Why bother with dating when you already have a cat?

Ai Qing walked behind, holding Xiao Yu's hand, and listened to Xiao Youqian's friend's enthusiastic introduction.

"This side of the first floor is the living room, that side is the kitchen, and the backyard is right behind it. You can have a barbecue or something in the yard; I have a barbecue grill here."

"Then there's a small bedroom here where the driver can rest at night, and the bathroom is right across the street."

"Okay, okay." The driver had obviously never stayed in such a high-end villa before. He walked in cautiously, and even checked his shoes carefully, afraid that someone might step on them and get them dirty.

He originally thought he would just have to spend the night in a run-down hotel in the small town, since Xiao Youqian said she would reimburse him.

I never imagined I could actually stay in someone's villa.

The other party said it was a small bedroom, but the driver glanced inside and exclaimed, "Wow! You call this a small bedroom?"

They're about the same size as the apartments he usually rents.

Looking at the restroom across the street, he felt a little embarrassed to use it because it was so clean.

After the introductions on the first floor were almost finished, the driver saw that they were about to go up to the second floor, so he offered, "You can look around first, I'll go help you carry your luggage in."

"No need for that, Master. You can rest here first. We'll get it ourselves."

"It's alright, it's alright, I have nothing to do here." The driver waved his hand repeatedly, then immediately walked out of the villa and took the initiative to carry the luggage.

Seeing his initiative, Xiao Youqian stopped trying to dissuade him and invited everyone upstairs to the second floor.

The second and third floors are relatively simple.

A pool table was placed in the hall, which caught Kong Fugui's eye.

Besides that, there are three bedrooms, one of which is a master bedroom with its own bathroom, and the other two are single rooms.

The third floor has a similar layout.

"Qiaohe, you can stay in this master bedroom," Xiao Youqian said. "Your foot is injured, so it'll be more convenient since there's a bathroom in the room."

“Yes.” Wu Yong immediately nodded in agreement, helped Xie Qiaohe inside, and then said, “I’ll stay in the bedroom next door.”

"Then I'll stay in this one." Kong Fugui, who was outside, pointed to the bedroom near the stairwell. "The four of you can stay upstairs."

"Row."

Ai Qing and Xiao Yu followed them upstairs to the third floor.

Compared to the second floor, which has a spacious hall with a pool table, the third floor has three bedrooms and an additional entertainment room.

"You can choose your own bedroom. The entertainment room has a mahjong table and a large table for playing board games," Xiao Youqian's friend said enthusiastically as she opened the door to the entertainment room. "I really enjoy inviting friends here for vacations when I have free time."

"Wow~ There's mahjong~" Xiaoyu's eyes lit up as soon as she saw the mahjong table.

After learning how to play mahjong at home during the Chinese New Year, Xiaoyu really felt itchy to play.

Unfortunately, Ai Qing's family only takes out the mahjong table to play during the Chinese New Year; otherwise, it just sits in the storage room collecting dust.

After all, there are only a few people in the family, and it's usually not enough to get everyone together to play mahjong.

Now that Xiaoyu saw the mahjong table, she couldn't move.

"Let's go check out the bedroom first. We'll have plenty of time to play tonight." Ai Qing chuckled and pulled her towards the bedroom next door.

Li Qiqi and Xiao Youqian chose two single rooms, while the master bedroom with an ensuite bathroom was given to Ai Qing and Xiao Yu.

Afterwards, apart from Wu Yong, who was taking care of Xie Qiaohe in the master bedroom on the second floor, everyone else went to the rooftop on the fourth floor.

As you walk up the stairs from the fourth floor, half of the rooftop space is covered by a simple sunroom.

The remaining half is open-air, where many flowers and plants are grown.

“You can sunbathe here, enjoy the scenery, and take amazing photos.” Xiao Youqian’s friend stood on the edge of the rooftop, leaning against the railing, and pointed behind her. “You can see the mountaintop directly from here.”

"Thank you for your hard work." Xiao Youqian smiled and hugged her best friend's arm. "How about we have a barbecue together tonight?"

"I won't bother you anymore," Xiao Youqian's friend said with a smile and shook her head. "I have to go back to Hangzhou tonight. I hope you have fun."

After speaking, she paused for a moment, then added, "Oh right, there's one more place I haven't introduced to you yet, come with me."

She called everyone to follow her down from the fourth-floor rooftop, and after returning to the first floor, she walked into the courtyard and headed towards a single-story house that appeared to be only one story high.

The little fish followed behind curiously, and as soon as it entered the bungalow, it found that the inside was very different.

"This is the changing room." Xiao Youqian's friend chuckled twice, then led everyone through the changing room to the inside. "This is the artificial hot spring that I specially built."

Inside, there was a bathing area. Upon entering, there was a large shower area, with separate sections for men and women.

After passing through another door, there is a small hot spring inside.

Although it's described as an artificial hot spring, the surrounding scenery looks quite natural.

The entire hot spring is surrounded by irregularly shaped rocks, and the surrounding area is a man-made landscape of green bamboo and shrubs, which looks lush and verdant.

"You really know how to enjoy yourself," Xiao Youqian said with a laugh after walking in and looking around. "You said you had a private hot spring here, and I thought it was one of those bathtubs in the rooms."

“What kind of hot spring is that?” Xiao Youqian’s friend chuckled and then said, “If you want to soak in the hot spring here, I’ll send you a WeChat contact later. It’s someone from the town. I usually ask her to help me get hot spring water and things like that when I need them.”

"OK." Xiao Youqian nodded in satisfaction.

The group then came out, and Xiao Youqian's friend gave her some instructions before driving away.

By this time, the driver had already moved everyone's luggage to the living room on the first floor.

