The System Mistook Me for a Cat

Cheng Cai quickly got to know all the staff members since there were so few of them. Afterward, she returned to her designated area, the "Ornithological Pavilion," and seeing familiar faces—her colleagues who had come with her to Qihe City—she finally felt a sense of grounding.

She wasn't shy at all, even with the live broadcast camera in front of her, she would clearly express her thoughts. Her long-time fans on the livestreaming platform knew about the relocation process, and some had already taken away the animals they had adopted. Seeing the parrots in their new home, they felt a mixture of emotions.

The bird pavilion at the ranch was vastly different from the one at the school, with the most significant difference being the size. Compared to the ornithological pavilion that had been renovated and detailed at the school, this one tried to replicate the original version but, due to time constraints, seemed a bit rough and empty. However, the moment Cheng Cai saw it, she still exclaimed, "Wow, it's so big!"

It was almost the size of the original natural pavilion, big enough for each parrot to have its own room. However, the parrots were still adjusting to their unfamiliar new surroundings, huddled together in a corner. Only a few outgoing birds were testing their wings indoors, and their flights encouraged others to join them.

Chu Tingwu had a parrot with a tuft of blue feathers on its head perched on her shoulder. The bird curiously tilted its head to look at her, while she leaned back on the sofa, raising a finger to gently push the parrot's face away.

Chu Tingwu was attempting to change her "pheromones." This wasn't entirely about scent; even for humans, different parts of the body exude different smells. A comprehensive composition of these scents formed the so-called "pheromones." She discovered that the easiest pheromone to mimic was that of a plant.

Laying on the couch, flipping through a book, she felt as though she had turned into the scent of the book itself, emitting a faint woody aroma. Then, she saw Cheng Cai enter with the live broadcast camera.

Cheng Cai was introducing the place to the audience while checking the facilities, showing concern for some seemingly depressed parrots, finding the peacock mother behind the sofa, trying out some new smart devices, and observing a robot cleaning for quite some time. Even without looking at the livestream, Chu Tingwu knew that the chat in the livestream was flowing smoothly like casual conversation. Finally, Cheng Cai muttered to herself, "Where’s Cheng Cheng?"

Chu Tingwu replied, "She’s been taken by Three-Five-Five to see the egg yolk."

Cheng Cai: "..."

Cheng Cai: "Chu Tingwu, you’re here..."

How had she not seen the boss earlier?

Chu Tingwu’s sudden voice startled the audience. Normally, even though the camera was just casually scanning, they should have noticed someone lying there.

[Master Chu, why were you so still!]

At first, they thought it was some strange art installation!

The human eye processes a lot of extra information before the conscious mind reacts, allowing the brain to analyze and filter out unnecessary parts. For instance, if someone truly remains completely still, the brain might automatically identify them as a "human wax figure" or something similar, creating an impression that it’s an inanimate object and doesn’t require attention.

Chu Tingwu glanced at the chat and nodded, "Oh..."@@novelbin@@

This was a detail she hadn’t noticed: while mimicking the scent of plants, she also unconsciously emulated their physical stillness.

She simply murmured "Oh" and left, not lingering in the frame to disrupt Cheng Cai’s livestream focus.

But as Cheng Cai went out, she felt inexplicably suspicious, constantly thinking the boss might be nearby. The chat was filled with such speculation.

[That yellow figure over there! Is that Chu Tingwu?]

[That’s a projected map...]

[That shadow, it’s definitely a person! Is Master Chu hiding behind that wall? Go check!]

Cheng Cai: "Um... that’s a streetlight."

Ignoring the unreliable audience, she set off to find Cheng Cheng.

Staff could use the automatic sightseeing cars parked in the residential area, two-seater models with slower speeds. Cheng Cai wasn’t sure where Three-Five-Five was, ready to ask various livestreamers currently broadcasting from the ranch. But experienced viewers suggested she ask the magical conch... no, the cleaning robot passing by.

The cleaning robot: "You can directly input the destination on the sightseeing car."

The robot left.

Cheng Cai: "Is Three-Five-Five a scenic spot too?"

Following the robot’s advice, she input the destination on the panel, and indeed, a classic cat head icon appeared. But—

[There are 3 queued vehicles ahead. We’ve adjusted your route. Please do not manually drive to avoid collisions.]

The new route was more circuitous than the first, appearing to arrive three minutes later than the initial route.

Cheng Cai: "=="

Not only was Three-Five-Five a scenic spot, but you also had to queue for it.

But five minutes later, she realized it was even more: a mobile scenic spot—since Three-Five-Five was alive, it could move.

The fans were getting impatient, a few even scratching their heads:

[Is anyone at the ranch right now? Where’s Three-Five-Five heading? Can someone give a live update?]

[I checked New Plum’s blog and it seems she’s leading a group of cats, avoiding tourists. Some tourists are walking directly behind the cats, taking pictures, which is a bit annoying.]

[Too much tourism, even Three-Five-Five’s dodging people now... Back in the day, she’d just give everyone a slap on the head.]

[If she were back then, she’d have real cats instead of fake ones. What could fake cats do? With real cats as sidekicks, she wouldn’t even need to slap people herself.]

[I don’t know why... the term "sidekick" feels a bit off here?]

Cheng Cai: "Ah!"

She thought of something: Although the ranch prohibits visitors from using their own drones and only allows drones from Wu Voice Group with pre-approved routes...her drone wasn’t restricted. She could fly over and see what the cats and dogs were up to!

