"Good morning, meow!"
"Good morning, Three-Five-Five."
"Today, this cat starts making money, meow!"
"Oh, you're starting to film the variety show."
"White Pants will watch it too, meow?"
"Teacher Zhang said he'll watch it with Aunt Mei, so Ten Dollars probably will too. I brought gifts for all of you. I'll probably be home in about half a month."
The big cat on the other side moved closer to the camera, its amber eyes like transparent jewels. Its yellow-tipped nose brushed against the lens, followed by a lazy "meow" that sounded like it had just woken up from a nap.
Three-Five-Five moved a bit further from the camera, allowing Chu Tingwu to see the interior decor clearly.
Although she had taken an unconventional route by boarding Three-Five-Five at the Jin City Police Dog Training Base, she hadn't forgotten to have all of her cat's belongings sent over—
Three-Five-Five was there for temporary accommodation, not to become a police cat, so it still needed to eat and drink well.
Over these days, Man Xing had sent over many more cat supplies, and the facility had to arrange a separate room for Three-Five-Five, where it now seemed to prefer staying.
Chu Tingwu realized that Man Xing had noticed the issue and had proactively worked to get better treatment for Three-Five-Five before Chu Tingwu had even mentioned it.
This life assistant was usually quiet but indeed strived to be the ultimate "life assistant": finding ways to take over all of her boss's complex daily affairs, making herself indispensable.
However, Man Xing herself wasn't satisfied with her progress:
"Such an independent boss is even independent when it comes to cat care. My indirect approach has failed!"
What happened to the plan of winning over the boss by first winning over her pet?
Chu Tingwu had gone abroad alone, leaving Man Xing to gaze across the ocean with sighs. However, she hadn't forgotten to keep track of news from the Red Stone Reserve, and this morning, she learned—
"There are actually poachers in the reserve!"
And they were dreamers who wanted to capture a celebrity wolf alive!
The official announcement came out slowly, but Man Xing found out: among the four hired poachers, the leader had killed two wolves and was found with his internal organs torn out.
Of the other three, one was severely injured, and two had minor injuries. The severely injured person was likely brain dead, and the two with minor injuries might be permanently disabled due to delayed treatment.
One person's injuries were to the head and face, while another's were to the legs and waist, condemning them to spend the rest of their life in a wheelchair.
Although the reserve officials hadn't made a report, the news had already spread on American media... Wolf hunting was a common phenomenon that media would only briefly lament, but humans being killed by wolves was unbelievable.
["They came with guns and cages, they had caught Dawn, but the Michelle wolf pack pursued them and forcibly retrieved their child—it's a miraculous revenge! Someone should make this into a movie!"]
["But this is too crazy! Does anyone know how many wounds were on that body? I heard the wolf pack vented their anger on the body, biting him to death bit by bit while he was still alive... It's a bit scary, I probably won't dare to visit the Red Stone Reserve for a while!"]
["Don't dream about it, even if you go to the reserve, you won't be able to access the core area to see Michelle and the others. Do you think you can see celebrity wolves whenever you want?
The last time I saw them was seven years ago when the interactive area wasn't far from the wolf pack's territory. I used binoculars to watch the Michelle pack resting and playing... Michelle was still young and strong then!
My goodness, I heard that to save Dawn, the wolf pack ran all the way to Area A3, and to return they'll definitely have to cross through several other wolf packs' territories, and those packs will surely conflict with Michelle and the others—A3 is closer to the South Gate viewing area, I'm leaving tomorrow! Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll get to see Michelle!"]
Should wolves that harm humans be allowed to stay?
There were too many wolves speaking out, and the Michelle pack was a celebrity group, with Michelle being a big star of the Red Stone Reserve. The reserve made an ambiguous statement: Please do not enter the reserve for poaching activities; the reserve cannot guarantee poachers' safety.
After all, the previous poacher had already met an unfortunate end.
Probably because of this major incident, White pushed aside his work and returned to camp two days early.
