Super Zoo

After chatting with Zhang Xueyou a bit longer in the VIP lounge, Suming and Zhao Yun said their goodbyes and left to catch their return flight.

It was Suming's first meeting with Zhang Xueyou, and he had a pretty good impression of the superstar. In private, the superstar didn't put on airs and had a childlike innocence about him, yet he didn't lack the maturity of a middle-aged man.

Suming and Zhao Yun hailed a taxi to the airport, Suming in the back seat. The driver didn't start the car immediately but looked back from the front rearview mirror and said something in Cantonese.

"Fasten your seatbelt, traffic regulations in Xiangjiang are strict; you have to wear seatbelts in both front and back seats. If you don't, and you get caught by the traffic police, you could be fined up to five thousand or detained for a month." Zhao Yun buckled his own seatbelt while translating for Suming.

Suming hurriedly fastened his seatbelt, and seeing this, the driver started the car.

The car ride was quiet, but upon arriving at the airport, the driver broke the rules.

There were too many taxis at the airport, and seeking convenience, the driver stopped at a no-parking zone.

"Hurry up and get out!" said the driver in a rush, which this time Suming understood.

Before they got out, a motorcycle screeched to a halt next to their taxi. A female officer with long, impressive legs got off the motorcycle with style, showed her badge to the taxi driver, and then gestured for Suming and Zhao Yun to wait at the side.

During the process, the driver was visibly disgruntled, swearing at the policewoman with a 'damn your mother' that startled Suming.

"It's okay. As long as he doesn't assault the officer, it's not considered a big deal. The driver just wants the policewoman to hurry up so he can get back to business," Zhao Yun whispered to Suming.

The policewoman not only didn't retort but kept explaining something. In the end, although the driver was dissatisfied, he still took the fine and drove away.

"You can go now, sorry for the delay," the beautiful policewoman said politely, giving a salute to Suming and Zhao Yun in not-so-perfect Mandarin.

Due to this delay, they were nearing boarding time, and several long lines had already formed at the gate. Zhao Yun had booked first-class seats, and under the guidance of a Cathay Pacific Airways flight attendant, they boarded through the VIP entrance.

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At thirty thousand feet, Suming recalled the scene between the driver and the policewoman, shook his head, and muttered to himself, "What a strange place."

Zhao Yun thought he was referring to the convenience of the first-class service and casually remarked, "Here, as long as you have money, you can buy any service. The real wealthy class can even manipulate the government."

Suming shrugged his shoulders; he had no such ambitions. Managing a country is so tiring; how could it compare to the leisure of roaming in an animal park?

Otherwise, why not establish a kingdom of animals and be the boss himself? That would truly live up to the name of a grand beast!

Thinking this, he couldn't help but find it amusing and his mouth curled into a smirk.

"What are you laughing at like a fool? Happy about making money?" Zhao Yun asked, puzzled.

...

The trip to Xiangjiang was actually just a day trip. After getting off the plane, they went straight to the auction house, and then immediately headed back. Travel-weary from years of luxury, Zhao Yun bade Suming farewell after disembarking, telling him to visit when he had time, then hailed a car and left.

With more than three hundred thousand in hand, Suming was in quite a good mood and took a car straight back to the zoo.

On the way, he pondered that now, with money in his possession, perhaps it was time to expand the pleasure boat business a bit and move it to the largest man-made lake in the zoo.

Making money was not his main objective, but he wouldn't complain about having more. The small lake next to Whisperwind Pavilion was too tiny, and at most, it could accommodate only ten pleasure boats.

Now the pleasure boat business was booming, and from morning to evening, tourists swarmed around Whisperwind Pavilion. At first, he found it lively, but as time went on, Suming felt like he was going to be driven mad by the noise, unable even to sleep in.

The few feline stars were also exhausted, day after 'clocking out', they'd drag their little heads in single file, staggering back to Whisperwind Pavilion and collapsing into a deep sleep with waves of continued snoring, forgetting all about their playful nature.

The alligator snapping turtle, on the other hand, had a relatively carefree life, apart from that day when Wang Hao did the demonstration, nobody else had fallen into the water.

But ever since the TV station broadcast the footage of the turtle saving someone, everyone knew about the fierce-looking but humanely-intelligent alligator snapping turtle in the little lake, who not only didn't hurt people but would also rescue them.

Human curiosity was no less than that of the feline stars, so every day, many tourists would throw things like sausages into the water to feed the turtle.

And there were quite a few unruly kids, using small branches and the like to poke incessantly into the water; the bolder ones even used fishing lines in attempts to lure the turtle out.

The alligator snapping turtle then had to spend each day avoiding human disturbances, resisting the temptation to eat those artificial foods that might upset its stomach, living a life on edge.

Suming thought that, while changing venues, he should let the feline stars take a break for a few days. In the future, he wouldn't mandate all of them to 'work' at the same time, ideally setting up a duty roster. Rarity breeds value, and if the feline stars collected money every day, their appeal would diminish over time.

He would also have to establish a rule that prohibited visitors from throwing random food into the water or trying to catch the alligator snapping turtle, which was his personal property!

Just as he returned to the zoo and before he had the chance to speak with Mr. Song, he saw Mr. Peng leading a group of workers hurrying from the front.

"Su, Su, quick, quick, quick, change your clothes and come with us!" Mr. Peng also saw Suming and waved a long-handled net he was holding.

"What's going on, dressing up like this?"

Suming was startled to see the group in front of him clad in thick military coats on such a hot day, with high rubber boots, gloves, and their heads and faces wrapped in thick cloth, wearing goggles similar to those of pilots, looking from a distance like anti-chemical troops from a 'Resident Evil' movie.

"Somehow a swarm of bees showed up in Xiongshan and made a few hives; we need to get rid of them quickly!" Mr. Peng said.

Having been recruited for labor right after his return, Suming took a set of military coat he was handed and followed the crowd toward the direction of Xiongshan.

Xiongshan was home to three Asian black bears, also known as moon bears, dog bears, or Himalayan black bears.

The black bear was strong and powerful, an undeniable overlord in the wild!

Yet this creature had a fatal weakness: its insatiable appetite for sweets, especially honey. In the wild, once it spotted a beehive, it would surely try to steal the honey inside, regardless of being stung with multiple welts by a swarm of bees, not caring and never learning. If it was robbed once, it would still go after the hive the next time it saw one.

Had it been truly in the wild, that would have been okay, as the bear could always run, but in the zoo, Xiongshan's range was limited. If the bear beat them to it and stirred up a hornet's nest, there would be nowhere to run.

The thick-skinned bear could handle a few stings, but there were many visitors in the zoo. If bees started stinging people, it would be a real problem.