Fang Ling woke up in the cave: "Daddy!" She called out when she didn't see Stan. "Daddy!" she called out again, louder this time, but no one responded.
Fang Ling got up and wrapped herself in the blanket they had used at night. Feeling a bit cold after just waking up, she stepped out of the cave, hoping to find her dad outside.
"Daddy!" she called out again at the cave entrance, but still no answer.
"Strange, where did Daddy go?" Fang Ling muttered, pacing back and forth. Sometimes she put her hands on her hips and looked at the campfire, and other times she climbed up to the cave entrance to look into the distance.
After confirming Stan was not around, she cheered, "Yay, Daddy's gone, haha! I'm going to find some ice cream first."
Fang Ling went back inside, took off the blanket, and felt warmer after moving around. She put on her white cloak again and stepped out. Standing in the open space in front of the cave, she took a deep breath, pulled the cloak's hood over her head, leaving only her face exposed, and made up her mind.
As she took a step forward, the scenery around her began to change rapidly, as if she were flying forward. Soon, she left the jungle and arrived in a big city. Fang Ling stopped in a park plaza where she had first tasted ice cream. She often asked Stan to bring her back for more, but he would only let her have one each time.
"Daddy calls it data balance, but I don't understand what that means!" Fang Ling muttered to herself.
In this world, no one or anything would actively interact with Fang Ling, and everyone, including animals, seemed unable to see her or Stan. Only when she initiated a request would they notice her. Fang Ling always thought it was the magic of the cloak.
Now wearing the cloak, she approached the ice cream stand. The stand was a van with a large window on one side that could slide open. The window was open now, and a man in a white shirt and apron was serving customers inside.
Outside the window was a large awning where customers buying ice cream sought shade. There were a few benches around the plaza's edge, with a greenbelt, lawn, bushes, and some tall trees behind them. The trees' shadows shaded the benches from the sunlight. Some people rested on the benches, while others hurried through the plaza in the sun.
Fang Ling started feeling hot. Before she got drenched in sweat, she poked the cloak a few times, and she cooled down immediately. The white cloak completely insulated her from the surrounding temperature. She approached the ice cream van's window and said to the vendor, "Please give me ice cream."
The other customers around still didn't notice her, only the vendor acknowledged her presence. The vendor turned and said, "Sure, would you like one scoop or two?"
Fang Ling replied, "I want a lot of scoops!"
The vendor was surprised, "Usually, we only offer customers a limited amount of ice cream. Your request is unreasonable!"
Fang Ling thought for a moment and stepped back. She retreated from the vendor's awareness.
ns 15.158.61.19da2
