The System Mistook Me for a Cat

Chapter 57

Mu Lou: "What's going on?"

Tong Bei: "The situation is a bit complicated. Think of it like this—it's as if you went to a cat café to pet cats, forgot to change your clothes when you got home, and your own cat smelled it on you."

Mu Lou: "Oh my!"

So Teacher Chu was caught by Three-Five-Five while secretly playing with Hua Xiaogang?

Looking over there, Chu Tingwu was following Three-Five-Five step by step, and although Hua Xiaogang seemed confused, he was also following Chu Tingwu in the same manner, occasionally standing up on his hind legs to paw at the skateboard near her hand, as if wondering why they weren't continuing to play.

Perhaps because although Hua Xiaogang was physically strong and powerful, he had a good temperament and plenty of patience. Three-Five-Five's attitude toward this orange cat was relatively gentle, as he wouldn't hurt the kittens when playing with them.

But now, Three-Five-Five took a few steps, turned back to glare at Chu Tingwu, then bared her teeth at Hua Xiaogang.

Hua Xiaogang: "?"

For cats, baring teeth is an unfriendly signal, but he had grown up with dogs, and dogs show their teeth when they're happy or excited. Cats are very adaptable creatures, and after several encounters, he had become immune to this gesture.

Seeing such an expression on a fellow cat's face now, he instinctively asked: "Meow meow?"

Have you turned into a dog?

Three-Five-Five: "..."

Might as well give him a beating!

While there was a chorus of meows and yowls on one side as Chu Tingwu tried to mediate, similar cat sounds could be heard from another direction—they had progressed to filming Three-Five-Five's scenes, and Director Mu Lou had gathered a group of cats from the neighborhood.

Three-Five-Five's character was the leader of the cats, so naturally, they needed to film several scenes of her with the stray cats.

These cats weren't actually strays, but rather house cats that matched humans' stereotypical image of stray cats—common breeds with unremarkable looks, some even distinctively ugly.

These cats were contacted through Hang Ling, and most were former strays who had found homes after being rescued by Little Sun Hospital.

They selected cats with mild temperaments, not particularly friendly with humans but also not prone to fear from environmental changes.

The adopting families were delighted that their cats could appear in the movie and were very cooperative.

When Director Mu came to discuss the scene with Chu Tingwu, she was sitting cross-legged on the room's carpet, modifying the small skateboard.

—Clearly, Three-Five-Five liked playing with the skateboard; she just thought Chu Tingwu played too dangerously.

Chu Tingwu decided to use the skateboard to tempt the tortoiseshell mother cat, not forcing Three-Five-Five to jump onto her skateboard to get used to the speed. Three-Five-Five also had her own custom small skateboard, so they could start by playing together.

However, carrying it was an issue.

Chu Tingwu: "I can't carry the small one with me when I'm skating myself... we can't strap it to Three-Five-Five's back, right?"

She thought for a moment and asked the system if they could combine the human skateboard and cat skateboard into one that could be assembled and disassembled easily.

The system quickly provided Chu Tingwu with a list of materials.

She was already skilled at this kind of handiwork, and modifying the skateboard wasn't too difficult, though Chu Tingwu would need to adjust to the new skateboard's weight—

The small skateboard's design was simple, made into connectable pieces that could be attached to the large skateboard when not in use, forming what looked like two small wings.

New control systems were added to the skateboard, which could be controlled not only by the system but also directly by Chu Tingwu's hand gestures.

When Director Mu discovered Chu Tingwu was busy, she didn't interrupt, waiting until she attached the final component before saying: "Your scene hasn't changed much, but should we change the bicycle riding to skateboarding?"

The difference wasn't huge, except that the "bicycle riding" scene included an action where Three-Five-Five jumps into the basket.

Mu Lou pondered: "I've filmed too many scenes of young men and women riding bicycles."

She was a director with high standards for visuals, and every frame that made it to the big screen had to pass her scrutiny... Although she was confident she could film the cycling scene well, however—

Director Mu Lou stared at Chu Tingwu, contemplating for a while.

Filming it just like that would be too ordinary, like every other movie she'd made.

After Chu Tingwu demonstrated the skateboard's effects to Director Mu, the director made an immediate decision: "Let's switch to the skateboard."

-

This scene was filming the first encounter between the character "Tao Xin," played by actress Tong Bei, and "Tiger Head."

According to the plot introduction, this was Three-Five-Five's first appearance.

"Tiger Head" had traveled all the way to Fallen Phoenix City, following the scent of criminals to the West District, but the last piece of evidence had been thrown into territory occupied by local stray cats.

Tiger Head had never been a stray cat, and feeling the unfamiliar and unfriendly scent of his fellow cats, he somewhat forcefully entered their territory.

