"Are there dragons there?"
"Legend has it... there once were."
"And what happened to the dragons afterward? Where did they go?"
"The dragons originally lived in the valley, but then one fell in love with a human girl. Humans did not accept their love, mistaking it for the dragon abducting the girl; they summoned a witch to kill the Giant Dragon."
"What happened after that?"
"After that, the dragons disappeared."
"And... what about the girl?"
"That girl?! She gave birth to a boy, who became the king of this country."
"No wonder Grandfather has golden eyes," Gan Tang’s eyes widened, "So you guys are descendants of the dragon!"
Huangfu Jue and Gan Yuan looked over in surprise at the same time.
The little guy realized he had misspoken and quickly tried to explain himself.
"Yes, the king, he is Uncle Huangfu’s father. Shouldn’t I call him Grandfather?"
"Have you met him?" Huangfu Jue asked, on guard.
"Of course, on TV." The little guy answered with a grin, his eyes catching a glimpse of a rabbit that had scampered by the roadside. He sat up excitedly, "Mommy, look... a rabbit!"
Gan Yuan turned to look following his finger, and Huangfu Jue made a right turn, onto the road leading to Dragon Valley.
Suddenly leaving the main road, the car drove through a path lined with beautiful trees and around a hill; then the view opened up dramatically, revealing a beautiful valley in front of the three of them.
The grass was green and lush, wildflowers covered the ground like a carpet, and the river flowed slowly under the setting sun, its surface glittering with golden twilight...
Mother and son were both struck by the natural beauty and exclaimed in unison.
"When we were young, we’d often come here to camp," Huangfu Jue parked the car, jumped out with agility, took Gan Tang from Gan Yuan’s arms, and helped her out of the RV, "Around this season, we should also see fireflies."
"Really? Where are they?"
"It’s too early now; you can see them at night when they come out," Huangfu Jue put the little guy down on the grass, "Play here for a while, but don’t get too close to the water. Once Uncle sets up the tent, we’ll go fishing together."
The little guy ran eagerly toward the storage box at the rear of the car, "I want to help set up the tent too."
"Alright, let’s do it together!"
Huangfu Jue walked over and together they opened the storage box door.
The three of them took out their gear, with father and son setting up the tent, while Gan Yuan placed the grill, laid out the picnic blanket, and arranged the food they had brought.
By the time everything was ready, most of the sun had hidden behind the western hills, leaving only the fiery afterglow in the sky.
Gan Yuan tidied up the picnic table and started preparing charcoal to light a campfire, while Huangfu Jue took out the fishing rods and bait from the car.
Gan Tang picked up a small container and ran towards the riverbank.
"Don’t rush, be careful not to slip!"
Huangfu Jue, reminding him, strode after the little guy and walked shoulder to shoulder with him to the riverbank.
By the time Gan Yuan got the campfire going, the sky had completely darkened. Looking at the silhouette of father and son sitting side by side in the distance, she walked over with a thin blanket.
Just then, Huangfu Jue caught another big fish, flipping it onto the grass. Gan Yuan got up to grab it but slipped and fell instead. Father and son rushed over to help her up, while Gan Tang grabbed the thrashing fish and tossed it into a bucket.