[Move to this height.]
[Move left to this mark.]
[Place it on the desk.]
[Give a greeting.]
At the front desk of Jiao Mountain Orthopedic Rehabilitation Center, the receptionist looked at Lian Tong and greeted him: "Secretary Lian?"
Lian Tong looked back at her, opened his mouth, and said: "Good evening."
Receptionist: "..." Not good at all.
Working the night shift and suddenly seeing the executive department head and boss's personal secretary appear was quite startling, wasn't it?
Moreover, this secretary had his coat open, with a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, looking somewhat disheveled, carrying—no, more like "lugging"—after all, the cleaning robot did look very heavy.
The receptionist watched as the cleaning robot climbed up two steps using the accessibility ramp outside the door, with Secretary Lian following behind, making its way to the front desk area, where the cleaning robot then made a turn.
The small cat projection on top also turned halfway, lifted its head, and suddenly let out a "meow."
Then, a series of "commands" appeared next to the projection.
Secretary Lian hurriedly lifted the cleaning robot onto the counter, and then... gave his greeting.
Receptionist: This scene gave her the strange impression that Secretary Lian was actually being controlled by a small cat.
Of course, she realized that the commands must be coming from that mysterious "boss."
After all, with the change in major shareholders, everyone in the hospital had discussed that boss in private.
A private hospital was more like a company wearing a hospital's shell—they were concerned about the hospital's future development, but fortunately, the new boss had only kicked out a few greedy rats from the hospital, without implementing any drastic reforms, and had even increased basic benefits.
It was just that this hobby of tinkering with surveillance was a bit strange.
The projected cat softly "meowed" once, and the receptionist snapped back to attention, hurriedly putting on a smile for the little cat:
It seemed like the boss was just controlling the cleaning robot to wander around the hospital, but in essence, this was an inspection, just without the person being physically present.
But she couldn't exactly call a cat "boss," could she? Something felt off about that, it seemed ridiculous. Then, should she call it "Kitty"? Would that seem disrespectful? In the end, the receptionist could only maintain her professional smile.
The light screen representing "commands" changed again, displaying a line of text:
[Happy New Year!]
The little cat tilted its head.
The receptionist started: "Ah, Happy New Year to you too!"
Even knowing it was just a festive greeting, seeing it still made her feel better... showing that the boss wasn't so inhuman after all.
Lian Tong looked at the notification on his phone: "All staff working during the New Year will receive an additional 50% holiday pay. The boss hopes everyone can have a happy New Year."
Receptionist: How could anyone call the boss a monster? They're clearly a good person!
She smiled as she watched the cleaning robot carrying the little cat leave, thinking that its round silhouette and bobbing little ears looked particularly adorable.
The projection technology was really impressive; the projected cat was especially lifelike, its eyes so realistic that the receptionist almost thought it was a real cat. But the non-existent fur color and semi-transparent quality reminded her that this was just a projection.
Chu Tingwu had toured most of the hospital before finally arriving at the Orthopedic Rehabilitation Center.
The Jiao Mountain Hospital's Orthopedic Rehabilitation Center once had the best orthopedic doctors, which was why this hospital became an orthopedic hospital. But after that doctor passed away, their students were either poached by other hospitals or only excelled in theoretical research, and the rehabilitation center gradually turned into a convalescent home.
The patients staying here weren't here for surgery, but rather for post-operative recovery, or simply because they felt unwell and came for a period of specialized care.
So they had one thing in common: they weren't short on money.
But Jiao Mountain Hospital hadn't lost out, because when they initially built the Orthopedic Rehabilitation Center, they had also purchased a large plot of surrounding land.
Now the land value had skyrocketed, earning back the money spent on building the rehabilitation center.
Lian Tong, following behind the cleaning robot, suddenly noticed the light coming on next door.
—That was the operating room, currently unused, with its lighting system connected to the central control system.
Just as Lian Tong was about to turn off the lights, he saw the cleaning robot enter and make a round, its speed varying between fast and slow, with the little cat's gaze above following along, as if truly touring the facility.
Lian Tong: "..."
So you were the one who turned on the lights.
Sure enough, as the cat-robot left the operating room, the lights automatically turned off, completely ignoring the living person still inside who hadn't followed them out.
