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 accepted 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 more complex, not just simply wanting to give the food to Chu Tingwu—
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 relationship with their adopters. The relationship between Three-Five-Five and Chu Tingwu was even more special—Three-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 explained 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 successfully 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 unreasonably complete. In the end, she ate while watching the first episode of "Animals and Us in the City".
—That documentary produced in collaboration 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 first commercial 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 video comments, saying "Everyone is praising how cute you are," but Chu Tingwu firmly refused—her 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 village cats, Chu Tingwu lay down on her bed and closed her eyes to enter today's dream course.
As expected, the content of this course simulation was related to what happened during the day—
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 cats coming 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 can completely 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 playing out the simulation, instead of having Chu Tingwu participate, the system simulated 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, occasionally 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 class, 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 account."
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 been completely used..."
Qiao Hu looked at the bullet comments, then scrolled through the comments 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 account 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 account.
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 the comment section not overtaken, but due to the special comment filtering mechanism, the whole incident became comedic, attracting more passersby. Views and follower count were skyrocketing—
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 accounts. If Chu really became famous, he would become 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 account, Hang Ling was also looking at the comments 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 account."
At first, there were some discordant voices on the Little Sun Rescue House account, mostly nitpicking in the comments of the two latest 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—
"Could he be crying in secret?"
Even if the abusive comments 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 becoming 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, nonchalantly lowering her head to groom herself as if nothing had happened.
When Hang Ling saw that Chu Tingwu had arrived, she visibly relaxed 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—because 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 cabinet, 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 to come eat.
Hang Ling: "They've been playing with the cat wand since last 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 "communicate," 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-black ball of fluff, glanced 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 was complex.
"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!
