There was air conditioning in the tea service area. People came in groups and sat in huddles separate from other groups. When the pool officially opened, people would probably need to wait for seats.

Jiao Yuan and the boys headed over to the entertainment areas with Ruan Ying leading them.

Ruan Ying decided to go with the kids because they didn’t want to listen to the parents talk and because Sahara was not staying put. He took the kids over to the pool table.

Youzi and Shirui were getting bored of sitting around. The parents were turning the subject to them since the boys left. Therefore, they took Zheng Tan and left.

Zheng Tan jumped out of the bag when they left the tea service area. He was too heavy for Youzi to carry now. People had brought their dogs, yet not all were leashed. Seeing Zheng Tan, the dogs barked merrily.

Zheng Tan ignored them and followed the girls to the entertainment area. He kept an eye out, memorizing the layout of the place. Some people saw him and were amazed. They didn’t think anyone would bring a cat. Cats were harder to train after all, and this one wasn’t even on a leash.

Ruan Ying was teaching the kids how to play pool when they got there. Sahara had been tied on the side and was biting his own paw at that moment. He immediately stood up and barked when he saw Zheng Tan. No one knew why he was barking, so they just let him be.

Ruan Ying was annoyed though, the boys couldn’t hear him over the barking.

He found a rubber duck and tossed it to Sahara, who gave it a sniff, then decided he didn’t like it.

“You ate, you peed, it’s not the time to poop yet. What do you want? If you bark again, you are going back in the car! You’re behaving worse than a cat!”

Zheng Tan rolled his eyes.

Sahara stopped barking. Instead, he sat there and whimpered.

Zheng Tan thought he was probably bored and not interested in the rubber duck. He looked around. There were water balls near the door, so he kicked one over to Sahara.

Sahara immediately looked excited and wagged his bushy tail with vigor.

He was bored.

He spent the morning playing ball with Sahara. They ate a quick lunch and then took naps. Around four in the afternoon, the parents were no longer able to keep the kids away from the pool.

The kids had to agree to stay in the shallow pool. The parents would have preferred if they stayed in the kids’ area, but the boys thought that was lame. The two sides had to settle in the middle.

Youzi and Shi Rui stayed in the kids’ area, however. The boys were too rowdy in the shallow pool, so the girls and the younger children played in the kids’ pool.

Mama Jiao was overseeing the girls, while Papa Jiao had to keep an eye on the boys. They didn’t know when to stop and strict supervision was necessary.

Zheng Tan stayed with the girls. The kids’ pool was deep enough for his size.

“Look! A cat!”

A few kids saw him and all huddle around to watch him swim. They had never seen cats swim before. Zheng Tan found this extremely annoying.

Youzi, ever the sweet darling, noticed this and brought him out of the water. She found them a shady place to sit. Mama Jiao followed them.

“The water’s a bit too warm at this hour. Better wait a while.” She brought over some juice.

Zheng Tan felt the sand. It was different than sand on real beaches, but the place was well-constructed enough and people were having a good time.

Ruan Ying was walking his dog and brought them half a watermelon.

“Aren’t you swimming?” Asked Mama Jiao.

“I was, but this guy here keeps barking. I thought he ate too much and wanted to poop, however, he’s only sniffing around. He wanted to get into the water, but I stopped him. I’ll wait a little longer and see.”

As he was speaking, Zheng Tan saw Sahara sniff the ground then turned on the spot. He squatted and pooped.

Everyone was speechless.

Youzi put down the piece of watermelon in her hand. She wasn’t hungry anymore.

Ruan Ying wanted to kick the dog, but he needed to clean up the mess first. He immediately covered up the evidence with sand after Sahara was done. He found a shovel and scooped the poop and the sand around it into a plastic bag.

Sahara was in an extraordinarily good mood. He was feeling much better. He dug a hole and barked to show his excitement.

Ruan Ying didn’t want to stay any longer. With the dog leash in one hand and dog poop in the other, he headed towards the resting area on the other side of the pool.

