Chu Tingwu wasn't actually a real kitten!
She had no choice but to lower her head and nuzzle the big cat's belly with her nose tip, then stand up, take two steps back, and continue calling "Mama" in a kitten's tone.
Three Five Five lay on the ground, looking at this suspiciously large cub. Finally, she seemed to make some decision—
The smoky gray tortoiseshell cat stepped closer to the human in front of her, wrapping her tail around her calf, then sprawled on top of her shoe.
This time, Chu Tingwu tried to pick her up. She didn't make any gesture of resistance, just raised her paw to bat at the human's hair.
Chu Tingwu looked at Hang Ling: "Can I adopt her?"
-
This was the first time that Little Sun Pet Hospital had adopted out an adult cat that was planned for release.
Once "release" was decided, it basically meant confirming that such cats couldn't live with humans... but this time they encountered an unexpected situation. Hang Ling had never seen this before, so she called the boss.
The owner of Little Sun Hospital quickly rushed over from the hospital. She was a tall middle-aged woman surnamed Yang.
"We don't recommend adopting cats meant for release. It's not that we're worried about humans hurting cats, but that such cats can easily hurt people and become stressed themselves," Sister Yang looked at Chu Tingwu holding Three Five Five. "However, I have seen this kind of situation before—"
It was a stray cat that had injured people before, but before becoming a stray, it was a pet cat. The original owner's family had abandoned the cat, and the owner had been searching for it. When found, the cat was no longer friendly to people, but the owner didn't give up. It took nearly half a year to rebuild their relationship before they could live normally together again.
Finally, Sister Yang made a decision: "Let's do this. Three Five Five's injuries haven't healed yet. She was caught on wire before and then infected after being soaked in dirty water during the rain. Come back to pick her up in half a month. If she's still willing to go with you then, we won't stop you."
Chu Tingwu had no objections, but...
"Meow!!—"
When Chu Tingwu was leaving, Three Five Five threw a fit.
She was like a mother who had lost her child for the second time. Even when Chu Tingwu put her down, she would follow step by step. When Chu Tingwu walked outside the iron gate, Three Five Five clearly became agitated.
This time, as soon as the iron gate closed, she started clawing at it while making hoarse cries.
The staff: "..."
Chu Tingwu had to come back, soothe her again in cat language, and then, urged by the system, she said to Sister Yang:
"Do you need volunteers here? I happen to be on summer break and can come help feed the cats."
Otherwise, after half a month, Three Five Five's claws might be worn down to nubs.
No one had anticipated this situation either—a cat meant for release suddenly becoming overly attached to a person, just like a pet cat raised from birth afraid of separation from its owner. Sister Yang thought for a moment:
"How about this: we have several cats that roam freely in the living room. You can come feed them and Three Five Five. The cats in the other two rooms have strong odors, so our original staff will handle those. If you come in the morning, we'll provide lunch... but it's just boxed meals, the same for everyone, so don't complain, okay?"
They couldn't pay wages; Chu Tingwu was completely underage labor at her age.
When Chu Tingwu got back on her bicycle, she suddenly thought of something: "System, is Three Five Five the most suitable cat mother?"
System: "Purely analyzing comprehensive abilities... no."
System: "But your 'Find Cat Mama' task is complete!"
Indeed, half a checkmark appeared next to the task in the system interface's task list.
Chu Tingwu: "?"
System: "I am the best Cub Raising System. If we simply used ability values to analyze suitability, that evaluation standard would be too mechanical—this smoky gray long-haired tortoiseshell may not be the best, but you like her. When you like her, she becomes the most suitable!"
The wind rippled the lake water, the fishing line swayed gently. Chu Tingwu discerned the human voices around her and the cat meows that were clearer among them. She said "Oh" and then: "I actually kind of like you sometimes too."
[Awww—]
Chu Tingwu: "I said only sometimes, sometimes... why are you crying now?"
-
After Chu Tingwu left, the staff at Little Sun Pet Hospital's rescue room didn't rest. First, they put Three Five Five in a cage, then Hang Ling started editing the video she had just filmed—
Although she didn't capture the initial scene of Chu Tingwu luring Three Five Five with kitten calls, she picked up her phone later and got quite a bit of footage... just not as convincing as the beginning would have been.
This is the era of the internet, where online traffic can be monetized, and cat rescue is very suitable video content.
Pure passion is hard to sustain long-term. Hang Ling was a local who had been following the local stray cats before graduation, so she knew about Little Sun Pet Hospital. But the hospital had always been quietly rescuing animals... just like many other hospitals. So Hang Ling came up with the idea of making videos to earn traffic.
She started working on public accounts and self-media after joining. However, there are many accounts filming cat rescue and care these days, and not many become hugely popular. Their account only has tens of thousands of followers now, with some fame in the local cat circle.
Fortunately, Sister Yang has always been very supportive, even though the account hasn't earned much money yet.
Hang Ling edited the video a bit and first posted it to the account's fan group. The group had over 800 people, including those they had helped before, current adopters, and fans who had donated and followed—
Usually, the photos and emojis in the group were all cats.
