I’m Really Not Cheating

Summer in Wushi was so unbearably hot that one wished to strip naked and lock oneself inside a refrigerator. In the northern district, beside a garbage dump, stood a makeshift building, propped up with bamboo poles and resembling a Mongolian yurt. In front of the structure hung a battered, weathered wooden sign, upon which five crooked characters proclaimed: "Celestial Horse Circus."

"Did you find it?" Inside the circus, an old man puffed on his dry pipe, watching as Qin Tian busied himself. At that moment, Qin Tian had his head inside a tiger’s mouth, apparently searching for something—a scene that, if witnessed, would surely frighten any onlooker out of their wits.

"Found it," came Qin Tian's muffled voice from within the tiger. Soon, he withdrew his head, clutching a beer bottle. After putting the bottle away, he gave the tiger a smack on the head. "Look at you! Drool all over my neck. Still dare to swallow random things in the future?"

"Rawr..." The tiger, far from appearing enraged as one might expect, looked at Qin Tian with aggrieved, wide eyes—more like a big cat than the king of beasts.

"Go play elsewhere," Qin Tian waved his hand, and the tiger immediately trotted off, tail high. "Old Kong, when are we moving? There’s too much trash around this dump. Big Tiger, Big Wolf, and Big Monkey keep swallowing things they shouldn’t."

Qin Tian washed his hands and wiped them dry with a towel, glancing at Old Kong, who was still puffing away. Fifteen years ago, Old Kon