Super Zoo

Early the next morning, Suming rushed to Mr. Song's office and had a lengthy, hushed discussion with him. Then he went to cancel his leave with Mrs. Tong, enduring a lecture due to his sudden disappearance.

Chapter Stay:

In the afternoon, the zoo was buzzing with two pieces of news!

Firstly, the Monkey Mountain administrator noticed an oddity during feeding time: a small monkey with a pale face and light golden fur had appeared on the mountain.

Being in charge of Monkey Mountain, he was quite familiar with monkeys and immediately recognized that this little newcomer was a Qinling Golden Monkey, a national first-class protected animal!

Originally, the macaques living on Monkey Mountain were also nationally protected animals. However, compared to the Qinling Golden Monkey, they paled in significance. As a national first-class protected species, there are fewer than 3000 Qinling Golden Monkeys left. They are listed on the World Conservation Union's endangered species red list and undoubtedly count as a national treasure!

Speaking of national treasures, Huaxia had many, but in terms of cherished status, Qinling Golden Monkeys were even less regarded than giant pandas. However, the panda is indigenous to Shu, and as valuable as it is, it bears no relation to Yangchuan City or the province. Meanwhile, the Qinling Golden Monkey is a representative and treasured species local to Yangchuan City, whose value cannot be overstated.

In fact, the mascot of Yangchuan City was the Qinling Golden Monkey, but the zoo had not seen a true "Qinling Golden Monkey" for many years.

Not only did they lack Qinling Golden Monkeys, Yangchuan City Zoo hadn't even acquired any other variety of golden monkeys for many years. For a large national zoo, this was quite unreasonable; as rare as they are, the species is numerous, and obtaining a few should not be difficult.

The reason for this was quite clear upon reflection. If Yangchuan City's symbol was the Qinling Golden Monkey, but other types of golden monkeys were being kept in the zoo, it would seem like the city was contradicting itself. This would suggest that Yangchuan's animal protection efforts were poor, failing to preserve their own unique species, resorting to displaying 'counterfeit' substitutes instead.

"Out of sight, out of mind," became the approach of Yangchuan's related leaders, who outright banned the zoo from introducing any variety of golden monkeys.

The administrator rubbed his eyes, confirming the identity of the little creature not far away as a Qinling Golden Monkey. He was initially bewildered, then overjoyed, followed by a sudden drop in his heart.

The macaques are not the docile type. Despite all being monkeys, the macaques would not show a golden monkey any kindness, quite the opposite: they're known to be unfriendly towards intruders in their territory!

Seeing the large group of macaques surrounding the golden monkey, the administrator's legs went weak, nearly breaking into tears!

If a Qinling Golden Monkey was attacked or even killed by the other macaques in front of him, his days as an administrator would be over!

"Oh my goodness!!" The administrator, quick-witted in a crisis, swiftly took out his phone to call Suming. In this situation, apart from him, it was unlikely anyone else could help.

However, the administrator's fingers paused on the dial button. He had been in Monkey Mountain for several minutes already and now, looking closely, he observed that the macaques, far from intending to attack the golden monkey, were merely chattering anxiously around it, driven by curiosity and even displaying some 'friendly' gestures.

The old Monkey King sat atop a nearby hill, showing no displeasure at the intruder, merely squinting and basking in the sun.

The old Monkey King's beloved son, Xiao Kong, was in the center of the troop, squatting behind the golden monkey, picking lice off of it; and the grimy little female monkey that Suming had somehow acquired last time—now the 'crown princess'—was offering the small golden monkey some fruit, presenting a scene of brotherly respect and harmonious affection.

"Huh?!"

The administrator felt that his attempts had once again been turned on their head, and he stood there dazed for a good while before remembering that he needed to report the situation immediately. So, he dialed the office of the director and stammered out, "Director… there's something that's appeared out of nowhere at Monkey Mountain…"

"Oh, a golden monkey, right? Suming already told me about it, he found it playing in the back mountain, it was injured, so he brought it back to the zoo to be cared for."

"Ah? Oh…" the administrator said blankly.

"Well then, just take good care of the golden monkey. I'm writing a report about the discovery of the golden monkey to submit to the authorities. If there's nothing else, I'm hanging up."

…

An additional golden monkey in Monkey Mountain didn't cause much of a stir among the majority of visitors and staff, as most couldn't tell the difference from a distance and it didn't create too much of a sensation.

However, not far from Shuijun Lake, near the construction site of the aquarium that was under construction, quite a commotion had erupted: people crowded around three layers deep, including zoo staff, visitors, and construction workers.

After it was decided to keep the finless porpoise in Yangchuan City, the provincial capital could only reluctantly accept it, but the porpoise couldn't be kept in Shuijun Lake indefinitely. That place was open to the public, with people coming and going and boats moving back and forth on the lake, which was not conducive to the protection of the porpoise.

So, Yangchuan City and the provincial government invested some money to build an aquarium at the zoo. A while ago, Wang Jian She had arranged the financing and the construction of the aquarium had officially commenced.

Mr. Dong of the Security Department wore multiple hats, acting as construction supervisor on behalf of the zoo, and he, along with several security guards, conducted daily inspections at the site.

A little after three in the afternoon, Suming arrived at the construction site accompanied by a burly stranger, who was pushing a cart. Suming called out from a distance, "Dong, Dong, when building the aquarium, add an annex for raising baby fish!"

"What baby fish? Where did you get baby fish?"

Dong was taken aback and hadn't grasped Suming's meaning, when he saw the burly man tip the cart over, revealing a big black, long, and thick creature that started to wriggle out of the cart.

"Holy mother, what is that thing!" Dong was startled by the large creature in the cart, but upon closer inspection, he realized it actually was a baby fish!

Baby fish weren't particularly rare; they could be bred on a large scale artificially, and a pound could be bought for two to three hundred yuan on the market. However, seeing a baby fish over two meters long with your own eyes was a totally different experience!

It was like crocodiles, whether wild or domestically raised, their numbers far exceeded those of baby fish. But if one day, a gigantic crocodile over ten meters long suddenly appeared before you, the shock would not be easy for the average person to accept.

"Back up! Back up! Everyone, be careful!"

Dong shouted into the megaphone and then cautiously approached the baby fish, pointed an electric prod at it, and asked Suming, "Is this really a baby fish? How did it get so big, and where did you get it from?"