With the passing of May into June, Jiang Lan had been working in the street administration office for almost a month.

On the first day of June, a small cat climbing tree greeted him when he walked into the office. This cat climbing tree was well-made and designed to cater to the taste of small children. Two Mickey mouse balloons were tied to it.

One glance was enough to tell him that this was a gift for Suan Ni.

Jiang Lan paused in the doorway.” What’s this for? Can we put this thing in the office?”

Zhang Tianxing raised his head and said with an expressionless face.” Today is Children’s day. This cat climbing tree is a gift I bought for Nini. I have already asked the Chief’s permission to put it here. He is ok with it.”

Jiang Lan:????

Is this thing allowed in the office?

On hearing his name mentioned, Suan Ni jumped out of the bag. The moment he saw the cat climbing tree, his golden cat eyes squinted and meowed to express his pleasure. Then he darted to the top of the climbing tree and went down the slide.

Suan Ni was so excited by this new toy that he repeatedly charged up the climbing tree and slid down. After several rounds, he trotted to Jiang Lan and raised his head to meow, indicating to Jiang Lan that he wanted Jiao Tu to join his fun making.

Jiang Lan put Jiao Tu on the climbing tree, letting these two little brothers enjoy the new toy.

Suan Ni’s small head moved closer to the conch, seeming to whisper something to Jiao Tu. Then Suan Ni pushed Jiao Tu to the edge of the slide. Holding Jiao Tu tight with his four paws, Suan went down the slide with Jiao Tu.

When they reached the bottom of the slide, Suan Ni jumped to his feet. Watching Jiang Lan and Zhang Tianxing, he meowed again, asking them to put Jiao Tu on the top of the tree again.

Jiang Lan……

Finally, as Suan Ni was waiting impatiently with his tail wagging back and forth, it was the indulging cool guy Zhang Tianxing who put Jiao Tu on the edge of the slide. 

At this moment, the other colleagues in the office gathered around to enjoy this cute spectacle. Xiao Xiaoyu was impressed.” Sometimes I felt Nini was so smart that he seemed to almost have human intelligence.”

Hearing this, Xue Meng thought to himself: Almost? He definitely has human intelligence. Do you think our brother Jiang Lan will adopt a normal cat?

Even Uncle Zhou had come to watch with his teacup. He said with a smile on his face.” In this office, only Jiang Lan has children in his family? Chief just said he can get off early this afternoon to celebrate Children’s day.”

“Jiang Lan has children in his home?” Xue Meng regarded Jiang Lan with suspicion.” Did you count the kids of your relatives as your children?” 

He then turned to Uncle Zhou.” I am a kid; I also want to get off early today to celebrate Children’s Day.”

Hearing this, Xiao Xiaoyu rolled her eyes.” Now you finally admit being a twenty years old giant infant.”

Xue Meng snorted.” Oh, you decided to be an adult and have nothing planned for today?”

Xiao Xiaoyu gave a sneering laugh.” I have already agreed to meet my friends for a hot pot tonight.”

As they were bickering, Zhang Tianxing was attending to Suan Ni and Jiao Tu. He asked Jiang Lan.” Do you plan to take Nini out for some fun this afternoon?”

After a thought, Jiang Lan said yes.

Suan Ni had regressed into a cub. Even though Jiao Tu was a high monster, he had very limited contacts with human society. Being simple-minded and timid, Jiao Tu was still a young cub in Jiang Lan’s mind.

Jiang Lan felt it necessary to celebrate Children’s day with them when they were still children.

Zhang Tianxing had a disappointed look on his face when he heard Jiang Lan’s affirmative answer. But he was not easily discouraged.” I will join you.”

Looking at this persistent cool guy and his little brother, who was having a whale of a time with this climbing tree, Jiang Lan felt a little headache.

****

At three o’clock in the afternoon, Jiang Lan was ready to get off work for his brothers’ Children’s day celebration.

Zhang Tianxing held Suan Ni in his arms and followed Jiang Lan out.

Xue Meng stuck his head out.” Chief, someone had left work without your permission!”

Zhang Tianxing turned to face him with a cold face.” I will buy you a hot pot, ok?”

Xue Meng.” All right, please go. I will take care of everything for you.”

Satisfied, Zhang Tianxing left with Jiang Lan.

Jiang Lan asked Jiao Tu in his arms in a gentle voice if he wanted to go to the amusement park with them. Today the amusement park must be very crowded. After a little hesitation, Jiao Tu’s curiosity prevailed over his fear. Knocking his conch, he said he would go.

Before their trip to the amusement park, they went home first.

It was the first time Zhang Tianxing visited their home. But he didn’t appear curious. With a straight face, he sat upright on the sofa, waiting for them. But when Suan Ni brought out his cherished toys and snacks, indicating he could have anything he wanted, Zhang Tianxing’s face became a little animated.

