Chapter 98

Chapter 98

Today was the day when students were leaving for their New Year's break, departing one by one.

Earlier, Chu Tingwu and others had gone sailing, but Teacher Fu caught them in the act when they were disembarking—

They had indeed kept it well hidden, but the drone gave them away.

Teacher Fu directly searched for "drone aerial photography" on the local forum, and numerous photos of the seagull drone appeared, with Chu Tingwu and her three friends visible in the corner.

Teacher Fu: "..."

These troublemaking kids.

As a result, when leaving today, while other students were either picked up by parents or catching transportation themselves, only Chu Tingwu and her group were escorted to the airport by him.

However, it's worth noting that while Chu Tingwu and her two friends behaved normally during the journey, only Shao Lingwu called for a truck to transport an electric tricycle from the base.

Teacher Fu: The shipping cost to Bao City would be enough to buy three new ones!

After seeing Chu Tingwu and Zhou Qiang off at their gate, he returned to the camp.

Chu Tingwu was flying to Jin City first.

"After my parents' divorce, my mom and brother settled in Jin City, but I'm not going to see them this time," she told Zhou Qiang. "I'm picking up my cat mom."

Of course, she couldn't leave Three-Five-Five behind during New Year's.

Zhou Qiang, who had already been briefed on the background, knew that Chu Tingwu lived with her cat. She didn't mind the detour just for a cat, but she felt somewhat nervous—

Her family had strict rules, never allowing her to visit classmates' homes when she was young. Later, when she was no longer under such restrictions, she never had friends close enough to visit each other.

Help, my friend's parent is a cat, what gift should I bring?

After the plane landed, they picked up Three-Five-Five directly at the airport.

The tortoiseshell cat was sitting formally in her uniform, with a uniformed human officer beside her—though others were curious, they knew that police cats and dogs were part of the police system and couldn't be disturbed while on duty.

But when Three-Five-Five saw Chu Tingwu, she suddenly stood up, raised her paw to tap the police officer next to her, and let out a "meow."

A passenger going through security nervously glanced at the cat, wondering what in their bag might have caused concern—they hadn't brought any cat food, treats, or dried fish!

Police officer: "Wait... at least finish this shift?"

Three-Five-Five: "==?"

She mewed loudly in disapproval, then raised her paw, rolled on the ground, undid her uniform herself, shook out her long fur until she looked like an exploded furry chestnut, and quickly darted away from the scene, leaping onto the exit gate.

After Chu Tingwu retrieved her luggage, Three-Five-Five perched on top of her suitcase, tilting her head with golden eyes to look at Zhou Qiang.

Zhou Qiang extended one hand.

Three-Five-Five placed her paw in her palm, and they shook.

Zhou Qiang: "..."

She couldn't resist squeezing the wonderfully soft cat paw, and under Three-Five-Five's puzzled gaze, shook it again, then secretly used her other hand to pet her head and back.

When she tried to continue petting, Three-Five-Five swatted her hand away.

Then Chu Tingwu took over. Man Xing came to pick them up and helped get their luggage to the car, while Chu Tingwu carried Three-Five-Five to say goodbye to the police force—although they had previously discussed her return and Three-Five-Five's vacation, they couldn't just leave without proper farewells.

After completing the procedures, they both got in the car.

But Zhou Qiang followed quietly, lost in thought: "You know so many people here in Jin City."

People were taking photos all along the way.

In Sang City, Chu Tingwu maintained a low profile, but in Jin City, it was as if she had returned to her home base... many people who saw her showed expressions of recognition, and some would say things like "You're back today?" "Three-Five-Five has been anxiously waiting for you" "Three-Five-Five was so excited, she even got into a fight with some stray cats the other day."

—However, the person who mentioned the "fight with stray cats" wasn't even a police officer, but a passenger about to board a flight, and the video was filmed by another passerby.

Back in the residential complex, even more people greeted them, as if everyone in the community knew both cat and human, including the little kids playing house games downstairs.

Child: "Alien sister—"

Zhou Qiang: "?"

The child shouted again: "Cao Mengmeng, the alien sister is back!"

A little boy drinking water beside his mother near the flower bed showed a shocked expression... This was still normal, given how Chu Tingwu's abilities could easily make her the children's leader in the community, but why did the "mother" next to him also look shocked—what guilty thing did you do?

