Chapter 262: Top notch is a dog, bottom notch is a wolf!

As soon as they saw the image, the livestream viewers were nearly scared witless.

In the caramel-colored mud pit, big water buffaloes with huge horns curved like crescent moons sank one after another; the soft mud looked unimpressive, but actually, even buffaloes weighing several hundred pounds were stuck, unable to move.

It seemed as if the mud had wrapped it up and drained its strength, exposing only its head and a spine as long as an arm, lying prone in the pit; beside it knelt a little water buffalo, shedding tears with pat-pat sounds.

Though not large, the mud pit looked extremely deep and hard to escape; from the mud spots nearby, one could tell the big buffalo had struggled for a long time.

As the saying goes, "Deep in the mire, the mud is soft and taxing, making escape difficult."

Experienced excavator operator Lao Du immediately explained, "This is a glue-mud pit; it rained the past two days, unexpectedly soaking the water, and this big buffalo somehow got stuck."

"Eh."

He looked around; mountains surrounded this remote place where one might not see a soul for three or five days, yet luckily he happened upon it.

He also understood why Ling Yue had him drive over, and sighed, "If the streamer hadn't told me to come by car, even if another seventeen or eighteen of me showed up, I might not have been able to save this buffalo."

While the livestream viewers were still shocked, the machine rumbled to life, and many suddenly felt a jolt, their adrenaline spiking.

【I don't know why, but watching the master operate the excavator gets me excited!】

【The person upstairs must be a big brother; I'm excited too—who wouldn't want to drive an excavator?】

【Back when I was in college, a master would bring an excavator to campus; after each class, a crowd would gather around it, clearly staying for hours!】

The viewers chatted enthusiastically; excavator master Lao Du showed no hesitation, the huge iron shovel digging into the mud at the pit's edge, while the little buffalo lowed anxiously, frantic as fire.

The big buffalo seemed to know someone had come to rescue it, staring motionlessly.

The livestream viewers straight-up praised the buffalo for its spirituality.

The shovel scooped repeatedly, and everyone could see the mud clump behaving like a non-Newtonian fluid, extremely viscous.

Even the viewers who had doubted at first now tightened their lips, watching closely as the master rescued.

He suddenly made a deep scoop, mud and water pulling the buffalo along together □□, then slopping downwards, just as Ling Yue had guessed—the buffalo had exhausted its strength, lying in the mud as the soft mud swallowed it from below.

The scene was quite peaceful, yet inexplicably it gave off a creepy, horrifying feeling.

【Ahhh, was the big buffalo trapped like this before?】

【If it were a person, they'd probably be the same—just like the quicksand I encountered in the desert, the more you struggle, the faster you sink.】

But this time, with the excavator master's help, the shovel lowered and lifted gently, laying the collapsed buffalo onto the grass, where it took big gulps of fresh air.

For a large animal like a water buffalo, its organs are bigger than a human's; prolonged compression can cause internal injuries even after being dug out.

It lay on the ground, looking exactly like a puddle of rotting mud.

"Niao-niao-niao~ niao-niao-niao~"

The little buffalo rushed over, nudged its mother's back with its head, and lowed, "Mom, Mom, how are you?"

The big buffalo weakly rubbed against its calf; the tender mother‑child scene moved everyone, making their eyes sting.

"Eh, it's fine—I think this cow's okay," said excavator master Lao Du, relieved.

Not long after, the buffalo rose, half‑dried mud clinging to its body; it and the calf knelt toward Lao Du, lowing.

Afterwards, they slowly detoured around the mud pit and walked gently toward the dusky distant mountains, tails swaying, lively and adorable.

Lao Du patted his bald head: "They're heading home; I've got work to do too, streamer—thanks."

Ling Yue shook her head, implying something, and said, "After you finish work tonight, don't leave just yet—there might be a surprise."

Lao Du blinked; Ling Yue had already ended the livestream, the viewers froze, then after reacting, someone immediately guessed.

【Could the buffalo mother and child be returning the favor?】

【Surely—otherwise why would they have Master Du wait a bit?】

Regarding their comments, Ling Yue neither confirmed nor denied, but said, "Let's keep drawing lots—see who's the next fortunate one."

Viewers: "……"

【Streamer, stop dodging the question! We're not goldfish with seven‑second memories!】

【Exactly, streamer, hurry up and say it! 【hands on hips】【hands on hips】】

Ling Yue: "Eh, the draw's over—let's see who the next consultee is."

Just moments ago the viewers were loud and proud, but in an instant they turned into a chorus, many wailing that they'd actually forgotten to draw!

【Waaah, I missed the free‑ride opportunity! Heartache. JPG】

Ling Yue gazed at the screen; the background showed endless green grass under the sky, warblers flying amid the lush verdure, the far‑off mountains fading into a hazy outline, while a car drove along a tile‑blue road.

