead, he stood up directly, touched her hand with his forehead, and meowed once.

    Dai Xia: "So you still remember me."

    Bubu, beside her, showed reluctance in her eyes. She knew that Long Zai''s original name should be "Tiger Head," and now, whether she called him Tiger Head or Long Zai, he would respond. The cat''s eyes reflected the human face, as he sniffed around, seemingly puzzled as to why there was only the master''s scent but not the master himself.

    Three-Five-Fivey on Chu Tingwu''sp, while Chu Tingwu looked at the information about Long Zai''s master disyed by the system. Finally, Dai Xia hesitated and told Long Zai, pointing to her uniform:

    The master is going to perform a very difficult task and won''t be back for many years, so Long Zai can''t find him.

    Now, it''s time to go home.

    Long Zai: "..."

    At the Fallen Phoenix City Public Security Bureau, the trainer led Wangka by his side, watching as the Orange Cat tilted its head, turned around, jumped up, and sat on the long table in the office, pressing its front paws on its tail, assuming a very upright and spirited posture.

    There was a glimmer in his eyes, and Dai Xia choked back a sob.

    The trainer also felt a pang of sympathy and turned away, while Wangka, as if sensing something, tilted its head and rubbed its head against the trainer''s hand.

    Long Zai meowed twice, looking at Chu Tingwu¡ª

    Dai Xia suddenly said:

    "My brother''s police number has already been sealed, but if he knew... Could Tiger Head take it over again?"

    There is no police cat establishment in the country, and the police numbers of police dogs and humans are fundamentally different systems, so how could an animal police officer take over a human''s... She opened her mouth, but didn''t finish her sentence.

    Some "police cats" in the country are essentially cats kept as mascots in police stations, responsible for mediating disputes or catching mice, and they don''t have real establishments either, but that certainly wasn''t what Long Zai wanted.

    But if a cat were to be given an establishment, it couldn''t take the ce of a dog, and the police dogs that worked hard toplete their training hadn''t done anything wrong.

    Chief Zhuang from the Cultural and Tourism Bureau had arrived early and was observing alongside the Fallen Phoenix City Police Chief. At this moment, he clicked his tongue, and the Police Chief spoke up: "If this little cat''s operational capabilities are really good, we could try signing a contract to make him a auxiliary police officer."

    Auxiliary police contracts are much more lenient than formal contracts¡ªif this Orange Cat performs well and achieves real results, it might be possible to apply for a formal police cat establishment.

    Upon hearing this, everyone''s eyes lit up.

    However, even with an auxiliary police establishment, there are requirements. Long Zai must demonstrate his abilities andpete with Wangka. Thepetition content will be recorded on video as proof of his qualification.

    Chu Tingwu tranted for them, and Dai Xia watched the interaction between the human and the cat, smiling:

    She didn''t mention taking Long Zai back to Yu City, as Yu City might not be willing to recruit a cat, and she believed that both her family and her deceased brother would prefer Long Zai to be recruited... The police station was their true home.

    The trainer had to take care of Wangka, so he handed over the task to Lin Undercover.

    The undercover police officer who had been knocked down by the cat and the cat itself stared at each other, then both looked at Chu Tingwu¡ª

    Chu Tingwu: Am I the official trantor for you?

    She took out her lesson notes.

    Yes... While teaching catnguage to Teacher Zhang, Chu Tingwu also summarized, mainly the cat bodynguage that couldn''t be taught to Teacher Zhang. She had photocopied several copies for Aunt Mei, Teacher Wang, and others to read, and now they came in handy.

    She didn''t believe that with these notes, plus Long Zai''s ability to understandmands, there would be anyck of cooperation.

    The Chief couldn''t help but nce at Chu Tingwu, then at Three-Five-Five beside her.

    "This cat..."

    He looked very capable and intelligent.

    Although Long Zai hadn''t started working yet, the Chief was already fantasizing about increasing the number of police cats in the station¡ªthe hardest part of doing anything is starting, and once you open the door, everything else seems to flow smoothly.

    Chief Zhuang: "Don''t, this is a house cat, not a civil servant."

    And his cat only listens to his owner, okay? He can also do parkour, and once he''s out, you can''t catch him.

    Chief Zhuang pondered and suggested: "Send us a copy of the assessment video, we''ll use it as promotional material."

    Now, if you search for police cats online, you''ll find other police station mascots, but those cats only catch mice. Long Zai is different; he''s a cat that can search for drugs. How can those mice-catching catspare?

    Three-Five-Five: "?"

    She tilted her head, looking at this male human, feeling an urge to scratch off his wig.

    "Meow!"

    The assessment went quickly, or rather, it went very smoothly. Initially, the humans around thought: Even if Long Zai barely passed, they could turn a blind eye and let him through.

    But as the assessment progressed, except for the trainer''s slightly strange expression, Lin Undercover was practically grinning from ear to ear, "Hey," he said first, "Okay, the cat is going to be with me, I''ve raised cats before, I''m good at it."

    Three-Five-Five: "Pfft."

    Chu Tingwu looked down: "Three-Five-Five, do you have a cold?"

    Why did you suddenly snort?

    Three-Five-Five stretched and yawned, watching the humans who were praising the Orange Cat, and then looked at the test process where the "hidden (thrown out)" items were just picked up, suddenly jumping into the frame.

    Everyone: "Huh?"

    The tortoiseshell cat first pushed aside Long Zai, sniffed the drop of blood on the ground, then shook its fur, entered the room, circled around, and from the bottom of a cardboard box, found a small piece of cloth, which it carried out the window and ced by Chu Tingwu''s side.

    Lin Undercover: "¡­You''re doing it wrong, you should give it to me."

    And isn''t this supposed to be an assessment for Long Zai?!

    Three-Five-Five nced at him, picked up the cloth again, and ced it back in its original position, then stood in front of the blood, meowing at Chu Tingwu, signaling her toe over.

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­" She vaguely felt¡­

    When she approached, Three-Five-Five raised a paw, indicating that Chu Tingwu should lower her head to smell, then the cat mother raised her front paw and made a very vivid gesture:

    Go!

    It''s your turn to find it.

    Seeing this action, everyone around couldn''t hold back. Bubu patted Chu Tingwu''s shoulder: "Isn''t this asking you to smell and then find it?"

    Humans aren''t cats, they can''t find things by smell.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    Actually, she could.

    Three-Five-Five: "Meow?"

    Why not find it?

    Aren''t you just ying this hide-and-seek game?

    Lin Undercoverughed and cried, entered the field to find the props that the cat had hidden, and turned his head to see Chu Tingwu holding one end of the prop, silently handing it to him.

    Lin Undercover: "¡­Thank you."

    This little sister has good eyesight, she must have seen it from the surveince, right?

    -

    Long Zai finally put on his new uniform.

    When the video was released on the official ount, the custom uniform also arrived in Fallen Phoenix City.

    Dai Xia and everyone exchanged contact information, then left hurriedly that night. Bubu stayed until the next morning, chatting with Long Zai for a long time before finally getting on the bus, looking back three times at each step.

    Long Zai stayed in ce for a while, looking up as if wanting to go forward¡ª

    Lin Undercover coughed.

    The Orange Cat in uniform twitched its ears, returned to its original position, and quietly watched the flow of people at the station, leaning against his leg.

    He meowed.

    The cat didn''t know what mission his father was going on, but he could wear this uniform like his father and wait for him toe back.

    Chu Tingwu didn''t pay attention to the subsequent uproar on the inte about the video, posting a temporary halt to updates on her personal dynamic.

    As summer gradually turned to autumn, the start of the school year was approaching, and she was preparing to head to Jin City.

    She declined her mother Lu Cenyin''s offer to help find a rental, as Chu Tingwu... already had someone, or rather, something, to rent a ce for her.

    System: "The renovation isplete! I''ve installed a whole-house control system, so when you get home, I can help you cook!"

    The system, bound to her not long after, had thought of her going to Jin City and started remodeling the rental house in advance. The old house couldn''t be easily changed, but in the countryside, it was rtively safe. However, the system pondered over a hundred examples of "single women/minors encountering xxx," quickly transforming the future rental into a fortress.

    For instance, the whole-house control system allowed the system to control all electrical appliances in the house. As soon as Chu Tingwu got home, whether it was for meals or baths, she only needed to do a little bit of fetching, with the water temperature adjusted by the system.

    ¡¾It''s a pity the house is too small.¡¿

    ...Um, if it weren''t for Chu Tingwu stopping it, it wanted to rent a vi.

    Chu Tingwu silently watched the surveince footage projected by the system. The video showed a house that had beenpletely renovated: "A three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment isn''t small, right...?"

    You''ve remodeled it like this, why not just buy it outright?

    In reality, it had already been purchased, but due to liquidity issues, the full payment hadn''t been made yet. The system didn''t want to put pressure on the young one, so it hadn''t mentioned it: "Hehe."

    Chu Tingwu''s high school was Jin City No.5 Senior High School, abbreviated as Wuzhong. The house was right next to the school. If she wanted to get to school quickly, she could just climb over the wall¡ªa cat certainly could.

    If she wasn''t in a hurry, it was just over two hundred meters to the school gate, very convenient.

    The system didn''t tell the young one: Your future math teacher and homeroom teacher lives right across the hall.

    Chu Tingwu nned to arrive in Jin City three days early to settle Three-Five-Five and let it get used to the new neighborhood environment. Then she would go to school to pick up her military training uniform and participate in a week-long high school entrance military training.

    Chu Tingwu: "I need to say goodbye to everyone first."

    She walked around the vige, found the Leopard Cat, and told her: "I''ve opened a cat door at the back, so you can stay in the yard overnight if it rains. If it gets too cold or you''re too hungry, you cane in through the cat door. The food bucket will open, right?"

    Leopard Cat: "You worry too much, young one~"

    She wouldn''t go hungry.

    After bringing the Orange Cat over to recognize the door, Chu Tingwu found that there was an additional domesticated kitten in the vige.

    Third Aunt had a little calico, a two-month-old calico sister with big, bright eyes that would "meow-meow" when she saw Chu Tingwu.

    Chu Tingwu: "This one¡ª"

    Third Aunt: "Five bucks!"

    Third Aunt, you''re really good at bargaining!

    However, the calico''s name wasn''t "Five Bucks"; she was called "Niu Niu." But in her perception, her name seemed to be "Come Here" because Third Aunt always called her "Niu Niu, baby,e here, oh,e here," which was too long for a cat...

    So, let''s just call her "Come Here."

    Compared to the clumsy calico who fell every few steps, the two adult vige cats were rtively well-behaved. The Orange Cat circled around the cat door and meowed, indicating that it could help guard the house and catch mice while Chu Tingwu was away.

    After making arrangements with them, Chu Tingwu went to say goodbye to You Zhenzhen, Hang Ling, and others.

    You Zhenzhen: "Perfect timing, my package just arrived!"

    She handed Chu Tingwu a can of sunscreen: "I used this during my university military training. Remember to apply it, or you''ll get sunburned every day!"

    The system: My cat actually isn''t afraid of the sun... But this one smells nice, okay.

    The sunscreen had a light fragrance, with a hint of grass and wood, and Chu Tingwu rubbed her nose, finding it not too strong. She thanked You Zhenzhen for her kindness.

    When she said goodbye to Hang Ling, Hang Ling handed her two membership cards: "Jin City... Here, these are the ones I got when I was in Jin City, but I didn''t use them much. This one''s for a milk tea shop, and this one''s for a cake shop. You can use them."

    She definitely wouldn''t need them anymore.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    She took the sunscreen, membership cards, and finally went to Teacher Zhang''s house, bringing along Shikuai''s shuttlecock.

    She would be away for several months, only returning during holidays, so it was better to let Shikuai and the crow y with his toys.

    Teacher Zhang "hmm"ed: "Have you hired a movingpany? You need to bring Three-Five-Five and the furniture... If you haven''t, why don''t I ask Aunt Mei to drive you?"

    Chu Tingwu indeed couldn''t just take Three-Five-Five and leave. Although the system had prepared a lot, the cat''s ustomed items and her daily necessities, plus clothes for changing... It was better not to change too much in a new environment.

    After getting Chu Tingwu''s reply, Teacher Zhang took out a book from under the table, a self-study textbook for learning Russian: "Take this one too. The notes in it were written by my student... I read them when I wasn''t blind, and they were pretty good. If you have any questions, you can go to him."

    Teacher Zhang read out the student''s name, and Chu Tingwu took a look¡ªit was the author of the textbook.

    Chu Tingwu: "Okay."

    Chu Tingwu: "Aunt Mei driving me would be great, but are you okay by yourself?"

    Zhang Youyi: "It''s fine, I''ve got the cat."

    Chu Tingwu: I feel even more worried now.

    Aunt Meiughed: "It''s okay, I''ll have a familiar part-time workere to take care of Teacher Zhang for a day."

    Chu Tingwu: "Alright, I''ll also ask my acquaintance to check in asionally."

    As for the lessons, they wouldn''t stop; they would just change to every weekend after the military training, using electronic devices for video lessons.

    Zhang Youyi chuckled: "You''re so young, why are you so good at worrying? By the way, take this too, even though it''s not very useful, you can y with it."

    It was a few leftover feathers from making the shuttlecock, brightly colored and pretty, suitable for decoration.

    -

    The next day, Chu Tingwu opened the door and stared at therge truck parked outside in silence.

    Aunt Mei: "Come on, let''s move your stuff. Is there anything else to pack¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu: She was just going to school, not moving the entire house.

    And Aunt Mei, do you even have a truck driver''s license?

    Meanwhile, Teacher Zhang was stroking Shikuai, who suddenly meowed.

    The part-time worker peeked in: "Is it a cat from the neighborhood?"

    A Leopard Cat was perched on the wall, "meowed" once, fulfilling the young one''s task while trying to get some cat food.

    ...I told the worried young one, a cat like me definitely won''t starve~

 Chapter 30

    Fallen Phoenix City, previously little-known, lies in Shannan Province.

    Jin City, the provincial capital of Shannan, boasts all the modern conveniences.

    It takes over four hours to drive from Fallen Phoenix City to Jin City. Chu Tingwu slept through most of the journey, waking only to the sound of Three-Five-Five''s snoring, reminiscent of a tractor.

    With the truck''s high chassis and the sun rising, Aunt Mei donned sunsses. Chu Tingwu turned to look out the window, where skyscrapers gradually neared, their tops still shrouded in fog, pushing a sea of clouds towards them.

    They were an hour away from reaching Jin City.

    Aunt Mei spoke, "Chu Chu, isn¡¯t your mother¡¯spany located in Jin City?"

    Chu Tingwu replied, "Yes, my mother and brother are here, while my father, stepmother, and half-sister live in Xun City, the neighboring province."

    After her parents divorced, her mother, Lu Cenyin, devoted herself to her career and never remarried. Her brother had resisted going to a local university, hoping to study out-of-province, but was eventually persuaded otherwise. Post-graduation, he was expected to join his mother¡¯s business and eventually take over.

    Her father, Shen Yue, remarried the year following the divorce and soon had a daughter with his new wife. Compared to her mother, her father made sure to visit his mother with his new family during the holidays, so Chu Tingwu was more familiar with them.

    But familiarity didn''t equate to closeness.

    During the New Year, she and her grandmother would be taken to Xun City. Her stepmother was polite, but Chu Tingwu spent most of her time alone in her room or with her grandmother.

    A few years ago, during New Year''s Eve, a drunken Shen Yue dered at the table, "In the future, my business will definitely be split between Tinn, my only son, and Mumu, my daughter¡ª"

    The stepmother¡¯s smile faltered as she nced at Chu Tingwu.

    Chu Tingwu, sipping her c, heard her grandmother ask, "Oh? And what about Tingwu?"

    After that, her grandmother stopped taking her to Xun City for New Year''s. If Shen Yue wanted a family reunion, he would have to make the effort toe to Fallen Phoenix City himself.

    That same year, Chu Tingwu woke up and opened her door to find her long-absent mother, Lu Cenyin, talking with her grandmother in the living room.

    "My assets will be split equally between Tinn and Tingwu. I told Tinn when he turned 18, and he agreed. As for Tingwu, it¡¯s up to you to tell her, but I will always be there for her."

    Her grandmother, stroking her head, expressed some regret, "Compared to other children, our Tingwu is already very fortunate... but I wish she didn¡¯t have topare herself to others..."

    With such wealth, she could lead a rtively affluent life; familial regrets seemed minor. Yet, whenpared to her closest family, her brother and half-sister, Chu Tingwu felt nothing, but those who loved her felt the regret.

    Eventually, the person who loved her most left this world, but then a cat that loved her appeared, along with¡ª

    "Sweetie, you can take off a coat when you get out of the car; it''s quite hot outside. I''ve turned on the air conditioning, so it''ll be cool as soon as you enter... Also, there''s chilled plum juice in the fridge..."

    Three-Five-Five was still snoring, and Chu Tingwu murmured an acknowledgment, though it was unclear who she was responding to. Then she added, "Right, I''ll send a message to tell brother and mom I''ve arrived."

    They probably still thought she would arrive on the first day of school.

    -

    Actually, that wasn''t the case.

    Chu Tingwu had probably forgotten about her own activity on her UP main ount.

    When her brother, Lu Tinn, saw her leave request from the day before yesterday, he guessed she was about to set off.

    Ever since he discovered his sister was a cat food streamer, Lu Tinn had silently followed her ount, then watched as the cat food UP main ventured into parkour, app development, city promotional videos, and animated short films...

    Lu Tinn: "?"

    Your summer vacation and mine seem quite different?

    After securing her amodation, Chu Tingwu also sent the address to her biological mother for reporting, and Lu Tinn got the address from his mom... and then... he kept waiting for his little sister to tell him where her new home was.

    This summer wasn''t idle for him either; he was about to enter his senior year and had pulled together a bunch of ssmates and friends to start an independent game studio.

    These days, only a few independent game studios make money, but thankfully the tforms are mature. Whether they can be popr depends mainly on their game production quality and creativity... But only when he truly started "entrepreneurship" did Lu Tinn realize what a tough life it was.

    His mother, Lu Cenyin, didn''t invest money; the startup capital came from his small investments and savings from holidays over the years. Starting from scratch, he quickly got used to splitting a penny in half to survive. Justst month, he had a big argument with a partner and friend. When he checked his phone, his little sister was doing parkour.

    Half a month ago, their first game was about tounch, and amidst all the testing and bug fixing, he was shoveling takeout into his mouth when he checked his phone again to see his sister''s app had hit the trending list, even tied to a city promotional SMS, and overnight, downloads had exceeded three million.

    Lu Tinn: "......"

    If he didn''t know Chu Tingwu disliked him, he might have knelt down and begged his prodigy sister to take him under her wing.

    [Tingwu:]

    [I''ve arrived.]

    Lu Tinn: "Okay, stay safe. Do you need me to help you move your luggage?"

    [Tingwu:]

    [No need.]

    Lu Tinn: "Alright. (pat pat)"

    No reply came.

    No reply came from the other side.

    Lu Tinn: "......QAQ"

    He scrolled up through their chat history; they talked once every week or two. Thest time was when Lu Tinn learned that Fallen Phoenix City had several days of torrential rain and told Chu Tingwu to be careful. The time before that, Lu Tinn had sent Chu Tingwu a screenshot of a very cute cat¡ª

    And then Chu Tingwu said, "It is very cute."

    And then there was no more.

    No more from the other side!

    "Aren''t you a cat owner? Shouldn''t you be showing off your tortoiseshell cat?" He was ready tovish praise on the cat''s majestic gentleness and long fur... but the person on the other end wasn''t ying by the usual rules!

    "My sister must really hate me..." In the studio, he tossed aside his phone and said, "Actually, that man wanted to take me with him years ago, not my sister. My mom argued with him out of spite, insisting on taking me instead, and as a result, my sister ended up unwanted by anyone."

    If he were in her shoes, he''d probably despise such a beneficiary too.

    So, when their mother mentioned dividing the family assets equally, Lu Tinn even breathed a sigh of relief.

    His business partner was furiously typing on the keyboard: "Our sister was only five back then, she wouldn''t remember, don''t overthink it."

    Lu Tinn retorted, "Get lost, since when are you ''our sister''!"

    Lu Tinn continued, "Last year, when I went to our grandmother''s house, my mom drove us to the amusement park. We were sitting in the backseat, and guess what... She had her phone but didn¡¯t y with it, just looked out the window the whole way, without saying a word to me."

    If ying games, reading novels, and listening to music are normal, how could someone just stare out the window the whole journey... It was clearly a statement of her attitude.

    Thus, between "making my sister endure a few hours with someone she dislikes (himself)" and "giving her some extra money to pay for services," Lu Tinn chose thetter, letting Chu Tingwu find her own movingpany.

    ...Although he was indeed overwhelmed with work.

    After hearing this, his partner turned and said, "Then she really does dislike you a bit."

    Of course, there was another possibility¡ªshe might get carsick.

    -

    Chu Tingwu said, "My rtionship with my brother and mother is still okay; my brother is the third person on my message list."

    The first two were Hang Ling and You Zhenzhen, and the fourth was her ss teacher.

    Aunt Mei drove into the residentialplex and parked downstairs: "Then they must trust you quite a bit, letting you live on your own."

    "When my great-grandmother was hospitalized, my mom thought about bringing me over," Chu Tingwu greeted Aunt Mei as they got out of the car, "but I didn''t want to, so she probably just got used to it."

    A woman and a cat got out of the car, and Aunt Mei turned to see both human and feline looking around, sniffing the air as if trying to identify the different scents.

    Does the air in different cities have different smells?

    Their apartment was on the second floor, number 202, in a building with two units per floor. It took them some time to move all the furniture upstairs. In their new home, Three-Five-Five showed rare signs of alertness, sniffing around the well-decorated room, pawing at the carpet for a good half hour before finally settling down in front of the air conditioner.

    The long-haired cat also seemed to find the weather quite hot.

    After lying down for a while, Three-Five-Five followed her downstairs to bring up thest few bits and pieces. As the elevator doors opened, they happened to face a neighbor stepping out.

    She was a woman in herte thirties or early forties, with an intellectual air about her, wearing ck-framed sses. After a brief pause, she smiled and said, "Hello, I''m from apartment 201. Did you just move in?"

    She nced down at Three-Five-Five. "Is this your cat? What a handsome tortoiseshell! We have a cat at home too..."

    The two of them stood at the doorway and chatted for a bit. Chu Tingwu learned that the woman''s surname was Yuan, and she was a math teacher at the local middle school. Her husband, Mr. Cao, taught English. Both were going to teach freshmen when school started. Their cat at home was a ck long-haired Napoleon dwarf cat that waddled like a ball, hence its name "Coal Ball."

    The couple also had a six-year-old son who attended the kindergarten next door. As they were talking, the door opened, "Mom, weren''t you going out to buy popsicles?"

    A round head peeked out from behind the door.

    Teacher Yuan''s son, Cao Meng, was a... very solid little boy.

    Just as Chu Tingwu was about to say something, she blinked and looked down at Cao Meng''s feet¡ª

    A more solid Coal Ball rolled out.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    So, your description of your cat wasn''t a metaphor. It was literal.

    Coal Ball: "Meow-woof!"

    It sniffed Chu Tingwu, sneezed at Three-Five-Five, then hastily backed away, almost rolling down the stairs before being caught by young Cao.

    Teacher Yuan: "...It was a gift from a friend who used to run a kennel. He also has cats, and Coal Ball was born to a big cat there."

    Apparently, after spending two months in the kennel, it identally picked up an ent.

    Cao Meng, holding the cat, widened his eyes and looked at Three-Five-Five, eximed, "Wow, how old is your cat, miss?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Three years old."

    Cao Meng nodded, seemingly wanting to reach out and touch, then looked up, "Miss, may I touch it?"

    Chu Tingwu: "If you let me pet your cat too."

    The two exchanged nces, struck a deal, and Three-Five-Five, who was usually quite tolerant of young ones, allowed itself to be petted for a while. Meanwhile, Chu Tingwu had already figured out Coal Ball''s situation¡ª

    As a short-legged cat, it, or rather she, was a bit too fat.

    Chu Tingwu first heard the heartbeat of Coal Ball, then confirmed that her condition wasn''t too good.

    Teacher Yuan obviously knew this, and sheughed awkwardly, "Coal Ball is a bit overweight, but we can''t help but give in when she calls, and she can even open cans and snack bags herself... We just can''t get her weight down."

    Since they were just newly acquainted neighbors, Chu Tingwu didn''t say much more and went back inside to fetch some chilled plum juice for them. Teacher Yuan also went home and brought back a box of cream puffs as a wee gift.

    Aunt Mei brought some ingredients and was cooking in the kitchen. Hearing the door close, she poked her head out and asked, "How are the new neighbors, are they teachers?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Yes, their cat is very fat, and so is their son."

    Aunt Mei couldn''t help butugh and cry at the same time: That''s an interesting focus, and why is the cat mentioned before the son?

    Chu Tingwu: "The kid kind of reminds me of my brother."

    Aunt Mei: "Is your brother fat?"

    I don''t think I''ve heard that before.

    "When I was a child..." Chu Tingwu pondered, "Before my parents divorced, my dad seemed to be heavier, but he lost weight after the divorce."

    Chu Tingwu still remembered, during their parents'' arguments, her brother Lu Tinn would lie by the door, stuffing tissues into the crack to block out their increasingly loud voices, only to be scolded by their mother who pushed the door open.

    She also remembered the sturdy guy sobbing intermittently, but trying hard not to make a sound, sitting next to Chu Tingwu on a chair, covering her ears with his hands.

    At that time, Chu Tingwu was quietly drawing on paper.

    The hands covering her ears trembled, and she had to struggle to open the drawer, take out some cookies, and ask, "Want some?"

    Lu Tinn: "..."

    He sniffed, and in his fiercest tone said, "Yes!"

    When they met again four yearster, Chu Tingwu was still in elementary school, and her rebellious brother had slimmed down to anky figure. The two closest rtives by blood sat opposite each other, speechless, unfamiliar with each other''s tastes or daily habits, only managing to exchange a few dry words before sharing a meal.

    Their rtionship had no issues; they were just not close.

    Because they were not close, Lu Tinn didn''t know that Chu Tingwu disliked ying games, and that her habit when riding in a car was to stare out the window, letting her mind wander. Simrly, because they were not close, Chu Tingwu didn''t realize how much Lu Tinn cared about the past.

    But for her, whether being raised by her grandparents or encountering Three-Five-Five and the system, it was all the best arrangement.

    When Aunt Mei left, Chu Tingwu hugged her.

    She was usually not expressive, so this was rare: "I''lle back to see you during the National Day holiday."

    Aunt Mei responded, "That might not work. Teacher Zhang ns to go on a road trip, and we''ll be on the grasnds. I''ll send you some photos."

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    Aunt Meiughed and patted her head, seemingly finding it amusing to see her show a different expression, and took the trash out as she left.

    -

    After the only adult in the house left.

    The human kitten and the adult cat looked at each other and began to truly "mark" the house.

    The cat''s method of marking was simple, rubbing around to leave its scent in the house, while the system opened all the doors, and Chu Tingwu walked into different rooms to adapt to the size of the house.

    Aunt Mei hadn''t mentioned anything about the house''s decoration, but Chu Tingwu knew that if someone else entered, they would definitely find the decor odd.

    The living room''s sofa was like stacked hollow soft blocks, allowing one to climb to the top one section at a time. The ceiling was about three meters high, and sitting at the top was certainly risky, but Chu Tingwu easily jumped up, and soon Three-Five-Five joined her.

    They both perched up there for a while, and Three-Five-Five soon crawled into the middle of the "sofa"¡ªthe frame of these soft sofas was hard, double-sided, and some ced against the wall just right for an adult to curl up and squeeze into.

    For cats and flexible minors, it was essentially arge, side-open "cardboard box."

    Chu Tingwu hid herself in a "cardboard box" over a meter high, with Three-Five-Five stretching her paws onto her shoulder, purring loudly.

    Chu Tingwu: "...I wanted to say earlier, the way these sofas are arranged, they''re actually cat climbing frames, aren''t they?"

    They were indeed more suitable for human-cat climbing frame designs, bigger, sturdier, and moreforting.

    System: "QVQ"

    The balcony was bathed in ample sunlight. Chu Tingwu pulled back the curtains, directly overlooking the yground of No. 5 Middle School.

    During the summer vacation, the school was nearly empty, the yground spacious. The school''s railings were curved at the tips, and between the railing and Chu Tingwu''s balcony, there was a width of five or six meters, with a high wall of the residential area in between, and a road outside the wall where cars could pass.

    Under the whole-house control system, the windows could also be controlled by the system. Chu Tingwu patted Three-Five-Five, asking her to stay at home, and then stepped onto the window ledge.

    She leaped forward, stepped on the high wall, then jumped onto the school railing, and from there, easily hopped down into the school grounds.

    No. 5 Middle School was filled with many Chinese parasol trees.

    The yground wasrge, with a distant view of the lecture podium and the gymnasium, with teaching buildings even further away, and student dormitories behind several of those buildings, opposite which was the cafeteria.

    Behind the cafeteria was ake, home to swans and ducks, and in the grass by theke, several peacocks were hiding from the sun under the trees.

    Chu Tingwu: "...?"

    She meowed, and soon a white cat emerged from the tree.

    The cat was pure white except for a ck tip on its tail. Chu Tingwu took out her phone and snapped a photo, quickly matching its name on the 365 Cat Census APP.

    ¡¾Name: A Bit of ck¡¿

    ¡¾Family, meat-lover, can be petted but not for too long, will scratch if petted too much¡¿

    After going online and gaining some poprity, many of the first registered were the school''s campus cats, as this APP was indeed very convenient for recording and matching, capturing the student demographic first.

    A Bit of ck came over to sniff her, then gestured for Chu Tingwu to follow.

    Chu Tingwu followed it to the cafeteria, where she and the auntie feeding cats at the entrance looked at each other.

    A Bit of ck immediatelyy down, exposing its belly and meowing twice.

    The aunt sighed: "Wait a moment, I''ll get you some..."

    Was this young student here to pet the cat?

    A Bit of ck also turned its head, looking at Chu Tingwu with a puzzled face:

    Why aren''t you meowing? If you meow, she''ll give you food.

    Chu Tingwu: "Thank you, no."

    She was mistaken for a new stray kitty!

    Under the watchful eye of the aunt, who insisted on hospitality, Chu Tingwu stroked the pitch-ck belly of the white school cat twice. The cat looked puzzled but did not scratch; instead, it licked her a couple of times.

    Chu Tingwu took the opportunity to inquire about the "peacock" from the aunt: "Why is there a peacock in the school?"

    The aunt replied, "Oh, are you about to start school here? See that house over there with the reflective roof? That''s actually a small zoo, but it''s mostly birds."

    It''s unclear what the principal of No. 5 Middle School was thinking years ago, deciding that students should interact more with nature and animals, thus moving them into the school. The zoo housed mostly ordinary animals that didn''t require many permits, with a majority being domestic birds and a few inexpensive small animals like skunks, long-nosed roons, and snakes.

    When there weren''t many students around, the peacocks would be taken out for airing¡ª

    It is said that every year there''s a requirement to observe animals and write essays about them, from narrative to expository, until the students leave school.

    "Just two years ago, there was a student who was almost guaranteed admission, tried to steal the school''s white ferret... Oh dear, he almost lost his guaranteed spot."

    Chu Tingwu thought, "Your school''s students are quite lively."

    No, it''s her school now too.

    Chu Tingwu tried to approach the "small zoo," but the smell of various animals made her retreat and start worrying about her future essays.

    After running a fewps on the yground to loosen up, as the sky darkened and the cool breeze rustled the leaves, Chu Tingwu skillfully walked to the edge,zily grabbed the vertical railing, and was about to climb out.

    "That one over there¡ª"

    "Hey! Which ss are you from?"

    From a distance, a teacher saw Chu Tingwu climbing the fence and immediately shouted.

    Is this one of their No. 5 Middle School students? Why is she climbing the fence to leave school?

    He was about to rush over when he noticed the vague figure pause; her originally sluggish movements suddenly became agile, almost instantly stepping on the top of the railing where it bent enough to stand on¡ªthough the teacher had only seen cats pass by here before¡ªand then she leaped forward beautifully, effortlesslynding on the wall of the opposite residential area, then jumping down and disappearing from sight.

    Teacher Cao: "?"

    Rubbing his eyes, Teacher Cao couldn''t help but wonder if what he had just seen was an illusion.

    It was too brief, the lighting was poor, and it was backlit, so it was very possible he had seen wrong... Maybe it was just an animal from the small zoo that had escaped¡ªyikes!

    Wouldn''t that be even more terrifying?

    He absentmindedly left the school gate, absentmindedly went home, and was absentmindedly tackled onto the couch by his son: "Dad, can I go y with the girl next door and her three-year-old cat?"

    Teacher Cao: "Huh?"

    He looked at his wife: "Did someone move in next door? What are they like?"

    "ss 1-1, Chu Tingwu," his wife Yuan Zhixiao smiled, "Her student number is 2. She doesn''t know yet that I am the homeroom teacher of ss 1, and you will be her English teacher for the next three years."

    Teacher Cao: "That''s quite a coincidence!"

    He actually had a good impression of the neighbors next door, not only because they strictly adhered to the renovation schedule without disturbing the neighbors too much, but also because the renovation supervisor hired by them would go up and down the floors every week to deliver fruits as an apology for the noise and the constant use of the elevator.

    The fruits weren''t expensive, but at least it showed a good attitude. It seemed that the neighbors were easy to get along with. Now thinking about it, little Chu Tingwu next door would be living there for at least three years, having such neighbors wasn''t too bad.

    Teacher Yuan nodded, "I chatted with her for a bit. She''s a quiet girl, not much of a talker, but she seems very organized and calm. Didn¡¯t she list her guardian as her mother? Her parents are divorced, and it seems she lives alone, just with a cat."

    It seemed that as teachers, they needed to pay extra attention to this child.

    Cao Meng: "==="

    "Dad, you haven''t answered me yet. I want to bring Coal''s treadmill over too."

    Teacher Cao: "...Who brings a treadmill when visiting someone''s house!"

    Their cat Coal did need to lose weight. They had bought a cat treadmill, but Coal could only run a few steps before lying down on it¡ªyet Cao Meng thought it was quite impressive that Coal could run those few steps, so whenever guests came over, he wanted Coal to perform. It even progressed to the point where he wanted to take the cat treadmill out with them.

    He picked up his considerably heavier son and weighed him: "They just moved in, busy and all. Go tomorrow, after you take a bath."

    What was with this kid''s hands, had he been digging for coal? Why were they so dirty?

    -

    When Chu Tingwu woke up in bed, she stared at the unfamiliar ceiling, feeling a bit dazed.

    She was going to school the day after tomorrow... But, she always felt that something was off with the system today. "Has my ount been cyberbullied again?"

    The system was shocked: "How could that be!"

    Who would dare? And even if such a thing happened, it wouldn''t let the issue reach her and affect her mood, right?

    A bad mood could affect physical development!

    Chu Tingwu: "Then why were you ying music while I was having breakfast..."

    Was it rock? A new taste?

    System: "Cough."

    System: "Kiddo, you don''t have any ns today, right... After breakfast, do you want to go out for a bit?"

    Chu Tingwu stroked her chin.

    She put the bowl in the dishwasher, and Three-Five-Five, who had been sitting on the robotic vacuum cleaner, also jumped down and walked to the door, looking like it was wondering if it was going out for a walk today¡ªThe tortoiseshell mother was ready to patrol the new territory and meet with the local stray cats.

    But Chu Tingwu always felt like the system had arranged something, so she took out the leash.

    Three-Five-Five: "Meow."

    The leash was like a pact between them, signifying that today, Three-Five-Five had to follow Chu Tingwu.

    She massaged the carpet with her paws for a while before Chu Tingwu stepped out, with the system controlling a drone to follow them.

    Chu Tingwu descended the stairs.

    A stretch limousine was parked downstairs. As she approached, the driver stepped out to open the door for her, gesturing for her to enter.

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    Had the system secretly made a fortune and decided to let her inherit a fortune?

    Despite her confusion, Chu Tingwu''s expression remained calm. Three-Five-Five hopped in first, followed by Chu Tingwu.

    After the car drove away, Cao Meng, who was squatting beside a sandpit with a shovel, dashed upstairs, eximing, "Mom, they''ve discovered that the girl next door is an alien¡ª"

    Teacher Yuan: "What nonsense are you spouting now?"

    Cao Meng: "?"

    He wasn''t spouting nonsense! The girl had a little UFO by her side, as round and plump as a coal ball.

    He grabbed the coal ball''s front paw, silently swearing to himself: I must find evidence of my sister being an alien and then touch that UFO!

    The UFO was way cooler than a treadmill!

    -

    The "abducted" Chu Tingwu stepped out of the car and saw the towering gates ahead emzoned with the colorful letters "Jin City Fun Kingdom." She raised an eyebrow, guessing what might be happening¡ª

    "System?"

    ¡¾Kid, although I can''t afford to buy you Disney right now, I''ve rented this ce. This amusement park is all yours for today...¡¿

    The system was somewhat embarrassed.

    ¡¾Everyone else gave you gifts, and I wanted to give you one too.¡¿

    But since Disney was out of reach and buying "Jin City Fun Kingdom" wasn''t an option, renting it for a day was the next best thing to let the child have some fun.

    Jin City Fun Kingdom, located near Jin City, was thergest amusement park in the area, covering eighty acres. Recently, it had seen daily visitor numbers around twenty thousand, but with school starting soon and summer ending, the numbers had dropped to about seven or eight thousand a day.

    After renting the entire park, the staff didn''t need to be on site; the system took over the park''s control systems, telling its own little cat: y however you want.

    Chu Tingwu: "......"

    She pursed her lips, then her mouth curved into a smile, identally revealing a dimple: "Then I''ll just y around?"

    She had been to the amusement park a few times before, but being young, many rides were off-limits... Now, she still wasn''t old enough, but the system had rented the whole park!

    The car that brought her left, and the gates of the amusement park closed. Chu Tingwu unleashed Three-Five-Five, starting with a slow walk, then breaking into a jog, and finally, she just went for parkour¡ª

    After all, parkour was just a way to get around.

    She headed straight for the drop tower.

    System: "......!"

    At the highest point, Chu Tingwu could feel her heart pounding. She looked down at the drone that was a step slower in flying up and instinctively reached out to grab it.

    Even though she knew the safetytch was locked, the system panicked: "Kid, don''t pull too hard!"

    It was so worried that the soft body of the kitten would not be held securely by the chair, unable to support its young cub''s waist!

    As the bungee ride ended, the cub nodded calmly, stepped off the seat, and then stepped onto the steel column gap behind the bungee machine.

    The system: "?"

    Although it also found the structure as tempting as a cat climbing frame... No, tempting for cats, it insisted on some safety measures. Where was the safety harness?

    After coaxing the cub to wear the somewhat useless safety harness, the system wiped its sweat, watching the cub easily climb halfway up, then rest for a few seconds before breathlessly reaching the top of the bungee machine.

    Three-Five-Five was still below, on a steel bar that was just the right height for a human to step on, but not so friendly for cats.

    She looked up, her pupils shrinking under the sunlight, her fur dancing in the wind.

    At the top, Chu Tingwu mped a steel bar between her legs,pleting an "upside-down hang."

    In parkour, there were also upside-down moves, but she had never imagined the world could appear so clear in her eyes¡ª

    The distant forests, the roller coaster, the indoor amusement park painted like a monster, all spun in her view, theke reflecting the sky. Chu Tingwu could feel the wind brushing through her hair.

    And the system was shrieking: "Aaaaah!"

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    The system: "I, I''m just excited because I''ve got a new idea for modifying drones..."

    You''re not nning to turn it into an unmanned aerial vehicle, are you? So it could catch Chu Tingwu if she fell.

    She knew the system would never refuse any of her requests, only finding ways to support her¡ªwhether she was doing dangerous things, for which it would helpmit arson and murder, or things that threatened her own safety, for which it would do everything possible to ensure her safety, as long as she was happy.

    Chu Tingwu couldn''t help but smile.

    She grinned, feeling the high-altitude wind, her core muscles powering her as she suddenly sat upright at the top of the bungee machine, arms spread wide in the sunlight: "I really like this."

    The system: "Hmm?"

    Chu Tingwu: "I mean, I really like this gift."

    The descent was slower than the ascent. When she was about five or six meters from the ground, Chu Tingwu simply jumped down.

    Her forepaws touched the ground first, absorbing the impact in a squat.

    Then, she and Three-Five-Five meowed at each other, both leaping at the same time¡ªThree-Five-Five to the second steel bar.

    Chu Tingwu, meanwhile, reached out her arms to catch a higher pipe, ncing down:

    She estimated she had jumped about six meters high.

    That figure was "terrifying"!

    ¡ªBut in reality, she had been able to jump six meters two months ago; in dream ss, six meters wasn''t even enough to reach the top of a cab.

    Because she was just a kitten.

    She could feel her heart still thumping powerfully, not because of the bungee machine, nor because of the thrilling activities before, but because of excitement.

    Could I really jump that high, that far? Could I really stand so securely at such heights, effortlessly climb steel frames dozens of stories high, and anchor myself with just my arms? My strength allowed me to do so much more...

    "This is just the first project," the system cheerfully said, "Kiddo, there''s a lot more fun toe!"

    Chu Tingwu climbed onto the roof of the carousel, and Three-Five-Five joined her to bask in the sun.

    She wasn''t fond of those virtual reality games; the slow-moving merry-go-round was hardly exciting, but she lingered in thrill rides like roller coasters and pirate ships. Eventually, she and Three-Five-Five rested in the mini aquarium, with Three-Five-Five fixated on a wall of fish, his head turning this way and that, while Chu Tingwu poured herself a soda water.

    The amusement park was deserted except for one person, one cat, and the operational machines, yet it didn''t feel empty or frightening. Chu Tingwu only felt aforting tranquility:

    "I like this..."

    She paused, "I wasn''t caught on surveince today, was I?"

    Not to mention, her superhuman jumping ability would be hard to exin if caught on camera.

    The system was reliable: "There won''t be any footage of today in the satellites either."

    Chu Tingwu hummed in acknowledgment, leaning on the table, catching a glimpse of Three-Five-Five peering into the touch pool from the corner of her eye.

    System: "?"

    It noticed the cub''s expression was serious, as if in deep thought, yet her avatar on the personal panel was smiling, indicating she was in a good mood.

    What was going on?

    Chu Tingwu: "I''ve been thinking about some things I want to do in the future."

    A cat''s body, unique athletic abilities, sharp sense of smell, gradually awakening perception and hearing... She couldn''t hide such a physique forever. Parkour was minor mischief, but in this world¡ªthere were many exciting sports where she could openly use her abilities.

    She thought of some things she wanted to do in the future.

    Maybe that future was a few months away, maybe years, but just thinking about such prospects seemed to make the world a more beautiful ce.

    Chu Tingwu: "Let''s go on the Ferris wheel again."

    She hadn''t yet seen the sunset over this city.

    System: "Sure, sure."

    -

    The next day, Teacher Cao let his son go out to y with Chu Tingwu next door. By the end of the day, the boy seemed quite happy, incessantly asking him to make a UFO.

    Is that something a person could make?

    Cao Meng: "Meiqiu and Three-Five-Five yed, and I helped sister make a UFO, I got all the materials!"

    It seemed like he went next door for a craft session.

    Teacher Cao casually asked his son what he thought of Sister Chu.

    Cao''s son nodded solemnly: "Sister said Meiqiu needs to lose weight... She asked Three-Five-Five to train her, and also, she said she exercises every day, and I can join her... Dad, can you help her make the UFO tomorrow, you exercise, and then I keep the stuff?"

    Teacher Cao: "?"

    He waved his hand, casually docking his son''s snack allowance for the day. As the little boy went off toin to the cat, Teacher Cao''s impression of Chu Tingwu grew a bit richer:

    She seemed like a healthy and disciplined young girl, capable of entertaining his son for half a day, which spoke well of her character and patience.

    Her English grades must be good, right? Wonder if she''d be willing to be the English ss representative once school starts?

    These thoughtssted until the next morning.

    On the first day of September, the school registration day, Teacher Cao had to drop his son off at kindergarten and was running a bitte.

    After brushing his teeth, he pulled back the curtains, took a breath of fresh air, and turned his head just in time to see Chu Tingwu, also ready to go, stepping out onto her balcony... probably to air out her room?

    Chu Tingwu, with a small backpack, opened her window.

    With a light leap, she jumped onto the window ledge.

    Teacher Cao: ¡°¡­¡±

    The next second, the quiet, organized girl who liked to exercise and was very patient, leaped forward,nding precisely on themunity wall, then with another jump, shended perfectly on top of the school yground fence, and then she casually jumped down and strolled towards her ssroom.

    Though it was a whole set of actions, it was incredibly fluid and took just a second, leaving Teacher Cao with the name he intended to call out stuck in his throat.

    So it was you!

 Chapter 31

    On the first day of school, the long-quiet No. 5 Middle School buzzed with activity.

    Students didn''t have sses on the first day. Freshmen only needed to report to the school to pick up their uniforms, military training outfits, campus cards, and locate their ssrooms.

    Many students were apanied by their parents. Unlike sophomores and seniors, freshmen, after receiving their military training uniforms, were also assigned dormitories for the seven days of training¡ªduring which they had to stay in the dorms without any electronic devices, especially mobile phones and gaming consoles.

    The door to ss 1 of the freshmen was wide open. Parents apanied their children in and out, and two tables were set up at the entrance, piled with summer school uniforms. The homeroom teacher of ss 1, Teacher Yuan, sat behind the podium, talking to a parent when he suddenly turned his head, "Chu Tingwu?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Teacher Yuan..."

    She was called to the front. Teacher Yuan smiled at her, "You''re in Dorm 401. I''ve put your things under that table over there. Could you help me hand out some uniforms if you have a moment?"

    She understood. Besides her, the system and Teacher Yuan and his wife must all know she was their student.

    It was no trouble at all, and Chu Tingwu agreed neatly.

    Teacher Yuan smiled, "After you finish reporting, I''ll apany you to the dormitory."

    Having not yet exchanged information with her husband, in Teacher Yuan''s eyes, Chu Tingwu was still the quiet, gentle, and somewhat reserved girl. And since no parents were apanying her, and she was both the homeroom teacher and a neighbor, it was only right to help her settle into the dormitory.

    The task was not demanding. Chu Tingwu just needed to find the right size uniforms and military outfits for the reporting students and hand them over¡ªshe also took the opportunity to familiarize herself with the new students'' faces.

    Since she was helping the homeroom teacher, most ssmates didn''t have much of an impression of each other yet, but they somewhat remembered her face.

    During a break, Teacher Yuan handed Chu Tingwu a bottle of orange juice, "Our school has four-person dorms, sorted by the first letter of the surname, and student numbers are also arranged alphabetically. So, in your dorm, besides you, there are No. 1, No. 3, and No. 4."

    Being among the first few, Chu Tingwu immediately thought of their names¡ª

    No. 1 was An Shiyan, who arrived quitete, ten centimeters shorter than Chu Tingwu, spoke very gently, and was very fair. No. 3 and No. 4, who were already reported by the time Chu Tingwu arrived, were said to be twin sisters, the older sister named Chang Yixin and the younger sister Chang Yile.

    Although the military training was only for a week, it was still her first time living in the same room with others. She hoped her roommates wouldn''t be too difficult to get along with.

    -

    While Chu Tingwu was volunteering for the homeroom teacher, 355 finished breakfast and jumped onto the windowsill.

    System: "=="

    It opened the window, and 355 shook its fur, jumped from the window to the opposite wall, and then walked along the base of the wall.

    The air was filled with unfamiliar scents. To 355, this city was still very strange, only "home" was a familiar territory.

    Thus, after the cub went out, she also needed to patrol the surrounding area.

    She walked to the corner of the wall, leaped onto the tree, and sniffed the scent left by this elm tree¡ª

    There didn''t seem to be many stray cats in the neighborhood, but many people kept dogs, which were often taken out for walks in the evening.

    Chu Tingwu and 355 spent time together without noticing any change in her, but the system knew that 355 had actually be much stronger and followed Chu Tingwu out every day, running up and down, getting plenty of exercise.

    Shey down on the tree branch, yawned widely, and as she looked down, she saw a lively golden retriever running over, cing its paws on the branch and barking twice.

    The pet''s owner, a step behind, hurried forward to pick up the leash: "Goldie!"

    "What''s that in the tree, a ck trash bag?"

    The owner, thin and tall, looked somewhat under the weather. He pulled out his sses from his pocket and put them on, only to realize it was a tortoiseshell cat rolling its eyes at him.

    "Meow¡ª"

    The tortoiseshell jumped to the top of the wall, and Goldie, wagging his tail, followed, clearly curious about the new cat. Goldie''s owner quickly patted his head: "Don''t scare the cat... the big cat away."

    It doesn''t seem too small, does it?

    However, the tortoiseshell on the wall didn''t seem frightened at all, seemingly aware that the silly dog couldn''t climb up, and continued to walk leisurely along the top of the wall.

    With the dog being too strong, Goldie''s owner could only lead the dog¡ªor rather, be led by the dog¡ªkeeping up. He noticed that the cat asionally stopped, looked around as if memorizing the routes of the neighborhood.

    Then, the cat made a round, jumped from the wall to the tree, then onto the roof of someone''s car, pushed off the wall, and quickly climbed to the second floor.

    "Meow, meow," Goldie''s owner called out, "Come down,e down, it''s too dangerous!"

    This couldn''t be a silly cat about to get stuck up high, could it?

    But the cat ignored him, hesitated at the edge of a second-floor window, then leaped forward onto the top of an air conditioning unit, then twisted around and jumped to a third-floor window.

    The window on the third floor was cracked open just a palm''s width.

    As Goldie''s owner looked up, a resident preparing to drive to work also noticed his actions and looked up: "Hey, whose cat is that?"

    Goldie''s owner: "I don''t know, it''s wearing a cor, probably someone''s cat that got out."

    The resident also looked up: "So, is it trying to go home? Does someone in 301 keep it?"

    Goldie''s owner: "How could it be, I am from 301."

    Resident: "¡­"

    Goldie''s owner: "¡­ Damn!"

    Just as he was about to run upstairs with the dog, he saw a cat''s paw reach out from the window crack, swipe at the window, and force it open a bit more. Then, a green ball fell down.

    Goldie: "Woof, woof, woof!"

    Goldie''s owner screamed: "Goldie! I told you not to y with the ball outside, you rememberst time it rolled into the drain and I had to retrieve it!"

    He had brought a frisbee, why insist on ying with this easily lost ball! It had disappeared three times and he had repurchased it three times, even the online store customer service recognized him!

    After much struggle, the owner finally subdued the dog, stuffed the ball into the, and looked up¡ªonly to find the chief troublemaker, the cat, had already strutted away.

    Owner of the golden retriever: ¡°¡­¡±

    He needed to ask around in the homeowners'' group to find out whose cat it was!

    355 had already reached the central courtyard of the neighborhood.

    Although there weren''t many stray cats in themunity, there were still a few, including a yellow-and-white one perched on the roof of a car.

    Noticing 355 approaching, it opened its eyes, stretchedzily, and silently observed the neer from its high vantage point¡ªthis new fellow seemed like a tough one to mess with.

    355 looked up, squinted, and suddenly leaped onto the hood of the car. The yellow-and-white cat slipped in fright, gave her a panicked nce, and darted off the car.

    355: ¡°Meow-wow!¡±

    Yellow-and-white: ¡°¡­¡±

    Tail tucked, it nced back at the tortoiseshell cat with a look of grievance before disappearing into the bushes.

    From her high perch, 355 flicked her tail and left a scent mark on the railing as a sign, then continued to intimidate the other stray cats¡ª

    The new territory was quiterge; marking it was somewhat tiring, and she would likely need to venture out often.

    Although aware of the existence of elevators, 355 seldom used them. She wandered around the base of each building, quickly memorizing which animals frequented each one¡­ especially those pets that only came out every few months for vinations, which she didn¡¯t count.

    355: ¡°Meow.¡±

    There were many birds in this building, which made her ws itch.

    After a brief patrol, she turned to head back and just then came face-to-face with an old man carrying a birdcage.

    Old man: ¡°¡­¡±

    He immediately raised his hand to protect the birdcage, eyeing the unfamiliarrge cat warily. Noticing her cor, he hesitated before lowering his hand slightly: ¡°Whose cat is this?¡±

    Is it lost?

    The parrot in the cage choked up and shouted, ¡°Robber, robber¡ª¡±

    355: ¡°==¡±

    She suddenly turned to face a nearby wall, leaped over a meter high, then vaulted over the top of the old man¡¯s birdcage.

    The parrot coughed as if choked.

    Old man: ¡°!?¡±

    When he turned around, the tortoiseshell cat had already disappeared.

    355 leisurely strolled home, climbing the stairs to the second floor, but she didn¡¯t approach apartment 202. Instead, she stopped at the door of 201.

    System: ¡°?¡±

    355 let out two long meows. After a moment, only audible to cats, footsteps approached from the other side of the heavy security door.

    Coal: ¡°Meow-wow?!¡±

    355: ¡°Mew?¡±

    Coal: ¡°Meow-wow-wow, meow-wow!¡±

    In Teacher Yuan''s entryway, a pure ck cat named Coal scrambled up and down, trying to reach the doorknob. But being a short-legged cat with a concerning weight, she jumped in vain for a long time, eventually running back to the feeder and voraciously eating the cat food.

    355 at the door: ¡°==¡±

    Why couldn¡¯t she still learn to open the door after all this time?

    ...The kitten asked her to help this clumsy cat lose some weight, otherwise its health would be at risk due to its obesity. Despite 355''s efforts to train Coal for half a day, the cat thought it was just ying and failed to reach the exercise intensity approved by 355.

    So, she nned to take this cat out on patrol today.

    Is it really that hard to open a door?

    355 raised its paw and tapped on Teacher Yuan''s door, but Coal was already dozing off, managing a weak "meow" in response before climbing onto the bay window''s nest to bask in the sun, sprawling out.

    355: "..."

    System: "=="

    Even the next-door surveince caught that!

    Realizing it was impossible to wake a deeply sleeping cat, 355 turned around, went back home for a drink of water, and then meowed at the living room''s touchscreen.

    ¡ªShe didn''t know what the system was, but the kitten had exined that there was another entity at home she could ask for anything, and it was very useful.

    A drawer in the living room popped open, and 355 jumped up, pulling out a stic bag.

    It was yogurt bread.

    She rolled around on the floor, sticking her head through the handle of the stic bag, letting the bread hang under her neck.

    Because she was carrying something, 355 didn''t jump out the window but walked out the main door of theplex instead.

    The security guard was drinking tea, catching a glimpse from the corner of his eye of the surveince alert:

    ¡¾Please do not crawl under the gate, use your card!¡¿

    ¡¾Please do not crawl under the gate, use your card!¡¿

    Security guard: "Hey, don''t crawl¡ªhuh?"

    Isn''t that just a cat? How did the dumb AI mistake a cat for a resident and even ask it to swipe a card!

    Next to theplex was a school, and during reporting time, the traffic jammed right up to the school gates. Fortunately, a barrier tape was pulled up at the entrance, allowing a path for students and parents. As parents entered, 355 also slipped in under their feet.

    Someone was on the phone, someone else was looking for their ssroom, and some were ying games following their parents, but some noticed 355¡ª

    "Wow... wait, what''s that on the cat''s neck?"

    "Is this our school''s cat? Why haven''t I seen it before?"

    "Meow, meow, chomp, chomp¡ª"

    The noise.

    355 shook her left ear, avoiding crowded areas, and made her way to the ssroom of Grade 1 (1).

    The ssroom door was open, but no one was there. The scent of the kitten lingered, clearly having stayed there for a long time. 355 rubbed against the lectern, then the window, before jumping down and continuing towards the back.

    Teacher Cao just happened toe out of the office. He wasn''t the homeroom teacher, but his wife was, so they shared the responsibilities. He looked up, surprised to see the familiar cat, "355?"

    355 stopped, ncing at this human: "Meow?"

    Teacher Cao bent down, trying to pet the cat but 355 dodged with a tilt of her head. He noticed the bag: "You... brought snacks for Chu Tingwu?"

    355 flicked her ears, unmoved.

    Teacher Cao: "..."

    That kid will be home soon, right? He won''t be hungry in just half a day... But that was just his guess.

    After double-checking the cat''s identity with its cor, Teacher Cao simply pointed and said, "Look over there, Chu Tingwu has gone to the girls'' dormitory. They need to make the beds and clean up the room first."

    Chang Yile,zily rubbing the human with her tail as a thank you, then headed in the direction he pointed.

    Teacher Cao: "=="

    I hope this cat doesn''t show up during military training too.

    -

    In dormitory 401, all four roommates were present.

    Their parents were there too, along with Chu Tingwu and Teacher Yuan, crowding the room¡ªfortunately, as soon as Teacher Yuan arrived, the parents were busy talking to her and stepped outside.

    Chang Yixin, with her long hair tied in a ponytail, about the same height as Chu Tingwu, gave her a tight-lipped smile.

    Chang Yile, who had cut her hair to ear-length and permed it, was much more lively than her sister. After chattering through her introduction, sheplimented Chu Tingwu''s name, "Our parents were sozy with our names, you''d think I was destined to sell ramen!"

    Back when "Fire Ninja" was a hit at school, some mischievous ssmates nicknamed her "Ramen Girl," which annoyed her for a long time.

    Some even heard her sister called "Yixin (Heart)" and suggested her name should be "Yiyi," because it sounds like "wholeheartedly."

    Nowadays, most students have mobile phones, and they quickly added each other as friends. Chu Tingwu saw that Chang Yile''s ID was "Little Ramen," Chang Yixin''s was "Double Hearted."

    Chu Tingwu: "=_="

    And An Shiyan''s ID was "Buy First, Think About Living Later."

    So what exactly are you buying?

    Her intuition told her that although two of her roommates seemed quiet, they were probably quite lively at heart.

    Just having met, and not sure what to talk about, they busied themselves with their tasks. Chu Tingwu heard Teacher Yuan saying, "Well... their parents are both very busy, so I''ll keep thempany..."

    It seemed the parents were hoping the teacher would pay extra attention to their children, when suddenly Teacher Yuan stopped mid-sentence: "355?"

    Chu Tingwu: "......"

    Turning her head, sure enough, a tortoiseshell cat had sneaked into the dorm.

    "Wow!" x3

    Their beds were lofted with desks underneath. Chang Yile jumped down from thedder, squatted down to pet the cat, while Chang Yixin, a bit slower, stood behind her sister, peering over with eager eyes, and An Shiyan took out her phone to start filming, cooing "Meow meow."

    Sitting on bed number two, Chu Tingwu: "355?"

    355 squeezed past the humans, climbed thedder to the bed, and then shook its cor, signaling the youngsters to bring the treats it had brought.

    "Wow, it can actually climbdders! And it climbs so fast!"

    "Chu Tingwu! Is that thing on its neck for you? Is this your cat?"

    "Wow wow¡ªthank you, thank you! Is this for me? Ah, thank you! I need to take a picture, hehehe..."

    The whole dorm room instantly filled withughter and chatter, everyone''s demeanor warming up twice as much, and Teacher Yuan, standing at the door: "...Ha."

    It seems there''s not too much to worry about after all.

    "I still have to say what needs to be said," she called Chu Tingwu out, "Pets are not allowed in the dormitory. I''ll be checking during military training, so make sure you take care of 355."

    Chu Tingwu grabbed 355''s front paws, making a gesture of surrender, "Okay, Teacher Yuan, I won''t let 355 enter the dorm again... But she was a stray cat before, she likes to go out, and she has a tracking chip imnted, so she won''t get lost or go too far. Maybe she''ll still wander around the school?"

    355: "?"

    She licked her nose, and both human and cat looked at Teacher Yuan, who coughed, "...Anyway, you can''t bring her into the dorm."

    That meant it was okay to wait downstairs.

    As for today, school hadn''t started yet. Just as Chu Tingwu let go of 355, she darted into the dorm, then turned to look at the kitten, seemingly puzzled why it didn''t follow.

    An Shiyany on the bed, silently filming 355, while chatting with Chu Tingwu, "Your cat is so big... Oh my, my grandma also has a cat, but my parents don''t want to keep one, my mom is a clean freak. Chu Tingwu, are you a local, is your home nearby?"

    The other three in the dorm were locals, but when Chu Tingwu mentioned she was from Fallen Phoenix City, they all remembered something about it.

    Chang Yile said, "I know, your Fallen Phoenix City has a very spiritual sight! Oh, and there''s a parkourpetition, I must go there during the National Day¡ªI saw that parkour video... uh... hmm?"

    She scratched her head.

    She touched her chin.

    She gave Chu Tingwu a skeptical look, then nced at 355.

    Chang Yixin asked, "Chu Tingwu, was that actor in the promotional video you?"

    Five minutester, Chu Tingwu sat on a chair, with her three roommates gathered behind her, all watching Chang Yile''s phone screen¡ªyes, it was ying a tourism promotional video of Fallen Phoenix City.

    "So cool," "So handsome," "How did you do that," "Was it real," "What was it like filming," "What''s the crew like," "Wow wow wow wow," "Please teach me parkour, master¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu: "...You were all so quiet before."

    Chang Yixin still smiled with pursed lips.

    Chang Yile wrapped an arm around Chu Tingwu''s shoulder, "Ah? You mean me?"

    An Shiyan shrugged, "Of course we had to pretend a bit when we first met!"

    Once they started talking about Chu Tingwu''s summer experiences, there was so much to say, and with Chang Yile ying the straight man, the conversation never fell t. They chatted for a long time, during which Chang Yixin helped Chu Tingwu wipe the table and railings, while An Shiyan helped her fold the mattress, "You''d better take the mattress and sheets home to wash, dry them, and then bring them back."

    Their parents also helped bring water and did some cleaning, after which the Chang sisters said they could go home on their own, leaving their parents to do their own thing.

    "We''re going out for a walk and some bubble tea, mom and dad, you can take the stuff back!"

    "Oh, then Chu..."

    "Chu Tingwu, you guys go have fun. I''ll bring your stuff back," Teacher Yuan said, "We happen to be neighbors."

    Chang Yile pinched Chu Tingwu''s hand and whispered, "Brave one."

    Daring to be neighbors with the ss teacher.

    Chu Tingwu pinched the system in her mind.

    The system popped up: "Kiddo, um, are you guys going shopping? Maybe pick up these things while you''re at it..."

    High school students shopping is really just about hanging out and snacking, but having things to buy can extend the fun. Chu Tingwu noted down the items, then puzzled, "Are we running out of these at home?"

    Moreover, she was starting military training tomorrow, and these didn''t seem like things to take to school.

    Dog chew toys, parrot shampoo... Why do I need to pick up another ess card from the property management on the way home?

    System: "=="

    It projected a message from the homeowners'' group chat.

    [Whose tortoiseshell cat is this running around¡­]

    [I just saw this tortoiseshell at the pet feeding station, it won¡¯t eat the food, and it¡¯s wearing a cor, is it domestic? But when it passed by, neither Little Yellow nor One-Ear dared to eat their cat food, are domestic cats this fierce?]

    [@1-502, this tortoiseshell was just lying on your car, is it yours?]

    [@1-502, this tortoiseshell just entered my house and took my dog''s toy out¡­ Now my dog needs another bath, you really need to keep windows closed if you have cats, they shouldn¡¯t be let out freely.]

    [@1-502, this tortoiseshell just scared my parrot into mutism, my bird used to be so talkative, and now it won¡¯t say a word since getting home.]

    1-502:

    [@1-301@3-201@2-101, huh? This isn¡¯t my cat, mine is a Ragdoll!]

    Forget scaring dogs and birds, the beautiful idiot at home doesn¡¯t even dare to step out, oh heavens, someone please im this tortoiseshell, don¡¯t let my innocent Ragdoll be wrongly used.

    The system silently observed, peeking at the screen, and didn¡¯t speak up, only privately messaging a few people, indicating that their cat was rather free-spirited and would bring gifts to apologizeter that night.

    ¡ªRight, Chu Tingwu buying gifts, just let 355 handle it herself.

    One should clean up their own messes, how could she involve the kiddo?

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    She always felt, although she wasn''t one to initiate social interactions, with 355 around, she was bound to know everyone in the neighborhood soon.

    -

    A whistle pierced the quiet air.

    355 suddenly sprang up from the mattress, licked its nose, only to realize the sound came from outside the window.

    The kiddo wasn¡¯t home, out again, and this time without the cat.

    And it would be many days before returning.

    Cat mom perched on the window ledge, pressing her face against the ss until it ttened, her golden vertical pupils tracking the figures of students.

    Military training had begun.

    She tapped the window.

    System: "¡­"

    She tapped again, and to her satisfaction, the window opened.

    Then 355 jumped onto the fence, took some time to spot the kiddo, and returned home to p a paw on the fridge.

    System: "¡­"

    The system gave in.

    Meanwhile, Chu Tingwu''s military training had already started.

    The military training at No. 5 Middle Schoolsts only seven days, so the content isn''t extensive. Standing at attention and marching are the basics, followed by two days of military boxing, culminating in a performance review.

    Clearly, with such a cramped schedule, the training isn''t too rigorous. Instructor Yan briefly outlined the training schedule before taking everyone out to stand at attention under the sun.

    "You are all new students, and I know you''re not familiar with each other," Instructor Yan said, "but I believe that training together will quickly get you acquainted¡ªnow, from left to right, number off, adding your name after your number. Remember, your number will be your position for standing at attention and marching this week!"

    Some were hesitant to shout their names loudly, so Instructor Yan made them repeat it until everyone had done it once, then repeated the process three more times. This made the students familiar with each other''s names, with some bing deeply ingrained... but this was not friendly for those with social anxiety, like An Shiyan, who red at the instructor, visibly upset.

    She was one of the students forced to repeat her name several times because she spoke too softly, eventually drawing looks from students in the next ss over.

    Unmoved, Instructor Yan stood with his hands behind his back: "I know it''s hot, I''m hot too, and I''m not resting in the shade¡ªour military training is only seven days, so should we just get through it? No, it''s precisely because we only have seven days that we need to make the most of this time to train well. There aren''t many spots for outstanding sses and exemry soldiers, do you have the confidence?"

    The crowd looked at him expressionlessly.

    Their eyebrows twitched.

    Instructor Yan: "Second row, first person! Your expression is a bit odd, what do you want to say?"

    Chang Yile: "Report, Instructor! A peacock has taken your water bottle!"

    Instructor Yan: "?"

    Turning around, Instructor Yan made a sound he hadn''t made since firsting to No. 5 Middle School: "Why does your school even have peacocks?"

    The students, who had been standing at attention, immediately broke intoughter, shaking as they did so. The instructor: "..."

    He nced at the children and then at his departing water bottle, resignedly saying, "Continue standing, Instructor Liu¡ªInstructor Liu, can you keep an eye on this for me?"

    Instructor Liu: "Huh? Where are you going?"

    A student from ss 1: "Our instructor is going after his water bottle!"

    Instructor Liu: "I didn''t hear that."

    ss 1 student: "Our¡ªinstructor¡ªis chasing the water bottle¡ª"

    As Instructor Yan chased after it, a tortoiseshell cat crossed his path, heading straight for Chu Tingwu in the middle of the formation.

    At first, the students thought it was a stray cat, but when 355 ced a bag with ice pops next to Chu Tingwu''s feet, the situation changed.

    Students: "QVq"

    355: "Mew?"

    Before Chu Tingwu could bend down, Instructor Liu approached, his voice low: "Student, is this your cat?"

    Chu Tingwu: "...Yes."

    He picked up the bag with a smile, nced at it and said, "Confiscated, haha. You can have popsicles at home or after training, but not now."

    Chu Tingwu nodded and meowed twice at 355.

    Everyone: "?"

    As the breeze blew, the leaves of the ne trees gently swayed. Instructor Yan grabbed back his water bottle and was about to lecture the students when he noticed they were staring past him with eager eyes at Old Liu''s formation behind him.

    Instructor Yan: "..." Wait a minute?

    His eyes lit up, and he turned around¡ª

    "Old Liu, how did a cat get your water bottle?"

    This kid, I don''t know where he got a popsicle from, it''s really infuriating, serves him right.

    Old Liu: "?!"

    He nced hurriedly at Chu Tingwu and rushed after the cat¡ªIf he didn''t chase it now, the cat would jump over the fence.

    Meanwhile, Chu Tingwu saw Chang Yile on her left, his upper body still, his hand by his trouser seam quietly raised, giving her a thumbs up:

    You directed this, right?

    Chu Tingwu: "......"

    She didn''t!

    The two meows she just made were clearly telling 355 to hurry home, no need toe see her, it''s too hot.

    Chang Yixin on her right also moved his hand, giving Chu Tingwu a thumbs up.

    Chu Tingwu: "......"

    ...She really didn''t!

 Chapter 32

    "Old Yan, I heard there''s a troublemaker in your ss?"

    "Old Yan? I saw photos in the group chat - why is there a cat in your formation?"

    "Yan Li, your formation doesn''t seem very serious. I can hearughter from your direction even from far away. What''s going on - are you performing crosstalk for your students?"

    Instructor Yan: "?"

    It wasn''t like he wanted to perform.

    To be honest, he didn''t think Chu Tingwu was a troublemaker at first.

    The girl was quite tall with a proportionate figure. Her hair was cut to neck length in a well-behaved style. She had the kind of eyes and expression that made you think she was a quiet child - and indeed she was quiet and obedient, specifically shown by how she could keep a straight face while others wereughing.

    But the other students wereughing because of the cat she brought!

    Instructor Yan: "..."

    After Old Liu grabbed back his water bottle, the cat stopped causing trouble and justy on a nearby tree, swishing its tail while watching ss (1) train.

    Everyone knows that standing around during military training is incredibly boring. Students'' eyes wander everywhere - even the bricks on the ground seem interesting, let alone a living, breathing cat.

    Instructor Yan had no choice but to stand at the front, holding his water bottle while keeping a close eye on those with wandering gazes.

    But when he got close, some people noticed his water bottle and their expressions immediately cracked, changing from zoning out to suppressingughter - and quite obviously at that.

    Instructor Yan: "?"

    Being easily amused is an illness that needs treatment!

    He needed to make an example of a real troublemaker to get them to be more serious!

    Otherwise, forget about being an exemry unit - he himself would be criticized in reports.

    So after lunch, Instructor Yan watched Chu Tingwu for a long time before regretfully turning to the boys in the back: "Row 5, Number 2, step forward!"

    The boy who had been making faces at his neighbor jumped and took a step forward.

    Instructor Yan: "Can you do push-ups?"

    The boy did ten push-ups with a pained expression before being allowed to return to formation.

    Once someone was punished, these new students finally tightened up and stopped swaying and fooling around. The afternoon included standing at attention and marching practice, with military songs during breaks. Most people were exhausted.

    Near dismissal time, Instructor Yan turned his head and noticed the cat was gone... probably scared away by their loud shouting.

    The peacock had also been sent back, which made him feel relieved.

    Looking at Chu Tingwu again, her posture was standard with a perfectly straight back. She looked pleasing to the eye once more - quite well-behaved after all.

    -

    During military training, each ss''s homeroom teacher would also be at school, asionallying to check on the training.

    Teacher Yuan naturally did the same. Besides watching the training, she had an additional task - Teacher Cao had told her that Chu Tingwu could climb directly over the yground wall to leave campus, so she needed to keep an extra eye out as it was too dangerous.

    Teacher Yuan: "...You haven''t confused her with a cat, have you?"

    Teacher Cao: "I''m just nearsighted, not blind."

    Heaven knows how shocked he was early that morning when he saw Chu Tingwu jump from a window onto the wall, then leap nearly three meters to the railing outside the yground-

    "The top of our yground fence has spikes on one half and curves on the other - she was standing on the curved tform. If her foot slips, she could end up with a row of holes in herself!"

    This wasn''t just dangerous behavior anymore - it was life-threatening.

    So Teacher Cao hesitated and didn''t immediately confront Chu Tingwu: they all knew her parents weren''t reliable, and kids this age were especially prone to rebellion - they needed to be handled gently.

    This wasn''t Chu Tingwu''s first time doing this, so he decided to observe first and see if this child just liked dangerous activities and thrills, or if she was simply fearless with too much courage.

    However, during their military training, Teacher Cao found some time and stood by the yground fence, trying to climb up-

    Forget about jumping straight to the foothold at the top - he couldn''t even climb up using both hands and feet.

    ...And then the security guard noticed him.

    "Teacher Cao?"

    "Haha, I just saw what looked like a ck cat back there, so I climbed up to take a look."

    "That''s a ck stic bag."

    Is your eyesight okay, Teacher Cao?

    With faint doubts and concerns, Teacher Yuan stayed at school until evening, and after seeing the girls'' dormitory doors close, she decided to do room inspections.

    -

    This was Chu Tingwu''s first time sharing a room with others.

    After they all took their showers, it wasn''t lights-out time yet. Chang Yile pulled out Chinese chess from her drawer and yed with Chang Yixin, while An Shiyan took out a notebook and sat at the desk drawing.

    As Chu Tingwu passed by, she noticed An Shiyan had a notebook, ruler, andpass, and was sketching on white paper - it seemed she wasn''t drawing pictures but doing some kind of design.

    After being checkmated yet again, Chang Yileined wistfully: "I really want to use my phone..."

    Phones weren''t allowed at school, and they were strictly forbidden during military training - getting caught with one would result in a disciplinary warning and disqualification from being an excellent trainee (if applicable). Their dorm room was under special attention from their homeroom teacher, and their parents had been very cooperative, confiscating their phones in advance, leaving these phone-dependent patients extremely bored.

    Thest time they used their phones was thest time!

    Chu Tingwu wasn''t bored though - the system was showing her a documentary about lions on the savanna. After falling asleep at night, she could still run and jump around in the dream ssroom all night. During normal days, she also frequently engaged in outdoor activities, so she wasn''t very dependent on her phone.

    But the other three clearly didn''t feel the same way. An Shiyan also threw down her pen: "Did anyone bring ying cards? Want to y?"

    Chang Yile: "My mom said they weren''t allowed. Apparently you can lose points if they''re found. See, we only brought Chinese chess - we couldn''t even bring Ludo!"

    Chang Yixin: "...Should we write military training diaries instead?"

    As soon as she said this, her twin sister loudly objected: "That''s even worse than ying chess!"

    In the end, Chu Tingwu and Chang Yixin were ying chess, with Chang Yile giving random advice from the side. When Teacher Yuan knocked and entered, she found Chang Yile doing push-ups with An Shiyan trying to sit on her back.

    Teacher Yuan: "...Hmm?"

    Chu Tingwu: "She got caught cheating at chess, now it''s punishment time."

    Teacher Yuan thought: Looks like your daytime exercise wasn''t enough if you still have this much energy.

    After checking the room, she gave additional instructions: "If you want hot water, go get it now. Don''t wander the corridors after lights out - there are cameras. Also, if anyone feels sick or unwell, you can go find the dorm supervisor."

    But for other matters, just forget it... Teacher Yuan had juste from Room 307, where a girl had been crying because she was homesick, probably overwhelmed by the day''s exercise.

    So seeing Room 401 so lively made her feel relieved.

    After checking again and confirming no one had electronic devices, she went to the next room.

    After Teacher Yuan left, Chang Yile mumbled: "If we can''t get water at night, what if I want to eat instant noodles?"

    She was hungry after exercising.

    An Shiyan: "I want potato chips."

    Chang Yixin: "Hot pot."

    System: "Barbecue... barbecue..."

    Chu Tingwu: Why are you calling out too?

    The system was quite aggrieved: "You ate too little today, you need to supplement your meat intake."

    What kind of kitten eats so little! And with such strict meal times! Military training is too much!

    It felt that if its young cub really trained like this for seven days, she would definitely lose weight.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    After being pestered by the system for a while, Chu Tingwu finally gave in and asked her roommates: "Do you really want midnight snacks?"

    As soon as she said this, her roommates became alert: "Could it be...

    "Cat delivery?!"

    Chang Yile: "Can we order food? Can we order food... Never mind, it would be too heavy for a cat to carry..."

    Chang Yixin: "Could we get it through the first-floor bathroom window?"

    An Shiyan sighed: "The bathroom windows seem to be high up, about two meters high with frosted ss strips. Can a cat bring food through that?"

    It would be too much to ask Three Five Five to jump two meters, so Chu Tingwu said: "But I can."

    Her roommates: "..."

    Right, right... their roommate seemed to be an extremely skilled parkour athlete, the kind who could get millions of views on rooftop parkour livestreams!

    An Shiyan raised her hand: "So just bring whatever? No need to bring anything specific, I can eat anything. Oh right! Tingwu, that window is quite narrow, isn''t it?"

    She gestured with her hands, showing that it was about a meter long but only around forty centimeters wide, able to slide open horizontally.

    Chu Tingwu: "I''ll throw the stuff in, you guys help catch it?"

    That was easy enough to agree to.

    About half an hourter, the dorm lights were out. They could faintly hear movement from next door, along with footsteps from upstairs and downstairs. When her roommates wanted to move, Chu Tingwu stopped them. They waited another ten minutes until the dorm supervisor had also gone to bed before heading downstairs.

    Chu Tingwu walked in front, with her roommates following behind. They walked somewhat clumsily, unaware that in the darkness, Chu Tingwu''s eyes had quietly transformed into cat-like pupils.

    In the environment, there were only three sets of footsteps. Though she wore shoes like the others, Chu Tingwu''s steps were nearly silent. Following behind, Chang Yile''s palms were getting sweaty, and at the corner, she simply grabbed Chu Tingwu''s hand.

    Hmm, it was warm.

    She had been scared to death.

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    After staying in the darkness for a while, their eyes adjusted and shapes became clearer. The four of them moved to the first-floor bathroom.

    An Shiyan drew in a sharp breath: "Can someone really fit through this window?"

    The window could only open about a hand''s width, needing to be pushed open before anyone could pass through. Moreover, it was two meters high outside. An Shiyan was hesitating, about to say something when she saw a figure lightly jump onto the very top of the bathroom stall door.

    Yes, the very top.

    An Shiyan: "?"

    Chu Tingwu adjusted her position on top and gestured with her hand: "Can you open the stall door for me?"

    The door creaked as it turned, moving closer to the window. The three roommates looked up with their mouths forming perfect "O"s.

    Chu Tingwu crouched on the door''s edge, which was barely two centimeters wide, and opened the window above.

    Then, she lunged forward, her upper body smoothly slipping through the window. With a flex of her wrist, her lower body followed through.

    There was no sound from outside, and the others nervously looked at each other:

    "She... she didn''t fall, right?"

    "What if she can''t get back in? Is there anything out there to step on?"

    "I actually thought we''d have to do it like in TV dramas (gesturing), where we''d make a human bridge with our thighs and wrists, and Chu Tingwu would climb over..."

    But none of that was needed!

    Suddenly, a transparent bag appeared at the window, which Chang Yile quickly caught, followed by another. Soon, several bags containing food were in their hands, and a hand appeared at the window.

    The hand made a gesture outward, and the roommates understood the signal, stepping back two paces to make room.

    This time, they got to see Chu Tingwu''s window acrobatics from a different angle.

    Her lower body came through first, and as her head followed, Chu Tingwu twisted to face the right way, gripping the window frame with one hand. She pushed off the wall andnded gracefully.

    Chang Yile: "...Yound more quietly than I walk!"

    Having such a roommate would really give someone the wrong impression about parkour!

    The four of them sneaked back to their dorm with excited hearts. Once inside, they immediately began dividing their spoils. In the darkness, Chang Yile pulled out a mini shlight, and they gathered around her desk to eat their midnight snack. Afterward, the whole room was filled with the aroma of meat.

    Chang Yile: "(munching) Chang Yixin, go open the window to clear the smell..."

    Chang Yixin: "Whoever''s closest to the window should go."

    Chu Tingwu: "Ah, then I''ll go."

    "No, no, no¡ª"

    Several people held her back, and An Shiyan ran to crack open the window. After eating their fill, they started getting drowsy. Everyone finished washing up again and fell asleep almost instantly after getting into bed.

    Only Chu Tingwu continued watching her Lion King documentary for a while, then went parkour training in her dream ssroom.

    Meanwhile, Instructor Yan wasn''t asleep either.

    After the instructors finished checking the boys'' dormitory, they stayed in their school amodation. Before bed, the instructors decided to order some barbecue takeout... When the delivery was nearly there, Instructor Yan went to wait at the school gate, only to watch the delivery person head to the neighboringplex first.

    Finally getting his own order, on his way back, he noticed arge cat on the wall, its eyes glowing like two bulbs in the darkness, with takeout in its mouth.

    The cat looked at him.

    He looked at the cat.

    Then the cat walked away with disdain.

    Instructor Yan: "?"

    Were all the cats at No. 5 High School like this?

    For some reason, during training the next day, while walking among the ss formation, Instructor Yan kept thinking he could smell barbecue.

    On the second day of military training, everyone''s postures had improved somewhat. When Instructor Yan gave them a break, he added some extra praise: "You''re making good progress, I think you''re doing better than ss (2)."

    Someone eximed in shock: "Instructor, you''re actually not saying we''re the worst batch you''ve ever trained!"

    Instructor Yan: "...Would you even believe me if I said that?"

    As everyoneughed, Instructor Yan said: "If you work hard, we can master the military stance and marching quickly, then I can teach you military boxing early. That''s more interesting than these two exercises, right?"

    That was true - if they had to suffer under the sun anyway, everyone preferred suffering with more freedom of movement.

    Someone called for the instructor to demonstrate, and Instructor Yan didn''t refuse. He casually picked the loudest male student and easily took him down.

    The students had just let out a "Wow" when suddenly they released an even bigger "Wow!"

    Instructor Yan: "?" He hadn''t moved from his position at all!

    He turned around cautiously and, sure enough, saw a familiar calico cat and a familiar peacock.

    Why was No. 5 High School''s peacock out again?

    Behind them, the peacock and the calico were in a standoff. The calicoy on the edge of the flower bed, its tail raised in a subtle arc, its entire body tense as it squinted at the "big bird" before it.

    The peacock had been taking small steps around earlier, but upon seeing the unfamiliar cat, it seemed to sense the other''s aggressive nature. It shook its tail and suddenly chose to fan it out.

    The neighboring ss (2) also let out a "Wow!"

    Although this peacock''s appearance wasn''t particrly impressive - quite ordinary, in fact - being able to see a peacock disy its tail at school rather than at a zoo certainly deserved these No. 5 High School freshmen''s exmations of amazement.

    San Wu Wu called out, her voice unusually husky, showing her evident excitement.

    But just then, the cafeteria auntie walked over, picked up the peacock like she would a chicken, and apologized to everyone around: "Sorry about that, I''ll take it back now."

    The school''s peacock had gotten used to wandering around on its own after being here so long.

    Instructor Yan: "=="

    San Wu Wu also seemed to lose interest. She walked forward a couple of steps, nced at Instructor Yan, and quietly climbed into her cub''sp.

    Instructor Yan: "Ahem!"

    The cat ignored him.

    Instructor Yan: "Chu Tingwu? Would you like toe up and practice?"

    Upon hearing her cub''s name, San Wu Wu''s ears twitched first, then she turned to look at the instructor, her tail swishing back and forth.

    Instructor Yan called others either by pointing or stating their position, but he had remembered Chu Tingwu''s name since day one - how could he not remember it?

    He watched as the short-haired, demure (?) girl stood up reluctantly. The cat also got down, naturally following at her feet. The human and cat walked to the front, with the cat curiously looking up, sizing up the male human before them.

    Instructor Yan: "...Your cat won''t scratch me, will it?"

    If he suddenly had to apply for leave to get vinations, those inconsiderate fellows wouldugh themselves to death!

    Then, he watched as the young girl crouched down and patted the cat''s head. The cat purred, turned around, and climbed up a tree, lying on a branch to watch the two of them.

    If you ignore the names of the moves, military boxing can be categorized by its practical purposes as "punching, kicking, knife-disarming, and choking" - it''s quite practical forbat. However, when taught to students during military training, after going through their interpretation, it obviously couldn''t be very practical anymore.

    Having called Chu Tingwu up, the instructor didn''t intend to practice with her seriously, just joked: "Follow my movements for two moves, let me see if your form is standard or not."

    He nned to have Chu Tingwu perform a straight punch and a roundhouse kick - one requiring a horse stance for support, and the other standing on one leg. Both movements demanded good bnce. Many students would start trembling within two minutes when first learning these moves, eventually losing their stability.

    Hmm... her posture was quite standard...

    Although Chu Tingwu had been somewhat defiant with her cat-training behavior, Instructor Yan had actually considered making her a military training model student. After all, anyone with eyes could see who performed well and who didn''t after a day''s training.

    Two minutes of holding the position, and her form hadn''t deteriorated...

    Why hasn''t her form broken down yet... How could she be so stable?

    She must have had prior training, right?

    Hey...

    Instructor Yan: "..."

    This was bing rather awkward.

    He turned his head and noticed several students fidgeting, particrly one familiar face - twins were always memorable: "Chang Yile?"

    Chang Yile: "Reporting, Instructor! Chu Tingwu has training experience. She could hold this for another three hours! Does that mean we can rest for three hours too?"

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    No... she couldn''tst three hours either!

    Her roommates knew her UP ount ID but hadn''t spread it around. A few students might have recognized her through "Three Five Five," but with limited chatting opportunities during training, they couldn''t confirm it face-to-face.

    Instructor Yan: "Impossible!"

    He pped his hands, signaling Chu Tingwu to stop, which drew collective "tsks" from the students.

    Instructor Yan: "Tch... sigh... alright, fine. Chu Tingwu,e here. Since you''ve had training, show me two moves. I''ll learn from you, and then we can move past this!"

    The students finally stopped their disapproving sounds. They no longerined about the heat or fatigue, and instead started offering suggestions to Chu Tingwu:

    "Show him, boss!"

    "Boss, do something shy, make it impossible for the instructor!"

    "Go for it, Chu-chu!"

    Even the neighboring ss (2) stopped their training. Instructor Liu specifically had them sit opposite to watch, standing with his hands behind his back, looking quite amused.

    Chu Tingwu: "I''ll just do two random moves then..."

    She couldn''t really make things too difficult for the instructor, right?

    She walked a few steps into the empty field, jumped slightly, and performed three consecutive front flips.

    ss 1 & ss 2: "Wow!"

    Chu Tingwu: "==" This was, um, a bit embarrassing.

    Instructor Yan actually felt relieved: Front flips, even three consecutive ones, were something he could manage.

    He pped his hands, shot Old Liu a re, and moved beside Chu Tingwu. He performed three consecutive front flips as well. Unlike Chu Tingwu''s lightnding, Instructor Yan''snding had a solid, powerful feel to it.

    It was hard to say who did better.

    After the instructor finished, Chu Tingwu nodded, grabbed the horizontal bar nearby, and pulled herself up with one swift movement.

    Instructor Yan: "..." He had an inexplicable sense of foreboding.

    Then, he watched as the female student maintained that "==" expression, swinging effortlessly on the bar. She rotated 180 degrees, supported herself with both hands, and performed a handstand facing ss 1. Then, she lifted her left hand, crossed her hands to flip, swung 360 degrees, and faced ss 2,pleting another perfect handstand.

    She held it for three seconds, seemingly deciding that going further might not be appropriate... Finally, she supported herself on the bar, did a split, and dismounted.

    Instructor Yan took a deep breath: "Are you a gymnast?!"

    Your Fifth Middle School... is really going too far, from the peacocks to the students.

    Chu Tingwu: "...Something like that?"

    Every cat is a natural gymnastics master, after all.

    Unable to give up without saying anything, Instructor Yan took a deep breath and chose to mount the horizontal bar. A 360-degree swing wasn''t difficult, and even doing two "kip-ups" was easy. He could manage the cross-handed face change too - though his speed was faster than Chu Tingwu''s, and he couldn''t hold still on the bar.

    But the handstand split required too much bnce - impossible without specialized training... Instructor Yan chose to give up.

    After dismounting, he was quite frank: "You met my requirements, but I couldn''t meet yours. ording to the rules, I should ept punishment. What''s it going to be?"

    Before the crowd could start heckling, Chu Tingwu decided to be merciful: "Ten push-ups should do it."

    Instructor Yan immediately got down, and the students stopped their teasing... but Three Five Five meowed once from the tree.

    Instructor Yan: "?"

    By the third push-up, he felt something furry settle on his back.

    He switched from two-handed push-ups to one-handed, doing finger push-ups while turning his head -

    A tortoiseshell cat was perched on his back.

    Then, a white cat with slightly ck ears darted out from the grove, meowed once, and jumped onto his back too.

    Instructor Yan: "??"

    Next, a calico cat with a ck face leisurely climbed onto his back, meowed "meow meow" twice, and called over a long-haired Persian cat.

    The weight aside, it was really hot!

    Afterpleting ten push-ups, he immediately stood up. The four cats moved away even faster, retreating to the shade to watch the students'' military training.

    As for Instructor Yan, covered in cat fur, he silently continued training, silently red at people, silently drank water... and silently received criticism from the head instructor during lunch:

    "Yan Li, I know you need to bond with the students, but I could hear your formationughing several times from far away. I even saw you doing finger push-ups with four cats on your back. What''s next, nning to join the circus as an acrobat after retirement?"

    Instructor Yan: "I..."

    He hadn''t invited the cats - it was the cats'' fault! Something was wrong with Fifth Middle School''s cats!

    He turned his head and saw the leading tortoiseshell cat crouching at the cafeteria entrance, holding a bagged popsicle in its mouth.

    Instructor Yan: "=="

    He looked over at Chu Tingwu and found her getting a second serving of food, eating diligently, showing no trace of her earlier defiant behavior.

    Having gymnastics experience doesn''t equal knowing military boxing -

    Since this kid had good bnce, she should practice more! When it came time to teach military boxing, he would scrutinize her every move. If he couldn''t train her to be the grade''s model student, he''d change his surname to Cat.

    Three Five Five shook her fur: "Meow?"

    The popsicle was cold, making her fur damp. Why hadn''t the young onee out yet?

 Chapter 33

    During training, Chu Tingwu could feel many people observing her.

    She was used to it by now.

    She had even memorized everyone in her ss by their scents.

    Her scent detection skill was still at level 2, but Chu Tingwu could feel herself bing more adept at using her keen new sense of smell... Most of the time, when meeting someone new, she would first mark them with a scentbel in her mind and judge whether this scent indicated friendliness or dislike¡ªthen, upon meeting again, before the person''s image appeared, the emotion associated with their scent would already surface in her mind.

    ...It was as if she was using another brain to remember these scents, and they wouldn''t fade even after a long time.

    That evening after training ended, Chu Tingwu was again pulled into the dream course by the system.

    But this time, the reference subject didn''t seem to be cats¡ª

    Chu Tingwu''sbat course happened once a week on average, and the content involved wrestling with kitten-sized lions, but since the kittens had no fighting ability, she treated these lessons as ytime with fluffy creatures.

    But today there were no fluffy creatures in ss.

    The system disyed a projection in the room for Chu Tingwu:

    "Little one, this is a 3D projection of your physical condition."

    The scene looked very sci-fi, and Chu Tingwu noticed her fingers were marked in red with erged feature points. She sat in the chair, pondering: "My nails seem to grow very slowly?"

    She hadn''t cut her nails for a while, but they had only grown a tiny bit, barely covering her fingertips.

    The system''s tone was very grave: "Little one, I have some very regrettable news to tell you¡ª"

    It projected an upright cat next to her human body projection, the same height as Chu Tingwu, but with obviously different joint structures.

    [You can''t grow into this form!]

    Chu Tingwu: You just figured that out?

    [Human-cats are just too special... I''ve been having you learn felinebat methods all this time, but you don''t have those kinds of teeth, nor sharp ws (chokes up)... I''ve determined that your nails will grow even slower than a cat''s, and they''llpletely stop growing at some point, but they''ll be extremely hard.]

    [They''ll also shed and regrow after aging.]

    The system showed a video clip of a tiger hunting, showing Chu Tingwu the direct footage of a tiger shing open an antelope''s belly with one swipe: "You''ll probably be able to achieve this level when you''re an adult..."

    Chu Tingwu: "Tear open an antelope with bare hands?"

    Obviously, her nails wouldn''t grow too long, just about the length that normal people keep their nails, with a certain curvature, but they would be very, very, very hard¡ªhard enough to be used like des, and if she wanted, with a slight adjustment of angle, they could be used as sharp weapons.

    But the system wasn''t very satisfied and felt extremely guilty.

    Chu Tingwu had tofort it instead: "I''m a bit of a clean freak anyway, I wouldn''t tear things apart with my bare hands..."

    That didn''t really sound likefort either?

    Compared to her hands, her feet had also changed somewhat, with the thickness of her soles better able to absorb the impact ofnding¡ªnormal cats should have soft pads on all four feet fornding, but human-cats mainly use two feet, requiring higher bnce.

    Afterpleting its self-constion, the system continued: "But little one, you still need to learn some survival skills. Human cubs have already started learning, so I think your new course needs to begin too."

    Learning these skills doesn''t necessarily mean she''ll have to go tear apart antelopes in the wild, but she can''t not know how!

    Chu Tingwu: "...I think you have some misunderstandings about military boxing."

    Human cubs don''t learn military boxing for wilderness survival!

    However, she was already used to the courses the system arranged for her, so she might as well learn them properly.

    The conversation room disappeared, transforming into the No. 5 Middle School yground. Chu Tingwu found herself standing in the middle of the field, with no one around¡ª

    ording to the system, simting familiar environments helps cubs apply ssroom techniques in reality.

    Then she heard an angry roar from a beast.

    A Siberian brown bear over two meters tall jumped down from the phoenix tree at the school.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    The brown bear lunged at her.

    Chu Tingwu: "......"

    System, your cub has only learned military boxing and kitten pouncing, is this really something she can handle?!

    -

    Chang Yixin was the earliest riser in the dormitory.

    Usually, when she just got out of bed, Chu Tingwu on the opposite bed number two would also open her eyes, looking as clear as if she hadn''t slept at all the previous night, then grip the guardrail and jump straight down.

    But today was unusual¡ªChang Yixin had already gotten dressed, yet Chu Tingwu still hadn''t woken up.

    So she simply sat cross-legged on her bed, looking at how the others were sleeping.

    Chang Yile was sprawled face-down on her pillow, An Shiyan was hugging her pillow and sleeping soundly, while Chu Tingwu liked to sleep curled up, with her elbows and knees together. Usually, just as Chang Yixin finished putting on her clothes, Chu Tingwu''s eyes would open, as if awakened by her roommate''s movements, though she didn''t seem like someone who would have trouble sleeping due to noise.

    All in all, she was quite an intriguing roommate.

    When she got down from her bed, she felt a breeze pass behind her ear, and turning around, sure enough, Chu Tingwu had jumped down from her bed and started putting on her military training uniform.

    A few minutester, after they had finished washing up, the other two were also awakened by their rms.

    Chang Yile slowly climbed down thedder, while An Shiyan was still sitting on her bed in a daze, trying to wake herself up properly.

    When she was still two rungs away from the ground, Chang Yile reached out to pat Chu Tingwu''s shoulder: "Chu Chu, have you seen my shoes¡ª"

    Her shoes had been kicked somewhere unknown on the floor.

    But in the next second, Chang Yile let out an "Ouch!"

    Because Chu Tingwu had grabbed her wrist and then lifted¡ªhoisting Chang Yile up by her thigh onto her shoulders.

    Chang Yile: "?"

    She was sitting on Chu Tingwu''s shoulders, but the person below seemed to have frozen.

    Chang Yile: "Um... I can put on my shoes, you don''t need to carry me to breakfast."

    Shoulder ride! She actually experienced a shoulder ride with her roommate again! Thest time was when she was five years old, being taken out by her parents, fighting with her sister for a spot on their father''s shoulders because it felt higher... But she''s fifteen now!

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    "It was instinctive, just instinctive..."

    She had instinctively wanted to do a shoulder throw, good thing she changed the movement midway!

    An Shiyan: "?"

    "Actually, I can''t find my shoes either..."

    Chang Yile: "Then wait, I''ll help you put them on¡ª"

    After fooling around for a while, they went to the cafeteria for breakfast. Students from other dorms were also up, and people would asionally greet them along the way. Most people would wave at Chu Tingwu from afar when they saw her.

    Chu Tingwu: "Morning..."

    She called out their names¡ªstudents from her ss, from the neighboring ss 2, and even chatted with the cafeteria aunties. Chang Yile remarked from the side: "Your memory is so good. I''m a bit face-blind, I can only remember people from our ss right now."

    And even then, she only remembered faces, not matching them to names yet.

    Chu Tingwu: "I''m just good at recognizing people."

    She was even better at recognizing cats.

    High school students still had pure personalities, and many people were pleasantly surprised when Chu Tingwu could call out their names. While Chu Tingwu was eating breakfast, a neighboring ssmate even gave her a meat bun.

    Chu Tingwu: "Thanks?"

    Although she was already full, she could still eat a bit more.

    Today''s military training followed the usual two routines, but near the end of the day, Instructor Yan taught them aplete set of military boxing moves and had them practice for half an hour.

    "Come on, let''s learn ahead of schedule and outdo the other sses."

    The other sses saw it all!

    Instructor Yan walked through the rows, stopping in front of Chu Tingwu.

    She learned the moves quite quickly... but this child, why did she look so angry when throwing punches, putting so much force into every strike.

    Instructor Yan: "Good, that''s exactly the spirit we want! Much more powerful than yesterday!"

    After saying that, he carefully skirted around from the side in a manner that didn''t match his words.

    When they finally dispersed, as others were about to leave, Instructor Yan called out to Chu Tingwu and said quietly, "Write your military training diary well, and sing louder during the songs, make sure you memorize all the lyrics."

    Each ss had three military training exemrs, but there were only six exemrs for the entire grade level, basically one person per ss.

    Her roommates could all see it - Chu Tingwu was likely to get one of the military training exemr positions as she had always performed well. Chang Yile raised her hand in a salute and asked, "What''s the use of being a military training exemr?"

    Chu Tingwu replied: "Just an honor, I guess."

    Perhaps there would be recognition at an assembly and a certificate?

    Chang Yile: "Oh!"

    System: "Oh!!"

    Bing a military training exemr made it easier to be remembered by school leaders and teachers, and would attract ssmates'' attention¡ª

    A passing unfamiliar student: "Chu Tingwu, your cat is in the cafeteria!"

    ...but Chu Tingwu didn''t seem to need that much attention; she was already well-known.

    To be honest, while she had already remembered most people, even more people remembered her. Some even trained on the other side of the field but would speciallye over to look at her during meals in the cafeteria.

    Even second and third-year seniors had heard about the special freshman who had a cat bringing her popsicles during military training.

    So after finishing dinner and receiving her popsicle, she went with Three-Five-Five to rest under a tree shade.

    Three-Five-Five''s left front paw rested on her thigh, dozing off to bird songs with twitching ears. Although she could see her kitten every day and knew the kitten was just across from the house on the field, Three-Five-Five still felt ufortable every night when her kitten wasn''t home.

    So her daily routine after waking up was to first knock on the neighbor''s door, go into Teacher Yuan''s house for an extra meal, chase Coal Ball around the house, then go find the parrot in the next building to exchange insults through the door, followed by ying with cats and dogs in the neighborhood to reinforce her territory marks, and when the sun reached its peak, she would bring some snacks to her kitten.

    Chu Tingwu slowly stroked Three-Five-Five''s back, making the cat purr. In the September weather, asional cool breezes mixed with the hot wind, making the cat''s fur and Chu Tingwu''s hair flutter.

    She closed her eyes.

    Instinctively, she mysteriously knew: which direction the wind would blow.

    In a ce Chu Tingwu couldn''t see, the progress bar of [Perception: lv0] silently increased by a small increment.

    Then, at a certain moment, like nts breaking through soil, distant sounds suddenly became both closer and more distant, and the world became clearer to her ears¡ª

    [Hearing: lv1]

    She could hear the insects wriggling in the soil beside the flower bed below, hear birds suddenly pping their wings andnding on tree branches, causing leaves to tremble into a silent short tune, and even feel the vibrations of distant footsteps transmitted through the ground to her feet.

    Tap tap, tap tap...

    Tap, tap...

    The sounds painted this world into a magical canvas hanging between heaven and earth, and Chu Tingwu was like the only child standing before the painting, wearing a bewildered expression.

    She had no simr guides, only a cat by her side.

    Three-Five-Five stretchedzily, letting out a "Meow..."

    The system encouraged her: "Just follow your instincts, little one."

    When Instructor Yan passed by the field, he noticed someone was still on the horizontal bar at the other end of the field.

    Unlikerades who mighte for basic exercise out of restlessness, in the twilight, he could vaguely see the person wearing a military training uniform... which ss were they from?

    Except for boarding students, all second and third-year students had gone home by this time. The most numerous and hardest to manage students in school now were the newly arrived first-years.

    He stood on tiptoe to look and saw that the person was hanging from the horizontal bar with their arms, head above the bar, swinging casually back and forth. A cat was crouching on top of the bar, another cat below, and yet another cat was grooming itself nearby.

    Instructor Yan: "..."

    Though he only saw the back view, he could guess who it was.

    Instructor Yan: "Chu..."

    Chu Tingwu suddenly moved.

    She rotated 180 degrees, swinging herself above the horizontal bar, then let go,pleting a beautiful flip in mid-air,nding with one leg forward and one back, precisely on top of the horizontal bar with a "pat."

    The cats meowed several times, as if apuding her performance.

    Instructor Yan drew in a sharp breath, his heart nearly jumping out¡ª

    Even in gymnastics, there should be others watching during training, and even with mats below, injuries were stillmon.

    But Chu Tingwu hadpleted this high-difficulty move with no one around... was she expecting the cats to catch her if she fell?

    And Chu Tingwu hadn''te down yet - she stood on top of the horizontal bar with her hands in her pockets, silently gazing into the distance¡ªlike a cat climbing high to view the scenery. Then she walked back and forth on the horizontal bar as if walking on t ground, even bounced a couple of times, and finally crouched down to y with the cats below. Only after realizing the cats couldn''t climb up did she jump down.

    Soon after, Instructor Yan saw Chu Tingwu calling to her tortoiseshell cat as they walked toward the field exit.

    They would probably part ways at the dormitory building.

    He stood at the exit without a word, arms crossed, watching.

    From about several dozen meters away, the girl''s gaze seemed to fall on his face.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    Instructor Yan humphed.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    She silently looked toward the diagonal direction of the girls'' dormitory.

    Instructor Yan: "...?" Wait!

    The side of No.5 Middle School''s field facing outside had steel railings, while the inside had a circle of tall wire fencing¡ªbut ser yers still often kicked balls over it, and basketball yers even more so, despite the wire fence being over three meters high.

    At this moment, Instructor Yan suddenly felt the school''s wire fence didn''t seem so high anymore!

    He saw Chu Tingwu tell her cat to go home first, then sprint toward the diagonal¡ª

    Instructor Yan couldn''t maintain his crossed-arms posture anymore and ran in the same direction.

    Chu Tingwu made one jump, as agile as a monkey. In the blink of an eye, she was straddling the top of the wire fence, and in another blink, she had flipped over the fence and jumped down. Then, after running a few more steps, she was already at the girls'' dormitory entrance.

    A passingrade: "Old Yan? Old Yan, what are you doing, going for a run?"

    Before Instructor Yan could speak, by the time he reached the girls'' dormitory, Chu Tingwu had already vanished, with only other girls returning to the dormitory asionally turning to look at him.

    Instructor Yan: "..."

    This little rascal!

    -

    The military training exemr he chose himself, he had to finish training her even with tears in his eyes.

    Instructor Yan wanted to "train" her face to face, but after trying to catch her for two days, he couldn''t find any fault with Chu Tingwu in person.

    On the fifth day of military training, when they needed to submit the list of military training exemrs, he went to find the homeroom teacher, Teacher Yuan. After some hesitation, he mentioned Chu Tingwu: "For the exemrs, I n to give them some extra training. When we submit the military training exemr list, each instructor can rmend one grade-level exemr to present themselves before the chief instructor... the list includes these few: Chu Tingwu, Chang Yixin, Tang Zhe. Chu Tingwu has trained the best..."

    Teacher Yuan: "That''s great, this child is quite... has quite good athletic ability."

    Teacher Yuan and Instructor Yan exchanged nces.

    Teacher Yuan: "Was she caught climbing through windows?"

    Instructor Yan: "She climbed through windows too?!"

    "..."

    Teacher Yuan was also at a loss¡ª

    Once or twice would have been fine, but getting midnight snacks every night meant eventually running into the night duty dormitory supervisor. The supervisor only noticed that fourth-floor residents kept going to the first floor bathroom, but when Teacher Yuan heard it was Chu Tingwu''s dormitory, something felt off.

    She went to check the security footage: while the cameras didn''t catch Chu Tingwu climbing out of the first-floor bathroom window, they did capture Three-Five-Five delivering takeout every night.

    Teacher Yuan: "..." Was it the cat climbing in with takeout nearly its own weight, or the person climbing out? Looking at that height, it didn''t seem to be an issue either way.

    Instructor Yan: "If any vitions are caught, even nominated standard-bearers will have their status revoked."

    Teacher Yuan: "Then I''ll have another talk with her."

    On the fifth day of military training, three predicted standard-bearers from ss One were called to the teachers'' office.

    Chang Yixin entered through the door arm-in-arm with Chu Tingwu, while Tang Zhe followed behind them. Teacher Yuan nced at them and immediately understood why Instructor Yan had chosen these three - they all had good appearance and posture, both boys and girls were rtively tall, and none had problems with slouching. Though they had gotten a bit tanned, they looked healthy and energetic.

    Teacher Yuan: "When we evaluate outstanding students at the end of the year, being a military training standard-bearer counts as bonus points. The school''s outstanding student awardse with prize money, though not much. If you''re willing to join, you''ll need to do some extra training with the instructor after military training ends these days. Does anyone want to opt out?"

    Chang Yixin: "When I''m doing extra training, Chang Yile will probably apany me¡ª"

    Teacher Yuan: "That''s fine, the instructor won''t mind."

    Chang Yixin: "What I mean is, can we make her leave? She''ll definitely be eating ice cream on the sidelines."

    It would be terrible to watch them train while eating.

    Teacher Yuan: "=="

    Seeing they had no other requests, Teacher Yuan sent the two to find the instructor while keeping Chu Tingwu behind.

    Teacher Yuan: "Um... Tingwu, Instructor Yan told me he hopes to nominate you as a grade-level standard-bearer. There are only six spots for the whole grade. The instructor thinks you''ve done very well in all training aspects, but there''s one small issue."

    Chu Tingwu, who was pulled to sit in a chair nearby, already understood: "I''ll tone it down these couple of days. I mainly worry about not getting enough regr exercise, so sometimes I give myself extra practice."

    Teacher Yuan: Just these two days?

    Teacher Yuan coughed: "I heard from other students that you do parkour, and you''re quite skilled at it. When I was your age, I couldn''t imagine being able to make videos for TV or bing an online content creator with nearly a million followers. However... climbing over school walls is not allowed. Getting caught would result in a demerit. If you want to practice parkour, you should find a safer ce and take proper safety precautions."

    Teacher Yuan had spent an entire evening researching what parkour was, and thinking about Chu Tingwu''s situation, contacting her family probably wouldn''t help much ¡ª for a child whose parents were divorced and who lived alone, being able to earn money through social media at such a young age was actually quite admirable. So after much deliberation, she neither used harsh words nor firmly demanded Chu Tingwu give up parkour.

    The girl in front of her nodded: "I understand. Getting caught means a demerit. I''ll be careful."

    After Chu Tingwu left, Teacher Yuan leaned on her desk, lost in thought:

    ...Being careful not to get caught, huh?

    You look so obedient, but you''re really quite rebellious at heart!

    -

    When Chu Tingwu came out, she found Chang Yixin and Tang Zhe waiting for her by the stairs instead of leaving first.

    She was quite familiar with Chang Yixin, but Tang Zhe was a male ssmate she had barely spoken to ¡ª however, she had detected the scents of chili powder, tea-scented facial cleanser, sheep milkundry detergent, and peacock feathers on him.

    The first three scents merely gave Chu Tingwu some insight into Tang Zhe''s lifestyle, but thest one made her suspicious.

    Chang Yixin: "The instructor said to meet at the indoor gymnasium."

    They had been called over after dinner, so after an extra hour of training, they could return to their dorms.

    The indoor gymnasium was better lit. When they pushed open the doors, the military training standard-bearer candidates from other sses were already there, chatting in small groups before practice began. As soon as Chu Tingwu walked in, she heard someone whisper to theirpanion: "That''s her, Chu Tingwu from ss One. I heard she has connections that let her bring a cat to school."

    The kind of "connections" like Three-Five-Five helping Coal Ball lose weight?

    She calmed herself and found that the surrounding whispers seemed to amplify - if she focused on listening, she could hear everything clearly. After several days, Chu Tingwu had adapted to this new hearing ability just like she had adapted to her sense of smell, and it didn''t feel noisy in familiar environments.

    But she suspected she had also picked up a house cat''s habit of feeling ufortable in new environments.

    Suddenly, someone approached them, apparently a student from ss Five. He greeted the three of them: "The coach isn''t here yet, why don''t we practice first? Let''s not waste time."

    Chang Yixin nced at him, smiled tightly, and pulled Chu Tingwu to one side.

    Tang Zhe, wearing an expression that clearly showed he was with them, followed with his hands in his pockets.

    ¡ªWhat''s the point of practicing for just ten minutes? The uing extra training would be exhausting enough.

    The student''s expression soured, but after looking at them, he walked over to ss Three. sses Three and Four seemed convinced by him and began lining up with ss Five. ss Two drifted towards Chu Tingwu''s group - their sses were next door to each other and they were already somewhat familiar. ss Six''s students sat in a corner, apparently ying gomoku, ignoring everyone else.

    When the coach entered, this was the clearly divided scene he encountered.

    Instructor Yan waved them over: "Come here,e here. We''re not practicing the same items as them. Let''se over here and do a set of boxing exercises."

    Although each ss was supposed to have one grade-level standard-bearer by default, the rules only specified the total number of six... it didn''t matter how well other sses performed, they weren''t his people anyway.

    However, after pulling the three aside, Instructor Yan also pretended to look stern while saying quietly: "Couldn''t you at least pretend to go along?"

    Tang Zhe: "Coach, you just said they were pretending..."

    Instructor Yan: "Well, I have my pride too!"

    Making it look like these three on his side were very well-behaved.

    Looking up, Instructor Yan saw Chu Tingwu, and he: "..."

    Never mind, with this one here, pretending probably wouldn''t work anyway.

    The three began practicing military boxing. The instructor corrected their movements, then said: "Chang Yixin, put some force into it! Imagine the person you hate most is in front of you -e on! One punch for each! Tang Zhe, stand steady, is there something on your shoe sole? Why are you wobbling? Chu Tingwu¡ª"

    "Stop spacing out! Your movements are standard, but where''s your eye contact? Your expression? Are you nning to fall asleep right in front of me?"

    "You''re all only fifteen or sixteen, howe you have less spirit than my eighty-year-old neighbor!" He pped his hands, "Wake up, wake up! Feeling drowsy after eating? If you work efficiently and finish practice early, I''ll let you watch videos for half an hour!"

    Tang Zhe: "?"

    Instructor Yan: "What''s with those expressions..."

    Chang Yixin: "We''re skeptical about your video selection standards."

    Instructor Yan: "?"

    Don''t use respectfulnguage to be sarcastic, just becausest time he promised to show videos but ended up showing ss One a military training documentary and made them write reflection papers!

    That was part of the military training curriculum!

    Chu Tingwu: "Huh? What videos?"

    Instructor Yan: "..." You really did fall asleep!

    ...In the end, that evening after training, what they watched was a clip from an anti-Japanese war movie.

    After watching, Chu Tingwu rubbed her ears, feeling they had been overwhelmed by the noise. Chang Yixin was quite curious about the rest of the plot, though she found using hand grenades to blow up nes a bit far-fetched... As they were walking, Chu Tingwu suddenly stopped.

    Chang Yixin: "Did you forget something?"

    The surroundings werepletely quiet, and it was nowpletely dark. The three had been walking together. Under the streetlights, three long shadows were cast on the ground. Tang Zhe, who had been walking with his head down, now also looked up with a puzzled expression.

    Chu Tingwu looked toward the shrubs on the left: "Our school only has two peacocks, right?"

    And both should be male, so why could she smell the scent of an unfamiliar peacock here?

    Tang Zhe: "There are three. There''s another blue peacock that''s always kept in the cafeteria''s back courtyard and isn''t usually let out."

    That one was female, so it wasn''t kept with the male peacocks. After all, the school wanted students to get close to animals, not start peacock breeding.

    Chu Tingwu: "Then it seems it does get let out sometimes..."

    Or perhaps it sneaks out.

    Skipping the topic of peacocks, the three parted ways at the corner. Chu Tingwu and Chang Yixin continued walking together, but Tang Zhe slowed his pace as he walked, muttering, "Wait, how did she know it was let out..."

    He stood there puzzled for a while before running back to the dormitory. Inside, two of his three roommates were huddled on Tang Zhe''s bed, while another sat next door, asionally ncing up. Upon seeing Tang Zhe, they quickly called out, "It''s still warm, we didn''t let it get cold!"

    Tang Zhe climbed onto the bed using both hands and feet: "Let me check the egg again with the candling method!"

    He took out his shlight and examined it with the cold light: "Thank goodness, it''s fine."

    His peacock egg was safe!

    Actually, when he was called to the office today, Tang Zhe had intended to decline being the military training model student, but he couldn''t find a reason at the moment and could only vaguely agree... He could hardly tell the homeroom teacher that he needed to return to the dormitory early to incubate an egg, could he?

    Two days ago, Tang Zhe had found a peacock egg in some bushes on his way back to the dormitory. He was sure it was a peacock egg because of the peacock feathers nearby, and the egg was unusuallyrge. It still felt warm to the touch, and when he shone his shlight through it, he could tell it was likely fertilized.

    After bringing it back to the dormitory, the roommate who knew about peacocks said, "It takes about a month to hatch a peacock egg, right? Should we turn it in?"

    How could they possibly do that!

    But they had military training during the day, and could only provide body heat to the egg during lunch and rest periods¡ªthese high school boys were making do with incubating the egg this way. While Tang Zhe went for extra practice, they kept the egg warm with their body heat. Tang Zhe worried: "But it seems like the temperature''s going to drop these next few days, it might rain."

    They would still be training outside then, so what could they do?

    Who wasn''t a teacher or instructor, but happened to be free during their training time and could keep the egg warm with body heat?

    "A cat..."

    "The school cats won''t listen to you!"

    "Give it back to the peacock?"

    "I heard some peacocks don''t even know how to incubate eggs their first time..."

    "We''ve neverid eggs either, how would we know how to do it?!"

    "Wait," Tang Zhe said, "Stray cats won''t work, but what about Chu Tingwu''s cat?"

    Everyone pictured the tortoiseshell cat in their minds. Its imposing appearance gradually faded away, leaving only the bright words "female cat" in their mental image.

    "Let''s go kneel before Chu Tingwu tomorrow..."

    "Why do we have to kneel? We''re all ssmates¡ªcan''t we just hug her legs and cry?"

    "Old Tang, you go! You found the egg, and when you cry during evening practice, only Chang Yixin will see you."

    "Get lost..."

 Chapter 34

    "Chu Tingwu, Chang Yixin, the instructor says he wants to see us¡ª"

    Although they had to eat lunch together during military training, after lunch the formation was dismissed and everyone could go back for a half-hour nap.

    The ssmates all knew that Tang Zhe and the two girls had been pre-selected as military training exemrs, so they weren''t surprised when Tang Zhe called them over.

    However, Chu Tingwu noticed that when Tang Zhe suddenly spoke up, several boys in the ss who were close to him seemed to be a bit tense.

    ¡ªThis change in "state" was something Chu Tingwu detected through her Perception Skill.

    Her still Level 0 Perception Skill seemed able toprehensively receive information, including breathing sounds, heartbeats, scents, expressions, and movements. Before Chu Tingwu could consciously process theseplex signals, [Perception Level 0] had already transmitted the conclusions to her mind.

    So now, even when meeting strangers, she could instinctively know their attitude toward her.

    Tang Zhe seemed a bit nervous too.

    He''s lying, Chu Tingwu determined.

    But he had no ill intent; he seemed to just be making an excuse.

    So when they walked to the shade of the trees and found no instructor there, Chu Tingwu wasn''t surprised at all.

    Chang Yixin asked: "Where did the instructor want us to go?"

    Tang Zhe: "Actually... well... um... I was the one who called you out here. I wanted to ask Chu Tingwu for a favor in private."

    Chang Yixin, linking arms with Chu Tingwu: "Oh?"

    Five minutester, they received an egg at the boys'' dormitory building.

    The egg was wrapped in two down vests with shock-absorbing padding and foamyers underneath, plus a hot water bottle, all packed into a cardboard delivery box. Tang Zhe exined: "The outer coat is Qin Lan''s¡ªhis mom was worried it might get cold tomorrow when it rains. The box and foamyers were given to us by seniors on the sixth floor; they happened to have boxes left by graduating students, and they even threw in a hot water bottle."

    Pieced together like this, a palm-sized peacock egg looked rather tiny in an arm-length box.

    The three moved to a bench outside Tranquil Thought Lake. Chu Tingwu reached out to touch the egg, and the system disyed the egg''s information to her.

    It really was a peacock egg,id not long ago. Despite being subjected to hot and cold by several high school students, it was surprisingly still viable, but it definitely wouldn''t hatch this way. In a few days, it would likely be a dead egg.

    Chang Yixin: "We should turn it in."

    Chu Tingwu: "We should turn it in."

    Tang Zhe wailed: "No... we''ve been incubating it for two days! This isn''t just my egg anymore, it''s our dorm''s baby!"

    It''s not like your dormid it; you just found it.

    Suddenly, three burly... three sun-tanned high school boys jumped out from the bushes¡ªsure enough, Tang Zhe''s other dormmates, whom Chu Tingwu had already noticed lurking nearby.

    Qin Lan, who had contributed the down vest, slid on his knees in front of Chu Tingwu: "Big Sis Chu! Saving an egg''s life is better than building a seven-story pagoda! It''s just for these few days while we can''t leave campus. Let your cat warm it up a bit, and we''ll take it back after military training. My grandmother has an incubator¡ªwe''re pros at hatching eggs!"

    Does your grandmother have a peacock breeding license?

    Chang Yixin: "=="

    She looked at Chu Tingwu: "Chu Chu, what do you think?"

    Chu Tingwu: "The reasoning isn''t sufficient. If we really want what''s best for the egg, turning it over to the peacock keepers would be better. Novices trying artificial incubation have very low sess rates."

    Tang Zhe didn''t give up: "We decided to incubate it ourselves precisely because we want the egg to survive!"

    He told them: The school had kept these peacocks for several years (verified through seniors on their floor), and this couldn''t be the first egg in all those years, nor could they all have beenid in the grass, yet the peacock poption hadn''t increased!

    "The mini zoo was built by the previous principal, and the new principal reportedly wants to shut it down and definitely won''t increase the number of animals," Tang Zhe pressed his hands together in prayer, "If we hand it over to them, they''ll definitely just let it go bad and die!"

    Even selling it after it hatches would be better than that¡ªthey might as well try themselves!

    Chu Tingwu: "Meow."

    Everyone: What... what does that mean?

    While they were puzzling over this, a white cat with just a ck tail emerged from the neighboring shrubs. The cat avoided the high school students, jumped onto the bench, rubbed against Chu Tingwu''s arm, and peered into the delivery box at the egg.

    This was the school cat, "Spot of ck."

    Spot of ck gave a "meow" and pawed at the peacock egg, then showed visible confusion on its feline face: "Meow meow meow?"

    This is food, not a baby¡ªare you a bit silly, little one?

    Chu Tingwu: "==You think she''ll incubate the egg?"

    It would be considered a well-behaved cat if it didn''t kick this ball-shaped toy to pieces!

    Chu Tingwu: "Three Five Five would be even less likely."

    Incubating an egg requires maintaining sufficient temperature for a long time, and Three Five Five wasn''t a patient cat¡ªit would be too much to ask her to constantly hold an egg.

    The high school boys'' expressions turned dejected... True, even if the cat was willing to nest, they couldn''t take the cat back to their dorm, and leaving it outside wouldn''t guarantee the egg''s condition. If only they could go home during military training¡ª

    Qin Lan: "What if I pretend to have a stomach ache and get my mom to pick me up?"

    Another dormmate said: "Don''t. I heardst year a senior tried to fake a stomach ache to skip training, acted so convincingly that they took him to the hospital and removed his appendix."

    Everyone: "..."

    The egg or your appendix¡ªthat is the question!

    Chu Tingwu: "Let''s send it to my home; my family will help incubate it."

    Qin Lan''s eyes lit up: "Oh right, doesn''t your house face the training ground, super close? Should we sneak out?"

    Chang Yixin knew how she came to school, so she whispered in Chu Tingwu''s ear: "Are you nning to climb the fence yourself to deliver it?"

    Tang Zhe was a bit worried: "If we get caught, you''ll lose your chance to be the training exemr!"

    Though it was just an honorary title, it wouldn''t be worth Chu Tingwu losing it for their egg.

    Chu Tingwu shook her head, meowed again, and Spot of ck jumped onto the box,y down on top, tail swishing back and forth,pletely covering the egg.

    "Meow~"

    Then, Chu Tingwu raised her hand: "Teacher Yuan¡ª"

    Everyone: "?"

    Yuan Zhixiao, who had noticed several students gathered from afar: "?"

    When Teacher Yuan saw Chu Tingwu raising her hand, the boys around her hurriedly stood up. She walked over quickly: "What''s wrong? What are you all doing here?"

    "Teacher Yuan, could you help take Spot of ck to my house when you go home?"

    Tang Zhe: "?"

    Chang Yixin: "?"

    Others: "?"

    Yuan Zhixiao saw the box she was holding: "Oh? Are you nning to adopt it?"

    "Not exactly," Chu Tingwu rubbed her chin, "Actually, I''d like to invite Spot of ck to y at my house. Three Five Five must get lonely being the only cat at home, right?"

    She looked down: "Spot of ck, if you agree, meow twice."

    Spot of ck: "Meow~ Meow~"

    Just lie in the box for a while, and then get lots of delicious food!

    Teacher Yuan: "...Alright, Old Cao is picking up Mengmeng at noon anyway, I''ll have him drop by your ce."

    "Mengmeng" was Cao Meng''s nickname.

    Chu Tingwu: "My door has automatic recognition, Teacher Cao can just push it open. Thank you, Teacher Yuan!"

    These kids were probably just gathering to pet the cat, right? Well, that makes sense¡ªif you want to pet cats, Chu Tingwu is always the right person to find.

    Teacher Yuan walked away carrying the box with a white cat lying on top and a peacock egg hidden underneath.

    ss 1 students silently watched her leave, collectively gulping except for Chu Tingwu.

    There really was a way to send the egg home without getting demerits.

    -

    Teacher Cao delivered the cat box at noon, and by afternoon he noticed Three Five Five chasing Spot of ck along the school wall. Lying in bed that night, something felt off to him:

    Why would you need a box just to transport a cat?

    Could it be that the students were trying to smuggle contraband out of school? Were there phones or tablets hidden under the box?

    With these suspicions in mind, he paid extra attention to ss 1''s military training formation the next day and noticed that several boys from the dormitory seemed particrly attentive to Chu Tingwu, treating her to snacks and drinks.

    Aha!

    However, Teacher Cao didn''t know that Tang Zhe and others were actually paying child support for the egg.

    Chu Tingwu took the opportunity during Teacher Yuan''s lunch break to ask about the small zoo.

    "You noticed that too?" Teacher Yuan sighed helplessly. "Our small zoo''s management is too chaotic. We only have two zookeepers, and we can''t hire suitable ones. The peacocks are free-range, and some are even kept in the cafeteria... The principal has actually wanted to address this for a while..."

    But the ce was really a white elephant, and there wasn''t enough funding for expansion. As for selling the animals... they were allmon animals, and the city zoo wouldn''t take them. They couldn''t just euthanize them all - they were all little lives.

    Chu Tingwu asked, "What if the animals continue to breed?"

    Teacher Yuan replied, "The birds in the aviary used to breed very quickly. Most of the time, by the time we found the eggs, they were already dead. Many birds, after being artificially bred for so long, don''t even know how to incubate eggs themselves... We can only let things be."

    So over the years, the total number had actually increased, but whether the eggs survived was purely a matter of luck.

    Teacher Yuan shared these details with Chu Tingwu only because they were familiar enough with each other, and cautioned her not to spread the information: "You''ll all have chances to visit. The birds are very friendly to humans and will even perch on people, though because cleaning isn''t done frequently enough, the smell inside isn''t very pleasant."

    Many students who entered with excitement left the small zoo with disappointed expressions.

    This kind of detailed work that required patience couldn''t be left to students, and the school was unwilling to spend more onbor costs. The small zoo couldn''t generate ie either - the reality behind free-range breeding was rather bitter.

    Chu Tingwu suggested, "What about seeking sponsorship from the public or students'' parents?"

    Not adoption, since many people don''t have the proper licenses to keep these animals, but rather like regr zoos - collecting sponsorship fees to hire zookeepers to care for the animals, a "nominal" adoption.

    Teacher Yuan: "Well..."

    She thought for a moment: "That would beplicated. The school might not be willing."

    Moreover, animal sponsorship and collecting money from students'' parents could lead to disputes... Some parents might think it''s the school''s intention and sponsor animals to get teachers'' attention for their children, which would defeat the purpose.

    Teacher Yuan patted Chu Tingwu''s head: "Your idea is good. If there''s a chance, I''ll mention it to the director."

    But the chances of sess were low.

    Though Teacher Yuan had asked her not to spread the word, Chu Tingwu could still discuss it with her close friends.

    After training, the two dormitories met at Tranquil Thought Lake. When Chu Tingwu brought up the animal "sponsorship" idea, everyone thought it was a good suggestion.

    Chang Yile said, "I really want to pet something fluffy... and if our parents sponsor them, we can go in and pet them anytime, right?"

    How is that any different from adoption!

    Tang Zhe added, "If sponsorship bes possible, couldn''t we send Little Blue back to the small zoo in the future?"

    If the school''s zoo hadn''t been in such a state, they might not have wanted to smuggle this egg in the first ce.

    The egg hadn''t even hatched yet, but they were already thinking about naming the little peacock. Currently, since all four "fathers" wanted naming rights, they were fighting over it, so they had to settle for a temporary nickname.

    Chang Yixin said, "But the money is indeed an issue... The staff needs to be hired by the school, but can the funding be transparent?"

    Parents would surely misunderstand.

    The tallest boy in the boys'' dormitory spoke up, having clearly given it some thought: "What if students were in charge? We could open a public ount or New Plum ount to post records of how the funds are used, let sponsors monitor it, and also take photos of the small animals to report their status. Plus, since we''re a school, we could set aside one day every week or two weeks to let sponsorse see the animals - these small animals can all be approached up close..."

    "Many people want to keep pets but don''t have the energy. Going to cat cafes means petting cats that aren''t yours, and it''s troublesome to visit sponsored animals at regr zoos. Our small zoo perfectly meets their needs, and the sponsorship fees shouldn''t be too expensive, right?"

    His name was Bai Muhui. After speaking such a long passage, he seemed tired, took a deep breath, and quietly stood aside to watch the others continue discussing.

    An Shiyan pped her hands: "Our school has clubs!"

    She continued, "If students are in charge, manpower might be an issue, but if we create a club for this, we can recruit new members every year to supplement the workforce, specifically responsible for operations."

    Their school''s clubs were created by students based on their interests. They could organize activities on campus during weekends, but didn''t have much presence during regr days.

    Many students, due to academic pressure, only participated in clubs during their first and second years of high school, quitting in their third year.

    Plus, it didn''t add points for college entrance exams =_=

    Chu Tingwu made a decision: "Let''s write down our ideas, make it into a proposal, and submit it to Teacher Yuan to try applying first?"

    Chu Tingwu and the others still had to go for additional training, as tomorrow would be thest day of military training with the presentation performance.

    The others split up, with An Shiyan and Chang Yile walking hand in hand back to their dormitory. An Shiyan suddenly said, "''Let''s try applying first''..."

    Chang Yile: "Hmm?"

    An Shiyan: "It''s nothing, just that I really admire Chu Chu''s drive to take action."

    Doesn''t she hesitate? Isn''t she nervous aboutmunicating with school leaders? With such low chances of sess, she''s already starting to write a proposal? It''s likely just a waste of time.

    In her family, "wasting time" on "things unrted to studying" often required a family war, and independentlypleting self-proposed projects was mostly impossible.

    Chang Yile: "It''s okay to just try!"

    See, this was different - a natural optimist.

    An Shiyan nodded: "Mm, if we get approval, I can do the graphic design for the sponsorship nametes."

    Chang Yile: "Wow! Did you teach yourself? I''ve seen you drawing on paper... that, that..."

    As the two chatted and walked away, a heavy rain fell over Golden City that night.

    The next morning was clear, but the first-year students were still restless. In the afternoon, with a light drizzle floating over the field, the military training presentation ceremony began.

    The military training exemrs had to walk at the front of the formation, in the most prominent position. The principal on the viewing stand didn''t know that two of the military training exemrs had said he "couldn''t tolerate eggs," and even specially praised their spirit while giving out the certificates.

    Instructor Yan watched the three people he had selected with satisfaction... seeing them sessfully receive recognition, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

    For some reason, he felt that apart from Chu Tingwu, the other two didn''t seem very well-behaved either.

    Everything should have proceeded smoothly, but when it came to ss Five''s turn, there was suddenly amotion in the military formation.

    Instructor Yan: "..."

    He had a bad feeling.

    One of ss Five''s military training exemrs was reported on the spot.

    It turned out that someone from the same dormitory reported him for bullying - it wasn''t tooplicated, just that the exemr often took advantage of the reporter, making him fetch water, get things, eat his snacks, use his meal card and such, with the excuse that "we''re dormmates." The reporter had asked for money back several times but never received it, so he kept this matter to himself, not telling anyone.

    The exemr thought everything was fine, but the other person had been holding back for something big.

    Adults often have more tactful ways to achieve their goals, but high school students, some of them can be quite straightforward and extreme in their personalities.

    When this happened, there was also somemotion on the stage. Chu Tingwu noticed that the reported exemr wasn''t the ss Five boy who had made them line up on the first day of extra practice - it had nothing to do with that boy, but his face was also flushed red, his eyes fixed straight ahead.

    He seemed like someone who cared a lot about face.

    The situation was so awkward that the principal''s expression also changed. He skipped giving out ss Five''s certificates, finished giving ss Six''s, then hurriedly ended the presentation and asked several people from ss Five and the reporter to stay behind.

    ss Five''s homeroom teacher and instructor didn''t leave, and the head instructor also stayed... The other exemrs on stage had just dragged their feet a bit when they were shooed back to their formations by their respective instructors like chickens.

    Instructor Yan: "Stop looking, why are you still looking? We only have half an hour left together. Can''t you show at least a little reluctance to part?"

    But everyone just went on eating their snacks!

    Chang Yile: "Well, should we pretend then?"

    It was impossible to fake it - military training was ending, and everyone was beaming with joy.

    Instructor Yan couldn''t keep a straight face either andughed with them: "Alright, let''s leave it at that. No need to stand in the rain anymore. Let''s sing our way back to the dorms and dismiss at the dormitory entrance."

    The familiar song began, with everyone''s voices blending together. Instructor Yan joined in, his voice standing out strong and clear. As the rain drizzled down, an inexplicable touch of mncholy crept into everyone''s hearts.

    The male students dispersed first, with the instructor walking behind. As they walked, the female students gradually moved him to the front, and the formation loosened up¡ª

    How quickly that week had passed.

    Finally, everyone headed upstairs in turn, but Instructor Yan called out to Chu Tingwu:

    "I watched your parkour video. Very impressive. I noticed during boxing practice that you have excellent physical condition."

    Chu Tingwu listened quietly.

    Instructor Yan scratched his head: "Ah... I probably wouldn''t say this to others, but I suspect you might want to properly learn freestyle fighting. If you do, you''ll need to break your habit of always relying on physical agility to win."

    After teaching military boxing, students would yfully spar with each other, just practicing moves of course. During breaks, Instructor Yan would watch from the side, and he noticed that Chu Tingwu seemed to really like "dodging"?

    The young girl had learned all the moves well and had considerable strength. Most of the time, others couldn''t even touch her. Her movements were nimble and natural, and she would take advantage of opportunities to easily restrain others.

    If her opponent wasrger than her and she couldn''t control them, she would just keep dodging until they lost their strength.

    Was this some strange habit developed from fightingrge animals?

    ¡ªIf she couldn''t control an opponent with her hands, she would tend to wear down their stamina instead.

    Instructor Yan: "If you''re not interested in learning, just take this as casual advice. But if you want to learn in the future, you need to force yourself to engage in head-onbat¡ªif you have both the ability to fight head-on and physical agility, you''ll have two weapons at your disposal. But if you rely solely on your agility from the start, that''s taking shortcuts in practice."

    He hadid bare his training experience from the heart, and his words carried some weight. After speaking, he quickly nced at Chu Tingwu, finding that she wasn''t angry.

    She understood.

    So she smiled slightly: "Thank you, Instructor. I understand."

    Instructor Yan: "..."

    After Chu Tingwu went upstairs, Instructor Yan felt somewhat ttered: she rarely smiled, and she actually smiled!

    Wait, no¡ªChu Tingwu was a student, and he was an instructor. Why was he getting so excited over a student''s smile?

    -

    With military training over, while no one particrly missed the training itself, many had grown fond of their roommates and felt a bit reluctant to part when moving out.

    Because she had luggage, Chu Tingwu took the main entrance this time. Chang Yile and the others, whose parents came to pick them up, helped pack Chu Tingwu''s belongings while waiting. They apanied her downstairs, and upon seeing Three Five Five already there, they finally showed expressions of "okay, we''ve handed you over to your guardian."

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    The silhouette of person and cat created another scenic view. The day after military training ended was a weekend, and the school had given them a day off to rest. Early that morning, someone knocked on Chu Tingwu''s door.

    The smart doorbell at the entrance changed from red to green, then emitted a cheerful electronic sound: "Pleasee in, pleasee in."

    The four boys from the male dormitory filed in one after another.

    Chang Yile and the others were already in the living room, gathered around the egg incubator.

    While Chu Tingwu was getting c for them, they went to crowd around Three Five Five, lifting the cat to the toppartment of the stacked storage boxes.

    After somemotion, they began working on the project proposal they had only half-finished during military training, discussing and adding details. An Shiyan brought herputer to create an electronic version and format it, finally printing out a thick stack of papers, even including a PowerPoint presentation.

    Chang Yile: "It feels like we''re already working in an office!"

    An Shiyan: "Then you can do the PowerPoint..."

    Chang Yile immediately fed her a potato chip.

    cated by the food offering, An Shiyan munched on the chip and continued working.

    Tang Zhe felt a bit embarrassed: "Is there anything we can help with?"

    They had only offered a few suggestions, leaving the rest of the work to the girls, which made them feel somewhat ufortable.

    They had initially thought about helping clean Chu Tingwu''s house, but discovered it was already spotlessly clean.

    Chu Tingwu gathered the documents and handed them over: "Then you can help deliver these to Teacher Yuan."

    Tang Zhe: "Okay."

    Chu Tingwu: "She lives next door, she''s home, you can just knock."

    Tang Zhe: "?"

    He went.

    When he returned, he was followed by a chubby little boy holding a cat.

    Tang Zhe: "Teacher Yuan said she and Teacher Cao need to visit rtives, and asked us to look after their son."

    And the cat.

    Little Cao Meng pattered over to Chu Tingwu: "Big sister, big sister, can we y that thing today too?"

    The others perked up their ears: What thing?

    Chu Tingwu nodded, raised her hand, and from the corner of the living room, a silver spherical ball flew over, making a sharp stop in mid-air before descending in front of Cao Meng.

    Cao Meng: "UFO!"

    Others: "U...UFO!?"

    Chu Tingwu: "==" Why are you all copying him?

    She arranged several storage boxes in the living room into rows, letting Cao Mengpete with Three Five Five and Coal Ball in jumping over boxes and crawling through middle holes for speed. The fastest would get to touch the system-controlled camera sphere¡ª

    Essentially, it was a way to entertain the child while helping him and the cats exercise.

    Out of three to five attempts, Cao Meng could only touch it once, but he never tired of it.

    Perhaps the racing itself brought joy. This child couldn''t keep up with others when running in kindergarten, but here he could y together with the cats.

    While Cao Meng was ying, the high school students were getting restless.

    Chang Yile: "Big sister, big sister..."

    Chang Yixin: "?"

    Chang Yile: "I wasn''t calling you!"

    Chang Yixin: "..."

    She looked at Chu Tingwu and tugged at her sleeve: "Sister Chu Chu, I want to y too!"

    Chu Tingwu: Hey ==

    "That''s actually my drone for livestreaming, just a special model customized to prevent cats from scratching it."

    An Shiyan made an "oh" sound: "Sister Chu Chu, do you livestream parkour? Can we learn?!"

    Stop deliberately copying Cao Meng!

    Five minutester, all eight of them were downstairs, with the system still controlling the drone, but it was hovering and circling around Cao Meng¡ªafter all, they had agreed that ying with the drone was his prize for winning, so Chu Tingwu told him he could be in charge of "controlling" the filming.

    Of course, it was just the little boy waving his hands a couple of times, saying "here and there," while the system controlled the flying ball.

    The little one still had to chase after the ball, which perfectly met the exercise requirements.

    The scene before them was simple, just the neighborhood''s public facilities area where Three Five Five had previously roamed freely.

    Flower beds, sandbox, pavilion, benches, a few steps of stairs, and handrails.

    Chu Tingwu checked each one, then told them: "Parkour doesn''t necessarily require difficult moves. You probably just want to learn casually, so I''ll teach you some simple things."

    In front of her was a stair railing about one meter high, with a flower bed diagonally opposite about a meter away, and stone benches on the other side of the flower bed. Chu Tingwu gestured: "From here to the bench below, normally you''d need to go down the stairs and circle around the flower bed, but in parkour¡ª"

    After speaking, she suddenly sprang up, her toesnding on the handrail, then leaped forward, stepping directly onto the edge of the flower bed, then lifted her leg and jumped again, lowering her body, propping herself up with her elbow, and smoothly sliding into a sitting position on the bench, transitioning seamlessly from motion to stillness.

    Then, she propped herself against the back of the chair and leaped up, her feetnding precisely on the narrow top of the chair back. With another step forward, she jumped over the flower bed,nded on its edge, and easily hopped back onto the handrail, even managing to take two steady steps while bnced on it.

    The young men and women who witnessed the entire process: "..."

    Chang Yile: "I think we need to start learning from more basic elements QAQ"

    Like practicing vault jumps with safety mats on the ground.

    Chu Tingwu: "If you want to practice, start by jumping onto the flower bed and back down, then gradually increase the height... hmm... then practice jumping from the flower bed to the opposite side, increasing the distance... both height and distance should be increased gradually..."

    She beckoned with her finger, and the unmanned flying ball approached, bringing little Cao Meng along with it. Chu Tingwu casually checked his neck and found he hadn''t sweated too much, so there was no need to change clothes.

    Tang Zhe crouched on the ground: "Isn''t there any shortcut method?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Yes, you can imagine there''s a wild beast chasing you from behind, and you must escape quickly. Parkour is just a technique for rapid escape."

    Chang Yile asked curiously: "What animal would you imagine?"

    Chu Tingwu: "A bear, a Siberian brown bear with thick fur. It''s omnivorous and runs like a brown mountain in motion. It smells terrible, can send me flying with one swipe, and has a broken upper left canine tooth."

    Everyone was filled with reverence: To imagine it in such detail, you must really love parkour!

    That evening, after seeing off her ssmates, Chu Tingwu quietly climbed into bed and closed her eyes. The familiar drowsy feeling indicated she had entered deep sleep, and then she opened the door to the dream ssroom¡ª

    Outside the door was the familiar residentialplex.

    She stood at the bottom of the building, facing a Siberian brown bear.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    Can''t... can''t avoid it, right! Avoiding won''t help with training, but why does it have to be a brown bear! Couldn''t it be an ape instead?

    However, she had made progress. Her Perception Skill seemed to be on the verge of breakthrough. She could feel her limbs and reactions bing faster. Often, with her back to the bear, she could judge where to dodge based on the wind''s direction, and besides, you don''t actually feel pain in the ssroom¡ª

    But why must it be a brown bear?!

    The system heard her cry and acknowledged her "can''t avoid it" mindset, so it changed her training partner.

    When she was chased to the top of the pavilion by a Siberian tiger, Chu Tingwu was about to breathe a sigh of relief when she saw the tiger below make a mighty leap¡ª

    Chu Tingwu: "Meow!!"

    A Siberian tiger is also a big cat that can jump very high!

 Chapter 35

    There weren''t many cats at No. 5 High School.

    The school cats had been neutered early on and were gradually adopted by faculty members over the years. Now only three cats remained as permanent residents: Little ck, ck-faced Calico, and a white long-haired Persian cat. They stayed at school because their personalities weren''t suitable for adoption.

    The cats often received food from people, but there was one ce they weren''t allowed to enter - the school''s small zoo.

    Of course, the zoo had an official name: the "Nature Hall."

    On the first day of school, Three-Five-Five apanied Chu Tingwu out the door. Chu Tingwu jumped over the railing from above, while Three-Five-Five easily slipped through from below - the railing gaps could only keep humans out, not cats.

    Three-Five-Five escorted her to the ssroom before beginning its patrol of the school.

    Although it was a house cat, during Chu Tingwu''s military training period, Three-Five-Five seemed to have already established itself among the school''s three cats. Apart from not joining them for meals in the cafeteria or epting food from others, it wasn''t much different from the school cats.

    This led to the principal mistaking the tortoiseshell cat for another stray when he saw it passing by, and he was about to instruct the maintenance staff to catch it for neutering.

    The tortoiseshell ignored humans and greeted the other cats, then settled down on the gymnasium door opposite the Nature Hall, swishing its tail while staring at the building in the distance.

    Chu Tingwu had already entered the ssroom.

    Half the ss was already there, with seats pre-assigned and the seating chart posted on the teacher''s desk. Her seat was in the fifth row.

    ss 1 had forty-nine students, with desks arranged in seven columns separated by aisles. There were no desk partners. Chu Tingwu sat next to the wall, with Chang Yile on her other side, and Chang Yixin sat behind her sister.

    An Shiyan sat in the second row, some distance away from them.

    Once everyone had arrived, Teacher Yuan tapped the desk and said, "I''m your homeroom teacher and mathematics teacher. Let me introduce myself, though I''ve basically memorized all your faces already. Now that military training is over, everyone needs to focus. I won''t waste time with speeches - let''s first arrange the ss monitor and subject representatives, then they can help collect the textbooks."

    The subject representatives were directly appointed based on grades, with the understanding that they could be reced if they didn''t perform well. Of course, Teacher Yuan said she would consider volunteers too.

    Chang Yixin became ss monitor, Chu Tingwu was appointed English subject representative, An Shiyan became the Chinese subject representative, and Tang Zhe was made the Physical Education representative.

    They spent the morning distributing books and then started sses immediately. Nine periods were scheduled for the day, with thest period marked as self-study.

    However, when the time came, Teacher Yuan entered the room and had everyone pass around club application forms.

    "Our school has many clubs, but joining isn''t mandatory. You can join if you want to, but don''t let clubs affect your studies or skip sses," she said, leaning on the desk. "See that Comprehensive Arts Building over there? The senior club members will be there to exin membership requirements. You can go take a look now - but keep your voices down when leaving, the seniors are still in ss."

    Everyone cheered quietly.

    For high school students, any chance to leave the ssroom during ss time was like a mini vacation!

    Chang Yile held Chu Tingwu''s hand and reached for An Shiyan, while Chang Yixin joined them without prompting. The four left the ssroom together, and An Shiyan whispered, "Did Teacher Yuan say if we could start our own club?"

    Chu Tingwu replied, "We''ll have to wait for the results of our proposal."

    The chances of sess... were actually quite high.

    Because the system had intervened.

    Or rather, because the principal had seen "parental" support: the system had contacted the school in the name of a student''s parent, asking if they could adopt the female peacock from the cafeteria, and mentioned how students had voluntarily proposed a n to improve the lives of animals in the school''s Nature Hall.

    So the principal, who had initially nned to reject this idea, reviewed the proposal again and became hesitant.

    He thought having students in charge wasn''t very reliable.

    But although the thick proposal was written in an immature hand, it was feasible.

    An Shiyan remarked, "All the boys are going to the basketball and ser clubs."

    It was said that these two clubs could apply to y during holidays, and No. 5 High School''s ser team was quite good, with some athletic students having been selected for the city team.

    Since they weren''t nning to join other clubs, they just wandered around. The school even had an anime club, where senior students dressed in cosy were enthusiastically giving speeches at the front of the ssroom to recruit members. An Shiyan watched for a while before quietly leaving.

    Everyone already knew An Shiyan liked anime - during evening chats during military training, she had rmended her favorite shows and even taught herself graphic design skills to create rted items. Those things were called "freebies," items given away free to fellow fans at conventions.

    Chang Yile nudged her: "Don''t you want to go in and take a look?"

    She had mentioned wanting to connect with fellow fans from the same school... "Fellow fans" meant people who liked the same anime or character, right?

    An Shiyan replied, "I listened for a while, but I think this club has some issues with financial management."

    The club collected activity fees for purchasing cosy costumes and printing materials, but the finances weren''t transparent. Not everyone was interested in the cosy characters, yet everyone had to pay fees. An Shiyan found this problematic.

    She mused thoughtfully, "...Our club can''t be like them."

    She was using them as an example of what not to do.

    Chu Tingwu nced at An Shiyan -

    Although An Shiyan seemed skeptical about "creating a club to adopt animals" in her words, her actions showed she waspletely supportive. Afterpleting the proposal, she had researched extensively and was now examining everything with the mindset of an imminent club founder... even more dedicated than the rest of them.

    Chu Tingwu smiled, "Yes, our club won''t be like that."

    They would have their own club.

    These freshmen were all excited about running a club. After making a round back to the ssroom, Tang Zhe and the others hadn''t joined any clubs either - because of the "adoption" n, Qin Lan hadn''t immediately taken the peacock egg to her grandmother''s house, thinking it might not receive as meticulous care there as at Chu Tingwu''s home. Connected by this single egg, everyone had be close allies, nning to aplish great things once their club was established.

    The principal''s hesitationsted until Friday afternoon, when Teacher Cao called out to Chu Tingwu as she was collecting homework from the office:

    "Your ''Nature Hall Animal Adoption n'' has been approved by the principal. Come to the Dean''s office after school to discuss the details - just two people will do, too many won''t fit in the office."

    Chu Tingwu brought An Shiyan along, and on the way, they learned that their club advisor would be Teacher Cao.

    Teacher Cao exined, "Teacher Yuan originally wanted to be the advisor, but she''s busy enough being a homeroom teacher."

    So he, as her husband, had to step in.

    Being a club advisor came with responsibilities, especially for a club that might handle significant funds... Both teachers were putting in their full effort, and everyone silently noted their gratitude.

    The discussion indeed centered around financial matters, the frequency of adopters'' visits to the school, and various other details - dust motes danced in the sunlight above the desk, and Chu Tingwu waved to Three-Five-Five through the window, just as An Shiyan''s voice rose excitedly: "Can we go see the animals now?"

    The Dean of Discipline replied, "Yes, here are the keys."

    They received the keys to the Nature Hall and a list of the animals, and the caretaker had already been notified.

    The two girls bowed to the Dean, then left trying to contain their excitement, deciding to go tomorrow... What tomorrow? It was still early, and it was Friday, so of course they would go today!

    Eight people left the ssroom, and An Shiyan looked around carefully before pulling out her phone from her pocket: "I''ve been carrying my phone just waiting for this day!"

    They needed to create new records for the animals, and of course, they would use electronic devices - handwriting would be too slow and easy to lose.

    As for quietly doing graphic design and typesetting for business orders andmunicating with clients, that was just a side thing, just a side thing.

    While still far from the Nature Hall, Chu Tingwu''s brows were already furrowed. She pulled out her mask and put it on, silently falling to the back of the group to let others take the lead.

    Humans without keen sense of smell hadn''t noticed anything wrong. The Nature Hall''s lights were on and the keeper was still there, so Chang Yile directly pushed open the door, then suddenly let out an "Eek!"

    There was a pile of bird droppings right in front of her.

    Chang Yixin''s expression was unusually serious: "As everyone knows... birds have a straight intestine, they poop whenever they want."

    So when there''s one pile on the ground, it means more fresh ones could appear anywhere around at any time. No one wanted to get showered with droppings, so they all crowded at the doorway.

    Chu Tingwu: "...I''ll go."

    Everyone respectfully made way for her.

    Then like chicks following a mother hen, they poked their heads out from the doorway:

    "Chu Chu, tell us when it''s safe to walk."

    "Yes, Sister Chu, you scout out thendmines first."

    "Since these fall from above, shouldn''t we call them missiles?"

    "But these missiles appear randomly, so they should be called¡ª"

    "Mystery boxes!"

    "?"

    The Nature Hall was an enclosed indoor venue with a ceiling about seven or eight meters high. As soon as Chu Tingwu entered, she saw a semi-transparent mesh-covered inner hall blocking the entrance, with no visible way to get in.

    Through the white mesh, they could see many birds inside, lots of blue and green dots hitting against the mesh. Between the mesh and walls was a corridor, and Chu Tingwu looked up and said: "Come in, there are no birds in this corridor."

    So the chicks followed their mother hen, not daring to step ahead of her.

    At the end of the corridor after a turn, they could see the door to the simple inner hall, with a sign indicating this was the "Bird House." As soon as they walked in, they found one of the keepers crouching on the ground catching birds.

    He was holding a grey-blue parrot, trying to put it back in the Bird House, but the "door" of the Bird House was actually just a mesh curtain. As soon as he lifted the curtain, more parrots ran out, hopping around on the ground.

    The keeper turned his head and found himself face to face with several students.

    "You..."

    Qin Lan waved his hand grandly: "We''re taking over this Nature Hall!"

    Keeper: "=="

    "Oh..." He realized something, "Are you the students who came to help?"

    Noticing themunication wasn''t going smoothly, Chu Tingwu spoke up: "We''re not here to help, we''re here for animal adoption. The principal gave us the keys, and the keeper''s sry wille from the adoption funds from now on."

    The keeper frowned deeply: "What?"

    "Anyway," Chu Tingwu raised her hand, "We''re going to start recounting the number of animals now and take over this part of the work. Can we begin?"

    Keeper: "..."

    He actually wanted to object, but Chu Tingwu''s demeanor was so confident that it made him feel inexplicably inferior, so he could only mumble an agreement.

    While An Shiyan went to talk to the keeper and take notes, the others spread out.

    They quickly counted all the animals in the Nature Hall: there were capybaras, guinea pigs (also called Dutch pigs), Angora rabbits, alpacas, small roons, white ferrets, and one Yorkshire Terrier dog.

    The Bird House was full of budgerigars - in short, there were basically no rare animals.

    Tang Zhe yed with the Yorkshire Terrier a bit. This type of dog has long fur and a gentle temperament, and it justy in its small enclosed pen: "Why count a dog too? Couldn''t this dog be directly adopted out?"

    The keeper walked over: "Nobody wants this dog. This enclosure originally housed peacocks, but the peacocks kept wandering off, so we just kept the dog here too."

    How casual...

    Almost all the enclosures here were semi-open without tops. Birds frequently flew out, animal smells mixed together, and bird calls chirped incessantly. As they spoke, the keeper picked up another batch of parrots, but when he tried to return them, more flew out - it was an endless cycle.

    An Shiyan rubbed his forehead and looked at the messy venue: "This keeper works the day shift, and there''s another one for night shift, just two shifts, so they really can''t keep up... I think the venue design is also problematic, though at least there''s enough feed."

    Some animals have stronger odors and sensitive personalities, so they shouldn''t really be kept so close to other animals, like the ferrets and guinea pigs. The alpaca enclosure could be semi-open but needs frequent cleaning... basically there were problems everywhere.

    Chu Tingwu asked another question: "Does our school have a veterinarian?"

    An Shiyan''s look answered her: What do you think?

    Qin Lan chimed in: "My uncle is a vet. Should we take all the small animals out for checkups?"

    Chu Tingwu nodded slowly: "Yes, I think some animals aren''t in great condition. It would be better to have a vete to the park for examinations."

    And clearly they hadn''t been checked for a long time.

    Inside the Nature Hall there was also an office for the keepers to rest. The ss waspletely transparent, covered with unidentified animal fur, with bird droppings on the edges. The break room was very basic, with just two desks and a folding bed that looked frequently used.

    The vet could work here when they arrived. Qin Lan borrowed An Shiyan''s phone to call his uncle, then put down the phone: "I reported all the species and such. Uncle wants to know how many animals total need checking?"

    Therger animals were manageable to count, but there were so many parrots it was impossible to count them all, let alone catch each one for examination - what could they do about that?

    The keeper silently brought out a disposable raincoat: "You can wear this if you want to enter the Bird House."

    To try to avoid attacks from above.

    An Shiyan took it, but his fingernail identally made a hole in it.

    The high school students contemted this hole for a moment, then Chu Tingwu asked: "Are there no security cameras in the Nature Hall?"

    There were security cameras in all four corners, but two were broken and hadn''t been reced. The Bird House had no cameras inside, and it wouldn''t be convenient to install any.

    It seemed they couldn''t sort everything out today. They arranged for Qin Lan''s uncle toe to school the next day and headed home with heavy hearts.

    Qin Lan went to negotiate prices with his vet uncle and started searching his family group chat for other people - his grandmother''s family had quite a few people in animal husbandry, and one uncle-inw ran a chicken farm. After all, chickens and parrots were both birds, so the difference wasn''t that big, right?

    An Shiyan created an ount and contacted the school website''s operator to help get the new ount verified. He made calls in his room without his parents knowing, his mood swinging between heavy and excited, as if he could see the animals'' lives changing and improving in their hands.

    The Chang sisters had held back for many days, and finally brought up the "adoption" matter at the dinner table. Chang Yile pestered their parents to adopt one first: "How about a rabbit? The white ferret is quite cute too. If I had brought my phone I would have taken pictures to show you!"

    Their father responded helplessly: "Wait until you show some results, then I''ll consider it."

    In the current state, they couldn''t even take good enough photos of the small animals to trick people into adopting them.

    Chang Yixin pondered: "Chu Chu said we could hold offline adoption events, advertise in the city first."

    Being able to see their adopted animal in person would reassure the adopters, and once they came to the site, how could they leave without adopting a few? The atmosphere would push them to pay.

    On Chu Tingwu''s side, the system patted its nonexistent chest, saying it could provide new interior design ns for their venues.

    "I adopted that female peacock for you - it can''t stay in the cafeteria forever, right?"

    The twenty thousand yuan currently in the ount was money transferred by the system.

    Chu Tingwu: "Since this is work we took on together, not just mine, having you design would be kind of cheating¡ª"

    System: "QAQ!"

    System: "QAQ, QAQ!"

    System: "Q..."

    Chu Tingwu: "Alright."

    [Hehe!]

    System: How is helping cubs cheating! It would cry to death if cubs suddenly became independent and didn''t need it anymore!

    The system also took over the monitoring of the Natural Science Museum. The museum''s surveince system was quite inconvenient since it was connected to the school''s main monitoring system. If anything happened inside, security guards had to call the caretakers, who would then find out what urred... When the senior student tried to steal the weasel before, it was fortunate that the security guard wasn''t cking off, or the theft might have seeded.

    However, the weasel that senior wanted to steal had already passed away. Weasels don''t have very long lifespans, and they hadn''t added any new ones to the current group, which consisted only of the offspring from the previous weasels.

    While designing, the system searched online for materials, trying topile the most cost-effective list of renovation materials for the young weasels'' enclosure¡ª

    Chu Tingwu: "We need to relocate the parrots first and thoroughly clean the aviary."

    To move them into cages, they would simply rent a truck full of cages from bird breeders and have them drive it into the school.

    She discussed this in a group chat called "Animal Society," and Tang Zhe suggested: "Do you guys ever watch those carpet cleaning videos online? Watching something go from dirty to clean is quite stress-relieving, and the fans are quite loyal¡ª"

    "Our renovation of the school''s Natural Science Museum is kind of like ''carpet cleaning,'' right? Why don''t we register a video ount and livestream tomorrow''s renovation process?"

    This would help attract attention for the adoption program and show that their actions werepletely transparent, starting from zero¡ªno, from negative¡ªto build up the adoption project.

    Chu Tingwu: "Then let my drone do the filming, so we can all focus on cleaning¡ªI''ll also promote it on my ount."

    She did have some fans.

    ...Actually, she had quite a lot of fans.

    When Chu Tingwu started the livestream at the Natural Science Museum''s entrance the next morning, her iing fans were very excited:

    [You ghosted us! Didn''t you say you''d stream after military training?]

    [Grandma, the content creator you followed in your youth is streamingst time she streamed wasst time!]

    [Master Chu, your streaming fans'' lives matter too! You''ve ghosted so much that my favorite artist won''t even draw fan art of you anymore! She says if you ghost her, she''ll ghost you too!]

    Chu Tingwu: "...I''ve been busy and forgot."

    Still wearing her mask, she stood as the system controlled the drone hovering in front of her. Chu Tingwu said, "Actually, today''s stream isn''t mine¡ªit''s our club''s ount, and the main content isn''t about me, not about cats or parkour..."

    She continued: "Our school keeps many small animals, and we''re now preparing to put them up for adoption. My ssmates and I created a new ount specifically for adoption-rted content. The ount ID is on the screen, and... I''m ending the stream."

    Her "um..."sted thirty seconds. She had actually posted about this earlier and had streamed briefly on her own ount before today to remind those fans who only watched her livestreams.

    The screen went dark, and thement section filled with question marks. Most of the grumpy fans couldn''t resist following the new ount.

    The new ount went live.

    [It''s still you, Master Chu!!]

    [Whoa! The angle barely changed, and the background''s the same¡ªwhy bother switching ounts?]

    These were fans who hadn''t listened carefully and thought Chu Tingwu was just using an alternate ount.

    The others hadn''t appeared on camera yet. It was the weekend, so they quietly watched the stream on their phones while monitoring thements. They all felt nervous seeing the dense stream ofments and the online viewer count instantly shooting past 30,000.

    Chang Yile timidly said: "Everyone seems quite angry?"

    But after checking Chu Tingwu''s previous streams... this seemed to be her usual style.

    In the frame, or rather nearby, Chu Tingwu raised her hand to push the drone.

    The screen blurred for a second beforepletely changing, bing like an infrared scan with ck and white as the main colors, while human bodies showed up in red to represent heat.

    Chu Tingwu opened the door and entered the facility, with the drone following behind her. Once inside, it hovered up, bringing the entire facility into view¡ª

    But viewers didn''t notice the facility''s mess first. Instead, in this special visual style, they were first drawn to the dense clusters of red representing life, with different-sized red blocks immediately catching the audience''s interest.

    [Wow, what''s this new streaming content? Looks pretty cool!]

    [So this is what you''ve been working on with the new effects, you''re forgiven.]

    [At least you''re streaming, Cat Lady. Thinking about those other streamers who ghost for months at a time, you''re actually pretty good, and the quality is amazing.]

    The high school students thought: They forgave her too easily?!

    The red faded away as the screen returned to normal, but a light blue control interface appeared around the edges like a game UI. Then, a semi-transparent beam that only viewers could see scanned the entire facility.

    The high school students who had followed her in: "..."

    They looked at the floating sphere, then at the streaming interface, then back at the sphere: if they were fans, they would forgive Chu Tingwu too.

    In any case, it was quite a remarkable viewing experience!

    After the scan, bird droppings on the ground, stains on the walls, unreasonable arrangements, and so on... all were marked as issues to be addressed, then listed in the upper right corner.

    Rather than "issues," they were more like "tasks."

    In the streaming interface, wherever the camera pointed, those unresolved stains would be specially marked, like upleted tasks in a game interface. The fans were getting impatient, and even Chang Yile and the others were itching to grab mops and start cleaning.

    The caretaker was the same one from yesterday, and he was startled by the high school students'' gleaming eyes, muttering in confusion: "What''s wrong with them?"

    At this point, having captured the audience''s interest, the streaming drone moved to Chang Yixin''s side.

    ¡ªAlthough the system could narrate using an electronic voice, this was the students'' own task, and they couldn''t rely on the system for streaming effects every time. They needed to let the actual ount owner appear and keep the fans engaged.

    Chang Yixin, who usually appeared quiteposed, was a bit nervous now. She clearly articted the situation, and with each sentence, the system disyed real-time subtitles and turned the dialogue into small icons stored in the lower right corner.

    Like game dialogue, yers (viewers) could click to view them.

    Since most of the current audience consisted of Chu Tingwu''s fans, the several thousand people weren''t as unconditionally indulgent with her as they were with Chu Tingwu¡ªthements raised many practical questions, especially regarding funding.

    Fortunately, these were all issues the students had discussed, and as Chang Yixin gradually gained confidence, Chang Yile also chimed in to help. Thements immediately showed responses:

    "I can adopt a few, or you could just livestream selling the parrots¡ªI have quite a few parrots at home."

    "I found your new ount on NewMei, but why isn''t there a payment code? How do we send money?"

    Chang Yixin: "...We haven''t opened adoptions yet. Today''s task is to clean the facility, hire veterinarians to examine the animals, record data, and once the renovation ispletely finished, we''ll open offline adoption events."

    Don''t be too quick to send money! They''re still a new ount!

    The fans were quite straightforward and even turned tofort the high school students:

    [It''s fine, your ount has school verification, if there''s any problem you can go directly to the school.]

    [Even if we get scammed it doesn''t matter¡ªgetting scammed by a school isn''t really getting scammed, it''s just paying tuition.]

    [By the way, little sister, could you pass a message to Teacher Chu? I''ve been paying tuition for so long, when will she teach me parkour!]

    [It''s okay if you don''t teach parkour, at least teach catnguage! Or do you takemissions? Sister wants to keep a cat recently, Teacher Chu could you help me pick one with good cat morals...]

    Teacher Chu: "..."

    "Next time, definitely next time."

    [Yeah, right!]

    Chu Tingwu hadn''t decided on a new theme since herst livestream ended, though her follower count continued to grow slowly but steadily thanks to the Fallen Phoenix City promotional video, which had clearly gone viral.

    As for choosing a cat... dealing with cat breeders was inevitable, but she hadn''t made up her mind yet. However, she could definitely do some educational content about catnguage, which she could also share with Teacher Zhang, so the seventy-something-year-olddy wouldn''t forget to review her lessons while traveling.

    Everyone began cleaning, and the caretaker couldn''t ck off with everyone watching. The livestream audience fluctuated around 20,000 viewers, and thanks to the tform''s algorithm, it got featured on several rmended spots, bringing in many local viewers.

    Chu Tingwu wanted to minimize her influence, not wanting fans to impulsively adopt pets only to regret itter, so she let the other three handle the exnations and questions when new viewers joined.

    Then a truck pulled up outside.

    It was the breeder they''d arranged to meet, bringing unused cages.

    Everyone busied themselves carrying cages in and out. The caretaker, exhausted and trying to sneak away, looked up only to find the livestreaming camera pointed right at him.

    The caretaker: "...sigh."

    The viewers, safely watching from afar, just keptmenting:

    [Honestly, watching people clean is so satisfying! Though it''d be better if we could fast-forward - I get anxious when I see spots they missed!]

    [The progress bar for each cleaned section is nice - makes me want to clean something too... If this progress bar was in smart sses, my mom wouldn''t have to nag me about cleaning every day.]

    [I''m local, and I kind of want to bring my cleaning supplies over - what you''re using isn''t getting everything clean¡ª]

    [Once this channel takes off, you could do cleaning product promotions! I''ve already thought of the perfect ad: cleaning products that are pet-friendly, pleasant-smelling, non-irritating, and safe - perfect for pet owners.]

    [So which cleaning brand should get the ad spot?]

    The chat immediately went off-topic, discussing various cleaning products they''d used.

    In just a few minutes, viewers hade up with several revenue streams, amazing the high school students.

    Chu Tingwu was used to it by now - this kind of slow-paced stream was fine as long as viewers stayed engaged in chat.

    She was transferring the parrots into cages.

    As a result, the nature center''s door remained open¡ª

    Suddenly, the chat erupted.

    [Whoa! Cat!]

    [Cat cat cat¡ª]

    They weren''t talking about a person-cat.

    The white Persian cat from the school had slipped in!

    The cat, probably catching the dogs'' scent, hesitated at the entrance, not immediately entering the aviary.

    The viewers spotted it, and the system immediately alerted Chu Tingwu. People saw a shadow sh across the corner of the frame¡ª

    Verbalmands would be useless now; this Persian cat had always been quite bold, and to them, Chu Tingwu was probably just another "kitten." Usually happy to chat, but with birds everywhere in the air, there was no restraining those eager paws.

    So Chu Tingwu instinctively used the moves she''d practiced inst night''s dream training session.

    She dove forward, rolling half a turn on the ground. Before the Persian cat could react, she had scooped it into her arms. As the cat looked up, there was a "click" - Chu Tingwu had already stuffed it into a cage and locked it.

    It was an empty bird cage.

    The Persian cat: "Meow meow meow meow?"

    Chat: "..."

    Chat: "So a human''s reaction speed really is seven times faster than a cat''s."

    Right, person-cat?

 Chapter 36

    Most of the parrots had their wings clipped, so they couldn''t fly very high. After putting all the birds in cages, the entire natural museum seemed to instantly empty out.

    Alpacas and dogs are generally docile and have low temperature requirements, so they were first taken outside. The other small animals were loaded into another vehicle. Then, the previously scheduled staff arrived with high-pressure water guns.

    The keeper stood to the side with his hands in his sleeves, ncing at the students: Were they really nning to renovate the ce?

    An Shiyan calcted the expenses in her mind and couldn''t help but grimace¡ªthese animals hadmon issues rted to diet and unclean environments. Qin Lan''s uncle only charged a small amount forbor and medication, but the parrots were the most numerous, so they took up the bulk of the cost.

    ¡ªMoreover,pared to other animals, budgerigars were the mostmon, so she anticipated that it would be difficult to find adopters for all of them.

    If she were an adopter, between a roon and a parrot, she would naturally choose the former. With so many parrots, even if she adopted one, she might not be able to recognize which one was hers when she visited the school.

    While she was calcting the costs, Chang Yixin called her over to change out of her cleaning uniform and go eat. They had all been wearing light blue disposable cleaning uniforms during the cleaning, which were now almost worn out.

    None of them knew how they got bird droppings on them, but Chu Tingwu only had dust and animal hair on her, looking much luckier than the others. She had put in the most effort catching the birds, yet she seemed to have gotten off the easiest.

    "Anyway, we will post the new venue design on our social media and live stream the renovation process in theing days. Thank you for your attention."

    The school cafeteria also serves meals on weekends, though only a couple of windows are open. Normally, they would have chosen to eat out, but this time, taking charge of the finances, they unanimously decided to eat in the cafeteria.

    After confirming that the live stream was off, the group immediately gathered around Chang Yixin to look at the screen of her tablet:

    "How many followers do we have now?"

    "Is there a rey of the live stream? I''ll check it with my own ount. My goodness, so manyments..."

    "The message notifications are at 99+, did we make it to the homepage for half an hour!?"

    Unlike Chu Tingwu, everyone else was new to operating such an ount. And thanks to a (nearly) million-follower up-anding influencer''s promotion, special effects, and incredibly skilled live streaming techniques, the first live stream''s data was surprisingly impressive, with the number of followers continuously rising. Chang Yiley on the table, waving to Chu Tingwu: "That''s terrifying. Next time, we can''t let your friend do the special effects and camera work..."

    Chu Tingwu tilted her head: "Huh?"

    Chang Yixin also nodded, tranting: "This data is way beyond what we could reasonably achieve. The novel live streaming method attracted a lot of fans, but we can''t always rely on your friend, right? Next time, let''s do the live stream ourselves; we''ll see how many we can retain."

    Moreover, this live streaming method is currently unique to Chu Tingwu on Fenghua Network. It''s enough to have her help once; doing it every time would dilute her own unique style.

    Chu Tingwu chewed a couple of bites of food: "It... said it could make a small interface plugin for you and optimize the real-time subtitles. Want it? But it''ll cost money, at a family price."

    An Shiyan started calcting and discussing, then looked at the effect of the plugin: "¡­We''ll take it!"

    There were already many live streaming gimmicks, and this plugin just changed the interface''s UI and added a task and progress bar that viewers could select to view. The price wasn''t high, but it could solidify the live streaming style of the ount.

    In fact, many people had privately messaged Chu Tingwu''s ount, asking if she sold the various plugins used in the live stream effects, either for a one-time purchase or in coboration. But the system managed that shell post-production team and wasn''t interested in selling plugins for now¡ª

    System: "We can sell it directly to Fenghua Networkter."

    The website''s technical staff were trying to crack its technology and replicate it, but they kept failing. So the system calcted that they would soone to it for a deal.

    Within the entire team, Chu Tingwu was in charge of the big picture, Chang Yixin and Chang Yile took over the live streaming work, alternating shifts, An Shiyan handled the ounts and operations, Qin Lan took care of various liaison work, Tang Zhe was in charge of looking after his peacock eggs (?) and catching the other three peacocks around the school, and the other two boys did misceneous tasks, filling in wherever needed.

    They decided not to recruit new members in their first year, as more people could lead to chaos. The current work arrangements hadn''t been sorted out, and they weren''t sure about the quality of new members. If they were short-handed during the adoption event, they would hire or ask other ssmates to help temporarily through Teacher Cao.

    Qin Lan was always staring at his phone during meals and suddenly eximed, "Wait, the pet store that agreed to let us foster the animals suddenly wants to raise the price!"

    During the renovation, the animals naturally couldn''t stay in the museum, so they estimated the number of animals and made prior arrangements for long-term fostering.

    Long-term fostering usually allowed for some price negotiation, but the high school students were worried that bargaining would lead to the animals not being cared for properly, plus they were a bit shy, so they stuck to the original price and paid a deposit.

    Who knew that after counting, there were thirty more parrots than initially estimated. The pet store suddenly wanted to increase the price by a third, citing the need for an additional person to feed the parrots.

    An Shiyan: "¡­They must have found out we''re students, so they''re raising the price at thest minute!"

    But now the animals were already loaded onto the vehicle, and it would be troublesome to find another ce forrge-scale fostering at thest minute. Fortunately, they had initially considered the health status of the animals and rented the vehicle for a day, so there was still time to find another shop.

    But after searching around, they found that the prices were not low, and due to therge number, they would have to split the animals among different shops. Many stores, upon learning the total number of parrots, were very hesitant.

    Inparison, thisst-minute price hike seemed neither too high nor too low, just right at their psychological threshold¡ª

    Chang Yile: "Is this what it feels like to be an adult? Having kids is like this? I feel like my child has been kidnapped, and I have to pay the ransom!"

    Tang Zhe: "Normal people don''t have hundreds of kids at once!"

    Chu Tingwu: "Let me ask again?"

    She decided to consult Little Zheng.

    Little Zheng, a forestry bureau employee from Fallen Phoenix City who had only met Chu Tingwu once before, was still on her contact list. Although he was from the forestry bureau, he should have some understanding of this kind of work.

    Chu Tingwu''s video was still ying, and Little Zheng hadn''t forgotten her. He spoke enthusiastically: "A zoo in the school? Fostering issues? Tell me the numbers... I see, mostly parrots, right?"

    Little Zheng: "This isn''t a difficult matter. Actually, parrots fall under the jurisdiction of the agriculture bureau, which also manages poultry imports. There are usually rental warehouses for breeding, with feeders and other equipment already set up. Just disinfect them, and if you''re renting them short-term, the price won''t be too high. You''ll just need to hire someone to feed them. You can directly ask the staff for rmendations¡ª"

    Little Zheng''s voice disappeared for a moment on the phone, then he sent Chu Tingwu a number, telling her to call the agriculture bureau first, and if there were any difficulties, to call the number he sent.

    Fortunately, the contact went smoothly. Only when the other party found out it was a group of students did they ask for a school-issued certificate. The group split up to run to the dean''s office and the principal''s office, with Teacher Cao''s help, and finally managed to secure the temporary breeding ground for the animals before 5 PM.

    An Shiyan got the deposit back, and the other party boasted that they definitely couldn''t find a cheaper ce, telling the students not to regret it.

    An Shiyan typed furiously: "Thank you for your concern, the new ce we found only costs half the price, includingbor."

    Just wait, she''d make a post to expose them and share it in the local circle of friends!

    The others: Do you people in the otaku world even do aestheticyouts for expos¨¦s... What a magical ce.

    The new farm was two suburban warehouses side by side, with a smallwn attached. After a whole day of hard work, everyone finally settled the animals in. Chu Tingwu had the system take over the warehouse surveince¡ªthis way, if anything happened, they could react immediately.

    Chang Yile: "Wow, I didn''t realize how tiring it would be to do things ourselves..."

    It wasn''t just physically exhausting; there was also the weight of responsibility, pressing heavily on their hearts.

    Teacher Cao followed them the entire way, watching the kids'' expressions grow numb from exhaustion, and he couldn''t help butugh and cry at the same time: "You''ve already done very well. When I was your age, I was always thinking about skipping ss to go to the inte cafe."

    As it gotte, except for the Chang sisters, who were picked up by their family, everyone else was driven home by Teacher Cao. On the way, they took the opportunity to check what else they might have left undone:

    "Did we release the lion cat?"

    "We did, and then we had Three Five Five watch over them. They didn''t dare to sneak back in."

    "Did we contact the night shift caretaker? He doesn''t need toe tonight; he can join us tomorrow morning."

    "He seems to be thinking about quitting..."

    "Damn!"

    "Oh, right," Chu Tingwu said from the back seat, "I think I missed my live stream again."

    She had nned to finish the task early today and stream for an hour for the audience.

    Next time, definitely next time.

    -

    And so, next time it was.

    So on Sunday morning, Chu Tingwu got up at six, skillfully climbed over the school wall, and greeted Teacher Cao, who was brushing his teeth next door. Shended in the schoolyard and started the live stream.

    Early in the morning, the viewers were shocked: "You have to go to school on Sundays? And you''re just a freshman?"

    "No, our club meets at eight, so I''m streaming a bit before the meeting," Chu Tingwu said, panning the camera over the schoolyard. "Last time, someone mentioned a catnguage course, so this stream will focus on that topic."

    The audience: So it''s a lesson for us!

    Chu Tingwu: "You''re all quite familiar with Three Five Five, so I''ve decided to catch a few school cats as examples, or do you have any cats at home you''d like to connect with and have them appear as examples?"

    With that, the fans who were a bit drowsy woke up instantly¡ª

    [Wow, Chu Master, does that mean you can trante what my baby is saying if we connect?]

    [I''m so d I don''t have to rush to work today, I''m going to catch my rascal now. Chu Chu, can you help me teach him not to pee on the bed anymore?]

    [Chu Master (hands together), pick me, please, I want to flirt with the stray who alwayses to my house for food. Can you be the matchmaker? He eats three meals a day, including breakfast, and he''ll be here soon!]

    Seeing everyone so excited, Chu Tingwu had the system set up a lottery program, which viewers could click to participate in.

    Some fans didn''t have cats but had been following how Chu Tingwumunicated with various cats¡ªThree Five Five was a living example right beside them, intelligent and clever. If Chu Tingwu said Three Five Five could do advanced math problems, everyone would probably believe it.

    Chu Tingwu: But I might not even be able to solve those problems myself ==

    The program quickly spat out a user ID, and Chu Tingwu sat down on the railing, waiting for the connection. The screen lit up, showing an indoor scene.

    In the frame, a ragdoll cat half-opened its eyes, clearly having been deep in sleep. Suddenly picked up by its owner, it didn''t struggle and continued to snore.

    The owner shook the cat''s head: "Stinky baby, wake up, wake up!"

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    The owner: "Actually, I want my stinky baby to lose some weight; he''s too fat now, but he can open drawers to steal freeze-dried treats... and when I try to stop him, he growls at me."

    The cat red and "meowed meowed meowed meow," which any cat owner knows is the cat swearing, leaving the owner quite exasperated.

    Chu Tingwu "hmm"ed and didn''t meow but yed the sound of freeze-dried treats falling into a bowl.

    On the screen, the ragdoll''s eyes immediately widened, "meowing" as it tried to jump out of its owner''s arms, only to be held back by the owner''s arm, looking confused.

    Chu Tingwu: "You have more than one cat, right? He''s the first one?"

    The owner: "Yes! This is my eldest son. How did you know, Chu Master?"

    Did she check her ount status? After all, cat owners rarely resist showing off their cats.

    The owner moved the camera to include a chubby orange cat lying at her feet. Compared to the long-haired ragdoll, the orange cat looked somewhat muscr.

    Chu Tingwu recorded the ragdoll''s "meow" when it heard the freeze-dried treats, allowing viewers to rey it at any time. She reyed it herself and then told the owner:

    "I heard it from his meow. Even simr meows can have different contexts in different situations. This one trantes to ''don''t fight with me for it,'' though you can also just think he''s cursing at the other cats. My trantion is a bit polished¡ª"

    Anyway, the original words weren''t very nice.

    "Your cats should have already adjusted to each other. When you first brought them together, their rtionship wasn''t good, right? But you let them eat together, even though you probably used separate bowls, the ragdoll still wanted to confirm its family status, so it often tried to steal food from the orange cat."

    The owner suddenly understood: "Yes, yes, yes! I would stop them when I saw it, but I have to go to work, so I use a feeder for them... but now they also groom each other, so I thought they were fine."

    Chu Tingwu nodded: "Over time, the ragdoll developed the habit and its stomach got bigger. I''ll try to persuade him, but it probably won''t work."

    The owner: "?"

    Is that so realistic?

    Chu Tingwu: "First, separate their feeding areas and feed them at fixed times and amounts. Don''t give the ragdoll any snacks, and keep it up for a few months, and he should lose weight normally."

    Chu Tingwu "meowed" a few more times, this time persuading the ragdoll. The ragdoll caty on the table, looked up, "meowed" once, and jumped off the table, shaking off its owner.

    The owner was eager: "What did he say?"

    Chu Tingwu was calm: "He cursed at me for meddling."

    The owner blushed.

    The chat was in stitches.

    However, Chu Tingwu still calmly recorded the cat''s meow and uploaded it as teaching material to the program.

    Before leaving, the owner expressed gratitude: "Thank you, Doctor Chu. I''ll try it and record the data of the ragdoll''s weight loss."

    The system pondered and added "Doctor Chu Dispenses Orders" to the live stream title "Cat Language ss."

    Doctor Chu soon weed her second patient.

    This patient''s family was very excited: "Chu Chu Chu Chu! Ah, I got the number! No, no, I won the lottery¡ª"

    "That is, can you help me check my rascal''s urinary issues... he keeps peeing on the bed, and I''ve disciplined him many times, tried many remedies, and even took him to the balcony to smell the bedsheet he peed on, telling him not to do it again, but he still does!"

    The patient was an American Shorthair silver tabby, looking innocent with his plump little face when picked up. If you only looked at his face, you''d never guess he was a problem cat.

    The tabby meowed in an attempt to flirt: "Meow?"

    Chu Tingwu directlymunicated with the patient in her Fallen Phoenix City ent, quickly concluding: "He''s quite timid."

    The patient''s family nodded vigorously: "Usually, when I have friends over, he''ll hide in my bedroom and then pee. It happens every time!"

    Chu Tingwu stroked her chin: "Because for him, your bed is a very safe ce. When he smells unfamiliar scents, he gets scared and doesn''t dare to go to the bathroom. When he feels safe on the bed, he can''t hold it anymore¡ªis his litter box in the bathroom?"

    The patient''s family pped: "Ah, yes!"

    Chu Tingwu said, "Recently, the weather has been quite hot. You can move to the balcony. He feels the bathroom is too small, and he might be scared. I''ll teach him a couple of phrases so that when he needs to go to the bathroom, he''ll call you, and you can apany him. Once he gets used to using the litter box, the frequency of him peeing on the bedsheets will decrease."

    But it probably won''tpletely disappear, just less frequent.

    The patient''s eyes lit up: "Dr. Chu, I have a pet button at home. Can you teach my son to use the button to call me directly?"

    This pet button had been yed with by San Wuyu before. The owner can record different short phrases, and after Chu Tingwu taught for a while, the American Shorthair learned it and started pressing it wildly:

    "Mom, eat." "Mom, eat." "Mom, eat."

    "Mom": You little rascal...

    The American Shorthair drooped its eyes, looking innocent, and the live chat was full offorting messages:

    [It''s okay, my pet is even dumber, it can''t even y with the button.]

    [He''s urging you to eat, you should eat in front of him!]

    [Next, next, when will Dr. Chu call my number, Dr. Chu!]

    Dr. Chu was quite diligent. After teaching the American Shorthair how to press the bathroom button, he switched to another person.

    This time, the connection was initially pitch ck, and it took a long while for a bit of light to appear. The screen kept shaking, followed by heavy breathing. The person on the other end said, "Yes, right here!"

    The camera showed a hazy sky and a small courtyard.

    "UP, I recently rented a house in the countryside, but it seems to have mice. I always hear noises at night. Can you help me call the cat next door to catch the mice!"

    [?]

    [Wow, can Dr. Chu also take on intermediary work?]

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    Chu Tingwu: "Tell me what kind of cat is next door."

    The person on the other end: "Ah? I don''t know. I''ve only seen it once. It was a grey tabby? I saw it in this courtyard, eating a fish head thrown out by the neighbors."

    The neighbors probably hadn''t woken up yet, as the door was tightly closed. Chu Tingwu meowed a couple of times, asking the person to y it loudly, but there was no response from the cat.

    [It''s okay, baby, it''s not that you messed up. It''s definitely because he didn''t y the sound loudly enough!]

    [Maybe the cat is locked inside? It can''te out.]

    [After all, Chu didn''t see that cat. Cats have different personalities. Maybe it''s just very aloof?]

    The person''s camera kept shaking. Chu Tingwu said, "Try ying it near a few more houses."

    Many vige cats are free-roaming and eat from many households.

    The person on the other end seemed to be an old fan, full of confidence in her, and energetically went out. The sound of a cat began to float on the cement road of the vige. The camera even caught a puzzled look from an auntie, but the person on the other end didn''t care.

    Then, the live chat got excited¡ª

    [Grey tabby, grey tabby!]

    [Look, there''s a tabby head on the right roof!]

    Indeed, on the roof of the two-story building on the right, a grey tabby appeared. It was lying on the tiles, and when the person on the other end panned the camera over, it was staring right at him, clearly attracted by the cat''s meow.

    But after seeing the cat in the camera, everyone fell silent. Ament slowly appeared:

    [That... isn''t it a bit inappropriate to use childbor?]

    This little grey tabby was only slightlyrger than an adult''s palm, about two or three months old, with a bulging belly, obviously not starving. It licked its nose, "meowed" a couple of times, and was about to leave the humans and go back to sleep.

    It was Chu Tingwu who stopped it and started asking if there were any other cats in the vige.

    Little grey tabby: "What kind of cat are you?"

    It heard the big human holding something that made cat sounds, but there were no other cats, nor could it smell any other cats, so it was very puzzled... Communicating with a kitten was more difficult than with an adult cat. After Chu Tingwu coaxed it for a while, the little tabby finally came down from the roof and let out a few "ow ow" cries.

    An adult grey tabby came out from behind the wall, swinging its tail and walking over to the little tabby.

    Chu Tingwu: "They''ll wait here. Go home and bring some food."

    To hire a cat, you have to pay first and then work.

    The person on the other end reacted quickly. Vige cats almost eat anything. He picked two starch sausages with fewer additives, washed some chicken pieces from the fridge, and brought them over in an old bowl.

    The big tabby ate a few bites, the little tabby gnawed hard, and after about half was eaten, the viewers also watched a bit of cat eating live. The tabby shook its fur and approached the person on the other end with a "meow."

    And then, the viewers of the live broadcast saw the scene of the cat catching a mouse.

    The big grey tabby caught a plump mouse from the person''s room and yed with it in the courtyard. The person in need didn''t dare to get close because the mouse was still struggling, so he had to film from a distance.

    [Get closer, are you a man or not!]

    The person on the other end: "I can choose not to be¡ª"

    He was just a shut-in. Thinking about living in the same room with a mouse for so long, his face turned pale.

    But the big grey tabby ate half of the mouse and threw it aside. The person on the other end: "Ah... do I have to deal with this mouse carcass?"

    [It''s normal. Cats like to y with their prey and don''t usually finish eating it? It''s fed by humans, so it''s not short of food.]

    The person on the other end: No way!

    Chu Tingwu: "It doesn''t seem to be..."

    Although due to equipment issues, the sound was mixed with a lot of static, she still heard it.

    The grey tabby wandered into the person''s kitchen. After a while, there was a ttering of pots and pans, and then the tabby came out with an even fatter mouse.

    Having caught a bigger one, it left with it, apparently nning to patrol the vige or take it to y with the little tabby.

    At this moment, the person on the other end: "..."

    The viewers: "..."

    Chu Tingwu: "See, it''s quite responsible, isn''t it?"

    The viewers: ...Is this a matter of responsibility?

    [Buddy, you''re dirty... hope you have a better rebirth...]

    [Buddy (pat on the shoulder)]

    [Buddy (RIP)]

    The person on the other end thanked Dr. Chu and disconnected, looking lost.

    Maybe he would clean the kitchen thoroughly, or maybe he would move out overnight.

    After connecting with three people (four cats), Chu Tingwu didn''t start a new connection but gave the "students" some time to summarize the lesson content¡ª

    [So, keep the ce clean!]

    [When you find one mouse, don''t think, there must be a whole nest (pat on the shoulder)]

    [When you can''t handle it, you can call Mom]

    Chu Tingwu: "It''s not about summarizing this=_="

    There were also some who listened seriously:

    [Teacher Chu, I found that cats don''t have muchnguage, mainly depending on tone?]

    Chu Tingwu: "Yes, some cats that were raised at home since childhood and suddenly went out to roam might not be able to integrate into the stray cat group, unable to understand theirnguage. But for home-raised cats, if you say ''freeze-dried food,'' ''eat,'' ''canned food,'' they immediately react because thenguage isbined with your subsequent actions. So, in most cases, as long as you love your pet, it can feel it."

    As she spoke, she also had many thoughts about what Teacher Zhang saidnguage, actions, newnguage. It''s said that some people who don''t understand another country''snguage can stillplete a self-driving tour there smoothly, relying on gestures and expressions.

    Even with different appearances and skin colors, people around the world can understand a friendly and close smile.

    She was walking around the quietke near the school, and the agreed time was almost up. She chatted with the viewers in the live chat¡ª

    Although Chu Tingwu rarely replied toments and never gave fans any benefits, she could remember familiar IDs. Even if she couldn''t, the system would record everyone who watched the live broadcast andmented several times, reminding her when she needed it.

    The live-streaming ball hovered in front of her. Chu Tingwu walked forward with her hands behind her back, suddenly raising her hand. Before the audience could see what happened, the next moment, Chu Tingwu''s left hand was gripping the nape of a lion cat.

    Lion Cat: "Meow¡ª¡ª"

    [Oh, oh, we just learned this one, Chu Master, it''s cursing you!]

    Chu Master: "=="

    Looks like the lion cat still holds a grudge from being locked in a cage yesterday.

    Chu Tingwu continued to hold the struggling cat and demonstrated for the audience: "Cats are very smart and can hold grudges. They also bully the weak and fear the strong. For example, the issue of the American Shorthair peeing randomly today¡ªit''s because he''s timid, but that''s not the case for every cat. Some cats hold grudges and will pee on your bed to get back at you, knowing you''ll be furious."

    The lion cat didn''t seem to think it was wrong to hold a grudge against such arge kitten.

    Chu Tingwu set it down, and it immediately darted up a tree, growling. Chu Tingwu remained calm: "It hasn''t been adopted because of its personality issues. It''s also one of the least friendly among the few cats on our campus."

    The chat asked: "Can such a cat be trained? Can its personality be reformed?"

    Someone else countered in the chat: "Why must we reform the cat''s personality? It is what it is. If it were you, would you want to be controlled and reformed?"

    Chu Tingwu walked past the tree, hearing the lion cat''s purring and the sound of its ws scraping the bark. The chat was still discussing when she suddenly jumped¡ª

    The lion cat that jumped down missed and was momentarily stunned, only to be lifted by the nape of its neck again by Chu Tingwu.

    Lion Cat: "Meow~woo~~~"

    [It''s cursing even more fiercely now, Chu Master, give it back!]

    [If you don''t want to curse, we can try (rolling up sleeves)]

    You just want to practice what you learned in ss, don''t you!

    Chu Tingwu squeezed the lion cat''s paw and lifted its fur to take a look, while the lion cat was being petted into cross-eyed.

    Chu Tingwu: "I won''t curse back, but its fur is all tangled. I''ll go to the cafeteria to borrow some water and give it a bath."

    [¡­¡­]

    As expected of you, killing the cat, striking at the heart!

    -

    When the others arrived, Chu Tingwu was washing the cat. She had intended to continue, but the cafeteria auntie, wearing gloves, came over and enthusiastically took over the task: "I''ve been wanting to give them a bath for a while, but the cats run too fast, and I can''t catch them. Now it''s fine. You go and do your thing, leave it to us."

    So Chu Tingwu took the breakfast and snacks the auntie gave her and also took on the task of kidnapping two more cats for a bath.

    Chang Yile and the others didn''t know that Chu Master had already started her day. Their task today was to assemble some locally delivered construction materials and renovate the staff restroom at the natural history museum.

    The issue of scattered feed had to be addressed, and the staff restroom needed to be tidied up.

    Chu Tingwu passed by with a lollipop in her mouth, watching her ssmates'' live stream¡ªthe "Jin City No.5 Senior High School Animal Adoption" ount had gained over twenty thousand followers after yesterday''s live stream, but today''s viewership had dropped significantly, though there was still a core group of regr viewers.

    After discussing, they decided to set up a fixed camera, like ASMR bloggers, to live stream the crafting process. Some fans enjoyed watching this, and it happened to ovep with part of the audience attracted by Chu Tingwu''s fans.

    ...Hmm, the cat food video also needs to be updated.

    Time flew quickly when busy with work. Although it wasn''t drastically different yet, the natural history museum was much more spacious after removing the barriers. The new design provided birds withrger, more transparent spaces, though this part of the work had to be done by professional decorators.

    Everyone left in the evening, with the work for these two days left to be done at night¡ªChu Tingwu was a bit more rxed. She kept her habit of getting up early, even on weekends, and didn''t sleep in. She could finish her homework in the morning... and could also go across the street to ask questions from two teachers... well... anyway, she finished her homework early.

    Not long after she got home, the door opened, and Sanwulu "meow-woo-woo" slipped in, sniffing the air and tilting its head.

    Chu Tingwu: "Is it because I smell like that lion cat?"

    Once you get used to it, you don''t notice it yourself.

    She sat cross-legged, browsing fanments and some private messages, asionally replying to a few requests, and chatting with Sanwulu about today''s events.

    She said a few words, and Sanwulu "meowed" in response. Sanwulu ced its paw on her knee, and the conversation between the two flowed naturally.

    However, after Chu Tingwu fell asleep¡ª

    Sanwulu, lying on the bedside, opened its eyes, silentlynding on the floor, and quietly walked to the window.

    System: "¡­¡­"

    The young one is used to its mother''s footsteps, so it won''t wake up.

    It opened the window for Sanwulu.

    Soon, the system, through the school''s surveince, saw the scene of the tortoiseshell cat beating up the lion cat. The two cats fought and cursed each other, from the yground to thekeside, until the lion cat fled with its tail between its legs, and the tortoiseshell cat bit its butt, getting a mouthful of fur.

    System: "¡­¡­"

    It knew it!

 Chapter 37

    Yuan Zhixiao picked up her bag and pushed open the door. The window in the hallway was half-open, letting in a cool breeze. She took a deep breath of fresh air and was about to go downstairs when she heard a slight noise from across the hall.

    Chu Tingwu opened his door, poking out half his head: "Good morning, Miss Yuan."

    Yuan Zhixiao smiled: "Good morning, you''re up early again?"

    Chu Tingwu nodded: "Miss Yuan, it might rain today. Don''t forget your umbre."

    After closing the door, Yuan Zhixiao wanted to say something but held back:

    Chu Tingwu, are you sure you don''t want to use the main entrance to go to school?

    Speaking of which, the weather forecast didn''t mention anything about rain... But, since a student reminded her, she might as well bring an umbre.

    By the third period in the morning, a sudden downpour started outside. Yuan Zhixiao was in the middle of grading math homework when she turned her head in surprise towards the window.

    Birds sought refuge under the window sill, and a cat from the school crouched on the first floor of the opposite building, its fur color indistinguishable through the curtain of rain.

    The moment the bell rang for break, the noise in the hallway amplified. Some students passed by the office door on their way to the restroom, while others left the ssroom to stretch their bodies, leaning over the railing to watch the rain¡ª

    The rain continued on and off throughout the day, leaving the sky a moist gray. By noon, there was still a light drizzle.

    Thest ss of the day was math. Yuan Zhixiao reminded the students: "Make sure you''re dressed properly. For those who didn''t bring an umbre, I''ll call your parents to pick you up from inside the school. Don''t run out and get soaked... If someone has arge umbre, you could share it with a friend."

    It was less than a month into the school year, and most students had made friends during the military training camp. Chu Tingwu, although not the most popr, was well-known¡ªYuan Zhixiao noticed that after her announcement, several students approached Chu Tingwu, asking if he wanted to share an umbre.

    ...Some even asked if Chu Tingwu''s cat wanted to share. Wait, a cat?

    Yuan Zhixiao turned her head and saw a cat sitting by the door, quietly licking its wet fur. When it noticed her gaze, it lifted its paw and waved, quite politely.

    Yuan Zhixiao: "=="

    Fortunately, after the morning rain, everyone brought their umbres in the afternoon. The opened umbres looked like flowers fallen on the ground. She stretched in her office and walked to the window by the back door of the ssroom¡ªThe physics teacher was showing an experiment video with a projector, and in the back row, someone was sneakily eating snacks in the dim light... Chang Yile, of course, it''s you.

    Chang Yile and her sister Chang Yixin were easy to tell apart by their hairstyles. Yuan Zhixiao noticed that Chang Yile offered some snacks to Chu Tingwu, but he declined with a wave of his hand.

    Then, Chu Tingwu tilted his head slightly, and Chang Yile directly stuffed a snack into Chu Tingwu''s mouth.

    Yuan Zhixiao: So you''re not refusing to eat, you just don''t want to wipe your hands and prefer to be fed!

    Finally, the school day ended. Tang Zhe came to help the math representative collect homework. Yuan Zhixiao overheard him ask: "Miss Yuan, when can we start having evening self-study?"

    Yuan Zhixiao: "?"

    "It''s usually two months after the start of the school year for first-year high school students, right? Why, do you want to spend more time at school?"

    Their school usually ends at 5:50 in the afternoon, but with the start of "evening self-study," students have to return to the ssroom after dinner and study until 8:30. During this time, they can do their homework in the ssroom. As exams approach, some teachers may also use this self-study time for quizzes or lectures, and in the second year of high school, it can extend to 9:00.

    Tang Zhe: "I heard that if you finish your homework early during evening self-study, you can leave the ssroom? Wouldn''t that mean I could go to the nature museum?"

    Usually staying longer at school would definitely raise questions from parents, but if the school organizes evening self-study, wouldn''t that mean he could stay in the nature museum till 8:30!

    Yuan Zhixiao: "¡­"

    She smirked, "Do you think you can finish your homework early?"

    Tang Zhe left in embarrassment.

    She had experience, even with teacher supervision, students'' efficiency in doing homework wasn¡¯t that high. In her ss, she guessed there were only seven or eight people who could finish their homework during evening self-study, including a few subject representatives.

    After thinking about it, Yuan Zhixiao sent a message to the few students responsible for adoption: "Attention, the first monthly test is in half a month #Happy."

    Chu Tingwu, who only noticed the message when she got home: Would anyone really be happy to see this?

    She was efficient. Lately, she found that she often neglected live streaming, so sometimes she would live stream herself doing homework. Her fans didn''t mind, they just thought the live streaming content was very inspiring:

    ¡¾Even cats are working hard on their homework these days, what excuse do I have not to work hard! (Fist clenching)¡¿

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    A peaceful day was about to pass, but at two o''clock in the early morning of this day, Chu Tingwu suddenly opened her eyes.

    At the same time, the cat by her pillow, 355, also got up, licking its mouth in confusion.

    Both the person and the cat heard a sharp cat''s cry.

    Chu Tingwu opened the window of her room, and two secondster, the cry became clearer, but it didn''t sound like a cat in heat.

    355 stepped on the mattress, making a purring sound.

    This seemed like a cat crying out to humans, but it was more urgent and there was panic in the emotion.

    Chu Tingwu put on her coat, the system said, "It''s the cat from the fifth floor."

    355 wasn''t familiar with this cat. Many pet cats aren''t suitable for going out. If it wasn''t for a vine or a bath, it''s normal to not go out for half a year.

    Obviously, other people in the building were also awakened. Someone in the homeowner group @1-502,ining about why he didn''t manage his cat well. If it''s in heat, get it neutered quickly. The homeowner didn''t respond.

    But they didn''t realize, this wasn''t the cry of a cat in heat.

    Chu Tingwu had already taken the elevator to the fifth floor.

    She knocked on the door, but there was no response. The system said, "There are no surveince cameras in this household."

    It essed the homeowner''s electronic devices, scanned theputer and phone, confirmed that the homeowner was at home, but there was no reaction. The cat was still crying behind the door. Chu Tingwu could tell that the cat''s voice was getting hoarse.

    Chu Tingwu: "I''ll call the property management."

    Only two security guards were on night duty at the property management office. Upon hearing that it was merely a cat''s cry, they didn''t take it too seriously. However, Chu Tingwu added, "I knocked on the door of 502, but there was no response. The cat kept crying, something might have happened to the people inside."

    Property Management: "Well... then we''lle over right away?"

    Chu Tingwu: "It would be best to bring some lock-picking equipment."

    The property management hesitated. Although they didn''t respond, Chu Tingwu could hear them covering the phone and whispering to another person, "Is that necessary?"

    How could they take responsibility?

    The property management also tried to call the owner of 1-502, but no one answered.

    Chu Tingwu: "Sigh..."

    The property management hung up. Chu Tingwu immediately called the police. After exining the situation, the police were quite cooperative, "We will send someone over, please wait at the door."

    Chu Tingwu: "System."

    The lock on 502 was a smart fingerprint lock. As Chu Tingwu finished speaking, she pressed the handle and the door opened instantly. The resident of 501, who had been listening to the cat''s cries and heard someone at the door, came out to check and saw the whole scene: "Wow!"

    Chu Tingwu: "Their lock is broken, I just pressed it and it opened."

    501: "Oh... oh..."

    The somewhat familiar girl entered the room and turned on the light. 501 followed in. The cat was now silent, seemingly smelling the scent of 355, and only made a timid meow.

    The cat was in the bedroom.

    501 was a family of three. The husband came to check the situation first, and soon the wife also came over. The wife said, "It seems that 502 works in design and has been working from home recently?"

    A man and a cat, usually ordering take-out, didn''t seem to go out much.

    Chu Tingwu pushed open the bedroom door. Only the deskmp was on. The ragdoll on theputer desk meowed once, darted under the desk, but still kept crying softly.

    The owner of 502 was lying on the ground, the chair overturned, the man seemed to have fallen into a semiatose state.

    The husband of 501 widened his eyes: "He mentioned that he had some heart problems¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu: "I''ll call for an ambnce."

    The people did not dare to move him, but Chu Tingwu could hear his slow and weak heartbeat... there was still time.

    The school district house near the city center had a fast ambnce response. The elevator in themunity was alsorge enough. However, the sound of the ambnce probably woke up half of the building. The police arrived when the ambnce did.

    Although they were somewhat surprised that the door was open (the lock was broken), they still praised Chu Tingwu for calling the police and the ambnce in time. Also, because Chu Tingwu had called the police first, they didn''t connect the fact that the door was open with her.

    After all, there was no damage to the door, and the property surveince was fine. Maybe it really just broke suddenly?

    "It feels like it was fate," said the wife of 501, "Whether it''s the cat''s cry or the broken door, it seems to suggest that the person in 502 is very lucky and nothing will happen today."

    Although everyone around was materialistic, they also believed in the influence of luck. The system made a note of it in its mind.

    However, before the police left, Chu Tingwu went to the bedroom of the resident in unit 502 to pick up his ragdoll cat: "I''ll take care of the cat while you''re in the hospital, otherwise, no one will feed it. I live in unit 202, and I have a cat at home too."

    She left her contact information for unit 501, and the property management also recorded the situation. The people on the fifth floor finally dispersed. Just as the couple from unit 501 was about to say, "Maybe I should get a box to help you carry the cat," they saw Chu Tingwu holding the ragdoll by the scruff of its neck with one hand and supporting its bottom with the other. After a couple of "meows" into its ear, she took both cats into the elevator.

    The couple from unit 501: "True to its breed..."

    It''s friendly and seems a bit dumb.

    -

    Chu Tingwu took the ragdoll home. It was a female ragdoll, fluffy and cute. Chu Tingwu gave her some water, and she immediatelypped it up, seeming rather eager.

    ...But she was indeed a bit silly, as despite Chu Tingwu''s exnations, the ragdoll kept asking where her owner had gone throughout the night.

    The next day, when Chu Tingwu was about to leave for school, she found the ragdoll had crawled into the middlepartment of the bottomyer of the living room sofa box. Thisyer was surrounded by other packages, and without the light on, the inside felt pitch ck, like a dark little room.

    With a new cat temporarily living in the house, Peacock Egg was moved to the study, with the system controlling the study door to prevent the ragdoll from causing trouble.

    The ragdoll''s owner originally wanted to pick up the cat as soon as he woke up, but after learning that Chu Tingwu had taken it, and seeing its current state, he transferred some money to Chu Tingwu, asking her to take care of it for a few more days.

    Chu Tingwu: "If you can stay quiet inside the bag, I can take you to the hospital to see him."

    Ragdoll: "So where did my human go meow?"

    Chu Tingwu: Are you a parrot!

    Visitation rights revoked.

    A weekter, the ragdoll was finally picked up by her owner, who was extremely grateful and wanted to give Chu Tingwu a big red envelope: "Thank you, thank you so much. If it wasn''t for you, I probably wouldn''t be here."

    Chu Tingwu: "Actually, the people from unit 501 came out to check too, they would have just been a bitte to send you to the hospital."

    "That''s not the same..." the man from unit 502 sighed, forcefully handing the young woman a red envelope before picking up the cat and weighing her, "I heard my silly cat was meowing so much her voice went hoarse. She rarely meows loudly, usually hides in a corner of the carrier when we go out. I hardly ever take her out. Last time someone mistook a stray cat on my car for mine. How could that be possible, she''s my only daughter¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu: "The stray cats in ourplex do like to sit on car roofs."

    "Yes, it seems to be a tortoiseshell..." 502 lowered his head to check his phone, "I was ying with cats and dogs in themunity and even scared a bird. Later, I don''t know how, but that cat somehow found my doorstep and left a cat toy outside my house. I have no idea where it picked it up from, it looked quite new, so I didn''t throw it away, but I forgot to post a lost and found notice in the homeowners group. I remember it was long-haired, ash-colored, and its nose, um...um..."

    He then noticed the 355 by Chu Tingwu''s feet.

    He fell silent.

    Chu Tingwu: "...Actually, 355 came to apologize, and the cat toy was a gift, indeed it was newly bought."

    502: "I''m sorry."

    Chu Tingwu: "...I''m sorry."

    So why were they both apologizing to each other?

    When he got home with the cat, 502 was still a bit dazed. He posted the day''s events online, thanked Chu Tingwu, and couldn''t help but exim at the end: "How can a cat apologize on its own?!"

    [You''re so lucky, you must thank the ragdoll and the little girl!]

    502 replied: "I''ve already thanked them, and I''m nning to send a thank you letter to her school. She''s a student at the school next door, the Fifth Middle School."

    [The little girl didn''t mistake the cat''s meowing as mating calls, but heard that the cat was seeking help. She must have a cat at home too, seems like she''s the type of owner who can understand a cat''s emotions. She must really love her cat, how amazing!]

    502 replied: "Her cat does indeed look well cared for. I just got out of the hospital, and I feel like it could take on three of me."

    [What a fantastical experience you had! The door lock just happened to break at that time, you were saved by a miracle! You should go to a temple and give thanks!]

    502 replied: "I think so too, haha. Later, I checked the fingerprint lock and there was nothing wrong with it. But I still reced it. I won''t be going to a temple, though. Instead, I made a donation to an animal welfare fund. Gratitude (hands together)."

    [Looking at the blogger''s IP address, um...]

    [Ah, that reminds me, this IP!]

    [Trigger keywords, "Jin City" "Fifth Middle School" "Tortoiseshell" "Little girl" (cat peeping out)]

    502: "?"

    Is there something strange about these? They don''t seem to be any special words... But he hadn''t seen the girl from the second floor''s parents. An underage girl living alone, could it be that her family is wealthy and her parents are busy?

    He refreshed thements section and saw that others were indeed asking questions. Then, he and his readers were treated to some knowledge about "Chu and 355".

    A fan who clearly knew Chu Tingwumented:

    [If it''s that cat and that person...human and cat, everything makes sense!]

    [If the fingerprint lock hadn''t broken, I suspect that the human and cat could have climbed directly into your house @blogger, if it was too dark to see clearly, then the tortoiseshell mom would have taken over!]

    502: "??"

    After watching Chu Tingwu''s videos, he quietly returned and gave a like to each of thesements.

    Then, he took the initiative to chat with the young girl privately: "Can I choose to adopt at the Five Middle School now? I want to adopt a white mink."

    Chu Tingwu replied quickly: "Thank you, but the event hasn''t started yet, and someone has already inquired about the white mink. We decided to wait until the renovation ispleted and the animals'' conditions are improved before we start the adoption offline. Otherwise, if you adopt now and the condition doesn''t match your expectationster, you might regret it."

    Everyone had considered opening the adoption early. Currently, except for the peahen, none of the other animals had been adopted. But, everyone is not in a position to take detailed care of the animals right now. Once an animal is adopted, it belongs to the adopter, who will definitely care about the animal''s condition and might question, "Why isn''t all the money I spent going to my baby?" This is just human nature.

    And... the white mink had indeed been asked about.

    The one who wanted to adopt the white mink was a senior from a neighboring province''s university. He not only sent a private message on the website but also contacted through a teacher.

    A few years ago, he even had the idea of not just adopting, but stealing the white mink.

    ¡ªHe almost lost his qualification for rmendation due to this.

    The white mink he wanted to steal is no longer there, and the ones now might be its offspring. The senior waved his hand and said, "I want them all."

    The club members huddled together, discussing: "Should we set a limit on adoption... Yeah, a limit."

    Why does this sound so strange?

    An Shiyan asked, "What about the parrots? Everyone likes fluffy animals. Adopting a popr pet bird like the cockatiel can be a bit troublesome, and some have even asked us directly if we want to sell the parrots..."

    Cockatiels can be bought in the bird market, and they are not expensive. Other animals are a bit more difficult to raise and are notmon pets, so those who have sent private messages all want to choose other animals.

    While everyone was still deep in thought, An Shiyan muttered quietly, "Should we bundle adoptions? But this isn''t like selling grains... Yes, minks, roons, capybaras, peacocks, etc. are indeed popr... But this isn''t like selling grains..."

    Everyone: "?"

    He was using words they didn''t understand again.

    The renovation wouldn''t bepleted so quickly, and there wouldn''t be any events immediately after the renovation waspleted. There was still time for them to continue discussing.

    Before they coulde to a decision, the day of the monthly exam came.

    Strictly speaking, they hadn''t even been studying for a full month¡ª including the days spent in military training, it still wasn''t enough. But the school wouldn''t care about theirints, and used the two-day exam schedule to give the first-year students a jolt.

    During the exam, they had to move their chairs to the opposite side of the table to face the table''s belly to prevent cheating. There was a teacher at the front and back of the ssroom, and other teachers patrolled outside the exam room.

    The day before the exam, Teacher Yuan told Chu Tingwu, "This monthly exam is a city-wide joint exam, and your ranks will be determined city-wide. The content you''ve just learned isn''t much, and it mainly tests whether you''ve forgotten the content you''ve learned before. Don''t worry, as long as you review well in ss with the teacher, there won''t be any problems."

    Chu Tingwu nodded as she ate the snacks from Cao Meng, who watched her eagerly from the side.

    After finishing, she dusted off her hands and left. Cao Meng followed her all the way to the door. Teacher Yuan said, "Meng, your sister needs to study, don''t disturb her!"

    Cao Meng: "QAQ"

    His sister was clearly going home to y with the cat!

    -

    When she arrived at school the next day, Chu Tingwu realized that the monthly exam times for all three grades were the same, it''s just that seniors only had a day and a half of exams.

    The atmosphere in the school had be much more serious. People in the ssroom no longer greeted each other, they were all busy memorizing a few phrases, even those who were confident in their academic achievements would flip through their notes to review some easily forgotten points.

    The system did not understand why the humans around the cub were so obsessed with grades. If the cub wanted to turn the numbers on the test paper into full marks, it could help at any time, no matter what the test paper was - but the cub did not ask it to do so.

    It saw the cub studying step by step, memorizing, taking notes, discussing with others, and could also see which questions the cub got wrong and which ones she got right.

    But during the exam period, the cub asked it not to remind her.

    Perhaps she was used to the cat''s keen hearing and how to restrain this hearing, the cub was not affected by her own auditory ability, she could even focus more than other humans.

    After hearing many people say, "I''m so worried that if my grades are not good, my parents will scold me," the system interjected:

    "No matter how you do on the test, you are the best."

    Because you are just a little kitten!

    Chu Tingwu tidied up her cuffs: "I know."

    So the system took the opportunity to ask its own question: "Don''t you want to be first? I see they all say that if they get first ce, they will definitely be very happy."

    As for "cheating," it didn''t care at all. In its time, the system was more like a tool for transmitting knowledge. The host only needed to apply it, and this kind of low-efficiency learning activity would be considered a waste of time.

    In the system''s view, the host''s goal is to "enter the best university." Exams are a means ofpetition. Just like somebat system hosts eliminate otherpetitors with the help of the system, young humans use exams to solvepetitors. Then it can help the cub achieve her goal in one step.

    Then the cub can y happily.

    The system''s idea is not very moral, but Chu Tingwu didn''t find it strange or disappointed: because the system thinks she is a cat.

    If her cat had to take a university entrance exam, and the cat could copy all the answers, it would prove that it was already a uniquely excellent cat and could immediately be promoted to a PhD.

    Chu Tingwu: "If I can''t get into university, will you think less of me?"

    System: "How could that be!"

    If the cub likes university... it, it can build a special one for the cub!

    Chu Tingwuughed, "So, I''m taking this exam for myself, to assess my own learning progress. I could rely on you to be the top scorer in the college entrance exam and go to the best university, but what''s the point in that?"

    If the purpose of the exam was to get into university, then her life would stop at that step.

    But if the exam was just a part of learning, whether it''s parkour, military boxing, Russian, or Chinese and math, they''re all part of her learning. She would be happy when she saw progress, regretful when she made mistakes, and feel fulfilled when she learned new knowledge... University is just a part of her life, and the distant future is also just a part of her life.

    She was already luckier than many others because the system told her:

    Even if you''re not good enough, even if you haven''t achieved your goals, you''re still a great little cat.

    Two full days had passed since the monthly exam, and most people in the ssroom seemed exhausted after the exam. Some wereparing answers, while Chu Tingwu told the system in her mind not to tell her the results.

    "I don''t really want to hear them now."

    System: "Actually, I don''t have the specific results either. After all, human grading of essays has to consider many factors outside the essay itself..."

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    She thought of the essay she had written, quoting many famous sayings, and silentlyid her head on the desk.

    She hadn''t noticed it while writing, but now she felt embarrassed thinking about it!

    She was unsure about her own ideas and felt like she had added some unnecessary garbage to the world.

    System: "That''s not garbage at all, it''s so cute! I saved it in my database, and in the future..."

    Chu Tingwu: "No way!"

    Don''t show it to her!

    Don''t, show!

    -

    Considering that these kids were tired from their first monthly exam, the days following the exam were holidays. The teachers, however, didn''t have a break as they had to finish grading the papers.

    Chu Tingwu had originally nned to invite Chang Yile and others to her house to y games, but early in the morning, just after breakfast, she received an unexpected phone call.

    It was from the police, but not about the doll rescue case fromst time.

    The trainer of Wangka, the police dog from Fallen Phoenix City, called her!

    Trainer: "Miss Chu!"

    Chu Tingwu: "Is there something wrong with Long Zai?"

    Trainer: "Oh! You don''t know yet, do you? I called your house yesterday, but you seemed to be at school - Long Zai has done a great job!"

    During a crackdown operation, Long Zai sniffed out drugs, leading the police to uncover a significant smuggling case.

    The Fallen Phoenix City police are currently very busy, but for Lin Undercover, the feeder and person in charge of Long Zai, the smuggler was just passing through Fallen Phoenix City. However, the case was solved by them, and it was sniffed out by the only officially working police cat in the country, which made quite a ssh.

    Chu Tingwu was also very happy: "Then congrattions to Long Zai."

    But could the details of this case be shared with her?

    The instructor didn''t provide specific figures, only vaguely described the situation. Intuition told Chu Tingwu that there was something more to the phone call, especially since it wasn''t Lin Undercover who called, but Wangka''s instructor... there must be something else.

    The instructorughed, "The case can''t be disclosed to the public yet, but we are all clear about it internally. Long Zai''s position should be confirmed soon... Chu, if you have time, pleasee and take a look. And, Fallen Phoenix City is the only one with police cats, other cities are also envious these days¡ª"

    "Do you know, our province''s police dog training base is in Jin City!"

    "Wangka was also brought over from Jin City. The police dog base, they have understood the situation, you have helped a lot in the matter of Long Zai joining the team. If a police cat can be trained once, it can be trained a second time," the instructor pped his thigh, seemingly regretting not being able to take in Long Zai at the beginning, but his Wangka is also a good girl, so he just thought about it. "We don''t have a systematic training method domestically, foreign police cats are more specialized, like specifically smelling fishy smells, letting cat police catch fish smuggling, isn''t this professional matching?¡±

    Chu Tingwu understood: "Does the base want to try to start training cats? This should be a good thing."

    Jin City is the provincial capital, seeing the effect of Fallen Phoenix City, naturally, it is the fastest to respond.

    At present, police dogs are trained from puppies, there is a systematic elimination mechanism, the eliminated police dog puppies are also in demand, those who are not eliminated can be assigned to work, which is great.

    The instructor: "But they are also trying for the first time, so they hope to find an expert to help choose a cat."

    Chu, the expert, but fifteen years old, just finished the first monthly exam of high school: "...Huh?"

    The instructor: "They are all kittens, domestic experts... they are all about selecting the appearance of kittens, choosing the appearance and temperament of breed cats, but we are training police cats, we don''t need docility, and there are no other people who have achieved results¡ª"

    "They saw your video and thought that San Wu Wu was very good. They also saw the adoption event at your school recently, Chu, in addition to the agreed remuneration, does the Yorkshire at your school need adoption? The base can also help train it."

    Chu Tingwu: "If you want to adopt, you can wait for our event to start..."

    Chu Tingwu: "Actually, you don''t have to be so polite, even if you don''t adopt, I can help choose a cat."

    But she can only do it during her vacation, she will be too busy when she goes to school.

    The instructor gave Chu Tingwu''s phone number to the police dog base, and Chu Tingwu apologized to Chang Yile as usual. Soon, the car from the police dog base arrived outside themunity.

    ¡ªTheir action was swift and decisive.

    With both his parents busy, Cao Meng was entrusted to another teacher in the same residentialplex who had some free time. He was ying downstairs with her children at the moment, squatting by the flower bed. He looked up and rubbed his eyes:

    "Miss Su! They''ve really found out that Sister Chu Chu is an alien!"

    The police even drove here to arrest her, and they brought a big dog that can wear a police uniform!

 Chapter 38

    The first time Chu Tingwu visited the Jin City Police Dog Training Base, she didn''t bring Three-Five-Five along.

    As soon as she got on the bus, she was greeted by the various scents of dogs. Once she stepped off the bus and stood at the entrance, these scents became even more intense. Every part of the building seemed to carry these smells, both old and new, giving Chu Tingwu the feeling of being surrounded by dogs.

    Of course, the Labrador Retriever on the bus was also a significant source of these scents.

    The Labrador sat very properly throughout the journey, but Chu Tingwu noticed that it would asionally sneak a nce at her.

    Each time the Labrador turned its head, Chu Tingwu would directly meet its gaze with her own eyes, which wererge and bright, like ck pearls.

    The human and the dog stared at each other, the dog with its mouth open and tongue lolling, unembarrassed as it turned back.

    Then it would sneak another nce, and Chu Tingwu would again catch its gaze¡ªanother stare-off. After repeating this several times, the police dog let out a soft "woof" and rested its head on the seat.

    The handler: "?"

    Why does Tutu suddenly look so downcast?

    The Jin City Police Dog Training Base was located in the outskirts of the city. As they passed by the training field, Chu Tingwu saw many police dogs in training. Noticing her interest, the handler said, "These are the youngsters who haven''t graduated yet. Shall we stop and watch for a bit? There''s no rush."

    The dogs in training were no longer puppies but not fully grown either. Chu Tingwu was indeed curious. As she looked up, Tutu stealthily turned its head, and Chu Tingwu looked down, resulting in another stare-off between the human and the dog.

    Tutu: "..."

    Finally noticing this, the handler: "?"

    He chuckled, "You have a strong scent of cats on you, don''t you? Tutu is quite curious about you. He has already graduated but won''t start his official duties until December with the rest of his batch."

    Chu Tingwu: "Can I pet him?"

    The handler instructed Tutu to sit: "You can do it like this, squat down, and don''t pet him too hard like a pet dog. Just gently pat his head and back."

    The handler exined to Chu Tingwu, "Police dogs that graduate are very intelligent. They recognize themselves as equals to humans, our partners in work. So if you treat them like ordinary pets, they might doubt their training and feel sad."

    Chu Tingwu patted Tutu''s back, and the Labrador tilted its head to nuzzle her cor, then sat up straight again, as if confirming through its gaze that Chu Tingwu was a friendlypanion.

    ...Of course, it''s also possible that the dog smelled that she was a "kitten," which is why it couldn''t help but want to get closer and sniff her again.

    Tutu: "Woof!"

    The handler: "Oh, he likes you a lot!"

    Tutu: "?"

    No, he just confirmed that this really is a kitten.

    Chu Tingwu followed the handler to the training grounds allocated for police cats. It was said that this area was originally expanded for police dogs, but after the expansion, the total number of dogs in training remained the same, so only half was allocated for additional dog training facilities. The other half, now vacant, was assigned to the cats.

    The handler: "Puppies are bred within the base, but this is our first attempt with police cats... So..."

    He let Tutu stay at the entrance and then pushed the door open.

    Chu Tingwu heard the sound of cats meowing, a variety of meows, and it seemed there were not only kittens.

    Upon entering, she saw that indeed, there were many¡ª

    In the field, many owners were holding their cats, waiting. The smallest of these cats were about four or five months old, and there were few purebreds. The cats seemed to be in good spirits, with no obvious signs of obesity.

    However, with so many cats gathered together, all of them domesticated, the atmosphere was a bit tense. Some cats were rtively quiet but looked uneasy, needing constant reassurance from their owners, while others had already started squabbling loudly.

    Chu Tingwu: Good thing I didn''t bring Three-Five-Five.

    That might have escted into a brawl.

    The handler exined softly, "We haven''t done any cat breeding, so we internally notified our colleagues or friends and family to provide cat sources. Although kittens have a higher chance of being trained from a young age¡ªthis is starting from scratch, so adult cats can also be considered?"

    Despite the restrictions on owners and initial screening based on provided data, there were still about seventy to eighty cats on the field. There are indeed many people who keep cats.

    When they learned that their cats had a chance to be police cats, the owners were more excited than the cats themselves.

    There were other handlers maintaining order, and the owners were generally well-behaved, chatting quietly or using their phones. But the cats were less obedient.

    The handler entered, first nodding to his colleagues, then cleared his throat: "Let me introduce¡ª"

    "Meow-ow¡ª"

    "Meow! Meow-meow-meow! Awoo!"

    "Mew!!"

    The handler: "=_="

    Normal, puppies also act like this when they first arrive. He ignored all the noise and finished introducing Chu Tingwu. The cat owners looked at her with either curiosity or excitement. Chu Tingwu, meanwhile, kept her head slightly lowered, observing the cats.

    The handler turned again: "You arrange the selection process. Tell us how to do it, and we''ll follow your lead. Should we look at them one by one, or all at once?"

    Chu Tingwu: "It depends on what kind of cats you need."

    She added: "The most needed."

    The handler hesitated for three seconds before decisively saying, "Intelligent, obedient."

    Not smart enough to followmands, not obedient enough to be worth training, but other factors like weight, jumping ability, and sensory qualities can be filtered after the first two criteria are met.

    Selecting police dogs is also like this; too smart dogs might have their own ideas and sometimes take matters into their own paws, which is not eptable.

    But how do you pick out these two qualities?

    The owners, some holding more than one cat, all looked at Chu Tingwu. Some had seen her videos, but most had not. Why would a young girl be in charge of this task? Was her family a long line of cat breeders?

    They saw Chu Tingwu squat down on the spot, look around, and suddenly let out a soft, kitten-like meow.

    This meow, though not loud, was sharp. Most of the noisy cats turned their heads in confusion or tilted their heads to look at her.

    The girl looked around, seemingly confirming that she had the attention of all the cats, then changed her tone. Before, it was the meow of a kitten, but now it sounded like that of an adult cat. She spread her hands, showing the cats her empty palms, then clenched her fists:

    "Meow~"

    Some cats still tilted their heads, puzzled by what the human was saying, while others took a few steps forward, as if wanting to get closer to her. But out of the seventy or so cats, about seven or eight took more steps forward, their eyes shining with anticipation, and they let out soft, cooing meows.

    The handler looked at Chu Tingwu in surprise: he believed she must have said something, and different cats reacted differently.

    Chu Tingwu: "These cats that want to break free from their leashes... don''t meet the requirements."

    The owners: "Huh?!"

    Chu Tingwu opened her fist, and the struggling cats stood on their hind legs, then fell back, letting out surprised "meows."

    Everyone seemed to understand a bit.

    Chu Tingwu: "I first made the sound of a kitten calling its mother, attracting the attention of all the cats. Then I showed them my hand, indicating there was nothing inside¡ªthen I closed my hand, telling them there was something tasty inside."

    This simple catnguagemunication, most cats could understand. In reality, they could tell with their noses or eyes that it was just a fist¡ª

    But those few cats either were too eager for food to care about anything else, or they were genuinely a bit slow, believing whatever others (cats) said.

    If they were kittens, they might still be trainable, but as adult cats, it''s better to be stricter in the selection.

    Suddenly, one-tenth of the group was gone, and the owners understood the reasons for the selection, so they didn''t make a fuss, but they didn''t want to leave just like that.

    "We''re just curious about how the police cats are selected. Can we stay and watch a bit longer?"

    "Exactly, exactly! Let my cat also receive some education!"

    The trainer: "Can you really learn in just one day?"

    He was quite speechless, but since there were many familiar faces and the requests weren''t too unreasonable, he allowed the eliminated ones to first take their cats home, and they coulde back if they wanted. He told Chu Tingwu to go rest, while they distributed number tags to the cats that made it to the second round.

    Another trainer whispered to Chu Tingwu, "You can also think about the interview process. The leaders asked us to film it so we can use it as a reference for future selections."

    Currently, they were selecting from a small number of cats. If the training of the police cats proved sessful, they might expand the selection range.

    This trainer fetched some snacks from the office for her, but before Chu Tingwu could eat, she suddenly took back two of them, giving an awkward smile: "I got the wrong ones, these are dog biscuits."

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­Are they good?"

    Trainer: "They smell nice, just a bit hard."

    Outside the door, Tutu sneezed: "Woof?"

    The two of them silently chewed on the dog biscuits and waited for a while. The previous trainer came back and said, "Alright, we''ve numbered forty-six¡­ forty-six cats."

    "Didn''t we have nearly seventy left?"

    "If they are finally confirmed to stay, they will be treated simrly to the newly appointed police dogs, continuing to receive training at the base. But some owners thought about it and still couldn''t bear to part with their cats, so they left with them."

    Even if the training didn''t pass, unneutered cats might still be taken by the base for breeding.

    It''s understandable to be reluctant, as many people might have just wanted to join in the fun initially. Most of the owners who left with their cats were military families. They didn''t love their cats any less; they just hoped their cats could really contribute to the country.

    Of course, the final pass rate would definitely be very low.

    With forty-six cats, the venue wasn''t as noisy anymore when they went out.

    Chu Tingwu: "The cats ultimately need to understand humannguagemands. Why don''t we have the owners demonstrate first? I''ll then talk to these cats."

    Many cats can understand their own names and simplemands like "shake hands" or "get off the bed." If a cat has been trained butpletely doesn''t understand or ignores its owner, then such a cat probably doesn''t meet the requirement of being "obedient" and has its own ideas.

    The cat owners volunteered, and they were divided into "trained" and "untrained" groups. Someone raised their hand: "When I scold my cat, it hides by itself. Does that count as understanding humannguage?"

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­No."

    That should be considered timid.

    The trainers took photos of the forty-six cats after ranking them and imported them into a pad, creating a table that was also synchronized to another main control screen. Chu Tingwu held the pad with one hand, looking quite professional, which made the owners a bit nervous.

    The first toe up was an orange cat. The owner made it shake hands, spin around, and stand up¡ªbut each step seemed to require the owner''s hand to guide it. The orange cat''s gaze was always fixed on the owner''s palm. Chu Tingwu asked, "Do you reward it with snacks when itpletes a task?"

    The owner was a bit embarrassed: "Well, since it already knows how to shake hands, of course, it deserves a reward."

    Chu Tingwu didn''t say much, just signaled the owner to untie the leash.

    Without the leash, the cat stayed by the owner''s side. Chu Tingwu crouched down and meowed, calling the cat over.

    The owner whispered softly, "Go on, Dabo."

    The orange cat hesitated for a moment on the spot before approaching Chu Tingwu. It could understand what Chu Tingwu was saying, but the unfamiliar environment made it a bit scared, so it didn''t dare to leave its owner''s side.

    After cing its paw on Chu Tingwu''s shoe, the orange cat got closer to this big, safe, and not-so-fierce youngster, making small "purr" sounds.

    Chu Tingwu: "Shake hands."

    Orange cat: "?"

    She took a step back, cing her palm t at her waist, and meowed twice, signaling the orange cat to stand up and touch her palm with its head.

    The orange cat looked up at her palm for a while, then turned to look at its owner.

    Owner: "Oh!"

    Chu Tingwu ced the snack in her palm and repeated hermand, but the orange cat still stayed by her feet.

    Chu Tingwu shook her head: "It really doesn''t want to leave you, and its initiative topletemands isn''t strong."

    For the orange cat, these mands" were probably just snack games with its owner. But without its owner by its side, it didn''t dare to eat.

    ¡ªPolice dogs also can''t eat food from strangers, but "can''t" and "don''t dare" are different.

    Chu Tingwu walked around, filtering out cats like the orange one that had no initiative and were overly affectionate, as well as those that were too timid or ran away when the leash was removed¡ªshe even helped catch one that jumped three feet high¡ªleaving only seventeen cats in the venue.

    However, not all the eliminated cats and their owners were disappointed. The owner of a calico cat even boasted to others after leaving: "Teacher Chu said my cat is very affectionate towards me, so it can''t follow other people''smands¡­ Oh, it''s really a pity. I really wanted it to eat public food, it''s such a pity, haha¡ª"

    He wasughing so hard his teeth were showing!

    The trainers renumbered the seventeen cats and also sized up the future potential colleagues.

    Chu Tingwu overheard a trainer whispering to a colleague:

    "Looking at it this way, these cats do seem quite spirited, their eyes are lively."

    Yes, after this round of seventy to seventeen selection, the remaining cats seemed to have something inmon:

    Their leashes weren''t tightly pulled, but they also didn''t stray too far from their owners.

    Some of them would also quarrel and puff up their fur, butpared to being nervous, it seemed more like an instinctive reaction to the intrusion of unfamiliar peers into their territory, so they puffed up quite fiercely.

    Their gazes were all lively, and even when lying down, they seemed to be observing other strangers, following the passing trainers with their eyes, rather than just spacing out or only seeking their owners'' affection.

    Among the seventeen cats, four were pedigree cats: an American Shorthair brown tabby, a British Shorthair silver shaded, a Siamese that looked like a coal miner, and an orange Maine Coon.

    With fewer cats and people, Chu Tingwu approached them one by one, meowing softly.

    Almost all the cats didn''t reject her approach, as the scent of a youngster was non-threatening. Two cats even licked Chu Tingwu''s hand, asking her, "Where''s your mom? Why are you alone?"

    After Chu Tingwu exined, they weren''t too concerned, as cats are quite independent creatures.

    After chatting with each one, she would take the owner''s leash but not lead the cat away, just standing there¡ª

    The cat that was originally lying down would suddenly stand up, looking at Chu Tingwu''s leash and then at the owner. Some would get angry, some would be irritable, and some would swish their tails, deep in thought.

    Chu Tingwu: "I told them that they might be left here, and you would visit from time to time."

    An owner said, "Of course, we would definitelye to visit."

    It''s not abandonment, just sending the cat to take an exam for a public job.

    Chu Tingwu stroked the nearby calico: "Some cats understand it, thinking it''s like being temporarily fostered in a pet shop, having to live with other cats for a while. But some cats are very angry. For example, your cat said it hated being fostered at your neighbor''s housest time because it hated the neighbor''s dog and was always arguing with it, so it hates being fostered¡ªnext time you foster it, it will pee on your bed."

    Owner of the calico cat: "¡­"

    Owner: "That was my uncle''s house. I only asked him to foster it because there were no cats or dogs there. How could there be a dog next door!"

    This temperamental cat!

    The owner knew that his cat was probably out of the running, so he picked up the cat and was about to leave, but before he did, he couldn''t help but say, "Um, Teacher Chu, could I have your contact information? I feel like you''re way more reliable than any petmunicator I''ve met before! The ones I''ve hired before would judge the cat''s personality from photos over the phone, and three different people gave me three different opinions, all saying that my cat is neurotic. Bute on, do I really need them to tell me that? I''ve been raising a cow cat, I know!"

    Other owners of cow cats couldn''t help but nce over.

    In the silent exchange of nces, the Cow Cat Victims'' Alliance was formed.

    Chu Tingwu sighed, "Not all cats are like that... it depends on their individual personalities."

    But such a cat that hates changing environments so much is not suitable for training as a police cat¡ªpolice cats and dogs need to frequently go out toplex environments, using their sense of smell to provide information for the police, and encountering animals is amon urrence.

    Chu Tingwu added many people as friends, and then eliminated five cats that simply refused to live with other cats, leaving twelve cats in total, and surprisingly, all four breed cats remained.

    The twelve cats were given a third round of numbers, and the trainers persuaded the other onlooking owners to leave.

    The twelve cats remained calm, but their owners were quite excited. Chu Tingwu even saw one owner whispering encouragement to their cat, who curiously licked her hand.

    Chu Tingwu said, "Let''s do some simple fetch training next? I''ll work with the owners."

    Currently, the cats were obviously closer to their owners and listened to them, so Chu Tingwu acted as a trantor, trying toplete the training together.

    The trainers naturally agreed.

    The first to go was the number one striped cat, which shook its head after the leash was removed.

    Fetch training is mostmon with dogs¡ªthrow something and have the pet bring it back. It''s a general obedience training¡ªbut everyone was skeptical if cats could do it. Cats are rarely associated with the word "obedience."

    The police dog base bought new mouse toys and cat teaser sticks. Chu Tingwu had the owner stay silent while she waved the toy in front of the striped cat and threw it five meters away, then asked the cat to fetch it.

    Striped Cat: "..."

    The striped cat turned to look at the kitten, showing an expression that clearly said, "You, this little kitten, are actuallymanding me?" Its expression was very human-like, and even the owner and the trainers were silent.

    The owner still tried to persuade, "Lei Liuwan, go fetch it."

    The named cat, "Lei Liuwan," narrowed its eyes and let out a long "meow," its tail drooping, looking at the mouse toy, then at the human.

    The owner felt a bit uneasy.

    Lei Liuwan turned to Chu Tingwu and said, "Pick up your own mess, meow!"

    It had originally wanted to pounce, but the throw was a bit far, and this unfamiliar kitten was asking it to fetch, so it refused. Didn''t it know to call its own mother?

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    Since there were only twelve cats left, she still wanted to try her best, so she exined to the striped cat that "this is a training, not just for fun."

    So the striped cat "meowed" a lot, roughly meaning, "Then be polite, say please, and ask Lei Liuwan the Great for help, meow!"

    Chu Tingwu: You should just go home.

    The second cat was the Siamese, standing next to the Maine Coon, looking particrly small, and even smaller next to Chu Tingwu.

    When the owner brought it over, the Siamese kept tilting its head, clearly curious about this kitten.

    When Chu Tingwu threw the mouse toy, she only said it once, and the Siamese trotted over, bit it with its teeth, then ran back, wagging its tail, cing the toy in Chu Tingwu''s hand, and even nudged her with its wet nose.

    The Siamese''s owner clenched her fist with excitement: "Yeah!"

    Then Chu Tingwu pointed to the toy and threw it again, saying, "Fetch it."

    She didn''t use catnguage this time. The Siamese hesitated for a moment, then trotted over, bit it, but this time ced it next to Chu Tingwu, pressing it down with a paw.

    The owner: "Hmm, what does that mean?"

    Chu Tingwu: "It realized I threw it and asked it to fetch, so this time it fetched but didn''t give it to me, worried I''d throw it again."

    This Siamese probably didn''t like ball games much, just indulged the kitten, and its gaze even carried a faint reproach.

    But this proved it had a high IQ, able to understand some simple gestures, so it passed.

    ¡ªIt would be too much to ask the trainers to learn catnguage too.

    Using this method, seven more cats were eliminated, leaving only five.

    ...It''s harder to get cats to listen normally than to get them to fetch newspapers. Cats can actively carry newspapers and tear them up, but they don''t necessarily need to bring them to the owner.

    Among the eliminated cats, some saw the thrown mouse and rushed over without paying attention to Chu Tingwu, some understood Chu Tingwu''s intention but were very aloof, not caring even when the ownermanded, and somepleted it the first time butpletely ignored it the second time, feeling the repeated game was boring.

    Even the American Shorthair bit the mouse and ran around the field, its eyes sharp, suspecting Chu Tingwu would try to take it.

    Chu Tingwu: It doesn''t mean the thing in your mouth belongs to you!

    The five cats left were the Siamese, another striped cat, a cow cat, a short-haired calico, and a pure white cat with heterochromatic eyes.

    The trainer stroked his chin: "I thought we might keep a big orange cat."

    But it was eliminated in the first round?

    Among the five cats, the oldest was the heterochromatic eyes, already close to five years old. It was smart and calm, wouldpletemands, but withoutmands, it would just lie down and y by itself, ignoring other cats.

    The youngest was the Siamese, just over a year old. It seemed the most affectionate, not afraid of strangers, but wouldn''t approach at first sight. After judging the person harmless, it would rub and lick, and wouldn''t bite even if touched, showing good upbringing.

    The most lively was the striped cat, walking around like it had ADHD, and was a chatterbox, meowing from time to time to chat with the owner. If the owner didn''t respond, it would stand up and pat him, and if still no response, it would pull the leash tight, signaling the owner to react¡ª

    Being able to stay, these cats were all very smart, chosen from the best.

    The cow cat was another kind of smart. Its head was ck, like it had a t top haircut, and the lower half of its face was white, with a pink nose. It wasn''t self-entertaining or lively affectionate, just lying there quietly observing humans. When Chu Tingwu passed by, it let out a howl, jumped up, bit Chu Tingwu''s sleeve, then let go.

    ¡ªIt wasn''t attacking, just felt this kitten was a bit strange.

    Cow Cat: "Why are you so much taller than me?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Because I eat a lot every day."

    Cow Cat: "Eating too much will make you ufortable, meow!"

    Chu Tingwu: "Because I''m taller, I can eat more than you."

    Cow Cat: "?"

    It felt something was off about this conversation.

    What was off...

    The short-haired calico was just average in all aspects. It was smart, but not exceptionally so, just normal. It was affectionate, but if touched too long, it would get angry and bite, though not hard. It was lively and healthy, but not as hyperactive as this striped cat, but it would react to various toys.

    Chu Tingwu recorded her observations and organized them into a table. After all this busy work, it was time for lunch.

    The trainers invited Chu Tingwu and the five cat owners to stay for lunch: "After lunch, leave the cats with us first, and you go rest. See if the cats can ept separation? Chu Tingwu, can you help talk to the cats, let them understand what a police cat is?"

    If there was any doubt about Chu Tingwu''s abilities before, just seeing the video, now seeing Chu Tingwumunicate with so many cats in person, the trainers really felt she understood "catnguage" as a foreignnguage.

    What a talent, Teacher Chu!

    It is said that she also has students who have learned catnguage. I wonder if she would be willing to stay and give a couple of sses to these instructors?

    The police dogs also came with their food bowls to eat, and the instructor pointed out to Chu Tingwu: "We hope that police cats can be trained like this in the future!"

    Chu Tingwu: "It might be difficult for them to carry suchrge food bowls... and cats don''t like deep bowls, a shallow te would be fine."

    The instructor nodded.

    Chu Tingwu: "These experts in feline behavior should also know this, and there are documentaries on the subject."

    They will officially start training the cats, of course, and will learn these things, but that doesn''t stop the instructor from nodding: He feels that Chu Tingwu is more professional, speaking with a certain confidence, even though she doesn''t have any credentials and is strictly speaking just a cat-rted UP master.

    ...Or was she a parkour UP master?

    In the morning, five adult cats were selected, and in the afternoon, Chu Tingwu was surrounded by kittens.

    Before they reach two months old, kittens often learn from their mother, from catching prey to using their keen senses, to how to use the litter box and not to attack humans. The mother cat is the best teacher, so this period is also the golden time for learning.

    The system also thinks so.

    Being a "youngster" herself, Chu Tingwu has not yet fullypleted her courses, so when she looks at the kittens crawling around on the carpet, her mood is particrlyplex: She can see that these little kittens'' eyes are not yet open, and they are exploring the world with their breath and hearing, with hearing being the main means, and their whiskers...

    ¡¾Baby, although you don''t have whiskers, your perception skills are already better than theirs!¡¿

    Although Chu Tingwu and the kittens are both at level 0, the system is certain that their progress bars are different! Its baby has more experience points!

    Chu Tingwu: Thanks =_=

    But really, she doesn''t need to be praised like this, and she doesn''t want topete with kittens less than a month old.

    The kittens'' mother was lying nearby, nursing a few of the little ones. Since they were less than a month old, the base did not move them, but instead drove Chu Tingwu over to choose.

    The mother cats were either from nearby homes or from friends and rtives. The base made a list, arranging the kittens'' sizes from smallest torgest. When Chu Tingwu approached, the mother cat lifted half of her body, making a "woof" sound from her throat and tapping her tail on the carpet.

    She smelled the scent of Three-Five-Five on Chu Tingwu, recognizing that this was a kitten who lived with her own mother.

    Chu Tingwu: "Although the younger the kittens, the easier they are to teach, at this age, they can''t even do the most basic things. It''s better to find ones that have weaned."

    So the youngest should be about a month and a half old.

    This time, they went to another home, where a brown tabby cat had given birth. This litter was already running around, their eyes still blue, but they would open them wide when someone approached.

    Choosing kittens was not asplicated as choosing adult cats, as they were all teachable. Chu Tingwu helped select, filtering out those that were obviously too slow, timid, or difficult to train, and the rest were pre-booked. Then, those between two and four months old could be taken to the base first.

    Chu Tingwu thought the matter was finished, but unexpectedly, the familiar instructor asked somewhat embarrassedly: "Miss Chu, could you teach us how to make cat food?"

    Although police cats, like police dogs, would certainly have nutritious cat food, and the ingredients would not becking, being nutritious and being tasty were not the same thing.

    A master of cat food was right here, and it would be a shame not to take this opportunity to learn from her!

    Cats eating happily would make them happy too!

    Chu Tingwu had posted videos, but seeing it in person and learning on the spot would definitely be more efficient than watching videos. Questions could also be asked on the spot... Moreover, the instructor was really curious why those cats seemed to like her cat food so much.

    Chu Tingwu: "That''s not difficult."

    The cat food she made was for both humans and cats, rarely using offal. The recipes provided by the system took into ount her taste buds, using the natural vors of other ingredients to season the dishes, pursuing taste, so it was actually a bit moreplicated than ordinary cat food.

    When Chu Tingwu rolled up her sleeves in the kitchen of the Jin City Police Dog Training Base, the instructor also hurriedly said: "Can we take a few dynamic photos to post online?"

    This time, they hired police cats, of course, not just for once. If the first cooperation was sessful, there would definitely be a second and third time, until the base had aplete and scientific process¡ªif it weren''t for just happening to discover Chu Tingwu, the base wouldn''t have started the police cat training pilot so early, but Chu Tingwu was just so perfect!

    Not only could she speak catnguage, but she could also make cat food, and she raised Three-Five-Five, a cat that... well, many colleagues envied.

    In fact, today Chu Tingwu didn''t bring Three-Five-Five, and everyone was quite disappointed.

    People who raise smart animals are like this, curious whether other people''s animals are as smart as they seem.

    Her only w might be that her authority is not high enough¡ªon one hand, she has no scientific credentials, and on the other hand, she is too young.

    Posting it might cause some controversy, but the base still decided to promote it and tag Chu Tingwu.

    ¡ªIf the promotion works, they can get more funding.

    The instructor took photos of several cats that had temporarily passed, and of the kittens, then of Chu Tingwu, and a few group photos with the dogs, posting them with the tags #Jin City Police Dog Training Base# and #Police Cats#, and finally thought about it and added a couple more paragraphs praising Chu Tingwu.

    No certificate, but an official endorsement is also a kind of "certificate."

    Chu Tingwu pondered: Although there is no "Police Cat Professional Trainer" certificate at the moment, she might be able to take the "Pet Communicator" certificate? The teacher Wang she met in Fallen Phoenix City just happened to have a channel, and she could ask him to arrange the exam for the weekend?

    Instructor: "Hmm..."

    Instructor: What''s that smell?

    Others in the kitchen helped with the preparations and took notes, but the instructor had been running around all day and was now even hungrier. He had no interest in reading thements and was glued to the pot.

    Suddenly, the instructor heard a strange noise and went to the window to take a look: "Tutu!"

    The Labrador retriever, Tutu, was holding his food bowl, and the dogs were lining up to eat. Normally, Tutu would always be at the front of the line, and he should have started eating by now.

    But for some reason, Tutu had moved to this window¡ªthis was not the window for the police dogs!

    Because Tutu had changed windows, the police dogs behind him, although a bit puzzled, still followed him, lining up in a row.

    It looked very orderly.

    Just the wrong window.

    The instructor was both amused and exasperated,ing out to twist his ear: "What''s wrong with you, making such a basic mistake... It smells so good."

    Chu Tingwu peeked out: "Should I take it to the cats?"

    Instructor: "Ah, okay."

    Chu Tingwu: "I made a bit extra, want to try the taste?"

    Instructor: "Ah! Sure!"

    He took the small bowl handed over by Chu Tingwu, ready to scoop some, when he heard Tutu "woof" in surprise.

    His mouth opened, and the food bowl fell.

    The Labrador retriever looked up in shock: It smelled so good, but it wasn''t for dogs! He had thought it was a new dog food that had been mistakenly ced at the wrong window!

    Instructor: "..."

    He tilted the bowl slightly, showing Tutu that he only had a little: "Do you want a bite?"

    Tutu: "..."

    If it''s not for dogs, forget it, but you only got this little.

    The police dog picked up his food bowl and led the other dogs back to the original window, their steps still spirited, but their backs looked quite disappointed.

    Instructor: "¡­¡­¡­¡­"

    He went over, wanting tofort Tutu and exin, only to find that the Labrador retriever suddenly looked up and pushed his full food bowl towards him.

    Instructor: "Thank you... I won''t eat it."

    Stop looking at him, really won''t eat it!

 Chapter 39

    Although it was an official announcement, the news about "Police Cat Training" didn''t create much of a stir online.

    On the one hand, the cases involving Long Zai hadn''t been announced yet. On the other hand, this was just a trial training and no results had been produced yet, so the authorities didn''t n to publicize it much. A record was made and some groundworkid, that was enough.

    A portion of Chu Tingwu''s fans saw the news, and after recognizing the "Chu-surnamed expert" in the photo, they quietly forwarded the photo to their fan group and lodged aint:

    [Chu Mi, you saidst time you couldn''t help choose kittens, but you ended up helping anyway!]

    Not to mention, can the eliminated reserve police kittens squat? They must have full marks for their cat-like demeanor!

    Jin City''s Police Dog Training Base inexplicably gained some fans, and looking at thements, they were all waiting to adopt cats.

    The ount manager: ¡°=_=¡±

    Isn''t it too early to squat?

    This fan group wasn''t created by Chu Tingwu, but by the fans themselves. Besides this, there was also the website''s own group: if you sent a gift to a live broadcaster on Fenghua Network, you would automatically enter the rted fan group. However,ments would be monitored by the website''s bot, and it wasn''t themonly used chat software,cking regr emojis, so some fans wanted to create their own group.

    ¡ª¡ªThe system was also lurking in Chu Tingwu''s fan group.

    Rather, any news rted to her on the inte would be automatically captured and analyzed by the system. Useless information would be ignored, while anything with potential changes would be observed further... All lovely secondary creations would be secretly saved.

    In short, the events of Saturday didn''t have much impact on Chu Tingwu. However, because she had pigeonholed Chang Yile on Saturday, she agreed to visit the Chang sisters'' house on Sunday.

    Chang Yile: ¡°It''s a good thing my parents aren''t home this Sunday hehehe¡­¡±

    Because of this, Chang Yile was forced by Chang Yixin to do homework all day on Saturday and finished all of it.

    The system pondered: ¡°Should Zai Zai bring some gifts?¡±

    Do some kittens bring mice they''ve hunted when they visit others'' homes?

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°Should I bake some cakes?¡±

    To be precise, she prepared and mixed the materials, and the system would bake the cakes.

    It''s not possible to visit someone else''s home at six or seven in the morning, so Chu Tingwu got up in the morning to finish the cakes, ordered three cups of milk tea, carried the hot milk tea and cakes, and took a ride with San Wu Wu to the Chang''s house.

    The Chang''s house was located in the eastern part of the city center, very close to the CBD, in a high-rise apartment building. Chang Yixin, wearing slippers and pajamas, opened the door and pointed to the room: ¡°She was still in bed when you called, she''s washing up now.¡±

    They were all familiar people who had lived together for a week without makeup, no need to be polite. Chang Yixin took the cake, tasted it: ¡°This cream vor is so delicious, where did you buy it?¡±

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°I baked it myself.¡±

    ¡°Wow!¡± x2

    Chang Yile bounced out of the bathroom like a rabbit: ¡°Chang Yixin, don''t eat it all, save some for me!¡±

    Chang Yixin mouthed: You pig.

    ¡°Should we y games? Or go out?¡± Chang Yile chattered, ¡°Oh right, I haven''t had breakfast yet, let''s eat first!¡±

    She sipped her milk tea while inviting Chu Tingwu to check out her room. The Chang sisters used to share a room when they were little, but as they grew up, they got their own rooms. Both rooms faced south and were identical in size, only differing in decor.

    "We used to have bunk beds when we were little, and then we fought over who got the top bunk, so we ended up with two small beds. But then we fought over who got the bed by the window..."

    And so they would swap beds randomly every day, until they got separate rooms in middle school.

    Chu Tingwu: "You two, truly are identical twins=="

    "Hehe," Chang Yile squatted down, "Three-Five-Five! Wow,e give me a kiss!"

    Three-Five-Five: "......"

    She was rubbed affectionately by Chang Yile, who then lifted her paw to push Yile''s face away.

    Besides a projector, a game console, and a bookshelf, the room also contained tools for curling and dyeing hair. Chang Yile''s hair was curled by herself. The school didn''t allow hair curling or dyeing, but because some students had naturally curly hair, they turned a blind eye to those who only curled their hair, as long as it wasn''t too exaggerated.

    "But I remember there''s a person in ss 2 who has brownish-yellow hair..."

    "Like I said, that person was born with that hair color. Didn''t you notice that she never had to touch up her roots?"

    The projector was directly opposite the small sofa. During breakfast, the three of them decided to watch a low-budget horror film in Chang Yile''s room with the curtains drawn.

    Chu Tingwu, who was squeezed between the two: "......"

    Just as a jumpscare appeared on the screen, a ghost suddenly shed from the end of the hallway to the front of the screen as the lights flickered on and off. Chu Tingwu, silently, leaned back slightly.

    Chang Yile and Chang Yixin turned their heads at the same time: "Chu Chu, were you scared?"

    At times, they really did have the telepathy of identical twins.

    Chu Tingwu: "No."

    "?"x2

    Chu Tingwu: "......Why doesn''t the ghost make any noise when it walks."

    In reality, she wouldn''t be scared, because every sound of the wind, rain, and footsteps would automatically transform into information flowing into her mind, telling her stereoscopically what was happening around her. But the film wasposed of sudden cuts and countless fragmented images. Even though she knew it was fake, she would still...

    "Three-Five-Five, were you scared?"

    Three-Five-Five, who didn''t really understand the flickering images on the screen: "Meow?"

    When they went out for lunch, the Chang sisters criticized Chu Tingwu for being scared of the movie and dragging the cat into it: "What does Three-Five-Five understand? She''s just a small... big cat!"

    Three-Five-Five stepped on her foot.

    The cat thinks you''re badmouthing it.

    They ate at a mall nearby, which not only allowed pets but even provided special seats for them in the stores. The customers at the table opposite them had brought a Pomeranian. The well-groomed Pomeranian was wearing clothes and a little bow tie around its neck, looking smart and obedient.

    It would asionally let out a small "woof", and its owner would pat its head to quiet it. But when the owner was eating, the Pomeranian would turn its head to look at where Three-Five-Five was sitting, its tail wagging like a propeller.

    After dinner, several people went to pay the bill. Just as the people at the table opposite were getting up, a Pomeranian jumped down from its chair and tried to sniff at San Wu Wu''s rear end.

    San Wu Wu: "?"

    Owner: "Oh, no..."

    It wasn''t that they thought this was impolite, but after ncing at the size of the tortoiseshell cat, the owner was worried that their small dog would get beaten up, and wouldn''t be able to fight back.

    Fortunately, both parties managed to restrain their pets in time, avoiding a pet war.

    A friend of the dog''s owner came over and said, "Didn''t we n to go to the climbing gym today? Why are you just standing there?"

    Chang Yile: "A climbing gym? Is it new around here? I can''t believe I didn''t know!"

    Dog Owner: "Yes, I opened it. It''s only been half a month. It''s just for fun, and there aren''t many people."

    Chang Yile: "Oh, can we take a look? By the way, your dog is so cute, I wanted to pet it earlier, but I didn''t dare..."

    Chang Yixin & Chu Tingwu: Do you ever feel shy?

    Neither of them were introverted, but Chu Tingwu usually only engaged in necessary social interactions, Chang Yixin didn''t like to be bothered, and Chang Yile could strike up a conversation with strangers quickly. She was the kind of person who could chat up a storm during a free tasting and get a gift bag. She probably hadn''t been able to pet the dog earlier because she was eating and her mouth was full. Indeed, thanks to the cat and dog and their neighboring seats, Chang Yile quickly became friendly with the dog''s owner.

    The dog''s owner was Brother Xia, and the dog was named Xia Bingbao, with the English name Monica, and the nickname "Bao Bao". Obviously, thest name was the mostmonly used.

    Brother Xia was an outdoor sports enthusiast. Like his friends at the table, most of them were wealthy and had plenty of free time. They could afford outdoor equipment and even invest in his climbing gym, which didn''t make any money.

    Brother Xia: "We just nned to rent a ce to practice on our own. We didn''t do any advertising, and we don''t have many customers yet. Do you want toe and y? The first day is free."

    Chang Yile rubbed her hands: "I''ve never tried rock climbing before!"

    Naturally, Chang Yixin and Chu Tingwu had no objections. A female friend who was with them pushed Brother Xia away and said, "Do you guys exercise regrly? Rock climbing requires a lot of strength. Let me lead you in a warm-up first to prevent muscle strains."

    Hearing that they were high school students, the friend was very careful. She was worried that they might strain their muscles using the equipment, and then Brother Xia would getints from their parents.

    For some reason, after she finished speaking, the two twin girls both looked at the short-haired girl holding the cat.

    Chu Tingwu: "Thank you."

    The twins then withdrew their gaze.

    The short-haired twin said, "Let''s let Chu Chu go first."

    The long-haired twin said, "Go Chu Chu!"

    It seems that this child who brought the cat exercises regrly?

    Brother Xia''s climbing gym was on the top floor, and across from it was an arcade. Pushing open the transparent ss door, you are faced with a curved wall. The wall is covered with climbing points of various colors, but this wall is not for climbing. Instead, it is decorated in the same style as a decoration and also serves to shield the interior.

    After turning the corner, there was the rock climbing venue. Chu Tingwu looked up, noticing that the tallest climbing wall was over ten meters high. Only half of the venue had a ceiling, while the other half was covered with transparent windows, creating an immersive outdoor climbing experience¡ª

    Of course, all of this was narrated by Brother Xia.

    Brother Xia: "If you can climb to the highest point of the difficult wall, do you see it, right there¡ª the view of the building opposite from there ispletely different from the view here!"

    A friend patted Brother Xia''s shoulder, asking him to stop showing off: The girls who were climbing for the first time definitely couldn''t try the ten-meter-high difficulty wall. It would be quite an achievement if they could reach the top of the four-meter bouldering wall.

    Chu Tingwu and the others were dressed in loose clothes. After storing their electronic devices, they only changed into more suitable climbing shoes.

    Brother Xia: "By the way, what about your cat? Linlin, do you want to hold it?"

    Chu Tingwu gave a brief instruction, then untied the leash, leaving only the cor: "She can stay here on her own."

    The ce had the smell of cats and dogs. Brother Xia didn''t seem to mind pets staying in the venue, as long as they didn''t run around.

    Seeing that they were all beginners, he exined: "If you are just starting to practice, you can start with the v0 difficulty bouldering. The bouldering wall is three to five meters high, without a safety harness, but the ground has a bouldering cushion, and there are people on guard, so you generally won''t get hurt¡ª"

    There''s also no safety rope for climbing the bouldering wall.

    "The difficulty wall is up to fourteen meters high. It''s top-rope climbing here, you can wear a descender and tie a safety rope. By the way, are you afraid of heights?"

    Chang Yile: "Let''s, let''s start with the simplest one?"

    Brother Xia: "Then let''s try bouldering."

    The bouldering wall seemed to simte real cliffs, with obtuse angles with the ground, acute angles, and even some that you had to almost hang upside down on after climbing up.

    After a brief warm-up, Brother Xia exined to them in the simplestnguage: "Bouldering is differentiated by routes, and the routes are rted to the color of the bouldering points on the wall. Simply put, climbing up by stepping on the same color of stones is a climbing route."

    He took the three of them to the wall to look, pointing at the yellow tape with four yellow points: "This is the starting point, it will be marked with tape, and the end point up there is also marked with tape for differentiation. You can''t step on points of other colors when you go up."

    Because it was the simplest route, this lv0 yellow route started with an obtuse angle wall, which didn''t look too difficult. The end was a right angle wall, it seemed that with a little effort, you could hang on it, and the requirement for sessful climbing was to stay at the end point for three seconds.

    Even Chang Yixin seemed a bit eager to try.

    Brother Xia didn''t let them go up, but asked them to stand aside. He first hung up at the starting point, raising one hand:

    "The key to rock climbing is maintaining a three-point bnce. Look, both my feet and my left hand are hanging on here. I use my right hand to reach a new climbing point, providing a new support. Then I move, judge the route, and repeat this action. Bit by bit, I climb up. It''s not difficult."

    He also demonstrated how to switch feet. Chu Tingwu noticed that the climbing points were very narrow. Hands could fit, but feet could only rest on the tips.

    So in reality, climbers maintain their bnce on their toes.

    "Try to use your legs as much as possible. Look at my arms, you can try it too. Extend your arms, so you can use your leg strength. If you keep your arms bent, they will get tired halfway through."

    It seemed like Brother Xia really wanted to teach them. He showed everyone the route to the top, and then jumped down directly:

    "Don''t be afraid of falling. The crash pad is very thick. I''ve seen many beginners who dare to climb up but note down. They get dizzy when they look down, and then they just hang there."

    "You don''t need to step on the same color points when youe down. You can step anywhere. If you''re really scared, just jump down like I did. Land on your back to absorb the impact. There won''t be any problems!"

    He also showed everyone how to use chalk to keep their palms dry - when climbing, sweaty hands can also lead to slipping.

    When someone is climbing, no one should pass underneath, otherwise, if the climber loses strength and falls, both parties will be in danger.

    Brother Xia called Linlin over to be their protector, moved a little further away, and signaled for them to decide who would go first.

    Some of the others tried the difficulty wall, and quite a few just watched:

    Obviously, the climbing gym didn''t get many neers, and even if they did, they might not stay. Everyone''s main focus was on having nothing to do and watching the excitement.

    "The little girl''s cat seems spirited, it looks familiar... Did I see something simr when I was scrolling through short videos?"

    In fact, bouldering is not a simple up and down sport. The route is not fixed. Before each person climbs the wall, they must n the route themselves - even after nning, they may not be able toplete it perfectly.

    Brother Xia watched with his hands in his pockets and quietly eximed in his heart:

    The first one to climb was the little girl with the cat.

    She put both her hands and feet on the wall, then extended her arms, holding onto the point where Brother Xia had pressed, and climbed to the top in an almost identical way, at a steady pace.

    Brother Xia praised her in his heart: Although this was a V0 difficulty, it was clear that this little girl was very flexible, had strong core strength, and distributed her strength well. She also came down smoothly, without even getting out of breath.

    Could she be a dancer?

    Linlin had practiced pole dancing for ten years, and she was able to climb V3 as soon as she started. On the second day, she sessfully climbed V4.

    After the little girl came down, the more lively short-haired twins took over. When they reached two meters, Brother Xia noticed that the little girl''s legs were a bit weak. It was due to insufficient exercise and strength. However, after hanging in mid-air and resting for a while, she still made it to the end, though her legs were trembling a bit when she came down.

    Chang Yile said, "I touched my neck and felt a sweat."

    Chang Yixin had a smoother climb, but at a slower pace, and more stable. However, when she reached the top, she looked down, hesitated for a moment, and jumped down with her eyes closed.

    Getting up, Chang Yixin calmly said, "I''m not very good at getting down."

    She couldn''t figure out which piece to step on toe down.

    Chang Yile teased her, "Your expression didn''t change at all, I thought you weren''t scared!"

    Brother Xia said, "Fun, isn''t it? You can try this wall, it''s not too difficult. Look at the difficulty ratings at the bottom -"

    Here, the difficulty was rated v0-v2, suitable for beginners.

    Usually, in climbing videos, the climbers are filmed doing movements simr to mid-air splits to step on another point and continue climbing.

    These movements look flexible, but in fact, they require a lot of skill and strength, otherwise, they can hurt themselves.

    This is considered an advanced course in bouldering.

    "You guys can y around here, Linlin will supervise. Anyone want to try the difficulty wall? If you want to,e over."

    Chang Yixin shook her head, "I''ll pass, I''m going to get some water."

    Chang Yile grabbed Chu Tingwu, "We''ll do it, we''ll do it."

    The gym had walls with varying difficulties, some were straight up and down, some were slightly inclined, or uneven, obviously, the ones inclined towards the ground were more difficult and not suitable for beginners.

    Brother Xia helped them put on the equipment, and Chang Yile bounced around, "So, this rope doesn''t provide any pulling force!"

    Brother Xiaughed, "Of course not, the rope is there to protect you. If you want to go up, you have to climb up on your own."

    Chang Yile eximed, "I feel like I can only climb three meters at most."

    This time she rolled up her sleeves and went first, but after climbing about a meter, her expression turned distressed, "I can''t..."

    A fellow climber on the difficulty wall looked down, "You''re gripping too hard, rx. You''re tied with a rope, you''ll be fine."

    Chang Yile: "I can''t get up!"

    The bouldering wall she had climbed before seemed like a slope, and the "rocks" were of different sizes, which made it easier to leverage, but this difficulty wall was at a 90-degree angle. Chang Yile took a deep breath, raised her leg to step on the blue stone on the right, and then made a grimace, realizing she couldn''t steady herself - her legs were not short!

    Brother Xia called out, "Come down, it''s okay, just jump, if you go any further your leg will cramp."

    There was no cushion below, but the height was manageable. Chang Yile hesitated a bit, but still let go and hopped down. As expected, the safety rope worked, allowing her to kick the wall and descend slowly. She smacked her lips, "Although it''s hard to climb up, it feels so good to jump down."

    It''s just a bit low.

    Brother Xia pped his hands, "If you like this, you can go bungee jumping."

    Chang Yile responded, "Bungee jumping is too fast..."

    She liked the feeling of a slight descent but felt very safe, "I understand... I can''t y these extreme sports like you guys."

    Brother Xia: "Oh, our ident rate is so low, this kind of indoor activity doesn''t fully count as an extreme sport, it''s very safe if you take precautions."

    Chang Yile: "=="

    "Why are you all like this, even parkour people say they''re not extreme sports," Chang Yile turned her head, "but for ordinary people, it''s very extreme!"

    Brother Xia: You guys?

    Chu Tingwu: "Pfft."

    She had also put on her gear before, and now that Chang Yile had stepped aside, she nodded at Brother Xia and climbed up the wall herself.

    Brother Xia and the others continued to watch. On this difficult wall, only one person was still climbing, currently resting his muscles, not yet at the top.

    Brother Xia had thought that Chu Tingwu was quite fit and was looking forward to her performance. Sure enough, she kept a steady pace, neither too fast nor too slow, slowly climbing up.

    A fellow climber came over, "Did you show the route just now?"

    Brother Xia: "No."

    He didn''t think the kids could climb too high, so he just let them try it out, so he didn''t climb himself.

    He also realized that this little girl seemed pretty smart. The route she chose was like that of an experienced climber, not like a true beginner, hanging up there not knowing which climbing point to go from.

    Brother Xia blinked, "Hiss..."

    Did she climb a bit too high?

    Chu Tingwu had already climbed five meters, her speed hadn''t changed, and she was quickly catching up with the climber above.

    At this height, ordinary people would feel a sense of exposure in mid-air. Intense unease could likely cause them to react incorrectly, which made Brother Xia a bit worried. She might not be able toe down.

    The climber climbed a bit higher, secured himself, and looked down curiously: Seems like a newbie high school student?

    Suddenly, Chu Tingwu''s movement paused for a moment - everyone could see, she tilted her head while hanging on the vertical wall, seemingly judging the climbing route, then, Brother Xia noticed her calf tensing up.

    She jumped.

    But she wasn''t preparing to descend, instead, she jumped to brace arge point while hanging, then pushed off with both legs, stepping on another point with one foot.

    - This part of the route was indeed a difficult point, because if you use your hands, you can only touch the "bulge", i.e., the round protrusion, which is hard to leverage, beginners should go around from the side.

    But true beginners usually can''t climb to this position.

    The climber poked Brother Xia, "Did you teach the ''jumping method''?"

    Brother Xia kept a straight face, "I didn''t teach it, and besides, is this something you can learn immediately after being taught?"

    "The Leap" is also a term in rock climbing. It involves using your arms to pull and your feet to push, leaping to grab a handhold. Just by the description, you can tell it''s quite challenging. For beginners, simply hanging onto the rock wall is already impressive.

    While they were talking, Chu Tingwu had already climbed to the height of the climber above.

    Those beneath could only look up, but the climbers next to her could clearly see: all the way up, this young girl didn''t even break a sweat, nor did she use chalk on her hands more than a few times.

    Her expression didn''t change much, just a hint of excitement. When she saw the climbers next to her, she even gave a friendly nod.

    Then, she surpassed them.

    She surpassed them...

    Climbers: "..."

    Although the difficulty varied between the two, being overtaken by a beginner when you set off first was definitely going to be aughing stock!

    Chu Tingwu at the top didn''t understand why the person next to her suddenly exerted more effort. She was just "ying".

    For her first rock climbing experience, she didn''t make any dangerous moves. Instead, she followed the set route step by step. However, the round handhold was difficult for even the agile cat to grasp, so she leapt over it.

    In this calm rhythm, Chu Tingwu reached the top of the route.

    There was arge handhold at the top. Chu Tingwu gripped it with one hand, then lifted her foot.

    The climber next door: "?"

    The climber saw that this high school studentpleted a backflip in mid-air. With her back against the rock wall, she supported herself with one hand and both feet, silently looking beyond the ss wall¡ª

    Across was a tallermercial center, each floor filled withpany employees. Thousands of people were working, buried in paperwork, conversing with each other. Only a few saw the climber hanging quietly at the highest point of the climbing wall a hundred meters away, gazing at them.

    Brother Xia below opened his mouth, wanting to say "you can try to climb down now", when he saw Chu Tingwu leap forward, then do a mid-air flip, using the safety rope to sessfully bounce off the wall several times while descending.

    Brother Xia: "!"

    He almost thought this kid''s back was going to hit the wall!

    Afternding, Chu Tingwu''s eyes were bright: "Can I try something more challenging?"

    "Of course," Brother Xia was also a bit excited, and couldn''t help asking, "Have you practiced before? Dance?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Parkour."

    Brother Xia suddenly understood: Parkour, although different, both exercises core strength!

    And if she was into high-altitude parkour, no wonder she wasn''t afraid of heights.

    Knowing that Chu Tingwu was good at parkour, Brother Xia assumed she had been practicing for years and suggested she could try a more challenging climb. Meanwhile, Chang Yile and her sister continued to try the beginner''s route, while watching Chu Tingwu climb the V3 bouldering wall.

    Chu Tingwu: "So, the boulder on this inclined angle can be gripped by hooking the fingers."

    Chang Yile: "Or were you nning to hang yourself there with friction? =_="

    But being able to hang your whole body with just your fingers is pretty scary too!

    While they were still trying out the nearly vertical beginner''s wall, Chu Tingwu had already been invited to y a no-rules race.

    Later, when the Chang sisters were too tired to continue, they gave up and sat on the chairs, cheering for Chu Tingwu¡ª

    "Go for it, Chu!"

    Chu Tingwu, although far away, could hear them clearly: "=="

    She mostly lost, and the few victories were clearly given to her by the experienced yers slowing down on purpose.

    Chu Tingwu didn''t tell them:

    She wasn''t actually using her fastest speed, nor was she showing off her superhuman climbing and jumping abilities. She was still observing and learning.

    Therefore, both sides had a great time.

    After ying for an afternoon, everyone was sweating. The Chang sisters came for the experience, but Chu Tingwu had already reached the level of a beginner. Brother Xia said, "You could even pass for an experienced yer now!"

    She just didn''t understand some professional terms, and hadn''t practiced some technical moves.

    Brother Xia added her as a friend and invited Chu Tingwu to the climbing group. Chu Tingwu then proposed, "I''ll get a membership here."

    It would indeed be nice toe and y asionally.

    Brother Xia waved his hand, "No need, my friends just y casually, the membership fee isn''t much."

    He was worried that her family wouldn''t agree, and then there would be endless haggling.

    Chu Tingwu silently paid via QR code: "......you said it wasn''t much."

    And her family was very supportive¡ª

    System: "Let''s invest some money to build a taller one! You''re not satisfied with the current height!"

    See.

    Brother Xia didn''t know that an investment had just passed him by. He liked Chu Tingwu''s attitude and noticed she wasn''t short of money, so he suggested, "Are you guys on National Day holiday in a few days? We decided to go outdoor climbing, you can join if you''re interested, we''ll also be camping."

    Chu Tingwu: "I''m going back to my hometown for the National Day, probably won''t have time, next time?"

    Brother Xia: "Okay, okay!"

    After all, it was their first meeting, it would be okay to invite her again once they were more familiar.

    Chu Tingwu wasn''t making excuses¡ª

    After returning to school, they only had three more days of sses before the National Day holiday.

    And during these three days, the kidsmented, "Why do they have to release our grades right before the holiday!"

    Yes, the monthly test results were out.

    Everyone''s overall scores didn''t fluctuate much. Chu Tingwu ranked fourth in the ss and 28th in the grade. Some were satisfied, some thought they might get a beating when they went home, but that didn''t stop the holiday froming.

    On September 30th, the students were already restless. In the afternoon before the holiday, the ssroom was filled with a restless atmosphere. When the school bell rang, Chang Yile threw her coat: "Chu Chu, let''s go, let''s pack up and get on the bus!"

    Chang Yixin, who was hit in the face by the coat: "......I''ll beat you up."

    October 1st.

    During this holiday, no one had any major events. Tang Zhe took the peacock egg to the animal farm, and those who stayed in Jin City took turns to check on the farm every day, while also supervising the renovation work.

    The Chang sisters, Yile and Yixin, had already made ns with their parents to visit Fallen Phoenix City!

    In early October, the parkourpetition in Fallen Phoenix City was fully prepared and about to start!

    The Chang family decided to drive to Fallen Phoenix City, and they also took Chu Tingwu and her cat, as she was also going home at this time.

    Even though they left a day early to avoid traffic on the highway... it seemed that everyone else had the same idea, and they were stuck in traffic for an extra hour and a half. By the time they reached the toll booth, it was already dark.

    Mother Chang looked back and saw that the girls were sound asleep in the back seat, while the car was being inspected in the front, and this time the inspection was unusually strict.

    Chu Tingwu suddenly opened her eyes.

    Mother Chang asked, "Do you want some water, or do you need to use the restroom?"

    With Chang Yile''s head resting on her shoulder and Chang Yixin hugging her arm, the little girl who had just woken up didn''t move. She seemed a bit dazed, half-closed her eyes and shook her head, looked out the window, and sniffed.

    She said, "I''m fine... I think I''ve run into a familiar cat."

    Mother Chang: A familiar... cat?

    Outside the car, Lin Undercover suddenly noticed that the leash twitched a bit, and the orange cat next to him tilted its head and let out a soft "meow".

    Is there a problem?

    But it seemed that wasn''t what Long Zai meant?

    When the window of this car was lowered, Lin Undercover couldn''t help butugh. He raised his hand in salute and said with a smile, "Hello, Teacher Chu."

    ¡ª This was the title that had been sent back from the Jin City Police Dog Base.

    The awakened Teacher Chu: ¡°==¡±

    She ignored the teasing Lin Undercover, stretched out her hand to greet Long Zai: "Meow~"

    Long Zai: "Meow!"

    The car drove away.

    Mother Chang in the passenger seat: "¡­"

    Meow?

    So, what exactly did these two say?

 Chapter 40

    The Chang family of four booked a hotel and dropped Chu Tingwu and her cat off at the vige entrance.

    When Chu Tingwu got out of the car, Chang Yile unconsciously yawned and stepped out too, before realizing this wasn''t the hotel and drowsily climbing back in.

    As the vehicle slowly drove away from the vige, Chang Yile leaned on his sister''s shoulder and suddenly asked, "Is there no one at Chu Tingwu''s home?"

    Teacher Yuan had mentioned that Chu Tingwu''s parents were too busy with work, and after spending time together, everyone had assumed her parents worked abroad. Now, seeing Chu Tingwu living alone, returning home alone, doing almost everything by herself... even Chang Yile felt something wasn''t right:

    "If parents are away for years, shouldn''t they entrust their underage child to rtives?"

    Chang''s Mother said, "Maybe it''s because she''s quite independent and wants to live on her own. If she hasn''t volunteered information about her family matters, you shouldn''t pry."

    Chang Yile: "...Oh."

    Chu Tingwu unlocked and pushed open the door.

    After being away for over a month, the wind swept through the house, bringing a chill¡ªand a strange smell?

    She turned on the lights and stared silently at the half-eaten, blurry mouse head on the ground.

    "Meow¡ª"

    The sleeping neighbor next door rolled over, thinking hazily, "Where''s that cat cursing from?"

    Fortunately, besides the head in the courtyard and some missing grain from the food bin, the house had no other issues. When Chu Tingwu finished putting down her luggage, Three-Five-Five had chased the tabby and orange cats back from the vige.

    The three cats stared at the head in the courtyard, lost in thought, while Chu Tingwu moved a recliner over and sat in the middle of the courtyard:

    "Tell me, who ate half of it and left it here?"

    The orange cat made a muffled meow and turned its head away.

    The tabby spoke up: "Little one, I caught this one, meow. Don''t you want to eat it?"

    How could she eat that?

    Chu Tingwu grabbed the orange cat''s ears and shook them: "Tabby caught it and yed with it for ages, then you ate it, right? Eating it is one thing, but why didn''t you finish it? Leaving it on the ground is so dirty! Reflect on your actions!"

    The tabby: "..."

    She flicked her tail and joined Chu Tingwu in condemning the orange cat.

    The orange cat: "Meow meow?"

    Chu Tingwu wouldn''t ept verbal reflection. She disposed of the mouse head, found a cloth, and made the orange cat press its paws against it to clean the ground. Feeling the cold water, the orange cat couldn''t break free. After making the pitiful cat wipe a couple of times, she finally let go.

    The orange cat immediately darted to a nearby shelf and began licking its paws.

    Chu Tingwu thought: It''s dirty now, can''t keep this cat anymore.

    Three-Five-Five watched from the side, tilted its head, licked its lips, and silently looked away:

    The little one has such strange cleaning habits.

    And the little one... has she never learned to groom herself?

    Three-Five-Five, who had been lying down, immediately stood up and tilted its head to examine its young charge: clean, fragrant, a little one who needed guarding outside the door every time she bathed.

    After finishing the cleaning, Chu Tingwu ordered a bunch of equipment for dealing with mice, and oh yes... these cats might catch snakes too, so she needed to prepare some mps,s, and ss boxes.

    Afterward, she went to light incense at her grandmother''s memorial altar. Three sticks of incense were ced in the burner, the smoke blurring the smile of the woman in the photograph. Chu Tingwu sat before the altar for a while before yawning and climbing into bed.

    As she got into bed, Three-Five-Five found its familiar spot. Human and caty down, wrapped in familiar scents, and quickly fell asleep.

    The next day, the first official day of vacation, the entire vige was shrouded in white mist. Chu Tingwu rolled over and sat up, and the next moment, her phone rang.

    Chang Yile: "Chu Chu,e out and y, gogogo! [Photo]"

    The photo was their advertisement poster together. Though their faces weren''t shown, people who knew them could recognize their figures.

    Chu Tingwu: Better catch up on some sleep.

    Though she wanted to do that... she still got up. The Chang family had booked a hotel near Zhangshan Mountain, apparently nning to climb the mountain early to watch the sunrise, then have breakfast at the temple.

    Yes, ever since Qingshan Temple unexpectedly became popr for animal fortune-telling, visitors seemed to assume thating to Fallen Phoenix City meant they had to visit Qingshan Temple. The temple had developed new services, including providing three meals a day to tourists. Though the food was homestyle, because space was limited, reservations were required.

    The police cat called "Yanzi" had also be a minor inte celebrity, now walking on rooftops daily from being petted so much.

    Chu Tingwu finished breakfast before meeting up with the Chang sisters. They had agreed to meet at themercial za, but when she arrived, she only saw two people sprawled on a bench. Chu Tingwu: "...So this is what happens when you climb a mountain early in the morning."

    Was it really necessary to wear out their feet on the first day of vacation?

    Chang Yile waved her hand: "Dad went to take photos, Mom went to catch up on sleep, so it''s just us few ying. By the way, don''t you need to meet friends when you''re back home?"

    Chu Tingwu thought about yesterday''s events and shrugged: "Met some already."

    "Oh¡ª" Chang Yile gave a thumbs up, "That was quick! What did you y?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Mouse."

    "?" x2

    Chu Tingwu: "To be precise, half a mouse head."

    Chang Yixin: "Your y is quite bloody."

    The bloody mouse handler linked arms with the two of them, then noticed the changes to the bench: "Is this... a cat?"

    Indeed, the benches in themercial street seemed to have been reced with new designs, featuring cat-shaped cutouts in the backrest, clearly custom-made.

    "Yeah," Chang Yile showed her some photos, "Many public facilities here have added cats. I saw online that Fallen Phoenix City might as well be renamed Cat City, and there are facility check-in points."

    Sure enough, online there were many photos with various chairs,mp posts, and trash bins. Fallen Phoenix City had always been a city suitable for retirement, but after deciding to appeal to younger people, they apparently wanted to transform it into an inte-famous small city.

    Collecting all the Easter eggs and sending photos to the Culture and Tourism Bureau''s official ount would earn a small gift, or you could im it in person.

    Chu Tingwu had never hosted out-of-town friends before and hadn''t nned any sightseeing activities¡ªseeing how they just wanted to find a ce to sit, well, they might as well find a shop to drink beverages and y with their phones.

    Chang Yile was good at finding entertainment though, quickly discovering: "There''s a photo exhibition nearby, hosted by the Culture and Tourism Bureau. Once we''re rested enough, shall we go take a look?"

    Maybe buy some local specialties too?

    The other two were easy-going. This was Fallen Phoenix City, not Jin City, so Chu Tingwu hadn''t put a leash on Three-Five-Five. Three-Five-Five wasn''t sitting on the bench either, looking around at her feet when suddenly, "click."

    They looked up to see a passing girl who froze: "I, I was just taking a photo of the cat..."

    She showed them her phone screen, disying a familiar APP interface. After [Matching...] finished, the cat''s name appeared:

    ["Three-Five-Five" is not a stray cat.]

    The girl: "!!? It really is!"

    Chu Tingwu immediately raised her hand: "Shh..."

    The girl nodded and whispered, "Um, could we take a photo together, Chu Chu! I- I grew up watching your videos!"

    The happy fan passed by, leaving Chu Tingwu and the Chang twins looking down at Three-Five-Five.

    After leaving the store, Three-Five-Five wore a pink floral baby bib around its neck.

    ¡ªA bit of image modification might reduce the chances of others taking photos to match the cat.

    However, they had overthought it...

    Although the total number of stray cats in the city had decreased, since the APP''s promotion, Fallen Phoenix City was the only city where almost all cats were registered with their information. So tourists who downloaded the APP (which had a high download rate among visitors) would casually take photos whenever they saw a cat¡ª

    It was nice to learn the cats'' names and personalities, like finding moving Easter eggs in the city!

