Why bother with dating when you already have a cat?

But just as he was taking his first steps, holding the little fish's soft little hand, the doorbell suddenly rang.

Ai Qing thought it was Xiao Youqian who had arrived. After letting go of Xiaoyu and telling her not to make any rash moves, she walked out of the bedroom, closed the door, and went to the front door.

When she opened it, she found a man wearing sunglasses, and Ai Qing didn't recognize him at first.

"You are..." Ai Qing frowned, looking puzzled.

"Hehe, don't you remember? Mr. Ai, you must have a bad memory." The man in sunglasses raised his sunglasses and chuckled twice. "Kong Fugui, huh? He just returned to the country."

"Huh? You're Gui Gui?" Ai Qing looked at her with surprise, scrutinizing her from head to toe.

He was dressed in trendy clothes, but he couldn't tell what the brand was. The logos were all in English and were just colorful.

Finally, his gaze settled on the top of the guy's head, and he asked, "What were you thinking with that green hair?"

"Damn! Brown! It's brown!" Kong Fugui said speechlessly, walking straight into the room and leaning his head closer. "Look closely, it looks a bit green in the sunlight, but it's brown under the lamplight."

"Okay, okay, brown, brown." Ai Qing took a half step back, glanced at her bedroom, and then asked, "What do you want from me?"

"I want to hang out with you."

"I'm busy."

"No... I came to see you as soon as I got back to China. We've been brothers for so many years, aren't you even a little bit touched?"

"We've seen this before during the New Year. You come back to China and come looking for me instead of other women. What good could come of that?"

"Ah, this..." Kong Fugui chuckled and patted Ai Qing on the shoulder. "You know me so well. Sister Qian opened a shop, and my girlfriend brought her dog over for a check-up, and also to boost our sales."

"Tell me first which girlfriend you are?"

Chapter 24 You're playing pretty fancy tricks!

Kong Fugui and Xiao Youqian were both good friends of Ai Qing from the same neighborhood.

However, unlike Xiao Youqian, who moved to the main urban area to attend school with her parents due to the demolition of her school during elementary school.

Kong Fugui and Ai Qing attended the same junior high and high schools, so their relationship was naturally closer.

Unfortunately, this kid's academic performance wasn't very good. After the college entrance exam results came out, he could barely get into a junior college.

Or find some connections to get into a second-tier university.

In the end, Uncle Kong simply sent him abroad to study.

They only come back during summer vacation and Chinese New Year each year.

Ai Qing hadn't expected that this guy, who was also about to graduate this year, would return to China early.

"Here, have some water." Ai Qing invited him inside and placed a glass of water on the coffee table, inviting him to sit on the sofa. "Why did you go back to China in March?"

"I just missed you." Kong Fugui plopped down on the sofa with a carefree attitude, his hands spread out on either side of the backrest, his legs spread wide apart, his brown-green hair quite eye-catching. He said with a smile, "Actually, I've already finished my studies. You know, those foreign diploma mills are just for fooling the average person in China."

"If you want to graduate, you just need to spend money, so I was too lazy to stay there any longer and came back early to breathe some fresh air from my motherland."

Well, the families in the vicinity of Ai Qing's home who were relocated due to demolition, and who were able to seize the opportunities of the past ten years or so, are all basically not short of money.

Ai Zhongguo is a rather honest person, and he was a journalist in his early years.

Back then, most reporters had a positive image, and Ai Zhongguo had a relatively high moral standard, always honestly and diligently working to earn money.

Although there are quite a few, they certainly can't compare to those who are riding the wave of opportunity.

For example, Kong Fugui's family business involved in overseas trade has made a fortune in recent years as the country has become stronger, productivity has reached its peak, and overseas markets have expanded rapidly.

Kong Fugui spent four years studying at a university in Canada, and now he has returned home with a distinguished academic background.

"So you're going to take over Uncle Kong's business?" Ai Qing sat down on the single sofa next to her and asked curiously.

"Aren't you overthinking it?" Kong Fugui laughed. "My old man is not even fifty yet, he can hold on for at least another ten years or so, right? I won't get involved."

“That won’t stop you from helping out,” Ai Qing said. “You need to familiarize yourself with the family business beforehand.”

"Forget it." Kong Fugui waved his hands repeatedly. "I'm just not cut out for it. Let my brother inherit the family business. I'll just be a rich second-generation heir."

"If I remember correctly," Ai Qing's lips twitched, "your younger brother is only 12 years old this year? He hasn't even started junior high school yet!"

"That just proves my old man had foresight," Kong Fugui chuckled. "He anticipated that his eldest son wouldn't amount to anything, so he set up his alternate account in advance, which made things much easier for me."

"Then why did you come back this time?"

"Just have some fun," Kong Fugui said, shrugging. "I just met a girlfriend, so I'll take her on a trip in a few days and let her see the sights."

"You deserve to die." Ai Qing clicked her tongue, quite used to his actions.

After all, this kid already had a rather chaotic private life when he was in junior high school.

If this guy hadn't been his childhood best friend, Ai Qing would probably have spat at him the moment they met.

