Why bother with dating when you already have a cat?

"Do you want your mom to take you home?"

"Mom, do you have any other activities later?"

"I've made an appointment at the beauty salon for a treatment, do you want to try it?"

"Um... never mind then." Ai Qing waved her hands repeatedly. "I can just take the subway back by myself, so you don't have to make another trip."

After paying the bill and leaving the Japanese restaurant with my mother, the two parted ways at the elevator entrance.

As Ai Qing walked out of Yintai City and entered the subway station to wait, she mentally calculated her expenses.

Because she was afraid of having her actual royalties calculated, Ai Qing bought practical but inexpensive gifts for her family.

I paid the rent a couple of days ago and also spent 3,000 yuan to buy a second-hand computer from Kong Fugui.

My savings, which were originally enough to save 10,000 yuan, have suddenly shrunk to less than 8,000 yuan.

If I include the living expenses for the rest of this month, I estimate I'll have around 7,000 left in the end.

Sigh... money really doesn't last long.

Even with little money, you can survive; you can endure it by cutting back on food and clothing.

When you earn a little more, you can't help but spend more money to improve your life.

However, things like computers are a one-time investment, and you can reap long-term benefits from them in the future.

As for buying gifts for my grandparents, it's impossible to do so every month.

Once next month's royalties are paid, Ai Qing should be able to make ends meet.

I'll try to save up some money in the next few months so that I won't be left without money to support myself if my next book flops.

Once the little fish becomes human, it's not as easy to raise as a cat.

In the past, Ai Qing didn't raise cats so extravagantly. Apart from an automatic feeder and an automatic water dispenser, she usually just bought some cat food, cat litter, and freeze-dried treats.

My monthly living expenses are about three or four hundred yuan.

Even though Xiaoyu doesn't eat much cat food anymore, after turning into a human, she started eating human food.

It's fine if we cook for ourselves. The two of us buy groceries and cook for ourselves every day, and the monthly expenses are probably only one or two thousand.

Compared to feeding small fish cat food, which only requires a few more chopsticks, the cost is slightly higher.

In return, she received a little cook, a laundry maid, and a robot vacuum cleaner cat.

It's quite a good deal.

Recently, the biggest expenses, aside from gifts, entertaining guests, and buying large items, have been the cost of taking Xiaoyu out for food, drinks, and entertainment.

It has to be said that nowadays, a meal in a shopping mall costs at least one or two hundred yuan.

The Japanese restaurants I ate at the last two days started at three or four hundred yuan.

The cost of this meal is enough to cover Ai Qing and Xiao Yu's food expenses for several days.

It seems I need to plan things out more carefully from now on.

Ai Qing has made an agreement with Xiao Yu that they can go out for a treat once a week, and she can afford that expense for now.

……

"Brother~"

As soon as Ai Qing stepped out of the elevator at home, she saw Xiao Yu eagerly push open the door, peek out, and shout happily when she saw Ai Qing.

Hearing her call him "brother," Ai Qing, who had been used to it for so long, still felt her ears go weak.

However, he quickly walked to the door and whispered, "Be careful in the hallway outside, don't let Sister Qian across the street see you."

"Oh, oh." Xiaoyu nodded, quickly stepped aside to let Aiqing into the house, took out slippers from the shoe cabinet, placed them in front of Aiqing, and then got up to close the door.

Ai Qing easily changed into slippers and walked into the living room.

Looking at the clean and bright environment of the house, the clothes drying on the balcony, and the clean dishes in the kitchen, Ai Qing breathed a sigh of relief and suddenly felt the joy of living together as a couple.

Seeing him standing there, Xiaoyu quietly moved closer to Ai Qing, hoping to absorb more of his warmth.

"Is cleaning tiring?" Ai Qing suddenly asked. "You don't necessarily have to clean every day, just every few days is fine."

"It's okay," Little Fish blinked and said, "Cleaning isn't tiring, it only takes an hour at most."

"Besides, my brother works very hard writing novels to earn money every day. Since I can't earn money now, I can only do things that can help my brother."

Of course, it can reduce some of my study time, but Xiaoyu thinks cleaning is still worthwhile.

Ai Qing opened her mouth, then thought about it and realized it was indeed true.

Although the apartment he rented was over 100 square meters and looked quite large, the actual living space consisted of only the bedroom, bathroom, living room, kitchen, and balcony.

There are two secondary bedrooms and another bathroom, which are basically abandoned.

Based on this calculation, their usual living space is probably only about 60 square meters.

In addition, Ai Qing and Xiao Yu have relatively normal living habits and are not particularly sloppy.

