Why bother with dating when you already have a cat?

The rural areas around Hangzhou are quite different from other places.

In other places, being told you're from the countryside might be seen as mocking or belittling, but in the countryside around Hangzhou, living conditions might be better than in the city.

Especially in the newly built rural areas after demolition, every household is a four-story villa with a front and back yard.

Moreover, many business people who come from rural areas eventually return to their villages and spend money to build houses.

In Ai Qing's hometown, more than 70% of the people are from the Ai family, and they are all related to each other in some way.

Even though many of them have moved on, they still keep in touch frequently and can easily form a group with shared interests.

Ai Qing didn't feel this way much before, only remarking on how many relatives she had every year during the Spring Festival.

But when you really need connections, you realize that having many relatives has its advantages.

Especially since they are all relatives who are not short of money or connections, the more the merrier.

"Anyway, you two can rest assured, and Xiaoyu doesn't need to worry about anything either." Yao Qiang drove into the parking lot outside the suburban temple, and after parking, she turned to look at Xiaoyu. "Just follow their arrangements."

"Mmm!" Little Fish nodded obediently, naturally having no objections.

Get out of the car.

Ai Qing tightened her collar, then turned around to wait for Xiao Yu to get off the car, and helped her zip up her down jacket all the way.

Although it was already late at night, people continued to flock to the temple to worship Buddha and offer incense.

The four followed the crowd into the temple. Ai Zhongguo squeezed to the front and turned to the others, saying, "Don't get lost. First, pray in the main hall on the first floor, then offer incense in the courtyard, and then go to the main hall on the second floor, understand?"

"Got it." Ai Qing replied, already familiar with the process, and pulled Xiao Yu's hand to squeeze inside.

Ai Zhongguo brought the incense he had bought from home, so he wouldn't have to be ripped off at the temple.

After giving Ai Qing and Xiao Yu a large handful of incense, Ai Zhongguo took Yao Qiang into the temple.

Ai Qing, holding Xiao Yu's hand, followed closely behind. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, she rubbed her fingers together, and wisps of white smoke rose from the three incense sticks in her hand.

Looking at the lit incense in her hand, Ai Qing was overjoyed, feeling quite accomplished.

Xiao Yu followed suit, lighting three incense sticks in her hand before being led by Ai Qing into the central hall of the temple.

The interior of this Buddhist hall is shaped like the Chinese character "回" (hui), with a large golden Buddha statue in the very center, surrounded by a circle of smaller Buddha statues.

Ai Qing, holding Xiao Yu's hand, followed behind Ai Zhongguo and Yao Qiang. First, they bowed to the large Buddha in the middle, and then they bowed to each of the many smaller Buddhas in a counter-clockwise direction.

Then, walk around the zigzag path, circle around it once, and return to the Buddha statue. Bow again and place the three incense sticks in your hands.

Actually, after worshipping for so many years, Ai Qing still doesn't know the names of these Buddha statues... Anyway, she just worships them. If it's useful, she believes in them a little; if it's not, it doesn't matter.

Little Fish, on the other hand, was full of curiosity. As they walked along, she would carefully approach the Buddha statues to read the descriptions.

After walking around, he already knew many more people than Ai Qing did.

After coming out of the hall, the four of them gathered in front of the large incense burner in the courtyard.

In front of the incense burner, there was a long row of places to place candles.

Ai Zhongguo, aiming to save money, brought enough incense and candles before setting off. He took them out of the bag one by one and handed them to Ai Qing and Xiaoyu: "You can take these and light them. Xiaoyu, be careful not to burn your hands."

"Mmm." Little Fish nodded obediently, then followed Ai Qing to the incense burner, lit three incense sticks, bowed, and put them in.

Then take the candle to the back of the incense burner, light it, stick it in the burner, and pray silently.

"Speak your wishes freely. If Buddha hears you and grants them, it won't be a loss."

Ai Qing whispered in Xiao Yu's ear.

He dared not say this out loud.

After all, many of the middle-aged and elderly people who come to the temple are genuine Buddhists. If someone overhears them and they get caught arguing, it won't look good.

Little Fish was in high spirits the whole way; she was very interested in things she had never seen before.

After walking around, we went to the main hall on the second floor and went through a similar process.

When we finally gathered at the temple gate, it was already past 2 a.m.

"Let's go back to sleep."

Yao Qiang yawned and walked towards the parking lot.

After leaving the temple, Xiaoyu's initial excitement wore off, and she got a little sleepy. After getting into the car, she leaned against Ai Qing's chest, closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

When they arrived at the underground garage of their home, they felt as if their bodies were lifted into the air. When they opened their eyes again, they were already sleeping in Ai Qing's bed.

"Brother~"

She felt the bed beside her sink in, and a kiss gently landed on her lips.

Xiaoyu closed her eyes, stretched out her hands, and hugged Aiqing tightly.

Ai Qing was pulled onto the bed by her, and the two lay down together. Xiao Yu snuggled close to him, rubbing against him, and mumbled sleepily, "Happy New Year..."

Chapter 220 Skiing and Hot Springs

The next morning, Ai Qing cuddled Xiao Yu and slept until almost 11 a.m.

