Why bother with dating when you already have a cat?

So he turned to the little fish inside and said, "Don't move around here, I'll go up and take a look first."

I ran up to the second floor in a flash, and found that no one was in the living room and the bedroom door was closed. It seemed that Mom and Dad had gone back to their room after arguing.

So Ai Qing quickly went downstairs again, took Xiao Yu's hand, and went upstairs in a flash. She quickly slipped into her bedroom, locked the door, and let out a long sigh of relief.

"You scared me to death..." Ai Qing looked at the pretty little fish standing at the door and rubbed her head. "How am I supposed to explain if we get caught?"

"Hmm?" Little Fish tilted its head, asking in confusion, "Explain, Little Fish?"

“You’re still too young to understand.” Ai Qing shook her head helplessly. “When you’re a little smarter, you’ll gradually understand.”

After saying that, Ai Qing went out again, went downstairs to get her backpack, came back, took out a first-grade Chinese textbook from the bag, and looked at Xiao Yu with a smile.

“Every time I give you a lesson, the time you spend as a human being is greatly reduced.”

"Today's perfect, we have nothing else to do anyway, let's study together."

"I'll try to turn you back into a kitten before dinner."

Upon seeing the Chinese textbook, Xiaoyu's expression changed, and she subconsciously took a half-step back.

But the next second, Ai Qing pressed down on her shoulder.

"Don't even think about escaping today. Come on, sit here."

Chapter 42 It's a pity not to have a whole litter

Lunch was eaten in unusual silence.

Ailisong was too lazy to get involved in the couple's argument. He was getting on in years and just wanted to live a peaceful life.

As for the children's lives, that's their own business.

Anyway, Ai Zhongguo is a healthy, normal middle-aged man, he won't starve to death.

If you don't starve to death and don't get sick, that's the best thing ever.

The rest are just trivial matters.

Therefore, Ai Lisong ate with exceptional relish, completely ignoring the quiet atmosphere at the table.

After finishing his meal, Ai Lisong went out into the yard, picked up a fishing rod, and said to Lang Xiangying inside the house, "I'm going fishing this afternoon. I'll be back to mind the shop tonight."

The fish god from the market strode out with a triumphant air.

Ai Qing didn't intend to get involved in her parents' affairs. She finished her meal quickly and neatly, then picked up Xiaoyu and followed her grandfather to the pond in the community to watch him fish. She also went to the next stall to get a fishing rod to take with her.

The little fish perched on Ai Qing's shoulder. The cat had a pretty good sense of balance, so no matter how fast Ai Qing walked, she wouldn't fall off.

I followed my grandfather's back until we reached the pond.

Ailisong found a nice spot with a gazebo and shade from the trees, set up a small stool, and started preparing to fish.

Ai Qing didn't care much about the rules. She sat down on the bench in the pavilion, got some bait from her grandfather, cast her line, and the fish landed in the middle of the pond.

At this moment, the little fish jumped off his shoulder, squatted on the bench, and curiously looked at the water, her head slowly lowering as if there was a moon in the water waiting for her to scoop it up.

"Keep an eye on the little fish," Ailisong noticed and reminded her, "Don't let it fall into the water, and don't let it run around. You're not holding it on a leash."

"It's okay, Little Fish is very well-behaved." Ai Qing patted her head. "This is a pond, it's full of water. You've never swum before, so it's better not to fall in."

“Heh.” Erison shook his head. “She won’t understand you if you speak human language. Don’t cry when the cat gets lost.”

“I’m not a child anymore,” Ai Qing said. “Don’t get angry if I catch more fish than you later.”

……

All afternoon, the little fish stayed obediently by Ai Qing's side, at most wandering around in the pavilion or jumping onto the rocks by the pond, curiously looking at its reflection in the water.

Around 5:30, the two prepared to pack up and go home.

They glanced at the fish fry in each other's buckets, then poured them all back into the pond.

"How to say?"

“This doesn’t count.” Alisson shook his head repeatedly. “The little fish ran onto the rock just now and scared all my fish away.”

"Guess which rock she was standing on was closer to?"

"You're such a chatterbox. I'll have your grandma set you up on a blind date later."

The grandfather and grandson bickered all the way home, and dinner was already prepared.

At this point, the atmosphere at the dinner table became more normal.

Yao Qiang looked at her son and asked in a gentle voice, "How's your novel coming along?"

"good."

"I remember it's been more than a month since I started writing it, right? Could you tell me more details?"

"Oh well, it's just so-so." Ai Qing didn't feel there was much to say. After all, it didn't even have a thousand readers yet. Although it was much better than the previous book, it wasn't much in terms of royalties.

"Don't just give me a perfunctory answer." Ai Zhongguo glanced at him. "Didn't you make over ten thousand from your last book? How about this one? Your grandparents don't even know about it, so at least tell me where the money came from."

“It’s just a website. You upload your book and sign a contract with the platform,” Ai Qing explained helplessly. “The first 100,000 to 200,000 words of my novel are free for readers. When the later content starts to be paid, readers pay to buy it, and the revenue is split 50/50 with the platform. What I get is my royalties.”

This is simple and easy to understand. Ai Lisong and Lang Xiangying are not old-fashioned. Although they are not very adept at using smartphones, they can at least understand terms like website platforms.

"So how much do you make from this book in a month?" Ai Zhongguo asked.

"If it goes live and starts charging in the middle of this month, and the sales are stable, I estimate it will be around four or five thousand a month?" Ai Qing made a simple estimate.

"Isn't that great?" Yao Qiang said slowly. "It's better than the book you mentioned before, right? Progress is a good thing; whether it costs a lot of money or a little is secondary."