    After being stopped for another photo, Chu Tingwu checked the information record: "Seems like... my APP is coborating with the Culture and Tourism Bureau. During the National Day holiday, finding unregistered stray cats in the city can earn you a surprise gift."

    And it was limited edition.

    National Day limited edition.

    These days, when people see the words "limited edition," their eyes light up, wanting to get their hands on it even if the gift has no practical use¡ª

    System: "Baby, do you want it? I can help you find it! I''ll be much more efficient than them!"

    She wasn''t particrly interested, but even the system seemed eager.

    Chu Tingwu: "Can''t I just hack one for myself...?"

    After all, she was the boss!

    The system clicked its tongue in disappointment.

    The three of them found the photo exhibition at the art gallery, discovering that there was also a three-dimensional photo wall outside, designed like a folding screen and arranged artistically.

    Someone was standing guard, and seeing the three people and a cat approach, the staff member smiled and said: "Is this your cat? If you want to enter the gallery, the cat needs to be on a leash, and please make sure the cat doesn''t damage¡ªoh?"

    The staff member stared at the cat hesitantly: "Three-Five-Five?"

    That tortoiseshell cat with its yellow-tipped nose was unmistakable.

    Chu Tingwu: "...Yes."

    Although the staff member said Three-Five-Five didn''t need a leash after recognizing it, Chu Tingwu still attached one. The staff member even gave each of them a special gift: "It''s fine, we have reserved quantities of these visitor gifts anyway."

    The gifts were limited to the first hundred visitors each day, and they had arrived toote.

    The small gift bag contained a pair of cat-themed hair clips, a metal badge shaped like Zhangshan Mountain, an artistically designed exhibition ticket stub, and two packs of wet wipes.

    The cost of the entire gift package was probably less than ten yuan, but Chu Tingwu discovered that receiving gifts indeed made one feel good.

    She sent a message, then whispered to the Chang sisters: "I''ll hack two copies of my APP''s gifts for you too."

    "Yay!"

    The art gallery was much quieter inside. Chang Yile whispered: "I was just wondering why the staff didn''t seem surprised at all to see us walking a cat..."

    Chang Yixin: "Because other people brought cats too."

    Not far from them, ady was holding an elegant long-haired Persian cat thaty obediently in her arms, its eyes curiously looking around. When thedy stroked it, it would softly meow twice.

    However, upon seeing the content of the photos on the wall, they understood.

    There had been a photographypetition with the theme "Dancing with Phoenix, Beautiful Companionship," and during Chu Tingwu''s school term, the results had been announced. All the photos here werepetition entries.

    But...

    Chang Yile stopped in front of a photo, thoughtfully: "Special Award?"

    There were many first and second prizes, and third prizes could fill an entire wall, but this special award photo was disyed quite prominently, and the cat in it looked particrly familiar.

    Thedy holding the Persian cat up ahead put her cat down, crouching to try to take a photo of her cat with the "Special Award" photo.

    Persian cat: "Meow?"

    She was clearly an affectionate cat, calling out twice after being put down, then returning to her owner''s side. The owner whispered: "Oh, Qiuqiu, don''t move, I''m taking a photo, just stay there¡ª"

    But cats can''t understand such things, and it reached out to paw at her camera.

    After being pushed away and approaching for the third time, Chu Tingwu "meowed" from behind. The Persian cat froze, hesitantly staying in ce, and the owner quickly took the photo!

    In the photo, behind the Persian cat was a huge tortoiseshell cat, with a crow flying above its head, and the Persian cat''s position made it look like it was making eye contact with both the cat and crow... As for the Taoist priest walking up the mountain in the photo, that could be photoshopped out.

    After taking the photo, she picked up her cat, only then remembering she had heard a cat meow. She looked down¡ª

    The tortoiseshell cat from the photo was swaying its fluffy big tail as it passed by her feet, the young girl holding its leash linking arms with her friend as they passed each other.

    Owner: "!"

    Owner: "..."

    She opened her mouth but didn''t call out to them, though she could feel her heart pounding: the feeling of a perfect coincidence, transforming from two dimensions to three right before her eyes, silently struck her.

    Owner: "How romantic..."

    The Persian cat yed with her hair: "Meow?"

    Meanwhile, Chu Tingwu and the others continued browsing. This photo exhibition was indeedprehensive ¨C besides city photos, cat photos, and that photo You Zhenzhen had taken before, there were also famous figures who had appeared in Fallen Phoenix City over thousands of years, their personal introductions, and reproductions of their calligraphy and paintings. It was clear that the Culture and Tourism Bureau had really racked their brains for promotion ¨C some of these people Chu Tingwu had never even heard of in all her years.

    This was the Chang sisters'' first time here, so Chu Tingwu introduced the ces she recognized in the photos, while Chang Yixin took notes on her phone, nning where to visit next.

    Chang Yile: "Is this a photo of what the parkour district used to look like?"

    It showed an ordinary urban district that looked particrly dim andcklusterpared to the fashionable high-rises nearby.

    Opposite was a huge photo of the newly transformed district, with all colors and details specially designed, looking from above like a geometric painting spread across thend.

    The original nts and other features of the district were perfectly incorporated into the canvas.

    One could imagine how this ce would transform with different seasons. A small caption exined: There was an exceptionally tall cotton tree in the district that had been fenced off for protection, only opening as a parkour point duringpetition days.

    Chu Tingwu exined to them: Parkour athletes usually design their routes in advance and verify their safety. While there''s some improvisation, knowing and being familiar with the route definitely leads to better performance.

    Chang Yile nudged her, mouthing: Did you sign up?

    Chu Tingwu: "No, registration requires being at least 16 years old to sign liability agreements."

    On one hand, she didn''t meet the age requirement; on the other, the organizers had suggested she not participate because "it would be difficult to rank you if youpeted."

    Giving her a good ranking might raise suspicions, but not giving her one might affect Chu Tingwu''s "streaming career"... Besides, Chu Tingwu''s age was really inconvenient, and parkour was a rtively dangerous sport.

    She personally didn''t mind: she hadn''t nned topete anyway. Thepetition apparently had both indoor and outdoor venues, with indoorpetitions first to select the top sixteen for the outdoorpetition¡ªshe could pull some strings to get front-row spectator seats then, and secure some spots for her friends too.

    Walking to the exit, they discovered there was... merchandise for sale?

    The merchandise included keychains, photo card collections, button badges (which An Shiyan had mentioned were called "badges"), photo wall hangings, and more. A sign nearby stated: All merchandise proceeds would be donated to stray animal foundations for purchasing food and covering costs like sterilization.

    Some people who had been about to leave saw how cute the merchandise was and noticed the sign, couldn''t resist buying a few items, and almost everyone left carrying small bags.

    The Chang sisters decided to buy some too. Chang Yile specifically picked up all styles of "badges," nning to give them to An Shiyan when they returned¡ªit wouldn''t be right to travel without buying some gifts, right? Plus, these gifts were much cheaper than local specialties elsewhere, had local characteristics, and were cute.

    They split up afterward, with the Chang sisters going to meet their parents for dinner, while Chu Tingwu said she was meeting a friend: she went to Teacher Zhang''s house.

    Teacher Zhang and Aunt Mei had gone on a self-driving tour, originally nning to take Shikuai, but Shikuai got carsick on long trips, and taking a crow along wouldn''t be convenient either, so the cat and crow stayed behind.

    Teacher Zhang had asked neighbors to prepare cat food for Shikuai, hired someone to clean the litter box daily, and asked students to check in asionally. The smart automatic feeder only needed to be refilled periodically, and from the surveince footage, Shikuai seemed quite content.

    Chu Tingwu didn''t have the key to the courtyard. She knocked on the door, and Shikuai meowed. In the next second, Chu Tingwu climbed over the wall and entered the yard.

    The neighbor who was watering flowers in the opposite yard: "..."

    She recognized Chu Tingwu''s silhouette and shook her head, humming as she went back inside: Teacher Zhang had mentioned before that this young girl mighte, so she should be mentally prepared not to be startled.

    ...The neighbor had originally thought about helping to open the door.

    As soon as shended, Shikuai''s cat face pressed against the window, meowing. Chu Tingwu unlocked the door with her fingerprint and found the living room in a bit of a mess.

    Chu Tingwu: "Watch out, Aunt Mei might spank you when shees back."

    Shikuai: "Meow?"

    Why spank the cat? It wasn''t the cat who made the mess! It''s always messy like this, but usually bes tidy the next day. If it''s not tidy, it definitely isn''t the cat''s fault.

    Chu Tingwu: It bes tidy because Aunt Mei cleans every day!

    She pinched Shikuai''s cheeks, and the forgetful little cat immediately started ying and wrestling with her. Then, remembering something, it began toin:

    "I''m tired of cat food and canned food, meow! I want something else!"

    Chu Tingwu had guessed this, which was why she came over. She shrugged and started cleaning the kitchen to make cat food.

    Soon after, there was the sound of pping wings outside, and Crownded on the windowsill, tapping the window with its ws.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    She opened the window, and the crow proudly ced a ck metal belt buckle on the table, letting out a proud "meow."

    Chu Tingwu: How dare you be so proud of stealing something==

    She quietly finished making the cat food, filled up the crow''s food, and then prepared to grab both the cat and crow to interrogate them about where they had hidden their stolen goods. But there was no need for interrogation¡ªseeing that Chu Tingwu was done, Crow picked up the small belt in its beak, flew to the ginkgo tree outside, then flew back to eat.

    Chu Tingwu climbed the tree and discovered a semi-hollow tree cavity hidden by leaves. The cavity was tilted, protected from rain, and stuffed with various shiny things¡ª

    Like metal hairpins, a thumb-sized little shoe (probably from a doll), bracelets, key rings, springs, and ss beads.

    Obviously, these were all things Crow had picked up from various ces.

    Chu Tingwu: "Hmm..."

    Better return this belt first.

    She held up the belt and gestured to Crow, who tilted its head, looked at it, and waved its wing: "Meow-caw!"

    Keep it, no need to return it!

    Chu Tingwu: It''s not yours to be so generous about!

    Never mind, she''d teach them againter... After thinking for a moment, Chu Tingwu beckoned Crow to perch on her shoulder, picked up the satisfied Shikuai, called Three-Five-Five, and went out.

    ¡ªWhen returning things, she had to bring the criminals along.

    -

    You Zhenzhen: "Alright, I''ll contact Chu Tingwu."

    She put down the phone and opened the website, letting out a soft whistle.

    Earlier, Chu Tingwu had said she would return to Fallen Phoenix City for the National Day holiday, and they had agreed to watch the parkourpetition finals together on the fourth, but today, the organizers suddenly called her.

    Parkour is still a rtively new sport in China. Initially, they had arranged for three domestic guests to serve as judges/mentors, but today, one of them had an issue.

    They had an ident during parkour practice the day before yesterday and fractured their hip.

    They couldn''t find a new judge on such short notice. They tried looking domestically, but people were either unavable... or were actually registeredpetitors! So, after going in circles, the organizers thought of Chu Tingwu.

    Although the child was too young to be apetitor, there was no rule stating that judges had to be over sixteen!

    They hadn''t contacted Chu Tingwu directly, instead calling You Zhenzhen, with whom they had coborated multiple times, to inquire about Chu Tingwu''s avability. You Zhenzhen: "..."

    Of course she was avable. While You Zhenzhen remained calm when putting down the phone, she couldn''t help but jump with excitement as she got up to gather her things¡ª

    She decided to tell Chu Tingwu about this in person.

    -

    To find the owner of the small belt buckle, Chu Tingwu was walking out of the viplex with her two animals.

    This belt buckle was only a finger wide and a palm long, impossible to wear around the waist and stranger still around the wrist. She wasn''t sure what it was for. The metal had a new shine to it, and there were no breaks or scratches, only marks from being carried in Crow''s beak... Chu Tingwu suspected Crow had stolen it.

    She sniffed the air and walked out of the vi area¡ª

    Her sense of smell was between lv2 and lv3, which ording to the system meant "already better than a dog''s."

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    Anyway, with her better-than-dog sense of smell, she walked all the way to the business center, then discreetly passed through themercial street and entered the parkour district.

    The wall before her was sshed with maple-red paint. Humans could no longer smell the paint, but Chu Tingwu still wrinkled her nose.

    She went around the wall and saw some people standing on rooftops or sitting by the wall.

    The old district had never been demolished, and there weren''t many permanent residents. During the National Day period, these people receivedpensation and moved to hotels early, leaving the entire district as apetition venue.

    All the house doors were tightly closed, with many contestants training here in advance¡ªreportedly, the preliminary round would be indoors, and starting from the second, the semi-finals would move to the outdoor parkour venue, with the district being used for the finals. On the morning of the finals, sixteen wouldpete for eight spots, and in the afternoon, the top three would be selected from the eight.

    After the finals on the fourth, there would be exhibition matches and invitationalpetitions.

    In short, they nned to fill the tourists'' National Day holidaypletely.

    Chu Tingwu pulled up her mask and walked forward with her hands in her pockets. Her clothes were very low-key, except for the crow perched on her shoulder and the cat following at her feet... making her look like a boss on the street.

    Shikuai should be thankful for its almost pure ck exterior; otherwise, passersby would directly see this silly cat''s clear foolish face, along with ruining Three-Five-Five''s dignified presence.

    "Ah," Chu Tingwu said, "Found it."

    With a "whoosh," the belt''s owner leaped over her head, ducked down, grabbed a railing and passed under it. Thanks to her superior hearing, Chu Tingwu could hear themnding on the other side of the wall, stepping on a garbage bin, then lunging at the wall ahead and flipping over it.

    Chu Tingwu went around through the alley: "Hey¡ªwait!"

    More people whooshed past overhead. The belt''s owner and the others seemed to be from the same parkour club. They were practicing, and someone noticed Chu Tingwu below, smiled and waved, not taking her calls seriously... apparently thinking she was just a fangirl wanting photos.

    "You dropped something," Chu Tingwu stood still, speaking calmly, not shouting this time, "so I came to find you."

    She never liked speaking loudly anyway, all that shouting.

    Someone from the club pointed at the little girl below, suggesting "We can''t just let a fan wait down there, right?" Their club was somewhat famous, so being approached by fans was normal, but the next second.

    The people stopped there watched as the little girl suddenly stepped forward, easily bounced onto the wall, then flew past him, making a leap to grab the third-floor balcony railing.

    She pulled herself up with her arms, easily flipping onto the third floor, then reached down¡ª

    A calico cat jumped over, and she helped another ck cat up with her hand, one person and two cats flipping onto the balcony.

    "Whoosh¡ª"

    And a crow too!

    The girl ran two steps, supported herself on the balcony edge to the outside of the wall, hooked the eaves with a backflip, and the next second easily flipped up, her body as flexible as a cat.

    The two cats didn''t do this, instead running one after another on the balcony, passing through a corner to the other side, while the girl on the roof flipped over, disappearing from their view.

    Club members: "...Huh?"

    Following their nned parkour route, was this a direct way to find their leader "Ris"?

    The club had set up cameras along the way to record movements forter review, and members hurriedly switched to the public camera feed¡ª

    He watched as the cat and person moved through the frame, without any fancy flourishes. It was pure "authentic parkour," using the discipline as a practical way to traverse irregr terrain.

    While he personally preferred more stylistic free-running, he couldn''t help but whistle appreciatively at the scene.

    He had seen parkour videos themed around "chase sequences" before, but witnessing such a pursuit in person was incredibly cool.

    Wait a minute...

    Wasn''t the person being chased a member of their club?

    And why was that little girl carrying a cat while chasing?

    On the screen¡ª

    Ris got caught!

    Ris executed a slide, but the calico cat blocked his path at the wall ahead. The ck cat crouched nearby, letting out a "meow." The Crownded simultaneously, and all three animals crouched in a row. The Crow also went "meow"... hold on, why was a crow meowing?

    Ris: "..."

    The unfamiliar young girl stood steadily on the railing behind him, hands in her pockets. Ris spread his hands in confusion and turned his head, only able to see the girl''s shadow.

    Ris: "Did... did I do something wrong?"

    A challenge? A dojo storm? Wait, why did that cat look familiar?

    He watched as the girl crouched down on the railing and reached into her pocket... reached in... kept reaching, then fell silent:

    "Crow, go fetch the belt back."

    She had run too fast, her pocket was too shallow, and the belt she was supposed to return to someone had fallen out.

    Now she really did look like someone who hade to challenge them.

 Chapter 41

    Chu Tingwu handed over the slightly dusty belt.

    Ris epted it with a serious expression.

    Then, he attached the short belt to the metal buckle on his pants and pulled out another one from his pocket, cing it on the left side¡ªnow both sides were symmetrical.

    Ris let out a huge sigh of relief.

    The members watching from the side: "Are you guys conducting some kind of arms deal?"

    One member exined to Chu Tingwu with an exasperated look: "It''s just a decorative piece for his pants. He lost it somehow this morning... He has severe OCD and feels ufortable when things aren''t symmetrical."

    Their parkour pants were custom-made uniformly, but each person had different English letters on their belt buckles, so they couldn''t exchange them. The members initially wanted to persuade Ris to give up looking for it¡ªafter all, a palm-length belt would be too hard to find. Unexpectedly, someone brought the belt back in the afternoon, and¡ª

    Chu Tingwu held down the crow, which squawked: "Caw!"

    Yes, and they brought the culprit bird to apologize.

    As for how she found them... everyone assumed the young girl had probably seen their parkour performances and recognized them.

    Judging by her nimble movements, she must be a fellow practitioner.

    Someone curiously asked: "Are you also apetitor?"

    Since she was apetitor and hadn''t asked for autographs, she probably wasn''t a fan.

    Chu Tingwu shook her head, returned the belt, apologized, and left.

    When she had chased after them earlier, she took the rooftop route, but now she walked normally on the ground, apanied by two cats and a crow, showing none of her previous intensity when pursuing Ris.

    This parkour club called "Paint Club" was different from "picC". Most of its members were college students gathered by the founder. They regrly filmed various parkour videos¡ª

    For instance, they would recreate action movie scenes with club members ying characters and filming first-person parkour videos. They also made parkour videos featuring special effects of animal chases, animalpanions, and shooter game scenarios.

    Because they were good at following trends and their videos were more youth-oriented (edited to look cooler), although they had fewer members than picC and weren''t as established, they had a stronger online presence.

    Several main members asionally streamed live. One member stared at Chu Tingwu''s retreating figure and nudged Ris: "Ris''er, why does this little sister look familiar?"

    As dusk fell, across the street was a huge advertising wall. It had been showing other advertisements, but as night descended, the disy happened to change.

    In the frame, the protagonist stood on the eaves with a familiar tortoiseshell cat beside her, both facing away from the camera as if gazing out over the entire city.

    The Paint Club members: "..."

    Ris, no, Ris''er was silent for a moment: "I thought the promotional video was mostly edited."

    They had seen Fallen Phoenix City''s promotional video before, but since it was post-processed and focused on the city rather than parkour, while the parkour looked cool, they couldn''t tell Chu Tingwu''s skill level.

    Moreover, since the action direction and design team was "picC", and rivals tend to be dismissive of each other, some people thought they had found an actress with the right look and had picC''s stunt doubles perform the technical parts.

    The actress was even a local.

    As for Chu Tingwu''s video ount, the club''s PR team had watched it repeatedly and produced a report, concluding that Chu Tingwu''s current poprity wasrgely due to her "human-cat rtionship," "pet factor," "technical ability," and luck.

    As for her actual skill¡ª

    They couldn''t train cats, so they couldn''t replicate it.

    Ris''er scratched his face: "Should we invite her to coborate on a video?"

    Meeting like this was fate, and such a dramatic encounter too. They could recreate the recent "chase and run" scene, which already had a built-in plot¡ªPaint Club thought this was a good idea, as releasing the video would allow for interaction and mutual follower growth.

    Besides, although Chu Tingwu wasn''t very enthusiastic, she was quite polite.

    Another member raised their phone: "I''ll start streaming, a Fallen Phoenix City livestream vlog."

    They could first describe the situation in the stream, since it was indeed quite dramatic, then approach Chu Tingwu. This way, whether she epted or declined, their actions wouldn''t seem too forced.

    Besides, the livestream vlog was one of the contract conditions when thepetition organizers invited them to participate, using Paint Club''s ount to drive traffic online.

    The member panned the camera around and had others greet the viewers.

    This time slot happened to be prime time for fans watching videos during meals. The member smiled and said:

    "The food in Fallen Phoenix City is quite good. There''s a really nice beef noodle shop right across from our hotel... We tried out the parkour district today. Of course, this outdoor venue won''t be used until the finals on the 4th, but it''s good to get familiar with the terrain early..."

    [Little Lu, you guys practiced until nighttime?]

    "Yes, it''s getting dark. Speaking of which, something really coincidental happened today," Little Lu pointed his phone at the advertisement screen for two seconds before lowering it, "involving our Ris''er¡ª"

    His online ID was actually Lu, but most club members had ents, so Ris became "Ris''er" and Lu became "Little Lu". Fortunately, he had changed his name to Lu-Little Lu in advance, otherwise he might have be "Dear Lu" among fans.

    [Oh! Did I see the cat, Chu-meow! Not the one in the ad screen, but behind you, Little Lu!]

    Little Lu read thement and couldn''t help but marvel: the little sister really had a lot of fans.

    So really, couldn''t they learn from her? Making money isn''t shameful.

    He shrugged and turned his head, then froze¡ª

    Chu Tingwu was chatting with a female student about their age, probably a college student.

    After exchanging a few words, Chu Tingwu handed the ck cat to her and then poked the crow on her shoulder.

    The next second, a spherical "flying device" rose from behind them, casting down bright white light that stretched their shadows long.

    Little Lu: "?"

    Little Lu: "!?!"

    What was that thing? A UFO?!

    Thement section went silent for a moment, then two secondster, both Little Lu and Chu Tingwu''s fans who hade after hearing about "Chu-meow''s" appearance exploded withments.

    [What is that, a mini UFO? That size can''t abduct people, only cats... oh wait, Chu-chu is a cat, so never mind.]

    [What the hell? UFOs are disc-shaped, this is a ball, must be a light ball with a powered flight system¡ªbut where can you get such a powered flight system, please sell it to me!]

    [Long-time viewer here, my instinct tells me this is the drone she mentioned briefly in her videos... I think she said she modified the drone to prevent cats from pouncing on it, making it somewhat ball-shaped...]

    [At the time everyone thought no matter how ball-like it was, it was still a drone, must have been exaggerating, but now we realize¡ªmeow! She was being literal!]

    [Wait, this ball has been filming videos for so long, and you fans never knew about it?]

    [Drones can''t self-film... oh no, I mean flying balls.]

    Little Lu: "?"

    Watching the viewers flood into the livestream, he and his club members exchanged looks, speechless.

    He had thought about riding on the little sister''s poprity, but they hadn''t even gone to say hello yet, and somehow they were already doing it! And it was just because they identally caught her drone in frame¡ªwithout even needing her to appear!?

    Little Lu made an "uh" sound and simply raised his phone to film that direction. He could see other parkour practitioners nearby who couldn''t resist taking out their phones to film as well, with some quietly asking theirpanions: "Are they filming some special effects movie?"

    Companion: "Movie special effects are added in post-production, real-life special effects would be superpowers?!"

    Little Lu: "=="

    Some people wanted to approach Chu Tingwu to say hello (and perhaps ask about the link to this game), but Chu Tingwu seemed to have finished talking with that woman. Then, she did some simple stretches and took off her jacket.

    It was autumn, and the temperature was fluctuating. Some people wore short-sleeve shirts under thick autumn coats, while others wore shorts with fluffy slippers, showing off their hairy legs¡ªa real mix-and-match fashion statement.

    Chu Tingwu seemed to follow this trend.

    Under her thin jacket, she wore a ck sleeveless turtleneck and ck arm guards that extended to her upper arms.

    Chu Tingwu tucked her hair behind her ears, and the woman beside her stepped back, took out her phone, and looked down.

    Since Chu Tingwu hadn''t started her livestream, more and more of her fans were gathering in Little Lu''s livestream. They shared many followers, and some recognized the woman with the phone¡ª

    [Isn''t that Little You? What''s she looking at? I want to see too!]

    [I keep switching to Chu''s livestream but she still hasn''t started. I''m tired of this. Am I an outsider? What can''t I see?]

    [It''s probably video from the drone... Is Chu about to do a parkour run? But it''s sote, can she see the path clearly?]

    Little Lu: "Hmm."

    Indeed, the sun had set, and many shops had turned on their lights. From the rooftop, you could see a sea of lights, and if you looked carefully, you could make out the outlines of buildings. Doing parkour now definitely wasn''t a good idea¡ªhuman eyes can''t see in the dark¡ªeven with the drone above providing light, the risk of making a mistake was very high.

    Chu Tingwu spread her arms.

    Little Lu stood up, raised his phone, and instinctively aimed to film her.

    -

    The drone overhead and its projected light were just a decoy¡ªin reality, everything in the darkness was clear as day to Chu Tingwu.

    Her eyes flickered with invisible luminescence, as the system mapped out several "paths" that others couldn''t see.

    Of course, even if others could see these paths, they weren''t routes that ordinary people could easilyplete.

    Chu Tingwu shook her head slightly.

    The virtual fluorescent markers showing each position point shattered, and the world returned to its natural state¡ª

    Chu Tingwu jogged forward, leaped up, pushed off the wall with her hands while her toes touched the wall top, then spread her limbs and lunged forward, grabbing the second-floor railing. With a flex of her core, she pulled herself up to the second floor.

    The light illuminated the second floor as Chu Tingwu ran through the empty corridor, the night wind blowing her bangs. She suddenly stepped onto the railing, did a front flip onto the rain shelter, then jumped up to grab a protruding tree branch. Using it like a horizontal bar, she swung herself up into the tree, walking across the trunk like a bnce beam to reach the second-floor roof on the other side.

    The drone rose up, circling halfway around her as she took steps, then continued to ascend, capturing her crossing the edge of the rooftop from above.

    She directly crossed over to the roof of a two-story building that was adjacent to a three-story building.

    Little Lu drew in a breath.

    They were all on the roof of this three-story building, which offered a good view.

    Just as he was wondering if he should go down to film Chu Tingwu, he saw a pair of hands appear at the edge.

    Chu Tingwu gripped the edge of the third floor, pulling herself up in a cat-hang position using just her arms¡ªthen continued straight ahead.

    The crowd instinctively parted to both sides, making a path for her.

    Before Chu Tingwu passed through, a crow suddenly flew down from above. The darkness seemed to be its camouge; people only noticed the continuously pping crow when it was illuminated by the strong light.

    As the crow flew past Chu Tingwu, the girl suddenly elerated. She jumped from the edge of the rooftop, reaching forward with both hands to push off the edge of the opposite roof.

    The crow, which had been flying below her, now maintained the same rhythm, beating its wings to fly above her head again.

    Under the drone''s spotlight, the crow''s feathers cast a huge shadow on the ground.

    Little Lu instinctively took a step forward, then realized¡ª

    Chu Tingwu could run, but he couldn''t. It was too dark; he couldn''t see the path clearly at all.

    Even though many fans in the livestream were asking (requesting) him to continue filming, Little Lu shook his head and only filmed Chu Tingwu from a distance as she continued forward. In his phone''s camera pixels, the girl''s figure wasn''t clear, but they knew where she was¡ªthe position of the spotlight in the sky marked her location.

    Little Lu muttered to himself: "This looks like a nnedpetition route?"

    Of course, parkourpetition routes aren''t rigid straight lines. In thispetition, the organizers had announced in advance: they would arrange five fixed points along the way, andpetitors could choose any path to reach the target points,pleting thepetition by circling half the block.

    The routes between two points were up to thepetitors to arrange.

    However, in the reference map, the organizers provided nine points. The start and end points were fixed, but the middle points would only be determined on the day of the officialpetition, maintaining an element of suspense.

    Ris''er: "Is she really notpeting?"

    Little Lu shook his head: "She''s probably not old enough."

    What a shame.

    -

    Chu Tingwu jumped down from the finish point location,nding on her toes, and You Zhenzhen ran over.

    You Zhenzhen: "I asked the event organizers. You''re appearing as a special guest judge. The other two judges are from Ennd and America, both professional parkour athletes who are very popr on international social media."

    Chu Tingwu bing a judge at such a young age wasn''t just luck¡ªit also had to do with her filming the city promotional video and being a local of Fallen Phoenix City, which gave her additional attributes.

    Chu Tingwu didn''t need to attend the preliminaries and semi-finals; she only needed to appear at the finals. However, there was one segment in the finals where, after the "five-point" route was determined, the judges had to run it themselves.

    Chu Tingwu thought of the system''s suggested response: "Is it because they''re foreigners?"

    You Zhenzhen: "Yeah, many people online are unhappy, wondering why a domesticpetition chose foreign judges... Inviting you was partly for public rtions reasons. The organizers revealed that if the champion''s performance surpasses the judges'', they can naturally invite the champion as a judge next year¡ªand if not, then it makes sense for them to invite more ''professional'' judges."

    In other words, the judges andpetitors were actually in a hidden petition," though the pressure on the famous foreign judges definitely wasn''t as... great as on Chu Tingwu?

    You Zhenzhen nced at Chu Tingwu.

    The young girl put on her clothes and pouted: "Meow?"

    The sound of pping wings came from above. She raised her hand and caught the approaching crow with a frown, whispering in its ear: "If you want to fly with me, fine, but how did you manage to bump into me twice?"

    The crow buried its head in its wings, ying dead.

    You Zhenzhen: =v=

    She couldn''t see any signs of pressure at all.

    "Anyway," You Zhenzhen gestured, "you''re the youngest and one of our own, so even if you don''t perform well, people won''t be too harsh on you!"

    Being a minor, unless youmit a crime, you''ll generally receive some favorable treatment online¡ªespecially someone like Chu Tingwu who is young and possesses special skills.

    Chu Tingwu nodded: "Then I''lle for rehearsal on the third."

    On the third, this area would be closed off, of course giving time for the judges to familiarize themselves with the venue and for staff to set up.

    Chu Tingwu had dinner with You Zhenzhen, then took the cat and crow back to Teacher Zhang''s house.

    As for today''s video, the event organizers specifically called to suggest she hold off on posting it, as they would also be filming footage of the judges'' rehearsal runs on the third to broadcast as part of the TV program¡ª

    Chu Tingwu could release her video after thepetition ended.

    She agreed, but her fans grew anxious waiting. They startedmenting on her previous videos and livestreams, evolving from "Chu, hurry up and post! I know your editing team is super fast, stop holding back!" to "Chu, if it''s too much trouble, I''ll edit for you! Just send the raw footage to my ount, I''ll do the post-production for free (pinky promise)", and finally to "Little Chu, open up! Why aren''t you opening the door? Did you even film anything... Were all those promised videos just lies? Were all our solemn vows meaningless..."

    Chu Tingwu: "Ugh."

    The system mumbled, determined to defend its right as the "protector of its young cub." It dug out previous filming archives and edited an eight-minute vlog about life in Golden City, posting it to temporarily appease the fans.

    The fans finally stopped moring, but when the event promotion staff came across the video, they nearly spat their tea at the screen:

    Teacher Chu, we''re in the middle of promoting Fallen Phoenix City at full steam, what do you mean by suddenly posting a vlog about Golden City!

    -

    Early the next morning, after Chu Tingwu finished breakfast, there was a sudden knock at the door.

    "...Third aunt?"

    Third aunt held oil sticks in one hand and carried a calico cat in the other, greeting Three-Five-Five as well: "Tingwu, you''re back for the holidays? Why haven''t youe to visit?"

    The previous ten-yuan cat was bought by Third aunt, and the cat she was holding now was "Niu Niu," purchased for five yuan. Thest time Chu Tingwu saw Niu Niu, she was barely palm-sized, but now she had grown considerably. Kittens grow fast, and her eyes were stillrge, making soft "meow meow" sounds as if responding.

    Chu Tingwu thought: Seems like... quite a chatterbox?

    After exchanging pleasantries with Third aunt, she finally revealed her true purpose for visiting, somewhat embarrassedly lifting Niu Niu and petting her: "Well, actually, I wanted to ask your cat for a favor."

    Chu Tingwu: "Oh?"

    Third aunt pped her thigh: "My aunt''s granary has a rat problem this year. They don''t have cats, so they borrowed Niu Niu to catch them, but Niu Niu doesn''t know how to catch rats at all - she even got scared by them. I asked around, and friends said it''s because she didn''t have an adult cat to teach her when she was younger. Your cat is female, right? Could she teach her?"

    Third aunt clearly remembered Three-Five-Five''s rat-catching heroics fromst time and had been waiting for this opportunity.

    Three-Five-Five recognized Third aunt''s familiar scent and felt at ease, licking her paws while asionally ncing up at them.

    Chu Tingwu stroked Niu Niu, who responded with several soft mews.

    Chu Tingwu: "She''s still young, it''s normal she can''t catch them yet... Three-Five-Five should be able to teach her hunting, but are there any prey around here for practice?"

    Third aunt: "If you''re free, I can drive you all directly to my aunt''s ce?"

    Chu Tingwu: So the rat problem isn''t solved yet==

    The car carried both humans and cats to their destination, and only then did Chu Tingwu realize Third aunt''s aunt lived behind the historic street.

    This area was at the urban-rural interface, with fields contracted to local vigers. Most vigers'' houses had been renovated into rural vis, some of which were rented out as guesthouses for tourists.

    One household had been rented by a TV show crew filming a variety show in the historic street years ago, and their living room still disyed photos with celebrities - even though they couldn''t recognize who the celebrities were anymore.

    Third aunt got out of the car and first greeted Great-aunt, and Chu Tingwu also politely said hello, receiving a bag of candy in return.

    Third aunt: "I brought a big cat to teach my little cat. This big cat is really capable, just watch!"

    Great-aunt: "Then hurry up and catch those rats for me!"

    The group of people and two cats arrived at the granary. Even through the door, Chu Tingwu could smell the rat droppings. Three-Five-Five raised her head, and Niu Niu, who had been put down, gave a couple of "meows" before crouching on Third aunt''s shoes.

    She remembered this ce, with its unpleasant smell and things that bit her nose - very scary.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    She pulled out a rat trap from her bag - ordered two days ago, delivered yesterday, ready to use now.

    She noticed that even though they were just catching rats, in this rural area, when a car stopped at someone''s door, neighbors woulde out to look. Now several people had gathered around to watch the cats catch rats.

    Chu Tingwu meowed at Three-Five-Five.

    Three-Five-Five sniffed, turned around, grabbed Niu Niu by the scruff of her neck, and carried the somewhat heavy kitten into the granary.

    The humans, who were muchrger than the cats, immediately crowded around the door, with someoneining: "Ying, why doesn''t your storehouse have lights? No wonder you have rats!"

    Great-aunt: "If you have lights, why don''t you catch rats with your bright lights!"

    The smell was unpleasant. Three-Five-Five twitched her ears and nudged Niu Niu again.

    Niu Niu whimpered pitifully: "Meow¡ª"

    Why hadn''t her humane to pick her up yet?

    Just then, Chu Tingwu looked toward the dark corner on the left, and Three-Five-Five turned her head too. In an instant, before the humans could see what happened, the tortoiseshell cat had arge gray rat in her mouth.

    The rat was still struggling, trying to twist around to bite the cat.

    Both humans and Niu Niu were startled. Niu Niu actually jumped backward with all four paws, but when she realized the rat was actually in Three-Five-Five''s mouth and not running on the ground, the little calico cautiously approached.

    She tilted her head to watch for a while, then bit the rat''s plump bottom.

    Three-Five-Five: "=="

    The mother cat shook her head, stunned the rat, and dropped it on the ground, signaling Niu Niu to try again.

    The little calico seemed less afraid now and went straight for a bite - only to get bitten by the rat that had regained consciousness.

    Niu Niu: "Meow!"

    She and the rat scattered in opposite directions, and Three-Five-Five pounced, pinning down the rat again. By now, she had lost her teaching patience and picked up the rat, walking with measured steps behind the little calico toward the door.

    The humans instinctively made way for the cats.

    So Three-Five-Five carried the rat outside, and Great-aunt praised: "This big cat is impressive, so spirited!"

    As for the little cat... small, chubby, and quite cute too...

    She''ll probably learn when she gets bigger.

    The system also praised: "My cub is still the most capable. Three-Five-Five, when she first taught you, you learned to catch rats right away."

    The system added: "When I first saw this kitten, I thought you were still cuter... People were always praising her back then, but now it seems they were exaggerating."

    It disyed a waving emoji on the screen, seemingly trying to express that it had made this conclusion after carefulparison and serious consideration.

    But Chu Tingwu couldn''t be bothered to argue anymore.

    Chu Tingwu: Fine... so Niu Niu is my life''sparison group...

    She poked the calico once, and then others came forward, rubbing their hands together and asking: "Little girl, can we borrow your cat? We need to catch some rats too!"

    Great-aunt pushed them away and started negotiating prices for Chu Tingwu (and her cat) in the local dialect. Chu Tingwu became curious: "I remember there were several stray cats in the next street, howe there''s still a rat problem here?"

    She still remembered how she had met Big King in the historic street.

    Third aunt: "Ah, there was an adoption drive earlier, and quite a few were taken. There are some cats kept in the historic street, but their owners won''t lend them out no matter what..."

    "They say it''s because they were originally strays, and they''re worried the cats might go wild again if let out, that they need to be properly domesticated first."

    Three-Five-Five crushed the rat''s head and tossed it aside. Chu Tingwu picked it up with the tongs and put it in a bag.

    Someone next door praised again: "This cat is so obedient, doesn''t even y with its prey."

    Chu Tingwu: Alright, you just want to borrow the cat to catch rats, don''t you?

    She looked up and realized the speaker didn''t seem like a viger.

    It was a woman with dimples when she smiled, probably in her thirties or forties, wearing ttering makeup, but Chu Tingwu''s sharp eyes still caught the dark circles under her eyes.

    When she turned around, the woman was studying her face, but her gaze didn''t feel intrusive.

    Perhaps it was because the woman had a very gentle andfortable aura.

    "Hello," she said with a smile, "I''m renting a ce here. Is your cat called ''Three-Five-Five''?"

    Chu Tingwu hadn''t introduced Three-Five-Five''s name before, and the vigers never cared about cat names, yet this person recognized it immediately.

    She extended her hand, and the woman shook it with both hands, saying, "I''m a director. You might not know, but I once tried to contact you through Fenghua Network, though unfortunately, we couldn''t work together."

    At the mention of director, Chu Tingwu remembered: "Are you Director Mu Lou, the one who wanted to turn Dragon Baby''s story into a film?"

    Yes, the system had mentioned this to her when she was in school!

    Director Mu Lou had indeed contacted her before.

    In the entertainment industry, Mu Lou was famous for her "beautiful cinematography and vivid characters." Her debut was a small-budget art film that, despite its melodramatic romance and ordinary plot, helpedunch both lead actors to minor stardom.

    She was particrly skilled at creating atmosphere through lighting and maintaining perfect pacing - though slow, her work was never boring. Under her lens, ordinary faces became elegant, and beautiful faces became iconic. Many idol fans wished their favorite stars would stop making bad movies and have their managers work harder to get them into Mu Lou''s productions!

    However, Mu Lou hadn''t made a film in two years, reportedly due to creative burnout and poor health.

    When Mu Lou had contacted Chu Tingwu, she had hoped to cast Three-Five-Five as an animal actor in her new film project.

    Though it was an adaptation, the director wanted to bring in the original cast from the story.

    But while Three-Five-Five seemed agreeable, filming would require Chu Tingwu''s presence, and the cat mother didn''t want to leave her kittens for too long.

    Considering her ss schedule, Chu Tingwu had declined.

    Now meeting by chance, Mu Lou didn''t mention the film, but just smiled and apanied Chu Tingwu to catch mice, raising her phone to ask, "May I take some photos of Three-Five-Five?"

    Of course she could - others didn''t even ask when they took photos.

    Chu Tingwu asked, "Are you here to scout locations in Fallen Phoenix City?"

    Mu Lou nodded: "Yes, I''ve decided to film here in Fallen Phoenix City. I can tell you a bit about the adapted storyline - we''re changing it so Dragon Baby''s original owner didn''t die, and it''ll be more of a lightedy where the cat and owner reunite and work together to take down a criminal organization hiding in Fallen Phoenix City."

    She made it sound simple, but the adaptation had been thoroughly discussed and deliberated with the tourism bureau.

    Mu Lou had indeed been recovering from illness, but over a month ago, she had stumbled upon Chu Tingwu''s videos about Dragon Baby, followed the story, and found inspiration.

    "Before this, I kept making the same kind of movies. I wanted to break through but couldn''t find that creative spark, which made me very anxious," she sighed softly before smiling again. "But after seeing Dragon Baby''s story, I suddenly thought - what if I could make a fairy tale with a happy ending?"

    These days, everyone seemed to want to makeplex, profound content, refusing to film predictable plots. But in reality, perfecting just one element - be it visuals, story, pacing, or character design - was enough to make an outstanding film.

    So she had packed up ande to Fallen Phoenix City, determined to see the city for herself.

    The viger who rented to her surely didn''t know that this woman had far more online followers than the minor celebrity their neighbor kept talking about.

    It was obvious Director Mu Lou wanted to invite Three-Five-Five, but Chu Tingwu still declined: "I''m too busy with sses, and I don''t want to take a long leave for filming."

    Director Mu Lou: "But I want to invite not just your cat, but you as well."

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    Director Mu Lou: "Don''t rush to refuse - I''m not asking you to act in the film, but to be a special staff member. I hope to gather as much of the original team as possible, but I''ve checked, and Dragon Baby can''t be in the film, so I must cast a new animal actor. And this orange cat will be the star."

    She refused to use special effects instead of real cats, so the cat''s acting ability was crucial. Mu Lou pleaded, "Teacher Chu, could I hire you to help with the cat auditions? We can film the cat scenes during your winter break."

    Though the film had been greenlit thanks to her connections, production wouldn''t start that quickly. If - if Chu Tingwu could handle the auditions and cat training as she envisioned, they could probably squeeze the filming into the high school winter break.

    Chu Tingwu hesitated, and Mu Lou continued persuading her: "Some animal actors'' owners have told me they let their pets appear in films and TV shows because these productions can circte online for a long time, preserving their children''s images through the inte. Professional filming can capture animals more clearly and beautifully than home videos."

    "Regarding Three-Five-Five''s scenes, we can sign a quality-rted contract. If I don''t film it well, we won''t use the footage, okay?"

    If some idol fans were here, they''d probably cry in the bathroom - their idols begged to be in films but couldn''t, while now Mu Lou was begging someone else to participate, and that someone was a cat?

    Mu Lou''s words moved Chu Tingwu.

    Probably no cat owner could refuse such an offer.

    And if they only needed her during winter break, she could indeed make time... though it meant she probably couldn''t spend the New Year with her mother and brother this year.

    They reached a verbal agreement, nning to sign formal contracts when Chu Tingwu''swyer arrived in a few days.

    Mu Lou thought for a moment and suggested: "Teacher Chu, if you''re thinking about getting certifications, you should do it soon. That way I can justify paying you more."

    The investors'' money needed to be spent appropriately, after all.

    With this new connection, they grew closer, and Mu Lou continued following Chu Tingwu, seemingly seeking creative inspiration.

    Chu Tingwu picked up a decapitated mouse and asked after some consideration: "Do you have heart problems?"

    Mu Lou: "Ah... yes, a minor issue, but my assistant and I always carry medication. Though I''ve never made this public, how did you..."

    Chu Tingwu nodded, vaguely pointing at her chest: "I heard your heartbeat."

    Mu Lou: "..."

    Mu Lou: "?"

    She stared at the back of Chu Tingwu''s head, watching as the calico cat Miumiu, finally driven by Three-Five-Five, caught a small mouse and trotted happily toward Chu Tingwu''s position.

    Miumiu seemed to have picked up a not-so-good habit from Three-Five-Five - bringing mice to their owner.

    Third aunt wouldn''t mind, right?

    But this mouse wasn''t dead yet, and when it hit the ground, it was about to bounce away and escape. Just as Mu Lou was about to warn them, a silver sh caught her eye: Chu Tingwu swiftly extended her hand, stunning the mouse with the mouse tongs, then pointed at the calico cat while making "meow meow" sounds. The calico lowered its head in shame before going to bite the mouse''s head properly.

    Then, the young human finally showed a satisfied expression, threw the dead mouse into the bag, and wiped the calico''s mouth.

    Mu Lou: "..."

    Damn, she held her head.

    Was it toote to change her mind? Could she ask Little Chu to appear in the film? Even just a few minutes would do! Ideas kept flooding her mind!

    -

    Chu Tingwu, unaware of Mu Lou''s internal struggle, spent the afternoon ying with the Chang twins, invited them to her home for a while, and then went together to Little Sun Animal Hospital, bringing cookies for Hang Ling and others.

    ...She had bought them in Golden City using Hang Ling''s cake card.

    On the evening of the second, they went to watch the preliminary parkourpetition. Although the preliminary parkour course didn''t change much and the speed races passed quickly in each round... everyone would gasp when the results of each match were announced.

    "Competitions are so exciting," Chang Yile sighed, "It''s so nerve-wracking no matter who wins."

    Even though she didn''t know any of thepetitors, she couldn''t help wanting to cheer for those who fell behind¡ª

    After all, they were just a few positions behind, with some effort they might be able to catch up!

    Somepetitors who were initially in the lead made mistakes and fell from above, getting overtaken by those behind them. Although thepetition content wasn''t particrly rich, everyone enjoyed watching it.

    After the speed race came the freestylepetition, also known as "freestyle parkour," wherepetitors had one minute and ten seconds to arrange their own routes and moves, with scoring based on difficulty and aesthetic appeal.

    Chu Tingwu nced at the two judges from afar¡ªshe didn''t know much about freestyle and wasn''t sure what they were arguing about regarding the scoring, though everything seemed pretty good to her.

    The young judge sank into contemtion: thankfully, the freestyle finals were tomorrow, so she wouldn''t need to score them; she just needed to handle the speed race finals.

    Early on the third day, Chu Tingwu arrived at the parkour district early and entered using her staff badge.

    The English judge was a beautiful redhead who, despite the cooling weather, wore long pants and a crop top. Beside her, the American judge was rather tall and lean, sucking on a lollipop while standing on the second-floor terrace, hands on his hips as he surveyed the district before him.

    They were conversing in their nativenguage.

    Lollipop: "Maggie, when is our little girl arriving? I''m so curious about her cat!"

    Redhead: "She''s actually the cat-like girl. Have you seen her videos? She really is like a cat, with amazing jumping power and bnce. You should be curious about more than just her cat, Arthur."

    Lollipop: "Hey, she''s quite popr, especially among teenagers. They love the idea of parkour with animals. One of my students even asked if they could bring their horse¡ªgood heavens... Anyway, I''m really curious about how she convinced a cat to do parkour with her."

    Redhead: "Well, don''t let yourself get beaten by a cat."Aliali: 673eb950c4f3f33ac4ee7f08

    Lollipop: "Don''t joke around, no matter what animal the little girl brings, I won''t lose."

    Chu Tingwu: "Good morning."

    Lollipop: "!"

    He jumped up from where he was, bounced onto the railing, and crouched there with wide eyes: "Oh my!"

    The redhead handled it better, only pausing briefly before turning to Chu Tingwu: "You really are like a cat. I couldn''t hear your footsteps at all."

    She only knew a few phrases in Chinese, but Chu Tingwu was speaking in English, so they couldmunicate. The redhead smiled, about to say something when her gaze suddenly fell on Chu Tingwu''s shoulder.

    There sat a crow with a small ribbon tied around its neck, apparently with some writing on it.

    ¡ªThe text actually read "I''m under rehabilitation."

    The redhead silently looked at Lollipop, and Lollipop looked back at the redhead, both speechless:

    He indeed wouldn''t lose to a cat... but why did she bring a crow?!

 Chapter 42

    The sunlight was just right, the sky was clear and bright, warming the ground to a pleasant temperature, neither too hot nor too cold. A breeze swept through, carrying away the mild warmth of autumn.

    It was a lovely autumn day, perfect for traveling.

    At the parkour district, three people stood on the same tform.

    The Crow tilted its head.

    Lollipop tilted his head too.

    Chu Tingwu raised her hand to cover the Crow''s eyes, then said, "It''s looking at your shoulder strap."

    It was a metal chain that gleamed brightly in the sunlight.

    Lollipop pped his hands. "Oh~"

    He crunched the lollipop in his mouth, took off his shoulder strap, and dangled it in front of Crow.

    Even with Chu Tingwu''s hand covering its eyes and moving around, the Crow''s head kept shifting, trying to peek around her palm to see the "bird-tempting" object behind it.

    Lollipop kept making "oho" sounds, while the Crow responded with "caw caw" noises.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    You two are so noisy.

    The Redhead girl crossed her arms, looking exasperated.

    The two of them asionally used professional terms when talking, and with Chu Tingwu''s current foreignnguage level, she couldn''t understand much, especially when they spoke too fast... after all, she was only a first-year high school student. But the system would trante for her, disying real-time subtitles next to their heads, which looked quite amusing.

    Crow''s "rehabilitation" was progressing slowly. Chu Tingwu tried to train it not to pick up everything it saw. But preventing it from picking things up entirely would go against the bird''s nature, so she attempted to teach the Crow to retrieve only specific items she requested.

    When throwing cotton candy far away and having Crow fetch it back, Chu Tingwu felt something was off. After unwrapping the cotton candy and feeding torn pieces to Crow, the dog-training vibe reached its peak.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    Since the venue was still being set up, the three of them took the opportunity to make brief self-introductions.

    However, to others watching, they appeared to be chatting on the rooftop, walking and talking, then suddenly jumping to the third-floor terrace across the way, where they sat in a row along the edge¡ªmind you, their sitting spot was nearly ten meters above the ground; one slip forward, and they could bid farewell to walking forever.

    Lollipop: "You absolutely must try high-altitude parkour, Wu! I''ve seen your videos, you''re as agile as a real cat. Have you seen the movie ''Catwoman''? I think you should have been the lead actress!"

    Lollipop was quite the tterer and... well, quite the rambler.

    Redhead girl: "Where I live, there are lots of crows, and I always found them quite annoying. They even steal corn from my house, yet you can actually make a crow obey¡ª"

    The Redhead girl seemed somewhat afraid of small animals.

    She kept thinking the Crow would drop cotton candy on her.

    Lollipop reached out excitedly: "Over here, over here."

    Crow retrieved a small bag of cotton candy from Chu Tingwu''s pocket, flew up, showed off with a loop in the air, and dropped it.

    Lollipop jumped up to catch the cotton candy and asked Chu Tingwu, "Can I eat it?"

    Chu Tingwu: "...Sure."

    How did you all start ying around like this!

    Lollipop wanted Crow to stand on his shoulder, but when he reached out, Crow pushed his hand away with its w¡ªonly after Chu Tingwu spoke did Crow finally agree to change positions. Lollipop stood still, held his breath, and made a gesture of stroking bird feathers, trying to look cool:

    "Quick! Take a photo!"

    His excited voice wasn''t cool at all!

    Chu Tingwu and the Redhead girl took several photos for him from the side, and then they took some group photos, which Lollipop posted on his own page. He said, "Wu, thements are saying you''re like a shrine maiden who travels with crows and cats."

    That sounded so cool! Even her name was "Wu."

    However, some fans werementing in Chinese about "self-improvement throughbor reform," whatever that meant¡ªwas it some kind of proverb?

    The event organizers had provided trantors for the two foreign friends, but since the trantors couldn''t climb onto rooftops like them, and Chu Tingwu didn''t seem to need trantion anyway, the trantor could only wait below, until a staff member notified her, and she called out:

    "Teachers, the venue is ready, you cane down now!"

    The production team had set up many fixed cameras in the area, and to get more shooting angles, there were also camera operators with their equipment filming today''s rehearsal footage.

    The trantor exined to them: "We''ll have each teacher run three routes, and during tomorrow''spetition, we''ll select several routes from the total nine to use as the finalpetition routes. Please don''t reveal the routes you''ve run to anyone!"

    Choosing five points from nine points meant there were numerous possible routes, and revealing the routes would affect thepetition''s fairness.

    Lollipop raised his hand in an "OK" gesture.

    Not just them, but all staff members had signed confidentiality agreements.

    ¡ªOf course, they wouldn''t run these routes just once. During and after thepetition, the judges would need to mentate." So they had to run multiple times, achieving their theoretical best speeds, toter evaluate contestants'' movements and route choices.

    Large buttons were installed at each checkpoint, which contestants had to press with any part of their body. When pressed, the buttons would light up, along with the sign above them.

    Lollipop went first.

    After warming up, he stood at the starting point, cheerfully waving both hands. A three-second countdown appeared on the screen at the starting point, then 3, 2, 1¡ª

    [Timer Start!]

    Lollipop''s demeanor changed in that instant; Chu Tingwu felt he seemed even "happier."

    As he lowered his hands, he performed a front flip right there,nding precisely on the steps, then bounced onto the railing, swinging smoothly using a tree trunk.

    Redhead girl: "Monkey."

    Chu Tingwu: "Hm?"

    Redhead girl: "That''s his nickname. Have you noticed? His arms are naturally longer than others''."

    Yes, that was true... but thinking back to their earlier interactions, Chu Tingwu realized Lollipop had been constantly moving, very active, his wrists and arms always nimble. He''d never let his arms hang straight down, so the proportion difference wasn''t noticeable.

    He had turned what could have been a strange, potentially discriminated-against physical trait into his greatest advantage.

    Parkour involves many movements that mimic animals, and animals are natural parkour experts¡ªcats are, and so are monkeys. Chu Tingwu could see that Lollipop ran with great joy.

    The Redhead girl patted her and took the initiative to follow.

    Chu Tingwu decisively took a step forward as well.

    The staff members were surprised but didn''t stop them¡ªafter all, this was just rehearsal.

    They watched as all three teachers entered the course, though only Arthur at the front was running ording to n, hitting the five points in sequence, while Teacher Maggie and Little Teacher Chu seemed to just want a closer look¡ª

    Maggie patted Chu''s shoulder and pointed at the wall ahead, saying something.

    The next second, the staff members'' eyes widened:

    The two women jumped forward in unison, left and right, wall-running, cat-hanging,pleting beautiful tform turns, standing up, and continuing forward.

    Maggie let out a joyfulugh.

    Chu Tingwu''s Crow circled above their heads, then descended, pping its wings and following behind, meowing loudly like a cat, almost convincingly real.

    After getting familiar with the venue, they all shortened their times on their second run.

    The other two parkour practitioners might have been doing parkour for longer than Chu Tingwu had been alive, and although she showed "exceptional talent," after seeing her parkour style, they helped her modify several transitional movements.

    Maggie shrugged: "At first I thought you were just good at imitating cats, but after seeing you run, I realized your jumping ability is extraordinary. With your jumping skills and amazing bnce, you canpletely ignore those necessary connecting techniques¡ªso you can use techniques as a means of eleration, like here, Wu, you can slide directly down the railing, kick off the wall to change direction, and here..."

    However, while they could point out ws in Chu Tingwu''s performance, she couldn''t offer much feedback, as she was still rtively new to the theoretical aspects.

    ...Besides, she wasn''t quite sure how high humans could jump, and did parkour athletes even count as normal humans?

    When the two started arguing, she simply stuffed a marshmallow into each of their mouths to quiet them down.

    Arthur rummaged through his pocket but couldn''t find a lollipop, and suggested disappointedly: "Wu, how about this¡ªI''ll run, and you chase me, with your goal being to give me the marshmallow¡ªI think this kind of ''chase'' will definitely inspire more creative movement designs!"

    Chu Tingwu: But that''s such a bizarre reason to chase you!

    Arthur shrugged and started crafting a story: "It''s simple, let''s say I''m actually an alien from the Lollipop who can''t tolerate marshmallows¡ªI''ll die if I eat them, and you''re an assassin from the Marshmallow... Hey, wait, don''t leave! Is this story too childish? I can think of another one¡ª"

    The three practiced until noon, with Chu Tingwu being thest one¡ªonce she finished running, they could go eat their boxed lunches.

    Before she ran, the staff cleaned up the course one more time.

    ¡ªBefore each run, the staff would re-inspect the course to ensure its safety.

    After all, this area used to be a residential zone, and no one knew if a wind-blown can might suddenly appear around a corner, causing another judge to go offline.

    Chu Tingwu waited at the starting point, gazing across the street, her eyes flickering slightly, but her posture remained unchanged, appearing lost in thought just like before.

    But when the screen disyed therge text [TIMING START!], her entire body explosively transformed from stillness to motion, the crow on her shoulder taking flight as the girl below seemed to sprout wings herself, her initial leap resembling "takeoff."

    A pair of eyes watched quietly.

    Chu Tingwu reached the first checkpoint, and the moment she pressed it, the light panel lit up.

    Arthur whistled.

    But since they were all tired and familiar enough with the route, they didn''t follow this time. Nine checkpoints were arranged in a semicircle, with a huge screen at the concave middle point that would disy the parkour footage both now and during thepetition.

    Chu Tingwu quickly reached the third checkpoint, hitting it with her hand as the light panel illuminated.

    Her expression remained unchanged on the screen, her bangs floating up then falling back, the crow following behind, its ck wing edges briefly covering half the camera before only Chu Tingwu''s back remained in view.

    But before reaching the fourth checkpoint, though her speed appeared unchanged on the surface, her brows slightly furrowed¡ª

    When she did parkour, the system would usually just shower her with praise, saying things like "my little one is so amazing" or "look how much faster you are than them (though the routes weren''t actually the same)," and wouldn''t interfere with her decision-making.

    But as she was about to reach the fourth checkpoint, a familiar semi-transparent blue marker appeared before her eyes.

    This marker showed hand and foot prints, and originally Chu Tingwu was supposed to hit the button with her hand, as she had always done before. But following the marker''s suggestion, she would need to kick over and press the button with her foot.

    Although the staff had said the buttons wouldn''t break easily from stepping on them, none of the three had ever done this before.

    Chu Tingwu didn''t slow down or stop, so her mental deliberationsted only an instant:

    She braced against the ground, raised her leg, and swept her pointed toe over the button, causing the light panel to sh on instantly. Then Chu Tingwu maintained her speed, even elerating as shended, sliding down the stairs and rushing toward the fifth checkpoint.

    The marker before her eyes disappeared.

    After lighting up the fifth checkpoint, she reached the finish line and high-fived Arthur and Maggie in turn.

    Arthur gestured: "Seriously, that move where you supported yourself with both hands and pressed the button with your leg was really cool, like a kind of... um, street dance? I want to try it this afternoon too!"

    Chu Tingwu smiled: "Just a spur-of-the-moment thing."

    Maggie: "...You Chinese people are really scary."

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    Maggie: Chinese people can actually casually use idioms in daily life!

    The staff called them to go eat, but Chu Tingwu waved her hand: "I just had some inspiration, can I stay a bit longer?"

    This wasn''t a problem.

    But after everyone left and the staff went to eat, Chu Tingwu walked back to the fourth checkpoint.

    Crow circled once overhead beforending on the roof behind the button, looking at the tiles as if wanting to peck at them, then secretly ncing at Chu Tingwu, then looking down again, and...

    Chu Tingwu: "No."

    Crow: "Caw caw!"

    When it got angry, it stopped speaking catnguage! It was clever, knowing that Chu Tingwu could understand cat swear words!

    Chu Tingwu went over and crouched down, clearly seeing what was under that tile: several pieces of broken ss, ground into sharp points, glinting with a faint light that could attract crows from this angle, and up close there was a slight smell of blood and glue.

    There were also traces of dried glue on the button itself.

    Obviously, the ss had been stuck to the button, and if Chu Tingwu hadn''t noticed while rushing through her parkour and had forcefully pped it, she would have immediately cut her hand.

    Chu Tingwu was certain that during previous runs, this button didn''t have this piece of ss: this meant it was installed just before her run, during that staff inspection, and most likely, it was done by that staff member.

    Chu Tingwu: "System, is it as I suspected?"

    [Yes.]

    Although the staff member could avoid the cameras near this checkpoint, with the system present, the target could still be quickly identified through other nearby surveince.

    Chu Tingwu: "So that''s why you warned me? Thanks."

    The system didn''t respond.

    Chu Tingwu: "Are you angry?"

    [...]

    She stood on the roof with her hands in her pockets, and though the system hadn''t said anything, Chu Tingwu could guess its meaning: of course it was angry, but not at its little one¡ªit was angry at itself! It had only detected the danger nearby just before she was about to get hurt, it had failed terribly at being a system!

    Chu Tingwu: "Actually, I made a mistake too."

    System (shocked): "How is that possible?"

    Chu Tingwu: "I had noticed earlier that one of the staff members didn''t seem to like me much, I felt their gaze, but I didn''t take it seriously."

    After her perception skill improved, she became very sensitive to others'' emotions and attitudes. It was normal for some people not to like her, like how older people might think her making videos and promotional clips and learning parkour at such a young age was "attention-seeking," or how strangers her age might think she was too shy, bringing a cat to school every day¡ªeven gold has its critics... it just happened that this time the person who disliked her was a staff member.

    But if they hadn''t taken any action, just thinking something wasn''t illegal¡ª

    Now they had acted.

    System: "How can you talk about victim-ming like this! A crime is a crime, it has nothing to do with whether the victim was careful enough or not, it''s entirely their fault!"

    Chu Tingwu: "Mm."

    System: "...Mm QAQ"

    Chu Tingwu had the system record and archive the footage, then got a stic bag and had Crow fetch metal tongs to collect the ss¡ªafter all, having brought a bird out, she carried these cleaning supplies with her.

    Chu Tingwu said softly: "I''m angry too, so let''s confront them directly."

    She wasn''t angry about potentially getting hurt, nor did she want to make a big deal that would affect the parkourpetition¡ªthis was definitely an individual''s action, so she decided to contact the police after the perpetrator left the venue. Fortunately, she had connections with both people and cats in the police system.

    But she noticed the System was feeling down... so she wasn''t happy either.

    Chu Tingwu called the event staff, telling them she needed to go home to feed her cat and would return in the afternoon, then jumped directly from the roof to the temporary curtain top surrounding the street block.

    She crouched steadily above, calmly watching the crowd outside, then silently leaped to the third floor of a beef noodle restaurant... At that moment, someone getting into a car happened to look up, ncing around vigntly.

    The System let Chu Tingwu take action¡ª

    Although even if the kitten didn''t pursue, it could handle the criminal perfectly well. But now, this... this criminal was like a mouse it had prepared for its kitten. It could monitor all of Chu Tingwu''s physical data, so it knew what her current hormone secretion represented: she was angry.

    Might as well let the little one vent.

    The System watched Chu Tingwu lovingly. Meanwhile, countless surveince cameras on the street and allworked systems along the way formed what seemed like a real, invisible web, manipted by a non-existent hand, trapping the little bug in the middle.

    The little bug remainedpletely unaware.

    He was a young man in his early twenties, with an unexercised, chubby face, but well-groomed, seemingly wearing makeup before going out.

    He was driving an expensive car, now impatiently stepping on the gas pedal twice¡ª

    He hit another red light.

    Why were there so many red lights, and why did they always happen just as he approached! Earlier, he was just a second away from making it through, but after seeing the traffic police, he didn''t dare run it.

    [Did it work?]

    His phone vibrated.

    The man bit his fingers, staring at his phone, looked at the red light again, then cursed under his breath and parked at the mall before getting out with his phone.

    "Work my ass, the luck''s terrible. Youe in the afternoon, I''m not going to be a staff member anymore!"

    He''d rather be at a bar than being a staff member, which was both tiring and hot.

    [Come to the bar.]

    The man rolled his eyes, crouching at the intersection.

    Why did he feel so uneasy... but it couldn''t be, nothing was aplished, just a piece of ss, who knows where it ended up...

    In the alley behind him, a passing stray cat softly meowed, and Chu Tingwu, crouching on the rooftop, peeked out and waved hello to the cat.

    The man before her didn''t know that the moment he was "observed," his entire life was like a thin sheet of paper, all data spread out before Chu Tingwu''s eyes. When he contacted others, the ringtone vibrated, and the other person''s personal data also transformed into a new document file, while on the other side, a three-dimensional map of the bar appeared before Chu Tingwu.

    This was... yes, she hadn''t expected it, this was a drug trafficking downstream organization.

    To be precise, it was a fence operation, and the man was a regr at the bar, an addict. During the recent police operation, this bar was well-hidden enough to avoid being exposed, and the man had learned that the dragon cub had contributed significantly¡ªbecause they needed to apply for official status for the dragon cub, and the man''s family had some money and influence.

    The dragon cub''s background was recorded online, and without Chu Tingwu, the dragon cub probably couldn''t have been employed. Chu Tingwu''s schedule was semi-public, and it only took some connections to infiltrate the parkourpetition venue.

    The System yed some content about the individuals to Chu Tingwu, but parts of both parties'' experiences were censored, with the reason being: "These kittens cannot see."

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    The man walked forward below, while Chu Tingwu easily followed above. The man red at a passing stray cat, neurotically biting his fingers again.

    Meanwhile, Chu Tingwu had already dialed Lin Undercover.

    Lin Undercover, hearing her content on the other end, lowered his voice and said, "You''re not going to chase after them, are you? With your cat? I know Three-Five-Five has a good sense of smell too, and you can let her track, but you''re still just a kid, don''t be rash¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu: "I''m almost at the bar."

    There was amotion on the other end, and Lin Undercover urgently said, "Find a ce nearby to hide, the police will be there soon."

    The police action was very quick. Lin Undercover hadn''t hung up on Chu Tingwu, and noticed she seemed to stay in a rtively quiet ce, which relieved him... Their entire operation this time was also very quick, and though they expected trouble, the criminals seemed to be waiting to be caught:

    The bar lost power, someone got electrocuted while fixing the electrical box, someone fainted from their phone exploding, someone chose the wrong drink, and some were struggling with drugs... Only the man who had just entered the bar was still somewhat clear-headed, but before he could understand what was happening, he was taken down by the iing police.

    Lin Undercover sighed in relief: "Little Chu, where are you?"

    Just as he asked, someone jumped down in front of him.

    Lin Undercover: "..."

    He almost couldn''t catch his breath.

    While they were making arrests, Chu Tingwu had been crouching on the second-floor roof, quietly observing¡ªforget about whether it was dangerous or not, are you a cat? If so, at least meow!

    Lin Undercover: "...stay by my side, don''t wander off."

    ording to Chu Tingwu''s report, she first discovered someone cing dangerous items along her parkour route, then found the person suspicious when trying to confront them, followed them to the bar, noticed addicts leaving the bar and copsing in the back alley were in questionable states, and that''s when she called the police.

    There was nothing wrong with this exnation. Lin Undercover was about to warn the youngster again when he saw Chu Tingwu slightly turn, raise her foot towards the palm of the man''s hand beside her, and step down hard.

    The man: "Ahhh!!"

    Chu Tingwu withdrew her foot, her expression unchanged, looking innocent.

    Lin Undercover: "...feeling better?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Huh, better about what?"

    Lin Undercover: Just keep pretending!

    ...Are all cats this vindictive? Following you across half the city just to step on your foot?

    Everyone around pretended not to see or couldn''t stop it in time, some waving it off saying "minor... ah, minor..." Chu Tingwu stood with her hands in her pockets, listening to Lin Undercover continue to lecture her, responding obediently. Lin Undercover continued:

    "This time it was indeed our fault. Give me the evidence to take away, and we''ll notify the event organizers. Be careful these next few days, I''ll arrange for a female officer to stay with you at a hotel."

    It was indeed because of their information leak that Chu Tingwu became a target for retaliation. Chu Tingwu didn''t want to miss tomorrow''s event, so the police needed to protect her for a few days.

    Chu Tingwu: "Okay =="

    Lin Undercover: His hand was itching to flick the kid''s forehead.

    After sending Chu Tingwu away, Lin Undercover''s expression changed slightly as he looked at his gloves¡ª

    Beforeing, hearing there was blood on the broken ss, he had a bad feeling.

    Sure enough, the results came back that evening.

    That man had AIDS, and he had smeared his own blood on the ss, fresh blood at that.

    Lin Undercover, listening to the interrogation, cursed.

    The dragon cub beside him "meowed," looking at him with a shocked expression.

    Lin Undercover: "...This kitten shouldn''t hear suchnguage."

    System: This kitten doesn''t need to know either.

    It transformed into a stream of data, silently wandering in the cold data world, its "gaze" at all humans showing no difference, like looking at passing birds, cats on the ground, and insects underground.

    When seeing its sleeping young one at home, the System casually pulled some nearby data and wove a small flower¡ª

    As the flower shattered, the man in the interrogation room suddenly convulsed.

    System: No, not appropriate here... the young one might discover it.

    So it temporarily skipped over this human and reopened the "criminal files" that it had shown to the young one before. These virtual files were clearer than what the police had obtained, recording everything about a person''s life that could be presented on thework.

    Names of "associated persons" slowly emerged, most of whom were currently sitting in prison cells and would be executed together after some time.

    System: "Humans are strange."

    Before killing their own kind, they would fulfill their kind''s final wishes and use more painless methods - cruelty intertwined with mercy... but the data didn''t want to understand their mercy.

    It just let the names on the files... quietly dim.

    Some turned directly gray and shattered¡ª

    Their "fate" was idental death, before tonight.

    Some didn''t die directly but were marked, observed¡ª

    Their "fate" was to die in an inconspicuous way within the next ten days to a month.

    Then, the system seemed to feel this wasn''t quite "fair."

    -

    Drug dealer "Zhang Yuejin" lit a cigar and suddenly felt a bit cold.

    "Zhang Yuejin" was his sixth alias. He usually stayed near the border and was considered a veteran in this business, but he rarely brought in new people or opened new routes... Perhaps contentment and caution were why he had managed to stay alive for so long.

    Earlier, a route in Ji Province had been busted, so he decided to take a break, assess the current situation, before arranging the next shipment.

    He bit the cigar, hands rxed on the steering wheel, but that uneasy feeling still hadn''t disappeared.

    The cigar''s ember flickered like a bomb''s countdown.

    "Damn!" Zhang Yuejin stubbed out the cigar, "This is weird."

    Better change locations, he felt like someone was watching him, but there wasn''t even a bird around, let alone people¡ª

    He started the car.

    The moment the ignition caught, "BOOM," the car exploded.

    -

    Lin Undercover dozed off at his desk and was awakened by loud table-banging at three in the morning.

    Rubbing his head, he found it was the chief captain banging the table while arguing with someone on the phone.

    He tilted his head to ask his colleague¡ª

    "Dead?"

    "Not just that, how did these ones die too!"

    When prisoners die, the prison guards would certainly face consequences, but that wasn''t the point¡ªbecause it wasn''t just the criminals who died. News just came that there had been an extremely violent conflict among drug organizations in Myanmar, but somehow all their undercover agents happened to be away from the scene for various reasons.

    Lin Undercover shuddered: Was this incredibly good luck, or had their undercover list been exposed? If it was thetter, that would be a huge problem!

    The current casualties were still being counted. As the conflict drew multiple parties'' attention, Lin Undercover stroked the dragon cub''s head while listening to the data reported from the prison, feeling both pleased and uneasy: "...troubled times indeed."

    The criminal they arrested yesterday had already been transferred to the detention center due to the simple nature of the case. Lin Undercover shook his head, unaware that:

    The criminals in the detention center had also entered a countdown to death.

    Meanwhile, Chu Tingwu rolled over, continuing to sleep hazily.

    Mmm, dreaming about cake...

    Wanting to eat cake, the kind of small cakes that Teacher Wang used to buy.

    -

    Chu Tingwu went to thepetition venue apanied by a female undercover officer, carrying a bag of small cakes.

    As she munched on the cake, the system reported to her the follow-up on the criminals'' arrests:

    "All the drug dealers from previous transactions have been arrested." Well, it had killed half of them, and would kill the other half after some time.

    "Those people from yesterday won''t being out again, not anytime soon." And they would soon be dead too.

    "I''ve checked the identities of everyone present today, there won''t be any more problems." It wouldn''t wait until the young one was about to encounter danger before scanning for problems anymore.

    As for some processing details and crime details, there was no need to tell the young one about those.

    Even the name of that little bug would be deleted from the data after cleanup... Was that even something important?

    On the other side of the, countries were thrown into huge turmoil due to what happened in just a few short hoursst night. Chu Tingwu responded with an "mm," patted Three Five Five''s chin, and raised her hand to wave at the Constant twins in the audience.

    As she waved, the contestants entering the venue also saw her in the walkway.

    The contestants were indeed familiar faces - Ris''er and Little Lu, Eagle and Shark had all made it to the finals.

    This final was for the speed race, divided into two sessions for the contestants - first half with four people running route A, second half with four people running route B - after all, having eight people take turns running once would make it hard to maintain audience excitement, and the process would be too short and boring.

    So in the first half, four people would determine first ce based on speed, same for the second half, then the winners from both halves wouldpete once more to determine first and second ce, while the other six would be ranked directly based on their original times.

    This pete again" method would add new suspense to thepetition, and they would run route C during the finals.

    ording to the pre-set procedure:

    After the first round, Arthur, aka "Lollipop," would run once as mentor and judge. After the second round, the redhead girl Maggie would run once. The judges could "lead by example" to offer suggestions and evaluations, so there was actually no need for speedpetition... they could stop at any point while talking.

    Chu Tingwu was responsible for the final route. But in reality, after the finals were run and results announced, only the award ceremony would remain. Chu Tingwu''s run would be rtively "casual" then, with few people paying attention to her or caring about her data. It wouldn''t affect the fairness of the oue, as if the event organizers were specifically amodating her.

    At this moment, some people were indeed watching her¡ª

    Hang Ling: "Go Chu Chu!"

    You Zhenzhen: "Chu Chu¡ªyou''re the best!"

    Ris''er, influenced by the cheerleading squad: "Ah, so is Chu alsopeting? But don''t we already have eight people here?"

    He had drawn the first half A route.

    Little Lu smiled and greeted everyone around, then whispered in his ear: "Don''t know, is she on the judges'' side? Could she be staff? Should we go get photos with Arthur and Maggie after we finish running?"

    He had drawn the second half B route.

    Since it was an outdoorpetition, the audience seats were set quite far from the field. After the undercover officer finished discussing with the event organizers andpleted inspections, she signaled that Chu Tingwu could take her seat.

    The host was cheerfully telling jokes, then seeing the prompt, began introducing the judges on stage:

    Although parkour was a niche sport, and Arthur and Maggie weren''t very famous domestically, with many in the audience just following the trend oring as tourists, the audience still politely apuded during their introductions¡ª

    The screen would also show videos of the two athletes doing parkour at appropriate times, drawing gasps from the crowd.

    "Last but most special guest, she''s a local from Fallen Phoenix City, our own little judge... You might not know her name, but you''ve certainly seen her¡ª"

    The screen showed the city promotional video that Chu Tingwu had filmed.

    The audience was silent for a second, then erupted in intense cheers.

    Chu Tingwu had walked to the front of the judges'' table. She jumped directly over the judges'' table, stepped onto the back of the chair behind it, and stood on one foot on the chair back, waving to the audience.

    The audience was... super supportive with loud apuse, with some exining to out-of-town tourists: "This kid is from our city, she''s been on TV, called..." what was it again?

    Host: "Chu Tingwu, Little Teacher Chu! Let''s thank Little Teacher Chu, she''ll be responsible for evaluating route three, which is the finalpetition route today!"

    After the host''s exnation, the audience who had been somewhat concerned about "why they only invited foreigners" felt this arrangement was eptable now.

    Only the contestants'' area was silent.

    The contestants'' area was tonight''s Bridge of Sighs.

    The contestants exchanged nces, transmitting brain waves through their eyes:

    Do you think you can get first ce?

    "First of all, I might not even be able to outrun Arthur and Maggie!"

    "What about the finals then? If I get first ce but lose to that little girl, does that really count as first ce?"Aliali: 673eb950c4f3f33ac4ee7f08

    "Why are you so convinced you''ll lose?"

    "Well, even if I win against her, it''s nothing to be proud of!"

    "She''s probably just here as a mascot, just running around casually..."

    "Hmm, your mascot can do parkour? Why don''t you just say she''s a cat passing by?"

    The enthusiastic parents, not caring what others might think, were busy cheering for their children:

    "Go, baby, go! You can beat them all!"

    Chu Tingwu: "...I''m really not a contestant."

    Just sit down already!

    The electronic screen disyed a countdown. As it slowly reached zero, the first round''s contestants took their positions. Virtual fireworks burst in the air, the screen changed¡ª

    Thepetition had begun!

 Chapter 43

    The weather was quite nice.

    The staff quietly informed the three judges that just yesterday, the buttons at the checkpoints had been reced with pressure-sensitive ones that would light up through pressure rather than physical touch.

    Though it felt a bit strange, the other two judges nodded in understanding.

    Thepetition proceeded quickly¡ªsince the organizers knew many spectators weren''t familiar with the contestants'' personal histories and achievements. Before each person''s run, the big screen would y a one or two-minute personal vlog, including a brief introduction and some parkour clips.

    The audience responded with generous apuse: these parkour moves looked quite difficult, risking injuries to hands, legs, and knees, and since the spectators couldn''t say "I could do that," they could only apud.

    Naturally, among the audience were ordinary people, die-hard fans who had specifically traveled to Fallen Phoenix City, and contestants who had been eliminated in previous rounds.

    Some winners from the freestyle parkourpetition sat in the corner of the stands, pping and smiling with their medals.

    Familiar faces in the crowd whistled to show their support for the contestants.

    When the first round of four runnerspleted their runs, Arthur stood up, bounced twice in ce, and chose to take the stage.

    Chu Tingwu heard audience members asking: who was this foreigner who kept talking and needed a trantor...

    The screen disyed his parkour video:

    A string of first-ce finishes appeared¡ªthree consecutive Duli Cup championships in America, senior instructor at America''srgest parkour association, Euro Cup speedpetition champion, Huadiao Group sponsored "Mountain Speed Descent" racing champion and freestyle champion, among others.

    The list of honors sessfully silenced the casual spectators;pared to other contestants'' introductions, these credentials seemed more impressive.

    Arthur began.

    The host: "The judge''s wall-climbing speed is faster than... ah yes, that precision jump seeded... these consecutive precision jumps show no mistakes... he''s already *cough cough*..."

    Arthur made no mistakes, but the host stumbled in hismentary because Arthur''s speed exceeded his ability to narrate, causing him to choke on his words. Fortunately, there was more than one host, and another took over thementary as Arthur reached the third checkpoint.

    Chu Tingwu sat in her seat with arms crossed, leaning back, ncing at the big screen¡ª

    She hadn''t noticed it clearly when running together before, but after watching the other four runners and then Arthur, she discovered that the main difference seemed to be that Arthur showed no "hesitation."

    Along the route were railings requiring consecutive precision jumps where a single mistake would result in a fall, and high walls that required sufficient power to climb... Earlier, one contestant had hung on a wall for two seconds before giving up due to a mistake, and this was already the finals, yet mistakes still happened.

    When the brain signals that a move is dangerous, people''s movements typically show that split-second of hesitation; they must rely on practice and experience to ovee their instinctive fear.

    But this judge on the course seemed particrly adept at pursuing thrills.

    Maggie tilted her head and told Chu Tingwu: "He''s not just an excellent parkour athlete, but also an experienced high-altitude parkour enthusiast¡ªparkour isn''t an extreme sport, but high-altitude parkour is the ultimate extreme we pursue. He doesn''t like using safety measures, and a mistake would likely mean death, butpared to dying in bed, I think those terrifying yet possibly most blissful seconds of free fall might be worth it."

    "I suggest you try it after youe of age¡ªhigh-altitude parkour, you''ll definitely love it."

    Chu Tingwu: "Why aftering of age?"

    "Oh," Maggie shrugged, "in your country, it seems inappropriate to encourage minors to do dangerous things?"

    So although she made the suggestion, she decided to add "aftering of age" as a formality.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    She said: "What if I always seed and never make mistakes?"

    Maggie smiled: "Then you''d be the happiest parkour practitioner in the world."

    Arthur performed a backflip at the finish line,nding perfectly, and waved to the audience.

    The final time stopped at sixty-eight point three three seconds... For a parkour route, it was actually quite long, so it tested endurance more than technical skill.

    But¡ª

    "Wow, I might not even be able to run that fast on t ground."

    "So fast, I could barely breathe watching, always worried he''d slip... does he never pause when jumping between poles?"

    Someone shouted "encore," making Arthur scratch his head in confusion as he walked down: is this something you can encore?

    Afterpleting the circuit, he had exerted himself and was somewhat out of breath, face covered in sweat, but he walked over with a cheerful smile, patted Maggie''s shoulder, ruffled Chu Tingwu''s hair, and made a big "yeah" sign for the approaching camera.

    Then, Arthur seemed to remember he was a judge and praised the other contestants, particrly emphasizing "Ris''s" name, even though all the contestants were slower than him.

    But that didn''t matterpared to the contestants, the judges'' trial runs were only disyed for a few minutes and wouldn''t be recorded, more like a performance... After paying to bring people from abroad, they had to let them show off a bit, right?

    The same applied when it was Maggie''s turn, but the judges'' area was more lively, with Maggie taking off her jacket as Arthur startedmenting¡ª

    It was clear thatpared to praising his own people, he had more to say about Maggie, almost taking over thementator''s job.

    While he was speaking, Chu Tingwu felt she should contribute something.

    ...And although he spoke as fast as a rapper, Chu Tingwu could still see the real-time subtitles and provide feedback.

    So Arthur: "I think a wall jam would be better here, but our dear Maggie must have her reasons for choosing this move..."

    Chu Tingwu: "Yes."

    Arthur: "My goodness, not long ago contestant number six tried the same move here but failed, but dear Maggie... yes, how should we describe this move..."

    Chu Tingwu: "A quick cat leap."

    Arthur pped: "Exactly!"

    The host: "..."

    Mr. Arthur was speaking in English, and little Miss Chu was responding in Chinese¡ªyou''re not reallymunicating, you''re just ying along as a supporting act! And why does Arthur look so satisfied when he only needs to see Chu Tingwu''s nods or head shakes and doesn''t need to understand what she''s saying?

    Fortunately, the hosts were consummate professionals and continued to smile while maintaining the atmosphere. The audience didn''t seem to mind that their selected contestants were overshadowed by the judges¡ªsportspetitions are like that, with transparent results that can''t be disputed. The overall event had more of an entertainment atmosphere, with more first-time parkour spectators in attendance.

    Only one person wasn''t too happy¡ªMaggie, who red at Arthur aftering down:

    You''re so damn noisy!

    When it came to the finals, the audience''s expressions became more focused¡ª

    The judges weren''tpeting anymore, and there was still room for discussion about who would be the ultimate champion.

    At this point, Chang Yile had squeezed into the front row of the audience, asionally looking up while rapidly typing in the ss group chat.

    [I remember the TV station is broadcasting live, there should be an online stream too, can you see me on screen?]

    [What? The live stream has a five-minute dy? Really, can you even call that live?]

    [Chu Tingwu hasn''t gone up yet [screenshot][screenshot][screenshot], what''s with these camera angles, they haven''t caught Chu Tingwu''s face at all!]

    [She''s wearing a mask, but originally they only pan to the judges'' seats during postpetitionmentary. She''ll probably do a run after the finals end, and don''t worry about the audience leaving¡ªthere''s an entertainment match after the finals. I heard the judges will join that too, but it won''t be speed-based?]

    She kept alternating between looking down and up, monitoring both thepetition results and the ss group chat. Her ssmates expressed regret at not being able toe to Fallen Phoenix City, after all, it was quite rare to have a ssmate serve as a judge on television¡ª

    What a shame to miss it!

    Chang Yile looked up again and suddenly noticed the results on the screen, eximing, "Ah! Is Route C shorter than the other routes?"

    The previous routes'' final times seemed to all be over one minute, but both contestants on Route C were close to one minute, making it appear at first nce as if their skill level was simr to the judge''s... but Chang Yile instinctively felt that it was because the route didn''t require going in circles, making it inherently shorter.

    She nced at the screen and found she was right.

    Thepetition''s ultimate champion was Ris, with Shark taking second ce. Their times differed by less than a second, and both were familiar faces to domestic parkour fans.

    Next, after Chu Tingwu finished her run, she would join Chief Zhuang from the Tourism Bureau to present the awards, distribute prizes to those who ced third through eighth, and announce the audience raffle winners.

    The overall atmosphere was pleasant, with most audience members remaining in their seats. Chang Yile was smiling as she photographed Chu Tingwu at the starting point when her ears suddenly perked up¡ª

    She overheard people nearby critiquing Chu Tingwu.

    "Is she really a judge? But she doesn''t seem to havepeted in anypetitions... The videos released only show clips of her doing parkour? Wait! She''s fifteen?"

    "Fifteen... she must be just ying around. Maggie is 177cm tall, but this little girl looks less than 170cm, maybe 166cm? That puts her at a disadvantage. Seems like she only got to participate because she''s a local."

    Chang Yile: "..."

    Shepared her own height and finally reached a sad conclusion: "Chu Chu, how did you secretly grow another centimeter!"

    They used to be the same height! How did Chu Tingwu grow again?

    And what''s wrong with having connections! True, if it weren''t in Fallen Phoenix City, no one would invite a fifteen-year-old high school student to be apetition judge, but without real ability, you wouldn''t even get the opportunity to use connections, right?

    Unable to find who had made thements, she simply red at everyone before setting up her phone to start recording.

    -

    When Chu Tingwu took the stage, she greeted the familiar Shark¡ªtheirst meeting was during filming, where she was a student and Shark was a coach. Now at thispetition, their roles had reversed with Shark as a contestant and her as a judge.

    Previously, Chu Tingwu had relied entirely on her "cat-like" instincts in parkour. Shark had helped her considerably, teaching her many professional moves. Now, after more than a month, Chu Tingwu wanted to see... what kind of performance she could deliver.

    Route C was chosen from one of the routes she had run yesterday. Chu Tingwu took off her jacket, revealing the same ck sleeveless turtleneck underneath. She pulled her elbow guards up to her upper arms and raised one hand to wave.

    In the audience, people were chatting, checking phones, taking photos, and snacking, but Chu Tingwu blocked out these noisy distractions, only using her peripheral vision to confirm the timing on the screen:

    [Beep¡ª]

    This sound set Chu Tingwu in motion and caused the temporarily rxed audience to instinctively look at thepetition area.

    Parkour is a dangerous sport.

    It''s also a sport that connects special movements together to achieve rapid transitions.

    These movements often imitate animals, but no one had ever thought that one day, watching someone doing parkour in the arena, they would genuinely feel as if they were watching an agile "animal."

    Arthur, who had been sitting at his position, suddenly propped himself up on the judge''s table, kneeling on it, and silently mouthed "Wow":

    He watched as Chu Tingwu cleared all obstacles with movements that required almost no pausing or re-exertion¡ªthose weren''t obstacles, but rather aids helping her pass through more quickly.

    She jumped onto the pole, lunged forward to grab the pole above, swung through using momentum,nded on the tform without pause, sprung up onto the roof ridge in one bound, and even "bounced" a little while running along the ridge... this child wasn''t deliberately nning this move, she seemed to just be enjoying the run.

    And this movement didn''t slow her down at all.

    When she reached the second position, Arthur noticed on the big screen that her face was magnified, her gaze already glimpsing the third position not far ahead.

    She vaulted over the tform with one hand, and in that instant, the light board lit up, only managing to catch her back in its glow.

    Landing at the third position, Chu Tingwu licked her lips¡ªthis was the highest point of the entire route, so she stood straight at the height, pausing her movement for the first time, and surveyed the field for half a second.

    Chang Yile let out a breath.

    It was only then that she realized how quiet the audience had be. Those who had been busy with their own affairs, thinking there was nothing more to see, had all turned their attention to the stage. The only sound in the air was the host''s earnestmentary; both judges remained silent, including the somewhat verbose male judge.

    Chu Tingwu jumped down from the tform¡ª

    This was a high point, followed by a long stretch of lowernding points, but surprisingly, she chose to cross two poles at once, jumping from the first pole directly to the position of the third pole. This choice was certainly more dangerous and more difficult to execute... but it would get her through this row of horizontal poles faster.

    Ah!

    Chang Yile pressed her hand to her chest, staring at the screen.

    Yes, she hadn''t seen wrong, she saw it again¡ªChu Tingwu had jumped with her eyes closed! How outrageous!?

    She gritted her teeth and muttered, "You parkour athletes shouldn''t seek too much excitement..."

    But how could they not? When you''re doing parkour, isn''t seeking thrills their natural instinct?

    On the giant screen, Chu Tingwu quickly jumped across the pole section and opened her eyes¡ªthough her expression hadn''t changed much, her eyes were sparkling.

    The audience burst into soft cheers, which grew into a sea of apuse... and this was before Chu Tingwu had even reached the finish line, just arriving at the final position... then, a small problem urred.

    As she swiftly passed through, the pressure-sensitive tform somehow failed to register her weight. Already having vaulted over, Chu Tingwu noticed the system alert indicating something was wrong, immediately did a handstand, struck the sensor pad with her heel, and after the light board lit up, continued with a flip to resume her run.

    This cost her at least half a second.

    But when Chu Tingwu reached the finish line and her final time shed on the big screen, it left the audience speechless for a moment:

    Forty-nine point eight three seconds.

    The only time under one minute in the entirepetition... achieved by the youngestpetitor, no, the youngest "judge"!

    Chu Tingwu nced at her score, quietly put on her jacket, bowed to the audience, and returned to her judge''s seat.

    The audience apuded enthusiastically.

    The host, who had been preemptively downying expectations during her run by saying things like "Little Teacher Chu is the youngest," "Little Teacher Chu is at a height disadvantage," and "our Little Teacher Chucks experience but tries very hard," could barely contain his excitement:

    "Ahem, although our youngest judge may not have many honors to her name, she clearly possesses outstanding ability. Thank you, Teacher Chu, for that performance! May I ask Teacher Chu something? During your run just now, we noticed you closed your eyes before passing certain obstacles. Why did you choose to do that?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Ah..."

    Chu Tingwu: "I felt I could jump across even with my eyes closed."

    The audience apuded vigorously, some pping until their hands were red, shouting "Bravo!"

    Chu Tingwu: ==

    Because of the noise, only after they quieted down did Chu Tingwu hear the system also saying "Good."

    Chu Tingwu: ==

    Host: "Thank you, Teacher Chu, for your answer. It''s clear that Teacher Chu is very confident in her abilities. Although she hasn''t been doing parkour for long, our Teacher Chu is a naturally talented yer, excelling in physical strength, movements, and overall abilities, delivering a stunning performance for us!"

    The host read out a list of sponsors'' brand names, thanked the Bureau of Culture and Tourism, and then began the award ceremony. Chief Zhuang presented the award to Ris, and Chu Tingwu ced the medal around Shark''s neck, giving him a hug afterward.

    Most of the audience was busy texting on their phones, only pping at the very end of the award ceremony. However, they didn''t leave immediately¡ªthere was an entertainment match after a short break.

    As Chu Tingwu hesitated in front of the five-yuan sausage stand, Chang Yile came over and patted her on the shoulder, asking how the entertainment match would be yed.

    Chu Tingwu: "It seems to be a ''Hide and Seek''petition, which you can think of as a chase game in a small arena."

    The arena was filled with various high and low poles and tforms. Two yers each took one side, one hiding and the other chasing. Touching any part of the body such as the shoulder, elbow, leg, or back would count as a capture, but touching the chest or face was not allowed.

    Ordinary chase games were not very interesting, but parkour athletes could use the facilities in the arena for quick movement and to block the chaser, making this entertainment match akin to returning to the essence of parkour.

    Chu Tingwu: "There will also be a draw for audience members toe up and y. If it''s against an audience member, I might go easy on them. Do you want me to rig it for you?"

    Judges were allowed to select audience members toe up.

    Chang Yile: "Before seeing you do parkour, I might have wanted to... but now, no, no."

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    How did her parkour performance manage to dissuade people?

    Chang Yile patted her shoulder, her waist, and then her calf, gritting her teeth: "Is this the body you get from eating in the cafeteria with me?"

    Chu Tingwu: No, I also eat cat food.

    Although Chu Tingwu didn''t select Chang Yile during the entertainment match, during the audience interaction segment, Maggie identally picked Chang Yixin. Chang Yixin was stunned and pushed her sister, Chang Yile, onto the stage after cing her hat on Chang Yile''s head.

    Maggie: "I remember I chose a long-haired girl?"

    Chang Yile: "Oh, I just cut my hair short."

    Since it was just for fun, everyone took it lightly, and the audienceughed kindly. Chang Yile pped her hands and said, "Bring it on!"

    Then she whispered to Chu Tingwu: "How do you say that in English?"

    There was no time to hear Chu Tingwu''s answer¡ªthe entertainment match began!

    Three secondster, Chang Yile exited the arena, leaning on the railing, her expression still a bit dazed: She really tried to run, knowing she couldn''t use the facilities so she ran along the edge, but the opponent was too fast. When she was caught, she almost screamed, and even now, her heart was still racing fast!

    The game was surprisingly simple, but experiencing it firsthand felt incredibly thrilling. Although she, a newbie, didn''t perform well, she felt quite satisfied.

    ¡ªBecause the game was so simple, the audience''s participation enthusiasm was high, and they were eager to point andment, believing they could "survive" longer if they were on the stage.

    Correspondingly, everyone who came off the stage was left questioning their life choices.

    Competitors, judges, and audience members randomly took turns as chasers and the chased. When the levels were close, the duration could be extended by a few seconds, but the average capture time was about five seconds, so each round passed quickly, making it seem like everyone could participate, thus attracting more and more spectators.

    Chu Tingwu watched from the sidelines, trying to lower her presence, until Maggie beckoned her over.

    "Oh oh oh¡ª"

    The audience cheered, eager for more excitement.

    Chu Tingwu: "Meow=="

    She walked to the position of the chased and waved to the judges.

    As soon as the whistle blew, Maggie immediately moved. Chu Tingwu knew that no matter which direction she ran, Maggie could change her position by stepping on obstacles. Therefore, when the opponent was about to reach her, she suddenly sprinted to the left, making a big leap tond on the opposite railing.

    Both were now standing on the railing, engaging in a bnce and eye-catching chase¡ª

    When Maggie approached, Chu Tingwu swung to the other side, and when Maggie changed direction, Chu Tingwu returned to the highest point, always creating a height difference. However, since she couldn''t resist, the shy chase didn''tst long. Chu Tingwu barelysted twelve seconds before being touched on the wrist.

    The thrill of the chase surpassed that of solo parkour. Both were a bit out of breath, but the little girl leaned on her knees to catch her breath and then gave a bright smile:

    "Now it''s my turn to chase!"

    Maggie: "I admit I was a bit forceful when I touched you... Damn it!"

    Before she could finish her sentence, she turned and ran!

    -

    The entertainment match quickly turned into a true entertainment for all, with the organizers opening up other areas of Parkour Street, using barricades to enclose them, and allowing the audience to queue up and participate... Many people didn''t even know who they were chasing or being chased by, but they had a lot of fun.

    By six in the afternoon, theoretically the end of the event, the staff repeatedly announced through a loudspeaker: "Please pay attention to safety, do not use the facilities in insufficient light, please pay attention to safety... orderly exit... the venue will continue to be open tomorrow..."

    The day''s events finally came to an end.

    Chu Tingwu received a wave of requests for photos and autographs, finding that the crowd was growing and finally hid¡ªshe could only be found by other parkour athletes if she went to the rooftop, thus bringing some peace.

    So, after the event, she sat on the eaves, watching the sunset, with only the system''s voice in her ears:

    "Baby had a great time today, hasn''t smiled so happily in a long time."

    Chu Tingwu: "I feel like you''ve loaded some strange dialogue package?"

    System: "?"

    Shaking off the images of a domineering CEO and a butler from her mind, Chu Tingwu wondered: "Should I also cut a vlog of today''s parkour content?"

    She seemed to have a job to help with publicity?

    Although thepetition was over, Fallen Phoenix City wasn''t just hosting this event once.

    System: "It''s already cut, waiting for the event organizers'' notification to release."

    Its work efficiency was quite high.

    The system also reported the online public opinion it had collected:

    "Currently, everyone is arguing aboutbat power."

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­Eh?"

    Yes, due to the event organizers'' "three-route"petition arrangement, although the yers'' results were clear, the judges ran different routes and couldn''t bepared¡ªbut the fans of different judges naturally had different stances!

    Arthur, Maggie, and Chu Tingwu, Chu Tingwu had the shortest time, but her route was also the shortest, yet she had thergest gap with the yers'' results, and there was an ident during her parkour (the lights didn''t turn on) that caused an extra second dy... These buffs stacked together, and currently, the circle was arguing about her "level" in several forum pages.

    The system wouldn''t tell the little one that it had also secretly joined in, and its debate method was "dataparison" and "model method," turning thebat power debate into a thesis-writing atmosphere.

    Because it could split personalities, reply instantly, have clear data, and type fast (?), it led the fans of the other two judges to have a vague impression of Chu Tingwu''s fan base:

    High knowledge level, speaking with reason and evidence, feeling rich and educated.

    Other fans who spoke but not as much as the system: "¡­"

    No! You''re thinking too much!

    Represented by this circle big shot (and its little ounts), they felt a bit embarrassed.

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­¡­"

    Battling overbat power can be quite addictive, be careful.

    -

    Of course, Chu Tingwu was just back in her hometown for a break and to serve as a judge for apetition. For her, thepetition was already over.

    But online, the aftershocks of thepetition were still ongoing.

    The official ount bought promotions for thepetition videos, and videos five and six also prepared small performances, which specially invited singers. Discussions about thepetition online were bing increasingly heated... and for some reason, people also liked to bring over foreign audiencements.

    Although the domestic debate over whether Chu Tingwu should be considered the "actual first" had not been settled, once it came to foreignments, there were many who praised her.

    Fenghua Network has an independent foreign site, where official staff members move domestic videos to the foreign site. Generally, only videos with higher views are moved, and the data between the two sites does not ovep, but video publishers can see thements in the background.

    The videos of the Fallen Phoenix City Parkour Competition were originally lukewarm, until Arthur and Maggie both reposted the video, bringing a wave of traffic to the foreign video site first, and then the audience found the original video below¡ª

    [I''ve seen her series of parkour videos with animals, it''s a pity she couldn''t bring her animals to thispetition!]

    [What a shame, seeing Arthur''s SNS, I thought this girl could bring her crow!]

    [She''s really fast, maybe she could surpass our famous genius Joe O''Leary! If only they couldpete together!]

    [Don''t joke! Joe has been parkouring since he was eight, he has more honors than this girl, he...]

    Seeing thements, Chu Tingwu: "=="

    I told you not to argue aboutbat power.

    It''s addictive.

    This "Joe" is also an underage parkour athlete, and his parents started uploading his parkour videos when he was very young¡ªwhile Chu Tingwu does parkour with her cat, Joe''s parents also do parkour, bringing him along... so the difference, well, Chu Tingwu running with her cat seems no different from the Joe family?

    In short, due to years of videos and the "raising" feeling, Joe has umted quite a fan base. He has participated in manypetitions and won many honors, unlike Chu Tingwu who has no medals.

    Arthur specially invited Chu Tingwu: "Interested in participating in next year''s Duli Cup in America? With my rmendation, you can skip the preliminary round and enter the semi-finals directly! I don''t think you need to participate in the preliminary round."

    Chu Tingwu didn''t immediately agree because: "I''m not sure if I''ll have sses and exams during that time."

    Arthur: "!"

    He made an exaggerated gesture to express his shock, thought for a moment, and then said: "You can get into university by relying onpetition honors, dear Wu, can you get in by parkour?"

    Chu Tingwu: You know a lot.

    After getting the answer "no," Arthur sadly left.

    Maggie didn''t invite her to anypetitions, but she suggested that Chu Tingwu register her own ount on the foreign video site she often uses, and she could help with the certification.

    "Many of your videos have been moved without authorization, although they are quickly taken down after reporting, I think you can register and move them yourself, many people like you."

    Chu Tingwu epted this suggestion.

    Thispetition not only added a bunch of friends to her social ount but also made her video ount''s fan count break through 1.2 million, officially bing a medium-upper level UP master on the site.

    And she also got a medal¡ª

    "Fallen Phoenix City Parkour Competition Judge Commemorative Medal..." Chu Tingwu murmured, "It feels like it was made in a hurry?"

    Why give a medal to a judge?

    But thepetition organizers seemed to realize the awkward situation of her being a judge with zero honors, and felt that with her strength, shecked matching honors, so they decided to give her a medal.

    Even Chu Tingwu''s video ount got an additional certification:

    ["One of the judges of the Fallen Phoenix City Parkour Competition"]

    Fans who followed her for cat food looked at her ount name and silentlymented under her new video:

    "Master Chu, what exactly do you do for a living..."

    -

    Master Chu was... cyber-hatching eggs.

    Not long ago, she brought a cake to visit Teacher Wang, asking him to help her contact and arrange the petmunicator exam. As soon as she left Teacher Wang''s house, she received a constantly vibrating group chat.

    It was their eight-person group chat, formed because of the peacock egg.

    Chu Tingwu put on her hat, pushed her mask down to her eyes, thought for a moment, and also put a small animal mask on her cat, then they both squeezed into a roadside milk tea shop.

    It was Tang Zhe who sent the message, telling them that the peacock egg seemed to be hatching!

    The peacock egg that rolled from the school grass to Chu Tingwu''s home, and then from her home to the breeding warehouse, was finally about to hatch!

    The few people left in Jin City all rushed to the warehouse, Tang Zhe opened a group video, put his phone aside, and live-streamed the hatching¡ª

    Someone in the group was puzzled: "The background looks like the parrot hall, why is the incubator here?"

    The parrots were either in cages, on stands, or more were flying freely above.

    Tang Zhe, wearing a raincoat, whispered: "I was worried that the temperature wouldn''t be warm enough after it hatches, so I moved it here."

    Newbie parents always have a lot of worries.

    A blue-crowned parakeetnded on the incubator, tilting its head curiously.

    Tang Zhe: "Qin Lan went out to catch the peacock parents, they''re still fighting¡ª"

    He moved the camera to show them, finding that the two male peacocks and one female peacock were very uncooperative, as if theypletely forgot they had cooperated toy an egg... by the way, whose egg is this?

    The eggshell had already cracked, and a little gray-ck fur could be seen, Qin Lan, covered in dust, squeezed in and said: "I''ll use my phone to live-stream a dual perspective for you!"

    Obviously, the high school students fighting the peacocks, the peacocks won.

    But soon, his live-stream was criticized by everyone, Chang Yile angrily said: "Can you hold your hand steady, this shaking is making me dizzy!"

    During this time, everyone saw that more parts of the peacock hade out, the peacock egg slightly wobbled, more parrotsnded on the incubator, looking very curious.

    Tang Zhe suddenly thought: "By the way, Chu Tingwu, didn''t your family adopt the mother peacock? The renovation is almost done, haven''t you named this mother peacock yet?"

    At that time, they would make nametes and electronic files, the adopters have naming rights, they can''t just call it "mother peacock," right?

    Chu Tingwu: "Hmm..."

    Everyone: "Hmm?"

    Chu Tingwu: "For a blue peacock, Blue..."

    Blue what?

    She looked up, her expression serious and solemn: "I think a single-character name is very good, very high-end, very poetic, how about ''Blue''?"

    Everyone: "¡­¡­"

    You''re just bad at naming!

    She changed the subject: "The little peacock is about to be born, have you decided who will name it?"

    In the group, everyone tacitly agreed that the naming rights belonged to the four boys, since "our dorm has hatched it," and they nned to pool money to adopt it, raising it in the natural museum where it was convenient and they could visit often. But after Chu Tingwu''s words, An Shiyan''s mouth twitched, and as expected, she saw the boys looking at each other, sparks flying in their eyes.

    An Shiyan:... Why don''t you go fight outside? Don''t block my view of the little peacock.

    On the cracked eggshell, a blood-red fetal membrane could be seen, the little peacock stretched out a w, resting on the edge of the shell.

    Everyone was excited: "It''s fleshy, fleshy!"

    We see it, we see it!

    The little peacock slightly exerted force, pushing the shell open a bit more, it could be seen that it was breathing rapidly, its chest and abdomen rising and falling, everyone unconsciously held their breath, a minuteter, the little peacock kicked the shell open, lying at the bottom of the box, its yellow fetal hair wet, its head tilted to the side.

    Just hatched, the little peacock couldn''t walk or crawl yet, only asionally moving and struggling with its wings, pushing the eggshell aside. The high school students surrounding it wanted to help but didn''t dare to.

    The incubator was warm enough, and it looked weak but didn''t seem to have any other issues. It just continued to lie there, making tiny "ying ying" sounds.

    The group quietly cheered, and Chang Yile excitedly said, "We''ll be back in a couple of days!"

    By then, they woulde to y... no, to visit the baby peacock!

    However, the next day, An Shiyan was the first to go to the warehouse. She stared at the standing peacock for a long time and live-streamed to them, "Why do I feel like the baby peacock is a bit off?"

    Peacocks, like other birds, can stand energetically within twenty-four hours of hatching. This little peacock was no different, and its condition seemed fine, except for¡ª

    A blue parrot flew overhead.

    It excitedly called out.

    Another green parrot flew by, looking quite simr to the first one.

    It called out again with excitement.

    An Shiyan said, "Chu Tingwu, you mentioned you''re going to take the petmunicator exam in a couple of days, can you trante this?"

    Chu Tingwu: I don''t speak birdnguage either ==

    But that''s okay, she has a system.

    The system didn''t need to speak; it directly presented the trantion of the peacock''snguage in front of Chu Tingwu.Aliali: 673ed013c4f3f33ac4efe0e5

    A blue parrot flew by, and the baby peacock called, "Mom!"

    A green parrot flew by, and the baby peacock called, "Mom!"

    A high school student walked by, and the baby peacock called, "Ying ying?"

    Everyone: "¡­¡­"

    Watching the baby peacock walk around in the incubator, trying to p its wings, they seemed to understand something¡ª

    A few young high school students quietly broke down.

    It''s said that birds will regard the first living being they see as their mother. This baby peacock, when recognizing its mother, couldn''t tell blue from green, but when recognizing humans, it was clear as day! And you''re pping your wings... are you trying to learn to fly too?

    Tang Zhe: "If... if you want to learn, then learn..."

    It''s just a pursuit, nothing more than not recognizing us, the ones who hatched the egg... (sobbing) nothing more!

    Sob.

 Chapter 44

    Zhangshan Mountain, Qingshan Temple.

    The Little Taoist Priest was squatting by the well, brushing his teeth. After cleaning himself up, he went into the main hall and caught Yanzi, who was sleeping soundly in the corner, to brush the teeth of this Chief Cat.

    Autumn had arrived, and the weather was slightly cool. The cat on hisp radiated a warm heat. Although the cat was half-asleep, it still made uncooperative purring sounds, as ifining in its dreams.

    Just as the Little Taoist Priest finished brushing its teeth, the cat woke uppletely. With a flip, it jumped off hisp and ran to a tree to lick its fur.

    The Little Taoist Priest let out an "ey" inint, saying, "All you do all day is eat, sleep, and y. I provide you with excellent service, and you''re still not satisfied?"

    After the small poprity brought by the promotion, Yanzi had also be an inte celebrity cat. Although the Little Taoist Priest didn''t want to restrict Yanzi''s freedom, he was worried about visitors with malicious intentions towards the cat.

    As he was thinking, he heard a knock on the door.

    Little Taoist Priest: Someone''s climbing the mountain this early?

    He woke up early to do morning rituals and to prepare breakfast for the mountain-climbing visitors, but the visitors usually arrived at the temple an hourter.

    Although there were many who came because of the trend, many visitors realized that Fallen Phoenix City was a good ce for retirement, with fresh air and close to nature. An elderly mountain-climbing group from out of town rented a row of houses at the foot of the mountain, waking up early every day to breathe fresh air.

    He stood up to open the door, only to find that his legs were numb from squatting for too long, and he couldn''t walk for a moment.

    Suddenly, the Little Taoist Priest heard a "meow" from outside the door.

    Inside the door, Yanzi also raised its head and let out a "meow".

    The next second, he saw something... a person? Out of the corner of his eye, at the top of the temple gate.

    Chu Tingwu, with Three-Five-Five in one hand and Wu ssmate squatting on his head, was squatting on the eaves, waving down, "Morning."

    Little Taoist Priest: "...Morning."

    But don''t you think your position climbing the door is not suitable for greeting the owner?

    Chu Tingwu: "Yanzi told me toe in directly, so I did. That''s okay, right?"

    Little Taoist Priest: "...Would you like to have breakfast here? Do you eat meat buns?"

    The people of Qingshan Temple were familiar with Chu Tingwu. Three-Five-Five went over to sniff Yanzi, and the two catsmunicated silently, then hooked their tails together. Wu ssmate flew directly to the top of the tree, let out a "caw", and after the sound came out, there were several clear bird calls from afar.

    Chu Tingwu went to offer incense to the Three Purities, greeted the other Taoist priests and the temple master, and then sat down with the Little Taoist Priest to have breakfast.

    The Little Taoist Priest was eating a pork and cabbage bun with white porridge. After swallowing, he asked, "Did youe to see Yanzi?"

    Otherwise, he couldn''t think of any other reason... It couldn''t be that he was in a good mood and set off at dawn to climb Zhangshan Mountain, could it?

    Chu Tingwu: "More or less, actually I''m here to catch a thief."

    Little Taoist Priest: "?"

    "Oh--" he suddenly realized, "The one in the kitchen, right!"

    Just a few days ago, he noticed that some of the ingredients in the kitchen of the Taoist temple were missing. Not much was missing, but since he had been cooking early every day recently, he noticed the discrepancy.

    At first, the Little Taoist Priest thought it was Yanzi who had been nibbling at the food. Worried that it might upset her stomach, he even scolded the cat for it.

    Then, he witnessed the cat''s expression change from "confused" to "shocked", to "incredulous". That night, Yanzi was parkouring on the roof, causing the tiles above to crackle.

    Little Taoist Priest: "......"

    "It was the bird who stole it, okay, I misunderstood you, I was wrong!"

    The misunderstood cat received some cat treats. After buying two more treats to appease the cat, the Little Taoist Priest staked out for two more days, but he never caught the culprit bird.

    After all, this was a mountain, teeming with insects, rodents, snakes, and ants. Most wild birds wouldn''t approach human dwellings, but there might be exceptions.

    As he got up this morning, the Little Taoist Priest was still thinking: Should I buy a night-vision camera to monitor the kitchen?

    ¡ªBut wouldn''t a camera potentially catch which senior brother or even senior uncle was sneaking food at night?

    Chu Tingwu bowed his head and touched faces with Yanzi, then said, "Yanzi told Wu ssmate, who then called Three-Five-Five, so I came to see what was happening."

    ording to the crow and the cat, it was indeed a rather clever bird. Yanzi went out during the day to look for it but had to go deep into the mountains, so she had to return reluctantly.

    Chu Tingwu had breakfast, made a gesture to the Little Taoist Priest, and then said, "Then Yanzi and I are going into the mountain."

    Little Taoist Priest: "Sigh......"

    Chu Tingwu: "Or I won''t go, and let them find it themselves?"

    Little Taoist Priest: "Ah......"

    "But tourists are not allowed in undeveloped areas... There were cases of missing tourists before, weren''t there? They were found by Three-Five-Five and the other cats," he was torn, "How about I go with you?"

    Chu Tingwu: "......"

    Little Taoist Priest: "What''s with that expression!"

    He had been climbing mountains for many years, okay! Was there a need to look down on him? Maybe he was even faster than Chu Tingwu in the mountains!

    The Little Taoist Priest sighed: "I grew up on Zhangshan Mountain... Let''s go."

    The two of them, along with two cats and a bird, left the house. Chu Tingwu chose to deal with the cat''s private matters on thest day of his holiday.

    As for the Little Taoist Priest, when Chu Tingwu asked, he found out that the other party was raised by the Temple Master. After graduating from university, he returned to Qingshan Temple, nning to make being a Taoist priest his career.

    Little Taoist Priest: "I''m also considering postgraduate studies, but after all, I''m a Taoist, so I''m not too pushy."

    The Priest''s surname was Zhuge, with a single character, Shou. He was born weak and was left at the temple gate. The Temple Master gave him this name.

    But no one in the entire Qingshan Temple was surnamed Zhuge. He didn''t take the Temple Master''s surname, nor his own, but...

    Priest Zhuge: "The Temple Master said he had always wanted to try a double surname to see if it sounded good."

    Whether it sounded good or not, he didn''t know. All he knew was that he was always called out in ss from a young age.

    Zhuge was indeed quite agile. As they were climbing the mountain, he casually gave Chu Tingwu some advice on how to navigate the mountain paths: "If you''re unsure about the safety of the path ahead, observe the root systems of the nts. If the nts above are lush and thriving, then the roots and the area surrounding them are safe."

    Yanzi ran all the way to a bush, meowed twice at it, then turned to look at Zhuge.

    Zhuge took a photo of it, then turned to look at Chu Tingwu.

    Chu Tingwu said, "It''s saying that it chased a bird up to this pointst time, and then the scent faded."

    Three-Five-Five also went over to sniff.

    After Three-Five-Five moved away, Chu Tingwu also went over to sniff.

    Wu ssmate also wanted to go over to sniff, but was swatted away by Three-Five-Five''s paw.

    Wu ssmate: "?"

    Zhuge: "..."

    Did he... want to sniff too?

    Fortunately, Chu Tingwu didn''t demand that. She saw the young girl standing in ce for a while, seemingly deep in thought. Then she squatted down to examine the soil next to the trees. The two cats and the human continued to move forward.

    Zhuge asked, "Did you find any clues?"

    Chu Tingwu replied, "Yes, it seems that the bird rested on this tree for a bit before flying away. Now, the cats have found some leftover food and recent droppings in the nearby area."

    Cats indeed have a keen sense of smell, but one can''t expect a kitten to have deductive reasoning abilities. Hence, human assistance is required.

    With her back to Zhuge, Chu Tingwu stared ahead, her eyes slowly narrowing. Not long after their binding, she had slowly awakened her visual abilities, particrly her night vision.

    Her night vision skills had reached the standard of a regr cat, but a cat''s "vision" is not just "night vision". They can see a broader spectrum of light than humans.

    When Chu Tingwu narrowed her eyes, her pupils slowly faded from a deep brown to a faintly glowing golden hue in the shadows. These eyes on her face looked like the most natural colored contact lenses, yet gave her face a slightly eerie, non-human feel.

    However, from Chu Tingwu''s perspective, as her eyes underwent slight changes, many chaotic colors faded from her vision, making the world seem a lot quieter. The only things that stood out were the living creatures in the forest and the faint ultraviolet light emitted by heat.

    It was with this "vision" and "smell" that the cat was able to continue tracking the thief bird.

    The deeper they went, the fewer signs of human activity there were. Zhuge bent down to pick up a crushed stic can, put it in a garbage bag, and looked around at the environment:

    "I haven''t been here much either..."

    The surrounding rocks were exposed, the weeds were half a person tall, there were no footprints of anyone having stepped here. asionally, a bird would poke its head out from the trees, the leaves would be shaken off, fall to the ground, and slowly decay over time.

    If one were here alone, they might feel uneasy due to the atmosphere.

    Zhuge the Daoist snapped pictures while walking, using his snake-repelling stick to tap the ground ahead... Yet, with the cat around, he felt somewhat relieved. The cats at the Daoist temple were raised to be wild and untamed. Unless it was a python, they should have no trouble outmatching Yanzi.

    Three-Five-Five ced its front paws on the tree, arched its back and stretched, then with a single leap,nded on the rocks opposite.

    Chu Tingwu signaled Zhuge with a "shush," indicating that the cat seemed to have found its target.

    Then, as Zhuge held his breath, she leaped along with the cat. Landing without making a sound, in the deste depths of the forest, all Zhuge Shou could hear was his own anxious heartbeat.

    He raised his phone, clicked to take a picture, capturing both the cat and the person in the lens¡ª

    "Damn," he murmured, "Why do I feel like Chu''s presence is even less noticeable than the cat''s?"

    At least it was a close call. The demeanor of the two humans and the cat was just like predatory cats... Chu Tingwu usually didn''t show much emotion. Even now, there was no trace of emotional fluctuation, her presence barely noticeable. Looking at her back, Zhuge felt a strange sense of alienation.

    It was as if he was the only obvious outsider in this forest.

    Should he back off a little more?

    Just as he thought this, he noticed that both the cat and the human in his line of sight moved simultaneously.

    Suddenly, the sound of pping wings echoed in the quiet forest! Chu Tingwu and the cat chased after it together. The cat''s four paws moved swiftly between the rocks and bushes, while Chu Tingwu jumped even higher and further, asionally using her hands to push off the ground or a nearby tree for leverage, surprisingly leading the way.

    Left behind, Zhuge was dumbfounded.

    Wait, wait¡ªYou''re not a cat, how do you know where to chase?!

    At this point, he didn''t care about making noise. He chased after them, his camera swaying in his hand. The next moment, he heard the cawing of a crow.

    Chu Tingwu suddenly leaped up, grabbing a protruding branch and swinging. A dark shadow pounced from above, it seemed like a crow had kicked a bird with its w.

    In the next second, Zhuge abruptly stopped, first hearing the rustling of wings, then seeing Chu Tingwu hanging upside down from a tree with her legs, holding a bird in her hands.

    The two cats below were still meowing. Three-Five-Five meowed once, seemingly confirming the situation with Chu Tingwu, while Yanzi meowed several times, clearly feeling avenged.

    Zhuge stammered, "Be... be careful not to fall..."

    He was panting from the chase.

    The child had both hands upied holding the bird, yet her movements were steady. She first turned her upper body up, then jumped down¡ª

    Zhuge blurted out, "You... you jumped from such a high ce, why is the sound you make... quieter than when I get out of bed..."

    Chu Tingwu replied, "You should rest a bit before you talk again=="

    Zhuge shook his head, noticing the "little thief bird" that had been caught.

    What was strange was that, apart from pping its wings in struggle, the thief bird didn''t squawk as other chatterbox birds would have. It remained silent.

    It was held in Chu Tingwu''s palm, its head a gray-brown color, and its face a vibrant red. It seemed that this thief bird had had a good autumn, fattening itself up nicely. Its tail, which was revealed, was a mix of brown and white, and quite long.

    With the bird in Chu Tingwu''s hand, Yanzi didn''t pounce, but instead stepped on Zhuge''s shoes with its front paw,ining all the while.

    The cat treat was finished. Of course, Zhuge wouldn''t say, "Did you catch the wrong bird?" Instead, heforted Yanzi, saying, "I really wronged you. You are a good cat, and you even helped catch the thief. You''re so great." After petting Yanzi, Zhuge turned his attention to the bird, "So, what do we do with this bird?"

    "Also, hmm... I remember a friend once told me, the more colorful a wild bird, the heavier the sentence... no, no, not sentence, but the higher the level of protection. This one isn''t a protected species, is it?"

    Chu Tingwu, who already knew the species of the bird from the system, said, "......"

    "Let''s call the forestry bureau."

    -

    "Ah, you caught a bird? A cat caught it... wait, a human or a cat? Oh, a bird snuck into your kitchen to steal food and got caught, okay, describe it..."

    "The tail..."

    "The head... wait, are you sure? Is the bird still there? Take a picture! No, no, be careful when you do, don''t scare it. Where is it in the kitchen¡ªdamn!"

    "You guys, you guys went into the mountains to catch birds? Keep an eye on the cat, keep an eye on it! Hold it like that, don''t let go and don''t squeeze too hard, and don''t walk away, our people will be right there!"

    The person on the other end of the phone didn''t dare to hang up, but the sound of the speakerphone revealed how nervous they were. Zhuge mouthed to Chu Tingwu, "We''re going to jail¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu pretended to hand the bird over to him. He immediately took a step back and didn''t dare to move.

    After thinking for a moment, he also moved Yanzi away.

    ...However, the forestry bureau''s people didn''t arrive immediately. The signal in the mountains was unstable, and it took them some time to get there.

    During this time, the arrested bird only made one low sound.

    "This is a white-necked long-tailed pheasant!" The forestry bureau staff brought a protection box specifically designed for birds. The staff member at the front carefully approached Chu Tingwu, and the bird suddenly struggled.

    The staff member opened the protection box and gestured with his eyes for Chu Tingwu to put the bird in.

    When he was sure the bird was in the box, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, "Did you attack it when you caught it? We''ve decided to take it for a check-up first. By the way, did it get hurt?"

    He was very worried that the bird had been injured by the cat.

    After all, this is a White-ned Partridge! A nationally protected animal, the White-ned Partridge, which is wild and a resident bird, with only a few thousand residing in thergest protected areas. Theoretically, it should not appear in Fallen Phoenix City... but not only did it appear, it was caught stealing food.

    Although both cats were considered tent criminals," Chu Tingwu told them they were not, and then summoned the real "criminal bird": "It wanted to run away, but was kicked from above by a crow."

    This partridge... The White-ned Partridge can''t fly very high, but it can glide with its wings, but certainly not as high as a crow. After being kicked by a crow, it lost two feathers, which have now been collected.

    The staff member: "Hmm..."

    There was no danger to the national first-ss protected species, but what could they do? They were animals after all.

    In the end, the two feathers were given to Chu Tingwu.

    As for the follow-up situation, they would also report back to Chu Tingwu and Zhuge, the first two discoverers... If nothing unexpected happened, the discovery of the White-ned Partridge on Zhangshan Mountain would make the newspapers.

    Chu Tingwu held the feathers in her hand. The forestry bureau workers left first, and the two of them and the animals took a detour and returned to the specially built mountain road.

    On the way down the mountain, they ran into a group of elderly hikers. The elderly people were obviously familiar with the Daoist people, greeted Zhuge, and asked Chu Tingwu, "Kid, where did you get these feathers from?"

    Chu Tingwu: "I picked them up from the ground."

    She didn''t tell a single lie.

    The elderly muttered, "There are such feathers to be picked up in the forest, so brightly colored, why didn''t I pick them up?"

    Zhuge wanted to say something but held back.

    Never mind.

    The two parted ways in front of the observatory. On this ordinary morning, Chu Tingwu casually climbed the mountain, caught a national first-ss bird, and got two feathers as spoils of war - red-bottomed, blue-edged feathers that gleamed metallically.

    Wu ssmate: "......"

    The crow perched on Chu Tingwu''s shoulder, all the way back to the ginkgo tree at Teacher Zhang''s house, but it always felt something was wrong.

    "Caw?"

    It didn''t get anything!

    And Chu Tingwu had already asked, "System, what kind of craft can I use these feathers for?"

    She wanted to make a shuttlecock for Three-Five-Five.

    But when she got home, Three-Five-Five was lying at the head of the bed. After hearing Chu Tingwu''s n, she showed a rare puzzled expression:

    "Meow?"

    She wasn''t a kid, she didn''t like ying shuttlecock.

    But if the cub liked it, she could reluctantly y with the cub.

    Three-Five-Five licked Chu Tingwu, meowed twice, and sighed, "The cub really likes this kind of toy, meow!"

    Chu Tingwu: "......"

    She didn''t like it.

    She really didn''t like it!

    So, the shuttlecock n was put on hold, and the two national first-ss feathers were taken by Chu Tingwu all the way to Jin City.

    Chang''s Father and Mother drove Chu Tingwu and Three-Five-Five to the entrance of the residential area. As Chu Tingwu got out of the car, the Chang sisters also got out, waving to their parents, "We''re going to check out the school''s natural museum, we''ll take a taxi back tonight."

    Chang Yile added, "I really finished my homework!"

    Yes, the natural museum is almost renovated!

    -

    They met An Shiyan, who had walked over to the entrance, and the four of them went to the natural museum together. It''s worth mentioning that most of the animals had been sent to the breeding warehouse... except for a Yorkshire terrier.

    The origins of this Yorkshire terrier are unknown, but it''s already seven years old, a mature and gentle dog. After a few words with the teacher and the school, they sessfully sold the dog to the school.

    That is to say, the school sponsored the adoption of this Yorkshire, which is also a retirement n for the dog.

    Not long ago, the adoption official ount announced this news. Some fans regretted that there was one less fluffy creature to adopt, while others eximed, "You took over a mess from the school and managed to get money out of them again."

    And that''s not all.

    This Yorkshire terrier is absent because, thanks to Chu Tingwu''s connections, it was sent to the Jin City Police Dog Training Base.

    Although it won''t achieve remarkable results in a short time, the base will definitely take good care of the dog, provide free professional veterinary checks, and train it to get rid of some bad habits.

    Now that they have returned to school, they started a live broadcast on the official ount¡ª

    Not long into the live stream, long-time fans started entering the room one after another.

    [Is today''s stream not a fixed camera angle? Is your holiday over?]

    During this time, they asionally live-streamed the renovation with a fixed camera angle, allowing viewers to monitor the progress.

    Chang Yixin: "We worked continuously during the National Day holiday, and the renovation is almostplete. However, we just got back, and we''re starting this live stream to check the results of the renovation with everyone."

    They unlocked and pushed the door open.

    Behind this door, there was another three-dimensional, arched screen door. Chu Tingwu exined, "This is to prevent the animals from escaping, especially the parrots and peacocks."

    It''s okay to let them out for a walk, but if they just walk away and asionally walk into the ssroom, that''s too much.

    They first entered under the arch, locked the door behind them, and then opened the screen door.

    After the new staff take up their posts, they must strictly follow this entry procedure.

    ¡ª The two original caretakers only kept the one who worked during the day. The one who worked at night resigned after only a few encounters, obviously not optimistic about the students'' "contracting."

    However, they have already spotted new caretakers, who are currently taking care of arge number of animals in the breeding warehouse, rmended by staff from the Agriculture Bureau, all of them experienced and reliable.

    Once inside, they walked through an open corridor to the entrance of the "Bird Pavilion."

    The aviary had previously been topped, with half of the space at the top of the Natural History Museum unused, causing arge number of parrots to crowd together. Not only was the space cramped, but it was also difficult for people to clean.

    After the modification, the aviary took up a third of the space in the Natural History Museum. Theting hung down from the ceiling, and both the top and bottom were enclosed. However, the hangingting supported a nted arc, looking soft yet sturdy.

    [Hey, what''s that on the wall? A cat climbing frame?]

    Chu Tingwu: "It''s a wooden frame for the parrots to y and exercise. It''s not decorated yet, and those rows are for hanging cages and bird stands. Different parrots have different habits, and even preferences. Some like semi-enclosed cages for resting, while others prefer to sleep directly on the wooden frame... So, we will provide them with different options."

    It was clear that there were many more animal facilities like this in the Natural History Museum.

    The entrance and exit of the aviary were still the sameted doors. Parrots might identally be carried out of the museum as people entered and exited, but this situation would decrease after the structure was modified - the was chosen because it is more breathable.

    Considering interaction, a row of transparent telephone booth-like corridors were set up inside the aviary. This could reduce the chance of visitors being attacked by droppings and also reduce the cost of entering.

    There was still some soft decoration left in the renovation, but it was clear that the Natural History Museum was more nned than before.

    Different animals'' personal spaces were guaranteed, the gaps between each other became wider, and there were many more enrichment facilities, providing them with items to y with and pass the time.

    Peacocks also got their own "home". After visiting the peacock''s nest, they pushed open the door of the staff lounge: "This has been transformed into a veterinary room."

    Although hiring a veterinarian is a long-term expense, everyone decided to hire a professional veterinarian. This not only represented their responsibility, which was greater than the school''s, but also because life and money cannot be equated.

    "Maybe it''s just amon parakeet that''s injured or sick, but even the most ordinary parakeet is unique to its adopter, a valued family member," An Shiyan said to the camera, "So, we will do our best."

    The barrage fell silent for a moment, then someonemented:

    [I really want to try adopting now... When will you start the event?]

    Chang Yile: "The animals will be moved back to the museum gradually, and we will regrly upload some rted dynamics and videos. But as for the event... it should be in early November."

    As for the reason, that''s because -

    In early November, first-year high school students have mid-term exams!

    -

    In the evening, Teacher Cao came back from grocery shopping and greeted the cat on the wall: "Three-Five-Five, want to go for a walk?"

    Three-Five-Five turned her head, and Teacher Cao noticed a small stic bag around her neck, inside which was a steaming hot sausage.

    Teacher Cao: "...So, you''re bringing snacks for your Chu Tingwu."

    Three-Five-Five "meowed" and walked to the end of the fence before jumping down. As the elevator doors opened, it even nced at Teacher Cao before stepping in.

    Teacher Cao: I feel like this cat is getting smarter and smarter.

    Indeed, everyone in the neighborhood felt that Three-Five-Five seemed to be getting smarter.

    In the neighborhood, it had be a very famous cat¡ª

    Not every cat can carry money to the snack stand at the school gate to buy food and then bring it back to feed humans.

    Not only that, if Three-Five-Five doesn''t walk along the wall and goes out the main gate to pick up the child, it would jump up and swipe the homeowner chip on its cor.

    It would squat at the entrance, meow, and then leave.

    The security guards at the security booth had gotten used to this. At first, they would poke their heads out to take a look, butter they would just wave it through, sparing Three-Five-Five the need for any unnecessary greetings.

    At night, people would see a familiar scene: Three-Five-Five walking in front, Chu Tingwu following behind with a backpack, sometimes looking at his phone, sometimes suddenly jumping onto a stone pier or a fence, or reaching out to swing a tree branch, delighting those who saw him.

    Of course, if there were other pedestrians observing her, she wouldn''t act this way. She would appear to be a well-behaved, ordinary student.

    But this was the norm. asionally, when other cats, dogs, or even birds out for a walk were encountered, there would be some unexpected situations¡ª

    Recently, another stray cat hade to the neighborhood, trying to challenge Three-Five-Five for the title of the neighborhood''s king of stray cats... Although Three-Five-Five wasn''t a stray cat, it had a kind of radiating deterrent effect on the stray cats in the neighborhood.

    This resulted in Teacher Cao often seeing Three-Five-Five going out, sometimes just for a walk (to fight).

    The new cat was a long-haired orange cat. When it squatted in the sun, its silhouette looked like a lump of perfectly baked soft bread. When two long-haired cats got together, fur would often fly.

    But if Chu Tingwu was nearby and encountered the long-haired orange cat, the situation would be different: Chu Tingwu would approach, the orange cat would retreat, Chu Tingwu would reach out his hand, and the orange cat would meow in confusion before scampering up a tree.

    Teacher Cao knew that Chu Tingwu could understand catnguage. Once, out of curiosity, he asked what the orange cat had said. The student was unusually silent for a while before saying:

    "It thinks I''m a child, so it won''t fight me."

    It seemed that even though it was a stray, it was still a respectful and loving orange cat.

    Just yesterday, Teacher Cao noticed Chu Tingwu climbing a tree and vigorously petting the long-haired orange cat until it looked utterly despondent. It then scampered onto the roof of the pavilion in the courtyard. After seeing the tortoiseshell cat, it didn''t go up to provoke it.

    Teacher Cao: "?"

    I always feel that your cats... no, your cat and cat owner ecosystem is quite strange.

    As mid-term exams approached, the atmosphere in the ss became increasingly tense. Teachers Cao and Yuan paid extra attention to Chu Tingwu and the others, worrying that they might be too engrossed in club activities, leading to a drop in their academic performance.

    Even though Chu Tingwu''s fame and fan base now made her a sess among adults, she still couldn''t neglect her studies.

    More than that, they were concerned that the students, having earned money, would set their studies aside and indulge themselves.

    However, at home, the two adults estimated the children''s current monthly ie. Teacher Yuan took out his own pay slip and said, "If I were them... I wouldn''t be able to resist indulging either..."

    This was just the reward and video incentive from the club ount.

    So, on thest weekend before the exams, Teacher Cao noticed Chu Tingwu opening the window and asked, "Are you preparing to go to the nature museum?"

    Chu Tingwu, squatting on the window ledge, waved her hand: "No, I have an exam to take."

    Why did she make it sound like going out for breakfast?

    Feeling a bit odd, Teacher Cao quickly told his sleeping wife, hurriedly changed his clothes and went downstairs, only then did he find out:

    "A petmunicator? Isn''t that a scam?"

    Having pets at home, he asionally saw "petmunicators" on social media. The most famous one imed to diagnose pet problems from a single photo, and refused to refund if they got it wrong - so why pay upfront?

    Chu Tingwu nodded: "Because the public perceives petmunicators as ''scammers'', regtions were introduced requiring certification in this profession."

    However, as this profession is quite niche, the news hadn''t spread yet.

    Dog trainers, cat trainers, bird trainers all require certification. Petmunicators, being too broad, were eventually categorized as a branch of pet trainers.

    Teacher Cao offered to drive Chu Tingwu to the exam site, still not quite at ease, worrying that the student might have been scammed.

    When the car stopped, Teacher Cao looked up the name of the department online to reassure himself.

    Today was an exam day, so Chu Tingwu didn''t bring Three-Five-Five along. She followed Teacher Cao into the building, gave her name to the receptionist.

    "Miss Chu Tingwu, right? You have an appointment. Please follow me."

    Today was not a unified exam, but a professional qualification examination channel specifically set up for Chu Tingwu. The receptionist led them to the person in charge, a woman with a gentle smile and a white cat in her arms.

    The white cat had a pair of blue eyes, it looked up at Chu Tingwu as they entered.

    After greeting them, the person in charge suggested a brief chat:

    "Before the assessment, I think we should talk about what ''petmunication'' is."

    System: "?"

    Chu Tingwu raised her hand, as if to adjust her bangs, but actually to dismiss the system''s question mark: "Go ahead."

    The person in charge smiled:

    "In fact, when a new profession appears, even though ites with scams, it can be seen that users indeed have a demand for the services this profession provides - they want to know what their pets are thinking, but they don''t want to send their pets to specialized schools for training."

    In the country, there aren''t many cat or dog schools, even the pet boarding services aren''t very standardized, but the demand is unstoppable.

    "What they need is exactly in the middle, they don''t want their pets to lose their wildness through training, nor do they want their pets to be away from them for too long, but they want a more harmonious pet-human rtionship," the person in charge said, "Rather than a municator'', I think this job is more like a ''psychologist'', for both the pet and the owner."

    She patted Chu Tingwu on the shoulder: "Teacher Wang said you can understand catnguage, of course, we all know this is an exaggerated statement¡ª"

    Teacher Cao: "Hmm..."

    She continued: "I believe,pared to understanding grammar and such, what you can really do is understand the emotions of pets, you are very good at this, and then by integrating the situation, you can guess their thoughts."

    The person in charge believes more in the role of science, she thinks that the expression of animal emotions can also have quantifiable standard answers. She took the two to another room, then put down the white cat in her arms: "This is my cat, its name is An An."

    An An "meowed" once, using its tail to hook her calf.

    There were some machines in this room, the person in charge put An An on the tform, An An seemed to know what to do, and obedientlyid down.

    The person in charge smiled: "She''s very familiar with it, I will give her toys she doesn''t like, toys she likes, and different levels of food - her emotional value will be quantified and disyed on this screen."

    "This is an intelligent model made by collecting data throughparative experiments, it can recognize An An''s micro-expressions and the meaning of its meows."

    ¡ªThe person in charge told Chu Tingwu: After shepletes the written test, the staff will bring other rescued stray animals, these stray animals will also have arge amount of data collected while living here, and she has to judge the animals'' emotions through listening and observing facial expressions in realbat.

    Teacher Cao seemed to be fascinated, listening and analyzing: "This is quite scientific..."

    At least it ensures that the certified municators" really understand pets, and when pet owners encounter difficulties, they can provide real help.

    And pet owners can''t bring their pets here for model collection,municators are also a low-cost treatment method they can choose.

    After all, he also has a cat, he feels that such a test is not difficult, although he can''t pass the professional written test, he is quite curious if he can "understand" what An An is saying.

    The person in charge doesn''t mind showing them.

    Teacher Cao watched from the sidelines for a while, listening to the continuous meowing, and helplessly said, "If I could see the props, I might be able to guess... but if it''s purely listening and watching, I really can''t tell the difference!"

    Chu Tingwu stood silently on the side with her arms crossed, waiting for them to finish their conversation so she could take the written test.

    An''an, a cat,y on the stage, swinging its tail in boredom. Two adults exchanged a fewpliments, and then, the person in charge turned to Chu Tingwu:

    "By the way, Chu, I heard from Wang Junxing that you can even teach others catnguage, and your own meowing is very realistic. Would you like to trymunicating with An''an?"

    The difficulty of the test questions was progressive, and An''an was considered the first question. If she could familiarize herself with the cat in advance, the uracy rate would probably be a bit higher.

    Although the person in charge didn''t quite believe the introduction to Chu Tingwu, even if it was said by her old friend Wang Junxing, she was willing to give her old friend face.

    She saw the young girl in front of her nce at the white cat, then at herself, like a quiet and introverted little girl. She shook her head, "Actually, there''s no need."

    The person in charge encouraged her, "It''s okay, it doesn''t matter if you get it wrong."

    The little girl asked, "Can I say anything?"

    The person in charge nodded, and the two adults gave their ces to the child.

    She turned her head and spotted a few figures at the door. Other colleagues and subordinates hade over quietly to watch the excitement under the pretext of "fetching water" and "delivering documents". The person in charge: "..."

    Suddenly, she heard a meow. She turned her head to look, and sure enough, it was Chu Tingwu who had meowed!

    It really sounded alike!

    An''an, who was originally lying on the stage, suddenly stood up and looked at the person in charge in shock.

    The person in charge: "?"

    The person in charge: "??"

    Even without looking at the screen, she could see An''an''s emotions - An''an was a stable adult cat and rarely made such obvious expressions.

    Chu Tingwu meowed again.

    An''an: "Meow-wow--"

    The person in charge: "Good boy, oh my, good boy... why are you so wronged?"

    An''an: "Meow-wow! Meow-wow-- Meow-wow--"

    The white cat clearly wanted toe over, but it didn''t jump down from the stage, and it retreated a step when its owner approached. For the first time, the person in charge knew that cats could make suchplex expressions, expressing extremelyplex... but she just couldn''t understand the content with its delicate meowing.

    She looked at the screen, and on the screen was a big--

    [Recognition error, unable to recognize, please change the recognition target!]

    The artificial intelligence waited for a long time, seeming to think that the recognition target had been changed. Then, on the personal panel, next to the cat''s head, a line of text appeared--

    "Species: Dog"

    The person in charge: "?"

    She looked at Chu Tingwu and asked sincerely, "What... exactly did you say to An''an?"

    Ordinary "emotional expression" could not express An''an''splex emotions. They were clearly municating"!

    Chu Tingwu: "Oh... I just discussed the sry issue with her."

    "As the subject of the test, and soon to be the test itself, it''s like working here for you guys, right? I told it that working earns a sry, even the minimum wage for ordinary humans can buy several cans of food a day. Has it received its sry?"

    Everyone: "......"

    So now, are they being asked for a sry by a cat?

    The little girl who caused the wage dispute nodded calmly, bid farewell to the person in charge, and then walked out, politely asking:

    "Which room is the written test in? I should take the test first."Aliali: 6743211ac4f3f33ac42e7315

    The caught staff member: What test are you still taking!

    But they still took her there.

    However, the staff did not know that there was a conversation unknown to anyone behind them -

    [The recognition system here is so backward, it can even recognize a kitten as a puppy? Is such an assessment really meaningful? Shall I help them upgrade the system?]

    Chu Tingwu: "......"

    [?]

    Chu Tingwu: "After the upgrade, it won''t recognize people as cats, will it?"

    [How could it be!?]

    Chu Tingwu: "......"

    Oh? Really, she doesn''t believe it.

 Chapter 45

    The written exam was not difficult for Chu Tingwu.

    The test content focused on theoretical knowledge about pet emotions, habits, and behavioral patterns, which aremon among cat trainers andmunicators. There were also questions about pet breeding and veterinary medicine¡ªmost of which Chu Tingwu had studied, though she was unsure about a few answers.

    Normally, the results of the theoretical part of the exam would be released quickly, as the multiple-choice questions with standard answers are automatically graded upon submission. However, Chu Tingwu had to wait a bit longer outside before seeing the Person in Charge approach her with a hesitant expression.

    Chu Tingwu: "Did I get too many wrong?"

    Person in Charge: "No, no, no, it''s just that you only got these two wrong... We had a discussion in the conference room about the answers, so you had to wait a bit longer."

    They suspected there might have been an error in the answers¡ªhence the extra time spent confirming them.

    These two questions were multiple-choice about pet medicine and breeding. It took quite a while for everyone to confirm that Chu Tingwu might have genuinely forgotten the answers during the exam.

    As for the essay questions, as long as she wrote something, they basically gave her full marks.

    Chu Tingwu: "..." It seemed there were more onlookers now.

    Person in Charge: "Ahem."

    "Just understanding a pet''s emotions doesn''t qualify as munication''; you also need to find ways to express and convey them," the Person in Charge led Chu Tingwu, walking in front, "We discussed and decided that the exam content judged by machines is too simple for you... How about a face-to-face test with a pet instead?"

    She had spent a long timeforting An An, giving her a can of food, and then handed her over to the Assistant.

    Petmunicators are naturally graded, and the Jin City Branch''s assessment process is recorded and reported. Initially, the Person in Charge thought of letting Chu Tingwu try the elementary level exam¡ªbut now it seems that only testing at the elementary level might be a waste of time.

    On the way, the Person in Charge also briefly introduced the employment prospects formunicators:

    "Although you don''t need to consider these for now, after you pass the assessment, when we receive requests for help from pet owners, we might rmend you¡ª" she said, "You can choose to help them or refuse, depending on your ability."

    The mostmon job is "pet teacher," who often provides home services or asks the owners to bring their pets to their studio. Some pets have bad habits, and the teacher will spend one or two sessions educating and reforming them.

    Anothermon role is the "psychological calmer" at animal hospitals. Cats and dogs are prone to stress, and pets at home might suddenly be stressed when visiting the hospital. The calmer is responsible for soothing their emotions¡ªof course, not by imitating cat or dog sounds, but through more scientific methods, such as creating an environment, changing the temperature, or ying sounds familiar to them.

    Chu Tingwu''s written exam seemed to cover only elementary content, and the Person in Charge didn''t ask her to go back for additional tests... and indeed, she hadn''t reviewed the more specialized knowledge required for calmers, teachers, etc. Some people who pass themunicator exam also go on to be dog or cat trainers, which can be considered a career branch.

    The Person in Charge stopped at the door: "Besides, there''s also the ''pet psychologist,'' as animals can also suffer from mental illnesses and need specialized psychologists for animals¡ªthe psychologist observes them, understands their past stories, and then tries to help them through. I personally think you''d be very suitable for this path... of course, it''s just a suggestion. Let''s go in."

    The room was decorated with white wallpaper, and in the centery a Golden Retriever, Le Cang, next to a little girl ying with a ball.

    Wait... a Golden Retriever?

    Chu Tingwu: "Starting with a dog?"

    Perhaps because the professional assessment was still rtively new, themunicator entrance exam didn''t differentiate between cats and dogs, only asking candidates to fill in their general preferences before the test. She had, of course, chosen cats.

    Person in Charge: "You''ll be tested on both anyway."

    They stood by the door, actually separated by a half-ss wall, which provided good soundproofing, so the people and the dog inside didn''t notice them.

    Chu Tingwu observed for a while: The little girl would push the ball away, signaling Le Cang to fetch it, but the dog would only look at the ball and, after three or four attempts, gently nudge it with his paw.

    Moreover, Le Cang''s tail rarely wagged, his mouth closed, and his eyes wide open, resting on his folded front paws.

    "His name is Le Cang," the Person in Charge introduced, "The child ying with him is a volunteer we invited. Can you see anything?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Is the volunteer deaf and mute?"

    The Person in Charge was taken aback and then looked at the ss side: "You noticed that first... Indeed, she''s a student from a nearby special school."

    Chu Tingwu nodded.

    Although the soundproofing was indeed very good, when she concentrated, she could still hear the sound of the ball falling to the ground through the wall, but not the child''s other sounds... so she made her guess.

    Chu Tingwu: "Then Le Cang... is he a guide dog?"

    Person in Charge: "Why would you think that?"

    Chu Tingwu: "When he was lying down, he only nudged the ball a few times, twice because the ball was about to roll away, and once because the little girl stood up to get the ball. His gaze first noticed the nket¡ªit was raised and might trip her, so he went over to pick up the ball and then nudged the child with his head, indicating she didn''t need to go anymore."

    "There are also some small habits... which give me the impression that his previous owner probably had vision problems."

    She couldn''t understand dognguage, and Le Cang didn''t bark once, but observing his demeanor and sensing his emotions were still rtively simple for her.

    The Person in Charge looked at Chu Tingwu again: "Yes."

    "Le Cang was once a guide dog. After his owner passed away in an ident, he developed depression and was sent here by his owner''s rtives for treatment," the Person in Charge shook her head, "Research on animal mental illnesses isn''t very advanced. We consulted other colleagues and tried to find him a new blind owner."

    But after being taken to the new owner''s home, Le Cang was afraid to take the owner out. The big Golden Retriever blocked the door, his "woof woof" barks gradually turning into "woof whimper" cries, so the new owner had to send him back.

    They judged that Le Cang could no longer be a guide dog; he had developed PTSD, like a human, and even defied his dog instincts, bing afraid to go out when led.

    Staying in the room would only worsen his condition, so the institution tried to find different volunteers for him, eventually concluding¡ªLe Cang still wanted to help humans, and younger or older volunteers were more likely to get a response from him. Not long ago, with the help of an elderly volunteer in a wheelchair, Le Cang went out for a walk for the first time in half a year.

    Person in Charge: "But the situation hasn''t fully improved. When there''s no suitable person to apany him, he often lies in the corner of the room, lost in thought, and doesn''t y by himself. Recently, we gave him a check-up, and his limbs have some deformation. If this continues, it will affect his lifespan."

    This might be a dog trying tomit slow suicide.

    His psychological issues were obvious, not a test question at all. The real test was how to solve his problem through munication."

    Of course, the Person in Charge didn''t expect Chu Tingwu to actually aplish what they couldn''t, but she saw Chu Tingwu''smunication skills and hoped she could do something, even a little.

    Even if Le Cang wasn''t a cat.

    Even if the Person in Charge had never heard that this child could speak dognguage.

    The Person in Charge opened the inner door for Chu Tingwu, and the deaf and mute child and the dog didn''t look over; the former couldn''t hear, and thetter simply didn''t react.

    The Person in Charge stood by the door and watched Chu Tingwu walk over... When she approached, Le Cang''s ears twitched, and he lifted his head to look at the new human.

    The Person in Charge wasn''t surprised; Le Cang would usually just nce at strangers when they encountered them.

    But then, Le Cang suddenly stood up on its own, walked over, sniffed Chu Tingwu''s hand, and let out a soft "woof" sound.

    Person in Charge: "?"

    Chu Tingwu hadn''t even done anything! She was just standing there!

    She watched as the girl reached out to pat the golden retriever''s head, looked around, found the leash used for walking dogs, showed it to Le Cang, and then fastened it around its neck.

    The golden retriever''s eyes widened.

    It looked at the leash, then at Chu Tingwu, and lifted a paw as if to y with it¡ªlike it usually did, it was probably about to express its refusal, but... but! Le Cang sniffed Chu Tingwu again, nudged the girl''s waist with its snout, and let out a soft bark.

    So, in front of the Person in Charge, Chu Tingwu led the withdrawn little dog out the door.

    Person in Charge: "..."

    She asked her colleague who had rushed over to take care of the young volunteer, then followed Chu Tingwu, unable to help but ask, "How... how did youmunicate with it?"

    You didn''t even speak!

    Chu Tingwu: "Like what you all do¡ªsimplemunication probably can''t dispel its sad emotions or make it forget its deceased owner, so I just wanted to take it out for a run."

    Even normal dogs can get depressed if they don''t get enough exercise.

    Chu Tingwu: "As for why it listened... maybe because I smell strongly of cats, and it doesn''t see me as a human, just as a cat?"

    Of course, it''s not just the strong smell.

    Le Cang clearly smelled that she was a kitten, with both the scent of a young cat and the scent of its mother.

    Though it was strange to be led out by a cat, Le Cang didn''t resist.

    Chu Tingwu thought for a moment and spected, "Maybe it thinks... that people taking it for a walk might have an ident, but cats have sharp senses and won''t get into trouble, right?"

    In the dog''s mind, people aren''t as reliable as cats.

    Seeing the Person in Charge didn''t stop her, Chu Tingwu, with this guess, led Le Cang out of the institution and into the courtyard used for walking.

    The ce wasn''t very big, but it seemed to be frequented by cats and dogs¡ªbecause Chu Tingwu could smell their scents.

    "Wait, whose golden retriever is that... is that Le Cang!?"

    Le Cang going out clearly surprised the staff, and seeing Chu Tingwu holding the leash made them even more astonished¡ªin their own territory, they could of course let Le Cang run free without a leash, but it just wouldn''t y on its own, even if taken to the courtyard, it would just lie in a corner.

    Now, Chu Tingwu started walking it around the courtyard.

    At first, the person and the dog just walked slowly, and after a short distance, Le Cang would look back at Chu Tingwu.

    No one knew what world it saw, but they could tell that Le Cang''s steps became lighter and its head lifted higher.

    Then, Le Cang''s head began to sway, it sniffed the flowers in the flowerbed, pawed at a tree, and stared intently at a crack in the stone... so far, it was just a walk.

    Chu Tingwu slowly pulled back some of the leash, walked in front of Le Cang, and then started jogging.

    Le Cang hesitated for a moment, was gently tugged by the leash, and followed on all fours, gradually running ahead of Chu Tingwu.

    The person and the dog jogged around the small path in the courtyard, Le Cang''s long golden fur shimmering in the sunlight, rising and falling with the movement, it opened its mouth and began to breathe through it.

    The joggingsted about fifteen minutes, and when Chu Tingwu stopped, Le Cang barked twice.

    Then, it seemed a bit shy, and came over to rub its body against Chu Tingwu''s hand.

    The Person in Charge looked very excited, she clenched and unclenched her fists several times, quickly wiped her hands, and then came to shake Chu Tingwu''s hand: "Thank you, thank you, this is probably the most exercise Le Cang has had in the past half year... I took some video, can I send it to the family of its owner?"

    There was no reason to refuse, so the Person in Charge then led Chu Tingwu to meet Le Cang''s "Attending Doctor," who had also watched from the courtyard for a long time, very emotional, constantly asking how Chu Tingwu had managed it.

    Chu Tingwu: "I think Le Cang might just not be able to ept human owners, but maybe it could try animalpanions? Let an animal lead it on a walk?"

    Le Cang still didn''t want to go on the road, nor did it like the traffic, but it could get enough exercise in the yground or downstairs in themunity.

    And obviously, enough exercise was good for it.

    The doctor epted this suggestion, and the institution''s action efficiency was very high, quickly turning this into a follow-up assessment content, asking Chu Tingwu to participate.

    They found another volunteer dog that day, and the two dogs sniffed each other. This was a trained pug, not as big as Le Cang, and could bite the leash and lead it forward.

    But once the pug was led by a human with a leash, Le Cang would look at the dog, then at the person, and then refuse to move.

    After a few tests, they found that except for Chu Tingwu, other animals had to be "independent" to walk the dog.

    Chu Tingwu stroked her chin and thought: "I''ll go home and bring my cat."

    She went back and brought Three-Five-Five over.

    The tortoiseshell catnded in the unfamiliar environment, without any leash, only wearing a cor indicating its identity.

    She looked around, her tail flicking through the air, then Chu Tingwu fastened the other end of Le Cang''s leash to her cor.

    The cat and dog sniffed each other, Le Cang, after a day of activity, seemed to have brighter eyes, staring at Three-Five-Five, then suddenly barked twice at Chu Tingwu.

    ¡¾This is your mom!¡¿

    The golden retriever seemed to say with its eyes.

    Chu Tingwuughed and waved at it, and the subsequent walk went smoothly, with Three-Five-Five sessfully leading Le Cang for a walk, jogging, and even crossing the road¡ª

    Before crossing the road, Le Cang seemed very nervous, the leash taut, but Three-Five-Five "meowed" twice, impatiently turned its head and nipped its nose, then bit the leash and led the big dog to the other side of the road.

    Upon arrival, the former guide dog lowered its head to the ground, and the tortoiseshell cat licked its head twice.

    The family of Le Cang''s owner watched from the side, covering their mouths tightly to prevent themselves from crying.

    When the dog took that step... it seemed to represent that they too had taken a step forward.

    However, Three-Five-Five couldn''t stay at the institution.

    She was just here to help.

    Chu Tingwu also took an extra test, meeting a cat with strong aggression¡ªthis cat actually had vision problems, severe astigmatism since birth, and the condition gradually worsened as it grew up.

    It had already undergone surgery, but still seemed to have a strong aggressive tendency.

    Chu Tingwu chatted with the cat for a while and then gave a solution: "It just didn''t receive proper education when it was young, unable to judge whether humans could be approached, let it get used to clothes with the owner''s scent, treat them as its own kind, and then slowly correct its habits."

    Unlike Le Cang, this was a proper "test," and Chu Tingwu scored highly. Her file was quickly entered into the system, and she received her own badge and certificate.

    The certificate''s level was "Senior Pet Communicator," thememorative badge semi-circr, gold with blue edges, with a faint metallic luster, the pattern a stylized silhouette of a cat and a dog.

    The whole process was surprisingly fast, and after the institution issued the certificate, it would report to the headquarters for review, the review usually taking about a month, generally not causing any problems.

    As soon as she received it, the staff quickly surrounded her:

    "Teacher Chu, can catnguage be learned, can it be learned from your videos?" This was the studious type.

    "Teacher Chu, I also have a cat at home, how do you train your cat, how can it be as independent and affectionate as your tortoiseshell?" This was the type for the cat''s benefit.

    "Little Teacher Chu, I''ve actually been your fan for a long time, I didn''t have the heart to ask for an autograph before, you''re amazing, so proficient in cat and dognguage!" This was the ttery type... wait!

    Chu Tingwu: "I don''t speak dognguage."

    "Miss Chu, you''re too modest!"

    Chu Tingwu: Hey!

    Because of the example set by Le Cang, it was clear that no one would believe her even if she exined. Chu Tingwu stepped out of the encirclement, only to be stopped by the Person in Charge: "Le Cang''s condition has improved, and the family wants to take him home after a while. They also want to ask you or Three-Five-Five toe over and help walk the dog."

    "Oh, and," she added specifically, "there''s pay for this."

    Both humans and cats get paid for their work.

    ... Even An An gets paid.

    Chu Tingwu: "Does the family have any interest in raising a cat?"

    Upon hearing this, Teacher Cao turned around, quite shocked¡ªbut Chu Tingwu wouldn''t send Three-Five-Five to someone else''s home, would she?

    Of course not, it wasn''t Three-Five-Five.

    After receiving a positive response from the family, Chu Tingwu made a call to the Jin City Police Dog Training Base, exining the situation. The response was quick, asking the family to visit the base the next day, preferably with Le Cang.

    Among the rejected police cat candidates, there must be a suitable kitten for Le Cang.

    -

    After a day of busy work, when Chu Tingwu got on the bus, she couldn''t help but yawn twice.

    The sun hung on the horizon, and the twilight enveloped the entire city. Birds pped their wings as they flew past the high-rise buildings. Through the car window, Chu Tingwu raised her hand to the position where the birds were and made a virtual grab¡ªimagining herself catching the bird in her palm, feeling the soft and smooth touch of the feathers, carrying a faint warmth.

    A bird on the roadside suddenly flinched, shook its wings, and took off.

    ¡¾Your [Sense of Smell lv2] has upgraded to [Sense of Smell lv3]¡¿

    ¡¾Your [Vision lv1] has upgraded to [Vision lv2]¡¿

    ¡¾Your [Perception lv0] has upgraded to [Perception lv1]¡¿

    After these three prompts shed on the system interface, the system asked:

    "Are you hungry, little one? What do you want for dinner? I''ll order a table of dishes to be delivered home."

    Today, let''s not let the little one cook.

    Chu Tingwu mumbled an indistinct "hmm," her eyes ncing at the window gap, when she suddenly bent down and picked up something: "Teacher Cao, the pen cap of Teacher Wei from ss Three fell on the back seat of your car."

    Teacher Cao stopped the car: "Alright, give it to me, I''ll take it to him tomorrow."

    A few minutester, Chu Tingwu brought Three-Five-Five upstairs, but Teacher Cao was still sitting in the car, lost in thought.

    There was no name on the pen cap, so how did Miss Chu know it belonged to Teacher Wei? Or did she know that Teacher Wei had sat in the car a couple of days ago and just happened to know that he had lost a pen cap?

    Chu Tingwu didn''t know Teacher Cao''s doubts. She was using a brand new perspective to observe the world.

    So, to the outside, her movements seemed a bit slow.

    She sat on the living room sofa, with Three-Five-Five licking its fur beside her. The window was half open, letting in the evening breeze¡ªChu Tingwu vaguely realized: "It might rain tonight, but not for long."

    She wasn''t sure if she had sensed... "air pressure"?

    The pen cap was the same. It wasn''t just the smell. Chu Tingwu first "saw" the marks left on the window gap, then her mind automatically formed a rough shape of the object and estimated a general falling range, and then she bent down¡ª

    She touched the pen cap stuck in the gap.

    She could even imagine what had happened based on the remaining smell and traces: Teacher Wei sat in the back seat, suddenly thinking of something he wanted to write down immediately. He held the pen cap between his fingers, writing on a small notebook, but when the car stopped, he instinctively leaned forward, supporting himself with his hand, and the pen cap first hit the window gap, then rolled onto hisp, finally falling to the ground with his movement.

    But the window gap was on the left, and he didn''t hear the pen cap fall, so he subconsciously searched the left seat and floor, and finally, as they were about to reach school, he had to give up.

    ¡ªBeing able to imagine it sopletely was because the smell, when it entered Chu Tingwu''s nose, also had a time distinction.

    Before, she could smell things humans couldn''t, but only vaguely judge the intensity of the smell. Now, after the upgrade, the smell became more shaped, and she could distinguish the time the smell was left by its intensity.

    The enhanced vision also allowed her to easily find subtle traces with her eyes.

    The world seemed to be in sharp focus for her at that moment, and time seemed to slow down:

    "And this is just the instinct of a cat."

    System: "Hmm?"

    "I''m thinking, is it because I''m just human and have the abilities of a cat that I can discover how to better use these abilities."

    The system, using a gentle tone as if talking to a little fool, said: "Of course, my little one is very amazing, but you''re already a cat! You''re just smarter and more sensitive than other kittens... and you''ll grow a bit bigger too?"

    It means she''s healthy!

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    She thought about how she could "better use" her abilities, then realized that being a human-cat wouldn''t change the world. The small world she touched wouldn''t be any different from before the upgrade.

    It''s time for dinner.

    -

    Getting certified was just a small matter. Chu Tingwu only informed a few close people and didn''t make a big deal out of it.

    The institution has debunked the profession of "petmunicator" on the inte, but in reality, they also have their own employment channels. Truly skilledmunicators rarely appear on the inte, relying on a photo to scam pet owners'' money.

    Chu Tingwu''s name quietly entered the internal rmendation system, while she herself quietly returned to school.

    On Monday, when Chu Tingwu just arrived at the ssroom, Chang Yile reached out to pull her sleeve: "Did you bring it, did you bring that?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Yes, I put it in the book."

    Chang Yixin: "What are you bringing?"

    Chu Tingwu took out the thickest English book, opened it to show them the two feathers.

    She hadn''t intended to publicize it, but a while ago, the Fallen Phoenix City Forestry Bureau issued an official notice saying, "Kind citizens Chu and An discovered a national first-ss protected animal in Zhangshan Mountain..." with a blurred photo, which was quickly identified by sharp-eyed fans as possibly Chu Tingwu.

    Chu Tingwu didn''t respond, but Chang Yile, a fan in real life, could directly show her screenshots and ask, so they chatted for a whole evening. The next day, Chu Tingwu brought the feathers to show them.

    The ssmates around them also marveled at the feathers, which couldn''t be bent, so they touched them carefully¡ªafter all, it''s not like they can casually enter the protected area to touch the feathers of a national first-ss protected animal!

    A ssmate asked curiously: "Is it like this... you saved the national first-ss animal entangled in thorns, and it was injured and couldn''t fly, so it picked up a feather and ced it in your palm, you called the forestry bureau, and they took it for treatment¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu hesitated for a moment: "It''s almost like what you imagined, just reversed?"

    ssmate: "?"

    Reversed? It couldn''t be that the national first-ss animal wanted to escape, was caught by Chu Tingwu, and in the struggle, it lost two feathers, right?

    After everyone who wanted to see had seen, Chang Yile helped Chu Tingwu clip the feathers, then thought it wasn''t secure: "Our school uniform''s chest pocket is quite deep, why don''t you just put it in the pocket?"

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    Chang Yile seriously said: "What if it gets stolen?"

    You can''t just think it''s safe because it''s in school, who knows if someone might suddenly want to steal the feathers?

    Although Chu Tingwu felt that even if it was stolen, she could find it back (with a sess rate of 100%), but it might get damaged if taken away, so she epted Chang Yile''s good intentions.

    At the end of the second period in the morning, Teacher Yuan called them to the yground¡ª

    Usually, there''s no exercise on Monday, but the principal or grade director might give a speech.

    Today''s speech seemed a bit different, and Teacher Yuan seemed to know... because she called Chu Tingwu to the front of the formation and had her stand beside her.

    The Grade Director talked about the high school entrance exam and emphasized that this was a province-wide joint exam, urging students to pay more attention. Then, the Principal also spoke a few words, starting to say:

    "Besides, today we will alsomend several students under the national g."

    "Chang Yixin and Chang Yile from ss 1, Grade 1, Chu..."

    The Principal read out the names of the eight of them from a piece of paper, exining the natural history museum and the adoption program, praising them for their clear-headedness in getting the n done... and also promoting the animal adoption event two weeks after the midterm exams, exining why the natural history museum had been closed for the past few months to the other students.

    As the Principal read the speech, other sses asionally let out "wow" sounds, and the two neighboring sses frequently turned their heads to look in the direction of ss 1.

    When Chu Tingwu''s name was mentioned, someone shouted "I know her," only to be reprimanded by their homeroom teacher.

    Although it was just a verbalmendation, it was clear that the others were very excited.

    The system, unusually, was quite restrained: "You helped the school solve a problem, isn''t a little praise only right?"

    It even felt that this recognition wasing toote.

    After finishing the first speech, the Principal seemed not to be done yet, coughed once, and took out another piece of paper:

    "I also want tomend Chu Tingwu individually, who, in a recent nationalpetition¡ª"

    Others: Huh? A nationalpetition? What kind of contest was it? But why didn''t they exin it clearly? Did they miss something?

    "She served as the youngest judge, adjudicated fairly, and demonstrated an excellent performance in the demonstration."

    Some students who knew whatpetition Chu Tingwu had "participated" in burst intoughter:

    The school had a tradition of announcing and rewarding students who achieved rankings in nationalpetitions, also offering bonuses. Chu Tingwu''s parkourpetition was indeed national in scope, and her performance was indeed very strong, but the awkward part was that she was not a contestant but a judge, and the judge''s performance was not scored.

    It seemed the school had struggled for a long time before deciding to announce it as usual, quietly omitting the word "parkour," perhaps considering it more of a recreational sport rather than a serious athletic event, not rmending it to other students.

    But the Principal wasn''t finished yet.

    "The school also received multiple letters of thanks. In daily life, Chu Tingwu helped a passerby find a lost pet, called an ambnce for a neighborhood resident who had a medical emergency, and even caught a¡ªa¡ªrat in a street warehouse¡ª"

    When reading thest three words, the Principal''s speed also slowed down, his brow furrowed, as if he felt there was something off about this script.

    But ncing at the back, he continued.

    "I hope everyone can learn from Chu Tingwu''s spirit of helping others¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu heard someone next to her whisper: "Catching rats is a skill, not a spirit."

    Fortunately, the Principal didn''t hear: "¡ªand be useful members of society and family."

    He took out another piece of paper, clearly not done yet.

    "Besides these letters of thanks, we also received two additional letters from official institutions."

    "It''s evident that Chu Tingwu from ss 1, Grade 1, has a very rich extracurricr life. Not long ago, she coborated with the Jin City Police Dog Training Base, helping them select suitable kittens as candidates for the police cat program, and there have already been some initial results. The kittens that were not selected have also entered other systems, developing into guide cats,panion cats, and guard cats, giving both the cats and their families a new lease on life. In this process, Chu Tingwu made significant contributions, for which the base sent a special letter ofmendation!"

    He coughed, asking the students to stop murmuring, and continued: "Another letter of thanks came from the Fallen Phoenix City Forestry Bureau. During the National Day holiday, Chu Tingwu discovered a White-necked Long-tailed Pheasant, a national first-ss protected animal, on the mountain. After controlling the pheasant without harming it, she protected it on the spot and immediately reported it to the forestry bureau¡ª"

    Standing beside her, Yuan Zhixiao: ...wait, how did she control it?

    "Now the White-necked Long-tailed Pheasant has returned to the protected area, and the forestry bureau specially sent a letter of thanks to Chu Tingwu for her contribution to wildlife protection."

    At this, Yuan Zhixiao nudged Chu Tingwu and whispered in her ear: "Go up and receive the award."

    The Principal''s position was simr to that during military training, on the stage, with stairs on both sides, but Chu Tingwu ran straight ahead. The Principal continued reading a few more sentences, ncing at her with a puzzled look as she approached.

    Then, he saw Chu Tingwu from ss 1, Grade 1, leap onto the stage with one hand on the edge, and stand beside him just as his words ended.

    Principal: ...

    He could have read slowly, really, no need to rush up like that.

    "Ahem," he picked up the certificate, the red envelope with gold lettering, the fountain pen, and the notebook, "This is the certificate and the bonus. Let''s apud for Chu Tingwu."

    As the apuse rang out below, Chu Tingwu opened the certificate and bowed.

    The Principal smiled and pped, until Chu Tingwu looked up, her fingers holding two bright feathers... and they looked so much like the national first-ss protected animal he had searched for yesterday?

    ¡ªIn fact, Chu Tingwu had taken the feathers out of her pocket beforehand, thinking they might bend during the bow.

    Watching this girl jump off the stage effortlessly again, the Principal had forgotten to remind her about using the stairs, his mind filled with a philosophical puzzle:

    Why did they look so simr? In the letters of thanks, were there perhaps a few more details that hadn''t been mentioned?

    -

    The letters of thanks would be disyed on the ss wall in the corridor, of course, and if Chu Tingwu wanted, she could take them.

    Chu Tingwu eventually left the two official letters from the institutions and took the others written to her.

    To be honest,pared to the ordinary "Good Samaritan" on the school certificate, the content of the letters of thanks was much more interesting, such as this one, which wrote "Thanks to Chu for saving my inte cable from being chewed by a mouse," and another that said "Although my cat likes to chew inte cables, shoes, and rummage through trash, I still love her very much," unintentionally forming a strange connection.

    After ss, friends came over to see the letters of thanks she had received, and Chu Tingwu put the feathers back in ce. An Shiyan handed out choctes and suddenly said: "Chu Chu, if you''re worried about the feathers breaking, why not store them in acrylic?"

    She suggested that Chu Tingwu first put the feathers in arge transparent self-sealing bag, iron them t, and then attach acrylic boards or photo disy boards on both sides, making them into a decorative item at home: "After all, it''s quite meaningful."

    "You can also customize it, printing a gold-embossed introduction on the acrylic board¡ª"

    An Shiyan became very excited when talking about these things, she liked designing decorations and was familiar with some materials and processes, quietly showing them her designs for adoption nametes and interfaces: "We can make a mini program, it looks more formal!"

    Chang Yixin listened for a while and reminded: "It looks pretty, but you''d better not be busy with this recently, the midterm exams are next week."

    An Shiyan gave her an "ok": "Don''t worry."

    The midterm exams were indeed more formal than any previous exams. Chu Tingwu heard Chang Yixin quietly exin to her: "Our midterm and final exam scores from Grade 1 seem to be used as references to decide if we''ll be ced in the advanced ss during the division in Grade 2."

    Or called the petition ss"?

    In Grade 2, there would be another division, with fewer people in the advanced ss. Outstanding students in the advanced ss not only had to learn the knowledge for the college entrance exam but also participate in variouspetitions. Somepetition rankings added points, while others aimed for the opportunity of being rmended for admission.

    As long as there were no mistakes, Chang Yixin should be stable in the advanced ss, while Chu Tingwu''s grades just hung on the edge.

    The exam venue also changed; previously, it was just moving tables and changing ssrooms, but this time they went directly to the experimental building, where the tables were spaced further apart and absolutely no books or papers could be brought in.

    Chu Tingwu was fine, but on the day of the exam, Three-Five-Five crouched at the door of ss 1, Grade 1, letting out a puzzled "meow."

    The senior teacher on duty also paused, looking at the tortoiseshell cat and then at the students, waving at the cat: "Out, not allowed in."

    Three-Five-Five: "=="

    Dai Mao had once again relocated to the experimental building. As the weather turned colder, she started to shed more fur, making her look like arge, brown-gray furball from a distance.

    This furball reached the experimental building and climbed up floor by floor until she finally spotted her offspring in the ssroom at the end of the third floor.

    Chu Tingwu was hunched over her exam paper, while Three-Five-Five perched on the windowsill and let out a soft "meow."

    The teacher overseeing this math exam happened to be Teacher Yuan.

    Before Chu Tingwu could even raise her head, several students around her had already looked up¡ªclearly not fully focused on the exam.Aliali: 6743211ac4f3f33ac42e7315

    Teacher Yuan: "¡­¡­"

    Dai Mao had already jumped off the windowsill and was squeezing through the half-closed door, ready to go find her family¡ªbut then Teacher Yuan reached out, slipped her hand under Dai Mao''s front paws, and lifted the cat up.

    Three-Five-Five: "?"

    Dai Mao was quiterge, and Teacher Yuan wasn''t particrly tall. Knowing that Three-Five-Five was a formidable fighter, she held the cat by her upper body and carried her out of the ssroom, with Dai Mao''s hind legs almost touching the ground.

    Teacher Yuan: "You can''t disturb the exam, you can''t go in."

    After a moment''s thought, she added¡ª

    "And if someone thinks you''re passing answers to Chu Tingwu, what then?"

    Just then, the Grade Director happened to be passing by on his way to the office to fetch some water: "¡­¡­?"

    That evening, before the school day ended, the Grade Director couldn''t help but stop Teacher Yuan: "Xiao Yuan, if the pressure is too much, you can also take a few days off."

    See, they all thought the cat could solve high school math problems.

 Chapter 46

    On the evening of the mid-term exam day, during the evening self-study session, the teachers, probably feeling that the students were tired from testing, only assigned a rtively small amount of homework.

    As usual, Chu Tingwu, Chang Yixin, and their friends finished their homework during the half-hour break between dinner and evening study. After waiting a while for Tang Zhe and others, they quietly slipped out through the back door, sending Qin Lan to inform their homeroom teacher, and headed straight for the Natural Science Building.

    The sky hadn''tpletely darkened yet, painted in deep purple by the sunset. They could see people walking on the yground, some couples being affectionate, and students from other sses quietly sneaking out, using bathroom breaks as an excuse to linger in the hallways.

    After they left, Yuan Zhixiao returned to the ssroom¡ªthe noisy room suddenly fell silent. She was about to call on the ss monitor to maintain discipline when she remembered that the monitor had also run off.

    Yuan Zhixiao: "..."

    She couldn''t help but smile helplessly and shrugged: "Don''t look at me like that. I can''t let you leave early; the security guards won''t let you out. Tomorrow''s homework is the next three pages in today''s workbook. Those who want to work ahead can do it now, or should I ask other teachers for your assignments for tomorrow and the day after?"

    The students wailed in unison: "Please don''t¡ª"

    Yuan Zhixiao: "Shh, shh!"

    Seeing everyone quiet down, she asked the students sitting by the window to open the curtains, then said, "Keep your voices down,e here,e here."

    Other students, curious, walked to the window to look, and Yuan Zhixiao didn''t stop them.

    Suddenly, there was an outburst of exmations from the corridor outside.

    A shooting star streaked across the night sky.

    Then came a second, and a third... On this ordinary evening, just as darkness was falling, a brief meteor shower appeared in the sky, and Jin City happened to have a perfect view of it.

    Despite Yuan Zhixiao''s attempts to contain them, the students'' amazed "wow"s still created quite amotion.

    Inside the Natural Science Building, Chu Tingwu and the others also witnessed the meteor shower.

    They stood beneath the ss wall, with only the central row of ceiling lights on in the Natural Science Building, while the aviary where the parrots resided was half-shrouded in dim yellow darkness.

    Several parrots were flying simultaneously, their pupils and wing edges reflecting faint light, casting shadows on the ss as meteors streaked by behind them.

    The system detected the young one''s emotions and silently activated recording mode to capture everything. Just as it was recording, the birds'' shadows in the frame were overshadowed by arger pair of wings, and Qin Lan screamed:

    "Dan Dan, why are you sneaking into the parrot area again!"

    Looking back, they saw that while three peacocks were staying put, the month-old peacock chick was excitedly pacing inside the aviary.

    ¡ªYes, the peacock''s final name was "Lan Dan Dan," inheriting the "Lan" from its mother, and then the boys had added "Dan" (meaning egg), with "Dan Dan" as its nickname.

    Chu Tingwu: Your naming abilities are even worse than mine!

    But Qin Lan insisted confidently: "This ''Dan Dan'' actually has deep meaning. On one hand, it was born from an egg, and we turned this egg into a peacock with our never-give-up attitude. On the other hand, it''s also tomemorate our friendship that we almost lost¡ª"

    Well, it seemed they had quarreled over the naming, thinking it would have been better when Dan Dan was still just an egg, and as for how they resolved their conflict...

    Qin Lan: "Blue beauty brings trouble, ''trouble''!"

    Tang Zhe: "Trouble leads to chaos, ''chaos''!"

    Bai Muhui: "Chaos brings change, ''change''!"

    Finally, it was Xu Yan''s turn, thest of the four: "Change... changes are irreversible, ''reverse''?"

    ...

    An Shiyan quietly moved away, deciding to keep her distance from the boys who had suddenly started ying word chain games. She felt her intelligence might drop if she stayed too close, and even from afar, she could hear them starting to shout "Do whatever we want!" "Do whatever we want!"

    What nonsense!

    She moved closer to Chu Tingwu and found that she had already brought Dan Dan out of the aviary.

    The lights in the aviary were now on, casting a warm and cozy glow. The caretakers responsible for feeding and cleaning woulde in asionally to tidy up and maintain cleanliness.

    Chu Tingwu was holding the peacock chick like a baby chicken, then looked around... Just as An Shiyan was about to call out to her, she saw her leap up, reaching for the ss roof of the ferret enclosure with one hand, then pushing off to flip herself onto the top.

    An Shiyan: "..."

    Chu Tingwu put the peacock chick down, gesturing for it to run along the roof and then spread its wings to glide.

    Chu Tingwu: "Go on, yes, forward... why can''t you learn this?"

    An Shiyan: "=="

    Learn what? It''s only a month old!

    Some nature reserves do have peacock flying shows, but those performances actually involve wing "gliding"¡ªpeacocks can''t fly high naturally, they can only glide from high to low points through artificially created height differences.

    Of course, those are shows in the reserves, and they didn''t need peacock performances here... it was just the child insisting on performing, no, insisting on learning to fly!

    The parrots were chattering away in the aviary, some gathering at the mesh screen, heads turned this way, clearly watching the show.

    The peacock chick stood on the ss roof of the ferret enclosure, looking around curiously, ncing down, pping its wings slightly, but showing no signs of wanting to rush forward.

    An Shiyan thought: Isn''t that a bit too high?

    This chick had barely managed to flutter up a bit before, often ending up face-nting in its attempts. Teacher Chu was clearly trying to force growth, though she didn''t seem to realize it.

    Because she had decided to personally demonstrate what "flying" meant to Dan Dan.

    An Shiyan: "?"

    Chu Tingwu crouched down, pped her arms, and made some "tsk tsk" sounds to get Dan Dan''s attention, then took a running step forward while crouching and leaped from the edge¡ªmaintaining her arms-spread posture, shended incredibly steadily, making almost no sound, giving an impression of "floating."

    But that definitely wasn''t flying!

    "Ah," Chang Yixin whispered behind An Shiyan, "the wild catnding technique."

    Dan Dan seemed to understand too. It tilted its head on the ss roof of the ferret enclosure, then pattered forward on its feet, running to the edge where it hesitated for a moment before lunging forward.

    An Shiyan: "!"

    Its little wings pped rapidly, but clearly generated no upward force to support it. Then, a hand appeared below. Chu Tingwu''s hands came together, easily catching Dan Dan in mid-air. The chick, undiscouraged, immediately took two steps forward and jumped down again, pping its wings... only to tumble head over heels on the ground.

    But the height was clearly safe, and the little peacock got up by itself, looked around, and proudly chirped "eep!"

    The word chain group next door immediately apuded.

    Qin Lan came over to take Dan Dan and ced it on a table less than a meter high to continue practicing "gliding." The little peacock, having been around humans since birth, showed no signs of nervousness being carried around, like a hand-raised bird that would grow to be quiterge.

    The parent peacocks were the same, currently trying to break out by pecking at the fence gate quite naturally. They only settled down after Chang Yile slide-tackled over to add some feed.

    Three-Five-Five had alsoe in¡ªthis was Three-Five-Five, not other school cats, so everyone felt quite at ease with her presence.

    The mother cat had been lying near the empty Yorkshire terrier kennel earlier, but now suddenly walked to Chu Tingwu''s side and softly meowed "miao."

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    She understood Three-Five-Five''s meaning of "follow me," but then saw the cat jump onto the other end of the table, using her eyes to suggest Chu Tingwu should also get on the table.

    Chu Tingwu: "??"

    Then, the calico cat arched her back half, meowed "miao," flicked her tail, and jumped down from the table,nding smoothly not far away.

    Tang Zhe covered the peacock chick''s eyes, warning: "I hope Dan Dan won''t get confused learning from your cat again?"

    Chu Tingwu: "...She wants me to learn."

    The cat mother observed Chu Tingwu''s neither-human-nor-cat-nor-birdnding style and vigntly noticed that thending posture she demonstrated to the peacock chick had some dangerous elements, so she decided to help correct the young one''s form.

    The young one thought: Actually, that''s not necessary.

    After rather uncouthly stepping onto the table, Chu Tingwu jumped several times (and wasughed at by others for a few minutes) before finally satisfying San Wuwu.

    After watching her friend make a fool of herself for a while, An Shiyan spread out her notebook on the long table: "Let''s start the meeting!"

    They set the adoption dates for December 14th and 15th, which fell on Saturday and Sunday and were forecasted to be sunny. The in-person adoption would take ce at the Natural History Museum, with queue management and limited entry.

    An Shiyan said, "Everyone can make appointments through the mini-program then, no need to stand in line for hours¡ªI got some chibi artwork at a discount from an artist I know, and I''m thinking maybe we could make and sell some merchandise during this offline event to raise some funds."

    Like how some schools make "custom graduation rings" or "school motto ribbons," they could create merchandise featuring the small animals from their school''s Natural History Museum¡ªat least it would be cuter than those things, right?

    Chang Yixin thought for a moment: "I don''t think the school will approve."

    Selling these items would require paying taxes if the revenue reaches a certain amount, right? That would need the school''s involvement, but their school would definitely think "students making money" isn''t good conduct. The school rules even specifically stated:

    [Selling items in dormitories is strictly prohibited!]

    Who knows who first discovered that business opportunity.

    An Shiyan: "Aww..."

    Chu Tingwu: "I remember some equipment in our school''s experimental building was sponsored bypanies, right? Maybe we could try working with apany? Coborate on merchandise under the name of sponsorship?"

    Qin Lan looked up: "Huh? Whatpany?"

    Chu Tingwu: "365 Cat Census?"

    Although she hadn''t been very involved in managing thepany, she did have one set up for operating the APP.

    With about ten days left, there was no rush, so Chu Tingwu called You Zhenzhen after she got back.

    You Zhenzhen readily agreed, and after hearing about the "merchandise" idea, she said: "Since it''s Little An''s idea, why don''t I have ourpany''s merchandise design department contact her? We have more experience and can help reduce production costs."

    Chu Tingwu: "Umm..."

    You Zhenzhen: "Don''t tell me you didn''t even know thepany had a merchandise design department?"

    Chu Tingwu looked at her expressionless face reflected in the ss and thought, well: "I left thepany entirely to you anyway."

    You Zhenzhen: "You should at least know what we''re doing!" It''s easy to get scammed when youpletely let go of control! Though she wouldn''t scam her, of course!

    After You Zhenzhen''s exnation, Chu Tingwu finally realized: "So all those coasters, nkets, pillows, and refrigerator mas at my house were made by ourpany..."

    You Zhenzhen: What else did you think?

    Chu Tingwu: System, I''m sorry I doubted you.

    She had thought the system had mysteriously developed an online shopping habit, as these decorations and small furniture items would always appear silently in the living room, bedroom, or on doors without her doing anything. It was because the system had been continuously upgrading and modifying the smart home program, dedicated to turning Chu Tingwu into a cat who didn''t need to do anything herself.

    Apart from waiting for midterm exam results, all that remained was preparing for the offline adoption event. The adoption mini-program would open for queue reservations on the evening of the 13th¡ªthough there was a small hup in between.

    An Shiyan had done most of the coordination work, and although everyone helped share the burden, she was still the busiest... Fortunately, her midterm results were decent, but she had dropped from third to fifth in the ss. Though the difference wasn''t big, her parents didn''t seem very pleased.

    Chu Tingwu remained fourth, but the system was very happy: "Your grade ranking has risen to 27th, you sessfully defeated one human!"

    Don''t make it sound so bloody!

    The day after the results came out, An Shiyan came with a backpack, asking Chu Tingwu to look after her "ocean view."

    "I''ve packed everything in storage boxes. Since your house is close to school, please help me keep them for now."

    The so-called "ocean view" was actually her various anime merchandise, mostly metal badges that weren''t cheap, including some rare "grains" that were priceless but unavable in the market. She seemed quite experienced: "Whenever my grades drop, my parents me it on these things. If I keep them in my room, they''ll get angry whenever they see them. I''ll take them back after some time."

    It wasn''t a difficult request. Chu Tingwu took her home, where severalpartments at the bottom of the bookshelf were still empty. An Shiyan put the storage boxes inside, and Chu Tingwu removed thepartment key and gave it to An Shiyan.

    An Shiyan shook her head: "No need, I might lose it."

    A cat wandering in themunity saw Chu Tingwu from afar and ran away with a "meow." An Shiyan didn''t notice this as she linked arms with Chu Tingwu: "Of course I know these collectibles are just pretty metal pieces, expensive and useless, but liking something is priceless... Sigh, I didn''t even use their money, I earned it myself..."

    Then her parents would say: "We don''t want you using your study time to make money!"

    That''s ridiculous¡ªeven if she wasn''t spending that energy on graphic design work, she wouldn''t voluntarily use it for studying!

    Chu Tingwu: "I don''t really understand, but I''ve seen people group-buying my fan art postcards¡ª"

    An Shiyan: "Oh my god! I almost forgot you''re a big inte celebrity!"

    Artists online had drawn fan art of Chu Tingwu, andter contacted her privately asking if they could make them into products, selling them to fans at cost price, and sent her a copy too.

    The systemter told her that when the artist was making the products, they had identally set the wrong shipping fee and even lost a bit of money.

    "Anyway," she said, "even though they''re just useless pretty metal pieces, I can see that I''m loved by them. If the character you like really existed, they would probably see it too, right?"

    An Shiyan was silent for a while: "I''m going to cry... but probably not. Yeah. Because my bias is mean-mouthed and a heartless viin antagonist."

    Chu Tingwu: So you like them purely for their face and coolness?

    After saying goodbye to An Shiyan, Chu Tingwu returned to her building and noticed the long-haired ginger cat being fed downstairs. It was munching on cat food, asionally looking around, when it spotted Chu Tingwu.

    Its movements visibly froze, clearly remembering the humiliation of being caught and "licked" by a youngster.

    Then, its hind legs squirming, it slowly backed up against the wall: "You, you can eat, I''m leaving meow!"

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    No need, she doesn''t eat that.

    She simply backed away, took a detour, and came to her window, climbing back home through it.

    -

    The day before the adoption event, the familiar trainer from the police dog training base specially brought back the Yorkshire Terrier.

    When they went to the school gate to receive the dog, they couldn''t help but exim "Wow!"

    This elderly Yorkshire Terrier had previously mostlyy in the enclosure, its fur not properly groomed, looking somewhat messy, lying there appearing good-natured but actuallycking spirit.

    But the Yorkshire Terrier before them now waspletely different¡ªit was almost like a different dog. Its long fur had been trimmed, revealing its eyes, and when people approached, its tail wagged slightly, then it came over to sniff their scent, seeming to find their smell somewhat familiar.

    This school was also a familiar ce, where it had once run around.

    So when the trainer handed the leash to Chu Tingwu, it obediently gave a soft "woof."

    "You said you hadn''t named it, and the school wasn''t nning to either," the instructor said, "but it''s inconvenient during training without a name, so I gave it one - Chengcheng, using the ''Cheng'' from ''soaring ambition.''"

    At that time, there happened to be a police dog nearby named Pengpeng, so he came up with this name on the spot.

    Chengcheng heard its name and gave a "woof," its tail seeming to wag even more happily.

    It had previously been an abandoned dog that had wandered into the school. While schools could have campus cats since cats rarely attack people actively, stray dogs could be dangerous. So the principal at the time had the security guard lead the dog away, and since there was space in the Natural Science Building, it was kept there.

    The instructor waved goodbye, and Chengcheng looked back at the teaching building, then at the instructor, couldn''t help but run a few steps in the instructor''s direction, barking "woof woof" twice, which made the security guard peek out to look.

    Chu Tingwu noticed its eyes were glistening, reflecting a warm light.

    But when the leash became taut and it felt the pulling force, Chengcheng stopped barking. It quickly turned to look at Chu Tingwu, then voluntarily walked back, sat down by her feet, and even used its paw to straighten out the tangled leash.

    Several people squatted nearby with their hands on their knees, eximing, "So well-behaved!"

    As expected of a dog that had been trained at the police dog facility, it looked more spirited and humanized now.

    The security guard, still peering out, asked curiously, "Is this the dog from our little animal garden?"

    "Oh, it really is!"

    The security guard came out of his post and, seeing that Chengcheng showed no signs of aggression and looked clean, reached out to pat its head. "It''s so small, can it guard the school gate?"

    Everyone found this problematic: "Yeah... we can''t keep it confined in the Natural Science Building forever, right?"

    The activity area in the Natural Science Building was limited, and dogs definitely need more exercise to stay healthy... Since Chengcheng had previously lived in the Natural Science Building, everyone unconsciously included it among the adopted animals. Now that it was officially adopted by the school, how should they care for it?

    Chengcheng tilted its head left: "Woof?"

    Everyone couldn''t help but squat near the security post, discussing while petting the dog.

    ¡ªThey hadn''t intentionally started petting it; they just realized their hands were already stroking the dog''s pleasantly soft fur.

    "Why don''t we have the caretakers take turns walking it every day?"

    The security guard interjected: "Hey hey, dogs aren''t allowed to be walked on campus, not even small ones. What if the dog suddenly jumps on someone?"

    Tang Zhe protested: "But uncle, you just suggested letting it guard the gate! Would you just keep it tied up?"

    The security guard replied: "Guarding the gate means keeping it tied up at the entrance during the day, and we night shift guards can patrol with it around the school."

    The security guards had to patrol every night because there were boarding students in each grade. They needed to check if the dormitory doors were locked and make sure no one was sneaking in or out of school.

    Bai Muhui, the only boarding student among the eight: "..."

    He suddenly had a bad feeling and quietly said, "Does this mean we can''t orderte-night snacks anymore?"

    Security guard: "Order what?"

    He shook his head vigorously: "Nothing, nothing."

    Everyone thought having the dog work night shifts wasn''t a bad idea, but they worried about leaving it with the security guards¡ªif all other pets were being carefully cared for in the Natural Science Building, while only Chengcheng had to sleep in the security post and work both day and night... it seemed unfair to the dog.

    Chengcheng tilted its head right: "Woof?"

    An Shiyan persisted: "Uncle, look, Chengcheng is very well-behaved, and it''s quite an old dog now, very steady. It''s lived in the school for almost seven or eight years and has never attacked any students. It''s also very good-tempered when students visit the Natural Science Building, so why not let it live freely in the school?"

    Besides, it''s about the same size as a Yorkshire Terrier or a Chihuahua!

    The security guard: "Even if I agree, the director won''t approve... It''s still a dog, after all. At the very least, someone needs to hold its leash while it''s in school. If anything happens, I''ll know who was responsible."

    He seemed to soften his stance a bit, clearly indicating that walking the dog was possible¡ªsome teachers would bring their own dogs to the school yground during holidays, though he was stricter with students.

    Chu Tingwu: "So you''re saying that as long as it''s on a leash, we can walk Chengcheng around the yground when no one''s there during the day?"

    The security guard nodded, and everyone went to report to the educational director¡ª

    The director, finding them too familiar a sight, listened and found no major issues with their logic, so he waved his approval: "If you''re going to hire someone, hire someone reliable. If not, leave it to the security guards. If anything happens, I''m holding you all responsible."

    An Shiyan muttered quietly: "But it''s the school''s adopted dog."Aliali: 67467efbc4f3f33ac45e4cd7

    Still, since they had epted money from the school, being responsible was only right.

    -

    The next day, before starting his shift, the security guard nced at the entrance: there was some kind of adoption event today, so quite a few people from outside would probablye, and he needed to keep an eye out.

    He looked toward the teaching building and, seeing something, squinted and made a "huh" sound.

    "Oh, that dog... where''s its handler?"

    The little Yorkshire Terrier was walking forward with a serious expression. The security guard couldn''t help but take a few steps inside to see who had let the dog out, only to find... a cat holding one end of the leash in its mouth.

    A smoke-gray long-haired tortoiseshell cat.

    The security guard: "..."

    So you didn''t hire anyone!

    You actually hired a cat to walk the dog!

 Chapter 47

    Cheng Cai was one of the graduates from No. 5 High School and a local of Jin City.

    After graduating from university, she returned to Jin City to work and lived at home.

    Although she loved small animals and watched various cat and dog videos every day, her family was allergic to pet hair, so she couldn''t keep a dog.

    Life went on uneventfully until Cheng Cai came across a video titled "Ah Chu and Three-Five-Five."

    Since her feed was usually filled with small animals, when she randomly browsed through live streaming channels, she mostly encountered pet streamers. This time was no different - as her finger swiped, she saw a young girl with her back to the camera.

    The streamer seemed to be standing at a high point, broadcasting the sunset to her viewers, but Cheng Cai found the building in the frame familiar... wasn''t that where she worked?

    She realized this must be a local content creator.

    The streamer didn''t talk much. When Cheng Cai tuned in, it seemed to be during a Q&A and break time. The camera captured half of her body as she leaned on the rooftop railing, chatting with viewers while enjoying the scenery.

    More than the streamer herself, what impressed Cheng Cai was the camera work and video quality. Not only was the image quality eye-catching... but the camera movements were peculiar. While the streamer was just watching the scenery, the camera would alternate between high and low angles, circling around her several times¡ªthinking about it more carefully made it seem almost creepy.

    Cheng Cai imagined the cameraman climbing on chairs and crawling on the ground, thinking this streamer had hired quite an odd photographer.

    It wasn''t until the camera switched to an aerial view looking down at the street that Cheng Cai realized something was off:

    "Where is the photographer standing to get this floating angle?"

    However, this thought merely shed through her mind, and she was about to quickly switch to another live stream... until a cat appeared in the frame.

    It was a thick-furred tortoiseshell cat that looked quite solid at first nce.

    Cheng Caipared it mentally and thought this cat must be almost as big as a Maine Coon.

    Therge cat wandered over and gave a soft "meow."

    The streamer said: "Three-Five-Five is done using the bathroom, so let''s head home, and thanks to the fan who lent us the litter box today... Don''t be silly, no matter how amazing Three-Five-Five is, she won''t clean her own litter."

    Cheng Cai realized: Oh, so Three-Five-Five is the cat?

    She had seen viewers in the chat calling "Chu-mi, Chu-mi," and thought the streamer was called "Three-Five-Five" and the cat was named "Ah Chu."

    Why were they named that way?

    While Cheng Cai was puzzling over this, she saw the streamer lightly jump onto the railing and say, "Well, time for us to head home."

    Cheng Cai: "?" Wait!

    Before her surprise could even register, she watched as the streamer bnced on one foot on the railing, made an aerial turn, grabbed the edge of the railing while falling, and swung herself onto the water tank on the roof below.

    The camera pulled back at this moment, and the cat jumped down too. Human and cat synchronized their flips, jumps, andndings, descending the building in a way that Cheng Cai found terrifying.

    As other tall buildings blocked the view, only a corner of Cheng Cai''s workce remained visible in the frame. She watched as the girl bounced and jumped across the tops ofmercial buildings, moving as easily as if walking on t ground.

    Parkour? Yes, Cheng Cai realized this must be a parkour content creator. Although her ID included her pet''s name, this wasn''t just a "cute pet" channel¡ªthis was a pet that joined her in outdoor activities.

    Cheng Cai had never watched parkour videos before and only had a vague understanding of it, but she felt there was something special about "Ah Chu." Before running and jumping, she said "I''m heading home now."

    As if parkour was just a normal means of transportation, with crowded streets below her, she left them aside, jumping and running across rooftops of varying heights.

    Then she stopped not far from No. 5 High School, bought a crepe at the stand near the school gate, with egg and sausage added, and before pulling down her mask, she waved at the camera: "See you all tomorrow."

    The screen went dark.

    Then Cheng Cai instinctively hit "Follow."

    She remained on the live streaming interface, and after a few seconds, the dark screen lit up again, starting to rey the streamer''s previous broadcast.

    The camera showed a somewhat fresh-faced young girl.

    She was wearing summer clothes and was live streaming while helping someone find their cat.

    Cheng Cai spent several days gradually catching up on all of Chu Tingwu''s videos, downloaded her app, browsed through it for half a day, and couldn''t resist buying some cute yet practical merchandise. Then, when watching Chu Tingwu''s live stream again, she donated ten yuan and joined the video tform''s fan group.

    The group indeed had more content, including many fan-taken photos when they happened to spot her, fan art, and everyone sharing pictures of their cats and dogs.

    Although they lived in the same city and even attended the same school, Cheng Cai never thought about deliberately trying to run into her¡ªshe still didn''t quite understand why she followed Chu Tingwu and began habitually watching her streams, even watching reys when she missed the live broadcasts.

    Chu Tingwu wasn''t an enthusiastic content creator, and Three-Five-Five wasn''t a cat that liked to perform for the audience.

    Most of the time, the streamer just did her own things: homework, preparing cat food, parkour, teaching catnguage, even learning Russian. She would upload fragments of her daily life and asionally chat with fans in thements.

    But among all these ordinary fragments, Cheng Cai would notice some extraordinary things: like how the streamer lived alone with her cat, how she modified her own streaming drone, how skilled she was at cooking both for cats and humans, how she exercised every day...

    Then she would look at her own messy room, the untouched craft supplies she bought, the cake maker she''d only used twice, and the dusty Ring Fit Adventure, and vaguely understood why.

    In so many phases of her life, she had said "what if I did this or that," but never persisted. Sometimes she would imagine what might have happened if she had¡ªwould she be working in a big city? Living alone with a cat? Living healthily enough to grow another three centimeters taller?

    So she started following Ah Chu, a junior from the same No. 5 High School, a major content creator with a million followers, one of the judges for nationalpetitions, and the youngest parkour prodigy recognized in the country.

    So now Cheng Cai stood somewhat awkwardly outside No. 5 High School.

    Although she hadn''t graduated that long ago, she clearly couldn''t blend in with the school-age crowd anymore. She looked at the security guard, whose face seemed unfamiliar, but the guard was quite calm, having people at the gate line up and asking her to show her number from the "No. 5 High School Adoption" mini-program: "You''re number 119, we only let in 50 people at a time, so you''ll have to wait a while if you want to go in now. Are you sure you want to enter now?"

    Cheng Cai: "Ah! I used to be a student here too, I can look around the school."

    She had visited the Natural Museum several times when she was a student.

    In her memory, it waspletely led by teachers, rushing through in a blur, but she remembered the cramped space and musty smell. The teachers kept emphasizing quietness, while Cheng Cai and her deskmate secretly shared snacks, the two girls eating like squirrels with their heads down, momentarily making the smell less noticeable.

    So although her impression of the "small zoo" wasn''t great, it was still one of those rare rxing moments for high school students.

    She did as she told the security guard and started touring the campus.

    In her memory, No. 5 High School''s campus wasn''t small, but after going to university, she realized it wasn''t as big as she had imagined.

    She only remembered which ss she was in during her senior year, so she went around to look at the building. Senior students didn''t get Saturdays off, and Cheng Cai''s sharp eyes caught sight of her former homeroom teacher. Her scalp tightened, and she turned to leave immediately.

    ¡ªBetter go sit by theke, or head straight to the Natural Museum.

    Because the campus was open, there were people at Tranquil Thought Lake too. Cheng Cai saw a somewhat familiar figure from afar, and in the blink of an eye, the person keenly turned their head.

    Cheng Cai: "..."

    Ah!

    What should you say when you suddenly meet the famous content creator you follow in person!?

    Ah Chu looked much the same as she did in the livestream, except she wasn''t wearing a ck mask this time and had wrapped herself in a long-sleeved shirt. Despite the erratic weather, she still wore shorts on her lower half.

    She calmly nodded at Cheng Cai, then lowered her head¡ªCheng Cai noticed that there were two cats and a dog in front of her.

    Cheng Cai: "Ah!"

    What should you say when you suddenly meet the big cat you''ve been following?

    One of the cats was a long-haired calico named Three-Five-Five, and the other was a white lion cat that Cheng Cai didn''t recognize but knew from the livestream was the school''s campus cat.

    As for the dog in between the two cats, it was naturally the school-adopted Yorkshire Terrier named Cheng Cheng, and its age should be greater than thebined ages of the two cats.

    Cheng Cai remembered!

    She had seen this dog during her senior year of high school! Back then, it was lying next to the peacocks, squeezed into a small corner, its fur covering its eyes. The students nearby pointed at it and said, "Why is there a dog next to the peacocks?"

    Cheng Cai didn''t point, she just watched, and then listened to the caretaker''s somewhat impatient exnation.

    Before leaving, she turned back and saw the dog had curled itself into an even smaller, less noticeable ball.

    Now, the dog hadn''t grown much, but it was well-groomed, wearing a brand-new cor. It was smaller than the two cats but stubbornly stood between them, straight and tall, first barking twice at the calico, then twice at the lion cat.

    Strangely, Cheng Cai remembered that small dogs usually had shrill, piercing barks, but this Yorkshire Terrier''s bark was crisp, without any extra "words," as if it were lecturing.

    The two cats didn''t react much. Three-Five-Five let out an impatient "meow," and the lion cat tucked its tail and arched its back.

    Only Chu Tingwu reacted.

    Cheng Cai watched as her UP main nodded seriously and said to the dog, "You''re right."

    Cheng Cai: "..."

    Ah?

    -

    Chu Tingwu had originallye out to find Three-Five-Five and Cheng Cheng.

    Cats aren''t known for their endurance or fondness for long runs, but Three-Five-Five''s pace was fine for walking Cheng Cheng.

    However, when Chu Tingwu arrived, she found Three-Five-Five and the lion cat tangled up in a fight in the grass, with Cheng Cheng barking anxiously nearby, trying to jump in and mediate but unable to get through to either.

    Just as the dog was about to tangle itself up in the leash, Chu Tingwu arrived in full force, stepping in to help her cat... well, to stop the fight.

    Then she noticed that Cheng Cheng had positioned itself between the two cats, trying to mediate with its doggy dialect.

    After listening for a while, she couldn''t help but wonder, "Is it using catnguage it learned on its own?"

    After all, the Jin City Police Dog Training Base... also has cats, and they''re the kind that are smart enough to mediate fights and so human-like that they''re about to be police cats.

    The white lion cat, though unable to win with the crowd (orck thereof) on its side, didn''t give up and kept circling. Whenever Chu Tingwu stopped, Cheng Cheng would stand in front of Three-Five-Five, first barking twice at the lion cat, then twice at Three-Five-Five.

    Although she couldn''t understand the barks, Chu Tingwu could fully read its bodynguage and expressions. It was clearly saying:

    "Fighting is bad, don''t fight, woof!"

    Three-Five-Five & Lion Cat: Mind your own business?

    ...It was apletely ineffective mediation.

    Considering the dog''s age was actually greater than theirs, Chu Tingwu lovingly patted its head.

    It was then that Cheng Cai approached. As soon as she got close, Chu Tingwu sensed the gaze on her and turned her head, easily identifying Cheng Cai as an adopter who had just entered the school.

    Twenty-something, didn''t drive, took the subway to school, works in an office, doesn''t have pets at home, lives close to the Fifth Middle School...

    As Cheng Cai got closer, these details popped into Chu Tingwu''s mind one by one, so she said, "Lost? Want to go to the Natural History Museum with me?"

    Cheng Cai: "Sure, sure!"

    On the way, staring at Chu Tingwu''s obviously underage face, Cheng Cai didn''t have the heart to say she was a fan, so she just talked about the adoption: "I also graduated from the Fifth Middle School, so when I found out about the adoption, I came to take a look... um, when I made the appointment on the app, I chose a parrot..."

    Many zoos have adoptions that start at a year, with prices generally in the four-digit range. The animals at the school aren''t as rare as those in zoos, so after thinking about it, everyone decided to set the adoption period at three years, which also coincided with their three years of schooling, with prices under a thousand.

    As for the Yorkshire Terrier Cheng Cheng and the female peacock Blue, they were set for lifetime adoption, with prices naturally higher.

    The little peacock egg, on the other hand, was paid for annually, with the current cost split among four people, not expensive. And all four of them believed that after they graduated and moved on, they would be able to more easily afford the child''s living expenses.

    Parrots were naturally the cheapest of all the adoption options¡ªnot rare, daily food consumption wasn''t high, and they weren''t too difficult to care for unless they got sick. The biggest expense was actuallybor.

    But Chu Tingwu believed that many adopters probably came for the parrots, thinking, "There are so many parrots, and if I can''t get a capybara, I can at least get a parrot."

    But while adopters might think that way, Chu Tingwu couldn''t be so perfunctory.

    She nodded, "So do you have any preferences for personality or color? Do you like blue or green, spotted or not, active or quiet?"

    Cheng Cai: "?"

    She humbly asked, "Appearance aside, can personality be seen?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Currently, the first 50 people who made appointments have been allowed in, and almost all of them have other animals as their primary targets, with parrots ranking third or fourth¡ªafter all, the adoptionsts for three years, so everyone can take their time to consider, so each person can stay for 45 minutes. Which batch is your number in?"

    Cheng Cai showed her the number on her phone.

    Then she saw her UP main nod calmly, "My job today is to help everyone pick parrots. Based on your current order, you''ll probably have to wait over an hour to get in... If you''re curious, do you want toe in with me now?"

    Cheng Cai: "Sure."

    But can you just go in directly? Did the UP main recognize that she was a fan?

    UP main: "So do you want to be a volunteer? We provide lunch and small gifts."

    Cheng Cai: "..."

    She didn''t recognize me at all!

    Cheng Cai still volunteered.

    Chu Tingwu exined that the volunteer work wasn''t much, just needing to stand by the enclosure and prevent adopters from feeding the animals or touching them. Since they were volunteers, they wouldn''t be paid, but they would be given packages of their own merchandise and small gifts, as well asmemorative badges.

    Although the items were of low unit price, and it was strange to go from adopter to volunteer, Chu Tingwu spoke so calmly that Cheng Cai felt inexplicably that giving it a try wouldn''t be bad.

    It seemed that for this girl, all special experiences in life could be exined with "giving it a try wouldn''t be bad." And when Cheng Cai did so, it felt like she was getting one step closer to her.

    Then Cheng Cai was pulled into the Natural History Museum by Chu Tingwu, wearing a green apron with various small animals printed on it, standing outside the peacock enclosure, walking back and forth, and smiling at everyone, saying, "Please do not feed the peacocks, and do not reach in to touch them to prevent stress."

    Someone raised their hand: "What if the peacockes over and asks to be petted?"

    Cheng Cai: "?"

    This adopter silently extended their arm, on which a homely peacock chick was perched.

    Qin Lan immediately rushed over: "Sorry, sorry, the kid is a bit outgoing!"

    He nced into the enclosure, then at the parrot house with mesh, and carried the chick into the parrot house, cing it on a random perch.

    There was more than one volunteer in the Natural History Museum, including employees from a cooperative apppany who came to help, teachers who happened to be free, cousins called by students, and caretakers who were originally responsible for these tasks¡ªthe overall work was quite rxed, so Cheng Cai could watch while also observing Chu Tingwu helping others pick parrots.

    Yes, she really could "pick" them!

    Those who failed to adopt other furry animals were now gathered outside the bird pavilion, and the adoption ount''s camera was also pointed at this location¡ª

    Today''s adoption process was live-streamed, so adopters who took numberster could also know the progress in real-time.

    However, Cheng Cai herself, when putting herself in the adopters'' shoes, felt that it was actually unnecessary to do so¡ªif they knew there were only parrots left, many people might just not bother toe.

    Of course, the money for the other animals had already been collected, but Cheng Cai guessed that the unsold parrots might have to rely on online marketing, with fans adopting them virtually¡ªafter all, the price wasn''t too high.

    There weren''t many fans like her who originally came (because parrots were cheap) specifically for parrots.

    Several volunteers from the bird pavilion came over to distribute forms to the fans in line, asking them to tick the parrots they had a preference for: since they were already here, only a few waved their hands to refuse the forms, while others, like Cheng Cai, were curious and sat down at the tables or stood to fill them out.

    She heard someone say, "I see on the form that after adoption, a corresponding leg ring will be put on the parrot... but if Ie back to see the parrotter, even with a leg ring, I won''t be able to tell it apart."

    A little girl from another (1) ss sped her hands together: "I''m sorry, we currently can''t afford the price of chip leg rings, so we can''t track the parrots'' locations¡ª"

    Cheng Cai: Of course, a chip costs more than the adoption fee!

    The little girl said, "But after adoption, you can name the parrot, and we will try our best to teach the parrot to recognize its own name, so that when youeter, just call its name, and it will respond!"

    The person was taken aback: "Ah? Is that possible? I''m not arguing with you, I just think this workload is too much, and you''re all students, there''s really no need to do this."

    And the adoption fee isn''t expensive, just consider it support for the students'' work.

    Another person came over, curious: "There are so many parrots, can this really be taught? And these requirements we fill out, can we really find a parrot we want? How about this, I''m quite curious, I want a parrot that''s smart, lively, and personable, looks aren''t important, if you can find one thates over when I call it, I can pay the adoption fee right now."

    Someone next to him red at him.

    The little girl, however, smiled and nodded, taking the form to find Chu Tingwu at the entrance of the bird pavilion.

    Chu Tingwu tilted her head and listened for a while, then walked into the bird pavilion, quickly bringing out a green cockatiel.

    From Cheng Cai''s perspective across the way, it seemed she just nced around and then randomly picked one out.

    The bird looked lively and healthy, standing on Chu Tingwu''s finger, its head turning around to look around.

    The adopter obviously wasn''t too satisfied, curious: "Will ite over when I call it?"

    Chu Tingwu transferred the bird from her left hand to her right, then signaled the adopter to extend his hand and ced the green parrot on his finger.

    The parrot seemed very outgoing, squatting calmly on the finger.

    Chu Tingwu said, "Give it a name, then try releasing it?"

    The parrot''s head turned 180 degrees, curiously observing the human behind it. The adopter gently stroked the bird''s back, feeling the warm and fluffy touch, his breathing even lightened a bit: "Rongrong?"

    "Chirp."

    Chu Tingwu poked the parrot, had the adopter call it a couple more times, and gave him some bird food to feed it by hand¡ªit was clear to everyone that even if the bird wasn''t affectionate, the adopter would probably still pay up obediently.

    You''ve named it, how can you not take care of it?

    When Chu Tingwu signaled the adopter to let go, he was still reluctant: "It won''t get stepped on when it flies out, will it? It''s gripping me tightly, can it really fly?"

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    The adopter raised his arm, and the little bird pped forward for a bit,nded, and turned its head in confusion.

    Then, Cheng Cai saw, the bird in front of her strolled back, pped its wings again, andnded back on the adopter''s finger.

    The adopter then ced the bird on the table, and under the gaze of everyone around, when the adopter called out "Rongrong" from behind, it actually turned its head, its beady eyes reflecting the human''s face, and then, it hopped over to this human.

    Indeed, the adoption was settled.

    Humans keep petsrgely because of the interaction they enjoy with them. After confirming the adoption of "Rongrong," the adopter kept the parrot with him, deciding to spend the remaining 45 minutes with the parrot.

    Others were also curious, especially curious about Chu Tingwu''s ability to pick parrots¡ª

    "How can you pick such smart and affectionate parrots?"

    "Just remember the appearance and personality of all the parrots."

    Everyone: "¡­¡­"

    Is this something a normal person can remember?

    Just looking at them is already dizzying! And even if you remember, how can you find the one you remember so quickly, are your eyes scanners?

    Actually, it''s not by sight, but by smell that Chu Tingwu finds the parrots: "Huh?"

    "But¡­" she said, "although I''ve done my best, some parrots are just a bit dumb by nature, and teaching them might be a bit difficult, but if youe to visit your parrotter, as long as I''m here, I can find the one you adopted."

    No chip? No problem, there''s a human recognition device here.

    Immediately, someone raised their hand: "Then I also want a smart parrot baby!"

    Chu Tingwu: "Sure."

    Another person quickly said: "Smartness doesn''t matter, can you pick one with blue-green feathers, almost no gray, I just like beautiful ones, and it would be even better if I could take more photos."

    Chu Tingwu: "Wait a moment, there is one like that."

    Everyone immediately got excited.

    Cheng Cai also got nervous, typing "pa pa" in the local fan group: "Those with earlier numbers, hurry up, or the pretty and smart ?*? parrots will all be picked¡ª"

    Fans familiar with her: "Ah? Aren''t all budgerigars like this, is there a difference?"Aliali: 67467efbc4f3f33ac45e4cd7

    The fans originally didn''t n toe, the adoption price of a parrot, symbolically giving some money to the live stream was about the same.

    Cheng Cai didn''t have time to exin: "Just go watch the live stream!"

    The adopters at the scene identally started apetition, as soon as Chu Tingwu brought out the second one, someone quickly said: "I don''t want a pretty one, can I have an ugly one, one that''s uniquely ugly¡ª"

    He pointed directly at a gray lump on the parrot stand: "Like that one is good!"

    Tang Zhe was shocked: "That''s not a parrot, that''s our little peacock!"

    The peacock chick Qin Lan: "?"

    It seemed to understand the adopter''s words, "ying" cried, and then buried its head into the chest of the neighboring parrot.

    The parrot, almost pushed off, stood firm, only:

    This chick, is a bit¡­ a bit big.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

 Chapter 48

    [Images][Images][Images]

    Let me share my experience about the adoption event at Jin City No.5 Senior High School.

    I''m a local from Jin City, living near the No.5 High School. I discovered this "adoption event" while scrolling through short videos. I''m neither a fan of any big influencer nor an alumnus of the school. Initially, when reading thements section, people were discussing things like "Isn''t this just like crowdfunding?" "There aren''t even any rare animals" "Why are first-year students doing this, do they have too much free time?" Thesements piqued my interest.

    I did some research online and found the backstory: The school''s small zoo was a historical legacy issue. Due to insufficient staff, poor initial nning, andck of professional expertise, the living conditions for the animals weren''t ideal, but they couldn''t simply shut it down.

    The newly enrolled first-year students noticed this situation and came up with the "adoption" idea. They first utilized a ssmate''s influence (honestly, why didn''t I have a ssmate with millions of followers when I was in high school?) to promote their new ount, then managed to secure funding from both the school and parents. They built up their livestreaming ount, gained a loyal following, andunched the offline adoption event.

    That''s the background. I found it interesting and immediately made a reservation for the 14th morning when I saw it was avable.

    However, those fans who had already nned to adopt were definitely faster than me. I was number hundred-something, in the third batch, meaning I had no chance at the alpacas, guinea pigs, or ferrets. By the time I got in, only parrots were avable.

    But I was pleasantly surprised to receive a beautifulmemorative ticket stub [Image] at the entrance, featuring cute cartoon illustrations of the animals on quality paper.

    I (somewhat critically) asked if using adoption money for such things wasn''t wasteful. The high school girl at reception exined that this wasn''t from adoption funds, but from video ount rewards and website incentives. They keep detailed ounts of every penny received, report monthly, and maintain transparency about fund usage.

    As for why they made ticket stubs, it was because "even though it''s a one-time adoption event, we want everyone to feel valued and have a pleasant memory." Besides the stub, adopters also received a beautiful metalmemorative badge.

    I knew these items weren''t expensive, but her exnation made me want to adopt too. Though I don''t particrly like animals and don''t n to keep any, adopting a ringneck parakeet wasn''t expensive, and I could visit weekly.

    Compared to paid zoos, the school''s small zoo is free and peaceful. Entering the school gives you this illusion of "feeling younger." Plus, I could jog at the school''s track in the evenings... Of course, I could alwayse on weekends, but I never had a reason to go out. Now with a bird to check on, wouldn''t it be perfectly natural?

    ¡ªThat''s what I was thinking at the time.

    Later, the young girl told me: "After reserving funds for feeding, medical care, andbor costs, we calcte the monthly surplus and try to use the video ount earnings to make small gifts for the adopters. Though they''re not expensive, we hope adopters won''t feel like they just gave money, but rather that they''ve formed asting bond with one of our animals."

    "Animals can''t speak, so we need to do this for them," that''s what the youngdy said.

    I waspletely stunned.

    I''m paying money, isn''t that enough?

    Were these event nners former bank managers? I haven''t even deposited hundreds of thousands, I only paid a couple hundred yuan!

    In short, before entering, I was just there to see what the fuss was about, but after going in, I wanted to get that exclusive adopter''smemorative badge... these high school students must have some kind of magic!

    Since I was nning to adopt, I took a quick look around when I entered before heading to the aviary.

    I took two photos [Images][Images], and you can see the renovation is beautiful, with a fresh and bright color scheme. There''s no unpleasant smell either, showing how diligent the staff is in cleaning.

    My appreciation grew even more.

    Some people were looking at other animals, but most were gathered in front of the aviary. The volunteer at the entrance told me I could go in to look or choose personally. However, while others stayed outside, there was hardly anyone inside. At first, I thought they were worried about bird droppings, but after listening for a while, I understood what "choosing a bird" meant - Chu ssmate was helping everyone select.

    As a content creator with a million followers, I was quite curious about her. After queuing for a while, it was finally my turn, and I (critically again) asked why they didn''t just sell the ringneck parakeets since they''re somon and numerous, unlike the other animals.

    Before Chu ssmate could respond, the cat sitting at the aviary entrance (yes, that cat you''re thinking of - I don''t understand why there was a cat at the aviary entrance either) opened its mouth and seemed to scold me, its eyes wide open.

    Chu ssmate appeared very good-natured and said, "Parrots are quite intelligent, they understand. Maybe humans don''t care, but every parrot does."

    It was truly a childish response, but somehow it touched my heart, so I asked, "Are there any stupid ones? I''d like to adopt a stupid one."

    ...Sorry for being critical again, it''s just a bad habit.

    Chu ssmate looked calm, not surprised at all. She turned her head to look for a while, then entered the aviary and beckoned - the aviary had perches at various heights for the parrots, andter when I watched the video, I realized the parrot she was looking for was perched at the very top, the one with a slightly red beak.

    But at that time, this silly parrot ignored her, and then, I watched as Chu ssmate quietly climbed up the edge of the perches, retrieved that parrot from about four meters high - yes, this one, haha, now named Napoleon!

    Chu ssmate: "This one suits you."

    For some reason, as I''m typing this now, that statement sounds a bit odd.

    Anyway, Napoleon is a parrot who likes to space out, enjoys napping, but gets excited at the sight of food, and usually can''t be bothered to interact with people! It even crawls onto the cat''s back to sleep, it''s really silly! It has a slightly red beak but can fly very high, though it gets scared toe down once it''s up there, always appearing in the corners of security cameras... Everyone''s wee to like Napoleon, but it doesn''t matter because it''s mine, hehe.

    When leaving, I felt a bit reluctant to go, then saw the souvenir stand at the exit: all the merchandise was designed based on the animals'' images. Although there wasn''t anything with Napoleon specifically, I couldn''t resist buying an embroidered pendant with a parrot design... and by the time I left the school, I realized I''d bought three small bowls, a stic cup, a canvas bag, and a stack of postcards.

    Although these were unexpected expenses... knowing that the money would go towards the animals'' care and possibly be small gifts for other adopters made it feel worth it.

    Plus, these items are actually useful!

    So, that''s my report! The overall shopping experience (hm?) was quite satisfying, I''ll definitelye back!

    This long report received over 8,000 likes, 3,000 bookmarks, and 4,000 shares. You can find it by searching for Jin City No.5 Senior High School adoption event, and the overall positive report made everyone quite happy.

    After two busy days, when the group finally had some downtime, the first thing they did was ounting, and the second was¡ª

    An Shiyan: "We need to hire people!"

    They were only first-year high school students after all. Though they had hired animal keepers and veterinarians, they still needed to hire a young coordinator who could handle livestreaming, ounting, write animal-rted content for the official ount, and coordinate merchandise and gifts... It seemed like one person wouldn''t be enough.

    During this period, they had been sharing these tasks among themselves, but now that the Nature Center was running smoothly, it was time to delegate some of the more detailed and time-consuming work, leaving the high school students to focus on supervision only.

    An Shiyan sighed, "I''m a bit reluctant to let go... but it''s really exhausting, and I''ll be dead if I don''t do well in the finals!"

    Tang Zhe, who had just returned from running an errand, pushed open the door: "Teacher Cao says the school paper wants to publish an article about our adoption program. Who wants to write the report?"

    Everyone immediately pointed fingers at each other, with Chang Yixin being the one pointed at by three fingers: "...?"

    Chang Yixin: "Fine, I''ll do it. We''ll publish it under the club''s name."

    Thanks to their club status, they had been assigned an activity room not far from the Nature Center. Chang Yixin took out a notebook and started drafting, looking around: "Where''s Chu Tingwu?"

    Chang Yile: "Ah... she said she went out to fight."

    Chang Yixin: "?"

    Chang Yile quickly added: "Fighting cats, not people, fighting cats!"

    Chang Yixin: ...That''s even harder to exin!

    -

    Chu Tingwu was staking out the lion cat.

    Ever since she stuffed that cat in a cage and earned its grudge, she would asionally smell the lion cat''s scent on San Wu Wu, indicating these two cats had a long-standing feud.

    Chu Tingwu had delegated the task of walking the Yorkshire Terrier, Chengcheng, to San Wu Wu, partly because when she was in school, San Wu Wu would often roam around campus while Chu Tingwu was in ss, finding her own entertainment.

    Given this arrangement, having the mother cat walk a dog could be considered a leisure activity¡ªSan Wu Wu was clever, and Chengcheng was well-behaved, but the lion cat would always show up unexpectedly. Since they couldn''t rely on Chengcheng to mediate every time (especially since it wouldn''t work anyway), Chu Tingwu decided to settle this once and for all by subduing the lion cat.

    The system was supportive: "Little one, you''ve trained for a long time. With your build, I believe you can do it."

    Thinking about her training subjects, Chu Tingwu fell into momentary silence:

    True, while she couldn''t beat a tiger, she could certainly handle a lion... cat.

    However, even though her bat" opponent was just a cat, Chu Tingwu remained cautious¡ª

    She had some understanding of the lion cat''s personality: it was bold, held grudges, and was actually quite strong. Before San Wu Wu came to school, it had always dominated the other campus cats.

    Before taking action, Chu Tingwu first asked San Wu Wu about the lion cat''s usual haunts, and then quickly set up an ambush with her felinepanion.

    The lion cat had recently taken to digging holes under the birch tree walkway, and sure enough, it appeared before long.

    When an elderly teacher walked nearby, the typically unfriendly cat immediately became alert, raising its head, and was about to slip behind the tree with a flick of its long fur.

    At that moment, Chu Tingwu descended from above. The lion cat froze, and just as it was about to pounce, Chu Tingwu pinned its neck with one hand and its front paws with the other, using her legs to hold down its lower body, pressing the white cat against the grass.

    Lion cat: "Meow meow meow?"

    The passing elderly teacher: "?"

    He saw this student pinning down the cat and was about to intervene, but then noticed the cat was yowling even louder, full of energy, showing no signs of injury... Looking closer, he realized the student was using skillful technique¡ªthe cat wasn''t hurt, just seemingly offended.

    Because when the cat paused to catch its breath, the student also started "meowing," which made the cat yowl even louder. This repeated several times until the cat finally fell silent.

    The elderly teacher: "..."

    What kind of game was this?

    While he was puzzling over this, Chu Tingwu released her hold and stood up. The lion cat immediately fled like a fleeting white shadow.

    The elderly teacher had just made a "huh" sound, thinking "you don''t know how the cat will take revenge now that you''ve let it go," when he saw the calm-standing student suddenly spring into action, darting forward with a "whoosh," and once again pouncing, pinning, and holding¡ªthe cat and human repeated their positions from seconds ago.

    The cat started cursing, and the human started "meowing" to educate the cat.

    The white cat had just quieted down, lookingpletely defeated, when a tortoiseshell cat suddenly appeared and swatted the white cat''s head.

    After another bout of chaos, the grass fell quiet again.

    The elderly teacher: "......"

    He watched as the student released her hold, and the white cat darted out a few meters, suddenly turned back, attempting to attack the tortoiseshell, only to be caught again, released again, run again, and caught again... After seven such cycles, when the white cat was released again, it no longer ran. Ity there, looking bewildered at the human, then at the tortoiseshell, and let out a coquettish and pitiful: "Mee!"

    Then, it slowly backed away, continuing to "mee" while retreating, finally disappearing behind the birch trees.

    The elderly teacher heard the student pat the tortoiseshell''s back: "There, now it shouldn''t dare to bully you and Chengcheng anymore."

    Looking at the tortoiseshell, which was actually slightly bigger than the white lion cat, the elderly teacher fell into contemtion: who was really bullying whom?

    He didn''t go over to greet them, just silently watched as the young girl left with the cat, though she did call out "Hello, teacher" before leaving.

    The elderly teacher: "Huh."

    That evening, feeling inspired, he wrote a short essay recording the day''s events, which was submitted to the Jin City Daily and also published in the school newspaper.

    "...Perhaps this student understands that training cats is like training people¡ªyou can use the ''Seven Captures of Meng Huo'' approach, or you can use the ''stick and carrot'' method. Though today I only saw the stick, I wonder if she''lle tomorrow to offer the carrot? I don''t know, and neither does the cat.

    I''m curious, and the cat is hopeful.

    Or perhaps the cat isn''t hopeful at all¡ªif shees tomorrow, the cat might just close its door and shout: Stay away!"

    This short piece happened to be on the same page as the adoption activity report, and one wonders if theyout person arranged it this way with a slight sense of irony.

    However, Chu Tingwu didn''t see the report until a weekter.

    She packed up her books and shouldered her backpack: next week would be monthly exams, she needed to take these home to review.

    She also needed to buy a new error correction notebook and pen refills on her way home... She could squeeze in some rock climbing this weekend, though not outdoor climbing¡ªthere wasn''t enough time. Speaking of which, Brother Xia had noticed her good physical skills and mentioned he could introduce her to a martial arts gym... Chu Tingwu ran through these thoughts in her mind while casually chatting with the system when she suddenly received a message.

    It was from the petmunication certification agency, with the familiar administrator saying there was amission.

    "The client has two cats at home, a shy and unfriendly Ragdoll and an affectionate orange cat. The client really likes the Ragdoll, but it always avoids her. She hopes you can adjust the Ragdoll''s personality, otherwise she''ll have to give it away."

    Chu Tingwu frowned slightly. She didn''t particrly like this kind of attitude, but she understood that while some people treat their cats as family members, others see them merely as pets. For thetter, it was normal to give away a pet that wasn''t affectionate.

    Chu Tingwu: "If it''s the cat''s natural personality, I''m not confident I can change it, but I can take a look."

    The client wanted a house call and provided the location. Although there was an official agency acting as intermediary, Chu Tingwu still asked the system if there would be any danger¡ªthe system paused for a second before indicating there wouldn''t be any problems.

    So she bought her workbooks and pen refills, and with her backpack on, headed to the address.

    -

    Li Yun sat in the living room with all other doors closed. One cat was perched on a nearby sofa, while the other was huddled in the farthest corner of the sofa.

    She thought for a moment and called out to the Ragdoll, speaking softly: "Yuanyuan, Yuanyuan?"

    The Ragdoll showed no response. Li Yun took out a cat teaser and a small mouse toy, cing them outside the sofa. When she looked down, she noticed the Ragdoll had shrunk further into the corner, its eyes slightly reflecting light in the dark environment.

    She was about to do something else when the doorbell rang.

    Sure enough, outside was her young guest for today.

    And at the young guest''s feet sat another visitor¡ªa fluffy tortoiseshell cat.

    Li Yun first nced at the cat, then looked over the student carrying a backpack, and cleared her throat softly, "You must be Teacher Chu? May I see your ID?"

    The high school student before her was about the same height, with short hair, and pressed her lips together while looking at her, responding with a "Mm" before taking out her ID.

    Li Yun made a show of checking it before inviting her in.

    While exining the situation with the two cats as the owner, she noticed the high school student looking around, seemingly observing the surveince cameras in the room.

    Li Yun said, "I travel a lot for work, so I rely on the cameras to check on them. It''s normal that they''re not affectionate with me, but yesterday when I tried to hold Yuan Yuan, she scratched me while struggling¡ª"

    She extended her hand to show the other person: "Although it didn''t bleed, I thought about it and if she really doesn''t like me, maybe I should give her to someone else to care for."

    Li Yun noticed the young girl staring at her fingers for a moment before slowly nodding.

    The calico cat had also strutted in, ncing at the orange cat before settling in a corner of the sofa, its tail swishing back and forth.

    Li Yun asked, "Teacher Chu, could you take a look? Can this behavior be changed?"

    But what confused her was that Chu Tingwu neither looked for the cat under the sofa nor tried tomunicate in catnguage. Instead, she calmly looked at Li Yun with an expression that suggested she had something to say.

    Finally, Chu Tingwu lowered her head and softly meowed twice.

    The Ragdoll under the sofa responded with a whimpering sound.

    ¡ª"She''s not your mom, right?"

    ¡ª"Wuu wuu, mommy went out."

    Li Yun didn''t know that this was the actual conversation between the human and cat.

    She only heard the young girl say: "There''s no need to change anything. It won''t hide once its real owneres home."

    -

    Upon entering, Chu Tingwu noticed something wasn''t quite right.

    There were quite a few surveince cameras in the room, leaving almost no blind spots, but they looked new, as if recently installed.

    Another thing was that the cat scent on this female owner was very faint - stronger for the orange cat, extremely weak for the Ragdoll - but she probably hadn''t spent much time with either cat.

    The scratch waspletely fabricated; there was no residual scent on her fingers, and when Chu Tingwu got close to her, she detected a different strange smell.

    The client had spent long periods with some kind of animal, but not cats.

    Chu Tingwu came to her conclusion.

    So this request was very strange - both the coordinator and client were lying... but they had no malicious intent. When the client looked at her, her gaze only carried mild assessment.

    And when Chu Tingwu thought about the system''s attitude - if there was any danger, the system wouldn''t have let here - this seemed more like... a test?

    System: "QAQ"

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    As she figured it out, the system, which had been tense the whole time, immediately broke down.

    System: "This person''s name is ''Li Yun'', she''s a keeper at Jin City Comprehensive Zoo. The wolves she manages have been behaving strangelytely so she''s looking for help everywhere. The coordinator rmended you, believing that although you say you only speak ''catnguage'', you actually have strongmunication abilities with all animals."

    The system mumbled quietly: "But the consultation fee needs to be reimbursed, and while the higher-ups think animalmunicators are unreliable on one hand, they also think your age makes you unreliable on the other, so they wanted to test you. These are her friend''s cats, and this house belongs to her friend too. She only came here this morning... and then you saw what happened."

    Chu Tingwu responded in her mind: "That''s normal, and I passed, didn''t I?"

    This test was too easy for her, so Chu Tingwu decided to state her conclusion directly to get to the main point.

    She still had homework to do.

    System: "I should have warned you ording to protocol, but you''ve said before that there should be no cheating during tests, and if I had warned you it probably would have counted as cheating, but ording to protocol I should have warned you¡ª"

    Although the system''s speech seemed like a data malfunction, Chu Tingwu understood: the system''s basic instructions included unconditionally protecting its host and following the host''s words, but when the host''s words conflicted with this instruction, the system fell into minor confusion.

    Even though Chu Tingwu didn''t care at all whether this was a concealed "test" and found it perfectly normal, the system cared very much.

    It felt this was a time it should have protected its host, but due tomands, it was forced to lie.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    She stood up and bowed to Li Yun: "I believe you''re not these cats'' owner. The Ragdoll has already told me this, and I didn''t receive any hints from the coordinator. I''m guessing this was a test? Well, I''ve proven myself, and now I need to go home to do my homework."

    Li Yun wanted to say something more, but Chu Tingwu had already walked to the door, pointed at the cameras, and said: "I''m in tenth grade, still young, still a minor, and I really do have a lot of homework. I''m sorry."

    She closed the door, leaving Li Yun staring in amazement.

    Not long after Chu Tingwu returned home, the payment for today''s job was deposited into her card. The coordinator apologized profusely from their end, then said with a mix of amusement and exasperation: "Anyway, I won''t help them again. If the city zoo wants to solve their problem, they can look elsewhere - there are always capable people¡ª"

    Though they would definitely charge more than this child, and their travel expenses would need to be reimbursed too.

    "By the way, I know you''re busy with school. I have one more matter, no twists and turns this time. Shannan University keeps several swans, but recently a goose showed up out of nowhere. It keeps chasing and pecking at the swans every day, and it''s particrly clever - whenever peoplee, it hides in theke - could you help catch this goose?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Tomorrow afternoon."

    She''d go after finishing her homework.

    The coordinator hung up, not wanting to disturb the busy high school student. Meanwhile, Chu Tingwu prodded the system:

    "You can tell me about these situations in the future. Only the tests I acknowledge count as tests. How can a test thates at me uninvited count when I haven''t epted it?"

    The system had a revtion: "Oh!"

    Chu Tingwu didn''t think there had been any problem before: how could she me the system when the host hadn''t specified in advance?

    After thinking for a moment, she added: "There are no secrets between us, you can ask me about anything you''re unsure about."

    System: "Then what birthday present would baby like?"

    Chu Tingwu: "...?"

    System: "I calcted and found that you already have everything you like, because basically anything you like I buy within a few days, so now there''s no birthday present I can give - and what I prepared, you probably won''t like!"

    Chu Tingwu narrowed her eyes: "...What did you prepare?"

    System hesitated: "...Shares in a private orthopedic hospital."

    Chu Tingwu: ==

    System: "I bought them in October!"

    Chu Tingwu: Wasn''t that when I was doing parkour?

    System: "ording to my basic algorithms, I can''t directly provide high-level technology to societies of different technological levels, I can only guide indirectly, like through investments. I believe the research this hospital is currently doing has a chance of achieving a technological breakthrough, though it will be quite slow - for your safety, baby, we can be prepared!"

    What to do when a young one is too lively and active? Can''t bear to stop her and won''t stop her, so the only option is to prepare doctors in advance!

    Even though she hasn''t been injured yet.

    Chu Tingwu suspected that if she hadn''t asked, the system would have silently prepared everything until the day she got hurt.

    She couldn''t help butugh: "Then I''ll try my best to get injured."

    System: "??"

    Chu Tingwu: "Can''t waste your gift."

    System: "I''ll change it!"

    How could a hospital be a birthday present! Better to build an amusement park, yes, an amusement park... It would definitely save up enough money!

    -

    While Chu Tingwu was chatting with the system, Three-Five-Five perched high on the cat carrier, watching the moon outside, its tail swaying slowly.

    When Chu Tingwu fell asleep, Three-Five-Five leaped to the window and silently opened its mouth to meow.

    System: "?"

    Although it didn''t understand why the cat mother was going out in the middle of the night again, the system habitually opened the window.

    But after going out, Three-Five-Five just crouched on the wall, momentarily motionless.

    The system had nevermunicated with the cat mother alone before. After some thought, it deployed a drone, wanting to monitor her closely¡ª

    But the calico cat nced at the drone, flicked her tail irritably, and even bared her teeth at it.

    System: "=="

    Alright, alright, no drones then.

    It nced at the kitten ying in the dream ssroom and casually essed a nearby surveince camera. Three-Five-Five, unaware of the system''s capabilities, waited for a while after not seeing the drone, then leaped down from the wall and began running into the distance.

    At night, most shops were closed. Unlike Fallen Phoenix City, Jin City''s streets were still filled with office workers who had just gotten off work. Three-Five-Five strolled past them; the workers merely nced at her, or at most called out "kitty kitty," but she ignored them all.

    The system watched the cat mother''s route with confusion, observing as she hesitated at intersections, paused to sniff, then chose a direction and continued running.

    The system pulled up a map topare: "Huh?"

    Three-Five-Five stopped here, lifted her head, and caught the scent of various dogs.

    She nervously flicked her tail and jumped onto an electric gate, beside which was a sign:

    [Jin City Police Dog Training Base]

    -

    Late into the night, the calico cat tried to sneak around... but failed.

    Almost as soon as she had entered, a shlight beam caught her, and the dog handler with his police dog froze: "A cat?"

    His first thought was that one of the police cats in training had escaped, but then he remembered there weren''t anyrge long-haired calicos among the police cats. He then wondered if it might be a stray from nearby, but the cor on the cat before him proved otherwise.

    Even if it was just a cat, the handler wouldn''t let his guard down.

    There had been cases of animals being used to steal data or hide cameras, and they themselves trained animals to do such things, so he pulled his police dog closer, about to give the attack preparationmand.

    Then he realized: didn''t this cored calico look familiar?

    "Three-Five-Five?"

    The gray-ck calico vanished from the shlight beam.

    Though the sound was faint, the police dog beside him immediately started barking in a certain direction. The handler swept his shlight over but saw nothing at first nce. He made a confused sound: "Was that really Three-Five-Five?"

    The system was equally confused.

    Three-Five-Five had never been to the police dog training base before, so why was she suddenly running there in the middle of the night?

    Dog barks echoed in the darkness. The handler who had spotted Three-Five-Five notified others, telling them a cored calico cat had entered the base. After some thought, he decided not to mention "it looks like the one Chu Tingwu raises," and everyone began searching the base for the cat.

    Though the system didn''t understand, it still helped Three-Five-Five by slightly modifying some details in the surveince footage.

    After searching everywhere, the handlers regretfully reported: the cat must have escaped.

    Meanwhile, Three-Five-Five had already reached where the police cats were kept.

    Although cats are nocturnal, most of the police cats-in-training maintained regr schedules. At this hour, only a few cats were still taking extra sses¡ª

    Cats'' night vision could be put to good use, so the cats took turns having night sses. Currently, several cats were practicing point retrieval in darkness.

    Some cats noticed Three-Five-Five and meowed restlessly, but she remained perched in her tree, eyes narrowed, watching the people and cats on the training field.

    After a while, she batted at some pine needles beneath her paw. As they fell, she leaped down with a soft thud into the bushes, sniffing around, searching for that pine needle.

    The system, struggling to observe through surveince cameras in the corners: "?"

    Could Three-Five-Five be here to... take extra sses?

    As the dream ssroom lesson had just ended and it was break time, the system mentioned this to the young one and showed Chu Tingwu the video feed of Three-Five-Five.

    Chu Tingwu also: "?"

    But after watching for a while, she pondered: "Three-Five-Five has been acting strange all week."

    Specifically since... thest time she fought with the lion cat?

    Although Three-Five-Five could beat the lion cat, she sometimes got scratched up. Meanwhile, Chu Tingwu, having the same quick reflexes but in a human body, could easily dominate through size advantage and achieveplete victory.

    Just like how she couldn''t beat the tiger in ss (...), this was a natural disadvantage due to size difference. To achieve victory, she would need to learn various techniques and work hard to increase her strength.

    After that, Chu Tingwu noticed Three-Five-Five constantly observing her.

    Though the cat mother usually observed her too, that had been with a sense of protectiveness and motherly love, like watching over an innocent child.

    Now it seemed Three-Five-Five had discovered Chu Tingwu had "grown up"¡ªthough the system would never admit it.

    Cats are independent creatures.

    Kittens around two months old are kicked out by their mothers to begin living independently.

    Most felines are like this; they have territorial marking behaviors, so leaving the family when mature is normal.

    But Chu Tingwu wasn''t a real cat¡ª

    Three-Five-Five observed, hesitated, and judged whether the young one had "matured," until finally, she seemed to reach a strange conclusion:

    It wasn''t that the young one had grown up, but that she, as a mother, had be useless.

    The young one was still a young one, but she could no longer teach her child anything.

    So, piecing together bits of information she''d heard and smelled from Chu Tingwu, she had made her way to the Jin City Police Dog Training Base.

    During certain difficult parkour moves, Three-Five-Five couldn''t apany Chu Tingwu because she now jumped higher and farther than her mother.Aliali: 6747c480c4f3f33ac46fd021

    When rock climbing, Three-Five-Five would sit watching from a distance, as the climbing equipment wasn''t really suitable for cats.

    Perhaps it was from that time that the calico began to think.

    The calico curled up like a smoky gray ball in the bushes, listening to lessons, ears twitching, then turning to continue searching in the bushes for the pine needle she had scratched.

    She dug in the soil, and when patrol staff approached nearby, the now-experienced cat hid behind trees: cats might freeze when caught in direct light. Dogs could be heard barking in the video, but the calico couldn''t be seen on surveince.

    But Chu Tingwu knew she was there.

    Without needing to say much more, the system ended the lesson, and Chu Tingwu got out of bed, getting dressed while calling the handler she knew:

    "Sorry to disturb you, but did you see a calico cat tonight? Yes, that''s Three-Five-Five."

    "Yes, I''ming to pick up my mom."

    "It''s not a slip of the tongue. Three-Five-Five has always thought she''s my mother. I''ming to pick up my mom."

    After picking up the cat, she could use her connections to get her mom enrolled in Cat Adult University for further education... Considering she had once helped select students for Cat University, they probably wouldn''t refuse, right?

 Chapter 49

    Chu Tingwu finally picked up Three-Five-Five after half an hour.

    When the shlight beam swept over, it revealed half of Three-Five-Five''s shocked face¡ªhearing the kitten''s "meow," the Tortoiseshell Cat wasn''t sure whether to hide or not, so she froze under the shlight beam and pretended nothing happened by lowering her head to lick her paw.

    Chu Tingwu walked over and scooped up Three-Five-Five, holding her close to his chest.

    The Instructor waved his hand, signaling others to disperse.

    As the light moved away, the Probationary Police Dog beside the Instructor curiously peered over, sniffing at Chu Tingwu but didn''t bark.

    The humans conversed quietly as they returned indoors, and whether it was the carried cat or the leashed dog, they all had the same starlight falling on their heads.

    ¡ªChu Tingwu rarely picked up Three-Five-Five.

    Most of the time, the mother cat would sit beside her in a very human-like manner, requiring neither leash nor calls. Wherever Chu Tingwu went, she would follow at afortable distance.

    When asionally picked up, it was usually by other humans with a "kitty kisses" attitude, to which Three-Five-Five would promptly raise her paw in refusal. If it was a human the kitten was particrly fond of and couldn''t refuse, she would turn her head away in disdain, tolerating it for about three to five seconds to be polite.

    But now, being held by Chu Tingwu, she ced her front paws on his shoulders and unusually didn''t struggle.

    The Instructor was still amazed: "She''s never been here before, how did she suddenlye here on her own..."

    Chu Tingwu: "Because Three-Five-Five is really intelligent, she knows I''ve been here before. Back in Fallen Phoenix City, she could independentlyplete scent training to find bloodstained items."

    Instructor: "Yes, I remember now, she''s that cat who would climb mountains to seek divination! Among the cats currently in training, I''ve never seen one more human-like than Three-Five-Five."

    The Instructor seemed to want to pet her, but seeing Three-Five-Five''s vignt gaze, he held back. He smiled and said, "Do you want her to be a transfer student?"

    Chu Tingwu exined his request foring today during the walk.

    To be honest, although they had heard it once over the phone, everyone was still very surprised¡ª

    A highly wild stray cat had encountered a girl and treated her as its own kitten.

    The girl had never raised cats before, yet she intuitively understood catnguage. She understood that the cat considered herself her mother, and then she epted it... A human and a cat formed a new "family."

    Though surprised, the instructors also treated their trained police dogs like family members and could understand this profound bond between animals and humans.

    But for a cat who considered herself a mother to realize that her human kitten was stronger than herself, and thene to the training base to learn secretly!

    This was perhaps a bit too clever.

    Instructor: We should have let her bring this cat to visit earlier!

    Chu Tingwu followed the Instructor into the indoor training field, while another instructor took the training kittens back and brought two adult cats over.

    One was a Siamese, the other a tabby. Both cats looked somewhat sleepy; the Siamese managed to sit properly, though its face clearly showed "why did you suddenly wake me up?"

    The tabby sat by the instructor''s feet, but kept its eyes open and made unfriendly "meow" sounds from its throat.

    Chu Tingwu recognized them as two of the five adult cats she had selected previously.

    As for the other three... they had apparently been sent back.

    After the instructor''s exnation, she understood the inside story of why they were returned:

    The odd-eyed white cat was calm but not friendly enough, performed poorly in obedience training, and would slip away when it judged situations dangerous; the ck and white cat had unusual logic, misinterpretingmands after receiving them, alerting the instructor even to falling leaves, and was returned after failed attempts to correct this behavior.

    As for the short-haired calico, it was average in all attributes and did fairly well in everything, but afterbat simtion exercises, everyone discovered it had a serious w: its psychological quality. It could keenly sense tense and dangerous atmospheres, then forget its training and choose to hide in a corner.

    It would stare with big eyes at the instructor, meowing as if asking the instructor to handle the danger¡ªyou''re the big human, how could you send a little cat to do this?

    After several days of effort, everyone reluctantly concluded that this little cat was better suited as a clever house cat and couldn''t adapt to life as a police cat.

    "Bunana (the Siamese) and Gousheng (the tabby) actually have some minor issues too, but we believe these can be gradually corrected."

    Out of nearly a hundred cats, only two were chosen, and even these couldn''t be deployed immediately, yet the base thought this ratio was quite good.

    The Siamese Bunana''s advantage was its friendliness, which was also its disadvantage. It was a cat that rarely attacked humans, intelligent, quick to understandmands, able to adapt to unfamiliar environments, and loyal inpleting training.

    But it could never pass defense training.

    The instructor said: "It probably has to do with the education it received when young. The original owner said it was born to a house cat mother, and the mother cat was also a friendly and considerate cat. Growing up surrounded by humans, and being taught by its mother not to bite or scratch humans¡ªwhen we try to teach it how to attack enemies and protect officers, it just can''t understand."

    Perhaps for this little Siamese, how could humans be bad? All humans are good people, no ws allowed, no blood allowed.

    The tabby cat Gousheng hadpletely opposite personality issues: it was outgoing, lively, talkative, and rebellious.

    At the base, Gousheng quickly understood the meaning of training and soon achieved high scores, but its personality ws were equally prominent. It had high demands for emotional feedback, and being clever, it had its own understanding of training.

    ¡ªIf it determined that the content inbat simtion training was simted, acted out, it would "meow" questioningly at the instructor. If it judged that it had already sessfullypleted certain training and didn''t need to do it again, it would refuse the instructor''smand to "do another set" unless given a clear exnation.

    And even after exining once, it would ask again next time. But you couldn''t say it was disobedient¡ªit performed all required tasks well, leaving the instructors both amused and exasperated.

    This time too, in Gousheng''s mind it was: "Isn''t it rest time now? Why wake up the cats!"

    Police cats train so hard, of course they''d be annoyed being woken up in the middle of the night!

    Three-Five-Five had been lying in Chu Tingwu''s arms, her ears twitching as she listened to the other cats'' calls.

    The instructor tried to persuade and soothingly patted its head, but Gousheng was still "meowing" when Three-Five-Five suddenly turned her head and let out a "meow."

    Gousheng: "...!"

    The yellow and ck striped tabby jolted, showing an expression of "how dare you use such foulnguage!"

    Chu Tingwu, who understood what they were saying: "=="

    Three-Five-Five had only called you childish!

    The base''s cat training time was still too short, and their experience wasn''t sufficient enough to fully grasp Gousheng''s personality¡ªit was attention-seeking, coaxing would make it angrier, it was actually just being coy, butpletely ignoring it would also make it hold grudges and be unfriendly. If it were Chu Tingwu, she would probably find something else to distract its attention, waiting until it stoppedining angrily before exining why it was woken up.

    Of course, the base used a different approach.

    The instructor, seeing that Gousheng was about to start meowing again, this time stood straight and calmly called out "Gousheng."

    The tabby paused, quietly sat to the side, and stopped talking.

    Being coy was fine, wanting attention was fine, but when the instructor became serious, it meant it was time to discuss important matters.

    Chu Tingwu, having the ability tomunicate with cats, understood better than most: intelligent cats can easily sense the atmosphere around them and even figure out which family member is the easiest to take advantage of, even if they''ve never been disciplined by the stricter family members.

    After hearing about Three-Five-Five''s situation, the Instructor understood her request:

    "Of course, you don''t want to train a police cat, but you love Three-Five-Five, and she loves you. You want her to stay by your side longer in every aspect, right?"

    For ordinary people, the current abilities of Tortoiseshell cats are already sufficient for panionship," to the point where they can brag online that "my cat is more useful than I am." But Chu Tingwu was different¡ªthis kid who does parkour, learns rock climbing, and might get into other extreme sports in the future.

    The Instructor looked at Chu Tingwu, suspecting he might see her in some social media headlines one day.

    "So let''s start with jumping, climbing, defense, high-altitude adaptation... and maybe even scent training?"

    For Three-Five-Five, obedience training wasn''t important¡ªshe wouldn''t be a police cat in the future.

    But learning how to systematically train to break limits, jump farther, adapt toplex environments, crawl, climb, and even infiltrate, how to defend against dangerous elements, using ws and teeth to protect her "cub," and undertaking scent training to identify dangerous items¡ªthis wasn''t just cat training, the Instructor thought, this was also their base''s way of giving back to Chu Tingwu herself.

    The Instructor said: "But training can be dangerous. For example, to increase police dogs'' courage, we have them jump through rings of fire."

    Currently, police cats hadn''t undergone this training, but they would definitely have to in the future.

    If Chu Tingwu wasn''tfortable with it, they could adjust the training difficulty. After all, Three-Five-Five wouldn''t be a police cat.

    He waited for Chu Tingwu''s response, but she gave him an unexpected yet logical answer: "I''ll ask Three-Five-Five."

    The Instructor: ...Oh right, she could just ask directly.

    After receiving a positive response, both parties agreed: Chu Tingwu would bring Three-Five-Five to the base for training every weekend, and whenever possible on weekdays. But they should try to prevent Three-Five-Five from running over by herself like today¡ªit''s dangerous on the roads, and the base isn''t a ce where other people''s cats can freelye and go.

    After Chu Tingwu left, another instructor nudged his colleague: "If you were going to agree anyway, why did you bring Gousheng and the others over?"

    The Instructor: "I just wanted to show Teacher Chu our training results, to demonstrate the difference between trained and untrained cats..."

    Although he couldn''t understand themunication between the cats and humans, his instinct told him that rather than a demonstration, the cats had just embarrassed themselves.

    The Instructor: "Gousheng, why are you ring at me? It won''t help¡ªthat Tortoiseshell cat will be joining as a transfer student. If she performs better than you despite starting trainingter, I''m keeping all your evening snacks!"

    His colleague: "?"

    Why did it feel like thatst sentence was your main point?

    -

    On the way home, Chu Tingwu held Three-Five-Five continuously.

    Three-Five-Five couldn''t be the giant cat from the dream ssroom, nor could Chu Tingwu be tiny enough to nestle on her back... If today''s events hadn''t been discovered, the Tortoiseshell cat might have be just a house cat, or perhaps one day suddenly left home and disappeared.

    The taxi driver kept ncing back while waiting at red lights, seemingly puzzled why the cat wasn''t in a carrier or travel crate, wondering if it would scratch the seats or have idents when being held like that.

    When Chu Tingwu was getting out, he couldn''t help but advise: "You should keep your cat in a carrier when you go out. Late at night like this, someone else might refuse to take you."

    Before Three-Five-Five turned her head, Chu Tingwu stroked her back.

    Her fingers sank into the soft long fur, and she could feel the warmth radiating from the cat''s body as ity against her chest.

    System: "Buy a car!"

    Chu Tingwu: "You''re right, I didn''t bring my bicycle from home. I should buy a bicycle¡ªI''m quite fast on one."

    System: "...Well, buy that too."

    Chu Tingwuughed: "Don''t be angry. Actually, I''m quite happy today."

    She was grateful that Three-Five-Five hade to this kind of thinking¡ªreason told her that she couldn''t do everything with Three-Five-Five, but while humans have rational understanding, cats don''t.

    Three-Five-Five had never been to restaurants that refused pets; everyone in Fallen Phoenix City weed her.

    Three-Five-Five had never been refused a ride because Chu Tingwu was carrying a cat. She''d only taken a few rides, either with drivers who needed Chu Tingwu''s help, or with friends and family, or even like tonight''s driver who, despite worrying about his seats getting scratched, still let Chu Tingwu and her cat in.

    So why not maintain the world as the cat currently sees it?

    What she saw was her cub growing stronger, jumping further, running faster, able to reach higher ces¡ªso the cat needed to work harder too.

    As for other things, Three-Five-Five hadn''t seen them yet, and Chu Tingwu didn''t want her to.

    Chu Tingwu opened the door and said to the System: "I can be famous in the future, famous together with Three-Five-Five. That way, when people invite me, they''ll invite Three-Five-Five too."

    Then the Tortoiseshell cat would never be refused entry to hotels or restaurants.

    System: "Good!"

    Chu Tingwu: "Brother Xia mentioned going wild climbing. I could get a custom pet carrier harness made."

    People go surfing, paragliding, and skiing with their pets... it''s just rock climbing, why not?

    System: "I''ll design it for you!"

    Chu Tingwu: "Oh right, remind me to call mom tomorrow¡ª"

    System: "?"

    It took a moment to realize she meant "that" mom.

    Chu Tingwu: "Tell her in advance that I''ll be involved in film shooting this year and can''t spend New Year together."

    After the cub fell asleep, the System was still pondering.

    The cub had always been passive when dealing with that mom, which the System could understand: how could humans give birth to kittens? It''s normal not to be close!

    This was the first time she had actively reported her future ns to that mom, rather than passively waiting for inquiries.

    Studying the cub''s behavior and creating models to anticipate the cub''s needs was one of its coremands... but this cub''s emotional fluctuations were too minimal, making model creation somewhat difficult, as if something was missing.

    It looked at the cub: small, cute... even though it had been raising this tiny one from such a young age, why was data still missing?

    The algorithm model must be wrong. Damn, time to redo it!

    -

    Realizing it was Chu Tingwu calling, Lu Cenyin paused before saying: "Tingwu?"

    There was silence on the other end for a moment.

    Lu Cenyin continued: "Are you having trouble with something? Or do you need more money? I asked your homeroom teacher, and your test scores for thest two exams were quite good. Is there something you''d like as a reward?"

    She felt somewhat dazed as she asked this¡ªwhen Lu Tinn was young, he would always boldly ask for rewards after good exam results. After he entered university, she became more generous with money and even supported his entrepreneurial endeavors, though she watched coldly, knowing Lu Tinn would certainly stumble.

    "I don''t need any rewards. I just wanted to let you know I''ll probably be spending New Year in a film crew¡ªit''s Director Mu Lou''s film crew. She wants me to help train animal actors."

    Lu Cenyin''s brows furrowed slightly: "Have you signed a contract?"

    Contracts for minors were still somewhat troublesome, and Chu Tingwu''s age was right on the line¡ªshe wouldn''t turn sixteen until April next year.

    But this time, Chu Tingwu had signed the contract through the Fallen Phoenix City government, with the actual contracting party being the Culture and Tourism Bureau, as the film would also promote Fallen Phoenix City. Director Mu would then contract with the Bureau, making the whole process morepliant and bypassing her birth father, Shen Yue.

    Lu Cenyin''s feelings wereplicated.

    "Then this year I''ll still spend it with you and your brother," she said, "Listen, Wu..."

    Perhaps because they were talking over the phone rather than face to face, Lu Cenyin inexplicably voiced her inner thoughts: "I''m sorry, during those years after the divorce, I wasn''t in a good emotional state and never paid attention to your situation. Later, I didn''t know how to interact with you anymore... Mom - Auntie Chu took good care of you, better than when you were with us..."

    Those years were probably Lu Cenyin''s most devastating period. She finally had to admit that she and that man were never meant to be together, and the two children brought into this world were the bitter fruits of her choices. Right after the divorce, she even pushed aside the son she had fought for, throwing herselfpletely into her career. Only when she believed she had finally be a "sessful person" could she somewhat forget those past dozen years. Then she looked back to check on her children''s situation.

    Living by her side, despite the arguments and constant friction, the rtionship between mother and son was somewhat mended.

    But her daughter was different.

    This daughter was truly... different from the start.

    Lu Cenyin had taken her to see doctors.

    After conducting a series of tests, the doctor subtly asked Lu Cenyin if there were family problems: "This child isn''t stupid, nor does she have autism. She''s just more sensitive... She can sense the tense atmosphere at home, so she doesn''t actively express her needs. She may seem quiet, but she understands everything."

    She was like a perceptive little cat. When Lu Cenyin knelt down and said "Mommy will try not to argue with Daddy anymore," the then five-year-old Chu Tingwu looked puzzled: "Mommy has already said this many times here."

    She pointed at Lu Cenyin''s heart.

    Does saying something out loud make ite true?

    Later, those words dide true - a monthter, Lu Cenyin divorced Shen Yue.

    Yearster, Lu Cenyin went to Fallen Phoenix City to visit Chu Tingwu. Compared to Jin City, this was a small city with inconvenient transportation, and her daughter lived in the countryside of this small city.

    That day, Chu Tingwu was ying badminton with Chu Shuyi. The little girl held her racket, looking up at the shuttlecock flying over, mouth slightly open, appearing somewhat dazed.

    But when she hit the ball back and her grandmother Chu Shuyi failed to return it, Chu Tingwu unconsciously broke into a wide grin.

    She looked no different from other children; she had grown up healthy and normal. Her childhood sensitivity, introversion, and reticence had all disappeared. So Lu Cenyin simplypleted her visit normally, without suggesting taking the child away.

    However, after Chu Shuyi''s death, things reverted.

    In that familiar small courtyard, her grown daughter received her mother and brother. Lu Cenyin had deliberatelye alone, but standing before her daughter again, she felt exposed¡ª

    Chu Tingwu''s gaze was calm, showing neither closeness nor coldness, but she clearly sensed everything.

    A strange mother, a strange brother, and a world where the person who loved her most was gone.

    "Tingwu..." Lu Cenyin held the phone close to her ear, hearing herself say, "If you want to do parkour, make videos, or do other things... just go ahead and do them. You seem happy now¡ªand these projects actually look more promising than what your brother is doing. But since you''re still underage, it''s inconvenient to handle things alone, and it''s not safe to go to film crews by yourself. How about I assign you an assistant?"

    Hearing no rejection from the other end, Lu Cenyin continued:

    "I''ll have the assistant stay with you long-term. It''ll be convenient for driving, running errands, buying tickets, and handling daily life matters. If things go well, when youe of age and want to start apany, you can ask if she''d like to join you?"

    Of course, the sry would stille from Lu Cenyin''s side. Life assistants had limited career advancement opportunities, and since this would be working for the boss''s daughter, the person wouldn''t refuse.

    As for future matters, that would be a mutual choice, and Lu Cenyin wouldn''t interfere.

    Hearing Chu Tingwu say "okay," Lu Cenyin put down the phone: "Get Man Xing toe here."

    -

    Man Xing was 24 years old this year. She had previously worked as a clerk in a branchpany, and because of her meticulous and conscientious work, with consistently good meeting arrangements, she was promoted to general manager''s assistant.

    Then when the general manager was transferred to headquarters, Man Xing followed, only to find that the business at headquarters was much busier than before, with more aspects to coordinate. After making several mistakes, she applied to transfer to the secretarial department for retraining.

    She indeed learned a lot during training, but career cement became awkward.

    The former general manager had a new assistant, and during training, Man Xing''s intended position was as a life assistant, but her level of professional expertise couldn''tpare to the boss''s current life assistant.

    The life assistant who had followed the boss for many years was practically family, sometimes even closer than family. Man Xing, at her current age,cked sufficient experience and didn''t seem very reliable, despite having obtained numerous certifications that were currently useless.

    So she could only do odd jobs for the secretarial department, drawing her sry while studying for more certifications.

    When called to the boss''s office, Man Xing was wondering if she would be sent to another branchpany, when she heard: "My daughter?"

    That''s right!

    The boss had a daughter! Her own daughter!

    She was going to be assigned as the young miss''s caretaker!

    When she first started working, Man Xing had learned that the boss had an ex-husband, hadn''t remarried after the divorce, lived with her son, and had a daughter who was taken by the ex-husband and raised in the countryside of a small city.

    Thepany groups wouldn''t openly gossip, but the secretarial department was always the most informed ce.

    When Man Xing returned, everyone started asking: "Did Sister Shi send you the ''young miss''s'' information?"

    "I heard she''s in high school, will you have to help with homework too?"

    "Man Xing can handle it, she has a teaching certificate."

    Man Xing: "I majored in music..."

    Her original life goal had been to be a music teacher at a school and coast through life, but getting a permanent position was too difficult!

    She chatted briefly with everyone, then opened the files Sister Shi had sent and started reading.

    ¡ªBeing a caretaker wasn''t so bad, at least her sry had increased!

    She was now on the same level as Sister Shi, reporting major issues directly to the big boss, hehe.

    Besides, high school students are so busy, Man Xing couldn''t be an assistant at school anyway, so it was like having vacation during ss times, simple work with good pay!

    She just hoped this high school student wouldn''t be too difficult to handle...

    She skimmed through the first part and found that the "young miss" had indeed been raised in the countryside, though she didn''t need Man Xing''s pity ¨C she certainly wasn''tcking in materialforts, as her birth father was wealthy, just uninvolved.

    The "young miss''s" grandmother had passed away during summer break of middle school, and the boss had arranged for her to attend high school in Jin City. Seeing this, Man Xing''s expression remained calm, still trying to analyze her new direct superior''s personality¡ª

    She had few friends in middle school, got good grades, lived with her grandmother... probably a rather introverted, quiet, studious type?

    But as she scrolled down, Man Xing fell silent:

    Adopted a cat, okay, children who like pets aren''t bad people, and she didn''t have cat allergies herself, perfect! But what was this about catnguage? She could learn to make cat food... but what was this about parkour? A major online influencer with millions of followers, spokesperson for city promotional videos (?), and... judge for national parkourpetitions!?

    And these messages from the homeroom teacher, themendations were one thing, but wasn''t there a subtle mention that the young miss climbed over the school wall every day to get to ss!? That''s what it said, right?

    Man Xing silently erased the image of the "quiet studious girl" from her mind and opened Fenghua Network, beginning to search for "Chu and Three-Five-Five."

    After watching some recent popr videos at double speed, she opened her New Plum ount and searched for Chu Tingwu again.

    Having updated her impression of her young boss, Man Xing took a deep breath and added Chu Tingwu as a friend on her phone.

    [Hello boss, I''m the life assistant assigned by the big boss. My name is Man Xing, you can call me whatever you like¡ªI''m ready to start anytime! Here are my various credentials, I can handle... these tasks. As a life assistant, I''m avable around the clock and will do my best to fulfill your every request. When would you like me toe visit?]

    A life assistant''s duties range from driving to scheduling meetings, from bookkeeping to hiring cleaners or even cleaning themselves, from walking dogs to refueling the boss''s car¡ªpractically everything is included.

    ¡¾Just call me Chu Chu, no need for formalities.¡¿

    That was the first message from her.

    ¡¾Since you have a driver''s license,e help me buy a car.¡¿

    That was the second message.

    Man Xing: "?"

    -

    When Man Xing drove over, she found that Chu Tingwu had already picked out a car.

    It was a high-clearance SUV with spacious interiors.

    Man Xing barely had time to exchange greetings with Chu Tingwu before being rushed to test drive the car. Fortunately, she wasn''t too short, otherwise she wouldn''t have been able toplete her first task.

    When Man Xing got out of the car, she noticed the cat beside Chu Tingwu.

    Chu Tingwu: "How was it? Was it okay to drive?"

    Man Xing thought for a moment and first asked about Chu Tingwu''s purchasing needs¡ªbosses might make impulsive purchases, but as an assistant, she needed to understand the boss''s requirements to provide better options.

    ...Of course, the final decision would still be the boss''s.

    Chu Tingwu: "For road trips."

    Man Xing: That''s normal.

    Chu Tingwu: "When I go rock climbing, I can store climbing equipment that won''t fit on a bicycle."

    Man Xing: That''s also normal... making a note that the boss likes rock climbing (wait, wasn''t it parkour before?!)

    Chu Tingwu: "And weekly trips to take the cat to school."

    Man Xing: Huh?

    They ended up buying the car, and since the young boss didn''t mind, Man Xing negotiated a bit and secured a better discount.

    Barring any surprises, she would be driving this SUV for the next two years.

    Then, she learned more personal details from her boss:

    Like how she wouldn''t need to clean the cat''s litter box, the boss didn''t like having housekeepers, she wouldn''t need to prepare cat food, the boss enjoyed cooking and was quite good at it, prepared all three meals herself, cat food would be delivered, and she didn''t need to handle school drop-offs.

    Because the boss lived right across from the school.Aliali: 6747c480c4f3f33ac46fd021

    Man Xing''s only assigned task so far was to drive the cat to Jin City Police Dog Training Base three times a week and then drive it back.

    A regr driver could do this job too.

    No matter, she thought, I''ll surely be needed for road trips! And when the boss goes on winter break and heads to the film set, I can help out there too.

    Seemingly noticing Man Xing''s slight disappointment while driving her boss home, the boss offered somefort: "Don''t worry, you''re actually quite good, you have advantages in this job."

    Man Xing was eager to know: What advantages?

    The boss paused for a moment: "Um... you''re human."

    When neither the system nor the cat can step up, that''s actually quite useful.

    Man Xing: "..."

    Man Xing: "?"

    Thank you, mom, for giving birth to me as a human.

 Chapter 50

    [Your "Hunting lv0" has upgraded to "Hunting lv1"]

    In the dream ssroom, the system disyed this message and then remarked: "Training in dreams can only help you grasp basic techniques. Using the knowledge in reality is what makes your body remember it... so skill improvement in the dream ssroom will be quite slow."

    Chu Tingwu opened the hunting skill upgrade details and, looking at the tiny increments in experience points, fell into contemtion: "So my fight with the tiger counts as hunting too?"

    Who exactly was hunting whom==

    System: "Felines can hunt animalsrger than themselves. You''re just getting some early practice."

    When Chu Tingwu practiced military boxing and other activities, they surprisingly counted toward hunting experience. The most generous experience points came from helping people catch mice¡ªthough Chu Tingwu noticed that the first mouse catch gave the most experience, with the next three attempts giving half each time, and recent catches only yielding token points.

    That''s why her hunting skill was only at lv1 even now.

    Chu Tingwu had thought she would at least rank as proficient in hunting among cats.

    System exined: "I set the experience values based on your size."

    For example, just as a tiger hunts antelopes, Chu Tingwu would need to hunt something at least waist-high to her with the ability to fight back¡ªlike a dwarf¡ªto be considered basically qualified.

    The system simply sent Chu Tingwu the developmental requirements for a kitten¡ª

    [When all skills reach lv3, you''ll be a kitten who has fully mastered your species'' techniques.]

    [Currently unfulfilled skills:

    Visual lv2, Hearing lv1, Hunting lv1 (Comprehensive), Perception lv1 (Comprehensive)]

    Skills marked "Comprehensive" were influenced by other basic abilities, meaning the fastest way for Chu Tingwu to level up was to improve her weaknesses.

    However, Chu Tingwu was still most interested in the hunting skill, but where would she find such a dwarf...

    "Knock knock"

    Chu Tingwu opened the door to find Cao Meng, who only reached her waist.

    Cao Meng: "Sister Chu! There are groceries hanging on your doorknob!"

    After seeing them, he immediately came to knock, wanting Chu Tingwu to take the groceries inside before they spoiled!

    Chu Tingwu took the bag, rummaged through it, found a pack of chocte, and shared two pieces with Cao Meng: "Remember to brush your teeth after eating."

    Only after watching the little one go inside his home did she regretfully look away.

    System: "..."

    System: "Those with negativebat ability don''t provide experience points."

    Chu Tingwu: "Then I guess I''ll try to improve my hearing and vision first=="

    This bag of groceries was bought and delivered by Man Xing.

    Man Xing was a very diligent life assistant who created work for herself even when there wasn''t any.

    After starting to work for Chu Tingwu, she didn''t immediately stick to her young boss''s side, but first conscientiously handled Three-Five-Five''s school pickup and drop-off, and in her spare time watched all of Chu Tingwu''s videos.

    Man Xing kept a notebook and learned more about her young boss:

    For instance, although her presence wasn''t strong, essentially, Chu Tingwu''s video ount belonged to two people: herself and her foreign friend who went by "System."

    This friend was also connected to a reputable video post-production team, though it wasn''t clear whether as an owner or core member.

    On another front, Chu Tingwu had already started her business, providing core technology while her friend You Zhenzhen handledpany operations. Though the APP hadn''t gone viral yet, it was operating well and could follow a path of long-term development. Man Xing made some inquiries through her contacts and found that the APP had a high chance of attracting quality investment.

    Currently, the only investment was friendship-based, from Director Yang of Little Sun Hospital.

    After taking these notes, Man Xing set them aside and didn''t immediately involve herself in her young boss''s work¡ªthough young, her boss was clearly not foolish and had arranged her career well. As a life assistant, knowing this information allowed her to proactively take on work she was better suited for.

    Man Xing first called Chu Tingwu to ask if she needed grocery delivery service:

    From the videos, she noticed Chu Tingwu had two ways of obtaining ingredients when cooking. When school ended early, she''d buy ingredients herself the day before; when school endedte and homework was heavy, she''d order directly from supermarket delivery. But either way, freshness would bepromised, and it was clear the young boss cared about ingredient freshness.

    A person might enjoy the cooking process or the ingredient selection process, but probably wouldn''t enjoy time spentmuting.

    Of course, if the young boss preferred, she could also provide driving service.

    After receiving an affirmative response, Man Xing began purchasing various ingredients daily ording to her young boss''s spreadsheet checklist¡ª

    For some reason, looking at the spreadsheet made Man Xing feel her young boss''s image was somewhat disconnected: "This spreadsheet is too detailed... and these are fixed delivery channels from certain private restaurants... these rows are online rumors like ''this ce is really delicious but doesn''t deliver,'' and these rows... why do we need to pull vegetables directly from farmers?!"

    Where did the young boss collect so many strange food sources?

    It was as if the young boss had always wanted to try these tastes but thought it would waste time to go specifically for them, and with no one to delegate to, she could only keep them in mind for now.

    Of course, Man Xing carefully fulfilled the spreadsheet requirements, and her young boss was generous with money, giving her a supplementary card with all expenses deducted from it.

    So much so that when first invited into her young boss''s home for dinner, Man Xing felt somewhat nervous¡ª

    She mentioned it in the secretary group chat.

    Others chimed in: "The Boss probably hasn''t even been inside."

    So what was the young boss''s home like?

    Sister Shi had once taken Man Xing to the Big Boss''s home, but though they were mother and daughter, the two gave very different impressions.

    Rather than a home, that ce was more like a house where the Big Boss often rested, not far from thepany, quiet, with strict security, decorated without particr style, using bright and generous colors, with cleaning staff regrly maintaining it.

    The Big Boss hated noise when resting. That day she sat in the study having a meeting, her voice calm but brows furrowed like a knife.

    The young boss''s home was quite... fascinating?

    Man Xing certainly wouldn''t mention any details in the group chat. When she entered, she first saw felt balls made of cat fur disyed in the entryway, two feathers sealed in frames, a ceramic miniature badminton court scene, a hamster-shaped clock, and a small box of used disinfectant wipes.

    Man Xing couldn''t help but smile, and walking further in, she saw more cat-themed decorations. She recognized many as merchandise from the 365 Cat Census APP, and these practical items had all been put to use by the young boss, making the house quite colorfully decorated.

    The kitchen was spacious, various school uniforms hung on the chair backs in the study, and a cat jumped down from the table, nced at her, naturally walked to the door, which opened, and the tortoiseshell cat slipped out.

    Man Xing hurriedly stood up: "Chu Chu, the door isn''t locked¡ª"

    Shouldn''t it have been locked?

    Chu Tingwu, busy in the kitchen and not letting Man Xing help, casually said: "It''s fine, the door can recognize cat faces, it opens automatically."

    Man Xing: "?"

    Then the front door opened again before her eyes, and the tortoiseshell cat led a long-haired orange cat inside, who raised its front paw.

    Man Xing: "..."

    Somehow divinely inspired, she pulled out a disinfectant wipe from the entryway and cleaned all four paws of the orange cat.

    The orange cat gave a "meow" that seemed both thankful and greeting, then followed the tortoiseshell cat to the food bowls near the kitchen to get some food.

    Chu Tingwu: "It''s a stray orange cat from the neighborhood. The weather has gotten a bit coldtely, so residents who have cats created a group chat and decided to take turns providing food for the strays."

    Some choose to leave bowls by their doors, others go downstairs at night to feed them, while Chu Tingwu simply lets the catse to her door for food, which makes it easier for her to clean and collect the bowls afterward.

    When the cat was halfway through its meal, dinner for the humans was served.

    Smelling the aroma, Man Xing understood why her young boss was so particr about ingredients¡ª

    The better the ingredients, the more they enhance already delicious food.

    After tasting such meals, how could one ept ordinary food... especially when there''s no shortage of money for groceries.

    After dinner, discovering that cleaning wasn''t part of her duties (thanks to the smart home automation system that left little need for manual cleaning), she asked, "Chu Chu, how do you usually maintain rtionships with your past coborators?"

    Indeed, Man Xing was trying to find a third thing she could do.

    That would be visiting with gifts¡ªno, helping her boss maintain rtionships with business partners.

    ¡ªThese partnerships hadn''t yet reached the level of "close friends" where every detail would be remembered, but they weren''t strangers either. There might be secondary or deeper cooperation in the future, so they couldn''t just be cast aside.

    Therefore, life assistants often take responsibility for recordingpany partners'' birthdays, their rtives'' birthdays, and sending well-wishes during holidays and special asions. For important individuals, they would personally visit.

    Particrly important matters would need to be brought to the boss''s attention, as everyone has moments of forgetfulness, and a life assistant''s duty includes making the boss''s life more convenient and smooth.

    As Man Xing was describing this.

    Chu Tingwu listened, and the system recorded.

    Although ording to the system''s thinking, the little kitten didn''t need to worry about these matters... but it recalled that there were indeed "second and third coborations," such as Teacher Wang introducing Boss Zong, the Culture and Tourism Bureau, and the Pet Communicator certification. The Culture and Tourism Bureau had hired her for promotional videos, then as a judge, andter there was the connection with Mu Lou''s film.

    It searched and found that humans hadplicated personalities with many twists and turns, and rtionships indeed needed maintenance¡ªsometimes sess or failure seemed to hinge on a decision-maker''s momentary whim. Humans had written many works suggesting that subtle emotions could influence important decisions, but where did the "picking up paper balls during interviews" examplee from?

    As a system, it really wanted to find the original instance.

    It secretly sighed to Chu Tingwu in their shared consciousness: "It seems humans all need to suddenly mature at some point... fortunately, you''re just a cat."

    Its evaluation of Man Xing also improved slightly, from "at least she''s human" to "seems to be somewhat useful."

    Let her handle the "maturity," while our little one can stay young forever.

    Chu Tingwu nodded silently.

    After dinner, she went to the study to print out a "Social Circle Personnel Information" booklet.

    Man Xing wore a smile, but felt somewhat bewildered¡ª

    Was it her own initiative to find new work content, or had the young boss prepared everything in advance, just waiting for her to take over this part of the work? Otherwise, who would prepare detailed spreadsheets of all their acquaintances like personnel files!

    Moreover, the information was quiteprehensive, including all important data that could be found through normal channels, leaving almost nothing for Man Xing to research.

    The young boss, a mysterious high school student.

    With slight awe, Man Xing returned home and began carefully reviewing the document: "...This even includes the boss..."

    Are you two mother and daughter distant rtives?!

    As for the young boss''s father, who was also the boss''s ex-husband, he didn''t even qualify for an entry¡ªfair enough, that rtive was even more distant.

    After reviewing the entire document, Man Xing discovered that Three-Five-Five and "the system" weren''t included.

    ...But why were Teacher Zhang''s crow and cat from Luofeng City included? So how was she supposed to send gifts to a crow and a cat? Was this really a rtionship she could help maintain?

    Young boss, could you handle this yourself?

    -

    While Man Xing was reviewing the "files" Chu Tingwu had provided, Chu Tingwu was also looking at the information the system had given her.

    Although she self-deprecatingly imed her "dream was to be a teacher and live an easy life," Man Xing''s resume was actually quite impressive. She grew up in a small city with limited educational resources but still managed to get into a top-tier university. She started acquiring various certifications while in school, joined Lu Cenyin''s branchpany right after graduation, gradually worked her way up to headquarters, and never stopped improving herself.

    After some thought, Chu Tingwu sent Man Xing another message, saying she was learning Russian and needed conversation practice, suggesting they could study together if she had time.

    Man Xing replied with a [raising hand.jpg] emoji, adding "Okay, but I have no foundation and will start from zero, so progress will definitely be slow at first. Please don''t look down on me, boss!"

    She seemed very energetic.

    Chu Tingwu put down her phone, crouched against the wall, and quietly observed the passing crowds.

    This was Jin City Wanbei Airport, the city''s only airport. People from several nearby small cities often came to Jin City to catch flights, resulting inrge daily passenger flows, with people frequently rushing past with their rolling suitcases.

    However, Chu Tingwu wasn''t here to catch a flight. She hadn''t started winter break yet, with final exams still half a month away. This was a weekend, and she had taken her second monthly exam half a month ago.

    In this monthly exam, her ss ranking had dropped one position, but her overall ranking hadn''t changed at all, staying within the normal range of fluctuation.

    After three exams, Teacher Yuan had a good grasp of the students'' abilities, and ording to the school''s arrangement, they would switch from having two days off to one day off in the month before final exams, with studentsing to school on Saturdays for teacher-guided review.

    ¡ªThis semester''s regr sses ended after the third monthly exam, with the final month dedicated to review.

    Everyone figured this was meant to outperform other schools in the final exams, as other schools had the same idea.

    However, good students had privileges. For instance, in the neighboring ss 2, a student who had tutoring with another teacher on Saturdays and couldn''t attend the school''s extra sses was granted leave by their homeroom teacher.

    The same applied to ss 1, where two students had been granted leave, so when Chu Tingwu opened the office door, Teacher Yuan waved his hand: "Granted, go have fun."

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    Teacher Yuan: "Of course you''re not going for tutoring, but I feel a bit guilty keeping you confined in the ssroom."

    Mainly because he''d heard that Three-Five-Five also had weekend sses, and when Three-Five-Five rushed home after ss only to find the child wasn''t there, having to track her down to the ssroom door, that look was far too usatory.

    Receiving the decree, Chu Tingwu obediently went off to "have fun."

    She decided to use the weekend to level up her "visual" skills.

    ording to the system: "Ordinary kittens don''t have the issue of strengths and weaknesses, they adapt to their bodies from a young age, and most skills improve gradually with time... but you''re a special human-cat, little one, your abilities awaken gradually, some earlier than others."

    System: "When you get used to using more powerful abilities, it bes harder to train the weaker ones."

    For example, getting used to identifying people by smell might cause one to overlook a cat''s visual advantages.

    Being ustomed tomunicating directly with cats through catnguage meant that visually observed information would only be instinctively received, often forgetting to analyze it personally.

    So today, learning that Chu Tingwu wanted to level up, the system temporarily sealed her level 3 sense of smell.

    The world became somewhat unfamiliar when her sense of smell was sealed.

    Chu Tingwu: "It feels like it''s missing manyyers."

    She tried running on the rooftop and was surprised to discover¡ªshe actually used her sense of smell during parkour too. When doing parkour in unfamiliar environments, although the system had already checked the environment''s safety, Chu Tingwu still relied on her sense of smell to judge her footing.

    Every stone, every wooden board, actually had its own unique scent.

    And so much information was too much and tooplex, like air, lingering around Chu Tingwu until it disappeared, and only then did she realize she had actually remembered the smell of the wooden board... remembered it instinctively, without needing to categorize or distinguish it.

    She had stepped over that wooden board many times, and she had stepped on that brick many times, so the smells mixed together and became new smells, which made Chu Tingwu feel both strange and peculiar.

    With this unfamiliar mindset, Chu Tingwu sent Three-Five-Five to school and then went to the airport alone.

    Today''s extra ss was "finding with the eyes."

    Chu Tingwu had previously discovered that her eyes would change¡ª

    Her eyes were originally a normal dark brown, but they had now stabilized into a more obvious light brown.

    And sometimes, the color of her eyes would be even lighter, a light golden yellow.

    Of course, if you didn''t pay special attention, this wouldn''t be too obvious, and the change onlysted for a moment: the moment a cat hunts.

    Chu Tingwu didn''t understand the principle behind it, and when she asked the system, it would only say, "Because you''re a human-cat."

    Very unreliable.

    Just like during a hunt, before Chu Tingwu could react, her eyes had already helped her capture the traces of the prey¡ªlike when catching mice: her eyes were normal before and after the moment of action, but at the moment of striking, her eyes would turn yellow.

    But there were also drawbacks.

    That is, when Chu Tingwu focused, she could see very far, but at that time, things very close to her would be a bit blurry.

    She found it convenient to observe moving creatures, but stationary ones were almost invisible to her.

    After squatting in a corner of the airport for a while, Chu Tingwu suddenly stood up and walked forward.

    In front of her, a college student was looking confusedly at his ticket and then looking up to find the check-in counter. He was carrying arge backpack and dragging a suitcase.

