Cheng Luwei ultimately didn't find any cats willing to provide companionship services. Of course, Chu Tingwu explained that the cats were truly willing, with several cats happily showing him their bellies.
Cheng Luwei said, "But I don't really want to see 'Cheng Luwei steals cats' trending on social media..."
You can't exactly tell the owners that the cats volunteered!
Chu Tingwu shrugged, not seeming particularly disappointed.
After playing with Shikuai for a while, the actor surnamed Cheng and his assistant politely bid farewell to Teacher Zhang.
Sitting in the car, Cheng Luwei remarked to his assistant, "Teacher Chu... has quite an unusual way of thinking, doesn't she?"
She treats cats as independent beings, but she's not exactly advocating for cat independence. In her eyes, the relationship between cats and their owners is more like roommates - intimate yet maintaining boundaries.
Could understanding cat language really change someone's way of thinking this dramatically?
After Cheng Luwei left, Chu Tingwu said goodbye to her fans and ended the livestream.
Winter had arrived, but Fallen Phoenix City hadn't seen any snow. She and Aunt Mei cleaned up the dishes together, while shooing away Shikuai who was trying to "help."
Shikuai jumped away and then settled into a clean small bowl: "Meow?"
Chu Tingwu: "=="
She carried the bowl of cat into the living room, where she saw Teacher Zhang tilting her head slightly, as if listening to something.
Zhang Youyi smiled: "Your footsteps seem lighter?"
She could only hear Shikuai's soft purring, as Chu Tingwu's footsteps were almost inaudible.
But she still sensed the other's presence - because of the wind.
When the main door closed, letting in a bit of cold air, as someone approached, the wind created subtle changes. Though her eyes couldn't see, Zhang Youyi's world remained three-dimensional in her mind.
Chu Tingwu hadn't quite been able to empathize before, but now she could vaguely understand Zhang Youyi's perspective.
It was like what she "saw" when she closed her eyes and blocked her sense of smell.
[Name: Chu Tingwu]
[Species: Cat]
[Skills: Hearing lv1, Perception lv1, Vision lv3...]
Indeed, Chu Tingwu's vision skill had upgraded from lv2 to lv3 after a period of special training, but her hearing hadn't improved much, remaining at the level of "a self-sufficient blind person."
Zhang Youyi tilted her head again to listen: "Where's Three-Five-Five?"
She didn't seem to hear Three-Five-Five's movements.
Chu Tingwu explained resignedly: "Two cats got lost, Three-Five-Five is taking them home."
Cats are carefree, and so are their owners. Fortunately, Three-Five-Five was there to escort them back to wherever they had wandered from.
Chu Tingwu sank into the sofa. Aunt Mei came to mop the floor, asking her to lift her feet. Soon after, cat calls came from outside the window, one after another.
Chu Tingwu's ears twitched: Why did those sounds seem familiar?
Aunt Mei exclaimed, "Ah! Tingwu, please bring out the cat food that's warming in the pot."
When the door opened, two cats slipped in one after another, carefully wiping their paws on the doormat, appearing very polite.
It was the village tabby and the large orange cat that always followed her.
Chu Tingwu: "=o="
Judging by Aunt Mei's attitude, these two were already professional freeloaders!
Somehow... she felt the embarrassment of someone who had brought their entire family over to mooch off others.
The tabby showed no awareness of the human's embarrassment. After Aunt Mei helped clean her paws, she skillfully jumped onto the sofa, nestling her head on Teacher Zhang's lap while draping her tail across Chu Tingwu's leg, giving a "meow" in greeting.
Teacher Zhang smiled: "Meow?"
The cat said the wind was strong and her paws were cold. The human asked if it was really that cold and offered to feel.
Their meaningless chatter bubbled up like air bubbles in hot soup, popping in the atmosphere.
Chu Tingwu rubbed her nose and joined in with some meows, while giving the tabby's hind leg a squeeze: she had gotten a bit fat, clearly not starving at all.