He rushed into camp dusty from travel, first hugging Professor Langwei, then firmly patting Freckles' shoulder: "Good work... Let me see Autumn and Shane's data!"
After all, these two wolves now had tracking devices.
Freckles: "=="
Was that one sentence of concern all he got?
He actually had a lot to say, like how unreliable Lian was, and how the seemingly reliable minor had become unreliable after spending time together... But seeing his mentor's sparkling eyes, he swallowed his words.
Upon seeing Chu Tingwu and Lian, White was equally enthusiastic: "Oh, and my dear girls, I have a plan I want to discuss with you three—"
He called the three together: "The reserve notified me that there are too many tourists wanting to watch the wolf pack's return migration, and they might not be able to stop them all, so they've decided to open a 'Michelle Pack Migration Route.'"
Freckles grimaced: "Oh, I bet that's an expensive route."
White laughed heartily: "Young man, don't be angry, money isn't a bad thing—without it, where would we get funding for our research... The key isn't this, but the wolves' safety. Although people are limited to watching from a distance and rangers are patrolling constantly, with more people, the chance of accidents increases greatly."
"Some people might do attention-seeking things, and we might encounter lunatics who would shoot at the wolf pack—"
He actually wanted to exaggerate a bit to test his students' attitudes, but Lian remained composed, showing no sign of whether she was listening, Chu Tingwu rested her chin on her hand, seemingly encouraging him to continue the story... And Bernie with his freckles, his face showing "work is exhausting with no one to share it, colleagues are all idiots and I just want to rest" numbness, took a moment before saying: "Hm?"
White: "...Ahem."
"Anyway, worried about disturbing the wolf pack, the reserve has asked us to constantly monitor the Michelle pack's condition... Which means, while others must use binoculars, we can get closer to the pack," he waved his hand, "Isn't that exciting?"
Freckles: "They just encountered poachers, Michelle won't have a good attitude toward humans =_="
White: "=_="
"Anyway, go pack your things," he said expressionlessly.
Unlike the previous one-day camping trip, this time they would be staying closer to the wolf pack, accompanying the gray wolves in the wild for an extended period.
Hopefully, the wolf pack wouldn't be too reactive.
"Oh, right," White remembered he hadn't checked on the two girls yet, "I heard it was thanks to Wu's device that we managed to put satellite trackers on two wolves, well done! And what has Lian been doing these days, how many papers have you read?"
Lian: "Learned to drive."
White: "?"
You need to learn that too? You're not good at driving simply because you're not good at it, not because you don't know how!
White decided to encourage his genius student: "Then you can drive later."
Freckles: "?"
Freckles: "Maybe we should let Wu drive instead."
Between his classmate and the minor, he chose the unlicensed minor.
-
While wolf fans across the ocean were buzzing about the reserve's decision, at the Jin City Police Dog Training Base, a group of tortoiseshell cat fans were also excited.
—Although Chu Tingwu would include Three-Five-Five in her livestreams, giving the cat mom a few moments on camera each day, the focus was still on American wolves.
Our local tortoiseshell indeed isn't as eye-catching as American wolves, and its fans aren't as global as the wolves'. But those wolves are local wolves too, how much nobler are local wolves than local cats! Fans attracted by the cat want to see the cat mom!
After Chu Tingwu helped by pointing out the video account of the Jin City Police Dog Training Base, fans finally got to see the new smoke-gray tortoiseshell cat.
Three-Five-Five wasn't filming videos for the first time and had already learned to find the camera on her own.
Whenever the publicity staff came with their cameras and said "I'm starting to film," Three-Five-Five would look at them demurely before beginning her "work."
She didn't actually need to constantly look after the kittens, but because of the previous "control group" experiment, the kittens she led and those from another class would indeed be tested separately for elimination.
When fans opened the video, they instinctively gasped—
[Base, you're confused! How can you start a variety show with something so intense, directly showing kitten elimination videos? You should at least give people a chance to vote!]