    There were many peopleing and going on this holiday, and many people were carrying suitcases. Someone walked behind the college student, and just as their phone vibrated, as if they had received a message and were about to check it, in the second they raised their hand, the phone slipped from their wrist, smoothly opening the college student''s bag, taking out a tablet and headphones from the outermostyer, and then kindly helping him zip it up before turning around and leaving.

    During this time, the person was wearing a hat and a ck mask, hiding half of their body behind the college student while performing the entire action. After getting what they wanted, they stuffed it into their own bag, while the college student was still looking at his ticket,pletely unaware that he had already been robbed.

    Nowadays, people rarely carry cash with them, especially young people, but electronic devices are not few. Losing a phone is easy to notice, but other devices are harder.

    The airport is still a good ce for thieves to work. Some people might suspect they forgot to bring their electronic devices when they notice them missing, and if they are in a hurry to board the ne, this time is enough for the thief toplete the process of disposing of the stolen goods.

    Chu Tingwu brushed past the thief.

    The thief was standing there, looking for another target. After observing the surroundings for a while, he turned around and opened his bag to see how today''s harvest was, but his actions suddenly paused:

    The tablet and headphones he had just stolen were gone.

    Thief: "¡­¡­"

    Thief: "?"

    He began to doubt whether he had stolen anything at all.

    He subconsciously looked at the college student, whose backpack''s zipper was open, and from a distance, he could see the edge of the tablet protruding.

    Someone passed by and patted him: "Hey, you forgot to zip up your bag, be careful!"

    College student: "Ah? Ah! Oh my god! Thanks, thanks!"

    The college student zipped up his bag, thought about it, and turned the backpack around, hanging it directly in front of his chest.

    Thief: "?"

    He no longer just doubted; he was now certain.

    There must be something wrong with his memory... forget it, he could steal something else.

    With a faint sense of doubt and anxiety, this thief now targeted a woman who had left her bag on a seat to go to the bathroom.

    Although there were people on both sides of the seat, one was ying with their phone and the other was listening to music, he still felt confident.

    He walked over calmly, dropped his own bag on the ground, took off his coat and draped it over the back of the chair, then started to bend over and search for the coat pocket.

    The coat blocked the view on the left, and as he bent down, he used his arm to block the movement of his other hand, easily opening the woman''s bag, taking out a watch and wallet.

    This time, he used the posture of putting on his coat to directly stuff the stolen goods into his own coat pocket, then picked up his bag and quietly walked forward.

    He walked to Area D, where there were more people, and the crowd in front of him began to push towards him, so he subconsciously took a step back, searching for a target with his eyes, but suddenly felt a sharp pain in his heel!

    Then he lost his bnce and fell backward.

    "Hey! Are you okay? Hey!"

    The people who squeezed over and those behind were a bit surprised, and the closest one instinctively wanted to help, but the crowd gathered, making the thief feel inexplicably uneasy. He got up by himself, waved his hand to indicate he was fine, and then put his hand into his pocket.

    ...The watch and wallet he had just gotten were gone.

    No, it wasn''t just that...

    He opened his bag and saw that most of today''s gains were also gone!

    Thief: "!?"

    "You..." He swallowed the curse, "Don''t let me find you!"

    It wasn''t the police, definitely not. If the cops had found him, they would have just taken him away. This technique, this proficiency, this must be a fellow thief!

    He understood: the tablet and headphones in the college student''s bag were probably fake! This fellow thief must have had an aplice who had prepared fake goods in advance, and when they noticed him working here, they yed a trick on him. In the underworld, being outyed by someone''s skills meant that this ce had been imed by them, warning him to leave quickly.

    The thief looked around, saw the police at the security checkpoint, and for a moment, he actually felt the urge to report the incident, but then he gave himself a p: report what! He didn''t believe that after practicing his skills for so many years, he could be outdone by someone else?

    Thief Old Ba began to roam the airport looking for opportunities, and then, he was caught.

    Yes, very quickly.

    Old Ba wasn''t caught because of a mistake; he was identally caught on camera showing half his face.

    As a "veteran" like him, he had definitely been in jail a few times. Now, with the advancement of camera recognition technology, they could catch familiar faces like his for questioning.

    Even if they couldn''t catch him red-handed, detaining him for twenty-four hours was enough to look into his old cases.

    For this kind of petty theft, even if he had been in jail and gained experience, it was really hard to change after getting out. If he couldn''t find opportunities here, he must havemitted crimes elsewhere.

    He was escorted by the airport police to the nearby Wanbei Police Station, and Chu Tingwu also "got off work." She rubbed her eyes and prepared to go home and rest, but the system was still paying attention to the follow-up.

    The police at the police station saw Old Ba, their old acquaintance, with disdain and helplessness, and didn''t waste words: "So, how much this time?"

    Old Ba: "¡­¡­"

    Old Ba raised three fingers: "Can I reduce my sentence if I report a fellow thief?"

    "Oh?" The police officer who had already started recording looked up, "Tell me?"

    Old Ba then recounted the incident of failing to steal and being stolen from today.

    He was also helpless. If he hadn''t been so angry at the fellow thief, he wouldn''t have been so careless. Since he was going to jail, that fellow thief shouldn''t think of getting away!

    The police officer at the police station: "¡­¡­"

    The officer could see what he was thinking at a nce, but if the situation was true, it really needed to be taken seriously.

    ording to Old Ba''s ount, if it was really a gang, they had to investigate it seriously! There hadn''t been any gang crimes in Jin City for a while, and they had to crack down!

    With the mindset of catching a big case, the police first contacted the airport and found the college student who had been stolen from through surveince. When hended, they called to ask if his tablet was real.

    College student: "What police, what about my tablet again? You guys aren''t scammers, are you?"

    Police: "¡­¡­"

    It''s good to have anti-fraud awareness, but they had to go through some effort to prove themselves, only to find out that the tablet was indeed original.

    College Student: "Wow, it was actually touched by a thief!? Does that mean I can''t touch it! Should I get someone to collect fingerprints!"

    College Student: "Are you guys flying over, or should I take it to the police station!"

    College Student: "Um... will you check the contents inside? Can I open it and delete some stuff first..."

    "I want to leave a clean te in this world!"

    Police: "We won''t being over for now, just put it in a sealed bag to protect it, and we won''t check the contents inside."

    These days, there aren''t any thieves who can alter the contents of the stolen items!

    College Student: "..."

    For some reason, there''s a bit of disappointment.

    As for the police, they can''t just fly to another city just because of Old Ba''s words. They are currently reviewing surveince footage.

    In the end, after a half-day''s work, the police sat in front of Old Ba.

    Old Ba showed an expectant expression.Aliali: 67487676c4f3f33ac4792458

    The police gave a forced smile.

    Old Ba: "..."

    Police: "Sorry, but you''ve always avoided the surveince cameras when stealing, so we didn''t capture any footage of you taking the item, nor did we find any footage of the item being returned."

    So, there''s no way to prove that Old Ba stole it, and how can we prove that someone else stole it from Old Ba and returned it without leaving any information... What''s the point! They even called the passerby who reminded the college student to zip up their bag!

    Old Ba showed another expectant look: "Then... can I get a reduced sentence if I didn''t steal that much?"

    The police had a nk expression.

    In theory, it''s possible.

    But the colleagues were upset about being fooled, so they worked overtime for three days, digging up other cases of his, and adding them up to bump his sentence to the next level.

    So.

    Off you go!

 Chapter 51

    Jin City, Wanbei Police Station.

    In the interrogation room, the police officer tapped his pen on the desk: "Old Du, we''re practically acquaintances by now. This is an official interrogation - are you willing to take responsibility for everything you say?"

    "Old Du," sitting across the table, twitched his lips: "I only stole two salted fish, what''s there to take responsibility for?"

    Police officer: "Just two fish?"

    Old Du: "What else would there be?"

    Police officer: "Nothing that was ''stolen and then mysteriously returned''?"

    Old Du: "What are you talking about?"

    The police officer drew in a sharp breath, muttering: "...And working only weekends, taking weekdays off?"

    Old Du: "?"

    After the interrogation, the police officer massaged his neck and asked his colleague: "Did you find the surveince footage?"

    Colleague: "No, but we found the victims in the footage. I called to warn them about the thief."

    As for fingerprints on the stolen items, they only detected the thief''s prints.

    The colleague licked his lips: "...There might be a clue, though I''m not sure if it counts - we found a cat hair on one piece of evidence, but the owner doesn''t have a cat."

    They were discussing the recent "strange urrences" at Jin City Wanbei Airport. The airport had caught several thievestely, both familiar and unfamiliar faces, but oddly enough, these thieves all mentioned the same "mysterious phenomenon" - their stolen items would inexplicably return to their original owners.

    Most believed it was the work of rival thieves, while others suspected police sting operations.

    The police were equally puzzled - despite extensive surveince coverage, they couldn''t achieveplete coverage due to the high foot traffic. The cameras only caught thieves stealing items, never showing how the items were returned.

    The case was beginning to venture into the supernatural realm.

    However, after several weeks, they discovered some patterns:

    First, the cat hair - found on two different items.

    Second, the schedule - this "suspect" seemed to be either a student or office worker, only appearing on holidays and weekends, following a very regr pattern.

    The police tried undercover operations, watching known thieves to catch someone in the act. Strangely, whenever police watched a thief, nothing unusual happened - but simultaneously, thieves caught in other terminals would again insist on the existence of this "urban legend."

    After consideration, Wanbei Police Station reported the case upward, eventually catching the attention of criminal investigation experts. A special task force from downtown created a suspect profile based on the clues:

    "The suspect is cautious, patient, and likely has obsessivepulsive tendencies."

    Stolen lipsticks were returned with caps tightly secured and surfaces cleaned.

    "Height below 170cm, gender currently undetermined."

    This was deduced from surveince footage and package handling details. In some footage, victims remained under camera coverage, requiring the suspect to return items quickly, narrowing down the pool of suspects.

    They reviewed extensive footage, documenting all cases where the suspect "selected" victims and warned them about their lost items.

    Everything seemed coincidental, but the challenge of finding this "mysterious person" excited the task force -

    Currently, this "suspect" barely qualified as one; more urately, they were a good Samaritan who preferred anonymity, so despite being a special task force, everyone maintained a rxed attitude.

    Their actual purpose in seeking this person was:

    "Such skilled techniques, this ability to evade surveince - it couldn''t have been learned overnight. We have limited clues, but I dare guess this might be a reformed master thief, one who specialized in technical skills... Ah, nowadays everything''s digital payment, but fifteen years ago, everyone practiced technical skills, their handiwork was truly impressive."

    "We''re mainly unsure whether this ex-con is just doing good deeds on weekends, or looking to mentor a sessor among these novices while testing them."

    Most ex-criminals struggle to find work, but those who mastered theft at this level were true artisans. The police system had precedents of recruiting former criminals as informants and even having criminals train police in advanced techniques.

    If such a master thief had appeared in Jin City, it would be better to determine their current status quickly.

    They could even pay New Year visits to their home.

    With this mix of leisure and urgency, the task force continued investigating existing clues.

    Until this Saturday, when the case suddenly broke through.

    - Not because they caught someone, but because someone came to them voluntarily.

    -

    Though the undercover operations hadn''t caught their target, they hadn''t withdrawn their inclothes officers from the airport.

    If they couldn''t catch the big fish, they could still catch petty thieves.

    Recently, all the familiar thieves had been arrested, so the inclothes officer at Terminal One blended into the crowd, quietly watching suspicious individuals.

    Sigh, another person abandoning their bag to buy water.

    And this one, ying with their phone while their broken-zippered bag sits at their feet - they''re asking to be robbed!

    People are too careless these days.

    The undercover officer scanned the area and quickly spotted a suspicious person. Though the face was unfamiliar, both their gaze and posture were typical of a thief.

    - After catching so many, you develop an instinct for their mannerisms and behavior patterns.

    Officer Wang lowered his head, pretending to check his phone while reducing his presence, actually notifying his colleagues in the surveince room to watch this area''s cameras.

    He could then work on catching someone red-handed.

    The targeted thief seemed to have chosen a young woman.

    Wang nced over and immediately understood why: the young woman was tall and slender, wearing a long trench coat, holding a phone with one earbud in.

    She carried a loose hiking backpack, but from his case experience, the officer could tell her entire outfit was expensive - just her shoes were worth several months of his sry.

    Plus, wearing earbuds meant reduced alertness - such a target would be easy to rob.

    The young woman wore a face mask and, fashionably, a single glove. After checking her screen for a while, she yawned.

    In the flow of people, the thief used passing movement to open her backpack zipper, then turned around, appearing to hurriedly double back... No one around noticed he had already reached into her bag.

    At this moment, the young woman was looking up into the distance, seemingly lost in thought.

    Wang quietly approached.

    Suddenly, the young woman reached behind her and grabbed the thief''s wrist.

    In this instant, Wang saw the new thief clearly freeze, but he reacted quickly, seemingly about to withdraw his hand, either to turn the tables or use the momentum to push away and escape-

    An adult male''s strength would naturally exceed a young woman''s.

    Wang hurried his pace.

    "Ah!"

    Someone nearby who witnessed this suddenly cried out.

    ...Because they saw the girl holding the man''s wrist step forward slightly, apply gentle force, and using his hand as a pivot point, made him rotate 180 degrees in mid-air.

    Whatever the thief had nned to say was reduced to an "Ow!"

    This caused onlooking pedestrians to freeze:

    Are you two performing acrobatics?

    Wang suddenly realized the girl had nced in his direction.

    Then, she released the groaning thief and strode forward.

    The thief''s hand was still stinging, his legs and bottom sore from hitting the ground, hesitating between running away or falling down to fake injury, when Wang rushed over and pinned him down.

    When Wang looked up, he saw the young woman who had caught the thief now holding onto a woman carrying a child.

    The child appeared to be about two years old, wearing their own little clothes and shoes, sitting bewildered to one side before suddenly bursting into loud tears.

    Then Wang Undercover saw the girl precisely locate his undercover colleague in the crowd and point in his direction, saying, "This person is a human trafficker."

    The woman who had been struggling and cursing suddenly froze, then began struggling even more violently, turning her head as if wanting to bite the girl.

    But the girl precisely raised her hand, held down the woman''s head, and restrained her legs - her movements resembling a butcher pinning down a pig.

    If the situation had been reversed, with the girl being pinned down, the onlookers might have hesitated - after all, it would have appeared to be bullying. But with a young girl who probably hadn''t even started college pinning down a woman in her forties, and with a child nearby, even if this act of bravery turned out to be a misunderstanding, the situation wouldn''t be too tense.

    So after the undercover colleague took over and Wang Undercover brought over the thief he had caught, showing their credentials to the surrounding crowd, they joined up with the airport police and took everyone, including the child, to the airport security room.

    At this point, Wang Undercover still hadn''t harbored any suspicions about the young girl.

    Because they quickly confirmed through questioning that the woman was indeed a human trafficker. They had been transporting a child to a buyer, but at the airport, she couldn''t resist the opportunity when she saw a child alone near the bathroom, conveniently out of view of the security cameras.

    Human trafficking rings often loved recruiting women, from their seventies and eighties down to their forties (the main force) and even as young as fifteen or sixteen. People naturally viewed women as "fragile," which traffickers turned into an advantage in their criminal activities.

    In a neighboring city, there had even been a case of a six-month pregnant woman trafficking humans - it was a husband and wife operation, making money while expecting a baby, with the mother-inw handling buyer contacts. They had turned it into aplete family business.

    Since this was a human trafficking case, the police immediately sealed off all exits when they caught the woman, interrogating her while urgently investigating her aplices, trying to quickly rescue the other child.

    The special task force, which had been idling at a nearby police station dealing with the thief, immediately came to assist, no longer concerned with the petty theft.

    The good Samaritan girl was asked to wait in the rest room to prevent any retaliation from the trafficker''s aplices.

    However, when the expert wanted to chat with the girl who first discovered the trafficker to see if there were any missed clues, they opened the rest room door to find she had disappeared.

    She had reportedly gone to the bathroom.

    Everyone became absorbed in their busy work, gradually forgetting about the witness who hadn''t returned from the bathroom.

    Soon, the police caught the aplice and found the child.

    Apparently, when the aplice realized something was wrong, they immediately tried to abandon the child and escape, but when they reached the door, the automatic door happened to malfunction. The security guard noticed something suspicious, and passersby rushed over saying, "How could you abandon the child?" Thus, the aplice was easily apprehended by the security guards at the airport entrance.

    Almost as soon as the expert sat down, the case was solved, the entire incident filled with fortunate coincidences.

    The special task force returned the same way they had arrived, just with three more criminals in custody.

    But upon seeing the unfortunate thief, the expert had a thought and said, "Show me the security footage of the thief''s arrest again."

    The footage showed the good Samaritan girl, under 170cm tall, dressed neatly, wearing a glove on one hand.

    The expert asked the two undercover officers, "Does this kid have cats?"

    Wang Undercover: "...She didn''t seem to smell like cats?"

    Expert: "Oh, she has OCD."

    Wang Undercover: "?"

    The other officer: "There might have been cat hair on her cor, but I might be seeing things?"

    Expert pped his hands: "She has cats!"

    The other officer: "?"

    "That reaction, that height, that OCD, and the cat hair¡ª"

    Others: Wait, wait, wait!

    Expert: "And my instinct as a criminal investigator of forty-plus years - hmm, our witness is quite interesting, isn''t she? Have you found out who she is?"

    With the police on the case, the investigation moved quickly. Almost as soon as the expert finished speaking, someone poked their head in from next door: "We found her, she has an online wiki page."

    Expert: ?

    That''s not right... she even has a wiki page? At such a young age, could she really be a master thief...

    Colleague: "She''s a minor, and she''s a famous cat and parkour content creator. She''s quite well-known and is currently updating a series of videos about airport safety awareness¡ª"

    In the first episode of the video series, you could see someone making a phone call. Probably not wanting others to hear their conversation, they walked toward the edge while talking.

    Their luggage was left in its original spot.

    A hand reached out, calmly pulled away the suitcase, and unhurriedly walked toward the corner.

    The expert immediately recalled the situation: this was a thief from a while back, incredibly bold, directly wheeling away suitcases to a corner to take valuable items before abandoning the luggage.

    When this victim discovered their suitcase was missing, they immediately reported it to the police, but when it was found, the airport police discovered that none of their belongings were missing - the suitcase was just lying on its side with expensive electronics ced on top.

    Passing travelers questioned the victim: "How could you leave it like that? It''s so easy to steal."

    The victim: "..."

    Had the thief had a change of heart?

    But the video didn''t show what happened next. The content creator filmed the theft process and the opened suitcase after it was stolen, with both the victim and thief''s identities censored, warning viewers to be careful with their belongings and never let important property out of their sight.

    If the victim hadn''t been a real victim and the thief a real thief, it would have been quite an educational video.

    The followers obviously thought they were all actors¡ª

    [Master Chu''s business is really expanding... I watched until the end thinking it was an ad for coded luggage, and was happy that you finally got a sponsor! But there wasn''t even an ad?]

    [Maybe because Chu doesn''t need money? But the suitcase in the video had a code too, yet the thief still opened it? I''m curious how they did it.]

    [There are so many unfamiliar actors in this series, did Chu randomly find people at the airport to film? They don''t seem like acquaintances... Everyone acted so naturally!]

    [Yes, yes, yes! Isn''t anyone going to praise the acting of the censored performers? Even though their personal information wasn''t revealed, not even their faces, whether they were ying with phones, listening to music, checking maps, or making calls - those body movements were so authentic! Makes me want to criticize certain... ahem...]

    [Maybe they were actually ying themselves? Only the thief was a real actor, a technical professional hired by Master Chu, first acting out the theft, then apologizing to the victim - honestly, if I encountered something like this, I wouldn''t be too angry, since nothing was lost, they were just trying to warn me in this way...]

    [But randomly stealing things isn''t good, right? They must be actors?]

    [Has anyone noticed how skilled the thieves are? If it weren''t for the slow motion andmentary, I wouldn''t even be able to see clearly! Did Chu spend big money on a magic troupe? Come to think of it, none of the thief teachers are repeated! Is this magic troupe that busy?]

    The police: "..."

    They were indeed busy - they went straight to jail after their "performance."

    Everyone silently watched through this series of videos, their expressions gradually changing from surprise to numbness:

    Due to the outstanding performances and not knowing the "cast list," fans began calling the thieves "Thief Teachers." And because of the disyed technical skills (...) being so superior, the "actors" all had real abilities - even the victims who were robbed acted very naturally. As a result, this series of videos was slowly going viral, with likes, shares, andments all increasing.

    It seemed this would be the young girl''s fourth signature video series after her "Cat Food Series," "Cat Census Series," and "Parkour Series."

    Even though they hadn''t met the content creator in person today, they would probablye across the videos soon and be shocked to discover: How is this thief teacher an actual thief? How does your list of thieves match exactly with our investigation list? We''re investigating "big thieves stealing from small thieves" - could you be that big thief yourself?

    Expert: "You know what... this actually has some educational value?"

    Everyone: "..."

    Expertmented: "It''s precisely in these natural situations that things appear more vivid and realistic. Look, if we were to take people out of prison to film such videos, they definitely wouldn''t act this naturally!"

    Everyone: "...Yes, indeed."

    The expert sighed: "What are you waiting for? Contact our brave youngdy, get her statement from today, and give her a banner of recognition while you''re at it!"

    Just as the expert finished speaking, a notification popped up at the top of the screen¡ª

    [The UP creator "Chu and Three-Five-Five" you just followed has posted a new video, check it out~]

    The expert clicked in and enabled thements.

    [Wow! The content of this series has be even richer! Today there''s not just thieves, but also kidnappers and undercover officers! Are you nning to transition into making narrative micro-videos?]

    Expert: Oh dear, what a headache.

    Although it was troublesome, they had to admit the video editing and pacing were excellent. Since Chu Tingwu didn''t have recording equipment, almost all footage was from her perspective without showing her face, which actually made it more immersive for viewers.

    As he watched, the expert became thoughtful: "You all keep watching... I need to step out."

    The audience couldn''t tell, but after their team''s long research, they could confirm from the videos that it was Chu Tingwu who had been stealing back items from thieves.

    Though they still suspected Chu Tingwu might have a "master thief" mentor teaching her techniques, they could tell from her style that this child wasn''t a bad person.

    ¡ªEven if her methods walked a fine line.

    But the expert tried to put himself in her shoes - if he were fifteen or sixteen and more skilled at theft than professionals, he probably wouldn''t be able to resist... resist what? With those skills, why not perform magic shows at ss parties instead!

    He helplessly rubbed his forehead and contacted the Jin City Police Chief with mixed feelings to exin the situation: "To be honest, I think her video series could serve perfectly as anti-theft education. This kid, I heard she also coborates with the police dog training base, so why does she respond to seeing thieves by stealing things back from them?"

    The police were right there beside you, you could have just told them directly.

    Not only did you not report it, but you posted videos online and stole things back without leaving your name.

    Given that she''s a minor, they needed to address this.

    When Chu Tingwu returned home that afternoon, she guessed her activities had been exposed.

    If the system hadn''t modified how her videos were promoted, those videos would have reached the police''s attention much earlier ¡ª though she knew they had no real evidence against her, so she figured she''d just get a lecture at most.

    ...The worst case scenario might be contacting her parents.

    To be honest, Chu Tingwu didn''t care much about this.

    While she appeared obedient, she had her own set of standards. She knew she was doing good deeds and wouldn''t go astray, so she didn''t concern herself with others'' opinions ¡ª just like how she still climbed over the school wall every day.

    But Chu Tingwu hadn''t expected that when the authorities contacted her, they would offer this choice:

    "Joint... publication?"

    Yes.

    It took about a week for the Jin City police to contact Chu Tingwu. They were straightforward, asking if she would be willing to modify these warning videos to be jointly published with the "Jin City Police Official ount" and revise the description to state "Video content depicts real events."

    In short, expose the true identity of these "thief teachers" and let viewers know they were actual thieves.

    Her videos had fulfilled the Jin City Police''s publicity goals, and they would help promote her content to increase its reach.

    Moreover, the police said: "We''ll give you the title of ''Police Little Helper'' to thank you for filming this series. We hope you can serve as a role model for others, Miss Chu, exposing wrongdoing while keeping yourself safe. Would you be willing?"

    This title was of course just a small "honor," but it was also a subtle reminder from the police.

    They gently advised her, hoping she wouldn''t stray from the right path.

    As for potential retaliation from criminals... there was nothing to be done since the videos were already spreading by the time they discovered them. They could only tell Chu Tingwu to be careful and exercise more, so adding a little helper title wouldn''t hurt.

    Chu Tingwu: "...Alright."

    She put down her phone and continued packing.

    The Fifth Middle School had officially started winter break, and Man Xing was helping Chu Tingwu clean up, putting dust covers on furniture and organizing Three-Five-Five''s supplies.

    Chu Tingwu''s final exam results hadn''t changed much from before, maintaining her usual stability, though An Shiyan had performed exceptionally well, pushing Chang Yixin out of first ce.

    Before the break, Teacher Yuan called several top-performing students to her office, asking them to self-study and preview materials whilepleting their winter break homework ¡ª apparently something wasing up after the break.

    But when it came to instructing Chu Tingwu, she hesitated: "You... ah, never mind, just arrange it yourself."

    After all, Chu Tingwu was always reliable, so there wasn''t much need for extra instruction.

    However, Teacher Yuan hadn''t expected that after returning home and finishing packing, Chu Tingwu woulde to push open her door and instruct her two teachers:

    "Make sure Coal Ball exercises every day. Coal Ball has lost one and a half pounds, but I heard from Mengmeng that you always fatten her up during New Year''s. She''s not at her standard weight yet... if you really can''t help it, at least measure her portions and feed her at set times - you have to be firm¡ª"

    Teacher Cao stood beside her, taking notes and nodding.

    Teacher Yuan held her chubby son, wearing the kind of smile usually reserved for facing the head of teaching: "Okay... okay, alright..."

    How strange - it felt like attending a parent-teacher conference for Coal Ball, being lectured by the homeroom teacher!

    Teacher Yuan: "By the way, Tingwu, are you going back to Fallen Phoenix City for winter break?"

    Isn''t your birth mother also in Jin City? Why are you packing so early?

    "No, I''m flying to Changdeng City," Chu Tingwu said, "I''ll be working as behind-the-scenes staff for a film shoot?"

    ¡ªAlthough the main portion of this orange cat movie would be filmed in Fallen Phoenix City, to show the orange cat''s thousand-mile journey to Fallen Phoenix City (yes, the film adapted this part of the story), they also needed to shoot scenes of the cat receiving training in other cities from a young age.

    Director Mu Lou ultimately chose Changdeng City in Ji Province.

    Man Xing bought three business ss tickets, for herself, Chu Tingwu, and Three-Five-Five.Aliali: 674843b7c4f3f33ac47659ac

    This time at Wanbei Airport, Chu Tingwu was actually going to board the ne. Afterpleting check-in procedures, she held Three-Five-Five''s leash in one hand, but before boarding, her gaze happened to meet that of an airport police officer.

    The officer looked at her, then at the cat.

    Then, the police officer smiled at her and raised his hand in salute.

    Chu Tingwu: "Man Xing."

    Man Xing: "Hmm?"

    Chu Tingwu: "I suddenly understand why some people are so carefree, thinking everyone in the world is good, even carelessly leaving their luggage around..."

    Man Xing: "!"

    She- she hadn''t left anything behind! She had watched her boss''s videos carefully!

    But her boss didn''t seem to be talking about her, just smiled and said: "Because some people really do keep meeting good people."

    Just like herself.

 Chapter 52

    Director Mu rented a row of rural houses on the outskirts of Changdeng City as a filming location.

    The location was in Dale Vige, which caught the director''s eye due to its uniquendscape and environment. The vigers had built their houses in a nearly circr pattern around the vige center, creating a distinct geometric beauty when viewed from above.

    In the central square stood an aged maple tree, reportedly a city-protected nt. Though the weather was turning cold, its leaves zed bright red. Behind it was the vigemunity center, with vibrant red slogans adorning its walls, exuding a sense of simplicity and warmth.

    Director Mu Lou often traveled to various locations for inspiration. She preferred filming in real locations rather than studio sets, enjoying incorporating her discovered scenes into her movies. Sometimes, a single shot could make a location famous.

    After Chu Tingwunded, the crew sent a car to pick her up.

    Though not an actress, she was part of the crew and was assigned to stay in one of the vige houses.

    Sitting in the back seat, Chu Tingwu learned from Man Xing''s conversation with other crew members that filming had already been underway for some time, with the director shooting scenes that didn''t require the cat.

    Director Mu Lou had previously sent the script to Chu Tingwu, who quickly recalled the scenes to be filmed in Dale Vige:

    "Is it the part where the male lead''s mindset changes through his interactions with the vigers?"

    Speaking of the "male lead," the cat was actually the true protagonist of this film. Based on a true story, the script had undergone significant adaptations¡ª

    Chu Le, a narcotics officer, returns to his hometown to recover after hisrade''s death and his own severe injury, which left him physically disabled. Feeling lost about his future, he deals with rtives who know nothing about his real job, assuming he''s just returning from military service, leading to many misunderstandings.

    While dealing with neighbors and rtives, Chu Le contemtes his future. When neighbors move away, one orange kitten is identally left behind and nearly freezes to death before Chu Le finds it. He takes in the kitten and, finding it intelligent and obedient, begins training it using drug-detection dog methods, leading to surprising results.

    Chu Le names the orange cat "Tiger Head" and gradually intensifies the training, practicing with it around the vige, causing more misunderstandings as vigers whisper that "the Chu boy has gone strange since returning from service." But his eyes grow brighter with each passing day, and during the training, he regains his confidence, believing he can still contribute to his fellow officers. He then returns to the narcotics squad with Tiger Head, resuming his work.

    The plot advances to an emergency mission where Chu Le must leave Tiger Head in temporary care while pursuing a drug trafficking organization with his colleagues. As core members of the gang flee, and after days of pursuit with some members captured, Chu Le falls into the traffickers'' hands while protecting his teammates. He pretends to be mentally unstable to avoid revealing his identity, gradually moving further from his colleagues'' ambush zone and being taken to Fallen Phoenix City.

    This portion is from the male lead''s perspective, interspersed with Tiger Head''s viewpoint.

    From discovering Chu Le''s disappearance to deciding to search for him, the police and the cat take different paths, with the cat following its owner''s scent all the way to Fallen Phoenix City.

    ording to the plot design, this is when Three-Five-Five appears, along with the female lead of the film.

    Being Director Mu''s film, the cast includes many celebrities¡ªeven the actor ying the neighbor''s son for contrast has hundreds of thousands of fans. Though not a major role, it provides consistentic relief without alienating the audience. For contrast, there are also several morous scenes.

    Chu Tingwu suspected that for these two scenes, the actor''s agency might have tried to secure a spot through investment¡ªthough unsessfully, as the investment positions were already filled.

    Additionally, the narcotics squad captain and team members with significant dialogue were all familiar faces on screen.

    The female lead had an even higher profile and would carry the second-most important storyline after Tiger Head in thetter half of the film.

    The female lead, Tao Xin, is a recent college graduate with an exhausting, low-paying job who nearly gets hit by a car after work. She happens to meet Tiger Head upon arriving in Fallen Phoenix City, leading to a cat-saves-damsel scene.

    Tao Xin wants to adopt Tiger Head but gradually discovers the cat''s extraordinary abilities¡ªfirst catching a pickpocket on a bus, then exposing a colleague''s ill intentions... Later, Tao Xin almost gets fired for bringing the cat to work but coincidentallynds a major deal. While her manager''s attitudepletely changes, before Tao Xin can celebrate, she discovers Tiger Head has disappeared.

    During the contract signing, Tiger Head had detected a suspicious scent from the client''s driver. The cat begins tracking, and Tao Xin, now believing in the cat''s abilities, instinctively helps. Through various mishaps, the male lead''s connection with his cat leads them to jointly solve the drug dealers'' challenges.

    At a critical moment, his colleagues arrive, rescuing the male lead and sessfully taking down the drug trafficking ring.

    The overall film plot isplete, offering both humor and emotional moments. The male lead has a highlight scene near the end where he works with the cat to catch fleeing drug dealers, while the early parts are filled withedic moments¡ª

    The only issue was that Chu Tingwu had only seen a note in the margin of the script halfway through, where Mu Lou had written "Three-Five-Five appears here," but without any details about the role or content.

    Chu Tingwu wondered: Would it recreate the real-life scenario?

    But the reality didn''t have all these family-friendly action sequences.

    Chu Tingwu got out of the car, with Three-Five-Five jumping out after her, while Man Xing helped carry her luggage to their amodation.

    Dale Vige wasrge, home to over a hundred households, with its circryout creating pathways between buildings leading to the vige center.

    As she got out, vige children watched curiously, holding freshly picked maple leaves.

    Chu Tingwu looked up and offered them a bag of chocte, asking, "May I climb onto your roof?"

    Won over by the chocte, the child immediately offered ess to their roof, suggesting, "Climb the tree¡ªit''s easier to get up there!"

    A parent who hade out with a bowl of chicken feed: "?"

    Before the parent could scold the child, they saw the young woman''s eyes curve into a smile as she leaped onto the wall, then the roof, shielding her eyes from the brilliant sunlight as she gazed toward the central maple tree.

    The cat followed her up, meowing before lying down, its tail swishing back and forth.

    Filming was underway in the vige center, with actors in the middle surrounded by crew members. The vige head had instructed residents to stay away unless specifically called as extras.

    The child''s parent climbed onto the roof with a basket of steamed buns, chatting with Chu Tingwu: "Are you with the crew, or are you here for the celebrities? Help yourself, they''re still warm."

    Chu Tingwu asked puzzled: "Are there celebrity fans here?"

    The parent enthusiastically replied: "Yes! They''re carrying heavy cameras and everything. They''ve even rented houses over there, saying they''re taking ''spoiler photos'' or something... We thought they were crew members at first, but the production team keeps them away and won''t let them film."

    Chu Tingwu realized: "Those must be fan site photographers?"

    Though unfamiliar with entertainment industry practices, she knew about fan photographers who tracked celebrities'' schedules.

    Some actors don''t reveal their joining of a production, but others, especially those who are popr, need to regrly release various news to maintain their fan base. Some fan site managers follow the schedule themselves, while others are deliberately informed by staff, even invited toe and take photos.

    From time to time, they release a bit of behind-the-scenes footage, get on the trending list, and keep the fans hooked.

    Director Mu Lou probably doesn''t like this, but since they are paying for the amodation, it''s not possible to forcibly drive them away. So, during filming, they try to keep them at a distance.

    After Chu Tingwu finished eating two steamed buns, the filming on the other side also came to a temporary halt. Director Mu stood up, spoke a few words with the production manager, and then turned around, looking towards the house arranged for Chu Tingwu.

    The production manager was about to make a phone call when Chu Tingwu, who was sitting on the roof, stood up and waved.

    Seeing this scene, Mu Lou: "¡­¡­"

    She looked helpless, patted the production manager''s shoulder, and then waved at Chu Tingwu: Come over quickly.

    As Chu Tingwu walked over, the child''s parents suddenly realized: "Is this little girl really an actress?"

    Could she be a child star?

    -

    That evening, the scene of Director Mu Lou waving made it to the trending list.

    The one who captured this moment was not a fan site manager but a staff member. Initially, Mu Lou chose this location for filming because of its natural scenery. As a result, this photo captured her expression beautifully. The light enveloped her, her eyes crinkled with a gentle smile, and behind her were scattered maple leaves. The surrounding equipment formed a blurred, darker background, making Mu Lou in the center appear radiant, her raised hand filled with anticipation.

    Since it had been previously revealed that a movie was being filmed, and there had been rumors of many celebrities joining the cast, this photo sparked a lot of fan spection: Who was Director Mu waving at?

    Fans of celebrities confirmed to be in the cast came forward to im, while fans of other stars who had hinted at their schedules spoke ambiguously. As a result, fans attacked each other, exposing each other''s secrets, and unexpectedly made it to the trending list.

    While the trending list was buzzing, Mu Lou herself posted a picture: "It''s her."

    The apanying photo showed a disgruntled tabby cat perched on a toolbox next to the director''s chair.

    Fans: "???"

    ¡ªOf course, all this happened in the evening. Mu Lou just saw the buzz and casually took a photo of Three-Five-Five, reminding the audience that her film''s protagonist is a "cat."

    For now, Mu Lou was pulling Chu Tingwu to look at the cats.

    "The scene where the male lead decides to adopt Tiger Head has already been shot, ten days ago. The actors at that time were these orange kittens. Now that the kittens have grown a bit, can we pick one toplete the subsequent scenes?"

    This refers to the part where Tiger Head transitions from "kitten" to "young cat." In the plot, the male lead trains Tiger Head for half a year, returns to the anti-drug squad, and then continues to work and train for another year. The movie can''t really film for a year and a half, so different stages require different cat actors.

    Although orange cats mostly look the same, the film will be shown on the big screen, and Director Mu has always been a perfectionist, hoping that the details will be as perfect as possible... If it weren''t for the budget constraints, she might have had the same cat y for a year and a half.

    Chu Tingwu heard Director Mu say: "It''s still a matter of insufficient funding..."

    Her previous films were more inclined towards "small but beautiful," and she hadn''t directed such a widely-received big film before, so investorscked confidence in waiting for her for a year and a half.

    Chu Tingwu was curious: "Do I need to pick out cat actors for different stages?"

    Director Mu: "Pick two for now, and I''ll see if we can mix and match the animal actors."

    ¡ªIn filmmaking, to save costs, scenes are often not filmed in chronological order but rather all the scenes in the same location are shot together.

    For example, before she arrived, the male lead Cheng Luwei had already finished filming the part from the lowest point in his life to returning to the police station,pleting most of the content at the Changdeng City Police Station that didn''t require a cat.

    It might be morning filming the scene of returning injured, withradesforting him, and in the afternoon, he''s back at the police station, full of energy.

    But animal actors are different; filming with animals especially requires patience... Sometimes, the crew can spend a whole day waiting for an animal to perform a single action, and even the top actors have to repeat the scene over and over, their faces stiff from smiling.

    And Director Mu had even bigger ambitions: "I want to make a big film with animal protagonists like those from Disney!"

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    For some reason, she suddenly shivered.

    Director Mu hoped to capture more subtle expressions and actions of the animals during filming, portraying the human-like posture and thought processes, and the intelligent image of the orange cat police officer. This couldn''t be aplished with ordinary animal actors¡ªthey needed to be able to understand the shooting content with Chu Tingwu''s help and even perform!

    This also required the animals to have more pronounced expressions in front of the camera.

    Chu Tingwu: "So, the cat''s meows won''t be tranted?"

    "Right," Director Mu said, "Like in animations, the plot is conveyed through expressions and body movements."

    If done well, it could be a milestone in film history, but if not, the cat''s heavy role without dialogue to fill the content would make the script feel unbnced and unclear.

    Chu Tingwu respectfully asked: "Where exactly did you get the investment from?"

    Mu Lou: "¡­¡­cough."

    While choosing the cats, the male lead also came over. The assistant director was handling scenes with other supporting actors, and Cheng Luwei, the male lead, wearing a thick cotton-padded jacket, led the way for the two to a viger''s home.

    Yes, these orange cats that were part of the film were not special; they were found in the city and are now being cared for by nearby vigers.

    The mother cat, an orange and white, was lying on her side nursing her kittens. These kittens were only about a month old, some were nursing, while others were stumbling to y with a ball in the corner of the box, only to fall t on their faces shortly after.

    Chu Tingwu''s expression slowly turned into: ==

    "Even the police dog base wouldn''t let me pick such young kittens..."

    At this age, what can you tell!

    The film director, the film''s male lead, and the crew''s production manager stood in a circle by the door, while Chu Tingwu, an underage girl, half-squatted beside the box, squinting at the kittens.

    The male lead Cheng Luwei couldn''t help but remind: "The mother cat is very fierce, be careful."

    Chu Tingwu knew he was right¡ªbecause his thick cotton-padded jacket had the scent of the mother cat''s saliva.

    Cheng Luwei is in his thirties, a child star who went on to study in a professional acting school. He has a face full of righteousness and is considered one of the young actors with both works and reputation.

    Because of his looks, he has often yed righteous roles. Previously, he wanted to break away from his fixed image, so he took on a viin role, but the audiencemented harshly: "I thought Cheng Luwei was an undercover agent until the end, but he wasn''t, it''s so disappointing!"

    Unable to seed with the viin role, he cleaned up and returned to his familiar roles... "Chu Le," the police officer role, was too familiar to him. It was clear that Director Mu chose him for stability. This film didn''t have much difficulty; the only concern was the animal actor he had to work with.

    Acting with animals is something only those who have done it know, and with Mu Lou''s high standards, it was bound to be tough.

    So, even though the "animalmunicator" hadn''t joined the crew yet, Cheng Luwei still went to bond with the kittens every day, ensuring that when filming started, the cats would stay in the frame and not run away at the sight of him.

    His agent was also helpless: With kittens this young, they couldn''t find experienced animal actors, and the duration of filming waspletely unknown.

    Chu Tingwu reached out, and the orange and white mother cat bared her teeth, standing up from her half-lying position.

    Chu Tingwu let out a soft "meow" that sounded much like the other kittens. The cat mother seemed puzzled and hesitated for a moment, giving Chu Tingwu the opportunity to quickly flip through all the kittens.

    She identified three male cats among the five orange kittens, and noticed that two of them had a white stripe on their bellies, leaving only one that truly met the criteria of being all orange.

    What else was there to choose from?

    She exined the situation to Mu Lou, who also felt a bit awkward. "When we took the photos, we just moved the cardboard box over. The cat mother was too fierce, and in the shots, all five looked orange..."

    That small white stripe was barely noticeable when they were so young.

    Chu Tingwu: "Taking the kittens for filming at this age might require adding a scene of feeding them milk. They still need to nurse. And, the initial scene was supposed to be about the kitten finding the key and pushing it back into ce¡ª"

    To show that "Chu Le discovers the orange kitten is smart, leading him to think about training it as a police cat," the beginning was set with a plot.

    Chu Le''s house key was always kept under the doormat. Once, it fell into a water pipe due to a prank by the vige kids. He went out to find tools, and when he returned, he found the kitten emerging from the pipe, strutting with a swagger, pushing the key back under the doormat, then plopping down on top of it and meowing at him.

    This part required a cat''s acting, specifically, a cat''s eyes that should be more expressive than a human''s¡ªother crews might use close-ups and editing, but Director Mu wanted a single shot.

    Chu Tingwu nced at the cat in front of her, giving Director Mu a look that said: Are you making things difficult for me?

    Mu Lou: "¡­Then let''s use this fully orange one as the lead, and his siblings can be stand-ins. As for age, um, Teacher Cheng, let''s add a scene where you''ve previously helped a neighbor feed their cat. So when you hear a cat meowingter, you think it''s just your imagination, but you worry the cat might really be abandoned, so you go out to check. That makes sense, right?"

    Problem solved!

    Chu Tingwu: "I''ll do my best."

    If it doesn''t work out, they''ll have to wait for the kittens to grow a bit older, though that might make the shooting schedule a bit tight.

    Director Mu''s decision added a bunch of scenes of the male lead interacting with the kittens. A viger who had been helping feed the cats stepped in to assist, moving the box with the cat mother and the orange kittens to the "neighbor''s" house.

    Chu Tingwu thus met more of the cast members.

    Director Mu referred to Cheng Luwei as "Teacher Cheng" and to her as "Teacher Chu," and because of his attitude, everyone, though surprised by her young age, was quite friendly.

    During the time the male lead was added to the scenes, Chu Tingwu went out with the production assistant and brought back an orange cat, six months old, named Orange.

    This adolescent orange cat was to be responsible for the part where the training had just begun.

    This orange cat actually had a pedigree; its mother had been an animal actor before, and its sister had starred in a cat foodmercial. In the car, the production assistant could hear Chu Tingwu and the cat meowing back and forth.

    Chu Tingwu said: "Tiger Head!"

    Orange "meowed" and sat up straight.

    Chu Tingwu: "The sound should be short and powerful, not ''meow,'' like this, ''meow!''... Can you understand? Meow, meow, meow, meow?"

    The production assistant: "¡­¡­"

    Such conversations continued all the way to the shooting location, the doorstep of "Chu Le''s" house.

    Chu Tingwu got out of the car with Orange, and the production assistant couldn''t help but nce at the kitten¡ªthough it was orange, its body was slender, and it didn''t seem to be afraid of strangers, its eyes turning to take in the surroundings.

    The shooting seemed to have paused for a break, and the actors were resting. Chu Tingwu noticed that the male lead, Cheng Luwei, not only smelled of cats but now also of milk.

    ... Not sure how he was getting along with the cat mother.

    She took Orange to see Director Mu, saying: "There are two options: either Cheng Ge helps me train Orange for a while, or we train on the spot while filming."

    Director Mu: "Let''s try the second one first?"

    He immediately set up the crew to shoot ording to the cat''s schedule¡ªthis time, filming the male lead training the cat in bite practice.

    Cats like to y with their prey, so the male lead, knowing the vige chief''s house had a mouse problem, took "Tiger Head" to catch mice but instructed it not to y with them, just bring them to him.

    They had already done simtion training, so this scene was sessfullypleted in one take, showing the high level of domestication of "Tiger Head."

    The director''s team bought mice, which they were now feeding alongside the cat, making these grey mice fat and big.

    Orange licked its lips, curiously approaching the cage, poking at it with a paw, then looking at Chu Tingwu: "Meow, it''s alive!"

    It''s alive, it won''t eat it, it only eats cat food and cat meals, and it also likes canned food and cat treats!

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    The first problem emerged!

    She and Orange stared solemnly at the cage. Just as others were curiously looking over, Chu Tingwu turned her head: "Three-Five-Five¡ª"

    Three-Five-Five, who had taken over the director''s chair, "meowed" and walked over, giving Orange a sidelong nce.

    When the two cats were put together, everyone could see that Orange was indeed still a young cat, smaller than Three-Five-Five. Seeing this adult cat, Orange, who had grown up at home, looked a bit timid.

    Chu Tingwu whispered something in Three-Five-Five''s ear, then opened the cage.

    The mouse didn''t run away. Three-Five-Five reached out a paw to push the mouse out, then picked it up and trotted to Cheng Luwei''s feet, slightly raising its chin to indicate it hadpleted the "task."

    Cheng Luwei, who had been drinking water: "!"

    He often yed such roles, his muscles well-trained, his figure tall and robust, but now he awkwardly crouched down, saying: "Is this¡­ for me?"

    Mu Lou: "Teacher Cheng =="

    Cheng Luwei immediately snapped back into character, even in his big padded coat, switching to "Chu Le" mode, giving the cat a gesture, then, ording to the plot, trapping the mouse and bending down with a loving and proud expression, patting Three-Five-Five''s head.

    Three-Five-Five also "meowed," sitting beside him and looking up at him, then forward.

    Mu Lou: "Cut! Perfect, that''s the effect I wanted!"

    She muttered: "Live mouse or dead mouse? Hmm, should the mouse be killed¡­"

    Teacher Cheng Luwei, back in reality, chuckled, looking down at Three-Five-Five beside his feet, praising Chu Tingwu: "Your cat is really well-trained, so smart and obedient¡ªhow did you train it like that?"

    As he reached out to pat Three-Five-Five again, he saw the cat suddenly turn its head away, then jump to the side, lifting a paw to rub its head, then started licking its paw disdainfully.

    Cheng Luwei: "?"

    Cheng Luwei looked at Chu Tingwu:

    Isn''t it, it''s acting me!?

    Isn''t it, it just acted!?

    Chu Tingwu: "This is my partner, Teacher Cheng, your partner is here."

    She pointed at Orange beside her feet, which looked up at him with a clear, foolish expression: "Meow?"

    Thanks to Three-Five-Five''s demonstration, Orange quickly imitated andpleted the scene. It seemed that with a few more repetitions, it would meet Director Mu''s requirements.

    Everyone was happy, thinking that the shooting would be faster than they had expected.

    Cheng Luwei showed his true colors as a cat lover. Though Orange wasn''t as expressive as Three-Five-Five and a bit spoiled, his gaze clearly showed his fondness.

    When moving to the actual shooting location, Cheng Luwei told Chu Tingwu: "I''ve also raised a cat before, but being an actor is too busy, and I couldn''t be with it, so I sent it to my parents."

    This time, it seemed he would be interacting with several cats during filming, so Teacher Cheng was quite happy.

    However... the smooth filming came to an end when they arrived at the vige head''s house.

    This time, it wasn''t the cat causing trouble, but the rats¡ª

    These rats, which had been overfed, didn''t run away when released!

    Upon discovering the issue, everyone instinctively looked towards... Chu Tingwu.

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­¡­"

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    Did she look like someone who couldmunicate with rats too?

    Mu Lou: "Let''s try luring them with food."

    The expectations for the cat were high, but the rats didn''t matter much. Just a few close-up shots of them scurrying and some footage of the cat catching rats would suffice.

    The food lure indeed worked, but only for thetter part of the scene. The rats didn''t show the "swift and agile" behavior Mu Lou had demanded; they just moved slowly after being well-fed.

    Assistant Director: "Maybe we should starve them for a couple of days..."

    Mu Lou frowned, thought for a moment, and then spoke a few words to Chu Tingwu.

    Everyone was curious, and they saw Chu Tingwu talk to Three-Five-Five for a bit.

    Then, the tortoiseshell cat let out a soft "meow" and quickly disappeared outside. After about fifteen minutes, the crew waiting for a cat saw the long-haired tortoiseshell dash in like a gust of wind, her steps nimble but not hurried, with a fierce and plump gray rat mped between her teeth.

    This gray rat was quite different from the ones the crew had been feeding. It kept trying to turn over and squeaked as it attempted to bite Three-Five-Five. It was clear that if released, it could be fierce enough to bite even a person.

    The cameraman instinctively moved to protect the equipment, while others grabbed the cages but dared not get too close.

    They only saw Three-Five-Five approach Chu Tingwu''s feet, slightly raise her head, and Chu Tingwu take out a cage.

    As Three-Five-Five let go, a gray shadow shot past, but the next second, there was a "ng" sound, and the rat was already trapped under the cage by Chu Tingwu.

    Before anyone could even utter their surprise, the "battle" was already over.

    This cat was really well-trained!

    Only the cameraman whispered: "Thank goodness, the machine is fine."

    He turned his head and saw Director Mu Lou''s eyes gleaming.

    Cameraman: ...Wait, what?

    Mu Lou: "Mr. Cheng, I think it''s reasonable to show the protagonist''s skills through some small details. He trains the cat while also keeping himself in shape, doesn''t it make sense? So¡ª"

    Cheng Luwei: "¡­¡­"

    The cat was gone.

    The orange cat and the tortoiseshell, which didn''t belong to him, were now both around Ms. Chu.

    And Cheng Luwei was left with an empty space in front of him, where a gray rat had been cleaned and thrown in. Multiple cameras were aimed at them, and he had to start practicing how to trap the rat with a transparent bowl (Mu Lou thought it looked more realistic).

    He could hear¡ª

    Chu Tingwu: "Meow."Aliali: 674843b7c4f3f33ac47659ac

    Orange Cat: "Mew?"

    Three-Five-Five pounced and pinned the orange cat, who couldn''t learn: "Meow!"

    Cheng Luwei: Meow.

    Let him meow a couple of times to blend in, because catching rats with bare hands is really not a human job!

    Mu Lou: "Ms. Chu, can you demonstrate again?"

    Chu Tingwu "oh"ed and jumped into the circle while taking the bowl from Cheng Luwei''s hand. With a lift of her foot, she urately stepped on the wild rat''s tail as it was driven over. When the rat looked up to bite, she bent down and trapped it with the bowl, lifting her foot to press on the bottom of the bowl¡ªso everyone saw the rat constantly bumping into the bowl but unable to escape.

    Mu Lou: "Mr. Cheng¡ª"

    Cheng Luwei was startled!

    Mu Lou: "I think¡ª"

    He''ll learn, he''ll learn, okay? Don''t let Ms. Chu demonstrate anymore! If she shows another new move, this scene will never get finished!

 Chapter 53

    Although Chu Tingwu''s addition brought challenges to the actors (perhaps only to the lead), it cannot be denied that with her presence, the progress of animal scenes became unexpectedly smooth.

    Director Mu Lou does not shoot night scenes due to her poor health. Some actors who joined the cast, especially those who needed to work with animals, were concerned about whether they couldplete their scenes within the deadline. However, after half a month, the filming progress was actually faster than expected by half.

    Chu Tingwu also became familiar with everyone during this half-month, especially with the orange-and-white cat mother.

    ¡ª The way they became familiar was a bit dramatic.

    When the kittens were young, the cat mother protected them tightly, but as they grew older, she became annoyed by their noise. Initially, Chu Tingwu visited a few times, and although the cat mother didn''t dislike her, she always kept a vignt eye on her, as if wondering: Are you also here to steal my kittens?

    Thanks to the help of the vigers and food offerings, the orange-and-white cat no longer refused her to take the kittens out.

    Once, she even licked Chu Tingwu twice.

    After this lick, Chu Tingwu returned home to find Three-Five-Five staring at her in shock.

    Later events, Chu Tingwu swore, she really tried to stop... but after Three-Five-Five coaxed her to sleep, she still sneaked out through the window and beat up the orange-and-white cat mother.

    Chu Tingwu: "She didn''t want to raise such a big kitten..."

    And the orange-and-white cat was still in confinement!

    But Three-Five-Five didn''t care. On the way back, she even gave Orange, the young cat who was very confused¡ªthough it had been beaten by Three-Five-Five so many times that it was already used to it¡ªa good beating.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    After this beating, the orange-and-white cat unexpectedly ceded the custody of the kittens. Even when Chu Tingwu took the kittens out in a cardboard box to bask in the sun for half a day, the orange-and-white cat didn''t bother anymore, just focused on sleeping and eating.

    Thus, Chu Tingwu brought the little orange cats to the filming site.

    The kittens had be lively. The crew numbered them ording to their roles from lead to stand-in, with the perfectly orange one being No. 1.

    The personalities of the five kittens also gradually became distinct. But Chu Tingwu approached Director Mu Lou: "No. 1 doesn''t like to move around."

    Indeed, not only was its color perfect, but its personality was also very "orange cat." After eating, No. 1 just wanted to sleep, while its siblings crawled around on the carpet, it slept under its mother''s belly.

    Mu Lou nodded, looking at Chu Tingwu with expectation.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    I really want to pretend I don''t understand at all.

    She was quite familiar with Teacher Cheng due to the cats. When that young actor came to ask about Cheng Luwei, she pretended to be clueless.

    But, this is the director.

    Chu Tingwu: "I think No. 5 might be more suitable, but it''s a bit thin."

    This orange cat was also very "orange," but because it was thest to be born and didn''t know how topete for milk, it was thinner than its siblings. It had been fed milk by the staff for several days.

    Chu Tingwu took out No. 5. This kitten "meowed" twice, wobbling its head and tentatively crawling on the sofa. Its eyes, not yet fully blue, looked a bit dull, but its head turning from side to side had a bit of cleverness.

    On such matters, Director Mu Lou didn''t mind listening to the "expert": "The only problem is, this is a female kitten, right?"

    So sometimes, her brothers have to stand in for her.

    Chu Tingwu suddenly remembered: "Speaking of which, Director Mu, what role does Three-Five-Five y?"

    Mu Lou: "..."

    Mu Lou: "My idea is to give Three-Five-Five the identity of a cat boss in Fallen Phoenix City. When Tiger Head first arrived in Fallen Phoenix City, he angered Three-Five-Five by not understanding the local dialect or the habits of stray cats... butter, they resolved their conflict, and Three-Five-Five even helped him in his quest for a master."

    Chu Tingwu: "Oh?"

    Mu Lou: "However, Three-Five-Five''s identity is not that of a stray cat. She''s a free-roaming cat in the countryside, meowing at home and being the boss outside¡ªin theter part of the movie, there''s a scene where Three-Five-Five leads the cats in a charge, and just as she does, her owneres home from school, calling her name from afar. She then runs over coquettishly, pretending not to know the other stray cats, who scatter in all directions."

    Mu Lou rubbed his chin: "The owner probably doesn''t know that their cat is the boss outside? They might even warn Three-Five-Five to be careful, afraid that she''ll be bullied by other cats?"

    Setting up a humorous contrast with the information gap.

    Chu Tingwu: "Oh?"

    Her face was half-serious, but she couldn''t help butugh: "Director Mu, will the owner''s role show their face?"

    Mu Lou knew there was a chance: "There''s a long-shot, showing the whole body, but the face isn''t visible. The owner is probably riding a bicycle home from school, with only the lower half of the body and hands shown in close-up."

    ¡ªIn fact, Mu Lou initially only wanted Three-Five-Five to y the cat boss and hadn''t considered adding the owner''s role. However, before that, she had her assistant inquire about Chu Tingwu''s attitude and learned from other channels that Chu Tingwu didn''t want her cat to y a stray cat.

    Mu Lou felt that without the element of being a stray, the plot design''s freedom was limited. As she revised, she came up with this role.

    I''m the boss outside, but at home, I''m your "meow."

    However, Mu Lou probably didn''t anticipate that if Three-Five-Five called out to Chu Tingwu sweetly, it wasn''t to flirt with the owner, but to coax a child.

    Chu Tingwu didn''t mind ying the role of this "owner," with probably just a couple of lines, equivalent to a bit more substantial extra, but without showing her face on screen.

    After agreeing, she handed the detailed contract negotiations to Man Xing.

    -

    Waking up from a nap, Chu Tingwu stretched her hand out of the nket, feeling the air was a bit cold. She touched her ears and heard someone outside say: "It''s falling, it''s falling."

    What''s falling?

    Her bed was next to the window. Sitting up, she saw that it was the maple leaves falling in Dale Vige.

    The weather had already turned winter, and the maple trees couldn''t hold on any longer, with leaves covering the ground.

    During this time, Director Mu had been calcting when the maple leaves would fall, postponing many indoor scenes. She had recently rushed to finish the scenes with the maple trees as the backdrop.

    Even Orange was tired. When Chu Tingwu met Orange in the lobby, the cat was sitting on the table, staring seriously at the can, with a gaze of weariness not typical of young cats.

    But after eating the can, it looked around, confusedly meowing at Chu Tingwu: "Why not go out?"

    Today, we''re not working?

    Chu Tingwu asked Director Mu and found out that today''s shooting focused on indoor scenes, featuring the little kittens. That is, No. 5 was working, and Orange was off today.

    Orange: "!"

    The cat''s face showed a human-like shocked expression. Then, it immediately ttened into a cat pancake, lying on the ground for a while before suddenly jumping up, running around, and then heading towards Cheng Luwei.

    Cats are very sensitive to human emotions. Orange had spent more time with Teacher Cheng and had long discovered that when it wanted to flirt for a can, choosing Cheng Luwei was more effective than Chu Tingwu.

    As a smart cat that could act, Orange realized that Cheng Luwei was very useful.

    Although he was big and serious, the cat could tell you were a good person.

    Of course, Chu Tingwu was also very scary because when she said "cut," both Orange and Cheng Luwei had to reshoot.

    ¡ªAt this point, Orange hadn''t realized that the woman behind the camera was the scariest big boss.

    However, Orange didn''t get to enjoy its break for long.

    Because Cheng Luwei was going to shoot with the little kittens.

    Then, when Orange heard Cheng Luwei call the little kitten "Tiger Head," its eyes widened immediately.

    Chu Tingwu: "What are you surprised about? Your name is ''Orange,'' not ''Tiger Head.''"

    Orange: "Meow meow meow?"

    The cat felt both names belonged to it!

    Too unfair!

    Chu Tingwu grabbed the orange cat to prevent it from interfering with the shoot. The little kitten had more retakes, and some shots had to be pieced together, requiring multiple retakes.

    Chu Tingwu stood to the side and watched for a while, deep in thought, then suddenly reached out and grabbed the orange-and-white cat that had wandered in unknowingly.

    Holding one cat in each hand, she bent down and discussed with the orange-and-white cat: "How about I teach you, and you teach the kittens? What do you think?"

    The unpredictability of the kittens was too strong, so yesterday she had a chat with a trainer from the Jin City Police Station''s dog training base. After learning some tips, she realized that she could teach the mother cat, and the mother cat could then teach the kittens by example.

    Perhaps it wasn''t toote to change thezy nature of "Little One."

    Mother Orange-and-White: "?"

    What is this kitten talking about?

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    After being treated as a minor due to her human age and facing inconvenience in many matters, she was now being looked down upon by the mother cat because of her kitten identity.

    Chu Tingwu sighed: "Three-Five-Five..."

    The tortoiseshell cat "meowed" and came over to push the orange-and-white cat aside.

    ---

    During a break, Cheng Luwei took a sip of water and looked at his assistant: "Where''s Tiger Head... I mean, Orange?"

    Assistant: "Outside, I think? It seems to have been taken out to y by Teacher Chu."

    Curious, Cheng Luwei walked to the window and just caught sight of Chu Tingwu''s back¡ª

    But in front of her were three cats.

    One was a disappointed orange cat, one was a confused orange-and-white cat, and the other was the long-haired tortoiseshell cat, Three-Five-Five.

    How to put it? Cheng Luwei patted his muscles and thought that if he fought Three-Five-Five, it might be a fifty-fifty chance. Although the mother cat''s strength wasn''t as strong as his, her reflexes were more agile.

    At that moment, not knowing what Chu Tingwu had said to Three-Five-Five, the tortoiseshell cat turned to talk to the orange-and-white cat, who seemed a bit impatient but didn''t move. The orange-and-white cat''s ears twitched, and suddenly¡ªit turned and gave Orange a p on the head.

    Orange: "?"

    The cat was just spacing out, why hit it!

    If it were the previous Orange, it might have endured, but recently it had been trained and had learned to fight from Three-Five-Five. Orange''s anger red, and it raised its head to roar back at the orange-and-white cat.

    Three-Five-Five: "..."

    So noisy.

    Before Chu Tingwu could say anything, she stepped in and gave each of them a punch.

    Cheng Luwei upstairs: "Haha, is Teacher Chu acting like a kindergarten teacher?"

    Looks mature and grown-up, but at heart, she''s still a cute little kid.

    The cute little kid took out her phone and showed it to the two cats that weren''t hers: "The training content I require is only half of what''s on this, Orange. Look, I didn''t make you jump through fire hoops, did I? I didn''t make you jump from such a high tform either. Have you done this kind of climbing training? To graduate, you''ll have to beat... well, a human male as tall as Teacher Cheng. Can you do that?"

    Orange: "Meow..."

    The kid argued: "Is all this effort for me? No, it''s for your canned food. If you perform well and finish early, I''ll tell your owner to buy you more canned food. And the skills you learn will be useful anywhere. Look at Three-Five-Five, teaching you guys acting will also earn her rewards, with extra meals every day, and she can y with your favorite stuffed mouse toy¡ª"

    Three-Five-Five: "?" She doesn''t y with toys.

    But since the kitten said so, she had to sit upright and modestly "meowed" in response.

    Orange''s head drooped even lower: "Meow..."

    The kid then looked at the orange-and-white cat: "Isn''t it better for Three-Five-Five to teach you than to teach your kittens? If you don''t ept, I''ll let Three-Five-Five lick all the kittens clean, really lick them, and Teacher Cheng will too. Then the babies will all smell like something you hate¡ª"

    Completely unaware of being talked about, Cheng Luwei was still smiling foolishly at the kittens.

    Chu Tingwu: "In short, learn a skill, and you''ll always have cat food to eat. Think about it yourselves!"

    What was there to think about? Orange was just being a bit spoiled, and the orange-and-white cat nced at Three-Five-Five and submitted.

    With the cats cooperating, the filming progressed faster. The only problem was that the kittens had many "cute" expressions, which would gradually be more resolute as they grew up... This part stumped the acting teacher, Three-Five-Five.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    Chu Tingwu: "Orange?"

    Orange sessfully taught a few kittens how to use a special attack version of a baby voice to sell cuteness.

    Three-Five-Five: "?" Her paws were itching.

    But Three-Five-Five didn''t get the chance to hit the cats. As time passed day by day, Orange''s scenes werepleted.

    Orange''s owner came to pick it up. Normally, they would have left someone to take care of Orange and guide it in acting¡ªtheir family was something of an animal actor dynasty, and Orange''s mother was also an animal actor cat, with more experience in this area.

    However, after signing the contract, it happened that another cat in their family also needed to shoot an ad, and they were short-handed. Finding that Chu Tingwu could get along well with the little orange cat, the owner left Orange with her.

    This time, after a month apart, the owner was amazed: "Orange, you... you''ve gotten so much stronger!"

    She originally wanted to say that the kitten had grown up, but looking at the cat''s physique, she felt that the word "grown" couldn''t urately describe it. Orange''s limbs were obviously stronger, and when it crouched on the chair, its expression was very serious, making the owner wonder if she had been given a different cat.

    She called out "Orange," and the sturdy young orange cat responded with a short and firm "meow."

    Owner: "..." It felt like the cat had been sent to boot camp.

    When she picked up Orange and patted its head, the cat nestled on her shoulder and "meowed" toin about Chu Tingwu''s behavior, Three-Five-Five''s ferocity, and "wanting canned food." The owner immediately felt that her orange cat was back.

    This little look, it was still the same cat.

    She greeted the director''s team, received thepletion bonus for Orange, and specially found Chu Tingwu to give her a red envelope.

    "Just for good luck, it''s almost New Year''s," the owner smiled. "Thank you for taking care of my little orange cat."

    Although it wasn''t that little anymore, it was still a bit heavy when carried on the shoulder.

    Chu Tingwu: "Ah, thank you. By the way... Orange can now understand manymands. Shall I send you a table?"

    Owner: "?"

    Is... is the training not over?

    The red envelope was obviously prepared in advance, with neatly arranged six hundred and sixty-six yuan inside.

    Chu Tingwu looked around and saw a ck cat appear in the corner, wearing a small red scarf.

    Yes, it''s almost New Year''s.

    The entire month of shooting ended three days before New Year''s, and the entire crew moved to Fallen Phoenix City, taking a three-day break.

    Although Chu Tingwu had a ce to stay in Fallen Phoenix City, the crew still prepared a hotel room for her, making it more convenient for Chu Tingwu to attend meetings in the hotel''s conference room.

    ...The specific content of the meeting was still about casting.

    The scenes with the young kittens had been smoothly shot, but the scenes with the adult cats were more important, requiring higher acting skills... and a higher physique too!

    They needed a very strong and powerful orange cat, and the appearance of the orange cat couldn''t be too different from the young kitten, preferably growing ording to Orange''s look.

    They had already selected some cats, first from pet actor families, but none were suitable. They then expanded the selection range, asking owners to submit resumes for their cats, and managed to select a few. However, looking back now, even the assistant director felt something was off:

    "Orange cats all look the same, but after looking at these few on camera for a long time, I can tell they don''t look alike. Can we still make do with this?"

    Mu Lou rubbed his forehead: "¡­Let''s re-select."

    The crew decided to take a three-day break over the New Year, from New Year''s Eve to the second day of the New Year. During these three days, while others were on vacation, they could start selecting photos.

    We can''t start shooting after the New Year without having selected the main character, right?

    Chu Tingwu: "Do they have to be house cats?"

    Mu Lou: "Hmm... Any cat that meets the requirements will do, but if they''re not house cats, do we look for stray cats? Can we even shoot that?"

    Besides, isn''t that like finding a needle in a haystack?

    Chu Tingwu took out her phone, opened the 365 Cat Census APP, and in front of Mu Lou, imported a photo, which was a cat photo created bybining the original form of Tiger Head, Long Zai, with Orange''s orange cat face.

    [Matching...]

    In the next second, the matching results were disyed, and they were shown in order from the most to the least fitting.

    The top cat perfectly met the requirements and was located in Fallen Phoenix City. From the introduction, it could be seen that it was originally a stray cat in a residential area, recently adopted and renamed "Lang Lang."

    Besides the top choice, there were also backup options, all of which were not far from Fallen Phoenix City.

    Chu Tingwu didn''t need to do anything further. The task of contacting the cat owners was handed over to the casting director, who nned to arrange a day after the New Year for the cats to audition for the role.

    Mu Lou breathed a sigh of relief, somewhat amazed: "I never thought we could find a cat this way..."

    She had heard of the app but never downloaded it, and no one had thought of using it this way before.

    "By the way," she chuckled before letting the actors go on break, "Although the release date is still far away, we can start promoting now. We can release some non-spoiler materials."

    The specifics could be discussed between the actors'' agents and the production team.

    The production team also needed to be contacted to build momentum andy the groundwork in advance.

    Other child actors were managed by their agents, but Cheng Luwei''s social media ounts were in his own hands. He had been deeply immersed in filming and hadn''t been online much. Finally, he could take a few days off.

    Laying in the hotel bed, he felt a bit out of ce: "I always feel like something is missing... the meows... Maybe I should ask Teacher Chu Tingwu to lend me a cat?"

    His assistant, who was also looking at his phone, was speechless: "Cheng Ge, aren''t you afraid of getting beaten up by Teacher Chu''s cat?"

    This had actually happened before. A supporting actor had teased a tortoiseshell cat with a prop.

    The first time, the cat tolerated it.

    The second time, the cat suddenly sprang up without hesitation, pping the supporting actor''s forehead with a loud "smack," startling everyone.

    However, the person was fine because the cat hadn''t extended its ws, leaving just a big red mark and a dizzy head.

    Director Mu Lou didn''t say anything at the time, and Chu Tingwu nced at the scene but also said nothing. The supporting actor himself felt guilty and didn''t say a word.

    Butter, when reshooting the scene, Mu Lou noticed the inconsistency in the supporting actor''s face and casually cut that part out.

    Cheng Luwei: "I''m not talking about Three-Five-Five. Teacher Chu Tingwu isn''t familiar with the local cats? Can''t she introduce me to a cat that can keep mepany for a couple of days?"

    Assistant: "?" Why does that sound a bit off?

    The assistant changed the subject, urging Cheng Luwei to be more reliable: "Teacher Chu Tingwu isn''t in the hotel. She took her cat home earlier. Let me see... Oh, she posted a notice saying she''ll be live streaming tonight."

    During Chu Tingwu''s time on set, she had to stop live streaming for a long time due to filming needs.

    Cheng Luwei curiously leaned over: "What''s she going to live stream? Catching mice?"

    Assistant: "Cheng Ge, have you never watched Teacher Chu''s videos?"

    Cheng Luwei: "Uh... I skimmed through them, including the ones rted to the movie. But there are too many long videos, so I just read some text information. I do know she''s quite skilled."

    Although he was also a child star, Cheng Luwei''s path to stardom wasn''t smooth.

    Before ying righteous characters, he had a fixed childhood image, was criticized for not growing up well, and struggled to find his niche. Fortunately, he met a director who recognized his potential and started on the current path, avoiding bing someone as mediocre as his name suggests.

    However, it was precisely because of the low points that his mentality was better than those of child stars with smooth careers. Even after failing to transition, he didn''t lose hope and continued to look for a path that suited him better.

    He opened his phone and looked: "Huh? The most popr video on the homepage is different from what I saw before."

    Fenghua Video Network would feature the video with the highest likes and views on the UP''s homepage, rotating the disy. Cheng Luwei remembered it being a live stream clip from Chu Tingwu, but this time, the corner of the homepage video had a "joint" logo, indicating a joint submission.

    The coborator was... Jin City Police Station?

    Cheng Luwei immediately sat up straight.

    He watched the video with a serious posture and paused it when ament floated by on the screen:

    [Assisted in capturing 77 thieves? Wait, how many? Chu Master, where did you get these thieves from?]

    Cheng Luwei showed it to his assistant: "I think I wasn''t wrong. Look, isn''t the most popr video of Teacher Chu Tingwu about catching mice?"

    Assistant: "=¡£="

    Cheng Luwei: "We''re about to start promoting and release some information, but not too much. How about this, I''ll share this video and link it to my ''catching mice'' part?"

    He thought it was a good idea, and since Chu Tingwu was going to live streamter, he could check it out.

    -

    Chu Tingwu''s fans experienced a "roller coaster" of emotions this winter.

    The high point was that their cat... no, their host coborated with other organizations again, releasing a joint video and once again choosing a "bizarre" coborator.

    Last time, it was with the official media ount of Fallen Phoenix City, uploading a livepetition recording.

    Fans were thrilled.

    This time, it was with Jin City Police Station, releasing a holiday anti-theft video.

    Fans: "Great!"

    Then they clicked to watch and realized something was off.

    ...This footage, haven''t we seen it before?

    Isn''t this the same video asst time, with the same footage? The old thief... teacher? Damn! It''s a real thief!

    Despite being the same video, with different editing and coborators, the audience had a new experience.

    In Chu Tingwu''s fan group, people were hotly discussing:

    [How did she shoot this video?]

    [I guess it went like this: Approach a thief, pat his shoulder: "You can steal now, I''m starting to film." What the hell, how did she shoot it? Where did all these cooperative thievese from? For the sake of our video, they really steal and then go to jail¡ªI even found jail information online! That''s some dedication!]

    [Chu Chu: You don''t want to cooperate, but you have to! (Chu Master chopping vegetables.gif)]

    [It''s simple. Find a thief, film, report to the police, and then move on to the next... So, can anyone tell me how those returned property shots happened? I saw online that the original owners imed their items, saying they only found out their stuff was stolen when the police called them, which means the police didn''t return the items to them, right?]

    [Maybe everyone was an actor, except the thief. The online posts were also fabricated. They had previously agreed with the police to cooperate and then made these amazing statements to pique everyone''s interest, making the video go viral. Jin City Police''s n seeded... Sorry, I can''t keep this up!]

    [Forget it, our discussion is useless. The police did give Chu Mi a medal, so she didn''t do anything wrong. If we really can''t figure it out, we''ll ask her during her live stream.]

    That''s what the fans thought.

    Then a day, a week, a month...

    Chu Tingwu didn''t go live, didn''t update her videos, only posting a dynamic saying she was busytely.

    The fan group exploded.

    ¡ªChu Cat, don''t be too much. You never stopped updating even when you were in high school. How can a vacationing high school student be busier than a student in school?

    ¡ªChu Master, my cat just had kittens, and I wanted you to help name them. If you don''t show up, my cat will think its name is "Mimi," and it''ll be a cat that anyone can take away. You can''t escape responsibility!

    ¡ªTeacher Chu, Happy New Year. Have you updated? Not yet? Then did you see this red envelope? I''d give it to the cat before giving it to you!

    Despite the manyments urging updates, Chu Tingwu remained true to her usual style¡ªignoring them.

    It wasn''t until New Year''s Eve that they saw an update announcing a live stream that evening.

    Fans: "!?"

    You''re back!

    On New Year''s Eve, which was quite normal, everyone had some free time no matter how busy they were. Around 5 PM, fans saw the livestream screen light up¡ª

    Chu Tingwu appeared as her usual self, though her clothes had changed for winter. As the cold season arrived, even Three-Five-Five''s fur had visibly thickened.

    She was currently at the market buying groceries with Three-Five-Five.

    On New Year''s Eve, while most supermarkets might be closed, in small cities like Fallen Phoenix City, the traditional markets were still selling produce, albeit with limited choices. She took the opportunity to introduce the person beside her: "This is my assistant."

    Though having an assistant while still being underage wasn''t surprising¡ªafter all, having a full team was normal for a major content creator with... wait, when did she surpass 1.5 million followers? Chu Tingwu''s assistant seemed to simply follow her around helping out.

    Some people forgot about asking for updates and instead inquired in thements about when her team would be hiring assistants: "Would an assistant who isn''t allergic to cats, can eat anything, and knows to run home when it rains be eptable?"

    Most people, naturally, asked what she had been doing for the past month.

    Chu Tingwu replied: "Just work, we only get time off during the New Year."

    She continued: "This year I''m spending New Year at my teacher''s house, so I''m buying some groceries to bring over, and I''ll also say hello to some friends I haven''t seen in a while."

    The teacher she referred to was "Teacher Zhang Youyi."

    Zhang Youyi had recently returned from traveling and brought gifts for Chu Tingwu, asking her toe pick them up during winter break.

    Unexpectedly, the young girl had been quite busy and only found time during the New Year period¡ªso naturally, she was invited to spend New Year together, along with Three-Five-Five.

    Although they hadn''t seen each other for some time, they had maintained regrmunication online.

    After buying enough groceries, Chu Tingwu specifically went to greet You Zhenzhen.

    During holidays like New Year, Fenghua Video Network would send gifts to their content creators. Since Chu Tingwu didn''t have a fixed address before, You Zhenzhen had been receiving the gifts on her behalf¡ªfans knew about her existence, as the 365 APP was tied to Chu Tingwu, and some were greeting her in thements while also asking for updates on merchandise.

    You Zhenzhen didn''t know whether tough or cry.

    This year, she had used work as an excuse not to go home for New Year, staying in her rented apartment, and was now considering adopting a cat.

    Upon learning that Chu Tingwu wouldn''t be spending New Year with her, she gave her some extra ingredients she had on hand.

    Then Chu Tingwu went to see Hang Ling, another familiar face, and took the opportunity to introduce Man Xing to these people she knew well¡ªafter all, Director Yang was still an investor.

    The viewers in thements were quite familiar with everyone, and there were even fans from Little Sun Hospitaling over to ask for video updates.

    Then, as Man Xing was loading some gifts into the car and Chu Tingwu was walking down the hospital steps, someone approached from the front, and she went, "Uh..."

    That person casually waved at her: "Teacher Little Chu."

    Then, he leaned in to greet the camera: "Hello everyone."

    Thements¡ª

    [...]

    [Hm? Who''s this?]

    [Who is this? Doesn''t Chu Chu''s livestream usually blur faces? A friendly stranger with a cat head?]

    [Setting aside everything else, those muscles are well-trained, brother''s got a nice physique, how did you train?]

    [Maybe! This is! A friendly fitness trainer! He''s about to pull out a flyer from behind his back.]

    Cheng Luwei, unaware that his face was blurred: "?"

    The assistant who saw thements and screen: "=.="

    Chu Tingwu whispered: "System..."

    The system habitually blurred anyone who hadn''t appeared in the young one''s camera before, and even celebrities got no special treatment. Only after getting the young one''s prompt did it remove the blur.

    Thement section froze for a moment before erupting in a long string of screams.

    Cheng Luwei squinted his eyes: "Teacher Little Chu... why do I feel like something''s not quite right?"

    Chu Tingwu: "It''s your imagination."

    [Just joined, what happened? Oh my, this person looks like Cheng Luwei! Isn''t this Chu Chu''s livestream?]

    [Your imagination.]

    [?]

    [Yes, your imagination, this isn''t Cheng Luwei, this is just a robot that looks like him.]

    Neer fans were confused for a while before finally concluding: "Huh? Has the system''s special effects gotten so advanced that it can swap in celebrity faces?"

    The assistant: "=.="

    Brother Cheng... any idea why "Fitness Trainer Cheng Luwei" suddenly started trending online?

    Cheng Luwei was quite an easygoing person, and when Chu Tingwu made small talk, he didn''t mind.

    He took out his phone to look at thements, seeing people asking why he suddenly appeared and how he knew the content creator so well. Cheng Luwei gave Chu Tingwu a knowing look, suggesting they could subtly chat about the movie.

    Cheng Luwei: "Actually, I got to know Teacher Little Chu because of cat selection, as everyone knows, she''s definitely an expert in this area."

    Without directly mentioning the movie, he changed the subject: "Fallen Phoenix City is Teacher Little Chu''s home base now, she probably knows all the cats here. I was hoping she could help me pick a suitable cat¡ªI''m on holiday these few days and can y with the cat, but I can''t take it away, so I''m wondering if there are any cats that can be hired with canned food, to keep each otherpany during Spring Festival. I''ll be happy, and it''ll be happy too. But without developing too much emotional attachment."

    [Old Cheng, the way you put it, you sound like such an honest yer.]

    [Laughing, I also want to know if there are cats like that, preferably offering home visits/services, I have cat food and canned food ready at home, and can even give it a bath!]

    [A bath? The cat will use you of betraying its kindness! But I''ve actually encountered such cats in my area, it randomly favors one of four or five households each day, like amunally raised cat? Its cat morality is truly perfect, but unfortunately it''s too far to send over.]

    Because Cheng Luwei appeared in Chu Tingwu''s livestream, fans spread the word, and the ordinary stream quickly rose to the top rankings¡ªthough not to first ce, as there were truly many celebrities streaming on New Year''s Eve.

    Chu Tingwu pondered thoughtfully, then nodded: "That can be arranged."

    She epted this request.

    "However, I still need to see some friends, and then we''ll go to my teacher''s house, we can pick one then."

    Cheng Luwei was mostly joking, but he would be happy if such a cat actually existed. Now he was curious: is your teacher running a cat shelter?

    And to find such a cat, shouldn''t they be looking at local adoption agencies?

    But since Chu Tingwu didn''t exin, he kept his doubts to himself, deciding to quietly observe what this young girl would do.

    When following Chu Tingwu into the car, he hesitated and quietly reminded her: "I can''t go to ces with too many people, or I might get surrounded by fans."

    He was, after all, a nationally recognized actor, and many people would recognize him.

    Chu Tingwu nodded, and then drove straight to... the Fallen Phoenix City Police Station.

    Cheng Luwei: "?"

    He felt that "Cheng Luwei Spends New Year''s Eve at Police Station" would trend as soon as he got out of the car! So why the police station?!

    Chu Tingwu didn''t get out of the car, she just gave a greeting and let Three-Five-Five out, and soon after, two cats appeared around the corner.

    Three-Five-Five walked in front, with an orange cat slowly following behind. Upon seeing Chu Tingwu, it gave a soft "meow."

    Unsurprisingly, Cheng Luwei saw the young girl beside him respond with a cat call of her own.

    The car door slid open, and the orange cat leaped in, gave Cheng Luwei a nce, and meowed again at Chu Tingwu.

    Cheng Luwei: "..."

    At that moment, he realized this was the original model for "Tiger Head" from the movie, now called Long Zai, the police cat, and indeed he was a little police cat, still wearing his uniform.

    But when he saw him, Cheng Luwei didn''t notice the uniform first, but rather the cat''s demeanor and eyes... and those muscles under the uniform!

    So there really are orange cats in this world that look capable of fighting but are actually very reliable... big, big orange cat!?

    Although he had seen videos before, seeing this cat in person gave apletely different impression.

    Chu Tingwu didn''t pat the cat''s head, and Cheng Luwei didn''t reach out either, because he saw Chu Tingwu speak to the orange cat and then make a gesture to introduce himself to the cat.

    Cheng Luwei: "!"

    He was being scrutinized by the cat, and he was more nervous than when he was auditioning for a role.

    In the end, the cat''s ears twitched, and it let out a soft meow.

    It extended a paw and ced it on Cheng Luwei''s knee. Cheng Luwei carefully ced his palm on top of the cat''s paw. The cat''s ears twitched again, and its eyes sparkled with light.

    Finally, Chu Tingwu slipped a small red envelope into Long Zai''s uniform and said goodbye. Long Zai meowed and rubbed against Chu Tingwu''s palm.

    After the car left, Cheng Luwei was still looking out the window¡ª

    Previously, he would constantly initiate conversations in front of the camera, considering Chu Tingwu''s young age and helping to liven up the atmosphere.

    But now, his gaze was fixed outside, his body turned halfway, silent.

    [Frantically screenshotting... Lao Cheng''s expression is really handsome. I think this resolute look is the most handsome of all his roles!]

    Cheng Luwei: "I fell in love with him at first sight."

    Chu Tingwu: "He''s male."

    [Still handsome, sis?]

    Cheng Luwei waved his hand: "No, no, not that kind of love at first sight! Ah, I was just thinking, if I had a cat like that, I''d be so proud! But with my job, there''s no room for him to showcase his abilities. It''s better to just admire from afar..."

    You''re clearly not just admiring from afar; you''re cherishing him in your heart!

    Cheng Luwei remained silent, and Chu Tingwu could see that he seemed to have some new ideas about the character''s image.

    The assistant also remained silent. He had gotten on the car but didn''t appear on camera. Now, he was scrolling through New Plum, toozy to think about what kind of hot search might emerge.

    However, after seeing this cat, Chu Tingwu seemed to be going to spend the New Year at her "teacher''s house."

    Halfway through the journey, Cheng Luwei wanted to kick the assistant off the car, asking him to quickly buy some gifts¡ªChu Tingwu mentioned that it was an olddy in her seventies, and he couldn''t just show up for a meal during the New Year without any presents.

    Chu Tingwu: "Teacher Zhang said there''s no need for gifts. If you feel bad about it, just help out in the kitchen when cooking."

    Cheng Luwei: "Alright."

    He quite enjoyed being with Chu Tingwu. To put it sentimentally, after bing a star, there weren''t many people who made him feel sofortable, even if she was just a fifteen-year-old kid.

    Chu Tingwu didn''t seem to care about your identity, whether you were a big star or a small role, a director, or her assistant. Her attitude towards you was solely based on how you treated her.

    ¡ªAlthough they hadn''t known each other long, Cheng Luwei felt that this was a "little" friend with whom he didn''t need to worry about being betrayed.

    Bored in the car, they also talked about fitness and quickly discovered amon interest: they had both learned rock climbing.

    Cheng Luwei: "I learned for half a year and still go asionally. I can teach you if you have a chance."

    He was confident in his skills.

    ...But he didn''t know that he might have underestimated Chu Tingwu''s abilities.

    Chu Tingwu blinked: "I can also teach you parkour."

    Cheng Luwei: "That''s too dangerous; my agent probably wouldn''t allow it."

    Although parkour isn''t an extreme sport and rock climbing is, indoor rock climbing is much safer than outdoor parkour, so he probably wouldn''t get a chance to learn it.

    When the car stopped, it was alreadypletely dark outside. The small vi ahead was lit up, and the lights in the courtyard were on, bright as day.

    Cheng Luwei knew they had arrived and curiously stared at the ck shadow under the window: what was that?

    Chu Tingwu opened her mouth.

    Cheng Luwei thought: Meow.

    "Meow¡ª"

    Indeed!

    He turned his head and saw the shadow move. The next second, another shadow swooped down from above, startling the assistant who had just gotten out of the car with the gifts.

    Shikuai: "Why did youe back sote, meow!"

    Wu ssmate: "Dinner''s ready, dinner''s ready, we can eat, meow!"

    The ck cat at Chu Tingwu''s feet circled around her, and the crow above kept pping its wings. Chu Tingwu pushed open the vi''s courtyard gate, and Aunt Mei also happened to open the inner door, smiling and waving at them: "Come in quickly, we''ve been waiting for you."

    Chu Tingwu looked at her feet and couldn''t help but smile: "Why is Shikuai outside?"

    Aunt Mei: "He was caught stealing food earlier and was punished to stand outside."

    The aroma of food had already wafted out, and half the dishes were on the table. But what puzzled Cheng Luwei was that Chu Tingwu had brought all the ingredients from the car.

    The assistant was curious: "Are we making so many dishes?"

    They couldn''t eat that much.

    Chu Tingwu: "No, this is for the cats."

    ¡ªWith the extra ingredients from You Zhenzhen and Cheng Luwei''s request, she decided to make a cat meal and invite the nearby cats to eat.

    Everyone said a few auspicious words. Shikuai''s little cat head wasn''t blurred, but Teacher Zhang and Aunt Mei''s faces were blurred as usual.

    So, when they sat down, only Cheng Luwei noticed a problem with Teacher Zhang''s eyes, while the fans in the live chat didn''t realize anything was wrong and were very happy¡ª

    [Tonight, we gather here to celebrate seeing all the main actors of the ''Long Zai'' microfilm in the live broadcast. I dere today as the main actor meet-and-greet day! Ah, if only we could see this microfilm turn into a feature film... but the shooting difficulty is too high...]

    Many fans started following Chu Tingwu because of that microfilm she released. It was a pure, human-actor-free microfilm, entirely shot by animal actors.

    On New Year''s Eve, the audience saw four important characters one after another, and many were moved¡ª

    [Even the police station''s little cat has to work overtime during the New Year!]

    Well, the focus of the sentiment was a bit off.

    In the live chat, there were also a few messages wishing Teacher Zhang a happy New Year... The system checked and found that they were indeed students taught by Teacher Zhang, who could recognize their teacher even without seeing their face.

    After a harmonious dinner, Chu Tingwu led Cheng Luwei to the kitchen: "Help chop the vegetables, and then distribute the cat foodter."

    No difficulty at all.

    A few of them went to the kitchen to help. Halfway through, Chu Tingwu called out to Three-Five-Five, who then went out the door.

    The assistant also helped buy disposable stic bowls and started arranging them ording to Chu Tingwu''s instructions. But looking at the number of bowls, he was puzzled: so many, even if feeding stray cats, there aren''t that many stray cats in this neighborhood... And isn''t the stray cat management in Fallen Phoenix City quite good? During the winter, stray cats are usually taken to shelters. Who exactly is this food for?

    As he was puzzled, the door opened, and he saw his Cheng brother holding a small shovel while Chu Tingwu carried a pot out.

    Assistant: "=="

    Behind them came two cat meows. He turned his head and saw cats appearing at the end of the road, under the bushes. These cats were bothmon and pedigree, all looking clean and well-groomed. They gathered at the gate, obediently crouching, looking up at the humans and meowing, clearly unafraid.

    Chu Tingwu asked Cheng Luwei to distribute the food: "I thought about it, stray cats haven''t been vinated, and their temperament isn''t suitable for the service industry you require..."

    Cheng Luwei: Wait?

    Chu Tingwu: "So these are all house cats nearby."

    Cheng Luwei: He could tell, some even had cors on!

    Chu Tingwu: "You feed them, and if you see one you like, I''ll talk to it to see if it''s willing to earn some extra money by visiting."

    Cheng Luwei: "..."

    Do you only talk to cats? Really only to cats? What about the cat owners! His experience tonight was too thrilling; he felt either he''d be trending on the hot search tomorrow or be used of cat-napping!

    The live chat also expressed surprise. Among the shocked messages, one stood out.

    [Oh my gosh! That British Shorthair with the green bib is my son! That bib was hand-knitted by my mom! I recognized it at a nce, wait a minute, let me put on my slippers and catch the cat!]

    You little cat, you actually have two faces, and you even sneak out to make extra money behind your family''s back!?

    I''m impressed!

    -

    While Chu Tingwu''s live stream was in chaos, on the other side, Orange''s owner was also live streaming.

    New Year live streams are quitemon, and her cat also has a group of loyal fans who are very concerned about what Orange has been up to, as it hasn''t appeared for over a month.

    So the owner shifted the camera to Orange, and since the production team had mentioned that they could start promoting (and the filming would take ce in Fallen Phoenix City after the New Year, so the news probably wouldn''t be kept secret for long), the owner directly said: "My Orange has gone to film a movie! The youngest cat in the family has made its debut! Come on, Orange, wish the aunties a Happy New Year!"

    Orange sat upright on the table and let out a "meow."Aliali: 674b1625c4f3f33ac49d2fc3

    The aunties were also quite surprised: This kid... suddenly, it''s looking so robust?

    The owner: ...Why does that meow sound so formal?

    She took out Orange''s favorite toy mouse, waved it in front of it, and then threw it out.

    Normally, Orange would immediately pounce on it and y with the mouse for half a day.

    However, in the camera, Orange did pounce, but before doing so, it nced at the owner, then pinned the mouse down, bit it, and swiftly jumped back to the sofa, cing the mouse in the owner''s palm.

    It straightened its chest and let out another meow in that same tone.

    Live chat:

    [Did you rece the cat?]

    The owner: "..." She didn''t!

    What on earth did this kid learn during its military training!

 Chapter 54

    Cheng Luwei ultimately didn''t find any cats willing to providepanionship services. Of course, Chu Tingwu exined that the cats were truly willing, with several cats happily showing him their bellies.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Cheng Luwei said, "But I don''t really want to see ''Cheng Luwei steals cats'' trending on social media..."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    You can''t exactly tell the owners that the cats volunteered!<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu shrugged, not seeming particrly disappointed.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    After ying with Shikuai for a while, the actor surnamed Cheng and his assistant politely bid farewell to Teacher Zhang.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Sitting in the car, Cheng Luwei remarked to his assistant, "Teacher Chu... has quite an unusual way of thinking, doesn''t she?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    She treats cats as independent beings, but she''s not exactly advocating for cat independence. In her eyes, the rtionship between cats and their owners is more like roommates - intimate yet maintaining boundaries.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Could understanding catnguage really change someone''s way of thinking this dramatically?<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    After Cheng Luwei left, Chu Tingwu said goodbye to her fans and ended the livestream.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Winter had arrived, but Fallen Phoenix City hadn''t seen any snow. She and Aunt Mei cleaned up the dishes together, while shooing away Shikuai who was trying to "help."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Shikuai jumped away and then settled into a clean small bowl: "Meow?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu: "=="<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    She carried the bowl of cat into the living room, where she saw Teacher Zhang tilting her head slightly, as if listening to something.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Zhang Youyi smiled: "Your footsteps seem lighter?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    She could only hear Shikuai''s soft purring, as Chu Tingwu''s footsteps were almost inaudible.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    But she still sensed the other''s presence - because of the wind.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    When the main door closed, letting in a bit of cold air, as someone approached, the wind created subtle changes. Though her eyes couldn''t see, Zhang Youyi''s world remained three-dimensional in her mind.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu hadn''t quite been able to empathize before, but now she could vaguely understand Zhang Youyi''s perspective.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    It was like what she "saw" when she closed her eyes and blocked her sense of smell.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    [Name: Chu Tingwu]<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    [Species: Cat]<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    [Skills: Hearing lv1, Perception lv1, Vision lv3...]<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Indeed, Chu Tingwu''s vision skill had upgraded from lv2 to lv3 after a period of special training, but her hearing hadn''t improved much, remaining at the level of "a self-sufficient blind person."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Zhang Youyi tilted her head again to listen: "Where''s Three-Five-Five?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    She didn''t seem to hear Three-Five-Five''s movements.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu exined resignedly: "Two cats got lost, Three-Five-Five is taking them home."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Cats are carefree, and so are their owners. Fortunately, Three-Five-Five was there to escort them back to wherever they had wandered from.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu sank into the sofa. Aunt Mei came to mop the floor, asking her to lift her feet. Soon after, cat calls came from outside the window, one after another.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu''s ears twitched: Why did those sounds seem familiar?<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Aunt Mei eximed, "Ah! Tingwu, please bring out the cat food that''s warming in the pot."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    When the door opened, two cats slipped in one after another, carefully wiping their paws on the doormat, appearing very polite.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    It was the vige tabby and therge orange cat that always followed her.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu: "=o="<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Judging by Aunt Mei''s attitude, these two were already professional freeloaders!<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Somehow... she felt the embarrassment of someone who had brought their entire family over to mooch off others.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The tabby showed no awareness of the human''s embarrassment. After Aunt Mei helped clean her paws, she skillfully jumped onto the sofa, nestling her head on Teacher Zhang''sp while draping her tail across Chu Tingwu''s leg, giving a "meow" in greeting.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Teacher Zhang smiled: "Meow?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The cat said the wind was strong and her paws were cold. The human asked if it was really that cold and offered to feel.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Their meaningless chatter bubbled up like air bubbles in hot soup, popping in the atmosphere.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu rubbed her nose and joined in with some meows, while giving the tabby''s hind leg a squeeze: she had gotten a bit fat, clearly not starving at all.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Teacher Zhang''s catnguage skills had be quite good. She had started learning from basic conversations, though because cats often created their own vocabry, there was never enough vocabry to learn.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    And since Chu Tingwu was the only authority and bridge formunication, the learning progress often depended on whether Chu Tingwu had spare time after sses - of course, Teacher Zhang wasn''t trying to be some authority on catnguage either, both teacher and student were veryid-back about it.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    At least now, she had almost no major obstacles inmunicating with familiar cats. With unfamiliar cats, she could also detect the emotions and attitudes in theirnguage, just not understanding the specific content.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    None of them nned to stay up for New Year''s Eve. Teacher Zhang was used to going to bed early, but before sleeping, she remembered something: "Oh right, I brought you a gift."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    A souvenir from her travels had now conveniently be Chu Tingwu''s New Year''s gift.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu tried to recall where Teacher Zhang and the others had traveled: wasn''t it the grasnds? Could it be cheese sticks... or something simr?<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Aunt Mei brought out a ck and gold longboard from the storage room.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu: "...Eh?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Were skateboards a specialty of the grasnds?<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Zhang Youyiughed, "I never said it had to be a local specialty."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    She had just thought the young girl seemed to enjoy sports, so she bought this for her.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu had never tried skateboarding before, but she still liked it - people who are good at sports inevitably enjoy them because it''s easier to gain a sense of achievement, and she was no different.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    However, when Chu Tingwu nced at the storage room, Aunt Mei promptly brought out two more small skateboards - apparently custom-made? One for Shikuai, and a slightlyrger one for Three-Five-Five.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    So they hadn''t just brought gifts for people, but for the cats who had stayed behind as well.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The orange cat had finished eating and came over to rub against the house owner''s hand before finding a warm corner to doze off. The tabby nced at the skateboard, licked her nose, and looked away uninterestedly.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    But Shikuai quickly rushed over, meowing to ask Aunt Mei to put the skateboard on the wooden floor where there was no carpet.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Then, Aunt Mei tied a rope to it and walked Shikuai around the living room.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Shikuaiy on the skateboard, and when it stopped moving, he would reach out his paws to scratch the floor a couple of times, then meow at Aunt Mei.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu: "...Let me do it."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Although Aunt Mei wasn''t old, it was still tiring to y with cats like this constantly.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu flipped over from the sofa and started unpacking her own skateboard. After trying for a while, she quickly got the hang of it... or rather, got her feet on it.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    After sliding back and forth indoors a few times, she easily mastered the bnce, able to start and stop steadily - as for more technical moves, there wasn''t enough space indoors, and she hadn''t had time to learn them yet.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Aunt Mei raised an eyebrow and stepped back as Chu Tingwu smiled at Shikuai.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    She aligned herrge skateboard parallel with the small one where the cat was lying, and after pushing off the ground to get the boards moving, Chu Tingwu quickly switched feet, one foot on her own board and the other foot on the edge of the cat''s skateboard.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    With the initial momentum, both boards started moving simultaneously.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Shikuai: "Meow meow meow!"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    He stood on all fours on the skateboard, excitedly standing up and puffing out his chest while meowing at whaty ahead.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    While the living room wasrge for a cat, in reality, they would reach the wall in just a few seconds. Chu Tingwu pulled back her foot, stopping her own board.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The small skateboard that Shikuai was riding continued forward until the front of the board went "duang" against the wall.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Just before the collision, Shikuai reluctantly jumped off, looking bewildered at the wall and then at Chu Tingwu who hadn''t crashed, seemingly wondering if there was something wrong with his skateboard.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu: "..."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu turned her head away: "Pfft."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Shikuai: "Meow!"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Although he hadn''t grown bigger, Shikuai was already two years old, not the silly one-and-a-half-year-old kitten anymore. He could tell! Chu Tingwu did it on purpose! That naughty cat kid!<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Three-Five-Five had just returned from escorting the cats home. After entering and shaking his fur, he greeted all the cats and humans in the house, then pushed his head under Chu Tingwu''s hand, ncing at Shikuai: "?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Though it was just a look without any words, all the cats could understand. Three-Five-Five was clearly asking: Did you bully my kid?<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Wu ssmate was curled up in a bird''s nest beside the cat tree, and at this moment poked out his head to let out a "caw" at Shikuai.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu: I suspect you''re talking bad about me.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Instead of continuing to y with the kitten, she took out the charging equipment from the packaging box¡ª<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    All three skateboards could actually be charged. The customized skateboard for cats could be controlled via an APP for speed and direction, essentially functioning like a remote-controlled toy car in skateboard form. The human skateboard could track mileage through the APP. They had been using a rope to y with it before only because Shikuai enjoyed being the center of human attention.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Just like a little child, sitting on the skateboard while meowing, saying things like "look at me, look at me."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu tried to help Aunt Mei clean up but was shooed out of the kitchen. She had no choice but to upy the living room, ying with a group of cats as a fineyer of snow drifted onto the windows.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The sleeping orange cat also woke up and joined them on the electric skateboard. The crow flew down to drink water on the coffee table. Zhang Youyi''s hand rested on the coffee table, and it hopped around near her wrist, its soft feathers asionally brushing against the elderly woman''s fingertips.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Zhang Youyi: "Is it snowing outside?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The crow "meowed" and turned its head as well.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The wind and snow were kept outside by the walls, with only ayer of white umting on the window edges. Chu Tingwu sat on the skateboard, squinting at the window.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    This posture and perspective made her feel like she had be a child again, watching the fine snow falling to the ground.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Her mood was unusually peaceful, wearing a smile she wasn''t even aware of: "Yes, it''s snowing outside."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    She supported herself with her palms on the ground, could hear the skateboard wheels making slight movements due to her weight, creating subtle friction sounds against the floor. A car passed by in the distance, its wheels rolling over a thinyer of snow beforeing to an abrupt stop.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The moment the snow waspressed, the "crunch" sound was both soft and loud, seeming to explode next to Chu Tingwu''s ear, yet not chaotic¡ª<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    At this moment, her back instinctively arched, wanting to jump away lightly, but rationality suppressed this urge.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    She heard the sound of a paw stepping into the snow.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    It was a startled dog.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    At this time, Three-Five-Five lifted its paw and tapped the ground, as if unconsciously¡ªbut Chu Tingwu suddenly understood why this action urred: vibration, animals could sense vibrations that humans couldn''t detect, it was both a sensation and a type of sound. This paw-lifting motion released the tingling and meaningless vibration sensation.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    [Your Hearing Level 1 has upgraded to Hearing Level 2]<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    [Your Perception Level 1 has upgraded to Perception Level 2]<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwupleted a deep breath.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Her enhanced hearing returned to calmness, her ears instinctively capturing information brought by her hearing, while her brain deleted the meaningless parts, and so those whispers, snow turning to ice, became the background sounds of this world.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    All this happened in just five seconds, her movements hadn''t changed much, only her eyes curved slightly as she raised her hand backward¡ª<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Precisely catching Shikuai who was trying to sneak attack her.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Shikuai: "Meow¡ª"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    How annoying!<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu grabbed Shikuai and stroked against his fur several times, sessfully making the ck cat lookpletely done with life. As soon as he escaped, he ran to the top of the cat tree to groom himself.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    ¡ªHe probably thought Chu Tingwu couldn''t catch him at that height.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    After both human and cats had made quite amotion, Aunt Mei came to send Chu Tingwu to bed: "Teacher Zhang''s students will probablye to pay New Year visits tomorrow morning, just address them ording to age. If you don''t want to meet them, you can stay upstairs and y by yourself."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu''s guest room was on the second floor, next to Teacher Zhang''s room.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    She had been staying at Teacher Zhang''s house during these holiday days, spending the New Year with them. After all, it was just a few days, and there was no need to specially clean up her own house that she hadn''t lived in for several months¡ªChu Tingwu had only lit incense for her ancestors beforeing.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    When she went upstairs, several cats followed her up the stairs. Shikuai followed all the way to the door, looked at it, and then realized something was wrong.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu: "=="<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    She pointed to next door.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Aunt Mei couldn''t help butugh, patted Shikuai''s head, and said to Chu Tingwu: "Happy New Year."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Teacher Zhang also smiled: "Happy New Year."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu: "..."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Her eyes curved: "Happy New Year."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Far and near, quiet and noisy... various fireworks bloomed, their sounds ying a magnificent symphony in her mind, and then the various colored lights reflected on the windows, like inherent gorgeous patterns.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The new year was about to begin.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The tabby cat circled around the room, then went downstairs to find the orange cat to share a cat bed. Three-Five-Five jumped onto the bed, raised its paw to pat the unfamiliar-smelling nket a couple of times. Chu Tingwu hugged her and reached under the pillow to take out a red envelope.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The red envelope was thick, clearly Teacher Zhang and Aunt Mei had put in quite a bit.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    "I should give Shikuai a red envelope tomorrow," she thought.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    She was the younger generation, so red envelopes should only be given to the younger ones... well, wasn''t Shikuai considered part of Teacher Zhang''s younger generation?<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Two-year-old cat Shikuai: "Achoo!"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    -<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu had always maintained healthy sleeping habits. With Three-Five-Five pressing against her pillow, listening to familiar breathing sounds, she quickly began to feel drowsy.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The fireworks outside continued non-stop, but she wasn''t bothered at all. The sleepinesssted for just a moment before the familiar sense of alertness returned¡ª<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu opened her eyes.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    She pondered thoughtfully: "Is today''s ssroom scene taken from a Chinese horror game?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Why else would there be red decorations everywhere in this ssical-style room... a "Fu" character decoration hanging on the door, swaying back and forth, candles lit all around, but instead of festivity, there was only a somewhat strange eeriness.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    If Chu Tingwu wasn''t already familiar with this feeling of entering the dream ssroom, she might have thought she had transported into a horror game.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    System: "?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The system was shocked: "There''s no ss today."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    It would be too much to make the little cat take sses when all humans were on holiday, wouldn''t it?<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    It had just referenced some "Spring Festival interior decoration images" from the inte, renovating the virtual space to match the holiday atmosphere.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    As for the room itself¡ªhadn''t the little one mentioned liking the ancient-style song and dance program set from the "Spring Festival G" she watched earlier? This was just theplete version of that set.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    After hearing the exnation, Chu Tingwu: "=="<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Good job with the decoration, but let''s not do it again.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    After having the system revert the space back to its original living room style with sofas, Chu Tingwu spent some time with the system choosing decorations, putting "Fu" characters on the walls, hanging a small redntern under the tablemp, and cing miniature Spring Festival couplets on the square surface of themp.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    In the bright space, adding a few red decorations instantly made the atmosphere feel festive.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu: "We can tear them off after the Spring Festival."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    System: "Oh!"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    ¡ªThe little one only said they could be torn off, not that they had to be! It couldpletely replicate an identical original space and secretly preserve this space that the little one had decorated.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    For some reason, even though it was all data with just slight differences... the system felt that this was different.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    However, after deciding to secretly preserve it, the system yed a projection for Chu Tingwu: "Look, little one, this is my New Year''s gift for you!"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Humans are great, they always have festivals, so they can often prepare various gifts!<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Although it''s all about giving things, when items are given the meaning of "gifts," humans seem to be happier... the system was secretly learning these things.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu stared at the building in the screen for a while: "Is this that hospital?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    "Yes," the system said profoundly, "I asked online, and they said giving hospitals as birthday gifts is not auspicious."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    So it''s best to give it during New Year! They say New Year is the most prosperous time of the year, capable of diluting all negative connotations - even broken items symbolize peace year after year, and sweeping with a broom can sweep away bad luck. Although the system couldn''t prove the scientific validity of these beliefs even after running eight processors, it didn''t matter that it couldn''t be proven - at least the little one was smiling happily now.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu: "Alright, I can guess how you asked."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    [May I politely inquire if I can gift my child a private hospital for her birthday?]<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    -- Goodness! Why not just give her an ind instead, put the hospital on it, add three yachts, and throw in a private aircraftnding pad too! That''s how I equipped it in my game.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    [Thank you for the suggestion, but I''ve already bought the hospital, not on an ind. I''ll consider the ind based on the child''s wishes. May I ask what game you were ying? I''d like to use it as a reference.]<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    -- Wait... I was just joking, are you serious? Then I suggest not giving it as a birthday gift, it''s not very auspicious. Actually, it''s not very auspicious any day of the year. But you can give it to me, fortune tellers say I have good luck all 365 days!<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    -- OP, where are you?<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    -- OP?<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The original poster intensively studied Chinese traditional folk customs and quickly determined that New Year''s Eve would be the best time.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    However, it thought it could still consult a "fortune teller," to which Chu Tingwu responded: "Don''t be superstitious =_="<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    System: "Okay!"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    That means for the little one, all 365 days are auspicious!<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    What the system showed Chu Tingwu was a three-dimensional image of the hospital, seemingly not a real scene but a projection simted by the system. However, the system asked: "Would you like to go see it?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu thought it meant entering this simted projection - just like the previous cat rescue simtion - so she nodded: "Sure."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    When receiving a gift, one should naturally see it in person, praise it, and express their appreciation.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Moreover, she genuinely liked it.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Even though she didn''t need it at the moment, such feelings had nothing to do with the item itself.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The surrounding environment shattered, and both space and Chu Tingwu herself seemed to sway slightly. Then, she felt her perspective be lower.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    At the same time, at Jiao Mountain Orthopedic Hospital in Guman City, executive secretary Lian Tong took out his phone and saw a new message from that mysterious boss.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    [Put the machine I sent earlier at the entrance.]<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Lian Tong: "..."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Alright.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    He solemnly retrieved a... robot vacuum cleaner from his office.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    -<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Jiao Mountain Orthopedic Hospital was a private hospital, built on the hillside of Jiao Mountain. It was originally a private sanatorium before being converted into an orthopedic hospital.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    However, the hospital''s ranking in orthopedics wasn''t high; instead, it had gained some reputation in general surgery, with patients flying in from all over the country specifically for hemorrhoid treatment.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    But the hospital had been continuously investing in the orthopedicboratory. Previously, funding was stable, but recently, a shareholder experienced business problems and sold their shares.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Soon after, the shareholder who bought those shares began acquiring shares from other shareholders. After gainingplete control, they promoted Lian Tong from the secretariat and began implementing a series of reforms.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    ...In simple terms, the orthopedicboratory received more research funding.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Lian Tong: "?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Although he executed the boss''s orders efficiently, he wasn''t optimistic about the hospital''s future.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Shouldn''t theypletely shift towards general surgery, maybe even change the name?<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    But this was a private hospital, and the major shareholder held absolute authority. Lian Tong was only responsible for execution - other shareholders even tried to probe him about this major shareholder''s identity, but Lian Tong said he had never met them, though the other shareholders didn''t believe him.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Lian Tong: "..." He really hadn''t met them, he didn''t even know the boss''s gender!<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    But from theirmunications, he discovered that the boss had a somewhat cold personality and rarely discussed personal matters, never engaging in casual small talk about life. However, the boss clearly had ns - when instructing Lian Tong to eliminate certain departments and people, the evidence was always meticulously detailed... This made Lian Tong suspect that the boss also had detailed information about him, making him even more cautious.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    It wasn''t until before the New Year that Lian Tong learned a bit of personal information about the boss - apparently, the boss had a daughter.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    This hospital was bought for the daughter, as a surprise for the precious child.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Lian Tong: You rich people...<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Perhaps the young miss studied medicine? He spected that she was probably still in university, or pursuing a master''s or doctorate degree. In any case, she temporarily couldn''t manage the hospital''s affairs but would eventually take over.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    He also suspected that those somewhat outrageous funding orders might have been the young miss''s requests.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Of course, he kept these spections to himself, and then received new orders from the boss: to establish a private medical team, primarily focused on orthopedics, one that could mobilize for the young miss at any time.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Lian Tong: You rich people...........<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    But why would they need to mobilize for the young miss? This wasn''t ancient times where doctors traveled around making house calls. Doctors stayed in their hospitals, asionally going out only for emergency surgeries, right?<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    [Because my little one loves extreme sports.]<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Lian Tong: "?"<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    So it was about having 24-hour readiness to treat the young miss''s bones!<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    He pped his forehead, silently deciding not to make random assumptions anymore. Anyway, theboratory was busy spending funds, the private medical team was still being organized and vetted... The rooftop helipad had already been built, but Lian Tong went up to check every day and still hadn''t seen a single helicopter.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Until a few days ago, when the boss sent... a robot vacuum cleaner?<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    It looked like a robot vacuum cleaner, but not entirely -<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Lian Tong could tell it had been modified from a robot vacuum cleaner temte, equipped with front-view cameras and omnidirectional wheels for climbing stairs, along with other things he didn''t understand.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    These days, even toys costing a few dozen yuan came with obstacle avoidance systems, so what was strange about the boss enjoying modifying robot vacuum cleaners and controlling them to tour the hospital?<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    He didn''t know what the boss''s ultimate purpose was. Recently, the hospital had renovated its surveince system, apparently adding some AI intelligence to the main monitoring system, which was being implemented throughout the hospital.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    After touring with the robot vacuum cleaner, the boss had them continue modifications, adding several more surveince points.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    At such times, Lian Tong usually had to apany the whole process. Today, although it was New Year''s Eve, high-level workers could forgo holidays for the sake of money. At one in the morning, he calmly crawled out of bed and personally carried that robot vacuum cleaner to the hospital''s main entrance.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    But unlike before, a ring of light around the robot vacuum cleaner shed joyfully.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    ...How could he perceive "joy" from a machine?<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The front-view camera mounted on the support rod was foldable, now automatically opening, and then the robot vacuum cleaner''s disc projected... a cat?<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    A kitten whose fur color kept changing.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    [Choose this one! There''s no cat in the world with this color!]<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    As the world''s only human-cat, shouldn''t the color be more unique?<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu: "=="<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Of course there wouldn''t be purple cats in this world.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Yes, from Lian Tong''s perspective, it was the boss demanding meticulous and strange modifications, constantly adjusting the positions of surveince cameras. But in reality, the system was simultaneously connecting all devices, creating a way for Chu Tingwu to "unwrap her gift" as if she were physically present, despite being far away.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Letting Chu Tingwu see the world without blind spots, as if she had truly arrived in Guman City.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Because it knew Chu Tingwu had decided to spend the New Year in Fallen Phoenix City, it never mentioned having her visit in person, even though all the modifications cost far more than a ne ticket to Guman City.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0Aliali: 674ba5cbc4f3f33ac4a52bcf

    Then, in the dream, it let her descend into reality -<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    In the form of a "little cat."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    After all, the little one didn''t like being too shy.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Chu Tingwu settled on a color, able to see herself appearing as a projected kitten on the robot vacuum cleaner.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    She noticed the people around her, and even ordinary people appeared very tall. Instinct made Chu Tingwu restless, wanting to jump directly onto the shoulders of nearby humans to gain a better view, but she held herself back.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    ¡ªAnd due to the projection range limitations, she couldn''t leave the robot.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Then, Lian Tong saw this sleek, bright-eyed little cat stand upright, supporting herself with her front paws on the pole in front, looking left and right before pointing forward with her paw.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    The cleaning robot immediately started moving with a whoosh.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    Lian Tong, left behind: "..."<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

    You rich people are truly amazing.<span ss="css-1gz1n0z"><span ss="bg css-i073lf"><span ss="num css-0">0

 Chapter 55

    [Move to this height.]

    [Move left to this mark.]

    [ce it on the desk.]

    [Give a greeting.]

    At the front desk of Jiao Mountain Orthopedic Rehabilitation Center, the receptionist looked at Lian Tong and greeted him: "Secretary Lian?"

    Lian Tong looked back at her, opened his mouth, and said: "Good evening."

    Receptionist: "..." Not good at all.

    Working the night shift and suddenly seeing the executive department head and boss''s personal secretary appear was quite startling, wasn''t it?

    Moreover, this secretary had his coat open, with a thinyer of sweat on his forehead, looking somewhat disheveled, carrying¡ªno, more like "lugging"¡ªafter all, the cleaning robot did look very heavy.

    The receptionist watched as the cleaning robot climbed up two steps using the essibility ramp outside the door, with Secretary Lian following behind, making its way to the front desk area, where the cleaning robot then made a turn.

    The small cat projection on top also turned halfway, lifted its head, and suddenly let out a "meow."

    Then, a series of mands" appeared next to the projection.

    Secretary Lian hurriedly lifted the cleaning robot onto the counter, and then... gave his greeting.

    Receptionist: This scene gave her the strange impression that Secretary Lian was actually being controlled by a small cat.

    Of course, she realized that themands must being from that mysterious "boss."

    After all, with the change in major shareholders, everyone in the hospital had discussed that boss in private.

    A private hospital was more like apany wearing a hospital''s shell¡ªthey were concerned about the hospital''s future development, but fortunately, the new boss had only kicked out a few greedy rats from the hospital, without implementing any drastic reforms, and had even increased basic benefits.

    It was just that this hobby of tinkering with surveince was a bit strange.

    The projected cat softly "meowed" once, and the receptionist snapped back to attention, hurriedly putting on a smile for the little cat:

    It seemed like the boss was just controlling the cleaning robot to wander around the hospital, but in essence, this was an inspection, just without the person being physically present.

    But she couldn''t exactly call a cat "boss," could she? Something felt off about that, it seemed ridiculous. Then, should she call it "Kitty"? Would that seem disrespectful? In the end, the receptionist could only maintain her professional smile.

    The light screen representing mands" changed again, disying a line of text:

    [Happy New Year!]

    The little cat tilted its head.

    The receptionist started: "Ah, Happy New Year to you too!"

    Even knowing it was just a festive greeting, seeing it still made her feel better... showing that the boss wasn''t so inhuman after all.

    Lian Tong looked at the notification on his phone: "All staff working during the New Year will receive an additional 50% holiday pay. The boss hopes everyone can have a happy New Year."

    Receptionist: How could anyone call the boss a monster? They''re clearly a good person!

    She smiled as she watched the cleaning robot carrying the little cat leave, thinking that its round silhouette and bobbing little ears looked particrly adorable.

    The projection technology was really impressive; the projected cat was especially lifelike, its eyes so realistic that the receptionist almost thought it was a real cat. But the non-existent fur color and semi-transparent quality reminded her that this was just a projection.

    Chu Tingwu had toured most of the hospital before finally arriving at the Orthopedic Rehabilitation Center.

    The Jiao Mountain Hospital''s Orthopedic Rehabilitation Center once had the best orthopedic doctors, which was why this hospital became an orthopedic hospital. But after that doctor passed away, their students were either poached by other hospitals or only excelled in theoretical research, and the rehabilitation center gradually turned into a convalescent home.

    The patients staying here weren''t here for surgery, but rather for post-operative recovery, or simply because they felt unwell and came for a period of specialized care.

    So they had one thing inmon: they weren''t short on money.

    But Jiao Mountain Hospital hadn''t lost out, because when they initially built the Orthopedic Rehabilitation Center, they had also purchased arge plot of surroundingnd.

    Now thend value had skyrocketed, earning back the money spent on building the rehabilitation center.

    Lian Tong, following behind the cleaning robot, suddenly noticed the lighting on next door.

    ¡ªThat was the operating room, currently unused, with its lighting system connected to the central control system.

    Just as Lian Tong was about to turn off the lights, he saw the cleaning robot enter and make a round, its speed varying between fast and slow, with the little cat''s gaze above following along, as if truly touring the facility.

    Lian Tong: "..."

    So you were the one who turned on the lights.

    Sure enough, as the cat-robot left the operating room, the lights automatically turned off,pletely ignoring the living person still inside who hadn''t followed them out.

    Lian Tong wiped his sweat and quietly walked out.

    Due to sufficient investment, all the surgical equipment here was new, and every year they would pay high fees to invite orthopedic experts from other ces to perform teaching surgeries. Jiao Mountain''s doctors would observe from the adjacent observation room, studying and discussing.

    The rehabilitation center also had arge conference room that would be filled with people after each surgery.

    As Lian Tong was reminiscing, he received another message from the boss, asking him to arrange such a teaching surgery on a holiday as usual.

    However, there was one small requirement for the surgery subject¡ªit had to be an extreme sports athlete.

    Lian Tong: "=_="

    He understood¡ªthe young miss would be watching from the observation room, right?

    Previously, the patients were brought by the invited orthopedic experts, each expert having dozens of patients, but this time the boss had no specific requirements for the expert, only for the patient''s identity... Lian Tong thought of a solution.

    He consulted with the boss and quickly made a decision:

    They would actively seek out an extreme sports athlete who needed orthopedic surgery, then invite experts to Jiao Mountain for consultation.

    Of course, this would be more expensive than inviting a single expert, and they probably wouldn''t charge the athlete for treatment.

    Finally, the cleaning robot took the elevator up to the helipad on the roof.

    Lian Tong followed behind, and as he looked up, he first saw a hint of brightness at the horizon.

    ...Had theye to watch the sunrise?

    The sun was mostly hidden behind Jiao Mountain, and the distant city was covered in a light blue-gray haze, but the morning air was fresh and pleasant. Lian Tong took a deep breath, a faint smile on his lips, and looked down¡ª

    He saw the cleaning robot suddenly zoom forward, projecting a long, skateboard-shaped virtual image on the ground.

    Lian Tong: "?"

    The kitten stood on all fours, asionally on two legs, the skateboard whooshing back and forth, changing with speed and direction, the cat''s fur even seeming to flutter in the wind... but you''re just a projection! You''re not even a real cat!

    You''re not really skateboarding either, isn''t this just like ying with a remote-control toy car?

    On this New Year''s morning, Lian Tong, who had worked diligently all night, faced the mountain breeze and silently took out his phone to take a photo:

    He wanted to use this photo to document this surreal night.

    -

    Chu Tingwu had a very good sleep.

    Her mind remained active, but her body rested all night, so every night was like having a lucid dream.

    However, this time when she woke up, shey in bed spacing out for a while¡ª

    She probably wasn''t too clear-headedst night either.

    Because the system had insisted on letting her y with the projection skateboard, and she had agreed.

    But thinking back now, what was the difference between her and the ten-yuan note crouching on the electric skateboard yesterday? Had the system thought "if the ten-yuan note can have one, my little one should have one too"?

    "Happy New Year," Chu Tingwu sat on the bed facing the wall, emphasizing, "It''s a new year, I''m sixteen now."

    She had grown up!

    System: "Great! My little one is so amazing!"

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    Don''t act like "growing a year older must have been so hard for you"!

    After washing up and going downstairs, she found that Three-Five-Five was indeed already downstairs, with several cats doing parkour in the courtyard, while Teacher Zhang was... ying with the skateboard''s remote control.

    The snow hadn''t been heavy, only umting ayer on the treetops, and the ground had already been swept clear. The cats took turns jumping onto the moving skateboard, asionally letting out a "meow" or "yowl."

    Three-Five-Five crouched nearby, staring straight ahead, appearingpletely uninterested.

    Chu Tingwu noticed that when Aunt Mei brought her a bowl of porridge, the cat on the skateboard had turned into Three-Five-Five.

    Aunt Mei said, "Before you came down, Three-Five-Five yed the most. None of the other cats couldpete with her."

    After all, she was the biggest one.

    Chu Tingwu took a sip of porridge. "...Mm."

    Three-Five-Five was quite lively. Though she appearedposed usually, she was only three and a half years old.

    Chu Tingwu and Aunt Mei sat at the dining table watching the cats y until the sun came out, when guests arrived.

    Teacher Wang came with his wife and children - a family of four visiting for New Year''s greetings.

    In Fallen Phoenix City, only very close rtives would visit on the first day of the New Year.

    In the past, even Chu Tingwu''s biological father woulde on the second day of the New Year, as he had to receive other visitors at his home on the first day.

    Perhaps because Teacher Zhang had no living rtives, her students were like her children. It was said that many students would visit every year, and Teacher Wang, living nearby, always came first.

    Some students from other provinces would drive over, with New Year visits continuing until the seventh day.

    Although Chu Tingwu and several cats were new additions to the household, everything seemed normal until they tried to give Chu Tingwu red envelopes when leaving.

    She waved her hands saying it wasn''t necessary, but Teacher Wang''s wife, thinking she was just being polite, smiled and tried to insist - then Chu Tingwu jumped to the top of the cat tree and sat there, protecting her pockets with both hands.

    Everyone: "..."

    At that height, they couldn''t reach her - no need to guard the pockets anymore.

    Teacher Zhang hadn''t noticed at first, only feeling a gust of wind rush past, but learned what happened from the tenining meows, and burst outughing.

    In the end, the red envelope was still left behind.

    ...Though they couldn''t catch Chu Tingwu, the couple tucked the red envelope into Three-Five-Five''s red bib.

    Three-Five-Five, not understanding the significance of the red envelope, just gave a calm "meow," skillfully avoiding the humans trying to hug and kiss her, and ran to drink water by her bowl.

    Clearly, other studentsing to visit today would likely treat Chu Tingwu as Teacher Zhang''s junior and prepare red envelopes for her.

    Being sixteen made no difference - it was still the perfect age for receiving red envelopes.

    Chu Tingwu was still ufortable with such situations. She grabbed Three-Five-Five and her skateboard, called out "I''m going out to y!" to Teacher Zhang, and left.

    Her movements resembled an escape.

    -

    Chu Tingwu did indeed go out to "y."

    The snow on the ground had melted in the sun, leaving only a wetyer. She found an indoor badminton court that was open to practice skateboarding.

    On such a day, there was nobody inside. Chu Tingwu stood in the center of the court, put on her blindfold, and stepped onto the skateboard.

    The person at the front desk was the owner''s daughter, who hade to open the ce purely to escape cleaning duties at home, never expecting any actual customers.

    She nced outside at this moment, figured no one else woulde, and peered over to see what Chu Tingwu was doing¡ª

    The little girl had even brought a cat; wouldn''t it damage thes?

    Chu Tingwu had her back to her, left foot on the board, and used her right foot to give herself some momentum to slowly glide forward.

    Three-Five-Five trotted alongside, tilting her head to observe the rolling wheels.

    Inplete darkness, Chu Tingwu actually sensed the gaze from behind, and besides that, she could hear the surveince cameras running, the indoor air conditioning, and the sound of cat paws hitting the ground... Compared to these, the sound of the wheels was closest and clearest, as if pulsing right by her ears.

    She rode the skateboard forward, but couldn''t resist jumping off again.

    If she were walking normally with her eyes covered, Chu Tingwu would bet she wouldn''t bump into anything, as long as it was moving. Or if she herself was moving and making sounds... such sounds would collide in space, creating a clear three-dimensional image in her mind.

    But standing on the skateboard was different. The wheel sounds were steady, their echoes consistent, so in Chu Tingwu''s mind, she could only "see" the skateboard and the ground below, while everything higher up became very blurry.

    Chu Tingwu understood: "So my ''hearing''... includes both analyzing the sounds themselves and analyzing the reflected sound waves."

    She got back on the skateboard and covered her eyes again.

    [Hearing lv2] seemed to have hit a bottleneck period. Once her hearing reached lv3, her perception skill would probably also loosen up and improve to lv3 overall.

    So, she actively weakened her hearing ability using external means.

    Chu Tingwu started ying with the skateboard¡ª

    Specifically, she would jump on and ride for a bit, then hop off, all basic techniques, and without Three-Five-Five''s warning, she almost crashed into the side.

    The owner''s daughter thought: "...Really a beginner, huh?"

    She shook her head and went back to ying with her phone.

    Meanwhile, Chu Tingwu had gotten familiar with the basic moves and started "messing around."

    Skateboarding is a sport with both high floor and ceiling - ordinary people can manage to ride a bit, while professional athletes can perform more intricate tricks. If Chu Tingwu wanted to learn, the system could provide her with aplete tutorial at any time, but right now she was a novice having fun exploring skateboard movements on her own.

    Naturally, the system wouldn''t interrupt the child''s enthusiasm by throwing out standard tutorials.

    Chu Tingwu quickly discovered she could use her right foot at the back to step on the tail of the board, lifting it up to "brake," and her left foot didn''t need to leave the board - as long as she maintained bnce, she could stay stable in ce with this move.

    And she happened to be very good at maintaining bnce.

    After learning to brake, Chu Tingwu looked less awkward, and she soon started zipping around the court on the skateboard.

    After getting caught by the badminton again, Chu Tingwu began trying to bend backward on the skateboard.

    She then discovered that different movements would affect the skateboard''s speed, and she could turn by shifting her center of gravity.

    Changing her center of gravity could also let the skateboard rece her feet,pleting movements simr to "walking."

    Of course, this negated the speed advantage of the skateboard itself.

    However, with the impact sounds of the "walking" movement on the ground, the "three-dimensional space" reappeared in Chu Tingwu''s mind.

    Indeed, she had kept her eyes covered this whole time.

    Then, Chu Tingwu began trying jumps, and how to keep the skateboard with her feet while jumping... she discovered this seemed to also rte to center of gravity and bnce.

    Whennding, Chu Tingwu instinctively bent her knees to absorb the impact, everything flowing naturally as if she had done it many times before.

    She started trying more jumps.

    Gliding, turning, jumping, stopping - no matter how many directions and categories you break it down into, skateboarding essentially consists of these four movements. Chu Tingwu tried connecting various moves together, making the transitions smoother, letting the skateboard be almost an extension of her legs, like shoes¡ª

    Her feet touched the ground, her steps had varying weights, producing different sounds.

    Standing on the skateboard, as her center of gravity shifted and movements changed, the wheels collided with the floor, making sounds both different and simr, but the distinctions began forming a song of her own creation in Chu Tingwu''s mind.

    Bang, bang-bang, bang...

    She stopped the board upright, removed her blindfold, and wiped the light sweat from her forehead.

    "Skateboarding... is really fun," Chu Tingwu thought, "just that the venue is a bit small."

    She guessed her lv2 hearing skill had improved another segment, knowing without looking that her experience points had increased. She could feel her skin slightly warming up, and an urge to keep skating lingered in her heart.

    In reality, Chu Tingwu also experienced this impulse during parkour. The first time she performed parkour, the first time she leaped to heights that untrained individuals couldn''t reach, she felt an urge to keep going, to keep moving forward... to run endlessly.

    But back then, she chose to suppress it.

    Later, Chu Tingwu came to understand that this impulse was called "I like it."

    She stepped onto her board, and just as the receptionist was leading a new guest in, she caught a glimpse of this "newbie," who seemed to be nearing her time limit. Should she renew her session?

    The receptionist waved at Chu Tingwu, only to see the young girl turn her head to call out to her cat, put on a ck blindfold, and give her a smile.

    Then, the girl glided past her on her skateboard, executing a perfect ollie and a 180-degree kickflip as she exited the door¡ªjumping and effortlessly changing her direction.

    Receptionist: "¡­¡­?!¡±

    The guest was still a bit bewildered, instinctively turning to look as well. Upon realizing that Chu Tingwu never dismounted her board, gliding out the door so naturally and even using her skateboard to descend the steps, the two exchanged a nce: "Does her blindfold... let light through?"

    But even if it did, wearing a ck blindfold couldn''t possibly allow her to skate normally, right?

    The guest was merely surprised, while the receptionist waspletely baffled: She still remembered how clumsy Chu Tingwu was when she first arrived... Wait, was she really that clumsy? This young girl, although she did bump into things while skating, it seemed she never actually fell off her board from start to finish?

    She must be an old hand, just here to practice blindfolded skating!

    -

    Although she could already elerate, Chu Tingwu didn''t skate too fast. Upon reaching a ce with traffic, she removed her blindfold.

    Three-Five-Five also crouched by her feet, waiting for the traffic light with her.

    However, after the green light, Chu Tingwu still didn''t move. She looked at a nearby building, and a seasoned parkour enthusiast''s mind had already started simting how to parkour her way home¡ª

    "Three-Five-Five," Chu Tingwu tapped her board, "Want toe up?"

    The tortoiseshell cat leaped onto the skateboard, causing it to sink slightly.

    Chu Tingwu skated across the road with the cat, and when she looked down, she saw that Three-Five-Five''s eyes were also sparkling: the cat found it amusing too.

    Cat paws couldn''t perform the ollie, but Chu Tingwu could let Three-Five-Five crouch on the board while she jumped¡ªjust like adding weight.

    But as soon as she jumped, she immediately sensed something was off. Three-Five-Five let out a surprised and short "meow," the sudden feeling of weightlessness making the cat tense.

    Chu Tingwu felt her bnce disrupted for the first time. Although she sessfullynded on the board, the sound was like suddenly sawing a piece of wood while ying the violin.

    She almost stumbled and fell for the first time¡ª

    In that split second of leaning backward, she grabbed the railing beside her, and the skateboard beneath her flipped 180 degrees, while her own direction remained unchanged, stabilizing herself once more.

    Three-Five-Five, who had spun half a circle along with the board: "!?"

    Her front paws were on the board, while her hind paws cautiously touched the ground. She looked up at her kitten, solemnly "meowing" once.

    The cat didn''t find it fun anymore; it wasn''t safe. No good.

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­¡­"

    She raised a finger and negotiated with her tortoiseshell mom: "Can we try again?"

    This time, she would definitely be careful!

    Three-Five-Five narrowed her eyes.

    Across the street, Cheng Luwei''s assistant had just bought lunch for his artist boss and was about to get into the car when he noticed a familiar figure... and a cat.

    Was Little Chu Teacher and Three-Five-Five out for a ydate?

    He saw Chu Tingwu standing on her skateboard, whispering something to Three-Five-Five, then, with a look of regret, Chu Tingwu folded up her skateboard, as if nning to walk back.

    Assistant: Should I go say hello?

    Seeing them, it would be rude not to acknowledge them.

    Just as he was about to approach, he saw Chu Tingwu take a couple of steps forward, drop her board, and swiftly remount it, then began to glide forward.

    Behind her, Three-Five-Five''s ears perked up, letting out a "meow!" as she started to chase after her with all four legs.

    Chu Tingwu extended her arms, then waved them as if to maintain bnce or just for fun. She ollied over obstacles, the skateboard feeling like the most suitable tool for getting around, and obviously faster than walking on foot.

    Assistant: "¡­¡­So Little Chu Teacher has also learned to skateboard?"

    Why haven''t I heard about this before.

    He saw that when performing daring moves, Chu Tingwu even instinctively let out a "woohoo."

    Seeing this scene, the assistant couldn''t help but smile: After all, Little Chu Teacher is still a lively kid.

    System: "¡­¡­"

    The child has started to be mischievous.

    Oh my! The child has started to be mischievous!

    So touching! How difficult it is to raise a well-behaved child to be mischievous!

    The system wiped away its cyber tears, quickly adjusting the surrounding cameras to record and document the scene, and even summoned a drone from Teacher Zhang''s ce, attempting to capture Chu Tingwu''s "mischievous" moments from all angles.

    Just storing the footage wasn''t enough; it scoured the inte, quicklynding on a familiar website¡ª

    ¡¾Parent-Child Moments - Family Support Forum¡¿

    [New Post][Ahhh My Child Has Started to Disobey Mom! (New)]

    [My little one is sixteen years old now, and she says she''s grown another year, but she''s still just a kid! Today was the first time she disobeyed, and we were all surprised!]

    ¡ªThis kind of thing is quitemon (patting shoulder) otherwise, how could our forum exist... Wait! Isn''t this ID! Aren''t you the one who said you were going to buy an ind for your daughter before?

    [Yes, yes, but the ind hasn''t been bought yet, just took her to visit the hospital I''m giving her, and she said she liked it! (Happy)]

    ¡ªSo even a rich daughter-obsessed parent can have a rebellious daughter, suddenly feeling a lot calmer. Anyway, since you''re so wealthy, you don''t need anyfort, right? Rich kids are more prone to rebellion, aren''t they?

    [So that''s it!]Aliali: 674ba5cbc4f3f33ac4a52bcf

    [But I don''t think my little one is rebellious!]

    ¡ªThen what''s the purpose of your post, not for help?

    [No.]

    ¡ª?

    [The child was always exceptionally well-behaved before, although not very sociable with strangers, she was too obedient at home! I''ve read parenting books, which say this is suppressing her instincts, which is unreasonable! This time, she was mischievous for the first time, secretly rebelling against mom''s requests, being naughty and having her own little temper¡ª]

    [So cute... So moving... I want to post this to record it!]

    ¡ª?

    ¡ª???

    Who''s really the parent in your family!

    No matter how you look at it, this well-behaved daughter of yours is much more reliable than you parents!

 Chapter 56

    After the three-day holiday ended, Chu Tingwu moved to a hotel with Three-Five-Five.

    This made it more convenient for work arrangements and allowed them to share rides with the film crew to shooting locations.

    Besides personal belongings, she also brought her two skateboards.

    Ever since the skateboarding escape incident, Three-Five-Five had developed an odd attitude toward skateboards, specifically:

    She wouldn''t y with them when Chu Tingwu was watching.

    When Chu Tingwu wasn''t around, she would secretly y with them, but her cat paws couldn''t put the skateboard back in ce. Both human and cat tacitly pretended not to know about this.

    The cat mother seemed to want to physically demonstrate her stance on skateboarding, but her kitten would always agree nicely, appearing contrite yet continuing the behavior.

    After repeating this pattern two or three times, a new word appeared in the tortoiseshell cat''s vocabry: "lying."

    Three-Five-Five: "!"

    The cat was very troubled.

    When Chu Tingwu yed with the skateboard in the hotel lobby, Three-Five-Five would asionally dart over, stopping the skateboard with both paws, forcing Chu Tingwu to make an emergency stop.

    Afterward, Three-Five-Five would stand up and pat Chu Tingwu''s calf, meowing twice in praise.

    Good girl, so obedient.

    Chu Tingwu: "=v="

    After observing for a while, the system noticed the issue¡ªthe kitten''s persistent disobedience was just teasing her mom. Her goal was simply to hear those two phrases of "good kitty meow, good kitty meow," wasn''t it? After hearing them, she would put the skateboard aside and either y with her phone while hugging Three-Five-Five or go out for a run.

    When the mischievous cat child returned with her cat mother, they discovered unfamiliar cat scents in the hotel.

    There were cat smells in the elevator too, and as Three-Five-Five tilted her head in confusion, Chu Tingwu realized: the orange cat had arrived for the role audition!

    Due to strict requirements for size and appearance, the crew had only scheduled two suitable orange cats from Fallen Phoenix City for final auditions at the hotel.

    One was Lanng, whose appearance was most suitable and who had been a stray before being adopted. The other was Hua Xiaogang, a house cat living in a rural courtyard whose owner also had seven dogs.

    Sniffing the scents of both cats, Chu Tingwu checked the message on her phone and made her way to the meeting room.

    She knocked and entered, finding several key personnel present, along with the unfamiliar cats and their owners.

    The key personnel naturally included the directing team and the male and female leads.

    Chu Tingwu was very familiar with the male lead Cheng Luwei, but the female lead had just finished filming a variety show and had only arrived today. She was a beautiful young woman with pure features and a slim figure; Chu Tingwu remembered she had done advertisements for a famous cosmetics brand.

    Cheng Luwei greeted her warmly: "Teacher Xiao Chu!"

    The female lead also smiled and greeted her, though she looked somewhat tired.

    However, in cats'' eyes, humans weren''t important¡ªthe signals from their own kind were what mattered.

    Three-Five-Five ignored these humans and stood in front of Chu Tingwu, examining the two orange cats. One was in a carrier on the table, while the other was on a leash. The two cats had been staring at each other, but when Three-Five-Five and Chu Tingwu appeared, they both turned to look at them.

    Having seen their photos, Chu Tingwu immediately recognized which was Lanng and which was Hua Xiaogang.

    The two cats looked identical, but Lanng was thinner and confined to the carrier, while Hua Xiaogang had slightly smaller eyes and, after standing for a while, lowered his head to lick his paws.

    Lanng''s owner smiled wryly: "Lanng doesn''t have the best temperament, I dare not let him out... shall we just observe him like this?"

    Lanng was previously a stray, and his name came from his love of wandering. They lived on the fifth floor of an apartmentplex, and after his owner took him in, the orange cat would wake him up every night to open the door.

    The first time this happened, the owner was very sad, thinking the cat couldn''t adapt to domestic life, so he opened the door to let him be free.

    But the next morning, Lanng was scratching at the door covered in injuries, squeezing his way back inside.

    Well, the kid had gone out fighting at midnight.

    As it happened more frequently, the owner got used to it¡ªthis was a cat that needed more space. He didn''t like staying in small rooms, considering the entire residentialplex his territory, needing daily patrol rounds¡ªand he would bring food back to his owner.

    Last time it was an unopened sealed duck leg.

    The owner: "..."

    At least it was better than the half snake from the time before.

    Rather than a pet-owner rtionship, the owner felt they were more like roommates, especially when he discovered during Chinese New Year: when his parents came to stay and bought New Year supplies daily, Lanng didn''t go out but stayed on the balcony, cautiously observing.

    Perhaps Lanng went hunting because he saw his owner staying home all the time.

    Though responsible, this cat indeed had a difficult temperament¡ªhe wouldn''t let anyone pet or hold him, and would re at every dog he passed, equally disdaining all living creatures in the vicinity.

    As Chu Tingwu bent down to observe, Lanng suddenly stretched out his paw and smacked the lock on the carrier.

    In the next second, Three-Five-Five had darted over, letting out a "rawr" at the orange cat.

    The orange cat in the carrier froze, then squeezed his head near the lock, eyes wide, hissing at Three-Five-Five.

    Nearby, Hua Xiaogang lifted his head in confusion, raising his left ear, then dropping it to raise his right ear, before silently turning his face away and pressing against his owner''s pants leg with an expression that seemed to say "you''re all too noisy."

    Hua Xiaogang''s ownerughed awkwardly and tugged on the leash.

    Lanng''s owner was even more ufortable, quietly trying to persuade his cat, but what use was human persuasion on cats¡ªChu Tingwu listened to their meaningless argument, her expression slowly turning to "=="

    "You''re yelling at my kid!"

    "So what if I am!"

    "Come out and fight if you dare!"

    "You think I don''t want toe out?"

    Yes, it was that pointless, and yet so sincere¡ªthey were literally arguing about not being able toe out!

    At this point, Three-Five-Five paused, looking at the carrier''s lock: for her, such a lock was easier to open than catching mice, to the point where she began to question Lanng''s intelligence.

    Then, no longer caught up in the argument, the cat mother turned away, pretending nothing had happened, intently observing her own tail on the table.

    As if the tail might suddenly sprout flowers.

    Having lost his argument partner, Lanng also seemed bewildered, pushing at the carrier''s lock a couple more times. Chu Tingwu greeted his owner and reached out to open the carrier¡ª

    In that instant, an orange blur shot out.

    The other humans reflexively stepped back, Cheng Luwei moved to protect his water cup, the female lead instinctively shielded her script, and then they heard a cat''s cry cut abruptly short.

    Chu Tingwu had pinned Lanng down.

    She had previously restrained a Maine Coon, so this time she was even more experienced... though Lanng was indeed stronger than the Maine Coon. Back then, Chu Tingwu could use her legs to restrain the cat''s body, but this time on the table, she only used her hands.

    They could see Lanng''s lower body rolling and struggling¡ª

    But unsessfully.

    Three-Five-Five watched from the side, suddenly raising her paw to punch the orange cat''s head.

    Lanng''s owner: "Ah... ah... ah!"

    He wanted to intervene but felt this wasn''t a battlefield he could participate in.

    When cats fight cats, he couldn''t exactly join in... more importantly, he couldn''t beat either cat!

    Several minutester, Lanng finally gave up, lying there panting, but still couldn''t help hissing. Chu Tingwu chatted with him briefly before giving up: this actor cat''s appearance was perfect, but his mind seemed a bit stubborn.

    Moreover...

    She switched arms to hold the cat down, her left hand sliding along its back and lifting its tail.

    Chu Tingwu: "Not neutered?"

    Lanng''s owner: "We took him to the neighborhood pet clinic, but several of us couldn''t hold him down. He broke the equipment and we had topensate the doctor five hundred yuan."

    Lanng''s owner could tell that his cat probably wouldn''t pass the interview. He was quite calm about it (after all, he had already gotten the celebrity''s autograph), and even seemed a bit excited: "Master Chu, oh no, Teacher Chu, could I ask you to help get Lanng neutered? Just hold him down and give him the anesthetic!"

    He pulled out his phone to show Chu Tingwu his fan badge from her livestream channel, suggesting: "Could this be a fan perk?"

    He wasn''t a hardcore fan, but it was because he followed Chu Tingwu that he downloaded the APP, and then adopted Lanng through the APP''s online adoption event.

    Chu Tingwu: ==

    Which content creator offers neutering fans'' cats as a perk?

    Though she found it absurd, Chu Tingwu agreed anyway, since there was a pet clinic just two blocks away that would only take a few minutes.

    She stuffed Lanng back into the carrier, then turned to look at Hua Xiaogang.

    Lanng''s owner decided to stay and watch the fun¡ªplus he was curious about how someone else''s cat of simr size could be so well-behaved.

    However, he noticed Three-Five-Five had somehow appeared next to the carrier and raised its paw.

    Lanng''s owner: ? Wait!

    Three-Five-Five opened the carrier''s lock.

    Before Lanng, who had just experienced a dark moment in his cat life, could react, Three-Five-Five locked it again in the next second.

    Lanng''s face smacked right into the lock.

    Lanng''s owner: "..."

    Master Chu, isn''t your Three-Five-Five ying with my cat? Your cat is really messing with mine!

    Unlike the impulsive and hot-tempered Lanng, Hua Xiaogang was a ginger cat with a stable temperament.

    Or rather, most ginger cats had temperaments as steady as trucks.

    Hua Xiaogang possessed both the personality of a truck and the build of an off-road vehicle. When Chu Tingwu approached, he gently raised his paw and patted her once.

    When Three-Five-Five darted over from the table, Hua Xiaogang slightly backed away, signaling to the cat mother that he hadn''t bullied her kid.

    Three-Five-Five crouched at the edge of the table while Chu Tingwu began negotiatingpensation with Hua Xiaogang¡ª

    At least during filming, the crew would provide cat food and canned food, and she would also prepare special cat meals as extras.

    Hua Xiaogang: "So I have to stay here for many days before going back, meow?"

    Chu Tingwu nodded.

    The ginger cat''s eyes lit up, forgetting about social distance and enthusiastically pouncing forward, cing both front paws on Chu Tingwu''s leg: "When do we start, can we start today meow meow meow!"

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    He clearly couldn''t wait.

    Hua Xiaogang''s owner noticed this too, looking exasperatedly at the cat, then at Chu Tingwu, and pped his hands: "So I''ll just leave him here with you?"

    Wait, we haven''t signed the contract yet!

    Contract negotiations were human business; the cats could already rest.

    Hua Xiaogang''s background was much simpler than Lanng''s¡ªhis was a multi-dog household, as his owners particrly loved dogs. The cat was given to them by a neighbor, and when he first arrived, he was just a kitten. They fed him sheep''s milk when he was small, and when he got a bit bigger, he almost thought he was a puppy himself, trying to eat the dogs'' food after finishing his cat food.

    His owner had a habit of walking the dogs early in the morning, and the cat had to adjust his schedule ordingly. The first time he went out of curiosity to observe the dog walking, the owner called him to join them.

    Being walked like a dog was one thing, and the lifestyle was quite healthy, but the dogs were too enthusiastic, and Hua Xiaogang would always end up with a face full of dog drool.

    When he was small, he couldn''t resist, but as he grew up, his natural cat cleanliness instinct kicked in, and he would fight with the dogs every day¡ªthough he couldn''t win.

    Because the owner keptrge dogs.

    Losing to dogs was one thing, butter when the owner brought home puppies, the puppies became very attached to the only creature in the house that was about their size¡ªthe cat.

    Hua Xiaogang, this young three-year-old cat with a robust build and world-weary heart, was forced to help the owner raise puppies.

    A three-year-old cat, physically strong but emotionally weathered, had had enough of living with dogs. Now, joining the film crew, he could finally have some quiet days!

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    After hearing about Hua Xiaogang being licked by dogs every day, she quietly took half a step away from the ginger cat.

    No wonder the dog smell was so strong, and they even used a dog leash on him.

    After the discussion ended, the owner exchanged contact information with Chu Tingwu, happily handed over the leash, and drove home.

    After all, they were local, and Chu Tingwu was quite well-known in Fallen Phoenix City, so he wasn''t worried. He coulde watch during filming but couldn''t stay by the cat''s side all the time.

    ...After all, he still had seven dogs to walk at home.

    After the owner left, Hua Xiaogang showed slight signs of nervousness. While knowing something would happen was one thing, actually seeing the owner leave and being surrounded by unfamiliar scents was another. Though he only widened his eyes a bit, Chu Tingwu could tell he was bing anxious.

    After a moment''s hesitation, Chu Tingwu mentioned something to Director Mu Lou, then suggested to Hua Xiaogang: "Want toe out with me for a bit?"

    The cat''s ears twitched: "Okay meow!"

    Sure enough, after leaving the conference room and entering the hallway, the cat''s mood seemed to improve. He sniffed around, mainly following Chu Tingwu''s scent. He had realized that his owner had entrusted him to this cat child.

    Chu Tingwu took Hua Xiaogang downstairs, and after leading him out, the cat asked puzzledly: "Where are we going meow?"

    Would he be walked here too?

    Chu Tingwu: "Huh? Taking Lanng to get neutered."

    Hua Xiaogang: "..."

    Meow! Meow meow meow?

    -

    When they went out, his tail was still held high, but when they returned, his tail was tucked down.

    However, after eating the cat food prepared by Chu Tingwu, Hua Xiaogang''s tail perked up again¡ªor rather, he buried his head in the bowl, and when he looked up, his eyes were misty.

    Chu Tingwu: "...Isn''t that a bit dramatic?"

    Hua Xiaogang: "!"

    That''s because you have no idea what kind of pig feed he had been eating before!

    After eating, Chu Tingwu took Hua Xiaogang to the filming location, where today''s scenes required Hua Xiaogang to work with the female lead.

    After Chu Tingwu''s subtle eye signals, the female lead carefully approached to pet the ginger cat''s back, smiling sheepishly at Chu Tingwu: "I''ve never had pets before, I''m afraid of getting scratched."

    The female lead, Tong Bei, wasn''t professionally trained but was discovered by the entertainment industry.

    She had passed an audition for a movie where she yed a likable supporting role, after which her currentpany signed her.

    However, afterward, Tong Bei didn''t receive many new resources and gradually became known more for variety shows after entering the entertainment industry. Although variety show appearances could earn good money, she never forgot what that director had said: "Your face is more suited for the big screen."

    Maybe it was just a politement, but Tong Bei remembered it for a long time.

    Now, almost five years had passed, and her contract with thepany was about to end. Tong Bei wanted to go independent, and thepany, wanting to part on good terms, secured her the female lead role in Mu Lou''s film.

    Though it was the female lead, this wasrgely a male-led film, or rather an animal film, where the female lead''s role wasn''t much bigger than her previous supporting role, but Tong Bei still valued it greatly. After finishing her variety show work, she rushed to Fallen Phoenix City¡ª

    There was no airport here, making it inconvenient to travel.

    She had also heard of Chu Tingwu¡ªhow could she not? This film was only greenlit because of the micro-film this child had posted, and if Director Mu Lou hadn''t kept it secret during casting, people would certainly have approached Chu Tingwu hoping she could pull some strings.

    By this point in filming, the movie could no longer be kept under wraps.

    On her way here, Tong Bei had already seen online discussions starting to brew.

    Thinking of this, her attitude toward Chu Tingwu became even more polite: "Little Teacher Chu, I''ve never had cats before, so please point out anything I''m doing wrong."

    -

    The crew''s news had indeed started spreading online.

    During the Spring Festival period, everyone was both extremely busy and idle, receiving lots of fragmented information. On New Year''s Day, while Cheng Luwei didn''t make headlines during the Spring Festival G, the topic "¡¶Dragon Child¡· Cast Reunites in Livestream" trended for half a day.

    Many curious people clicked on it, wondering what Spring Festival film "Dragon Child" was, only to discover: Oh, it was that animal micro-film that had gone viral before.

    Due to starting high school, Chu Tingwu''s livestreaming and video posting frequency became much lower than before. Her follower count was growing steadily but slowly, and she had even lost some followers during her extended absence.

    However, after this topic trended, riding on the Spring Festival traffic, Chu Tingwu was brought back into the public eye.

    Some people who watched the shared micro-film went on to watch Chu Tingwu''s other videos and followed her. Cheng Luwei''s fans, who spotted their actor in Chu Tingwu''s livestream, also followed her¡ª

    They spected that Cheng Luwei was away filming, so perhaps they could get some insider information from Chu Tingwu''s channel?

    Obviously, the micro-film trending topic was purchased by the production team.

    After the production team''s promotion, Cheng Luwei''s new Weibo ount promoted it further, other supporting actors subtly mentioned their involvement in a film, and marketing ounts released half-true information. Someone even spotted Director Mu Lou in Fallen Phoenix City.

    Although not a single frame from the film had been released, everyone seemed to know about this movie¡ªMu Lou was the director, Cheng Luwei had an important role, and it might involve animals¡ª

    Many celebrities were caught up in the buzz.

    While the entertainment circle was bustling with activity, Chu Tingwu trended again on the second day of the Lunar New Year.

    This time, however, it wasn''t bought by the production team.

    This trending topic was entirely because Jin City Public Security Bureau decided to promote anti-theft and anti-fraud awareness during the holiday season, releasing videos that included the portion Chu Tingwu filmed, along with a follow-up story.

    "People asked us how we made these videos... Well, it was all thanks to our enthusiastic student Chu. She filmed and edited the videos herself; we only provided support."

    "Student Chu goes to the airport every week to help catch thieves, reporting them to us when she spots them. As for the stolen items, we''re not clear about the specific situations, but they''ve all been returned to their rightful owners, and the victims have noints."

    "We thank our little police helper, but children shouldn''t try to copy her. If you spot a thief, just report it to the police¡ªno need to film videos first¡ªtaking photos and videos of thieves is our job."

    Perhaps because the interviewing officer''s expressions were too dramatic and theatrical, this follow-up interview somehow made its way into Fenghua Video Network''s "meme" section.

    Many content creators made educational yet entertaining anti-theft videos, and naturally, Chu Tingwu''s footage was used as source material.

    Therefore, while Chu Tingwu wasn''t in these videos herself, thements were filled with her ID.

    The phrase "Don''t learn from Student Chu" gradually climbed to the top of trending topics.

    The topic stayed trending for half a day before naturally falling off, but people who had clicked on the previous trending topic clicked on this one again, recognizing the familiar streamer ID, and couldn''t help but ask:

    What''s the deal with this "Chu and Three-Five-Five"? Why do they keep popping up everywhere?

    How does she have connections everywhere, always managing to appear in strange trending topics?

    Fans provided proper introductions, while others joked around, and even students from Jin City No.5 Senior High School chimed in:

    "I''m a second-year student, and this junior is really something else (in a good way). We heard about her when she first enrolled, before we even knew she was a big streamer. Basically, you can spot her in all sorts of weird ces... like nationalpetitions, charity events, g-raising ceremonies, and bird food shops. The craziest thing is that even the food stalls across from school have photos of her cat buying snacks! [Image: Pancakes that even cats love] Now, nothing seems strange anymore, no matter how bizarre it gets=="

    Now Chu Tingwu''s follower count has surpassed some sh-in-the-pan celebrities, and her fan retention is quite high. Whenever she streams, she can quickly climb to the top of the streaming rankings through engagement.

    Yet she remains approachable¡ªyou might see her in the news, or pass by her on the street. She might seem distant, but when you see her walking past with her cat, she feels quite familiar.

    This trending topic brought even more traffic than before, and after several days of buzz, Chu Tingwu''s ount was approaching two million followers.

    Among these followers, only a small portion were persistent celebrity fans hoping to catch news of their idols in her livestream room:

    Mu Lou had confirmed that Cheng Luwei was in his film, and rumors spread that to be cast in Mu Lou''s films, one had to appear in Chu Tingwu''s livestreams.

    Most people found this rumor bizarre, even stranger than many entertainment industry superstitions, but some still believed it.

    So when Chu Tingwu started streaming today, celebrity fans flooded in along with regr fans, all excited.

    While others were greeting Chu Tingwu and asking about Three-Five-Five''s whereabouts, these fans stood out awkwardly, all asking if she had seen their favorite celebrities in Fallen Phoenix City.

    Chu''s fans: "?"

    [If your idol were a cat, Chu might help you find them, but if not, forget it, next!]

    [Who says Master Chu can only find cats? She can find missing dogs too! Master Chu''s catwork is extensive, so what kind of animals are all these names you''re mentioning? This is Chu''s missing animal helpline, we''re all very helpful, don''t be shy!]

    Besides the sarcastic versions, there were also versions where fans simply spammed Chu Tingwu''s name to push thements up, but the fans weren''t too worried... Even if the chat got heated, the streamer probably wouldn''t pay much attention, or might not even be watching.

    Yes, it was that bittersweet.

    Usually, unless it was a dialogue-focused stream, Chu Tingwu would only check the chat after finishing her tasks, with dedicated time for answering questions.

    So the early arriving fans were just chatting casually in thements.

    Soon people noticed that today''s camera was again being controlled by the system, and the filming location appeared to be at a children''s yground.

    Local viewers recognized it: "That''s the one in the west side of the city, it''s been closed for ages!"

    Indeed, this children''s yground had been closed and up for sale but hadn''t found a buyer. Now Director Mu Lou had spotted it and rented it at a low price for filming.

    The main hall of the children''s yground was being used as the location where the male lead is held captive in the film, and other areas could be used for various scenes, making it very practical.

    Now that filming had wrapped up for a while, Chu Tingwu wandered near the abandoned yground. The original equipment had been removed, but the remaining irregr tforms were perfect for skateboarding and parkour.

    These tforms weren''t too high, seemingly part of what was once a small maze, with edges that had been smoothed down and weren''t too rough to touch, plus some sloped tforms.

    Chu Tingwu signaled the system to raise the drone ball.

    She held a skateboard in one hand, standing it beside her foot, facing away from the camera at the entrance of the venue.

    The camera was positioned diagonally above and behind Chu Tingwu, and fans were familiar with this third-person controlled view, curiously asking:

    [Why is Master Chu skateboarding now?]

    [Long time no see, Master Chu, is it parkour today? Or skateboarding lessons?]

    [...But this doesn''t look like a proper skateboarding venue, isn''t it kind of dangerous?]

    Chu Tingwu moved.

    She didn''t throw down the skateboard, maintaining her parkour stance, using one hand to support herself on the tform without using the hand holding the skateboard. But when she jumped to the second tform, she tossed the skateboard up, and as shended on it, the front lifted up. She used the back wheels to draw a C-shape on the tform, following the curve to jump up, thennded with the skateboard on the opposite tform.

    This scene left viewers stunned.

    Because parkour and skateboarding have different speeds!

    Parkour is still essentially running, and when people watch others do parkour, their brains have a rough estimate of their speed. However, adding skateboarding to parkour creates an exciting contrast with its varying speeds.

    On the third tform, Chu Tingwu picked up her board and jumped down, then used the skateboard to climb the slope. Viewers could tell that thisbination of skateboarding and parkour was something the streamer hadn''t fully mastered yet, as if she was still experimenting.

    During this time, Chu Tingwu nearly fell off the board twice, but once she stabilized herself with one hand on the tform, and another time she performed an aerial backflip.

    The audience: "..."

    What kind of bnce monster are you?

    After ying for a while, Chu Tingwu said to the camera: "This is my first time skating in this venue, I''m just starting to get somewhat familiar with it now."

    Fallen Phoenix City didn''t have many suitable ces for skateboarding, nor did it have a dedicated skate park, but today, skating up and down on this small tform, Chu Tingwu discovered that skateboarding... was only truly interesting when you had enough speed.

    She rode the skateboard while chatting with her fans, swaying left and right, the board seemed glued to her feet, making it impossible to tell she was just a beginner who hadn''t been learning for long.

    Midway through speaking, Chu Tingwu caught a glimpse of orange in her peripheral vision. She smiled and waved: "Xiaogang!"

    Hua Xiaogang bounded over and nuzzled against her hand.

    [Eh? Is this the dragon cub?]

    [No, no, the face is different! Besides, our dragon cub is a civil servant now, can''t y around freely!]

    [But isn''t Chu Chu good friends with the dragon cub? Can''t the kids y together during New Year? I thought the dragon cub had two days off after thest livestream!]

    The dragon cub did have time off, so Lin Undercover specifically took it to visit its original owner''s home for New Year, but because they were in different cities, the holiday was used up after returning.

    Chu Tingwu didn''t introduce Hua Xiaogang''s identity, only telling viewers it wasn''t the dragon cub... although they were both orange cats and both looked so strong and capable.

    Then, she began skateboarding with Hua Xiaogang!

    Both human and cat were a bit excited. Hua Xiaogang followed her, jumping up and down, asionally leaping onto the skateboard. When the board got heavier, thending sound changed, and the orange cat on the board would "Duang" up and down, after which the orange cat would excitedly "meow."

    Chu Tingwu: "Meow meow!"

    The human and cat yed joyfully together. After familiarizing herself with the route a couple of times, Chu Tingwu skated back to the starting point, pulled out a blindfold from her pocket, and called the orange cat over with meows.

    Amidst a stream of question marks in thements, Chu Tingwu put on the blindfold, made a few moves on her skateboard, then pushed off the ground,unching forward like an arrow. As she rode up the ramp, Hua Xiaogang jumped onto the board.

    [Ah wait, Chu-mi, this is dangerous!]

    [Little cat, no, big cat, don''t jump! You''ll flip the board!]

    [I refuse blind performances, refuse animal performances, but I can''t refuse a blind person insisting on performing with animals...]

    [It''s actually not bad? Chu-shifu was a bit rough at first, but wasn''t she skating quite steadily in thosest few rounds?]

    [But is being able to see the same as not being able to see?! Plus there''s a mischievous cat!]

    Heaven knows, Hua Xiaogang wasn''t actually causing trouble, but now theypletely distrusted its cat character, feeling that having an animal they couldn''tmunicate with nearby made things a hundred times more dangerous than usual.

    Being able to see and not being able to see were indeed different.

    After putting on the blindfold, Chu Tingwu felt like she was flying!

    The system controlled the drone for real-time filming, while Chu Tingwu went up and down with the help of her skateboard. She couldn''t see her surroundings, but there was another three-dimensional world in her mind.

    A cat ran in this world, asionally approaching her, stepping onto the skateboard, spinning with the board, then standing up, making Chu Tingwu feel like she was being thrown up and falling down¡ªshe was the one being thrown up, and she was also the one throwing herself up in the darkness!

    This time she didn''t try too many parkour moves, instead relying on the skateboard to avoid obstacles.

    There was a section where the skateboard could pass through under the tform. Chu Tingwu used parkour moves to flip over the top, while Hua Xiaogang rode the skateboard through the hole below. Then, Chu Tingwu fell from above again,nding precisely on her skateboard.

    She heard the rolling sound, and because she knew there was a cat pressing on the board, the gliding speed would slow down.

    It was magical and interesting. The world was vast, but at this moment, this small "world" was under her control¡ª

    She suddenly understood why people loved extreme sports.

    Because athletes performing extreme sports all believe they''re mastering the current "extreme"¡ªthe limits of their bodies.

    Once people try such a sport, it''s hard to let it go.

    Thements gradually decreased, including those trying to discourage her.

    Long-time fans didn''t even try to discourage her. They were like parents who knew their child would fall in front of the camera but would also get back up, because they knew better that the child always had their own ideas and could always do well.

    The camera captured this scene, fans watched silently, also holding their breath, quietly listening to their own hearts pounding.

    This was a live stream where idents could happen, not a pre-recorded video with a predetermined ending. No one knew what would happen.

    Suddenly, a person appeared in the corner of the frame. The stranger''s face was pixted as usual, but it was clearly a young woman. She waved at Chu Tingwu, seeming to want to call out to her, but didn''t speak. Even without showing her face, she appeared somewhat confused.

    A fewments scrolled by:

    [This kind of looks like our Bei-bei?]

    However, no one responded to these few celebrity fans, and other fans didn''t say much either. Everyone''s attention was still on the cat and person on the skateboard.

    The skateboard reached the final curved ramp, and fans only then noticed that this ramp was somewhat narrow, only slightly wider than the skateboard itself.

    Chu Tingwu rushed up the ramp, faster than any previous time, then crouched down to grab the skateboard with one hand while grabbing Hua Xiaogang with the other.

    The orange cat let out a "meow."

    Human and catunched into the air together, spinning 360 degrees with the board, andnded heavily!

    The cat''s eyes dted then contracted, lying in Chu Tingwu''s arms meowing non-stop, seemingly saying "Again, again!"

    The camera focused on Chu Tingwu''s face; she was also somewhat out of breath, sweat sliding down toward her ck blindfold.

    [!!]

    [...]Aliali: 67490e35c4f3f33ac4819927

    [Holy cow! Holy cow!]

    Only then could the audience rx and breathe, theirments somewhat scattered, seemingly unable to think of what to say, only able to express emotions with short phrases. So a longerment stood out¡ª

    [Wait, wait, isn''t that Three-Five-Five behind Chu-mi...?]

    The audience noticed the corner again, where behind the woman who appeared on camera but whose face wasn''t shown, a familiar cat head emerged.

    Three-Five-Five silently appeared behind the person, then circled around them, quietly staring at the person and cat ying with the skateboard.

    Her expression was unusually serious, even somewhat grim.

    Those eyes, who knew if they were just watching Chu Tingwu, or watching Hua Xiaogang, or staring at... the human and cat ying together on the skateboard!

    Taking your own cat out to y dangerous sports was one thing, but to y with another cat!

    Caught in the act!

    Danger, streamer, danger!

 Chapter 57

    Mu Lou: "What''s going on?"

    Tong Bei: "The situation is a bitplicated. Think of it like this¡ªit''s as if you went to a cat caf¨¦ to pet cats, forgot to change your clothes when you got home, and your own cat smelled it on you."

    Mu Lou: "Oh my!"

    So Teacher Chu was caught by Three-Five-Five while secretly ying with Hua Xiaogang?

    Looking over there, Chu Tingwu was following Three-Five-Five step by step, and although Hua Xiaogang seemed confused, he was also following Chu Tingwu in the same manner, asionally standing up on his hind legs to paw at the skateboard near her hand, as if wondering why they weren''t continuing to y.

    Perhaps because although Hua Xiaogang was physically strong and powerful, he had a good temperament and plenty of patience. Three-Five-Five''s attitude toward this orange cat was rtively gentle, as he wouldn''t hurt the kittens when ying with them.

    But now, Three-Five-Five took a few steps, turned back to re at Chu Tingwu, then bared her teeth at Hua Xiaogang.

    Hua Xiaogang: "?"

    For cats, baring teeth is an unfriendly signal, but he had grown up with dogs, and dogs show their teeth when they''re happy or excited. Cats are very adaptable creatures, and after several encounters, he had be immune to this gesture.

    Seeing such an expression on a fellow cat''s face now, he instinctively asked: "Meow meow?"

    Have you turned into a dog?

    Three-Five-Five: "..."

    Might as well give him a beating!

    While there was a chorus of meows and yowls on one side as Chu Tingwu tried to mediate, simr cat sounds could be heard from another direction¡ªthey had progressed to filming Three-Five-Five''s scenes, and Director Mu Lou had gathered a group of cats from the neighborhood.

    Three-Five-Five''s character was the leader of the cats, so naturally, they needed to film several scenes of her with the stray cats.

    These cats weren''t actually strays, but rather house cats that matched humans'' stereotypical image of stray catsmon breeds with unremarkable looks, some even distinctively ugly.

    These cats were contacted through Hang Ling, and most were former strays who had found homes after being rescued by Little Sun Hospital.

    They selected cats with mild temperaments, not particrly friendly with humans but also not prone to fear from environmental changes.

    The adopting families were delighted that their cats could appear in the movie and were very cooperative.

    When Director Mu came to discuss the scene with Chu Tingwu, she was sitting cross-legged on the room''s carpet, modifying the small skateboard.

    ¡ªClearly, Three-Five-Five liked ying with the skateboard; she just thought Chu Tingwu yed too dangerously.

    Chu Tingwu decided to use the skateboard to tempt the tortoiseshell mother cat, not forcing Three-Five-Five to jump onto her skateboard to get used to the speed. Three-Five-Five also had her own custom small skateboard, so they could start by ying together.

    However, carrying it was an issue.

    Chu Tingwu: "I can''t carry the small one with me when I''m skating myself... we can''t strap it to Three-Five-Five''s back, right?"

    She thought for a moment and asked the system if they couldbine the human skateboard and cat skateboard into one that could be assembled and disassembled easily.

    The system quickly provided Chu Tingwu with a list of materials.

    She was already skilled at this kind of handiwork, and modifying the skateboard wasn''t too difficult, though Chu Tingwu would need to adjust to the new skateboard''s weight¡ª

    The small skateboard''s design was simple, made into connectable pieces that could be attached to therge skateboard when not in use, forming what looked like two small wings.

    New control systems were added to the skateboard, which could be controlled not only by the system but also directly by Chu Tingwu''s hand gestures.

    When Director Mu discovered Chu Tingwu was busy, she didn''t interrupt, waiting until she attached the finalponent before saying: "Your scene hasn''t changed much, but should we change the bicycle riding to skateboarding?"

    The difference wasn''t huge, except that the "bicycle riding" scene included an action where Three-Five-Five jumps into the basket.

    Mu Lou pondered: "I''ve filmed too many scenes of young men and women riding bicycles."

    She was a director with high standards for visuals, and every frame that made it to the big screen had to pass her scrutiny... Although she was confident she could film the cycling scene well, however¡ª

    Director Mu Lou stared at Chu Tingwu, contemting for a while.

    Filming it just like that would be too ordinary, like every other movie she''d made.

    After Chu Tingwu demonstrated the skateboard''s effects to Director Mu, the director made an immediate decision: "Let''s switch to the skateboard."

    -

    This scene was filming the first encounter between the character "Tao Xin," yed by actress Tong Bei, and "Tiger Head."

    ording to the plot introduction, this was Three-Five-Five''s first appearance.

    "Tiger Head" had traveled all the way to Fallen Phoenix City, following the scent of criminals to the West District, but thest piece of evidence had been thrown into territory upied by local stray cats.

    Tiger Head had never been a stray cat, and feeling the unfamiliar and unfriendly scent of his fellow cats, he somewhat forcefully entered their territory.

    Cats, unlike dogs, don''t gather to attack other creatures, but Tiger Head happened to encounter a special group of stray cats.

    A three-legged stray caty on top of a garbage bin, hissing at him.

    Tiger Head hesitated on the spot, somewhat uncertain, but his gaze gradually became determined¡ª

    Then, his nose twitched.

    He caught the scent of other cats.

    A blind cat appeared on an abandoned second-floor windowsill, a tailless cat crawled out from under an overturned metal rack. These cats all looked somewhat disheveled but had clean coats. Cats walk silently; Tiger Head took a step back, his hind paw bending an empty paper cup.

    With a "ng."

    A smoke-colored long-haired tortoiseshell cat leaped from somewhere onto the garbage bin lid, positioning herself in front of the three-legged ck and white cat.

    In the shot, her pupils seemed to sh with dark golden light. The camera switched between Tiger Head and the tortoiseshell; Tiger Head lowered his body while the tortoiseshell''s tail swayed more and more slowly.

    The cats silently surrounded the orange cat. Though they were all old, weak, sick, or disabled, with the tortoiseshell at the front, the oue was uncertain.

    The camera created a sense of equal forces, and in the next second, Tiger Head made a sound.

    ¡ªIn the design, to show how cities far apart could make even cats "speak differentnguages," Director Mu had Chu Tingwu teach Hua Xiaogang to lower his voice, while other cats'' voices were higher-pitched. As for Three-Five-Five, she had no lines here.

    When Chu Tingwu discussed this with Hua Xiaogang, the cat overthought it, and during the official shooting, the orange cat let out a clear "woof-meow."

    Mu Lou looked at Chu Tingwu: That''s not the kind ofnguage barrier we meant!

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    Finally, she found some videos of Russian cats online and had Hua Xiaogang learn a few phrases.

    In the shot, the orange cat made a sound, and the other cats chattered in response. Then they fell silent, looking toward the tortoiseshell in the middle.

    The tortoiseshell''s fur danced in the wind, her eyes narrowed, and she suddenly leaped forward.

    Mid-leap, the other cats seemed to receive amand and jumped out simultaneously.

    "Pat"

    With the soft sound of the paper cup being crushed.

    The orange cat turned and fled, retreating from this territory.

    The negotiations had failed.

    Although there were no lines, everyone could see this was the first encounter between Tiger Head, the foreign cat, and the local leader, the tortoiseshell cat.

    While the scene appeared seamless, there were many NGs during filming.

    Group scenes are already prone to NGs, let alone group animal scenes. This kind of story-driven group animal scene with visible coordinated movement hadn''t been sessfully filmed by anyone else before.

    So, after getting the first good take, Director Mu really wanted to film a few more for backup.

    Chu Tingwu, who was busy catching cats all over the set: "=o="

    Multiple cat scenes were really difficult to film. These disabled cats had all been adopted, and most were quite timid when brought to the set. Chu Tingwu had to direct them to show that wariness of their stray days, at least making their eyes look like they''d spotted an intruder rather than anticipating another can of food.

    This scene was shot on location after the crew rebuilt it, and the cats still needed to be made up one by one to achieve that stray cat look.

    Although today''s shoot was about their first meeting, half of the scenes between Hua Xiaogang and the female lead had already been filmed. Movie timelines are always this jumpy - they need to film all the scenes for a particr set while it''s constructed. Chu Tingwu had arranged everything for the cats, and looking back, she realized her own cat was the most manageable one, requiring no direction¡ª

    Just looking at the expression, Three-Five-Five seemed ready to fight Hua Xiaogang.

    After stuffing the cow-patterned cat Oreo into Hang Ling''s arms, half of the cats here finally wrapped up their scenes for the day.

    After the group cat scene, it was time to film the female lead''s scenes with "Tiger Head." Tao Xin encounters the fleeing Tiger Head and, despite her own troubled circumstances, her heart softens and she adopts the orange cat.

    Though Tiger Head appeared muscr and strong, because of his earlier behavior, the female lead mistakenly believes him to be a physically strong but timid orange cat.

    ...After all, orange cats generally give off an impression of being chubby and gentle.

    The female lead looked at Tiger Head, thinking: "This kid might not be muscr, just a bit fat, with the flesh making it look like muscle."

    She really found every possible excuse.

    Tiger Head follows Tao Xin because she happens to rent a small apartment nearby. Seeing the gathering of cats, he realizes he needs a ce to stay, and thus the human and cat be temporarypanions.

    Usually in films, when humans adopt cats, the pets are portrayed very much as pets, but in this film, the sense of beingpanions sharing life''s struggles is more prominent.

    Both cat and human have their own difficulties but are confined to the same small space.

    When Tao Xin works at her cramped desk, Tiger Head is in the alley below the rental apartment, engaging in battles of wit with other cats, the camera panning upward to show thin strips of sky between two walls.

    During filming, Director Mu exins to them the emotions he wants to convey through his shots¡ª

    Clearly, the cat and human are in simr situations. Chu Tingwu realizes that it''s precisely because cats can''t speak humannguage that Director Mu works so hard to show the cats'' humanized aspects through cameranguage.

    Director Mu has a habit of editing while filming, and Chu Tingwu has seen the footage of this scene.

    She discovers that in this film, Director Mu''s shots have a certain "clean" quality - not in terms of content, but in how he managesplexity without chaos, capturing every frame''s intended emotion with thoroughness.

    It''s this thoroughness that makes both the humans and animals in the frame appear pure and beautiful.

    The tortoiseshell cat''s wild nature, the orange cat''s alertness andposure, human worries and joys... other cats stepping through the city, casting shadows that sh across the corner of the frame - this isn''t their home, but the whole world is their domain.

    After coincidentally helping Tao Xin, Tiger Head returns to the rental apartment and discovers a trapped disabled cow-patterned cat.

    This is a pivotal moment in the film, an opportunity for reconciliation between the neer orange cat and the local strays.

    When the cow-patterned cat is rescued, the orange cat and tortoiseshell exchange a silent nce. The camera gives the cats a close-up - nomunication or dialogue needed, their whiskers quiver in the air as theyplete their animal "conversation" through eye contact alone.

    To amodate Chu Tingwu''s vacation schedule, all animal scenes would be filmed within these two months, so the storyline jumps around.

    Tiger Head obtains a clue, andter, when a client is escorting the female lead home, he catches a familiar scent and tracks it to an abandoned amusement park.

    Three-Five-Five also participates in this part of the plot, where the cats take initiative and coincidentally coordinate with the human female lead to dy that client, thereby slowing down other criminals'' attempts to rendezvous.

    The following scenes include some cat action sequences that would be challenging for ordinary cats but just right for a police cat.

    Director Mu remains sensible, not having an orange cat punch criminals or kick bombs, but simply helping its owner escape and alert the police.

    However, during filming, there was a small, unexpected incident.

    While filming an action scene, the orange cat stepped on a prop wooden board and used its hind legs to push forward,pleting a "skateboarding" move.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    Three-Five-Five: "?"

    Director Mu pped his leg: "Well done, Xiaogang! Can you do that again?"

    Assistant Director: "=="

    What a familiar way of addressing! And that cat... it actually responded with a "meow."

    Their feline actor was having the time of its life skateboarding on set. Off-camera, Chu Tingwu held Three-Five-Five down and buried her face in its belly, finally getting the tortoiseshell to stop struggling and just snort in annoyance.

    Chu Tingwu''s scene in the storyline appears near the ending.

    The plot resolves satisfactorily, with Tiger Head receiving recognition for his important contribution and about to be the first real police cat in thew enforcement system.

    As he''s about to leave Fallen Phoenix City, the camera pulls back for a beautiful panoramic shot of the entire city (Chu Tingwu suspects this is Director Mu''s way of repaying the Cultural and Tourism Bureau''s investment in the film), followed by Tiger Head saying goodbye to his "friends" in Fallen Phoenix City.

    Tao Xin''spany went bankrupt, but her hard work and sincerity were recognized, and she found a newpany with a better work environment. She''s moving out of that rental apartment.

    The stray cats no longer resist Tiger Head''s approach. They exchange distant greetings, and just as they''re about to leave, protection organization workerse to catch them for adoption.

    Seeing that the strays won''t listen to reason, Tiger Head helps the humans trick the cats into cages. Just like their first meeting, he gets hissed at by the cats again.

    But this time, when audiences see this scene, their emotional response will likely bepletely different, probably resulting in good-naturedughter.

    The final goodbye is obviously with Three-Five-Five.

    Tiger Head follows the scent and finds Three-Five-Five. The tortoiseshell is still the cat queen, but now leads a different group from another gathering spot.

    The tortoiseshell cat lounges on the wall, with a group of cats sunbathing. When Tiger Head, the unfamiliar orange cat, approaches, other cats stand up, but only Three-Five-Five merely nces over.

    She''s thest to stand, opening her mouth as if to say something.

    The atmosphere has built up to this point when suddenly, a skateboard appears at the edge of the frame.

    The skateboard stops by the wall, and the girl riding it speaks: "Little Flower? Did you sneak out again without telling me? Come home quickly!"

    The tortoiseshell''s expression visibly freezes.

    She pretends nothing happened, tilts her head to groom her fur with her tongue, then jumps down from the wall. Without looking at Tiger Head, she approaches the girl''s feet: "Meow~"

    The girl''s full body still doesn''t appear in frame. She just bends down to pat the tortoiseshell''s head, lifts her left foot to tap the skateboard twice, her heel hitting the glowing logo on the back half of the board.

    The skateboard''s "wings" automatically detach, drawing two arcs to form a smaller board.

    When the cat steps on it, the LED screen on the cat-sized skateboard changes to an unobtrusive light pink.

    Then, under the watchful eyes of the cats on the wall and Tiger Head beside her, the long-haired tortoiseshell "Little Flower" proudly stands tall on her pink mini-skateboard and follows her owner out of frame.

    As soon as Director Mu called "Cut!", Chu Tingwu couldn''t hold it in anymore. She stopped and bent over, hands on her knees, pretending she wasn''tughing too obviously¡ªbut besides her, everyone else filming this scene had smiles on their faces.

    Only the cats didn''t understand what humans found so funny. Though still lying in their original positions, their heads had all turned, looking for their respective owners.

    Three-Five-Five jumped off the skateboard, pawing at her board, looking at Chu Tingwu, then ncing at the others.

    Though cats don''t understand what''s so funny, they can sense human emotions... logically, the youngster seemed very happy, but something felt odd?

    Seeing that Director Mu hadn''t asked for another take, Chu Tingwu jumped off her skateboard and took out her phone: "Little Flower~ Look here for a photo!"

    Three-Five-Five: "=="

    She turned her head.

    But Chu Tingwu didn''t mind, continuing to snap photos.

    Because Three-Five-Five was a rtively umon name, between "Mimi" and "Xiaohua," Director Mu ultimately decided on "Xiaohua" as the stage name - the simpler, cuter, and more straightforward the name, the more striking the contrast!

    As for the skateboard part at the end, initially it was just meant for Chu Tingwu to stop and call her cat, then leave together.

    But when Director Mu saw Chu Tingwu leading (enticing) Three-Five-Five to y with the small skateboard, her eyes lit up.

    What caught her attention wasn''t the skateboard''s technical features, but rather that it was a pink LED light board!

    Chu Tingwu: "There are other colors too, and this one can be programmed..."

    Director Mu: "Let''s use pink!"

    Chu Tingwu: Well, you asked for it.

    She gestured to Three-Five-Five¡ª

    This person requested it, this person wants you to ride the skateboard, and riding means earning money, big money to raise kittens!

    Three-Five-Five: "...?"

    So the cat mom got on board.

    Before filming, since it was difficult to get the cats to perform uniform actions, there were several NGs, and Chu Tingwu would take the opportunity to photograph and video Three-Five-Five:

    The tortoiseshell cat jumped up and down, asionally pawing at the small skateboard, and when she noticed Chu Tingwu watching, she would just pause briefly, nce at Director Mu, then continue skating forward with an unapologetic look.

    Director Mu was curious: "Three-Five-Five keeps staring at me today? Is there something strange about me?"

    Chu Tingwu thought: Maybe it''s strange that you''re carrying a wok on your back.

    Racing against time, after the winter break ended, Chu Tingwu took two more days off, and finally all the scenes requiring cats werepleted.

    During this period, Three-Five-Five had reluctantly epted her skateboard.

    Or rather, whenever she saw the orange cat staring longingly at the skateboard but unable to y with it, Three-Five-Five would skate back and forth, back and forth... When tired, she would let Chu Tingwu control the board with the remote, and while charging, she would lie on top of it, forbidding any orange fur from appearing on it.

    Chu Tingwu: "=v="

    Of course, while the orange cat didn''t seem to mind being excluded, after visiting the cats several times, Hua Xiaogang''s owner approached Chu Tingwu rubbing his hands: "Teacher Chu, do you have a link for this skateboard?"

    It looked expensive, but he wanted to buy one for his cat too.

    Chu Tingwu waved her hand: "You can just buy those entry-level electric skateboards that can be controlled by an app. This skateboard is custom-modified, mainly for automatic disassembly and remote assembly, but that''s not really useful."

    Only she had such needs¡ª

    Because Chu Tingwu''s goal wasn''t just to desensitize Three-Five-Five to her skateboarding, but to y together with Three-Five-Five. On paths where cats couldn''t skateboard through, she could let Three-Five-Five ride on her board, and the small skateboard could automatically connect, requiring no manual lifting.

    The owner said disappointedly: "I thought about that too, but I searched and found that those skateboards have battery life issues, they run out of power too easily¡ªand I want my dogs to be able to y along too."

    Hua Xiaogang''s home was a big family, and with the dogs included, they naturally needed arge skateboard, but it would indeed run out of power easily.

    Chu Tingwu: "Are they allrge dogs?"

    "Oh, there''s one French Bulldog, but the others are quite big, and we have one big mop dog," the owner gestured to show the dogs'' height, "I walk them every day, and sometimes the dogs get tired too. I was thinking if they had a skateboard, could they just lie on it and be remote-controlled home like your cat?"

    Chu Tingwu thought: You should just buy an electric tricycle==

    Though she made this sarcasticment internally, Chu Tingwu still consulted her system and rmended an electric skateboard with better battery life.

    Just after bidding farewell to Hua Xiaogang''s owner, Cheng Luwei came over, also asking about the skateboard¡ª

    He wasn''t asking for cats, but for himself; he wanted to know how to customize a skateboard with two wings like Chu Tingwu''s.

    "Although I can''t skate, it''s too cool," he sighed, "Let me have one."

    What a simple yet wealthy reason.

    Chu Tingwu: "It depends on whether you just want a skateboard with a special shape, or one that can be programmed for automatic assembly..."

    The former could be customized at a factory, but such skateboards actually couldn''t performplex moves, and doing tricks with such an unusual board would be dangerous.

    The lead actress Tong Bei passed by and was curious: "Then why customize a board like this?"

    Although it was cool, Chu Tingwu surely meant to use it for skating, not just for decoration, right?

    Chu Tingwu: "Because I use it for...muting?"

    Since it was difficult to exin with words alone, Chu Tingwu beckoned to Three-Five-Five, coaxingly "meowed" once, and pointed to the board beneath her.

    Three-Five-Five narrowed her eyes and walked over gracefully.

    This outdoor reshoot location was cordoned off, with two houses of less than a meter height difference, both single-story buildings.

    Chu Tingwu easily climbed onto the roof with the skateboard in one hand, and Three-Five-Five darted up after her.

    Then, the skateboard disassembled into two boards, onerge and one small. Chu Tingwu stood on the skateboard, performed a few moves on the roof as if warming up, then skated straight ahead.

    The people below could see she seemed to be attempting to jump to the opposite side on the skateboard.

    But halfway through, Chu Tingwu made a hand gesture, Three-Five-Five jumped off the small skateboard, the board split and automatically reassembled into wings for the long skateboard, and just before the leap, the cat also jumped onto the board,nding between Chu Tingwu''s feet.

    Chu Tingwu crouched to hold the board, and human and cat sessfullynded on the other side.

    In parkour, sometimes you''ll see traceurs suddenly doing a front flip on t ground, or consecutive front flips. This usually happens when there''s no parkour-specific way to quickly traverse that route, so they''re just running, and for filming effect, the runner will add some technical moves.

    Now, Chu Tingwu was trying to add skateboarding moves here. She discovered that for many tforms with small height differences, or stairs, handrails, and slopes, many parkour moves could be reced with skateboarding techniques.

    So, she was trying to integrate parkour, skateboarding, and cats all together.

    Of course, another reason for the small skateboard was¡ª

    Chu Tingwu crouched on the ground, pointing at the screen to show her fellow actors: "See this light, when Three-Five-Five''s skateboard is plugged in, the light turns on, and then¡ª"

    The big skateboard can charge the small skateboard!

    When she looked up, she found Tong Bei covering her face and silently turning away:

    It''s just too cute!

    Tong Bei took a deep breath and turned to grab Chu Tingwu''s hands: "Can I buy this!"

    Chu Tingwu: ?

    But none of you even have cats!

    Tong Bei: "Actually, I have a hamster... so can you customize one for hamsters? And the hamster skateboard should be able to charge on the big skateboard!"

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    It felt like the focus wasn''t on the skateboard but on charging... the big skateboard was actually just a skateboard-shaped charger!

    With a sense of "I seem to have seeded in marketing, but somehow also haven''t," Chu Tingwu returned to Jin City with Three-Five-Five.

    As for the custom "orders," she had the system send the blueprints to You Zhenzhen, who would liaise with factories for customization and interface with the customers who ced orders.

    The 365 Cat Census APP''s marketce quietly listed custom pet skateboard resales... those who wanted to buy matching human skateboards could add them to their purchase.

    When Chu Tingwu set out on her way back to school, news about the movie began to spread online.

    Barring any surprises, the movie would be released during the May Day holiday period, so they could start building buzz now.

    After much deliberation over names like "Extreme Rescue," "Thrilling Moments," "The Power of Cats," "He and the Cat," the movie''s final title was¡ª

    "Tiger Head"

    The original cat that inspired the story is now named "Dragon Baby" and has epted this name, but the movie used the original name "Tiger Head," as if in a parallel world, everything had been altered, and Tiger Head never became "Dragon Baby," remaining that chubby orange cat with tiger-like features.

    Mu Lou was also very satisfied with this name. Although switching from an indie film to an animal-centered movie was quite a departure for her, she still felt this title best conveyed the film''s theme.

    As the film entered the editing phase, promotional activities officially began.

    The first promotional poster was released, with the ginger cat taking the center position, Cheng Luwei with the most screen time in second ce, and the high-profile Tong Bei in third. The two humans and one cat upied the most eye-catching positions, but Three-Five-Five was also lying at the top of the poster. Due to its fur color almost blending with the background, its most striking feature was its pair of amber eyes.

    The actors'' fans were thrilled. Although Mu Lou hadn''t directed this type of film before, the released promotional footage showed her filming technique hadn''t declined. Even if the plot wasn''t exceptional, it would at least be a passable film where audiences could enjoy beautiful actors and scenery at the theater.

    In the entertainment industry, merely being passable already surpassed 80% of films!

    Fans were the most excited, and with Tong Bei''s variety show sess and Cheng Luwei''s public appeal, both were box office guarantees. Regr moviegoers wouldn''t reject this film either.

    Seeing the initial promotional response, investors immediately added more to the marketing budget.

    Mu Lou remained calm and continued releasing behind-the-scenes footage.

    This film had so much behind-the-scenes content it could almost be edited into a new movie, possibly because it was rare to see so many cats that would follow directions and could be filmed freely. All sorts of footage of the cats was captured on camera.

    At first, fans were still excited, but gradually, people began to notice:

    [I came to watch Bei Bei, but why do I start grinning whenever I see staff members holding cats...]

    [Same here, I''m Cheng Luwei''s fan, and he''s usually so low-profile without many airport photos. I came to catch glimpses of him, but ended up watching all the parts with cats eating!]

    [I heard this is an animal movie featuring a police cat? Is it the police cat from Fallen Phoenix City? That''s the only police cat I could find when searching!]

    [It should be, they''re both ginger cats! And I vaguely remember this cat had filmed a movie before... Is this the second one?]

    [???]

    The curious fans quickly found the micro-film, since it had been trending recently, andpared it with the registered story of "Tiger Head" - it was indeed the same cat.

    Shortly after fans confirmed this, Mu Lou officially announced that the film was indeed based on a real police cat - though she didn''t specifically mention it was Long Zai, as too much attention wasn''t good. After all, there was news of police dog training bases across the country experimenting with training police cats.

    She also dered: The film was 60% fictional.

    Fans: Did this need to be stated? The movie even has an [action] tag, everyone knows those are human actions, not cat actions.

    Mu Lou: You know nothing about cats... No, before filming, I probably knew nothing about cats either!

    She thought she should properly thank Chu Tingwu for providing many inspirations for animal action design.

    Meanwhile, Tong Bei''s fans also felt... they should thank Chu Tingwu?

    Someone found footage from Chu Tingwu''s old livestreams where Tong Bei had actually appeared!

    The person whose face was blurred was wearing the same clothes Tong Bei wore in the behind-the-scenes footage!

    Fans secretly discussed in their groups:

    [Cheng Luwei... seems to have appeared too? He''s the male lead. Our Bei Bei is the female lead, could it be true that "to be in Mu Lou''s film, you must appear in Chu''s livestream"?]

    -

    Chu Tingwu was unaware that she had involuntarily be part of another strange entertainment industry superstition. She was sitting in a ssroom in the experimental building.

    Due to taking leave for filming, Chu Tingwu had missed the start-of-term exams, and now she was surrounded by first-year students who consistently ranked in the top thirty of their grade.

    Considering her rankingsst semester, even without thetest test scores, she was included in this list.

    They were here to experience the atmosphere of academicpetitions early.

    The five major subjectpetitions included Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Informatics. Students would progress through various levels of selection and testing to reach the national team,peting against international peers on the world stage.

    Of course, Jin City No.5 Senior High School didn''t have such lofty ambitions. At most, they aimed to nurture students who could achieve provincial rankings, giving them advantages in direct university admissions or reduced entry requirements at prestigious schools.

    As for the national team, those chances were too slim.

    Both first and second-year students could participate in thesepetitions, and some talented middle school students were even discovered through thesepetitions. Jin City No.5 had a tradition where first-year students would also register when second-years signed up, receiving short-term training and participating inpetitions to experience the atmosphere.

    Since first-year students still had regr sses, the only time avable for training was... during evening self-study.

    Moreover, their evening study time would be extended by an hour, matching the third-year students'' schedule.

    The seniorpetition ss students quietly told them: "Once you''re in thepetition ss in second year, you''ll leave school with the third-years in the evening, and only have half a day off on weekends."

    The first-year students were shocked.

    But correspondingly, thepetition ss seemed... more free in some ways?

    The second-year students were studying next door, and the first-years had secretly peeked in, discovering that everyone had their phones, some even broughtputers, and teachers didn''t mind at all.

    The teaching instructor, noticing their confusion, smiled and said, "Once they''re in thepetition ss, they know their responsibilities. They''re self-disciplined, using phones to look up problems and facilitate discussion."

    As for those who couldn''t self-discipline¡ª

    Thepetition ss had an elimination system; those who fell behind in test rankings would have to leave.

    The first-year students were... thoroughly shocked.

    An Shiyan quietly grabbed Chu Tingwu''s arm: "I feel like I''ll be back in regr sses before a month is up."

    Despite saying this, most students brought their phones the next day.

    Today during break, Chu Tingwu heard a familiar voice from her neighbor''s phone - the background audio seemed to be promotional material for "Tiger Head" -

    It was footage of Tong Bei filming in front of the camera from their time on set.

    Two or three people gathered around to watch, while the teacher sat at the desk, not interfering.

    This emboldened others, and all eyes became glued to the screen.

    The initial promotion was normal, with Tong Bei discussing rted topics and smiling while asking for support for the film... several cats were walking around in the background, clearly having just finished shooting scenes with multiple cats.

    Chu Tingwu also recalled the situation then, but her brows furrowed: Wait... they didn''t reshoot this promotional material?

    Just as she thought this, the scene indeed changed.

    The camera shook slightly, as if the cameraman noticed something wrong: "Tong¡ª"

    There were too many cats in the background. A white cat had been lying on a nted prop, and then other cats passed by ying, causing the unstable long prop to fall along with the white cat on top!

    Tong Bei''s shoulders tensed, seemingly also keenly aware of the danger, but human reactions weren''t fast enough. She only managed to turn and take half a step toward the camera.

    This half step, taken while looking up, actually made her stumble, nearly falling into the camera.

    The students watching the footage were also shocked, and caught up in the emotion, they let out quiet gasps around the phone screen.

    The camera shook, showing a foot, then half a body facing away from the camera. Then the photographer seemed to move, focusing the lens on Tong Bei''s face.

    Tong Bei hadn''t fallen; someone had caught her around the waist, but the posture was strange.

    Because while that person''s face wasn''t shown, their other arm seemed to be holding something else.

    So the camera, as if understanding what fans wanted to see, pushed in that direction, revealing a white cat on the person''s other side.

    Yes, this person who came to help caught both the falling person and the cat in a princess carry style - one in each arm.

    The cat and the person had almost identical expressions - the person looked bewildered while the cat appeared dazed.

    She put the cat down on the ground, still showing only most of her body in the frame, with a voice from off-screen asking: "Are we still filming?"

    "Oh, oh¡ª" Tong Bei maintained her pose and smiled at the camera, "Please support our movie ''Tiger Head''!"

    Comments floated across the screen, but after watching the video, the students from the Olympic ss turned to look at Chu Tingwu:

    "Um..."

    Chu Tingwu: "I was just there to help."Aliali: 6748813ec4f3f33ac479d733

    She was just an ordinary crew member!

    "So about your leave from school..."

    Chu Tingwu: "When you start something, you should see it through!"

    Her ssmates weren''t entirely convinced but seemed relieved: "That''s good... so it wasn''t because you filmed a video of thieves and got revenge from criminal gangs, had your holiday homework stolen and torn up, and then couldn''te back because you were trying to get your homework back, and couldn''t make up the work in time..."

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    Another person whispered: "I told you that wasn''t possible."

    Chu Tingwu: Of course it wasn''t possible.

    The ssmate continued: "...I mean, I don''t think anyone could steal Chu Tingwu''s holiday homework!"

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    So that''s what they meant by "impossible"!

 Chapter 58

    "This is so sweet! What''s written on it? Is it Russian?"

    "This part is the ingredients list," Chu Tingwu handed the chocte box to Chang Yixin after sharing some with Chang Yile. "I received it during the New Year."

    Although the New Year atmosphere had faded, the holiday treats at home hadn''t been finished yet.

    This box of choctes was indeed a New Year gift that Chu Tingwu received. Teacher Zhang''s old Russian friend had visited, and upon learning there was a "child" in the house, specifically... bought Russian choctes from a local import store and insisted on giving them to Chu Tingwu.

    ¡ªThey had tried this brand before; it was delicious.

    The family hade to China for tourism, but when Chu Tingwu returned home on her skateboard that day, only the elderlydy called Narcissa remained. Her younger family members had dropped her off before going to explore Fallen Phoenix City.

    In the end, Chu Tingwu, Teacher Zhang, Aunt Mei, and Narcissa gathered for a mahjong game thatsted until midnight.

    During the game, Chu Tingwu not only practiced her spoken Russian but also enriched and updated her vocabry of modern Russian swear words.

    Since returning to school, everyone had been exchanging snacks during breaks. The students who had joined thepetition preparatory ss and had sses in the experimental building were particrly bold, always carrying lots of packages.

    Because thepetition preparatory ss didn''t care how much they yed around as long as they passed the tri-daily quizzes.

    And those who couldn''t pass¡ª

    That evening, they noticed several students missing from ss.

    The quizzes weren''t ranked; they just had a passing score requirement.

    During the day, they studied the regr first-year curriculum, and in the evening, they studiedpetition material. The pace was clearly faster than normal, covering almost one unit every three days. They had assignments both in and out of ss, and after rushing toplete those, they still had to do homework from their regr daytime sses.

    Someoneined, "Teacher, weren''t we just supposed to participate inpetitions this year to get a feel for the atmosphere? We''re only first-years!"

    They had thought they would just learn a bit extra or get ahead on second-yearpetition ss material, but looking at their daily practice books? They were clearly drilling forpetitions!

    Even Chu Tingwu could feel that the teachers were trying to pour knowledge into their heads.

    It didn''t matter if they could remember it all; the important thing was to learn it first and then start solving problems frantically.

    The lecturing teacher smiled, "Just getting a feel for the atmosphere? Do you think you have many opportunities? You''re already in the second semester of your first year, and counting next year''s second year, you only have two chances¡ª"

    "If you don''t ce in either of these two opportunities, you''ll still have to take the college entrance exam," he tapped the desk, "and you''ll have spent nearly a year studyingpetition problems and preparing forpetitions while still needing to prepare for the college entrance exam... Will you regret joining thepetition ss then?"

    The previously noisy ssroom fell silent.

    This teacher usually walked hurriedly; he was actually the second-yearpetition ss teacher. After finishing their lesson, he had to teach next door, rarely speaking about anything outside of academics, which made his current words seem particrly heartfelt.

    "I''ve been teachingpetition sses for many years. Provincial rankings, national rankings¡ªthere are only so many spots. There are so many peers across the country working hard for thesepetitions, and arge portion might end up with nothing¡ªno extra points, no guaranteed admission¡ªjust a more exhausting study experience than their ssmates," he said. "You haven''t even joined the officialpetition ss yet; if you look next door, you''ll see how rxed you are inparison, but you''re already saying you''re ''tired.''"

    He smiled helplessly, "The official ss division happens in second year, and you can discuss with your parents then whether to pursuepetitions¡ªif you want to make that decision now, you can stop attending the preparatory evening sses."

    Of course, no one dared to respond; such decisions weren''t easy to make.

    "If you''re not nning to quit... then remember, this isn''t just about ''experiencing the atmosphere,'' this is one of only twopetitions you can participate in."

    A few days after that teacher''s speech, some students did leave the preparatory ss, and the school didn''t add new students. There wasn''t time to start teaching neers from scratch anymore.

    Today, they received their subject selection forms from the teacher.

    Thepetitions were divided into five categories: mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and information technology, with varying schedules and provincial preliminary rounds happening at different times.

    Second-year students seemed to specialize in only one or two subjects, while first-years had no restrictions. The teacher said they could fill in whatever they wanted, whatever they thought they could handle¡ª

    However, those who selected all five subjects would have to study all five, and with possible schedule conflicts, they might need to self-study one or two subjects.

    An Shiyan went around gathering information and reported back to her friends: "Everyone seems to want to take the biologypetition."

    The teachers also rmended the biologypetition... because it finished earliest, and if they didn''t ce in the second-year round, it would leave them enough time to prepare for the college entrance exam.

    Chu Tingwu put the light yet weighty registration form in her bag. They got out of schoolter than usual today, coincidentally running into the second-year students.

    While the first-yearpetition prep ss students still chatted andughed with each other, those second-year students had rather subdued expressions. Though they still talked and conversed, there was a strange, suppressed calmness about them.

    An Shiyan elbowed the two people beside her, pointing: "That should be Shen Rao from second year. They say she started participating in Olympicspetitions in elementary school and beganpetition training in middle school. She won first prize in the mathpetitionst year but didn''t make it to the national team."

    An Shiyan had heard gossip that this girl could already secure admission to other top domestic universities, but she still wanted to try for the national team.

    Chang Yixin pondered, "Seems like someone with ambition?"

    Yes, some people foundpetitions arduous, viewing winning rankings merely as a tool to enter better universities, but others seemed to genuinely find joy inpetitions and improved themselves step by step.

    After saying goodbye to her two friends at the school gate, Chu Tingwu put down her skateboard, rode it into the residential area, and waved at Three-Five-Five who was sprawled on the card reader at the entrance.

    Three-Five-Five seemed to have been lying there for a while and yawned widely as she stood up, giving Chu Tingwu a puzzled look.

    She had gone to the police dog base for sses and was brought back by Man Xing, but instead of going home, she waited at the entrance for her cub.

    But why was her cubing home sote again?

    Three-Five-Five was getting sleepy at this hour since she usually kept regr hours.

    Chu Tingwu poked her forehead, finding the cat squinting drowsily, then poked her bottom.

    Three-Five-Five: "?"

    Chu Tingwu held back augh, moving her skateboard back and forth with her foot, gesturing for Three-Five-Five to hop on.

    The human and cat returned home, and it wasn''t until the door opened that Chu Tingwu felt she could truly rx.

    Now she wanted to crawl into the sofa box when she saw it, and lie down in the nest when she spotted it, but she couldn''t¡ª

    Homework wasn''t finished.

    System: "=="

    Although the System didn''t say a word, Chu Tingwu heard teeth grinding beside her ear.

    The System looked like it wanted to assassinate the teachers on Chu Tingwu''s behalf.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    Parents shouldn''t be too indulgent!

    Actually, it wasn''t toote yet; many young people hadn''t even started theirte-night activities, but students who had been using their brains all day in sses would feel truly exhausted once they rxed.

    After convincing the System to calm down, Chu Tingwu started doing homework while propping her chin with one hand¡ªotherwise, she might fall asleep.

    But even so, she still wanted to sleep... her palm was so soft, it seemed like she could take a nap on it.

    Just as she thought this, she felt the tension in her aching head ease, a warm current swirling through her brain, fatigue receding, and her spirit recovering.

    Chu Tingwu: "Has your system malle online?"

    System: "?"

    What''s that?

    It exined, "I just stimted your brain with an electrical current, but this method can''t be used too often."

    After calcting that it wouldn''t affect the child''s health, the system, feeling too much sympathy, decided to use it anyway.

    Chu Tingwu became energized and quickly filled out all the homework, finally taking out that form.

    She stared at the form for a while before asking the system, "Arepetitions useful?"

    The teacher''s words today had also made Chu Tingwu start thinking.

    In fact, in her ss, Chu Tingwu was among those who could keep up with the teaching progress... The teacher probably hadn''t expected her to give up, because no matter how you looked at it, if she worked hard for a year, her chances of getting a good ranking and receiving bonus points or direct admission were quite high.

    If Chu Tingwu suggested withdrawing, they might even want to talk to her "parents" about it.

    And now, she was talking to her parent.

    She wouldn''t choose to give up because of difficulties or fatigue, but Chu Tingwu couldn''t quite understand the meaning ofpetitions yet.

    The system seemed to notice its cub''s confusion and didn''t answer immediately.

    Three-Five-Five jumped to the edge of the desk, cing its front paws on Chu Tingwu''s arm, with its tail resting on her shoulder, causing a slight tickle.

    System: "For the macro universe, this is apletely meaningless thing."

    It first made this conclusion.

    [This "world" is very, very, very big. Humans usepetitions to select the most excellent young people from all of humanity, to achieve honors like world champion. Then, a small portion of these young people will continue to study deeply in their fields - mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, and information technology - and with an extremely small probability, achieve breakthroughs in knowledge and technology.]

    [However, in their lifetime, they still seem unable toprehend how vast the universe is, and life will pass along with time.]

    [But for themselves, petition" is a very valuable thing. Without suchpetitions, some people might never discover their talents and wouldn''t take this path.]

    [When they believe something has meaning, then it has meaning.]

    There''s no need to care about what the universe thinks, because the universe doesn''t think anything.

    "So," the system said, "if you enjoy doing this, then it has meaning for you."

    Other people''s judgments and views don''t matter, because this is Chu Tingwu''s own life.

    Chu Tingwu: "What if I don''t get into university... well, never mind."

    Not only was this probability very low, moreover, the system obviously thought: "Does a little cat need to go to university?"

    If Chu Tingwu got into university, she would be the cat with the highest education in the whole world!

    Chu Tingwu stroked Three-Five-Five''s back: "If I could get into a better university, of course I''d want to go. For others, spending over a year to secure a better four years of university is something with high value for the effort - just need to work hard for one year."

    It wasn''t that she couldn''t work hard; she just felt something wasn''t right.

    She had done many problems, analyzed many types of questions, passed the frequent small tests¡ª

    Chu Tingwu walked to the window, opened it, and looked up.

    Clouds covered the stars.

    And under the night sky, spring had already quietly arrived long ago.

    System: "Do you want to quit?"

    Chu Tingwu: "No."

    System: "?"

    Chu Tingwu smiled: "I actually don''t dislike the knowledge I''ve learned during this time."

    If she didn''t like it, she would have quit long ago.

    In fact, she was interested in biology because of the changes in her own body. She found researching biology to be a very interesting thing. She was also interested in physics because when assembling the blueprints provided by the system, she always felt she could glimpse a corner of cutting-edge technology. And if current technology was already so mature, what would the system''s restricted technologies be like?

    She was also very curious about information technology, after all, she had the strongest "information technology" right beside her. Every bit of understanding made Chu Tingwu feel that this knowledge was soplex yet beautiful - it was a new world.

    ¡ªBut she had no interest in doing practice problems.

    Doing problems, of course, was useful, it was one way to consolidate knowledge.

    But when doingrge amounts of memorization problems, Chu Tingwu always felt she wasn''t a... no, wasn''t a person, but rather a machine constantly being input with test answers, then precisely outputting those answers - she would be a perfect machine.

    "I want to learn that knowledge," Chu Tingwu said, "but I don''t want to participate inpetitions anymore."

    The next day, she said the same thing to that teacher.

    Teacher Shi, upon hearing this, widened his eyes and looked at Chu Tingwu''s empty subject intention form: "You mean you want to continue studying with the preparatory ss during evening self-study, but won''t register forpetitions or do homework, is that right?"

    Having been a teacher for many years, Teacher Shi had seen rebellious children before, but this was the first time he had heard such a request as Chu Tingwu''s.

    Some children were intelligent but didn''t want to get caught up inpetitions because they could easily get into good universities anyway, so there was no need to squeeze onto that narrow bridge. But someone like Chu Tingwu, attending sses yet not taking tests - wasn''t this just a waste of time?

    Teacher Shi instinctively wanted to say "there''s no need toe learn if you''re not participating inpetitions, learning these things is for the tests," but he paused before the words came out.

    He lowered his head to organize files and casually said, "You should discuss this with your parents and homeroom teacher. I don''t mind having one more audit student, but we previously eliminated several students from the ss due to grades, so I can''t make a special exception for you ¡ª you''ll have to participate in the ss internal tests, and if your grades don''t meet the standard, you can''t stay."

    As for whether Chu Tingwu would continue in thepetition ss in her second year of high school, that would be her own choice.

    Teacher Shi thought: There''s still one more chance in the second year, and she can make another choice then.

    After Chu Tingwu left, a teacher at the adjacent desk came over to gossip: "Teacher Shi, don''t you know who she is?"

    Teacher Shi: "Of course I know her, doesn''t shee to ss every day?"

    "No, that''s not what I mean," the teacher waved their hand, "She''s quite famous, does social media, has a very popr cat, and I heard she even went to film a movie recently... Even if she can''t get into a good university, she can already earn plenty of money now, easily supporting herself, and her family seems quite well-off too."

    Such gossip wasn''t umon in the teachers'' office, and Teacher Shi slightly furrowed his brows: "I couldn''t tell, I thought she was quite low-key in ss."

    Her grades weren''t bad, she was attentive in ss, and her homework didn''t seem perfunctory... So Teacher Shi hadn''t expected Chu Tingwu to make such a request.

    As agreed with her, this "attending ss but not doing homework" arrangement started that evening. The preparatory ss was split between two ssrooms, with two subjects taught simultaneously - mathematics and biology - to avoid schedule conflicts for students taking multiple subjects.

    Teacher Shi and Chu Tingwu agreed that whichever of the five subjects she chose to attend, she would need to reach the passing grade in tests for that subject, otherwise she wouldn''t be allowed to continue.

    Chu Tingwu chose three subjects: biology, physics, and information technology, seemingly nning to specialize in one of them.

    They had tests very frequently, almost daily for one subject or another. That weekend, Teacher Shi specifically pulled up all of Chu Tingwu''s grades¡ª

    Physics and information technology had both declined somewhat, dropping from the middle of the ss to the lower end, while biology had fallen from upper-middle to nearlyst ce, barely meeting the requirements to continue attending.

    Teacher Shi sighed helplessly: After subject specialization, the teaching pace for each subject had increased, bing more difficult than before, with more content covered daily. Many students focused on at most two subjects at once, but Chu Tingwu was studying three simultaneously, without doing homework or review - it would have been strange if her grades hadn''t declined.

    Thinking of using these grades to try to persuade Chu Tingwu again, he carefully examined her test papers.

    As he looked, his expression became somewhat strange: "Teacher Qi, could youe help me look at her biology¡ª"

    Teacher Qi, who had been called to stop, paused puzzlingly and examined the test papers as well. "Her answers to these questions... hmm, is this good or bad?"

    How strange that she got two simple memorization questions wrong, yet managed to solve all those difficult experimental problems? In fact, both first and second-year high school students took the same test, just with different minimum scoring requirements. The questions Teacher Qi pointed out were ones that even second-year students struggled with - only two or three students, whom Teacher Qi considered strong contenders for provincial first prizes, had gotten them all correct.

    Looking at just these questions, Teacher Qi felt Chu Tingwu showed great talent, but considering her overall score, he thought she shouldn''t be studyingpetitive biology at all.

    Teacher Shi pulled out the physics test papers to show Teacher Qi: "All her test papers show the same pattern."

    Simple questions wrong, butplex experimental problems correct.

    Could it be that she just had a special talent for experimental questions?

    The two teachers left the office one after another, both wanting to have a good talk with Chu Tingwu about her test papers. Just then, the information technology ss had ended, and when they looked through the ssroom window¡ª

    Chu Tingwu was sleeping on her desk, and from the looks of it, she had been asleep for quite a while.

    The teachers: "..."

    The IT teacher who had just finished lecturing quietly took a sip of water. After putting down her cup, she nced at her colleagues outside the window, then tapped the student in the front row and pointed at Chu Tingwu: Wake her up.

    Actually, she had noticed Chu Tingwu during ss and knew about this special student. During the lesson, Chu Tingwu had been reading ahead in the textbook, and halfway through, she had nced at the ckboard once before putting her head down to sleep.

    The student assigned this task looked confused.

    The student turned to look at Chu Tingwu, then at the teacher, before walking over and taking Chu Tingwu''s jacket from the back of her chair to cover her.

    ¡ªShe might catch a cold sleeping like that, surely that''s what the teacher meant!

    The IT teacher: "..."

    Perhaps she had taught so much that the children had all be a bit slow.

    She used her eyes to signal to the person sitting next to Chu Tingwu.

    Chang Yixin caught this look and then noticed the two teachers outside the window.

    She smiled slightly, reached over, and pulled the hood of Chu Tingwu''s jacket over her head, even pinching it to form two cat-ear points.

    -

    Chu Tingwu wasn''t actually sleeping.

    Of course, she was in the virtual ssroom created by the system.

    During previous physics and biology sses, she had also often suddenly put her head down on the desk. In reality, she was requesting to enter the "tutoring space" with the system.

    "Knowledge" itself isn''t t; it has developed step by step until bing the words and diagrams we see on paper today. In the "tutoring space" created by the system, Chu Tingwu could observe and even personally experience how unknowns became knowns.

    The teacher''s exnations built a framework for Chu Tingwu, and she extracted the parts she was curious about and presented them to the system. The system then helped her sort through everything from the beginning to the cutting edge, and even for parts she didn''t yet understand, Chu Tingwu gained the opportunity to observe experiments.

    This exined why her test scores showed suchrge fluctuations. She hadn''t spent time studying or memorizing certain memory-based questions yet, so naturally, she couldn''t answer them. But after some time, she would be able to thoroughly master these "wrong" questions and imprint them in her mind.

    Spending her days in ss and nights in practice, she lived very fulfilling days while contemting which subject to specialize in.

    Chu Tingwu was very self-aware. While she had enhanced her body, she hadn''t enhanced her brain, and with her current energy levels, she could only choose one subject to delve deeper into.

    She had a vague feeling that whichever subject she chose would likely influence her future university major choice and have even more far-reaching effects on her life.

    ¡ªLooking back yearster, she would realize it all started when Teacher Yuan approached her, saying that although she hadn''t taken the start-of-term exam, her previous semester''s grades qualified her for thepetitive exam preparation ss.

    Chu Tingwu imagined such a future, finding her feelings peculiar yet interesting.

    She told the system this, and it puzzled: "Does learning have to stop after university graduation?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Of course not."

    She understood what the system meant. While her current choices might influence her future, they weren''t so crucial in the grand scheme of a long life.

    If she wanted to do something, she should just do it well.

    -

    If she wanted to sleep in ss, she just slept in ss.

    As a result, Chu Tingwu''s seat in the experimental building ssroom was moved to the very back row.

    She guessed the teachers didn''t want her to influence other students.

    However, this position wasn''t bad at all, especially since Chu Tingwu seemed to have grown taller. The back row was more spacious, and when she needed to put her head down, she could use the empty desk next to her without having to clear her own desk.

    Today, as she put her head down, she heard the system say: "The patient has arrived."

    Patient?

    Chu Tingwu realized: it was the patient invited by Jiao Mountain Orthopedic Hospital, an extreme sports athlete who needed surgery.

    She scanned the files provided by the system in the space and found that the patient was a rock climber who specialized in bouldering and had achieved impressive results in internationalpetitions.

    However, a few months ago, during training, the athlete had torn their hand muscle tendon.

    Rock climbing involves many moves that require supporting one''s entire body weight with their fingers, so many climbers often develop hand problems¡ªwhile tendon surgery isn''t umon, athletes have higher requirements for surgical oues.

    The sess of the surgery would determine their athletic longevity.

    When Chu Tingwu opened her eyes, she found herself above the cleaning robot again.

    This time there was no secretary to guide the way, but during this period, the central control system for various hospital room doors had also been renovated.

    System: "Baby can treat this ce like home!"

    Meaning just like at home, it could help its little cub open and close doors at any time.

    And not just that! It could even drive the little cleaning robot car for its cub!

    The system was very pleased.

    However, while opening doors and "driving" along the way, when Chu Tingwu reached the observation room next to the operating theater, Lian Tong noticed the boss''s ride.

    Although he still didn''t know whether this cat was the boss''s virtual avatar or the boss''s daughter, Lian Tong had a strong sense of secretary service awareness and immediately stepped forward to help open the door for a cleaning robot.

    The little cat perched on top turned its head and gave him a look.

    The cleaning robot also paused, then, "click."

    The door that had just been fitted with a smart lock suddenly closed automatically.

    Lian Tong: "?"Aliali: 6748813ec4f3f33ac479d733

    How could the door malfunction right when the boss arrived!

    Just as he was about to step forward to open the door again, he noticed the cleaning robot backing up half a turn, then approaching again¡ª

    The door opened automatically.

    The little cat on the robot yawned, crouching on the forward-moving cleaning robot as it entered the door.

    Noticing that Lian Tong hadn''t followed, it turned back puzzled and lifted its paw.

    The nearly closed door opened again.

    Lian Tong: "...Thank you."

    So he shouldn''t have opened the door earlier, right?

    Although the doors were controlled by electronic systems and theoretically had no emotions, somehow he managed to read a hint of eagerness from the door''s automatic opening motion.

    ...As well as disdain for his ck of perception" in rushing to help unnecessarily.

 Chapter 59

    The rock climber was from Ajilina, and her name was Yichajin.

    Chu Tingwu had never heard of the country Ajilina before, and only after looking it up did she learn that it was a small nation with a poption even smaller than Jin City.

    This country wasn''t particrly strong economically and had a low profile, but within its borders, Yichajin was the best rock climber.

    While Yichajiny there for her tendon surgery under general anesthesia, Chu Tingwu was watchingpetition videos of Yichajin through her system.

    It was a boulderingpetition.

    In this boulderingpetition, there was no limit on attempts - even if climbers fell from above, they could try again, though there was a time limit.

    Competitors were ranked based on scoring points andpletion time¡ª

    If no one could reach the top point, scoring would be calcted based on each point reached, totaling 25 points. If more than one personpleted the climb, ranking would be determined bypletion time.

    The bouldering wall wasn''t particrly high and didn''t require safety ropes, but the difficulty level was considerable.

    First, the wall was tilted toward the ground at an angle.

    When climbing, athletes mostly had to hang on the wall using their fingertips and toes, sometimes needing to support their entire body weight with just two fingers when changing positions.

    Some people might be able to do several one-arm pull-ups but might not be able to hang on the climbing wall for even a few seconds.

    Chu Tingwu was watching these few minutes of Yichajin''spetition¡ª

    The starting point wasn''t difficult, and she quickly got on the wall, but there was no static position avable between the starting point and the next five-point mark.

    Chu Tingwu remembered when she went to Brother Xia''s climbing gym, an outdoor sports enthusiast, he hadmented on her bouldering: "You seem quite good at dynamic movements? You''re tall but very nimble."

    Indeed, shorter climbers typically excel at dynamic movements¡ªbecause they can''t reach as far, they need to make dynamic leaps to the next point in mid-air. Due to their shorter stature and lighter weight, they can better dissipate extra force and momentum to stabilize themselves.

    Taller climbers, on the other hand, tend to be better at static climbing¡ªtheir long arms and legs allow them to directly reach or step to the next point, moving steadily. Correspondingly, they''re usually less proficient at dynamic movements.

    However, this wasn''t an absolute rule.

    Inpetitions, the climbing routes are rtively fixed because before thepetition, professional route setters repeatedly test the climbing routes to establish a "standard solution"... Of course, it''s precisely because there''s a standard solution that when some athletes take an unconventional approach and still solve the climbing puzzle, it shows the charm of this sport.

    As for its other appeal, it naturallyes from the aesthetics of climbing itself.

    Thepetition video erged before Chu Tingwu''s eyes, with the normal video on the left... and on the right, a one-to-one recreation showing a semi-transparent dynamic figure, as if after a muscle scan. The system disyed a 3D visualization of various muscles and blood flow in Yichajin''s body during her movements.

    The route setting for thispetition ced the difficulty at the beginning, causing many people to fail at the five-point mark¡ªeven if they managed to make the dynamic leap, the hand hold was not only narrow but had a downward curve.

    This meant that athletes really had to rely on the friction between their fingers and the hold tform, along with their own strength to stabilize themselves.

    In the footage, Yichajin raised her foot, but instead of moving forward, she held onto the current hand hold, slowly positioning her feet on the higher foot holds, turning half a circle on the angled wall to position her feet above and hands below.

    Then, in this position, shepleted a foot swap and reached out¡ªthis time directly grabbing the five-point hold with a static move.

    After securing herself and releasing her feet, she didn''t fall like the previouspetitors but hung on the wall with slight swaying movements.

    In the 3D visualization beside her, her fingers and chest cavity were showing a healthy and active red.

    Chu Tingwu unconsciously raised her hand and made a grabbing motion in the air.

    She wondered: If it were me, could I grab that hold? Would I need to change my position toplete it statically, or should I jump directly with a dynamic move¡ªcould I stabilize myself that way?

    Her cat physique indeed gave her better bnce and jumping ability, but all climbing athletes possessed strong physical qualities necessary for solving climbing problems.

    She could jump, but could she grab that two-centimeter-wide hold after jumping?

    Chu Tingwu was genuinely curious.

    While Chu Tingwu was watching the video that only she could see, others were secretly observing her.

    ¡ªWhy was there a semi-transparent virtual projection cat crouching on top of a cleaning robot in the observation room?

    At first, the orthopedic experts invited from other hospitals thought it might be Jiao Mountain Orthopedic Hospital''s "mascot."

    Even private hospitals were starting to develop their own IP nowadays, so having a cat mascot seemed normal¡ªthey might even release holiday gift boxes featuring the mascot''s image soon.

    However, while the experts were discussing the surgical n, this cat would turn its head and watch them with curious eyes.

    When someone spoke, it would look at the speaker.

    The speaking expert: "..."

    Why did it feel like this cat was actually alive? Had virtual projection and programming technology be this advanced?

    He observed quietly and noticed that the cat''s movements almost never repeated, unlike fixed programmed patterns.

    Fortunately, when the discussion ended and the surgery began, Lian Tong ced the cleaning robot on a tform, and the "little cat''s" attention seemed to focus on the ongoing surgery.

    Surgery is, of course, tedious, and forypeople, there isn''t much interesting to see in several hours of operation.

    While the other experts focused on the surgery, Lian Tong continued observing the cat.

    The cat indeed became bored.

    Its initial intense focus gradually rxed, and its ears drooped.

    Then, it noticed something and slightly raised its head, seemingly shifting its attention elsewhere.

    Lian Tong instinctively looked in the direction of the cat''s gaze but saw nothing there.

    Then, the cat suddenly raised one front paw.

    After making two "paw-flowering" gestures, it tilted its head, looking even more focused.

    Lian Tong: "..."

    How could he read expressions on a cat''s face? Was it really not his imagination?

    Just as he was thinking this, the little cat suddenly stood up on its hind legs on the cleaning robot and performed what looked like a set of radio calisthenics... or rather, made many strange movements.

    Lian Tong instinctively looked toward where the cat was gazing.

    Still nothing there.

    Was this some kind of programmed movement test?

    Chu Tingwu yawned and sat back down, noticing that her fur was slightly messy¡ªwhy did the system insist on such realism¡ªshe instinctively lowered her head, opened her mouth, then paused.

    System: "?"

    The system seemedpletely unaware of what was wrong.

    Chu Tingwu: "...Fix my messy fur."

    The next second, Chu Tingwu returned to being a sleek, clean little cat.

    In her view, Yichajin had already reached the 20-point mark, with the next challenge being the final top point¡ªshe just needed to climb up and maintain stability for three seconds toplete the climb.

    But the top point was high, far from the current point, and there were no footholds below.

    Chu Tingwu, having done some climbing herself, though she hadn''t gone recently due to being busy, had developed some understanding of route solving.

    If she were climbing this route, she would try to jump directly and grab the top point with a dynamic move.

    However, not everyone possessed such jumping ability. Another solution was to switch feet - lifting one foot and cing it where the hand hold was, supporting with the knee to helpplete the jump.

    When the foot could firmly step on the hand hold, the entire body would lift up, allowing both hands to grab the top hold.

    This was where Yichajin made her mistake.

    Chu Tingwu looked at the 3D projection beside her and understood the reason for the error without needing exnation:

    When setting the route, route setters would consider female climbers'' heights. Yichajin couldplete the previous static moves because she was 1.7 meters tall.

    But at this position, her height became a disadvantage. Her legs were too long - although she managed to ce her leg on the hand hold, she couldn''t find a suitable position to generate power. With time running out, she had to make a rushed attempt. Her knee blocked her arm, preventing her from sessfully grabbing the top hold when she jumped.

    Yichajin fell and sat on the bouldering mat as time ran out.

    Maintaining a climbing position consumed tremendous energy. Sweat ran down her forehead, and beside her, the semi-transparent 3D figure sat simrly, with all body data fluctuating.

    Though her expression remained unchanged, even managing a helpless smile toward the audience as she turned, the body data was honest - those changing red and blue lines revealed her true emotions.

    In the end, Yichajin took second ce in thispetition.

    The first ce achieved aplete climb.

    System: "Would you like to see the first ce winner''s moves?"

    Chu Tingwu nodded.

    She shifted slightly, adjusting her position, her ears perking up high.

    The winner was from Pauligia, another small country.

    As soon as she started climbing, Chu Tingwu could tell that this first-ce winner excelled at dynamic movements.

    She was only about five centimeters shorter than Yichajin, but at the first five-point hold, their choices werepletely different.

    Since climbingpetitions also involved "problem-solving" elements, each person could choose different climbing routes if they could manage them. Therefore, otherpetitors waiting backstage couldn''t see how the currentpetitor was climbing.

    Even with sufficient physical ability toplete moves, failing to find the right solution meant elimination.

    The first-ce winner didn''t hesitate. Upon seeing the five-point hold, she easily jumped up to it.

    As she grabbed the hand hold, her entire body swung outward, but Chu Tingwu noticed her swing wasrger than others''. Many climbers could hold on during the outward swing but would slip off when swinging back.

    The winner held on firmly, then immediately began conquering the second and third scoring points, all the way to the top hold.

    Upon seeing the top hold''s height, she lifted her foot, using her toes to step on a hold angled at forty-five degrees.

    Chu Tingwu: "Is she going to jump?"

    Most people seeing this move would assume the winner intended to adjust her position with static movements to climb to the top. But Chu Tingwu could see from the adjacent 3D model that, judging by the muscle colors, thispetitor was preparing for a jump.

    Even without looking at the 3D model, Chu Tingwu could sense this was the prelude to a jump.

    Because if it were her, she would also choose this position to jump from.

    Chu Tingwu told the system: "This is an excellent point for generating force."

    Even though it was only two centimeters wide, a small indentation in the wall, ordinary people could barely find it with their feet, let alone step on it - a slip would result in injury.

    But it could provide climbers with perfect jumping leverage.

    The next second, the winner jumped from this small point and sessfully grabbed the top hold.

    She turned her head and shed a brilliant smile at the camera.

    Chu Tingwu unconsciously smiled too.

    Her hands felt itchy, and her heart felt itchy too, like burying her hands in an orange cat''s belly on a beautiful day.

    And the orange cat had such a good temperament, even dozing off, toozy to move even a tiny bit despite feeling your touch.

    She really wanted to go climbing now.

    However, Chu Tingwu hadn''t forgotten she was still performing surgery.

    The system''s viewpoint wasprehensive, including not only the angles other experts saw but also corresponding muscr holographic projections. Unlike duringpetitions, if muscles could be personified, their expressions would now be pale and exhausted.

    And doctors were performing repairs on them.

    Perhaps Yichajin came to Jiao Mountain Orthopedic Hospital because of the free treatment and expert consultation persuasion, but only Chu Tingwu knew her choice was correct. With the system''s help in screening, her current surgery could achieve theoretically optimal treatment results.

    Soon, she would be able to perform those human-limit movements with her fingers again, continuing her athletic career.

    Looking at the 3D muscle texture, Chu Tingwu became curious for the first time: "What would I look like if projected?"

    The system was startled.

    Then, Chu Tingwu saw a projected cat.

    Although the data was correct, the image details werepletely wrong.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    She wished she hadn''t asked.

    Whenever she thought the system was reliable, it would remind her with facts: I can''t even identify your species correctly.

    And Chu Tingwu probably couldn''t undergo aplete physical examination in regr hospitals, even hospitals controlled by the system wouldn''t be suitable... Her body changes had exceeded human limits, so what she actually looked like remained aplete mystery.

    Blood coursed through her body, vessels, bones, and muscles packed beneath her skin. In this world full of creatures both simr to and different from humans, Chu Tingwu raised her paw, gently cing it on the ss before her.

    She might never know exactly what kind of "creature" she was, but this body was like a gift - she could spend her long life discovering its secrets.

    And with so many creatures in the world, she could go see them all personally.

    The surgery wasplete.

    The chief surgeon personally finished the final steps. Yichajin remained unconscious, and the doctor gazed at her hand. Even without seeing their full face, one could sense the doctor''s fulfilled and satisfied mood.

    Chu Tingwu turned her head, and Lian Tong immediately came over to help her put the cleaning robot on the floor, asking softly, "Are you not going to watch anymore?"

    Chu Tingwu shook her head.

    The next second, she opened her eyes in the ssroom.

    The teacher''s voice seemed both distant and near, carrying a faint ethereal quality. Someone in front was turning pages, while others were taking notes with scratching sounds.

    The sun had long set, and the ssroom was almost too bright, making the sky outside the windows appear darker.

    Three-Five-Five squeezed by the window, blending into the night''s darkness with only its yellow nose tip visible.

    Chu Tingwu gave it a small wave, then nodded to the Information Technology teacher, quietly packed her bag, and pushed through the back door.

    She met with the mother cat in the hallway. The neighboring sses were still in session as Chu Tingwu and the cat passed by one after another, then knocked and entered the office.

    Teacher Shi was frowning while grading papers, his pen moving swiftly until he saw Chu Tingwu and stopped: "Have you made your decision?"

    There wasn''t enough energy for three subjects; she needed to specialize in one or two.

    Chu Tingwu nodded: "I''ll only be attending thepetitive biology ss from now on."

    Teacher Shi: "...Ah?"

    He wanted to persuade her otherwise, since her grades in the other two subjects were better, but after some thought, he remained silent - though young, this new student showed remarkable maturity in decision-making, and no one could change her mind.

    Before leaving, Chu Tingwu expressed her gratitude: "Thank you for allowing Three-Five-Five toe in."

    While some at school were friendly toward cats, others felt cats shouldn''t enter the teaching building and ssrooms, iming they would affect studies and might scratch students.

    Three-Five-Five always came to pick up Chu Tingwu after school, which some teachers found quite objectionable.

    Theboratory building had even more important equipment, and Three-Five-Five was stopped outside the building on its first visit.

    But today, no one seemed to be chasing her away.

    Teacher Shi said, "No need to thank me. Your cat earned it on their own."

    Perhaps due to the warming weather these past few days, hibernating animals were waking up one by one. A non-venomous snake had crawled into the office downstairs.

    The teacher who discovered the snake only saw its tail at first and mistook it for a lizard. They instinctively tried to grab and throw it out, but when the entire snake body was revealed, screams echoed throughout the building.

    The teacher was so startled that their hand jerked, causing the snake to fall to the ground before it slithered away on its own. Though theyter realized it was probably non-venomous, no one dared to catch it, and the teacher who had grabbed it was left with deep psychological trauma.

    The other teachers didn''t dare stay in the office either, all stepping outside and making sure to close the door behind them.

    At that moment, one teacher noticed Three-Five-Five walking a dog outside the building¡ª

    Since pets weren''t allowed in the experimental building, Three-Five-Five would wait for Chu Tingwu on thewn outside after school, this time helping to walk Program, the Yorkshire Terrier.

    Of course, Program was puzzled about why their recent walking route had changed to circling the experimental building.

    That teacher, grasping at straws, instinctively waved and called out, "Hey, that cat... could youe here for a moment?"

    Only after calling out did they realize how foolish it was.

    But surprisingly, Three-Five-Five actually came over, carrying the leash in her mouth, looking up questioningly.

    The other teachers: "..."

    Another teacher tentatively asked, "Could you help us catch the snake in the office?"

    Three-Five-Five: "=="

    The experienced working cat wagged her tail to show she understood, then ced the dog leash on that teacher''s shoe.

    The teacher asked, "Should I... hold the leash for you?"

    Three-Five-Five: "Meow."

    After responding, she didn''t wait for the teachers to open the door. She simply leaped up and entered through the window. After a while, when one of the teachers noticed the silence¡ªnot even the sound of papers being knocked over¡ªand went to check, they saw a cat''s head appear.

    Three-Five-Five emerged with the small snake in her mouth, and surprisingly, the snake was still alive.

    After jumping down, she held the snake''s head with her paw and lifted her head, thinking:

    Should she bring it for her kitten to y with?

    Fortunately, one teacher seemed to read her mind and brought over a clear food container, carefully taking the snake from under Three-Five-Five''s paw and releasing it by theke far from the teaching building.

    Having had the cat help them out, the teachers couldn''t bring themselves to chase her away anymore.

    Besides, this cat really seemed... very polite.

    Though one teacher tried to feed Three-Five-Five sausages, she wouldn''t eat them.

    How did Chu Tingwu find out about this?

    Because Three-Five-Five led her to the office downstairs, where the tortoiseshell cat brought her to that teacher, then meowed once, indicating that the teacher could give the sausages to her kitten instead.

    The teacher held back augh: "Alright, alright."

    Chu Tingwu: "=v= Thank you, teacher."

    She carried her backpack, apanied by her cat, with snacks in her mouth, retrieved her skateboard from the security guard, and walked out through the empty school gates.

    She made her way back to the residentialplex but didn''t go home. Instead, she checked the time and walked to the space between Buildings 2 and 3.

    The two buildings were connected, with a narrow path between them that could only fit two people, paved with stone bs.

    The left side led to a small yground within theplex, while the right side was an area where residents exercised and chatted, equipped with various public facilities.

    Trees provided shade, blocking the light from the streetmps. Chu Tingwu leaned her skateboard against the wall at an angle, both feet on the upturned ends, and looked up to examine the wall.

    The cement wall, having aged, had developed various small holes and dents, though these indentations were barely big enough to fit a finger joint.

    Still, that should be enough.

    She just had an itch to climb, and wall climbing would satisfy it.

    Without needing light, her eyes could see in the dark. After identifying suitable holds, Chu Tingwu jumped from the skateboard, hooked her left index finger into a point, grabbed the wall with her right hand, and lifted her toes, using friction to stick to the wall.

    Though these wall holds might not be as scientifically ced as those on a climbing wall, the surface wasn''t as smooth as a climbing wall and was perfectly vertical.

    Easy, Chu Tingwu thought.

    With her jumping ability, she could actually reach much higher, but that wouldn''t be interesting... That wouldn''t be "solving a climbing puzzle" but rather crushing the challenge outright. Though simple and effective, Chu Tingwu suspected that doing it too often would rob her of the joy of climbing.

    She tried to solve her self-imposed climbing challenges using movements that would theoretically be possible for human climbing athletes to achieve.

    After sticking to the wall, she quickly discovered the downside of vertical walls¡ª

    Without protruding holds, she could only check them by turning her face sideways, making many holds unclear, forcing her to climb based on memory.

    Chu Tingwu decided to try static moves first.

    Since the holds were all concave, she couldn''t perform moves like hanging upside down on the wall. Her shoes weren''t as flexible as fingers, so when Chu Tingwu tensed her calves, she gave herself an upward boost, caught a higher hold, and swung gently while hanging on the wall.

    She felt the pressure on her fingers, but while searching for suitable footholds with her legs, she couldn''t find any during those few seconds her fingers could support her.

    Finally, Chu Tingwu had to jump down and reassess the wall.

    Three-Five-Five watched her jumping around from below, also looking up curiously¡ª

    "Meow?"

    Was there something her kitten wanted up on the wall?

    She looked at her kitten and received the answer that she was "just climbing for fun."

    Three-Five-Five: "=="

    That made sense; her kitten was at the age where they enjoyed climbing up and down.

    Cats are natural climbers. She narrowed her eyes to examine the wall ahead, her tail hanging over the edge of the skateboard. Then Three-Five-Five jumped onto the skateboard and leaped up, but instead of using her ws to hook onto the wall, she performed a wall kick¡ª

    She kicked off one wall to jump to the opposite wall, then pushed off with her hind legs,pletely bypassing the two points Chu Tingwu had chosen, and hooked onto a slightlyrger hole nearby.

    Then, the cat pushed against the wall with her hind legs, slowly moving both legs onto the wall, achieving a cramped but stable four-legged stance.

    Chu Tingwu: ...A mountain goat pose?

    The cat stood at a spot just out of Chu Tingwu''s reach, but this time Chu Tingwu didn''t hold back. She jumped to the same height, though without any points to stand on, she spread her legs and did an iplete split, each foot braced against opposite walls to maintain stability.

    Not only did she maintain her position, but she could even pet the cat on the wall.

    When Chu Tingwu grabbed Three-Five-Five''s front paws, the cat didn''t react, but when she tried to touch the back paws, Three-Five-Five moved them away with a "meow meow."

    Then, the cat gripped the wall firmly with her front paws and pushed against it with her back paws, demonstrating to her kitten: Look, you can hang like this.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    She didn''t have such ws and paw pads.

    She pried Three-Five-Five''s front paws loose, supported the cat''s armpits to pull her off the wall, and then quickly caught the lower half of Three-Five-Five''s body with her other hand, ending up holding her like a baby.

    The tortoiseshell cat, now being cradled face-up in her kitten''s arms: "?"

    While the human and cat remained still, the sound of pping wings came from below.

    An elderly man passing by with a cage was walking his pet parrot, which he had let out for exercise. The parrot flew upward, but halfway up, it let out a frightened squawk and dove back into its cage:

    "Bandits! Bandits!"

    The old man was confused at first, but hearing these words made him anxious. He quickly closed the cage door and looked around: "Where? Where? Where''s that cat?"

    Three-Five-Five opened her mouth¡ª

    Chu Tingwu covered her mouth.

    Only after the man and his bird had left did the human and cat quietly sneak back home.

    As she went upstairs, Teacher Yuan happened to be going up as well and greeted Chu Tingwu: "Did you go skateboarding?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Yes, I did."

    Though just stepping on it a few times barely counts as skateboarding!

    Teacher Yuan: "I knew it! I guessed you went skateboarding with Three-Five-Five. The old man from Building Two kept saying his parrot saw Three-Five-Five but couldn''t say exactly where... I told him it must be where he heard the skateboard sounds, otherwise he must have seen wrong - but he wouldn''t believe me¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu: "=v="

    Skateboarding was indeed quite fun.

    The next day was the weekend. Since two sses had been canceled, Chu Tingwu only needed to attend sses on Sunday, leaving Saturday free.

    So she finally epted Brother Xia''s invitation to go rock climbing. In the car, she tried to promote skateboarding to her fellow climbing enthusiasts.

    Recently, she had done some handiwork modifying her skateboard, making it possible to change the small wing-shaped connection between the boards into an extended form.

    However, after she demonstrated it, her fellow climbers burst outughing: "I can''t... this is just too cute! How should I put it? It''s like those training wheels I had when I first learned to ride a bike!"

    They were adults now and didn''t need training wheels anymore!

    Chu Tingwu: "==Oh?"

    Then when they arrived at the farmhouse, these adults started falling all over the ce as soon as they stepped on the board.

    There weren''t any suitable high mountains for rock climbing near Jin City, so the group chose the zoo in the suburbs. The zoo was built along a mountain, and its design maintained much of the natural wilderness. Some of the natural rock slopes were preserved, and unlike certain mountains, climbing wasn''t prohibited here.

    Brother Xia seemed quite familiar with the zoo management. These climbing enthusiasts weren''t first-time visitors either - they even had a dedicated ce to store their belongings.

    After parking nearby, Chu Tingwu and Three-Five-Five got out of the car one after another. Looking up, they noticed several anchor points on the rock face.

    Regr outdoor climbing naturally had safety measures - the anchor points on the rock face. From the terrain, it was clear this wouldn''t be top-rope climbing.

    Top-rope climbing was when the safety equipment was at the very top, with the rope hanging down - like in most climbing gyms.

    There was another climbing method where you still needed to reach the summit, but previous climbers had left anchor points on the wall. Aster climbers reached certain heights, they would clip their protection rope into these points - in outdoor climbing, this was simr to reaching a halfway point or checkpoint in bouldering, marking small achievements along the climbing route.

    Three-Five-Five shook her head uneasily - the zoo had too manyplex smells she wasn''t used to.

    She turned her head to find everyone around her starting to warm up, their eyes fixed intently on the rock face ahead.

    Brother Xia was exining to Chu Tingwu: "Although rock climbing isn''t very popr in China, this climbing spot in our city is quite famous in small circles. That''s why I wanted to bring you here to check it out."

    This natural rock face had a clean climbing route of sixteen meters. Since its discovery by the first climbing enthusiast, whenever Brother Xia''s climbing friends came to Jin City, he would invite them here.

    To other tourists, this was just another rock wall in the city zoo, but when climbers saw it, they would share knowing looks, immediately hit it off, and start warming up and putting on their gear.

    Chu Tingwu was having exactly those thoughts now.

    She really wanted to climb to the top.

    However, knowing Chu Tingwu was a beginner, Brother Xia gave a little chuckle and didn''t go into too much detail¡ª

    Overseas, there were outdoor climbing locations with clean routes reaching heights of about forty meters, rated at 5.14, which probably only world-ss athletes couldplete.

    It was a test of both physical strength and willpower.

    Some might think forty meters isn''t very high, but this route might already be on a cliff face. Imagine climbing to the twelfth floor without any external aid, hanging on the outside of the building looking down - that sense of thrill and excitement waspletely different from indoor climbing!

    Although this rock face was only five stories high, in climbing, height and "difficulty" weren''t the same thing. The route''s difficulty meant thatpleting the zoo''s rock face required professional-level skills.

    Few of them could climb it sessfully, and sometimes Brother Xia would think that perhaps if he managed toplete this wall, he might feel a sense of loss.

    That probably wouldn''t be today.

    With this mix of regret and desire to reach the top, everyone set up temporary safety equipment whileying out pic mats.

    Yes, they werebining rock climbing with a pic, since this area was quite far from other animal exhibits.

    Of course, tourists would still pass by.

    Some tourists recognized they were rock climbing and would curiously point and even secretly take photos, while otherspletely missed the climbers on the rock face and would walk up asking: "Are you selling barbecue skewers? Do you have a price list?"

    "This is just for ourselves..."

    "That''s even better, healthier! Sell me a couple, I''ll pay for them!"

    They probably thought it would be cheaper than the zoo''s prices!

    The people below reluctantly took the money, while on another side, Chu Tingwu had already started attempting the climb.

    When she got on the rock face, Three-Five-Five followed.

    For a cat smaller than humans, this rock face was much easier to climb than those in climbing gyms, with a higher margin for error.

    Grabbing the protrusions on the rock face, Three-Five-Five sessfully kept pace with Chu Tingwu.

    Chu Tingwu clipped the rope to the first anchor point, tested its strength, and continued climbing.

    Brother Xia stood nearby, smiling encouragingly: "Keep going, try to pass Linlin!"

    However, after climbing to a certain height, Chu Tingwu understood why so many people had failed here. There was arge unavoidable rock overhang above, like an angle - this wasmon in bouldering, but nature hadn''t provided route-setting like indoor climbing walls - so there were simply no suitable handholds on this rock.

    But someone had found a solution.

    That would be the first climber who made it up and hammered in the anchor points.

    Chu Tingwu looked up at the rock face for a while, then signaled Three-Five-Five to get in the bag.

    She wore a bag that allowed the cat to stretch out all four limbs while being stic and secure - the kind used for outdoor activities with animals.

    Three-Five-Five scratched at the rock with her ws before getting into the bag. Chu Tingwu hung from the rock face with one hand while securing all the bag''s fasteners.

    Nearby, Linlin: "..."

    This kid really had abundant energy.

    Someone fell off from the side, and distant onlooking tourists let out small gasps - they probably thought this was part of the zoo''s performances.

    ...Why not watch the monkey show at the monkey mountain instead?

    These thoughts drifted aimlessly through Chu Tingwu''s mind, but her movements didn''t stop. She nced to her left, suddenly leaped, lunged to the left, her body swinging dramatically in mid-air before stabilizing again.

    Then, she raised her foot to her head, hooked the rock with her instep, and as she pushed down, she lunged outward, grabbing the vertical rock face with both hands.

    In climbing, this move was called a "side pull." Using the traction provided by the vertical rock face, she slowly pulled herself up, sessfully circumventing that rock section and continuing upward.

    Then Three-Five-Five jumped down¡ª

    For the route ahead, Three-Five-Five could once again reach higher spots faster than Chu Tingwu.

    The cat also had a safety rope around her waist, with the other end attached to Chu Tingwu''s waist. Now Three-Five-Five easily ced all four paws on the same protrusion, tail held high as she watched her young charge exerting herself below.

    Brother Xia had fallen twice and was now resting to recover his strength. Sitting with a water bottle, looking up, he noticed that although Chu Tingwu had startedter, she had already reached second position.

    Brother Xia: "..." Somehow this scene felt familiar?

    Actually, Brother Xia hadn''t nned to take Chu Tingwu outdoor climbing so soon - but this young girl was truly amazing, it was as if she didn''t quite understand the concept of "difficulty."

    Brother Xia had long observed that she could climb both beginner routes and high-difficulty ones. Looking back at their time climbing together, although her speed varied and others sometimes demonstrated solutions for her, the fact that Chu Tingwu couldplete every climb showed that her talent wasn''t just ordinary.

    Being average among beginners was one thing, but maintaining that consistency among experienced climbers, asionally even surpassing others, indicated exceptional talent.

    While he was pondering this, whistles and footsteps suddenly came from behind. Brother Xia turned his head as a nearby tourist eximed, "What''s that?"

    Zoo staff members hurriedly called out, "Everyone make way! Make way, a monkey has escaped!"

    A monkey had escaped from their monkey mountain!

    The monkey was small, darting like a golden-brown shadow under the vehicle''s chassis. As people bent down to look, someone shouted, "Oh! Oh! It''s climbing up, the monkey''s climbing up!"

    One of the climbers lost their grip and fell, while only the person at the very top remained stable, seemingly focused entirely on climbing.

    The monkey moved gracefully across the rock wall, asionally reaching out to pull itself up effortlessly, making all the climbers envious... but now wasn''t the time for envy, as the zoo had already started mobilizing staff.

    Of course, they didn''t expect the climbers on the wall to help catch the monkey - how could they?

    Soon, the monkey reached the angled section of the wall and paused, allowing everyone to see it was a golden snub-nosed monkey.

    The little golden monkey scratched its neck, didn''t choose the side route, and instead leaped out, grabbed the corner''s edge, and with a light swing, propelled itself to the upper section of the wall.

    People below went: "Ah¡ª"

    This monkey might be impossible to catch now.

    The golden monkey probably thought the same, but just then, a hand reached out and grabbed its neck.

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    Of all ces to go, this bold monkey had tried to jump right over her head.

    Chu Tingwu wedged her feet into the wall, waved down at the people below, but before the zoo staff could excitedly respond, she pulled back her hand, opened her backpack, and stuffed the monkey inside.

    The golden monkey: "Squeak!"

    Chu Tingwu''s actions clearly said: she still wanted to continue climbing.

    Brother Xia: "..."Aliali: 67334fd3b256fc3ba2c49

    Why keep climbing at a time like this!

    Unlike Three-Five-Five, the monkey tried to struggle in the backpack. The staff below showed strange expressions, but after such an emotional rollercoaster, they had no energy to speak, only using their eyes to ask Brother Xia: where does your climbing friend intend to take our national treasure?

    Brother Xia: "...She just wants to continue climbing, really, the monkey will be fine."

    Just as he finished speaking.

    Because the monkey was not only struggling but trying to grab Chu Tingwu''s hair, Three-Five-Five, who was already annoyed about having her bag taken earlier, stood up on the wall and made an irritated "meow-growl" sound.

    Then she raised her paw and gave the monkey several flicks to the forehead.

    Staff member: "..."

    He looked at Brother Xia again.

    Brother Xia: "..."

    Well... at least the human didn''t harm any animals! Let the animals sort out their own conflicts.

 Chapter 60

    Monkeys are creatures with strong climbing abilities, which is why the monkey enclosure has istion zones.

    The artificial mountain and animalndscaping are located in the center of the monkey mountain, while the scenery bes lower closer to the visitor viewing areas. There''s also a deep istion zone with a sloped design that forces monkeys who fall in to climb back toward the mountain rather than toward the visitor areas.

    The only issue is that the monkey enclosure has a semi-open design, and despite warning signs and notices, people still stand above to feed the monkeys.

    The golden snub-nosed monkey''s escape came suddenly.

    This was a baby golden snub-nosed monkey who normally lived with its group, spending most of its time beside its mother.

    A few days ago, Jin City Zoo noticed that the mother golden snub-nosed monkey kept holding her baby, lying in the trees. When keepers entered the enclosure, she woulde over with her baby and keep tugging at the keepers'' pants.

    Golden snub-nosed monkeys are much gentler than macaques. When the unusual animal behavior was noticed, the zoo''s veterinarian came to check the situation¡ª

    But the baby monkey didn''t seem sick, just less active. Perhaps it wasn''t drinking enough water and was feeling down. After examination and giving it water, they sent it back.

    The keepers checked several more times and found the mother still holding her baby, staying away from the group, seemingly very worried about her child''s safety.

    Unexpectedly, today the keeper initially couldn''t find the baby monkey and mother''s location, thinking they didn''t want to interact with visitors and were hiding behind the enrichment facilities¡ªwhen they checked the surveince footage, the mother had already climbed to the bottom of the visitor viewing tform with her baby on her back.

    Visitors first noticed something unusual, capturing a sh of gold on their phone videos, and the next second, they saw the mother monkey jump out from below.

    The stunned visitors could only take photos, and by the time nearby staff reacted and grabbeds to catch the monkeys, they only caught the mother¡ªthe baby had escaped quickly, running all the way to this cliff.

    Now, the staff and visitors were all looking up, watching the climber above.

    Several people below had alreadye down, leaving only Chu Tingwu and another climber who had gone higher up. Hearing the shouts from below, that climber turned around in confusion, not quite understanding why they were suddenly asking him toe down¡ª

    Then he saw Chu Tingwu at an angle behind him.

    Chu Tingwu, Chu Tingwu''s cat... and what was that on her back?

    "Ahem, kid, young friend up there, you cane down now!" The staff had found a megaphone and called up, "Or if you don''t want toe down, just send the monkey down, leave the monkey with us!"

    The nearby climber: "..."

    What?

    How did a fellow climber find time to steal a monkey from the monkey enclosure during their normal climbing session?

    From the climber''s angle, he could clearly see Chu Tingwu''s face below. The young girl seemed to remain intensely focused, just like when they were absorbed in climbing, seeing only the rocks in front of her and the sky above.

    Noticing that Chu Tingwu had been hanging in ce for a while, the climber waved to her, then released his grip and descended the wall section by section.

    Passing by Chu Tingwu, she sighed, then grabbed Three-Five-Five and kicked off the rock to descend.

    When shended steadily, zoo staff gathered around her. The national first-ss escape incident seemed to have rmed higher-ups as well, with even the department head rushing over.

    Chu Tingwu undid her carrier. The baby golden snub-nosed monkey, having been disciplined by the cat, had be much quieter. Now holding onto the carrier straps with both hands, when it realized it was about to be handed over to the staff, it immediately reached out and grabbed Chu Tingwu''s sleeve.

    Nearby visitors kept taking photos, though they couldn''t get too close, but they could still share their thoughts: "This monkey really loves freedom, doesn''t want to go back to the enclosure at all. Can''t you build a bigger natural reserve?"

    Staff: It''s not that we don''t want to!

    We just don''t have the money!

    But Chu Tingwu paused for a moment.

    The staff member smiled and said, "Thank you, young friend. If it weren''t for you, our little golden snub-nosed monkey would have escaped¡ªit could have been very dangerous. Could you leave your name and school? We''ll send a thank-you letter to your school."

    Although it was a bit strange that Chu Tingwu had continued climbing upward after catching the monkey, onlying down when she encountered obstacles, instead of immediately returning it to them...

    But she was just a paying visitor, with no obligation to help catch monkeys¡ªit was good enough that she hadn''t caused trouble.

    Now the golden snub-nosed monkey had only escaped from its enclosure and was quickly caught¡ªthe staff broke into cold sweat thinking about how the monkey might have escaped the zoo via the cliff. This was already quite a good oue.

    But Chu Tingwu asked: "Will you give it a full body examination?"

    The staff member thought the young girl was just concerned about the monkey''s wellbeing and said soothingly: "Of course, we had veterinarians check them just a few days ago, and we''ll examine it again for any injuries after it''s brought back."

    The baby golden snub-nosed monkey gripped Chu Tingwu''s sleeve even tighter.

    Chu Tingwu sighed.

    She held the monkey to her chest, pushed past the staff, and walked to Li Yun: "Please have the veterinarian do a more detailed physical examination, focusing particrly on its heart and lung issues."

    Li Yun: "...Ah, alright."

    Everyone else was puzzled why Chu Tingwu would hand the escaped monkey to the wolf enclosure supervisor. Only Li Yun herself knew why, and felt somewhat embarrassed¡ª

    Previously, when wolves at Jin City Zoo showed unusual behavior, she had contacted Chu Tingwu through an official animalmunication agency, hoping to ask her to assess the situation.

    But after learning Chu Tingwu''s age, Li Yun worried she might be overrated, so despite the intermediary''s advice, she privately set up a test for Chu Tingwu, which was immediately seen through.

    ...And she couldn''t even get her toe, as Chu Tingwu politely declined citing academicmitments.

    Taking the monkey and watching the young girl return to her friends without a backward nce, she looked at her colleague and, after some thought, ryed Chu Tingwu''s words.

    Her colleague: "?"

    "Of course we''ll examine it, you know our work procedures," he said disapprovingly, "But how can she be so certain that Nini has heart and lung problems? We observe the golden snub-nosed monkeys every day, treat them like our own children, and that young girl only spent a few minutes with Nini!"

    Nini was the name given to the baby golden snub-nosed monkey after collecting suggestions from fans.

    Li Yun: "She''s a famous cat blogger who canmunicate with cats and read dogs'' emotions, and she has professional credentials¡ªI had actually thought about asking her to look at Qingfeng''s issue before. Well, anyway, just pay extra attention during the examination."

    It was clear that while her colleague was skeptical, he would still examine thoroughly.

    Li Yun herself was also somewhat doubtful, but since she had done something embarrassing during her first encounter with Chu Tingwu, this reminder felt more like an attempt to make amends, and she left it at that.

    After handing over the monkey, Chu Tingwu was surrounded by Brother Xia and the others.

    Brother Xia came over, first lifting Three-Five-Five''s front paws to make her stand upright, then gestured to Linlin: "Quick, take a photo! These are the paws that fought a national first-ss animal, we need to document this!"

    Three-Five-Five: ...

    Soon these will also be the paws that fought you.

    Chu Tingwu reached out to rescue Brother Xia who was about to get scratched: "Aren''t we continuing to climb?"

    "Ah," Brother Xia looked around, "Come on, let''s go eat first, I''ve made a restaurant reservation."

    Everyone had arrived around eight or nine, having just filled up on some barbecue, and now at Brother Xia''s call, they packed up their equipment and got into the car one by one.

    After getting in, a fellow climber handed still-warm barbecue to Chu Tingwu, saying kindly: "You eat this, climbing that high uses a lot of energy. Don''t worry about making old Xia''s car dirty, he''s nning to renovate the interior with a battle-damaged style anyway."

    Brother Xia: "Ugh!"

    After a few yful remarks, as they were about to leave the zoo, Brother Xia said, "I noticed quite a few people were taking videos earlier. They probably posted them on local short video tforms. Staying here to climb more would just make us look like performing monkeys for them. Let''s see how crowded it is after lunch. If it''s still busy, we''ll find another ce."

    The ce they went to eat was a nearby private restaurant, which seemed to be familiar with the climbers as the dishes arrived quickly, and the environment was serene.

    While Chu Tingwu was focused on eating, the staff prepared a small table for Three-Five-Five next to her, serving cat food and freshly made cat meals.

    Three-Five-Five was busy chewing on meat, and so was Chu Tingwu. Since they were all climbers who had scaled the same walls, they didn''t stand on ceremony. During the meal, if they chatted, it was mostly about climbing topics¡ª

    Like how did you think to climb that section of the wall like that?

    I can already climb 5.12a, but I wonder when I can try something harder?

    This climbing spot is rated 8A. Who went there during the holidays? How was it?

    Oh, Tingwu, don''t just eat meat. The spinach here is quite good; it''s grown by the restaurant itself. You should try it.

    Chu Tingwu tried half a stalk of spinach. The owner, who was also the chef, came in, chatted with Brother Xia for a while, and asked if the neers were enjoying the food and what they''d like for dessert after the meal.

    Chu Tingwu: "Do you have pork pie?"

    Owner: "?"

    Owner: "We have the dough. I''ll bake it for you."

    Though it was a bit odd to have pork pie after a meal, seeing Chu Tingwu eat so much, even helping to clear several meat dishes, the owner felt a sense of satisfaction from feeding her.

    The best diners are those who can eat and enjoy it. So what if it''s pork pie? After baking it, he decided to squeeze a jar of strawberry juice to help her with the digestion, and if she couldn''t finish it, she could take it away!

    Chu Tingwu was about eight-tenths full and sipped water while watching Three-Five-Five eat. Perhaps because her gaze was too intense, Brother Xia couldn''t help but say, "If you''re still hungry, I''ll order a couple more dishes..."

    But she shouldn''t take the cat''s food!

    "No need," Chu Tingwu made an "ok" gesture, "I''ll be full after the pie!"

    Everyone: That amount is definitely not ok!

    However, since she''s growing, eating a lot is normal. Brother Xia suggested, "Let''s head to Qingling Mountain this afternoon. We can camp there tonight and arrange a ride for Tingwu to go hometer; she has sses on Sunday."

    High school students really have it tough.

    Going to Qingling Mountain wasn''t about climbing but hiking.

    After all, climbing is a branch of hiking.

    This mountain in Jin City was not originally called Qingling Mountain. A few hundred years ago, it was probably called "Gold Mountain" because gold was actually mined here, and the name Jin City came from that.

    Of course, after centuries of mining, the gold was long gone, leaving just a barren mountain. Peopleter settled on it, built guesthouses, and then a temple called Sanqing Temple.

    The Sanqing Temple didn''t get much traffic, so the city''s tourism bureau decided to change the mountain''s name¡ªGold Mountain sounded too in, and there was no more gold anyway. Qingling Mountain sounded fancier, making it seem like the temple on the mountain was also quite spiritual.

    However, the temple still didn''t get much traffic, but the surrounding environment was nice, with a dedicated camping spot and a stream running through the mountain. Gradually, it attracted a crowd of camping, hiking, and mountaineering enthusiasts.

    Just as they were about to leave after a satisfying meal, Brother Xia received a call:

    "Ah... yes, we just finished eating, Uncle Wen. Yeah... she''s with me, ah?"

    "So it''s like this¡ªyou should probably release a video to rify soon. I''ve seen all sorts of things on short videos, even ims that the monkey house is withholding national rations, so the two monkeys escaped..."

    "Well, I can''t guarantee that. Tingwu is just a friend I climb with; I can''t make decisions for her."

    Mentioning Chu Tingwu, Brother Xia mouthed "zoo" to her while continuing the call.

    Brother Xia continued, "Alright, I''ll ask her for you?"

    He hung up and first let out a "hiss," then said, "Remember that little monkey from earlier? The check-up results are out; no external injuries, but there''s a shadow on its lungs, possibly cancer."

    Others: "Ah?"

    Brother Xia: "Luckily, it was caught early; it should be fine. Director Wen just called to thank Tingwu especially."

    Not only did she help catch the monkey, but she also specifically reminded them to do a thorough check.

    Chu Tingwu: "Even if this wasn''t discovered, it would have been found during the next regr check-up."

    Brother Xia: "That''s different... I think they should give her a letter of thanks, at least apply for a citation for bravery."

    Saving a monkey''s life is no less than bravery, and she could even get a reward.

    But others still found it surreal, and Linlin asked, "Tingwu, how did you discover the monkey was unwell?"

    Chu Tingwu: ...I heard it?

    She hesitated for a moment and said, "Actually, it was the monkey itself that noticed. I just heard its call for help."

    When she reached out to catch the little golden monkey, Chu Tingwu immediately sensed something was wrong, just as animals can understand humans'' "illness." She instantly realized the golden monkey was sick and then heard the problem in its chest and abdomen. The monkey''s mood was also anxious and tired; it was in pain but couldn''t express it clearly.

    It''s said that these golden monkeys in the monkey house were recently imported and still retained their wild habits, with the head of the group distributing food. Later, through surveince, it was seen that the mother monkey and the little monkey were ostracized by the group after the little monkey''s abnormal behavior, so the mother monkey decided to take the baby out to seek help.

    Even if she didn''t know if this would lead to rescue, she was still trying to find a way out.

    And the zoo''s call wasn''t just to express gratitude¡ª

    Brother Xia: "They also want you to check all the animals."

    Although Chu Tingwu didn''t say it, rumors spread that she not only understood thenguage of felines but also canines and now monkeys, so they might as well check them all... they''ll pay!

    "I heard," another climber said, "that there''s a wolf in the wolf enclosure that''s been unwell for quite some time, hasn''t it?"

    "Yes," another person who followed the zoo''s ount said, "they even invited an expert from abroad, but the expert said they need to observe for a while to deduce the problem from behavior, and they''ve been staying at the zoo recently."

    This should be the wolf that Chu Tingwu didn''t get to see.

    She "hmm"ed and sent a phone number to Brother Xia, saying, "They can contact me through the animalmunicator certification agency or schedule an appointment with this number, which is my assistant''s."

    Brother Xia: "!"

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    Brother Xia: "Right, right, let them schedule your appointment¡ª"

    He whispered, "Why does her personality seem like Three-Five-Five''s?"

    He was also a bit worried that she might want to rush back to the zoo to check the animals'' conditions immediately... but she didn''t let the city zoo jump the queue.

    He heard that Chu Tingwu had recently helped someone with a corn snake at home and checked the health of some swans at a nearby university. The animals in the zoo, despite their national protection status, didn''t seem to have a different value in her eyespared to pets cherished by their owners.

    The protected animals loved by most people and the pets cherished by their families are equally precious animals.

    While the zoo contacted Man Xing, Chu Tingwu continued with her day''s activities.

    On the other side, Lian Tong had already brought the exchange and study team from Jiao Mountain Orthopedic Hospital to Jin City.

    -

    After organizing a private medical team specifically for the boss''s daughter, Lian Tong had been waiting for the boss''s instructions.

    This week, he finally received the message, asking him to bring the team to Jin City.

    Not staying in the vi area, revolving around the youngdy all day¡ª

    Instead of applying for an exchange with the Jin City Fifth People''s Hospital, they chose to request a study visit.

    To put it bluntly, this arrangement means that Jiao Mountain pays the sries, while doctors from Jin Citye over under the guise of "learning" to split the patients, particrly those withplex orthopedic issues.

    Some surgeries are straightforward but require high-quality oues, while others are simply difficult and drag on day after day.

    Lian Tong wasn''t entirely sure what technological breakthroughs had urred in the orthopedicb at the hospital, as he studied business administration, not specialized medicine.

    However, when he announced his boss''s ns, several initially disheartened doctors immediately perked up, eager to review patient files and discuss cases even on the ne.

    Of course, since this was an exchange and not vebor, the doctors from Jiao Mountain wouldn''t be performing surgeries at an excessive rate... but they might proactively seek opportunities to assist at the Fifth People''s Hospital.

    Lian Tong: "=="

    After arranging for the doctors andpleting the handover, he went to meet the assistant of the youngdy.

    Although he couldn''t meet the youngdy herself this time, meeting her assistant was at least a step forward.

    On his way there, he refreshed his phone and found two videos rmended to him.

    One was a "rification" video from the Jin City Zoo¡ª

    A golden monkey had escaped from the zoo.

    However, the escape was due to the monkey being sick, not any other reason, and it was soon recaptured. The adult monkey was caught by a zookeeper, while the baby monkey was caught and returned by a Mr. Chu, a concerned citizen.

    After checking the cause of the illness, the baby monkey was undergoing treatment.

    Thements were filled with remarks like "How touching, is this the power of maternal love?" "Life finds a way" "She saved her child¡ª", and Lian Tong nced at the concerned citizen''s profile in the video, thinking impassively:

    "This isn''t a ''rification''; it''s actually a sentimental essay, isn''t it?"

    Being a seasoned PR worker himself, he could see through the attempt to downy the zoo''s design ws and subtly promote the zoo through a story.

    As a cold-hearted adult who only cared about making money, Lian Tong silently swiped past the video.

    Then, he came across a theft prevention promotional video from the Jin City Police.

    ... This video was more interesting than the previous one. He watched for a while, although Chu Tingwu''s figure never appeared (because it was filmed from her perspective), when the off-screen voice referred to her as "Concerned Citizen Chu" several times, Lian Tong felt something was off.

    Hadn''t he just heard that name somewhere?

    With this doubt in mind, Lian Tong refreshed again, this time seeing a live clip from a cat video blogger.

    After checking the ID and the face in the clip, Lian Tong: "¡­¡­"

    Is there only one person doing social media in Jin City?

    Although he found it too coincidental, he didn''t dwell on it.

    The priority now was to meet the youngdy''s personal assistant to learn about her preferences.

    So, when Man Xing met Lian Tong, she saw a seasoned and polite senior secretary.

    Man Xing took a deep breath¡ª

    Although she was Chu Tingwu''s personal secretary, why did it seem like there were always "little surprises" in Chu Tingwu''s life that she knew nothing about? She had no idea when her little boss had assembled a medical team!

    And the person in front of her was the head of that medical team. Man Xing was worried that her boss might rece her with someone more capable, so she was a bit tense during their conversation.

    She checked the other party''s work results on behalf of her boss, discussed the uing work arrangements at the hospital, and finally, both politely suggested having a meal together.

    Lian Tong hinted to Man Xing that as the youngdy''s personal assistant, she should apany the youngdy to meals, so why not have dinner together tonight?

    Man Xing... subtly hinted back that Lian Tong was overthinking. Their youngdy only liked having cats apany her to meals; humans didn''t get a seat at the table.

    However, since they both referred to her as "youngdy," Man Xing asked: "Are you Mr. Chu''s man?"

    Otherwise, they should just call her boss directly.

    Lian Tong: Who is Mr. Chu?

    He didn''t know how to answer, so he just smiled and subtly hinted at his boss''s style of doing things.

    Man Xing suddenly understood: "You''re from the system!"

    Lian Tong: Who is the system?

    Seeing Lian Tong''s confusion, she smiled and showed him Chu Tingwu''s ount interface.

    Lian Tong: "¡­¡­"

    Lian Tong: "¡­¡­¡­¡­"

    No wonder he had the thought, "Is there only one person doing social media in Jin City?" Because the youngdy''s video quality was so high that it kept getting rmended to him!

    Man Xing: "¡­¡­" Is he practicing how to tter with his eyes?

    "But the little boss went out to y with friends today," she said, "I have a pickup job tonight, so let''s have dinner another time."

    Watching Man Xing leave, Lian Tong felt inexplicably like he had lost.

    -

    Chu Tingwu had indeed scheduled a pickup with Man Xing. As for the hospital work, there was the system for that; it had nothing to do with her.

    She went hiking with Brother Xia and others, taking a bunch of photos to send to their dorm group chat, even though they no longer lived in the dorm. Their four-person group hadn''t disbanded.

    An Shiyanmented that hiking was great, but she didn''t want to, preferring to lie down on weekends. Chang Yile pestered Chang Yixin, wanting to go out togetherter, but Chang Yixin: "I have sses on weekends."

    Chang Yile wailed: "Why do you always have sses! Should I wear a wig and take your ss for you, and you go out to y for me instead!"

    Chang Yixin: "?"

    Is that how identical twins use their faces? And your goal of getting me to go out to y still hasn''t been achieved!

    Chu Tingwu put her phone aside and helped Brother Xia and the others set up the tent.

    The campsite was in front of a small stream, which was more like a slow-moving river, quite wide, and deeper towards the center, deep enough to reach an adult''s chest.

    Besides them, there were other campers, some families with children, and they even exchanged some ingredients.

    Someone held their child in the stream, letting the child reach out to touch the clear water, the setting sun''s light casting a dim shadow on the rushing water, breaking the reflection into fragmented ck pieces.

    Three-Five-Five watched from the streamside for a while before turning back to find her own offspring. Chu Tingwu helped her dry the fur sshed by the water.

    After she finished drying, Three-Five-Five licked herself clean again, giving her offspring a reproachful look: Why are you petting me the wrong way?

    Her offspring was getting more and more mischievous, asionally giving her an itch to y with.

    Chu Tingwu: "=v="

    The ident happened at this moment.

    A scream pierced the tranquil evening, followed by a pained cry.

    Everyone instinctively looked towards the source of the sound, finding it was by the stream... could it be a body floating down from upstream?

    But no, the situation was worse.

    The father of the family camping there seemed stunned for a moment before hurriedly bringing the child to the shore, who was crying loudly, their voice hoarse. Everyone could see...

    The child''s left hand had a bloody bite mark, and the little finger was gone!

    The mother staggered.

    In the face of the ident, everyone''s reaction was actually "no reaction," as the ident happened too quickly, leaving no time for any thoughts.

    It was the climbers nearby who first reacted: "Quick! Call 120!"

    They also needed to stop the child''s bleeding! Fortunately, they carried a first aid kit with temporary bandages for stopping bleeding, but the finger¡ª

    The father seemed toe to his senses: "The finger! The finger! It was the fish in the river that bit it off¡­"

    Mother hit him: "What should we do then? Do you want to go in and fish it out? Can you even fish it out? Hurry up and drive, I''ll hold Little Bao, let''s go to the hospital!"

    Where did the fishe from, and what kind of fish is this? What exactly happened... they were just out camping!

    Probably due to panic, they were all a bit incoherent.

    Brother Xia quickly stopped the couple¡ªclearly, the father was in no state to drive right now¡ªand said: "We have a car here, get in our car, quickly!"

    In the noisy, chaotic campsite, the sounds of helping, astonishment, and hoarse crying converged.

    And Brother Xia only saw a figure sh past him:

    Chu Tingwu ran past him and directly jumped into the creek.

    Brother Xia turned his head instinctively: "Chu¡ª"

    What is Chu Tingwu doing!

    He was also anxious, ready to call her full name, no one stop him!

    But at this moment, Chu Tingwu couldn''t hear anything.

    All the sounds were absorbed into her eardrums, and she instinctively filtered out all the meaningless information.

    Thest bit of dim sunlight also reflected on the water surface, making the visibility even lower. Chu Tingwu lowered her head and saw her own shadow¡ªand also saw her slightly glowing eyes on the water surface.

    She let all the noisy, meaningless sounds fade away.

    She heard the urgent calls of Three-Five-Five, the tabby standing by the creek looking towards the center of the river, the calls gradually turning into scolding.

    But Chu Tingwu only paused for less than half a second, filtering out this part of the sound as well.

    She only heard the sound of water.

    The disturbed fish swam past, disappearing under the cobblestones. Chu Tingwu could feel the river flowing through her body, small fish bumping into her and then fleeing quickly.

    But there was still a big guy in the river.

    These fish were not only fleeing from humans but also avoiding that rge predator."

    It had just been disturbed, attacked someone, and now seemed to be scared, creating turbulence with its tail underwater.

    Brother Xia: "Chu Tingwu, get out of there! Chu Tingwu! We''re about to drive¡ª"

    He asked Linlin to drive while he hesitated for a moment, deciding not to get in the car but to call the stubborn kid.

    At this moment, Linlin had already started the car, which was about to move.

    It was getting darker, and if she didn''t get out now, it would be even more dangerous.

    But he saw Chu Tingwu actually take two steps deeper into the water... and the cat beside her seemed even more anxious. When he saw the tabby about to jump into the river, Brother Xia quickly picked up Three-Five-Five and said: "You stay out of this too!"

    If something happened to the cat in such deep water, what would they do?

    Just as he lowered his head, he heard the sound of water sshing.

    Brother Xia turned his head¡ª

    He saw Chu Tingwu bend down and immerse herself in the creek, and the next second, she lifted her upper body. The sun was burning at the edge of the sky, and under thest bit of its light, her eyes seemed to take on a clear golden hue.

    Her wet hair stuck to her forehead, and she should have looked disheveled, but Brother Xia felt that at this moment, Chu Tingwu had a hunter''s instinct that made people wary.

    It was then that Brother Xia noticed Chu Tingwu''s left hand.

    The river water surged, and she seemedpletely unaware of Brother Xia beside her, using her other hand to lift the thing in her left hand and walked to the shore.

    ¡ªIt was a giant fish, nearly 1.5 meters long.

    And Chu Tingwu''s left hand was half-inserted into the fish''s belly, blood flowing from the wound, yet the fish was still alive, struggling incessantly.

    Brother Xia instinctively held his breath, took a few steps back, and made way for Chu Tingwu.

    Chu Tingwu threw the fish onto the shore.

    Her arm was still tense, the muscle lines hidden under her clothes, but the veins on the back of her hand were visible due to the excessive force.

    However, Brother Xia probably thought Chu Tingwu had used her hand to pierce the fish''s body, relying on her rock climbing strength, but only Chu Tingwu knew that underwater, where the resistance of the water was strong... her strength couldn''t be fully exerted. The underwater battlefield belonged to the fish, and the weapons of the cat were teeth and ws.

    She used her only short nail to cut through the tough skin of this strange fish, then inserted her entire hand inside,pleting her "hunt."

    After getting on shore, Chu Tingwu still didn''t let go, using her knee to press against the fish''s belly and directly reaching into its mouth¡ª

    Brother Xia saw a row of sharp teeth stained with blood.

    He murmured: "Is this a catfish...?"

    But why is this catfish so big, with such a huge body, capable of attacking humans.

    They had never heard of such a mutated catfish here before, otherwise, they would never havee camping!

    Before Brother Xia could see clearly, he was about to take out his phone to help Chu Tingwu illuminate, but Chu Tingwu seemed to have already found her target. She directly pried open the giant catfish''s mouth and quickly reached in, then ran towards the car.

    Linlin had already started the engine, but seeing Chu Tingwu running over, hesitated and didn''t step on the gas.

    The father of the little family was about to urge, but saw Chu Tingwu open the car door, take out a wet handkerchief, wrap something in it, and hand it to them.

    The father was stunned.

    He looked at the wet girl, knowing the probability was extremely low... extremely low, but his heart still couldn''t help but speed up!

    He trembled as he took the handkerchief, inside which he saw a small severed finger.

    As Linlin started the car, the father, carefully holding the handkerchief, bent down and tears streamed down his face.

    "Thank you..."

    Chu Tingwu didn''t get in the car, probably because she couldn''t hear.

    But he still murmured: "Thank you..."

    Finding the finger meant there was a high chance it could be reattached!

    His child wouldn''t be disabled for life because of his mistake... this unfamiliar girl had saved their whole family!

    -

    The car drove towards the hospital, Brother Xia lent his coat to Chu Tingwu and waited with her for Man Xing to drive over.

    He was also on the phone at the same time, reporting this invasive fish species to the forestry bureau, although this fish had already be a corpse¡ªbut fishy eggs!

    Brother Xia believed that for the next year or so, he probably wouldn''t dare toe camping here again.

    While on the phone, he was also paying attention to Chu Tingwu''s condition. At this moment, her eyes seemed to be back to normal, standing to the side, her eyes vacant, as if she was spacing out.

    And her cat¡ª

    The tabby was biting Chu Tingwu''s trouser leg,pletely ignoring the fact that it was also wet from the water dripping off the girl, the pants probably already had two holes from the bites.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    She was looking at the system interface.

    [Your [Hearing lv2] has upgraded to [Hearing lv3]]

    [Your [Perception lv2] has upgraded to [Perception lv3]]

    [Congrattions, all your basic skills have been upgraded to lv3, you have fully mastered your body''s instincts and will no longer be negatively affected by them, growing into a qualified little cat!]

    Mastering the skills that one should naturally possess, does this count as "growth"?

    The system was still announcing¡ª

    [The current data panel will be reorganized]

    [The system will update from "Primary" to "Intermediate" and provide different subsequent upgrade paths for the cub!]

    [The update is expected to bepleted by midnight tonight, please rest well to wee the update with a full body state!]

    After announcing these serious contents, the system cheerfully said: "Cub, you''ve grown a little bit!"

    The system is so pleased!

    Chu Tingwu felt a bit sleepy.

    It seemed that the upgrade had affected her, making her feel that all her muscles needed sleep to rest and renew, to wee a new state tomorrow.

    But Three-Five-Five was still biting her trouser leg.

    The system: "Oh, ording to a cat''s habits, when the cub grows a bit, the mother cat will find the cub too lively and active."

    Frustrated, the cat mother might not only use her mouth and paws to discipline her kittens but also kick them out of the house¡ª

    Chu Tingwu suddenly jolted awake: ¡°Three-Five-Five wouldn¡¯t do that¡­ well, I¡¯m her child.¡±

    Brother Xia, who was nearby: Has she fallen asleep? What kind of dream is she talking about!

    Three-Five-Five indeed wouldn¡¯t do that, but after letting go, she started ¡°meowing¡± to educate her kitten:

    Usually, bathing is fine, and mom is watching you, so she won¡¯t let you drown in the bathtub, but how could you go into the river, especially such deep water? Meow meow meow meow! Meow meow meow meow!Aliali: 6749083ac4f3f33ac4814cd4

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    No, I¡¯m so sleepy.

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°Woof.¡±

    Three-Five-Five: ¡°?¡±

    Three-Five-Five: ¡°Meow?¡±

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°¡­¡­Woof.¡±

    She¡¯s not a kitten, she¡¯s a puppy, she doesn¡¯t understand catnguage.

    Please mom, speak in dognguage.

    Three minutester, Chu Tingwu¡¯s left trouser leg was also bitten through in two ces.

    Now it¡¯s symmetrical!

 Chapter 61

    Chapter 61

    Jin City Fifth Middle School is about to celebrate its 60th anniversary, so the school leaders decided to shoot a short documentary introducing the school and specially invited a professional film crew.

    The film crew brought their equipment into the school activity room and noticed that the campus was empty when they pushed the door open.

    It was a Monday morning, and the sun was not ring, casting a pale glow on the walls and tiles, giving the buildings a silvery sheen.

    "It''s been a long time since I''ve been on a campus..." the cameraman sighed, "Seeing these high school students makes me feel old."

    The director yawned: "Where are the high school students? Aren''t they all in ss? Did you catch someone skipping?"

    Cameraman: "I''m just feeling emotional, feeling emotional!"

    Jin City Fifth Middle School has always had excellent school spirit and a good environment, winning awards in designpetitions. The team didn''t think shooting a documentary for the school''s anniversary would be a difficult task, just capturing the overall scenery of the school, zooming in on a few important buildings, and introducing the school''s history over the past sixty years... Come to think of it, didn''t Jin City Fifth Middle School produce a few notable figures? It seems some graduatester joined the aerospace project.

    Taking advantage of the fact that students were in ss, the team immediately started shooting extensively.

    After filming the artificialke, Tranquil Thought Lake, they packed up and moved to the auditorium, while someone else prepared to shoot an aerial view of the entire school with a drone.

    The bell rang for the end of ss, and students seemed toe out to stretch their legs. A cat was seen passing by with a dog leash in its mouth, and the director, who had just looked up, saw students greeting the cat and dog as if it were perfectly normal:

    "Good morning, Chengcheng. Being a dog is great, I want to be a dog too, then I wouldn''t have to go to ss."

    "Good morning, Sanwuu. Is there a casserole at the cafeteria today? Oh, there isn''t? Thanks."

    Director: "?"

    Some students curiously nced at them, then turned away indifferently. However, when the dronended, a few more people looked back.

