Chapter 2 The Journey Begins
The next morning, the weather had cleared up slightly, but the temperature had dropped even further.
Someone had leaked the news of Tuan Tuan going to Dian Nan for a blind date, and by morning, a large crowd of tourists had gathered at the entrance of Xihong Zoo.
When Yang Lin drove the pig-pulled cart with Tuan Tuan at the zoo entrance, the tourists erupted in an uproar.
"I heard Tuan Tuan is being sent to Dian Nan for a marriage alliance, is that true?"
"What marriage alliance, that sounds so unpleasant. It's called marrying into the family, do you understand?"
"From today onwards, Tuan Tuan is a son-in-law in Dian Nan."
"Are animals also into this now? Panda Shura? Or Panda King?"
"It can't be that serious, isn't it just a blind date?"
"Exactly, nothing is set in stone yet, how can he be called a son-in-law already."
"If they want to marry off the panda from the neighboring province, our Gui Xi pandas will never marry into another family, unless the dowry is substantial, of course."
"I heard they're giving away two elephants as dowry."
"What two elephants as dowry, wasn't it a whole park?"
"Then do we people of Gui Xi also need to contribute some betrothal money?"
"Don't move, you guys. I'll go chop two carts of sugarcane. Gui Xi has plenty of sugarcane, and I hope the female panda from Dian Nan isn't ungrateful."
"I'll add two more carts. Let the Dian Nan pandas see the strength of Gui Xi."
"Right, right, let the Dian Nan pandas see our Gui Xi's purple-skinned solid bamboo."
"Then the Dian Nan pandas will eat their way through half of Long Guo and still won't find that sweet-tasting bamboo from back then."
As everyone was chattering, Yang Lin had already slowly started the vehicle.
Perhaps out of reluctance, the tourists began throwing various foods into the cage behind.
Some threw bananas, some threw sugarcane, some threw steamed buns and mantou.
Whatever food they had in their hands, the group of tourists threw it all in front of Tuan Tuan.
Soon, a small mountain of food piled up in front of Tuan Tuan.
There were even two durians the size of a head.
Seeing all these various kinds of food, Tuan Tuan's eyes widened.
"The director really didn't lie, there are delicious things indeed!"
"But what are these two big guys? Let's open them and see."
"Ugh..."
As the vehicle slowly moved forward, some tourists spontaneously followed behind the car.
"Will we meet again? Tuanzi, when we meet again, be happy, okay? Tuanzi, be happy, be happy, okay? Be happy, be happy."
"Tuanzi, how can I live without you?"
"Stop shouting, don't you see Tuan Tuan is about to throw up?"
"Nonsense, he's just carsick."
"Tuan Tuan is about to meet his significant other, when will my parents arrange a blind date for me? It's impossible to find someone on your own."
"Come to Xihong Zoo to be an animal, an animal not defined by others."
"The panda position just opened up, I'll take over for a couple of days."
"Are you sure you want to live with pigs?"
As Yang Lin was taking Tuan Tuan on his way, the news of Tuan Tuan's long journey to Dian Nan for a blind date also spread across the internet.
The most excited were the netizens from Gui Xi and Dian Nan provinces.
While Yang Lin was still on the road, netizens from both provinces were already arguing fiercely online.
Especially in the comment section of a Douyin video about bidding farewell to Tuan Tuan, hundreds of thousands of comments had been added in just one hour.
"Tuan Tuan is our treasure from Gui Xi. If he really ends up with Ya Ya from Dian Nan, I suggest they both move to Gui Xi and live with his in-laws. IP: Gui Xi"
"Oh! Tuan Tuan is your treasure, but is Ya Ya not our treasure from Dian Nan? I think Tuan Tuan should come to our Dian Nan Zoo. IP: Dian Nan"
"Tuan Tuan won't get used to the food in Dian Nan. In Gui Xi, Tuan Tuan can eat eight meals a day, all different, and with a professional stylist. IP: Gui Xi"
"If you ask me, why not live in each place for a year? When you have children, the first one will be raised in Gui Xi, and then the next one can be sent to Dian Nan. IP: Gui Xi."
"Why should the first one be with you? IP: Dian Nan"
"Our Tuan Tuan is a handsome young man, his looks can't compare to your Ya Ya. IP: Gui Xi"
"Oh, oh, oh, they haven't even met yet, and you're already attacking our Ya Ya. IP: Dian Nan."
Yang Lin was naturally unaware of the online arguments. After leaving the zoo, he drove all the way towards the Gui Dian Expressway.
All the way, pedestrians and vehicles alike looked utterly stunned.
Within Gui Xi, it was not so bad, as many people recognized Yang Lin and knew he was taking Tuan Tuan to Dian Nan for a blind date.
But once they got on the highway, some of the vehicles and drivers from other regions were not aware of this.
A man from an SUV with a Hubei license plate was looking at the scenery outside the window when, the next second, a large panda head appeared to his right.
At first, he thought he was hallucinating, but after rubbing his eyes, he finally confirmed he wasn't mistaken.
Terrified, he quickly said to the driver beside him:
"Brother, are you sure this is the direction to Dian Nan? Did you take the wrong turn?"
"No, I'm following the navigation."
"You still say you didn't take the wrong turn. Look at what's next to us, it's a panda. You've driven into Bashu!"
As the two were speaking, Tuan Tuan in the adjacent car reached out a paw and waved at them.
At this moment, the two were completely bewildered.
"Did I really take the wrong turn?"
Clearly, they weren't the only ones bewildered. In another private car with a Xiang Nan license plate, four young girls were chatting excitedly.
"Pei Pei, I heard you have a lot of elephants in Dian Nan, and you ride elephants to school. Is that true?"
"How is that possible? Where would Dian Nan get so many elephants? There wouldn't be enough to go around."
"Then, according to you, does every family in Xiang Nan raise zombies, and does every family in Bashu raise pandas?"
As the three were laughing, another girl sitting in the passenger seat, who hadn't spoken much, suddenly spoke.
"I don't know if Xiang Nan raises zombies, but Bashu definitely raises pandas."
"Huh?"
Hearing the slightly shocked tone of the girl in the passenger seat, they couldn't help but look forward.
The next second, a giant panda facing them waved its hand. In its other hand, it was holding a stalk of sugarcane.
Seeing this, a girl with a Bashu accent in the back seat said with a wry smile:
"It's over. It's going to be hard to explain."