Why bother with dating when you already have a cat?

However, once she returned to the bedroom and lay down next to Ai Qing, the warmth dissipated, and drowsiness immediately overwhelmed Xiao Yu's brain, causing her to drift off to sleep.

"What did you two talk about that made you so happy?" Ai Qing found it amazing, wondering what kind of topic could keep girls talking all night.

"It's nothing." Xiaoyu shook her head, not intending to tell Ai Qing anything, but while brushing her teeth, she inexplicably chuckled twice, "Hehe."

"I suspect you're laughing so hard your head is about to explode." Ai Qing finished brushing her teeth and rinsing her mouth, then gently tapped Xiao Yu's head, but didn't press for details.

When a little fish has its own friends, it will naturally have its own little secrets and privacy with them.

Ai Qing certainly didn't need to know what they were talking about.

It's a good thing that Xiaoyu can have her own social circle.

"Let's go, I'll go wake Gui Gui up, you go across the hall and call Sister Qian and the others."

"Okay." Xiaoyu nodded in agreement, but before leaving the bedroom, she still grabbed Aiqing and said, "Brother, give me a kiss."

"I just can't do anything with you."

Chapter 217 New Year's Eve

The day after Ai Qing's birthday, the group of six had lunch together again before saying goodbye and returning to their respective homes.

However, Li Qiqi didn't need to go home. After finishing her meal, she went back to the shop with the boss and his wife and went straight to work.

After this birthday party, Li Qiqi and Xiaoyu became even closer.

The relationship between the employee and the boss's wife is more like that of best friends than just employees.

Moreover, Li Qiqi was not an outsider, so Ai Qing was happy to gradually hand over the daily chores of the cat cafe to her to handle, freeing Xiaoyu from the hassle.

As Lunar New Year's Eve approached, Li Qiqi naturally became the person in charge of the cat café.

Ai Qing even handed over some video footage to Li Qiqi to process.

Especially the cameras installed around the cat-petting area in the cat cafe, which often record some funny moments of the cats.

However, these shots are mixed in with a huge amount of video footage, and it would be quite time-consuming and laborious to find them one by one.

Li Qiqi, who stayed in the cat-petting area, was able to see the cats' wonderful performance and jot down the time.

This way, when processing footage, you can directly drag the timeline to that specific time period and quickly capture it.

Ai Qing even handed over the account "Homeless Home" to Li Qiqi, entrusting her with its daily operation and maintenance.

If the cat cafe were a company, Li Qiqi would undoubtedly be an elite executive.

However, since she didn't mention it, Ai Qing didn't give her a raise either.

However, at the end of January this year, as Lunar New Year's Eve approached, Xiaoyu prepared a few red envelopes and distributed them to Hu Tian and a few other employees in the store.

Li Qiqi's is the biggest.

The stack of trinkets was so thick that Li Qiqi almost didn't dare to take it; it was Xiaoyu who simply stuffed it into her hand.

This is what the little fish gave her.

If Ai Qing had given it to her, Li Qiqi would probably have suspected that there was a stack of newspapers inside.

……

As the year draws to a close, the atmosphere around us is gradually starting to feel festive.

In particular, there has been no news of a ban on fireworks in Linping District this year. Although it is said that there will be control measures in place, when people set off fireworks on the street, no one cares.

Even before New Year's Eve, the sounds of firecrackers and fireworks can already be heard from time to time.

When Xiaoyu first heard the sound of fireworks outside, she was startled and immediately hid in Aiqing's arms.

Logically speaking, she should have heard the sound of fireworks during last year's Chinese New Year.

But at that time the little fish was still very small, and its brain had not been stimulated by the warm current, so its memory was relatively vague.

Now I'm actually experiencing fireworks and firecrackers firsthand.

At first, Xiaoyu was a little scared, but soon his curiosity took over. When Aiqing said that it was for playing with, he dragged him to buy it.

If she's the only young person in her family during the Lunar New Year, Ai Qing doesn't really care about things like setting off fireworks.

When I was younger, none of my older brothers and sisters were married yet.

Back then, on New Year's Eve, several families would gather together, a dozen or twenty people in total, crammed into a small living room, making it very lively.

What Ai Qing looked forward to most back then was setting off fireworks and playing with firecrackers during the Chinese New Year.

After her older siblings all got married, only a few family members spent New Year's Eve alone, and Ai Qing lost interest in setting off fireworks.

At that time, Ai Qing knew that although fireworks were beautiful, what was more important was the people watching them with.

Watching the little fish in the living room, excitedly circling around the colorful fireworks they had just bought, like a child who had never seen anything before, Ai Qing sat on the sofa next to her, smiling gently.

"The New Year's clothes I bought have arrived at the Cainiao Post Station. I'll go to the cat cafe this afternoon and pick up the package on my way back," Ai Qing said to Xiao Yu.

"Uh-huh!"

Xiaoyu nodded vigorously, sorted the fireworks by category, took out her phone to check the date, and realized that there were only two days left until Lunar New Year's Eve at the end of the month.

The two tidied up their things in the living room for a bit, and then Ai Qing went to the front door, took out the Spring Festival couplets she had bought, aligned them with both sides of the door frame, and asked Xiao Yu to help her stick them on with tape.

"Why do we put these up for the New Year?" Xiaoyu asked curiously, looking at the words "Family Reunion and New Year" and "May All Your Wishes Come True in the Spring Breeze."

"Just for good luck," Ai Qing said with a smile, then pasted the horizontal scroll "May all your wishes come true," and finally took a "Fu" character and handed it to Xiao Yu.

"Where should this be pasted?" Xiaoyu held up the "Fu" character in her hand and gestured it a couple of times on the door frame.

