...But I'm pregnant.
Wen Zheng stood at the police station entrance, carrying a piece of equipment he had no use for, and three World Cat Day flyers were shoved into his hand by a policeman. The man slipped away even faster than him, and he didn't even have a chance to return them.
"Take it easy!" the policewoman waved to him.
...No, we really can't be slow anymore, it's 8:40 PM, he's late.
With a dark expression, Wen Zheng walked across two roads, crumpled the three World Cat Day flyers into a ball with one hand, and threw them into the trash can.
His house is just one street away, about a ten-minute walk. He can still play a couple of games if he hurry.
As long as I don't buy a cat, I definitely won't stand you up.
Wen Zheng thought with certainty.
At intersections, autonomous vehicles proceed according to traffic lights, automatically recognizing pedestrians crossing the road and slowing down or stopping accordingly.
With an earphone plugged into one ear, Wen Zheng's gaze swept over a dark shadow, about the size of a garbage bag, as he approached the center of the intersection.
A car was approaching from the front and drove straight towards the dark figure.
Wen Zheng paused in his forward steps, and after a moment, his heart suddenly raced.
...Wait, that's not trash, that's a cat!?
He instinctively rushed forward, grabbed the dark figure just before the car braked dramatically, and sprinted to the roadside.
The driver, forced to brake, yelled at the roadside, "Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"
Wen Zheng ignored him and, panting, put down what he was holding.
It really was a cat, very large, completely black, with four paws, three of which were bent in strange directions, and countless deep bloodstains on its body, as if it had been cut by many sharp weapons.
If it hadn't been protecting the abdomen so well, the internal organs would probably have spilled out by now.
And just like that, the cat was still alive.
Wen Zheng was speechless for a moment, all his words condensed into one sentence: "Damn it."
He took out his phone and called the person whose contact name was Yu Di: "Deng Puyue, I'm canceling."
Upon hearing the shocked words from the other end, Wen Zheng's face darkened, and annoyance rose from his heart: "I didn't buy a cat! Anyone who owns a cat is an idiot! I'm going to the vet, don't ask."
Author's Note: Wen Zheng: Anyone who owns a cat is an idiot.
...
Wen Zheng: I'm an idiot.
[New story started! 30,000 words by Thursday! Near-future alternate universe, main plot is a holographic puzzle game, super sweet! The silly author, along with Zhengzheng and Ningning, bows to everyone! (smacks head)]
Wen Zheng: ? No.
Ningning: Is something wrong?
[Pre-order Thank You Announcement] "After Rebirth, the CEO Resigned and Became a Movie Star"
(A satisfying story about a scumbag from a past life who reforms and rises to the top of the entertainment industry.)
A wolf-dog bottom who works hard in both his career and love life, always afraid the top will die; and a proud, aloof top who is in poor health.
CEO x Movie Star
*Mutual pampering between an older man and a younger man, 1v1, HE (Happy Ending). If it's not sweet, you can all eat my pigeon head!
*A fast-paced, action-packed story set in the entertainment industry.
(The text needs revision, but it's roughly the same idea. I'll start writing this after I finish getting a cat!)
(Thank you all for saving this. I bow with my hands clasped in gratitude.)
Chapter 2
Wen Zheng used his coat to carry the black cat to a nearby general veterinary hospital.
The nurse at the front desk nearly fainted when she saw the cat: "Oh my god, how could this happen? Did it accidentally get caught in the potato slicer?!"
"..." Wen Zheng thought to himself, "You have quite a vivid imagination."
The cat was badly injured, and the hospital quickly sent a specialist to take it for surgery.
The nurse gently comforted him, "It's okay, our hospital has excellent equipment. As long as it's brought here, it'll be fine. By the way, how did you come to keep such a cat? I can't even tell what breed it is."
Annoyed by the argument, and too lazy to explain, she ignored the nurses' chatter and opened her phone to browse Weibo.
He is a part-time streamer in the gaming section of the Aimao live streaming platform. The game he plays is "Survival Space," and his ID is Z-bkc.
Although their overall ranking isn't high enough to crack the top tier, they have a huge following, with two million followers on Weibo alone.
Fans call him Z Da and have been analyzing his ID suffix for years.
To this day, no one has been able to crack it.
Survival is a puzzle escape game that, twenty years ago, brought together puzzle game companies of all sizes to create a new game system, which has since become a worldwide phenomenon.
As the name suggests, it involves solving puzzles and escaping. It includes both solving puzzles and escaping, and the focus of each different dungeon is different.
Wen Zheng is known among the streamers of "Survival Space" for his strong puzzle-solving skills and his ability to encounter monsters. The reason why he is not ranked higher is partly because he has not posted any photos and partly because he has not streamed for long enough.
Since it's a part-time job, he still has to work a day job.
I got off work early today and was planning to broadcast a little longer. If it weren't for that incredibly stupid mental health group teacher, Cui Tiantian, who insisted on keeping him behind for a long talk, and if I hadn't run into that game store owner who treats cat figurines like wives on the way, and now that I've picked up another cat, Wen Zheng definitely wouldn't be on Weibo today... being called the procrastinator Z.
