Chapter 138 I'll accompany you from now on
"Yangtze alligator? Are there any in Anhui Province?"
Xiang Yuanyuan was a little confused. She felt that Du Ruo's thoughts changed too quickly, making her unable to keep up for a while. Besides, she only knew that the Yangtze alligator was a national first-class protected waste, but she paid little attention to it. Who would make a special trip to see it?
"Yes, our Anhui Province is a protected area for Chinese alligators, and it is also the largest protected breeding area."
Du Ruo saw that Yuanyuan looked confused, but he still gave a brief explanation.
In fact, he only found out about it recently. He didn't pay attention to the location when he watched the Yangtze alligator video before, and he didn't really know it was not far from his home. He only figured it out recently.
"Then let's go, do you want to pack your things?"
Xiang Yuanyuan thought about it and felt that there seemed to be nothing to do at home except editing videos.
"No, bring a bottle of water. I'll drive. We'll leave now and play for a while and be back in the evening."
As Du Ruo spoke, he shook the keys in his hand. It didn't look like this was a spur of the moment decision.
"Then let's go."
Xiang Yuanyuan raised her hand and shouted something in a somewhat childish tone.
……
In the car, Du Ruo was driving, and Xiang Yuanyuan was sitting in the passenger seat, texting Li Qiyao on her phone, and said that she would take more photos of her later.
It took more than two hours to reach the destination, a journey of more than 200 kilometers.
The weather is not so hot at this time, so it's a good time to go out for a walk.
"Are we there already?"
Xiang Yuanyuan got off the car and looked around. This place is quite remote, surrounded by hills, with good vegetation coverage and nice scenery. The most important thing is that there are not too many people here. Occasionally, you will see parents bringing their children here. It is a very good place as a parent-child playground during the summer vacation.
"Well, this is Crocodile Lake. It is said that there are nearly 10,000 alligators living in it."
Du Ruo said this and walked inside with Xiang Yuanyuan.
"Let's take a look around here first, then go to the surrounding area for dinner and go back after dinner."
"Okay, let's go, let's hurry up."
Xiang Yuanyuan has just watched a lot of videos about Yangtze alligators on the Internet. Now is the moment of anticipation. She can't wait to jog in front to buy tickets to enter the park.
The ticket price was quite cheap, and most importantly, there was no need to queue, so the two of them entered the park quickly.
Unlike Du Ruo who had a clear goal of coming here just to see the Yangtze alligators, Xiang Yuanyuan actually came here to have fun.
So as soon as we entered the park, Xiang Yuanyuan was very happy. After entering, she was curious about everything and even wanted to go in and take a look at the dinosaur park.
And like those other kids, she would ask Du Ruo to take pictures for her when she saw dinosaur models or fossils.
There is also the Yangtze Alligator Education Hall where she listens very attentively.
Even when she saw other children climbing up on the huge Yangtze alligator statue to take pictures after leaving the mission hall, she would also climb up to take pictures to feel happy.
Of course Du Ruo didn't care about this. She had originally asked Xiang Yuanyuan to come out and play together, so of course she had to take Xiang Yuanyuan's feelings into consideration. It was just that her enthusiasm was a little beyond Du Ruo's expectations, which made Du Ruo couldn't help but pay attention to Xiang Yuanyuan for a while.
"Wow, there are so many crocodiles. Are these alligators?"
As they walked, they finally arrived at the lake. Xiang Yuanyuan saw the situation by the lake for the first time.
On the grass beside the Crocodile Lake, there were densely packed crocodiles lying on it basking in the sun. Xiang Yuanyuan couldn't help but hold the railing and stretch her head forward to see more clearly.
“It should be… right?”
Seeing this scene, Du Ruo himself became a little skeptical. After all, no matter what he had seen on the Internet or learned about it before, it seemed that Yangtze alligators were always small, timid, cautious and cute.
The crocodiles in the crocodile lake in front of him made Du Ruo speechless.
"That... big crocodile doesn't look cute or silly at all."
Xiang Yuanyuan spread his hands and made a very exaggerated gesture to describe the huge size of the alligator in front of him. He frowned and looked as if he was shocked.
"..."
Du Ruo was at a loss for words, mainly because they were standing quite far away and couldn't watch closely, so seeing dozens of adult Yangtze alligators ranging from one and a half to nearly two meters long lying on the ground basking in the sun, each with a bulging belly, didn't look cute no matter how you looked at it.
In the past, the Yangtze alligators in online videos always appeared alone, and were usually small, about one meter long. They were not as strong as the Yangtze alligators in front of us, and they were not filmed at close range.
"Wow, you can even feed crocodiles. I want to feed crocodiles too."
Soon, Xiang Yuanyuan's attention was diverted. Although these crocodiles did not fit her image of cute and silly Yangtze alligators, she had never seen one before. Seeing a child buying food to feed the crocodiles, she went over. Du Ruo followed. Xiang Yuanyuan and a group of children happily kept feeding the alligators, which attracted the Yangtze alligators below to move. Du Ruo took the opportunity to observe.
