Why bother with dating when you already have a cat?

but……

Is Ai Qing concerned about others reading his novels?

Ever since I discovered I could read what he was writing, he's stopped letting me read it.

Thinking of this, Xiaoyu glanced at her reading progress and realized she had just reached Chapter 15.

After the female lead turns into a cat, she snuggles in the male lead's arms and gets her belly rubbed.

As expected, Ai Qing still prefers this kind of thing!

Why do people not do all those scenes of cuddling and kissing cats in real life, even though novels are full of them?

Ai Qing said that what is written in the novel is all fake, not something that actually happened, but it is still something written by the author, right?

I don't understand.

Xiaoyu lay on the bed, pondered the question for a moment, and then quickly became engrossed in the novel, continuing to read.

Online novels are inherently a form of entertainment literature with a high degree of reader inertia.

Skilled authors excel at depicting interpersonal relationships, shaping characters, and using conflicts and contradictions between characters to create and advance the plot, while consistently providing anticipation and satisfying moments.

By controlling the pace of the plot, one can manage the emotional fluctuations, and even while conceiving the story in one's mind, one can accurately predict the reader's reaction to a particular passage, thus allowing for targeted adjustments.

Many people think that online novels are quite simplistic, mindless, and lack any skill.

The essence and difficulty actually lie in places that readers may not be aware of.

For a novice like Xiaoyu, who is just starting out in the world of online novels, as long as it's a decent one, it can basically attract her.

After reading dozens or even hundreds of online novels, and gaining a general understanding of their plot patterns, people gradually become less sensitive to them and their tastes become more discerning.

As the threshold increases, readers will gradually diverge into two trends.

One type of reader will gradually come to like the more literary style, pursuing novels with excellent plot structure, well-developed characters, and a long build-up and anticipation.

Another type of reader, due to their increased threshold for enjoyment, increasingly seeks quick and exciting content, requiring online novels to have a fast pace and constant exciting moments in the early stages, otherwise they simply cannot get into it.

This is quite an interesting phenomenon.

……

"What are you looking at?"

At 10 a.m., after finishing her writing task for the day, Ai Qing set up a timed upload and then looked at Xiao Yu, who was lying on the bed with her legs dangling back and forth, and asked her curiously.

Judging from her engrossed expression, I wonder what interesting thing she's looking at.

"It's nothing." Xiaoyu's fingers had become incredibly skilled at this moment. She quickly exited the browser page and jumped to a video on Bilibili. Then she scrolled down a few times, pretending that she was reading the comments section.

Ai Qing didn't suspect anything, but asked again, "How long will it take you to turn back? You'll be coming home with me soon."

"At most an hour." After confirming that Ai Qing hadn't noticed, Xiao Yu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Then she jumped off the bed, plopped down in the seat next to Ai Qing, and turned her head expectantly, saying, "Forest Fireman!"

"Alright, consider today a day off, I won't force you to study." Ai Qing gripped the mouse, opened the browser, and searched for Forest Fireman.

The two of them gradually completed most of the game over this period of time.

However, the difficulty of the levels increases as you progress, often requiring many attempts.

Although Ai Qing could roughly figure out the solution after playing it once or twice, she basically wouldn't specifically remind Xiao Yu.

The fun of this kind of puzzle game lies in figuring out the strategy step by step.

It can also be considered a way to exercise thinking skills.

Ai Qing simply acts as a tool to control the Fire Man. He does whatever Xiao Yu tells him to do, and he follows Xiao Yu's instructions to pass the levels.

This is probably why Xiaoyu likes to play this game.

Normally, he was the one being directed by Ai Qing, but now he was the one directing Ai Qing, which made him incredibly happy.

Unfortunately, such happy times are always short-lived.

After playing for about forty or fifty minutes, the little fish turned back into a kitten.

I glanced at the time; it was almost 11 a.m.

So Ai Qing got up and said to the little fish squatting on the chair, "Let's go then. I won't bring the leash. You can just sit on my shoulder."

Little Fish nodded, then jumped off the chair and dashed to her doorstep.

Ai Qing took her notebook, put it in her backpack, and followed behind to the door. While she was changing her shoes, Xiao Yu had already opened the door.

As he walked out the door, Xiaoyu pushed it open and closed it.

Upon reaching the elevator, Ai Qing pressed the elevator button and squatted down.

The little fish that followed behind leaped up and landed on Ai Qing's shoulder.

The two worked together happily and exchanged a glance.

