CH 36

When they arrived in Z City, it was already noon. The two of them packed up their things and got off, and took a taxi straight to the Oceanarium. The Oceanarium is located on the coastline of Z City, next to the beach and the reef park.

The sea in Z City is a bit more beautiful than in N City, with an emerald green color.

But unfortunately, due to the heavy snowfall, the view was very limited and the magnificent view of the sea was blocked for a large part.

Zhang Man booked tickets for the afternoon online, but this year the electronic QR code tickets are not yet popular, so you have to wait in line to pick up the tickets at the window. Zhang Man was a little surprised that there were still many tourists in such a heavy snowstorm. There were a lot of people at the window, and there was a long line. The two of them waited for almost half an hour to get their tickets.

The Oceanarium is quite big, divided into several venues, all set in the ground. The two went first to the most prestigious main hall, Underwater World.

The air around the venue became humid as soon as they entered, and the lights were dimmed to simulate the living environment of deep-sea fish as much as possible. Visitors walked in waves, marveling at the scenery in front of them.

There is a huge glass wall of several floors, behind which is another world of corals, reefs and seaweeds. Countless sea creatures roam freely in it, with some strange forms of fish that Zhang Man has never seen before—Rays with flat bodies and broad pectoral fins, like a fan with a tail. Smaller groups of migratory fish pass between reefs and occasionally, one or two sharks with serrated teeth patrol the territory with vicious eyes.

Zhang Man looked dazzled as well, looking at the fish while reading the cue board.

She pulled the youth’s hand and pointed to a reef: “Li Wei, look at that group of fish. Aren’t they cute?” A big school swam past, each with dull eyes.

The youth’s eyes also curved slightly, agreeing with her in all seriousness: “Yeah, cute.”

He coughed softly again and squeezed her palm, “Call me boyfriend.”

—He wanted to hear her call him that.

Zhang Man froze for a moment and “puffed” out a laugh: “Okay. Dear Boyfriend.”

The youth held her hand tightly and the corners of his mouth rose: “Hmm.”

Two people continue to walk in the most famous 100-meter underwater tunnel of this underwater world. On one side of the tunnel, an automatic escalator is set up at a suitable speed, allowing people to quietly watch the huge and fantastic blue ocean with an arch-shaped glass roof at the top. From time to time, there will be many fish swimming overhead, as if they were really under the sea.

After the tunnel, you will arrive at the connected jellyfish museum, which is the most fantastic and beautiful place for little girls. Countless transparent jellyfish like a layer of light gauze freely come and go in the water. Their original colorless bodies are hit with a light pink light, creating a gentle and beautiful effect like a dream.

Many couples took photos together here, and some even took kissing photos with jellyfish as the background.

Zhang Man’s heart also seems to have become pink. Since her rebirth, she feels that she has never been so relaxed.

In fact, the nerves that have been tense before were not only due to Li Wei’s matter, but also Zhang Huifang’s. Now, it seems that one or two pieces are well resolved. Zhang Huifang got rid of Zheng Zineng while she on the other hand got together with Li Wei.

Everything is going in a very good direction, isn’t it? He’s ill but he’ll definitely get better from now on. Everything is still in time, she can certainly accompany him to the end, and when his hair is gray, they can still go out together to travel around.

Zhang Man suddenly had a sour nose at this moment.

She turned around and gently hugged the youth’s waist, her voice so soft: “Boyfriend, I’m so happy.”

The youth reached out and hugged her back, “……Well, so do I.”

There was a polar bear feeding program at 4 p.m. The two of them got there on time, but it was already crowded. The entire glass wall was surrounded by water, and Zhang Man, who was less than 1.6 meters, could not see the shadow of the polar bear on her tiptoes. She was going to give up, but in the next second she was picked up from around her waist, and her feet left the ground at once, quite a bit higher than the crowd in front of her.

Her heart warmed, she turned around and touched the top of the youth’s soft hair and looked at the polar bear.

There was only one polar bear on the other side of the glass, lying there alone, unperturbed by the people around him. Its fur is a little yellow and it looks very old.

The keeper threw in a lot of fish and meat from the window above, but the polar bear remained on its back without much reaction. When all the food was thrown in, it opened its eyes slowly and moved its paws, only picking up the surrounding food.

Its body did not change position during the entire meal.

Someone next to them said, “There were two polar bears here when I visited two years ago, and I heard that one of them died of old age later.”

Zhang Man watched… her chest sank a bit. It is all alone in this closed exhibition hall, numbed daily by people around, with no friends, no family, and the passage of time or life already seems meaningless to it.

What is the meaning of life, really? In the least, there’s more to it than just being alive…

At that moment, a crisp little girl’s voice rang out.

—”Mom. I can’t see! Pick me up!”

The adult’s voice was a little helpless.

—”You’re going to be in elementary school next year and are a big kid, why should I still have to pick you up?”

—”No fair! Look over there. That sister is also a big kid but the big brother is still doing it! I want to do the same!”

