Why bother with dating when you already have a cat?

Fortunately, everyone around was in a hurry and didn't have time to pay attention to what others were doing.

Most people are glued to their phones, immersed in the online world, and have no interest in others.

Ai Qing used to be one of them; unless a pretty girl passed by, it was hard for him to even look at her.

But now... Ai Qing glanced at Xiao Yu beside her and realized that she rarely takes out her phone anymore.

"Let's go." Ai Qing walked towards the elevator.

Little Fish obediently followed behind, all the way to the waiting hall on the second basement level.

The waiting hall has long rows of transparent glass on both sides.

Looking out through the glass, it was pitch black, but you could see the subway tracks outside through the lights in the waiting room.

Xiao Yu followed Ai Qing to a glass door and waited there. She couldn't help but peek inside a few times before asking curiously, "What's in there?"

"These are the subway tracks." Ai Qing deliberately led Xiao Yu to the very edge so they could talk more easily, and patiently explained to Xiao Yu, "The subway will be coming in through this opening in a little while."

You can think of it as a giant car driving underground.

“We’ve been walking downstairs the whole time, but the subway entrance is right at ground level, isn’t it? We’re underground now.”

"Oh right." Little Fish suddenly realized.

She hadn't realized this before.

After all, the interior of the subway station is so spacious and bright that it doesn't feel "underground" at all.

She is now very curious about what the subway looks like.

Since it's a very, very big car, it must have wheels, right?

Then inside are seats like in a car, and someone is holding the steering wheel?

Hmm... but if it's really, really big, why does it feel so narrow inside?

Can it fit?

With these questions in mind, the little fish would occasionally tiptoe and peer into the depths of the tunnel.

Before long, a clear humming sound came from deep within the tunnel.

Accompanied by the friction between the rails and the subway and the popping sound of the compressed air, a long steel worm charged straight ahead.

Xiaoyu stared wide-eyed at the scene, and in just a few seconds, the subway train sped past her.

Even though it had already slowed down after entering the station, Xiaoyu could still clearly feel that enormous power and speed.

In the face of such a colossal object, one feels exceptionally small.

"Don't just stand there like an idiot." Ai Qing took Xiao Yu's hand and led her into the subway car whose doors were already open.

The third to last stop was already quite empty, and it was the very last carriage, with empty benches on both sides.

Ai Qing pulled her to a seat at the very edge of the subway station and waited for it to start moving.

Ai Qing waved her hand in front of Xiao Yu's face. Seeing Xiao Yu's stunned expression, Ai Qing couldn't help but laugh out loud: "What's wrong? Are you dumbfounded?"

"This... um..." Xiaoyu swallowed hard, pulled back to reality by Ai Qing's voice, and began to look around the interior of the carriage, still a little dazed, "This is... the subway?"

Bright white lighting, a clean and spacious area, benches with simple lines...

If it weren't for the doors closing and the subway gradually starting, giving Xiaoyu a sense of propulsion, she would have doubted that she was simply sitting in a room.

This was completely different from the scene she had imagined in her mind...

Is this the subway?

“This is the subway,” Ai Qing said. “Each carriage can carry many passengers.”

"Moreover, because it runs underground, no other subway lines will cut in front of it, and there are no traffic lights, so it is very fast, much faster than a car."

"Hmm." Xiaoyu looked out the window, which was still pitch black, but she could roughly sense the speed of the subway through her sense of touch.

Especially after just a few minutes, the subway entered the next station. Even though the speed slowed down, the scene of the station rushing past the window when it entered the station still made Xiaoyu feel the speed of the subway.

“Actually, there are even faster options,” Ai Qing added. “Besides the subway, there are high-speed trains and airplanes, all of which are much faster than this.”

"Really?" Xiaoyu was truly shocked. She stared wide-eyed at Ai Qing, unable to imagine what an even faster mode of transportation would be like.

“Those all require ID cards, so I’m afraid I can’t take you to experience them for a while,” Ai Qing said helplessly, spreading her hands. “But I can search for videos for you to watch next time.”

"Mmm, I want to see." Little Fish started to look forward to it again.

Every second she spent going out with Ai Qing seemed to be refreshing her worldview.

It turns out that the world I once lived in was just a tiny speck of dust.

Xiaoyu sat next to Ai Qing, looked up at him, and couldn't help but say, "Brother."

"Hmm...hmm?" Ai Qing was still a little unaccustomed to her way of addressing her and almost didn't react.

Can I buy a ticket for the subway?

"...Don't try to buy everything you see."

Chapter 78 Fate

After discovering the allure of money, Xiaoyu's first reaction to anything she sees is now whether she can buy it.

