FPE Chapter 35

It was summer vacation, and finding places for children to go had become a problem. Older children could still attend tutoring classes, but younger ones couldn’t sit still even if they went. Besides, the current policy of reducing academic tutoring had shut down all the openly operating tutoring centers. The competitive pressure in smaller cities wasn’t as intense, and most parents had a fairly laid-back attitude, thinking that if tutoring classes weren’t available, so be it — but children still needed somewhere to play! Otherwise they’d either be causing trouble at home or running around causing trouble outside, leaving parents unable to rest easy either way.

Auntie Liu was one such woman, tied down by children and unable to get away — though she wasn’t their mother, but their grandmother. What made it even more daunting was that she had to look after four children from her two sons’ families, ranging from four to seven years old, the most insufferable age imaginable. They drove her to headaches with their noise, and every morning when Auntie Liu woke up and faced those four children, the first thought in her mind was: Why am I still not dead yet?

One day, the neighbor next door headed out with her child and, seeing Auntie Liu’s haggard face, said to her, “Letting them run wild at home doesn’t work, and you can’t relax when they’re outside either. How about taking the kids to an amusement park? Once they burn off their energy, they won’t bother you in the evenings.”

Auntie Liu let out a sigh. “Where in the old part of the city is there a decent amusement park?”

Auntie Liu had taken the children to one of those children’s play areas in the town squares before — a tiny inflatable foam pit with some inflatable slides and motorized dinosaur rides in the middle. And for that, it cost fifty-seven yuan just to get in. She had always been frugal, and besides, she didn’t think those inflatable parks were much fun, so she’d stopped taking the children.

The neighbor said in surprise, “There’s Fantasy Amusement Park on Taoyuan Street! It’s been open for about half a month now, and the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive. Old folks, young men, and young women all love going.” As she spoke, she held a little girl’s hand and locked her door, saying, “Fantasy Amusement Park is opening its children’s section today, and tickets are half price. I can see that four kids is no easy thing. The older one plays on his phone all day — that won’t do at all. Getting nearsighted at such a young age will cause problems down the road. Send them to the park to play, and you’ll get a bit of a breather too.”

Auntie Liu was tempted by what she heard, but still hesitated a little. “The way you describe it, it sounds like a big park. Won’t it have dangerous equipment?”

The neighbor waved her hand dismissively. “Put your mind completely at ease! It’s high-tech — it’s even been on TV. I saw in the park’s promotional materials that the children’s section has thirty-two staff members on standby. Which park anywhere has that many employees specifically guarding the children’s section?”

Because she had to look after the children, Auntie Liu had virtually no time to herself in her daily life, let alone watch television. She hadn’t even known that a Fantasy Amusement Park had opened nearby. When she heard there were thirty-two staff members, she was deeply moved — that was even more people than those nurseries had. She nodded, got the children ready, and headed off to Fantasy Amusement Park.

Since they had left home rather late, by the time Auntie Liu brought the children off the bus, she found an enormously long queue at the park entrance. She squinted and looked again, growing more and more astonished. “This park — how can there be so many people?”

“Grandma, Grandma, I want to eat that!”

The children, oblivious to the adults’ concerns, had already had their attention completely captured by the row of food stalls next to the park.

Auntie Liu quickly said, “Street stalls aren’t clean, sweethearts. We’re going into the park to play — there’s even better food inside.”

The children fussed for a while, but Auntie Liu pulled them along to join the queue while they continued to cast longing glances at the food stalls.

Just then, Auntie Liu heard a gentle voice from beside her. “You’ve come with children — you can use the children’s lane on the side.”

Auntie Liu turned to look and felt a sudden brightening before her eyes. My, this young woman was beautiful — her skin was so dewy and tender that Auntie Liu couldn’t find the words to describe it. The four noisy children, the moment they saw this pretty big sister, stopped their clamoring and shyly hid behind Auntie Liu, though their eyes still kept sneaking glances at her.

Guided by Chi Xiaozhen, Auntie Liu found the children’s lane nearby — it wasn’t far at all, just to the left of the long queue, with far fewer people in it.