Cats, unlike dogs, don't gather to attack other creatures, but Tiger Head happened to encounter a special group of stray cats.

A three-legged stray cat lay on top of a garbage bin, hissing at him.

Tiger Head hesitated on the spot, somewhat uncertain, but his gaze gradually became determined—

Then, his nose twitched.

He caught the scent of other cats.

A blind cat appeared on an abandoned second-floor windowsill, a tailless cat crawled out from under an overturned metal rack. These cats all looked somewhat disheveled but had clean coats. Cats walk silently; Tiger Head took a step back, his hind paw bending an empty paper cup.

With a "clang."

A smoke-colored long-haired tortoiseshell cat leaped from somewhere onto the garbage bin lid, positioning herself in front of the three-legged black and white cat.

In the shot, her pupils seemed to flash with dark golden light. The camera switched between Tiger Head and the tortoiseshell; Tiger Head lowered his body while the tortoiseshell's tail swayed more and more slowly.

The cats silently surrounded the orange cat. Though they were all old, weak, sick, or disabled, with the tortoiseshell at the front, the outcome was uncertain.

The camera created a sense of equal forces, and in the next second, Tiger Head made a sound.

—In the design, to show how cities far apart could make even cats "speak different languages," Director Mu had Chu Tingwu teach Hua Xiaogang to lower his voice, while other cats' voices were higher-pitched. As for Three-Five-Five, she had no lines here.

When Chu Tingwu discussed this with Hua Xiaogang, the cat overthought it, and during the official shooting, the orange cat let out a clear "woof-meow."

Mu Lou looked at Chu Tingwu: That's not the kind of language barrier we meant!

Chu Tingwu: "=="

Finally, she found some videos of Russian cats online and had Hua Xiaogang learn a few phrases.

In the shot, the orange cat made a sound, and the other cats chattered in response. Then they fell silent, looking toward the tortoiseshell in the middle.

The tortoiseshell's fur danced in the wind, her eyes narrowed, and she suddenly leaped forward.

Mid-leap, the other cats seemed to receive a command and jumped out simultaneously.

"Pat"

With the soft sound of the paper cup being crushed.

The orange cat turned and fled, retreating from this territory.

The negotiations had failed.

Although there were no lines, everyone could see this was the first encounter between Tiger Head, the foreign cat, and the local leader, the tortoiseshell cat.

While the scene appeared seamless, there were many NGs during filming.

Group scenes are already prone to NGs, let alone group animal scenes. This kind of story-driven group animal scene with visible coordinated movement hadn't been successfully filmed by anyone else before.

So, after getting the first good take, Director Mu really wanted to film a few more for backup.

Chu Tingwu, who was busy catching cats all over the set: "=o="

Multiple cat scenes were really difficult to film. These disabled cats had all been adopted, and most were quite timid when brought to the set. Chu Tingwu had to direct them to show that wariness of their stray days, at least making their eyes look like they'd spotted an intruder rather than anticipating another can of food.

This scene was shot on location after the crew rebuilt it, and the cats still needed to be made up one by one to achieve that stray cat look.

Although today's shoot was about their first meeting, half of the scenes between Hua Xiaogang and the female lead had already been filmed. Movie timelines are always this jumpy - they need to film all the scenes for a particular set while it's constructed. Chu Tingwu had arranged everything for the cats, and looking back, she realized her own cat was the most manageable one, requiring no direction—

Just looking at the expression, Three-Five-Five seemed ready to fight Hua Xiaogang.

After stuffing the cow-patterned cat Oreo into Hang Ling's arms, half of the cats here finally wrapped up their scenes for the day.

After the group cat scene, it was time to film the female lead's scenes with "Tiger Head." Tao Xin encounters the fleeing Tiger Head and, despite her own troubled circumstances, her heart softens and she adopts the orange cat.

Though Tiger Head appeared muscular and strong, because of his earlier behavior, the female lead mistakenly believes him to be a physically strong but timid orange cat.

...After all, orange cats generally give off an impression of being chubby and gentle.

The female lead looked at Tiger Head, thinking: "This kid might not be muscular, just a bit fat, with the flesh making it look like muscle."

She really found every possible excuse.

Tiger Head follows Tao Xin because she happens to rent a small apartment nearby. Seeing the gathering of cats, he realizes he needs a place to stay, and thus the human and cat become temporary companions.

Usually in films, when humans adopt cats, the pets are portrayed very much as pets, but in this film, the sense of being companions sharing life's struggles is more prominent.

Both cat and human have their own difficulties but are confined to the same small space.

When Tao Xin works at her cramped desk, Tiger Head is in the alley below the rental apartment, engaging in battles of wit with other cats, the camera panning upward to show thin strips of sky between two walls.