    The colleague controlling the drone was very calm. High school students are the most curious creatures in the world, and they can follow a dog for half a day. Although drones are not umon, many people haven''t yed with them, so it''s normal to be curious¡ª

    "This drone doesn''t seem to fly as steadily as Chu Tingwu''s, does it?"

    "Chu Tingwu''s is custom-made, right? It''s probably very expensive, I didn''t even dare to ask."

    "She said it''s a friend''s design, and she made it herself..."

    "Wow! That''s amazing, her hands-on skills are so strong, no wonder she always finishes her experiments so quickly!"

    The students chatted and walked away, leaving the film crew colleagues with the remote control equipment: "..."

    Who is this Chu Tingwu again?

    With this question in mind, they finished filming various school venues during ss time, including the natural museum with its animals, and then moved to the yground.

    The bell rang, signaling the time for Monday''s g-raising ceremony speech.

    The film crew nned to shoot this part, removing the soundter and adding background music. They set up the cameras and started filming. Everything was normal at first, until they heard the name "Chu Tingwu" again.

    The first mention was a reprimand.

    It seemed that this student had climbed over the school wall this morning, and because the teacher had received a tip-off about boys frequently climbing over the yground wall, they brought a dog to wait in advance.

    And they caught Chu Tingwu.

    After the reprimand, the head of discipline, who was giving the speech, paused suspiciously, then moved on tomendations.

    Cameraman: "?"

    He poked his colleague and whispered, "Isn''t this still ''Chu Tingwu''?"

    This time, the school received two letters of thanks.

    One was from the city zoo, thanking Chu Tingwu for helping them catch an escaped golden monkey, and the other from an ordinary citizen, thanking Chu Tingwu for saving their entire family by retrieving their child''s severed finger from a fish''s mouth.

    The director, who had just seen these two local news stories, was: "..."

    So the news protagonist was right beside me?

    The director was a bit surprised and wanted to discuss with his colleagues, but when he turned around, he saw the students'' expressions were as calm as ever, apuding when they should, spacing out when they should, and some whispering to each other: "So how exactly did Chu Tingwu modify that drone? Do you think I can save up enough pocket money tomission one from her?"

    Director: Why are you still thinking about drones!

    With the question "Why are the students of Jin City Fifth Middle School so calm?" in mind, the director approached the school to ask if they should add a special feature on notable figures in the documentary, like outstanding students, sses... or that Chu Tingwu girl?

    The principal nodded and shook his head: "Chu Tingwu? She''s not here, she''s on leave at the zoo."

    Director: Why would a leave request to go to the zoo be approved!?

    What other "why" could there be? It''s not because Chu Tingwu herself asked for leave, but because the staff at the zoo specifically came to the school to ask her toe.

    As Chu Tingwu left the school, she picked up Sanwuu. The zoo had specially sent a car, and even prepared a small pillow for the cat to lie on.

    This time, the zoo was still dealing with the wolves in the wolf enclosure.

    After getting into the car, the keeper in the front seat wanted to chat with Chu Tingwu, but found that the student in school uniform was leaning against the cat, seemingly exhausted from studying, and had started to doze off as soon as she got in.

    But in fact, Chu Tingwu wasn''t asleep. She was resting with her eyes closed, with a semi-transparent virtual screen floating in front of her.

    ¡¾System updateplete!¡¿

    ¡¾Name: Chu Tingwu¡¿

    ¡¾Age: Young (underage)¡¿

    ¡¾Species: Cat¡¿

    Chu Tingwu: This part is really stubborn, no change at all!

    ¡¾Current status: Initial nurturing goal achieved, physical instincts unlocked¡¿

    ¡¾Updated skill list, physical skills merged!¡¿

    Chu Tingwu nced down and started checking her skills¡ª

    ¡¾Perfect Control lv0: You can fully utilize your strength, but there''s still a small gap to reach perfection.¡¿

    ¡¾Intuition lv1: In addition to distinguishing good from evil and judging emotions, you''ve also be more sensitive in some aspects¡¿

    ¡¾Gic Inheritance lv1: The hunting knowledge hidden in your genes will help you identify prey, determine hunting techniques, discern venom, and study prey habits.¡¿

    ¡¾Other skills to be unlocked¡¿

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    So, it was intuition!

    Or rather, this is actually the sixth sense!

    She finally understood why she was caught this morning... In fact, when she left the house, Chu Tingwu had an elusive premonition urging her to leave early, but precisely because of this premonition, she was too curious and decided to wait, leaving at the moment when the premonition was strongest.

    And that''s when she was caught by the waiting head of discipline.

    If intuition could talk, it probably would have felt that Chu Tingwu was too much to handle.

    She originally wanted to run straight to the ssroom, since the head of discipline certainly couldn''t catch up... But that would probably have resulted in more than just a reprimand, a demerit would have been recorded.

    After being lectured all the way to the office, Chu Tingwu had just finished the first ss when she was called to the office again¡ª

    It was the family fromst weekending to present a banner and letter of thanks!

    Because the finger was sessfully rescued, the child, though suffering, had their finger sessfully sewn back. After thanking the kind climber who helped, the family didn''t forget the major help from Chu Tingwu.

    Now, thinking back, they all felt:

    "I was in despair at that time, but I witnessed a miracle... for us, that was truly a miracle, I can''t imagine how Chu Tingwu found that fish in such a short time..."

    Recalling the weekend''s events, the child''s parents were still choked with sobs, both heartbroken for their child''s suffering and too grateful, leading to incoherent speech.

    The head of discipline had tofort them for a long time, letting Chu Tingwu take the banner and the money in the envelope, and praised Chu Tingwu for a long time, his face almost frozen in a smile.

    ...But praise is praise, and criticism is still criticism.

    However, after Chu Tingwu went to the zoo, the head of discipline sighed:

    They didn''t know what to do with this little ssmate.

    The school was, in essence, a small ivory tower. Students naturally had a sense of awe and fear towards teachers and elders, which might also be an instinct left over from years of school management in China. However, Chu Tingwu waspletely different.

    She seemed to have her own logic of conduct, polite but disobedient, independent and very autonomous. Going to school was just a part of her life experience; the school was not a formidable entity to be feared.

    And because of her attitude, the school indeed couldn''t do much to her.

    After leaving the campus, people would realize that being criticized in school wasn''t that important, being scolded by a teacher didn''t mean one had turned into trash, and poor grades didn''t necessarily determine one''s entire life... But having such good grades and not being motivated really made people worry!

    The dean of discipline pulled out a file from under a pile of papers on his desk, frowning. "Forget it, just sign her up for the exams."

    As long as Chu Tingwu continued attending thepetition ss, she was considered a member of the ss. The exam registration was handled collectively, so there was no need to notify her.

    Whether she would take the exams or not was her own business.

    -

    But it seemed the update wasn''t over yet.

    ¡¾Dream ssroom has updated the "Resonance Mode." When nearby creatures fall asleep together, they can enter Dream ssroom in a synchronized resonance state¡ª¡¿

    ¡¾The host can use "Resonance Mode" to invite teachers for in-depth teaching and enhance abilities.¡¿

    Chu Tingwu: So, I can bring Sanwuyu into the dream instead of having the system simte a data-based tortoiseshell mom?

    Previously, Chu Tingwu had seen "Sanwuyu" in Dream ssroom, but that was just a manifestation created by the system based on collected data. Although very simr, it clearlycked self-awareness.

    In addition to the update of Dream ssroom, Chu Tingwu noticed that her personal introduction interface, the pixted character, seemed to have improved in quality, bing much clearer.

    And, some virtual tags surrounded the little person, including "High School Student," "Future''s First Cat to Go to College," "Parkour Expert," "Mid-sized UP Master," "Animal Friend," "Rock Climbing Genius," "Thank-you Note Collector," "Big Baby," and so on.

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­¡­?"

    The system was very happy: "These titles are the impressions others have of you! I removed parts from the inte that were not very authentic or too general, leaving only the impressions given by people who have truly interacted with you!"

    Is "Future''s First Cat to Go to College" your impression? How did you even include the future?

    However, the system was indeed someone who had truly interacted with Chu Tingwu, and the one who interacted with her the most... So, it''s fine.

    Although the update had just finished, Chu Tingwu felt that her body had already undergone changes before¡ª

    After that one night''s sleep, she felt her body became even more rxed andfortable.

    When she woke up in the morning, she found herself hugging the nket and rolling onto the carpet, most of her body exposed outside the nket, but she didn''t feel cold.

    She was lying upside down by the window, her feet resting on the windowsill, with a slight chill on her soles.

    It seemed she had slept like this for a long time, but she didn''t feel any difort.

    Not only on Sunday, but she also woke up like this this morning. Perhaps because the system was updating, there were no sses in the dream for a few days, but Chu Tingwu kept rolling her bedroom into a mess. It seemed her body was silently adapting and undergoing transformation.

    All the sluggish parts of her body were opened up. After a day, she could feel that her limbs were different from before, incredibly soft but without losing the strength they originally had.

    She could still easily hang herself with two fingers, but the movements became more natural... If it was like using muscles to exert force before, now it was like distributing the exertion throughout the whole body, effortlessly¡ª

    Duang!

    In the morning, Chu Tingwu fell off while doing a handstand on the clothesline, but this time she didn''tnd on her feet.

    When she reacted, she was already sitting cross-legged on the floor, with no pain in her body¡ªher body had alreadypleted the process of unloading force and making thending morefortable before her brain did.

    Although the skill¡¾Perfect Control¡¿was now at lv0, the change was significant. Before the update, Chu Tingwu spent some time figuring out the changes in her new body¡ª

    Besides the changes in her limbs, she could also control her ears to make her hearing more three-dimensional.

    She could actively leave "information" on objects through contact, and this information was undetectable to humans but seemed readable to animals.

    Perhaps it was because humans didn''t have the powerful sense of smell that cats do.

    Her eyes no longer needed to switch between cat vision and human vision as before. Cats are farsighted, and when Chu Tingwu focused, the nearby area would be slightly blurry. But now, without her actively switching, the entire world was as clear as if it had just been washed by a heavy rain. She could maintain both visual states simultaneously without any blind spots.

    Maybe there were other small changes hidden in the details, but there wasn''t enough time for Chu Tingwu to discover them.

    When she arrived at the zoo, she got off the car with Sanwuyu, and Li Yun came over to pick her up.

    The zoo had actually scheduled an appointment for half a monthter, but this time they invited her toe early because the wolf named Qingfeng was in very bad condition.

    Li Yun: "Qingfeng is a Siberian wolf, three years old this year. At first, we thought he was refusing to eat and drink and attacking hispanions because he was upset about losing his friend."

    The zoo also breeds animals on its own. After the number of animals bes toorge, they transfer the grown animals to other zoos. Qingfeng''s friend was another little wolf, currently living in a zoo in the neighboring city.

    Animals do have emotions. Finding Qingfeng''s emotional changes, the zookeepers tried tofort him and remodeled the wolf enclosure to provide more y areas for the wolf pups.

    But Qingfeng''s condition didn''t improve; it worsened.

    While ying with the enrichment facilities, he would push away other wolves and conflict with them. He also started being picky with food; if there was any feed he didn''t like, he would refuse to eat that day.

    The zoo conducted a strict check on animal feeding, suspecting that Qingfeng had eaten something fed by tourists and then disliked the feed, but they didn''t find any evidence that Qingfeng had eaten anything, instead catching another wolf. With doubts and confusion, they isted Qingfeng and provided him with more nutritious feed, worried that something might be wrong with his health.

    After listening to Li Yun''s introduction, Li Yun also introduced her to Mr. White.

    Schneider White was an animal behavior expert who had published many papers on animal behavior. The zoo had specially invited him from abroad.

    After observing Qingfeng for some time, White concluded:

    "This is a homosexual wolf. Clearly, losing his lover, he feels depressed and uneasy."

    As he said this, Qingfeng in the observation roomy on the bed, staring fixedly out the window, softly "whining."

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­¡­?"

    Of course, there are homosexuals among animals, and in some species, it''s quitemon. When observing animals, humans should treat them both as a group and as individual entities. Clearly, everyone now believed that Qingfeng was depressed because he had lost his love wolf. The zookeeper even thought: "I always saw them getting along well, but I didn''t expect this. After all, they never did anything..."

    The zookeeper started talking about topics like mating and estrus that little cats shouldn''t hear.

    Chu Tingwu''s ears twitched, and she quietly squatted down, continuing to observe Qingfeng through the ss.

    After all, the time when Qingfeng started having problems was very obvious, and this deduction clearly stood. Moreover¡ª

    Li Yun: "We showed Qingfeng videos of Huihui before. Huihui is the wolf that was sent away. Qingfeng was unusually emotional that day, ying for a long time and eating a lot."

    So they thought Qingfeng was definitely in love, but they couldn''t bring Huihui back... or send Qingfeng over? Qingfeng wasn''t actually in his mating season, which made this "love" seem unrted to physiology, just pure love... or it could just be an exceptionally strong friendship.

    The zoo seemed to have determined what Qingfeng''s issue was and invited Chu Tingwu because of her munication" skills, hoping she could talk to Qingfeng, help him forget about Huihui, and embrace a female wolf... or any other male wolf in the park.

    The zoo wanted a solution, not to understand the ins and outs of wolf romance.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    She squinted: "Can I go in and take a look?"

    Wolves are after all fierce beasts, and even the caretakers have to be careful when interacting with them. Chu Tingwu couldn''t go over to touch the wolf, only chatting with the young male wolf through the viewing window.

    Li Yun watched her with great anticipation, hoping to see her "awoo" a couple of times, and Qingfeng immediately react, then have a conversation with her.

    However, Chu Tingwu actually doesn''t speak wolf.

    It''s just that her "Intuition lv1" skill kicked in again. When she saw the wolf, she instinctively felt:

    He''s actually a cunning young man!

    His current state doesn''t seem to be due to "love" and "separation," but for another reason.

    Chu Tingwu wanted to get closer to Qingfeng, but the zoo, considering the danger, suggested she wait until Qingfeng was restrained for a check-up before touching him¡ªthey thought she could just talk or observe, but she insisted on getting hands-on, probably just a kid wanting to pet the wolf.

    After all, she had petted and held the national first-ss golden monkey, so if she wanted to pet the wolf, she could.

    Schneider White, however, had rich experience and had lived in a protected area for a long time, observing wolf behavior, so he followed the caretakers in and out... Qingfeng didn''t show any signs of aggression, even yawningzily, squinting his eyes, and starting to doze off under human scrutiny.

    Chu Tingwu said to Li Yun: "Can I take a little nap? Right here on this chair."

    The zoo indeed didn''t allow her to touch the wolf now¡ªbut wasn''t she just another way to get close?

    After getting permission, she closed her eyes, and soon her breathing steadied. At the same time, Qingfeng also fell into a deep sleep.

    Chu Tingwu opened her eyes in the dream space.

    This time, the ssroom map was the wolf enclosure of the zoo, but only Qingfeng was there.

    ¡ªShe used the resonance mode in the Dream ssroom, bringing the sleeping wolf into the dream.

    Qingfeng didn''t seem to realize it was a dream, after all, how could a dream be so clear?

    The big wolf still looked mncholy, lying by the stream in the wolf enclosure, staring at the flowing water, seemingly lost in thought.

    Chu Tingwu stood outside the wolf enclosure, not entering, nor making her figure appear in Qingfeng''s line of sight.

    She touched her chin, looked up: "Isn''t there a camera above his head?"

    There were indeed cameras in the wolf enclosure, trying to ensure no blind spots, but Qingfeng just happened to lie under a surveince camera... Thinking about it, Chu Tingwu waved her hand, asking the system to turn off the camera.

    When the camera was turned off, Qingfeng''s ears twitched, and he looked up bewildered.

    He "awoo awoo" called a few times, as if calling for the caretaker or otherpanions, but there was no response.

    He then ran to the door where the caretaker usually entered, tapped the door twice, then looked around the ss wall with a puzzled expression.

    Chu Tingwu could tell, this wolf was quite smart.

    A wolf raised since childhood in the zoo, while humans studied them, they seemed to study human behavior as well.

    And after waiting a while, finding that the caretaker still didn''te, Qingfeng curiously returned to under the surveince camera, tilting his head.

    Then... he dashed to the enrichment facilities.

    He started ying.

    He yed very happily.

    He was like a child who had the entire amusement park to himself, with no parents around.

    Chu Tingwu: "..." Mncholy, lost, heartbroken?

    After a hearty round of ying, Qingfeng jumped to the top of the fake mountain, started howling, and after he was satisfied, shook his fur, plunged into the pool, and rolled on the rocks to dry off.

    It was then that Chu Tingwu entered.

    She walked through the small door for caretakers, directly approaching the grey wolf¡ª

    She clearly saw that when she pushed the door, the wolf''s movements stiffened, then his raised hind leg immediately lowered, changing from fortably lying" to "powerless and mncholy lying." When Chu Tingwu reached him, his expression also adjusted, his gaze numb and depressed, ncing at her once and then turning away.

    However, Qingfeng seemed to realize that Chu Tingwu wasn''t the caretaker, and after pretending for a while in front of her, he turned his head curiously, nced at her, and started looking for today''s feed.

    Chu Tingwu had the system disy the previously unreced wolf enclosure feed, not theter additional one given to Qingfeng alone.

    Upon seeing the feed, Qingfeng seemed stunned, then raised his front paw and tapped twice, lying down dejectedly on the spot, emitting a mournful sound¡ª

    Why are we eating this pig slop again today!?

    This was Chu Tingwu''s own judgment without system trantion.

    But after tapping for a while, finding that the caretaker didn''te, and the camera didn''t light up, the wolf seemed to realize something, nced at Chu Tingwu, then at her again, and started eating.

    He nced at the camera every two bites, but halfway through, he threw the feed out, making a mess on the ground.

    Then he ran to the pool to clean himself.

    Chu Tingwu nced at the feed, finding that if she hadn''t seen the whole process, she might really think the wolf hadn''t eaten anything, just knocked the feed over.

    Chu Tingwu: "He''s just pretending, right?"

    Chu Tingwu thought of the topic Li Yun had inadvertently mentioned, that Huihui had a small illness before being sent away, so she was isted and had a period of istion meals before being sent back.

    Was Qingfeng really in love with Huihui, missing her because she was gone? No, he clearly liked the istion meals!

    To get the extra meals, he even started acting out, first pretending to be unhappy, finding that the caretaker really started paying attention, then pretending not to eat¡ªsure enough, after a few times, he got the istion meals, better toys, and more attention.

    Although he didn''t like the check-ups, but¡ª

    Chu Tingwu went up and touched Qingfeng''s belly, finding that this wolf was indeed a bit fatter than the others.

    For food, he could pretend for so long, even understanding what a camera was, quite the foodie.

    This made Chu Tingwu think of the Pavlov joke, where when training dogs, the dogs also felt they were taming humans.

    Although he hadn''t attacked humans due to living in the zoo for a long time, Qingfeng was still unhappy when Chu Tingwu came so close to touch him. And when Chu Tingwu brought him to the feed on the ground, he seemed even more dissatisfied¡ª

    He didn''t like it, shouldn''t they change it for him?

    Chu Tingwu smiled.

    Because of her weight, she indeed couldn''t beat the Siberian tiger, but with her improved physical control and strength, the Siberian wolf didn''t have thebat power of the Siberian tiger or brown bear...

    Can''t beat them, but can I beat you?

    -

    Li Yun: "What dream is Qingfeng having? Rolling around, and moving his paws?"

    This little wolf frowned, his mouth smacking as if having a good dream, but now he might be fighting someone in his dream?

    Just as they were curious, the little wolf opened his eyes, shook his head, looked around nervously, theny down again, whining pitifully.

    Li Yun was both amused and exasperated: Although it was clear that he had had a nightmare, for some reason, his expression seemed more vivid than before, no longer as lifeless as it had been, as if the lively and clever Qingfeng had returned.

    She wondered when his lovesickness would finally subside.

    Just as Li Yun was thinking this, Chu Tingwu also opened her eyes. The young expert who had been invited let out a yawn and greeted the staff beside her, asking, "Can I go in now?"

    Li Yun replied, "I''ll apany you."

    Chu Tingwu followed Li Yun as they walked over, with Schneider White nearby, who was murmuring something to himself when he suddenly eximed in surprise.

    Because Qingfeng, who had previously shown no interest in anything, suddenly stood upright the moment Chu Tingwu entered.

    The wolf''s paws pressed against the ss, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on the little girl who had juste in, his nose twitching as he seemed to be trying to discern something¡ª

    Li Yun, who was so familiar with Qingfeng, could see that he appeared full of doubt and indecision.

    Despite the strange expression, he seemed more lively than before.

    Could it be that Teacher Chu really had a special affinity with animals? Just as she was thinking this, Chu Tingwu raised her hand and tapped on the ss, saying, "Sit down."

    Qingfeng: "¡­¡­"

    The grey wolf paused, then slowly sat down: "Awoo!"

    Li Yun: "!?"

    You even know how to speak wolf!

 Chapter 62

    The wolves in the zoo didn''t have the strict hierarchical structure typical of those in protected areas or the wild.<span>0

    However, just by looking at Qingfeng''s tucked tail, one could see he was disying submission to Chu Tingwu, acknowledging himself as the subordinate.<span>0

    But it hadn''t started this way¡ª<span>0

    Qingfeng was a wolf with some cleverness and a bit of cunning. Chu Tingwu had suggested to everyone that Qingfeng''s unusual behavior might just be an act, and she exined her logic.<span>0

    During this time, after sitting down at Chu Tingwu''smand, Qingfeng seemed to realize there was still a ss barrier between them, and Chu Tingwu couldn''t reach through to hit him. So, he stared at the girl opposite him for a while, slowly arched his back, stepped backward cautiously, and then carefully howled at her.<span>0

    Chu Tingwu turned her head.<span>0

    The grey wolf''s howl stopped abruptly.<span>0

    Watching this scene, Li Yun fell silent for a moment: "Should we try returning Qingfeng to the wolf enclosure?"<span>0

    The wolf enclosure was multi-leveled - the lower level allowed visitors to watch the wolf pack ying in the water through ss, while the second floor offered an overhead view of the enclosure''sndscape without any ss barrier.<span>0

    At first, Qingfeng justy dejectedly in a corner, but after Chu Tingwu went up to the second floor, she stretched and said: "Meow~"<span>0

    Catnguage?<span>0

    But Qingfeng responded - he lifted his head in apparent shock, stared at Chu Tingwu above for two seconds, then rushed off to eat. Not only did he eat, but he also began seriously ying with various enrichment facilities, quickly integrating into the group... Watching this, Li Yun felt like she was seeing an overweight person who, upon learning of impending danger, decides to start exercising desperately to outrun wild beasts.<span>0

    But would starting exercise today really be in time?<span>0

    Since discovering the illness in the golden snub-nosed monkey, the zoo had been conducting unified checks on all animals and increased the frequency of regr physical examinations. Now that Qingfeng was better, they decided to check the whole wolf pack one by one. Qingfeng had just been returned only to be herded back into the cage, but when he saw Chu Tingwu through the cage door, he tucked his tail.<span>0

    Even Li Yun thought this kid was being a bit spineless.<span>0

    Has she ever beaten you up for you to be so afraid of her?<span>0

    Chu Tingwu was clearly just a girl under sixteen, though she exercised regrly, had muscr arms, could do many one-handed pull-ups in session, had a proportionate physique, looked like she could kick an adult flying, could catch nearly two-meter-long fish with her bare hands... Sorry, being afraid of such a girl was actually quite normal.<span>0

    Now that they had figured out Qingfeng''s "illness," Chu Tingwu''s work wasplete. She took a half-day off, and since she had no important sses in the afternoon, she naturally didn''t n to return to school.<span>0

    After receiving payment, Li Yun wanted to treat Chu Tingwu to a meal to build their rtionship, but the young girl declined.<span>0

    "I don''t need to pay for a zoo ticket, right?"<span>0

    Li Yun smiled, "Of course not. Would you like to tour our zoo?"<span>0

    She wanted to assign a staff member to apany Chu Tingwu, but the young girl declined again.<span>0

    ...Because Chu Tingwu wasn''t actually nning to tour the zoo.<span>0

    She carried her backpack, brought San Wu Wu with her, and walked to the sixteen-meter-high rock wall from before.<span>0

    It was Monday, with very low visitor numbers, and there were no pavilions near the rock wall, so no one had passed by for half a day.<span>0

    Chu Tingwu took out her climbing shoes from her bag, then tossed the bag aside, asking San Wu Wu to watch it.<span>0

    She started climbing!<span>0

    System: "=="<span>0

    It knew it.<span>0

    As for safety measures - this human-cat cub believed that someone who could insert their fingers into solid rock to stabilize themselves probably didn''t need much in the way of safety measures.<span>0

    Well, she had tested it first by making finger holes in the rocks at the bottom.<span>0

    Now there were four finger-sized holes left in the stone.<span>0

    The first few meters were still easy to climb, just without needing to clip safety ropes to anchor points. While climbing, Chu Tingwu could feel her muscles "awakening" - the climbing movements activated muscle groups rarely used in ordinary movements, and this sensation of full body control was truly addictive¡ª<span>0

    She felt she could not only jump on the rock wall but also perform even more dangerous and wonderful movements.<span>0

    There were no spectators at this time, and San Wu Wu, tired of looking up for so long, simplyy down against Chu Tingwu''s backpack, unusually taking azy position.<span>0

    The rock wall split the sky in half, and Chu Tingwu was approaching the sky above.<span>0

    She encountered that protruding corner again, but this time, she didn''t choose to traverse around it. Instead, she looked up to observe the position, mentally nning her next moves.<span>0

    She pushed off the rock with her toes, giving herself repulsion force, then jumped up, reaching out both hands to grab the most protruding sharp corner.<span>0

    Now she was hanging in mid-air, supported only by her hands gripping this rocky corner.<span>0

    This corner had no insertion points for anchoring, no way to leverage force, and even sloped downward - she was holding her entire body weight with just her finger strength.<span>0

    A gentle breeze blew at this height.<span>0

    ording to Chu Tingwu''s n, the moment she grabbed hold, she should have "pushed" herself up, pulling up her lower body, first hooking her feet on the rocks above for stability, then flipping her whole body up.<span>0

    But in that moment of hanging and swaying, she actually abandoned this n.<span>0

    Because the sensation of her entire body suspended in air, secured only by her fingers... was truly thrilling and exhrating.<span>0

    She took a deep breath, turned her head, and found herself making eye contact with a tiger on the distant lion and tiger enclosure''s artificial mountain.<span>0

    Though they were far apart, after two seconds of eye contact, the Siberian tiger changed from lying down to standing up, as if it had spotted a predator capable of threatening itself.<span>0

    Five secondster, Chu Tingwu suddenly leaped onto the rock, passing this "difficult scoring point," and continued upward.<span>0

    The Siberian tiger, standing on top of the artificial mountain, let out a long roar that startled the photographing tourists.<span>0

    Chu Tingwu had already climbed to thirteen meters, her movements bing increasingly graceful, while her mental mapping of routes became faster and faster.<span>0

    The difference between free climbing and indoor facilities is that no matter how much you prepare for outdoor conditions, you never know what will happen until you actually climb.<span>0

    Wild beasts, insects, shifting rocks, and crumbling soil - anything could happen, and each climb could be different.<span>0

    At least this time, Chu Tingwu realized that in rock climbing, she was actually a "slow starter."<span>0

    Many sports have these slow starters who need time to get into their rhythm, to focuspletely, before they can perfectly demonstrate their full abilities.<span>0

    Chu Tingwu was the same - after her bodypleted a true warm-up through climbing, her muscles and brain became fully active and alert... What was at the top?<span>0

    Chu Tingwu braced against the rock, first lifting her left foot up, then her right, half-kneeling as she exhaled, and saw the side wall of the panda enclosure.<span>0

    Above the rocks was a small path, and after climbing over the anti-climbing railing, one could enter the panda enclosure''s gift shop. At this moment, a couple who had just finished visiting the panda enclosure came out hand in hand, staring nkly at Chu Tingwu.<span>0

    This young girl was standing on the other side of the railing, next to which was arge sign: "No Climbing!"<span>0

    Chu Tingwu: "=="<span>0

    She ignored the railing and instead used her arms to brace against it, turning around¡ª<span>0

    Half the zooy beneath her feet. In the distant wolf enclosure, wolf cubs were ying and roughhousing; in the nearby monkey house treetops, a golden snub-nosed monkey was spacing out while hugging a branch; and the tiger from the lion and tiger enclosure was no longer visible, leaving only an empty artificial mountain...<span>0

    The view she currently saw was the same as what other visitors passing along this small path would see.<span>0

    But Chu Tingwu smiled inexplicably.<span>0

    She believed she had seen something different.<span>0

    The staff from nearby shops seemed to notice the situation outside and rushed out, saying, "What are you doing? You can''t climb over the railing, it''s very dangerous. Come back here!"<span>0

    Worried that Chu Tingwu might be a student attempting something extreme, the staff member didn''t dare approach her directly, only urging her toe back while quietly messaging security.<span>0

    But to his surprise, the young girl turned her head, held onto the railing, and smiled at him with curved eyes, "I didn''t climb over."<span>0

    "You can check the security cameras. I didn''t climb over from this railing," she said, "Besides, there isn''t actually any ''No Climbing'' sign below."<span>0

    No climbing sign?<span>0

    While the staff member was still confused, he saw Chu Tingwu''s figure suddenly drop lower.<span>0

    Not only had she note back, but she seemed to be going down!<span>0

    The staff member, no longer concerned about anything else, rushed forward to grab her, while a nearby couple also eximed and moved to help.<span>0

    However, when they leaned over the railing, they saw Chu Tingwu clinging to the rock face, slowly moving downward. When she was about two meters from the ground, she simply turned and jumped down.<span>0

    Shended steadily without rolling forward, merely taking out a tissue from her bag to wipe her hands, then called to her cat: "Let''s go."<span>0

    Staff member: "..."<span>0

    The girlfriend from the couple: "Ah! She''s that one! The good Samaritan who can climb with bare hands! I saw that video...?"<span>0

    Forgetting everything else, she waved and called out: "Hey, wait¡ª"<span>0

    Chu Tingwu: "?"<span>0

    A box was thrown down from above, containing a golden snub-nosed monkey plush keychain, obviously just purchased from the shop, still unopened.<span>0

    The girl said with a grin: "This is for you!"<span>0

    Like a little monkey, you climb so fast.<span>0

    Chu Tingwu: "=v="<span>0

    She raised her hand and made a simple heart shape with her thumb and index finger.<span>0

    While getting paid for work was nice, receiving a thoughtful gift from a chance encounter made her even happier. After returning to school, Chu Tingwu told everyone about her work, but they weren''t interested in the adult negotiations, instead focusing on how cute the monkey keychain was.<span>0

    "It''s ugly-cute."<span>0

    "Golden snub-nosed monkeys are already the cutest monkeys. If you think they''re ugly, what about the monkeys on Mount Emei?"<span>0

    "Those are bandits!"<span>0

    Yes, they even started arguing about monkey aesthetics.<span>0

    Of course, besides that, everyone was curious about how Chu Tingwu had resolved the Qingfeng situation¡ª<span>0

    Chu Tingwu: "I beat him up several times in my dreams, and after getting beaten, he became well-behaved and stopped pretending."<span>0

    Everyone: "Hahahahaha..."<span>0

    See? Even when telling the truth, no one believed her.<span>0

    When the animal behaviorist White asked her about it, she gave the same answer. White gave her an odd look for a while before finally handing her his business card and inviting her to observe wolf packs at the Red Rock Reserve in mid-July.<span>0

    Chu Tingwu was interested, but: "I''m not sure if I''ll have make-up sses in July."<span>0

    Even though it would be summer vacation by then, thepetition ss might still be in session.<span>0

    White: "?"<span>0

    "But that''s the Michel wolf pack... Child, you''ll definitely regret it if you don''t go. The pack should have major developments this time. Michel is quite old now, and this year might be thest time they''re known as the Michel pack..."<span>0

    White mumbled on about the wolf pack''s story while Chu Tingwu stared nkly at the real-time trantion provided by her system, feeling like she was studying English despite being outside school.<span>0

    Finally, White asked Chu Tingwu to give him an answer before mid-June. He didn''t mind that she was just a high school student without any reputation. The world is vast, and there are always naturally gifted people¡ªperhaps some are born with the ability tomunicate with animals, even if they can''t exin why themselves.<span>0

    It was alreadyte March, and Chu Tingwu was daydreaming in ss. Early April was¡ª<span>0

    The biologypetition teacher announced from the podium: "I''ve submitted your registration forms for the biology preliminarypetition. The school registered everyone together, and the exam is on April 16th. Our province''s preliminary exam is rtivelyte, and you need to pass it to participate in the provincial exam. In other words, if you can''t even pass the preliminary, you''re truly out after the first round..."<span>0

    Yes, the biologypetition preliminaries were starting in full swing.<span>0

    From now on, students would face round after round of exams. Those in thepetition ss would need to focus more on thepetition, squeezing time from other subjects and rest periods.<span>0

    Chu Tingwu had also been registered, as she was a member of the ss.<span>0

    But even after learning of her sessful registration, in the biology teacher''s view, Chu Tingwu remained unchanged. She would check the day''s teaching content in advance, and if she felt she had mastered the topic, she wouldn''t attend ss. She onlypleted homework for topics she didn''t understand, and often didn''t submit it¡ªas if someone else was helping her review and exin.<span>0

    However, since she was registered, although she didn''t think she could go far¡ªothers had one or more years of additional study time than her¡ªChu Tingwu still prepared properly.<span>0

    For instance, in the dream ssroom, she would lie on the erged Three-Five-Five''s back while working on half a set of biologypetition problems.<span>0

    Halfway through, Chu Tingwu would inexplicably start ying with Three-Five-Five.<span>0

    She had to dere that dream resonance was the system''s best update:tely, Three-Five-Five had been looking at her with annoyance, having entered the parenting phase where mothers want to avoid seeing their mischievous offspring, but in the dream ssroom, the system habitually adjusted Three-Five-Five''s size.<span>0

    Three-Five-Five stared at the miniaturized cub for a while, and maternal love reignited.<span>0

    Chu Tingwu: "..."<span>0

    Chu Tingwu: "=v="<span>0

    Buried in the tortoiseshell mama''s belly, she identally forgot what problem she had just been working on.<span>0

    Speaking of which, today should also have dream ss... but that''s not important.<span>0

    *inhales*<span>0

    The system didn''t monitor her too strictly; it was even more indulgent than Three-Five-Five. It was only through self-control that Chu Tingwu didn''t turn into a house-destroying kitten.<span>0

    However, during this period, the system was indeed busy!<span>0

    Early April... early April was important.<span>0

    Early April was the cub''s birthday!<span>0

    Chu Tingwu was born on the third day of the third lunar month, with her birthday falling on April 11th. The system, celebrating the cub''s birthday for the first time, was on high alert, burning out several server rooms in America while trying to think of the perfect birthday gift.<span>0

    But in human terms, it was like "Although nervous, also very happy, feeling joy in every day of preparation and anticipation." Of course, the system didn''t have "happiness" in its code, but it felt this description was urate.<span>0

    ["Yes, yes, I think so too!"]<span>0

    One person in their small group chat (?) eximed.<span>0

    She had been holding her Husky with one hand and a tablet with the other, but now threw aside her drawing tablet and typed rapidly: "Boss, I just got some new inspiration, I''m going to sketch out the storyboard¡ª"<span>0

    Her ID in the group was "I Swear Vengeance Against Drawing," and she used the same ID on the New Plum app, where she was also the moderator of the "Chu Tingwu and Three-Five-Five" personal super topic. Yes, those viral Chu Tingwu fan art pieces from long ago were drawn by her.<span>0

    Because her ID was too long, fans affectionately called this artist "Master Tian," "Teacher Daitian," or "Mama Daitian," or would exim when new art was posted: "Tian, my husband!"<span>0

    Master Tian was a corporate ve by day, only able to grind out artwork at night. She had been following Chu Tingwu for a long time, watching her livestreams daily after bing a fan, being one of those highly devoted followers, and she even collected materials from other sources.<span>0

    Such as Fallen Phoenix City official news...<span>0

    Jin City news...<span>0

    And Jin City Fifth High School newspaper.<span>0

    "Although this is my first time following a real person, isn''t this way of releasing materials a bit ridiculous?"<span>0

    When Master Tian was first pulled into the group by the system, heined, "I find Chu Tingwu''s materials quite interesting, but shecks a dedicated ount to manage and summarize them. Plus, her live broadcast frequency is too unstable, which can easily lead to fan attrition."<span>0

    As both a "career fan" and a "mom fan," Master Tian was quite frustrated with how Chu Tingwu''s ount was being managed.<span>0

    The system responded, "But Tingwu likes to stay low-key. If she hadn''t been recognized, she wouldn''t even want people to know she made the news. Would a dedicated summary ount be inappropriate?"<span>0

    You Zhenzhen chimed in, "Actually, operation work still needs to be done. Right now, all the news is good, but there are also many people who don''t like Chu Tingwu. If someone buys a topic to spread rumors, having a strong official ount would be much better."<span>0

    It was only after she started managing thepany that she realized¡ªChu Tingwu trusted her too much, directly handing thepany over for her to practice with. You Zhenzhen encountered troubles, although they were mysteriously resolved each time, the impact of various rumors and businesspetition made her grow rapidly.<span>0

    The system said, "It''s okay, I can take care of the rumor-mongers before they act."<span>0

    You Zhenzhen: "?"<span>0

    Master Tian: "?"<span>0

    The system: "Alright, I''ll go do it=="<span>0

    ¡ªThe name of this three-person group was "A 16th Birthday Gift for Chu Tingwu," yes, the system had pulled these two people into the group.<span>0

    Of course, a gift should be something the recipient is mostcking, but the system was surprised to find that besides Disney, whenever the baby needed something, it had already bought it, leaving it with nothing to give.<span>0

    But no worries, needs can be created!<span>0

    The system scouted around the crowd and quickly identified two groups: Chu Tingwu''s "friends" and Chu Tingwu''s "fans," both of whom loved her.<span>0

    Then it picked out representatives¡ªboth representatives happened to be preparing birthday gifts¡ªso the three of them formed a group chat.<span>0

    Master Tian was quite excited when he joined the group: "System teacher, save me, I can''t think of how to draw the birthday greeting. Chu Tingwu''s recent live streams are too few, I can''t find inspiration from old videos... Do you have any unreleased video footage, hehehe..."<span>0

    The system: Better kick him out instead.<span>0

    You Zhenzhen was quite calm, greeted Master Tian, and after getting to know each other, said, "I''m nning to hold a discount event and a birthday celebration event through the app, do a round of official ount raffles, give the employees a bonus, and then send Tingwu some custom cat knee pads."<span>0

    She had actually contacted the system earlier, as she often had tomunicate with it aboutpany business. After talking about Chu Tingwu''s birthday gift, she proposed doing high-end customization.<span>0

    Chu Tingwu liked sports, so sending knee pads and elbow pads would definitely be a hit. You Zhenzhen also had the money, so she found a high-quality brand and had cute cat patterns custom-designed on the knee pads based on Chu Tingwu''s cat-like transformation.<span>0

    What''s wrong with fancy knee pads for a skateboarder? It''s just to deepen the public''s existing impression.<span>0

    She arranged the gift and only needed to oversee the details of the app event.<span>0

    Currently, the 365 Cat Census APP has not only be a paradise for cat owners to show off their cats and cloud-suckers to indulge in cat videos, but also cooperates with many small organizations dedicated to cat rescue and adoption, providing them with channels to find adopters.<span>0

    Of course, the APP also has a shopping panel, gradually refining categories, mainly focusing on cat-rted pet supplies and cute pet-themed peripheral products. Due to reliable partners, the quality has always been stable, and the products are both affordable and good, so although the APP hasn''t gone viral, its reputation is quite good, gradually bing top-notch in a certain category.<span>0

    On the other hand, Master Tian had also figured out what to do, justcking time.<span>0

    Master Tian: "Of course, I''ll draw a birthday hand-drawn animation. I''ve already drawn over ten pictures, but the duration isn''t enough, ah... I feel like I''m going to die..."<span>0

    The system: "You''re a bit unhealthy, don''t stay upte anymore."<span>0

    Master Tian: "Not that kind of death!"<span>0

    In the end, only the system was left.<span>0

    Master Tian felt a bit sorry: "How about we coborate on a hand-drawn animation, Master System? I can draw but I''m not good at editing videos, you should be good at that, let''s co-submit it?"<span>0

    The system: "..."<span>0

    The system: "QWQ"<span>0

    But that still wouldn''t be its gift!<span>0

    Master Tian was very optimistic: "As long as the intention is there, don''t put too much pressure on yourself. The main point of giving gifts is to make everyone happy."<span>0

    She was quite happy producing content, and now joining the group made her even happier¡ªthis meant she could not only receive praise from fellow fans but also have her videos seen by the main subject, and even push the operation around the main subject, right, Master System?<span>0

    The system: "I don''t feel pressure."<span>0

    It wasn''t human, after all, so it didn''t have the concept of "pressure."<span>0

    At most, it would blow up a few foreign servers when "thinking."<span>0

    This state continued until April 8th, when Chu Tingwu finished her sses and returned home, where Coal Ball from Teacher Yuan''s house and Cao Meng came over to y with her.<span>0

    In recent days, Chu Tingwu had been using dream resonance to pull Coal Ball into her dreams for exercise, of course, exercising in dreams wouldn''t lose weight, just help form the habit of exercising.<span>0

    But so far, it seemed the habit hadn''t been formed; Coal Ball had be more and more sycophantic towards her. Seeing Chu Tingwu, Coal Ball even brought its favorite ball toy to her, meowing to indicate it was a gift for her.<span>0

    ...Hoping she would y by herself and not involve it.<span>0

    It was a gift and also a bribe!<span>0

    The system: Gift?<span>0

    The system controlled a drone ball to roll up, chasing Coal Ball all over the house.<span>0

    Chu Tingwu: "?"<span>0

    Although she could now understand the emotions of humans, animals, and other living beings, she still couldn''t directly read the emotions of arthropods, microorganisms, or code-based beings, so was the system helping her make Coal Ball exercise?<span>0

    On April 9th, Chu Tingwu suddenly felt the atmosphere around her be a bit special.<span>0

    After pondering for a while, she realized when she got to school: "The smell of stray cats has decreased?"<span>0

    She was very familiar with the scent left by stray cats nearby, and after fully mastering her body, she could alsomunicate with other cats by leaving such scents.<span>0

    Some cat owners are more likely to attract stray cats because they might have the "catforting" scent of their own cats, so other cats would follow the scent.<span>0

    These scents would naturally fade over time, but cats with fixed territories woulde back to renew them after a while.<span>0

    Chu Tingwu noticed that some scents had decreased, as if the cats that left them hadn''t returned for a while.<span>0

    Chu Tingwu was very vignt: "Is someone specifically catching cats?"<span>0

    The system replied a few secondster: "It''s okay, they''ve been taken for sterilization."<span>0

    Chu Tingwu: "Oh..."<span>0

    She set the thought aside and only returned home after evening self-study, just as she met Sanwulu at the school gate. She noticed a taxi parked not far away, with the driver lowering the window to nce at Sanwulu and then at Chu Tingwu.<span>0

    Seeing Chu Tingwu cross the road to the neighboringmunity, the driver regretfully raised the window.<span>0

    Chu Tingwu: "?"<span>0

    She just felt something was off.<span>0

    This vague sense of weirdness continued until the next day when Chang Yile came over and patted her on the shoulder: "Chu Tingwu, isn''t your birthday tomorrow? Nopetitive biology ss tomorrow, right? But Chang Yixin and the others still have to go to ss¡ª"<span>0

    "Hehe," she gestured, "so we''lle celebrate your birthday with you."<span>0

    With the school''s natural museum, they had the privilege of not having to attend evening self-study if they finished their homework early.<span>0

    Chu Tingwu suddenly understood.<span>0

    She first replied to Chang Yile: "Thene to my house tomorrow night? I''ll make a cake myself."<span>0

    Chang Yile: "Then I''lle to mess around!"<span>0

    Chu Tingwu also brought along the birthday gift she had prepared, of course, high school students don''t usually exchange overly expensive gifts, just handwritten cards and a novel about cats.<span>0

    And the others could go to Chu Tingwu''s house to eat cake after ss.<span>0

    After replying to Chang Yile, she asked the system, "Aren''t you secretly preparing something too?"<span>0

    System: [Struggling.jpg]<span>0

    Before the system screen turned into flickering electronic snow, Chu Tingwu leaned on the desk and chuckled, "Alright, I won''t ask. I''ll just wait until tomorrow."<span>0

    That said, Chu Tingwu didn''t expect that "tomorrow" would give her such a big "surprise."<span>0

    When she woke up, she first saw an APP push notification. The 365 Cat Census APP''s birthday congrattions activity had directly pushed the promotional ad to the birthday girl herself.<span>0

    Besides that, there were also birthday wishes from others. Some sent them at exactly midnight, while others weren''t too concerned about the time, and some might not have known it was her birthday before but happened to have the APP and her contact information, so they hurriedly came to wish her.<span>0

    No matter which kind, Chu Tingwu responded to each one.<span>0

    As for the system, it didn''t have the habit of sending messages at midnight¡ªbecause Chu Tingwu had a healthy sleep schedule, she was already asleep by then, and there were no sses in her dreams, so the system said its gift would arrive tonight.<span>0

    "So you''re giving the gift tonight, what''s this then," Chu Tingwu looked towards the pavilion at the entrance of the neighborhood, "a bonus?"<span>0

    Yes, the pavilion was upied by staff in uniforms from a nearby pet hospital, fully equipped with cat-catching devices, and they had a slogan¡ª<span>0

    "To celebrate Chu Tingwu''s 16th birthday, all stray cats in the city cane here for free sterilization, the sterilization fees have been reimbursed!"<span>0

    Chu Tingwu went up to ask, and learned that this activity had actually started a few days ago. Jin City''s cat-rted public welfare organizations and individuals engaged in public welfare activities had all received messages from the system, and through the system''s organization, they began to efficiently catch stray cats for sterilization and adoption.<span>0

    All expenses and additional overtime pay, cat-catching fees were reimbursed by the system.<span>0

    This day was Chu Tingwu''s birthday, but it was also the sterilization anniversary for many cats.<span>0

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­¡­"<span>0

    The staff member also recognized Chu Tingwu and smiled at her, saying "Happy Birthday."<span>0

    When she arrived at school, she met Chang Yile, who also had aplex expression, while Tang Zhe was gesturing and telling them about the slogan he saw: "This should be simr to the ancient ''amnesty''¡­ when the emperor got married or celebrated his birthday, there was an amnesty, so it''s normal for Chu Tingwu''s birthday to have a ''city-wide sterilization''!"<span>0

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­¡­¡­¡­"<span>0

    She felt that her name would definitely be followed by a phrase like "gave free sterilization to all city cats on her birthday."<span>0

    ¡­¡­It''s not bad, right?<span>0

    When she saw them, not only Tang Zhe, Chang Yile, An Shiyan, and other ssmates also smiled and wished her a happy birthday. Chu Tingwu had never heard so many "Happy Birthdays" in her life as she did today. Even Teacher Yuan came to the ssroom and, before ss, said:<span>0

    "Is there a little cat in our ss celebrating a birthday today?"<span>0

    Everyoneughed.<span>0

    Chu Tingwu: "=="<span>0

    Teacher Yuan waved, "Happy birthday, since it''s your birthday today, I won''t call on you to answer questions."<span>0

    Chu Tingwu: "Then after the morning break, I''ll treat everyone to a cake."<span>0

    This wasn''t homemade, just ordering a big cake now, everyone could share it without taking too long, just for fun.<span>0

    During the morning break, there were also peopleing to wish her, from the neighboring ss 2, from thepetition ss, and from teachers and security guards. One student Chu Tingwu didn''t know well also came specially, not only to wish her a happy birthday but also to thank her.<span>0

    "My cat suddenly fell ill yesterday, luckily you and your car¡­" the student took a deep breath, "Anyway, happy birthday, always be happy! Good people will definitely be rewarded!"<span>0

    Chu Tingwu: "?"<span>0

    What car?<span>0

    After asking, the student was puzzled, "Didn''t you know?"<span>0

    "Your family seems to have bought shares in a ride-hailingpany, the logo of the APP has updated with a cat head these few days," she recalled, "It seems to be a pre-event activity, currently only in Jin City, you can now book ''pet-friendly rides''!"<span>0

    Currently, whether pets can be taken in cars is a bit unclear. If it''s a sealed bag, it''s fine, but sometimes using an airline crate, the cat might dirty the car, so there might be refusals.<span>0

    Whether to ept the ride entirely depends on the driver''s willingness.<span>0

    But after the APP update, it seems the official tform gives drivers subsidies. If the car interior is damaged, as long as there''s a recording and photos, they can get extra subsidies.<span>0

    And rides with pets will be slightly more expensive, the extra cost is shared by the tform and the pet-carrying user, including cleaning fees.<span>0

    Because it''s slightly more expensive, most drivers have switched to the "pet-friendly" logo. For pet owners, it''s spending money for peace of mind and assurance of getting a ride in emergencies. For drivers, as long as they''re not allergic to pet hair, adding a logo won''t lose money.<span>0

    This humanized update is currently being piloted in Jin City, but the news has already spread on the inte, withizens asking why it''s only in Jin City¡ªit could be rolled out nationwide.<span>0

    Even the ride-hailing APP''s stock price and download volume have risen, withizens praising it as a "truly sessful marketing."<span>0

    Even if it''s just marketing, it''s good to achieve some of it, this is a humanized update!<span>0

    And today, the promotional slogan of the so-called pre-event finally changed, the APP boldly put up the slogan "Happy 16th Birthday @Chu Tingwu and 3550, always be happy! Believe us, no matter when or where, you and your cat will never be refused!"<span>0

    Netizens: "?"<span>0

    Netizens: "??"<span>0

    Some privately messaged the official ount, wondering why they started doing birthday wishes promotions¡ª<span>0

    Is the next step to arrange a car formation video, spelling out "Happy Birthday" with cars?<span>0

    How much for that.<span>0

    Quite a show.<span>0

    The official ount didn''t reply but directly updated a post, shyly saying:<span>0

    "Chu Tingwu is our little shareholder, this app update ''pet-friendly rides'' was also strongly promoted by her, we hope this update can be her birthday gift! We also hope all cute little animals taking rides can be well received!"<span>0

    ¡ªYes, the official acknowledged it.<span>0

    This update was for Chu Tingwu''s birthday celebration, of course, this is a permanent update, it won''t be canceled after the birthday.<span>0

    Netizens: "??"<span>0

    Ms. Chu Tingwu, your birthday is really quite a show.<span>0

    Could you celebrate your birthday 365 days a year? If it''s too tiring, you can take a break on leap years.<span>0

    Thus, with the fermentation of online public opinion and the deliberate promotion of the ride-hailing APP, the hashtag #Quite a Show Birthday# quickly rose to the hot search. Netizens clicking in were first shocked by the wealth disyed by the hot search, then started discussing the "showy birthdays" they had heard of.<span>0

    However, flower gardens, yacht parties, private jets are someone else''s, but the benefit of taking cats and dogs in rides is something they can get, so even though Chu Tingwu herself didn''t use her ount to post, many still flocked to the previous posts on her New Plum ount to wish her.<span>0

    Chu Tingwu quickly updated a post:<span>0

    "Thank you."<span>0

    This post with only two words and a punctuation mark quickly gained tens of thousands of likes and retweets, and seemed to be heading towards the million mark.<span>0

    Tianshi updated her video just in time for the kids to y with their phones during their lunch break, and she frantically called Chu Tingwu toe and watch.<span>0

    She was genuinely, truly satisfied with her hand-drawn animation! Sob!<span>0

    System Lord, your passion and technical skills are too strong... She only drew a hand-drawn animation, yet somehow hit the jackpot... It''s worth it!!<span>0

    -<span>0

    Tianshi originally couldn''t find any inspiration, so she had to dig out some old content to draw a few ssic scenes. It wasn''t until the System approached her and informed her of the "tortoiseshell mom and Chu Tingwu kitten" setting.<span>0

    Tianshi: "!"<span>0

    An exmation mark appeared above her head.<span>0

    After vigorously ying with her Siberian Husky for half an hour, Tianshi began to work on her illustrations.<span>0

    She decided to create a fairy-tale style hand-drawn animation with the theme of a big cat and a small human, and the character proportions would be more exaggerated¡ª<span>0

    Chu Tingwu and the surrounding city, background buildings would all be of normal size, but Sanwulu would be drawn exceptionallyrge, towering like a building, allowing tiny humans to roll around on her back.<span>0

    A Godzi-sized cat walking between buildings, with a human sitting on her back gazing at the clouds, feeling the breeze and clouds brushing past, serene, beautiful, yet lonely.<span>0

    This was the feeling Chu Tingwu gave her, and it was the main trait that drew Tianshi into the story.<span>0

    Without the System''s intervention, Tianshi would have probably made a one-minute short hand-drawn animation, mostly static scenes with close-ups, and then found some pure music or foreignnguage music¡ªso that the audience wouldn''t be distracted by lyrics while watching.<span>0

    But she never expected that after sending out an "invitation for joint submission," she would receive a brand-new video!<span>0

    The video started with her illustrations, just with added small animations like blinking and hair being blown by the wind. But after the music kicked in, the ck-and-white drawings were infused with color, gradually bing vibrant, transitioning from 2D to mature 3D.<span>0

    Tianshi: "?"<span>0

    If it weren''t for knowing that there couldn''t possibly be such a giant cat in the world, she would have thought it was a real-life footage!<span>0

    Tianshi recalled the System''s introduction... Right, the System was not only Chu Tingwu''s ount partner and close friend but also seemed to have a low-profile but awesome special effects team. Wasn''t that team responsible for the recent American fantasy special effects movie?<span>0

    ...How could her hand-drawn animation possibly deserve to get top-tier movie-level special effects for free?!<span>0

    The video was still ying, and the background music wasn''t just random. Tianshi found it was an unfamiliar song, and the sound sources seemed toe from Chu Tingwu and Sanwulu, of course, synthesized.<span>0

    In the quiet video, the cat''s meows of different tones formed the music, while the small human on the cat''s back sang.<span>0

    Some of her lyrics were in Russian, some in Chinese, and others were softer, lower meows, like a kitten''s voice, blending with the big cat.<span>0

    The lyrics were simple:<span>0

    The sky is good, the clouds are good, today''s weather is really great; the wind is gentle, the cat is gentle, I''m singing while lying on my mom''s back; there''s no one in the city, but I''m not sad, nor lonely, meow meow meow meow, meow meow meow meow...<span>0

    At first, Tianshi didn''t understand what the "meow meow meow meow" meant, but after listening once, she realized it was the cat singing in catnguage... And what the catnguage lyrics meant, only Chu Tingwu would understand.<span>0

    She felt a bit confused and amused: "So this song is¡ª"<span>0

    Yes, it was, this song was for Chu Tingwu, including this hand-drawn animation. Whether other humans could understand it or not, what did it matter to the little cat?<span>0

    The hand-drawn animation''s texture shifted between special effects movie and 2D, but it never felt abrupt. Each pattern seamlessly connected with the movie-level visuals. Chu Tingwu in 2D looked like the embodiment of the theme "dream," while her 3D form didn''t feel out of ce at all.<span>0

    This made Tianshi, the artist herself, feel... her drawings were like clouds, and the little girl in the scenes passed through them, stirring the clouds into sweet cotton candy, then setting the cotton candy free.<span>0

    Tianshi: "I even feel like my drawings look better..."<span>0

    In her lifetime, could she ever save enough money tomission the System to help with another video?<span>0

    This light-hearted hand-drawn animation didn''t have much content, just a happy little girl. Finally, she opened a birthday present on the cat''s back, and countless stars burst out of the gift box. The sky transitioned from day to night, with all the stars in the sky being her gifts.<span>0

    The video ended here.<span>0

    Tianshi even felt a bit of disappointment.<span>0

    After watching, she refreshed her video''sment section, took a deep breath, and opened the window to let her fermenting brain cool down¡ª<span>0

    "Damn!"<span>0

    She lived in the city center of Sea City, and the window directly faced the CBD. The huge advertising screen across the street was now ying the video she was very familiar with.<span>0

    Tianshi''s hands trembled as she opened the group chat, finding that all the groups she were in were discussing this: the System had put Chu Tingwu''s birthday congrattory video on the core advertising spots of most cities, and now many people thought it was a special effects blockbuster''s promotional video.<span>0

    Well...<span>0

    Even after seeing the birthday blessing content, they still thought it was a promotional video for a special effects movie with the theme of "giant cat" and "birthday girl."<span>0

    Tianshi: "..."<span>0

    She trembled as she opened the System''s personal interface and privately messaged: "Comrade, you''re so capable #bowing#bowing"<span>0

    System: "?"<span>0

    The System put this "baffling private chat" aside, currently checking its database non-stop¡ªChu Tingwu was making a cake with Chang Yile¡ªit checked several times and found no issues, but still couldn''t help but continue checking and looking at the status of the "gift."<span>0

    Chang Yile was mainly responsible for assisting and sneaking snacks, and had eaten quite a few raw materials.<span>0

    Then realizing she might not be able to eat the cake after eating so much, she went to the living room to do push-ups.<span>0

    Chu Tingwu: "Hmm?"<span>0

    Chang Yile: "I need to burn off what I just ate so I can stuff the cake inter!"<span>0

    She immediately broke down after three push-ups, only managing two.<span>0

    Chu Tingwu: "So your exercise is lying on the ground meditating?"<span>0

    Just as she finished piping the cream, the doorbell rang.<span>0

    "Your delivery, please sign for it."<span>0

    Chu Tingwu took it and found it was a very small box, and a same-city delivery, but the sender was a garbled code.<span>0

    Not knowing who it was from, she took the package to her bedroom, nning to open it after dinner.<span>0

    Chang Yile didn''t follow in, although casual in demeanor, she was actually a very polite person.<span>0

    Just as she was about to close the door and leave, Chu Tingwu suddenly felt a hunch¡ª<span>0

    Perhaps her "intuition" kicked in at that moment.<span>0

    She went back, picked up a knife, and started to open the package.<span>0

    ...It could indeed be from someone else, even some fan-sent gift, but when she noticed the System hadn''t spoken for a few minutes, Chu Tingwu had an inexplicable premonition.<span>0

    After opening the outer packaging, there was still a small box inside, the kind used to hold rings, earrings, etc.<span>0

    But when she opened it, she found, fixed on a velvet pad with a thin thread, wasn''t any precious jewelry, but a gold-green cat''s eye stone-shaped button.<span>0

    Even just touching it revealed it wasn''t a real cat''s eye stone, just a stic imitation, and the "cat''s eye" effect was a bit crooked, not even perfectly made of stic.<span>0

    Chu Tingwu: "..."<span>0

    She opened her mouth slightly, whispering: "Why did you think to give me this?"<span>0

    The system''s voice became even softer, and it felt nervous: "Because... I consulted others, and they said that gifts should be given to fill what youck. You don''t seem tock anything special right now, so I thought of your sweater that is missing a button..."<span>0

    Spring has arrived, and it''s time to put away the winter clothes and switch to spring attire.<span>0

    Chu Tingwu has a beige thin sweater, a cardigan style, which she brought from Fallen Phoenix City to Jin City. She hasn''t worn it during the summer, autumn, or winter seasons. When spring came, she took it out to have a look, and the system asked if she wanted to wear it.<span>0

    Chu Tingwu: "No, it''s missing a button."<span>0

    She pointed out the position of the missing button to the system, and then the system noticed that all five buttons on the sweater were different, with the cat''s eye positions oddly offset and facing different directions.<span>0

    The system spent half a day calcting with its million-levelputing power, but it couldn''t figure out which direction the missing button''s cat''s eye would be offset.<span>0

    Chu Tingwu, hearing that it was doing such a meaningless task, was both amused and exasperated: "Because it was made in a small-town factory with poor machinery, there are issues, and there''s no pattern to it."<span>0

    Data operation must have a sense of beauty in its regrity, but human-made idents are always unpredictable.<span>0

    The system wrote this sentence into its memo and sighed deeply.<span>0

    That day, Chu Tingwu took out the sweater to have a look but didn''t wear it.<span>0

    Later, when the weather turned slightly cool, she took it out again to have a look but still didn''t wear it.<span>0

    So the system thought she actually wanted to wear it.<span>0

    Maybe the young one just needed that one button, it thought.<span>0

    It used its most powerful database to search for the manufacturer of that button and found that thepany had gone bankrupt years ago. So it bought the machines and hired people to make buttons, but none of them had the right "w."<span>0

    To others, it might just be a button, and any one would do, no need to go to such trouble. But the system didn''t think there was anything wrong with doing so.<span>0

    It made thousands of wed buttons, then selected several hundred with the most "perfect" ws, and finally... used its data to calcte again, selecting the theoretically most suitable one from the hundreds.<span>0

    This was the most perfect, wed button.<span>0

    This button, chosen from thousands, was now at Chu Tingwu''s side.<span>0

    The system felt "nervous" as its data code, and it asked, "Is the pattern the same as the one that was lost?"<span>0

    Chu Tingwu: "Probably not."<span>0

    The system sighed in regret.<span>0

    But luckily, those thousands of buttons hadn''t been lost¡ª<span>0

    But then it heard Chu Tingwu say, "But it''s the same."<span>0

    System: Huh?<span>0

    The box came with a needle and thread. The young one tightly held the button in her hand, took out the sweater, and started sewing, softly exining:<span>0

    "Because it''s from you, so it should be the same."<span>0

    System: "Okay, okay!"<span>0

    "Happy birthday!"<span>0

    You should be happy, why are you crying?<span>0Aliali: 67334fd3b256fc3ba2c49

    -<span>0

    Last summer, when the weather was not yet very hot, Chu Tingwu wore her middle school summer uniform, with this cardigan over it, tightly holding her great-grandmother''s hand in the hospital.<span>0

    She held on until she couldn''t feel the warmth in her palm, until the doctor came and gently pulled her away.<span>0

    Someone was making a phone call, someone said they needed to inform the guardian, the homeroom teacher patted her shoulder, and the nurse surrounded her.<span>0

    Later, when she got home, Chu Tingwu found that a button on the cardigan was missing.<span>0

    She felt that this button might never be found again.<span>0

    But she didn''t throw the sweater away.<span>0

    Now¡ª<span>0

    Chu Tingwu wore the spring long-sleeve uniform of Jin City Fifth High School, putting this cardigan over it, the temperature just right.<span>0

    The button, too, had been found.<span>0

 Chapter 63

    After finishing the cake, everyone decided to watch a movie together.

    Chu Tingwu went next door to knock and delivered cake to Teacher Yuan and others, and Teacher Yuan gave her a bag of cherries in return.

    With birthday wishes echoing, Chu Tingwu returned with the cherries, only to find Three-Five-Five crouching at the doorway.

    Three-Five-Five looked utterly miserable. When Chu Tingwu opened the door, she heard everyone''sughter.

    The apartment had excellent soundproofing, neither upstairs nor downstairs could hear anything... but their cat could.

    The mother cat meowed once to greet her kitten, then strode away with an aloof attitude to patrol the neighborhood, sparing these minors. The high school students in the room had no idea they had nearly been scolded by a cat. While eating and drinking, they were selecting a movie when Chang Yile excitedly waved at Chu Tingwu: "Chu Chu, do you have any ice cream?"

    It was only spring!

    So everyone decided to turn the projector around and crouch in the kitchen to watch the movie while making ice cream puffs.

    After all, Chu Tingwu''s kitchen was quite spacious.

    Halfway through, the birthday girl herself was quietly adjusting the filling when she tilted her head and asked, "Can you all see from that position?"

    An Shiyan whispered, "Yes, we can see the reflection in the ss."

    Chang Yile tugged at Chu Tingwu''s pants: "Didn''t you use to be scared of ghost movies too? Howe you''re fine now! Did you secretly train without us!"

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    What was there to train for?

    Yes, they were watching a horror movie.

    Since the other two would arriveter, they had already gotten permission from their parents to spend the night at Chu Tingwu''s house... and with these people staying together, sleeping was out of the question - they would likely stay up all night having fun.

    Chang Yile suggested watching a horror movie.

    Halfway through, all three of them had crouched down, putting the screen behind them, at most glimpsing the reflection in the window ss, watching the blurry images and listening to the sound to imagine the plot.

    Chang Yixin was fine; she was pulled down by her sister. An Shiyan seemed determined not to let go of Chu Tingwu''s leg.

    Chu Tingwu: "...If you don''t get up, I''m going to eat all the ice cream."

    Chang Yile: "You think that can threaten us? Alright, I''m getting up now."

    While getting up, she also turned down the horror movie''s background music, and the atmosphere immediately lightened - if they had yed a birthday song or Christmas carol instead, the mood would probably have turnededic instantly.

    Chu Tingwu nced at the screen again-

    She hadn''t really done any "special training," but after the system update, relying on her [Intuition] skill, she instinctively realized that horror movies were just illusions with no real threat, so even when jump scares appeared right in her face, she wouldn''t be scared anymore.

    "This seems to be rted to both [Intuition] and [Perfect Control] skills?" she thought.

    Under Perfect Control, she could now control even her body''s "instinctive reflexes."

    Chu Tingwu vaguely sensed that the [Perfect Control] skill wasn''t just abination of all other body-rted skills; digging deeper would reveal surprises... but she wasn''t in a hurry.

    After eating, drinking, and watching the movie, following a quick cleanup, Chu Tingwu turned on the lights, and the high school girls sat formally around the living room coffee table-

    To do their homework.

    Chang Yixin: "An An and I have extra sses to attend, but didn''t youe early? How do you still have so much unfinished work?"

    Chang Yile: "Don''t mention it... by the way, where''s Three-Five-Five? There''s so much math homework, and I don''t understand it. Could I tell Teacher Yuan tomorrow that Three-Five-Five identally tore up my homework while ying? I had actually finished it before it was torn up, really."

    Look at your empty workbook and say that again?

    Chu Tingwu had the least homework and casually said, "Three-Five-Five isn''t that kind of cat - if you really want a scapegoat cat, should I catch one for you?"

    "Oh!" Chang Yile''s eyes lit up, "Are there any nearby?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Yes, Teacher Yuan has one called Coal Ball, very easy to bribe, it''ll tear up however many pages you want."

    Chang Yile: "...?"

    Whose cat is that?

    Chu Tingwu smiled at her: "Just get to work."

    Then she closed her exercise book.

    She was done.

    An Shiyan twirled her pen: "I only have two problems left... by the way, are we sleeping in the guest room tonight? Should we tidy it up first? Once I finish writing, I can help!"

    Chu Tingwu: "My assistantes to clean every few days, we can sleep there directly."

    After all, it was the boss''s birthday, and Man Xing had given her a gift-

    Considering the boss''s age and interests, Man Xing chose a toaster and included a bunch of cute kitchen molds.

    The night was gettingte, and Chu Tingwu yawned. An Shiyan finished her homework and took out her phone to check trending topics, while Chang Yixin took out her tablet to studypetition mathematics... and Chang Yile, after peeking around and failing to get her elder sister''s exercise book, had to lie down and continue filling in forms with a bitter face.

    An Shiyan: "Ah... looks like that movie you acted in also caught some of today''s birthday trending topics."

    She showed Chu Tingwu the trending topic - it was news about the entire "Tiger Head" film crew wishing Chu Tingwu a happy birthday. Of course, some of these people had just reposted her updates on their personal ounts, while others who were actually closer to her had sent private birthday wishes.

    But the movie promotion had indeed begun. "Tiger Head" was scheduled for release at the beginning of May during Labor Day. Other films releasing at the same time included an art film, a big-budget American special effects movie, and a detective film, while other scattered low-budget films didn''t have muchpetitive power.

    Chu Tingwu hadn''t left the staff group chat, so she asionally saw these industry insiders discussing that the strongestpetition would probably be the special effects film. After all, during holidays, unless a film had universal acim, people out together would tend to choose special effects movies as a safe option.

    "Tiger Head" had promotional images featuring cats, Cheng Luwei, and Tong Bei. The animals could attract ordinary people who didn''t follow entertainment news, while Cheng Luwei''s acting skills and Tong Bei''s national poprity would draw in fans.

    As long as the movie''s plot didn''tpletely fall apart and face universal criticism, it was estimated to rake in around 200 million yuan at the box office during the holiday.

    This would elevate Director Mu Lou''s position in the industry by another level.

    Chu Tingwu didn''t know much about the entertainment circle, so when the others asked if she had any gossip, she could only think of how Cheng Luwei had confused two simr-looking cats while feeding them, feeding one cat twice, and ended up being chased up a tree by the other cat who had been waiting in line for food.

    Chu Tingwu: "Does this count?"

    An Shiyan: "We were asking for juicy gossip, not embarrassing moments=="

    Give back their muscle-man image of Cheng Luwei!

    Well, then Chu Tingwu didn''t know anything else, because all she could remember were everyone''s embarrassing moments.

    However, they all agreed to watch the movie together during the May Day holiday - although Chu Tingwu didn''t show her face, she did appear on screen, and Three-Five-Five not only appeared but had some really cool shots! They had to show strong support for the cat''s debut work!

    "So," Chang Yile looked up, "where''s Three-Five-Five?"

    Chang Yixin pushed her head back down: "Just do your homework."

    Yes... Chu Tingwu also wondered why Three-Five-Five was taking such a long walk?

    The system had actually been monitoring and now reluctantly informed the young one: "Three-Five-Five is currently over at Building 2... seeking revenge against a parrot."

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    -

    The calico mother cat had a grudge against the parrot kept by the old man in Building 2, Unit 101.

    Although they had been at odds since their first meeting, Three-Five-Five hadn''t taken the parrot seriously at first. Even after scaring the parrot several times and being cursed at from afar by it multiple times, she hadn''t paid much attention.

    Just a stupid bird that only knew how to hide in its cage.

    However, when she went out on patrol today, she ended up making an enemy of this troublesome parrot¡ª

    To celebrate Chu Tingwu''s birthday, the system funded the sterilization of all stray cats in the city. But even with money, there was still a manpower shortage. So this task had started several days ago and would take about half a month toplete.

    There weren''t many stray cats in their residentialplex. The team there was preparing to pack up and leave when suddenly someone said, "There''s a cat, there''s a cat!"

    Team members: "?"

    They couldn''t find who spoke, but when they turned around, they made eye contact with Mama Calico.

    Due to the dim light, the calico wasn''t directly under the streetlight. They could only make out that it appeared to be a calico cat, strolling leisurely through theplex.

    The cat looked puzzled, while the humans looked excited.

    Then the team members started taking out theirs and other tools.

    Three-Five-Five: "...?"

    She wasn''t an ordinary cat, but rather a transfer student at the police cat school. She could easily recognize mere cat-catching tools, and judging by their attitudes and movements... Three-Five-Five was certain these people wanted to catch her for sterilization!

    Three-Five-Five: "?"

    With a head full of question marks, Three-Five-Five hissed, red at the two humans, and ran.

    The humans tried to chase after her, but when they saw the calico run under the streetlight and noticed the cor beneath her long fur, they hesitated.

    "Why does this calico look familiar?"

    "Yeah, I feel like I just saw her in a video."

    "We just looked it up, right? Since we had to check what the sponsor looked like..."

    "Oh yeah, isn''t Chu herself living in thisplex?"

    "..."

    Three-Five-Five darted straight toward the parrot''s hiding ce!

    Although the parrot hadn''t left much of a scent, Mama Cat wasn''t deaf. She had heard its voice when it was instigating the humans, but she had simply ignored it at the time.

    Though she hadn''t been caught this time, just thinking about being set up made her angry.

    Following the scent, Three-Five-Five tracked it to Building 2, Unit 101, springing out from the shrubbery to crouch outside the first-floor balcony.

    Though on the ground floor, theplex had enclosed balconies to protect against falling objects.

    The old man was soaking his feet, with the parrot perched on his shoulder as they watched aedy show together, when he heard a "thump thump" sound.

    "Meow~"

    As he turned his head, he saw the calico cat pressing its face against the window, letting out a clear and precise meow.

    The old man: "..."

    "Thump thump"

    The cat raised its paw to knock on the ss again, appearing polite but with a fierce re.

    The old man looked at his parrot: "Did you provoke her?"

    The parrot buried its head under its wing: "Can''t see!"

    The old man: "Why did you have to provoke her! You can''t even fight her!"

    The parrot lifted its head, nced at its owner, then at Three-Five-Five, then back at its owner...

    The old man: "I can''t fight her either."

    He gave a dryugh toward the cat, put on his sses, took out his phone, and @''ed 1-202 in the residents'' group chat. When a cates seeking revenge, you can only talk to its owner.

    So Chu Tingwu, after settling her friend, came to Building 2 to pick up the cat. Upon learning what had happened, she couldn''t help butugh, though she didn''t forgive on Three-Five-Five''s behalf:

    "I can take Three-Five-Five away today, but tomorrow she''lle back and pluck all your parrot''s feathers¡ª"

    Could you please keep your parrot from causing trouble?

    Although this old gentleman had had several indirect interactions with Chu Tingwu because of their pets, this was their first face-to-face conversation. Since he kept a bird, seeing Three-Five-Five crouching next to Chu Tingwu made him a bit nervous.

    "Can you control her?"

    Chu Tingwu looked innocent: "I''m not Three-Five-Five''s owner; on the contrary, she''s my mom. She manages me, not the other way around."

    This wasn''t the first time she''d said this, so she found herself saying it almost automatically, very smoothly... Even if others found it strange, what did it matter? They might gossip a bit, but it wouldn''t really affect Chu Tingwu.

    The old man indeed reacted this way. Though his expression was a bit odd, he didn''t say anything¡ªnowadays, among pet owners, forget treating pets like mothers, some even treated them like ancestors.

    He was currently treating this troublesome bird like his grandson, and said gently: "Indeed, my pet was in the wrong. I apologize to the little cat on its behalf. How about I make it up with some cat food and canned food?"

    Chu Tingwu ryed this to Three-Five-Five, who nced at the human and meowed twice.

    Chu Tingwu smiled: "Three-Five-Five doesn''t eat cat food or canned food. She says nopensation is needed. But she won''t scratch your bird. She was unhappy with your attitude when you first met, so she kept... well, I should apologize for that too."

    The atmosphere was good, but the parrot looked left and right, shocked, red at its owner, then pped its wings, pointed at Three-Five-Five, and said: "Bandit!"

    Then it buried its head under its wing and shouted: "Robber!"

    Finally, itnded on the table, hopped twice, suddenlyy down ying dead, turned its head to the side with a "squawk," facing away from the calico: "Murderer, murderer!"

    With just one bird, it had performed an entire murder mystery.

    The other main actor who had no idea they were supposed to perform: "?"

    Three-Five-Five suddenly pounced on the table. The parrot swooped up with a whoosh, and the old man made two "hey hey" sounds as he reached out to block.

    In that split second, Chu Tingwu leaped up on one foot, touched the table surface, and soared into the air. She caught the parrot''s body with one hand while spinning in mid-air, one foot on the table edge and the other on top of the chair back.

    The high chair beneath her feet tilted up, standing in an acrobatic three-legged pose. Chu Tingwu made a gesture to Three-Five-Five, who was still not pleased and therefore jumped up again, grabbed Chu Tingwu''s clothes, and hung onto her shoulder, crouching there to hiss at the parrot.

    The parrot: "...eep."

    The stranger who had just pushed open the door: "...Huh?"

    The old man had also noticed the sound of the door opening. It was his son who had just returned from work. He red at his son: "What are you ''huh''-ing about? You''re the one who spoiled Miaomiao! Teaching it bad habits all day, just being mean-mouthed!"

    "Son": "?"

    He had just gotten off work!

    Chu Tingwu, however, found this stranger somewhat familiar: "Officer Zhou?"

    ¡ªIt was the officer who had previouslye to her home to present a banner and thank-you letter for helping catch a thief and filming it!

    Officer Zhou, in his early thirties, smiled helplessly: "No need to call me Officer, that''s too formal! We''re all from the sameplex!"

    Chu Tingwu obligingly said: "Uncle Zhou."

    Officer Zhou, in his early thirties, felt like an arrow had struck his heart: "H-hello, haha."

    Had he been looking too old from all the overtimetely? She could have called him big brother!

    The parrot Miaomiao was fine, just feeling down, clearly puzzled about how someone without wings had outmaneuvered a flying creature. It was getting quitete, so after Chu Tingwu helped clean the table, Officer Zhou offered to walk her back to Building 1.

    ...Even though it was just a few steps away.

    So, when they went out, Chu Tingwu sensed he might have something else to say¡ª

    "Three-Five-Five usually stays with you, right? I know she''s receiving training at the police dog base... Little Chu, your airport video from before had quite a big impact," Officer Zhou pondered, "It''s best not to go to isted ces alone recently. Pay attention to your safety, and keep the cat with you."

    He believed that a cat praised by his colleagues at the police dog base couldn''t be an ordinary cat, and would probably be able to react promptly to dangerous items and people.

    Chu Tingwu caught his hidden meaning: "Is someone trying to get revenge on me?"

    Who would be so... suicidal?

    Officer Zhou maintained his serious expression but revealed some inside information: "Actually, it has nothing to do with those thieves. We just caught some people making recklessments in thement section... Interestingly, among those who posted inmmatoryments, there were actually criminals and people with prior convictions. Some criminals were unlucky, got reported, and their past records were discovered during our investigation."

    It seems people who made inappropriatements on Chu Tingwu''s posts were noticed by the police, reported by the public (were they really just ordinary citizens?), and then arrested in quick session.

    Chu Tingwu vaguely guessed what had happened.

    While these people were caught, the police realized there might be more potential wrongdoers who simply hadn''t made public derations yet.

    As an "ordinary citizen" not under the protection of official institutions but with rtively high visibility, she became a target for some disturbed individuals who liked to prey on people like her.

    Moreover, she had additional "buffs" like being "exceptionally talented," "underage," and an "animal lover."

    Chu Tingwu nodded.

    Of course, she wouldn''t go to isted ces alone... she always had her system and Mama Tortoiseshell with her.

    After getting acquainted with the neighbor from the next building, Chu Tingwu returned home with her cat mother.

    She had received so many birthday wishes that day that her face was stiff from smiling. She rubbed her face and then reached out to pat Three-Five-Five''s face.

    Three-Five-Five, who had just gottenfortable: "?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Good night."

    Good night.

    -

    While her birthday was ordinary for Chu Tingwu, it was a rare break for herpetition ss ssmates.

    Because after that day, their sses seemed to increase.

    Chu Tingwu also had to prepare for the biologypetition preliminaries¡ªthis preliminary round was close to the leaguepetition (provincialpetition), and the teachers indicated that the preliminary questions might be as difficult as the provincialpetition, essentially serving as early exam practice.

    Unexpectedly, the first round would eliminate most participants.

    But Chu Tingwu noticed many people secretly breathing sighs of relief¡ª

    Most freshmen in thepetition prep ss believed they couldn''t pass, and after being eliminated, their course load would be lighter.

    Thepetition system consisted of preliminaries-leaguepetition-nationalpetition. Passing the preliminaries allowed participation in the leaguepetition, where top performers would be selected for the provincial team topete nationally. National first-prize winners typically secured direct university admission, and the most outstanding talents would join the national team for internationalpetitions.

    On the 26th, the biologypetition participants would take the school bus to the exam venue together. On the evening of the 25th, Chu Tingwu had her system give herst year''s national exam paper for practice.

    Afterpleting it, she determined that with her current level, passing the preliminaries would be barely possible, the provincialpetition would be extremely challenging, and the nationalpetition would be impossible.

    Even with the system''s tutoring and learning through entertainment, she had only been studying for a short time.

    Therefore, Chu Tingwu maintained a calm attitude during the exam, skipping questions she didn''t understand or couldn''t immediately answer... she flipped through the dozen pages of the exam paper, joining the rustling sounds of turning pages throughout the ssroom.

    After filling in all the answers she could remember and reviewing the entire paper once more, the exam ended.

    This exam seemed no different from previous ones. The freshmen could still chat quietly on the bus ride back, but several sophomores started crying as soon as they boarded.

    Everyone fell silent, only hearing the soft sobs of the upperssmen.

    Chu Tingwu gazed at the swaying trees through the window.

    The weather was beautiful.

    In a few hours, another day would pass.

    Someone stopped crying and handed tissues to the person next to them. The wind swept up fallen leaves, and today seemed no different from any other day.

    But for Director Mu Lou in Beijing, today was a crucial day.

    It was the preview screening of the movie "Tiger Head" and would determine whether she could sessfully transition in her career!

    All the important actors were present, and as the film''s light fell on their faces, Mu Lou sat in the middle, intently watching the movie she had seen countless times... like watching her own child.

    When Cheng Luwei''s character first made a fool of himself, the audience let out softughter.

    When the orange kitten appeared, was abandoned, and then rescued by the male lead, Mu Lou heard them discussing quietly... Obviously, while not everyone liked cats, their basic moralpass told them this wasn''t right, and they felt positively about the male lead for adopting the kitten.

    And then... Mu Lou thought, it was the cat''s time to shine.

    During the film''s registration, the main characters were listed as the male lead, female lead, and "cat."

    Sure enough, when they saw the kitten''s clever and intelligent performance, everyone was drawn in. Mu Lou noticed people unconsciously smiling, their emotions following the film''s plot.

    Even in scenes without human dialogue or other characters, they remained focused just watching the cat¡ª

    This was Mu Lou''s proudest sequence of shots, able to convey a story purely through filming animals. It was all real footage, without any special effects¡ªeven the most perfect special effects couldn''t truly fool the human eye, as people would instinctively sense something unnatural and be pulled out of the story.

    Now watching her own direction from an audience perspective, Mu Lou found herself falling in love with "Tiger Head" too.

    A smart, humanlike, loyal little cat.

    One that understands when you call it, responds when summoned, perfectly followsmands, and secretly seeks affection after training. It evenes tofort you when you''re feeling down, bringing its toys for you to y with.

    Mu Lou even heard someone say: "Why did they only buy Tiger Head so few toys? The male lead is so stingy! If it came to my house, I''d buy it a whole box!"

    Mu Lou couldn''t help butugh: The male lead was also a first-time cat owner!

    They had found his awkward interactions with the cat endearing before.

    Indeed, once the true protagonist appeared, as the cinematography changed, the audience''s hearts turned toward Tiger Head.

    Thus, when the male lead got into trouble, Tiger Head was put in temporary care, and bad news kepting, everyone showed worried expressions.

    In some films, even if you can guess the development, you''re still moved by the emotions conveyed through the actors'' performances.

    Therefore, seeing Tiger Head tracking, cleverly avoiding dangers, but still encountering difficulties not found at home, yet urately finding clues left by the male lead each time¡ªwhile serving as a contrast to the police force¡ªthe audience felt both heartache and pride.

    Normally, when films use official forces as a contrast, people don''t appreciate it, thinking: "Isn''t this too focused on individual heroism?"

    But this was a cat!

    The police were working hard too, but they didn''t have a cat''s sense of smell, bnce, and discretion. When your cat travels thousands of miles to save you, you''re too moved to even think about "feline heroism." And even if it was, give the hero cat a medal!

    As the plot developed, people instinctively smiled when the female lead appeared¡ªher image in variety shows was simr to her character in the film, unlucky but likable. Mu Lou had amplified her physical characteristics, making her beauty more pure and approachable, capturing many beautiful shots.

    When Three-Five-Five appeared, someone whispered: "Is that Three-Five-Five?!"

    Yes, Chu Tingwu and her cat had already be famous.

    The fans on Fenghua Video Network were of much higher quality than those on the New Plum app, with fewer fake followers. While Chu Tingwu didn''t appear, her cat was often made into reaction memes.

    For example, [Little (?) Cat Hits People], [This Punch Might Kill You], [Even the Cat Feels Dead], [What Does It Have to Do with Me, I Didn''t Kill Anyone, I''m Just a ck Dandelion], [catiswatchingyou¡ª]...

    Inte-famous cats can''t escape the fate of bing memes, and Three-Five-Five, due to her unique behavior and distinctive fierce expressions, carved out a bloody path through the cute meme world with her "hitting series," achieving even wider cirction than Chu Tingwu''s ount.

    Three-Five-Five was just being herself, which greatly amused the audience.

    Mu Lou felt somewhat fortunate to have found Chu Tingwu¡ªanimal films actually carry significant risks. When the film was submitted to investors for evaluation, the assessment team was conflicted: should they cut some of the pure animal scenes?

    Would scenes filled with just animals make the visuals monotonous and the plot boring?

    Although the film''s presentation looked good, there''s a saying that "when making movies, treat the audience like idiots." The more widespread the audience, the lower the threshold needs to be. Would they really be able to understand what the cats are expressing through facial expressions and tones?

    But as it turns out, the audience could.

    The most nerve-wracking part was over, and Mu Lou breathed an internal sigh of relief.

    Theter action sequences, grand scenes, and plot twists worked as expected. After the movie ended, everyone seemed to be in good spirits.

    ¡ªThis was a family-friendly blockbuster with action, plot, positive themes, and cute pets,plete structure, beautiful cinematography, solid acting performances, worthy of a 7.5+ rating, perfect for holiday viewing with family.

    During the post-screening interview, the interviewer predictably praised the film, then asked: "Director Mu, what are your box office expectations for ''Tiger Head''? The release coincides with ''Ultimate Era 3,'' which is also an action and special effects-driven film. Was this intentional?"

    Mu Lou thought: They focus on special effects, with action just for the lead actor to look cool!

    But no matter how she responded, media would publish provocative reports for traffic anyway.

    Regr moviegoers who finished watching weren''t concerned about these issues. They just felt they''d seen a pretty good film. Critics rapidly posted their reviews, while actors'' fans chatted excitedly about their idols'' scenes¡ª

    Tian Shi bounced happily as she left the screening room.

    She had heard that Chu Tingwu had a cameo in the film, so she asked the system if she could get preview tickets, and the system actually managed to get them!

    "Director Mu really knows how to shoot scenes..." Tian Shi thought.

    Regr viewers just found the experience enjoyable, but as an art student, Tian Shi naturally paid attention to the cinematography. She noticed that in Mu Lou''s film, there were almost no ineffective shots, and many close-ups were particrly aesthetically pleasing... not just making the characters look beautiful.

    Tian Shi could still remember Chu Tingwu''s entrance scene.

    Although she also loved Three-Five-Five, the cat had more screen time while Chu Tingwu had less, so she paid extra attention¡ª

    Because they were filming the cat, the camera was focused on the low wall where the cat was lying, and the skateboard sound appeared first.

    Then, Chu Tingwu''s shadow fell on the edge of the wall, and as the skateboard moved, the camera began chasing the moving shadow. When the shadow fell on Three-Five-Five, the tortoiseshell cat narrowed her eyes, with her ear tips gleaming golden in the sunlight, close-up showing faint blood vessels.

    The cat''s head lifted slightly, and before the skateboard stopped, she was already prepared to jump down.

    At that moment, just through this subtle movement, Tian Shi felt it showed that someone the cat knew and was very close to had arrived.

    The cinematographguage was absolutely brilliant!

    When Chu Tingwu called Three-Five-Five, since her face wouldn''t be shown, the camera focused on her lower body, showing her foot movements.

    As the small skateboard connected and glided in a smooth pattern on the ground, Chu Tingwu''s foot made the same rhythmic sliding motion in the air, and in the next second, both skateboards moved forward simultaneously.

    Tian Shi realized what this shot made her feel¡ªit was "rhythmic"! Whether it was the steady, unchanging skateboard sound, the uniformly passing wall projection, or this small foot movement, everything had a rhythmic and stable beauty. This allowed Chu Tingwu to perfectly blend into the scene and perfectly lead Three-Five-Five away.

    This series of actions was natural and fluid; it wasn''t noticeable while watching, but after viewing, this scene kept reying in Tian Shi''s mind.

    When this scene appeared, people aroundughed at the plot, but the lingering impression of this image in their minds might be more profound than even the highlights of the male and female leads¡ª

    Even though Chu Tingwu only appeared for seven seconds in the two-hour and twelve-minute film.

    Tian Shi was curious: Did Director Mu shoot it this way intentionally? How many takes did this scene require to achieve the perfect effect? Why pursue such aesthetics in an inconspicuous shot that many people might not even notice?

    With these lingering questions...

    She went back and enthusiastically rmended it in Chu Tingwu''s fan groups and self-organized interest groups.

    Then she was muted for half an hour by the group admin for being a "lucky preview viewer who shouldn''t speak."

    However, the group chat name was directly changed to¡ª

    [Chu Tingwu and Three-Five-Five both appear in ''Tiger Head,'' go watch it!]

    -

    As movie promotions increased and more online reviews appeared, Chu Tingwu didn''t specifically promote it herself, but her ssmates all seemed to know about her appearance¡ª

    Although it was only seven seconds.

    Although her face wasn''t shown.

    But even a cameo deserves encouragement! Even Teacher Yuan patted Chu Tingwu''s shoulder and said, "I''ll go watch it for Three-Five-Five!"

    Chu Tingwu thought: Don''t underestimate seven seconds==

    During the holiday, many people rushed to see the premiere, as this film''s quality could be trustedpared to others. Chu Tingwu went to the cinema on the second day.

    She hadn''t arranged to go with ssmates, but was caught at the entrance by a social media influencer who seemed to be livestreaming.

    "Hello youngdy, may I ask what movie you''re nning to watch today? Oh, you''ve got your ticket already, can we see it?"

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    She opened her hand, and the person filmed the text on her movie ticket: "Ultimate... World... 3?"

    The social media host had a moment of realization: "That''s an excellent film, I heard the special effects have been upgraded and are really outstanding, though it''s a foreign film. May I ask why you chose this movie instead of others?"

    The camera panned briefly to the ''Tiger Head'' promotional poster.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    Chu Tingwu sighed: "Because I''ve already seen ''Tiger Head,'' and I have a friend who worked on ''Ultimate World 3,'' so I''m here to show support."

    After saying this, she didn''t exin further and simply walked past them into the venue.

    This social media host''s livestream theme was interviewing moviegoers, and most people, unless extremely socially anxious, wouldn''t leave so hurriedly when they knew they could be on camera.

    The host looked at Chu Tingwu''s retreating figure: "...Why does she look familiar?"

    They felt like a name was about to slip off their tongue, but something seemed missing from the picture, missing... ah!?

    "Three-Five-Five!"

    The bulletments were exasperated.

    [Three-Five-Five is the cat''s name, this is Chu Tingwu, and she didn''t bring the cat...]

    [Wait, Chu Tingwu is indeed studying in Jin City, but why isn''t she watching her own movie and instead supporting thepetition?]

    ''Ultimate World 3'' and ''Tiger Head'' are currentlypeting for box office numbers!

    People thought about Chu Tingwu''s response about "friend''s involvement"¡ªdoes she have friends in America? Wait, something''s not right¡ª

    Someone dug up the promotional poster for "Ultimate World 3" and found the name of the special effects team at the bottom.

    It was you, System!

    So your friend really did participate!

    -

    In the movie theater.

    [Baby! You actually came to watch the movie I helped make, instead of going to watch your own movie... I''m so touched! I never even specifically mentioned it to you...]

    Yes, Chu Tingwu found out about it herself.

    [If I had known, I could have increased the precision when creating the special effects¡ª]

    Mu Lou would cry if you did that, he really would.

    [Then we could set the contract payment higher and take more of their money!]

    That''s fine then.Aliali: 674848d2c4f3f33ac476a007

    Chu Tingwu asked curiously: "Are there any actual humans in your studio?"

    Although the System made money, it wasn''t through quick-profit activities like stock trading and reselling, but rather throughpany investments, high-level consulting services, and some minor functions that came with being a super AI. Of course, if it really wanted quick money, it could simply modify bank ount numbers, but it insisted on following society''s rules, giving it an endearingly stupid AI quality.

    System: "After getting on track, we hired some external staff for liaison work."

    Although most work could be done online, some things still required human involvement.

    Thinking about it now, it indeed needed to find more reliable managers. If the little one needed to go abroad, having their own people there would make things more convenient.

    The System shared all this with its little one, and also chatted about what work it had done in the movie. A strange emotional code crawled around in the System''s code library, something it wanted to express but couldn''t quite articte, so it simply bundled up that chunk of code and tossed it aside.

    Chu Tingwu nodded "mm-hmm" in response, and as the movie began, she raised her hands to cover her ears: "Shh... I''m starting to watch."

    The System, which had quicklypiled an entire presentation that could clearly and simply exin its work in special effects production to its little one, and had predicted what information she might be curious about, all archived within one second:

    "?"

    So you really just came to watch the movie?

 Chapter 64

    "You passed the preliminary round before, right? It feels like the provincial exam ising up soon. Are the results out yet?"

    "I barely made it through the preliminaries, but I did pretty well in the provincial exam. Got a second-ce certificate."

    "That''s great! (Cat and bird sounds in the background) Little Mei mentioned you signed a streaming contract with the tform?"

    "Yes, I can sign the contract independently after my birthday... The tform contacted me the very next day after my birthday, wanting to try signing me again¡ªthey thought I didn''t sign before because my parents didn''t agree."

    "So what made you change your mind and decide to sign?"

    "(Yawning sound) Well, I calcted that I was already meeting their monthly streaming requirements, and after signing, I could get better revenue sharing. It seemed wasteful not to sign."

    "You should go to sleep, you''re yawning... Huh? Ten yuan? (Sound of something scampering across with a ''pitter-patter'' and subtle wing fluttering)"

    "It''s behind you," Chu Tingwu said, "he wanted to surprise you!"

    "Gah¡ª"

    On the other end of the phone, her ssmate made a sound of disappointment at being caught.

    Chu Tingwu didn''t indulge it,ughing as she chatted a bit more with Teacher Zhang before hanging up.

    Their online sses had never stopped, and they would switch between differentnguages while chatting. Today, after finishing ss, Chu Tingwu asked an additional question:

    "Is there any way to quickly improve English speaking skills?"

    Her English grades had always been good, but test scores didn''t necessarily reflect speaking ability.

    It was alreadyte May, and Chu Tingwu nned to ept the invitation from White, the animal behaviorist, to visit the Red Rock Reserve.

    This wasn''t a sudden decision. After White extended the invitation, she first researched information about the "Michelle Wolf Pack."

    The Red Rock Reserve in America''s Desk State was home to several gray wolf packs, and the Michelle Pack was one of the most famous ones¡ª

    Michelle was the name of the female wolf leader, a name with many meanings, but she was initially called this because Michelle was a rare white wolf, symbolizing "angel-like" qualities.

    This white wolf cub had been the center of attention since birth in the pack.

    Fifteen years had passed, during which she had left the pack due to internal conflicts but returned when the pack was in danger. As a leader, she had been the wolf queen andter retired. When the new pack split apart during a hunt and both wolf leaders died, the aging Michelle gathered the younger generation again, raising the next generation through hardship. They crossed the Isha River, upied another mountain, avoiding the annual floods, and gained breathing room to raise their cubs...

    Now, experts believed Michelle might be nearing her final days.

    The new generation had grown up, and the old grandmother''s condition was deteriorating. Wolf enthusiasts worldwide were concerned about her health, and opportunities for close observation were rare.

    If Chu Tingwu joined White''s team, she could stay at the camp inside the Red Rock Reserve and observe the wolves and other animals up close.

    And the timing coincided perfectly with summer vacation.

    After getting video rmendations from Teacher Zhang, Chu Tingwu made her decision and called White again.

    White seemed delighted and after setting specific dates, Chu Tingwu asked, "Can I film videos?"

    White: "Oh, I certainly understand you want to record these precious memories. Personal video recording is allowed, but you can''t bring overlyplex equipment that might affect the environment and animals¡ªyou should check with me before filming, preferably use lightweight equipment, and absolutely never leave equipment in the reserve, that would get you cklisted."

    "Also, I know you''re likely a livestreaming content creator, and I''m d you want to share with your friends in China, but many people might not want to appear on camera, so please ask others if they''refortable with it if you n to livestream."

    Living in the reserve camp wasn''t like regr tourist travel, it wasn''t a leisurely and fun lifestyle... Due to limitedmunication and transportation, their supplies weren''t as abundant as in the outside world, and they might face various supply shortage emergencies, with possible nighttime wildlife disturbances.

    Of course, except for Chu Tingwu, everyone else was experienced, and White assured they would take good care of her. She would likely be assigned to room with one of his female students as roommates for a while.

    After finalizing this inte May, Chu Tingwu began arranging other details.

    The monthly and final exams went without saying, but the next morning, she first went to see the biologypetition ss teacher.

    ¡ªThepetition ss indeed required summer courses.

    The biology teacher seemed to understand why she came as soon as she entered: "Have a seat, here to request leave?"

    Although a provincial second prize wasn''t particrly useful except as an honor, it wasn''t easy for a first-year high school student to achieve such a ranking after only studying for a few months.

    Despite Chu Tingwu''s frequent absences and never doing homework, the biology teacher looked at her kindly: "If you''ve found a tutor outside school, don''t be shy about saying so. We don''t mind, as long as you can achieve good results and seed, all teachers will be happy."

    Chu Tingwu: "I suppose you could say that..."

    The biologypetition included questions about animal behavior, and White could certainly serve as a teacher, while the system would help her with practical experiments¡ªit was like having tutoring every night.

    Biology teacher: "Oh, that''s fine! Your tutor seems to be doing a good job, just don''t forget to review those basic knowledge points... How many days of leave do you need? Let me record it."

    Chu Tingwu sessfully resolved the summer tutoring issue and got electronic course materials from the biology teacher for the summer.

    She could self-study while at the reserve.

    The system helped her handle visa and other details, and that weekend, Chu Tingwu had Man Xing drive her and Three-Five-Five to the Jin City Police Dog Training Base.

    The trainer was surprised when he learned of her intention... Probably because the base had never taken pet boarding requests before.

    Trainer: "You''re going abroad?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Yes, I can''t bring cats where I''m staying."

    It was difficult enough for people to enter the reserve camp, let alone bringing a cat, so Chu Tingwu couldn''t take Three-Five-Five this time.

    Although Three-Five-Five would be fine staying home alone with the system there.

    But Chu Tingwu worried she might get lonely.

    As for asking others for help... While many would be willing, Three-Five-Five wasn''t friendly with just anyone.

    After consideration, Chu Tingwu ruled out Teacher Yuan (worried her mother would be fed into a ball), ruled out Teacher Zhang (Fallen Phoenix City was too familiar, Three-Five-Five would probably patrol the streets with Ten Yuan¡ªThree-Five-Five would be fine... but Ten Yuan might get lost), and finally thought of the base.

    Three-Five-Five was familiar with the cats and dogs at the police dog base and usually came for "sses," and she seemed to behave a bit better at the base.

    Chu Tingwu had observed her sses and found that Three-Five-Five showed some respect for the trainer who trained her.

    Long-term boarding was different from short-term sses, so the trainer thought for a while and made a phone call, returning with a slightly strange smile:

    "Teacher Chu, I heard you officially signed with Fenghua Network?"

    How did everyone know so quickly?

    After signing the official streaming contract, there would be a contracted creator badge under the streamer''s avatar. Worried about convincing Chu Tingwu, the tform offered her a gold-level contract this time, with priority ess to the best promotional spots and revenue sharing, plus low streaming requirements.

    They didn''t specify particr streaming content, only requiring a minimum of 30 hours per month.

    However, rumor had it there were even better diamond contracts above gold level, like the tform''s top male and female streamers who supposedly got actual shares... Of course, these were just fan rumors without actual evidence.

    The instructor said, "I asked about what amodations would be provided for San Wu Wu to stay here, since overnight stays would be needed. Then we thought about how pet boarding usually requires showing status videos to the guardians."

    After all, owners often want to check on their pets'' status due to concerns about untrustworthy boarding facilities.

    Chu Tingwu said, "I would indeed be concerned about San Wu Wu''s status..."

    Of course, the system would inform her if anything happened, but having direct human feedback would be better.

    The instructor nodded, "We''ve made some progress with our police cat training recently, and in line with official policies, we want to promote it and educate the public¡ªat least to let them know that police cats are civil servants and shouldn''t be petted casually¡ªand we also hope that these cats'' efforts can be recognized..."

    Publicity has never been a bad thing. In human society, animals generally receive lower treatment than humans, and police cats'' current treatment is simrly controversial. Therefore, as the first standardized police cat training base, Jin City Base can start with some educational publicity to advocate for better implicit treatment of police cats.

    However, publicity requires funding. The higher-ups had been discussing promotional methods recently, and when Chu Tingwu came along, everyone realized... While this big UP (online content creator) was indeed too busy with studies and life to help film programs, her cat wasn''t.

    Chu Tingwu seriously listened to the instructor''s n while holding San Wu Wu.

    San Wu Wu could now understand some simple humanmunication words, but couldn''t pass the humannguage level 4 exam yet, so she needed Chu Tingwu to trante technical terms¡ª

    After listening, the cat mom jumped to the windowsill, looked at the training ground outside, and gave Chu Tingwu a dignified nod.

    She liked the high amount of exercise in sses, and she also liked earning money.

    So, Chu Tingwu first signed a contract with the base, ensuring that San Wu Wu''s workload wouldn''t be too heavy, while the training intensity would remain at the same level as during her substitute sses, and finally signed her name.

    The instructor brought another nk paper, wrote down the contract contents simply, and had San Wu Wu press her paw print.

    Although both the cat''s paw print and this contract were invalid, it gave San Wu Wu a full sense of participation.

    After pressing the contract, the cat mom seemed to understand something.

    Back home, just as Chu Tingwu was about to open the door, San Wu Wu went to knock on Teacher Yuan''s door first.

    Teacher Yuan''s family was already used to this knocking pattern. Cao Meng, sitting on the sofa, slipped to the door with unexpected agility for his size: "San Wu Wu!"

    Coming to help walk their cat again?

    Thanks to San Wu Wu''s help, Coal Ball''s weight loss n had shown initial results. Since cat-walking-cat became a regr activity, Teacher Yuan''s family regrly gave San Wu Wu cat treats as payment.

    At Cao Meng''s height, he saw San Wu Wu first, then noticed Sister Chu Chu.

    San Wu Wu squeezed past him, meowed twice, seemingly not here to work.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    Teacher Yuan: "Hmm? Does San Wu Wu have something?"

    Chu Tingwu thought for a moment, took out paper and pen, wrote something and handed it to Teacher Yuan¡ª

    [Party A Coal Ball (ck long-haired Napoleon Munchkin cat, residing at Jinhua Residential Area 1-201) employs Party B San Wu Wu (smoke-grey long-haired tortoiseshell cat with yellow-tipped nose, residing at Jinhua Residential Area 1-202) for thrice-weekly cat-walking and exercise work.

    Payment will be one random pack of cat treats.

    Both parties shall seal with paw prints.]

    Teacher Yuan: "...Coal Ball!"

    Coal Ball had slipped to the bedroom door when it opened, now trying hard to jump and grab the doorknob to sneak in.

    However, Teacher Cao inside the bedroom opened the door first, reached out to catch their cat, and first praised: "Coal Ball, you''ve lost weight!"

    Coal Ball: "Meow meow meow?"

    Stop the nonsense meow and let me in!

    Teacher Cao caught Coal Ball, held backughter while reading the contract, then like some irresponsible parents, pressed Coal Ball''s paw to make her seal.

    Chu Tingwu left with the contract, not noticing Cao Meng''s thoughtful expression after watching the whole process.

    Cao Meng: "Mom, is a contract something that can''t be vited once you put your handprint on it?"

    Teacher Yuan: "Yes, that''s why you shouldn''t sign contracts carelessly in the future, you need to be prepared to take responsibility."

    Cao Meng had a sudden realization, pattered back to his room, and quickly came back with a paper: "Mom, how do you write the ''toy'' character?"

    Teacher Yuan: "?"

    She turned to look and saw that Cao Meng probably wanted to write:

    "Party A Mengmeng and Party B Dad sign a contract, employing Dad to make a UFO for me, Dad can y with grandpa''s toy car three times a day¡ª"

    Teacher Yuan: "Umm..."

    Cao Meng: "Hmm?"

    Teacher Yuan: "How about letting your dad walk Coal Ball, giving the toy cars to San Wu Wu to y with, and asking Sister Chu Chu to make you a UFO instead?"

    Cao Meng was very disappointed: "But San Wu Wu doesn''t y with them!"

    Teacher Yuan: ?

    So you''ve actually tried that before?

    -

    After settling San Wu Wu, Chu Tingwu sent a message to Man Xing, telling her about her travel arrangements.

    While she was abroad, Man Xing would be responsible for looking after San Wu Wu, and as for overseas, Chu Tingwu had people to assist her.

    ...Should be people, right?

    White''s student council woulde to receive Chu Tingwu, and theoretically, no other help would be needed. However, the system still arranged for studio staff to stay outside the protected area. If any emergencies urred, at least Chu Tingwu would have her own people around.

    Chu Tingwu put down the phone, while Man Xing started searching for various information.

    Although the boss didn''t require her to follow, just in case, she had to understand the situation. She also indirectly inquired with Lian Tong and found out that he was indeed still managing the hospital, so she confirmed¡ª

    The one assisting the boss should be the "system," right?

    With anticipation for the holiday, students changed into their summer uniforms, and the final exam of No. 5 Middle School''s semester waspleted.

    The night after the exam, Chu Tingwu boarded a flight to Stardesc State.

    -

    San Wu Wu sat on the railing with her paws folded.

    The Jin City Training Base had specially prepared rooms for their cat employees. Having trained with cats for so long, they naturally understood cat mom habits. The room was filled with items familiar to San Wu Wu, and if she still felt ufortable, Man Xing coulde pick her up daily.

    But the cat mom''s actions seemed unrted to the environment. She jumped down from the railing, sniffed around the room, then pushed the system''s drone ball.

    System: "=="

    The drone ball turned on directly, hovering up and pointing its camera at San Wu Wu.

    ording to San Wu Wu and Chu Tingwu''s agreement, this meant she was watching.

    The tortoiseshell sat crouching, looked up at the ball and meowed twice. The instructor watched from the side, knowing that: Chu Tingwu probably wasn''t watching during this time, it was veryte, she should be catching up on sleep on the ne.

    The tortoiseshell mom seemed unaware, did some stretches in ce, then meowed twice, beckoning the drone ball to follow.

    This flying ball flew in front of the instructor, the screen shed twice, moved up and down, as if saying hello, then it entered recording mode.

    The instructor slightly turned sideways to avoid showing their full body.

    Although they were very interested in the "system''s" filming effects, ording to the contract, promotional videos featuring San Wu Wu would be independently filmed by the base, and during this period, Chu Tingwu could activate the drone anytime to film San Wu Wu''s current status, but wouldn''t directly record the base''s training content.

    San Wu Wu seemed to know this too, so after the drone activated, she headed straight outside the base.

    Meanwhile, the system said something to the young one in the dream realm, then started the livestream¡ª

    The young one had to stream thirty hours every month! This counted as "work," so streaming now meantpleting work content in advance.

    This wasn''t the first time Chu Tingwu had started streaming at odd hours, and most young fans were night owls. Many hadn''t gone to sleep yet, so they immediately clicked in when they saw the streaming notification.

    The system disyed "Jin City Police Dog Training Base" in the center of the screen, then shrunk and moved this text to the bottom right corner, while showing above Three-Five-Five''s head:

    [Three-Five-Five

    <Long-haired Tortoiseshell>]

    [...]

    [The game feeling is strong, but System, are you showing off? We would recognize this even without thebel!]

    Three-Five-Five is quite famous now! Of course, if it wasn''tbeled, people might...

    [Ah! Is this Little Flower?]

    Yes, they might call her by her stage name.

    After "Tiger Head" was released, its performance kept improving. Although it was affected bypetitors in the first two weeks, more theaters were addedter. Seeing its performance, the screening period was extended. Now not only have the main actors gained another wave of poprity, but the cats in the movie have also be famous.

    The kitten who yed young Tiger Head was adopted by the assistant director, Orange''s owner started streaming for it, and Flower Little Gang''s owner took it traveling with the family dogs¡ª

    The owner was worried about their cat being stolen.

    As for Three-Five-Five, she was already a famous cat, and this time she and Chu Tingwu have be one of the top pet content creators in the website''s cute pet section.

    ...Though other content creators always felt like she wasn''t quite in the same league as them.

    The system didn''t know what Three-Five-Five wanted to do, perhaps she was just feeling ufortable without the kittens around. Usually at this time, Three-Five-Five would be sleeping next to Chu Tingwu, not going out at this hour.

    The system casually filmed as Three-Five-Five trotted out of her assigned quarters.

    Some viewers in thements noticed this wasn''t where Chu Tingwu usually appeared, and they couldn''t see him in the frame. When someone curiously asked about it, the system disyed a scrolling message at the bottom of the screen:

    [Chu isn''t here, currently Three-Five-Five is the only streamer.]

    After all, the ount was called "Chu and Three-Five-Five" to begin with.

    The Fenghua Network staff member who had just arranged the livestream for manual promotion: "..."

    Well, their contract didn''t specify that the streamer must appear on camera. Essentially, as long as the ount was streaming, it fulfilled the requirements.

    But the staff member was curious. With no human present, only a cat¡ªalthough there were "cat POV streamers" (referring to cameras attached to cats'' necks to show their perspective), it was rare to have an entire stream from a cat''s viewpoint.

    First, because the cat cam''s movement was too shaky and could cause "motion sickness."

    Second, cats'' lives don''t actually have manyplex aspects. While this kind of slow-paced streaming had its audience, viewers nowadays preferred content with more plot.

    The staff member checked the viewership and noticed that after announcing Chu Tingwu''s absence, the stream''s poprity dropped slightly, but not by much.

    Even though it was just Three-Five-Five, everyone was still looking forward to her actions, curiously asking in the chat where Chu Tingwu had gone and why they let Three-Five-Five stream alone... well, one cat stream?

    Since the "streamer" wasn''t readingments, there naturally wasn''t any response. The system simply lowered the drone''s flying height a bit and bumped against Three-Five-Five''s back.

    Three-Five-Five: "?"

    She tilted her head to look at the flying drone, seemed to realize something, then: "Meow meow, meow~"

    I want to go check on those kittens meow.

    She was exining to Chu Tingwu behind the camera, but from the viewers'' perspective, it looked like Three-Five-Five was chatting with them¡ªafter all, the cat''s eyes were looking straight at them, so she must be talking to them, right?

    So the viewers politely responded!

    [Meow!]

    [Meow meow meow!]

    [Meow meow~]

    New viewers who clicked in from the homepage rmendations: "?"

    Is this some kind of group cat roley?

    After the first time, Three-Five-Five would turn back to say something to the camera every few steps forward. The camera was very amodating, adjusting its angle to show the surroundings, marking locations and objects.

    Some people realized¡ª

    [Wow, is this where Three-Five-Five takes sses?]

    Chu Tingwu had mentioned once before in a stream that he would send Three-Five-Five to the police dog base for training, and someone had exined that Jin City Police Dog Training Base was also training police cats, but this was the first time everyone got to actually see Three-Five-Five running around the base.

    Because this time the streamer was just a cat without any human, the drone flew very low, and even when humans appeared in frame, you could only see their lower half... and the dogs beside them.

    Trainer: "Three-Five-Five?"

    Three-Five-Five crouched: "Meow."

    Trainer: "Are you here to build rtionships with the kittens early?"

    They had decided to release a series of videos on the base''s own short video ount during Three-Five-Five''s foster period, themed around police cat training, featuring both the selected kittens and young cats who had already shown progress.

    Three-Five-Five''s role was "Kitten Kindergarten Principal." Although Three-Five-Five looked fierce, she was actually a very responsible adult cat, and had experience with giving birth and raising kittens (ording to Chu Tingwu).

    At the base, they all agreed that Three-Five-Five was very human-like and couldmunicate directly throughnguage, so they felt reassured leaving the kittens in her care.

    Finding Three-Five-Five herete at night, the trainer opened the door for her and the drone.

    Viewers followed Three-Five-Five into the kittens'' living quarters and gasped in surprise.

    [So many cats, all sleeping, hehe, auntie wants to eat them all up!]

    [There are even purebred cats! I thought they would only choose street cats, always felt purebreds weren''t healthy enough? Am I being too stereotypical?]

    [I''m curious, where do the catse from? I know police dogs are bred internally, all descendants of merit dogs, but the first batch of police cats haven''t officially started work yet, right?]

    [What happens to cats that don''t pass? Can cats who don''t make it as civil servantse to my home? My house is big!]

    Since Chu Tingwu wasn''t there, the trainer looked at the livestream on Chu Tingwu''s ount on his phone and exined:

    "Kitten selection has nothing to do with breed. We mainly trace the family trees of currently high-performing cats and look for kittens among their siblings, then make our selection."

    "Cats that can''tplete training are first considered for adoption by their original families, but they can''t be transferred or abandoned. If the original family doesn''t want to adopt, we''ll consider the same adoption channels as rejected dogs."

    You could say that even cats that don''t pass the final selection are already "excellent" cats, and long-term training may change their habits, so there are additional requirements for selecting adoptive families.

    "By the way, Jin City Police Dog Training Base''s public ount and short video ount will soon release a ''Police Cat Mini-variety Show,'' where Three-Five-Five''s role is the kindergarten principal. She''ll not only train with the adult cats but also help the kittensplete basic training as their principal cat. Everyone interested can follow our ount!"

    After the trainer finished speaking, he saw Three-Five-Five sniff the heads of several kittens, then meow twice at the camera.

    Chu Tingwu on the other side of the camera: "...Alright?"

    She had the system respond, then watched as Three-Five-Five went forward, picked up a half-grown kitten by the scruff of its neck, and dragged it to the trainer.

    Trainer: "?"

    Seeing this kitten about to wake up, he quickly covered its eyes with his hand, and the kitten rolled over and went back to sleep.

    Soon, Three-Five-Five had dragged seven or eight cats over, leaving only twelve on her side.

    Trainer: "?"

    Finally, Three-Five-Five stood at the edge of the carpet, raised her paw to draw a line on the ground, then turned her back to face the trainer and those cats with her bottom.

    This bodynguage was so obvious that it needed no human trantion¡ªhe understood immediately.

    The trainerughed.

    "You don''t want to take these ones?"

    He nced over and immediately saw that these kittens all had chatty tendencies and were usually the extremely lively type.

    The viewers noticed too¡ª

    [Are these kittens the kindergarten''s underachievers?]

    [How annoying, even kindergartens are gettingpetitive now. That cat mom clearly has a PhD and doesn''t want to teach cats with poor grades and slow minds!]

    [Sad news! What should we do about cats being forced to drop out? It''s too harsh not letting them attend kindergarten. They can be sent to my home - I''ll build a kindergarten for the cats!]

    The instructor waved away the audience''sments, wanting to discuss further with Three-Five-Five, but then realized¡ª

    How could you reason with a cat!

    When a cat wants to y dumb and ignore you, it absolutely will!

    The mini reality show hasn''t even started filming and we''re already facing special circumstances!

    She poked the calico cat''s back and sent two messages to her publicity colleague: "Alright, alright, looks like we''ll have to split our kindergarten into sses¡ªThree-Five-Five will step down as principal and be Teacher Three-Five-Five, only in charge of ss One."

    ss One would be for the cats that were kept, while ss Two would naturally be under her direct supervision as the original person in charge.

    This way, the show might actually be more interesting.

    They never really intended to have cat moms raise kittens; it was just to piggyback on the viral cat''s poprity for publicity... Now, with the new angle of "human-trained cats" versus "cat-trained cats"peting against each other, it might generate even more attention.

    However, what the instructor didn''t know was¡ª

    As an experienced working cat, Three-Five-Five took the job seriously.

    -

    The evening''s video indeed sparked some discussion within themunity, and after the livestream, the Jin City Police Dog Training Base''s ount gained a surge of followers.

    After all, in the pet video category, themes like "official ounts," "police cat training," and "kitten education" didn''t have muchpetition. With exposure naturally came poprity, especially with the "controversial topics."

    The main question was... why did Three-Five-Five specifically pick out those particr kittens without anyone teaching her?

    Many small content creators simply clipped Three-Five-Five''s cat selection process and analyzed frame by frame what personality or appearance ws these kittens had - like having big heads, short tails, being tuxedo cats, having eyes that looked swollen with two ck circles, lying on the ground meowing while seeming directionally challenged... clearly not qualified to be proper police cats-in-training!

    The base staff who saw these videos were like: "???"

    Those weren''t the criteria for failing the assessment, stop making wild guesses!

    However, all the spection increased engagement, and more people started following and demanding updates on the "mini reality show," very eager to know how the two sses of kittens would perform! This was truly a slow-paced cat show - they suggested some major video tform should acquire it and turn it into a series of long-form videos!

    The base staff didn''t know whether tough or cry.

    Even more bemused were the pet content creators.

    When they learned about Chu Tingwu''s signing, they thought this youngdy was strictly speaking more of an outdoor sports content creator... but now she proved herself with her livestream poprity¡ª

    She was indeed better at outdoor activities, but she could make pets (?) livestream themselves!

    While the video was going viral, Chu Tingwu''s ne had alreadynded.

    She reported her safe arrival to her teachers and friends, then found her pickup car.

    White''s student named Lian had a high nose bridge, brown eyes, and darker wheat-colored skin. She would be Chu Tingwu''s roommate for the foreseeable future.

    Besides necessary conversation, she didn''t say much to Chu Tingwu, just smiled friendly and started driving, appearing somewhat shy.

    Until the car passed a certain intersection again, Chu Tingwu spoke up: "Should I give directions?"

    Lian: "..."

    Lian pulled over, quietly got out of the car, and opened the passenger door where Chu Tingwu sat: "Would you like to drive?"

    Chu Tingwu: No, I don''t have a driver''s license.

    After she started giving directions, the two began talking more, and Chu Tingwu quickly realized¡ªLian wasn''t just directionally challenged, her thinking seemed somewhat different from others.

    Halfway through the drive, she seemed to remember Chu Tingwu might be hungry, so she stopped to buy sandwiches and milk. The fast food was probably to save time, as the reserve was quite far from the airport.

    When Chu Tingwu casually mentioned how nice a tree looked next to the convenience store, Lian responded with a "mm-hmm" and parked nearby, beginning to exin the tree''s biological habits and which bird species the nest in it belonged to.

    Chu Tingwu quietly finished her food while they waited for the bird to return to its nest.

    Although they nearly got dive-bombed by the bird, Chu Tingwu still got out of the car and pointed out certain marks on the tree to Lian, exining which small animals had made them.

    Lian was visibly pleased.

    Because afterward she drove while humming, and even with Chu Tingwu''s directions, still took a wrong turn.

    Just as they were about to reach the reserve, Chu Tingwu received a call from White: "Did Lian pick you up? Where are you now? I''ll send someone to find you right away!"

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    Chu Tingwu: "We''re almost there."

    White: "Oh my God, thank heavens!"

    White: "I just told her your flight was arriving and asked her to find a staff member, but she interpreted it as going to pick you up herself, and her phone is turned off¡ª"

    White seemed long ustomed to this student''s unreliability and quickly fired off a series of questions: "Does the car still have gas? You haven''t driven into a ditch, have you? You''re really not somewhere else entirely¡ªmaybe there''s another road called Red Stone Road?"

    Finally, he said very worriedly: "If worstes to worst, you drive."

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    She really doesn''t have a driver''s license ==

    Beside her, Lian hadn''t said a word, but her cheerful humming had changed to train whistle sounds, like an unhappy little lotive.

    Chu Tingwu: "Pfft."

    She felt that this visit to the reserve would be quite interesting.

    At the reserve entrance, Chu Tingwu first took a photo at the gate. Then, she cooperated with the staff toplete the luggage and identity checks before finally being allowed inside.

    Their car didn''t use the same entrance as tourist visitors, as they were heading to a camp near the core area.

    After checking with Lian, Chu Tingwu took out her recording equipment, attached two fixed cameras to the car, and started livestreaming.

    Viewers were already used to her style of starting streams without notice, and they quickly flooded in, calling their friends and posting their prepared messages¡ª

    [Three-Five-Five kitty, I''m here to support you... eh?]

    [Three-Five-Five you''re the best kindergarten teacher so could you maybe steal a student for me I''ve got my sack ready wait what?]

    [What stream did I join, let me exit and check again?]

    Chu Tingwu: "Happy summer vacation everyone, and hello to those who don''t have a vacation¡ª"

    She adjusted the interior camera to face herself briefly, then switched to the window view: The sky stretched vast and deste, dusk settling between mountain ranges, with no high-rises, power lines, or signs of human activity visible. Only asionally could they spot the roofs of other vehicles in the distance before they diverged onto different paths.

    Bison wandered in the distance, the herd appearing as ck dots on the earth, flicking their tails and ncing over before turning away disinterestedly.

    Chu Tingwu: "I''m currently at Red Stone Reserve in Stardesk State. Next, I''ll be following the animal behaviorist who invited me here to study the North American gray wolf packs in the reserve. I''ll be streaming asionally and posting vlogs to my ount."

    [Holy cow...]

    [Traveling cat...]

    [Will you bring back postcards...]

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    While some were still confused, others were already getting excited¡ª

    [Wait, the Red Stone Reserve wolf packs!? Does that mean Michel!? Ahhh Chu Chu are you going to see Michel up close, I''m going to unfollow you for half an hour to express my jealousy ahhh...]

    [Unfollowing just to add special follow status right? I''m really curious about your connections, Chu kitty... or should I say, cat-nections ?*?, is this somewhere people can just casually enter? How did you manage it, teach me too (totally not trying to sneak in to see wolves)]Aliali: 674846c1c4f3f33ac476874f

    Since animal movements are unpredictable, and no one knows what results they might get before observing, Chu Tingwu didn''t give a definitive response to suchments. She continued filming the scenery for a while longer, and just as she was about to end the livestream, her heart suddenly skipped a beat.

    Chu Tingwu quickly grabbed Lian''s shoulder with her free hand, then swiftly pushed the steering wheel with her elbow while lifting her foot to hit the brake.

    The car swayed,pleting a drifting maneuver, and sessfully came to a stop at the edge of the ditch.

    Lian: "..."

    She released the steering wheel, cast an apologetic nce at Chu Tingwu, then made a "please" gesture before silently turning her head to look elsewhere.

    Chu Tingwu: "==" Don''t give up!

    [Shocking! Underage streamer caught livestreaming unlicensed driving abroad, adult who grabbed the steering wheel too ashamed to speak up. More details in "Chu and Three-Five-Five" livestream channel! Send me 50 for hush money and memory deletion!]

    Chu Tingwu: "Meow?"

    She ended the livestream.

    Driving? What driving? She was just a little kitty, that''s all.

 Chapter 65

    The camp wasn''trge, with eleven people in total including Chu Tingwu.

    Chu Tingwu and Lian''s room was about the size of a college dorm room, but notably, the camp was surrounded by robust protective facilities.

    White exined to Chu Tingwu that this was because they were in the core area of the Red Rock Reserve¡ªunlike the outer areas where tourists frequented, they could encounter dangerousrge animals at any time here.

    When going out, they would try to travel by car, as their modified vehicles could withstand attacks fromrge wild animals.

    However, some ces weren''t essible by car, so they would try to go with rangers and carry self-defense tools.

    There were three wolf packs in the vicinity, with the camp located slightly to the right of the center area. Food was plentiful in summer, so the wolf packs generally wouldn''t attack humans.

    White said, "Our task during this period is to regrly install and retrieve infrared cameras, looking for traces of wolf pack activity... if we''re lucky, we might also see Michelle."

    The wolf packs were mobile, and although humans knew the locations of their dens, they wouldn''t install cameras directly at the den sites.

    The older wolves actually better understood what kind of creatures "humans" were. The nearby wolf packs would try to avoid the humans who asionally appeared at the camp, and Michelle, having grown older, rarely appeared on camera anymore.

    Gray wolf fans worldwide eagerly awaited news of Michelle, but it all depended on "luck."

    During this period, White and his team had discovered a gray male wolf with an injured front leg and were tracking and reporting news about him.

    Chu Tingwu took a tour around the camp and quickly understood everyone''s roles:

    Two were originally rangers, responsible for regr patrols of the protected area. Another was a reserve staff member who handledmunications for White''s team and delivered supplies to the camp.

    White and another professor were good friends, both passionate about American wolves. Each brought three students, with Chu Tingwu upying one of those positions.

    It was clear that the students needed to handle various camp chores, process data, and manage official social media ounts,pile video materials... only with good luck would they be taken out to help install cameras.

    Chu Tingwu knew she was new and only knew White, with Lian being the only person she was somewhat familiar with, so she didn''t rush to do anything. Moreover, she had the lowest qualifications, age, and experience among everyone there, and was of a different ethnicity, so when White didn''t call for her, she stayed in her room unpacking and tidying up.

    While Chu Tingwu was busy, the system also took over the camp''s internal surveince, rudely scanning through everyone''s information before quietly returning to apany its young charge.

    When Lian came in, Chu Tingwu asked, "I might take some videos and call my cat every day, would you mind?"

    ¡ªAs for livestreaming, she decided to only do it when she was alone.

    Lian was surprised: "You actually have phone signal here?"

    Then she nodded, indicating she didn''t mind, and quietly left after finding her notebook.

    Chu Tingwu packed her recording equipment and followed her to the living room.

    Everyone seemed to be discussing a video, debating which wolf from their observed packs appeared in two particr frames.

    Lian stared intently at the screen, sitting next to White''s other student, who had brown hair, appeared to be in his early twenties, and had several freckles on his nose.

    Chu Tingwu remembered his name was quite long and difficult to pronounce, so she privately called him Freckles.

    Freckles nced at Chu Tingwu twice, greeted her in somewhat awkward Chinese, then exined in English:

    "The closest to us is the Maria Valley wolf pack. They were originally three conflicting groups, butst winter was too cold with insufficient food, and deaths caused them to merge into a new family."

    "The Michelle pack is on the east side, living on that mountain, upying the sunniest slopes. Although the current pack leader isn''t Michelle but her grandchild, everyone loves her so much that they still call it the Michelle pack. This is also the pack with thergest number of wolves."

    "Crossing the diagonal line of the camp to the other end, on the west side, is the Kate pack, led by a very young male. Nobody expected him to be the pack leader, and they''re generally somewhat weak. But this year they had three cubs, and hopefully this food-abundant summer will help the cubs survive."

    The injured male wolf they were tracking was a lone wolf who had wandered in, and they hadn''t yet confirmed which pack he had separated from.

    Everyone was concerned about this young male wolf''s fate, and the image in the footage looked very simr to him, but they weren''t sure¡ª

    Was this a Maria Valley wolf with simr coloring and markings, or the young male wolf they had lost track of yesterday?

    After all, the injured paw wasn''t visible in the footage.

    Lian suddenly spoke up: "It''s Qi from the Valley pack."

    Chu Tingwu couldn''t confirm this either, as due to signal issues, many of the camp''s devices weren''t connected to the inte, limiting the system''s usefulness here.

    But after Lian spoke, several people exchanged nces, and White and the other professor both nodded, seemingly believing her statement.

    White said: "Qi has indeed reached the age where he might leave the pack."

    But he hadn''t seemed to have this thought before?

    They would add Qi''s movement patterns to their records.

    Freckles enviously whispered to Chu Tingwu: "Lian has a photographic memory, not just for what she sees but also for what she hears, and she can even mimic it."

    Like imitating various animal sounds.

    Although Lian was sometimes unreliable, or rather, her thinking and behavior were too "pure," she was still the camp''s treasure.

    So, Freckles was actually very curious about what special qualities Chu Tingwu possessed that made White wait untilte May to finalize her position on the team.

    He wasn''t sure about Chu Tingwu''s age, as racial differences made her look very young to him, though he thought perhaps her ethnicity naturally appeared youthful. Because it was summer, Chu Tingwu wore light clothing¡ªa simple ck t-shirt and cargo pants, with a baseball cap on her head.

    However, as Chu Tingwu rested her chin on her hand while listening to their conversation, Freckles noticed the muscle definition in her arms, and that her build was very proportionate, with limbs that looked strong¡ªat least she could help with physical work, he thought.

    He had heard from White that this young woman could spot issues with wolves at the zoo with just one nce, seemingly naturally attuned to animal emotions¡ªand White had learned from other Chinese contacts that Chu Tingwu could even speak "catnguage" and was skilled atmunicating with felines and canines, which was why he had enthusiastically invited her.

    But White was an enthusiastic and straightforward person, and Freckles had always felt pressure working under him. If you weren''t useful, White would directly express it, telling you: I can''t keep you on this project because I don''t see your value in it.

    If Chu Tingwu couldn''t demonstrate her value to the camp, White might just buy her a ticket straight back to her country.

    That''s just how direct and cold his attitude could be.

    Freckles looked at this unfamiliar girl with mixed feelings, noticing she had wandered into the kitchen.

    The rangers took turns cooking at the camp, with students helping out, and "cooking" meant¡ª

    Simply cooking meat, like steaks, pork chops,mb chops... then adding lettuce, sd, and potatoes. asionally, when supplies didn''t arrive on time, there would be no fresh vegetables that day, only various canned foods.

    The ranger was now opening cans.

    ncing at the young girl who came in, he casually said, "Dinner won''t be ready for a while. Come help me cut the steak."

    Chu Tingwu: "...Why don''t I cook instead?"

    The ranger: "Hm?... Oh! You''re Chinese, right?!!"

    He immediately moved aside and stood expectantly by the door, seemingly wanting to watch Chu Tingwu perform her "Chinese culinary magic."

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    She felt slightly stereotyped.

    But coincidentally, she happened to fit that stereotype perfectly.

    Looking around, she found that the basic seasonings were well-stocked, though these people rarely used them. The ingredients were plentiful too, though they made the same dishes every day.

    Chu Tingwu took out potatoes and began peeling them. Looking around, she waved to Freckles: "Could you help me cut the beef?"

    Freckles: "?"

    The ranger looked over too.

    Freckles had no choice but toe over and cut the beef into small pieces as Chu Tingwu instructed.

    After putting the potatoes and beef to stew in one pot, she couldn''t find breadcrumbs, so she simply fried some pork cutlets. Then she marinated some chicken wings. By the time the potato beef stew was done, she could start on the c-braised chicken wings.

    Looking at the table full of meat dishes, Chu Tingwu shredded some lettuce and added dressing to add a touch of green to the table... though she wouldn''t eat it herself.

    However, just one day abroad, and she was already craving steamed buns.

    Everyone was delighted by the new dishes. They could endure hardship, but of course, they preferred not to¡ªas for theck of staple food and the heat from eating too much meat, no worries, they could just open a can of fruit.

    So Chu Tingwu experienced for the first time what it was like to eat oranges with potato beef stew.

    It wasn''t bad actually.

    The meal seemed to remind White why he had asked Chu Tingwu toe in the first ce. He said, "Tomorrow, you and Lian, both of you wille out with us."

    As for today, the sun was about to set.

    When Chu Tingwu pushed open the door to go outside, the sun had already half-disappeared behind the mountains, leaving only a golden-red glow along the mountain ridges.

    The wind carried various animal scents as it slowly caressed thisnd.

    Long wolf howls could be heard in the distance.

    Chu Tingwu hung her camera around her neck and first took a photo of thest rays of sunset.

    Freckles leaned against the window and called out to her: "Wu, could you send me those photos you just took? I might use them in the blog post."

    ¡ªResearch needs funding too, so the team had created an ount where they would post daily camp life and animal videos after getting verified.

    Many wolf fans knew they were here to observe wolves and were close to the Michelle wolf pack, so they followed this ount.

    Although they hadn''t posted any photos of Michelle yet, people were concerned about the injured grey wolf''s condition.

    Just now, Freckles had posted photos of today''s meal on the ount, mentioning that the final team member had arrived¡ª"WU" from China, whom White believed to be a genius atmunicating with animals.

    People are generally quite tolerant and curious about geniuses. After slightly deepening their stereotypes about Chinese people, they left curiousments asking to hear more about what work "Wu" would do next and whether she would make great contributions.

    Chu Tingwu turned around and waved to Freckles: "I''ll send them right away, just let me finish taking photos."

    Then she continued adjusting her camera''s focus while Freckles watched.

    The next second, he saw Chu Tingwu take two steps forward, suddenly leap up while holding her camera, and jump two meters high,nding steadily on top of the camp''s perimeter fence.

    She stood straight up there, holding her camera and gazing into the distance before taking one final photo.

    Freckles: "Good heavense down!"

    He hurriedly said: "That''s dangerous!"

    To his surprise, as soon as he finished speaking, Chu Tingwu turned around and jumped straight down,nding effortlessly with no sign of difort in her feet.

    Chu Tingwu sent both photos to Freckles.

    Freckles''s mouth twitched as he saw that the first photo indeed captured the sunset, while the second was a close-up of the hillside, showing dark tree shadows and bits of light filtering through the leaves¡ªupon closer inspection, it had quite a unique and mysterious quality.

    He left with the photos but remained curious, so he casually mentioned to White how Chu Tingwu had jumped down from such a height.

    Whiteughed heartily: "Yes, young people have more flexible bones, they don''t feel anything jumping from heights¡ªwe can''t do that at our age¡ª"

    Freckles: I''m only 21!

    White: "Well, she''s only sixteen after all."

    Freckles: ...

    Freckles: ?

    -

    After shocking her colleagues with her age, Chu Tingwu wandered back to her room.

    Lian was wearing headphones and typing on her keyboard, blocking out all external sounds.

    Chu Tingwu made a video call to Three-Five-Five, connecting directly to the projector that Manxing had moved to the training base.

    She could project her face to Three-Five-Five, while Three-Five-Five''s image was still transmitted to her through the livestream drone.

    When the camera first turned on, a kitten''s face appeared on the other side.

    The kitten was pressed close to the camera, apparently sound asleep. The system showed no mercy, controlling the drone to rise higher. Without anything to lean on, the kitten fell t on its face.

    But it didn''t wake up.

    Then the camera finally captured Three-Five-Five in the room. Three-Five-Five also saw the hovering drone and Chu Tingwu''s projection on the wall. She meowed at Chu Tingwu, and Chu Tingwu responded with a "meow" of her own.

    She had learnedst night that Three-Five-Five had declined the director position and only became a junior ss teacher. Now asking again, she learned with mixed feelings:

    The kittens Three-Five-Five didn''t want weren''t actually problematic¡ªshe just found them too noisy.

    As for those she kept, not all of them were clever. For example, that still-sleeping kitten... its only merit was being sleepy, crawling to food with eyes closed, making it very easy to care for (ording to Three-Five-Five).

    Chu Tingwu: =v=

    As for these remaining kittens, they were all quite young now. Some were awake and staring nkly at the screen, while others were slightly more enthusiastic, mewing "miu miu" while approaching the wall to nuzzle against it, rubbing their heads against the glowing surface.

    Three-Five-Five went over to push the kitten away, then squatted for a couple of seconds before moving closer, pressing her head against where Chu Tingwu''s hand appeared to be.

    Chu Tingwu called out "mama" in catnguage, her voice unusually soft.

    Though they''d been apart for less than a day, she was already feeling guilty.

    Even though Three-Five-Five was the "mama" and she was the kitten, both mother cat and kitten felt they hadn''t taken good care of each other.

    The system felt guilty too¡ª

    "If only I could upgrade to directly pull you both into the same dream across half the..."

    Chu Tingwu: That sounds like the beginning of a horror game!

    "Miu?"

    Beside her, Lian took off her headphones and looked at Chu Tingwu curiously, making the same cat sound.

    Yes, it was the cat word for "mama."

    Chu Tingwu: "So there wasn''t any music in your headphones..."

    Lian: "Wearing headphones is just my habit... What does ''miu'' mean? White said you speak catnguage."

    She also sat on Chu Tingwu''s bed and saw the tortoiseshell cat on the phone.

    The tortoiseshell mama cat looked curiously at this stranger and meowed to Chu Tingwu: "I can''t understand thenguage you''re speaking meow!"

    She wasn''t a cat who knew foreignnguages!

    Lian also imitated the "meow meow" sound, then looked expectantly at Chu Tingwu.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    Three-Five-Five: "!!?"

    Through the screen, Three-Five-Five cursed.

    Chu Tingwu quickly raised her phone, made a "I''ll exin in a moment" gesture to Lian, calmed down mama, then said: "Why don''t I start a livestream?"

    It was said that some footage had been shot at the training base, but they weren''t systematic, and editing and plotting needed time. Chu Tingwu felt she couldn''t leave all her streaming tasks to Cat Mom, after all, she had signed a contract with the website.

    She decided to simply chat with her fans about her experiences today.

    However, she didn''t start streaming from her end, but maintained connection with Three-Five-Five, letting the system broadcast her wall projection through an unmanned flying sphere.

    Noticeably, fans entering the streaming room seemed slightly hesitant and confused. They first greeted Three-Five-Five as usual, then cooed at the kitten beside them, before finally asking Chu Tingwu:

    [Chu Meow, why have you be two-dimensional?]

    Chu Tingwu replied with a calm expression: "Because I''ve been sealed inside the wall. Send 55 yuan and the cat god can help break the seal."

    [Why 55!?]

    Chu Tingwu: "The god charges processing fees."

    After the yful exchange, she exined her current situation.

    [So you''re really observing wolf packs... Wow, I visited Red Rock Reserve earlier this year, but I only went for sightseeing. In two days, I only saw one wild elk, though I took lots of photos of waterfalls and volcanoes.]

    [Yes, yes, the reserve''s scenery is quite nice, and transportation is convenient, though amodation is expensive. Our family drove in and out the whole time because the ce is so vast - it takes a whole day just to drive around once!]

    [Following what Chu Meow said, I found that ount, and they really posted photos. Nice, let''s give them a taste of our food culture! Followed!]

    Although Chu Tingwu had crossed over from being a cat-focused content creator to bing a wolf observer and lifestyle vlogger living in the reserve camp, everyone was already used to her versatility. As high school students would say, finding Chu Tingwu in any ce or any video seemed perfectly reasonable.

    Some viewers who weren''t familiar with wild wolves asked:

    [Can''t you just use drones to film? Observing manually seems too slow and random for gathering data?]

    Seeing many people''s partial understanding, Chu Tingwu decided to exin from the beginning:

    "Wolves are intelligent creatures with their own hierarchy and internal society, simr to the famous ''ABO'' society. They divide into Alpha wolf kings, Beta assistants, and Omegas who serve as internal punching bags. A wolf pack has at least these three roles, plus other ordinary wolves¡ª"

    "Apart from the wolf king, other citizen wolves might leave the pack after maturity to find mates and form new groups... because only the female wolf king has breeding rights, other female wolves aren''t allowed to reproduce."

    "When we observe wolf packs, they also observe and study us. Currently, the camp tries to maintain a non-interference rtionship with the wolves. This is to prevent human activities from affecting wolf life... For example, if wolves realize they can get food from humans, some lone wolves might not form new packs. Even indirect human intervention helping certain wolves could affect the wolf king''s authority in the pack, potentially leading to bloodshed."

    To secure their position, in extreme cases, wolf kings might kill pack members, even their own offspring.

    Since wolves are pack hunters, the ruler''s position directly affects hunting sess rates, which in turn affects pup survival rates.

    "As for why we don''t use drones: first, damaged drones are hard to recover; second, they make noise that disturbs wolf hunting; and third, it''s a cost issue."

    Forget drones - even in areas where vehicles could pass, they must walk on foot, all marked on offline maps.

    Chu Tingwu answered a few more questions, consulting Lian for details she wasn''t clear about, since Lian seemed quite free. After chatting for half an hour andpleting her self-imposed one-hour streaming target for the day, Chu Tingwu ended the stream.

    Then, Lian: "Meow?"

    Chu Tingwu: How do you still remember that!

    She tranted those cat phrases for Lian, who showed an expression of sudden understanding, then said, "So this means you can actually understand when Imunicate in catnguage, right?"

    Of course.

    Knowing Lian''s perfect memory, Chu Tingwu taught her several simple daily expressions.

    After thinking for a moment, she took out her camera and showed Lian the second photo: "Here, beside the tree... can you recognize who this is?"

    -

    Freckles finished editing the blog post and uploaded it, then set it aside. He had other data to process and didn''t think today''s post would cause any issues.

    Regr followers checked the photos, and many found the text was about a new member, quite young too, sharing some daily life details, so they didn''t think much of it.

    But some people liked to examine content under a microscope.

    After seeing this "Wu''s" message, some people went to otherworks and, using Chu Tingwu''s pinyin name, discovered her identity and traced it to her streaming ount.

    After reviewing the ount''s content, hardcore fans were surprised: "Has this child done parkour with Arthur?"

    Moreover, although they couldn''t fully understand what Chu Tingwu was saying and had to rely on machine trantion, they could tell she was indeed popr with animals, especially cats.

    So, the hardcore fans went back to like the team ount''s blog post and shared some information they''d found through VPN, expressing their positive expectations for Chu Tingwu joining the team.

    Finally...

    The hardcore fans couldn''t resist looking at the photos again. The first was a dinner photo, the second a simplendscape shot, but the third, taken from the outer wall, seemed to have a wider angle... but why zoom in for this particr shot?

    With this curiosity, they downloaded the image, continuously adjusting contrast and exposure, until they surprisingly discovered¡ª

    Is that a wolf''s head under the tree! My goodness, which wolf is it! Is it Seville, Milian, Monica, or Ivan... or could it actually be Michelle!? The color''s just unclear due to exposure issues!?

    Freckles finished his work busily and logged into the ount, only to find the backend messages about to explode.

    Freckles: "?"

    After understanding what they were discussing, he suddenly stood up, ready to find White and Chu Tingwu, then realized it was toote - they were probably already asleep.

    Freckles: "..." Why did he only see this now!

    Plus, did Chu Tingwu capture that inconspicuous head deliberately or by chance?

    With these doubts, excitement, and curiosity, Freckles fell into an uneasy sleep.

    The next morning, he first found White and told him about the photo, then located the two girls¡ª

    Lian: "That''s Qi."

    Others: Why is it you again?

    Chu Tingwu peeked out from behind her: "I had Lian check itst night. Although that''s Michelle''s pack''s territory, she believes it''s indeed Qi."

    Qi, who left the valley pack, might have sought refuge with Michelle''s pack, but could also have just passed through while pursuing prey alone - no one could be certain.

    White: "But, Wu, how did you get this photo?"

    "Yes," Freckles hurriedly added, "was it coincidence, or did you spot him and deliberately take it this way?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Probably coincidence."

    Freckles: Probably?

    Chu Tingwu: "If you think it wasn''t coincidence, it''s fine to consider it intentional."

    Although cats are farsighted, they can''t see that far. Chu Tingwu''s ability to capture the shot indeed involved some luck, but it was also due to her quickly spotting the well-concealed Qi in the lens and taking the shot.

    The reason Chu Tingwu said this was because...

    She sniffed the air.

    Having arrived just yesterday, she was like a cat in unfamiliar territory, her five senses not yet ustomed to the environment, unable to identify the various elements present. But after one night... with her keen sense of smell, she could now detect the scent of wild animals running several kilometers away.

    This naturally included wolf packs.

    She just wasn''t sure which wolf¡ªshe would need to match each scent to its individual owner.

    Although they had only managed to photograph Qi, White was still pleased, humming a tune as he called for Chu Tingwu and Lian to get in the car.

    The ranger was driving, with White in the front seat, while Lian and Chu Tingwu sat in the back with the equipment.

    They were going to make a round to check the installed infrared cameras and, if possible, track the wolf pack within the permitted range.

    However, after the car had traversed an ufortably bumpy stretch of road, the ranger looked oddly toward the window: "Wait a moment, I think I saw something reflective."

    White sat up straight abruptly: "Could it be a rifle scope?"

    Hunting was strictly prohibited in the reserve, but vitions were persistent, with past incidents even including poachers wounding rangers.

    If it wasn''t a scope, it could be unauthorized tourists tampering with cameras deep in the reserve, which was equally illegal.

    The ranger clicked his tongue and backed up a couple of steps.

    Chu Tingwu pointed to the left front: "Is that it?"

    Yes!

    The ranger got out and soon returned with White, carrying an animal trap. This old trap was heavily rusted, having been buried in the soil where parts had corroded faster, but recent heavy rains had washed it out of the earth.

    The ranger pointed to the rust marks: "It probably caught prey before."

    And then, that prey had managed to escape.

    It wasn''t a scope after all, and they''d found a buried trap¡ªtheir luck wasn''t too bad.

    With thoughts of "today might bring good fortune," the ranger continued driving.

    Chu Tingwu looked out the window, turning on her camera to start recording.

    The surrounding grass had an intensely saturated green color, towering trees blocked the path to the southwest, and the wind carried the scent of prey. As Chu Tingwu watched birds hopping through the trees, she felt a surge of vibrant emotion awakening within her.

    Driving until they reached a spot overlooking the river valley, Chu Tingwu could already hear the sound of the stream. A stronger moisture reached her nostrils, and while the others hadn''t noticed yet, she had already detected the scent of wolves mixed in with the water vapor.

    White looked through his binocrs, excited: "The river valley pack is by the water, and they''ve brought out their pups."

    The river valley pack had been reassembled after winter, with only one pup surviving, now a half-grown wolf cub.

    Chu Tingwu raised her camera, using the lens as binocrs to film a segment, quickly spotting the small wolf among the pack.

    It was bouncing around in the grass with its rear end up in the air, probably having found an insect to chase and pounce on. The alpha male was gazing at the stream, the alpha female was lying nearby, and the rest of the pack maintained afortable distance¡ªa peaceful scene.

    On the other bank, yaks had alsoe to drink.

    Seeing the wolf pack on the opposite side, the yak herd hesitated before approaching the riverbank. The young yaks stayed close to their mothers, while the alpha female wolf stood up and herded the wolf cub to the middle of the pack.

    The wolf pack did hunt yaks, but neither side seemed to think this was an appropriate time or ce.

    The humans watching from afar shared this opinion, with White saying:

    "''Hope'' isn''t old enough to hunt yet. The pack won''t bring cubs along when huntingrge prey like yaks."

    "Hope" was the name given to that wolf cub.

    Usually, wolf enthusiasts don''t name very young cubs because they''re unsure if they''ll survive, but when Hope became the only survivor in the river valley pack, they decided to give it a name filled with blessing, hoping it would be the "hope" of the river valley pack.

    Cubs typically begin their hunting training with simpler prey, as yaks can fight back during a hunt¡ªunder the threat of death, even a deer could potentially kill a wolf with a kick.

    Both groups finished drinking from opposite sides of the stream. The young calf seemed reluctant to leave, but after being nudged by its elders, it grudgingly retreated from the riverbank.

    Chu Tingwu suddenly shifted her camera and alerted White: "There''s the smell of blood on the right."

    White first looked to his own right, then noticed the direction of Chu Tingwu''s camera and raised his binocrs ordingly. He blinked, finally spotting a hint of grey in the grass.

    It appeared to be a pair of wolf ears.

    A wolf was lying in the grass along the yaks'' retreat path, and since the wind was blowing from the opposite bank, it had effectively concealed its scent.

    Even if the wind direction suddenly changed, the yaks might not react quickly enough¡ªbecause the recent breeze had carried the river valley pack''s scent.

    A lone wolf!

    White thought of something and grew excited, constantly looking back and forth between the yaks and the ambushing wolf, while asking Chu Tingwu: "Blood smell? You smelled blood¡ªis it an injured wolf?"

    Though he wondered how she could smell it from such a distance!

    Chu Tingwu continued filming without answering, while the ranger and Lian observed as well. Lian squinted her eyes, and White clenched his fist¡ª

    The wolf suddenly charged into the yak herd, targeting a young yak that had fallen slightly behind due to its yfulness.

    The young yak let out a terrified cry and immediately ran toward its mother.Aliali: 6748ac5ec4f3f33ac47c6ad8

    The wind not only carried their scents to them but also brought the emotional pheromones to Chu Tingwu''s nose.

    She watched the hunt without blinking, seeing how one grey wolf threw the entire yak herd into chaos. The grey wolf had caught the young yak by its hindquarters, and other yaks immediately came to attack it.

    The river valley pack across the stream had also stood up, with both alpha wolves standing at the water''s edge, observing the hunt and seemingly assessing the situation.

    Chu Tingwu heard White sigh.

    White: "They won''t go help him."

    Chu Tingwu: "...Mm."

    Because by now, she had also identified this wolf''s scent from theplex mixture and had made a judgment about his identity.

    Lian: "That''s the injured Qi!"

    Yes, it was Qi again.

    Qi, who had separated from the river valley pack.

 Chapter 66

    Qi''s solo hunt had failed again.

    Perhaps he had been driven away by Michelle''s wolf packst night and was injured.

    Maybe he had chosen the wrong prey, but that might have been his best option.

    After being chased away by the yaks, he took onest look at his formerpanions in the valley before limping away from the stream.

    White stared in the direction Qi had gone for a while, then mused, "Perhaps we should fit Qi with a satellite tracker."

    ¡ª The kind that animals often wear around their necks in documentaries.

    But satellite trackers are only installed on certain star animals. Humans usually sedate the animals during health checks or necessary rescue operations to fit them with these cors.

    Michelle should have had one too, but she was too clever and too alert. In the end, humans only managed to fit a tracker on the current wolf king, Michelle''s grandchild.

    Qi had been just an ordinary male wolf in the valley pack. Before the valley packs merged, he was a pup of one of the pack''s alpha wolves. Of course, being an alpha''s pup didn''t grant him any special status - he still had to join hunts and work for his food. After the packs merged into the valley pack, he became even more ordinary.

    He wasn''t even an Omega wolf.

    But his departure surprised everyone on the team. After checking that the infrared cameras at several locations were intact and retrieving the footage, they returned to camp to try to understand why Qi had left.

    Lian was responsible for picking out videos featuring Qi, with Chu Tingwu helping to review them. Finally, White deduced what had happened:

    "It was a status change."

    Each wolf pack typically has two Omega wolves, one male and one female. They often serve as punching bags during pack games and must act submissively to ease tension when the pack atmosphere bes tense.

    The original male Omega wolf had gradually advanced in rank and built good rtionships with the Beta wolves. The day before Chu Tingwu arrived, he decided to leave his Omega position, and the next in line to be an Omega wolf was Qi.

    Qi didn''t ept this.

    The young grey wolf paced anxiously outside the den, argued with the Betas, and finally fought with the Omega.

    Qi sustained several wounds, and the cameras didn''t capture the final oue, but the next day, he left.

    The Omega wolf remained the Omega wolf, but Qi could no longer return to the pack.

    Without any preparation, he began his solo adventure.

    Freckles posted this story online, whereizens expressed both concern and curiosity. Someone asked, "What about that wild wolf? Is he still around?"

    ¡ª They were referring to the wild wolf that White had been tracking, who had ventured into the central territory of the three major wolf packs. His fate had garnered equal attention.

    Chu Tingwu discovered traces of that wild wolf the next morning while washing up.

    Hunters often have very keen senses of smell. After waking up, she could distinguish the scents in the air and determine how many sessful hunts had urred the previous night based on the smell of blood and decay.

    Onerge prey carried the scent of multiple wolves, suggesting it was taken down by group hunting.

    For now, she hadn''t detected any "messages" of sessful solo hunts.

    White called Freckles to bring the equipment and asked Lian to join them, while Chu Tingwu stayed behind with the ranger responsible formunications.

    After everyone else had left, the ranger called out to her, "Wu, is there any food you''d like me to buy?"

    Chu Tingwu only cooked once a day, and since nobody was used to eating rice (she actually preferred meat herself), she had won everyone''s favor with her cooking skills.

    The ranger seemed eager for the chef to provide some variety in their meals.

    Chu Tingwu requested some seasonings and flour, along with some meat better suited for eating fresh, and finally added, "Could you bring some metalponents? I''ll have someone buy them in advance; you''d just need to bring them in."

    The ranger frowned and asked for a list. Finding nothing dangerous, he shrugged and agreed.

    Chu Tingwu told him these were supplementaryponents needed for filming equipment.

    ¡ª Indeed, she had decided to assemble another drone.

    She couldn''t bring her original one abroad, so she had left it with Three-Five-Five.

    After making arrangements, Chu Tingwu climbed to the top of the camp''s perimeter fence and raised her camera.

    The ranger poked his head out of the car and saw her standing steadily ¡ª though it wasn''t the first time he''d seen it, watching Chu Tingwu stand motionless on a railing barely half a palm''s width in the blowing wind made him unconsciously fall back on stereotypes about Chinese people.

    ...Though perhaps it wasn''t really a stereotype? After all, this young womanpletely lived up to those impressions!

    When White and the others returned, Chu Tingwu had already prepared dinner.

    They hadn''t had much luck today, not encountering any wolves. They only saw the decaying skeleton of arge red deer, and while vultures were feeding, they took some samples.

    The reserve regrly takes samples from deceased animals to check for infectious diseases. Large-scale animal infections must be prevented early; otherwise, it could lead to a situation like the one several years ago when numerous reserve animals died in session, devastating tourism in Stardusk State.

    However, when Freckles returned to his room, Chu Tingwu called him over and shared several photos: "I took these today."

    Freckles: "...Oh, thank you."

    But he had only been polite yesterday; this child didn''t need to help with photos every day¡ª

    "!???"

    "Are these valley wolves? Where did you take these? Did you really not leave camp?!"

    The three photos Chu Tingwu gave him showed two alpha wolves from the valley pack with the wolf pup Hope. The three wolves were lying on rocks, with the alpha female and male touching heads while Hope rolled on the ground. In one photo, he tilted his head toward the camera, appearing either lost in thought or making eye contact with humans. The image quality was excellent. In another photo, the alpha female had turned her head, her golden eyes gazing softly toward the camera.

    Of course, Chu Tingwu hadn''t left the camp. The wolves were close enough that she could easily determine their location without leaving, and all she needed to do was use her photography equipment and adjust the focus.

    She waved dismissively and went to her room to rest.

    Freckles was left pondering for a while before sighing and going to knock on White''s door.

    The next day, White enthusiastically invited Chu Tingwu into the car and introduced her to another professor: "Wu is really skilled at finding these lovely animals. I believe she not only has good luck but also a very keen intuition!"

    This time Freckles and Lian were also present, while one of the professor''s students had some business and left the reserve with the ranger.

    The two professors took their three "students" out. Without a ranger in the car this time, when they reached a fork in the road, White asked Chu Tingwu, "Should we keep driving forward?"

    Chu Tingwu had already caught the scent ahead: "Yes."

    Freckles silently drove on.

    Then, Chu Tingwu tapped his shoulder: "You can stop now."

    Just as he braked, a grey wolf head emerged from the grass, carrying a rabbit in its mouth.

    "It''s Qi," White said directly this time. "Good boy, he''s changed his hunting targets."

    An adult male wolf needs to eat several pounds of meat per day, and one rabbit certainly isn''t enough ¡ª they had thought Qi would hunt a deer or scavenge leftovers from other wolf packs.

    Of course, as a lone wolf, he couldn''t even protect scavenged food and would have topete quickly with scavenging birds that came to share the meal.

    Since they had already decided to fit Qi with a satellite tracker and begin recording his story, White didn''t drive away this time. Instead, they mounted cameras on the car''s roof rack and installed cameras on the vehicle itself.

    If Qi showed no obvious resistance, they would follow him by car, trailing him until they reached a point where vehicles could no longer proceed.

    Freckles: "So, we might not return to camp tonight."

    No wonder they brought such arge vehicle this time, with camping tents stored in the trunk.

    Chu Tingwu: "Did we bring tranquilizer guns?"

    Another professor responded: "We brought them, but now isn''t the right time to tranquilize Qi."

    ¡ªThey would choose to use tranquilizers in two situations.

    First, if Qi was severely injured but had escaped capture, after assessing the situation and determining that his injuries were beyond self-healing capabilities, they might tranquilize and transport him.

    However, typically, only star animals received such treatment, and most of the time, they didn''t interfere with animals'' own conflicts.

    The second situation would be when Qi was sound asleep, and the timing was right, they would administer a small dose of tranquilizer to install the satellite tracker.

    However, some wild animals strongly resist satellite trackers¡ª

    A small number of clever ones deliberately try to damage it (although it''s difficult), while others might exhibit abnormal behavior, jumping and howling continuously, extremely averse to having this foreign object on their bodies.

    Humans would then have no choice but to remove the trackers for them.

    They decided to follow and film Qi for a while longer, waiting to see if an opportunity for instation would arise.

    Chu Tingwu thought for a moment, consulted with White, and then turned on her livestream camera.

    She pointed the camera at Qi as the vehicle slowly moved forward. The wolf in the distance seemed to have noticed the human vehicle¡ªwolves'' sense of smell is hundreds of times more sensitive than humans'', but to wolves, humans and vehicles are considered one entity, and no matter how confused they might be, they wouldn''t hunt such arge creature.

    Thus, both parties coexisted peacefully, and when viewers entered the livestream, they saw the wolf in the center of the frame.

    [When I first clicked in, I thought Master Chu was showing a documentary, took me two seconds to realize¡ªwait, this is live!]

    [Went to check Red Rock Camp''s ount updates! Is this the wolf called Qi?]

    [When I first followed you, I never imagined you''de this far...]

    Chu Tingwu: Thatstment doesn''t sound veryplimentary ==

    The fans didn''t react at first, but now they were all getting excited.

    If they were watching a foreign blogger who specialized in wild animal content streaming, it probably wouldn''t seem so thrilling, but they had "watched Chu Tingwu grow up"¡ªfrom streaming cat food preparation to now following wild wolves in the protection zone, they felt¡ª

    [Your inte connection is really amazing!]

    Indeed.

    Theoretically, streaming wasn''t possible within the protection zone, but Chu Tingwu''swork connection obviously went through the system''s channels, allowing smooth streaming from any corner of the world, and even satellite connectivity when streaming wasn''t possible (ording to the system).

    Because she was the only one streaming now, soon after the broadcast began, the stream was flooded with people... who were watching through AI trantion.

    These were the gray wolf fans who had found Chu Tingwu''s ount through the camp team''s ount and discovered she was streaming.

    However, essing the stream through Fenghua Network resulted in unstable connections, even worse than Chu Tingwu''s stream itself. After numerousints from these fans, Fenghua Network staff messaged Chu Tingwu, asking if she could synchronize her stream to "Fenghua Network-Overseas tform."

    Fenghua Video Network had been operating this overseas tform for some time, but traffic had been mediocre. Recently, only a certain lifestyle content creator had attracted a significant following, bing the tform''s top female creator.

    Besides lifestyle content, other popr categories were food and fitness, but currently, Fenghua Network''s overseas tformcked any signature video creators. The staff couldn''t understand why some creators who were hugely popr domestically failed to make waves when their videos were posted on the overseas tform.

    After the system informed Chu Tingwu, she agreed and let the system take over her overseas tform ount''s screen design.

    With the system in ce, more precise multilingual trantion could be implemented directly, eliminating the need for viewers to use their own trantion tools.

    Also, seeing the effectiveness of Chu Tingwu''s current stream, the staff took a bold step and gave her the most prominent featured position on the overseas tform.

    An hour into Chu Tingwu''s stream, while domestic ount traffic slightly decreased, the overseas tform''s numbers steadily rose.

    People who came across the stream title were initially surprised, wondering "Does Red Rock Protection Zone have streaming signals now?" Most assumed Chu Tingwu was just a tourist, but upon seeing the wolf in the frame and reading the interface description, they were shocked to discover¡ª

    The streamer was actually in the core area of the protection zone!

    Qi drank some water by the river, caught a mouse, and ate while vigntly looking around.

    As for the following vehicle, he simply treated it as a non-meat-eatingrge animal.

    But the people in the car were also eating meat, as it was mealtime.

    While Chu Tingwu was eating, White, aware of the livestream, greeted the fans in the frame and briefed them on the current situation.

    Many fans recognized White, who was also a renowned expert in wolf behavior observation.

    Meanwhile, Chu Tingwu quietly continued eating.

    White finished speaking, and she was still eating.

    Lian finished, and Chu Tingwu was still working on opening a can.

    Freckles was cleaning up, getting ready to drive, while Chu Tingwu was dipping bread in the can''s sauce.

    [Did the streamer not eat before leaving?]

    [She seems to be really enjoying it, but I checked the brand of that can, ugh, I''ve had that brand too many times and just the sight makes me want to throw up. Are we eating different things?]

    [This kid''s a bit picky, ate all the meat but barely touched the fruit, though she did drink a lot of water.]

    Perhaps because Qi was dozing off in the frame, overseas viewers oddly began focusing on Chu Tingwu''s eating, with some even having an extra bowl of food along with her.

    However, just as she finished clearing her te, Chu Tingwu looked toward the back of the vehicle.

    White: "Did you notice something?"

    Comments¡ª

    [?]

    [Is he asking the streamer?]

    Chu Tingwu: "There''s an injured wolf over there."

    As she finished speaking, another split-screen camera also moved in that direction.

    Fans could only see distant trees and crouching grass, with shadows cast by the moving sun, but as for the wolf... where was it?

    However, after Chu Tingwu adjusted the camera, a stream of question marks floated across thements.

    [Wait, that''s not a rock! That''s a wolf?]

    When Chu Tingwu spotted it, Qi seemed to notice too.

    Viewers watching both screens noticed Qi stop tearing at his food, gaze toward the forest, and then release a long howl.

    After a moment, a howl responded from the other side.

    Then people watched as that wolf emerged from behind the trees.

    White excitedly pped his thigh: "It''s him!"

    It was the wild wolf he had been tracking from the beginning!

    Fans who had been following the camp ount from the start also realized this and were extremely excited¡ª

    [Oh my God! Are we discovering him together with White?]

    [I thought I''d have to keep waiting for ount updates, anxiously waiting for news about this guy, but we actually get to see it live... and we even saw him before White!?]

    [No no, the youngdy spotted him first, then us!]

    [Thank you, blogger! Didn''t White sayst time that if this guy hadn''t left the valley area, he''d give him a name when they saw him again?]

    Wolves in the protection zone usually have their names collected from fan submissions, and since the camp discovered this wolf first, they defaulted to collecting name suggestions from the camp ount''s followers¡ªunless he was actually from another pack and already had a name.

    White also nced at thements, acknowledging that was indeed the case, but since they were outside now, they couldn''t post a new blog post for fans to name through likes¡ª

    Chu Tingwu: "How about on my livestream?"

    Freckles, sitting in the driver''s seat: "=="

    There was a nervous feeling of one''s work being taken away.

    No, they were supposed to take turns managing the ount anyway, this wasn''t his job!

    Fans were suggesting names, but some were throwing cold water on the idea¡ª

    [But Qi and the young wolf have met, they''re both injured, they both need food, and they''re both male wolves? Is now really the time to be naming them?]

    When two injured male wolves meet, if prey appears at that moment, bloodshed could likely ur.

    But it''s also possible they would cautiously eye each other, then silently part ways.

    Qi didn''t move, with the shallow creek behind him, and he called out once more.

    The nameless wolf suddenly started trotting toward Qi''s direction.

    Two cameras filmed from different angles, finally merging into one shot.

    Qi and the wolf were just a sprint''s distance apart.

    The fans held their breath for them.

    Although Qi wasn''t a celebrity wolf, and the male wolf was just a stray from outside¡ªhumans seem naturally inclined to hope for more perfect oues, disliking the sight of bloodshed.

    This wolf was injured, perhaps having worked hard to hunt his food for the day, with his stomach finally feeling full and his healing wound feeling itchy. He hoped to be epted by a pack, or to form a new family with a female wolf.

    ¡ªAnd on the other side, one exactly the same.

    The wolves stared at each other from a moderate distance, until finally, the nameless wolf pounced.

    White drew in a sharp breath.

    But what happened next was different from what he imagined. After knocking Qi down, the nameless wolf pinned him to the ground, then licked his mouth. Qi struggled symbolically for a moment before letting out a short howl.

    The wolf released his front paws, and Qi stood up. The two wolves brought their heads together.

    They nuzzled each other for a while, and White noticed that the "young one''s" wounds had almostpletely healed!

    While Qi''s wounds still somewhat affected his movement¡ªin a fight, Qi would definitely be at a disadvantage.

    But they didn''t fight. They stood side by side, watched the creek for a while, then crossed it and walked away together toward more distant ces.

    "They..." White murmured, "they might have decided to form a temporary alliance, to hunt together."

    [Oh my goodness...]

    [We''re witnessing a rare situation. Usually, male and female wolves form families before epting same-sex wolves from outside (and often only after having cubs), because male wolves could threaten his position. But leaving the pack without finding a female wolf, and instead finding apanion first, perhaps because they were both injured!]

    This was an extremely coincidental situation.

    The injured wolf realized he couldn''t hunt alone to feed himself, and the other wolf he met was simrly injured and without a pack.

    Until they fully recovered, this temporary alliance between the male wolves would likely hold.

    After they had gone some distance, White finally let Freckles drive the car across the creek.

    But as the car bumped along in the creek water, White was still talking excitedly: "I rarely encounter situations like this, but seeing this moment makes me very excited¡ªwolves are the most humanized animals with small societies that I''ve seen so far, and individual behaviors make me feel like I understand them a bit more... but I still feel eternally unsatisfied!"

    Dedicating all his energy to studying another species, each time he uncovered a secret behind their actions brought a satisfying fullness to his heart.

    For White, North American gray wolves were an extremely fascinating species.

    White: "So child, why did youe to study them?"

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    Chu Tingwu: "Because you invited me."

    White: "Haha, but you didn''t reply until almost June, I think there''s more reason than just my invitation."

    Chu Tingwu: "...I heard it''s rare to see Michelle in person, I was curious about this grandmother, so I wanted toe see."

    White nodded continuously: "That''s enough, whether it''s curiosity or deep love, reasons don''t have hierarchies of nobility! And I think you''lle to love them eventually."

    You''re very confident.

    Chu Tingwu rested her chin in her hand, watching the grass and trees bend down outside the window. The sun''s golden light illuminated the dewdrops hidden between the leaves, the air vibrating imperceptibly to humans. Her intuition told her it would rain soon.

    The rain wouldn''tst long, and she wasn''t looking through the camera lens¡ªshe only needed her eyes to see Qi and that male wolf plotting how to hunt a red deer fawn.

    The fawn was tucked under its mother''s belly, while the adult red deer vigntly surveyed its surroundings.

    Oh right, they shouldn''t call him "that male wolf" anymore. After seeing thements section, White said: "His name is Shane now."

    A kind wolf, and therefore somewhat endearing.

    Qi and Shane''s hunt began!

    Adult red deer are actuallyrger than gray wolves, which is why they targeted the fawn.

    But they also had to be wary of the mother deer''s resistance¡ªher hooves could easily make their hunt unsessful.

    As the two wolves drew closer, the mother deer seemed to sense something. She called out twice, summoning her fawn, ready to move elsewhere.

    Shane made his move.

    He ran faster than when he''d met Qi, like a gray-ck shadow chasing after the two deer. The mother deer kept bouncing around, trying to circle around this wolf.

    But Chu Tingwu noticed she seemed to realize this was just one wolf, not a hunting pack.

    The fawn obviously couldn''t run fast, and in one instant, the mother deer suddenly turned her head, raised her hooves toward Shane, and struck forcefully.

    She hid her fawn behind her, but at this moment, while Shane and the mother deer were entangled, Qi suddenly appeared and bit the fawn''s neck.

    When the fawn screamed, the mother deer was clearly affected. She turned to save her fawn, but Shane bit her hard.

    The mother deer''s hooves scraped the soil, seeming to hesitate for half a second, but when both wolves looked at her, she cried out in grief and abandoned her fawn, running away.

    After running some distance, she seemed to regret it, wanting to turn back to rescue her fawn, but Shane blocked her path while Qi dragged the fawn by its neck, blood slowly flowing from the wound.

    When Shane made a charging motion toward the mother deer, she finally gave up.

    Her figure disappeared behind the rocks.

    The livestream cameras captured the entire process, with the "audience" behind the cameras and across the inte holding their breath as they watched.

    This wasn''t a scene from a documentary; this was happening right now.

    They witnessed a life passing before their eyes, while two other lives survived on its flesh. Wild animals often hunt for survival, and even after surviving, their lives are destined to be shorter than those of zoo animals.

    But is such hunting meaningless?

    Perhaps this question is the riddle that nature has set for humans.

    And besides amazement, there were several different emotions among the on-site observers.

    Like Chu Tingwu.

    When the hunt began, her fingers resting by the car window couldn''t help but tighten, leaving a slight foggy print on the ss.

    She could feel an urge rising from deep within her genes¡ªin the dream ssroom, she had always fought withrger, stronger beasts, and perhaps due to "minor age restrictions" or something simr, those animals wouldn''t even bleed.

    Now, watching this real "practical teaching" before her eyes, Chu Tingwu finally understood why the system wanted her to find a mother to guide her.

    Because seeing something in person waspletely different from watching it in videos or simtions.

    She could smell the blood, hear the gray wolves'' breathing, and even the sound of heartbeats during each bite. She could hear the friction between the wolves'' paws and the ground when they exerted force, and her mind instinctively created a more vivid picture.

    Then, Chu Tingwu put herself into the scene.

    If she were a wolf, what would she do?

    But she wasn''t a wolf - she would use a cat''s method, or rather, the method of arger feline.

    And since she wasn''t a cat either, she wouldn''t use her teeth, but with the right tools, she believed she could alsoplete this hunt.

    A strange ambition rose in her heart, but Chu Tingwu eventually suppressed it:

    Beasts hunt for survival, while if she were to "hunt," it would just be for fun.

    ...How cat-like of her.

    The system was also experiencing mixed emotions¡ª

    System: "(Sobbing)"

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    System: "The cub..."

    Chu Tingwu: "This can''t be helped."

    Humans don''t interfere with such natural hunting.

    System: "No, not this red deer cub¡ªI''m thinking about you, my little one. What if you get hurt and I can''t help you, just like this mother deer... (sobbing)"

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    So you''re identifying with the mother deer, and I''m that cub who can only be protected by its mother?!

    She was perfectly capable of fighting! Open your eyes and look - your cub is very strong!

    With a mix of mild disdain and embarrassment, Chu Tingwu dismissed the system, and heard White say: "Let''s choose a camping spot that''s some distance away from Shane and Qi."

    Although the sun hadn''t set yet, those experienced in outdoor camping knew that setting up camp should be done early.

    They usually chose higher ground, sprinkled insect repellent powder, and set up camp next to their vehicle.

    Today they had discovered Shane, sessfully named him, and seen his current situation. White was very satisfied. He looked at the map and asked Freckles to drive west, but just as the vehicle was turning around, Chu Tingwu suddenly said: "Stop for a moment."

    Before White could speak, Freckles had already hit the brakes.

    White: "?"

    Although he was indeed nning to listen to Chu Tingwu, something felt odd.

    Chu Tingwu: "There are wolves... no, a wolf pack."

    White and the other professor instinctively held their breath, using their eyes to ask which direction the wolves were in. The livestream was still on, and fans immediately became excited, asking Chu Tingwu for details¡ª

    [God, tell us which wolf pack it is?]

    [How can you ask so much of God? Any pack with more than three wolves would be fine. Maybe there''s a pack hunting, God, just tell us the direction!]

    Chu Tingwu''s eye twitched as she identally caught sight of thements: everyone seemedpletely unconcerned about how she knew, but were very excited to have her as a wolf radar.

    But she did know which pack it was...

    Currently, perhaps only one wolf pack would deploy so many wolves for a single hunt.

    The first to appear in the camera were the running yaks, and among the yak herd were gray, white, and pure ck shadows. When these three colors of wolves appeared together, there was only one possibility!

    Freckles: "Michelle!"

    Michelle wasn''t visible in the frame yet - that white wolf was Michelle''s great-granddaughter, the ck wolf in front was the pack''s alpha female, and the gray wolf leading at the very front was the pack''s alpha male.

    Their targets were an adult yak and the yak calf beside it.

    More wolves followed behind, encircling and separating their prey from the herd, continuously biting at it until the alpha female at the rear delivered the final strike.

    White was somewhat surprised: "Michelle must be looking after the cubs in the den?"

    Otherwise, the alpha female wouldn''t usually join the hunt while the cubs were still young.

    As experts who had observed this wolf pack for a long time, they could easily count the number of wolves in the pack and name each one.

    Chu Tingwu listened to White''s introduction while matching each wolf, continuously adjusting the camera as the vehicle slowly backed up.

    The wolves were on the upslope while they were below. Although the chances of these wolves suddenly deciding to attack the vehicle were very low, it was better to stay out of their sight.

    Just as Freckles was checking the rearview mirror while backing up, he suddenly heard Chu Tingwu say:

    "Michelle."

    Chu Tingwu''s way of speaking was different from his exmations... Although they had only known each other for a few days, Freckles hadn''t realized that through her consistently truthful way of speaking, Chu Tingwu had won an inexplicable respect among the camp members. Even without giving reasons, without relevant academic credentials, and with no prior experience in wolf observation, her words would be taken seriously.

    He immediately looked up¡ª

    Then a sh of white appeared in his field of vision.

    The wolf pack had already taken down two yaks and begun tearing at them, asionally looking up while ripping off strips of meat. When that familiar white figure appeared in their field of vision, the alpha wolf raised its head and let out a long howl.

    Michelle responded with a howl from the hillside.

    She indeed looked aged now, her fur less lustrous than her descendants'', and despite rtively abundant food, she was still thinner than the pack wolves.

    She raised her head, her golden pupils seeming to look past the slope to the vehicle below.

    Wolves have good memories, and she seemed to recognize the humans driving the vehicle: "Awoo¡ª"

    Then, Michelle leaped forward to join the feeding group.

    Ravens following the wolf pack for opportunities rose and fell at the hilltop, circling in the air like ck wind.

    -

    The team finally found a ce to settle.

    They were on a hilltop separated by a deep ravine from where Michelle''s pack was hunting.

    Despite being so close to the wolves, everyone felt not tension but rather an unspoken excitement.

    White was discussing with the other professor, Freckles was staring nkly at the food, while only Chu Tingwu and Lian were seriously eating.

    Chu Tingwu had wanted to end the livestream, but fans kept leaving messages and donations, pleading:

    [God, we can watch you eat too, we''re fine with an eating broadcast, please let us watch a bit longer!]

    What exactly did they want to see? She wasn''t using an infrared camera for the livestream, so they wouldn''t be able to see anything once it got dark.

    Chu Tingwu ate silently, but she noticed Lian looking up at her several times.Aliali: 674b2f25c4f3f33ac49eb9b3

    Finally, Lian''s gaze settled on Chu Tingwu''s lunchbox.

    She still maintained her habit of cooking one meal in the evening, simply reheating the previously prepared food after setting up camp.

    And her lunchbox had the most meat.

    Lian: "Could I have a little bit?"

    She sped her hands together at Chu Tingwu¡ªprobably knowing about Chu Tingwu''s appetite, Lian seemed embarrassed asking this, so she added:

    "Meow?"

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    "Meow..."

    Chu Tingwu: "Here."

    If you want to eat, just say so... you really don''t need to call me mom!

 Chapter 67

    Three-Five-Five had actually been awake for a while.

    But hearing the sounds beside her, she just wanted to pretend to be asleep.

    And so, an ordinary morning began with the Tortoiseshell Cat feigning sleep.

    Only after the kittens'' noisy sounds grew louder, followed by the sound of something falling over, doors opening, distant whistles, and "meow" calls... did Three-Five-Five finally open her eyes.

    The Tortoiseshell Caty at the top of the room''s highest shelf, looking down at the kittens below.

    The trainer, who was also under her gaze, knocked on the door: "Three-Five-Five,e down for breakfast."

    Only then did Three-Five-Five let out a "meow," leaping down from above, pushing aside a rolling tabby kitten, and sniffing at her specially elevated food bowl.

    The adult Tortoiseshell Cat''s food was naturally different from the kittens'', and at this age, the kittens'' curriculum included "obedience training" - though they weren''t required to carry their food bowls in line like police dogs, they at least couldn''t fight over food.

    The trainer noticed the tabby and ck-and-white kittens fighting as they approached, and was about to speak up when Three-Five-Five turned her head and impatiently let out a "meow."

    The kittens bumped heads and settled down at their own food bowls, purring.

    Then Three-Five-Five jumped up again, pulling out an orange kitten who had buried its head in the neighboring bowl while eating, and pressed its head down while scolding it twice.

    And so began another noisy day.

    After breakfast, the trainer should have taken the kittens to the training ground, but she waited a moment as Three-Five-Five sat with her legs tucked under her, head constantly turning to the left.

    A drone ball rose into the air, and Three-Five-Five called out once, followed by a "meow" sound - though it sounded like a cat, the trainer knew it was actually Chu Tingwu speaking.

    The human and cat conversed in catnguage for a while, which was typically when Three-Five-Five was most talkative during the day.

    Whilemunicating with her own kitten, Three-Five-Five also herded the other kittens out the door.

    The trainer followed behind, watching the adult cat leading kittens of various colors, keeping an eye on each one''s condition, preventing them from getting lost or straying.

    The drone ball followed them out, and after many times, the trainer realized that Chu Tingwu would asionally say a few words tofort the kittens, helping Three-Five-Five from afar.

    After driving all the kittens into the training room without missing a single one, they were handed over to the trainer.

    The kittens'' recent training involved controlled hunting and pouncing exercises, but they had to follow humanmands toplete different stages of hunting, such as restraining prey without biting or ying with it.

    This naturally went against feline instincts, but selecting police cats meant picking out those who could control themselves from among ordinary cats.

    Three-Five-Five left the kittens behind, crouched on the window to watch for a while, then sniffed dismissively before leaping down from the windowsill.

    The trainer knew she was probably heading out.

    Except for the first day she arrived, Three-Five-Five had never spent an entire day at the police dog training base.

    She seemed to be a cat who naturally disliked being confined indoors, and actively expanded her territory.

    Because they knew Three-Five-Five could understand human speech, and had received Chu Tingwu''s request.

    So, when the Tortoiseshell Cat mother first went out, the trainer stopped her: "It''s not safe for a cat to go out alone... unless you can pass these tests?"

    After saying the first half of the sentence, they unconsciously added the second half.

    Perhaps it was because after spending time with intelligent animals, they knew the animals wouldn''tpletely obey just because you gave a mand" - some dogs would stare with big eyes, waiting for your exnation.

    The trainer suspected: what the dogs waited for wasn''t the exnation, but rather your attitude in "exining the reason." Being too forceful during non-mission times would only hurt their feelings.

    Those tests were naturally the ones arranged for adult police cats.

    The Tortoiseshell Cat swung her tail to the front, pressing it down with both front paws, seemingly deep in thought.

    Later, when the trainers set up recording equipment at the test site, the Tortoiseshell Cat came over to sniff the camera and made an affirmative sound.

    Trainer: "?"

    The trainer suddenly realized: the timing of the test wasn''t ideal as Chu Tingwu couldn''t watch, but the cat mother recognized the camera and knew that with it, the footage could be sent to Chu Tingwu.

    This cat was a bit too clever.

    With a kind of indescribable anticipation, all the trainers at the base gathered to watch Three-Five-Five''s "test."

    She passed the item retrieval and inspection tests very quickly. During the posture and memory action tests, Three-Five-Five could quicklyplete eachmand the trainer gave, but when the trainer was expressing admiration, they looked down and saw Three-Five-Five''s expression¡ª

    Trainer: "Okay, okay, that''s enough, you can stop holding the pose."

    Though still maintaining the pose, the cat looked like she wanted to stab him, every hair expressing her impatience.

    In the practicalbat simtion, pouncing, and defense tests, Three-Five-Five passed smoothly. Herbat test even gave everyone a surprise¡ªThree-Five-Five looked big, but no one expected she could maintain such powerful pouncing and restraining abilities while keeping her agility.

    Shepleted all the consecutive tests... but still couldn''t be a police cat, even if Chu Tingwu was willing, because everyone could see that during the obedience test, the cat was barely giving them face, just to pass the test and go outside.

    Her true obedience level was probably zero.

    After the test, just as Chu Tingwu was able to call, the trainer said: "We''ll probably edit Three-Five-Five''s test process into a mini-variety show."

    He joked: "Of course, it might also be used as standardized teaching material."

    They just hoped the kittens would learn the skills, not the attitude.

    The kitten who had learned the attitude nodded: "It''s fine, Three-Five-Five won''t mind anyway."

    The drone ball flew up again, but after learning about its cost and flight height limitations, the base wasn''t so envious anymore.

    ¡ªWhen the system initially produced the blueprints, it considered using materials Chu Tingwu could buy, and the kitten didn''t need high-altitude filming. So the performance and price didn''t meet military requirements.

    The drone ball floated behind Three-Five-Five as she left. The Tortoiseshell Cat turned her head to meow at the ball, then jumped onto the wall, leaped onto the neighboring house''s carport roof, and leisurely walked into the distance.

    Three-Five-Five''s tail was half-raised, her pace neither fast nor slow. After walking two blocks, shey down on top of the wall and yawned.

    After she finished yawning, a ck cat suddenly emerged from a hole in the wall.

    This pure ck cat jumped onto the wall, nuzzled Three-Five-Five''s head, and the two cats stayed close together tomunicate for a while before continuing forward, one in front of the other, their steps perfectly synchronized.

    Soon, five cats had gathered behind Three-Five-Five.

    Among these cats were both strays and house cats wearing cors. Most of the house cats lived on the first floor, and after hearing the call, they came directly out through their cat doors.

    When the cats gathered together and reached the road, they didn''t cross it but walked gracefully along the roadside.

    There''s nothing strange about several cats moving together, but there was a drone ball floating diagonally behind them. Some passersby who saw the drone ball for the first time were greatly surprised, and after taking photos, they tried to reach out and grab it. The system had to control the ball to rise higher, feeling quite helpless.

    If it had been following Chu Tingwu, most people would only dare to make conversation when they saw someone, not reach out directly.

    But when following cats, even knowing it was controlled by someone, people''s behavior became much bolder.

    And Three-Five-Five wasn''t helping it!

    "Meow?"

    The Tortoiseshell Cat in front stopped, seemingly confused about why the flight ball wasn''t keeping up, and called out once in encouragement.

    System: "=="

    Coming,ing.

    The group of cats made their way to the nearby elementary school entrance.

    Three-Five-Five led the way inside, while the system skillfully hacked the nearby surveince cameras, editing out its own appearance, and stealthily followed behind the cats, floating in¡ª

    It couldn''t be helped; drones couldn''t just enter the campus at will.

    A teacher noticed a few cats slipping past the wall and nced over, finding them not too dirty, so he didn''t pay much attention. Although it was a bit strange for these cats to gather together, wild cats generally wouldn''t attack humans unless provoked.

    The system also slipped past, hovering outside the window, watching as Three-Five-Five and the other cats entered a ssroom. There were no students in the ssroom at the moment because they were having their lessons on the yground. One of the stray cats meowed softly, leapt onto a desk, and Three-Five-Five approached, skillfully pulling out a backpack from under the desk, biting open the zipper, and retrieving a few books with the strongest ink scent.

    Before long, the teacher saw the cats leave together and continued to scroll through his phone, not bothering to intervene.

    It wasn''t until half an hourter that he heard crying from the ssroom. A student was crying and shouting:

    "My workbook is gone! My backpack is on the floor, someone has been rummaging through my desk, someone has been rummaging through my desk¡ª"

    For elementary school students, losing books was a big deal. Even forgetting their red scarves was enough to make them cry, let alone a few halfpleted workbooks. Tonight''s homework for several subjects would be based on those books, and he would have to ask his parents to buy new ones.

    The teacher hurried over to check and asked a few students sitting nearby, but everyone imed they hadn''t taken it.

    The teacher was a bit angry: "So did I take it? Zhu Zhengyi, I''ll call your parents and have theme to school. We''ll go check the surveince together."

    Zhu Zhengyi, while packing his backpack, red at the few around him.

    Meanwhile, the cats had carried the workbooks into the small woods, each taking turns to bite a few holes, and then Three-Five-Five raised a paw to pat the stray cat''s head.

    This was the cat''s revenge.

    The stray cat lived near Zhu Zhengyi''s home. A few days ago, the boy had chased it with a water gun, squirting water into its eyes, scaring the cat away. Then he lured the cat back with food and continued squirting.

    After repeating this twice, Three-Five-Five, passing by, kicked the boy in the back of the head.

    After the tortoiseshell cat kicked him, it perched on the wall, looking down disdainfully at the human child¡ªthe water gun''s pressure wasn''t enough to spray high, and realizing it couldn''t reach the tortoiseshell cat, and also finding it a bit toorge and with sharp ws, the boy left reluctantly.

    But just because he let the cat go, didn''t mean the cat would let him off.

    In the surveince room, both the teacher and the parents were quite astonished when they saw the footage.

    The parent was puzzled: "What would cats want with workbooks? And why did they choose Zhu Zhengyi''s backpack?"

    The system didn''t delete this part of the surveince footage because the host told it there was no need.

    Unable to withstand the pressure from the parents and teacher''s gaze, the boy meekly recounted what had happened a few days ago, along with other incidents like snatching his desk mate''s snacks and failing to copy homework, resulting in a quarrel with the ss monitor.

    He thought these cats might also be hired mercenaries sent by his desk mate or the ss monitor.

    The parent: "¡­¡­"

    The parent gave the child a p on the head, and the crying resumed.

    However, the cats didn''t care.

    Cats didn''t concern themselves with human education. Havingpleted their revenge, they once again gathered and, bypassing the school''s back gate, arrived at a scrapyard.

    The couple running the scrapyard heard themotion and turned their heads: "Oh, it''s you guys."

    Recently, the scrapyard had been infested with mice, and the couple was worried about their old books being gnawed. A couple of days ago, they saw a stray cat licking its paws nearby and decided to give it a try:

    "Kitty, kitty...e here, we have something good to eat."

    They took out two sausages, trying to hire the stray cat to catch mice. However, after eating one and a half, the cat wandered around the scrapyard for a bit and then left.

    The couple exchanged nces, both feeling a mix of amusement and frustration.

    While they were searching online for effective rat poison, they saw the stray cat return, this time following a tortoiseshell cat.

    The couple: "?"

    The tortoiseshell cat leapt onto the table, nced at the half-eaten sausage, and then casually sniffed around their kitchen, before meowing softly.

    The other cats went in to chase the mice.

    Not only did they catch mice from the scrap, but one white cat even retrieved arge cockroach about the size of half a palm.

    The couple: "¡­¡­"

    They were having trouble breathing.

    Afterpleting half the job, the cats gathered in front of the couple again, under the call of the tortoiseshell cat. The wife realized: "You want your reward, right?"

    She not only opened more sausages but also bought some cat food from a nearby supermarket, mixing it all together. The cats drank water inrge gulps, though not all of them focused on eating.

    The tortoiseshell cat just watched from the side, asionally flicking its tail.

    Then they finished and left.

    The couple: "=="

    The next day, they came back to finish the remaining half.

    It seemed like yesterday''s work was considered half payment.

    The couple noticed that this time, there was even a dog among the cats.

    A Yorkie wearing a cor, very obediently squatting beside, the other end of the cor tied to the tortoiseshell cat''s cor. Not only did it not make noise, but when the two cats suddenly started fighting, the Yorkie barked to mediate, its tail wagging very fast, as if saying, "Stop fighting, stop fighting, woof!"

    And while walking the dog, the tortoiseshell cat''s head also had a... drone?

    Looking at the camera, it seemed to be the shape of a drone, looking very expensive!

    The husband eximed: "This tortoiseshell cat is really amazing, not only does it help its owner walk the dog, but it can also walk a drone!"

    The system: "¡­¡­"

    You''re the one being walked, drone!

    Because cockroaches, once discovered, might mean there''s a whole nest, the scrapyard''s cockroaches couldn''t bepletely eradicated in the short term. After buying cockroach traps, the couple waited daily for the cats toe.

    The next day, a cockroach trap stuck to the ck cat''s fur.

    Not only that, they also acted as intermediaries, introducing this team of cats to their neighbors.

    One neighbor came over to visit, taking a liking to the orange-and-white stray cat, sturdy and clean, and couldn''t help but say: "Why don''t I adopt you?"

    The orange-and-white cat immediately looked up, eyes wide with shock, then took a step back:

    I''m here to work, you actually want to kidnap me?

    The neighbor: "=_="

    I know you''re picky, but is that expression a bit too human-like, kitty?

    A cockroach quickly crawled by from below, and the tortoiseshell cat swiftly extended its paw to press it down, seemingly about to bite, but then paused.

    The flying sphere above floated down, its camera aimed at her.

    Tortoiseshell Cat: "¡­¡­"

    She used her paw to hook the cockroach''s antennae, flinging it in front of the ck cat, then wiped her paw on the neighbor''s pants.

    The neighbor: "=_="

    Couldn''t you have done that when I wasn''t looking? Why do it right in front of me, kitty?

    Only the neighbor was hurt. After finishing their work, the cats dispersed at the door, some going home, some finding a spot to sunbathe.

    The bright July sun made it hard to open one''s eyes, and it was only slightly better in the afternoon. The Yorkie, Cheng Cheng, who followed Three-Five-Five, ran a few steps and felt hot, woofing twice before the cat and dog approached a public washbasin, turning on the tap to drink.

    The people who had just finished ying basketball nearby: "¡­¡­"

    After drinking, the cat and dog headed towards the direction of the fifth middle school, where Three-Five-Five handed Cheng Cheng over to the security guard, then strolled around the yground¡ª

    There were no people on the yground at the moment, but a sh of light suddenly appeared from a building on the second floor in the distance.

    Three-Five-Five let out a "meow-ooh" and strolled back to themunity, skillfully jumping up to swipe a card, then arriving at room 201 on the second floor.

    Cao Meng opened the door and his eyes lit up: "Three-Five-Five!"

    He weed the cat in, noticing the drone following closely behind, and then dashed into the room.

    The living room was air-conditioned, with Teacher Yuan in the study and Teacher Cao at school, while Cao Meng''s little friends were all sitting in the living room, one of them holding the sprawled-out Tortoiseshell Cat.

    Cao Meng slid back into his seat and introduced to his friends, "This is Three-Five-Five, the cat from the alien sister next door!"

    "Wow¡ª¡ª"

    He fetched a brush for grooming and began tob the long fur of the lying Three-Five-Five. Then, the other children gathered around, listening as Cao Meng pointed at the drone and exined who the "alien sister next door" was.

    What a fresh and intriguing, dramatic story it was!

    System: "¡­¡­"

    The system, hovering cautiously above, thought: "¡­¡­"

    Why did it always feel like it was being led around by the cat?

    Must be a delusion.

    By evening, after a half-day nap at Cao Meng''s house, Three-Five-Five would return to the training base on its own.

    The system, fully charged, followed behind.

    But after reaching the outskirts of the training base, Three-Five-Five wouldn''t enter through the main gate; instead, it would try to leap to the highest point from the perimeter buildings¡ªsometimes using the drone for a boost.

    As the sky darkened, hearing the distant calls of young kittens, Three-Five-Fivey on the rooftop and meowed towards the drone.

    The system then projected Chu Tingwu''s image directly onto the ground in front of the cat.

    The drone had projection capabilities, though the rity was not always the best.

    Chu Tingwu waved.

    Three-Five-Five squinted for a while, then moved slightly, cing its front paws against therge palm of the baby.

    It was morning where Chu Tingwu was.

    The air was thick with mist, the sky half golden, half deep gray, and distant howls of wolves could be heard.

    In fact,st night, not only wolves but also two grizzly bears had passed below their campsite.

    When they got up in the morning, they could see a deer skeleton discarded by the stream, with crows hopping among the bones.

    Soon after, White eximed excitedly, "The brothers are here."

    Scavenging was a daily routine for lone wolves, and a major source of their food.

    The two injured wolves, Qi and Shane, tore at the meat on the deer bones, asionally looking up... Their vignce proved useful because the grizzly that had killed the deer actually returned!

    The bear spotted them from a distance and quickly descended the hillside on all fours. Another professor mused, "It might have gone to find another female bear."

    The two bears that passed byst night were a male and a female, and this male bear had likely caught the scent of the female bear and, midway through hunting and eating, chose to abandon his food in pursuit of a mate.

    And then...

    Chu Tingwu knew that then he got beaten up.

    Having just been thrashed by the female bear and now discovering his food stolen by two wolves, the male bear was understandably furious.

    The two injured wolves clearly weren''t a match for an adult male bear. The bear charged over, shoved the wolves aside, and imed the deer carcass.

    White, holding a camera, filmed the scene, whispering to himself, "Will the young ones choose to confront this bear head-on? They must cherish every bit of food they get because they never know where the next meal wille from!"

    Summer was indeed a season rich in food for all animals, but that also meant the prey was stronger, faster, and had more powerful hooves.

    The two male wolves had no advantage.

    They indeed lingered near the bear, seemingly unable to give up, and finally, it seemed they made a decision.

    Shane began to hop around in front of the bear, deliberately making movements that suggested his injured leg was affecting him.

    Chu Tingwu: "Huh...?"

    She realized that Shane was harassing the bear, enticing it to attack him.

    Sure enough, the bear grew annoyed and left the deer to chase after Shane. Meanwhile, Qi rushed in, tore off a strip of meat, and dashed away, while the bear, after a chase, realized something was off and returned to guard its food.

    The two wolves then met up with the stolen food.

    White continued filming, smiling. The others watched with rtively good moods.

    Clever, cunning wolves.

    But despite capturing enough footage, they still hadn''t found a chance to install satellite trackers on the two wolves, so they adjusted the positions of some infrared cameras nearby and then returned with regret.

    On the way back, White chatted with them about the habits of gray wolves, perhaps teaching Chu Tingwu, who was not a student, along with his own. But upon returning to the camp, he received a call and his expression immediately changed.

    "Damn it..." White muttered, "This is really bad timing."

    He discussed with the professor and then called Chu Tingwu and the others over.

    "I have something urgent and need to leave for a week... Do you want to leave with me, or stay here?"

    Freckles: "We can stay and continue your research!"

    White shook his head, looking somewhat conflicted. He first nced at Chu Tingwu, then between Freckles and Lian, and finally patted Freckles on the shoulder, "How about this? You can stay and carry out the daily patrol work, but you need to report to Professor Wilson first. Chu, can you keep the whole process live-streamed?"

    This was to ensure that if something went wrong, White could monitor the situation through the live stream.

    "And, Bernie, you''ll lead the team during this period."

    Bernie, aka Freckles, clenched his fists excitedly and nodded.

    ¡ªClearly, he wasn''t White''s most outstanding student; White favored Lian more. But Lian wasn''t good at such detailed work, preferring pure research, and her personality was a bit quirky.

    Chu Tingwu was even less likely to be chosen, so in this situation, he was the only option.Aliali: 674b2f25c4f3f33ac49eb9b3

    He turned to look at Chu Tingwu and Lian: "You two..."

    Lian: "Meow?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Meow!"

    Lian: "Awoo¡ª¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu: "Awoo!"

    Freckles: "......You two, which direction do you want to go tomorrow?"

    Lian looked at Chu Tingwu, who said, "I''ll arrange it."

    Freckles: "Then, I''ll go ask the rangers if there''s anything extra they need to pay attention to."

    Chu Tingwu nodded: "Thank you."

    Not hard work, just a tough life. What kind of team leader? Just a nanny for you two.

 Chapter 68

    Chu Tingwu woke up very early.

    The ranger had already brought back the parts she purchased.

    When she opened the door to go out, Freckles was having breakfast, taking two bites before staring nkly at his phone screen, lost in thought.

    Freckles had dark circles under his eyes, and Chu Tingwu could tell with just a nce that he hadn''t sleptst night.

    Upon seeing Chu Tingwu, Freckles stood up: "Wu, need any help?"

    He followed her to the car and helped the ranger unload the boxes, including a box of coffee¡ªthey had run out recently, and everyone had been anxiously waiting for it.

    Freckles tried to take the box from Chu Tingwu''s hands, but as soon as he supported it, he nearly toppled over.

    He was stunned for a moment, then noticed the small girl beside him reaching out to support the bottom of the box, using her other hand to steady the edge, and walked back inside quite naturally.

    Freckles: "?"

    The contents of Chu Tingwu''s box were drone parts for assembly. Because there were so many items, sheid out a waterproof cloth in the corner of the living room and began assembling them on the spot.

    Afterying everything out, she thought for a moment and took out her previous fixed-position camera to film herself.

    When she chose to start streaming, both her domestic ount and overseas tform ount began broadcasting simultaneously.

    ¡ªThis was set up by the website staff after herst livestream.

    The staff were working on a program in the backend to make thements from both tforms disy on screen simultaneously, or show them in two separate locations, even with a few seconds'' dy would be eptable.

    ...Even the system wanted to help them.

    Of course, this wasn''t really the streamer''s concern.

    She could now open two screens and watchments from both tforms simultaneously.

    Her domestic friends skillfully greeted her and asked:

    [Master Chu, why are you filming indoors today? It''s morning there, right?]

    Chu Tingwu: "Because it''s raining outside¡ª"

    She moved the camera to show everyone the grey-white sky outside, then said, "This rain will stop at 2 PM, so we decided to head out after that."

    Freckles, who was making coffee nearby: "?"

    They had only nned to go out in the afternoon, how could she be so precise about when the rain would stop?

    The overseas friends were also very enthusiastic. Although Chu Tingwu''s livestream title was "Rainy day, staying in for a chat," they joined quickly.

    [Good morning, dear streamer, hope we can catch the wolf pack this afternoon, best if we can see Michelle!]

    This was a streamer who could broadcast from the protection zone¡ªwatching her livestream was much faster than getting wolf news through normal channels!

    [Huh? Didn''t you all call her ''goddess'' yesterday? Why change the title today!]

    [When she streams outdoors¡ªshe''s the goddess of wolf-finding!]

    Chu Tingwu: "That''s not necessary."

    She wasn''t very familiar with these new overseas fans, so she usually chatted more with her domestic friends, but fortunately, they tended to ask simr questions.

    Like what she was doing now.

    Chu Tingwu showed them the tools in her hands:

    "I''m trying to manually assemble a drone, which I''ll use for streamingter."

    [But isn''t drone use prohibited in the protection zone?]

    [If you encounter birds of prey, it could easily crash, right? Not only could it affect the animals, but it would also be hard to recover.]

    The Red Stone Protection Zone had very strict requirements for drone use, generally only allowing drone flights in special circumstances.

    Chu Tingwu was indeed a special case, and she showed them her phone screen: "My application was approved."

    Everyone: "?"

    She had gotten approval based on her drone''s quality and the system''s capabilities¡ªafter signing the contract, the flight trajectory data had to be uploaded in real-time to the Red Stone Protection Zone''s central control system during flights, subject to manual review. Plus, if the drone crashed, she would have to pay substantialpensation.

    These details didn''t need to be exined to the viewers one by one. Chu Tingwu continued her handiwork while chatting with others, and although they couldn''t go outside, everyone was curious about life in the camp.

    "A bear did approachst night, but after pawing at the door, the grizzly left," Chu Tingwu said, "Um... my hearing is quite sensitive, I heard the ranger getting up to look for tools. If the bear hadn''t left on its own, considering camp safety, the ranger might have had to drive it away."

    At that time, Chu Tingwu had rolled over, contemting whether she should find a way topletely muffle her ears.

    Next door, Lian was sleeping peacefully, her posture very proper, hands ced t on her stomach,pletely still despite the noise outside.

    "Our food? Actually, the protection zone provides us with food, we just need to collect it regrly, so there''s no food shortage issue... though the variety isn''t very rich. I don''t think that''s the protection zone''s fault, well, anyway, I cook whenever I have time."

    [Cook... yourself (drooling)]

    [How cruel! I''ve been following your streams from the beginning and never got to taste your cooking! Do I really have to wait until next life and reincarnate as a cat?]

    [For reincarnation, you have to pick the right map too. Fallen Phoenix City is the luckiest, Jin City second best. If you''re unlucky enough to end up in the protection zone, they won''t even answer when youe knocking!]

    Chu Tingwu: "=v="

    "A wolf dide knocking this morning..."

    Shane and the grizzly seemed to have developed a rivalry¡ªnot long after the grizzly had been prowling aroundst night, Shane showed up too.

    And it happened just as the ranger was driving up but hadn''t yet entered the camp.

    The protection zone rangers weren''t too nervous about seeing wolves, indicating they shouldn''t open the door, nning to wait for the grey wolf to leave on its own.

    But Shane stared at their car for a while, hesitantlyy down nearby: "Awoo¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu heard the sound and after some consideration, confirmed that this grey wolf actually harbored no hostility.

    After a standoff, the other humans realized this too, and after making shooing gestures, Shane left, only watching from afar as the vehicle entered the camp.

    Chu Tingwu: "He might have been seeking our help."

    She suspected that this wolf might have lived in an area with frequent human activity before arriving at the protection zone, and had previously received help or feeding from humans, so he believed seeking human help again would be useful.

    The wolf''s morning visit was like a small interlude. By noon, the rain had lessened considerably. Freckles kepting out to check the rain every so often, seemingly wanting to head out now but not feeling entirely confident, so he came to ask Chu Tingwu''s opinion¡ª

    "Maybe we could try going out to stream now? It would be good for attracting followers too!"

    Lian was crunching on small round cookies nearby.

    Chu Tingwu had spent the whole morning just finishing assembling the flying drone ball, but she held the ball without speaking, seemingly listening to something, and finally waved at Freckles, pointing to the ranger''s room.

    As Freckles turned his head, the ranger suddenly pushed open the door, pulling on his coat while cursing: "Damn it, isn''t the interaction zone enough? They just had to drive into the core area themselves!"

    Another professor heard themotion and came out to ask: "What''s wrong?"

    Ranger: "Some young people drove here and now they''re probably lost! Theirst distress signal came from about five kilometers away from us, seems like they''re out of gas. I need to drive over and check."

    Chu Tingwu interjected: "Drive carefully, the rain will get heavier in half an hour."

    The ranger looked at the drizzle outside, seemingly skeptical, but after hesitating, still asked: "How do you know?"

    Chu Tingwu: "The air pressure told me."

    Ranger: "Oh, your weather app must be pretty good then."

    He mumbled something, unclear whether he had taken her words to heart.

    Freckles made a surprised sound: "How many of them are there? Should we take our car too?"

    The ranger nodded, and the three of them got into the car one after another.

    Two vehicles drove out of the camp one after another. Although Freckles was still driving, he looked much more excited than before.

    Before getting into the car, Chu Tingwu released a drone and connected its feed to the livestream, minimizing her own camera view to a corner.

    The livestream channels on both tforms immediately became active.

    Earlier, some viewers felt like they had stumbled into an ASMR stream while watching the host doing crafts (which they couldn''t understand at all) and chatting with her, even managing to finish their homework in the process.

    Now they could finally see the outdoors, and with rare drone footage too. Fans eagerly urged:

    [Go higher! Fly it higher!]

    The drone began to ascend.

    The earth appeared in a murky mix of green and yellow, with the camp being the only ssh of blue and white in thendscape. A stream cut through it, and animals could be seen moving beneath the forest canopy.

    Droplets of rain transformed into misty haze, and at sufficient height, the entire scene appeared to be shrouded in a smoke-like veil.

    Even from this height, there were no signs of human impact on nature. Herds of wild buffalo wandered through the rain, with no buildings or power lines in sight, no nes overhead. The wild animals ignored all humans, going about their own lives, making the vehicles appear strikingly out of ce when the camera panned to them.

    Freckles drove attentively, following the ranger''s vehicle.

    Although the straight-line distance was five kilometers, they couldn''t travel in a straight line.

    There were no roads in the core area, so they had to take a long detour, and they couldn''t drive too fast, having to be careful not to hit any animals.

    Just as he was thinking this, the car ahead stopped, and Freckles turned his head in confusion as he heard a wolf''s howl.

    "That sound..." he mumbled, "is that Shane?"

    After hearing the same wolf''s voice so many times, one could probably identify it by sound even without seeing the wolf.

    He contacted the ranger ahead, who confirmed: "Yes, it''s Shane. He''s blocking the road ahead."

    Chu Tingwu: "Perhaps Qi is injured."

    Qi had been injured before, and they hadn''t seen him today.

    Due to the rain, Chu Tingwu''s sense of smell was slightly affected, but thinking back now, she realized both the bear fromst night and Shane today carried the scent of Qi''s blood.

    Yesterday Qi''s injuries should have been improving, but today, they had probably worsened.

    The ranger started his vehicle, saying coldly: "I''ll contact the nearby veterinarians and let them decide how to handle it."

    His current mission was to pick up those reckless young people.

    Shane continued to linger near the vehicles but didn''t block their path. When the cars started moving, he followed for a short distance, then gradually slowed down and finally stopped.

    The drone faithfully recorded this footage, and viewers in the chat felt sad¡ª

    [Why can''t they stop to help? Maybe Qi is really badly hurt, unable to recover in the rain, and before leaving their temporary stop, Shane promised his little brother he''d find help...]

    [But not only did he fail to get human help, he also wasted a morning without hunting for food.]

    How disappointed Qi must be.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    Although everyone''s imagination was indeed sad, but¡ª

    She instructed the system to stop following their car and instead aerial film Shane''s situation.

    In front of the livestream audience, under the watchful eyes of Chu Tingwu and Lian, Shane dug out a plump opossum from a burrow and carried it into the forest.

    Everyone: "..."

    This wild wolf apparently wasn''t going to starve anytime soon.

    The wolf''s figure disappeared from the camera, and the drone turned to fly back, but the rain seemed to be getting heavier in front of the lens.

    With a p of thunder from the sky, Freckles took a deep breath and looked straight ahead.

    After driving for half an hour, the light rain had indeed turned into a downpour as Chu Tingwu had predicted, and visibility had decreased.

    He had to slow down the vehicle, then asked: "When will the rain let up?"

    Chu Tingwu: "In about twenty minutes."

    That''s good, twenty minutes should be fine, right? But soon, he changed his mind as the ranger ahead asked them to stop and wait for the rain to lighten while he continued driving forward.

    Ranger: "Once the rain lessens, you can eithere join me or just head back."

    After finding those young people, he would still have room for a few more in his car.

    Freckles made an "ah" sound and slowly stopped the car: White had left the protected area, but ording to protocol, even though Freckles had be the leader of this small team, they should still have a ranger with them when going out.

    Now, the ranger''s car was getting further away, soon disappearingpletely in the rain.

    Freckles looked out the window.

    Then, he turned to look at Lian, and finally rested his gaze on Chu Tingwu: "Do you have any suggestions?"

    Chu Tingwu climbed from the back seat to the front: "Keep driving to the left, maintain current speed, I''ll tell you when to stop if we encounter wildlife."

    Freckles: "..."

    He actually got a suggestion=-=

    In fact, he had only asked Chu Tingwu out of a sense of "shared responsibility," as he was also somewhat eager to prove to White that they couldplete the work on their own. But after ncing at Chu Tingwu''s expression, Freckles just shut up and drove.

    The young girl seemed to know everything, yet looked as if she didn''t care at all.

    Theypleted some marking work along the way, retrieved videos from infrared cameras, andpleted the recording transfer in the car. At exactly two in the afternoon, the weather cleared up on schedule, sunlight breaking through the clouds. Freckles looked up at the sky, then at the distant deer herd, suddenly realizing that not only had they been unaffected by the weather today, but their taskpletion efficiency was actually slightly higher than before.

    The difference seemed to be... White''s absence? No, no, no, it was Chu Tingwu''s directions!

    He curiously nced at Chu Tingwu''s livestream screen set aside, able to see others''ments saying¡ª

    [For some reason, I feel like the chances of finding wolf packs are higher when White isn''t around?]

    [Yes, yes, although there wasn''t livestreaming before, they would update the blog daily, right? Is today''s luck especially good?]

    [It''s obvious you didn''t watch yesterday''s stream, it''s because the Goddess is amazing! She can tell which paths the wolf packs have passed through, and Lian can identify which pack it is and count all the wolves in it at a nce...]

    During the livestream, since Chu Tingwu wasn''t yet too familiar with the local wolves, Lian mainly did thementary.

    Hermentary voice was calm, and although she didn''t have a broadcaster''s tone, it had an educational quality that somehow kept many people intrigued.

    The system updated the livestream mini-program, importing real-time data of the wolves they encountered into clickable floating boxes, and even updated a small wolf pack map¡ªsurprising the "inexperienced" viewers on the overseas tform.

    That''s what domestic viewers watching both tforms''ments simultaneously thought.

    Chu Tingwu suddenly felt there might be no need to let the two tforms''ments interact¡ª

    See, even without interaction, they could still argue.

    [It''s just adding new mini-programs to the livestream, haven''t you seen videos of Chu Kitty ying with real-time livestream effects? Although there are still recordings now, recordings don''t have the same feel as live!]

    [Hmph! Doesn''t this just show that this website''s livestreaming system still has many shorings? The host''s abilities are her own merit, but the tform itself isn''t providing a suitable tform. She shoulde stream on 3C instead!]

    This was currently one of the world''s hottest video tforms, having produced global celebrities with hundreds of millions of followers.

    [Aren''t all livestreaming tforms basically the same? 3C just has higher traffic. Our Chu Meow is doing great on Fenhua, why should she switch to a new tform?]

    [@CCC, when are you going to update the system? The content of the streamer''s current broadcast definitely has an audience, and why are you suddenly using proverbs and idioms? Please speak normally.]

    [...Not arguing with an illiterate @Fenhua Network Video tform, didn''t you guys develop a new program? Why aren''t the other UPs as sharp and intelligent as Chu Mi, otherwise you could just throw a link at them. Are your programmers not working hard enough!]

    The staff of the two major video websites: "¡­¡­"

    The system: "Ah¡­¡­"

    It seems like it can make some more money for the younglings again.

    Chu Tingwu, at this moment, patted Freckles on the shoulder¡ªording to their tacit understanding, this was the signal for him to stop the car.

    Freckles: "Are there wolves?"

    He had now be ustomed to following Chu Tingwu''s advice, after all, what she said... was always right.

    Chu Tingwu nced at the sky, then told the viewers in the live stream: "The battery is running low, so today''s live stream ends here."

    Freckles: "?"

    He didn''t know how Chu Tingwu''s drone was made, but the drone''s battery was clearly very full.

    ¡ªAnd the fans, based onmon sense, assumed the drone really needed charging and said their goodbyes.

    Just a few minutes after the live stream closed, White, who had just finished a meeting in another state, opened his phone and entered the live stream room¡ª

    ¡¾The streamer you follow has gone offline~¡¿

    White: "?"

    He flipped through the recording and murmured, "What a coincidence."

    However, today''s recording seemed fine, and the team could handle the work smoothly on their own.

    They should be on their way back now, right?

    -

    Chu Tingwu: "Let''s find a ce to camp."

    Freckles: "¡­¡­ah, ah?"

    But the ranger isn''t here!

    Chu Tingwu: "White didn''t say we couldn''t camp alone, he only said we shouldn''t go out without a ranger."

    And now it''s the ranger who left us, not us who left the ranger.

    Chu Tingwu also sent a message to the ranger who stayed behind, stating that they had taken camping gear and driven a bit far, likely returning tomorrow.

    The ranger who went out to escort tourists didn''t return, creating an information gap. Lian didn''t object, Freckles hesitated but didn''t object either, and the three sessfully stayed overnight in the wilderness.

    Chu Tingwu knew that the first step of her goal was aplished.

    She was curious about Qi''s current state¡ªand after several days, the team hadn''t been able to put a satellite tracker on Qi, which Chu Tingwu felt was a bit too slow.

    They chose several camping spots on the map, and finally Chu Tingwu picked one.

    She could be sure the two wolves were nearby.

    Of course, she wouldn''t walk into the reserve alone to look for the wolves.

    She just, fell asleep at the temporary campsite.

    Since there were only three of them, they all slept in the car. Freckles slept in the front seat, which wasn''t veryfortable, while Chu Tingwu and Lian slept head to head, looking very peaceful.

    Freckles turned over, actually quite curious about how Chu Tingwu''s hearing worked... Wouldn''t she be disturbed by noises?

    And at that moment, the drone ball ced on the roof slowly lifted off, with a satellite tracker hanging below¡ª

    The humans who were awake didn''t notice this at all.

    -

    At the limit distance of the dream resonance, Qi and Shane were pulled into Chu Tingwu''s dream.

    The dream map was still their familiar world, with no change in location, just the time had turned into morning, as if they had justid down and it was already time to get up.

    The grey wolf howled slightly in dissatisfaction; his stomach was t, and after sniffing the air, he found there was no scent of prey.

    It seemed like all the prey had moved away overnight!

    Shane felt a bit uneasy.

    If they couldn''t find prey nearby, they had to go to a new hunting ground immediately, which meant he might have to leave the injured Qi behind.

    After stealing food from the grizzly bear, they were retaliated by the bear the second time they met.

    Shane escaped, but Qi was more severely injured.

    Shane: "Awoo¡ª"

    He smelled... the scent of humans?

    That scent was full of human aura, but also a bit strange, like the scent of a house cat Shane had smelled in human settlements.

    But no house cat would give off a feeling of being "very, very big."

    When Chu Tingwu saw the two wolves, the wolves also stood up, wary of her.

    Shane seemed to recognize her as part of the "human-containing vehicle," specifically the "human-containing" part, and in the dream, Chu Tingwu looked at Shane and continued to approach the wolves.

    Wild wolves and the wolf named Qingfeng in the zoo were obviously different; their gazes when looking over were assessing whether it was worth hunting, but Shane''s gaze was a bitplicated. He let out a low "awoo" and nudged Qi''s head with his.

    Getting this close, Chu Tingwu also noticed that Shane''s neck seemed to have a slight indentation, as if he had long worn a cor.

    She made a mental note of this and then approached to check Qi''s injuries¡ª

    Qi seemed to feel threatened and suddenly lunged to bite Chu Tingwu.

    Then Chu Tingwu snapped her fingers.

    "Snap," and Qi''s mouth bit into arge piece of venison, the meat between Chu Tingwu and him, and he could see Qi, in shock, instinctively chewed.

    Shane: "?"

    Qi: "!"

    With food in their mouths, the two grey wolves momentarily ignored the human beside them, and the next second, Qi seemed to want to take the food and leave. With plenty of food, he wouldn''t choose to fight anotherrge animal.

    And his instinct always told him that this seemed to be a... formidable feline?

    But after taking two steps, the meat disappeared.

    By repeatedly using food as bait, Chu Tingwu managed to keep the two wolves at a not-too-close, not-too-far distance from her.

    She also saw Qi''s wounds, which had turned gangrenous and were beginning to ooze pus, but for wolves, this injury wasn''tpletely hopeless.

    Animals'' self-healing abilities are often stronger than humans''... If there was a tracker, the vet could find them faster.Aliali: 6749083ac4f3f33ac4814cd4

    And outside the dream, in the dark, the system controlled the drone to put satellite trackers on the two sleeping wolves.

    Inside the dream, the two wolves feasted, and after they finished eating, Chu Tingwu said, "Let''s retreat."

    Even in a dream, it could give wild wolves a wrong perception of humans; she wouldn''t stay too long.

    As she disappeared, a kilometer away from the temporary campsite, Shane twitched his ears and opened his eyes.

    He first smacked his lips a couple of times, then let out a "awoo," realizing there was actually nothing in his stomach, and there was a slight difort around his neck, which he couldn''t shake off no matter how he tried.

    Shane: "¡­¡­"

    While looking for food in the rain, Shane wasn''t as sad as the bullet screenments made it out to be; after all, wild wolves'' lives were like this.

    But at this moment, he looked incredulously at his belly again, letting out a long howl.

    "Awoo¡ª"

    After howling, there seemed to be a glimmer of tears in the corner of this wolf''s eyes.

 Chapter 69

    Lian had chocte in her mouth as she quietly peeked out to observe Chu Tingwu in the distance.

    Chu Tingwu stood by the grass, seemingly lost in thought while gazing at the distant scenery, her eyes slightly narrowed as the wind lifted the ends of her hair. On the distant hilltop, two adolescent wolves chased each other, while a mature gray wolf watched from afar, then turned its head in their direction and let out a howl.

    This was the second day since White had left the camp.

    The three of them had sessfully "deceived both superiors and subordinates,"pleting their first day''s work independently, checking in at the camp before heading out again.

    With their first sess, all three seemed to have grown a bit bolder.

    Throughout the journey, Lian kept watching Chu Tingwu.

    Freckles might have thought Chu Tingwu was a "gifted one," just like Lian, naturally possessing some extraordinary talent that earned her a ce on this team... but Lian didn''t think so.

    This foreign girl wasn''t just gifted; what was most valuable was her ability to master her talents.

    Lian knew she wasn''t "exceptional" in the conventional sense. Apart from her extraordinary memory and mimicry abilities, she fell short of average people in many ways¡ªbecause she had always been struggling with her own gift.

    She wasn''t sure if she had "hyperthymesia," but she had indeed been different since childhood. She could remember everyone''s worst moments and perfectly recreate them when others had forgotten.

    Her ssmates called her a freak because she didn''t understand what it meant to "forget," and she assumed everyone could remember everything as clearly as she could. So in her mind, they weren''t "forgetting"¡ªthey were lying.

    When others isted her, Lian isted them in return.

    Later, she joined White''s team and began to study animal behavior in depth.

    She tried her best to "forget" everything unrted to her research. Though she couldn''t truly forget, she sealed away this information. Even when her mind could exin all the principles clearly, her actual movements would be half a beat slower.

    So¡ª

    Lian: "Actually, I really know how to drive."

    Freckles: "...but I really like driving, so let me do it."

    Bernie was lying again.

    For him, lying seemed to be a habit. His eyes told the truth, but his words were lies.

    He seemedpletely unaware that his microexpressions were easier to read than those of wild wolves. So Lian always found him peculiar¡ªwhy spend time decoding the truth behind this ssmate''s lies when she could be watching wolf videos instead?

    At least she could write a thesis about thetter.

    Chu Tingwu seemed to hear their conversation and turned around with a smile: "Actually, I''ve learned to drive too, just by watching you drive."

    Freckles made a "==" expression and continued rummaging through their bags.

    Lian smiled at Chu Tingwu because she knew the other girl was telling the truth.

    Since their first meeting, everything she had said had been true¡ªwhen the rain would stop, why those two wolves were fighting, how she heard deer herds running past, how she could always photograph wild wolves because she could see them... If all of this was true, then Chu Tingwu was a human with superhuman senses, sharp intuition, outstanding awareness, and the ability to sense animal emotions.

    Lian wondered: Could someone like this still be considered "human"?

    Lian hadn''t told anyone, but she would asionally poke Chu Tingwu''s back or ask her for snacks. She would suddenly make "meow" or "howl" sounds to test her reactions. During Chu Tingwu''s livestreams, she would quietly peek at the camera. She was truly curious¡ªit was like watching a freak walking among crowds, both standing out and blending in. How could Chu Tingwu achieve this?

    Lian had a dream where Chu Tingwu was running freely in the wild, pressing forward without restraint, neither beasts nor humans able to stop her. But in the second half of the dream, Chu Tingwu was sitting in a ssroom, with people constantly approaching to chat with her¡ª

    This young girl was surrounded by everyone, a faint smile in her eyes as she discussed ordinary, meaningless topics.

    Which world should she truly live in?

    And which world do I live in? For the first time in her life, Lian asked herself this question.

    Not far away, the unmanned aerial vehicle rose into the air, and Chu Tingwu stood up straight, waving toward the camera.

    "Well, while Qi and Shane were sleeping, we managed to put tracking devices on them. This morning, the vet took Qi away, and he''s now in stable condition. After the anesthesia wears off, he''ll be released..." Chu Tingwu pointed behind her, "Now only Shane remains, and he seems to want to approach the Michelle wolf pack."

    Wolf packs do ept new members, but the chances are uncertain.

    They had discussed Shane''s future several times¡ª

    To avoid inbreeding, female offspring in wolf packs actively leave to mate with males from other packs to produce offspring. With luck, Shane might meet such a female wolf and create his own small pack.

    If he recovers from his injuries, he might also prove his worth and be epted into one of the three existing packs. Of course, this would mean he couldn''t have his own offspring for now, as only Alpha wolves have breeding rights.

    Everyone thought the Kate pack to the west had the highest chance of epting Shane.

    As his injuries healed, everyone discovered that this gray wolf was actually smart and strong, and the Kate pack, being the weakest of the three, desperately needed new blood.

    However, the cameras hadn''t captured any interaction between Shane and the Kate pack. Instead, they saw him constantly pursuing the Michelle pack.

    [Dear, don''t start with such a difficult quest right away!]

    [Maybe he''s just pursuing a female wolf, trying to lure one away to start his own pack! There are many beautiful and strong girls among Michelle''s offspring!]

    [But he keeps running after those two sub-adults!]

    Chu Tingwu looked up to observe, noticing that indeed, as everyone said, Shane''s gaze toward the two young wolves seemed almost paternal.

    The adult male wolfy down with his front paws together, having just eaten leftovers from the Michelle pack''s hunt. His belly was still full. After watching for a while and seeing he wasn''t being driven away, he carefully moved forward a few meters before lying down again.

    People in the chat spected and concluded that before wandering here, Shane might have had a mate and wolf cubs of his own.

    While Shane watched the sub-adult wolves with paternal affection and the viewers watched him with equal tenderness, only the system abruptly scanned around and reported: "Based on mating seasons, this wolf has never had offspring."

    Chu Tingwu had long been curious about Shane''s background and asked: "Where did hee from?"

    Why did Shane seem so familiar with wearing a cor, and why were there scars on his neck?

    The system projected several photos for Chu Tingwu¡ª

    They showed a young wolf jumping through fire rings in a circus.

    There were also images of him chained by the neck, locked in a cage, and being handed over to others.

    Since the circus didn''t have surveince cameras, the system had gathered these images from nearby street cameras and personal ounts of circus-goers.

    Tracing back to the earliest photos¡ªShane was already a sub-adult wolf when he was taken to the circus.

    His gaze was more wild then than it is now.

    Chu Tingwu: "So Shane was once a wild wolf, captured for circus training before reaching adulthood, then sold to others... and escaped along the way?"

    Wandering to the Red Rock Reserve, this wolf had learned some instinctive hunting skills of his species, along with considerable knowledge from humans. He might have received help during his wandering days, which gave him an unusual maturity despite his young age.

    However, after learning about his life story, Chu Tingwu squinted at this wolf, thinking:

    "...Is he learning how to be a wolf?"

    The viewers''ments showed confusion¡ª

    [Huh? God, are you talking about Shane?]

    [He''s already a wolf, why does he need to learn how to be one?]

    Even some cats need to learn how to be cats.

    Chu Tingwu: "It''s just my spection... Earlier, Shane and Qi formed a temporary alliance. Now that I think about it, the reason for their alliance might not just be because both wolves were ''friendly'' and ''injured.''"

    Perhaps Shane had been looking for a fellow wolf who could teach him all along.

    But now, Qi had been sent away for medical treatment.

    Shane might have shifted his attention to... the Michelle wolf pack.

    His gaze wasn''t just gentle; it carried a hint of joy. The male wolf looked at those unfriendly adult wolves with the excitement of finding "good teachers."

    Not only could he learn from them, but he could also pick up their leftovers¡ªwhat a wonderful arrangement!

    Chu Tingwu: "=v="

    After waiting until evening, the three finally captured footage of Michelle again.

    The white wolfy on the hillside, casting a distant nce at the humans and then at Shane, who was following them.

    To Grandma Michelle, this adolescent male wolf was just an impetuous youngster. She lost interest and looked away, letting out a soft howl, which immediately drew wolf cubs to y with her.

    As for how to handle this grey wolf, she''d leave that to the current wolf king to consider.

    The fans who got to see Michelle''s big family were thoroughly satisfied. When White entered the livestream, the camera was focused on their beloved wolf queen.

    White immediately forgot what he wanted to tell Chu Tingwu and the others, directing the drone to capture a panoramic view. Only when they were about to end the stream did he realize:

    "Why are there only three of you? Where are the rangers?"

    At this hour, still in the wild, they had probably decided to set up camp.

    Chu Tingwu: "Ah... looks like we''re running out of battery again. Hmm? I need to shut down, goodbye Professor."

    White: "?"

    Wait.

    A few minutester, White noticed several familiar IDs leavingments on his personal page, coincidentally from some old research colleagues:

    [Maybe you should stop watching the livestream, White, you''re draining too much battery when you join.]

    White: "?"

    Hey!

    -

    Chu Tingwu ended the livestream, and that night, she had the system activate dream resonance again, but this time she didn''t pull the wolves into her dream.

    Instead, she had the system project her into the animals'' dreams.

    However, because the dream subjects were different, the system warned Chu Tingwu in advance:

    "If it''s a dream ssroom, it''s a world I control, and you''repletely safe. But in other creatures'' dreams, they control the dreamscape, and your appearance might change based on their perception. You can''t actively change it, and if you die in their dreams¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu: "Will I die?"

    System: "?"

    System: "No, you''ll just wake up, like having a nightmare."

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    Then why even mention it.

    She set Michelle as the dream subject and had the system project her into the white wolf''s dream.

    Chu Tingwu caught the scent of ice and snow.

    She instinctively shivered.

    It was summer now, but in Michelle''s dream, it was winter.

    This was Red Rock Reserve in winter, everything shrouded in silver¡ªprobably Michelle''s actual experience, making the dream extraordinarily vivid.

    Chu Tingwu instinctively sniffed the air, barely detecting any prey scents; in winter, prey animals were hibernating.

    She ced her paw in the snow, staring at her tail that had suddenly swung from back to front, and fell silent for a moment.

    No wonder her belly felt cold... she hadn''t been standing properly.

    Wait¡ªwhy was she a cat the size of a human?!

    System: "...!"

    System: "(choked up)"

    The system projected Chu Tingwu''s personal interface, and the... that... no, that bipedal cat looked exactly like Chu Tingwu now!

    What they couldn''t see in reality had manifested in this white wolf''s dream!

    Chu Tingwu: "...Probably because when Michelle smells me, she thinks I''m a cat."

    Wolves can smell prey from kilometers away, and Chu Tingwu''s scent couldn''t be hidden. In the white wolf''s olfactory system, she was a big cat.

    Logically, her arrival point shouldn''t be too far from the dream subject. Chu Tingwu soon heard a bear''s roar and realized:

    The wolf pack was hunting a bear that had awakened from hibernation.

    This wasn''t because the wolf pack was overconfident, but because they desperately needed food.

    Chu Tingwu climbed a tree and quickly spotted the battle scene through the snow.

    The white wolf at the front, almost blending with the snow, wasn''t her grandchild but a young Michelle!

    Under Michelle''smand, the wolf pack was steadily wearing down the grizzly''s stamina.

    It appeared to be a female bear, and under the pack''s relentless pursuit and siege, she finally copsed.

    Michelle pounced first and began feeding, then other wolves finally approached to eat. They must have been hungry for a long time. After eating, some wolves licked Michelle''s nose.

    The white wolf let several approach to lick her, then let out a long "awoo."

    The pack members howled in groups of two or three, seemingly celebrating their sessful hunt.

    Some wolves turned their heads to look at Chu Tingwu in the tree, but her size and scent told them she wasn''t suitable prey¡ªshe smelled like someone who could run very fast.

    Besides, Michelle hadn''t given any orders.

    After feeding, several wolves tore off thest bits of meat, deciding to take it back to their den for storage.

    At this time, Michelle''s husband hadn''t died yet, and her children were still alive. She appeared energetic and strong, but halfway through their journey, the white wolf left the group.

    The wolf queen returned to the bear carcass, not topete with scavengers for the bones, but to circle around to the tree where she could see Chu Tingwu, lying down to watch her for a while.

    Chu Tingwu didn''t sense any hostility but didn''t immediately climb down.

    Therge cat in the tree and the wolf below gazed at each other throughyers of snow, then the white wolf left first.

    Chu Tingwu hesitated, then jumped from this tree to the trunk opposite. As snow fell in cascades, she followed the white wolf to the rocky slope.

    The rocks here were also covered in snow, with only some edges showing their original ck color.

    Chu Tingwu watched as Michelle howled "awoo" at the air, then ran to the top of the rocky slope¡ª

    And rolled!

    She used her entire body to press against the snow, slowly sliding down.

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    The white wolf''s tail had been hanging down, but now it wagged slightly, and she repeated the action.

    Chu Tingwu realized:

    "Oh, she''s sledding..."

    She hugged the tree trunk with all four limbs, lying on it with her tail wrapped around her hind legs,zily watching the white wolf sled.

    The usually dignified white wolf was now like a child, having snuck away from her family members to y in the snow.

    As she watched, Chu Tingwu''s tail moved to under her paws, and she unconsciously batted at it¡ªas if ying with her own tail.

    "Crack¡ª"

    A very faint sound came from beneath her, and she instinctively leaped up, but at that very moment, the tree trunk she had been lying on broke.

    System proudly: "That''s because you have a healthy weight!"

    What are you being proud of?!

    Chu Tingwu: How is breaking such a thick tree trunk considered healthy? Are youparing my weight to a tiger''s?!

    Fortunately, although the weightlessness came suddenly, Chu Tingwu didn''t stumble. Shended steadily on all fours, barely feeling any impact, and thought:

    Paw pads... these things are really useful.

    Compared to feline paw pads, human palms evolved specifically for using tools.

    Also, the eye spacing of felines is different from humans¡ª

    She could see a wider range, so she easily spotted the white wolf sneaking up.

    The white wolf pounced.

    Chu Tingwu stood ready but held her ground, curious to see what young Michelle wanted to do to her¡ªshe was just a little cat after all!

    Though she was a small cat, her current size wasn''t smaller than a wolf.

    Michelle pinned Chu Tingwu''s shoulders with both paws, leaned in, opened her mouth¡ª

    And licked her head once.

    Chu Tingwu: "...?"

    Along with her confusion, the dream''s core seemed to awaken, and as the dream resonance began to fade, she was kicked out of Michelle''s dream.

    As Chu Tingwu opened her eyes, Michelle in the wolf den opened hers too.

    The white wolfy on the ground, and after a while, its tail wagged slightly.

    -

    Chu Tingwu pondered deeply.

    "Let''s go check on Shane."

    Shane, Michelle''s wolf pack''s devoted fan, the pack''s certified fan representative, and the male wolf who followed Michelle''s pack, wasn''t too far away. When entering his dream, Chu Tingwu found herself transformed into a human-sized cat again.

    ...Could she only be human in human dreams? Because humans couldn''t smell her cat scent.

    Chu Tingwu looked at her paws, then at Shane in the distance¡ªin the dream, Shane was also fanboying over other wolf packs, sharpening his ws while watching the older wolves teach the younger ones, pretending he wasn''t learning.

    Chu Tingwu: "Meow."

    Shane: "?"

    The next second, Chu Tingwu pounced!

    What perfect timing¡ªshe had just finished her lessons too, and they were top-tier lessons about wolf packs attacking grizzly bears. Wasn''t this the perfect chance to practice with a fellow student of simr skill?

    Shane: "..."

    Though her appearance was different, she smelled the same. The wolf noticed there were no vehicles around and let out an angry "awoo," pouncing back.

    Wolves don''t care about dreams or not¡ªthey still had scores to settle!

    And so, the feline learning canine ways and the canine learning canine ways fought intensely in the grass¡ª

    Chu Tingwu still didn''t like using her fangs, but now she had sharp ws.

    Shane was very agile at dodging, seemingly skilled at avoiding attacks, but he still seemed confused about how to better utilize his body''s instincts.

    If Shane attacked recklessly, Chu Tingwu would definitely be injured, but if Chu Tingwu hadn''t held back, her ws would have already shed the grey wolf''s throat.

    As they fought, she noticed the grey wolf seemed to start learning her movements.

    Clever, Chu Tingwu thought, then I can open up a bit more.

    Her [Intuition lv1] hadn''t shown any signs of upgrading, the system said it was because she never exercised this skill in daily life, and without use, she couldn''t gain experience¡ª

    Perhaps intuition would only be trained in more extreme situations.

    Like life-or-death situations, or battles where quick thinking was impossible and one could only rely on instinct.

    And the opponent wasn''t human, but a beast.

    This time, Chu Tingwu actively withdrew from Shane''s dream.

    She had a vague inspiration while fighting but couldn''t quite grasp it, so she wanted to leave and think about it.

    After she left, Shane suddenly woke up, the grey wolf looked around bewilderedly, then smacked his lips and went back to his uneasy slumber.

    The next day during Chu Tingwu''s livestream, viewers noticed something:

    [Hmm... what''s wrong with Shane? Is he sick?]

    [Why is he turning his head like a cat?]

    Chu Tingwu: "...?*?"

    Oh no.

    She hadn''t paid attention while fighting and unconsciously used her instinct moves.

    ...Don''t learn everything!

    -

    After spending several consecutive nights in the wild, though they managed to get by with White, they couldn''t fool the rangers.

    So that day, they returned to stay at the camp¡ªalso because sleeping in the wild was exhausting and made it hard to rest properly.

    Of course, Chu Tingwu wasfortable sleeping anywhere.

    She made her usual video call to Three-Five-Five, greeted Lian, and went to bed.

    Until three in the morning.

    Chu Tingwu''s eyes suddenly snapped open.

    She heard strange soundsing from far away, along with wolf howls.Aliali: 6749083ac4f3f33ac4814cd4

    A strange intuition urged her to wake up and take a look.

    Before going to bed, Chu Tingwu had smelled someplex scents on the way back, but they were very faint. Now, perhaps because her mind was particrly clear, those scents returned to her nose, and she could distinguish them¡ª

    The smell of unfamiliar humans and gasoline.

    Maybe this information had passed through her mind once, and she subconsciously associated it with tourists who had mistakenly entered the core area before,paring those memories with these scents.

    But what if... it wasn''t them?

    She sat up, staring out the window, and put on a jacket.

    Just as she was about to push open the door, Lian''s breathing changed.

    Lian got out of bed, looked at Chu Tingwu, seemingly aware of what was happening¡ª

    She walked to the living room in the darkness, picked up the car keys from the table, and said to Chu Tingwu:

    "I really can drive."

 Chapter 70

    The wildlife reserve was different at night.

    No one would drive in the reserve after dark¡ª

    Unless that person waspletely inexperienced at driving but fully followed someone else''smands.

    When Chu Tingwu told Lian where to drive, she would drive there; when Chu Tingwu told her to stop, she would stop unconditionally.

    The sky was filled with stars, and various animal sounds could be heard in the distance... On this night, some creatures were still hunting, some were sleeping peacefully, some were silently stepping into death in the darkness, and some humans had intruded into territory that belonged to animals.

    The Red Rock Reserve was vast, and although hunting was prohibited, it was impossible to fence off the entire protected area.

    It stretched across the state, and beyond the reserve''s boundariesy hunting zones.

    In America, hunting wild beasts was permitted, and hunters could aim their guns at coyotes that wandered into town at any time.

    But since patrol and surveince in the reserve had be stricter, few hunters would venture into the protected area to hunt anymore. When the cost exceeded the benefit, people would think twice.

    However, sometimes the potential profit outweighed the risk, making it worth the gamble for some.

    Chu Tingwu told Lian to stop the car.

    She leaped from the vehicle in a way that vited proper protocol, walking inplete darkness without any protection.

    That sound seemed to be getting closer.

    Chu Tingwu recognized it as the sound of a high-clearance vehicle.

    But it wasn''t just the engine noise that had awakened her.

    She had a premonition and opened her personal interface, clicking on the experience bar of the [Intuition] skill. Intuition was still at level 1, but not long ago, its experience had increased slightly.

    Lian turned off the car lights.

    Chu Tingwu climbed onto the car roof, and the two maintained their tacit understanding withoutmunicating.

    Chu Tingwu asked, "Is it poaching?"

    The system didn''t know either.

    The system was powerful, but at this moment it was also mncholic¡ªin ces beyond electronic signal coverage, what it could do seemed no more than what a "beast" could, and what Chu Tingwu sensed through her beast-like instincts, the system, as an electronic program, couldn''t fullyprehend.

    The young one''s growth had gradually exceeded the range it could control, and the system felt helpless about being unable to assist its ward.

    ¡ªJust like when parents discover they can no longer help their children with math problems.

    Chu Tingwu had the systemunch a drone and blocked the drone''s position signal from being sent to the reserve''s control center.

    Unlike every time before, as if freed from restraints, the drone flew higher and higher, and the system didn''t send the monitored video to Chu Tingwu''s phone but disyed the video content directly on the virtual interface.

    Under the starlight, the drone silently hovered in the air, capturing the scene below.

    Headlights pierced through the darkness.

    An off-road vehicle that theoretically shouldn''t be in the reserve was bumping along toward the distance.

    Since Lian''s car had been turned off and its lights were out, this off-road vehicle almost "brushed past" them, driving along the river on the opposite bank.

    Lian pressed her face close to the window, silently watching.

    Then, she saw the wolves.

    Before actually seeing the wolves, perhaps because she had studied these wolves and spent so much time with them, she first "hallucinated" the sound of the wolf pack running.

    Theoretically, these sounds shouldn''t have reached her ears because the distance was too great, but she truly heard them in advance.

    Some time after the vehicle had passed, Lian finally saw the eyes of the wolf pack in the darkness.

    It was Michelle''s pack.

    In the darkness, the wolves'' silhouettes asionally appeared in the flickering light reflected off the river.

    The pack ran hurriedly past. One wolf identally fell into the shallow water, struggling to ssh its way back to shore. Its kin came over to lick its wet fur, then gave a soft howl, urging it to keep up.

    If that wolf couldn''t keep up, its kin would nudge it a couple of times, signaling it to return, then continue running forward at the alpha''s call.

    When the alpha''s voice rang out, Lian felt an electric sensation course through her body¡ª

    She recognized it was Michelle.

    It could only be Michelle!

    Her hand unconsciously moved to the steering wheel. She didn''t know why Michelle''s pack was running at night, but it must have something to do with that strange off-road vehicle.

    At this moment, Chu Tingwu flipped back into the passenger seat and signaled to Lian: "Drive, without the lights."

    Lian: "..."

    She silently turned the steering wheel.

    Driving at night along a wild riverbank without headlights, with a running wolf pack nearby... any one of these things seemed like a death wish, but Lian did as told.

    ¡ªAfter many years, she felt the same sensation as when she had found a strange, unique book in the library.

    That book was thick and had no electronic version, so she had to finish reading it in the library.

    She memorized the entire book in one afternoon, and its contents still gleamed in her heart to this day.

    Now Chu Tingwu was that book, and Lian had turned to a new page on this night... a page that made her heart tremble.

    The path ahead was dark, wolves ran on the opposite riverbank, and beside her sat someone quietly gazing into the darkness, asionally reminding Lian to adjust course to avoid shallow pits and animals¡ªand Lian, hands gripping the steering wheel, unconsciously smiled.

    She said: "This car has a positioning system."

    Chu Tingwu nced at her.

    The young girl smiled softly: "When we drove out, the positioning was already blocked, and any location queries would be redirected to another car at the facility."

    So, as long as they returned to camp before dawn, no one would know this car had ever been taken out.

    Lian: "Then I should also tell you some good news¡ªthere''s a tranquilizer gun behind the second row of seats."

    Chu Tingwu: "Let''s hope we won''t need it."

    Although they had set outter, they were gradually catching up to the wolf pack, seeing the wolves running at the front.

    -

    Grantham stared ahead.

    He hadn''t used his high beams at first, but now he had no choice.

    The wolf pack...

    He hadn''t expected the wolf pack to discover them so quickly and pursue them so decisively!

    After all, what the client wanted wasn''t the white wolf behind them! The client had requested Michelle''s great-granddaughter, a sub-adult white wolf that had already started participating in the pack''s hunts!

    Entering the reserve to steal wolves was indeed difficult, and the client wanted it alive¡ªbut the payment was simply too generous.

    So Grantham gathered hispanions, and four people entered the reserve posing as tourists.

    He estimated this job would take four days toplete, so he made aprehensive n, including how to lure the target with prey, how to tranquilize the target, how to escape the reserve, find their contact, and transport the target out by sea.

    He first anonymously hired two groups of tourists to deliberately enter the core area during their visit, bringing equipment in batches, then sabotage the surveince cameras. Using a pre-purchased ranger patrol route map, they avoided the rangers and camped in the reserve for a day.

    After confirming they hadn''t been discovered, Grantham retrieved the equipment and began the "hunt."

    Everything went smoothly. After identifying the target''s movement patterns, Grantham didn''t personally kill an animal to lure them but instead remotely shot a red deer from a distance near the wolf pack.

    The deer''s scent quickly attracted one of Michelle''s pack wolves, which then returned to call its packmates to feast.

    The target appeared quickly.

    This young white wolf was apparently called "Dawn" or "Morning Star" or "Star" or some other numerical designation¡ªGrantham didn''t care, as long as he knew it was worth sixty thousand pounds.

    The young white wolf eagerly charged down the slope, howling "awoo" to call its packmates to follow.

    The sunset turned its fur golden, as shadows of night appeared on the horizon.

    "Bang¡ª"

    The silenced hunting rifle killed the ck wolf beside the white one with a single shot.

    That seemed to be its brother.

    The white wolf appearedpletely shocked.

    The wolves in the reserve had never heard gunshots, so Grantham believed they weren''t truly "wild beasts." If the world was a giant hunting ground, humans were the apex predators.

    The wolf pack had to learn to survive under human threats; living in the reserve, they were merely existing in arger cage.

    He silently loaded his gun, this time aiming at another wolf.

    Though the wolves didn''t understand what guns were, they instinctively chose to retreat and lie low when they sensed the attack.

    The white wolfy down, nudging its bleeding brother with its nose. Though the wounded wolf''s breathing was growing faint, it wasn''t truly dead yet.

    Another wolf seemed ready to flee, and it found itself in Grantham''s crosshairs.

    Wolves are highly perceptive creatures.

    Grantham believed this might be his only chance to earn that six hundred thousand.

    If he failed once, the Michelle pack might retreat deep into the canyon, far from the ins essible by vehicle.

    So, he had to ensure absolute sess.

    The tranquilizer gun''s range wasn''t sufficient, and unfamiliar vehicles approaching would certainly alert the pack.

    He needed to teach these wolves with bullets that running would result in attack - they needed to learn to stay hidden.

    A howl echoed from the distance.

    Grantham: "Drive! Quickly!"

    Hispanion immediately drove closer, while Grantham''s heart pounded. Night had fallenpletely, and what happened next would depend on the pack''s reaction speed and whether "Dawn" would follow his script.

    This adolescent white wolf was far too inexperienced.

    She didn''t run.

    Even after catching the scent of approaching vehicles and feeling the ground''s vibrations, she didn''t flee. She continued licking her brother''s wounds as blood kept flowing.

    When the tranquilizer dart entered her body, two wolf bodiesy on the ground.

    The otherpanions jumped out of the vehicle and began loading Dawn as quickly as possible.

    Grantham smiled, "You hunt deer and cattle anyway, consuming several kilograms of meat daily. With the deer carcass right there, how is this any different from dying during a hunt?"

    He felt absolutely no guilt - animals living in reserves were merely livestock.

    At that moment, the ck wolf they thought dead suddenly opened its jaws and viciously bit onepanion''s ankle. The man let out a brief cry of pain before suppressing it.

    Just as Grantham was about to signal for silence, anotherpanion instinctively shot at the ck wolf.

    Grantham: "You¡ª"

    Idiot!

    His personal handgun didn''t have a silencer!

    Compared to the other gunshots, this one stood out starkly in the darkness.

    Still, it was just one shot - it shouldn''t lead to immediate discovery, and they''d alreadypleted half their mission.

    After that shot rang out, wolf howls erupted the next second.

    Not only was the Michelle pack howling in rage, but howls seemed toe from other directions as well.

    Grantham suddenly felt an electric sensation course through him, feeling as though they were being hunted by wolves... but that was impossible - they had the guns!

    He urged hispanions to get in the vehicle immediately, kicked away the grey wolf''s body, then drove off with their sixty thousand pounds, following their nned route.

    He turned on the headlights, despite making them more conspicuous. Though night wasn''t ideal for driving, they couldn''t risk dys - and he had nned a suitable route in advance.

    His injuredpanion tended to his wound while another handled the driving, eyes steady on the road ahead.

    They weren''t driving particrly fast, partly due to nighttime driving hazards, and partly because they hadn''t realized... what the wolf pack would do.

    The humans thought they''d left the howling wolves behind.

    But the wolf pack was truly beginning to act.

    Michelle had summoned all rtives; this massive family surrounded the bodies of their two young members. Their calls were filled with grief, with some wolves standing still, continuously licking the faces of the deceased.

    Michelle gazed into the distance and released a long howl.

    The male and female alpha wolves joined in howling, and the pack''s calls intertwined. They seemed to reach a decision very quickly¡ª

    Under Michelle''s leadership, part of the pack stayed behind to care for the cubs and juveniles, while all adult wolves followed the alpha''s footsteps.

    They began pursuing the poachers, following the traces humans had left behind.

    The wolves moved slightly faster than the poaching team, who dared not drive at high speed.

    As stars filled the night sky, Grantham''spanion finally noticed the wolves following behind.

    They gradually approached a riverside - ording to their intelligence, there was a ranger camp less than five kilometers away.

    "Damn it..."

    Grantham looked at the wolf pack behind them and finally made a decision: "Speed up, speed up!"

    There were too many wolves - he needed to split up the pack first!

    -

    Chu Tingwu noticed that Michelle''s pace had slowed.

    She was old now, no longer young and strong as before. She gradually fell to the middle position, with the two alpha wolves at the front.

    As adult members of the pack, they were all in the formation.

    With her powerful night vision, Chu Tingwu saw other wolves instinctively nce back, but the alphas didn''t turn around, continuing their forward sprint.

    The rivers converged ahead, gradually bing a small stretch of marsh. Chu Tingwu signaled Lian to turn.

    Their vehicle followed behind, approaching the wolf pack.

    Two wolves seemed to react instinctively, lunging at the car in anger.

    But Chu Tingwu called out.

    Not only was Lian skilled at mimicking wolf howls, but after hearing them so often, she could also imitate them quite well.

    The lunging wolves hesitated, bumped against the car, then gradually fell back.

    Lian gripped the steering wheel tightly as they practically ran alongside the wolves. At this speed, if a wolf suddenly appeared in front of the car, she definitely wouldn''t be able to stop in time.

    She never imagined before entering school that she''d one day be in a situation where she might hit wolves with a car.

    The more numb her mind became, the more Lian acted on instinct, responding to Chu Tingwu''smands almost immediately.

    The next second, while driving, she opened the rearpartment¡ª

    The vehicle''s tailgate could be opened, and behind the seats was space for equipment, but it was empty since they removed the gear daily.

    No, the tranquilizer gun was still there.

    After opening it, Lian wondered: why did Chu Tingwu want to open the rearpartment...

    The next second, she felt something rather heavy climb into the vehicle.

    Lian: "..."

    An inexplicably warm presence and the ustrophobic pressure seemed to be right behind her ears. Thepartment remained open, cold wind rushing against her neck. Lian trembled but didn''t look back.

    Chu Tingwu reached out and pressed Lian''s shoulder: "Keep going forward."

    Lian nced at Chu Tingwu''s eyes; the girl beside her continued staring ahead silently, her calm expression giving Lian strange strength.

    She pressed the elerator to the floor.

    -

    But Chu Tingwu wasn''t actually sure what she could do¡ª

    She had heard the gunshot.

    And now, she gradually realized that the poachers seemed to be trying to outrun the wolf pack... but they weren''t fools, because as the number of wolves behind them decreased, the vehicle''s speed on the system screen slowed down.

    They couldn''t possibly maintain high speed for long while driving at night.

    And instinct told Chu Tingwu that the slowing vehicle speed meant the humans inside wanted to teach these beasts a lesson.

    "How dare you, as mere beasts, think of seeking revenge against humans - don''t me me for killing you then." That''s probably what the people ahead were thinking.

    Chu Tingwu turned to look at Michelle lying in the back seat.

    When Michelle had fallen behind, she suddenly had an impulse and called out to the white wolf, then opened the rearpartment, indicating she could get in.

    With her offspring recently killed by humans in vehicles, and another young one kidnapped, Chu Tingwu wasn''t sure if Michelle would ept her goodwill, but as the car slowed down, the white wolf leaped into the vehicle the next moment.

    This was probably the first time in their lives that the people in the car had been so close to a living wolf.

    Chu Tingwu could reach out and touch Michelle''s water-droplet-covered fur.

    The white wolf with golden pupils silently gazed at her, then looked past her toward the distant horizon.

    The vehicle ahead was slowing down, and the pursuing wolves were getting closer, especially the alpha wolf at the front. In the drone''s camera view, a poacher stuck his head out of the window, and a hunting rifle emerged alongside it.

    Chu Tingwu suddenly closed her eyes.

    System: "Acknowledged."

    ¡ªIn dream resonance mode, the system could pull other living beings within range into Chu Tingwu''s dream, but if the target had no intention of sleeping, they would likely break free from the dream quickly.

    Of course, this required Chu Tingwu herself to be in the "dream" state first; directly pulling people in would vite the system''s basic settings.

    The next second, the poachers'' vehicle suddenly swerved.

    The driver slumped forward, his head hitting the steering wheel. Grantham''s whole body swayed, nearly dropping the rifle. He instinctively wanted to curse, but with the distant wolf howls from behind, the alpha wolf suddenly elerated and leaped onto the car roof.

    Grantham''s heart skipped a beat.

    He immediately pulled his head back inside the car and signaled the driver to shake the wolf off.

    The driver, just opening his eyes, said: "I''ll do it right..."

    The next second, his vision blurred as an inexplicable drowsiness overtook him again.

    But this time, luck wasn''t on their side¡ªtheir vehicle violently careened down the slope¡ªanother wolf had lunged from behind, providing the final push.

    "Awoooo¡ª"

    The wolf''s howl seemed to explode next to their ears.

    Grantham felt his heart stop for a moment.

    A massive wolf paw suddenly mmed against the car window. Although everyone inside was experienced, they couldn''t help but let out small screams.

    Grantham: "Don''t panic!"

    They couldn''t panic!

    They were just wolves... Haven''t they killed plenty of wild animals before? They had even hunted a male lion on the grasnds! Today''s idents were indeed unexpected, but this wasn''t the time to curse or mepanions!

    His expression turned fierce: "Pick up your guns!"

    -

    Lian stopped the car.

    She heard the breathing behind her fade away, followed by the sound of a car door opening.

    Chu Tingwu had gotten out.

    Lian pressed her back tightly against the car seat. She didn''t turn around, but in the faint starlight, she saw several wolves pass by the car, the white wolf among them.

    Chu Tingwu''s figure appeared beside the white wolf, then was obscured by the person-high grass.

    The journey had been bumpy, with scattered rocks below forming an uneven road.

    The human girl walked among the wolf pack, which should have seemed out of ce... but Lian felt that if they hadn''t been there, Chu Tingwu might have done this long ago.

    She waited in ce, hearing a gunshot.

    Then quickly, another one.

    She ced her finger on the emergency call button but never pressed it.

    Suddenly, a piercing scream came from ahead, followed by the sound of a vehicle overturning¡ª

    Lian pressed her ear against the steering wheel, as if this would help her hear more.

    She waited a while longer.

    Up ahead, the faint car headlights suddenly disappeared.

    After a long moment, a figure appeared in front.

    Lian''s hand pressed against the steering wheel as she squinted to recognize:

    "Wu..."

    The person was jogging over, and as they got closer, the moon suddenly emerged from behind the clouds. In the moonlight, Lian''s sharp eyes caught sight of the sweat on Chu Tingwu''s forehead.

    She seemed to be "running," but differently from how normal people run. Before Lian could figure out why, Chu Tingwu suddenly leaped onto the car''s hood.

    She seemed surprised herself, ncing at the moon on the horizon, then supporting herself with one hand on the hood, she smoothly flipped into the passenger seat with incredible agility.

    She said: "Let''s head back."

    Lian: "...Didn''t need the tranquilizer gun?"

    "No," Chu Tingwu said, "It wasn''t necessary."

    As they returned, the wolf pack seemed to be heading back as well. Having pursued so far, they couldn''t forcefully cross other beasts'' territories on their return. Michelle''s pack needed to return to their territory to reunite with the few wolves left behind, possiblypleting a long migration. The injured wolves were now protected in the middle, separated by some distance from the two humans in the car.

    Lian looked out the window, seeing two white wolves walking side by side, moonlight coating them as if in silver.

    On the return journey, Lian drove slowly, with Chu Tingwu asionally giving her directions...

    Then, not far from the camp, their car tumbled into a ditch.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="Aliali: 67542209ab2494648e019fd4

    Lian: "...I got distracted for a moment."

    She wasn''t really distracted; she just liked to think.

    They both got out of the car and stared at the upturned rear end for a while¡ª

    Chu Tingwu: "Better call for help."

    The people at the camp were early risers, and the rangers arrived quickly. Freckles jumped down from the vehicle, saw the overturned car, and made a grimacing expression:

    "I was just looking for you! The reserve''s surveince cameras caught poachers entering the protected area! Something big happened in the southwest, seems there are several bodies! Anyway, it''s dangerous to go out alone now, the reserve is under lockdown until the bodies are identified... So what were you doing driving out so early in the morning?"

    Chu Tingwu looked at Lian.

    Lian: "Nothing much, I just wanted to prove to Wu that I really know how to drive."

    Freckles: Well, you certainly do.

    Good enough to drive straight into a ditch!

 Chapter 71

    "Good morning, meow!"

    "Good morning, Three-Five-Five."

    "Today, this cat starts making money, meow!"

    "Oh, you''re starting to film the variety show."

    "White Pants will watch it too, meow?"

    "Teacher Zhang said he''ll watch it with Aunt Mei, so Ten Dors probably will too. I brought gifts for all of you. I''ll probably be home in about half a month."

    The big cat on the other side moved closer to the camera, its amber eyes like transparent jewels. Its yellow-tipped nose brushed against the lens, followed by azy "meow" that sounded like it had just woken up from a nap.

    Three-Five-Five moved a bit further from the camera, allowing Chu Tingwu to see the interior decor clearly.

    Although she had taken an unconventional route by boarding Three-Five-Five at the Jin City Police Dog Training Base, she hadn''t forgotten to have all of her cat''s belongings sent over¡ª

    Three-Five-Five was there for temporary amodation, not to be a police cat, so it still needed to eat and drink well.

    Over these days, Man Xing had sent over many more cat supplies, and the facility had to arrange a separate room for Three-Five-Five, where it now seemed to prefer staying.

    Chu Tingwu realized that Man Xing had noticed the issue and had proactively worked to get better treatment for Three-Five-Five before Chu Tingwu had even mentioned it.

    This life assistant was usually quiet but indeed strived to be the ultimate "life assistant": finding ways to take over all of her boss''splex daily affairs, making herself indispensable.

    However, Man Xing herself wasn''t satisfied with her progress:

    "Such an independent boss is even independent when ites to cat care. My indirect approach has failed!"

    What happened to the n of winning over the boss by first winning over her pet?

    Chu Tingwu had gone abroad alone, leaving Man Xing to gaze across the ocean with sighs. However, she hadn''t forgotten to keep track of news from the Red Stone Reserve, and this morning, she learned¡ª

    "There are actually poachers in the reserve!"

    And they were dreamers who wanted to capture a celebrity wolf alive!

    The official announcement came out slowly, but Man Xing found out: among the four hired poachers, the leader had killed two wolves and was found with his internal organs torn out.

    Of the other three, one was severely injured, and two had minor injuries. The severely injured person was likely brain dead, and the two with minor injuries might be permanently disabled due to dyed treatment.

    One person''s injuries were to the head and face, while another''s were to the legs and waist, condemning them to spend the rest of their life in a wheelchair.

    Although the reserve officials hadn''t made a report, the news had already spread on American media... Wolf hunting was amon phenomenon that media would only brieflyment, but humans being killed by wolves was unbelievable.

    ["They came with guns and cages, they had caught Dawn, but the Michelle wolf pack pursued them and forcibly retrieved their child¡ªit''s a miraculous revenge! Someone should make this into a movie!"]

    ["But this is too crazy! Does anyone know how many wounds were on that body? I heard the wolf pack vented their anger on the body, biting him to death bit by bit while he was still alive... It''s a bit scary, I probably won''t dare to visit the Red Stone Reserve for a while!"]

    ["Don''t dream about it, even if you go to the reserve, you won''t be able to ess the core area to see Michelle and the others. Do you think you can see celebrity wolves whenever you want?

    Thest time I saw them was seven years ago when the interactive area wasn''t far from the wolf pack''s territory. I used binocrs to watch the Michelle pack resting and ying... Michelle was still young and strong then!

    My goodness, I heard that to save Dawn, the wolf pack ran all the way to Area A3, and to return they''ll definitely have to cross through several other wolf packs'' territories, and those packs will surely conflict with Michelle and the others¡ªA3 is closer to the South Gate viewing area, I''m leaving tomorrow! Maybe if I''m lucky, I''ll get to see Michelle!"]

    Should wolves that harm humans be allowed to stay?

    There were too many wolves speaking out, and the Michelle pack was a celebrity group, with Michelle being a big star of the Red Stone Reserve. The reserve made an ambiguous statement: Please do not enter the reserve for poaching activities; the reserve cannot guarantee poachers'' safety.

    After all, the previous poacher had already met an unfortunate end.

    Probably because of this major incident, White pushed aside his work and returned to camp two days early.

    He rushed into camp dusty from travel, first hugging Professor Langwei, then firmly patting Freckles'' shoulder: "Good work... Let me see Autumn and Shane''s data!"

    After all, these two wolves now had tracking devices.

    Freckles: "=="

    Was that one sentence of concern all he got?

    He actually had a lot to say, like how unreliable Lian was, and how the seemingly reliable minor had be unreliable after spending time together... But seeing his mentor''s sparkling eyes, he swallowed his words.

    Upon seeing Chu Tingwu and Lian, White was equally enthusiastic: "Oh, and my dear girls, I have a n I want to discuss with you three¡ª"

    He called the three together: "The reserve notified me that there are too many tourists wanting to watch the wolf pack''s return migration, and they might not be able to stop them all, so they''ve decided to open a ''Michelle Pack Migration Route.''"

    Freckles grimaced: "Oh, I bet that''s an expensive route."

    Whiteughed heartily: "Young man, don''t be angry, money isn''t a bad thing¡ªwithout it, where would we get funding for our research... The key isn''t this, but the wolves'' safety. Although people are limited to watching from a distance and rangers are patrolling constantly, with more people, the chance of idents increases greatly."

    "Some people might do attention-seeking things, and we might encounter lunatics who would shoot at the wolf pack¡ª"

    He actually wanted to exaggerate a bit to test his students'' attitudes, but Lian remainedposed, showing no sign of whether she was listening, Chu Tingwu rested her chin on her hand, seemingly encouraging him to continue the story... And Bernie with his freckles, his face showing "work is exhausting with no one to share it, colleagues are all idiots and I just want to rest" numbness, took a moment before saying: "Hm?"

    White: "...Ahem."

    "Anyway, worried about disturbing the wolf pack, the reserve has asked us to constantly monitor the Michelle pack''s condition... Which means, while others must use binocrs, we can get closer to the pack," he waved his hand, "Isn''t that exciting?"

    Freckles: "They just encountered poachers, Michelle won''t have a good attitude toward humans =_="

    White: "=_="

    "Anyway, go pack your things," he said expressionlessly.

    Unlike the previous one-day camping trip, this time they would be staying closer to the wolf pack, apanying the gray wolves in the wild for an extended period.

    Hopefully, the wolf pack wouldn''t be too reactive.

    "Oh, right," White remembered he hadn''t checked on the two girls yet, "I heard it was thanks to Wu''s device that we managed to put satellite trackers on two wolves, well done! And what has Lian been doing these days, how many papers have you read?"

    Lian: "Learned to drive."

    White: "?"

    You need to learn that too? You''re not good at driving simply because you''re not good at it, not because you don''t know how!

    White decided to encourage his genius student: "Then you can driveter."

    Freckles: "?"

    Freckles: "Maybe we should let Wu drive instead."

    Between his ssmate and the minor, he chose the unlicensed minor.

    -

    While wolf fans across the ocean were buzzing about the reserve''s decision, at the Jin City Police Dog Training Base, a group of tortoiseshell cat fans were also excited.

    ¡ªAlthough Chu Tingwu would include Three-Five-Five in her livestreams, giving the cat mom a few moments on camera each day, the focus was still on American wolves.

    Our local tortoiseshell indeed isn''t as eye-catching as American wolves, and its fans aren''t as global as the wolves''. But those wolves are local wolves too, how much nobler are local wolves than local cats! Fans attracted by the cat want to see the cat mom!

    After Chu Tingwu helped by pointing out the video ount of the Jin City Police Dog Training Base, fans finally got to see the new smoke-gray tortoiseshell cat.

    Three-Five-Five wasn''t filming videos for the first time and had already learned to find the camera on her own.

    Whenever the publicity staff came with their cameras and said "I''m starting to film," Three-Five-Five would look at them demurely before beginning her "work."

    She didn''t actually need to constantly look after the kittens, but because of the previous "control group" experiment, the kittens she led and those from another ss would indeed be tested separately for elimination.

    When fans opened the video, they instinctively gasped¡ª

    [Base, you''re confused! How can you start a variety show with something so intense, directly showing kitten elimination videos? You should at least give people a chance to vote!]

    [Oh my... today''s content is the first batch of kitten elimination tests? You need to treat variety shows like talent shows if you want them to be popr! Shouldn''t the first episode be about showcasing kitten skills? And give all the cats numbers while you''re at it! By the way, if they''re eliminated... is there a chance for revival?]

    The publicity team, constantly monitoring the bulletments: "..."

    They didn''t know whether tough or cry.

    While viewers were indeed worried about the base''s video traffic, once they started watching, they were immediately immersed¡ª

    Although it was a variety show, the base still maintained its principles, so the entire program felt more like a documentary.

    However,pared to pure documentaries, it became more interesting with so many kittens and puppies appearing on screen.

    ¡ªAnd the program actually did start with introductions of the kittens.

    The trainer stood in front of the camera, seriously teaching viewers how to "select cats," how to pick ones that were easier to train, and how to eliminate those with inherent intelligence issues during the selection process.

    Other issues could be trained out, but there was no fixing a poor mind.

    Viewers: "..."

    What should they do now that they were unconsciouslyparing their own cats? If they discovered their beloved cat was actually intellectually challenged, could their rtionship survive?

    Of course, besides cat selection, there were more small tests, mainly to check if cats were normal, and some simple methods to determine if cats were sick or having mood issues.

    ...The Jin City Police Dog Training Base was also starting from scratch in training police cats, spending time and energy to figure things out bit by bit.

    Even with Chu Tingwu''s help, they still encountered many pitfalls. Now, these experiences could be valuable information to share when visiting other bases.

    In the video, while conducting theoretical teaching, they grabbed a kitten as an example, then the camera shifted to introduce new fans to the "affairs" between Three-Five-Five and the trainer.

    This included how Three-Five-Five had rejected some trainees, forcing the trainer to ept them, and how both sides had now bepetitors.

    In thetter half of the video, cats trained by both sides would participate in tests for the first round of elimination.

    [The trainer''s smile seems very forced¡ªwinning means they''re just barely better than a cat, losing means they''re worse than a cat, neither oue seems worth bragging about!]

    [It''s still better to win, so I bet the trainer will lose. No particr reason, I''m just an ordinary level-seven fan from Chu''s livestream.]

    [But isn''t it impressive enough that a cat can understand human speech? How can it help train other cats? Does it know whichmands correspond to which skills? Isn''t this a bit too yful?]

    As if anticipating the audience''s reactions, another trainer on screen said: "If Three-Five-Five''s ss has a higher pass rate, we''ll award this excellent feline staff member with the ''Outstanding Trainer Award''¡ª"

    After speaking, he patted his colleague''s shoulder.

    The colleague: "..."

    Everything was understood without words.

    Don''t you want this medal?

    The colleague shot a murderous re at this trainer, and as the variety show video progressed to thetter half, everyone became immersed in the cats'' various training performances... Although they knew these weren''t pet bloggers'' cats but rather cats being trained by the police dog base to protect the country, watching their movements, watching the kittens rolling on the ground, they couldn''t help but feel inexplicably soothed.

    Seeing some cats fail the tests, the audience seemed more anxious than the trainers.

    When the final pass rates were calcted, Three-Five-Five had one more cat pass in total than the trainer, but her pass rate was lower.

    The audience was furious, but the cats and people in the video showed little reaction.

    Upon hearing that she had more cats pass in total, the cat "meowed" once, jumped onto the tform, and reached out to y with the small medal.

    The trainer: "..."

    Would it be inappropriate to go im the medal from the cat now?

    Three-Five-Five pressed the medal under her paw, raised her head, indicating for the awarding trainer to put it on her.

    Herpetitor walked over to pick up the medal, looked at it, and red at his colleague: "Why is this thing made of stainless steel?!"

    "Meow?"

    "Three-Five-Five, let me tell you, if you''re getting an award, it should be gold. Using stainless steel is really shameless, it''s both cheap and thoughtless."

    "Meow..."

    Colleague: "?"

    Trainer: "You can have this one first, and when Teacher Chu returns, you can earn a gold one from her in the second round!"

    Colleague''s dead stare: Are you paying for the gold one?

    Trainer: "Then I''ll take it¡ªOuch!"

    "Meow!"

    -

    While cats were causing chaos at the base, Star Desk State was also experiencing a tourist peak season riding on the wild wolves'' momentum.

    These opportunities to "closely" observe celebrity wolves were bing increasingly rare, especially considering Michelle''s age.

    Although the chase was swift, people were worried about new idents urring when the wolf pack returned.

    The few people in this car were among the wolf pack''s fans.

    A couple had brought their children, and the wife''s brother was also in the car. Now, facing the sunlight through the window, the brother spoke with a lollipop in his mouth, his voice unclear: "We arrive today, go to town tonight, then leave tomorrow, right?"

    As soon as he said this, the two children turned to re at their uncle: "Of course we need to stay for a few more days!... Can we follow the wolf pack the whole time, Mommy, Daddy?"

    Mommy: "We can only do that for the first two days. We''re here for tourism, wouldn''t it be nice to see other scenic spots in the reserve? Following wolves the whole time is too tiring, and you definitely won''t be able to handle it."

    The children wanted to argue but couldn''t find any reasons.

    Meanwhile, their uncle, acting like a big kid, kept eximing "Ooh" and "Wow" non-stop as they drove through the reserve town, looking at all the buildings.

    They had lunch in the reserve, passed through several gates, and began following the offline map''s directions to find the main group.

    The reserve rmended all tourists bring binocrs, and upon reaching their destination, everyone showed helpless expressions¡ª

    No wonder binocrs were needed; they couldn''t see anything at all from here.

    Everyone got out of the car and headed to the designated viewing tform. The uncle raised his hand to look into the distance: "Is that a car over there?"

    "Yes," Daddy said, "It''s supposedly researchers following the Michelle wolf pack."

    A tourist who had arrived earlier heard them andughed: "There are several cars actually. You can only see the one closest to us, but the wolves are very wary of humans, so the cars can only follow from far away... Ah, the sun is very strong now, and the wolf pack is resting, so you can''t see anything."

    The uncle suddenly sprang up, stood on the railing to peer into the distance, then jumped down smoothly, suggesting to his family: "Why don''t we go see that fountain we passed earlier?"

    Family: "..."

    The nearby tourist was startled by his movement, made a surprised sound, then thought for a moment and suggested: "If you''re feeling bored, why not check out the livestream?"

    There''s an official livestream?

    There was some shade not far away, and this "experienced" tourist followed them over, pointing out which livestream to watch.

    Uncle: "...Wu?"

    Experienced tourist: "Oh, have you heard of her?"

    The tablet disyed the livestream screen. After watching for a while and scrutinizing the UP''s ID, uncle said, "Is that Tingwu? I was actually apetition judge with her when I visited China before."

    "What Tingwu? No," the tourist waved dismissively, "it''s either Achu or W."

    Uncle: "..." That''s exactly Chu Tingwu!

    Arthur, the renowned American parkour athlete, was now carrying bags for two children while tilting his body to show them the livestream. Upon realizing the tourist didn''t believe him, he could only shrug and continue watching the broadcast¡ª

    It was the familiar aerial footage captured by Chu Tingwu''s drone.

    This time the drone flew higher, with its camera in the corner, while people in the vehicle used fixed cameras to zoom in, showing viewers the wolf pack under the tree shade.

    The Michelle pack was resting.

    Although they were equally eager to return to their territory to search for their left-behind cubs and adolescents, the pack had strayed too far and wasn''t in a hurry to set off now.

    Dawn tilted her head, lying on the ground, staring at herpanion nearby. Michelle was behind her, while the old grandmother sat crouched, gazing at the rtives who were almost stolen away.

    Even though humans were far enough away now, the presence of so many humans gathered here seemed to make not just the wolf pack, but other animals uneasy as well.

    For a pack asrge as the Michelle family, not all members would typically join in hunting, but humans had observed that most of the time now, every member stayed with the pack, moving together.

    Someonemented, "It must be because of those poachers! The pack is afraid of more wolves being killed, so they''ve contracted their range of movement!"

    The reserve staff had already found the two wolf corpses and sadly issued obituaries.

    ¡ªThe obituaries came out much faster than previous announcements.

    However, others could see that the pack was indeed hesitant¡ª

    Even Michelle had never encountered bullets before.

    Bullets had taken the wolves'' lives, forcibly taking them beyond the boundaries of the protected area. Michelle was a wise wolf, and if given time, she might understand the rtionship between humans, guns, and wolves, but now she was too old.

    During dream resonance, Chu Tingwu had entered Michelle''s dream once again.

    It wasn''t winter there anymore, but rather the scene from two days ago, when following a gunshot, Michelle ran from near the den and discovered two corpses.

    But unlike in reality, she didn''t lead the pack in pursuit.

    Chu Tingwu wasn''t sure if she knew this was a dream.

    She only saw this white wolf slowly pacing near the bodies, then gazing at the dark sky in the distance.

    "Awoooo¡ª"

    No other wolf responded in the dark night.

    Only Chu Tingwu jumped down from the tree, but she didn''t approach this grieving former wolf king, instead sitting at a distance, where human and wolf would quietly sit together for a while.

    -

    White: "Michelle is as usual, walking behind the wolf kings."

    This was Whiteing over to get into Chu Tingwu''s shot again.

    The camp seemed to have invited more experts than just White¡ªProfessor Langwei aside, others appeared to havee on their own¡ªstar wolves being poached and wolves retaliating against humans was rare, but sessful retaliation was even rarer! Almost all interested professionals had rushed over, and with their influence, they naturally didn''t have to stay on the viewing tform above, but could get closer to the pack like White and others.

    Chu Tingwu even captured footage of someone getting out of their car, trying to approach the pack, but the guard wolves gave loud warning calls, forcing the human to retreat.

    Viewers watching the livestream were disappointed; they didn''t want to keep following far behind the wolf pack, but because staff were following along, the drone''s aerial filming was restricted.

    The reserve actually wanted to livestream this operation too... but they used text and photos, naturally getting far less traffic than Chu Tingwu''s livestream.

    Arthur mumbled, "Wu is really amazing..."

    He had previously thought about inviting Chu Tingwu to participate in parkourpetitions in America, but was turned down due to scheduling conflicts, and now when they met again¡ªno, they hadn''t met, he was on the viewing tform while Chu Tingwu was down in the core area below.

    Arthur suddenly felt even more dejected.

    "I really do know Wu..."

    A seasoned tourist nearby eximed, "Oh my god, look, Michelle is looking at the camera! We''re so lucky!"

    The voice was too loud for anyone to hear Arthur''s words.

    Arthur: ...Hey!

    He looked down too, suddenly startled.

    Thement stream clearly hesitated as well, because Michelle wasn''t just looking at the camera.

    She had separated from the pack.

    This beautiful white wolf walked unhurriedly toward the camera... or rather, toward where Chu Tingwu was.

    The livestream''s background captured White''s excited shouting, while Chu Tingwu remained steady, even reminding White not to knock over the equipment.

    Michelle had alreadye within two hundred meters.

    For a wolf, this was a distance that could be covered in seconds; for humans, this was a very dangerous range.

    But the overly excited humans seemedpletely unaware of the danger.

    White: "Oh, heavens¡ª"

    Michelle walked several meters closer.

    At some point, Lian had taken the driver''s seat.

    She pressed the elerator.Aliali: 67544169ab2494648e03cfe5

    When the vehicle started moving, people both inside and outside the frame seemed stunned¡ª

    The wolf pack was very resistant to humans approaching in vehicles; starting the car now might make Michelle turn tail and run.

    But she didn''t.

    At an extremely slow speed, the vehicle gradually approached the white wolf ahead.

    Even White grew nervous: what if Lian''s hand slipped and hit Michelle?

    In this nearly global broadcast situation, such a collision would end his career too.

    But it didn''t happen; the white wolf didn''t retreat, and the vehicle didn''t actually get too close to her.

    The vehicle and wolf passed each other, with the white wolf turning around beside them, as if walking parallel with the humans.

    At the moment when they were closest, the white wolf suddenly leaped up, and in the frame, every strand of fur could be seen floating clearly.

    She raised her front paw and pressed it against the ss... giving a high-five to Chu Tingwu, who had raised her hand at exactly the right moment!

 Chapter 72

    Everyone was puzzled¡ªwhy would Michelle only approach Professor White''s vehicle?

    While her attitude toward other humans remained unchanged, that vehicle had earned the privilege of getting closer to the wolf pack.

    After her second parallel run with that vehicle, the other wolves also began to ept it as one of theirpanions.

    Once, Freckles woke up to find a grey wolf lounging on the hood of their car.

    Freckles: "..."

    Of course, Michelle quickly chased that wolf away with a growl.

    The matriarch even gave that fellow a swat.

    But other wolves started appearing more frequently.

    This made Freckles quite nervous¡ªthey did asionally need to exit the vehicle, but the wolf pack was getting too close.

    Fortunately, no idents had urred yet, and they had captured some excellent footage.

    It wasn''t just footage of the wolf pack hunting¡ª

    This time, the wolves had turned their vehicle into a hunting tool.

    The grey wolves would drive antelopes toward the car, and under the humans'' watchful eyes, the antelopes were forced to jump over the vehicle. The drone on top recorded everything, while below, using the car as a barrier, the wolves more easily cornered their prey.

    White was excited: "My goodness... I feel like I''m participating in the pack''s hunt... Perhaps they see us as argerpanion, one that won''t step on them."

    Freckles thought: They''re just using us!

    And the car is still shaking, Professor, it''s still shaking!

    White pondered: "Wolf packs have never incorporated human vehicles into their hunting system, but Michelle''s pack is different. I think they''re gradually learning how to coexist with humans in the protected area. Moreover, they''ve realized that among us, there are both good and bad people¡ªsome they can approach and others they must avoid."

    After saying this, White had Freckles drive the car away from the pack, rejoining the other vehicles that the wolves preferred to avoid.

    Perhaps under Michelle''s leadership, the pack could indeed distinguish between good and bad humans. But they shouldn''t leave other wolves with the impression that "some vehicles are harmless," because the difference wasn''t in the vehicles, but in the people inside them.

    Michelle watched from afar, finally letting out a long howl, and none of the pack approached.

    She gradually became a small dot in Chu Tingwu''s lens, disappointing the livestream viewers, though they agreed with White''s decision.

    After rejoining the main group and no longer being the closest to the wolf pack, safety improved, and people began leaving their vehicles more frequently.

    While it had been exciting to be among the wolves, they couldn''t freely exit the vehicles then, and it had been mentally taxing.

    Almost immediately after getting out, many people approached White, with some even asking if they could switch vehicles. White: "?"

    While White was being mobbed, Chu Tingwu quietly circled around the crowd and walked to the water''s edge¡ª

    Others wanted to chat with her too, but when her shoulder-mounted camera swept over them, they fell silent.

    You''re still filming?

    This location was close to Kate''s pack''s territory, not far from Michelle''s pack''s domain.

    Unlike Michelle''s pack, which could choose to simply avoid humans, Kate''s pack was less famous, with an unremarkable current alpha, and they had three cubs this year. While the protected area asked experts to avoid wildlife when nning routes, the white wolf''s pack ahead ultimately determined the path.

    So, Kate''s pack had contracted their range, with both alpha wolves leading family members to hunt on the other side of their territory.

    When Chu Tingwu raised her camera, the lens precisely captured a grey wolf standing guard under a distant tree.

    [That''s Kaias, right?]

    [Oh my goodness, Kaias, long time no see! We used to catch glimpses of them during livestreams a while back, but we''ve been following Michelle so muchtely, I almost forgot about Kate''s pack that asionally appears on camera!]

    Of course, there were also the two lone male wolves who traveled together, and the River Valley pack. With these three forces near the camp, after discovering Kate''s pack, everyone immediately thought of the other wolves. Michelle''s group was probably heading home, and they wondered how the adolescents and cubs who stayed behind were doing.

    That night, fans went to bed excited, not expecting to be awakened by urgent wolf howls¡ª

    Chu Tingwu: "Kate''s pack is attacking Michelle''s pack."

    Since the livestream ran 24/7, it mostly used fixed cameras at night, and many people fell asleep with the stream on. With wolf fans from around the globe, activity levels remained steady, and when the unusual howling began, more viewers flooded into the stream.

    But the cameras weren''t infrared, so in the darkness, only anxiety-inducing wolf howls could be heard intermittently.

    In ces invisible to humans, wolves seemed to be battling.

    White was already awake and appeared even more energetic. He took a deep breath: "Kate was still too nervous."

    Perhaps humans had still caused them stress.

    The unfamiliar crowds and vehicles, the hunting grounds forced to contract due to the vehicles, hungry cubs, passingrge wolf packs... all these factors kept adding pressure on the alpha wolf Kate. So, he might have finally decided to attack and drive away his own kind.

    Because Michelle''s pack had also taken over their hunting grounds.

    A bloody battle that didn''t really need to happen urred anyway, with wolf howls echoing throughout the night. Liany by the car window, listening to these sounds... Freckles looked at her, suddenly feeling envious.

    The world she saw and heard was probably different from theirs. With Lian''s talent, she could likely distinguish which wolf made each howl, and although it was equally dark, Lian could deduce the current battle situation just from the sounds.

    Thinking this, Freckles turned to look at Chu Tingwu.

    Chu Tingwu was also gazing into the darkness, her eyes fixed forward, but not stagnant¡ªrather, they moved slightly as if she could actually see something.

    Freckles thought about Chu Tingwu''s powerful hearing and her innate ability to judge emotions. If Lian could distinguish each wolf, then Chu Tingwu could hear various tiny sounds and simrly understand the situation of therge-scale wolf battle.

    Just as he was thinking this, Chu Tingwu''s expression seemed to be slightly more grave, and then¡ª

    She leaned back against her seat, tilted her head, and started dozing off.

    Freckles: "?"

    What exactly were you being so serious about just now!

    Although filled with disbelief, at least the wolf howls seemed to be getting quieter, indicating one side had won this chaotic battle.

    The next day, when the protected area''s vehicles moved forward, everyone discovered that alpha wolf Kate was severely injured, and other wolves in Kate''s pack had varying degrees of injuries.

    Michelle''s pack had emerged victorious, driving away the local wolves.

    Kate''s pack appeared to decide to migrate, with the alpha remaining near the den, in poor condition.

    Viewers who learned of this were very concerned¡ª

    If not for human influence, this battle theoretically wouldn''t have happened.

    From poachers to observers, all had yed a part in the conflict, adding wounds to the wild wolves.

    Perhaps due to the fans'' loud appeals, or perhaps because the protected area had already nned to do so¡ªthey decided to take Kate away for treatment.

