Chapter 18

Bai Chengcheng was very excited as he jumped onto the snowboard. This type of snowboard was very beginner-friendly because it was fully automated by default, so Bai Chengcheng didn’t need to do anything.

As soon as Bai Chengcheng jumped on, the snowboard automatically activated, the power system turned on, and the snowboard slowly started to glide forward.

Bai Chengcheng stood excitedly on the snowboard, crouching slightly, trying to change the direction by leaning his body, and it worked perfectly!

The snowboard was very responsive! As soon as he leaned slightly to the left, the snowboard immediately turned left.

In his excitement, Bai Chengcheng leaned forward a bit too much, and the snowboard suddenly accelerated, shooting forward with a “whoosh”!

Bai Chengcheng: “!!!”

Before Bai Chengcheng could react, he was thrown off the snowboard.

He fell from the air, and with a “puff,” his whole body crashed headfirst into the snow.

Only his little short legs, now wearing boots, stuck out from the snow, and even his fluffy tail was buried in it.

Lion Cat: “……”

Live Stream: “……”

Live Stream: 【Oh my, those little short legs in boots! Drooling like a dog jpg.】

【Too cute! That snow-white little bottom… ahem, can I even say that? Shy jpg.】

【Seems like Cotton Ball really can’t snowboard. He should’ve practiced more before the start, but time’s tight—other teams have already set off.】

—

Bai Chengcheng had crashed into the snow, with only his bottom and little short legs sticking out. His vision was dark, and his whole body felt bone-chillingly cold. It felt like his ears and head were filled with snow. He was dazed for a few seconds, then started frantically digging in the snow because the snow here was really too hot for a cat QAQ.

But the snow was too soft. After digging for a few moments with his front legs, he suddenly realized he was sinking deeper.

Help! He wanted to get out, not dig a hole! QAQ

However, to the outside observers, all they saw were his little short legs in boots wildly kicking and digging, with him sinking even further with every movement.

Lion Cat hurried over, gently biting Cotton Ball’s hind legs with his mouth. He stood up and carefully lifted Bai Chengcheng out of the snow.

With his hind legs held in Lion Cat’s mouth, Bai Chengcheng was pulled out of the snow like a carrot being plucked. He shook his head in mid-air, showing his teeth and sticking out his tongue, trying to spit out the ice water in his mouth.

It was so cold, so cold. Even though cats have thick and fluffy fur, in this freezing environment, their noses, mouths, and paws really felt like they were being burned to death.

Lion Cat gently placed Cotton Ball on the ground. Bai Chengcheng immediately curled up into a ball, pressing all four paws onto his fluffy tail!

As soon as he stepped on it, he realized, oh, he was wearing shoes…

Lion Cat walked over, crouched down, and looked at Cotton Ball, who was covered in snowflakes, even on his head and face.

But Cotton Ball didn’t know how to shake off the snow, so it stuck to him. Even though he was wearing a sweater, this still made him cold.

Lion Cat used his long tail to gently sweep the snow off Cotton Ball’s body, and in just a few strokes, the snow was gone.

Bai Chengcheng was even more moved. He looked up at Lion Cat with sapphire-like eyes full of gratitude: “Meow~ Mew!”

(Thank you so much, big brother! I’ll protect you from now on!)

To express his gratitude, Cotton Ball also stretched out his fluffy big tail and patted Lion Cat’s head.

Good kitty, pat on the head.

Lion Cat: “……”

The live stream viewers were practically dying of laughter:

 【Lion Cat treats Cotton Ball like his wife, but Cotton Ball treats him like a little kid.】

【Is this the level of a playboy? Even though their actions seem close, no one can say that Cotton Ball is deliberately flirting with Lion Cat. After all, Cotton Ball just patted his head, he didn’t do anything inappropriate!】

【So Lion Cat really can’t do anything to Cotton Ball. Cotton Ball doesn’t mind the closeness of the other cats, but he never gives them any ambiguous feedback. He just casually pats and snuggles with each cat!】

—

Even the viewers in the live stream could see this clearly, not to mention the clever Lion Cat.

When he helped Cotton Ball brush the snow off, it was obviously a sign of affection. After all, this was a dating show—unless he had feelings for the other cat, which cat would be so gentle in helping another cat with the snow?

From the beginning of the live stream until now, Lion Cat had subtly hinted at his interest in Cotton Ball multiple times. Of course, the hamster was another story.

However, Cotton Ball’s attitude was hard for Lion Cat to figure out.

Cotton Ball didn’t reject his closeness, but whenever Lion Cat showed interest, Cotton Ball responded in a vague way.

After all, just now, he helped Cotton Ball with the snow, and Cotton Ball patted his head. What did that mean?

It couldn’t be that Cotton Ball was just messing with him, right?

Lion Cat helplessly looked at Cotton Ball, who was already excitedly jumping back onto the snowboard.

After the earlier attempt, Bai Chengcheng had successfully figured out how to control the snowboard, so he slowly started to head off with Lion Cat.

The Northern Foothills, located in the Empire’s northern region, was a vast, continuous snowy mountain range, a paradise for snowboarding enthusiasts. During holidays, many people would come to snowboard here, but since it was an undeveloped wilderness, the number of visitors per day was strictly regulated.

The Empire was concerned that the tourists might damage the natural environment or affect the survival of snowfield animals.

Bai Chengcheng was crouching on the snowboard, and Lion Cat helped him activate the automatic mode. As long as he didn’t accidentally press any switches, the snowboard would take him to his destination at a steady pace.

