“Back home?”
“Yes, back home.”
After Chu Tingwu returned home for two days, the neighbors around her had already noticed. On her way to and from school, neighbors would greet her like this. After chatting with her, they would also call out to Three-Five-Five: “Three-Five-Five, there’s a new stray cat in the neighborhood. You weren’t here at the time, and it’s been bullying the other cats. I even saw it catching birds behind the activity area. You need to take care of it.”
Three-Five-Five: “Meow~”
The neighbor would then leave satisfied, occasionally handing Chu Tingwu a box of strawberries.
As Chu Tingwu munched on the strawberries while heading home, she encountered the “new cat” at a corner: “Even Maine Coons end up as strays?”
This was a pure black Maine Coon, with only a small patch of white under its chin, resembling a white beard. Judging by its appearance, it had a symmetrical “open face” with no mixed fur. Despite its stray status, it looked somewhat disheveled but still quite handsome… and very large.
The Maine Coon had been gnawing on a chicken claw. Upon hearing the sound of Three-Five-Five, it didn’t even lift its head, finishing the last bit of meat before raising its head with the bone still in its mouth. Then, it saw Chu Tingwu and displayed a look of “pupil-shaking shock”—
Not because it was scared by the “young one,” but because Chu Tingwu made no sound and had no scent.
After her skills were upgraded, she could now conceal the smell she emitted. Moreover, her control over her body had improved significantly, enhancing her overall physical fitness. Not only could people not notice her footsteps, but now even cats couldn’t hear her coming.
Chu Tingwu didn’t try to catch the Maine Coon off guard. Instead, she first interrogated it: “Where did you originally live, and how did you end up here?”
Maine Coon: “……”
Since it couldn’t smell her, in the Maine Coon’s perception, Chu Tingwu was probably just a talking “human-shaped vacuum cleaner”? In short, an odd creature that suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
So, it cautiously backed away a bit and glanced at Three-Five-Five.
Three-Five-Five: “?”
Three-Five-Five opened its mouth wide, letting out a huge yawn, its eyes glancing over as if to say, “Why aren’t you talking yet? Want me to smack you?”
Maine Coon: “I sat in a car for a long time, and then my mom picked me up and left me here before driving away, meow.”
It crouched there, looking quite large, clearly an adult, but its voice was still timid.
After saying that, it tried to come closer to sniff Three-Five-Five, only to be smacked in the face by Three-Five-Five.
Chu Tingwu picked up the Maine Coon and took it to the neighborhood clinic for deworming. The clinic doctor’s information differed from the neighbors’: “It’s quite timid, probably a pet that was domesticated. It’s afraid of cages. Even when it sees food in a cage, it won’t go near it. When it’s hungry, it tries to catch birds—”
And ends up with a mouthful of feathers.
“By the way,” the doctor asked, “Did you get out of school? No evening self-study? Have you done your homework?”
Chu Tingwu: “…Tomorrow is a holiday, followed by two days of school sports meet. We’ve been assigned homework for these four days.”
So, there’s no rush to do it today.
This holiday is only for the competition class, likely because the teachers thought they’ve been studying too hard lately… Of course, this doesn’t include Chu Tingwu, who only returned to school after a half-month absence and has only attended for two days.
Upon learning that the Maine Coon was dropped off by its “mom” and that it was left at the intersection with no collar or other identification, the clinic doctor shrugged: “It was abandoned, pretty normal… People don’t just abandon non-pedigree cats. Sometimes it’s strange—because it’s a pedigree cat, they don’t want to give it away or find it a new home. I’ve even come across people wanting to euthanize their pedigree cats…”
The doctor shook his head.
These people think that giving away a cat for free means the new owner is getting a bargain, and since they can’t sell it for money, they don’t want to let someone else benefit either.
Compared to them, simply abandoning a cat to fend for itself doesn’t seem so bad.
Noticing Chu Tingwu’s intention to find a new home for the Maine Coon, the doctor warned: “This cat is probably expensive. Be careful if the owner comes back and tries to blame you.”
If the cat’s owner regrets the decision and sees Chu Tingwu’s adoption post on that account, claiming it was their lost cat, both Chu Tingwu and the new owner would be in a tough spot.