Jiang Lan brought Jiao Tu to the bedroom to change into a new set of clothing.

Since the facilities in the amusement park were off-limits to pets, Jiao Tu needed to change into a human form.

After they went out of the bedroom in identical clothing, Jiang Lan put a bowtie in the same color as their clothing on Suan Ni’s neck. 

Suan Ni proudly raised his head. Gazing at transformed Jiao Tu, Zhang Tianxing had a blank look on his face.” Can Nini transform into human form?”

Jiang Lan shook his head.” He is just a cub, can’t transform yet.”

Actually, Suan Ni had been stuck in his cub form for many years since he hatched out of a dragon egg. He can’t grow or transform.

But Zhang Tianxing wasn’t supposed to know this. That’s why Jiang Lan gave him a vague answer.

Hearing this, Zhang Tianxing fell silent. With furrowed eyebrows, he seemed to be thinking.

But Jiang Lan couldn’t glimpse his thoughts through his expressionless face. He said.” Let’s go.”

Zhang Tianxing drove the car. Jiang Lan and Jiao Tu took the back seat. Suan Ni stayed in the passenger seat, watching the passing street.

They came out early before the rush hour, so they didn’t get stuck in the traffic jam. When they arrived at the amusement park entrance, Jiang Lan explained to Jiao Tu dos and don’ts of the amusement park, asking him to follow him closely in case they were separated in the crowd.

The amusement park was called Ocean and Mountain amusement park. As a famous monster-themed amusement park, this park also featured a pet section, making this place the only amusement park in Jiang City where pets were allowed.

To celebrate Children’s Day, the amusement park had adopted a different monster theme to put a new face on the park.  The park employees dressed in various monster costumes could be seen everywhere, distributing balloons. There were also many young special “monsters” dressed in costumes. They were park employees’ children being invited to celebrate their Children’s Day in the park.

Once they entered the park, an employee dressed in a fox costume greeted them with balloons.” Care for balloons?”

Under the clear blue sky, the yellow smiley face balloons in his hands were particularly bright and animated.

Jiang Lan asked for two balloons and tied each to Jiao Tu and Suan Ni’s arms.

Suan Ni shook his wrist, and the balloon swayed following his motion. He meowed in satisfaction.

They could hear the smile in that fox costumed employee’s voice.” I wish you all a happy time here.”

Jiang Lan thanked him. But Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw that employee turned to reveal the fluffy fox tail behind. He widened his eyes.” That fox tail….seem so real.”

Zhang Tianxing didn’t appear surprised.” One of the reasons for Ocean and Mountain Amusement Park’s popularity is the legend that there are real monsters in this park.”

There was no lack of curiosity seekers and bold adventurers in this world. While some people fear unknown creatures, other people take pleasure in discovering them. After the sighting of a real monster in this amusement park was reported, the amusement park didn’t suffer a downturn in popularity as expected. On the contrary, this news attracted a crowd of vloggers and social media influencers here in the hope of catching a glimpse of that monster.

The design and theme of Ocean and Mountain Amusement Park were inspired by the mythology of Hua Nation. Most of the costumes and the designs of the decorations were based on the legendary monsters and deities in the Hua Nation Mythology. The designs of these costumes were also very cute to attract adults fascinated with the mythology and children who simply came here for a good time.

The rumored sighting of a monster first originated from a tourist who ran into a panda monster.

This tourist rested in a bamboo woods after an exhausting day; coincidently, several employees also sat chatting in the same bamboo woods. These employees didn’t bother to take off their heavy costumes while resting. The scene of several costumed figures talking together was very adorable. So this tourist took out his phone, wanting to take a photo.

But the moment he tapped the shutter button, an employee dressed in a panda costume suddenly took off his head costume.

In the photo he took, this employee appeared to have a fluffy panda head even with his panda head costume removed.

That tourist was shocked and immediately set off for the tourist service center, where he complained he saw a real monster in this amusement park. But the employees there were skeptical, and insisted that he must see it wrong. In anger, that tourist posted his photo on Weibo^[1]A Chinese twitter-like social media platform. His post was retweeted many times, and this incident became well known.

But the people’s reactions to this sighting took this tourist completely by surprise. Many people clamored for a ticket to this amusement park to look for this panda monster.

This is our national treasure^[2]Panda is regarded as China’s national treasure!

What are you afraid of?

After this incident, many similar posts emerged on different social media platforms claiming the sighting of other monsters in the Ocean and Mountain Amusement Park. Fox Monster, bear monster, bunny monster….some of the accompanying photos were very convincing, but some were just badly photoshopped images.

Most people dismissed such claims as mere fantasies.

But a small minority was convinced they were real and came in droves to Ocean and Mountain Amusement Parks to seek the truth.

It was the first time Jiang Lan came to this park, and he had never heard about the legends about his park before. Glancing at that red fox and his wagging tail, he smiled.