Why bother with dating when you already have a cat?

……

In the classroom, Ai Qing originally thought that arriving before 1 p.m. was already considered fast.

But to my surprise, after I pulled Wang Chaoyu into the classroom, there were already seven or eight people waiting inside.

Even though each person only has about ten minutes to present, Ai Qing and Wang Chaoyu didn't get to go on stage to present until 2:30 pm.

For undergraduate students, the defense is something everyone knows; it's mainly just going through the motions.

Ai Qing herself didn't even know what she had written; it was just a hodgepodge of bits and pieces, as long as it passed the plagiarism detection system.

He quickly finished the task during the winter break and then devoted himself to preparing for the new book.

It wasn't until a few days ago, when she received another reminder from her advisor about the defense date, that Ai Qing finally found some time to dig out her graduation thesis from some hidden corner and skim through it from beginning to end.

It felt like reading a paper I'd never seen before.

Fortunately, the defense went smoothly.

After Ai Qing finished ahead of schedule, she patted Wang Chaoyu on the shoulder as he was about to go on stage and whispered in his ear, "Then I'll take my sister and go first. Good luck."

"Hey, no, you little brat..."

"Next up, Wang Chaoyu."

"Damn it! Oh no, I mean, here!"

After saying goodbye to her dear roommate, Ai Qing quickly left the classroom.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Xiaoyu sitting peacefully in her chair after walking out of the back door of the classroom.

The little fish on the chair craned its neck for what seemed like the umpteenth time, and finally saw Ai Qing walk out of the back door of the classroom. It couldn't help but jump up from the chair and run to Ai Qing's side.

"Here, take this." Xiaoyu took out the bottled water she had prepared for a long time and stuffed it into Aiqing's hand.

"Where did this come from?" Ai Qing asked, puzzled.

As Xiaoyu pointed, his gaze fell on the vending machine in the corner, and he nodded in realization.

"That's impressive, they can even buy it themselves."

"Hehe." Little Fish put her hands behind her back, her tail almost wagging up from Ai Qing's praise.

Fortunately, she always remembered that she was outside and didn't actually expose her tail.

She touched the back of her skirt to make sure there was nothing wrong before looking up at Ai Qing again: "Brother, you drink."

Under Xiaoyu's expectant gaze, Ai Qing opened the bottle of mineral water, took a few sips to moisten her throat, and found it quite refreshing.

He had originally planned to take Xiaoyu downstairs to the library to buy a cup of milk tea, but now that Xiaoyu was buying water, he figured it was good for his health.

"Let's go then, I'll take you to the library."

"Aren't you waiting for your roommate?" Xiaoyu asked doubtfully, peeking into the classroom where Ai Qing's roommate was currently defending her thesis.

"No need, we can take care of ourselves." Ai Qing shook her head repeatedly and left with Xiao Yu.

After taking the elevator down from the teaching building, Ai Qing and Xiao Yu arrived at the library.

I have to say, looking out the window was one thing, but looking up at it from the library entrance was a completely different story.

However, Xiaoyu has seen a variety of buildings recently, and the feeling of awe she had was not replicated. She just felt that this building was very big and tall.

Having seen more of the world, her threshold has been raised. Little Fish is now a worldly cat and won't be as easily surprised as before.

Following Ai Qing into the lounge area downstairs from the library, Ai Qing took the initiative to give up the center position, letting Xiao Yu tell the waiter what kind of milk tea she wanted to buy and then pay for it herself.

The whole process was quite smooth, but Xiaoyu hadn't drunk milk tea much before, and she was overwhelmed by the wide variety of milk tea options on the price list.

After some hesitation, I finally chose the most ordinary bubble tea without any toppings.

First, it's simple; second, it's the cheapest.

Little Fish was still thinking about how to save money. It's always better to save as much as possible in places where you can spend less money.

After buying the milk tea, Xiaoyu took a sip. The cool and sweet taste made her squint her eyes and enjoy it comfortably.

"It's so delicious." Xiaoyu followed Ai Qing and walked towards the library door, unable to resist holding the milk tea to Ai Qing's lips. "Brother, you should try it too, it's especially delicious."

"Um... I guess I don't need it? You can drink it yourself."

"Drink, drink~" Little Fish urged in a coquettish manner, then put on a pitiful look, "I knew I shouldn't have bought you water, so I could have bought two cups of milk tea. It's all Little Fish's fault."

"Okay, okay, stop talking." Ai Qing lowered her head helplessly, looking at the tempting glistening ring around the straw, and quickly took a sip. "I'll drink it, you can keep it."

"Hehe." A happy expression appeared on Little Fish's face as she hummed an unknown little tune. Then, she secretly bit the straw and licked it with her little tongue. "Does Brother want more?"

"No."

"Just one more bite, please."

"Don't worry about it, just relax and enjoy your visit." Ai Qing took out a student card from her pocket and put it in Xiao Yu's hand. "In a little while, it'll be just like entering a subway station. You can just swipe this card and go in."

"What about your brother?"

"I'm a student here. If I forgot my student ID, I can register and the security guard will let me in."

Since Xiaoyu doesn't have a student ID, she theoretically shouldn't be able to enter the library.