[Oh my... today's content is the first batch of kitten elimination tests? You need to treat variety shows like talent shows if you want them to become popular! Shouldn't the first episode be about showcasing kitten skills? And give all the cats numbers while you're at it! By the way, if they're eliminated... is there a chance for revival?]
The publicity team, constantly monitoring the bullet comments: "..."
They didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
While viewers were indeed worried about the base's video traffic, once they started watching, they were immediately immersed—
Although it was a variety show, the base still maintained its principles, so the entire program felt more like a documentary.
However, compared to pure documentaries, it became more interesting with so many kittens and puppies appearing on screen.
—And the program actually did start with introductions of the kittens.
The trainer stood in front of the camera, seriously teaching viewers how to "select cats," how to pick ones that were easier to train, and how to eliminate those with inherent intelligence issues during the selection process.
Other issues could be trained out, but there was no fixing a poor mind.
Viewers: "..."
What should they do now that they were unconsciously comparing their own cats? If they discovered their beloved cat was actually intellectually challenged, could their relationship survive?
Of course, besides cat selection, there were more small tests, mainly to check if cats were normal, and some simple methods to determine if cats were sick or having mood issues.
...The Jin City Police Dog Training Base was also starting from scratch in training police cats, spending time and energy to figure things out bit by bit.
Even with Chu Tingwu's help, they still encountered many pitfalls. Now, these experiences could become valuable information to share when visiting other bases.
In the video, while conducting theoretical teaching, they grabbed a kitten as an example, then the camera shifted to introduce new fans to the "affairs" between Three-Five-Five and the trainer.
This included how Three-Five-Five had rejected some trainees, forcing the trainer to accept them, and how both sides had now become competitors.
In the latter half of the video, cats trained by both sides would participate in tests for the first round of elimination.
[The trainer's smile seems very forced—winning means they're just barely better than a cat, losing means they're worse than a cat, neither outcome seems worth bragging about!]
[It's still better to win, so I bet the trainer will lose. No particular reason, I'm just an ordinary level-seven fan from Chu's livestream.]
[But isn't it impressive enough that a cat can understand human speech? How can it help train other cats? Does it know which commands correspond to which skills? Isn't this a bit too playful?]
As if anticipating the audience's reactions, another trainer on screen said: "If Three-Five-Five's class has a higher pass rate, we'll award this excellent feline staff member with the 'Outstanding Trainer Award'—"
After speaking, he patted his colleague's shoulder.
The colleague: "..."
Everything was understood without words.
Don't you want this medal?
The colleague shot a murderous glare at this trainer, and as the variety show video progressed to the latter half, everyone became immersed in the cats' various training performances... Although they knew these weren't pet bloggers' cats but rather cats being trained by the police dog base to protect the country, watching their movements, watching the kittens rolling on the ground, they couldn't help but feel inexplicably soothed.
Seeing some cats fail the tests, the audience seemed more anxious than the trainers.
When the final pass rates were calculated, Three-Five-Five had one more cat pass in total than the trainer, but her pass rate was lower.
The audience was furious, but the cats and people in the video showed little reaction.
Upon hearing that she had more cats pass in total, the cat "meowed" once, jumped onto the platform, and reached out to play with the small medal.
The trainer: "..."
Would it be inappropriate to go claim the medal from the cat now?
Three-Five-Five pressed the medal under her paw, raised her head, indicating for the awarding trainer to put it on her.
Her competitor walked over to pick up the medal, looked at it, and glared at his colleague: "Why is this thing made of stainless steel?!"
"Meow?"
"Three-Five-Five, let me tell you, if you're getting an award, it should be gold. Using stainless steel is really shameless, it's both cheap and thoughtless."
"Meow..."
Colleague: "?"
Trainer: "You can have this one first, and when Teacher Chu returns, you can earn a gold one from her in the second round!"
Colleague's dead stare: Are you paying for the gold one?
Trainer: "Then I'll take it—Ouch!"
