Yes, it's like the cats are saying, "The stupid human category voted, and we voted for you..."
The proud black cat sat at the head of the table, and no matter which direction the camera shot from, it could only highlight the black cat's majestic and spirited nature. Compared to it, the other cats were just ordinary.
Big Black's fan club suddenly erupted in cheers, while the people next door were left speechless and awkward.
They couldn't find their favorite cat even with binoculars.
Wen Zheng smiled slightly and looked down to open Weibo.
-Big Black is so handsome
- My eyes just couldn't leave the big black dog.
How did Big Black manage that? Do they have the word "roar" in their cat language? Has the difference in strength reached that level?
- Suddenly I feel like beauty pageants are just us making trouble for ourselves.
-I'll cast my vote. Cats have their own aesthetic sense, and I'm increasingly convinced that what people think is beautiful or not is unimportant...
Wait a minute, is this a pet contest? Aren't pets supposed to be lovable?
That's what they say, but...
Seeing Dahei made me wonder if we've placed too much importance on the status of the owner? Do cats really need to be played with like this by us humans...?
What right do we have to call Dahei ugly?
Even though there was still one last event left, both the cats and the audience were already distracted. The organizers hurriedly brought in off-site voting, forcibly keeping the competition going.
Galaxy Group is in a state of utter chaos.
Most of their staff were still busy with the public relations efforts regarding the bombing, and the competition here was also seeing large-scale discussions that were unfavorable to them. When Liu Yinhe rushed to the scene, she saw Dahei being surrounded by admirers.
He was almost burned by this ordinary-looking cat.
"How much? Eighty-three percent!?" he shouted. "Are you kidding me? It can't possibly be number one, and even if it is, it can't have this many votes! What's going on online? Did they not invest in PR?! Damn it..."
The director said anxiously, "Mr. Liu, we've already deployed our PR team, but the public opinion is too concentrated..."
Liu Yinhe, with her hair disheveled, eyes red, and leaning on a cane, roared, "If all else fails, just buy a ticket!"
The surrounding staff were startled and all looked at him. The people sent by Galaxy Group didn't care about anything else and loudly stopped him: "Mr. Liu! We've never bought tickets in previous years, and we weren't prepared at all this year!"
The shout snapped Liu Yinhe back to her senses, and she realized she had said the wrong thing, breaking out in a cold sweat.
But now is a critical moment for the group's survival, and he has a very bad feeling.
In this extraordinary period of the laboratory explosion, if they cannot gain more public support and achieve better results, if the lab cat cannot regain its former popularity... their family's business empire is very likely to collapse.
The director, under Liu Yinhe's gaze, trembled, yet remained silent for a long time. He silently resisted, unsure how long he could hold out.
He was ultimately just a director.
…………
"What's going on? Why haven't the votes been tallied yet?"
"It's been almost ten minutes...didn't it take five minutes before?"
"Is there a problem with the system?"
"...Sigh. Why didn't we come out earlier or later, but now..."
Just when viewers and netizens were feeling a bit uneasy, the voting results were finally revealed. Dahei came in first place in this round with 46% of the votes.
The members of Dahei's fan club cheered and celebrated when they heard that they had won first place, but Wen Zheng looked at Dahei and couldn't see any joy in his expression.
The barrier has been removed, and professional keepers are using food to lure the cats back to the backstage area. Big Black is squatting motionless in place, staring at a certain direction backstage.
They didn't dare touch the other cat's poop either.
"What's going on?" someone asked, bewildered. "Where is Big Black looking?"
"I don't know, is there a problem...?"
Although they came in first place, the 46% figure was much lower than Wen Zheng had anticipated. Judging from Da Hei's expression, it seemed he had heard something.
But now is not the time for a stalemate. He stood on the sidelines, gathering his strength, and shouted, "Big Black—!"
Dahei turned his head, saw Wen Zheng, thought for a moment, and suddenly gave up keeping an eye on the backstage. He leaped to the sidelines, jumped over the high fence, and landed steadily in Wen Zheng's arms.
"Not going to compete anymore?" Wen Zheng asked him, looking down at him.
"Roar." Big Black impatiently patted the ground with its paws and swept its tail.
The members of the Big Black fan club around were stunned and rushed to get a closer look at Big Black or touch him. However, Wen Zheng suddenly disappeared in the chaos, and even Zhenzhen and Luya, who were closest to him, did not see him.
"Big Black withdrew from the competition!?"
This turn of events happened in an instant, catching even the audience and organizers off guard, let alone those watching the live stream online.
All everyone saw was that Big Black refused to go backstage, then jumped over the railing into a man's arms, and then disappeared.
Wasn't he in first place? He's just leaving like that? Is the competition even over?
Immediately afterwards, a dozen or so of Big Black's underlings also strolled out from backstage, one by one leaping out and disappearing without a trace, causing chaos in the scene.
"Where's the cat?! Didn't the security guard at the door stop it?!" One of the organizers yelled into the phone, rushing towards the door right under the audience's noses. A cameraman, hearing the commotion, stupidly pointed his camera in that direction. Wendy, who was watching the show from outside with her laptop, casually snapped a picture...
The entire Xia Kingdom audience witnessed the person in charge frantically chasing the cat.
"Don't go out! Who's withdrawing from the competition now? Come back, we can talk this over!? Damn, they went out? Who let them out? Volunteers?... Check the security footage, check it all! I'm going to hold them accountable for breach of contract!"
