Chapter 98 Chapter 98
After visiting the museum, it was time for lunch.
Ruan Shiqing took the cubs to have lunch and then went to the Andes Botanical Garden.
On the way to the Botanical Garden, we passed the Parka Palace. Luther stopped in front of the Parka Palace square, rolled down the car window, pointed at the magnificent palace and said, "That's the Parka Palace. In the past, the security was not so strict, and ordinary people could get close to the palace to take pictures. But since the suicide attack, the guards have become stricter, and ordinary people are not allowed to get close. At most, they can only watch from a distance in the square."
Ruan Shiqing looked up and saw that the magnificent palace was filled with soldiers armed with live ammunition.
"Do you want to go down and take a look? The history of this palace is as long as that of the Galactic Empire. It is said that it was built with the combined strength of the four ancient clans. No other palace is more magnificent than the Parka Palace." Luther asked.
"No." Ruan Shiqing held down the eager little cub and glanced at Rong Heng lying in 09's arms. He felt that it would be very dangerous to just stay here, so he urged, "There's nothing to see here, let's go directly to the botanical garden."
Although Rong Heng said no one would recognize them, Ruan Shiqing still felt guilty.
A former crown prince of the empire who is apparently dead and four wanted criminals are not suitable to parade in front of the royal palace.
Rong Heng's eyes were always on him. Seeing his nervous look, he guessed what he was thinking.
He hesitated for a moment, but still tried to move closer, rubbed his arm, and typed again: [It's okay, don't be nervous.]
Ruan Shiqing felt a fluffy and soft touch on his arm, and turned around, only to meet a pair of moist brown eyes.
The tiny cub's look of comforting him with eyes wide open was really... not credible, but made people more worried - the snow-white and fluffy cubs always easily aroused people's desire to protect them.
Even if we know that the opponent is strong, it is always difficult to avoid the protective psychology that arises involuntarily when humans face the weak.
Ruan Shiqing smiled at him, and finally couldn't help but rub his soft head: "Yeah, I know."
Rong Heng narrowed his eyes when he was touched by him, but when he saw that his expression didn't seem so serious anymore, his mind became active again.
He felt that Ruan Shiqing did not seem to reject his closeness.
Maybe it was because they had been together for so long in cub form that many of his little actions had become a habit. Even though he knew that he was not a real cub, Ruan Shiqing often subconsciously treated him like Snowball.
This was a good sign, at least it showed that the other party had not become alienated from him because of his concealment.
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, with his little calculations racing in his mind, hesitantly took a tentative step forward.
He pushed the little fox that had occupied Ruan Shiqing's thigh to the side and climbed onto the other's leg smoothly.
During this process, he had been carefully paying attention to the other person's expression. Seeing that he was not unhappy, he finally sat steadily on his lap. Then he stretched his head and pretended to look at the scenery outside the window.
But His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had no interest in the scenery outside the window. He pretended for less than three minutes before yawning, finding a comfortable position to lie down and preparing to take a nap.
The little cubs kept me awake most of the night last night, and I had to get up early this morning, so I didn’t sleep well at all.
Not long after he lay down, he fell asleep.
Most of his face was buried in his belly, with only a pair of snow-white ears exposed.
Ruan Shiqing lowered his eyes to look at him, and flicked his ears lightly. The sleeping cub hummed, his ears twitched, and his head buried under his belly again.
So cute no matter how you look at it.
When the image of the other person's human form emerged in his mind, that face that was always serious and dignified, Ruan Shiqing smiled and pinched the tip of his ear, but thought in his heart, I didn't even notice it before, he is quite good at pretending.
Judging from the way he played with the kids yesterday, he is actually not much more mature than them.
The botanical garden is quite far from the museum, and it took us an hour and a half to get there.
Rong Heng suddenly woke up and arrived at the botanical garden.
The cubs had already rushed down excitedly, but he shamelessly continued to pretend to be asleep and did not move.
Ruan Shiqing really picked him up.
After getting off the car, Rong Heng pretended to open his eyes and pretended to have just woken up. Ruan Shiqing didn't ask him to get off, so he simply pretended not to know and continued to nestle comfortably in his sweetheart's arms.
At this time, the cubs had already rushed into the botanical garden happily. I stood in the distance and waved at them, urging them to hurry up.
Ruan Shiqing shook his head and followed with big strides.
The impatient cubs couldn't wait for them to catch up, so they spread their paws and ran forward again.
Unlike the bustling city of steel and concrete, the botanical garden retains its original undeveloped state. Lush trees and colorful flowers can be seen everywhere. The plants in the entire Sikkim are not as numerous as those in this botanical garden.
