Chapter 154: Sky Screen Live Broadcast System (29)

It was indeed soon time for the National Day on the first of October.

Xie Yang, along with her nephew, niece, and the three-member family of Feng Zinuo, checked into the Beijing Hotel on the evening of the previous day to await the Grand Military Parade the following day.

Nuo Nuo Ma had not been able to book a room.

With the Grand Military Parade occurring once every ten years, any hotel along Chang'an Avenue with a view of the parade was fully booked—let alone a week in advance, they were already full when Xie Yang booked hers three months ago.

She was lucky; a family suite had just been cancelled, and she managed to snag it.

The room rate for the family suite on the first of October was ridiculously expensive, with a price rivaling that of a presidential suite during the off-season.

But being able to experience the once-in-a-decade Grand Military Parade up close was a rare and precious opportunity, so it was worth it no matter the cost! Especially since she was with her nephew and niece.

After returning home that day, Nuo Nuo Ma had tried asking acquaintances for help but still couldn't book a room, so she regretfully sent a voice message to Xie Yang:

"It looks like our two families' team-building plan is going to be half-ruined. During the National Day, all hotels along Chang'an Avenue are fully booked. If I could get in on the 1st, I wouldn't mind getting up early that day to bring Nuo Nuo to crash in your room to satisfy him, but unfortunately, entry to Chang'an Avenue on the 1st requires a ticket, so there's no way."

Xie Yang then said: "The family suite I booked has one bedroom and one living room. The bedroom is very large, with two beds—one two meters wide and one 1.5 meters wide—and the sofa in the living room can also be slept on. Why don't our two families stay together?"

Nuo Nuo Ma truly hadn't expected that she had booked a family suite, and she was immediately filled with the pleasant surprise of "finding a new path through the dark willows and bright flowers," happily stating right away:

"If you don't mind, we would certainly be happy to! We'll have Nuo Nuo Ba sleep on the sofa, Nuo Nuo and I will sleep on the small bed, you all can sleep on the big bed, and our two families will split the room cost!"

Xie Yang did not let her split the room cost, so Nuo Nuo Ma offered: she would book the dinner for the day of check-in.

Just like that, the two families checked into the hotel early, and the three children ran and jumped around the spacious family suite, feeling incredibly excited.

When it was time for dinner, Nuo Nuo Ma took out the meal vouchers she had purchased in advance: "Let's go! We're going to the revolving restaurant on the top floor to see the night view and enjoy some good food!"

"Wow! The revolving restaurant is my favorite!"

Feng Zinuo pulled Xie Jilin and his sister along, trotting straight toward the Elevator.

The revolving restaurant at the Beijing Hotel takes about two hours to complete one full rotation, meaning that while eating a meal, one can take in a 360-degree view of the scenery outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.

And during the National Day, with the once-in-a-decade Grand Military Parade, the night view of Chang'an Avenue, especially the core area, was nothing short of mesmerizing.

In the center of the "Bless the Motherland" giant flower bed, the fruit and vegetable flower basket, symbolizing a bountiful harvest, was outlined by dazzling lights and looked brilliant and eye-catching;

On Chang'an Avenue, ten thousand lanterns were lit, and all the buildings and bridges along the route were illuminated by lights;

The curtain walls of the surrounding commercial districts competed with one another, putting on magnificent light shows.

In short, looking out, everything within sight was an ocean of lights.

Not to mention the people of Daliang under the Sky Screen who were deeply shocked, even modern people accustomed to light shows found it breathtakingly beautiful.

The three children were all mesmerized, barely even eating their food, and stayed pressed against the floor-to-ceiling windows almost the entire time to watch the brilliantly lit night scene.

The meal lasted for nearly three hours.

After eating, Nuo Nuo Ba took the three children downstairs to walk off the meal and watch the musical fountain, while Xie Yang and Nuo Nuo Ma returned to the room to shower before the children came back.

By the time the children returned and were bathed in turns, it was nearly ten o'clock.

Perhaps because they were thinking about the Grand Military Parade tomorrow, or perhaps because they had been quite excited all day, the children were all tired by this hour; not long after getting into bed, before even one bedtime story was finished, the three children were already breathing deeply in their sleep...

The Sky Screen above Daliang went completely dark as Xie Jilin and his sister fell asleep.

Yet, how many people could not fall asleep for a long time because of the ocean of lights tonight?

If even the preliminary preparations were this magnificent, then what about the Grand Military Parade tomorrow? Would it be even more shocking than tonight's ocean of lights?

The next morning, the three adults and three children, having had breakfast at the buffet restaurant, returned to the room with the binoculars provided by the hotel.

Each of the three children had a pair of binoculars, guarding the best viewing spot by the floor-to-ceiling windows, waiting in high anticipation for the military parade to begin.

Nuo Nuo Ba turned on the large wall-mounted Television; if they couldn't see clearly on-site later, they could watch the live broadcast simultaneously on the TV.

"It's almost ten o'clock! Hurry, hurry, hurry! Get ready!"

At ten o'clock sharp, the first salute rang out, and the National Flag Guard set off from the Monument to the People's Heroes, marching step by step in formation to the flag-raising platform accompanied by the sound of the salutes.

When the national flag was raised and the national anthem played, Feng Zinuo and Xie Jilin sang along.

Xiao Jinchu didn't know how to sing, but she hummed along for a few lines, which was quite impressive in its own right.

After the flag was raised.

Usually, by this part of the process, the little ones would often be unable to sit still.

Feng Zinuo shifted his bottom, wanting to pull Xie Jilin over to the sofa to play with the Robot he had brought from home.

However, Xie Jilin and his sister were listening very intently; although they didn't necessarily understand everything, they had attended palace banquets in Daliang, and the content the former emperor spoke about was even more serious and dull, so they were long accustomed to such occasions.

"Learn from Jinbao and Linbao." Nuo Nuo Ma poked her son's forehead with annoyance, "Be quiet for a while!"

"..."

Little Nuo Nuo drooped his brows and eyes, huddled next to the siblings, and began to play with his beloved Robot in boredom.

Then came the most exciting part—the military parade!

"It's starting, it's starting!"

Feng Zinuo shook off his previous listlessness and jumped with excitement. As the air flag-guard echelon entered, his little mouth didn't stop for a second:

"Fighter jet! That's a fighter jet! I know! That's a J-10 Fighter Jet! Right, Dad?"

"Wow! The People's Liberation Army uncles are here! I like the Air Force the best! What about you, Linbao?"

"Cannons, cannons! I like cannons!"

"Tanks, tanks! I love tanks the most!"

Nuo Nuo Ba couldn't help but retort to his son: "You love whichever one comes along; you're not loyal, son!"

Little Nuo Nuo turned a deaf ear to this, still excitedly holding his binoculars to watch the reviewed troops driving past on Chang'an Avenue one by one.

"I know this one! This is the most, most, most, most powerful missile!"

"Wow! So many armored vehicles!"

"Dad, what is this? I don't know it!"

"Dad, Dad, hurry up and tell me, what is this? What? You don't know either? Why are you so stupid!"

"Linbao, let me tell you, the later the weapons appear, the more powerful they are! Do you see that? That really, really big missile can shoot over ten thousand kilometers! Isn't that right, Dad?"

Nuo Nuo Ba praised his son, making the little fellow so smug his tail was practically wagging.

Receiving a look of admiration from his little friend, he patted his small chest and said, "My grandpa told me! My grandpa loves watching these videos! Next time I'll bring you to watch them together!"

Xie Jilin's eyes sparkled: "Okay!"

(End of chapter)