Why bother with dating when you already have a cat?

And even after becoming human, it still retained the habits of a cat.

For example, last night...

Ai Qing touched her face.

He'd never been kissed on the cheek by a girl in his entire life... and then this little fish licked him like that.

However, after she turned into a human, there were no barbs on her tongue. It had the soft, moist feel of a human girl. Just being licked made Ai Qing almost lose her soul.

However, after becoming human, there are probably only three places on Xiaoyu's body that still retain cat-like characteristics.

Cat ears, cat tail, and those heterochromatic eyes.

The rest should be similar to normal girls.

However, her hair is all white, which is probably related to the fact that her fur is naturally snow-white.

Ai Qing recalled that after Xiao Yu turned into a human, not only her hair, but also her eyebrows and eyelashes were snow-white.

Like the snow maiden in some fantasy novels.

If that's the assumption... then the top is white, then... then...

Ai Qing covered her face, stopping her thoughts from wandering further.

……

After leaving the kitchen, while waiting for the steak to thaw and the chicken breast to marinate, Ai Qing sat on the sofa and scrolled through her phone.

As soon as he turned on his phone, he saw someone mention him in a QQ group.

[Newbie's Group for Support and Support]

[Qingshan Preface]: This book, Turning Point, is definitely doomed. I estimate it will be even worse than his previous book.

[White sugar dipped in vinegar]: I read it and it seems alright, but I don't really understand romance novels.

[Qingshan Preface]: LOL. At least in his previous book, the male protagonist turned into a cat, which could be considered a gimmicky cheat that was somewhat interesting. Now, the protagonist in this book doesn't even have a cheat. How can he possibly write anything interesting?

【The Cat in the Sky Loves Rain】: What's the rush? He just started his new book, and there are only a few chapters left. It would be very awkward if he got recommended but you didn't.

[Qingshan Preface]: If you're talking about other big names, I'm not confident enough to say, but if you're talking about this book, I estimate that at most it'll rely on the favor from the previous book, with the editor giving it a trial push, and then there will be no follow-up.

[Little Ragdoll]: Let's fight! Let's fight! @CornerFlowersBloom

Ai Qing glanced at the guy named "Qingshan Xu" a few times and then curled her lip.

Yes, this guy is the author of that unfinished novel he used to follow.

I owe my decision to start writing online novels last year to him.

I didn't expect him to cause trouble in the group again.

Chapter 9 I have no interest in romance

I remember starting two years ago, a survival novel called "Survival in the Underground" became very popular on a certain online literature platform.

In the following period, this topic quickly became popular on various platforms, including Qidian Reading.

Following that, books on topics like raft survival and shelter survival sprang up like mushrooms after rain.

The author of "Qingshan Xu" wrote a survival novel in the shelter genre last year, which mainly relied on a cheat code to provide a sense of security, achievement, and superiority over other supporting characters in collecting resources in the apocalypse.

Because there were many templates available for reference, his book performed quite well, breaking his previous record of consistently failing. It had over 2000 initial subscriptions, and after being released, it rose to 3000, successfully earning the Qidian Premium Badge.

His average monthly income is over 10,000 yuan, and in his best month, he even received 20,000 yuan in royalties by updating his blog frequently.

However, he wrote too fast in the early stages and collapsed when he reached 500,000 to 600,000 words. The number of readers following his work dropped rapidly, and the average subscription also fell from 3000.

So he abandoned the project when it reached over 700,000 words.

As a reader, Ai Qing couldn't help but complain in the comments section when she saw the ending was abruptly cut short. As a result, she was retorted by "Qingshan Xu" with "If you're so good, then you do it."

That's what gave him the idea to give it a try.

However, Aoyama Sei himself was unaware that he had once criticized Takuya Hanaka.

This person simply likes to show off in group chats. In small groups of about a few dozen people, whenever someone starts a new book, he will use his status as a "premium author" to lecture them.

But in reality, since that top-performing book was abandoned, this guy has had three consecutive books fail.

A new book I just started writing, which happened to be two days earlier than Ai Qing's, is about the currently popular simulator theme.

The two authors' new books are likely to be in competition with each other at the same time.

However, Ai Qing wasn't the type to argue or bicker with people. After glancing at the group messages, she didn't reply, letting them chat while she quietly went silent and watched the drama unfold.

[White sugar dipped in vinegar]: I once read a guide to romance novels by Peach Sauce. I saw that the requirements for the male lead's cheat ability were not high. Or, according to him, in romance novels, the "special female lead" is actually the male lead's cheat ability.

[White Sugar Dipped in Vinegar]: So I feel that the gimmick of the female lead turning into a cat in this book is still worth writing. It's just that the anticipation is there. Once the information gap is revealed, it will probably be hard to hold on to it, and it will be easy to not be able to write for long.

This guy, nicknamed "White Sugar Dipped in Vinegar," is currently the only one in this group with over 10,000 subscriptions.

In other words, if the average subscription rate exceeds 10000, the monthly royalties, even if you write 4,000 words a day, can amount to about 30,000 to 40,000 yuan.

However, he transitioned from fan fiction to traditional fantasy, so he's not very familiar with the romance/dog-food genre that has recently become popular in light novels.

The "Peach Jam" he mentioned is a fairly well-known author of light novel romance stories.

Ai Qing really liked that book, "Shut Up, Senior!"

As for the point about white sugar dipped in vinegar, it suddenly reminded Ai Qing.