Ai Qing smiled, finding this rather amusing.

Having a well-behaved kitten that can understand human speech undoubtedly brings the most joy to owning a cat.

……

Because it's very close to home, just across the street.

So even though Ai Qing lives in her own rented apartment, she still goes home for a meal on weekends when she has free time.

Sometimes I simply stay overnight.

This is a relatively comfortable approach for him.

If you live in your own home every day, over time you'll only get tired of each other and start arguing.

However, if we live separately but occasionally get together for a meal, the atmosphere becomes much better, and everyone is happy and there are fewer unpleasant things.

Actually, Ai Qing's original intention should have been to rent a house further away from home.

These are rented apartments separated only by a street, and nominally belonging to the same residential complex. It feels a bit like taking off your pants to fart.

During her winter break, Ai Qing visited quite a few houses and found some that she liked.

But the area certainly couldn't be as big as this house now.

The same two thousand yuan can only rent a loft room of about 40 square meters in Linping District.

There might be a desk on the first floor and a bed on the second floor, leaving basically no extra space.

So when Ai Zhongguo dragged him to see this apartment and offered a monthly rent of only 2000 yuan with a deposit and payment of one month's rent in advance, Ai Qing was immediately tempted.

No one could refuse that, right?

As for her father's friend, Ai Qing was used to it.

After all, my dad has been a reporter since he was young, and he used to travel all over the country to collect and report all kinds of news.

I know a lot of people from all walks of life.

Ai Qing didn't suspect anything.

"You are an intimacy I've never possessed and can't capture~"

"But I have your kiss, your soul, and your heart~"

"Carrying me, flying and flying, transcending meaning~"

"Grandpa! I'm back."

"Meow~"

"Hey." Ai Lisong frowned as he saw his grandson walk in through the door. "You little rascal, why don't you put a leash on your little fish when you take it out now?"

"It's okay, Xiaoyu is very well-behaved." Ai Qing glanced at her grandfather's phone and then said, "You can continue watching, I won't bother you."

After saying that, he reached into the cash register, pulled out a plastic bag, and turned to walk towards the supermarket shelves.

During this time, Xiaoyu tried a lot of snacks, and Aiqing remembered which ones Xiaoyu liked and which ones she wasn't interested in.

After putting them all into plastic bags, I picked out some small fish that I hadn't tried before, packed them all up, and then carried the bags home.

The little fish, perched on Ai Qing's shoulder, looked completely satisfied, nuzzling Ai Qing's cheek affectionately. Knowing that he had bought it for him, it was already looking forward to becoming human and enjoying snacks in Ai Qing's room.

However, after entering the house, Ai Qing greeted Lang Xiangying, who was cooking in the kitchen, and Yao Qiang, who was helping out, and then noticed three more "trumpet flowers" in the living room.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the sheriff, the Japanese officer, and the orange cat.

They all had Irasha's headbands on them, which suggests they had probably been castrated.

"Grandma! Did they get sterilized?"

“Yes,” Lang Xiangying replied from the kitchen. “It was just two or three days after I finished, and I wore something to cover it up because I was afraid they would lick the wound.”

"However, none of them were used to wearing them, and I was worried that they would be bullied if I put them back in the community, so I left them at home for now."

"We'll put them back in the community once their wounds have healed."

"I see." Ai Qing nodded, then hugged the little fish that was about to jump off her shoulder and walked straight towards the stairs in the yard, intending to go back to the bedroom immediately.

Even if they've been spayed/neutered, it's still impossible to let the baby fish stay with them, okay?

With that thought in mind, Ai Qing carried Xiao Yu to the bedroom on the second floor, and only put Xiao Yu down after closing the door.

Xiaoyu couldn't see through Ai Qing's little scheme; she was just a little surprised.

After all, Ai Qing hadn't picked her up on her own initiative for a long time.

"I'll leave you with this lunch in your room for now," Ai Qing said, patting Xiao Yu's head. "You can stay in your room while I eat lunch."

"Meow~" The little fish nodded, indicating that there was no problem.

However, she has now realized something.

After turning back into a kitten, her phone also disappeared.

You can only play after you become human.

But actually, you could try using a cat's paw to play on your phone.

Looking down at his feet, the little fish fell into deep thought.

She hadn't thought about this before, because when she turned back into a cat, she liked to find opportunities to get close to Ai Qing and absorb more warmth so that she could accumulate enough energy to maintain her human form sooner.

But at times like this, if Ai Qing isn't around, there's nothing else I can do.