Chapter 91

After breakfast, Wei Leng sent Zheng Tan and the Peanut Candy back; as for that big cat, this little rascal just lounged on the sofa and refused to move.

Ye Hao even tried to intimidate it, but the guy just yawned and ignored people; aside from not letting anyone put a leash on it, it behaved quite honestly.

Originally Ye Hao had decided to get rid of that big cat, but his son spoke up; after so long, Ye Hao heard his son make a request for the first time. Although father and son usually glare at each other with stern faces, Ye Hao actually dotes on his son, so when his son finally spoke up, Ye Hao reluctantly agreed—of course, only temporarily, and they still need to observe for a while.

Moreover, during this observation period, Ye Hao set rules for his son: he cannot be alone with the big cat; if he interacts with the big cat, there must be at least three people present, and he cannot get too close, cannot…

All those "cannots" made Ye Heng impatient; he asked his mother Tang Xue for help, but this time Tang Xue didn't help him—instead she sided with Ye Hao. Since learning that the big cat had killed someone, Tang Xue actually also opposed taking in the big cat, and only reluctantly agreed temporarily due to Ye Heng's strong insistence; furthermore, she decided to assign more people nearby to watch, so that no accident would occur.

No matter what, after this incident, Ye Hao was left with this impression: mercurial, neurotic, does as he pleases, and still a bit of a rascal.

The big cat stayed in Ye Hao's villa, which made Ye Heng, who usually lives with Seventh Uncle, visit much more often; even Seventh Uncle, upon hearing about this, came over eagerly to have a look.

Seventh Uncle thought highly of the big cat, knowing it could kill people. Seventh Uncle slapped the table and said, "Good!"

Seventh Uncle thought that once the big cat became familiar with its surroundings and the people around, he would have it compete with the super cat that Nineteenth's guy keeps, hoping to really dampen that cat's spirit—after all, it was the one that forced his two gray parrots to pluck out their own feathers.

The big cat had comfortably taken up residence in Ye Hao's villa, so when Long Qi was discharged and arrived here, the moment he stepped into the living room and saw the animal lying on the sofa, he was completely taken aback. At first glance he thought it was a dog, but it turned out to be a large cat—a rather unusual one.

So line 12 includes "Long Qi". Good.

No matter what's happening with the big cat, Zheng sighed that he's been cooped up at home for the past few days.

The continuous hot weather made people somewhat unable to bear it. Jiao Ba and Jiao Ma also stayed at home, not going out much; outside it was like a steamer, you could fry an egg on the asphalt. Even Jiao Yuan has been feeling a bit fatigued these days, listlessly watching TV at home.

Xiao Youzi was doing her daily summer homework. Jiao Yuan and Jiao Ma sat on the living-room sofa watching TV, while Zheng Tan lay at one end of the sofa, not interested in the drama. He yawned, turned over, and when he stretched his legs he kicked a newspaper; bored, Zheng Tan rolled over to turn his head and lay there reading the news on the paper.

The Chu Cheng News is subscribed to by many households in Chu Hua Shi; outdated copies are placed on the dining table to hold soup bowls or thrown on the floor to prop up table legs, while the rest are kept for resale.

Jiao Yuan and Jiao Ma were engrossed in the TV and didn't notice Zheng Tan's movements. After glancing at the entertainment news, Zheng Tan lifted his paw and flipped a page; there was a full-page report about a vice mayor of Chu Hua Shi being placed under shuanggui, and checking the timing, it happened to be the day Zheng Tan returned from Ye Hao's villa.

After rolling over and shifting direction, Zheng Tan kicked the space‑taking newspaper off the sofa; the paper's smell was too pungent, making it unpleasant to sniff.

While half‑asleep, he heard someone knocking at the door. Zheng Tan couldn't be bothered to open his eyes, continued lying on the sofa, and then Jiao Yuan tossed him into the air.

Zheng Tan woke with a start, and as he fell from the air he ignored Jiao Yuan's outstretched hand, stepped on his arm to jump down, and ran into Xiao Youzi's room. The little brat really is unreliable.

After lying in Xiao Youzi's room for a while, Zheng Tan finally figured out why Jiao Yuan was so excited.

The visitor was Sahala's owner Ruan Ying, who had obtained some swimming tickets; moreover, it was a newly built beach swimming pool just completed not long ago. Chu Hua Shi is inland, and this newly built beach swimming pool indeed attracted many people, but for now the pool is not fully open to the public—admission tickets are distributed only through certain channels to a limited number of people, and it will officially open five days later.

Once it officially opens, there will definitely be crowds; at that time the place will be crowded and mixed, so the activity area probably won't be very large, but even so, thanks to advertising, many people are still looking forward to it.

Originally Jiao Ba had planned to wait until the official opening and then take the kids to play, but he didn't expect Ruan Ying to just hand over the tickets.

Ruan Ying distributed the tickets in his hand to some families with children in the compound; besides the Jiao family, there were also Lan Tianzhu, Su An, Shi Rui, and a few others. As for Xiong Xiong, his mother has taken him away, so he's not in the compound.

After Jiao Yuan finished being happy, he was about to run to his room to call Xiong Xiong, but Xiong Xiong just called him directly.

