Why bother with dating when you already have a cat?

Perched on Ai Qing's shoulder, Xiao Yu happily squinted her eyes.

"After the night turns over~"

"It will be a new day~"

"After the tsunami recedes~"

"It's just the ebb and flow of the tide."

As soon as Ai Qing entered Aiying City, she heard the familiar sound effects from Douyin.

Hearing the noise at the door, Ai Lisong, who was sitting at the cashier, looked up and saw that it was Ai Qing. He didn't hide it anymore and swiped his finger to invite the next person.

"You're back?" Grandpa Ai Lisong greeted him, then glanced at his grandson, raised an eyebrow, and sat up straight in his chair. "Why is Xiaoyu on your neck? Take it off, take it off! Don't let it get on my table."

"It's okay, she's very well-behaved and won't run around." Ai Qing raised her hand to pat Xiao Yu's head, feeling a little sense of accomplishment.

After all, training a cat is probably more difficult than training a dog.

"Then you should be careful too, don't let her scratch your neck." Elisson frowned, clearly still keeping his distance from the cat.

"Okay," Ai Qing replied, took a small pudding from the refrigerator, and headed towards the back door.

As usual, Grandma Lang Xiangying was cooking in the kitchen.

Just as Ai Qing tore open the packaging and put the little pudding in his mouth, he heard Lang Xiangying call out to him from the kitchen: "Ai Qing, get Grandma the medicine on the table."

"Oh, okay." Ai Qing walked to the table, picked up Lang Xiangying's usual medicine, and took it to the kitchen. "Where are my parents? Why aren't they home?"

"They're upstairs. They had a fight yesterday," Lang Xiangying whispered to Ai Qing. "Don't tell them. They told me not to tell you. Just keep it to yourself."

"Arguing?" Ai Qing was taken aback for a moment, then put the little fish on the ground, released her leash, and asked, "What were you arguing about?"

Ai Qing's parents rarely argued; in his memory, he had hardly ever seen them argue from childhood to adulthood.

Most recently, Ai Qing mentioned wanting to rent a place so she could try writing novels.

Yao Qiang and Ai Zhongguo had some disagreements on this matter and had an argument at home.

Lang Xiangying secretly told him this afterward.

"Sigh...it's all that publishing house's fault." Lang Xiangying sighed, pulled Ai Qing into the kitchen, closed the door, and said while preparing the food, "Your dad resigned."

"Huh?" Ai Qing seemed to have heard something unbelievable, and was momentarily stunned before asking, "When did this happen?"

"It seems like it's been a while," Lang Xiangying said. "I don't know the specifics, so don't worry about it. Just know that this is what happened."

“Okay, I understand.” Ai Qing nodded and walked to her grandmother’s side. “Then I’ll help you.”

"Why are you doing this? Go outside..."

"Hey, hey, hey," Ai Qing quickly interrupted, saying, "Grandma, you don't understand. When I write, I lack a sense of life and detail. This is what I need to gather from my writing. You have to help me. Everyone says that writing comes from life, right?"

Lang Xiangying chuckled, pointed at him with her finger, but still didn't refuse her grandson's kindness, and handed him a cabbage: "Wash it clean, have something simple."

Ai Qing and her grandmother were busy in the kitchen.

Xiao Yu was locked outside the kitchen door. She squatted at the door and watched for a while. Seeing that Ai Qing wouldn't come out anytime soon, she started wandering around the living room by herself.

She was obedient, just wandering around the living room, waiting patiently for Ai Qing to come out.

But as time went by, the little fish suddenly realized something.

The warm current inside my body seems to be almost full.

Previously, because they were kept outside the kitchen, the warm current flowing from Ai Qing suddenly became much thinner, so the rate at which it accumulated also slowed down.

After taking a stroll around, I belatedly realized that the warm current seems to be almost full.

So she quickly darted to the kitchen doorway and started meowing loudly inside.

Hearing the sound, Lang Xiangying asked curiously, "What's the little fish called?"

"Cough..." Hearing Xiaoyu's alarm, Ai Qing immediately became alert, quickly put down what she was doing, dried her hands, opened the kitchen door, picked up Xiaoyu from the ground, and rushed upstairs.

As she ran, she turned back to explain to her grandmother, "She probably wanted to go to the toilet, so I put her in the bedroom where there is a litter box."

"Okay, go ahead." Lang Xiangying replied without thinking much and turned to continue cooking.

However, Ai Qing did not know the specific principle behind the transformation of the little fish into a human.

As he held the little fish in his arms, the previously thin warm current instantly became incredibly strong, pouring into the little fish's tiny body from every angle.

After running only a few steps, Ai Qing felt a weight in her arms; the kitten had turned into a little girl.

Just then, he rushed out of the first-floor balcony with the little fish in his arms and into the yard.

Just as I was about to go up the stairs to the second floor, I heard a sound coming from the top of the stairs.

"I already told you not to interfere, I know what I'm doing." Ai Zhongguo's voice came down from above, accompanied by the sound of his footsteps.

Ai Qing was startled and almost couldn't hold the little fish that had suddenly turned into a human. She quickly put her down and stood her up. After quickly looking around, her gaze fell on the door of the storage room at the bottom of the stairs.

"Little fish, come with me!"

Chapter 41 There are eavesdroppers in the cubicles

Elderly people in the family often have the habit of hoarding garbage.