"So what book is it?" Ai Zhongguo asked impatiently. "We still don't know the title."

"I'll tell you when I'm earning over ten thousand a month, okay?" Ai Qing shut her father up with one sentence.

Anyway, although the book did well, it wasn't that good. Earning over ten thousand yuan a month was undoubtedly a pipe dream for someone like him, a small-time writer.

He has already written over 100,000 words, and his book title can barely be seen in the 60s or 70s of the overall new book list.

The light novel category rankings are almost entirely filled with fan fiction, with original works being increasingly rare. Ai Qing only managed to rank fourteenth.

Moreover, just a few days ago he was ranked outside the top 20, but his ranking only jumped up after a batch of new light novels were released last week.

"If you can earn over ten thousand a month by writing novels, you're practically a small-time writer now." Ai Zhongguo chuckled twice. "I'll promote you to the Writers' Association when the time comes."

Ai Qingchao's father rolled his eyes, thinking to himself that if he said that, he would never know the title of his book.

……

After dinner, Ai Qing, as usual, went with her grandmother to the yard to feed the cats.

When the time came, the courtyard walls were already covered with kittens, their eyes shining like light bulbs even in the middle of the night.

Before Xiaoyu went into the yard, inside the balcony door, Lang Xiangying opened a can of cat food for her, put it in a bowl, and fed her, enjoying the delicious treat all to herself.

The cats in the yard can only eat from the communal pot.

Ai Qing glanced at the little brothers in the yard, then looked at the pure white little fish burying its head in eating canned food in the bright living room, looking quite like a noble young lady from a large family who rarely left her home.

"Speaking of which," Lang Xiangying suddenly said, "Little Fish is a year old now, isn't she ready for breeding?"

“No.” Ai Qing refused instinctively without the slightest hesitation. Then she coughed and explained to her grandmother, “There’s no need for that. We’re not a family that keeps cats. Why would we need to do this?”

"I was just saying." Lang Xiangying still holds traditional views. She felt it was wrong not to have children when she reached childbearing age. "Look how beautiful Xiaoyu is, it would be such a waste not to have a litter."

Little Fish, who was squatting by the balcony door eating, looked up, blinked, looked at her grandmother, and then at Ai Qing, her eyes showing a puzzled expression.

“No, Grandma, there are at least seven or eight cats in your yard now, sometimes more than a dozen. If another litter comes, they’ll all get crowded together,” Ai Qing said. “You should find a chance to cull all the cats in the yard and send them to Sister Qian’s place to get them spayed or neutered.”

Chapter 43 Little Fish's Strange Thought Process

"Why get sterilized when everything's fine? We shouldn't do such a despicable thing," Lang Xiangying said, shaking her head.

In the past, she had to live at school, and since her grandmother didn't feed many stray cats, Ai Qing didn't say much about it.

Now he has a legitimate reason.

Looking at the male cats in the yard, who were diligently munching on their cat food, Ai Qing narrowed her eyes, a subtle emotion flashing in them.

"Grandma, do you know where these stray cats come from?" Ai Qing began to ask gently.

Lang Xiangying stroked the big orange cat lying on the ground and patted its fat belly: "Of course, stray cats come from the streets. What else could they have done?"

“But where did they come from in the first place? Many of them were actually abandoned by their owners,” Ai Qing said. “Especially look at Maple Leaf, Piggy, and Little Gold, these are all purebred cats. They are quite expensive to buy. If they hadn’t been abandoned, how could they have appeared in the neighborhood?”

"Then tell me how pitiful they are." Lang Xiangying felt even more sympathetic. "They don't even have a home. If we give them some food, it'll be like they have a home."

"That would be great, of course." Ai Qing squatted down and scratched the belly of the big orange cat, who was completely unguarded in front of her grandmother. "But Grandma, you have to think about it. If Chief Orange and the others find a female cat and have a few litters, how many cats will there be in the neighborhood?"

"There are fewer cats now, and the big orange ones are all well-behaved. They usually get along well with everyone in the community except when they come to eat."

"But with more cats, there will always be some that cause trouble."

"What if one day the cat you feed bites someone's child or scratches someone's car paint?"

Lang Xiangying hadn't thought that far ahead.

She was simply acting out of compassion, seeing how pitiful the kittens were.

It was this same little orange cat back then, pitifully hiding from the rain in the yard, soaking wet, with such a wronged look in its eyes.

Lang Xiangying felt sorry for it and gave it a sausage.

However, neither Ai Zhongguo nor Ai Lisong liked cats, so they didn't keep one. But later, the little orange cat often came to play with its grandmother, and it gradually became a big orange cat.

The sheriff, the Japanese officer, and the others were all gradually drawn in this way.

In just over a year, the courtyard has attracted more than a dozen regular visitors.

What Ai Qing said made sense, but it wasn't that exaggerated.

Firstly, Lang Xiangying herself is a member of the neighborhood committee and has a high reputation in the square dancing group.

She's a very well-known figure among the elderly women in the whole neighborhood; everyone is happy to listen to her when they have something to say.

Last year, when the temperature dropped sharply during the Spring Festival, Lang Xiangying took the lead in building a shed for stray cats next to the small square in the community where she usually dances. She stuffed it with cotton quilts and sheets that people no longer use at home, so that they could have a warm winter.

Perhaps because they've gotten used to eating, drinking, and using the facilities with these elderly folks, all of the Orange Sheriffs have a rather docile personality.

When children come over, the elderly always give them careful instructions: touch them gently, don't pinch them, and don't use force.