Why bother with dating when you already have a cat?

"That's certainly convenient." The security guard nodded, then followed Ai Qing and Xiao Yu out of the stairwell and back to the lobby at the first-floor entrance.

"Let's wait here for now," Ai Qing said. "Judging from the kitten's appearance, it must have been hungry for a long time. It probably won't be long before it goes into the cage."

"What if it doesn't go into the cage?" the security guard asked curiously.

"Don't worry, we'll definitely get in." Ai Qing smiled. "We're professionals in this area. If the security guard has something else to do, he can leave now. It's quite boring to just wait here."

"It's alright, it's alright, I'll be on duty when I get back anyway." The security guard looked quite young and waved his hand with a grin. "Watching you guys catch cats is quite amusing."

"I see." Ai Qing nodded, then gestured to her phone, which was recording the video, and asked with a smile, "Do you usually watch Douyin or Bilibili? Look at this recording of mine, I usually edit it into videos and post them online."

"Oh?" The security guard became curious upon hearing this. "Is it about catching cats? Which account is it? Let me see."

“Let’s call it ‘Home of the Stray Cats’ Cafe,’” Ai Qing said. “If you’re interested, you can check it out.”

"If there are too many stray cats in your community in the future, or if residents complain, you can call us to catch the cats. It's completely free."

Out of curiosity, the security guard searched it up and discovered that the account was quite remarkable.

He already had over 400,000 followers on Bilibili, and when he searched on Douyin, wow! Over a million followers?!

"Sure, sure." The security guard nodded repeatedly after clicking "follow." "Some residents have complained before that stray cats sleep on their cars, leaving paw prints on the windows and roofs. But we can't do anything about it, so it was eventually left unresolved."

“Next time you see stray cats, don’t disturb them,” Ai Qing smiled, revealing her teeth. “Just contact us, and we’ll catch them all.”

This is all free labor.

As long as you give them some food and a place to sleep, they'll obediently work for you.

All Ai Qing had to do was work with Xiao Yu to catch them all and take them home.

Just as the two were talking, the elevator doors opened again.

Xu Jiani walked out from inside with a worried look on her face, accompanied by a woman in her early thirties.

"Brother, is Mimi still there?"

Chapter 200 Little Fish Makes a Move, Captures the Enemy with Ease

"It's still over there on the stairs, but don't go in and scare it. We've put out a cat trap, so we have to wait for it to go in first."

Ai Qing said this, but added, "You can peek from the stairwell."

After speaking, Ai Qing watched as Xu Jiani walked to the stairwell with a face full of expectation and worry, and then turned her gaze to the young woman in front of her.

"Thank you for bringing Nini back," Xu Jiani's mother said with a slightly apologetic smile. "I didn't expect the child to find her way to your place. It's really troublesome."

This woman was clearly very polite and had a gentle personality. She didn't get angry because Xu Jiani was running around, nor did she show any rejection or wariness towards the stranger in front of her.

Before Ai Qing could even politely respond, Xiao Yu couldn't help but ask curiously, "Has this sister been to our shop before?"

Xu Jiani's mother paused for a moment, then smiled and nodded slightly: "Nini told me before that she had collected two cards and could invite her mother to a cat cafe. So I went with her. The cats in your shop are all very cute."

"I also have a strong impression of my older sister!" Xiaoyu said happily.

Actually, Li Qiqi was somewhat opposed to letting elementary school students into the cat cafe, so she specifically asked Ai Qing to add an extra rule: they must be accompanied by their parents.

It's not that I'm worried the cats in the shop will hurt the children.

On the contrary, Li Qiqi was worried that children might not be able to control their strength and would play with the cat like a toy, causing the cat to get injured or stressed.

At first, Xiaoyu didn't understand, but later she realized that children do sometimes lack a sense of proportion and that's when she understood why.

However, Xu Jiani and her mother left a relatively deep impression on Xiaoyu.

In her memory, Xu Jiani's mother was the first parent to actively educate her child, instructing her to "touch gently, not forcefully, otherwise the cat will feel pain."

This left a deep impression on Xiaoyu.

When I saw him again, I recognized him immediately.

"Let's not stand here yet, let's wait over there," Xu Jiani's mother gestured towards the entrance.

Ai Qing also felt that blocking the doorway was not a good idea, so she pulled Xiao Yu to stand to the side, near the stairwell.

“The kitten inside was frightened earlier. Under normal circumstances, we can only wait for it to calm down and then crawl into the cage on its own,” Ai Qing said, glancing at Xiao Yu before smiling. “However, if it takes too long, we have other options.”

"This is the first time I've ever seen you catch a cat like this." Xu Jiani's mother glanced at her daughter and then chuckled. "I just came down with her to take a look. Nini has loved these small animals since she was little. If she doesn't see the kitten safely down today, she'll probably be talking about it tonight."

"I see." Ai Qing said, then winked at Xiao Yu.

So Xiaoyu didn't try to hide anything, smiled slightly at Xu Jiani's mother, walked behind Xu Jiani, and peeked out into the stairwell.

Then the little fish pretended to cover its mouth and nose with its hands, and soon, meows came out of its mouth.

Xu Jiani, who was only up to the belly of the little fish, heard a cat meowing above her head and immediately showed a surprised expression, her eyes widening.

She looked up at Sister Xiaoyu, then quickly looked at the pile of clutter deep in the stairwell, standing on tiptoe to try and see.

Soon, to her even greater surprise, a sound came from the pile of junk.

Then a black head poked half of itself out.