During filming, Director Mu explains to them the emotions he wants to convey through his shots—

Clearly, the cat and human are in similar situations. Chu Tingwu realizes that it's precisely because cats can't speak human language that Director Mu works so hard to show the cats' humanized aspects through camera language.

Director Mu has a habit of editing while filming, and Chu Tingwu has seen the footage of this scene.

She discovers that in this film, Director Mu's shots have a certain "clean" quality - not in terms of content, but in how he manages complexity without chaos, capturing every frame's intended emotion with thoroughness.

It's this thoroughness that makes both the humans and animals in the frame appear pure and beautiful.

The tortoiseshell cat's wild nature, the orange cat's alertness and composure, human worries and joys... other cats stepping through the city, casting shadows that flash across the corner of the frame - this isn't their home, but the whole world is their domain.

After coincidentally helping Tao Xin, Tiger Head returns to the rental apartment and discovers a trapped disabled cow-patterned cat.

This is a pivotal moment in the film, an opportunity for reconciliation between the newcomer orange cat and the local strays.

When the cow-patterned cat is rescued, the orange cat and tortoiseshell exchange a silent glance. The camera gives the cats a close-up - no communication or dialogue needed, their whiskers quiver in the air as they complete their animal "conversation" through eye contact alone.

To accommodate Chu Tingwu's vacation schedule, all animal scenes would be filmed within these two months, so the storyline jumps around.

Tiger Head obtains a clue, and later, when a client is escorting the female lead home, he catches a familiar scent and tracks it to an abandoned amusement park.

Three-Five-Five also participates in this part of the plot, where the cats take initiative and coincidentally coordinate with the human female lead to delay that client, thereby slowing down other criminals' attempts to rendezvous.

The following scenes include some cat action sequences that would be challenging for ordinary cats but just right for a police cat.

Director Mu remains sensible, not having an orange cat punch criminals or kick bombs, but simply helping its owner escape and alert the police.

However, during filming, there was a small, unexpected incident.

While filming an action scene, the orange cat stepped on a prop wooden board and used its hind legs to push forward, completing a "skateboarding" move.

Chu Tingwu: "..."

Three-Five-Five: "?"

Director Mu slapped his leg: "Well done, Xiaogang! Can you do that again?"

Assistant Director: "=="

What a familiar way of addressing! And that cat... it actually responded with a "meow."

Their feline actor was having the time of its life skateboarding on set. Off-camera, Chu Tingwu held Three-Five-Five down and buried her face in its belly, finally getting the tortoiseshell to stop struggling and just snort in annoyance.

Chu Tingwu's scene in the storyline appears near the ending.

The plot resolves satisfactorily, with Tiger Head receiving recognition for his important contribution and about to become the first real police cat in the law enforcement system.

As he's about to leave Fallen Phoenix City, the camera pulls back for a beautiful panoramic shot of the entire city (Chu Tingwu suspects this is Director Mu's way of repaying the Cultural and Tourism Bureau's investment in the film), followed by Tiger Head saying goodbye to his "friends" in Fallen Phoenix City.

Tao Xin's company went bankrupt, but her hard work and sincerity were recognized, and she found a new company with a better work environment. She's moving out of that rental apartment.

The stray cats no longer resist Tiger Head's approach. They exchange distant greetings, and just as they're about to leave, protection organization workers come to catch them for adoption.

Seeing that the strays won't listen to reason, Tiger Head helps the humans trick the cats into cages. Just like their first meeting, he gets hissed at by the cats again.

But this time, when audiences see this scene, their emotional response will likely be completely different, probably resulting in good-natured laughter.

The final goodbye is obviously with Three-Five-Five.

Tiger Head follows the scent and finds Three-Five-Five. The tortoiseshell is still the cat queen, but now leads a different group from another gathering spot.

The tortoiseshell cat lounges on the wall, with a group of cats sunbathing. When Tiger Head, the unfamiliar orange cat, approaches, other cats stand up, but only Three-Five-Five merely glances over.

She's the last to stand, opening her mouth as if to say something.

The atmosphere has built up to this point when suddenly, a skateboard appears at the edge of the frame.

The skateboard stops by the wall, and the girl riding it speaks: "Little Flower? Did you sneak out again without telling me? Come home quickly!"

The tortoiseshell's expression visibly freezes.

She pretends nothing happened, tilts her head to groom her fur with her tongue, then jumps down from the wall. Without looking at Tiger Head, she approaches the girl's feet: "Meow~"

The girl's full body still doesn't appear in frame. She just bends down to pat the tortoiseshell's head, lifts her left foot to tap the skateboard twice, her heel hitting the glowing logo on the back half of the board.

