The largest parkour community in China is called picC, and the coaches hired by the production team were members of picC.
Perhaps because this collaboration was with an official organization, the other side took it very seriously. Three coaches came, bringing students and assistants. A group of people got out of a minivan. Although they weren't the muscular type, it was evident that both men and women had excellent spirits and strong core strength.
Chu Tingwu had just changed into her outfit.
Since she was going to be filming, not just doing regular parkour, her outfit also had a sense of design. The clothes were black and white patchwork, adorned with gold and red decorative details. There was a row of metal buckles around the waist that made crisp clinking sounds when she walked.
She wore short sleeves and shorts, with a fake two-layer top. The hem of the layer under the buckles was tucked into her pants. The costume director had her wear full protective gear, including black and white knee pads and long arm guards. Then the stylist started to work on her hair.
"We need to make sure your hair doesn't come loose. It's a bit long, so I'll tie it into two little buns for you."
The stylist fiddled for a while, and by the time Three-Five-Five had fallen asleep, Chu Tingwu's hair had been transformed into two plump little buns, with hair extensions attached below - judging by how the stylist was applying the extensions, it seemed like they wanted to weld them onto her head.
She could tell that the stylist was trying to make her look more cat-like, with the buns resembling cat ears, and eye makeup leaning towards cat eyes... They were much better at cat-ifying her than the system had been.
Finally, Chu Tingwu put on a face mask, and a new cool girl was fresh out of the oven.
Among the three coaches, two men and one woman, two stood beside her while one was talking with the director's team. Both coaches had assistants with them, who were obviously parkour practitioners as well. Not being in the entertainment industry, they looked at Chu Tingwu with obvious naivety and curiosity.
The female coach introduced herself: "Just call me Shark. This tall idiot next to me is Eagle. Have you finished your makeup? Why don't you try a backflip first to see if the hair extensions will fall off?"
Chu Tingwu: "...I've never practiced backflips."
Shark: "Huh?"
After some discussion, Shark exclaimed: "Did you really learn those moves in the video by following cats? You learned so well! We watched the video before, since it was so popular, but we thought you didn't use those showy moves because you were focusing on speed."
In the two branches of parkour, freerunning includes more flashy moves, like stationary backflips, wall spins, and wall flips... These moves are a pure waste of time in parkour, which aims for speed, but they look really cool!
Eagle said: "So freerunning is very useful for promoting parkour. It's free flying, everyone thinks it's cool, so they come to try it. 'Free' means you can play however you want. Many students in our community were attracted to parkour by freerunning videos."
So it's rare for someone to just run without showing off. How could anyone resist!
Oh, someone hadn't learned at all, so that's how they could resist.
"Xiong Xiong," Shark waved to someone in the director's team, "let's take the little actress to the site to practice first."
The production team spends money for each day of filming. Director Xin had already shot most of the ordinary scenery footage. The plan for the next few days was to film Chu Tingwu's movements on a green screen, and in a couple of days, they would go out for some real location shooting to see the effect - so there wasn't much time left for her to learn.
But Director Xin seemed to have an inexplicable trust in her.
So the group moved with Chu Tingwu to the adjacent site. Without Chu Tingwu having to call, Three-Five-Five followed along.
The entire site was artificially constructed, but the production team didn't have to pay for it. The cultural tourism promotional plan included funds for "turning Fallen Phoenix City into a parkour mecca," and construction had already begun on both the old town renovation and the building of public and indoor venues. This site had just been completed and was immediately occupied by the production team, free of charge.
The whole site was divided into two parts. One part was full of geometric aesthetics, like a three-dimensional maze built with building blocks of different color schemes. The other part had more facilities for auxiliary training. Shark pointed at the "maze" and said: "This should be used for timed speed runs. Let's go practice next door first, then come back to try the speed course."
When she had watched the video earlier, Shark was very confident in Chu Tingwu, but now that she realized she was really self-taught, she was a bit worried about whether they could complete the work today.