He ran into people who knew him on the way. “Ruan Ying, what do you have in your hand? Something to eat? Share it.”

Ruan Ying had a mysterious look on his face. “Oh, this is good stuff.”

“Let me see.” The person was reaching for the bag.

Ruan Ying hurriedly told the person what was in the bag. He jumped away and wiped the hand that touched the bag on his body. After realizing what he had just done, the man rushed to the sink to wash his hands.

Sahara was panting in the heat, but he was still really happy and wagged his tail furiously.

Ruan Ying looked down at his dog. “Bad boy! Don’t you dare do that again!”

Sahara wagged his tail. Ruan Ying had no idea if he understood or not.

“Look mom! A wolf!”

A little girl around kindergarten age pointed at Sahara.

Sahara had just recently gotten a shave. His head was still poufy but the fur on his body was short and grey. He looked funny.

Mama Jiao watched Ruan Ying leave with the dog. She and Youzi decided to move to a different spot. She didn’t want to stay somewhere a dog just pooped.

“Charcoal, you won’t poop on the beach will you?” Mama Jiao asked.

Zheng Tan twitched his ears. That was something Sahara and Tiger did, not him.

Lying on a cushion, Zheng Tan looked around. People had taken their old spot and a kid was playing in the sand where Sahara had just pooped. Though Ruan Ying had cleaned the mess, it was still gross so he looked away.

Xiong Xiong’s mother was still wearing a suit. She had sunglasses on and was standing in a pavilion talking to someone. It was clear she wasn’t here to swim.

Why couldn’t she just fit in? It was a rare occasion when so many people came together for a day out. Zheng Tan didn’t think of Xiong Xiong’s mother as a bad person, but he didn’t think too highly of her either. It must be hard being her son.

Around seven, Mama Jiao and Youzi re-entered the pool. The water was cool and comfortable. Zheng Tan swam around. A little kid was slapping the water with his swim ring. He chased Zheng Tan around the pool before Youzi stopped him. Then the kid started slapping Youzi.

To the grown-ups, this was just children playing together, but Zheng Tan wasn’t going to allow this behavior. When the adults weren’t looking, he scratched and broke the child’s swim ring. The kid immediately was scared into crying.

No one saw what happened except Youzi. She suddenly felt better.

It was getting late. Jiao Yuan and the boys were reluctant to leave, but they had been here long enough and everyone was hungry, so they quickly showered and dressed before leaving with their parents.

Xiong Xiong’s parents were already waiting in the parking lot. They led the way in their car.

The car window was down. The night wind was cool. They didn’t need to turn on the air-conditioning.

His fur dried fast in the summer. Zheng Tan had taken a shower earlier and his fur was mostly dry already. He looked outside, the bridge was gorgeous with lights on. However, a howling Sahara ruined the scene.

To prevent Sahara from sticking his head out the window, Ruan Ying didn’t open his car windows fully. Sahara peered out from the crack. He tried scratching the window with his paws, but that didn’t do anything, so he resorted to howling. He stopped after Ruan Ying yelled at him.

“Cats are better,” Mama Jiao exclaimed.

Youzi remembered Zheng Tan sticking up for her in the pool and giggled. Jiao Yuan made her tell the story.

“Good job Charcoal!” Jiao Yuan patted Zheng Tan.

Mama Jiao glared at Jiao Yuan but didn’t say anything.

They reached an intersection. Zheng Tan felt the building around looked familiar.

As their group of cars streamed into a parking, Zheng Tan looked up then realized it was Fang Shaokang’s hotel.

Papa Jiao had a strange look on his face. “We still haven’t ever used the VIP card.”

Mama Jiao knew the one he was talking about and nodded. “You’re not the one buying dinner. What are you worrying about.”

“We might someday.”

Ruan Ying didn’t bring Sahara inside the hotel since it offered pet service.

Sahara was deeply upset and whimpered excessively. He was quieted by the bowl of dog food Ruan Ying laid in front of him.

Zheng Tan looked at Sahara with disdain.

Where is your backbone, Sahara?