The skateboard's "wings" automatically detach, drawing two arcs to form a smaller board.

When the cat steps on it, the LED screen on the cat-sized skateboard changes to an unobtrusive light pink.

Then, under the watchful eyes of the cats on the wall and Tiger Head beside her, the long-haired tortoiseshell "Little Flower" proudly stands tall on her pink mini-skateboard and follows her owner out of frame.

As soon as Director Mu called "Cut!", Chu Tingwu couldn't hold it in anymore. She stopped and bent over, hands on her knees, pretending she wasn't laughing too obviously—but besides her, everyone else filming this scene had smiles on their faces.

Only the cats didn't understand what humans found so funny. Though still lying in their original positions, their heads had all turned, looking for their respective owners.

Three-Five-Five jumped off the skateboard, pawing at her board, looking at Chu Tingwu, then glancing at the others.

Though cats don't understand what's so funny, they can sense human emotions... logically, the youngster seemed very happy, but something felt odd?

Seeing that Director Mu hadn't asked for another take, Chu Tingwu jumped off her skateboard and took out her phone: "Little Flower~ Look here for a photo!"

Three-Five-Five: "=="

She turned her head.

But Chu Tingwu didn't mind, continuing to snap photos.

Because Three-Five-Five was a relatively uncommon name, between "Mimi" and "Xiaohua," Director Mu ultimately decided on "Xiaohua" as the stage name - the simpler, cuter, and more straightforward the name, the more striking the contrast!

As for the skateboard part at the end, initially it was just meant for Chu Tingwu to stop and call her cat, then leave together.

But when Director Mu saw Chu Tingwu leading (enticing) Three-Five-Five to play with the small skateboard, her eyes lit up.

What caught her attention wasn't the skateboard's technical features, but rather that it was a pink LED light board!

Chu Tingwu: "There are other colors too, and this one can be programmed..."

Director Mu: "Let's use pink!"

Chu Tingwu: Well, you asked for it.

She gestured to Three-Five-Five—

This person requested it, this person wants you to ride the skateboard, and riding means earning money, big money to raise kittens!

Three-Five-Five: "...?"

So the cat mom got on board.

Before filming, since it was difficult to get the cats to perform uniform actions, there were several NGs, and Chu Tingwu would take the opportunity to photograph and video Three-Five-Five:

The tortoiseshell cat jumped up and down, occasionally pawing at the small skateboard, and when she noticed Chu Tingwu watching, she would just pause briefly, glance at Director Mu, then continue skating forward with an unapologetic look.

Director Mu was curious: "Three-Five-Five keeps staring at me today? Is there something strange about me?"

Chu Tingwu thought: Maybe it's strange that you're carrying a wok on your back.

Racing against time, after the winter break ended, Chu Tingwu took two more days off, and finally all the scenes requiring cats were completed.

During this period, Three-Five-Five had reluctantly accepted her skateboard.

Or rather, whenever she saw the orange cat staring longingly at the skateboard but unable to play with it, Three-Five-Five would skate back and forth, back and forth... When tired, she would let Chu Tingwu control the board with the remote, and while charging, she would lie on top of it, forbidding any orange fur from appearing on it.

Chu Tingwu: "=v="

Of course, while the orange cat didn't seem to mind being excluded, after visiting the cats several times, Hua Xiaogang's owner approached Chu Tingwu rubbing his hands: "Teacher Chu, do you have a link for this skateboard?"

It looked expensive, but he wanted to buy one for his cat too.

Chu Tingwu waved her hand: "You can just buy those entry-level electric skateboards that can be controlled by an app. This skateboard is custom-modified, mainly for automatic disassembly and remote assembly, but that's not really useful."

Only she had such needs—

Because Chu Tingwu's goal wasn't just to desensitize Three-Five-Five to her skateboarding, but to play together with Three-Five-Five. On paths where cats couldn't skateboard through, she could let Three-Five-Five ride on her board, and the small skateboard could automatically connect, requiring no manual lifting.

The owner said disappointedly: "I thought about that too, but I

Chu Tingwu: "When you start something, you should see it through!"

Her classmates weren't entirely convinced but seemed relieved: "That's good... so it wasn't because you filmed a video of thieves and got revenge from criminal gangs, had your holiday homework stolen and torn up, and then couldn't come back because you were trying to get your homework back, and couldn't make up the work in time..."

Chu Tingwu: "?"

Another person whispered: "I told you that wasn't possible."

Chu Tingwu: Of course it wasn't possible.

The classmate continued: "...I mean, I don't think anyone could steal Chu Tingwu's holiday homework!"

Chu Tingwu: "..."

So that's what they meant by "impossible"!