Her partner Eagle called out to the apprentices: "Check the safety of the speed course, we'll do a run first."
It's normal to check the site before parkour, especially since it was a new venue. He took off his jacket and started warming up.
Next door, Shark took off her shoes, jumped a bit on the soft mat, then did a crisp backflip on the spot.
Her ponytail swung in a circle in mid-air. She raised her hand and gestured for Chu Tingwu to watch:
Then she leaped forward, pressed on the hard platform with one hand, her whole body suspended in mid-air as she half-turned, and landed on the opposite side in the next second. She ran forward a few steps, jumped sideways, pressed her right palm against the wall, her body rotating 360 degrees following her palm, and landed again - jumped - grabbed the railing, passed her whole body between two railings in a suspended posture, then jumped back from above, returned to the previous platform, pressed on the platform and rotated her body in a circle supported by her arms, then dropped down and returned to the soft mat.
"This is a relatively continuous set of movements," Shark said with a shy smile. "If it were a speed run, most of these moves would be useless, but in a technical competition, this set of moves can add technical points."
"The director told us that your entire set of movements will be designed by us. You see that guy? The one called 'Xiong Xiong', he's picC's dedicated action designer. He said there should be quite a few backflips and wall spins, which means rotating 360 degrees on a 90-degree right-angled wall surface supported by your arms. It looks cooler that way - do you want to start practicing with backflips?"
As she spoke, she was bouncing on her toes, making her ponytail bob up and down. She was a very energetic and action-oriented person.
Chu Tingwu nodded and walked onto the soft mat. Shark seemed to want to step forward to help her complete the movement, perhaps by supporting her with her hands to let her get used to it, but she didn't move -
When she saw the human-cat parkour video released by the system, Shark was looking forward to seeing that kind of parkour in person. So when facing Chu Tingwu, she still chose to respect her young colleague and let Chu Tingwu try to complete it entirely on her own for the first time.
Chu Tingwu: "..."
Chu Tingwu: "Um..."
[Baby! Come on! Baby! Come on...]
So noisy!
Her heart skipped a beat, she jumped up on the spot... and then fell back down.
Chu Tingwu: It seems I'm not too used to flipping backwards...
The next second, she stepped forward and completed a smooth front flip - the kind without using hands for support.
In fact, this was the first front flip Chu Tingwu had ever done in her life.
Shark rubbed her chin.
That's pretty good too, but isn't the direction wrong?
Chu Tingwu returned to the soft mat, pondered for a while, silently bent her knees, leaned her upper body backwards, stretched her hands back, and in the moment of supporting herself on the floor, she completed a back handspring using her hands. Then she continued to repeat the previous movements, just trying to increase her speed -
She found that she didn't seem to be very good at backflips, because she couldn't see what was behind her, so subconsciously she didn't want to do this move.
Three-Five-Five: "Meow?"
The cat mother walked to her kitten's side, raised her paw to support on her leg, and nuzzled her chest. Was the kitten's strange movement a sign of illness?
Chu Tingwu lowered her head: "...Meow."
She wasn't very good at it.
The interaction between the human and the cat was a bit too adorable. Shark was holding back her laughter on the side. Just as she was about to say something, she noticed the calico cat shaking its fur and biting Chu Tingwu's shoelace, indicating for her to come over.
The calico cat dragged Chu Tingwu away from the soft mat, then the cat "meowed" and did a backflip on the spot.
The cat's paws landed, its fur swaying, and it tilted its head to look at the human it was watching.
Chu Tingwu let out a small sound and stood up as well. In the moment she leaped, her hair fluttered. The next second, the spinning world was righted again. Chu Tingwu heard her heart pounding "thump thump". She landed on the ground, not on the soft mat—the whole world steadied beneath her feet.
"That's good," Chu Tingwu said, "I found I can do this on a hard surface. Shark teacher, what's the next move?"
Shark: "...Ah, then, how about a spin on the platform?"
Wait, was this being taught by the cat or by her? And why could someone's cat actually do a backflip... Wasn't that just a joke?
