Chapter 36

Dear author friend,

Congratulations! Your work *My Childhood Friend Turns into a Cat* will receive Qidian’s second-round New-Book Recommendation at 00:00:00 on 2023-03-22.

When Ai Qing read the notice he was slumped in his chair, head tipped back, exhaling a long breath.

His book had just scraped 2,000 bookmarks; the number brought a satisfied smile to his face.

He still remembered that his previous novel had limped to barely over two thousand bookmarks by the time it hit the paid shelves at three-hundred-thousand words.

In the end its first-month subscription was a hundred—reader uptake tragically low.

Luckily he’d updated steadily, and an editor tossed him a tiny slot on the category page; only then did the numbers inch upward.

By the time that book finished, bookmarks still hovered just above 6,000 and average subscriptions barely reached 500—the minimum required to keep collecting the Perfect-Attendance Bonus.

And this new book?

Not even ninety-thousand words in, and it already had 2,000 bookmarks.

This Sunday it would enter the second-round rookie death-match, with traffic even heavier than the first.

If he could add a few thousand more bookmarks and survive rounds three and four—maybe even reach the legendary “Starry River Recommendation” reserved for newcomers...

Ai Qing didn’t dare dwell on the thought.

For a minnow like him, swimming against hundreds of contemporaries and fighting to be one of the dozen stand-outs that snagged a Starry River slot was hell-mode difficulty.

For the big fish, of course, it was as easy as eating and drinking water.

So Ai Qing pushed the fantasy aside and focused on writing.

As long as the final numbers beat the last book—an average subscription of 500 within three months of going paid—he’d be content.

Writing full-time, if he pushed himself to publish 6,000 words a day at an average sub of 500, royalties would top 4,000 yuan a month.

Half of that would cover rent and utilities.

The rest had to feed him and Xiao Yu.

He cooked for himself; groceries ran about a thousand a month.

Xiao Yu’s food cost two or three hundred.

Pinch the pennies and a few hundred yuan might even be left over.

If this book performed even better, the cushion would grow.

Leaning back, eyes closed, Ai Qing smiled, already dreaming of the good life.

“Ouch!”

The chair yelped—Ai Qing yelped.

He opened his eyes to find Xiao Yu had leapt from the desk into his lap, curling into a fluffy ball on his thighs.

“Getting chubby, are we?” He tapped her forehead.

Whether she understood or not, she opened her mouth and bit his finger—gently—then switched to licking.

The lick tickled; Ai Qing pulled his hand back and scratched her chin. Xiao Yu’s eyes slitted in bliss.

While he was playing with her, the doorbell rang.

Xiao Yu reacted faster than he did, shooting off his lap, bounding to the bedroom door, and springing up to open it.

She streaked down the hall.

Ai Qing followed and found her sitting politely at the front door, face tilted: *Should I open it?*

He had no idea how he read the look, but he nodded. “Go ahead.”

Xiao Yu bounced once and nudged the door open.

He’d expected Xiao Youqian or maybe Kong Fugui; instead a little boy stood there.

“Huh? Zhenzhen?” Ai Qing blinked, then recognized him—Kong Fugui’s younger brother, Kong Fuzhen, just eleven and in fifth grade.

“Aiqing brother.” Zhenzhen slipped off his backpack, unzipped it, and produced a thick stack of textbooks. “Big Brother told me to bring these.”

“Oh, right.” Ai Qing remembered asking Kong Fugui to hunt down the kid’s old schoolbooks. “Thanks. Want to come in for a bit?”

“No thanks. I dropped by on my way home; Mom’s waiting downstairs.” Zhenzhen gave a solemn nod. “I have to go. Bye, Aiqing brother.”

“All right.” Ai Qing accepted the heavy pile. “Take care, and come play when you’re free.”

Zhenzhen, polite as ever, closed the door and headed for the elevator—nothing like his older brother.

Inside, Ai Qing hugged the books and smiled down at Xiao Yu. “So, when are you turning human? Little-Yu School is officially in session.”

——

March 21, Saturday.

Second-round promo starts—cause for celebration.

Xiao Yu’s textbooks have arrived.

Pity she didn’t shift all night; she waited until I was asleep, sometime after midnight, to turn human. Who feels like teaching at that hour?

I rolled over and conked out.

Things feel stable now; I’m getting used to the human-cat shuffle.

Once she can read and talk, life should be easier.

In the afternoon she finally went human again. I nabbed her, parked her on a chair, and cracked open the first-grade Chinese primer.

I overestimated her literacy.

Even first-graders can already talk, and most know dozens of characters from kindergarten.

Xiao Yu’s language level is more like a three-year-old’s.

I tried starting with pinyin—flop.

Better to drill common words first.

Weird thing: the moment lessons begin, her human timer shrinks to about fifteen minutes—then poof, back to Little Kitty.

So even cats hate school?

Does that mean she can control the switch?

Needs more research.

I’d hoped she’d wear yesterday’s dirty laundry so I could skip washing, but fifteen minutes isn’t enough; the clothes still go in the machine.

——

What Ai Qing doesn’t know is that Xiao Yu still can’t stop the Warm Flow from draining.

In cat form she stockpiles it; the instant she chooses human, the reservoir bleeds dry until she reverts.

The reason she lasts only fifteen minutes during lessons?

She’s cramming Warm Flow into her brain to get smarter.

If she ever found out Ai Qing thinks she’s playing hooky... well, someone might bite harder next time.

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