Ai Qing originally wanted to sleep a little longer, but was woken up by her mother's knocking on the door and had no choice but to sit up in bed.

Xiao Yu, who was standing next to Ai Qing, also got up obediently, took off her pajamas in front of Ai Qing, and put on new clothes.

After Xiaoyu's raid, half of Ai Qing's wardrobe is now filled with her clothes, which have completely taken on her shape.

Yao Qiang had previously tidied up another bedroom for her, and the wardrobe there was also full of Xiaoyu's clothes.

Most of them were bought by Ai Qing on a whim.

Ai Qing used to think that it was incomprehensible for girls to frequently spend money on new clothes.

Based on his own experience, as long as it's not during the period of rapid physical growth in childhood, once the body matures and stabilizes, there's generally no need to change clothes.

In the summer, if you buy two or three T-shirts, as long as you don't wear them out, Ai Qing can wear them for several years.

You can even buy just one down jacket and wear it all the time.

But after having Xiaoyu, Aiqing suddenly understood the thoughts of those who usually like to play dress-up games.

Seeing the girl I like wearing clothes I bought myself gives me a real sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

Especially since her girlfriend Xiaoyu is so cute and pretty, when Aiqing is browsing Taobao, she sees an item and imagines what Xiaoyu would look like wearing it, and then she can't help but want to buy it.

However, what supports all of this is that neither of them is short of money.

Moreover, Aiqing and Xiaoyu both care more about practicality and appearance, and don't pay much attention to brands.

I rarely spend more than 500 yuan on a single piece of clothing; most of them cost only tens or hundreds of yuan.

The flowers won't bloom very far.

Of course, Xiaoyu was in a similar situation, often buying new clothes for Aiqing.

Especially after she started making money through live streaming, she became unstoppable.

Previously, in the rented apartment, there were two double-door wardrobes on each side of the passageway leading from the master bedroom to the bathroom. Ai Qing's clothes could only fill one of them, while the other three were empty.

However, after a few months, the remaining three wardrobes were almost completely full.

"Let's go downstairs for dinner." Ai Qing got out of bed, quickly changed her clothes, patted Xiao Yu's bottom, opened the door and walked out of the bedroom.

Little Fish followed behind, catching up and grabbing Ai Qing's arm. The two of them went downstairs together.

"I wonder what delicious food we'll have for lunch?" Little Fish said with a hint of anticipation.

“I knew it right away.” Ai Qing chuckled and rattled off a list of dishes, “Steamed fish, braised pork, shredded pork with celery, poached chicken…”

"Isn't this all from yesterday's New Year's Eve dinner?"

"Don't worry, we'll probably eat this for the next two or three days," Ai Qing said, pinching her cheek. "We'll probably only be able to eat something new after we finish the leftovers."

Following Ai Qing downstairs, Xiao Yu glanced at the dining table and, sure enough, it was all leftovers from last night's meal.

However, she wasn't picky about food. She went into the kitchen to help, served everyone rice, set out chopsticks, and then sat down next to Ai Qing to eat heartily.

After lunch, everyone started visiting each other to exchange New Year's greetings.

Ai Qing was too lazy to deal with such things, so she dragged Xiao Yu to the cat cafe across the street, sat down with her laptop, and began to write comfortably.

Xiaoyu fed the cats for a while, then went to the beverage area, made two cups of hot milk tea, and brought them to Aiqing.

The two huddled together quietly. Xiaoyu sat next to Aiqing, drinking milk tea, scrolling through her phone, and occasionally playing with the cat.

Ai Qing spent two hours stabilizing the number of drafts before hugging Xiao Yu tightly in her arms.

The two kissed passionately inside the cat cafe, oblivious to everyone else. Fortunately, it was Chinese New Year and no one was looking through the glass walls to see this beautiful scene.

But when the little fish's little hand burrowed down and tugged at Ai Qing's pants, Ai Qing was startled and quickly pressed down on the mischievous little hand.

What are you doing?

"Come on, brother." Little Fish's eyes were moist as she straddled Ai Qing, swaying her body back and forth.

Ai Qing glanced at the glass wall facing the street and shook her head repeatedly: "People will see it, no way."

"You can draw the curtains," Xiaoyu whispered in his ear.

That's a really exciting suggestion.

Ai Qing was somewhat tempted, but when his gaze fell on the cat on the ground, which was looking up at them with curiosity, he immediately shook his head and refused: "Forget it, this place won't do."

"Why? No one can see if the curtains are drawn."

"There are so many cats here."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Xiaoyu asked suspiciously. "Brother, you're not even jealous of a cat, are you?"

"What's wrong?" Ai Qing asked matter-of-factly. "Anyway, we just can't be here."

"Let's go to the lounge then." Xiaoyu jumped off Ai Qing's lap and then pulled him into the lounge.

There are no cats living in the lounge now; it's empty and safe.

After Ai Qing followed Xiao Yu into the lounge, she closed the door. The space, which was spacious for the cat, was a bit small for the two of them.

"Cough cough..." The two of them had never tried being outside of home before, and Ai Qing was still a little unaccustomed to it, but he still said, "The heat used up a lot of energy yesterday, so we should definitely replenish it."

……