After leaving the Cantonese restaurant, it was already three o’clock in the afternoon. Jiang Que drank the bubble tea he took to go, sitting in the car and heading towards the amusement park with Shen Tazhi.
“The crystal shrimp dumplings1hargow were so delicious, and I also liked the fried hor fun2flat rice noodles.” Jiang Que commented on the dishes they had just eaten, feeling a bit regretful. “It’s just that I ate too much at the end, I didn’t even finish the egg tarts.”
He had managed to finish most of the plate of beef fried hor fun by himself. By the time the egg tarts were served, he was already feeling full.
In addition, the egg tarts were sweet, and he had just finished eating something savory, so after a couple of bites, he felt too full to continue. He could only watch Shen Tazhi finish the rest regretfully.
“This restaurant also has a branch in the city center. If you like it, I’ll take you there again when we get back home,” Shen Tazhi said with a smile as he drove.
“Okay,” Jiang Que happily agreed, but couldn’t help but yawn.
He hadn’t taken a nap today and had originally planned to go back to the hotel for a nap. However, when he saw the swinging pirate ship and ferris wheel at the amusement park from afar as they left the Cantonese restaurant, he suddenly felt interested in going to the park right away.
Since Shen Tazhi had prepared three days’ worth of unlimited passes, they didn’t have to wait in line, and if they played from now until the park closed at nine in the evening, they could enjoy many attractions.
Shen Tazhi noticed his actions and asked, “Are you very tired? Do you want to rest for a bit?”
Jiang Que shook his head. “I’m not tired. I want to go play on that swinging pirate ship.”
He took a refreshing sip of his iced milk tea to perk up, and Shen Tazhi couldn’t help but smile beside him, saying, “Let’s not stay out too late tonight. We can come back tomorrow morning and the day after.”
“Okay,” Jiang Que agreed, then thought for a moment and added, “Let’s skip tomorrow morning. You have a business meeting tomorrow night, so let’s come back the day after.”
He reached out with his backpack’s breathable tentacles and patted Shen Tazhi’s shoulder, a gesture of praise. Shen Tazhi chuckled and replied, “Thank you, Que Que. You’re so good.”
The tentacles retracted satisfied, and at that moment, the vehicle pulled into the parking lot of the park. Jiang Que glanced at the glaring sun, hesitated for a moment, then decided to put on his sunglasses before getting out of the car with Shen Tazhi.
As soon as he stepped out of the car, Jiang Que furrowed his brows.
It was strange; he had a feeling that someone was watching him from the shadows, and the gaze didn’t seem friendly.
He looked around but couldn’t see anyone. Just then, Shen Tazhi walked over with a sunshade opened, asking, “Is everything okay?”
“Nothing,” Jiang Que retracted his gaze and held Shen Tazhi’s hand, saying, “Let’s go in and play.”
While he linked arms with Shen Tazhi and walked towards the amusement park, he silently raised his guard.
It would be best if he had misunderstood. If there really were people with ill intentions towards him…
Hmm, he would have to find a place where Shen Tazhi couldn’t see to deal with it.
.
Entering the amusement park, getting the tickets checked – all these processes were quite new and exciting for Jiang Que. He watched the ticket inspector tear off the stub and hand it over without blinking. Walking into the park with Shen Tazhi, he envied, “I also want to be a ticket inspector.”
Shen Tazhi actually thought about it seriously before replying, “Anyway, this amusement park is about to be acquired. If you want to experience it, it might be possible. I can arrange for you to try a day of work then.”
The ticket inspector checking tickets under the scorching sun: …
Sometimes, he didn’t really understand these VIP lane guests.
Jiang Que was delighted, even the tentacles in his backpack seemed eager to try new things. Shen Tazhi patted his bulging backpack and said with a smile, “If they want to play too, I can lend you a temporary little tent. You can use your tentacles to tear things apart inside.”
Just the thought of Jiang Que using his eight tentacles to tear tickets made Shen Tazhi burst out laughing.
“Why are you laughing at me again?” Jiang Que said unhappily, pulling him.
Shen Tazhi replied, “Because I find you cute.”
Jiang Que gave him a glare. He didn’t want Shen Tazhi to describe him as “cute” right now. Perhaps he would be happier if Shen Tazhi could say he was “reliable.”
But his annoyance vanished quickly when he saw the carousel. Grabbing Shen Tazhi’s hand, he ran towards it, exclaiming, “I want to ride this! I want to sit in the pumpkin carriage!”
Shen Tazhi was dragged all the way to the VIP ticket checkpoint by him. At the first opportunity when the gate opened, Jiang Que rushed inside and successfully grabbed the pumpkin carriage.
“Why do you like this carriage so much?” Shen Tazhi asked casually as he sat in the carriage and looked outside.