"Meow!"
-
While cats were causing chaos at the base, Star Desk State was also experiencing a tourist peak season riding on the wild wolves' momentum.
These opportunities to "closely" observe celebrity wolves were becoming increasingly rare, especially considering Michelle's age.
Although the chase was swift, people were worried about new accidents occurring when the wolf pack returned.
The few people in this car were among the wolf pack's fans.
A couple had brought their children, and the wife's brother was also in the car. Now, facing the sunlight through the window, the brother spoke with a lollipop in his mouth, his voice unclear: "We arrive today, go to town tonight, then leave tomorrow, right?"
As soon as he said this, the two children turned to glare at their uncle: "Of course we need to stay for a few more days!... Can we follow the wolf pack the whole time, Mommy, Daddy?"
Mommy: "We can only do that for the first two days. We're here for tourism, wouldn't it be nice to see other scenic spots in the reserve? Following wolves the whole time is too tiring, and you definitely won't be able to handle it."
The children wanted to argue but couldn't find any reasons.
Meanwhile, their uncle, acting like a big kid, kept exclaiming "Ooh" and "Wow" non-stop as they drove through the reserve town, looking at all the buildings.
They had lunch in the reserve, passed through several gates, and began following the offline map's directions to find the main group.
The reserve recommended all tourists bring binoculars, and upon reaching their destination, everyone showed helpless expressions—
No wonder binoculars were needed; they couldn't see anything at all from here.
Everyone got out of the car and headed to the designated viewing platform. The uncle raised his hand to look into the distance: "Is that a car over there?"
"Yes," Daddy said, "It's supposedly researchers following the Michelle wolf pack."
A tourist who had arrived earlier heard them and laughed: "There are several cars actually. You can only see the one closest to us, but the wolves are very wary of humans, so the cars can only follow from far away... Ah, the sun is very strong now, and the wolf pack is resting, so you can't see anything."
The uncle suddenly sprang up, stood on the railing to peer into the distance, then jumped down smoothly, suggesting to his family: "Why don't we go see that fountain we passed earlier?"
Family: "..."
The nearby tourist was startled by his movement, made a surprised sound, then thought for a moment and suggested: "If you're feeling bored, why not check out the livestream?"
There's an official livestream?
There was some shade not far away, and this "experienced" tourist followed them over, pointing out which livestream to watch.
Uncle: "...Wu?"
Experienced tourist: "Oh, have you heard of her?"
The tablet displayed the livestream screen. After watching for a while and scrutinizing the UP's ID, uncle said, "Is that Tingwu? I was actually a competition judge with her when I visited China before."
"What Tingwu? No," the tourist waved dismissively, "it's either Achu or Wula."
Uncle: "..." That's exactly Chu Tingwu!
Arthur, the renowned American parkour athlete, was now carrying bags for two children while tilting his body to show them the livestream. Upon realizing the tourist didn't believe him, he could only shrug and continue watching the broadcast—
It was the familiar aerial footage captured by Chu Tingwu's drone.
This time the drone flew higher, with its camera in the corner, while people in the vehicle used fixed cameras to zoom in, showing viewers the wolf pack under the tree shade.
The Michelle pack was resting.
Although they were equally eager to return to their territory to search for their left-behind cubs and adolescents, the pack had strayed too far and wasn't in a hurry to set off now.
Dawn tilted her head, lying on the ground, staring at her companion nearby. Michelle was behind her, while the old grandmother sat crouched, gazing at the relatives who were almost stolen away.
Even though humans were far enough away now, the presence of so many humans gathered here seemed to make not just the wolf pack, but other animals uneasy as well.
For a pack as large as the Michelle family, not all members would typically join in hunting, but humans had observed that most of the time now, every member stayed with the pack, moving together.
Someone commented, "It must be because of those poachers! The pack is afraid of more wolves being killed, so they've contracted their range of movement!"
The reserve staff had already found the two wolf corpses and sadly issued obituaries.