For beginners, spinning on the platform usually involves using both hands for support, but Chu Tingwu didn't seem to realize this. After Shark explained, she said "Oh" and then supported herself with just one hand on the platform, lifting her body and smoothly spinning around once.
The calico cat also jumped onto the platform, then jumped down, then up again, seeming confused by this platform... Why was it so high? Why could the young human spin, but she couldn't?
Shark completed the rest of the guidance in a daze. Her posture was very standard, but Chu Tingwu's replication was even more precise. Except for the initial backflip, whether it was moves supported by the platform or pole spins and twists—this young actress could perfectly execute everything.
Her sense of balance and core strength were incredibly strong!
Moreover, she didn't have many calluses on her hands, indicating she hadn't practiced much. It seemed more like natural talent.
Parkour doesn't require large muscles. The strength is mainly used to lift one's own body, and the more perfectly you can control your body, the more light and swift the movements will appear—
Some people think parkour is similar to the obstacle course training that soldiers do, but actually, there's a big difference.
"For example," Shark pointed to a wall less than a hand's width, "when we jump onto that wall, we land on the front of our feet, absorbing the excess force. It's quite similar to cats. Have you noticed? When cats land, even though there's a soft mat, they actually land on the front part of their paws first, then put down the rest. Why don't you try getting up on that wall?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Chu Tingwu had already leaped up onto it from where she stood.
Shark: I meant for you to jump and grab it with your hands first, then wall-climb and use your feet to step... Never mind.
Jumping that high is really impressive.
Is it because kids are lighter so they can all jump that high? But Chu Tingwu isn't short or thin...
With a confused mind, she completed a series of "instructions", but Shark strangely felt that her guidance wasn't as effective as the cat beside them... Who was the real coach here? Finally, she gave up: "Let's go try the speed course next door."
-
Next door, everyone was "experiencing" the speed course.
After all, this was a newly designed indoor parkour venue, and the fee they charged included having professionals experience it and provide feedback. When Chu Tingwu and Shark arrived, they saw someone in mid-air, grabbing a horizontal bar with one hand, spinning around once, swinging to the opposite platform, crouching down, and making a victory sign.
Eagle laughed and scolded: "Get down here quickly!"
When these people first came to the film set, they were a bit reserved, but now that they were in their familiar domain, they immediately became lively.
The wall displayed an intelligent map, an overhead view of the speed course. The entire course appeared as a winding snake shape on the map, with three inflection points from the entrance to the exit. Chu Tingwu switched the screen and found that many facilities could be moved, and there were three types of maps. The current map was named "Soaring Dragon".
...Where's the dragon?
Eagle walked over: "The fastest time now is forty-two seconds, Little Orange's data. I feel like even with improvements, we can only shave off about ten seconds. The movements are already quite streamlined, it's just a matter of proficiency now."
This place was quite suitable for practice.
As they spoke, Three-Five-Five tilted her head back, watching the humans "fly" by in mid-air one by one, her gaze fixed on them, as if filled with an urge to try it herself.
Chu Tingwu: "Meow..."
Mom, we can't scratch.
Oh, Three-Five-Five stretched out her front legs and lay down.
However, when Chu Tingwu approached the exit, she shook her ears and stood up again, tilting her head to look at the young human.
The crowd started to cheer.
"Master Chu, why don't you give it a try?" "How about our young actress tries?" "Ah Chu, I've seen your videos, can I get an autograph—"
Chu Tingwu adjusted her arm guards and looked at the soles of her feet.
Some people prefer to wear shoes, while others choose not to. Because she had been practicing on soft mats earlier, she wasn't wearing shoes—now her feet touched the ground through her socks, giving her a strange sense of freedom.
Eagle pointed to the timing screen nearby:
When the speed run begins, the venue's sensors will automatically recognize and start timing.
Chu Tingwu looked at the wall ahead, and the moment her right foot stepped out, she leaped up. As she grabbed the top of the wall, her body was lifted by her arms. One foot stepped on the wall, and then she did a front flip, landing on the platform in front.
