The System Mistook Me for a Cat

The owner of Shanwan Ranch was somewhat incredulous when he learned that someone was interested in buying the ranch—

He had been anxious for a while now about the difficulty of selling the ranch. In reality, despite government subsidies, the ranch had only been profitable in the first few years, and in recent years, it had fallen into a state of financial loss.

The main source of income for the ranch had been tourism, relying on ticket sales and accommodation fees from the resort. However, while the resort buildings were relatively modern in the early years, the environment of the vacation area had become outdated over time, and relying solely on ticket sales was no longer enough to break even.

The owner personally came over and stood amidst a group of children, saying, "When I first bought this place, it was because the cost of renovation wasn’t high. The pasture was already there, and since I wanted to recoup the tourism investment, I didn’t engage in large-scale livestock farming."

On one hand, he didn’t want to hire too many people, and on the other hand, he felt he didn’t have the expertise in livestock farming to make it successful.

So, while he wanted to sell the ranch quickly, he was also worried that Chu Tingwu, who seemed like a rich second-generation heir, might buy it impulsively and later regret it, causing her family to come after him.

Chu Tingwu, however, could see that—despite the owner’s hands-off approach, the cattle and sheep were well taken care of due to their small numbers, and the older animals were often given to the herders. This had resulted in a surprisingly high-quality, small-scale livestock operation.

Shanwan Ranch covered 12,000 acres, including not only the pasture but also living areas, scenic zones, and a natural lake formed by the Qishui River, which flowed directly into the ranch. A small dock had been built nearby, allowing visitors to come and enjoy the view or go fishing. The owner had named the lake "Moon Bay" because, from above, it resembled a plump hook.

As they chatted, a seagull drone flew overhead, transmitting the view to a virtual screen in front of them.

Chu Tingwu directly pulled out an AR projector and displayed the image, making it larger and clearer, like an open-air movie.

The owner stood beside her, hesitating to speak:

To be honest... he thought the recent decline in business might also be related to the popularity of AR games. With such novel entertainment available, who would want to visit a seemingly unexciting ranch?

Chu Tingwu said, "I need to bring in professionals to assess the situation."

The owner was enthusiastic: "Sure, feel free to contact me anytime. I’ve already prepared all the documents, so the handover can be done quickly... Here’s Little Wang’s number. If you need anything, just call him to help you get in."

Even though whether the gate was open or not didn’t matter much, at least it was a formality, showing that he was taking things seriously.

Normally, he shouldn’t appear so eager, but given the size of the ranch and the difficulty of finding someone who could pay the full price upfront, he really couldn’t afford to wait.

If Chu Tingwu could take over everything, the employees, livestock, and even the land leases for nearby villages could be quickly transferred to her.

Knowing that young people didn’t like him hanging around and talking too much, the owner called Little Wang over and left with a reluctant expression.

Little Wang seemed to be a local and even knew Chu Tingwu’s cousin’s husband—the father of her niece—so he came over and advised directly:

"Don’t believe everything my boss says. The ranch is worth buying, but don’t renew the land leases for the nearby villages. It’s better to cancel them and negotiate a lower price."

Little Wang also knew the owner’s bottom line and suggested that Chu Tingwu push for an even lower offer.

Her niece, Sheng Anli, asked, "Little Wang, is there a problem with the nearby villages?"

She hadn’t heard anything about it.

Little Wang explained, "Most of our workers are hired locally, and they don’t require much education. The boss originally leased the land to try and save the business by building a golf course nearby, but he ran out of funds halfway through, and the land was left abandoned—"

So, the owner wanted to return the land to the villagers, but since the money had already been paid, no one wanted to give it back. This year, it was too late to replant anything, which left everyone unhappy.

Some villagers came to argue with the owner, and in a fit of anger, he hired people to plow the land, even digging up a grave near the field. After that, the local workers went on strike.

That’s why there was no one at the ticket booth when they arrived.

Little Wang spoke with experience: "Even though there’s more legal awareness now, the villagers still prefer to solve problems the old-fashioned way—like making a scene or playing dirty. Now that there’s bad blood, if you take over, it’ll be hard to smooth things over, and hiring locals will be difficult."