He didn’t really mind where he sat, but the pumpkin carriage was shorter than the adjacent carousel. He thought, based on Jiang Que’s personality, he would choose the tallest and most beautiful horse.
Sitting next to him, Jiang Que replied matter-of-factly, “Because only this one can seat two people, I don’t want to sit separately from you.”
Shen Tazhi paused for a moment, then smiled, “Is that so?”
As they were speaking, regular tickets began to be checked, and a couple holding hands walked up. After hesitating for a while, they ultimately chose the horse in front of them on the carousel.
Jiang Que watched helplessly as the couple sat together on a horse, with the guy wrapping his arms around the girl from behind.
Jiang Que: ?
Feeling disappointed, he slumped onto Shen Tazhi’s shoulder, “How come human dates have these kinds of details? Du Lulu didn’t tell me about this.”
Shen Tazhi comforted him, “It’s okay, it’s already good.”
He didn’t expect that Jiang Que had the idea of wanting to sit together when he pulled him to choose a seat. He was pleasantly surprised when he found out.
Although Jiang Que was still not very happy, the carousel had already started, and he couldn’t change seats anymore. He could only lean on Shen Tazhi and watch.
During the first round, Jiang Que was quite interested, looking at the colorful lights and the poles moving up and down with the carousel. He pulled Shen Tazhi to go and see the horses swaying up and down in front of the pumpkin carriage.
By the second round, Jiang Que had seen enough and started looking at the people outside.
On the third round, Jiang Que turned his head and said, “I feel like I’m an animal being watched in the zoo.”
Shen Tazhi was amused by his analogy, and Jiang Que complained, “Why are you laughing? Do you also think playing this with me is childish?”
“No,” Shen Tazhi replied, “I just find your analogy funny, not childish.”
Despite his words, Jiang Que didn’t fully believe Shen Tazhi. The moment the carousel stopped, he hastily pulled Shen Tazhi away.
Just as they left the carousel, the malevolent gaze he felt when getting off the ride stuck to him again. Jiang Que furrowed his brow and, before Shen Tazhi could notice something was wrong, he quickly pulled him into the haunted house next to the carousel.
Above the entrance to the haunted house, twisted letters spelled out “Cave of Terror,” and even standing at the ticket booth, one could feel the chilling air emanating from inside.
Shen Tazhi looked at the dark entrance and asked, “Are you sure you want to play this?”
Jiang Que, who was determined to scare the mysterious person following him, paused, “Are you scared?”
“I’m not scared,” Shen Tazhi pondered for a moment, “but I’m worried that you might be.”
Glancing casually at the entrance, Jiang Que replied, “It’s just a bit dark. What do I have to be afraid of?”
“Alright.”
Upon hearing Jiang Que’s words, Shen Tazhi didn’t hesitate and entered the haunted house with Jiang Que.
This haunted house was quite unique as it had tracks inside, and visitors needed to sit on mine carts to personally control the carts and explore the cave.
As soon as they sat in the mine cart, each of them was handed a safety helmet and a walkie-talkie by the staff next to them. The staff explained, “The mining helmet has a flashlight. If you find the cart’s light too dim, you can turn on the flashlight for illumination. Press the button on the right side of the walkie-talkie to speak. Whether you get lost or want to exit the haunted house early, you can contact our staff through the walkie-talkie.”
Jiang Que took note of the instructions, held the walkie-talkie in his hand, and then fumbled with how to operate the mine cart. He cautiously pushed the cart pedal and set off with Shen Tazhi.
With a loud clank, the mine cart entered the cave, and the cart’s light automatically turned on.
The cave was dark, illuminated only dimly by the cart’s light, barely lighting up a distance of one or two meters ahead. In the endless darkness, this faint light seemed to create a greater sense of oppression, as if unknown monsters lurked beyond the light.
Jiang Que adapted well to the environment. He could even see the staff members hiding nearby in the darkness. He turned to Shen Tazhi and said, “There’s a person around the corner ahead—ah!!”
Suddenly, a bloodied mannequin head fell from above, rolling into the mine cart with wide eyes and a protruding tongue, accompanied by an eerie laugh.
Jiang Que was completely caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the head and instinctively jumped into Shen Tazhi’s arms, nearly bursting out of his backpack in shock.
Shen Tazhi caught him, casually tossed the mannequin head away, and helplessly asked, “I thought you weren’t scared?”
“I’m not scared,” Jiang Que argued, “I was startled. Who knew it would suddenly fall like that?”
As the mine cart reached a turn and Shen Tazhi pedaled a bit slower due to Jiang Que’s absence, it gave the employee at the turn the perfect opportunity to jump out and put on a good show.