—The obituaries came out much faster than previous announcements.
However, others could see that the pack was indeed hesitant—
Even Michelle had never encountered bullets before.
Bullets had taken the wolves' lives, forcibly taking them beyond the boundaries of the protected area. Michelle was a wise wolf, and if given time, she might understand the relationship between humans, guns, and wolves, but now she was too old.
During dream resonance, Chu Tingwu had entered Michelle's dream once again.
It wasn't winter there anymore, but rather the scene from two days ago, when following a gunshot, Michelle ran from near the den and discovered two corpses.
But unlike in reality, she didn't lead the pack in pursuit.
Chu Tingwu wasn't sure if she knew this was a dream.
She only saw this white wolf slowly pacing near the bodies, then gazing at the dark sky in the distance.
"Awoooo—"
No other wolf responded in the dark night.
Only Chu Tingwu jumped down from the tree, but she didn't approach this grieving former wolf king, instead sitting at a distance, where human and wolf would quietly sit together for a while.
-
White: "Michelle is as usual, walking behind the wolf kings."
This was White coming over to get into Chu Tingwu's shot again.
The camp seemed to have invited more experts than just White—Professor Langwei aside, others appeared to have come on their own—star wolves being poached and wolves retaliating against humans was rare, but successful retaliation was even rarer! Almost all interested professionals had rushed over, and with their influence, they naturally didn't have to stay on the viewing platform above, but could get closer to the pack like White and others.
Chu Tingwu even captured footage of someone getting out of their car, trying to approach the pack, but the guard wolves gave loud warning calls, forcing the human to retreat.
Viewers watching the livestream were disappointed; they didn't want to keep following far behind the wolf pack, but because staff were following along, the drone's aerial filming was restricted.
The reserve actually wanted to livestream this operation too... but they used text and photos, naturally getting far less traffic than Chu Tingwu's livestream.
Arthur mumbled, "Wu is really amazing..."
He had previously thought about inviting Chu Tingwu to participate in parkour competitions in America, but was turned down due to scheduling conflicts, and now when they met again—no, they hadn't met, he was on the viewing platform while Chu Tingwu was down in the core area below.
Arthur suddenly felt even more dejected.
"I really do know Wu..."
A seasoned tourist nearby exclaimed, "Oh my god, look, Michelle is looking at the camera! We're so lucky!"
The voice was too loud for anyone to hear Arthur's words.
Arthur: ...Hey!
He looked down too, suddenly startled.
The comment stream clearly hesitated as well, because Michelle wasn't just looking at the camera.
She had separated from the pack.
This beautiful white wolf walked unhurriedly toward the camera... or rather, toward where Chu Tingwu was.
The livestream's background captured White's excited shouting, while Chu Tingwu remained steady, even reminding White not to knock over the equipment.
Michelle had already come within two hundred meters.
For a wolf, this was a distance that could be covered in seconds; for humans, this was a very dangerous range.
But the overly excited humans seemed completely unaware of the danger.
White: "Oh, heavens—"
Michelle walked several meters closer.
At some point, Lian had taken the driver's seat.
She pressed the accelerator.
When the vehicle started moving, people both inside and outside the frame seemed stunned—
The wolf pack was very resistant to humans approaching in vehicles; starting the car now might make Michelle turn tail and run.
But she didn't.
At an extremely slow speed, the vehicle gradually approached the white wolf ahead.
Even White grew nervous: what if Lian's hand slipped and hit Michelle?
In this nearly global broadcast situation, such a collision would end his career too.
But it didn't happen; the white wolf didn't retreat, and the vehicle didn't actually get too close to her.
The vehicle and wolf passed each other, with the white wolf turning around beside them, as if walking parallel with the humans.
At the moment when they were closest, the white wolf suddenly leaped up, and in the frame, every strand of fur could be seen floating clearly.
She raised her front paw and pressed it against the glass... giving a high-five to Chu Tingwu, who had raised her hand at exactly the right moment!