Teacher Zhang's cat language skills had become quite good. She had started learning from basic conversations, though because cats often created their own vocabulary, there was never enough vocabulary to learn.
And since Chu Tingwu was the only authority and bridge for communication, the learning progress often depended on whether Chu Tingwu had spare time after classes - of course, Teacher Zhang wasn't trying to become some authority on cat language either, both teacher and student were very laid-back about it.
At least now, she had almost no major obstacles in communicating with familiar cats. With unfamiliar cats, she could also detect the emotions and attitudes in their language, just not understanding the specific content.
None of them planned to stay up for New Year's Eve. Teacher Zhang was used to going to bed early, but before sleeping, she remembered something: "Oh right, I brought you a gift."
A souvenir from her travels had now conveniently become Chu Tingwu's New Year's gift.
Chu Tingwu tried to recall where Teacher Zhang and the others had traveled: wasn't it the grasslands? Could it be cheese sticks... or something similar?
Aunt Mei brought out a black and gold longboard from the storage room.
Chu Tingwu: "...Eh?"
Were skateboards a specialty of the grasslands?
Zhang Youyi laughed, "I never said it had to be a local specialty."
She had just thought the young girl seemed to enjoy sports, so she bought this for her.
Chu Tingwu had never tried skateboarding before, but she still liked it - people who are good at sports inevitably enjoy them because it's easier to gain a sense of achievement, and she was no different.
However, when Chu Tingwu glanced at the storage room, Aunt Mei promptly brought out two more small skateboards - apparently custom-made? One for Shikuai, and a slightly larger one for Three-Five-Five.
So they hadn't just brought gifts for people, but for the cats who had stayed behind as well.
The orange cat had finished eating and came over to rub against the house owner's hand before finding a warm corner to doze off. The tabby glanced at the skateboard, licked her nose, and looked away uninterestedly.
But Shikuai quickly rushed over, meowing to ask Aunt Mei to put the skateboard on the wooden floor where there was no carpet.
Then, Aunt Mei tied a rope to it and walked Shikuai around the living room.
Shikuai lay on the skateboard, and when it stopped moving, he would reach out his paws to scratch the floor a couple of times, then meow at Aunt Mei.
Chu Tingwu: "...Let me do it."
Although Aunt Mei wasn't old, it was still tiring to play with cats like this constantly.
Chu Tingwu flipped over from the sofa and started unpacking her own skateboard. After trying for a while, she quickly got the hang of it... or rather, got her feet on it.
After sliding back and forth indoors a few times, she easily mastered the balance, able to start and stop steadily - as for more technical moves, there wasn't enough space indoors, and she hadn't had time to learn them yet.
Aunt Mei raised an eyebrow and stepped back as Chu Tingwu smiled at Shikuai.
She aligned her large skateboard parallel with the small one where the cat was lying, and after pushing off the ground to get the boards moving, Chu Tingwu quickly switched feet, one foot on her own board and the other foot on the edge of the cat's skateboard.
With the initial momentum, both boards started moving simultaneously.
Shikuai: "Meow meow meow!"
He stood on all fours on the skateboard, excitedly standing up and puffing out his chest while meowing at what lay ahead.
While the living room was large for a cat, in reality, they would reach the wall in just a few seconds. Chu Tingwu pulled back her foot, stopping her own board.
The small skateboard that Shikuai was riding continued forward until the front of the board went "duang" against the wall.
Just before the collision, Shikuai reluctantly jumped off, looking bewildered at the wall and then at Chu Tingwu who hadn't crashed, seemingly wondering if there was something wrong with his skateboard.
Chu Tingwu: "..."
Chu Tingwu turned her head away: "Pfft."
Shikuai: "Meow!"
Although he hadn't grown bigger, Shikuai was already two years old, not the silly one-and-a-half-year-old kitten anymore. He could tell! Chu Tingwu did it on purpose! That naughty cat kid!
