Chapter 7
The animal actors went out of control.
"Director, I'm so sorry. Xiao Jin suddenly went into heat yesterday and was quite sensitive. Today, she's probably a bit stressed from seeing so many people."
The cat owner was carrying a cage, and an adorable golden shaded cat was huddled in the deepest part of the cage, its fur disheveled. It hissed at anyone who approached, and even scratched at the owner's outstretched hand.
The mission got off to a bad start, and the director's face turned ashen.
Xu Lan calmly arranged remedial measures, and asked the dean to arrange for a professional animal comforter to come and help.
A soothing therapist arrived quickly. This gentle and composed middle-aged woman tried various methods, but she couldn't calm the golden tabby dog down.
The casting director didn't dare to utter a sound.
A cat's estrus cycle can last for dozens of days, and for the film crew, time is money.
Location, props, camera, lighting, makeup, production... every item costs money, and wasting an extra day adds up to countless additional costs.
Even Xu Lan's expression darkened. She asked the casting director to contact another cat and bring it over quickly.
The cat's owner is currently in a neighboring city, and it would take five hours to get there immediately.
The scheduling, lighting, and photography, which had already been debugged, could only wait.
Everyone was idle and dared not joke, creating an awkward atmosphere.
After typing the last line of code, Yu Miaomiao closed her laptop and looked up to survey the strange atmosphere in the room.
She didn't have any scenes in the first shoot, but she stayed on set to observe and familiarize herself with the filming process.
Whether it's writing code or acting, she strives to do her best, and she's willing to dedicate extra time to it.
She hesitated for a moment, then walked towards Xu Lan.
The other person's expression was solemn, but when he saw Yu Miaomiao approaching, he forced a smile.
"Miaomiao, work on site is temporarily suspended and is expected to resume at 6 p.m. If you have something to do, you should go back first."
"And Cheng Yi too."
She gestured to Jiang Chengyi, who was also observing the scene not far away.
Yu Miaomiao shook her head; she hadn't come to ask about that.
"What are you going to do with this cat?"
"I prefer to film the other parts first, and then film its scenes after the heat cycle ends."
"Can't we get a different cat?"
Xu Lan shook her head. "It's difficult."
"Finding animal actors is more difficult than casting human ones, especially for cats of the right breed that are docile and obedient."
"We spent half a month choosing this golden shaded cat. If we were to choose another cat of the same breed, it would only take even longer."
She sighed, "The promotional video may have to be delayed."
Yu Miaomiao's eyes sharpened—she wouldn't let that happen.
She hesitated for a moment, then walked toward the owner of the golden tabby dog who was holding the cage.
The owner moved aside. He knew the girl was the lead actress in the promotional video and assumed she was trying to connect with the cat.
A friendly reminder: "Little sister, stay away from me. Little Jin sometimes howls, which might scare you."
She shook her head, then moved even closer. "Can I see the cat?"
The owner hesitated, but seeing that the girl remained unfazed by the cat's eerie hissing and scratching at the cage, he was bewitched and handed over the cage.
"Then be careful, whatever you do, don't open the cage, Little Gold will grab you—"
Before she could finish speaking, the girl clicked open the cage door, followed by a piercing meow, and the golden tabby cat leaped out of the cage.
Oh no, oh no, oh no! The owner closed his eyes, unable to bear the sight of the impending tragedy.
But apart from that howl, the noise subsided abruptly. He cautiously opened his eyes and saw a scene that shocked him.
The cat, which was usually irritable, howled frequently, and whose owner, who had raised it from a kitten, couldn't even touch, was now obediently snuggling against the girl, rubbing against her affectionately.
The owner exclaimed as if he had witnessed a miracle, "Little sister, what did you do? How did Xiao Jin suddenly get better?"
"Perhaps the reassurance I gave you earlier worked."
Yu Miaomiao subtly released her grip on the golden shaded cat's paw pads, controlled her sudden rapid breathing, and created distance between herself and the cat.
As an outstanding student, she kept in mind the knowledge she learned from "Practical Application of Demonic Power" in high school:
Demonic power has a strong ability to soothe and attract similar species, and to a certain extent, it can remove their negative states and help their bloodline evolve.
She applied the theory to practice very well.
However, she did not expect that this action would consume her already meager reserves of demonic power, and the rapid loss of power left her somewhat weak.
The owner didn't believe it; he was an expert cat owner and had never seen a soothing treatment that could have a delayed effect. But he didn't dwell on it too much, simply assuming that Yu Miaomiao was one of those people who were particularly popular with cats.
He rushed over, tentatively touched the cat, then picked it up and rubbed it vigorously.
The kitten's heat symptoms seemed to have indeed disappeared. It showed no signs of aggression, only giving its owner a disgruntled glance with its big yellow-green eyes before jumping out of his arms and walking towards the girl.
Yu Miaomiao watched as Xiao Jin walked over to her side, its fluffy tail wagging wildly. It meowed softly for a long time, then became a little aggrieved, and finally lay down against her legs.
Yu Miaomiao moved to the side, increasing the distance between herself and Xiao Jin.
But she was like a magnet; the more she moved, the closer the kitten would get, making strange purring sounds.
She was a little confused, but her owner had already rushed to the film set to report the good news to the director, so she could only glance at Jiang Chengyi, who seemed to be an expert in raising cats.
Is it tired?
Jiang Cheng snapped out of his naiveté, "I want you to hold it."