After everyone claimed their own luggage, they moved it into their respective bedrooms.

Around four o'clock in the afternoon, everyone gathered in the living room on the first floor.

Although Xie Qiaohe sprained her ankle, Wu Yong checked her in the room and found it wasn't serious.

After massaging it for a while, I was able to walk normally without much problem. I didn't injure any muscles or bones, and I estimate that I'll be fine after a night's rest.

"Later tonight, Lao Wu, you can take Qiaohe to soak in the hot spring next door. It'll be better for her feet," Xiao Youqian kindly recommended. "Qiaohe brought her swimsuit, right?"

"Yes, I brought it." Xie Qiaohe nodded, then asked curiously, "Where are the hot springs nearby?"

"It's in that bungalow next to the courtyard," Xiao Youqian chuckled. "I'll take you there after you've finished eating and digested."

After saying that, Xiao Youqian walked towards the backyard.

At this moment, Ai Qing and Xiao Yu were already in the backyard. They saw someone tidying up the barbecue grill in the yard, putting in the lit charcoal, setting up the grill, and laying out aluminum foil.

"Boss, do you need us to help with the grilling?" the person preparing the barbecue asked Xiao Youqian.

"No need, thank you." Xiao Youqian walked over and waved her hand. "Is all the food skewered?"

"They're all strung up."

"Okay, then you don't need to trouble yourselves here. We can grill it ourselves."

"Okay, boss, feel free to call me anytime if you need anything."

After seeing everyone off, Xiao Youqian clapped her hands and said to everyone, "The barbecue is all ready, we can start anytime!"

"You've come prepared quite well," Kong Fugui said, glancing at the ready-to-go barbecue grill and then at the freshly skewered grill next to it. "Where did that guy come from?"

"They're from a nearby barbecue restaurant. I asked my friend to find them for me," Xiao Youqian said. "It's perfect for barbecuing in the yard, and all the ingredients are the freshest."

"As expected of Sister Qian." Kong Fugui clapped his hands twice. "But just having barbecue is too boring. How about we bring out two more tables and play cards while we eat?"

"Sure, but that's a job for you guys."

"Let's go!" Kong Fugui immediately called to Ai Qing and Wu Yong, and they ran to the living room on the first floor to bring out two tables and a few chairs.

At this moment, Xiaoyu had already walked to the barbecue grill, curiously reaching out her little hand and hovering it above the grill a few times: "This is so hot!"

Ai Qing, who had just moved the chair over, quickly pulled her away: "Have you forgotten? When we went to eat barbecue before, wasn't this the kind of barbecue grill the owner used?"

"Oh right..." Xiaoyu vaguely remembered, but at that time she was only focused on the delicious food and didn't pay much attention to how it was baked. "So how do we make it to eat?"

"Would you like to give it a try?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Sister Qian, you guys go play cards," Ai Qing said with a smile. "Xiao Yu and I will grill some barbecue for you."

"Are you sure you can do it?" Xiao Youqian was very skeptical.

"Don't doubt our cooking skills," Ai Qing chuckled, then picked up an oil brush and brushed a thin layer of oil onto the aluminum foil. "Go have some fun."

"Oh, oh, oh, so you're a couple now, right?" Xiao Youqian laughed twice, then let them be, only saying, "Then I'll have two skewers of corn kernels and a few skewers of lamb."

"A few skewers of lamb kidneys, please!" Kong Fugui shouted from the other end of the table. "And pork tenderloin too!"

"Could I have a grilled bun?" Xie Qiaohe asked politely from the side, "And the chicken wings over there too."

"OK." Ai Qing noted them down one by one, picked them up from the pile of ingredients next to her, and then looked at Wu Yong and Li Qiqi, "What about you two?"

"I'll just have some meat skewers," Wu Yong said, and then accompanied Xie Qiaohe to the other side to prepare for playing cards.

Li Qiqi looked around and then took a bunch of skewers, filling a plate with them, and said quite bluntly, "Then you can have them."

After saying that, Li Qiqi happily followed Xiao Youqian to play cards.

"How about we play Texas Hold'em?" Kong Fugui cut the cards and then chuckled. "I just found a bunch of chips in the entertainment room on the third floor. We won't play for high stakes, just have some fun."

"What is Texas?" Xie Qiaohe asked quietly.

Li Qiqi wasn't embarrassed at all and immediately raised her hand loudly: "I don't know how! How do I play?"

"It's very simple, I'll teach you."

They started playing Texas Hold'em over there, while Ai Qing found two aprons from the kitchen on the first floor. She took one and put it on Xiao Yu, carefully tying a knot for her, and then put one on herself as well.

Xiao Yu walked up behind Ai Qing and helped him tie the knot. The two smiled at each other and then immediately prepared to start barbecuing.

In Ai Qing's own memory, apart from having a self-service barbecue once during a summer vacation in high school when she went to a farmhouse with her classmates, she doesn't seem to have ever grilled anything herself.

But when he was bored before, he had observed the techniques of barbecue restaurant owners. At least he could grill some meat skewers that were not difficult to handle, it was just a matter of mastering the heat.

For two people who share a warm connection, this is an incredibly simple matter.

After all, adding some eye and nose enhancements can basically ensure whether it's cooked or not.

However, things like steamed buns might be a little harder to handle; you have to be careful not to burn them.

For example, when it comes to dishes like grilled eggplant, Ai Qing has to take out her phone on the spot to look up recipes.

Of course, the easiest way is to ask the staff at the barbecue restaurant to come and help with the grilling.

But the fun of open-air self-service barbecue lies in the self-service aspect; otherwise, what's the difference between it and going to a barbecue restaurant?

Seeing Xiaoyu standing next to her looking so excited, Ai Qing smiled and joined her.