Chapter 1: A Talking Orange Cat Visits
Shi Wan felt like she wasn't fully awake.
She stared blankly at the large orange cat sitting upright in front of her, her mind filled with thoughts like, "Wow, the orange cat can talk!"
The story begins five minutes ago.
Shi Wan was sleeping soundly. After all, it was a long-awaited weekend morning, and she was determined to get enough sleep before getting out of bed.
So the knocking continued intermittently for almost a minute, and it seemed like it was going to keep going, before Shi Wan finally got up and went to open the door with a resentful look on her face.
After all, not many people usually come to see her, except for food delivery guys.
Shi Wan didn't see anyone through the peephole and thought she was just sleeping too long, but upon closer listening, she could indeed hear a few irregular knocks on the door.
She questioned her health, both physically and mentally, but finally decided to open the door and see what was going on.
Then she saw the orange cat sitting upright at her doorstep, carrying a small bundle on its back and raising a fluffy paw.
His big, round eyes stared at her without blinking.
Shi Wan recognized the kitten as one she had fed a few times in the neighborhood before, and immediately stopped being angry.
"Oh, honey, you called for me?" Shi Wan opened the door and let him in. "Are you hungry?"
The orange cat strolled in leisurely, sat in the entryway, and watched Shi Wan close the door and head towards the kitchen.
A moment later, a soft, delicate voice rang out, "Human, are you Shi Wan, meow?"
Shi Wan stared blankly at the orange cat opposite her, which had already taken off its small bundle. Her mind was filled with the memory of almost taking off when she heard the cat speak.
The orange cat looked very polite. It seemed to want to lick its fur, but probably felt the occasion wasn't quite right, so in the end, it could only put its two little front paws together properly.
In a moment of confusion, Shi Wan grabbed a can of food from the coffee table drawer and asked, "Want some snacks?"
The orange cat's glassy green eyes widened suddenly, and it couldn't sit still any longer, standing up and stomping on the cushion under its feet. "Meow, can I eat this?!"
Shi Wan was overwhelmed with mixed emotions, but she was also incredibly charmed. She opened the can and placed it in front of it, saying, "...Eat up."
The orange cat happily said thank you, then started eating heartily, meowing loudly.
Shi Wan stared at it, then secretly pinched herself.
hiss!
it hurts!
This really isn't a dream...
Lost in thought, Shi Wan waited until the orange cat finished eating before disposing of the canned food waste and sitting back down.
The man and the cat stared at each other in bewilderment.
The orange cat used its round head to push the small bundle it had taken off its body, placing it in front of Shi Wan.
"For me?" Shi Wan pointed cautiously to the small floral bundle.
The orange cat licked its lips, as if still savoring the memory, "Meow, this is for Shi Wan."
For some reason, Shi Wan suddenly understood what the orange cat meant—if she were Shi Wan, then this was definitely for her.
But before opening it, she still had a lot of questions, and didn't know where to start asking.
The little orange cat looked at her, licked its paws, and spoke again, "The chieftain said you'll know once you open it, meow~"
The cat's voice was soft, and it made Shi Wan's heart soften as well.
How could a kitten hurt her?
Suddenly filled with courage, Shi Wan took the small bundle and opened it layer by layer, revealing a bracelet.
The bracelet is entirely white, as if it were made of some kind of unknown jade. The only part inlaid with green jade is carved into an adorable cat's head.
Shi Wan looked at it, and in that instant, all other thoughts vanished. Only one thought echoed in her mind: Put it on... put it on...
As if bewitched, she couldn't hear any outside sounds; her vision was fixed solely on the bracelet.
She unconsciously and slowly put the bracelet on her wrist.
The bracelet, which was originally a little too big, immediately changed and fit Shi Wan's wrist perfectly.
The slight pain from the bracelet touching her wrist bone brought Shi Wan back to her senses, and she realized that she had actually put on this bracelet of unknown origin.
