Why bother with dating when you already have a cat?

"What do you mean, how are things?" Ai Qing asked. "Everything's fine."

“I also think Xiaoyu is great,” Yao Qiang said, following Ai Qing’s lead. “So since you two are so good together, shouldn’t you consider taking things to the next level?”

"No... I've only been out of school for less than half a year, and you're already urging me to hurry up?" Ai Qing looked at her mother speechlessly.

“You’ve already found a wife,” Yao Qiang said immediately. “Then getting married is more natural. What’s wrong with that? You two are living together anyway.”

“Yeah, we’re living together anyway, so what does it matter whether we get married or not?” Ai Qing said confidently.

"You little rascal, don't you dare do anything half-hearted." Hearing Ai Qing say this, Yao Qiang immediately pointed her finger at his chest and warned, "Xiao Yu is such a good girl, if you really liked her, you would have already gotten a marriage certificate and taken her home."

"If you're talking about this..." Ai Qing thought about it for a moment after hearing her mother's words, and then said in a low voice with a troubled expression, "The difficulty lies with Xiao Yu."

"Huh?" Yao Qiang was stunned for a moment. "Xiao Yu doesn't want to marry you? Really? I can't believe it."

"Of course not that." Ai Qing was speechless, thinking that Xiao Yu was so attached to her that she couldn't possibly be separated from her. "It's about the marriage certificate."

"What's wrong with the marriage certificate?"

“Xiaoyu doesn’t have an ID card,” Ai Qing said. “She doesn’t have a household registration either, so she’s an unregistered resident.”

"Unregistered resident?" Yao Qiang frowned as she thought of Xiao Yu's background, and a feeling of pity welled up in her heart.

However, since this was the question, Yao Qiang didn't press her for the time being. Instead, she asked Ai Qing, "Does she have any identification? Or where did she live before? Which hospital did she give birth at?"

“How could she remember that?” Ai Qing shook her head repeatedly. “It’s like she has nothing left.”

“That would be troublesome,” Yao Qiang said, frowning. “When I married your father, I had a similar problem. Because my household registration was in my hometown, it took a lot of effort to transfer it to your father’s place. Xiaoyu’s situation is even more complicated than mine.”

"Oh, it's nothing." Ai Qing waved her hand dismissively, "It's just a matter of getting a certificate anyway."

“That’s different. Without an ID card, it’s difficult to do many things.” Yao Qiang rolled her eyes at him, then said, “Don’t rush this. I’ll talk to your dad when I have time.”

Upon hearing this, Ai Qing raised an eyebrow and nodded in agreement.

He found many ways to register unregistered individuals.

These days, there are actually legitimate channels for registering unregistered individuals in various forms.

But people like Xiaoyu, who have no trace of their past, are still a bit difficult to approach.

Ai Qing didn't know if there were any other solutions at home, but she had to try anyway.

When they finished chatting, Ai Zhongguo and Xiaoyu came downstairs.

The family sat down at the dining table, and Ai Lisong, taking advantage of the family reunion, poured himself a small glass of baijiu (Chinese liquor), his face immediately brightening with joy.

"Let's eat."

After saying that, he took a sip of his wine.

"Dad, did Xiaoyu just give you the rent?" Ai Qing picked up a piece of braised pork, then smiled mischievously and asked Ai Zhongguo.

Across from him, Ai Zhongguo rolled his eyes at him: "Don't get cocky just because you've made a little money. Be humble and low-key."

"What's wrong with paying rent?" Yao Qiang asked, puzzled. "You're talking about paying rent as if you're trying to show off."

“That’s for sure.” Ai Zhongguo said speechlessly, “I thought he had it tough, so I quoted him a lower rent. But he just gave me the full price as soon as he made a profit.”

"You're so dramatic." Yao Qiang chuckled. "Isn't it good that your son is successful? You can just collect rent from now on."

Ai Zhongguo clicked his tongue twice, but didn't refute it.

After all, he could collect 12,000 yuan in rent from Ai Qing every month, and his life was really good.

But just then, Lang Xiangying asked curiously, "I saw that Xiaoyu taught me how to read novels before. Is this Qingqing's new book? It seems like it's starting to cost money."

"Oh, right." Ai Qing put down her chopsticks and said slowly after hearing her grandmother say that, "It was just put on the shelves yesterday."

Across from him, Ai Zhongguo raised an eyebrow: "What results?"

"What are the results..." Ai Qing chuckled, "If we're just talking about the initial subscription figures, it's about four or five times that of the previous book."

Perhaps due to the initial subscription promotion, Ai Qing originally only had around 7000 readers, but within 24 hours of its release, the number of subscribers reached a whopping 8500.

Compared to the previous book's mere 1700 initial subscriptions, this is indeed several times more.

Upon hearing this, Ai Zhongguo was stunned for a moment, then asked, "You already earned 20,000 a month for your previous book, so wouldn't this one cost 100,000 a month?"

"Um...it's not that exaggerated yet, maybe around 40,000 or 50,000 a month?"

Ai Zhongguo: "..."

Chapter 205 What can couples do?

"Don't move yet, put your hat on properly, that's right."

Ai Qing pointed her camera at the maple leaves in the store and recorded what they looked like wearing Santa hats.

Maple lazily licked its paws, then obediently lay down, letting Ai Qing point the camera at it and record its beauty without restraint.

The other cats, too, were subjected to Li Qiqi's cruelty and were all fitted with Santa hats. Even the Japanese cat suddenly became even cuter.

Christmas is just two days away, and our homeless shelter account received an ad for a cat litter brand that we've been using for a long time. It's a perfect opportunity to make a video about it.

The cats in the shop are all high-quality laborers who will work for free as long as they are well-fed and well-rested. It would be unreasonable not to exploit them properly.