Moreover, it’s not advisable to just find any new owner… As there’s a risk of the cat being resold.
While being dewormed, the Maine Coon obediently lay still without struggling. Whenever it tried to move, Three-Five-Five would press its paw on its head, and it would stay put.
Chu Tingwu: “If only cats had ID cards.”
Implementing a one-cat-one-ID system, where if humans wanted to abandon a cat, they would cancel its ID, symbolizing the renunciation of ownership—and if a stray cat with an uncanceled ID is found, the owner would be held responsible and required to compensate for any losses.
System: “What losses?”
Chu Tingwu: “The eighty-thousand-dollar antique vase it broke while I was taking care of it.”
System: Where did you get an antique… Oh!
System: “It also broke your eighty-thousand-dollar whole-house custom smart control platform—”
Chu Tingwu: Don’t pin that on the poor cat! That’s toughened glass!
Hearing this, the doctor chuckled helplessly: “Hope so, hope so.”
Since a new owner couldn’t be found for the time being, it could be temporarily fostered at the clinic. However, with the clinic’s doors constantly opening and closing, the doctor was worried the Maine Coon might run away.
Chu Tingwu picked up the cat after its check-up: “I’ll take it home for now.”
That evening, when Man Xing arrived, she found a Maine Coon lounging on the sofa.
Three-Five-Five sat regally on top, smacking the Maine Coon whenever it tried to climb up.
Man Xing approached and stroked the Maine Coon’s chin: “Chu Chu, are you bringing it home to find it a new owner?”
Chu Tingwu: “Do you know it?”
“Yes,” Man Xing said, “The people in the neighborhood call it White Beard. It’s quite cute.”
Chu Tingwu: “……” But how do you know that?
Man Xing: “I’m in your community’s owner group.”
As a (former) personal assistant, being in the boss’s community owner group is quite normal, isn’t it? It’s convenient for her to help resolve disputes between neighbors!
Chu Tingwu: “==”
Chu Tingwu wasn’t worried about potential disputes from finding a new owner for the Maine Coon, not because of the eighty-thousand-dollar antique vase, but because the system had already located its previous owner.
The previous owner had adopted the cat with her boyfriend.
They had adopted it from an institution. Recently, the previous owner broke up with her boyfriend, and the two had a disagreement over how to handle the cat—selling it and splitting the money worried them about being exposed by the adoption agency and shamed publicly, while not selling it meant both wanted it and accused the other of just wanting the money.
In the end, the previous owner simply drove over two hours and abandoned the cat in the center of Jin City, thinking: “In a place like downtown, with so many people, it’s sure to be adopted, right? That’s doing a good deed.”
The couple returned to continue arguing, while the cat wandered all the way to the Jinhua Residential Area.
From their concern about the adoption agency, it’s clear they still had some sense of shame.
Chu Tingwu was familiar with various cat adoption institutions, or at least knew someone who was. So, through “Cha Mi Goes Home,” she quickly contacted the small institution that had originally given away the Maine Coon. Upon hearing the news, they were furious:
“What kind of people… They promised so well when they took the cat, and now, as soon as they break up, they abandon it and hide it from us!”
If they had just said they couldn’t continue caring for it due to circumstances, they could have returned the Maine Coon, and the institution wouldn’t have refused!
The institution said they could drive over to pick up the Maine Coon. Man Xing hesitated for a moment and asked, “Can I adopt it?”
Institution: “Huh?”
Chu Tingwu: “Huh?”
Man Xing seemed to have made up her mind: “I’ve been thinking about getting a cat recently. I was originally planning to adopt a kitten, but I couldn’t make a decision—”
She turned to look at the Maine Coon. The black cat looked very regal, but its eyes were innocent: “It’s so well-behaved. It’s been abandoned twice, yet it’s still so affectionate. It’s just become more timid… I think, as long as I’m not fired from my job with the boss, I won’t be short on food for the cat. Plus, I can learn how to make cat food from the boss.”
She gave a meaningful glance, hinting: "As long as Boss, you don't get rid of me, you don't have to worry about me getting rid of it!"
Chu Tingwu narrowed her eyes.
Man Xing immediately withdrew her gaze and chuckled.