In front of the backdrop stood the consultee holding a phone—the Grassland Passerby.

She was a handsome‑looking woman, her eyebrows strikingly distinctive—straight as a drawn sword; upon seeing she'd been picked, her brows shot up in excitement as she turned to her husband: "Honey, I got selected!"

Ling Yue: "May I ask what you'd like to consult about?"

The Grassland Passerby elder sister hadn't reacted yet, red‑necked and panting as she argued with her husband: "Now you won't be able to pick a fight with me—I've got backup; let the streamer see whether this is a wolf or a dog!"

Suddenly a red‑faced, black‑clad big brother popped up on the screen: "It's a wolf! Definitely a wolf!"

Speaking in a thick dialect, he declared earnestly: "In the TV show *Iron Teeth and Bronze Jaw Ji Xiaolan*, Old Ji himself said, 'Top notch is dog, bottom notch is wolf!'"

The Grassland Passerby stuck out her head: "It's a dog! How could there be such a tiny wolf? Look at its scrawny frame—I could knock it over with one arm!"

This is rare—before Ling Yue could even get two words out, the livestream had already erupted into chaos.

The two bickered, faces flushed and eyes glaring, until they both turned to Ling Yue: "Streamer, you tell us—is it a wolf or a dog?"

As they spoke, the camera switched, revealing two fuzzy, tawny‑yellow animals before everyone's eyes.

Not only the livestream viewers, but even Ling Yue herself was startled out of the blue.

The barrage rolled on like a wound‑up spring, flying fast.

【Holy shit, this is totally a wolf!】

【As the big brother said, 'top notch dog, bottom notch wolf'—definitely a wolf!】

【I've been keeping thirty meters from wolves lately—this thing is scary!】

【No worries—I'm a professional animal trainer; based on my years of experience, the wolves on this route, constantly fed by tourists, have lost their wildness and won't attack humans, so you can get close and touch them; if it bites you, then I must have misjudged.】

【Wolves have wild nature, they won't let you hug them; dogs understand human nature, so it's easy to hug them; not easy to hug is a wolf, easy to hug is a dog, easy to hug is a dog ah!】

【Damn!, everyone quickly push him to the first floor! 【dog head】【dog head】】

【Haven't seen it before, stolen!】

The livestream's netizens played a meme, scaring the constantly bickering couple; they froze on the spot, staring without blinking.

"Wolf?" the grassland passerby big sister said, craning her neck.

【It's a wolf, but don't be scared; this grassland wolf, I've seen it in Gansu, it's not even as big as our Hunan native dog, it can't drag a person!】

【A wolf pack can't be dragged away? You're joking; anything that can be dragged away, even an ox can be dragged, let alone a person! I saw in the news that two riders were dragged away while spending the night in a toilet; hurry up and run!】

【If there's one wolf, there's a pack; wolves are pack animals! Think about it carefully.】

The couple instantly tensed up, meeting the wolf's gloomy gaze; the wife bit her finger: "Ahhh! Don't eat me, don't eat me!"

She screamed in fright; the husband, startled, paused his action, and for some reason his hand tilted sideways; the camera instantly shook, the netizens were caught off guard, suffering a double blow to ears and eyes, feeling dizzy and nauseous.

Not knowing what happened, in a daze I heard a "bang."

【?? What's up, what's up?!】

The camera steadied; the vehicle that had been driving just now had already stopped; a puff of white smoke hissed and rose.

Man: "The car suddenly hit a big stone."

"【Holy shit, we crashed!】"

"Ahhhhh!!!" the steppe traveler howled, startling Bang Bang, who patted her husband's shoulder twice: "What are you doing? You scared me to death!"

The two steppe wolves by the road abruptly retreated half a step, as if shaken by this invisible air wave, howling: "Ow, oooo~~"

One slightly smaller steppe wolf, frightened, trotted two steps; after reacting, it lowered its head and nibbled two mouthfuls of dry grass to hide its embarrassment, then softly asked: "Big bro, what's going on? Should we still eat?"

As it spoke, it sneakily glanced at the two people, sizing them up from head to toe, its long muzzle dripping saliva drip-drip.

Alpha wolf: "Start eating? You go?"

The little wolf looked at the humans in the car, then down at itself: "I, I can't beat them QAQ"

The alpha wolf slapped its head: "What's there to hesitate about?"

Saying that, it flicked its tail, gave the two a deep look: "Let's go quickly; eating them will make you stupid!"

Ling Yue: "Pfft——"

She burst out laughing, and the stream's viewers, utterly confused, flooded the chat with questions——

"【Streamer, what's up? Why did you suddenly laugh?】"

"【Streamer, hurry up and say what those two wolves actually said!】"

Ling Yue gave a light cough, then after translating, the stream erupted in loud laughter.

