Chapter 113

Shao Lingwu noticed that the relationship between Three Five Five and the orange-white cat seemed neither good nor bad, but he still chose to invite the latter.

The two cats were meowing and arguing in the back seat of the car, but they didn’t actually fight. Eventually, the tricycle stopped in front of a pet hospital.

The fans in the live stream felt a bit wistful:

[Little Sun… where the dream began.]

[Oh my, I still remember the first time Ah Chu met Three Five Five. I’ve been watching Little Sun’s videos recently too. They’ve been updating consistently, but it seems the person filming has changed. It’s Lizi now, right? Did the bell go for training?]

Indeed, Hang Ling wasn’t there.

The hospital had decided to open a branch in Jin City. Besides the usual pet hospital services, the branch would also handle cat rescue operations, which Hang Ling would be in charge of.

As soon as Shao Lingwu got out of the car, Lizi arrived on an electric scooter—she had been watching the live stream and guessed from the direction that Three Five Five might be heading to the hospital.

Lizi: “Three Five Five!”

She jumped off the scooter in a few quick steps, reaching out to the tortoiseshell cat. Seeing that Three Five Five didn’t resist, she patted her head a couple of times.

The viewers experiencing the live stream in VR mode: “Hmm…”

They felt an urge to meow.

Lizi ushered Shao Lingwu inside. He got out of the car, and the cats followed, jumping down one by one. However, Shao Lingwu, carrying a bag of corn, noticed that Lizi seemed to be mainly focused on Three Five Five—

Three Five Five wandered around the hospital, greeting a few rescued cats and those staying for treatment. She let out a meow and then, led by Lizi, headed to the rescue room.

The rescue room had been relocated from its original floor to the ground level, now featuring a fenced and roofed courtyard space.

Three Five Five seemed to communicate something, and the cats in the courtyard began lining up to get into the tricycle.

Shao Lingwu had just borrowed their space to steam his corn. When he turned around, he saw the cats all sitting in the back of the tricycle, turning their heads in unison to look at him.

Shao Lingwu: “…”

His corn wasn’t ready yet! Not yet!

But the fans didn’t care about the driver’s feelings. It seemed they had guessed that Three Five Five was “gathering” her companions and were quite excited:

[Oreo! Little Mei! Wow, familiar faces are back… but why does Oreo seem to have a bald spot?]

Those who hadn’t been following Little Sun’s recent live streams were filled in by others:

[The rescue room recently took in a new kitten. One of the cats, maybe due to stress or something, really liked licking the others… Most cats didn’t like it, but Oreo always played along…]

Yes, it wasn’t due to illness or surgery—Oreo had been licked bald by another cat.

But Oreo stayed true to character, still cheerful and lively, completely unashamed of his bald spot.

Shao Lingwu crouched by the door, debating whether to take his corn. But he noticed that Three Five Five didn’t jump into the tricycle. Instead, she let out a couple of meows, looking puzzled, and then dashed into the hallway.

Huh?

Lizi, standing nearby, seemed to realize something: “Is she looking for Jingjing?”

Shao Lingwu: “Jingjing?”

Lizi: “Oh, we couldn’t stop her. Jingjing has moved and is now living with Little Wang’s parents.”

The college student who used to live next door had graduated and found a new job outside the city, so he had left his cat with his parents temporarily… But over time, the parents grew attached to the cat. Now, Wang Jingjing’s status at home had surpassed that of the “forgotten” Little Wang, and the upstairs apartment had been rented out.

Three Five Five returned empty-handed. Shao Lingwu saw her perched on the second-floor stair railing, tail swishing, deep in thought.

The mother cat didn’t seem to mind the height, but some of the VR live stream viewers were nervous. Sharing Three Five Five’s perspective, they could tell she was often observing the ground floor.

Wait, isn’t it a bit dangerous to jump from this height?

[My silly cat once ran out while I was getting takeout and jumped from the fourth floor. Luckily, it was fine, but I was scared to death—how can cats just jump from such heights without fear? Do they think they have nine lives?]n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

[They might be focused on something outside, like a bird or a ball, so they don’t notice the height. Cats have great balance, so being up high doesn’t register as dangerous to them.]

[Got it. It’s like how I’m reading these comments now. I’m so focused on the text that I’m not even thinking about the height, or I’d be terrified!]

Initially, everyone thought riding the VR cat-cam might make them motion sick, but instead, they ended up afraid of heights! From a human perspective, the height wasn’t life-threatening, but from a cat’s point of view, how many lives do they have?

Three Five Five stood up and yawned.

Shao Lingwu: “Lizi said the cat you’re looking for has moved—”

Three Five Five suddenly jumped down.

The fans were startled.

But Three Five Five didn’t jump straight to the ground floor. She landed on the middle railing, leaped off the wall with a rebound, and gracefully landed on the ground floor, her fur puffing up in the air like a cloud of darkness.

Meanwhile, the fans were screaming in the chat.

Chu Tingwu and Zhou Qiang arrived at the foot of Zhangshan Mountain and glanced at the live stream comments: “…”

It had been a while since they’d seen everyone so lively.

This was a private restaurant at the mountain’s base, which only served one table per day. It had a beautifully landscaped courtyard, partially enclosed by glass. The green pines in the yard were still vibrant, and there was a small indoor fountain. The temperature was just right, and the dining area was often semi-open.

