Super Zoo-Chapter 798 - 777: Keep Your Woman in Check

After Zhao Yun's words were translated, the one who was surprised wasn't just Nangong Yan—Chengcheng was the first to cry out, "Big brother, you really have a castle?! I want to go to the castle, I want to be a princess in the castle!"

"Haha, with your queen not here, you'd be the greatest princess," Suming said with a chuckle, rubbing the little guy's watermelon-seed-shaped head.

Nurse Hu looked at Suming somewhat blankly and muttered, "Director, did you accept a foreign princess's dowry? Doesn't that make you a son-in-law? My goodness, does that mean you're moving in with them, and whose last name will the kids take?"

Suming was speechless. Why did she have to bring up the most awkward topic? Nangong Yan was right there, and sure enough, a second later, a sharp pain transmitted from his arm... He guessed it was turning purple from the pinch.

"Hey, Suming has been duped by that princess," someone chimed in.

At the crucial moment, it was Zhao Yun who was reliable, and he said, "Not only did you not receive the money won from betting on horses, you also took on this mess. You'll have to sink quite a bit of money into it every year."

Suming immediately deployed the grand tactic of changing the subject and interjected, "It might not necessarily mean losing money. This time we'll conduct an on-site survey, and maybe with a little restoration, it could be opened as a tourist attraction. Even the British Queen, when running short on money, opened Buckingham Palace to charge admission."

Nangong Yan was quite taken in by Suming's ploy; her train of thought indeed shifted, and she said, "That's true, there is a resort at the foot of the mountain, and having a mysterious ancient castle in the mountains would surely attract people. But how do we get there?"

She gazed in the direction of the mountains. "It seems there's no path."

Just as things were moving into safe territory, Nurse Hu suddenly exclaimed, "Oh my, Director, is the British Queen that poor? Using her residence to collect admission fees, isn't that similar to our zoo? Director, please don't move in with her, it wouldn't be worth it!"

Suming glared fiercely at Su Meng: "Control your woman!"

...

The group, chattering and laughing, first arrived at the head of Avitu Village's home. It was a two-story building with the second-highest elevation in the entire village, featuring a small flowerbed in front with several kinds of unknown wildflowers.

A Labrador with creamy yellow fur lay lazily on the wooden steps of the house basking in the sun. Upon seeing someone approach, it flipped over nimbly and trotted happily to Avitu's feet, raising its head to Suming and the others, sticking out its tongue, and panting excitedly.

"Haha, Ashis is very welcoming to you," Avitu said cheerfully, parking his bicycle by the flowerbed and whistling at the Labrador, "Ashis, show our friends from the East to their rooms."

As the village was a tourist destination, almost every household had one or two guest rooms. The house of the widowed old village head was mostly unoccupied, and since the road into the mountains was relatively long, according to the itinerary, they planned to stay overnight at the head of the village's house and set out early the next morning.

Many animals are very human-like, especially pet dogs. Even if old Avitu didn't have the ability to befriend animals and couldn't use spiritual power to directly communicate with the Labrador, Ashis still seemed to understand his words, wagging his tail cheerfully and nudging open the half-ajar wooden door with his head, then like a welcoming host, turned around and barked twice to Suming and the others before leading the way into the house.

"The local customs here are really good." Nangong Yan was somewhat moved. After entering the village, they had followed the slope up and seen houses that mostly had pretty but not very secure wooden doors and wooden houses full of windows, unlike the prison-like security windows and heavy iron doors that encased the homes in domestic communities.

"But make sure not to break into people's homes randomly," Zhao Yun added cheerfully, "This is a mountain area, and every household has a gun."

Following Ashis up the stairs lined with a floral carpet, Suming reflected as they headed to the second floor, "One society where there's hardly any risk to life but filled with a sense of insecurity, and another where life might be in danger at any time, but everyone lives quite relaxed. It's not about who's better or worse."

Zhao Yun nodded, "The two countries are quite different..."

Hu didn't listen to a word these two were saying, dragging Su Meng upstairs to choose a room first;

Chengcheng's eyes widened, "Daddy, big brother, what are you talking about?"

Nangong Yan shook her head and sighed, "Boring and uninteresting men."

Suming laughed heartily and took her by the hand, "Let's not talk about it anymore, let's go see our room."

There were two rooms along the second-floor corridor and one at the end of it; Suming and Nangong Yan were staying in the one at the very end. As they pushed open the door and entered, the room wasn't very large, but the scent of wildflowers greeted them. On the small balcony facing south, various fresh flowers were also in bloom, with sunlight spilling into the room, landing on a swan down warmer bed.

The room was spotlessly clean, and hanging above the bed was a photograph that looked quite old, of a little girl with blonde hair smiling brilliantly.

"Is this your granddaughter? She's a beautiful little girl," Nangong Yan said when she saw the girl in the photo couldn't have been more than ten, so she asked the village elder Avitu.

Avitu's expression dimmed slightly, then he looked tenderly at the girl in the photo and said softly, "This is my daughter, Alice. If she were still alive, she would be forty this year. Little Alice went to pick wildflowers in the mountains at the age of twelve and never returned."

"I'm sorry, please excuse my impudence," Nangong Yan quickly apologized.

"It's okay," Avitu replied gently, wiping the nonexistent dust from the picture frame with his sleeve, "At least when I look at this photo, I remember the happy eleven years I spent with Alice."

Nangong Yan was moved to the point of tears and couldn't help asking, "Is it really impossible to find her?"

As soon as she finished speaking, she realized the inappropriateness of her question. Romania is mountainous, with many wild animals in the mountains, and disappearances near these areas are not uncommon. Hence, there are many mysterious legends about the mountains, with the earliest vampire stories originating from this area.

Besides, it had been almost thirty years since the disappearance—how could she be found? If it had been possible, she would have been found long ago.

After a brief interlude and settling in their simple luggage, Avitu prepared a traditional Romanian delicacy for everyone: Calzone.

It looked like a giant dumpling, but it was actually a pizza with the filling inside; bacon, air-dried ham, mushrooms, and Australian cheese wrapped in the dumpling-shaped pizza, and when you bit into it, the rich aroma instantly filled your mouth.

Amidst the scent of wine and pizza, Avitu improvised a performance on the panpipes, playing a famous Romanian folk song called "The Red Lark," its cheerful notes filling the cabin.

"This is a really nice place. How about we come here to spend some time every year in the future?"

Under the night sky, Nangong Yan leaned against Suming's shoulder, and the two of them sat on the small balcony on the second floor, a bright moon overhead, with the rustling of the wind through the trees in the mountains in the distance, making the village particularly peaceful.

Suming held Nangong Yan a little tighter and whispered, "As long as you like."