Lian Tong wiped his sweat and quietly walked out.
Due to sufficient investment, all the surgical equipment here was new, and every year they would pay high fees to invite orthopedic experts from other places to perform teaching surgeries. Jiao Mountain's doctors would observe from the adjacent observation room, studying and discussing.
The rehabilitation center also had a large conference room that would be filled with people after each surgery.
As Lian Tong was reminiscing, he received another message from the boss, asking him to arrange such a teaching surgery on a holiday as usual.
However, there was one small requirement for the surgery subject—it had to be an extreme sports athlete.
Lian Tong: "=_="
He understood—the young miss would be watching from the observation room, right?
Previously, the patients were brought by the invited orthopedic experts, each expert having dozens of patients, but this time the boss had no specific requirements for the expert, only for the patient's identity... Lian Tong thought of a solution.
He consulted with the boss and quickly made a decision:
They would actively seek out an extreme sports athlete who needed orthopedic surgery, then invite experts to Jiao Mountain for consultation.
Of course, this would be more expensive than inviting a single expert, and they probably wouldn't charge the athlete for treatment.
Finally, the cleaning robot took the elevator up to the helipad on the roof.
Lian Tong followed behind, and as he looked up, he first saw a hint of brightness at the horizon.
...Had they come to watch the sunrise?
The sun was mostly hidden behind Jiao Mountain, and the distant city was covered in a light blue-gray haze, but the morning air was fresh and pleasant. Lian Tong took a deep breath, a faint smile on his lips, and looked down—
He saw the cleaning robot suddenly zoom forward, projecting a long, skateboard-shaped virtual image on the ground.
Lian Tong: "?"
The kitten stood on all fours, occasionally on two legs, the skateboard whooshing back and forth, changing with speed and direction, the cat's fur even seeming to flutter in the wind... but you're just a projection! You're not even a real cat!
You're not really skateboarding either, isn't this just like playing with a remote-control toy car?
On this New Year's morning, Lian Tong, who had worked diligently all night, faced the mountain breeze and silently took out his phone to take a photo:
He wanted to use this photo to document this surreal night.
-
Chu Tingwu had a very good sleep.
Her mind remained active, but her body rested all night, so every night was like having a lucid dream.
However, this time when she woke up, she lay in bed spacing out for a while—
She probably wasn't too clear-headed last night either.
Because the system had insisted on letting her play with the projection skateboard, and she had agreed.
But thinking back now, what was the difference between her and the ten-yuan note crouching on the electric skateboard yesterday? Had the system thought "if the ten-yuan note can have one, my little one should have one too"?
"Happy New Year," Chu Tingwu sat on the bed facing the wall, emphasizing, "It's a new year, I'm sixteen now."
She had grown up!
System: "Great! My little one is so amazing!"
Chu Tingwu: "=="
Don't act like "growing a year older must have been so hard for you"!
After washing up and going downstairs, she found that Three-Five-Five was indeed already downstairs, with several cats doing parkour in the courtyard, while Teacher Zhang was... playing with the skateboard's remote control.
The snow hadn't been heavy, only accumulating a layer on the treetops, and the ground had already been swept clear. The cats took turns jumping onto the moving skateboard, occasionally letting out a "meow" or "yowl."
Three-Five-Five crouched nearby, staring straight ahead, appearing completely uninterested.
Chu Tingwu noticed that when Aunt Mei brought her a bowl of porridge, the cat on the skateboard had turned into Three-Five-Five.
Aunt Mei said, "Before you came down, Three-Five-Five played the most. None of the other cats could compete with her."
After all, she was the biggest one.
Chu Tingwu took a sip of porridge. "...Mm."
Three-Five-Five was quite lively. Though she appeared composed usually, she was only three and a half years old.
Chu Tingwu and Aunt Mei sat at the dining table watching the cats play until the sun came out, when guests arrived.
Teacher Wang came with his wife and children - a family of four visiting for New Year's greetings.
In Fallen Phoenix City, only very close relatives would visit on the first day of the New Year.
In the past, even Chu Tingwu's biological father would come on the second day of the New Year, as he had to receive other visitors at his home on the first day.
