You Zhenzhen sprang up from her bed, quickly glanced 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 since last night... By the way, Chami's side also posted a video, right? The one collaborating 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, becoming 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—You Zhenzhen lamented 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 account 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 place, and another local fan who had been chosen was in second place. 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 classmates 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 account and indeed saw the latest collaboration 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 exclaimed, "Even the Central Network's account 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 account, but on "New Plum," a comprehensive information APP. This platform 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 account, 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 [Collaboration] 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 "Collaboration" 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—
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"—a new sport, with new ways of playing, and rare in China. It seemed that combining 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 a layer 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 glanced 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 becoming 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 glance, 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 success, 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—they had even talked—even sent messages—she even called her "Mimi"—
"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 plan 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 related to minors in filming. She said, "I need to wait for my lawyer to take a look."
Director Xin: "...?"
Sure enough, Director Xin met Chu Tingwu's lawyer the next day. This lawyer came from a well-known law 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, stipulating 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 the lawyer's fees.
Director Xin: "Are you not planning 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 collagen, 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 popularity in the entertainment circle.
—Is 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 plans. 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 accumulate 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 plans 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 applauded 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't lack money. It seemed to have received other jobs through the recommendation of that documentary director, and the remaining payment for the documentary had also been transferred.
Chu Tingwu and Director Xin mostly communicated online. Director Xin was obviously very busy; everyone seemed to be busy, while Chu Tingwu still maintained her routine of hospital-cat filming-classes at Teacher Zhang's house, occasionally 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 place the parts separately and explained: "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 displayed on the panel—this galvanized plate 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 a large 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.
—The 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—cats 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 more complex, 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 the latter 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 exclaimed to the system: "You could probably make a lot of money selling drones, right?"
The system was very sad: "I've calculated, it would take 200 years of sales to buy Dis***..."
Forget about your Dis***!
The system explained 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 village entrance, Chu Tingwu felt something was off:
"What are you guys doing here..."
The Spotted Cat with Tattooed Arms and the village'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 play with the previous one, can we play 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 hour later, Chu Tingwu left the village 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 volunteer commitment at Little Sun Hospital had just ended the day before yesterday, but she still occasionally went to visit. Today, Teacher Zhang wasn't home; Aunt Mei was accompanying him to the hospital for a physical examination, and had asked Chu Tingwu to come over and keep Shikuai company for a while.
Although Shikuai had been fitted with a tracking collar, Aunt Mei felt that, comparatively, the steady Three-Five-Five and Chu Tingwu were more reliable.
But the steady Chu Tingwu also dropped the ball this time—she brought three cats in with her, and as soon as she entered, she was met with Shikuai's accusation!
Shikuai "meowed meowed meowed meowed," greatly alarmed: You actually have other cats outside and you brought them here!
Chu Tingwu: "...You've played together before, okay?!"
If it weren't for the spotted cat and Big Orange, Shikuai might not have been able to come home.
The silly black 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.
—She hadn't streamed for the past two days, so she had posted an announcement last 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, a large 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 the comments, aren't you! You're looking at the comments 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 account increased, the composition also became more complex. 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 regularly posting cat food videos, the content of her other livestreams and videos was random.
"I'm not planning to go out today," she said, "I'll be playing 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 recommended spots, but Chu Tingwu refused using the excuse of school.
If she really wanted to sign a contract, she would probably decide after coming of age—right 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 the comments 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 accurately, 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—Shikuai 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, instead lapping water from a bowl nearby, pausing occasionally to nibble some cat food.
Three-Five-Five lay on the steps like a lounging farmer, watching the two cats play 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—the 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 few complaints, 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. To complete 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, most completing 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 their labor, 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—"
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 related fields, like Hang Ling, lose sleep browsing the app's nightly data updates—
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 become pregnant and give birth again.
Hang Ling: "Just end me now."
Big Orange ambled over, climbing onto Chu Tingwu's lap 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 become their tool. That's why we haven't fully launched 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 become 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 vocabulary.
When learning a language outside its native environment, it's crucial to listen, memorize, and use it frequently, constantly reviewing and reinforcing knowledge.
However, even as she recited vocabulary, her mind was preoccupied with how to protect the cats recorded in the app. Of course, it wasn't possible to fit tracking collars on all the cats, and the death of urban strays was a natural occurrence: 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 become 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 backlash 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 occasionally.
Chu Tingwu, unaware that world peace hung by a thread maintained solely by her moral compass, continued pondering details while reviewing vocabulary. Meanwhile, the comment 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 flat, kitten without underpants... Wait, what did the kitten do wrong?!]
Why treat kittens like this?
