Why bother with dating when you already have a cat?

Ai Qing looked at the little fish beside her, then at Kong Fugui, who was fast asleep and covered in mud, and said, "You can talk now, he can't hear you."

"Mmm!" After holding it in for so long, Xiaoyu finally nodded happily and eagerly raised the two cups of fruit tea in her hands. "This is delicious!"

"I'm glad you like it. There are plenty of other delicious things like this." Ai Qing smiled, then stroked her chin and looked at the computer screen. Suddenly, an idea struck her, and she opened a webpage.

Enter 4399 mini-games.

Ai Qing opened the Forest Fire and Ice game, pulled her chair to the side, then pulled Xiao Yu's chair over and moved closer to the computer.

"Come on, let me teach you how to play games."

"Game, why, do we have to play it?" Xiaoyu sat obediently and looked at the screen. She watched Ai Qing operate the screen, which made her a little dizzy. Before she could see what was displayed, a series of cutscenes popped up in a black box.

"Well, how should I put it?" Ai Qing pondered as she opened the first level of the Forest Fireman, and replied, "The word '打' (dǎ) has other meanings besides 'to strike,' which is quite normal in language."

"For example, your name is Xiaoyu (Little Fish), but the word 'fish' generally refers to an animal that swims in water."

"The fish meat you usually cook and eat is from the fish itself, so can you say that what we eat is small fish?"

Ai Qing tried to explain in simple and easy-to-understand language.

But the little fish was startled: "Little fish, the food, is it also a little fish?"

“The two refer to different things.” Ai Qing didn’t expect this to scare her, and she was both amused and exasperated. “Anyway, ‘playing games’ means the same as ‘playing games,’ it doesn’t mean you actually have to beat it.”

"Oh..." Little Fish was still a little shaken. She touched her chest to calm herself down. "Little Fish, no, fish, eat fish, no, eat little fish."

"Yes!" Ai Qing nodded vigorously, gave a thumbs up, and encouraged, "Little Fish is getting smarter and smarter."

The little fish was praised and smiled happily, twisting its body a couple of times and swinging its legs. Then it couldn't help but ask, "So, how do you play games?"

"Games are just a general term; there are all sorts of specific games. Today, I'll show you a simple one to familiarize you with the controls."

Ai Qing thought that if Xiao Yu was struggling so much with learning Chinese and math, it would probably be difficult for her to learn how to use a computer.

It's best to use positive feedback, like games, to pique her interest first, and then gently guide her.

If Xiaoyu develops a liking for playing video games, his interest in learning about computers will naturally increase.

Once Ai Qing is able to type on a keyboard and learn to access the internet, things will be much easier for her.

We must be careful not to let some crooked or unethical practices on the internet lead Xiaoyu astray.

We'll still need to be extra careful then.

"This game is called Fire and Ice, and it's a game for two people," Ai Qing explained. "Each of us controls a character and works together to complete the levels."

"I'm a fire elemental, I can walk in this lava, but I can't go into the water."

"You are an ice maiden, you can soak in water, but you can't jump into lava."

"We learned in Chinese class before that water and fire are incompatible, right?"

"Hmm..." Xiaoyu frowned, trying hard to learn the operation. Following Ai Qing's instructions, she put her right hand on the keyboard and tried pressing a few keys.

When Xiaoyu discovered that the little blue figure on the screen actually moved in response to her pressing the buttons, her eyes lit up, and she felt amazed.

"Wow, that's amazing... I can control her." Little Fish stared wide-eyed at Ice Maiden and couldn't help but ask, "Why does she listen to me? She seems so pitiful, being locked up inside."

“Um… the little figures in here are all fake, not real.” Ai Qing didn’t know how to explain code to her, after all, he wasn’t a computer science major, so he could only say, “She wasn’t locked up inside, but was created. That’s how games are; she doesn’t have her own independent thoughts.”

It's indeed a bit difficult to get the little fish to understand this phenomenon.

But she reluctantly accepted Ai Qing's explanation and began to try it out.

The result was quick—

"Ah! She...she's dead!"

The little fish suddenly cried out.

When Ai Qing turned to look at Xiao Yu, she immediately saw that Xiao Yu's eyes were filled with tears, her face filled with self-blame and grief, and she was frantically grabbing Ai Qing's arm.

"I...I didn't mean to...I...I...Waaah...Is there any hope for her?"

Chapter 67 Learning Through Play

At this moment, looking at the little fish that had actually lost its pearls due to the death of its game character, Ai Qing opened her mouth.

I don't know why, but a soft spot deep inside me suddenly felt like it had been pinched.

This was clearly just a nonsensical and funny moment.

But seeing Xiaoyu's panicked, self-reproachful, and heartbroken state, and seeing her tears welling up in her eyes, and finally unable to hold back her tears, I couldn't help but cry.