Perhaps because Teacher Zhang had no living relatives, her students were like her children. It was said that many students would visit every year, and Teacher Wang, living nearby, always came first.
Some students from other provinces would drive over, with New Year visits continuing until the seventh day.
Although Chu Tingwu and several cats were new additions to the household, everything seemed normal until they tried to give Chu Tingwu red envelopes when leaving.
She waved her hands saying it wasn't necessary, but Teacher Wang's wife, thinking she was just being polite, smiled and tried to insist - then Chu Tingwu jumped to the top of the cat tree and sat there, protecting her pockets with both hands.
Everyone: "..."
At that height, they couldn't reach her - no need to guard the pockets anymore.
Teacher Zhang hadn't noticed at first, only feeling a gust of wind rush past, but learned what happened from the ten complaining meows, and burst out laughing.
In the end, the red envelope was still left behind.
...Though they couldn't catch Chu Tingwu, the couple tucked the red envelope into Three-Five-Five's red bib.
Three-Five-Five, not understanding the significance of the red envelope, just gave a calm "meow," skillfully avoiding the humans trying to hug and kiss her, and ran to drink water by her bowl.
Clearly, other students coming to visit today would likely treat Chu Tingwu as Teacher Zhang's junior and prepare red envelopes for her.
Being sixteen made no difference - it was still the perfect age for receiving red envelopes.
Chu Tingwu was still uncomfortable with such situations. She grabbed Three-Five-Five and her skateboard, called out "I'm going out to play!" to Teacher Zhang, and left.
Her movements resembled an escape.
-
Chu Tingwu did indeed go out to "play."
The snow on the ground had melted in the sun, leaving only a wet layer. She found an indoor badminton court that was open to practice skateboarding.
On such a day, there was nobody inside. Chu Tingwu stood in the center of the court, put on her blindfold, and stepped onto the skateboard.
The person at the front desk was the owner's daughter, who had come to open the place purely to escape cleaning duties at home, never expecting any actual customers.
She glanced outside at this moment, figured no one else would come, and peered over to see what Chu Tingwu was doing—
The little girl had even brought a cat; wouldn't it damage the nets?
Chu Tingwu had her back to her, left foot on the board, and used her right foot to give herself some momentum to slowly glide forward.
Three-Five-Five trotted alongside, tilting her head to observe the rolling wheels.
In complete darkness, Chu Tingwu actually sensed the gaze from behind, and besides that, she could hear the surveillance cameras running, the indoor air conditioning, and the sound of cat paws hitting the ground... Compared to these, the sound of the wheels was closest and clearest, as if pulsing right by her ears.
She rode the skateboard forward, but couldn't resist jumping off again.
If she were walking normally with her eyes covered, Chu Tingwu would bet she wouldn't bump into anything, as long as it was moving. Or if she herself was moving and making sounds... such sounds would collide in space, creating a clear three-dimensional image in her mind.
But standing on the skateboard was different. The wheel sounds were steady, their echoes consistent, so in Chu Tingwu's mind, she could only "see" the skateboard and the ground below, while everything higher up became very blurry.
Chu Tingwu understood: "So my 'hearing'... includes both analyzing the sounds themselves and analyzing the reflected sound waves."
She got back on the skateboard and covered her eyes again.
[Hearing lv2] seemed to have hit a bottleneck period. Once her hearing reached lv3, her perception skill would probably also loosen up and improve to lv3 overall.
So, she actively weakened her hearing ability using external means.
Chu Tingwu started playing with the skateboard—
Specifically, she would jump on and ride for a bit, then hop off, all basic techniques, and without Three-Five-Five's warning, she almost crashed into the side net.
The owner's daughter thought: "...Really a beginner, huh?"
She shook her head and went back to playing with her phone.
Meanwhile, Chu Tingwu had gotten familiar with the basic moves and started "messing around."
Skateboarding is a sport with both high floor and ceiling - ordinary people can manage to ride a bit, while professional athletes can perform more intricate tricks. If Chu Tingwu wanted to learn, the system could provide her with a complete tutorial at any time, but right now she was a novice having fun exploring skateboard movements on her own.
Naturally, the system wouldn't interrupt the child's enthusiasm by throwing out standard tutorials.
