The System Mistook Me for a Cat

Chu Tingwu was woken up by the sound of birds chirping.

At first, she almost wanted to tell Shao Lingwu to stop fiddling with that broken tuner of his… but then she realized it was actually real birds.

After the first episode of the animation received a good response, Shao Lingwu's workload increased again. While others were just helping and offering opinions, since "Learning the Unlearnable," he had taken on more tasks related to software music, from the song played at the city championship to the background music and character voices in the animation. Currently, he was trying to make things "cuter."

…So the system didn't like him much.

Chu Tingwu sat cross-legged on a recliner, staring at the birds landing on the surface of the lake. A concrete question mark appeared above her head.

Who scattered birdseed in the lake?

This natural small lake, still called Shanwan Lake, had undergone some time of restoration. Now, it had become a place where both human and animal visitors liked to come—the animals being the three horses and the elderly dog!

Restoring a lake wasn't as simple as just removing all the trash. With professionals involved, they naturally had to rebuild a healthy ecosystem. A too-complex underwater ecosystem could make the water less clear, but raising creatures that even helped clean silt and microorganisms, and then cleaning regularly, could reduce workload and maintenance costs.

Moreover, this wasn't an inland lake; it was connected to the Qishui River. As long as the water source wasn't forcibly cut off, the current restoration plan was just right.

Professor Mi and his team had originally planned to leave after seeing the design on track. But due to the liveliness of the ranch, and the temptation to join in the activities, the younger members hesitated. Professor Mi was always easy-going, so they stayed for a couple more days.

On the other hand, they also found that the restoration effect seemed… a bit too good?

While the diligent staff contributed, the ranch's environment itself was already excellent. Even though the previous owner hadn't paid much attention, it had natural advantages. Professor Mi didn't just focus on the lake but also looked at the pasture and livestock farming, even helping deliver a calf. After that, he simply decided: as long as Chu Tingwu didn't chase them away, they'd stay a bit longer to record the follow-up and study the ranch.

Chu Tingwu watched another bird land on the lake surface, creating ripples that gently swayed with the water, leisurely chirping and chatting before diving into the water. Some landed on the grass, starting to look for worms.

Chu Tingwu got a close-up view of these "waterfowl." They all had dark red beaks, slightly larger than sparrows, with tiny speckles at the ends of their wings. Overall, they were dark brown, but the underside of their wings was covered in white down.

These little-eyed creatures curiously observed Chu Tingwu from a distance but weren't afraid. The temperature in the ranch had slightly dropped in August. The sun hung in the sky, warm but not scorching. Chu Tingwu was silent for a while before asking the system:

"Is that an ankle bracelet?"

She noticed leg markers on some of the "small birds," not the kind for pigeons, but likely placed to observe certain animals.

Her experience in studying biology made her recognize that these birds appeared to be a type of falcon, and… quite rare.

As she thought this, the system immediately labeled the birds in a split-screen:

"Red Rain Falcons, a migratory bird species, are classified as a national-level protected animal. They migrate south in the fall. Twenty-three years ago, they were first discovered in the Southern Hemisphere. Experts long confused them with another type of falcon species. Recently, they've begun studying their habits."

Then the experts discovered these were a bunch of silly birds.

Theoretically, they should migrate south for the winter, but they often stop halfway if they feel the "temperature is still okay," lay eggs, and then when winter arrives and the temperature drops, they hastily fly away with the chicks. Many chicks aren't strong enough to fly and get left behind, becoming either other animals' meals or human fare.

The Red Rain Falcons were "silly" enough, but also "stubborn." In modern times, with sufficient resources, birds moved to reserves and acclimated over time. They smoothly integrated into the reserve's community.

But Red Rain Falcons didn't do this. Their behavior looked foolish to humans but was very obstinate. Captive Red Rain Falcons would molt on their own and then freeze to death. Even if they were briefly cared for and sent to a reserve, if there were no fellow species around, it seemed they sensed the environment change and would sing nervously on trees before dying of sorrow.

Thus, these fragile little things soon exhausted themselves into becoming protected species, as their numbers kept decreasing since observations began.

The system said, "Mainly because human activities have impacted their habitats."

Not that they were actually that silly.

But Chu Tingwu watched a clumsy bird get blown off course by the wind, plummeting but clearly able to flap its wings and fly again—but it seemed to think, "I'm tired of flapping," and just rested.

Chu Tingwu: "……"

Resting on the dog's head is a bit much, isn't it?

Egg Yolk was still dozing, only feeling a bit itchy on his head, so he sneezed.

Chu Tingwu thought resting on the dog was okay: but Three-Five-Five was also nearby.

Three-Five-Five opened her eyes.

Hunt—

Chu ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‍Tingwu covered its eyes.

Three-Five-Five: ……

The cat mom lay down again.

She didn't really hunt the little birds, but she did toy with them. Although cats weren't subject to wildlife protection laws, Chu Tingwu truly worried that these fragile, vulnerable rare birds might get so frustrated they'd just off themselves.

Wouldn't they?

-

Meanwhile, Professor Mi was on his way, riding a horse to get there.