"【Hahahaha, I can't live from laughing, folks!】"

Even until the next stream started, some people were still laughing loudly.

Unlike before, this stream wasn't Ling Yue's random draw but a linked broadcast; half the screen showed a smiling, friendly face, holding a cheese cat, with blue round eyes revealing a hint of unease, its tail hooked and hanging to one side; his looks were undeniable, appearing both well-behaved and adorable.

In the stream, the moment they saw him, the noisy viewers fell silent as if chickens.

"【Old Madam Yu?】"

"【Hey, bro, you didn't know this? He calls himself Director Yu, and he's quite famous in the entertainment circle.】"

"【Ew! Seeing him reminds me of that orchid finger, pinky raised, oozing femininity! 【Scary】【Scary】】"

Ling Yue had a passing acquaintance; she didn't follow entertainment news, but the industry's relentless bombardment meant she'd seen him everywhere—he was a well-known director who'd filmed many small-screen TV dramas, whether good or bad aside, many of them were big hits.

Ling Yue's gaze paused slightly, she stared at the man's head for a moment, then slowly looked away.

Director Yu felt a chill creep up the back of his neck under her stare, a vague sense of unease, but thinking of his purpose, he instantly perked up, one hand holding his cat, the other waving like a beckoning cat as he greeted Ling Yue: "Ling Yue streamer, hello."

"What a coincidence—I was streaming at home and just wanted to link up for some liveliness, never expecting to actually connect with you, what a coincidence."

"This is our fate!" he exclaimed with a laugh.

According to his plan, Ling Yue would at least give him a pleasant expression, smile and echo a few words, thereby giving him time to shine during the pickup.

What he didn't expect was that Ling Yue just stared at him coldly, with no intention of responding.

Even the most beautiful eyes, paired with an icy chill, leave one unable to enjoy them.

Director Yu's smile froze instantly: "Hahaha... the streamer surely suspects why I said it was a coincidence, because I recently got a variety show that's also about cute pets."

He said while picking up the cat: "Little Peach, hurry and greet the pretty miss."

He held the cat's pink paw in one hand and waved it at Ling Yue; no matter how you say it, after cropping out the people behind, just showing the little cat, this scene is indeed adorable.

But how could he be so sure someone would welcome him?

After a long silence, Ling Yue's fans were embarrassed to death and then revived, each wanting to strangle themselves, utterly unable to breathe!

"【Help! Help! Help! How thick-skinned can he be? What coincidence? I think he's seen the streamer's cute-pet variety show go viral and is preparing to copy it!】"

"【After all, he's known as 'Copy Name Far Broadcast'; the industry calls him Yu Copycopy!】"

"【What what? Director Yu is a big director; how can you slander him like that!】"

"【That kitten looks a bit familiar.】"

"【Ahhh, the kitten in his arms is so adorable! Mwah mwah mwah, little kitten, come into sister's embrace!】"

Director Yu blinked, this was completely unlike what he'd expected, though he wasn't particularly worried, still grinning as he expressed his high hopes for Ling Yue, congratulating her on her variety show's big hit.

Such shamelessness leaves one in awe.

Ling Yue pressed her lips, giving him a look he couldn't fathom, wondering what was going on; Director Yu instinctively touched his head, feeling she wasn't looking at him but at something else.

This discovery startled him.

Without realizing, he tightened his grip, and a sharp cat cry rang out: "Meow—"

"Ouch!" the cheese cat sprang up, glaring fiercely at the rough human; since its claws had been trimmed, it could only leave a few white marks on the man's hand in resentment.

Director Yu jerked upright, his lips moving, before he could explain, someone had already posted a comment—

【Ah ah, they started abusing cats again! Hasn't that previous blue-and-white cheese cat come to you for revenge yet? Scum! Bastard worse than beasts!】

【!!! What cat abuse? Save me, what are the people upstairs saying? It smells like melon! A lively jumping melon-field rodent. JPG】

【Holy shit, if the people upstairs hadn't said it, I would have forgotten! How long ago was that?!】

【What cat abuse? Do you have evidence? All slander!】

【Hehe, the people upstairs are blind, we have eyes! This director once directed a drama where he abused and killed cats! How does he still have the face to host a cute pet variety show!】

In just a dozen seconds, the barrage was already a chaos, some cursing, some supporting, and some trying to muddy the waters.

Ling Yue, seeing these barrage comments, couldn't help but furrow her brows.

For some reason, she instinctively looked toward the man in the camera.

Director Yu was taken aback, a flash of irritation crossing his eyes; these people were like mad dogs, preventing anyone from finding peace, but fortunately he had already devised a solution.

He cracked a slight smile, unexpectedly, and calmly began to explain the incident himself: 'What you're talking about is a TV drama I filmed earlier; there was a small scene where the female lead's cat was poisoned to death, and someone enlarged that frame, claiming I killed a cat.'