Auntie Liu had just gotten settled with the children when a few people walked over and asked if they could borrow two of her children.

Auntie Liu was momentarily baffled and hadn’t yet recovered when a ticket seller called out through a megaphone, “Those without children, please queue in an orderly fashion. Our machines are highly intelligent — attempting to use someone else’s child to access the children’s lane will be detected.” The ticket seller repeated this several times over the megaphone before those people reluctantly moved away.

“This park is really doing great business!”

Auntie Liu exclaimed.

At this, a visitor ahead of her who was carrying a child spoke up. “It really is. Taoyuan Street used to be so quiet — only the night market was a bit lively. During the day there were hardly any people. Since Fantasy Amusement Park opened, more and more street vendors have set up shop nearby.”

The parents with children were particularly chatty and, as they queued, began discussing the changes in the area. “My family was talked into buying a shop front across from Taoyuan Street by a real estate salesperson ten years ago. For all these years, we couldn’t rent it out, and running our own business there brought in hardly any customers, so it sat locked up and collecting dust for many years. Not long after Fantasy Amusement Park opened, someone came asking if I wanted to sell the shop. I hesitated for just a few days, and then Fantasy Amusement Park suddenly exploded in popularity — tourists came flooding in, people traveled from out of town just to visit. Now the rent has gone up several times over and people are competing to rent it!”

“This whole area has really been getting more and more lively lately. My neighbor works at the municipal government, and she said they’re planning to add two more bus routes that will both come to Taoyuan Street, and there’ll even be a dedicated ‘Fantasy Amusement Park Station’!”

Auntie Liu usually stayed in the old part of the city and rarely came to the Taoyuan Street area. Now, hearing all of this and seeing how bustling the park truly was, she felt a sense of anticipation stir within her, and when it came time to buy tickets, she didn’t feel the pinch of the price.

There were a lot of people inside the park, but those with children didn’t need to worry, because the interior had barriers specifically separating a children’s lane, with staff stationed alongside to maintain order. Walking through the dedicated lane with the children, there was no need to fear being jostled by other visitors.

Overhead, a broadcast looped continuously reminding visitors of important notices:

Attention parents with children: The children’s section is currently equipped with a mother-and-baby room, children’s restrooms, a children’s clinic, a children’s swimming area, and more. The mother-and-baby room stocks emergency formula, diapers, high chairs, etc., all available via coin operation. The mother-and-baby room is divided by gender — fathers accompanying children, please do not enter the female mother-and-baby area… The children’s restrooms are separated by gender; if assistance is needed, please ask a staff member. Please do not bring young boys into the girls’ restroom…

Auntie Liu wasn’t particularly educated, but she had spent so many years looking after children that even though her four grandchildren were no longer babies, taking them out always came with one inconvenience or another. Hearing this announcement, she nodded inwardly — this park had thought of everything.

The children’s section was behind the Purple Lake, and the dedicated children’s lane passed by the Purple Lake as well. Along the way, quite a few parents and children had their attention drawn to the Purple Lake, though the vast majority were still more interested in the newly opened children’s section.

Auntie Liu had assumed the children’s section would consist of inflatable castles, slides, and carousels, but when she arrived, she was taken aback.

Other visitors also let out exclamations of wonder, loud and soft alike, because the children’s section looked just like something out of a fairytale.

Not only the children, but the adults too were captivated, unable to look away. The entrance gate was woven from climbing vines, with small colorful flowers of unknown varieties blooming across it, showing no trace of artificial craftsmanship. Beautiful figures dressed in leaf costumes and wearing floral crowns stood in various spots throughout the children’s section. Some held ceramic bowls from which clear spring water gurgled and flowed, pouring into a children’s swimming pool encircled by smooth pebbles; the pool water shimmered with fractured light — yet it was a cloudy day, so the light was neither the phosphorescent sheen of sunlight reflecting off water, nor the harsh glare of artificial lighting. It was simply pleasant to look at. Some sat on vine-woven swings weaving flower garlands; each time a garland was completed, the vines nearby would swiftly grow fresh branches and blossoms for them to use, flowers of varieties never seen before, crystalline and translucent as though carved from crystal. Some sat together in groups beneath large trees, beating small drums and singing folk songs — the melodies were hauntingly beautiful, and when the singing drifted over, children who had been crying and fussing miraculously fell asleep with happy smiles on their lips. Some sat beneath trees of pink and purple blossoms, took the falling petals and rubbed them between their fingers, shaping them into little fairies with beating wings; the fairies circled around the children, leaving them utterly amazed and wide-eyed…