Three-Five-Five had just returned from escorting the cats home. After entering and shaking his fur, he greeted all the cats and humans in the house, then pushed his head under Chu Tingwu's hand, glancing at Shikuai: "?"
Though it was just a look without any words, all the cats could understand. Three-Five-Five was clearly asking: Did you bully my kid?
Wu Classmate was curled up in a bird's nest beside the cat tree, and at this moment poked out his head to let out a "caw" at Shikuai.
Chu Tingwu: I suspect you're talking bad about me.
Instead of continuing to play with the kitten, she took out the charging equipment from the packaging box—
All three skateboards could actually be charged. The customized skateboard for cats could be controlled via an APP for speed and direction, essentially functioning like a remote-controlled toy car in skateboard form. The human skateboard could track mileage through the APP. They had been using a rope to play with it before only because Shikuai enjoyed being the center of human attention.
Just like a little child, sitting on the skateboard while meowing, saying things like "look at me, look at me."
Chu Tingwu tried to help Aunt Mei clean up but was shooed out of the kitchen. She had no choice but to occupy the living room, playing with a group of cats as a fine layer of snow drifted onto the windows.
The sleeping orange cat also woke up and joined them on the electric skateboard. The crow flew down to drink water on the coffee table. Zhang Youyi's hand rested on the coffee table, and it hopped around near her wrist, its soft feathers occasionally brushing against the elderly woman's fingertips.
Zhang Youyi: "Is it snowing outside?"
The crow "meowed" and turned its head as well.
The wind and snow were kept outside by the walls, with only a layer of white accumulating on the window edges. Chu Tingwu sat on the skateboard, squinting at the window.
This posture and perspective made her feel like she had become a child again, watching the fine snow falling to the ground.
Her mood was unusually peaceful, wearing a smile she wasn't even aware of: "Yes, it's snowing outside."
She supported herself with her palms on the ground, could hear the skateboard wheels making slight movements due to her weight, creating subtle friction sounds against the floor. A car passed by in the distance, its wheels rolling over a thin layer of snow before coming to an abrupt stop.
The moment the snow was compressed, the "crunch" sound was both soft and loud, seeming to explode next to Chu Tingwu's ear, yet not chaotic—
At this moment, her back instinctively arched, wanting to jump away lightly, but rationality suppressed this urge.
She heard the sound of a paw stepping into the snow.
It was a startled dog.
At this time, Three-Five-Five lifted its paw and tapped the ground, as if unconsciously—but Chu Tingwu suddenly understood why this action occurred: vibration, animals could sense vibrations that humans couldn't detect, it was both a sensation and a type of sound. This paw-lifting motion released the tingling and meaningless vibration sensation.
[Your Hearing Level 1 has upgraded to Hearing Level 2]
[Your Perception Level 1 has upgraded to Perception Level 2]
Chu Tingwu completed a deep breath.
Her enhanced hearing returned to calmness, her ears instinctively capturing information brought by her hearing, while her brain deleted the meaningless parts, and so those whispers, snow turning to ice, became the background sounds of this world.
All this happened in just five seconds, her movements hadn't changed much, only her eyes curved slightly as she raised her hand backward—
Precisely catching Shikuai who was trying to sneak attack her.
Shikuai: "Meow—"
How annoying!
Chu Tingwu grabbed Shikuai and stroked against his fur several times, successfully making the black cat look completely done with life. As soon as he escaped, he ran to the top of the cat tree to groom himself.
—He probably thought Chu Tingwu couldn't catch him at that height.
After both human and cats had made quite a commotion, Aunt Mei came to send Chu Tingwu to bed: "Teacher Zhang's students will probably come to pay New Year visits tomorrow morning, just address them according to age. If you don't want to meet them, you can stay upstairs and play by yourself."
Chu Tingwu's guest room was on the second floor, next to Teacher Zhang's room.