The herders lived within the ranch area and, while also locals, had fewer conflicts. But there were only a few herders, and they weren’t enough to handle everything.

Chu Tingwu understood his point: "That would increase labor costs."

Local workers could be paid less, but if they had to hire people from elsewhere, they’d need to offer higher wages and provide accommodation.

She smiled, unfazed: "I’ll take a look first."

The seagull drone circled and landed. The children, excited to learn they could roam the ranch without buying tickets, had already scattered. A few adults, including Chu Tingwu’s 18-year-old cousin (who was technically of a higher generation), her 19-year-old nephew, and her niece Sheng Anli, as well as Chu Xiao, stayed together.

Numbers alone couldn’t convey the vastness of the land, but Chu Tingwu knew that Jin City No.5 Senior High School covered 180 acres, and Shanwan Ranch, at 12,000 acres, was nearly a hundred times that size. Walking up the slope, they could see the lake reflecting shimmering light, like a gem set in the earth. The greenery was plentiful, and though the sun was a bit harsh without shade, the air felt refreshing.

Chu Tingwu’s keen sense of smell picked up the scents of cattle, sheep, chickens, and dogs. The owner hadn’t mentioned it, but it was clear there were chickens here, though not in large numbers, and older dogs kept in the resort area. There didn’t seem to be any cats.

...Perhaps the lack of tourists meant there was no one to feed them, so the cats had decided not to stick around.

At the top of the slope, they noticed a camping area—a flat patch of land with some leftover debris. Sheng Anli sighed nostalgically, "I used to play here a lot when I was little..."

As a child, she had thought Shanwan Ranch was enormous, stretching endlessly. Now that she was older, she realized... well, it was still big, but not particularly special anymore.

Chu Tingwu turned her head and said, "This would be a good place for horseback riding."

While riding a horse on the street would draw attention, galloping freely in a wide-open space like this would be much more exhilarating.

Seeing that she had made up her mind, Sheng Anli grew nervous: "But isn’t it easy to lose money here?"

"Lose money?"

Chu Tingwu showed her the interface of the "Learning Without Limits" app on her phone and pointed to the drone on her shoulder.

Sheng Anli: "...Never mind."

If the owner lost money, it was his own fault. With someone like Chu Tingwu, who had cutting-edge technology at her fingertips, losing money would be a rare occurrence.

Even if she did lose money, the other branches of her company were thriving and could easily cover the losses.

Sheng Anli could hear Chu Tingwu murmuring to herself about her plans after buying the ranch:

"We’ll need to introduce sheep breeds with finer meat, and poultry farming should be developed too... Do we have a milking assembly line for the cows? Why was milking just a tourist activity before..."

Sheng Anli: Your plans... sound delicious.

With such a large ranch, livestock farming could definitely be expanded, not just relying on tourism. Sheng Anli was studying law, and since it was summer break, Chu Tingwu had lawyers come over to discuss the contract and asked if Sheng Anli wanted to—

"Intern here and earn some credits?"

She remembered that college students were always in need of those.

Sheng Anli: "...Mom!"

Chu Tingwu: Hey!

Sheng Anli, whose full name was Sheng Anli, a third-year university student, quickly started calling Chu Tingwu "Auntie," much more decisively than Chu Xiao had.

Chu Tingwu said to Chu Xiao, "But you won't even call me 'Auntie'!"

Chu Xiao: "...Aren’t you going back to school yet, Auntie?"

Chu Tingwu: "Shao Lingwu hasn’t gone to class either =,="

Being admitted to university early doesn’t mean senior year of high school is over. Different schools have different arrangements, but generally speaking, things like final exams still need to be taken. Chu Tingwu also had to return to school to complete some paperwork, but she had been delayed for a few days due to the busyness of the ranch.

Shao Lingwu, on the other hand, was about to start preparing for his art exams. In theory, he should have been busier than the others, but he was running around—sometimes at competition venues, sometimes at meetings at Wu Voice Group headquarters—and he had even agreed to help deliver horses to Shanwan Ranch.

