I became incredibly cute after dressing up as an animal!

Ever since Lan Xiaoxiao started eating leaves, in addition to feeding her tender leaves all the time during the first year of junior high school, the other elephants in the family also do the same. Whoever gets to eat a delicious tender leaf will immediately pick it and feed it to the baby.

My cousin broke off a tender branch and said, "Baby, pick the leaves from this branch and eat them, they're delicious."

"Thank you, sister." Lan Xiaoxiao took it with her nose.

Lan Xiaoxiao explains the importance of teeth to them, and if she sees anyone chewing on tree bark or particularly old leaves, she immediately gets angry and stops them.

Over time, the entire Mary family became picky eaters, all preferring fresh and tender foods.

Zhang Wang was the first to discover this: "The acacia trees they ate weren't bald; they still left so many old leaves."

The elephants ate all the fresh grass on the ground, but not the old roots. They would eat the other grass roots.

Zhang Wang wrote in his notebook: In July 2026, the Mary family is a group of picky elephants, especially Xiao Xiao and Chu Yi.

The little female elephant in the Zhangwangguan Mary family is named Xiaoxiao.

……

Lan Xiaoxiao is two years old and has decided to wean herself. She feels like a big girl now! She can't keep drinking milk and needs to eat more leafy greens and fruits!

My favorite thing to do in the first year of junior high school was to feed my little cutie and keep an eye on her three meals a day and her water intake.

All the elephants have witnessed how much they cherish their babies.

Lan Xiaoxiao was always called Baobao in the tribe until she was four years old.

In the spring of their fourth year, during the rainy season, two male elephants in heat fought over mating rights. Lan Xiaoxiao and Chu Yi, who were in the herd, watched with great interest, and one of the elephants won the fight.

Then Aunt Anlin left the elephant herd and went on a date with the bull elephant that had won the fight.

That same year, Grandma Mary announced that Aunt Anlin was pregnant, and twenty months later, Lan Xiaoxiao and Chu Yi would have a younger brother or sister.

Lan Xiaoxiao had never seen an elephant pregnant or giving birth before, and she was full of curiosity.

Lan Xiaoxiao would press her ear against An Lin's belly to listen, and gradually, one day, she actually heard the baby's voice inside her.

The dry season this year is alright; it's not so dry that we need to go to tourist areas to find water.

After several years of migration, Lan Xiaoxiao and Chu Yi have memorized the route.

They arrived at a water source where there was water and food. Chief Mary decided to stay there for half a month. Her daughter, Anlin, was pregnant and would get tired from walking, so she needed to rest.

The elephant herd settled near the water source.

After greeting their elders, Lan Xiaoxiao and Chu Yi happily ran out to play.

The Chinese man named Zhang Wang has been following and protecting them for so many years, and Lan Xiaoxiao and Chu Yi have become familiar with him.

A few years ago, the two baby elephants greeted Zhang Wang from a distance, but they got closer and closer and started circling the car.

Zhang Wang voluntarily got out of the car, and the two baby elephants affectionately stretched their trunks to sniff him. From that day on, the distance between humans and baby elephants was zero.

Lan Xiaoxiao and Chu Yi often play with Zhang Wang, and even climb onto his car and let Zhang Wang take them for a ride.

Zhang Wang took many group photos and recorded these events in his notebook.

Today, the little elephant came knocking on the window again. I looked up and rolled down the car window. The heat from the grassland blew in, and two elephant trunks peeked in.

One of the elephant trunks gripped the inside door handle, and with a click, opened the door itself.

Zhang Wang smiled helplessly: "You've already learned to open car doors by yourself?"

The car door opened, revealing two smiling elephants.

This is a modified Jeep with a high chassis, thicker wheels, and an even larger rear door. Zhang Wang specially removed the rear seats, making it look like a pickup truck bed.

Now that the baby elephants have grown up, both elephants can't come up at the same time.

Only one can come up at a time; two can't fit.

Sure enough, Chu Yi didn't come up, but let Xiao Xiao come up to play instead.

Zhang Wang: "Want to turn on the air conditioning?"

Lan Xiaoxiao shook her head, "No, no, elephants aren't as afraid of the heat as humans."

Chu Yi ran alongside the car, watching as Zhang Wang drove Lan Xiaoxiao around.

The elephant herd in the distance was calling out; they were probably looking for their calf.

Lan Xiaoxiao raised her nose out the window and called out in response.

"The baby is looking for someone to play with."

Zhang Wang didn't understand, so he asked, "Did your mother call you back for dinner?"

Lan Xiaoxiao smiled and reached under the passenger seat with her nose.

Zhang Wang immediately slammed on the brakes, reaching out to press down on the mischievous nose: "You smelled it again? Why do you like instant noodles so much? Next time I take a break from my shift and go out to the grasslands, can I bring you back a watermelon? This is the last pack of instant noodles my mom sent from overseas, so please leave it for me."

Domestic instant noodles don't necessarily have to be shipped across borders; they're definitely available in Kenya's Chinese Super League.

Do you think elephants are uneducated? Don't try to fool them.

Zhang Wang pressed down on the middle of Lan Xiaoxiao's nose, and she immediately pressed the window button. The window opened, and the next second, Chu Yi's nose peeked in. As if it had eyes, it accurately pulled out a packet of instant noodles from under the seat and ran away!

Zhang Wang: "..."

Lan Xiaoxiao immediately pulled her nose back, opened the car door, and jumped out!

As soon as the little elephant jumped down, the whole car rose a few centimeters, and the flattened tires all rounded up again.

Zhang Wang watched the two baby elephants hopping and skipping away, and laughed in exasperation: "I'm taking a day off tomorrow. You won't see me for another two weeks. I'll bring you watermelons."

A hundred meters away, the baby elephant's call rang out.

They heard it.

Because the gang that killed the Osa family has not been found for several years, the discussion about the first year of junior high school has also decreased in recent years.

Aside from netizens who are particularly fond of African savanna animals, most people are unaware of the Mary family's activities, and their popularity on the global internet is generally low.

This is a good thing.

Animal protection organizations held a meeting before the Lunar New Year to discuss whether they should continue to track and protect the Chu Yi and Mary families.

The final decision was to continue tracking and protection, but reduce manpower.

Zhang Wang volunteered to go and track and protect him.

Zhang Wang is the team leader for this mission, and there are two other team members who take turns following the elephant herd.

When following a herd for an extended period on the grasslands, they are usually accompanied by a fuel tanker, an off-road jeep, and a fuel truck – this is standard practice. The organization also has various supply points on the grasslands, providing both fuel and food.

Zhang Wang has become quite accustomed to this kind of life over the years.

When Zhang Wang left the grasslands on vacation, the first thing he did was go back to his dormitory to take a shower; he felt like he was about to spoil.

I had just finished showering and was about to take a nap when I received a satellite phone call from a team member deep in the grasslands.

"Captain Zhang, something terrible has happened! Mary is injured!"