Bai Chengcheng leisurely looked around at the scenery, naturally not thinking of it as a natural ski resort. He assumed it must have been an artificially developed animal paradise!

Otherwise, why were there no humans around? Only cats were snowboarding?

Speaking of which, now in the interstellar era, cats had evolved so much—they were not only tall and strong, their size was almost comparable to that of wolves, but they could even snowboard!

Fortunately, his mind had been enlightened, or he might not be able to keep up with this era.

Maybe the original owner didn’t have a cat owner because he wasn’t as smart as these cats!

Thinking about this, Bai Chengcheng started to feel a little proud.

So what if these cats were trained to be so smart? He was a cat with human-like thinking!

No matter how much these cats were trained, they couldn’t be as smart as him.

Once this live stream ended, he would immediately find himself a cat owner!

Bai Chengcheng thought about this and his mood immediately lifted. He looked down at the powered snowboard under his paws.

Oh ho, he could snowboard now!

Cats skiing, sounds so thrilling!

Huh? A small hill on the left? Hmph, with human-like thinking, what’s a small hill? Let’s go, Pikachu!

Bai Chengcheng slightly leaned to the left, and the yellow snowboard swiftly made a turn, quickly passing over a snow mound about ten centimeters high.

Bai Chengcheng crouched down, making a thumbs-up gesture with both paws, raising them high above his head: “Meow~!”

(Wow, I’m so awesome! A cat with a mind that’s been enlightened is really different!)

Lion Cat: “……”

Lion Cat had been following Cotton Ball closely. Their current route was set by the production team, with four directions—north, south, east, and west—leading to You Island Ice Lake. The distance was the same, and to compete for first place, both skiing skills and teamwork were crucial.

After all, among the eight cats, some were skilled at skiing, while others weren’t. Leading teammates to first place wasn’t easy.

However, Cotton Ball was too excited, and at this moment, he had veered off course and was heading north.

Live Stream:

【Why did Cotton Ball suddenly change direction? This isn’t the path to You Island Ice Lake.】

【Is he heading north? Who’s to the north? I think it’s Maine Coon and Persian Chinchilla?】

【Cotton Ball definitely isn’t going to find Maine Coon. He’s probably just overly excited about skiing for the first time, wanting to play around a bit more!】

【Poor little guy, his life must have been tough before. He didn’t even know how to operate the snowboard earlier! Let’s put the tasks aside and let him have some fun for a while.】

—

Lion Cat’s thoughts were the same as the viewers’ in the live stream. Watching Cotton Ball ahead, controlling the snowboard, swerving into Z and S shapes, his face full of excitement as he lay on the snowboard with his fluffy tail swaying, Lion Cat knew that Cotton Ball was genuinely enjoying himself.

He really liked skiing.

If they could be together, Lion Cat would take Cotton Ball skiing often, as well as swimming, motorbiking, gliding, flying, and all sorts of other activities young people loved. He’d take Cotton Ball to experience everything!

While the other three teams were slowly but steadily heading towards You Island Ice Lake…

Besides Bai Chengcheng, there was one other guest who wasn’t following the usual path. Starting from the southern base, they suddenly veered westward, speeding away on a snowboard.

That was in the completely opposite direction of You Island Ice Lake.

Live Stream:

【What’s going on with Forest Cat? They’re heading in a direction that’s not towards You Island Ice Lake at all?】

【Are they splitting paths already?】

【short-legged Golden British Shorthair is going the right way, and didn’t stop Forest Cat. They must have discussed this.】

【This might be the least compatible pair of guests, after all, short-legged Golden British Shorthair has always been thinking about Siamese Cat, while Forest Cat is thinking about Cotton Ball.】

【But where is Forest Cat going? If they ditch their teammate, they’re going to be last and miss out on the identity card!】

【What else could it be? Of course, they’re going to find Cotton Ball! Cotton Ball and Lion Cat’s starting point is to the west!】

No one expected Forest Cat, who had just figured things out, to be so bold. Although the production team had assigned the teams through a draw and personally sent them to the four starting locations in the four directions, the team didn’t say that they couldn’t leave their starting points and head to another starting location for a three-cat journey.

Forest Cat was indeed careless, but he was simple and straightforward. When he wanted to do something, he wouldn’t have many second thoughts—he was stubborn and just charged ahead.

He didn’t want to be in a team with the Golden Shaded British Shorthair, and the Golden Shaded didn’t want to be with him either.

He wanted to find Cotton Ball and didn’t want Cotton Ball to be alone with Lion Cat, so as soon as he set off, he immediately stepped onto his snowboard and raced towards Cotton Ball’s starting point, Tianmo Bridge.

He had received professional ski training, even practicing in his animal form, so his skiing skills were top-notch. He didn’t need the auto mode at all, as it would limit his speed.

He cranked the power to its maximum, wearing goggles and a scarf, and on the endless snowfield, the dark-gray Forest Cat on his fiery-red snowboard moved like a lightning bolt streaking across the snow.

Viewers in the live stream watched with excitement as they followed the live feed, amazed by Forest Cat’s smooth and rapid control of the snowboard, kicking up snow along the way. The audience, dazzled by the flying snow, couldn’t help but turn into fangirls, screaming:

【Ahhhhhh, why is the silly one so handsome?! Extreme sports really can boost looks!】

【To be honest, I wasn’t rooting for Forest Cat, but at this moment, I’ve decided, I’m betting on him!】

【Emmmm, although I’m also rooting for him, Cotton Ball has already veered off course, he’s not on the western route anymore.】

【……】

【……】

【Damn, why do I suddenly want to laugh?】