Chu Tingwu quickly discovered she could use her right foot at the back to step on the tail of the board, lifting it up to "brake," and her left foot didn't need to leave the board - as long as she maintained balance, she could stay stable in place with this move.
And she happened to be very good at maintaining balance.
After learning to brake, Chu Tingwu looked less awkward, and she soon started zipping around the court on the skateboard.
After getting caught by the badminton net again, Chu Tingwu began trying to bend backward on the skateboard.
She then discovered that different movements would affect the skateboard's speed, and she could turn by shifting her center of gravity.
Changing her center of gravity could also let the skateboard replace her feet, completing movements similar to "walking."
Of course, this negated the speed advantage of the skateboard itself.
However, with the impact sounds of the "walking" movement on the ground, the "three-dimensional space" reappeared in Chu Tingwu's mind.
Indeed, she had kept her eyes covered this whole time.
Then, Chu Tingwu began trying jumps, and how to keep the skateboard with her feet while jumping... she discovered this seemed to also relate to center of gravity and balance.
When landing, Chu Tingwu instinctively bent her knees to absorb the impact, everything flowing naturally as if she had done it many times before.
She started trying more jumps.
Gliding, turning, jumping, stopping - no matter how many directions and categories you break it down into, skateboarding essentially consists of these four movements. Chu Tingwu tried connecting various moves together, making the transitions smoother, letting the skateboard become almost an extension of her legs, like shoes—
Her feet touched the ground, her steps had varying weights, producing different sounds.
Standing on the skateboard, as her center of gravity shifted and movements changed, the wheels collided with the floor, making sounds both different and similar, but the distinctions began forming a song of her own creation in Chu Tingwu's mind.
Bang, bang-bang, bang...
She stopped the board upright, removed her blindfold, and wiped the light sweat from her forehead.
"Skateboarding... is really fun," Chu Tingwu thought, "just that the venue is a bit small."
She guessed her lv2 hearing skill had improved another segment, knowing without looking that her experience points had increased. She could feel her skin slightly warming up, and an urge to keep skating lingered in her heart.
In reality, Chu Tingwu also experienced this impulse during parkour. The first time she performed parkour, the first time she leaped to heights that untrained individuals couldn't reach, she felt an urge to keep going, to keep moving forward... to run endlessly.
But back then, she chose to suppress it.
Later, Chu Tingwu came to understand that this impulse was called "I like it."
She stepped onto her board, and just as the receptionist was leading a new guest in, she caught a glimpse of this "newbie," who seemed to be nearing her time limit. Should she renew her session?
The receptionist waved at Chu Tingwu, only to see the young girl turn her head to call out to her cat, put on a black blindfold, and give her a smile.
Then, the girl glided past her on her skateboard, executing a perfect ollie and a 180-degree kickflip as she exited the door—jumping and effortlessly changing her direction.
Receptionist: "……?!”
The guest was still a bit bewildered, instinctively turning to look as well. Upon realizing that Chu Tingwu never dismounted her board, gliding out the door so naturally and even using her skateboard to descend the steps, the two exchanged a glance: "Does her blindfold... let light through?"
But even if it did, wearing a black blindfold couldn't possibly allow her to skate normally, right?
The guest was merely surprised, while the receptionist was completely baffled: She still remembered how clumsy Chu Tingwu was when she first arrived... Wait, was she really that clumsy? This young girl, although she did bump into things while skating, it seemed she never actually fell off her board from start to finish?
She must be an old hand, just here to practice blindfolded skating!
-
Although she could already accelerate, Chu Tingwu didn't skate too fast. Upon reaching a place with traffic, she removed her blindfold.
Three-Five-Five also crouched by her feet, waiting for the traffic light with her.
However, after the green light, Chu Tingwu still didn't move. She looked at a nearby building, and a seasoned parkour enthusiast's mind had already started simulating how to parkour her way home—
"Three-Five-Five," Chu Tingwu tapped her board, "Want to come up?"
The tortoiseshell cat leaped onto the skateboard, causing it to sink slightly.
Chu Tingwu skated across the road with the cat, and when she looked down, she saw that Three-Five-Five's eyes were also sparkling: the cat found it amusing too.