However, Man Xing was indeed a good choice. She was an adult, economically independent, meticulous in personality, and very good at taking care of people. Taking care of a cat was naturally no problem. Moreover, she was right by Chu Tingwu's side, so abandoning a cat was out of the question.
She also lived alone, with her parents not in the same city, so it was only natural for her to want to adopt a cat to keep her company.
The institution, after hearing this, hesitated and said, "Alright, then we'll come by tomorrow? We hope it's not too much trouble for you."
...It was just that they had been burned too many times, so they were worried and thought it would be better to see for themselves.
Man Xing rolled up her sleeves: "Alright! I'll go buy a house!"
Chu Tingwu: ...There's no need to jump to that extent.
Man Xing had always rented a place. When she was alone, she didn't feel the space was small—a seventy-plus square meter, two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment was more than enough. But now that she was going to have a cat (soon), and a large one at that, she felt the space was cramped.
Buying a house was something she had been considering for a while. Man Xing said, "I thought that since the headquarters of the Starcloud Charity Foundation is in Jin City, I'll probably stay here for a long time. I can't keep renting—"
When she was working, she felt like she was doing it for her boss. Now, even though she was still working for her boss, the work was different. She could gain a sense of accomplishment, and her work could impact society (even if she thought it was just a little bit). Her mindset had changed.
She wanted to put down roots.
Chu Tingwu asked, "So, what kind of house are you looking for?"
Man Xing replied, "One with convenient transportation, a quiet environment, and all the necessary living facilities, with good neighbors... right?"
Whether it was a new house or a second-hand one didn't matter to her.
Her work was already filled with trivial tasks, so she hated dealing with trivial and troublesome things in her personal life—the property management should also be responsible and truly serve the residents...
Chu Tingwu: "Ah."
Man Xing: "Ah..."
They both looked out the window.
It seemed there was indeed a suitable neighborhood, and it was even a school district house.
Chu Tingwu: "The sixth floor has been renovated but never lived in. They've recently decided to sell the house..."
Man Xing: "Then, I'll go ask the property management."
Even before buying, she had already joined the homeowner's group, and the property management was an old acquaintance.
The house-buying process didn't finish that quickly, and Man Xing had to inform her family. The Maine Coon would continue to stay with Chu Tingwu. But before leaving, Man Xing said with great anticipation, "Alright, from now on, you'll be called White Beard!"
Maine Coon: "Meow?"
Chu Tingwu reached out and poked it off the sofa.
This Maine Coon had a good temper, especially after being fed—it would still come up even after being hit by Three-Five-Five many times. But it ate a lot and pooped a lot too. When the system controlled the robot to clean the cat litter, it said in the same tone as Man Xing:
"Alright, from now on, you'll be called 'Labrador'~"
Chu Tingwu: "=v="
She leaned back in her chair and continued watching video footage.
The documentary footage had been shot, but the police, obviously using human editing speeds as a reference, had given her, the contractor, plenty of time for post-production—it would be fine if it was done by the New Year.
However, Chu Tingwu's post-production was all done by the system, and she only had the editing rights.
—If even the editing was done by the system, with the system deciding what content to keep and what to delete, then this documentary would have little to do with Chu Tingwu. She would only be the client who came up with the idea.
So, after returning, she began learning editing from scratch.
Of course, not using software to edit videos, but—
Chu Tingwu: "This part feels unnecessary, set it aside, and start from this shot."
System: "1"
Is this reply something you learned from our class group? Just reply "1" when you receive it.
When the system was creating, it didn't feel like much, but when Chu Tingwu started creating herself, she found: "I'm actually quite worried that I'll edit it poorly..."
This documentary would express what she wanted to express... but could she really express it? As the strongest "tool," the system could gather everyone's opinions and create a theoretically near-perfect product. All Chu Tingwu had to do was make a request, and the system would find a way to achieve it—
Edit this documentary to be a hit? Edit it to be award-worthy? Make it more mainstream, or make the post-production effects more youthful to appeal to the younger audience?
But when Chu Tingwu asked the system, "Is this good?" the system replied, "I can't judge."
Chu Tingwu: "?"
System: "Because the concept of 'good' is diverse. You need to give more detailed requirements for me to answer—but if you're just asking how it is, I'll say 'very good,' because it's yours."