"Teacher Yuan," Chu Tingwu greeted, then explained to Zhou Qiang, "Teacher Yuan was my homeroom teacher in tenth grade, and she's also my neighbor."

Zhou Qiang: "Hello."

So she was actually a homeroom teacher.

After introductions, she heard Chu Tingwu say: "We're planning to head to Fallen Phoenix City tomorrow, may I come over tonight to check Coal Ball's weight?"

Teacher Yuan: "...Sure."

Zhou Qiang: Why are you showing a guilty expression like you haven't done your homework?

Chu Tingwu also picked up Cao Meng to weigh him, then showed an expression that said "I knew you probably hadn't done your homework, because this subject wasn't done either..."

She sighed and headed home with Three-Five-Five and Zhou Qiang.

Having just gotten off the plane, they decided to rest for a day and have a driver take them to Fallen Phoenix City the day after tomorrow.

Lying on the sofa, using Three-Five-Five's tail to cover her stomach, both of them finally showed relaxed expressions—

Traveling is naturally tiring, and now that their bodies knew they were "home," they immediately received signals of drowsiness.

Zhou Qiang lay there for five minutes before getting up: "Should I sleep in the guest room? Do we need to clean up?"

Chu Tingwu: "My assistant had someone take care of it."

So the house didn't need any cleaning at all.

Zhou Qiang: "Then—"

"Beep," the air conditioner turned on by itself.

She hadn't even prepared to say she wanted to turn on the air conditioning.

Water sounds came from the bathroom.

Zhou Qiang: "?" Wait.

Chu Tingwu: "It's the smart home system... well, home system, anyway it adjusts the water temperature in advance for convenient bathing. You take a bath first, then we'll eat and go to sleep."

Where's the food?

After Zhou Qiang finished her bath, she heard the sound of takeout being delivered, and it wasn't just any delivery—it was a full table of dishes from a private restaurant, with someone coming to set the table.

Thankfully, it wasn't the smart home system cooking.

Then she saw Chu Tingwu take her laundry basket to the washing machine, where metal arms sorted and loaded the clothes into the machine.

Why does your smart home system look like it could transform into a combat robot at any moment?

After they finished dinner, the "seagull drone" was finally delivered.

The modified drone had been detained during security check and was just returned.

The mechanical bird remained "quiet and still" in its packaging box, but once back in Chu Tingwu's hands, it began looking around, raised its wings to pat her head, then landed beside Three-Five-Five, cuddling up with the cat, appearing somewhat dissatisfied about being the only one detained.

Three-Five-Five: "?"

The tortoiseshell mom cat changed from lying down to standing when the seagull drone returned, watching the large bird warily—

Being an educated cat, Cat Mom was different from her peers who couldn't even recognize cat traps. She could successfully distinguish between "machines" and "animals" in her mind, knowing that movement wasn't limited to animals but also included human-controlled machines. However, she was somewhat displeased that this particular machine took the form of a bird.

Three-Five-Five endured for a while, looking back and forth between Chu Tingwu and the drone.

Chu Tingwu: "Are you hungry too?"

Three-Five-Five usually didn't have snacks at this time, did she?

Three-Five-Five: "Meow."

Then, she swatted at the seagull drone's surface.

System: "!"

The system became very nervous when Three-Five-Five was about to bite: "The shell is very hard, be careful of your claws and teeth!"

Three-Five-Five's cat claws weren't like Chu Tingwu's nails; without tools, only her "steel claws" could leave marks on the seagull drone's shell.

Watching the cat and "bird" jumping up and down, Zhou Qiang: "..."

It must be something special about Jin City.

Even the drone became more "lively" after returning here.

When she woke up the next day, Chu Tingwu spent half the morning delivering gifts to her friends, while Zhou Qiang used this time for her own activities.

By "own activities," she meant that after completing her daily quota of practice problems, she decided to take a walk around the residential complex.

Just as she was about to leave, she saw the door open by itself, and Three-Five-Five, the tortoiseshell cat, strolled in, followed by a long-haired ginger cat and two kittens, with a large black Maine Coon bringing up the rear. The cats drank water at the entrance and scratched their claws on the wall-mounted sisal scratching post while having a "meow meow meow" discussion about something.

