The System Mistook Me for a Cat

After the group's playful banter, the subtle tension finally disappeared, but many believed the real reason was—

Tang Zhe: "You don't have to come to school, and it's killing me with jealousy!"

Compared to Chu Tingwu, the high school life of the others seemed a bit frantic and rushed. She had already secured her future, but several of them still had to work hard for the college entrance exam a year later. Added to the fact that they were in different classes, even though the animal sanctuary linked them, their chat group gradually became less active.

Now, coming together again for the same purpose, seeing each other's faces, they felt a bit surreal.

Chu Tingwu fetched some drinks for them. Chang Yile leaned over and asked, "Where's Three-Five-Five?"

Chu Tingwu didn't even look back. "At work."

Alright, thinking that even the cat had to work, they felt like they could endure a bit longer.

Chu Tingwu projected the report Cheng Cai had given them, and everyone sat on the sofa to take a look—in reality, not all adopters wanted to take the animals home.

There were roughly three types: those who wanted to adopt, those who weren't very enthusiastic, and those who had requested refunds shortly after adopting.

When it came to this, Qin Lan became angry. "The adopter was the parent of a classmate from our school. They dragged the student here, probably because they argued at home over grades and, in a fit of anger, came to request a refund..."

He still remembered the boy, who had turned bright red with embarrassment, both anxious and angry but unable to stop his parent, making Qin Lan feel quite awkward too. Eventually, they told the parent: Refunds can be made, but the name will be posted online. After some negotiation, they refunded half the adoption fee and posted it as a standard on the account.

Refunds weren't available after half a year.

And so, over the next half year, more people came to request refunds. Clearly, many adoptions were driven by impulse or social pressure.

"If they act like this with adoptions, imagine how they'd be with pet ownership... they definitely wouldn't take responsibility..."

In the end, they found that about half of the adopters wanted to take the animals home. Two years had passed, and they still hadn't forgotten the animals they had adopted, which really said something about how well Cheng Cai and the others had done their jobs.

If that's the case, then it was time to send these animals to the caring homes that loved them.

Some adopters were still in school two years ago, but now they were working and financially independent. Others didn't have a place of their own back then, renting a place where pets weren't allowed, but now they had bought a home... By sending out intention forms to adopters and reaching an agreement with the school, these half of the animals should be able to find new homes.

The group knew that the animal sanctuary was now well-managed, and they couldn't offer much help… but Chu Tingwu had called them together to discuss, aiming to see things through to the end.

Parents had driven to the community gate to pick up their kids, and some even offered to take others whose parents hadn't arrived yet—Chu Tingwu's name was hanging on a banner at the school gate, and although they weren't discussing studies, the parents were quite amicable.

Finally, An Shiyan hitched a ride with Chang's parents. Before getting in the car, she hesitated slightly: "I feel like the school…"

Chu Tingwu: "Hmm?"

An Shiyan: "Never mind. After the exams, I'll come to the ranch to visit you."

Chu Tingwu smiled. "Sure."

-

The school agreed, but not completely.

It was in the director's office again, and this time only Chu Tingwu was present. However, the director was quite friendly and enthusiastic, and even took the initiative to say:

"Chu Tingwu, I was just about to find you. Would you be interested in giving a speech in the school auditorium, sharing your study experiences?"

Chu Tingwu: ...She only had useless experiences in gaming and daydreaming.

She brushed past this topic and brought up the animal sanctuary. The director listened intently, nodding constantly, and finally said, "I'll call the principal."

Although the voice on the other end of the phone was soft, Chu Tingwu could still easily hear it.

She sat opposite the director's desk, staring at the milk and nuts he had given her.

The principal: "Chu Tingwu, you've done a great job managing our school's nature pavilion, but the animals there were rescued by the school to allow other students to interact with animals and nature… The adopters did pay, but just letting them take the animals away like this doesn't seem fair to other students, does it?"

Chu Tingwu retorted, "Could we have a vote among all students and teachers to decide?"

The director waved his hand. "No need for that much trouble. We've retained the nature pavilion because of these animals. According to your proposal, the total number of animals will be reduced by half. Other animals, including the alpaca, have been taken by adopters, leaving only the extra cockatiels… Why don't we discuss with the adopters to take all the animals away?"

Chu Tingwu stared at him, silent for two seconds.

The director of teaching suddenly felt a bit awkward:

The students had managed to cover the expenses through this method, and the school didn't have to spend a penny, but the land was still the school's—they had been looking for a new location for the experimental building recently, and several leaders had mentioned the nature pavilion, but due to previous agreements, they weren't able to cancel it directly.

When they contacted Cheng Cai, she had politely pushed back.

Chu Tingwu: "Can I make a request?"

-

Chu Tingwu brought the news back to the nature pavilion.

There were no rules against skateboarding at the school, and she zipped past students heading to the cafeteria on her skateboard, disappearing quickly into the greenery.

Cheng Cai learned the news from her: "That's fine… It was expected."

The head of the teaching department couldn't have imagined that Chu Tingwu's request was for a pet dog—she wanted to take her pet dog Cheng Cheng along with her.

They had probably forgotten that Cheng Cheng was a dog adopted by the school, and was meant to live out its life at the school.

The Yorkshire Terrier lay at her feet, its ears twitching occasionally, glancing left and right, comfortable in the familiar environment, its belly rising and falling, soon emitting a contented purr.

Cheng Cai was calculating the accounts.

