A four-year-old girl sometimes doesn't know her own strength. Even though Xixi was trying hard to control herself, she occasionally scratched the kitten a bit too hard, making Xiaoguai yelp and tremble. But overall, this "massage" was still very pleasant.
As Xiaoguai squinted, enjoying the mix of pain and pleasure, Xiaohui and Duoduo couldn't hold back anymore. They swished their tails and circled around their little owner.
Duoduo was fine; her personality was like Murphy's in the past—aloof and pretending not to care at all, with her head turned away. But her reluctance to leave and the slight wag of her tail betrayed her inner longing.
Xiaohui was the eldest of the three cat siblings, but also the one who loved to act spoiled. Watching from the side for a while, she placed her fluffy little paw on her little owner's arm, as if to say: Let that cat go, come at me instead!
Seeing that his daughter had become skilled at petting the cats, Yang Yi stood up, washed his hands at the counter, and poured himself a glass of water.
Murphy had stopped what she was doing at some point. She sat on the bench beside the piano, smiling softly as she watched their daughter.
These past few days, Murphy had been on her period. Yesterday, she laughed so hard it gave her a stomachache. Yang Yi poured a glass of warm water and brought it over to her.
"Thanks." Murphy took the water. The clean glass, the crystal-clear liquid, and the warmth in her hands made her look up at Yang Yi with tender eyes.
Yang Yi gave a faint smile and leaned against the counter, watching their daughter alongside Murphy.
"Actually, sending her to kindergarten, I'm a bit reluctant," Yang Yi said with a soft sigh. "I've gotten used to having this little troublemaker around the house. Tomorrow, it's probably going to get quiet all of a sudden."
Murphy shot him a playful glare. "You say that! Xixi has gotten so wild at your place that she doesn't even want to come back to mine. My place is the one that's really lonely!"
"Then move in with me, and I'll drive you to work!" Yang Yi suddenly turned his head, his eyes burning with intensity. "Just like with Xixi—I'll pick you up in the evening too!"
Murphy was flustered, whether by Yang Yi's words or his eager gaze. She pursed her lips for a moment before saying, "How can that work? You'd be too tired!"
"I wouldn't be tired!" Yang Yi felt there was a chance and eagerly pitched his idea. "Think about it, living at my place—it's spacious, the surrounding natural environment is comfortable, backed by mountains and facing water, the air is fresh..."
It felt like the next line should be: "Buy it? Buy it? Act now, this house is only ninety-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-eight—buy it without regret, buy it without loss!"
Of course, Yang Yi wasn't that ridiculous. He continued, "And every day, I can cook delicious meals for the two of you. Want Chinese? I can do Sichuan, Shandong, Cantonese, Jiangsu, Fujian, Zhejiang, Hunan, and Anhui. Want Western food? French, Italian, even Russian—I can make it all look good! Or if you want sushi, I can do that too..."
He rattled off that long list of cuisines without stumbling over his words, as if he'd studied tongue twisters. Murphy couldn't help but laugh at the thought.
"It's not possible right now. I'm busy, and you're busy too. How can I ask you to drive me every day?" Murphy shook her head again, but her voice was soft as she explained. "And sometimes, when I'm recording a song, I can't break the flow. It might end up being really late!"
At that moment, a thought popped into Yang Yi's mind: Make money fast, get Mo Xiaojuan to set up the studio near home!
"Besides, now that you've opened the shop, aren't you getting more customers?" Murphy pointed outside with a smile. "Even though you locked the door today, I saw several groups of people peeking in. Once school officially starts, there might be even more customers! Then how would you have time to drive an hour to pick me up?"
"Hmm..." Yang Yi nodded silently.
What Murphy said was true. Recently, customers had started to increase. If Yang Yi kept the shop open, sometimes he couldn't even take care of Xixi!
But this wasn't the life he wanted!
How should he adjust?
...
August 31st. Today was the big day for Xixi to start kindergarten, but it was also an important milestone in the internet age!
Early that morning, led by Sahara Online Mall (formerly Sahara Online Bookstore, renamed), Qiyue Literature Network, and the three major domestic banks jointly held a press conference.
"We announce that the internet has entered the era of online banking payments!" The CEO of Commercial Bank said with a beaming face. Along with representatives from the other two banks, he joined Fu Jun, the owner of Sahara Online Mall, and the owner of Qiyue Literature Network in pushing down a lever symbolizing the launch.
The media, who had gotten wind of the news early, excitedly clicked their cameras and eagerly raised their hands to ask questions.
After seeing off the leaders, Fu Jun stayed behind to answer the reporters' questions one by one.
What was online banking payment?
It meant that netizens could skip the tedious process of going to the bank or an ATM to transfer money. They could directly log into the corresponding bank's online platform to complete these payment operations!
Obviously, it would greatly improve the efficiency of online payments, making it more convenient for more people to enjoy online services! And more importantly, it saved money!
Why?
Before the advent of online banking, there were two ways for people to recharge or pay online. One was to go to the bank for each transfer, and the other was to use third-party internet payment companies.
For example, suppose Xiao Ming liked reading novels on Iron Army Network and also on Qiyue Literature Network. He also liked watching movies on one site and listening to music on another. Clearly, he couldn't run to the bank to recharge and pay for every chapter of a novel or every song he listened to, nor could he pre-recharge a large sum of money on each site!
And in this world, there were no pirated websites—no free lunch!
So, to avoid the hassle and not lock up too much money on different sites, Xiao Ming could only go to the bank to transfer money to a third-party internet payment company. That money would then exist as a digital balance in the internet payment company's account.
Then, when he wanted to spend on a certain website, he only needed to transfer the corresponding amount from that third-party internet payment company to the website's account online, and he could complete the purchase.
Naturally, the money held in the internet payment company earned no interest, and the transfer fees weren't cheap. But in the past, netizens had to grit their teeth and accept it to enjoy these services!
Now, the emergence of online banking was undoubtedly a huge blow to the third-party internet payment market, but it also genuinely brought convenience to netizens!
"The internet enters a new era!" This headline was by no means sensational. Some reporters were already brimming with excitement, as if they could see the great prosperity of the internet!