This is also his first time writing a romance novel. His previous book was purely slice-of-life with no romantic subplot, so his theoretical exploration in this area was almost nonexistent.

I wrote purely on instinct.

Now, after being reminded of the idea of ​​"white sugar dipped in vinegar," Ai Qing felt she had grasped something. She quickly got up and went into the bedroom to record her inspiration on the computer, lest she forget it after dinner.

He got so engrossed in writing that by the time he came to his senses it was already one o'clock in the afternoon.

She rushed to the kitchen, pan-fried a steak and chicken breast, blanched the broccoli briefly, and put it on a plate. Ai Qing then carried the plate to the dining table in the living room.

The little fish was already squatting in front of the automatic feeder next to the table, looking rather dissatisfied: "Meow!"

We usually eat around noon, but today we were an hour late, so it's no wonder Xiaoyu was a little angry.

"Okay, okay, I apologize." Ai Qing let the automatic feeder feed the cat food, added other nutritional supplements, and then sat down to eat lunch with Xiao Yu.

While eating lunch, Ai Qing opened her QQ app and continued to browse group chats, scrolling through the chat history.

It's just that Aoyama Sei expressed his pessimism, there's nothing more to say.

Ai Qing doesn't like arguing with people; she prefers to let the facts speak for themselves.

So after closing QQ, I continued to watch political videos to pass the time while eating.

But halfway through the meal, someone knocked on the door.

Ai Qing swallowed a mouthful of chicken breast, got up and walked to the door. She opened the door and found it was Xiao Youqian.

"You haven't finished your lunch yet?" Xiao Youqian glanced at the living room and couldn't help but ask.

"I'm a little late," Ai Qing said. "What's wrong?"

"You cook for yourself?!" Xiao Youqian exclaimed in shock, then chuckled, "Then how about I come over for meals every day?"

"No way." Ai Qing rolled her eyes at her. "Get to the point. What do you want from me?"

“My pet hospital was renovated a while ago. I moved a lot of equipment over this morning, and I have a few job interviews scheduled for this afternoon,” Xiao Youqian said. “Why don’t you come and take a look? You can also help me set up shop.”

"I'm not a gangster, what kind of place do I need to intimidate?" Ai Qing chuckled. "But a visit is fine."

"Then call me when you've finished eating, I'll go back and touch up my makeup." After confirming the appointment with him, Xiao Youqian waved her hand and turned to go back to the apartment across the hall.

……

Twenty minutes later, Ai Qing tidied up the table and kitchen, squatted down, scratched Xiao Yu's chin, and seeing her squinting eyes and looking at her with a look of enjoyment, smiled:

"I'm going out this afternoon, so please take good care of the house."

"Meow~"

Ai Qing put a few pieces of freeze-dried food in Xiao Yu's cat bowl as compensation, then got up, put on her sneakers, and went out to find Xiao Youqian.

Xiao Youqian, who had just finished touching up her makeup, was called out by Ai Qing, and the two of them went downstairs together to the newly renovated pet hospital.

"Has the opening date been set? Do we still need to have an opening ceremony or something?" Ai Qing asked as they got off the elevator.

"I think we should, it's a kind of promotion too," Xiao Youqian said, stroking her chin. "But we need to recruit people first, determine the various positions after the store opens, and then plan some initial promotional offers and such."

“I don’t know anything about these things either, but if you want to promote it in Jinpan Yunting Mansion, I can ask Grandma for help,” Ai Qing said. “She works at the neighborhood committee, and there are a lot of elderly people there who do square dancing, so she can be of help.”

"Okay, okay, then I'll go thank your grandma first." Xiao Youqian smiled, her eyes crinkling, and patted Ai Qing's shoulder. "Once my pet hospital is on track, I'll introduce you to someone!"

"That's unnecessary. I have absolutely no interest in dating!" Ai Qing decisively refused.

Chapter 10 The entrance is too narrow, it's stuck.

Jinpan Yunting Mansion is now divided into two communities, north and south.

Ai Qing and Xiao Youqian currently live in the North District. After exiting the south gate of the community, they are directly opposite the north gate of the South District.

Yunting Road, a two-lane road running east-west, runs through the middle. Xiao Youqian Pet Hospital's storefront is located on the fifth storefront after turning right after exiting the community gate.

“Qianxin Pet Hospital…” Ai Qing stood at the entrance of the brand-new pet hospital, looked up and read its name, then realized something was wrong, “Sister Qian, are you sure this name can still recruit people?”

"What's wrong?" Xiao Youqian asked in confusion. "Qian is a character in my name, and Xin has three 'gold' characters, which symbolizes the pet hospital's booming business and prosperity, right?"

"...I'm glad you like it."

"Let's go, come with me to their interview." Xiao Youqian patted Ai Qing on the shoulder and walked into the store first.

Putting everything else aside, the decorating style that Xiao Youqian chose is quite to Ai Qing's liking.

The overall color scheme is mainly white and light blue, with occasional touches of orange and green, giving it a modern and minimalist feel.

Upon entering, you'll find a large, horizontal hallway. Directly opposite the entrance is a reception desk, with two tall cabinets on either side of the wall displaying various products that your feline overlords need daily.

Tables and chairs were also provided for resting.

Enter through the corridor next to the reception desk. On your right are two consultation rooms, and on your left is an operating room.

Further inside, behind the consultation room, is a "concentration camp" for storing and boarding cats, with cages covering an entire wall, each with a space of less than one square meter.