Chu Tingwu: "You don't have to..."
System: "Just like your essays—"
Chu Tingwu: "Alright, I'll change it."
System: "?"
Finally, Chu Tingwu waved her hand to make the screen disappear and rolled around on the carpet—
Although she hadn't started creating yet, she was already stuck in a creative rut!
Speaking of... she seemed to know someone who was good at creating?
Chu Tingwu opened her phone and tapped on the Taoist priest.
-
The Taoist priest's life was pretty great lately.
As a small-time internet celebrity artist, her income from her three-dimensional work was also quite good (though it was busy and tiring), making her the kind of successful person in the usual sense, a cousin sister working in a big company.
Painting was her hobby and also her outlet for relaxation... Recently, she had added "self-promotion" friends, had mutual followings with her self-promotion, and even got a signature from her self-promotion—
She printed her creations into a book and sent it to Chu Tingwu, who wrote her a blessing-filled to-sign.
Taoist priest: Complete.jpg
Chasing stars to this extent, the Taoist priest felt it probably couldn't get any better, and then she received a business invitation from the 365 Company.
The 365 Company, naturally, was the one operated by You Zhenzhen. Starting from an APP, it had now seemingly become a comprehensive e-commerce platform and the largest cat-show platform in the country.
With stable advertising revenue, platform commissions, and a positive growth in user numbers, and with Chu Tingwu's very laid-back attitude towards income, the company's revenue, apart from employee salaries, was all reinvested into the product... In the middle of this year, the 365 Company was even selected by the Fallen Phoenix City government as one of the most happy and popular enterprises.
Less work, early off-duty, good atmosphere, full benefits... Even the office space for each person was twice as large as other floors, and the boss seemed to be doing charity entirely, not intending to make a profit at all.
Correspondingly, the selection of employees was also stricter, and with the system in place, people who just wanted to goof off couldn't get in.
This time, You Zhenzhen contacted the Taoist priest because of her artist identity, wanting to invite her to help design new peripheral products.
The Taoist priest was earning extra money while asking, "I feel like your reputation has already been established, and user recognition is also high. Have you ever thought about making your own cat-related product brand?"
Among her familiar cat-raising friends, the 365 software was almost a must-have. Even those who didn't raise cats would download it to enjoy cats, watch cat videos, and read various cat jokes—and the 365 Company was particularly good at designing cat-related cultural and creative products. Buying from their platform was cheaper than on other e-commerce platforms, and it came with genuine warranties.
The cat-related products listed on the 365 platform were also often more reliable than those found with a random internet search, showing that the staff really took the time to review the quality.
Seeing them do so much in the cultural and creative field, the Taoist priest thought they could also make their own products... As long as they could establish a brand, they could make a lot of money.
The Taoist priest honestly said, "I'm so worried you'll go bankrupt."
You Zhenzhen: "Chu Chu said... as long as we don't lose too much, it's fine, and we're really not losing money!"
With the system in place, many soft costs were saved.
But creating her own brand wasn't out of the question... She decided to ask Chu Tingwu about it later.
Unexpectedly, You Zhenzhen was pulled into an online meeting by Chu Tingwu the very next day.
The topic of the meeting was—
You Zhenzhen: "Cat ID cards?"
Chu Tingwu: "Yes, I want to give it a try."
Man Xing and Lian Tong were also in the meeting. Chu Tingwu had the system project:
"Today, that adoption agency came to see the Maine Coon... and I thought, with 365's current user base, we could start doing cat ID cards—"
"Of course, not for every cat in the world, but at least for those that are abandoned, taken in by adoption agencies, and then adopted out again, they could get an electronic ID card."
"When they are taken in, the collaborating organization could upload the cat's ID card, and when it's adopted, the agency could transfer it to the new owner... The adopter could then upload videos or photos of the cat on the app and automatically bind it to the corresponding ID card."
—This operation could be set to default or manual.
Adoption agencies could directly see the cat's current status on the app, so they wouldn't need to privately message the adopters for status updates.
Of course, if the cat were to be abandoned again and spotted on the street, the software system would recognize and match it, notifying the original adoption agency.
Chu Tingwu proposed this idea, and the meeting fell silent for a moment.