But Ai Qing had his own methods.

After watching Xiaoyu pass through the library gate smoothly, Ai Qing found the security guard, registered her college, grade, class and student number, and was then allowed to pass by the security guard.

“Actually, there’s not much to see in the library, but since you’ve never been to a place like this before, I’ll show you around,” Ai Qing said. “But remember, you can’t make loud noises in the library. You have to speak softly so as not to disturb other people’s studies.”

"Okay! Little Fish understands."

"The first and second floors are both large halls in the middle, with study areas on both sides. The books on the shelves are all different categories and themes," Ai Qing said as she led her on a stroll, giving her a brief introduction.

"From the third floor upwards, the middle is also a functional hall, mainly a study area. Anyway, most people come here to study in a quiet place with a good learning atmosphere."

"On the sixth floor, there will be a free computer area for researching and writing documents, but you can't play games."

"In addition, you can also apply for discussion rooms and meeting rooms. If some departments or clubs need to organize activities, they can either find an empty classroom or come here."

Xiaoyu listened carefully, curiously observing the people in the study area, and then asked in a low voice, "Then why do they all have to come here to study? Can't they stay in their dorm rooms? My brother works in his own bedroom, doesn't he?"

“Because there’s a better learning atmosphere here,” Ai Qing chuckled. “When you sit here and see others working hard, you’ll feel a sense of urgency and quickly get into a learning mindset.”

"And if you're in the dorm, it's even easier to dawdle, slack off, and accomplish nothing."

"Now that final exams are approaching, there are even more people coming to the library to cram at the last minute, so you can hardly see any empty seats. Many people come early in the morning before the library even opens to grab a seat."

Xiaoyu opened her mouth, slightly surprised, and then asked, "Then why doesn't brother find a place where many people are typing? That would improve typing efficiency a lot, right?"

“Hmm…” Ai Qing fell into deep thought for a moment, then said, “It’s probably because if there are too many people who don’t write, it will create a bad atmosphere, which is even more detrimental to writing.”

Chapter 128 Can't Little Fish Do It?

Ai Qing took her to tour the library on several floors, and then led her to the Finance and Economics Museum on the seventh floor for a brief look at the school's history.

There's really not much to say.

Ai Qing herself was not very aware of this.

Back then, only at the beginning of freshman year would upperclassmen bring me here to give me an introduction.

So many years have passed, I've completely forgotten about it.

Xiaoyu, on the other hand, watched very attentively, which Ai Qing took as her practicing her Chinese language skills.

Around 3 p.m., after leaving the library, Ai Qing took her for a stroll by the artificial lake at the entrance of the college.

"Stand still, I'll take a picture of you." Ai Qing had Xiao Yu stand by the lake so she could take a picture of her and the geese in the lake together.

Xiaoyu clearly didn't want to be the only one taking pictures, so she immediately pulled Aiqing over and took out her phone to take a selfie of the two of them.

It has to be said that, whether it's a natural talent or not, Xiaoyu is quite skilled at using the phone's camera function.

Ai Qing curiously clicked on her photo album, wanting to see how well she had taken the pictures.

As a result, a quick glance revealed something extraordinary.

Good guy.

This album is full of photos, besides Xiaoyu's selfies and life records, all of them are candid shots of Aiqing from various angles.

There even seems to be a record of her taking a selfie while secretly smelling Ai Qing's clothes.

However, Ai Qing only glanced at it briefly before Xiao Yu hurriedly covered it with her hand, preventing him from looking any further.

"Um... um... brother, what do you want to see? I'll show it to you."

Little Fish, who had forgotten what suspicious things were in her photo album, only realized it now and stammered out what she was saying.

Ai Qing didn't intend to expose her, but she was just a little annoyed.

I don't know when this girl developed the habit of secretly taking pictures.

It's one thing if he's the one being filmed, and Ai Qing doesn't care, but what if she goes and secretly films other people in the future?

He was a little confused and didn't understand what the fun in taking photos was.

Apart from photos of small fish he used to take, he had hardly ever used the camera on his phone.

Upon opening them, I found that many of the slides and blackboard notes were taken during my university years.

Of course, what Ai Qing didn't know was that Xiao Yu specifically targeted him for photos, and no one else was even considered by her.

"I'm not looking anymore, as long as your photos are good," Ai Qing said casually, and then continued to stroll around the school with Xiao Yu.

The school campus of the Finance and Economics Institute is actually quite small.

It would probably only take about twenty minutes to cycle around the campus.

If you're quick, you might not even need to do that.

Ai Qing led Xiao Yu past the artificial lake in front of the academy and then arrived at the old playground, which was usually abandoned.

After turning left, there is a main road for vehicles on the north side. The north slope is very steep. Climb up the gravel road to reach the famous Lovers' Slope on campus.

"So why is it called Lover's Slope?" Little Fish asked curiously. "Does 'lover' refer to lovers?"

"Well... at school, the meanings of 'lover' and 'couple' are indeed quite similar; it's just a playful way of saying it," Ai Qing explained simply.

"Actually, couples occasionally come here for a walk and do some intimate things that only couples would do."