Someone let out a "whoa", silently marveling: She jumps so high.
When watching her parkour videos, due to editing, one could only sense the agility and lightness of the protagonist. But when observing in person, they realized that Chu Tingwu's body had a unique flexibility—she jumped high enough to climb the wall from the start, and using her core strength, she pulled herself up in one smooth motion.
Many people who have practiced for two years might not be as smooth as her. In typical parkour wall-climb videos, you'd see someone jump up, kick off the wall with both legs while using arm strength, and then climb up. That's the common set of movements.
But while they were marveling, Chu Tingwu had already reached the first facility turning point.
Here, there were four levels of horizontal bars arranged in a triangle, with a sloped footing area below, different from the previous platform. Some would choose to pass through the bars, landing directly on the footing point, which consisted of a series of low walls, each spaced differently.
Shark remembered when she participated in competitions before, the competition venue also had such designs. If you missed a step on any of the walls and fell, getting back up would waste time.
Chu Tingwu leaped from the platform, not choosing to pass through the gaps in the horizontal bars, but jumping to the top of the bars—this height was a bit dangerous—but no one said anything, instead holding their breath to watch her continue: She didn't even crouch to maintain balance, this girl seemed to be walking on flat ground, running across the bars with a cat-like gait, leaping onto the wall, passing through the low wall obstacles without pause, and then reaching the irregularly stacked block steps.
Eagle glanced at the timer: four point three seven seconds.
In that glance, when he looked back, he saw Chu Tingwu crouching at the top of the stacked block steps, supporting herself with one hand, leaping down two levels at once, stepping on the round ball on the ground, and easily reaching the second turning point.
At the second turning point, there were many inclined supports, and the top wasn't even a flat platform, but a sloped surface. Previously, when someone fell, they made excuses about their shoes not gripping well. After watching Chu Tingwu complete the run, Eagle said quietly: "Why don't you all go ask what brand of socks she's wearing?"
Maybe we should run parkour with socks over our shoes in the future.
The students: Whine!
Chu Tingwu couldn't hear what they were discussing. She could only smell the rubber, stone, and sweat in the venue. She was leaping between two high facilities. People might have fallen here before; although there were no visible marks, there were sweat stains at the bottom and edges—she could smell them.
As Chu Tingwu leaped across, the light fell on her bangs. She landed on the balls of her feet, feeling her hair extensions flutter and fall. The platform under her feet made a muffled sound, transmitting a slight vibration and tingling sensation to her legs. The last segment was descending. Chu Tingwu silently jumped down, crouched for a second on the last step, turned to look at the course, and then left.
[Beep—]
Eagle looked at the time: 20 seconds 11.
He fell into deep thought.
Shark elbowed him: Want to go up and try one yourself?
Eagle: If you want me to embarrass myself, just say so!
Shark shook her head and approached Chu Tingwu: "Can I hug you for a moment?"
Chu Tingwu: "...Okay?"
Shark reached under her armpits, lifted her up and bounced her a bit, pondering. Then she looked down at her feet, gesturing for her to lift her lower legs and put them down again. After looking, she said: "Wait a moment, I'm going to discuss the action design with Xiong Xiong."
They were all parkour practitioners, and she could design movements herself, but today, after watching Chu Tingwu run with her own eyes, she suddenly felt that Xiong Xiong's original set of movements could be modified again—
The original movements focused more on the "cool" aspect of parkour, but Shark felt that Chu Tingwu's personal qualities seemed more suited to "lightness," not in terms of body weight, but in the sense of "making the difficult look easy" in her movements.
She smiled and whispered to Chu Tingwu, "Actually, when you were running just now, I liked it best when you crouched on the top platform and the horizontal bar."
And that final second when she stood still on the steps.
She thought: If I hadn't learned parkour myself, after watching Chu Tingwu's series of movements, wouldn't I suddenly feel the urge to learn parkour too?
Chu Tingwu: "I quite like it too?"