The drone ascended, sweeping across the low grass, grazing cattle and sheep, continuing higher. But suddenly, a hand stretched out from midair—

A semi-transparent hand gently grabbed the drone, startling both the viewers and Cheng Cai, who was watching through the camera. Then, ribbons fluttered, and the massive figure of the projection of Imperial Consort Yang appeared in midair, making the drone in her palm seem tiny. Her gaze pierced straight into the camera, as though recognizing that the drone’s altitude was fine. She let out a chuckle and then disappeared into the clouds.

Even after the drone landed, everyone could still see the faintly visible, rippling ribbons in the sky.

This seemed to be an Easter egg—one that would trigger if a drone flew at a certain altitude in a specific area under suitable weather conditions.

The audience was both shocked and confused:

[What’s going on at your ranch? The crossover event is almost over, and the Easter egg is just now triggering!]

Which company doesn’t release such Easter eggs on the first day, along with a couple of top searches! You’re still hiding them like hidden Easter eggs! Will this Easter egg be canceled once the event ends?

Filled with a sense of "what else don’t I know," everyone began urging the host to try everything... After receiving a yellow card warning from a robot for pulling grass, the drone finally found Three-Five-Five.

Three-Five-Five and Cheng Cheng were walking side by side. The cat’s pace was neither slow nor fast, but the Yorkshire Terrier, being shorter by "some," seemed to be bursting with new energy. It frequently ran ahead of the calico, "barking" a few times, then returned to Three-Five-Five, barking again before resuming the walk—performing in a short span what usually took Cheng Cai’s regular dog-walking routines.

Cheng Cai suddenly realized:

For parrots, the pasture provided a larger space, but for Cheng Cheng, it was no different.

The campus of No. 5 Middle School was quite large, but not all of it was open to a little dog like her. Most of the time, she could only walk Cheng Cheng around the lake and the playground.

However, this pasture did not drive away old dogs.

Just like how Chu Tingwu never bothered the three horses.

Now, one of the horses had already overtaken the back of the sightseeing car, kicking up its hooves and running towards Three-Five-Five, then slowing down and strolling over to the cats and dogs.

Cheng Cheng: "Woof woof woof!"

Three-Five-Five patted its head, then grabbed the saddle and quickly jumped onto the horse's back. The tortoiseshell cat then looked down and began urging the dog to join.

Cheng Cai: "?"

Wait, wait! Isn't that a bit too difficult for a dog?

Both the horse and the cat seemed to be encouraging, with Three-Five-Five even jumping down again. The horse then crouched down, and finally, Cheng Cheng managed to get onto the horse's back, barking excitedly.

But when the horse moved slightly, the dog's barking became more urgent, and after hesitating, it finally jumped down again. Seeing this, Three-Five-Five let out a "meow" and bounced onto the horse's back, signaling the dog to follow them.

The other cats, some grooming themselves and others playing, seemed to be summoned as well, slowly following behind. Three-Five-Five's attitude towards them was less friendly, letting out an impatient "meow-ooo," but towards Cheng Cheng, it was more encouraging, "meow-woo."

Cheng Cai: "?"

[What’s Three-Five-Five doing?]

[Ah, cats… I see a few familiar faces… cats… I really wish I could visit the pasture too…]

The animation hasn't stopped updating, but the main characters have been set around the initial few roles, with a new guest character appearing each episode, which has allowed the audience to remember them.

So, some animation fans didn't understand—on one hand, there was a viral internet cat celebrity, and on the other, a group of new, secondary-universe cat characters, all under the same owner, yet it seemed like Three-Five-Five was bullying all the other cats. Weren't they all pretty friendly before? Everyone often saw the cats having meetings together.

Three-Five-Five meowed at Cheng Cheng a few more times.

Cheng Cai: "Ah, we’re almost there."

Although they took a detour, the sightseeing car was still quickly bringing her to the animals.

In the shot, the little dog stepped back, looking left and right, then at Three-Five-Five, showing a human-like expression of worry.

Finally, it raised its hind leg and then put it down, practically pressing itself against the pasture wall, rubbing its fur against the soot, and let out a bark towards Three-Five-Five.

Three-Five-Five reluctantly accepted.

The scent left by the Yorkie was very faint, but it still marked a spot—Three-Five-Five had been quite busy lately, as it was trying to divide the pasture into territories, assigning each projected cat to a section to chase away the wild birds that came to steal food. Although the humans hadn't realized it yet, the cats had already noticed:

The birds near the lake seemed to be considered part of the pasture in the eyes of the young ones, often coming to pluck fine twigs and steal floating cattle and sheep hair to build their nests.

But birds from outside would also come to steal, creating a competitive relationship. Logically, with so many cats in the pasture, the birds' activities should be more subdued.

But these cats… Thinking of this, Three-Five-Five angrily turned its head and let out a "meow-ooo." These cats couldn't even leave their scent to warn the wild birds, by the time the robot showed up, the thieves would have already escaped.

Three-Five-Five patted Cheng Cheng's head, completely ignoring that the dog was already of an age where it should be retired.

"From now on, you’ll follow me as an intern police dog, meow!"

Cheng Cheng: "Woof?"

Three-Five-Five was familiar, but it seemed like Three-Five-Five wasn't as familiar with it anymore, so was it being hurried around? Had it been bullied enough! Would it be able to live and eat here as it pleased from now on? Woof woof woof!

The dog didn't understand; it just thought Three-Five-Five was a familiar, good cat, and this pasture was a place where it could run wild and play freely!

Three-Five-Five: "Meow."

Very good, a consensus has been reached.