The Chu family had already arrived and was helping with the setup.

Chu Tingwu’s third cousin, probably one of her oldest fans, asked her: “Are you going up the mountain? Is there still time before the sun sets?”

Chu Tingwu: “I’ll wait for Three Five Five to arrive, and then we’ll go up together.”

Three Five Five was inviting the cats, while Chu Tingwu was inviting the Taoist master.

At the recent “graduation celebration,” Master Zhuge and the temple abbot had been away attending a Taoist association event, so they couldn’t make it. Today, they were invited again to join the cat gathering.

But would Three Five Five make it before sunset?

-

Shao Lingwu was feeling a bit lost.

He did have a habit of confusing left and right, but this time he hadn’t taken a wrong turn. Instead, the cat seemed hesitant.

From Lizi, he learned that Three Five Five and the black cat named Wang Jingjing weren’t particularly close. Their relationship was similar to that of Three Five Five and the big cat—just companions who had crossed paths for a while.

Lizi and Little Wang were just neighbors, so she didn’t know where his parents lived.

But after driving for a while, Three Five Five meowed and swatted at him, signaling him to change direction. She then sat at the intersection, seemingly deep in thought.

Finally, Shao Lingwu started driving again—

“Hey, are you selling cats? Why aren’t there any kittens, and why aren’t they in cages?”

Won’t they run away?

Shao Lingwu: “…I’m not selling.”

Why had they ended up at the flower and bird market?

He was riding an electric tricycle with a back seat full of cats—no leashes, no cages—which naturally drew the attention of everyone in the market.

Shao Lingwu was used to being stared at, having grown up with it, but he didn’t understand: was the cat Three Five Five was looking for in the market?

The local flower and bird market naturally had all kinds of pets for sale, but Three Five Five didn’t stop. They drove all the way to the police station next door.

Shao Lingwu: “?”

The cat entered the police station, while Shao Lingwu mournfully took out his now-cold corn. Soon, an officer came out and waved at him: “Who are you looking for?”

Shao Lingwu: “A cat?”

Lin Undercover: “I know it’s a cat, but I need the owner’s name to check the records. Come on in.”

Lin Undercover turned around, and only then did Shao Lingwu notice the big orange cat in a police uniform beside him.

The cat, Longzai, gave him a cool nod.

Indeed, when in doubt, it’s always right to seek help from the police…

Through the connection of the cat officer Longzai, Lin Undercover helped Sanwuwu get in touch with Wang Jingjing’s current owners, a couple surnamed Wang. They were quite surprised and asked several times before confirming:

“Inviting our Jingjing… out for a feast?”

Lin Undercover: “Yes, it’s Sanwuwu, or Ah Chu. Do you know Ah Chu?”

Of course, they did. After all, they were locals of Fallen Phoenix City, and their son often mentioned her at home.

However, they weren’t comfortable with their house cat being taken out directly, so they agreed: “How about we bring her over in the evening?”

Would they go? Of course, they would.

It was an invitation from a cat, after all.

After finishing the call, Lin Undercover explained the situation to Sanwuwu, who was lying on the table. Then, he saw Sanwuwu stand up, lift her front paw, and place it on Longzai’s police uniform… as if to show off their “super close” relationship.

Lin Undercover: “Longzai hasn’t finished his shift yet. I’ll send him over after work, okay?”

Longzai: “Meow…”

Although Sanwuwu didn’t speak, Shao Lingwu suddenly had a moment of clarity and tactfully said, “Thank you, thank you. Please stay for dinner too… We humans will have our own table.”

Huh?

Calling themselves “humans” felt a bit strange, didn’t it?

Sanwuwu jumped into the cat car, urging the driver to hurry.

Shao Lingwu decided to give the corn he had to Lin Undercover, since he wouldn’t be eating it anyway.

Lin Undercover: “Thanks?”

The human table probably wouldn’t serve cat food, right? What was the point of giving him corn? To tide him over?

Sanwuwu settled into the cat car, and it began heading towards Zhangshan Mountain.

On the live stream, fans once again sighed with happiness:

[I took a VR screenshot of this part where the cats are everywhere. I can watch it over and over.]

[Even though we don’t have VR pods, the cat VR livestream seems to consider that cats might have limited mobility, so there are no gloves (or paw covers). That means we can’t pet the cats from Sanwuwu’s perspective…]

The chat paused for a moment before someone asked:

[Are you sure Sanwuwu is petting, not hitting?]

The cat mom had just fiercely swatted another cat away, claiming the highest and most comfortable spot!

She was stepping on the heads of the other cats—come on, big orange, move! Don’t just lie there!

Even though the fans couldn’t see it—because Sanwuwu didn’t look down—they could feel it!

[The VR device has exposed your crimes, Sanwuwu!]

They never expected that VR could serve this purpose. Normally, they couldn’t see what the streamer’s legs were doing off-camera, but with the VR knee pads this time, they could clearly feel the streamer stepping on the cats!

-

Chu Tingwu opened the New Plum Hot Search.

Chu ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‍Tingwu closed the Hot Search page.

Are netizens really that bored these days? Why did the hashtag #[@Ah Chu and Sanwuwu] stepping on cats trend?

Some people, thinking Chu Tingwu was abusing cats, stormed into the topic, only to leave in confusion, realizing… oh, oh, the streamer is a cat too?

Chu Tingwu: “==”