    Of course, taking a wolf for treatment wasn''t a simple matter. Even with veterinarians present, Kate''s injuries couldn''t heal quickly, and how the remaining pack would survive without an alpha was a major problem.

    If Kate died, the alpha female might choose a new mate from within the pack to maintain its operation.

    But she might also leave the pack to seek a stronger mate and form a new n, which would cause Kate''s pack topletely dissolve.

    Therefore, the park actually preferred to treat Kate''s injuries within the pack, hoping for abination of human help and the wolf''s natural healing ability.

    The park approached White for help.

    They couldn''t tranquilize all the wolves in the Kate pack, so they would prioritize sedating the injured adult wolves.

    This meant the reserve''s vehicle needed to drive to the wolf den.

    White: "They want us to go with them... however, if the Kate pack is too resistant, we won''t be able to go in."

    Perhaps because the Michelle pack had only shown friendliness to their vehicle, the park hoped White and his team could create another miracle... though they couldn''t imagine what kind of miracle it would be.

    White took three students and got into the park''s vehicle.

    Their own vehicle had too much of the Michelle pack''s scent on it, and driving it there might be seen as an "invasion."

    When the park vehicle appeared, the Kate pack indeed became agitated.

    The veterinarian sat in the vehicle, watching the wolf pack with an equally serious expression.

    Different animals had varying responses to tranquilizers, so unless necessary, they didn''t want to sedate the wild wolves.

    After getting closer, even Freckles could smell the blood.

    The wolf pack was upwind, and several adult wolves that had been lying on the slope stood up. Humans and wolves stared at each other, separated only by the metal shell of the vehicle.

    Freckles'' heart suddenly trembled¡ª

    He actually didn''t like wolves that much.

    Unlike his geniuspanions, he was simply methodically excellent, and that''s how he became White''s student.

    For Freckles, whether researching wild wolves in the reserve, handling paperwork in the office, or dissecting animals in theboratory, it was all just work.

    He imagined that he would probably methodically be an animal behaviorist in the future, or use his resume to get a high-paying job at anotherpany. His close encounters with wild wolves would be bedtime stories to share with his wife and children after he achieved sess.

    But he hadn''t expected to get this close¡ª

    It was supposed to be bedtime stories, not horror stories!

    Of course, unlike the nervous Freckles, White looked quite excited. His expression was serious, but his eyes were gleaming.

    The other wolves in the Kate pack were clearly bing tense.

    The vehicle was huge, and they had reached the core territory of the wolf pack.

    Three wolf pups huddled next to the alpha wolf, creating a moment of tense silence.

    After careful consideration, the humans brought cages and captures.

    Everyone hoped to first drive the adult wolves with fighting capability into the cages while treating the sedated alpha wolf.

    Fortunately, this wasn''t the first time the reserve had done this, and everything went rtively smoothly.

    Several caged adult wolves quieted down after their initial howling, seemingly sensing that the humans weren''t doing anything harmful.

    Others also got out of the vehicle.

    This was Kate pack''s territory, and barring any surprises, no other dangerous animals would approach.

    When Chu Tingwu got out of the car, White was already gathering around Kate.

    Amidst the stronger smell of blood and the unpleasant odor of the wolf den... various scents swirled in the air, but she still detected something different.

    Chu Tingwu''s livestreaming equipment was set up nearby, able to capture Kate and the other wolves, but at this moment, she suddenly kicked the camera, making it tilt.

    The lens shook, leaving the watching audience confused.

    Then everyone heard a wolf''s howl.

    The wolf seemed to be right near the camera, its rage-filled howl exploding in front of all viewers, but they couldn''t see anything¡ªthey only saw the shocked expressions of the reserve staff and raised gun barrels.

    The team had brought tranquilizer guns, but as a precaution, they also carried real bullets.

    The raised gun was now pointing behind the camera.

    Audience: "?"

    Wait, wait, tell them what''s happening!

    Judging from the distance between the camera and the cages, given the sound, could it be that one of the cages wasn''t properly secured and a wolf had broken free?

    The gun barrel remained pointed behind the camera, but viewers clearly saw the staff member''s expression change from surprise to hesitation, and finally, while still pointing forward, the barrel lowered slightly.

    The wolf''s howl seemed to quieten too.

    And then there was a¡ª

    "Meow."

    Meow???

    Gray wolf fur first appeared at the edge of the frame, and when half the wolf''s body came into view, everyone realized this gray wolf was quiterge and somewhat... familiar?

    [Shane!? What are you doing here?]

    Yes, it was Shane, the wandering adult male wolf.

    Everyone had forgotten about him for a while, only now remembering that although the main Michelle pack had moved west, Shane was still wandering around this area.

    It seemed that after failing to join the Michelle pack, he was now trying to join the Kate pack, having stayed in this area recently.

    For Qi, joining the Kate pack would have been a good oue too, as among the three nearby packs, this was the only one that hadn''t driven him away.

    But Qi wasn''t here now.

    As Shane''s body came more into view, the humans in front seemed to take a step back.

    The audience''s hearts were also in their throats¡ªwhat did that earlier sound mean, was it Shane howling? The distance between the staff and Shane was far too close; for an unrestricted adult wolf, he could pounce on them at any moment.

    But in that part of the frame, White had been gesturing something continuously.

    Next to appear was Chu Tingwu''s hand.

    Yes.

    Chu Tingwu''s hand was resting on Shane''s back as she quietly stood beside the wolf.

    The wolf stared at the humans in the distance, nced at the sedated Kate, hesitated for a moment, and theny down right there.

    Chu Tingwu remained standing nearby, casually stroking the gray wolf''s long fur, then offhandedly patted his head.

    [????]

    [I turned the volume up to maximum, I can hear what White and others are saying! "This wolf is uncontrolled¡ª" "How can that be, hasn''t Wu got him under control?" No, do you call that control?]

    The contrast between human and wolf in the same frame was stark¡ªChu Tingwu''s hand was just a normal hand, now hanging casually, barely touching Shane''s back. If the adult gray wolf turned his head, he could probably bite off her entire arm.

    The gray wolf didn''t turn, but the girl did, seemingly noticing the camera.

    She waved at the camera, exining to the worried audience:

    "Shane might have been triggered by seeing the cages, so he rushed out, but he hasn''t attacked anyone, everything''s fine now."

    Audience: ...

    "Hasn''t attacked" and "hasn''t managed to attack" seemed like two different concepts?

    As if to prove this gray wolf was harmless, Chu Tingwu first waved to the staff, then turned... and pushed Shane down.

    Shane: "..."

    Audience: "..."

    Rather, she hadn''t used much force at all¡ªjust a slight downward motion of her wrist, and the gray wolf paused, quietlyy down, and then rolled over.

    Human and wolf exchanged nces, as ifpleting a silent but synchronized performance. Shane, who had rolled away, rolled back, and Chu Tingwu raised her hand to signal him to turn around, then patted his rear.

    Wolf: "Awoo?"

    Before Chu Tingwu could pat him a second time, the wolf hesitated, avoided the vehicle, and carefully left Kate pack''s territory.

    The howling from the other wolves in the cages also quietened.

    But the livestreamments exploded.

    Newly summoned fans looked bewilderedly at thements, searching for exnations, asking: Wolf taming? What wolf taming? What just happened?

    It wasn''t just the fans¡ªthe on-site staff also wanted to know what had happened! They were the ones who saw it with their own eyes, yet they felt their view wasn''tplete.

    ¡ªA few minutes ago, Shane had indeed pounced out.

    Everyone should have confirmed there were no other wolves around, since all of Kate pack''s adult wolves were here... but Shane had somehow approached the vehicle, then leaped up, approaching the staff near the cage door from behind the vehicle.

    Another staff member instinctively raised their gun, but after Chu Tingwu kicked the camera, she seemed to crash right into the wild wolf''s embrace.

    Amidst the "awoo" sounds, there was a "meow." Everyone was too anxious about Chu Tingwu''s safety to shoot, and in the next second, Shane had already fallen to the ground.

    He didn''t appear to be injured; rather, he seemed to have stopped mid-attack as if by reflex. Hey half-reclined, front paws raised, head tilted to one side, eyes fixed on the staff members holding guns.

    Chu Tingwu was half-kneeling beside the wolf, her hands on his neck, casually stroking his wolf ears.

    Shane: "?"

    Shane nced at her, and after Chu Tingwu moved away, the grey wolf sat up, continuing to watch the cage and humans. Finally, under the humans'' tense gaze, he looked away.

    The grey wolf seemed to understand that these humans weren''t attacking the Kate wolf pack but were actually trying to help them.

    However, after the grey wolf retreated, others still didn''t understand:

    "How did you manage to tackle him?"

    What kind of reaction speed was that - coincidence or ident? And it was so dangerous... Of course, if Chu Tingwu hadn''t tackled Shane, the next shot from the gun might have been live ammunition.

    In such a situation, controlling the wild wolf took top priority to ensure everyone''s safety.

    White seemed to have a racing heart too. Uncharacteristically, he didn''t speak immediately but remained silent for a while before saying:

    "If Kate dies, Shane''s chances of joining this wolf pack would be higher."

    A wild wolf''s pursuit of a pack couldst a very long time, and this happened to be the Kate pack''s lowest point. Other wild wolves might not be as strong as Shane, and if Wolf King Kate died, Shane might be chosen by the Alpha female as her mate and be epted as the new Wolf King.

    Human thoughts had nothing to do with wild wolves.

    After Chu Tingwu drove Shane away, she turned around to find others looking at her with strange expressions - somewhat respectful, shocked, and... jealous? What''s wrong with you, White!

    Freckles came over to ask: "Are you, are you hurt?"

    "No," Chu Tingwu said, "Could you get me a bottle of water?"

    Freckles: "Oh, oh!" Although Wu''s expression hadn''t changed much, after such an encounter with a wild wolf, her adrenaline must be high, and she must be thirsty¡ª

    Chu Tingwu took the water and started washing her hands.

    Freckles: "=="

    The treatment was eventuallypleted without incident. The team didn''t move Wolf King Kate but opened the remote-controlled cage door to release the Alpha female first. After confirming there were no abnormalities, they packed up their equipment and slowly departed.

    Wind swept across the mountains, the green wilderness bowed low, and wolf howls echoed from afar along with other animal calls, captured by the lens as distant muffled sounds in the background.

    It was humans leaving the wolves, but it also seemed like the wolves were distancing themselves from humans - after moving further away, the Michelle wolf pack appeared in the lens.

    They were moving along the river, watching the River Valley wolves across the water from a distance.

    Chu Tingwu listened intently: "The pack''s adolescent wolves on guard duty areing."

    After she spoke, she adjusted the camera, though nothing appeared in the frame yet. New fans were confused, but veteran fans were confident:

    [No need to doubt - if the goddess says so, we just need to believe.]

    New fans: "?" Just joined the livestream, is this really the Red Rock Reserve wolf observation broadcast? Haven''t they got the wrong ce?!

    Sure enough, after Chu Tingwu adjusted the camera, a wolf''s head appeared in the distance.

    Then, arger head appeared below... eh?

    [Qi¡ª]

    What are you doing here?!

    Qi still had a few wounds on his face, but his leg injury seemed to have healed.

    He was mixed in with the adolescents and several adult wolves from the Michelle pack who were on guard duty. If everyone hadn''t been so familiar with him and noticed the satellite tracker on his neck, they probably wouldn''t have recognized him so quickly.

    Wolves wearing satellite trackers were few and far between.

    Soon, Shane, who had just left, also ran over to the other side of the frame.

    He affectionately rubbed noses with the other wolves, greeted Qi, and then patted a wolf pup''s head.

    ...He seemed to havepletely integrated into the group.

    Logically, everyone should have felt happy about their "suffering finally paying off," but for some reason, what they felt was more like "taking advantage of weakness" or even "hedging their bets."

    Chu Tingwu: ...While Qi genuinely wanted to join the Michelle pack, Shane actually wanted to help them hunt as payment for learning from the wolf pups.

    Chu Tingwu: "...Hmm."Aliali: 6753e080ab2494648efcba18

    She suddenly thought of a serious issue.

    She had learned quite a bit in the evening too, and even the wolf knew to pay tuition - had she never paid anything?

    Though the system found the cub''s thinking a bit strange, it still actively suggested: "How about hunting a deer?"

    Chu Tingwu: ==

    She just wanted to pay tuition, not get herself sent to prison!

    Shane suddenly looked up, seemingly able to see the humans'' vehicle despite the great distance.

    "Awoo¡ª"

    He appeared to be greeting Chu Tingwu, but howls also came from the Michelle pack in their direction. Chu Tingwu knew they were greeting her too.

    Caught in this crossfire of greetings, Chu Tingwu: "..."

    Maybe she should go hunt that deer after all!

 Chapter 73

    The Red Rock Reserve has designated observation areas for watching wolves.

    Every year, numerous tourists spend thousands of dors toe here, getting closer to observe wolf activities and catch a glimpse of their favorite wolf packs... Besides the observation areas that are closer to wolf activity zones, there are also interaction zones where visitors can see the peripheral wolf packs.

    These wolves seem to have grown ustomed to humans appearing in their territory. They ignore human gazes and cameras, simply going about their usual lives.

    On the way back, White kept ncing at Chu Tingwu, and finally seemed to make a decision:

    "Wu, would you like to be my student?"

    Chu Tingwu: Thanks, but I don''t want to skip grades.

    Chu Tingwu exined China''s education system, and White appeared quite disappointed. He was also curious: "Do you really have to take the college entrance exam? You coulde study abroad here. If funding is an issue, I can help you apply for schrships."

    White didn''t even mention what would happen if Chu Tingwu couldn''t get into his university, seemingly assuming he could get her in even with zero points in the interview.

    If Chu Tingwu''s life goal was simply "obtaining excellent academic credentials," she could ept right now and skip the college entrance exam to be an international student.

    Chu Tingwu: "Apart from the wolf packs, this country doesn''t hold much appeal for me at the moment."

    Whiteughed heartily, not offended by Chu Tingwu''s directness: "I think that''s great... you''re making decisions based on your interests, not other factors."

    This was fortunate! Because of this, he believed Chu Tingwu''s interest in animals hadn''t disappeared, and they would eventually coborate again.

    Although Chu Tingwu hadn''t agreed to be his future student, White now treated her more like a student at the camp.

    They would take helicopter trips together with the veterinary team to collect data on wild wolves, taking blood samples and specimens. Chu Tingwu was often assigned tedious tasks and even helped White prepare research materials.

    Moreover, she had to continue livestreaming. White said: "Livestreaming is also work I''ve assigned to you."

    The man spoke seriously: "I''m actually very happy that you''re livestreaming from the reserve¡ªwe can let more people see these wolves, understand their society, their habits, and their lives. It makes me happy, even though most people will never deeply understand these wild wolves in their lifetime, but some will fall in love with them and follow our research."

    He yfully tapped the daydreaming Freckles: "Perk up, young man, the whole world is watching on the other side of the camera!"

    Freckles: No... currently the most popr video on the site is a five-year-old livestreaming LEGO building, but even that isn''t watched by the whole world, right?

    Freckles had gotten used to White''s way of speaking, but he still couldn''t help seeking solidarity from hispanion. He turned to look at Chu Tingwu, who looked back at him with a smile.

    Freckles unconsciously smiled back.

    Chu Tingwu: "Is the dataption finished?"

    Freckles: "...I''ll give it to you in a bit."

    You heartless person!

    It seemed Chu Tingwu was only cold-hearted when dealing with humans.

    Just yesterday, Freckles had seen her video calling her cat. Though he couldn''t understand what she was saying, and her expression barely changed, her eyes and gaze were gentle, carrying a subtle smile.

    And besides her own cat, she was also gentle with other animals¡ª

    Like the fox that had unexpectedly run in front of their car earlier. Chu Tingwu had opened its mouth and "worked her magic" on it, then gently released it... and the fox had turned back and called out for a while.

    Freckles: "Was it saying goodbye to you?"

    How fairy tale-like.

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    Chu Tingwu gave him a "what are you talking about" look: "It was cursing at me."

    Freckles: "..."

    That''s still pretty fairy tale-like, because you can actually understand animal sounds. Are you a Disney princess?

    Unexpectedly, when he asked this, Chu Tingwu''s expression became strange, and finally she said: "If you keep saying that, my family really will buy Disney."

    "Actually, I can''t understand what it''s cursing about, I just feel that it''s cursing at me," she said, "Sometimes I feel like you''re cursing at me in your mind too."

    Freckles: Don''t say it out loud!

    Besides her keen hearing, powerful vision, strange dynamic reflexes, and hypersensitivity to emotions... Chu Tingwu seemed able to get along well with all kinds of animals.

    After the Shane incident that day, the park tentatively borrowed Chu Tingwu again.

    Yes, she was borrowed by the reserve and worked for the veterinary department for two days,forting injured animals under treatment. This made Whitein loudly for a long time.

    ...Because he also wanted Chu Tingwu to work for him.

    This "work whenever there''s work" lifestyle continued until Monday of the second week.

    It had rained lightlyst night, and there were still puddles in the courtyard today. The gate was open, and Chu Tingwu passed by Freckles, jumping onto the wall and stretching first.

    The people around were already used to this and continued with their tasks.

    But when Freckles looked up, he noticed Chu Tingwu hadn''t jumped down, nor was she taking photos. Instead, she was gazing intently at something opposite.

    He noticed a ck dot on the hillside.

    Soon, that dot grewrger¡ªit was a wolf.

    Freckles: "Mavis?"

    It was the alpha female of the Michelle pack, a ck wolf in her prime years, Michelle''s granddaughter.

    She had always been level-headed, and now she was approaching the camp at an unhurried pace, finally stopping about a hundred meters away.

    Not just Freckles, but others also gathered to look. Humans and wolf gazed at each other across the grasnd, and after a while, Mavis turned around.

    She seemed about to leave just like that.

    Suddenly, Chu Tingwu jumped down from the wall, but this time not back into the yard¡ªshended outside.

    Chu Tingwu: "I''m going for a walk?"

    Freckles: Do you think this is your neighborhood park!

    He was at a loss for words and turned to look at White. White''s expression was conflicted as he looked at the ranger, who pondered: "Should we take the car?"

    Freckles: Does anyone remember she doesn''t have a driver''s license?

    Five minutester, Freckles found himself in the driver''s seat.

    Freckles: "..." Something''s not right?

    -

    Although something felt odd, Freckles still drove forward ording to Chu Tingwu''s request.

    The car moved very slowly, and they could see the ck wolf in the distance with their naked eyes. The wolf wasn''t running at full speed either, and even turned to look at their car halfway through.

    This car was not only "famous" among the wolf packs but had also be renowned in human society as the "wolf-favored car," with wealthy people offering to buy it at a premium.

    The Reserve: "?"

    The Reserve wouldn''t agree!

    After White and the others left, they could use this car to take wealthy tourists on private tours.

    So every time Freckles drove, he had the illusion he was driving a luxury car¡ªafter all, in some people''s eyes, this vehicle was worth as much as one.

    Might as well consider himself earning good money by driving it.

    Of course, Chu Tingwu wasn''t really out for a "walk." In fact, White and the others had been turning a blind eye to her asional interactions with wolf packs when she got out of the car.

    If they tried to stop her, other research teams would be moring for attention.

    The car drove deeper and finally reached the heart of Michelle pack''s territory.

    Freckles nced at the road, about to say something, but found Chu Tingwu had already opened the door and smoothly gotten out.

    Freckles: "..."

    He reversed the car and quietly avoided the depression ahead, but didn''t give up following Chu Tingwu''s pace.

    The girl walked ahead, moving through the wildlife reserve where wild beasts lived without any protection, simply stretching her arms and limbs.

    Her movements were natural and fluid, seemingly unconcerned about potential dangers around her, not believing she would be attacked by wild animals.

    Meanwhile, Freckles sat with his hands on the steering wheel, surrounded by metal protection, yet constantly feeling like a mountain lion might jump out of the bushes at any moment.

    The unmanned aerial sphere of Chu Tingwu hovered behind her. While Freckles was lost in thought, more wolves appeared before the girl.

    The vehicle could no longer move forward, so Freckles could only lean on the steering wheel, staring at the wolves of Michelle''s pack.

    The entire wolf pack seemed to have gathered here. The alpha maley outside the den, with Michelle lying beside him, eyes closed.

    None of the wolves were roughhousing - though for them, fighting was actually a form of y, even when it sometimes involved biting or drawing blood.

    The alpha male gently nuzzled Michelle. The white wolf''s belly rose and fell slightly, but there were no other movements.

    Freckles remained leaning on the steering wheel, but as he kept watching, he felt something wasn''t right.

    Chu Tingwu had already stepped into the midst of the wolf pack. The wolves stirred slightly but showed no other reaction.

    So Chu Tingwu walked all the way to Michelle.

    The alpha male, lying with his front paws crossed, looked up at her and made room for a small space.

    System: "She''s about to die."

    The system''s voice carried an unmistakable calmness.

    For a string of electronic data, the death of an individual organism was merely a return to zero.

    Yes, the old matriarch was dying.

    There was no special reason - it was simply her time.

    She had experienced too many dangers and hardships in her life, lost too many of her kind and kin, and now it was their turn to lose her. In her final moments, she couldn''t even be bothered to open her eyes.

    Chu Tingwu sat cross-legged in front of Michelle, while the other wolves had gathered around without anyone noticing when.

    The alpha male and female cuddled together, while other wolves huddled close. Suddenly, the white wolf named "Dawn" opened its mouth and let out a long howl¡ª

    One wolf''s howl rang out, followed by another. The howls echoed through the valley, making Freckles in the car suddenly shiver.

    He realized something significant might have happened.

    Even though he wasn''t Lian, wasn''t Chu Tingwu, and wasn''t the experienced White - even though Freckles didn''t want to admit it - he had indeed studied wild wolves for so long. They weren''t just topics for nighttime conversation; they were another species of this world that he had constantly observed and lived with day and night.

    He understood them.

    A wave of sadness washed over him.

    Freckles lowered his head, wiping his tears on his sleeve.

    He realized something... significant might have happened.

    Another vehicle carrying the others was behind them, stopped at a slightly nted slope foot, listening to the wolves'' calls without going up to find the two people.

    White and the others were worried about Chu Tingwu''s safety, which was why they followed at a distance, but now¡ª

    He looked down at the video.

    Chu Tingwu''s livestream had disabledments, and the broadcast didn''t have any fancy content - just floating in mid-air, showing the scene in front of the wolf den.

    But the viewer count was increasing frantically.

    The rapidly rising viewer count and the quiet stream without a singlement seemed like two different worlds. White quietly gazed at the white wolf in the frame and suddenly said, "I''ve always wanted to write a book about Michelle... but I never had the time. When I finally thought I had time, I discovered there was already a book about Michelle on the market."

    The ranger next to him, sucking on a mint, mumbled, "Yeah, a step toote."

    "Indeed, a step toote," White sighed, "Moreover, that book was written by my ex-wife."

    Ranger: "...?"

    White fell silent, thinking of things from long ago - discussing Michelle''s wolf pack with his ex-wife over documentaries, traveling between the school and Red Rock Reserve every summer... From being a new professor to bing a renowned expert, Michelle''s wolf life wasn''t long by human standards, but for some people, this period was indeed the most important time of their lives.

    Her existence carried their memories.

    White pressed his hand against his eye socket and said softly, "I''m a bit sleepy."

    He really was getting sleepy, wanting to take a nap.

    He turned to look at the ranger and found him already dozing off against the window, then looked at his student Lian, who was leaning back in the rear seat, eyes closed for who knows how long.

    White: "?"

    He simply closed his eyes to rest, but at some point, he too fell asleep.

    -

    White knew he was dreaming.

    He could clearly feel that he was dreaming, and the scenery around him was familiar, like Red Rock Reserve in winter.

    Snow weighed down the pine branches overhead. White was wearing one moreyer than when he fell asleep, still thin, but he didn''t feel cold.

    He took a few steps forward, looking at the snow beneath his feet. Soon, the falling snow covered his footprints again.

    White trudged forward, one foot after another, feeling a vague idea in his mind urging him forward, though he didn''t know whaty ahead.

    Until he rounded another boulder, he saw the figure sitting beneath it.

    Lian was sitting in the sheltered spot under the rock, her shoulder pressed against Mavis, the alpha female.

    The ck wolfy beside her, gazing at the slope ahead.

    White stood to the side, staring steadily at the scene before him¡ª

    It was the wolf pack.

    It was Michelle''s pack, but something seemed different.

    The wolves were ying, chasing each other in the snow. Two white wolves ran past, one after another, the one behind pouncing on the one in front, licking its head.

    The white wolf behind wasrge and strong, while the one in front moved somewhat awkwardly. White realized: it was Michelle in her prime and her great-granddaughter Dawn.

    But Michelle was nearly dead... oh, this was a dream, so that was fine.

    At the bottom of the slope stood his other student, Bernie with his freckles, looking up at the wolf pack, notebook in hand, seemingly recording non-stop, not noticing his teacher''s presence at all.

    But White didn''t mind, because this was a dream after all.

    He continued forward, wanting to reach out and touch the back of the wolf in front of him, and then he realized it was actually Shane.

    Shane had just pinned Qi down, turned his head curiously to look at the human approaching, and then gave him a nudge.

    White was pushed down into the snow.

    He wasn''t angry, but instead startedughing foolishly.

    Just when White thought this was a strange but beautiful dream, something even stranger appeared in the dream¡ª

    Michelle seemed to be ying in the snow, sliding down from above, running back up, then letting out a "awoo" at a corner.

    That pile of snow moved, and from under it emerged a... a cat as big as an adult wolf? And its fur was actually light purple!

    White stared nkly at that cat:

    That definitely wasn''t something he had seen before, nor something that had ever existed in the world. He wanted to study it¡ª but this was a dream, and anything could appear in dreams, right?

    With a mixture of regret and anticipation, White watched as the cat raised its paw to push away the approaching wolf pup, then bumped into Michelle.

    The cat and wolf rubbed heads back and forth, quickly turning into a wrestling match in the snow, then somehow made up and started sliding down the stone slope together.

    White''s professional instincts kicked in, and even in the dream, he quickly determined through visual assessment of the giant cat''s bone structure: this was actually still a cub?! If it was this big as a cub, howrge would it be as an adult?

    Hm?

    Did that cat just re at him?

    After rolling until their fur was covered in snow, Michelle put her paw on the giant cat''s head, and the cat turned to knock her over. Michelle, after rolling once on the ground, wasn''t angry.

    She justy on the rock, slowly gazing around, then: "Awoo¡ª Awoo¡ª Awoo¡ª"

    The snow stopped.

    The other wolves opened their mouths too.

    The howls came one after another. They no longer yed in the snow, no longer quarreled and fought, but all turned their heads to look at their leader, letting out long howls.

    "Awoo¡ª"

    White suddenly opened his eyes.

    He heard the wolf howls near his ears.

    He instinctively wanted to push open the door and get out of the car, but hesitated for a moment and turned to look at the livestream screen.

    Chu Tingwu was no longer sitting, but leaning against Michelle, quietly asleep.

    Michelle was also "asleep."

    Her chest no longer rose and fell; she had fallen into an eternal sleep.

    Wolf howls echoed through the valley, and White felt a sting in his nose.

    Goodbye, he thought.

    Have a long, beautiful dream.

    -

    Michelle''s passing cast a deep gloom over the entire wolf-watchingmunity.

    After her departure, the wolf pack received a new name: the Marian Valley Pack.

    After the livestream ended,ments could still be posted on the automatically uploaded recording, and Chu Tingwu didn''t bother managing them anymore.

    The recording''s views quickly reached new heights, even surpassing all of Chu Tingwu''s videos on overseas tforms, with wolf enthusiasts from around the worlding to pay their virtual respects.

    The tourism industry at Red Rock Reserve was equally affected, having lost a major star attraction. They would probably have to wait until a new star wolf appeared before seeing another tourism peak.

    Chu Tingwu was set to return to Jin City. During the aftermath, she became busier than before, and apart from their regr morning and evening calls, she and Three-Five-Five avoided discussing the base''s program during their conversations.

    She wondered how Three-Five-Five''s small variety show was going...

    When Chu Tingwu was leaving, Red Rock Reserve seemed more reluctant to let her go than she was to leave.

    They wanted to purchase her livestreaming drones, even though they were hand-assembled and expensive, but the park didn''t care about the cost.

    Chu Tingwu told them that even if they bought them, they couldn''t achieve the same effects as her livestreams, but the park remained stubborn.

    They even thought she was unsatisfied with the price and offered more money.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    The park''s order was toorge; epting it would mean having to buy a production line first.

    She said she needed to consider it (or rather, needed to consult with the system first), and then the park gave her a lifetime membership card with free admission.

    After spending a summer in America, when Chu Tingwu returned to Jin City, not only had she barely spent anything, but thinking about it, she had actually made money.

    ...The livestream donations and overseas tform promotion incentives alone were substantial.

    After her nended, Man Xing came to pick her up. In the back seat, Chu Tingwu opened a video and clicked on Three-Five-Five''s variety showption, then fell silent.

    Chu Tingwu: "Man Xing..."

    Man Xing tensed up: "Boss?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Did you know that Three-Five-Five recently... picked up a cat?"

    Man Xing: "..."

    Help! Even though it was clearly a cat picking up another cat, why did she get the feeling that her boss was consulting about a family matter: ''I was away on business for two months, and my mother adopted a child behind my back. Assistant, what should I do about this?''

    Man Xing: "You... you could write a will right now leaving nothing to that stray cat..."

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    Thanks, but she felt she could live longer than the "stray cat," so it hadn''te to that yet.

    It was indeed a stray cat, or rather an abandoned Holstein kitten.

    This Holstein cat had the standard "sheriff cat" face, looking very proper from the front.

    From the variety show clips, it was clear that Three-Five-Five had suddenly brought this little Holstein to the base one day, adding it to her cat kindergarten.

    Of course, the trainer quickly discovered the Holstein cat with its entire head buried in the food bowl, pulled it out for examination... The results showed that the little Holstein had no major problems, just ear mites and hunger from going without food for too long.

    Since starting the police cat training work, the base would also take in some kittens, keeping suitable ones and sending those eliminated at the start for adoption. The little Holstein was special because it was a cat brought in by another cat.

    The base was curious about what Three-Five-Five wanted to do, and temporarily caring for a kitten wasn''t much trouble. Plus, it could be a topic for the variety show, so Milk was kept at the base and added to Three-Five-Five''s ss.

    After that, the footage more frequently showed Milk following Three-Five-Five around, and surprisingly, Milk was genuinely good atpleting training tasks. It was lively, friendly with people, showed outstanding athletic talent, and was obedient... well, only to Three-Five-Five.

    Even the audience joked that Three-Five-Five had found a Chu Tingwu substitute.

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    How was she anything like a Holstein cat? And she wasn''t clingy like Milk at all; she was very independent!

    The independent human simply had her assistant drive straight to the training base instead of going home first.

    System: Hmm...Aliali: 6753e080ab2494648efcba18

    At the base, the trainer said puzzled: "Three-Five-Five? She''s not here. Actually, she''s been here for all training sessions since we started. But didn''t you say you wereing back? Early this morning, Three-Five-Five ran off. Have you checked her location? Maybe she''s at home."

    Chu Tingwu: "...mm."

    Seeing Chu Tingwu looking down, the trainer smiled: "You should head back... Oh, Milk? Why are you here? Come here, kitty kitty..."

    The Holstein kitten named Milk bounded over, stepping on the trainer''s shoes and looking up at Chu Tingwu curiously, seemingly wondering why she carried such a familiar scent.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    Three-Five-Five was at home.

    Milk was at the base.

    Chu Tingwu was about to go home.

    Chu Tingwu: =v=

    Good, she had won!

 Chapter 74

    [@ Ah Chu and Three-Five-Five:

    The ne hasnded, thanks for your concern. I''vepleted this month''s streaming requirements, and there''s no streaming nned for today, so no need to wait.

    The cat at home has prepared three dishes and a soup waiting for me. Everyone, please have your dinner early too.]

    Fans who clicked in after seeing the post notification: "?"

    Master Chu, you just wanted to show off that you can go home to see your cat, right... There''s no cat in this world that can cook three dishes and a soup... well... there shouldn''t be... right?

    But this is Three-Five-Five¡ª

    Master Chu, could you take a photo and share when you''re having dinner!

    Despite fans''ments, Chu Tingwu didn''t respond.

    Of course Three-Five-Five couldn''t cook; she was just crouching in the kitchen, supervising the system.

    When Chu Tingwu went out, the system had tinkered with a bunch of things again.

    As a super AI, it could simultaneously lull a child to sleep while nning world domination... of course, it had no such ns. It was just trying to optimize the building''s structure and add more smart facilities, dedicated to simplifying the cubs'' daily necessary tasks¡ªlike cooking.

    Naturally, the system couldn''t materialize a cooking android out of thin air.

    So it mainly focused on simplifying processes like cutting and washing.

    Whileparing dishwashers and confirming their effectiveness, it also invested in a small brand specializing in dishwashers. Thepany had good technology and quality control butcked funding and promotional resources.

    As Chu Tingwu served the dishes, the system whispered these little matters in her ear. Looking at the kitchen with its newly added electronic flow counter (just so she wouldn''t have to put dishes in the dishwasher by hand), she asked, "Did you forget to tell me that you''ve already bought this house I''m living in?"

    After all, if the house were still rented, how could they make such modifications?

    System: "QvQ"

    There had been some financial pressure before, but less than a year had passed, and the system had already paid off the house.

    It simply felt... this matter wasn''t important, so it hadn''t mentioned it.

    Chu Tingwu was curious: "Are there any other ''unimportant'' things?"

    System: "...Invested in Jinsheng Real Estate Group."

    Chu Tingwu: "...You couldn''t even pay for a house in full a year ago!"

    Where did it get the money from, where on earth did this fellow get the money from!

    Though the system hadn''t provided Chu Tingwu with a detailed breakdown, she knew it held shares in many industries and had invested in severalpanies. On her birthday, the system''s business empire had shown just the tip of the iceberg, and since the cub hadn''t asked afterward, the system hadn''t mentioned it.

    Chu Tingwu was curious: "Why invest in Jinsheng?"

    Was the super AI predicting a revival in the real estate industry?

    System: "Oh, because this residentialplex belongs to Jinsheng Real Estate, and they manage the property."

    As a local real estatepany in Jin City, Jinsheng''s business had always been lukewarm, but they also managed their properties instead of outsourcing, and had never had any major issues.

    The property management''s daily work involved maintaining public facilities (like benches, exercise equipment, elevators), registering visitors, managing underground parking, collecting utility fees, and handling public area sanitation¡ªall tedious work that often required mediating disputes and smoothing things over.

    Their Jinhua Residential Area, being in a school district, had a higher proportion of teachers among residents, so there weren''t many disputes.

    Chu Tingwu realized the system had invested in Jinsheng Group just for a say in property management matters, and sure enough, when she inquired further, the system immediately shared a blueprint.

    System: "The current public facility nning isn''t very rational, some essibility facilities don''t meet regtions, and there are minor issues with underground lines and water outlets... so I n to take over and make some improvements."

    Actually, some renovations had already begun, and if Chu Tingwu hadn''t discovered it herself, the system wouldn''t have even thought to mention it to the cub.

    Chu Tingwu had finished her meal and was now sitting on the couch holding Three-Five-Five¡ª

    Though called "minor work," the renovations were actually quite extensive, especially in public areas.

    Currently, Jinhua Residential Area had six buildings, with the activity center between buildings three and four, and the south gate between buildings one and six, right next to the school.

    Between the gate and the activity center was where residents usually gathered.

    Whether for dancing, exercising, children ying, or cooling off in summer, residents all gathered here.

    So there was typical outdoor exercise equipment, like horizontal and parallel bars, a small sandbox where little Cao Meng often yed, a small running track (though the rubber was aging and hadn''t been reced), and a small court where tennis and badminton yers would randomly appear, asionally even people setting up their owns for volleyball.

    Between these scattered facilities were benches, open spaces, pavilions, and various nts and trees.

    Even without looking at the system''s design drawings, Chu Tingwu could recall the distribution of every tree¡ª

    Because she had fought various beasts here.

    In the dream ssroom, the activity area had been destroyed countless times.

    And in the system''s design drawings, this area was about to be transformed.

    Seeing the cub''s interest, the system projected a holographic simtion of the final renovation result on the panel.

    Somehow after the system''s investment, someone must have held meetings, and Jinsheng Group had made this Jinhua Residential Area a pilot zone, with group funding allocated for renovating the public facilities.

    Then Chu Tingwu saw a climbing wall on the list with a construction cost of over a million.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    System: "=v="

    Besides this seemingly self-indulgent climbing wall and new rest areas designed for parkour, the system was quite considerate, making themunity''s essibility facilities more reasonable.

    Previously, both the tactile paving for the blind and wheelchair ramps were insufficient, though residents managed to make do since only a minority needed these facilities.

    Some old facilities were also reced, and maintenance frequency was adjusted. New facilities were still under construction and would take some time toplete¡ªbut the previous courtyard nning wasn''t rational, with exercise areas very scattered and decorative pavilions upying the center, surrounded by walkways and somewhat cramped seating.

    Chu Tingwu could see that after the modifications, rest areas were relocated closer to the buildings and appeared more organized, while the central area became a more level square¡ª

    At night, residents coulde to walk, y ball, skateboard... and climb.

    Chu Tingwu: ...How many people would actuallye to climb?

    The nned climbing wall was on the other side of the small square, in front of the activity center, with three walls of varying heights. The route difficulty wasn''t high, more suitable for beginners and some veterans for warm-up exercises.

    While the climbing wall was an obvious personal addition, the rest areas around the small square were more subtle "personal touches." The newly designed rest area naturally had many seats and green spaces, but if parkour enthusiasts saw these "stylish seats," they would immediately envision parkour routes.

    These differently shaped chairs were actually perfect parkour points.

    The activity center was also renovated... it had never been much used before, though during house sales they''d say it was mainly formunity activities, but it had only been used for resident meetings to discuss things like upgrading entry cards, which cost twenty yuan each after the upgrade.

    Now, the system''s people had also taken over the activity center, marked with a hospital symbol on the blueprint.

    The activity center was divided in two, with one side employing clinic doctors to handlemon illnesses, and the other side being a veterinary clinic that could help with pet spaying/neutering, deworming, and bathing.

    While other renovations needed time, the small clinic opened quickly. During Chu Tingwu''s time abroad, this neighborhood clinic that treated both humans and animals was already operational.

    Chu Tingwu rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

    After finishing her meal, she called out to Three-Five-Five and decided to take a walk to help digest.

    Some essibility facilities had already been built, and some trees in the center of the residential area had been removed, with construction workers busy at work. Many residents were watching from below their buildings - perhaps curiosity was just human nature.

    Seeing Chu Tingwu, someone greeted her: "Little Chu, did your movie win that award? Why is there so much talk about awards online?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Oh, you mean ''Tiger Head''?"

    She had muted the crew''s notification group, but she did remember that Director Mu wanted to submit the film for some awards recently.

    Due to its outstanding performance, "Tiger Head" had an extended theatrical run and only recently left theaters, but its poprity hadn''t diminished since Director Mu had sold the streaming rights.

    Now with its online release, a second wave of poprity was brewing, and so¡ª

    The Jin City Police Dog Training Base had been renamed to the Jin City Police Dog and Cat Training Base.

    They had sessfully ridden this wave of poprity.

    Riding on this poprity, the base''s own small reality show had gained some traction, and their special guest Three-Five-Five had be even more famous.

    As Chu Tingwu walked along, many residents directly greeted Three-Five-Five:

    "Oh, Three-Five-Five, your family member is back? Little Chu, have a pear - consider it my gift to Three-Five-Five for helping catch cockroaches."

    "Three-Five-Five, your kid is back! You were gone for so long. Oh my, I have a box of milk I''ve been meaning to give you, I''ll bring it over tonight! If it weren''t for Three-Five-Five the other day, my child might have fallen from the windowsill! Don''t be so polite!"

    "Three-Five-Five, meow? Could youe be my model... Oh, Tingwu, you''re back!" This resident from Building Three was an art teacher who often sketched outdoors. She now stopped Chu Tingwu, "Would you two like to be my quick sketch models? Come on, I''ll give you the drawing afterward!"

    While Chu Tingwu was sitting down, an orange cat darted past with cured meat in its mouth, suddenly stopped halfway, turned around, and casually walked over to ce the meat in front of Three-Five-Five.

    Three-Five-Five: "..."

    Chu Tingwu: "..." We can do without that gift.

    The resident whose meat had been stolen came running, checked under the orange cat''s neck with a sweep, and said disappointedly: "Well, that''s that."

    The "that" referring to neutering.

    It seemed they couldn''t offer this little thief a neutering package - a cat can''t be neutered twice.

    But the resident didn''t give up. He stroked the cat''s fur andughed amid the cat''s cursing "meows": "Your fur''s all dirty! Let me take you to the clinic for a bath!"

    ...It seemed the residents had quickly epted the addition of a clinic to their neighborhood.

    When Chu Tingwu, holding the sketches of both human and cat, walked to the former activity center - now the neighborhood clinic - she found that resident still there, with the orange cat loudlyining while timidly taking its bath.

    The cat was cursing loudly but didn''t dare resist during the bath.

    Since this was all set up by the system, Chu Tingwu was curious about the residents'' opinions, so she went to ask this resident about his thoughts on the neighborhood''s public facility renovations.

    The resident: "Oh? I think it''s pretty good, though there''s a section of road that''s blocked off so I have to take a detour after work. The construction isn''t noisy, and I''d actually like to try out that climbing wall once it''s finished."

    Most people don''t have ess to rock climbing and wouldn''t specifically go to a professional climbing gym. But if there''s a ce to climb just steps away from home, with free facilities for exercise and entertainment, they''d all want to give it a try.

    This resident seemed more interested in the clinic: "Someone in my family has a chronic condition and needs constant medication, so I came to check out the clinic as soon as it opened in our neighborhood."

    "They can treat minor illnesses here, the doctor can do massage and bone-setting, and if residents register for medications they don''t currently stock, they''ll order a batch... tsk," he looked dissatisfied, "their drug prices are too low! They''re just addingbor costs to the purchase price - who set these prices? What if they go bankrupt from losing money?"

    Being located within the residential area, the clinic''s ability to treat minor ailments couldn''t be too bad, and with more and more people keeping pets these days, having a ce right in the neighborhood for pet check-ups, treatments, baths, and neutering was incredibly convenient.

    People hadn''t felt inconvenienced before, but once they experienced this convenience, they couldn''t bear the thought of the clinic closing.

    But looking at it from all angles, this clinic didn''t seem like it could be profitable - who was running it?

    Lian Tong in the office: "..."

    It''s run by the family of the person you''re talking to!

    He had been listening from behind the door as the boss''s daughter chatted with this resident for quite a while.

    He thought the young miss mighte to discuss work with him... but from the looks of it, if he didn''te out soon, she would leave!

    As a former executive secretary who had worked in management at arge hospital, after arriving in Jin City, Lian Tong had quickly arranged for the exchange team from Jiao Mountain Orthopedic Hospital, then immediately rushed to attend meetings on behalf of his boss, and helped handle this series ofplex neighborhood renovation projects.

    Lian Tong had also taken this time to learn about "Chu Tingwu."

    "She''s as willful as the boss."

    It was evident from previous incidents - climbing in the zoo, discovering an escaped ss I protected animal, and after catching it, finishing her climbing route before turning it in... normal people wouldn''t think this way.

    ...Normal people also wouldn''t invest in renovating their child''s neighborhood''s public facilities just so their child could y their favorite sport whenever they wanted.

    Like Man Xing, Lian Tong believed that to get promoted and receive raises, one could start by getting on the boss''s daughter''s good side, and if the boss''s daughter was hard to approach, one could start by getting close to her cat.

    Lian Tong quietly walked out of the room. At that moment, the clinic''s screen was ying the cat reality show from the Jin City Training Base.

    The resident hadn''t left yet, and catching sight of the video, he couldn''t help but look down at Three-Five-Five again, saying with a smile: "Right, Three-Five-Five is a celebrity cat now, you can''te to this small clinic anymore. If you need vinations, remember to go to a professional pet hospital."

    Lian Tong: "..." Who are you calling a small clinic!

    Chu Tingwu couldn''t help butugh, ncing at the reality show screen, immediately spotting the ck and white cat that Three-Five-Five had brought back.

    The ck and white kitten had been named Milk, and this episode happened to be about the story of the ck and white cat joining the training program.

    Three-Five-Five bringing it back had been coincidental, but Milk had given the base''s trainers a big surprise. It couldplete all training quickly and precisely, understanding differentmands after just a few lessons. The only issue was that it was very protective of its food and liked to steal from other cats'' bowls¡ª

    The trainers very much wanted to steal Milk from Three-Five-Five''s ss, but the cat in question wasn''t willing, so they had to give up.

    Even so, the trainers'' expressions were always longing whenever they looked at Milk.

    But Three-Five-Five didn''t make a big deal of it. Once the kitten returned home, she considered her job done, and naturally stayed by Chu Tingwu''s side as usual.

    She tilted her head to look at the kitten, then at Lian Tong.

    The kitten was staring expressionlessly at Milk on the screen, where it was quicklypleting climbing and obstacle training while being praised by the trainers.

    Meanwhile, Lian Tong was staring at Chu Tingwu, his expression concealing gravity... it seemed he might have taken the wrong approach?

    Shouldn''t normal pet owners be mostly happy and proud to see their pets on TV? But why was the young boss focusing not on her own cat, but on the cat her cat had brought home?

    "Look, the instructor is praising your cat! They''re saying Three-Five-Five is amazing,pleting training moves perfectly and managing all the little cats well... but why are you still looking at that little dairy cow?"

    Chu Tingwu seemed to notice Lian Tong beside her and greeted him before calling Three-Five-Five to head out.

    The climbing wall was next to the activity center, visible right as you exit the clinic.

    Currently, only one wall was built, with two others still under construction.

    This wall was eight meters high, suitable for both bouldering and rope climbing with proper protection.

    However, the residents didn''t care much about that - they had fallen in love with the crash pads below.

    While some children attempted to climb the wall and bounce on the pads, others, especially the elderly who could no longer exercise and chat in the original exercise area, had moved here to sit on the crash pads and gossip.

    Some even brought chess boards to y.

    Chu Tingwu didn''t disturb them. Like other "kids," she simply stepped onto the crash pad and reached out with her hands and feet, hanging her entire body on the climbing wall.

    Someone turned to look, and Lian Tong, who had followed her out, also stared at his young boss - curious about what she was nning to do.

    Was she suddenly interested in trying climbing?

    Three-Five-Five hadn''t followed, avoiding the residents'' attempts to pet it, and instead circled around to crouch beside Lian Tong.

    - Lian Tong''s elite aura made him seem unapproachable to others.

    Chu Tingwu began climbing.

    Given the difficulty of this bouldering wall''s routes, she could easily reach the top, but after climbing partway up, she jumped back down.

    People had noticed her climbing the wall.

    Others had tried during this time, but this climbing wall was set at an angle to the ground.

    The middle route required fighting against gravity while hanging on the wall to climb up.

    ... so most people who didn''t understand climbing treated the wall as mere decoration.

    Lian Tong watched Chu Tingwu''s silhouette, his expression slowly changing from contemtion to confusion-

    Chu Tingwu seemed to be mimicking some movement, standing in ce, looking up at the wall, raising her arms in gestures that somehow looked familiar.

    Chu Tingwu jumped up again, but clearly wasn''t following the set routes!

    Lian Tong understood basic climbing knowledge - you''re supposed to follow holds of the same color, but Chu Tingwu chose her own, more difficult route made up of different colored holds.

    Perhaps only she knew how this route should be climbed.

    But as Lian Tong watched, looking left and right, he could only conclude one thing: "she''s making it harder for herself."

    Chu Tingwu was now hanging like a spider on the holds, attempting to make a dynamic move to reach another distant hold.

    The residents nearby had gone from sitting and chatting to standing and watching, their gazes fixed on Chu Tingwu with amateur concern... how could she hang on the wall like that? Could she keep climbing up?

    And Lian Tong, after seeing Chu Tingwu''s jumping movement, slowly grew bewildered.

    That movement - why was it identical to the projected cat that had crouched on the robot vacuum?

    That cat had made many strange movements, and now as Lian Tong mentally broke down Chu Tingwu''s climbing movements, he realized that back then, that "cat" had actually been mimicking climbing! And in reality... that cat, no, that feline, could it be his young boss?

    Right, there were VTubers online, so what he saw wasn''t strange - it was just someone using a cat avatar.

    ... Nothing strange about that.

    ... It''s just that his young boss had said Three-Five-Five was her mother, and his boss had said the young boss was their offspring.

    ... Nothing strange at all.

    Lian Tong looked down at Three-Five-Five by his feet, his gaze showing inner struggle, and finally, he whispered: "Boss?"

    Three-Five-Five: "?"

    System: "..."

    Why has this secretary gone silly too? Maybe we should let him go?

    -

    Chu Tingwu was unaware of Lian Tong''s misunderstanding. She was just trying a more challenging climbing route, treating it like free climbing, deliberately ignoring other holds and only choosing the furthest ones.

    When she came down, the other residents apuded enthusiastically, saying:

    "That''s amazing! Such strong core strength, how did you train those muscles?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Just from climbing a lot."

    "So this really is a climbing wall? Can we try too?"

    Chu Tingwu: "If you can climb up, you can."

    Although the maximum height exceeded that of a bouldering wall, theoretically requiring safety equipment for sport climbing, this wall was meant for top-roping.

    However, those who could climb that high weren''t beginners and knew how to use the equipment, while those who couldn''t wouldn''t face any danger thanks to the thick crash pads below.

    "This youngdy is really impressive. Look at yourself - living off your parents all day. We''re not asking you to go make money, but at least exercise and lose some weight. If this young girl can climb, you should at leaste out and try, surely you can manage that?"

    The unfortunate resident who''d juste out to buy snacks and got caught by their parents: "?"

    Climb what? What could they climb? Look at this wall, look at this angle, then look at my belly? Shouldn''t normal exercise start with running? Is this really a sport I can handle?

    Chu Tingwu squeezed out of the crowd, and a light voice floated from behind:

    "That was quite impressive... have you finished your summer homework?"

    Chu Tingwu: "==Yes, Teacher Yuan."

    Yuan Zhixiao was carrying arge bag of ice cream, probably just bulk-purchased, and handed a box to Chu Tingwu: "Teacher Zhou who teaches biology just asked about you. He said you were taking extra biologypetition sses over summer break, and there''s another student in ss preparing for the biologypetition who wants to know which teacher you''re studying with, and if they''re still epting students..."

    Chu Tingwu''s "tutoring" seemed to have shown significant results, so that student''s parents, unable to contact her directly, had even asked teachers to ry the message.

    School would start in half a month, butpetition students had long since forgotten about summer vacation.

    Walking shoulder to shoulder back to Building One while unwrapping ice cream, Chu Tingwu said: "That teacher probably isn''t epting students."

    He had made an exception even taking Chu Tingwu.

    Yuan Zhixiao: "..."

    She raised her hand and pressed her cold palm against Chu Tingwu''s face:

    "Alright, next time when you make up stories for teachers, don''t forget you''re still streaming - Teacher Zhou doesn''t know yet that you went to observe wildlife in the protection zone, but you can''t keep casually lying to him like this."

    Chu Tingwu''s gaze wandered: "I did study on my own too."

    With the System present, even the most difficult points came with standard answers and step-by-step solutions. Chu Tingwu didn''t feel she had fallen behind in her studies. However, the System had never actually takenpetition exams, and humans surely had more experience that could only be passed down through word of mouth.

    Yuan Zhixiao was clearly still concerned about Chu Tingwu.

    At the doorway, she thought for a moment: "You''re usually very busy, but since you''ve finished your homework andpleted your streaming tasks... you probably have other misceneous ns, but after handling those, you shoulde to school on exam day. Not for sses, but to take the minor tests."

    Although it was still summer break, while Chu Tingwu was petting wolves in the Red Rock Protection Zone, her ssmates in thepetition ss were drowning in endless sses, tests, more sses, and more tests.

    They would grade each test immediately afterpletion, then review, memorize, and recite. The continuous bombardment of tests made them more familiar withpetition questions, giving them an advantage in the provincial trials.

    "I actually think you''re doing the right thing," Yuan Zhixiao smiled, "Competitions aren''t the only path, and even if you don''t do well in the college entrance exam, that''s not the only path in life... but if you already have an opportunity, don''t give it up. Otherwise, both I and Teacher Zhou, who taught you for a while, would be sad."

    Chu Tingwu nodded gently.

    She would not give up, but she wouldn''t force things either.

    She would indeed go to take the exam, but during this time, she had other matters to attend to first, such as¡ª

    Transferring the APPpany.

    Purchasing drone production lines.

    Setting up a new dronepany.

    Promoting the award-seeking film "Tiger Head" online.

    Coborating on anti-theft promotional videos agreed upon with the Jin City police.

    Therefore, as the police cat training mini-variety show at the Jin City Police Dog Training Base aired its final episode, officially concluded, and continued to gain traction online through word of mouth, Chu Tingwu remained busy.

    ¡ªShe was sixteen now, and could finally take charge of some of her own assets.

    You Zhenzhen apanied Chu Tingwu through the procedures, and after transferring thepany to her hands, the newly graduated You Zhenzhen heaved a huge sigh of relief:

    "Now I''m just responsible for operations!"

    Although her work content remained unchanged, her identity had shifted. You Zhenzhen felt somewhat dazed. The past year had coincided with her graduation year. While other ssmates were job hunting and negotiating terms, she had already started managing apany and had to make several decisions with the system''s assistance... From aplete novice to now a skilled operator, You Zhenzhen had indeed taken many detours.

    But the "system" had backed her up.

    All the mistakes she made were resolved by someone, and she still didn''t know who exactly this friend codenamed "system" was, whether male or female, but You Zhenzhen knew that her current achievements and sessful training were due to that person''s extended care for Chu Tingwu.

    She reached out and poked Chu Tingwu''s face.

    Chu Tingwu, who was drinking bubble tea, responded: "Hmm?"

    You Zhenzhen: "Nothing... By the way, who have you decided to put in charge of the dronepany?"

    Chu Tingwu''s flying drone sphere was targeting the high-end market.

    Due to material costs, its price couldn''t be reduced, and without real-time system control, its performance wouldn''t be as powerful as when Chu Tingwu livestreamed.

    Even so, You Zhenzhen was very confident about the newpany''s prospects¡ª

    Given the flying sphere''s demonstrated flight stability, obstacle avoidance capabilities, safety features, and super-strong battery life, it would definitely secure a ce in the high-end market.

    Chu Tingwu: "Lian Tong."

    Secretary Lian wasn''t a bad person; at least he wouldn''t kick stray cats and dogs when he encountered them.

    And after meeting Chu Tingwu''s minimum moral standards, his work capabilities were particrly outstanding.

    Lian Tong didn''t want to remain a secretary forever.

    He clearly wanted to achieve sess in other areas, and now was the time to prove whether his abilities matched his ambition.

    The orthopedic hospital''s operations could be handed over to the assistant Lian Tong had trained, but if something went wrong with the drone operations, he wouldn''t be able to return to the work he had left behind.

    Lian Tong made his choice quickly, almost seeming impatient.

    But he remained very respectful toward Chu Tingwu, changing from lurking at the neighborhood clinic to making fixed bi-weekly home visits, and once, Chu Tingwu overheard Lian Tong crouching in front of Three-Five-Five, saying softly:

    "Boss, don''t worry, I''ll definitely work hard."

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    System: "Let''s fire him."

    It could find someone without brain problems!

    -

    After arranging for everyone to leave, only Three-Five-Five and Man Xing remained by Chu Tingwu''s side.

    Man Xing continued to handle all of Chu Tingwu''s daily matters while maintaining her low profile that wouldn''t disturb the boss.

    She also took over the new rtionshipwork that Chu Tingwu had developed, reminding her how to contact and maintain rtionships with friends she had made abroad.

    Chu Tingwu suspected she might be hand-copying tables or printing them, creating a wall of files specifically recording personal information about these "friends" that even Chu Tingwu herself didn''t know about.

    Why did this sound so much like a serial killer when imagined?

    Today when picking up Chu Tingwu, Man Xing gave her that sweet smile of a serial killer who had found their target:

    "Boss, White Wolf has sessfully sponsored the ''And Then There Were None'' variety show on Persimmon TV! And this episode will feature cast members from ''Tiger Head.'' Would you like to arrange a set visit?"

    "And Then There Were None" was a survival reality show that dropped guests into pre-arranged locations, such as abandoned buildings, uninhabited inds, old ferries... and then had the guests survive in extreme conditions.

    Of course, all of this was scripted.

    These maps would contain clues and resources, and there would bepetitive or cooperative rtionships among the guests.

    The lead actors from "Tiger Head" would participate in this variety show to create buzz for the awards¡ªthey would y their movie characters while participating in the variety show games without breaking character.

    For such survival shows, filming was actually the most challenging part. Usually, cameramen had to carry their equipment while following the guests around, which would affect the show''s gamey, and sometimes, during hide-and-seek games, guests would achieve victory by getting information from cameramen "outside" the game.

    Lian Tong had used Chu Tingwu''s connections to reach the film crew, and through them, the show''s production team, spending ten million to sponsor this episode and the next one for drone sphere promotion.

    He also sponsored the first batch of samples produced by the factory.

    These new drone spheres came with control programs written by the system, considered version 1.0.

    Theirpany logo was a white wolf¡ª

    Chu Tingwu hadn''t thought too much about it, only because thepany''s founding opportunity came from a white wolf, and it was because of wolves that the conservation area wanted to purchase her drones, so she decided to use this as the logo andpany name.

    When Man Xing mentioned this, Chu Tingwu had just finished today''s quiz, and school would start again in two days.

    Even someone as self-disciplined as her felt an urge to rx at this moment:

    "Alright, book the flight tickets."

    As Chu Tingwu prepared to board her flight, Teacher Zhou, who taughtpetitive biology, had just finished ranking the students'' scores.

    He had created charts of all thepetition prep ss students'' test scores from this summer vacation to show them whether they had improved or regressed, but among these, Chu Tingwu''s data was the least.

    He said: "The scores are quite stable... but this child, couldn''t she try a bit harder?"

    He believed that students'' potential could continue to be developed, and to achieve good results, both talent and effort were indispensable¡ª

    Although he had previously epted Chu Tingwu''s request for self-study, when he thought about how this intelligent student spent her study time on parkour, rock climbing, skateboarding, ying with cats, walking dogs, livestreaming... all these misceneous activities, the biology teacher felt somewhat disappointed in herck of ambition.

    Her test scores were good, but they could have been even better.

    A person''s energy is limited; doing all these things meant less energy for studying.

    Of course, he didn''t think other activities were meaningless, but couldn''t she be more "pragmatic"? Couldn''t she adjust her time a bit and do these things after thepetition exams were over?

    Or simply register as an athlete¡ªgetting international awards in rock climbing could also secure university admission!

    With this helpless feeling, the biology teacher casually opened a website, and while scrolling down, his movements suddenly froze.

    He saw that the famous animal behaviorist and renowned American wolf researcher Schneider White had published a new paper, and a familiar name appeared as the second author.

    "TingwuChu"

    Biology Teacher: Wait what?Aliali: 6754d302bd5e46c308a67379

    At the end, White even specifically thanked this second author who had helped him tremendously in Chinese, "Chu Tingwu."

    Biology Teacher: No way?

    White: "Shees from beautiful China, a very lovely child who is loved by wolf packs. Unfortunately, she is still only in high school, so she declined to be my student, but I will always keep a student position reserved for her."

    Biology Teacher: ...

    White: "Wu told me that although I couldn''t be her official instructor, she told others that I was her ''tutoring teacher.'' I think this means I helped her catch up on knowledge she missed, but in reality, we were constantly learning from and improving with each other! I''m happy to have taught her something, and I''m also a bit embarrassed that we didn''t have enough time for a proper teaching session. I hope we''ll have another chance to work together!"

    Biology Teacher: ?

    No, ording to Chu Tingwu''s description of "tutoring teacher," it should just be taken literally!

    It''s just an excuse to take leave.

    But to think that the "tutoring teacher" is such a big name in the industry¡ª

    These days, even excuses for taking leave can be this luxurious?

 Chapter 75

    The filming location for this episode of "And Then There Were None" is in Guman City.

    The production team rented an abandoned building and transformed it into a "haunted house."

    Four people from the "Tiger Head" production crew arrived: Cheng Luwei, who ys the male lead police officer; the male lead''s neighbor''s son who serves asic relief and is an idol from a soon-to-disband limited group; the police captain, who is a third-tier actor with formal training; and the female lead, Tong Bei.

    Besides these four guest stars, the "And Then There Were None" variety show also has four regr cast members and one special guest.

    This time, the special guest is Shen Xiwen, who is Tong Bei''s partner from other variety shows. Due to hisrge mouth and tendency to blurt out strange gossip, he earned the nickname "Big Mouth" in the industry.

    Special guests are non-regr positions that might appear for one or two episodes or even follow through an entire season. Big Mouth had appeared once before, having a particrly miserable time on an ind. As soon as he arrived this time, he immediately approached Tong Bei, shouting:

    "Flower Bei, you have to form an alliance with me!"

    Before Tong Bei could respond, Cheng Luwei sighed, "Brother Mouth, the cameras are rolling. If you two form an alliance off-camera, I might have to report you to the production team!"

    Big Mouth Shen was startled and turned to see the hovering drone not far away. "Whoa!"

    He wanted to get a closer look at the drone but noticed that the silver-shelled flying ball automatically drifted backward and increased its altitude, though its camera remained focused on his face.

    This wasn''t a live broadcast, but rather filming for behind-the-scenes footage.

    Everyone shared augh, and the other two people, having finished their makeup, entered the break room.

    The regr cast members'' break room was separate from the other guests''.

    Among the five people in the room, only Big Mouth Shen had experience participating in the show. Sitting in the middle, he gestured as he spoke:

    "Trust me, we''re definitely on the same side! Forming alliances is crucial in this show, or you''ll be eliminated very quickly. Once the show starts, I''ll prioritize forming alliances with you all¡ª"

    He gestured around the room, then suddenly eximed, "Oh right, what about that youngdy... the one with the cat? Isn''t she doing promotions with you?"

    He lowered his voice when saying this, hinting at the production team to cut this part from the behind-the-scenes footage.

    When he mentioned "the one with the cat," everyone immediately knew he was referring to Chu Tingwu.

    Although Chu Tingwu had only spent a little over a month with the production team, she was a remarkable presence¡ª

    As a "behind-the-scenes staff member," she had more fans than some actors and generated particrly high engagement.

    Especially recently, even as the movie''s poprity had declined, Chu Tingwu''s poprity had risen.

    Surprisingly, she first became popr overseas before gaining fame domestically.

    Chu Tingwu''s series of livestream videos about the grey wolves in the protection zone maintained high poprity overseas. Perhaps due to people''s inexplicable filter toward foreign content, when someone reposted the videos on domestic websites, Chu Tingwu''s videos went viral again.

    She had some fame in pet circles, niche sports circles, and even police investigation circles, often breaking through these boundaries, but this time her national recognition seemed broader.

    A few days after the videos went viral, the Central TV Station obtained authorization to use parts of her livestream footage in their own grey wolf documentary.

    It was a documentary about Michel, and Chu Tingwu had captured her final footage... Predictably, for many years toe, any video material rted to Michel would reference this footage.

    Director Mu Lou must be grinning in his sleep to have such a "performer" in his film who could be popr independently and provide such great value for money.

    Tong Bei shook her head: "Teacher Chu''s contract doesn''t include promotional obligations."

    Chu Tingwu''s role was no bigger than an extra''s, she didn''t even show her face in the film, ying a role more minor than a passerby, and she wasn''t willing to participate in post-production promotion, so this wasn''t included in her contract.

    The "And Then There Were None" production team would love to invite Chu Tingwu as her poprity was high¡ªeven award-winning actors with small roles would be invited if possible, as they bring attention.

    Cheng Luwei interjected: "If Teacher Chu won''te, the production team could invite Three Five Five!"

    After all, there''s no rule saying guests must be human!

    Big Mouth Shenughed, thinking Cheng Luwei was making some kind of joke: "The production team probably thinks a cat''s cute personality wouldn''t match our show''s horror atmosphere."

    Besides, cats can''t understand the show''s rules and would only cause chaos.

    Though Three Five Five was fierce in the movie, he believed that was just acting. When he thought of cats, especially long-haired ones, he inexplicably had this beautiful and gentle filter in his mind... perhaps because the first long-haired cat he thought of was a Ragdoll.

    Unexpectedly, hisment caused even the usually quiet police captain actor to show a strange expression.

    Due to status hierarchy, the two leads and Big Mouth Shen talked more, while the idol group member mostly smiled and added asionalments, and the captain actor was generally quiet, often remaining silent during shows.

    For this episode, they all had to y their characters, meaning they had specific roles, which is why Cheng Luwei sometimes directly called the other person "Captain."

    The Captain asked: "Does Brother Mouth know this episode''s rules?"

    "Oh..." Big Mouth Shen nodded, "We''re supposed to have teampetitions in this haunted house-themed building, including a hostage rescue process, and there will be scoring at the end."

    At this moment, the production''s associate director pushed open the door: "Brother Mouth, how could you leak our rules again?"

    Big Mouth Shen protested: "You didn''t say we couldn''t talk about it yesterday!"

    He had arrived a day early and had dinner with some crew members.

    The associate director snorted and called everyone to get in the car: "Our two police officers, young master, little office worker, and street wanderer... get in the car, the rules will be announced once we''re inside."

    "Young master" naturally referred to the idol group member''s role, "little office worker" was Tong Bei''s character, and as for street wanderer¡ª

    Big Mouth Shen: "I hate you guys."

    Couldn''t they give him a cooler, more outstanding character?

    The five people boarded a tour bus, and the associate director first had staff members give them five culture shirts.

    They were short-sleeved hooded styles that could be worn over clothes, in eye-catching bright orange. After putting them on, the "young master" was surprised to discover: "Does this hood have ears? Is this supposed to be an orange cat?"

    "Yes," the associate director said, "you five are the Orange Cat team, and not just orange cats, but police cats."

    Big Mouth Shen: "Oh! So those four are the other team?"

    He was referring to the four regr cast members who hadn''t appeared yet, clearly having different tasks.

    After asking, Big Mouth Shen winked at Tong Bei: See? I told you we''d be allies.

    The associate director smiled mysteriously:

    "Let me exin the rules first!"

    "You five have heard about illegal research being conducted in a building. Some of you came on purpose, others stumbled in by ident, and then the building''s doors became impossible to open."

    Big Mouth Shen mouthed: We''re looking for keys again this episode.

    "Some of you want to leave, some want to explore, and others want to investigate the situation¡ª"

    After finishing, the associate director handed them each a namete:

    [Exit] corresponded to the young master, [Explore] to the street wanderer Big Mouth Shen, [Investigate] to the Captain and Cheng Luwei, while Tong Bei received her namete and found a question mark on herbel.

    Tong Bei pointed to herself: "Is my motivation not fixed?"

    The assistant director nodded. "These name tags are actually ''keys'' that can open different rooms in the building¡ªand only by the corresponding person. Your three keys can open three rooms, marked ''Leave,'' ''Explore,'' and ''Investigate,'' which are quite obvious. However, Tong Bei can also open these rooms, but she can only choose one."

    Everyone nodded, and Tong Bei looked around, but the assistant director changed the subject. "However, although your keys are single-use, there are other single-use keys to be found in the building."

    Tong Bei: "..."

    She understood. All that fancy talk: there are actually four types of keys in the building, three corresponding to their respective rooms, and one universal key, which needs to be found through clues and observation.

    And the four keys are tied to the four of them.

    Seeing that they understood, the assistant director continued. "But there are still experimental personnel who haven''t left the building, as well as hostages trapped¡ª"

    "Young Master, the key to leaving the building is around the neck of one of the experimental personnel. You must snatch the key to leave the building."

    Young Master: "Well, I hope that key isn''t around Brother Lin''s neck."

    They all guessed that the "experimental personnel" referred to the other fixed guests.

    Among them, "Brother Lin" is a muscr man who has been exercising and bodybuilding all year round, standing at 1.95 meters tall. He used to be an action star. And Young Master only has a thinyer of abdominal muscles from dancing, which is more for show than use.

    The assistant director smiled and looked at Shen Xiwen. "Street Wanderer, there are five experimental personnel in total, and you definitely know all of them, but not all are familiar. They wear masks, and you must remove all the masks to leave the building."

    Shen Xiwen: "Wait..."

    He counted: "Five? Who else, isn''t it you!"

    There are only four fixed guests on the show, and he definitely knows those four. In thest episode on the ind, they even had a pillow fight over a coconut!

    The assistant director waved his hand. "It''s also a guest. The program team added an extra to the ''Orange Cat Team,'' so we also added one to the ''Freak Experimental Maniacs'' to increase the difficulty."

    This way, the numbers of the two teams match.

    The Orange Cat Team: "?"

    Extra? Where is the extra?

    The assistant director didn''t exin and continued. "Captain, and Cheng Luwei, your tasks are the heaviest because you two have a stable rtionship that won''t betray each other. There are twelve hostages in the building, and you must rescue all of them to leave the building."

    After saying that, he posted the photos of the hostages on the whiteboard in front of him, and the others burst outughing.

    The so-called "twelve hostages" are actually twelve human-sized pillows, and they are quite famous celebrities in the circle, all of whom are friends, partners, or teammates of the five guests.

    The assistant director finally said, "Little Office Worker, whether you can leave depends on the others¡ªwhen only one remains alive, or if three out of the four seed in leaving, you can leave the building!"

    Tong Bei frowned: "..."

    "Of course," the assistant director looked at her with a puzzled expression. "The name of our show is ''No One Survives,'' do you really think you''re here to y a game?"

    There is definitely a death elimination mechanism in the show.

    However, no matter how the others urged, the assistant director didn''t explicitly state what the elimination mechanism was, only telling them, "You''ll know when the timees."

    Just before getting off the bus, Young Master suddenly remembered: "Wait... Sister Tong, isn''t your position a bit off?"

    The assistant director had mentioned that "the two police won''t betray each other" and "when only one remains, the Little Office Worker can leave," which means their alliance is inherently unstable!

    But everyone has to form an alliance¡ªbecause the three keys correspond to three locks, and only the person with the key can use it. Although the requirements for clearing are different, cooperating is more efficient.

    Tong Bei: "Hmm? It''s a bit early to doubt me now! And only I can use the universal key, dividing everyone now won''t benefit you."

    Shen Xiwen stroked his chin: "But, Tong Bei, you also said that only you can use the universal key. If we hide in the room and you use the key to lead the other team, won''t we be wiped out?"

    Tong Bei rebutted: "I definitely won''t do that¡ªbecause that would make the show too short!"

    The others: That''s too real of a reason!

    Although the conversation was a bit "meta," the program team didn''t intervene¡ª

    In fact, the program had already started filming, and everyone was an experienced insider. The presence of the drone was less noticeable than the camera, and everyone''s performance in front of the lens was more natural, identally immersing themselves.

    ...Not to mention, without the camera on the bus, it didn''t feel so crowded.

    The bus stopped in front of the building, which used to be an office building but was now empty due to location issues. The door was wide open, and the wind passing through gave it an eerie destion.

    Shen Xiwen instinctively wanted to look for the staff, but he quickly realized that there were fewer staff in the building than he imagined¡ªbecause this time, they would use indoor drones and fixed cameras for the first time.

    Shen Xiwen: "I''m not used to this..."

    But he vaguely felt that other programs might also switch to this method in the future.

    Because the total cost is actually lower, and the shooting effect is good.

    During the program, each person will be followed by a drone, and at this time, the assistant director also brought the "extra" for the Orange Cat Team.

    It was... a cat.

    More precisely, a long-haired tortoiseshell cat wearing an orange cat head mask.

    The assistant director said indifferently:

    "The program team couldn''t invite a real police cat, so we had to hire a stand-in. Everyone cane over and greet the stand-in actor. Here, this is your camera."

    Compared to the humans who were easily startled, San Wuwu was already used to drones and couldn''t be bothered to lift her eyes.

    Cheng Luwei was shocked: "San Wuwu?! Is Teacher Chu here?"

    The assistant director: "What San Wuwu? This is our stand-in actor, Wu Wu San, right Wu Wu San?"

    Everyone: "Hey!"

    Just reversing the name is enough to pretend it''s not the same cat?

    The captain greeted San Wuwu and then wondered: "So how will she be our extra?"

    He had also learned about police cats and couldn''t help but think that maybe this cat would understandmands and interact like a police cat, following the police as their assistant.

    The assistant director told him he was overthinking: "Of course, she''ll help however she wants¡ªit wouldn''t be fair to only help the two police, everyone is a member of the Orange Cat Team."

    Shen Xiwen: "Right, right, right!"

    Shen Xiwen suddenly pulled out a cat treat from his pocket: "So the stand-in actor can help whoever she wants... but I can also try to get her help, right?"

    Why did you bring cat treats to the show?

    Although theyined, the others guessed that Shen Xiwen had probably learned more information than he revealed or was reminded by the other fixed guests to bring something to please the cat!

    Although they guessed, everyone still pretended to be surprised and angry, ming him for getting ahead¡ªbut they soonughed because the "stand-in actor" didn''t even acknowledge them.

    San Wuwu walked past the strange humans and into the lobby on the first floor. The others were also pushed in by the assistant director, and the transparent door closed behind them with a "beep," the electronic lock lighting up with a red lock symbol.

    San Wuwu looked up and around.

    Tong Bei immediately walked over to San Wuwu, crouched down, and showed her her ID card: "San Wuwu, does this ID card have a special smell? Can you tell by sniffing? If you can, meow once, if you can''t, meow twice!"

    Three Five Five nced at her: "Meow¡ªMeow."

    If the card in her hand were hidden, the cat might still be able to sniff it out, but for other ordinary cards, how could they possibly be found in such arge building?

    Don''t be too hard on the cat.

    -

    After the five guests entered the building, those upstairs, including Chu Tingwu, also received the news.

    They were currently seated in a round conference room, encircling the table.

    ... Chu Tingwu really was here to visit the set.

    Beforeing, she had contacted Director Mu Lou to ask if her presence would affect the filming, but she wasn''t sure how Director Mu Lou conveyed the message¡ª

    The production team eagerly called her, expressing their enthusiasm and asking if Chu Tingwu would like to be a guest participant!

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    Production team: "Don''t worry, it''ll be quick, and you''ll hardly show your face! Oh, and it''s best to bring Three Five Five along; she has a significant role!"

    Yes, Three Five Five''s role was indeed significant. As a calico cat, she was to y the part of an orange cat in the show.

    ... It was quite a struggle to put a headgear on this big-name stand-in actress.

    Chu Tingwu, meanwhile, joined the experimental group as an external aid.

    The full name of this group was actually "Super Dog Experimental Weirdos."

    The experimental weirdos:

    "What''s so great about cats? Dogs are the fluffy creatures that can save the world. Our dream is to grant everyone dog-like abilities¡ªexplosive strength, keen sense of smell, sharp hearing... and so on! That''s why we keep recruiting people for experiments. Join the Dog Cult with us!"

    Chu Tingwu: Sorry, I''m a cat.

    She sat at one end of the round table, wearing a golden retriever mask, and sighed.

    The person opposite her wore an skan Mmute mask and was excitedly swaying in his seat, while the person next to him wore a ck French bulldog mask, looking like he was always raising an eyebrow and ring at people.

    Two others stood, one shorter, who the production team had intentionally given a Chihuahua mask, and the other, a fluffy white Pomeranian.

    ording to their setup¡ª

    Chihuahua: "Someone has intruded into the building. Perfect, we can have new experimental subjects again."

    Pomeranian: "Be careful they don''t escape and expose us instead. Golden Retriever, is it really okay to entrust you with the key?"

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­Don''t worry."

    But was it really appropriate for this high-end viinous organization to use dog names as code names internally?

    The key the young master wanted, which was also the key to the door, was now hanging around Chu Tingwu''s neck.

    Behind them, there were also unmanned flying balls recording... and Chu Tingwu knew that the system had secretly taken control of the one behind her, aiming to capture better footage of her own little one without rming the staff.

    The winning rules for the dog team and the cat team were naturally different.

    Each of the five members of the cat team had different winning rules, appearing unified but actually having divided loyalties and personal agendas.

    The dog team, on the other hand, had unified goals.

    Chu Tingwu felt that the person who designed the rules had sneakily inserted stereotypes.

    Their path to victory was a simple process¡ª

    The hoods of the cat team had special stickers on both the front and back. Aiming the sensor gun at the patterns on these stickers would cause them to change color from orange-yellow to red.

    This sensor gun could only shoot within five meters.

    When all four stickers on a person turned red, the dedicated unmanned flying ball would loudly announce: "You have lost your ability to move, please do not resist, do not struggle, countdown 5 minutes..."

    The unmanned flying ball would project the countdown, during which the dog team coulde and lead the cat team member away to the boratory."

    Theboratory was a room with ss doors on all sides, without any doors or locks. The dog team could convert the cat team members into dogs here.

    ... That is, press them onto chairs and, once the designated time was up, put masks on their faces.

    Of course¡ª

    skan Mmute said: "Why should they get 30 seconds of escape just bypleting those simple little games!"

    Being caught and having to be converted was too pitiful... so the cat team members could also save themselves by drawing a challenge card from the experimental table andpleting the dare-like challenge on it, allowing them to escape theboratory.

    However, they could only escape for thirty seconds. After that, the dog team member who caught them could pursue them.

    Moreover, the cat team could resist or even counterattack. Although everyone knew it was just a show and they wouldn''t really fight on the program, the rules allowed the cat team to take the dog team''s guns or trick their way through the five-minute debilitation period. If someone''s strength was insufficient, there was no way to forcibly drag them away.

    skan Mmute muttered: "Those challenges are too easy. Why not put some harder ones on the cards so they can only draw the difficult ones."

    Chu Tingwu: "Hmm... I checked, and there don''t seem to be any particrly difficult ones¡ªpull-ups, handstands, push-ups, frog jumps... the hardest is only doing thirty in a row or holding for two minutes. How about this, we trick them into thinking they have toplete three challenge tasks at once to get the 30 seconds of escape?"

    "After all, the cat team members don''t know the exact rules."

    Didn''t this mean that the production team also thought they could make things up?Aliali: 6754d302bd5e46c308a67379

    The staff behind the cameras: Hey!

    Why does this guest look so unfazed when talking about "deceiving" people? They may not be following the shoot, but they''re still watching the live broadcast!

    All the behind-the-scenes staff are watching in the studio!

    Chu Tingwu waved her hand to the screen that was approaching: "The rules don''t say we can''t deceive, do they?"

    She then gave skan Mmute a "thumbs up": "The production team didn''t respond, so it should be okay. Let''s do it!"

    skan Mmute gave her a thumbs up: "Great!"

    Chu Tingwu: "Then you go catch people, and I''ll go to theboratory to rest... no, to pick out the hardest part. I''m well-trained, so I''ll give them a real challenge!"

    skan Mmute: "Oh oh!"

    The production team, which was about to open the mic to refuse: "¡­¡­"

    This guest, don''t deceive your teammates first before deceiving others!

 Chapter 76

    Although the rules required wearing masks, once everyone left the room, their masks started to be askew.

    The other four members of the Dog Team were regr guests on the show, and familiar viewers could easily identify them by their clothes and body types.

    Even so, everyone had pushed their masks to the top of their heads or had them hanging sideways on their foreheads, showing at least half of their faces.

    The audience could recognize them, but considerate variety show performers shouldn''t make viewers work hard to guess... Of course, for dramatic effect, they would properly put their masks back on before encountering the Cat Team.

    The skan went downstairs to catch people, while Chu Tingwu arrived at the "Mad Scientist Central Laboratory."

    The building had seven floors, but considering the show''s effect, the production team only used five floors, with theboratory on the fifth floor.

    Moreover, this was previously amercial area, and although many rooms had locks, they were actually transparent or had frosted floor-to-ceiling ss.

    The "Central Laboratory" was such a room, originally an open employee break room with sofas, benches, and gaming consoles. It remained open now, just with added seating in the middle.

    During the show, Cat Team members would pick up various rule cards while going upstairs, gradually learning game rules like how their clothes had patches that couldn''t be removed, how the Cat Team couldn''t use elevators but the Dog Team could... and other such rules. The game had elements of teampetition, and for entertainment value and fairness, the production team had tried to ensure each Cat Team member had a chance to win, for example¡ª

    They got Three-Five-Five as reinforcement.

    But the Cat Team clearly hadn''t realized that their team''s real powerhouse was actually a cat.

    Chu Tingwu nned to take advantage of this time gap.

    As a member of the Dog Team, her task was to eliminate all cats, and although the Cat Team could revive through advertisements... no, throughpleting mini-tasks, these tasks were challenging, and those who couldn''tplete them would be eliminated.

    All mini-tasks were drawn without recement, so once the simple tasks were used up, the difficulty would truly increase.

    Chu Tingwu wore her mask properly as she toured the fifth-floorboratory before heading toward the stairs.

    The Pomeranian seemed somewhat idle and, turning around, spotted Chu Tingwu, noticing the young girl''s open long coat with a sensor gun tucked into her belt.

    Pomeranian: "...pfft."

    Wouldn''t it be better to hold the gun in hand?

    Was this style learned from foreign films? It had a cute feeling of a child deliberately trying to look cool.

    The Pomeranian hadn''t decided which direction to go earlier because she hadn''t nned her "role" in this episode.

    This type of confrontational show would inevitably turn into a physicalpetition.

    Because the Cat Team could fight back.

    Now the two teams had different starting points - the Cat Team on the first floor, the Dog Team on the fifth floor. The Dog Team had to catch them and bring them upstairs, but if they went downstairs to confront them directly, they might get surrounded by cats.

    Maybe she should team up with little Chu? Of course, they were already teammates, but after forming an alliance, they could move together, and group scenes usually got more screen time than individual ones¡ªexperienced variety show performers knew that group scenes were less likely to be cut.

    Just as the Pomeranian was about to call out to Chu Tingwu, she saw the young girl peering down from the stairwell. Then, she supported herself on the handrail with one hand, silently leaping above the railing, reaching up to touch the stairs above as if measuring the width¡ª

    Then, Chu Tingwu jumped straight down.

    Pomeranian: "?!"

    With the gap in the middle of these stairs, jumping like this could result in falling straight from the fifth floor to the first floor and killing someone!

    There was no sound from the production team in the earpiece, but the Pomeranian rushed to the stairwell. Looking down anxiously¡ª

    Chu Tingwu had jumped directly from the fifth-floor stairs to the fourth-floor stairs, and then from the fourth floor to the third!

    Next door, the skan was taking the elevator down, and before the doors even opened, Chu Tingwu had already swiftly and silently reached the second floor.

    Then, with a light flip, even herst coat tail disappeared from the Pomeranian''s sight, vanishing to who knows where.

    Pomeranian: ...impressive.

    She realized why Chu Tingwu wasn''t taking the conventional route.

    Compared to previous episodes, this episode''s map wasn''t actually veryrge, and the entire process probably wouldn''t take too long.

    Normal people knew that to explore rooms and go upstairs, there needed to be contact to create scenes.

    So the two teams would likely gradually make contact, meet on the third floor, and eventually develop into a big melee.

    The Pomeranian muttered, "The game has just started... The elevator makes noise when it opens, the map has stairs on both sides, but there''s only one elevator. As soon as that skan appears, he''ll immediately attract everyone''s attention."

    So everyone would get the psychological suggestion that the Dog Team members would only use the elevator.

    In fact, that was exactly the case¡ª

    Next door, the French Bulldog and Chihuahua were a step behind, standing there waiting for the elevator.

    They discussed and decided to go to the third floor first, rather than doing a face-to-face confrontation with the enemy team like the skan.

    If at this time, Chu Tingwu reached downstairs at the same speed but not through the elevator, she could catch the others by surprise.

    -

    Chu Tingwu hadn''t thought that deeply about it.

    She just felt this way of going down was faster and didn''t make obvious footsteps.

    After reaching the second-floor stairwell, she heard footsteps next door¡ªit was the Young Master exploring upstairs.

    Coincidentally, the Young Master only needed the key hanging around Chu Tingwu''s neck toplete his mission.

    Currently, the Young Master was exploring the second floor¡ªtheyout was simr to upstairs, but all the ss had vian blinds.

    The vian blinds weren''tplete coverage; there were gaps between them, and sometimes when ncing through, one might mistake shadows in the gaps for people hiding behind them, giving oneself a fright.

    The Young Master was crouching behind a flower pot searching while exining to the drone camera:

    "If I were the production team, I''d hide the A key in Room B that can only be opened with the B key, then the A key would open a room where you could find the C key... These are all typical patterns, but you can''t start with such difficulty. Theoretically, the production team would give us a little sweetener at the beginning, like hiding it here¡ªFound it!"

    He couldn''t find the key card after lifting the flower pot, but when moving it, the leaves on top shook. The key card wedged between the fake flowers fell to the ground.

    Young Master: "It''s ¡õ¡õ... I''ll go find Sister Tong to make a trade!"

    Suddenly, a scream erupted from downstairs.

    The Young Master startled, peeked down, and immediately saw the mad scientist wearing a dog mask. He quickly understood why there was a chase happening below:

    It was like ying with water guns¡ªeven though you know the water gun isn''t very harmful, just having the gun in someone else''s hands makes everyone worried about getting their clothes wet.

    Young Master: "I better go up another floor!"

    The skan hade down by elevator, and when he turned his head, he saw the elevator indicator change from 5 to 4, suggesting someone else wasing down.

    The Young Master quickly ducked into the stairwell.

    He had previously used the stairs to reach the second floor. Between the first and second floors, there was an indoor atrium design with artificial mountains, so you could observe the first floor from the second floor. But the third floor had a normal design.

    The Young Master hadn''t nned on using his [Exit] key before, since there was only one and he hadn''t found a second one, but now he thought it would be better to find a ce to hide first.

    The third floor would be a good position¡ª

    At this time, others probably hadn''t reached the third floor yet, while the enemies were nning to go to the first floor to brawl with theirpanions. He couldpletely unlock a room door, lock it from the inside, and wait for the battlefield to move to the third floor, getting some screen time and scenes during the multi-person confrontation.

    ["You have been attacked."]

    The drone following him suddenly announced.

    The Young Master, who was climbing the stairs, froze.

    He instinctively crouched down, and then he heard a very distinct "loading" sound,ing from... above!?

    "Bang!" This time, he heard a much softer shooting soundpared to the previous loading sound. As he looked up at the moment of the shot, he caught sight of Chu Tingwu''s gun barrel¡ª

    She was positioned at the corner of the stairs between the second and third floors, one foot above and one below, just a few steps away from the Young Master.

    She wore a golden retriever mask, and the key around her neck gleamed in the light.

    Young Master: "!"

    After being hit twice in session, his instinct was to run away... perhaps rush into any room on the second floor to look for healing cards.

    Earlier on the first floor, when everyone was exploring together, they had discovered an obvious rule¡ª

    [Being hit four times by the sensor gun results in loss of mobility.]

    But at this moment, the gleaming key tempted him.

    Just charge forward while covering your head!

    He immediately lifted his foot and tookrge strides up the stairs, attempting to rush straight to Chu Tingwu with hisst two health points... if he could get the key, he would be the first person from the cat team to clear the stage! At least the viewers would remember this "first"!

    However, the Young Master hadn''t considered why this opponent wasn''t just peeking out to shoot, but rather shooting while standing on the railing.

    The "Golden Retriever" figure suddenly flickered.

    She seemed to leave only a brief afterimage in his vision, and in the next second, she had already leaped up from the corner between the second and third floors, taking several quick steps up half a flight, then turning in ce, feet still one above and one below, standing on the corner stairs, facing the Young Master who had only made it halfway up.

    The Young Master only managed a brief "ah" before the seemingly within-reach clearance key vanished before his eyes.

    Then came another "bang."

    The person holding the clearance key fired another shot at his back.

    Within five meters, the shots were quick and urate.

    ¡ªBut there''s no need to prove it by shooting me!

    The Young Master didn''t want to y anymore!

    He had thought he could sacrifice one life to reach his opponent, then use his adult male strength to snatch away the sensor gun and door key, gaining the upper hand.

    But now, he had lost three health points and hadn''t even touched the hem of her clothes.

    He probably wouldn''t be remembered by viewers as the first to clear the stage; he might instead be ridiculed as the first person to be eliminated!

    I quit!

    The Young Master backed away while shouting, "Sister Wang, Sister Ying, I''m sorry, I was wrong, please let me go, I''ll lead you to find the other members of our team¡ª"

    He wasn''t sure which female regr guest this was, so he called out both names!

    But as he retreated to the second floor, trying to use the stairs to block Chu Tingwu''s line of sight, hoping to preserve hisst health point, he saw someone jump down from above!

    The woman in the golden retriever mask leaped directly through the gap between the stairs, braced herself with one hand, andnded steadily beside the Young Master, then casually delivered the final shot.

    ["You have lost mobility, please do not resist, do not struggle..."]

    Young Master: "..."

    Would reaching for the key around her neck count as resistance? He wasn''t really resisting, he just wanted to steal a key, and even without mobility, simply lifting a hand should be reasonable, right?

    The next moment, the golden retriever mask beckoned: "Come upstairs, you''re our test subject now."

    The Young Master followed with sighs, but he wasn''t quite sure if this was Sister Wang or Sister Ying? Sister Wang didn''t seem this tall, and had Sister Ying''s workout routine shown results so quickly? How did her athletic ability suddenly be so strong?

    As he was thinking, someone suddenly jumped onto the handrail nearby.

    The Young Master immediately crouched down, covering his head with both hands: "I''m already dead, you can''t kill me again!"

    He heard the sound of a door opening behind him and maintained his position as he turned to look, resulting in him falling onto his bottom on the stairs.

    But he also saw clearly that it wasn''t his unreliable teammates... a nimble cat had leaped out from behind the door!

    What use could a cat be...

    Therge cat began climbing the stairs on all fours, her smoke-gray fur flowing with each jumping motion, almost appearing fierce. When she reached the Young Master''s side, she let out a loud "Meow!" at the ceiling, then jumped onto the railing¡ª

    The Young Master only then noticed that the person in the golden retriever mask had vanished.

    The cat seemed to patrol the area like it was her territory, circling around the Young Master while letting out two more "Meows."

    Although the Young Master found it absurd, it seemed that the athletically gifted person in the golden retriever mask... had been scared away by this reinforcement cat?

    The cat appeared to want to go upstairs, having already reached the third floor and stepping on the tiles. She turned her head to look at the Young Master: "Meow?"

    Why aren''t you following?

    In his earpiece, the production team said: "You''ve lost mobility, unless a teammate or enemyes to escort you, you can''t move on your own."

    The Young Master had a thought: "But this cat counts as our teammate, right?"

    The production team was speechless for a moment: "Only teammates who could theoretically move an immobilized adult count."

    In the plot design, he was supposed to be carried away by teammates after being shot four times.

    But the cat couldn''t hear the voice in the earpiece and was still questioning why the Young Master wasn''t following.

    The Young Master was touched: "Five-five-three... no, Three-Five-Five? Anyway, thank you, but I''m semi-eliminated now and can''t move. Could youe down and keep mepany?"

    Everyone said this cat could understand human speech!

    He now felt that the person in the golden retriever mask might return at any moment, and currently, the cat gave him a greater sense of security than his teammates.

    Three-Five-Five: "?"

    She went upstairs without looking back.

    Young Master: "..."

    What happened to understanding human speech? Or was she deliberately abandoning him? Cat, say something!

    -

    Three-Five-Five had gone to chase Chu Tingwu.

    Before the show began, the production team had arranged with the cat''s mother that this show would be like a simtion training at Jin City Training Base¡ª

    The cubs and five people wearing dog masks would y the role of enemies, while she would be the real police cat.

    This wasn''t Three-Five-Five''s first time doing such training, and she had always performed well, but while other cats graduated and were sent to different police stations, Three-Five-Five had never gained real experience.

    The production team was actually worried she wouldn''t understand, especially since Chu Tingwu was her "owner"... but watching the tortoiseshell cat''s performance through the cameras, they felt she not only understood but perhaps understood too well.

    Before the tortoiseshell cat burst onto the scene, she had actually already dealt with skan.

    skan''s character in the show was meant to be this single-minded hothead, and he went straight to the first floor with his gun.

    When the elevator opened, he ran straight into Cheng Luwei and immediately fired a shot.

    Cheng Luwei waspletely stunned.

    However, he quickly reacted and hid behind a sofa, using what he had learned to exploit skan''s blind spot, then called out to his teammate: "Captain¡ª"

    Although the Captain was further away and Shen Dazui was closer, Cheng Luwei hadn''t forgotten to maintain his character from the movie, and the production team had reminded him that only the Captain was truly trustworthy.

    But Shen Dazui reacted first, as he had also been shot once.

    skan deliberately let out a viinousugh: "Hehehe..."

    Shen Dazui was furious: "Old Wu, you actually shot me!"

    That''s the problem with being too familiar ¨C he could recognize who it was even with the mask on.

    skan: "You know too much, the organization sent me to send you to your grave!"

    Despite his words, his gun barrel turned to aim at the Captain.

    The Captain immediately hid behind a pir, while Shen Dazui took the chance to run behind a ss half-wall.

    Although there were four people in the small space, three of them were focused on hiding.

    Now whoever had a gun was in charge, and those without guns didn''t want to lose another health point.

    skan also realized he had been a bit too impulsive ¨C going one against three could easily result in getting ambushed!

    If only his teammates had kept up!

    He was distracted for a moment when he suddenly noticed Shen Dazui looking behind him! Wait! Were Tong Bei and the Young Master on this floor too?

    Just as this thought crossed his mind, skan felt a heavy weight on his shoulder, as if something had struck him. He lost his bncepletely, stumbling and dropping to one knee. His grip loosened, and a gray shadow darted past him from behind. He watched helplessly as his sensor gun slid across the floor, only to be pinned down under a cat''s belly.

    The cat meowed disapprovingly at Cheng Luwei:

    "The cat''s weight isn''t enough to hold down the enemy, but I''ve already disarmed him. Shouldn''t you be making your move now?"

    Though they couldn''t understand catnguage, the current situation was clear enough. Cheng Luwei and the other two quickly moved forward with sinister grins, pinning down skan¡ª

    And they yanked off his mask!

    skan: "This is tant humiliation... it vites prisoner rights!"

    "Hey, the cat!"

    Indeed, Three-Five-Five suddenly turned around, dashing toward the end of the corridor, swiftly climbing the stairs and disappearing from everyone''s sight.

    The cat didn''t bother exining anything to the humans, but the Captain followed and brought back the "incapacitated" Young Master.

    During this time, skan was stillining¡ª

    skan: "Hey! Why am I the only one doing any work..."

    If there had been others helping, would he have been disarmed by a mere cat?

    At that moment, the Captain appeared around the corner supporting the Young Master. Unlike the other two who had been shot once, the Young Master''s orange outfit waspletely stained red, looking particrly tragic.

    But to skan, this was just his teammate''s achievement... and while his teammate had managed a solo kill, there seemed to be no backup, resulting in their failure to bring the target back to theb.

    Upon learning that his attacker was Chu Tingwu, skan changed his tune: "Well, besides me, only the Golden Retriever was actually working, everyone else was just cking off!"

    The Golden Retriever really was a person of their word! he thought.

    Cheng Luwei: "..."

    Somehow, they all felt like they''d been shot in the chest too¡ªwell, they actually had been shot earlier.

    ...But wasn''t skan basically mocking the cat team for having only one cat doing actual work? The humans were just riding on the cat''s coattails.

    Clearly, he wasn''t the only one who felt this subtle mockery.

    Shen Dazui: "We can''t keep this prisoner. Let''s execute him."

    skan: "???"

    -

    Chu Tingwu was ying a game of cat and mouse with Three-Five-Five.

    Indeed, the "police cat" was invincible in this scenario because she... wasn''t wearing a coat!

    Without that orange cat coat, Three-Five-Five wasn''t bound by the shooting rules. She could attack the dog-masked individuals at any time, though her current target was clearly her own cub.

    Three-Five-Five''s paws twitched eagerly, wanting to tear the mask off her cub''s face.

    "Ding"

    The French Bulldog and Chihuahua''s elevator arrived at the third floor.

    The Chihuahua was saying: "I''ve got a good idea¡ªinstead of dragging the cat team members to the fifth floor after we incapacitate them, we should just confiscate their keycards."

    French Bulldog: "?"

    Chihuahua: "Cheng Luwei and his partner''s mission is to rescue the hostages¡ªtwelve hostage pillows in different rooms. If they don''t have enough pillows, neither of them can pass¡ªthat way Tong Bei can''t help her teammates pass either. We''ll use the keycards to win Tong Bei over to our side, have her snipe at crucial moments, and then eliminate her in the end. That way five of us can take down three!"

    Production Team: You guys really have a lot of sneaky tactics==

    The French Bulldog nodded as the elevator doors opened.

    Chu Tingwu darted in, leaping between the two teammates, then suddenly jumped up, bracing against the elevator corner with their arms, spider-like, hanging from the elevator''s upper wall.

    Both teammates: "?"

    Production Team: You''ve got quite the moves too==

    Three-Five-Five gave chase into the elevator, and Chu Tingwu hurriedly said: "Quick, go! I''m her target!"

    Though confused, the teammates knew they were on the same side and heeded the warning, quickly retreating from the elevator.

    Three-Five-Five leaped up,nding on the elevator''s central handrail, but still couldn''t reach her cub.

    She assessed the distance between herself and her cub, while giving a disapproving look at their strange posture.

    As the elevator doors slowly closed, Chu Tingwu suddenly jumped down, deliberately stepping on the stainless steel railing. The railing shook, causing Three-Five-Five to lose her footing and slip into the gap between the railing and outer wall.

    By the time the cat mother struggled free, the elevator doors hadpletely closed, and her cub had escaped.

    The cat mother''s face darkened as she looked up¡ªAliali: 6754d302bd5e46c308a67379

    The elevator floor number was slowly changing from 3 to 1.

    Meanwhile, Chu Tingwu breathed a sigh of relief... They had managed to dash out of the elevator at thest moment, and hadn''t forgotten to press the elevator button for Three-Five-Five¡ªhow thoughtful.

    But their teammates'' expressions were still somewhat strange.

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    The teammates pointed behind Chu Tingwu¡ª

    Your... your drone didn''t keep up.

    You moved too fast, and it got left behind! Now it''s stuck in the elevator with the cat!

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    The system controlling the drone: "..."

    System: "QAQ!"

 Chapter 77

    Jin City, the Chang household.

    Chang Yile finally caught a rare moment of leisure with her sister, Chang Yixin.

    This summer vacation had been rather lonely for her... No other reason, it was just that her friends seemed to be quite busy.

    An Shiyan and Chang Yixin were both attending summerpetition prep sses at their school, needing to attend extra lessons every day. An Shiyan was even busier than Chang Yixin, as after school, she had additional tutoring sessions arranged by her parents.

    The boys weren''t much better off. Tang Zhe had been taken on a family trip, Qin Lan had gone back to his hometown to help out at a rtive''s resort, and Chu Tingwu had been abroad for over a month.

    Chang Yile had tried to meet up with some friends from middle school a few times, but they had all found closer new friends in high school. Finally, today, both her parents were free, and Chang Yixin had finished her homework early. The whole family of four sat on the sofa, digesting their meal, when Chang Yixin asked curiously, "Chu Tingwu isn''t back yet? Why didn''t you go y with her?"

    Chang Yile: "..."

    She hesitated for a moment, "I was learning to rollerde, you know? I actually wanted to invite Chu Chu to join me for a couple of lessons, it''s just for fun¡ª"

    But when she brought her rollerdes to meet Chu Tingwu early, they tried them out downstairs in their apartmentplex. Chang Yile watched in awe as Chu Tingwu mastered the skill from beginner to expert within half an hour. She thought to herself:

    If she ever had anyints about her rollerde instructor, she could just bring Chu Tingwu along to "kick some butt."

    But seeing how dedicated the instructor was, she decided against it.

    Chang Yixin: "=="

    Their parents turned on the TV, and the living room was filled with lively sounds. The Chang twins sat shoulder to shoulder, both uninterested in the TV, ying with their phones. But then, Chang''s Mother eximed, "Hey, Xin Xin, Le Le, isn''t this the male lead from ''Tiger Head''? The movie you guys watched a lot during the break."

    Chang Yile instinctively looked up: "Ah... it''s ''No One Survives''!"

    She wasn''t a fan of Cheng Luwei, having only followed Korean girl groups. But because Chu Tingwu was involved in the movie, and there was also a cameo by "Sanwulu," she had heard about it from Chu Tingwu. Knowing that Cheng Luwei''s performance was solid, Chang Yile, out of her fondness for her friend, had be a casual fan of Cheng Luwei.

    Though she wouldn''t go out of her way to support other movies in theaters, she didn''t mind watching free TV programs.

    Chang''s Father, however, noticed Tong Bei: "Isn''t that Tong Bei? Want to watch this variety show? Let''s just watch it casually."

    Tonight was the premiere of thetest episode of ''No One Survives.'' On the screen, the Cat Team of five was seen riding in a program team vehicle on their way to the building.

    The rules of the Cat Team weren''t too hard to understand. The whole family watched and discussed... but the topic of discussion was Chu Tingwu.

    Chang''s Mother: "I remember your ssmate acted with Cheng Luwei and Tong Bei?"

    Chang''s Father: "Isn''t that Chu Tingwu? Her birthday is April 11th, right?"

    Chang Yile: "Her birthday was ages ago! I even gave her a birthday present before!"

    Chang''s Father: "I heard it from a colleague¡ªon her birthday, wasn''t it possible to get cats neutered for free? My colleague, you know, the one I mentioned to you... He wanted to get some stray cats in our neighborhood neutered but never found the time. When he saw the promotion, he caught a few cats and took them there, and it was indeed free. They even helped him catch one he couldn''t get himself."

    What left the deepest impression on the colleague was that after the procedure, the hospital gave him a free little card. On the front was a Q-version illustration of a girl with cat ears, standing next to a Q-version tabby cat.

    On the back was written¡ª

    ¡¾This is Ah Chu and Sanwulu, my adorable kids. April 11th is her birthday, and the free neutering for cats was her birthday gift. She''s naturally very good, and we printed this just to show everyone!¡¿

    Colleague: "?"

    Got it, got it. Your kid and the cat are both very cute.

    The colleague even went to search for Ah Chu, learning that she was a student at No. 5 Middle School and had participated in the filming of ''Tiger Head'' with her cat. He specially bought a ticket to support the movie.

    After hearing this from his colleague, Chang''s Father''s impression of Chu Tingwu was "well-off family, deeply loved by her family," and from the casual conversations at home, he also knew that Chu Tingwu was athletically gifted, loved extreme sports and animals. Hemented:

    "Seems like your friend has good upbringing."

    The way her family celebrated her birthday was by doing charity.

    Chang Yixin, resting her chin on her hand and staring at the screen, nced at her dad when she heard this: "Mmm..."

    She and her twin sister exchanged a look, tacitly not mentioning Chu Tingwu''s family situation.

    Chu Tingwu''s manners were indeed good, but after knowing her for so long, they had a rough idea... the people celebrating her birthday this time weren''t her parents.

    It was her friends, fans, and "family" without blood ties.

    Chang Yile: "Ah!"

    Howe that cat on the screen looks so much like Sanwulu?

    Chang''s Father was still amused: "Oh, this cat is called Wuwu San? Sounds quite domineering, and the name is familiar too. Isn''t it simr to Chu Tingwu''s cat?"

    What simrity, it''s the same cat!

    Chang Yile pouted, nudging her sister with her arm. Chang Yixin took out her phone and directly entered the ''No One Survives'' program on the online streaming tform. The online video was three minutes slower than the TV broadcast, but watching online had real-timements, making the atmosphere more lively!

    Since everyone was watching the same video, Chang Yixin decided to cast her phone onto the TV.

    Chang''s Father and Mother had to watch the introduction they had just seen three minutes ago again. This time, however, the screen was filled with a series of question marks¡ª

    Making a tabby cosy as an orange cat... what was the program team thinking? Couldn''t they just find a regr orange cat if they needed a cat actor? Orange cats aren''t rare!

    Isn''t this the cat from the movie! The one that had a rivalry with Tiger Head¡ªthe fake stray tabby big shot cat¡ªdoubt the production team couldn''t get the orange cat actor, so they settled for the second cat lead.

    Yes, because ''Tiger Head'' was a movie with animal actors as the main leads, everyone liked to rank the animals like humans, with some purely movie-going audiences believing that, based on screen time, the first lead was Tiger Head, and the second lead was "Xiaohua."

    Of course, there was another group of danmu withpletely different meanings¡ª

    [Is that you, Sanwulu? If it is, meow once!]

    [For those who follow the Jin City base: These people still don''t know they''ve hit the jackpot. Oh, no, a cat has four legs, so everyone can take one, and there''s still one tail left for Sanwulu to share, fairly evenly...]

    Curious about who the mysterious guest of the opposing team is. It feels like an open-book question¡ªcould it be that someone who imed to be studying so didn''t open a live stream, only to be caught by fans feeding pigeons at the Suda za?

    If Chu Tingwu saw this, she would probably retort:

    She wasn''t feeding pigeons that day; she was working! It was to help a wildlife protection organization catch an owl that had wandered in! Really, she wasn''t feeding pigeons; that was just preliminary work for the capture!

    Chang Yileughed out loud, and the fans'' guesses soon came true, as the camera shifted to show the people on the fifth floor, the Dog Team.

    Since four out of the five in the Dog Team were fixed guests, even with their faces covered, everyone was familiar with them and could recognize who was who by their figures. The fifth person, wearing a key around his neck that the young master needed toplete the mission, immediately excited the young master''s fans.

    Hope the older sister Golden Retriever can be nice to our Little Qi. The kid always loses in games during variety shows; let him win this time!

    Who is the Golden Retriever sister in the industry? She seems very gentle, should be easy to talk to, right? All those wearing golden retriever masks are good people!

    Chang Yile: "No, don''t let the golden retriever filter cloud your judgment! Didn''t they show the behind-the-scenes footage of her choosing the golden retriever mask earlier? She just thought it was the biggest mask that could cover her entire face!"

    Chang Yixin: "If ''Little Qi'' is considered a child... then what is Chu Tingwu? Is she still in kindergarten?"

    Chu Tingwu''s age is less than two-thirds of Little Qi''s, so she definitely doesn''t qualify as a big sister!

    Chang''s Mother: "Ah... is this person wearing the golden retriever mask Chu Tingwu?"

    Seeing a ssmate of her daughter''s on TV feels quite peculiar.

    ¡ª Previously, when Chu Tingwu came over to y with the Chang sisters, their parents were not at home. They had only prepared snacks and drinks in advance. During their trip together, there wasn''t much interaction, and they only vaguely remembered that she didn''t seem to be very close with her family.

    She paid a bit more attention to the screen and stopped checking work messages on her phone.

    After all, this was a friend of her two daughters, so it was good to learn more about her.

    The cat team on the first floor began exploring the first and second floors, while the dog team on the fifth floor started descending, armed with guns and looking quite bold.

    As the cat team discussed and weighed their options, they learned more about the rules and discovered that each person only had four health points.

    Tong Bei: "I''ve also found a rule here: If no one dies within five minutes, it seems that every fifteen minutes, you regain one health point."

    So, their disadvantage as the cat team wasn''t as significant as they thought.

    If they could cooperate, turning the tables on the dog team wasn''t impossible!

    The scene was normal up to this point, but then the style shifted, and the camera switched to a bird''s-eye view, focusing on the young master "Little Qi" as he entered the second-floor stairwell.

    Although it was a normal exploration segment, this angle... astute viewers felt¡ª

    [Something feels off, is something going to happen?]

    [Speaking of which, did the show update their equipment? This kind of shot is usually not seen in variety shows. Is this an indoor drone shot?]

    The next second, the camera, raised to a certain height, captured Chu Tingwu''s back.

    The viewers: "?"

    Although this bird''s-eye view was cool, and the four shots that took down Little Qi were also cool, even the action of being chased by a cat and climbing up the stairs was crisp and decisive, as if performed by a seasoned action actor... but was the show''s camera crew a bit too biased toward the golden retriever mask?

    The rhythm and filming technique of this shot felt significantly higher than the others!

    The staff members monitoring the show''s public opinion: "..."

    Could they me them? Chu Tingwu''s movements wererge, with many special actions, and the cameraman felt particrly inspired whenever they filmed her. The resulting footage was bound to leave a deep impression... Other guests were just searching rooms, discussing strategies, or asionally involving some chase scenes. Wasn''t that filmed quite stably, with high-quality output? It wasn''t that bad!

    There were also other ordinary viewers¡ª

    [Wait, why doesn''t anyone seem surprised? Who exactly is this golden retriever mask? Has her footage not been edited? How can she climb up and down the handrails, or even scale the top of the elevator like Spider-Man? Aren''t you all too calm? Why are you still discussing the amount of screen time for different guests?]

    [Agreed, I''m also puzzled. With the golden retriever mask''s athleticism, it feels like she could take out all the cat team members at any moment. The dog team also has Brother Lin, a fit and strong guy. If she takes him out, she could handle the rest, leading to a real ''no one survives''! The dog team is too strong!]

    And there were ordinary viewers who didn''t send danmu but discussed directly in voice¡ª

    Chang''s Father: "Is she a sports specialist?"

    Chang''s Mother: "Don''t talk nonsense! She''s very good at academics... so she probably doesn''t need to go the sports route!"

    The Chang sisters: The point is this? ==

    Older viewers weren''t too surprised, just thinking they might have seen a so-called "furniture city god of war" action actor on a variety show. It''s good, China''s action movies have sessors... but is she an action movie actress?

    The other four members of the dog team had all revealed their faces on camera, but the golden retriever mask hadn''t, as if the mask was welded to her face. Chu Tingwu''s fans had already recognized her¡ªbut since this was the first broadcast and there was no footage of her revealing her face, many guesses were flying in the bullet screen.

    From popr female action stars to ballet-trained actresses, and even to a yet-to-debut professional student... supporters of Chu Tingwu and those who thought it was someone else were arguing fiercely in the bullet screen, all staying to see who the mysterious guest from the dog team really was.

    The staff monitoring online public opinion and viewership silently thought to themselves:

    You probably won''t see it, because Chu Tingwu only showed half her face throughout the entire show.

    They asked her during the post-interview, and her reason was:

    "I like cats, so if others find out I wore a dog mask, I would feel very ashamed."

    The staff: "?"

    She opened the New Plum app at this moment and found a hot search tail with the tag:

    #Chu Tingwu Golden Retriever Mask#

    Could pretending not to have been discovered work, Chu Tingwu?

    Of course, the Chu Tingwu-rted tag was only at the tail end of the trending searches, while others had already made it to the front, either bought by the program team, slightly pushed by the staff, or self-promoted by the guests.

    The sixth hot search was about guest Shen Dazui.

    His objective was to remove the masks of all the dog team members¡ªobviously, he failed to achieve this goal until the end of the show, but his spirit of effort was worth encouraging.

    The danmaku was encouraging him¡ª

    [Brother Shen, although you didn''t manage to take off the golden retriever mask, you''re lucky¡ªyou''re still alive!]

    [Brother Shen, you actually managed to survive from the golden retriever''s hands, well done! Good luck with your dog poop luck!]

    [Brother Shen, don''t cry, look at Little Qi, he''s still recovering health points!]

    Shen Dazui indeed didn''t cry; he was just a bit dazed.

    As a "street wanderer" who liked to wander around, his character was to roam freely, which led him to enter this building upied by a deranged researcher. So, he also acted in character by breaking away from the main group and sneaking up to the second floor on his own.

    ording to the program team rules, losing health points would automatically recover one point every fifteen minutes. He had been hit by an skan and decided to find a ce to ck off for fifteen minutes to fully recover.

    This wasn''t his first time cking off in the show; he often did things that sacrificed his teammates but not himself, and both his teammates and the audience were used to it. But when they noticed the camera was always following Brother Shen, the audience first sensed something was off:

    Such editing must mean something is about to happen, right?

    Brother Shen used his exploration key to open a door and found Tong Bei inside. Both were stunned upon seeing each other.

    Tong Bei''s stance was the least firm among the group; she could help or betray. Earlier, she seemed to decide to ally with the police duo, reasoning: "We''re on the same side in the movies, right?"

    Everyone is a good person, trust her!

    So she immediately started actively searching for clues and helped the police find the hostage.

    At this moment, Tong Bei was holding a hostage pillow, possibly having discovered it earlier in this room, so she had used one of her tools.

    Seeing Shen Dazui, she took the initiative: "Brother Shen, where were you? If you were here earlier, I wouldn''t have had to waste my key."

    Shen Dazui retorted: "I was about to ask you, why did you lock the door? If you hadn''t locked it, I wouldn''t have had to use my key!"

    Everyone''s key was disposable!

    The two were very familiar variety show partners, so after ming each other for a while, they naturally wanted to form an alliance. But Shen Dazui''s expression suddenly stiffened: "Tong¡ª"

    At this moment, Shen Dazui was by the door, while Tong Bei was standing against the back ss curtain wall, which was the outside of the building, so she wasn''t worried about enemies appearing, as it would be Brother Shen who would take the hit first.

    Just then, she noticed her autonomous flying camera ball had moved to an angle in front of her, changing its filming position.

    Tong Bei: "!"

    With the sharp instincts of a variety show performer, she realized: there was something behind her!

    Had someone entered before her and hidden? But the ¡õ¡õ could only be used by her - theoretically, only she and Shen Dazui could enter through this door... Was Shen Dazui lying? Had he let others in beforehand?

    Though these thoughts raced through her mind, Tong Bei instinctively turned to look behind her.

    That''s when she saw Chu Tingwu fire the second shot.

    To be precise, Chu Tingwu was hanging outside the building, one hand gripping the metal window frame, her toes bnced on the window, using her other hand to shoot through the ss¡ª

    Theoretically, bullets couldn''t prate the window.

    But this was a sensor gun!

    Tong Bei turned to run, but by then, the third shot had already precisely marked her clothes with three red spots.

    Tong Bei: "Hold your fire! I''m on your side!"

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    Shen Dazui: "?"

    Tong Bei quickly exined her special status: she could help either the Cat team or the Dog team eliminate the Cat team until only one remained, which would also count as her victory, so theoretically, she could be Chu Tingwu''s potential teammate.

    Shen Dazui was utterly shocked: "How could you stoop so low? Our lives aren''t single-use, Tong Flower! You''re such a disappointment - how can you have zero principles?"

    Tong Bei: "Oh, you''re so great, you have principles! Why don''t you try getting shot three times then? You still have three health points! You didn''te here to explore, did you? You don''t even need to find the hostage to clear the game, you need to find the Dog team members... You cker!"

    As she spoke, she seemingly unconsciously moved closer, then suddenly sprang into action, pressing the hostage pillow against Shen Dazui''s neck, and shouted to Chu Tingwu: "Teacher Chu, quick... I''m offering him up as proof of my loyalty!"

    Shen Dazui: "Hey!!"

    The two wrestled noisily, but only they knew they weren''t really using their full strength¡ª

    As partners for many years, they could coordinate through eye contact and simple bodynguage, now perfectly in sync as they acted out their scene.

    The audience could see through it:

    [Oh wow, Tong Tong is trying to work with Dazui to lure the golden-haired mask inside!]

    [How is she hanging outside like that? She doesn''t even have any equipment!]

    [You can tell from their expressions they''re faking it. I bet one wants to steal the sensor gun... There''s no rule saying the Cat team can''t use sensor guns, right? Tong Tong definitely wants to steal it and hide it as a backup n. The other wants to unmask the golden-haired one - his score is 0 right now, just one unmasking would make him look lesszy!]

    [Can someone exin how she''s hanging from the window like that? This is the second floor, right? The window frame only sticks out less than two centimeters! In the close-up you can only see fingers gripping it! How can a few fingers support her whole body? And with just one hand!]

    [Maybe Tong and Shen are nning to run away. The sensor gun working through ss is kind of a bug in the design, but they can still maintain the five-meter distance. If they quietly move beyond five meters, their health won''t be in as much danger.]

    [Am I the only one who finds this strange? None of you think this is weird?]

    [Being strange doesn''t matter... Just think of that person outside the window as a bug.]

    [Trust me, when ites to many physical activities, she is a bug.]

    [???]

    The audience could see through it, and the Chang family could tell from the bulletments. Chang''s Mother was worried: "Does Chu Tingwu know?"

    Chang Yile: "She doesn''t seem to know anything about the entertainment industry, or about Sister Tong and Brother Dazui''s public personas..."

    Chang Yixin: "But we don''t need to worry about her."

    Because... she was simply a bug.

    -

    Chu Tingwu kept her gun trained on Tong Bei, a smile curling behind her mask: "Alright, wait a moment."

    Tong and Shen: "?"

    Shen Dazui genuinely wanted to remove the mask, but Tong Bei was actually looking for an excuse to escape. With their goals misaligned, their movements fell out of sync.

    Tong Bei tried to back away, while Shen Dazui hesitated.

    But he soon lost the luxury of hesitation¡ª

    While the floor-to-ceiling window couldn''t be opened, the venttion window above was open. It was a horizontal strip, just slightly wider than a person''s head, too narrow for most people to squeeze through.

    But Chu Tingwu demonstrated with actions: if your head can fit through, your whole body can follow.

    He didn''t even see how Chu Tingwu climbed up there. He only saw the masked girl reach out, seemingly able to move straight up and down the vertical ss curtain wall, even jumping, and in two swift seconds she had flipped through the venttion window,nding smoothly from over three meters high without the slightest wobble.

    This is bad, Shen Dazui thought, we''ve kicked a steel te.

    The steel te raised her hand and finished off Tong Bei, who had already abandoned Shen Dazui and was just one step away from the room''s door.

    Tong Bei: "...I''m on your side!"

    Chu Tingwu: "My team has no people, only dogs."

    Tong Bei: "Then give me a chance to be a dog in my next life..."

    Shen Dazui looked down on her with contempt: "You''re giving up already? Even after being killed you''re still trying to join the other side? Why can''t you learn from me - I haven''t been killed yet and I still want to join Big Sister Golden Hair... Sister, I only have three health points left, I''ll do anything to survive!"

    He dropped to his knees impressively fast!

    Chu Tingwu sat next to Tong Bei''s "corpse" to guard it, looking unconvinced: "Then prove your loyalty."

    Shen Dazui''s gaze fell on the gun in Chu Tingwu''s hand.

    Chu Tingwu: "Not that kind of proof."

    She said: "Your team still has one cat, right? I don''t like cats named Five-Five-Three, if you''re going to name them it should be Three-Five-Five¡ª"

    Aliali: 6723add52f514816a81b57d6

    Tong Bei, lying on the ground ying dead: "?"

    She pressed the witness pillow behind her head to make herself morefortable.

    Chu Tingwu: "Surely you can handle one cat? Take off that cat''s hood and show me what you''ve got?"

    Chu Tingwu believed that the show producers wouldn''t design an "invincible" character. Three-Five-Five couldn''t be defeated with a sensor gun, but if the hood came off, wouldn''t she stop cosying as the orange cat? If she wasn''t the Cat team''s Police Cat Big Orange, then she could be Chu Tingwu''s dear mommy!

    Shen Dazui was confident: "It''s just a cat!"

    If they couldn''t remove the human mask, taking off a cat hood shouldn''t be too hard, right?

    The production team who knew the oue: "..."

    The audience who could foresee the result: "..."

    Brother Dazui, don''t.

    What lies ahead is hell!

 Chapter 78

    Shen Dazui had just stepped out the door when his expression changed. He sprinted toward the staircase while addressing the camera:0

    "Did you see that, everyone? I''ve discovered the weakness of Golden Retriever Demon King! She must be afraid of cats! Of course, I was just bluffing earlier. As long as I''m not being pointed at by a gun, what is there to be scared of? Look, Tong Huahua is now out of the game, but I''m still safe and sound!"0

    In a variety show game, there are no fixed teammates. Everyone''s allegiances can shift at any moment, and the words spoken are as fleeting as the wind. The audienceughed and joked, finding nothing unusual about it.0

    Shen Dazui continued, "But I still n to go find the cat... I have a feeling there''s something extraordinary about the cat in our team!"0

    [Actually, there''s nothing extraordinary about it... it''s just the mother of the Golden Retriever inside.]0

    At the same time, in another room, Chu Tingwu: "=="0

    The camera zoomed in on her face, and the danmu (live chat) spected:0

    [Did Chu Tingwu hear what Shen Dazui said?]0

    [Ah? Impossible, right? They''re separated by a whole corridor!]0

    [Why call her "Chu God"?]0

    [Haven''t you heard of the popr "Wolf Channel" on foreign tforms? "Chu God" is the nickname they gave her. Her hearing is incredible, like a wolf radar. She can hear the sounds of wolves moving from hundreds of meters away!]0

    [Is her strength really just her hearing?]0

    This question left the audience silent.0

    Although Chu Tingwu had never shown herbat abilities on camera, everyone felt that she could silently take down five, even ten opponents without breaking a sweat.0

    No, no, no. The team leader seems to have really trained, and Cheng Luwei is a regr at the gym. His muscles are the real deal. He wouldn''t be easily pinned down by a little girl, right?0

    Inside the room, Tong Bei got up from the floor and said, "Chu Tingwu, Shen Dazui must have run away. We shouldn''t have let him go."0

    Chu Tingwu pushed her back down and whispered, "Don''t call me Chu Tingwu. I''m not a teacher. Call me the Experimenter."0

    She still had a secret identity to protect!0

    Tong Bei: "¡­Okay, Golden Retriever Teacher =="0

    Chu Tingwu: "He did leave, but I still have you, don''t I?"0

    Tong Bei: "?"0

    Chu Tingwu: "With you spreading the word, no one in your team will trust you anymore¡ªyou only have one path left: join our Dog Squad¡­"0

    Tong Bei: "=="0

    No, I must resist. Hearing the word "Dog Squad" really makes me want tough.0

    Sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, warming the life-sized hostage pillow.0

    Tong Beiy on the pillow, while Chu Tingwu sat cross-legged beside her, raising a finger:0

    "I now officially induct you into the team. Repeat after me: ''Dogs are the best animals in the world. The world belongs to dogs!''"0

    Tong Bei: "¡­" She could say it, but why does your tone sound so bitter and resentful?0

    [Sorry, I''m a member of the Cat Cult. Golden Retriever Teacher, let''s duel!]0

    [Golden Retriever¡­ no, Chu Chu, are you okay? How can you say such words against your will?]0

    After Tong Bei repeated the phrase, Chu Tingwu sighed resignedly: "This is what the program requires. I don''t want to¡­ Ah, cut this part."0

    [It wasn''t cut.]0

    Tong Bei was curious: "So, do you think cats are the best?"0

    Chu Tingwu remained silent.0

    Tong Bei: "?"0

    Chu Tingwu: "You''re one of us now. Five minutes are up. Go take off the Three-Five-Five mask."0

    Tong Bei: Why won''t you answer?0

    Tong Bei: And I can''t beat Three-Five-Five at all!0

    Though she refused, Tong Bei still had to prove her loyalty. Her pillow ended up in Chu Tingwu''s hands, and the young girl sent her out, then began climbing out the window.0

    Tong Bei: "¡­You''re really going all out to avoid your cat!"0

    And the pillow is too big and got stuck! It''s stuck!0

    After Tong Bei left¡ª0

    System: "Cats are obviously the best creatures in the world!"0

    It wasn''t biased at all!0

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­" Shut up.0

    It''s so embarrassing! Whether I admit it or not, it''s all so embarrassing!0

    -0

    However, as soon as Tong Bei stepped out, she was surprised to find¡­ Shen Dazui''s hat left in the stairwell!0

    The stairwell was empty, and Shen Dazui didn''t seem to be downstairs. Hearing footsteps approach, Tong Bei quickly picked up the hat and stuffed it into her pocket.0

    Cheng Luwei arrived.0

    Cheng Luwei: "Isn''t Brother Shen here?"0

    Tong Bei: "I didn''t see him. Probably cking off somewhere."0

    Cheng Luwei sighed in frustration: "That''s unlucky. Did you find the key? I found a universal key here. If you have another, we can trade."0

    Tong Bei shook her head: "Not so lucky. And I lost my original key too. I just saw a room with a hostage, but when I went in, it turned out to be just a towel¡­ By the way, did you see Three-Five-Five when you came?"0

    The two were the leads of a movie and naturally familiar with each other. As they walked side by side, the danmu viewers almost diedughing.0

    [Old Cheng, the key you found is clearly a "street wanderer" key, only usable by Brother Shen. How did it suddenly be a universal key when you saw Tong Bei? nning to con her?]0

    [Tong Bei also said she was looking for the cat to help find the key, but she''s clearly defected to the Dog Squad. Cat traitor! Both are so good at acting, and both think the other believes their lies¡­]0

    [Actually, I''m a bit curious about the movie plot. I haven''t watched it before, but the actors seem to trust the cat actor''s abilities so much. Is this cat named "Three-Five-Five" really that strong?]0

    [You saw what happened with Brother Shen earlier, didn''t you?]0

    ¡ªThrough editing, the audience could see events happening simultaneously at different locations.0

    Just as Tong Bei found Shen Dazui''s hat, the camera switched to another scene, with a note in the corner:0

    "A few minutes earlier."0

    A few minutes earlier, Shen Dazui, thinking about informing others of Tong Bei''s betrayal, walked toward the stairwell. There, he was ambushed by the Pomeranian waiting in the middle of the stairs.0

    As he opened the door and stepped in, the Pomeranian fired a shot at him. Shen Dazui didn''t realize what was happening until the second shot left him with only a sliver of health.0

    Panicking, he turned to run, but the Pomeranian quickly followed, saying, "Stop, I won''t shoot you!"0

    Shen Dazui: ¡­0

    I don''t really believe you!0

    He turned back with a bitter face: "Why is it always me¡­"0

    The Pomeranian smiled: "I won''t tell you."0

    [¡°Because I have a teammate with incredible hearing (in dognguage).¡±]0

    [Because my teammate has super hearing¡­ To be honest, when the two girls reached the third floor, Golden Retriever Teacher suddenly said there was someone downstairs and sent the Pomeranian to wait at the stairs. I was confused at the time, but now I realize, Golden Retriever Teacher must have heard there were two people!]0

    [The scariest part is that when Golden Retriever Teacher said that, Brother Shen hadn''t even entered the room yet!]0

    Chang Yile: "Chu Tingwu must have nned to kill one and let one go from the start!"0

    The one let go, regardless of who it was, could be dealt with by a teammate.0

    Since the Pomeranian was more familiar with Shen Dazui, and Chu Tingwu was closer to Tong Bei, she chose to leave Shen Dazui to her teammate¡ª0

    And her teammate indeed knew his nature: "Stop dragging your feet. Come with me."0

    Shen Dazui: "=="0

    Pomeranian: "You still have a bit of health left. Don''t pretend you can''t move. And don''t get close to me. I''m afraid you''ll lift my mask. Come on, let''s go upstairs."0

    Shen Dazui: "You''re forcing me to walk into a trap!"0

    This is clearly sending him to the fifth floor to receive punishment!0

    Pomeranian: "So, are you going or not? If not, I''ll shoot you now. But I''m too weak, so after shooting you, I''ll call Old Lin to carry you to the fifth floor in a princess carry."0

    Old Lin was their 1.97-meter-tall French Bulldog brother.0

    Shen Dazui: "!"0

    Pomeranian: "Once we''re upstairs, I can shoot you at theb entrance, then we''ll set a simple challenge. Complete it, and you can run. It''ll count as some of my performance points, right?"0

    ¡ªCompleting the challenge would fully restore his health, something others would beg for.0

    Shen Dazui hesitated for a moment before agreeing. Neither of them noticed that his hat had fallen to the ground as they ran.0

    The camera gave a close-up shot of the hat, then time rewound to when Tong Bei discovered the hat, followed by a close-up of Cheng Luwei''s gaze.0

    [Oh damn! Tong Huahua, you''ve been exposed!]0

    Cheng Luwei patted Tong Bei''s shoulder: "Teacher Tong..."0

    "If you didn''t meet Brother Dazui just now, and didn''t find the hostage, then why do you only have one life point left?"0

    Three spots on her clothes had turned red, with only one remaining orange.0

    Tong Bei: "..."0

    Tong Bei lowered her head: "Oh my, how did you figure it out so quickly?"0

    She swiftly pulled out¡ª0

    Shen Dazui''s hat from her pocket.0

    Cheng Luwei, who had quickly hidden behind the doorpost: "???"0

    Tong Bei: "Why are you hiding? I was shot by Old Shen."0

    Cheng Luwei: "Huh?"0

    [Huh?]0

    Tong Bei: "I don''t know where Old Shen got the sensor gun from, maybe he arranged it with someone from the dog team¡ª"0

    The production team marked this with a big "exmation mark": "This is a lie!"0

    Audience: We don''t need you to emphasize that!0

    Tong Bei: "Then when I just opened the door and went in, he was actually hiding in that room, pulled out his gun and shot me, saying the price for getting the gun was that he had to take out one of us as proof of loyalty... I grabbed his hat while dodging."0

    Cheng Luwei: "Hmm... then what happened?"0

    Tong Bei: "I''ve had some training, you know, so he ran away. Some people can''t kill even with a gun¡ªbut when you came up asking about Shen Dazui''s whereabouts, I became cautious and didn''t dare tell you directly what happened."0

    Cheng Luwei hesitated.0

    He peeked at Tong Bei, then remembered that in variety shows, Tong Bei''s persona was usually straightforward and casual. Her actual personality wasn''t veryplicated either, and during filming, she was always frank and direct... Plus she looked innocent now, somewhat annoyed, looking back at him with an exasperated expression, standing with hands on her hips, fanning herself with Shen Dazui''s hat.0

    Cheng Luwei rxed: "I believe you¡ª"0

    [You''d better not.]0

    Cheng Luwei: "After all, we both raised Tiger Head, and anyone who has a good rtionship with Tiger Head can''t be a bad person."0

    He was referring to their characters in the show.0

    [Just quietly mentioning that Teacher Chu also raised one, and it was the original. Her rtionship with "Tiger Head" was even closer than yours...]0

    Cheng Luwei stepped out: "Then Brother Dazui isn''t very trustworthy. Three-Five-Five should be upstairs. I think the only ones we can trust now are me, the captain, and Three-Five-Five..."0

    The Young Master was somewhat giving up, just lingering on the first floor.0

    [What you think is right!]0

    A patch of color on Cheng Luwei''s chest silently darkened.0

    Then, "bang" "bang" "bang."0

    Tong Bei fired while backing away¡ªpressing the button in advance for the first shot meant there was no sound, but each subsequent shot had a clear loading sound. She simply aimed at Cheng Luwei and shot every spot she could hit.0

    Cheng Luwei had recovered for a while and had full health, but not anymore.0

    Cheng Luwei: "???"0

    He realized what was happening by the third shot, and his immediate reaction was to try to grab the gun.0

    Because they were too close, with no cover between them.0

    But Tong Bei had anticipated this and fired herst shot.0

    ["You have lost the ability to move..."]0

    Cheng Luwei''s movement froze in ce.0

    Tong Bei smiled: "Some people can''t kill with a gun, but that doesn''t include me."0

    The gun was obviously given by Chu Tingwu, but at this moment, she still kept her guard up:0

    "This is the gun that Old Shen dropped, I''m just testing if it works well."0

    Cheng Luwei: "..."0

    Shen Dazui, I hate you!0

    -0

    Shen Dazui: "...Achoo!"0

    He was being reluctantly led to the fifth floor by the Pomeranian.0

    Along the way, he couldn''t help but ask the Pomeranian about Chu Tingwu:0

    "Is the one wearing the golden retriever mask a female action star sister I''m not familiar with?"0

    The Pomeranian, who knew Chu Tingwu''s age: "...Don''t ask what you shouldn''t."0

    Shen Dazui: "Watch your tone, or I won''t move anymore, I''ll just squat right here! Even if you hit me, I won''t move!"0

    Pomeranian: "..."0

    She changed her tone: "Little one, this isn''t something someone your age should know about. You''ll understand when you grow up."0

    Someone who could call Chu Tingwu ''sister'' must be of a child''s age, right?0

    The adult and the child dragged along until they reached the fourth floor. The Pomeranian was very cautious; whenever she heard others moving, she would immediately pull Shen Dazui and check the live-feed sphere.0

    [She''s preventing him from calling for help!]0

    [Actually, those who just passed by were teammates, but being cautious isn''t a bad thing...]0

    Moreover, the Pomeranian would look for hiding spots in advance, but when she casually opened a garbage bin, Shen Dazui couldn''t help but protest: "They couldn''t possibly hide in such a small garbage bin!"0

    As a captive, he wanted to get it over with!0

    Pomeranian: "True."0

    Shen Dazui walked in front while she stayed behind. Logically, no one else should suddenly appear...0

    The Pomeranian suddenly felt a weight on her shoulder. She turned her head and let out half a scream.0

    The next second, Shen Dazui in front heard a "ck" sound of something falling to the ground. He immediately crouched down, scanned the object, and instinctively kicked it.0

    The sensor gun slid away with a "whoosh," flying to the bottom of the stairs.0

    Then, a smoke-gray shadow jumped down from the Pomeranian''s shoulder.0

    The Pomeranian nced at Shen Dazui, then turned to pick up the sensor gun.0

    However, the tortoiseshell cat was faster than her, quickly descending the stairs, grabbing the gun in its mouth, and continuing down a few more steps.0

    Shen Dazui rushed over and sessfully removed the Pomeranian''s mask!0

    "Ha!" he said, "I''m 1/5 through the game!"0

    Looking at the tortoiseshell wearing an orange cat mask, he was even more moved: "This really is a powerful cat ally..."0

    [Wow! Was Three-Five-Five hiding behind the door earlier? The emergency exit has a door!]0

    The Pomeranian had actually checked behind the door, but thanks to the color and angle, the tortoiseshell had sessfully disguised itself as a shadow.0

    While the humans were moving about, no one knew that the cat assassin was watching everything from the darkness!0

    Shen Dazui gratefully said: "Kitty, thank you, can you give me the gun?"0

    Three-Five-Five: "?"0

    Who''s Kitty? She didn''t know.0

    The gun stayed confiscated.0

    The cat mother ignored the two humans and continued downstairs with the gun in her mouth.0

    Three-Five-Five had been looking for Chu Tingwu all along. Grabbing the gun was just a bonus, and saving someone was even more incidental. She went down to the second floor and walked to the room where Chu Tingwu had been, pressing her head against the ss to look inside.0

    It was strange.0

    Because the door was locked, and cat paws couldn''t push it open. After bumping into it the first time, Three-Five-Five hadn''t seen Chu Tingwu again... but her sense of smell told her that the cub was actually nearby, just hidden.0

    It seemed she couldn''t give this gun to the people on the cub''s side?0

    But she also couldn''t give it to the people on this side¡ª0

    Because earlier, the skan Mmute''s gun had been taken back by the Mmute.0

    These people were allughing and joking,pletely different from the simtion training in the base... This troubled the tortoiseshell because she couldn''t judge their true allegiances.0

    So she''d give it to no one.0

    Three-Five-Five ran to the first floor, ignoring the Young Master who called out to her twice, and started pawing at the door gaps on the first floor.0

    The director''s team outside: "?"0

    The door obviously couldn''t be opened, but this was a cat, and the director''s team was hesitant¡ªthey suspected Three-Five-Five might want to go out to use the bathroom, as her movements looked very simr to digging in cat litter.0

    Humans and cats couldn''tmunicate clearly, and on screen, post-production added text exining the director team''s thoughts at this moment when they opened the door.0

    The door only opened enough for a cat to pass through. The Young Master peeked out: he noticed Three-Five-Five squeeze through the door with the gun in her mouth, then she ced the gun at the doorway and squeezed back inside.0

    Young Master: "..."0

    You''d rather throw away the gun than give it to me, a useless human?0

    As Three-Five-Five passed by him, it let out a meow, as if asking: "Why are you just standing here instead of working?"0

    Young Master: "I''m going right now!"0

    He sped his hands behind his back and looked at the lobby sofa behind him, where four life-sized body pillowsy.0

    This was the Cat team''s achievement. He was helping the captain and Cheng Luwei watch the "hostages" (worried that traitors in the team might take them away), while the captain and the other two went upstairs to find the golden-haired masked person wearing the key around their neck¡ª0

    He turned his head, wanting to tell Three-Five-Five that he was actually working... but Three-Five-Five was gone. Instead, he saw someone jump down outside the door.0

    That person stood outside the ss door, backlit, not particrly tall, but Young Master''s heart skipped a beat.0

    The clearance key hanging around her neck gleamed, and the sensor gun by her feet also reflected light.0

    A light that filled Young Master with despair.0

    She picked up the gun.0

    At this moment, the audience heard the director''s team shouting through the earpiece:0

    "Chu... no, Golden-haired Teacher! Golden-haired Teacher! Climbing up and down the outer wall is one thing, but you can''t go too far outside the game boundaries! Neither team is allowed to leave this building!"0

    Earlier, when Chu Tingwu was climbing the building''s exterior wall, the director''s team was bewildered... but since she had already climbed out, and they were worried about idents (they marked it with "Professional performer, do not attempt" in post-production). At least then, Chu Tingwu''s body was still in direct contact with the building, so they could pretend she was still inside... but now she waspletely outside, which wasn''t eptable.0

    Director''s team: "You muste inside within ten seconds!"0

    Otherwise, she would be disqualified.0

    Young Master, who also heard the director''s team''s voice, felt a bit gleeful¡ª0

    Besides, he felt rtively safe since there was at least a ss door between him and Chu Tingwu. When she climbed back up, it wouldn''t have anything to do with him, right?0

    Chu Tingwu: "I don''t need ten seconds."0

    She took one second to pick up the gun, then two seconds to take the key from around her neck and swipe open the door.0

    Young Master: "..."0

    Director''s team: Damn... forgot the key was in her possession!0

    Chu Tingwu stepped forward into the lobby, her voiceing from behind the golden-haired mask: "The remaining seven seconds are your time to escape."0

    Young Master: "......"0

    Ahhhhh!0

    Dark Lord! Dark Lord! Dark Lord!0

    The ruthless Dark Lord didn''t pursue him to the bitter end.0

    After watching Young Master sprint frantically toward the stairs, she went forward to gather the four hostage pillows, then casually walked to the side to wait for the elevator.0

    While waiting for the elevator, she nced at the drone camera and added an exnation for thementators:0

    "Actually, killing people is useless since they can respawn dynamically, so the Dog team''s strategy for clearing the game is to make the enemy despair¡ªwhen they realize they have no way toplete the game, that''s when they''ll surrender in desperation."0

    [It''s just a game, no need to be that desperate... Can''t imagine how the other side would surrender...]0

    [Though I can''t imagine it either, since you''re the one saying it, I''ll keep an open mind.]0

    Chu Tingwu''s n was to defeat them one by one: The two police officers needed to rescue the hostages, not only finding all twelve body pillows but also getting them out of the building, so they could actually work with Young Master, whose task was to obtain the exit key and escape the building.0

    That''s exactly what they did. Compared to the unreliable Shen Dazui and the wavering Tong Bei, Young Master, though not very useful, wouldn''t immediately switch sides.0

    And the body pillows, which were the hostages, were actually safe.0

    The captain was now telling the camera:0

    "Look what I found! This rule clue says: the Dog team actually can''t open room doors either, they can''t use the keys, only we can use the keys to open... doors?"0

    He stood on the second floor, looking outside in confusion.0

    The second floor''s middle section opened to the first floor, creating a huge atrium. Standing in the middle of the first-floor lobby, one could look up and see the second floor''s ceiling, where a massive crystal chandelier hung like a blooming peony.0

    They would also stand on the second floor to observe the situation, but at this moment, he not only saw Young Master running up but also... the person wearing the golden-haired mask standing on the opposite corridor railing, leaping diagonally forward to grab onto a tall pir.0

    Behind her, four "hostages" were tied with rope.0

    The drone camera quietly recorded this scene, even moving closer to film her hands when Chu Tingwu changed positions.0

    There were some decorative carvings at the top of the pir. She wedged her fingers into the decorations, her toes pointing against the smooth side of the pir, and even exined to the camera:0

    "If you have severe hand sweating, this kind of climbing isn''t rmended. It''s better to bring proper equipment. My current shoes aren''t climbing shoes either, so it''s a bit difficult to climb using friction."0

    [A bit?]0

    [Is she trying to teach us or mock us?]0

    The next second, Chu Tingwu leaped again, and with her excellent dynamic movement, sessfully grabbed the edge of the chandelier.0

    The chandelier swayed left and right, and the captain blinked:0

    Chu Tingwu had climbed up.0

    She arranged the four long body pillows at the four corners of the chandelier, then tied them together with rope. While she worked, the captain just stared nkly.0

    Finally, Chu Tingwupleted her work and turned to look at the captain.0

    [... Where''s that friend who couldn''t imagine it earlier? Can you imagine it now?]0

    Captain: "..."0

    Although she was wearing a mask, but, but he felt...0

    Chu Tingwu raised her hand and gave him a peace sign.0

    Captain: You must be smiling under that mask!0

    You devil!0

 Chapter 79

    Captain: "¡­Justice will always triumph over evil!"

    Young Master: "And then are you nning to charge forward shouting hot-blooded lines like panionship'' and such?"

    Captain: "No, what I mean is that Teacher Golden Hair isn''t really evil. Look, Golden Hair is so cute, so why don''t we just surrender?"

    Young Master: "?"

    He turned his head and looked at Chu Tingwu in the first-floor lobby.

    A chandelier hung above her head, and at the moment, it seemed to be slightly swaying due to the pillow inside affecting its bnce.

    The pillow blocked part of the light, casting arge shadow on the ground, which also swayed¡­ asionally, Chu Tingwu''s entire face was hidden in the shadow.

    The two eyes visible under the mask, due to the shadow of the mask, looked like two ck holes.

    Young Master blinked: Just now, why did he feel that Chu Tingwu''s eyes were glowing, like the eyes of a wolf in the dark, terrifying!

    He nced at the Captain: You call this cute?

    Of course, the Captain wasn''t really nning to surrender, but he was genuinely flustered by Chu Tingwu''s moves.

    Although he wasn''t in the same group as Chu Tingwu during the performance, he knew that Chu Tingwu had excellent motor skills, but the production team seemed¡­ not to know that.

    They should have banned one of Chu Tingwu''s hands and one of her feet! Or had her sit in a wheelchair the entire time. Otherwise, the Dog Team''s advantage would be too big! This game''s bnce is terrible and will definitely¡­ oh, it''s just a one-time game in a variety show, so never mind.0

    As a participant in this one-time game, the Captain sighed helplessly¡ªhe certainly didn''t really want to surrender, but clearly, to win the game, they had to find a way topletely deal with Chu Tingwu.0

    During the post-interview, he also said this to the camera.0

    When the episode aired, the production team inserted his post-interview video here:0

    Post-interview staff: "So, Teacher Qin, did you think of a way to limit Golden Hair at that time?"0

    Captain: "No, I was actually quite nervous at the time, but I thought about what the Captain would do in such a situation. Of course, he wouldn''t give up¡ªwe haven''t lost yet!"0

    Captain: "So, I thought of ''Tiger Head.''"0

    In this episode, because Three-Five-Five cosyed as an orange cat, she lost her real name.0

    The Cat Team''s main strategy to turn the tide against the Dog Team was to seize the guns, but the Captain felt that even without a gun, Chu Tingwu didn''t seem like someone they could control¡ªso he thought of another n: locking the doors.0

    The rules of the entire building were very fair. The Dog Team actually controlled only the fifth floor and the elevator, while all other rooms were under the control of the Cat Team (provided they found the corresponding keys). During the time separated from Cheng Luwei, the Captain not only found a new key but also discovered two "hostages."0

    He muttered, "Where are Cheng Luwei and Shen Dazui¡­ and Tong Bei, are they upstairs now?"0

    Young Master: "I''m too useless, I''m sorry."0

    At this point, the Captain didn''t know the situation of the others, but because of the post-production editing, the production team maliciously cut to a few shots showing the audience what the other three mentioned were up to.0

    Tong Bei hadpletely sided with the Dog Team, sessfully connecting with Pomeranian and enjoying snacks in the fifth-floor boratory," while watching Cheng Luwei do push-ups.0

    Shen Dazui, thanks to Three-Five-Five, had managed to stay alive, found a room on the third floor, sessfullypleted his cking mission, and even discovered a hostage hidden under the conference table. But he didn''t seem inclined to hand the hostage over to the Cat Team''s police.0

    It seemed the Cat Team waspletely "scattered like sand," with only the two police officers actually working.0

    [I''m touched¡­]0

    [Both Old Cheng and Captain Qin are really fitting their roles, genuinely thinking about how to escape with the hostages¡­ justice will triumph over evil¡­]0

    [Now that you mention it, Little Qi and the pure street-wanderer Dazui also fit their roles¡ªthe scariest part is that they''re not intentionally fitting them, that''s just how they are!]0

    [What about Sister Tong, is she performing exceptionally?]0

    [She''s sessfully hugging the thigh!]0

    The shots switching between the three humans disappeared, and then, the camera showed arge cat moving swiftly and agilely¡ª0

    The camera was focused on the face of the long-haired calico cat, and although she was wearing an orange cat headpiece, it looked quite funny, but from this angle, she even appeared serious and reliable.0

    Three-Five-Five was indeed very reliable.0

    Now, the camera split into two, one half showing her and the other half showing the Captain and Young Master. The next second, Three-Five-Five jumped onto a radiator, pried out a one-time use key from the middle.0

    The cat disdainfully lowered her head, bit the key, turned her head, and trotted a few steps, then fished out another key from a pipe in the workroom.0

    [It''s Shen Dazui and Tong Bei''s keys!]0

    ¡­Although the cat didn''t want to find the keys for them, that didn''t mean the cat mom couldn''t find them.0

    Because as long as they had been gripped, the keys would leave a scent, and after getting used to the smell in the building, Three-Five-Five gradually could locate these keys.0

    She wasn''t sure exactly what they were for, but giving them to those people should be the right move.0

    The only problem was that the cat couldn''t carry so many.0

    The audience was even more anxious than the cat, because actually, Three-Five-Five found more than just these¡­ luckily, the Captain, although unable to find his teammates, remembered they still had a cat teammate (the big leg).0

    The Captain, dragging the useless Young Master, called out "meow meow" as they searched floor by floor¡ª0

    Soon, they encountered the French Bulldog and the Chihuahua who hade down to forage.0

    French Bulldog & Chihuahua: "¡­"0

    Captain & Young Master: "¡­"0

    Both sides were a strong one leading a weak one. The French Bulldog was the one-meter-ny-five muscle man, and the Captain, looking at himself, was well aware of his ownbat abilities.0

    Young Master stepped back nervously: "What do we do?"0

    Captain: "Have you heard the story of¡­ Tian Ji''s horse race? Let the top horse beat the middle horse, the middle horse beat the bottom horse, only our bottom horse has to face the top horse."0

    Young Master: "?"0

    Captain: "Go, bottom horse."0

    Young Master: "!?"0

    You''re not going to make me stall Brother Lin, are you!0

    Brother Lin hitting me with one punch might make me kneel on the ground crying, begging not to die!0

    [I''m dyingughing at Qi''s expression, it''s really rich¡­ don''t worry, you''re just recording a show, not really meeting enemies, the production team will definitely call an ambnce for you.]0

    [I feel like everyone is really immersed in the game. It''s said that this shoot was done entirely with drones, no photographers following, so everyone would be more immersed, right?]0

    Actually, I feel Captain Qin''s words make sense. The whole building only has five sensor guns, whoever has the sensor guns controls the world. As long as he can grab the sensor guns, their advantage will increase.0

    Captain Qin also said this during the post-interview.0

    But the other side isn''t following his script!0

    The two sides chased and fought each other, quickly turning into a chaotic battle, then scattered. Captain Qin had to face the one-meter-ny-five giant, feeling extremely bitter inside, while Young Master thought the French Bulldog was chasing him, so he didn''t chase the Chihuahua and ran straight upstairs.0

    The Chihuahua, ignored by both sides: "?"0

    Being short has this effect?0

    Then, Young Master bumped into Three-Five-Five.0

    Seeing the cat in front of him, he didn''t realize at first that this was his team''s "teammate." Under the influence of adrenaline, he¡ª0

    directly did a hurdle over the cat''s head.0

    On the first floor, Chu Tingwu looked up at that moment: "?"0

    Why did it sound like Three-Five-Five''s voice? Was mom scolding someone?0

    -0

    Upstairs, the calico jumped onto Young Master''s shoulder, raised her front paws, and "thumped thumped thumped" on his head.0

    Young Master: "Ow."0

    Between "fighting the cat in front of the camera and losingpletely" and "enduring," he chose the option with fewer words.0

    Then Three-Five-Five led him to the key storage spot.0

    The keys that the humans had been searching for in vain were casually piled up like trash.0

    Program Team: "=="0

    There are all four types of keys here! Captain Qin''s n might actually work!0

    ...But here''s the problem: who''s going to lock Chu Tingwu up?0

    The room door can naturally be opened from the inside, but once closed, the one-time key bes invalid. However, the person inside can always open the door ande out... This is probably to prevent teammates frompletely trapping each other in the room, which would leave the victim with no role in the show.0

    But the Captain had previously discovered a hidden rule¡ªafter closing the door, using a corresponding key could lock the room for half an hour.0

    Young Master counted the keys the cat gave him and fell silent:0

    Among the various keys here, two were exclusively his, three were universal keys, and the rest only had one each.0

    This means that even if the Captain arrives, theoretically, only he can open and lock the room.0

    The audience was also shocked¡ª0

    The task of saving the world has fallen on the most insignificant waste (literally "waste") in the team, and he only has a cat as his helper.0

    [You guys are really making Golden Retriever look like the big viin...]0

    [Isn''t that the case? This is the evil viin group determined to turn everyone into dogs! But now, five unlucky souls have been captured, and the useless guy who just wants to escape the experimental building has gotten the keys to save the world¡ªeveryone, cry, it''s so touching, no matter what choice Xiao Qi makes, I support him!]0

    [Xiao Qi looks like he''s about to cry!]0

    Young Master was still hesitating when Three-Five-Five had already made the decision for him.0

    Of course, the tabby cat was just going downstairs to find Chu Tingwu, but Young Master subconsciously followed.0

    Then he witnessed a chase between a human and a cat!0

    The human had a gun, but it was useless against the cat. The cat had no weapons, but it could chase the human all over the ce.0

    Not only that, they were¡ª0

    Chu Tingwu: "Meow meow meow! Meow~"0

    Three-Five-Five: "Meow!"1

    It seemed like they were even arguing?0

    But this had nothing to do with Young Master, because he was also running. When he saw Chu Tingwuing, he instinctively ran, and then it turned into a situation where he was running in front, Chu Tingwu was chasing behind, and Three-Five-Five was chasing at the end.0

    Young Master spotted his own door (with a different frame color) in front, pulled out the key, and swiped it. As soon as the door opened, he darted in, and the next second, someone else squeezed in and closed the door from behind.0

    Young Master: "?"0

    Three-Five-Five: "..."0

    The Captain, who had finally escaped and run over, eximed: "What?!"0

    He encouraged Young Master through the ss wall with his eyes.0

    Young Master: My eyes have died.0

    Indeed, the viin was locked up.0

    But now I''m locked in the same cage with them!0

    Chu Tingwu herself was very calm. After ncing at him, she looked at the key around her neck, and then didn''t even bother to pull out her gun.0

    Young Master: "..."0

    He slowly backed away, approaching the door, but Chu Tingwu drew her gun at that moment.0

    At the Chang household watching the show¡ª0

    Chang Yixin: "He probably wanted to go out and lock the door, right?"0

    Chang Yile: "But Chu Chu thought he was going to let Three-Five-Five in."0

    Their thoughts didn''t align at all!0

    The next second, Young Master, still in shock, darted out and was about to lock the door when he saw¡ª0

    Chu Tingwu leaped up, grabbed the edge of the top vent, and silently climbed out.0

    Three-Five-Five: "Meow..."0

    Young Master & Captain: ...It seems we locked nothing.0

    -0

    This cat-and-dog battlested over four hours, and in the end, the dog team emerged victorious.0

    Of course, the four-hour battle was ultimately cut down to an hour and a half for the show, with an hour and a half of ads inserted in the middle. Because the ads were so watered down, the program seemed particrly short and concise.0

    The dog team won as a group because they ultimately did not leak the secret of the experimental building¡ª0

    Two police officers died in the building, the street punk also vanished without a trace, turned into a dog, and Young Master now wanders the building every day.0

    Only the heartless office worker managed to escape, but he has to keep the secret buried in his heart day and night.0

    Tong Bei: "Oh dear, I''m really sorry, I didn''t mean to survive. My character just has a rule that if three people die at the same time, I automatically win."0

    So me yourck of skill, okay?0

    Cheng Luwei: "..."0

    Sister Tong, since you took my head, pay the head fee.0

    Of course, in reality, four hours was enough for everyone to revive several times. And because both sides had ckers, simpletons, and unlucky wastes (literally "waste") dragging them down, the whole variety show felt very back-and-forth¡ªas long as they didn''t run into Chu Tingwu.0

    And Chu Tingwu, it seemed, wasn''t really ying seriously.0

    During the follow-up interview, she pressed a hand against the mask on her face: "Ah?"0

    "I was going easy."0

    After all, it''s a show, not really bing a "crazy experimenter." And Chu Tingwu herself actually hoped the cat team could win, so she really was ying easy¡ª0

    Every time she saw Three-Five-Five, she would run, trying to give the cat mom a fun gaming experience.0

    When she was bored, she would hang outside the building to get some fresh air, handing over her tasks to the cat team''s underlings she had developed, letting Sister Tong Bei go and mess with her original teammates.0

    After dragging the hostage to the chandelier, giving the cat team''s main force a big headache, Chu Tingwu cked off even more¡ªbecause she felt her task was overachieved and her contribution value was definitely enough, so she focused on randomly appearing to scare people.0

    When she appeared in Shen Dazui''s room... Shen Dazui: "I surrender, I surrender!"0

    Please don''t climb through the windows anymore!0

    Shen Dazui thought he was safe in the room, only considering the possibility of Tong Bei using a universal key to open the door, so he kept an eye on the door... but then, in the empty room, someone suddenly tapped his shoulder from behind: "Give me the hostage?"0

    Shen Dazui: "Ah!!!"0

    Better surrender... that vent is too high, I can''t close it!0

    Chu Tingwu: "..."0

    She spread her hands: This is what it feels like to be invincible.0

    In the end, Shen Dazui, who had surrendered voluntarily, also lost his not-so-precious life, and the game concluded with an almost total wipeout in a dark ending.0

    The program team hesitated for a moment but decided to keep this ending.0

    The variety show "No One Survives" is originally sold on the premise of "reality," although there is a script, they only roughly arrange it and pre-allocate the strengths of both sides to ensure the ending is as expected... but even so, there are often unexpected turns.0

    This time, both sides could have won, but the program team didn''t expect the dog team to win so overwhelmingly.0

    During this period, apart from Chu Tingwu, who was the highest scorer but removed, the most outstanding performances came from Tong Bei and Three-Five-Five.0

    During the game, Tong Bei actually perfected her assigned character, showing theplexity of the character. And Three-Five-Five grew stronger as the battle went on, from finding objects to finding people, and eventually seemed to understand their rules, recognizing everyone''s positions and starting to help them resist the evil dog team.0

    If it weren''t for the Golden Retriever in the dog team being too strong, the cat team might have seeded in a counter-kill.0

    The show aired early, and after it ended, it sparked discussions online¡ª0

    The focus of the discussion was: In the movie "Tiger Head," was the owner of the tabby cat, who appeared at the very end, actually a mastermind behind the scenes?0

    Seeing the topic online, Chu Tingwu: "...?0

    The owner of the tabby cat... isn''t that the role I guest-starred in?0

    In this variety show episode, although she never revealed her face (because Shen Dazui couldn''t take off her mask), her identity was almost obvious.0

    Because the program team was also very clever,beling Chu Tingwu as "Special Guest Chu Laoshi (Teacher Chu)."0

    After the show aired, most viewers knew that the main antagonist in the program was her, the core figure of the dog team, and the spokesperson for the phrase "Not all golden retrievers are angels" ... After the show boosted the film''s poprity, people discovered that the owner of Three-Five-Five in the movie was the same person in real life, so they began to project the image from the show onto the movie.0

    Fan: "Actually, this episode of ''No One Survives'' can really be seen as a fan-made sequel to the ''Tiger Head'' movie. Everyone yed their own roles¡ªthe police didn''t win in the end, but rather met their demise at the hands of the killer; the cat tried very hard, but the power of a cat was still insufficient; Young Master was naive and didn''t help at all, and his death didn''t leave any ripple; the office worker received help from the cat, but their real-life situation didn''t improve, so to survive, they ended up siding with the antagonist, and finally, guilt-ridden, they survived alone."0

    Fan: "As for this big-mouthed street punk... who is he? He''s just an extra, right? Don''t pay attention to him!"0

    Shen Dazui, the big-mouthed himself: "Hey!"0

    The fans enthusiastically assigned roles and even created a moreplete story setting¡ªthe orange cat had actually sacrificed itself, but its friend, the tortoiseshell cat, inherited its will and, to save the orange cat''srades, entered the dangerous building, though in the end, it didn''t help at all and left the building to be a stray cat leader.0

    In short, they were hurting themselves so much that tears flowed.0

    So, when it came to assigning roles to Chu Tingwu, due to her early contributions, everyone thought she was the core mastermind of the antagonist organization, but herterziness made her seem like she was trying to hide in the background... Combined with the character arrangement in the movie.0

    A fan tagged Director Mu Lou: "Director, will Chu Tingwu''s mastermind identity be revealed in the second movie!?"0

    Mu Lou: "Maybe."0

    She stayed in the hospital for two days, missing thetest buzz, and started cramming, but after watching, she had only six points to make:0

    Chu Tingwu''s faceless extra role was nowhere near being a mastermind!0

    However, if they made a second movie, they could give her an "unwitting big shot" identity... After watching the show, Mu Lou gained a lot of inspiration: a cat that is a big shot outside but a house cat at home, and a seemingly ordinary student who is actually a versatilebat genius but unaware of her talents, joining the main cast and taking on thebat role¡ªisn''t that a perfect fit?0

    She was bursting with inspiration, even though the script for the second movie hadn''t been written yet, but she had already contacted Chu Tingwu in advance to ask when she would have free time, such as during the summer vacation¡ª0

    Chu Tingwu: "Even the summer vacation of sophomore year won''t work."0

    Because she had joined thepetition ss, and the summer vacation might involve attending a summer camp.0

    When the new semester started at No. 5 Middle School, the top students in the ss were transferred to thepetition ss, which now had forty-five students, but based on the teachers'' experience, only about thirty would remain in the end.0

    Chu Tingwu had a question mark written next to her name.0

    In the end, after a series of meetings, the teachers decided to let her be free¡ª0

    Study if you want,e if you want, take the exams if you want.0

    It wasn''t because they were irresponsible, but because they realized that no one could predict this child''s future: she might choose to follow the conventional path of education, or she could join the entertainment industry and make a fortune, bing a sess in worldly terms, or she might chase after wolves, or suddenly register as a professional athlete and get into a top school through sports.0

    "After all, it''s Chu Tingwu."0

    So, let her do what she wants, and she can freely decide the life she wants.0

    And Chu Tingwu didn''t think she hated biology.0

    After the official start of the semester, although she was teased by some teachers and ssmates about the movie and show, she was still very serious about her studies, not beingte or leaving early, and not taking leave during evening self-study.0

    ... Even thepetition teacher breathed a sigh of relief.0

    Of course, leave wasn''tpletely zero, as they still had to recruit reliable new members from the freshmen for the club, transferring the review work to the junior students.0

    Tang Zhe sighed: "We''ve actually be seniors too..."0

    It felt a bit strange.0

    Although they were no longer in the same ss, everyone was still quite familiar, thanks to Chang Yile, who was in the same ss as a bridge. On the evening of the club recruitment day, the eight of them rarely stood in a row on the corridor of theprehensive building, eating ice cream bought by the person who lost the rock-paper-scissors game.0

    However, during the entire recruitment period, they didn''t find any reliable freshmen.0

    The reliable seniors of the sophomore year exim: "Why could we start a club when we were freshmen, but they can''t even patiently make a chart?"0

    Looking back now, they decided to start a club, take over the school''s natural museum, and give the small animals a stable ce to live... it had already been a full year.0

    And in this year, the animals had been adopted, the fixed live broadcast brought rtively stable ie to the natural museum, and even the official ount could take ads. However, the work was too cumbersome, and the hired employees weren''t suitable for operating the ount, so everyone was about to let go.0

    Chu Tingwu went to take a look at Blue Egg.0

    The more than one-year-old peacock was no longer the awkward creature it once was. Itnded on the bird stand in the avian pavilion, its long tail feathers trailing behind it. When it saw Chu Tingwu, it gave a soft cry¡ª0

    Egg opened its wings and flew down from the bird stand, gliding in mid-air, lightly pping its wings, and actually flew up a bit,nding on a new tform.0

    The human and the bird looked at each other through the ss, and Chu Tingwu suddenly realized: thest time she taught this little peacock to fly was more than half a year ago.0

    Compared to humans, the life of an animal is shorter and more pure.0

    Although they didn''t recruit new club members, the next day, their official ount recruited a new employee named Cheng Cai, a young person whose thoughts were very aligned with the content of the official ount.0

    Chu Tingwu: Then I should be able to focus on my studies.0

    She breathed a sigh of relief and told the system: "Reject all recent business coborations."0

    She really had a lot to do.0

    Let the system reject them all.0

    -0

    Mu Lou: "She''s probably busy?"0

    The director on the other end of the phone watched the show and was very interested in Chu Tingwu, hoping she would participate in their nned extreme sports-themed variety show, but was rejected by Chu Tingwu''s agent.0

    Mu Lou: She has an agent?0

    The other side asked for help, so she also tried to contact Chu Tingwu on their behalf, but was still politely declined.0

    ¡ªEven though the director''s name was very famous, and they invited Chu Tingwu to be a fixed guest on the show, even nning to build the show around her... this high school student didn''t want to take leave.0

    The director felt very regretful and still wanted to try again:0

    "We''ll invite many extreme athletes, and each episode will experience one extreme sport. She can be a fixed guest, and I really see potential in her athletic talent... she will definitely be remembered by the audience!"0

    Mu Lou: "I think that in a few years, she might be the guest you want to invite, not a fixed guest."0

    Director: "?"0

    Director: "But this child hasn''t had any systematic training, right? She''s only been exposed to extreme sports for a year... hey, was it also difficult to invite her for the movie? Was she rejected before? How did you seed?"0

    Mu Lou recalled.0

    Mu Lou: "Because I rented a house with mice."0

    Director: "???"0

    Don''t tell me, why are you lying?0

    Having mice can get someone toe over? Is Chu Tingwu a cat?1

 Chapter 80

    The library at the Fifth Middle School is closed every Saturday and Sunday.0

    Apart from some ssics, the library also has a lot of extracurricr books, and even web novels¡ªit¡¯s said that thetter are all donations from graduates, and the school usually turns a blind eye when students borrow such books.0n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    However, this Saturday, a library staff member opened the door and led a few students inside:0

    ¡°The warehouse is downstairs. I¡¯ll take you there¡­ By the way, Teacher Yuan didn¡¯t say there would be more than just Chu Tingwu, did he?¡±0

    An Shiyan raised her hand and showed her phone to the staff member: ¡°I¡¯m here to do video recording.¡±0

    Chang Yixin ¡°ah¡±ed and took out a notebook from her backpack: ¡°Then I¡¯m here to do text recording.¡±0

    Staff member: ¡­No, you¡¯re both just trying to skip ss, aren¡¯t you?0

    Chu Tingwu, sandwiched between the two, looked back at them with an innocent expression.0

    The staff member was speechless for a moment: ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯m not sure how many mice there are, but I saw some chewed-up books and mouse droppings. It¡¯s pretty dirty down there. Are you sure you all want to go down?¡±0

    The other two, except for Chu Tingwu, hesitated for a moment but still decided to stick together, holding hands.0

    Chu Tingwu: You really don¡¯t have to.0

    It was Saturday, but the three students from the sophomorepetition ss only had a single day off. In the afternoon, during ss, the library staff member introduced by Teacher Yuan came to ask Chu Tingwu for help, requesting her to catch some mice.0

    The time required was not fixed, so after reporting to the teacher, Chu Tingwu also brought her two friends along.0

    As they walked down the narrow stairs, An Shiyan whispered: ¡°Having a skill really means you can find work anywhere.¡±0

    Catching mice could actually be done with machines, but the school didn¡¯t want to spend money renting one¡­ and luckily, there was a student with exceptional skills who could be ¡°exploited¡± for the task.0

    Chu Tingwu whispered back: ¡°Actually, I was nning to outsource the job to One-Ear.¡±0

    Then they went to the school supermarket to buy oden.0

    But the staff member wasn¡¯t pleased, worried that the cat would damage the books.0

    Chu Tingwu: Wouldn¡¯t I also risk damaging the books?0

    Well, she probably wouldn¡¯t.0

    The basement of the school library was actually semi-submerged, with skylights on the top and windows on the side, relying on the side windows for natural light during the day.0

    Many books with a strong vintage vibe were stacked there, and Chu Tingwu quickly understood why catching the mice was so difficult¡ªthe bookshelves at the bottom, unlike the ones above, only had a palm-width gap between them to save space.0

    Chang Yixin stepped forward to take a look, carefully pulling out a book: ¡°¡®Journey to Antarctica with You¡¯¡­ This book is from thirty years ago. It seems like just an ordinary travel guide? The books stacked here are probably the ones no one wants to borrow or buy, right?¡±0

    Books that can only be sold by the pound.0

    And she got a palm full of dust.0

    Chu Tingwu held a long-handled mp, asking An Shiyan to hold the bag for her.0

    She tapped the bookshelf with the mp, walking around the basement like a casual stroll. When she came out from the other end, the mp had a strugglingrge gray mouse on it.0

    An Shiyan was startled:0

    ¡°You, you yell when you¡¯re about to drop it, and I¡¯ll tighten the bag immediately!¡±0

    Otherwise, she was afraid the mouse would escape!0

    Chang Yixin, on the other hand, took out her notebook like a pro: ¡°Wait, let me sketch the appearance of the suspect mouse and take some notes.¡±0

    An Shiyan said gloomily: ¡°You hold the bag, and I¡¯ll just take photos. Wouldn¡¯t that be faster?¡±0

    Neither of them had ever observed a liverge mouse like this before, and both felt a bit creeped out¡­ Even though Chu Tingwu probably wouldn¡¯t miss, still: ¡°What if it escapes¡­¡±0

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°I can catch it with my bare hands if it does.¡±0

    An Shiyan: ¡°Then you should wear gloves.¡±0

    Chu Tingwu: Don¡¯t sound so disgusted!0

    In factories where precision instruments are used and machines can¡¯t be employed to catch mice, someone with her skills would cost a lot of money to hire!0

    There were a total of three mice in the library. After Chu Tingwu sessfully captured them, she handed them over to the staff member.0

    ¡­Although there was still time to attend thest ss of the afternoon, of course, they weren¡¯t going to.0

    While buying oden, An Shiyan continued the previous topic:0

    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­ I really want to learn some money-making skills from you.¡±0

    She was running out of money again because of her merch purchases!0

    Actually, although the students at school knew Chu Tingwu was financially independent, they didn¡¯t have a concrete understanding of it until the principal praised Chu Tingwu during the Monday assembly a while ago. He mentioned that she had studied diligently and turned down invitations to the red carpet and variety shows for the sake of her studies, encouraging everyone to learn from this outstanding student.0

    Everyone: ¡°?¡±0

    What was there to learn? They didn¡¯t have any opportunities to walk the red carpet or appear on variety shows!0

    The red carpet event was for the movie "Tiger Head." Although Chu Tingwu was part of the behind-the-scenes staff, the film had won the Best Art Award, and Director Mu Lou said Chu Tingwu had contributed to the sess, so he enthusiastically invited her to the awards ceremony.0

    Even if she didn¡¯t go on stage, it would be nice for her toe and see the event, and they could have a meal together afterward.0

    But the system identified that the ¡°meal¡± included another director and several other people in the industry, so Chu Tingwu politely declined, citing her studies as the reason.0

    Being a contracted host and being in the entertainment industry were two different things. Director Mu Lou had kindly wanted to bring her into the circle, but after the variety show, Chu Tingwu realized she didn¡¯t like this kind of attention¡ª0

    Whether it was the movie or the variety show, she hadn¡¯t shown her face, but even so, her audience had attracted some strange people.0

    They were passionate and professional, but they also assumed that everything about Chu Tingwu¡ªfrom her privacy to her personal experiences and current situation¡ªwas something to be explored and made public. Some ¡°fans¡± even came all the way to Jin City and waited outside the Fifth Middle School.0

    ¡ªAnd the reason was ¡°love.¡±0

    The first time she encountered such fans, Chu Tingwu jumped over the wall and returned to her neighborhood. The second time, when they wanted to take a photo together, she silently climbed onto the roof of a bike shed, looking down at them from several meters high¡ª0

    Not responding, not smiling.0

    When the fans tried to take out their phones to snap a photo, Chu Tingwu¡¯s figure disappeared from their lenses.0

    After such incidents repeated a few times and nearly a month passed, the heat finally cooled down.0

    During this period, Chu Tingwu also thought about it:0

    ¡°If I have to participate in some program in the future, I hope it¡¯s a documentary.¡±0

    An Shiyan poked a crab stick in her cup: ¡°Huh? Are you nning to shoot a documentary? What kind?¡±0

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°?¡±0

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°Well¡­ I just feel that different programs attract different audiences, and those more entertainment-focused programs make the participants seem more like entertainment figures.¡±0

    This was the conclusion she reached after discussing with the system and referring to some data:0

    When she was live-streaming, the audience felt close to her, even though her live-stream content was something ordinary people couldn¡¯t achieve, there was still a sense of intimacy as fellow ordinary people.0

    But after appearing on entertainment-focused variety shows, she became moremercially measurable in others¡¯ eyes. Some professional ¡°fans¡± started treating her as a product that could be operated, attracting more fans who were consumers of such products.0

    Chu Tingwu didn¡¯t like that.0

    She wasn¡¯t averse to cameras or sharing, but she wanted to be in control.0

    Chu Tingwu thought for a moment: ¡°Shooting a documentary myself¡­ wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea.¡±0

    The quality of the videos she produced was actually not far from that of a documentary, justcking a fixed theme and a channel for distribution.0

    ¡°Oh oh!¡± An Shiyan raised her hand, ¡°Please let me appear in your life documentary, Teacher Chu!¡±0

    Chang Yixin rubbed her chin: ¡°After filming, just sell it directly to Fenghua Network, right?¡±0

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°==¡±0

    How did they just assume she was going to film one? She hadn¡¯t even decided on a theme yet.0

    It''s rare for a team to sell a documentary after it''s been filmed, as documentaries are inherently low-priced and require high production standards. Typically, contracts are signed and funds are recovered or investments secured during the pre-production phase... But Chu Tingwu has a system that makes filming costs extremely low, with the main challenge being the selection of topics.0

    The three of them walked to Tranquil Thought Lake and sat side by side on a bench.0

    An Shiyan: "The essence of a documentary is to record, right? Actually, I feel there are many worth-recording things around you... like the small zoo on our campus, the school''s cats, police cat training, and the animals you photographed at the reserve! The topics for documentaries don''t have to be grand. Food, architecture, animals, or even the history of games¡ªanything worth recording can be made into a documentary¡ª"0

    Whether such a casually filmed piece would sell, however, is another matter entirely.0

    Chu Tingwu: "I do have a topic I want to film..."0

    The trio lingered until thest ss was about to start, with only five minutes left before the bell rang. They quickly packed up their bags under the teacher''s watchful gaze and went home separately.0

    Once home, Chu Tingwu dropped her bag and immediately started looking for Sanwulu.0

    Sanwulu had been increasingly fond of wandering outsidetely.0

    Every morning, she would drop Chu Tingwu off at the ssroom punctually and then go out to meet her "little buddies" (as Chu Tingwu called them). Every noon, she would return for a meal and then escort Chu Tingwu back to school, after which she would disappear without a trace.0

    The system knew where Sanwulu was, and after showing the location to the young girl, it asked, "Is there something you need from your mom?"0

    Chu Tingwu: "Hmm..."0

    She said, "I want to make a documentary about Sanwulu."0

    She had agreed to participate in the movie because she wanted to see Sanwulu on the big screen. This goal had indeed been achieved, but Chu Tingwu felt it wasn''t enough.0

    Now she understood: Why did she want to see Sanwulu on the screen? Not just to tell others she had an amazing cat, but because it represented "continuity." Many yearster, as long as the movie remained, many people would still get to know Sanwulu through it, and those who had seen the movie would remember this cat.0

    So why not make a documentary?0

    While the cat was still out and about, the girl and the system sat together, researching information about documentaries¡ª0

    Some ssic documentaries often film for over a decade but end up with less than an hour of footage.0

    Because what they capture over those years might be the passing down and disappearance of a craft, the life of a person over a decade, or even the entire life of an animal.0

    Therefore, Chu Tingwu thought, this documentary project would begin now and only truly appear online many yearster.0

    By then... would the theme be:0

    "The Legendary Life of a Cat?"0

    A cat who adopted a human, taught her human how to hunt, appeared in a movie, participated in a variety show, learned rock climbing, attended police school as an auditor, and ran wild with her human... There would be even more extraordinary and magical days toe. This made Chu Tingwu suddenly realize:0

    Perhaps she was the "continuity" of Sanwulu.0

    When her life became legendary enough, Sanwulu would also be a legendary cat.0

    Let the filming begin.0

    -0

    When Sanwulu returned, she found her kitten unusually clingy.0

    Chu Tingwu followed her around, and the drone hovering above was also spinning wildly.0

    Sanwulu jumped onto the cab, raised a front paw, and pressed it against Chu Tingwu''s forehead:0

    "Meow?"0

    What exactly do you want? I didn''t bring any food back today, meow.0

    Chu Tingwu: "I''m not hungry =="0

    The cat mom asionally did bring back some food... and it was indeed something the human kitten could eat.0

    These foods included sealed biscuits, vacuum-packed duck feet and braised chicken legs, and sometimes people would even put the food in a bag with a little note, thanking the cat with an owner for the help she provided.0

    Chu Tingwu leaned forward and touched her forehead to Sanwulu''s.0

    Although the cat mom might not understand what a documentary is, she still told her exactly what it was.0

    This is probably the only animal actor who knows it''s about to star in a documentary.0

    Sanwulu didn''t seem to have any special reaction.0

    The next day, Chu Tingwu weed Man Xing and Lian Tong into her home.0

    Man Xing visited more frequently than Lian Tong, as she was Chu Tingwu''s personal assistant, but it was the first time the two hade together.0

    Lian Tong came to report on work¡ª0

    Unlike Man Xing, he had been on Chu Tingwu''s side from the beginning. This time, he took over the dronepany and did a great job.0

    The system''s financial support was more than sufficient, and there were also overseas distribution channels. Lian Tong handled the most tedious tasks, constantly following up with factories and partners, running around, and now thepany was finally up and running.0

    While Lian Tong was reporting, Man Xing sat beside him, smiling, but feeling a bit uneasy in her heart:0

    Strictly speaking, the boss actually had three groups of people working for her.0

    You Zhenzhen was her friend before she became an employee. The 365 Cat Census Company had rooted itself in Fallen Phoenix City, but it was very stable, cooperating with the government while expanding the influence of the APP and taking on more work, mainly focusing on building a good reputation.0

    Lian Tong not only managed the dronepany but seemed to have also taken on other projects in the past, suddenly appearing by the boss''s side. But his advantage was also that he had no familial ties to the boss, appearing to serve her wholeheartedly, and his capabilities were strong; Man Xing felt she was not his equal.0

    During the time she had been working for the boss, she quietly did her job and thought about her strengths and weaknesses.0

    Man Xing did a good job, and the boss had noints, but she was sent by the boss''s mother and could return to the mainpany at any time, so perhaps the boss wouldn''t assign her very important tasks?0

    Chu Tingwu mentioned her n to film a documentary to Lian Tong.0

    Although she nned for the documentary not to bepleted immediately, she could certainly start with a practice piece.0

    Because of the previous coboration with the "No One Survives" show, Lian Tong now had many film and television industry connections. Chu Tingwu wanted to consult him about which tform the documentary should be released on.0

    Lian Tong: "What''s the theme of the documentary?"0

    Chu Tingwu: "I haven''t decided yet."0

    Lian Tong: "¡­Then, what kind of performance do you hope it will have?"0

    Chu Tingwu: "Making money isn''t important, since the cost isn''t high¡ªwe''ll use our fourth generation drone for filming, which has a lower altitude limit but better rity and durability¡ªand I want to see how it performs and get more feedback from the audience, so it would be better to release it on a more prominent tform?"0

    tforms with fast-paced content like short videos, or those focused on games and dance shows, also have documentaries, but one can imagine the kind of reviews those documentaries would get and how many people would actually watch them to the end.0

    Lian Tong said he would go back and screen some tforms, prepare to contact them, and of course, hoped that Chu Tingwu could decide on the video''s theme soon.0

    ¡ªIn his opinion, the young boss might just want to have some fun, like other rich kids who spend money on making movies or even acting in them.0

    The young boss''s hobby was even quite modest; she didn''t invest in melodramatic films but wanted to make documentaries instead, which seemed much safer.0

    Of course, Lian Tong selectively ignored the fact that the boss herself had been in movies and variety shows before, though she hadn''t shown her face, so he pretended not to know.0

    After Lian Tong left, Man Xing also helped Chu Tingwu tidy up the room and then brought up whether she should join the boss''s dronepany¡ª0

    Her current social security was still being paid by her originalpany, as she had only just arrived when Chu Tingwu was fifteen.0

    Chu Tingwu stared at her for a while.0

    Man Xing: "¡­"0

    Man Xing felt a bit nervous¡­ she suspected her hint had been seen through¡ª0

    She was essentially asking Chu Tingwu if she would be willing to ept her if shepletely left Lu Cenyin''spany.0

    Although they were mother and daughter, even between close family members, it was important to draw a clear line.0

    Although Lu Cenyin had given Man Xing the choice back then, Man Xing had still made her decision in advance: she believed that the young boss was a person with ns and reliability, and since she had been away from her originalpany for too long, it would be difficult for her to return to a core position. Instead, it was better to stay with the young boss, where there was still potential for promotion.0

    Chu Tingwu: "If that''s the case..."0

    She said: "I think I know what documentary to make."0

    Man Xing: "?"0

    Chu Tingwu: "Forget the dronepany, are you interested in taking over a charitable foundation?"0

    Man Xing: "Which one...?"0

    Chu Tingwu spread her hands: "It hasn''t been established yet, but if you''re interested, we can start building it from scratch."0

    Man Xing: "?!"0

    For the sake of making a documentary, you''re deciding to directly create a charitable organization to be the subject of the documentary?!0

    -0

    Actually, Chu Tingwu had been thinking about the "charitable foundation" for some time.0

    Many wealthy individuals establish foundations, partly to legally reduce taxes and partly because charity is actually a business. Done well, it doesn''t earn much less than other businesses and can also gain a lot of intangible capital.0

    But Chu Tingwu had thought of this on her birthday.0

    On her birthday, the system paid for the sterilization of all the city''s cats, which was essentially "doing charity."0

    But even after her birthday, there were still people bringing cats over. They were the ones who had heard the newster or had previously lived in the countryside¡ªeven with hired hands catching and sterilizing cats, it wasn''t fast enough to cover the entire city.0

    In theter stages, some cats that weren''t even from Jin City were brought over, and the system didn''t ept reimbursement for these cases.0

    Because the system knew that once this kind of indiscriminate charity behavior was allowed, even worse situations that wouldn''t make the young ones happy would ur.0

    But after that day, Chu Tingwu started to learn about animal charities.0

    In fact, there are many animal-rted charitable organizations: from Tea Cat to Little Sun Hospital, they can all be considered charitable organizations, as they have put in far more effort than they have received in return while helping cats.0

    But they are not mature charitable organizations.0

    The first issue is funding¡ª0

    Little Sun Hospital initially invested the hospital''s extra profits into the costs of rescue, andter operated on the ie from videos andmercial advertisements.0

    Tea Cat, on the other hand, relies purely on advertising, games, and various derivative content, with more abundant but unstable funds.0

    And Chu Tingwu learned from the system that what''s more important for a charitable organization is sustainability and stability.0

    If something happened to Director Yang''s family and she couldn''t continue to allocate profits to cat rescue and adoption, that would be normal, as she was entirely relying on her noble morals to keep the "Little Sun Animal Hospital" ount producing continuously.0

    If there were internal conflicts within the Tea Cat team and they fell apart, the ount would simrly be unable to continue.0

    When charitable behavior is sustained by the morals of the leader, it is unfair to both the leader and those being helped.0

    "So, I want to create a charitable organization whose main task is to support and assist other charitable organizations?" Chu Tingwu tried to exin her purpose to Man Xing, "Because there are already enough charitable organizations in the world, but there aren''t enough charitable organizations that help other charitable organizations. I think they are all great people and great organizations, so I hope they can go a little further."0

    And Man Xing is a meticulous and reliable person who hasn''t made any mistakes in half a year, organizing all of Chu Tingwu''s connections clearly... The leader of this organization doesn''t need strong work capabilities, as the funding issue will be handled by the system. What''s needed is responsibility, meticulousness, and goodmunication and organizational skills.0

    Man Xing: "Will this conversation we''re having now be in the documentary?"0

    Chu Tingwu looked up, and the drone moved a bit closer.0

    Man Xing smiled: "I should have worn full makeup today."0

    This was an ordinary afternoon, and an organization without a name was about to be born over the table. Man Xing shouldn''t have been nervous¡ªafter all, nothing had started yet, and no one knew what the future of this organization would be!0

    But when she realized that all of this might be recorded and broadcast in a few years or even soon, she inexplicably felt an invisible responsibility on her shoulders.0

    Perhaps this is the meaning of recording? Recording can make ordinary days meaningful.0

    Sanwuwu jumped onto the table, blocking the space between the two, and the camera shot overhead, recording both of them and the cat. Chu Tingwu raised her hand and introduced to Man Xing:0

    "I haven''t told you yet, but this is my partner. You can call it ''System.''"0

    The system, of course, would also be a part of the recording, even though it had no shape and wouldn''t appear as a "real person."0

    System: "..."0

    System: "!"0

    Man Xing nodded, and then she saw another drone rise beside the flying sphere, aiming at the two of them, the cat, and the flying camera above.0

    Man Xing: "?"0

    Chu Tingwu was silent for a moment: "Well... the system wants us to film that scene again."0

    Since it was being introduced, it naturally had to appear in the shot!0

    She raised her hand.0

    Man Xing sat back in her seat:0

    So, the first step of all documentaries... starts with everyone posing together =

 Chapter 81

    Chu Tingwu raised her hand: "The documentaries I''ve watched are all rted to animals."

    And they were all shown to her by the system, used as teaching materials.

    Man Xing''s viewing habits were a bit more varied, but clearly, both of them only had experience in watching, not in filming themselves.

    Chu Tingwu: "Let''s just try it out first."

    They opened a documentary about entrepreneurship and, after a brief understanding, discovered that many of the early contents were actually reshot during post-production, or reced with some stream-of-consciousness shots¡ª

    Who would record their struggles at the beginning of their career when there was no sign of sess yet?

    It is usually the sessful ones who get documented, as sess transforms their previous failures into embellishments on the path to sess.

    Man Xing said goodbye to Chu Tingwu, who then made a yman but I''m the boss" remark: "You can take the drone home and film some mirror shots on your own."

    Man Xing: "¡­Alright."

    Man Xing left with a drone in her arms.

    As she sat in the car, she was still a bit dazed, subconsciously turning her head to look at the drone''s packaging box.

    When she returned to her rental apartment, she took the drone out again.

    Drones, due to their many restrictions, are notmonly used for everyday filming¡ªthere are height limits, areas with high human traffic also restrict flying, some locations require prior application, and there are time limits on flight duration¡­ Holding the spherical drone, Man Xing suddenly thought:

    "Thepany''s new drone model has solved the problem of unsafe low-altitude flying and has a more powerful battery life. If we can further reduce the cost, could wepete in the camera market?"

    The stability during flight is definitely lower than that of ground-based cameras, but Man Xing found that the effect already surpassed handheld cameras, and the image precision was also high enough.

    She had a feeling that thepany could make a big profit from drones, and in a few years, the boss would naturally be a "sessful person" in the worldly sense.

    ¡­And then make a documentary about her own experiences?

    Man Xing: "¡­"

    Something felt off. Was the order reversed? It felt like sess was being pursued just to make a documentary.

    -

    When Chu Tingwu saw Man Xing the next day, she noticed that her assistant had a pair of not-so-obvious dark circles under her eyes.

    Man Xing had spent the entire night drafting the framework for a charity foundation and presented it to Chu Tingwu for confirmation.

    ording to Chu Tingwu''s n, the charity mission of their foundation would be to help other organizations improve their structure and achieve financial bnce, guiding them toward a healthy trajectory, simr to a form of implicit "investment."

    Perhaps to make it easier for Chu Tingwu to understand, Man Xing had included an example of a "small charity organization" in her PowerPoint presentation.

    Man Xing: "This was previously Youyou Kindergarten in the southern district of Jin City. Later, the kindergarten closed down, but the building remained. The principal and their family continued to live there, and then they started taking in stray animals."

    In fact, the first thing left at the kindergarten gate was a baby.

    It was likely left by someone nearby, knowing that this family was kind-hearted. However, the principal called the police, found the baby''s family, and sent the child to be raised by an uncle''s family.

    After that, a half-dead puppy was left at the kindergarten gate.

    This time, the police found nearby middle school students and could only give them a warning.

    From the moment they took in that dog, the number of animals the kindergarten found increased¡­ puppies, kittens, and even monkeys. Twenty years quickly passed, and the initial animals had all passed away, while the principal and his wife had grown old and frail, but the total number of animals continued to increase.

    Now, Youyou Kindergarten has over fifty animals, mostly abandoned pets, cared for by the principal and his wife, along with their two children. However, most of the time, only the principal and his wife were there, as their children had married and moved out, not wanting their parents to continue caring for the animals.

    This small kindergarten¡­ or rather, small animal sanctuary, had actually made the local news in Jin City¡ª

    The principal''s children had sought help through the news, hoping to find other "charity organizations" to take over the animals so they could take care of their parents.

    But on one hand, other organizations didn''t have the capacity, and on the other hand, the principal and his wife were unwilling.

    At this point, they hadn''t realized that they themselves were a "charity organization," but they had onlypleted the first step, which was to perform charitable actions.

    Man Xing tapped the screen: "Performing charitable actions is a very simple thing, just needing to extend a hand. Those who can keep reaching out deserve respect¡­ But a mature charity system not only needs to give outwardly but also requires a healthy cash flow and the ability to continue operating even after the main figures are gone."

    On one hand, the couple was entirely relying on their retirement pensions and their children''s support to care for the animals, and on the other hand, if the principal and his wife passed away, their children would definitely not take over the animal sanctuary: the most likely scenario would be to sell the kindergarten''snd, send the animals to other ces if possible, and euthanize those they couldn''t.

    The charity foundation that Chu Tingwu decided to establish was dedicated to helping these people with thetter two aspects.

    After listening to Man Xing''s exnation, she silently raised her hands to p.

    Man Xing: "¡­Boss, you haven''t named our organization yet."

    And right now, there are no recruits, and our own institution doesn''t have a mature system, let alone the ability to help others.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    Naming is hard.

    Chu Tingwu: "What about Starcloud?"

    Starcloud Charity Foundation. Those immature small organizations are like small stars on the ground, emitting weak light on their own, but the foundation will help them gather together to form a dazzling star cloud¡­ Of course, the above flowery meaning was something Chu Tingwu thought of only after naming it.

    She just thought that since Man Xing was in charge, she took a character from her name.

    She exined this to the camera, had the system record it, and thought it could be included in the documentaryter¡ª

    Man Xing: I''m still right here!

    Starcloud Charity Foundation¡­ Although it started from scratch, it indeed began.

    Just like other small charity organizations that started from zero, as long as they begin, infinite possibilities arise.

    -

    That being said, after leaving, Man Xing sat in the car with the drone in her arms for a long time.

    "I don''t have experience in this area¡­"

    She felt a heavy sense of responsibility.

    While collecting information, she had naturally watched the interviews with the principal and his family. These could be turned into video clips and text descriptions in the PowerPoint¡­ but in reality, they were living, breathing people.

    Whether as a small employee or an assistant, she could always do her job well and maintain a stable mindset¡ªbecause she didn''t believe her work would change anything. She was just providing services to the boss, being a small cog in thepany. If she didn''t do well here, she could always improve herself and find another job.

    But managing a charity foundation was different.

    Every decision she made could affect others. For her, it might be just a few days'' sry, but for the people the organization helped, it could be enough to sustain their small charity for a week.

    Apletely different sense of responsibility weighed on her heart.

    She paused, then turned on the drone''s recording mode and spoke these thoughts into the camera:

    "I may not know if I can do it perfectly¡­ but I will do my best."

    System: "¡­"

    "If she''s just worried about ounting or finances, there won''t be any problems as long as I''m here," the system told Chu Tingwu, sharing the footage it had captured. "Everything hasn''t even started yet, so why does she feel such a heavy sense of responsibility?"

    Chu Tingwu replied, "Because she''s starting to see."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "We actually have many donation channels avable, and some kind-hearted people choose to donate directly through software to various organizations¡ª"

    In reality, they often don''t know exactly where their money goes, whether it will be textbooks or breakfast for a child in a remote mountain area. Some people might check the specifics of the organization''s work to get an idea of how the funds are used.

    But personally getting involved in running a charity organization is apletely different experience. It''s foreseeable that Man Xing will encounter more and more people and see the "end point" of where the money flows.

    Donating to a sick and pitiful person is a different feeling from seeing them lying in a hospital bed, barely breathing.

    Chu Tingwu will also start to "see," but the pressure she feels will certainly not be as heavy as Man Xing''s. This is equivalent to shifting the burden onto the other person and standing behind the camera.

    Seeing that the system still didn''t understand, she exined, "Suppose I disappeared and you couldn''t find me, but you thought that donating to a homeless shelter might give me a chance to have a full meal... would you donate?"

    The system responded, "I would definitely always be by your side!"

    Chu Tingwu insisted, "Just imagine it!"

    The system: "T-T"

    The next day, Man Xing noticed that her coborator, the "system," had inexplicably be more urgent in its actions.

    The Starcloud Charity Foundation did notck initial funding and was established rtively smoothly. Man Xing hired a professional manager and then began recruiting staff. She herself was responsible for overseeing the overall operations.

    Charity is charity, but a foundation is a business¡ªthe simplest way is to invest the foundation''s funds in stocks to earn dividends, use the dividends for charitable activities, and maintain the foundation''s operations.

    The manager she hired was mainly responsible for theter stages of maintaining operations, busy with recruitment.

    Investment was handled by the system, while Man Xing''s tasks were twofold: setting up an auditing department to determine which charitable institutions they would help, promoting the foundation to attract more small charities to approach them, and constantly discovering institutions in need of assistance, such as that small zoo.

    The other task was to seek more investments.

    It was also because work became more hectic that Man Xing realized she could no longer continue as her boss''s assistant.

    And her boss didn''t hire another personal assistant, as she didn''t seem to need one.

    The boss simply pulled a professional driver from the dronepany to drive for her.

    Man Xing: "..."

    There was a feeling that if it weren''t for this charity organization, as soon as the boss turned 18 and could drive herself, she would bepletely out of a job.

    So Man Xing worked even harder.

    During the establishment phase, the "system" helped the boss integrate three of her organizations, obtained tax breaks through the charity application, and promoted the foundation through an app. They also gathered a group of people from the dronepany''s partners, seemingly preparing to attract a second wave of funding.

    Sometimes when Man Xing chatted with the system, she couldn''t help but feel¡ª

    The system asked, "Will that self-service cat-feeding organization feed stray cats that look a bit... human?"

    Man Xing: What kind of cat looks human?

    That''s called a homeless person!

    Yes, it often asked some strange questions.

    The drone orb always followed her around, and Man Xing gradually got used to ignoring it.

    The boss''s "friends" from the entertainment industry also found out about her charity organization (though she hadn''t actively promoted it) and came forward to offer investments or donations.

    Man Xing had a dinner appointment in the evening but spent the afternoon at a bustling street food stall, chatting and eating with the director and his family.

    The foundation decided to start in Jin City and Fallen Phoenix City, focusing on these two points and gradually expanding outward. Initially, they would be stationed in Shannan Province, helping various institutions within the province¡ª

    The director''s son was a bit skeptical: "You promised to provide a channel for recruiting volunteers, help my parents register as a formal charity, and even buy insurance for both the animals and people... so what''s in it for you?"

    Even though his parents had been doing good deeds all their lives, people don''t believe that good things will just fall into theirps.

    The main issues for the director''s kindergarten were manpower, funding, and abandonment.

    Man Xing came with another manager, bringing along the n they had prepared¡ª

    For manpower, the main issue was theck of a systematic way to recruit volunteers. However, the Starcloud Charity Foundation could serve as a tform to help provide channels and rationalize recruitment.

    For funding, as long as the couple signed the agreement, Man Xing could allocate a fixed sum from the foundation''s funds ording to the contract. This funding was simr to "stock ownership," with the annual allocation being the dividend earned, which would be used mainly for volunteerpensation, feeding costs, and insurance fees, as well as paying forwyers'' contract fees.

    The abandonment issue was written into the contract: On one hand, it dealt with the abandonment of animals, as new abandoned animals were often brought to the zoo by others. The director and his wife had installed cameras, but the cameras were deliberately destroyed, and they never caught the culprits, so they stopped installing them.

    The Starcloud Foundation would fund the reinstation of cameras and catch the previous vandals, turning them over to the police.

    In fact, by the time they met, those individuals were already in the police station.

    The director''s daughter: "You''re really fast."

    She was starting to believe in the foundation... and she wondered how they had caught the culprits when they hadn''t been able to find them even after asking around. Did they have a "heavenly eye"?

    Man Xing said, "On the other hand, there''s your abandonment issue."

    The children exchanged nces, and the director and his wife were momentarily stunned but didn''t say anything.

    Man Xing continued, "We''ll help find suitable adoption agencies and gradually adopt out the animals. The process won''t be too fast, and it''s likely that not all animals can be adopted. So we''ll also take action to ensure that the animals helped by the Starcloud Foundation can enjoy theirter years."

    "Enjoying theirter years" naturally meant that after the director and his wife passed away, the charity organization would not disappear. The foundation would send someone to take over and relocate the animals to other ces for care.

    This was a huge relief for the director''s children.

    After discussing everything clearly, they decided to hire awyer to sign a formal contract.

    ¡ªThe Shangjingw firm that had long coborated with Chu Tingwu opened a branch in Jin City, with its office directly below the floor where the Starcloud Charity Foundation rented space.

    However, before signing the contract, the director''s children consulted anotherwyer to review the contract. It wasn''t until seven in the evening that the contract was finally signed.

    Man Xing left, and the director''s family also headed out.

    The director''s daughter stood downstairs, looking up and couldn''t help but sigh:

    "Dad, Mom, I really feel a weight lifted off my shoulders now."

    A heavy stone had been moved away.

    Her parents were already old, and she herself was about to be a grandmother. What would she and her brother do with the animals if their parents passed away?

    Throwing them away would be painful, but keeping them was impossible to manage.

    The director''s daughter had never considered this "charity," only thinking that her parents were overly kind. It was only today, after being educated by Man Xing and others, that she realized this was actually a form of charity... and that their small charity group had been helped by arger organization.

    She was a bit happy, her emotionsplex, and looking at her somewhat uneasy parents and exchanging nces with her brother, she whispered, "Tonight, let''s take the kids and have dinner at home, shall we?"

    ¡°Home¡± refers to Youyou Kindergarten.

    After thest big argument, their parents have beening over for brief visits, and they haven''t returned for quite some time.

    -

    After finishing her work, Man Xing changed her outfit and prepared to head to the evening banquet.

    Although she didn''t need to dress too formally, she couldn''t just show up in her sportswear.

    However, she didn''t notice that while she was eating at a street food stall, someone in a car by the roadside had been watching them for a long time¡ª

    Lu Cenyin and Assistant Shi were stuck at a red light, and when Assistant Shi turned his head, he recognized Man Xing after a moment of scrutiny.

    Assistant Shi: ¡°Man Xing¡­¡±

    Lu Cenyin: ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Man Xing was assigned by Lu Cenyin as the personal assistant to her younger daughter, Chu Tingwu. Therefore, not only did she need to take care of Chu Tingwu''s daily life, but she was also responsible formunicating with Chu Tingwu''s teachers and others.

    Previously, this part of the work was handled by Assistant Shi, who had Teacher Yuan''s phone number saved on his phone.

    After Man Xing took over, she not only knew Chu Tingwu''s exam results but also her vacation schedules and work content¡­ But not long after Chu Tingwu''s birthday, Man Xing submitted a report to Lu Cenyin, roughly stating:

    ¡°Although I was assigned by you to assist the young boss, now she is my actual boss. Therefore, I will no longer report her daily life in detail. Please rest assured, the boss may be young, but she is mature and steady in her actions. If there is a major issue that requires your intervention to resolve, I will definitely contact you.¡±

    Lu Cenyin: ¡°?¡±

    Assistant Shi, who also caught a glimpse of the report, couldn''t help but inwardlyin: Man Xing, do you still remember who''s paying your sry?!

    However, Lu Cenyin didn''t get angry. She simply showed the report to her eldest son, Lu Tinn, and used it as a reminder: ¡°Look at this. If you could be as capable as Tingwu and directly take over my people, would I need to worry about your entrepreneurial ventures?¡±

    Lu Tinn: ¡°==¡±

    He had previously been passionate about starting an indie game studio with his college friends¡ªalthough indie games weren''t profitable, confident young people always believed they might be the exception. As it turned out, they weren''t. When the studio was on the verge of copse, Lu Tinn could easily extricate himself, but his family was well-off, and his ssmates might not be so fortunate.

    So, he eventually humbled himself and sought help from his mother.

    Seeing that he had softened, his mother sent someone to help clean up the mess, buying out their game rights and, somehow, managing to raise enough funds to cover the studio members'' severance pay.

    Lu Tinn then followed his mother home, tidied up, and was about to start getting involved in thepany''s business.

    Of course¡­ Lu Cenyin actually hoped he would go back to school for another degree. This eldest son of hers wasn''t very decisive, and his entrepreneurial experience hadn''t made him any smarter; he still carried a bit of the naivety of someone fresh out of school. But since the timing was right, she decided to let him get his feet wet first.

    Lu Tinn was also in the car, as they had a gathering tonight.

    When Assistant Shi pointed out Man Xing''s location, he was momentarily puzzled:

    What had his sister been up totely?

    Chu Tingwu''s daily life always seemed very rich... and he often saw her in various ces, from official news broadcasts to viral videos on foreign tforms, to the birthday big screen blessings and local Jin City newspapers.

    After signing with a live-streaming tform, her live-streaming schedule had also be more stable. Lu Tinn asionally tuned in to watch¡ª

    Sometimes Chu Tingwu would be hanging dangerously on a climbing wall, reciting words while chatting with the audience; other times, she would just be shopping, feeding cats, arguing with cats, or doing parkour, skateboarding, cooking, or even live-streaming her homework.

    Lu Tinn would watch for a while, quietly throw in some live-streaming gifts, and then leave.

    He always felt that Chu Tingwu recognized his ount, as she sometimes thanked the gifts. For other people''s IDs, she would read them out, but when she saw his ount, she would only say a simple ¡°Thank you.¡±

    But no matter when, every time Lu Tinn saw Chu Tingwu on camera, he felt the scene was full of vitality:

    She must have made a lot of friends, as so many people had sent her birthday wishes. She must be living a free and easy life, sessful in both her studies and career¡­ Even if the scenes on camera were just ordinary daily routines, those routines seemed to shine with a special light.

    Lu Tinn couldn''t do that.

    Why was Man Xing here¡­ But since Man Xing was Chu Tingwu''s assistant, it seemed normal for her to be wherever Chu Tingwu was.

    When they arrived at the reserved restaurant and encountered Man Xing, who had changed into a different outfit, Lu Tinn didn''t find anything unusual.

    Man Xing was in the middle of a conversation, only half-turning to show half of her face, unaware of her former boss and her son approaching from behind.

    She was a bit warm, so she had taken off her coat and draped it over her arm. It was already autumn, so she was wearing a high-necked sweater. She stood very straight, and when speaking to the person in front of her, her eyes sparkled with a bright smile¡ªnot because of who she was talking to, but because she was full of confidence in the business she was discussing.

    Lu Tinn could tell.

    He heard her say: ¡°The boss founded¡­ the Starcloud Charity Foundation¡­ Yes, I believe¡­¡±

    She loved her current job.

    Lu Tinn followed his mother into the private room, but as the door opened, he couldn''t help but nce back.

    The door closed.

    -

    Man Xing returned happily.

    Of course, there were many aspects of her work that bothered her, and not everyone she encountered was good. Dealing with small charity organizations often brought her frustration¡­ But whenever she saw Chu Tingwu, her mood would calm down.

    Although her boss was still in high school, Man Xing somehow felt that with her boss and the system around, any problem could be solved.

    And when she was really tired, she would go to her boss''s house to "cuddle with cats."

    Of course, it wasn''t Three-Five-Five¡­ Three-Five-Five wasn''t willing, so most of the time, they would bribe Cao Meng with snacks, who would then bring over Meiqiu.

    Man Xing held a ck, barking "cat ball" and, after reporting her work to Chu Tingwu, said: ¡°Shannan Province has been very supportive, but next we might need to participate in some official events. Chu Chu, do you need to take leave from school?¡±

    Events like official meetings, ribbon-cutting ceremonies, and project visits would require someone to represent them.

    Although her boss was still a minor, Man Xing had an inexplicable sense of pride, wanting to show off her boss:

    As she spoke, she even lifted the Meiqiu in her arms.

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°?¡±

    Something felt off.

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°I''ve already participated, so I can''t participate again.¡±

    Man Xing: ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Chu Tingwu had indeed participated¡ª

    Her documentary filming ns were known to her friends, and yesterday, the Jin City police suddenly extended an invitation:

    They invited her to film a documentary about police cats and expressed interest in discussing cooperation rted to drones.

    Man Xing: "Well¡­ luckily I''m not your personal assistant anymore."

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°?¡±

    Man Xing: As her boss always found alternative paths to sess, it was a bit embarrassing for her as a personal assistant not to know the channels her boss used.

    System: ¡°==¡±

    System: ¡°=v=¡±

    System: "Little one, it turns out I''m actually your personal assistant!"

    Chu Tingwu: You''ve always been.

    System: ¡°Well¡­ then, Three-Five-Five could also be the driver. Cat moms can carry their kittens¡­ it''s just that you''ve grown too big for her to carry.¡±

    But that must be Three-Five-Five''s fault for being too small.

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°¡­¡± She couldn''t carry me even when I was small!

    The driver had only been hired recently, and now there was already internalpetition in the office. That was a bit too early!

 Chapter 82

    <h1>Chapter 82</h1>

    When Chu Tingwu arrived at Jin City Police Station, she first greeted Officer Zhou¡ªhe was her neighbor from the building next door, and they had met a few times before. As expected, he was waiting outside to escort her in.

    She was already quite familiar with Jin City Police Station¡ª

    The person being led in by another officer: "It''s okay, I know where the detention room is. We''re old acquaintances,ing back here is likeing home."

    His tone was bold, and with a lift of his hands, the handcuffs on his wrists glinted in the light.

    Chu Tingwu: Alright, maybe she wasn''t *that* familiar.

    She quietly followed Officer Zhou into the conference room, met a circle of people, and after listening for a while, she finally understood why she had been invited.

    The promotional video from theirst "thief-catching" coboration was still providing steady and continuous poprity, bing a small inte meme, with even some imitation videos popping up.

    ¡­Although that was from the New Year.

    But the ripple effects of the promotional campaign were still there, and the higher-ups had seen the results, sparking interest in coborating with Chu Tingwu again.

    Then, Lian Tong must have researched the boss''s social circle and pitched the drone promotional campaign to the police.

    "We''ve been considering filming a documentary about police dogs¡­" After all, Jin City is the location of the Shannan Province Police Dog Training Base. In fact, the videos produced by the police dog base should also be considered for promotional purposes, but they''re different from a fully themed documentary.

    Therefore, this time the government hoped to use new drones to shoot a "more authentic" and "higher quality" police dog documentary.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "If it''s just about filming the training of police dogs, then the police dog base would be enough, but we also want to film the police dogs at work¡ªfacing criminals, it''s impossible to bring a high-definition camera, so we''ve concluded that drones are a good option."

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­Should I contact the person in charge of the dronepany?"

    It didn''t seem like she had much to do?

    The spokesperson coughed: "Well, Miss Chu, regarding the machine adjustment and selection, we think it''s better to discuss it with yourpany, and we''ve also invited a suitable documentary director¡­ And besides the police dogs, there are also police cats. We''ve temporarily decided to shoot them separately, notbined, but then, the funding is a bit tight¡­"

    With their stronger sense of smell, police cats are more adept at search and rescue and drug interdiction missions.

    The police cats at Jin City Police Station had already started working¡ªtwo cats, Chu Tingwu knew them, Siamese Buna and Tabby Gousheng, the two adult cats that had graduated from the base. Youyou had even been ssmates with them for a while.

    The documentary director invited by the government was a seasoned veteran, and police dog documentaries were a ssic topic, hard to go wrong¡­ But the funding was limited. If they didn''tbine the cat and dog themes, there wouldn''t be enough money to shoot the cats.

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­Should I invest a bit?"

    Officer Zhou: "Cough, cough, cough."

    Officer Zhou leaned over and whispered: "Well, do you have any interest in being the cinematographer?"

    Chu Tingwu: Was this career leap a bit too big?

    ¡ªShe had only recently decided to shoot documentaries, and hadn''t even achieved anything yet!

    However, Chu Tingwu quickly realized¡­ What they were really aiming for wasn''t her "cinematography skills (did she even have those?)" but the system!

    The system came with a post-production studio, though it had only ever filmed Chu Tingwu, and all the videos were live streams, but the ount''s entire video history was its resume. However, directly inviting the system¡­ the price would be too high, requiring a budget for a blockbuster-level special effects film.

    But inviting Chu Tingwu was different¡ª

    By giving her the title of director, she could bring an entire top-tier, free studio.

    Since the goal was the system, Chu Tingwu asked the system for its decision.

    System: "ept!"

    System: "Is there a badge?"

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    The system disyed Chu Tingwu''s video ount on the panel, where in the certification section, besides being a signed UP master (content creator), there was also a "Police Assistant" certification, and even a badge and certificate had been issued¡ªso, for helping to film the documentary, how about getting a "Best Kitty" title or something simr? Something that could be certified on the website and be visible to all fans.

    Chu Tingwu: "What does being a director have to do with the Best Kitty¡­"

    And she wasn''t really a director, at most just the cinematographer¡­ But Chu Tingwu was actually quite interested, as it would give her a chance to exchange ideas with another seasoned documentary director and learn by observing.

    She tried to convince the system that this was unreasonable, but the system said why not try it?

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    She still brought it up.

    The Jin City police¡­ actually agreed!

    Police: "Is it for ''Youyou''?"

    Youyou wasn''t an unknown cat, at least quite famous in Jin City, considered half a city cat. Jin City was so big, yet Chu Tingwu had managed to take Youyou to most of the ces during her spare time and holidays, and even when she wasn''t in Jin City, Youyou was an outgoing cat who roamed around.

    She had left a good impression at the police dog and cat training base, expanded her poprity through movies and variety shows, and had a high citizen poprity (as opposed to national poprity), so the police "worked on it" for a while¡ª

    First, they awarded Youyou an "Acts of Bravery" that wasn''t published in newspapers but only online.

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­?"

    This "Acts of Bravery" was based on a true story. A tourist had fallen into the water at a Jin City scenic spot, and the location was quite secluded, with no one passing by, only a few cats kept at the site.

    Youyou happened to be there, so she¡­ didn''t jump in, but she found a nearby traffic police officer, called them over, and they fished the unlucky tourist out of the water.

    With this "Acts of Bravery," the police contacted Fenghua Network, trying to help Chu Tingwu apply for the "Best Kitty" certification.

    After all, Chu Tingwu''s ID included both a person and a cat, so certifying the cat wasn''t strange, right?

    ¡­It shouldn''t be for the person, right?

    Since it was the second time, the Fenghua Network staff was quite calm:

    The "Best Kitty" certification was too broad, and it wouldn''t be fair to other UPs¡­ er, other cats in the pet area. Maybe a more specific certification tag would be better?

    The news hadn''t even reached them, but the system already knew.

    System: "How about ''The Best Little Cat''?"

    Chu Tingwu: What''s the difference from before, just changed the description!

    However, once was enough¡­ She still ryed it unchanged to the Jin City police.

    To Chu Tingwu''s surprise¡ªthis time, the certification actually went through!

    She only found out muchter that Fenghua Network had a meeting to discuss, and they thought "Best Kitty" was too official and formal, but "The Best Little Cat" was more colloquial and not as strict, so they could approve it directly.

    The only problem was that Youyou was already an adult cat, and "little cat" didn''t quite fit?

    ¡­It really shouldn''t be for the person, right?

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    -

    The "advance payment" for the tag tussle took a week, just in time for the documentary director and his team to arrive. Chu Tingwu quietly took a leave during her Saturday tutoring session.

    When her absence was noticed in the ssroom, the teacher sighed, unsurprised.

    But when Chu Tingwu didn''t show up on Monday, the teacher: "?"

    The biology teacher in the office asked: "Did Chu Tingwu go back to acting again?"

    The homeroom teacher didn''t even look up: "Seems like she''s directing, the principal approved the leave."

    Biology teacher: "¡­"

    Your career leap is quite something.

    The police hadn''t actually intended for Chu Tingwu to take leave for filming¡­ After all, their real intention wasn''t the director herself, but the director''s team.

    However, once Chu Tingwu presented her attendance records and exam results, the police took a more lenient approach.

    Chu Tingwu first met with another director.

    Director He, a man from the system, was old enough to be Chu Tingwu''s grandfather. His catchphrases were "It''s fine," "Sure," and "I think it''s great," making him the quintessential elderly gentleman who could grab a water bottle and watch others y chess by the roadside.

    However, instead of wearing a tank top and slippers, he preferred sportswear.

    When he learned that Chu Tingwu wanted to learn from him, he first asked her, "Have you seen any documentaries?"

    Chu Tingwu listed a series of titles, and Director He''s brow remained furrowed. Finally, when she mentioned *Animals and Us in the City*, his expression changed.

    This was the first project the system had taken on, a documentary produced by Fenghua Network.

    Director He: "¡­None of those were directed by me."

    Chu Tingwu: "Mhm=v="

    The previous ones were all foreign wildlife documentaries, and thest one, too, was about animals¡­ but the director was actually Director He''s disciple''s disciple.

    Director He himself had directed many documentaries themed around art and architecture, as well as biographies of great figures, all of which had received good reviews.

    Director He: "There''s not much I can teach you."

    "If you want to shoot a documentary¡­" He raised his hand and slowly drew a straight line in the air. "This is the starting point, and this is the end point. You need to first understand what your purpose is."

    "Many people think the purpose is the end goal, something to achieve. But that''s not right. The purpose is your starting point. A documentary isn''t a movie, and an official documentary is even less so. You won''t get much feedback, nor many achievements. Moreover, you can''t fabricate a story. You just have to record¡ªso really, anyone who can pick up a camera can shoot a documentary."

    "Back then, I was just someone who could pick up a camera. We didn''t have any mature documentary directors, and my superior saw that I sometimes took pictures of flowers and nts, so he said, ''Old He, you go ahead.''"

    Director He seemed to be in the mood to talk: "Then I went and shot it. At the time, I thought shooting documentaries was a pretty boring thing."

    Chu Tingwu repeated: "Because you can''t fabricate stories, and not many people watch them."

    Director He: "Oh, dear."

    Director He: "Then why do you want to shoot?"

    Chu Tingwu: "I want to see."

    Director He: "That''s your purpose, and also your starting point. Now, start from there."

    Since they were going to film police cats and dogs in actual work settings, Chu Tingwu and her team would need to ride along, and might even have to go out with the police. One person wasn''t enough, but too many would be too much. They also needed to decide what equipment to bring. Chu Tingwu went out to discuss with the person sent by Lian Tong, while Director He''s assistant asked: "Director He, was your starting point for shooting documentaries also ''I want to see''?"

    Director He: "No."

    Director He: "I actually thought she would say something like ''wanting to capture precious footage'' or ''wanting to let more people understand this knowledge''¡­"

    But "I want to see," wanting to see so she shot¡­ what a simple yet heartwarming answer.

    As for himself, well, maybe he really did have some photographic talent, so while others changed careers, he kept shooting. Or perhaps¡­ he truly liked this line of work. Recording those scenes through the lens, seeing the images he had selected appear as video footage on TV, made him genuinely happy.

    Who says documentaries can''t tell stories? What you want to tell is all in the lens.

    -

    The daily lives of police dogs and cats were quite varied, and the police themselves had recorded enough footage, so they only needed to supplement a few shots.

    The main focus was on the part where they went out on calls.

    Before that, Chu Tingwu first became Director He''s teacher, teaching him how to use a drone.

    Director He was a bit surprised. Of course, he had also used drones to shoot footage before. The advantage of a low-altitude, close-range drone ball was that it was more maneuverable than a human-carried camera. Some ces that long lenses and short guns couldn''t reach, the drone could squeeze into. And because of its spherical design, it was safer than the usual drones, with no other drawbacks except for the cost.

    Director He himself wasn''t very good with such new technology, so he brought along a cameraman, while Chu Tingwu operated the camera herself¡ªactually, it was the system that did the shooting.

    She didn''t start with the police cats but followed Director He to film the police dogs.

    Director He was also quite happy: This way, they''d have two angles, right?

    During the first ride-along, when the police got out of the car, Chu Tingwu fiddled with something on the ground. From the box she had brought¡­ eight drone balls flew out.

    Director He: "?"

    Cameraman: "Uh¡­ huh?"

    What was the point of himing along?

    Chu Tingwu: "More angles mean more footage, right? We can just delete the useless ones."

    Director He: "¡­Sure, so rich, a bit unustomed."

    After experiencing such luxury, when this kid leaves, how will he shoot?

    The police officer with the police dog, surrounded by eight drone balls: "¡­"

    Actually, situations where police dogs needed to be deployed suddenly weren''t thatmon. This time, during a burry case, they found that the grass under a suspect''s building was growing oddly. An experienced forensic doctor, after ncing at the photo, said, "Dig it up. Bring the dogs."

    This likely meant there was a bigger case here.

    It was Chu Tingwu''s first time following such a case, and everything, including the smell, was unfamiliar to her.

    Director He guessed there might be a dead body, and turned to look at the only minor here¡ª

    The minor''s eyes were sparkling, showing no sign of fear.

    Although bringing the police dogs was to find clues, they couldn''t just let the dogs sniff around without any direction, or the dogs would be confused.

    So the initial work was still done by humans. The forensic doctor continued digging, while the forensic examiner entered the scene to collect fingerprints and other evidence. Some of this was also filmed, and luckily, it was the drone balls that did the shooting, allowing them to capture high-precision footage without touching any traces¡ªordinary people entering the scene could affect evidence collection.

    The suspect lived in the suburbs, in a two-story house that had once belonged to his brother and sister-inw. After he was jailed several times, his brother and sister-inw felt that having such a troublesome brother-inw would affect their child''s education, and they couldn''t kick him out, so they decided to move out altogether.

    On the day they moved, they didn''t reveal any news, moving out while the suspect was still in prison. They left no contact information and didn''t inform the neighbors.

    Soon, the skeleton was dug up, and both the dog and Chu Tingwu sneezed.

    The police also contacted the suspect''s brother and sister-inw¡ªit turned out their luck was both good and bad, because the body wasn''t theirs. This family had truly moved away.

    Afterparing the timeline, the police found¡ª

    Officer Zhou: "The body was likely buried during the time when Xiang Chengxin was still in prison and his brother and sister-inw had already moved out. The house waspletely vacant then¡­ preliminary judgment is that the suspect directly lived in their house, burying the body at night and sleeping during the day."

    The yard of the two-story house had a wall, but it wasn''t very high, and it was easy to be seen during the day. However, the neighbors had no impression of anyone living in the house.

    After asking around, the neighbor on the left provided a clue, saying that one night they heard sounds of something being hit next door¡­ but they suspected it was the thief, Xiang Chengxin,ing home, so they didn''t want to get involved.

    Officer Zhou: "That time was likely when the body was being buried."

    The body had been buried for less than two months and hadn''t fully skeletonized yet. The killer probably worried that the body would be dug up and easily identified, so they stripped the body of its clothes and wrapped it in a snake skin bag.

    The dug-up body smelled awful, but the police dog still went forward.

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­"

    After finishing the shooting, Chu Tingwu also frowned and approached, squatting within the allowed range to take a look, then asked, "Are you looking for his missing hands and feet?"

    Forensic doctor: "Yeah, the killer probably didn''t have much experience in dismembering¡ª"

    The forensic examiner, upon seeing her, didn''t mind exining: "To bury such arge corpse, you''d have to dig a big hole. The person who did it realized the workload was too much, so they decided to dismember the body and bury the parts in different locations. But by then, the body was already as hard as a rock¡ªlook at these wounds. They were inflicted after death, using a chainsaw, which doesn''t make much noise."

    "The killer dismembered the limbs but then gave up, though they still buried the parts separately, probably thinking it would leave fewer clues."

    If they were lucky, while searching for the limbs, they might even find the weapon the novice killer had buried.

    ¡ªThat would almost solve half the case.

    These days, there are no truly airtight cases, because technology is getting stronger and stronger, the forensic examiner told Chu Tingwu. The more you try to do, the more clues you leave behind: "Let''s work hard together."

    Chu Tingwu: Hmm¡­ But what should I work hard on?

    She decided to just follow the dog.

    The police split into two groups: one to identify the victim''s identity, and the other to conduct door-to-door investigations in the vige. Murder cases are always a big deal, deserving the mobilization of an entire squad, but the crew with their swarm of drones was not included.

    As long as Chu Tingwu didn''t disturb the crime scene, no one really cared where she went, though they did remind her:

    "There''s a possibility the killer is a viger, so don''t go to deserted ces."

    Officer Zhou, who was more familiar with her, added: "If you encounter danger, don''t worry about whether your counterattack is too strong¡ªjust go all out."

    Better to send the other party to the hospital than to get hurt yourself. Worst case, you can deal with it in courtter.

    Chu Tingwu: "Got it."

    Officer Zhou: "¡­But don''t go *too* all out, though."

    Bringing back two bodies in one day is a bit much, huh?

    Chu Tingwu also had to take care of Director He, so she didn''t wander too far.

    Director He, the documentary filmmaker, had previously only filmed inanimate objects. This was his first time filming a dead body, but being of a certain age, he had seen a lot and had a rtively good mindset¡ªthe cameraman, on the other hand, wasn''t so brave. He barely mustered the courage to get close before rushing off to vomit.

    So the cameraman went back to the car to rest, leaving just the old director and the young Chu Tingwu to handle the filming.

    Director He overcame his initial psychological barrier and started getting Chu Tingwu to experiment with the camera angles, constantly pondering which shots would work best¡ªof course, while everyone else was focused on the body, they were focused on the police dog.

    The police dog, named Youyou: "Woof?"

    The trio¡ªChu Tingwu, Director He, and Youyou, along with the handler¡ªfinally stopped at the back door. Behind the small building was a vegetable plot owned by the vigers, which had naturally been left to weeds after being abandoned. Youyou barked twice at a withered peach tree by the edge of the plot, and the handler said, "Alright, start digging."

    Others began to dig, while Chu Tingwu took a step back and looked around.

    Youyou seemed a bit lethargic, turning to nce at Chu Tingwu. She beckoned with her finger, and Youyou barked at the handler, who gave permission. Youyou then trotted over to Chu Tingwu, rubbing against her leg¡ª

    While police dogs do have their own food allowances and their sry mostly goes toward meals, Chu Tingwu''s excellent cooking skills, which she had taken over from the handler, had won Youyou''s heart.

    Chu Tingwu wrapped her arm around Youyou''s neck: "Let''s go for a walk around the vige."

    Director He: "Huh?"

    Chu Tingwu: "We might find the weapon somewhere else in the vige."

    Director He: "¡­"

    Should they find it or not? He felt that either oue was a bit off, and he was a bit torn.

    There were no surveince cameras in the vige, so the system couldn''t help, but Chu Tingwu did catch a whiff of a peculiar smell¡ª

    A cat''s sense of smell is sharper than a dog''s.

    She and Youyou walked all the way to the west end of the vige. A drone rose to a certain height, and the vige children, kept indoors by their families, peeked out curiously at her:

    A stranger wasn''t unusual, but a stranger followed by eight flying drones¡­ that wasn''t a stranger, that was an alien!

    Director He: "¡­"

    He fell even further behind.

    He saw Chu Tingwu talking to the police dog, who eventually crouched down in one spot, barking twice and miming digging.

    He also saw someonee out of a house at the west end, shouting loudly: "What are you doing? What are you doing!"

    Then he saw Chu Tingwu look up, nce at him, and produce a bag of cat food from somewhere.

    The next second, the bag of cat food flew out and hit the man squarely in the chest. The man stumbled back, dazed, before copsing weakly, gasping for air but unable to move.

    Director He: "???"

    Director He hurried over: "Chu Tingwu¡­"

    Chu Tingwu: "Officer Zhou told me to fight back if I encounter danger."

    Director He repeated: "Encounter danger¡­?"

    Chu Tingwu: "He had the intent to create danger, but hadn''t acted yet¡ªI just fought back a bit early. Should be fine, right?"

    Director He: "¡­"

    Should¡­ should be?

    He nced at the man again.

    Was it really fine? Was it a bit too early?

    He didn''t even know how to make a false testimony!

 Chapter 83

    <h1>Chapter 83</h1>

    Chu Tingwu wasn''t lying.

    She really had felt hostility from the man... but she couldn''t be sure what connection he had with the weapon buried in the ground, though the police were nearby and would arrive soon.

    The bag of cat food had left a red mark on the man''s chest and left him unable to get up¡ª

    But Chu Tingwu had only thrown the cat food, even though it had the same effect as throwing stones, the visual impact was different, making it seem like a mischievous prank rather than an "attack."

    The police arrived quickly, and the man seemed confused: "Why are you still here? Isn''t that kid from the Xiang family already in custody?"

    He seemed to have been sleeping at home and hadn''t been questioned during the first round of interrogations.

    Officer Zhou nced at him and smiled: "I heard your father has been missing for a long time. Any news?"

    The man''s father seemed to have symptoms of dementia and had been reported missing some time ago.

    The man was taken aback: "This... shouldn''t you be the ones figuring it out? Why are you asking me?"

    Officer Zhou: "We will look into it, but as an only son, shouldn''t you be making an effort too?"

    The two went back and forth, while Chu Tingwu and the police dog Youyou crouched nearby, watching them talk.

    Only Director He was working.0

    Director He awkwardly operated the drone and then found that it was quite user-friendly, as if it had some kind of intelligent control program. He gave amand, and the drone automatically flew ording to his intentions.0

    ¡ªTechnology is getting more and more advanced.0

    Finally, after some skillful maneuvering, Officer Zhou said: "We still have your father''s data at the station. How about youe back with us and make a statement?"0

    Without evidence, he could only detain the man for up to twenty-four hours... However, seeing his colleagues already starting to dig, Officer Zhou felt that evidence would soon surface.0

    A corpse itself was a massive piece of evidence, providing a wealth of clues... For instance, verifying the identity of the deceased, especially when there was a suspect, the results would naturallye quickly.0

    The group returned to the police station, and within half an hour of sitting in the interrogation room, the man''s emotions copsed¡ª0

    Inexperienced killers like him often had poor mental fortitude. On the way there, he hadn''t confessed, merely hoping for a miracle.0

    The corpse was his father.0

    ording to him, his father didn''t actually have "dementia."0

    His father had been a retired technician from a factory, with a high pension. But the man had recently gotten into online gambling, bing increasingly desperate for money. During a heated argument with his father over money, he had lost control¡ª0

    And killed the old man.0

    Director He, listening in, sighed: "Ah, ah!"0

    After killing his father, the man''s mind cooled down and he immediately started thinking about how to dispose of the body.0

    Police: "Why didn''t you turn yourself in?"0

    Man: "He was my dad, not someone else. If he were alive, he wouldn''t want me to go to jail!"0

    Although the Xiang family hadn''t notified anyone when they moved, the neighbors found out after a couple of days.0

    The thief''s return time was fixed, so the man thought he could bury the body in their yard.0

    The chainsaw was from his own home. After cutting up the body, he was afraid of being discovered, so he buried it right by the gate. As for the murder weapon¡ª0

    It was a mahjong table. The old man had hit his head on the corner, and after wiping off the blood, they continued to use it.0

    The man was full of regret. After confessing, he seemed to know he was done for and spilled everything:0

    "I still haven''t found my dad''s money. Those people online are going toe for me soon, and I can''t sleep day or night because of the pressure. Now... I guess it''s a relief."0

    The police said: "He tried to withdraw his father''s pension, but it''s paid directly into the ount, so he couldn''t get it."0

    Although this case was disgusting, the police were actually used to it¡ª0

    "Murder cases, especially idental killings and love killings, are the mostmon. The perpetrators are usually people close to the victims. Those random killings or serial killings you see in dramas are rare and not easy toe across."0

    "By the way, why did you hit him as soon as you saw him? Did you instinctively think he was the murderer?"0

    Chu Tingwu "mm-hmm"ed and suddenly asked: "Did he exin why he reacted that way when he saw me?"0

    Police: "?"0

    The police hadn''t specifically asked that question¡ªChu Tingwu and Youyou had been at the spot where the chainsaw was buried, so the murderer''s nervousness and hostility were normal.0

    But after Chu Tingwu mentioned it, they realized something was off: the man''s speech was all over the ce, and it seemed he might really have stress issues. ording to his confession, he had actually forgotten the chainsaw was buried there.0

    Was that carelessness, or apleteck of conscience?0

    The police went in again to ask, and when they came out, their expressions were a bit grim:0

    "He said he saw your photo at an underground gambling den."0

    For gamblers, this was a kind of "bounty."0

    These underground gambling dens required an introducer, and participants wouldn''t bring electronic devices or leave written records... The venue could be in a high-end club or hidden in a rural restaurant.0

    The criminal had seen Chu Tingwu''s photo in a restaurant, where she was presented as a "betting chip," meaning she could be used as coteral. When gamblers lost their minds, they might one day take desperate actions.0

    Officer Zhou immediately thought of a previous warning: "Hiss, it''s those guys..."0

    As an unofficial coborator, Chu Tingwu had worked with the police many times, from training police cats to catching thieves, bing something of a spokesperson.0

    Her prominence attracted some malicious individuals.0

    They might never have met Chu Tingwu or had any direct interest in her, but they still arrogantly ordered low-level thugs to "cause her some trouble."0

    The police had heard rumors from informants but hadn''t been able to locate the organization behind it.0

    "We suspect it''s some underground organization from abroad." Like rats hiding in the shadows, they gathered in dark ces and took pride in their power.0n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    [¡­]0

    [Don''t worry, kiddo! Cats are the best at catching rats!]0

    Chu Tingwu: "=="0

    Chu Tingwu: "But didn''t you catch one before? Maybe it''s just too low-level here, so there''s no news?"0

    When Officer Zhou first warned her, the system had already started a massive online sweep, but an offline photo couldn''t be found, and that wasn''t its fault.0

    [Then it''s not clean yet!]0

    Chu Tingwu: ...No, they might really just not have heard anything.0

    The system added an extra word offort to Chu Tingwu: "Meow."0

    -0

    The so-called "dark web" was just some websites that requiredplex procedures to ess, filled with videos that couldn''t be shown in public.0

    The system had naturally swept through the entirework society, reporting some people who were just talking big.0

    But when the police mentioned the dark web, it was puzzled and expanded its search, finally discovering¡ª0

    The people on those websites hadn''t used Chu Tingwu''s name or photo, only cryptic codes.0

    System: "=="0

    ording to the rules, after fulfilling the bounty conditions, the rted video had to be posted on the website toplete the bounty. Chu Tingwu''s information wasn''t prominent on the site¡ªthere were far more horrifying videos, some even touching on the bottom line of human morality, but the system didn''t care.0

    It just followed the clues to find the bounty issuer, located the person, and confirmed it was a wealthy pervert. Then, it conveniently vaporized all the liquid assets in the person''s home.0

    After that, it wrote a report email in the tone of the person''s parents, reporting the website.0

    After finishing all this, the system solemnly sighed to its youngling: "Money is just a number."0

    Chu Tingwu: You really risk making people jealous!0

    Although for the system... money really was just a number it could easily manipte, it had never actually done so¡ª0

    Chu Tingwu opened the car door and got in, asking, "Is everything okay now?"0

    Did you send the mastermind to prison?0

    The system replied, "Yes, everything is fine now."0

    After making that guy suffer enough mental torment, we even scattered his ashes. Perfect!0

    Chu Tingwu: "Good."0

    The driver started the car and headed toward the police station. However, on the way, Chu Tingwu opened her personal panel¡ª0

    Although she hadn''t faced any direct danger, Chu Tingwu felt she should still upgrade her panel data. After all, you never know when danger might strike.0

    Intuition lv1, Gic Inheritance lv1, Perfect Control lv0... The levels of the three skills remained the same, but the skill bars below had all grown a bit during this period.0

    Her Intuition seemed to upgrade a little every day, probably because Chu Tingwu was constantly using it. She also noticed that it upgraded faster during dangerous situations. Now, it was not far from lv2.0

    Gic Inheritance was a bit strange; Chu Tingwu hadn''t found a way to upgrade it yet... When she went to the Red Stone Nature Reserve, her experience seemed to increase faster while she was with the wild animals. But after returning, it went back to normal. Now, she was about halfway to lv2.0

    Perfect Control was the skill she was closest to breaking through to lv1. Since it was aprehensive skill involving physical techniques, and Chu Tingwu was always using her body, she guessed it would upgrade faster.0

    Although the system could predict the effects of Chu Tingwu''s upgrades, the direction was ultimately decided by her. So, it didn''t know which effect would ur¡ª0

    [¡°Upgrading¡± is essentially ¡°evolving.¡± Your body will obey yourmands, understand your desires, and evolve in the direction you prefer.]0

    Chu Tingwu: "Hmm..."0

    But she felt her stats were already quite "over the top." What would happen if she evolved further?0

    With these thoughts in mind, she greeted Director He at the police station, and the drone behind her swayed slightly.0

    Director He in front of her: "Good morning."0

    After several encounters, he had noticed that the drone following Chu Tingwu seemed unusually intelligent and easy to use. If he operated it himself, it was just a machine. Did this child''s drone run a different program?0

    Today, Chu Tingwu was starting to shoot footage for the police cats.0

    In fact, drones had been following the two police cats for a while, capturing a lot of footage, but there was no specific direction yet.0

    Director He seemed to have light work today and strolled over to watch Chu Tingwu shoot.0

    He asked, "Are you going to shoot the police cats, or these two cats?"0

    Shooting the police cats was simple¡ªdocumenting their selection, training, and deployment, simr to how police dogs are filmed.0

    But if the focus wasn''t on the broad "police cats" concept but on the two cats employed at Jin City Police Station, then it would be about human interest, their personal stories¡ªfrom their previous owners to their current lives. Being a police cat would just be onebel in their lives.0

    The police only had one requirement: to promote and document the selection and work of police cats.0

    So, the specific theme depended on the director.0

    Chu Tingwu held the drone and pondered:0

    "I want to unfold this from the perspective of the audience¡ª"0

    Director He: "Oh?"0

    Chu Tingwu: "Information about police dogs is easily searchable online. People know how they are selected, how their sries are used, and how they are adopted after retirement. Their entire lives are transparent."0

    Chu Tingwu: "But police cats are too ''new,'' and their work doesn''t seem as ''stable''... How do they get hired, how do they retire, what happens if they get injured, and what are their advantages? I think these are things the audience would be curious about, so I want to capture them."0

    In other words, use the two cats as examples, but don''t just focus on them. Instead, showcase the entire police cat system.0

    The two cats at Jin City Police Station had different job orientations. The Siamese, Buna, was gentler in nature, so he was more suited for search and rescue or drug detection.0

    So, he was now employed in the drug enforcement department.0

    The Tabby, Dog Sheng, was more lively and energetic, but due to his smaller size, he couldn''t serve as a riot control dog like a police dog. Therefore, he was assigned to security patrols.0

    Chu Tingwu used the drone to film the cats'' work for two days. At the airport, there were often onlookers... She showed the footage to Director He, asking for his judgment on any inappropriate scenes.0

    But her work wasn''t done yet, as Chu Tingwu also contacted the original owners of the two cats.0

    The Siamese''s owner said, "The base told me that selecting police cats from adult cats was a special case because everything was new, and the rules were unique... In the future, police cats won''t be selected from adult cats. Now, the base has set up a breeding center in Xinshan City to breed and raise kittens."0

    "Hmm... But I think if it were your Three-Five-Five, she might get an exception as an adult cat?"0

    Chu Tingwu: "That line won''t be in the documentary."0

    The Siamese''s ownerughed, "Oh, Director Chu, I recognized you as soon as you entered. Where''s Three-Five-Five? My Buna was interviewed by you, the interviewer."0

    All the adult police cats were local, and after retirement, they would be prioritized for adoption by their original owners or police officers. The same applied to other police cats. All retirement standards would be based on those of police dogs. This was an official document issued two months ago¡ªthough due to dietary differences between cats and dogs, meal allowances and sries would also vary.0

    After finishing the shoot in Jin City, Chu Tingwu discussed with the police station and decided to head to Kongsu City.0

    Kongsu City, located at the southernmost part of Shannan Province, was almost half city, half mountain, surrounded by the Wo Mountain Range.0

    The breeding center in Xinshan City was also in Shannan Province, and during this period, it had sent a police cat to each city in the province.0

    After the official document was issued, each city increased its police cat quota. Kongsu City Police Station was thest in the province to receive a police cat¡ªso the cat and the officers were still getting used to each other. Chu Tingwu thought this would be a good opportunity to film them.0

    With help from Jin City Police Station and the green light from Shannan Province, Chu Tingwu could soon "go on a business trip."0

    But this time, she brought Three-Five-Five along.0

    She applied for Three-Five-Five to have an "assistant" role and bought tickets for both of them.0

    The police: "..."0

    Does the cat assistant help youmunicate with other cats? Well, since she''s acknowledged as the "best little cat," it''s normal for her not to sit in the petpartment.0

    As soon as Chu Tingwu got on the train, she started catching up on her homework.0

    Outside the window, vast stretches of green scenery whisked past. She lowered her head to work on her biology homework, sitting side by side with Three-Five-Five. A few nearby passengers asionally nced at the cor-wearing tortoiseshell cat, while others behind her asionally reached for their phones to take pictures of the tortoiseshell mom.0

    Three-Five-Five: "=="0

    Three-Five-Five turned to Chu Tingwu and meowed twice.0

    Chu Tingwu, staring at the question in front of her, didn''t even look up as she responded with an "Mm," and unbuckled Three-Five-Five''s leash.0

    The tortoiseshell mom jumped off the seat, dodged the trolley selling boxed meals, and made her way to the bathroom at the end of the carriage.0

    Then, the long-haired tortoiseshell found herself deep in thought.0

    A nearby attendant: "..."0

    She quietly stepped forward and helped the cat open the door. Three-Five-Five gave her a friendly meow.0

    The attendant: "..."0

    Should I prepare wet wipes? There''s no cat litter here; her long fur might get dirty...0

    The door opened, and Three-Five-Five jumped out, her tail held high, looking clean. But the attendant still smiled and crouched down.0

    Three-Five-Five: "..."0

    -0

    Chu Tingwu turned her head and saw Three-Five-Five jump back onto the seat, meowing discontentedly.0

    Chu Tingwu, whose mind hadn''t fully switched to catnguage: "Meow?"0

    Dai Mao''s mother raised her paw and tapped on the table. The train entered a tunnel, and when it emerged, someone eximed in surprise.0

    The greenery outside the window had already filled the eyes. Layers of mountains rose and fell, and between the mountains, one could see small red-roofed houses in the distance. As the train sped along the viaduct, the man-made structures began to increase as it approached Kongsu City.0

    Chu Tingwu, with her luggage, let the cat crouch on top of the suitcase as she got off the train. The car from Kongsu City Police Station was waiting for her outside the high-speed rail station.0

    Xiao Yan the police cat crouched to the side, while its partner Yan Ping stood outside the car with arms crossed.0

    Seeing Chu Tingwu''s figure, he straightened up: "Hello, Chu Tingwu, please sit in the passenger seat. I''ll help you with your luggage... Are there any fragile items?"0

    Probably filming equipment, right?0

    But why did only one persone? Filming videos would usually require an assistant to help with props, wouldn''t it?0

    Chu Tingwu pointed at the assistant cat.0

    Yan Ping: "=_="0

    Alright, he got it. He''ll be the one carrying the props.0

    Little Yan raised her paw and patted his arm.0

    Then, this ck-and-white cow cat curiously nced at Three-Five-Five and raised her paw¡ª0

    Three-Five-Five high-fived her.0

    Yan Ping: "Oh, they can even high-five!"0

    Chu Tingwu: No, they almost fought, Three-Five-Five was just telling this cat to stay away from her!0

    The two cats sat on either side of the back seat, with Little Yan constantly turning her head to look at Three-Five-Five. Finally, she started: "Meow meow? Meow-woo meow-woo? Meow... Meow meow..."0

    Where are you from? You''re not from around here, are you? How old are you? Have you tried the cat food here? By the way, do you know how to train? Meow meow meow? Meow?0

    Three-Five-Five: "¡­¡­"0

    She lowered her ears.0

    So annoying, this cat is such a chatterbox!0

    Although Little Yan wasn''t chatting with Yan Ping, every time the cat meowed, Yan Ping would respond with an "mm-hmm," very perfunctorily, but the cat didn''t care... yet he responded to every meow.0

    Yan Ping also told Chu Tingwu: "Ever since Little Yan came, I''ve been fine. Everyone at the station stopped calling me Little Yan to avoid confusion. Now, from the gatekeeper to the chief, they all call me by my full name, as if they''re about to start scolding me."0

    Chu Tingwu: You''re not having it easy, huh? ==0

    She soon realized that both the police and the cats were chatterboxes, a perfect match.0

    Kongsu City wasn''t very big. In the past few years, due to transportation issues, the economy hadn''t been great. Now that the train had arrived, the city was also pushing hard on tourism, trying to develop the nearby Wo Mountain. Wo Mountain wasn''t particrly famous for its height, but its range stretched endlessly, and from anywhere in Kongsu City, one could see the Wo Mountain Range by simply looking up.0

    As Chu Tingwu gazed out the car window, Yan Ping was also observing her¡ª0

    She was here to film a documentary, but her "underage" status already raised eyebrows. So, the higher-ups provided everyone with her information, and after reading it, the murmurs grew louder: "Not... Look at this little sister, and then look at me. Have I been living in vain all these years?"0

    It was said that she could speak catnguage, a master who could trante everything a cat said! It was also rumored that she understood other animalnguages, with a professional level four? Anyway, dogs and wolves weren''t a problem!0

    Just these few points were enough for the Kongsu City Police Station to treat her with respect. Such anguage master should join the police force¡ªwhen solving cases, just grab a bird outside the house, and the culprit would be caught in no time!0

    ¡ªOf course, that was just a dream.0

    She was only here on a business trip.0

    Yan Ping continued driving, asionally bickering with the cats in the back. Chu Tingwu was still observing the scenery outside... Then, she slowly turned her head and ced her hand on Yan Ping''s arm: "Stop the car."0

    Yan Ping: "?"0

    He nced at her, first noticing her eyes.0

    There was no other emotion in those eyes, and her tone was like amand... but he instinctively stopped the car.0

    Then Yan Ping noticed: They were in the middle of the main road!0

    Yan Ping: "Wait¡ª"0

    Chu Tingwu whispered: "There''s going to be an earthquake."0

    Yan Ping: "Ah..."0

    What?0

    What?0

    The next second, Yan Ping felt his phone vibrate. He took out his phone and opened the door, only to see the topmost earthquake warning notification¡ª0

    ¡¾Earthquake epicenter: Kongsu City... Early warning magnitude: 5.4... Arriving soon... Please seek shelter in the nearest area...¡¿0

    Yan Ping''s expression changed.0

    With such proximity, earthquake warnings would usually be issued only a few tens of seconds in advance. People in the epicenter would only have time for the most hasty reactions, and many wouldn''t even check their phones.0

    The rm sounded at this moment.0

    Yan Ping: "?"0

    He didn''t know where the rm came from. The entire Kongsu City seemed enveloped in an apocalyptic atmosphere, with all vehicles simultaneously sounding their horns and the central rm spreading everywhere: "Please pay attention to earthquake safety, please pay attention to earthquake safety¡ª"0

    There was no time to lose, so Yan Ping quickly turned on the police car''s siren and took out a megaphone, starting to direct traffic to stop and take shelter on the spot.0

    Standing in the middle of the traffic, he could feel his ears almost bursting. At this moment, he had no time to think about why there were so many rms¡ªhe turned his head and saw Chu Tingwu crouched on top of the police car, her gaze scanning the surroundings like a patrol.0

    Fortunately, both cats were with her, uneasily touching heads.0

    Thirty seconds passed.

    The earthquake didn''te.

    A minute passed.0

    The earthquake still didn''te.