The school was probably aware of the large number of unclaimed cockatiels, but in their eyes, ordinary cockatiels—the kind that cost just a few dozen yuan in the market—could be given away or sold at the bird market.

But the cockatiels perched on the bird stands in the aviary, chirping, crowded together, all looking in the direction of humans—

They were smart and long-lived animals, as if sensing the atmosphere around them, their heads constantly turning, almost as if they were discussing.

Cheng Cai covered her ears and continued, "Looks like we'll have to start processing refunds again…"

The original adoption period was set for three years, and after three years, it was necessary to renew the fee or hold an adoption event. Now, only two years had passed, so for adopters who didn't want to take the cockatiels, refunds had to be processed.

—Because most adopters were locals, they had the right to visit weekly. They could choose not to come, but the nature pavilion had to pay for non-compliance.

"Not everyone doesn't want them," Cheng Cai sighed. "Some people really can't keep animals… Someone even contacted me earlier about continuing the fee."

Faced with such a situation, she felt a bit overwhelmed.

Although there were school factors involved, the nature pavilion's responsibility lay with them. Non-compliance was non-compliance, and if adopters didn't accept the refund arrangement, that was perfectly reasonable.

Chu Tingwu quietly asked the system twice, then said, "You first reach a refund agreement with those who definitely don't want them. Regarding those who want to continue adopting, I have another arrangement."

Soon, a plug-in was launched on the comprehensive app of Wu Voice Group.

Perhaps by coincidence, or maybe because all adopters knew Chu Tingwu and had followed her account, naturally, they would also come into contact with the group's new products… So the system told Chu Tingwu that they had basically all registered accounts on a few of the company's software.

From cat-finding apps to learning apps, accounts under the same company had completed integration.@@novelbin@@

Le Jin was one of the adopters.

They also had an adoption group, which had now become a place for posting advertisements, but occasionally there would still be discussions. Just yesterday, he heard that the natural museum of Wuzhong High School was to be canceled, and adopters could take the animals away.

Le Jin: "Sigh... but my family doesn't allow me to keep pets either."

He was a gaming UP host, working as a full-time streamer, living at home. Because his income was quite decent, his family tolerated his irregular schedule. As for Le Jin, the adoption fee of less than a thousand yuan was not expensive. His home was nearby, so he could occasionally visit the school, spend time in the mini zoo, and enjoy watching birds and peacocks. Isn't this cheaper than going to the zoo?

He wasn't particularly concerned about getting back a third of the adoption fee, but he certainly wasn't happy either, to the point that he didn't feel like playing games anymore.

He usually streamed Yuan Tang, but recently he's also been playing the "Stupid Mode" of Xuetong, a card matching game, and has streamed it twice.

After some discussion in the group, an active account asked:

"So the natural museum can't stay. Where will the parrots be sent? You're not going to sell them off, are you?"

Le Jin suddenly thought of his own parrot, and he sat up from his bed.

Cheng Cai: "There’s no need to worry. We will relocate the animals to the Shanwan Ranch in Qihe City for continued care."

Le Jin: Shanwan Ranch?

Cheng Cai continued: "Considering it's our breach of contract, we’ve also prepared other compensations—"

All adopters who have taken the animals—or rather, those who have "fostered" them—can get a suffix badge on their accounts at Wu Voice Group, plus a 30% discount ticket for Shanwan Ranch once a month, and no need to rush for tickets when purchasing with the coupon.

Le Jin: "Huh..."

He began to contemplate whether to risk getting beaten by his family to take the parrot home.

But he can’t take care of it on a daily basis!

Cheng Cai wasn't done yet: "And those who received refunds can also get discount tickets, valid for one year. After a year, they will also receive the account badge. Thank you for your contribution and once again, we apologize for the inconvenience."

Electronic data cannot equate to the lives of animals. Therefore, to prevent adopters from adopting animals just for these data and to give a chance to those who currently cannot but really want to take the little animals—the decision was made to give the account badge to anyone within a year, regardless of whether they adopt or not.

It can be imagined that in five, ten, or even a hundred years, these badges will be globally limited, because Chu Tingwu will no longer attend Wuzhong High School, nor will she organize adoption events with her friends.

Some things, once missed, never come back.

The caretakers of the parrots also moved their work to the ranch, with a few resigning due to geographical issues.... After almost ten days of busy work, Chu Tingwu, along with the parrots, peacocks, dogs, and Cheng Cai and others, boarded a plane to Qihe City.

Qin Lan was the one who couldn't bear to part with them the most.

Because ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‍Dandan was co-raised by four boys, they went through a lot of persuasion with their families, promising many academic commitments, and finally got their families to agree... to take Blue Dandan to the farm at Qin Lan’s grandfather's place.

Qin Lan: "Dandan's mom..."

Chu Tingwu: "That's mine!"

Qin Lan: "But you can't stop a mother from meeting her child, can you? Why can't I take Dandan to visit his mom?"

Chu Tingwu: "=="

Alright, she won't stop tourists from taking a peacock around the ranch, but: "You do this by air transport every time?"

Can you afford it financially?

Qin Lan: "..."

Qin Lan: "What universities are there in Qihe City?"

Chu Tingwu: Don’t decide to apply to a university in Qihe City just for this!

Qin Lan mumbled: "And there are discount tickets, if we don't use them, it’s too wasteful. I want to use them up every month..."

Chu Tingwu: "=="

I already said, don’t decide which university to apply to just for this!

Why don't you just work at the ranch after graduation? Then you won't need to buy tickets at all.