Then they seemed ready to head out.

Zhou Qiang decided to follow them and watched as the cats entered the elevator. Three-Five-Five jumped up and pressed the button for the fifth floor.

When the elevator stopped on the fifth floor, Zhou Qiang followed the cats to apartment 501, where she found both 501 and 502's doors were open. The owner of 502 was holding a Ragdoll cat.

A young couple was waiting at the door of 501, looking delighted to see the cats: "Three-Five-Five, Ginger, Little Bai... ah, are these the two?"

Zhou Qiang could understand the names "Three-Five-Five" and "Ginger," but why was a black Maine Coon called "Little Bai" when only its whiskers were white?

The resident of 502 looked somewhat puzzled seeing Zhou Qiang, but the woman from 501 recognized her and warmly said, "You're Chu Tingwu's friend, right? I saw you yesterday. Come in, have a seat."

Zhou Qiang: ...Huh?

The five cats filed in, and out of curiosity about what Three-Five-Five was up to, Zhou Qiang followed them.

Although it wasn't exactly safe to enter a stranger's home, Zhou Qiang inexplicably trusted Three-Five-Five—

She felt that if anything went wrong, the cat might be able to save her.

The resident from 502 came in as well and explained to Zhou Qiang: "Sister Lin and her husband are planning to adopt a kitten. Recently, a mother cat with several kittens had been wandering around our complex, so she asked Three-Five-Five to bring the cats over for a look."

As for him, he had been saved by Chu Tingwu and his own Ragdoll before, so this time, his Ragdoll was serving as a "witness cat," accompanying the others.

The stray mother cat wasn't particularly friendly and had even bitten the veterinarian at the community clinic when they tried to give her vaccines. Therefore, this "viewing" was being coordinated by Three-Five-Five.

The long-haired ginger cat had a better relationship with the mother cat, as they were both community cats. Three-Five-Five had more credibility in the complex, Little Bai was just brought along by Three-Five-Five for fun, and the Ragdoll represented the adopting party, communicating with the kittens and serving as living proof that being adopted was a good thing.

Both kittens were long-haired cats—one a long-haired tabby and one a long-haired white cat, both quite beautiful.

Sister Lin told Zhou Qiang: "We were lucky to be quick and on good terms with Three-Five-Five, that's how we got the first chance to view them."

They had prepared cat beds and treats. The kittens were at their most playful age, walking around with their tails held high, following the bigger cats as they explored the apartment.

While the cats were granted the right to inspect the house, the adults voluntarily settled on the sofa, all wearing unconscious smiles as they watched the big and small cats running around.

But Zhou Qiang noticed that the cats seemed to be genuinely "inspecting" the place.

After leading the kittens around for a tour, the long-haired ginger cat started grooming the kittens, while Three-Five-Five sat there like a triangular rice ball, starting to "meow."

After she "meowed" a couple of times, the Ragdoll came over, curiously sniffing the two kittens. When the kittens pounced to grab its fur, it quickly hid behind Three-Five-Five.

Then, the kittens discovered a cardboard box that the couple from 501 hadn't thrown away after assembling their cat tree. One kitten crawled inside while the other started playing by biting the box.

Three-Five-Five pushed the box with the kittens toward the couple from 501, indicating that these kittens were suitable for adoption.

The couple from 501 excitedly stood up.

The resident from 502 was excited too—

Having neighbors who kept cats meant he could build a good relationship with them and leave his Ragdoll with them when he needed to go out.

Having cat-owning neighbors was more reassuring than hiring a pet sitter or using a pet hotel.

Since the kittens hadn't received their vaccines yet, they would stay there to adjust to the environment first. The four adult cats left the apartment, and the resident of 502 took his Ragdoll home to play by itself before getting into the elevator.

He was carrying a bag of cat food and freeze-dried treats, and explained to Zhou Qiang: "Since they're adopting the mother cat's babies, we should give her a gift in return. I'm heading out anyway, so I'll help Sister Lin deliver these things to the clinic."

The clinic was responsible for feeding and caring for the stray cats in the complex and regulating stray cat feeding practices.

Zhou Qiang didn't have any particular destination in mind for her walk, so she decided to follow Three-Five-Five.

However, when they reached the ground floor, she noticed the Maine Coon seemed timid, standing there with a soft "meow."