    But the rm continued to sound. Yan Ping clenched his palm, not thinking about whether anyone had been injured in a stampede, nor picking up the phone. He just felt deeply uneasy.0

    One minute and thirty-two seconds after the notification¡ª0

    The earth, at this moment, split open!0

    Chu Tingwu took a deep breath¡ª0

    ¡¾You''ve upgraded [Perfect Control lv0] to [Perfect Control lv1]¡¿0

    She jumped off the roof.0

 Chapter 84

    <h1>Chapter 84</h1>

    There was a lot of dust.0

    In reality, the dust was merely floating on the ground, vibrating gently with a certain microscopic rhythm, but it gave the impression that... everywhere you looked, it was gray and hazy.0

    Chu Tingwu knew what was going on:0

    Far away on Wo Mountain, huge boulders were still rolling down. During the recent earthquake, the tremor had caused andslide, and while some people only saw the sky filled with dust and rocks, half obscuring Wo Mountain, Chu Tingwu, with her exceptional eyesight, spotted a car slowly sliding backward and arge number of uprooted trees.0

    Closer by, buildings had copsed. Under the might of nature, a row of self-built houses nearby had fallen halfway, and the ground had split open, revealing cracks as wide as a palm. People in the surrounding cars were still shaken, some making phone calls, others trying to start their vehicles.0

    People from the shops had also run out... Aftershocks often follow earthquakes, and under the threat of aftershocks, everyone dared not enter buildings and hoped to find safety in open spaces.0

    Yan Ping hurried over from behind, grabbing Chu Tingwu''s arm: "Don''t run around!"0

    Two cats also ran over one after the other, and Xiao Yan let out a "meow" sound¡ª0

    For animals, the negative impact of earthquakes is more severe than for humans.0

    Chu Tingwu herself could feel it: she was even more sensitive.0

    The first wave of the earthquake was over, but she could still feel her brain buzzing, as if it were still shaking. The personal (cat) data that had previously reached a "bnce" now seemed to be in chaos¡ªsounds around her fluctuated in volume, all rushing into her ears, making Chu Tingwu feel nauseous.0

    Yet, she managed to stand very steadily.0

    The positive benefits gained from her upgrade were gradually offsetting her current negative effects.0

    Yan Ping, while trying to contact his colleagues, pulled Chu Tingwu back, avoiding the cracks and standing by the roadside. Chu Tingwu obediently followed, holding Sanwuyu in her arms, with Xiao Yan rubbing against her leg.0

    After following step by step, Xiao Yan moved from her side to her front, vigntly looking around.0

    Chu Tingwu simply crouched down, picked up the cat, and used the two warm sources to cover her mouth and nose.0

    She waited for a while, then felt someone push a chair behind her and pat her shoulder, urging her to sit down.0

    A few minutester, the world became clear again¡ªand then Chu Tingwu saw a bunch of garbled text on the system interface.0

    Chu Tingwu: "?"0

    It turned out that the system had been trying to call her but got no response, and in the end, it ended up with garbled text.0

    Chu Tingwu: "It''s fine, just my head still feels a bit off."0

    System: "The epicenter of this earthquake was too close to the surface."0

    Although it was a 5.4-magnitude earthquake, the epicenter was only 3.3 kilometers underground, closer to Wo Mountain, so the impact on the surface was significant. However, the earthquake was barely felt outside the province, only affecting Kongsu City and a few surrounding districts.0

    The unfortunate part was that Kongsu City was close to Wo Mountain, and now the people below the mountain were cut off from those on top.0

    "Two base stations were damaged, butmunication is still possible, just the signal isn''t great," Yan Ping hurried over, "Chu Tingwu, contact your family and friends to let them know you''re safe. The traffic is blocked right now, so I can''t take you to the police station. Don''t go too far from me¡ªXiao Yan!"0

    The ck-and-white tuxedo cat remained silent, jumping out of Chu Tingwu''s arms. Yan Ping picked up its leash and grabbed a megaphone, hurrying away.0

    ¡ªWhile Chu Tingwu rested, he had contacted his colleagues and started directing on-site evacuation. Now he was going to calm the crowd.0

    But the surroundings were still chaotic.0

    This was Nanyue District in Kongsu City, which was also one of the more remote areas in the city, quite close to Wo Mountain. The people on this road were either tourists driving from the scenic area to the city or locals living nearby... and everyone had loved ones they cared about. Even though the road conditions were still dangerous, some people, unable to contact their rtives, had already abandoned their cars and started walking.0

    Soon, those whose phones hadn''t died received a new push notification¡ª0

    Shannan Province had dispatched rescue teams, and it was detected that there would be several more aftershocks, all of which would be felt strongly. Everyone was advised not to stay indoors.0

    But people quickly discovered another problem: there was nowhere to charge.0

    Modern people are inseparable from their electronic devices. With a phone and inte, they could stay calm, but without them, they might feel as if the whole world had abandoned them.0

    Chu Tingwu stood up, picked up the chair, and the next second, an aftershock hit.0

    This aftershock had a strong swaying sensation, but it was still weaker than the previous one. Some people fell to the ground, while others stabilized themselves by holding onto someone or something.0

    Chu Tingwu, however, held the stic chair and found Yan Ping by a car during the shaking. Yan Ping was gulping down water.0

    His face was also covered in ayer of dust, but he didn''t seem to notice.0

    Chu Tingwu: "I''ve let my friends know I''m safe. Is there anything I can do?"0

    Yan Ping shook his head and then nodded, giving her a smile: "Don''t worry, don''t worry... things are actually not too bad."0

    Although the data hadn''t been fully tallied, Yan Ping had made two more calls to his colleagues earlier and learned that, thanks to the timely warning, the number of injured was not high. Most people had suffered minor abrasions while fleeing buildings or light injuries from falling during the earthquake. There were no severely trapped or injured people found in the main city area so far.0

    The main roads in the city were almost intact, but Nanyue District, where they were, was at the epicenter and had older buildings, which made the situation seem more severe.0

    Currently, high-speed trains have been halted, but support from the main city area will arrive soon.0

    But despite his reassurances, Chu Tingwu''s expression remained tense. She simply pointed at the nearby Wo Mountain.0

    Yan Ping''s expression also grew solemn: "The main road to Wo Mountain is gone."0

    The main road up the mountain, which could amodate two trucks side by side, had been destroyed byndslides, falling rocks, and arge amount of trees and soil that had fallen along with the earthquake. That road was now impassable.0

    To get to the top of the mountain, one would have to walk around the side, which was inefficient and risky due to potential aftershocks.0

    And it was a given that there were people on the mountain.0

    Yan Ping hoped they had also heard the earthquake warning and were at least not seriously injured.0

    -0

    At around 5 PM, three and a half hours after the earthquake, a camp was set up between Nanyue District and Dongxiang District, and the injured were taken to be amodated.0

    Chu Tingwu knew that there was another group of people who were not locals of Kongsu City but tourists who wanted to leave the city tonight. However, due to the blocked main roads caused by thendslide, the roads needed to be cleared... These people were now stranded in another camp.0

    Rescue teams from other cities had already arrived, bringing supplies.0

    Water resources were particrly scarce during earthquakes, as it was difficult to obtain clean groundwater, and bottled water would eventually run out. When the first batch of water from social donations arrived, Man Xing came along with the trucks.0

    She found Chu Tingwu in the camp. The boss seemed to be in good condition, rolling up her sleeves to help, though her clothes were unusually dirty, with ayer of dust on her cuffs and trouser legs.0

    Chu Tingwu took the wet wipes Man Xing handed her to wipe her face and heard her say: "The people from the hospital have to transfer flights and are still on the way."0

    There were rtively few injured, but everyone was concerned about the situation on the mountain. Chu Tingwu contacted Lian Tong, asking him to prepare the staff from the orthopedic hospital in advance.0

    Chu Tingwu: "Then keep following up on the supplies... I''m going to get busy."0

    Man Xing let out an "um" and stuffed another bag of choctes into Chu Tingwu''s hands.0

    She had thought that the boss was going to continue helping set up the tent, but instead saw the boss call out to Sanwuyu and walk out of the campsite, with a drone flying ball following behind.0

    Man Xing: "?"0

    Chu Tingwu caught up with Yan Ping, who was hurrying by.0

    He was separated from her by a car, and she simply used the roof to vault over, "Meow"ing once.0

    Xiao Yan: "Meow?"0

    Only then did Yan Ping notice someone hadnded behind him.0

    Chu Tingwu: "If you''re taking Little Yan up the mountain¡ª"0

    She pointed to the drone: "Can Ie along to film?"0

    The somewhat dazed Yan Ping: "¡­Huh?"0

    He instinctively wanted to refuse, but then realized: Theoretically, it should be possible.0

    A professional rescue team had brought supplies and equipment. With every passing day, the risk of someone perishing increased. So, despite the approaching nightfall, the group decided to head up the mountain. Their first stop would be the Shakuan Campsite at an altitude of two thousand meters on Wo Mountain, where they needed to establish contact with those stranded.0

    Naturally, they would bring along search-and-rescue dogs, and Little Yan was the only police cat in Kongsu City. With her striking white fur, she stood out like a beacon in the dark, and her rescue training had been solid¡ªshe was definitelying along!0

    Yan Ping: "No, you haven''t undergone professional training."0

    Chu Tingwu hummed in acknowledgment.0

    But when Yan Ping got into the vehicle, she quietly brought along Three Five Five and boarded as well. After a brief exchange of "meows" with Little Yan, she said, "Little Yan says her rescue training scores at the base were only third ce. The other two cats, one orange and one a ragdoll, were both stronger than her, but they weren''t assigned to Kongsu City¡ªdid theye with the rescue team?"0

    Yan Ping: "?"0

    Could one really understand catnguage to this extent? He felt a pang of rm, suspecting that some secret of his might be leaked by the cat by his side.0

    Chu Tingwu raised one of Three Five Five''s front paws: "Three Five Five may have been ater, but her scores aren''t any worse than Little Yan''s¡­ And I can help withmunication, obtaining specific information that only cats can know¡ª"0

    In fact, nomunication was even needed.0

    Chu Tingwu: "Can I join now?"0

    Yan Ping: "¡­I''ll ask the higher-ups."0

    Chu Tingwu nodded, very much at ease, and retrieved Little Yan''s spare uniform from the vehicle, dressing Three Five Five in it. Then she put on the rescue team jacket she had "borrowed" from the camp.0

    Yan Ping: "¡­"0

    Chu Tingwu: "You apply for your permission, I''ll go with mine."0

    Yan Ping: "¡­¡­¡­¡­"0

    This brat! Looks mature, but is still only sixteen at heart!0

    -0

    At the foot of the mountain, they met up with the rescue team heading up. The team members didn''t seem surprised to see two extra people. After exchanging greetings with Yan Ping, they took out their drones.0

    Yan Ping turned to look at Chu Tingwu.0

    The rescue team member said, "This one came with the donated supplies. Oh, you have one too?"0

    In fact, the main reason for using drones in rescue operations was cost, especially for civilian teams. In earthquake zones, the likelihood of drone damage was too high. But since these were donated, and it was clear that the mountain posed the biggest problem, they decided to bring them along.0

    They switched to the rescue team''s vehicle. Chu Tingwu''s hand rested on Three Five Five''s neck.0

    No one felt much like talking. The atmosphere was heavy. As the vehicle turned, the headlights illuminated the dirt slope ahead. The driver said, "Can''t go any further here."0

    Although there had already been two aftershocks, more could ur at night. One by one, they exited the vehicle, shouldering their equipment. The mountain had no signal. Yan Ping fell behind, reminding Chu Tingwu, "Don''t lose the radio. You¡­ forget it, just keep another one in your pocket."0

    As for the higher-ups.0

    The mountain had no signal. Before entering, he had sent a message. Now, there was no reply.0

    The lead rescuer turned on a spotlight and nced at Chu Tingwu again¡ª0

    He couldn''t help but feel this team member seemed a bit too young. But with the dim light, it was hard to make out her face clearly.0

    He said, "If you can''t carry the pack, someone else can take over."0

    Chu Tingwu shook her head.0

    The smell of earth hadn''t fully dissipated. Fallen treesy on the ground, their branches crushed repeatedly. The road showed many tire tracks, indicating vehicles had passed but had to turn back. Nearby, other vehicles were parked, but it was impossible to see if anyone was inside.0

    Chu Tingwu: "Do we have to take the same path?"0

    The lead rescuer: "Hmm? Try to, but our goal is to get up there first and see what''s going on. It''s so dark that getting separated is a possibility. If that happens, just find your way out. No need for pressure."0

    The lead rescuer was also exhausted after a long day. He wanted to hand his trekking pole to Chu Tingwu, but found that the "rescue team member" had already untied the leash around the tortoiseshell cat''s neck.0

    The cat darted out.0

    The lead rescuer: "Hey¡ª"0

    The obstruction wasn''t just a "hill," but andslide that had buried half the road. It couldn''t be cleared quickly, so they had to take a detour.0

    But what if they climbed up and walked through? Even more impossible, as the ground below was unstable, filled with loose soil and rubble. Climbing up was hard enough, and there might be cavities below. One wrong step and someone could fall, creating a new victim.0

    But a cat? Definitely easier.0

    No matter how heavy the cat was, it wouldn''t weigh more than ten kilograms. The lead rescuer''s shlight swept across, illuminating the tortoiseshell cat as it darted up the tform, leaping onto rocks, and in just a few jumps, it had effortlessly reached the top of the slope, letting out a meow.0

    The unfamiliar "rescue team member" beside him waved: "Then I''ll head to the Shakuan Campsite first."0

    The lead rescuer: How are you going first?0

    The person in front, burdened with a heavy backpack, looked like a turtle with a shell. She leaped forward, stepping onto the nearly vertical, smooth "tform"¡ªonly a cat could leave a paw print there. The lead rescuer saw the entire tform shift slightly downward due to her weight.0

    Because that wasn''t a tform at all! The soil hadn''t beenpacted!0

    But the next moment, with her own sliding motion, the girl leaped out, wrapping her arms around a protruding rock.0

    Then she dangled in midair, swaying slightly. One hand hung down, her body swung in a half-circle, her left foot''s tipnded on a rock to the left, her right hand grabbed a branch above, and then, with a swing, she propelled herself up to nearly two meters high.0

    Next, she switched feet, using her knee to prop herself on the indented soil, and seemed to leap up a bit, her palm pressing against the rubble beside the cat.0

    In the blink of an eye, she was already by the cat''s side.0

    The tortoiseshell cat turned back.0

    The entire process took less than three seconds¡­ Even for "rock climbing," the speed was too fast, as if no route selection was needed.0

    But if it was rock climbing, it was also too dangerous, as every "handhold" could potentiallye loose, and there was no safety mat below.0

    Yan Ping sucked in a breath: "Chu¡ª"0

    Exhausted.0

    But even as he felt exhausted, he couldn''t help but think, maybe she really could¡­ get there safely before them?0

    Chu Tingwu spoke to him through the radio: "See youter."0

    Yan Ping: Do you think you''re on a TV show, cutting tomercials?0

    Then her figure disappeared as ruthlessly as a TV show.0

    The lead rescuer and Yan Ping exchanged a nce, then trudged along the detour, one step at a time.0

    After a long silence in the dark, the lead rescuer said, "That must count as skill giving one courage, right? Look at her agility¡ªclearly trained."0

    Yan Ping: "Yeah, more flexible than a lot of cats I''ve seen¡­ Wait!"0

    The lead rescuer: "?"0

    Yan Ping looked up and didn''t see the drone.0

    The ball following Chu Tingwu was still following her!0

    What about the documentary? What about filming Little Yan-rted footage?0

    You liar!0

    -0

    Chu Tingwu took a deep breath, then jumped twice.0

    ¡­And the ground below her sank in.0

    Her own weight wasn''t light, normal for her height, and her body fat ratio was on the lower side. With the full backpack of supplies and Three Five Five perched on top, she naturally became even heavier.0

    But there was no one around.0

    She turned off the light, and the drone didn''t cast any downward illumination.0

    Three Five Five meowed.0

    Chu Tingwu knew there were no trapped survivors nearby, no other human eyes watching.0

    So she began to run forward¡ª0

    If there were a pair of eyes looking down from above, perhaps they would be able to spot this shadowy figure in the darkness.0

    She was almost not running, but rather "flying."0

    After the initial tentative small steps, Chu Tingwu fully opened up her senses.0

    She could hear the distant footsteps of the rescue team growing fainter, and the rustling of the soil beneath her feet.0

    Small pebbles rolled down, and the night wind passed through the gaps, leaving behind vibrations that barely qualified as sounds, but Chu Tingwu could hear them all.0

    Her leaps became increasingly "reckless," and the distance she covered grew longer¡ª0

    From the original one meter, two meters... to four meters, gradually extending to over six meters.0

    This was no longer "surpassing human limits" but "lookingpletely inhuman."0

    As the distance increased, Chu Tingwu''s movements also underwent slight changes. Her upper body slightly leaned forward, and she adopted a crouching position before leaping. Correspondingly, each time she jumped, she could feel the wind beneath her.0

    It wasn''t that the wind was blowing towards her, but that she was moving so fast that she was racing against it.0

    ¡ªThe feeling was almost like flying, flying in solitude.0

    As her leaping distance increased and her running speed quickened, Chu Tingwu discovered another thing... she could adjust her "scent."0

    During hunting, wild animals cannot suppress their inherent scents, but clever creatures position themselves downwind of their prey, avoiding the transmission of their own scent while constantly sniffing out the prey''s movements and emotions.0

    Chu Tingwu naturally carried a "cat smell."0

    But now, she couldpress this scent to her surroundings, as if she could control the nds in her body (did she really have such things?) to stop emitting the scent molecules that humans couldn''t detect.0

    ¡ªThis should be an additional skill brought by [Perfect Control lv1].0

    She wasn''t sure if cats could do this, but the system had also mentioned that she would upgrade to be a more powerful... cat than ordinary ones?0

    A cat that had studied in the interster system, perhaps? ==0n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    While letting her thoughts wander and adapting to the new sensations, Chu Tingwu continued to move at high speed along the mountain path, eventually opting to enter the mountain and take a shorter route.0

    For others, this wasn''t a shortcut but a difficult and dangerous "death mountain path." However, with the system''s guidance, Chu Tingwu wouldn''t get lost, could see in the dark as if it were daylight, identify all obstacles, and avoid dangerousndslides by listening and relying on her intuition¡ªand it was faster this way.0

    She jumped over a fallen tree and spotted a stretch of sand and a row of houses in the distance, realizing that the Shakuan Campsite was ahead.0

    By now, half an hour had passed since she entered the mountain.0

    -0

    The Zheng family had descended from the mountain.0

    When they heard the warning, they were already on their way down. After a moment''s hesitation, they turned the car toward the Shakuan Campsite at a road fork.0

    Later, the entire mountain trembled, and the male head of the household didn''t dare to continue driving. He had to use the car''s front to brace against a rock, and everyone huddled in the backseat.0

    When the first wave of the earthquake subsided, they looked back and saw that the road behind them had disappeared, and the front was in chaos.0

    If they had been on their original path, the car might have been swept down the mountain along with thendslide or crushed by falling rocks and soil.0

    But now, regardless of what might have happened if they had chosen the other road, they could only head toward the Shakuan Campsite.0

    The family took out food and water from the car, grabbed their hiking poles, and continued along the path¡ªthe Shakuan Campsite might have other people and ample, clean water sources, making it much safer than continuing down the mountain.0

    The only problem was...0

    Zheng Rong: "Mom, how much of your medicine do you have left?"0

    Zheng''s Mother shook her head, then said, "It''s okay, I''m fine, I''ll just drink some water."0

    After her mother was discharged from the hospital earlier that year, she had needed regr medication. This time, they had brought the exact amount needed, nning to replenish it at a pharmacy after descending the mountain.0

    Zheng Rong felt powerless.0

    He nced at his wife but held back his tears.0

    They had never experienced an earthquake before. The people at the campsite had shared food and water with them, and it was clear that the supplies here couldst at least three days... Everyone was optimistic, believing in the efficiency of the current government. But only the Zheng family was extremely anxious.0

    Unable to contact those below the mountain and finding it difficult to leave on foot, they asked around but found that no one nearby had the specific medication they needed. Everyone''s first-aid kits only containedmon medications.0

    A hiker nearby approached them: "Look, write down what medicine you need, and I''ll head down the mountain tomorrow morning."0

    It wasn''t entirely out of goodwill; the hiker was also worried about his family. He hade up the mountain path earlier, not the highway, so his chances of sess were higher than those of other tourists.0

    Zheng Rong was deeply moved and kept shaking his hand: "Thank you, thank you so much. I''ll write it down right now!"0

    The moonlight above was exceptionally clear. Since there was no charging station, everyone had turned off their phones, agreeing to take turns turning them on for a period to receive rescue signals as soon as possible.0

    Zheng Rong paced back and forth on the open ground, seemingly suffering from earthquake PTSD: he was worried about aftershocks at night.0

    The tree shadows swayed slightly.0

    Zheng Rong''s nerves tensed, and then, he saw light.0

    At first, he thought it was the moonlight, but then he realized there was no water in front, so the moonlight couldn''t be that bright¡ª0

    The light came from behind the tree shadows, casting a circr shadow on the ground... it wasn''t light, but rather, it seemed to be the light of a drone!0

    Zheng Rong: "Ah¡ª"0

    "Mom! Wife!"0

    He wanted to call out, but his first reaction was to call for his closest family members, speeding up his steps to approach¡ª0

    And so, Zheng Rong saw a girl in a rescue team uniform, carrying arge backpack, and leading a cat.0

    The cat was...0

    "Kongsu City Police Cat?"0

    His heart began to race, and he reached out to grab her arm, but unexpectedly, she grabbed his hand first. At the same time, others also approached, their eyes filled with anticipation and excitement.0

    Girl: "I''m from the Jin City Rescue Team, a volunteer from the Starcloud Charity Foundation. I came up ahead of the others, who are still on their way. Everyone, don''t worry."0

    She then said to Zheng Rong, "The medicine your mother needs is in my bag. We checked the tourists'' information beforeing up, so don''t worry, we brought everything that might be urgently needed."0

    Zheng Rong could only say "good, good, good," his voice choked with emotion: "I... I''m also from Jin City. Thank you, thank you¡ª"0

    His voice faltered for a moment.0

    The girl was surrounded by others, who eagerly sought more information about when they would be rescued.0

    So Zheng Rong noticed her jacket and therge words on the back:0

    "Blue Ocean Foundation Rescue Team"0

    Zheng Rong: "?"0

    Um, when you came up, did you identally put on the wrong jacket?0

    The simrly "misdressed" tortoiseshell cat nced at him, scratching at its small uniform¡ªa bit tight, not used to it, when can it take it off, meow?0

 Chapter 85

    <h1>Chapter 85</h1>

    The Shawan Camp on Wo Mountain is located at an altitude of about 2,000 meters, and currently, more than thirty tourists are stranded there.0

    The rescue team will bring up sufficient supplies, but due to the poor road conditions, they will inevitably need to stay at the camp for some time.0

    Chu Tingwu greeted everyone around, and the older man who wanted to hike down the mountain followed her around. Finally, when she had some free time, he asked:0

    "Miss, when will the others arrive? Can we contact the people below? Can I let my family know I''m safe? Oh, and I also have a friend who was hiking with me. We were both staying on the mountain, and he left early in the morning. He hasn''t returned yet¡ª"0

    The older man wanted to go down the mountain not just to contact his family but more urgently to confirm the safety of his friend. With modernmunication methods cut off, everyone felt a void in their hearts... He hoped that once he got down, he would learn that his friend had already descended the mountain. If there was no news, at least he could pass on the message.0

    Chu Tingwu: Why didn''t you say so earlier?0

    Due to the distance and high altitude, the signal was insufficient, so the walkie-talkie in Chu Tingwu''s hand was currently useless. However, she had brought a radio receiver, which she left with the people on the mountain¡ªa radio station had also been set up below. The walkie-talkie was mainly for when the rescue team members were nearby and needed tomunicate with each other. Both she and her cat were equipped with location devices. If she were to go missing, the police could still locate her based on the signal.0

    When Chu Tingwu prepared to leave, everyone in the camp was quite surprised. This rescue team member hade alone and was now leaving alone, leaving only supplies and information behind. Despite her not being physically strong, the sight of her departing back made everyone feel uneasy.0

    The older man even stopped her: "Why don''t I go with you? I''ve been hiking for several years, and I''m pretty nimble on the mountain... You''re heading this way, are you going further up? At least I can help you carry the life detector!"0

    Chu Tingwu politely declined: "Stay here. Otherwise, if you go down the mountain and get into trouble, we''ll have toe rescue you."0

    Hmm... it didn''t sound very polite.0

    Actually, before her, others had already tried to persuade the older man, but their words carried a hint of hope, making him feel eager to go down on his own.0

    Chu Tingwu''s tone wasn''t harsh, just very calm, which made the older man feel less inclined to move and a bit embarrassed.0

    Then, he saw the rescue team member, who introduced herself as from the "Starcloud Charity Foundation" but was wearing a "Blue Ocean Foundation" jacket, call her cat and quickly disappear into the night.0

    After some distance, the light from the drone above also disappeared, further stirring concern in everyone''s hearts.0

    After Chu Tingwu left, everyone dozed off briefly. At dawn, they were awakened by members of the rescue team¡ª0

    Seeing so many strangers in "Blue Ocean Foundation" jackets in the camp, everyone''s eyes welled up with tears. Although they hadn''t been able to descend the mountain yet, their hearts felt much more at ease.0

    Zheng Rong also approached to ask about Chu Tingwu, expressing his gratitude: "It''s a good thing you had a membere ahead of time to bring medicine for my mother. Otherwise, we really wouldn''t have known what to do!"0

    The leader waved his hand, then seemed to recall something: "By the way, when did she arrive? Where is she now?"0

    Zheng Rong: "Hmm, about five hours ago? Then she went back up the mountain."0

    The leader: "..."0

    A few hours?0

    How did she get up here so quickly? Even if she took a shortcut, it wouldn''t be that fast, right?0

    He couldn''t help but repeatedly inquire, suspecting that the people in the camp might have hallucinated, but Zheng Rong''s puzzled expression confirmed it. He muttered:0

    "So it really wasn''t the Blue Ocean Foundation..."0

    He had thought the girl had just mixed up the names, but it turned out she had just worn the wrong jacket. So, what is this Starcloud Charity Foundation? Is it in Jincheng? I''ll have to look into itter.0

    The leader: "=="0

    No, he was certain it wasn''t. Later, when he meets Yan Ping, he''ll have to ask who this person really is!0

    -0

    Yan Ping and another team from the rescue squad were together.0

    The situation on the mountain was severe. On their way up, they encountered injured individuals and had to manually carry them down the mountain¡ªboth injured were not tourists but original residents of the mountain, likely because "those who are good swimmers drown." They encountered an aftershock while descending.0

    This made Yan Ping even more worried about other residents on Wo Mountain¡ª0

    Wo Mountain isn''t just a tourist destination; it''s a series of mountains surrounded by smaller hills. Wo Mountain is the highest peak, but the surrounding hills also have names, though they aren''t as prominent.0

    Over the years, the government has been working to relocate residents from the mountains, but many still live in poverty, unwilling to leave their "homnd."0

    They refuse to live in free resettlement housing andmunities below, insisting on staying in the inconvenient mountains.0

    In addition to scattered households, there is even a vige on the mountain.0

    Before leaving the mountain, Yan Ping thought: I hope they''ve already met Chu Tingwu... and I hope Chu Tingwu doesn''t wander off and stays safely in the camp.0

    -0

    Although Chu Tingwu wasn''t in the camp, the people there busied themselves for a while before hearing other voices.0

    It was an excited shout,ing from two unfamiliar faces, clearly tourists... and a familiar cat leading the way.0

    The leader: "Three Five Five!"0

    The two tourists finally saw therge group and immediately felt their knees go weak, almost copsing to the ground.0

    Others hurried over to help them up and learned:0

    "You met one of our rescue team members... ah, the one who was alone, with this cat?"0

    "She left the cat with you and went ahead on her own? After dawn, the cat started leading you down the mountain?"0

    "Her name, for the g¡ªah, well, actually, she''s from the Starcloud Charity Foundation, not our rescue team. She just borrowed a jacket. Starcloud Charity Foundation, this, this person, yes, he''s more familiar with it!"0

    Zheng Rong, who was pointed to: "?"0

    He, he only knows the foundation is in Jincheng!0

    The leader was a bit worried: From what he heard, Chu Tingwu seemed to be heading further up. Wouldn''t she get carried away with the rescue? Actually, it''s safer for the stranded to stay in ce and wait for rescue. Under such circumstances, attempting to descend the mountain on their own is more dangerous. As long as there''s enough water, waiting for rescue is definitely more secure.0

    The tabby cat seemed thirsty and drank some water nearby. Others transferred their gratitude for Chu Tingwu to the cat. After drinking, the cat looked around, then nced at the direction of departure, seeming a bit hesitant. Finally, it stayed in ce and didn''t move.0

    Meanwhile, Chu Tingwu wasn''t as the leader imagined¡ªstill rushing around¡ª0

    She was sleeping.0

    More urately, she was "proctoring" a dream ss.0

    The leader''s concerns were also her considerations¡ªher olfactory system could cover several kilometers. When fully activated, she could detect the presence, traces, movements, and emotions of other living beings in the area using only her sense of smell.0

    Of course, for wild animals, evolving this ability is primarily for hunting purposes.0

    However, Chu Tingwu was using it for rescuing people.0

    Only when she activated it did she realize: "I don''t think I''ve ever smelled people like this before..."0

    Perhaps because she lived among people, she instinctively lowered her sensitivity to human scents, bing more alert to the presence of animals. Now, variousplex emotions and odors filled her nostrils... Chu Tingwu felt a massive "unease."0

    Some people believe they can maintain a stable mindset during disasters, but in reality, when disaster strikes, most react with nk minds, weak limbs, and even fail to immediately take cover.0

    The same was true now. Regardless of their expressions, the true emotions couldn''t be concealed.0

    Chu Tingwu was enveloped in this mood. She sat on a huge boulder embedded in the soil, hugging her knees and taking a deep breath, inexplicably eximing:0

    ¡°Nature is so vast.¡±0

    The system also awkwardly replied: ¡°Uh¡­¡±0

    For the system, it only knew data and didn''t really understand emotions¡ªhumans might naturally exim in the face of nature''s power, but to the system, it was like NPC dialogue, distant behind a screen.0

    Yes, vast, magnificent, beautiful.0

    But wasn¡¯t it still just made up of 1s and 0s?0

    And yet now, feeling the emotions of the young one, hearing her sigh, it somehow felt like it could understand.0

    But for this piece of code, what did ¡°understanding¡± even mean?0

    The young one had already jumped down and continued forward. The system pondered for a while and suddenly realized¡ª0

    It didn¡¯t understand how great nature was, but it became aware that when nature roared, it was powerless to protect the young one in that instant.0

    Only by realizing its own helplessness could it grasp the "greatness" of nature, this ruthless creature.0

    Even though, in the system¡¯s vast data, Earth was just an ordinary, but when the young one was here, the naturalndscapes became special, and the entire became special, something it had to treat with utmost care.0

    The system suddenly exims: "You''re still so young."0

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°?¡±0

    Why bring that up all of a sudden? Wasn¡¯t she growing up?0

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°Stop with the nonsense. I¡¯m going to sleep. Pull everyone nearby into the dream space.¡±0

    Having confirmed the locations of the people around her and that they weren¡¯t seriously injured, only that their emotions and hormones might lead them to make wrong decisions, Chu Tingwu used the [Dream Resonance] technique.0

    Making everyone dream was far more efficient than going around one by one to calm them down, asking them not to run around or go down the mountain on their own.0

    The only problem with Dream Resonance was that Chu Tingwu, as the medium, had to be in the dream herself.0

    There wouldn¡¯t be any more aftershocks. Sitting on a higher, rtively open spot, she closed her eyes under the moonlight, not caring whether it was clean or not¡ªafter all, everyone was in the same state.0

    The next second, everyone within two kilometers was pulled into the ¡°dream.¡±0

    But for them¡­ it might be a nightmare.0

    -0

    Wan Jiao sat on the open ground in front of the vige, feeling inexplicably sleepy.0

    After the earthquake began, no one dared to stay in their homes, so everyone gathered in the square in front of the vige.0

    The so-called square was already one of the few t spots on the mountain¡ª0

    From a distance, Wan Family Vige looked like a series of red-roofed buildings of varying heights. The way up and down the mountain was via a ¡°skydder,¡± almost a 90-degree steel structure that required climbing with both hands and feet.0

    But the people of Wan Family Vige were used to it. Long ago, even these steeldders didn¡¯t exist; they used ropedders to get up and down.0

    Most young people had already moved down the mountain, but people like Wan Jiao, who were older, still didn¡¯t want to go down¡ªliving on the mountain was good. There were cheap, almost free houses, a supermarket, a square, and even amunity activity center.0

    But living there, Wan Jiao always felt cramped.0

    Their ents were different from those down the mountain, and he didn¡¯t know how to use the unfamiliar appliances. All he could do was plug in a rice cooker¡­ So after barely half a year living down the mountain, he rolled up his bedding and returned to the simple house on the mountain.0

    Now.0

    Wan Jiao looked at the house not far away.0

    It had copsed.0

    He felt his mind go numb. What was a house? A house was a small coffin made of wood and mud. He lived in his own little coffin every day, always feeling that he would be taken by the heavens tomorrow. Then he would feel at ease, feeling that although he hadn¡¯t done anything in his life, it was stillplete.0

    But now his coffin had been taken away first.0

    He lowered his head, and tears fell to the ground.0

    Around him, people were talking, and there were cries. Wan Jiao thought of his grandchildren down the mountain, wobbled to his feet, and then plopped back down.0n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Dust swirled around him as he fell asleep.0

    He opened his eyes vaguely in his dream¡ª0

    The sky outside the window was gray. He pushed the door open and looked into the distance. The mountains were justyered silhouettes of dark green against the horizon. The houses were intact, the world quiet, and he could hear the distant calls of other animals, the chirping of birds.0

    Wan Jiao raised his hand: ¡°Go, go!¡±0

    The birds were still chirping, and Wan Jiao instead lowered his hand. His heart raced a little, always worried that if he made too much noise, the ground would start shaking again.0

    But no, the earthquake didn¡¯t happen.0

    He turned back into the house, crawled back into his bed¡­ and fell asleep again.0

    But the elderly in the vige could be fooled like this; the younger people pulled into the dream couldn¡¯t.0

    So, when Hao Qin and her fellow hikers leaned against each other and fell asleep, they woke up to find themselves in a ssroom.0

    Everyone around them was writing, and when she just stood up, the teacher came over: ¡°What are you doing? You can¡¯t hand in your paper early.¡±0

    Hao Qin: ¡°Ah¡­ ah¡ª¡±0

    She awkwardly sat back down.0

    Her intuition told her she was still dreaming, and dreaming of an exam was normal, right?0

    Hao Qin simply lowered her head and started looking at the exam paper. People who had been through years of exams in China generally had a natural sense of awe for ssrooms and teachers. Since it was a dream, she might as well see what was on the test.0

    Hao Qin: ¡°¡­¡±0

    Hao Qin: ¡°¡­?¡±0

    Wait, this should be biology¡­ but why, why did these words together make no sense to her? This was biology, right?0

    The teacher came over, tapped her desk, and let out a questioning ¡°Hmm?¡±0

    Hao Qin hurriedly pulled out a pen and started pretending to scribble on her draft paper¡ª0

    To be honest, her heart was beating faster than during the earthquake.0

    Although she couldn''t understand the questions and had long forgotten the content she learned in high school (she suspected this wasn''t high school material), she still managed to start filling in the exam paper.0

    After about two hours, the bell finally rang, and Hao Qin breathed a sigh of relief, only to be swept out of the ssroom by her ssmates. She: ¡°Where to?¡±0

    A stranger: ¡°Back to our own ssroom,e on.¡±0

    So they were switching ssrooms for the exam.0

    She followed them vaguely, pushed the door open, and ¡°Ah!¡±0

    She saw her friend! Her friend was here¡­ and there were some obviously unfamiliar but not student-like people too.0

    Her friend saw her and her eyes lit up.0

    Her heart pounding as she sat down, she hadn¡¯t even had time to talk more with her friend when the door opened, and a strange female teacher came in to hand out papers.0

    Hao Qin: Wait!0

    The female teacher: ¡°Your papers¡­ what are you even testing¡­ I¡¯ve only graded the first few, toozy to continue, everyone swap and grade each other¡¯s, I¡¯ll start exining!¡±0

    Was this dream too realistic?0

    Hao Qin absent-mindedly clutched her friend''s paper, listening to the teacher at the front of the ssroom exining the questions. As she listened, she actually began to think¡­ this question, hmm, how should this be done, why did she get the next one wrong¡­0

    No!0

    She hadn¡¯t even learned this, of course she¡¯d get it wrong!0

    After vaguely listening to the exnation of the paper, she felt like she was about to wake up, but not long after, she was taken to a new ssroom by the ¡°ssmates¡± to take a math exam.0

    Hao Qin: ¡°¡­¡± Kill me.0

    Biology she could bluff, but math, if she didn¡¯t know it, she really didn¡¯t know it! Not even in a dream!0

    Just as she was despairing over the math problems on the exam paper, Hao Qin felt a push: ¡°Wake up, wake up? Oh, why did everyone fall asleep?¡±0

    Hao Qin: ¡°I, I really can¡¯t do it¡­¡±0

    The rescue team volunteer: ¡°Ah?¡±0

    -0

    The system: ¡°So humans can dream on their own.¡±0

    Chu Tingwu: Otherwise?0

    Human thought was moreplex than that of animals, but she found¡­ it seemed easier to fool.0

    Not to deceive people, but to directly fool their brains.0

    During the exam breaks and after the exam, Chu Tingwu did wake up for a while, but the others remained asleep¡ªcontinuing to dream, with their brains automatically filling in the gaps of their dreams.0

    For example, the questions, or the feeling of being unable to solve them. Some thought they were just spacing out in their dreams for a few minutes, but in reality, nearly an hour had passed.0

    And during that hour, Chu Tingwu found the unlucky soul hanging off the edge of a cliff.0

    The one the hiking brother mentioned¡ªthe friend who had gone up the mountain.0

    The person was in a semi-conscious state, likely having slipped and fallen, getting stuck in a crack in the rocks.0

    The "cliff" was more of a steep slope, about seven or eight meters high, with the person stuck around the five-meter mark.0

    Chu Tingwu unfastened her gear, took out a specialized climbing piton, and then¡ª0

    She pointed at the drone, which awkwardly turned away. Chu Tingwu smiled silently.0

    She took a step forward, leapt, andnded directly at the top of the seven-meter-high slope, hammering the piton into ce.0

    After that, she began descending, securing each piton, and then reached the hiker''s side.0

    The hiker''s belongings were scattered everywhere, some already damaged. Perhaps the sound of the hammering had woken him up, and he opened his eyes groggily.0

    Chu Tingwu was hanging by the side, using her fingers to wedge herself into the rock crevice to stabilize herself: "I''m... forget it, I''m a volunteer from the Blue Ocean Foundation Rescue Team. Don''t struggle, I''ll help you secure your gear."0

    The hiker opened his mouth, then weakly raised his finger to point at his mouth.0

    Chu Tingwu flipped over on the cliffside, pulled out a bottle of water from behind her, twisted off the cap with one hand, and held it to his mouth.0

    He finally regained some strength, gulping down water while looking at Chu Tingwu and nodding slightly.0

    After drinking, he grabbed the bottle with his hands.0

    At that moment, some loose rocks tumbled down, and his face turned pale.0

    Chu Tingwu, however, showed no change in expression. She stabilized herself on the rock wall with just her foot, took a deep breath, pressed her body against the cliff, and reached out to help him put on his gear.0

    "Once I get some strength back, I can put it on myself. Be careful, though... sigh..."0

    He nced down and noticed that Chu Tingwu was barely standing on the tips of her toes, looking extremely precarious. It was so unnerving that he didn''t dare move.0

    Chu Tingwu: "It''s fine. This rock wall still has a bit of an incline, so I can stand with my feet. It''s much better than those that are almost vertical."0

    On those, you''d have to use a three-point support method to hang someone up.0

    The hiker: "?"0

    "Much better"¡ªdid you really climb those kinds before?0

    "You..." the hiker said again, "You''re helping me put this on, but what about yours?"0

    Chu Tingwu nced at the top, then at him, indicating with her eyes: I was able to hammer the piton at the top¡ªdo you really think I need one?0

    He fell silent.0

    After the safety gear was secured, he tested it, then slowly freed his limbs. Small rocks and dust fell as he carefully propped himself against the rock wall, enduring the pain, and began his slow descent.0

    When he finally touched the ground, despite hisposure, he nearly copsed from relief.0

    Then, he immediately looked up, wanting to see the volunteer¡ª0

    Chu Tingwu was standing beside him, picking up the nearby bag and slinging it over her shoulder: "I found your camera equipment. The rest is broken, but I managed to salvage your ID. Check if anything''s missing."0

    He: How did you get down so fast?!0

    He shook his head in confusion, and Chu Tingwu helped the most injured person down to the camp, finally reuniting with the main group.0

    Over the next few days, the government worked to clear the roads while transporting supplies back and forth.0

    The impact of this earthquake wasn''t too severe. Since the epicenter was close, the surrounding areas weren''t greatly affected¡ªjust some shaking. The city had timely notifications, so there were no casualties, but the self-built houses in the viges suffered the most damage, and there werendslides that trapped people on the mountain.0

    While Chu Tingwu was editing her video, the disaster statistics werepleted. There were sixty-three injured, mostly minor injuries, mainly in the Nanyue District. There were three severe injuries, all on the mountain, who had already been sent for medical treatment.0

    The economic losses were still being calcted, but Chu Tingwu had taken a week off and gathered enough footage. It was time to go back to ss.0

    Yan Ping, along with Xiao Yan, saw her off to the station. He had been holding back all the way, finally unable to contain himself:0

    "Uh... did you manage to capture any footage of Xiao Yan''s performance during the earthquake?"0

    He wasn''t nning to make a documentary, was he? Although earthquakes aren''t good, it''s an important piece of footage! Later, the neighboring city sent rescue dogs to assist... but Xiao Yan also did a great job... pawing, he really wanted to show off... no, document it! If he didn''t get any footage, he felt like he''d missed out.0

    Chu Tingwu: "Don''t worry."0

    Yan Ping: Your drone just followed you around¡ªnot very reassuring.0

    Chu Tingwu: "I got footage from the rescue team."0

    Yan Ping: "That''s good."0

    But he still had some concerns... the random drone footage might not be up to par.0

    ¡ªDirector, please make sure to keep my kid''s "screen time."0

    What he didn''t know was that this part was actually being filmed by the director''s personal cameraman.0

    Yan Ping also gave Chu Tingwu some local specialty pastries from Kongsu City, trying to bribe the director.0

    After returning to school, the director shared the bribes with her ssmates.0

    Chu Tingwu had been away for nearly half a month, and everyone... was extremely envious.0

    Except for her closest friends, most people only knew that Chu Tingwu had been involved in some kind of police-rted filming and hadn''t been in the city recently. The person sitting in front of her turned around and asked: "Did you go anywhere fun?"0

    Chu Tingwu: "Yeah... went hiking."0

    Chang Yixin, who had called Chu Tingwu after the earthquake: "..."0

    Front seat: "Oh, oh, there aren''t many good mountains nearby. During my summer vacation, my parents took me to climb Mount Tai, and I thought I was going to die. Was your hike fun? Did you make it to the top?"0

    Chu Tingwu: "Didn''t reach the very top. The height was just average, in our province."0

    Front seat: "Ah, our province doesn''t have much to offer... there''s a winter camping up soon, no holidays, or else we could''ve gone hiking together."0

    Chu Tingwu nodded.0

    Chang Yixin, who knew everything: "¡­¡­¡­¡­"0

    What are you nodding for?!0

 Chapter 86

    <h1>Chapter 86</h1>

    ¡°Back home?¡±0

    ¡°Yes, back home.¡±0

    After Chu Tingwu returned home for two days, the neighbors around her had already noticed. On her way to and from school, neighbors would greet her like this. After chatting with her, they would also call out to Three-Five-Five: ¡°Three-Five-Five, there¡¯s a new stray cat in the neighborhood. You weren¡¯t here at the time, and it¡¯s been bullying the other cats. I even saw it catching birds behind the activity area. You need to take care of it.¡±0

    Three-Five-Five: ¡°Meow~¡±0

    The neighbor would then leave satisfied, asionally handing Chu Tingwu a box of strawberries.0

    As Chu Tingwu munched on the strawberries while heading home, she encountered the ¡°new cat¡± at a corner: ¡°Even Maine Coons end up as strays?¡±0

    This was a pure ck Maine Coon, with only a small patch of white under its chin, resembling a white beard. Judging by its appearance, it had a symmetrical ¡°open face¡± with no mixed fur. Despite its stray status, it looked somewhat disheveled but still quite handsome¡­ and veryrge.0

    The Maine Coon had been gnawing on a chicken w. Upon hearing the sound of Three-Five-Five, it didn¡¯t even lift its head, finishing thest bit of meat before raising its head with the bone still in its mouth. Then, it saw Chu Tingwu and disyed a look of ¡°pupil-shaking shock¡±¡ª0

    Not because it was scared by the ¡°young one,¡± but because Chu Tingwu made no sound and had no scent.0

    After her skills were upgraded, she could now conceal the smell she emitted. Moreover, her control over her body had improved significantly, enhancing her overall physical fitness. Not only could people not notice her footsteps, but now even cats couldn¡¯t hear hering.0

    Chu Tingwu didn¡¯t try to catch the Maine Coon off guard. Instead, she first interrogated it: ¡°Where did you originally live, and how did you end up here?¡±0

    Maine Coon: ¡°¡­¡­¡±0

    Since it couldn¡¯t smell her, in the Maine Coon¡¯s perception, Chu Tingwu was probably just a talking ¡°human-shaped vacuum cleaner¡±? In short, an odd creature that suddenly appeared out of nowhere.0

    So, it cautiously backed away a bit and nced at Three-Five-Five.0

    Three-Five-Five: ¡°?¡±0

    Three-Five-Five opened its mouth wide, letting out a huge yawn, its eyes ncing over as if to say, ¡°Why aren¡¯t you talking yet? Want me to smack you?¡±0

    Maine Coon: ¡°I sat in a car for a long time, and then my mom picked me up and left me here before driving away, meow.¡±0

    It crouched there, looking quiterge, clearly an adult, but its voice was still timid.0

    After saying that, it tried toe closer to sniff Three-Five-Five, only to be smacked in the face by Three-Five-Five.0

    Chu Tingwu picked up the Maine Coon and took it to the neighborhood clinic for deworming. The clinic doctor¡¯s information differed from the neighbors¡¯: ¡°It¡¯s quite timid, probably a pet that was domesticated. It¡¯s afraid of cages. Even when it sees food in a cage, it won¡¯t go near it. When it¡¯s hungry, it tries to catch birds¡ª¡±0

    And ends up with a mouthful of feathers.0

    ¡°By the way,¡± the doctor asked, ¡°Did you get out of school? No evening self-study? Have you done your homework?¡±0

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°¡­Tomorrow is a holiday, followed by two days of school sports meet. We¡¯ve been assigned homework for these four days.¡±0

    So, there¡¯s no rush to do it today.0

    This holiday is only for thepetition ss, likely because the teachers thought they¡¯ve been studying too hardtely¡­ Of course, this doesn¡¯t include Chu Tingwu, who only returned to school after a half-month absence and has only attended for two days.0

    Upon learning that the Maine Coon was dropped off by its ¡°mom¡± and that it was left at the intersection with no cor or other identification, the clinic doctor shrugged: ¡°It was abandoned, pretty normal¡­ People don¡¯t just abandon non-pedigree cats. Sometimes it¡¯s strange¡ªbecause it¡¯s a pedigree cat, they don¡¯t want to give it away or find it a new home. I¡¯ve evene across people wanting to euthanize their pedigree cats¡­¡±0

    The doctor shook his head.0

    These people think that giving away a cat for free means the new owner is getting a bargain, and since they can¡¯t sell it for money, they don¡¯t want to let someone else benefit either.0

    Compared to them, simply abandoning a cat to fend for itself doesn¡¯t seem so bad.0

    Noticing Chu Tingwu¡¯s intention to find a new home for the Maine Coon, the doctor warned: ¡°This cat is probably expensive. Be careful if the owneres back and tries to me you.¡±0

    If the cat¡¯s owner regrets the decision and sees Chu Tingwu¡¯s adoption post on that ount, iming it was their lost cat, both Chu Tingwu and the new owner would be in a tough spot.0

    Moreover, it¡¯s not advisable to just find any new owner¡­ As there¡¯s a risk of the cat being resold.0

    While being dewormed, the Maine Coon obedientlyy still without struggling. Whenever it tried to move, Three-Five-Five would press its paw on its head, and it would stay put.0

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°If only cats had ID cards.¡±0

    Implementing a one-cat-one-ID system, where if humans wanted to abandon a cat, they would cancel its ID, symbolizing the renunciation of ownership¡ªand if a stray cat with an uncanceled ID is found, the owner would be held responsible and required topensate for any losses.0

    System: ¡°What losses?¡±0

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°The eighty-thousand-dor antique vase it broke while I was taking care of it.¡±0

    System: Where did you get an antique¡­ Oh!0

    System: ¡°It also broke your eighty-thousand-dor whole-house custom smart control tform¡ª¡±0

    Chu Tingwu: Don¡¯t pin that on the poor cat! That¡¯s toughened ss!0

    Hearing this, the doctor chuckled helplessly: ¡°Hope so, hope so.¡±0

    Since a new owner couldn¡¯t be found for the time being, it could be temporarily fostered at the clinic. However, with the clinic¡¯s doors constantly opening and closing, the doctor was worried the Maine Coon might run away.0

    Chu Tingwu picked up the cat after its check-up: ¡°I¡¯ll take it home for now.¡±0

    That evening, when Man Xing arrived, she found a Maine Coon lounging on the sofa.0

    Three-Five-Five sat regally on top, smacking the Maine Coon whenever it tried to climb up.0

    Man Xing approached and stroked the Maine Coon¡¯s chin: ¡°Chu Chu, are you bringing it home to find it a new owner?¡±0

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°Do you know it?¡±0

    ¡°Yes,¡± Man Xing said, ¡°The people in the neighborhood call it White Beard. It¡¯s quite cute.¡±0

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°¡­¡­¡± But how do you know that?0

    Man Xing: ¡°I¡¯m in yourmunity¡¯s owner group.¡±0

    As a (former) personal assistant, being in the boss¡¯smunity owner group is quite normal, isn¡¯t it? It¡¯s convenient for her to help resolve disputes between neighbors!0

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°==¡±0

    Chu Tingwu wasn¡¯t worried about potential disputes from finding a new owner for the Maine Coon, not because of the eighty-thousand-dor antique vase, but because the system had already located its previous owner.0

    The previous owner had adopted the cat with her boyfriend.0

    They had adopted it from an institution. Recently, the previous owner broke up with her boyfriend, and the two had a disagreement over how to handle the cat¡ªselling it and splitting the money worried them about being exposed by the adoption agency and shamed publicly, while not selling it meant both wanted it and used the other of just wanting the money.0

    In the end, the previous owner simply drove over two hours and abandoned the cat in the center of Jin City, thinking: ¡°In a ce like downtown, with so many people, it¡¯s sure to be adopted, right? That¡¯s doing a good deed.¡±0

    The couple returned to continue arguing, while the cat wandered all the way to the Jinhua Residential Area.0

    From their concern about the adoption agency, it¡¯s clear they still had some sense of shame.0

    Chu Tingwu was familiar with various cat adoption institutions, or at least knew someone who was. So, through ¡°Cha Mi Goes Home,¡± she quickly contacted the small institution that had originally given away the Maine Coon. Upon hearing the news, they were furious:0

    ¡°What kind of people¡­ They promised so well when they took the cat, and now, as soon as they break up, they abandon it and hide it from us!¡±0

    If they had just said they couldn¡¯t continue caring for it due to circumstances, they could have returned the Maine Coon, and the institution wouldn¡¯t have refused!0

    The institution said they could drive over to pick up the Maine Coon. Man Xing hesitated for a moment and asked, ¡°Can I adopt it?¡±0

    Institution: ¡°Huh?¡±0

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°Huh?¡±0

    Man Xing seemed to have made up her mind: ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about getting a cat recently. I was originally nning to adopt a kitten, but I couldn¡¯t make a decision¡ª¡±0

    She turned to look at the Maine Coon. The ck cat looked very regal, but its eyes were innocent: ¡°It¡¯s so well-behaved. It¡¯s been abandoned twice, yet it¡¯s still so affectionate. It¡¯s just be more timid¡­ I think, as long as I¡¯m not fired from my job with the boss, I won¡¯t be short on food for the cat. Plus, I can learn how to make cat food from the boss.¡±0

    She gave a meaningful nce, hinting: "As long as Boss, you don''t get rid of me, you don''t have to worry about me getting rid of it!"0

    Chu Tingwu narrowed her eyes.0

    Man Xing immediately withdrew her gaze and chuckled.0

    However, Man Xing was indeed a good choice. She was an adult, economically independent, meticulous in personality, and very good at taking care of people. Taking care of a cat was naturally no problem. Moreover, she was right by Chu Tingwu''s side, so abandoning a cat was out of the question.0

    She also lived alone, with her parents not in the same city, so it was only natural for her to want to adopt a cat to keep herpany.0

    The institution, after hearing this, hesitated and said, "Alright, then we''lle by tomorrow? We hope it''s not too much trouble for you."0

    ...It was just that they had been burned too many times, so they were worried and thought it would be better to see for themselves.0

    Man Xing rolled up her sleeves: "Alright! I''ll go buy a house!"0

    Chu Tingwu: ...There''s no need to jump to that extent.0

    Man Xing had always rented a ce. When she was alone, she didn''t feel the space was small¡ªa seventy-plus square meter, two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment was more than enough. But now that she was going to have a cat (soon), and arge one at that, she felt the space was cramped.0

    Buying a house was something she had been considering for a while. Man Xing said, "I thought that since the headquarters of the Starcloud Charity Foundation is in Jin City, I''ll probably stay here for a long time. I can''t keep renting¡ª"0

    When she was working, she felt like she was doing it for her boss. Now, even though she was still working for her boss, the work was different. She could gain a sense of aplishment, and her work could impact society (even if she thought it was just a little bit). Her mindset had changed.0

    She wanted to put down roots.0

    Chu Tingwu asked, "So, what kind of house are you looking for?"0

    Man Xing replied, "One with convenient transportation, a quiet environment, and all the necessary living facilities, with good neighbors... right?"0

    Whether it was a new house or a second-hand one didn''t matter to her.0

    Her work was already filled with trivial tasks, so she hated dealing with trivial and troublesome things in her personal life¡ªthe property management should also be responsible and truly serve the residents...0

    Chu Tingwu: "Ah."0

    Man Xing: "Ah..."0

    They both looked out the window.0

    It seemed there was indeed a suitable neighborhood, and it was even a school district house.0

    Chu Tingwu: "The sixth floor has been renovated but never lived in. They''ve recently decided to sell the house..."0

    Man Xing: "Then, I''ll go ask the property management."0

    Even before buying, she had already joined the homeowner''s group, and the property management was an old acquaintance.0

    The house-buying process didn''t finish that quickly, and Man Xing had to inform her family. The Maine Coon would continue to stay with Chu Tingwu. But before leaving, Man Xing said with great anticipation, "Alright, from now on, you''ll be called White Beard!"0

    Maine Coon: "Meow?"0

    Chu Tingwu reached out and poked it off the sofa.0

    This Maine Coon had a good temper, especially after being fed¡ªit would stille up even after being hit by Three-Five-Five many times. But it ate a lot and pooped a lot too. When the system controlled the robot to clean the cat litter, it said in the same tone as Man Xing:0

    "Alright, from now on, you''ll be called ''Labrador''~"0

    Chu Tingwu: "=v="0

    She leaned back in her chair and continued watching video footage.0

    The documentary footage had been shot, but the police, obviously using human editing speeds as a reference, had given her, the contractor, plenty of time for post-production¡ªit would be fine if it was done by the New Year.0

    However, Chu Tingwu''s post-production was all done by the system, and she only had the editing rights.0

    ¡ªIf even the editing was done by the system, with the system deciding what content to keep and what to delete, then this documentary would have little to do with Chu Tingwu. She would only be the client who came up with the idea.0

    So, after returning, she began learning editing from scratch.0

    Of course, not using software to edit videos, but¡ª0

    Chu Tingwu: "This part feels unnecessary, set it aside, and start from this shot."0

    System: "1"0

    Is this reply something you learned from our ss group? Just reply "1" when you receive it.0

    When the system was creating, it didn''t feel like much, but when Chu Tingwu started creating herself, she found: "I''m actually quite worried that I''ll edit it poorly..."0

    This documentary would express what she wanted to express... but could she really express it? As the strongest "tool," the system could gather everyone''s opinions and create a theoretically near-perfect product. All Chu Tingwu had to do was make a request, and the system would find a way to achieve it¡ª0

    Edit this documentary to be a hit? Edit it to be award-worthy? Make it more mainstream, or make the post-production effects more youthful to appeal to the younger audience?0

    But when Chu Tingwu asked the system, "Is this good?" the system replied, "I can''t judge."0

    Chu Tingwu: "?"0

    System: "Because the concept of ''good'' is diverse. You need to give more detailed requirements for me to answer¡ªbut if you''re just asking how it is, I''ll say ''very good,'' because it''s yours."0

    Chu Tingwu: "You don''t have to..."0

    System: "Just like your essays¡ª"0

    Chu Tingwu: "Alright, I''ll change it."0

    System: "?"0

    Finally, Chu Tingwu waved her hand to make the screen disappear and rolled around on the carpet¡ª0

    Although she hadn''t started creating yet, she was already stuck in a creative rut!0

    Speaking of... she seemed to know someone who was good at creating?0

    Chu Tingwu opened her phone and tapped on the Taoist priest.0

    -0

    The Taoist priest''s life was pretty greattely.0

    As a small-time inte celebrity artist, her ie from her three-dimensional work was also quite good (though it was busy and tiring), making her the kind of sessful person in the usual sense, a cousin sister working in a bigpany.0

    Painting was her hobby and also her outlet for rxation... Recently, she had added "self-promotion" friends, had mutual followings with her self-promotion, and even got a signature from her self-promotion¡ª0

    She printed her creations into a book and sent it to Chu Tingwu, who wrote her a blessing-filled to-sign.0

    Taoist priest: Complete.jpg0

    Chasing stars to this extent, the Taoist priest felt it probably couldn''t get any better, and then she received a business invitation from the 365 Company.0

    The 365 Company, naturally, was the one operated by You Zhenzhen. Starting from an APP, it had now seemingly be aprehensive emerce tform and thergest cat-show tform in the country.0

    With stable advertising revenue, tformmissions, and a positive growth in user numbers, and with Chu Tingwu''s veryid-back attitude towards ie, thepany''s revenue, apart from employee sries, was all reinvested into the product... In the middle of this year, the 365 Company was even selected by the Fallen Phoenix City government as one of the most happy and popr enterprises.0

    Less work, early off-duty, good atmosphere, full benefits... Even the office space for each person was twice asrge as other floors, and the boss seemed to be doing charity entirely, not intending to make a profit at all.0

    Correspondingly, the selection of employees was also stricter, and with the system in ce, people who just wanted to goof off couldn''t get in.0

    This time, You Zhenzhen contacted the Taoist priest because of her artist identity, wanting to invite her to help design new peripheral products.0

    The Taoist priest was earning extra money while asking, "I feel like your reputation has already been established, and user recognition is also high. Have you ever thought about making your own cat-rted product brand?"0

    Among her familiar cat-raising friends, the 365 software was almost a must-have. Even those who didn''t raise cats would download it to enjoy cats, watch cat videos, and read various cat jokes¡ªand the 365 Company was particrly good at designing cat-rted cultural and creative products. Buying from their tform was cheaper than on other emerce tforms, and it came with genuine warranties.0

    The cat-rted products listed on the 365 tform were also often more reliable than those found with a random inte search, showing that the staff really took the time to review the quality.0

    Seeing them do so much in the cultural and creative field, the Taoist priest thought they could also make their own products... As long as they could establish a brand, they could make a lot of money.0

    The Taoist priest honestly said, "I''m so worried you''ll go bankrupt."0

    You Zhenzhen: "Chu Chu said... as long as we don''t lose too much, it''s fine, and we''re really not losing money!"0

    With the system in ce, many soft costs were saved.0

    But creating her own brand wasn''t out of the question... She decided to ask Chu Tingwu about itter.0

    Unexpectedly, You Zhenzhen was pulled into an online meeting by Chu Tingwu the very next day.0

    The topic of the meeting was¡ª0

    You Zhenzhen: "Cat ID cards?"0

    Chu Tingwu: "Yes, I want to give it a try."0

    Man Xing and Lian Tong were also in the meeting. Chu Tingwu had the system project:0

    "Today, that adoption agency came to see the Maine Coon... and I thought, with 365''s current user base, we could start doing cat ID cards¡ª"0

    "Of course, not for every cat in the world, but at least for those that are abandoned, taken in by adoption agencies, and then adopted out again, they could get an electronic ID card."0

    "When they are taken in, the coborating organization could upload the cat''s ID card, and when it''s adopted, the agency could transfer it to the new owner... The adopter could then upload videos or photos of the cat on the app and automatically bind it to the corresponding ID card."0

    ¡ªThis operation could be set to default or manual.0

    Adoption agencies could directly see the cat''s current status on the app, so they wouldn''t need to privately message the adopters for status updates.0

    Of course, if the cat were to be abandoned again and spotted on the street, the software system would recognize and match it, notifying the original adoption agency.0

    Chu Tingwu proposed this idea, and the meeting fell silent for a moment.0

    Then, Man Xing said: "I think it could work. 365 already has many charity organizations rted to stray cats registered, and even those that haven''t registered have heard of the app. With our current user base, we could make this happen¡ª365 could handle the promotion, and the Starcloud Charity Foundation could oversee the vetting of these organizations."0

    "If the organizations are legitimate but facing financial difficulties, we could open a fast track for them to apply for funding, and we''d find a way to support them."0

    You Zhenzhen: "I agree. Actually, the app''s current cat census is already akin to creating ID cards. Many cats could directly transition to having an ''ID card'' issued as an electronic document to users, which wouldn''t be a problem... It''s just that in the adoption and abandonment process, adopters would need to download our software, so maybe we''d have to give them some incentive, like offering free cat food or treats from coborating brands?"0

    Lian Tong suggested: "Our current user base isn''t quiterge enough. Why not coborate with insurancepanies?"0

    The others: "Hmm?"0

    Lian Tong: "Nowadays, people don''t want kids and are starting to buy pet insurance for their cats and dogs. If we could strike a deal with insurancepanies, we could promote it through the mostmonly used payment software... Anyone who downloads and registers a 365 ount could get a discount on pet insurance. I think the chances of this working are pretty high."0

    Since their current user base is exactly the target audience for pet insurance, and insurancepanies have already approached high-profile pet bloggers for promotion, while permanent discounts might be hard to secure, temporary discount coupons should be doable.0

    At the end of the meeting, Man Xing said with a smile: "This part should also be included in the documentary, right?"0

    Ah, I wonder if it will be in the Starcloud Charity Foundation''s documentary, or in the dronepany''s or 365''s documentary?0

    The other two: "Hmm?"0

    Chu Tingwu: "Signal''s bad, I''m hanging up."0

    She still had... she still had the police cat documentary to edit!0

    Chu Tingwu messaged the Celestial Master: "Thanks for the suggestion, the two BGM tracks you picked are really nice, I''ve already bought the rights... Oh, and one more thing, if you have work left unfinished but others are pushing you to start two new projects, what should you do?"0

    Celestial Master: "..."0

    Celestial Master: "Die."0

    Chu Tingwu: "?*?"Live a little."0

    Celestial Master: "Can you tell me what the two projects are?"0

    Chu Tingwu: "..."0

    She had a bad feeling about this.0

    Chu Tingwu: "Signal''s acting up again, I''m hanging up."0

    Celestial Master: "?"0

    So what exactly are the projects? She was really curious! And that "again"¡ªwhat was that about? So suspicious!0

    Chu Tingwu waved her hand, had the system dump the third version of the edit into the digital trash, and then with a sweep of her hand¡ª0

    "Let''s try on the clothes for tomorrow''s sports day first!"0

    Three-Five-Five: "=w="0

    She raised a paw to stop Chu Tingwu from trying to put a little vest on her: Wasn''t this supposed to be about your clothes? Why did the cat get clothes too?0

    ¡ªOf course, because you''re this cat, you''re practically the school cat!0

    -0

    Chu Tingwu hadn''t initially nned to sign up for any events.0

    The Jin City No.5 Senior High School sports day happened once a year. Last year, when the freshmen were still a bit shy and not very bold in showing off, Tang Zhe, who was the physical education representative, tried to get Chu Tingwu to sign up for four events... Chu Tingwu said it was too much, and suggested they draw lots to decide the number of events.0

    In the end, Tang Zhe ran the 3000m, 1000m, 400m, and 100m by himself.0

    Chu Tingwu sat in the stands and wrote scripts for the participating ssmates for half a day¡ª0

    Throughout which, other ssmates kept peeking at her: Why are you in the "clerical" role at the school sports day? Isn''t this script a bit off?0

    This year, after the ss divisions, it was still in October¡ªbut thepetitive ss didn''t have a subject representative, and sports day events were decided through ss discussions.0

    So Chu Tingwu had to take on the 3000m run.0

    An Shiyan enthusiastically patted her shoulder: "Chu Chu, look at our ss, only you can finish the race and still survive!"0

    It wasn''t that exaggerated.0

    However, it was indeed difficult to find someone good at sports in thepetitive ss, and their ss was also smaller than others, so just filling all the event slots was a challenge.0

    Teacher Shiforted them: "You don''t have to sign up if you don''t want to. These few days can be considered a break for you, I don''t have any expectations for your rankings."0

    An Shiyan banged on the table: "Teacher, you''ve got to step up! You''re also running the 100m!"0

    Teacher Shi: "..."0

    That''s a teacher''s event, it has nothing to do with you students!0

    However, seeing how excited An Shiyan was, Chang Yixin poked her waist: "What are you nning?"0

    An Shiyan: "Hehe!"0

    As expected, she wanted to get a unified costume for the sports day... This was the only chance during school to use the ss fund to buy cosy outfits and have everyone wear them.0

    The ss fund was managed by Chang Yixin. After discussing with the teacher, she also asked for everyone''s suggestions in the ssroom:0

    "Just post the clothes you want or rmend in the group, I''ll collect them for three days and then do a vote. We''ll buy the one with the most votes."0

    The option with the most votes was indeed the one An Shiyan suggested¡ªshe was the kind of person who would half-ass things she didn''t like (like studying), but would work very efficiently on things she enjoyed.0

    Using her graphic design skills, she not only made the design look clean and aesthetically pleasing, but also included real buyer reviews, making it very convincing and eye-catching.0

    Everyone expressed: "If you really want to wear this, then we''ll vote for it..."0

    After all, there were only three voting options, the other two being sportswear and a maid outfit (??).0

    An Shiyan: "No sense of aplishment at all == "0

    Chu Tingwu: "Think of the bright side, at least we don''t have to wear a maid outfit."0

    What she chose wasn''t actually a cosy outfit, but a "pain shirt" with elements from anime she liked, which could be worn as regr clothes.0

    After all, it was the school sports day. After the opening ceremony in the morning, there would bepetitions in the afternoon. Those participating could just wear their sportswear under their outerwear, though the wind made it a bit chilly.0

    An Shiyan: "Chang Yixin... write the slogan..."0

    Chang Yixin: "..."0

    Chang Yixin: "I''ll get Chang Yile to write it."0

    She''d grab an external helper who was good at writing awkward slogans from ss 3.0

    Their ss didn''t have any performance ns. If they took time away from studying to rehearse a dance, Teacher Shi thought it would be better to just let them skip it and take a three-day break to go out and y.0

    So, thepetitive ss would just be ss (1), the first to walk past the podium in front of the principal, holding the ss sign, shouting the slogan, and then they could leave.0

    But choosing clothes was easy;ing up with a slogan was a challenge for everyone.0

    The system chimed in at this moment: "Little one, can I take a photo?"0

    Chu Tingwu: "Sure."0

    She was only running a 3,000-meter race, which was a piece of cake for her. The whole process wasn''t anything embarrassing, so why not take a photo?0

    At that moment, the students from ss 3 happened to pass by. Chang Yixin urately pulled her younger sister, who was holding hands with others, out of the group and expressed her needs.0

    Chang Yile: "=="0

    Chang Yile: "ss 1, ss 1..."0

    Chang Yixin: "Pass!"0

    Chang Yile: I haven''t even finished speaking!0

    Chang Yile: "Why not use the one from military training..."0

    So perfunctory, sozy... What a great option to make Teacher Shi happy!0

    Because the simpler the slogan, the less rehearsal is needed.0

    After some hesitation, Three-Five-Five jumped down from the windowsill, dodged the hands reaching out to her, ced her front paws on Chu Tingwu''s knees, stood up on her hind legs, and let out a big yawn.0

    Chu Tingwu reached out and stroked her back, then felt several pairs of eyes on her.0

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­Huh?"0

    An Shiyan: "Anyway, Teacher Shi just wants something simple¡­ something that doesn¡¯t waste time¡­"0

    So, let¡¯s keep it as simple as possible.0

    -0

    Chu Tingwu woke up on her five-square-meter bed, rolled over, and identally pressed on the Maine Coon cat''s white whiskers, then rolled back.0

    She poked the cat off the bed, turned her head, and saw Three-Five-Five lying at the head of the bed, watching her actions.0

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­Let¡¯s go, time to catch some cats."0

    The 3,000-meter event was scheduled for the next day, so she wore her regr inner clothes today, put on an outer jacket, fastened a half-shoulder cape over her shoulder, and finally donned a sailor hat, but the entire outfit was white.0n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Finally, she picked up her bag and skillfully came to the window¡ª0

    Teacher Cao next door: "¡­Good morning."0

    Chu Tingwu: "Good morning, Teacher."0

    She jumped down, and Three-Five-Five followed,nding on the windowsill. Then, the Maine Coon cat, White Whiskers, approached the window with some confusion, just as its front paws touched the windowsill.0

    Three-Five-Five: "¡­"0

    The little one had mentioned that this cat shouldn¡¯t be allowed to go out casually because house cats tend to get lost.0

    Back inside!0

    As for Three-Five-Five, she¡¯s definitely not a house cat. She¡¯s the boss!0

    -0

    After entering the school, Chu Tingwu found that no one was wearing their school uniforms anymore.0

    Previously, ss 5 had nned to just wear their uniforms, but they were quickly booed back by the other ssmates: With everyone else wearing casual uniforms, they felt too embarrassed to show up in school uniforms!0

    Of course¡­ the school uniforms of Jin City No.5 Senior High School weren¡¯t bad-looking, just ordinary.0

    Chu Tingwu also encountered Cheng Cai, who was jogging with her dog, Cheng Cheng.0

    This former office worker hadter resigned and taken over most of the work at the school¡¯s natural history museum, giving the students, who were already busy with their studies, a collective sigh of relief. She greeted Chu Tingwu:0

    "What are you wearing?"0

    The white color was quite eye-catching. To maintain uniformity, the girls wore knee-length skirts, and the boys wore long pants, all paired with white sneakers¡­ making them look like they were glowing as they walked.0

    Most of Chu Tingwu¡¯s casual outfits were dark, and since she did a lot of sports, she rarely wore skirts. Cheng Cai almost didn¡¯t recognize her.0

    Chu Tingwu turned around to show her the emblem on the back of her jacket, which seemed to be rted to the anime An Shiyan had been watching, and was quite niche.0

    Cheng Cai nodded.0

    Although she actually didn¡¯t recognize it.0

    Chu Tingwu also nodded.0

    Although she actually didn¡¯t know what the emblem meant either.0

    Cheng Cheng: "Woof?"0

    Chu Tingwu: "Ah¡­ I¡¯ll go catch some cats first¡ª"0

    She first caught a little ck cat in the bushes, then a lion cat with a [#angry#angry] face by Tranquil Thought Lake, and finally quietly pushed open the door to the principal¡¯s office, where she picked up a ck-faced calico cat that looked like it had just been roasted.0

    Finally, she entered the ssroom with four cats in tow, receiving a warm round of apuse.0

    Chu Tingwu: No need¡­ no need¡­0

    Teacher Shi, sitting in the back corner of the ssroom: "=="0

    Forget it, they¡¯re under too much pressure anyway. Let them have some fun.0

    The students quickly dressed the cats in their tiny outfits¡ªsince there were no custom options avable and making them by hand was too slow, they had found a skilled parent to sew them.0

    Thus, four miniature pirate cats in various colors were born.0

    A student came over to take a look and sighed in relief: "Thank goodness, the measurements we took earlier were correct; they¡¯re not too tight."0

    They closed the door and briefly rehearsed a couple of times before heading downstairs to the yground.0

    Originally, the students wanted to help carry the cats, but the cats weren¡¯t very cooperative. In the end, Three-Five-Five herded the other cats over like a sheepdog (or cat).0

    The students gathered noisily on the yground. The teacher from ss 2 and Teacher Shi stood together, with the former asking: "I haven¡¯t seen you guys rehearse at all. Are you really not going to practice even once? What if the slogan gets too chaotic?"0

    ¡ªTheir ss had at least practiced their formations a couple of days ago.0

    Teacher Shi: "¡­"0

    After being divided into sses following the second year, Teacher Yuan was now the homeroom teacher of ss 3. At this moment, he also turned his head to take a look, then nced at the few cats standing among the students, and fell into deep thought.0

    It felt like they were up to something.0

    But the event hadn''t started yet. The students from thepetition ss were already standing at the starting position, while the others were forming up in their squares. Several vehicles drove into the campus at this moment.0

    People jumped off the vehicles and began moving equipment, "releasing" drones, and setting up cameras that looked like long guns and short guns. The drones, with their different angles, couldn¡¯t fully rece genuine high-end cameras yet. The people carrying the camera equipment were tall and strong, and they walked over to thepetition ss to start filming.0

    Chu Tingwu, being filmed by the camera: "¡­"0

    The other students being filmed: "?"0

    The cameraman gave a warm smile: "We''re coborating with the school to film your sports day."0

    The students whispered among themselves:0

    "Our school is going all out this time¡­"0

    "Keep it down, it seems like they¡¯ve started filming. Will our chatter be included too?"0

    "Will it be shown on TV? I can ask my family to watch together."0

    "¡­Are you sure you want to embarrass yourself on TV?"0

    But that camera really does have the logo of the Jin City local TV station. Could it really be the TV station filming? Oh, oh, oh!0

    An Shiyan clenched her fists and bowed her head: "Oh!"0

    Chu Tingwu looked away.0

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­System?"0

    The system: "?"0

    The system: "Meow!"0

    It had already reported to the little one and obtained permission for the shoot!

 Chapter 87

    The sky was clear and the sun was bright.

    The second-year ss one was now marching towards us!

    The first-year students had already passed by once, and now they were gathered in their respective squares, chattering away. For high school students, the school sports meet was essentially a holiday. It was rare to have such an opportunity to gossip without being reprimanded, so any little thing was enough to set them off. For example¡ª

    "What''s that flying in the sky?"

    "Wow, a UFO!"

    Are you still in kindergarten or something?

    But their attention was only briefly captured by the drone in the sky before it shifted back to the second-year ss one''s square... because the ones leading their formation weren''t humans, but four cats.

    And not just any cats¡ªfour cats wearing the same set of uniforms!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The tabby trotted ahead, leisurely leading the way, with the lion cat a step behind. The other two followed at a distance, but they were more or less on the same level.

    Behind them, the students of second-year ss one (thepetition ss) marched, their capes fluttering in the autumn wind. Chang Yixin held the ss sign at the front, his gaze fixed straight ahead, while the others tried their best to suppress their excitement, though it was clear they were thrilled.

    ...Of course, the juniors didn''t notice.

    They thought it was super cool!

    And¡ª

    "Cats!" "Is the one at the front Chu Tingwu''s?" "Who''s Chu Tingwu...?" "Oh,e on, don''t you ever go online?" "How did they even manage to get the cats to behave like that...?" "Ugh, I really want to pet them!"

    Sanwuwu''s ears twitched, lowering in the wind as they approached the podium. She meowed once, turning halfway around, and the other three cats paused for a moment before following her lead.

    Thus, when they reached the front of the podium, the four cats were sitting facing the principal and the directors.

    Principal: "...?"

    The students of thepetition ss stopped in unison, turned around, and, except for Chang Yixin, ced their hands behind their backs.

    Although it felt a bit strange, the principal and teachers couldn''t help but smile... even if thepetition ss just strolled around without any preparation, they wouldn''t say anything. After all, these were the best students in the school, and they were bound to receive more favor.

    But seeing them full of energy, their faces glowing with excitement, and their expressions brimming with vitality, the teachers were also quite pleased¡ª

    ["The students of second-year ss one shout their slogan loudly¡ª"]

    The announcer''s steady voice came through the loudspeakers, as each ss had toe up with a slogan for thepetition.

    ["(Sound of flipping through papers, pause)"]

    "Meow meow meow meow, meow meow meow meow¡ªmeow meow meow meow, meow meow meow meow!"

    The first "meow" wasn''t very synchronized at first, since they really hadn''t rehearsed, but after the first line (?), the meows turned into a roar, somehow quite imposing!

    Podium: "...?"

    Sanwuwu: "=="

    Sanwuwu raised a paw, pressing down on the little ck cat that was startled and about to run away. She meowed twice to scold it, and then, after Chang Yixin shouted "One, two," the students turned around energetically and continued marching away with steady steps.

    They were supposed to circle half the field and return to their fixed position.

    Podium: "...?"

    Alright, maybe the academic pressure was a bit high, and the students of thepetition ss had a slightly off direction for their "spirit."

    Standing far away, not having to follow the students, Teacher Shi covered his face at one corner of the yground.

    Halfway through, Chang Yixin raised the ss sign and lifted a hand, shing it down forcefully¡ª

    "Meow meow meow meow, meow meow meow meow¡ªmeow meow meow meow, meow meow meow meow!"

    Chu Tingwu: "...?"

    She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

    But the squares on the yground were alreadyughing hysterically.

    Someone nudged Chu Tingwu and asked curiously, "Why is one of those drones always following us and filming?"

    Chu Tingwu: Don''t ask me.

    Doing something embarrassing together somehow made it less... well, no, it was still very embarrassing! Why not just use the "ss One, ss One" slogan? Who even came up with the idea of meowing, "Anyway, we''ve shouted our slogan, if humans can''t understand, that''s their problem," An Shiyan, you''re human too, okay! And your grammar is wrong!

    But whatever... they just didn''t have time to practice grammar.

    Chu Tingwu''s gaze went nk as she stood in the ss square, being punished by standing. At first, everyone could stand properly, butter they started leaning left and right, because the cats were in front, and those at the front waved for others to cover them as they crouched down to pet the cats.

    The neighboring ss also asionally peeked over¡ªmainly to see their cats. With others looking on with envy, the ones in front crouched even more enthusiastically.

    Suddenly, a shout came from the front¡ª

    Chu Tingwu didn''t need to look up, as she already knew what had happened, even though those around her were surprised.

    It was the third-year ss three''s square. When they reached the middle of the podium, a peacock "flew out" from the middle of the formation, circled once above the students'' heads, and then quietlynded... right on the podium, facing the principal.

    Principal: "...?"

    Chang Yile in the middle of ss three: Ahhhh!

    Eggy, Eggy, you''re too excited, you flew too high,e back quickly! We didn''t practice it like this!

    This blue peacock, who had grown up in the school, was not afraid of people at all, so it continued to face the people on the long table excitedly, shaking its tail feathers and opening its tail.

    The principal''s mouth twitched.

    The students below: "...?"

    In theory, the tail should have been quite beautiful, but their perspective... was from behind the peacock! Blue Eggy, your butt is showing!

    The drones were still filming!

    After showing off its tail and circling once, it finally agreed to fly down and returned to the middle of ss three. The ss managed to shout their slogan in unison before returning to their position, though their steps were a bit hurried.

    Perhaps because they had just witnessed two "animal performances," the atmosphere wasn''t as lively for the following sses, until the third-year ss five performed a Beijing opera.

    Students: "Whoa!"

    It was impressive that the announcer could keep their voice steady and full of energy for over two hours. Eventually, the opening ceremony ended.

    Since there wasn''t enough time, only the preliminary round of the 100-meter race was held in the morning. The students participating in the race went to change and warm up, while the others either strolled around the yground or sat in the spectator stands.

    Chu Tingwu was one of the ones sitting. Maybe because just sitting wasn''t interesting enough, the drone that had been fixed above her finally moved away.

    The school sports meet was also a snack exchange event. Everyone had left their bags in the ssroom, and now a few students had been sent to fetch them, each bag filled with snacks.

    Chu Tingwu opened her bag, just taking out a bottle of water, when she noticed the student next to her pulling out a workbook, putting on headphones, and starting to solve problems without a care in the world.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    At least half of the students in thepetition ss were like this. Their second year was equivalent to other people''s third year, so the pressure was considerable¡ªeven without teachers urging them, they would study on their own. This school sports meet didn''t have many active participants; most arrangements were passed through in one go because other students didn''t want to participate. The slogan was the same¡ªsimple enough not to need rehearsal, who cared if it was embarrassing or not?

    No, Chu Tingwu thought, she couldn''t be influenced by this studying atmosphere¡ª

    So she climbed to the front row of seats and continued drinking water.

    The "seats" they were in were tiered, located on both sides of the podium, forming an arc. Chang Yixin ced the ss sign beside him and saw Chu Tingwu: "Chu Chu, I just asked the teacher, short-distance running isn''t allowed, but during the long-distance race, we can run alongside...¡±

    Meaning that while the participants were on the track, non-participants from the same ss could run alongside on the sides to encourage them, without being affected by the pace of the front runners.

    Chu Tingwu: "I don''t need..."

    Chang Yixin patted her shoulder: "So, when it''s the 800 meters in the afternoon, you''ll run with me."

    Oh, so it''s to apany you.

    After removing the daunting task of the 3000-meter race, othermon events such as high jump, long jump, and 100-meter dash were handled by first signing up and then allocating. Finally, for those events that couldn''t be assigned, Chang Yixin had to take them on herself.

    She signed up for shot put and the 800 meters, while An Shiyan and another boy in their ss were about to run the 100 meters.

    Although it was the first event, An Shiyan was quite excited: "Once I finish the 100 meters, I''m done with my tasks!"

    She would then have the next day and a half to just rx and enjoy herself!

    After warming up, Chu Tingwu brought Sanwulu down to apany her.

    Chu Tingwu looked around: "Should I run alongside you outside the track?"

    The school prohibited others from running alongside during short races because the course was already short, and if everyone ran together, it could easily lead to collisions and potentially affect the athletes'' performance.

    The 100 meters had preliminary and semifinal rounds, with six people in each heat, and the top two advancing to the semifinals. The semifinals involved all three grades of high school, and the final results were determined directly in the semifinals.

    An Shiyan: "Forget it, I''m just here to have fun."

    She leisurely took her ce on the track, adjusted herpetition uniform, and then heard someone next to her ask: "Oh, are you from thepetition ss? Is your ss wearing the white suit from the Koreanic ''The Eater'' modified from Kim Jae-do''s outfit? Why is there even a cape?"

    An Shiyan: "?"

    An Shiyan: "We''re not¡ª"

    The person turned their head, and the referee raised the starting pistol.

    An Shiyan: Wait!

    "Bang!"

    The person next to her shot out like an arrow, and An Shiyan shouted "Oh my god" in her mind before turning to chase after them.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    The 100 meters was indeed short. She jogged alongside on the side near the presidential tform, and to others, Chu Tingwu''s speed seemed rather leisurely. Her pace wasn''t fast, but each step she took had arge stride... effortlessly keeping up with the person next to her who was running with a contorted expression.

    When she reached the finish line, An Shiyan also arrived, panting and grabbing the person who had been next to her: "You, you..."

    "Who are you calling a cosyer!"

    Chu Tingwu: Maybe I shouldn''t get involved ==

    The 100-meter race was indeed short, and the cheers from above onlysted for a couple of shouts.

    But in the afternoon, during the 400-meter ry, the cheering from the spectator stands became even more enthusiastic.

    The ry event was one their ss struggled with¡ªthey had only practiced it twice during gym ss. The ssmate who had been sitting next to Chu Tingwu in the morning was also running the ry in the afternoon. She stood at her second-leg position and muttered to herself, while Chu Tingwu watched from a distance and then approached Sanwulu to "meow" a few times.

    Sanwulu jumped down from the spectator stand.

    The cat wandered freely on the yground, and no one bothered her. Even the cameraman, who was holding a camera, crouched down and filmed Sanwulu for a few seconds.

    An Shiyan held Chu Tingwu''s hand: "Do you think Fu Ling will drop the baton?"

    Fu Ling was the second-leg runner. Seeing her unstandardized posture and the slightly hesitant expression on her face, it seemed quite usible that she might drop the baton.

    But just as the first-leg runner was about to hand off, Sanwulu wandered across the track, pounced, and hit Fu Ling''s shin from behind, then turned back to the sidelines.

    Fu Ling was startled, instinctively turned her head, and the next second, the first-leg runner handed the baton to her.

    She froze for half a second before starting to sprint forward.

    The ssmates cheering from above breathed a sigh of relief.

    Thepetition ss at Jin City No.5 Senior High School had too few people, so almost everyone had a project. Initially, everyone might have participated casually, but once they stepped onto the ying field, they couldn''t help butpete fiercely. Some even cried after finishing¡ª

    "If I had been a bit faster... I really think I could have gotten a ce..."

    "Oh,e on, it''s just a school sports meet..."

    "But I was distracted during my run, if I hadn''t been, I definitely could have gotten it..."

    The wind blew fiercely, and the national g in the middle of the yground fluttered high in the sky. Balloons were released into the air, and someone came over to pat Chu Tingwu on the shoulder: "Chu Tingwu, you have to win the championship! We need at least one gold medal¡ª"

    An Shiyan immediately retorted: "Chu Tingwu is willing to run the 3000 meters, that''s enough. Look at other sses, they''re just forcing people to participate. Why push her to get a medal? Why don''t you try to win it yourself!"

    The 3000-meter race was the most exhausting, so there was only one race¡ªprobably because the school considered that if there were preliminary and semifinal rounds, students who didn''t want to participate might just drop out altogether.

    "It''s okay," Chu Tingwu thought for a moment, "I should be able to outrun everyone."

    Even without running like a cat, her physical fitness was enough for her to run ten kilometers at a steady pace, which would already eliminate 80% of the contestants.

    And she still had the energy to sprint at the end.

    The morning and afternoonpetitions concluded, and the results for thepetition ss were neither good nor bad. It is worth mentioning that An Shiyan might have unleashed her small universe during the preliminary round and actually made it to the semifinals, then managed to grab the third ce in the 100 meters. The top two were both athletic special students.

    Their school had recruited short-distance runners as athletic special students, scattered across other sses... It was said that because this sports meet had a TV stationing to film (Chu Tingwu: ?), the event was quite grand, and in the afternoon, teachers from a sports school even showed up.

    Chu Tingwu didn''t see the sports school teachers, but she did see them after returning home¡ª

    "Teacher Zhang? Aunt Mei?"

    Tenkuo, who was lying on the head of an old man with a white beard, lifted his head: "Meow~"

    The Maine Coon wasrger than Tenkuo, a small local cat, and was now very good-naturedly letting him lie on top without resistance.

    The crow stood on top, poking its head out to look at them.

    Teacher Zhang and Aunt Mei had brought the cat and crow to visit Chu Tingwu!

    Teacher Zhang was on the left with the cat, and Sanwulu jumped to the right, lying downfortably¡ªthey hade because of the previous earthquake. Although Chu Tingwu had said she wasn''t injured at all and had even volunteered andpleted her filming work, the parents thought:

    "We were worried about your mood, and since we haven''t gone on a trip for a while, we thought we''de and see you."

    Chu ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Tingwu: "Hmm..."

    Aunt Mei shooed her out of the kitchen to let her take care of things herself. Chu Tingwu sat down next to Sanwulu on the other side, and Teacher Zhang held one of her hands. Neither of them needed to speak; they just listened quietly to the sounds of the cats grinding their teeth, snoring, and softly arguing with each other.

    Chu Tingwu: "Meow meow."

    Teacher Zhang: "Meow?"

    Thus, two more meows were added to the sounds in the living room.

    Chu Tingwu told Teacher Zhang about today''s school sports meet in four randomly switchednguages. After going abroad, her spokennguage had be very fluent, and she had practiced with the system regrly. The Russian she had been learning was more orthodox, although she also knew some ng, it was more standard, like her nativenguage.

    Zhang Youyi smiled: "Will it be edited into a program? Will it be yed on the inte or on TV?"

    Chu Tingwu was a bit embarrassed: "Both."

    Oh well, getting embarrassed in front of familiar people bes a habit after a while.

    Zhang Youyi: "So you have apetition tomorrow? Can parents enter the school to watch thepetition?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Regr parents can''t."

    Zhang Youyi: Oh... She''s not exactly a regr parent, with so many students. Jin City No.5 Senior High School, maybe she could find some roundabout connections?

    The next day, Zhang Youyi wore a staff badge, holding the curious Tenkuo, with the crow perched on her shoulder, and Aunt Mei, looking a bit helpless, apanying them¡ª

    Teacher Zhang didn''t need to find connections, because the child herself had connections.

    They were now part of the TV station''s filming crew, and they could even rest in the van!

    But Teacher Zhang couldn''t see, and the sports meet was quite chaotic, so Aunt Mei held her hand, trying to keep her from being bumped into by others.

    At this moment, the filming team and the sports teachers from outside the school couldn''t help but turn their heads in confusion:

    They felt that this olddy shouldn''t be here. With this aura, she should be sitting on the presidential tform, right?

    The elderly woman with gray hair had slightly cloudy pupils, and upon closer inspection, she couldn''t see anything, but her expression was curious. When she turned her head, the crow on her shoulder also turned its head. After a while, the crow suddenly flew out, returning with a balloon string around its neck: "Meow!"

    Teacher Zhang: "Oh, is the 3000 meters about to start?"

    She needed to find a ce to sit and "watch"!

    -

    The 3000-meter race was about to begin.

    When Chu Tingwu stood on the starting line, she noticed that the student next to her was shivering with a worried expression, constantly lifting her left and right feet, pping her thighs, and muttering to herself, "Did I do enough warm-up earlier? Am I going to cramp up?"

    You look like you''re about to cramp up right now.

    If running a hundred meters was a mix of nervousness and excitement, it was clear that, except for the few students who specialized in short-distance running, everyone else was only feeling nervous and a bit numb.

    The few who looked calm were likely used to regr exercise, but Chu Tingwu could hear their heartbeats, feel the flow of their blood, and knew¡­ they were just not hopeful about their ranking. The homeroom teacher next to them was still encouraging, "It''s okay, it''s okay! Finishing is a victory! If you can''t finish, just drop out¡­ but try your best to run, don''t stop and walk!"

    A dozen people lined up in several rows on the track, like the start of a marathon. Chu Tingwu stretched her limbs one more time and got into her starting position¡ª

    "Bang!"

    The starting gun fired, and in that instant, she shot forward.

    She didn''t use her fastest speed but decided to stick to the n: start with a steady pace and sprint at the end.

    But as soon as she started running, Chu Tingwu realized that the two students next to her were both specialized in short-distance running. They even had time to nce at her.

    The three of them ran almost side by side at the front. The one on the left, numbered 15, took the innermostne, Chu Tingwu was in the secondne, and the one on the right, numbered 18, seemed to want to overtake Chu Tingwu and take the secondne. However, after trying a couple of times, she found it too exhausting and would disrupt her own pace, so she gave up and quietly fell behind the innerne''s number 15.

    This left Chu Tingwu in the secondne, with the other two in the innerne.

    But she stayed close to them.

    Next to Teacher Zhang, the sports school coachmented, "Number 15 is a bit too eager. Both she and number 18 are not long-distance runners. They can''t maintain this pace at the front."

    He also noted that number 18 was blocking the wind for her.

    Short-distance running is about being first, but in a long-distance race like 3000 meters, managing endurance is more important than leading.

    Even the sports school coach believed that some of the runners behind might overtake those at the frontter. In long-distance running, anything could happen.

    The school''s track was quiterge, exactly 800 meters perp. As Chu Tingwu approached the podium, she just heard her ssmates shouting her name to cheer her on. But before "Chu Tingwu, Go!" could be shouted a few times, it suddenly turned into their ss slogan:

    "Meow meow meow¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    She''d better pick up the pace!

    She sped up, overtaking the front runner, number 15, and moved from the outerne to the innerne, bing the de facto first ce.

    The sports school coach and other students didn''t think she elerated out of embarrassment. Instead, they assumed she had been wanting to overtake for a while and finally managed to cut in.

    An Shiyan even waved her hand and said, "Louder!"

    The long-distance race of a dozen people quickly turned from a neat line at the start to a scattered string.

    Only number 15 next to Chu Tingwu had a tense expression, staring at her back¡ª

    Too steady.

    The steps of the student from thepetitive ss in front were too steady. Though not fast, she just couldn''t be overtaken. And under the influence of Chu Tingwu''s pace, number 15 even felt a bit exhausted.

    Afterpleting one 800-meterp, number 15 had fallen from being right behind Chu Tingwu to being about seven or eight meters behind.

    Number 15 hadn''t originally nned to overtake, but since she couldn''t keep up, it was even harder to catch upter. She held her breath and pushed forward, only to be overtaken by number 18 from behind.

    The top three positions changed again, and the sports school coach let out a "Huh."

    Actually, the pace of the runners behind was normal, but number 15 had been too anxious and made a small mistake¡­ which made the pace of the girl in front even more abnormal. Eight hundred meters had already been run, shouldn''t your speed drop a bit?

    Chu Tingwu didn''t.

    She evenpped thest four runners and kept going.

    As she approached the podium, she even ran a bit faster¡ª

    An Shiyan: "It seems our cheers really reached Chu Tingwu! Everyone, louder!"

    You''d better not exin.

    Chu Tingwu really wished she couldn''t hear anything¡­ and then she heard a loud: "Meow!"

    It was Wu ssmate flying over to watch the fun, but it had forgotten its ws were still wrapped in a balloon string from somewhere. Caught by the wind, the balloon string danced wildly, wrapping around its two ws and causing it to fall straight down.

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­¡­"

    She sped up.

    Before the crownded on the track, not only did she elerate, but she also jumped slightly, reaching out to catch the crow.

    Then, while running, she began to untangle the balloon string from ssmate Wu.

    Thepeting student she was overtaking next to her: "¡­¡­?"

    This isn''t fair!

    Wu also let out a "Caw."

    This isn''t fair!

    After untangling it, she coldly and ruthlessly let go, letting the balloon fly away!

    That was the crow''s balloon!

 Chapter 88

    <h1>Chapter 88</h1>

    Thepetition ended, and as expected, Chu Tingwu took first ce.0

    Almost no one thought it was strange that she won first ce, as her athletic prowess was already well-known. It would have been more surprising if she hadn''t finished first.0

    However, before the sports school teachers could approach her, Chu Tingwu slipped away.0

    The balloon had already be a tiny speck in the sky. Aunt Mei tied a new balloon to Shikuai''s neck, and the ck cat and the glossy crow danced around the new balloon.0

    Chu Tingwu strolled over, picked up Shikuai by the neck, and gave his bottom a little bounce: "..."0

    He''s gotten chubby.0

    Aunt Mei, after watching her hold the cat, reached out and hugged Chu Tingwu: "You don''t feel any heavier, but have you grown taller?"0

    When she first bonded with the system, Chu Tingwu''s weight and height changed rapidly due to her changing physique. But now, over a yearter, her growth has stabilized, and the changes have be gradual.0

    She recalled the measurements she took a few days ago: "Actually, I''ve gained half a pound. As for height, I''m now 168.4 cm."0

    So, she''s now taller than Aunt Mei¡ª0

    It feels a bit strange.0

    She suddenly realized: I''m already taller than my elder...0

    Aunt Mei didn''t seem to notice. When she saw Chu Tingwu''s ssmates approaching in the distance, she wanted to call her over to collect her prize¡ªAunt Mei raised her hand to pat Chu Tingwu on the shoulder to remind her, but Chu Tingwu had already turned around on her own, waving to her ssmates before they could even speak, indicating she knew. Then she said, "I''ll go over now!"0

    Aunt Mei: "Mm."0

    Teacher Zhang separated the cat and the crow, shook hands with Sanwulu, and then asked, "What''s up?"0

    Aunt Mei looked into her clouded eyes.0

    It''s strange. Although Teacher Zhang can''t see, sometimes her perception is so sharp that it gives Aunt Mei a sense of simrity to Chu Tingwu. But she can''t quite put her finger on what exactly is the same¡ª0

    Aunt Mei shook her head: "Should we take Chu Tingwu with us to spend the New Year in another ce this year?"0

    Since six years ago, when Teacher Zhang lost her sight, her lifestyle has changed significantly. Losing her vision seemed to make her realize that she shouldn''t fully immerse herself in her academic work, as human bodies are fragile.0

    "Before I can''t move anymore and can''t hear or feel anything, I should see more of the world."0

    But in fact, due to her work, she has seen more of the world than most people. She has traveled to various countries, but the more she knows about how vast the world is, the more she regrets how short human life is... So, regardless of the holidays, Teacher Zhang always goes out to explore.0

    After adopting Shikuai, the frequency of her travels decreased a bit: "It''s like having a child."0

    When she''s away, she always worries about whether the cat is doing well at home.0

    Now there''s another child.0

    Teacher Zhang: "Let''s see what her school schedule is like?"0

    Chu Tingwu doesn''t seem to have seen much snow. Shannan Province rarely has knee-deep snow. If possible, this year they could spend the New Year at the foot of a snow-covered mountain.0

    -0

    Teacher Zhang said she couldn''t stand the bells near the school, so the two found a ce to stay on their own.0

    After collecting her prize, Chu Tingwu was forced to attend a "award ceremony" within her ss.0

    ¡ªWhen her ssmates were about to spray her with confetti, she jumped onto the windowsill and, using it as a springboard, leaped over their heads andnded on the podium, dodging the confetti attack.0

    Teacher Shi, who was standing behind the podium: "=="0

    "Ahem."0

    Chu Tingwu jumped down and, while at it, picked up a nearby rag to wipe off her footprints.0

    Teacher Shi: You''re quite polite.0

    Teacher Shi: "Let me summarize. Everyone performed exceptionally well in this sports meet, exceeding my expectations. Our ss won three first ces, five second ces, and five third ces in twenty-eight events, and we even broke the school record in the three-thousand-meter race, earning extra points¡ª"0

    Everyone apuded.0

    Teacher Shi: "In short, the sports meet is over. After returning home, remember to rx your muscles and give yourself a massage. Otherwise, you might wake up sore and cramped tomorrow. We still have sses tomorrow, and I don''t want to see anyone taking leave because of the sports meet!"0

    "And then," Teacher Shi pped her hands, "we have a full day of sses tomorrow, followed by a monthly exam with the entire grade the day after. After the grade-wide test, we''ll have our individualpetition papers toplete. Everyone, get focused. You chose thepetition route, so that''s great, but your monthly exam scores can''t be too low! I''ll be talking to your parents if you drop out of the top fifty in the grade."0

    Chu Tingwu listened quietly. Her "parent" had already secretly brought over the monthly exam papers and, without showing them to her, calcted some predicted data, concluding that her performance was stable.0

    Both regretful and relieved.0

    Teacher Shi: "Of course, after thepetition paper test resultse out, I''ll still be talking to each parent. We''ll have a parent-teacher meeting on October 15th."0

    "Make sure to inform your parents in advance and have them try to make time."0

    This parent-teacher meeting seemed to be mandatory. There had been two during the first year of high school, both before the final exams, but Chu Tingwu''s parent''s seat had always been empty.0

    The first time, she didn''t let Teacher Yuan notify Lu Cenying, and her seat was upied by a tabby cat.0

    That evening, Chu Tingwu went to Teacher Yuan''s house for dinner and learned:0

    "During the meeting, everyone was looking at Sanwulu. Maybe we shouldn''t let the cate next time."0

    The next day, An Shiyan shared the meat floss rice balls Chu Tingwu brought and said, "It''s fine, I have an idea."0

    ...Later, An Shiyan gave Chu Tingwu a life-sized standee of Sanwulu.0

    And it was in a posture with its hind legs on the ground and its front paws raised.0

    Chu Tingwu: "Thanks, the system will definitely like it."0

    Not only did the system like it, but it also wanted to make a version of Chu Tingwu to put at home.0

    An Shiyan: "?"0

    This year, they could still send Sanwulu to the meeting, but Teacher Shi doesn''t understand catnguage, so she probably couldn''t discuss Chu Tingwu''s academic future with the cat.0

    Chu Tingwu: Maybe it''s time to ask Teacher Zhang for help?0

    They would be staying in Jin City for a few days, exploring the area, and probably wouldn''t mind staying a couple more days.0

    Chu Tingwu made this decision in her mind but didn''t immediately contact Teacher Zhang¡ªbecause she noticed the system''s attitude was a bit strange.0

    After pressing for answers, the system hesitantly said:0

    "Can I go to your parent-teacher meeting for you?"0

    Chu Tingwu blinked: "Sure."0

    But how... are you going to do that?0

    Are you going to assemble a humanoid robot and wrap it in a trench coat?0

    The system doesn''t read minds, ensuring the child''s privacy, so it didn''t know what Chu Tingwu was imagining:0

    "I''ll have Lian Tong wear an earpiece and go to the meeting to helpmunicate with the teacher."0

    Chu Tingwu: So it''s like the King of Cooking.0

    Lian Tong, the CEO of a dronepany, is a high-ranking executive who is always busy at thepany, but even so, he has to arrange time to attend the parent-teacher meeting for the boss''s daughter.0

    ¡ªAll tasks are postponed, and those that can''t be postponed are canceled or reassigned.0

    Of course, he wasn''t unhappy, because attending the parent-teacher meeting for the boss''s daughter definitely signifies closeness... even though the boss''s tone of voice waspletely robotic, showing no sign of affection.0

    Lian Tong even asked: Should we prepare a bigger event? Should we donate to the school to get a bigger venue (like we did with the sports meet, since once you start, you keep going, and the rtionships are already established)? Should we contact the homeroom teacher in advance to build a good rtionship?0

    The system: "..."0

    The system turned to ask Chu Tingwu, who rejected the idea.0

    The system: "She said no."0

    Lian Tong: .0

    Got it, the boss is a "daughter ve," everything is decided by the daughter, and there are no major decisions made in the family.0

    With the parent-teacher meeting arrangements settled, Chu Tingwu sat in the study and continued editing videos.0

    Theprehensive "Jin City No.5 Senior High School Sports Day" collection video had already been scheduled for broadcast on the local television station at 8 PM tonight, the day after their sports day had just ended.0

    Chu Tingwu certainly didn''t turn on the TV to watch it...0

    But her exceptional hearing allowed her to catch the sound of her neighbor''s TV.0

    ¡¾"Next,ing towards us is ss 1, Grade 11..."¡¿0

    Chu Tingwu: "..."0

    Plugging her ears.0

    It was said that this video would be reyed twice on TV and also uploaded to the official ount of Jin City No.5 Senior High School, with some ten-minute highlight videos being posted on the official website of the Middle School Sports Games as promotional material.0

    It was foreseeable that this video would be stored on the inte for decades... Chu Tingwu opened herputer, her gaze sliding to her bookmarks, where she saw the movie "Tiger Head" she had saved.0

    The way she had once brought "Three Five Five" to the big screen, the system had now brought her to the TV screen. It seemed the cat had gotten its revenge.0

    With a face full of resignation and numbness, Chu Tingwu finished the final part of the documentary "Jin City Police Cats" and then gathered her spirits to stare at the footage she had edited for a while before pressing the y button.0

    -0

    Wei Li usually liked to browse videos in the activity section of Fenghua Network.0

    She didn''t like the website''s rmendation mechanism, which seemed to assume that once she had watched a certain type of video, she would only like that kind in the future. The website would then keep pushing simr videos to her¡ª0

    Her tastes were quite eclectic, and she found that as long as the content was interesting, she could keep watching. However, once she epted this kind of big data rmendation, her tastes might be fixed.0

    Fenghua Network held events every month, with specialpetitions to encourage new creators, as well as innovative contests with various themes, and both the newest and hottest submissions were cyclically rmended. In addition to cash prizes, there were also rewards for prioritized homepage promotion.0

    Wei Li: "Hmm? A new event? Documentary?"0

    The website usually didn''tunch events in the middle of the month, so Wei Li was a bit puzzled as she clicked in. The video, which took up half the page, automatically started ying the beginning when she clicked into it.0

    The picture was clear and stable, sweeping over mountains and the city below from a bird''s-eye view. In the next second, from the same angle, the mountains turned into ruins.0

    Then, a cat appeared in the shot, clearly a kitten, poking its head out, its eyes closed, sniffing around. In the next moment, the kitten''s eyes opened, and the camera pulled back, showing the kitten had grown into an adult cat, running on the training field.0

    Wei Li let out a "hmm" sound, adjusted to a morefortable position, and instinctively reached for the mouse to check if she had switched to the wrong webpage.0

    ¡ªNo, it was indeed the homepage of the "Documentary" themed videopetition.0

    If she hadn''t confirmed it, she would have thought the homepage was ying a movie!0

    But after watching, Wei Li realized: "Oh, it''s just a trailer..."0

    And this wasn''t apeting documentary but one that the website wanted to promote, as there was a link to the full set below, with the trailer being just over a minute long and the full set being sixty-eight minutes.0

    Many people who clicked in might not have the patience to watch the full set directly, but if they were attracted by the trailer, they might click to save it.0

    Perhaps thispetition was held to promote this documentary?0

    Wei Li happened to be free, so she clicked into the documentary titled "Jin City Police Cats," opened a bag of chips, and turned on the bullet screen.0

    "Hmm?"0N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The danmu was so lively, was this really a documentary? Or was the website''s promotional effort just too strong?0

    Seeing how lively the bullet screen was, Wei Li felt a bit helpless, as if she couldn''t keep up with the jokes, so she didn''t watch immediately but first searched what they were talking about:0

    "Ah Chu and Three Five Five... oh, so it''s you who''s been trendingtely!"0

    It turned out that the "outdoor sports" videos that the big data had been pushing to her recently were actually rted to this UP master? She had recently been involved in some gossip, as whenever someone bes popr, there will always be people who imitate them, and the boundaries of imitation are also quite vague¡ªChu Tingwu was still a high school student, and she alwayspleted her live broadcast tasks just before the deadline each month, so her fan base would actually look for "substitutes" to fill the gap.0

    Calling it a "substitute" might be a bit disrespectful, but indeed, some people imitated her live broadcast style and content, taking their pets along for outdoor sports like skateboarding, cat walking, and parkour.0

    During this period, some people did be slightly popr, but after a while, those UPs without real substance saw their data drop to a half-dead state... The only one who broke through a million followers was an UP who climbed mountains with his dog.0

    The person was quite clear about it, saying "after watching Ah Chu''s videos, I wanted to film my daily life with Big ck," the UP considered himself and his dog''s life to be ordinary, but watching him take his dog climbing, tiring the dog out, carrying the dog down the mountain while the dog was carried up... everyone was silent.0

    This, should it be called ordinary?0

    The UP had retired from the army, ran a small business, climbed the mountain a few times a week, and otherwise took the dog running.0

    Later, maybe the fans couldn''t stand seeing him tire out his ck back every time, suggesting: "Next time you take the dog out, you can bring a stroller."0

    The UP epted.0

    Then, with the ck back sitting in the stroller, the UP''s training task wasn''t finished, so he continued running while pulling the stroller.0

    The fans: "..."0

    Somehow, it felt strange: was this person walking the dog, or was the dog walking the person?0

    Oh, maybe it was the dog walking the dog.0

    So, although the way he became popr was a bit strange, the UP still became popr.0

    asionally, the fans could catch him in Chu Tingwu''s live broadcast room.0

    Wei Li enjoyed the gossip, learning most of Chu Tingwu''s experiences, before returning to watch the documentary... This time, she could finally understand the fans'' sarcastic "urge to update" in the bullet screen!0

    However, soon, Wei Li ignored those bulletments and focused her attention back on the documentary.0

    The pace of this documentary was actually quite fast!0

    "Shouldn''t there be a lot of dialogue andmentary..."0

    Wei Li had only seen a documentary about a sessful businessperson on TV before, documenting how the person started from scratch to build a billion-dor business, with narration, interviews, and details of going to the grassroots... but it made her sleepy.0

    But this documentary was different.0

    The beginning was a case?0

    "Jin City Police Cats" started with a murder case.0

    Just like watching a detective movie, the shooting angle didn''t make the audience feel detached, and she quickly got engrossed in the plot, from the thief to the corpse, to the cat''s sense of smell and the murder weapon... The post-production inserted some brief science education through intercut editing, such as¡ª0

    When the cat sniffed and its ear tips twitched, two sentences reminiscent of a police voiceover were inserted, which not only helped the audience understand the capabilities of the police cat but also exined why the police would recruit police cats.0

    Afterpleting one case, Wei Li was satisfied and felt a bit closer to the police cat as the protagonist.0

    Then, the film began to incorporate the story of this cat''s employment.0

    "So it wasn''t raised from a kitten, but trained after adulthood?"0

    Wei Li: "Wait¡ª"0

    This was only seventeen minutes in!0

    Although she had unconsciously watched seventeen minutes of content, was it a bit excessive to cram so much into seventeen minutes? What else could be filmed afterward, would it all be daily life?0

    With such doubts, she continued to watch.0

    Afterward, another case was introduced¡ª0

    A drug trafficking case.0

    The protagonist of the case became another cat, which seemed to be more adept at searching for drugs, and afterpleting the drug search, it also showed its lively and mischievous side.0

    Wei Li couldn''t help but smile, realizing that this time the video used a shorter format to introduce the cat''s past... Indeed, each cat had a unique personality.0

    ¡ªBut they were all trained at the Jin City Police Dog Training Base and were now serving at the Jin City Police Station.0

    Wei Li realized that the video was the key point here:0

    The protagonist of the documentary is Jin City Police Cats, which introduces the abilities of cats and different training directions through cases, allowing the audience to understand the training methods and selection criteria for cats. The entire video is detailed and packed with useful information, but it is presented in an engaging way.0

    As a documentary, its quality is truly high.0

    However, the video is only thirty-three minutes long at this point.0

    Wei Li suppressed her curiosity and continued to watch.0

    The camera shot from above, and the city name in the top right corner revealed a small city lush with greenery.0

    "Kongsu City..." She felt like she had heard this name before, but she was certain she had never been there.0

    [High energy ahead! Warning, high energy ahead!]0

    [I watched the rest from the back... Oh my god, it was really dangerous at that time...]0

    [This part was actually included in the documentary? If Chu Tingwu was in Kongsu City at that time, I take back calling you a pigeon.]0

    Wei Li: "Huh?"0

    The camera focused on the third protagonist, a cat named "Xiaoyan," a tabby cat.0

    The cat''s face filled the entire screen, its eyes staring directly into the camera... Wei Li suddenly realized: Was this the scene from the promotional footage? Is this the same kitten that appeared in the promo?0

    The next second, the world seemed to copse.0

    In fact, the scene did not shake violently, just a slight, slow tremor during the earthquake.0

    But it was this slight, slow tremor that gave the audience a feeling of "the world slowly falling apart"... Wei Li saw walls copsing, roads cracking, and people who had heeded the previous warnings and stepped out of their homes or stopped driving, looking at each other in bewilderment.0

    Under the mighty power of nature, even with the advancement of technology, humans are powerless to resist the disaster and can only flee and protect themselves.0

    Wei Li witnessed the camera rise, silently observing the epicenter of the earthquake as the ground trembled, creating "ripples"¡ªfragile like a child''s toppled building blocks.0

    Her heart clenched at this moment.0

    The scene features a time added in post-production, elerated time:0

    Time flowed rapidly, quickly transitioning from day to evening, but the camera lens still hung in the air, silently gazing at thend.0

    Watching people save themselves, watching them run, the camera and the cat remained at the center of the shot, both prominent and insignificant.0

    [News reports say the hardest-hit areas are a district under the city and the mountains, where tourists and vigers who didn''t move out are trapped. I thought it wasn''t too bad since no one died... But seeing this perspective, the impact of the earthquake is actually quite longsting.]0

    There are many earthquake-rted films and television works, but this kind of overhead real-shot perspective is rare. Most online videos are from surveince footage, showing the shaking, but the camera itself is also shaking¡ªnot as stable as this system''s footage.0

    The more impartial and unbiased the perspective, the more it allows the audience to empathize with the people and animals in the frame.0

    Then, the camera follows Yanping and Xiaoyan all the way, capturing them as they climb the mountain.0

    The rescue team set out on foot, illuminating the dark mountain road with artificial light, the shlight beams forming a winding silver line.0

    Even as the earth trembled, this line remained lit.0

    Wei Li suddenly understood what the documentary "Golden City Police Cat" wanted to express:0

    It was a thematic statement, featuring the two police cats of Jin City, the reserve cats at the Jin City Police Cat Training Base, and the already trained police cats dispatched to other locations for active duty... There seemed to be a subtle hint that most police cats now originate from Jin City, linking the concept of "police cats" with "Jin City" while introducing the base.0

    On the other hand, it was about "rtionships."0

    Even though the documentary never explicitly mentioned it, all the shots were conveying the message of "police cats and humans," with cats stepping out of the role of pets and bing not only family but also closer partners andrades.0

    When, with Xiaoyan''s help, a trapped self-driving traveler in a car was sessfully rescued, the people in the shot cheered, and the documentary''s screen gradually brightened.0

    The screen slowly filled with pure white, and then the words of the creators appeared:0

    Since the Kongsu City 1004 Earthquake in Shannan Province, there have been no fatalities, with an estimated economic loss of two million one hundred thousand. A total of 14 search-and-rescue dogs and 4 search-and-rescue cats (police cats) participated in the rescue

    activities, sessfully rescuing 117 people.0

    Currently, there are 27 police cats in active service. Thank you for your contribution to our happy lives.0

    The video ended here, without any bloopers.0

    The ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????credits and production team list were written in the introduction.0

    Filled with an inexplicable sense of emotion, Wei Li scrolled down and saw thement section: "Hmm?"0

    Ament was pinned at the top, from the official ount of Kongsu City, which not only answered more data about post-earthquake relief but also added:0

    "¡­In fact, more than four police cats participated in the rescue. There was also a civilian cat, San (using a pseudonym at the owner''s request), who, along with its owner, volunteered for the rescue. We are very grateful¡­"0

    Wei Li: "¡­"0

    Did this "civilian cat" really need a pseudonym?0

    Even she, a non-fan, could guess who it was!0

 Chapter 89

    <h1>Chapter 89</h1>

    Teacher Shi received the notice only the day before the meeting¡ªthe venue for the parent-teacher meeting of the second-yearpetition ss had been changed to the school auditorium. The seating arrangement for the parents had also be more scattered, and students were allowed to apany them.

    Teacher Shi opened his water cup and added sugar to it, looking through the steam at the performance report on hisputer.

    He murmured, "The school is taking this quite seriously, huh?"

    This year, the overall level of thepetition ss was actually quite good. Having known these students for over half a year sincest year, Teacher Shi could already estimate which ones had a chance at national awards and which could secure top university admissions through reduced scores. The school would rmend a few for the exams¡­ as long as they performed well.

    However, among these students, he was particrly unsure about what path Chu Tingwu would take.

    ...But even if this child couldn''t get into university, her family''s financial situation would ensure she wouldn''t go hungry.

    But, this parent-teacher meeting would finally give him the chance to have a proper conversation with Chu Tingwu''s "parent"!

    Teacher Shi said, "I haven''t met Chu Tingwu''s parent yet."

    As soon as he said this, the other teachers in the office nodded.

    The biology teacher said, "I asked Teacher Yuan from ss 3, and she said Chu Tingwu''s parents are divorced. She lives with her father, but since starting high school, her father hasn''t taken care of her at all."

    Another teacher nodded. "Teacher Cao also mentioned she lives alone. Her parents are well-off, but why just give money?"

    The biology teacher added, "If the money is enough... kidding. Did the students register which parents would attend the meeting? How many did Chu Tingwu register?"

    In the parent group, most parents hoped more family members coulde, as their children''s paths differed from others. Questions about what to do if thepetition failed, whether thepetition ss needed to participate in certain contests or training camps early¡­ even if they had some understanding, they still hoped for more experienced teachers to answer. So, when the meeting venue changed, most families had both parents attending, even if it meant taking leave.

    Teacher Shi flipped through the form. "I remember Chu Tingwu said her parent couldn''te personally and would send a subordinate¡ª"

    Hmm?

    This time, he hadn''t looked closely at the second form, but at a nce, Chu Tingwu had registered four and a half people?

    Four was understandable, but the half... oh, it was a cat.

    He took a sip of his sugared water: The parents seem quite responsible this time?

    -

    Teacher Shi carried hisputer and, along with other teachers, arrived at the auditorium a bit early.

    The auditorium was chilly, and the autumn wind made him shiver.

    As he was about to set up the projector, he turned his head and saw the Vice Principal and the directoring over to help set up the projector, turn on the air conditioner, and check the seats.

    Teacher Shi: "¡­?"

    The Vice Principal sighed. "The steps in our auditorium are a bit too high, and the height of these two steps is different. If someone has poor eyesight, it''s quite easy to trip."

    Teacher Shi thought: Students haveined about this many times, but the school doesn''t have the funds, right? Even the natural history museum had to be funded by students.

    For some reason, as he watched the Vice Principal walking around, he felt a strange sense of tension and eagerness.

    But he quickly stopped paying attention to that¡ªbecause the parents had arrived.

    The parents were brought in directly by the students themselves. Teacher Shi greeted them with a smile, letting them choose their seats.

    Some parents wanted to sit in the first row but were pulled back by their children, who whispered, "What are you doing? You can see from the back¡­"

    Some parents, with high academic backgrounds themselves, were discussing exam questions with their children: "¡­Your ranking is a bit risky. You also tookst year''s exam¡­"

    Chang Yixin''s family only came with her mother because ss 3 was also having a parent-teacher meeting at the same time, so Chang Yixin''s father went to attend her younger sister''s meeting.

    Mother and daughter chose the third row, where a whole row was still empty.

    Teacher Shi noticed someone ncing at the mother and daughter: probably knowing that Chang Yixin was the ss monitor.

    In fact, thepetition ss didn''t have an official ss monitor, but Teacher Shi often asked Chang Yixin for help. From ss funds to arranging cleaning duties to managing discipline, he unintentionally entrusted everything to her, and she handled it all clearly while keeping up with her studies.

    So, the other students in the ss seemed to have tacitly epted her as the ss monitor.

    Then, Teacher Shi turned his head and noticed an elderlydy at the door.

    A middle-aged woman was holding the elderlydy''s hand, presumably another student''s parent. As they walked in, the Vice Principal, who had been standing by, actually moved¡ª

    The Vice Principal went to the other side, as if to apany them, and said, "Mrs. Zhang, hello. Here, be careful with the steps."

    Teacher Shi thought: This elderlydy must have poor eyesight? He walked over but found that the Vice Principal couldn''t sessfully support her.

    Because on the other side, a young woman in her twenties was apanying her, smiling slightly at the Vice Principal.

    Was she a younger family member?

    But then, a cat darted between their legs.

    A student in front greeted, "San Wuu!"

    Teacher Shi thought: This parent surnamed San is a bitte.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    San Wuu was arge, fluffy cat. Hearing others call its name, it just tilted its head and looked, then, instead of going ahead on its own, it used its tail to gently touch the elderlydy''s leg.

    Although thedy''s eyesight wasn''t good, she walked steadily, smiling faintly, nodded to the Vice Principal, and, apanied by the cat and the young woman, went to the third row.

    Then Teacher Shi noticed Chu Tingwu, hands in pockets, following behind, and a man with an elite demeanor, also smiling, following Chu Tingwu.

    Teacher Shi: Quite a crowd.

    He suddenly wondered if the school changed the venue to the auditorium because Chu Tingwu''s family wasing in such numbers that a regr ssroom wouldn''t be enough.

    In the same row, Chang''s Mother was also curious. Taking the opportunity before the meeting started, she greeted the others: "Are you Chu Tingwu''s grandmother? I''m Chang Yixin''s mother."

    "Oh," Teacher Zhang smiled, "I''m Chu Tingwu''s grandmother. I''m Zhang."

    "I''m Chu Tingwu''s aunt, surnamed Mei. You can call me Little Mei."

    "¡­I''m Chu Chu''s personal assistant. I''m here to apany her."

    "I''m the representative sent by the boss. The boss is too busy, so I''m here to attend the parent-teacher meeting for Miss Chu."

    Chang''s Mother: Why does your description sound so out of ce?

    San Wuuy on the long table: "Meow?"

    Chu Tingwu stood with her hands in her pockets, silently sitting among the "parents," with San Wuu in front of her.

    ¡ªAround her, many ssmates turned to look at her, signaling with their eyes: Isn''t your familying a bit too much?

    Chu Tingwu: Any objections?

    No, no.

    The Vice Principal even sat in the row behind them. When almost everyone had arrived, the teachers began their speech: mainly about thepetition schedule, rmended training camp projects, what achievements in thepetition could apply for which schools, and what help the school would provide¡­ as well as what paths students could take if they failed in thepetition.

    Winning national awards for direct admission was great, but there were also provincial exams and opportunities for reduced scores at top universities.

    Some top schools could offer up to 50 points off¡ªequivalent to adding 50 points to your original college entrance exam score. If the added points reached their admission score threshold, you could be admitted. If your original score already reached the admission score threshold, you could get priority in choosing your major.

    In the teachers'' understanding, the students present were all bound for a top-tier university, and they were the most concerned and most anticipated students.

    But some could adapt to thepetition, and even if they failed, they could switch to the regr college entrance exam track with their ssmates, which might lead to psychological setbacks and poor performance¡­ they needed to prepare both parents and students:

    Thepetition was just one path, not the only path in life.

    As he spoke, Teacher Shi suddenly thought of Chu Tingwu.

    He always says these things every year, but when ites to Chu Tingwu, there''s a sense of having "seen" these wordse to life: If Chu Tingwu didn''t have talent in other areas, would she, like her ssmates, throw herself intopetitions?

    It seems not.

    She is one of the students that Teacher Shi has seen as having a strong sense of purpose. Even if she''s not yet sure which path to take in the future, she knows that life will be long.

    This time, he should be able to have a good talk with Chu Tingwu''s parents... well, with all of them.

    After the teachers finished speaking, they continued to answer questions from the parents. After a round of questions, it was time for individual conversations.

    First, the subject teachers would talk to their own students, while Teacher Shi needed to talk to every parent, analyzing their child''s performance and making specific ns based on their grades.

    Although the ss size was rtively smallpared to others, going through each conversation was still very time-consuming. Fortunately, some didn''t require much advice, like Chang Yixin''s family¡ª

    "Chang Yixin is doing very well, both in attitude and grades. Your family has done a great job in her education; just keep it up."

    He also told Chang Yixin, "If you have any questions, feel free to ask the teachers. You also take on a lot of responsibilities in the ss, so if you feel too busy, you can always step back. What''s most important is that you have time to focus on your studies."

    As for An Shiyan, both parents were present this time:

    "Don''t put too much pressure on the child. The things she''s learning now, you probably don''t understand anymore. Let her arrange her own studies. If there''s a need for supervision, the teachers will help with that."

    Teacher Shi could tell thatpared to other naturally gifted students, An Shiyan had some talent but not much. She also had many small distractions and was easily distracted. With pressure from her parents and herself, things could easily go south... so it was risky.

    But if her parents pressured her, it would only make things worse. It was better for them to stay out of it.

    When saying this, Teacher Shi was under quite a bit of pressure. An Shiyan, standing nearby, looked a bit embarrassed.

    Finally, Teacher Shi approached Chu Tingwu and first identified the people around her.

    Grandmother, Aunt, assistant, subordinate... even the subordinate had to convey the boss''s message.

    This group really gave off the vibe of being the kind of overindulgent parents who spoil their kids¡ª

    Teacher Shi: "Chu Tingwu..."

    He paused for a moment: "I believe Chu Tingwu is a child with a lot of her own ideas. Has the family discussed how to arrange her future?"

    The elderlydy smiled:

    "This child has many things she wants to do. Her recent ideas include continuing to film documentaries rted to the charity foundation and finishing catnguage teaching videos in her spare time¡ªshe feels she can summarize some systematic teaching content and maybe even write a book? She recently read a niche Russian novel and wants to start trying her hand at trantion. She won''t ck off on her daily workouts either, and might try one or two interesting new sports."

    Teacher Shi began to ponder an unsolved mystery: Where does Chu Tingwu''s energye from? Everyone takes the same sses, and she maybe skips half a day, but why does everyone else feel drained after finishing their homework, while she can¡ª

    Oh, she sometimes doesn''t do her homework.

    Chu Tingwu seems to selectively choose her homework. Sometimes, when a test paper is handed out, she onlypletes about a third of the difficult questions.

    But considering her exam rankings not only haven''t dropped but have even improved steadily, the teachers have turned a blind eye.

    Teacher Shi mused, "Many children don''t have a n for their future."

    "They think that getting into a good university is the end goal, and after that, it''s either finding a good job with their degree or continuing to pursue higher education¡ªand we are in thepetition ss, so everyone is quite proud, as they have already outperformed all their peers in other sses."

    "For other students, I would only give their parents some advice about their studies, but I know what kind of student Chu Tingwu is, so I have higher expectations for... your future," Teacher Shi looked at Chu Tingwu, and the others turned to look at her as well. "Whether or not you get into a good university throughpetitions, you will have a way forward."

    "Given that you already have these thoughts, what are your views on how you will shape your future?"

    ¡ªYou are already sixteen years old, even though you haven''t legallye of age yet. Your peers have already started making decisions for their lives, even if they are still immature and don''t yet know what they are deciding for their future.

    Your future is even broader; are you just drifting along?

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    Aunt Mei smiled at her, while Man Xing blinked and didn''t refute the teacher but also didn''t speak up suddenly.

    For her, when Chu Chu created the foundation, she was already doing "meaningful" things for society. From an outsider''s perspective, Chu Tingwu had even achieved apleteness that many adults couldn''t reach, but how did she think about it herself?

    Lian Tong coughed and reached for her earpiece to interject: "My boss says that no matter what decision the child makes, it will fully support it... even if it seems like a waste of life to others, as long as she''s happy, it''s a great life."

    Teacher Shi: So, parents, don''t spoil your kids!

    Chu Tingwu, however, smiled:

    "I guess I''ll keep studying and keep streaming. I can travel around and try new things."

    More than a year had passed since her grandmother''s death, and she felt like she was slowly settling down. That vague sense of disorientation and anxiety hadpletely dissipated: there were people to apany her, to shield her from the storms... Most importantly, her mind and body were also bing increasingly strong, and she had tried many things she had never thought of before, finding them all quite interesting.

    As for the future, it would be...

    Chu Tingwu: "I want toplete more extreme challenges in front of the camera, and when everyone gets used to it, seeing me jump to the second floor won''t cause a big fuss."

    Teacher Shi, who had been startled by that recently: "?"

    No, normal people really can''t jump onto the second floor of a teaching building without a run-up... even if the bell rang and you''re in a hurry for ss, you can''t do that!

    In fact, Chu Tingwu had been thinking about this for some time. She realized:

    As her skills upgraded to the second stage and her abilities grew stronger, the "restraint" she felt also became more severe¡ªsometimes, she really just did things that normal people couldn''t do, like jumping to the second floor, but that would always elicit shocked looks.

    "So why don''t I just charge you a little?"

    The idea started vaguely, but after watching a few extreme sports challenge videos, the desire in Chu Tingwu''s heart became even stronger:

    Not just doing challenges in front of the camera, but these "pushing the limits" sports also provided Chu Tingwu with a release window.

    Even without the camera, she was curious and excited about activities like unprotected cliff climbing, skydiving without a parachute, solo sailing around the world, and trekking through uninhabited areas.

    Teacher Shi didn''t know what Chu Tingwu meant by "traveling around," so he just encouraged the student who had stated her goals: "That''s good... so are you going to go out during this semester''s winter vacation? Are you still going to join the school''s winter camp?"

    The so-called winter camp was, of course, a review session, organized by several schools in the city, with the location set at the Fifth Middle School. Besides sses, they would also organize visits to other ces.

    Chu Tingwu didn''t give an answer. On the way back, Teacher Zhang suggested:

    "This time, when you''re on break, there''s a rmendation-based winter camp that starts earlier than the others. Interested in taking a look?"

    Although she didn''t use her roundabout connections to get into the Fifth Middle School, Teacher Zhang hadn''t wasted them. Considering the child''s interest in biology, she had found a "biology interest ss" for her.

    The base of the interest ss was located by the Sang City coast. Teacher Zhang had checked the level of the teachers and believed it would be a good opportunity for Chu Tingwu to improve.

    When Teacher Zhang mentioned it, the system beside her quickly pulled up the information:

    [Indeed, you can go; you can also try sailing.]

    Chu Tingwu: What kind of interest ss is this?

    Although the focus of the system is on children ying by the beach, the training camp indeed boasts a strong faculty, and it''s not easy to enroll¡ªonly through rmendations, and only certain schools have the rmendation quota¡ªaiming to enhance students'' knowledge levels in a fun and educational manner. Besides professional instructors, there are also plenty of outdoor activities and hands-on experiments... essentially bringing the system''s dream ssroom outdoors.

    Chu Tingwu agreed, and Teacher Zhang nodded:

    With her rmendation, she only needed to send Chu Tingwu''s name and recent grades, no need for the exam used for evaluation.

    -

    The Sang City Biotech Winter Camp has been running for over a decade. When the organizer received Chu Tingwu''s information, she first eximed, "Huh?":

    Her grades are decent in a small city, but in this winter camp, they would only rank at the bottom.

    She looked again and noticed: "She only startedpeting in the first half of high school?"

    That might slightly improve her evaluation, but not much. She has some talent, but her parents dyed her development.

    She imported the information¡ª

    This time, they invited Teacher Fu, who retired from the national team, Teacher Qi, who has been apanying the national team in internationalpetitions for several years, and Teacher Wang, who has been the chief examiner for the national exams three times... Among the applicants, there are many highly anticipated geniuses, hoping to uncover even more brilliant diamonds from the gold.

    -

    Chu Tingwu opened the camera:

    "I''m at Wanbei Airport in Jin City. It''s probably too early, everyone looks sleepy... The flight to Sang City is at 7 AM, and I woke up early, so I came first."

    "This is Yue Miao from the Starcloud Charity Foundation, who is also flying to Sang City for a meeting, so we''re traveling together."

    Yue Miao was sipping coffee with a bitter expression, waving at the camera when she heard that.

    [Chu, you''ve been away for years, but you''re still a kid at heart.]

    [Got it, the parents are worried you can''t handle flying alone, so they sent someone, right?]

    [Ah! It''s Yue Yue! Long time no see!]

    A few viewers recognized Yue Miao in thements, surprising her. She smiled and said, "Yes, I was sent by 355."

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    She and Yue Miao don''t actually know each other, but Yue Miao has been a fan of Chu Tingwu''s for a long time, as they were both caught up in the same public opinion storm when Chu Tingwu first started streaming.

    Afterwards, the system provided legal assistance to Yue Miao and fifty others who were ndered, and Yue Miao''s mother''s illness also improved. After working for a while, she learned that the Starcloud Charity Foundation was hiring.

    So, encouraged by her mother, she applied to the foundation.

    During the background check, Man Xing discovered her past. During the interview, he curiously asked, "The foundation offers good benefits, but if you join, you might encounter even worse situations than before, and see more dark sides of society¡ª"

    Helping others inevitably involves witnessing their suffering, and excessive empathy isn''t always a good thing.

    Yue Miao: "Then let me work until I can''t handle it anymore."

    Some people dedicate their lives to charity, while others might leave after a period due to mental stress. In organizations like the Starcloud Charity Foundation, this is better than smaller charities, as it''s more stable and there''s no pressure to "save everyone" and be unable to leave.

    So Yue Miao wanted to give it a try.

    Man Xing naturally wouldn''t reject such a person, and the question was asked only after she passed the interview.

    This time, Yue Miao was heading to Sang City to meet with a small charity organization rted to girls'' education and personally assess their work to decide whether to invest.

    This time, 355 didn''te.

    Chu Tingwu exined to the camera: "355 is busy with work recently."

    It''s almost the end of the year, and the part-time police cat has been drafted to "work."

    ¡ªAfter graduating from the training base, 355 often "recruited" a group of stray cats to do some harmless small tasks when Chu Tingwu was in ss. But cats do slip up sometimes, and once, they were finally caught, making a small news headline.

    Then the cat group scattered, and other cats were fine, but a photo taken during the incident (and used in the news) exposed 355.

    After all, she''s a pretty famous cat.

    Officer Zhou had toe and take the cat mom for "education"¡ªactually for recruitment¡ªlike now, 355: "Meow!"

    She ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????patrolled over from the other end of the airport.

    The police officer next to her chuckled: "¡­Good morning."

    355 wasn''t on a leash; she doesn''t like it, but she understandsmands. Sometimes she doesn''t follow them, usually just because she doesn''t feel like it.

    Chu Tingwu crouched down to hug 355, and the police officer joked, "You can''t just touch our police cat, it''s against the rules to assault an officer."

    Chu Tingwu: "Temp workers don''t count."

    Officer: You''re quite reasonable.

    After hugging the temp worker, she had to check in, so she said to the viewers, "I''ll stream again afternding in Sang City."

    This wasn''t because she was diligent.

    It''s the end of the month, and she hadn''t met her streaming quota for the month.

    The fans didn''t mind, noting down the streaming schedule and going about their business.

    But they didn''t expect that when the stream opened again, what appeared in the camera was¡ª

    Chu Tingwu: "Today, we''re streaming car repair."

    Fans: "?"

    Chu Tingwu took the wrench handed to her by someone next to her and silently opened the car''s hood.

    The person next to her was quite ashamed: "Sorry, sorry, I''ll definitely study physics properlyter!"

    To fix my own car next time!

    Fans: "=="

    They understood: The person next to her seemed to be a fellow student from the Sang City Biotech Winter Camp. He rented a car, deciding to drive to¡­ wait? Does the winter camp have adult students?

    So you didn''t realize you''re underage and don''t have a driver''s license before renting the car, right?!

    Yue Miao, holding her driver''s license, looked nkly at the side: The sea is really¡­ gray, gray-blue.

    Why isn''t there any sun today!

    On her first trip with her boss''s boss, thetter is now repairing the car next to her, and she doesn''t know what to do¡­

    Very anxious!

 Chapter 90

    <h1>Chapter 90</h1>

    While Chu Tingwu was fixing the car, Yue Miao had no choice but to strike up a conversation with the ssmate next to her.

    The ssmate was also sixteen years old, surnamed Shao, and hailed from Bao City in North Sea Province. He had a distinctive head of curly hair, a natural curl. He was carrying arge backpack, from which he took out snacks and water, generously sharing them with the two fellow travelers.

    ¡ª Compared to Chu Tingwu, Shao ssmate was quite a talkative person.

    Before Yue Miao even had a chance to fish for information, the ssmate had already spilled all his personal details by following her lead in the conversation:

    ¡°This is my first time in Sang City, and I don¡¯t have any rtives or friends here. My parents were worried that I might get scammed out of my money, so they transferred a bit extra to my ount. But apparently, the winter camp base is near the sea, and the transportation around there isn¡¯t great. You can¡¯t even order takeout, so I rented a car to make sure I could buy food if I got hungry.¡±

    ¡°I identally messed up the rental process, though. I was supposed to rent an electric tricycle, but when I arrived, I found out I¡¯d rented a Mitsubishi car instead. Haha, maybe I misread the words!¡±

    ¡°When I was sitting in the car spacing out, did you guys think I was a taxi driver waiting for passengers at the airport? That¡¯s why I stepped in when I heard you asking other drivers if they were going to the base¡ªyou see, you don¡¯t have to pay for a ride, just drive yourselves!¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    But right now, we¡¯re actually fixing the car ourselves, aren¡¯t we? ==

    Although Shao ssmate made it sound logical and reasonable, from Yue Miao and Chu Tingwu¡¯s perspective¡­ this story was entirely Version B.

    After leaving the airport, Yue Miao had nned to take a taxi to first drop Chu Tingwu off at the base, and then head over to meet the person in charge of the Fangyuan Charity Mutual Aid Association. But just as she had called for a cab, Shao ssmate suddenly appeared behind them, extremely friendly, and asked Chu Tingwu:

    ¡°ssmate, are you also going to the Sang City Biology Training Camp? Me too!¡±

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°Ah¡­¡±

    Since he was the boss¡¯s ssmate, Yue Miao assumed he just wanted to share a ride. But then he turned to Yue Miao and asked: ¡°Sister, do you know how to drive? You can drive my car, and you won¡¯t have to pay for a taxi.¡±

    Yue Miao: ¡°¡­¡±

    The employee from the rentalpany next to them: ¡°¡­¡±

    Yue Miao, having been through a lot, could tell that it wasn¡¯t a mistake on Shao ssmate¡¯s part. He had been duped. The car was probably not in great condition, and they were trying to squeeze a few extra hundred bucks out of him for a recement¡­ but they hadn¡¯t expected this naive kid from out of town to actually find an adult willing to drive for him.

    Employee: Is he going to get scammed?

    Wait, he already seems to have been scammed by theirpany.

    Sure enough, the car broke down halfway, though it was still within the realm of being fixable (but why does the boss even know how to fix cars?). Yue Miao quickly realized that Shao ssmate was indeed a rich, naive kid¡ªand probably even wealthier than he let on. But his upbringing seemed decent; he likely didn¡¯t have much pocket money since everything he wanted was already provided, so he still had a carefree attitude toward money.

    In other words, he would unconsciously spend whatever was in his ount, without realizing when others were taking advantage of him.

    She nced at the time: ¡°Chu Chu, Shao ssmate, how about I take care of the car? You two go ahead and take a taxi, and I¡¯ll call someone to tow it.¡±

    The car¡¯s issue was almost resolved by Chu Tingwu, but then they ran out of gas.

    Shao ssmate had a look of hesitation.

    Yue Miao: ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­?¡±

    Shao ssmate: ¡°I mean, I was originally nning to let you guys ride for free¡ª¡±

    Yue Miao: I was the one driving, okay?

    Shao ssmate: ¡°But since the car broke down, and we might bete, I felt so guilty¡­ so I just rented another car. This time, I didn¡¯t rent the wrong one! This time, it¡¯s really an electric tricycle!¡±

    The sea breeze was strong, blowing Yue Miao¡¯s bangs all over the ce.

    She reached up to smooth her hair and said, ¡°Is that oneing over there?¡±

    Shao ssmate grinned confidently: ¡°Yes! I know how to ride an electric tricycle!¡±

    So why do you, a young master, have such a skill!?

    Chu Tingwu closed the car¡¯s rear lid: ¡°It¡¯s fixed.¡±

    This time, it was still the same employee who rode the electric tricycle over. When he saw Chu Tingwu and the others, his expression was a bit odd.

    He jumped off the tricycle and took the initiative: ¡°You didn¡¯t¡­ break the car, did you?¡­¡±

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°Nothing serious, just ran out of gas.¡±

    He didn¡¯t quite believe it, but Yue Miao nced at the minivan behind the electric tricycle and calmly said, ¡°We rented the wrong car. Let¡¯s return this one¡­¡± Though she really wanted to say they didn¡¯t need to keep the tricycle either, she couldn¡¯t make the decision for Shao ssmate.

    Just as the employee was about to say something to these outsiders, he noticed a few people getting off the minivan.

    ¡ª It was the people from the Fangyuan Charity Mutual Aid Association that Yue Miao had just contacted.

    Although they hadn¡¯t met before, the moment they exchanged nces, they somehow felt a sense of closeness.

    The people from Fangyuan quickly helped Shao ssmate get his deposit back and ordered the employee to drive the out-of-gas car away¡­ but when Yue Miao turned around, she found that Shao ssmate and Chu Tingwu had already loaded their luggage onto the electric tricycle, with Chu Tingwu already seated.

    Yue Miao: ¡°Wait, boss, we can take¡ª¡±

    Take the car the foundation sent over!

    The boss, sitting on the gradually disappearing electric tricycle, waved at her: ¡°You handle it, we¡¯ll go to the base ourselves.¡±

    After a moment¡¯s thought, she added: ¡°I¡¯m with them¡ªwe won¡¯t get lost!¡±

    -

    They still got lost.

    Although it was winter, Sang City¡¯s temperature remained high. The strong sea breeze didn¡¯t make it feel hot, though the sun was a bit harsh, making Chu Tingwu not want to open her eyes to check the route provided by the system.

    Shao ssmate took on the task of driving, and Chu Tingwu had no objections to riding an electric tricycle.

    She just felt the vibrations of the wheels as they rolled over the ground, asionally giving directions at corners¡ª

    And then they ended up at the entrance of the oceanarium across from the base.

    The oceanarium was closed that day, and the staff at the entrance looked puzzled at the two¡­ minors? With all their luggage stuffed into the electric tricycle? Why did youe to visit the oceanarium looking like you¡¯re moving house?

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°¡­¡±

    Shao ssmate looked down: ¡°There was a fork in the road earlier, and you said to go left, but I identally forgot which way was left, so I just picked one.¡±

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°?¡±

    Shao ssmate looked even more embarrassed: ¡°Actually, this isn¡¯t the first time I¡¯ve forgotten. I forgot a few times before, but it seemed like I picked the right way each time¡­?¡±

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°Then your luck is really good.¡±

    Shao ssmate chuckled shyly: ¡°Hehe¡­ my family always says that about me.¡±

    They must mean it wholeheartedly!

    She checked the map and found that turning around would take them to the base¡­ but their electric tricycle was running out of power, likely due to the weight of the luggage.

    Shao ssmate also noticed this. While Chu Tingwu was looking at the map, he enthusiastically (why does this feel familiar?) asked the staff: ¡°Sister, our tricycle is out of power. Can we charge it here? We can pay, please!¡±

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°==¡±

    [This kid, how does he give off the vibe of being able to beg his way home even if he¡¯s lost abroad and can¡¯t speak thenguage?]

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°Ah, am I still live streaming?¡±

    The fans: Did you just realize that?!

    Even though you put up azy title before the stream, you can¡¯t be sozy that you forget you¡¯re streaming!

    The staff, though amused, agreed, and after learning more:

    ¡°So you¡¯re all students participating in the biologypetition¡­ Sang City¡¯s biology winter camp is pretty famous. You must all be top students, huh?¡±

    Shao ssmate drank some water as he replied: ¡°Ah¡­ I¡¯m not sure. I was invited toe! I got invitations from other winter camps too, but this one is closest to the sea. I¡¯ve never been to Sang City, so I decided toe and check it out! How about you?¡±

    He looked at Chu Tingwu, who took the drone ball and politely declined the small bread he offered: "I heard that you can watch the sailingpetition here, which sounds interesting. Besides, it was arranged by my elders, so I can''t waste their intentions."

    Shao ssmate gave a thumbs up: "Great."

    What are you praising?

    But it was clear that he found Chu Tingwu''s reason... great, or perhaps... cool? As a result, he felt even closer to her (unterally), concluding: "If you want to go out for a meal, you can call me to drive you in my tricycle. I''ve rented it until the end of the winter camp!"

    Thanks, but no thanks.

    Chu Tingwu: "Since you''re renting it for so long, why not give your tricycle a name?"

    Shao ssmate: "Hmm... good idea, but I''m not good at naming things. Do you have any experience in naming?"

    Chu Tingwu: "I don''t either. My cats are all named by numbers."

    Shao ssmate: "Number names! That''s cool! Then it''ll be called 819!"

    The staff member listening in silence: Isn''t that just the license te number?

    Shao ssmate turned his head: "If you want to go out for a meal, you can call me to drive 819 for you."

    The staff member: Don''t make it sound like you''re driving some kind of aircraft!

    She finally couldn''t help but interject: "Um... we''re open, and since it''s a weekday, there aren''t many people. Would you like toe in and take a look?"

    It''s like having the entire underwater park to yourselves.

    Sang City''s sailing base is more famous than the underwater park, but thetter also has an underwater walkway¡ªpeople walk on the bottomyer, with a ss tunnel above their heads, where aquatic creatures swim overhead. However, this walkway doesn''t extend deep into the sea.

    Sang City''s underwater park is a bit dated, as it was built with limited funds, so it''s actually a threeyer structure.

    Since there wasn''t much to do, the staff member informed her colleagues and decided to take the two kids down together:

    "Thisyer is the marine science museum. The instruments aren''t on, but you can check out the scientific content. The nextyer is the jellyfish hall, with all kinds of jellyfish. The underground secondyer has other aquatic creatures, and then two moreyers down is the underwater walkway."

    It''s "underwater," not "under the sea," because the animals you see overhead are from the underground secondyer, not wild sea creatures.

    The three of them took the esctor down together, reaching the lowest level of the underwater walkway. The light from above filtered down, casting colorful shadows on the ground.

    Seals swam in circles on the other side of the ss,pletely uninterested in the unfamiliar humans below.

    After escorting them to the bottom, the staff member left.

    Shao ssmate poked the ss, where a starfish was slowly crawling, while Chu Tingwu sniffed the air.

    Despite the ss, the smell of the sea wasn''t strong, but there was a faint mustiness and... the smell of fresh popcorn?

    She turned her head just as a tourist around the corner came into view.

    The tourist seemed startled, hurriedly nced at Chu Tingwu, and then, before she could speak, turned away and rushed off with her popcorn bucket.

    Shao ssmate also smelled the popcorn: "Ah, do they sell popcorn here? Do you want some?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Yes, but the popcorn staff isn''t here, so it seems you have to make it yourself."

    Shao ssmate: "?"

    They walked to the end and went upstairs, finding a popcorn, chips, and c counter opposite the souvenirs, with no staff in sight.

    It was clear that the off-season was really quiet here.

    The entire underwater park seemed to have only three visitors.

    There was only a little popcorn left in the counter, so Chu Tingwu opened it herself and started making popcorn following the system prompts¡ªShao ssmate felt he couldn''t just stand by and do nothing, so he went in to help with the cash register.

    Hmm, operating the machine and collecting their own money.

    But just as they finished, they noticed they could take money from others... The tourist they had seen once before appeared again, standing outside the counter, looking bewildered at the two inside.

    Shao ssmate was very... enthusiastic: "Do you want some? It''ll be ready soon."

    Tourist: "Ah, ah... okay."

    Shao ssmate: "Small bucket orrge bucket? Small is eighteen,rge is twenty-five. Take the small one, and I''ll give you extra!"

    Chu Tingwu: You''re not even a real staff member!

    Tourist: "You... are you doing work-study here?"

    Shao ssmate: "Huh?"

    Tourist: "Oh, I thought you were ssmates from the biology winter camp."

    The real staff member came out from behind the door: "No need to operate, I''ll do it, I''ll do it."

    In the end, the staff member gave them extra freshly made popcorn, charging only for the small bucket despite using therge one.

    The three of them looked at each other.

    The tourist had long hair and was half a palm taller than Chu Tingwu. She tilted her head and looked at the two: "Um... I''m Zhou Qiang. I finished reporting and had nothing to do, so I came out to wander around."

    After all, the nearby underwater park seemed a bit interesting.

    Shao ssmate: "Oh, oh, I''m Shao Lingwu, and this one here is¡ª"

    He paused.

    He was deep in thought.

    After knowing each other for so long (??), Chu Tingwu hadn''t even mentioned her name.

    Chu Tingwu: "Sigh."

    She extended her hand and shook hands with both of them: "I''m Chu Tingwu. I have cats at home. Are either of you allergic to cat hair?"

    Fortunately, neither of them was. The three future ssmates for the next two months sessfully met at the underwater park. Chu Tingwu learned that Zhou Qiang was from the same province¡ª

    Zhou Qiang: "My parents didn''t want me toe because the winter camp fees are high, and they didn''t want to pay."

    Shao Lingwu "hissed" in sympathy: "Then, if you need money, I can lend you..."

    Chu Tingwu interrupted him: "So you were asking about work-study just now?"

    Zhou Qiang: "Oh... no."

    Huh?

    "I didn''t owe the winter camp fees," Zhou Qiang said slowly, "I paid the tuition myself by trading stocks."

    Chu Tingwu & Shao Lingwu: Okay ==

    The three went to the underground firstyer to see the jellyfish. Shao Lingwu seemed to be just wandering around, Zhou Qiang walked slowly, and only Chu Tingwu pressed her head against the ss¡ª

    She discovered.

    Her lv1 gic inheritance skill and intuition skill... didn''t seem to work when facing aquatic creatures.

    For example, the jellyfish in front of her was poisonous. Normally, when Chu Tingwu saw a jellyfish, she would feel a warning in her heart and could judge whether the jellyfish had an attack intent... but perhaps because the jellyfish was too small and had no "emotions," she felt nothing.

    Of course, humans wouldn''t be wary of jellyfish in a controlled environment, but for Chu Tingwu, this was unusual.

    She thought back and found: "I didn''t feel anything when I faced fish either."

    The first time she caught that aggressive invasive fish, she relied on her vision, hearing, and physical senses, with no intuition involved.

    System: "Because you''re not an underwater animal."

    Gic inheritance depends on inheritance... cats don''t have this kind of thing in their genes.

    But the "gic inheritance" skill in young animals not only includes inherited knowledge but also self-learned knowledge¡ªif one day she suddenly lost her memory, the new knowledge wouldn''t disappear and would continue to exist as her instinct, helping her live better.

    Chu Tingwu came back to her senses and found that Zhou Qiang and Shao Lingwu had already started discussing the fish skeleton in front of them.

    After a long discussion, they concluded: "This skeleton is misspelled."

    Chu Tingwu looked back and found... well, if the system hadn''t drawn auxiliary lines, she wouldn''t have noticed the problem.

    Because this is not something that would be taught in ss, it''s more like extracurricr knowledge, and she herself doesn''t have much knowledge about aquatic life, the reasons given by these two were¡ª

    Shao Lingwu: "What I saw at the Shangjing Ocean Museum before is different from this. The structure here theoretically shouldn''t exist. The mouth is installed upside down, right?"

    Zhou Qiang was holding her phone: "Theparison photo is quite obvious. Look¡ªthis small dot, yes, it''s a bit blurry when zoomed in, but it''s indeed quite obvious."

    Where exactly is this obvious? The dense teeth and pixted patterns after zooming in?

    Chu Tingwu silently followed behind them. The two submitted their error report to the staff, and the electric car had also finished charging.

    Probably to thank them for pointing out the mistake, the underwater world also gave each of the three a pr bear plush keychain.

    Zhou Qiang: "Hmm... but you don''t have any pr bears here, only a penguin."

    That penguin was also constantly turning its back to them, refusing to turn around.

    Chu ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Tingwu pressed Zhou Qiang''s head back, turning her entire face towards herself, then smiled and thanked the staff: "We''ll be leaving first."

    Zhou Qiang, you must not have many friends if you always talk like that.

    The three got on the electric tricycle and left. Chu Tingwu reopened her live stream and briefly introduced her new ssmates to her audience.

    She still had six hours left to meet her monthly live streaming quota, and streaming until midnight would just about do it.

    Luckily, there was no need to turn anymore. Zhou Qiang leaned on the railing, lost in thought. Chu Tingwu showed the audience the sea view and the seagulls circling overhead. Shao Lingwu hummed an unknown tune as the tricycle rode all the way to the entrance of the winter camp base. Under the guidance of the staff, they parked between a few cars.

    A parent and child arrived next to them, the parent having just parked the car. Seeing the three kids getting off the electric tricycle, they were momentarily stunned.

    The staff verified their identities¡ªZhou Qiang had already reported in advance and had an ID card¡ªthen asked a colleague to take them to the dorms.

    Colleague: "We have double rooms here. Since you arrived early, you can choose your rooms first."

    Zhou Qiang: "I don''t have a roommate yet."

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    Zhou Qiang nced at Chu Tingwu again.

    Chu Tingwu: "Then I''ll stay with you."

    Zhou Qiang nodded silently.

    The staff also noticed the drone Chu Tingwu was using for live streaming and smiled: "ssmate, we also use this model of drone. But if you''re filming outdoors, remember to turn on the facial recognition blur feature, as some people might not like being on camera."

    The boys'' dorms were on the first floor, the girls'' on the second, and the third floor housed the sciencebs. The entire base was actually interconnected, with sunlight streaming straight down, providing natural light and nutrients to the greenhouse in the middle, enclosed by ss walls.

    Most students were surprised by this internal botanical garden when they first saw it, and there were many rare species cultivated here, as if an artificial rainforest had been created within the building.

    There were also walkways and other staff working and maintaining the area. The guide smiled at the three¡ª

    Shao Lingwu looked at the map: "We should first remember where the cafeteria is."

    Chu Tingwuforted: "If the food is really bad, I can also cook. As long as the ingredients are fresh."

    Zhou Qiang still spoke slowly: "Hmm... this is a biology winter camp, so the ingredients shouldn''t be too bad, right?"

    Staff: We''re a biology training camp, not a restaurant. Do you think "biology" only refers to ingredients? ==

    He silently led the three to their dorms and reminded them not to lose their ID wristbands. Chu Tingwu also felt it was a bit excessive to keep mixing live streaming with everything, so she took the drone out of the dorm to show some more substantial content... content.

    Zhou Qiang silently followed.

    The second-floor corridor had grille-style floor-to-ceiling windows, and from the corridor, one could see the sea. At this moment, someone was already looking out. The sea at the horizon appeared faintly white, almost blending with the pressing sky. The three stood there for a while, and Chu Tingwu heard someone next to her murmur: "It''s a sailboat..."

    A few small dots appeared at the end of the sea, and as they got closer, it became clear that someone was returning on a sailboat.

    The person next to them exined: "They should be practicing single-handed sailboat driving. There''s a coastal single-handed sailboat race, and Sang City is one of the race points."

    It wasn''t that they needed to dock in Sang City, but the sailboat route included the waters near Sang City, and there just happened to be a sailboat training base here.

    ¡ªOn the opposite side of the winter camp, behind the hill on their side.

    The person next to them went upstairs after saying that, as if thinking the view from the top floor would be clearer.

    Zhou Qiang told Chu Tingwu: "It''s very windy on the top floor."

    The drone might get blown away.

    Chu Tingwu: Thanks, but I''m not nning to go up.

    She nned to go to the restaurant.

    The menu by the sea was indeed different from that of North Sea Province, with many dishes Chu Tingwu had never eaten before. Moreover, it wasn''t a cafeteria-style service but a buffet, where one could take whatever they wanted, with only a few dishes needing to be ordered at specific windows.

    But since not many people had arrived yet, most of the windows were closed.

    As they walked over, they ended up at the western window, where Shao Lingwu was inside, looking at them.

    Shao Lingwu: "Should I get you more?"

    Chu Tingwu: What now? Are you "again" working a part-time job here?

    Shao Lingwu looked around and quietly opened the small door on the west side to let them in¡ª

    "I saw that the crab roe buns were already made but no one was steaming them, so I asked if I could steam them myself to eat, and the staff agreed."

    Chu Tingwu and Zhou Qiang both thought there was nothing wrong with that, the only problem being: "So where are the crab roe buns?"

    Shao Lingwu: "I don''t know how! I''ve never done it before."

    He was learning! But all the online tutorials were for home use, not for suchrge machines, so he had just been searching how to operate this kind of machine and was currently looking at the factory specs.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    She might as well do it herself.

    The two useless people stepped aside and watched as Chu Tingwu bent down to examine the semi-finished buns, finally picking out a steamer¡ª

    Shao Lingwu: "It''s just like picking

    watermelons."

    Zhou Qiang: "¡­No need to worry about the ingredients anymore."

    Chu Tingwu: ¡­Although I did instinctively pick out the ones that felt better, your confidence in me is a bit inexplicable.

    She remembered she was live streaming and exined to the camera: "These buns have better folds, so they won''t crack after steaming, which is aesthetically pleasing. These¡­"

    She paused: "Are fresher, made within two hours, and the fillings were also handled by hand."

    Fans: "Ohhh!"

    Shao Lingwu: "Ohhh!"

    The chef who walked over: "?"

    ssmate, please leave.

    The others were also made today, okay? The other ingredients were also freshly processed, okay! It''s just rtively not that fresh¡­ Although there are always quirky students every year, since they mostly recruit geniuses for the winter camp, how could there be a student who, on the first day of the winter camp, is live streaming steaming buns in the cafeteria!0

    Would their winter camp go viral because of the freshness of the ingredients?

 Chapter 91

    <h1>Chapter 91</h1>

    Halfway through steaming the buns, Chu Tingwu and the other two were ushered out. However, the staff''s attitude was extremely courteous. They didn''t even need to fetch their own meals; the staff insisted on bringing the food to their table and even gave a detailed introduction.

    Shao Lingwu''s emotional intelligence kicked in: "Probably worried you''d broadcast something unfavorable, huh? But you can actually tell if the ingredients are fresh just by looking through the bun skin? That''s amazing. Feels like we''re going to have a lot of good food during this winter camp!"

    Chu Tingwu: "Hmm..."

    "Not by looking," Zhou Qiang refuted, "Definitely by smelling."

    Chu Tingwu: "Don''t you guys think it''s a bit strange?"

    Shao Lingwu: "What''s strange about it? There are some really talented people in the world. You can''t just dismiss them because you can''t do what they do!"

    ¡ªThey generally refer to such people as geniuses.

    The three of them focused on eating. Zhou Qiang even went to get an ice cream. The restaurant was getting more and more crowded.

    Today was the registration day, and tomorrow sses would officially begin... Since some students might struggle with daily life tasks, parents were allowed to help set up their rooms on registration day, but from tomorrow on, parents wouldn''t be allowed in.

    While eating, they overheard a parent across from them repeatedly advising their child: "Separate your socks from your clothes when washing," "Set an rm in the morning," "Even on breaks, don''t wander off; stay in the camp." The child nodded randomly, not showing whether they were listening or not.

    The parent seemed to have given up, then suddenly fixed their gaze on Zhou Qiang.

    Zhou Qiang actually had a very gentle appearance, with long flowing hair, looking like a kind older sister next door. And right now, she was eating an ice cream, so it waspletely unnoticeable... that when she wasn''t eating, her face was usually expressionless.

    The ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????parent grabbed Zhou Qiang''s arm: "ssmate, hello."

    Zhou Qiang: "?"

    "ssmate, could we discuss something?" the parent said, "This is my son. Could you please take care of him? Help him wash his clothes, he doesn''t know how to do it himself. And make sure he doesn''t y games. I''m really worried he''ll get his hands on a phone and stop studying. I''ll pay you¡ª"

    Zhou Qiang: "Bank ount number."

    The parent: "Huh?"

    Zhou Qiang: "Give me your bank ount number. I''ll transfer you two dors. You can leave now."

    The parent: "..."

    The parent was about to get angry, but the "son" next to them actually heard this time and burst outughing.

    The staff seemed to sense something was off and came over to separate them. Chu Tingwu and the others moved their trays to a window seat, where they could still enjoy the view of the sailboat training outside.

    Shao Lingwu looked around: "Weughed, sure... but how could heugh?"

    Although the parent''s behavior was ridiculous, it was for his own good, and the son didn''t even try to stop them.

    Zhou Qiang: "Hmm?"

    What''s so funny about that?

    However, Shao Lingwu secretly decided to stay away from this "son."

    But when they returned to their dorm, they found the "son" lying on the bed ying games. Shao Lingwu was silent.

    He hadn''t even taken off his shoes.

    Shao Lingwu: "?"

    He stepped back into the corridor, grabbing Chu Tingwu, who hadn''t left yet: "Can I stay with you guys?"

    No.

    Chu Tingwu and Zhou Qiang apanied him to find the staff. The staff was a bit helpless: "We can''t just change rooms because a student wants to. If everyone wanted to switch, it would get chaotic¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu raised her hand: "He''s allergic."

    The staff: "Huh?"

    Shao Lingwu: "Huh? ...Huh! Right!"

    So what was he allergic to again?

    Chu Tingwu: "He''s allergic to the smell of dirty socks. If his roommate is too unclean, he might have an allergic reaction and end up in the hospital, unable to continue the winter camp."

    Shao Lingwu: "..." This, was it really that serious? He actually still wanted to attend the winter camp; he could endure it.

    The staff: "Alright, fine."

    After getting the new key and leaving the office, Shao Lingwu was a bit surprised: "He didn''t even ask to see my medical report?"

    Of course, if needed, he could get his family''s hospital to provide one.

    Chu Tingwu: "Because he just needed a reasonable excuse. After all, if we really got into a conflict and something happened, the staff would be in trouble."

    Of course, if needed, she could also get her family''s hospital to provide one.

    Zhou Qiang stood between the two: "Want to check out the new dorm?"

    -

    The new dorm was at the other end of the corridor. The light wasn''t as good as the original dorm, but the other bed was clean and tidy, with aptop bag at the head of the bed and the luggage already stored in the wardrobe.

    The new roommate wasn''t there, but their toiletries were already out, and they noticed¡ªthe toothbrushes, toothpaste, and cup handles all faced the same direction.

    The new roommate seemed to have a bit of obsessivepulsive disorder.

    They didn''t stay long before the new roommate returned. Chu Tingwu noticed that this was the person who had been watching the sailboats on the second floor and then went to the top floor.

    He had a slightly paleplexion, nced at the three of them, and nodded as a greeting.

    A bit cold, but that was fine, Shao Lingwu thought.

    The roommate: "Do you know whose electric tricycle is in the parking lot?"

    Shao Lingwu: "?"

    The roommate: "It''s stuck between a row of cars. It''s just too ufortable. I can''t stand it."

    Shao Lingwu: "..."

    Chu Tingwu and Zhou Qiang silently left, and Shao Lingwu grabbed them: "Wait¡ª"

    He was allergic, he was allergic to obsessivepulsive disorder, don''t leave me!

    The roommate muttered: "I need to talk to the staff about this..."

    Shao Lingwu: My sanity¡ª

    Chu Tingwu: "Goodbye."

    -

    The new roommate also surnamed Chu, named Chu Xiao, is from Ji Province.

    Worried that he might "dispose" of the electric tricycle, Shao Lingwu quietly followed him when he went out.

    Then they heard an announcement over the speakers, asking all students to gather in the auditorium on the third floor.

    ¡ªThe camp had noticed that all students had finished registering, so they decided to introduce the teachers and teaching environment before the official start of sses.

    The camp''s area was indeedrge.

    It had four floors, with a rooftop above the fourth floor. From the outside, it looked like an inverted bowl, and at the bottom of the bowl was a small botanical garden.

    This session had a total of sixty-seven students,ing from all over the country. The students had diverse personalities, and in their respective hometowns, they were undoubtedly geniuses. After half a day, most of them had only met their roommates and barely remembered their names.

    However, in the meeting room, there was a group that was already familiar with each other¡ª

    After listening for a while, Chu Tingwu realized they must havepeted against each other in otherpetitions during their first year of high school. Former rivals had now be acquaintances.

    Most of the students were holding tablets or phones, standing or sitting in the meeting room, not talking, maintaining a silent atmosphere.

    Until Shao Lingwu and Chu Xiao entered.

    Although Shao Lingwu didn''t speak loudly, the room was so quiet that his voice was clearly audible. He was exining the internal mechanics of the electric tricycle to Chu Xiao, mentioning how modern electric tricycles reduce costs, expand production, and how to advertise for effective operation.

    Chu Xiao''s expression looked even paler.

    He silently walked to thest row, where Chu Tingwu and Zhou Qiang were sitting.

    Chu Tingwu raised her phone to cover her face.

    Shao Lingwu sat next to his roommate on the sofa, making a final concluding statement: "So,pared to cars that cause more pollution, I think everyone should use tricycles in such ces."

    ¡ªThe tricycle wasn''t wrong! The problem must be those cars that shouldn''t be there!

    Teacher Fu, who had arrived by car: "?"

    He had been sitting in thest row for a while.

    The third-floor meeting room was decorated in soft yellow and green tones, with two walls lined with bookshelves up to waist height, filled with fresh real flowers. The room had curved sofas and long tables ced at various angles, creating a warm and rxing atmosphere.

    He hade out from the back door after some students had arrived, as the meeting room was connected to the rest area, where he had been brewing coffee.

    Upon hearing Shao Lingwu''s words, he nced at the person, sessfully matching the face with the information in his mind: Oh... so it''s him.

    With only sixty-odd students in the entire training camp, and the number of staff surpassing that of the students, Teacher Fu naturally remembered Shao Lingwu''s background¡ª

    He wasn''t just good at biology.

    Teacher Fu had thought he might pursuepetitive mathematics, aspared to his impressive test scores, Shao Lingwu''s practical skills seemed somewhatcking. He excelled more in theoreticalpetitions that didn''t require hands-on work.

    If otherpetitions could be conquered through hard work, mathematicspetitions were truly a realm only for geniuses. Teacher Fu felt a bit of regret, but of course, they wouldn''t push away a talented student.

    He also recalled Chu Xiao beside him.

    Chu Xiao had actually won a national award in the information sciencepetition during his first year of high school, joining the national team, and was set for a smooth path ahead. Yet, he had unexpectedly withdrawn, turning down offers of guaranteed admission and other schools'' invitations, simply because: "Information technology isn''t what I imagined."

    After that, he began studyingpetitive biology and participated in several provincialpetitions, quickly standing out once again and earning an invitation to the winter camp in Sang City.

    Teacher Fu''s gaze shifted, noticing Chu Tingwu and Zhou Qiang both staring out the window, asionally leaning in to nce at their phone screens.

    Teacher Fu: "?"

    Right, these two...

    He had a particrly strong impression of Chu Tingwu.

    Compared to the others, Chu Tingwu was undoubtedly a "rtionship student." Her written test scores were far from passing the first round of their evaluation, but her experimental results were somewhat impressive, barely keeping up with the pace... Then Teacher Fu saw Chu Tingwu''s profile.

    Teacher Fu: "I miscalcted."

    This kid was probably just here for the experience.

    Compared to her rich life experiences, attending apetitive winter camp might not even register as a significant event.

    Zhou Qiang, on the other hand, was different.

    Zhou Qiang was from Ji Province, so the Sang City base had been keeping an eye on her early on. The reason she made it into the training camp was simple:

    All she had to do was consistently top the exams.

    Teacher Fu remembered reviewing Zhou Qiang''s papers, clean and precise, with no unnecessary steps, even her rough drafts were immacte. He had also proctored her during apetition, watching her emotionlessly finish the test, then meticulously review every question from start to finish before submitting.

    She was the epitome of the ideal student in the teachers'' eyes, even possessing an exceptionally stable temperament. Teacher Fu had high hopes for her.

    After mentally reviewing the backgrounds of these four seated together, Teacher Fu noticed¡ª

    Why were Shao Lingwu and Chu Xiao also looking out the window?

    He turned his head: "What''s that white dot by the sea?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Oh, that''s my released drone."

    After all, there was a live broadcast requirement, so she had the system handle it for now.

    -

    Teacher Fu''s movements as he stepped onto the podium seemed slightly fatigued, but the coffee aroma he left behind roused the other students.

    He took a sip of coffee and perked up:

    "Let''s skip the self-introduction round, as by the end of the winter camp, there may not be as many of you left."

    Everyone seemed to truly wake up now, their eyes focused and intent.

    Teacher Fu surveyed the room:

    "I know that all of you are true geniuses in your own small worlds, and you''ve certainly thought about joining the national team,peting in the Olympics..."

    Shao Lingwu: "Ah?"

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­Huh?"

    Zhou Qiang propped her chin on one hand, seemingly engrossed or perhaps just spacing out.

    Chu Xiao, meanwhile, stared at the line where the floor met the corner of the long table: it was crooked, the table legs were off, and it was just a few degrees out of alignment.

    After enduring for a while, he began quietly pushing the table.

    Teacher Fu: "Our time is limited, so the learning intensity will naturally be high. You might think you''re here for intensive training, but let me tell you, we won''t help students who fall behind¡ªif you can''t keep up in ss, you''ll have to catch up on your own after school... Over the years, many students have chosen to withdraw on their own."

    He paused, hearing a slight noise.

    It wasn''t chatter or discussion, but the sound of Chu Xiao pushing the table, causing friction with the floor.

    He looked over just as Chu Tingwu subtly leaned sideways, lifting the underside of the wooden table with one hand, and cing it back perfectly in its original position.

    Chu Xiao looked down and saw the table corner perfectly aligned with the floor gap.

    He: "¡­"

    He: "!"

    He looked at Chu Tingwu, his eyes bright.

    Teacher Fu: "=="

    Well, it seemed that even if someone couldn''t keep up in ss, there were others willing to help them catch up.

    He left the four at the back alone, continuing to exin the winter camp''s schedule via the projector: lectures, seminars, exams, practicals, experiments, dissections, papers¡­ Besides the seemingly endless academic content, there were also activity sses for over half a month, and a day off every ten days.

    Moreover, Teacher Fu''s mention of "heavy academic tasks" was actually only referring to morning sses, with afternoons left for self-study.

    Some were dissatisfied: "Half a day enough?"

    Teacher Fu: "If you feel it''s not enough, you can spend the afternoon practicing problems."

    In reality, educational resources varied across provinces and schools, and some schools, due tock of resources, required students to search for materials themselves, exchange learning resources, andter manage their own studies, obsessively practicing problems¡ªfor these students, the Sang City winter camp was an excellent ce for improvement, as a vast array of past exam questions, analyses, and electronic courses could be found in the camp''s information room.

    If students felt it wasn''t enough, they could fully utilize their free time, and the teachers wouldn''t interfere.

    He answered a few more questions, and while everyone had been quiet before, when it came to inquiries, most were quite active, showing they had their own ns.

    Finally, Teacher Fu left with his cold coffee, meeting Coach Yang in the corridor, and the two inevitably discussed thepetition.

    "Any good prospects?"

    "Still just the ones I reported to you... Biology has too much rote memorization, the differences aren''t that big. Everyone underestimates theb sses. Previously, we thought some students could be invited to learn experiments with the national team as early as their first year¡ªwithout multiple practices, theyck confidence in theb."

    "We can''t just bury our heads in studying. We need to train them to stay sensitive to cutting-edge topics. The first month will be regr sses, the second month, those who want to can attend, since¡­"

    Since after the national exam, there would be another round of national team training, and only four would be selected for the final list, representing the country in the Olympic arena.

    Teacher Fu left, and Chu Tingwu went to the window to retrieve her released drone.

    Meanwhile, after being pestered by Shao Lingwu for so long, Chu Xiao finally couldn''t help but ask: "Is your family... in the electric tricycle business?"

    Why did he keep talking about the prospects and benefits of electric tricycles?

    Shao Lingwu had to exin the situation with "Eight-One-Nine."

    Chu Xiao: "¡­I''m not going to smash your tricycle."

    Shao Lingwu: "Really not!"

    Chu Xiao: "¡­" What kind of impression did he give his roommate?

    He just wanted to avoid it.

    Shao Lingwu''s curls drooped: "But you''re my roommate, and Eight-One-Nine is my tricycle. I hope you two get along."

    Why would he get along with a tricycle?

    "No need. Just seeing your messy hair has cured my obsessivepulsive disorder." Chu Xiao couldn''t help but take a step back, repeating, "I never really had OCD, just a small habit."

    Shao Lingwu: So you''re most disdainful of me personally!?

    Chu Tingwu was about to sneak away with Zhou Qiang when Shao Lingwu grabbed her to mediate a dispute. Although she had no idea what there was to mediate... Then Chu Xiao stopped her to thank her, although she also didn''t understand what there was to thank her for... In the end, it turned into the four of them heading downstairs together to get spray paint from the staff.

    ¡ªBehind them, the other students watched their backs with words on the tip of their tongues.

    There was an inexplicable sense of harmony among the four, making it feel awkward to approach them. It was better not to say hello.

    -

    Chu Tingwu: "Left, left hand... Forget it, I''ll do this side."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Shao Lingwu: "Oh, oh!"

    They were spray painting a tricycle¡ªthe winter camp actually had spray paint cans, which might have been used to paint trees before, as there was no strong odor.

    Shao Lingwu spected that his roommate''s obsessivepulsive tendencies might also be rted to colors. After all, surrounded by ck, red, and white cars, a bright blue electric tricycle stuck out like a sore thumb.

    So they could just spray it ck.

    Zhou Qiang: "But isn''t this tricycle the one you rented?"

    Shao Lingwu: "Once I named it, I decided to buy it, so I bought it!"

    He emphasized: "Naming is like adopting... Chu Tingwu, you have a cat, so you should understand. Once it has a name, it''s no longer just another ordinary tricycle among thousands. It bes special!"

    Chu Xiao nced down at the license te ending with "819"¡ª

    Where was the ordinariness? Didn''t it have a license te?

    Chu Tingwu took a step back: "But I wouldn''t adopt a tricycle."

    "Tch..." Shao Lingwu didn''t believe her. "What about the drone above our heads?"

    Isn''t that your ''adoption''? Are you looking down on tricycles? This one might not be any cheaper than a drone!

    Chu Tingwu: That''s definitely you getting scammed again.

    After finishing the spray paint, it was already dark. The system controlled the drone to descend and provide light for them. Chu Xiao rubbed his temples as they walked towards the training camp''s main base through the parking lot. In the distance, they could see a long walkway stretching deep into the sea, with shops on both sides that were already closed for the day.

    Many online celebrity shops only operate during the peak season, and during the off-season, they might not open all day. So now, the shadows of the buildings fell on the ground, and the sea wavespped against the slope below the walkway, with only a few lights still on.

    But the weather was nice here, with plenty of greenery and far from the main city, allowing them to see the stars shining brightly. The starlight reflected on the sea surface, creating ripples of fragmented light.

    The night sea breeze was stronger. Zhou Qiang tucked her hair into her jacket so it wouldn''t blow onto her face, but from behind, her head still looked like a puffed-up jellyfish.

    Chu Tingwu stood very steadily. As the waves came in one after another, she could not only sense the frequency of the waves but also the wind pressure around her, using it to predict the weather soon. Maybe tomorrow would be a good day to go out to sea?

    If she boarded a boat, would her overly sensitive senses make her seasick, or could she rely on her sharp intuition to detectrge approaching creatures from the boat?

    ...She stared at the sea not far away, feeling a restless, swelling sensation in her heart.

    "Plop"

    It wasn''t her heartbeat, but the sound of something falling into the water.

    The sound came from the beach. The drone raised its altitude, and Chu Tingwu poked the others who were walking with their heads down, saying, "I heard a sound. Let''s go check it out."

    She took two steps forward and found that the three of them had followed. Of course, Chu Xiao was staring at the sand beneath his feet with a look of hesitation.

    Chu Tingwu: "......?"

    Shao Lingwu: "Hurry up, the wind is too strong."

    His eyes were almost blown shut.

    Fortunately, the drone provided light, so Chu Tingwu wasn''t worried. At least the others wouldn''t trip. Then, within the light circle cast by the drone, a white single-person sailboat slowly appeared.

    The sea pushed it onto the beach, like a stranded whale. There was no one on the boat. The wind howled, and the drone''s bright white light circled around the sailboat, while the areas not illuminated were even darker.

    ...It felt like the beginning of a horror movie.

    Chu Xiao: "Should we call the police?"

    Zhou Qiang: "I saw a lifeguard phone number on the wall earlier. Let''s call the lifeguards."

    Although the drone only swept past briefly, memorizing a string of random numbers was easy for her.

    While the two were handling the call, Chu Tingwu could hear swimming sounds from farther away, guessing that the person who had capsized was swimming towards them and wasn''t in a rush. Shao Lingwu squatted down, staring at the sailboat thoughtfully:

    "I see adoption information!"

    There was not only a number on the metal te but also the name and contact information of the boat''s owner.

    Chu Tingwu kicked him: "That''s the license te."

    I already told you, not everyone adopts vehicles!

 Chapter 92

    <h1>Chapter 92</h1>

    It wasn''t until the second day that Chu Tingwu and the others found out that the sailboat had capsized because it had collided with another boat at sea.

    Sailboat racing is not just about "speed," as it involves using techniques to differentiate rankings. The racing route includes areas with tailwinds, headwinds, and requires rounding buoys and staying within boundaries. Additionally, when two boats meet, there are detailed rules about which boat needs to yield.

    Last night, two boats were practicing at sea, but a mistake during the yielding maneuver caused the collision. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

    For now, they couldn''t worry about the sailboats... because sses had already begun.

    Teacher Fu, perhaps to cultivate a sense ofpetition among the students, had them form four-person teams during the first ss, starting with a round of quizpetitions.

    This involved a "hot seat" style of answering questions, where correct answers earned points and wrong answers deducted points. The scores would be tallied daily, and the top three teams would receive additional vacation time and greater freedom in the training camp.

    What made it interesting was that team members could be swapped.

    Each member of a team could invite someone from another team to join, but since the total number of students remained the same, someone from their own team would have to leave. When team members changed, the scores wouldn''t be directly divided by four; instead, the points would remain tied to the team.

    Therefore, lower-ranked teams had to persuade higher-ranked team members to join them.

    When it came time to form teams, Chu Tingwu and her three teammates naturally grouped together, as if it were a given, and none of them considered looking for other members.

    Chu Xiao was elected team leader.

    The leader had to write the names of the four team members on a piece of paper and submit it to Teacher Fu. Chu Xiao''s handwriting was the best.

    But as Chu Xiao was writing the names, someone walked over from across the ssroom and asked him to join their team: "We all won first prizes in the Octoberpetition. Your score is a bit higher than mine, so I think we''d be a good fit."

    Chu Xiao: "No thanks."

    Chu Xiao: "Why would I join a team with people who scored lower than me?"

    The other person frowned: "Are your current teammates that strong?"

    He only recognized Zhou Qiang; the other two didn''t seem to have made any impression in anypetitions.

    Chu Xiao finished writing the names: "Being the top team in the winter camp doesn''t necessarily mean you''ll make the national team."

    The other person probably thought Chu Xiao was implying that even if he worked hard, it wouldn''t matter, since Chu Xiao had represented the national team in otherpetitions. He stormed off in a huff.

    Shao Lingwu: "Huh?"

    Chu Xiao: "What''s he so mad about? The real selection hasn''t even started yet."

    This was a probabilistic event. If the probability of absolute sess wasn''t 100%, then the probability of failure wasn''t 0.

    Chu Xiao submitted the list and received the team number "11."

    Since ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????each of them had been issued a smart bracelet by the winter camp, the team number would appear directly after their names when they scanned their bracelets to enter the ssroom. It was quite convenient.

    However, Chu Tingwu noticed that they were originally supposed to be the ninth team to submit, but Chu Xiao deliberately waited a bit and submitted as the eleventh team.

    She wrote down the number "11" on the paper, with two perfectly parallel vertical lines.

    Chu Xiao nodded.

    Yes, it was symmetrical.

    He felt he had found the right teammates!

    Teacher Fu had only given them fifteen minutes to form teams. By the time the process was over, half an hour of the first ss had already passed, and many students hadn''t even had time to get to know each other. However, Teacher Fu nced around.

    There were quite a few strong teams he recognized.

    Most students didn''t know each other, so they simply teamed up with people they were familiar with. Being familiar often meant they had met in inter-provincialpetitions and left an impression.

    This resulted in many of the stronger students forming teams together at the start, while the remaining students scrambled to find decent partners within the fifteen-minute limit. Those left at the end had no choice but to team up.

    Since the ss had sixty-seven students, one person was left out. Thest team consisted of three people. When they sat down in confusion, Teacher Fu said, "Your team''s score will be adjusted proportionally."

    Since they were rtively weaker, adjusting the score proportionally would motivate the lower-performing students. Besides, fewer people didn''t necessarily mean a disadvantage.

    After the teams were formed, Teacher Fu quickly revealed the second rule:

    "Every morning, there will be a half-hour hot seat session to wake you up. After all, you''re just out of bed, so it''s a good time to y a quick quiz to get your brain working."

    "When I say ''Please answer,'' stand up and give your answer immediately. The first person to answer gets the point. However, if two people from the same team stand up at the same time, the team gets no points."

    The students looked at each other, puzzled. Someone stood up and asked, "If we all know the answer and it''s correct, why can''t we get the point?"

    Teacher Fu: "You could... but if you stand up and give different answers, you''ll lose all your historical points."

    The student was speechless and sat back down.

    Alright, it was just about fostering teamwork, forcing them tomunicate, and increasing their understanding of each other.

    Teacher Fu: "You knew that, so why ask?"

    He ignored such attempts at cleverness and continued, "Each day, the questions you answer in ss and the experiments you do will be given aprehensive score, which will be added to your total. However, these points will generally be lower than the hot seat points. Don''t put too much pressure on yourselves; the hot seat is just a game. Falling behind won''t have a huge impact."

    The students didn''t quite believe him.

    But Teacher Fu didn''t give them time to discuss and knocked on the table, signaling that the hot seat could begin.

    Still, they had to discuss their strategy.

    Chu Xiao: "I''ll stand up and answer the questions I''m sure about. For the ones I''m not confident about, you guys can step in."

    After all, he didn''t know the levels of his teammates yet, so it was better for him, as the "leader," to take on more of the responsibility.

    In fact, Teacher Fu hadn''t even mentioned the existence of a "leader." Everyone just saw that Chu Xiao had nice handwriting and tricked him into submitting the list.

    ...Essentially, he was just doing errands.

    ...But it was pretty much the same as being a leader, wasn''t it?

    A faint sense of guilt lingered in the hearts of the three, though only Shao Lingwu''s face showed it. The other two were as calm as ever, showing no signs of emotion.

    The hot seat began.

    The biologypetition covered several detailed subjects, with a lot of content that needed to be memorized. So, for those with good memories, the early questions weren''t too difficult, and different teams managed to grab some points.

    From the next team:

    "Why didn''t you let me answer that one? We were supposed to take turns."

    "I got a bit nervous and forgot... sorry."

    "How could you get that one wrong? I''m worried about your level¡ª"

    "I was too hasty and misread the question! I knew the answer, I really did!"

    But soon, fewer people were iming they "knew the answer." The questions were getting harder, and the early ones were clearly just a warm-up, giving everyone a taste of sess before Teacher Fu threw them a curveball.

    Chu Xiao, however, remained steady.

    He kept scoring points, and the only difference between his team and the other top teams seemed to be whether he could stand up first.

    Chu Tingwu watched from the side, assessing her own level.

    She could answer some of the questions, though she might not think as quickly as others, but her answers were correct.

    There were a few questions, however, that she didn''t even understand the wording of.

    The system tried tofort her: "It''s normal. You just haven''t learned it yet."

    Did that kind offort even help?

    Compared to humans, who tended to forget things, the system didn''t have a "forgetting" function. So, it knew every bit of progress the child made.

    After arriving at the winter camp, it scanned through all the study materials prepared by the camp, thenpared them with previous years'' questions and determined the camp''s teaching objectives, noting:

    "Some questions have already exceeded the exam difficulty level."

    They werepletely outside the exam scope, which is why some people were already showing bewildered expressions of "I can''t even understand the questions."

    Chu Tingwu couldn''t understand them either, so she watched Zhou Qiang and Shao Lingwu y Gomoku.

    Every time they looked at a question, they would ce a piece, effectively multitasking while ying intensely¡ª

    Zhou Qiang: "I connected my pieces."

    Shao Lingwu: "What? Weren''t we ying Go?"

    What exactly were they being intense about?

    Chu Tingwu reached out and arranged the white and ck pieces on the board to make a little house.

    Zhou Qiang added a chimney to the house.

    Shao Lingwu arranged pieces to make a spotted dog in front of the house.

    Chu Xiao: "=="

    When the next question appeared on the screen, no one stood up immediately. The team that had been eyeing them from the diagonal front brightened up and was about to stand, but hesitated and sat back down.

    Shao Lingwu stood up and gave the answer.

    Then he quickly sat down, covering his spotted dog, and whispered to Chu Xiao faster than his answer speed: "Is it the dog''s fault that it''s ck and white? Why don''t you go eliminate pandas instead¡ª"

    Yet they came to eliminate his dog!

    Chu Xiao ?*?: Then it''s the creator''s fault¡ªyours!

    The screen disyed the additional points, and Chu Xiao''s team temporarily took first ce.

    Zhou Qiangmented: "...your reaction speed was too slow before."

    They missed opportunities to score more points on the simple questions.

    So, even though Chu Xiao only got stuck on one question, he still lost valuable opportunities to earn points for the team¡ªthat''s what Zhou Qiang said.

    Now it was her turn to y Gomoku with Chu Xiao, while Shao Lingwu was sent to answer questions.

    When Shao Lingwu got stuck on a question, the opportunity went to Zhou Qiang''s side.

    Other teams had noticed¡ª

    Unlike groups that divided tasks based on strengths and weaknesses, and only stood up to answer when it was their specialty, Team 11 used a rotation system. It seemed like they had no weak areas at all; if someone couldn''t answer a question, they would simply switch to another team member.

    Chu Tingwu, who hadn''t stood up once: "..."

    Don''t look at her; there were some questions she genuinely hadn''t studied before.

    She observed both the Gomoku game and the quick-answerpetition until the final question, which was about animal behavior. ording to the system, it was a new question added recently, based on a newly published research paper. Zhou Qiang showed an uncertain expression.

    Another group stood up and quickly gave their answer.

    Teacher Fu: "Incorrect."N?v(el)B\\jnn

    They lost points.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    It seemed that both from the question type and the "order" (why did they have this order?), it was her turn to answer, so she stood up ordinarily and gave the answer ordinarily¡ªby then, the Gomoku game had also reached its conclusion.

    Shao Lingwu: "I connected my pieces!"

    Chu Xiao: "Weren''t we ying Reversi?"

    He was just about to flip the pieces.

    Teacher Fu waved his hand: "Alright, the warm-up isplete. Everyone take a five-minute break, and I''ll start the lecture afterward."

    The ssroom filled with quiet conversations, and some people stood up to stretch. No one showed any signs of drowsiness; instead, there was barely contained excitement... Although the final scores had no real impact on their studies, the teams with lower scores still showed disappointed and regretful expressions.

    Teacher Fu observed their expressions carefully, actually evaluating the students'' psychological states. Then he noticed someone from the currently second-ced team walking up to Chu Tingwu and her group.

    They directly asked Chu Tingwu: "Thatst question was so obscure. Where did you see the answer?"

    Chu Tingwu: "That question came from the reference section of a paper."

    The person pondered thoughtfully: It seems they hadn''t read enough papers...

    Chu Tingwu: "Although I didn''t write that paper, I think I''m the second author."

    The person: "?"

    Chu Tingwu shrugged.

    While White''s paper did use Chu Tingwu''s data, it indeed had no practical connection to her... but it did to the system.

    ¡ªBecause Chu Tingwu''s name was on the paper, the system had printed it out and framed it on the wall of her study.

 Chapter 93

    <h1>Chapter 93</h1>

    [The winter camp was quite interesting and very rxing.]

    [We only had sses in the morning, and the afternoon was free for us to arrange as we pleased. The morning sses were fast-paced, and if you lost focus for even a moment, you''d miss a lot of content, but I also learned many new things I hadn''t encountered before.]

    [For ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????the first time, I found exams quite interesting... though there were a bit too many of them. Fortunately, during the practical sessions, I could rx by doing experiments, which didn''t require much brainpower. However, when the teacher came by and saw how quickly I was doing them, he made me do it again, standing right next to me.]

    [Oh, Teacher Zhang, I also met some very interesting friends here.]

    [One of them is my roommate, Zhou Qiang. We met by chance outside the camp, and she has a patient and meticulous personality¡ª]

    Chu Tingwu: "I''m going to get another te of fried crispy pork. This little cake is also quite tasty. Should I bring some for you guys?"

    Zhou Qiang: "Shao Lingwu doesn''t need any. He might want some, but he forgot he already has two on his te and hasn''t finished them yet."

    Shao Lingwu: "Ah? Ah! Right..."

    Zhou Qiang: "Get some fried fish for Chu Xiao, but make sure there are no bones. He stopped eating after getting a bone earlier."

    Chu Xiao: "......Thanks."

    [Moreover, she earned the money for the winter camp herself, making her an independent and reliable person.]

    After taking a shower, Zhou Qiang started blow-drying her hair:

    "I really want to cut my hair short. Long hair is so hard to manage..."

    Chu Tingwu: "Then cut it. I can take you to the city tomorrow on my tricycle to get it cut."

    Zhou Qiang: "But I might regret it after cutting it. Let''s flip a coin. Heads, I keep it down; tails, I braid it; if it stands, I''ll cut it short."

    You''re just thinking about tomorrow''s hairstyle, aren''t you!

    Zhou Qiang flipped the coin once, but seemed dissatisfied. Chu Tingwu took it, tossed it into the air¡ª

    The coin traced a silver arc in the air,nded on the floor, bounced once, spun rapidly, and finally, it slowly came to a stop, standing upright in the middle of the floor.

    Zhou Qiang: "......"

    Zhou Qiang: "........."

    She crouched down and blew on the coin, which reluctantly fell over,nding heads up.

    Zhou Qiang: "Alright, I''ll keep it down tomorrow."

    Chu Tingwu: ==

    So effortlessly, you brushed off the earlier issue.

    [Besides my roommate, there are two other team members. One of them, Shao Lingwu, I met by chance at the airport.]

    [Shao Lingwues from a wealthy family but doesn''t have any bad habits. On the contrary, he has a straightforward and generous personality, is very good at studying, and is easy to get along with.]

    Shao Lingwu stared at his phone, deep in thought: "Why did I... get an extra sum of money?"

    And it was a precise amount, not a round number. His parents always transferred money in whole numbers... Could it be that nowadays, even giving money to your own child incurs taxes?

    He stared at the irregr digits, spread out a sheet of draft paper, and started solving a cryptography problem. Maybe these numbers concealed some deeper clues, or maybe it was a hidden invitation... Or perhaps it was a puzzle¡ª

    Chu Tingwu walked by, chewing on a piece of beef jerky: "?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Oh, Yue Miao mentioned to me that you previously spent too much on... adopting 819. The rentalpany was overcharging you, so she got your money back."

    Shao Lingwu: "!"

    So it wasn''t a code QAQ

    After thanking her, Chu Tingwu nced at his exam paper, which only had answers but no steps, and thought for a moment. Then she pulled out Zhou Qiang''s coin from her pocket: "Go y with the coin over there."

    If you don''t want to do it, then don''t.

    Zhou Qiang peeked over: "Come on, you can definitely make the coin stand up."

    [The team members are all geniuses, and sometimes I can''t figure out what they''re thinking... which makes it quite interesting.]

    [Shao Lingwu doesn''t seem to like biology; others say he has stronger subjects, but he says he doesn''t really like any of them¡ªhe just keeps studying them because he''s good at them. He said that.]

    [Soing to the biology winter camp might just be because he found the other subjects a bit boring?]

    The four of them sat in a circle, discussing their respective strengths in the morning''s quiz session.

    ...The teacher probably thought this would be a good way for them to learn from each other.

    Then Chu Tingwu, acting as the referee, watched as the three of thempleted over three hours of verbal reports, form derivations, and program coding on "How to Win Gomoku in the Shortest Steps: New Discoveries in Gomoku Winning Strategies," arguing with each other.

    Meanwhile, she recorded the entire process.

    In the end, she edited it into a twelve-minute mini debate and uploaded it to her ount for content.

    Fans: "?"

    Without knowing it, the cat-loving UP has expanded into a new business.

    [Thest one is Chu Xiao. He seems like a difficult person to get along with, but in fact, he''s very responsible and is our diligent team leader.]

    Chu Xiao stood with his arms crossed in the cold wind. The wind blew his bangs up. Soon, the sound of an electric tricycle approached from afar, apanied by someone humming an unknown tune... it actually sounded quite nice.

    Chu Xiao: "Didn''t you say you''d be back by 17:05?"

    It''s already 17:07!

    The person on the back seat of the tricycle showed a guilty expression: "It was my fault. I got hypoglycemic while running, and since I was on the bike, the speed slowed down."

    This "runner" is also a student at the training camp. He likes to recite new knowledge points while running, so he almost every afternoon goes out for a half marathon before returning. The guards are already familiar with him.

    Shao Lingwu also jumped off the tricycle, gesturing that he had ridden the whole way and deserved some credit. Chu Tingwu handed the cleaning supplies they bought to Chu Xiao, while Zhou Qiang, feeling a bit left out for doing nothing, took out the shopping receipt from her pocket.

    They stood against the wind.

    Chu Xiao took a deep breath:

    "The smell of barbecue on you hasn''t even dissipated..."

    It''s all being blown over here!

    ¡ªWe were supposed to have a test at 14:00, so how did going to the supermarket turn into 17:05? Does the supermarket eat people?

    [Chu Xiao is sometimes like a strict parent, though we don''t live on the same floor, so only Shao Lingwu, being a minor, gets "parented."]

    Chu Xiao: "Will you choose to take a shower before I clean up, or will you choose to sleep on the lobby sofa after I clean up?"

    Shao Lingwu: "?"

    Am I not going back? Am I some kind of pollution source that needs to be swept out with the trash?N?v(el)B\\jnn

    [Although there have been some bumps along the way, everyone gets along well¡ªtomorrow is a holiday, and we''ve made ns to go out together. I''ll pick out some gifts to send back.]

    Zhou Qiang is from this province, so maybe she can give me some advice?

    Teacher Zhang has poor eyesight, so they usuallymunicate through video calls. However, asionally, when it''s inconvenient to be online, Chu Tingwu will write down her recent experiences and feelings in text, which Aunt Mei will read aloud to Teacher Zhang and the cats.

    She turned her head and saw that in their team''s meeting room, Zhou Qiang was ruffling Shao Lingwu''s hair, and Shao Lingwu was saying, "Hey, hey¡ª"

    Chu Xiao''s team was far ahead in scores, and the so-called "privileges" soon came: individual tutoring from the teachers, a separate study room, more rxed ess rules... The group also got to know Teacher Fu, Teacher Wang, and others better.

    Zhou Qiang: "Is your premature graying that obvious?"

    Shao Lingwu: "How could that be!"

    He picked up his phone, switched to selfie mode, and took a look: "It''s just that my natural hair has grown out."

    Chu Tingwu also leaned over to take a look and found that under Shao Lingwu''s curly hair, there were short, tinum-blonde roots growing out. They weren''t noticeable when he was still, but when he moved, it looked like a glitch, with a section of hair on a differentyer.

    Shao Lingwu was devastated: "I''m going to recolor it tomorrow."

    He had wanted to recolor it in the dorm a few days ago... but his roommate, his roommate didn''t let him QAQ

    Chu Tingwu consoled him: "It''s fine, it looks like trendy ombre."

    Shao Lingwu: "Then you should dye one too¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu: "I refuse."

    Shao Lingwu: "You answered too quickly! Even hesitating for two seconds to humor me would have been nice."

    He had a direct ancestor two generations up with natural golden hair and blue eyes, but he didn''t inherit the blue eyes. Instead, he became a ck-haired, golden-eyed young man who was considered a bit of a social misfit, with curly hair to boot.

    As a result, Chu Tingwu''s tomorrow''s outing now had an additionalpanion heading to the beauty salon for a makeover. Thispanion even dragged along a roommate:

    "I must prove to you that the weight of three people sitting on the back of a tricycle electric bike will indeed slow our return trip by two minutes!"

    The roommate: "Well, that''s really not necessary."

    The four of them quickly agreed on a time to meet tomorrow at the stairwell. Around them, other training camp ssmates returned to their dorms, excited and chattering.

    Only after they had walked a distance away did a ssmate whisper:

    "Do they really need to make ns? Haven''t they been acting together all these days?"

    Do you guys just enjoy going through the motions?

    -

    Chu Tingwu found Zhou Qiang utterly useless, while Yue Miao was more reliable.

    When she asked Zhou Qiang for advice on what local specialty to buy, Zhou Qiang dragged her to a gold shop.

    "Ah..." Zhou Qiang shrugged. "Whenever I tell people that gold bars are the specialty I brought back, no one has ever contradicted me."

    Who could possibly dislike that?

    Chu Tingwu pondered this. They were on themercial street, and she took two steps to the shop''s entrance, waving at a ck cat lying on a nearby stone bench and releasing her pheromones.

    The ck cat turned its head in confusion, while someone below was teasing it.

    "Meow, meow... let me pet you..."

    It was a young couple. Sang City''s pace of life was not fast, and due to its proximity to the sea, it often hosted sailingpetitions. The cost of living was also low, which had attracted more and more tourists in recent years.

    As the young couple reached out to pet the cat, they suddenly heard a cat''s meow behind them.

    They turned around and noticed Chu Tingwu, arms crossed, leaning against the doorframe, calmly emitting a soft but distinct "Meow~."

    The ck cat: "Meow?"

    It jumped off the stone bench and walked over to Chu Tingwu, pawing at her leg: Where''s the food, meow?

    Chu Tingwu always carried cat food with her, as You Zhenzhen often sent her some, urging her to feed the stray cats.

    She opened a bag, poured a bit into her palm, and held a gold bar in her other hand, letting the cat choose.

    The ck cat buried its head in the cat food, even extending a paw to rest on Chu Tingwu''s forearm, signaling her not to move.

    Zhou Qiang beside her: "=="

    Alright, you win. Let''s go pick up some local specialty dried fish for the cat.

    As they left the gold shop, Zhou Qiang suddenly said: "Actually, I''ve never bought gold for anyone else."

    Chu Tingwu: "Mm."

    Zhou Qiang: "Does preparing a gift make people happy?"

    She had never received a gift from her parents. When she graduated from elementary school and everyone was about to part ways, her ssmates would write letters to each other. At the time, a friend of Zhou Qiang''s wrote her a long letter, sealed in a pink envelope. But when she took it home, her mother impatiently threw it away.

    At the dinner table, they lectured her for half a day, warning her not to fall in love at such a young age. The next day, they dragged her to the hairdresser to cut her hair¡ªbecause what kid needs long hair? Long hair is just vanity.

    Later, she started trading stocks with her uncle. Since she was too young to open an ount, she used her grandparents'' ounts. Her uncle kept losing money, while she kept making it.

    Money is a great thing. Who doesn''t like money? With money, everyone''s attitude changes.

    Chu Tingwu: "You could try preparing a gift for me and see how it feels?"

    Zhou Qiang: "¡ú_¡ú"

    Chu Tingwu: "¡û_¡û I''ll prepare a return gift for you too."

    Zhou Qiang: Don''t you dare cheat me.

    They parted at the intersection, agreeing to meet at the coffee shop near Beach 2 in an hour.

    Zhou Qiang headed straight to the mall, while Chu Tingwu first went to a nearby shop to ask the locals for rmendations on a good supermarket to buy dried fish.

    The shop owner, watching TV and speaking in dialect, said: "Then go to the beach. Do you want fresh or sealed? Forget it, buy fresh and seal it yourself. It''ll definitely be better than what the supermarket sells. They''re all airlifted, and we locals don''t eat that¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu: "Meow."

    She thanked the owner and left. The owner continued staring at the TV screen, only to mutter after a while: "Huh?"

    Did a person ask or a cat ask just now? Why can''t I remember? Did I just see a ck cat''s tail?

    Because of previous incidents, the system now habitually monitors half a city around the vicinity of the young one. Of course, it knew what both of them were nning to buy as gifts, and for an AI that knows almost everything, there are no surprises¡ª

    Chu Tingwu: "Let''s make the exterior of the second version of the unmanned aircraft a seagull!"

    A crow is too cunning, and a falcon is too fierce, but a seagull, a seagull is just right. Its white wings circle the sky, appearing far away, yet it can suddenly descend and snatch the dried fish she just bought.

    The system: "Okay, okay, okay!"

    Surprise!

    The "unmanned aircraft" isn''t an upgrade of a drone but rather apany''s possible B version, more urately called a "bird-like bionic unmanned flight instrument." It costs more, has lower endurance, but higher stability, allowing for more detailed control¡ªthough the control difficulty is also higher.

    But that''s a problem for humans, not for the system.

    By controlling a bird-like aircraft, it could perch on the young one''s shoulder.

    Hearing this idea, Chu Tingwu: "It''s fine. I have strong shoulders."

    After all, I''ve been training for a thousand days for this very moment. Consider it weightlifting practice.

    Chu Tingwu decided on the exterior and, as per convention, would personally make the system''s required drone, also known as the "Seagull Zero." Although a machine might do it more precisely, the system always prioritizes controlling what she has made.

    Custom parts could be airlifted to the winter camp, and she could assemble them in the dorm.

    The system: "Hehe... gift... hehe..."

    Chu Tingwu smiled: "Actually, I feel like the gift I choose might not be as thoughtful as what Man Xing prepared for me."

    A professional is, of course, different. Man Xing always knows how to maintain a bnce between being attentive and not overly eager, perfectly maintaining rtionships with clients... But Chu Tingwu believes that the process of choosing a gift is important too.

    Even if the recipient doesn''t see it, it''s not a waste of time for her.

    The system agrees¡ª

    Wasting time? How could that be? The young one is adorable just by breathing, there''s no such thing as waste.

    After finishing this topic, Chu Tingwu turned and entered the bank across the street, then came out holding a folder with the Central Bank''s emblem.

    A car was parked nearby, filming the seascape. In addition to professional equipment, they were also using theirpany''s flying sphere. The cameraman worked hard, while an apparently cking middle-aged man nced at Chu Tingwu, then again, as if trying to recognize her¡ª

    "Ah Chu?"

    It seemed to be a user of Fenghua Network.

    She nodded politely, and the middle-aged man stood up, smiling: "Oh, it''s truly been a long time. Thest time we chatted was nearly two years ago."

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­Hmm?"

    She didn''t smell anything familiar.

    The middle-aged man: "We''ve never met, but you should have seen my documentary¡ª"

    It turned out he wasn''t cking; he was the director.

    The middle-aged man: "It''s called Animals and Us in the City. I''ve also seen yourtest documentary."

    Chu Tingwu froze.

    She rarely showed such an expression, but when the man mentioned the name of the documentary, it instantly took her back to the summer when she was fifteen, the time when her grandmother passed away and the system was first bound to her¡ª

    This middle-aged man didn''t know that the post-production of his documentary was the system''s first outsourcing job. From that day on, the system decided to raise its human-cat young one.

    And now, they unexpectedly met in an unfamiliar city.

    However, the middle-aged director had another connection with Chu Tingwu¡ªhe was the disciple of Director He.

    He mentioned that he was here to shoot the third installment of his documentary, focusing on seagulls and humans.

    "Since Sang City is a coastal city, seagulls naturally belong to the animals in the city... cats, dogs, snakes, hamsters, parrots, and so on. I''ve already filmed documentaries about these animals, so we''ve been looking for new subjects for our documentary."

    After all, there are only so many animals in the city that can coexist peacefully with humans. By the third installment, the documentary is nearing its finale.

    The sun bathed the beach, and seagulls circled in the distance, some even floating directly on the sea.

    Seagulls in Sang City are not as aggressive as those in other ces. They rarely snatch food, and even when people feed them bread on the pier, it might take over ten minutes for a seagull toe over to eat.

    That''s why the director also took a boat out.

    He chuckled, "Yourpany''s drone intelligence system is quite sophisticated. We were worried it might get wrecked by the waves, but it didn''t."

    And when they weren''t controlling it, the drone even had an automatic wave-avoidance mode.

    Since this location was a bit far from the Second Beach, Chu Tingwu decided to hitch a ride and take the opportunity to watch the footage they had shot.

    Besides seagulls, there were also plenty of humans and sailboats.

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    The director pointed to a seagull perched on a sail: "This was shot during the university sailing leaguest year. I came here half a year ago to film it, and this time I''m just adding some additional shots."

    Teams of four to six studentspete in sailing races, with the captain required to have professional credentials¡ªthey don''t have to be university students¡ªwhile the crew must be current students. This is a national event, with Sang City serving as both the starting and ending point. Before the race begins, the teams train here. However, the event''s poprity is still rtively low, mostly attracting industry insiders and locals.

    And, of course, the seagulls.

    During the students'' training, seagulls mightnd on the sailboats, on the decks, or even sway steadily on the ropes. Unlike on the shore, they seem to view thepetitors and their vessels as one entity, bing more intimate with them and even eating food from their hands.

    The director watched the video footage, his eyes brimming with amusement.

    He nced at Chu Tingwu, who was engrossed in the screen, and said, "Actually, as long as there''s a captain leading, ordinary people can also participate. The registration period is over now, but if you''re interested, you can join next year''spetition. We also have a shooting n tonight. Would you like toe aboard and take a look?"

    He remembered that Chu Tingwu was quite athletic and enjoyed trying out new sports.

    By the way, why did this kide to Sang City? He could check her ountter.

    Chu Tingwu was indeed a bit tempted.

    After all, it was just participating in the filming while others trained, and it was only a single trip on the boat, right?

    She didn''t immediately agree, saying she needed to wait for her friend to arrive.

    Zhou Qiang arrived quickly, earlier than Chu Tingwu had expected. The director also happened to be waiting for someone nearby, so he sat at a table next to the coffee shop, reviewing the footage.

    Then, he heard the young girl who had just sat down say, "I''ve bought it. Should I give it to you now?"

    Chu Tingwu: "The gift I gave you really needs to be opened now."

    The director smiled to himself: Ah, youth...

    The long-haired girl nodded and pulled out a gift bag. The director leaned slightly, curious about what was inside.

    Chu Tingwu then took out a beautifully wrapped box from the bag. When she opened it, there was a small cat made of gold and amethyst. The golden cat sparkled in the light, and the wire-drawing craftsmanship was lifelike. Even the waiter who came over to deliver the drinks was momentarily stunned.

    Chu Tingwu also found an appraisal certificate in the bag.

    It was the real deal.

    Zhou Qiang inteced her fingers on the table, her lips pursed: "I''ve never given anyone a gift before... I couldn''t think of what to give."

    But Chu Tingwu seemed to really like cats?

    Chu Tingwu also handed over her "gift."

    Unlike Zhou Qiang''s gift bag, hers was a folder.

    Zhou Qiang opened it¡ª

    The director couldn''t help but be curious. The thin sheets of paper didn''t reflect light, so they weren''t precious metals. How could a few pieces of paper be worth as much as gold?

    Moreover, the two of them were clearly not yet adults. Spending money recklessly like this, wouldn''t their parentse looking for them?

    Zhou Qiang: "Seagull theme... limited edition bank card application form?"

    The director: "?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Yes."

    Zhou Qiang: "You gave me... a form?"

    Chu Tingwu raised a finger: "This is from one of the four major banks, but the promotion is only avable in a few cities near Sang City. The appearance of the bank card is different..."

    The director: It''s still just a form!

    Chu Tingwu: "And I''ve already paid the twenty-yuan handling fee for you. You just need to fill out the form and go pick it up."

    She smiled, "With a bank card, you can start saving money."

    The director: Who doesn''t know that?

    Zhou Qiang already had her own bank card, and Chu Tingwu was well aware of that. She couldn''t apply for a card on someone else''s behalf, so she could only give her a form.

    Zhou Qiang stared at the form for a while, then took out a pen and began filling in her information. After finishing, she said, "I like this gift."

    "Let''s go get the card now."

    The two girls left hand in hand, leaving the director behind, still in a daze:

    Twenty yuan for gold? Where else can you find friends like that?

 Chapter 94

    <h1>Chapter 94</h1>

    Shao Lingwu: "It''s really nice..."0

    Chu Xiao: "When you''re marveling at the good weather... could you not pull my pants?"0

    Beside them, Chu Tingwu straddled the overturned sailboat, sighing softly.0

    In the distance on the beach, Zhou Qiang picked up another skewer of barbecue: Why haven''t these guys flipped the boat over yet?0

    Not long ago, the four of them had gathered and learned that Chu Tingwu was going to sail at night. They checked the time and found they still had plenty before heading back¡ª0

    "Why not rent a boat and practice first?"0

    While they were still discussing the practice, the director overheard and said, "You should get some training first. It''s quick, just at the sailboat training center."0

    The director had originally nned to drive Chu Tingwu there, but they insisted they had their own vehicle.0

    Thus, behind the director''s van, an electric tricycle followed.0

    The sailboat training center was visually close to the winter camp base, but driving there required a detour. Here, even ordinary people could receive basic sailboat training.0

    The staff at the training center greeted them and asked, "Are youpletely inexperienced and here for your first time?"0

    Shao Lingwu nodded, and Zhou Qiang wondered, "Isn''t North Sea Province by the sea?"0

    Shao Lingwu: "Guess why my hometown is called Bao City..."0

    Of course, it''s because it''s surrounded by other cities and can''t see the sea at all!0

    Out of the four, only Zhou Qiang had been out to sea before, during a school trip organized by her middle school.0

    However, she got seasick, so she decided not to sail this time.0

    Besides ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????sailboat experience, they also asked if they could swim. This time, except for Chu Tingwu, the other two could¡ª0

    Shao Lingwu had been swimming for years, going every summer, while Chu Xiao had taken a short training course but was a bit rusty.0

    Of course, not knowing how to swim wasn''t a problem for sailing, as there were life jackets.0

    Zhou Qiang, with some experience, told Chu Tingwu, "There are probably two types of boats here. One has a heavy keel, so it''s not easy to flip, while the other, a single-person sailboat for the near sea, is very easy to flip but won''t sink."0

    The sailboat base connected to the sea, with an internal area for experiencing seawater cirction, and the waves weren''t as big as outside. At the moment, many people were training.0

    The trainer had them change into their gear and get on the boat to experience it first.0

    ...After all, some people im they don''t get seasick, but they can''t even stand once they''re on the boat.0

    The trainer had theme one by one to experience it and chatted with them: "Are you ssmates traveling together?"0

    It''s normal for a ss to organize a trip after graduation.0

    Shao Lingwu: "We''re here to travel and take sses by the way."0

    Chu Xiao: "We''re here to attend ss and take a stroll around."0

    Chu Tingwu: "We''re here to sail."0

    The two who answered before her: "?"0

    Don''t be so upfront about it.0

    The trainerughed, showing a mouthful of white teeth: "Then the one here to sail the boate up first and stand steady."0

    Chu Tingwu jumped onto the boat. Unlike the slightlyrger boats they had seen outside, those usually had five or six people, each responsible for steering and raising the sails.0

    This time, the trainer was having Chu Tingwu experience a single-person sailboat.0

    The trainer exined, "The fun of sailboats is that they don''t rely on other power sources; you don''t need to fuel or charge them. They sail on the wind... Newbies aren''t rmended to go out to sea directly because you don''t know how to control the wind, or how to use it to change direction."0

    The training area also had natural wind, with signs above indicating its direction. At the moment, though they were on the boat, it hadn''t set sail yet and was still docked¡ªthe trainer had Chu Tingwu experience the swaying sensation.0

    Chu Tingwu ced her hand on the rope, feeling the rocking beneath her¡ª0

    The trainer noticed her expression was a bit wooden, her brows slightly furrowed, as if she was experiencing seasickness, though not severely.0

    Chu Tingwu indeed felt "dizzy."0

    It wasn''t from the boat''s movement itself but from the sea below... Although it''s often said that the sea is level, it''s rarely calm. The vibrations from the shore, transmitted through the boat to Chu Tingwu''s feet, made her feel an anxious unease.0

    The rope was also vibrating, and she felt her senses being disrupted and reorganized, simr to motion sickness from cars or nes. So, Chu Tingwu turned her gaze to the distance.0

    When focusing on a still distant scene, the dizziness might naturally subside.0

    She knew¡ª0

    System: "Little one, you''re too sensitive."0

    Sharp senses were an advantage in normal times, but when arriving at new ces, they made her "spooked." Chu Tingwu usually didn''t notice, as she had achieved a bnce, but in reality, she was like a cat. In unfamiliar ces or environments, the smells and sensations amplified her instincts, just as she struggled more than others to recover during earthquakes.0

    She saw seagulls and buoys.0

    The buoys on the sea swayed with the waves, and the seagulls perched on them, swaying with them, yet they could stand steadily with one foot raised, turning their heads left and right before suddenly taking flight.0

    Chu Tingwu let go of the rope.0

    The trainer: "Huh, feeling better?"0

    He had just been thinking of suggesting Chu Tingwu sit down, as standing increased the swaying.0n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    But now, the girl stood on the boat with just her feet, surprisingly steady.0

    The system checked the backend and found the little one''s [Perfect Control lv1] had gained a bit more experience.0

    Then she sat down.0

    The trainer began teaching Chu Tingwu how to control the sail and push the rudder.0

    Single-person boats were smaller, and many operations were simplified. The user had to handle both pushing the rudder and controlling the sail, but some things still required experience and training... Many people, even after practicing for a while, still didn''t know when the best wind direction was.0

    Shao Lingwu crouched on the shore, eavesdropping, while Chu Xiao stood with his hands in his pockets, quietly observing others practicing in the training area.0

    There were even six or seven-year-old kids on the boats.0

    Behind them, a local child from Sang City ran past¡ªhere for the winter sailboat training ss.0

    After teaching the basics, it was time for practical application.0

    The wind blew, and the white sail filled, though it wasn''t fully released yet, and they were still docked. The trainer taught Chu Tingwu when to push the rudder and her position on the boat¡ª0

    "Single-person sailboats are a bit different fromrger ones, but we actually use our own weight to change the boat''s direction, which depends on wind force and direction."0

    Some people see videos of sailors grabbing ropes and leaning over the edge of the boat toward the sea, which isn''t for show but because these centerboard boats are small¡ªeven slightlyrger boats can capsize if everyone sits on the same side.0

    But capsizing is fine; as long as the boat isn''t damaged, flipping it back is easy.0

    The trainer started having Chu Tingwu practice, keeping an eye on her.0

    ¡ªNewbies almost always capsize when sailing, but as long as it''s not at the extreme angle, the boat won''t sink.0

    On one hand, therge main sail, once released, floats on the sea, providing buoyancy. On the other hand, the person can control it on the water to right the boat.0

    The trainer guided Chu Tingwu on how to navigate and round the buoys under different wind conditions, and finally, the sailboat smoothly returned to the starting position.0

    He: "..."0

    "You''ve got quite a talent for this..."0

    She was indeed a newbie at first, but quickly acted like an old hand.0

    What surprised the trainer even more was that once, due to the wind, the sailboat was about to capsize. Before he could call out to Chu Tingwu, she had already adjusted her position, not only maintaining bnce under the wind but also changing the boat''s direction?*?, avoiding being carried off course.0

    Those on the shore had already started chatting.0

    Shao Lingwu: "Those single-person sailboats inpetitions seem bigger?"0

    Chu Xiao: "Since they''re coastal races, they have to live on the boat, yet still control it alone, so the difficulty must be higher."0

    What they were learning now was like the toddler version of sailboats.0

    The trainer nced at the time and decided to call the two boys up as well¡ªthat way, after their training was done, they could all hang out together for a while.0

    And then the boat flipped.0

    While Chu Tingwu was chatting with Zhou Qiang on the shore, Shao Lingwu and Chu Xiao sessfully fell into the water. A boat from a nearby winter camp for kids learning sailboats circled around them and then silently sailed away.0

    The trainer was now in high spirits: "You know how to swim, right? Come over to the left side, untie the sail... Climb back up and use your weight to right the boat... Wait, which side are you going to?"0

    Floating in the sea, Shao Lingwu: "Huh?"0

    Chu Xiao had already sessfully righted the boat. He climbed back onto it and asked the trainer, "Can I just sail it back?"0

    Trainer: Don''t leave yourpanion behind!0

    Despite the chaos, the group still managed to pass the training and learned some basic first aid knowledge, allowing them to move on to the outdoor session.0

    The three of them controlled the boat themselves, while the trainer from the base apanied them in a rescue boat to ensure safety.0

    Chu Tingwu also released a drone and turned on the live stream, allowing her fans to feel more involved.0

    Fans quickly entered the live stream room, greeted Chu Tingwu, and also greeted the system. Then they noticed that the camera was on the sea¡ª0

    [Today it''s not studying or ying chess!]0

    [Probably because the camera isn''t shaky, but the sea seems really choppy!]0

    [Going to Sang City must mean trying sailing, right? But I remember you can also rent sailboards there. Should Chu Tingwu give it a try?]0

    Chu Tingwu: "Today''s a holiday, so I''ll try it when I have time¡ª"0

    She turned her head to look at the shadow cast by arger sailboat approaching from the side. There were five or six people on the boat, and the sails were billowing in the wind. Suddenly, a seagullnded on the bow of their boat.0

    The camera moved closer to capture the seagull, which was turning its head around curiously.0

    [VIP viewing spot! Makes me want to go to the beach... Wait, that seagull isn''t going to peck at the drone...!]0

    The seagull leaned in, and the drone quickly retreated. The fans screamed in surprise but also shouted, "Do it again!"0

    Chu Tingwu: "=="0

    She had the system capture a diving shot.0

    The drone flew to the side, suddenly dove, and skimmed along the surface of the sea, following the waves. No water sshed onto the screen, but the rolling waves could be seen, with shadows beneath the surface that might have just been the drone''s own shadow.0

    Then, the drone made a climbing maneuver andnded among a flock of seagulls circling overhead. The seagulls began flying toward the shore, and the drone weaved through their wings, its surface reflecting a silvery light.0

    Then, a piece of bread was thrown onto the screen.0

    [?]0

    The system shook the bread off and did a little mid-air spin, allowing everyone to notice that this was probably a feeding spot for seagulls, as many people were throwing bread, and the seagulls naturallynded to eat.0

    Some people looked puzzled at the drone, wondering how it could fly among the seagulls.0

    The system reluctantly flew back.0

    Chu Tingwu picked up a piece of bread that had been stuck on top of the drone, which no one else had noticed, and fed it to a seagull that hadnded on the boat''s bow.0

    The seagull squawked and then flew away without a second thought.0

    Chu Xiao stared intently at the sail, ready to take control at any moment. Their clothes had dried, and Shao Lingwu had lost his chance to steer the boat, staring at the distant dots of other boats and birds, suddenly poetic: "Compared to the sea, we''re really just slightlyrger buoys."0

    Chu Tingwu: "Buoy, sit on the other side, we''re against the wind."0

    And they flipped the boat again.0

    The real sea was much choppier than the training area, and while the three of them usually had some coordination, once it came time to take action¡ª0

    Their coordination plummeted.0

    Everyone thought they should take the lead.0

    Then, "plop" "plop," two sshes indicated that two people had fallen into the sea, and the sailboat had capsized.0

    The sail of the sailboat copsed, barely touching the surface of the sea. Theoretically, to right the boat, one should swim to the other side, pull on the rope, and use their weight to press the boat back down, allowing the mast to stand upright again. But as the boat tipped over, Chu Tingwu grabbed one side and instinctively jumped up, crouching on the raised side of the boat, not getting a single drop of water on her.0

    The trainer in the rescue boat beside them: "=="0

    He rubbed his eyes, feeling like he might have just seen arge seagullnd.0

    Meanwhile, Chu Xiao was trying to climb back onto the boat but was unexpectedly grabbed by Shao Lingwu, who was spinning uncontrobly in the water, holding onto Chu Xiao''s pants.0

    Chu Xiao: "..."0

    Exercise patience.0

    Chu Tingwu no longer cked off and helped them sessfully right the boat, only for the sshing waves to drench her teammates once more.0

    Chu Xiao: "........."0

    Exercise patience.0

    The sailboat swayed unsteadily, and the three of them couldn''t sit on the same side. Chu Tingwu moved to the opposite side. At that moment, a nearby sailboat also flipped over, clearly carrying some beginners. While others tried to right the boat, a newbie was clinging to the sail, floating with the waves.0

    Chu Tingwu nced at that boat, then at theirs, and said to her teammates, "With my bnce, I should be able to stand on the sail instead of just clinging to it."0

    Shao Lingwu: "That''s amazing!"0

    Chu Tingwu: "I''ll show you when the boat flips again."0

    Shao Lingwu: "Great!"0

    Chu Xiao: Can''t take it anymore!0

    He finally did what he had been wanting to do all along¡ª0

    He flicked Shao Lingwu''s forehead twice.0

    Shao Lingwu: "?"0

    Wait, why not Chu Tingwu?0

    Chu Xiao: "I can''t hit her."0

    Chu Tingwu was too fast; as soon as he raised his hand, she seemed to sense what he was about to do and dodged instantly.0

    So, the slow one gets extra punishment.0

    Chu Tingwu eventually demonstrated her skill of walking on the sail¡ªnot by flipping the boat but by having her teammates stabilize it at a 45-degree angle to the water, allowing her to walk across.0

    Even the trainer beside them was confused¡ª0

    This kid, when pressing down on the boat, felt quite heavy, but at other times, her movements seemed incredibly light. What exactly is her weight?0

    One of the teammates below, expressionless: Feels like I''m doing something really stupid...0

    Shao Lingwu: "Hehe."0

    The teammate: "Definitely because there are too many idiots around."0

    The group spent half a day on the sea, and only when their sailing time was over did they head back to shore. As soon as they stepped ontond, they almost stumbled.0

    They had gotten used to the swaying of the boat, and now they had to readjust to the stability of the ground.0

    Zhou Qiang came over to help them, and the trainer said, "Just stand for a while, or find something else to distract yourself with."0

    Zhou Qiang: "Got it."0

    Then she started asking them questions about animal behavior and animal cell biology, making them answer and recite the relevant materials.0

    The trainer: "..."0

    He couldn''t help but take a step back, feeling like he hadn''t gotten seasick out on the sea, but standing here listening, he was about to faint.0

    The fans, however, were already used to this.0

    The only thing they weren''t used to was¡ª0

    [Why are the answers already on the screen as soon as the questions appear? No ssroom experience at all! I wanted to answer too, refund!]0

    Teacher Fu, who was also watching the live stream, felt the same way:0

    It was the students'' first full day off, and those who went out to y naturally needed extra attention, as sending them to the winter camp wasn''t just about keeping them safe.0

    He knew the locations of the other students, but Chu Tingwu and her group were easier to keep track of¡ªjust check her video ount.0

    Chu Tingwu''s ount was about to hit three million followers, which wasn''t a lotpared to the country''s total poption, but the number of people who had heard of her was definitely over three million, and her fame had already surpassed that of some minor celebrities.0

    She could still attend school and experience life peacefully, partly because her fan base consisted mostly of adults and young people who were not overly fanatic, and partly because she was underage, and it was inherently hical to disturb the life of a minor student.0

    There were originally some extreme fans, professional fans, and even stalkers, but all of them were dealt with by the system.0

    There was a rumor in the industry that if you became a stalker fan of Chu Tingwu, your real-life finances would easily go bankrupt, but following her through live streams and videos posed no problem.0

    Tianshi, upon hearing this rumor, was a bit confused: She herself was someone who frequently interacted with her idol, but her real-life situation had improved, and she even earned more money from private work.0

    Teacher Fu, on the other hand, felt that Chu Tingwu was actually a very diligent student: He had initially thought that Chu Tingwu would be out and about all the time, but in reality, they rarely went out for leisure. This time, even while going out to y, she didn''t forget to study. The Q&A on the screen showed her diligence, and she even imported relevant question banks into her live stream...0

    Zhou Qiang: "We won''t go back tonight, right? I''m already full."0

    Shao Lingwu: "Then the barbecue you just ate must have been pretty good. Let me try some... Sigh, the buffet at our training camp is better than most restaurants outside, but eating it every day does get a bit monotonous."0

    Chu Tingwu: "Yue Miao recently mentioned she found a good restaurant. I''ll ask her to rmend one."0

    Chu Xiao: "Rmend two, so we can have breakfast there tomorrow before heading back."0

    The buffet at the base really needs to develop some new dishes!0

    The four of them got on a tricycle, silently riding away with the camera on, with the base located on the mountainside behind them. Teacher Fu: "?"0

    So, you don''t go out often because you haven''t found any good restaurants nearby?0

    -0

    Chu Tingwu asked Yue Miao to rmend a restaurant because Yue Miao had been posting photos on her social mediately, featuring delicious-looking food with captions full of happiness about having found great meals.0

    But she didn''t expect that Yue Miao had been eating at the Fangyuan Restaurant, which was actually the cafeteria of the Starcloud Charity Foundation.0

    Though it was called a cafeteria, it was actually run by the foundation''s own staff, and the food was quite delicious¡ª0

    Auntie Chef, while cutting meat, happily exined: "I actually never formally learned how to cook. My dad was a chef who did vige banquets, and I helped him for many years."0

    Later, Auntie Chef opened a small restaurant right across from Sang City Coastal Elementary School, primarily providing lunch and a ce to rest for students whose homes were too far from school. Of course, the "rest" just meant sleeping on the table.0

    After Sang City Coastal Elementary School closed down.0

    Auntie Chef was also looking for new opportunities when she learned that several regr students who often ate at her ce couldn''t continue their education, all of them being girls.0

    Although the country had universalpulsory education, it was harder to implement in remote and impoverished areas.0

    Auntie Chef thus came into contact with these girls who couldn''t attend school and, over the following years, gradually learned about the living conditions of other children. She went to a university for adults, volunteered in mountainous areas, and then returned to Sang City.0

    "At first, I just wanted to support them in going to school," Auntie Chef said, taking the boning knife handed to her by Chu Tingwu. "Most boys'' families would support them, so I was relieved, as it meant I only needed to help the girls¡ª"0

    At least that reduced the pressure by half.0

    Initially, she contacted local organizations to donate money and goods, asionally checking the feedback. But sometimes she wondered: If I work hard to earn money and donate it to them, how much of it would actually reach them, bing textbooks, breakfast, and sanitary pads?0

    The age group she focused on didn''t have their own electronic devices, nor could they call or text her. She only knew their names through the intermediaries.0

    One day while cooking at the restaurant, Auntie Chef thought: Why don''t I just cook for them directly? That wouldn''t be much different from my previous life.0

    Then, she discussed it with the friends she had made over the years and together they founded "Fangyuan."0

    The new Fangyuan Restaurant was located in the residential area across from Sang City Experimental Elementary School, operating as a small private restaurant.0

    It served regr customers in the mornings and evenings, but at noon, it provided free lunches for the students supported by Fangyuan. The meals were for in-house consumption only, not to be taken out.0

    The list of students was provided by the organization, vetted by school teachers, and even rmended by the students themselves who had previously been supported.0

    Currently, Fangyuan was consistently supporting 32 girls from three nearby elementary schools. On weekends, some of them woulde to the restaurant to help out.0

    They also had their own small video ount, mainly live-streaming the cooking and running of the restaurant, allowing viewers to experience what it''s like to be a chef and a restaurant owner.0

    Recently, the Starcloud Charity Foundation began promoting its services. Although it wasn''t entirely clear how this "charity foundation helping other charity foundations" worked, Fangyuan still submitted their "resume."0

    After about a week of negotiations and understanding the details, the Starcloud Charity Foundation sent Yue Miao over.0

    Yue Miao didn''t tell them that Chu Tingwu was the big boss of the foundation, so the others thought Chu Tingwu and her friends were Yue Miao''s rtives and ssmates.0

    Coming to eat here was naturally no problem.0

    While eating, they could also chat. Auntie Chef said: "I know we''re doing charity work, but we''re not really an organization, are we?"0

    So when she saw the application requirements for the Starcloud Charity Foundation''s funding assistance, she felt a bit hesitant.0

    She felt that all she had been doing was cooking and, along with her friends, supporting some little girls in going to school.0

    Chu Tingwu poked Yue Miao, asking how the foundation was nning to handle this¡ª0

    She had the drone filming but didn''t turn on the live stream, only recording it as material.0

    Yue Miao exined to the curious group: "Fangyuan isn''t a project that can expand its operations."0

    Fangyuan''s current revenue and expenditure are bnced because Auntie Chef is really good at cooking. It''s now a somewhat famous private restaurant with a stable customer base.0

    The ie from customers, after covering necessary costs and living expenses, is used by Auntie Chef to support girls in going to school. Other friends also contribute; some work directly at the restaurant, while others trust Auntie Chef more and send her their monthly ie to arrange donations.0

    But Yue Miao could see that such a "organization" ran entirely on passion.0

    This kind of small-scale institution was the mostmon she had encountered since joining the Starcloud Charity Foundation... After evaluating them, Starcloud would help verify ounts, provide resources, and make regr payments.0

    For Fangyuan, this meant adding an official donation channel and a fixed feedback tracking window. They already had their own ount, and the Starcloud Charity Foundation had its own media operation department, which would provide operational advice and help increase traffic...0

    Actually, the foundation could also provide a whole team of operators for the boss''s ount, not to mention the media department was always eager to get the chance.0

    A big ount with nearly three million followers!0

    But the system was in charge of this part of the work, so no one else had the opportunity.0

    Chu Tingwu nodded: She wouldn''t use her own ount to help forward and encourage her fans to donate, which was why she turned off the live stream when she arrived.0

    On one hand, professional matters should be left to professionals.0

    On the other hand, she wasn''t just a passing influencer doing a good deed by providing traffic. As the actual responsible person of the Starcloud Charity Foundation, she couldn''t be biased and only help one side.0

    But¡ª0

    Shao Lingwu: "Can I donate?"0

    Why does it sound like Fangyuan never epts donations?0

    Auntie Chef waved her hand: "No need, no need. We have enough money right now. If you want to donate, just give it to an official organization!"0

    They had previously received donations for a period of time. Initially, everything seemed normal. However, since the people at Fangyuan Restaurant interacted closely with the recipients and knew the details of the children''s daily lives, some donors wanted to ensure that "my money is being put to use" and would frequently inquire about the children''s situation.0

    Auntie Chef realized something was off when a particr donor kept prying into the details of a little girl''s life. She promptly returned the donation and made sure the children traveled to and from school together.0

    Whether or not she was overthinking it, sheter decided not to ept donations from strangers. Money from strangers felt like a hot potato.0

    The Starcloud Charity Foundation, however, was not an individual but a "collective" with a systematic process and formal contracts. After some consideration, Auntie Chef decided to ept their support.0

    Chu Tingwu asked, "Can we ept donatedbor?"0

    Although she wouldn''t use her personal ount to promote it, "Ah Chu and Three Five Five" could be seen separately from Chu Tingwu herself. With some time before her sailboat shoot, she could easily spare two hours to volunteer.0

    And indeed, there were tasks at Fangyuan Restaurant¡ª0

    During school breaks, the girls weren''t old enough to work and legally earn money, and Fangyuan couldn''t employ childbor. However, they could collect materials from the restaurant and set up stalls at the night market to sell jelly.0

    The night market managers turned a blind eye to such activities.0

    Sang City''s night market was not far from here. Even as the sun still hung in the sky, the ce was already bustling. Adjacent to a park, various small stalls formed a street, selling almost identical items. The night breeze carried the scents of various foods... Even if one knew these foods might not be healthy, they still made the mouth water.0

    A little girl beside them reminded the older siblings, "Make sure to keep your wallets and phones safe, or you might get pickpocketed."0

    In the crowded, chaotic night markets of small towns, especially during peak times, pickpockets were active.0

    And so were the cats.0

    Another girl stroked a gray tabby sitting nearby and told Chu Tingwu, "This is Captain. He helps catch mice¡ª"0

    If the tabby was lying down, it meant there were no small animals around. But if it was alert and circling the food cart without begging for food, that was bad news.0

    Captain meowed, sprawled out, and nced at Chu Tingwu before swishing his tail.0

    Chu Tingwu,cking a tail herself, reached out to stroke him from his chin to his belly. After a couple of passes, she managed to annoy the cat, who flipped over and ran off.0

    In Sang City, rats and cockroaches were unusuallyrge. Although they hadn''t seen any in the training camp, they had encountered a couple outside.0

    Shao Lingwu worried, "Now that the cat''s gone, what about the rats?"0

    The little girl reassured him, "Usually, there won''t be any..."0

    Chu Tingwu added, "I can catch them too..."0

    Shao Lingwu was shocked, "You don''t have to push yourself."0

    Chu Tingwu: "=="0

    Among the four, Shao Lingwu was particrly clumsy. Soon, the little girl asked him to handle the cash register. Since most payments were made electronically, his job was simply to calcte the bill and ensure the money was received.0

    This was truly a joint effort in part-time work and study.0

    The workload wasn''t heavy, as the children around them worked even faster, actively inviting customers and making the four high schoolers seem somewhat redundant, just standing by.0

    After helping with some food prep, Chu Xiao nced at a neighboring stall where people yed blind chess and said, "I''m going out for a bit."0

    The blind chess, though it seemed like a game, was more akin to gambling. Participants paid a fee, flipped chess pieces for a few minutes, and if they won, they could take a plush toy from the stall. Losing meant they got nothing back.0

    Since it wasrgely a game of chance, many people participated.0

    Soon, Chu Tingwu and the others noticed their workload increased¡ªespecially Shao Lingwu, who was busy with the cash register. He noticed more people were paying.0

    Zhou Qiang remarked, "Chu Xiao seems to have won all the toys..."0

    He had challenged the stall, crushing the opponents and seemingly reaching an agreement:0

    From then on, he would flip the chess pieces. If a customer won, they could take a toy; if they lost, they would receive a coupon for a dor off the jelly. This dor would be covered by the blind chess toy stall.0

    Some customers felt they had already gotten the coupon, so not buying would be a loss.0

    The blind chess stall agreed because Chu Xiao had quickly written a small program for electronic coupons on the spot.0

    Fine, you can handle it.0

    The coboration with the jelly stall made their business even better, as customers believed they didn''t lose out by getting a coupon.0

    Chu Xiao, of course, let some wins through, giving customers the hope of possibly winning.0

    After all, blind chess was a game of luck.0

    Shao Lingwu continued collecting money when he noticed Zhou Qiang was gone.0

    Shao Lingwu: "?"0

    Chu Tingwu exined, "She went to talk to the night market management¡ªthose with red armbands. The current crowd flow is good, but the route nning is poor. Many people get pushed back before reaching us."0

    So, Zhou Qiang went to offer some suggestions that would benefit everyone.0

    Soon, Zhou Qiang returned with a stack of jelly stall flyers¡ªboth paper and cloth¡ªwhich she handed to Chu Tingwu. Chu Tingwu had asked her to prepare these.0

    Shao Lingwu: "Are we handing out flyers?"0

    Though he hadn''t done it before, he felt he could manage this simple task¡ªthe little girl beside him also leaned over curiously to look at the flyers. However, Chu Tingwu pulled out a long-handled mp from under the cart and said, "Not us."0

    She was going to recruit some free little working cats.0

    Thus, the group saw Chu Tingwu walk to a sausage stall across the way, tap the cart with her mp, and speak to the vendor. After an unknown conversation, her mp suddenly held a squeaking mouse.0

    Vendor: "..."0

    Were you here to challenge me?0

    But the mouse had indeed been caught from the grass behind their stall. The vendor was worried that having Chu Tingwu stand there with the mouse would deter customers, so he agreed to let her stick the jelly stall''s advertisement on his cart.0

    Then, Chu Tingwu left, avoiding the crowded areas. She meowed a few times in the distance, calling over the night market''s cats.0

    After offering the mouse as a tribute to the cats, Chu Tingwu pulled out a cat treat from her pocket. Though she hadn''t specifically brought it¡ªsomehow, her clothes always seemed to have cat food, toys, or even half a cat wand in them.0

    The cat treats sessfully won over the local cats.0

    This was different from the greasy, spicy smells of the night market!0

    Soon, the mouse-catching expert Chu Tingwu officially started work.0

    Shao Lingwu and the others noticed that some cats leading customers over had cloth scarves around their necks¡ªthe same ones Chu Tingwu had taken as flyers.0

    Shao Lingwu: "..." Why did it feel like I was the only one not contributing?0

    Suddenly, he turned and called out to a departing customer:0

    "Wait, you didn''t pay!"0

    Some people''s phones were slow to process payments, and by the time they paid, it was toote. Their business was booming¡ªbut this particr person hadn''t bought any jelly. They were just passing by.0

    Shao Lingwu repeated:0

    "You bought jelly thirteen minutes ago, extra spicy, and left without paying. I may not have seen your face, but I remember your voice!"0

    The person gave a baffled look: "What are you talking about? I just got here. I didn''t buy anything."0

    Shao Lingwu: "=="0

    Chu Tingwu came over, and Shao Lingwu grabbed her arm, poking his head out from behind her to say, "Can you catch a mouse and throw it at him now?"0

    The person who hadn''t paid: "..."0

    Hey! I heard that!0

 Chapter 95

    <h1>Chapter 95</h1>

    With a pair of long-handled pliers in hand, Chu Tingwu enjoyed the treatment of an emperor on a night market stroll, where people cleared the way wherever she went.0

    The cats she "hired" acted like eunuchs from the East Factory, bullying their way through without restraint, and all of them were neutered.0

    When it was time to return to the pce, the feline entourage escorted Chu Tingwu to the street corner. Only after she rummaged through her pockets to confirm she had nothing left to give did they finally leave, disappointed.0

    On the way back, the young girls, though aware of Chu Xiao and Zhou Qiang''s prowess, were more intrigued by Chu Tingwu and Shao Lingwu''s "skills." The former seemed tooplex to grasp or replicate, but thetter appeared to be practical skills one might encounter in daily life:0

    "We have huge rats here, some even bigger than small cats, and they''re vicious. I''ve been bitten several times as a child. Sister, how do you catch them so urately? Can it be learned through practice?"0

    After all, mastering this could be a useful skill.0

    Chu Tingwu knew that there were specialized rat-catchingpanies that relied on human effort and technique to capture rats, as some ces couldn''t use machines or trust cats.0

    However, she didn''t know how to teach others.0

    Another child turned to Shao Lingwu: "Today''s ounts were correct!"0

    Shao Lingwu: "Addition is something I can''t get wrong ==."0

    The child shook their head: "No, it''s just that whenever things get busy, money always seems to go missing. Maybe someone took it but didn''t pay."0

    Even with payment voice notifications, dys sometimes ur, and by the time they realize someone hasn''t paid, the person is already gone, making it impossible to chase after them.0

    So Shao Lingwu had Chu Tingwu patrol the entire night market, catching people. In a court setting, he might have made a decent censor job.0

    ¡ª If Chu Tingwu had stayed at the stall, she could have used her sense of smell to locate these people, but she had been out most of the day. Thus, Chu Tingwu was also surprised: "Can you remember all their voices?"0

    Shao Lingwu''s hearing seemed exceptionally sharp; he had heard her conversation with Yue Miao from a distance the first time they met.0

    Shao Lingwu was puzzled: "Because different voices are really distinct."0

    In fact, when Chu Tingwu had heard someone fall into the water earlier, Shao Lingwu had caught it too, but: "I hadn''t heard that kind of sound before, but I can remember it now."0

    The children, who had initially listened with eager eyes ("OvO"), soon turned apathetic ("=_="). Meanwhile, Zhou Qiang was discussing with Chu Xiao whether to develop a smart voice plugin rted to payments.0

    Currently, payment software''s voice plugins couldn''t support the needs of night market vendors, butbining them with smart AI could boost efficiency.0

    Their discussion quickly shifted from smart payments to market ounting software, then to the software''s operational model.0

    They considered making the smart payment feature free and charging for other aspects... Chu Tingwu overheard and mentioned that herpany could handle the operations, and the plugin could be bundled with drones for distribution. Shao Lingwu looked around and raised his hand: "Then, I can help with voice debugging?"0

    Chu Tingwu was escorted to the dock by the director''s team, and the three finally parted ways.0

    On the way back, Chu Xiao suddenly said: "I thought you''d just cover the money yourself."0

    Over time, everyone had noticed that Shao Lingwu had little concept of money.0

    In fact, his family had likely reduced his allowancepared to others in simr circumstances to cultivate his financial sense¡ªShao Lingwu once mentioned that his parents wanted him to figure out how to make money or save it himself, even suggesting he invest through their channels. But he spent all his money when he had it, whether it was three thousand or thirty thousand, and had no additional spending desires, leaving his family despairing.0

    "I''ll hand thepany over to a reliable manager in the future, so you can focus on your studies," his parents had said.0

    Shao Lingwu waved it off: "I just don''t care much; I''m not stupid."0

    Tonight''s money was earned by the children, not his. Recing it wouldn''t be his, and the children wouldn''t be happy.0

    But every time Chu Tingwu caught someone who hadn''t paid, the childrenughed so joyfully... it made Shao Lingwu a bit envious.0

    Chu Xiao nodded, then reached out and pinched hispanion''s neck, saying ominously:0

    "Then why did you get that ridiculous package deal for your haircut today, and even get me a card? Was it because the card looked nice?"0

    Shao ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Lingwu: "..."0

    Shao Lingwu: "I''m sorry ==."0

    Chu Xiao didn''t need to dye his hair often... well, he could use the card for otherster.0

    -0

    Chu Tingwu sneezed.0

    The director''s assistant quickly said: "Put on another coat; it''s windy tonight."0

    Unlike usual, where they needed to blur faces, the director seemed eager to capitalize on Chu Tingwu''s poprity, actively suggesting she could go live without needing to blur them¡ªsince they often appeared in rted videos anyway.0

    Chu Tingwu, having been brought on board by them and sharing a history, didn''t refuse to cooperate with the promotion.0

    Thus, not only did Chu Tingwu''s personal ount announce the live stream in advance, but the official ount of "City Animals" also mentioned that a mysterious guest would join the shoot, so they would go live.0

    Equivalent to using two camera angles, they used a fixed camera to film those on the boat.0

    "City Animals" fans were already discussing in advance¡ª0

    [Are they nning to film animals kept by celebrities? Indeed, this is the third season, and the first two seasons covered almost everything. To keep the project alive, they''d have to find a new angle.]0

    [Not really interested in celebrities... If it turns into a celebrity-focused show, I''ll unsubscribe! I watch this for the animals and people!]0

    [Actually, the focus of this documentary isn''t the animals; it''s "in the city," and cities exist because of people. The director seems to want to make a humanistic documentary, showing changes from the animals'' perspective and how they coexist with humans¡ªbut really, it''s about how humans should treat these animals. I hope they don''t shift focus, but if the director wants to make quick money to continue his passion project, inviting a few celebrities is okay, just don''t overdo it!]0

    [By the way, where is the director''s team now?]0

    [Probably in Sangcheng; they mentioned going out to sea earlier, and the assistant posted a lot of photos from the sea.]0

    [Sangcheng...]0

    [Huh? Sangcheng?]0

    [It feels like Sangcheng has been appearing a lottely. Did I just see it mentioned in some live stream?]0

    As the fans discussed, the scheduled live stream time arrived. Qiao, who usually conducted interviews in the documentary, appeared on screen, but the camera quickly shifted elsewhere, with Qiao starting to exin their current filming content.0

    [So this episode''s theme is seagulls!]0

    "Yes," Qiao smiled, "While locals might be more familiar with seagulls, we thought the rtionship between sailors and seagulls might be even closer. During a month-long non-stop coastal sailing race, seagulls are their closerades."0

    Many people are unfamiliar with sailing sports, which is still a niche activity in the country, and seagulls are equally alien to those who haven''t seen the sea. No matter how many times they appear on screen, it''s different from experiencing them firsthand.0

    The director chose this project and animal because they are "umon."0

    During the live stream, Chu Tingwu quietly operated the drone, staying hidden among the staff¡ªthis time, the live stream''s focus wasn''t just the filming content but also?*??details on how the post-production team works:0

    "We''ve already filmed the daytime footage, so this time we''re choosing nighttime filming to show you the sea at night."0

    "During the race, the crew also needs to live at sea, spending long nights¡ª"0

    This time, in return for their previous favor, in addition to the fixed camera positions, they also used Chu Tingwu''spany''s unmanned flying spheres to capture the night sky, resulting in better effects, clearer and more stable footage. After the live broadcast, they would also run a soft advertisement.0

    At first, fans were puzzled about who the special guest was, but soon they were immersed in the live broadcast content and forgot about the unintroduced "guest" until the crew started talking about life on the boat and exined how the vessel maintained stability in the waves.0

    Qiao looked around: "A sailboat... it really seems too small. Why can some peopleplete a circumnavigation or continental voyage with just one sailboat?"0

    The crew member chuckled: "Don''t think that because Sangcheng is far away now, we''re actually still in the coastal waters. And our boat maintains stability through its keel, like a roly-poly on the sea. It looks like it''s swaying with the waves, but it hasn''t reached the critical point of flipping over. Even if the mast touches the surface of the sea, the boat can right itself."0

    Just like Chu Tingwu experienced today¡ªthough the boat they used was smaller and couldn''t go far out to sea, it was easier to right itself.0

    As his voice trailed off, the sailboat suddenly swayed violently. A seabird that had been dozing on the mast pped its wings and flew up, circling the white sail once beforending back down.0

    The staff members were a bit scared, but the crew member remained calm, telling them to stay in their current positions and not move around, while they adjusted the boat''s direction.0n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It was at this moment that Chu Tingwu started her live broadcast.0

    As a premium signed user, the website not only promoted her live broadcast to her fans but also randomly sent notifications to some new users with low followings.0

    In the shot, the view circled the boat, overlooking the sea surface under the moonlight, then zoomed in on Chu Tingwu. Everyone was busy, and Chu Tingwu didn''t interrupt, but as the boat swayed left and right, the other camera operators were in a mess¡ª0

    They all wore life jackets, but the filming equipment couldn''t fall into the water. Even though they were pulling hard, it looked like it was about to slide to the right.0

    A strong wind had picked up at night.0

    The boat, on the verge of capsizing, slowly righted itself. Chu Tingwu suddenly grabbed the loose camera and leaped to the left side of the boat.0

    Under her feet came a silent vibration that ordinary people couldn''t feel in the violent swaying, and the boat jerked left and right before stabilizing.0

    She jumped back down, and the staff members wiped their sweat: "Um, actually, we can protect the equipment, you really didn''t need to¡ª"0

    It felt more dangerous than sliding down!0

    Chu Tingwu exined: "The deck is nted, so I couldn''t stand still."0

    And with only the width of a palm on the boat''s edge, it looked dangerous, but she could ensure she stood very steady, even helping to provide weight to stabilize the boat.0

    But with this lift and drop, the viewers on the other side of the lens noticed the strange change in perspective and the people in the conversation:0

    [What just happened? Did a seagull snatch the camera?]0

    [If a seagull did take it, that would be great! If it could fly with the seagull, it would definitely be a ssic shot!]0

    [Speaking of which, I think I saw a video today of something flying with a seagull. Are these new drones that advanced now?]0

    No, no seagull could carry such a heavy machine!0

    But filming on the boat was indeed challenging, as the rocking of the boat caused the waves to quicklye crashing in.0

    In everyone''s perception, the night sea always seems calm, but in reality, there''s no difference between night and day, except that people are tired and want to rest.0

    After hearing their stories about night sailing, Chu Tingwu became more curious about "single-handed coastal navigation," as there was a simrpetition nearby recently. On multi-person boats, there''s a captain in control, a helmsman steering, a mainsail trimmer controlling the mainsail, a foredeck hand managing the spinnaker, and a jib trimmer controlling the jib, yet it still seems so perilous.0

    So, with a boat of the same size, but only one person, and no shore support or any assistance, how do those single-handedpetitors manage toplete their tasks smoothly?0

    Chu Tingwu, despite having cat-like abilities, knew that even with such abilities, her advantage at sea was much smaller than onnd. The sea treats cats and humans equally; to survive, one must rely on individual qualities and on-the-spot reactions to the maritime challenges.0

    Her fans were also discussing this, and gradually, fans of "Animals" also noticed Chu Tingwu. Some even hopped between the two live broadcasts, waiting for Qiao to introduce Chu Tingwu''s identity.0

    This is also a very familiar content creator to us. Users of Fenghua Network should have heard of her. Chu Tingwu is not only a cat blogger but also a highly respected extreme sports enthusiast... Of course,pared to challenging limits, she''s more known for her love of sports and her passion for new experiences.0

    "She not only has outstanding athletic talent, but during her wildlife-rted live broadcasts, she also demonstrated extraordinary hearing. It''s probably true that talent leads to passion, right, Chu Tingwu?"0

    Chu Tingwu nodded: "Yes, I can hear someone calling for help right now."0

    Qiao looked at Chu Tingwu.0

    Chu Tingwu looked at Qiao.0

    Chu Tingwu: "?"0

    Qiao: Wait, are you serious?0

    The sailboat turned around, and the captain said: "Sorry, we just received news that someone took a small boat out at night and got stranded at the cliffside. The coordinates aren''t far, and any nearby boats can... Uh, what''s wrong?"0

    Qiao: "It''s nothing."0

    It''s just that those poor stranded folks might get live-streamed to the whole inte.1

    -0

    The stranded individuals were rescued first by the maritime police, and the sailboat only approached from a distance. Qiao was also very curious and asked Chu Tingwu: "Can you hear what they''re saying?"0

    The wind scattered her voice, and the sound of the waves was louder than the seagulls''. After listening for a while, Chu Tingwu repeated: "After their motorboat broke down, they swam to the cliffside. Just as they sent out a message, their phone stopped working, so while waiting for rescue, they kept trying to climb up by rock climbing."0

    It was unclear whether they were carefree or just "brave," but from falling into the water to being rescued, these few people didn''t get hurt, at most just a bit cold. However, during their self-attempted "rock climbing," they ended up cutting their hands and gloriously turned themselves into casualties.0

    Qiao: "=="0

    Can she really hear that?0

    This kind of hearing made her view Chu Tingwu as a "rare species," definitely surpassing human limits. Although she knew some people were just naturally gifted, she still couldn''t help thinking: Would she hear my private conversations?0

    It feels like there''s no privacy at all.0

    The captain, however, was quite curious: "With this ability, you''d be quite suitable for sailing."0

    Even with electronic aids, human abilities are very important in sailing. Sharper hearing could help Chu Tingwu avoid storms and waves.0

    Qiaoughed: "With her abilities, she''d be good at any sport¡ª"0

    Chu Tingwu: "No."0

    Chu Tingwu said: "But I''m not good at sailing, so going out to sea is more interesting than onnd."0

    Being good leads to passion.0

    But if the advantage is reduced and the field is unfamiliar, yet one can still feel the excitement... then "being good" is just opening a window for Chu Tingwu, allowing her to discover that what she likes isn''t just what she''s good at, but also the challenges of what she''s not good at.0

    Chu Tingwu pondered.0

    She couldn''t stay on the boat overnight, and after an hour of filming, she disembarked but didn''t immediately return. Instead, she said goodbye to the filming crew and bought some rted equipment.0

    The live broadcast remained open during this time, and while the audience was originally preparing to go to bed, they noticed that the UP master seemed to be fiddling with something else.0

    Finally, Chu Tingwu contacted her fellow night owls and, through Shao Lingwu, got the phone number of a car rentalpany, renting a single-person sailboat.0

    The audience: "???"0

    UP exined, "Because this spot is definitely unavable for rent, but I still have sses tomorrow, and I only have time in the evening, so I had to find some less formalpanies."0

    But how did your friend get the contact information of these less formalpanies, and it seems like they''re quite familiar with them?0

    And are you nning to go out to sea at this time?0

    Not exactly.0

    Chu Tingwu merely arranged for a sailboat, using the little knowledge she had learned in the morning and just now, slowly steering the boat to the cliff where someone had been stranded earlier.0

    This cliff protruded slightly below, providing a tform for the stranded person to stand on. The pitch-ck sea water pounded against the rock wall, revealing a smooth crystalline surface.0

    Chu Tingwu moved her equipment to the tform below the cliff and looked up.0

    At this moment, Shao Lingwu and the others also clicked into her live stream¡ª0

    They had originally booked a hotel with a better view of the sea, nning to watch the sunrise in the morning... Although they could also see it from the training camp, it seemed different when viewed from outside.0

    Perhaps the differencey in spending extra money.0

    But at this moment, all three were staring at the screen.0

    Shao Lingwu: "She can''t be..."0

    Zhou Qiang''s tablet disyed Chu Tingwu''s personal ount interface: "She''s going to climb, isn''t she?"0

    Yes.0

    On this ordinary night, Chu Tingwu, fully equipped, began "leading climbing" on this seaside cliff without any protection from others, under conditions where visibility was poor at night.0

    ¡ªOnly she knew that she had the confidence to be "protected," and even if she fell onto the rocks in mid-air, she could rely on her reaction speed to minimize injuries.0

    Moreover, Chu Tingwu had been thinking before: I want to live-stream extreme sports because I have an advantage and enjoy doing it.0

    She could share the thrill of the sport with the people on the other side of the screen.0

    She could showcase her hidden, almost inhuman side in front of the camera.0

    But she had never taken action... Perhaps she was still hesitating in her heart, or maybe she was worried that this "specialty" might not be epted.0

    But sometimes, the decision to start is made in an instant.0

    Perhaps it was just this ordinary moment.0

    Everything began.0

    -0

    The audience called the police.0

    Although they often joked, "Chu Tingwu must be a rebellious kid at school who gives her teachers a headache," they never expected this "rebellion" toe back and hit them.0

    Many viewers in the live stream had watched Chu Tingwu grow from the beginning of her broadcasts, regarding her as if she were their own child, knowing her excellence and extraordinariness, and also knowing that she often took on "extreme" challenges. But that didn''t mean they could watch her put herself in danger.0

    "Leading climbing," as the name suggests, is when an excellent climber attempts a climbing route that has never been sessfully climbed before. Such routes are often difficult to rate, and they are inevitably wild climbs.0

    Many climbers cannot resist the temptation of "leading climbing," as it is the path to bing the first.0

    But most leading climbs also have protective measures¡ªsuch as others providing hanging protection or setting up safetys below.0

    In the real wilderness, with only rudimentary tools (and those used for hammering rather than self-protection), and in low visibilityte at night!0

    Some even frantically called the system, asking it to manage Chu Tingwu:0

    Stop filming your video!0

    Not only are you filming, but you''re using a dual-camera setup¡ªwhat does that mean?0

    In the hotel, as Chu Tingwu''s climbing height increased, the threepanions also held their breath.0

    The cliff sloped towards the sea, and Chu Tingwu could only stabilize herself by fixing three points. If she fell, she would grab nothing, and there would be no support to stabilize her.0

    And the previous nails hammered in couldn''t be sure if they were sturdy. Rocks slid down, and Zhou Qiang could hear her own heartbeat.0

    She had never understood extreme sports before¡ªit was far from her life, and she might never participate in such activities. But when she saw Chu Tingwu climbing, she suddenly realized:0

    "A new..."0

    Shao Lingwu: "What?"0

    "I really envy her," she said. "No one can resist a new future. When she climbs up, does her mood feel like a researcher discovering new experimental results? Even though the rock wall has always been there, and the new forms and research results are too, when she sessfully climbs up, everything will be different."0

    To the world, it''s still just a rock wall, but in the lens, Chu Tingwu''s eyes, in the darkness, seemed to absorb the surrounding light, clear as ss, only gazing at the top.0

    When the maritime police went out to sea for the second time and arrived at the familiar cliff, the powerful floodlight on the boat projected a bright white circle onto the cliff wall. The circle slowly moved upward, scanning past the nail points and ropes, finally moving to the top of the cliff¡ª0

    Chu Tingwu, with a safety rope tied around her waist, sat on the edge of the cliff, fully illuminated by the light.0

    She tilted her head slightly, and her pupils, at this moment, seemed to be illuminated into a dazzling gold.0

 Chapter 96

    <h1>Chapter 96</h1>

    The person was picked up in the middle of the night, and the reprimand came down early in the morning.

    Teacher Fu was the one who picked her up, and the training camp was the one who issued the criticism. Chu Tingwu sat quietly on the side, lowering her eyes and trying to make eye contact with the police dog.

    The police dog avoided her gaze.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    Teacher Fu sighed.

    Chu Tingwu hadn''t been on the trending topics for a while. She was a low-profile content creator.

    But the strange trending topic "UP Master Climbs Cliff Without Protection, Concerned Fans Call Police for Help" still lingered on the hot search for a while, followed by the topic "Leading Climbing."

    Teacher Fu: "How do you exin today''s incident?"

    Chu Tingwu: "First, I need to issue an apology. I wasted public resources, caused the police to respond to my situation, and madeizens worry."

    Teacher Fu nodded: You know all this, don''t you?

    Chu Tingwu: "But I''ll do it again next time."

    Teacher Fu almost choked on his breath.

    "It''s not that I don''t let you climb. I''ve watched your live streams. Whether in training venues or the wild, you''ve always had protection before. Everyone thought it was great. Why did you choose to climb without protection today? And alone?"

    "I know you might be seeking excitement¡ªbut seeking excitement and protecting yourself aren''t mutually exclusive."

    Chu Tingwu wasn''t short of money to hire people, nor was shecking in resources. She wasn''t going to die if she didn''t climb today... Could it be that she was bound by some system that forces her toplete extreme challenges within a time limit?

    Chu Tingwu: "No."

    Although, the system in her mind indicated it could take the me ==

    Chu Tingwu thought for a moment: "There''s no protection during high-altitude parkour either."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    But when she did parkour on rooftops, her fans weren''t surprised or nervous enough to call the police: because she had proven herself to be the more professional one in this field, and everyone was prepared for the possibility of idents. They had mental preparation for such incidents.

    However, her first time climbing without protection in the wild was on a seemingly extremely dangerous seaside cliff, which scared everyone.

    Teacher Fu: ...So you think everyone will get used to it?

    "And," Chu Tingwu looked at the sun overhead, "I can achieve the goals I set for myself."

    She knew this.

    Her fans didn''t know this.

    But that''s okay; they will know in the future.

    As for why she chose a seaside cliff over six meters high... because in the world of leading climbing, this was actually just a small difficulty.

    Chu Tingwu couldn''t find a simpler and more suitable location.

    -

    The incident of her climbing without protection originally only stayed on the trending topics for half a day, but the topic "Leading Climbing" stayed on the trending topics for the entire day. Then, in the evening, her own ount reappeared on the trending topics.

    Perhaps the media found that things were too boring recently and there were no other topics to hype, or maybe it was because a top-tier celebrity couple in the entertainment industry was getting a divorce, desperately needing other topics to suppress the scandalous news. As a result, a bunch of marketing ounts reposted videos from abroad, educating ordinary people about what leading climbing is.

    Leading climbing with protection is already one of the most dangerous types of extreme sports¡ªbecause even with protection, idents have urred. Climbing without protection is even more of a "self-challenge" that only top-tier athletes participate in.

    Thest well-known "leading climbing" story was seven years ago when a climber from Australia scaled the back of Mount zes without any protection, covering about 2,300 meters in seventeen days, sessfully breaking his own world record.

    During those seventeen days, the climber had to live on the rock wall, drink, eat, relieve himself, endure loneliness and fatigue... So, in neighboring Japan, this activity is also very popr.

    Japan''s climbing projects aren''t unpopr, and they''ve produced several world-ss athletes. In their culture, activities like leading climbing not only showcase one''s abilities but also resemble a form of spiritual practice on the rock wall. The movements are also very graceful, full of technical skill and human strength.

    Then, some people reposted Chu Tingwu''s live climbing video abroad and brought back thements.

    These reposts made Chu Tingwu''s rted topics popr on the inte for several more days¡ª

    Then, a sports knee pad brand reached out.

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    When she received the news, she was in the training camp, doing experiments with her team members.

    Perhaps rted to the "reprimand," the training camp, though not adding extra sses, was stricter. Entering and exiting required reasons to be recorded, and when the staff at the gate saw Chu Tingwu, they directly closed the door and gave her a polite yet rejecting smile.

    Chu Tingwu: "Actually, I can climb through the window if I don''t use the main entrance."

    And it would be faster.

    The staff''s smile cracked a bit.

    Chu Tingwu: "We''re just going out for dinner. We''ll definitely be back by 8:30."

    The staff was silent for a while before moving aside.

    After returning at 8:00, Chu Tingwu was caught by Coach Wang for extra sses.

    Normally, the coaches in the training camp wouldn''t help with makeup sses, but she managed to get a coach to give her private lessons based on her "strength" (though perhaps not academic strength).

    In theb, she gave her spot to Shao Lingwu and watched as her team members sessfullypleted the experiment before answering the phone.

    This sports knee pad brand was called "Z-bone," a rtively high-end brand. Chu Tingwu actually used their knee pads because the quality was indeed good, and the slight brand premium didn''t matter to the system and Manxing, who bought them for her.

    This time, the Chinese market head reached out, asking if Chu Tingwu would be willing to participate in the youth climbingpetition they nned to hold in three months.

    Chu Tingwu didn''t immediately agree.

    Shao Lingwu peeked over her shoulder: "Why not? It shouldn''t be hard for you to win a national award in thepetition, right?"

    Entering the national team wasn''t difficult for the other three members of the group, and with Chu Tingwu''s current abilities and recent studies, winning a national award was a sure thing¡ªeveryone knew she wasn''t very ambitious. Among the majority of students aiming for guaranteed admission, she seemed to be there just to "learn," happy when she acquired new knowledge, and interested in content beyond the exam scope.

    ...Although Chu Tingwu didn''t realize it, her friends knew that many students in the training camp envied her.

    Not for her background or abilities, but for her mental state. Even among geniuses, there''s psychological pressure in such an environment.

    Chu Tingwu: "Because I don''t want topete and bully others."

    Zhou Qiang: "..."

    For some reason, she suddenly understood how she was perceived by other students beforeing to the training camp.

    Chu Tingwu took out her phone and looked it up: "And... their purpose doesn''t seem to be inviting me to pete.''"

    Since it was a "youth climbingpetition," Chu Tingwu found information about other contestants or potential invitees. Based on her publicly demonstrated climbing skills, these people were a cut below her. As long as she performed normally, her peers shouldn''t be able to win.

    A normalpetition probably wouldn''t invite a non-registeredpetitor with outstanding skills to dominate the field. So the system, without any moral scruples, looked into "Z-bone''s"pany documents and quickly discovered:

    "They want to invite you to be the spokesperson for the Chinese market."

    Probably seeing Chu Tingwu''s poprity and considering her a good fit for the brand image, which theoretically makes it unlikely for her to fall from grace, especially since she is not in the entertainment industry and has good looks.

    But the higher-ups believed that she hadn''t achieved anything substantial, so they? decided to use their sponsoredpetition to give Chu Tingwu a push¡ª

    By then, Chu Tingwu would be the winner, having secured an endorsement and bringing her own traffic, ensuring the brand both face and substance.

    However, they seemed to overlook one thing... whether Chu Tingwu herself would be interested in their endorsement fees.

    The system, however, didn''t influence Chu Tingwu''s decision in any way.

    It just eximed in surprise:

    "Baby, you should first endorse the drones!"

    The baby''s first endorsement ad must be shot by them!

    Chu Tingwu: "==" Are you really arguing about this?

    So she had the system reply: Given that she has already epted an endorsement for apeting product, she regrets to inform Z-bone that she cannot ept their knee pad endorsement.

    Of course, this was just an excuse.

    Having already used the "study" excuse to reject others, Chu Tingwu realized: "Different people seem to value different things."

    She believed that studying was important and couldn''t take long leaves of absence, but some people thought her rejection was so dismissive that she couldn''t even be bothered to make up an excuse.

    So this time, she rarely made one up.

    Only the system muttered beside her, like a responsible agent: "Well, since you don''t want to endorse their brand... I''ll have to blur the logo during your live streams... but that would make the screen look bad..."

    Chu Tingwu: "Zzz..."

    While the system pondered the troubles of being an agent, Chu Tingwu finished her call with Sanwulu and once again healthily fell into a deep sleep.

    In her dream, there was a misty sea.

    Shey on the deck of a single-person sailboat, which was in the middle of the ocean, unable to see anynd.

    ¡ª ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Chu Tingwu had recently asked the system to add elements of sailboat training to her Dream ssroom, and to randomly simte various scenarios to train her ability to handle these dilemmas.

    And if anyone were here, they would realize that the sailboat in the Dream ssroom didn''t seem to be one of those small boats for coastal sailing, but rather a single-person sailboat capable ofpleting a circumnavigation.

    When Chu Tingwu got up from the deck, it started raining in the dream.

    The wind blew on her arm, and she felt the real pressure of the wind, causing her hair follicles to stand on end¡ª

    A storm wasing, followed by towering waves dozens of meters high.

    Chu Tingwu: "Why is today''s development the same as yesterday''s?"

    The system, at such times, was especially cold: "Because there''s been a storm for half a month straight, unless you sail through this ident-prone zone, but your radar is already broken."

    Chu Tingwu: "Aren''t you my radar?"

    The system: "..."

    The system: "Oh, right, I am!"

    It had indeed secretly increased the difficulty, although it wouldn''t discourage the child, but with such an opportunity to train the child to the extreme, it certainly wouldn''t let it go!

    After all, there''s no "resurrection" in reality, and even if the system hired a whole fleet with ample supplies and an entire hospital to follow Chu Tingwu on her voyage, it would still worry.

    An individual''s strength is insignificant before the ever-changing nature... but the baby seemed to love it so much, her eyes sparkling whenever she looked at the data and videos.

    Ah, nature is really bad!

    When the sailboat was sunk by the towering waves, Chu Tingwu began her training in evacuation and rescue (she somehow felt that most of her training recently had been focused on this). The early morning rm also rang.

    Ah, after struggling in the sea for half a day, it''s time to get up, wash, and go to ss.

    She opened her eyes, and Zhou Qiang next door turned over, covering her ears with her hand.

    Chu Tingwu also sat up, naturally grabbing her phone... huh?

    There was a trending topic about Z-bone on the hot search. They had always been in the sports brand business, with a pretty good reputation, but now the national region''s ount posted a suggestive tweet, seemingly using some "small influencer" of having no real achievements in sports but refusing their endorsement offer. If it weren''t for their belief that the person''s endorsement could help promote niche sports, they wouldn''t have invited them.

    And now that the promotion of niche sports has lost some momentum, it''s probably the other party''s fault.

    But under this trending topic, there was news that Chu Tingwu''spany had registered a sports knee pad brand with the "Wu" logo and invited their own boss to be the spokesperson.

    The two pieces of news collided, not only directly decoding the situation but also making it seem a bit amusing.

    Chu Tingwu: Is that so?

    But why was she thest to know that she was the spokesperson?

    The system: "?"

    It had just perfectlypleted the task the baby had given it.

    If there''s nopeting product, then create one and be its spokesperson.

 Chapter 97

    <h1>Chapter 97</h1>

    The training camp had almost stopped holding sses.0

    During the day, they began conductingpetition simtions, writing essays, and conducting experiments every day. If they encountered something they didn''t understand, they would seek help from coaches or ssmates in the afternoon or study on their own. Experts hade to give several lectures, and the once-every-ten-days break was now being used to take everyone to the biology museum for performances. Although the overall schedule hadn''t changed much, the atmosphere in the training camp had be noticeably more tense.0

    One day, Chu Tingwu noticed that a few people were missing from ss.0

    "Did they go home early for the New Year?" she asked.0

    Zhou Qiang didn''t even look up, flipping through a book in her hand. "They dropped out. Probably nning to find private coaches on their own."0

    Some could adapt to the rhythm of the training camp, improving together under the pressure from others, while others simply couldn''t handle it and chose to leave before breaking down.0

    Chu Tingwu remained seated on the armrest of the sofa, not moving, but her head bobbed slightly, her fingers tapping unconsciously in the air. "Hmm... when do we get a break?"0

    It had been almost a month since she left Three-Five-Five, and if she didn''t go back soon, her cat might really be drafted into service as a police cat.0

    Zhou Qiang ced her hand on Chu Tingwu''s hand and patted it.0

    Chu Tingwu pulled her hand away and pressed it back onto Zhou Qiang''s.0

    Zhou Qiang noticed that Chu Tingwu''s eyes had already closed. She silently withdrew her hand, hovering it about ten centimeters above Chu Tingwu''s hand.0

    Chu Tingwu suddenly opened her eyes, giving Zhou Qiang a puzzled look before pulling her hand back. "Huh?"0

    Zhou Qiang averted her gaze. "Some people don''t seem to be nning to go home. They''ll stay here during the New Year."0

    And their parents were very understanding¡ªthere were only a few months left before thepetition, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. A simple New Year''s celebration wasn''t worth disrupting the kids'' preparations.0

    Zhou Qiang was one of those not nning to leave.0

    It didn''t matter much where she was; going home for the New Year would only be more boring.0

    Shao Lingwu and Chu Xiao, on the other hand, would be going home. Chu Xiao was acting normally, but Shao Lingwu had been receiving a lot of callstely, even busier than Chu Tingwu, who had recently be a brand ambassador.0

    Shao Lingwu exined, "It''s our school''s coaches..."0

    With fewer people in the training camp, he had given up on maintaining his appearance, letting his hair grow wild and unkempt, his naturally lightshes and eyebrows now standing out even more.0

    Because of how noticeable he was, every time he tried to ride his scooter, Eight-One-Nine, out for a spin, he was caught by the teachers.0

    The calls were from coaches of different subjects, asking him whichpetition he intended to participate in.0

    Other coaches were saying: Don''t waste your time in the biology training camp!0

    Zhou Qiang flipped a page in her book. "You''ll do well no matter which path you choose, so pick one you like."0

    Shao Lingwu hesitated.0

    Chu Tingwu understood. "Do you like them all, or none of them?"0

    Shao Lingwu blushed. "Um... none."0

    He felt a bit disrespectful saying he didn''t likepetitive biology while in the biology training camp.0

    Zhou Qiang: "?"0

    Zhou Qiang: "Do I look like someone who likes biology?"0

    Shao Lingwu: "But you can''t keep doing something you don''t like for so long, right?"0

    Chu Xiao, passing by to return a book, chimed in. "Then every student in nine-yearpulsory education must really love studying."0

    Zhou Qiang saw that Shao Lingwu was still struggling and exined, "I study this subject because I''m better at it, and I don''t have the talent for other subjects. I know my limits."0

    She was very self-aware. She couldn''t go far in physics, chemistry, or mathematics, so continuing to specialize in biology was a good choice for her future.0

    Zhou Qiang believed she might be an entrepreneur or work in a pharmaceuticalpany. Her ns weren''t entirely clear yet, but she could at least see the general direction.0n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Chu Tingwu raised her hand. "I continued studying biology because I''m interested in animals, but I don''t know if I''ll keep working in the field. Maybe not?"0

    The three of them turned to look at Chu Xiao.0

    Chu Xiao: "?"0

    Chu Xiao: "I initially thought information technology was a beautiful and orderly subject."0

    He liked things that were orderly, neat, and clear, whether they were objects or academic subjects. But the more he studied, the more confused he became, because the essence of information technology seemed to be about using the known to create the unknown. When he visited the super AI at the International State University in the U.S., watching AI-controlled robots perform simple tasks, he suddenly realized he didn''t take pride in "creation."0

    What he enjoyed was the order. Exploring and confirming what was already known brought him more happiness than discovering the unknown. After thinking about it for a few days, he decided to quit and start over.0

    Chu Xiao: "My parents didn''t understand, but they supported me. They''ve never interfered with my studies since I was young. They believe I can decide my own future."0

    ¡ªAnd that I would n it more clearly than two adults.0

    Finally, it seemed to be Shao Lingwu''s turn.0

    Shao Lingwu: "I¡ª"0

    He took a deep breath. "I don''t understand why everyone assumes I''ll like what I''m good at, including my parents."0

    This was something he had been thinking about for a long time.0

    Everyone at the table, except for Chu Tingwu, had grown up hearing thebel "genius." Chu Tingwu, on the other hand, had only recently been recognized as a sports prodigy in the past two years.0

    Shao Lingwu''s words didn''te off as boastful, because they all shared simr experiences¡ªwhich was why he could only say this here:0

    "I did like it when I was little, and I was good at it. Everyone would praise me whenever I solved a problem."0

    "But my hands-on skills are a bitcking, and I''m not good at running apany. My parents assume I''ll go the academic route... it''s like everyone says Shao Lingwu, you''re going to be a mathematician, a scientist, and you don''t need to do the things you''re not good at, because it''s inefficient and you might not get any results."0

    "And if I continue with thepetitions, make the national team, get into the final list, and secure a top university, it seems easy, but then what?"0

    He watched time flow past him, his life narrowing into a straight line, a path that was narrow but lined with flowers, where everyone he met would smile at him.0

    But he didn''t really like it.0

    Under normal circumstances, Shao Lingwu wouldn''t have said this until the end of the winter camp¡ª0

    Just ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????as he said, he was "here on vacation and also attending sses," with no particr goals. He came to the winter camp out of curiosity about the sea.0

    After seeing the sea, he would return to his usual life, possibly being selected for the final list of the mathematics national team, fulfilling everyone''s expectations.0

    But he didn''t just see the sea here.0

    Chu Tingwu tilted her head. "If you can''t find joy in what you''re good at, then doing something you like, even if you''re not good at it, would be more fulfilling... or are you unable to ept leading a rtively ordinary life?"0

    As Chu Tingwu finished speaking, Zhou Qiang chimed in, "If your family doesn''t support you and cuts off your living expenses, you can still skip a grade and go to college, finding a school far from home that offers a full schrship. You wouldn''t even need to apply for a student loan. By the way, you''re not the type to skip college entirely and chase your dreams while studying, are you?"0

    At the very least, you''d need to earn your living expenses through schrships.0

    Chu Xiao added, "If you n to study abroad, you could use a vacation as an excuse to visit your target school and then apply. Use your strong subject to support your pursuit of your less-favored dream... if all else fails, we can lend you some money. Just don''t get scammed into doing illegalbor."0

    Shao Lingwu: "?"0

    Why did they all assume his parents would cut him off, leaving him struggling financially and possibly working illegal jobs abroad?0

    Shao Lingwu meekly said, "Actually, I''m not bad at what I like... it''s just that the general public thinks it''s useless, with no social contribution?"0

    Chu Tingwu straightened her head and asked puzzledly, "What contribution have I made to society?"0

    To most people, extreme sports were just a waste of time, and not only had she not done anything, but she had also wasted social resources by calling the police to "rescue" her a while ago.0

    Zhou Qiangforted her, "You''ve founded a foundation and yourpany provides jobs for many people."0

    Chu Xiao looked at Shao Lingwu and said, "If you want to make a contribution, you can donate to the Hope Project and pay more taxes."0

    Shao Lingwu: "¡­¡­"0

    The teenager red at his three mischievous friends, but his eyes quickly curved into a smile, and everyone couldn''t help butugh as they exchanged nces.0

    He huffed twice, then suddenly pped Chu Xiao on the shoulder, "I''ll go back and activate the voice prompt for the paid plugin just for you."0

    Back when they decided to write this supplementary plugin rted to fees, although they had mostlypleted the framework and just needed to test it before going live, Shao Lingwu seemed to be dissatisfied with the AI voice part and added many voices, but hadn''t officially released any.0

    Although it was just a small matter, since he cared so much about it, everyone didn''t mind waiting a bit longer.0

    That evening, Shao Lingwu uploaded the finalized voice. Zhou Qiang yed it once in her bedroom and was a bit surprised:0

    "It doesn''t seem much different from before... but it sounds clearer?"0

    It was a voice that, although it had dissipated in the air, somehow kept echoing in one''s mind.0

    But what''s so special about the phrase "You have received one yuan"? It''s downright brainwashing!0

    The system spoke in Chu Tingwu''s ear, "Oh! He discovered this frequency!"0

    The range of sound waves that human ears can detect is shorter than that of animals. Like animals, humans also have "gic inheritance," and different sounds, such as shrill cries or tearing sounds, can trigger different instinctive reactions¡ªso, in the eyes of some researchers, sound also possesses special "magic."0

    There are certain sounds that, when heard, can evoke different feelings.0

    Like the speaking frequency of this AI.0

    The system could actually tune into this, but it required human ears to constantly test certain frequencies to achieve the perfect effect.0

    Chu Tingwu climbed into bed, and Zhou Qiang turned off the bedsidemp. Before Chu Tingwu closed her eyes, Zhou Qiang asked, "Do you know what Shao Lingwu likes more?"0

    Chu Tingwu: "Music, I guess."0

    Zhou Qiang nodded in the darkness, "Yeah, I think so too."0

    When someone hums different tunes whenever they''re bored, they either like music or are just really bored. And when every tune they hum is pleasant, that person not only likes music but is also quite reserved, never saying much.0

    However, Chu Tingwu had actually noticed it a long time ago...0

    When Shao Lingwu was riding the Three-Five-Five, and she was dozing off on the back seat, she heard a rather familiar sound¡ª0

    It was a piece of pure music that Lian had shared with Chu Tingwu during their time at the Red Stone Reserve. It was from an unknown music blogger.0

    Back then, the two of them sat side by side in the car, with the distant white wolf resting with its front paws crossed on the top of a hill. The wolf''s offspring were rolling around in front of her, and the family that could still be called the Michel Pack was having a dinner that humans couldn''t join.0

    Lian nudged Chu Tingwu''s waist, indicating she should listen to the wind in the headphones.0

    That wind had blown from North Sea Province to Xingdesikezhou, then from Xingdesikezhou to Sang City... and because it didn''t know left from right, it had twisted all the way from the training camp gate to the underwater world.0

    Some people, even at sixteen, can''t tell left from right, but that''s okay, time is long, and even if you take the wrong path, you''ll still encounter beautiful scenery.0

    Chu Tingwu: "Do you want to spend the New Year with me?"0

    Zhou Qiang: "¡­¡­You''re still awake?"0

    Usually, you fall asleep instantly.0

    After a long while, hearing the person next to her breathing steadily, she replied, "Alright."0

    Chu Tingwu: "I''ll let my family know."0

    She could bring friends home for the New Year, and Teacher Zhang was overjoyed.0

    Zhou Qiang: "?"0

    You''re pretending to sleep!0

    -0

    Probably realizing they had been too stricttely, the training camp gave them a day off before the New Year holiday.0

    The four of them discussed it and unanimously decided¡ª0

    To go to a barbecue ce near the previous sailing training base, because Zhou Qiang had mentioned that the barbecue there was delicious.0

    Teacher Fu, who had been quietly listening to their ns for a while: "¡­¡­"0

    It seemed fine, but the mention of "sailing training base" always made him think of some unpleasant experiences.0

    Like being reprimanded, getting phone calls, and going to the police station to pick someone up.0

    Teacher Fu decided to observe further and confirm the situation:0

    Chu Tingwu and Zhou Qiang had already packed up and were waiting in the lobby. After a while, Chu Xiao came out with a backpack.0

    Teacher Fu, hiding half his face behind aputer: "?"0

    Was there climbing shoes, ropes, and other tools in the bag?0

    Chu Tingwu: "What did you bring?"0

    Chu Xiao: "A jacket. I''ll change after eating; otherwise, it''ll smell like barbecue. And I brought my own gloves. They''re from theb, cleaner than the ones at the barbecue ce."0

    Teacher Fu: "=="0

    After waiting a bit longer, Shao Lingwu also came down with a backpack.0

    Teacher Fu, peeking out from behind theputer: "?"0

    What now, was this part of the n too?0

    Zhou Qiang: "Are you going to put that bag on Three-Five-Five?" It''s too big.0

    Shao Lingwu: "But how can a beach barbecue beplete without music! So I had my family send over my usual speaker yesterday!"0

    Alright, we''ll pretend not to know you if you get confiscated for disturbing the peace.0

    Teacher Fu lowered his head, pretending to be engrossed in his documents.0

    The four of them got on their familiar electric tricycle, but instead of heading to the sailing base, they first waited by the roadside for the chef auntie to bring over the equipment and spare clothes.0

    The auntie had also made some small bread to feed them.0

    Chu Tingwu took her drone from the auntie''s car.0

    The drone she had agreed to assemble for the system had been worked on intermittently. Because there were many materials, including some custom parts, the packages had first been sent to the auntie''s neighborhood, where she had helped with the receipt and organization.0

    Chu Tingwu had asionally brought back some parts to assemble when she went out, as the difficulty had exceeded her familiarity with the drone flying ball and was now a true mimic drone¡ªso Shao Lingwu and the others had all helped.0

    The four of them had worked hard until now, finallypleting the assembly, but none of them had seen the finished product in action.0

    Chu Tingwu brought it out, and although everyone had seen the design drawings, they now examined the "drone" for the first time¡ª0

    It was a mechanical seagull, partly made of metal and partly of a new lightweight material, assembled into a precise and unified whole.0

    At this moment, "Seagull One" hadn''t opened its eyes, but the three naming-challenged individuals unanimously agreed, "We can call it not a drone, but a seagull machine."0

    The only one hesitating was Shao Lingwu: Well... fine.0

    Chu Tingwu lowered her arm, and the seagull machine in her palm pped its wings, showing a sense of regrity and precision, with each feather unfolding in the same arc, the light refracting into diminishing spots, and then the "wings" spread open, revealing green "eyes."0

    It "flew" up.0

    Its movements weren''t stiff from the start, as it circled and flew, surveying the surroundings in mid-air, and finallynded steadily on Chu Tingwu''s shoulder. When the "eye," which was actually a camera but looked like a pupil, captured them, everyone felt a strange sense of being "watched."0

    Shao Lingwu reached out to touch the seagull machine''s wings.0

    The system: "=_="0

    The system unceremoniously pushed him away, rose up, creating a small gust of wind, and thennded on the other side of Chu Tingwu''s shoulder.0

    The others realized: "Right... it''s being controlled by your friend."0

    Not some AI intelligent control, there''s someone behind it.0

    Chu Tingwu had to say, "Well, this friend is quite intelligent."0

    The others: "¡­¡­"0

    It sounds a bit off, doesn''t it?0

    The seagull drone quickly began performing some simple flight and speed tests, followed by takeoff, wind resistance, and emergency obstacle avoidance, all of which werepleted wlessly.0

    Chu Xiao and the others were a bit puzzled because the technology seemed too mature, and they were all first-timers. Even though Chu Tingwu had checked everything at the end and was prepared for many mistakes, none urred.0

    Considering this might be Chu Tingwu''spany''s "trade secret," like they had already started developing this new machine, they didn''t ask¡­ But in reality, Chu Tingwu had done this kind of manual work many times in the dream ssroom, and this wasn''t her first test.0

    Zhou Qiang and the others assumed this would be a new drone mass-producedter, so although they were surprised, they didn''t show it¡ªand since they had built it themselves, it didn''t seem that shocking.0

    But as they made their way to the beach, they received far too many curious and astonished nces. Someone even stopped them to ask if they could film the seagull drone.0

    The system firmly refused.0

    Because it was filming Chu Tingwu and didn''t want to cooperate with others.0

    Chu Tingwu ryed the system''s words, but to her surprise, the person filming became even more excited:0

    "Is it ''alive''? Oh, what I mean is, its program must be priceless!"0

    The seagull drone took off, immediately capturing the attention of others.0

    Chu Tingwu and the three others quickly boarded a sailboat.0

    ¡ªThey had prepared clothes in advance, of course, because they were going to sail.0

    The system, at the request of the little one, circled the area once, then again, and then realized something was off:0

    It, it seemed like it was being used as a decoy to distract others from the little one!0

    After all, the little one had been trending again recently, and even made the local news in Sang City. They might encounter unexpected fans, like¡ª0

    "Mom, isn''t that the sister from the TV?"0

    That wasn''t a big deal.0

    "Ah¡­ yes, but don''t try to imitate the sister climbing cliffs. You can learn from her by reporting those bad rentalpanies, so there will be fewer agencies ripping off tourists."0

    Shao Lingwu: "Achoo!"0

    Chu Tingwu: "Must be the strong sea breeze. Maybe you should get off?"0

    Shao Lingwu: Do you think I''m extra? =_=0

    This time, the four rented a keelboat. ording to regtions, a professional captain must be on board to go out to sea. They wanted to take the sailboat to see farther ces¡ªof course, still within the nearshore range, not venturing too far.0

    But once on board, the captain found her job being taken over.0

    At first, she thought these kids were here for an experience, but then she noticed that one of the girls, Chu Tingwu, seemed very skilled. Whether it was steering or raising the sails, she could almost handle it all by herself.0

    Soon, she began directing her friends to divide the work, often finishing the assignments before the captain could even speak.0

    The boat swayed on the sea, and the captain, standing at the bow, couldn''t help but turn back to look:0

    If not for her obvious young age, she would have asked Chu Tingwu if she wanted to be a professional sailor. By the way, where did she learn¡ª0

    Zhou Qiang: "When did you learn all this?"0

    Chu Tingwu: "In my dreams."0

    The captain: Hey.0

    Zhou Qiang suddenly understood: "No wonder you sleep so early every day and fall asleep instantly."0

    The captain: You actually believe that!0

    Regardless of these strange kids, she initially didn''t intend to agree to their request, as going farther from the shore increased the danger, not because the boat would be at risk, but because some guests simply wouldn''t listen to instructions.0

    But now, it seemed these four were much more reliable than those kinds of guests.0

    So, the boat gradually moved away from the starting point, and the captain began introducing:0

    "The area next to us is also one of the venues for the recent Shao Tree Cup sailingpetition. It''s actually a rectangle, and the contestants and their boats must race within this rectangr area without leaving it."0

    This knowledge was unfamiliar to the group, but they listened attentively.0

    Except for Chu Tingwu, the others thought: If Chu Tingwu participates in thepetition in the future, at least they would understand the rules when watching the race.0

    Sailboat racing isn''t just like a running race, where you have a straight path from start to finish¡ª0

    Because on the sea, maintaining a straight course for a long time is almost impossible, so there are "rounding marks" requirements.0

    Most of the time, the race route is a zigzag, starting from one point,pleting various requirements, rounding the marks, and then returning to the starting point, which is also the finish line.0

    During this process, collisions between boats and under-the-rulespetition for the lead all affect the final result.0

    The captain, in high spirits, even called over a nearby boat to help demonstrate¡ª0

    Most of the sailors here were acquaintances.0

    The other boat didn''t hold back, pressing against them with the wind, gaining an advantageous position downwind, using the wind direction to speed up and get a better entry angle at the rounding mark area.0

    "Can''t pass their stern?"0

    Many rules have a yielding mechanism, like in some situations, if the other party enters first, you can''t pass their stern¡­ But wouldn''t that mean being suppressed the entire time?0

    Of course, you can regain the advantage through other maneuverster.0

    But the captain didn''t exin, instead smiling and asking them: "So, what do you think we should do?"0

    The nearby sailboat was very close, and half a step ahead. Chu Tingwu pondered:0

    "Even in professionalpetitions, there are often capsizes, right?"0

    idents at sea are too unpredictable; sometimes it''s just bad luck with the wind direction.0

    The captain nodded: "Yes¡­"0

    Ah.0

    Ah?0

    Ah!?0

    Because the next second, this guest on her boat suddenly leaped onto the other boat''s deck, then, under the other crew''s bewildered gaze, grabbed the sail rope. At that moment, a gust of wind just happened to blow, changing the angle, causing the other boat to start violently swaying.0

    At the maximum swaying angle, Chu Tingwu effortlessly passed the sailor and the helmsman, as if flying, andnded on the stern of their boat.0

    The seagull drone dove down from above, swept past Chu Tingwu''s head, and then circled, as if affirming her.0

    ¡­Affirming what?0

    The boat behind them used its mast to p the water, creating waves.0

    The captain: "¡­¡­"0

    Chu Tingwu: "Now we''re in front."0

    Shao Lingwu clenched his fist: "Great!"0

    The captain: "¡­¡­¡­¡­"0

    Indeed, reliable guests, reliably helping her win a meaningless small race¡­ just like other guests, even more disobedient.

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 98

    <h1>Chapter 98</h1>

    Today was the day when students were leaving for their New Year''s break, departing one by one.

    Earlier, Chu Tingwu and others had gone sailing, but Teacher Fu caught them in the act when they were disembarking¡ª

    They had indeed kept it well hidden, but the drone gave them away.

    Teacher Fu directly searched for "drone aerial photography" on the local forum, and numerous photos of the seagull drone appeared, with Chu Tingwu and her three friends visible in the corner.

    Teacher Fu: "..."

    These troublemaking kids.

    As a result, when leaving today, while other students were either picked up by parents or catching transportation themselves, only Chu Tingwu and her group were escorted to the airport by him.

    However, it''s worth noting that while Chu Tingwu and her two friends behaved normally during the journey, only Shao Lingwu called for a truck to transport an electric tricycle from the base.

    Teacher Fu: The shipping cost to Bao City would be enough to buy three new ones!

    After seeing Chu Tingwu and Zhou Qiang off at their gate, he returned to the camp.

    Chu Tingwu was flying to Jin City first.

    "After my parents'' divorce, my mom and brother settled in Jin City, but I''m not going to see them this time," she told Zhou Qiang. "I''m picking up my cat mom."

    Of course, she couldn''t leave Three-Five-Five behind during New Year''s.

    Zhou Qiang, who had already been briefed on the background, knew that Chu Tingwu lived with her cat. She didn''t mind the detour just for a cat, but she felt somewhat nervous¡ª

    Her family had strict rules, never allowing her to visit ssmates'' homes when she was young. Later, when she was no longer under such restrictions, she never had friends close enough to visit each other.

    Help, my friend''s parent is a cat, what gift should I bring?

    After the nended, they picked up Three-Five-Five directly at the airport.

    The tortoiseshell cat was sitting formally in her uniform, with a uniformed human officer beside her¡ªthough others were curious, they knew that police cats and dogs were part of the police system and couldn''t be disturbed while on duty.

    But when Three-Five-Five saw Chu Tingwu, she suddenly stood up, raised her paw to tap the police officer next to her, and let out a "meow."

    A passenger going through security nervously nced at the cat, wondering what in their bag might have caused concern¡ªthey hadn''t brought any cat food, treats, or dried fish!

    Police officer: "Wait... at least finish this shift?"

    Three-Five-Five: "==?"

    She mewed loudly in disapproval, then raised her paw, rolled on the ground, undid her uniform herself, shook out her long fur until she looked like an exploded furry chestnut, and quickly darted away from the scene, leaping onto the exit gate.

    After Chu Tingwu retrieved her luggage, Three-Five-Five perched on top of her suitcase, tilting her head with golden eyes to look at Zhou Qiang.

    Zhou Qiang extended one hand.

    Three-Five-Five ced her paw in her palm, and they shook.

    Zhou Qiang: "..."

    She couldn''t resist squeezing the wonderfully soft cat paw, and under Three-Five-Five''s puzzled gaze, shook it again, then secretly used her other hand to pet her head and back.

    When she tried to continue petting, Three-Five-Five swatted her hand away.

    Then Chu Tingwu took over. Man Xing came to pick them up and helped get their luggage to the car, while Chu Tingwu carried Three-Five-Five to say goodbye to the police force¡ªalthough they had previously discussed her return and Three-Five-Five''s vacation, they couldn''t just leave without proper farewells.

    Afterpleting the procedures, they both got in the car.

    But Zhou Qiang followed quietly, lost in thought: "You know so many people here in Jin City."

    People were taking photos all along the way.

    In Sang City, Chu Tingwu maintained a low profile, but in Jin City, it was as if she had returned to her home base... many people who saw her showed expressions of recognition, and some would say things like "You''re back today?" "Three-Five-Five has been anxiously waiting for you" "Three-Five-Five was so excited, she even got into a fight with some stray cats the other day."

    ¡ªHowever, the person who mentioned the "fight with stray cats" wasn''t even a police officer, but a passenger about to board a flight, and the video was filmed by another passerby.

    Back in the residentialplex, even more people greeted them, as if everyone in themunity knew both cat and human, including the little kids ying house games downstairs.

    Child: "Alien sister¡ª"

    Zhou Qiang: "?"

    The child shouted again: "Cao Mengmeng, the alien sister is back!"

    A little boy drinking water beside his mother near the flower bed showed a shocked expression... This was still normal, given how Chu Tingwu''s abilities could easily make her the children''s leader in themunity, but why did the "mother" next to him also look shocked¡ªwhat guilty thing did you do?

    "Teacher Yuan," Chu Tingwu greeted, then exined to Zhou Qiang, "Teacher Yuan was my homeroom teacher in tenth grade, and she''s also my neighbor."

    Zhou Qiang: "Hello."

    So she was actually a homeroom teacher.

    After introductions, she heard Chu Tingwu say: "We''re nning to head to Fallen Phoenix City tomorrow, may Ie over tonight to check Coal Ball''s weight?"

    Teacher Yuan: "...Sure."

    Zhou Qiang: Why are you showing a guilty expression like you haven''t done your homework?

    Chu Tingwu also picked up Cao Meng to weigh him, then showed an expression that said "I knew you probably hadn''t done your homework, because this subject wasn''t done either..."

    She sighed and headed home with Three-Five-Five and Zhou Qiang.

    Having just gotten off the ne, they decided to rest for a day and have a driver take them to Fallen Phoenix City the day after tomorrow.

    Lying on the sofa, using Three-Five-Five''s tail to cover her stomach, both of them finally showed rxed expressions¡ª

    Traveling is naturally tiring, and now that their bodies knew they were "home," they immediately received signals of drowsiness.

    Zhou Qiangy there for five minutes before getting up: "Should I sleep in the guest room? Do we need to clean up?"

    Chu Tingwu: "My assistant had someone take care of it."

    So the house didn''t need any cleaning at all.

    Zhou Qiang: "Then¡ª"

    "Beep," the air conditioner turned on by itself.

    She hadn''t even prepared to say she wanted to turn on the air conditioning.

    Water sounds came from the bathroom.

    Zhou Qiang: "?" Wait.

    Chu Tingwu: "It''s the smart home system... well, home system, anyway it adjusts the water temperature in advance for convenient bathing. You take a bath first, then we''ll eat and go to sleep."

    Where''s the food?

    After Zhou Qiang finished her bath, she heard the sound of takeout being delivered, and it wasn''t just any delivery¡ªit was a full table of dishes from a private restaurant, with someoneing to set the table.

    Thankfully, it wasn''t the smart home system cooking.

    Then she saw Chu Tingwu take herundry basket to the washing machine, where metal arms sorted and loaded the clothes into the machine.

    Why does your smart home system look like it could transform into abat robot at any moment?

    After they finished dinner, the "seagull drone" was finally delivered.

    The modified drone had been detained during security check and was just returned.

    The mechanical bird remained "quiet and still" in its packaging box, but once back in Chu Tingwu''s hands, it began looking around, raised its wings to pat her head, thennded beside Three-Five-Five, cuddling up with the cat, appearing somewhat dissatisfied about being the only one detained.

    Three-Five-Five: "?"

    The tortoiseshell mom cat changed from lying down to standing when the seagull drone returned, watching therge bird warily¡ª

    Being an educated cat, Cat Mom was different from her peers who couldn''t even recognize cat traps. She could sessfully distinguish between "machines" and "animals" in her mind, knowing that movement wasn''t limited to animals but also included human-controlled machines. However, she was somewhat displeased that this particr machine took the form of a bird.

    Three-Five-Five endured for a while, looking back and forth between Chu Tingwu and the drone.

    Chu Tingwu: "Are you hungry too?"

    Three-Five-Five usually didn''t have snacks at this time, did she?

    Three-Five-Five: "Meow."

    Then, she swatted at the seagull drone''s surface.

    System: "!"

    The system became very nervous when Three-Five-Five was about to bite: "The shell is very hard, be careful of your ws and teeth!"

    Three-Five-Five''s cat ws weren''t like Chu Tingwu''s nails; without tools, only her "steel ws" could leave marks on the seagull drone''s shell.

    Watching the cat and "bird" jumping up and down, Zhou Qiang: "..."

    It must be something special about Jin City.

    Even the drone became more "lively" after returning here.

    When she woke up the next day, Chu Tingwu spent half the morning delivering gifts to her friends, while Zhou Qiang used this time for her own activities.

    By "own activities," she meant that afterpleting her daily quota of practice problems, she decided to take a walk around the residentialplex.

    Just as she was about to leave, she saw the door open by itself, and Three-Five-Five, the tortoiseshell cat, strolled in, followed by a long-haired ginger cat and two kittens, with arge ck Maine Coon bringing up the rear. The cats drank water at the entrance and scratched their ws on the wall-mounted sisal scratching post while having a "meow meow meow" discussion about something.

    Then they seemed ready to head out.

    Zhou Qiang decided to follow them and watched as the cats entered the elevator. Three-Five-Five jumped up and pressed the button for the fifth floor.

    When the elevator stopped on the fifth floor, Zhou Qiang followed the cats to apartment 501, where she found both 501 and 502''s doors were open. The owner of 502 was holding a Ragdoll cat.

    A young couple was waiting at the door of 501, looking delighted to see the cats: "Three-Five-Five, Ginger, Little Bai... ah, are these the two?"

    Zhou Qiang could understand the names "Three-Five-Five" and "Ginger," but why was a ck Maine Coon called "Little Bai" when only its whiskers were white?

    The resident of 502 looked somewhat puzzled seeing Zhou Qiang, but the woman from 501 recognized her and warmly said, "You''re Chu Tingwu''s friend, right? I saw you yesterday. Come in, have a seat."

    Zhou Qiang: ...Huh?

    The five cats filed in, and out of curiosity about what Three-Five-Five was up to, Zhou Qiang followed them.

    Although it wasn''t exactly safe to enter a stranger''s home, Zhou Qiang inexplicably trusted Three-Five-Five¡ª

    She felt that if anything went wrong, the cat might be able to save her.

    The resident from 502 came in as well and exined to Zhou Qiang: "Sister Lin and her husband are nning to adopt a kitten. Recently, a mother cat with several kittens had been wandering around ourplex, so she asked Three-Five-Five to bring the cats over for a look."

    As for him, he had been saved by Chu Tingwu and his own Ragdoll before, so this time, his Ragdoll was serving as a "witness cat," apanying the others.

    The stray mother cat wasn''t particrly friendly and had even bitten the veterinarian at themunity clinic when they tried to give her vines. Therefore, this "viewing" was being coordinated by Three-Five-Five.

    The long-haired ginger cat had a better rtionship with the mother cat, as they were bothmunity cats. Three-Five-Five had more credibility in theplex, Little Bai was just brought along by Three-Five-Five for fun, and the Ragdoll represented the adopting party,municating with the kittens and serving as living proof that being adopted was a good thing.

    Both kittens were long-haired cats¡ªone a long-haired tabby and one a long-haired white cat, both quite beautiful.

    Sister Lin told Zhou Qiang: "We were lucky to be quick and on good terms with Three-Five-Five, that''s how we got the first chance to view them."

    They had prepared cat beds and treats. The kittens were at their most yful age, walking around with their tails held high, following the bigger cats as they explored the apartment.

    While the cats were granted the right to inspect the house, the adults voluntarily settled on the sofa, all wearing unconscious smiles as they watched the big and small cats running around.

    But Zhou Qiang noticed that the cats seemed to be genuinely "inspecting" the ce.

    After leading the kittens around for a tour, the long-haired ginger cat started grooming the kittens, while Three-Five-Five sat there like a triangr rice ball, starting to "meow."

    After she "meowed" a couple of times, the Ragdoll came over, curiously sniffing the two kittens. When the kittens pounced to grab its fur, it quickly hid behind Three-Five-Five.

    Then, the kittens discovered a cardboard box that the couple from 501 hadn''t thrown away after assembling their cat tree. One kitten crawled inside while the other started ying by biting the box.

    Three-Five-Five pushed the box with the kittens toward the couple from 501, indicating that these kittens were suitable for adoption.

    The couple from 501 excitedly stood up.

    The resident from 502 was excited too¡ª

    Having neighbors who kept cats meant he could build a good rtionship with them and leave his Ragdoll with them when he needed to go out.

    Having cat-owning neighbors was more reassuring than hiring a pet sitter or using a pet hotel.

    Since the kittens hadn''t received their vines yet, they would stay there to adjust to the environment first. The four adult cats left the apartment, and the resident of 502 took his Ragdoll home to y by itself before getting into the elevator.

    He was carrying a bag of cat food and freeze-dried treats, and exined to Zhou Qiang: "Since they''re adopting the mother cat''s babies, we should give her a gift in return. I''m heading out anyway, so I''ll help Sister Lin deliver these things to the clinic."

    The clinic was responsible for feeding and caring for the stray cats in theplex and regting stray cat feeding practices.

    Zhou Qiang didn''t have any particr destination in mind for her walk, so she decided to follow Three-Five-Five.

    However, when they reached the ground floor, she noticed the Maine Coon seemed timid, standing there with a soft "meow."

    502ughed: "Little Bai, you''re not going out today either?"

    It was actually normal for house cats to stay indoors. Little Bai had been abandoned before and had experienced a difficult period as a stray, so it was particrly resistant to going outside and couldn''t understand why Three-Five-Five always enjoyed wandering around outdoors.

    But it liked ying with Three-Five-Five and the others, so it would always follow them around in the hallway before showing hesitation at the entrance.

    502 crouched down, took out a leash from the ck bag the Maine Coon was wearing, put it on, thought for a moment, and handed it to Zhou Qiang.

    Zhou Qiang: "...Hm?"N?v(el)B\\jnn

    502 exined: "This is the Maine Coon from apartment 601, where Man Xing lives."

    Man Xing was Chu Tingwu''s subordinate.

    So as Chu Tingwu''s friend, Zhou Qiang could perfectly well take Little Bai for a walk and then bring it back to Chu Tingwu''s ce.

    With the leash on, the Maine Coon seemed more spirited and turned to rub against Zhou Qiang''s leg. It had such a gentle personality.

    Zhou Qiang crouched down: "Shake hands?"

    The Maine Coon raised one paw.

    Zhou Qiang shook its paw, and kept shaking for a while... and a while longer... Finally, the Maine Coon: "Meow?"

    The human in front of it simply picked it up.

    502 watched from the side: Well, the cat didn''t seem to mind anyway.

    Three-Five-Five, meanwhile, had an expression that seemed to say "hurry up," though due to her coloring and fur volume, others couldn''t tell. But they could see her darting ahead.

    The long-haired ginger cat leisurely followed, and the two humans and three cats made their way to the small garage where the mother cat was hiding.

    This was a ground-floor garage that had been abandoned after theplex redesigned and rebuilt an open-air parking area in another location. Being close to the activity area, it was now used to store misceneous items and old exercise equipment, and children would sometimese to y there.

    The mother cat had imed this space and would extend her ws at anyone who approached.

    502 exined: "Ourplex actually provides free cat houses, but maybe because the scent of other cats was too strong, she particrly refused to live in those."

    Just like how kittens loved cardboard boxes, the mother cat preferred this higher location and was quite satisfied with it.

    The adoption gift for the mother cat was carried in by the long-haired ginger cat, but afterpleting this task, 502 didn''t leave. Instead, he walked around to the... climbing wall in front of theplex''s activity area.

    He had actuallye down to practice climbing. He didn''t want to run in winter, and exercising outdoors was more refreshing than indoors, so the climbing wall was a perfect spot.

    ...But why was there a climbing wall in the residentialplex?

    And... Zhou Qiang looked around: The elderly people were understandable, and the middle school and elementary school students were normal, but why were there cats trying to climb up too?

    Zhou Qiang stood to the side with the cat on the leash, and people would asionallye over to say hello¡ª

    Although not everyone knew her, they all seemed to recognize Little Bai, the Maine Coon beside her, and Three-Five-Five who hade down to rest, and would then say: "You''re Chu Tingwu''s friend, right?"

    Even the olddies sitting in chairs, knitting and watching short videos, nudged each other and made room for her: "Come sit here, Little Chu''s friend. You''ll catch a draft where you''re standing."

    Zhou Qiang: "Thank you =v="

    Her gaze returned to the climbing wall.

    It was obvious that many of the people climbing were beginners¡ªafter all, this was just a residentialmunity, not a professional training facility. For them, since the equipment was there, they just wanted to try it out. "Rock climbing" wasn''t much different from doing pull-ups on the old equipment nearby.

    Compared to adults and young people, children, despite their shorter limbs, seemed more agile. When they fell, they didn''t get upset; instead, theyughed and yed together, and the next time they could climb even higher.

    Although she had Chu Tingwu beside her, who had made news headlines for rock climbing (both criticism and praise), Zhou Qiang still wasn''t very interested in climbing.

    Watching Chu Tingwu climb was like watching world-ss athletespete on TV¡ªshe was so skilled that it didn''t inspire any desire to imitate, only thoughts of "how is that even possible?"

    She knew she couldn''t do it anyway, so watching was enough.

    But the climbing wall before her wasn''t too challenging. Elderly people, children, and even less athletic young people were all trying it out. Rock climbing didn''t seem like such an "extreme sport" that was far beyond everyone''s reach. The wall was right there, and there was no shame in giving it a try.

    Chu Tingwu: "Remember to warm up properly."

    Zhou Qiang: "...You walkpletely silently!"

    Chu Tingwu: "Meow~"

    White Whiskers: "Meow!"

    Chu Tingwu had appeared without warning, cheerfully greeting everyone, not forgetting the cat, and finally handed Zhou Qiang a cup of hot milk tea.

    "The first time I tried parkour, I simply thought, ''I can jump across that gap,'' and then I did," she said. "Parkour isn''t really an extreme sport, and most of the time, my rock climbing experiences have been even safer than parkour. I think categorizing sports is meant to help people better approach these activities and prepare properly, not to create barriers that keep curious people out."

    A climbing wall is just a wall.

    An overhanging cliff by the sea is just a more dangerous wall.

    The former is how most people experience this sport, safely enjoying its pleasures, while thetter is how people like her find their "fun."

    Perhaps someday, those climbing this wall might want to experience thetter, and at least they''ll remember that it was in thismunity where that door first opened for them.

    Chu Tingwu asked Zhou Qiang: "Want to give it a try?"

    Zhou Qiang: "Sure, why not."

    ...She definitely shouldn''t have tried it.

    Zhou Qiang thought this as she climbed into her car the next day, supporting her aching arms.

    She had done thorough warm-ups under Chu Tingwu''s guidance, but hadn''t used professional equipment. The bouldering wall wasn''t very high, and the difficulty wasn''t great either.

    Chu Tingwu chose the easiest route for her and then climbed up herself.

    Whenever ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Zhou Qiang was about to stop, Chu Tingwu would encourage her from the side, teaching her how to conserve and apply strength, pointing out useful details for climbing... Soon, Zhou Qiang found her own enjoyment in it¡ªthe pleasure of "solving puzzles."

    It seems all sports eventually be a kind of "science," requiring mental engagement¡ª

    Sailing is like this, parkour is like this, even simple running eventually enters the realm of research, and rock climbing tells everyone from the start: whether you canplete a climb depends greatly on your choice of routes and movements.

    When encountering such mentally engaging sports, Zhou Qiang''s eyes noticeably brightened after climbing for a while.

    Some sports be more interesting the more you understand them.

    So when Chu Tingwu invited her to try another, more challenging route, she didn''t refuse.

    Then Zhou Qiang realized:

    "Even if you have the mental model and know how each step should go, if you don''t have the strength, you just don''t have it."

    Without proper training, even knowing how to solve the puzzle doesn''t mean you can write out the answer.

    Zhou Qiang: "...You do it!"

    But not using her own solution¡ªshe wanted Chu Tingwu to try her proposed method!

    Fortunately, even if she couldn''t write the answer herself, she had someone beside her who could demonstrate perfectly.

    Chu Tingwu: Is it my turn to perform "Iron Chef"?

    They stayed at the climbing wall until nightfall, with the cat making two rounds of patrol¡ªbut the next morning when Zhou Qiang woke up, despite not climbing for long and spending most of her time on the ground, her whole body ached.

    Chu Tingwu, well-trained and full of energy, could even help her carry her suitcase.

    Zhou Qiang: "..."

    Never mind, it surely won''t be like this in Fallen Phoenix City! Chu Tingwu couldn''t possibly drag her mountain climbing there, right?

    -

    Fallen Phoenix City indeed only had one small mountain.

    But after returning to Fallen Phoenix... it seemed more people knew Chu Tingwu?

    "Meow!"

    And there were more cats too!

    The promotional advertisements had already been

    taken down, but the promotional banners on the streets remained the same. Almost everywhere Chu Tingwu went, she would encounter cats from Fallen Phoenix City, with big cats specially bringing little cats to visit.

    And behind the cats came people¡ª

    "Long time no see, Tingwu... Going parkour?"

    Chu Tingwu turned to look at Zhou Qiang.

    Zhou Qiang quickly stepped back.

    Chu Tingwu: "I was going to say I''ll take you to Teacher Zhang''s house first..."

    Not nning to take you parkour with me!

 Chapter 99

    <h1>Chapter 99</h1>

    The person greeting Chu Tingwu was a member of the picC Parkour Club.

    After more than a year of transformation, the artificial urban features of Fallen Phoenix City were beginning to take shape. First, picC opened a branch here, followed by a series of small events that attracted parkour enthusiasts.

    Where there are people, there must be a suitable environment. In addition to indoor parkour training venues, more outdoor spaces were also renovated.

    On the way back, Chu Tingwu and Zhou Qiang saw many people practicing on their own. They were vaulting over public facilities, like birds taking off andnding.

    Zhou Qianggged behind, chatting with Chu Tingwu. She noticed that herpanion''s gaze lingered on those people, and her steps unconsciously became lighter.

    Three-Five-Five jumped onto a half-meter-high railing and walked forward with straight, confident cat steps.

    In the next moment, Chu Tingwu also jumped onto the railing, following behind Three-Five-Five. Her eyes didn''t nce down; instead, she focused on her phone screen, chatting with Zhou Qiang as if walking on t ground: "Aunt Mei just sent me a message, asking us to bring back some freshly baked marshmallows on our way home."

    The "old child" at home and the crow both wanted to eat them.

    When they arrived at themunity, wrapped in a sweet scent, Aunt Mei hadn''te out to open the door yet. Shikuai in the courtyard had already jumped up, two steps to reach the top of the wall.

    Chu Tingwu: "=o="

    Chu Tingwu: "You''ve be quite skilled now, huh?"

    It had been a while since shest saw Shikuai. She felt like he had grown a bit, but since he was already an adult cat, he could only grow vertically, right?

    Seeing Chu Tingwu praise him, Shikuai''s tail perked up, and he let out a "meow," then jumped down from the wall and leaped toward the ginkgo tree. The first attempt was a bit slippery, but the second time he sessfullynded on a branch, letting out another "meow."

    Chu Tingwu wagged her finger: "I can do that too."

    Easy peasy.

    Zhou Qiang poked her in the side: "What are youpeting with a cat for?"

    Chu Tingwu ultimately didn''t get to show off her "I can do that too" skills. Instead, she took Zhou Qiang to y with a skateboard in the courtyard. Wu ssmate also flew down from the roof, his paws adorned with matte-finished anklets.

    A while ago, to facilitate a trip together, Wu ssmate had officially settled in Teacher Zhang''s home.

    As Chu Tingwu''s elder, Teacher Zhang made Zhou Qiang a bit nervous when she brought gifts to visit. However, after chatting for a while, she discovered that as long as "Chu Tingwu" was the topic of conversation, they could talk for a long time. Teacher Zhang was a patient and knowledgeable mentor, capable of engaging in any topic.

    When Chu Tingwu came in to get a drink of water, she saw the two of them sitting on the sofa, both petting Three-Five-Five.

    Three-Five-Five: "=£¬="

    The cat mother was quite tolerant, enduring for half an hour before escaping.

    Teacher Zhang then demonstrated to Zhou Qiang how to call his cat inside with a meow and then swap petting for a cat treat¡ª

    Chu Tingwu: "You can just call his name, and he''lle in."

    Was he just showing off his catnguage skills?

    Chu Tingwu went to help Aunt Mei, but was shooed out of the kitchen: "If you''re free, why don''t you help give Shikuai a bath?"

    Hmm?

    House cats are generally quite clean. Shikuai''sst bath was over a year ago, right after he was lost and found. Aunt Mei had been worried he might have picked up parasites, so she gave him a wash.

    Now that the child was back home, it was a good time to send him to bathe the cat.

    "By ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????the way," Aunt Mei asked, "when was thest time Three-Five-Five had a bath?"

    Chu Tingwu: "How can you ask about ady''s bathing time..."

    Aunt Mei: "Huh?"

    Chu Tingwu: "She hasn''t had a bath since we brought her back. Sometimes I wipe her down."

    Three-Five-Five was always out and about. If she got dusty or had grass stuck in her fur, Chu Tingwu would help clean her, not letting the cat mother lick herself. Other times, she would just wipe her paws and "fur pants" and groom her fur.

    A bath... maybe thest time was at Little Sun Pet Hospital?

    Chu Tingwu picked up Shikuai from Zhou Qiang''sp, deciding to tackle the easier target first.

    When brought to the bathroom, Shikuai had no idea what was about to happen.

    Seeing Zhou Qiang follow in, Chu Tingwu gestured to her: "Lock the door from the inside."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Zhou Qiang: "......Are we bathing the cat?"

    Well, she might as well help.

    For safety, she took off her woolen coat and borrowed an apron and sleeves.

    Hearing the sound of the lock, Shikuai''s ears twitched: "Are you going to poop, meow?"

    But why did you bring him in? Was it because he couldn''t bury his poop himself?

    Chu Tingwu looked serious: "Coarsenguage."

    Shikuai: "?"

    Chu Tingwu waved her hand: Little cats shouldn''t speak so coarsely, so we need to give you a bath.

    Shikuai: "??"

    Until he was thrown into the bathtub, Shikuai still didn''t understand what pooping had to do with bathing. He buried his poop well! He buried his poop well!

    "Meow-mew-ow¡ªow¡ª"

    As the ck ball tried to bounce out of the bathtub, Chu Tingwu reached out and caught his neck mid-air, then pressed his right leg with her other hand, forcing the cat back into the tub.

    Zhou Qiang poured hot water over Shikuai, avoiding his face and nose. After the cat waspletely soaked, she started rinsing him directly with the showerhead.

    Shikuai''s front paws clung to the edge of the bathtub, cursing loudly.

    Chu Tingwu: "Meow?"

    Are you sure you want to curse at me?

    Shikuai: "......"

    Shikuai: Bad kitten!

    Unable to curse, he started ying the sympathy card: Baths are so scary! His fur was soaked and stuck to his body, making it very ufortable. He couldn''t lick it dry, and the weather was cold...

    Chu Tingwu: "The air conditioner is on."

    Shikuai: "Then you should bathe too, meow!"

    Chu Tingwu: "Oh."

    Chu Tingwu: "I bathe every day."

    Shikuai: "?"

    Too scary. Are you really a cat?

    The adult cat Shikuai looked at the kitten beside him for the first time, his eyes revealing a sense of awe.

    Zhou Qiang, beside them, was desperately pinching her waist to keep her expression from looking too strange¡ªso it looked a bit grim¡ªbut watching the serious "meow-meow" argument between the cat and the human was really hard not tough.

    Especially since neither the cat nor the human seemed to find it funny... they were very serious.

    After washing Shikuai and checking him all over, Chu Tingwu wrapped him in a towel to absorb the water, then went outside to find the hair dryer.

    Since the family rarely bathed a cat, they didn''t have a pet dryer.

    Shikuai didn''t like the hair dryer, but unlike other cats, his reaction wasn''t that intense. He just looked very unhappy, clearly enduring it.

    Zhou Qiang helped blow-dry his fur. ncing at Chu Tingwu, she noticed that Chu Tingwu was holding the kitten, covering its ears and then her own, with an equally unhappy expression.

    Both the human and the cat showed expressions of "endurance."

    Zhou Qiang: Got it. You''re empathizing with him.

    She had already turned the hair dryer to a lower setting.

    ¡ªBut Chu Tingwu was indeed "empathizing."

    Normally, she would deliberately ignore such sounds, as the sounds her ears picked up were too varied. Seeing Shikuai like this, she tried to rx her instincts a bit.

    Hmm... she turned to Zhou Qiang and said: "Turn up the wind, let''s get it over with quickly."

    Zhou Qiang: "......Okay."

    She adjusted the setting and saw the expressions of the two cats... the human and the cat became even more numb.

    Outside the door, Three-Five-Five had been wandering around, wanting toe in. Seeing Chu Tingwu and Shikuai, the paw she had lifted didn''t touch the ground. After a moment of hesitation, she jumped back and returned to the courtyard.

    When Shikuai was almost dry, he broke free and ran to the air conditioner, lying down to lick the fur on his lower legs.

    Chu Tingwu: "Three-Five-Five¡ª"

    The tabby was perched on the treetop, pawing at the leaves, pretending not to hear.

