CHAPTER 191: LIAN’S BIRTHDAY.

Jang Lian’s birthday was the first birthday party to be thrown at Pearl Space camp and all of her friends and most of her relatives gathered there to celebrate it with her. There was a theme to all of Lian’s birthdays every year and it was Mulan, her favorite cartoon character in the world.

So, every year, her birthdays had to be about Mulan...with an extra theme and this year, it was Mulan...IN SPACE!! Her mother Rose had assembled a team which had used only two days to bring together the party.

All the children that arrived, received official space uniforms with space ID’s and wooden katana’s. The birthday girl, Jang Lian was dressed exactly as one would expect to see at a Mulan in space themed birthday. She was was in a half-red tutu, half-silver flight suit, combat boots which were a gift from Mei Mei and her katana was tucked into the belt around her waist.

The little warrior space commander meant serious business [Party hard, scream loudly and eat a lot of cake.] The children were having a great time playing inside the buildings and outside on the rides which robot butlers had installed in the morning.

Some, like Tao Xiaotong had commandeered the junior space chef game. She was determined to become a ten star alien planet chef. The first thing she did after discovering the game was to pinch Jang Ming’s ears, blaming him for not bringing her along for such a fun game sooner.

Jang Ming meanwhile was taking himself a little too seriously, supervising the seven year olds that were playing by the ponds. It seemed as if he was blind to the group of old men that was feeding the fish and dipping their toes in the water while whining about the fact that Mei Mei had forbidden them from fishing in her ponds.

Great great great grandpa Jun and his friends were the old men and every time they saw Mei Mei they smiled hopefully and she still said no.

A lot of activities were going on. Jun Yi, the spider monkey was leading a group of children on a tour of the forest, teaching them about the tree species and small critters Mei Mei had released in there.

Haena was dressed in her own costume and singing toddler rhymes alongside another group of children. Four arms was competing in the hammer throwing game.

All of the camp mascots were working, including Jun Mi Mi. Unfortunately, they were still missing the main character, Whiskers. Despite this, everything looked good so far and the camp was completely booked out, full and busy.

Mei Mei and Rose were sitting at a picnic table under the trees, between the ponds and the fireplace, watching it all unfold. Suddenly, Rose brought up the subject of her return to their ancestral home.

"I cannot believe that you went home without telling me. I thought we agreed on you returning for the Lunar New year. What changed your mind suddenly and why didn’t you give me a call?"

Mei Mei swallowed the soda that she was sipping through a straw. "This." She gestured outward with her right hand. "This is what changed Rose, Lian’s birthday. Lian decided that she wanted it to be held here. How would mom and dad attend if I was not on speaking terms with them? I realized that my issues were affecting everyone when they were nowhere to be seen at Mingzhu’s tea party.

I do not want to be the reason why our family has to take separate vacations and celebrate separate holidays just because you guys don’t want me to be uncomfortable."

Rose looked out and saw their parents. Together with Jingzhe, they were teaching a group of at least twelve children something called galactic kung fu. Mingzhe was fully dressed like a male warrior from the movie. He had even put in extensions in his hair and it was long enough to be tied into a bun.

Every time Mei Mei looked at him, she giggled. She could not help herself.

"Are you laughing at our prince again?" Rose asked her.

Mei Mei nodded. "Although, considering the fact that there are six actual princes at this party, you may have to specify the prince you speak of."

Rose was about to reply when someone in a full body Mushu costume walked out of one of the rocket shaped buildings [The dignified Emperor Long Junjie]. Chaos erupted as Mingzhu yelled attack the alien, charging at him with her sword.

The entire galactic kung fu club went after Mushu with their wooden katana’s. Things took a dramatic turn when Mushu, who was trying to escape back into the building tripped and children took advantage of the opportunity to poke him with their wooden swords.

"Who is inside that costume?" Rose asked her. She assumed that Mei Mei had prepared that mascot like all the others.

Mei Mei shook her head. "He or she is not one of mine."

"It is the emperor." C4 told her.

Mei Mei jumped to her feet immediately. "That idiot." She muttered furiously as she run off to save him. As much as the kids were just playing and had no idea who was inside the costume, there would be hell to pay if the emperor was injured for real. If he lost his eye, as the owner of the space camp, the consequences would land on her head.

If the news got wind of it, her camp business could even collapse and people would assume that it was dangerous to let their children come over to play.

She pulled Junjie out from under the screaming children and put him on his feet. Then she shooed the children away while saying, "Congratulations, kids, you win. It is a great victory for earth. Now who is ready to enter the zero gravity playground and cut cake while floating in space?"

The children run off, screaming still and waving their swords victoriously in the air.

"It is not yet cake time." Rose said in a puzzled voice.

Mei Mei looked at Mushu and rolled her eyes. "Guess who is inside. I have one clue, our entire family will be in trouble if he is killed accidentally or poked in the wronged place. Some of us could even be executed or accused of trying to usurp the throne."

Rose gasped and looked at Mushu. "No way!" She looked around with wide eyes, suddenly alert like a royal agent. The emperor was no ordinary man and he should not have been in a public space without his royal guards. "Get this crazy man inside. Now." She bellowed at Mei Mei.