Why bother with dating when you already have a cat?

He watched as Xiaoyu solemnly placed her red socks on the bedside table, so he had no choice but to place his other red socks on the bedside table as well.

Ai Qing held Xiao Yu, gently patting her back, and watched her gradually drift off to sleep before carefully withdrawing her arm.

After confirming that Xiaoyu was fast asleep, Ai Qing got out of bed, strolled to the living room, took out a handful of candies, and then went back to the bedroom, stuffing them all into Xiaoyu's red sock.

When she was a child, Ai Qing also believed in Santa Claus and actually received gifts from him.

Back then, when Ai Qing woke up the next morning and saw the candy in her sock, she was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling all day.

It's just an ordinary candy, but it tastes exceptionally sweet.

Even though I learned later that Christmas people don't actually exist, it doesn't diminish the wonderful memories I had back then.

Thinking this through, Ai Qing made sure that everything was stuffed into Xiao Yu's red socks before lying down again.

He fell asleep very quickly.

……

The next morning, although Ai Qing had gone to bed late the night before, his strong biological clock, which he had developed over the past few months, still made him wake up on time.

The little fish next to them are the same.

"Wow! Santa Claus really brought presents!" Little Fish touched the red socks on the headboard of her bed and felt the bulging inside, her face immediately filled with surprise.

Hearing her exclamation and joy, Ai Qing couldn't help but smile, turning her head to look at her profile: "Let's see what's inside."

"There's candy! And even chocolate!" Little Fish happily peeled a piece and ate it, then peeled one for Ai Qing as well. "Brother, look at your red stockings too, see if Santa Claus brought you any."

"Shouldn't be... huh?"

Ai Qing casually reached out to touch the red sock on her bedside table, only to find it bulging.

He was stunned for a moment, and then squeezed it in disbelief.

I turned my head and confirmed that these were the socks I had left here last night.

But he remembered that he hadn't stuffed anything into his socks.

Could it be that Santa Claus really exists?

As Ai Qing was thinking this, she sat up abruptly and took the socks in her hand to examine them.

Little Fish, who was standing nearby, immediately came over, poked Ai Qing's sock, and then exclaimed excitedly, "Wow! Brother, you also got a present from Santa Claus!"

Seeing the little fish's upturned lips and the trembling she was trying to suppress, Ai Qing chuckled, then opened the sock and peeked inside.

It was also some candy.

"Want some?" Ai Qing took out one and looked at the little fish.

"Yes, yes, yes~" Little Fish opened her mouth, and before she had finished the candy she had just eaten, another one was stuffed into her mouth.

"Brother, have another one too," Little Fish said, pointing to the candy in his sock.

"It's okay, I'll have yours too." Ai Qing looked at her cute appearance and couldn't help but lower her head, and the three candies began to circulate among themselves.

They both tacitly agreed not to reveal the final layer of mystery, and each became the other's Santa Claus.

Ai Qing suddenly realized that even if she knew the truth about some things, it wouldn't affect their beauty.

……

After the two finished practicing the Vajra Kung Fu, they went downstairs to have breakfast and arrived at the cat cafe before nine o'clock.

When Li Qiqi and Hu Tian arrived at the store, Xiaoyu excitedly took out the candy from her pocket and handed it to the two of them, saying, "This is a gift from Santa Claus, so I'm sharing some with you."

The big orange on the table thought there was something delicious to eat, so it turned over to face the little fish and raised an arm to pat her arm.

When Da Ju saw that all Xiao Yu had left was the candy wrapper, he immediately lay back down, looking like he was just slacking off.

"Let's go out for lunch later." Ai Qing glanced at the time and then said to Xiao Yu, "I'll write some words this morning, and then I'll go to Yintai."

"Okay~" Little Fish replied, "There's a movie I want to watch~"

"Let's have a good lunch and then go see it this afternoon."

"What about us?" Li Qiqi pointed to herself and asked with an innocent look.

"Good question." Ai Qing patted her shoulder. "Have any guys asked you out?"

Li Qiqi: "...Don't go too far! Just because no guy asks me out, does that mean I can't have Christmas?"

“Of course you can.” Ai Qing nodded. “There are so many cats in the shop to keep you company during Christmas. Aren’t you a big fan of cats?”

"Thank you so much," Li Qiqi said through gritted teeth.

"It's Christmas today, and it's the weekend, so there will definitely be a lot of people coming to the cat cafe," Ai Qing encouraged. "I'll give you a raise, so keep up the good work."

Li Qiqi gave a forced smile: "Thank you, boss~"

Chapter 207 One Night

To be honest, one advantage of going out for Christmas is that quite a few businesses are having promotions.

The downside is that there are too many people.

Fortunately, Ai Qing and Xiao Yu arrived early and were able to sit comfortably inside Haidilao and enjoy the service; otherwise, they would probably still be waiting in a long line at the door.

They ordered a four-compartment soup base: two spicy broths, one tomato broth, and one clear broth.