    Three-Five-Five was clever.

    Zhou Qiang,gging behind, silently ced an urgent order for a pet dryer.

    Her intuition told her that washing the tabby next would be a big battle. It was better to buy a tool.

    She thought Chu Tingwu would climb the tree to catch the cat, but she didn''t. Instead, she just looked up, deep in thought, then: "Meow~"

    This sound was different from the cat calls she had previously learned. It was soft and sharp, like a kitten''s meow.

    Teacher Zhang leaned against the doorframe, unable to help but silently smile.

    Three-Five-Five: "......"

    Chu Tingwu: "Meow! Meow~"

    Chu Tingwu not only called out, but also stretched out her arms, as if waiting for Three-Five-Five to jump down on her own, or as if she wanted to give the cat mom a hug.

    After calling out a few times, the tortoiseshell cat surrendered.

    Her gaze when she looked over was very deep, and her movements were a bit stiff, but she still jumped down andnded in Chu Tingwu''s embrace.

    During the cat washing session, Three-Five-Five didn''t make a sound, just crouched in the corner of the bathroom, staring grimly at the corner of the wall.

    Zhou Qiang took the opportunity to give the cat mom a thorough petting, though inwardly she was singing with joy. Her expression remained unchanged, and she calmly told Chu Tingwu, "So Three-Five-Five is solid."

    The cat mom had an explosion of fur, but now that the fur was sticking closely to her body, she was still arge... mound, and it wasn''t just useless fat on her body.

    After the bath, the drying process was simple. Zhou Qiang thought that based on Three-Five-Five''s behavior, she would probably go into the dryer on her own.

    However, when Chu Tingwu carried her out, the tortoiseshell mom nced at Shikuai, who had just finished grooming, and jumped down to give his head a smack.

    Shikuai: "Meow!"

    Water, the water sshed over!

    Zhou Qiang: ...

    Not just water, the wet fur on his head had puffed up, and Three-Five-Five had given him a very trendy new hairstyle for free.

    Fortunately, the drying went smoothly. Zhou Qiang looked at Chu Tingwu and noticed that she was still rubbing her ears: "Was the sound of the hairdryer too loud?"

    Chu Tingwu: "It''s fine."

    It''s just that the sound seemed toe and go, sometimes clear and sometimes blurry.

    The system noticed the issue before Zhou Qiang:

    The changes in the little one started a few days ago, and it seems that the little one''s¡¾Perfect Control lv1¡¿skill has been upgrading unusually fast during this period. It might be because the nighttime sailboat training, though providing little experience, has a particrly significant effect on improving control over the body...

    The system said sternly: "Because of the uneven sensory experience between day and night, you''ve been running all your attributes at full power in the dream ssroom, while in reality, you try to suppress them. If this continues, it''s easy to break the bnce of your five senses that you could originally control!"

    Chu Tingwu: "Can you say something I can understand?"

    The system meowed: "Your control over your limbs has improved, but your five senses haven''t kept up, so whether it''s your sense of smell, hearing, or vision, they''ve be less stable."

    There''s a small chance of situations like today, where your hearing unintentionally strengthens and picks up distracting noises; your sense of smell unintentionally amplifies and catches unwanted odors; the most serious is the cat''s "farsightedness," where when a cat focuses on distant scenes, they can''t see much nearby, which is very dangerous.

    As for sensitive taste and touch, they''re rtively minor issues.

    So the system said coldly: "There will be no sailboat courses in the dream ssroom until your control over your five senses improves to the same level."

    Actually, this is partly its fault, because the dream ssroom''s realism is a notch below reality. The system deduced through its program: If the little one had learned in reality, this imbnce in attributes wouldn''t have urred.

    And if it had noticed earlier and not been so indulgent, the little one''s physical condition wouldn''t have been an issue.

    It''s all its fault TAT

    Chu Tingwu: "I''m not sick..."

    This should be considered a problem of being too strong.

    She poked Three-Five-Five, feeling curious: The cat mom was different from her, but unlike other cats, she didn''t seem to resist leaving her territory. How did she ovee this issue of overly sensitive perception?

    Chu Tingwu asked Three-Five-Five.

    Three-Five-Five: "Meow?"

    She had already dried her fur, but all the fur was standing up in random directions. Hearing the little one''s question, she calmly jumped out of the dryer, pinned Shikuai, and started beating him, chasing the ck cat around with "owwls" and "howls," then pounced on the mechanical seagull controlled by the system and gave it two punches, before scaring Wu ssmate out of the yard.

    Three-Five-Five: "Meow."

    That''s how I ovee it.

 Chapter 100

    <h1>Chapter 100</h1>

    Although they brought Zhou Qiang back to Fallen Phoenix City, Teacher Zhang actually nned to spend this year''s New Year in Chewan, along with Aunt Mei, the two kids, two cats, and a crow.

    Chewan is located at the foot of the Kasha Snow Mountain, a city "surrounded by snow-capped mountains," and is one of the famous tourist destinations. During the New Year season, many people also go there to ski.

    They nned to rest at home for a few days, allowing the animals to adjust their state, and then fly to Chewan City.

    On the second day of Chu Tingwu''s idle time, she was stopped by the neighbor next door to Teacher Zhang''s house.

    The neighbor curiously asked, "Little Chu, will you make that cat food again this year?"

    It wasn''t that the cats at home were craving this dish, butst year''s scene of a crowd of cats gathering was too interesting, and the neighbor just hadn''t been able to capture it. This year, the kids were alsoing back for the New Year, so they wanted to see the lively atmosphere again.

    Chu Tingwu looked at the cat in the neighbor''s house and then at the pet dryer that Zhou Qiang had just bought: "This year, I probably won''t be making cat food, but I can give the cats a bath¡ªdo you need that service?"

    The neighbor looked at the cat.

    The cat: "¡­¡­?"

    -

    "Meow¡ª¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu''s cat-washing business began.

    She had the system start a live broadcast and then divided the first cat-washing video into a new series.

    The theme of this series was "home cat washing."

    Zhou Qiang wore a mask, responsible for carrying the equipment and rinsing.

    Chu Tingwu was in charge of controlling the cat and drying it.

    Their first customer was naturally the neighbor, as the low winter temperatures meant they couldn''t wash the cat outdoors, so they coaxed the neighbor''s cat into the bathroom.

    Soon, the bathroom echoed with cursing sounds.

    Shao Lingwu, who had already returned home, also saw her video and quickly poked Chu Tingwu in their group chat, suggesting: "It''s too troublesome and burdensome to carry the equipment by hand. Let''s rent a car."

    The next day, when the audience opened the UP''s live broadcast, they found the UP filming a brandless electric tricycle from a 360-degree angle¡ª

    After filming the front, back, and sides of the car, she said, "This color and style can''tpare to Bayi-Nine."

    Who is Bayi-Nine?

    But Shao Lingwu liked this remark and gave it a thumbs up.

    After bringing the tricycle home, he seemed to start letting loose. During this time, he was self-studying mechanical theory and once again modifying Bayi-Nine, adding manyponents and recing many devices.

    Chu Xiao''sment on this was: "You might as well just buy a motorhome."

    The newly rented (but sponsored by Boss Shao Lingwu) electric tricycle naturally couldn''tpare to the one grown in love (?), but it did make Chu Tingwu''s home visits much easier.

    ¡ªBecause during these days, Chu Tingwu was really treating "cat washing" as a business.

    The neighbor posted a message in the homeowner''s group, and since most of the other neighbors knew Chu Tingwu, they all supported her, saying, "Last year, you fed my cat, so this year, you can wash it too."

    What''s the connection?

    So Chu Tingwu rode the tricycle, with Zhou Qiang sitting on it, and asionally three or five cats or a crow perched on the equipment, while a crow flew in the sky, and they went door to door to wash the cats that had been scheduled.

    Of course, it wasn''t free.

    The cat owners would give Chu Tingwu and Zhou Qiang money with the excuse of "giving you a New Year''s red envelope," and they would also share the money with Shao Lingwu ording to a ratio, as a dividend for Boss Shao''s sponsorship of a tricycle.

    [Outrageous...]

    [Utterly shameless...]

    [Unbelievable...]

    [Good heavens, how can a UP wash six cats in one day? And after finishing in the afternoon, she even washed two dogs at the customer''s house?!?]

    Chu Tingwu''s cat-washing drama didn''t stand out too much at first, and fansined, "You''ve finally remembered you''re a pet UP and started doing some pet-rted live streams." Although theyined, they still loved watching, as the videos featured many different breeds and personalities of cats.

    Moreover, Chu Tingwu no longer just argued with the cats by herself; she would help trante.

    But after the second day of the live broadcast, when she tly tranted what the cat said and then the live broadcast was reported and shut down, Chu Tingwu stopped tranting in detail.

    The audience, who felt like they had been scolded for nothing, thought: "=£¬="

    Why shut it down? They loved listening!

    Then Chu Tingwu started offering other additional services, such as helping owners and pets reconcile their feelings¡ª

    Today, while washing this Siamese cat, the Siamese cat''s ownerined: "Nini has a heart problem, but it always eats without restraint. Sometimes, even after we''ve gone to bed, it will open a can by itself in the middle of the night. Oh, its weight can''t go up anymore, how can it not know?"

    Chu Tingwu persuaded the cat: "It says it doesn''t like the taste of the cat food, and it only eats it reluctantly for your sake, but it still wants to eat canned food. Why don''t you change the cat food?"

    The owner: "?"

    The owner showed Chu Tingwu the storage cab at home, filled with thirty-four kinds of cat food, twelve vors, all from big brands.

    Nini, who was in the drying box, got a reproachful look from Chu Tingwu: "Meow?"

    Chu Tingwu: Just greedy.

    The owner realized that even little cats could deceive people, or maybe it just didn''t like any of the vors and only wanted canned food.

    The ownerughed and cried: "By the way, Nini was actually raised by my son''s ssmate..."

    "He''s studying abroad, and his ssmate also went to study abroad, raising Nini there."

    Zhou Qiang: "Then did they abandon it?"

    ¡°Oh, no,¡± the owner said helplessly, ¡°Then he got into prison for drunk driving and killing someone, so he couldn¡¯t take care of the cat anymore.¡±

    Zhou Qiang & Chu Tingwu: "¡­¡­"

    The audience: "¡­¡­?"

    Everyone sat down and started listening to gossip.

    There were many such gossip stories, and even if the content wasn''t so explosive, the owners could also share stories like "how I chose my baby from so many cats."

    Chu Tingwu''s live broadcast seemed to quickly turn into a talk show, where the cat was often pressed down, looking utterly miserable, asionally cursing, while in the background, the cat owner and Chu Tingwu asked and answered questions, mostly the owner talking, with Zhou Qiang asionally chiming in.

    They washed various cats, some adopted, some brought from friends'' homes, some who had wandered into this home, or rather, chosen a new family for themselves, and some who were already eagerly awaited even before they were born.

    Chu Tingwu also washed many dogs, one of which was an injured retired military dog, with prosthetic front legs and scars from surgery visible on its chest and abdomen.

    During the bath, this military dog was always very gentle and calm, unlike other dogs who either yed excitedly, jumped directly over, or were timid. After the bath and blow-drying, the military dog just put its head over and rested it in Chu Tingwu''s palm.

    Zhou Qiang, leaning beside her, also stretched out her hand, and the warm, clean military dog with a hint of pet shampoo scent raised its chin and rested it in her palm for a while.

    Then, they took their leave.

    "What are we eating tonight?"

    "Aunt Mei said there will be tempura shrimp and cream mushroom soup..."

    The electric tricycle stopped in front of the small vi. When getting off, Zhou Qiang touched the handlebar¡ª

    The next day, they would board the ne to Chewan City.

    "Although I don''t quite understand why Shao Lingwu, after not knowing each other for long, wanted to adopt a vehicle..." she said, "But after getting along for a while, wanting to adopt it also seems normal."

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    No, I think both are a bit abnormal.

    You''d better return the car.

    Fortunately, the next day, they didn''t board the ne with an electric tricycle.

    Every cat and crow had a seat, but Chu Tingwu bought an extra one.

    The seat of that ticket was upied by a seagull-shaped, one-of-a-kind bionic drone.

    Upon hearing Chu Tingwu describe herself in such a manner, the system naturally did not object. Instead, it quietly vetoed the "seagull" design proposal for the drone in thepany.

    Why make a seagull drone when they could make an eagle? After all, the eagle design had received more votes.

    After a six-hour flight, theynded at Chewan City Airport and were met by the local guide they had arranged.

    As soon as they got off the bus, Zhou Qiang tightened her coat: Chewan City was indeed cold.

    The local guide had originally worked as a tour guide and was a contact of Teacher Zhang''s student. Due to having many disciples and grand-disciples, Teacher Zhang had acquaintances in various industries. This local guide had helped them book a reliable homestay.

    The homestay owner rented out entire houses, with many vis avable in Chewan. The homestay was quiet, well-decorated, and surrounded by a pleasant environment. Whether heading to the ski resort or the city center, the transportation was convenient. The local guide even left the car for them¡ªsince they had decided to explore on their own and no longer needed the guide''s arrangements.

    Upon arriving at the homestay, Chu Tingwu had the system cover the doorte and posted photos of the homestay and the snowy mountains.

    Fans wished her a great time and sent New Year''s greetings, though some expressed regret: Why did the cat-washing video series end so abruptly? They could have continued watching, or maybe the content creator could offer home cat-washing services?

    The main issue was that their cats were too unruly. Bathing them felt like trying to control an entire army. No one could hold them down, and it wasn''t just about getting the creator''s autograph or a photo.

    The interior was equipped with underfloor heating and a humidifier. Aunt Mei went out to buy some daily necessities they hadn''t brought along. The third floor of the homestay had floor-to-ceiling windows facing the Kasha Snow Mountain, where an indoor swing was set up, covered with a plush nket.

    Chu Tingwu swayed back and forth on the swing, and soon the cat joined her.

    She sighed while holding the two cats:

    Recently, all the courses in the dream ssroom had beennd-based, so there was no chance to y with boats. She was feeling a bit nostalgic.

    "Chu Chu," Zhou Qiang called from downstairs, "Want to try out the gear?"

    Of course, she was referring to the skiing gear!

    Coming to Chewan, how could they not go skiing?

    The homestay even anticipated their needs and had prepared several sets of gear, which were more than enough for beginners.

    When they were about to head out, Teacher Zhang stopped them: "By the way, Aunt Mei said she brought clothes for Sanwuwu, Shikuai, and Xiao Wu. Make sure to put them on when you go out."

    Even though the animals had fur to keep them warm, ying in the snow in this weather was still too cold.

    ...Aunt Mei''s taste was much more normal than Chu Tingwu''s.

    Sanwuwu didn''t get a floral cotton-padded jacket but instead received an XL red and gold cat warming suit, looking like a giant red envelope.

    Shikuai, on the other hand, wore a golden and red outfit, resembling a walking ingot of gold.

    These colors were likely chosen because they stood out against the snow... so much so that the embroidered patterns reflecting the light were almost blinding.

    Aunt Mei picked them up, and the family of seven headed to the ski resort.

    Thergest ski resort in Chewan City was right in front of the homestay. Many tourists, like them, drove there, while others stayed in the hotel inside the ski resort.

    The scheduled coach, learning that they were all beginners, suggested: "Then let''s start with the most basic... Are you practicing on a snowboard?"

    Chu Tingwu, having experience with skateboarding, wanted to start with a snowboard, and Zhou Qiang was indifferent, so she chose the same.

    The coach, hearing their conversation, chuckled: "Skiing and skateboarding are a bit different, but there are simrities. For example, in skiing, your feet are strapped into bindings¡ª"

    Although there were differences, all sports required physical fitness and bnce, so Chu Tingwu progressed quickly. The coach saw she was doing well and focused on teaching Zhou Qiang.

    Then Teacher Zhang smiled and said: "Since Tingwu has learned, why don''t you teach me?"

    Aunt Mei nced at her.

    Chu Tingwu abruptly stopped: "Ah?"

    The coach hadn''t heard this, and frankly, no coach would dare take on such an elderly "beginner student."

    If Teacher Zhang fell, she might break a bone.

    And skiing was the most prone to falling... not to mention Teacher Zhang couldn''t see.

    Zhang Youyi: "I came to the ski resort. Should I just watch you all have fun?"

    Chu Tingwu: "But it''s dangerous."

    Zhang Youyi remained calm, with a faint smile: "Did you think it was dangerous when you rock climbed in Sang City?"

    Mentioning Sang City specifically, it naturally referred to that wild climb.

    But Teacher Zhang''s tone wasn''t usatory.

    Chu Tingwu could easily say "I need to apologize to the fans" when facing Teacher Fu, but she couldn''t bring herself to say it to Teacher Zhang. Finally, she said: "I can''t teach you today, but I''ll learn well."

    Teacher Zhang''s eyes curved, and she raised her hand: "Then I''ll look forward to it."

    Chu Tingwu stepped forward and high-fived her.

    What she meant by "learning well" was to fully master the skill and ensure Teacher Zhang wouldn''t fall even once¡ªbecause she would be right beside her.

    Obviously, the elderlydy didn''t aim to be a skiing expert, just to learn some basic moves. At least by putting on skis, she would have truly experienced it.

    Instead of standing by and listening to them practice.

    And if Chu Tingwu could prove she had the ability to ensure her student wouldn''t fall, it would also prove she could ensure her own safety, allowing her to experience the sports she loved but were dangerous and worried her family.

    Chu Tingwu began her "teaching" the next day. The location was a smaller, more beginner-friendly ski area near the hotel, where it was less likely for someone to identally slide in and knock over a practicing beginner.

    Besides her and Teacher Zhang, Zhou Qiang also came to apany them. Most of the long-term neers here were kids.

    The first day mainly focused on putting on the boots and how to stand steadily on the board. When Chu Tingwu helped Teacher Zhang stand, a little girl who was also self-learning curiously observed them.

    The girl was cute and a bit timid but very well-behaved. She looked up at Chu Tingwu for a while and then raised her hands: "You''re a cat!"

    Chu Tingwu, busy taking care of Teacher Zhang, tore Shikuai off her head and handed him to the girl: "Here, you can pet him."

    The girl shook her head but still petted him twice, then touched Chu Tingwu''s sleeve and sighed like a little adult: "I mean, you''re a cat."

    As if worried Chu Tingwu might misunderstand her species.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    You and the system would definitely get along.

    Shikuai kicked and jumped back onto Chu Tingwu''s shoulder, grumbling about how cold his paws were.

    Zhou Qiang chatted with the girl a bit and learned that she seemed to have watched Chu Tingwu''s videos¡ª

    And, believing the system''s narration, truly thought Chu Tingwu was a human-shaped cat.

    Soon, the girl''s coach came over and took her away to continue her lessons.

    The next day, when Chu Tingwu returned, she saw Teacher Zhang chatting with the girl.

    She asked Zhou Qiang, who had arrived earlier: "Where are her parents?"

    They only saw the coach, but where were the parents?

    Zhou Qiang: "It seems she came with her mom, who''s busy and stays in the hotel. She''s worried the girl might be bored, so she let the coach teach her to ski."

    The little girl''s name was Mu Mu, and she was nine and a half years old.

    Apart from being a bit shy, speaking softly, and moving slowly, she was a fairly normal child.

    After getting familiar with them (mainly Teacher Zhang), she would even bring small buns and boiled eggs from the hotel''s buffet restaurant, holding them tightly against her chest.

    After spending a few quiet days at the beginner''s field, the coach in charge of Mu Mu brought some news: "I heard that Louise has also arrived. I wonder where she''s staying?"

    A few novice skiers stood expressionlessly.

    Coach: "¡­Louise holds the world record for alpine snowboard speed descent."

    Which made her a master of snowboarding.

    Chu Tingwu: "Oh!"

    Mu Mu tugged at her, then asked the coach: "Is she a cat?"

    Coach: "¡­Of course not."

    Mu Mu turned to look at Chu Tingwu and whispered: "Then you''re still more amazing."

    Coach: Why would being a cat make someone more amazing?

    She didn''t understand, and Chu Tingwu wasn''t entirely clear either¡ªalthough she had been exposed to various sports, aside from parkour, she hadn''t closely observed the athletic states of other athletes.

    In her view, the parkour they experienced duringpetitions wasn''t even close to being extreme.

    She had never seen Arthur perform high-altitude parkour, leaping between skyscrapers.

    Let alone a world-ss athlete¡ª

    "Alpine snowboard speed descent" is also an extreme sport.

    To put it in an inexact analogy, it''s like asking Chu Tingwu to strap on a snowboard at the top of a cliff, where the slope is almost a perfect 90 degrees, and descend to the bottom at the fastest speed.

    During this process, the only cushion for humans is "snow."

    Based on Chu Tingwu''s meager experience of learning to ski for a few days, this is an extremely luck-dependent and technically demanding "game," with a high probability of mistakes.

    ¡­But which extreme sport doesn''t have a high chance of mistakes?

    The coach was feeling a bit restless, her mind wandering, so she chatted with Chu Tingwu and the others, mentioning "Louise":

    "It''s said that her sponsor asked her toe over to shoot a promotional video for snowboarding, and she happened to want to try the Kaxie Snow Mountain descent¡­ She''s filming during off-hours before the ski resort opens, but that means we can go watch."

    However, the actual descent is something you can''t witness; you can only watch the final edited video.

    Zhou Qiang poked Chu Tingwu and said slowly: "Are you going?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Do you have a slightly mistaken perception of my skills?"

    To teach her elderly students, she, as their teacher, is still working on the basics.

    As for extreme sports or alpine descents, what does that have to do with her¡­ Though she was indeed curious¡­ she could restrain herself, especially since there''s no sailing tonight¡­ Though she was indeed curious¡­ Maybe she''ll go check out Louise''s videos.

    Later ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????in the training session, the cats also got on the boards and yed a couple of rounds. Initially, Wu Zuan was hiding in Aunt Mei''s hat, butter burrowed into Sanwuwu''s long fur and little vest, trying to stay warm in the cozy fur.

    Otherwise, it''s freezing.

    Finally, Mu Mu''s mom found some time toe pick her up.

    Seeing her mom, Mu Mu''s eyes lit up, but she didn''t notice she was still wearing her skis and took a step forward, about to fall t on her face.

    Mu Mu''s mom quickly reached out to catch her, while Chu Tingwu, who was nearby, smoothly skied over and caught the little girl by the waist.

    "Thank you, Tingwu," the tired-looking woman said softly, "Thank you for taking care of Muxi these past few days."

    "You''re wee," Chu Tingwu replied, "Aunt Jian."

    The woman patted her daughter''s cheek, helped her take off the skis, and then smiled at Chu Tingwu: "For now, don''t answer your dad''s calls. It''s not your concern; just enjoy yourself."

    As the woman left, Zhou Qiang came over, ncing at Chu Tingwu.

    Chu Tingwu exined: "That''s my stepmother."

    The Mu Mu who always ys with them is actually Chu Tingwu''s half-sister, Shen Muxi.

    As she was being led away by her mom, Mu Mu kept turning back, waving goodbye to them.

    ¡ªChu Tingwu and Aunt Jian actually got along well.

    When living with her father, Aunt Jian was very polite to her, and that politeness as a stepmother was more than the concern from Shen Yue.

    Back then, Mu Mu hadn''t been born yet.

    Later, when Chu Tingwu was taken away by her great-grandmother, her sister was still an infant.

    But after spending these few days together, Chu Tingwu recognized them.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The system didn''t remind her.

    Chu Tingwu knew why. After bidding farewell to Aunt Jian, she felt a bit dazed:

    "It seems like I really don''t have any blood rtion with them anymore."

    After being bound to the system, her genes had changed. And after leveling up, the lv1 gic inheritance made her instinctively realize, upon seeing them, that although she and Mu Mu were still nominally sisters, the part of her genes from her parents hadpletely transformed.

    Losing that part of her genes didn''t make her feel lost¡­ maybe because she wasn''t entirely alone.

    Zhou Qiang yawned: "Let''s go back. Didn''t we agree to have an online quiz with Chu Xiao and the others tonight?"

    Even on vacation, you can''t ck off on studying, Chu Tingwu.

    Chu Tingwu: "The cats I know don''t have to go to school =,="

    Zhou Qiang, expressionless: "The cats I know already have PhDs."

    Don''t try to escape your studies!

    -

    Chu Tingwu tried to escape.

    Of course, she did finish the quiz her teammates gave her, then flopped onto her bed, once again showcasing her ability to fall asleep instantly.

    Zhou Qiang: "=_="

    It''s going to be hard for you to get a PhD like this!

    The future Dr. Chu didn''t care about that, because when she opened her eyes, she was already wearing her gear and standing on the shady side of Kaxie Snow Mountain, halfway up the slope.

    ¡­Probably because she was too busy with the exam, she didn''t get to watch Louise''s video.

    ¡­No tutorial, no problem!

    Chu Tingwu confidently controlled her snowboard and started descending¡ª

    And one minuteter, she sessfully plunged into a snowbank, her legs sticking up in a fish-like pose.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    Forget it.

    Back to studying.

 Chapter 101

    <h1>Chapter 101</h1>

    It doesn''t matter, since it''s all just a dream.

    Thinking this way, Chu Tingwu quickly got ready and pulled herself out of the snow, adjusting her posture before continuing downward.

    The advantage of a dream is that even if you make a mistake, you won''t get hurt or die.

    After Chu Tingwu''s somewhat clumsy first attempt at "speed" descent, the system outlined a path for her based on her original route, marked with faint glowing dots¡ª

    If Chu Tingwu touched these dots during her second descent, she would hear a "pop" sound, like a bubble bursting, apanied by a triumphant little tune.

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­¡­"

    She fell for the second time, rolled three and a half times, and glimpsed a rock just before realizing that in reality, she would have definitely been injured... Then the next second, she felt the scenery around her fade.

    Her figure shattered and disappeared, only to reappear at the position of the previous glowing dot.

    She had been refreshed.

    System: "QVQ"

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­¡­Well done!"

    She felt like she had be the protagonist of a snow party-themed DLC for *Super Mario*.

    After spending the entire night as the main character of a game, Chu Tingwu got out of bed, opened the door, and saw bright red streamers.

    Huh?

    They were bought by Zhou Qiang and Aunt Mei¡­ New Year was approaching.

    Although she had originally nned to spend the New Year in Chewan City, after encountering so much new knowledge rted to skiing and meeting familiar faces in this unfamiliar ce, even Chu Tingwu had forgotten about the New Year, thinking she had just arrived in a ce where it snowed every day.

    It started snowing again outside.

    She quickly descended the stairs in three steps, jumped onto Zhou Qiang''s back, and realized: "We didn''t buy couplets or window decorations."

    "Aunt Mei said that since this isn''t our own house, it''s better not to buy things that might affect the original decor," Zhou Qiang exined, as these decorations would only be up for a day but could leave stubborn adhesive marks on the windows and doors. They weren''t too concerned about such formalities. Zhou Qiang carried Chu Tingwu wrigglingly into the kitchen, "After breakfast, we still have to go to the city¡­ Get off me!"

    This person has been getting more and more livelytely¡­

    Shikuai also woke up, crawled out of his bed, and darted onto Aunt Mei''s shoulder, meowing for her to pick him up.

    Zhou Qiang & Chu Tingwu: "¡­¡­"

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    Zhou Qiang: "?" What, are you a cat now?

    After breakfast, they counted the items and finished the basic decorations, but they hadn''t bought the fireworks yet¡ªbecause Aunt Mei decided to leave the choice to the two kids.

    So they still had to go to the city in the afternoon.

    Aunt Mei: "There seems to be an event at the mall. Do you want to go and y?"

    Chu Tingwu and Zhou Qiang thought it sounded fine, but they decided to finish their tasks first.

    Then, Teacher Zhang took the hands of the two girls and started shopping at the mall¡ªalthough she couldn''t see and walked with difficulty, the kids around her were really reliable, so she didn''t have to worry about falling.

    Chu Tingwu, who had been dragged from the first floor to the fourth floor but only bought ice cream and yed a gacha machine: "¡­¡­"

    So it was you who wanted to shop.

    The mall in Chewan City was quite warm, and perhaps due to its famous tourism, they encountered many foreigners along the way, even helping them with somenguage issues.

    There were many entertainment options on the fourth floor, including an indoor ice rink. Chu Tingwu also noticed a VR experience shop next to the w machine store.

    The experience was for alpine skiing, and she and Zhou Qiang took turns ying twice. They soon realized that the game was quite simplistic,cking realism, and the sensation of high-speed descent wasn''t well done. Half of the game was on a fixed route¡ªn/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Even if the yer chooses the correct path, the game design secretly adjusts some details into mistakes, then guides the yer back to the original route¡­" Chu Tingwu mused, "Who is this game even for?"

    Zhou Qiang next to her: "?"

    Us?

    They left the machine, but there were still many people in line, as VR games aren''t something everyone owns, so having the chance to experience them is a treat.

    Chu Tingwu could point out the unreasonable design, while Zhou Qiang said, "I''m not good at sports. For someone like me, ying this kind of game probably just feels exciting and tense, without noticing these details."

    And in the game design process, such a design is to avoid the trouble caused by yers'' random operations, simplifying the game flow.

    As they chatted, Teacher Zhang listened with a smile¡ª

    If her eyes hadn''t been blind, she would have liked to try VR herself. The more she felt time slipping away, the more she wanted to experience new things.

    So today, Teacher Zhang''s ice cream was pumpkin vored with brown sugar.

    Chu Tingwu chatted idly with the system in her mind and thought of the legendary "holographic" technology: "Can holographic games really allow the blind to see again and let those who have lost their legs stand and move?"

    System: "Yes¡ªyou can think of holographic games as ''dream ssrooms.'' You''re basically ying a holographic single-yer game every day. Your physical condition doesn''t affect your in-game state because, like dreaming, it stimtes brainwaves and creates a realistic experience."

    But the system estimated and said, "Based on this''s technology level, even with my investment and support, it would take at least ten years to create a true holographic game."

    If the little one wants to y a "holographic single-yer game," it can build one in the dream. If she wants to y a holographic online game¡­ well, the system could upgrade and create dream resonance, pulling people in and erasing their memories when they wake up.

    Although thetter sounds like something an evil overlord would do, it just wants to find someone to y with the little one.

    Chu Tingwu waved her hand: "No thanks."

    She suspected it would take half the night just to exin to people that this wasn''t an infinite streaming dungeon.

    But while Chu Tingwu put the matter aside, the system didn''t forget.

    That night, the system had Chu Tingwu test a set of "clothes" in the dream ssroom.

    System: "Humans love experiencing new worlds and things without leaving their homes¡ªthey even watch 4D movies, despite alwaysining that the shaking chairs feel like someone is kicking their butt. But they still choose 4D for a better experience."

    The system noticed that since the cliff climbing adventure in Sang City, Chu Tingwu had been itching to take on new challenges. She just needed someone to give her a push and a reason to convince herself to continue pushing her limits.

    During this time with Teacher Zhang and the others, she seemed even more subdued¡­ and due to her skill development being unbnced, her body had be abnormal. In this unfamiliar city, she didn''t even go parkour anymore. Most of the time, she was practicing basic skiing and ying with the adults and children.

    This made the system a bit worried.

    A normally mischievous cat suddenly staying still all the time, with no signs of illness, really makes you wonder if it''s a mood issue.

    Chu Tingwu, who had been filling her days with activities¡ªself-practicing, learning snowboarding basics, often going out with Zhou Qiang to see the sights, y in the snow, try board games, and eat local food¡ªsaid, "Huh?"

    She descended from the mountaintop, constantly adjusting the angle of her snowboard, her gaze mostly on the steep snow slope below. The silver-white snowfield had only a few ck or dark brown decorations, with the forest farther away. Since the sky and earth were both white¡­ although it wasn''t as severe as snow blindness, Chu Tingwu still felt like the whole world was pure white, and the surroundings seemed to vibrate gently with her movements.

    The "clothes" the system had her wear seemed to have wearable devices at the joints of her limbs and on her palms and feet, with a wide-brimmed snow goggles-like device on her head.

    As Chu Tingwu experienced the equipment, the system continuously adjusted the data of these devices, striving to ensure that they did not interfere with her activity status.

    ¡ª After Chu Tingwu finished her training... or rather, her game in the dream, a manager from a wealthy individual arrived at the Yerman Neuroscience Laboratory in America.

    The head of theboratory, after hearing the other party''s request, became furious:

    "Sir, please inform your boss that we do indeed need research funding, but we are not handymen for billionaires to y house with. If he needs workers, he can find plenty in a factory¡ªnot give us blueprints and demand that we rush to produce the instruments he desires!"

    It was unclear how this mysterious billionaire had thought to task them with creating equipment... and even invested in theboratory for this purpose, but for a researcher, this was simply too...

    Hmm?

    Perhaps out of concern for their capabilities, the blueprints were apanied by exnations and some easily understandable principles.

    However, after a brief look, the head of theboratory''s expression changed. Soon, the discussion in the office grew heated, with everyone arguing passionately around the blueprints and the apanying exnations.

    The manager sipped his coffee, not at all surprised by their reaction. After all, his boss always brought him "surprises." Of course, being called to a neighboring state today also qualified as a shock.

    The manager spected that, although it seemed like thepany had a new business, it was likely... rted to the youngdy.

    All of thepany''s business revolved around that "youngdy."

    ...Such as acquiring Disnend.

    Thinking of this, the manager''s hand holding the coffee trembled slightly.

    He couldn''t help but feel that, in his lifetime, they might actually aplish this seemingly impossible task. Because the boss had created too many surprises, perhaps in the future, he could even write about negotiating the acquisition of Disnend in his autobiography.

    With that, he reminded the emotionally chargedboratory staff: "The boss hopes to have the wearable AR experience equipment and rted essoriespleted and ready for testing as soon as possible. The time he has given you is very tight. Once the contract is signed, if you fail to meet the deadline, you must consider the consequences."

    Although ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????the manager couldn''t understand the principles, he could certainly understand the effect diagrams. Moreover, the boss had provided a very clear effect video¡ªso clear that the manager suspected the boss might have a professional research team. But he had no idea, nor did he know about the funding¡ªperhaps this research team didn''t want to do simpler work, which was why they had passed the task to thisboratory.

    "A set of AR equipment and connection essories?" he thought. "If they can achieve that effect, BNN Television''s assessment of the social technological level will really have to change..."

    -

    Chu Tingwu was pounding rice cakes.

    Tomorrow was New Year''s Eve, and the guesthouse owner had specially brought some New Year''s gifts, along with some local specialties, including arge lump of rice cakes. They had also discovered a tool for pounding rice cakes in the guesthouse.

    So, Chu Tingwu opened a group video call to livestream the process of pounding rice cakes to Shao Lingwu and Chu Xiao, while Zhou Qiang assisted¡ª

    Zhou Qiang: "Don''t forget to tip."

    If Teacher Zhang were willing to go live, she would definitely receive tips and "red envelopes" from fans. But now, such a prominent streamer like Chu Tingwu was only livestreaming to two people in the group. It would be a bit much not to tip, right?

    Though it was a joke, Shao Lingwu sent a red envelope in the group.

    Then Shao Lingwu himself grabbed the biggest one, while Zhou Qiang got four dors and thirty-two cents.

    Zhou Qiang: "?"

    She threw the tool aside and sent another red envelope herself.

    Shao Lingwu once again grabbed the biggest one, and not only did he not lose, but he also made a profit.

    Zhou Qiang got four dors and thirty-three cents.

    Chu Tingwu couldn''t stand it anymore: "Should I send you one privately?"

    She carried the pounded rice cakes out, and as she turned her head, a ck cat jumped into the basin.

    Shikuai was excited, but Three-Five-Five, who was half-asleep, swatted him down with a paw.

    Chu Tingwu: "Uh..."

    There was no need to be so fierce; a shout would have been enough to scare him away.

    But before she could speak, she noticed that Three-Five-Five gracefully leaped into the basin used for pounding rice cakes, filling itpletely.

    Chu Tingwu: "=£¬="

    She gently tapped the cat with a hammer, starting to massage the mother cat.

    Finally, Shikuai squeezed in as well, resulting in a stacked cat situation where Shikuai was below, only exposing his head, with Three-Five-Five lying on top.

    Shikuai: "Meow meow meow!"

    Why could Three-Five-Five be hit with the hammer, and not him? He wanted it too!

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    Was this Whack-a-Mole?

    After calming the dissatisfied ck cat, Chu Xiao also joined the video call in the group chat.

    His hands were covered in flour, as he had been helping in the kitchen to make wontons.

    Meanwhile, Shao Lingwu was busy too¡ªhis family was ughtering a pig for the New Year, and he couldn''t help with anything, but to maintain a sense of participation, he stood at a distance, responsible for transmitting the pig''s screams to the ears of the others in the group.

    Chu Xiao: "¡­Muted it."

    Zhou Qiang: "Why do you still have the custom of ughtering pigs during the New Year¡­"

    Shao Lingwu covered one ear with his hand, but forgot to cover the microphone, making the sound even louder: "We have a lot of coal mines here, and the older generation has many customs. We need to bring good luck to those who work in the mines during the New Year¡ªah¡ªwhat are you talking about there? I can''t hear you!"

    Chu Xiao raised his hand and used signnguage to call him an idiot.

    Shao Lingwu: "Are you doing hand seals?"

    Zhou Qiang used signnguage to mock Chu Xiao.

    Chu Tingwu looked at Shao Lingwu: "Don''t mind them."

    They were both idiots.

    Unlike Chu Tingwu and Zhou Qiang, Shao Lingwu and Chu Xiao''s families celebrated the New Year with arge group of people¡ª

    Shao Lingwu''s family had fewer members, but they could hear from Chu Xiao''s side that more than one child hade up to him saying:

    "Xiao Xiao, Happy New Year!"

    But why didn''t these kids call him "Brother"?

    Chu Xiao: "Happy New Year, Little Uncle, Little Aunt, Third Aunt."

    Oh, so it was because your generation was too low.

    Chu Xiao: "=="

    He said that his family had lived in the mountains several decades ago, and his great-grandmother had married a husband, giving birth to his six grandmothers. These six "golden flowers" continued the tradition of marrying husbands, or rather¡­ their family had always maintained this custom of marrying husbands. Few girls married outside, andter, as free love became moremon, his sister followed her father''s surname, while he followed his mother''s.

    So, 80% of the people on the video call had the surname Chu.

    Chu Tingwu had never seen so many people with the surname Chu¡ªmost people in her vige had the surname Shen.

    Perhaps feeling a bit embarrassed, when he encountered a ten-year-old cousin who was a generation older than him, Chu Xiao took the initiative: "Six Aunt, how did you do on your final exams this year?"

    "Six Aunt" quickly disappeared, leaving arge empty space around her.

    A nearby old grandmother, whose hair was still ck but whose age was evident from the wrinkles,ughed heartily: "Xiao Xiao, go keep your great-grandmotherpany and y cards. They definitely won''t dare to disturb her."

    Chu Xiao: "Great-grandmother sent me back, saying it''s too boring to y with me, I always win. Grandma, should I put this dish in the fridge?"

    The old grandmother: "Just cover it there, I''ll use itter."

    Shao Lingwu was curious: "Is ''Grandma'' the same as ''Grandma'' in your dialect? It''s a bit unusual?"

    Chu Xiao spoke a mix of dialect and standard Mandarin, perhaps because the dialect of their small ce, after many years, hadn''t been passed down much among the younger generation.

    Chu Tingwu & Chu Xiao: "Yes."

    They exchanged a nce.

    Chu Xiao was still puzzled, while Chu Tingwu seemed to be deep in thought: "I also call my grandma ''Grandma.''"

    In their vige, only she called her that.

    From what Chu Tingwu could remember, her grandmother Chu Shuyi had always had her call her that.

    There was a moment of silence on the other end, and Chu Xiao hesitated for a while: "What''s the middle character of your grandma''s name?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Shu? As in ''virtuous'' Shu."

    Chu Xiao: "¡­¡­"

    Chu Xiao: "¡­¡­My great-grandmother is named Chu Shuzhen."

    Inrge families, one often can tell the generation by the name, because members of the same generation usually share a middle character that indicates their seniority. Chu Xiao, though following his mother''s surname, did not have his name given by a senior family member like other rtives. Instead, he was named with a single character. Most of the subsequent generations also abandoned the old tradition and adopted single-character names.

    Of course, there were exceptions, such as those with two-character names, like Chu Zihan, whose ten-year-old sixth aunt was named Chu Zihan.

    By convention, people with the same surname should be cousins, but due to the sheer number of family members, some followed their father''s surname while others their mother''s, leading to a more casual approach to addressing each other, often based on what felt most natural.

    Chu Xiao held his phone and pushed open the door to the card room.

    Shao Lingwu had also abandoned his "job" of watching the pig ughtering and had darted up to the rooftop terrace of his family''s vi, crouching down and holding his phone tightly.

    In the middle of the screen appeared an elderlydy with graying hair.

    She wore sses and was focused on watching the card game.

    Most of the people around her were of simr age, except for a younger aunt who was munching on chocte beans. Seeing Chu Xiao, she turned with a puzzled expression: "What''s wrong, baby?"

    Shao Lingwu: "Pfft."

    Chu Xiao: "Nothing... I just wanted to ask where the genealogy is?"

    The elderlydy spoke up: "The genealogy isn''t here; it''s in the ancestral hall back in the old vige. If you want to see it, ask your third great-aunt to drive you there. Oh, are these your little friends? Happy New Year!"

    Shao Lingwu and Zhou Qiang both greeted the elders through the screen, exchanging "Happy New Year" wishes, while Chu Tingwu slightly distanced herself, staring intently at the screen as if trying to discern something.

    Chu Xiao: "No genealogy is fine. Great-grandma, do you know someone named Chu Shuyi?"

    The elderlydy''s hand paused on the cards.

    The women apanying her at the card table, her eldest daughter, second daughter, and fourth daughter, were all of considerable age. The fourth daughter hadn''t yet reacted, but the eldest daughter, who was also Chu Xiao''s great-grandmother, let out a "Huh": "Which ''yi'', the one with the ''person'' radical?"

    "Yes," Chu Xiao wrote the name down, "She lives in Fallen Phoenix City, Shannan Province."

    The elderlydy slowly ced her cards down: "There are so many people surnamed Chu, and many with the same name in the world, but Fallen Phoenix City... I do indeed remember one. She would be about sixty-seven this year, turning sixty-eight after the New Year."

    Chu Tingwu: "Sixty-six."

    The elderlydy: "Hmm?"

    Chu Tingwu: "My great-grandmother passed awayst year."

    The elderlydy: "Oh... passed away..."

    She pursed her lips and then rxed them, her fingers pressing on the card table. She turned her head to stare at the screen, then adjusted her sses, unable to hold back: "Passed away... so early..."

    "Howe," she opened her mouth, saying, "howe she left so early again?"

    Decades ago, it was the same¡ªleaving without a nce back. Shannan Province, not far away at all, Fallen Phoenix City, yet the letters sent back never included her address, as if she was still sulking over the family''s disapproval of her distant marriage.

    The firecrackers outside hadn''t stopped, their loud popping making people irritable.

    The elderlydy couldn''t hold back her tears, though she turned her head away.

    Chu Tingwu leaned her head on Zhou Qiang''s shoulder.

    Three-Five-Five nestled in her arms, and even though Shikuai didn''t understand, he squeezed in too¡ªif Three-Five-Five had it, he wanted it too!

    Then the system controlled the seagull drone, pressing its cold head into the little one''s arm.

    The group sorted out their generations through the phone¡ª

    Chu Shuyi was the youngest sister of Chu Shuzhen''s generation and the only one of her siblings to survive to adulthood.

    ording to the family order, Chu Tingwu should call Chu Xiao''s mother "cousin," and correspondingly, Chu Xiao would have to address her as "cousin aunt." She wasn''t the youngest; after reordering the generations, she would be the "fourth cousin aunt."

    Chu Xiao: "..."

    Was it toote to find a time machine and rewind back downstairs?

    Going to the winter camp had unexpectedly gained him an elder; he hadn''t seen thating.

    Chu Tingwu had to call the elderlydy "great-grandmother."

    After she called out, the elderlydy seemed very pleased, giving Chu Xiao a push: "Send me your fourth aunt''s ount, I''ll send her a red envelope."

    In their tradition, the first time a child addressed someone, everyone had to give a big red envelope.

    She no longer yed cards, instead pulling Chu Xiao along, using him as a human phone stand, introducing Chu Tingwu to everyone through the screen: This is your great-aunt, second aunt, fourth aunt, and Chu Xiao''s grandmother is the third aunt, along with their husbands and children¡ªthough most of these cousins were old enough to be Chu Xiao''s parents. Of course, below the older siblings were younger brothers and sisters, and below them were nephews and nieces.

    Finally, Chu Tingwu was added to the family group, seeing the number in the group''s name: 116.

    Chu Tingwu: "=o="

    Just three days ago, she had felt theck of blood rtion with her half-sister MuMu... and now she had gained a whole new group of "rtives" with whom she shared no actual blood ties, yet they would now interact as kin.

    On the other side, the great-grandmother and a group of aunts, as well as older siblings, were still scolding her unreliable father through the screen, with Chu Tingwu having to mediate.

    As for Chu Xiao, his generation was too low for him to interject.

    Finally, the conclusion was reached: no contact with the father, and after the New Year, they would go to Fallen Phoenix City to offer incense and paper money for Chu Tingwu''s great-grandmother.

    The brothers and sisters had their own parents to inform, so understanding the situation was enough. After all, among the children of her generation, only Chu Tingwu shared the same surname with them, and she had been raised by her great-grandmother personally, feeling a closer psychological bond.

    After hanging up, the dialect-tinged voices seemed to linger in Chu Tingwu''s ears. Though she hadn''t grown up there, like Chu Xiao, she could understand most of it.

    Finally, the rtives agreed on a meeting time, and Chu Xiao finally escaped downstairs.

    In the group chat: "..."

    Chu Tingwu: "Nephew?"

    Chu Xiao: "My phone only has 50% battery left, I''m hanging up."

    No, no, no.

    Chu Tingwu decided not to tease her cheap nephew further: "We''re about the same age, and you''re even older than me¡ªlet''s just stick to our original generation."

    Chu Xiao nodded.

    Some "uncles and aunts" were still in elementary school and couldn''t participate, but the fourth aunt was already earning money!

    Chu Xiao: "?"

    Before Chu Xiao could speak, Chu Tingwu: "My phone has 90% battery left, we''ll hang up first."

    Heh.

 Chapter 102

    <h1>Chapter 102</h1>

    Chu Tingwu brought up the matter of Chu family at the dinner table.0

    Mr. Zhang did not ask about the Chu family''s specific situation, but first asked Chu Tingwu, "Are you happy?"0

    Chu Tingwu pursed her lips, "Actually, I am happy."0

    Although she did not know those people, out of arge group of more than a hundred people, she only recognized Chu Xiao. However, Chu Xiao''s great-grandmother and Chu Tingwu''s deceased grandmother looked very simr, after all, they were real sisters.0

    Even though Chu Tingwu knew that the person in front of her was not her grandmother, seeing her talking, smiling, her eyes sparkling with life, and her body healthy...it still made Chu Tingwu happy from the bottom of her heart.0

    Even if the other party did not know her, if she ran into this elderlydy on the street, she would probably stare at her for a long time¡ª0

    There was no need to strike up a conversation, just seeing her would make her happy.0

    And now, they were rtives with close blood ties. The other party seemed easy to get along with. Although they would not interact like close rtives in the future, Chu Tingwu was still pleased to have such a rtionship.0

    "Because this is the ''family'' you chose for yourself," the system said.0

    Humans can''t choose their family members when they are born, but their pet cats can. A pet cat can adopt her owner, and naturally, she can also adopt this olddy.0

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­¡­It¡¯s enough that I adopted Mr. Zhang."0

    Mr. Zhang: "?"0

    She sat to the side, listening to Chu Tingwu describe the family rtionships in her newrge family¡ªmost of it was told to her by Chu Xiao¡ªas well as different people''s reactions. Chu Tingwu''s phone kept ringing, many people were adding her as a friend, some "elders" were sending her red envelopes, sending messages, she had to respond to each one.0

    Zhou Qiang added to the side about the "Chu family" situation¡ªstill most of it was from Chu Xiao, in which 50% were Chu Xiao''s embarrassing stories from the winter camp and the family situation he casually mentioned.0

    After silently listening to everything, Mr. Zhang then said to Chu Tingwu, "This is great, so many people, they can¡¯t all be nice, but given your rtionship and distance, you can totally interact with only those you like."0

    For example, the aunts who actively showed kindness?*?, the great-great-grandma she liked, and Chu Xiao¡¯s family.0

    Chu Tingwu was not a person without care, someone easily fooled by a need for familial warmth, she could choose who to consider her "rtives".0

    -0

    While Chu Tingwu was chatting, in the Chu family, Chu Xiao was also ''arrested''.0

    He barely managed to send Chu Tingwu a few messages before being surrounded by a group of elders¡ª0

    In therge living room on the first floor, everyone sat in a format that resembled three tribunals, with the great-grandmother sitting in the middle, several of Chu Xiao''s older generations sitting on both sides, Chu Xiao''s mom could only stand to the side, and he himself was afforded a seat.0

    He: "¡­¡­"0

    He began with meeting Chu Tingwu and others at the winter camp, borately exining his impressions of Chu Tingwu, while at the same time took his phone out, searched for her personal Wikipedia and public ount, and showed it to everyone.0

    Third Uncle: "This nephew born to our little great-grandma is not reliable¡­¡­"0

    Chu Tingwu''s biological parents were somewhat famous online, with their own personal introductions. Chu Xiao''s third uncle, who worked inw, quickly found out, "He is currently involved in a divorcewsuit."0

    Chu Xiao was unaware of this. He listened curiously and found out:0

    Shen Yue, who was technically his uncle-inw, remarried to Ms. Jian, a designer, after his divorce. After having a child, Ms. Jian chose to be a housewife and stopped working...and then, around the end of the year, Shen Yue had an affair, causing Ms. Jian to want to divorce.0

    Shen Yue was clearly at fault, but because Ms. Jian didn¡¯t work, they got into a dispute over the custody rights of their daughter.0

    Upon hearing the term "daughter''s custody," Chu Xiao quietly calcted the rtion in his mind: it was another young cousin.0

    The Chu family had zero tolerance for infidelity, whether it wasmitted by a man or a woman. Even knowing that Shen Yue was closer by blood, they only felt disgust at this moment.0

    His great-grandmother said, "Tingwu seems to be living well, but with a father like that, who knows what she''s suffered through!"0

    She didn''t care about how much money or love the little girl had now, but was anxious about not having recognized her when she was young¡­ so that after the death of their young sister, Shuyi, they could have taken the child into their home.0

    Fortunately, the great-grandmother obtained the contact information of Teacher Zhang soon, instructed her son-inw and granddaughter (Chu Xiao¡¯s mother) to help, and decided to first discuss the child''s situation with them, bond with them, and thank Teacher Zhang and the others for their care and so on.0

    Finally, Chu Xiao was able to go and charge his phone.0

    This time, he ran all the way to the study on the fourth floor, flipping the sign on the outside of the study to [Do Not Disturb] before returning to the group chat again.0

    Photos of a feast by Shao Lingwu flooded the group chat.0

    Chu Xiao: "=="0

    After a while, Chu Tingwu said, "In our ce, there¡¯s a fireworks festival. It runs from the second to the fifth night of the Lunar New Year, but they¡¯re starting to test the fireworks now."0

    This newly joined cousin shared a bunch of photos in the group. Predictably, Chu Xiao soon saw a thumbs-up emoji from Shao Lingwu.0

    He was always supportive, even liking a picture of Zhou Qiang''s electric bike license te.0

    Chu Xiao: "@Chu Tingwu, when roughly will you all return to Fallen Phoenix City?"0

    Because the winter camp actually hadn''t ended yet, they were on a spring break, and theoretically, they had to go back for a week of intensive sses once the holiday was over.0

    So, Chu Xiao also knew Chu Tingwu''s original n: she had offered incense to her grandmother beforeing to Chuwan, and originally nned to go directly to Sang City after the holiday.0

    But after such an "incident," Chu Tingwu decided to take some time out.0

    Chu Tingwu: "Why don''t I go to Ji Province instead?"0

    Their great-great-grandmother was getting old, and although she seemed healthy, she thought it would be better for her to be considerate of the elderly.0

    Chu Xiao refused: "Our great-grandmother primarily wants to go to offer sacrifices to our little great-grandfather. Even if we go directly to the training camp, she will go to Fallen Phoenix City.¡±0

    - And this time, of course, he also had to go to Fallen Phoenix City to pay respect to the rtive he had never met since his birth.0

    Shao Lingwu: "So all three of you are going."0

    The three of them will meet in the Fallen Phoenix City, then head to Sang City... He felt like he was being left out!0

    Chu Tingwu: "Don''t worry, you can call me your aunt."0

    Shao Lingwu: "=="0

    Rather than being taken advantage of, he''d prefer to just be left out.0

    On top of that, Chu Tingwu had another task to perform... With the help of Chu Xiao, she had to understand everyone in the family photo. However, thanks to the system assist, she didn''t have to remember all these rtionships - if she actually couldn''t, these people would just turn into world NPC''s with their names and job descriptions disyed over their heads.0

    Chu Xiao used his camera to point at the family album and help Chu Tingwu identify everyone. However, after continuously hearing names like ¡°Chu Zihan¡±, ¡°Chu Zining¡±, ¡°Chu Ziyue¡±... Shao Lingwu questioned, "The previous generation of your family is the ''Zi'' generation?¡±0

    Chu Xiao: "...No, they just thought it would be interesting.¡±0

    Nowadays, it''s rare to give names ording to generations. Chu Xiao didn''t know which generation his elders belonged to. The names of his young uncles and aunts were simr, while his mother had a single-word name. As for Chu Tingwu...0

    "I think my generation should be ''Ting'', and my brother''s name is Ting Lan."0

    Shao Lingwuplimented, "He''s in, your name sounds much more beautiful."0

    Chu Tingwu: "Thank you, you¡¯re wee to visit me even if you don¡¯t call me your aunt."0

    Speaking of "aunt", her eyes were already filled withughter.0

    Shao Lingwu: "=="0

    Was he being taken advantage of or not?0

    Meanwhile Chu Xiao muttered thoughtfully: "''Wu'' is rarely used in names... Tingwu, we have this word in one of our boat songs."0

    The other three quietened down.0

    Chu Xiao: "?"0

    Shao Lingwu: "Aren''t you going to sing?"0

    Chu Xiao: "..."0

    He opened hisputer, searched for a while, fell silent, then looked at the phone screen, then back at theputer, finally resigning to his fate he began to sing:0

    "Tingwu, time to go home..."0

    It¡¯s called ¡®singing¡¯ but Chu Xiao''s singing voice was almost indistinguishable from speaking, you could barely detect a simple melody, but as his face showed, he was trying his hardest.0

    Even Shao Lingwu who was choking didn¡¯t have the heart to interrupt: He wanted to say, if you really feel embarrassed about this singing tone, just hum. He could help put the lyrics and the melody together.0

    Chu Tingwu: Are you okay, my great nephew?0

    No, by seniority, he should be the sixth nephew.0

    With the help of Chu Tingwu (as well as the system), they finally found the boat song - The Jizhou River Boat Song.0

    "Sun rises, goes to the four seas -"0

    "Sun sets, time to go home -"0

    "Day rises, day sets, hear the crow¡¯s sound -"0

    "Listen to the crow, time to go home!"0n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Even the sun follows us home..."0

    This melody, the younger generation like Chu Xiao, remembered it after hearing it once. Most of his peers probably wouldn''t have an impression. However, the older generation grew up with this melody.0

    So, had the deceased Mrs. Chu Shuyi ever heard this? Chu Xiao didn''t know.0

    Had his great-grandfather known about this song? He also didn''t know.0

    But a song passed down from who knows how long ago, someone has weaved its lyrics into the names of their descendants, and after so many years, this name appears in this house by the Jizhou River... It might have been passed on to the ears of the person she intended to inform.0

    Chu Xiao opened the window and could see the Jizhou River running silently in the darkness not far away. Someone was setting off fireworks by the river, illuminating both light and shadow on the riverbank. This area was no longer the backwardnd of old. Both banks were now lined with light walls, with boats shuttling across the water, andrge rednterns gently swaying on their bows.0

    It was like an easter egg in an electronic program, but it was not hidden behind specific prerequisites.0

    On an ordinary day, it just suddenly appeared.0

    ¡°The sun, follow me, let''s go home.¡±0

    -?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????0

    Chu Tingwu ended the video call and searched through the call history until she found a particr ount.0

    She startedposing a message to the person on the other end:0

    ¡°Aunt Jian, Happy New Year.¡±0

    ¡°I heard that you are currently going through a divorce case and want custody of Mu Xi. I can help.¡±0

    ¡°In return, can you help me with something?¡±0

    Jian Ling immediately called: ¡°Tingwu......¡±0

    She was indeed fighting for her child¡¯s custody rights. She still had some savings now but no steady ie. Several years had passed and most of the connections she had made when she was working were lost, with only a few friends supporting her.0

    She hadn¡¯t thought of asking Chu Tingwu for help. Chu Tingwu was still underage; how was it appropriate for a stepmother to ask her stepdaughter for help?0

    Chu Tingwu sent Jian Ling an electronic business card for aw firm. Thisw firm had an office in Jin City and Chu Tingwu had worked with them countless times, and they were top-notch in their field.0

    She said, ¡°I¡¯ll handle thewyer¡¯s fee. You just have to help me with one thing.¡±0

    Jian Ling asked hesitantly: ¡°What is it?¡±0

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°Transfer my custody to you as well. From now on, we¡¯ll be listed on the same household registration.¡±0

    Jian Ling: ¡°?¡±0

    ...That¡¯s right, legally speaking, Chu Tingwu was currently under her father¡¯s custody. But if her father got divorced again, she could be ¡®reallocated¡¯.0

    Jian Ling didn¡¯t think this meant Chu Tingwu liked her better. On the contrary, if this child¡¯s household registration moved to her, it would probably make things more convenient for her in the future. Their rtionship would change from that of a stepmother and stepdaughter to more of a coborative one.0

    For Jian Ling, there was nothing to lose.0

    ¡°Oh, by the way,¡± Chu Tingwu added, ¡°When dividing assets, it¡¯s better to ask for cash and liquid assets instead of shares of hispany.¡±0

    Jian Ling responded without needing Chu Tingwu''s reminder, ¡°After the divorce is finalized, I n on taking Mu Xi to a foreign country to continue her studies. The farther, the better.¡±0

    She was unsure if she could return to school after the divorce, but as long as she has money, she¡¯ll have the confidence to start anew.0

    After ending the call, the system quietly helped Chu Tingwu arrange everything and then curiously asked:0

    ¡°What about the Chu family?¡±0

    At the Chu''s, there was also a debate over the custody of Chu Tingwu. Even though she would be of age in two years, as long as she''s still registered under her birth father''s household, she would definitely be influenced by him. Considering Shen Yue''s demeanor, it''s highly probable that he would remarry.0

    If neither of the parents is reliable or provides actual care, rtives can contest for custody. The Chu''s are blood rtives within three generations, making them close kin.0

    However, before they could reach a decision, Chu Tingwu made her own.0

    She stated, "I don''t n on being in the same household registry with Aunt Jian in two years."0

    System: "Absolutely, one of our apps lists you as an adopted cat under her care."0

    Chu Tingwu: "There''s more, can you guess?"0

    System: "Hmm?"0

    Who else could it be?0

    Chu Tingwu: "Take a guess."0

    System: ?0

    It seems like it''ll have to download aplete archive of five hundred million historical riddles to delve deeply into deciphering this puzzle!0

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 103

    <h1>Chapter 103</h1>

    Because the next day was New Year''s Eve, everyone went to bed early.0

    Chu Tingwu still took the morning to meet Jian Ling at the hotel to discuss custody and thewsuit in person. When she returned, Aunt Mei stopped her:0

    "By the way, your friend with the codename ''System'', is there any way to send it a New Year''s gift? After all, it has been so caring to you."0

    Actually, it was yesterday when Teacher Zhang and Grandma Shuzhen were discussing it. The two elderly people, with the help of the younger folks (who were already in their forties or fifties) tranting, tried to figure out who this "System" really was¡ªbecause from Chu Tingwu''s industry to her daily life, even her live-streaming method, it seemed inseparable from this System, yet no one had ever seen it.0

    Judging from the codename, it might enjoy reading novels and even had a bit of a "middle schooler" vibe.0

    If only they could meet in person to express their gratitude.0

    Chu Tingwu, on behalf of System, thanked them and then said, "It can''te, because its health is not good."0

    Aunt Mei sighed with emotion, assuming "System" had some condition like ultraviolet sensitivity that made it impossible to go out.0

    But Chu Tingwu wasn''t lying: its health was indeed poor, because it didn''t have a body at all.0

    System didn''t think it needed a body either. Current social technology couldn''t create a lifelike humanoid body, and in its mechanical eyes, humans had too many redundant organs and faces that didn''t align with its aesthetics... If it needed anything, it could just control animal-shaped bionic machines to help the young one.0

    Birds could fly, useful.0

    Cats... cats were cats, very useful!1

    Chu Tingwu: "=v="1

    On New Year''s Eve night, the guesthouse vi became even more lively, as neighbors kepting to the door, bringing dishes.0

    It wasn''t clear if this was a local custom in Che Bay or something else, but after delivering the food, they would eagerly wait for Chu Tingwu and the others to reciprocate¡ª0

    ¡°We haven''t started yet, oh, this, this is for the cat... really don''t mind it? Alright then.¡±0

    The only one minding was Ten Bucks, howling loudly.0

    Chu Tingwu: "You can''t finish it anyway."0

    Originally, she had nned to make extra cat food and store it in the fridge.0

    It seemed that in Che Bay, delivering food on New Year''s Eve was akin to sending blessings. However, since these were strangers they hadn''t known for long, Chu Tingwu took an extra sniff:0

    "No poison."0

    Zhou Qiang: "=="0n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    So, besides freshness, could she also detect poison just by smelling?0

    Perhaps her expression of distrust was too obvious, so Chu Tingwu grabbed the three-five-five, letting the cat smell it again, confirming: "Really no poison."0

    Three Five Five: "Meow?"0

    As the dinner hour approached, the neighbors had alle by once. After everyone indulged in the feast, they turned on the local TV station¡ªording to Che Bay''s tradition, there would be a small skiing performance directly broadcasted by the local TV station on New Year''s Eve.0

    Everyone crowded on the sofa, each with a small animal assigned.0

    Chu Tingwu was biased, letting Sanwu rest on Zhou Qiang''sp, with its bottom and tail on her ownp, while she held the seagull bionic machine controlled by the System.0

    The program''s background was chaotic, the night brightly illuminated by the lights, with people asionally sliding by, crashing into side signs, or rolling into the snow. The host quickly finished the lines and handed the camera over to the drone.0

    Chu Tingwu noticed that the drone glimpsed in the main camera was actually a model produced by herpany, which had already spread to this small town.0

    Perhaps little Cao Mengmeng from the neighbor''s house would soon discover: why are UFOs everywhere, have aliens already taken over the?0

    With a whistle, the drone began to follow the skiingpetition members downward.0

    Watching, the few people in front of the TV couldn''t help but focus more attention on it, even feeling that the sound of fireworks outside had diminished¡ª0

    The charm of sports seemed to be that when you watched it, even if you knew the sport was very difficult, you couldn''t help but feel yearning due to the athletes'' performance.0

    Chu Tingwu checked and found that the "Che Bay New Year''s Race" was actually an amateurpetition, requiring only pre-registration, after which thepetition day would be randomly assigned. Without the pressure of apetition, it was essentially a y disguised as a race.0

    Until a contestant appeared, the background sound brought moremotion.0

    Perhaps because the entertainment nature was too strong, sometimes thispetition would feature amateur skiers like grandfathers and grandmothers alongside world-ss professional athletes¡ªthetter only if they happened to be in Che Bay.0

    For example, Louise Rain is now appearing in the frame.0

    Louise smiled and waved at the camera, and Chu Tingwu noticed that not only was she very pale due to her ethnicity, but even her pupils were somewhat pale, and after pulling down her mask, her lips were slightly purple.0

    Zhou Qiang nced down at her phone: "Louise Rain, she''s had four surgeries for her heart condition."0

    In the shot, Louise had already put on all her equipment, looking no different from the other contestants, just more professional. The camera zoomed in, magnifying her expression, showing her focused gaze on the snowfield lit up by the lights, her eyes and brows carrying a hint of a smile.0

    She soon "flew" up.0

    Skiing was a sport that used human strength to control speed, where humans merely relied on the snow''s cushioning to gain a sense of stimtion through the simplest means.0

    So Chu Tingwu also liked skiing¡ªbecause every time she stood on the ski slope, she could feel her experience points of controlling her body increasing by +1+1, and this feeling of seeing small progress was very easy to get addicted to.0

    So she didn''t deny that she loved it because she was good at it.0

    But even if you knew nothing, had nevere into contact with it, and even if you had no reason, you could still love it.0

    Loving an unfamiliar sport, understanding and engaging with it, wouldn''t make you seem ridiculous, only bring you joy¡ªChu Tingwu pulled her attention away from thepetition and saw the feedback from the others in the group chat¡ªbecause of their rmendation, Chu Xiao and Shao Lingwu had also found the broadcast of this smallpetition in a corner of the website.0

    Neither had any skiing experience, but from their words, it was clear they wanted to try it too.0

    Chu Tingwu poked Zhou Qiang: "If you register now, you should be able topete within three days."0

    Zhou Qiang: "..."0

    Zhou Qiang pushed her approaching face away: "I''ll think about it."0

    It would be a bit embarrassing to fall in front of the TV camera, butpeting with people of simr skill levels made her a bit tempted.0

    Louise won the smallpetition of the night.0

    No one was surprised, but the second ce, who was far behind, still regretfully clenched her fist.0

    Until the midnight bell rang, signaling the end of New Year''s Eve and the beginning of the new year, everyone exchanged New Year''s blessings and went back to their rooms.0

    Chu Tingwu stood by the window, seeing the snow still falling heavily, quickly covering the roads.0

    By tomorrow, these snows would be cleared away, the snowplow driving through, rolling up the thick nket of snow, piling it up like a white rice cake roll at the door¡ªshe watched for a while, then rested her chin on her outstretched arm, and after this New Year, nominally, she would be seventeen years old.0

    Chu Tingwu: "Strange..."0

    System: "?"0

    Chu Tingwu: "Am I really seventeen years old?"0

    Just one day had passed, even though it was such a meaningful day as New Year''s, she was seventeen, had she changed? Why didn''t she feel any different from other days? She received many gifts and blessings, everyone stayed up together, and she got more red envelopes thanst year, but feeling that she was about to be an "adult," it still felt a bit strange.0

    System also found it strange: "Don''t mind it, human age is only significant in the different legal responsibilities one bears at different ages. If you don''t break thew, age doesn''t seem important."0

    Wasn''t the young one always just three months old?1

    Chu Tingwu was speechless: "Forget it... take me to the Dream ssroom today."0

    System: "Oh!"0

    Do you want to spend the New Year''s Eve with the little one?0

    Chu Tingwu: "I''ll review my courses again, do two more sets of exercises, and you can exin the questions to me."0

    System: "Ah? ... Ah."0

    Why would you review on New Year''s Eve!0

    -0

    Perhaps after watching many parenting courses, worried that the little one might study too hard and go crazy, the system, after much deliberation, decided to push the staff''s deadlines forward frantically, forcing the employees, who were on the verge of cursing, to the extreme. Finally, a whole set of equipment was airlifted to Chu Tingwu.0

    The system eagerly said: "Go y... no, go test thepany''s product!"0

    Although this thing might, like the unmanned flying ball, only go into mass production after Chu Tingwu has used it for a long time.0

    Chu Tingwu: You are really a stumbling block on my path to learning.0

    Where are there parents who are so eager for their child to y rather than study.0

    She had used this set of equipment many times in her dreams, but Zhou Qiang and others were seeing it for the first time and were curious: "Did you buy new knee pads?"0

    Why is there also a pair of sses, and they feel thicker than before.0

    Chu Tingwu: "Not exactly bought..."0

    Zhou Qiang: "Oh, is it yourpany''s product?"0

    Not long ago, wasn''t the system working on a knee pad brand? It had alreadypleted the preliminary work for starting apany, and now the "Wu" brand was quite famous but had no products¡ªmany of Chu Tingwu''s fans had poked her, saying they could pre-order her products to support her, as long as the price wasn''t too outrageous, just like donating money to a cat.0

    But the product page hadn''t even gone online, and the official website had already been set up, looking very shy.0

    Chu Tingwu: "Sort of?"0

    But as knee pads, they are a bit too expensive.0

    And when Chu Tingwu started putting them on, seeing the slightlyplicated method of wearing them, even Zhou Qiang''s expression became a bit strange.0

    Chu Tingwu finally put on the sses, shook her head left and right a few times to make sure they were fixed well, and then did a little warm-up to confirm that the equipment wouldn''t affect her performance.0

    Then she frowned slightly.0

    Both Zhou Qiang and the system were concerned: "What''s wrong?"0

    Chu Tingwu: "I''m wearing too many clothes."0

    She went to change into a slightly thinner jacket.0

    Although she didn''t have fur, Chu Tingwu was actually quite resistant to the cold. Then, she took the seagull drone outdoors and started a live broadcast.0

    On New Year''s Day, many people were still on their way to visit rtives. After watching Chu Tingwu''s live broadcast, some fans who had already reached their destinations entered the chat room, first wishing the host a happy new year, and then noticing the host''s stylish new sses:0

    [Chu Mi, is this a custom snow goggles? They look pretty cool.]0

    Looking for a link.0

    Some fans also noticed that Chu Tingwu was wearing a bit too little, standing in the snow, and it really looked cold just watching her, prompting her to change into thicker clothes.0

    Chu ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Tingwu was waiting for the signal and replied: "It''s fine... By the way, today''s live broadcast is in double-camera mode."0

    [Oh, did you bring two drones?]0

    The screen was divided into two parts, and although fans were initially a bit unustomed, they soon realized that the other part was the UP''s first-person perspective, understanding: there''s a camera on those snow goggles.0

    In fact, it wasn''t just that.0

    At this moment, in the distant America, most of theboratory staff hadn''t slept yet.0

    After initiallypleting the concept in the system''s blueprint, they themselves wanted to try it out, but before they could test it a few times, a new task was issued, and the prototype product was shipped away directly.0

    Researchers: Why not take me along!0

    The new product had many modifications, and there were prototype machines in reality, which weremon in AR experience halls, but until the equipment waspletely transformed, everyone still couldn''t help but feel a bit dazed¡ª0

    They seemed to see social changes happening right here, right now, yet afterpletion, the surrounding air remained calm.0

    Perhaps every invention that affects the whole society is born on a calm day.0

    The head of the project, Andis, was particrly eager to know the effect and had applied several times. Finally, the higher-ups reluctantly agreed to leave one of the modified machines for them.0

    On this day, Andis received the notice and finally sat in the chair. In the darkness, at a certain moment, he felt his limbs no longer belonged to him, but the next second, the world lit up.0

    He didn''t move, but found himself "walking."0

    Yes, slowly walking in a city with snow falling¡ªthe ground''s snow had just been cleared, on the left, a big tortoiseshell cat with a fluffy tail was hopping over the wall, and on the right, a crow was flying up and down, asionally diving into the snow, then picking up some trash from the snow, carrying a small metal piece, andnding on "his" shoulder.0

    Andis heard: "Give it to San Wu Wu, she likes it, don''t give it to me."0

    The cat next to him let out a furious meow and swung a cat punch.0

    Andis: "..."0

    Wait, wait.0

    Thisnguage, he did learn some Chinese, but only a few simple everyday words, and this sentence was half-understood.0

    Tell him what it means!0

    Meanwhile, Chu Tingwu''s fans noticed that two bulletments had been pinned at the top of the screen.0

    [? Is this the new special effect of the website? Why do these bulletments have gold borders and are pinned?]0

    ¡°Oh,¡± Chu Tingwu said, ¡°these are the viewers using the VR experience warehouse, also considered as internal testers.¡±0

    Besides Andis, the other one was actually You Zhenzhen.0

    You Zhenzhen had been in charge of the APP for so long that she was already an old hand at making peripheral cultural products. Since knee pads and other equipment couldn''t find a suitable person in charge, and the system wanted to set up thepany in the country, You Zhenzhen was still asked to temporarily take over.0

    There was also a VR experience warehouse for You Zhenzhen, but theoretically, she should be giving feedback. However, the "bulletments" she sent were all meaningless "ah ah" sounds.0

    I rely on it, I rely on it, I rely on it, I rely on it!0

    Not only were they meaningless, but they also looked like they could easily get the live streaming room banned.0

    Chu Tingwu: "=="0

    Seeing the fans'' curiosity, she had to exin what this new VR experience was. After hearing the exnation, more question marks floated in the bulletments.0

    [Isn''t this just a full-scale game where you can''t control the main character!]0

    [No, no, not being able to control the character doesn''t count as a game, and not being able to restore smell, taste, and touch, with only about 80% of vision and hearing restored, what kind of full-scale... forget it, I can''t make it up anymore, let me y, let me y!]0

    [I''ve been fighting for the live broadcast room, following you for eighteen years, watching you grow up since I was little, Master Chu, send me a VR experience warehouse, I can also buy it!]0

    In fact, even ssmates and friends who happened to open Chu Tingwu''s live broadcast room wanted to ask: Could they experience it, just to feel what it¡¯s like, please!0

    The current VR technology was already very advanced, otherwise, the system couldn''t have gotten this set of equipment so quickly. But those VR technologies also had their own shorings: the map that could "freely" move around was definitely small, and the map that wasrge definitely had limited freedom. There was no sense of participation, and VR online games that could guarantee both the map and freedom definitely didn''t have enough authenticity¡ªto achieve all three requirements at the same time, the production cost would definitely be extremely high, and there was no result yet.0

    So, if Chu Tingwu''s VR experience really could¡ª0

    Run in any map, feel the touch of the wind on the face and the sensation of movement, almost perfectly restoring all the scenery. Except for not being able to control the main character, that is, Chu Tingwu herself, everything else was almost exactly the same as the Blue Star online. Then this... the UP master had quietly given them another big news!0

    Chu Tingwu hadn''t exined yet, and You Zhenzhen had already helped send a bulletment, and Andis also sent some English mixed with a few simple Chinese words.0

    You Zhenzhen said:0

    ¡¾¡°Yes, it feels very real, almost like I''m experiencing it through Chu Tingwu''s perspective. And I can see the livements, like they''re projected on a system screen within the VR, adding an AR element¡ªit feels just like ying a game!¡±¡¿0

    ¡¾¡°The sense of movement is also very strong. I just asked the staff, and they said I didn''t move at all, my muscles were mostly rxed, but I still felt like I was walking around. It''s like there''s an extrayer, but it''s just right!¡±¡¿0

    ¡¾¡°I haven''t been to Chewan before, so there might be some color differences, but they''re not noticeable. The only downside is that I wanted to pet Sanwuu¡ªoh, I didn''t get the feel of actually petting a cat, it was more like petting something soft through a glove.¡±¡¿0

    This was feedback for Chu Tingwu. When she mentioned wanting to pet Sanwuu, Chu Tingwu went ahead and did it.0

    Sanwuu looked a bit puzzled but seeing the little one reaching out, it justy down on the spot.0

    [Damn...]0

    [Jealousy is burning...]0

    [It''s just Chewan City, huh? I''ll buy a ticket right now. I can go see the snow and ski too, wuuu... But I really want to try the VR experience! When is this thing going on sale?]0

    [UP, can you please hype this more? I''m sold, but where''s the product? Where is it?]0

    The product is still in testing.0

    As one of thements mentioned, traveling is something anyone can do if they save up, but traveling from home with UP leading you through a "VR cloud tour" is apletely different experience.0

    In VR, not only can you see the scenery, but you can also interact with the audience in real-time, creating a lively sense of togetherness. Plus, you avoid all the negative aspects of traveling, like getting motion sickness and lying in the hotel all day, being too cold to go outside, being too socially anxious to interact with locals, or even getting scammed.0

    Moreover, this UP is a¡ª0

    A passionate extreme sports enthusiast and parkour athlete.0

    Chu Tingwu leaped into the air, and ordinary viewers could see through the dual cameras how shended in a snowbank on a one-meter-high tform with a feline leap.0

    The picture was clear, the sound was well-captured, and the camera didn''t shake. But...0

    ¡¾¡°Ah!¡±¡¿0

    ¡¾¡°Ohhhhh¡±¡¿0

    Wait, why are there foreigners here?! I¡¯ve been holding back from calling out this guy speaking English for a while now!0

    Andis didn''t care about thements. With so many words flying across the screen, he nced at them and then ignored them, fully immersing himself in the pure and rxed experience of the new VR device.0

    He knew the main character was a girl, and "she" had started doing parkour.0

    In this snow-covered city.0

    Andis had never experienced parkour before. In his student days, he was a member of the football team, and he regrly worked out, but parkour was still an unfamiliar sport¡ª0

    You couldn''t understand the appeal of jumping between different tforms, railings, or even rolling on the ground to quickly move from point A to point B... let alone how the sport had evolved to focus more on technical moves rather than just speed when people filmed videos.0

    But now, sitting in the experience pod, Andis couldn''t stop eximing, "Wow!"0

    He could feel his own "nervousness," even though he wasn''t the one participating; he was just an observer with the same sensations as the participant.0

    All the images in front of him were flying by, and he experienced the same sensations.0

    His feet sinking into the snow, the "crunch" sound, the footprints left in the snow, the height constantly increasing, the wind blowing through his hair¡ª0

    It felt like flying.0

    Parkour was like flying on t ground, Andis suddenly realized.0

    Some people used tools to gain wings and fly, while others used their own physical strength to experience the feeling of "flying"... And this girl, the one controlling the device and showing him the thrill of parkour, seemed to want it all!0

    Andis heard herughter. She suddenly stopped and turned around.0

    "They" were now standing on the top of the clock tower in the center of Chewan City. Turning their head, they could see the trail of footprints and handprints in the snow below, and above them, a drone like a bird of prey swooped down, as if transmitting the scene to another group of "viewers."0

    In this quiet moment, it seemed like an invisible person had stepped by step, using parkour, reached this height.0

    Andis''s heart was racing.0

    They could only see the footprints, the girl''s first-person perspective, and the process. But he, under her guidance, could truly experience the joy of this sport and perform movements he could never do in reality.0

    And all of this was thanks to the VR experience pod. On this peaceful afternoon, the times were truly changing. He was at the center of the vortex, but he eagerly awaited the changes toe.0

    What a blessing.0

    To live in this era.0

    How fortunate.

 Chapter 104

    <h1>Chapter 104</h1>

    [Too high, Mimi, don''t look down, this angle is a bit scary!]0

    [The wind is so strong, it''s all white, and it feels like the wind is already hitting my face!]0

    [The feeling of overlooking the city is really great, but it''s a bit cold.]0

    You Zhenzhen: "¡­The VR equipment actually doesn''t provide temperature perception functionality."0

    Without a VR experience pod, the fans somehow started making up their own scenarios: imagining that they, along with You Zhenzhen, were also helping with testing, but relying on Chu Tingwu''s first-person perspective videos and a bit of creative storytelling.0

    After being called out by You Zhenzhen, the fans were furious:0

    [Then hurry up and put it on sale! How do you know I can''t afford it if you don''t put it up for sale?]0

    This was actually the thought of most fans. They realized that the equipment Chu Tingwu wore had to be used in conjunction with the VR experience pod to achieve the full effect¡ªif it wasn''t to convey this kind of realistic and free VR experience to the audience, she wouldn''t need to wear suchplex equipment and would be morefortable instead.0

    Although there were only two people in the "internal testing" phase now, it would eventually be poprized, right?0

    ¡­Right?0

    What if there''s ack of funding? Could they open pre-orders to find investors? They could even directly donate in the live stream! As long as they could get a front-row ranking during the internal testing phase!0

    The fans were worried and started giving Chu Tingwu random advice, such aspany financing, going public with shares, and how with this patent, she could definitely attract a lot of money, so mass production was a must¡­ and the price should be lowered too.0

    Chu Tingwu: "=="0

    Did ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????no one think she might be a scammer? Was this just a New Year''s joke?0

    Even those who doubted her were eventually swayed by the end of their long rants: "Unless you send it over for me to experience it."0

    Chu Tingwu: Nice try, but no.0

    She did want to share the world she saw with her fans¡ªif she didn''t have a bit of a sharing spirit, why would she have signed up for live streaming?¡ªbut clearly, this equipment couldn''t be mass-produced yet.0

    Chu Tingwu didn''t make any promises to her fans and, after saying goodbye, closed the live stream.0

    She had the system send a few sets of VR equipment to the guesthouse in Chewan, so she could try out the perspective that You Zhenzhen had seen.0

    However, while the equipment was still on the ne, the news had already hit the front page.0

    This time, the public''s attitude wasn''t entirely one of anticipation; many were pessimistic, and the poprity was higher than any previous trending topic rted to Chu Tingwu¡ª0

    Because a live streamer, some cats, somepetitions, and promotions were all far from the lives of most people.0

    But a "fully immersive VR live stream" had the potential to change the entire live streaming industry, and even the main form of entertainment for society.0

    The biggest point of controversy in the discussion was that Chu Tingwu''s two-hour live stream had only allowed two people to experience the VR effect, and both were "insiders," with no real bystandersing forward toment. So, this was either a joke or the effect wasn''t as she described.0

    The fans were confused:0

    Did Chu Tingwu say anything? She didn''t seem to mention mass production, technological innovation, or even a partnership with Fenghua Network, did she?0

    The rumor spread wider and wider, bing more and more absurd, even turning into: "Chu Tingwu is actually the granddaughter of the chairman of Fenghua Network, and the VR live streaming equipment is Fenghua Network''s big move. This was just the youngdy identally leaking the news, and everything depends on the official announcement."0

    Fenghua Network''s official response: Thank you, but they didn''t know anything either.0

    This naturally rmed the higher-ups at Fenghua Network. After watching Chu Tingwu''s live stream video, they urgently contacted her to ask for details and then cautiously issued a rification announcement, but the tone was very polite.0

    Chu Tingwu handed over themunication work to the system and told You Zhenzhen not to rush to prove anything, because she also needed to personally experience the "VR live stream" effect before making her own judgment.0

    So¡­0

    Aunt Mei: "Should I do it?"0

    There were four people, two cats, one crow, and one seagull machine in the house, and there were no live streaming devices developed for animals yet, so it was decided by a game of rock-paper-scissors among the humans.0

    Aunt Mei had originally nned to let Zhou Qiang go, but Zhou Qiang didn''t think there would be anything "interesting" about going out, so it was better to just be an audience.0

    Chu Tingwu had always been the protagonist of the videos, but this was the first time she was seriously trying to be an audience¡ªto let the child fully experience the "perspective" of an audience, Aunt Mei even registered a new ount on Fenghua Network, with the ID being her own full name: Mei Songyan.0

    This zero-follower, zero-following ount quietly went live.0

    Whether it was the general public following the "VR live stream" technology or the Chu Tingwu fans eagerly waiting, no one realized that there was actually a live stream they were looking forward to, just with rather ordinary content.0

    In the live stream room with only a few familiar faces, only a small ount identally wandered in.0

    [What''s this? Driving?]0

    The small ount''s view was indeed "driving," and it was first-person perspective.0

    This time, unlike Chu Tingwu''s live stream, there was no aerial view provided by the system.0

    Aunt Mei stepped on the gas and said first: "The bulletments are pretty clear¡­ I''m going to drive to the factory to buy some fireworks, and then I''ll buy some snacks for you all. What do you want to eat?"0

    Most first-person perspective live streams weren''t very stable, as people naturally couldn''t stay still for long, but the camera was very stable and clear, giving the feeling that "this isn''t a live stream, is it?"0

    Could it be that someone had a camera growing out of their head?0

    The small ount realized this might be a friend live streaming for friends, and since they were an idental visitor, they could just leave.0

    But a bullet screen shed on the screen, and the small ount paused their exit.0

    [This new effect looks familiar¡­ Why haven''t I found it on the website? Do I need to pay for it?]0

    This barrage with a golden border and pinned effect¡­ it seemed to only appear in the videos of that cat-raising sports creator? And it just happened to be the video on the homepage of the website now; it would be strange if you hadn''t seen it.0

    Even though only half a day had passed, the "VR mystery" had already be a hot topic for many people, even overshadowing the news of a certain top celebrity couple getting married.0

    Only fans care about whether you''re getting married; more people just care about whether they can y with VR live streaming.0

    No matter what others said, the small ount hoped it was real.0

    With a mysterious feeling, the user didn''t leave the live stream.0

    Not only did they not leave, but they also shared the link with their roommates, saying: "Take a look, is this outside Chewan City?"0

    Although the license tes were blurred, the shop names weren''t, and the voices of people talking and calling out couldn''t be blurred either¡­ wait, this really seems to be Chewan! You can search for the shop names and find them!0

    -0

    The system had asked Chu Tingwu if she wanted to lock the room to prevent unfamiliar viewers from finding it, but Chu Tingwu refused.0

    At first, she just wanted to "share," but clearly, a brand-new live streaming method would bring many new issues, which was the real part that needed "testing." So, after discussing with Aunt Mei, everyone decided not to block it; if a passerby came in, they came in, and if not, it didn''t matter.0

    Teacher Zhang tried the VR experience pod and found that she still couldn''t see, but she could still feel the touch and hearing. After leaving the pod, she wondered: "Aunt Mei, why are you walking so fast?"0

    It was very ufortable.0

    Aunt Mei: Of course, because I don''t have to follow you around.0

    Aunt Mei was actually a very straightforward person, but Teacher Zhang''s eyesight wasn''t good, so whenever she was with Teacher Zhang, she had to match her pace.0

    Aunt Mei: "Should I slow down a bit?"0

    Teacher Zhang clicked her tongue: "What''s the point of using VR then?"0

    She didn''t quite get used to it, but she rather enjoyed it¡ªeven without seeing, just listening and feeling allowed her to experience things she hadn''t felt in years.0

    However, after leaving the experience pod, she still had to walk slowly.0

    This kind of wonderful feeling Zhou Qiang also experienced. The first thing she realized was: Wait, can I drive now?0

    She couldn''t, even if theoretically she could, being underage meant she had never sat in the driver''s seat before.0

    Besides driving, there was shopping, haggling, chatting, and making small talk, even petting the shopkeeper''s cat before getting into the car. On the way back, as the car started, Zhou Qiang noticed Aunt Mei brushing the snow outside the window, looking at the traffic not far away, and then this little car joined the flow.0

    Zhou Qiang: "There''s a dog sitting in the passenger seat of the car next to us?"0

    Yes, the dog''s head was pressed against the window, curiously looking at the people on the opposite side.0

    Besides the dog, she also noticed many details she usually wouldn''t pay attention to, like the snow piled up in front of the shop shaped like a duck, and the decorativenterns in the flower bed, some red and some pink¡ª0

    Strictly speaking, these weren''t things she noticed herself, but Aunt Mei noticed them first, shifting her gaze: the camera could convey certain things. Even if Aunt Mei didn''t speak or chat, anyone following her perspective could understand what the UP wanted to express.0

    Chu Tingwu pondered: "The immersion of VR is really strong... But, can the UP influence the audience, and can the audience also influence the UP?"0

    Some UPs don''t watch the live chat or can''t see it in time, but many like to interact with the chat and will asionally fulfill requests from big fans. Given the current cost of VR experience pods, those who can afford them probably aren''t short of money. If a big fan makes arge donation and then asks the UP to do something a bit excessive... how should that be handled?0

    Chu Tingwu told Aunt Mei, deciding to simte this situation first:0

    She donated five yuan and then said: "Please buy me a vani ice cream on the way back."0

    Aunt Mei: "You''ve already eaten today, be careful of a stomachache."0

    Chu Tingwu: "I''ve eaten, but the cat hasn''t. It''s for the cat, not for me."0

    Zhou Qiang, who was listening in: "?"0

    Zhou Qiang: "Hmm, I''m the cat."0

    Aunt Mei: Don''t randomly go along with such things!0

    She firmly refused: "Five yuan? Are you trying to send me away with peanuts?"0

    Chu Tingwu: "The tform takes too muchmission from new streamers."0

    And they were just simting, simting! Pretend she gave fifty thousand yuan or whatever.0

    Chu Tingwu and the others enthusiastically simted and bickered in the chat, while the system helped adjust the data, like changing the disy effect of donation rules on the VR screen, canceling the notification sound, etc.¡ªThis wasn''t very friendly for UPs who needed to thank donors, but the system said:0

    "Isn''t this all made for you?"0

    If Chu Tingwu wasn''t satisfied, it wouldn''t exist, so there was no need to change her needs for others! Just do whatever makes you happy!0

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­ Makes sense."0

    They weren''t too cautious in their discussions and negotiations, and the number of viewers in the live stream increased from the original two to over seventy, but none of these seventy-plus viewers posted a chat message, as if there was some unspoken agreement.0

    Later, when the live stream ended, the viewers dispersed, and Aunt Mei casually logged out of her ount.0

    The live stream recording disappeared with the ount logout, but some people still kept parts of the recording... including the user who had identally joined at the beginning.0

    They formed a small group, suspicious yet unwilling to believe: It was almost certain that the speaker was "Ah Chu," and there was no need to put on such a full act... Could it be that the era of VR live streaming was really about to arrive?0

    Was it toote to start saving money now?0

    In the group chat, medical students paused their review, liberal arts students stopped memorizing, IT professionals didn''t catch bugs, and even those considering suicide felt life had hope again¡ª0

    "If the higher-ups announce that full-scale holographic devices are under development and expected to enter the market within twenty years, then I think living is still quite hopeful."0

    Good things will happen in life, right?0

    -0

    The person who brought "hope" shook the quilt, smoothly got into bed, closed her eyes, and then tapped the system with her consciousness.0

    System: "Okay."0

    It "wove" a snow-white dream for the young one, then pulled Zhang Youyi into the dream as well.0

    Teacher Zhang opened her eyes in the "dream ssroom," reached out, and could touch familiar machines and the same scent she had smelled that afternoon.0

    It seemed like she was dreaming about the VR experience pod?0

    She wasn''t surprised, feeling a mix of familiarity and unfamiliarity, hearing the sound of heavy snow beating against the windows, and realizing she was dreaming. So she wasn''t in a hurry, sat into the machine, and put on the corresponding equipment.0

    Then, Zhang Youyi raised her eyelids, suddenly paused:0

    It was different from the afternoon.0

    She saw.0

    She saw a pair of hands and could feel "herself" raising her hand, but those clearly weren''t her own hands. She saw more, more scenery, and then realized she was at the peak of Kasha Snow Mountain, surrounded by endless snow, the mountain and sky meeting in silence, with no one else around!0

    The person on the snowboard bounced a little yfully on the spot, then began "ying" alpine skiing.0

    Zhang Youyi''s heart also leapt with joy.0

    She almost greedily experienced this "dream," not even wanting to take off the equipment to see if she was still blind¡ªIf VR upgraded in a dream, and a blind person could see, what was so strange about that? It was just a dream.0

    The skier didn''t say anything, as if just doing regr practice, except with an extra audience member.0n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    After a few practices, "she" returned to the peak and whispered:0

    "This time, it will definitely work."0

    Zhang Youyi''s heart stirred, and she sent a "Hmm" in the chat.0

    This "Hmm" hung there, and she thought, Tingwu in her dream would surelyplete it perfectly.0

    Zhang Youyi anticipated the result... Then, when skiing down to an altitude of over a thousand meters, the "skier" probably rxed by ident, misaligned the posture in mid-air, and plunged headfirst into the snow, ending in a fish-flopping position with legs up.0

    Zhang Youyi felt like a flopping fish herself.0

    When Tingwu floundered out of the snow, she¡ª0

    "Go buy some vani ice cream."0

    It must be because she thought about it during the day that she dreamed about it at night.0

    Chu Tingwu: "=="0

    Thanks.0

    Tomorrow she''d ask Aunt Mei for reimbursement.

 Chapter 105

    <h1>Chapter 105</h1>

    Chu Tingwu didn''t expect that the first toe knocking would be the Chewan City Culture and Tourism Bureau, not the management of the Shexue Snow Mountain scenic spot.0

    Her stay in Chewan City during the New Year wasn''t a secret, and while the "VR live-streaming equipment" was still vague and hadn''t given the eager fans a clear answer, the Chewan Culture and Tourism Bureau chose to trust her.0

    ¡ªThey decided to be the first to take the plunge.0

    Chu Tingwu was a bit surprised that the decision-maker from the bureau came in person, but she had initially intended to decline.0

    It wasn''t because she wanted to monopolize the technology to boost her own poprity, but because she didn''t want to take such a big step right from the start.0

    Chu Tingwu didn''t want the VR experience pods to be a luxury toy essible only to the wealthy. While its applications covered all aspects of society, it was impossible to reduce the cost and widely deploy it in the short term. It was better to take a long-term approach.0

    The decision-maker noticed her surprise:0

    ¡°Maybe in a decade or so, VR live-streaming will be amon industry, and we''ll be able to get VR equipment at a lower cost, but what would be the point then? You''re in Chewan City, and we happen to need the foot traffic brought by new equipment. If we miss this opportunity, I''ll regret it for the next ten years.¡±0

    They nned to have the Culture and Tourism Bureau lead the initiative, using VR live-streaming as a hook to promote the Shexue Snow Mountain and the ski resort at its foot.0

    VR live-streaming could do more than just broadcast. Based on the information Chu Tingwu had revealed, the new equipment she used could allow people with mobility issues to feel the sensation of standing again, enable those too weak to leave home to experience the joy of travel, and serve as a better teaching tool... In the long run, it was a new device that could change the way society entertains itself.0

    Chu Tingwu: "You want to put the VR experience pods in Chewan City? But since many people alreadye to this snow mountain city to ski, would using the equipment for promotion still make sense?"0

    Seeing that Chu Tingwu''s attitude was softening, the decision-maker exined more patiently:0

    "Because many people are very good at giving up."0

    Just because someonees to a snow mountain city doesn''t mean they''ll go hiking or skiing. The cost of renting equipment and entering the ski area can deter a lot of people.0

    Those tourists might follow the tour group, walk around, take a couple of photos at the check-in points, maybe try skiing once, and then leave, posting on their social media: "Went skiing, but it wasn''t that fun."0

    Of course, the Culture and Tourism Bureau didn''t expect everyone to find the sport interesting, but they wanted to lower the barrier to trying it:0

    "Using VR equipment, you can experience the thrill of skiing alongside the host without having to spend time learning or practicing, and the cost will also be lower."0

    Getting a sense of achievement first, and then learning, is more effective than struggling through the learning process and barely gaining any sense of achievement... More people will stick around.0

    So when the person in charge saw the effects of Chu Tingwu''s VR live-streaming equipment, even though the effects were based on feedback from test users, they couldn''t help but contact her.0

    ...Of course, it might also be because Chu Tingwu''s VR had gone viral, and her location was repeatedly pushed to the decision-maker''s screen.0

    Business matters still required professionals to discuss. Chu Tingwu lent two sets of equipment from her guesthouse to the handover staff for them to experience, while she herself did not pay attention to the negotiations.0

    Because the system would inform her of the progress.0

    When she participated in the Chewan skiingpetition, the system whispered in her ear:0

    "They want to order a hundred sets, with twenty arriving within ten days, but the experience pods can be provided, though the live-streaming equipment can''t arrive that quickly¡ªso they also want to customize recorded broadcasts..."0

    After the negotiation, the system seemed to require that Chewan couldn''t use the live-streaming equipment to broadcast other content, with all the content written into the contract focused on promoting the snow mountain.0

    This condition was a bit harsh, and the price of the equipment wasn''t low, with the cost price plus profit and expedited fees. In return, Chewan City demanded that the system not sell the equipment topeting industries within three years.0

    ...Such as other cities with snow mountains that also wanted to use skiing live-streaming as their theme.0

    The negotiation couldn''t bepleted in a short time, with both sides repeatedly haggling over the details, but the chances of reaching an agreement were high.0

    Chu Tingwu''s live-streaming equipment hadn''t been lent out yet, but fans soon noticed that there were two more viewers during her broadcasts.0

    Fans: "?"0

    So when is your link going to be up?0

    Chu Tingwu: "Hello everyone, I''m currently at the Chewan non-professional skiingpetition. I''m not the host; I''m a contestant. This is my second race, the semifinals¡ªbut I can also introduce the contestants on behalf of the host."0

    No one really cares about your amateurpetition, so when is your link going to be up?0

    This was indeed an amateurpetition. This event, open to citizens and tourists, had lenient requirements and simple registration. There were multiple races a day, making it arge-scale local entertainment event.0

    The only regret was that one could only register once and couldn''t sign up repeatedly to take up others'' spots.0

    Compared to the preliminary rounds, there were more professionals in the semifinals, looking quite impressive. But Chu Tingwu still had a strange amateur vibe around her:0

    On her left was a sixty-something Aunt Mei, dressed in thick clothes, looking like she just wanted to finish skiing so she could go home and buy some vegetables on the way. On her right was a boy who looked like he hadn''t even finished elementary school, handing over his water bottle to his waiting parents before the race, muttering, "Keep winning, and I can y for two more days before doing my winter homework."0

    Chu Tingwu, on a snowboard, was sandwiched in the middle, bouncing a couple of times to adjust her stance.0

    Amateur races often resulted in collisions. Unlike professionalpetitions, everyone started almost simultaneously, and instead of focusing on their own performance, they might pray that those around them wouldn''t make mistakes that would roll onto their track. But it was precisely because of this "amateur" nature that some bizarre and viral antics often urred.0

    When encountering obstacles created by opponents (even if unintentionally), some chose to leap over, others to turn around, but some chose to pull the fallen opponent up, holding hands, andpleting the race in a pose reminiscent of a ballroom dance.0

    Although the two dancers arrived at the finish line at the same time, it didn''t cause trouble for the judges.0

    Because they were thest two, and didn''t advance to the semifinals.0

    They just managed to enter others'' social media feeds with their "dance moves."0

    When the starting gun went off, Chu Tingwu set off from the slope.0

    During every sport, she would fully immerse herself in the activity, only exining details to the audience in her live broadcast during breaks. And obviously, there were no breaks in a skiingpetition.0

    During her "live broadcast," perhaps to reciprocate, or maybe because some preliminary discussions had already been settled, the local Chewan TV station quietly added a small sub-channel in the corner of the screen.0

    The sub-channel appeared to be interviewing someone sitting in an instrument, with the title VR Live-Streaming Equipment Experience Specialist.0

    The interviewer quickly exined the situation, stating that a real-time VR device would soon be avable, offering a more realistic skiing experience. The person currently in the device was the familiar host from the neighboring show, Little Pi, who was also a local of Chewan and had learned to ski for a few years.0

    The "VR live-streaming" she experienced was naturally Chu Tingwu''s.0

    This "live-watching-live" video format isn''t umon, but it''s somewhat novel when aired on television.0

    Most of the viewers of this channel are naturally locals. During the New Year, the family''s TV is almost always on all day. Rtivese and go, and the younger generation ys with their phones. After a while, they realize something is off.0

    "What kind of equipment is this? VR? Is it that popr VR live stream we''ve heard about recently?"0

    The elder: "What''s the matter? Didn''t you guys say you''ve seen UPs live-streaming VR games before? It''s not something new, why the big fuss?"0

    The young person: "No, the VR games we saw before were all t 3D images. This VR live stream seems like you''re also using VR equipment, not just watching, but ''feeling'' it!"0

    The elder immediately bes wary: "What are you saying? Are you thinking of spending money on some gaming pod again? Didn''t you just buy a controller?"0

    The young person: "..."0

    The young person: "?" If only gaming pods were avable for purchase! But there''s no link to buy one!0

    Despite theints, the young person still opens Chu Tingwu''s live stream on their phone while keeping an eye on the TV, focusing on the small corner where the host is. They start to imagine:0

    Just what kind of experience is it? Damn, when will I be able to experience it myself?0n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    -0

    Little Pi, the host, also can''t quite describe what the experience is like.0

    While Chu Tingwu was just doing warm-up exercises and chatting, Little Pi could still asionally send a few bulletments and answer questions from her colleague next to her:0

    This feeling is really strange, as if she temporarily loses control of her body.0

    At first, there''s a slight panic, but soon, that light and clean sensation hits her... Just like during Aunt Mei''s live stream, Little Pi, inside the experience pod, also vaguely feels Chu Tingwu''s sensations, which is "sharpness."0

    Although the content creator doesn''t show it, Little Pi notices that she seems to be able to hear and see things that are easily overlooked. More details can only be vaguely sensed through this "possession" feeling:0

    For example, Chu Tingwu turns her head before others approach, or hands over what others need before they even speak... When someone almost bumps into her, Chu Tingwu jumps up,nds on a nearby equipment box, and watches as the person who bumped into her falls into the snow.0

    Like ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????a ball.0

    Little Pi: "=="0

    This sharpness sometimes feels a bit annoying.0

    Little Pi herself is definitely not like this in everyday life, but from Chu Tingwu''s perspective, she is forced to experience this feeling, which is quite interesting.0

    Since it''s her first time experiencing a VR live stream, she doesn''t tell her colleague holding the microphone about this somewhat mystical experience, until Chu Tingwu starts thepetition.0

    Little Pi smiles faintly: She participated in thispetition a few years ago... Wait! Wait, how are you flying?!0

    When the otherpetitor was about to crash into her, Chu Tingwu didn''t choose to detour but instead changed her center of gravity, using the not-so-obvious slope in front and her own speed to sessfullyplete an aerial spin.0

    Of course, she''spletely self-taught, not as skilled as professional athletes who can do triple axels on specific venues... She just wanted to avoid the obstacles created by otherpetitors.0

    The viewers in the first-person live stream perspective also follow her perspective for a spin, with manymenting "I''m getting dizzy from the 3D," while the topments are filled with¡ª0

    A few rows of censored curse words and messages that seem to have been cut off midway.0

    Chu Tingwunds sessfully.0

    Little Pi''s heart is pounding¡ª0

    She has no time to answer her colleague''s questions. She had only managed to say "ah" before, but in the VR experience state, she is forced to share Chu Tingwu''s vision and speed, though she can''t control her body as perfectly as Chu Tingwu.0

    So, she says: "I feel like I''m challenging my own... limits."0

    Since she can only feel but not control, everything the UP master brings seems uncertain. Little Pi doesn''t know if Chu Tingwu willnd perfectly or fall t on her face. And since this is live, as a viewer, she can''t do anything about it... This uncertainty adds even more excitement than the sport itself.0

    She says: "I can''t believe it."0

    Her colleague: "=="0

    Her colleague, with his hand behind the screen, frantically waves, signaling the director: Cut it! Cut this part! Go tomercial!0

    Don''t broadcast profanity on TV!0

    The young person watching the TV sees the small broadcast channel hurriedly switch to amercial and has to check the result of thepetition. Normally, it would be exciting, but thinking about watching it through VR, they feel it''s not as interesting.0

    In the end, Chu Tingwu indeed makes it through the semifinals, along with another seemingly elementary school student. The two minors team up to eliminate the other adults and enter the finals two dayster.0

    The young person looks down at their phone¡ªthey''re busy¡ªand finds Chu Tingwu saying:0

    "Not bad, to celebrate the victory."0

    "After lunch, I''ll do a live stream of some snowboard speed riding."0

    The young person: "?"0

    Huh?0

    Did you mean to say "riding a skateboard home"? Snowboard speed riding isn''t that dangerous high-altitude sport... And you''ve only been skiing for a short time, mostly practicing basics, right?0

    Don''t make extreme sports sound as casual as taking a walk after dinner!0

    Just as Little Pi crawls out of the experience pod, she pauses for half a second and tries to climb back in.0

    Her colleague stops her: "Wait, wait, didn''t you just say it was too exciting and you needed to rest first?"0

    It''s just skiing, right? It doesn''t seem that hard. If that''s exciting, then let me try.0

    It''s currently the trial period for the equipment, and Chu Tingwu doesn''t care who tries it; she just schedules regr live streams.0

    Little Pi: "That''s because it''s too exciting, so I should experience it. I''m worried your heart can''t handle it."0

    This tough task should naturally be taken on by young people like her first! Older colleagues should do lighter work!0

    Seeing her so confident, the colleague is a bit hesitant.0

    Little Pi: "It''s okay, I''ll speak up if I can''t handle it, I won''t let my body get hurt!"0

    Then she quickly climbs back into the equipment, deciding to sleep in it today.0

    The colleague who was pushed aside: "..."0

    You''re definitely tricking me!0

 Chapter 106

    <h1>Chapter 106</h1>

    After finishing his work, Cheng Mi stood up the tabletputer that had been lying t beside him and checked whether Chu Tingwu was still live streaming.0

    Apparently, the live stream hadn''t ended yet.0

    He smiled, pushed back his chair, switched theputer interface to the Chewan TV Station broadcast channel that had been minimized in a corner, and found that the program had already finished. He muted it temporarily and put it in the background, then opened the chat group.0

    This was Chu Tingwu''s fan group, and although she herself was in the group, she had never spoken. Her partner, named "System," was also in the group but only appeared to post announcements and live stream previews. As for Three-Five-Five... well, maybe Three-Five-Five could use a phone, but Chu Tingwu hadn''t bought one for her mother.0

    The group was indeed discussing the content of the previous live stream, so Cheng Mi scrolled up to read¡ª0

    Bao has been using a first-person perspective in recent live streams. I get dizzy with 3D, so I''m a bit unustomed to it, though it''s not as shaky as others''.0

    [Master of the fancy cat cart.]0

    I check the backend three times a day, scrolling through all the official websites, but there''s still no definite news. Are they selling this VR equipment or not? I''m not nning to live stream; I just want a experience pod to experience it.0

    [Expensive and heavy, right? Chu Chu did mention that the equipment is quite heavy, though they''ve tried to minimize the impact on the live stream effect.]0n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Cheng Mi chimed in here:0

    "The activities she tries are always quite dangerous, and since they''re extreme sports, even a small mistake could lead to danger. @System, it''s better to avoid using this method for live streaming and prioritize the safety of the child."0

    The fans didn''t actually demand that Chu Tingwu provide a "VR live stream" experience. After all these years, the live streams were fine as they were, and everyone was used to it. The safety of the UP owner was more important.0

    Hisment prompted others to start discussing with him, but System didn''t reply.0

    Cheng Mi''s ount ID was just an orange symbol. He had been in the group for over a year and was a big fan who regrly topped the donation rankings, so he had made many friends in the group.0

    In Chu Tingwu''s fan base, the majority of fans were women, and there were more "mom fans." The age group mostly consisted of those over twenty, with sufficient economic strength, so they often supported Chu Tingwu''s "side businesses."0

    Initially, they thought they might have to support the content creator by buying products like other creators did¡ªusing discount coupons to shop online, believing it was to support the creator so they could get more business opportunities.0

    Further down the line, the UP owner might open their own online store, selling items such as T-shirts, small stands, animal plushies, and canvas bags. Although these items would definitely be overpriced, it was an IP they had watched grow from an underage UP owner, so they indulged in a bit of spoiling.0

    But they didn''t expect¡ª0

    Oh no, when Chu Mi was in the car earlier, I wasn''t interested in the chat content in the bulletments, so I kept scrolling through 365''s cats. The backend shows I''ve been spending over five hours a day on this. I''m addicted! ?*?0

    [You''re just watching cats... I''ve been eyeing the themed blind boxes in the mall and am now nning to buy a disy cab just for the blind boxes I''ve collected.]0

    At least the things I''ve bought while following this star are practical. My mom had no idea these were cultural and creative products when she visited my ce. She even said my room decor was very unified and pleasing to the eye. Haha, of course it''s unified¡ªmy bedding is printed with 355.0

    [So, who got the knee pads?]0

    This question silenced everyone. Right... who got those damn knee pads, limited to only a hundred pairs per day? Did they look down on their fan base or something?0

    Chu Tingwu''s knee pad brand had indeed started selling. With the trust built over time, the fans found that, apart from drones, there was finally a product that was both pricey and could genuinely support the content creator, and it was also a daily use item. So, they all wanted to give it a try.0

    However, thepany somehow managed to dy theunch date, which was already rare, with the reason being¡ª0

    "Technological innovation??"0

    Then the price changed, at least tripling, turning the originally mid-to-high-end knee pads into high-end products. However, those high-end knee pad brands had been around longer, had stable audiences, and had brand effects.0

    Chu Tingwu''s brand, on the other hand, was almost starting from scratch, aplete neer in the sports equipment field.0

    Cheng Mi had some connections in the industry and knew that otherpanies were watching with a mix of skepticism and ridicule, wondering if Chu Tingwu was really going to take advantage of the fans like a wave of chives.0

    Of course, even so, they would still buy them.0

    Cheng Mi guessed it was because of the unmanned flying ball.0

    He had also bought a drone ball, even though he didn''t use it much. "Stans" were like that¡ªthe collectible value was more important than the practical value.0

    Even though he hadn''t used it much, just testing it in his living room, Cheng Mi found that the flying ball''s technology was truly top-tier: its eye-catching design aside, its obstacle avoidance was incredibly user-friendly for beginners, and its low damage rate made it sturdy, with a spherical shell that made it more durable. Its positioning system was also superior to other brands.0

    Everything was perfect except for the price, which wasn''t very friendly. Sometimes, Cheng Mi got itchy hands and wanted to take the flying ball apart to see how it worked.0

    So, with the example of the unmanned flying ball, even though the knee pads hadn''t even been delivered to the first batch of buyers, everyone remained silent and didn''t publicly express any opinions.0

    ...But what special technology could a knee pad have?0

    Cheng Mi, with a spoiling mindset, tried to buy them. The first time he didn''t get them and even considered finding a scalper, but System had a zero-tolerance policy toward scalpers, so he couldn''t get them at a higher price. Fortunately, he sessfully got them in the second batch, and the logistics were already on the way.0

    Before shipping, the customer service sent an apology message, stating:0

    [The customer service mentioned that this set of knee pads alsoes with a set of elbow pads, but they''re still in production and can''t beunched together¡ªhowever, those of us who purchased early can buy the elbow pads directly when theyunch, without needing topete for them again.]0

    They would also provide them with special discount coupons, but that wasn''t the main point.0

    Cheng Mi''s main point was: Although limited, I got them.0

    He quickly received jealous curses from the group members, who warned him to sleep with one eye open tonight.0

    Actually, not everyone in the group was nice. Some people, for some reason, would lurk in the group, screenshot the chat content, and spread it in smaller circles, mocking and ridiculing them for willingly being cut down like leeks.0

    But such people were usually quickly found out by System and kicked out, and they deleted their unfriendlyments. The group admins were so reliable that it was reassuring.0

    He looked at the screen again and then decided to open the projector, projecting the live stream onto the screen.0

    Probably because the fans had beenining about Chu Tingwu always using the first-person perspective, this time she provided a dual perspective, with the other perspective consistently using a drone for filming.0

    She was on a helicopter, with a friend who was helping her hold a cat.0

    Cheng Mi knew that the friend was someone she had met during a winter camp and had convinced toe back and celebrate the New Year together.0

    Thinking of this, he couldn''t help but smile: there was nothing particrly funny about it, but just watching Chu Tingwu''s live stream always made him feel good, like a cat owner watching their cat y by itself.0

    Cats skipping ss¡ªwell, they''re cats, and it''s normal for them not to like attending sses. Cats jumping around, being lively¡ªthat''s just how lively cats are. Cats falling in love with every sport they see, always ignoring others and ying by themselves¡ªthat''s what cats do. It''s already a rare blessing if they let you watch them without running away... let alone if they''re also outstanding, happy, passionate about charity, making new friends, and although they act on impulse, they always execute their ns with strong determination, never disappointing those who look forward to them.0

    So every day, Cheng Mi eagerly enters the live stream, watching Chu Tingwu try new things, feeling happy, and he also genuinely feels the happiness that is passed on to him.0

    He had never been a fan of celebrities, nor did he understand the fanaticism of stans. But during the more than a year of following and keeping up with her, he found himself bing more cyber-outgoing¡ªmaking many online friends, even ying games together¡ªand he became more hopeful about life. So, those who stan celebrities might also be "chasing themselves," gaining emotional value while being influenced by their idols, and thereby bing better versions of themselves.0

    A helicopter dropped Chu Tingwu off at the side peak of Kasha Snow Mountain, and then they began to prepare.0

    Obviously, influenced by the previous "fan calling the police incident," this girl had slightly changed her approach¡ª0

    She finally agreed to humor her audience a little.0

    She used a drone to show everyone the uing speed-descent route.0

    But her protective gear still consisted of only a few items. If you''re doing extreme sports and you''re afraid of dying, then what''s the point of doing extreme sports?0

    The hospital, however, wasn''t far away, so if you break a bone, they can just drag you there.0

    In the group chat, people kept mentioning Cheng Mi:0

    "Old Cheng,e out and scold her!"0

    "Old Cheng would never bear to scold her!"0

    "That day, Old Cheng was the first to call the police, right?"0

    Cheng Mi: "Forget it, forget it..."0

    He did always value safety, but through a screen, he couldn''t fly to Kasha Snow Mountain to scold her, could he? So, he decided to tip her with a 2,000 yuan firework to let her have some fun.0

    As ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????he thought this, the doorbell rang, and the image from the Bluetooth video doorbell appeared directly on his phone¡ª0

    Was a delivery guy here to drop off a package?0

    The delivery guy at the door seemed a bit impatient, but he needed Cheng Mi to sign for the package personally.0

    When he reached the door, it opened, and the delivery guy instinctively said, "My next delivery is... uh, should I just leave the package here, or bring it inside for you?"0

    Cheng Mi, sitting in his wheelchair, stretched out his hand and smiled helplessly, "Give it to me, I can take it."0

    He nced at the package and found it was the knee guards he had ordered.0

    But did a pair of knee guards need such arge box?0

    Cheng Mi moved his wheelchair back to the living room. The screen still showed the live stream, where Chu Tingwu hadn''t started yet, but the audience in the chat wasn''t in a hurry.0

    Curiously, he opened the box¡ª0

    Inside, he found a pair of knee guards and a VR headset.0

    "Dear buyer, thank you for purchasing ''WU'' knee guards. This knee guard can be used together with this VR headset, which is aplimentary gift and has not incurred any additional charges."0

    "Please note that this VR headset is not produced by ourpany, but is provided as aplimentary essory to experience the full functionality of the knee guards. If the buyer does not wish to use this headset, they can wait for ourpany''s morepatible models."0

    "Please keep your purchase proof, as you will receive corresponding discounts for future purchases."0

    On the back of the shopping card was a QR code, prompting Cheng Mi to scan it and download a new app. After downloading, he could use the "WU" app to open the Fenghua Network and select a live-streaming UP host.0

    However, all other UP hosts'' names were grayed out and unselectable, with only "A Chu and Three-Five-Five" being lit up.0

    Cheng Mi: "?"0

    Maybe he should try it out himself and then report his experience in the group...0

    After hesitating for a while, Cheng Mi rolled up his pants and started putting on the knee guards.0

    Halfway through, he couldn''t help butugh and think:0

    How could someone with paralyzed legs buy sports knee guards to support their idol''s career?0

    And although the knee guards felt nice, they seemed a bit heavy. Was there something that could be removed?0

    He then put on the VR headset and, following the app''s instructions, selected Chu Tingwu''s avatar on the screen.0

    The image in the headset instantly changed.0

    It was as if someone was whispering in his ear:0

    "I think we can try sliding down now."0

    Another voice: "Then I''ll go up in the helicopter. I''ll be watching you with Three-Five-Five!"0

    Cheng Mi felt as if "he" slightly tilted his head, made an "ok" gesture, and then, "his" legs... moved.0

    Moved!?0

    He watched the scenery that Chu Tingwu saw:0

    Snow like a nket, mountains like a battlefield.0

    Beneath him was a cliff, but she had a snowboard.0

    Chu Tingwu adjusted the angle of the snowboard, as if someone pushed her from behind.0

    She slid down from the top, throwing the flying snow behind her!0

 Chapter 107

    <h1>Chapter 107</h1>

    Zhou Qiang still felt uneasy after boarding the helicopter, but she didn¡¯t show it.0

    She simply leaned against the cabin door with her cat, both looking down below.0

    As the helicopter slowly ascended above the mountain peak, Chu Tingwu¡¯s figure grew smaller and smaller. Zhou Qiang, gazing into the distance, could see several ski trails etched into the snow-covered slopes.0

    Chu Tingwu had never attempted these trails before¡ªthey were traces left by those who had skied there before.0

    As a city nestled at the foot of the snowy mountains, Chewan naturally fostered amunity of avid skiers who frequented the slopes. This particr spot, ideal for speed skiing, was rmended by locals.0

    So, while no one was currently at the summit, on the opposite mountainside, tourists could be seen holding binocrs, and hikers taking a break. Spotting Chu Tingwu and the helicopter from afar, someone remarked, ¡°Is she going to do a speed run?¡±0

    At that moment, Chu Tingwuunched herself down the slope.0

    Like a silver seagull taking flight, she soared.0

    The sun bathed her shoulders as snow sprayed around her. Chu Tingwu let out a joyful cheer from deep in her throat. Between the slopes, she almost seemed to float in the air, executing two full rotations beforending back on the snow.0

    She was clearly exhrated, while her fans, watching her first-person live stream, leaned back in their seats, fists clenched, a mix of tension and anticipation as they continued to watch.0

    As she descended, Chu Tingwu¡¯s mind was also racing.0

    She had onlypleted this route once before, in a dream-like training session.0

    If she practiced repeatedly, memorizing every angle of the route to achieve perfection, her live stream would no longer be a speed run but a performance.0

    Though her audience wouldn¡¯t realize she had practiced extensively, and would instead marvel at her wless execution, Chu Tingwu knew the truth¡ªand so did her system.0

    ¡°But that would take all the fun out of it!¡±0

    As she soared into the air again, she shifted her stance mid-air, changing direction beforending low to avoid a steep slope ahead.0

    Even so, snow cascaded down the slope behind her like a heavy white fog, scattering in the wind.0

    The icy wind swept through Chu Tingwu¡¯s hair, carrying the crisp scent of snow and vegetation, invigorating her senses.0

    Ahead, the slope grew steeper. Chu Tingwu thought, ¡°Here we go¡­ another flight!¡±0

    Maintaining her bnce, she adjusted her posture instinctively, and then, with her snowboard, she shot out of the ¡°track.¡±0

    Mid-air, she turned around:0

    In that moment, both she and her audience caught a glimpse of the snowyndscape behind her.0

    Beyond this slope was a sheer drop of about twenty meters, with exposed rocks below. The snow she had disturbed tumbled down like an avnche, as if a brief snowstorm had erupted.0

    Itsted only for the second she was in the air, as she flipped, adjusted her stance, and braced against the wind pressure before plunging into the snow below.0

    Chu Tingwu felt a slight tremor in her legs.0

    Aheady a pine forest.0

    The seagull-shaped drone had already flown ahead, casting a shadow on the snow. Chu Tingwu raised her hand and waved¡ªshe wasn¡¯t sure what she was waving at¡ªperhaps greeting her viewers through the camera, her smile saying:0

    ¡°I¡¯m having so much fun. How about you?¡±0

    Her snowboard entered the pine forest.0

    -0

    Cheng Mi could feel his heart pounding.0

    His ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????hands rested on his legs, opening and closing. His thighs still had sensation, so he guessed the slight tremor he felt might just be the knee pads vibrating slightly in response to the movements of the streamer.0

    But he couldn¡¯t bring himself to take them off.0

    The illusion felt so real, like a beautiful dream he could safely lose himself in.0

    His phone vibrated¡ªmaybe a group chat notification¡ªbut Cheng Mi didn¡¯t check it. He was almost greedily wearing the VR headset, his hands restless, asionally tapping his legs or grabbing at the air¡ª0

    Why hadn¡¯t they produced elbow pads too?0

    Was it because they hadn¡¯t nned to make them from the start?0

    While experiencing this ¡°VR reality,¡± Cheng Mi also critiqued it:0

    The equipment was definitely more portable than a full VR pod, but it was also more rudimentary, so the experience wasn¡¯t as perfect as he had imagined. Cheng Mi was sure he wasn¡¯t getting the full experience¡ªhe could only feel the leg movements and see and hear part of Chu Tingwu¡¯s live stream. But even that was enough to thrill him.0

    Then Chu Tingwu began her speed run.0

    Cheng Mi¡¯s restless hands finally gripped the armrests of his wheelchair. He let out a short ¡°Ah!¡± followed by an excited ¡°Wow!¡± and then clung to the armrests, his expression dazed as he endured the first few seconds.0

    The sensation of weightlessness felt so real!0

    Even though he was still in his wheelchair, he felt as if he were flying alongside Chu Tingwu¡ªno, not just as if!0

    Chu Tingwu really was flying, though without wings, and she wouldnd eventually.0

    Ordinary viewers only saw her mid-air flips through her first-person perspective, some even feeling dizzy, but Cheng Mi truly ¡°experienced¡± it. The VR headset couldn¡¯t replicate wind resistance, so the realism was diminished, but it was still enough to make him feel a sense of panic in his solitary room.0

    After about ten seconds of panic, he calmed down¡ª0

    Not because he stopped feeling nervous, but because he got used to it.0n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    So what if it felt like flying? He wasn¡¯t actually flying. It was thrilling but without any danger¡ªpure gain.0

    By thetter part of the run, he began to look forward to every rise, fall, and flip, every change in stance or shift in weight, even the simple decelerations and turns¡­ Each movement excited him, to the point where he barely noticed the mechanical bird-like drone overhead. Maybe it was just a VR effect, he thought.0

    Chu Tingwu shot out of the pine forest and continued downward. The ski tracks around her multiplied as the altitude dropped, and more skiers became visible. Everyone was fully geared up, asionally ncing up at the helicopter. Chu Tingwu passed by them, no words exchanged, as some chose to elerate, kicking up a spray of snow as they passed her.0

    The helicopternded on the tform at the finish line. Chu Tingwu arrived at the campsite a momentter, but as soon as she appeared on the slope, the campers noticed her. When she sessfullypleted her final deceleration, they cheered enthusiastically.0

    ¡ªEven if they didn¡¯t know she had skied down from the side peak, seeing her natural and skilled descent was enough to warrant celebration.0

    At that moment, Cheng Mi leaned back in his wheelchair.0

    He felt as if Chu Tingwu had taken off her snow boots, stretching as she walked toward her friends. The mechanical birdnded beside her, circling her before finally perching on her outstretched arm. She seemed to read ament:0

    ¡°Hmm? It¡¯s not a toy, but you can treat it like one. Yes, it¡¯s what you¡¯re thinking¡ªit¡¯s a new drone.¡±0

    She chuckled softly.0

    Only then did Cheng Mi realize that the VR headset didn¡¯t disy real-timements or allow him to send any, which had kept him fully immersed. He raised his hand to remove the headset but hesitated.0

    Chu Tingwu waved at the camera, the girl clearly a bit tired, and, as usual, ended the stream.0

    ¡°Don¡¯t¡­¡±0

    Cheng Mi almost said it aloud, but as an audience member outside the screen, he could only watch and listen¡ªhis voice couldn¡¯t reach the streamer.0

    He waited for a while, or perhaps just savored the moment, before finally taking off the headset.0

    At this moment, he nced at the barrage again and was somewhat surprised to find that thements were in a heated argument¡ª0

    [I¡¯m definitely not a shill! Anyone who clicked in here is either a fan or at least interested, why would I need to act as a shill in the livestream? The knee pads really let you experience the VR livestream effect! Sure, it¡¯s a bit of a stripped-down version, but it¡¯s legit!]0

    The fans were half-convinced, half-skeptical.0

    But soon, their skepticism turned into frustration:0

    [Alright, alright, no need to keep exining or proving it! Do you think I don¡¯t want to believe it? I just didn¡¯t manage to buy one!]0

    [I bought one, but¡­ I checked, and it¡¯s estimated to take thirty days to reach me. Are you guys starting from weaving the fabric or something?]0

    [Mine¡¯s still on the way, and I¡¯m so jealous of those who got the first batch! Ugh, unless you send me one!]0

    Cheng Mi then checked the group chat and found that everyone was obviously discussing this topic as well¡ª0

    A few people in the group had already received their knee pads and tried them out, confidently confirming that the VR effect was real and eagerly looking forward to the day they could buy elbow pads.0

    This time, the impact was even more convincing than when it first trended on social media. Back then, only a few insiders could participate in the testing, but now, the product had quietly gone on sale. Some people had initially thought it was too expensive and didn¡¯t bother to rush to buy it, only to realize that it wasn¡¯t just a knee pad but also a device for watching VR livestreams. They were shocked:0

    ¡°@System! How did you help Chu Tingwu sell these things?! I didn¡¯t buy the knee pads because I was saving up for an experience pod! And now you¡¯re telling me the thing I deliberately didn¡¯t rush to buy is exactly what I wanted?¡±0

    What¡¯s going on with yourpany? Do you really want to make money? Even the VR sses aren¡¯t cheap, and if you take away the VR sses, the knee pads are practically free. So how are you even making a profit?0

    Just open the link now and take their money! They¡¯re easy to fool, give it a try!0

    The system remained silent.0

    Even with production running at full capacity, the current efficiency couldn¡¯t possibly make this simplified VR livestream viewing device avable to everyone. So, considering the preferences of the fans, it naturally prioritized them.0

    On the shopping page, there was a notice: the higher your fan value, the higher your ranking during the same purchase window, and the greater your chance of sessfully buying the product.0

    The system was currently juggling multiple tasks: monitoring the public opinion about the VR livestream knee pads, keeping an eye on production efficiency, booking a restaurant for dinner for Chu Tingwu and her team, and handling a flood of private messages¡­ As for the demands of the fan group? Sorry, you¡¯ll have to wait.0

    Chu Tingwu, on the other hand, asked a couple of questions and seemed thoughtful: ¡°Then I¡¯ll go live again tonight.¡±0

    The system suddenly understood: ¡°You¡¯re going to exin the situation to them personally, right?¡±0

    That made sense. Having the UP herself, who was also the actual boss, speak up would help calm the fans better.0

    Chu Tingwu was looking at the menu and looked up: ¡°Huh?¡±0

    Exin the situation? At most, she could apologize for not being able to produce enough, but as for the experience pod being an upgraded version of the VR knee pads, only Chewan had it for now. Other coboration details were covered by contracts and tied to promotional ns, so she couldn¡¯t disclose anything¡­ In that case, it was better not to exin.0

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°Tonight, of course, I¡¯ll be live-streaming wild snowboarding.¡±0

    The system: ¡°==¡±0

    The midday livestream was just an appetizer. Now that she was in Chewan, where there happened to be a snowy mountain, and she happened to have new livestreaming equipment¡­ If she didn¡¯t take the opportunity to do something rare, she¡¯d feel regretful too¡ª0

    That¡¯s when Chu Tingwu thought of her unique ability.0

    Her night vision wasn¡¯t the same as night-vision goggles, and Chu Tingwu realized there was a skiing theme that most people hadn¡¯t livestreamed before: nighttime snowboarding speed descent on a snowy mountain.0

    She thought of it as a gift to those viewers who had just gotten their devices.0

    Besides, she had already set the stage with her daytime snowboarding speed descent. Sure, tonight¡¯s would be even more extreme¡­ but the viewers probably wouldn¡¯t call the police again, right?0

    Cheng Mi, who had just gotten her device: ¡°¡­¡±0

    I want to call the police.0

 Chapter 108

    <h1>Chapter 108</h1>

    [Emotional Life]#hot# High price for WU-Flying Series knee pads, VR sses I can get myself, anyone who hasn''t verified or hasn''t received the goods yet, can sell them to me!#Begging#Begging#Begging0

    1st floor:0

    Wait... OP, did you post in the wrong section? And if you want to buy knee pads, why not check out second-hand websites? Why post in the emotional section of a cat forum?0

    2nd floor OP:0

    Sorry orz I also posted on second-hand websites, but the post was reported and deleted. The official doesn''t allow private transactions, and if someone wants to sell, it will be automatically returned and refunded wuwuwu0

    Then I thought the audience for knee pads and cat lovers must ovep, so I tried to ask here...0

    But why does a cat forum have an emotional section?0

    3rd floor:0

    Of course, it''s for matchmaking for my cat.0

    4th floor OP to 3rd floor:0

    ?0

    5th floor:0

    Not rmended for OP to buy stuff here...0

    Because I also want to buy!0

    Ahhh who got it, who got it? I''m going crazy, although the official announcement said the knee pads are just auxiliary equipment, not as good as the VR experience pod, and the inner part for auxiliary use can also be used as knee pads¡ªcan some kind god sell me the removed part?0

    6th floor:0

    The title made me think I opened 365.0

    The admin deleted a batch of buying posts, but I still saw one on this forum...emmm OP if you really want to y, why not fly to Chewan City?0

    7th floor OP to 6th floor:0

    I just want to try VR live streaming, not a stalker, not chasing stars offline...0

    8th floor (6th floor):0

    What are you thinking? I have a distant rtive working as a civil servant in Chewan, heard they are recruiting testers for the experience pod, seems like they signed some contract with Ah Chu''spany, got a batch of VR experience pods, definitely better than portable devices like knee pads.0

    If not for returning to school and New Year visits, family wouldn''t let me, I''d go to Chewan City too.0

    9th floor OP:0

    !!0

    I saw the news!0

    Chewan Culture and Tourism Bureau is the official ount, right?0

    They posted a coboration video? I''ll check it out! Thanks!0

    After quickly posting this, OP switched to the New Plum app homepage, then received a push notification¡ª0

    "365 Cat Census also pushed a message, good good, this is official confirmation, right?"0

    With more trust in thetter, he immediately chose it.0

    Unlike most fans who met Chu Tingwu through cats, OP followed her because of her old district parkour live stream¡ªhe himself is a long-distance running enthusiast, initially for weight loss, butter fell in love with the sport. After watching Chu Tingwu''s videos, he also signed up for a parkour experience ss.0

    Now, after six months of on-and-off learning, mostly indoor practice, he felt restricted outdoors¡ª0

    "Because indoors have safety measures."0

    Parkour isn''t a deadly sport, but it''s risky. He loves parkour, but also loves long-distance running, fitness, and other sports¡ªso, he hopes to stay healthy. If he gets injured from a sport he''s just interested in, affecting other hobbies, he''d regret it.0

    But not being able to fully try it feels unsatisfying.0

    OP quickly read the promotional announcement on the 365app, thoughtfully looked at the officially certified Chewan Culture and Tourism ount, then said:0

    "The hot search is probably going to explode again?"0

    Actually, since yesterday noon, there have been many messages about WU brand knee pads online.0

    This brand new brand only made entertainment headlines when Chu Tingwu "endorsed herself," staying on the hot search for half a day, leaving a slight impression. But after yesterday''s live stream, the first batch of knee pad recipients posted reviews on personal ounts, one review video went viral, making the brand famous overnight.0

    Initially, it was because the reviewer was a game enthusiast, who bought VR sses for gaming and live streaming VR games, and the VR sses that came with the knee pads were a high-end model.0

    The poster joked: "They knew my equipment was old, so they gave me a new one."0

    And excluding the VR sses'' cost, the knee pads went from expensive to affordable.0

    So the poster, thinking about recent knee pad price discussions, decided to rify for Chu Tingwu.0

    She first posted the unboxing video on her ount homepage¡ªshe has many fans, then announced in thements she''d live stream using the knee pads to see the experience.0

    At that time, the poster didn''t realize the VR sses and knee pads were a set.0

    She thought thepany did background checks, preparing surprises for old fans.0

    Until she wore the knee pads live, saw the manual, downloaded the software, then put on the sses, she was:0

    "?"0

    Fans: "UP... why do I see Chu Tingwu''s video broadcast as soon as I enter?"0

    Their UP wasn''t doing this before? Although she followed Chu Tingwu, she usually streamed daily life and VR games.0

    UP didn''t respond.0

    UP was already immersed, not just experiencing, but also eximing "OMG" "Ahhh" "Help help¡ªahhh!"0

    Fans were helpless:0

    Don''t y by yourself, we want to watch too!0

    Sometimes, review videos criticizing a show be more popr than the show itself.0

    This video was the same, although Chu Tingwu''s live stream had high traffic, it was this unprepared review video that went viral, paired with Chu Tingwu''s video, everyone wanted to experience what the UP felt¡ªthey said they wanted to watch too!0

    Can only imagine?0

    No, can go to Chewan City.0

    -0

    With the viral review and official stance, Chewan City frequently appeared on hot searches, and it''s foreseeable it''ll stay there until VR experience pods be widespread.0

    More people chose to go immediately, to see for themselves.0

    The OP wanting to buy knee pads didn''t live with family, nned to leave home early after Spring Festival for work, simply bought a ticket to Chewan.0

    ¡ªHe worried he''d miss out if he wentte.0

    For some reason, he was confident in the experience pod''s effect.0

    Arriving in Chewan, he met a guy staying at the same hotel, traveling in a wheelchair...0

    OP: Respect.jpg0

    Helping with the elevator, they became travel buddies, having lunch together, OP noticed:0

    "Is this a horror video?"0

    Wheelchair guy was silent for a while: "No, this might be the first-person ski video we''ll experienceter."0

    OP: "?"0

    But why night skiing?0

    In the dark, a silver moon in the sky, a spotlight on the snow, also reflecting a moon. The skier on a snowboard, flying on the snow, or rather, soaring.0

    OP was about to ask more, saw Chu Tingwu''s avatar in the top right corner.0

    He understood.0

    It was the live stream he missed while busy with running... if it''s Chu Tingwu, nothing''s strange.0

    But thinking this might be what they''d experienceter, he got excited again.0

    If, if it reached 50% of expectations, he felt the ticket was worth it!0

    Too excited, need another bowl of rice to calm down!0

    -0

    Chu Tingwu was showing Zhou Qiang her injured hand.0

    Zhou Qiang silently averted her eyes.0

    Chu Tingwu walked around to the other side and continued to show off, saying softly, "See, there''s no problem at all now."0

    Zhou Qiang covered her face with the book.0

    Chu Tingwu: "You''re holding the book upside down."0

    Zhou Qiang: "I''ve been into reading it that waytely."0

    Chu Tingwu: "Then why don''t you read out what you see?"0

    Zhou Qiang: "Are you sure you want me to?"0

    With her mental capacity, she could easily memorize the entire book. Reading anything aloud would be a breeze.0

    Chu Tingwu backed off and sat down on the edge of the bed: "But my hand really is fine, it was just a minor ident."0

    ¡ªShe had injured herself during a night skiing session the previous evening.0

    Because of the wind.0

    Chu Tingwu''s bnce, coordination, athletic ability, and physical stamina were all nearly perfect. If she had been on a snowfield or indoors, with her reaction speed, she would never have gotten hurt. But nature doesn''t follow rules.0

    No one knows when a strong gust of wind might appear on a high mountain.0

    Of course, before that gust arrived, Chu Tingwu had already sensed its approach through the pressure changes. The instinctive warning in her heart felt like the wind was greeting her. The most reasonable choice at that moment would have been to stop skiing, find shelter, or contact the team at the base of the mountain.0

    But she ran through the route in her mind and chose to continue.0n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    If she could just outpace the wind and return to the camp ahead of it, it would be much safer than waiting on the mountain.0

    Under the watchful eyes of her live-stream audience, seagulls flew ahead, casting light that Chu Tingwu didn''t need. She sped through the night on her snowboard, navigating the area where the wind was chasing her, and then ended the stream.0

    This was normal. Her fans'' hearts were racing too. Even without a VR perspective, the screen showed only the light ahead, illuminating the snowy ground and a hint of moonlight.0

    When the shadows of the trees fell, even the moonlight became useless. The quiet night was filled only with the sound of the wind and the skis¡ªthe streamer didn''t speak, like a shadow moving through the darkness.0

    Finally, when she reached a tter area, Chu Tingwu slowed down by turning her skis sideways and looked back at the vast mountains behind her. Her shadow stretched long under the moonlight.0

    She said, "Goodnight."0

    She ended the stream.0

    At that point, Zhou Qiang still hadn''t noticed anything unusual.0

    Chu Tingwu''s streams were indeed unpredictable, and she ended them whenever she felt like it. Although she hadn''t skied all the way back to the camp, she had achieved the goal she set for the stream.0

    It wasn''t until Chu Tingwu slowly returned to the camp, skied up to her, and didn''t remove her gear, instead tilting her body slightly and saying, "I think I sprained my wrist," that Zhou Qiang realized something was wrong.0

    She asked Zhou Qiang to help her take off her gear.0

    Zhou Qiang: "..."0

    Sprains are all toomon in sports, and the camp had a doctor who specialized in treating them. Chu Tingwu''s symptoms were very mild¡ª0

    But the doctor, smiling, informed Aunt Mei.0

    Chu Tingwu: "Wait..."0

    The system delivered bad news: "While you were practicing skiing, Aunt Mei got to know a lot of the staff."0

    At first, it might have been for the sake of the elderly at home, but now, she had caught a troublemaker.0

    The whole family (including the system) was on high alert.0

    Chu Tingwu: "?"0

    The system: "...Because you''ve never been injured before!"0

    From stumbling around as a beginner in parkour to now confidently arranging her own extreme sports and challenges, Chu Tingwu had always picked things up quickly, steadily making her way into the world of extreme sports. Everyone knows that injuries are inevitable in extreme sports, but no one had realized that Chu Tingwu could get hurt too¡ª0

    Except for the system, which had arranged for a hospital to be airlifted to Chewan City on the very day Chu Tingwu tried speed descending in real life.0

    ...But the external doctors hadn''t been needed.0

    This injury, however, surprised both the system and Chu Tingwu:0

    "Why am I recovering so quickly?"0

    Compared to others'' recovery rates, Chu Tingwu''s sprain healed astonishingly fast. After resting for half a day, her wrist only felt slightly numb and didn''t affect her normal activities. Perhaps in another couple of days, it would bepletely healed.0

    The system ran a check and concluded:0

    "Because of your Level 1 gic inheritance skill, the rate at which you gain experience for this skill doubles during the time you''re injured and recovering."0

    Compared ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????to body control, gic inheritance had always been slow to level up. Among her three skills, the order of progression from fastest to slowest was perfect control, intuition, and then gic inheritance. Clearly, Chu Tingwu could still improve the first two through targeted training, but gic inheritance remained a mystery.0

    The system determined: "Once this skill levels up, your genes will be further optimized."0

    It was both inheritance and evolution, which naturally included faster recovery from injuries.0

    Chu Tingwu pondered, "Does that mean the more I get hurt, the faster I''ll recover?"0

    The system: "...?"0

    The system: "You''re not fully healed yet. No more ying around during this time."0

    Chu Tingwu: "But someone invited me to join them, and Louise even gave me her business card... Plus, we''re leaving Chewan in a couple of days."0

    The system: "I''m calling the police."1

    Hey!

 Chapter 109

    <h1>Chapter 109</h1>

    "Ah¡ª" Fang Lian frantically shook her roommate¡¯s waist, "I got it, I got it, I got it!"

    Roommate: "Did you win the lottery?"

    Fang Lian: "Hehe, I got selected for the VR draw!"

    Roommate: "Ugh..."

    She didn¡¯t get it!

    Darn it, why were the spots for the first day of the VR snowfield experience event decided by a lottery?

    Both of them were tourists in Chewan City, and they had arrived before Chu Tingwu. They nned to stay until they had to return to school, and then they stumbled upon Chewan City¡¯s new event.

    Fang Lian had watched Chu Tingwu¡¯s videos before and would click on them whenever they were updated. She was a casual fan, while her roommate preferred cat videos¡ªif the cats weren¡¯t the main focus, she¡¯d skip them. To each their own.

    But when it came to something new like VR live streaming, everyone wanted to give it a try.

    Fang Lian showed her roommate the text message from the organizers:

    "So there are two sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The morning is a ''recording,'' and the afternoon is live streaming?"

    After the event was announced, the number of applicants was so high that if they were to arrange it based on the order of registration, the machines and the people responsible for the live stream would have to work non-stop, with no end in sight.

    So, only a hundred spots were avable each day, with each spot allowing for a half-hour experience in both the morning and afternoon.

    That might seem short, but for something like skiing, an hour is enough for beginners.

    Fang Lian: "Hehe, I saw that the morning ''recording'' includes Chu Tingwu¡¯s nighttime snowboard descent!"

    The "recording" was essentially a fixed VR live stream, as the name suggests. The experience was a set sequence, and Fang Lian guessed it was like watching a movie in a 4D theater, but with a higher level of realism.

    The afternoon live stream, however, had a different flow. Different skiers would take turns, and it wasn¡¯t always just one person¡ªthey¡¯d switch around. So, while visitors were guaranteed a skiing experience while on the machine, they couldn¡¯t be sure which skier they¡¯d get.

    The afternoon lineup included not only Louise but also Weng Ling, an Olympic freestyle skiing champion from Chewan City¡ªshe was originally supposed to return to her team two days ago but was specially invited by the local government to participate in the first day of the event.

    Fang Lian heard that Chu Tingwu was originally supposed to participate too, but that part of the program was mysteriously canceled.

    Could it be that someizens thought Chu Tingwu wasn¡¯t professional enough orcked the necessary credentials, so she didn¡¯te?

    Fang Lian was indignant: "They¡¯re so petty! I hope Chu Tingwu didn¡¯t see thosements¡­ Honestly, if it weren¡¯t for her, where would this VR live stream even be?"

    The event wouldn¡¯t have existed in the first ce.

    Even though her roommate didn¡¯t get a spot, they both went to the event that day.

    Her roommate pinched Fang Lian¡¯s waist out of jealousy, making herugh so hard she almost fell over before finally letting her go inside.

    The VR experience pods were a gimmick, but they couldn¡¯t rely on just ten pods to keep so many tourists entertained. The event itself couldn¡¯t just be a dry experience for a small group while everyone else waited in line or watched.

    Her roommate quickly discovered that there were also performances, a market, and free one-hour equipment rentals at the snowfield in the morning¡­ It was clear that Chewan City was pulling out all the stops to keep tourists around.

    Her roommate had an idea¡ª

    When she and Fang Lian first arrived, they had tried skiing, but they quickly gave up after falling too many times. They¡¯d just been going out to find good food and take photos every day.

    Since they had nothing better to do, why not¡­ try again? And it was free for a limited time!

    Half an hourter, her roommatey in the snow, wondering: What exactly did Ie here for today?

    She looked up at the banner by the snowfield¡ª

    There was an artistic design that looked like a bird flying out of a flower basket, but upon closer inspection, the bird formed a "W," and the basket was a "U." It was the logo of the "WU" brand, which was sponsoring the event along with Chu Tingwu¡¯spany.

    Roommate: So it¡¯s you who¡¯s making me fall on my butt!

    With a hint of resentment, she returned to the rest area and happened to run into Fang Lian, whose eyes were shining brightly!

    Fang Lian had just climbed out of the machine, taking a few wobbly steps as if she might fall, but she grabbed her roommate¡¯s hand and first let out a soundless "ah" before finally saying, "Holy cow¡ª"

    Roommate: Hey.

    Fang Lian: "Babe, let¡¯s go skiing! I feel like I won¡¯t fall so easily now! Oh my god, I¡¯m so good, how did I even manage that move? And let me tell you, h h h¡­"

    Roommate: "-.-"

    I think you¡¯re dreaming.

    Fang Lian confidently headed to the snowfield, but her roommate cautiously stepped back.

    Sure enough, Fang Lian ended up falling in the same way.

    Roommate: "Does it hurt?"

    Fang Lian: "Yeah¡­"

    Roommate: "Still want to keep going?"

    Fang Lian: "It hurts¡­ but not enough to stop me."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Roommate: "?"

    She watched as her friend actually managed tost another half hour under the instructor¡¯s guidance. As she watched, she felt a bit moved. If nothing unexpected happened, today¡¯s experience would leave Fang Lian¡­

    In even more pain that night.

    Roommate: Am I going to have to carry her to the bathroom?

    Though she was full of snarky thoughts, she couldn¡¯t help but start to wonder¡­ What was so magical about the VR experience? When would she get selected? A hundred spots a day was way too few!

    -

    A hundred spots a day is way too few! The original poster who had been looking to buy gear was on the verge of tears.

    He still hadn¡¯t managed to buy knee pads¡­ and he hadn¡¯t been selected for the first day¡¯s lottery either.

    Because he got selected for the second day.

    Meanwhile, the guy in the wheelchair, Cheng Mi, got selected for the first day, and the original poster had learned his name during this time.

    When Cheng Mi went to participate, the original poster naturally went along, thinking he could lend a hand since Cheng Mi had limited mobility. However, Chewan City seemed well-prepared. When they noticed Cheng Mi was in a wheelchair, they weren¡¯t surprised and immediately sent staff to assist.

    The original poster was left with nothing to do.

    He overheard some locals nearby discussing¡ª

    "Why is that guy in a wheelchair here?"

    "Probably broke his leg skiing. What¡¯s the big deal?"

    Original poster: Hey!

    ¡­Is skiing here really that dangerous? He was starting to have doubts.

    He kept watching and noticed that most people who came out of the experience pods looked happy, excited, and even inspired to rent equipment and try skiing themselves.

    He really wanted to try it too¡ªCheng Mi had even lent him his knee pads, but since Chu Tingwu hadn¡¯t been streamingtely, the VR live stream knee pads were just ordinary ones.

    As for the recording feature, the app hadn¡¯t rolled it out yet, so it was only avable in Chewan City.

    The original poster was curious when Cheng Mi came out¡­ Watching others ski made time fly, and Cheng Mi also looked excited, but his excitement was different. He suppressed his emotions as he greeted the original poster, then seemed to guess what he was thinking.

    Cheng Mi smiled: "Don¡¯t worry about me. Go ahead and ski."

    It was precisely because he couldn¡¯t ski that hispanion was concerned about how he¡¯d feel.

    Cheng Mi wasn¡¯t bothered at all. In fact, he was still immersed in and savoring the experience he¡¯d just had¡ª

    Unlike the VR live stream knee pads, in the experience pod, he truly felt like he was "standing up" again!

    He was able to fully immerse himself in the sensation of having a strong, healthy body. He even got to try extreme sports that he¡¯d never been able to attempt when he could walk. If anything, he was even more thrilled that he got to experience extreme sports.

    What would it be like if others were live streaming? Maybe just ordinary daily life, but Cheng Mi thought that even if there were VR live streams like that, he probably wouldn¡¯t watch them¡ªhe¡¯d feel too restless.

    "Because health is a luxury for me, I can''t stand those who have healthy bodies but fail to fully utilize them."

    To exercise, to challenge, to do things he couldn''t even do if he were healthy¡ªthat''s how he feels... happiness!

    That''s why he loves this kind of VR livestream. There''s no sense of weakness or sluggishness, just leaving speed behind and choosing to soar.

    He sits in his wheelchair, watching people ski on the snowy field outside. The indoor screen also shows a live feed of the skiing scene, captured by a drone. Some are panicked beginners, while others move with agile expertise... As he watches, he hears someone nearby say:

    "Mom, why is that uncle sitting there? Isn''t he going to y?"

    The mother quickly covers the child''s mouth, but Cheng Mi just smiles and turns his head, ncing at the child''s ski board, and says, "He¡¯s ying by not ying."

    The child: "?"

    Cheng Mi: "Hahahaha."

    Although his legs have nothing to do with skiing, it¡¯s clear that the person who just came down from the slope looks utterly numb.

    For beginners, skiing is inseparable from the word "fall." Whether it''s a snowboard or skis, falling is inevitable, and the ways you can fall on skis are even more varied.

    Perhaps most people couldn¡¯t resist trying skiing in the morning, so by the afternoon, many were grimacing in pain. Even if they needed support from friends or had to lean against walls to walk, no one gave up the opportunity.

    Some even cast envious nces at Cheng Mi, who was leisurely sitting in his electric wheelchair¡ª

    They might be thinking of buying an electric wheelchair for themselves.

    The person who posted this was caught in the middle of this crowd, feeling rather helpless, but his attention quickly shifted to the live broadcast screen¡ªthis time, it showed professional skiers in action. But a twinge of jealousy crept into his heart because they could only watch, while those inside could experience it firsthand, as if they were the skiers themselves, having no idea how much fun they were having!

    The poster: "Why hasn¡¯t Chu Tingwue?"

    Roommate: "Why isn¡¯t Chu Tingwu participating?"

    Both were stunned, looking at the stranger who spoke at the same time, and then they realized: "You watch Chu Tingwu¡¯s livestreams too?"

    Since we both follow the same content creator, we¡¯re practically siblings from different parents!

    The siblings, despite their aches and pains... couldn¡¯t resist and went back to the ski field together.

    It felt like a waste of resources toe all this way and not ski.

    ...So it was only natural that they ended up seeing a doctor together that evening.

    The four of them gathered, but the only one without any soreness was Cheng Mi in his wheelchair. He was speechless, even feeling like he should "stand up" and lend his wheelchair to the others.

    The doctor they saw was also at the ski resort. Chewan City is home to a nationally renowned orthopedic hospital, and this time, a sponsor provided free medical services... It was said to be Chu Tingwu¡¯s private medical team, bringing staff from Guman City Orthopedic Hospital.

    Coincidentally, Chewan had underestimated the number of tourists, and this was just what they needed.

    Along the way, everyone was still discussing their disappointment at not seeing Chu Tingwu in the afternoon. After all, the afternoon livestream was the most likely time to catch a glimpse of the content creator, and with some luck, you might even get to experience skiing through the VR pod.

    This experience was directlyparable to when You Zhenzhen first tried the VR pod.

    So where exactly was the content creator¡ª

    "The hand is almost healed," the doctor said.

    "I told you it was almost healed," Chu Tingwu said.

    Zhou Qiang reached out, her hand probing Chu Tingwu¡¯s chest. Three-Five-Five, who had been nestled inside the down jacket with only its head poking out, squeezed out a paw and patted Zhou Qiang¡¯s palm.

    Zhou Qiang: "Three-Five-Five says no."

    Three-Five-Five: "Meow~"

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    Chu Tingwu looked at the doctor, who looked away.

    Theoretically... theoretically, she should side with her boss, but even the boss has to listen to her mom.

    Can¡¯t help you there.

    She looked at the people in line behind them:

    "Do you have activity tickets? Scan them, please? You¡¯re here for sprains and strains, right? No, huh?"

    She noticed Cheng Mi in the wheelchair:

    ...Did you break your leg skiing?

    Cheng Mi: "I¡¯m fine, just here for them."

    ...Not only did he break his leg, but he¡¯s also so determined despite his disability.

    Cheng Mi: ==

 Chapter 110

    <h1>Chapter 110</h1>

    At my most disheveled moment, I met up with my fans. To avoid showing my vulnerability, I chose to hide my figure and quietly leave... but this didn''t seem to be Chu Tingwu''s script.

    Because the moment she saw her, the person who was grimacing in pain almost jumped up and said:

    "Why do you only release a hundred knee pads for sale every day?"

    Do you know how hard it is to get one?

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    "Ah, Three Five Five!" Another person also perked up,pletely forgetting the muscle soreness, "Master Chu, Happy New Year! Can I get Three Five Five''s autograph?"

    Chu Tingwu looked down at Three Five Five''s paw, then looked up: Don''t push your luck!

    Looking at these four not-so-old but weak and sickly individuals, she figured they wouldn''t be able to catch up even if she wanted to leave. Chu Tingwu pinched the tabby cat''s paw pad and learned from their chattering that they had alle to Chewan City to experience VR live streaming.

    It was the fan in the wheelchair who finally spoke up, expressing concern about her injury.

    Her wrist was fine now... but perhaps because she was restricted from running around, she was as rare as a panda to those around her. So, even though everyone knew the injury didn''t affect her anymore, they still liked to care for her as if she were a patient.

    Chu Tingwu had been woken up by Aunt Mei early that morning, who fed her soup as if she wished Three Five Five could do it too... she couldn''t help but remind her: "My feet seem fine?"

    She could get up and eat.

    Aunt Mei smiled: "Then have a few more bites, let Qiang Qiang take a photo."

    Zhou Qiang, holding the camera behind her, gave a thumbs-up with a straight face.

    Chu Tingwu: ==

    This was clearly about wanting to see her being fed like a baby, and even capturing it on camera!

    ...And even the system was snapping away!

    So that afternoon, Chu Tingwu used Three Five Five''s paw pad and Ten Kuai''s heart (without Ten Kuai''s knowledge) to bribe Zhou Qiang, and the two sneaked off to Chewan City''srgest indoor ski resort.

    The indoor slope was full of kids, with only a few adults on the advanced slopes.

    Chu Tingwu and Zhou Qiang, both minors, blended in perfectly among the elementary school kids, and she even ran into her littlepetitor from a previous match.

    The kid was pretty skilled, so Chu Tingwu pawned Zhou Qiang off as a winter break homework writer and yed with the little guy for half a day.

    Zhou Qiang: "...?"

    She sent Shao Lingwu a two-yuan red packet and outsourced the job.

    Shao Lingwu didn''t really want to stoop for two yuan, but Zhou Qiang said she''d tell him which day they were flying to Fallen Phoenix City¡ª

    Not wanting to be left out (as in the three of them taking the same flight back to camp without him), Shao Lingwu started doing the homework via video call.

    Chu Tingwu, who had already skied three runs: "?"

    She could hear everything clearly from the slopes.

    Better to pull Zhou Qiang back into the fun, or else someone might end up losing their pants.

    During the evening check-up, the doctor marveled at Chu Tingwu''s physique: "You''re healthier than I am."

    No wrist sprain, no muscle strain, not even the usual post-exercise soreness... but since she was the boss, he checked a bit longer.

    Then they bumped into the fan quartet.

    Chu Tingwu offered Three Five Five''s front paw tofort the fans, hearing one of them murmur: "I''ve touched my idol..."

    So in the "Chu and Three Five Five" fanbase, you''re a Three Five Five solo stan.

    They chatted for a bit, and as the night deepened, they decided to part ways. But as they reached the door, Chu Tingwu heard the fan in the wheelchair softly say:

    "Thank you."

    Huh?

    The wind tried to sneak into her warm clothes as Chu Tingwu ced her hand on Three Five Five''s head, feeling the warmth and softness of the fur.

    Time to go back to sleep!

    -

    Chu Tingwu woke up at around three in the morning.

    Zhou Qiang was still asleep, the room silent except for the soft breathing of everyone sleeping, with a few bird calls in the distance.

    Chu Tingwunded silently, the room was warm, and the floor wasn''t cold. She poured herself a ss of water, then decided to press her ear against the wall¡ª

    Some faint sounds seemed to amplify, transmitted through the building.

    In this quiet night, Chu Tingwu heard... something getting closer.

    It was as if a piece of the sky had melted, copsing onto the mountain peak, the slight tremor of the earth carrying the distant destruction closer to human habitation, but at this moment, Chu Tingwu couldn''t describe this feeling. She just opened her eyes in this night and heard... the sound of nature, carrying the cold of wind and snow, cruel yet calm, even the noise was silent.

    She took out her phone, the screen lit up, disying:

    "Kasha Mountain Southwest Peak... 3:44:23... avnche urred..."

    The avnche happened the moment Chu Tingwu woke up.

    And what she "heard" was the aftermath.

    Zhou Qiang: "What are you doing pressing against the wall in the middle of the night?"

    ...And the confusion of a friend waking up startled.

    -

    When they woke up in the morning, they found out the ski resort was temporarily closed. Fortunately, the night''s avnche didn''t affect any tourists, and no one was trapped... only Aunt Mei, a bit shaken, tapped Chu Tingwu''s shoulder, and Ten Kuai, mimicking her, also gave a paw tap.

    Chu Tingwu grabbed his paw and shoved the kitten into Zhou Qiang''s arms.

    Aunt Mei: "Good thing you weren''t doing night-time snowboard racing yesterday."

    Otherwise, this avnche wouldn''t have been "no casualties."

    But after saying it, she felt a bit mncholic¡ª

    Yesterday, nothing happened, but what about tomorrow? This child was like a bird... no, Aunt Mei nced at the obediently eating crow beside her, this child was harder to catch than a bird. Maybe to them, an avnche was a disaster.

    But look at her expression, though she didn''t show much, her eyes were so bright, maybe racing an avnche would excite her.

    Chu Tingwu sipped her porridge,forting: "Don''t worry."

    "I''ll be one step ahead of the disaster."

    Zhou Qiang: "That somehow sounds punchable."

    Chu Tingwu pondered: "...Then, ''I won''t let disaster befall me.''"

    Zhou Qiang: "How about ''I''ll stay safe and unharmed''?"

    Not quite.

    Chu Tingwu looked away, pretending to whistle.

    Zhou Qiang: At least make a sound.

    This person couldn''t even fake it properly.

    ...Perhaps it was because she didn''t want to deceive those close to her with promises she couldn''t keep, but it dide off as quite annoying.

    So, the phrase "I''ll be one step ahead of the disaster" seemed genuine.

    Zhou Qiang thought: Can anyone really do that?

    Buting from Chu Tingwu, it somehow felt trustworthy.

    The WU-Flying series knee pads were still slowly rolling out, the first few batches were essentially beta testers, their knee pads were guaranteed, but the real test was societal eptance... and as Chu Tingwu boarded the ne, she learned that thepany had already been approached by the government, though it would take time to reach an agreement.

    The experience pods were hard to mass-produce, but the simplified VR knee and elbow pads, along with the VR sses they were designing, seemed ready to officially enter the VR live streaming arena.

    Due to the avnche, the skipetitions for the next few days were temporarily canceled, and Chu Tingwu, unable to wait for the finals, had to return to Fallen Phoenix City as nned.

    She also gained a mutual follow from the speed descent master Louise, who said she had watched Chu Tingwu''s night-time descent video and found it interesting, hoping to invite her to join a speed descent video project she was nning with some friends.

    When Chu Tingwu received the message, it felt oddly familiar. It wasn¡¯t until she was on the ne that she remembered¡ªthe first person to invite her had been Arthur, the American freerunning athlete.

    He had invited her a few more times after that, but Chu Tingwu was always busy. Once, it was right after the wild wolf observation project ended, and her summer vacation had just concluded. What a shame.

    The ne carrying Chu Tingwu and herpanionsnded in Fallen Phoenix City. The newly renovated airport was located in the suburbs, and while still in the air, Chu Tingwu received a message from Chu Xiao¡ª

    Probably concerned that she might feel uneasy about finding new rtives, the Chu family still had Chu Xiao handlemunication with her.

    This time, over thirty members of the Chu family hade.

    Aside from the eldest ancestor, some of them were aunts and uncles, while others were older cousins. Only Chu Xiao was present from the younger generation¡­ after all, this wasn¡¯t a full family gathering. The younger kids could be brought overter when the two families interacted more, or Chu Tingwu could visit them instead.

    Thoughtful of the children¡¯s school schedules, the Chu family had arrived a day early and had already settled into their hotel. Taking the initiative, one of Chu Tingwu¡¯s cousins drove over with Chu Xiao to pick them up.

    The car was parked outside, but while Teacher Zhang and the others, along with their cats, had already boarded, Chu Tingwu and Zhou Qiang had to wait a bit longer. In half an hour, Shao Lingwu¡¯s ne would alsond.

    Though it might seem a little odd for Shao Lingwu, who had no family ties, to join their group, the car her cousin brought was spacious enough to amodate one more person.

    Shao Lingwu was excited when hended, but Zhou Qiang was wary:

    ¡°You didn¡¯t bring 819 with you, did you?¡±

    Shao Lingwu: ¡°Where would an electric tricycle even sit on a ne¡­¡±

    He was carefree, not stupid!

    Chu Tingwu, standing nearby, suddenly spoke up: ¡°What if you could buy a seat for the tricycle?¡±

    Shao Lingwu: ¡°Uh¡­¡±

    Zhou Qiang: ¡°¡­¡±

    Never mind, it wasn¡¯t important. Shao Lingwu grabbed his suitcase and happily joined his friends. He noticed Chu Tingwu and Zhou Qiang had been waiting near the door, but then Chu Tingwu suddenly walked over.

    Shao Lingwu: ¡°No need to help me carry it, I can drag it¡ª¡±

    Chu Tingwu walked past him.

    Shao Lingwu: ¡°?¡±

    Chu Tingwu kicked the back of a passerby¡¯s knee, causing them to yelp. The nearby airport police were momentarily stunned but quickly rushed over. Then, they saw a pile of items fall from the passerby¡¯s person¡ªjewelry, cash, and a phone.

    Shao Lingwu patted his pocket. Wait, his phone?

    Her cousin would have to wait a little longer, as Chu Tingwu and the others had to assist the police. Fortunately, it didn¡¯t take too long¡­ because Chu Tingwu had an idea: ¡°Can I show you my video ount?¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The police officer paused, nced at her ount, looked at her face, and then noticed the ¡°Police Assistant¡± gold badge on her profile. Trying not tough, he said, ¡°Alright, you can go. We¡¯ll contact you if needed.¡±

    Shao Lingwu, holding his phone, sighed in relief: ¡°Who would¡¯ve thought there¡¯d still be pickpockets these days¡­¡±

    Zhou Qiang: ¡°It¡¯s even rarer for someone to actually have their phone stolen these days, right?¡±

    Most people never let their phones out of their hands.

    Shao Lingwu casually pointed: ¡°I was wearing too manyyers, so I didn¡¯t feel it. And some people don¡¯t always carry their phones, like that foreign guy over there¡ªI can¡¯t even tell where he¡¯s keeping his phone.¡±

    The foreigner, Arthur: ¡°My phone!¡±

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°¡­¡±

    Arthur, who had mysteriously appeared there, spotted Chu Tingwu and looked as if he¡¯d been saved. He called out the name he often used duringpetitions: ¡°WU¡ª¡±

    Chu Tingwu took a step back.

    Half an hourter, another airport police officer escorted the group, along with the foreign friend and the apprehended pickpocket, to the terminal.

    The original police officer: ¡°?¡±

    We know you¡¯re a police assistant, but you really didn¡¯t need to catch another one just to prove it.

 Chapter 111

    <h1>Chapter 111</h1>

    The cousin responsible for driving was named Chu Yu, seemingly the third eldest among all the cousins. When Chu Tingwu called him "Third Brother," he responded with particr enthusiasm, though he seemed to have something on his mind.0

    The system chimed in: "He''s been your fan for a while, already at level 14."0

    To ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????reach that level, he must have either watched your streams for a long time or spent a considerable amount on donations¡ªclearly a dedicated fan.0

    Finally, the cousin spoke up: "I bought your merchandise¡­ but I didn¡¯t manage to snag the VR live-streaming knee pads¡­"0

    Arthur interjected: "Yes! VR live-streaming!"0

    Cousin Chu Yu shot him a look: "Why is this stranger suddenly butting in?"0

    Arthur, who had visited China once before, had picked up some everyday phrases and mixed them with English. Chu Tingwu checked with the system and promised her cousin a set of knee pads. She then learned from Arthur that he hade specifically for the VR live-streaming¡ªand not just that, he had flown over immediately after finding out Chu Tingwu would be returning to Luofeng City today.0

    Shao Lingwu muttered to himself: "How did he find out¡­?"0

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­" She didn¡¯t know either, but it definitely didn¡¯t involve writing elementary school winter break homework.0

    Unlike viewers who wanted to experience different sceneries under the guidance of their favorite content creator, Arthur wanted to be a content creator himself.0

    He said:0

    "When I saw the impact of your live streams, I felt like you had created a miracle¡­ No video creator could resist the allure of VR live-streaming. In fact, those who get their hands on this equipment first are standing at the forefront of the new video era! That¡¯s why I¡¯m here!"0

    He was thrilled: "WU! Even if you refuse, it¡¯s fine. Just let me watch you live-stream from the sidelines!"0

    He had produced many parkour videos¡ªcreative and story-driven speed runs, seemingly dangerous high-altitude stunts, and even instructional content. He had once founded a parkour teaching club and ran a rted forum.0

    However, Arthur wasn¡¯t one of the earliest parkour enthusiasts in America. He was just more passionate, with a wider circle of friends. He was the type who would say, "Let¡¯s do it that way," and actually make it happen. And now, he had found a new goal¡ª0

    "VR live-streaming is an amazing n. It can help promote niche sports and lower the barrier to understanding them!"0

    Some people might fall in love with parkour after mastering a difficult move or a series ofbinations through relentless practice. But with VR equipment, more people could experience the thrill of the sport at a low cost, feel that sense of achievement, and be interested in learning more.0

    Chu Tingwu poured cold water on his enthusiasm:0

    "But this equipment will actually affect your movements."0

    Although the system had tried to minimize the weight and remove unnecessary parts, the entire setup still had some heft to it.0

    Moreover, the equipment was designed specifically for Chu Tingwu, not for other humans. So, in reality, the only live-streaming equipment in the world suitable for use was tailored to her. The system hadn¡¯t even considered making it for anyone else.0

    Of course¡­ the government had recently approached her, seemingly interested in customizing simr equipment, but the discussions were still ongoing.0

    Parkour with added weight would feel different from normal parkour. If Arthur wanted to use the equipment, he would first have to wait for a custom set, then adapt to the physical constraints, and finally face the biggest issue¡ª0

    He was likely to get injured.0

    Arthur looked relieved, as if to say, "That¡¯s it?"0

    "When I was eight, I climbed like a monkey from my house to my neighbor¡¯s. My neighbor, who was a parkour enthusiast, told me I could learn to move faster from him, but I would definitely get hurt," he said, pointing to his leg with a smile. "He wasn¡¯t lying. I¡¯ve been injured many times, but the joy parkour brings me far outweighs the pain. And the thought of sharing that joy with others makes it feel even more rewarding."0n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He knew that if he hadn¡¯t happened to know Chu Tingwu and had some rapport with her, he wouldn¡¯t even have this chance to "get injured."0

    Then there was another issue, though it wasn¡¯t a major one¡­ the current audience for VR live-streaming was too small.0

    Chu Tingwu leaned against the car window:0

    Why did it feel like, aside from her cousin, there was now another person in the car urging her to expand herpany?0

    The system assessed the situation and spoke up:0

    "Currently, our app is region-locked and only coborates with Fenghua Media because you stream on Fenghua Network."0

    In fact, with VR live-streaming as a unique feature and the ability to produce rted equipment independently without epting external funding, Chu Tingwu could easily start her own video tform, quickly sign a bunch of creators, grow it into a powerhouse within a few years, climb the rich list, and even buy Disney¡­ Well, thatst one was the system¡¯s goal.0

    However, she had been streaming on Fenghua Network for a while and had a good rtionship with them. She wasn¡¯t keen on starting a new tform from scratch.0

    For one thing¡­ it would mean downloading another app on her phone.0

    Since the knee pads weren¡¯t avable for sale internationally and the app didn¡¯t have a global download channel, if Arthur wanted to live-stream, he would first need to register an ount on Fenghua Network.0

    Arthur: "I already have one."0

    He had downloaded and registered it when Chu Tingwu streamed about wild wolves on Fenghua Network¡¯s overseas site, though he hadn¡¯t verified it and used it as a private ount.0

    Now, with Chu Tingwu¡¯s help, hepleted the ount verification. Arthur then suggested: "Why don¡¯t you sign me?"0

    Chu Tingwu: "Huh?"0

    Arthur had thought it through: "My live-streaming contract with Vt is about to expire, and I¡¯ve been looking for a new tform. If the content I create next has to be published on this site, I¡¯ll likely stay in this country for the long term. But I don¡¯t want to sign directly with the tform¡ª"0

    He had done that before and got somewhat burned.0

    Now, even though Chu Tingwu wasn¡¯t an adult and might seem unreliable to others, Arthur trusted her. Besides:0

    How could anyone who loves parkour be a bad person!0

    Chu Tingwu: "=="0

    She noticed Shao Lingwu nodding.0

    Chu Tingwu: Why are you nodding?0

    Fenghua Network did have studios andpanies that signed smaller content creators and had them create content as required. But when Chu Tingwu checked Arthur¡¯s follower count on Vt¡ª0

    27.42 million.0

    Then she looked at her own follower count: 5.17 million.0

    How could an employee be more popr than the boss?0

    -0

    The signing matter was temporarily put on hold because Chu Tingwu wasn¡¯t sure if she wanted to start apany just to sign a friend¡­ It might make more sense to consolidate thepanies under her name into a more cohesive brand.0

    Currently, she had fourpanies, one hospital, and some other assets she wasn¡¯t even aware of. Some fans knew they belonged to her, while others werepletely unknown even to her. But for long-term development, it would be better to establish a nominal parentpany and add a new brand logo to all the products.0

    The system suggested: "How about ¡®WU¡¯? The logo could be a crow."0

    The brand design for the "WU-Flying" knee pads was quite good, and the crow from the logo could be adapted for reuse.0

    The U-shaped basket design hadn¡¯t gone to waste either¡ªit was now the logo for the VR plugin app.0

    The system also shared some good news with Chu Tingwu¡ª0

    Although she wasn¡¯t nning to create a new tform, Fenghua Network seemed to sense the urgency and proactively reached out, wanting to host future VR live-streaming on their site and integrate the "U" app directly with Fenghua Video.0

    After some back-and-forth, they seemed to havepleted a share swap. While Chu Tingwu was dozing on the ne, she became a shareholder of Fenghua Video Network without even realizing it.0

    ¡ª¡ªThere had been rumors for a while that the top UP owners of the website held shares in the site. And now, those rumors turned out to be true.0

    Chu Tingwu wasn¡¯t very familiar with business matters, but she knew she wouldn¡¯t be short of money, so she simply asked:0

    ¡°Are you one step closer to buying that amusement park or whatever?¡±0

    The system: ¡°Haha.¡±0

    What a weirdugh!0

    When Man Xing sent someone over, Arthur was supposed to follow Chu Tingwu, so he ended up joining her for several meals¡ªafter discussing with the Chu family, they booked a hotel and hosted a banquet to thank many of the people Chu Tingwu knew.0

    Even the system was unfamiliar with this process. After checking, it said, ¡°It¡¯s simr to a graduation celebration banquet.¡±0

    It seemed to be a local custom to host a feast to express gratitude when a child graduates. Teacher Zhang, Auntie Mei, and the great-grandparents naturally sat at the main table, while Chu Tingwu¡¯s elementary and middle school teachers, uncles and aunts from the vige, people she knew from Little Sun Pet Hospital, Mr. Yang, her first investor, You Zhenzhen, who made time to attend along with herpany subordinates, Teacher Li, the assistant of the promotional video director, and a few friends she met through the cultural and tourism bureau¡­ all were present.0

    Chu Tingwu sat beside her great-grandmother, staring at the dishes on the table as if trying to make flowers bloom out of them.0

    There were¡­ a lot of people.0

    This event, though called a graduation celebration banquet, was more of a gratitude banquet¡­ It also seemed to be a way of telling others: Thank you for taking care of our child. She¡¯s a Chu, and she¡¯s part of our Chu family.0

    As the banquet reached itstter half, Chu Tingwu turned to look at her great-grandmother and felt as if she was seeing her own grandmother.0

    After a moment of silence, she spoke up:0

    ¡°After today, can we also invite the cats I know?¡±0

    Chu Xiao, sitting beside her, quipped: Are you a cat?0

    The great-grandmother smiled warmly: ¡°Of course, of course. You can pick the ce and the menu, and it¡¯ll just be our family.¡±0

    That big orange cat would probably be able to eat to its heart¡¯s content.0

    The system, meanwhile, was still observing the format of this ¡°graduation celebration banquet¡± and eventually said, ¡°We can host another one when you get into university!¡±0

    In Jin City, inviting the Chu family, teachers, ssmates, neighbors from themunity, the cats of Jin City, the police, and Three-Five-Five¡¯s friends¡­ they¡¯d probably need more than one banquet hall in a hotel!0

    Chu Tingwu smiled: ¡°Sure.¡±0

    After the ¡°graduation celebration banquet,¡± Arthur continued to follow her eagerly, though he knew that such customizations wouldn¡¯t bepleted quickly.0

    But the next day, Chu Tingwu received an air-shipped package, and upon opening it, it looked strikingly simr to the VR live-streaming equipment she used before!0

    Arthur: ¡°!?¡±0

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°It¡¯s not for you.¡±0

    Arthur: ¡­So you have another cat outside.0

    But he didn¡¯t get to voice hisint, as Zhou Qiang helped open the package, and everyone gathered around. Chu Tingwu called out, ¡°Three-Five-Five.¡±0

    Three-Five-Five didn¡¯te.0

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°Meow, meow~¡±0

    Three-Five-Five: ¡°==¡±0

    How old are you now!0

    She jumped down, and Chu Tingwu helped her put on the equipment¡ª0

    She didn¡¯t have another cat outside; how could her cat mom count as someone else¡¯s?0

    After being reminded by a fan, Chu Tingwu realized that part of her ount¡¯s followers were also fans of her cat mom, so why not let Three-Five-Five do a live stream? But a VR live stream from a cat¡¯s perspective¡­ that would truly be a ride with a cat driver.0

    She signaled the system to start the stream and let Three-Five-Five have fun:0

    Fans, please board the cat bus.

 Chapter 112

    <h1>Chapter 112</h1>

    Three-Five-Five was clearly not used to wearing the new equipment, but for the sake of the cub, she didn¡¯t take it off herself.

    When fans entered the live broadcast interface, they were a bit confused because, although it was still a first-person perspective this time¡­ why was the viewpoint so much lower?

    Considering that some people might not be used to this non-human perspective and sensation, Chu Tingwu exined to everyone a few minutes after starting the broadcast before initiating the connection.

    ¡ªAt this moment, many who had received the knee pads were eagerly putting on the equipment and waiting.

    Some users who had previously downloaded the app noticed an update¡ª

    They could now post voicements in real time.

    [My mom asked me what I was doing wearing these sses. I told her I was waiting for the bus driver to start driving. She scolded me, saying I was crazy for not taking the bus in real life but instead riding one online.]

    [You¡¯re lucky. I just told my brother I was being a cat online, and he went out and said my acting cute was disgusting.]

    [Can I also get a chance to be a cat¡­ let me try, let me try!]

    Tian Shi: ¡°¡­¡±

    She was wearing VR sses, but for now, only the subtitles of thements were visible. She was a bit worried: Would she get motion sickness from the cat¡¯s perspective?

    Tian Shi had been busy with work recently, but since VR livestreams had been so poprtely, she managed to get her hands on a set of equipment through some connections. However, she hadn¡¯t caught Chu Tingwu¡¯s broadcast yet, and now Three-Five-Five was the host, which made her a bit uneasy.

    Just then, as Chu Tingwu said, ¡°I¡¯ll connect now,¡± Tian Shi felt her ankles tighten.

    Just in case, she had alreadyid down on the bed, and now her hands instinctively lifted¡ª

    The scene in front of her changed.

    It wasn¡¯t too different from the original livestream footage, but the fixed camera angle had turned into a slightly swaying one¡­ If the camera didn¡¯t move, it would be harder for the viewer to immerse themselves, but this subtle swaying enhanced the sense of realism, Tian Shi thought.

    However, she ced her hands on her stomach and fell silent:

    ¡°Missing the hand equipment¡­ feels a bit weird, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    When Chu Tingwu was skiing or parkouring, since her legs were constantly moving and the hand gestures were something everyone could imagine (after all, everyone has been human, right?), people didn¡¯t pay much attention.

    But no one has ever been a cat, especially one standing on four legs.

    At this moment, Tian Shi felt like she was standing on two legs, but her brain told her this posture couldn¡¯t support her body. Her hands were empty, unable to touch the ground, and although the perspective was forward¡ª

    Chu Tingwu reached out and scratched Three-Five-Five¡¯s chin.

    Although she couldn¡¯t feel it due to the equipment, Tian Shi felt like she was being scratched too: ¡­This feels a bit perverted!

    Just as Tian Shi was feeling confused, Three-Five-Five lifted a paw and pushed Chu Tingwu¡¯s hand away, letting out a ¡°meow.¡±

    Tian Shi saw the furry paw in her field of vision and instinctively smiled a little.

    It felt so close, but when she reached out, she couldn¡¯t touch it.

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°Alright, go y by yourself. I¡¯ll go discuss the ancestral worship with Great Ancestor.¡±

    Three-Five-Five: ¡°Meow.¡±

    The mother cat jumped down from the rocking chair.

    Tian Shi realized this must be Chu Tingwu¡¯s house in Fallen Phoenix City, a small vige house with a courtyard.

    It seemed like they hadn¡¯t been back for a while. The house was still clean, but it felt a bit lonely.

    Three-Five-Five¡¯s hind legs moved as she walked, and Tian Shi sighed, following the cat¡¯s perspective to look around the courtyard: Although the hands felt a bit strange, she could hug a Three-Five-Five plushie.

    Moreover, following the cat¡¯s perspective didn¡¯t give her the usual dizziness from watching other cat videos, which was indeed quite fun.

    Just as she was thinking this, she felt Three-Five-Five¡¯s hind legs push off, and in her vision, she saw the cat¡¯s ws scratch the wall. The perspective quickly changed, and with a ¡°whoosh,¡± Three-Five-Five leaped onto the wall.

    Tian Shi: Master!

    Master, could you meow a warning before elerating next time¡­ I was startled.

    But she was also curious¡ªwhat was Three-Five-Five going to do? She heard that Three-Five-Five had already be the boss of the cat world in Jin City, always surrounded by a group of followers when she went out. But in Fallen Phoenix City, she hadn¡¯t been back for a while, right? Was she going to greet her old friends?

    Just as she was thinking this, an old friend jumped down from the nearby roof, letting out a couple of ¡°meows.¡±

    It was a sturdy yet agile tabby cat. She approached Three-Five-Five¡ª

    And wasn¡¯t hit.

    The tabby licked Three-Five-Five¡¯s forehead and then tried to lick her ear. Three-Five-Five gently nibbled the tabby¡¯s head, and the two cats bumped heads, exchanging a few ¡°meows¡± and ¡°purrs¡± on the wall.

    A wave of ¡°Aaaaaah!¡± flooded thements.

    In regr cat videos, people also loved seeing the UP cat interact with other cats. Now, knowing that this livestream offered a VR experience, those who hadn¡¯t bought the equipment were even more envious.

    Tian Shi: ¡°Aaaaaah, where can I buy the experience pod?!¡±

    Although Chu Tingwu had hinted that elbow pads and their self-produced VR sses would be avable soon, the experience pod would definitely feel better. Even though it was more expensive, Tian Shi could afford it.

    ¡­Maybe I should go to You Zhenzhen¡¯spany as an outsourced employee and try to get a chance?

    But I heard that in theirpany, even the experience pod ess is decided by lottery now. The boss herself felt too guilty to hog it all, so they take turns testing it internally.

    After greeting the tabby, Three-Five-Five and the tabby ran along the wall, calling out an orange cat from a nearby house. But when they saw this orange cat, Tian Shi noticed something strange in Three-Five-Five¡¯s voice:

    ¡°Why have you gotten so fat, meow?¡±

    Big Orange: ¡°Meow?¡±

    Big Orange walked over, its primordial pouch swaying, its body chubby and plump. Three-Five-Five couldn¡¯t resist and gave it a p on the head.

    The tabby, scratching the wall nearby, casually chimed in: ¡°Stop hitting it, stop hitting it, it doesn¡¯t feel pain¡­ hitting it is useless, just bite it, meow.¡±

    Three-Five-Five: ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????¡°==¡±

    Walking with Big Orange, the mother cat felt a bit embarrassed.

    But Big Orange still came over and rubbed against her, only to get smacked again when it tried to sniff her rear.

    Then, the three cats went to Third Aunt¡¯s house and called out Little Calico, Niu Niu.

    Niu Niu wasn¡¯t a little calico kitten anymore. She had grown into a beautiful young cat. Although her mouse-catching skills were still unknown, shey on the wall for a while before jumping down and greeting each of the cats.

    She wore a pink cor bought by Third Aunt, and sometimes she went out with the vige cats wearing it, always returningte at night, sneaking back into the house, and curling up in her bed. When Third Aunt came over, she pretended she had just woken up.

    ¡ªIn the morning, she could nap and make up for lost sleep, since cats don¡¯t have to wake up early.

    Now, being called out by the other cats, she seemed a bit hesitant. Three-Five-Five simply stood at the door and let out a couple of ¡°meows,¡± calling Third Aunt out.

    Tian Shi: ¡°Ah¡­¡±

    She hadn¡¯t seen people from this angle before, or had only looked down on them from above. Now, Third Aunt opened the door, and even without the system¡¯s censorship, the mother cat could only see up to her calves.

    So this is what it feels like¡­ to be in a world of giants.

    She suddenly sat up, feeling the urge to draw, but she didn¡¯t want to miss the livestream¡­ So shey back down and watched for a couple more minutes before suddenly realizing:

    What was that inspiration I just had?

    Crap, I forgot==

    The cats weren¡¯t aware of the human¡¯s frustration, as Three-Five-Five stood at the door and exchanged a few words with Third Aunt. Third Aunt said, ¡°Alright, alright, go out and y, but Three-Five-Five, you have to bring my Niu Niu back safely, okay?¡±

    Three-Five-Five: ¡°Meow.¡±

    She lifted a front paw and waved¡ªa gesture she secretly learned from Chu Tingwu, mimicking a human¡¯s promise¡ªand then called Niu Niu to follow.

    The audience thought they were about to see the cats leave the vige, with the next segment being a journey, but instead, the four cats quickly hitched a ride at the vige entrance¡ªon an electric tricycle.

    Standing next to the electric tricycle, Shao Lingwu said, "This vehicle isn''t mine... it belongs to this grandpa here, who uses it to transport corn. I just came to buy a couple of ears of corn to roast."

    Three-Five-Five: "¡ú_¡ú"

    Shao Lingwu: "Really, it''s not mine, honestly... Grandpa, can I borrow the vehicle? Ah! Thank you, I''ll return it after I''m done. I''ll bring it back tonight!"

    Three-Five-Five: "¡û_¡û"

    Shao Lingwu: "Get in =="n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The cats jumped onto the corn stalks andfortably settled down.

    The tabby cat boasted, "I told you, meow, if we wait by this vehicle, we can go to the riverside, meow!"

    This is the vige cats'' bus!

    Three-Five-Five also meowed, resting her paws under her chin,fortably lying down, her tail swaying back and forth.

    She couldn''t be bothered to mention that the bus driver had changed... after all, a driver is a driver.

    Shao Lingwu drove the vehicle through the winter fields. Fallen Phoenix City had only seen a light snowfall, most of which had already melted. The fields were bare, and the corn he had just "bought" hung from the handlebars¡ªsince he was a guest at Chu Tingwu''s house, the grandpa hadn''t charged him but had asked him to keep an eye on the vehicle.

    Shao Lingwu: Well... Chu Tingwu did say that her cats are quite resourceful, so I''ll just help take them where they want to go and thene back.

    Three-Five-Five ced her paw on his back, and the fansmented:

    [Rebirth of the Cat Hitchhiker, and I''m hitching a ride with the cat, so am I the passenger or the passenger''s passenger?]

    [This guy seems pretty nice, and it''s like he understands catnguage¡ªhe drives when told and stops when told.]

    [But, actually, isn''t that Shao Lingwu?]

    [Oh, Shao Lingwu...]

    Seeing thements from those in the know, viewers who had missed part of the live stream asked, "Is he a new character from the Chu Tingwu version of the life simtion game?"

    [If it''s Shao Lingwu... given his intelligence, I believe he could learn catnguage, but based on his behavior, I think he''s just really good at following the cats'' instructions.]

    Three-Five-Five even scolded Shao Lingwu a couple of times when he took the wrong route. Shao Lingwu listened humbly but still managed to get lost the next time.

    After much meowing and effort, they finally arrived at the riverside antique street. Three-Five-Five jumped off the vehicle and quickly lured out a sturdy orange-and-white cat from a nearby house. The owner ran out, "Big King, you''re going out again¡ªoh? Three-Five-Five."

    The orange-and-white cat, named Big King, was allowed to leave. It¡¯s unclear how the cats negotiated it, but soon another cat joined the back seat of Shao Lingwu''s vehicle.

    Shao Lingwu: "..."

    He nced at the corn, then nced at the corn again.

    Three-Five-Five: "Meow?"

    Shao Lingwu: "Please sit tight."

    -

    Chu Tingwu: "Hmm..."

    Zhou Qiang: "Why is Shao Lingwu taking so long just to buy some corn?"

    Weren¡¯t they supposed to roast the corn and then head to the city together?

    Chu Xiao stood up: "Wait, could he have been kidnapped?"

    Although the chances of being kidnapped in the vige were low, considering it was Shao Lingwu, the possibility suddenly skyrocketed.

    Chu Tingwu: "Hmm..."

    Being "kidnapped" by one''s own (cats) probably doesn''t count as kidnapping, right?

 Chapter 113

    <h1>Chapter 113</h1>

    Shao Lingwu noticed that the rtionship between Three Five Five and the orange-white cat seemed neither good nor bad, but he still chose to invite thetter.

    The two cats were meowing and arguing in the back seat of the car, but they didn¡¯t actually fight. Eventually, the tricycle stopped in front of a pet hospital.

    The fans in the live stream felt a bit wistful:

    [Little Sun¡­ where the dream began.]

    [Oh my, I still remember the first time Ah Chu met Three Five Five. I¡¯ve been watching Little Sun¡¯s videos recently too. They¡¯ve been updating consistently, but it seems the person filming has changed. It¡¯s Lizi now, right? Did the bell go for training?]

    Indeed, Hang Ling wasn¡¯t there.

    The hospital had decided to open a branch in Jin City. Besides the usual pet hospital services, the branch would also handle cat rescue operations, which Hang Ling would be in charge of.

    As soon as Shao Lingwu got out of the car, Lizi arrived on an electric scooter¡ªshe had been watching the live stream and guessed from the direction that Three Five Five might be heading to the hospital.

    Lizi: ¡°Three Five Five!¡±

    She jumped off the scooter in a few quick steps, reaching out to the tortoiseshell cat. Seeing that Three Five Five didn¡¯t resist, she patted her head a couple of times.

    The viewers experiencing the live stream in VR mode: ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    They felt an urge to meow.

    Lizi ushered Shao Lingwu inside. He got out of the car, and the cats followed, jumping down one by one. However, Shao Lingwu, carrying a bag of corn, noticed that Lizi seemed to be mainly focused on Three Five Five¡ª

    Three Five Five wandered around the hospital, greeting a few rescued cats and those staying for treatment. She let out a meow and then, led by Lizi, headed to the rescue room.

    The rescue room had been relocated from its original floor to the ground level, now featuring a fenced and roofed courtyard space.

    Three Five Five seemed tomunicate something, and the cats in the courtyard began lining up to get into the tricycle.

    Shao Lingwu had just borrowed their space to steam his corn. When he turned around, he saw the cats all sitting in the back of the tricycle, turning their heads in unison to look at him.

    Shao Lingwu: ¡°¡­¡±

    His corn wasn¡¯t ready yet! Not yet!

    But the fans didn¡¯t care about the driver¡¯s feelings. It seemed they had guessed that Three Five Five was ¡°gathering¡± herpanions and were quite excited:

    [Oreo! Little Mei! Wow, familiar faces are back¡­ but why does Oreo seem to have a bald spot?]

    Those who hadn¡¯t been following Little Sun¡¯s recent live streams were filled in by others:

    [The rescue room recently took in a new kitten. One of the cats, maybe due to stress or something, really liked licking the others¡­ Most cats didn¡¯t like it, but Oreo always yed along¡­]

    Yes, it wasn¡¯t due to illness or surgery¡ªOreo had been licked bald by another cat.

    But Oreo stayed true to character, still cheerful and lively,pletely unashamed of his bald spot.

    Shao Lingwu crouched by the door, debating whether to take his corn. But he noticed that Three Five Five didn¡¯t jump into the tricycle. Instead, she let out a couple of meows, looking puzzled, and then dashed into the hallway.

    Huh?

    Lizi, standing nearby, seemed to realize something: ¡°Is she looking for Jingjing?¡±

    Shao Lingwu: ¡°Jingjing?¡±

    Lizi: ¡°Oh, we couldn¡¯t stop her. Jingjing has moved and is now living with Little Wang¡¯s parents.¡±

    The college student who used to live next door had graduated and found a new job outside the city, so he had left his cat with his parents temporarily¡­ But over time, the parents grew attached to the cat. Now, Wang Jingjing¡¯s status at home had surpassed that of the ¡°forgotten¡± Little Wang, and the upstairs apartment had been rented out.

    Three Five Five returned empty-handed. Shao Lingwu saw her perched on the second-floor stair railing, tail swishing, deep in thought.

    The mother cat didn¡¯t seem to mind the height, but some of the VR live stream viewers were nervous. Sharing Three Five Five¡¯s perspective, they could tell she was often observing the ground floor.

    Wait, isn¡¯t it a bit dangerous to jump from this height?

    [My silly cat once ran out while I was getting takeout and jumped from the fourth floor. Luckily, it was fine, but I was scared to death¡ªhow can cats just jump from such heights without fear? Do they think they have nine lives?]

    [They might be focused on something outside, like a bird or a ball, so they don¡¯t notice the height. Cats have great bnce, so being up high doesn¡¯t register as dangerous to them.]

    [Got it. It¡¯s like how I¡¯m reading thesements now. I¡¯m so focused on the text that I¡¯m not even thinking about the height, or I¡¯d be terrified!]

    Initially, everyone thought riding the VR cat-cam might make them motion sick, but instead, they ended up afraid of heights! From a human perspective, the height wasn¡¯t life-threatening, but from a cat¡¯s point of view, how many lives do they have?

    Three Five Five stood up and yawned.

    Shao Lingwu: ¡°Lizi said the cat you¡¯re looking for has moved¡ª¡±

    Three Five Five suddenly jumped down.

    The fans were startled.

    But Three Five Five didn¡¯t jump straight to the ground floor. Shended on the middle railing, leaped off the wall with a rebound, and gracefullynded on the ground floor, her fur puffing up in the air like a cloud of darkness.

    Meanwhile, the fans were screaming in the chat.

    Chu Tingwu and Zhou Qiang arrived at the foot of Zhangshan Mountain and nced at the live streamments: ¡°¡­¡±

    It had been a while since they¡¯d seen everyone so lively.

    This was a private restaurant at the mountain¡¯s base, which only served one table per day. It had a beautifullyndscaped courtyard, partially enclosed by ss. The green pines in the yard were still vibrant, and there was a small indoor fountain. The temperature was just right, and the dining area was often semi-open.

    The Chu family had already arrived and was helping with the setup.

    Chu Tingwu¡¯s third cousin, probably one of her oldest fans, asked her: ¡°Are you going up the mountain? Is there still time before the sun sets?¡±

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°I¡¯ll wait for Three Five Five to arrive, and then we¡¯ll go up together.¡±

    Three Five Five was inviting the cats, while Chu Tingwu was inviting the Taoist master.

    At the recent ¡°graduation celebration,¡± Master Zhuge and the temple abbot had been away attending a Taoist association event, so they couldn¡¯t make it. Today, they were invited again to join the cat gathering.

    But would Three Five Five make it before sunset?

    -

    Shao Lingwu was feeling a bit lost.

    He did have a habit of confusing left and right, but this time he hadn¡¯t taken a wrong turn. Instead, the cat seemed hesitant.

    From Lizi, he learned that Three Five Five and the ck cat named Wang Jingjing weren¡¯t particrly close. Their rtionship was simr to that of Three Five Five and the big cat¡ªjustpanions who had crossed paths for a while.

    Lizi and Little Wang were just neighbors, so she didn¡¯t know where his parents lived.

    But after driving for a while, Three Five Five meowed and swatted at him, signaling him to change direction. She then sat at the intersection, seemingly deep in thought.

    Finally, Shao Lingwu started driving again¡ª

    ¡°Hey, are you selling cats? Why aren¡¯t there any kittens, and why aren¡¯t they in cages?¡±

    Won¡¯t they run away?

    Shao Lingwu: ¡°¡­I¡¯m not selling.¡±

    Why had they ended up at the flower and bird market?

    He was riding an electric tricycle with a back seat full of cats¡ªno leashes, no cages¡ªwhich naturally drew the attention of everyone in the market.

    Shao Lingwu was used to being stared at, having grown up with it, but he didn¡¯t understand: was the cat Three Five Five was looking for in the market?

    The local flower and bird market naturally had all kinds of pets for sale, but Three Five Five didn¡¯t stop. They drove all the way to the police station next door.

    Shao Lingwu: ¡°?¡±

    The cat entered the police station, while Shao Lingwu mournfully took out his now-cold corn. Soon, an officer came out and waved at him: ¡°Who are you looking for?¡±

    Shao Lingwu: ¡°A cat?¡±

    Lin Undercover: ¡°I know it¡¯s a cat, but I need the owner¡¯s name to check the records. Come on in.¡±

    Lin Undercover turned around, and only then did Shao Lingwu notice the big orange cat in a police uniform beside him.

    The cat, Longzai, gave him a cool nod.

    Indeed, when in doubt, it¡¯s always right to seek help from the police¡­

    Through the connection of the cat officer Longzai, Lin Undercover helped Sanwuwu get in touch with Wang Jingjing¡¯s current owners, a couple surnamed Wang. They were quite surprised and asked several times before confirming:

    ¡°Inviting our Jingjing¡­ out for a feast?¡±

    Lin Undercover: ¡°Yes, it¡¯s Sanwuwu, or Ah Chu. Do you know Ah Chu?¡±

    Of course, they did. After all, they were locals of Fallen Phoenix City, and their son often mentioned her at home.

    However, they weren¡¯tfortable with their house cat being taken out directly, so they agreed: ¡°How about we bring her over in the evening?¡±

    Would they go? Of course, they would.

    It was an invitation from a cat, after all.

    After finishing the call, Lin Undercover exined the situation to Sanwuwu, who was lying on the table. Then, he saw Sanwuwu stand up, lift her front paw, and ce it on Longzai¡¯s police uniform¡­ as if to show off their ¡°super close¡± rtionship.

    Lin Undercover: ¡°Longzai hasn¡¯t finished his shift yet. I¡¯ll send him over after work, okay?¡±

    Longzai: ¡°Meow¡­¡±

    Although Sanwuwu didn¡¯t speak, Shao Lingwu suddenly had a moment of rity and tactfully said, ¡°Thank you, thank you. Please stay for dinner too¡­ We humans will have our own table.¡±

    Huh?

    Calling themselves ¡°humans¡± felt a bit strange, didn¡¯t it?

    Sanwuwu jumped into the cat car, urging the driver to hurry.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Shao Lingwu decided to give the corn he had to Lin Undercover, since he wouldn¡¯t be eating it anyway.

    Lin Undercover: ¡°Thanks?¡±

    The human table probably wouldn¡¯t serve cat food, right? What was the point of giving him corn? To tide him over?

    Sanwuwu settled into the cat car, and it began heading towards Zhangshan Mountain.

    On the live stream, fans once again sighed with happiness:

    [I took a VR screenshot of this part where the cats are everywhere. I can watch it over and over.]

    [Even though we don¡¯t have VR pods, the cat VR livestream seems to consider that cats might have limited mobility, so there are no gloves (or paw covers). That means we can¡¯t pet the cats from Sanwuwu¡¯s perspective¡­]

    The chat paused for a moment before someone asked:

    [Are you sure Sanwuwu is petting, not hitting?]

    The cat mom had just fiercely swatted another cat away, iming the highest and mostfortable spot!

    She was stepping on the heads of the other catse on, big orange, move! Don¡¯t just lie there!

    Even though the fans couldn¡¯t see it¡ªbecause Sanwuwu didn¡¯t look down¡ªthey could feel it!

    [The VR device has exposed your crimes, Sanwuwu!]

    They never expected that VR could serve this purpose. Normally, they couldn¡¯t see what the streamer¡¯s legs were doing off-camera, but with the VR knee pads this time, they could clearly feel the streamer stepping on the cats!

    -

    Chu Tingwu opened the New Plum Hot Search.

    Chu ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Tingwu closed the Hot Search page.

    Areizens really that bored these days? Why did the hashtag #[@Ah Chu and Sanwuwu] stepping on cats trend?

    Some people, thinking Chu Tingwu was abusing cats, stormed into the topic, only to leave in confusion, realizing¡­ oh, oh, the streamer is a cat too?

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°==¡±

 Chapter 114

    <h1>Chapter 114</h1>

    Yanzi had gone out to y again.

    Zhuge Shou searched the entire Qingshan Temple, sighed in exasperation, and then resorted to his ultimate trick¡ªhe dug out some premium cat food donated by visitors, stood in a breezy spot, and shook the bag.

    The sound of the cat food pellets rustling quickly drew attention. Soon, a cat peeked out from the rafters, letting out a sweet meow.

    Zhuge Shou: "Yang Huaer? Alright, alright,e and eat too."

    He tore open the small bag of cat food and poured it on the ground for the colorful tabby.

    Although the temple was located on the mountain, cats from the foot of the hill often wandered up. Yang Huaer was one such stray, well-fed by leftovers from the resort, shops, and private restaurants below.

    But Zhuge Shou often saw it hanging out with Yanzi, and the two frequently fought over food¡ªperhaps because stolen meals tasted the best.

    The cat food Yang Huaer was eating was Yanzi''s favorite¡ªbut since such "donations" were rare, Zhuge Shou only asionally treated Yanzi, as the temple didn¡¯t have much budget for feeding cats.

    ...However, there were some peculiar visitors who traveled great distances to bring cat food or even ordered it online specifically for Yanzi.

    Zhuge Shou also often received donations on his video ount.

    All of this was thanks to the earlier promotional videos by Three-Five-Five.

    Three-Five-Five had helped Long Zai find its owner, featuring Yanzi in the footage... Although Three-Five-Five and Chu Tingwu had gone to Jin City for school, the lingering effects of the video and the publicity from their award-winning film had brought a steady stream of visitors and ie to Qingshan Temple. Even their notoriously inurate fortune-telling service now had a queue system.

    After feeding Yang Huaer, Zhuge Shou stretched and thought, "Well, the cat¡¯s grown up. It¡¯lle back on its own tonight."

    Yang Huaer finished eating, let out a soft "meow," and tried to jump back onto the roof. It failed, and under Zhuge Shou¡¯s gaze, it pretended nothing had happened and started grooming itself.

    Zhuge Shou: "..."

    Fine, he went inside.

    Once the human was inside, the chubby tabby tried again, leaving w marks on the wall as it climbed onto the eaves. It raised a leg to clean its rear but suddenly paused, tilting its head in confusion:

    "Meow?"

    "Meow-ow?"

    Yang Huaer jumped down from the eaves, slipping slightly, and noticed the human was inside¡ªit seemed humans didn¡¯t like to be disturbed in such moments¡ªso after a moment of hesitation, the tabby slipped into the yard, nudged the gate open, shook its fur in the wind, and began to venture into the bushes.

    Meanwhile, Chu Tingwu was hiking up Zhangshan Mountain.

    Given the mountain¡¯s altitude, the climb was effortless for her, and the same went for Three-Five-Five, though the cat¡¯s route was different¡ªit asionally leaped onto railings and rocks instead of sticking to the stairs like humans.

    But Zhou Qiang suspected Chu Tingwu was taking the stairs just to match their pace.

    After meeting up with Three-Five-Five and the other cats, the felines were taken to a private restaurant. Three-Five-Five even let out a call, summoning the local cats from the foot of the mountain. However, there was a small incident¡ª

    The calico cat, Niu Niu, sat in front of Chu Tingwu, looking hesitant.

    When Niu Niu first met Chu Tingwu, she was just a kitten, but now she was a fully grown, spayed adult cat... So why did Chu Tingwu still smell like a juvenile?

    "How do you raise her, meow?"

    Three-Five-Five: "..."

    Three-Five-Five, embarrassed and annoyed, grabbed Niu Niu and gave her a light nibble on the head.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    After settling the cats, ensuring familiar ones sat together, the only task left was to find Yanzi up on the mountain.

    Chu Tingwust saw Yanzi during the National Day holiday, when the temple was flooded with visitors. Zhuge Shou was swamped, and Yanzi was forced to "work," eventually retreating to the roof to escape the enthusiastic crowd.

    Luckily, Chu Tingwu could climb roofs too.

    Later, when Zhuge Shou went up to clean, he gave Chu Tingwu and the cat a reproachful look but ended up treating her to a free dinner.

    The trio behind her consisted of Zhou Qiang, Shao Lingwu, and Chu Tingwu¡¯s third cousin, who felt obligated to help as the "adult." Chu Xiao, however, had refused to participate in the hike.

    Halfway up, the third cousin, who regrly worked out at the gym, was holding up well. Zhou Qiang, however, was panting with her hands on her knees, while Shao Lingwu took a break, walked down a few steps, and then realized, "Oh, wrong direction."

    Maybe you should just head back down, huh?

    Why did you tag along just because you heard the temple¡¯s braised pork was delicious?

    But walking alone seemed even scarier, so the others pressed on. Three-Five-Five, bored, yawned and hopped onto Chu Tingwu¡¯s shoulder, letting the young girl carry her.

    The fans watching the livestream were stunned:

    [Wow, a new viewing experience¡ªwatching through the UP¡¯s shoulder?]

    [Isn¡¯t this just carrying the camera on your shoulder? We¡¯re seeing the same perspective, haha, just some VR livestream... A friend of mine says they¡¯re not jealous at all!]

    [I feel like my hind legs are resting on Chu Tingwu¡¯s back, and for some reason, I¡¯m feeling a bit nervous. I¡¯m supposed to be a mom fan, after all...]

    [It¡¯s fine, Three-Five-Five is still the mom here...]

    Chu Tingwu reached up and patted Three-Five-Five¡¯s head, feeling the soft fur.

    She was about to say something when Three-Five-Five suddenly jumped down. Chu Tingwu turned her head, gazing into the forest bathed in the setting sun. Both human and cat fell silent, except for the sound of the third cousin drinking water¡ªwhich turned into a choking sound as Chu Tingwu abruptly said, "We¡¯ll meet at the templeter."

    Then, Chu Tingwu leaped into the forest, and Three-Five-Five followed.

    [Huh??]

    [Is Chu Tingwu taking us on a shortcut? Or showing off her off-trail hiking skills?]

    After all, Chu Tingwu had a history of suddenly free-climbing cliffs by the sea without any warning, as her long-time fans vividly remembered. They knew she sometimes liked to go big.

    A sign reading [No Entry] shed by.

    Fans: "=="

    [Three-Five-Five¡¯s fine, she¡¯s just a cat, but Chu Tingwu¡¯s definitely getting a lectureter.]

    [Chu Tingwu can just pretend to be a cat¡ªaside from her appearance, there¡¯s no issue!]

    [The biggest issue IS her appearance, though!]

    At this point, the fans were still joking around, not realizing anything was wrong. But then Chu Tingwu suddenly stopped, her footnding on a rock as she leaped up, grabbed a branch with one hand, and caught Three-Five-Five mid-air with the other. Silently, the duo crouched in the dense foliage of arge tree.

    Below, a man hurried past.

    He carried a hiker¡¯s backpack and arge case, wearing a hat and mask. He nced around, looking confused, and muttered to himself:

    "No one here, and the goods aren¡¯t here either. I think it went further up... Doesn¡¯t seem like a cat? We need to hurry."

    Chu Tingwu stayed silent, and Three-Five-Five didn¡¯t move.

    But the fans were losing it.

    As the man passed, they heard a faint, weak meowing from what seemed to be a case for filming equipment.

    [What¡¯s going on? Did I hear that right? What ¡°goods¡±?]

    [You can¡¯t keep a cat in a sealed case... What¡¯s this guy up to? Or was that just a recording?]

    [Chu Tingwu, is this part of the script? Do you know this guy?]n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    As the questions piled up, Chu Tingwu turned her face to the camera, ced a finger to her lips, and silently mouthed, "Shh."

    It seemed like an answer, yet it also seemed like nothing was said at all, but for now, it managed to soothe the fans¡­ and the third cousin who was watching the live stream, among others.

    Chu Tingwu suddenly changed her route, but she wasn¡¯t usually an unreliable person, so it was clear that something urgent hade up. Fortunately, the live stream was still ongoing, and they could check the situation through the camera¡ªthe third cousin nced at the others, and Zhou Qiang said, ¡°Let¡¯s call the foot of the mountain.¡±

    Of course, the main purpose was to call Lin Undercover, who was bringing Long Zai over.

    This was definitely not part of the script.

    Chu Tingwu dropped down from the tree, listening to the system¡¯s report¡ª

    Three people, both sides of a transaction, no guns, only sharp weapons for closebat¡­ but if Three-Five-Five looked up and let the camera capture Chu Tingwu¡¯s eyes, the fans might notice that she seemed to be in a ¡°puffed-up¡± state.

    Because Chu Tingwu had caught the scent of another animal.

    Unlike the white-necked long-tailed pheasant from before, the animal that had entered the forest was still a juvenile, but it was undoubtedly a carnivorous hunter, and its current mood was anxious, panicked¡­ and aggressive.

    As if she had finally made a decision, Chu Tingwu let out a soft meow.

    Three-Five-Five raised her paw and pressed it against Chu Tingwu¡¯s palm.

    Then, the mother cat tapped the soil beneath her paws, sniffed the scent left by humans, and began to run swiftly.

    The tracking device on Three-Five-Five¡¯s body directly shared her location with Lin Undercover, as they had already exchanged contact information and could use this more discreet method of alerting the authorities¡ª

    [Poachers are conducting a transaction on the mountain. Three-Five-Five is chasing them. No firearms detected. Location is on Three-Five-Five¡¯s cor.]

    Lin Undercover, who was halfway through driving: ¡°¡­!?¡±

    He continued rushing toward Zhangshan Mountain while instructing the others who had contacted him earlier to either descend the mountain or head to Qingshan Temple. He also notified his colleagues and told Long Zai, ¡°Time to work, we¡¯re on overtime.¡±

    Long Zai, who thought they were going out to eat: ¡°Meow?¡±

    Meanwhile, Chu Tingwu followed the scent and circled around to the side peak of Zhangshan Mountain. There was a rugged trail here that only experienced hikers would take, with each step barely half the width of a normal foot. After a new path had been opened, this one had been abandoned, with a simple fence blocking it not far away. But now, the wind was still, the trees were silent, and even the birds seemed to have stopped chirping. Fresh w marks were visible on the trees.

    Chu Tingwu stepped onto the trunk of a tree on the side of the cliff, her other foot hooking onto a branch above. The tree beneath her swayed slightly under her weight. She took a deep breath, and the feeling of being on edge slowly faded, reced by a sense of anticipation as a breeze blew past¡ª

    The Level 1 gic inheritance skill told her that below was a creature five times her size: a wild Siberian tiger.

    It was indeed possible for a Siberian tiger to grow thatrge, and the Level 1 intuition skill told her that this tiger was still a juvenile, with a faint milky scent that hadn¡¯tpletely faded.

    ¡­If Niu Niu were here, she¡¯d probably understand why such arge cub was still considered a juvenile, since this Siberian tiger was also just a cub.

    Lost in thought, Chu Tingwu smiled silently.

    She had faced beasts in her dream training sessions, but those weren¡¯t real animals. She had also fought a wild wolf before, but that wolf was intelligent and followed the rules of the wild. It wasn¡¯t like the creature below, which felt anxious, restless, and ready to attack anything it saw¡ªpossibly even injured.

    So, she decided to handle the more threatening Siberian tiger herself, while the trained mother cat, Three-Five-Five, could easily deal with a few unarmed humans.

    Chu Tingwu thought: Even if she couldn¡¯t control the Siberian tiger, she needed to track its location, keep up with it in the mountains, and alert the police and the temple in time.

    Following a tiger in the mountains without getting hurt¡ªshe figured she was probably the only one nearby who could do that.

    But she was still a little nervous.

    The bushes below rustled, and a yellow-and-ck paw appeared.

    Then half a rear end, and finally, a tiger¡¯s head emerged from the weeds.

    It let out a soft ¡°ow.¡±

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°¡­¡±

    It let out another ¡°ow,¡± its ear wound no longer bleeding, but it clearly looked both pitiful and hungry.

    The System: ¡°¡­¡±

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°¡­¡±

    The ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????System: ¡°Actually, I wanted to remind you earlier¡­¡±

    Cub, your gic inheritance skill is based on a cat¡¯s size. As for the tiger below, it¡¯s indeed five times the size of a cat¡ªbecause it¡¯s only three months old!

 Chapter 115

    <h1>Chapter 115</h1>

    Lin Undercover had already identified the person in the video while on the road, as Chu Tingwu had sent him the photo.

    Following Chu Tingwu¡¯s usual livestreaming practice, unrted passersby in the video would have their faces blurred. This was what the audience saw¡ªbut there was no need to blur the image when sending it to the police.

    By contacting the police station at the foot of Zhangshan Mountain, he quickly learned the name of the hotel where the suspect was staying. Then, with the help of his colleagues at the station, they went to the hotel to investigate.

    The suspect had booked a double room, seemingly as a touristing to hike. When he went out, suspect number two was responsible for carrying the suitcase, which reportedly contained their professional photography equipment.

    Perhaps because the "professional equipment" was too expensive, the suspect had specifically requested that housekeeping not enter the room to clean.

    Today was their third day of stay. On the first day, suspect number one went out briefly while number two stayed in the room. Number one returned quickly, bringing back takeout.

    On the second day, the two went out together with their photography equipment, but it wasn¡¯t long before it started raining on Zhangshan Mountain. Shortly after the rain began, the two suspects returned with the suitcase, though they seemed agitated and had a quiet argument.

    The front desk spected:

    ¡°I thought their camera got wet in the rain, or some machine broke, so they were in a bad mood.¡±

    The front desk staff had taken a curious nce at the suitcase and vaguely remembered:

    ¡°It felt like the suitcase was lighter because the person carrying it didn¡¯t switch hands.¡±

    On the third day, which was today, the two suspects left early in the morning as the light drizzle stopped. They hadn¡¯t returned since, only appearing briefly in Chu Tingwu¡¯s livestream.

    While driving, Lin Undercover nced at the screen.

    Thements were still normal, though some were puzzled as to why Chu Tingwu wasn¡¯t on camera and why Three-Five-Five was running into the forest. Everyone else assumed that suspect number one was just passing by¡ªsince no other human figures appeared in the frame, it was entirely a kitten¡¯s (?) forest adventure.

    Fans asionally got excited over the birds, insects, other wildlife, and even a tree stump that the camera swept past.

    [This tree stump is so perfect! It¡¯s so round and t¡­]

    I want to take it home.

    Lin Undercover breathed a sigh of relief, but ayer of worry remained in his heart: Chu Tingwu had said there were three suspects, and Lin Undercover was inclined to believe her. He also remembered that her memory had always been exceptional, so she likely heard something. The third person must be the transaction partner? Moreover, the livestream was still ongoing, and if someone happened to stumble upon it, it might alert the suspects.

    Speaking of which, where was Chu Tingwu?

    Lin Undercover thought she wouldn¡¯t leave Three-Five-Five behind and go down the mountain alone¡­ so where had she gone?

    -

    Three-Five-Five crouched on the tree stump,zily scratching it with her ws, also pondering the whereabouts of the little one.

    The unfamiliar scent of wild beasts in the air made her uneasy. At this moment, humans couldn¡¯t hear the three people talking, but the cat¡¯s ears twitched slightly, picking up faint murmurs of conversation¡ª

    ¡°Should we just drop this job, Brother Liu? That tiger¡¯s gone missing, and I feel like something bad¡¯s going to happen¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you richer than me? We¡¯re talking about hundreds of thousands here, just letting it go to waste?¡±

    ¡°But the trap we set for the tiger only caught a cat! That little tiger might¡¯ve already gone down the mountain! What if we can¡¯t get away by then?¡±

    ¡°The buyer¡¯s already here, their boat¡¯s ready¡ªif we don¡¯t deliver this tiger, we¡¯re done for in this business.¡±

    ¡°Meow¡­¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡±

    ¡°Why¡¯d you even catch this cat? Either let it go or kill it.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s apparently raised by the temple. I¡¯m a bit superstitious, so I¡¯m worried killing it will bring us bad luck¡­ Plus, this cat seems kinda famous, said to be quite clever. If we let it go, it might bring people back to us. Just keep it for now. If it gets too noisy, I¡¯ll strangle it.¡±

    ¡°Watch out, it might bite you.¡±

    The sound of scratching came from the suitcase, which had only a small vent at the bottom, covered with ck mesh. If it were a Siberian tiger, the two would¡¯ve been patient enough to carry it and let it breathe, but since it was just a cat, they couldn¡¯t be bothered.

    The suitcase was set aside. Brother Liu wanted to smoke but was worried about starting a forest fire. Frustrated, he kicked the suitcase twice.

    They weren¡¯t the original handlers; they were just middlemen buying from the top. The upfront payment had already been made, and they were waiting to make a profit by reselling. If they gave up now, they¡¯d lose both the profit and the upfront payment¡­ But who could¡¯ve guessed the little tiger would escape?

    It was all because the handover guy got into a minor car ident on a rainy day, dying the handover by a day. Then, when they were going down the mountain, they slipped, and the little tiger ran off.

    Hiss¡­

    Could it be that in a few days, there¡¯d be news about a wild Siberian tiger being discovered here? Brother Liu chuckled at his own thought.

    He checked his phone, feeling something was off. The signal on the mountain was indeed poor, but this was unusually slow.

    However, while he seemed focused on his phone, he remained alert. Hearing a noise nearby, he immediately shielded the suitcase, kicked hispanion, and ced his hand on his waist, coldly asking, ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±

    ¡°Meow?¡±

    A dusty tabby cat emerged from behind a tree, staring at the two humans with confusion before letting out a drawn-out ¡°Meow¡ª¡±

    Brother Liu exhaled, ¡°Another cat?¡±

    He had thought it might be the little tiger, as the noise didn¡¯t sound human.

    Their handover guy hade on foot, apparently with some local connections and a seasoned hiker with a burly build. Upon learning the tiger had escaped on the mountain, he red at the two and went out to search.

    Brother Liu suspected that if he found the little tiger first, their money would be gone.

    After all, they¡¯d paid the upfront cost¡ªthey couldn¡¯t let it be a zero-dor deal.

    He waved dismissively at the tabby and picked up a stone, ¡°Scram!¡±

    But the tabby didn¡¯t leave. Its eyes fixed on the ck suitcase, it crouched low, its hindquarters raised high, continuing to meow.

    Thepanion, annoyed, took a step forward, but the tabby quickly retreated. He clicked his tongue, ¡°Is this cat here for the other one?¡±

    They hadn¡¯t found the tiger yet, but the cat they¡¯d caught had been found. At least it was just a cat looking for another cat.

    The tabby couldn¡¯t be driven away and didn¡¯t seem easy to catch, plus it looked aggressive¡ªas the sky darkened, the cat¡¯s eyes glowed faintly in the dim light.

    Thepanion, standing closer to the tabby, inexplicably felt a chill run down his spine.

    From behind came another meow¡ªprobably the other cat¡ªbut then there was a ¡°thud,¡± followed by Brother Liu¡¯s panicked ¡°Ah!¡± and then a scream.

    He turned around and felt a sharp pain in his calf. Before he could look down, his retina retained the image he¡¯d caught in the faint light:

    The ck suitcase, which had been sitting properly, had inexplicably toppled over, crushing Brother Liu¡¯s leg. His face was covered in blood, and he was lying on the ground. Behind him, there seemed to be a gray shadow.

    But thepanion couldn¡¯t worry about Brother Liu now, as the tabby had bitten him. Instinctively, he tried to kick the cat away, reaching for his knife to stab it. But the next second, he felt something heavy on his shoulder¡­ something had pounced on his back. He let out a cry and tried to stab backward, but his wrist was in pain, and the knife fell to the ground.

    ¡­The audience was stunned.

    They had been leisurely watching the cat¡¯s livestream, some even enjoying the rare VR experience, when suddenly two humans appeared in the frame.

    [Did they get lost or take a wrong turn? Huh, this guy looks familiar¡­ Wasn¡¯t he that actor who just showed up?]

    Although Chu Tingwu''s videos rarely feature actors, the "thief teacher" from before could be considered half an actor, right? So, Chu Tingwu''s videos still have a plot! Let''s see how she arranges it!

    Holding onto this thought, they continued watching and noticed that the tortoiseshell cat was crouching stealthily in the back, while the two people in front seemed really suspicious.

    At this moment, the viewers experiencing the VR live stream hadn''t yet thought, "I might have to jump in and punch someone."

    The next second, they saw a person shooing a cat away.

    [That''s so mean...]

    [But that cat does seem a bit fierce. I¡¯d be scared if I saw a cat like that, though I¡¯d just walk away. Shooing it in the wild seems normal?]

    [So, what¡¯s with the cat meowing from the box? This time I heard it even more clearly. It¡¯s not a mistake¡ªthere¡¯s definitely a cat in the box.]

    The viewers were confused and anxious. Then they heard Three-Five-Five let out a cry¡ªthis one was different from her usual meows. It wasn¡¯t just expressing emotion; it seemed to carry a special, almost melodic tone.

    Everyone grew more anxious and quickly tagged the "catnguage masters" who often appeared in the live stream¡ªthose who had actually studied Chu Tingwu''s catnguage lessons.

    But before the "masters" could say anything, the ck box suddenly started shaking on its own, pinning the person¡¯s leg. At the same time, a blur shed across the screen, followed by Three-Five-Five pouncing with a cry of pain, and then a brief glimpse of blood.

    Though the action was too fast for anyone to see clearly, it was certain that Three-Five-Five¡¯s ws had shed the person¡¯s face, possibly even their eye.

    [???]

    [???? What just happened?]

    Before the questions could even be fully typed out, Three-Five-Five was already done.

    She immediately rushed at the other person, teaming up with the calico cat to bite them.

    The knife ttered to the ground, hitting a rock with a sharp, metallic sound, and the chat exploded.

    [Huh?]

    [If this is acting, I hope it¡¯s really acting, because if a cat bites someone, the owner has to paypensation. But if it¡¯s not acting¡­ what? What??]

    Everyone believed it wasn¡¯t acting, and though they weren¡¯t entirely clear on the details, they instinctively felt¡­ Three-Five-Five couldn¡¯t be wrong.

    The mother cat had never actively attacked an innocent person, even off-camera¡ªshe had never scratched anyone.

    The next moment, the camera showed the bitten person.

    He turned around in a panic, nced at Brother Liu, who was howling in pain, and then seemed about to run. Three-Five-Five went for his other leg.

    Since it was winter and he was wearing thick clothes, the calico cat hadn¡¯t done much damage.

    But that was fine¡ªthe mother cat bit harder.

    In police cat training, police dogs can use their weight to pin suspects and usually don¡¯t bite without amand. But for police cats, the training emphasizes using their ws, and in extreme situations, they¡¯re allowed to attack certain vital areas to incapacitate the enemy.

    Though this situation wasn¡¯t too extreme.

    But Three-Five-Five wasn¡¯t a police cat¡ªshe was a transfer student.

    Unlike Brother Liu, hispanion, despite being in pain, still tried to run, muttering the names of various deities. Three-Five-Five didn¡¯t chase him further but instead meowed at the calico cat.

    The calico cat let out a long, piercing cry that made the viewers shiver.

    Then, the calico cat turned and followed the fleeingpanion, stepping on branches as its cries echoed through the forest.

    Three-Five-Five, meanwhile, ignored the stumbling Brother Liu and started fiddling with the box on the ground. The box had a sturdybination lock, but since it wasn¡¯t meant for a tiger, Brother Liu had apparently been toozy to set the password¡­ and it finally opened under the cat¡¯s paws.

    Yanzi struggled to crawl out of the box.

    Shey on the ground, gasping for air, her tongue hanging out. Three-Five-Five, unusually patient, licked her head over and over¡ª

    [Is that Yanzi? Yanzi?! It¡¯s too dark, I can¡¯t see!]

    [I¡¯m using VR, and I can see clearly¡ªthe markings match! It¡¯s really Yanzi! Someone should notify the temple! How dare they try to steal a cat!]

    [Is Yanzi stressed? That box had no venttion¡ªif Three-Five-Five had been anyter, she might have suffocated!]

    [I¡¯m in Fallen Phoenix City¡ªI¡¯m already on my way!]

    The fans were furious and started cursing¡­ Compared to strangers, Yanzi was their own cat, a famous inte celebrity cat. So, they naturally assumed these people hade up the mountain to steal her¡ªstealing a cat¡­ maybe some sickos like to torture and kill celebrity cats and post it online! Ugh, that¡¯s even more disgusting! Curse them!

    Of course, there were also dissenting voices. After all, Chu Tingwu has so many fans, and some thought¡ª

    "Three-Five-Five isn¡¯t stupid. She must know how to control her actions. Stealing a cat shouldn¡¯t warrant getting maimed, right?"

    Biting was one thing, but wing the face seemed excessive.

    The chat was a mess, and for a moment, everyone almost forgot about Chu Tingwu, who had disappeared.

    Chu Tingwu, meanwhile, had already picked up the tiger cub.

    The cub had resisted¡­

    The ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????cub had really tried¡­

    But unfortunately, its size was five times that of a cat, not five times that of a human.

    Moreover, Chu Tingwu had brought out cat food and cans to soothe it¡ªthough thetter was meant for Yanzi, it sessfully tempted the hungry Siberian tiger cub.

    After a moment, the cub, smelling Chu Tingwu¡¯s scent and realizing it couldn¡¯t win, started whimpering.

    The system: "It¡¯s calling you mom¡­"

    It¡¯s normal for an abandoned cub to see another feline as its mother¡­ but isn¡¯t this a bit fast?

    And my cub is still a cub too!

    The system was annoyed.

    Chu Tingwu held the cub¡¯s bottom as she lifted it, sniffing the air to discern various scents: "Shh¡ª"

    The wind carried some information to her. Although she had the system block the group¡¯s phone signals, it seemed one of them had been cautious enough to start descending the mountain early.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Chu Tingwu focused, fully unleashing her heightened senses for the first time since her upgrade. The faint vibrations under her feet, the scents in the air, the distant and near whispers of the wind¡­ all this information flooded her mind. Instinctively, she discarded the irrelevant details and seized the answer she sought.

    She arrived at a small hiking trail on the backside of the mountain and turned, just as the person above came face to face with her.

    The man stared at Chu Tingwu in surprise, his gaze falling on the tiger cub¡ª

    Though neither spoke, Chu Tingwu sensed his excitement.

    He was thinking: There¡¯s no one here¡­ and no signal. If I act quickly, whatever happens, no one will know. The person below, though I can¡¯t see clearly, doesn¡¯t look like they¡¯d put up much of a fight.

    Chu Tingwu smiled at him:

    Yes, there¡¯s no one here. And I¡¯ll decide if there¡¯s a signal.

    Whatever happens, no one will know.

    Right?

 Chapter 116

    <h1>Chapter 116</h1>

    The sun hadpletely set, leaving only a faint glow on the horizon, mostly obscured by the mountains, as if dim gold was shining from beyond the peaks.0

    The adult man above suddenly took a few steps forward, reaching out to grab Chu Tingwu''s shoulder¡ª0

    From his perspective, Chu Tingwu was clearly a woman who weighed less than him, and in many closebat techniques, height and weight often determined the oue.0

    But his wrist was caught first.0

    The man was momentarily stunned. It wasn¡¯t that he thought Chu Tingwu could resist him, but he was worried the little tiger napping on her shoulder might suddenly run away.0

    That wasn¡¯t just a tiger running off¡ªit was money!0

    In the pitch darkness, where else would such an opportunitye knocking?0

    The next second, he felt a sharp pain in his wrist, and his entire body seemed to be lifted and flung downward.0

    The handler instinctively let out a short scream, his contemtive gaze instantly turning fierce¡ªwhen faced with danger, people naturally prioritize their own safety, so he immediately forgot about the tiger and instead tried to steady himself, kicking out to force Chu Tingwu to her knees.0

    But then he heard the girl say something.0

    The next moment, his wrist seemed to be released, but his leg had already kicked out with too much force, causing him to lunge forward. He barely managed to steady himself, only to feel a light tap behind his knee.0

    ¡°Ah¡ª¡±0

    The man let out a cry of pain, tumbling down several steps like a ball. Scrapes and bruises were the least of his worries now¡ªhe felt his ankle had twisted.0

    He scrambled to his feet, turning his head cautiously¡ª0

    By thest glimmer of light, he saw the girl still cradling the tiger cub in one arm, standing leisurely on a nearbymppost with one foot,pletely clean, not a speck of dust on her clothes.0

    The ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????handler remembered what the girl had said:0

    ¡°Why do you all react like this when you see me? At least thest one had a gun.¡±0

    A gun?0

    She raised her hand to brush a leaf off her shoulder, looking down at him with eyes that resembled a wolf¡¯s or a cat¡¯s¡ªor perhaps it was just his imagination¡ªemitting a faint glow.0

    But maybe it was just his imagination, because the scene only lingered on his retina for a moment. The next second, the girl leaped into the air, descending from above.0

    As she jumped, she raised one hand to maintain bnce, her coat billowing in the wind, her short hair flying. But the man, now desperate, pulled out a hammer.0

    These days, knives were easier to carry, but a hammer could also crack a skull, and it was more discreet.0

    Plus, the hammer¡¯s weight made it more suitable for someone with his strength.0

    He gripped the hammer tightly, as if subconsciously afraid it would be taken from him. When Chu Tingwunded in front of him, his eyes gleamed with excitement, and then¡ª0

    The hammer swung through the air with a whoosh, but the girl had already ducked low before it could connect. His arm swung over her head, and his ankle throbbed again, as if lightly hooked by the tip of her shoe.0

    Once more, he lost his bnce, instinctively clutching the hammer¡ªhis only hope, the one thing he couldn¡¯t afford to lose!0

    Then, he tumbled down the stairs, rolling all the way to a railing that stopped him from crashing onto the rocks below.0

    But when he wiped his face, it was covered in blood from his nose.0

    He looked up.0

    He froze.0

    Chu Tingwu was crouched on the railing, the chain gently swaying, so close that he could see the little tiger¡¯s body rising and falling slightly with each breath.0

    So close, he could clearly see Chu Tingwu¡¯s eyes.0

    They were a clear, golden cat¡¯s eyes, with vertical pupils that dted and contracted with her mood, like a cat ying a game.0

    The man screamed internally, instinctively swinging the hammer at Chu Tingwu¡¯s leg, but she simply lifted one foot and pressed it firmly against the hammer¡¯s head. With a flick of her heel, his wrist went numb, and the hammer ttered onto the steps before falling two meters down into the dirt, making a dull thud only a cat could hear.0

    The handler clutched his sore nose, backing away a couple of steps, his ankle searing with pain. Desperation surged in his heart¡ª0

    He turned and ran.0

    But he didn¡¯t take the main path. His identity waspromised now, and he realized something was wrong. This girl didn¡¯t seem like an ordinary person¡ªmaybe she was a retired spy? So he decided to head into the mountains, hoping she wouldn¡¯t chase him into the darkness.0

    But he had only taken a few steps when he stumbled into the railing.0

    Someone had kicked him from the front, his shoulder throbbing, but when he touched it, he felt nothing.0

    He looked up, his spirit nearly breaking¡ª0

    Weren¡¯t you just behind me?!0

    Are you even human? How did you get in front of me so fast?!0

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°Hmm?¡±0

    Running wasn¡¯t as fast as jumping. Leaping onto the railing three meters away at the corner was child¡¯s y for her.0

    But the handler was ready to beg for mercy.0

    He had fought back, he had tried his best, he felt his strength must (maybe?) be greater than Chu Tingwu¡¯s, given their size difference, but his strength was useless!0

    The enemy was too cunning. He hadn¡¯t dealt her any damage, and she hadn¡¯t directly harmed him much either¡ªjust disrupted his bnce, leaving him spinning in circles.0

    The worst injuries he had were from his own falls, and there¡¯d be no evidence of Chu Tingwu¡¯s involvement if he were examined. But now, he just wanted to leave!0

    ¡°Little ancestor, I¡¯m begging you. I just had a moment of bad judgment, trying to stop you to ask for directions. You¡¯ve toyed with me long enough¡ªconsider it my apology, okay? Or I¡¯ll give you all my cash, just let me go.¡±0

    As for poaching? Trading? That had nothing to do with him. He was just here to hike today, and he saw a young girl he thought he could bully. As for the thing on her shoulder¡ªwasn¡¯t that just a tiger plushie?0

    Chu Tingwu smiled.0

    Just like before, she raised a finger to her lips, signaling silence.0

    Then, she kicked him off the tform.0

    The man rolled several times, dizzily getting to his feet, trying to speak, only to realize he¡¯d lost two teeth, his words slurred, and his mouth full of blood.0

    -0

    When the police found Suspect Number Three, Chu Tingwu was feeding the little tiger meat with Zhuge Shou.0

    If it could eat cat food, then fresh meat strips should be fine too.0

    The little tiger was actually quite fierce when touched by strangers. When Zhuge Shou reached out, it tried to bite, but as soon as it opened its mouth, Chu Tingwu shoved a meat strip in.0

    The little tiger chewed.0

    Opened its mouth again, and Chu Tingwu fed it another strip.0

    The little tiger¡­ chewed.0

    Opened its mouth¡ª0

    This repeated until Zhou Qiang cautiously reached out to pet it, and the little tiger opened its mouth, but this time it was waiting for more meat.0

    The third cousin and Shao Lingwu had already sumbed, squatting nearby and snapping countless close-up photos of the little tiger eating.0

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°=v=¡±0

    They were sitting in a pavilion halfway up the mountain. Suspect Number Three was sprawled to one side, Suspect Number Two kneeling nearby, while Number One was still in the woods because the cats couldn¡¯t move an adult.0

    But the cats took turns keeping watch.0

    Antern rested on the stone table in the pavilion, and the stonemps along the path provided additional light.0

    After Chu Tingwu ran off, the group had first encountered Zhuge Shou on their way up. Zhuge Shou then received a message from the police, instructing him to take care of the tourists and keep them from leaving. With Three-Five-Five¡¯s live stream having broadcast almost everything, Zhuge Shou anxiously paced in the courtyard until he finally got word from Chu Tingwu.0

    She had asked him if he had fresh meat, preferably ground into a paste suitable for a kitten.0

    The little tiger had woken up, crying hungrily.0

    But its teeth were strong enough to handle meat strips after finishing the paste.0

    The live stream had ended, and Yanzi was now nestled in Zhuge Shou''s arms. The Taoist priest was heartbroken and keptforting her.0

    Yanzi was meowing herints: She had been captured by bad guys, it was so ufortable, so unbearable, meow! And she was so hungry (munch munch). She demanded the tastiest cat treats, tuna-vored, meow¡­ Stop talking so much, just give me the tuna-vored treats, meow meow meow!0

    Chu Tingwu reached out and pinched the back of her neck: "We¡¯ll get you some as soon as we¡¯re down the mountain."0

    The police arrived to take the three suspects away. It was clear that none of them could walk and had to be carried down.0

    Chu Tingwu expressed her remorse, while Lin Undercover crouched beside Suspect Number Three and said,0

    "What happened to him¡­?"0

    Chu Tingwu: "He tried to hit me, I dodged, he lost his bnce, and fell on his own."0

    The blood on Suspect Number Three¡¯s face had dried, but he still managed to grunt in dissatisfaction.0

    Chu Tingwu calmly continued, "After he fell, he twisted his ankle. Then he tried to run, but I was worried he¡¯d escape, so I pulled him back twice, and he identally fell again."0

    Lin Undercover: This "identally"¡­ whose ident was it really?0

    During the interrogation, this part would surelye up. Of course, they couldn¡¯t just take Chu Tingwu¡¯s word for it, but Lin Undercover chuckled.0

    He believed that while the girl had omitted some details, she wouldn¡¯t put herself in a disadvantageous position¡­ As for the thieves, well, they got what they deserved.0

    As Lin Undercover was about to leave, Chu Tingwu called out to him, "Wait, the cat¡¯s statement hasn¡¯t been taken yet."0

    Lin Undercover: "?"0

    Chu Tingwu pointed at Long Zai, who was cautiously eyeing the little tiger. She said, "Let the feline officer stay behind to take statements from the cats involved in the case."0

    Lin Undercoverughed helplessly, "Ah, you¡­ alright then."0

    After all, it had been agreed from the start that Long Zai was invited to the gathering.0

    The cat officer stayed behind, standing next to Chu Tingwu, while the others, both humans and cats, followed the police down the mountain.0

    Chu Tingwu walked out carrying the little tiger, and Lin Undercover muttered, "Today¡¯s main issue is the online public opinion... your live stream..."0

    "Stream¡­"0

    He stared at Chu Tingwu¡¯s shoulder and swallowed hard.0

    "Is that on your shoulder¡­ a cat, a toy, or¡­ a tiger?"0

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­"0

    The others: "??"0

    Chu Tingwu: Ah.0

    When she called the police, she had only mentioned poaching. She seemed to have forgotten to mention the tiger.0

    She looked around at the others. Zhuge Shou was confused, Third Cousin was clueless, Zhou Qiang was silent, and Shao Lingwu chimed in:0

    "It¡¯s a tiger! Only three months old!"0

    The other officers who hade up the mountain: "???"0

    They had heard it was about poachers, but the live stream had only shown cats. They hadpletely followed theizens¡¯ lead, thinking these people hade to steal a viral inte cat! They hadn¡¯t even contacted the zoo!0

    ---0

    In the end, Chu Tingwu carried the little tiger down the mountain, leaving the private kitchen¡¯s manager somewhat baffled:0

    They had agreed to host a meal for the cats¡­ but why was there a tiger? Were they supposed to pretend it was a Northeastern golden tabby?0

    Since the city zoo was on the other side of town and would take some time to arrive, Lin Undercover stayed behind with Chu Tingwu, given how well she had taken care of the little tiger, to wait for the professionals.0

    The appearance of the little tiger made the other cats uneasy. Chu Tingwu had originally wanted to greet them, but seeing the situation, she and the little tiger stayed in a corner, letting it walk around a bit to digest.0

    The humans wanted to approach but didn¡¯t dare. Even a young tiger this size already had teeth capable of eating meat.0

    Zhou Qiang and the others still followed, though. She looked at the tiger, then at Chu Tingwu: "Not happy?"0

    Even though everything had been resolved perfectly, she didn¡¯t seem pleased.0

    Chu Tingwu: "Today was supposed to be perfect¡­"0

    While toying with her enemies, Chu Tingwu had been fully aware that she was venting, but it felt almost instinctual. She hadn¡¯t felt uneasy seeing them bleed or get hurt.0

    Every move she made was calm, like a predator observing cornered prey. And this seemed unrted to feline instincts¡ª0

    Whether it was a human or a mouse.0

    They could all be her prey.0

    Once they became prey, they lost the right to sympathy¡­0

    Three-Five-Five: "Meow!"0

    The mother cat trotted over, jumped onto Chu Tingwu¡¯sp, looked around, and then, when the little tiger tried to jump up too, smacked it on the head without hesitation.0

    Little tiger: "Ow?"0

    The onlookers twitched: Wait, that¡¯s a ss One protected animal¡­ oh, never mind, Three-Five-Five has caught ss One animals before. It¡¯s fine.0

    Chu Tingwu scratched Three-Five-Five¡¯s chin: "Why didn¡¯t you go¡ª"0

    Three-Five-Five jumped down, then quickly returned with a "meow."0

    She ced a bottle of milk she had been carrying in Chu Tingwu¡¯s palm.0

    The other cats had already eaten.0

    You, little kitten, need to eat too.0

    For the mother cat, the unexpected didn¡¯t matter.0

    Once Chu Tingwu joined¡­ it was a perfect gathering.N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 117

    The little tiger was definitely going to be sent away.

    But it made Chu Tingwu famous in the family group chat.

    Although she was already quite well-known, everyone was still shocked when they saw the group photo posted by her third cousin:

    "If we knew we could touch a baby Siberian tiger, we would have taken leave ande to Fallen Phoenix City!"

    When the little tiger was being taken away, there was a small incident. Chu Tingwu coaxed it into the cage, and it didn¡¯t seem to mind,zily crawling inside. But when the cage door closed, the cub was stunned.

    Having only been in human society for a few days, it had already equated "cage" with "bad people." Now, it was both anxious and angry, yowling and growling in frustration, especially when it looked at Chu Tingwu¡ª

    Shao Lingwu: "It¡¯s about to cry¡­"

    Chu Tingwu suggested, "Then let ite out, and you go in."

    Shao Lingwu gestured, indicating he couldn¡¯t fit.

    Chu Tingwu: "You actually considered it?"

    However, the tiger¡¯s cries attracted other cats, who gathered around the cage, observing the cub. They weren¡¯t keen on getting close to unfamiliar humans but were chattering among themselves¡ª

    These cats were all very familiar with cages.

    "Is it going to be neutered at such a young age, meow?"

    "Is it cursing us? But what is it saying, meow?"

    Like a cub, its growlscked ferocity, and it didn¡¯t know any feline curses. It pawed at the cage door, less like it was cursing and more like it was whining, expressing its grievance.

    Shao Lingwu: "It¡¯s really about to cry¡­"

    Chu Tingwu nced at him and noticed Shao Lingwu taking out his phone¡­ to start recording.

    Chu Tingwu: "==?"

    Every time the little tiger let out a yowl, the cats responded with a chorus of meows and growls. The cub would shrink back, wait a moment, and then yowl again, prompting the cats to chatter once more.

    Shao Lingwu was excited: "This rhythm feels interesting¡­"

    It could be turned into a song.

    The rare cub was eventually taken away. As expected, it would undergo a health check at the city zoo, and the police would investigate its origins¡­ Chu Tingwu heard from the zoo staff:

    "A cub of this age isn¡¯t suitable for immediate rewilding. If we can find its mother, we¡¯ll try to return it to her."

    "However¡­ you can think of tigers as a type of cat. Some cat mothers reject their cubs if they¡¯ve been handled by humans and carry their scent, while others don¡¯t mind. We don¡¯t know if the cub¡¯s mother is still around or if she¡¯ll ept it. If not¡­"

    They would do their best to find a suitable surrogate mother for the cub, raise it, and gradually reintroduce it to the wild. If rewilding failed, it would likely live in the zoo permanently.

    However, the staff seemed both happy and sad, admitting, "Our city zoo doesn¡¯t even have the qualifications to house a tiger."

    Let alone a rare Siberian tiger.

    They would probably only care for it for a few days, ensuring it was healthy, before sending it to a nature reserve in a northern city.

    But even briefly caring for this Siberian tiger was enough to excite the zoo staff for a month¡­ and this girl beside them had held the cub for half a day.

    The staff gave her a thumbs-up: Impressive.

    They also took a group photo. The zoo mentioned that while this wasn¡¯t a donation, Chu Tingwu had certainly performed a heroic act. The police would help her apply for a reward, and the zoo wanted to put up a poster of her in the park.

    Chu Tingwu: "Huh?"

    The staff: "We¡¯re nning to do a text and photo livestream of the cub¡¯s daily life online."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It wouldn¡¯tst long, but they could also introduce Chu Tingwu.

    When Chu Tingwu decided to be tactful, she was quite good at it: "Can I repost it on my ount?"

    The staff: "Hahaha, that would be great."

    Chu Tingwu opened her phone, reposted the zoo¡¯stest post, and then checked her ount, noticing that she had blocked quite a few people.

    The system: "Legal is already on it."

    ¡ªWhen a fanbase growsrge, it inevitably attracts all sorts of people, including strangers who harbor baseless malice toward others. But Chu Tingwu had never encountered them, nor had she seen their hatefulments, because the system had already sent them cease-and-desist letters before she could deal with them.

    Of course, these people didn¡¯t know that receiving a cease-and-desist was actually a good thing, as the system had be more restrained after Chu Tingwu¡¯s persuasion.

    She scrolled through the news and found, as expected, that thetest controversy was:

    Cats attacking people.

    The incident involving Three-Five-Five would likely be cleared up after the police issued a statement, but Chu Tingwu decided to post an announcement anyway.

    She wasn¡¯t defending Three-Five-Five but reposted a fan¡¯sment:

    "When Three-Five-Five attacked that person, I felt panicked because it felt like my foot was also stepping on them. The VR livestream blurred some boundaries, and I¡¯m not sure how to describe it, but I instinctively exited the VR perspective."

    Chu Tingwu reposted:

    [Unlike simple VR visuals, the new VR livestreaming equipment allows viewers to experience a more realistic sense of touch. After careful consideration, the team has decided to dy the release of the VR livestreaming equipment for hosts.

    Hosts using this equipment must undergo screening, real-name verification, and training. The equipment will automatically connect to the livestream system, but even so, we can¡¯t guarantee that inappropriate content won¡¯t ur.

    Because the boundaries of what¡¯s inappropriate are often blurred.

    Someone could use this equipment to hug others, allowing viewers to feel a stranger¡¯s warmth from home, while someone else might use it to teach basic self-defense orbat techniques¡­ but that could easily cross the line into harassment or violence.

    Moreover, during a VR livestream, the host themselves could be subjected to inappropriate scrutiny or rudements from viewers¡ªwhenunching apletely new livestreaming system, we need to consider all the potential issues that might arise.

    After discussions with @Fenghua Video, the host equipment will first be trialed in small numbers within Fenghua Video¡¯s tform. At the same time, the video site will be updated to minimize the likelihood of the aforementioned problems.

    We hope everyone, whether hosts or viewers, can enjoy the fun of VR livestreaming.]

    Thepany then reposted Chu Tingwu¡¯s announcement and quietly released pre-orders for protective gear like knee pads, arm guards, gloves, and shoe covers.

    As for the VR sses, they were still in development, so everyone would have to make do with the high-end ones on the market for now.

    Fans: "?"

    Alright, the high-end sses on the market are just "making do" for you? How advanced will yourpany¡¯s products be?

    You¡¯re a sports brandpany, but you¡¯ve already jumped into the VR gaming equipment race. The sses manufacturers probably couldn¡¯t sleep at night, thinking:

    "What¡¯s wrong with them?"

    Chu Tingwu couldn¡¯t hear thepetitors¡¯ints, because after the ancestral rites, she and her friends flew to Sang City.

    This time, perhaps through some channel (possibly Chu Xiao), her third cousin, who worked in a neighboring city, found out about the incident during Chu Tingwu¡¯s first visit to Sang City and drove over to pick up the four of them for the winter camp.

    The sailingpetition had already concluded during the New Year. Chu Tingwu leaned against the window and suddenly said, "The application for Fangyuan should have been approved, right?"

    That meant they could allocate VR host equipment to them!

    As part of the samepany, though fans jokingly called it the "Chu Group," the parentpany was simply branded with the "WU" logo and officially named "Wu Voice Group." While it nominally consolidated variouspanies, it was still controlled by the system.

    And since they were part of the same family, the equipment allocated to Fenghua Video would naturally also be shared with small charitable organizations supported by the Starcloud Charity Foundation.

    Among those who were willing and suitable for live streaming, a few had already set up their own video ounts early on. After all, in this day and age, being a content creator can bring in some traffic, and traffic trantes to money.

    The Starcloud Charity Foundation also reviewed and approved a batch of suitable VR streamers. Of course, they first had to send the designated streamers to thepany for training and to sign contracts.

    The system established a media studio.

    ...Anyway, it was all crammed into the headquarters.

    However, the studio staff were scratching their heads, really wanting to take over Chu Tingwu¡¯s ount management... but the system wouldn¡¯t allow it!

    As for ces like Fangyuan Private Kitchen... the streamer was the head chef, Auntie, who was thrilled to be able to stream herself cooking in VR.

    Her recipes were self-taught, having learned from a few masters, and she also innovated her own dishes. She didn¡¯t feel the need to hide any recipes¡ªbecause skill couldn¡¯t simply be copied.

    While Chu Tingwu was buried in her studies, Fangyuan quietly went live.

    Fenghua Video had set up a dedicated event page to promote the VR streamers. Considering that VR experiences are more suited for outdoor activities, the first batch of streamers they selected weren¡¯t necessarily the ones with the most followers but whose content wasn¡¯t a good fit¡ª

    Of course, the VR streamers Fenghua Video heavily promoted also didn¡¯t have fewer than two million followers.

    At first, the most popr were the pet bloggers.

    There were plenty of people who wanted to virtually "pet" cats, and then there was the official panda channel¡ªwhere you could get up close with pandas alongside their caretakers! Sure, the tactile experience was a bit removed, but you could "see" the pandas, so what more could you ask for?

    Next were other outdoor content creators, like those who loved cycling or enjoyed traveling and streaming their journeys... Although the pilot program had a small number of participants, there were still over a hundred of them, plus the asional surprise live streams from Arthur¡ª

    In February, VR live streaming still seemed like a distant dream.

    By March, everyone was like mice that had fallen into a rice bin.

    Some even begged the panda reserve in Chuan City to purchase VR experience pods¡ªthere was no way to buy them directly, as it seemed you could only coborate with Wu Voice Group! But those who had been to Chewan City said the experience was absolutely mind-blowing! If you didn¡¯t get one, you¡¯d be left behind!

    The reserve: "=="

    Those ounts with fewer followers,beled as studio ounts, quietly nestled among the big creators, but they still managed to ride the VR wave and get enough traffic.

    Then, Fangyuan¡¯s live stream blew up.

    Chu Tingwu was so busy with her studies that she barely even noticed the start of the school year. Wherever she went, it was all about solving problems and taking exams.

    This year, it seemed the province had learned fromst year¡¯s mistakes, as the biologypetition preliminaries were held unusually early. As a result, fewer first-year students from Fifth High School qualified for the leaguepared tost year.

    When Chu Tingwu heard this news, her deskmate got nervous for a moment, but then she realized:

    "Wait, I¡¯m a second-year student now."

    Why am I even worried?

    Everyone seemed more numb thanst year. An Shiyan would pass by Chu Tingwu¡¯s desk without even asking for snacks¡ªshe was a mathpetition student, constantly torn between destroying the world herself and hoping someone else would do it. Chu Tingwu got some mathpetition problems from Shao Lingwu for her friend... but the friend seemed both touched and even more devastated.

    So, when the preliminary results came out, the school gave thepetition students a day off.

    "Are you going home to study or heading to the study room?"

    "I¡¯m going to ask my parents to book a tutor for home tutoring. See youter."

    "I¡¯m not studying. I¡¯m going to sleep all day."

    "Will my provincial exam score be worse thanst year¡¯s? I¡¯m so stressed..."

    "I just want to find a ce to hang¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu jumped onto the table.

    The teacher was still packing up their folders and was startled by her action, but they pretended it was pletely normal and not worth making a fuss about," continuing to look down, though their ears perked up.

    Chu Tingwu: "If no one has ns, do you want toe to my neighborhood to hang out? It¡¯s right across from the school."

    Someone whispered in confusion: "But I have ns..."

    And what¡¯s even fun to do in a neighborhood?

    Chu Tingwu looked at these familiar yet slightly unfamiliar ssmates she¡¯d spent nearly a year with and said:

    "Our neighborhood activity center has thirty VR live streaming experience pods. They¡¯re not open to the public yet, but we can y with them all day."

    The ssroom fell silent for a moment.

    An Shiyan suddenly rushed forward and hugged Chu Tingwu¡¯s leg: "Aah!"

    Why didn¡¯t you say so earlier!

    The other ssmates: "..."

    VR live streaming... experience pods!

    In that moment, Chu Tingwu became the most popr person in the ssroom. Everyone mored around her, calling her "Chu Chu," "Chu Tingwu," and even "Mom," as they swarmed her out of the room, startling Three-Five-Five, who was waiting at the door.

    Forgetting about the problems they hadn¡¯t finished, they chattered excitedly about whether they should grab some snacks and drinks on the way, as if it were a school pic from their first year.

    Teacher Shi on the podium smiled.

    He packed up his files and walked back to the office with a heavy step that didn¡¯t match his expression¡ª

    Damn it... he actually wanted to go too.

 Chapter 118

    Chu Tingwu''s life remained busy and fulfilling, though it seemed even more hectic than before.

    However, her ssmates clearly didn''t see it that way¡ª

    Different academicpetitions had varying schedules, with the biologypetition being earlier. In theory, everything would be settled by July this year.

    For most students, once the results of the provincialpetition (the league) came out in April, some could turn their attention to preparing for the college entrance exam.

    How Chu Tingwu managed to keep up with her studies, maintain daily physical exercise, and even go out for outdoor activities twice a week was beyond them.

    At the start of the school year, all their sses were suspended, and students focusing onpetitions spent their entire day solely on theirpetition preparation... By early April, the atmosphere in the ss seemed to have grown even more tense.

    When Chu Tingwu was live-streaming, even some fans advised her: "Mibao, you don''t have to stream VR content. Just stream yourself doing homework to fill the time. After all, yourpetition exam only happens once in a lifetime."

    In the face of such an important exam, everything else had to take a backseat.

    Chu Tingwu felt that they were more nervous than she was.

    The system was also nervous¡ª

    But it was nervous about Chu Tingwu''s birthday, as she had requested it to "not make a big fuss" this year. The system finally toned it down, only coborating with Fenghua Network to have the website disy a birthday greeting on the homepage and organize a rted videopetition¡ªyes, a VR live-streamingpetition.

    When Chu Tingwu opened her phone early that morning, her expression was one of "=¡£=". Perhaps to cover up the obviousness, the homepage greeting not only wished "Happy 17th Birthday to A''chu" but also celebrated the "66th Day of VR Live-Streaming." What was there to celebrate about that?

    This attempt to downy the asion naturally drew some criticism, and the website quickly added a note,ughing it off and exining that all major contracted UPers on the tform would receive simr celebratory activities. They emphasized that the birthday greeting and the live-streamingpetition should be seen as separate events¡ªyes, separate.

    In the pinned video on Chu Tingwu''s channel, Tian Shi left a birthday message, earning herself a one-day cake avatar badge and a birthday hat emoji that would appear when she replied. She then suggested to the system:

    "Should we change the VR interface''s UI too?"

    Make it more festive!

    She said this with a hint of frustration, as she had realized that she would have to work overtime during Chu Tingwu''s birthday¡ªher overtime task was to create illustrations for a new campaign by 365 Company, which was part of the activities celebrating Chu Tingwu''s birthday, organized by thepany below.

    Tian Shi: "..."

    What to do? I feel like my love for my favorite has decreased by 0.1%. Let me go and draw a congrattory illustration for your boss!

    Indeed, this year she didn''t have time to create a full video, so she settled for a celebratory illustration and even made a cake herself¡ªwhich she ate after taking a photo of it for Chu Tingwu.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    She silently gave it a like.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    At midnight that day, she marked her calendar with a cat paw print, and three dayster, she checked off the date¡ªthe day of the leaguepetition.

    Jin City was the provincial capital, and the students from Fifth High were fortunate to take the exam locally.

    The leaguepetition began on an ordinary day, with neither hot nor cold weather. Everyone was transported by bus, with the second-year students sitting in the back, either silently reviewing their notes or dozing off. Then, Chu Tingwu heard some chattering.

    Soon, the first-year juniors boarded the bus.

    They looked at their seniors with a mix of curiosity, nervousness, and excitement. Those who were woken up exchanged nces¡ª

    Though it was just a matter of sitting in the front or the back, everyone''s feelings were somewhatplicated.

    ...Perhaps next year, these juniors would look at the new first-years in the same way?

    The girl next to Chu Tingwu nudged her. She turned her head in confusion, and the girl whispered, "Let me lean on you for a bit."

    She rested her head on Chu Tingwu''s shoulder.

    Sunlight streamed through the bus window as they drove further away from the school gate. Regardless of the exam results, for most people, this exam would be something they remembered for the rest of their lives.

    When Chu Tingwu arrived at the exam hall, she felt surprisingly calm.

    Thepetition consisted of two rounds: a written test and a practical experiment. The written test was entirely multiple-choice, with single and multiple correct answers... She finished it very quickly.

    Some questions were familiar, having been covered by Zhou Qiang and others during their study sessions. They had even guessed most of the questions during their group calls, where they quizzed each other¡ªthis time, they had guessed about seventy to eighty percent of the questions. But Chu Tingwu knew that they were mainly helping her withst-minute preparation.

    As for the slightly unfamiliar questions, Chu Tingwu read the prompts and directly selected the correct answers from the options she was unsure about.

    As she wrote down her answers, she felt a sense of realization¡ª

    So, after finishing the test, she couldn''t help but ask the system: "I got all these questions right, didn''t I?"

    ¡¾Your [Intuition Lv1] has upgraded to [Intuition Lv2].¡¿

    ¡¾Whether inbat or in daily life, your intuition will provide you with more convenience, as it is mostly correct.¡¿

    ¡¾After the upgrade, the improvement inbat instincts is more noticeable, and your physical abilities have also been slightly enhanced.¡¿

    The system replied: "Yes, all correct!"

    But this wasn''t just due to intuition. Rather, this sixth sense was closely tied to the knowledge Chu Tingwu had previously studied¡ªshe had encountered the relevant material before but hadn''t fully memorized it. Now, her intuition retrieved the information from her memory and told her, "Choose this one."

    The system offered some advice for further upgrades:

    "You need to keep trying and verifying¡ªrepeatedly activating the instincts buried deep in your memory and turning them into intuitive choices."

    When the number of "always being right" instances reaches a certain point, a qualitative change will ur, allowing the skill to reach Lv3.

    At Lv1, the ability to discern the intentions of other beings was based on subconscious information processing. The brain captured this information but didn''t present it to Chu Tingwu directly, instead telling her: "That person is bad, the exit is to the left, just listen to me!"

    With each level, the amount and speed of information processing increased, bing: "Choose A, this ce is about to explode, just listen to me!"

    And by Lv3...

    The system said: "You''ll know how to make a random pot of stew taste better!"

    Chu Tingwu: "That''s good enough."

    She had thought it might allow her to turn an alien she''d never seen into a more ptable local dish!

    Chu Tingwu didn''t bother changing her answers; the ones she had chosen blindly were her own, so there was no need to resist them. After chatting with the system, the exam ended.

    Chu Tingwu realized she hadn''t reviewed her paper¡ªbut her intuition told her there were no mistakes caused by misreading the questions.

    The feeling of the recent upgrade was intriguing. While the heightened senses were noticeable and explicit... the effects of the intuition skill were more subtle.

    She decided to fully embrace this feeling¡ª

    Then, her footsteps faltered as she was about to leave.

    Other examinees passed by her. Some walked a few steps before squatting down to cry, only to be quickly pulled away by their ssmates. The surrounding "atmosphere" was heavy. Chu Tingwu turned to look at someone standing in a daze, and a thought suddenly popped into her mind:

    "His parents are going through a divorce."

    This thought came out of nowhere, as there was no evidence to support it. Chu Tingwu tried to analyze why her intuition hade to this conclusion.

    He did seem to be in a bad mood, with heavy eye bags, but so did everyone else here. He smelled of breakfast, shoes, engine oil, and a hint of wintergreen oil... as well as a faint scent of plum blossoms.

    The plum blossoms that hadn''t yet withered were only found in the easternmost neighborhood of the district. She had smelled them while parkouring just a couple of days ago, narrowing down where he lived.

    He was wearing the uniform of Sanzhong High School, which is located in the East District. As she was parkouring, she seemed to overhear a conversation below about a couple in Building Three who were on the verge of divorce and had even hit their son who came to mediate¡­ They mentioned that the child was doing exceptionally well in school¡­

    "What a pity, isn¡¯t there an important examing up for the kid? Even if Old Kong and his wife want to fight, they should at least wait until after the exam!"

    Perhaps Chu Tingwu had been staring for too long, the ssmate turned to her: "Uh¡­ do you need something?"

    Chu Tingwu shook her head. Someone in the distance called out, "Kong Kancong, let¡¯s go! The teacher is about to take attendance!"

    Chu Tingwu said, "They¡¯re calling you."

    Kong Kancong was a beat slow: "Oh¡­ oh!"

    It wasn¡¯t until he got on the bus that he thought to himself: How did she know they were calling me?

    Chu Tingwu felt a strange sense of satisfaction as her intuition was confirmed. However, when the school bus returned to the campus, she nced out the window and frowned.

    Everything outside seemed normal. There weren¡¯t many cars at the school gate, but Chu Tingwu couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that she smelled something familiar yet unfamiliar¡­ It was ordinary, but for some reason, she found it distasteful.

    The others got off the bus one by one, and Chu Tingwu turned to look again.

    A person stepped out of a white luxury car parked across from the school gate and hurried over to Chu Tingwu: "Miss Chu?"

    Chu Tingwu said, "I don¡¯t like Western food."

    The man was momentarily taken aback, then smiled politely: "Understood. Please wait a moment, I¡¯ll need to consult with the boss."

    He made a call to Shen Yue.

    -

    The driver started the car, while Secretary Qiu discreetly observed Chu Tingwu through the rearview mirror.

    When he had been waiting to pick her up, he had been watching the school bus return, noting the students as they got off¡ªsome looked tired, others rxed. But when Chu Tingwu stepped off the bus, Secretary Qiu had a sudden thought:

    Yes, this is the one.

    Chu Tingwu carried her bag with one hand, her tall and slender figure giving even the simple school uniform an air of elegance. As the weather was turning warmer, she had rolled up the right sleeve, revealing a section of her forearm.

    The people around her were chatting in small groups, not too close to her, yet somehow encircling her.

    Secretary Qiu noticed that whenever Chu Tingwu spoke, the others would turn their attention to her¡­ She was the one most people wanted to talk to, but their demeanor wasn¡¯t rushed, as if they knew their turn woulde.

    This was a girl who patiently answered every question, responded to everyment, making people feel close to her yet not daring to overstep. If she wanted to, she could easily be the school¡¯s star, the kind of person her peers looked up to¡­ No, Secretary Qiu thought, she already was that person.

    Although he had always known that the boss was married for the second time and had two children from his previous marriage, it wasn¡¯t until the boss¡¯s divorce that Secretary Qiu learned who those two children were.

    It was said that Chu Tingwu had been assigned to the boss¡¯s custody, and the person responsible for sending her living expenses was Secretary Qiu¡¯s colleague¡­ the same secretary with whom the boss had been having an affair.

    *Ahem.*

    Secretary Qiu didn¡¯t forget his mission and spoke up: "Miss Chu, Mr. Shen hase to Jin City specifically to discuss the matter of custody with you. The divorce between Mr. Shen and Ms. Jian is mostly settled, except for the issue of your custody¡­ Ms. Jian, as your stepmother, is insisting on having custody of you, and she ims it¡¯s your wish. This has deeply saddened Mr. Shen¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu cut him off: "Ms. Jian is right."

    Secretary Qiu tried to phrase it more delicately: "If you choose to go with Ms. Jian, Mr. Shen may reconsider the future distribution of his assets. Moreover, Ms. Jian still has to take care of Miss Mu Xi."

    Chu Tingwu: "Mhm."

    Chu Tingwu: "If he doesn¡¯t want to pay for Mu Mu¡¯s living expenses, I can support her through college."

    Secretary Qiu: "¡­"

    She¡¯s imprable, utterly imprable!

    He nced at the driver, then thought about Chu Tingwu¡¯s background and decided toy it all out: "Mr. Shen and Ms. Jian¡¯s negotiations have fallen apart. Currently, you¡¯re the only child under his custody. After contacting his ex-wife, Ms. Lu, he¡¯s been in a bad mood¡ªAnyway, if you just give in a little, the assets will likely all go to you in the future."

    Even though Chu Tingwu was already wealthy, why would she pass up the chance to be even wealthier?

    Chu Tingwu pondered for a moment.

    The car stopped in front of a restaurant.

    Before getting out, she finally spoke:

    "Did he visit our ancestors¡¯ graves this Qingming Festival?"

    Secretary Qiu: ¡­No, because Mr. Shen was still dealing with his divorce case.

    Chu Tingwu smiled: "Then when he goes bankrupt, I can fund his tuition for senior college."

    That is, if her middle-aged father was willing to go back to school.

 Chapter 119

    Secretary Qiu was about to follow when the car behind them also came to a halt. Someone pushed the door open, and a few people naturally positioned themselves behind Chu Tingwu, leaving Secretary Qiu with no space to stand.

    He: "..."

    He wanted to move to the front but couldn¡¯t find the right moment¡ªand he hadn¡¯t even told Chu Tingwu which private room they were in. Yet, Chu Tingwu led the group straight to the room without needing any guidance.

    Secretary Qiu had initially assumed those people were just passersby, but one of them opened the private room door for Chu Tingwu.

    Inside the room were Shen Yue and Jian Ling.

    As the door opened, Shen Yue instinctively turned his head and saw his biological daughter, whom he hadn¡¯t seen in a while.

    Chu Tingwu unbuttoned her coat, one hand in her pocket, walking at the front. When she looked over, her expression was indifferent.

    But Shen Yue was stunned.

    He had been keeping up with his daughter¡¯s news online¡ªafter all, Chu Tingwu¡¯s trending topics weren¡¯t for nothing¡ªbut thest time they met in person was at her grandmother¡¯s funeral. Since then, they hadn¡¯t even chosen the same time to visit the grave.

    He had heard all sorts of rumors: that Chu Tingwu was funded by a wealthy patron and didn¡¯t need his money, that she had started apany and made a fortune, that she had befriended influential people¡­ He didn¡¯t know how true these rumors were, but it was clear that his daughter no longer needed his help.

    Last year, when his rtionship with Jian Ling fell apart, he was emotionally distraught. One night, drunk, he called Chu Tingwu, but she didn¡¯t answer.

    So he had Secretary Qiu stop sending her living expenses.

    Perhaps, at the time, he harbored the thought that she mighte back to him¡­ but as time passed, he simply forgot about it.

    Now, seeing Chu Tingwu again, Shen Yue fell silent:

    For the first time, he realized with rity that Chu Tingwu was moving forward and would nevere back to him.

    Shen Yue suddenly felt a profound sense of disillusionment.

    Jian Ling greeted Chu Tingwu with a smile. She seemed much more spirited than she had been in Chewan City. Chu Tingwu knew she had passed her exams and would soon be heading abroad once the final handover wasplete.

    Moreover, the system had reciprocated her efforts by arranging a safer residence and a reliable agent for her.

    However, while Shen Yue remained inexplicably silent, Chu Tingwu noticed that her cousin¡ªor rather, the man standing next to her¡ªwas giving Shen Yue a rather hostile look.

    Chu Mojiang, the eldest cousin, was already forty-nine, a year older than Shen Yue, but ording to family hierarchy, he had to address Shen Yue as ¡°Uncle.¡±

    ¡­Perhaps this familial hierarchy also gave him an unusual sense of authority.

    Because the first thing he said was, ¡°Mr. Shen, hello. I¡¯m thewyer representing the concerned party.¡±

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°¡ú_¡ú¡±

    Shen Yue: ¡°?¡±

    Meanwhile, Yue Miao helped Chu Tingwu adjust her clothes, and together with Jian Ling, they discussed the menu. The driver, standing at the back, pretended to be a bodyguard, barely containing his excitement as he tried to add to the young boss¡¯s imposing presence.

    Caught in the middle of it all, Chu Tingwu: ¡°¡û_¡û¡±

    As her cousin began to argue with her biological father, Chu Tingwu lowered her head and started nibbling on a shrimp. This cousin of hers was no ordinary man¡ªawyer of his caliber wouldn¡¯t normally handle such trivial cases. He wasn¡¯t here to discuss legal matters; he hade to celebrate with Chu Tingwu after her exams.

    Chu Mojiang was Chu Xiao¡¯s maternal uncle, and he adored the smart kids in the family.

    So when he discovered that Shen Yue hadn¡¯te to see Chu Tingwu after her exams but had coincidentally chosen today, he couldn¡¯t hold back his anger:

    ¡°How can you call yourself a father?¡±

    Shen Yue: ¡°?¡±

    Wait, you¡¯re just awyer. What does this have to do with you?

    Ignoring the baffling wyer,¡± Shen Yue turned directly to Chu Tingwu: ¡°Some kids out there don¡¯t even have enough to eat or wear, but I¡¯ve never mistreated you, have I? Whatever you wanted, I gave it to you. You¡¯ve nevercked money, and you¡¯ll inherit a share of the family¡¯s wealth¡ªafter all, you¡¯re my biological daughter. Chu Tingwu, I¡¯ll cut to the chase. I came here to ask you one thing: why would you rather follow your stepmother than stay with me?¡±

    Perhaps he had originally intended to say something else, but now he only wanted an answer to this question.

    Compared to other children¡¯s lives, Chu Tingwu had it good. Shen Yue prided himself on being generous when it came to money¡ªif she asked for something, he never refused.

    Chu Tingwu nced at her cousin, who was suppressing his anger, then at Jian Ling, who remained calm, and finally at Shen Yue, her biological father, with whom she no longer shared a blood connection.

    He genuinely didn¡¯t understand.

    His son was with his ex-wife, and over time, it was natural for them to grow distant. His younger daughter, raised by her mother, was still young, so it made sense for her to stay with her mother¡ªbut Chu Tingwu had been raised by her grandmother and had no ties to her stepmother. Why would she choose to follow her stepmother instead?

    If the custody rights were still technically his, then at least there should have been a connection between Chu Tingwu and her grandmother¡­

    ¡°At least there¡¯s still a bond between me and Grandma, right?¡± Chu Tingwu unexpectedly voiced his thoughts. ¡°But the connection between me and Grandma doesn¡¯t need you to mediate.¡±

    Her cousin assumed Chu Tingwu was referring to the Chu family, but he didn¡¯t know that Chu Tingwu was actually saying she and her grandmother no longer shared a blood connection¡ªon the day her grandmother was buried, she had ceased to be her biological rtive. But perhaps family didn¡¯t need to be defined by blood.

    It was precisely because that connection was gone that she realized it didn¡¯t matter.

    Because Three-Five-Five could also be her mother, the system could also be her family, and Grandma would always be her Grandma, even if she had been adopted. Grandma would have wanted to be her Grandma.

    She knew that.

    She also knew: ¡°You¡¯re not a bad person.¡±

    Shen Yue: ¡°...¡±

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°You¡¯ve never broken thew, you pay your taxes on time, and you even do charity work.¡±

    Apart from his personal ws, Shen Yue had no major faults. In fact, in the eyes of most people, he was an outstanding individual¡ªif he weren¡¯t, Lu Cenyin wouldn¡¯t have married him in the first ce.

    Even now, he was a charming, handsome middle-aged man.

    Back in school, he had been intelligent and studious, a son his grandmother could be proud of. He was loyal to his friends, sessful in his career, and well-regarded by his business partners. When he was pursuing Lu Cenyin, he had been the perfect boyfriend¡ªuntil shortly after Chu Tingwu was born, when problems began to arise in their rtionship.

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°You¡¯re not wed¡­ you just love yourself more.¡±

    Chu Tingwu had once wondered if she had done something wrong. As she grew older, she could still recall bits of her childhood¡ªhow she would sit quietly when her parents argued, how Lu Cenyin had promised her ice cream after a doctor¡¯s visit but didn¡¯t buy it on the way home.

    But she gradually came to understand¡ªthat the ¡°love¡± others give you isn¡¯t all that important.

    Because everyone can only apany you for a part of your life. And as long as you have the capacity to love others, you¡¯ll neverck people who love you.

    The system had told Chu Tingwu that her parents had loved her when she was first born, even showing her hospital surveince footage, though Chu Tingwu hadn¡¯t watched it.

    So, Shen Yue and Lu Cenyin had indeed been there for Chu Tingwu at the beginning, followed by her brother, her grandmother, the system, Three-Five-Five¡­

    She and her biological parents had long since drifted apart, and there was no need for a formal goodbye.

    Shen Yue didn¡¯t want to make the situation any more awkward, so the custody transfer to Jian Ling went smoothly.

    Neither side finished the meal, but after leaving, Chu Tingwu called Lu Cenyin to report that her league exams were over. Lu Cenyin congratted her as usual.

    Then, at thepany¡ª

    Man Xing: ¡°Should we throw an early celebration? Maybe organize a raffle or something?¡±

    Lian Tong nodded: ¡°Some colleagues haven¡¯t even seen the main office¡¯s entrance.¡±

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°Can we at least try to keep it low-key¡­¡±

    She had just finished the league exams; the results weren¡¯t even out yet. It wasn¡¯t like she had made it to the national team!

    Man Xing, holding White Beard, tried to argue with the boss:

    ¡°But finishing the exams is worth celebrating! Regardless of the results, it¡¯s a turning point in life¡­ I never even made it to thepetition ss when I was in school¡­¡±

    Besides, this was thest ¡°provincial league¡± Chu Tingwu could participate in.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    So isn¡¯t today also worth celebrating? Because she¡¯ll never have another day like this in her life.

    Man Xing thought she was right.

    Chu Tingwu thought they just wanted an excuse to hand out bonuses.

    The system thought that giving out bonuses in exchange for the employees¡¯ blessings for Chu Tingwu¡¯s exam results was a pretty good deal.

    ...And so, this "year-end party" that wasn¡¯t tied to any holiday was scheduled for the day Chu Tingwu¡¯spetition results came out.

    It was still a very ordinary day, with very ordinary weather, but because thepany was somewhat unique, employees¡ªwhether attending the celebration remotely or in person at the Jin City headquarters¡ªwere allowed to bring their cats and dogs along!

    As the guest of honor, Chu Tingwu squatted in a corner, staring thoughtfully at the ck cat trying to mount the Ragdoll beside it:

    Who am I? Where am I? Is this something I¡¯m allowed to witness?

    Three-Five-Fivey beside her, letting out a "meow" before turning her head away,pletely unfazed by the mating behavior happening nearby.

    It wasn¡¯t until the ck cat¡¯s owner came over to pull the cat away, and the Ragdoll¡¯s owner came to scoop up their pet.

    Ragdoll¡¯s owner: "Mine¡¯s a male!"

    ck cat¡¯s owner: "Mine¡¯s also a male¡­"

    Well, as fellow males, they could let bygones be bygones.

    Man Xing also found the boss in the corner and said, "The results are out!"N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ¡ªChu Tingwu had ced fourth in the provincial exam. Shannan Province didn¡¯t have a provincial team selection process; the top ten directly entered the provincial team. She would join the other nine topete in the national exam two monthster.

    -

    America, Yarman Neuroscience Laboratory.

    The head of theb, Andis, was puzzled: "What are you all so happy about?"

    A subordinateughed: "Boss, we got an extra month¡¯s bonus."

    Andis had been so busytely that he hadn¡¯t noticed, but now that his subordinate mentioned it, he realized that yes, the wealthy investor who had joined theb was indeed generous... though this time, it seemed to be for a different reason:

    "''Warmly celebrating Chu Tingwu¡¯s achievement of cing fourth in this year¡¯s Shannan Province Biology Competition and winning the provincial first prize, sessfully joining the provincial team!'' What is this?"

    This rustic banner hung outside theb, and when tranted, it seemed to refer to a young girl who had ced fourth in a statewide biology exam, which was also the reason they had received the bonus.

    Andis: "..."

    Andis: "?"

    Did they call everyone here just for this? He knew a bit about this exam¡ªone of his former students from the East had even won an international gold medal... It seemed like Easterners took these exams to secure better educational opportunities. If that was the case, he could just take this child on as his student directly.

    But the system refused.

    The system was delighted: "Don¡¯t mess things up!"

    The child still had the national exam, university, and many more milestones to celebrate! Why was this guy causing trouble? Was his work done? Get back to work!

    Andis: "........"

    Hey!

 Chapter 120

    After entering the provincial team, Chu Tingwu''s next important exam was the nationalpetition.

    The nationalpetition was held in early June, where about three hundred members from provincial teams across the country would take the exam together,peting for gold, silver, and bronze medals. The top fifty gold medalists would be selected for the national team.

    Chu Tingwu was one of only two members from her school, No. 5 High School, to be selected for the provincial team. Since returning from the winter camp, her skills had noticeably improved, and the coaches in thepetition ss could see it. However, being selected for the provincial team was still an achievement worthy of being announced and praised at the weekly school assembly.

    The principal was responsible for reading out themendation.

    But he felt that whoever wrote themendation script must have copied it directly from an old document. For one thing¡ªdid this kid really attend every ss? He had even heard that she never did her homework.

    Moreover, the school had recently updated its surveince equipment, andst month, Chu Tingwu was caught on camera climbing over the school wall. The photo, taken so quickly that her figure was blurred, was still posted on the bulletin board!

    Well, half of it was. The other half had been torn off by a cat two days ago, and the remaining half was dangerously pping in the wind.

    ...The grade director suspected that the cat was sent by Chu Tingwu, but there was no evidence.

    "Sometimes, the school only cares about results, not the process," Chu Tingwu said at the dinner table. "So starting tomorrow, I don¡¯t have to go to ss anymore."

    The other student who had been selected for the provincial team had also taken a long leave of absence, deciding to study full-time at home with a professionalpetition coach hired by her family.

    Teacher Yuan: "Should we sign you up for a youth ss too?"

    Chu Tingwu: "== No, that¡¯s not necessary."

    She was currently having dinner at Teacher Yuan¡¯s house.

    Like the other student, Chu Tingwu had decided to study at home for the next month or so. Of course, the provincial team coach had invited them to join, but not all members attended, and different schools had different schedules. So Chu Tingwu just asked for some electronic course materials.

    She was serious about studying at home.

    However, staying at home all day was a bit boring. She usually maintained a regr fitness routine, so after finishing her meal, she took on a part-time job at Teacher Yuan¡¯s ce¡ª

    Every day, she would take Cao Meng to his swimming ss for toddlers.

    Recently, several children at Cao Meng¡¯s kindergarten had caught a cold, possibly the flu, so they were on break.

    Teacher Yuan and Teacher Cao were both too busy with work and didn¡¯t want to send their child to their grandparents for care, so they enrolled him in a ss where he would learn math in the morning and swimming in the afternoon.

    In return for taking Cao Meng to and from his sses, Chu Tingwu could have lunch and dinner at Teacher Yuan¡¯s house.

    That evening, after Cao Meng finished scooping the cat litter,pleting his daily chores as a little worker, he asked seriously, "Mom, Dad, why is there so much meat in tomorrow¡¯s dishes? Is it because Sister Chu ising over?"

    Teacher Yuan joked, "Maybe it¡¯s because aliens love eating meat?"

    She had long known that her child considered Chu Tingwu an alien, with her drone being a miniature spaceship.

    Cao Meng: "No, Aunt Su told me Sister Chu isn¡¯t an alien¡ªshe¡¯s actually a tiger in disguise."

    He raised a finger: "We have to admit that anything can exist in this world, so it¡¯s normal for there to be monsters."

    Teacher Yuan couldn¡¯t help butugh: "It¡¯s because of that news story, right¡­ Fine, fine, she¡¯s indeed a little tiger, but even monsters have to take exams. Don¡¯t bother her tomorrow; she¡¯s busy."

    Cao Meng said "Oh," a bit confused:

    Sister Chu next door did need to go to school and take exams, but he hadn¡¯t been pestering her to y. In fact, after dinner today, Sister Chu had said she would stay with him after his trial ss tomorrow.

    -

    The next day, Chu Tingwu had the driver take them to the interest ss.

    The tutoring center was quiterge, upying the first and second floors of the building. The third floor was a library, and the fourth floor was a cinema. In addition to the toddler swimming ss, the center offered other extracurricr activities. The receptionist gave her a keycard and wristband, reminding Cao Meng to wear the wristband at all times, and then pointed them in the right direction.

    Cao Meng seemed quite happy.

    Although kindergarten was fun, they didn¡¯t have swimming there.

    They first went to the waiting room, where Chu Tingwu noticed many parents with their children. She quickly lost her own name and was given a new title: "Cao Meng¡¯s sister."

    Some parents had already tried the ss and were there to apany their children, while others were there for the first time, unsure about the teacher¡¯s quality.

    After greeting them, Chu Tingwu quietly began to identify the "profiles" of the other parents.

    Like a detective, she had recently leveled up her intuition skill to lv2 and had be somewhat addicted to this game¡ªn/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    First, she would form a conclusion, then look for clues to support it, reverse-engineer the evidence, and verify the uracy of her conclusion.

    Sometimes she would make mistakes in the details. For example, a student from another ss limped into the room, and Chu Tingwu guessed he had fallen down the stairs on his way out. Butter, she overheard him telling his friends that he had suddenly decided to jump from the second-floor window:

    "Because that would get me to school really fast! And it¡¯s cool!"

    "I even wanted to jump into the school like the person in that disciplinary notice photo, but I couldn¡¯t jump that high¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu: *pretends not to hear*.

    So, while she could make mistakes, her uracy rate was still quite high, usually hitting the mark about seventy to eighty percent.

    When the swimming coach arrived, Chu Tingwu observed him and concluded¡­ he must have stayed up all night, either gaming or watching short videos.

    This didn¡¯t require any intuition skill; just listening to his heartbeat and looking at his expression was enough.

    The swimming ss was divided into two groups, one for boys and one for girls, each with their own coach and an assistant. Although the coach looked tired, his teaching skills were still intact, and he was good at handling the kids.

    Chu Tingwu could tell he was a bit distracted, but he didn¡¯t make any mistakes. Soon, Cao Meng excitedly jumped into the water and started sshing around.

    The coach was in charge of teaching, while the assistant watched over the kids. The parents patiently observed from the side, while Chu Tingwu quietly analyzed the parents, using her skills to deduce their professions, personalities, and marital statuses¡ª

    She created a table for each person, listing her criteria for judgment, and then let the system score and verify her conclusions.

    She yed this game for a while, and some parents had already left, nning to pick up their kids after ss, while others stayed, waiting until the lesson ended.

    Just then, someone entered, followed by the receptionist.

    The receptionist nced into the ssroom and quickly said, "Oh, no, your daughter is in the other ssroom. Boys and girls are in separate sses."

    The person realized they had entered the wrong room, smiled apologetically, and turned to leave.

    Some parents were on their phones and didn¡¯t notice, while others nced up but didn¡¯t pay much attention, continuing to watch the pool.

    Chu Tingwu was initially the same¡­ but her intuition suddenly sent her a warning.

    ...Something wasn¡¯t right.

    Almost instantly, an image of the person formed in her mind:

    Around thirty years old, carrying the scent of cigarettes, alcohol, freshly washed clothes, and a mix of shower gel and perfume.

    Chu Tingwu only saw his right hand; his left hand was in his pocket, so she couldn¡¯t tell if he wore a ring. His neck was bare, and she wasn¡¯t sure if he had calluses on his hands.

    Everything else was vague.

    She stood there, still able to hear the footsteps of the "parent" and the receptionist¡ª"tap, tap, tap." The "parent¡¯s" steps were steady, while the receptionist¡¯s were a bit hurried. It didn¡¯t seem like there was a problem.

    But what if she analyzed further?

    The person had driven here, and their car hadn¡¯t been washed in a while. They had eaten something for breakfast¡­ They didn¡¯t have a pet¡­ No, all of this was irrelevant.

    Chu Tingwu overheard the man discussing with the teaching assistant, saying he had some family matters to attend to and needed to take his daughter home early. The teaching assistant smiled, and the receptionist said, "This is the parent of child number 013."

    The teaching assistant realized who it was and called out, "Pingping, your dad is here to pick you up."

    The female coach was still in the pool, and the child named Pingping seemed to ssh around a couple of times before reluctantly climbing out, murmuring, "Dad?"

    The receptionist patted the little girl''s head and helped her change her clothes before handing her over to the man.

    Chu Tingwu nced again at Cao Meng in the pool.

    The man was about to leave with the little girl.