Before coming over, Ruan Ying had already visited Su An's home; just now Su An called Xiong Xiong, and after Xiong Xiong learned of tomorrow's arrangements at the compound, he argued with his mother before she agreed to let him go there as well. Xiong Xiong's mother could obtain admission tickets on her own, so she didn't seek Ruan Ying. The kids also agreed to meet at the beach swimming pool tomorrow.

According to Ruan Ying's plan, they would set out early tomorrow before the sun rises, have lunch at the restaurant at the beach swimming pool, and then find somewhere to eat dinner later. However, not long after, Jiao Ba received a call from Xiong Xiong's mother.

Speaking of Xiong Xiong's mother, she's fine, just a bit domineering—probably what career‑oriented women are like. She works at the Education Bureau; nobody knows exactly what her post is, but it's surely not a low rank. She's always busy, and Xiong Xiong's father usually doesn't have much energy to look after the kids; neither parent has time, which is why they often leave Xiong Xiong with the grandparents who live in the compound.

According to Xiong Xiong's mother, everyone in the compound helps look after Xiong Xiong, so tonight the couple will treat everyone to a meal to show their gratitude.

Jiao Ba couldn't refuse; Xiong Xiong's mother had already settled it. Even the hotel had its meals booked and she notified the other families, so the matter was decided as such.

Setting aside Xiong Xiong's mother's overbearing, no‑refusal tone, tomorrow's schedule is still fine. Jiao Ba couldn't let the kids lose interest, so after dinner that day he went to Yuan Zhiyi's place to borrow a car, filled it with gas, and drove it back to the compound to park and wait for tomorrow's use.

At night Jiao Yuan was overly excited and didn't fall asleep until very late.

Xiao Youzi's side wasn't much different either—after all, she's a child, and naturally she's happy when there's something to play with.

Zheng Tan, however, didn't care; he isn't afraid of water. Even going for a swim would be fine with him. As long as Jiao Yuan and the others don't urinate in the water, it's okay.

The next morning, the two kids woke up on their own without an alarm, had breakfast, and around seven o'clock they went downstairs to assemble.

Each family drove their own car. Ruan Ying's car had only himself and Sahala inside. Sahala was resting his chin on the window sill, looking outside, and would occasionally let out two calls.

"Huh, you're bringing a cat too? Don't you need to leash it?" Ruan Ying said upon seeing the Jiao family with a cat.

"No need. My cat is well‑behaved," Jiao Ma replied with a smile.

Ruan Ying looked at the black cat following the Jiao family's two children into the car, then at Sahala still needing to be tethered in the vehicle, shook his head, and muttered, "Man, that's the difference."

No need to bring swim rings—Ruan Ying had told them yesterday that the place provides swim rings and some other equipment; all they need to bring is themselves. If they really wanted to bring something, they could buy snacks to stave off hunger, but in the midsummer heat everyone actually just wants to eat some watermelon and drink cold beverages, which are available there. Zheng Tan looked around and didn't see anyone carrying large or small bags.

As they were getting ready to leave, Sahala, who had been bellowing toward Zheng Tan, was grabbed by the ears by Ruan Ying and dragged into the car; the window was shut, and they had to turn on the air conditioning, otherwise they would soon overheat and become dehydrated.

Because we still had to drive a short way to the sand beach swimming area, Jiao Yuan and Xiao Youzi, who had gone to bed later that night, fell asleep again in the car for a while.

Zheng Tan leaned against the back of the rear seat and watched the scenery roll backward through the rear window.

In the busy morning, several intersections were jammed for a while; while waiting for the green light, Zheng Tan watched a shirtless motorbike rider behind and to the side, a wet cloth tied over his head, two watermelons hanging from the bike, wiping sweat with the cloth as he waited, and when the light turned yellow, he flung the cloth onto his shoulder.

The sand beach swimming area that Ruan Ying mentioned is a water‑recreation project built along the river, where large amounts of silt and sand, deposited by the river's flow, form a shoal about a hundred meters offshore, creating a natural swimming zone using the river water. The swimming area includes a deep‑water zone, a shallow‑water zone, a children's playground, and a viewing pavilion, among other attractions. In addition, there is a parking lot, a cultural‑entertainment tea house, changing rooms, etc., forming a supporting service zone, as well as a waterside platform and a landscaped square that make up the leisure zone.

When Zheng Tan and the others arrived, there were already people waiting at the swimming area's parking lot, and many cars were parked in the surrounding spots, indicating that quite a few people had arrived earlier than they did.

The people waiting there were well acquainted with Ruan Ying, and that person gave everyone a quick rundown of the swimming area's layout and some important sections, and the kids would have bolted out early if not for the adults holding them back. Although there are staff around the swimming area to prevent accidents, the adults still aren't comfortable and have to keep an eye on things themselves; besides, swimming is generally done after four p. m. or after seven p. m., 01314 (2), lhtdqdnc, Leopard Slave Wind, Broken Worthlessness No Trace, _SilkKid (2), Rumor Guard, Ding Ding 12345, Beat Up Cloth Tiger, My name is a bit long, suiHeartSuoDesire, Take it step by step, Confused Dreamer, Evil God vs Defying Heaven, Wind Destroys the Remnant Stars, 0100110101,: p girl:), classmate Zhujiaolong cast a valuable monthly vote!

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