The person in charge bumped into a volunteer in a red vest and shouted, "Have you seen anyone?! Who let them escape?!"
Yu Jin shrank back, looking pitiful, and whispered, "I'm so sorry... Boss... please don't make me pay..."
Audience member: ??? What's going on with this organizer? Isn't that a volunteer?
The person in charge nearly vomited blood. He took a few deep breaths and roared, "Investigate! Investigate for me!"
It was only then that the cameraman realized what was happening and turned off the camera.
There was a moment of silence online, followed by a barrage of question marks.
Is Galaxy Group really this arrogant?
Another minute later, Wen Zheng's Weibo account started to move.
-bkc: The strong are naturally majestic, and even pets have dignity.
She later posted a separate Weibo post about Xiaoyuan's Home, calling for attention to pet adoption.
Some people were focused on its withdrawal from the competition. Wen Zheng replied that Dahei suddenly didn't want to compete anymore, so they respected its opinion and took it with them, treating it as if it didn't want a ranking.
Dahei's performance was quite good before, why does he suddenly not want to compete anymore?
subtle.
The other group followed the trail to Xiaoyuan's Home, where they saw what this Weibo account with only 20,000 followers had been doing all along. It was like a wake-up call for them.
How many cats have been abandoned because their owners pursued so-called better and newer breeds?
The hashtag #DaHeiWithdrawsFromTheCompetition# skyrocketed in popularity, and with more people using it, the focus shifted.
Then someone captured a close-up shot of Dahei leaping into Wen Zheng's arms, which was widely shared online. This guy is Dahei's owner!? Handsome guy raising a fierce cat, so cute!
One in ten young people plays holographic games. But when you spread them out across so many games, that's not many at all. Even if Z is doing very well on Aimao Live, he's still just a streamer for a specific game. He's a big name on the forum, but nobody recognizes him outside of it.
But Dahei's leap attracted attention from all age groups.
Perhaps trying to capitalize on the hype, the cat-loving livestream released unreleased footage from the streamer conference at this crucial moment.
Wen Zheng and Bei Sining sat in Little Bear's Mushroom House. The long-haired youth who was once popular on the internet said, "Wen Zheng is not feeling well today and cannot ride any 'exciting rides'."
Wen Zheng paused helplessly, then said, "...You've revealed my name."
Bei Sining looked blankly and said, "Can't I say?"
Finally, Wen Zheng said it didn't matter, Xiao Yu completely blew me away.
One stone stirs up a thousand waves. Z's fans have finally solved the case today. It turns out it wasn't Brother Zhang, but Brother Zheng!
That 'z' is the first letter of 'zheng'!
Good heavens, should we just put all the bombs together and explode them, creating a mushroom cloud?
-Brother Zheng, Brother Zheng, I want to see Dahei, I want to see Mingzhu.
-Brother Zheng, the competition winner has been announced as Nuomi!
-Brother Zheng, Brother Zheng, Brother Zheng, I'll call him that whenever I have nothing to do!
The catchy nickname "Zheng Ge" quickly replaced "Z Da" in the online community. Now, both live stream fans and Da Hei's fans flocked to his Weibo to check in, asking whether he would be live streaming that night or if Da Hei would let them breed.
While things seemed harmonious on Wen Zheng's Weibo account, Galaxy Group was in complete chaos.
The public relations director is Fan Lingrou, a career-oriented woman who has only slept seven hours in four days since the news of the sudden death of the custard cat broke.
Even after several days without removing her makeup, she couldn't hide her dark circles. She endured waves of headaches and stood in the public relations office, watching everyone busy, becoming a pillar of support.
Galaxy Group offers excellent benefits and strong career prospects. Fan Lingrou joined the company and immediately took on the position of director, hoping to showcase her abilities, advance to a higher level, and pursue better career development.
She had worked diligently for five years, and just when the time was ripe, such a devastating crisis erupted.
The office was packed with people, the sound of typing mixed with the smell of cigarettes and coffee; everyone had been working overtime for more than 24 hours.
It's already evening, the final round of the pet cat category has ended, but the buzz and criticism are still growing and show no signs of abating.
Fan Lingrou personally went to see the person in charge of the competition several times, but was refused each time. Meanwhile, Liu Yinhe, who was said to have provided advice throughout the process, was nowhere to be found.
She took a deep breath of the polluted air and personally upgraded the air purification system to make her busy employees more comfortable.
"Bang--"
The door was suddenly pushed open, and Liu Yinhe, whom they had been searching for, suddenly appeared. He angrily banged his cane on the table near the door, startling the little girl so much that she almost cried.
"Public relations department! What is the public relations department doing?! Where is the director?!"
Fan Lingrou's face immediately darkened, and she strode towards Liu Yinhe: "President Liu, we've been looking for you too! Without knowing the truth of this matter, we have no way to formulate a plan!"
She cleverly led Liu Yinhe out the door and then closed it behind her.
"What truth?! You're going to question me too? I'm only doing this for the good of the company!"
"President Liu, tell me honestly, were the scores changed in the competition?! Changing them is one possibility, not changing them is another. If you don't give me a real answer, the decisions I make might cause the group's reputation to suffer even more!" Fan Lingrou raised her voice.
"We are the champions!" Liu Yinhe shouted hoarsely, "Don't worry about anything else, just focus on this point. What's so difficult about public relations?! Those stray cats all withdrew from the competition! They withdrew on their own!"