Super Zoo

Suming's excursion into the mountains had reaped considerable rewards, yet the greatest feat, or rather merit, actually lay in wiping out an entire squad of armed poachers.

However, explaining this merit was too troublesome, and revealing it would likely invite a string of trouble for himself, so Suming had no intention of telling anyone.

He called Wang Jian She to seek his help in solving the "identity" problem of the Wildman; the guy couldn't always be without an ID.

He gave Wang Jian She a rough overview of the situation, sticking to the story he'd crafted long ago, "Right, he's a relative from my hometown, sort of a distant cousin of mine. Back when they were enforcing the birth control policy, he was the second child and never got his household registration, remaining undocumented. He had a fever when he was little that damaged his brain, so he's not very articulate, and he's a bit slow. Now he's come to the city to join me, and I'm thinking it might be possible to get him registered."

"It used to be difficult to do, but now that they've relaxed the one-child policy, it's much easier. Do this, send me his photo and name, and other such information, and I'll have someone take care of it for you," Wang Jian She agreed quite readily.

Name? Suming thought for a moment. Since this guy was so fierce and supposedly my cousin, let's just call him Su Meng.

Wang Jian She also made some small talk with Suming on the phone, though it wasn't just idle chatter as it carried some significant information. He told Suming that if he got selected as a labor model, that would be great, but if not, there was no reason to be disappointed. After all, Yangchuan City hadn't seen someone as young as Suming become a labor model in the past ten-plus years. Given the rapid rise Suming was on, even if he didn't get selected this time, he'd definitely make it in the future.

While becoming a labor model certainly had its perks, Wang Jian She all but guaranteed Suming a spot, meaning that even if he didn't make it this time, he would next time. Naturally, Suming had no reason to say much more on the matter.

Wang Jian She also advised Suming to speak with Wang Hao, asking him to drink less often. He'd heard that Wang Hao's health hadn't been great recently, with blood pressure and lipids alarmingly high during several hospital exams.

"Mr. Wang, you know how his work is, with all the networking. How about this? Once my business gets a bit bigger, I'll just let Wang Hao come work with me," Suming said, shaking his head. When he last asked for Wang Hao's help in finding someone to make a fish saddle, Wang Hao had mentioned a project involving attracting investment that kept him busy wining and dining all sorts of people every day. It seemed glamorous on the surface, but such entertaining was in fact quite taxing.

Suming hadn't expected Wang Hao to stick with the project with such diligence. After all, he had his father's protection and a share of the tour boat business profits. Even if Wang Hao accomplished nothing, he could live comfortably.

The call lasted only a few minutes, and by the time Suming hung up, a whole pot of fish had disappeared. Comrade Su Meng, the Wildman, didn't look full at all, still cradling the big pot in his arms and licking the bottom with a scraping sound.

"Is my cooking really that good?" Suming's mouth twitched twice, thinking, I don't have the energy to cook another pot, let's just order takeaway.

He ordered several hundred bucks worth of takeaway, considering it was Su Meng's first time eating prepared food, Suming didn't dare to order too much greasy, fatty stuff, getting a portion of various dishes, along with a ten-yuan serving of steamed buns.

A dozen or so dishes—fried, sautéed, deep-fried, boiled—filled the large round table to the brim, an inviting array of colors and tempting aromas.

Without hesitation, Su Meng reached out with his big hand to grab a plate of stir-fried kidney, but a pair of chopsticks appeared out of nowhere and smacked his hand.

Su Meng recoiled, looking at Suming in confusion.

"From now on, you eat with chopsticks!" said Suming as he demonstrated chopsticks in his hand, then deliberately slowed his movements, placing them on the table, picking them up again slowly, holding food, and repeated the use of chopsticks.

"You try it!"

Suming placed the chopsticks in front of Su Meng, who scratched his head, looking at the chopsticks, and then, mimicking Suming, awkwardly grasped them with his fingers.

"Good, now try picking up some food!" Suming encouraged.

Suddenly, Su Meng lifted the chopsticks high and stabbed them down hard!

"You don't use a fork…" Suming covered his face, only to find that Su Meng hadn't attempted to 'stab' the vegetables but had speared a large white steamed bun onto his chopsticks, taking a huge bite that halved it instantly.

Suming laughed, pushing the plate of oil-braised kidney flowers with sauce towards him, saying, "Dip it, dip it!"

"Ho! Hoho!" Su Meng's throat emitted muffled sounds. Using the steamed bun, he dipped it into the sauce and ingeniously wrapped some kidney flowers inside, making a Chinese 'burger.'

Suming chuckled, surprised that Su Meng was quite clever, and thus went on to teach him the use of chopsticks and spoon several more times.

During the lesson, Su Meng quickly mastered the use of the utensils, and the entire spread of dishes was thoroughly polished off.

Thankfully, Suming had the foresight to buy ten fist-sized white steamed buns at one yuan each, which finally satiated the big oaf.

"Ugh…"

Lying on two reclining chairs on the lakeside platform of Shuixie Lake, Suming and Su Meng basked in the sun while digesting. Su Meng, patting his belly, at last ceased his ho-ho-ing and gave a sonorous burp of satisfaction.

Suming turned to look at Su Meng, thinking if he was to integrate into human society, this constant 'uh-uh-uh' and 'ho-ho-ho' wouldn't do; he'd have to slowly teach him how to speak.

"Come on, repeat after me, 'Abra-cadabra'…"

"Hoho… Uh-uh…"

"Abra-cadabra!"

"Uh-uh… Hoho…"

Seeing no other choice, Suming had to temporarily abandon the idea of getting Su Meng to speak. Perhaps after living in human society for a while and becoming familiar with people's speech patterns, it wouldn't be too late to teach him then.

The water quality of Shuixie Lake was still inferior compared to Shuijun Lake. That old sturgeon seemed to have the ability to evolve the water's quality; however, having been released into the small lake for less than a day, there hadn't been much of an effect. The clean-water-loving big baby fish stayed in the lake for just a short while before crawling onto the shore, finding a cool spot to lie down motionlessly. From a distance, it looked just like a large piece of tree root.

Today was Hei's day off. These cat aliens had learned to eat the public grain. After 'clocking out' from the cruise boat area, they would casually catch a few fish from Shuijun Lake to eat. Hei dragged a palm-sized crucian carp next to the big baby fish, chewing energetically, occasionally glancing at the baby fish, seemingly contemplating where to take the first bite.

"Hey, Mr. Zhao, got a question for you."

Suming, lounging on the recliner with his legs crossed, dialed Zhao Yun's number.

On the other end, Zhao Yun laughed with interest after understanding Suming's intention, asking, "Guinness? What have you found this time, applying for a Guinness World Record?"

"Baby fish!"

Suming had checked online. The largest recorded baby fish was 120 years old, 180 centimeters long, and weighed over 60 kilograms. He had measured his own; he didn't know its exact age, but it was 244 centimeters long and weighed 73 kilograms.

Unless something unexpected occurred, this baby fish was about to set a new record, becoming the largest baby fish in history, and earn a spot in the Guinness Book!