Accompanied by tense music and eerie screams, a bloodied miner with one eye out of its socket appeared, covered in blood, roaring as if trying to climb onto the mine cart.
Jiang Que was shaken, quickly sat up, frantically pedaled the cart to speed up the turn, leaving the miner far behind.
“Well…” Shen Tazhi’s teasing voice sounded, “You’re not scared.”
“I am not—Hey, don’t stop, keep pedaling, Shen Tazhi, are you making fun of me?!”
Jiang Que’s voice echoed in the cave, along with Shen Tazhi’s light chuckle.
However, everything that happened just now was clearly just the beginning.
Next, as the minecart moved forward, the main storyline of the cave began to unfold before them accompanied by background music.
The story goes something like this: it’s about a mine where a heartless boss buried hundreds of miners alive, who were exploited during their lives and couldn’t find peace even in death, thus filled with resentment.
As for the rest of the plot, Jiang Que didn’t know, as the minecart reached an uphill slope following the climax of the music, with the spirits of the miners chasing them from behind, desperately pedaling the cart.
The next moment, the music abruptly stopped, the minecart came to a halt on the slope, and even started sliding back down.
In disbelief, Jiang Que gave the cart another push, then realizing it truly wouldn’t move, he threw away the walkie-talkie, dove into Shen Tazhi’s arms, and closed his eyes.
“Shen Tazhi, how could you humans design such a horrible haunted house!!”
As he accused, the minecart slowly slid down the slope, eventually falling into a pile of restless spirits.
Jiang Que held onto Shen Tazhi tightly with closed eyes throughout, only hearing the sound of “hehe” around him and the occasional hands patting him.
Shen Tazhi protected him, and Jiang Que felt a bit embarrassed, but then thought it might be better to cry a little first.
Since he was already embarrassed, Shen Tazhi would definitely tease him when they got out, so he decided to cry first.
If he cried, Shen Tazhi wouldn’t dare to make fun of him.
After some time passed and the chaotic noises around them ceased, the minecart started up again.
Jiang Que still buried his head in Shen Tazhi’s chest, refusing to lift his head until he felt a faint sunlight shining down from above.
The minecart had reached its destination, with staff members cheerfully collecting props up ahead.
Shen Tazhi patted his head, chuckling, “Okay, it’s over now—what’s wrong?”
His tone shifted suddenly in the second half of the sentence, a departure from his previous casual demeanor.
With tears in his eyes, Jiang Que looked at Shen Tazhi, debating whether to cry or not, waiting for Shen Tazhi to laugh so he could cry in response.
Shen Tazhi didn’t laugh. Instead, he furrowed his brows, took out a tissue from his pocket, and gently wiped Jiang Que’s tears, sighing, “Why are you still crying? We won’t play this again in the future, okay?”
As the staff came to collect the props, Shen Tazhi handed over the miner’s helmet and the walkie-talkie left at the bottom of the cart, then led Jiang Que out of the haunted house, being extra cautious in his movements.
Jiang Que pouted, feeling wronged, “You scared me on purpose.”
“That was at the beginning, I thought you wouldn’t be that scared. I’m sorry, my bad.” Shen Tazhi apologized straightforwardly, “I won’t do it again, please don’t cry, okay?”
Jiang Que continued to shed tears, “Why do you humans design haunted houses like this? It’s all your fault.”
He wasn’t really afraid of those oddly shaped ghosts, it was just the sudden music and the ghosts jumping out that scared him too much. He had only seen terrifying scenes before and had never been scared like this.
“Yes, it’s all the fault of the people who design haunted houses.” Shen Tazhi followed Jiang Que’s words and comforted him, leading the still frightened Jiang Que to sit on a nearby bench.
Jiang Que wanted to say more but was hugged by Shen Tazhi.
Shen Tazhi’s embrace was warm, gently patting his back and soothing, “I was wrong too, I’m bad. I scared you when you were afraid. I’ll buy you ice cream from the ice cream truck, okay?”
Jiang Que took the opportunity to state his final goal, “Don’t laugh at me.”
Shen Tazhi quickly promised, “I won’t laugh.”
Satisfied, Jiang Que leaned against Shen Tazhi, wiping his tears, and after a while said slowly, “You’re not bad, you protected me in the end.”
He was actually dumbfounded by the stopped minecart midway, and Shen Tazhi had been comforting him all along. Jiang Que wasn’t one to hold grudges and wouldn’t keep bringing up what Shen Tazhi had done.
Besides, he wasn’t really angry, he just didn’t want Shen Tazhi to tease him.
“Why are you so forgiving?” Shen Tazhi chuckled and sighed, then asked, “So, ice cream?”
“Yes.” Jiang Que sat up.
He had been thinking about getting ice cream from the truck while watching the promotional video.