To be honest, if we have five or six customers a day, we don't think we need to feed these cats much more. They can eat their fill just by using their talents.

Sometimes, when there are too many people on weekends, Ai Qing is afraid of overfeeding them.

Cats have no sense of proportion, especially stray cats. They'll eat as much as you give them until their bellies are as hard as a ball.

Besides entertaining guests, Li Qiqi also has to constantly observe whether the cats have eaten too much.

Especially the big orange one, it really can't get any fatter.

What is Christmas for?

The little fish squatted down beside it, looking at the big orange cat wearing a Santa hat on its head, looking silly and with its eyes half-covered, so it reached out to adjust it, and then asked Ai Qing curiously.

“It’s a Western holiday,” Ai Qing said casually. “But you can just treat any holiday that comes from abroad as a shopping festival.”

"Hmm... so you have to pay money to pass?"

"That's not quite right." Ai Qing chuckled as she looked at her and pinched her cheek. "Why are you still so silly?"

"So what are these festivals for?" Little Fish's cheeks were being pinched, but her face remained innocent, showing no sign of resistance.

"There are some differences in specifics. For example, for Christmas, if you put a red stocking by your bed the night before, Santa Claus will supposedly climb down the chimney and put a present in your stocking."

Ai Qing spoke to Xiao Yu as if coaxing a child.

"But we don't have a chimney, we only have a range hood." After hearing this, Xiaoyu frowned and became worried. "Will Santa Claus still be able to get in?"

"You don't need to worry about that. Santa Claus has his own ways," Ai Qing casually remarked. "We're all modern now, can't people update their gift-giving methods?"

"Entering someone's house in the middle of the night is trespassing, isn't it?" Xiaoyu said seriously. "If we call the police, can they arrest this Santa Claus?"

“Little Fish, you’ve lost your childlike innocence. I only feel sorry for you now.” Ai Qing patted her head. “If you don’t want Santa’s presents, just treat it as a regular holiday. We can go out for a meal at Haidilao later.”

When Haidilao was mentioned, Xiaoyu's eyes lit up, and she nodded repeatedly, saying, "I want to eat that free tomato and minced meat soup."

"I'll do whatever you say."

Ai Qing saved the video footage, intending to upload it to her computer later.

Xiaoyu walked over to Li Qiqi, watching her play with the cat, and whispered, "Qiqi."

"Hmm? What's wrong, sister-in-law?"

"What do we usually do at Christmas?" Xiaoyu asked curiously. "My brother said it's just a regular shopping festival."

"What does a straight man like him know?" Li Qiqi rolled her eyes and then said, "Although Christmas is indeed a good excuse to go shopping, there must be other meanings to the holidays."

"for example?"

“For example… for example, if I have someone I like, I can choose to invite them out on Christmas Day,” Li Qiqi said. “Generally speaking, if someone of the opposite sex invites you to go on a date alone during this kind of holiday, it means that the other person is definitely interested in you, and this is an opportunity to confess.”

"But I'm already with him, so I don't need to confess anymore," Xiaoyu said honestly.

"Tsk..." Li Qiqi pouted, thinking that she really had to eat this dog food. Then she added, "If you are already a couple, then naturally you should enhance your relationship."

"But I feel that our relationship is already very good." Xiaoyu tilted her head and thought for a moment, but couldn't think of anything else that could improve it. "Qiqi, can you give me an example of how to improve our relationship?"

“Um… well…” Li Qiqi was speechless for a moment.

As a single person, how would she know what couples do at Christmas? This question is way beyond her scope!

Besides going out to eat, watch movies, go shopping, and then check into a hotel, what other activities are there?

It seems not.

"Wait! I've got it!" Li Qiqi suddenly raised her hand and said seriously, "For Christmas, we can't avoid Christmas trees."

"You two can buy a decorative Christmas tree, and then design the ornaments yourself and put them on. That will be a unique Christmas tree that belongs to the two of you, which will be very meaningful."

"A Christmas tree..." Xiaoyu took out her phone, made a careful note, and then glanced at the Christmas tree in the corridor outside.

These were bought by Hu Tian and Li Qiqi a few days ago by Ai Qing. There is another one outside the door. They are all small Christmas trees, just over a meter tall, and covered with various decorations.

That's why the Christmas tree wasn't placed in the cat-petting area, to avoid it being ruined by the shop's cats.

Customers who buy milk tea can also receive a free slip of paper to write down their wishes and then hang it on the Christmas tree.

Ai Qing wasn't particularly interested in celebrating Western holidays, but she was quite interested in using them as an excuse to promote sales and make money.

Just then, Xiao Youqian from next door came over for a visit. Having spent too much time at the pet hospital, she came to the cat cafe to relax.

As a result, he was caught by the small fish.

"Sister Youxi, what can couples do at Christmas?"

"Let's kiss," Xiao Youqian said without hesitation. "Anything is fine, since the final destination is always a hotel room. These holidays are just an excuse to have sex."

"Traditional festivals should not be desecrated, so Western holidays are just a convenient excuse."

Xiao Youqian waved her hand and then added, "If you really want to do something, like eating out, shopping, or watching movies, you might as well just buy a Christmas reindeer outfit. That would definitely make Ai Qing's eyes pop out."

"Sister Qian!" Li Qiqi, who was standing nearby, blushed and said, "This is too explicit! Can't you be a little more romantic?"

"Whoever wants to go to bed more should think about romantic things," Xiao Youqian said innocently. "That's nothing more than sending flowers, money, and gifts. What other tricks can we come up with?"

As expected of a woman who has roamed the ocean, her words are always insightful and to the point, leaving no room for ambiguity.

This is quite a shock for Li Qiqi, who has never been in a relationship.