NOVEL NEXT Ch. 1
Chapter 1
Title: My Childhood Friend Turns into a Cat
Pen name: Zhuanjiao Huakai
Platform: Qidian Reading
Genre: Light Novel – Romance / Slice-of-Life
Editorial Group: Ninth Editorial Group
Synopsis:
“I’ve got a childhood friend I bicker with all day long.”
“Thanks to her, I’ve lost every romantic illusion about girls and poured my heart into studying.”
“But one day I realize that the stray cat who shows up on my balcony every night to hang out...”
“...seems to be my childhood friend in disguise???”
[Chapter 1 – Is This Really My Childhood Friend?!]
[Chapter 2 – Who Knew She Had Such a Cute Side]
[Confirm Publish]
Click!
Sitting at his computer, Ai Qing inhaled deeply. Beside the book’s page, three small red characters appeared—[Pending Review]—and he slowly exhaled.
A white blur flashed past, leapt onto the desk, padded along the edge, then hopped onto his lap and lifted a delicate face to nuzzle his chest.
“Xiao Yu, oh Xiao Yu, from now on it’s just you and me against the world.” Ai Qing bent down and smacked a kiss on the kitten’s forehead. “Wish us a runaway hit, or we’ll be drinking northwest wind.”
“Meow~”
Xiao Yu is a Linqing Lion Cat, a native long-haired breed. Snow-white and flawless, she curls on his lap like a fluffy marshmallow. When she opens her eyes—one sapphire, one amber—the heterochromia flashes with uncanny glamour, then melts back into pure feline silliness.
Ai Qing rubs her cheeks and checks the time: five in the afternoon.
He stands, scoops her up, and drops her gently to the floor, then leaves the bedroom.
Jinpan Yunting Residence, Building 2, Unit 1, Apt. 1801.
105 m², three-bed / one-living / one-kitchen / two-bath.
Rent: 4,600 yuan a month, including management; utilities extra.
Out in Linping District, far from downtown Hangzhou but close to Metro Line 9, the price is fair.
Ai Qing could never afford that solo. Luckily, the place belongs to a friend of his dad’s and has sat empty for ages; the owner refused to rent to strangers. Dad pulled a few strings, and Ai Qing got it for 2,000 yuan—cheap for what it is.
Besides, he has a cat to keep; no way would he trap Xiao Yu in a cramped ten-square-meter room.
“Dinner time. Entertain yourself, Xiao Yu.”
He walks to the living-room counter, grabs a ping-pong-ball-sized cotton puff, tosses it onto the floor, then heads into the kitchen and shuts the door.
A white streak darts after the toy.
In the kitchen, Ai Qing ties on an apron printed with Klee’s face, pulls out the groceries he bought at noon, and props his phone on a stand. Bright Moon in the Cup starts playing.
He unpacks the ingredients, fills a pot with water, sets it on the burner, then slices beef and shreds pork.
The beef gets sweet-potato starch, light soy, cooking wine, salt, chicken powder, a good massage, and finally a spoon of oil to lock it in.
The pork just needs a splash of wine and soy.
By the time he’s done, the water’s boiling. He drops in a handful of glass noodles, tosses the baby bok choy into the sink for a quick rinse, then drains the noodles into cold water.
Next come scallion, ginger, garlic, and the rest of the aromatics.
When the meat has marinated enough, he fires up the wok: flash-fried beef and baby-bok-choy glass-noodle stir-fry.
No rice tonight; noodles will do.
He fishes a bottle of RIO from the fridge, carries both dishes to the dining table.
Out in the living room, Xiao Yu abandons her beloved ball the instant she catches the scent and rockets over.
Ai Qing knows the drill. He opens the smart-home app, taps the feeder, and hits Feed Now.
The machine on the table whirs, kibble clatters into the bowl.
He squeezes lysine paste, hairball gel, and probiotics on top.
One man, one cat: he takes a chair, she claims the table.
