Why bother with dating when you already have a cat?

"What's going on?" Xiaoyu asked curiously.

“Okay, now face me and glance over there.” Ai Qing said, and Xiao Yu glanced over as well. Ai Qing continued, “Do you see? There’s a girl sitting across from my friend.”

"Yeah, I saw it." Xiaoyu now looked like a novice detective secretly investigating, with a sly look on her face, as if she was afraid others wouldn't notice that she was up to no good.

"Stop looking." Ai Qing turned her face back with a helpless expression, then said, "A man and a woman eating in a place like this, what kind of relationship do you think they have?"

"Oh, oh~ boyfriend and girlfriend!" Xiaoyu excitedly said the answer. Fortunately, she remembered Ai Qing's advice. Although she was excited, she still suppressed her voice very quietly.

Then it dawned on her: "Why aren't we?"

“We’re brother and sister,” Ai Qing said shamelessly, “but they definitely aren’t.”

"However, we can't say that they are in a romantic relationship. They may be more than friends but not quite lovers."

"We're still in the evaluation period for both of us. We can only be considered normal friends, and we haven't crossed that line yet."

"I see." Xiaoyu nodded seriously, listening to Ai Qing's analysis as if she were studying in class. "Then can't the brother and sister cross this line?"

"Why are you asking so many questions?" Ai Qing was exasperated and was about to explain when her phone suddenly vibrated a few times.

Upon opening it, I discovered it was a WeChat message from Wu Yong.

[Useless]: Can you promise me one thing?

[Rise, my lord]: What is it?

[Useless]: Don't tell anyone else that I came here for a blind date.

Chapter 80 Blind Date

Blind date.

Ai Qing found this word quite interesting.

On the surface, the literal meaning can be "to kiss each other" or "to be close to each other".

It has been used to explain "a special date between a man and a woman with a clear ultimate goal of achieving a marital relationship".

As for Wu Yong being arranged to go on a blind date, Ai Qing thought it was both unexpected and reasonable.

After all, people who are told from a young age not to date early can't really expect to date and find a partner in the military.

When Wu Yong returned home after his military service, his mother, Pan Hongmei, naturally made arrangements for him.

However, while it was perfectly reasonable for Wu Yong to go out to dinner alone with a girl, Ai Qing also felt that it revealed a hint of humor.

After all, this guy is usually very quiet, and if he's alone with a girl, it's hard to say how many words he'll say during a meal.

"What is a blind date?" Xiaoyu asked curiously as she looked at Ai Qing and Wu Yong's chat history.

"Shh." Ai Qing whispered to Xiao Yu to keep her voice down, then said, "Blind date is when a man and a woman are introduced by someone else and skip the dating phase and quickly get married."

"Huh?" Little Fish blinked, not expecting such a thing to happen.

In her opinion, this was somewhat magical.

"Why can I skip it?"

“Yeah, why is that?” Ai Qing shrugged and chuckled twice. “Maybe that’s just how the world is.”

Love is a rare and precious thing in this world; it's normal not to find it.

If we trace back the genes of humankind to the distant past, we can probably trace them back to a few male super-ancestors.

In other words, modern humans are very likely descendants of those men.

Women's DNA is relatively more diverse.

Oh dear, so it's actually quite normal not to find a partner.

"Then can we go on blind dates too?" Xiaoyu asked excitedly, thinking she had found a bug in the game. "Let's skip that too."

"What are you thinking about?" Ai Qing tapped her little head. "Stop thinking about these things all day long. First, figure out what blind dates and marriage mean before you talk about anything else."

"Ugh..." Little Fish covered her forehead and said with a wronged expression, "It's just about breeding."

Ai Qing: "..."

Hmm... Although the words are rough, they somehow make a lot of sense.

Students shouldn't date while in school; they should focus on their studies, because that's what students should be doing.

After graduation, you should take the initiative to find a partner. If you don't, arrange blind dates for yourself and get married early, have children, and carry on the family line, because this is what you should be doing at this stage.

Life is like a simulation game controlled by others.

The themes for each stage of life are predetermined by others.

It's as if failing to achieve something equates to a relatively failed life.

Everyone rushes towards the same goal, arriving and departing in haste, finding a host of rationalizing reasons for each goal.

Check off the goals you achieve and cross off the ones you don't complete on time, and then you'll get your score on the test of your life.

[Rise, my subject]: Don't worry, don't worry, I definitely won't mention it to Gui Gui and the others unless you tell them yourself.

[Rise, my subject]: But don't tell them that I went out to eat alone with a girl.

