Still Got to Eat Camel

Liu Chang'an walked to the subway entrance and took the subway back, because winter afternoons are relatively short and it gets dark early.

Back home, Liu Chang'an saw Shangguan Dandan and Zhou Dongdong sitting at the electric heated table eating, each with a bowl of rice with toppings.

The bowls were large, and there was a lot of food inside. Zhou Shuling had prepared it that morning for them to eat at noon; all they needed to do was heat it up in the microwave.

Shangguan Dandan had a habit of pressing every button on the microwave oven, but she soon realized that pressing every button would prevent the food from heating up properly. This corrected her habit, and she was able to use the microwave oven correctly.

"Hurry up and finish eating, then we'll leave," Liu Chang'an said.

"Where is my wife?" Shangguan Dandan asked.

"She has something to do this afternoon and won't be coming with us." Liu Chang'an knew she was referring to An Nuan, and didn't bother to correct her.

Of all the people Shangguan Dandan called "wife," her favorite is Zhou Shuling, followed by Qin Yanan, and her least favorite is Su Nanxiu.

Zhou Dongdong was gnawing on a pig's trotter, and his two paws were greasy. After all, it's already a bit difficult for a child to control one side of a pig's trotter with chopsticks, so he had to use both hands to properly gnaw on the meat and tendons.

Actually, for adults, pig's trotters should be eaten with their hands to fully enjoy the experience, as should other cuts of meat like ribs and legs.

Zhou Dongdong was wearing a red woolen hat, designed by Zhou Shuling. The hat had a hole at the top, allowing Zhou Dongdong's sparse, seedling-like hair to peek out. Below the hat, Zhou Shuling had braided a long, thick woolen braid for decoration, making Zhou Dongdong look like she had an upside-down water ladle on her head.

Zhou Shuling's aesthetic sense is as indescribable as ever, just like her square dance makeup.

After finishing their meal, they set off. Liu Chang'an suggested that Zhou Dongdong leave her hat at home.

"My hair gets cold, and when it gets cold, it falls out completely, and then I become bald like Grandpa Qian." Zhou Dongdong pressed his hat, thinking about what it would be like if he became a bald grandpa.

"But if you turn into an old man, you won't have to go to school. Old men don't have to go to school," Shangguan Dandan quickly said.

Zhou Dongdong quickly took off her hat.

"Let me see if any of your hair has fallen out." Shangguan Dandan scratched Zhou Dongdong's head.

"Did you drop it?" Zhou Dongdong asked with concern.

Not yet, it might fall off soon.

Zhou Dongdong scratched her hair, looking on with excited anticipation.

Liu Chang'an, holding Zhou Dongdong's hand, glared at Shangguan Dandan. This child has become so foolish. As a human being, I advise you to be kind.

Shangguan Dandan stuck out her tongue, slung the thermos over her shoulder, swung her arms back and forth, and skipped and hopped out of the residential area first.

But she didn't know how to get there, so she ran out of the community and stood under a utility pole, looking at the old Chinese medicine doctor and the guy recruiting public relations staff, while waiting for Liu Chang'an and Zhou Dongdong.

Unlike last time, the light rail now has a station at the zoo, so the three of us took the light rail and arrived very quickly.

Zhou Dongdong was still very excited. She ran to the vicinity of the parking lot and the walkway, then suddenly stopped, her shoes hitting the paving stones. She looked left and right cautiously, refusing to go any further.

Liu Chang'an frowned slightly, then took her hand and walked a short distance before Zhou Dongdong resumed her innocent and lively playfulness.

"Dongdong is a little clumsy, but so cute." Shangguan Dandan didn't understand why Zhou Dongdong hadn't run away earlier, but watching Zhou Dongdong's every move, she always felt that he was especially adorably silly.

"Zhou Dongdong is a little less intelligent than the average child, but that's normal. Some children's minds develop later. It's the teenagers and twenties who still think that a six-year-old couldn't possibly be as slow as Zhou Dongdong, and that if they haven't seen it, then there shouldn't be any other variety. That's truly hopeless stupidity," Liu Chang'an said calmly.

"Are you talking about teenagers like me?" Shangguan Dandan angrily raised both hands. "I'm over a thousand, two thousand... many, many years old, and those people you're talking about are definitely Zhou Dongdong's enemies. I'm Zhou Dongdong's godmother."

"Are you going to become Zhou Dongdong's godmother just to find ways to take advantage of me?" Liu Chang'an suddenly thought of this question, because Zhou Dongdong called Liu Chang'an "Brother Chang'an".

"If that's how you think, there's nothing I can do about it!"

"You've mastered that accent."

Are you praising me?

"Certainly."

The three people entered the zoo, first visiting the lemurs on Lemur Island, and then going to the enclosures where jackals, wolves, and leopards were kept.

"These dogs are all chubby, about the same size as Lu Si'en." Zhou Dongdong couldn't tell them apart from dogs.