Ai Qing opens a tablet, picks a fifteen-minute political-commentary clip, and they dine together.
A bite of beef, a mouthful of noodles, a leaf of bok choy to cut the grease, then a sip of RIO—he sighs, content.
The life he once chased is now his.
He only wants it to last forever.
...
By the time the video ends, dinner is finished.
Xiao Yu has licked her bowl clean and lies on the table grooming a paw, then swipes it across her face with a coquettish air.
Ai Qing scoops her up, buries his face in her fluffy neck, and feels the day’s tension melt.
After his cat-fix, he clears the table, washes up, and by six-thirty everything is spotless.
He carries Xiao Yu back to the bedroom, teases her with a wand for a bit, then sits at the desk and clicks an icon.
Genshin Impact—launch!
Fifteen minutes later he logs off.
He opens Bilibili on the computer and, on his phone, Qidian Reading.
I Have a Narcissus World—only 4,000 characters yesterday, the scoundrel.
Man, if I had a ten-thousand-sub hit, I’d pump out 10k a day until Qidian collapsed!
He finishes the update, flips to Bilibili, and bookmarks anything he might use under a folder labeled [Research].
Around nine he showers, tosses his dirty clothes into the washer, then flops onto the bed and opens the author backend.
Xiao Yu hops up and curls on the pillow, a warm ball exactly where his hand rests.
[You finally dropped a new book?!]
[Cat specialist, huh? Another feline—how obsessed are you?]
[Graduated? You said you were too busy to write—glad you’re back!]
[Childhood-friend trope! Yesss!]
The book passed review at six; three hours later it already has twenty-odd comments, mostly carry-over readers.
[Still that pure-virgin author’s dog-food flavor—gimme more!]
Heh.
Ai Qing just smiles. A committed single-by-choice, he only needs Xiao Yu.
Real romance can never match the scripted kind, and it demands actual dates, surprises, emotional labor.
In fiction he can fall in love with a few keystrokes—and get paid for it.
No contest.
Whether this book will earn enough for man and cat is still unknown.
His first serial, started senior year, ran seven months and averaged 500 subscriptions. Total royalties: just over 10,000 yuan—five months’ rent, nothing more.
If the new book flops, he’ll burn through his savings and end up interning at Mom’s company.
Perish the thought.
He opens QQ and pings his editor.
[Zhuanjiao Huakai]: Mighty Editor, my new book My Childhood Friend Turns into a Cat just passed review—requesting 6k-word contract review~
No reply; after nine, office hours are over.
He closes QQ, checks his stockpile—three chapters.
Must write more tomorrow.
He exits the backend and cycles through his apps.
They seem in collusion: after midnight the feed is an endless parade of pretty girls or mouth-watering food, peppered with patriotic tear-jerkers and couples’ happily-ever-afters designed to make you cry.
Curse this algorithmic age...
He glances at the clock—already past eleven.
Time to sleep.
He plugs in his phone, rolls over, and sweeps Xiao Yu into his arms.
She wriggles once, then settles into the warm crook of the blanket.
“I’m a committed singleton—love is unnecessary. When I scroll past pretty-girl or couple videos, it’s purely for research.” Ai Qing kissed Xiao Yu on the forehead, closed his eyes, and settled in to sleep. “If Xiao Yu could turn into a beautiful girl, maybe I’d actually think about it.”
“Meow~”
...
3:30 a.m.
Moonlit darkness. A full bladder dragged Ai Qing from sleep. He stretched languidly in bed, about to throw off the quilt and head for the toilet.
The stretch was only half-finished when his hand smacked into something.
Xiao Yu?
The texture was all wrong—where was the fur?
Why was it smooth as silk?
Ai Qing frowned, blinked hard, and followed his arm to whatever lay to his right.
In the next heartbeat a girl’s quiet, docile sleeping face slipped into his moonlit world.
His lungs forgot how to breathe.
Must be a dream... back to sleep.