The little black cat inside looked around, a puzzled expression on its face, and subconsciously meowed twice.

So the little fish struck while the iron was hot, meowing twice quickly. Once the little black cat's attention was focused, a series of meows rang out again.

In the lobby at the entrance, both Xu Jiani's mother and the young security guard were momentarily bewildered and surprised, wondering what was going on.

But soon, a loud noise came from the stairwell.

A mournful meow suddenly rang out.

At the same time, Xu Jiani exclaimed "Wow~".

After all, Xu Jiani had witnessed firsthand the entire process of Mimi's transformation from confusion to doubt, then to exploration, and finally succumbing to temptation, falling into the tiger's den.

But Xu Jiani is still young and it's hard for her to fully describe the scene and feeling.

I felt immense admiration for Xiaoyu, thinking that this young lady was truly amazing, able to imitate a cat's voice so realistically.

Just as the mechanism of the cat trap inside went off, Ai Qing simply smiled, then slowly walked into the stairwell and glanced at the cat trap inside.

"Did they go in?"

"They're inside." Little Fish nodded.

"That's great."

Ai Qing reached out and picked up the cat cage, weighing it in her hand. She could already feel the weight of the little creature inside.

The little black cat inside seemed a bit startled and immediately started meowing again.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid." Xu Jiani quickly squatted down, looked at the little black cat in the cage, and comforted it gently and cutely, "Be a good girl, Mimi. The cat cafe is very warm, and there's an endless supply of cat food and treats. Once I've collected enough cards again, I'll come and play with you."

Hearing this, Ai Qing didn't say anything more to Xu Jiani. Instead, she turned to look at Xu Jiani's mother who had walked in, raised the cat cage in her hand, and asked with a smile:

"We also have adoption rules at our store. If a customer likes a cat, they can sign an adoption agreement and take the cat home for free."

"She seems to really like this cat. Sister, why don't you consider it?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Jiani was taken aback for a moment, then her face lit up with hope as she looked at her mother.

But Xu Jiani was indeed very well-behaved. Even though she really wanted to agree right away, she suppressed her desire and just pursed her lips, looking at her mother with anticipation.

At this point, Xu Jiani's mother also fell into deep thought.

To be honest, neither she nor her husband are old-fashioned people.

However, they had never owned a cat before, and now they were taking care of their child and working, so they were really worried that they wouldn't be able to manage.

After thinking for a moment, she walked over to her daughter, knelt down, smiled gently at Xu Jiani, and said, "Nini, do you remember what Mommy said before? Before choosing to do something, we should..."

“Yes…yes…um…” Xu Jiani frowned her cute brows, then tried to say, “I need to think about it first and make the necessary preparations for this.”

"Yes, that's great." Xu Jiani's mother smiled encouragingly. "Now, shouldn't we go home for dinner first, and then think carefully about what preparations we need to make if we want to adopt Mimi?"

"For example, if Mimi lived in our house, wouldn't she need to eat, drink, and use the toilet?"

"If Mimi moves into our home, she will live with the three of us. Before we adopt her, do we need to ask for Dad's consent?"

"Then, when Mimi is hungry or thirsty, who will be responsible for getting her food and water, cleaning up her poop, and taking out her trash? Shouldn't we think about these things in advance?"

Xu Jiani tried hard to understand what her mother was saying, and then nodded very seriously: "Yes! Mom is right."

After speaking with her daughter, Xu Jiani's mother stood up again and looked at Ai Qing and Xiao Yu with a slightly apologetic expression.

Ai Qing waved her hand first and said with a smile, "It's okay, it wasn't meant for you to decide right away."

"After all, it's hard to predict the personality of a stray cat. We need to take it back to the store to help it recover and determine if its personality is suitable for adoption."

"You can go home and discuss it. If you really can't adopt, our cat cafe would be happy to welcome you back next time."

"Thank you in advance." Xu Jiani's mother thanked them politely, then took Xu Jiani's hand and escorted Ai Qing and Xiao Yu out of the community before taking her daughter home.

……

On the way back to the cat cafe, Xiaoyu felt a little emotional.

"Such wonderful parents are rare to see." Xiaoyu turned to look at Ai Qing, then couldn't help but laugh. "But her brother is just as good."

She thought back to the time when she had just become human, when Ai Qing always liked to reason with her and teach her some principles of being a person.

Looking back now, it's so similar to what that older sister did.

Children who grow up in such an environment will naturally be much more outstanding in terms of character and personality.

"It looks like we should be able to get it adopted this time." Ai Qing glanced down at the cat cage, then followed Xiao Yu back to the cat café with light steps.

Upon entering the cat petting area, Li Qiqi immediately became interested and curiously approached the cat cage to examine it. However, she was startled when the little black cat inside scratched her with its paw.

"Is it that fierce?"

"She seems to be a little stressed. Let's put her in the rest room first."

The walls on both sides of the lounge are also fitted with large cabinets from the cat villa. Once you push the door open, you can see Bread and its five kittens on the right.

The five little ones only opened their eyes a few days ago, and each one is incredibly cute and adorable.

Ai Qing glanced to the right, then opened the cabinet door on the left, aligned the opening of the cat trap with the cabinet, and then activated the mechanism.

Upon discovering that the mechanism door had been opened, the little black cat inside immediately darted out without a word, and was then naturally locked inside.

"Give it a can of food, let it eat its fill first, we can talk about the rest later."

In short, after it has eaten its fill, whether it goes to the cat-petting area to earn money or is adopted by Xu Jiani's family, it will have to undergo a training course for Xiaoyu's employees first.