The System Mistook Me for a Cat

"So, you came to Russia to visit relatives, and they live in Murmansk City nearby?"

"Mm-hmm..."

"And your cousin, who’s around your age, drove you to see the Northern Lights in Mermos, but then just left you behind and drove off?"

"Uh..."

"Is Jiafei really your name? But isn’t Garfield a cat?"

Shao Lingwu: "..." What else? So I can’t be a cat, but I can be a dog?

Shao Lingwu irritably stabbed a piece of cake with his fork.

He was pretending not to know Chu Tingwu... because his current situation was a bit awkward.

He spoke Russian, had his phone with him, and had brought money. Even though he had been left behind, he wasn’t in a dire situation. But he didn’t want to call someone to come pick him up, so he decided to wait for the next bus from Mermos to Murmansk City.

The only thing Shao Lingwu regretted was: "I left my violin in the trunk when I got out of the car."

As for the bullying behavior from his distant cousin, he didn’t care too much.

Chu Tingwu, while gently squeezing Sanwuwu’s paw pad, asked, "You two don’t get along?"

Shao Lingwu: "We’re not close."

His mother was also of mixed heritage, so their ties to the relatives in Russia were already distant. They only met once a year, and his cousins probably thought of this as just a prank. When they drove off laughing, Shao Lingwu was only worried about his violin.

Chu Tingwu hummed thoughtfully, then clapped her hands: "After we finish eating, let’s go find your violin, okay?"

Shao Lingwu: "Okay!"

He didn’t ask how they would find it, but he did start eating faster.

By the time he had finished the desserts on the table, Chu Tingwu had already returned from a quick trip to the restaurant’s kitchen, carrying a bag of uncooked salmon. Shao Lingwu followed her outside and pointed to the southernmost part of the town:

"We parted ways when we entered the town. They said the signpost up ahead marked the town’s boundary, but it was buried under the snow at the time. My cousin Lovkis asked me to get out and take a photo with the sign as a memento. When I brushed the snow off, they just drove away."

Chu Tingwu: "Did the car not head into the town?"

Shao Lingwu: "No, it went south."

He could have chased after them, but that would have given the bullies what they wanted. So he just glanced at the car, wiped the snow off the sign, and took a selfie.

Shao Lingwu showed the photo to Chu Tingwu. In the picture, the boy didn’t look flustered at all. His golden hair glimmered faintly under the snow, and the Northern Lights above him stretched like a winding path of light. Only his face and the sign behind him stood out clearly.

Chu Tingwu seemed deep in thought as she stared at a corner of the photo: "Are these the tire tracks from when the car drove away?"

Shao Lingwu: "Yeah."

Chu Tingwu: "They went south?"

Shao Lingwu nodded.

Chu Tingwu: "Sanwuwu, hit him."

Shao Lingwu stopped nodding and hopped away, trying to dodge.

Chu Tingwu: "—From this angle, they clearly went east."

South-east of the town led to the ski resort.

These people lived in Murmansk City, and it took about three hours to drive to the town. A six-hour round trip just to "dump someone" would be too much effort. They were probably here to have fun and decided to prank Shao Lingwu along the way.

Chu Tingwu turned and waved at Shao Lingwu, who obediently came over. Sanwuwu perched on his head, flattening his hair into a messy tuft... Chu Tingwu wasn’t planning to walk to the ski resort, so she borrowed a car from a nearby hotel.

Chu Tingwu: "..."

Shao Lingwu: "..."

Chu Tingwu: "It’s fine. I didn’t tell anyone I was coming here, and I didn’t mention it to my fans either. No one should notice..."

Given the town’s low traffic, the worst that could happen was hitting a railing or a sign. Let’s go.

She glanced back at Shao Lingwu and noticed him trying to find a pet safety seat in the car... but once Chu Tingwu started driving, he realized the speed didn’t really require one.

Compared to the town, the ski resort was much livelier, filled with both tourists and locals. From a distance, you could see many people on the ice. You could ski or skate here, with the ice rink located at the base of the snowy mountain. The mountain itself was rocky with little shrubbery, and from the top, it felt like you could slide all the way down into the town under the Northern Lights.

As Chu Tingwu and Shao Lingwu approached, an attendant directed them to park and charged a rather steep fee.

Shao Lingwu jumped out of the car and looked around, but he didn’t see the car he had arrived in.

However, after walking around the parking lot, Chu Tingwu stopped in front of an empty spot and called Shao Lingwu over: "Do these tire tracks look like the ones from your car?"

She was already certain because the scent left by the vehicle matched the faint smell on Shao Lingwu.

If they wanted to be more scientific about it, they could take a sample here and analyze the microscopic evidence and tire patterns to identify the car, even pinpointing the make and manufacturer. But that level of detail was usually reserved for criminal investigations.