[Useless]: Huh?

[Useless]: You're here for a blind date too?

No... Dude, in your eyes, are you the kind of guy who would never go on a date with a girl alone except for blind dates?!

Faced with Wu Yong's doubts, Ai Qing felt a surge of nameless anger.

Then I thought about it and realized that it seemed to be true.

If it weren't for Xiaoyu, then the only time he would go out to eat with a girl alone, besides Xiao Youqian, would probably be on a blind date.

Tsk.

[Rise, my subject]: I can say with certainty that this was not a blind date.

[Useless]: Oh.

After that conversation, Wu Yong did not reply again.

This left Ai Qing completely stunned.

You keep asking!

Otherwise, how could I possibly use the arguments I've been thinking about for so long?

But that's probably just Wu Yong's style.

He wasn't as fond of gossip as Kong Fugui.

While the two were chatting on WeChat, the waiter had already served all the dishes.

The charcoal was ready, and after the grill was set up, the waiter politely asked, "Would you like our grilling service?"

"Not for now." Seeing the eager look on Xiaoyu's face, Ai Qing waved her hand, indicating that they should do it themselves.

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

After the waiter left, Ai Qing picked up the tongs next to her, picked up a piece of pork belly and said, "Grilling meat is actually quite simple, it's the same as pan-frying fish at home."

"Place the food on a baking sheet and spread it out. Then flip it occasionally to prevent it from burning. Once it's cooked, put it in a bowl and dip it in the sauce."

"Items like chicken wings take longer to cook, so we put them on the baking tray to bake earlier."

"How about it, want to give it a try?"

Ai Qing herself didn't really want to grill the meat, so she just demonstrated it.

The pork belly grills quickly; the originally bright red meat is soon rendered of fat, and an enticing aroma begins to waft through the air.

"Here, have a taste." Ai Qing placed the grilled pork belly onto Xiao Yu's plate and then said, "You can try the three seasonings one by one and see which one you like."

In fact, Ai Qing herself couldn't name these seasonings.

All I know is that in most barbecue restaurants, there is a kind of dark or brown liquid barbecue sauce, a thicker beef sauce, and powdered chili powder.

I'm not sure if the name is correct, but let's just say it is.

Xiao Yu picked up the pork belly that Ai Qing had grilled, dipped it in the barbecue sauce, and then ate it in one bite.

It was quite hot at first, but after being dipped in the barbecue sauce, the meat's temperature became just right.

The pork belly was fatty but not greasy, and the barbecue sauce was just right, nourishing the fish's taste buds.

She happily squinted her eyes to enjoy the delicious food. After swallowing it, she took the initiative to pick up the tongs and imitate Ai Qing's movements, wanting to pick up a piece of pork belly and put it on the grill.

Unfortunately, this was her first time trying to use clips.

She hadn't even mastered using chopsticks yet, so naturally she was quite clumsy when using tongs.

After several unsuccessful attempts to pinch the fish, Xiaoyu couldn't help but stand up and stomp her feet in frustration.

Ai Qing, standing to the side, wasn't in a hurry at all. She rested her chin on her right hand and watched her operate the machine, only occasionally giving verbal instructions, enjoying the feeling of reaping the benefits without lifting a finger.

"Why can't I just use chopsticks to pick it up?" Xiaoyu finally managed to pick up a piece of pork belly and put it on the grill. Her little face was already red from the heat of the charcoal fire, and beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. She complained softly.

She recently learned to eat with chopsticks with great difficulty. Although she is not yet proficient, it is still better than using tongs.

Humans are really strange; they always like to make all sorts of difficult tools to challenge themselves.

It would be much more convenient to grab it with your hands...

“Raw meat may contain some bacteria,” Ai Qing explained simply. “These bacteria are basically harmless after being grilled at high temperatures, but if you use chopsticks to pick up raw meat and then cooked meat, you may ingest harmful bacteria, which is not healthy.”

"Hmm... bacteria?" Another word the little fish couldn't understand.

"Just think of it as a tiny, very small insect that you can't see with your eyes," Ai Qing explained, trying to make it as she could understand.

"Huh?" Upon hearing his words, Xiaoyu immediately looked at the plates of raw meat over there.

"Don't think so much. If you keep worrying about this and that, I'm afraid I'll have to give you more biology lessons."

"No!" Only when it came to studying did Xiaoyu show a rare persistence.

"However," Little Fish rolled her eyes, quickly changing the subject, and asked again, "then why not prepare an extra pair of chopsticks?"

"One pair of meat with raw meat in it, and one pair of meat with cooked meat in it."