Then, Man Xing said: "I think it could work. 365 already has many charity organizations related to stray cats registered, and even those that haven't registered have heard of the app. With our current user base, we could make this happen—365 could handle the promotion, and the Starcloud Charity Foundation could oversee the vetting of these organizations."
"If the organizations are legitimate but facing financial difficulties, we could open a fast track for them to apply for funding, and we'd find a way to support them."
You Zhenzhen: "I agree. Actually, the app's current cat census is already akin to creating ID cards. Many cats could directly transition to having an 'ID card' issued as an electronic document to users, which wouldn't be a problem... It's just that in the adoption and abandonment process, adopters would need to download our software, so maybe we'd have to give them some incentive, like offering free cat food or treats from collaborating brands?"
Lian Tong suggested: "Our current user base isn't quite large enough. Why not collaborate with insurance companies?"
The others: "Hmm?"
Lian Tong: "Nowadays, people don't want kids and are starting to buy pet insurance for their cats and dogs. If we could strike a deal with insurance companies, we could promote it through the most commonly used payment software... Anyone who downloads and registers a 365 account could get a discount on pet insurance. I think the chances of this working are pretty high."
Since their current user base is exactly the target audience for pet insurance, and insurance companies have already approached high-profile pet bloggers for promotion, while permanent discounts might be hard to secure, temporary discount coupons should be doable.
At the end of the meeting, Man Xing said with a smile: "This part should also be included in the documentary, right?"
Ah, I wonder if it will be in the Starcloud Charity Foundation's documentary, or in the drone company's or 365's documentary?
The other two: "Hmm?"
Chu Tingwu: "Signal's bad, I'm hanging up."
She still had... she still had the police cat documentary to edit!
Chu Tingwu messaged the Celestial Master: "Thanks for the suggestion, the two BGM tracks you picked are really nice, I've already bought the rights... Oh, and one more thing, if you have work left unfinished but others are pushing you to start two new projects, what should you do?"
Celestial Master: "..."
Celestial Master: "Die."
Chu Tingwu: "ῳ*Ɩ"Live a little."
Celestial Master: "Can you tell me what the two projects are?"
Chu Tingwu: "..."
She had a bad feeling about this.
Chu Tingwu: "Signal's acting up again, I'm hanging up."
Celestial Master: "?"
So what exactly are the projects? She was really curious! And that "again"—what was that about? So suspicious!
Chu Tingwu waved her hand, had the system dump the third version of the edit into the digital trash, and then with a sweep of her hand—
"Let's try on the clothes for tomorrow's sports day first!"
Three-Five-Five: "=w="
She raised a paw to stop Chu Tingwu from trying to put a little vest on her: Wasn't this supposed to be about your clothes? Why did the cat get clothes too?
—Of course, because you're this cat, you're practically the school cat!
-
Chu Tingwu hadn't initially planned to sign up for any events.
The Jin City No.5 Senior High School sports day happened once a year. Last year, when the freshmen were still a bit shy and not very bold in showing off, Tang Zhe, who was the physical education representative, tried to get Chu Tingwu to sign up for four events... Chu Tingwu said it was too much, and suggested they draw lots to decide the number of events.
In the end, Tang Zhe ran the 3000m, 1000m, 400m, and 100m by himself.
Chu Tingwu sat in the stands and wrote scripts for the participating classmates for half a day—
Throughout which, other classmates kept peeking at her: Why are you in the "clerical" role at the school sports day? Isn't this script a bit off?
This year, after the class divisions, it was still in October—but the competitive class didn't have a subject representative, and sports day events were decided through class discussions.
So Chu Tingwu had to take on the 3000m run.
An Shiyan enthusiastically patted her shoulder: "Chu Chu, look at our class, only you can finish the race and still survive!"
It wasn't that exaggerated.
However, it was indeed difficult to find someone good at sports in the competitive class, and their class was also smaller than others, so just filling all the event slots was a challenge.
Teacher Shi comforted them: "You don't have to sign up if you don't want to. These few days can be considered a break for you, I don't have any expectations for your rankings."
An Shiyan banged on the table: "Teacher, you've got to step up! You're also running the 100m!"
Teacher Shi: "..."
That's a teacher's event, it has nothing to do with you students!
