After that cold statement, no matter how Lu Ruo called out, the System gave no further response.
Lu Ruo panicked.
She had originally thought completing tasks would be simple, but now she didn’t even know why the task hadn’t been completed.
If future tasks were all this difficult, with only 103 days left to live, could she really change the outcome of her death?
Lu Ruo lowered her gaze, dazed, when suddenly Duo Duo’s muttering reached her ears: “Ah, the person watching the show suddenly lost control and almost forgot the important matter!”
“Human, meow needs you to tell Grandma that her cousin’s grandson is a bad person. He had someone steal Grandma’s treasure, and then pretended to be a good person comforting Grandma.”
“While Grandma wasn’t looking, he always tried to hit meow.”
“Hurry and tell Grandma that this person is just that bad, and have Grandma chase him away.”
Duo Duo said a whole string of things in one go.
Lu Ruo was drawn in by the information and asked in shock, “Are you telling the truth? The person who stole Grandmother Gu’s treasure was ordered to do it?”
If that were the case, then everything made sense! There was still one criminal who hadn’t been caught, which was why the task wasn’t complete!
As long as she told Gu Qi about this and let the police catch that cousin’s grandson, she could extend her life by another three days!
Lu Ruo looked toward Gu Qi, only to meet a pair of deep, probing ink-black eyes.
She then looked at Grandmother Gu, who was also full of shock and suspicion.
Lu Ruo felt a wave of regret.
In a moment of carelessness, she had spoken directly to Duo Duo, exposing the secret she had wanted to hide.
She had just been so confidently telling the kitten not to talk to her, and yet she herself had turned out to be the stupidest one of all.
What should she do? What excuse could she use to smooth this over? And if she couldn’t smooth it over, what would Gu Qi and Grandmother Gu do?
Seeing Lu Ruo’s face turn pale, Gu Qi coughed twice behind his hand, trying to buy time to organize gentler words to communicate with her.
In truth, he had long suspected something was off about Lu Ruo’s behavior, but he never imagined the truth would be so fantastical.
This young woman who had just turned eighteen actually possessed the ability to communicate with cats without any barriers!
Grandmother Gu lowered her voice and said, “Good granddaughter, don’t be afraid. Can you understand what the cat is saying?”
“Your grandfather, who died early and never had the fortune to meet you, always loved telling stories. He said that during the war, there was a comrade who was born with the ability to understand birdsong, and he helped their squad out quite a lot.”
“So you, you talking directly to Duo Duo—we’re not that surprised, really.”
“Grandmother’s right, isn’t she, Gu San?”
Old Mrs. Gu comforted Lu Ruo with her words while secretly pinching Gu Qi’s thigh hard.
Her late husband had never had a comrade who could understand bird language—he had only trained birds.
But Lu Ruo looked so guilty and scared. If she didn’t lie to comfort Lu Ruo, Lu Ruo’s mood might affect her illness.
Lu Ruo was a good girl.
Even if being able to understand cat language was a bit unusual and had given this old woman a bit of a scare, she was still a good girl—the granddaughter she had personally chosen.
Her own granddaughter, afflicted with such a serious illness—how could she not protect her?
As for pinching Gu Qi…
The men of the Gu family weren’t very emotionally intelligent. When they got stubborn, they would say blunt things that made people feel bad.
Take Gu Qi, this grandson of hers. Ever since he became a criminal investigator, everything had to make way for his sense of national duty.
Having integrity was all well and good, but if he were to send her beloved little granddaughter to the National Security Bureau for questioning in the name of his greater cause, then she, as the family matriarch, would be the first to object!
The more Old Mrs. Gu thought about it, the angrier she got, and the harder she pinched.
Even though Gu Qi had received professional training at the academy and had a certain tolerance for pain, he still winced and grimaced.
“Grandmother, have mercy.” Gu Qi directly begged for reprieve, also lowering his voice. “I will report the matter regarding Comrade Lu Ruo truthfully. Don’t worry—the things you’re afraid of won’t happen.”
“If her ability to communicate with cats is confirmed, the state will only give her key protection, never harm her. Think about narcotics detection dogs—maybe in the future she could manage a narcotics detection cat squad for the state?”
A narcotics detection cat squad?
Lu Ruo felt her fear dissipate at Gu Qi’s words.
That was right. If she used this ability to do things useful for the country, then the state would naturally protect her. She wouldn’t have to hide it anymore, always afraid of being discovered as different from everyone else.
“I… can I really apply for state protection?” Lu Ruo raised her hand timidly. “Maybe I really could establish a narcotics detection cat squad.”
“Of course.” Gu Qi said with certainty. “If you’re willing to use this ability for the right purposes, the state will naturally protect you. There are prisoners who have developed equipment useful to the state—while their merits don’t cancel out their crimes, they did receive reduced sentences and were allowed to serve outside prison.”
Lu Ruo had indeed heard of that case.
Earlier, when her teacher asked them what majors they wanted to apply for, she wanted to take the civil service exam in the future, so she looked up some exam preparation guides and came across that video.
Even criminals could receive state protection because of their talents. She had always been a law-abiding citizen—as long as she used this ability to do things beneficial to the state, she would surely have a good future too.
Lu Ruo finally cheered up again.
“I see. I’ll make good use of my ability.”
With a direction in mind, Lu Ruo stopped holding back and directly shared what she had heard from Duo Duo. “Grandma, Duo Duo just said that your cousin-nephew is the mastermind behind this theft. Duo Duo overheard him instructing the servants to do it.”
Old Mrs. Gu never expected that Duo Duo was talking about this.
Her cousin-nephew on her maternal side always wore a smile and was especially filial to her. Whenever he visited, he would bring her favorite foods, and he never accepted any expensive gifts in return.
To repay his kindness, she had asked her eldest grandson to look after the cousin-nephew’s family business.
Every time Duo Duo saw the cousin-nephew, she would go into defensive mode and try to scratch him. Old Mrs. Gu had assumed it was simply because Duo Duo couldn’t accept humans outside the family. Sometimes, when Duo Duo went too far, she would scold the cat.
But it turned out the cousin-nephew himself was a bad person?
Old Mrs. Gu’s heart was filled with remorse toward Duo Duo.
“Duo Duo, Grandma is sorry. I didn’t know he was a bad person. Before, when you scratched him, I even locked you up. I’m sorry.”
Hearing Old Mrs. Gu’s apology, Duo Duo’s light green cat eyes suddenly lit up.
So having a human who could understand cat-speak was such a wonderful thing? Grandma actually apologized to her for misunderstanding her!
“Quick, tell Grandma again—Duo Duo doesn’t want to lose weight. Duo Duo still wants to eat lots of meat and canned food!”
Lu Ruo relayed Duo Duo’s words to Old Mrs. Gu, but Old Mrs. Gu replied directly, “That won’t do. The doctor said you’re too fat and it will make you sick.”
Hearing this, Duo Duo looked dejected and swished her tail as she trotted off to the side.
Only after the fat cat stopped meowing did Gu Qi find a chance to speak. He asked Lu Ruo, “Comrade Lu Ruo, can Duo Duo provide any other information?”