@Z大今天鸽了吗: I'd like to interview the King of Procrastination. How does it feel to set a flag and then break it?
@ClaraWorld'sCutest: I know nothing about Yu-gege, so I'm here waiting for Z-da! I want to know what Z-da is up to. Is he really going to take down all the flags on his pinned Weibo post? Hahahaha!
Wen Zheng: "..."
His pinned Weibo post was cold and ruthless, consisting of a single line of large characters.
@Z-bck: If you don't own a cat, I'd recommend suicide.
His fans know very well that he doesn't like cats, yet they often make jokes about it. Normally, Wen Zheng would probably personally confront his fans. But today he actually picked up a cat, so he had nothing to say and could only post a Weibo asking for leave, closing the app to avoid seeing it and getting annoyed.
The cat was still undergoing surgery. Wen Zheng opened the pictures sent by Deng Puyue and studied the competition format of the live streamer competition.
The competition format is very simple: streamers livestream during this year's game update review period, and the streamer who receives the most donations advances to the next stage. In the final stage, the streamer who receives the most donations will not only receive a prize of 50,000 yuan, but will also unconditionally upgrade their existing contract to a platinum contract and receive a featured spot.
Wen Zheng was most concerned about the duration of the live stream. He scrolled down the image and found the explanation at the bottom.
[During the broadcasting competition, each broadcaster's livestreaming time must be no less than eight hours in each stage.]
A phase lasts a week, with eight hours a week, which wasn't stressful even for Wen Zheng. He turned off the image and sent Deng Puyue a basic "OK" emoji, to which Deng Puyue quickly replied.
-Brother Zheng!!!
-What happened to you? I didn't dare ask when you said you were going to the hospital. Are you injured?
Wen Zheng, having nothing else to do, stopped being so taciturn and briefly explained the situation.
After a long pause, Deng Puyue finally replied.
-Wow... Holy crap. Brother Zheng, you're amazing. I'm impressed.
Wen Zheng frowned, but saw that he quickly asked again.
-How is the cat?
The message had barely popped up when commotion came from the operating room.
Wen Zheng stood up and saw the nurses and doctors pushing out a small cart with an insulated box on it.
One side of the incubator was transparent, and Wen Zheng could see that the cat was still unconscious. The fur around the wound had been shaved off, and it was wrapped in bandages in layers, a pitiful sight.
The doctor clearly didn't believe the nurse's guess. The cat's wounds didn't look like they were caused by getting caught in the potato slicer. He looked at Wen Zheng with suspicion and distrust.
But in the end, he didn't interfere and just nodded: "He's out of immediate danger. Take him back and let him rest."
The nurse behind him clearly liked Wen Zheng and added, "When it wakes up, feed it some fish soup. I recommend the Gold Medal Fish Soup that Clara endorses. By the way, what's its name? We need to register it at the hospital. Did it bring its old identification? By the way, what kind of cat is it?"
What kind of cat? If you, a nurse at a pet hospital, don't even know, how am I supposed to know?
Wen Zheng didn't answer, swiped his card to pay the bill, and felt a pang of regret for his 30,000 yuan.
He didn't bother to register the cat; he just took it home.
Let whoever wants to name it, that's none of his business when it comes to filing records.
Wen Zheng thought: I'm only taking it in for one night and giving it away tomorrow. That's not what it means to keep a cat.
Yeah, I'm definitely not going to keep a cat. After all, anyone who does is an idiot.
...After leaving the hospital, Wen Zheng turned back and bought a box of "Gold Medal Fish Soup" endorsed by Clara at the convenience store near the entrance.
"Damn it," Wen Zheng thought through gritted teeth.
***
Upon opening the door at home, the smart device coldly announces the time: "It is now 11:12 PM. For your health, please..."
Wen Zheng slammed his hand on the wall, and the system shut down automatically.
With some time to spare, Wen Zheng turned on the computer, intending to play for an hour.
The login page for the survival space features a huge illustration advertising the streamer competition, with the Cat Live logo prominently displayed.
Wen Zheng glanced at his holographic glasses, hesitated for a moment, and then opened the bag that the game store owner had given him.
The MX50th anniversary logo is printed on the bag. This is a limited edition commemorative model released last year. It has top-of-the-line configuration, and when you enter the game, it feels like you are in a second world. It is lightweight, comfortable and fits the body perfectly.
The shop owner gave me the red one, while I got the blue one.
Wen Zheng held them in his hand and compared them; indeed, there was no difference.
He casually tossed the limited edition item, worth 60,000 yuan, at the foot of the bed.
Before entering the game, Wen Zheng adjusted the settings of the incubator to connect it to the console. Although the vet said the cat was unlikely to wake up tonight after surgery, Wen Zheng still set a reminder just in case.
If the incubator's monitoring device detects that the cat has woken up, you can remind him in the game world.
...
With a blink of an eye, a whole new world appears before you.