The red-rumped falcon chick, Diandian, flew higher and higher.
Chu Tingwu crouched on the rooftop, supporting herself on her knees as she caught her breath before looking up—
At the speed at which its wings flapped, theoretically, she should not have been able to keep up. But the chick seed a bit timid, slowing down whenever it got close to her and chirping a few tis, as if urging her to lead the way.
Chu Tingwu called upon the system, sending the seagull drone ahead to mimic bird calls. Diandian hesitated, pausing in its flight. After a few attempts, the ranch was left behind. Chu Tingwu looked up, but even with her sharp eyesight, all she could see was a solitary speck flapping its wings in the sky.
Soon, the seagull drone, not far from that speck, descended from the sky and landed beside Chu Tingwu, nuzzling her arm with its head.
Starlit clouds flowed silently through the night sky, with occasional moonlight glittering on the bird's feathers. Chu Tingwu didn't know if Diandian could catch up with the main flock, but at least it had chosen to take off—
Perhaps due to overexertion earlier, she felt a rare twinge of fatigue, sitting by the edge of the rooftop for a while before saying to the system, "Let's go back."
She had to return to the ranch.
But the system spread its wings and gently patted Chu Tingwu's head, signaling her to look to the right.
Chu Tingwu sensed—or rather, she heard sothing.
A bird descended from the sky, carrying a half-eaten greenworm in its beak, which it dropped in front of her. Then it began pacing back and forth, chirping incessantly, as if urging her to eat quickly.
Diandian had returned, bringing "food" with it. Even without understanding its language, Chu Tingwu could tell from its body language that it believed its failure to "keep up" was due to hunger. After flying for a while, it had chosen to circle back.
Chu Tingwu: "..."
Hey!
Chu Tingwu altered her pheromones and quietly stepped back. The half-grown chick, sensing her retreat, hopped nervously onto the railing, tilting its head to scrutinize her, as though trying to figure out where she had hidden its "baby companion."
Chu Tingwu spent half an hour on the rooftop, caught in a stalemate with the bird until a resident downstairs, ard with a clothes pole, ca upstairs in search of a thief.
Hearing the footsteps ascending, Chu Tingwu finally moved. She turned and leapt toward the ranch, but Diandian moved too—the chick spread its wings, flapping clumsily in the wrong direction.
Indeed, not all migratory birds are born knowing how to migrate; most require parental guidance. Leaving Diandian to fly alone ant there was a chance it might go astray.
Moreover, it refused to fly high.
Chu Tingwu had the system intervene again, but this ti, the effect was poor. Diandian followed half the way before returning to pick up the food it had left behind, hopping around the rooftop with the worm in its beak.
The resident who had ascended with a clothes pole shook his head and comnted, "Just a bird? It's making quite a racket..."
Waving his hands dismissively, he returned to his room to sleep, mumbling, "Hopefully it doesn’t poop on the roof," before drifting off—only to vaguely recall the next day that the "bird" seed familiar, much like the protected species recently reported in the news. But without photos or videos, his words lacked credibility, as if forgotten in the fog of a winter's night.
Across the way, Chu Tingwu couldn't afford such carefreeness.
No matter how she altered herself, the bird with language barriers refused to leave, even urging her, the "chick," to finish eating and join the "migration"—even if the "flock" consisted only of Chu Tingwu and Diandian... well, two of them.
Chu Tingwu was utterly helpless.
The system felt even more ashad: "I'm sorry, little one. I know I'm bound to you, yet I can't help you achieve your wishes..."
Just a bird, yet Chu Tingwu and the system together couldn't manage to handle it, making the system feel unworthy of any "golden finger" label.
The incident of today wasn't the only reason the system felt this way, as it also stemd from the recent loss of Yorkie—even though everyone knew the dog had passed naturally, of old age and surrounded by loved ones, sorrow couldn't be avoided.
The system itself wasn't sad, but it didn't want Chu Tingwu to feel pain.
Yet, no matter how real the projections seed, they weren’t true life. Even when dreams brought forth a more vivid Chengcheng from the dream classroom, Chu Tingwu simply smiled and didn’t refuse, playing with the dog for half a day—only to see that she didn’t seem thrilled.
Chu Tingwu: "That's normal. After all, you're just a system for raising cats."
And she was just a "cat" raised by the system, no need to be overly harsh on herself. No matter how urgently Diandian pressed, she couldn't sprout wings overnight.
Chu Tingwu gazed into the bird's eyes, and it tilted its head back at her, seemingly making judgnts.
Once Chu Tingwu altered her pheromones again, Diandian chirped happily, bouncing closer to call its "companion" to warr places.
Chu Tingwu gently cupped Diandian, pondering:
"Although a good start hasn't naturally led to a perfect outco..."
Like Diandian becoming a great and heroic red-rumped falcon, braving the cold winds high in the sky without a leader and mysteriously knowing the route to the main flock without any guidance, then flying day and night nonstop to finally catch up with its parents and siblings.
But at least it had taken off.
That's not a bad start, right?
-
The headquarters of the Wu Voice Group is located in Jin City, with branches in Sea City, Shangjing City, and Fallen Phoenix City. Moreover, perhaps due to the AR ga "Purr-fect Lessons" collaborating closely with major cities across the country, local staff have been employed for "on-site ga maintenance," making the offline costs of this AR ga even higher than the online maintenance.
Not to ntion the city-level competitions in each ga season and the public competitions held in major stadiums, which will likely beco a fixed process in each season in a few years.