She had been staying at Teacher Zhang's house during these holiday days, spending the New Year with them. After all, it was just a few days, and there was no need to specially clean up her own house that she hadn't lived in for several months—Chu Tingwu had only lit incense for her ancestors before coming.
When she went upstairs, several cats followed her up the stairs. Shikuai followed all the way to the door, looked at it, and then realized something was wrong.
Chu Tingwu: "=="
She pointed to next door.
Aunt Mei couldn't help but laugh, patted Shikuai's head, and said to Chu Tingwu: "Happy New Year."
Teacher Zhang also smiled: "Happy New Year."
Chu Tingwu: "..."
Her eyes curved: "Happy New Year."
Far and near, quiet and noisy... various fireworks bloomed, their sounds playing a magnificent symphony in her mind, and then the various colored lights reflected on the windows, like inherent gorgeous patterns.
The new year was about to begin.
The tabby cat circled around the room, then went downstairs to find the orange cat to share a cat bed. Three-Five-Five jumped onto the bed, raised its paw to pat the unfamiliar-smelling blanket a couple of times. Chu Tingwu hugged her and reached under the pillow to take out a red envelope.
The red envelope was thick, clearly Teacher Zhang and Aunt Mei had put in quite a bit.
"I should give Shikuai a red envelope tomorrow," she thought.
She was the younger generation, so red envelopes should only be given to the younger ones... well, wasn't Shikuai considered part of Teacher Zhang's younger generation?
Two-year-old cat Shikuai: "Achoo!"
-
Chu Tingwu had always maintained healthy sleeping habits. With Three-Five-Five pressing against her pillow, listening to familiar breathing sounds, she quickly began to feel drowsy.
The fireworks outside continued non-stop, but she wasn't bothered at all. The sleepiness lasted for just a moment before the familiar sense of alertness returned—
Chu Tingwu opened her eyes.
She pondered thoughtfully: "Is today's classroom scene taken from a Chinese horror game?"
Why else would there be red decorations everywhere in this classical-style room... a "Fu" character decoration hanging on the door, swaying back and forth, candles lit all around, but instead of festivity, there was only a somewhat strange eeriness.
If Chu Tingwu wasn't already familiar with this feeling of entering the dream classroom, she might have thought she had transported into a horror game.
System: "?"
The system was shocked: "There's no class today."
It would be too much to make the little cat take classes when all humans were on holiday, wouldn't it?
It had just referenced some "Spring Festival interior decoration images" from the internet, renovating the virtual space to match the holiday atmosphere.
As for the room itself—hadn't the little one mentioned liking the ancient-style song and dance program set from the "Spring Festival Gala" she watched earlier? This was just the complete version of that set.
After hearing the explanation, Chu Tingwu: "=="
Good job with the decoration, but let's not do it again.
After having the system revert the space back to its original living room style with sofas, Chu Tingwu spent some time with the system choosing decorations, putting "Fu" characters on the walls, hanging a small red lantern under the table lamp, and placing miniature Spring Festival couplets on the square surface of the lamp.
In the bright space, adding a few red decorations instantly made the atmosphere feel festive.
Chu Tingwu: "We can tear them off after the Spring Festival."
System: "Oh!"
—The little one only said they could be torn off, not that they had to be! It could completely replicate an identical original space and secretly preserve this space that the little one had decorated.
For some reason, even though it was all data with just slight differences... the system felt that this was different.
However, after deciding to secretly preserve it, the system played a projection for Chu Tingwu: "Look, little one, this is my New Year's gift for you!"
Humans are great, they always have festivals, so they can often prepare various gifts!
Although it's all about giving things, when items are given the meaning of "gifts," humans seem to become happier... the system was secretly learning these things.
Chu Tingwu stared at the building in the screen for a while: "Is this that hospital?"
"Yes," the system said profoundly, "I asked online, and they said giving hospitals as birthday gifts is not auspicious."