Since Xiaoyu can only do addition and subtraction within 100 at the moment, Aiqing didn't waste time explaining to her just how outrageous the cost of this subway was.

Besides, even if they could buy it, they wouldn't have the space to store it.

"elder brother."

"Hmm?" Although it felt quite nice to hear Xiaoyu call her that, Ai Qing was still a little uncomfortable and felt like she was being mean.

He tricked the little fish into calling him his brother.

That's a bit shameless.

"The person diagonally across from me seems to be watching me the whole time," Xiaoyu whispered to Ai Qing.

Ai Qing glanced over and saw that it was a young man. When he noticed Ai Qing looking over, his eyes immediately darted around guiltily, and he pretended to be looking at the advertisements on the wall.

Ugh.

Even with a hat and mask on, Xiaoyu's beauty is hard for ordinary people to resist.

But that's normal. If Ai Qing saw Xiao Yu on the street, she probably wouldn't be able to resist taking a second look.

"It's alright, don't worry about him," Ai Qing whispered in Xiao Yu's ear.

The young man opposite saw the two whispering intimately to each other, and a look of envy immediately appeared in his eyes. Then he looked down at his phone and immersed himself back in the virtual world.

Soon, an announcement came from the subway.

We've arrived at Linping Station.

Ai Qing stood up, and Xiao Yu quickly followed. The two of them entered the platform as the carriage door opened, and then followed the crowd up the escalator to the underground level of the subway station.

"Over here, do you see this card reader?"

Ai Qing led her to the exit and said, "The card reader over there is the entrance; it's a one-way street. You can see the red cross on it inside, which means it's not the exit."

"Look at this card reader over there. There's a slot. Take out the subway card we bought earlier and insert it here. The gate will open."

The little fish tried to insert the card, and when it saw the gate open, it immediately ran over, afraid that the gate would close halfway and trap it.

Ai Qing smiled as she watched Xiao Yu's adorable little running posture. After inserting her card and exiting the station, she said to Xiao Yu next to her, "Look at the signs around here. If we want to go to Yintai City, we can take Exit C. They all have corresponding route instructions."

"Isn't that a 'sizzling mouth'? Why is it pronounced... 'sucking mouth'?"

“Um… it’s C, C.” Ai Qing touched his forehead, remembering that he hadn’t taught Xiao Yu English yet. “This is how it’s pronounced in English. It’s normal that you don’t understand it. It’s different from pinyin.”

"Is that so?" Little Fish looked troubled.

I pronounced it as "ci" when I was learning it, but I pronounced it as "C" on the subway. So when do I pronounce it as "ci" and when do I pronounce it as "C"?

So complicated.

Can't they all be pronounced with the same sound?

"If you're interested, you can learn English later," Ai Qing said, seeing that she was confused.

It's not that Ai Qing didn't want to teach.

On the one hand, Xiaoyu has limited time, so she just needs to focus on learning Chinese, math, and some basic life skills.

On the other hand, Ai Qing's own English is quite poor, and she doesn't know how to teach her well.

However, when Xiaoyu heard that she had to learn something new, she immediately took a half step back and waved her hands repeatedly: "No, no need! I think learning pinyin is enough!"

Studying is already so tiring, why add more burden to yourself?

The little fish isn't stupid; it's quite clever.

She'd rather beg Ai Qing to play with the Forest Fireman game more.

"Alright, just kidding." Ai Qing smiled, then stroked her chin and pondered for a moment, "At least the 26 letters of the English alphabet still need to be taught, we can talk about the rest later."

After saying that, Ai Qing led Xiao Yu toward Exit C.

This exit connects directly to the basement level of Yintai City, which is very convenient.

Soon, amidst the gradually bustling crowd, Xiaoyu, tugging at Ai Qing's sleeve, was finally able to glimpse the interior of those enormous buildings.

……

Linping District is located in the northeast of Hangzhou city, sandwiched between Shanghai and Hangzhou.

Although both are considered part of the Hangzhou area, when Ai Qing was a child, Linping District was actually a county-level unit located on the outskirts of Hangzhou.

Simply put, they are country folk.

Back then, Linping District was not very big. The area north of Linping Mountain was relatively desolate, and the main commercial population was concentrated in the south, closer to Hangzhou.

Even this Yintai City was only built in recent years, which has driven a series of commercial and economic developments in the surrounding area.

Ai Qing hadn't actually been here many times.

As far as I can remember, I've only had a few meals here with Kong Fugui and a few others.

Therefore, Ai Qing stopped in her tracks after entering the mall.