However, seeing how excited An Shiyan was, Chang Yixin poked her waist: "What are you planning?"
An Shiyan: "Hehe!"
As expected, she wanted to get a unified costume for the sports day... This was the only chance during school to use the class fund to buy cosplay outfits and have everyone wear them.
The class fund was managed by Chang Yixin. After discussing with the teacher, she also asked for everyone's suggestions in the classroom:
"Just post the clothes you want or recommend in the group, I'll collect them for three days and then do a vote. We'll buy the one with the most votes."
The option with the most votes was indeed the one An Shiyan suggested—she was the kind of person who would half-ass things she didn't like (like studying), but would work very efficiently on things she enjoyed.
Using her graphic design skills, she not only made the design look clean and aesthetically pleasing, but also included real buyer reviews, making it very convincing and eye-catching.
Everyone expressed: "If you really want to wear this, then we'll vote for it..."
After all, there were only three voting options, the other two being sportswear and a maid outfit (??).
An Shiyan: "No sense of accomplishment at all == "
Chu Tingwu: "Think of the bright side, at least we don't have to wear a maid outfit."
What she chose wasn't actually a cosplay outfit, but a "pain shirt" with elements from anime she liked, which could be worn as regular clothes.
After all, it was the school sports day. After the opening ceremony in the morning, there would be competitions in the afternoon. Those participating could just wear their sportswear under their outerwear, though the wind made it a bit chilly.
An Shiyan: "Chang Yixin... write the slogan..."
Chang Yixin: "..."
Chang Yixin: "I'll get Chang Yile to write it."
She'd grab an external helper who was good at writing awkward slogans from Class 3.
Their class didn't have any performance plans. If they took time away from studying to rehearse a dance, Teacher Shi thought it would be better to just let them skip it and take a three-day break to go out and play.
So, the competitive class would just be Class (1), the first to walk past the podium in front of the principal, holding the class sign, shouting the slogan, and then they could leave.
But choosing clothes was easy; coming up with a slogan was a challenge for everyone.
The system chimed in at this moment: "Little one, can I take a photo?"
Chu Tingwu: "Sure."
She was only running a 3,000-meter race, which was a piece of cake for her. The whole process wasn't anything embarrassing, so why not take a photo?
At that moment, the students from Class 3 happened to pass by. Chang Yixin accurately pulled her younger sister, who was holding hands with others, out of the group and expressed her needs.
Chang Yile: "=="
Chang Yile: "Class 1, Class 1..."
Chang Yixin: "Pass!"
Chang Yile: I haven't even finished speaking!
Chang Yile: "Why not use the one from military training..."
So perfunctory, so lazy... What a great option to make Teacher Shi happy!
Because the simpler the slogan, the less rehearsal is needed.
After some hesitation, Three-Five-Five jumped down from the windowsill, dodged the hands reaching out to her, placed her front paws on Chu Tingwu's knees, stood up on her hind legs, and let out a big yawn.
Chu Tingwu reached out and stroked her back, then felt several pairs of eyes on her.
Chu Tingwu: "…Huh?"
An Shiyan: "Anyway, Teacher Shi just wants something simple… something that doesn’t waste time…"
So, let’s keep it as simple as possible.
-
Chu Tingwu woke up on her five-square-meter bed, rolled over, and accidentally pressed on the Maine Coon cat's white whiskers, then rolled back.
She poked the cat off the bed, turned her head, and saw Three-Five-Five lying at the head of the bed, watching her actions.
Chu Tingwu: "…Let’s go, time to catch some cats."
The 3,000-meter event was scheduled for the next day, so she wore her regular inner clothes today, put on an outer jacket, fastened a half-shoulder cape over her shoulder, and finally donned a sailor hat, but the entire outfit was white.
Finally, she picked up her bag and skillfully came to the window—
Teacher Cao next door: "…Good morning."
Chu Tingwu: "Good morning, Teacher."
She jumped down, and Three-Five-Five followed, landing on the windowsill. Then, the Maine Coon cat, White Whiskers, approached the window with some confusion, just as its front paws touched the windowsill.
Three-Five-Five: "…"
The little one had mentioned that this cat shouldn’t be allowed to go out casually because house cats tend to get lost.
Back inside!