Ai Qing doesn't like spicy food, so she usually uses a clear broth base, mainly to enjoy the flavor of the seasoning.

The little fish is the opposite; she loves spicy food, but can't handle too much spice. Every time she eats hot pot, her little mouth gets all red and shiny, looking very tempting.

Today, Little Fish wore dark-colored jeans and a long, snow-white down jacket that perfectly covered her tail.

She squeezed onto one side of the table with Ai Qing. She couldn't quite reach the spicy hot pot diagonally opposite her, so she asked Ai Qing to help her pick it up.

Then Xiaoyu helped Aiqing pick up the mutton rolls from the clear broth pot.

Don't let its small size fool you, this little fish has quite an appetite. Ai Qing has no idea where all the food it eats goes, because she's never seen it gain weight.

If other girls knew about this physique and figure, they would be incredibly envious and jealous.

"elder brother."

"Ok?"

"I found something online."

"what?"

"It's called '100 Things Couples Must Do'," Xiaoyu told Aiqing, eager to share.

"Oh~ what did they say they were going to do?" Ai Qing asked, following up on her question.

"There are so many, it feels like we haven't done so many of them." Xiaoyu said as she opened her phone and clicked on a link she had saved, which contained a list of 100 things couples should do.

"For example, cooking together, watching the sunrise together, watching movies together, hiking together, taking a boat ride together," Xiaoyu recounted happily, "These are all things we've done."

"What about those you haven't done before?" Ai Qing asked.

“There are so many,” Little Fish continued. “For example, raising a puppy together, eating an ice cream together, building a snowman together, getting drunk together, singing a song together, riding a roller coaster together, and riding a Ferris wheel together.”

What are roller coasters and Ferris wheels?

Seeing this, the little fish asked curiously.

She hadn't looked closely before, but now she realized there were things she hadn't seen before.

“It’s something from an amusement park,” Ai Qing said, about to suggest taking Xiao Yu there next time, but then realized that Xiao Yu didn’t have an ID card.

These days, you can't just buy a ticket to go to an amusement park; you also need your ID card.

Thinking of this, Ai Qing felt a little helpless: "You can't go right now. Let's wait until we can get you an ID card."

"It's okay, there are many other things we can do." Xiaoyu shook her head to indicate that she didn't mind, and then excitedly chatted with Ai Qing about other things they could do.

For Xiaoyu, ID cards and such are not important at all; all she needs is to be able to stay with Aiqing.

Little Fish scrolled through the form and, when she got to the back, said, "Brother, when is your birthday? It says on the form that you should prepare a birthday celebration for your partner."

“Me?” Ai Qing blinked, then said, “January 8th.”

"January 8th... Today is December... Huh?!" Little Fish counted on her fingers for a moment, then immediately perked up, "That's next month! It'll be over in a little over a week."

"It's okay, I didn't celebrate my birthday much before." Ai Qing shook her head.

In his memory, apart from when his parents would celebrate his birthday when he was in elementary school, he basically stopped celebrating his birthday after he entered junior high school.

On the one hand, his studies have become more demanding, and on the other hand, he no longer has the friends he knew well from childhood with him, and he is also lazy.

His birthday often falls on a weekend, so he just goes through the motions. Sometimes, if it weren't for merchants remembering his birthday and sending him a birthday greeting on his phone, Ai Qing himself might not even remember that it was his birthday.

“How can that be?” Little Fish shook her head repeatedly. “Back in March this year, Little Fish had just become human, and Brother celebrated Little Fish’s birthday, didn’t he?”

“Then your first birthday is quite special.” Ai Qing said, still a little dazed.

Although Xiaoyu now looks like a graceful young girl, she was actually born only a little over a year and nine months ago, not even two years old.

Thinking about it this way, I really have committed a crime.

"This is the first birthday I've celebrated for you since I became human, so it's very special," Xiaoyu said, adjusting her posture and speaking in a serious tone. "Let me organize things for you!"

Seeing her serious expression, Ai Qing chuckled and pinched her cheek before saying, "I'll do whatever you say."

After the two of them finished eating at Haidilao, they went to watch a movie upstairs at Yintai in the afternoon. By the time they came out of the movie theater, it was already past 3 p.m.

There was still some time before dinner, but there wasn't anything she wanted to go anywhere, so Ai Qing held Xiao Yu's hand and strolled around. They ended up in the food street behind Yintai and spotted an ear-cleaning shop.

So he pulled Xiaoyu inside, had her put away the cat ears, and then they enjoyed themselves inside for an hour.

"Just now, in the list of 100 things couples should do, it seems that one of them is cleaning each other's ears."

After the ear cleaning was finished, the two technicians left the room. Ai Qing and Xiao Yu were lying on the bed when Xiao Yu spoke.

"Then you can buy a set of ear picks or something, and I'll clean your cat's ears next time too."

That's what they say, but actually, as soon as the little fish turns back into a cat and then back again, it immediately becomes spotless.

“I’ll pay for my brother too.”

"I'm a little worried about your cooking skills."

"It's alright, I can use my energy to enhance it."