Why bother with dating when you already have a cat?

Seeing a cat in the yard usually requires a bit of luck.

Police Chief and his entourage usually prefer to stroll in the grove of trees around the pond in the middle of the residential area.

That's also Ai Qing's destination this time.

However, you need to go to the pet hospital beforehand to get a cat trap from Xiao Youqian, as well as some freeze-dried canned food or other things to lure wild kittens.

……

"Huh? It's a little fish."

As they arrived at the pet hospital, Xiao Youqian, who was minding the shop, noticed Ai Qing entering and immediately noticed the scarf around his neck.

"Is it okay for you to bring her out like this?"

"It's alright, she's very well-behaved." Ai Qing raised his hand to pat Xiaoyu's head, and Xiaoyu gently nudged his palm with her head, making a comfortable gurgling sound.

Xiao Youqian looked at Xiaoyu with a hint of envy and couldn't help but say, "My Vera is no good. She's as difficult to please as a little princess. If she were to lie on my neck like this, I'm afraid she would kick her legs and poke several bloody holes in my neck."

Ai Qing smiled, a little proud, thinking to himself, how could his little fish not be well-behaved?

But he got down to business first: "Is the cat cage still there? I need to borrow it so I can catch a few more stray cats today."

“Sure, it’s always here.” Xiao Youqian nodded, waved to Xu Wenjing next to her, and asked her to get the cat cage. Then she said, “Let’s go together. I have some experience in catching cats, so we won’t end up like last time, not catching a single one.”

“Okay, let’s go together.” Ai Qing didn’t refuse, but she had to be careful not to unconsciously say anything she shouldn’t to Xiao Yu later.

After quickly tidying up, Ai Qing carried a cat trap in one hand and an airline crate in the other.

Xiao Youqian wasn't idle either; she carried a carrier in each hand, containing some of the cat's favorite canned food, to be used as bait for the trap.

"Let me tell you, you can't get too close when you put them in the cage. Stray cats are very wary animals." Xiao Youqian explained the habits of stray cats to Ai Qing as she walked towards the residential area.

"We can first observe where the stray cats in the neighborhood prefer to hang out."

"Then we find an opportunity to walk over like we're walking normally, but don't walk straight toward the cat. We should deviate a little so as not to agitate it."

"Then place the cat cage a little distance away from it, and then walk away a bit further away, don't get too close, and don't put too much pressure on it."

"If you do this, as long as the cat is greedy, you will definitely be able to catch it. We just need to be patient."

After listening to Xiao Youqian's list of precautions, Ai Qing felt more confident.

After entering the residential area, they went straight to the grove of trees around the pond.

This is one of the few green areas in the community, where many trees were transplanted.

Add a cobblestone path.

It's a great place for a family to take a walk and digest their food in the evening.

Xiao Youqian, being a veterinarian, was very sensitive to cats. She stretched out her hand from afar and pointed to a tree: "Look, there's one over there."

Ai Qing walked closer and took a closer look, then suddenly realized: "Oh, that's a full-sleeve tattoo."

The most common cats in the neighborhood are tabby cats. This tabby is quite unique. The rest of its markings are mostly solid colors, but its two front legs are covered in colorful patterns, making it look like a tattooed guy with full arms.

Moreover, his face looked rather fierce, so he was nicknamed "Flower Arm".

However, this guy has a good temperament. He looks fierce, but he will expose his belly to the old people to beg for food. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to grow up to be so strong.

“There are some over there too.” Xiao Youqian pointed to a cat on the cobblestone path.

Ai Qing also recognized this person; they were all regular customers of his courtyard: "That's Little Gold, a golden shaded dog."

"And this one?" Xiao Youqian was a little surprised to see him listing them off so familiarly, and then pointed to a tabby cat in the bushes next to her.

"Oh, this one." Ai Qing looked at it carefully for a moment. "This is the two of circles, right? It's easy to recognize. Look at the two patterns on its back, surrounded by white. Doesn't it look like the two of circles in mahjong?"

Whether it looks like the real thing or not is not important; what matters is whether you can catch it.

As agreed, the two placed the cat trap on the lawn and then retreated to a distance to observe.

Surprisingly, none of the three cats seemed very interested.

The only one who took the bait was Little Gold. This little guy often came to Ai Qing's yard for dinner, and he was the one who came most often besides the police chief and the other two.

Hua Bi and Erbing don't come very often. There are other big spenders in the neighborhood who feed them. They only come to Lang Xiangying's place for a meal when they are really hungry.

"Are they usually fed too much? Is that why they're blind to these traps?" Ai Qing stood in the pavilion, peering at the trap and keeping a close eye on the three's movements.

“It’s possible.” Xiao Youqian said with a bit of distress, “The elderly people in our neighborhood are too kind-hearted. The stray cats here look like house cats, they’ve all gotten so fat.”

"Meow~" The little fish on Ai Qing's shoulder suddenly jumped off him and landed on the bench in the pavilion. Then it turned its head and looked up at Ai Qing, "Meow~"

"What's wrong, Little Fish?" Ai Qing was a little confused. She had clearly told her not to run around, so why did she suddenly jump down?

Then, following the little fish's gaze, she looked at the flower-armed creature resting and licking its fur on a tree branch and fell into deep thought.

He then picked up the little fish, put her back on his shoulder, and walked straight to the tree.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Xiao Youqian said when she saw him about to disturb the cats. "We have to be patient. Don't scare them."

