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 recommendations 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 their comments and can choose their own danmu (bullet comment) colors. Those who watch the replay later can only post regular 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 accident, 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 popular creators in the live streaming section now are either comedy-oriented, skilled in singing and dancing, or VTubers... But "Ah Chu and Three-Five-Five" seems to have blazed a new trail, which is -
"Raise your game protagonist", watching how the creator plays 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—]
[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 cat language, 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" account 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 displayed 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 account, specifically letting you show your skills early, giving us the precious opportunity to become old fans of a rising creator.
Because Chu Tingwu never posts personal updates, new fans can only roam around in the comment 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 internet!
[Your special follow "Ah Chu and Three-Five-Five" has posted an update, come 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—
【[Picture] Whose cat is this that's lost? Not pure black, 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 internet?
Comments (hot):
"Everyone please note, everyone please note! While we're surfing the internet, cats have secretly taken over this planet... 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 account 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 minutes later, the system informed her that both the Little Sun Hospital and Cha Mi Goes Home accounts had reposted her missing person update.
Meanwhile, Chu Tingwu also found the relevant people for the black cat at this time.
The black cat brought by the tattooed tabby was raised by Third aunt in the village. Chu Tingwu went there specifically to ask and learned that she had bought it at the vegetable market. At that time, the black cat was tied with a rope and could be taken away for twenty yuan, which Third aunt bargained down to ten yuan.
The black cat couldn't accurately mimic the name given to him by humans with his voice, so Chu Tingwu simply used "Ten Yuan" as his new alias.
"I was planning 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 so lazy, 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—"
Third aunt grabbed a handful of chocolate 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 cabinet. She turned her head to look and found that the calico cat had emerged from under the bottom of the cabinet, with a gray mouse in its mouth.
The mouse was still alive, struggling constantly. Third aunt exclaimed with delight: "Yes, that's the one! Your cat is so amazing— 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 too lazy 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 account—"
She pushed Hang Ling's account 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 black 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—
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 accept 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—"
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—
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 play with it, meow?"
Chu Tingwu: "I... don't really like these kinds that smell..."
Toys.
Delicate little cat, the village cats commented.
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 black 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 black 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 black cat with white "pants." However, when Chu Tingwu called out "Little Sesame" to Ten a couple of times, Ten looked completely 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'll come downstairs right away."
Chu Tingwu: "I haven't arrived yet, and also—"
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 residential complex 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 slapped 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 — Ten was not Sesame, they just looked identical.
But the old man slapped his thigh again: "Oh, isn't this my Sesame?"
Sir, you need to get your eyesight checked!
The old man completely 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 flailed 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—"
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 black 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 collar, darted off.
She opened her phone. The system controlled the drone to follow Three-Five-Five, displaying 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—
They saw the long-haired tortoiseshell cat chasing a black cat out from the bushes in the residential complex. The black cat was completely black, but as it ran while cursing, they could see a fluffy white line on its belly, like it was wearing white underwear.
The chased black cat rushed to the front of the two people, saw the old man, and its angry cursing turned into soft whimpering. Then, it nonchalantly 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 played dumb. The old man didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Realizing he had mistaken the cats, he first grabbed Little Sesame and thanked Chu Tingwu, then insisted on giving her money—he had almost thought the young lady had come 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 translate 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 summary comment 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 a commercial 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 express complex 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, "The last 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 flashed 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 villa complex. The villas in the complex weren't very large, just three stories, but they were all detached houses with gardens for planting.
From afar, Chu Tingwu could see two tall ginkgo trees.
A middle-aged woman was supporting an elderly lady 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 old lady's feet, starting to fawn over her.
The old lady 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, she completely lost her sight in both eyes."
From her cat-petting gesture, it was clear that the old lady 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 old lady'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 old lady 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 occasionally bumps into things. She's a bit clumsy, and when we go out to play, 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 villa was wrapped with anti-collision padding, and the carpets were thick. Clearly, an old lady of this age shouldn't risk falling. Chu Tingwu sat at the table, accepted the baked cookies handed over by Auntie Mei, and translated 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: "We later checked the surveillance footage. Little Black was playing 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 occasional sounds of the cat moving about.
She reminded Mei to check if the cat was still there, but Mei mistook the black clothes in the laundry basket for the black cat, saying "Little Black is just sleeping," only to discover hours later that the cat was gone.
Ten Yuan was carefree and lively, and the villa 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 played nearby and rarely came home late.
After the cat went missing, Mei reported it to the police and went to the property management to check the surveillance 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 helped complete the latter 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 village. 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 instead laughed, 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—
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 had come up with a new recipe, so she borrowed Teacher Zhang's kitchen to make cat food.
Teacher Wang, who had been present but feeling completely 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 old lady, 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 four languages. In her youth, she worked as a translator 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 black kitten on her way to buy groceries. This kitten, later 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 Black," 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 accepted 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 placed in front of Chu Tingwu.
Mei whispered an explanation in Teacher Zhang's ear — 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 the large shuttlecock with red, blue, and yellow feathers into her canvas bag.
Ten Yuan: "You must play with it often, it's very fun, meow."
Chu Tingwu: "Okay."
Ten Yuan: "You must play with it! If you don't know how... bring it over, and I'll teach you how to play..."
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 a language? Russian, German, English, or Hindi — 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 flaws: First, she loved singing opera but sang terribly — when she practiced in the morning, only the cat wouldn't run away. Second, she liked to give language lessons to children she took a liking to. For her, language learning was fun, relaxing, 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 cat language?"
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 unacceptable. The new learning plan 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 residential complex. 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 play with you.
Ten Yuan immediately perked up: "Then you must come 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 become a pet communicator in the future?"
Just as it sounds, this is a new profession that helps owners communicate with their pets. However, the industry is currently filled with all sorts of people, and many frauds use the claim "I can understand what cats and dogs say" as their banner. Most of them only provide psychological comfort 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 pet communicator 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 cat language? But as someone who studied linguistics, he naturally understood better than the average person that cat language is actually a new language system, combining 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 pet communicator certificate, I have some connections. This profession is relatively 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 glanced at the sky.
Teacher Wang: "Of course not today, it's too late 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 availability tomorrow."
The Cha Mi Goes Home team is coming 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—"
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?
