Chapter 502: Modern Era (30) - If Path
Anno took the paper from Huo Yin's hand. "Thank you."
Huo Yin paused in front of her hand for a moment before slowly withdrawing it, his fingers curling. "No need. What do you want to see first?"
Anno opened the map distributed at the entrance. Although she had been to the zoo several times, she was always accompanied by other people. This was the largest zoo in the capital, with a very large area and several routes to choose from.
Everyone wants to see different animals first. Xia Meng wants to photograph a few special animals, while Lin Xu takes great care to take notes, saying that he wants to write down the appearance and characteristics of the animals he sees.
Baroque, on the other hand, wanted to study herbivores. Seeing Baroque's passion for plants, Anno felt it was necessary to accompany him to the botanical garden a few times, since he probably preferred the botanical garden to the zoo.
After discussing with others, they split into three groups.
Anno wanted to see large carnivores, such as lions and wolves. Baroque wanted to go with Anno, but Anno refused because he didn't want Baroque to always cater to him.
So Baroque headed towards the herbivores, and Xia Meng pulled Lin Xu along to see peacocks and other birds.
Seeing Lin Xu being pulled away by Xia Meng, An Nuo smiled with a hint of relief.
Over the course of high school, Lin Xu's relationship with his roommates has become much more harmonious. Xia Meng is lively and cheerful, and she always includes Lin Xu in everything she does. Although Lin Xu is still not very talkative, he responds to everything and is no longer as indifferent as he was at the beginning.
"Come on, come on, I'll go with you."
For the first time ever, Huo Xuan didn't linger by Anuo's side, but instead put his arm around Baroque and went with him to see the animals he liked.
Baroque looked back at Anno with some concern, and Huo Xuan also turned around, winked at his brother, and praised himself in his heart for being sensible.
Seeing that Huo Yin was the only one left beside her, Anuo said to him, "It's just the two of us now. Do you want to follow the same route as me?"
Huo Yin nodded: "Okay, let's go."
The two followed the planned route, looking around as they went. Anno lay on the outside of the glass railing and saw several huge lions lazily lying on the ground sunbathing.
The keepers fed them very well; they were plump, healthy, and had glossy fur.
Two children, around seven or eight years old, were trying to get the lion to come towards them, banging on the glass and shouting at it.
"Mommy, Mommy! I need them to come here! Please think of a way to get them here quickly!"
The two boys were very anxious, shouting and yelling while slamming their fists against the glass, drawing disapproving glances from the tourists around them.
Everyone assumed the parents would indulge their two naughty children again, but then a strong female voice rang out: "Shut up!"
Upon hearing their mother's angry roar, the two children immediately lowered their voices, but still clasped their hands together in a pleading manner with their great mother, "Mom, can you let the lion come over? I want to take a picture with the lion to show my classmates!"
Their mother said, "Oh, your mother is a celestial being, I can command a lion for you. You two are so cowardly, yet you want to take pictures and show off to your classmates."
Hearing the child's mother's complaints, Anuo couldn't help but smile.
She placed her hand on the glass, and a faint energy emanated from her fingertips. The lion, which had been lying comfortably, immediately stood up and turned to look at Anno.
Huo Yin, who was standing to the side, saw her little gesture and smiled slightly. His eyes held a deep tenderness as he looked at her.
"Mommy, the lion is standing up!"
The children around them were yelling, and their mother, clearly annoyed, kicked her husband, yelling, "Control your son!"
After saying that, the mother said to her two sons, "Alright, alright, I'll perform a ritual for you. If it doesn't work, we'll go see the tiger."
The two children nodded vigorously. In their minds, their mother was omnipotent, while their father was useless.
The mother mumbled incantations, which captivated the two children, who looked at her expectantly.
The mother had intended to shoo her two sons away to avoid them making a scene, but the next second they screamed, "Ah, Mom! The lions are coming! Mom is so strong!"
The amazing, "magical" mother looked closely, and sure enough, the lions were running towards them. She was instantly incredulous. "It really worked?"
The two children immediately asked their mother to take pictures of them. Just as they were about to pose, the lions growled at them and scratched at the glass with their large, thick claws, which frightened the two children so much that they screamed and immediately ran into their mother's arms.
Anuo, with a mischievous grin, took out the camera her mother had put in her backpack and said to Huo Yin, "Brother Huo Yin, take a picture for me."
Huo Yin paused, took the camera from her hand, stared into her eyes and asked, "What did you just call me?"
"Brother Huo Yin, aren't you Huo Xuan's brother?"
The term "brother" was simply used because he was Huo Xuan's older brother, and it just so happened that it was added to his name to address him.
Huo Yin lowered his eyes and opened the camera; it turned out he was just following Huo Xuan's lead in calling him "brother."