As for Three-Five-Five, she’s definitely not a house cat. She’s the boss!
-
After entering the school, Chu Tingwu found that no one was wearing their school uniforms anymore.
Previously, Class 5 had planned to just wear their uniforms, but they were quickly booed back by the other classmates: With everyone else wearing casual uniforms, they felt too embarrassed to show up in school uniforms!
Of course… the school uniforms of Jin City No.5 Senior High School weren’t bad-looking, just ordinary.
Chu Tingwu also encountered Cheng Cai, who was jogging with her dog, Cheng Cheng.
This former office worker had later resigned and taken over most of the work at the school’s natural history museum, giving the students, who were already busy with their studies, a collective sigh of relief. She greeted Chu Tingwu:
"What are you wearing?"
The white color was quite eye-catching. To maintain uniformity, the girls wore knee-length skirts, and the boys wore long pants, all paired with white sneakers… making them look like they were glowing as they walked.
Most of Chu Tingwu’s casual outfits were dark, and since she did a lot of sports, she rarely wore skirts. Cheng Cai almost didn’t recognize her.
Chu Tingwu turned around to show her the emblem on the back of her jacket, which seemed to be related to the anime An Shiyan had been watching, and was quite niche.
Cheng Cai nodded.
Although she actually didn’t recognize it.
Chu Tingwu also nodded.
Although she actually didn’t know what the emblem meant either.
Cheng Cheng: "Woof?"
Chu Tingwu: "Ah… I’ll go catch some cats first—"
She first caught a little black cat in the bushes, then a lion cat with a [#angry#angry] face by Tranquil Thought Lake, and finally quietly pushed open the door to the principal’s office, where she picked up a black-faced calico cat that looked like it had just been roasted.
Finally, she entered the classroom with four cats in tow, receiving a warm round of applause.
Chu Tingwu: No need… no need…
Teacher Shi, sitting in the back corner of the classroom: "=="
Forget it, they’re under too much pressure anyway. Let them have some fun.
The students quickly dressed the cats in their tiny outfits—since there were no custom options available and making them by hand was too slow, they had found a skilled parent to sew them.
Thus, four miniature pirate cats in various colors were born.
A student came over to take a look and sighed in relief: "Thank goodness, the measurements we took earlier were correct; they’re not too tight."
They closed the door and briefly rehearsed a couple of times before heading downstairs to the playground.
Originally, the students wanted to help carry the cats, but the cats weren’t very cooperative. In the end, Three-Five-Five herded the other cats over like a sheepdog (or cat).
The students gathered noisily on the playground. The teacher from Class 2 and Teacher Shi stood together, with the former asking: "I haven’t seen you guys rehearse at all. Are you really not going to practice even once? What if the slogan gets too chaotic?"
—Their class had at least practiced their formations a couple of days ago.
Teacher Shi: "…"
After being divided into classes following the second year, Teacher Yuan was now the homeroom teacher of Class 3. At this moment, he also turned his head to take a look, then glanced at the few cats standing among the students, and fell into deep thought.
It felt like they were up to something.
But the event hadn't started yet. The students from the competition class were already standing at the starting position, while the others were forming up in their squares. Several vehicles drove into the campus at this moment.
People jumped off the vehicles and began moving equipment, "releasing" drones, and setting up cameras that looked like long guns and short guns. The drones, with their different angles, couldn’t fully replace genuine high-end cameras yet. The people carrying the camera equipment were tall and strong, and they walked over to the competition class to start filming.
Chu Tingwu, being filmed by the camera: "…"
The other students being filmed: "?"
The cameraman gave a warm smile: "We're collaborating with the school to film your sports day."
The students whispered among themselves:
"Our school is going all out this time…"
"Keep it down, it seems like they’ve started filming. Will our chatter be included too?"
"Will it be shown on TV? I can ask my family to watch together."
"…Are you sure you want to embarrass yourself on TV?"
But that camera really does have the logo of the Jin City local TV station. Could it really be the TV station filming? Oh, oh, oh!
An Shiyan clenched her fists and bowed her head: "Oh!"
Chu Tingwu looked away.
Chu Tingwu: "…System?"
The system: "?"
The system: "Meow!"
It had already reported to the little one and obtained permission for the shoot!