Shark: "Hahaha."
Chu Tingwu was serious: The venue was high, and when she crouched at the highest point, she really felt the urge to stay there and watch the bustle for a while... and even though she was looking down from a high place, she wasn't worried about her safety at all, as if she knew she wouldn't get hurt even if she fell.
If there weren't other people waiting to use the facilities, Chu Tingwu really wanted to go up again.
But as soon as Shark walked away, others gathered around. Some people actually asked for her autograph, and others wanted to take photos with her—although it wasn't a TV drama or movie shoot, it was still an official production, and taking a photo with the lead actress was proof they had been there.
Some people kept mumbling, staring at the replay on the big screen: "How did she get through that? How was she so fast... Can people really fly?"
The timer suddenly beeped again, but it wasn't because someone had entered the course. Instead, a calico cat was crouching at the entrance.
The calico tilted its head to look at the wall ahead, then pushed off the ground, jumped, grabbed the wall once, kicked hard with its hind legs, and finally made it to the top of the wall.
Everyone: "?"
Three-Five-Five: "..."
She silently jumped down from the wall, returned to Chu Tingwu's side, looked up at her large kitten, and let out a very dissatisfied "meow."
The facilities that were just right for humans were still too high for a cat.
However, when Chu Tingwu brought Three-Five-Five to the green screen shooting location, the cat perked up a bit. The director's team had prepared a platform for Chu Tingwu and a slightly lower platform for Three-Five-Five. After filming Chu Tingwu's basic movements, all the cameras of the photography team were aimed at Three-Five-Five, urging her: "Backflip! Do it again, one more time!"
This was a cat that could do backflips, surely surpassing 99% of cats globally.
System: "?"
"Although Three-Five-Five is also very good, this data is not accurate," it muttered, "Why does being able to do a backflip mean surpassing 99%? My kitten is so amazing, she must be number one in the world..."
"Shut up."
"Wuu QVQ"
After Three-Five-Five finished performing, she started grooming herself frantically. Her fur had been ruffled. Someone wanted to go help, but was worried about being scratched by the cat. In the end, Chu Tingwu went over with a brush. Three-Five-Five lay down on her knee, licked herself for a while, and then asked:
"Meow?"
How much fish did we earn today?
Although Mom didn't know what filming was, she still remembered the earlier days of catching fish, making videos to earn money, and sharing the profits. So she connected cameras with money-making: being filmed = earning money.
And she could earn money to feed her little kitten.
Chu Tingwu reached out her hand under the cat's belly, lifting her upper body, and meowed softly in her ear: We earned a lot, a whole lot...
So the calico crossed her paws and let out a dignified meow.
The system was also huffing and puffing on the side, ruining the atmosphere: "I've also earned a lot. In another half month, the APP should stop losing money."
The 365 Cat Census APP had been making small losses since its last update: they were helping drive traffic to self-service restaurants for stray cats, currently without charging fees. The system was using its "startup funds" and earned money to subsidize users exchanging paw coins for cat food. Of course, due to the small number of users, it could still maintain normal operations—the system prioritized using its own money, and as for the "startup funds" Chu Tingwu had shared with it, it checked them daily and then reinvested them.
Although it wasn't much in comparison, the investment didn't earn much either.
But the system was very proud—this was money the child had earned herself and shared with it. Did other systems have that? Other systems definitely didn't!
As for the reason, of course, it was because the APP had brought in long-term investments, and there seemed to be opportunities to make money:
"That human who wanted to kiss the kittens to death has been brought in for cooperation. The human government of this city seems to have decided to manage the kittens, and our APP appeared at just the right time... Is it because they want to promote the city and attract more tourists?"
Director Xin, Chief Zhuang, and Teacher Wang had also helped. When You Zhenzhen returns, she will probably excitedly tell Chu Tingwu that Zongding Group will invest. However, the system's focus wasn't on this. It was pondering:
They can invest so much money for tourism? Then can we get them to build another amusement park where humans and cats can play freely? Humans are cats too!