The two children were too frightened to approach, which freed up a large space for Anno. She leaned against the glass and sensed the lions' emotional fluctuations. She placed her hand on the glass as if to stroke it, and the lions tilted their heads back and rubbed against Anno's hand.
The tourists were all amazed by the sight of the pretty little girl in front of them.
Gradually, tourists shifted their focus from watching the lions to watching Anno.
She was absolutely smitten. Sunlight streamed through the glass and shone on her, making her skin glow with a soft light, like a beautiful little fairy, far more beautiful than any celebrity or model on TV.
Huo Yin turned to the side, his tall figure blocking most people's view and their attempts to take pictures.
Anno also noticed that some people were raising their cameras to her, and she naturally grabbed Huo Yin's arm, saying, "Let's hurry up, there are more and more people here."
"good."
Huo Yin glanced at her hand gripping his arm and led her away to another location.
Once they left the crowd and reached a quiet, secluded spot, Anuo realized that she was resisting Huo Yin's advances, and that she was the one who approached first.
She doesn't mind being around familiar people, but not strangers. However, this was her first time meeting Huo Yincai.
She felt that Huo Yin was no stranger to her at all, as if the two of them had known each other for a long time, and their interactions were very natural.
She didn't think much of it and continued watching the other animals with Huo Yin, but she wore a mask to avoid being seen or having other people ask for photos.
She often encounters similar situations when she's out and about, and has been approached by talent scouts who want her contact information, hoping she'll enter the entertainment industry.
Her photos were posted online, but her adoptive parents and brother took care of them. Now, any photos of her that appear online are immediately deleted, so quickly that she doesn't know how they do it.
Although she was wearing a mask, her outstanding temperament and the presence of Huo Yin, who was equally handsome, made her a head-turner.
In the end, both of them put on masks. Anuo looked at Huo Yin, whose face was covered and only his amber eyes were visible, and thought to himself that although only his eyes were visible, he was still very handsome.
She adjusted her hat and suddenly smiled at Huo Yin, saying, "Brother should wear a hat too."
Seeing her smiling eyes crinkle, Huo Yin hummed in agreement, "Then you pick one for me."
Anno had initially made her decision half-jokingly, but when Huo Yin agreed, she immediately developed a strong interest in going to the hat shop.
She loves hats. Her older siblings often give her hats, and her parents buy her more from time to time. Now, her house is overflowing with hats—enough to open a hat shop. She wears a different one every day, so she hasn't been to a hat shop in a long time.
"Let's go this afternoon," Huo Yin said.
They'll be done shopping by the afternoon, and they can grab something to eat at a nearby mall.
After walking around the zoo for a while, Anuo gradually warmed up. She hadn't felt cold before, but her mother had brought her an extra jacket because she was worried about her getting cold. Now that she was warm, she immediately took off the jacket.
Huo Yin naturally took her coat and draped it over his arm.
He spent the whole morning taking photos for Anuo. Anuo couldn't help but want to get closer to him, talk to him, and even smiled more than usual.
When Baroque and his group arrived at the panda enclosure, they saw Anno leaning against Huo Yin, taking pictures with him.
Seeing the smile on his sister's face, Baroque thought he was seeing things.
Why are Xiaoqi and Huo Xuan so happy together?
He looked at Huo Xuan beside him suspiciously, "Is this the first time your brother has met my sister?"
Huo Xuan put three fingers together and pointed them to the sky, saying, "I swear to God, this is truly the first time they've met today."
He thought to himself that although his brother had known Anuo for a long time, this was indeed the first time the two had met. He wasn't lying, and God shouldn't strike him with lightning.
Baroque muttered, "This is the first time I've seen Xiao Qi get along so well with someone she doesn't know well."
Huo Xuan patted him on the shoulder and said, "That's fate. Some people are just born to be friends."
Baroque said in a dangerous tone, "You'd better say we're just ordinary friends."
He also emphasized the word "ordinary".
Huo Xuan chuckled twice and said, "How would I know if they become friends or not? I can't control them anyway."
It's hard to say what will happen in the future, but for now, he should distance himself from the situation. If they really do end up together, Baroque will definitely come after him and kill him.
After watching the adorable pandas for a while, Xia Meng and Lin Xu came over to join them.
Seeing Anuo and Huo Yin bundled up tightly, Xia Meng joked, "You two look like a young couple afraid of being caught dating too early."
Huo Yin is very tall, half a head taller than Huo Xuan. It doesn't seem like they're dating too young. It's just that An Nuo looks too young; she barely reaches Huo Yin's shoulder.
Baroque immediately retorted to Xia Meng, "How is it similar? It's not similar at all."
Anno and Huo Yin exchanged a knowing glance.
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