So it's best to give it during New Year! They say New Year is the most prosperous time of the year, capable of diluting all negative connotations - even broken items symbolize peace year after year, and sweeping with a broom can sweep away bad luck. Although the system couldn't prove the scientific validity of these beliefs even after running eight processors, it didn't matter that it couldn't be proven - at least the little one was smiling happily now.
Chu Tingwu: "Alright, I can guess how you asked."
[May I politely inquire if I can gift my child a private hospital for her birthday?]
-- Goodness! Why not just give her an island instead, put the hospital on it, add three yachts, and throw in a private aircraft landing pad too! That's how I equipped it in my game.
[Thank you for the suggestion, but I've already bought the hospital, not on an island. I'll consider the island based on the child's wishes. May I ask what game you were playing? I'd like to use it as a reference.]
-- Wait... I was just joking, are you serious? Then I suggest not giving it as a birthday gift, it's not very auspicious. Actually, it's not very auspicious any day of the year. But you can give it to me, fortune tellers say I have good luck all 365 days!
-- OP, where are you?
-- OP?
The original poster intensively studied Chinese traditional folk customs and quickly determined that New Year's Eve would be the best time.
However, it thought it could still consult a "fortune teller," to which Chu Tingwu responded: "Don't be superstitious =_="
System: "Okay!"
That means for the little one, all 365 days are auspicious!
What the system showed Chu Tingwu was a three-dimensional image of the hospital, seemingly not a real scene but a projection simulated by the system. However, the system asked: "Would you like to go see it?"
Chu Tingwu thought it meant entering this simulated projection - just like the previous cat rescue simulation - so she nodded: "Sure."
When receiving a gift, one should naturally see it in person, praise it, and express their appreciation.
Moreover, she genuinely liked it.
Even though she didn't need it at the moment, such feelings had nothing to do with the item itself.
The surrounding environment shattered, and both space and Chu Tingwu herself seemed to sway slightly. Then, she felt her perspective become lower.
At the same time, at Jiao Mountain Orthopedic Hospital in Guman City, executive secretary Lian Tong took out his phone and saw a new message from that mysterious boss.
[Put the machine I sent earlier at the entrance.]
Lian Tong: "..."
Alright.
He solemnly retrieved a... robot vacuum cleaner from his office.
-
Jiao Mountain Orthopedic Hospital was a private hospital, built on the hillside of Jiao Mountain. It was originally a private sanatorium before being converted into an orthopedic hospital.
However, the hospital's ranking in orthopedics wasn't high; instead, it had gained some reputation in general surgery, with patients flying in from all over the country specifically for hemorrhoid treatment.
But the hospital had been continuously investing in the orthopedic laboratory. Previously, funding was stable, but recently, a shareholder experienced business problems and sold their shares.
Soon after, the shareholder who bought those shares began acquiring shares from other shareholders. After gaining complete control, they promoted Lian Tong from the secretariat and began implementing a series of reforms.
...In simple terms, the orthopedic laboratory received more research funding.
Lian Tong: "?"
Although he executed the boss's orders efficiently, he wasn't optimistic about the hospital's future.
Shouldn't they completely shift towards general surgery, maybe even change the name?
But this was a private hospital, and the major shareholder held absolute authority. Lian Tong was only responsible for execution - other shareholders even tried to probe him about this major shareholder's identity, but Lian Tong said he had never met them, though the other shareholders didn't believe him.
Lian Tong: "..." He really hadn't met them, he didn't even know the boss's gender!
But from their communications, he discovered that the boss had a somewhat cold personality and rarely discussed personal matters, never engaging in casual small talk about life. However, the boss clearly had plans - when instructing Lian Tong to eliminate certain departments and people, the evidence was always meticulously detailed... This made Lian Tong suspect that the boss also had detailed information about him, making him even more cautious.
It wasn't until before the New Year that Lian Tong learned a bit of personal information about the boss - apparently, the boss had a daughter.