Hang Ling: [Everyone, our Three Five Five might be adopted. A very special little girl came, learned a few kitten calls, and Three Five Five seems to think she's her own child, constantly nuzzling and licking her, not letting the little girl leave.]
Hang Ling: [Here's the video #video link#]
She had discussed with Chu Tingwu before editing and agreed to blur her face. Chu Tingwu agreed.
As soon as the video was posted, it drew out many group members who were chatting. The entire video was only two minutes long. Two minutes later, the number of people speaking in the group immediately increased.
[Wow, I turned on the speaker, and that kitten voice attracted our fatty over. He keeps pawing at my phone looking for the kitten!]
[The little girl must have cats at home, right? I guess she picked up the scent of kittens, and the mother cat thought she was her own cub!]
[The before and after in this video hardly look like the same cat! Three Five Five was so fierce before. Although she doesn't airplane her ears when she sees people, you never know when she might scratch you. Didn't she scratch little Hang when feeding before? Wasn't she supposed to be released? If the little girl goes home without getting scratched, be careful her family doesn't come after you!]
Hang Ling compared the before and after while editing.
Long-haired tortoiseshells are considered beauties in the cat world. If it weren't for her unsuitable personality, she would have been adopted long ago. When Three Five Five was first rescued, she was both pitiful and fierce. The video included clips of her leaping to attack people, airplane-earing and hissing, picking locks to escape, and crashing into cages and windows. But later, Chu Tingwu used just two kitten calls to "transform" this cat into an affectionate one... The difference was truly stark.
Hang Ling: [Sister Yang is also very worried, so she didn't let her take the cat right away. Three Five Five's injuries haven't healed yet. The little girl said she would come every day to see her. If Three Five Five maintains this state in front of her, then we'll let her take her home.]
[Then little Hang, you should film more material!]
[Yeah, yeah, you can use her voice to lure big cats when you go out to catch them later.]
[I wanted to catch a mother cat in my neighborhood for adoption before. I searched for kitten sounds online, but that mother cat didn't respond to me at all. Now it seems cats are all very smart? Let me try this little girl's voice.]
[Why don't you just recruit the girl, little Hang? Let her help you catch cats. If it works every time, that's completely a vocal skill, no need for recordings, just come in person!]
Hang Ling laughed and scolded: [She's still underage!]
She uploaded the video to her account on the website and noticed an increase in comments both in the group chat and under the video. She then went on to attend to other matters.
Chu Tingwu had completed stage one of task one, and now she was busy... busy grocery shopping.
Surprisingly, this was also part of the "course."
The system was teaching her to make better food for her body... human-cat food.
Chu Tingwu: Do we really have to call it "human-cat"?
She bought a lot of ingredients, but with few leafy greens and many meat products. The system had high requirements for seasonings, so she was forced to examine the ingredient proportions of various seasonings in the supermarket, finally managing to pick up two jars.
[The taste of food is also very important, as it affects the cub's desire to eat. And you're from a species that has high standards for food flavor, so let's use this...]
It had initially wanted to cook by itself—if Chu Tingwu authorized it, the system could control nearby electronic devices—but this planet was too backward. There were no suitable culinary robots, and the ones that could barely be used were expensive and lacked precision control. It was better to let the host do it herself.
But the system felt extremely guilty!
It was bad enough to have a cat raise itself, but to make the cat cook three dishes and a soup? It wasn't a qualified system at all!
Chu Tingwu: "..."
Pretending she hadn't heard anything, she followed the system's guidance and made a meal... The difference from normal dishes was that all the ingredients in this pot were cut very soft and tender. It didn't look great, but the aroma of meat wafted through the air, and the few vegetables mixed in tasted refreshing.
Chu Tingwu couldn't resist trying a spoonful. Meanwhile, the system continued to generate other recipes in her mind, seemingly still unsatisfied. Clearly, it wasn't much of a raising system at the moment, but it could easily transition into a culinary system.
System: "I need some data to determine your preferred tastes!"
It also provided Chu Tingwu with a cat food recipe suitable for a 3-5-5 diet, which only adjusted some ingredient and seasoning proportions compared to her meal. It still smelled delicious, much more tempting than most cat food.
...Well, cat food isn't really meant to be tempting in the first place.
System: "The nutritional conditions are about right, no need for major changes."
Chu Tingwu: "Sounds like I'm much harder to raise than a cat."
That's right, humans are inherently very demanding animals.
The system said kindly: "You're a cub, after all. As a cub, cooking for mommy is already great if you can just make it edible!"
Your standards are ridiculously low.
While eating, Chu Tingwu opened her phone and naturally saw Hang Ling's video post in her friend circle. She followed the account and watched the video that featured herself as a semi-protagonist—
As her finger lightly swiped to refresh, a new comment was liked and rose to the top.
[Amazing! I've always wanted to catch the mother cat family in our neighborhood for adoption, but I could never lure them out no matter what. Those kitten cries and canned food tricks online didn't work at all! Today, out of frustration, I played this video, and the mother cat entered the cage!
The real cat cries online didn't trick her, but a human imitating a cat cry in the video actually worked! I used to think this mother cat was crafty, now I suspect she might be a bit silly...]!