The supernatural and ghost stories I stayed up all night reading last night flashed through my mind.
However, what appeared before the cold sweat was the screen in front of me.
Shi Wan stared at the light green light screen that suddenly appeared in the void in front of her, and she understood.
I shouldn't have watched supernatural movies last night; I should have watched a system upgrade story instead.
The progress bar loaded for a few seconds, and then several cute, round, cursive characters slowly appeared.
Welcome to Meow Meow Mimi Farm.
Shi Wan: ...?
The system upgrade process doesn't seem quite right either.
It's more appropriate to look at the infrastructure operation flow.
She carefully tapped the light screen, and then the screen began playing a short animation.
The adorable cartoonish chibi kittens running around on the screen were extremely distracting for Shi Wan.
This is a farm management system called "Meow Meow Harvest Farm".
What's different is that this is a farm run by the Meow Meow Mimi tribe, and all the workers there are members of the Meow Meow Mimi tribe.
No, I mean, a clan cat.
The Meow Meow family is actually still kittens in the strict sense, but several years ago, another unrecorded branch of the family unexpectedly evolved.
They are smarter than cats, with an intelligence equivalent to that of an eight or nine-year-old human. For many years, they have lived in seclusion in the mountains, not interacting with humans, and have relied on hunting for survival.
To put it simply, they are smarter and larger kittens, more like orcs from novels, except they can't transform.
However, due to the increasingly harsh natural environment, the survival of the cats has become more and more difficult in recent years, and now only a few dozen remain on the farm.
The farm was created to ensure that all members of the tribe could retain their ability to survive in the event of a great upheaval, but they could not show themselves to humans.
It seems that someone told them long ago not to appear in front of humans, not to show any unusual intelligence, because human desires are unimaginable and uncontrollable, and to hide.
However, cats' physical limitations restrict many of their activities, so they need to choose a trustworthy human as their agent, and that's how the farm system came about.
Shi Wan was the chosen acting manager.
She touched the bracelet on her wrist, then looked at the orange cat licking its paws and washing its face. "Are you also a kitten of the Meow Meow family?"
The orange cat guiltily lowered its front paws. "No, no, Chieftain, please feed me. I've come to deliver a message."
It turns out he was an unpaid contract worker.
Shi Wan looked at the light screen in front of her again. The short animation finished loading and gradually revealed the true nature of the system.
The light green and pale yellow background looks very cute, with "Meow Meow Mimi Farm" written in the upper left corner and decorated with a few cat heads.
The surrounding area is decorated with hand-drawn flowers.
On the far left, in the middle, there's a large white cat head icon. Clicking on it reveals several sections: User Information, Land Management, Farm Tool Management, System Shop, and Customer Service Hotline.
Below the large black cat head on the far right is a line of small print: Stay tuned.
The bottom row is the planning and layout.
Shi Wan couldn't figure it out at first, and just as she was getting worried, a task guide popped up in the upper right corner.
Shi Wan immediately found her anchor and clicked to see—Please go to Meow Meow Mimi Farm.
When I opened the map app on my phone and searched, none of the listed locations were correct.
The orange cat, feeling like it was now one of her own cats, scurried over and circled around Shi Wan's legs in a V-shape, saying, "Meow, I'm leaving now. The clan leader said I need to go home early, meow."
Half an hour later, Shi Wan, carrying Xiao Ju, scanned a shared electric scooter.
Little Orange said the farm was a bit far, and it took it a long time to find Shi Wan.
However, Xiao Ju wouldn't know the way if she took a taxi, so Shi Wan could only scan a QR code to rent a shared electric scooter.
Braving the wind, Shi Wan rode all the way to the edge of the city, stopped the shared bicycle by stepping on the line, and continued walking forward with Xiao Ju in her arms.
This area is sparsely populated; you can't see many people when you look around along the road.
After walking for a while, Little Orange struggled to get down and walk, so the two of them slowly walked along the roadside.