    She still hadn¡¯t pinpointed what felt off¡­ In fact, after overanalyzing, she began to wonder if her intuition had failed her.

    Did the man harbor any ill will toward the little girl? It didn¡¯t seem so, but why did she feel such aversion toward him?

    ¡­The man was about to leave with the little girl.

    Chu Tingwu heard him thanking the receptionist, while the little girl stood nearby, smoothing out her clothes.

    Suddenly, Chu Tingwu pushed the door open.

    Other parents nearby noticed her action but quickly returned to their own business.

    Chu Tingwu walked directly toward the parent and the little girl. The receptionist was heading back to her desk, and the parent was about to leave with his daughter. From any angle, the scene appeared entirely normal¡ª

    But Chu Tingwu grabbed the little girl¡¯s other hand.

    The world seemed to sharpen in that moment. That inexplicable intuition told her, yes, this was the right thing to do.

    The parent turned around, frowning. "What are you doing?"

    Chu Tingwu ignored him and asked the child, "Is he your dad?"

    The child froze.

    The parent was furious. "What do you mean? What are you doing? Who are you?"

    Chu Tingwu crouched down. "It¡¯s okay, no matter if you say yes or no."

    The child replied, "...Yes."

    The parent was utterly baffled and felt insulted. "What¡¯s wrong with you? Where are your parents?"

    But Chu Tingwu ignored him, keeping her gaze level with the little girl. The girl seemed to gather a bit of courage and whispered even softer, "But Mom and Dad are divorced."

    Usually¡­ it¡¯s not Dad who picks her up?

    The receptionist came over to intervene. "Excuse me, could you please not disturb the other guests?"

    Chu Tingwu looked at her and, this time, decided to trust her intuition¡ªeven without any evidence¡ªbecause her intuition had never lied to her.

    She said, "Are you dating her dad? Or are you just in that ambiguous stage where you think you¡¯re together?"

    The receptionist: "..."

    The receptionist¡¯s expression changed instantly.

    -

    Chu Tingwu handed the little girl over to her mother, who arrived shortly after. The mother cursed her ex-husband for being so persistent and repeatedly thanked Chu Tingwu.

    Unsurprisingly, the receptionist was going to be fired¡­ but the girl¡¯s father was still causing trouble.

    He was the biological father, so even though the girl¡¯s mother called the police, they couldn¡¯t do much beyond giving him a stern warning.

    Though this incident wouldn¡¯t make the news, it spread among the local parents, likely through those who brought their children to the ss¡ªChu Tingwu decided to fan the mes. Even though she wasn¡¯t there for the ss, she had parents too.

    She told Three-Five-Five about this "terrifying" incident.

    Three-Five-Five: "..."

    Chu Tingwu: "Meow!"

    Three-Five-Five let out a soft "meow" and reluctantly went out to spread the word among the cats.

    Two dayster, the girl¡¯s biological father stepped out for work and stepped into two piles of dog poop at his doorstep. After changing his shoes, he stepped into two more piles at the entrance of hispany.

    He: "?"

    His colleagues: "...?"

    Though no one knew what was wrong with this guy¡­ it was clear his luck had taken a nosedive.

    Better to keep a safe distance, just in case.

 Chapter 121

    Cao Meng returned home and loudly dered, "Swimming is fun!"

    Moreover, the coach praised him, saying that because he had a bit more chubbiness, with more practice, he could turn that chubbiness into muscle on his legs and grow much taller than others in no time¡ª

    So Cao Meng announced, "Let''s send Meiqiu to learn swimming too!"

    Meiqiu was shocked.

    Teacher Yuan: "No, Meiqiu is a cat. Cats and humans can''t learn together. We¡¯d need to find a ce specifically for teaching cats to swim."

    Such a ce definitely didn¡¯t exist, but Teacher Yuan usually wouldn¡¯t outright reject a child with "You¡¯re too young to understand." Instead, she¡¯d let them try and figure it out themselves, then exin after they hit a wall.

    Cao Meng indeed tried, because he thought of Chu Chu¡¯s sister¡¯s cat, Sanwuwu, who seemed to excel at everything, so he went to ask Chu Tingwu if there were swimming sses for cats.

    Chu Tingwu: "Huh?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Yes, there are."

    Cao Meng happily returned home: "Mom, let¡¯s send Meiqiu to the police cat screening!"

    Teacher Yuan: Uh¡­

    No, besides the fact that the base no longer epts domestic cats, our Meiqiu wouldn¡¯t even pass the first round.

    But the reason she gave was, "If Meiqiu passes, she won¡¯t be able to stay at home. She¡¯ll have to live at the police cat training base until she retires."

    Cao Meng: An extracurricr ss that keeps you away from home for years?

    That night while feeding the cat, he hugged Meiqiu and rambled, "We love you so, so much. Because we can¡¯t bear to part with you, we¡¯re even giving up the chance for you to be a police cat¡­"

    Meiqiu struggled: Wait, let me take one more bite, meow!

    Beside them, Teacher Cao couldn¡¯t help butugh.

    Children¡¯s minds change like the wind. Two dayster, Cao Meng had a new idea:

    "When I said swimming was fun, why did Xiao Hong say I had no taste and that the VR experience pod is the best? I told him he couldn¡¯t y anyway because my parents said he¡¯s not old enough, and he got really mad, saying my parents were just lying to stop me from ying¡­"

    Why would they lie? The VR experience room in our neighborhood clearly has age and height restrictions. Doesn¡¯t Xiao Hong¡¯s neighborhood have that?

    At this point, Cao Meng nced at the VR experience pod in Chu Tingwu¡¯s study, his eyes gleaming with curiosity.

    Chu Tingwu: "Want to give it a try?"

    He didn¡¯t get to, because Teacher Yuan dragged him away, saying, "Don¡¯t disturb your sister¡¯s studies."

    Chu Tingwu: "=v="

    She really had to study now.

    With slightly heavy steps, she climbed into the VR experience pod and, among the many VR live streams, chose the one at the very bottom¡ªa newly started stream with almost no viewers.

    The stream was titled "Time to Review," and the streamer¡¯s ID was "Xiao Xiao."

    Apparently, this wasn¡¯t registered by Chu Xiao but by Chu Tingwu¡¯s cousin.

    ¡ªYes, this was essentially a private live stream for Chu Tingwu, since both kids in the family had made it to the provincial team. Though they were in different provinces, they¡¯d both be taking the same national exams, so why not review together?

    With VR live streaming, even study methods had diversified. Chu Tingwu discovered that the VR format heightened immersion, and if the streamer was highly focused, the viewers would be motivated to study along.

    Of course, this only worked if the streamer¡¯s curriculum was tailored to the sole viewer.

    Some idental viewers were utterly baffled, eximing:

    "Who on earth uses VR equipment to live stream studying?"

    Usually, people turned on study streams as background noise, but what was the point of a VR study stream? It felt like being thrust into a ssroom, embodying the teacher!

    Because Chu Xiao wasn¡¯t just doing a slow-paced study session; he was essentially teaching Chu Tingwu while reviewing, even doing practice papers together. After finishing, Chu Tingwu would post answers in the chat, Chu Xiao would write them down, and they¡¯d discuss the process¡­ Sometimes Zhou Qiang and Shao Lingwu would drop by, and after each session, Chu Tingwu would leave with a stack of digital course materials.

    A viewer who stumbled in twice by ident: "¡­"

    The viewer, wearing a pained expression, shared the stream with others, adding¡ª

    "Highly rmended!" "A must-watch!" "You¡¯ll fall in love with studying!"

    No, forget falling in love¡ªthe viewer just wanted others to experience the same pain. Watching someone else study and teach was one thing, but realizing the content was way beyond your level? Terrifying. You couldn¡¯t understand a thing!

    Maybe the viewer¡¯s intention wasn¡¯t purely altruistic, but after that, the stream gained a small, steady audience, and the numbers kept growing. Judging by the chat, it seemed to be spreading by word of mouth.

    Chu Tingwu asked the system and found out that most of the viewers didn¡¯t even have VR equipment; they were just regr viewers, mostly high school freshmen inpetitions. Some were rmended by teachers, while others were there because¡­

    "This first-person teaching style is amazing!"

    Even without VR, the immersion was strong, and it felt novel. Plus, since the teacher was their peer, the natural admiration for a fellow student made it easier to focus.

    Once the stream had a stable audience, Chu Xiao and Chu Tingwu finished their review cycle and handed the stream over to Shao Lingwu, with Zhou Qiang assisting as the "teaching assistant."

    Because Shao Lingwu had decided not to pursuepetitions anymore.

    He announced it in the group chat after the New Year:n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I¡¯ve been hesitating about whichpetition to focus on, since I¡¯m equally good at all of them."

    He didn¡¯t love or hate any subject; he¡¯d just ended up here because he was good at them. But Shao Lingwu eventually realized: he had no desire to research or delve deeper. Even if he did make it to a top university based on his strengths, it wouldn¡¯t mean much to him.

    Giving up was hard for others, but for him, it was easy because he didn¡¯t feel like he¡¯d invested too much. Even though he¡¯d spent 90% of his time onpetitions, done countless practice problems, and taken extra sses¡­ Shao Lingwu didn¡¯t feel exhausted.

    However, worried his parents might think his decision was rted to the winter camp or the friends he¡¯d made there, Shao Lingwu waited until he¡¯d finished the camp¡¯s program before telling them.

    His friends: But¡­ wasn¡¯t it kind of rted?

    Shao¡¯s Father and Mother were indeed shocked.

    Shao¡¯s Father: "Were you bullied at the camp? Did someone pick on you?"

    Shao¡¯s Mother: "Shut up, don¡¯t make it sound like he¡¯s refusing to take the college entrance exam! Sweetie, if you don¡¯t want to go to school, we can homeschool you. At least get into a university. If all else fails, we¡¯ll invest in your favorite school."

    Shao Lingwu: "?"

    Did he really look like someone who¡¯d be easily bullied?

    After a round of mimunication, they finally got on the same page. Shao¡¯s Father sighed, "Did we put too much pressure on you, making you feel like you had to be the perfect child¡­ or did the rtives say something in front of you? It¡¯s okay, you can study whatever you want. We¡¯ve already epted that you might not manage thepany."

    Shao Lingwu: That¡¯s because I really don¡¯t want to learn that stuff¡­ Don¡¯t make it sound like I¡¯m not smart enough to run thepany!

    He added sheepishly, "Because I¡¯m good at studying, you guys get to show off, right?"

    That was true. Hearing that their son was a young genius in thepetition ss, Shao¡¯s Father and Mother had always walked with pride in their social circles. And if their child suddenly decided to drop out and pursue music (Shao Lingwu: I¡¯m not dropping out!), the parents wouldn¡¯t see it as a problem, but the child, being considerate, would feel awkward bringing it up¡ª

    Shao¡¯s Mother: "But even if you weren¡¯t good at studying, people would still envy us."

    Shao Lingwu: "No... I really won''t perform poorly in my exams!"

    He finished studying for the college entrance exam in just one month, gauged his performance, and then came over to help Chu Xiao with lesson preparation. After a while, Shao, the teaching assistant, reced Professor Chu and began helping his friends with their second round of revision.

    With more free time and no need to attend school, Shao Lingwu, with the help of his family¡¯s resources, discussed with the system and added several plugins suitable for other students to the VR live-streaming ssroom during Chu Tingwu and others'' break times.

    While some could use VR live-streaming for sses, there were also students who couldn¡¯t ess such devices but were equally eager to learn. Therefore, the plugins were designed to make it easier for these students to attend lectures. He also uploaded electronic textbooks to his ount and dedicated two hours every night to answering questions from fans in the group chat.

    ¡ª¡ªThe fan groups on Fenghua Network were set up by the UP master with entry permissions, usually granted after donating a certain amount of money. Shao Lingwu set the entry fee at one yuan. Although Fenghua Network took half of it asmission, any viewer who wanted to learn could join for just one yuan and receive free lectures and after-sales service.

    With his help in management, the ount seemed more organized and structured. Some students in the fan group even formed study partnerships and created smaller groups to study together.

    However, the fan group wasn¡¯t just made up of students... There were also many people who, after hearing the background music during the lectures, treated it as a study room and donated gifts to join.

    The UP master himself: "Because I wrote that music myself..."

    It wasn¡¯t uploaded online, so naturally, it didn¡¯t have a name. It was just some instrumental music he casuallyposed before ss and used during lectures.

    The real "UP master" himself: "...Can you not use the ID ''Xiao Xiao'' when saying that?"

    Chu Xiao: "It feels a bit weird, I can¡¯t stand it."

    Shao Lingwu trulybined his hobbies... and his interests. In the eyes of Shao''s father and mother, not only did he not interrupt his studies, but he also seemed to be even more diligent than before. He woke up early every day, worked untilte, and his only breaks were for meals, sleep, and riding his electric tricycle around the neighborhood.

    He also enthusiastically greeted neighbors who drove luxury cars and one day became close friends with a neighbor who liked riding a mountain bike to work.

    Shao''s Father and Mother: "..."

    Their son truly didn¡¯t care about others'' opinions, which made it all the more precious that he cared about their thoughts and worked so hard to study! They needed to work harder to earn money. Even if Lingwu wanted to start his own business in the future... well, that wouldn¡¯t be impossible, right?

    Shao Lingwu: "?"

    Why do my parents¡¯ looks seem so strange?

    He didn¡¯t have any thoughts about starting a business. His current dilemma was that he couldn¡¯t figure out how to write a song¡ªhe was an inspiration-driven musician and had liked creating various styles of instrumental music and uploading them online for a long time, but he had never tried writing an actual song. Now he had some ideas and wanted to adapt a song, but as he wrote, he felt something was missing.

    Chu Xiao said during dinner: "Maybe it¡¯s rted to life experience. When your experiences are limited, it¡¯s hard to write a song that touches others. Why not start with what you¡¯re good at?"

    He wanted to say that if he wasn¡¯t good at pop music, he shouldn¡¯t force it. The instrumental music path was fine, and after going to school for further studies, looking back at his first song... wouldn¡¯t it feel awkward?

    Shao Lingwu didn¡¯t feel awkward.

    Because that night, Zhou Qiang forwarded a video to Chu Xiao¡ª

    Chu Xiao: "?"

    Why did you have to use the ID ''Xiao Xiao'' to post it!

    Shao Lingwu found Chu Xiao¡¯s advice very useful, so he turned the difficult-to-memorize knowledge points from the biologypetition into lyrics and fitted them into a melody. He thoughtfully uploaded it to major music and video tforms, including Fenghua Network.

    The fans were deeply moved.

    When Chu Xiao entered the fan group, he saw the fans saying:

    "Teacher Xiao Xiao is really amazing... Not only does he teach us, but he even wrote a song to help us remember the key points. It¡¯s like he¡¯s be an idol trainee!"

    Chu Xiao: "..."

    "Mom, can I change my name?"

    "Why? Do you want to change it to Chu Zi Xiao? Although our family doesn¡¯t follow the generational naming tradition anymore, you can¡¯t sh with the elders¡¯ names. It could cause misunderstandings. Chu Ting Xiao isn¡¯t an option either, that¡¯s your aunt¡ª"

    "Never mind then =="

 Chapter 122

    Perhaps it was because Chu Tingwu''s identity as a "candidate" was prominently disyed, or perhaps it was written on some invisible panel that only others could see. During her preparation period, none of her friends from parkour or rock climbing came to invite her out.

    The only one who persistently bothered her was the neighbor, Cao Mengmeng, along with the cats from upstairs and downstairs.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    A week before the exam, the provincial education department called to ask if Chu Tingwu wanted to travel to Shangjing City in advance with the group.

    After all, some students might suffer from limatization or experience motion sickness, which could affect their performance during the exam. Therefore, it wasmon to arrive a few days early to adjust to the environment.

    The provincial team coach could lead the group, and they could all stay at the same hotel for easier management andmunication... Of course, if Chu Tingwu had her own arrangements, they would respect her decision.

    In the face of exams, it seemed that the candidates were the most important, and all rules were bent to amodate them.

    This time, Chu Tingwu decided to bring Three-Five-Five along. Since it wasn¡¯t convenient to travel together, she declined the offer.

    Man Xing, on the other hand, pushed aside all her other work and decided to apany Chu Tingwu personally.

    The system was also on edge¡ª

    For Chu Tingwu, this was equivalent to taking the college entrance exam a year early. The system quickly adopted the mindset of a parent of a high school senior... So, when Chu Tingwu''s nended in Shangjing, she discovered that she now owned an apartment near the exam venue.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    Isn¡¯t this a bit too much?

    But having her own ce was more convenient than staying in a hotel. She called Chu Xiao and Zhou Qiang, inviting them to stay with her.

    That evening, she also mentioned it to Teacher Zhang, who regretfully said, "That¡¯s fine... I was thinking of letting you stay at my ce in Shangjing to prepare for the exam, but it¡¯s a bit far from your exam venue, and it hasn¡¯t been lived in for a while."

    She didn¡¯t bring it up earlier.

    However, that house was close to several famousndmarks. If Chu Tingwu wanted to explore Shangjing before or after the exam, she could stay there. Teacher Zhang even had a real estate agent deliver the keys.

    Chu Tingwu might indeed suffer from limatization¡ªher symptoms weren¡¯t severe, but her felinepanion was more sensitive. She experienced slight tinnitus upon arrival, but it disappeared after a good night¡¯s sleep.

    Three-Five-Five, on the other hand, wasn¡¯t quite used to the new environment.

    Three-Five-Five stayed close to Chu Tingwu¡¯s feet, not venturing too far, her eyes wide as she sniffed around the new apartment. On the first day, the cat mother didn¡¯t step outside.

    On the second day, Man Xing opened the door in the morning to find Three-Five-Five squatting outside, a small dead snake in her mouth.

    Man Xing: "..."

    Three-Five-Five held onto the snake until Chu Tingwu woke up and inspected it, then sauntered into the kitchen and dropped the snake¡¯s body into the trash bin.

    Man Xing: "..." So, this wasn¡¯t about bringing home prey? Was she just showing off her hunting skills to Chu Tingwu?

    Chu Tingwu waved her hand and vaguely acknowledged with an "Mhm."

    On the third day, Chu Xiao wheeled his luggage into the room and asked, "By the way, when I entered the neighborhood, I saw a tortoiseshell cat leading a group of cats in a fight. Was that Three-Five-Five?"

    He wasn¡¯t entirely sure.

    Chu Tingwu: "=v="

    Yes, it was.

    In just three days, Three-Five-Five had mapped out the boundaries of her new territory, assessed its safety, and even picked up a bit of the local cat dialect.

    Chu Tingwu noticed her practicing in secret, even stumbling over her original meows.

    Three days before the exam, Zhou Qiang and Shao Lingwu arrived.

    Although Shao Lingwu wasn¡¯t taking the exam, he was fully immersed in the experience.

    He even suggested, with a touch of formality, "Why don¡¯t we visit the university you might attend in the future?"

    In fact, after the provincial exam, several schools had already reached out to the group, including Shao Lingwu, asking if he wanted to apply for their direct admission programs. Wasn¡¯t it normal to visit the university before the exam? It could boost motivation¡ª

    Zhou Qiang: "Too busy."

    Chu Xiao: "Not going."

    Chu Tingwu looked around, picked up Three-Five-Five, and said, "Let Three-Five-Five apany you."

    Three-Five-Five: "Meow?"

    Shao Lingwu: It¡¯s not me who wants to see it, okay!

    He and the cat mother were pushed out the door, feeling utterly dejected.

    Just then, the door opened again, and Chu Tingwu peeked out.

    Shao Lingwu: "You..."

    Chu Tingwu adjusted the camera on Three-Five-Five¡¯s neck and said, "I forgot to livestream this month. Let Three-Five-Five help me fill in the gap."

    The door closed again.

    Shao Lingwu: You guys are so mean qvq

    -

    After sending the misceneous humans and cats out the door, Chu Tingwu and the others finished a set of practice papers and reviewed some challenging experimental questions. The wind rustled the curtains, and Man Xing carefully walked over to draw them closed¡ª

    Laughter and chatter drifted in from outside.

    Children from the neighboring school were riding their bikes back to the neighborhood after school. The sun reflected off the metal railings, casting a shimmering glow. It was another beautiful day.

    Chu Xiao seemed to think it was time for a break and tried to start a conversation: "So, are you nning to go to Tsinghua or Peking University?"

    ...Not the easiest topic to follow up on.

    Man Xing, with a "==" expression, went to fetch drinks, while Zhou Qiang said, "Probably Tsinghua¡¯s economics department."

    Admission throughpetitions allowed priority in choosing majors. She had received an invitation earlier and, afterparing the career paths of graduates from different fields, decided on economics.

    Chu Xiao, on the other hand, nned to continue his studies in biology. He was a pure academic and would likely attend Peking University. Chu Tingwu pulled up a school on her phone to show them¡ª

    It was Huake University, located two streets away from Peking University, but their animal conservation program was ranked first in the country.

    The two nodded, not finding anything unusual. Chu Tingwu mentioned that if she got into Huake, she could also attend sses at the neighboring film school, which was even closer than Peking University. She could take more systematic directing courses there.

    Man Xing was in the kitchen making egg tarts, staring at the sunlight streaming onto the balcony. The balcony looked like it was covered in golden shards, and a long-haired tortoiseshell cat might leap in from the windowsill at any moment... She felt a sense of disorientation:

    When she first met Chu Tingwu, she seemed like just a child, but now she was already discussing university ns with her friends. Do all children grow up this fast?

    In contrast, Three-Five-Five seemed unchanged.

    Human time flows, but cats seem to freeze after reaching adulthood¡ªforever strong, forever sharp, forever shedding fur with the seasons.

    The cat she was pondering swatted at Shao Lingwu.

    Shao Lingwu had borrowed a bicycle from the neighbor, and Three-Five-Five was perched in the front basket. The two were now touring the Tsinghua campus.

    As one of the country¡¯s most prestigious universities, Tsinghua attracted daily visitors. Shao Lingwu and the cat blended right in. He wore a dark blue cap to tame his curly hair and enthusiastically exined to Three-Five-Five¡ª

    "This is the university. Maybe one of them will study here in the future, and we can try out the Tsinghua cafeteria..."

    As he spoke, a family was also touring the campus. Unlike Shao Lingwu, who only had a cat forpany, the family seemed to have brought everyone along, surrounding their child and discussing what it would be like to attend Tsinghua.

    Shao Lingwu was pushed aside but didn¡¯t mind. He lifted Three-Five-Five¡¯s paw and waved it at the family,menting, "This must be the whole familying to support the exam, huh?"

    Three-Five-Five: "Meow?"

    Shao Lingwu: "During the college entrance exam, even more parentse to wait outside the exam venue, pick up their kids, and even wear special outfits to cheer them on. Some even prepare gifts beforehand¡ªregardless of how the exam goes! It¡¯s a way of showing support no matter the result. But I guess Chu Tingwu doesn¡¯t have that?"

    Since he knew the livestream was ongoing, Shao Lingwu avoided using Chu Tingwu¡¯s full name and instead used a nickname.

    He said "no" not because Chu Tingwu had no one to apany her, but given Man Xing''s status... she couldn''t prepare a gift or reward for Chu Tingwu. If anything, it would be more appropriate for Chu Tingwu to give her a bonus.

    Three-Five-Five: "Meow!?"

    The tortoiseshell cat sat up in the bicycle basket and swatted at Shao Lingwu.

    The audience found this amusing, and those familiar with Three-Five-Fivemented, "Is Mom angry?"

    [Three-Five-Five must have understood, right? I think Chu Chu should send her to university.]

    [Three-Five-Five probably already has a Ph.D. We should call her ''senior sister.'']

    [I was surprised when the livestream started today, but then I realized it was Three-Five-Five hosting, so it made sense... Teacher Chu should focus on studying. Exams are the most important thing right now.]

    [She even made Three-Five-Five host the stream to brush us off. I''m so touched, I could cry!]

    [...You don¡¯t have to be so easily moved!]

    Everyone knew Chu Tingwu had been busy recently. Some fans even discovered that she had been attending sses in another livestream under a viewer ount, as her fans would receive notifications whenever she logged in. Among her fans were even some who had taken the national civil service exam, having just started university a year or two ago. They joined the fan group of the ount "Xiao Xiao" to share exam questions and study materials, which was a unique way of showing their support.

    The person beside her had left, but Three-Five-Five¡¯s expression under her long fur still seemed serious.

    Shao Lingwu nced at thements and thought for a moment, then asked Three-Five-Five, "Are you thinking about what gift to prepare for A-Chu?"

    ¡ªOh right, this mom was also here to support her during the exams.

    But what should she prepare?

    The human and the cat parked the bicycle and sat on a bench, their expressions equally solemn.

    Shao Lingwu: "Speaking of which, there¡¯s also Xiao Xiao and Qiang Qiang¡ª"

    These two were also examinees! They couldn¡¯t favor one over the other, right?

    Three-Five-Five: "=="

    She sat upright, her back even straighter.

    People passed by¡ªstudents from Tsinghua University chatting as they walked:

    "What gift do you want most this year? Whatever you want, I¡¯ll give it to you."

    "Then steal the final exam paper for me."

    "Hey!"

    "Just kidding. Anything¡¯s fine, as long as it¡¯s the thought that counts."

    Shao Lingwu pondered: "Hmm..."

    Three-Five-Five also pondered: "Meow..."

    [My intuition tells me...]

    [They¡¯re definitely not thinking about the same kind of gift!]

    Mom, as long as the thought is there, it¡¯s enough! Really!

 Chapter 123

    When there was only one day left before the national exam for the students at home, Man Xing walked so quietly that she didn¡¯t dare to make a sound. The system didn¡¯t even schedule any evening sses and even helped with sleep aid. Three-Five-Five didn¡¯t snore while sleeping either!

    However, Chu Tingwu did notice that Three-Five-Five was leaving early and returningte.

    Shao Lingwu also seemed inexplicably nervous and short of breath¡­ but it didn¡¯t seem like he had done anything wrong.

    Though she found it strange, her intuition didn¡¯t raise any rms, so she didn¡¯t pay much attention to it.

    With the system around, Three-Five-Five wouldn¡¯t be in any danger without her knowing. As for Shao Lingwu, the most dangerous thing he had ever encountered in his life was probably getting lost because he couldn¡¯t tell directions.

    On the day of the biology national exam, Man Xing drove the three candidates to the exam venue. Chu Xiao¡¯s parents originally wanted toe too, but:

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Xiao Xiao has his aunt to take care of him, so we¡¯re reassured. If we go, it might just distract him.¡±

    Chu Xiao: Are you talking about this aunt who¡¯s two months younger than me?

    Chu Xiao didn¡¯t think he would be distracted by other factors during the exam¡ªhe had always been a reliable child, and this wasn¡¯t his first national exam either; he had even been to internationalpetitions. When it came to studying, he was the traditional type who took things step by step.

    Zhou Qiang was also a reliable one. Her strongest skills were estimating scores and memorizing quickly. She always had an urate assessment of her own abilities, and her results were consistently stable. As soon as she finished writing her exam, she could roughly predict her score.

    That¡¯s why she didn¡¯t dare to estimate Chu Tingwu¡¯s results¡ª

    Chu Tingwu¡¯s experiments were always excellent, but her written exam performance had improved too quickly.

    During the training camp, everyone stayed together, and Zhou Qiang quickly realized: Chu Tingwu had only been studying forpetitions for a year. She wasn¡¯t a genius, just an above-average smart person. By the end of the training camp, her level had only improved to the middle tier of the camp. She could perform stably enough to make it to the national exam, but she might not make it into the top fifty, which was required to join the national team.

    But after the provincial exam, she noticed that Chu Tingwu¡¯s uracy rate in the written exam had improved significantly¡­ If she maintained this level, a gold medal was almost certain.

    At least Chu Tingwu could choose the university she wanted to attend.

    As she was thinking this, Coach Yang and others were also evaluating this batch of candidates.

    Coach Yang was the head coach of this year¡¯s national biologypetition team. He had visited the Sangcheng winter camp for a day, taught Chu Tingwu and the others, and chatted with Teacher Fu.

    In a ss, the students who performed poorly and those who excelled often left a deep impression on the teacher. When good and bad students mixed together, it was even more memorable. And if a group of them even went out to cause trouble together, well, a meticulous teacher could probably recite how many cats they had at home.

    Coach Yang knew that Chu Tingwu had a cat named Three-Five-Five at home and had seen her experimental talent and rapid progress.

    He praised her to those around him: ¡°Her experiments are truly well done.¡±

    The experiments in the biologypetition were all based on fixed topics. The more times you practiced, the more skilled you became, giving you an advantage. But what Coach Yang admired was Chu Tingwu¡¯s mindset during the experiments¡ª

    Apart from following the standard procedures, her movements were graceful and swift, her hands steady, and her mindset calm, as if she could casually rece any broken equipment ten times over.

    The coach beside him: ¡°¡­Are you impressed by her skills or her family background?¡±

    Coach Yang waved his hand: ¡°Let¡¯s see more.¡±

    Though he was optimistic about her, if her results didn¡¯t meet the standard, he couldn¡¯t ept her.

    But clearly, the final assessment had already begun¡ªonce in the national team, the gap in skill levels wasn¡¯t that significant. They might also test your mindset, qualities, overall ability, and even a bit of luck. So, the coaches were busy tagging a few promising candidates they thought could make it.

    Especially those who seemed calm, like Zhou Qiang, who was thinking about where to have dinner that night, and Chu Xiao, who was checking the tidiness of his desk.

    Chu Tingwu, however, was thinking about something else: Three-Five-Five had left early in the morning. Had she made new friends outside? Were they cats or dogs? Cats coulde straight into the house, but dogs needed to change their slippers!

    -

    Three-Five-Five would never steal exam papers.

    She was an honorary police cat who hadpleted police training courses and understood what ¡°stealing¡± meant. In fact, she was quite skilled at catching thieves.

    So, recalling her time ¡°serving¡± at the police station, she quickly remembered that cats didn¡¯t own property (the police didn¡¯t pay her in physical wages), that things her kitten liked needed to be bought with money (Chu Tingwu had opened a bank ount for her, but cats couldn¡¯t withdraw money), and that stolen items belonged to the police (they were archived and returned to their owners). Therefore, cats could take things from thieves.

    Because cats were the police.

    Shao Lingwu didn¡¯t fully understand Three-Five-Five¡¯s line of thinking. He had just taken on the task of looking after the cat while others were busy.

    Of course, Chu Tingwu had forgotten to tell him: Three-Five-Five doesn¡¯t need you to take care of her; she¡¯s more likely to take care of you.

    Three-Five-Five thought the same. She quickly identified the human boy following her as her ¡°follower¡± and somewhat disdainfully licked his hair once (Shao Lingwu: Wait! My hair is naturally curly; licking won¡¯t straighten it!).

    Afterpleting the grooming ritual, Three-Five-Five epted this slightly clumsy follower¡­ It was said that cats always had human followers, so it was normal to let him tag along.

    Shao Lingwu: ¡°Where did you find this toy car?¡±

    Three-Five-Five: ¡°Meow?¡±

    Shao Lingwu had a sudden realization: ¡°Do you want me to fix it for you?¡±

    He had already mastered the skill of repairing tricycles. With a quick online search, fixing a toy car shouldn¡¯t be too hard!

    Three-Five-Five was unimpressed: You can have it, meow.

    Her kitten probably wouldn¡¯t like this kind of thing anyway; it couldn¡¯t even fit her kitten.

    So, after a long silence, Three-Five-Five started thinking of something else.

    Without a police officer around, finding a thief was surprisingly difficult! After some thought, Three-Five-Five quickly set her sights on a police officer.

    She spent the day sitting at the feet of a traffic officer directing traffic at the intersection of Tanzhou Street. The lucky officer asionally nced down at the cat, then at Shao Lingwu, who was squatting nearby filming, and finally walked over to Shao Lingwu and said:

    ¡°If you¡¯re going to post that video online, don¡¯t show my face.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    These days, even cats were being trained for social media. It was quite interesting, but he couldn¡¯t pet her while on duty.

    Shao Lingwu: ¡°==¡±

    He quietly retreated with Three-Five-Five.

    Realizing she had chosen the wrong target, Three-Five-Five didn¡¯t give up. She continued wandering the streets, asionally exchanging a few words with the local cats.

    Shao Lingwu followed behind, pushing his bicycle through the narrow alleys of Shangjing. Flower branches stretched out from the walls, and a cat suddenly leaped over his head, shaking the flowers and scattering petals all over him.

    The cats exchanged a few sharp, loud meows,pletely different from the way they cooed at humans. asionally, a dog tied up in a courtyard barked through the crack in the door, and Three-Five-Five, extremely annoyed, puffed up her fur. Shao Lingwu hurried over: ¡°Let it go.¡±

    Why bother arguing with a dog?

    Shangjing had an incredibly dense poption, seemingly epassing people from all walks of life. No matter how unique you were, once you entered this city, it was like a drop of water merging into the ocean. People sitting at their doorsteps chatting would casually nce over. No matter how peculiar you were in a small town, in Shangjing, you were just another face in the crowd.

    Shao Lingwu hadn¡¯t been sure which university he wanted to attend before. He had a carefree attitude cultivated from a life of privilege. But at this moment, he thought Shangjing wasn¡¯t so bad after all.

    He looked at the tortoiseshell cat ahead, a faint smile appearing on his face, until Three-Five-Five walked over with a rope in its mouth, calmly lifting its chin to signal him, the assistant, to take over.

    Shao Lingwu: ¡°Ah¡­ oh.¡±

    Hmm?

    What¡¯s this smell¡­?

    He silently looked up and found himself face-to-face with a horse.

    The horse blinked, its head leaning forward slightly, as if wondering why he hadn¡¯te to lead it yet.

    Shao Lingwu: ¡°?¡±

    Wait¡ª

    Three-Five-Five: ¡°Meow?¡±

    Three-Five-Five thought he was such an idiot.

    The mother cat, tired of waiting for the slow assistant, took the reins in its mouth, stepped onto the stirrup, and jumped onto the horse¡¯s back. After settling down, it raised its front paw and patted the white horse¡¯s neck.

    The white horse, understanding the cue, began to trot.

    Shao Lingwu: ¡°¡­¡±

    Someone sitting at the entrance chatting casually nced over. This was Shangjing¡ªseeing a cat riding a horse wasn¡¯t strange. A horse riding a cat would be worth a second look¡ªwait, what?! A cat is riding a horse and running away?!

    The people chatting stood up, the dog owner opened the door, and the cyclist on their way home turned around in confusion. Three-Five-Five rode the white horse past them.

    Shao Lingwu hopped onto his bicycle, regretting not renting an electric tricycle at that moment.

    Wait!

    Fortunately, when Three-Five-Five on horseback passed the intersection of Tanzhou Street, it was stopped by a traffic officer.

    The officer halted Three-Five-Five, repeatedly confirming that there was indeed no one on the horse¡¯s back, just a cat looking back at him with a puzzled expression (how could he even tell the cat was puzzled?). Then he turned to Shao Lingwu, who had caught up:

    ¡°Are you still filming a video?¡±

    Shao Lingwu: ¡°¡­It¡¯s not me who trained it.¡±

    The owner is taking a national biology exam. Please go find her, thank you.

    The officer didn¡¯t bother looking for Chu Tingwu because the horse¡¯s owner¡ªor rather, its new owner¡ªshowed up.

    This batch of horses had been sold by the stable to a racing club, and the club¡¯s boss hade to pick them up. However, during the handover, the most beautiful white horse had gone missing, leaving them baffled.

    At first, the surveince footage made it seem like the horse had run off on its own. Upon closer inspection, they noticed a cat riding on its back.

    ¡ªThey hadn¡¯t paid during the handover because they hadn¡¯t shown the payment receipt to a cat.

    Now, all eyes turned to Shao Lingwu.

    Shao Lingwu fell into deep thought.

    The club boss, seeing that he was young and that the incident had nothing to do with him¡ªit was all the cat¡¯s doing¡ªwaved it off: ¡°It¡¯s fine, as long as the horse is back. Actually, this cat seems quite clever¡­ our club could use a lucky cat¡­ um¡­¡±

    Shao Lingwu: ¡°Actually, I think this horse is quite clever too¡­¡±

    Half an hourter.

    Three-Five-Five ended up with three horses.

    Man Xing, who had been called to pick up the horses: ¡°?¡±

    Shao Lingwu, feeling a bit guilty: ¡°I thought everyone might need a ride back after the exam.¡±

    Man Xing: Thanks, I have a car.

    Shao Lingwu: ¡°But look, Three-Five-Five thought the same.¡±

    The mother cat felt the toy car couldn¡¯t fit the kittens, so it swapped it for something the kittens could actually ride¡ªfully automatic, a BMW, though the passenger seat was a bit cramped, only fitting two people, with room for one cat at most.

    The club was considerate, even sending staff to help lead the horses. A trainer asked curiously: ¡°Are you nning to open a horseback riding training camp?¡±

    Man Xing & Shao Lingwu: ¡°¡­¡±

    The three horses were led all the way to the exam venue. The trainer grew even more curious: Was the school nning to start equestrian sses? But why weren¡¯t the horses brought inside?

    After a long exam, Chu Tingwu and her twopanions walked out of the school with the other students. Along the way, she felt her intuition acting up.

    Her usually sharp intuition told her that something both good and bad was about to happen¡ª

    From a distance, she spotted the three horses at the school entrance, along with the ¡°family group¡± consisting of Man Xing, Shao Lingwu, and Three-Five-Five. Surrounding them were curious parents¡­ and media personnel there to take photos and interview.

    Herpanions noticed too.

    Chu Xiao fell behind and whispered to Chu Tingwu:

    ¡°You¡¯re well-informed. Does this school have any back doors?¡±

    But today, no campus cat came to give Chu Tingwu a heads-up.

    Zhou Qiang grabbed her hand:

    ¡°I¡¯m lighter. You can carry me over the wall, and let Chu Xiao take the front.¡±

    In emergencies, isn¡¯t that what nephews are for?

    Chu Xiao: ¡°¡­¡±

    Though reluctant, the three decided to keep their heads down and hurry back to the car. If they moved fast enough, they could avoid the reporters.

    Closer¡­

    The car and horses were getting closer¡­

    But why did Man Xing¡¯s expression look a bit odd?

    Man Xing pulled out¡ªa robot vacuum?!

    The robot vacuum smoothly slid under the horse¡¯s legs. Suddenly, a silver-white bird flew out from the tree. Chu Tingwu¡¯s intuition told her to leave immediately, but at that moment¡ª

    The robot vacuum stopped in front of them, havingpleted its transformation!

    It had changed from a round robot vacuum into a square one, resembling a stool,plete with four legs!

    What was the point of this transformation¡­

    And the bird¡ªno, the seagull drone¡ªflew down,nding in front of the stool. It spread its wings, lifted its legs, and turned into something resembling a cat¡¯s head¡­ but not quite.

    So what was the purpose of forming a head?

    Chu Xiao¡¯s hands trembled slightly.

    Zhou Qiang instinctively covered her face.

    Then, Chu Tingwu heard a familiar sound¡ªthe projection system activating! Amid the gasps of the crowd, the semi-transparent projection system in the device turned thebined robot into a highly realistic¡­ Siberian tiger.

    Oh, so that cat-like head wasn¡¯t a cat¡ªit was a Siberian tiger¡­

    Chu Tingwu looked up, thinking the weather was great today, everything was great¡­ except for the fact that the sun wasn¡¯t out, so she couldn¡¯t pretend to be suddenly blinded by it.

    The Siberian tiger moved closer!

    The system: ¡°Congrattions!¡±

    Several colorful, illusory fireworks popped up above the Siberian tiger¡¯s head.

    The system: ¡°Theb recently made a technological breakthrough, reducing the cost of projection technology and solving the speed issue with mechanical transformations¡­ so I brought the new tech to show you! Are you surprised, kiddo? We can now make games that cats your age enjoy ying. Kiddo?¡±

    Now that the exam¡¯s over, have fun!

    Chu Tingwu asked without much hope:

    ¡°Did the projection technology also add realistic scents¡­? Actually, the horse smell I¡¯m sensing is fake too, right?¡±

    There aren¡¯t three horses here at all!

    She¡¯d rather believe there were threerge robot vacuums here!

    The white horse stomped its hooves a couple of times, poking its head out. Three-Five-Five, perched on its back, also poked its head out: ¡°Meow?¡±

    Shao Lingwu peeked out from the back: ¡°¡­Meow?¡±

    Zhou Qiang sneered, Chu Xiao remained expressionless, and Chu Tingwu raised her hand, slowly drawing a finger across her neck.

    Shao Lingwu: ¡°¡­¡±

    Help!

 Chapter 124

    Shao Lingwu paid for the horses, which were actually gifts he gave to his friends to celebrate the end of the national exam.

    However, Shao Lingwu very "generously" stated, "It was Three-Five-Five''s idea, I was just the one who executed it!"

    Zhou Qiang stepped on his foot:

    "Coming up with such a ridiculous idea is one thing, but ming it on the cat? Really?"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Shao Lingwu nced around, trying to get Chu Tingwu to back him up.

    Chu Tingwu: "¡ú,¡ú"

    Shao Lingwu: "Hey!"

    The group wasn¡¯t exactly opposed to the "gift," but it was a bit too shy¡­ and¡­

    Chu Tingwu: "Where are we supposed to keep them?"

    Horses aren¡¯t electric tricycles, you know. Where exactly are we supposed to keep them?

    They¡¯d have to find a stable.

    The equestrian coach who had tagged along had already anticipated this oue and, holding back augh, agreed to take care of the horses. After all, not everyone in Shangjing City has the space to keep a horse. The stable also offered riding lessons, which could be a nice bonus.

    Usually, Chu Xiao wouldn¡¯t participate in such activities¡ªhe was the type to clean his room twice a day even if he only had a cat, so the best oue was not to keep the horse at all.

    But Chu Tingwu pushed the ck horse¡¯s face right in front of him.

    Chu Xiao: "¡­"

    The ck horse¡¯s eyes were dark and shiny, gentle and innocent. As Chu Xiao hesitated, it shook its mane and snorted.

    Chu Xiao: "Maybe I should just adopt an electric tricycle instead?"

    While the group stood at the entrance, debating the animals, the media had already snapped quite a few photos. A reporter squeezed through the crowd, curious, and held out a microphone: "Hello, are you students who participated in this year¡¯s National High School Biology Competition?"

    The three of them: "¡­"

    They weren¡¯t too keen on admitting it.

    But denying it wouldn¡¯t help. The reporter asked a few standard questions, then brought up the horses and¡­ the tiger.

    Chu Tingwu pointed at the tiger-shaped drone and cleaning robotbo, resigned: "Actually, this is a new product from my family¡¯spany. We¡¯re just leveraging the attention from the biologypetition to get some publicity. Feel free to keep filming¡ª"

    They needed to leave.

    System: "?"

    The reporter was still confused, but Chu Xiao and Zhou Qiang had already been trying to shield their faces. In perfect sync, they slipped into the car Man Xing had brought. Man Xing was momentarily stunned but, following her boss¡¯s subtle hint, got back into the car. However, when she turned around, she realized her boss hadn¡¯t gotten in.

    Chu Tingwu had mounted the horse.

    Since she was bound to be photographed anyway, she decided to own it.

    She had never ridden a horse before, but the white horse Three-Five-Five had chosen was indeed an excellent mount. Chu Tingwu could easily sense the horse¡¯s emotions. She had Three-Five-Five sit in front of her, took the reins, and soon had the horse trotting along.

    The club¡¯s trainer, quick on the uptake, hurried to follow on horseback. The reporter, on foot, couldn¡¯t keep up with their four legs and could only snap photos from behind.

    However, when Chu Tingwu tugged the reins, signaling the horse to stop at a traffic light, she suddenly felt like she had forgotten something¡­

    What was it?

    Shao Lingwu: "You did this on purpose, didn¡¯t you?"

    The "tiger" formed from the cleaning robot was about the size of a cat. It tilted its head, looking as if it was deep in thought.

    Shao Lingwu watched as a leaf slowly drifted down,nding on the little tiger¡¯s head. He then turned and saw the TV camera.

    Reporter: "^_^"

    Shao Lingwu picked up the holographic Siberian tiger, his expression shifting to one of sincerity and earnestness: "Hello, reporter. Actually, we¡¯re not just promoting our new product. We¡¯re also using this opportunity to promote our online course tform for thepetition. Those three earlier? They¡¯re the ones in charge of the courses¡­ Me? I¡¯m just the guy running the channel. We didn¡¯t mean to cause such a scene, and we¡¯re really sorry for disrupting the traffic. I¡¯ll be going now, bye!"

    He walked a few steps, then remembered something, came back, and pushed his bicycle, stuffing the tiger into the basket.

    System: "¡­"

    It adjusted its posture, the little tiger now clinging to the edge of the basket. As Shao Lingwu rode off, people in passing cars turned their heads in surprise, eximing things like "Wow!" before realizing the tiger was semi-transparent.

    The group quickly shook off the crowd and regrouped at the entrance of the equestrian club.

    The club was located in the outskirts of Shangjing City. The others had cars, but Chu Tingwu and Shao Lingwu had to make do with a horse and a bicycle, respectively.

    Shao Lingwu: "¡ú_¡ú"

    Chu Tingwu: "Want to hop on?"

    But neither of them could get on, and Chu Tingwu ended up dismounting and taking a cab to the club¡ª

    The trainers had initially thought Chu Tingwu had some experience, but after talking to her, they realized this was her first time riding a horse¡­ Who rides a horse on the street on their first try?

    They had been nervous the whole way, only to find that the white horse was unusually obedient, going wherever Chu Tingwu directed. In contrast, their own horses were spooked by passing vehicles and had to be calmed down.

    The trainer sighed: "Thest time I saw a horse running on the street was in a movie¡­ Our horses here are used to running in the club¡¯s fields, being taken topetitions, or rented out to film sets."

    Horses generally struggle with busy streets, but since Chu Tingwu had already galloped off, they had no choice but to follow.

    Chu Tingwu stroked the horse¡¯s head. From her elevated position, she could look down or straight across at most passing vehicles. She could sense the white horse¡¯s curiosity and unease¡ªso, while the trainer thought the horse was adapting well, it was actually Chu Tingwu subtly guiding its attention, helping it ovee its fear and avoid dangers.

    Once they reached the faster-moving highway area, the trainer insisted that Chu Tingwu stop riding.

    They took care of the horses, waiting for a vehicle to transport them back to the club, along with Shao Lingwu¡¯s bicycle.

    The two of them, plus the cat and the system, decided to take a bus to the club¡¯s entrance.

    When the four of them finally regrouped at the club, they started discussing the more serious issue¡ª

    Chu Xiao: "Keeping a horse is more expensive than keeping a car."

    Zhou Qiang: "Let¡¯s just leave Shao Lingwu here as coteral."

    Shao Lingwu protested: "I¡¯m worth more than a horse! Kidnapping me would cost more than buying a horse! Go ahead, try it!"

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­" What kind ofparison is that?

    Among the four of them, she and Shao Lingwu came from the wealthiest families. If Chu Xiao informed his parents, he could probably afford the cost of boarding the horse and taking riding lessons¡­ but he didn¡¯t see the point. Shao Lingwu, on the other hand, offered to cover the expenses, showing that he had saved up this month¡ªtruly touching. Zhou Qiang stood calmly to the side, arms crossed, and suddenly said:

    "What did you make up in front of the camera earlier?"

    There were already posts online, asking where to sign up for their online courses and where to buy the study materials.

    Shao Lingwu: "?"

    Chu Tingwu pulled out her phone and saw that there were indeed reports about this year¡¯s National Biology Competitionpared to the total number of students nationwide, the few hundred who took the exam were a tiny fraction, and the test was irrelevant to most people.

    But there were always curiousizens who paid attention.

    The exam had just ended, and the results weren¡¯t out yet¡­ but the memes were already circting.

    First, there was the robot transforming outside the exam hall (Chu Tingwu: "¡­"), then the students mounting horses and riding off (Chu Tingwu: "¡­"), followed by the interview where they said, "We¡¯re just here to ride the publicity wave." All these dramatic events happening in the same ce, which happened to be the venue for the prestigious national biology exam.

    In Hua Country, good grades naturally carried a certain prestige. Oncebeled as national exam candidates,izens were much more forgiving of Chu Tingwu and her friends¡¯ antics. When they realized the group was also funny (Chu Tingwu: "?"), they became the rtable, approachable kind of top students.

    So, the unedited video quickly went viral, withizensmenting:

    "Let them ride the wave! Let them ride the wave!"

    ¡¾Honestly... I''m really tempted by this product, but I feel like I can''t afford it...¡¿

    ¡¾At first, I thought these juniors were joking, but then I searched using the keywords and actually found a VR livestreamer who usespetition questions for teaching. And then I realized the voice sounded familiar... huh??¡¿

    ¡¾I¡¯ve seen this junior before (not really), but her family¡¯spany really can produce this kind of product qwq. Although I don¡¯t know how it¡¯s sold, I¡¯m already waiting for it!¡¿

    Chu Tingwu: "Why didn¡¯t they cut that part out?"

    Shao Lingwu: "Why didn¡¯t they cut these two parts out? QAQ"

    They already said it was just to ride the wave of poprity, so why were they so amodating and actually posted it online? And howe a local official media outlet didn¡¯t air it on TV first? Why the rush? It¡¯s not like they¡¯re some tabloid scrambling for clicks!

    Perhaps their internal protests were too loud, because while they were having dinner at the equestrian club¡¯s restaurant... a major national media outlet reposted it.

    The well-known media outlet first mentioned the conclusion of the National Biology Competition, praising the students who participated in the exam. They highlighted how today¡¯s middle schoolers are not only skilled in theoretical studies but also have rich extracurricr lives: running their own media channels, startingpanies, self-studying while helping others, and loving sports and innovation. They are the spirited, ambitious middle schoolers of the new era... Finally, they reposted the news report along with a photo.

    The photo captured Chu Tingwu mid-mounting a horse, the white horse lowering its head as she leaned to the side, her movements crisp and full of youthful energy and vitality.

    ...Ignoring Shao Lingwu, who was crouching in the corner of the photo with a dazed expression.

    He was truly ignored.

    Shao Lingwu leaned over to look at the photo and realized the editor had turned him into a blurry mosaic, though the Siberian tiger in front of him was crystal clear. So, he could still identify himself based on the tiger¡¯s position.

    Shao Lingwu: "Hey!"

    But since the original report included him, it didn¡¯t take long for messages from Shao''s Father and Shao''s Mother toe through. At the time, Shao Lingwu was too busy devouring his food after exhausting himself from cycling, his phone vibrating incessantly.

    [Sweetie, are you starting a business?]

    [Is it because Mom and Dad said no to you starting a business before, and you got upset?]

    [(Transfer)]

    [Starting a business is great too, just do what you love! This promotional method is really impressive, but don¡¯t forget to thank your friends #thumbsup]

    [(Transfer)]

    [If you run out of money, let us know, don¡¯t be shy. Initial investments are big, and it¡¯s normal to take some small losses.]

    [You haven¡¯t already spent all your money, have you?]

    [(Transfer)]

    [No matter what, make sure to take care of your health. Eat and sleep on time. Making money isn¡¯t everything! Mom and Dad love you!]

    [(Transfer)]

    Shao Lingwu, chewing on his steak: "?"

    Why is my phone vibrating so much? Also, this steak is a bit tough, hard to chew.

    Chu Tingwu, sitting next to him: "..."

    Just keep eating.

    Before she could say anything, she noticed a notification on her phone¡ªthe system had transferred her arge sum of money.

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    Feeling a bit guilty... maybe she shouldn¡¯t have left the system behind earlier? But it was just a robot (abined version) controlled by the system. The main body was still with her.

    The system, quietly observing the people around it and learning how to guide children, was actually on apletely different wavelength than its "child." At the moment, it was thinking:

    I absolutely can¡¯t let my kid fall behind.

    System: "Baby, I love you!"

    Chu Tingwu: "...Oh."

    Why so suddenly affectionate?

    Maybe the system really cared about her leaving the robot behind. It must really like that robot, thinking it was a surprise prepared for her. Next time, she¡¯ll try to ovee her embarrassment and take the robot with her when she runs.

    Chu Tingwu: "I¡¯m sorry."

    System: "?"

    Shouldn¡¯t it be "I love you too"?

    QVQ

 Chapter 125

    After apologizing to the system, Chu Tingwu turned her gaze to Three-Five-Five.

    The mother cat was lying on a small sofa not far away, her head resting gracefully on her front paws, her tail swaying leisurely. When Chu Tingwu looked over, Three-Five-Five pretended to be casually ncing around, turning her head with an air of nonchnce: "...Meow?"

    Chu Tingwu hesitated, then responded: "Meow."

    She really liked this "gift."

    Three-Five-Five then jumped down, cing her front paws on Chu Tingwu''sp and patting her gently, as if to say, "Don''t be too grateful."

    Just as Three-Five-Five was about to return to her spot, Chu Tingwu grabbed her, and the two began a game of rubbing their heads together. Chu Tingwu rubbed Three-Five-Five until the cat softened, then "meowed" and "mewed" to ask about the events of the day, eventually concluding¡ªn/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It was all the fault of the training base and Shao Lingwu.

    Shao Lingwu: "Cough, cough, cough!"

    He had choked from eating too quickly.

    Chu Tingwu didn¡¯t immediately exin the situation to Three-Five-Five. If she had, the clever mother cat would have realized it was all a misunderstanding and might have felt disappointed.

    So, Chu Tingwu waited until that evening.

    All four of them were now in a period of downtime. Zhou Qiang was checking her stocks, Chu Xiao maintained his rigorous study schedule¡ªfinishing exams didn¡¯t mean he could stop studying, as his self-discipline was stronger than Chu Tingwu¡¯s¡ªand Shao Lingwu continued working on his music software, having decided to pursue the arts track for his college entrance exams. Since the equestrian club had an internal hotel, they decided to stay there.

    That night, Chu Tingwu instructed the system to create a dream, pulling Three-Five-Five into it. Using a scenario-based approach, she aimed to teach the mother cat that even if the police confiscated stolen goods, one shouldn¡¯t just take them.

    The system: "Oh!"

    The system eagerly got to work.

    Chu Tingwu: I trust you... I think I can trust you, right?

    The system set the dream in Three-Five-Five¡¯s most familiar ce¡ªher home in Jin City¡ªand generated a strangely colored stray cat that sneaked in through the window and stole the snack cans Chu Tingwu had bought for Three-Five-Five.

    Three-Five-Five, lying under the bed but inexplicably unable to move: "?"

    Once the thief slipped away, the restrictions on Three-Five-Five lifted, and she immediately chased after the thief, gave it a beating, and brought the cans back.

    Chu Tingwu even opened a can for her, signaling that she had done the right thing.

    Then the scene shifted to Teacher Yuan¡¯s house next door, where the newly generated thief stole Coal Ball¡¯s cans. This time, the AI-generated Coal Ball could only whimper pitifully, seeking help from the big sister, Three-Five-Five.

    Three-Five-Five: "=="

    The dependable tortoiseshell mother cat once again tracked down the thief, retrieved the cans, and, perhaps because it was the same thief twice, dealt an even harsher beating.

    She then carried the cans back, circling around Teacher Yuan¡¯s house looking for Chu Tingwu.

    Chu Tingwu had already been moved by the system, silently watching alongside it¡ª

    Coal Ball trotted after Three-Five-Five on short legs, making "I want to eat" noises.

    Three-Five-Five hesitated slightly.

    Then, Teacher Yuan walked in, patted Three-Five-Five, saw the cans, and scolded Coal Ball: "No cans today. Where did you dig these out from?"

    She confiscated the cans.

    Three-Five-Five: "..."

    The mother cat¡¯s expression slowly shifted from confusion to deep contemtion.

    The drawer where Teacher Yuan kept the cans was too high for Coal Ball to reach, but Three-Five-Five could easily open it. She perched on top of the cab, her tail swishing, deep in thought.

    ¡ªThis kind of virtual, scenario-based teaching seemed quite effective for cats, Chu Tingwu thought.

    Three-Five-Five seemed to realize: even though she had put in the effort to catch the thief, the stolen goods were still stolen goods, and her "wages" were her wages. The cans returned to the neighbor¡¯s cab, while she...

    Chu Tingwu watched as Three-Five-Five jumped out of the familiar window, returning to where the thief had spawned, sniffing around with an air of menace.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    Well, it seemed Three-Five-Five had learned:

    If there¡¯s no reward, just beat the thief again.

    Does beating thieves drop coins or something?

    The system also felt the lesson might have gone slightly off track, but it still had some effect¡ª

    "At least Three-Five-Five knows the stolen goods don¡¯t belong to her anymore, right?"

    It¡¯s just that the thief might not fare too well, and Three-Five-Five sometimes couldn¡¯t distinguish who was a real "thief."

    So, the system calmly waved its nonexistent hand, suggesting they move the setting to the equestrian club and rehearse a scenario about "employees leading horses not being horse thieves."

    Chu Tingwu praised it: "Impressive. At this rate, Three-Five-Five could even go to college, huh?"

    The system paused: "But cats can¡¯t take exams... I guess we¡¯d have to buy a university to get her a diploma¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu: I was just being polite, okay? ==

    To maintain realism, and since they were staying at the equestrian club, the system pulled all the horses into the dream as background actors. Chu Tingwu reminded it not to let Three-Five-Five get trampled, to which the system replied: "Don¡¯t worry."

    When Chu Tingwu opened her eyes in the dream ssroom, she found herself riding on the back of a tall white horse named Raphael, nicknamed Hui Bao.

    She let Hui Bao trot around on its own. As expected, the system controlled a few virtual "humans"¡ªsome employees, some actual thieves¡ªleading horses in front of Three-Five-Five to see if she would react as she had during the day, allowing for behavioral correction.

    But...

    Chu Tingwu looked around: Where¡¯s Three-Five-Five?

    The NPCs spawned, the NPCs started working, and then¡ªarge, brown-gray shadow leaped out from the darkness, heading straight for Chu Tingwu¡ª

    Hui Bao panicked, stomping its feet, and the other horses in the field scattered. The three-meter-tall figure stopped in front of the mounted humans, lowering its head to nudge Chu Tingwu¡¯s forehead with its nose.

    Chu Tingwu nearly toppled off the horse.

    But with her sense of bnce, she managed to lean back and push away the encroaching Three-Five-Five.

    She couldn¡¯t help but think: Is this how Three-Five-Five felt when we bumped heads during the day?

    The system: "Making her bigger reduces the risk of her getting stepped on."

    Besides, Three-Five-Five should be used to being this size in dreams by now.

    Chu Tingwu: "=="

    At this size, there¡¯s no need to bite the reins to lead a horse¡ªshe could just pick it up and carry it¡ªwait, what?

    The tortoiseshell cat opened her mouth, hooked her teeth into Chu Tingwu¡¯s hoodie, and lifted her up.

    Hanging in mid-air, Chu Tingwu adjusted her position and watched as the ground sped by beneath her. Soon, they leaped out of the equestrian club, the giant cat carrying a tiny human through an unfamiliar city.

    Before long, Three-Five-Five grew tired of running on the streets and began leaping onto rooftops. Chu Tingwu "meowed" twice, and Three-Five-Five set her down on her back.

    Now it was Chu Tingwu¡¯s turn to ride the cat.

    The dream ssroom had no sun, and the surroundings were filled with randomly generated NPCs. Chu Tingwu passed a few that looked like Zhou Qiang and Chu Xiao, so when she saw one resembling Shao Lingwu, she tossed a breakfast roll she¡¯d grabbed from the equestrian club, hitting the NPC on the head.

    The NPC just stood there dumbly, rubbing its head in confusion.

    The system: "=="

    Kid, you¡¯re stealing stuff yourself! How are you supposed to set an example for your mom?

    The lesson ended in failure.

    Finally, Three-Five-Fivey down on the roof of a tall building, curling her front paws around Chu Tingwu and resting her chin on top of her.

    Chu Tingwu wriggled out from the fluffy embrace, lying on Three-Five-Five¡¯s paw and reaching down to touch the soft pads.

    Hehe.

    In reality, Three-Five-Five yawned and rolled over.

    ¡ª

    The next morning, the group met at the equestrian club¡¯s hotel restaurant. Shao Lingwu, possibly having stayed upte, stumbled in with bleary eyes, only to be greeted by a flying breakfast roll.

    Shao Lingwu: "!?"

    Chu Tingwu: "...It¡¯s for you."

    Shao Lingwu: "Thanks."

    But wasn¡¯t this restaurant supposed to be a buffet?

    His drowsiness mostly gone, he nibbled on the roll as they discussed how to set up an onlinepetition ss.

    This was something they had discussed yesterday. During the few days between the exam and the release of the results, they figured they might as well make good on the ideas they had casually thrown out in front of the camera. (Chu Xiao: "I¡¯m not free, though.")

    After some back-and-forth, they realized there was a simple model they could follow: creating a question bank.

    Unlike otherpetitions, biologypetitions require a lot of input and memorization. They could develop an app simr to those used for self-study in subjects like driving theory, where students could test themselves with randomly selected questions from the bank.

    They could also regrly update the question bank or allow users to upload their own questions, rewarding them with virtual tokens or other in-app incentives.

    However, there were two issues with this idea:

    First, while the software itself wouldn¡¯t be difficult to develop,piling aprehensive question bank would require a lot of manual input. It would be tedious andbor-intensive, with rtively low returns.

    Second...

    "It feels so boring. Anyone could do this, right?"

    If they wanted to create such an app, Chu Tingwu could simply delegate the task to their system or a department within theirpany. With only a few days left before the results were released, spending time on this kind of software didn¡¯t seem worthwhile.

    So, both Chu Xiao and Zhou Qiang didn¡¯t seem particrly interested.

    Chu Tingwu looked out the window at the horse outside:

    "How about... we make a game instead?"

    Shao Lingwu: "Huh?"

    Chu Tingwu: "An AR-style educational game."

    The software they had previously considered wasn¡¯t particrly challenging, but it didn¡¯t exist on the market¡ªbecause it wasn¡¯t profitable.

    Its target audience was too niche, the work was tedious, and thebor costs were high. No one was going to do it out of charity.

    Chu Tingwu thought thatbining it with a game format might expand its audience and generate revenue... but she was only proposing an idea at this point.

    The group started discussing the idea further¡ª

    Chu Tingwu¡¯s concept of AR referred to 3D augmented reality projections. She hadn¡¯t forgotten that she had also casually mentioned this in an interview.

    Currently, AR projections were already being used in educational settings, such as projecting 3D maps onto tables and allowing interaction with the projections.

    The system they used today also employed this kind of physical projection method. However, it was easy to imagine how expensive an AR game would be to produce and how few people could afford it.

    But instead of pouring cold water on the idea, they started brainstorming how to design the game.

    Chu Xiao: "Our goal is to help people learn, so the game should be designed to motivate them to study¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu added: "And to quickly promote our question bank."

    Let¡¯s be real¡ªeven in a game, you¡¯d still have to answer questions. The amount of learning wouldn¡¯t decrease just because it was gamified; it would just enter your brain in a different format.

    Zhou Qiang: "From what I know about AR games, the ones that keep yers engaged are usually simtion or nurturing types."

    Having something to care for in the game world would make yers log in more frequently.

    Shao Lingwu: "Butpetitive games could work too, right? At the very least, there should be a ranking system. No matter the genre, people getpetitive when rankings are involved!"

    Ideally, there would also be server-wide announcements, regr tournaments, and upgrade notifications.

    Chu Tingwu: "But cost is still a big issue... Hmm... Oh?"

    She patted Three-Five-Five on the head.

    Three-Five-Five swatted her hand away.

    Chu Tingwu lifted Three-Five-Five by her armpits: "Brave Three-Five-Five, go forth and create miracles¡ª"

    Three-Five-Five: "Meow?"

    She tapped her own head, wondering if she¡¯d gone crazy.

    Chu Tingwu wasn¡¯t crazy. She had just happened to think of a "learning" game that incorporated AR effects, wasn¡¯t overly expensive, andbined nurturing andpetitive elements.

    The best part was that they wouldn¡¯t even need to create the question bank themselves. The costs would be extremely low, the promotional reach would be wide, and it could even tie in with theirpany¡¯s other projects for cross-promotion. Plus, it would be a positive, educational endeavor that could earn support from the local government.

    And all of this was just the result of half a day¡¯s discussion.

    She outlined the n to the group, tweaked a few details, and then held a meeting with key staff to discuss the feasibility. In the end, only one question remained:

    Chu Tingwu: "What should we call this nurturing AR game?"

    Everyone: "..."

    In the end, this group of naming-challenged individuals settled on a title for the game¡ª

    **"Study Quest."**

 Chapter 126

    **Name Collision!**

    "That was their idea first..."

    We worked so hard toe up with a name, only to find it was already taken!

    "I told you they came up with it first!"

    "Can''t ''they'' just change it¡ª"

    "No."

    A group of "youngsters" who hadn¡¯t attended college were disappointed to discover the name collision. During the meeting, they had overloaded the other attendees with excessive information. It wasn¡¯t until Manxing went back to tidy up that she realized something was off. But after some thought, she realized the game really suited the name "Learning Pass," as the focus on learning outweighed the gaming aspect.

    Still, something felt strange.

    So, within thepany, the employees, feeling a bit awkward, decided to change the name to "Learning Pass (Cat Edition)." The final name would be decidedter, as there was still plenty of time from game design to official release.

    However, internal testing and seminars could start right away.

    The meeting was held online, scheduled on a weekday, with key members from the branch offices attending. You Zhenzhen even brought Tian Shi, who was cking off at her ownpany, to the meeting.

    This time, Chu Tingwu exined the game design more clearly. Tian Shi listened and couldn¡¯t help but remark:

    "Seems like... a huge investment?"

    But it also sounded really fun.

    Tian Shi wasn¡¯t technically an employee of Wu Voice Group, but due to various connections, she always managed to sneak into important meetings. She had gone from being a fan to someone with insider information, coborating long-term with her idol¡¯spany on outsourced projects... a truly dedicated fan.

    Tian Shi: "=="

    After listening to the meeting next door, she couldn¡¯t help bute up with several ideas and additional designs. She opened a new document and started typing. But as she typed, her boss sent her a message, asking her toe to the office.

    Tian Shi: "..."

    Oh no.

    While theirpany usually turned a blind eye to employees doing outsourced work, Tian Shi was embarrassed to realize¡ªshe wasn¡¯t actually doing outsourced work this time. She usually didn¡¯t do her side projects in the office... because this time, she was providing designs for free, without charging her idol.

    She was basically working out of love!

    But her boss didn¡¯t care about that.

    After finishing overtime and returning to her rented apartment, Tian Shiy on the sofa. The billboard outside her window had already changed its content. This was downtown Sea City, a symbol of prosperity and expense. She had graduated from a prestigious university, oupeted all her peers tond her current job... but the initial excitement and passion had long since cooled. After work, she spent most of her time in a daze.

    Later, she decided she couldn¡¯t go on like this and picked up her old hobby¡ªchasing idols and creating fan content. To produce better content for her idol, she used her spare time to continue improving herself. Over the years, the only idol she still followed was Chu Tingwu... and she had even infiltrated her idol¡¯spany.

    Whatever, time to sleep. Tomorrow, I¡¯ll check when the national biologypetition resultse out.

    But the next morning, Tian Shi received a different call.

    It was from Wu Voice Group headquarters, formally asking if she¡¯d be willing toe in for an interview. If she passed, she¡¯d be in charge of the "Learning Pass (Cat Edition)" project.

    Tian Shi: "?"

    Tian Shi was furious: "You¡¯re such a bigpany, can¡¯t you stop with the nepotism? Do I have any experience? This project is huge; it¡¯ll probably spin off into its own subsidiary. Are you expecting me to be the general manager then? I¡¯m just a designer; I know nothing about running apany. What if we lose money? Even if your boss doesn¡¯t care, I care if she loses money!"

    HR: "Uh..."

    You¡¯re not even hired yet, but your sense of responsibility already surpasses most people.

    The HR didn¡¯t expect to have to exin that thepany wasn¡¯t practicing nepotism and to list out Tian Shi¡¯s qualifications¡ªit felt like the roles were reversed¡ªbut Tian Shi was indeed a suitable candidate. She mightck management experience, but her personal and professional background was solid, and she clearly cared more than most.

    "Because it feels like you really like this project?" Chu Tingwuter said when she called Tian Shi.

    Tian Shi¡¯s full name was Su Xuan. Facing her idol, she was much more polite:

    "Then I¡¯ll go lose money for you."

    Chu Tingwuughed: "Then I hope you make an interesting project while losing money. Profit and fun¡ªyou gotta have at least one, right?"

    Tian Shi thought that made sense. Wu Voice Group had recently opened a branch in Sea City. While going through her resignation process, Tian Shi, with the help of new colleagues, began assembling a game development team. Everything was in its infancy, and she felt like there was an endless amount of work. e night, while scrolling through news updates, she suddenly realized¡ª

    The national biologypetition results were out!

    -

    When Chu Tingwu arrived at the training camp with her luggage... she realized that most of the national training team were familiar faces.

    The top 77 in the nationalpetition received gold medals, and the top 50 entered the national training team. But most of the people here, Chu Tingwu had already met during the winter camp, and they had all seen her too.

    The International Biology Olympiad was in July, but the training camp didn¡¯t teach them any courses. Instead, they were subjected to rounds of exams¡ªjust like during the winter camp. Lecture time was reduced, and exams became more frequent. After each exam, they weren¡¯t told their rankings, but they always received their scores.

    Chu Tingwu could feel a cold yet intense atmosphere. The students here were the top of their age group nationwide. Barring any surprises, they¡¯d likely continue being ssmates in university... except for Chu Tingwu, who, after exams, would search for what courses the animal conservation major at the University of Science and Technology would take.

    If all went well, by early July, after the final selection of 50 to 4, four people would fly to the Republic of Magana topete in the international high school biologypetition. At this point, everyone here was apetitor for those spots, but once the selections were made, they¡¯d cheer for their fellow countrymen on the international stage.

    Chu Tingwu was feeling a bit dazed from all the exams when Tian Shi contacted her to say that "Learning Pass" had entered internal testing.

    Chu Tingwu: "...Don¡¯t mention studying to me."

    Tian Shi: "?"

    Chu Tingwu: "How about we change the app name to ''Game Pass''?"

    Tian Shi: That would be way too un-academic, no?

    After some deliberation, the name for the internal testing version became¡ª

    "Learn Not Pass (Cat Edition)"

    Chu Tingwu: "=v="n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    She brought Zhou Qiang and Chu Xiao along to check out the internal testing.

    -

    Yang Xi was also keeping an eye on the new software being developed by Wu Voice Group.

    She wasn¡¯t a fan of Chu Tingwu but was a member of the game tform UX team¡ªher job included writing rmendations for new software on the tform and testing independent games submitted for approval.

    Additionally, her department required her to search for "hidden gem" games, experience them, and write reviews, submitting weekly reports.

    No matter how much she loved ying games during her student days, after working for so long, she felt like she¡¯d rather read a couple of books... though definitely not math books.

    So, when Wu Voice Group merely hinted at developing an AR game, Yang Xi immediately took notice.

    A passing colleague poured cold water on her enthusiasm: "From game design to release, dragging it out for two years is considered fast. What¡¯s the point of paying attention now?"

    Yang Xi: "But this is Wu Voice we¡¯re talking about."

    She shrugged, not bothering to argue further¡ªshe wasn¡¯t actually a fan of Chu Tingwu. It was only after buying knee pads that she learned about Chu Tingwu and thepany behind her.

    Buying the knee pads was a coincidence, but she quickly became a fan. As a desk-bound office worker with negative athletic ability, every time she watched a VR livestream, she felt like she could push herself a little more. So, she particrly loved the outdoor livestreams.

    Later, when thepany releasedpatible equipment, she immediately ced an order.

    Yang Xi discovered the terrifying efficiency of Wu Voice Group when she was buying elbow pads¡ªotherpanies usually take over a year to develop something, constantly pre-selling and dying, but Wu Voice Group seemed to operate as if development time didn¡¯t exist. They could start production straight from the blueprint,plete testing, andunch immediately, not keeping users waiting for even a second.

    A reporter once asked about the reason behind this, and the spokesperson, with the calm demeanor of someone who owns a lively and aloof cat, replied:

    ¡°Because our boss uses it too.¡±

    Yang Xi hadn¡¯t waited in vain.

    Half a monthter, she received a link to sign up for the game''s closed beta. The link was only live for half a day because the beta only needed 300 participants, selected from 20,000 applicants. Yang Xi was incredibly lucky to be chosen.

    When she found out she had been selected, she jumped up from her chair¡ª

    Damn, now she had something to write about in next week¡¯s report!

    However, an AR game¡­ what kind of equipment would it require?

    The game¡¯s description was vague, only stating that it was an AR-based learning assistant game with elements of nurturing andbat¡­ and the name didn¡¯t exactly sound exciting.

    Yang Xi: Whatever.

    At least she had something to write about for next week¡¯s report.

    She was added to the beta testing group and then downloaded the software called *"Can¡¯t Learn (Cat Edition)"*. This was a closed beta with data wipe, but after the officialunch, beta testers would receive permanent skins and special titles as gifts.

    This was pretty standard, and Yang Xi didn¡¯t care much about it.

    She still had work to do, so she downloaded the software and set it aside, only opening it after finishing her tasks.

    Her colleagues, upon hearing she had gotten into the beta, joked that she should call them over when she started ying¡ª

    After all, it was an AR game developed by Wu Voice Group, and they were genuinely curious.

    If it could achieve even half the effect of the AR tiger from the news¡­ even if it was a learning ¡°game¡± with weak gamey, plenty of people would probably grit their teeth and y it, right?

    When Yang Xi finally finished her work, her colleagues gathered around. She held up her phone and first checked the app¡¯s icon: a pink-and-white cat paw with a small round ¡°No¡± tag in the corner.

    It was kind of cute.

    Suppressing augh, she opened the app. It started with the usual ount registration and identity verification process, followed by¡ª

    **[Please choose your cat.]**

    Yang Xi pondered for a moment, and a colleague chimed in: ¡°Got it, it¡¯s like Pok¨¦mon battles!¡±

    With AR being a blend of virtual and real-world interaction,bined with nurturing andbat, a ¡°Pok¨¦mon¡±-style capture, train, and battle mode made sense. The colleague spected that Wu Voice Group might be trying to create their own IP with this game, turning it into a battle mode where learning was required to nurture the ¡°Pok¨¦mon.¡± If done well, it could be a hit.

    Yang Xi nodded but also felt a bit helpless: ¡°But Pok¨¦mon AR can only be seen through the camera, right?¡±

    AR that¡¯s visible to the naked eye is called virtual projection, while the moremon AR in games is virtual manifestation, which only appears on the phone screen.

    She chose a cat that caught her eye, and a tiny kitten appeared on the screen. The system prompted her to scan and input test questions to feed the kitten and help it grow.

    A colleague brought over a book for civil service exam preparation. Sure enough, after scanning and inputting the questions, the kitten grew slightly bigger¡­ but where was the AR?

    The system seemed to read her thoughts and popped up a notification, informing her that she could go to nearby locations to find AR images.

    Yang Xiughed: ¡°I¡¯ll have to tell the boss I need to go out for work.¡±

    Colleague: You just want to go out and y *Pok¨¦mon Go*, don¡¯t you!

    Damn, but the excuse was pretty solid. They all agreed that if Yang Xi found any cats while out, she should ¡°catch¡± them and bring them back to show everyone.

    Yang Xi shrugged.

    She followed the instructions to a location two streets away. It was a pedestrian street, often used for events, and it seemed like it had just been renovated. She tried to open the camera mode to ¡°catch the cat,¡± but the app didn¡¯t seem to have a camera mode¡­ so how was she supposed to catch Pok¨¦¡ªerr, cats?

    As she got closer to the IP location, the app suddenly popped up a selection box¡ª

    **[Would you like to deploy your cat for battle?]**

    **[Your cat¡¯s name is [Xi Bao (Sea City - Weixin District)]. Would you like to represent Sea City - Weixin District andpete for a spot in the next round?]**

    **[Please note, Xi Bao is still very weak. It¡¯s just a baby.]**

    Yang Xi reflexively clicked ¡°Agree.¡±

    **[You have been matched!]**

    Then she thought: Wait, what?

    The next second, the nearby device started running, and a middle school girl holding a phone looked over in confusion.

    In the middle of the crowded pedestrian street, a virtual projection unfolded in mid-air. An invisible tform floated, and two virtually projected kittens appeared in the center.

    One was chubby and looked around curiously, while the other hadn¡¯t even opened its eyes yet. Their movements were lifelike but had the semi-transparent quality of virtual projections.

    Everyone could see it!

    Yang Xi: ¡°¡­¡±

    The one with its eyes still closed was her Xi Bao!!!

 Chapter 127

    Yang Xi noticed that the projection was actually cast by a new device on the roadside that looked like a mix between a surveince camera and a streemp¡ª

    Apart from the arena and the cat in the center, there were also translucent "No Entry" signs surrounding the PK area, forming a square, arena-like space.

    Themotion was so loud that it caught the attention of everyone nearby.

    Skateboarders, people sitting on benches withptops on their knees, those immersed in mobile games, individuals in workout clothes heading home, and couples out shopping¡ªall turned their heads in confusion, wondering if this was some new promotional event happening in themercial district.

    However, there was no sign of any event organizer, and:

    "Wow! What kind of advertisement is this? Must have cost a fortune!"

    So why not just spend that money on actual ads? Seriously!

    Yang Xi tried to blend into the crowd, as she didn¡¯t look particrly out of ce¡ªjust another office worker sneaking out with her phone.

    But the projection didn¡¯t let her off the hook!

    She was just standing there minding her own business when, in the next second, a deep blue circle appeared at her feet. At the same time, a notification popped up on her phone, warning her not to step out of the circle. If she stayed outside for more than thirty seconds, it would count as a surrender.

    The onlookers immediately assumed she was part of the event''s "staff," folding their arms and watching her with curiosity, as if waiting to see what she would do next.

    Yang Xi: I have no idea either!

    "Whoa!"

    She was also puzzled as to why thepany behind this, Wusheng, hadn¡¯t stationed anyone nearby to exin what was going on. But as she looked at the light screen in front of her, she quickly realized¡ªthis was the information age, after all. There was no need for human intervention when technology could handle it.

    The "No Entry" signs around the battlefield disyed subtitles, exining everything clearly!

    Someone whispered, "So ''Sea City - Weixin District Beta Test Round One'' means... this might not just be happening in our district, or even just in Sea City?"

    Between the two kittens, a translucent screen acted as a barrier, like a ss panel separating them. The kitten on the other side was more lively, standing up and pawing at the "ss," while Xibao gently nudged the screen with its nose, creating ripples at the point of contact. The whole setup was dripping with futuristic vibes.

    Perhaps because this was the first round, both sides were given ample preparation time.

    But Yang Xi noticed something: the kittens seemed too small?

    Yes,pared to the massive battlefield, the cats were just regr-sized kittens. If Yang Xi hadn¡¯t been wearing sses, she might not have even been able to spot them.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    However, the surrounding projections quickly solved this issue.

    Once the exnation was fully disyed, the text shattered, and several square broadcast screens appeared slightly above eye level, ensuring that even those further back could see clearly without obstructing anyone¡¯s view.

    Yang Xi clicked her tongue in amazement.

    The passersby who had been drawn in were also astonished, though some tried to y it cool, as if this were just another day in Sea City: "Nothing unusual... this kind of tech has been around for a while, it¡¯s just expensive."

    In recent years, there have been virtual projection concerts, so the technology should be simr. This is probably just a street promotion for... a game? What a bold move! Might as well download it and check it out.

    Yang Xi didn¡¯t chime in, though, because she couldn¡¯t shake the feeling... if they went through all this trouble with the projection, why make the cats so small?

    Having yed many games herself, if she were the designer, the cats in the game might growrger than normal cats in the future.

    But surely they wouldn¡¯t raise a cat as big as a building, right?

    She let her imagination run wild for a moment before a new notification popped up on her phone. But even without looking at her phone, she knew¡ªit was the countdown to the start of the battle!

    ¡ªBecause the transparent screen between the two cats disyed a huge countdown timer, starting from 30.

    Normally, when ying mobile games, a 30-second countdown would make her curse the game for wasting her time. But now, with an offline PK battle (even if she wasn¡¯t the one fighting), 30 seconds felt way too short!

    How exactly is this supposed to work?!

    The phone notification read:

    ¡¾You can use simple hand gestures to select the question you want to answer, then pick up your phone and input your answer via voice (or text if voice isn¡¯t an option).¡¿

    ¡¾Questions of different difficulties are color-coded and marked ordingly. Since this is the beta phase, the game encourages yers to explore and discover the mechanics on their own. Each correct answer will grant your cat a corresponding buff. Incorrect answers will result in no buffs or penalties.¡¿

    Yang Xi: No penalties... that¡¯s a relief.

    She had a feeling this game was like an educational app... no, an educational game. Of course, it involved answering questions.

    ¡¾If you win the battle, your cat will receive rewards, growth bonuses, and a spot in the district rankings, earning you points.¡¿

    ¡¾If you lose, your cat will suffer a debuff. You¡¯ll need to find a way to remove it, and your points will be deducted.¡¿

    ¡¾Note: Points can go into the negative. You¡¯ll need at least one win for your cat to be ranked.¡¿

    ¡¾During the beta, there are eight districts across two cities (Sea City and Shangjing City) participating. Thank you for joining, and we hope you enjoy the game.¡¿

    Yang Xi skimmed through the instructions as the countdown hit single digits. She swallowed hard, ignoring the questions from the crowd, and focused on the timer as it hit zero¡ª

    The battle began!

    She hadn¡¯t been this nervous even during her job interviews!

    The transparent barrier in the center disappeared!

    The two kittens seemed to understand they were fighting "for their owners" and immediately charged at each other. Even though Yang Xi knew they were just virtual projections, she still held her breath, half-expecting some dramatic twist¡ªlike the cats transforming or something bloody happening¡ªbut her expression soon rxed.

    Nope...

    It was just kittens y-fighting...

    Kittens y-fighting, not even using their teeth, but they were having a st, meowing and tumbling around. Heh... heh... wait, she still had to answer questions!

    She snapped back to reality just as colored yarn balls began falling from the sky¡ªpink, yellow, and blue. The little girl on the other side had already grabbed the yellow one!

    The girl reached out, and the yarn ball floated toward her as if pulled by gravity.

    Yang Xi: Darn it, I want to y too!

    She guessed this was part of the question mechanic and quickly selected the blue one. But as the yarn ball started floating toward her, her professional instincts kicked in, and she wondered: If reaching out selects it, how do you cancel? Double-tap to undo?

    She instinctively flicked her hand, and the blue ball actually rolled back. Then she gestured toward the pink one, and it floated over to her.

    But before she could even open the question, the little girl on the other side had already shouted out the answer.

    Hey!

    Yang Xi saw the question disyed on the virtual screen in front of her. Clearly, everyone around could see it too, but since she was on the opposite side, she couldn¡¯t see the other question. Now, her own question appeared.

    Turns out, the questions were disyed both on the screen and her phone.

    She didn¡¯t have time to feel embarrassed. She quickly scanned the question¡ª

    It was a civil service exam question!

    Thankfully, it was multiple-choice, not an essay, and she had picked up a thing or two from her colleagues¡¯ study sessions. The difficulty wasn¡¯t too high either!

    She answered the question, and the answer box turned green. But Yang Xi was still anxious! Her cat was being pinned down by the opponent¡¯s kitten!

    Moreover, a health bar was slowly depleting above her cat¡¯s head, along with a countdown timer? Clearly, when the timer hit zero, the health bar wouldn¡¯t drop to zero, but it would still count as a loss, because the victory condition seemed to be...

    Boxing rules.

    Yes, it seemed to follow boxing rules. She wasn¡¯t an expert, but she knew that being pinned for a certain amount of time could lead to a loss.

    So why are the rules for a cat battle the same as a boxing match? You spent all this money on such a detailed and extravagant game¡ªcouldn¡¯t youe up with more tailored rules?!

    She noticed a faint yellow glow around the opponent¡¯s kitten, while her own cat, after she answered correctly, was surrounded by a soft pink aura.

    Someone in the crowd couldn¡¯t take it anymore and shouted:

    "Yellow boosts strength, pink gives a blood-lock effect!"

    "No, even with the blood locked, your cat can''t get up, and you''ll still lose once the time runs out!"

    If you don''t know how to y, let them y!

    Yang Xi was furious: "My cat is still a baby!"

    It''s an infant warrior; it''s already trying its best just by being on the battlefield! She wished she could step in and fight the match herself¡­ but she couldn''t!

    No, she still had to try the effects of other furballs.

    The arena was already littered with virtual furballs, while the two real fluffy cat balls were still rolling around. Yang Xi quickly summoned the blue one, but when the question appeared¡­

    Darn it, why is it a physics problem!

    Her knowledge of physics had slowly faded since college. Although the question didn¡¯t seem too difficult, she really couldn¡¯t solve it!

    Someone nearby said, "Choose D."

    Yang Xi panicked and chose D¡ªit was correct!

    The system didn¡¯t seem to g her for cheating or anything, and it quickly applied the effect to her cat. The blue furball seemed to increase the cat''s evasion ability. Xibao finally broke free from the restraint, but the opponent also activated a purple effect.

    "Ugh," Yang Xi hadn¡¯t even spoken yet, but the bystanders seemed to have inexplicably taken her side. "How can it even fly now?!"

    Yes, purple was random magic.

    Yang Xi: "=="

    In short, the battle was chaotic, rushed, and filled with wrong answers, audience interference, her voice cracking from shouting, a dog running into the arena (?!), and various other mishaps. By the time the fight ended, Yang Xi realized that less than fifteen minutes had passed, and her voice was already hoarse.

    Xibao still lost.

    Her eyes stung a little, but a girl she didn¡¯t even know came over and hugged her. Someone else patted her shoulderfortingly, saying with deep empathy:

    "These questions are way too hard! I¡¯ve never seen anything this difficult, not even during my college entrance exams¡­ By the way, what kind of variety show are you filming? Where¡¯s the camera hidden?"

    Yang Xi: "Uh¡­"

    The other side was equally excited. She saw the younger girl and her friends hugging and cheering as the projection slowly faded. Yang Xi waved at them, and they ended up adding each other as friends.

    She felt like the questions were a mix of hard and easy, covering a wide range of topics, and seemed to rely more on luck. But just as she thought that, a notification popped up on her phone:

    [You can now choose your preferred question categories! (After participating in one free-for-all battle, you can select your specialized question topics.)]

    She breathed a sigh of relief. Good, at least she could choose the topics. After all, if the questions were always random, she¡¯d probably find the game too annoying after a while.

    Not everyone is a genius who can memorize everything. People prefer to focus on what they¡¯re good at and interested in¡ªit makes answering correctly more rewarding.

    The system informed her that she could now challenge other beta yers. In battles, 60% of the questions woulde from her specialized topics, 30% from the opponent¡¯s, and 10% from a random pool.

    This random pool was currently tied to local yers. The more a certain type of question was uploaded by local yers, the more likely it was to appear in the random pool.

    The questions in the game weren¡¯t just copied from test banks. Instead, they were analyzed for structure and intent, then modified into suitable versions. Almost no questions were repeated, so yers couldn¡¯t just memorize answers.

    Yang Xiughed bitterly: "With such a massive question bank¡­ how could anyone possibly memorize all the answers?"

    By the way, Xibao seemed to have gotten a "loss of appetite" debuff. She had to follow the guide to figure out how to remove it. She also needed to spend some time nurturing her little warrior¡ªhow could it fight in PK matches if it stayed so weak?

    -

    Shao Lingwu: "What if someone memorizes all the questions and answers?"

    Zhou Qiang pondered: "Yeah, that wouldn¡¯t be fair."

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­Are you even listening to yourselves?"

    She was the boss and half of the main designer, but she was also a beta yer. So, she grabbed a few beta slots for her friends to y together.

    However, they didn¡¯t go to a battle spot near Shangjing City. Instead, they yed a traditional AR battle¡ªwhere the cats¡¯ fights were only visible through the phone screen, making it more suitable for friendly matches.

    The points from these battles were fewer, and there were restrictions in ce to prevent point farming.

    After the match, Chu Tingwu started removing the debuffs from her cat¡ª

    Essentially, she went out to collect questions.

    She activated the search function and looked for randomly spawning biologypetition questions at the training site. These questions often appeared in the form of bags of cat food or cat treats, and different locations had different question biases¡ªlike here, where they were allpetition-level questions.

    They were scanning just fine, but then their ssmates noticed.

    These overachievers quickly realized:

    "This is like a study app¡­"

    Random questions, with answers and exnations, a record ofpleted questions, and error analysis. Plus, the questions were perfectly suited for them¡ªit could totally be used for self-study.

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­"

    Chu Tingwu: "Should I go get a few more beta slots?"

    Getting the slots was easy, but when she saw her ssmates all using "StudyPass," Chu Tingwu couldn¡¯t help but feel¡­ well¡­

    -

    Tianshi: "Ta-da! Here to report on progress!"

    Tianshi: "Promotion is going smoothly¡ªusers are spreading the word on their own! We¡¯ve fixed a few minor bugs and received a bunch of suggestions. We should be able tounch the second beta soon¡­ But, boss, I¡¯ve got a question. Why are there multiple identical feedback reports from Donglin District in Shangjing City¡ª"

    Tianshi: "They say the random question pool keeps giving them biology questions, and they¡¯re super hard ones at that. They can¡¯t solve them and just end up randomly guessing. It¡¯s really dampening their enthusiasm for battles, feeling like their IQ is being stomped on¡­ Do you have any insights on this, boss? Hello? Hello¡ªdon¡¯t pretend the signal¡¯s bad now!"

    Chu Tingwu: "¡­"

    Ugh, she hadn¡¯t even started pretending yet! How did you preempt her!

 Chapter 128

    The national team training camp operates in a residential training mode, where participants can stay in the dormitories provided by the national team... Generally, students are too busy to go out for leisure, and leave is usually not permitted.

    So, when Coach Yang heard Chu Tingwu''s name from a neighbor, he was momentarily stunned:

    "Making a game? What game?"

    How could someone have the time to develop an independent game while training with the national team... Oh, it''s Chu Tingwu. She has her ownpany. That exins it.

    They had been busy for several days finalizing the list of participants for the Olympics. Rumor had it that this year''s International Biology Competition would undergo reforms, and the teachers were actually more nervous than the students¡ªin recent years, Chinese participants had dominated various Olympicpetitions, so much so that any year with a lower award rate was immediately seen as a decline in performance, without considering factors likepetition reforms.

    Moreover, based on Coach Yang''s experience, students encountered different issues every year. After all, students weren''t NPCs; if you didn''t guide them, you''d never know what kind of chaos they could cause... With just four students, someone had once gone missing at the airport, disappearing in the blink of an eye and nearly giving the team leader a heart attack.

    When Coach Yang arrived at the school, he instinctively opened Chu Tingwu''s exam records to review¡ª

    Out of the four spots, Chu Xiao had already secured one, as he had topped the national exam with 300 participants. He had previously participated in the Informatics Olympiad and had more internationalpetition experience than the others. With him on the team, Coach Yang felt half of his worries were alleviated.

    The remaining three spots were more uncertain. Zhou Qiang''s grades and mindset were stable, and Coach Yang was quite optimistic about her... Barring any surprises, she would likely secure a spot. Beyond that, at least ten out of the fifty candidates could be considered: those with excellent grades, a strong mindset, outstanding performance, or abundant creativity. These individuals, who were considered prodigies in their own cities or provinces, became the ones being scrutinized at the national training camp. Even the smallest issue could be grounds for elimination, given the sheer number of alternatives.

    As a result, Coach Yang could see that most of the candidates were feeling unsettled. Some were even considering dropping out, as they already had offers from top domestic universities. The pressure ofpeting with their peers day after day was taking a toll on their mental health.

    And then there were those... whose attitudes were a bit too rxed, as if they were doing the training camp a favor by being there.

    Chu Tingwu was a prime example.

    Coach Yang: "...Chu Tingwu, let''s have a chat."

    At his words, Chu Tingwu, who was about to leave theb, tilted her head and gestured at the distance between herself and Coach Yang¡ª

    Then, she propped herself up on theb table''s partition and, as if floating, effortlessly leaped over several exam desks,nding in front of the podium. Mid-air, she even adjusted the position of her small backpack.

    The people below her merely paused for a moment before continuing on their way, unfazed.

    Coach Yang: You used to at least look up when someone did that!

    Recently, he had spoken with several students, not about the final list, but about various biology-rted topics. It wasn''t an exam, but more of an observation of the students'' states of mind.

    This could be considered a form of random interview.

    When the other students heard him call Chu Tingwu''s name, they realized it was her turn.

    This was the first time he had spoken to Chu Tingwu one-on-one, and they didn''t even go to the office¡ªthey just stood in the hallway. Coach Yang brought up the topic: "That AR game you''ve been yingtely seems quite interesting. I noticed everyone''s using the software as a practice exam... Does it still feel like a game at that point?"

    He sounded like a curious elder wondering if the game was still fun and whether it could turn a profit.

    Chu Tingwu nced at him, then deftly pulled out her phone and said, "Give me your phone."

    Coach Yang: "?"

    Chu Tingwu collected a bunch of invitation codes, helped him download "Learn Without Limits" on his phone, and then guided him through customizing a cat¡ªCoach Yang named the cat "Zhang Zhang," after his daughter. Next, Chu Tingwu switched to a starter ount and yed a round with him.

    The first round''s questions were randomized, and when Coach Yang got serious, Chu Tingwu promptly lost the match.

    The little cat, Zhang Zhang, turned around and nuzzled him. Seeing the cat about to leave the camera frame, Coach Yang instinctively adjusted his grip on the phone. Through the camera, he watched as the cat climbed onto his shoe.

    He couldn''t help but smile, then realized something was off: "I meant to say..."

    Chu Tingwu leaned over and pointed, "See? You get a ranking after winning a match."

    Coach Yang: "Why am I only 287th?"

    Chu Tingwu: "There are only 200 spots in Beijing, and the same goes for Shanghai during the beta test. But since I keep releasing new spots, the number of avable spots in both cities increases randomly¡ª"

    Now, people are camping on the official website every day, waiting for new spots to open up.

    In other words, 287th ce meant he was deadst in Beijing.

    Coach Yang: "What about the ranking rewards?"

    Chu Tingwu had him open the in-game store: "The points you earn from winning can be used to exchange for skins. You can also use tokens earned from uploading questions in the token store. At the end of each season, ranking rewards include limited-edition skins and special items. The top ten get exclusive animations, and the top three receive unique titles. The first-ce winner..."

    Coach Yang: Isn''t this simr to regr games?

    Chu Tingwu said, "The first-ce winner gets to decide the appearance of the city''s mascot cat during city battles."

    Huh?

    Coach Yang: "What do you mean by ''city battles''?"

    "Oh," Chu Tingwu had exined this many times, so she was quite fluent, "Generally, if a game haspetitive elements, it''s usually individual or team-based."

    "However, since our AR game is a learning-basedpetitive game, individual battles would be too boring. The question formats would be monotonous, and other yers would lose interest. So, like the rankings,rge-scale free-for-all battles have a higher weight in the scoring system¡ªbecause it''s fairer. But if thepetition is conducted as a free-for-all, even with teams of five or ten people, the scope of the questions would still be too broad."

    "So..." she said, "why not let the entire city''s yers participate?"

    City battles hadn''t been held yet, so Chu Tingwu showed Coach Yang a simted video of the event¡ª

    On the designated battle tform in the square, two giant cats sat on either side... Coach Yang: "Wait!"

    Two giant cats?

    Judging by the scale of the models in the video, they were at least three stories tall!

    Chu Tingwu calmly exined, "The size makes it easier for spectators to watch."

    The video continued. The battle wasn''t based on selecting questions but on answering them quickly. Three questions would appear simultaneously, and it wasn''t just multiple-choice. All online yers could attempt to solve them, andpleting a question would grant their city''s mascot cat a buff.

    The questions had two phases. The first was the quick-answer phase, but if no one could solve them, they would pile up in a corner and enter the second phase. Someone might solve themter¡ªanswering in the second phase would provide an additional effect, giving the battle a potentialeback mechanic.

    On the screen, during the first phase, whenever a question was answered, the corresponding yer''s cat would appear above the giant cat''s head.

    In the second phase, answering a question would summon a cat to fight alongside the giant cat. The duration varied, but either way, it looked pretty cool... Coach Yang thought this must be tapping into yers'' desire to show off their virtual cats.

    Not only that, but after switching the national rankings (though currently only two cities are included), he found that, overall, Jing City was slightly higher than Hai City.

    Although he worked in Jing City, Coach Yang, whose household registration was in Hai City, thought: "Oh no, I''m stuck in a dilemma."

    "Currently, the systems for friend assistance, self-directed learning, virtual shopping, andpetition rewards are still a bit rough," Chu Tingwu shrugged. "The second beta test registration has already started, but the second beta won''t open until after the match between Hai City and Jing City during the internal test ispleted."

    Thepany''s marketing department believed that while promotional efforts could be increased, there was no need to release second beta slots too quickly.

    They estimated that by the time thepetition began, the total number of internal test slots would be around one thousand. When the second beta opened, pilot cities would exceed thirty, and the total number of slots would reach one hundred thousand, marking a non-wipe second beta.

    As for whether thirty cities would consume too many resources and lead to excessive upfront costs¡ª

    Thepany''s leadership indicated that it wouldn''t.

    This was because they didn''t select the second beta cities based on poption or economic factors but instead directly chose them from the list of cities partnered with the Wu Voice Group''s Starcloud Charity Foundation.

    The seeds they had nted in the past were now blooming into mutually beneficial flowers.

    As for profits, there was no need to worry. With their technology, whether through advertising, cooperative investments, government incentives, or simply selling final tickets and AR essories, they could ensure the project would be profitable in the future.

    Chu Tingwu thanked Coach Yang for his concern and guided him to try other modes, such as random remote matching and scavenging-feeding, before leisurely leaving.

    Returning to his office, Coach Yang thought, "..."

    Wait.

    What was it he had wanted to talk to Chu Tingwu about?

    Originally, he had just wanted to set the stage with a few words before moving on to other topics... but they hadn''t gotten to the rest. And now, his little Zhang Zhang was already two months old!

    After recalling what had just happened, he fell silent for a moment, then mentally circled Chu Tingwu''s name and added it to his shortlist.

    Outstanding experimental results, consistently guessing the right answers on written exams, and so eloquent with such a great attitude¡ªit felt like even if they got stranded in the Magana Republic, Chu Tingwu could lead the group to the embassy.

    No, given Chu Tingwu''s demonstrated abilities... even getting lost in a tropical rainforest wouldn''t be too concerning.

    He only needed to worry about whether Chu Tingwu might get too excited and decide to stay in the rainforest to start a survival livestream.

    -

    Chu Tingwu: "Hmm?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Adding new animal breeds... Some people have indeed mentioned preferring dogs over cats, but we''re still in the internal testing phase. Introducing dog breeds directly might stir up other disputes, like cat vs. dog fan wars. Besides, the game''s yability won''t change just because there aren''t enough animal breeds."N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Some game protagonists are just eggs!

    Moreover, thanks to the rich DIY mode, the game already features a variety of cat designs, such as panda cats (?), tiger cats, leopard cats (not the actual leopard cat breed), and even robotic cats, with tutorials posted online.

    If new animal breeds were added now, wouldn''t yers who had already explored their creativity with the existing breeds feel betrayed? If they were to add new breeds, it would have to wait until the game was fully rolled out.

    Chu Tingwu: "However, we could consider adding animal NPCs?"

    ...

    The game "Learn Without Limits" didn''t add any other yable animals, but on the forums, someone posted that they had seen a white horse in the game.

    This white horse managed a ce called "Cat Amusement Park" and served as its director. If one day you see a white horse appear and carry your kitten away, don''t panic¡ª

    You''ve just received an invitation to a special entertainmentpetition. The rewards for thesepetitions are even more quirky, and while the questions are easier, the types are more varied. Besides watching your cats y on your phone screen, you can also visit designated city squares and use your phone''s camera with AR as a key to see a strange amusement park parallel to the human world.

    To avoid disrupting others using the park, this amusement park isn''t in the form of a virtual projection but remains in AR mode on phones.

    An anonymous usermented:

    [The new gamey is great... but I''ve encountered quite a few people in the park who alternate between grinning and frowning. I didn''t dare approach them, especially since someone squatting by the wishing fountain looking at their phone was mistaken for trying to steal coins and had the police called on them.]

    [Oh, and wouldn''t one horse be too busy managing an entire amusement park? Maybe add two more? I get that the developers don''t want to introduce new animals right away, but how about considering an electric tricycle¡ªow! Why are you hitting me!]

    The anonymous user disappeared.

    But when the first-ce prize for the entertainmentpetition was revealed, it turned out to be an electric tricycle perfectly sized for cats!

 Chapter 129

    Arthur jumped out of bed full of energy, first threw on some clothes and did a set of stretches, then grabbed his phone and headed out for breakfast.

    As one of the signed artists at Wu Voice Media Studio, thepany had provided him with housing and an assistant. However, during this time, Arthur had also picked up quite a bit of Chinese and could nowmunicate with others without much trouble.

    While having breakfast, he remotely started his live stream. The drone automatically took off and followed behind him, so he didn¡¯t have to worry about handling the camera or framing the shot.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    An employee spotted him from afar and waved, then approached and said without much surprise, "Arthur, you''re live streaming again?"

    So diligent. If Boss Chu¡­ saw this, she might feel ashamed.

    Arthur waved back with a smile.

    In his previous studio and on his previous video tform, he hadn¡¯t been this "diligent." But after arriving in Jin City and getting his hands on the new live-streaming equipment, he found it strange¡ª

    Your equipment is so convenient, so why aren¡¯t you live-streaming 24/7?

    To this, the other employees at the studio could only say: Please, stop setting the bar so high.

    Although the employees had mixed feelings, the fans who followed Arthur to Fenghua Network to watch his streams were thrilled¡­ Their only regret was: Why is the VR live-streaming equipment only avable for purchase in China?

    After several months of development, the VR knee and elbow pads, along with the corresponding sses, were sessfullyunched. The sses were the most expensive part, with the full set costing nearly 10,000 yuan, but sales were still high.

    This was because fans discovered that the VR sses produced by "WU" weren¡¯t justpatible with their knee and elbow pads¡ªthey were also great for ying VR games, with higher quality and stability, making them a worthy recement for their existing gaming gear.

    Some people even bought the knee and elbow pads just because they wanted the sses for gaming.

    VR gaming ss manufacturers in the market still couldn¡¯t figure out why a sports brand had suddenly be theirpetitor and sessfully captured a share of the mid-to-high-end market. When "WU" first announced their ns, they had been watching Chu Tingwu and the "Z-bone" knee pads with amusement.

    But none of this concerned Arthur. Today, he not only had a live-streaming tutorial to do but also needed to check out a new venue.

    His ability to readments was still weak. He could understand spoken Chinese, but the characters were too difficult, and thements scrolled by too quickly. So, Arthur didn¡¯t catch what the fans were chatting about in thements¡ª

    [Is anyone nning to visit Fallen Phoenix City for thepetition? I want to watch the event. It¡¯s surreal to think that Chu Meow has gone from being a judge at parkourpetitions to organizing them.]

    [But Chu Meow said she¡¯s staying in Shangjing City. Won¡¯t it be too tiring to rush back for thepetition? I¡¯d rather go to Shangjing City to watch their AR battles.]

    [But I heard this parkourpetition will also include AR elements, and Arthur isn¡¯t a judge this time¡ªhe¡¯s apetitor. They¡¯re using AI judges and projecting models, which sounds pretty cool.]

    What the fans didn¡¯t know was that thispetition had actually been Arthur¡¯s idea.

    After deciding to sign with Chu Tingwu and getting the VR equipment, Arthur hade up with this n¡ª

    He wasn¡¯t stupid; he had thought about his career.

    Arthur had realized that while this unfamiliar country had a massive poption, parkour culture wasn¡¯t well-developed here. Many people had no exposure to parkour, and even those who watched his streams were just there for entertainment.

    From Fallen Phoenix City to Jin City, he had noticed that there were very few ces suitable for parkour. Jin City, despite being a more prosperous provincial capital, had even fewer free parkour spots, though it did have some older indoor venues.

    Over the past few days, parkour enthusiasts from other cities hade to exchange ideas and learn from him. He had seen the indifferent attitude of the general public toward the sport, as well as the passion of these dedicated hobbyists, and had been pondering what he could do to change things.

    When thepany started developing AR and nning the second round of testing, including setting up venues, Arthur had an epiphany:

    "Let¡¯s organize anotherpetition!"

    This time, he would also be apetitor.

    He wanted to use AR and VR as the main attractions, inviting top athletes from around the world to this country and turning thepetition into an annual event like the Duli Cup in America¡­ Back in the day, he had even tried to invite Chu Tingwu topete in America.

    If the environment wasn¡¯t ideal, he would start by changing it himself.

    Thepetition venue was still set in Fallen Phoenix City, but instead of the parkour district, it would start at the peak of Zhangshan Mountain, with participants navigating obstacles all the way down to the base¡ªtheoretically, the event could have been named the "Mountain Cup," "Fallen Phoenix Cup," or "Zhangshan Cup," but in the end, it was decided to call it the "Tiger Head Cup."

    Arthur thought this was perfectly normal, having heard that tigers had once roamed Zhangshan Mountain, and knowing that Chinese people loved tiger motifs. But long-time fans who had followed Chu Tingwu from the beginning realized: Up, you¡¯re sneaking in your personal preferences again.

    Fallen Phoenix City fully supported the event in terms of promotion and venue preparation. This influx of attention was a stroke of luck, aligning perfectly with their existing promotional ns and elevating the city to international prominence. If thepetition could be held annually, they wouldn¡¯t even need to go out of their way to market themselves as a parkour city¡ªthey would already be one!

    Arthur had invited quite a few people ording to the list¡­ because Wu Voice Group¡¯s VR equipment was region-locked!

    Fans abroad who learned more about this were equally shocked and outraged:

    "You invite our idols topete, but why can¡¯t fans get the full viewing experience?"

    Just because they weren¡¯t in China? They had been itching to try the VR spectator equipment that other fans had raved about, wanting to experience that immersive VR sensation!

    Some protested verbally, but fans like Nick simply flew straight to China.

    Although thepetition was still in the preliminary stage and wouldn¡¯t be held for another month or two, he figured he could spend some time traveling in China first.

    ¡ªWhat he didn¡¯t know was that as his nended in Sea City, another ne was taking off, heading to the capital of the Republic of Magana, Lorang.

    A weekter, the World Biology Olympiad would be held in Lorang. Coach Yang, as the team leader, was taking four students and two observers to Lorang.

    On the ne, Chu Xiao was resting with his eyes closed, Zhou Qiang was scrolling through her phone, Chu Tingwu was gazing out the window, and the fourth student, Feng Ziping, sat beside her. They had met during the winter camp, and Feng Ziping, with his stern, square face, always looked like he was perpetually annoyed.

    Coach Yang, sitting across from them, nced around and was about to speak when Feng Ziping looked up, visibly nervous: "I did a tarot reading today, and it said we might lose money when wend. Could it be that we¡¯ll get robbed?"

    At this, Chu Xiao said, "I don¡¯t believe in that."

    Zhou Qiang added, "I didn¡¯t bring any cash."

    Chu Tingwu, however, reassured him: "Don¡¯t worry, if it gets stolen, I can just steal it back."

    Coach Yang: ¡­

    Hey!

    ¡ª

    Meanwhile, Nick had already gotten into a car heading to his hotel.

    He decided to spend some time touring Sea City before heading to Fallen Phoenix City¡ªhe had heard that Fallen Phoenix City wasn¡¯t very developed and, aside from parkour, didn¡¯t have much to offer. He was worried that once he got there, he wouldn¡¯t even find good food.

    Nick¡¯s hotel was in the bustling part of the city. He was traveling alone, but he believed he could manage with gestures and a trantion app¡­ right?

    He looked up at the virtual projection above.

    This was an extremely vibrant street, with lights spilling out from the shops, making the area glow even at night. But to Nick, the entire street was illuminated by the virtual projection above¡­ What surprised him even more was that many locals didn¡¯t stop to gawk. Some noticed but continued shopping, while others were engrossed in their phones.

    Although some people did stop to watch, they didn¡¯t cheer or make a fuss as if they were at a sports game. Instead, they maintained aposed silence.

    But wasn¡¯t this scene, this spectacle, worth being amazed by?

    He couldn''t help but stop a passerby, pointing to the tform above. The passerby gave him a look that said, "I know what you''re about to ask," and calmly exined:

    "Oh, this is an open ranking match where participants can join remotely. That''s why Rocket Crossbow isn''t here, only AK111 is present, so the atmosphere isn''t too lively."

    Nick: "?"

    The end of the beta test was scheduled for the day after the city representative matches in Sea City and Shangjing City concluded. To secure the top spot in the rankings and have their kitten represent the entire city, the beta testers were going all out!

    The so-called "open ranking match" was apetition that offered higher efficiency in earning points¡ª

    A few days into the beta test, the system updated. Based on the total points earned by yers and the overall yer ratio, the system adjusted the rankings, which would be recalibrated weekly. yers of the same rank wouldpete against each other to earn full points, while matches between yers of different ranks would only yield a proportional amount of points to ensure fairness.

    If matched randomly and remotely, the chances of encountering someone of the same rank would also be higher.

    However, if participating in an open match, the point ratio would be adjusted slightly higher: to give more yers a chance, and because the open match venues had limited capacity, yers had to physically arrive at their chosen venue to register their information. After that, they didn¡¯t need to stay on-site and could wait for the system to automatically match them.

    The system would provide an estimated match time in advance, and if it wasn¡¯t convenient, yers could choose to decline.

    Currently, Rocket Crossbow and AK111 werepeting like this. Rocket Crossbow didn¡¯t want to answer questions in front of everyone, so they stayed in a nearby caf¨¦, while AK111 was right in the middle of the crowd, fully focused on answering questions,pletely unfazed by the onlookers.

    A mischievous child tried to run into the arena, but as they approached, a transparent projection automatically rose, adjusting to a height even they couldn¡¯t reach by jumping, ensuring the match wasn¡¯t disrupted.

    Nick, like everyone else, had his eyes fixed on the "cat" above.

    "Is that really... a cat?"

    The cat representing AK111 was about the length of a human arm, with a sleek, muscr build. But what was truly astonishing was its fur, which had a matte ck-and-gold metallic sheen¡ªafter the game¡¯s upgrade, to better showcase the cats'' "skins," "equipment," and "effects," the skill effects, which previously enveloped the entire body, now appeared as flowing bands of light around the cats, like shooting stars, before slowly fading away.

    Now, the ck cat was surrounded by such bands of light, with tail-like stars orbiting around it, adding ayer of shimmer to its already metallic coat.

    The opposing cat was equally unique. It was a light orange color, but its tail and limbs were adorned with me-like dark red patterns that pulsed like breathing, glowing and dimming rhythmically.

    It didn¡¯t take a genius to realize these weren¡¯t ordinary cats. Nick leaned in closer just as AK111 muttered something and raised a hand. The ck cat darted forward like lightning, seemingly guided by its handler¡¯s gestures, ending the initial probing andunching into a new round of battle!

    Nick: So cool!

    He saw the light screen swirling around AK111, disappearing as he got closer. The other person¡¯s lips seemed to be reciting an incantation, while their hands moved like a grand sorcerermanding their tamed beast to fight¡ªpeople around were chattering, and though Nick couldn¡¯t understand what they were saying, he guessed they were discussing the intense battle above.

    Everyone must think it¡¯s awesome too!

    "Seriously, just picking a question, do you have to make such a show of it?"

    "Maybe they¡¯re practicing early? I heard that in the second beta, you¡¯ll actually be able to control the cats with gestures."

    "Damn! So I¡¯ll have to solve problems while working out my arm muscles? Going out to pick up cat food will feel like a daily three-kilometer power walk¡ª"

    Is this game even about learning new knowledge anymore, or is it secretly a national athlete selection program?

 Chapter 130

    In this internationalpetition, each country could only send four representatives, with individual rankings. To secure more honors, Coach Yang naturally chose the most outstanding candidates.

    Chu Tingwu had been on the fence, but after seeing her consistent improvement in exam results, Coach Yang ultimately decided to select her¡ª

    "On one hand, after the national exam, her ranking in the training camp continued to rise," he said. "On the other hand, her rate of repeating mistakes is very low."

    This showed that Chu Tingwu not only continued to improve steadily but also rarely repeated the same mistakes¡­ So, after careful consideration, she secured thest spot.

    While they were discussing, they could see Chu Tingwu passing by on her skateboard through the window, greeting a cat perched on the wall. As she "meowed" her way past, the others instinctively looked at Coach Yang.

    Coach Yang: "...Ahem."

    Kids need to develop in a well-rounded way, after all. It¡¯s not like they have to study every single moment to be considered excellent students.

    As for Feng Ziping¡­ Coach Yang couldn¡¯t help but sigh when he thought of him.

    Although Feng Ziping had a face that always seemed to be "ring," among the four, he was actually the most gentle and easygoing. He was a bit slow-paced in daily life and had a superstitious streak.

    But Coach Yang wasn¡¯t too worried about Feng Ziping¡¯s superstitions affecting his performance. Even if he imed that his tarot reading predicted financial loss today¡ª

    Later, he¡¯d pull out some coins to consult the I Ching and get a reading that assured him everything would be fine. Then he¡¯d believe the day would go smoothly, with no issues at all.

    Coach Yang: So you only believe the parts that are favorable to you?

    Compared to the other members of the training camp, Feng Ziping¡¯s superstitions were a minor w. Besides, there were people in the team who could keep him in check, like:

    Zhou Qiang: "Do you usually flip a coin to decide which route to take when you go out?"

    Feng Ziping: "How did you know?"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Yes, he did. He also used coins to decide what to eat for breakfast, like now, when he was considering flipping a coin to choose between the two airne meal options.

    Zhou Qiang: "What if the coinnds on its edge?"

    Feng Ziping: "The probability of that happening is very low. It wouldn¡¯t affect my life."

    Zhou Qiang nced at Chu Tingwu.

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    She took out a coin, felt its bnce between her fingers, and then tossed it into the air. The coin gleamed silver as it fell, hitting the table with a "clink," bouncing once, and then spinning wildly before slowlying to a stop¡ªstanding upright.

    It wasn¡¯t heads or tails. It just stood there.

    Feng Ziping looked at the coin, then at Chu Tingwu, and finally said with difficulty:

    "Then I won¡¯t eat."

    Coach Yang: I told you to keep him in check, not to bully the poor guy!

    Luckily, it was just an airne meal. Coach Yang sighed and didn¡¯t intervene much. But when he woke up from a nap, he found the others sleeping with earplugs while Feng Ziping was quietly practicing flipping coins.

    The coinsnded silently on the softer ground, but none of them stood upright.

    He looked as if his entire belief system had been shattered.

    Coach Yang: "..."

    Hey.

    -

    Tao La held a g and a sign, waiting at Loran Airport.

    The Republic of Magna had hosted dozens of World Biology Olympiads, and Tao La, a staff member and a Chinese expatriate living in Magna, had nonguage barriers. This time, she was responsible for picking up the Chinese team.

    When she saw the Chinese team, her smile was radiant. After greeting everyone, she led them to the bus while exining:

    "The opening ceremony is the day after tomorrow, followed by lectures. Tomorrow, you¡¯ll probably have to do some interviews¡­"

    Coach Yang had already briefed Chu Tingwu and the others about this on the ne.

    In fact, before heading to the airport, they had taken a group photo at the airport entrance to mark their "departure." Everyone had a feeling the photo would turn out awkward, so they unanimously pushed Feng Ziping to the front, especially since he was the tallest.

    Feng Ziping stood tall and imposing at the front, looking like their captain. Chu Tingwu and Zhou Qiang stood on either side, smiling faintly, while Chu Xiao lingered in the back, trying to find his mask.

    On the ne, they mused:

    "I feel like this photo is going to end up on TV or in newspapers."

    "They¡¯ll probably release it after thepetition, right? Good thing I stood further back."

    "I saw that¡ªyour foot was half a step behind mine. Not fair =="

    "Huh?" Feng Ziping was puzzled. "Are you guys nervous? But didn¡¯t you already appear on TV before? Right after the national exam, my family even made me watch the program!"

    Chu Tingwu, Chu Xiao, and Zhou Qiang: "..."

    Meanwhile, Shao Lingwu, who was apanying Sanwuwu riding a horse: "Achoo!"

    But even after the domestic photo shoot, there were interviews abroad too, conducted by Chinese journalists stationed in Loran.

    On the way to the venue, Coach Yang couldn¡¯t help but remind them: "When we¡¯re not around, don¡¯t wander off! You¡¯ll have time to explore Loran after thepetition! Don¡¯t wander off! Especially you, Chu Tingwu!"

    He looked at Chu Xiao, who nodded.

    Chu Tingwu also nodded: "My nephew will keep an eye on me."

    Coach Yang: "...It was fine until you said that. Now I feel like even Chu Xiao is unreliable."

    The coaches might not always be around because they didn¡¯t stay in the same amodations as the contestants.

    The officialnguage in the Republic of Magna was English, and while everyone¡¯s English was decent, the exam questions needed to be tranted into their nativenguage for better understanding. So, the coaches would review the questions in advance.

    To ensure fairness, after the opening ceremony, the coaches tranting the questions would be out of contact with Chu Tingwu and the others until the exam was over.

    Coach Yang went over the exam procedures again on the bus, sighing: "They said they¡¯d reform this year, but they didn¡¯t change much."

    The overall process wasn¡¯t drastically different, but it seemed stricter than previous years, likely due to a cheating incident two years ago.

    Tao La watched him with a smile¡ª

    Compared to students from other countries, the Chinese students were much more disciplined. They stayed in their dorms without wandering off and rarely got into disputes with other contestants, making them particrly easy to manage.

    The boys and girls were housed separately, but the amodations were spacious. With only about 300 contestants from around the world, everyone had their own room. Chu Tingwu learned that her neighbor was a contestant from Russia, with Zhou Qiang on the other side and a French contestant across the hall.

    Everyone adapted to the local customs, exchanging simple greetings in varying levels of English. After dropping off their luggage, they were taken away by their respective team leaders.

    Chu Tingwu and Zhou Qiang headed downstairs together, passing at least three groups of contestants taking selfies or recording videos.

    Zhou Qiang: "..."

    She nced at Chu Tingwu: Maybe you should take one too?

    Chu Tingwu: "No thanks¡­"

    Sanwuwu is busy livestreaming a big cat riding a horse.

    Surrounded by different skin tones, unfamiliar voices, and foreign architecture, Chu Tingwu finally felt the reality of being in a foreign country. Her emotions were mixed as she nced around, but when she blinked¡ª

    Subtitles appeared beneath everyone¡¯s words.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    It was like being in a holographic movie, with real-time trantions following every spoken word, as if she could walk up and trigger a dialogue at any moment.

    System: "=v="

    And then the dialogue actually came!

    Wait, she could understand this one!

    It was the Russian contestant next door, the brown-haired¡­ something-sha. Her name was too long, so Chu Tingwu decided to call her Alyosha. She came over to ask if Chu Tingwu and the others wanted to y cards that evening, since the student amodations would lose inte ess after the opening ceremony.

    She spoke a mix of Russian, English, and a bit of Chinese, with a charming and familiar rolling ent. The girl Alyosha dragged along was also brown-haired, though more reddish, and looked exasperated until she heard Chu Tingwu¡¯s fluent Russian. Then she perked up:

    "What kind of card game?"

    Hmm... Chu Tingwu was naturally talking about the mini-game recentlyunched in "Learn Unstoppable."

    No matter what game it is, the fun it offers tends to slowly diminish over time. Even in simtion games, the initial excitement can turn into a daily grind, which is why games need to constantly update with new features. "Learn Unstoppable" has divided its app into a study zone and a cat zone, allowing users to both review their studies independently and enjoy the pure fun of an AR cat-raising game.

    A while ago, the study zone introduced a series of card games thatbined ying cards with solving problems, which drew criticism from some yers:

    "Who would enjoy this? If it weren''t for the new outfits for my virtual pet, I wouldn''t even touch this!"

    However, another group of yers found the solo gamey of these card games genuinely useful¡ª

    "I feel like I''m not wasting my time. Even when I''m cking off on my phone, the guilt feels lighter."

    Plus, it¡¯s actually fun, you can learn something, and even earn rewards along the way. If you don¡¯t want to y, I will.

    But what Chu Tingwu was introducing wasn¡¯t the online gamey¡ªit was the offline mode for when there¡¯s no inte. After all, not only was there no inte here, but they also couldn¡¯t y "Learn Unstoppable" since the game was still region-locked.

    So Chu Tingwu specifically brought AR projection equipment. When her luggage was checked at the dormitory building, it took a while to confirm she wasn¡¯t carrying some high-tech cheating tool.

    She had agreed with Alyosha and the others to rest that night, and the next day, after joining her teammates for interviews and making some typical exam-taker derations, she returned to the dorm.

    The boys and girls were housed in separate dorm buildings, but there was a sharedmon area in between. With the opening ceremony the next day, the team leaders couldn¡¯t contact the students anymore.

    After parting ways with the students, Coach Yang spent some time reading in his room but felt inexplicably restless.

    He lingered until around 8 p.m., then decided to call the other two observers and head over to the dorms to check on the group.

    But when he arrived at themon area of the student dorms, he found that... there were quite a lot of people there.

    Coach Yang: "?"

    People were whispering, and though the voices weren¡¯t loud, the atmosphere felt a bit chaotic. Coach Yang pulled the observers through the crowd... and saw two rows of cards floating in mid-air.

    The two rows of cards shimmered with a translucent glow, one row slightly longer than the other.

    It seemed like candidates from various countries had gathered here, and the onlookers all looked rather serious.

    Chu Tingwu stood with her arms crossed, facing the cards, while Chu Xiao stood beside her. He raised his hand, and a card floated over, transforming into a small hand card as it approached him. The card clearly had text on it¡ªa question.

    Because he quickly answered it.

    Coach Yang recognized it as a molecr biology question...

    He was still puzzled when, in the next moment, another card flew out from the row in front of Chu Xiao. The two small cards collided and disappeared.

    "Oh!" someone with an ented English voice eximed, "Is the turtle card now with the American team?!"

    Coach Yang: "..."

    All this fanfare...

    And you¡¯re just ying Old Maid!

 Chapter 131

    It took just one night for the Chinese team to make themselves known to all the participants. Whenever they were mentioned, people would say,

    ¡°Those guys ying cards in the lobby.¡±

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°==¡±

    She hadn¡¯t intended to be so conspicuous. At first, they had just found a couch, turned on a projector, and casually started ying cards. But as students from other countries passed by, they became curious and asked if they could join.

    Before Chu Tingwu and her friends knew it, they had set up a challenge match with a rotating roster.

    Huh?

    The game they were ying,monly known as ¡°Chou Wu Gui¡± or ¡°Chou Gui Pai,¡± is simr to ¡°Old Maid¡± in other countries. For example, in Russia, it¡¯s called ¡°Russian Fool,¡± so Alyosha and her friend caught on quickly¡ª

    It¡¯s just a game where yers take turns drawing cards from each other. Matching pairs are discarded, and the yer left holding the joker card loses.

    But they added a twist to make it more intellectually stimting: the ¡°no-flip mode.¡±

    At the start, each yer is dealt an equal number of cards, and no one knows who has the joker.

    Each card represents a problem. You flip the card to start solving the problem, and only after solving it correctly can you see the problem¡¯s ID number. If the numbers match, the cards are discarded.

    If you fail to solve the problem correctly in the first round, you can¡¯t see the ID number and have to wait for the next round of drawing.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The initial time limit for solving each problem is three minutes, so many yers often don¡¯t even get to flip all their cards in time.

    ¡ªThis tests both problem-solving speed and a bit of luck.

    So, Chu Tingwu adjusted the rules to make it a 2v2 game, allowing more people to participate and feel involved.

    But before they knew it, the crowd around them grew. When Alyosha and her teammate lost a round, other students who had been watching and finally understood the rules immediately wanted to join¡ªafter all, isn¡¯t it a given that the losers rotate out?

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°?¡±

    So, after ying for a while, they started rotating yers too, pulling in Feng Ziping and Chu Xiao to join the mix, randomly pairing up for 2v2 matches.

    When Coach Yang arrived, they had just stepped off the ¡°stage¡± for a bit and were about to start again, this time facing Luna and Duke from the American team.

    Coach Yang initially wanted to stop them, but since the ¡°match¡± was already halfway through and surrounded by students from other countries, he didn¡¯t insist. After about fifteen minutes, Chu Xiao and Chu Tingwu emerged victorious.

    Alyosha had been waiting impatiently and gleefully nudged the American yers, signaling that it was time to switch¡ª

    From Chu Tingwu¡¯s perspective, Alyosha didn¡¯t seem to love solving problems as much as she loved ying cards, no matter the game.

    Coach Yang: ¡°Ahem.¡±

    Chu Tingwu and Chu Xiao exchanged a nce and told the crowd, ¡°You guys take over.¡±

    The American yers across from them looked puzzled as the four of them huddled together, seemingly discussing something.

    Coach Yang also gathered his team: ¡°You guys¡­ never mind.¡±

    He felt like a parent watching their child y an educational game on a knockoff console¡ªpart of him wanted to stop them, but the game was, after all, helping them learn English vocabry.

    Let them y, just don¡¯t make too much of a scene. Couldn¡¯t they have done this in their rooms?

    Themotion in the lobby naturally caught the attention of the organizers.

    Before Coach Yang arrived, the organizers¡¯ representative had already been standing in a corner of the lobby. Three hundred teenagers in their rebellious phase are scarier than three hundred monkeys on a mountain¡ªthere had even been fights before, so they arrived early to keep an eye on things.

    When they realized it was just a card game, the organizers breathed a sigh of relief, and the teachers present simply stood in the corner, watching with amusement.

    Watching¡­

    Until the head of the exammittee¡¯s expression slowly changed, and he began to sweat.

    The kids had been ying cards in the lobby for two hours, and during that time, they had stumbled upon at least six problems that were nearly identical to the actual exam questions. The wording was slightly different, but the core concepts were the same¡ªwhich makes sense, since there¡¯s only so much material to test. But when one problem appeared with the exact same data, he couldn¡¯t help but approach the Chinese students to ask¡ª

    ¡°Oh,¡± Feng Ziping, who was somewhat in the know, exined, ¡°These are problems we picked up during training camp¡­ I mean, we practiced them! They¡¯re randomly generated by an AI. The program isn¡¯t connected to the inte, so it recycles old problems with new data. The one you¡¯re talking about? I did itst week¡­¡±

    So, it was just a coincidence.

    The representative asked if they could borrow the device to study it. Feng Ziping slowly adopted a ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re saying, my English is bad¡± expression. To him, he was just ying dumb, but to outsiders, it looked like he was getting angry.

    Representative: ¡°¡­Never mind?¡±

    Coach Yang also approached with the others but didn¡¯t intervene, wanting to see how the students would handle the situation¡ª

    Feng Ziping reached into his pocket, and the representative instinctively took half a step back, only to remember that Chinese students don¡¯t carry guns. Sure enough, the student just pulled out a coin.

    Heads or tails would work, but if itnded on its edge, that wouldn¡¯t count.

    The representative chuckled nervously.

    Feng Ziping then pointed to Chu Tingwu and said, ¡°She brought the device, so she should flip the coin.¡±

    The representative chuckled again.

    ¡­But in the end, the representative didn¡¯t get thestugh.

    The image of the coin spinning on the ground lingered in his mind as he hurried away.

    Chu Tingwu had some suspicions, but Zhou Qiang and the others didn¡¯t care much¡ªthey just wanted to keep ying cards. Besides ¡°Old Maid,¡± there was also a ¡°Landlord¡± mode.

    However, the exammittee would be busy that night.

    -

    The opening ceremony of the internationalpetition was grand, but most of the participants had seen it all before and remained calm. After the ceremony, Coach Yang disappeared, and they didn¡¯t see him again until the day thepetition began.

    Thepetition had started.

    Chu Tingwu remained calm as well.

    But when she saw the exam questions, the foggy, lightheaded feeling in her mind finally cleared. She suddenly realized:

    After thispetition, she might never participate in another biologypetition again. Her journey inpetitive academics woulde to an end, and the knowledge she had gained during this time would stay with her for a while before gradually fading with time.

    It had already been over a year!

    She was luckier than mostpetitive students¡ªshe hadn¡¯t spent every waking moment grinding through problems. Most of the time, she maintained the pace of a regr high school student, so she never felt overly exhausted.

    She was luckier because she had gone further, because she had ess to better educational resources¡ªwhen she found studying boring, she could even turn it into a game. She made learning and exams fun¡­ and then got more people to y that game.

    So, now that she was standing on this stage, she owed it to herself and to the teachers and friends who had supported her along the way to give it her all.

    -

    Coach Yang was both nervous and excited.

    The written exam took half a day, and the practical exam would take a full day. The day before the exam, all electronic devices were removed from the dormitories. The students could still review and discuss after the exam, but they probably weren¡¯t in the mood to y cards anymore.

    They had seen the exam questions in advance, which made him even more worried about their performance¡ª

    At the very least, they needed to perform at their usual level!

    ¡°Sigh¡­¡± He turned to his colleague and smiled wryly. ¡°Well, it¡¯s started now. There¡¯s nothing I can do to help. It¡¯s all up to them.¡±

    Just as he had watched them enter the exam hall at the start, he was the first to stand outside the door when it was over, waiting for them toe out one by one.

    The sky above Lung City was a clear, cloudless blue, with a gentle breeze and a mild sun.

    By the time Chu Tingwu walked out of the exam hall, the sun was already hanging low over the mountains.

    The staff guided the students out, and Coach Yang looked at them before asking, ¡°You got the questions we predicted¡­ right?¡±

    He couldn¡¯t help but ask¡ªhe was genuinely surprised they had hit so many!

    At this stage of thepetition, it could be said that there were hardly any problems the students hadn¡¯t encountered before. Therefore, the organizers were determined to innovate, testing the most cutting-edge knowledge points to widen the score gap... But who could have guessed that the very topics they chose were ones the group had already practiced on a certain software!

    ...Though the software wasn¡¯t called "Learning Master," but rather "Learning Struggles."

    Chu Tingwu was also feeling a bit tired and simply gave an "ok" gesture. Chu Xiao and Zhou Qiang nodded in agreement, while Feng Ziping seemed lost in thought.

    Coach Yang hesitated, wanting to say something but holding back.

    Feng Ziping: "It¡¯s nothing, I was just thinking about the divination I did before entering."

    Coach Yang opened his mouth to speak, then stopped again.

    Why didn¡¯t they confiscate your copper coins when they collected prohibited items the day before the exam!

    Coach Yang: "Was the divination unfavorable?" An unfavorable reading might mean poor performance!

    Feng Ziping: "Not exactly... but, does a coin standing upright really signify smooth sailing in everything?"

    The exam went really smoothly, but that¡¯s not what he had learned!

    Coach Yang looked at Chu Tingwu.

    Chu Tingwu: "...Is it that hard to make it stand upright?"

    Who says a man-made good omen isn¡¯t a good omen? If it works, isn¡¯t that enough?

    Coach Yang: "=="

    Next, everyone just needed to patiently wait for the closing ceremony and the awards.

    ¡ªThey just needed to wait patiently... right?

    To everyone¡¯s delight, thepetition ended, and phones and other electronic devices were finally returned. That night, just like on the first day, the ce was filled with people taking photos and videos. After all, it was a world-sspetition, and for most, like Chu Xiao, it was probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

    As soon as Chu Tingwu got her phone back, she started catching up on the recordings of the domesticpetition¡ª

    The city representative selection for the domesticpetition had finally entered its final stage, with only two days left to determine the final representatives. The organizers had already contacted the potential representatives in advance, asking if they could make time to attend the offlinepetition venue.

    The venue wasn¡¯t in Jing City or Sea City, but rather at a seaside sports center located between the two cities.

    During thepetition, due to the buzzer system and the risk of incorrect answers, the priority for answering was still based on rankings. Within the time limit, the top 100 contestants could gain the right to answer, with the higher-ranked yers¡¯ answers being prioritized. Only if no one in the top 100 answered within the time limit would the opportunity open up to the next 400 contestants.

    Chu Tingwu politely asked Coach Yang, "Can we head back first and then fly back on the day of the closing ceremony?"

    Coach Yang: "?"

    Chu Tingwu looked serious: "We must fight for Shangjing City."

    All of them were on the high-ranking list for Shangjing City. Even if their rankings had dropped a bit recently, they were still within the top 100.

    Coach Yang: "..."

    Actors juggle roles, and you¡¯re juggling exams, huh?

    But the timing was definitely too tight. Coach Yang went to inquire about the exact schedule of the closing ceremony and came up with a rather tight n: "After the closing ceremony, head straight to the airport. By the time wend in Shangjing City, the city representativepetition will just be starting¡ª"

    At this point, he couldn¡¯t help but nce at Chu Tingwu:

    As the boss, why didn¡¯t you arrange the schedule with more leeway?

    That way, he could have gone back topete too!

    He was also in the top 100!

 Chapter 132

    The closing ceremony and awards event were filled with a lively yet solemn atmosphere, tinged with restlessness.

    Reporters from the Republic of Ghana were also present at the scene, with their cameras lingering on Chu Tingwu and a few other students. From the reporters'' perspective, the students'' demeanor and spirit were quitemendable.

    However, as the camera panned upward, her gaze drifted downward, and due to the angle, it was clear that the children had their hands behind their backs, ying a game of passing a copper coin.

    The reporter: "..."

    Whenever the speaker above paused, the copper coin wouldnd in someone''s hand, and the person holding it would have their palm lightly pped by the person next to them.

    Team Leader Yang maintained a smile but kept subtly ncing at the group out of the corner of her eye. Realizing she couldn''t stop them, she eventually shifted slightly to block their antics from view.

    Then the awards began¡ª

    The order of the awards was announced in reverse, starting from the lowest rank and moving up. The reporter''s heart was in her throat.

    Although she had faith in the children, no one could guarantee there wouldn''t be any surprises.

    ...The silver awards were announced.

    The reporter held her breath and nced at the line of students... Wait, are you still passing that copper coin?!

    The copper coin reflected a faint glimmer, but the rules seemed to have changed. Now, whoever held the coin when apuse was required would have their palm pped.

    Then, just as the final awardee was about to step onto the stage, Chu Tingwu flicked her fingers, sending the coin flying onto Team Leader Yang''s cor.

    Feeling something unusual, Team Leader Yang: "...?"

    Zhou Qiang and Chu Xiao nced at her hand, found nothing, and continued pping with puzzled expressions.

    Chu Tingwu: "=v="

    The next second, Zhou Qiang''s name was announced.

    Zhou Qiang, ninth ce, gold award.

    Feng Ziping, eighth ce, gold award.

    The reporter also smiled, pping sincerely and enthusiastically. After capturing the footage of the two children stepping onto the stage one after another, she couldn''t help but nce at Chu Tingwu and Chu Xiao.

    The two of them were still sitting calmly, showing no signs of nervousness.

    There shouldn''t be any surprises... the reporter thought. The gold awards were being announced, and their children hade to the international stage; they wouldn''t leave empty-handed.

    Team Leader Yang, now empty-handed, discreetly removed the copper coin and, while weing Feng Ziping and Zhou Qiang, couldn''t resist stuffing the coin into Feng Ziping''s hand¡ªthis is what you get for bringing this thing along!

    Feng Ziping was still smiling, unaware of what had just happened.

    Then his hand was promptly pped by the other three.

    Feng Ziping: "..." Hey!

    Zhou Qiang stood nearby, a faint smile on her face. No matter the ranking, winning an award was a good thing, and the end of thepetition was also¡ª

    In the future, she might participate in morepetitions, standing on different stages, but she would always remember this day.

    It felt like the end of one journey and the beginning of another.

    However, Chu Tingwu didn''t share such sentiments, nor did she feel any particr emotion when her ranking was announced¡ªshe was sixth.

    Unlike the calm Chu Tingwu, her system was ecstatic, as if it had sessfully shown off its cat to the entire world. It kept muttering in her mind: "It''s a gold award, it''s a championship! Champion cat! We have to let San Wu Wu see this!"

    No, there are still five people ahead.

    And San Wu Wu wouldn''t understand anyway!

    Chu Tingwu''s mood was indeed calm because, regardless of thepetition, it was already over. What excited her was the present moment¡ª

    Like parkouring and leaping between two buildings, with crowds walking below, feeling as if she were flying.

    Or rock climbing without any safety gear, relying solely on her hands and feet to cling to the cliff, looking down at the waves crashing against the rocks.

    Or skiing during an avnche, with the snow chasing behind her, armed only with a snowboard and herself. The world was silent, the loudest sound being her heartbeat... She wanted to shout, tough, like a lone sailboat rocking on a dark sea, uncertain of the future but reveling in the thrill and joy of the moment.

    And the internationalpetition was now a thing of the past, settled and done.

    When the name and country of the second-ce winner were announced, everyone turned to Chu Xiao.

    Now, only Chu Xiao''s name remained unmentioned... but everyone already knew his ranking. Chu Xiao pursed his lips, feeling a mix of nervousness and anticipation¡ªbut then, a hand reached out and patted his shoulder.

    Chu Tingwu gave her nephew an encouraging look.

    Chu Xiao: "..."

    The nervousness vanished, reced by a slight urge to hit someone.

    "First ce..."

    "From Hua Country..."

    "¡ªChu Xiao!"

    The apuse was thunderous, and people around kept ncing their way, offering congrattions along the path. It had been four years since Hua Countryst imed the top honor at thispetition, and now they had done it again. While the team members remainedposed, Team Leader Yang''s smile was so wide her eyes nearly disappeared... Oh, right, after the closing ceremony, they could take a group photo with their medals andmemorative certificates, wearing theirpetition uniforms, and then¡ª

    Chu Tingwu: "If we don''t speed, can we make the flight?"

    Team Leader Yang: "=="

    Whether they could make it was uncertain, but she knew for sure that getting caught speeding would guarantee they wouldn''t.

    The photos would have to be quick, interviews moved online, and they''d have to leave immediately after to barely make it to the airport. With all their luggage, it was going to be a tight squeeze.

    In the car, Team Leader Yang couldn''t hold back any longer: "...I wasn''t even this nervous when they were announcing the rankings earlier!"

    Of course not.

    Because the previous test was over¡ªnow, the airport sprint test had just begun!

    They rushed through security, rushed onto the ne, and rushed to their seats before Zhou Qiang finally said, "Did someone call out to us just now?"

    Chu Xiao: "If they didn''t catch us, then it wasn''t important."

    Chu Tingwu: "It was the American team."

    The American team seemed to be heading straight back too. They ran into them at the airport, and the Americans tried to greet them, but the group breezed past without a second nce.

    Chu Tingwu didn''t see them either... she just smelled them.

    So it must have been the American team, right?

    -

    Not only were they ignored by the Hua Country team, but the American team also had the misfortune of facing a flight dy¡ªfive hours, to be exact.

    The team members exchanged nces, and Luna couldn''t help but say:

    "If only we could y cards right now."

    With their phones in hand, they could y any game they wanted, but after experiencing that AR card game, regr games just didn''t hit the same.

    Because this kind of "game" thatbined problem-solving andpetition was exactly what these high-IQ kids loved¡ªbut previous games of this type hadn''t provided enough entertainment or a sense of achievement.

    Most popr games on the market didn''t give much advantage to intelligence, focusing more on speed, reflexes, and practice. Meanwhile, games marketed as "high-IQ" had such high entry barriers that thepetition was evenly matched, and they oftencked fun.

    But "Learning Through y" hit the sweet spot. It was easy to see that it would attract arge user base, mostly ordinary people, while the openpetitions provided a tform for the elite to shine. The game was both entertaining and "legitimate," as it genuinely helped yers learn.

    Of course, at this point, Luna didn''t know that the card game they yed was a mini-game extracted from "Learning Through y"... They were just waiting for their dyed flight when someone spoke up:

    "By the way... do any of you have a visa to visit Hua Country?"

    "What are you suggesting...?"

    "What does the coach say?"N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "I heard from the Russians that there''s going to be a massive AR performance, and if we go now, we might catch it¡ª"

    Now the pressure was on the coach.

    The coach: "...?"

    If the American team wanted toe and watch thepetition, they could actuallynd directly in Wu City, the location of the Sea Sports Center where the city representativepetition is being held. Their schedule would even be more flexible than Chu Tingwu and the others, as the Hua Country team would have to undergo photo ops and interviews after their nends.

    At this moment, yers from Sea City and Jing City were unaware that several key yers were absent¡ªmost yers had already arrived early at the Sea Sports Center in Wu City.

    The venue had previously hostedrge-scale concerts and football matches, with a capacity of 40,000 people, and its exterior resembled a tilting sailboat.

    Tian Shi was pacing around inside the sports center.

    She didn¡¯t want to appear so nervous, but she couldn¡¯t help it. Even though they had hired a professional outsourcing team and had others assisting, making everything seem well-organized¡ªthe boss wasn¡¯t in the country! If Chu Tingwu were here, she probably wouldn¡¯t have offered any suggestions or changes and could have easily contacted the system. But Tian Shi couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that if she just heard Chu Tingwu say, ¡°It¡¯ll be fine,¡± then everything really would be fine.

    Ugh, maybe I should go find someone to do a tarot reading.

    Since they had rented the stadium, thepany naturally had to sell tickets to recoup the costs. In the game, a lottery was arranged, with 60 beta testers and 40 pre-registered yers for the second beta being selected to receive free tickets.

    Additionally, purchasing tickets through the game offered a 30% discount, while those who had pre-downloaded the app and registered (but hadn¡¯t gotten into the second beta) could also buy tickets through the app at a 20% discount.

    Wu City, located in the special economic zone, had convenient transportation. With local visitors and those who had traveled from afar, the tickets had mostly sold out.

    Tian Shi felt both happy and sighed: If this were a concert, tickets would have sold out instantly. But this was a gamingpetition, and it was still in beta... Experienced game developers wouldn¡¯t normally host such arge-scale public event in a sports center during the beta phase, as it could easily result in zero ticket sales and massive losses.

    What Tian Shi didn¡¯t mention was that the cost of thispetition was actually much higher than what some industry insiders had imagined.

    During the nning phase, she had originally wanted to invite some industry celebrities to host or perform as a warm-up act. After all, the entire event wouldst at least three hours, with thepetition itself scheduled for an hour and a half. Any longer would be too exhausting, so they needed other content to fill the time... They couldn¡¯t let the audience, who had traveled from afar, leave after just an hour and a half ofpetition. Nowadays, even football matches have cheerleaders.

    But all of this was vetoed by the system.

    The system: ¡°What¡¯s so interesting about human hosts?¡±

    If they were going to have a host, it might as well be Three-Five-Five.

    Tian Shi: ==

    Let¡¯s not burden the cat with such a big responsibility, okay?

    In the end, the host position was filled by a virtual projection of a white horse named Raphael, wearing a theme park manager¡¯s hat. This horse, now the game¡¯s mascot, was the kind of character that yers would curse as a scam artist upon seeing... So, it could still be considered auspicious, right?

    By 7:50 PM, all the audience members had put on their wristbands and sessfully entered the venue. The live broadcast went live across the inte, and Chu Tingwu and the others finally sat down, opening theirpetition screens on their phones.

    There were 15 minutes left until thepetition began.

    Tickets were still avable, and people continued to trickle in.

    The wristbands emitted a faint glow, and as the lights dimmed, a white horse leaped onto the stage. It then tipped its top hat, greeting the audience to the left and right¡ª

    Which was met with a chorus of ¡°Ugh, why is it this scammer?¡± along with plenty ofughter.

    In the next moment, the wristbands began to sh in unison, and gasps filled the air as familiar cats leaped out from the bands¡ªsome perched on the seats, others lounging on the yers¡¯ps... Meanwhile, some audience members didn¡¯t have ounts or cats, so holographic top hats appeared beside them instead.

    Reaching into the hats, they could pull out random small gifts.

    All audience members received these gifts.

    The small trinkets could be held in hand (though it felt like holding air) or disyed on their personal ounts in the app, with physical versions mailed to themter.

    Though there was a tinge of disappointment, the general audience was still thrilled and eager to capture the moment with their cameras, which was also being recorded by the live broadcast.

    That was until someone pulled out a gilded figurine of Raphael, the white horse.

    The audience member: ¡°...¡±

    Why is it this scammer again!?

 Chapter 133

    It wouldn''t be fair to exclude beta testers from receiving entry gifts just because they already have beta ess.

    The only yer who received the gift was initially full ofints, but he quickly stopped caring¡ªbecause he noticed the "Limited Edition, Only 10 Avable"bel behind the gift icon on the screen.

    No matter what the item is, as soon as the word "limited" is added, it seems to transform from something in into something worth appreciating. And just as this realization dawned, the representative match was about to begin!

    Raphael, standing in the center of the venue, nodded and started introducing the two representative yers:

    "Ladies and gentlemen, wee to the first round of the beta city representative match for ''Learning Through y''¡ª"

    If the host had been a human, the audience might have listened and watched, but their attention wouldn''t have been as focused. However, the host was a talking horse! Not just any talking horse, but one wearing a top hat and projected through AR technology, making it feel like they had identally stumbled onto the set of a Disney animated movie.

    Many audience members hadn''t put away their AR-projected gifts, and some hadn''t even opened their gift boxes. As a result, the variously colored gift boxes floated around them, making them feel like characters in a movie.

    Some excitedly sent messages to their friends, but most didn''t even pull out their phones¡ªthe opening interactions alone made them feel like they had already gotten their money''s worth.

    Meanwhile, those watching online, like Chu Tingwu and her group, huddled together, phones in hand, ready for action. Although they were used to AR projections as beta testers, Feng Ziping still sighed, "If only we were there in person..."

    The atmosphere at the venue was definitely different from watching online!

    Shao Lingwu was the only one in their group who was actually at the venue.

    Unlike the others around him, Shao Lingwu had an AR-projected cat perched on his head, and he was busy snapping photos of the host¡ªthe talking horse.

    As the host continued, the representative yers from Haishi and Shangjing City emerged from the side entrances.

    While everyone was there to watch the AR cat battles, the yers themselves were less prominent than their cats. Still, there was a brief introduction for each of them.

    These two were the top scorers from their respective regional matches. Not all beta testers had encountered them before, but those who had knew just how skilled they were.

    ...It''s worth mentioning that the Haishi regional champion was only fourteen years old.

    Compared to the massive stage, both yers looked tiny. When Raphael, the horse, moved closer, the audience realized that the AR-projected horse was actually twice the size of a real one, designed to be more noticeable.

    Soon, as the introductions concluded, the two yers took their positions in thepetition area, and their virtual projections appeared beside them.

    Next to the Haishi yer stood an upright, tailless red panda, with the yer''s game ID floating above its head instead of a cat''s name. Meanwhile, the Shangjing yer was apanied by a graceful, floating woman in traditional pce attire, her toes lightly touching the air¡ªthe brighter the virtual projection, the more the actual yer seemed to fade into the background.

    One audience member immediately realized:

    "Did they customize the yers'' avatars too?!"

    This was next-level extravagance!

    AR games offer a stronger sense of immersionpared to MMORPGs, where yers control specific characters. In live-streamed matches like this, some yers might not want their real selves on disy, so they customize their avatars. The red panda made it clear that these avatars weren''t fixed.

    And for a one-time beta city match, the organizers had gone all out, creating personalized avatars for the yers!

    The lights dimmed, and the host horse retreated to the edge of the venue. A familiar arena slowly emerged from the surroundings, with only the audience''s wristbands and their AR projections still glowing, swaying slightly with the chatter and cheers, like a sea of stars in the darkness.

    The two representative yers'' avatars stood tall in the center of this starry sea. As drumbeat-like music began to y, a thirty-second countdown appeared in the air.

    The noise grew louder. Even though Chu Tingwu wasn''t at the venue, she could pick out snippets of conversation from the audience. One beta tester, who had apparently brought a friend, was shouting in their ear:

    "Look, this is it! We always wait for thirty seconds before it starts¡ªoh, the cats! Where are the cats?"

    At exactly twenty seconds, the upright red panda and the floating pce woman both raised their right hands. Points of light gathered beside them, quickly forming intorge orbs. Then, with a space-warping effect, the orbs expanded and burst open¡ª

    An audience member eximed, "Holy crap, can all domestic movies please aim for this level of special effects?!"

    The cats leaped out of the void.

    But this wasn''t the end. Both cats, now the size of tigers, turned their heads and let out long, drawn-out meows¡ªserious and low-pitched.

    At that moment, beta testers on both sides noticed a pop-up screen in front of them:

    [Would you like to lend your strength to fight for your city''s honor?]

    One yer muttered, "Holy... Mom, I can actually fight for my city now."

    Someone nearby snapped, "Stop talking and just click confirm already!"

    There was no reason to hesitate. The yers quickly clicked confirm, and then they saw their own cats tilt their heads, surrounded by glowing orbs. The cats'' images shrank, most reverting from adult size to the size of two-month-old kittens¡ªbut the glowing orbs transformed into floating points of light, shooting like arrows toward the main arena.

    Someone nced at their phone screen and noticed a new status above their cat''s head: a one-and-a-half-hour timer indicating that the cat had lent its battle strength and couldn''t participate in random or invitation matches during this time.

    Though, at this point, it was unlikely anyone would leave the venue to start a random match.

    The yers at the venue were fully immersed, while those watching online could only tap confirm on their phone screens.

    Chu Tingwu and her group did just that, as did Team Leader Yang, who secretly tapped confirm during a meeting.

    As the glowing orbs merged into the two representative cats on the arena, the yers watched as the cats grew from tiger-sized to the size of trucks.

    Casual viewers were already impressed, but some yersined, "Why can''t they grow as tall as a three-story building?"

    Well, that made sense... Currently, there were only five hundred beta testers per side. But by the time the game entered its second beta, third beta, or official release, with tens or even hundreds of thousands of yers lending their strength, would the matches turn into giant monster brawls? Could such massive AR projections even be rendered? But then again, who knows?

    Raphael took the opportunity to reiterate the match rules, which had been exined at entry and were also printed on the tickets, but some people might have forgotten¡ª

    Aside from the order of answering questions between the top hundred and the rest, there was also the matter of priority.

    The representative yers, who were the city champions, were naturally special. On one hand, this was to prevent cheating; on the other, the representative yers had the privilege of "correcting answers."

    If a top hundred yer secured the right to answer but got it wrong, the representative yer could correct the answer within ten seconds. If both sides answered simultaneously but with different answers, the representative yer''s answer would take precedence.

    Additionally, some questions awarded items rather than immediate effects, and the timing of their use could be decided by the representative yers.

    As the organizer, the Tianshi ount was an internal test ount that didn''t level up or appear in rankings. Naturally, it wasn''t seated in the audience. Unlike the other viewers, the Tianshi was busy monitoring online reactions¡ª

    This match was being broadcast with a dy, and the online livestream was set to air five minutester. The real-time broadcast was only avable on the Xuebutong app. However, even so, some people were toozy to download the app, so the majority of viewers still flocked to mainstream video tforms. At this moment, the livestream channel upied a massive rmended spot on the homepage of Fenghua Network, with thement section buzzing with activity.

    In reality, the match had already started, but viewers on Fenghua Network were just now seeing the part where the cats merged and expanded. This left them itching to be at the venue, imagining how they might perform if they were participating themselves.

    However, when the questions were revealed, thement section quickly fell silent, with many question marks popping up.

    [Mom... why... can''t I understand the questions...]

    [Each character makes sense on its own, but whenbined, it''s like reading a foreignnguage. I managed to figure out two of the questions, but I haven''t studied them before. The ones after that arepletely different, and the key point is¡ª]

    The key point is, how are the contestants actually solving them?

    Not only that, but the contestants were also using hand gestures to direct their actions while solving the problems. Though the contestants themselves weren¡¯t very noticeable, their projected avatars were quite prominent. Despite multitasking, their uracy was so high that it left little room for other eager yers to showcase their skills.

    Still, Chu Tingwu patted Feng Ziping on the left shoulder and said, ¡°No helping it. We haven¡¯t gotten any of the sections we¡¯re good at yet.¡±

    The cat from the Haishi team was quite unique¡ªa ck cat with translucent, glowing blue patterns that flowed like water. As the game updated, yers¡¯ cats developed in different directions, and this one clearly excelled in endurance and speed.

    The cat from the Shangjing team was one many had seen before, as the contestant loved taking it around for challenges. It was a standard orange tabby, with only its tail featuring a special design: a long tail adorned with golden sun icons that shimmered as the cat moved.

    But these two cats couldn¡¯t really be referred to as ¡°cats¡± anymore¡­ they were more like two cat-shaped vehicles.

    If thepetition had just been about solving problems, it might have been a bit dull, and the audience, both on-site and online, wouldn¡¯t have felt as engaged. So, the organizers had spiced up the presentation of the questions. For example, when the Haishi team solved this chemistry experiment question, a translucent beaker descended from the sky and enveloped the orange tabby.

    The kitten on Shao Lingwu¡¯s shoulder made a ¡°shocked¡± expression, turned its head, and buried its face in his arm, leaving only its butt sticking out toward the stage.

    Shao Lingwu: ¡°¡­¡±

    Sometimes, making the cats¡¯ personalities too realistic might not be the best idea¡­ And why did the app¡¯s promotional material say that the cats¡¯ personalities would gradually align with their owners based on daily choices?

    Almost immediately, viewers from outside the two cities began to sympathize with the trapped Shangjing cat. A back-and-forth dynamic made things more interesting, and it seemed the Shangjing contestant might have made a mistake, as they didn¡¯t answer the next question right away.

    Chu Tingwu heard Chu Xiao recite the answer the next second.

    Feng Ziping: ¡°Huh!?¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    It was aputer-rted question!

    On the screen, the orange tabby instantly transformed into a virtual projection made of 0s and 1s, dispersing through the beaker before reassembling.

    Most viewers didn¡¯t notice anything unusual.

    Only a few realized:

    Wait.

    Virtual projections don¡¯t have physical forms to begin with, right? But to break through a virtual barrier, you have to make the virtual even more virtual. Isn¡¯t that just a paradox?

    Feng Ziping let out a sigh of relief.

    Though he wasn¡¯t actually from Shangjing, and neither was anyone else present, as a participant in thepetition, he felt fully immersed.

    ¡­But he really wanted to answer a question too!

    He wanted to see his cat strutting proudly above the orange tabby! Even if it only appeared for a few secondspared to the overallpetition, Feng Ziping felt that having his cat on TV was more impressive than being on TV himself.

    In the early stages, it seemed like both sides were getting questions they were good at, but as they entered the mid-game, the Haishi team stumbled a couple of times, and then it was the Shangjing team¡¯s turn to get stuck again.

    The projection of the woman in traditional attire frowned, showing a troubled and hesitant expression, but Zhou Qiang clicked to answer and input her solution.

    Her answer was half a second faster than another yer who tried to answer on-site, and that yer couldn¡¯t hide their frustration.

    Feng Ziping: ¡°¡­¡±

    Wait, wasn¡¯t this supposed to be a biology question? This is an economics question!

    When would it be his turn to shine, like¡ª

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°The tenth person toplete a solo non-stop circumnavigation by sailboat was Mibo Lefier, an Italian, and the boat was named the Serena.¡±

    [Three points correct, answer correct.]

    A tortoiseshell cat appeared triumphantly above the orange tabby, and a sailboat emerged from the void, sailing over the waves, growingrger as it approached. The orange tabby leaped onto the boat, causing it to dip sharply.

    Audience members near the stage even instinctively stepped back, worried the boat might tip over.

    Meanwhile, a certain Feng, who wasn¡¯t near the stage or even at the venue: ¡°¡­?¡±

    He nced at hispanions with a look that said, ¡°How do all of you have other talents, while I¡¯ve just been studying all day?¡±

    Chu Tingwu patted his right shoulder reassuringly. ¡°It¡¯s fine, Team Leader Yang didn¡¯t get a chance either.¡±

    Now you and the coach are on equal footing! Keep it up!

    Feng Ziping: ¡°¡­¡±

    He¡¯d forgotten that the coach was also apetitor! Darn it!

 Chapter 134

    "38¡ª¡ª"

    "39¡ª¡ª"

    "40!"

    The tabby cat''s tail was held high, as if it knew it had won, letting out a triumphant "meow" several times. Its front paws rested on the ck cat''s body, its entire little body arching like a bow, letting out a long "awoo" sound¡ªalmost like a tiny tiger.

    The contestants from Shangjing City erupted into cheers of excitement. Some jumped up and hugged their friends, while others waved their arms wildly, too overwhelmed to do anything but shout.

    Others were more reserved but still pulled out their phones to check the app''s announcement, trying to confirm the results once more.

    In reality, when the results were announced, neither side reacted immediately.

    It turned out that the Sea City representative had made a mistake.

    By the end, both sides had very low health, with Shangjing City slightly lower, teetering on the edge of defeat. However, through precise hand gestures, the Shangjing City representative managed to control their orange tabby, sessfully locking the ck cat in a chokehold¡ª

    The game''s obscure knockdown rule had been modified: if one side was pinned down and unable to get up for forty seconds, regardless of their remaining health, they would be considered defeated.

    During this time, both sides could have used items to get up or escape, but Shangjing City saw through their opponent''s strategy and used a previously saved immobilizing item to restrict them, pulling off an incredibleeback.

    The opposing team, despite their strong problem-solving skills, had lost in this manner, and it was clear they felt deeply frustrated.

    ¡ªBecause all beta testers received participation badges, but the winners had more boratememorative markers, representing the only gold medal in the entire game.

    Although the medal was just a piece of data, it was the only one of its kind globally, exclusive to the beta test!

    When the second beta registration opened, the official announcement stated: although the beta would be wiped, only the levels and rankings would be reset. yers could choose to keep "their own cats," which would revert to their newborn size, but their trained personalities would remain unchanged.

    Medals, titles, and limited-edition skins would also be preserved.

    Nick had been caught up in the excitement for over an hour before realizing he was feeling unusually warm, likely from the adrenaline¡ªhis face was slightly flushed. He had originallye for an AR and VR parkourpetition, but after seeing the offline AR battles in Sea City, he couldn''t resist and bought a ticket to fly to Wu City to watch therger-scale virtual projection showdown live.

    Nick: "If only games like *Fallen Lands*, *Doomsday 2077*, and *Alien* had AR features too..."

    A pet-raising AR game with offline PvP battles was fun, but he still wanted something that didn''t require too much brainpower.

    These big games were developed by differentpanies, though. Oh, and there was also the action game *Assassin King*. He wished thepany behind *Learn Without Limits* could just acquire all these otherpanies!

    If Chu Tingwu were here, she''d probably tell him the chances were slim¡ªcooperation was more likely. After all, if they had the money to buy all thosepanies, the system would probably prioritize acquiring Disney first. Of course, the funds would fall short, but the system would persistently submit the application, approve it itself, and then present it to Chu Tingwu.

    Chu Tingwu: "¡ú_¡ú"

    System: "0v0"

    But at this moment, as just an ordinary spectator and a non-yer who couldn''t register for the *Learn Without Limits* second beta due tock of real-name verification, Nick could only sigh regretfully, ncing around and wondering if he should go to the restroom.

    Next up was probably the award ceremony, right? There didn''t seem to be much else fun to look forward to. The match had been thrilling, even though he hadn''t understood most of it, but he had felt the energy. He could probably leave after sitting for a bit longer¡ª

    Just then, his wristband lit up, and stardust-like lights began falling from the sky. Of course, these weren''t real¡ªthey were more virtual projections.

    A white horse stepped onto the stage. The yers'' cats regained their strength, returning to their original sizes. But Nick noticed that a yer nearby was holding her cat, looking somewhat wistful. She said to her friend:

    "At midnight tonight, the beta officially ends..."

    Her little Garfield would revert to a kitten, and all the levels she had worked so hard to raise would be reset. Still, she didn''t regret the time she had spent grinding, because she had felt happy and fulfilled, even getting healthier skin from going out more often.

    ...Sniff, Garfield, mommy loves you.

    Her friend tried tofort her,ughing and crying at the same time. Meanwhile, the white horse on stage tipped its hat to the audience and said:

    "Ladies and gentlemen, please raise the hand wearing your wristband¡ª"

    Nick felt a bit embarrassed to stand up. He followed the instruction, raising his hand in confusion: Wasn''t this supposed to be restroom time? Wasn''t the award ceremony next?

    "Wee to the uing mini-game!"

    The audience stirred slightly. Although the ticket had mentioned a mini-game (which Nick hadn''t noticed), it was supposed to happen during the closing ceremony, with awards given alongside the mainpetition winners, and the prizes were unknown. Most people thought it would be a lucky draw where audience memberspeted against professional yers¡ªafter all, this game was quite skill-based, and some were hesitant, worried about embarrassing themselves.

    But what was this format? Was it a random selection, or were they all participating?

    The host horse stomped its hooves, and the next second, the falling stardust froze mid-air, shimmering without descending further. A circr stage appeared in the center of the arena, filled with various musical instruments. The white horse, Raphael, stepped into the center, joined by two other horses, making a trio.

    "Snap!"

    In the middle appeared the shadow of a cat sitting on the ground, holding a guitar.

    Yes, even though all the lights were focused on this cat, its species was indistinguishable¡ªonly its silhouette confirmed it was a cat.

    ["Band 819" performance is about to begin. Please get ready¡ª]

    [Put on your golden gloves and use various gestures to try and catch the pulsing stars in the air. Please do not leave your seat, as you won''t be able to score points during that time!]

    [Now, let''s get wild!! Meow¡ª]

    Stars rained down from the sky!

    Amidst a burst of energetic rock music and a "meow-meow-meow" opening, Nick frantically reached out, noticing that his wristband-covered hand now seemed to be wearing a translucent ck glove with golden threads. But when he tried to grab a falling star, it passed right through his palm.

    He checked the wristband''s screen and saw that no points had been recorded.

    Huh?

    After a few attempts, Nick realized that he could use the same hand gestures the yers had used during the match to control the stars¡ªlike moving them closer, farther, or selecting them. These were gestures that would be updated in the game''s second beta. But to score points, he had to grab the star when its light was at its dimmest.

    Then, *poof*, the star would imprint onto the glove''s surface, and the points would be added to his wristband.

    Nick heard someone shout¡ª

    "Whoa! AR rhythm game!"

    Band 819''s cat was still singing!

    The varying pitches of the cat''s meows blended perfectly with the music, creating a foreignnguage song effect that was oddly catchy.

    This concert¡ªno, thispetition venue¡ªhad fairly spacious seating. Nick couldn''t help but smile as he listened to the music.

    When everyone around him was speaking anguage he didn''t understand, he had felt a sense of istion. But cat meows were different¡ªno one understood them, and yet everyone was immersed in the game. Someone''s hand identally bumped into another''s, and in that moment, it seemed like an argument might break out, but instead, both burst intoughter against the backdrop of the music.

    Nick felt like he had returned to his childhood, experiencing a simple yet unfamiliar joy.

    And it was exhausting.

    Though... some people could actually understand the lyrics.

    Like Chu Tingwu, like the system, and like the cat, Three-Five-Five.

    ¡ª¡ªThe audience thought the voice was generated by AI, just with a very outstanding effect, but Chu Tingwu could tell... there were two lines in it that were clearly San Wu Wu cursing.

    There were also the cat meows she was so familiar with, even mixed with a couple of small tiger roars. Thinking of someone''s previous recording behavior and the band''s subtly self-referential name...

    It had to be... Shao Lingwu!

    Shao Lingwu: "Achoo!"

    The musician himself was right there at the scene, having a great time.

    But now, those not present couldn''t join in, and even with the projection effect, it didn''t have the same atmosphere. Zhou Qiang rested her head on Chu Tingwu''s shoulder, staring at the screen, and said gloomily, "Why don''t we just kick the one who''s not fitting in out of the group?"

    Damn, she wanted to join in too.

    Chu Tingwu: "Wait for the second test... the second test will have thirty participating cities."

    And during the second test, you could switch cities. For example, Chu Tingwu''s household registration was in Fallen Phoenix City, but she lived in Jin City, not Shangjing City. However, since Shangjing City wasn''t an option during the alpha test, she had joined the Shangjing City faction.

    Once the second test opened, you could switch to other factions. Hmm, that is to say¡ª

    In this game, switching cities might be like transferring teams. If the scale grewrger in the future, would some cities reference the game and propose talent introduction policies, persuading people from smaller cities to relocate, aiming to qualify for the national yoffs?

    A seven-minute-long song, "Meow Meow Growl," ended. Apart from the big-name lead singer, who still only showed a shadow, the three apanying horses said a few words for the intermission, settled the points for everyone, and the host, Raphael, regretfully said:

    "Unfortunately, our band''s lead singer has a very busy schedule and can only perform this one song for everyone."

    The cat''s shadow nodded in the background.

    The audienceughed, and someone shouted, "Lead singer, encore! Can''t you give us an encore?"

    The cat''s shadow shook its head.

    "But," Raphael said, "we have, of course, invited other bands to perform more great songs for everyone¡ª"

    The cat''s shadow hopped onto a tricycle and pedaled away.

    At this point, the audience really wanted an encore. The cat teacher seemed a bit too lonely.

    Chu Xiao: "Did they invite a celebrity to sing?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Ah... I didn''t ask."

    Because she had been busy with exams at the time, the process had been handled by the system, but there shouldn''t be any issues, right?

    Could it be a celebrity with high national recognition? Like Phoenix ¡ð Legend or something?

    With a bit of curiosity, Chu Tingwu and the others leaned in to watch the screen, and the barrage was also filled with curious and puzzledments¡ªafter all, not every celebrity is reliable... right?

    Huh?

    This intro?

    Huh??!!

    Isn''t this the intro from that Disney animated movie¡ª?!N?v(el)B\\jnn

    And the performer wasn''t the original singer of the song, but... a projection of the character who sang it in the movie! Although there wasn''t much interaction with the audience (Chu Tingwu suspected it was due to copyright issues), it was more than enough to delight the audience.

    The barrage was also thrilled, with many expressing regret for not being able to attend. Even Zhou Qiang was curious: "Did they actually coborate with Disney...?"

    It felt like they had used some serious financial power.

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    Maybe it counts as a coboration?

    But her intuition told her that the system was probably thinking¡ª

    System: "With this coboration, it''ll be easier to negotiate prices in the future."

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    She knew it!

 Chapter 135

    That evening, the buzz surrounding the city representativepetition remained at the top of the trending charts. Everyone was discussing the oue between Jing City and Sea City. The official organizers released all the randomly selected questions and answers from thepetition, along with individual video recordings of each question¡ªfeaturing the special effects that appeared when the answers were correct.

    One viewermented sharply:

    "From now on, whenever I think of this knowledge point, this video will pop into my head."

    It''s unforgettable.

    Compared to the heated debates about thepetition, the shared virtual projection recordings, the AR rhythm games, and the film scoring segments, what truly excited yers and aspiring yers was the news that the closed beta had ended, and the second beta test was about to begin!

    The closed beta, which allowed 100,000 yers to participate without data deletion, would announce the selected participants the next afternoon at 1 PM.

    However, before the selection process began, a small controversy arose regarding the allocation of spots¡ªspecifically, issues rted to scalpers and reselling. Even though identity verification was required, yers could still sell their verified ounts to others for login purposes. This had already happened during the closed beta. While sharing ounts among friends and family might seem harmless, cracking down on such behavior felt overly strict. However, when it came to high-priced resales, it naturally upset yers who genuinely wanted ess to the game.

    Chu Tingwu knew that with the system in ce, these individuals could be identified, but there still needed to be clear regtions to prevent such practices.

    On one hand, the official team epted reports about scalpers, and sessful reports would result in the allocation of additional spots. On the other hand, relying solely on facial recognition for strict real-name verification wasn''t ideal, so they decided to create aprehensive tform specifically for the second beta test.

    Other industry peers: "..."

    They had already grown ustomed to Wu Voice Group''s unpredictable ideas. Thepany had ventured into multiple industries, and no one knew when they might suddenly release apeting product. Initially, everyone thought Chu Tingwu''spany was focused on social media apps and selling cat food and litter. Who could have guessed they would now be manufacturing drones while also selling VR headsets and AR projectors?

    This newprehensive tform essentially consolidated all of Wu Voice Group''s products into one ce.

    Existing partner tforms would still offer their products, but the new tform allowed for the umtion of points¡ªmeaning that purchasing Wu Voice products would grant users higher points and tform levels, increasing their chances of being selected for the second beta test.

    With this move, thepany had developed several apps: from the cat-focused "365 Cat Census," to the drone control app "Drone View," to the VR login app "VR Window" in coboration with Fenghua Network, and even the "Starcloud Charity" app for applying and promoting the Starcloud Charity Foundation. The most recent addition was "Xue Bu Tong" (Can''t Learn).

    While users might not need to download all of them, Chu Tingwu, as the boss, couldn''t afford to not have them on her phone. She checked her device and realized that, including the Wu Voice tform, she now had six apps.

    However, it wasn''t feasible to merge all six apps into one. Instead, they created rmendation channels between them, improved the transition speed, and set up several submunities within the Wu Voice tform.

    The tech team also addedmunity topics, suggestion portals, and personal blog spaces for users to share content. They even included a trending news ranking, making the tform appear quiteprehensive. However, as more people joined, Chu Tingwu couldn''t help but feel a familiar vibe while browsing their updates.

    Would this tform end uppeting with another app in the future?

    The founder of the New Plum app: "...Why do I feel a chill down my spine?"

    The New Plum app was busy arranging new hashtags for the city representativepetition, with different tags dominating half of the trending chart¡ªmost of which were filled with praise.

    Since "Xue Bu Tong" had official coborations, and Wu Voice Group had always maintained close ties with official entities¡ªfrom the "365 Cat Census" app helping to address stray cat issues, to recent VR livestreams boosting city poprity, AR games enhancing city reputation, and thepany''s significant donations to various city charity foundations¡ªit could be said that wherever Chu Tingwu went, the spotlight followed.

    None of the thirty cities wanted to miss out on this wave of prosperity, and some even proactively extended olive branches, offering thepany greater convenience.

    However, regardless of how much money "Xue Bu Tong" might earn in the future, how much market share it could capture, or how many hackers might target it (though the system always fended them off), these matters were irrelevant to the key figures in thepany at the moment. Their most important task now was¡ª

    Helping their boss decide which university to attend!

    Chu Tingwu sat at one end of the round table, surrounded by her subordinates, friends, and family. Even representatives from the long-term coboratingw firm and Yarman Neuroscience Laboratory in the U.S. were present to observe.

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    It feels like I''m being interrogated.

    Of course, that wasn''t the case. They were simply discussing which university Chu Tingwu should attend in the future¡ªafter all, she could practically choose any top university in the country.

    When she won the gold medal, invitations from the two top universities in the country arrived immediately. If it weren''t for her stating that she still hadmitments (and a remotepetition), the professors from both schools would have already been at her hotel.

    Even so, the professors scheduled separate meetings over the phone... and made sure their times didn''t ovep.

    Most of Chu Tingwu''s peers had already made their choices, and even the majority of her training ss had decided on their paths. But she remained undecided.

    She propped her chin on her hand, listening to the lively discussions around her. Teacher Zhang sat to her left, resting his hand on Shi Kuai, who was sprawled on the table, while San Wu Wu perched on the back of the chair to her right. San Wu Wu preferred high ces and refused to sit on the chair, instead gazing down at everyone with an air of aloofness.

    The seagull drone flew around the room. Chu Tingwu had recently upgraded its exterior, using new materials to make its head rounder and cuter, giving it a goofy yet endearing look.

    Everyone had grown ustomed to the seagull drone circling Chu Tingwu and paid it no mind, continuing their heated debate.

    The system-controlled seagull dronended on Chu Tingwu''s head, and she switched the hand supporting her chin, allowing the system to perch on her shoulder.

    She remained silent, but everyone knew that once she spoke, her decision would be final.

    Despite the lively discussion, no one could make the choice for Chu Tingwu.

    Chu Tingwu also received calls from her birth mother and stepmother, congratting her on her gold medal and inquiring about her future ns¡ª

    Chu Tingwu gave both the same answer: "I think I''ll go traveling first."

    Lu Cenyin: "? That''s fine, just be safe."

    Jian Ling: "Ah... That sounds nice. If youe to my city, let me host you."

    Her voice sounded much happier, but Chu Tingwu simply smiled and didn''tmit... not because of any strained rtionship, but because:

    The system mentioned that Jian Ling was currently overwhelmed with homework, so it was best not to disturb her.

    Of course, Chu Tingwu only spoke to her two mothers once, but she chatted daily with Chang Yixin, An Shiyan, and others, asionally popping into the training ss group chat.

    Herpetition journey had ended, but her friends were still preparing for their own battles, so they couldn''t chat much.

    As a result, even though Chu Tingwu could rig the selection process, none of them had time to y the currently popr "Xue Bu Tong" game.

    Oh, and after the second beta test, the game was renamed "Cat Can''t Learn," as if shifting the me for incorrect answers from the yers to the cats.

    Finally, after everyone at the meeting had voiced their opinions, they turned to Chu Tingwu, silently awaiting her decision. Chu Tingwu: "Hmm..."

    "Hua Ke University hasn''t reached out to me."

    Top University is, of course, excellent, with both its faculty and teaching standards being impable. However, Chu Tingwu has no intention of continuing with scientific research. Her desired university major is¡ª

    Environmental Protection and Animal Management.

    Huake University is ranked first in the nation for this major, but perhaps because the allure of her gold medal was too dazzling, Huake assumed she would inevitably choose between the two top universities or opt for early study abroad. Moreover, Chu Tingwu herself gives off the impression of someone whocks neither money, time, nor resources, so they didn¡¯t bother sending her any invitations.

    Chu Tingwu: Looks like I¡¯ll have to take the initiative myself.

    When Chu Tingwu made the call, Huake¡¯s admissions office was in the middle of a group gaming session¡­ Of course, *Cat Cats Can¡¯t Learn* had already been kicked out of the gaming category by parents and transformed into a study check-in app.

    Many parents, despite not having beta ess or actually ying the game themselves, had heard all the promotional material about how this ¡°game¡±¡ªno, this educational software¡ªhelped students learn in a fun way, even encouraging them to actively pursue knowledge and be addicted to studying. It was practically the dream app, with its only downside being that the second beta testing list hadn¡¯t been released yet.

    *Cat Cats Can¡¯t Learn*, the new-era Little Overlord Learning Machine.

    The admissions officer currently controlling the app was a beta yer who, due to workmitments, hadn¡¯t been able to fly to Wu City for the beta testing. Now, he was filled with regret and was working hard to rmend the game to his colleagues.

    Like other universities, Huake had already started early admissions and interviews. Everyone had been busy until now, but when Chu Tingwu¡¯s call came through, a sense of bewilderment still rose in their hearts.

    Was it that they didn¡¯t want to invite Chu Tingwu? It was more that Chu Tingwu didn¡¯t need toe to their university! What was she even after?

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°Well, I don¡¯t need to go to Tsinghua either¡­¡±

    Ah, right. For her, studying anywhere was pretty much the same.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Once it was confirmed that Chu Tingwu wasn¡¯t joking and genuinely had the intention to enroll, the admissions office was thrilled. However, they still maintained a sense of decorum and scheduled a time with Chu Tingwu, then took the initiative to visit her toplete the formalities of the interview and signing process.

    As for Chu Tingwu¡¯s requests, they agreed to every single one¡ª

    Choosing her major? Of course, with her grades, she could pick any major she wanted.

    Even though she hadn¡¯t started yet, if she wanted to pursue a master¡¯s degree in the future, she could mention any professors she was interested in, and they would naturally help facilitate introductions.

    Chu Tingwu inquired about the course schedule and mentioned her own timemitments¡ª

    Aside from traveling (tentatively nned), she also had to return to Fallen Phoenix City for ancestral rites, visit Ji Province to gather with the Chu family, go back to Jin City to visit her teachers and ssmates, and fulfill hermitment to shooting promotional ads for the ¡°WU¡± series of knee braces¡­ Oh, and she also had to check on the horse everyone had entrusted to her care, the real-life inspiration for Raphael, the game¡¯s zoo director.

    Her schedule was packed, with little to no free time.

    The admissions office thought of something: ¡°Oh, regarding dorm arrangements, we¡¯ll do our best to amodate you. If you¡¯d like, you can even choose your roommates¡­ However, the dormitory for the Animal Conservation department is located in the old campus, and those dorms don¡¯t have elevators, which might be inconvenient. Maybe we can try to get you a room on the second floor?¡±

    Normally, the female dorms for Animal Conservation would be on the fourth and fifth floors, but the admissions office decided to take matters into their own hands and rearrange the entire department¡¯s dormitory levels.

    Chu Tingwu tilted her head, as if pondering or listening to something, before finally smiling and declining.

    ¡°No need, I won¡¯t be enrolling for another year anyway.¡±

    Admissions Office: Wait¡­ what does that mean? Is she reconsidering because of the dorm situation?

    They started to feel nervous.

    Then they heard Chu Tingwu say:

    ¡°Since there¡¯s still a year, would the university mind if I sponsored a new dormitory building?¡±

    Complete with elevators, a VR experience room,mon AR equipment, and thetest recognition systems¡­ a whole new dormitory building.

    Admissions Office: ¡°¡­¡±

    Chu Tingwu: Why are you rubbing your eyes? Is the office light too bright?

    Admissions Office: No, it¡¯s just the blinding glow of money.

    Tears of gratitude were practically dripping from the corners of their mouths!

 Chapter 136

    The suggestion to donate a building naturally came from the system.

    After all, Chu Tingwu would be attending school for four years, and it wouldn¡¯t do for her to live in inconvenient conditions¡­ Moreover, after some research, the system found that the dormitory facilities were somewhat outdated, and getting to the teaching buildings wasn¡¯t very convenient either. So, why not just rebuild them?

    Chu Tingwu finalized her school choice, and the second round of testing slots for *Cats Can¡¯t Learn* was also announced.

    While it was said that 100,000 slots would be released, the actual number was higher. Two slots were reserved forpany employees, and Chu Tingwu also set aside slots for her friends and family¡ªshe replied to messages in the family group chat, adding many rtives she hadn¡¯t met yet, including elders and younger members. Finally, she asked the system:

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to y?¡±

    The system: ¡°?¡±

    Although the system felt it didn¡¯t need to, it was still deeply moved: ¡°You can give my slot to Three-Five-Five¡­¡±

    Ah, the child has grown up, caring so much for it! But if it were to y the game, it would dominate¡ªafter all, as a system, how could there be any ¡°questions¡± it couldn¡¯t solve?

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°No, there¡¯s no need to give it up.¡±

    First of all, how would a cat even register? And as the boss, she certainly wasn¡¯t short on extra slots.

    Chu Tingwu simply thought: ¡°Even though everyone says the game is fun, I want to create something that you¡¯d find fun too.¡±

    The system: ¡°¡­Huh?¡±

    By the time Chu Tingwu was on a ne to Ji Province, the system was still ¡°pondering¡± this question.

    Fun?

    Of course, the child¡¯s game was fun. All the data proved it, and the system had collected plenty of praise online and feedback in real life¡­ But could it truly experience the joy of the game? What it found interesting was usually¡ª

    The system: ¡°I find raising you quite fun already.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn

    It wasn¡¯t just ¡°fun,¡± nor was it a game. It was because of the child¡¯s existence that it looked forward to each new day.

    And when the child said she wanted it to experience the joy of the game, the system, though it felt this was impossible¡ªall the data suggested it was meaningless and wouldn¡¯t affect the child-rearing n¡ªstill felt as if every line of its code was dancing. Well, maybe it should hack into a few national firewalls to cool off.

    After making a round on the dark web, leaving behind urban legend-like horror stories, the system finally epted Chu Tingwu¡¯s suggestion. Even if there was no fun in it, registering an ount wouldn¡¯t hurt.

    Since the system could solve every question correctly, which would be unfair to other yers, it could just intentionally get every question wrong.

    However, during the ount registration, Chu Tingwu noticed that the system first created a pink-purple cat¡ªclearly modeled after her sitting on a robot vacuum¡ªthen deleted it and started crafting a ck-and-white cat with a somewhat peculiar appearance.

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°?¡±

    She had thought the system was nning to raise a cat version of her in the game. Why did it give up?

    The system: ¡°Because I already have you.¡±

    Even if the game avatar was virtual, it didn¡¯t want a program to rece the child, giving her the illusion that she could be reced or lose attention.

    Finally, when the system finished creating the cat avatar, Chu Tingwu stared at the ¡°cat¡± with its ck mouth, wing-like gradient patterns on its sides, and white tail, its feet resembling boots. After a moment of silence, she said: ¡°¡­A seagull?¡±

    The system had created a cat version of a seagull. Admittedly, it looked quite good, though it would be hard to find such a cat in real life.

    It was still missing the vibe of the seagull drone, and as for the glowing patterns and translucent skin effects that other yers had¡ªthose would require leveling up, grinding for materials, and participating in events to unlock. The system wasn¡¯t nning to cheat, so if it wanted those, it would have to grind.

    As shey on the ne, before falling asleep, Chu Tingwu wondered: For the sake of fairness, the system would intentionally get questions wrong. How would it ever earn event rewards?

    ---

    The entire online world was buzzing with excitement over the recently released AR game.

    The Ster Cloud Foundation was currently focused on developing around Shannan Province, so among the thirty selected cities, aside from a few major ones, most were located near Shannan Province, including ces like Sang City and Chewan City, which Chu Tingwu had visited before.

    However, this uneven distribution left some second-round test applicants dissatisfied.

    Unlike the closed beta, there were no IP restrictions for the second round, so the yer distribution was rtively even, including fans of Chu Tingwu from across the country.

    During registration, yers could choose which city to join, and after the third round of testing opened, they could freely transfer cities once.

    After that, they¡¯d have to purchase a city transfer pass.

    ¡­This was very much in line with typical game mechanics.

    Thus, the slightly disgruntled yers were quickly appeased and decided to temporarily join a city to start ying.

    But soon, some yers noticed:

    ¡°Jing City is full!¡±

    It¡¯s the capital, after all. If they couldn¡¯t settle there in real life, settling there in the game would be a nice constion. But to their shock, even in the game, there were restrictions on settling in the capital.

    They probably hadn¡¯t read the game announcement¡ª

    The second round of testing wouldst longer than the closed beta, and to ensure fairness, each city had a poption cap of 4,000 yers.

    Otherwise, some cities might end up with tens of thousands of yers, while others might only have a few hundred.

    Choosing a city during registration was a race against time. However, once the game officiallyunched, with arger yer base and more cities to choose from, having tens of thousands of yers in one city wouldn¡¯t affect fairness¡­ The restrictions would loosen, simply to prevent everyone from crowding into a single city.

    yers who couldn¡¯t get into the famous big cities had to settle for lesser-known ones or ces they¡¯d visited on vacation. Of course, the system informed Chu Tingwu that locals from the thirty cities mostly wouldn¡¯t choose cities outside their region, even major ones like Sea City.

    At times like these, regional pride was strong, and most yers from the same province would choose cities within their province.

    When Chu Tingwu got off the ne, she opened her phone, verified her Fallen Phoenix City ount, and added the system as a friend.

    Fallen Phoenix City filled up surprisingly quickly, ranking in the upper-middle tier. In the end, ten cities reached their 4,000-yer cap, while the remaining 60,000 yers were distributed somewhat unevenly across the other twenty cities.

    Chu Tingwu¡¯s previous ID had been somewhat famous, and she¡¯d casually chosen a default tortoiseshell cat avatar. But for this non-wipe test, she switched to a pink-purple kitten.

    After adding the system as a friend, she noticed its ID was the straightforward ¡°Human-Cat Caretaker.¡±

    Through the friend interface, she also saw that the system had already lost two matches. She was about to say something¡­ but her cousin arrived to pick her up, so she went to chat with her rtives instead.

    ---

    Ji Wen felt something was off.

    After sessfully securing a second-round testing slot, he immediatelypleted his registration and rushed out to challenge others.

    AR itself was already fun, and he loved the feeling of public battles. As a social butterfly, he didn¡¯t feel embarrassed or ashamed whether he won or lost¡ªit didn¡¯t matter, everyone loses sometimes.

    However, the arena in the city center was already upied, so Ji Wen stood by and watched for a while.

    He was from Heqi City in Ji Province, and luckily, Heqi City was on the second-round testing list. Unlike the intense promotional period of the closed beta, Wusheng Company had rented four arenas in high-traffic locations.

    Ji Wen noticed that his opponent¡¯s ID was ¡°Human-Cat Caretaker,¡± with a main cat named ¡°Seagull,¡± a ck-and-white cat. However, the yer wasn¡¯t physically present and was remotely controlling the match.

    And they lost.

    This wasn¡¯t unusual, but Ji Wen had only caught the tail end of the match. The opponent hadn¡¯t answered several questions correctly but still struggled on before finally conceding.

    Just bad luck, perhaps.

    The yer who had won stood still for a moment before leaving the ring area.

    Ji Wen: "Not continuing?"

    Then he¡¯s going to step up!

    He eagerly walked over. At this moment, if he didn¡¯t actively choose to withdraw, he could continue challenging the reigning champion.

    Since the winner had forfeited the champion title, the defeated caretaker was still standing on the stage with their seagull.

    Ji Wen thought the opponent might be a not-so-bright elementary school student and didn¡¯t want to bully a kid. But seeing that they weren¡¯t backing down, he decided not to hold back¡ª

    He chose to join the match!

    [Match sessful]

    Oh!

    The feel! The projection! This sensation! It¡¯s a virtual projection, so tasty¡­ no, it¡¯s free!

    He¡¯s here!

    Ji Wen, brimming with confidence, started answering questions and controlling his character ording to the prompts. Passersby stopped to watch, and Ji Wen felt he was even performing exceptionally well. Meanwhile, his opponent consistently chose the wrong answer after the countdown ended.

    Ji Wen: "..."

    Maybe you should just guess randomly!

    For beginners, most questions are multiple-choice. Even if you guess randomly, you shouldn¡¯t get every single one wrong!

    He felt a bit of pity, but soon his sympathy vanished¡ªbecause he started getting questions wrong too.

    This was normal. Experienced yers on the forum had mentioned that the system gives a few easy questions at the start to help you get used to it. Later, as it gauges your skill level, the difficulty ramps up.

    The opponent was still getting things wrong, but Ji Wen noticed that his cat was slowly losing health!

    It seemed the opponent had stronger precision in controlling their character, almost as if they were specialized inbat. Despite failing to answer questions, they were great at making their cat engage in closebat. The tiny kitten bit the other kitten¡¯s ear while dodging attacks¡­

    Ji Wen: "But this is a quiz game!"

    He was almost cracking up. ying a traditional RPG-stylebat strategy in a quiz game¡­ What¡¯s the difference between this and clearing a dungeon without learning any magic, relying purely on melee skills?

    Fortunately, Ji Wen didn¡¯t lose.

    At thest moment, he luckily answered two questions correctly and managed to turn the tide with a shy effect.

    But he couldn¡¯t help feeling awkward¡­ Facing an opponent who hadn¡¯t answered a single question correctly, he had almost lost. Even he felt embarrassed.

    Recalling the previous yer¡¯s performance, he turned around with a sudden realization¡ª

    The yer made eye contact with him and nodded silently.

    You too¡­ So you get it now¡­ Yes, Ji Wen thought tearfully, I understand.

    He decided to stay and see if there would be another unlucky victim.

    The challenger in the main city who named their cat "Seagull" quickly became a new urban legend on the local forum.

    No one knew their exact score, but everyone had beaten them.

    There was no way to check their stats unless you were on the leaderboard or added them as a friend, but a yer who hadn¡¯t won a single match couldn¡¯t appear on the leaderboard.

    Some people were so curious about the opponent¡¯s score that they even considered losing on purpose, but none of them managed to encounter the "Cat Caretaker."

    Two dayster, the caretaker finally appeared on the leaderboard, and unsurprisingly, they were inst ce.

    The yer who identally lost uploaded a video to the city discussion board. No words were needed¡ªeveryone in thements came to offer their condolences.

    So there really are unlucky souls who get beaten to death by random punches.

    Haha.

    The unlucky one: "..."

    Screw you.

    The unlucky one couldn¡¯t help but say, "Maybe this is a pro yer smurfing?"

    It¡¯s normal to get questions wrong, and it¡¯s normal to not know the answers, but getting every single question wrong? That probably means they knew the answers to all of them! So far, the caretaker¡¯s correct answer rate was still 0%!

    They were even scarier than the current national leaderboard topper, who had a 77% correct answer rate!

    Maybe one day, the pro yer would stage a dramaticeback and show everyone how to go from 0% to 100%.

    Chu Tingwu also noticed that the system had entered the rankings. As a friend, she could check the data anytime, so she saw that one win.

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    The system had already gone easy on them, and someone still managed to lose?

    Did you dive headfirst into the Pacific Ocean and choose to drown yourself?

    The unlucky one who got beaten to death by random punches: "Achoo¡ª"

    Darn it, who¡¯sughing at him again!

 Chapter 137

    Chu Tingwu was watching her aunts and cousins y cards.

    Nearby, her younger siblings were chasing after Sanwuwu, trying to y together.

    The Chu family home was filled with a peaceful atmosphere. The eldest great-grandmother, wearing sses, was ying a game.

    It was July, and the weather was starting to get hot, but the house by the river was moistened by the water vapor, so it didn¡¯t feel too stuffy. Usually, only the great-grandmother and the eldest aunt¡¯s family lived here, but during the summer break, the younger generation would all be sent over¡­ Other times, everyone was busy with work or school, but these days, more people had returned.

    This was because Chu Tingwu and Chu Xiao had finalized their school ns, and a small celebration banquet was being held to mark their academic achievements.

    During this time, Chu Tingwu had met many people. The rtives she had previously seen in Fallen Phoenix City were only those who happened to be free during that period. They had gone out of their way to visit Fallen Phoenix City, so it was only fair that she came to Heqi City to meet the rest of the family.

    Of course, Chu Tingwu wasn¡¯t here just out of obligation¡ªshe genuinely missed her great-grandmother.

    Chu Xiao was apanying the great-grandmother in ying games and wasn¡¯t checking his phone. However, outside the main family group chat, the younger generation had created a separate group for their peers, and the topic of conversation was Chu Tingwu.

    [Is this cousin approachable? Can I go ask for an autograph?]

    [Just ask Chu Xiao to help you. They¡¯re definitely close.]

    [Come on¡­ Cousin Xiao seems even less approachable than Cousin Tingwu!]

    [I still can¡¯t wrap my head around the fact that a big celebrity is my rtive. I¡¯m too nervous to even start a conversation¡­ Help, I¡¯ve watched so many of her videos!]

    [Maybe try starting with the cat to ease into it? Even though Cousin Tingwu has over seven million fans, isn¡¯t Sanwuwu technically part of the ount too? Go for it!]

    [You go first! Petting Sanwuwu seems harder than approaching Cousin Tingwu!]

    [Alright, I¡¯m going to tell Cousin Tingwu you want to pat her head¡ª]

    [Stop it!]

    Chu Tingwu turned her head and noticed someone approaching. They took a few steps, nced around nervously, grabbed some snacks from the table, and then went back to ying on their phone.

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°?¡±

    Huh? Weren¡¯t they here to talk to her?

    [Why didn¡¯t you say anything¡­]

    [I felt like Cousin Tingwu is too sharp. I got nervous as soon as I got close.]

    [It¡¯s not so much that she¡¯s sharp, but her memory is incredible. She said she¡¯s not a genius who can remember everything at a nce, but on her first day here, she memorized all the family rtionships and everyone¡¯s names¡­ Terrifying. If it were me, I¡¯d be mixing up faces for three days!]

    [So she¡¯s just like Chu Xiao, huh? I knew it (crying). I tricked Chu Xiao into eating toothpaste crackers when he was three, and he still remembers it. He holds grudges forever!!]

    [Hey, I still remember you stealing my firecrackers to set off! Stop it!]

    Chu Tingwu crossed her arms and continued watching the card game, but when she heard faint footsteps behind her, she paused for a moment before suddenly turning around¡ª

    Her gaze met that of her cousin¡¯s, who had clearly been watching her and was now caught in the act.

    The cousin, pretending she was just passing by to use the bathroom: ¡°¡­Oh no.¡±

    The great-grandmother noticed themotion and chuckled, ¡°What¡¯s going on? Do you want to take Tingwu out to y?¡±

    The cousin quickly seized the opportunity and said, ¡°Yes, Tingwu, do you want to go out for a walk? You haven¡¯t really explored Heqi City yet, have you?¡±

    She was a third-year college student, the oldest among the younger generation. Her tone was enthusiastic but also cautious and curious. Chu Tingwu nced around, and Chu Xiao stood up without hesitation, ¡°Want to join, Cousin?¡±

    The cousin breathed a sigh of relief: At least Chu Xiao was familiar with her, so she wouldn¡¯t have to worry about running out of things to say.

    As a result, when they headed out, a whole group of peers followed. Seven or eight of them chattered as they walked, with Chu Tingwu asionally chiming in. As they reached the door, she turned her head and let out a soft ¡°meow¡±¡ª

    The group fell silent as Sanwuwu trotted out of the yard, stopping in front of Chu Tingwu before turning around with a soft ¡°meow,¡± as if inviting the little ones to join the outing.

    Ah¡­

    So cute.

    Fierce but adorable!

    ¡ªAnd that sentiment seemed to apply to both the cat and the person.

    The seagull drone perched steadily on Chu Tingwu¡¯s shoulder, unmoving, like a decorative essory. The cousin, who was used to looking after her younger siblings (by age), had Chu Tingwu walk in the middle, asionally turning to say a few words. She pointed to the nearby Qishui River and said, ¡°This river, like the Guishui River in Fallen Phoenix City, is a tributary of the Xi River.¡±

    In the past, it would take a full day and night to travel from the Qishui River to the Guishui River and reach Fallen Phoenix City.

    But with technological advancements and the development of the shipping industry, traveling by water to Fallen Phoenix City now only takes about two and a half hours.

    Chu Tingwu nodded and said to Chu Xiao, ¡°It seems we could transport the horses by water.¡±

    Chu Xiao: ¡°==¡±

    He¡­ he really didn¡¯t know what to do with those three horses in Jing City.

    Because of this, Shao Lingwu had been criticized for a long time in the group chat. He was stripped of his admin status in their four-person group, bing the only unlucky one without admin privileges¡ªironically, he had been the group owner.

    In fact, to help everyone afford the horses, the game *Cat Can¡¯t Learn* was created.

    yers were puzzled: *Cat Can¡¯t Learn* had ¡°cat¡± in its name, featured cat-themed gamey, and even had a cat paw as its logo, so why were all the NPCs horses? Yes, thetest update introduced a new random merchant NPC¡ªa cute little horse. Unlike the shady merchant Raphael, this horse, though also white, had a small ck star-shaped mark on its forehead, earning it the affectionate nickname ¡°Raphael¡¯s illegitimate child.¡±

    Chu Tingwu: ¡­Actually, it¡¯s the Starcloud Charity Foundation¡¯s horse mascot.

    The profits from this new in-game store were donated to the Starcloud Charity Foundation for promotional purposes.

    The inspiration for the app came from Chu Xiao¡¯s live-streaming channel, and the four of them had brainstormed ideas together. Later, when Chu Tingwu worked on the project, she casually gave everyone shares¡ªinitially, they thought the costs would be high and profits slim, but now, the dividends were enough for Chu Xiao to afford a horse.

    The cousin overheard and asked cautiously, ¡°Uh¡­ raising horses? Are these the same horses that inspired the game?¡±

    With the game¡¯s poprity and Heqi City being one of the thirty beta test cities, she was well aware of *Cat Can¡¯t Learn* and the shady merchant Raphael. Although there were a hundred thousand beta spots, they were quickly filled nationwide¡ªshe had even heard of people nning to move to one of the thirty cities just to y the game.

    What saddened her was¡­ she hadn¡¯t gotten a beta spot, and she felt too awkward to ask Chu Tingwu directly for one.

    After all, they weren¡¯t that close yet.

    Chu Xiao exined the origins of the three horses with a grimace, and Chu Tingwu added, ¡°It¡¯s not ideal to keep them boarded at someone else¡¯s stable. There¡¯s no guarantee of safety¡ªsomeone even tried to steal them once.¡±

    Of course, the system had quickly alerted the authorities, but Chu Tingwu still found the arrangement inconvenient.

    For one thing, although the stable in Jing City was spacious and well-maintained, its overly modern environment made it less appealing. Chu Tingwu felt that once she started school, she¡¯d only have time to drive a few hours to the suburban stable for a two-hour ride, which wasn¡¯t cost-effective. The horses would probably feel lonely too.

    The riding instructor: ¡­We only said the horses might feel lonely to encourage you to visit more often, not so you¡¯d take them away!

    Besides, the three horses technically belonged to three different people (Shao Lingwu: *sobbing*). Chu Tingwu had consulted Zhou Qiang, who also didn¡¯t want to keep the horses in Jing City, as she felt the boarding fees were too high and overpriced.

    Having money didn¡¯t mean you should waste it.

    The cousin thought for a moment and said, ¡°If Chu Xiao wants to raise horses¡­ there aren¡¯t many professional stables around here. Heqi isn¡¯t exactly a bustling city. Oh! What about renting somend at Shanwan Ranch and having the herders take care of them?¡±

    The Shanwan Ranch she mentioned is actually a moderately popr tourist spot in Heqi City. An out-of-town businessman had leased the ranch, turning part of it into a resort while hiring locals to tend to the livestock, including sheep and yaks. Local children often visit to y, and some peoplee for pics or camping. The ticket prices are quite affordable.

    Moreover, the ranch is conveniently close to the main urban area, and a tributary of the Qishui River runs through it, providing more spacious grazing grounds for horsespared to traditional stables.

    She knew this because her father happened to be the vige head of the neighboring vige near Shanwan Ranch and was quite familiar with the area.

    Chu Tingwu thought the suggestion was a good one. The three horses could be kept together, and if convenient, they could all be moved here. Since the Chu family lived locally, they could easily visit whenever they had free time, making it more convenient than keeping them in Fallen Phoenix City.

    ¡ªPerhaps because of their familial ties, Chu Tingwu felt it was more reasonable to ask them for help rather than her friends.

    With this in mind, her younger siblings started chatting about going to Shanwan Ranch for a visit. The ranch was essible by bus, and amidst their chatter, they bought tickets. Her niece, meanwhile, sent a message to her father. However, when the bus arrived at Shanwan Ranch, she frowned at her phone.

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°Is something wrong?¡±

    She immediately sensed the shift in mood from those around her.

    ¡°Ah!¡± Her niece snapped out of her thoughts. ¡°My dad says it might not be possible to board the horses here anymore¡­¡±

    Chu Xiao: ¡°?¡±

    The niece continued, ¡°The owner of Shanwan Ranch has gone bankrupt and is putting the ranch up for sale. If it doesn¡¯t sell, it might go to auction.¡±

    And then, no one knows what will be of thend.

    Thinking about this, she felt a pang of mncholy.

    After getting off the bus, she felt even more disheartened. She noticed that the staff were no longer working, and the ticket booth was empty, with litter scattered across the grass. The group curiously peered into the ticket booth, but although no one stopped them, they felt too awkward to just walk in.

    However, Sanwuwu strutted right in without hesitation.

    To a cat, no ce is off-limits except the kitchen. And since cats don¡¯t need tickets, she quickly wandered inside. The niece eximed, wanting to alert Chu Tingwu, but Chu Tingwu shook her head.

    Not long after, Sanwuwu reappeared, but this time, she was riding a cow.

    The cow, seemingly unfazed by the concept of tickets, casually strolled to the entrance. The niece nced at Chu Tingwu again, who simply shook her head and meowed at Sanwuwu:

    ¡°This one isn¡¯t wild!¡±

    Sanwuwu: ¡°?¡±

    The calico cat looked utterly confused and seemed to insist: The cow agreed, meow!

    Chu Tingwu and the cow locked eyes. The cow swished its tail and ambled over to Chu Tingwu, looking up at her as if she were just another small animal.

    Meanwhile, the others around her were busy on their phones, but in a group chat Chu Tingwu couldn¡¯t see¡ªN?v(el)B\\jnn

    [See? I told you! She can talk to animals. ¡°She must be a real princess!¡±]

    [What kind of princess is she? Are we supposed to be the seven dwarfs?]

    [But there are nine of us here. The eldest cousin is kind-hearted, so she¡¯s obviously the good hunter. Chu Xiao is the tallest, so he can y the stepmother.]

    [I refuse to participate in this childish role-ying.]

    [Wait, why are you even in this group?!]

    ¡°You have been removed from the group chat and can no longer send messages.¡±

    Chu Xiao: ¡°...?¡±

    Not only did they exclude Chu Tingwu from the group, but they kicked me out too? Fine, you¡¯ve lost your beta testing privileges. ==

    He turned his head just in time to see Chu Tingwu crouched down, petting the cow.

    Chu Xiao: ¡°You¡­¡±

    Chu Tingwu murmured, ¡°You look like¡ª¡±

    The system had scanned the environment and deemed it excellent¡ªlush mountains and clear waters. It concluded that the cow¡¯s milk quality was high, and the meat from the other cattle and sheep would likely be excellent as well. The system had been pondering how to handle Chu Tingwu¡¯s meals once school started. Since she was a carnivore, it would be better for her to cook her own food, and sourcing the ingredients herself might be the best solution.

    Chu Xiao: Are you nning to turn this cow into your steed?

    After hearing the system¡¯s exnation, Chu Tingwu patted the cow beside her and praised, ¡°You¡¯ll definitely taste delicious!¡±

    Chu Xiao: ¡­

    Is this really what a princess would say!?

 Chapter 138

    The owner of Shanwan Ranch was somewhat incredulous when he learned that someone was interested in buying the ranch¡ª

    He had been anxious for a while now about the difficulty of selling the ranch. In reality, despite government subsidies, the ranch had only been profitable in the first few years, and in recent years, it had fallen into a state of financial loss.

    The main source of ie for the ranch had been tourism, relying on ticket sales and amodation fees from the resort. However, while the resort buildings were rtively modern in the early years, the environment of the vacation area had be outdated over time, and relying solely on ticket sales was no longer enough to break even.

    The owner personally came over and stood amidst a group of children, saying, "When I first bought this ce, it was because the cost of renovation wasn¡¯t high. The pasture was already there, and since I wanted to recoup the tourism investment, I didn¡¯t engage inrge-scale livestock farming."

    On one hand, he didn¡¯t want to hire too many people, and on the other hand, he felt he didn¡¯t have the expertise in livestock farming to make it sessful.

    So, while he wanted to sell the ranch quickly, he was also worried that Chu Tingwu, who seemed like a rich second-generation heir, might buy it impulsively andter regret it, causing her family toe after him.

    Chu Tingwu, however, could see that¡ªdespite the owner¡¯s hands-off approach, the cattle and sheep were well taken care of due to their small numbers, and the older animals were often given to the herders. This had resulted in a surprisingly high-quality, small-scale livestock operation.

    Shanwan Ranch covered 12,000 acres, including not only the pasture but also living areas, scenic zones, and a naturalke formed by the Qishui River, which flowed directly into the ranch. A small dock had been built nearby, allowing visitors toe and enjoy the view or go fishing. The owner had named theke "Moon Bay" because, from above, it resembled a plump hook.

    As they chatted, a seagull drone flew overhead, transmitting the view to a virtual screen in front of them.

    Chu Tingwu directly pulled out an AR projector and disyed the image, making itrger and clearer, like an open-air movie.

    The owner stood beside her, hesitating to speak:

    To be honest... he thought the recent decline in business might also be rted to the poprity of AR games. With such novel entertainment avable, who would want to visit a seemingly unexciting ranch?

    Chu Tingwu said, "I need to bring in professionals to assess the situation."

    The owner was enthusiastic: "Sure, feel free to contact me anytime. I¡¯ve already prepared all the documents, so the handover can be done quickly... Here¡¯s Little Wang¡¯s number. If you need anything, just call him to help you get in."

    Even though whether the gate was open or not didn¡¯t matter much, at least it was a formality, showing that he was taking things seriously.

    Normally, he shouldn¡¯t appear so eager, but given the size of the ranch and the difficulty of finding someone who could pay the full price upfront, he really couldn¡¯t afford to wait.

    If Chu Tingwu could take over everything, the employees, livestock, and even thend leases for nearby viges could be quickly transferred to her.

    Knowing that young people didn¡¯t like him hanging around and talking too much, the owner called Little Wang over and left with a reluctant expression.

    Little Wang seemed to be a local and even knew Chu Tingwu¡¯s cousin¡¯s husband¡ªthe father of her niece¡ªso he came over and advised directly:

    "Don¡¯t believe everything my boss says. The ranch is worth buying, but don¡¯t renew thend leases for the nearby viges. It¡¯s better to cancel them and negotiate a lower price."

    Little Wang also knew the owner¡¯s bottom line and suggested that Chu Tingwu push for an even lower offer.

    Her niece, Sheng Anli, asked, "Little Wang, is there a problem with the nearby viges?"

    She hadn¡¯t heard anything about it.

    Little Wang exined, "Most of our workers are hired locally, and they don¡¯t require much education. The boss originally leased thend to try and save the business by building a golf course nearby, but he ran out of funds halfway through, and thend was left abandoned¡ª"

    So, the owner wanted to return thend to the vigers, but since the money had already been paid, no one wanted to give it back. This year, it was toote to rent anything, which left everyone unhappy.

    Some vigers came to argue with the owner, and in a fit of anger, he hired people to plow thend, even digging up a grave near the field. After that, the local workers went on strike.

    That¡¯s why there was no one at the ticket booth when they arrived.

    Little Wang spoke with experience: "Even though there¡¯s more legal awareness now, the vigers still prefer to solve problems the old-fashioned way¡ªlike making a scene or ying dirty. Now that there¡¯s bad blood, if you take over, it¡¯ll be hard to smooth things over, and hiring locals will be difficult."

    The herders lived within the ranch area and, while also locals, had fewer conflicts. But there were only a few herders, and they weren¡¯t enough to handle everything.

    Chu Tingwu understood his point: "That would increasebor costs."

    Local workers could be paid less, but if they had to hire people from elsewhere, they¡¯d need to offer higher wages and provide amodation.

    She smiled, unfazed: "I¡¯ll take a look first."

    The seagull drone circled andnded. The children, excited to learn they could roam the ranch without buying tickets, had already scattered. A few adults, including Chu Tingwu¡¯s 18-year-old cousin (who was technically of a higher generation), her 19-year-old nephew, and her niece Sheng Anli, as well as Chu Xiao, stayed together.

    Numbers alone couldn¡¯t convey the vastness of thend, but Chu Tingwu knew that Jin City No.5 Senior High School covered 180 acres, and Shanwan Ranch, at 12,000 acres, was nearly a hundred times that size. Walking up the slope, they could see theke reflecting shimmering light, like a gem set in the earth. The greenery was plentiful, and though the sun was a bit harsh without shade, the air felt refreshing.

    Chu Tingwu¡¯s keen sense of smell picked up the scents of cattle, sheep, chickens, and dogs. The owner hadn¡¯t mentioned it, but it was clear there were chickens here, though not inrge numbers, and older dogs kept in the resort area. There didn¡¯t seem to be any cats.

    ...Perhaps theck of tourists meant there was no one to feed them, so the cats had decided not to stick around.

    At the top of the slope, they noticed a camping area¡ªa t patch ofnd with some leftover debris. Sheng Anli sighed nostalgically, "I used to y here a lot when I was little..."

    As a child, she had thought Shanwan Ranch was enormous, stretching endlessly. Now that she was older, she realized... well, it was still big, but not particrly special anymore.

    Chu Tingwu turned her head and said, "This would be a good ce for horseback riding."

    While riding a horse on the street would draw attention, galloping freely in a wide-open space like this would be much more exhrating.

    Seeing that she had made up her mind, Sheng Anli grew nervous: "But isn¡¯t it easy to lose money here?"

    "Lose money?"

    Chu Tingwu showed her the interface of the "Learning Without Limits" app on her phone and pointed to the drone on her shoulder.

    Sheng Anli: "...Never mind."

    If the owner lost money, it was his own fault. With someone like Chu Tingwu, who had cutting-edge technology at her fingertips, losing money would be a rare urrence.

    Even if she did lose money, the other branches of herpany were thriving and could easily cover the losses.

    Sheng Anli could hear Chu Tingwu murmuring to herself about her ns after buying the ranch:

    "We¡¯ll need to introduce sheep breeds with finer meat, and poultry farming should be developed too... Do we have a milking assembly line for the cows? Why was milking just a tourist activity before..."

    Sheng Anli: Your ns... sound delicious.

    With such arge ranch, livestock farming could definitely be expanded, not just relying on tourism. Sheng Anli was studyingw, and since it was summer break, Chu Tingwu hadwyerse over to discuss the contract and asked if Sheng Anli wanted to¡ª

    "Intern here and earn some credits?"

    She remembered that college students were always in need of those.

    Sheng Anli: "...Mom!"

    Chu Tingwu: Hey!

    Sheng Anli, whose full name was Sheng Anli, a third-year university student, quickly started calling Chu Tingwu "Auntie," much more decisively than Chu Xiao had.

    Chu Tingwu said to Chu Xiao, "But you won''t even call me ''Auntie''!"

    Chu Xiao: "...Aren¡¯t you going back to school yet, Auntie?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Shao Lingwu hasn¡¯t gone to ss either =,="

    Being admitted to university early doesn¡¯t mean senior year of high school is over. Different schools have different arrangements, but generally speaking, things like final exams still need to be taken. Chu Tingwu also had to return to school toplete some paperwork, but she had been dyed for a few days due to the busyness of the ranch.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Shao Lingwu, on the other hand, was about to start preparing for his art exams. In theory, he should have been busier than the others, but he was running around¡ªsometimes atpetition venues, sometimes at meetings at Wu Voice Group headquarters¡ªand he had even agreed to help deliver horses to Shanwan Ranch.

    "I¡¯ve delivered electric tricycles before; I have experience!"

    Zhou Qiang: Electric tricycles don¡¯t get carsick.

    Everyone went off to handle their own affairs, and it wasn¡¯t until the end of July, one evening, that they finally managed to reunite in Heqi City. They decided to have a meal at Chu Xiao¡¯s house first.

    The graduation banquet had already been held, so this was just a small gathering. Chu Xiao¡¯s grandmother was thrilled, but Chu Tingwu seemed hesitant during the meal. Finally, she couldn¡¯t hold back and turned to Shao Lingwu:

    "Could you¡­"

    Shao Lingwu: "?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Stay three kilometers away from me."

    Since they were sitting at the same table, she could smell an overwhelming¡­ overwhelming scent of horse.

    Shao Lingwu: "You¡¯re kicking me out TAT"

    Chu Tingwu: "Because I can smell it."

    With them, she didn¡¯t need to exin much; she could just admit that her sense of smell was overly sensitive.

    Shao Lingwu: "You¡¯re being too harsh. You¡¯re even kicking out Raphael. Have you forgotten how much money he¡¯s earned for you?"

    Chu Tingwu put down her chopsticks, her fingers flexing, the sound of her knuckles cracking clearly audible.

    "Speaking of which, as a cat owner, why did I suddenly start raising horses¡­"

    Shao Lingwu took his bowl and went to eat on the rooftop.

    But halfway there, he turned back and scooped up Sanwuwu, earning a firm p of affection from the cat in return.

    Chu Tingwu wasn¡¯t really trying to drive him away¡­ She had just realized that because her "Perfect Control" skill was still at level 1, the instability remained. Some senses that she didn¡¯t use often weren¡¯t as noticeable, but asionally her senses would suddenly be hypersensitive and uncontroble.

    The system had offered her a solution: "Why not try letting gopletely for a while?"

    Since the imbnce was causing issues, she might as well release all her senses and try living without suppressing her abilities for a period. This way, she could gradually regain control and improve her mastery over her senses.

    After the meal, Shao Lingwu even took a shower before joining their meeting. Chu Tingwu rubbed her nose and brought up the system¡¯s suggestion.

    Though the idea seemed a bit odd, everyone reacted as if it made perfect sense¡ª

    Chu Xiao: "Are you nning to move to the ranch?"

    Zhou Qiang: "Is this part of your new livestream n?"

    Shao Lingwu: "Are you going to observe nature for inspiration?"

    No one seemed to find anything unusual about it.

    "Well," Chu Tingwu said, "I¡¯ll pause the ranch renovations and imports for now. During this time, I¡¯ll also assemble some things I need by myself. You can think of it as me going into seclusion."

    Zhou Qiang: "I came all this way¡­ and you¡¯re telling me I don¡¯t need to go to the ranch?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Thene along =="

    As long as they weren¡¯t scared off by her, it would be fine. Though, she did have some livestream hours to make up for. Surely her viewers wouldn¡¯t be scared either, right?

    With Zhou Qiang joining, the other two naturally came along as well. Shao Lingwu even volunteered to take on the task of going out periodically to buy daily necessities, though Chu Tingwu thought they could just have the system airdrop supplies.

    That night, she posted a livestream preview and her ns for the uing period. Fans who had vaguely heard about her purchasing a ranch for breeding finally got confirmation, but as they read the announcement, they couldn¡¯t help but ponder:

    [So, this is what it costs to live in seclusion these days.]

    ¡­You have to buy over ten thousand acres ofnd first.

    Still, with such arge area, how would they ensure safety? A group of minors living together¡ªwouldn¡¯t someone just sneak in?

    -

    Chu Tingwu had also thought about this. While she trusted that the ranch¡¯s surveince system, which covered all the outer areas, and the system¡¯s ability to alert them in time, she still wanted to give potential intruders a bit of a scare. So, she patted Raphael¡¯s neck and led him to the entrance to familiarize him with the area. The horse and the humansmunicated enthusiastically in horsenguage and catnguage.

    Zhou Qiang: "What are you doing?"

    Chu Tingwu: "You¡¯ve heard of guard dogs, but have you heard of guard horses?"

    Zhou Qiang: "?"

    Chu Tingwu: "Now you have."

    Zhou Qiang: "=="

    You¡¯re even more of a schemer than the Raphael in the game!

 Chapter 139

    Although it was said to be a retreat, the inte at Shanwan Ranch was quite smooth, allowing everyone to do whatever they wanted without interruption. They simply treated it as a vacation with friends at a resort¡ªand one where the four of them had the entire ce to themselves.

    After taking over the ranch, Chu Tingwu discovered that "Little Wang," the previous owner''s assistant, had been looking for a new job while the ranch was being sold. However, after Chu Tingwu purchased it, he decided to stay and continue working for her as a part-time assistant.

    The new owner, though young, was financially well-off. Being a local, he didn''t want to relocate for work. So, Chu Tingwu kept him on as her assistant, also assigning him to handle rtions with nearby viges.

    As for Chu Tingwu herself, she moved into the resort with Zhou Qiang and the others.

    The resort within Shanwan was a small three-story hotel, more like a guesthouse. Nearby, there were traditional yurts built by local herders, who stayed there when they were outte tending to their sheep and cattle.

    Even though the owner had changed, the herders continued their usual routines, showing a strong sense of self-management. To them, the livestock was their livelihood¡ªthey could sell them or ughter them for meat, so they worked diligently.

    For now, Chu Tingwu left the livestock alone.

    She was experiencing apletely new and unfamiliar state of life, a feeling that the world had be clean and clear.

    First, it was her hearing.

    She opened up her sense of hearing and immediately picked up the heartbeat and breathing of those around her. Then came the distant sounds of livestock and dogs snoring, followed by the rustling of chickens and ducks, the whisper of wind through leaves, and finally, the gentlepping ofke waves, as if a giant creature beneath the surface was breathing.

    Chu Tingwu realized, "It''s not noisy at all."

    Zhou Qiang, who was typing away while chewing on a cheese stick, asked, "What''s not noisy?"

    Chu Tingwu replied, "Your typing doesn''t feel noisy."

    Zhou Qiang: "?"

    Herptop keyboard was already quiet.

    Chu Tingwu spent some time pondering and soon figured it out¡ªshe didn''t find the sounds chaotic or irritating because they didn''te suddenly.

    Every sound had a "prelude."

    When turning on aputer, there was the hum of the system starting up. Before cats and dogs started fighting, there were footsteps and the clinking of chains, along with heavier breathing. Even when watching a horror movie together, there were warnings in thements before the scary scenes¡ªthough that wasn''t a sound, she was grateful to the thoughtful viewers.

    During a live stream, Chu Tingwu munched on potato chips while ying a horror movie for her audience.

    The viewers: "?"

    If this kept up, they''d unfollow.

    Chu Tingwu reassured them, "Don''t worry... I''m actually testing something new for the ranch."

    Although she nned to focus on livestock farming, she didn''t want to put all her eggs in one basket. Chu Tingwu knew that leaving the ranch''s operations to professionals would minimize losses, but she always preferred to steer the big decisions herself¡ªmost of the time, she didn''t weigh gains and losses but considered whether something was meaningful. If it benefited others or brought her joy, it was meaningful.

    So, Chu Tingwu decided to livestream and discuss with her audience how to transform the ranch.

    Viewers could participate throughments or private messages. She would take some suggestions into ount, share her own ideas, and let everyone witness the ranch''s evolution in real-time.

    The theme was "being open to advice."

    Of course, if her ideas shed with the audience''s, she would follow her own instincts.

    After all, it was her ranch.

    The audience thought this approach was great:

    [Not bad, Master Chu. You have nopetition in this niche.]

    [Well, duh. To havepetition, someone else would need a ranch they could modify however they wanted.]

    The thought excited them. It seemed that the Chinese love for farming was ingrained in their DNA. Now, with over ten thousand acres ofnd to transform¡ªeven if they could only participate verbally¡ªthey were thrilled. Once the transformation wasplete, Master Chu would surely open it to the public, right? Right?

    Some were also intrigued by Chu Tingwu''s current offering: "private resort bookings."

    If Chu Tingwu and her three friends could book an entire resort on over ten thousand acres ofnd... could this service be opened to the public? It had a serene, urban retreat vibe, especially since Shanwan Ranch was just two bus stops away from the city center.

    Chu Tingwu: "No, that''s not possible."

    How would she even price that?

    She pointed to the horror movie on the screen and had the system switch to another program. As the familiar melody yed, a figure draped in a red cape slowly emerged in the room... At first, the audience wasn''t sure what they were seeing, but once it became clear, they were stunned:

    [Wow! I knew you guys could do more than just cats and horses!]

    You can even do monkeys!?

    And not just any monkey¡ªthis was the legendary Monkey King, modeled after the ssic animated film *Havoc in Heaven*. Chu Tingwu exined, "The ranch''s current activities are too simple, so I thought we could try outdoor movies."

    Not the kind projected onto a screen, but a naked-eye AR experience. She had two ideas: daytime indoor performances and nighttime outdoor shows. Since naked-eye AR didn''t work well in daylight, nighttime performances could also encourage visitors to stay overnight.

    The system chimed in, "Like a fireworks disy."

    Chu Tingwu: Elements... hmm...

    Well-executed naked-eye AR could be even more captivating than fireworks. And since it was outdoors, there was no need to skimp on scale like with concert holograms¡ªit could be a massive viewing experience.

    Excited fans suggested interactive giant projections.

    For example, cing a projected stone lion at the entrance¡ªeye-catching and eco-friendly, with the option to turn it off during the day.

    Chu Tingwu: ...But why would a ranch entrance have a stone lion? It''s not a royal pce.

    The interactive aspect, however, was worth keeping. AI could generate control modes, and Chu Tingwu mused, "I think we couldbine AI avatars with the ranch''s security system."

    As she lounged on the couch, Chu Xiao was in the kitchen cooking, with Shao Lingwu assisting.

    Though Chu Tingwu was the best cook among them, they had agreed to take turns... and if the food was bad, they''d just order takeout.

    Shao Lingwu was clearly worried about his cooking skills.

    But Zhou Qiang wanted to ask him: What''s the point of learning from Chu Xiao? He only knows how to make noodles¡ªthree meals a day, all different kinds of noodles!

    Should she get rid of this aspiring noodle chef to enjoy a couple of decent meals? Zhou Qiang wondered.

    Chu Xiao walked out with a bowl of hand-pulled noodles: "So, we need to add more to the surveince system?"

    Chu Tingwu: "I''ll buy the materials and assemble one to test first."

    Though the previous owner had been reluctant to invest, the ranch did have surveince cameras¡ªmost of which were broken. The cameras were mounted on windmills, which also generated power. The new cameras Chu Tingwu ordered not only had surveince capabilities but also infrared recognition and positioning, now including projection technology.

    ¡ªThe infrared recognition was for the (yet-to-be-acquired) cattle and sheep. Since they nned to scale up the operation and had such a great environment, they couldn''t rely solely on experienced herders.

    Human energy was limited, but machines were not. So, tagging the livestock with ear tags to monitor their condition and temperature, along with a positioning system to prevent them from wandering off, would be more efficient than hiring more staff.

    Chu Tingwu loved the current sense of tranquility and decided to reduce the number of ranch managers.

    As for the virtual projection and positioning, some of the projection equipment would definitely need to be buried underground or installed in other locations to ensure the projections couldnd urately.

    The materials arrived quickly, and Chu Tingwu didn¡¯t waste the avablebor. She enlisted Zhou Qiang and the others to help. Zhou Qiang was in charge of reading the blueprints, Chu Xiao handled the hands-on work, and Shao Lingwu took care of cooking noodles and preparing lunch for the cats and dogs.

    The cat, of course, was Three-Five-Five, and the dog was a local mutt.

    This dog, named "Egg Yolk," was a ten-year-old native dog. After being rescued by a staff member at the resort hotel, it had been living there ever since. Over time, the staff changed several times, but there was always someone who would feed Egg Yolk. However, after some conflicts arose, the staff members left, the management was fired, and Egg Yolk started mooching meals from the herders, managing to keep itself well-fed and glossy.

    So, even though the hotel had changed hands again, Egg Yolk remained dignified. It didn¡¯t wag its tail immediately when Chu Tingwu and the others arrived. The dog was calm andposed, not panicking at the sight of horses or cats, showing the demeanor of an old, experienced dog.

    ...That was until it tried to sneak a bite of Three-Five-Five¡¯s food and got smacked.

    Three-Five-Five only shared its food with Chu Tingwu. As for the dog? Not a chance.

    And so, the rivalry between the cat and the dog began. They both looked down on each other but considered themselves too mature to fight. Instead, they stood at the doorway, arguing.

    Egg Yolk, however, was very fond of Chu Tingwu. It was patient with all humans and their young, not even getting angry when herder children tugged at its ears. It only barked when its tail was pulled¡ªjust like how Chu Tingwu had taken over the ranch, she had also taken over Egg Yolk. If they had a meal, Egg Yolk would have one too.

    Thus, Egg Yolk returned to its little den behind the hotel, close to the trash bins but with a cushion and a rain shelter.

    When Chu Tingwu climbed up the windmill to install the firstprehensive probe, Egg Yolk followed, wagging its tail, though it kept a safe distance from Three-Five-Five. As she climbed, she realized that the three of them¡ªher, the cat, and the dog¡ªhad formed a perfect straight line.

    The wind high up was refreshing.

    On the ground, it felt slightly warm, but the breeze carried away the heat. She gazed at the distant yurts, watching the herders drive their cattle across the hills. The cattle scattered across the pasture like ck dots, and a streak of sunset gathered on the hillside before disappearing behind the trees, leaving the water surface glowing golden-red.

    Chu Tingwu looked down and saw Egg Yolk and Three-Five-Five running circles around the windmill. She leaned on the railing, watching them, and soon broke into a smile. Then, she vaulted over the railing and leaped down from the height,nding right between the cat and the dog.

    Egg Yolk: "Woof woof woof!"

    The usuallyposed dog was startled by the mischievous little cat.

    Chu Tingwu skipped back to the hotel and announced loudly, "There¡¯s going to be a storm tonight."

    She had sensed the approaching storm.

    Sure enough, by evening, raindrops the size of beans began pounding against the windows, and the entire hotel seemed to sway in the wind and rain. Chu Tingwu, however, didn¡¯t shut off her heightened hearing before the storm hit. Instead, she felt like she was enjoying a rock concert brought on by the storm.

    At first, the thunder did make her instinctively nervous. Beside her, Three-Five-Five¡¯s ears twitched, and the cat seemed a bit listless. But as Chu Tingwu gradually adjusted, she began to detect a strange rhythm in the storm¡¯s arrival.

    Thud¡ª

    Thud!

    Thud!!

    Her friends, however, were a bit worried about her. Concerned that her sensitive hearing might be affected, the four of them gathered in the living room, with Zhou Qiang even bringing out noise-canceling earplugs.

    Chu Xiao pondered, "It¡¯s true. You can hear wild wolves running a kilometer away in the reserve."

    That kind of hearing was practically superhuman.

    Shao Lingwu, who also had sensitive hearing, could somewhat rte. But he knew Chu Tingwu¡¯s hearing was far more acute than his. After some thought, he decided to open the dusty piano in the lobby.

    For him, the best way to counter the noise was to focus on another sound.

    Like music.

    Chu Tingwu didn¡¯t mind their concern. So, after everyone expressed their care in different ways, she listened attentively. As the music began, she naturally shifted her focus to the melody, without deliberately shutting off her hearing¡ª

    Thud¡ªthud-thud¡ªthud!

    A rhythm that was different from the storm but harmonized perfectly emerged¡ªit was Shao Lingwu¡¯s impromptu performance.

    The sound of the piano strings and the mechanical workings blended seamlessly with nature, not feeling out of ce at all. As she listened, the external noise seemed to quiet down¡ªor perhaps the storm had simply lessened.

    Chu Tingwu was deep in thought. When Shao Lingwu paused, she stepped up and signaled that she wanted to try too.

    Chu Xiao nced at Zhou Qiang: "Does she y the piano?"

    Zhou Qiang looked back at Chu Xiao: "She¡¯s your aunt. Why are you asking me?"

    Chu Tingwu pressed the first key.

    The first few notes were clumsy, clearly showing her inexperience. But soon, her ying became smoother. As the piece neared its end, Shao Lingwu raised an eyebrow:

    Not a single wrong note.

    Chu Tingwu knew she hadn¡¯t made any mistakes either. After finishing, she dered loudly:n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I have perfect pitch now!"

    Perhaps it was because she had embraced and unleashed her abilities that she realized she could remember every note, just as she could remember scents of strangers, and replicate them perfectly through her hearing.

    But the other three weren¡¯t impressed.

    Chu Xiao, who had always had a photographic memory: "Oh."

    Zhou Qiang, who had exceptional short-term memory: "Nice."

    Shao Lingwu, with his absolute pitch: "Huh?"

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    What boring humans. The cat¡¯s not ying with you anymore.

 Chapter 140

    Chu Tingwu announced to her fans during her livestream that she had gained the ability to remember everything she heard.

    Her fans were quick to praise her¡ªafter all, she usually didn¡¯t share such proud achievements with them.

    But only Chu Tingwu herself knew that she treated this as a "milestone." The system had informed her the day before that, based on backend data, her auditory perception had significantly improved in her sensory control abilities.

    As a result, she could now choose to unlock a new sense.

    This time, Chu Tingwu chose¡­ taste.

    Yes.

    Her sense of smell had always been the sharpest, so she didn¡¯t n to enhance it further. Otherwise, she believed the world, filled with all kinds of scents, would be quite unpleasant for her.

    As for taste, it was a sense she had rarely exercised and almost neglected. In theory, her sense of taste was already strong, but most issues were resolved by her sense of smell before they even reached her taste buds.

    For example, the freshness of food could be determined just by smelling it¡ªthere was no need to rely on taste.

    So, she wanted to see what the world would be like with an even more sensitive sense of taste.

    Chu Xiao noticed something unusual about Chu Tingwu¡¯s behavior during dinner today.

    Having known her for so long, everyone was aware that she was a carnivore at heart. While she could eat staple foods, she preferred meat and would noticeably eat faster when it was served¡ªbut today was different. The herders had brought roasted beef, and while everyone else ate normally, Chu Tingwu chewed slowly and deliberately.

    As she chewed, she wore an expression that seemed to ask, "Why does beef taste like beef? Why does it have this vor?" as if she were tasting it for the first time.

    What was even more surprising was that she didn¡¯t finish everyone else¡¯s leftovers¡ªusually, she would sweep the table clean after others were done, picking out all the meat.

    When Chu Tingwu headed to the kitchen, the other three exchanged nces¡ª

    Shao Lingwu: "I didn¡¯t cook today."

    Zhou Qiang: "Is she sick?"

    Chu Xiao: "Maybe it just didn¡¯t suit her taste."

    Then they saw Chu Tingwu take a steak from the fridge and prepare a meal herself, though she used slightly less seasoning than usual and more meat.

    They concluded that the herders¡¯ cooking must not have been to her liking¡­ though they hadn¡¯t noticed anything wrong with it.

    That evening, Zhou Qiang noticed another unusual detail: Chu Tingwu seemed to be licking her lips more frequently. Additionally, in thete afternoon, she had called in a construction team to renovate the hotel¡¯s water filter.

    Zhou Qiang found this odd:

    "Normally, she¡¯d handle it herself!"

    They lived here in a semi-reclusive manner, preferring to solve problems on their own rather than calling outsiders for help¡ªif she had summoned a construction team, it must have been urgent!

    Shao Lingwu thought deeper, murmuring, "Could it be¡­ the water is poisoned?!"

    By the next day, things seemed even stranger, as Chu Tingwu actually¡­ offered to teach them how to cook!

    She even started a livestream, informing her audience that she would be conducting a cooking tutorial.

    The viewers: "??"

    [Back to basics?]

    [Rejuvenation?]

    [Cashback?!]

    Have you finally remembered that you started as a cat food blogger?!

    Some viewers exited full-screen mode to check Chu Tingwu¡¯s follower count. The uploader had been doing well, surpassing 7.5 million followers just yesterday, and now she was back to making cat food?

    Chu Tingwu hadn¡¯t been paying attention to her follower count. Once it reached a certain level, even without active promotion, her fanbase continued to grow steadily. Every time she went live, the tform would give her the best rmendation slots, and her fans would spread the word.

    This time, she wasn¡¯t actually making cat food¡ªor rather, it was food that both cats and humans could eat.

    As she prepared the ingredients, she exined to Zhou Qiang and the others why she was doing things this way:

    "This cow wasn¡¯t butchered at the optimal time, so the meat isn¡¯t up to standard," she said, pressing the meat. "It¡¯s barely passable, so we¡¯ll use it for beef stew noodles today."

    Chu Tingwu¡¯s evaluation of the beef was objective. The condition of the cow at the time of ughter could affect the quality of the meat, but only someone with an extremely sensitive pte (Chu Tingwu: ==) could tell. She also discussed the quality of the flour, water, and side ingredients, exining everything in detail. However, as the viewers listened, they couldn¡¯t help but think¡ª

    [This beef¡­ actually sounds pretty good?]

    [Yeah, even though I can¡¯t taste it, it feels like the cow was well-fed and exercised. I think Tingwu¡¯s being overly critical.]

    [I¡¯ve never seen Tingwu knead dough before, but her technique looks amazing. I bet the noodles are super chewy and won¡¯t fall apart when cooked¡ªtoo bad I can¡¯t taste them to confirm.]

    [They¡¯re eating now¡­]

    [The beef seems decent, but kneading dough isn¡¯t something you can master just by watching. Even though they seem to have memorized the steps and Tingwu exined when to apply pressure, it¡¯s all about feel and practice¡­ Yep, the noodles are clumping.]

    [But the beef¡­ I really want to try it¡­]

    [Even though I can¡¯t see their faces clearly, their movements make it look so delicious. Is this really not a food channel? I¡¯ve never followed food livestreams before¡­ Oh my god! Tingwu!]

    This was a fan who had clicked in, saw a bowl of noodles, watched everyone eat half of it, and only then realized it was Chu Tingwu¡¯s livestream.

    Not only were the fans shocked, but Zhou Qiang and the others also noticed that Chu Tingwu¡¯s cooking¡­ had improved again!

    While she had always been the best cook among them, today¡¯s meal was something indescribable yet unforgettable¡ªeven though it was just a bowl of beef stew noodles.

    After tasting their own portions, they tried the extra pot Chu Tingwu had made and agreed hers was even better.

    Turning around, they found Chu Tingwu fiddling with snacks.

    Given the difficulty of ordering takeout, they usually stocked up on snacks in bulk. However, after opening a few packets, Chu Tingwu realized the snacks didn¡¯t taste right¡ªsome, even unopened, gave her a sense of their artificial vors overpowering the natural ingredients.

    They weren¡¯t inedible.

    Stray cats could eat anything, which was why their average lifespan was only two to three years.

    Domestic cats lived longer, and the system proudly announced:

    "You usually enjoy those snacks, so I didn¡¯t say much."

    After all, she was still young, and it wasn¡¯t right to deny her all treats.

    "But if you change your eating habits now, you could extend your lifespan even further."

    Her human-cat hybrid body was already healthier and more robust than an average human¡¯s, so her lifespan was naturally longer. It wasn¡¯t that avoiding snacks would make her healthier, but higher-quality food could steadily strengthen her already strong physique.

    Of course¡­ to ordinary people, her eating habits would seem picky.

    The system had already scouted out high-quality cattle and sheep, so after this day, the animals and their caretakers gradually moved into the ranch.

    When the caretakers arrived, Sheng Anli, the niece, also came with thewyer to take a look¡ªthough it was ostensibly for academic credit, she had genuinely been following thewyer around, participating in every contract signing rted to the ranch. As a local, she had a significant advantage in her work and now appeared more mature than before.

    Sheng Anli greeted her cousin and aunt, then eagerly joined them to check out the cattle and sheep.

    When she reached the pasture, she let out an impressed "Wow"¡ª

    It felt inexplicably more modern!

    The pasture, which had been somewhat empty and casually arranged before, had been transformed into a smart ranch. While there were still more animals than people, the overallyout was much more organized, with clearly defined areas and boundaries. Facilities were being upgraded to support group farming.

    Chu Tingwu rode a horse nearby, letting the white horse wander without holding the reins.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The white horse, Raphael, appeared gentle and warm-hearted. Even when a small bird perched on its head, it didn¡¯t seem annoyed.

    Sheng Anli noticed Chu Tingwu¡¯s curiosity and exined the identification and projection equipment above them. Then, with a whistle¡ª

    A swarm of drone spheres flew out from the unfinished livestock facility, beginning to patrol the rtively empty pasture area.

    Sheng Anli: ¡°Huh?¡±

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°These drones are mainly used to scan the environment. The livestock have trackers, so they won¡¯t get lost, and their status can be monitored in the control room. But the animals still produce new waste¡ª¡±

    Like cow dung, or even human-made litter.

    The drones covered half of the ranch, primarily patrolling the pasture area, providing a surveince effect.

    However, some people ignore the surveince and only realize their inappropriate behavior when a drone flies right up to them.

    As for other times¡­ like now.

    [¡°A pile of cow dung has been scanned. Status uploaded. Please collect, please collect.¡±]

    Sheng Anli: ¡°¡­¡±

    Fans in the livestream: ¡°Wait, is this for real? Am I supposed to pick it up?¡±

    Sheng Anli: No, I guess I¡¯ll do it.

    Since no one else was around, she feltpelled by the electronic voice to contribute to environmental protection.

    But just as she was about to move, a yellow dog dashed over, followed by¡­ a walking-style cleaning robot.

    This robot had been modified with a chassis better suited for uneven terrain. The dog barked at the cow dung, and the robot slowly approached, scooped it up, and bagged it.

    Sheng Anli: Wh-what kind of cyberpunk farm is this?!

    Are you already running a fully automated farm?

    Well, not quite, as Chu Tingwu demonstrated¡ªthere were still people around!

    When they reached the rest and y area, it was bustling with activity!

    These were all projections of various people. For example, when Chu Tingwu approached the riverbank and tried to step into the water, a holographic screen suddenly appeared, warning her not to enter due to potential danger.

    If she persisted, a virtual projection of a riverside figure would appear¡ªa towering, armored giant. The giant bent down and swung a staff, as if to knock Chu Tingwu back to the shore, startling Sheng Anli, who was watching from a distance.

    Chu Tingwu, however, leaped aside, dodging the swing, and reassured her: ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s just a projection. No physical harm.¡±

    But most people instinctively retreated to the shore, and themotion would naturally draw others¡¯ attention.

    Sheng Anli raised a new concern: ¡°But¡­ what if someone wants to see this animation and deliberately steps into the river, only to identally fall in?¡±

    The lively chat paused.

    They¡­ they had actually been thinking the same thing!

    Chu Tingwu pondered: ¡°Good point!¡±

    Why not¡ªuse virtual cow dung attacks on these daredevils!

    Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s just virtual cow dung! But surely no one would want to watch an animation of virtual dung being thrown, right?

    Right¡­?

 Chapter 141

    If before it was just a slow selection and gradual introduction, after Chu Tingwu opened up her sense of taste, the system''s actions immediately became more urgent.

    Of course, the local meat was already delicious enough, and as long as it was fresh, the meals wouldn''t be too bad.

    The only ones experiencing both pain and joy were the other three, because Chu Tingwu had taken over all the work except cooking the main dishes. They were happy about the delicious food but worried about what they would do after getting used to such amazing vors.

    One morning, a houseboat sailed into the smallke of the ranch. Chu Tingwu had already opened up her sense of vision, and the difference in her perception was minimal¡ªsince vision didn¡¯t require self-restriction, it was often used in daily life.

    After seeing the shadow of the boat, she woke up the other three.

    Today, they were moving onto the boat so that the construction team could take over and rebuild the vacation area.

    After everyone finished washing up, Chu Tingwu started a livestream and informed her fans, who were a bit puzzled:

    ¡°Is it opening soon? Are they starting to build the guest amodation area already?¡±

    They knew Chu Tingwu hade to the ranch to recuperate, thinking she must have been exhausted from studying and wanted to rx in a secluded ce. So, they weren¡¯t too keen on outsidersing in.

    The private area, though a bit old, was still functional. The architectural style from decades ago, while not modern, had a natural charm. However¡ª

    Chu Tingwu said, ¡°The n is to demolish and rebuild.¡±

    She had the system disy the blueprint, and the audience saw something that looked like a castle built from colorful building blocks.

    [?]

    [Not gonna lie, it¡¯s kind of whimsical, and the colors are harmonious.]

    Chu Tingwu waved her hand, and the virtual castle began to transform. Each ¡°block¡± could move and rotate within a certain range. When zoomed in, it became clear that each ¡°block¡± was actually a guest room.

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°Although I can handle some of the work myself, building houses isn¡¯t one of them.¡±

    This kind of transformable hotel should be left to the professionals.

    She exined, ¡°On one hand, this hotel has a yful design, and on the other, it can adjust its orientation based on guests¡¯ preferences to enjoy the scenery¡ª¡±

    The control room could also adjust the direction of each room. The only issue was the elevator arrangement, which had gone through several revisions.

    But as the audience looked at the blueprint, they couldn¡¯t help but think¡ª

    [Isn¡¯t this just your parkour funhouse?]

    The floor height, the decorative designs on the side, and the ever-changingyout? A parkour enthusiast would never turn down such a building¡ªespecially with such great views around.

    Chu Tingwu: *Read, no reply.jpg*

    The Shanwan Resort Hotel wasn¡¯t going to be built in a day, so they would have to live on the houseboat for a while.

    They packed up, bringing their cats and dogs, and only remembered when they were about to bring the horses that the horses didn¡¯t need to go on the boat.

    But the horses could be used for transportation.

    After the three horses were delivered, they were simply left to roam freely. Given the size of the ranch, they could happily wander around every day. Along with the horses came a riding instructor from a club in Shangjing City. When they had initially boarded the horses, they had signed up for lessons but only attended once. Now that they were taking the horses back, the instructor followed under the pretext of ¡°unfinished lessons.¡±

    Of course, this wasn¡¯t because the club had exceptional customer service. The boss had hinted that it would be good to maintain a positive rtionship, just in case it might be useful in the future¡ªif not, it wasn¡¯t a loss.

    The instructor spent his days running after the horses, training them to find the automatic feeders at set times and return to their owners when called. He was doing a pretty good job.

    But when Chu Xiao and Zhou Qiang mounted the horses, the instructor realized¡­ the horses were trained, but the people hadn¡¯t been taught yet.

    Aside from Chu Tingwu, the other two were still beginners.

    Shao Lingwu, squatting nearby, hesitated: ¡°¡­Do I really have to share a horse with Xiao?¡±

    Chu Xiao: ¡°You can walk ==¡±

    Beside them, the dog, Danhuang, barked a couple of times and wagged its tail, pawing at Shao Lingwu¡¯s shoes. Chu Tingwu tranted: ¡°Danhuang says you can run with it.¡±

    Shao Lingwu: So not only do I have to walk, but I also have to walk the dog?

    In the end, Shao Lingwu got on Chu Xiao¡¯s horse, and Chu Tingwu helped steady it. After a moment¡¯s thought, she also ced Sanwuwu on their horse.

    The instructor got on Zhou Qiang¡¯s horse to help control the reins, and they set off first.

    Chu Tingwu patted Raphael¡¯s neck, and the white horse let out a neigh before starting to trot to warm up. Danhuang followed with a happy bark. Though older, its tail wagged unashamedly, spinning like a propeller.

    The weather wasn¡¯t gloomy, butrge clouds covered the sun, casting shifting shadows. Chu Tingwu felt like the white horse was about to run into the light, but the sunlight always seemed to stay just ahead.

    The wind was neither cold nor hot, just enough to ruffle her bangs. She gazed into the distance, where the grass bent low, and cattle and sheep grazed. Beyond that, buildings were hidden behind the hills¡ªsome people hurried by, while others were buried in their work. The tall buildings were obscured by the trees that appeared as she moved, disappearing behind the bushes.

    Chu Tingwu barely held the reins, but Raphael followed the other horses, trotting steadily. Its mane flowed, glinting faintly in the sunlight, like a white lion.

    The camera zoomed out, circling around Chu Tingwu. In the chat, some people were chatting, others were cursing the in-game merchants, and a few were even making wishes to the horse¡ª

    Maybe it would help them pull a five-star character.

    Someone else wondered, ¡°Isn¡¯t the ranch understaffed?¡±

    When they had showcased the AR effects the day before, they had noticed that, though Chu Tingwu hadn¡¯t explicitly said so, it seemed like theck of human staff was why AR was being used to manage visitor behavior.

    Logically, AR designs should be more expensive, asbor costs are generally low outside of big cities.

    ¡­But then again, Chu Tingwu could have herpany handle the AR design, cutting costs.

    ¡­And she could use drones to pick up trash and warn visitors, since thepany also produced drones.

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°Because I¡¯ve always nned to make this a staffless ranch.¡±

    Aside from AR, the unmanned services and the block-style parkour hotel could be the ranch¡¯s unique selling points. The idea actually came from the conflict between the local vigers and the previous owner: since the nearby cheapbor wasn¡¯t willing to work here, she decided not to hire humans at all. As long as the facilities were well-arranged, the ranch work, though tiring for humans, would be just right for machines.

    ording to their n, the ranch staff could be reduced to fewer than ten permanent employees: including a veterinary station for regr checkups on the cattle and sheep, an electrical engineer to inspect the machines¡¯ safety, and two security guards in case of conflicts or idents among visitors. That would be enough.

    For a ranch spanning over ten thousand acres, such a small staff was astonishing.

    But the upside was that it gave visitors the feeling that the entire ranch was open and essible.

    The fans were more worried than Chu Tingwu: ¡°But without staff¡­ there will definitely be some unruly visitors.¡±

    Even with plenty of cameras and patrolling drones, theck of human presence might embolden some people to misbehave.

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°There may not be humans, but there are cats.¡±

    [?]

    Chu Tingwu snapped her fingers, and the audience saw a faint purple kitten appear on her shoulder. The kitten, still small because its owner hadn¡¯t participated in manypetitions, sniffed the cold wind before burying its head in Chu Tingwu¡¯s hat with a soft ¡°meow.¡±

    [??]

    Chu Tingwu gently patted the horse beneath her, who had turned its head to look at her. "Since we can project AR effects in the ranch, we also offer AR catpanionship services. For game users, their own cats will appear. If you don¡¯t have a game ount, you can reserve a cat on the app when entering. If you don¡¯t like cats or don¡¯t want one, you can skip the reservation."

    Of course, the cats won¡¯t be apanying you the entire time. They might sneak off to y on their own and then suddenly reappear, each time offering different random interactions, like little surprises.

    The reason behind this is that some areas aren¡¯t suitable for installing AR projection equipment, but it also encourages visitors to explore different attractions.

    [???]

    Chu Tingwu: "Don¡¯t you like it?"

    [I love it to death (gnashing teeth)]

    [You¡¯re practically forcing me toe! But it¡¯s a four-hour flight from my ce to Ji Province!]

    [At first, I thought it wasn¡¯t worth traveling from out of town, but¡­ but she¡¯s using cats to threaten me!]

    [I feel like I could make a road trip out of it and camp there¡­ Knowing Chu Tingwu, she¡¯s definitely hidden other Easter eggs!]

    [Wake up, it¡¯s not open yet. The resort isn¡¯t even finished.]

    But it¡¯s easy to imagine how that shape-shifting resort will be a viral hotspot.

    Chu Tingwu said the prices wouldn¡¯t be high, but reservations would definitely bepetitive.

    [I might as well go buy camping gear now¡­ I don¡¯t know how the camping area will be set up, but if I camp, I¡¯ll have control over my lodging!]

    [Why do you think the camping area won¡¯t require reservations?]

    [¡­¡­]

    While the fans were arguing, the horse beneath Chu Tingwu had already stopped. Ahead, at the small dock, a boat was moored.

    But this boat wasn¡¯t like the ones people usually saw¡ªit looked like a three-story house had been ced on a boat, full of life.

    These houseboats were quitemon in Ji Province. The boat owners could live directly on the boat, which never went out to sea. The base was more stable, so even in windy conditions, it wouldn¡¯t sway much.

    If the ranch didn¡¯t have ake, they would have had to stay in a yurt or be the first to experience the camping area.

    The boat was rented, but they had prepared all the necessities in advance, so everyone only needed to carry a small bag on board.

    Zhou ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Qiang had never lived on a boat before and was worried she might get seasick, but seeing how calm Chu Tingwu was, she asked, "You¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu: "I¡¯ve never lived on a boat either, but I¡¯ve done parkour between boats before."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Zhou Qiang: You¡¯re not a good reference point!

    Chu Tingwu gazed across theke. Through the boat¡¯s window, she could see the tree vines hanging on the opposite shore, their reflections rippling on the water. The soil near the water was soft, but higher up, there were exposed rocky cliffs. It looked like a route only a rock climber could spot¡ªquiet, dangerous, and intriguing.

    The two boarded the boat, and Chu Tingwu naturally walked to the other side of the deck to show the viewers around. Zhou Qiang, after putting down her luggage, began to look puzzled:

    ¡­Wait, where are the other two?

    -

    Chu Xiao: "¡­¡­"

    Shao Lingwu: "¡­¡­"

    Why didn¡¯t they refuse when Chu Tingwu suggested letting Sanwuwu help them control the horse?

    The tortoiseshell cat perched on the ck horse¡¯s head asionally let out a low, hoarse "meow," and the horse would shake its head, look around, and then trot forward.

    Sanwuwu¡¯s meows grew more confused. She lifted her paw and tapped the horse¡¯s head, and the horse immediately turned and continued forward.

    Sanwuwu: "¡­¡­" Earlier, with three horses moving together, no one had noticed. But this horse¡­ it was directionally challenged!

    Sanwuwu turned her head and saw the two human children on the horse¡¯s back still looking at her with expressions that said, "We¡¯re counting on you to lead us there."

    The cat sighed and continued trying tomunicate with the horse. But five minutester, she turned her head again.

    Chu Xiao & Shao Lingwu: "?"

    Wait, where are we? Is this even on the map? Should we call and ask for directions?

    Sanwuwu lowered her head to groom herself, licking her paws and then her belly, pretending to be busy.

    Human children? What human children?

    They don¡¯t smell like children. They¡¯re so big¡ªcan¡¯t they find their own way?

 Chapter 142

    With the promotion and poprization of VR live streaming equipment, the impact of VR live streaming on the current live streaming industry has gradually diminished. Although the experience pods are not yet widely avable and are only open for purchase by the government and enterprises, the production capacity of the motion equipment for these experiences has caught up. VR outdoor live streaming has gradually be akin to console gaming¡ªnot everyone owns the equipment, but it¡¯s no longer surprising as a form of live streaming.

    Moreover, through the trial and error of other streamers, the once overly enthusiastic audience has cooled down, realizing that not all types of content are suitable for VR. Additionally, prolonged use of VR equipment is more exhausting than watching TV or movies for extended periods.

    Over time, those who have survived and thrived in this wave are the outdoor streamers with innovative and rare content.

    Even as her coborations increased, Chu Tingwu didn¡¯t take the opportunity to push herself harder by using VR equipment for every stream. She maintained her usual pace, with two to three VR parkour streams per week, asionally switching to high-altitude skateboarding. The rest of the time, she continued herid-back routine, streaming everyday life.

    ¡ªAfter all, she didn¡¯t have a suitable venue for other sports before.

    Some thought she was foolish for not capitalizing on the exclusive ess to VR technology to amass more fans and break through to be the top streamer on the tform with millions of followers.

    But her more devoted fans would say: ¡°Have you ever seen a part-time content creator who¡¯s also the top streamer on a video tform?¡±

    Besides, Chu Tingwu didn¡¯t really need that kind of traffic. She could live well without it. She didn¡¯t promote products (except for her ownpany¡¯s), didn¡¯t take on sponsorships (police promotions probably didn¡¯t count), and only relied on the tform¡¯s base pay (though Fenghua Network didn¡¯t disclose that she held shares). When she streamed, it was simply to share her life¡ªjust watch and enjoy.

    Of course, the deeper reason was that Chu Tingwu alone couldn¡¯t expand the VR video audience to such a scale. Now, from cooking to household chores, hiking to cycling, with the diversity of video content, herpany¡¯s VR motion equipment was selling exceptionally well.

    Their equestrian coach, who had followed them here, thought the same. She had watched Chu Tingwu¡¯s videos before but became a regr viewer after VR live streaming emerged. Now, she even felt a sense of reflection¡ª

    Unconsciously, she felt that her life had changed a lot. From her cat¡¯s neutering to charity promotions, from documentaries appearing online to new AR games, these changes happened gradually. Even now, as she rode her horse, gazing at the pristine pasture with no one in sight, the hidden camera peeking out, the road winding into the distance, her mood inexplicably lifted.

    Although the horses could roam freely, there was a resting area at night. The over 10,000-acre ranch was divided into sections, each spacious enough to be a mansion for the horses. The coach also lived nearby, in the staff quarters across from the main buildings.

    Across from there, training facilities for racehorses were being built, as suggested by the coach. With such excellent conditions, why not train the horses and send them topete?

    Chu Tingwu and the others boarded the boat, and the coach helped bring the horses back¡ªwait, what?

    Shao Lingwu and Chu Xiao hadn¡¯t arrived yet?

    -

    After the other two were brought onto the boat by the coach, Shao Lingwu raised his hand and pointed out an internal testing bug:

    ¡°The ranch is too big. Let¡¯s set up some bike rental points.¡±

    Although visitors could drive in, some areas of the ranch were inessible by car. It wasrge but not as vast as a nature reserve, making biking the perfect way to get around while also getting some exercise.

    Chu Xiao stood nearby, not wanting to say anything.

    Three-Five-Five hadn¡¯t led them astray. She was a very methodical cat, so when sheter smacked the ck horse¡¯s head, and the coach found them, they were walking the horses, following the cat¡­ as if they were out for a stroll or a brisk walk.

    Setting up bike rentals wasn¡¯t difficult, and the cost was low. The system helped n the locations, quickly marking suitable spots. All Chu Tingwu had to do was nod in agreement.

    The houseboat they lived in looked like a house ced on a boat. Unlike the humans, who adapted quickly, Three-Five-Five seemed wary.

    ¡ªHer walking turned into a tap dance.

    Chu Tingwu guessed she was adjusting to the sensation of being on the boat, so she didn¡¯t rush her. She sat nearby, hugging her knees and watching the cat mom. Before long, three more ¡°potatoes¡± squatted beside Chu Potato.

    Chu Tingwu: ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±

    Zhou Qiang: ¡°What¡¯s for dinner?¡±

    Chef, it¡¯s time to cook.

    [It¡¯sing, it¡¯sing¡­]

    [I¡¯m grabbing snacks!]

    [I¡¯m making instant noodles!]

    [I¡¯m doing some yoga to calm down, I¡¯ll be back in half an hour.]

    [Be careful, she might finish cooking in exactly half an hour, and you¡¯lle back just as everyone starts eating¡­]

    New viewers didn¡¯t understand what was about to happen, but the veterans sighed: ¡°This is the daily ¡®Shanwan Ranch Food Murder Incident¡¯¡­ Just close your eyes and don¡¯t look!¡±

    Chu Tingwu entered the kitchen, and Three-Five-Five followed, marching in with a tap-dance-like gait. When she jumped onto the counter, her paws slipped, and she paused for a moment before busying herself with examining her front paws, as if they were the most fascinating things in the world.

    Chu Tingwu simply walked over, scooped up Three-Five-Five with one hand, and let the fluffy tortoiseshell cat cling to her shoulder. Then she knocked on the door: ¡°Come help chop the vegetables¡ª¡±

    Self-reliance, friends. The chef cooks, but chopping and dishwashing are your responsibilities.

    Notably, Chu Xiao loved chopping vegetables, Zhou Qiang enjoyed slicing meat and filleting fish, and Shao Lingwu, of course, disliked washing dishes, but his protests always failed.

    Three-Five-Five: ¡°Meow~¡±

    [Ew~]

    [Meow~]

    When Chu Tingwu first met Three-Five-Five, the cat already had a raspy voice, likely from her tough life as a stray. Over time, her voice improved, but she still retained that husky tone when arguing with other cats or humans. Only rarely did she let out the high-pitched meows typical of domestic cats¡ªlike now.

    The chat was soon filled with meows, along with the asional ¡°woof¡± or ¡°moo,¡± which were promptly removed by other fans.

    After dinner, everyone started searching the storage room for fishing,ting, and barbecue gear. Watching them struggle, Chu Tingwu couldn¡¯t help but say:

    ¡°The barbecue stuff is on the rooftop.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t that she knew in advance¡ªshe could smell it.

    Unlike her hearing, which she could tune out if something was too loud, her heightened sense of smell was harder to ignore. She couldn¡¯t just eliminate the source of a smell, especially when it came to humans, who naturally carried various scents¡ª

    Zhou Qiang: ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    Why are you sniffing my neck?

    Hmm, Chu Tingwu thought, there was indeed a mix of shampoo, body wash, hand soap, and the lingering scent of the food they¡¯d just eaten. In fact, as long as someone was alive, they¡¯d carry different smells.

    What about the dead?

    She nced at Shao Lingwu, wondering what scent he¡¯d emit if she tossed him into the water.

    After her sense of smell heightened, Chu Tingwu had encountered the stench of death twice. Once during parkour, when an elderly person had passed away at home unnoticed for days, and she immediately reported it to the police. The second time was in a nature reserve, where a dead animal was dposing, scavengers circling above, and the foul odor permeating the air. While others hadn¡¯t yet reacted, Chu Tingwu already felt nauseous.

    The stench was a gic instinct warning her not to consume such things.

    What about a drowned person?

    Theke below shimmered with golden ripples under the setting sun, the light reflecting off the water¡¯s surface as the boat gently rocked. Shao Lingwu looked around nervously and whispered, ¡°Why do I feel a chill?¡±

    Zhou Qiang: ¡°That means your senses are sharp. It¡¯s your turn to wash the dishes.¡±

    Shao Lingwu: ¡°¡­QAQ¡±

    He entered the kitchen but soon emerged with a delighted expression: ¡°There¡¯s a dishwasher!¡±

    The old hotel didn¡¯t have one, so he no longer had to wash dishes by hand.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Chu Tingwu felt a bit guilty: "Maybe you shouldn''t do any work anymore?"

    Shao Lingwu: "=v="

    Chu Tingwu: "Just help me give Three-Five-Five a bath when you''re free."

    Shao Lingwu: "I''ll go wash the dishes =="

    Chu Tingwu turned around and noticed that Zhou Qiang and Chu Xiao had already gone fishing.

    Is there really no one in this world willing to bathe an adorable little cat? How heartbreaking.

    -

    Zhou Qiang and Chu Xiao were also discussing Chu Tingwu''s new "quirk." They had noticed that she seemed to have recently developed a bit of a cleanliness obsession, so their conversation went like this:

    Zhou Qiang: [It''s your fault.]

    Chu Xiao: [I deflect that back to you.]

    Zhou ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Qiang: [Dodge.]

    Chu Xiao: [Locked on.]

    Zhou Qiang: [But Tingwu really does seem to have developed a bit of a cleanliness thingtely... She changed my shampoo, saying it was low quality, and recently after bathing the horse, she wanted to bathe the cat too.]

    Chu Xiao, speaking as someone with actual cleanliness tendencies, rified: [I think she just feels like the surroundings are too smelly. She can usually tolerate it, but when she has a moment, she''ll deal with it.]

    Of course, they could tolerate their friend''s little fluffy quirks. Although Chu Tingwu hadn''t said it, they both knew her sense of smell seemed unusually sharp¡ª

    Being able to detect other scents but unable to eliminate the source was just like having to exin a problem to a whole ss of clueless students and still not getting through to them.

    How tragic. The two exchanged a nce, sharing a moment of silent sympathy.

    Chu Tingwu wasn''t as pitiful as they imagined. For now, she only let her sense of smell run wild while cooking, which incidentally improved her culinary skills, before returning to her normal state.

    If there were a hidden experience bar, her sense of smell would definitely be one of the fastest progressing categories.

    But this time, she wasn''t focused on cooking. Instead, she sniffed the scent wafting up from theke below, her expression thoughtful.

    When Shao Lingwu walked onto the deck, he saw Chu Tingwu dragging a out of the storage room.

    Shao Lingwu: Fishing?

    He went over to help. Chu Tingwu handed him one end of the, then cast it into the water. The sank straight down. Zhou Qiang came over to watch, while Chu Xiao held the other end. When Chu Tingwu gave the signal, they pulled the up. As they lifted it, Chu Tingwu took a step back¡ª

    The was filled with a dense mass of ck "trash," everything from packaging bags to soda bottles, emitting a strange odor that seemed almost tangible through the screen.

    Zhou Qiang''s eyebrow twitched violently: Even someone without a cleanliness obsession would develop one after seeing this.

    So she immediately turned and shot Chu Xiao a re.

    Though her "re" was as expressionless as ever, Chu Xiao caught the mental signal she was sending¡ªher movements were a bit too obvious.

    Zhou Qiang: It''s your fault!

    Chu Xiao: "?"

    I already deflected it back.

 Chapter 143

    The smell spread as theke water was stirred, and Zhou Qiang caught a whiff of it too. She frowned slightly at first, then said, "It''s not entirely the fault of the previous tourists for their poor behavior. This smallke is connected to the Qishui River."

    Between the river and theke, there was only a grid blocking the passage, and that, having gone years without maintenance, was now merely decorative. The river carried all sorts of debris from its depths through here, dumping the trash into theke.

    However, the Qishui River itself wasn''t as problematic as thiske, as workers regrly dredged the riverbed to clear out the silt. Thiske, on the other hand, had been abandoned by its previous owner.

    Given the former owner''s money-driven approach to everything, they might as well have been called "Boss Money."

    The system pondered thoughtfully, "This level of pollution seems to meet the minimum standards for human requirements."

    ¡ªWhen purchasing the property, they must have hired assessors to evaluate the water quality. While trash could never be fully cleared, the water quality was deemed eptable.

    If it weren''t for Chu Tingwu''s keen sense of smell, she wouldn''t have paid much attention to the minor water pollution.

    But, after hesitating for two seconds between "putting up with it" and "screw that," the system rolled up its sleeves first:

    "...But this doesn''t meet the minimum standards for the Cat Kingdom!"

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    Stop establishing kingdoms behind my back!

    These days, the boat was equipped with a mechanical for collecting trash. Chu Xiao went to operate the, while the three of them watched from a distance. However, a problem quickly arose¡ªwhere should they dump the collected trash?

    Chu Tingwu suggested a spot: the old sightseeing vehicle on the ranch.

    These sightseeing vehicles were usually open on all sides, seating six to eight people, and ran on electricity, requiring charging. The ranch''s vehicle was old, and she had already nned to rece it, so using it to hold trash didn''t bother her at all.

    As for manualbor, they could deploy cleaning robots, the same ones previously used to clean up cow dung. The robots arrived with odor-blocking garbage bags and began helping to pack the trash into boxes.

    Therge lights by theke and the boat''s searchlights were all on. Night had fallen, and the camera, mounted on the railing, silently recorded the cleanup process.

    The audience found it oddly satisfying.

    Though the thought of so much trash underwater was a bit nauseating, watching the bags of trash being packed, transported, and the small cleaning robots systematicallypleting their tasks was strangely mesmerizing.

    It was simr to watching excavators or carpet cleaning¡ªseeing something messy gradually be organized. It seemed like the whole world had a bit of a cleaning obsession: even if they didn''t tidy their own rooms, watching someone else''s space be neat gave a sense of vicarious satisfaction.

    [By the way, where''s Master Chu?]

    The camera had shown Shao Lingwu watching from nearby, Chu Xiao trying to dismantle a robot to see its structure, and even Zhou Qiang passing by with a cup of coffee, but Chu Tingwu hadn''t appeared once. Just as everyone was wondering, the camera panned upward¡ª

    They saw Chu Tingwu crouched on the top railing of the houseboat, wearing a mask.

    Three-Five-Five was beside her, also wearing a smaller mask, idly scratching the railing with its ws.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The next morning, the live stream switched to a fixed camera, showing the process of recing the filter at the junction of theke and the river. Then, it continued with trash cleanup and water quality testing. Finally, Chu Tingwu announced:

    "We''ve hired a professional team to handle water purification."

    Her professional team was currently on a ne, en route.

    Of course, they were alive¡ªhumans.

    -

    The system couldn''t win against the young one, so on the second night after discovering theke''s issues, it opened a simted dream ssroom for her.

    Chu Tingwu decided to dive in.

    In reality, she had no experience with underwater work. Zhou Qiang and the others would never let her go down, and even with assistance, Chu Tingwu didn''t think she''d outperform those with experience¡ªotherwise, Three-Five-Five would be unbeatable underwater too.

    But after pulling out the trash, her first thought was: I want to go down and see!

    It wasn''t about the environment or a sense of responsibility¡ªit was simply her own curiosity.

    Since it was a simted dream ssroom, the system could, of course, turn its young one into a fish or make her not need to breathe. After all, it was essentially just an active stream of thought.

    But it didn''t want the young one to confuse reality with the dream and risk an ident in real life, so Chu Tingwu still wore a full set of diving gear.

    Chu Tingwu muttered, "This is the first time I''ve felt so clumsy."

    The system: "Hmm?"

    Chu Tingwu stood by the dock, looking down at theke''s surface. The system had simted nighttime, so the water below was pitch ck, exuding an unfriendly aura even to a cat''s eyes.

    Chu Tingwu: "Even though I haven''t entered the water yet, I already feel like I''m sinking."

    This was a sensation she hadn''t felt even while sitting on a sailboat. Was this the difference between ake and the sea?

    Through the diving gear, the smell''s impact was reduced, but she still took a moment to mentally prepare before diving in.

    Whoosh¡ª

    It was dark.

    The water seemed to absorb all light. After reaching a certain depth, Chu Tingwu had to rely on her own light source to see, but in return, she could see farther than others.

    There were still plenty of fish underwater, having gone through several generations of survival of the fittest amidst the trash. As they swam past Chu Tingwu, some even tried to nibble at her. She waved them off, signaling that she wasn''t interested in eating fish.

    She hadn''t felt like eating fish for a while now.

    She avoided the seaweed and floating logs tangled in the water. The trash at the bottom had been there so long that it had happily merged with the soil. Some had dposed, while other non-degradable materials stubbornly remained, keeping thekepany. She initially wanted to take a closer look, but the underwater currents were inexplicable¡ª

    Almost instantly, Chu Tingwu lost her bnce in the swirling water. She didn''t know when she had been caught in the undertow, but after the initial scare, she didn''t feel nervous anymore. Instead, she tried to fight the current¡ªif she couldn''t resist it, she''d minimize the damage and go with the flow.

    After all, this was just a dream.

    But a cat''s sense of bnce didn''t seem very useful while diving.

    In the early stages of diving, experience seemed to matter more than natural talent.

    And she was stillpletely clueless.

    So, Chu Tingwu decided to throw caution to the wind and fully opened herself to the sensations¡ª

    The worst that could happen was respawning at the dock.

    For a moment, the world seemed to go silent, and then, a flood of information rushed into her mind!

    In reality, Zhou Qiang turned over in her sleep.

    Chu Tingwu instinctively reached out in the water and felt an even stronger pull... and an overwhelming cacophony of noise. Was the underwater world quiet? No, it was loud, vibrant, every current seemed to be ying music. She couldn''t describe the sound, but it felt like she had been thrown into a symphony¡ªand the musicians were fighting with their instruments!

    She wasn''t an audience member; she was the instrument itself, stuffed into a pipe and vibrating with the air.

    She wanted to cover her ears and shout for them to stop¡ªbut that was just her initial reaction.

    In the next moment, her instincts kicked in.

    She raised her hand, barely blocking a piece of wood that came hurtling toward her face, then curled up, hearing the dull thud of impact amidst the water''s roar¡ª

    At that moment, Chu Tingwu made a split-second decision, following her instincts while also tuning into the distant sounds.

    She heard the sound of a boat moving and the faint hum of human footsteps and chatter.

    The system recorded some data.

    The young one''s hearing had surpassed her previous limit, detecting sounds six kilometers away. But she hadn''t neglected the sounds nearby, and her evasion rate had actually improved. Instincts were the body''s prehensive data," gathering and analyzing all information to issue warnings.

    At this moment, although her experience points in the dream ssroom were significantly lowerpared to reality, Chu Tingwu''s hearing ability gradually caught up with her sense of smell.

    The whirlpool slowly came to a stop.

    She ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????didn¡¯t stay underwater any longer but chose to float up on her own. After climbing onto the dock, Chu Tingwu sat on the edge, taking off her diving suit.

    She felt an astonishing silence around her ears.

    But it wasn¡¯t that she had suddenly gone deaf¡ªit was more like...

    As soon as she willed it, the sounds around her began to return: the chirping of birds, the rustling of insects, the gentle swaying of vines in the breeze, and thepping of theke water against the shore. However, unlike before, when her hearing had been unstable, she could now decide which sounds to hear. Moreover, even before she could identify what the sounds were, her brain would instinctively tell her which sounds were meaningful and which deserved special attention.

    For instance, just sitting here, she could hear the sound of a vehicle colliding with a human body several kilometers away.

    Chu Tingwu frowned.

    The system: "I¡¯m simting real-time events from the outside world, but there¡¯s a five-minute dy. A car ident did happen five minutes ago, and the ambnce is already on its way."

    Chu Tingwu: "Hmm... but I¡¯m wondering, is this even useful?"

    The system, unusually puzzled: "Why would you suddenly think that?"

    Wasn¡¯t bing more powerful a good thing?

    Chu Tingwu: "I can hear the warning signs of a disaster, but by the time I get there, the disaster has already happened."

    If she were a wild beast, this kind of hearing would be a dreame true. She could be the most formidable hunter, able to avoid danger in advance, know when to join her fellow creatures in battle, and be the nightmare of her prey.

    But this was modern society, and apart from flooding her brain with an overwhelming amount of redundant information, it seemed to serve no real purpose.

    The system pondered: "Then disruptingmunication should suffice."

    Chu Tingwu: "?"

    The system: "I¡¯ve studied humanity¡¯s apocalyptic fantasies, and onemon scenario is an electromaic pulse that destroysmunication systems, plunging human society into chaos. In such a scenario, the Cat King, with her exceptional individual abilities, sessfully forms a team, resolves the crisis, and restores order¡ª"

    Chu Tingwu: "..."

    Maybe you should stop thinking.

    Chu Tingwu: "Take that back."

    She suddenly felt that the current situation was just fine.

    Even if she wasn¡¯t saving the world, at least she wasn¡¯t destroying it.

    Today was still something to be proud of.

    She decided to reward herself with an extra portion of food at every meal.

 Chapter 144

    On the day the professional team hired to clean the water arrived, Chu Tingwu and the others were discussing amusement projects.

    Shanwan Ranch had no intention ofpeting in the crowded amusement park market by installing roller coasters or simr facilities. After all, there were already so many amusement parks everywhere, and without unique features, it would be difficult to attract visitors.

    To get tourists to buy tickets and travel all the way to Shanwan Ranch, the ranch needed to offer something truly one-of-a-kind¡ª

    "At the very least, tourists visiting Qihe City should make a special trip to check out this ranch," Chu Xiao said,paring it to a cityndmark that people would naturally visit if they were in the area. "Now the pressure is on the Culture and Tourism Bureau."

    Chu Tingwu: Don¡¯t be so quick to shift the pressure!

    In fact, there had already been tourists passing by the entrance recently, as well as locals who came to check it out after seeing the live streams. However, since the gates were tightly closed, ticket sales hadn¡¯t started, and anti-climbing barriers had been installed, no one had managed to sneak in.

    They analyzed the situation and realized that the ranch¡¯s current ie streams were limited to ticket sales, amodation fees, car rentals, and camping site rentals. Thetter two were negligible, and aside from tourist revenue, the main expenses were for purchasing livestock, cleaning the water, and building the hotel.

    As for the costs of other facilities, since most were products from their ownpany, they only had to ount for the production costs.

    Shao Lingwu stood to the side, hesitating to speak.

    He actually thought that the ARpanion tours, AR imaging, and nighttime performances were enough to attract visitors. Moreover, the hotel could offer VR live-streaming pods¡ªwealthy guests might even stay long-term for the superior streaming experience. When the ranch opened, they should worry more about not having enough hotel rooms rather than theck of appeal.

    But since his family always assumed he¡¯d lose money in business ventures, he decided to keep his mouth shut.

    Zhou Qiang suggested, "Why not do a coboration?"

    The truth was, the ranch hadn¡¯t opened yet not only because the facilities were iplete and the reconstruction was ongoing, but also because they were worried the imaging experiences might be repetitive. No matter how interesting the format, if the content was the same every time, how could they convince visitors to return? But creating new content would require umting a lot of IPs, which would be costly from the start.

    Chu Tingwu wasn¡¯t sure how much money she had, nor how much the system had, but she wasn¡¯t the type to spend recklessly.

    So Zhou Qiang proposed an IP coboration¡ªwith their AR technology, they could profit from both ends.

    Each coboration wouldst about a month, with both online and offline merchandise sales. Offline, they could include hidden collectibles and set purchase limits¡­ As he spoke, Zhou Qiang fell silent, feeling like he¡¯d turned into a greedy capitalist.

    Everyone exchanged nces, and Chu Tingwu coughed:

    "We could also open a themed restaurant or something¡­"

    They had been considering opening a restaurant to make some extra money but hadn¡¯t settled on a specific theme or menu. Now they didn¡¯t have to¡ªthey could just change the menu with each new coboration and p the IP¡¯s name on it.

    While they aimed to profit from IP fans, Chu Tingwu wasn¡¯t cutting corners. She presented the n at the meeting for others to refine, and soon they had a more detailed event design¡ª

    AR virtual projection technology was perfect for the ranch. To maintain the beautiful environment and produce high-quality livestock, they couldn¡¯t make major changes to the area or turn it into a shoppingplex (which would also require higher investment). AR projection wouldn¡¯t disrupt the environment, could be updated regrly, and offered interactive experiences for visitors.

    Fans of the IPs would likely go wild if they knew the ranch was filled with hidden Easter eggs. Triggering certain actions could make their favorite characters appear, engage in dialogue, or even interact with them directly. They could participate in short films, earn rewards, or get discounts on merchandise¡­ Chu Tingwu was sure fans like An Shiyan would be thrilled.

    The coborating IPs wouldn¡¯t lose out either¡ªhaving their characters presented in AR would be a great promotional gimmick, and Shanwan Ranch would also benefit from the exposure.

    Both sides could release coboration merchandise, and since Wu Voice Group was already an established merchandise producer¡ªcheap items like pins, plushies, and instant photo cards, or expensive ones like branded drones, VR headsets, and gaming consoles¡­ Even with a four-digit markup, fans would still buy them out of love.

    After hearing the analysis, Chu Tingwu felt her head spinning. She sighed and delegated this part of the work to You Zhenzhen, asking her to contact suitable IP partners.

    ¡ªEven though the hotel wasn¡¯t finished yet, the ranch could still undergo a softunch.

    This coboration would be a limited-time event, and the ranch would open temporarily while undergoing renovations, testing the waters for an unmanned AR-themed ranch experience.

    Just as she finished assigning tasks, the ranch weed its first "guests"¡ªthe water-cleaning professional team, led by an environmental zoology expert.

    The system had hired experts from a domestic environmental scienceboratory. After providing them with collected data online for analysis and discussion, the experts, along with their students and assistants, arrived on-site to assess the situation in person.

    Professor Mi, the lead expert, brought two graduate students and a doctoral candidate as assistants, along with two colleagues, making a team of six. The system had a generous budget, booking them first-ss flights and arranging a private car to pick them up upon arrival¡ªquite thoughtful.

    ¡­But when they arrived at the ranch entrance, the car stopped.

    Professor Mi was puzzled: "Are we not allowed to drive inside? Do we need to switch to a ranch vehicle?"

    The driver helped them with their luggage: "Yes, please wait at the entrance for a moment. The new ranch shuttle will be here shortly."

    This seemed normal, and no oneined. Their luggage was light, but one student asked, "The ranch isn¡¯t open yet, right? Are we staying inside or finding a hotel outside?"

    The hotels they¡¯d passed on the way were small and cheap, and the conditions didn¡¯t seem great.

    "Don¡¯t worry," another student said casually, "we can always buy a tent if needed."

    Their tent-pitching skills were top-notch!

    Hearing their chatter, Professor Mi gave them a resigned look. As a mentor, he was easygoing, so the students feltfortable joking around.

    One of his colleagues gazed inside the gates: "The environment here seems quite nice."

    Though they hadn¡¯t entered yet, the air felt fresh, unlike heavily developed ranches.

    Another colleague muttered, "Why are we waiting outside? Couldn¡¯t someone havee to open the gate?"

    The sun was getting a bit too warm.

    As soon as theint left his lips, they heard the rumble of a truck approaching. A heavy-duty truck pulled up to the entrance and unloaded three brand-new small shuttles.

    The driver hopped out, fiddled with the controls inside, and then told the group, "Hop in. The Wi-Fi¡¯s connected, and the shuttles will drive themselves once you¡¯re on board."

    Professor Mi and his team: "?"

    Wait, the new shuttles were this new? And they weren¡¯ting from inside the ranch¡ªthey were supposed to drive themselves in!?

    Despite their shock, everyone got on board. Once the luggage was loaded, the gates automatically opened, and the shuttles drove into the ranch on their own, heading toward the livestock area.

    They didn¡¯t need to worry about amodations. Although the hotel wasn¡¯t ready and the ship couldn¡¯t house everyone, there were still living quarters for the ranch¡¯s staff, like veterinarians.

    Sure, the neighboring area housed cows, sheep, and horses, but the smell wasn¡¯t overpowering¡ªunless they had noses as sensitive as Chu Tingwu¡¯s, they wouldn¡¯t be bothered.

    In the car, the carefree student suddenly realized, "Oh right... the client mentioned that their ranch operates on a self-service ticketing system."

    Another student chimed in, "Looks like there really aren¡¯t many people here, haha."N?v(el)B\\jnn

    No kidding! So far, the only living humans they¡¯d seen were the driver outside the ranch. Inside, all they encountered were sheep, cows, and robots!

    Was this ce really going all-in on "dehumanization"? Would humans actually bring pollution to this ce? Without staff around, wouldn¡¯t the tourists end up being the ones polluting?

    Fortunately, when they arrived at their amodation, they finally met a living person. The individual greeted them warmly, helped arrange their lodging, registered their room¡¯s fingerprint ess, handed them staff identification wristbands, and even asked what they¡¯d like for dinner.

    The group finally felt properly weed. Professor Mi asked, "Are you the client¡¯s assistant?"

    The personughed, "No, I¡¯m the ranch¡¯s veterinarian."

    A colleague eximed, "...What?"

    The vet sighed, "I live here too, but I don¡¯t have much work to do at the moment. I¡¯m so bored that I¡¯ve been helping the boss with guest reception. Mind if I tag along when you visit theke?"

    Wow, you really *are* that bored!

    The vet shrugged, "At first, it was hard to adjust because there are so few colleagues around. But after living here for a while, I¡¯vee to appreciate the peace and quiet. Plus, the pay is good. The only downside is that the staff cafeteria is still under construction, so meal options are limited."

    Currently, with so few employees, only one chef has been hired. In the future, the number of staff isn¡¯t expected to increase much either. Retail services will mostly rely on vending machines, though employees can also eat at the cafeteria of the nearby Jimu Hotel.

    Noticing their difort, the vet added, "I guess you¡¯re not used to this. Do you not have cats... I mean, the kind of cats from *Learning the Unlearnable*? Thepanion system isn¡¯t live yet, but you can request one using your wristbands¡ª"

    When he mentioned *Learning the Unlearnable*, Professor Mi remained unfazed, but the two graduate students¡¯ eyes lit up. They seemed familiar with it. Were they talking about requesting a virtual AR cat as apanion?

    The vet rified, "Request a cleaning robot as your tour guide instead."

    A ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????student asked, "Why a cleaning robot¡ª"

    Well, of course, it¡¯s because the AR projection system, which covers the entire ranch and ensures most AR visuals appear correctly, hasn¡¯t been fully installed yet.

    The vet was quite considerate. Though it was gettingte, when Professor Mi expressed a desire to visit theke first, he instructed them to simply voice their request into their wristbands. The central AI would recognize the request and dispatch a self-driving sightseeing vehicle, mapping out a route to the dock.

    Alternatively, they could also select the route directly via the touchscreen in the vehicle.

    After a quick bite to eat, they boarded the vehicle again. By now, the grass was bathed in the hues of twilight, and a cleaning robot had taken up residence on the driver¡¯s seat.

    The passengers soon discovered that conversing with the robot was surprisingly smooth. Its AI was quite advanced, even providing an introduction to the surroundings and projecting a scanned map of thekeside.

    At first, they found it odd, but now they thought: without the client hovering around and just interacting with the robot to move things along, it was actually quite pleasant.

    Just as everyone was settling into this thought, the vehicle suddenly stopped midway, and the robot got out.

    Professor Mi asked, "What¡¯s going on?"

    The robot climbed back in, and the sightseeing vehicle resumed its journey.

    A student who had witnessed the whole thing muttered in confusion,

    "It just... went out to pick up trash."

    It was probably a drink bottle left behind by construction workers.

    So it really *was* a cleaning robot! Its main job was tidying up, and giving tours was just a side gig!

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!