Chi Xiaozhen, who had earlier guided Auntie Liu to buy her tickets, was here as well. She smiled at the parents standing rooted to the spot in stunned silence. “This is a new technology developed by our park. All of the leaf-costumed figures in the children’s section are created by real people combined with holographic technology. You’re welcome to communicate and interact with them, but please be mindful of good manners.”

Auntie Liu listened in a daze. Older folks didn’t absorb new things as quickly as younger people — since entering the park, she had had her head stuffed full of the word “holographic,” but what holographic technology actually was, she still hadn’t quite figured out.

But the visitors around her accepted all of it as a matter of course and began chattering among themselves.

“Oh, so it’s holographic! No wonder it’s so beautiful and otherworldly — I thought I had transmigrated for a moment, haha!”

“It’s so gorgeous! I have to take photos and post them to my social media!”

Some parents had even forgotten about their children, too busy marveling at everything. After all, the park was said to have thirty-two staff members — and they’d only seen a few so far. There was still so much more to see further ahead!

****

Without exception, Fantasy Amusement Park’s newly opened children’s section shot straight to the top of the trending searches.

Online visitors screamed with excitement, even more thrilled than they had been when they first learned that the holographic technology was real.

“Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, I don’t even know how to describe it anymore. All I can do is shout at the top of my lungs — everyone get yourselves to Fantasy Amusement Park! Go! It is absolutely worth it!”

“I’m crying, I’m actually crying. I thought I was dreaming just now. Even though I knew Fantasy Amusement Park’s children’s section wouldn’t be bad, I never imagined it could be this good. As someone from Jin’an City, I am so, so proud!”

“After going into the children’s section, I started having regrets — regrets that I grew up too fast. Is there any high-tech solution that can turn me back into a child? Asking urgently, please respond.”

“Everything in the children’s section is just so magical. The leaf-costume beauties are wonderful, the special effects are wonderful, the little fairies are wonderful…”

“Hello everyone, it’s Xiao Zhou again, bringing you the latest content from Fantasy Amusement Park. Xiao Zhou isn’t married yet, but in order to visit the children’s section at the earliest opportunity, I specially borrowed a child from my aunt’s place. Once inside the children’s section, everyone — don’t get distracted by other things. First, head to the center of the children’s section and find a dryad who can shape little fairies from flower petals. The little fairies she creates can accompany you and stay by your side throughout the entire visit. That’s right, you heard correctly — little fairies with small wings dressed in princess gowns. They are adorable beyond words. Attaching several photos. Next, everyone should find the dryad sitting on the vine swing weaving flower garlands — her garlands are limited edition, only available to the first fifty visitors each day… Once you’ve got your garland and your little fairy, you can play to your heart’s content. We can sit beneath the trees listening to the dryads play music, have the dryads push us on the swings, or be carried by a dryad up the slide… Please don’t ask me whether the dryads can carry a large child weighing one hundred jin — as of now, these services are only available to children fourteen years old and under.”

“The service at Fantasy Amusement Park’s children’s section is really excellent. My child has had a weak constitution since birth, and nearly swallowed water in the swimming area. A staff member immediately brought him to the children’s clinic. The clinic was also staffed by a leaf-costume figure who handled things in a way that was different from other doctors, though I’m not sure how to describe it — but it worked. My child was back to being full of energy in no time.”

“I can’t hold back anymore — I’m going to book a flight just to visit Fantasy Amusement Park…”