"Are we almost there?" Shi Wan was panting heavily as she searched for the way, feeling dizzy from exhaustion.
For someone with such a weak physique, today's amount of exercise has already exceeded the recommended amount.
"Almost there, meow! We'll be there once we pass that tall tree, meow~" Little Orange was clearly very excited. It hopped and skipped a few steps away, then trotted back to rub against Shi Wan, its soft voice full of excitement.
Shi Wan looked up with high hopes and found that the roadside was lined with tall trees.
Shi Wan: ...
I dared not open my eyes, hoping it was just my imagination.
After walking for another ten minutes or so, Shi Wan could hear herself panting heavily when she heard Xiao Ju's cheerful voice, "We're home, meow!"
She immediately perked up and looked up to see a path leading out from a dense thicket, with a solitary, tattered wooden sign standing beside it.
"Meow Meow Mimi Farm →"
Oh, and there are arrows pointing the way.
Shi Wan followed the little orange cat inside. Fortunately, this time it didn't take long. After only three or four minutes, she saw a large expanse of open land and low-lying houses.
The closer Shi Wan got, the more blank her expression became.
What did she see?
I wasn't surprised to see so many cats.
I wasn't surprised to see so many cats in the ground.
But I saw many cats carrying small hoes and baskets, doing farm work in the fields...
Shi Wan suddenly felt like she was dreaming.
Her approach alerted several cats nearby.
"Meow! It's a person!!!"
"Awooo! Why is someone here, meow!"
"Meow meow meow!!!!"
Suddenly, a chorus of meows echoed across the land, and more than a dozen cats, their fur standing on end, scattered in all directions, startling Little Orange.
Shi Wan stood there somewhat helplessly, trying to say something, "Uh...no...I..."
Unfortunately, no cat could calmly listen to her.
They were all fleeing in all directions.
He didn't forget to hold onto his little hoe and basket.
"Quiet down! Meow!"
Just then, a large white cat with long fur and heterochromia lightly leaped onto the roof of the low house and hissed at the cats that were scattering in all directions.
Shi Wan was stunned when she saw it, and involuntarily exclaimed, "Tangyuan?!"
Xiao Ju stood in front of Shi Wan to protect her. Hearing this, she looked up with some curiosity, "Do you know the clan leader, Meow?"
"Is it your clan leader?" Shi Wan stared blankly as the big white cat sternly and skillfully calmed the frightened cats.
She still remembers that Tangyuan ran to her house on her own. She was young at the time, and her parents were busy with work, so they had to lock her at home.
Back then, Shi Wan was just a little girl, playing house by herself in the yard. Tangyuan jumped into her yard from outside the wall at that time.
Shi Wan saw that its fur was long and fluffy and it looked very beautiful. She liked it very much and even slept with it.
Seeing that she liked it, her parents simply adopted Tangyuan. Tangyuan accompanied her from kindergarten to elementary school, but one day when she was in junior high school, she ran away from home.
Mom said that Tangyuan was too old and she didn't want to make them sad, so she left.
Shi Wan cried for several days, and finally erected a cenotaph for Tangyuan in the courtyard.
From then on, no matter how lonely she was, she never kept a cat again.
After her parents passed away unexpectedly, Shi Wan would occasionally think about getting another cat, but it was just a thought.
When I feel like petting a cat, I go downstairs and feed the stray cats.
After suppressing the cat riot, the big white cat quickly ran to Shi Wan and rubbed against her legs, meowing.
Its voice is sweet and affectionate, and it's very clingy.
Shi Wan knelt down and touched it as before, tears streaming down her face, her voice trembling and choked with sobs, "Tangyuan, is that you, Tangyuan? I really miss you so much..."
Tangyuan raised its two front paws and stood on its hind legs, its warm little paws pressing against Shi Wan's arm, making a sticky little purring sound.
"Don't cry, the cat is coming back to find you."
A note from the author:
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