Urgently Anxious

After buying tickets and entering the zoo, Ye Shuang held a booklet marked with the locations of various animals and asked the girl beside him,

"Yuyou, which animal do you want to see first?"

Bai Yuyou stared blankly at the booklet in Ye Shuang's hands for a few seconds before pointing at a spot. "This."

Ye Shuang glanced at where she was pointing and saw the words: [Animal World Carnival Roller Coaster].

He smiled. "Alright, let's start with the roller coaster..."

A second later, he snapped back to reality and muttered, "Wait, since when do zoos have roller coasters?!"

"..." After double-checking, Ye Shuang confirmed that this zoo did, in fact, have a roller coaster. He couldn't help but recall the time he and Bai Yuyou had ridden one together at an amusement park.

"Hey, Yuyou, since we're at the zoo, maybe we should..." Before he could finish, Bai Yuyou tugged at his sleeve, tilting her head cutely.

"No?"

"Pfft..." Ye Shuang exhaled slowly, then grinned and waved the booklet. "Fine, fine. If you want to ride it, of course we can."

And so, they rode it to their hearts' content.

"Ye Shuang... you okay?" An hour later, at the roller coaster exit, Bai Yuyou noticed Ye Shuang's legs seemed a little shaky. She bent slightly, resting her hands on her knees as she asked,

"Feeling sick?"

"I'm fine," Ye Shuang said, leaning against a lamppost with the stubbornness of a grown man. "Just some rheumatism acting up. An adult thing."

"Oh?" Bai Yuyou didn’t seem to understand what rheumatism was.

"Ready to see some animals now? What do you want to look at?" After resting for a bit, Ye Shuang reopened the booklet and asked.

Bai Yuyou seemed to recall something she’d seen on her tablet that morning and asked, "Do they have animal mating?"

"Uh... that’s probably premium content," Ye Shuang replied helplessly.

He skimmed the booklet. "How about we go see the tigers first? You don’t get to see such fierce beasts every day."

Bai Yuyou nodded and held Ye Shuang’s hand.

Perhaps because she liked the warmth of his touch, she leaned in even closer.

Thanks to the zoo’s plentiful signposts, they quickly found the tiger enclosure. But when Ye Shuang peered through the barrier, his expression froze.

There were no tigers inside—just several chubby orange cats rolling around on the ground or lounging lazily in the sun.

"Fierce... beasts," Bai Yuyou murmured, staring at the cats that looked strikingly similar to their own cat, Yiwan. She then read the informational sign about tigers aloud, clearly noting the stark difference between the description and the plump felines before them.

"Am I dreaming?" Ye Shuang rubbed his temples and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the orange cats were still there.

He must’ve done something wrong.

"Meow-neh!"

"Meow-neh!"

"Meow-neh-gah!"

A few of the cats yowled, prompting Bai Yuyou to turn to Ye Shuang. "Ye Shuang... is Yiwan also a tiger?"

"Maybe in a past life," Ye Shuang muttered, comparing the booklet’s tiger photos to the cats in front of him.

Is this really you in the picture?

Soon, though, he overheard other visitors explaining that the zoo’s tigers had been temporarily relocated for some reason, and these orange cats—longtime residents of the zoo—had been brought in as substitutes.

Ye Shuang glanced around. Most visitors were families with young children. Though they hadn’t seen real tigers, the kids seemed perfectly happy watching the chubby cats.

If something could bring joy, then its actual value didn’t matter. After all, happiness had no price tag.

"The monkey enclosure is nearby. Let’s stop by," Ye Shuang suggested, since the tigers were a no-show.

Bai Yuyou nodded. "Okay."

The monkey area allowed feeding, so when they arrived, they spotted staff selling small biscuits for visitors to toss to the primates.

There were also fruits like bananas available—these monkeys were clever enough to peel open jelly packets, something even some humans struggled with.

And if they got desperate, biting the packaging didn’t help either.

Behind the barrier, a dozen or so monkeys chattered. Some lounged in trees, watching the visitors, while the bolder ones stood by the fence, waiting for treats.

A staff member kindly reminded everyone to use feeding tongs to avoid accidental scratches.

"Eek eek!" One particularly irritable monkey clung to the fence, screeching impatiently, as if demanding food immediately.

Ye Shuang turned to Bai Yuyou and gestured toward the staff. "Want to buy some food and try feeding them?"

Bai Yuyou studied the monkeys for a moment before nodding. "Okay..."

Ye Shuang bought some snacks from the staff. Not fond of the aggressive monkey, he led Bai Yuyou to a quieter corner to feed the others.

But the next second, the same irritable monkey rushed over, scaring off the rest before clawing at the fence again.

"Some monkeys are just annoying," Ye Shuang sighed, though he mainly wanted Bai Yuyou to enjoy the experience. "Here, Yuyou, you try."

Bai Yuyou picked up a biscuit. The monkey immediately craned its neck, staring intently and baring its teeth.

Then—

Crunch.

She took a bite herself.

Monkey: ?

Ye Shuang: ?

"Ye Shuang, it’s tasty," Bai Yuyou said.

Ye Shuang: "..."

You little glutton.

The monkey screeched, scratching its head and hopping around in frustration.

"Here." Though reluctant, Bai Yuyou reached out to slip the biscuit through the fence.

But the moment the monkey stretched its hand out, the biscuit slipped from her fingers and fell to the ground.

It bounced once before rolling back out through a gap in the fence.

The monkey frantically shoved its arm through, trying to grab it—only for a pale, delicate hand to swoop in and pick it up first.

"Can’t eat this," Bai Yuyou said seriously, holding the biscuit. "Dirty now. Might... upset stomach."

With that, she tossed it into a nearby trash bin.

Monkey: "Eek eek eek yah gah woah!"

"This monkey’s so mad it’s practically speaking," Ye Shuang chuckled, watching the scene unfold.