Ai Qing pointed to the spot on the door: "Right here, stick it up, I'll use tape."

As she said this, Ai Qing watched as she carefully pasted the "Fu" character on top, and then said with a smile, "You pasted it upside down, you have to turn it upside down."

"Huh?" Xiaoyu was stunned for a moment, looking at the "Fu" character in front of her. She immediately looked suspicious and said, "Brother, are you lying to me? I'm very good at Chinese. It's only upside down if you paste it upside down."

"It's a pun. If you stick the '福' character upside down, it means 'good fortune arrives.'" Ai Qing reached out and helped her put the '福' character upside down, then taped it to the door. "All done."

"You can do that?" Xiaoyu blinked, then realized what she meant, and couldn't help but ask, "After the New Year, can I write the character for 'money' on a piece of paper and paste it upside down like this? Money is quite auspicious."

Ai Qing was speechless: "...Your ability to draw inferences from one instance is commendable, but we're not short of money right now, so next time we might as well write about luck."

"That works too!" Little Fish exclaimed happily, already thinking about what other good things she could write down.

Ai Qing put the tape and other things back inside. Feeling there was nothing else to do, she and Xiao Yu took the fireworks they had bought and went downstairs to the cat cafe.

The cat cafe was planning to close for the day before Lunar New Year's Eve, so it's still open today.

When Ai Qing and Xiao Yu went downstairs to the cat cafe, they saw that there were quite a few customers inside.

Among them were figures that both of them recognized.

"Hello, you two." Xu Jiani's mother stood up from her seat and greeted Ai Qing and Xiao Yu with a smile when she saw them.

When Xiaoyu saw this older sister, she quickly nodded and greeted her. Then she glanced at the cat petting area and soon found Xu Jiani lying in the corner.

"The New Year is almost here, so I'd like to wish you a Happy New Year in advance." Ai Qing sat down opposite Xu Jiani's mother and politely offered her a greeting.

Xu Jiani's mother also responded with a smile: "Happy New Year."

Xiao Yu had already slipped to the corner and squatted down next to Xu Jiani.

At this moment, Xu Jiani was lying on the wooden floor, wearing a thick red down jacket, so she wasn't cold.

The little black cat she adopted from the cat cafe was lying in front of her. Xiaoyu still remembered that its name was Ice Cream Cone.

Now that the ice cream cone has returned here, it seems it still has some memory of the place. It doesn't seem nervous at all; on the contrary, it looks quite relaxed.

Other cats wandered over, sniffed the ice cream cone's scent, and then rubbed against it a couple of times.

Watching this scene, Xu Jiani happily lay on the ground, swinging her legs, and occasionally reaching her little hand into the cat's fluffy fur, a look of bliss on her face.

When Xiaoyu squatted down next to Xu Jiani, she noticed Xiaoyu's arrival.

Upon seeing the little fish, Xu Jiani jumped up from the ground in delight and exclaimed, "Sister Little Fish!"

"Nini, long time no see!" Little Fish greeted her happily. "Is Ice Cream Cone behaving well at your house?"

“The ice cream cone is very well-behaved.” Xu Jiani nodded vigorously, squatted down and stretched out her hand, “Sister Xiaoyu, look.”

As he said this, the ice cream cone on the ground saw Xu Jiani stretch out her hands and understood, so she got up and obediently walked in front of Xu Jiani, looking like she was letting her do whatever she wanted.

So Xu Jiani used all her strength to hug the ice cream cone to her chest.

Ice Cream Cone is still very young; when we first brought her back, she was probably only a few months old.

If it weren't for Ai Qing and Xiao Yu taking it back to the cat cafe and then being adopted by Xu Jiani's family, Ice Cream Cone might not have survived the winter.

Now, Ice Cream Cone not only has a cozy home, but it also eats so much that it's shiny and juicy. It's gotten a bit fatter, and its fur is smooth to the touch, unlike when it first came to the cat cafe when it was a bit rough.

Xiaoyu asked if she could touch it, and after receiving Xu Jiani's permission, she reached out and gently touched the ice cream cone's head a few times.

Seeing its gentle and contented expression, the little fish couldn't help but show a look of relief.

When I begged Ai Qing to open a cat café, wasn't it all so that stray cats could have this kind of life?

In recent months, apart from Xu Jiani, the five kittens born to Bread Mama at the cat cafe have all been successfully adopted after receiving their vaccinations.

In addition, the store also has two adult cats, which were chosen by two customers and subsequently adopted.

However, Ai Qing and Xiao Yu have also sold cats in the surrounding communities many times recently, so the number of cats in the store has now reached 27.

Fortunately, the cat-petting area is large enough to accommodate 27 cats, so there's nothing to worry about.

For Xiaoyu, this cat cafe has perfectly fulfilled her original vision, providing a warm home for the stray cats in the area.

Looking at the obedient and well-behaved ice cream cone in front of her, and then at the cats wandering around the cat petting area, Xiaoyu smiled sweetly.

"Nini, Happy New Year, keep this safe."

Just as the two were squatting in the corner, Ai Qing came over and handed Xu Jiani a red envelope.

Xu Jiani looked at the red envelope in front of her with joy, but immediately looked at her mother not far away.

After seeing her mother smile and nod, Xu Jiani happily accepted the red envelope with both hands, saying gleefully, "Thank you, Brother Aiqing! Thank you, Sister Xiaoyu~"

"Yes, you're welcome." Ai Qing reached out and patted the ice cream cone's head. "You can bring the ice cream cone here to play often in the future."

Okay~

Ai Qing didn't give too many red envelopes, just put in 100 yuan.