His expression turned solemn as he declared: 'Here, I want to tell everyone this is slander! Bare-faced slander! I, Yu, swear to heaven that I have never harmed a cat!'

'I am a director; I like to pursue perfection, repeatedly considering to get a good shot, but I never imagined that my strict standards would become others' excuse to throw dirt at me!'

'Host, do you mind if I take up a bit of your time?'

Ling Yue shook her head; Director Yu instantly breathed a sigh of relief, unaware that the other party was giving him a playful look.

Director Yu continued, speaking passionately; without looking at the background, one might think he was about to go into battle to serve the country.

This speech was indeed useful; many actually believed it, and comments kept appearing in the comment section—

【Director Yu spoke so confidently, he even swore; surely he wouldn't lie, right?】

【Those upstairs must be newcomers; we just sent away a murderer who also swore that if he killed someone, he'd be struck by lightning—so why hasn't lightning struck him yet?】

【Swearing? If swearing works, why do we need police?】

Director Yu paid no attention to those; getting excited, he held up the cat in his hands: 'For this variety show, I specially brought Xiao Taotao, the twin brother of the previous cat actor; that cat never died.'

"'Someone might ask why I didn't bring the actual cat.' He sighed: 'It was frightened on set, its owner took it back, and it's currently seeing a vet.'"

'This cat is that cat's brother; they're basically identical! Some say I bought a cat afterward, and its features don't match the original cat—those are just rumors from unscrupulous media, because they never filmed the studio's actor cat; it's this cat, its brother!'

'That cat is sick and frightened, so it can't appear for now; everyone has misunderstood me!'

【Ah, so that's how it is.】

【With a host present, he surely wouldn't dare to fake things, right?】

【It sounds pretty genuine; maybe that's really what happened.】

Director Yu caught sight of the barrage in his peripheral vision, a flicker of contempt crossing his eyes; a bunch of idiots—even if it's fake, so what? As an industry insider, Director Yu knows far more than they do.

Ling Yue's rise to fame is clearly just marketing!

Top actresses, top actors, leading female stars, and A-list idols all teamed up with her; her first livestream went viral across the net, yet all those dramatic news and events happen only in her livestream?

It must be a script!

If she doesn't have capital backing her behind the scenes, I, Yu, will literally have my head twisted off and used as a ball to kick!

As for such extensive marketing and connections, Director Yu had already speculated behind the scenes: she is very likely the sole daughter of some big shot, definitely an heiress; otherwise, it's impossible for so many people to support her!

Thinking this, he felt as if he'd taken a reassuring pill; he slowly stroked the little cat in his arms, then lowered his head and kissed the little cat.

The helpless cat stared in shock and despair as the big mouth descended, its blue‑shiny eyes nearly popping out: 'yue! Damn humans, let me go quickly!'

The cat struggled fiercely; after he kissed it, the cat seemed to have died.

Director Yu, thick‑skinned, felt no embarrassment; instead he chuckled, saying: 'It's just a little timid.'

As he spoke, he touched his neck; a cool breeze made him feel tingly.

The cat in his arms whined and complained nonstop.

Ling Yue listened, her eyebrows slightly raised, fully focused.

Director Yu didn't care; to him, nothing was more important than making money, which is why he linked up with Ling Yue—to ride the hype and promote his cute‑pet variety show.

As for the cat‑abuse case that came up, he glanced down at the little cat—this is just preparation, right? As for the cat's revenge, why hasn't there been any retribution yet?

Hehe, it's all fake.

These thoughts flashed through his mind, and in reality they lasted only a brief moment.

Ling Yue looked at him: 'Do you know what happened to the previous host who did a link‑up with me?'

The livestream chatters instantly felt a chill down their spines.

The most impressive case is that pet blogger with a million followers, who fed his pets thumbtacks and was finally retaliated against by the cat legion; the video that spread afterward has been seen by almost everyone.

The murky swarm of the cat legion directly sent him to the hospital, simultaneously ruining his reputation completely.

Ling Yue thus became, for a time, the demon king of the streaming world.

However, it's obvious that Director Yu seemingly hasn't investigated, or perhaps he isn't afraid; thus he remains calm, smiling and saying: 'I believe in one saying: I don't do wrong, so I don't fear ghosts knocking at the door.'

Ling Yue's indifferent gaze fell on the cat, and she suddenly said: 'But what I heard isn't like that; you say this cat is a twin, yet I clearly heard it say it was borrowed from a pet store, that your cat food is awful, and it's long wanted to go home.'

She stared rigidly at the man, her voice faint, like a mournful wind: 'Besides, have you lately been feeling dazed and heavy‑headed, with a chill on the back of your neck?' ：，，.