Now in a better mood, he walked towards the ice cream truck with Shen Tazhi, discussing the haunted house they had just experienced. Along the way, he also paid attention to the gaze he had felt earlier near the carousel.
Good, it was gone. Probably scared off by the haunted house too.
Content with this thought, Jiang Que happily pulled Shen Tazhi towards the ice cream truck. There, he saw the last person he expected.
“Du Lulu?” Jiang Que was puzzled, “Why are you working here?”
“Hi…” Du Lulu waved awkwardly, silently shedding tears in her heart.
Why, even though she had disguised herself, how did Jiang Que still recognize her at a glance?
She hated fieldwork, she wasn’t good at covert observation at all. She might as well become a tutor for Jiang Que to answer his tricky questions.
Shen Tazhi was also surprised but then showed a knowing smile, greeting the obviously disguised girl in front of him, “Hello, we’re here to buy ice cream. Que Que, what flavor would you like?”
Jiang Que shifted his gaze away from Du Lulu because of her words and looked at the menu, hesitating for a moment before saying, “I want a matcha and original flavor combo, with chocolate sauce on top, sprinkled with chocolate chips and powdered sugar. I also want this wafer crisp—can I add a vanilla ice cream scoop as well?”
“Sure, that will be a total of eighty-seven yuan.”
Du Lulu took the money, then somewhat unskillfully filled a large bowl of ice cream for Jiang Que, even adding an extra round of scoops compared to the diagram.
Handing the ice cream to Jiang Que, she whispered, “The things in the amusement park are too expensive. I added a bit more for you, can you just pretend you didn’t notice?”
Du Lulu’s “bribe” suited Jiang Que’s preferences, and he nodded, happily agreeing. After asking Du Lulu for two spoons, he sat down with Shen Tazhi under a nearby parasol and began to eat the ice cream slowly.
As Jiang Que ate, he thought, could the gaze he felt earlier have come from Du Lulu?
The next moment, he dismissed his own thoughts.
No, Du Lulu couldn’t possibly have looked at them with such malicious intent.
Another spoonful of ice cream went into his mouth, the sweet and cool taste making Jiang Que squint his eyes in pleasure.
The ice cream itself was pretty ordinary, but the ice cream truck nearby was really eye-catching, with a variety of ice creams displayed beautifully on the truck. Just the act of “buying ice cream from an ice cream truck” was enough to make Jiang Que happy.
Shen Tazhi also had a few bites nearby and casually asked, “How did you recognize Du Lulu?”
To be fair, Du Lulu’s disguise skills weren’t so poor that one could see through them at first glance. Shen Tazhi himself only noticed it was Du Lulu after Jiang Que mentioned her name.
“By looking at her eyes.” Jiang Que said matter-of-factly, “The emotions in everyone’s eyes are different. Du Lulu is easy to recognize, kind, lively, and a bit unwilling. It’s definitely her.”
Well, it turned out that recognizing people was unique to Jiang Que.
Shen Tazhi couldn’t quite understand Jiang Que’s personification of emotions, but that didn’t stop him from curiously asking, “And me? How do I appear in your eyes?”
“Um…” Jiang Que struggled with the spoon in his mouth.
“I don’t know what you look like.” After pondering for a while, he earnestly replied, “I can’t see your emotions, but I can recognize you as Shen Tazhi at a glance.”
As they talked, a little girl holding a balloon passed by the colorful ice cream truck.
She looked up at the huge cone model on top of the ice cream truck, tugged at her parents’ sleeves, and said, “Mom, Dad, I want that!”
Her parents looked resigned yet indulgent, leading her to the ice cream truck and reluctantly spent over fifty yuan to buy her a strawberry cone.
Seeing this, Jiang Que was puzzled and asked Shen Tazhi, “Is the ice cream from this truck very expensive for humans?”
Shen Tazhi also noticed the situation over there and replied, “It’s probably considered expensive, but it’s nothing to me. Do you want another one?”
Jiang Que noticed that the ice cream was almost gone, and after some thought, he shook his head and, imitating the little girl’s tone from earlier, tugged at Shen Tazhi’s sleeve:
“No, but Que Que also wants a balloon.”
He couldn’t help but be amused by himself midway through speaking, and Shen Tazhi looked at him helplessly, then laughed along after a moment.
Standing up with the empty bowl of ice cream, he smiled, “Let’s go, Baby Que, let’s buy you a balloon.”
Jiang Que also stood up, holding Shen Tazhi’s hand, happily swaying, and walked towards the balloon seller with Shen Tazhi. Whether it was his tentacles or his non-human eyes, they were temporarily hidden, and at that moment, Jiang Que appeared just like any other ordinary human, walking in the sunlight with Shen Tazhi.