It is said that this botanical garden preserves the mother plants of all the currently extinct and non-extinct plants in the entire empire. Although it seems that they can be seen everywhere, in fact, every flower, grass, and tree has a number, which requires huge manpower and material resources to maintain.
Even the air in the botanical garden is different from that outside.
From the moment we stepped into the botanical garden, we seemed to feel lighter. No wonder the little ones couldn't wait to have fun as soon as they came in.
Ruan Shiqing followed behind at a moderate pace, reminding the cubs not to run too far.
The little dragon cub running in the front responded perfunctorily and continued running forward. As he ran, he looked around with wide eyes, his expression full of excitement.
He had never seen so many plants, many of which were much more beautiful than the falling star vines he carefully tended at home.
Even the air is filled with the unique fragrance of plants.
The little dragon raised his head, took a deep breath, and continued running forward happily with his bat wings flapping. However, after running only two steps, he bumped into someone head-on.
The recoil made him fall to the ground. He covered his hurt head and inhaled with a hissing breath, tears streaming down his face due to the pain.
This guy’s legs are so stiff!
"Are you okay?" A pair of white and slender hands helped him up, and the other party squatted down, as if to check his forehead.
The little dragon boy was reluctant to let a stranger touch him. He covered his forehead and took a step back, saying in a buzzing voice, "I'm sorry."
After saying that, he saw the other person's face clearly and was stunned for a moment: "It's you!"
He had a deep memory of the other person's red hair; it was the person who lived on the same floor as them.
"It's okay." Garland smiled at him and checked his forehead while he was stunned: "Fortunately, you are not injured."
The other party was so polite that the little dragon boy felt embarrassed. After all, he was the one who bumped into the other party without paying attention to the road. He put his paws behind his back, raised his chin and said proudly: "I'm not that easy to get hurt, you don't have to worry."
Seeing his arrogant look, the smile in Garland's eyes became more genuine.
Although he was a dragon cub of unknown origin, the ancient human who adopted him seemed to have taken good care of him.
Looking at Ruan Shiqing who was striding towards him, Garland stood up and greeted him first: "Hello, nice to see you again. You should still remember me, right?"
Of course Ruan Shiqing remembered him. He was a guest who lived on the same floor as him. He had met him before in the beauty salon on Julian Street. His long red hair was very iconic.
But perhaps because he knew there were five more wanted criminals in his home, his vigilance increased a lot, and he subconsciously became wary of this man whom he had met several times by chance.
"Hello." He calmly asked, "Are you visiting the Botanical Gardens alone?"
"Yeah." The other party seemed not to notice his vigilance, and his expression was very calm: "I have some research on plants. This time I came to participate in the academic exchange meeting of the Mechanics Association, and I just took the opportunity to come to the botanical garden to take a look."
"Are you also here to attend the academic exchange meeting of the Mechanics Association?" Ruan Shiqing was stunned for a moment, and his vigilance eased a little.
If you are attending an exchange meeting, it is normal to meet by chance.
The hotel he stayed in was very close to the venue of the exchange conference, Uzbekistan Convention and Exhibition Center. In the past two days, many scholars who participated in the conference have checked in. When passing by the lobby, I occasionally heard a few words. They either had plans to meet up with friends or wanted to travel in Sikkim for a few days. In short, they all arrived early.
The other party seemed very surprised: "Are you too?"
He took the initiative to hand over a business card, and his expression became much more enthusiastic: "I am from Agana. Do you know Agana? It is a planet very far away from Sikkim. I heard that the original author of the material feasibility paper was invited to this exchange meeting, so I took the trouble to rush here."
Ruan Shiqing took his business card, which only had his name and phone number printed on it.
"Mr. Hawthorne, nice to meet you." Ruan Shiqing put away the business card and extended his hand to the other party: "My name is Ruan Qing."
After a brief handshake, Garland seemed very happy to meet someone of the same kind: "I'm not very familiar with Sikkim, and I don't have any friends here. Can I go to the convention center with you on the day of the exchange meeting?"
Ruan Shiqing did not refuse and nodded in agreement.
Seeing that he agreed, the other party smiled brighter. Perhaps because he was embarrassed to disturb their interest in playing, he took the initiative to say goodbye: "I would like to take this opportunity to observe more plants, so I won't chat with you anymore. I will come to see you on the day of the exchange meeting."
After saying that, he waved to the other party and took a step forward.
This little episode was soon forgotten, and Ruan Shiqing continued to visit the botanical garden with the kids.
Garland, who had said goodbye to them, found a secluded corner and sent a text message: [Get me an invitation to the Machinists Association's academic exchange meeting.]