502 laughed: "Little Bai, you're not going out today either?"

It was actually normal for house cats to stay indoors. Little Bai had been abandoned before and had experienced a difficult period as a stray, so it was particularly resistant to going outside and couldn't understand why Three-Five-Five always enjoyed wandering around outdoors.

But it liked playing with Three-Five-Five and the others, so it would always follow them around in the hallway before showing hesitation at the entrance.

502 crouched down, took out a leash from the black bag the Maine Coon was wearing, put it on, thought for a moment, and handed it to Zhou Qiang.

Zhou Qiang: "...Hm?"

502 explained: "This is the Maine Coon from apartment 601, where Man Xing lives."

Man Xing was Chu Tingwu's subordinate.

So as Chu Tingwu's friend, Zhou Qiang could perfectly well take Little Bai for a walk and then bring it back to Chu Tingwu's place.

With the leash on, the Maine Coon seemed more spirited and turned to rub against Zhou Qiang's leg. It had such a gentle personality.

Zhou Qiang crouched down: "Shake hands?"

The Maine Coon raised one paw.

Zhou Qiang shook its paw, and kept shaking for a while... and a while longer... Finally, the Maine Coon: "Meow?"

The human in front of it simply picked it up.

502 watched from the side: Well, the cat didn't seem to mind anyway.

Three-Five-Five, meanwhile, had an expression that seemed to say "hurry up," though due to her coloring and fur volume, others couldn't tell. But they could see her darting ahead.

The long-haired ginger cat leisurely followed, and the two humans and three cats made their way to the small garage where the mother cat was hiding.

This was a ground-floor garage that had been abandoned after the complex redesigned and rebuilt an open-air parking area in another location. Being close to the activity area, it was now used to store miscellaneous items and old exercise equipment, and children would sometimes come to play there.

The mother cat had claimed this space and would extend her claws at anyone who approached.

502 explained: "Our complex actually provides free cat houses, but maybe because the scent of other cats was too strong, she particularly refused to live in those."

Just like how kittens loved cardboard boxes, the mother cat preferred this higher location and was quite satisfied with it.

The adoption gift for the mother cat was carried in by the long-haired ginger cat, but after completing this task, 502 didn't leave. Instead, he walked around to the... climbing wall in front of the complex's activity area.

He had actually come down to practice climbing. He didn't want to run in winter, and exercising outdoors was more refreshing than indoors, so the climbing wall was a perfect spot.

...But why was there a climbing wall in the residential complex?

And... Zhou Qiang looked around: The elderly people were understandable, and the middle school and elementary school students were normal, but why were there cats trying to climb up too?

Zhou Qiang stood to the side with the cat on the leash, and people would occasionally come over to say hello—

Although not everyone knew her, they all seemed to recognize Little Bai, the Maine Coon beside her, and Three-Five-Five who had come down to rest, and would then say: "You're Chu Tingwu's friend, right?"

Even the old ladies sitting in chairs, knitting and watching short videos, nudged each other and made room for her: "Come sit here, Little Chu's friend. You'll catch a draft where you're standing."

Zhou Qiang: "Thank you =v="

Her gaze returned to the climbing wall.

It was obvious that many of the people climbing were beginners—after all, this was just a residential community, not a professional training facility. For them, since the equipment was there, they just wanted to try it out. "Rock climbing" wasn't much different from doing pull-ups on the old equipment nearby.

Compared to adults and young people, children, despite their shorter limbs, seemed more agile. When they fell, they didn't get upset; instead, they laughed and played together, and the next time they could climb even higher.

Although she had Chu Tingwu beside her, who had made news headlines for rock climbing (both criticism and praise), Zhou Qiang still wasn't very interested in climbing.

Watching Chu Tingwu climb was like watching world-class athletes compete on TV—she was so skilled that it didn't inspire any desire to imitate, only thoughts of "how is that even possible?"

She knew she couldn't do it anyway, so watching was enough.

But the climbing wall before her wasn't too challenging. Elderly people, children, and even less athletic young people were all trying it out. Rock climbing didn't seem like such an "extreme sport" that was far beyond everyone's reach. The wall was right there, and there was no shame in giving it a try.

Chu Tingwu: "Remember to warm up properly."

Zhou Qiang: "...You walk completely silently!"