This hospital was bought for the daughter, as a surprise for the precious child.
Lian Tong: You rich people...
Perhaps the young miss studied medicine? He speculated that she was probably still in university, or pursuing a master's or doctorate degree. In any case, she temporarily couldn't manage the hospital's affairs but would eventually take over.
He also suspected that those somewhat outrageous funding orders might have been the young miss's requests.
Of course, he kept these speculations to himself, and then received new orders from the boss: to establish a private medical team, primarily focused on orthopedics, one that could mobilize for the young miss at any time.
Lian Tong: You rich people...........
But why would they need to mobilize for the young miss? This wasn't ancient times where doctors traveled around making house calls. Doctors stayed in their hospitals, occasionally going out only for emergency surgeries, right?
[Because my little one loves extreme sports.]
Lian Tong: "?"
So it was about having 24-hour readiness to treat the young miss's bones!
He slapped his forehead, silently deciding not to make random assumptions anymore. Anyway, the laboratory was busy spending funds, the private medical team was still being organized and vetted... The rooftop helipad had already been built, but Lian Tong went up to check every day and still hadn't seen a single helicopter.
Until a few days ago, when the boss sent... a robot vacuum cleaner?
It looked like a robot vacuum cleaner, but not entirely -
Lian Tong could tell it had been modified from a robot vacuum cleaner template, equipped with front-view cameras and omnidirectional wheels for climbing stairs, along with other things he didn't understand.
These days, even toys costing a few dozen yuan came with obstacle avoidance systems, so what was strange about the boss enjoying modifying robot vacuum cleaners and controlling them to tour the hospital?
He didn't know what the boss's ultimate purpose was. Recently, the hospital had renovated its surveillance system, apparently adding some AI intelligence to the main monitoring system, which was being implemented throughout the hospital.
After touring with the robot vacuum cleaner, the boss had them continue modifications, adding several more surveillance points.
At such times, Lian Tong usually had to accompany the whole process. Today, although it was New Year's Eve, high-level workers could forgo holidays for the sake of money. At one in the morning, he calmly crawled out of bed and personally carried that robot vacuum cleaner to the hospital's main entrance.
But unlike before, a ring of light around the robot vacuum cleaner flashed joyfully.
...How could he perceive "joy" from a machine?
The front-view camera mounted on the support rod was foldable, now automatically opening, and then the robot vacuum cleaner's disc projected... a cat?
A kitten whose fur color kept changing.
[Choose this one! There's no cat in the world with this color!]
As the world's only human-cat, shouldn't the color be more unique?
Chu Tingwu: "=="
Of course there wouldn't be purple cats in this world.
Yes, from Lian Tong's perspective, it was the boss demanding meticulous and strange modifications, constantly adjusting the positions of surveillance cameras. But in reality, the system was simultaneously connecting all devices, creating a way for Chu Tingwu to "unwrap her gift" as if she were physically present, despite being far away.
Letting Chu Tingwu see the world without blind spots, as if she had truly arrived in Guman City.
Because it knew Chu Tingwu had decided to spend the New Year in Fallen Phoenix City, it never mentioned having her visit in person, even though all the modifications cost far more than a plane ticket to Guman City.
Then, in the dream, it let her descend into reality -
In the form of a "little cat."
After all, the little one didn't like being too flashy.
Chu Tingwu settled on a color, able to see herself appearing as a projected kitten on the robot vacuum cleaner.
She noticed the people around her, and even ordinary people appeared very tall. Instinct made Chu Tingwu restless, wanting to jump directly onto the shoulders of nearby humans to gain a better view, but she held herself back.
—And due to the projection range limitations, she couldn't leave the robot.
Then, Lian Tong saw this sleek, bright-eyed little cat stand upright, supporting herself with her front paws on the pole in front, looking left and right before pointing forward with her paw.
The cleaning robot immediately started moving with a whoosh.
Lian Tong, left behind: "..."
You rich people are truly amazing.