Shao Lingwu walked over and glanced at the tracks—

"Yeah, that’s the pattern."

Others might not be able to tell, but he could instantly reconstruct the overlapping tire marks in his mind, separating them and filling in the gaps with matching patterns from other spots. Not only could he identify the car they had come in, but he could also tell how many cars had been parked here before the snow fell.

As for how he remembered the tire pattern from earlier... wasn’t that something you just noticed and stored in your memory?

After making their judgment, Chu Tingwu tipped the parking lot attendant and asked if they remembered when the car had left. They also managed to get access to the surveillance footage.

A group of young men and women had gotten out of the car to play for a while, seemingly ran into some acquaintances, and then drove off with additional passengers.

Next, they followed the road out of town.

Chu Tingwu compared the route with a map and got a reminder from her system: "Are they going to see the Northern Lights?"

Since Mr. Zhang’s neighbor was an "Aurora Hunter," and Aunt Mei had exchanged contact information with them, Chu Tingwu knew a bit about the spots these hunters took tourists to. The direction the group was heading seemed to align with one of those locations. However, after following the tire tracks for a while, they noticed the path had slightly deviated.

Chu Tingwu got out of the car to check the direction again. When she got back in, Shao Lingwu frowned: "Is this road safe?"

He tried calling his cousin, but the signal was too weak in this remote area.

The ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‍car they had borrowed from the hotel was designed for tourist road trips, with high clearance to handle the snow. But the tire tracks became more pronounced—at some point, the car his cousin was in had veered off the main road and onto an untouched path, leaving clear marks in the snow.

The surroundings grew increasingly desolate, and it started snowing again.

Chu Tingwu drove a bit further, then turned off the engine and signaled for Shao Lingwu to be quiet.

Amidst the wind and snow, the sound of a vehicle approaching grew louder. Finally, a car stopped in front of them, and someone leaned out: "Tourists? You’re tourists, right?"

Shao Lingwu silently exchanged a look with Chu Tingwu, and they quickly pieced together the information:

The car in front of them was the one his cousin had been driving, but the person behind the wheel wasn’t the owner. It was a burly, shrewd-looking Russian man with a wide, friendly smile.

He stepped out of the car and approached them enthusiastically, introducing himself as Nobor, an Aurora Hunter. He claimed there was a little-known viewing spot up ahead and offered to drive them there to see the Northern Lights. They could also go skiing nearby.

Nobor added that he ran this business with his girlfriend, who waved from the passenger seat and called out, "Want to join us?"

Chu Tingwu: "Then you'll drive ahead?"

Nobor nodded. As he was about to return to his car, he seemed to remember something: "Oh, by the way, the road ahead isn't in great condition. Cars that haven't been modified might struggle a bit. I should probably check your car. Do you mind if I take a quick look?"

Chu Tingwu replied indifferently, "The hotel said this car is quite suitable for snowy terrain."

But she didn't refuse.

Nobor smiled faintly.

He glanced at his "girlfriend," signaling her to get out of the car and strike up a conversation with the girl to lower her guard—during their exchange, he had noticed that between the two young people, the girl seemed to be the one in charge. As for the cat in the car, he hadn't paid it any mind.

His girlfriend got out of the car, and the two young people followed suit, stepping out one after the other. Just as Nobor was about to place something in their car, he suddenly heard a scream from outside—

Wait! Weren't they supposed to hold off on acting now?

He lifted his head from the driver's seat just in time to see their car speeding away.

Meanwhile, his "girlfriend" was sprawled on the snowy ground, looking utterly bewildered.

Nobor: "...?"

Wait... they... no, they were the ones planning to steal the car and the money! And they had done this many times before! This time, they had misjudged... and ended up being outsmarted by two outsiders?!

But this car was still here... He immediately wanted to drive after them, but when he reached out, he realized... the car had stalled, and the keys had been taken by the young couple.

Now the car was stranded in the snow, with only the tire tracks of two vehicles around, and no other cars would be passing by... Plus, there was no cell signal!

He cursed under his breath, and his girlfriend finally snapped out of her daze, climbed back into the car, and realized they had been left behind. She let out a string of expletives.

-

Chu Tingwu: "Oh no."

Shao Lingwu: "Dammit..."

They had forgotten to bring up the bag of frozen salmon they bought for Sanwu when they switched cars.

At that moment, the tortoiseshell cat sat sternly in front of the passenger seat, and the two humans silently avoided the mother cat's gaze.

Chu Tingwu sighed regretfully, "Those robbers got lucky..."

Not only could they enjoy the snowy scenery, but they also got to eat salmon.

Even if it was frozen.