Ai Qing was suddenly and inexplicably stabbed in the heart by her.

The little fish looks like a grown-up girl.

But in reality, she has only been in this world as a human for less than two months.

Her unfamiliarity with and exploration of this world has allowed her to retain this innocence and beauty.

Faced with such innocence, Ai Qingzhen was reluctant to speak up and shatter it.

It's like trying to expose the lie that "Santa Claus is real."

However, it's better to clarify these things when it comes to computer games.

Otherwise, if he had dominated the PUBG game before, wouldn't Xiaoyu have suspected him of being a murderer...?

"Don't cry, let me explain."

Ai Qing turned to face Xiao Yu, smiled, shook her head, raised her hands, cupped Xiao Yu's chin, and gently wiped away the tears on her face with her two thumbs.

This seemed to be the first time Ai Qing had touched Xiao Yu's cheek.

Soft and white, like a freshly peeled egg, with a hint of red.

Her lips were wet with tears.

Ai Qing looked at her rosy, luscious lips and was unexpectedly captivated.

Looking at her pitiful eyes, even after wiping away her tears, there were still tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. She looked very sad and choked up, her shoulders trembling.

"Didn't you notice when I was playing the game just now?" Ai Qing slowly encouraged Xiao Yu to think first, so that she wouldn't have time to be sad.

"Notice...what?" Little Fish tilted her head, lost in thought, blinking her eyes in distress, thinking there was some key to saving the Ice Maiden in this.

She didn't even realize that her face had been pampered all along.

Or rather, even if she were aware of it, Xiaoyu wouldn't care at all.

"When my friend and I were playing the game just now, each of us could control a character. We could kill other people in the game, and we could also be killed by other people."

Ai Qing shook her head and asked in return, "So, you think the people inside were killed?"

"Hmm..." Little Fish was a little confused by what he said.

“My friend and I get killed every time, but we always make it to the next game alive.”

Ai Qing pinched Xiao Yu's cheeks and felt that they were very elastic and had a great feel to them.

"Therefore, in computer games, the death of a character is not real. So, the Ice Maiden just died, but it was all fake."

"She can come back to life anytime you want, no matter how many times."

Even though the little fish might not understand the logic above.

But upon hearing the final confirmation that the Ice Maiden wasn't truly dead, a light immediately shone in Xiaoyu's eyes.

Her whole face brightened up.

"Then, then... I, how..." Xiaoyu turned her head to look at the computer screen, pointing excitedly, and for a moment she couldn't explain what she wanted to say.

Ai Qing let go of Xiao Yu's hand, took her small hand and led her to the mouse, letting her try moving the mouse herself.

"Look, this is called a mouse. It's used to control the cursor on the screen. When you move it, it moves with you."

"Then we moved it here, and that's the restart button."

"Click the left mouse button to confirm your selection."

"look."

"Wow!" Little Fish exclaimed in shock, then looked up at the computer screen with amazement and joy, her face beaming as she watched the Ice Maiden reappear.

She then leaned back in her chair, touching her chest with a look of relief, and tears welled up in her eyes again.

"...Hey, why are you crying?"

"I don't know... Mingming is very happy." Xiaoyu herself didn't seem to realize it, and was still smiling. Only when Ai Qing reminded her did she remember to wipe her face.

Ai Qing was left both amused and exasperated by her antics.

Being made to cry by a forest fire-and-ice person, and crying twice in total, is quite an oddity.

But when applied to a small fish, it seems quite reasonable.

"Come on, let's keep playing."

After wiping Xiaoyu's face clean with a tissue, Ai Qing said, "You should help Ice Maiden get through this first."

……

Ai Qing felt that Fireboy and Watergirl was a suitable game for Xiaoyu to start learning.

First, it's easy to operate, with only left and right controls for direction and an up key for jumping. Even someone like Xiaoyu, who has never touched a computer or played games before, can pick it up immediately.

Secondly, although the game is simple to operate, it still requires a bit of brainpower; it belongs to the action-puzzle adventure game category.

In the game, the Fire Man and Ice Woman need to cooperate and use their respective strengths to help each other open various mechanisms and finally complete the level.

This also made Xiaoyu realize the importance and fun of cooperation.

Often, tasks that one person simply cannot accomplish can be easily completed by two people working together, each leveraging their strengths and mitigating their weaknesses.

Ai Qing decided that playing games was simply about having fun, without any ulterior motives or trying to learn any lessons.

But that's just how it is sometimes.

Many principles are often subtly influenced and transformed when you are immersed in them.

However, if you play with the intention of learning principles, you may not achieve the desired effect, and it may even have the opposite effect.

Yes, sometimes the same principle applies to reading online novels.