Shi Lang and Amelia came to the bird enclosure holding hands with each other. The girl was full of smiles as she stood in front of a big cage, watching colorful small birds flying around. She said, “You know Lang, once there was a time when these little ones almost went extinct. I wonder, how our predecessors became so blind that they could not see the consequences of their actions?”
Shi Lang did not say anything for a few minutes, as his gaze lingered upon the birds flying and tweeting inside the cage. He said, “I have read in a lot of books that humans tried to learn from the creatures to assimilate better with the nature around. However, before they could do that, they were almost on the verge of collapse. I guess the ancient saying of the destruction of the old is necessary for the creation of new, is correct and true. The good thing is that humanity corrected its ways.”
Amelia nodded and said, “They realized facts and acted upon it, united otherwise, these birds would cease to exist and so would the world.”
Shi Lang nodded and said, “I am thankful that those wise men existed, otherwise, I would not have met you.”
Amelia blushed at this statement of his. She said, “You have a sweet mouth.”
Shi Lang pretended to be confused and asked, “When did you taste it, baby?”
Amelia blushed even more profusely and ran away from him with her head down. In her mind she was thinking, ‘What is with this guy, how can he just tease me like this every time? Has he no fear for me in his heart? Humph, I have to tell aunty that he bullies me.’
Shi Lang followed her quietly as the two people watched the birds in cages, some big some small. They did a full tour of the birds and then Amelia asked him if they can go to the Mammal section. The boy agreed with a smile on his face. He would follow her anywhere. The two came to stand in front of a tiger enclosure.
Amelia asked, “Lang, why do the beast lose their wild spark when they are caged?” it was not that she was not spiritually intelligent. She just wanted to talk about something with the boy.
Shi Lang replied calmly, “When they are forced to act the way others want them, they become tamed and thus they lose that wild spark you talked about before. In the wild, they all have the freedom to do what they want, but here, where is the freedom? This is the only zoo left in the federation because this place is a memorial.”
He scoffed and said, “A memorial of how humans thought of themselves being supreme. A memorial of the mistakes committed by our ancestors. Want to know the fun fact? To keep this memorial going on they are using real animals from the wild. Committing another mistake in the long term. Humph, I wonder if any civilization thought of humans or terrans as an animal to be kept in a siege.”
Amelia placed her palm on his shoulders. She did not realize her casual question will make him say all this. Although she was aware that this place was a mistake and the government should have abolished this long ago. She did not know what to say after Shi Lang burst out like this.
The boy took a deep breath while gazing at the tiger inside the enclosure, and said, “I am sorry, I just do not understand a few things. This lack of understanding makes me feel agitated.”
Amelia smiled and said, “I never took you for an extremist.”
Shi Lang shook his head and gazed into her eyes as he said, “I am not an extremist about everything and neither am I free to all. I believe that everything should be fine when done in moderation. Even extremism is fine but only when you know when to stop. You can do whatever you want until you harm someone or yourself. That is the point of moderation.”
Amelia nodded and the two began to chat while walking around. The topic revolved around the ideology of them both as an individual. Shi Lang did not say much but this was his goal. To have an in-depth conversation with the girl and get to know her better. Amelia was also curious when they had come to this place, and now only did she discover that Shi Lang wanted to know her better.
The girl was pleased about this and subconsciously the two people became closer. Form holding each other’s palm, Amelia was now hooking her elbow with Shi Lang. They did not notice this change while they were lost in a world that had only the two of them.
They did not even take care of food and kept on moving around. Only when the sun went down, and the speakers on the side announced, “Dear visitors, it is time for the zoo to close. Please head towards the nearest exit.”
Shi Lang and Amelia exchanged a glance and they both moved outside. They came out and before Amelia could say something, the boy’s stomach made a low grumbling sound. The two exchanged a glance and chuckled, while the boy was trying to omit the awkwardness of the situation, Amelia was laughing at his cute reaction.
She said, “Let us find a place nearby.”
Shi Lang shook his head and said, “I booked a table at a place I know. Let us go there.”
The girl nodded and the two called a cab and headed to the pub Shi Lang mentioned. This place was called Sunset Line. This place was a mediocre joint where the ambiance and crowd belonged to people who liked good food and good music. They did not have any fancy arrangements, but still, this place made good business.
Shi Lang’s maternal Aunt was the owner of this place she ran it together with her husband. That was also the reason the boy could book the table. His aunt has given him everything for free when she found out that the boy was coming over for his first date. She had a good relationship with their family and was quite young as well, so she and Shi Lang were more like friends.
The cab came to stop in front of an entertainment zone entry point. Shi Lang paid the cabbie and walked out with Amelia, who held his arm ever since they walked out of the zoo. They walked around and attracted a lot of gazes. They were a young couple that complimented each other’s look perfectly and even more, they were wearing couple outfits.
Amelia blushed slightly and said, “Why are these people gazing at us?”
Shi Lang said, “Because you look beautiful.”
He was not lying, people gaze at you when they are outside, and they look beautiful. They walked through the crowd and a market filled with entrances to different places, The entertainment zone was a place, that had restaurants, pubs, bars, gaming centers spread around in a circular complex. The entire complex had eight entry points and the complex building had two floors.
Shi Lang and Amelia took a leisurely stroll around the place before they came took a flight of stairs to reach the second floor where behind a small table stood a burly guy. He asked in a muffled voice, “How may I help you?”
Shi Lang said, “Is Mila inside?”
The man became alert and said, “You are Shi Lang? Mila’s nephew?”
The boy nodded, the guard smiled and said, “I apologize, Sir. I am new here, Mila had told us early on. Please go inside, she is there.”
Shi Lang nodded and said, “It is okay. The two people got inside the place.”
What welcomed them was a row of tables and chairs with people eating their food as they talked and laughed. The walls were all painted in a dusky amber shade with some positive quotes painted over them in multicolor. The lights were all hanging over the tables. The place did not look tacky and had a positive vibe about itself.
Amelia has never been to such a place before and looked around, but without losing the calm expression on her face. She did not want to look like a bumpkin in front of Mila. Shi Lang had told her about the place and the owner. Shi Lang and Amelia walked inside and a voice sounded behind him, “Langu baby.”
Shi Lang facepalmed himself and retorted, “Aunt, can you drop that UU from the name. I am not a baby anymore.”
He turned around and was met with a warm embrace. The person who hugged him was a lady who was the spitting image of his mother, the only difference was her curly hair. She wore a black floral print skirt and a pair of black ankle-strap heels. She smiled and said, “Okay, Baby Lang. Happy now.”
Shi Lang was about to reply when she kissed him on his cheeks. He said, “I missed you too Aunt.”
Mila held his ear directly and said, “You brat, only come here after half a year and dare to say that to me.”
Shi Lang faked a wincing expression and Amelia laughed. Her laughter attracted Mila’s attention as the lady said, “Is this your girlfriend? How did you get so lucky?”