"They are all on the shore. Alligators are creatures of the water, a variation of dragons. The Xingyi alligator form is the true form of the water. You can't learn its charm just by looking at it like this."
Du Ruo looked at it for a while and began to frown, but soon relaxed. As he said, there is more to life than just martial arts, and the true meaning of water does not have to be found on the Yangtze alligator.
So while Du Ruo was carefully observing the alligator, he began to feed the alligator with Xiang Yuanyuan.
Small breads and small fish are available for sale, and all the feeding food sold meets the standards.
Although Du Ruo would throw some small fish into the water and then lure some alligators to eat them, the small fish were not fresh after all, but processed ones. The alligators had no difficulty eating them, and the alligators did not show their living conditions and sense of strength at all.
The two of them played around like this and took a lot of photos. Xiang Yuanyuan also saw some small Yangtze alligators behind her, which made Xiang Yuanyuan very excited. She shouted with joy. The only pity was that she couldn't get close to them and play with them.
Of course, Du Ruo did not gain nothing. He observed the swimming movements of many crocodiles, which confirmed what he had learned.
Xingyi Tuoxing is the only move in Xingyiquan that can be compared with Tai Chi's Huajin, and it has a strong defensive function. The Huajin here is not a state of mind, but a kind of dissolving and releasing force.
However, the crocodile shape is not only capable of defense, it can also be used for both offense and defense. Its main function is to drive the arms with the waist. When using it, it is not only for pushing away, but also for attacking by driving the elbows and arms with strength. This is highly consistent with the shape of the Yangtze alligator when swimming.
However, Du Ruo had already fully mastered the use of strength, and watching the Yangtze alligator in the water only confirmed what he had learned, without much improvement.
"We're done shopping, a little hungry, shall we go home now?"
After walking around, the two of them didn't waste too much time, probably less than two hours, and they walked out of the park. After all, they were adults and they were just satisfied with watching the alligators. If they had brought children with them, they would definitely not have finished the tour so quickly.
"There seems to be a town nearby. There seem to be some delicious food there. Let's go there and have a look before going back."
Du Ruo looked at the time and suggested.
"Okay."
Xiang Yuanyuan smiled. In the past, her life was filled with all kinds of fine wines. Now that she couldn't drink, she began to be interested in delicacies from all over the world. She was really hungry, so she was naturally happy to eat something delicious.
"You seem particularly happy today."
In the car, Du Ruo set up the navigation and started chatting with Xiang Yuanyuan. He and Xiang Yuanyuan had visited many places. The last time he saw her so happy was when they were riding horses on the grassland. He had never seen her so excited at other times.
"Because I have never played any of these. I grew up at home, surrounded by all kinds of wine and medicinal herbs. I brewed wine, soaked wine, identified medicinal herbs, and memorized all kinds of prescriptions. My cousins or classmates were my peers. My parents never took me to an amusement park, a children's playground, or a park."
Xiang Yuanyuan kept talking, with a smile on her face as she spoke.
"Then I'll go with you from now on."
Du Ruo blurted out, because he was actually in the same situation, growing up in the countryside, and his games included climbing trees to catch birds, fishing in the creek, or stealing fruits from other people's homes.
When I grew up, I had various concerns. I didn't want to go alone, but it seemed childish to go with adults. Now I have someone with similar interests, and it seems nice to make up for some of my childhood memories.
"That's great, children's playground, water park..."
Xiang Yuanyuan became even happier and started counting while sitting in the passenger seat.
"Help! Someone fell into the water! Help!!!"
The two were chatting happily. When the vehicle passed by a small river in a village, an old lady was standing by the river not far away shouting loudly. While shouting, she was also turning around, as if looking for something that could save people.
"What is that mother-in-law doing? She seems very anxious."
Because the car windows were closed and the vehicle was moving, Xiang Yuanyuan could not hear the mother-in-law's shouting, but she could see her mother-in-law waving her hands and feet and spinning around in a panic.
"Yuanyuan, someone must have fallen into the water. Let's go over there. I'll jump in to save him while you comfort that old lady."
Xiang Yuanyuan couldn't hear it, but Du Ruo heard it. He said something to Xiang Yuanyuan, and after the car approached, Du Ruo pushed the door and got out.
"Mother-in-law, what's going on? How many people are there? How long have they been in the water?"
Du Ruo ran to her mother-in-law and asked her questions while running towards the river.
"Two people, one big and one small, were swimming in the river. They were playing in the water happily at first, but suddenly there was no sound. I could still see them struggling for several minutes, but now I can't see them anymore."
When the mother-in-law saw Du Ruo, she was obviously relieved. She led Du Ruo to the river, pointed to the middle of the river, and spoke incoherently and anxiously. There was a small step by the river with a basin of clothes on it. It was obvious that the mother-in-law had just washed clothes here.
"Okay, I got it. Hold the round thing for me."
Du Ruo used "Qi" to bless his vision, and scanned the river surface with his eyes, while taking off his clothes and pants and handing them to Xiang Yuanyuan.
"Found it, there it is!"
(End of this chapter)