However, Kong Fugui does have one redeeming quality: at least he always has serious relationships and doesn't juggle multiple relationships like a playboy.

To put it nicely, it's about enjoying the emotional value of being in a relationship.

To put it bluntly, it's about getting tired of something and switching to something else.

Ai Qing disapproved of this kind of behavior, but as long as it wasn't illegal, he never interfered with other people's lives and ideas. He just couldn't understand the world of the rich.

"Then go be with your girlfriend, why are you coming to me?" Ai Qing was in a hurry to teach Xiaoyu to walk, and several minutes had already been wasted.

"It's rare for you to come back, shouldn't we get together, my good brothers?" Kong Fugui said. "I heard from Sister Qian that you were here, so I came up to check on you. We'll call Lao Wu later, and the three of us brothers can have a drink together."

"Wu Yong is back? Isn't he a soldier?"

“He was discharged from the army. It happened last month.” Kong Fugui was surprised for a moment, then nodded in realization. “That’s right. I only found out because my dad told me. It seems he was discharged due to an injury. I don’t know how serious it was.”

"Why didn't this kid say anything?" Ai Qing frowned, a little worried.

“Old Wu is even more taciturn than you,” Kong Fugui scoffed, pursing his lips. “How could we possibly talk about something like this? We’ll just go to his doorstep and ambush him.”

"also."

After discussing this topic, both of them fell silent for a while.

Kong Fugui looked around curiously for a moment before saying with a grin, "You live in such a big place all by yourself?"

"What's wrong?" Ai Qing glanced at him. "This house belongs to my dad's friend, so the rent is cheaper, only two thousand a month. For the same price in Hangzhou, you can only find a house of twenty or thirty square meters at most."

"That's not bad either." Kong Fugui nodded, but couldn't help teasing, "And it's very convenient for keeping a mistress, isn't it? Aren't you planning to find a girlfriend? Or do you already have one?"

"What a joke! Do you think I'm like you?" Ai Qing rolled her eyes at him. "I didn't even date anyone in college, let alone now."

“That won’t do,” Kong Fugui shook his head repeatedly. “Suppressing yourself for too long will make you sick, not just physically, but also mentally. You have to be careful.”

"Thank you so much."

"No need for thanks, but I can introduce you to someone." Kong Fugui smiled. "My girlfriend has a great best friend, tall and mature, lively and cheerful, with a beautiful smile. Interested?"

"No."

"Let me show you the photos, they're really good." Kong Fugui suddenly got excited, took out his phone, and showed him photos from his WeChat Moments.

Ai Qing had no choice but to take a look.

She's pretty, but her makeup is a bit heavy, and her lipstick color is too dark. Besides, mature women aren't his type.

It can't compare to a small fish.

Depend on!

What's the point of comparing it to a small fish?

Ai Qing cursed inwardly and waved her hands repeatedly in refusal: "Don't bother with this, I'm not in the mood for dating right now."

“Which great writer wasn’t a romantic and talented man? How can you, a novelist, be so clueless?” Kong Fugui sighed. “Or you could ask your readers if they have any pretty female readers, and find one.”

"Are you kidding me?" Ai Qing couldn't help but chuckle twice.

Nine out of ten readers of his novels are single men, and the other one is a womanizer.

It's hard to say whether the female reader is actually a man in disguise.

Since we can't meet in person anyway, Ai Qing has always treated everyone as a man.

"Anyway, I'm not dating right now, so stop trying to persuade me. Just mind your own business," Ai Qing said, waving her hand.

Before the words had even finished...

Suddenly, there was a sound from the bedroom doorknob.

Ai Qing and Kong Fugui's gazes immediately turned to the bedroom door.

At that moment, the door was opened.

A head with long, snow-white hair peeked out from inside the door, its adorable cat ears still twitching slightly.

The little fish lay on the floor, curiously peering into the living room.

Kong Fugui, sitting on the sofa, looked at the girl playing cosplay, then turned to look at Ai Qing. His lips twitched, and he wanted to laugh but immediately held it back.

"Mr. Ai, you're... playing pretty fancy tricks, aren't you?"

Chapter 25 This is a huge misunderstanding

Ai Qing's mind was completely blank at that moment.

It was indeed his carelessness.

Because Xiaoyu only learned to open the door in the last few days, and Aiqing has been helping her learn to walk recently, Xiaoyu hasn't opened the door by herself much.

In addition, Ai Qing had previously thought that it was Xiao Youqian ringing the doorbell, and that she was just coming to remind him not to forget the opening ceremony in the afternoon, and that she would definitely not come inside.

After meeting Kong Fugui, and with his good friend suddenly returning to China, he immediately forgot about the matter.

If life could give Ai Qing another chance, he would definitely kick Kong Fugui away right at the door.

Unfortunately, life doesn't offer "what ifs".

Ai Qing could only quickly get up and run to the bedroom door amidst Kong Fugui's strange expression and suppressed laughter.

As it turned out, Xiaoyu herself seemed to realize she had made a mistake, and seeing Ai Qing's swift action, she immediately shrank back.

When Ai Qing rushed into the bedroom, Xiao Yu had already crawled under the table.

They even peeked out to check the situation.