Chu Tingwu: "Meow~"

White Whiskers: "Meow!"

Chu Tingwu had appeared without warning, cheerfully greeting everyone, not forgetting the cat, and finally handed Zhou Qiang a cup of hot milk tea.

"The first time I tried parkour, I simply thought, 'I can jump across that gap,' and then I did," she said. "Parkour isn't really an extreme sport, and most of the time, my rock climbing experiences have been even safer than parkour. I think categorizing sports is meant to help people better approach these activities and prepare properly, not to create barriers that keep curious people out."

A climbing wall is just a wall.

An overhanging cliff by the sea is just a more dangerous wall.

The former is how most people experience this sport, safely enjoying its pleasures, while the latter is how people like her find their "fun."

Perhaps someday, those climbing this wall might want to experience the latter, and at least they'll remember that it was in this community where that door first opened for them.

Chu Tingwu asked Zhou Qiang: "Want to give it a try?"

Zhou Qiang: "Sure, why not."

...She definitely shouldn't have tried it.

Zhou Qiang thought this as she climbed into her car the next day, supporting her aching arms.

She had done thorough warm-ups under Chu Tingwu's guidance, but hadn't used professional equipment. The bouldering wall wasn't very high, and the difficulty wasn't great either.

Chu Tingwu chose the easiest route for her and then climbed up herself.

Whenever ??‌‌?‌‌???‌‌?‌‌‌??‌‌?‌‌??‌‌????‌?‌‌????‌??‌‌???‌??‌‌?‌‌‌??‌‌??‌???‌‌?‌‌???‌‌?‌‌??‌‌???‌‌?‌‌??‌????‌‌??‌‌??‌‌??‌‌??‌‌?‌????‌‌?‌?‌??‌‌??‌‌??‌‌??‌‌?‌‌??‌‌???‌‌‌?????‌‌??‌‌??‌‌?‌‌???‌‌?‌????‌‌????‍Zhou Qiang was about to stop, Chu Tingwu would encourage her from the side, teaching her how to conserve and apply strength, pointing out useful details for climbing... Soon, Zhou Qiang found her own enjoyment in it—the pleasure of "solving puzzles."

It seems all sports eventually become a kind of "science," requiring mental engagement—

Sailing is like this, parkour is like this, even simple running eventually enters the realm of research, and rock climbing tells everyone from the start: whether you can complete a climb depends greatly on your choice of routes and movements.

When encountering such mentally engaging sports, Zhou Qiang's eyes noticeably brightened after climbing for a while.

Some sports become more interesting the more you understand them.

So when Chu Tingwu invited her to try another, more challenging route, she didn't refuse.

Then Zhou Qiang realized:

"Even if you have the mental model and know how each step should go, if you don't have the strength, you just don't have it."

Without proper training, even knowing how to solve the puzzle doesn't mean you can write out the answer.

Zhou Qiang: "...You do it!"

But not using her own solution—she wanted Chu Tingwu to try her proposed method!

Fortunately, even if she couldn't write the answer herself, she had someone beside her who could demonstrate perfectly.

Chu Tingwu: Is it my turn to perform "Iron Chef"?

They stayed at the climbing wall until nightfall, with the cat making two rounds of patrol—but the next morning when Zhou Qiang woke up, despite not climbing for long and spending most of her time on the ground, her whole body ached.

Chu Tingwu, well-trained and full of energy, could even help her carry her suitcase.

Zhou Qiang: "..."

Never mind, it surely won't be like this in Fallen Phoenix City! Chu Tingwu couldn't possibly drag her mountain climbing there, right?

-

Fallen Phoenix City indeed only had one small mountain.

But after returning to Fallen Phoenix... it seemed more people knew Chu Tingwu?

"Meow!"

And there were more cats too!

The promotional advertisements had already been

taken down, but the promotional banners on the streets remained the same. Almost everywhere Chu Tingwu went, she would encounter cats from Fallen Phoenix City, with big cats specially bringing little cats to visit.

And behind the cats came people—

"Long time no see, Tingwu... Going parkour?"

Chu Tingwu turned to look at Zhou Qiang.

Zhou Qiang quickly stepped back.

Chu Tingwu: "I was going to say I'll take you to Teacher Zhang's house first..."

Not planning to take you parkour with me!