Actually, there's not much difference; they look pretty much the same, and they taste pretty much the same.

"What are you doing?" Liu Chang'an saw Shangguan Dandan waving at the animals inside and slapped Shangguan Dandan's hand.

He had to be wary of the little old lady, lest he return with a string of zoo animals following him.

"I'll greet them." Shangguan Dandan frowned. Liu Chang'an definitely suspected she wanted to catch the animals here. Although she did have that thought, she didn't show it!

"It's agreed that it's fine to come to the zoo, but nobody comes to the zoo and then takes the animals home," Liu Chang'an reminded him.

"What are you packing?" Zhou Dongdong heard a word that was closely related to her.

"Nothing."

"Oh, let's go see the giant pandas."

The giant panda enclosure is just ahead.

Next, they went to see dolphins, elephants, rhinos, snakes, red pandas, various monkeys, and circus performances. Finally, in the drive-through area, they saw the camels that Shangguan Dandan had been longing to see.

"Camel is delicious," Shangguan Dandan said to Zhou Dongdong.

"You've eaten it?" Zhou Dongdong bit her lip. The camel looked like a giant cake, and it did look delicious, but it was a good friend of humans.

"I've eaten it. It tastes better than other animal meat, and it's especially big; many of us can share it."

Can I eat this for several days?

"Yes, camel hooves are especially delicious when roasted, a hundred times better than the pig hooves you ate today."

"It tastes so good, Brother Chang'an! Have you ever eaten camel before?"

"He definitely ate it; you're the only one here who hasn't."

Zhou Dongdong stopped talking and leaned against the window of the tour bus, watching the camels walking around outside.

Liu Chang'an rolled his eyes at Shangguan Dandan.

"Um... it's me... something came up. Do you know how to roast a camel?" Liu Chang'an called Qin Yanan. Catching a camel from the zoo seemed convenient, but he had to wait for the right opportunity, monitor it carefully, and transport it back... Often, following the law and the proper channels is safer and more effective than resorting to shady methods.

As for Shangguan Dandan's wishful thinking of getting the animals to follow her back, it seems trouble-free on the surface, but how could she possibly get her way so easily?

"What!" Qin Yanan was so shocked that her stomach contracted. She was overwhelmed with maternal instincts and quickly stroked her lower abdomen, taking deep breaths as if the gestational sac inside her was as fragile as the fetus of an ordinary pregnant woman.

It's not surprising that Liu Chang'an wants to eat whatever he wants, but although Qin Yanan usually prepares a complete list of recipes and ingredients for Liu Chang'an, camel is not on the list.

Camel hooves and camel lips are fairly common, but the roasted camel he mentioned probably refers to roasting a whole camel.

"Um... it's Shangguan Dandan and Zhou Dongdong who want to eat it." Liu Chang'an explained, so that Qin Yanan wouldn't misunderstand him as a glutton who wants to eat everything.

"Oh, it's Dongdong and Dan Dan. Are they over there?" Qin Yanan's voice suddenly dropped to a much lower pitch.

"Um."

"Put the hands-free mode on."

Liu Chang'an put the phone on speakerphone.

"Dan Dan? Dongdong?"

"Oh, Miss Qin." In the tour bus, Shangguan Dandan didn't call her "wife" or "daughter-in-law" as usual; her voice was gentle yet carried the authority of an elder.

Zhou Dongdong didn't hear it; she was going through a period of childhood sadness.

"I heard from Liu Chang'an that you wanted to eat roasted camel. I'll get one for you, but it might take a day or two. I'll call you over when it's ready," Qin Yanan said softly.

"What a good child." Shangguan Dandan patted her thermos with satisfaction. Of course, she would bring a thermos when she came out to play and needed to drink water. It wasn't for any other reason.

Shangguan Dandan hung up the phone, glancing at Liu Chang'an with a smug look. Liu Chang'an put away his phone. Qin Yanan actually wanted to bypass Liu Chang'an and directly do Shangguan Dandan the favor, as if she was afraid that Shangguan Dandan wouldn't know how filial she was.

You think too much.

"We'll have camels to eat in a couple of days," Shangguan Dandan whispered to Zhou Dongdong.

"Camels are good friends of humans," Zhou Dongdong said, then added earnestly, "But if it's already prepared, I'll only eat a little bit."

"You only eat your best friends. I suspect that one day you'll eat Song Taozi too." Liu Chang'an shook his head.

"I would never eat Song Taozi! Song Taozi is my good friend. If I ate her, wouldn't I become a monster? I'd be captured by Sun Wukong!" Zhou Dongdong explained seriously why she couldn't eat Song Taozi.

After visiting the zoo, the three of them were very happy, considering that they had not only seen animals but also Zhou Dongdong Shangguan Dandan to eat.

I'm going back.

-

-

Zhou Dongdong only needs 20,000 Star Points to celebrate her birthday! Everyone, please send her some hearts or chicken drumsticks when you have time!