"I’ve delivered electric tricycles before; I have experience!"

Zhou Qiang: Electric tricycles don’t get carsick.

Everyone went off to handle their own affairs, and it wasn’t until the end of July, one evening, that they finally managed to reunite in Heqi City. They decided to have a meal at Chu Xiao’s house first.

The graduation banquet had already been held, so this was just a small gathering. Chu Xiao’s grandmother was thrilled, but Chu Tingwu seemed hesitant during the meal. Finally, she couldn’t hold back and turned to Shao Lingwu:Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Could you…"

Shao Lingwu: "?"

Chu Tingwu: "Stay three kilometers away from me."

Since they were sitting at the same table, she could smell an overwhelming… overwhelming scent of horse.

Shao Lingwu: "You’re kicking me out TAT"

Chu Tingwu: "Because I can smell it."

With them, she didn’t need to explain much; she could just admit that her sense of smell was overly sensitive.

Shao Lingwu: "You’re being too harsh. You’re even kicking out Raphael. Have you forgotten how much money he’s earned for you?"

Chu Tingwu put down her chopsticks, her fingers flexing, the sound of her knuckles cracking clearly audible.

"Speaking of which, as a cat owner, why did I suddenly start raising horses…"

Shao Lingwu took his bowl and went to eat on the rooftop.

But halfway there, he turned back and scooped up Sanwuwu, earning a firm slap of affection from the cat in return.

Chu Tingwu wasn’t really trying to drive him away… She had just realized that because her "Perfect Control" skill was still at level 1, the instability remained. Some senses that she didn’t use often weren’t as noticeable, but occasionally her senses would suddenly become hypersensitive and uncontrollable.

The system had offered her a solution: "Why not try letting go completely for a while?"

Since the imbalance was causing issues, she might as well release all her senses and try living without suppressing her abilities for a period. This way, she could gradually regain control and improve her mastery over her senses.

After the meal, Shao Lingwu even took a shower before joining their meeting. Chu Tingwu rubbed her nose and brought up the system’s suggestion.

Though the idea seemed a bit odd, everyone reacted as if it made perfect sense—

Chu Xiao: "Are you planning to move to the ranch?"

Zhou Qiang: "Is this part of your new livestream plan?"

Shao Lingwu: "Are you going to observe nature for inspiration?"

No one seemed to find anything unusual about it.

"Well," Chu Tingwu said, "I’ll pause the ranch renovations and imports for now. During this time, I’ll also assemble some things I need by myself. You can think of it as me going into seclusion."

Zhou Qiang: "I came all this way… and you’re telling me I don’t need to go to the ranch?"

Chu Tingwu: "Then come along =="

As long as they weren’t scared off by her, it would be fine. Though, she did have some livestream hours to make up for. Surely her viewers wouldn’t be scared either, right?

With Zhou Qiang joining, the other two naturally came along as well. Shao Lingwu even volunteered to take on the task of going out periodically to buy daily necessities, though Chu Tingwu thought they could just have the system airdrop supplies.

That night, she posted a livestream preview and her plans for the upcoming period. Fans who had vaguely heard about her purchasing a ranch for breeding finally got confirmation, but as they read the announcement, they couldn’t help but ponder:

[So, this is what it costs to live in seclusion these days.]

…You have to buy over ten thousand acres of land first.

Still, with such a large area, how would they ensure safety? A group of minors living together—wouldn’t someone just sneak in?

-

Chu Tingwu had also thought about this. While she trusted that the ranch’s surveillance system, which covered all the outer areas, and the system’s ability to alert them in time, she still wanted to give potential intruders a bit of a scare. So, she patted Raphael’s neck and led him to the entrance to familiarize him with the area. The horse and the humans communicated enthusiastically in horse language and cat language.

Zhou Qiang: "What are you doing?"

Chu Tingwu: "You’ve heard of guard dogs, but have you heard of guard horses?"

Zhou Qiang: "?"

Chu Tingwu: "Now you have."

Zhou Qiang: "=="

You’re even more of a schemer than the Raphael in the game!