Super Zoo

The booming cruise business brought a significant boost in additional income to the zoo. Mrs. Tong gathered statistics on the visitor flow over the past two weeks and discovered that it had actually increased by nearly twenty percent compared to the usual!

"To put it plainly, people are coming for those few cats on his cruise. It's a novelty right now, but once the novelty wears off, having half of the current visitor flow would be quite good."

While that was true, Mr. Song still felt very satisfied and couldn't help but show a smile. The main income of the zoo was ticket sales, and the little cruise business had suddenly increased the zoo's income by twenty percent, without hardly any investment from the zoo's end.

Even if it was only half in the future, the zoo had made a big profit from this deal.

Besides the tangible money, the TV station's interview also served as free advertising for the zoo, which was an intangible income.

"Director, shouldn't we strengthen our security? Look, our normal visitor flow is about four hundred people a day, but now, there are over a hundred people coming just for Su's cruise every day. The actual increase in visitors did not reach twenty percent, so definitely a lot of them must be climbing over the wall without buying tickets," Mrs. Tong said.

"There's no rush for that matter. You go and renegotiate an agreement with Su. From now on, for the cruise income, the zoo will just symbolically charge a management fee, say, 10%," Mr. Song said.

"Just 10%?" Mrs. Tong was surprised. "You mean?"

"If the young man has had a successful start, we should support him more. If he can save up a sum of money quickly, I might consider offering him more places to lease."

"The other places that can be leased would take at least several hundred thousand in capital. He won't be able to raise that much money anytime soon," Mrs. Tong said.

"I have a feeling that the young man might bring us some surprises."

Mr. Song said with a smile, "The biggest benefit the zoo gets from the cruise business is not the cut, but the boost in ticket sales and social impact. After the last TV interview, the city government specially praised our zoo, saying our civil service work was vibrant and effective. They even approved funding for us to renovate the park."

"They approved funding? That's an extremely rare and happy event!" Mrs. Tong said joyfully.

Mr. Song nodded and said, "That's why the better Su's cruise business does, the greater the benefits it brings to the zoo. We shouldn't charge him more management fees. The kid is capable, I've seen it, and he values relationships. We can't let a little bit of money chill the heart of the youth."

...

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After finishing work that afternoon, Suming specifically went to the Zoo Snack Bar to buy a bottle of red wine, then poured out all the red wine and filled it with half a bottle of Hundred-Fruit Wine.

Days flew by and it was almost time for the visit Suming had arranged with Zhao Yun.

Even though he was Chengcheng's life-saving benefactor, in Huaxia culture, it's customary not to visit someone empty-handed.

After thinking it over, he didn't have anything impressive to give as a gift. Zhao Yun's business card had a long list of titles, a standard successful person, so he probably wouldn't care much for ordinary tobacco and alcohol. Gifting Monkey Wine was the perfect solution, as it wouldn't cost much and was quite distinctive.

There was still more than half of the Monkey Wine left from the last batch he obtained from the back mountain, enough to last him several months. Suming had also specifically made arrangements with the Monkey King, who could brew a large barrel every winter. Selling it wouldn't be enough, but for personal consumption and occasional gift-giving, there was more than enough.

Carrying half a bottle of Monkey Wine, Suming went to the office to ask Mrs. Tong for some time off, then took a taxi from the zoo entrance straight to the city.

Binshui Elegant Garden was a well-known affluent area in Yangchuan City, located on the edge of the second ring road—quiet amidst the hustle, with its classical park-style architecture, it was also one of Yangchuan City's earliest all-villa communities.

The neighborhood was quiet and tranquil but not lacking in liveliness, like the zoo. Luxuriant greenery and flowing water flanked several row villas.

Passing through the main part of the neighborhood, Suming arrived at the artificial lake at the back, where Zhao Yun's home was a standalone two-story villa. Suming rang the doorbell, and half a minute later, a refined-looking woman appeared behind the security door.

"Su's here, please come in quickly!" The one who opened the door was Chengcheng's mother, Zhaoqian.

The woman who was crying and disheveled back then now radiated beauty, exuding the aura of an intellectual. Zhaoqian welcomed Suming through the gate and called into the villa, "Chengcheng, come see who's here!"

"Who is it!"

Dressed in a little bear pajama set and wearing oversized slippers, Chengcheng walked out, and her eyes lit up at the sight of Suming. Her eyes immediately curved into crescent moons, and she ran towards him with her arms open.

"Big brother!" she beamed, wanting a hug from Suming.

"This child has been talking about you ever since her last visit," Zhaoqian said with affectionate laughter as she watched Chengcheng.

Suming changed into slippers and chuckled, lifting Chengcheng into his arms and followed Zhaoqian into the villa.

The villa was decorated with an antique charm, furnished with numerous antiquities, but it was obviously far more upscale than the Mingqing Residence, which was specifically designed to swindle tourists' money.

"Big brother, is the little monkey better yet?"

"He's all better," Suming said.

Chengcheng leaned close to Suming's ear, blinked, and whispered, "Last time you told the Monkey King not to bully Chengcheng, and he listened to you. Can you teach me how to talk to monkeys, please?"

To an adult like Zhaoqian, Chengcheng's words were nothing but childlike innocence. She didn't take it seriously and just smiled at Suming, who pretended to be very secretive and whispered to Chengcheng, "Sure, I'll teach you next time, but this is our little secret, you can't tell anyone else, okay?"

"Yes!" Chengcheng nodded vigorously and held up her little finger, "Pinky promise! Chengcheng will keep it a secret!"

"Su, come sit down. We don't have guests today, and Zhaoqian made a few home-cooked dishes. Let's have dinner here," Zhao Yun exclaimed cheerfully, hurrying down from the second-floor bedroom.

"You two chat. I'm going to bring out the dishes," said Zhaoqian as she turned and headed to the kitchen.

"Hello, Mr. Zhao," Suming greeted Zhao Yun with a nod.

"Ha, you could call me 'big brother' too, but since Chengcheng calls you brother, I might be pushing it," he laughed.

Inside the kitchen, Zhaoqian busied herself with cooking while Chengcheng ran back and forth from the kitchen to the living room, restless as a little monkey.

While chatting and drinking tea, Suming learned that Zhao Yun had dealt with antiques in his early years and later opened a private museum called 'Gugu Zhai'.

Suming was quite surprised; Gugu Zhai was well-known nationwide as it was one of the few and the first private museums in the country. In other words, all the collections in the museum were Zhao Yun's private possessions.

Although national regulations dictate that antiques with a certain age can only be collected and not sold, owning an entire museum was proof enough of Zhao Yun's extraordinary wealth and connections.

"It's time for dinner, Zhao, help me move the table..." Zhaoqian called out from the kitchen.

Suming took out half a bottle of Monkey Wine from his bag and placed it on the table, "Mr. Zhao, I didn't bring much, but this wine was brewed by monkeys. It tastes good to me; you should try some."

"Brewed by monkeys, Hundred-Fruit Wine?" Zhao Yun's expression changed slightly, asking with a hint of confusion, "Su, did you buy this at the market?"

"No, it's really brewed by the monkeys," Suming explained.