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—
"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—no, the drone—they 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 exclaim:
She really was just a little girl.
Do kids these days need to be so competitive? 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 explain 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 account? 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 Zhenzhen lagged behind. Because her name was related 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 similar. 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 class 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—"
Then she frowned slightly at You Zhenzhen: "How about we add each other as friends?"
She explained 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 account, muttering to herself: "How come 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 accessed the surveillance 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 account—
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 the competition?"
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 explained helplessly: "Doesn't your drone club have a high-altitude photography competition recently? Our photography contest is similar, 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 photographing landscapes, that's what attracts tourists, right?"
You Zhenzhen deflated: "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.
—Sure 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 place 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 planned to ask my friend to photograph stray cats for a photography competition 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 the competition 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 play 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 black 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 flashing images were fun to watch.
...Some cats can not only order takeout but also play Fruit Ninja on tablets.
Chu Tingwu played shuttlecock with Shikuai for a while, then played some gomoku with Teacher Zhang. The black and white pieces were different colors and felt different to touch, probably specially made.
Every time Teacher Zhang placed a piece, he would slowly feel all the pieces on the board. During this time, he would ask Chu Tingwu questions about language, and tell her some local idioms and jokes. Even though he couldn't understand, Shikuai would occasionally 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 recommendation, 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 actually communicate 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 cat language is a whole new language system, so they often prepared lessons together. Zhang Youyi had more experience and would guide Chu Tingwu to come up with teaching ideas. Even though he didn't understand cat language, 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 played 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 explained. "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 play 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 irregular eating has affected its weight."
High show-quality cats are evaluated on many aspects during competitions, 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 to communicate, 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-Five lay on her lap 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 glancing at Three-Five-Five, who was wearing only a collar 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 recommendation, 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 flashed with labels 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 relationship 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 accompanying. They quickly arrived at Boss Zong's villa.
His villa 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 relationship. 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 international competitions 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 those competitions 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 such competitions 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' surveillance 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 flailed its limbs trying to resist, but everyone could see—
If Three-Five-Five just lifted her head, he couldn't even touch the ground.
Chu Tingwu: "Meow?"
Boss Zong glanced 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—Boss Zong's tea room had no hiding places for cats, much better than the cat playroom.
In her mind, the system seemed to have accessed the surveillance, evaluating Boss Zong's cat playroom 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 place 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 stopped complaining: "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 particularly 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—and Chu Tingwu knew that several adult humans were actually watching the tea room's surveillance, as agreed before they entered.
...At least they wouldn't doubt Chu Tingwu's ability to communicate with cats now, seeing the "timid" cat becoming 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 class material—of 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 surveillance footage?"
Boss Zong nodded blankly.
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 explain.
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?