Ai Qing's grandparents were no exception.

So they built a staircase in the yard leading to the second floor, and simply made a partitioned room in the space below specifically for them to put their things.

Grandpa Ai Lisong liked to collect newspapers. He had always subscribed to an international news monthly and a domestic news weekly from the publishing house where Ai Zhongguo used to work.

Every newspaper that arrived, Ailisong would read through it and then sort it by date.

In addition, there were various fishing rods he bought.

He didn't go fishing elsewhere; instead, he would go to the market to buy some fish fry and raise them in the community pond. When he had nothing to do, he would invite the old men in the neighborhood to fish and chat.

In contrast, Grandma Lang Xiangying was much more simple and unpretentious; most of the things she had accumulated were cardboard boxes, plastic bags, and plastic bottles.

Lang Xiangying used to like to save expired medicines, but she gave up this habit after being patiently persuaded by her grandson Ai Qing.

At this critical moment...

Ai Qing grabbed Xiao Yu's hand and quickly went to the door of the stairwell cubicle. After opening it, she scurried inside.

Just as he closed the door, he could hear the pattering of footsteps coming down the stairs above him.

Xiao Yu was suddenly pulled in by him, still a little dazed, and stood blankly next to Ai Qing, surrounded by darkness.

She wasn't afraid; a warm current flowed into her eyes, and even though the cubicle was dark, everything was clearly visible to her.

"What?" Xiaoyu looked at Ai Qing, tilting her head in confusion, and uttered a question.

"Shh." Ai Qing put her finger to her lips and whispered in Xiao Yu's ear, "You can't let anyone know that you've become human yet. Not even my mom, dad, grandpa, or grandma. Otherwise, it will be very troublesome."

"Hmm?" Little Fish was a little confused, but nodded anyway. After roughly understanding what she meant, she asked again, "Then, now, what do we do?"

"Keep your voice down." Ai Qing quickly covered her mouth. "My parents are upstairs, and they seem to be coming downstairs now. You've turned into a human, so they can't see you, otherwise I won't be able to explain."

The room wasn't small, but the tallest spot was occupied by a bookshelf filled with newspapers placed by Grandpa Ailisong.

In the far corner, there was a pile of cardboard boxes, plastic bags, plastic bottles and other items collected by Grandma Lang Xiangying.

There were about seven or eight fishing rods hanging on the wall.

So Ai Qing and Xiao Yu could only stand in the middle, near the door, with just enough space for two people to stand.

If either of them were a little overweight, it would probably be difficult for them to squeeze together.

"At least it's a job, and you have an income, so you don't have to be so anxious all the time." Yao Qiang's voice came down with the sound of footsteps, sounding a little muffled in the cubicle.

“You don’t understand. I’d rather be dead than write that kind of stuff.” Ai Zhongguo had already come down from the second floor to the courtyard on the first floor, his voice trailing off. “I’d rather change careers than do that.”

"So what are your plans now?" Yao Qiang pressed. "You've already resigned for three months, and it's not easy to find a job these days. With your ambition, it's even harder to find one."

“Ambitious? What ambition do I have?” Ai Zhongguo’s voice rose an octave, and he slammed his fist against the door frame of the cubicle. After a moment of silence, his voice lowered again, “Don’t say anything. I’ll handle my own affairs.”

In the cubicle, Xiaoyu was startled by the sudden loud noise and took a half step back next to Aiqing, stepping on a plastic bottle.

Fortunately, Ai Zhongguo was in a bad mood outside the door and didn't notice the noise inside. After he finished speaking, he went into the living room on the first floor.

Yao Qiang didn't come down from the second floor either, and the courtyard returned to calm.

Ai Qing, who was in the cubicle, was quite frightened by Xiao Yu's movements. Only after confirming that her father hadn't heard the sounds from inside did her wildly beating heart slowly calm down.

"That's scary," Little Fish whispered.

"It's quite frightening." Ai Qing sighed, rubbing her head. She hadn't expected something like this to happen at home.

The publishing house where Ai Zhongguo works has been around since the 1970s or 1980s.

His grandfather, Ailisong, was a veteran journalist at the publishing house at the time.

Ai Zhongguo's decision to become a journalist was naturally influenced by his father.

But in today's information-driven internet age, publishing houses also need to keep up with the pace of development.

Unfortunately, Ai Zhongguo failed to keep up with the times and became a discarded pawn.

Their family wasn't short of money. Even though the father lost his job, the family would never run out of food, and their daily life would still be fine.

In particular, Yao Qiang was recently promoted to deputy director, with an annual salary of at least 30 or 40 yuan, which is more than enough to support a family.

But that's probably how men are.

He earns less money than his wife, and he can't live with that feeling.

In the dim light, Ai Qing glanced at Xiao Yu beside him and thought to himself that it was good that he earned money to support the cat, instead of Xiao Yu earning money to support him.

Besides, how can a little fish like that make any money?

It's good enough if you can take care of yourself.

"Now?" Xiaoyu waited for a while, and seeing that Ai Qing still hadn't made a move, she couldn't help but ask.

"Shh." Ai Qing snapped out of her daze, listened intently for a moment, and then carefully opened the door to the cubicle.

Peek out and take a look at the living room on the first floor.

My dad wasn't in the living room; he must have gone to help in the kitchen.

Ai Qing quietly came out of the cubicle and looked up at the second floor, but she didn't see her mother.