Yu Miaomiao frowned, "I don't want to hug you, you hug me."
She grabbed the cat by the neck and threw it into the other person's arms.
But as soon as the golden tabby jumped into the other person's arms, it was like a different cat, its ears were pressed down, its fur stood on end, as if it had returned to the stress state it was in at the beginning.
Jiang Cheng put the cat back next to Yu Miaomiao. It quickly went around behind her, trying to use the girl to separate itself from this terrifying human.
"I can't hold cats, they're all afraid of me."
Jiang Cheng stated the facts that had been verified countless times, paused, and then added the latest findings.
"Except for meow meow."
He glanced subtly at the other person's increasingly pale, almost transparent face.
-
The host brought the casting director over, along with the experienced dean.
After careful evaluation by professionals, this golden shaded dog has completely out of estrus and can be photographed normally.
The atmosphere on set suddenly shifted, becoming cheerful and lively, and filming resumed.
Yu Miaomiao found a corner with a good view, took out her notebook, and started another task.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jiang Chengyi talking to Xu Lan. Something had happened in the former's laboratory, and he needed to rush over immediately.
She secretly breathed a sigh of relief. For some reason, she had a feeling that she was being seen through by this human's gaze.
-
In the evening, the film crew finished their first day of shooting. Yu Miaomiao said goodbye to Xu Lan and hurriedly left the hospital.
With her depleted demonic energy unable to be replenished, she could barely suppress the urge to revert to her original form.
She returned to her rented apartment, put down her things, and saw a notification on her phone that the newly requested Moon Dew had arrived at the courier station. She quickly went to pick it up.
Based on her understanding of her own body, without the Moon Dew to replenish her demonic power, she would remain in her original form for at least the next three days.
Just as she was about to leave, her phone rang. She took out her phone, and the caller ID showed "Wang Shuo from the Public Opinion Department".
She hesitated for a moment, then chose to answer the phone rather than pick up the package first—Wang Shuo was a section chief in the Education Department and generally wouldn't call unless it was something important.
When the call connected, a gentle and refined voice came through the receiver.
"Hey, Miaomiao, is now a good time?"
"Hmm." A very perfunctory answer.
Wang Shuo chuckled: "Miaomiao, your 18th birthday is in ten days."
She was taken aback, realizing that ten days later, besides the anniversary of her mother's death, it was also her birthday.
It's been almost 12 years since my last birthday.
"Time flies! I remember the first time I saw you was on your sixth birthday. You were still a kitten before you took human form, and I could easily hold you in one hand—"
Yu Miaomiao interrupted, "Let's get down to business."
The other person understood her personality and didn't find her words offensive, getting straight to the point.
"Your mother's car accident compensation can be withdrawn after you come of age."
When Yu Miaomiao's mother died in a car accident, the perpetrator paid three million yuan in compensation, and relatives from all over the world came to vie for this huge sum of money.
After a period of back and forth, the Public Opinion Division of the Monster Department decided to freeze the money in Yu Miaomiao's account, which could only be withdrawn after she came of age, and only then would these relatives disappear.
The handling and follow-up of this matter was handed over to Wang Shuo of the Education Department.
Wang Shuo is a very responsible person.
Yes, he is a rare pure human in the Yokai Department, where 95% of the employees are yokai.
He not only handled the money properly, but also frequently visited Yu Miaomiao at the orphanage, bringing her gifts.
Yu Miaomiao had no expectations for this money.
The orphanage guarantees basic food, clothing, and shelter, and the monsters enjoy twelve years of compulsory education, so there's not much to spend money on.
She started taking on programming jobs online in junior high school, and had a regular company to work with in high school. After the college entrance examination, because Yu Miaomiao was not yet eighteen years old, Wang Shuo called her to offer to help her with her living expenses and tuition fees for college.
Then, I was shocked by Yu Miaomiao's savings.
Unfreezing the account requires a series of procedures, and the two agreed to meet after Yu Miaomiao's birthday to complete the procedures.
After hanging up the phone, Yu Miaomiao didn't linger for a moment and hurriedly went out. Just as she reached the bottom of the stairs, a warning message appeared that her demonic power was exhausted. She only had time to go around behind a tree to avoid the camera, and the next second, she turned into a cat.
In an instant, her center of gravity shifted, and before she could adjust her landing posture, she landed upside down on a pile of clothes.
The sudden change in perspective made the kitten a little dizzy. It took a lot of effort to finally crawl out of the clothes, its fur rumpled and disheveled, like a messy dandelion.
Although it happened suddenly, the kitten was no stranger to this situation. It grabbed the clothes, dragged them to a secluded corner in the bushes, and then hid the phone in the same way.
After doing all this, the little furball was panting heavily.
It slowly walked out of the bushes, and then a familiar voice came from above.
"Meow?"
It raised its head, and Jiang Chengyi's face appeared before it.
Everything seemed to repeat itself from yesterday.
When the kitten was picked up, it struggled unwillingly for a few moments, its paws slapping Jiang Chengyi's face.
Suddenly, the cat froze, slowly retracting its paws.
The kitten suddenly realized a fact that had been overlooked.
"I can't hold cats, they're all afraid of me."
"Except for meow meow."
Besides meowing, besides meowing, besides meowing, besides meowing, besides meowing, besides meowing...
Could it be that it revealed a flaw from the very beginning?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