But tonight, nearly 50% of the employees received a ssage instructing them to hire local drivers, purchase tickets at different tis, and arrange schedules and pickups in advance.
This request seed a bit "out of the blue," as so received schedules for half a month later, requiring them to book tickets ahead of ti and make ti for overti—but they didn't understand what the real-ti map they were shown ant. The map only displayed a solitary moving dot, or rather, without the precise coordinates, it would have been hard to tell that the dot was even moving.
It was in Qihe City that the driver received Chu Tingwu.
As she boarded the vehicle, the navigation route subtly shifted, with the system taking over the navigation. Chu Tingwu glanced back one last ti—the clouds obscured the moonlight, and even she could only see faint shadows through the thick cloud cover... perhaps it was better to stick to the radar.
Through a sowhat bumpy conversation, Chu Tingwu and Diandian reached an agreent—
She would keep up, or rather, she would always lead the way ahead of Diandian, correcting its path, whether through cars, high-speed trains, or planes.
When the red-rumped falcon landed, Chu Tingwu would appear nearby.
So it was ti for her to hit the road.
After all, a bird's flying speed isn't necessarily faster than a car's. Different migratory birds fly at different speeds; so can reach 230 kiloters per hour, even capable of sleeping while flying without needing to rest, while others average only 30 kiloters per hour, flying for just six hours a day, making them the underachievers of migratory birds.
The red-rumped falcon falls within an average range, flying at speeds of less than 60 kiloters per hour for eight hours a day—but the sky has no obstacles, and the land is scattered like stars. Humans navigate highways and mountains, while birds can fly straight to their destinations.
Diandian might not even take a straight path, and Chu Tingwu must constantly adjust her travel plans based on the radar coordinates, ensuring she's always present whenever Diandian lands to rest and helping it adjust direction through pheromones when it takes off again. As for helicopters, since the early stages of their journey mostly pass through cities, even applying for flight routes in advance might not align with the red-rumped falcon's course.
The driver had no idea what her destination was, but as the journey continued, he noticed that the new navigation route, although circuitous, was free of speed limits, allowing him to floor the accelerator. This unexpected change actually accelerated their arrival ti.
anwhile, Chu Tingwu used the ride to make a video call to Three-Five-Five, instructing the cat mother to take care of the house in her absence. She wasn't sure how long she'd be away, so Three-Five-Five was now officially the caretaker of the ranch, responsible for both the animals and the humans.
The tabby responded with a "ow" and placed its paw on the screen, sealing the agreent with Chu Tingwu.
After this call, Chu Tingwu hesitated for a mont before dialing Teacher Zhang's number—
As the skies began to lighten, Teacher Zhang, being older with less sleep, would likely already be awake at this hour.
Sure enough, the elderly woman's voice on the other end was alert and curious, "Is sothing the matter?"
Chu Tingwu explained her plan.
Even without consciously using her heightened senses, she could still detect the driver's emotions—"confusion" and "bewildernt"—fluctuating with every change in his body's data. In a world where almost nothing could escape Chu Tingwu's watchful eye, emotions and physiological signs often went hand in hand.
Yet, through the screen of her phone, Teacher Zhang's emotions remained remarkably calm. Perhaps it was because she could only rely on subtle facial expressions to gauge her mood, lacking the additional cues she usually relied on for a deeper understanding.
Teacher Zhang just smiled, unperturbed.
"It sounds like a fascinating and challenging plan," she said. "So might argue it's aningless, but I believe that the joy and satisfaction of conceiving such ideas and seeing them through makes the effort worthwhile."
Chu Tingwu replied, "I didn't exactly plan the details..."
Those details, the arrangents, the roads, and even the navigation—they were all handled by the system. She was rely a living guidepost, constantly switching vehicles, monitoring the radar like soone navigating a lost falconette back to its migrating flock.
Most of the ti on the road, she felt as though she were accomplishing nothing at all.
Teacher Zhang countered, "Then, completing such an almost impossible task with the help of friends—I'm sure that would bring you even more joy."
Chu Tingwu murmured, "Hmmm..."
That's when it hit her.
What she could do while on the road was collect photos taken along the way, compile images captured by passersby, and collaborate with staff at the ranch to create an account dedicated to bird observation, focusing on scientific education and docuntation.
Chu Tingwu promptly shared her "plan" in the newly ford work group, ensuring her employees could better coordinate their efforts.
By the ti the sky fully brightened, the news of the "mission to help Diandian rejoin the migratory flock" had spread, as there was no need for secrecy.
Having spoken with Teacher Zhang, Chu Tingwu no longer cared about others' opinions. Although it might seem like a wasteful endeavor, wildly inventive, or even...
[This is so sort of extre challenge, isn't it?]
Chu Tingwu: "?"
[Like chasing thunderstorms, it's about pursuing bird migration through urban roads, switching vehicles non-stop, and relying on flawless teamwork for a slim chance at success... Wow, that's so cool! Is Wu Voice Group planning to make a movie based on this the?]
Chu Tingwu: "??"
[What's cooler than a movie is a "true story" adaptation! Why wait for the movie when reality is just as thrilling? Whether it succeeds or fails, it's a great story. If only we could see real-ti updates... Chu Tingwu, why don't you go live? I'd even donate money!]
Chu Tingwu: "Actually, I'm doing this for Diandian..."
[Then please share both the radar and satellite images of the red falcon flock or even just Diandian alone. Pretty please!]
Chu Tingwu: "=="
So, were they convinced, or not?
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