Professor Mi's recent research topic was intelligent environmental management in wetland reserves. As someone studying wetlands, of course, he had many bird-watching friends.

A friend had contacted him the other day, mentioning that they were following the migrating Red Rain Falcon flock near and might pass through Qishui City. The friend had asked if they wanted to meet up.

Professor Mi gladly agreed.

Red Rain Falcons were just passing through and stopping over in the region; it was only convenient to observe them during this time of the year. The GPS tags were fitted at birth, recording their migration routes and flight times. Still, human observation data was also necessary.

Then, during his nap, Professor Mi's phone blew up with messages.

He had silenced his phone during sleep, and the ranch's air was so good he was sleeping soundly. He was manually woken up by a student—

Student looking bitter: "Professor, people who couldn't reach you called my phone."

The Red Rain Falcon flock under observation had landed at Shanwan Lake.

No one knew if they were just stopping for a rest or deciding to stay and breed—but the latter was more likely.

His excited friend in the call said:"This flock usually lands in small numbers, rarely in such large groups—you're at the ranch, right? Go take a look first; I'll be there soon!"

Professor Mi had already packed up to leave without his friend saying anything. But then he suddenly realized:

Wait, the ranch is open today!

Should he wait for the sightseeing bus or pedal a bike over?

In the end, he rode a horse—or rather, the horse trained to carry all sorts of people, cats, and goods around the ranch kindly carried him over.

The only thing that comforted Professor Mi was—

Not many tourists usually came to the lakeside.

While the water was clear and could be used for boating or rock climbing (?), a lot of visitors gave it a pass after finding out the slow wooden boats needed manual paddling. Some without experience were too scared to try by themselves even with life vests provided.

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Chu Tingwu: "=="

Currently, not many hardcore tourists are attracted to the ranch; most visitors are players of two games. Although the app has information about the attractions, both the tourists and the organizers are inexperienced for their first time.

Chu Tingwu is currently playing with birds.

Realizing that these birds are quite bold, she told the cat and dog not to chase the birds carelessly, but she herself started to play with them.

The birds still seem a bit afraid of large animals.

When Chu Tingwu stood up, they scattered immediately, but not too far away, continuing to feed a few meters away. Their expressions when looking over seemed a bit dazed.

For the first time, Chu Tingwu attempted to "sense" the emotions of so many straightforward little creatures. She didn't detect any fear, so she reduced her presence and then tried for the first time... to alter the "pheromones" she emitted.

This could be done by the system, but since her upgrade, Chu Tingwu has possessed this ability herself. What she usually does is directly lowering her pheromones to zero, so as not to be identified as a cat by unfamiliar animals. This change, however, was her first time.

The birds remained quite fearless, walking around nearby, but seemed to get a bit closer to Chu Tingwu.

Three-Five-Five, on the other hand, gave her a strange look and meowed a few times, asking why Chu Tingwu's scent had become so peculiar.

Chu Tingwu:... It doesn't seem to be a Red-rain Falcon either.

She thought it wouldn't be hard to mimic the scent of some familiar mammals, but suddenly trying to imitate a bird didn't seem to work.

After meowing, Three-Five-Five went straight to Chu Tingwu, rubbing her body against the young one, trying to leave her own scent on the baby.

While animals do judge friend or foe by smell, they are not limited to that alone... Chu Tingwu is right here, and Three-Five-Five recognizes her.

Chu Tingwu was still sniffing her own scent.

It wasn't a familiar mammal, nor was it any of these birds, so what exactly was it...?

Professor Mi pulled up his horse.

Standing on the slope, he indeed saw countless little fairies landing on the lake surface and the shore, chirping away, completely treating themselves as guests.

He held his breath, not even responding to the call in his ear—

"Old Mi, how do I buy tickets for this ranch? I can't find any staff at the entrance! Where's your student? Can't drive the car in here? Have you seen the Red-rain Falcon? The place is packed with tourists—oh, hey, why are there weirdly dressed people taking photos?"

A passing cosplayer glared and muttered softly, "Don't cut the line."

Professor Mi: "You say... would these little things be so friendly?"@@novelbin@@

His friend: "Huh?"

They might act silly sometimes, but most of the time, they avoid humans.

Professor Mi: So what are those on Chu Tingwu?

At first, he hadn't even noticed Chu Tingwu because she was sitting on a deck chair, propping herself up by the arms, with several birds perched on her head and more lying by her side. She looked cautious, carefully picking up each bird, worried they might drop "bombs" on her.

When Professor Mi approached cautiously, getting within five steps or so, all the Red-rain Falcons flew away in a flurry. Only the one Chu Tingwu had picked up was fluttering and chirping, but it didn't seem nervous at all.

Professor Mi: "?"

Apparently noticing his confusion, Chu Tingwu said, "They’ve taken me as... a plant."

Professor Mi: "Can I do that too?"

Just standing still?

Chu Tingwu: No, you have to transform first.

She hadn't expected that she had accidentally mimicked a vine on a rock wall! Not only across species, but also across kingdoms!