"It's okay, I'll just give it a try," Ai Qing replied, already leading Xiao Yu to the tree.

At this moment, the tattooed man stood up, his four limbs gripping the tree trunk firmly, and looked at Ai Qing with a wary expression.

But soon, he heard voices like his own.

"Meow~" The little fish raised its head and meowed at the flower arm on the tree.

"Meow?" The tattooed arm hesitated before responding.

"Meow!"

"Meow meow?"

"Meow!"

Ai Qing was a little surprised to see that Xiao Yu and the tattooed man seemed to be communicating.

But what was even more surprising was that the tattooed man actually jumped down from the tree, wandered over to the cat trap, and started circling around it.

"Meow~" the little fish cried out again.

This time, the tattooed man didn't hesitate and tried to crawl inside.

As soon as its tongue touched the can, there was a sound coming from behind it.

With a click, the cat cage door closed.

"Meow!!!"

Ai Qing blinked, turned to look at Xiao Yu, and exchanged a glance with the innocent-looking Xiao Yu.

"What is this? A honey trap?"

Chapter 91 Flat Tablet

At three o'clock in the afternoon, looking at the three flight cases placed on the ground in front of her, Xiao Youqian fell into deep thought.

The crate now contains the same three cats that had previously ignored the cat cage: Huabi, Xiaojinzi, and Erbing.

They were meowing through the fence of the flight case, their voices tinged with discontent, as if they were accusing something.

Xiao Youqian looked at the little fish around Ai Qing's neck, met her innocent gaze for a moment, and couldn't help but ask, "What did the little fish just say to them?"

"Uh... I don't know either." Ai Qing's lips twitched, looking at the scene before her, she didn't know what to say.

But it's perfectly reasonable for cats to be able to communicate with each other, right?

I just don't know what Xiaoyu actually said.

It was amazing how they managed to fool these three kittens so easily, getting them to walk into the cat cage on their own initiative.

To be honest, if I had known it would be this easy, I would have just placed the three flight cases side by side and had Xiaoyu invite them in.

"Let's go, let's go." Xiao Youqian shook her head with a laugh, picked up the two airline suitcases, and said with a "heave-ho," "They're pretty heavy. The cats in the neighborhood are all too well taken care of."

"After all, there are many elderly people who feed them when they have nothing else to do." Ai Qing also picked up an airline crate, then took the cat catcher, and followed behind, heading towards the pet hospital.

After returning to the pet hospital, Xiao Youqian had them examined and planned to vaccinate them first, keep them at the hospital, and then have them spayed or neutered after a while.

Xiao Youqian covered all the expenses this time, which Ai Qing found strange: "Shouldn't I call Grandma over?"

“No need, I’ve already discussed this with your grandma.” Xiao Youqian shook her head. “There are quite a few stray cats in our neighborhood. Just the cats that usually come to your yard for dinner must number more than a dozen.”

"If you include the scattered ones like full-sleeve tattoos, there must be at least twenty or thirty of them."

"This is just one neighborhood. There are many neighborhoods nearby, and every few days a few of them might wander over from other neighborhoods."

"We can't keep letting your grandma spend money, after all, the stray cats don't belong to your family."

“It’s not really appropriate for you to cover the costs,” Ai Qing said, ruffling the head of Xiao Jinzi, who was being examined on the table. “Your pet hospital isn’t a welfare institution.”

“Well, so this is just an advance payment.” Xiao Youqian held up one finger as an example, “Your grandma and I have discussed it, and once they are all sterilized, we will post adoption notices on the bulletin board at the neighborhood committee office.”

"Any family that is interested in the cats above can come and adopt them."

"The adoption fee is the same as the cost of spaying/neutering the cat at the vet, but there will be a discount and gifts such as cat food."

"Otherwise, let your grandma spend all the money. It's fine if it's just two or three, but if it's twenty or thirty, that's a lot of money. There's no need for that."

“That’s true.” Ai Qing nodded, then stroked her chin thoughtfully. “Then simply posting notices on the bulletin board isn’t very efficient. Wouldn’t it be better to create a WeChat group?”

“I remember the neighborhood committee has a residents’ group, right? I’ll ask Grandma to discuss it with them and see if we can post an adoption notice in the residents’ group.”

"However, you need to think carefully about things like adoption contracts and verifying the adopter's qualifications. Otherwise, it will be awkward for everyone if problems arise, since we all live in the same neighborhood."

"Mm." Xiao Youqian nodded. "Don't worry, I'm a professional in this area."

Adopting instead of buying is definitely a better way to raise a cat.

However, some of these stray cats have already established their personalities and may not be suitable to be taken home as pets.

There are also people whose personality or circumstances are not suitable for keeping cats. It is best to avoid it from the beginning, as there is no need to torment both the cat and the person.

"Actually, this can be considered a form of advertising for the pet hospital," Xiao Youqian said with a smile. "Although we don't make much money from this, when these cats leave our hospital and need injections, veterinary care, medication, or to buy cat food, cat litter, or treats, these customers will definitely choose us first."

It must be said that this is also a way to expand a stable customer base.

With everyone happy, Ai Qing had nothing to say and naturally supported it wholeheartedly.

Perfect timing! Let's take this opportunity to cull all the male cats in the neighborhood and eliminate the root cause of Xiaoyu's cat safety when she's out and about.

"Alright, if there's nothing else, I'll head back now."