If you really want to clean something, it's just sweeping the floor and throwing out the trash.

Xiaoyu doesn't need to wash her own clothes, she just washes Aiqing's clothes.

Summer clothes are just a few pieces, so it doesn't take much effort.

The most troublesome thing is cooking, but Xiaoyu enjoys it.

"Okay, then remember to tell me if you feel tired from doing housework in the future."

Ai Qing glanced at the time; it was only two o'clock in the afternoon.

After saying that, he walked into the bedroom, intending to write a little more before taking Xiaoyu out for Japanese food in the afternoon.

……

In the afternoon, after Yao Qiang finished her beauty treatment at the salon, she received a call from her best friend.

"Are you free tonight? Let's go out for dinner."

"Yes, you're free. What are your plans?"

"Let's go to Yintai for dinner, then catch a movie? And do some shopping while we're at it."

"Okay, I'll tell my family."

After making plans with her friend, Yao Qiang remembered something and sent her another WeChat message.

Don't go to that Japanese restaurant, I just ate there for lunch.

— [I went to a barbecue restaurant because I haven't had barbecue in ages, and I was craving it.]

—[By the way, why did you go out for Japanese food? Has your partner suddenly become so romantic?]

My son is treating us to dinner. He uses his earnings to buy gifts for the family, but he insisted on treating me to a meal. He doesn't even know how to save money.

——【Fine, fine! So you've got it, Yao Qiang! I'd be so grateful if my brat could just stop playing games.】

[Anyway, it just doesn't have to be Japanese food. See you tonight.]

After showing off, Yao Qiang was too lazy to continue the conversation and decisively ended the topic, feeling very pleased with herself.

……

In the evening, Ai Qing stretched and turned off the computer. Then she got up and twisted her body, which relieved her sore back.

Around 3 PM, the little fish, which had been nestled on Ai Qing's lap to absorb warmth, transformed back into a cat and jumped to the ground.

By 6 p.m., after absorbing the warm current at such close range, the warm current she had accumulated was almost overflowing.

Just as Ai Qing was about to ask Xiao Yu when she would turn into a human, she turned her head and saw the girl standing prettily on the bed, looking at her expectantly.

"I don't know how you changed like this, there wasn't even a process," Ai Qing muttered, stroking her chin.

Even Sailor Moon has a transformation process, at least.

Xiaoyu's process was basically the same as Ai Qing's blink of an eye: the cat disappeared and the person appeared, without any change whatsoever—a complete transformation.

It feels like they could go on a national magic tour.

"Brother, let's go eat Japanese food." Xiaoyu walked up to Ai Qing, tugged at his clothes, and drool was practically dripping from her mouth. "Is it delicious?"

"The eel rice was indeed quite good." Ai Qing thought back for a moment. Although the other dishes were also delicious, they were not quite the same as his usual taste.

In the end, it was still the signature eel rice that Ai Qing always ordered that left the deepest impression.

"Let's go, you'll know once you taste it." Ai Qing said, glancing at Xiao Yu and taking out a hat she had bought for her earlier from the wardrobe.

Tie Xiaoyu's long, snow-white hair up high, then pull the high ponytail out from the opening at the back of the hat.

This way, the cat's ears can be covered.

She wore a light-colored halter top on top and tight jeans on the bottom, with the tail peeking out from the jeans' zipper and then hidden inside the hem of the top.

Just in case, she also took Ai Qing's blue jacket and tied it around Xiao Yu's waist as a final layer of concealment.

This outfit makes her look very fresh and clean.

Ai Qing took two steps back and looked him up and down, very satisfied with her own aesthetic sense.

"This outfit paired with those white sneakers is a perfect match!" Ai Qing couldn't help but exclaim. "Xiao Yu, you look so beautiful right now."

Xiaoyu had no concept of shyness in front of Ai Qing. Hearing Ai Qing's praise, she happily spun around in front of him and looked down at her outfit.

"Are the little fish cute?"

"Yes, it's the most beautiful one I've ever seen."

"My brother is handsome too."

"You have good taste."

After getting dressed, the two left the bedroom. As they were changing their shoes at the door, Ai Qing suddenly thought, "How long can you stay in human form today?"

"Hmm... four or five hours?" Xiaoyu tilted her head and carefully considered the situation. If she could stay by Ai Qing's side, she could indeed maintain that position for that long.

"Oh, I see." Ai Qing stroked her chin, then took out her phone. "How about I take you to see a movie?"

"Movie?"

"It's like watching videos on a super big screen. These videos are stories filmed by very professional people," Ai Qing explained in a simple and easy-to-understand way. "Like my novels."