Cat paws couldn't perform the ollie, but Chu Tingwu could let Three-Five-Five crouch on the board while she jumped—just like adding weight.
But as soon as she jumped, she immediately sensed something was off. Three-Five-Five let out a surprised and short "meow," the sudden feeling of weightlessness making the cat tense.
Chu Tingwu felt her balance disrupted for the first time. Although she successfully landed on the board, the sound was like suddenly sawing a piece of wood while playing the violin.
She almost stumbled and fell for the first time—
In that split second of leaning backward, she grabbed the railing beside her, and the skateboard beneath her flipped 180 degrees, while her own direction remained unchanged, stabilizing herself once more.
Three-Five-Five, who had spun half a circle along with the board: "!?"
Her front paws were on the board, while her hind paws cautiously touched the ground. She looked up at her kitten, solemnly "meowing" once.
The cat didn't find it fun anymore; it wasn't safe. No good.
Chu Tingwu: "……"
She raised a finger and negotiated with her tortoiseshell mom: "Can we try again?"
This time, she would definitely be careful!
Three-Five-Five narrowed her eyes.
Across the street, Cheng Luwei's assistant had just bought lunch for his artist boss and was about to get into the car when he noticed a familiar figure... and a cat.
Was Little Chu Teacher and Three-Five-Five out for a playdate?
He saw Chu Tingwu standing on her skateboard, whispering something to Three-Five-Five, then, with a look of regret, Chu Tingwu folded up her skateboard, as if planning to walk back.
Assistant: Should I go say hello?
Seeing them, it would be rude not to acknowledge them.
Just as he was about to approach, he saw Chu Tingwu take a couple of steps forward, drop her board, and swiftly remount it, then began to glide forward.
Behind her, Three-Five-Five's ears perked up, letting out a "meow!" as she started to chase after her with all four legs.
Chu Tingwu extended her arms, then waved them as if to maintain balance or just for fun. She ollied over obstacles, the skateboard feeling like the most suitable tool for getting around, and obviously faster than walking on foot.
Assistant: "……So Little Chu Teacher has also learned to skateboard?"
Why haven't I heard about this before.
He saw that when performing daring moves, Chu Tingwu even instinctively let out a "woohoo."
Seeing this scene, the assistant couldn't help but smile: After all, Little Chu Teacher is still a lively kid.
System: "……"
The child has started to be mischievous.
Oh my! The child has started to be mischievous!
So touching! How difficult it is to raise a well-behaved child to be mischievous!
The system wiped away its cyber tears, quickly adjusting the surrounding cameras to record and document the scene, and even summoned a drone from Teacher Zhang's place, attempting to capture Chu Tingwu's "mischievous" moments from all angles.
Just storing the footage wasn't enough; it scoured the internet, quickly landing on a familiar website—
【Parent-Child Moments - Family Support Forum】
[New Post][Ahhh My Child Has Started to Disobey Mom! (New)]
[My little one is sixteen years old now, and she says she's grown another year, but she's still just a kid! Today was the first time she disobeyed, and we were all surprised!]
—This kind of thing is quite common (patting shoulder) otherwise, how could our forum exist... Wait! Isn't this ID! Aren't you the one who said you were going to buy an island for your daughter before?
[Yes, yes, but the island hasn't been bought yet, just took her to visit the hospital I'm giving her, and she said she liked it! (Happy)]
—So even a rich daughter-obsessed parent can have a rebellious daughter, suddenly feeling a lot calmer. Anyway, since you're so wealthy, you don't need any comfort, right? Rich kids are more prone to rebellion, aren't they?
[So that's it!]
[But I don't think my little one is rebellious!]
—Then what's the purpose of your post, not for help?
[No.]
—?
[The child was always exceptionally well-behaved before, although not very sociable with strangers, she was too obedient at home! I've read parenting books, which say this is suppressing her instincts, which is unreasonable! This time, she was mischievous for the first time, secretly rebelling against mom's requests, being naughty and having her own little temper—]
[So cute... So moving... I want to post this to record it!]
—?
—???
Who's really the parent in your family!
No matter how you look at it, this well-behaved daughter of yours is much more reliable than you parents!