Zhang Man listened to this and the empathy that she’s feeling just now due to the lonely polar bear was put down in an instant, her cheeks and ears turned red in a flash as she pulled the youth’s hair, somewhat anxiously: “Put me down……”

The youth seemed to be laughing lightly, supporting her gently with one hand as he slowly let her down and held her hand as they walked outside.

Walking out of the polar bear exhibit, he looked at her and blinked, “Man Man, are you shy?”

Zhang Man coughed, in this regard, her face is indeed thin, and that is something she can’t admit: “No, I’m just afraid you’re tired, that’s all.”

He has always been tolerant of her pretensions, squeezing the palm of her hand, he nodded. “Mm-hmm”

From the polar bear area comes the most anticipated dolphin and sea lion show, which only takes place once during the entire afternoon session.

The venue is like a gymnasium with a circle of stepped seats around it and a huge blue pool in the very center. The show hadn’t started at this point, so the two entered with their tickets and took seats in the second row on the left.

Soon, the seats around were filled with people.

Most people come with their children, who are curious and ask a lot of questions, and chatter a lot.

The coolly dressed hostess had a very standard Mandarin voice and introduced the baby dolphins and sea lions that were about to appear. When the time came, several trainers each took the dolphins and sea lions into the scene.

The little dolphin named “Beibei” raised its head high and twisted its white body to proudly follow the trainer to glide out of the scene, with a beautiful image like a princess under the sea.  

Sea lions are not as good, their big fleshy head droops, and its body is not as good-looking as a dolphin’s, with some long gray-brown folds and a wrinkled face full of whiskers, looking more like an old man. But coupled with the chubby appearance, it also looks kinda cute apart from being silly.

The first show was a little dolphin catching darts. The trainer first let Beibei swim in the water for a while, whistled three times, and took out a red frisbee that flew to the end of the pool. Beibei heard the signal and quickly roamed in the water, making a beautiful leap at the end of the pool to catch the Frisbee with its mouth open.

The venue applauded grandly, Zhang Man slightly open mouth exclaimed, never thought the dolphin in the water could swim so fast!

Next, one of the dolphins also performed simple addition and subtraction with an astounding intelligence.

The young sea lions also completed the corresponding performance tasks, and the atmosphere of the whole scene reached its climax.

After watching the show, it’s time to interact with the little dolphins.

Bei Bei and Qi Qi “stood” left and right on the side of the playing field, proudly raising their heads and naturally curving their pointed mouths to the sides to look like they were smiling.

They even waved “hands” at the audience from time to time.

That look is so cute that even Zhang Man can’t help but be overwhelmed by her joyful feelings like a little girl, holding Li Wei’s arm and laughing nonstop.

The host went over and touched Beibei’s head and said with a smile, “It seems that among the friends who came today, there are a lot of beautiful women. We, Beibei, and Qi Qi have never been so excited as today. Beibei is good at everything, but he has one flaw. He is quite a lover of beautiful women, and he can’t stop looking at them.”

Beibei also nodded in cooperation, the wit really looks like a human child of 7 or 8 years old.

Everyone in the room burst out laughing.

The host told a few more jokes to heat up the atmosphere and started the main topic: “Anyone in the audience, who would like to come and have a close encounter with our little dolphin Beibei? Let me see who is the most enthusiastic…”

Everyone raised their hands enthusiastically, and a few small children were eager to rush directly to the stage, but were held and dragged by their parents to stop them.

Zhang Man also raised her hand, and afraid that it was not enough, raised Li Wei’s hand as well. The youth raised his hand somewhat helplessly, but his eyes kept looking at her, apparently interacting with the dolphin was less attractive than her.

The host looked around the circle, saw Zhang Man’s direction and smiled: “This little beauty also raised the hand of the little handsome man next to her, it seems she’s eager to get in touch with our Beibei. You, the girl in the white dress in the second row! You can come down now!”

Zhang Man realized that the trainer was talking about her and was a little surprised.

Hundreds of people, and she was chosen? She glanced happily at the youth next to her.

“Go.” He lifted a hand to her head, took the coat that sat on her lap, and nodded with a smile.

Zhang Man walked through the audience and went to the stage.

“Oh-hoh, I haven’t looked closely just now, but she’s actually such a pretty girl! Our Beibei and the audience also think she’s pretty, right?!”

The host is very good at livening up the atmosphere.

“—Beautiful!!!” Everyone in the arena was also giving face, and some young people even whistled towards Zhang Man.

“Tsk tsk, I will not hide it from everyone but our original intention is for Beibei to give a hug to someone, but with such a pretty girl, just a hug is not something Beibei is willing to do, isn’t it Beibei?”

The host smiled, shook her head and looked at the little dolphin.

Unexpectedly, Beibei really nodded and wiggled his body to their side to “walk” over, lifting his head on Zhang Man’s arm and rubbing it, the silly look once again triggered the audience to burst out laughing and cheering.

Zhang Man was leaning against it, her heart was in a soft mess, and she touched the little dolphin’s smooth head under the guidance of the trainer.

“Then, everyone, if hugging is not an option, shouldn’t a kiss be given?” The host once again spoke in a shocking way, but the whole room almost boiled over.