Chapter 11

Nearly a week after the experts’ arrival, Kong Bi finally saw a green peacock picture added to the game’s animal species section. The image froze on the moment when Kong Bi first saw the green peacock group dancing, their heads reverently lowered, as if in worship.

Zoos bear the responsibility of rescuing wild animals. However, only those deemed unsuitable for release into the wild are kept. Generally, even if wild animals arrive at the zoo, they are released back into the wild after being confirmed healthy. But this green peacock group is special, so direct release is not a good option.

Most importantly, they are related to that giant green peacock.

Over the past week, the nearby forest police and rangers have been alerted. A green peacock of unusually large size is enough to warrant high-level attention. If it’s a new subspecies, that’s one thing, if not… then there’s a serious problem.

What caused its abnormal size? Did it eat something strange? Gigantism? Hybridization?

Regardless, everyone is eager to give the large peacock a physical examination.

Some are driven by the potential benefits, some by a thirst for knowledge, and some are simply concerned for the large peacock’s life.

This kind of ‘giftedness’ is actually a significant burden on the body, making it more susceptible to various diseases. Just like dwarfism and gigantism in humans, or even simply individual variations among athletes who can grow over two meters tall, if it weren’t for the advancement of modern medicine, these exceptionally gifted athletes would have concerning lifespans.

The same is true for animals. Ragdolls are more prone to heart problems than ordinary cats, Garfield cats with their flat faces, Sphynx cats with their skin issues, and various canine breed problems are also numerous…

So they naturally have reason to worry about this.

Kong Bi was well aware of this, but didn’t intend to undergo a physical examination. Even though she was confident that neither anesthesia nor cages could restrain her, she knew her body’s condition. And if her body did have problems, – it would not be a problem that modern medicine could solve.

So, Kong Bi simply continued to whet their appetites, occasionally making an appearance, cautiously managing the push and pull of their relationship.

The arrival of the green peacock finally enabled the new function to be activated. Kong Bi immediately clicked into the recruitment interface: security guards, chefs, veterinarians…

After a moment of thought, Kong Bi decided to remove the veterinarian position from the recruitment list. While other experts were uncertain, Quan Xiangsong clearly intended to stay. In fact, due to his advanced age, his family was concerned about him living in the wild, and he also wanted to return to his hometown to retire, but he kept delaying it because he didn’t want to be idle.

As an expert with multiple wildlife rescue experiences, Quan Xiangsong’s professional skills were excellent, fully qualified to serve as the zoo’s veterinarian. However, after a moment’s thought, Kong Bi added the veterinarian position back to the recruitment list. After all, she couldn’t afford a salary for an expert of Quan Xiangsong’s caliber.

Moreover, he might not be willing to come. What if he had already promised his children to return home to help take care of his grandchildren and enjoy his retirement?

When filling in the salary, Kong Bi checked the salary offered by other zoos during recruitment, and then gave a relatively high salary in the industry. After all, Peacock Mountain is geographically remote and has no advantages compared to the zoos in the city, so it can only rely on salary to attract people.

After posting the recruitment notices, Kong Bi couldn’t help but pray in her heart that these employees wouldn’t arrive with unknown origins like the green peacocks. After all, people could make up explanations for animals that don’t talk, but if the people who came were also of unknown origin, who could explain that?

Kong Bi didn’t expect them to have exceptional professional skills, but at least they should have ID cards and not be unregistered individuals, right?

With these hopes, Kong Bi went to the cafeteria for a meal, filled with worry.

“Xiao Kong!” Seeing Kong Bi coming, Quan Xiangsong said happily, “Come here, I specially saved a portion of tofu pudding for you! Sweet!”

In just one week, Quan Xiangsong’s name for Kong Bi has changed from director to Xiao Kong.

She thanked him politely and sat down opposite Quan Xiangsong.

Quan Xiangsong pushed his glasses: “Xiao Kong, I have good news to tell you.”

Kong Bi: “The higher-ups decided to let me raise these green peacocks?”

Quan Xiangsong was stunned: “How did you know?”

Kong Bi spread her hands: “What else can I do?” She blinked, “The documents?”

Quan Xiangsong said: “It can be done in a few days, but Xiao Kong, you don’t have any experience in raising green peacocks, and recruiting people is not something that can be done in a day or two, so…”

As he spoke, he couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed. In fact, for the zoo, the arrival of the green peacocks wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Not to mention the cost of feeding them, although since green peacocks aren’t carnivores, their consumption isn’t high, and since Kong Bi planned to reopen the zoo, such a large peacock enclosure wouldn’t be wasted. It’s just that it’s now changed from blue peacocks to green peacocks.

But the calculations weren’t that simple. If blue peacocks living in the zoo died unexpectedly from a virus or something, it wouldn’t cause much of a stir. But it was different with the green peacocks, which had already caught the attention of higher authorities. If anything went wrong, Kong Bi couldn’t escape responsibility.

Ironically, in terms of generating revenue for the zoo, green peacocks don’t have particularly strong earning potential. It would be better if they were pandas, after all, the latter are national treasures, while the former, although also endangered, aren’t valued as highly domestically. Otherwise, some less scrupulous zoos wouldn’t have bred hybrids of blue and green peacocks.

Kong Bi wasn’t surprised by this. If it were a zoo that had been operating for a long time, perhaps the relevant departments would be more reassured. But she was young and had just taken over the zoo. She lacked experience, the zoo’s facilities were inadequate, and everything was in a state of disrepair. No one would be able to feel secure in such a situation.

“I understand,” Kong Bi was in a good mood, not showing any unhappiness, “Are the higher-ups going to send experts to give guidance or decide that they will be responsible for raising the peacocks and I will just provide the venue?”

If it was the latter, Kong Bi would definitely make a deal with the other party to clearly define the responsibilities and obligations. If it was the former, Kong Bi would agree with both hands and feet, because that meant that she would not have to pay for the experts herself. She could get an expert with absolutely good professional skills for free without spending a penny, at most providing meals and accommodation.

“The higher-ups decided that I will be responsible for the guidance.” Quan Xiangsong was relieved to see that she was not disgusted.

“Really? That’s great!” Kong Bi’s eyes lit up, and she asked with a little regret, “Are you the only one coming?”

“After all, they are not as idle as me…” Quan Xiangsong said, suddenly finding his tofu brain less appetizing. For others, they mostly came with a gossipy mindset, like tourists, taking a look around and leaving. They hadn’t planned to stay long, as they weren’t specialized in green peacock research.

Now that they’d had a look around and were satisfied, they naturally had to get back to their real work. They couldn’t stay indefinitely. Even though they were curious about the large peacock, the people sent by the higher-ups had searched and interviewed all around, finding no clues. This showed that the large peacock was very cautious, and there probably wouldn’t be any progress in the short term. Since that was the case, there was no need to stay any longer. They could come back when the large peacock was actually found.

Of course, the most important thing is that they may have projects, tasks, or students to take care of. Even if they want to come and watch, they have to wait until everything is done.

But Quan Xiangsong is different. He is old and his hands can no longer hold the scalpel to support him in a major operation. In the wild, not to mention his family, his superiors are also worried. If something happens during the process, no one wants to see it.

Of course, if Quan Xiangsong wanted to bring students, no one would stop him. Many schools would immediately try to recruit him. But for Quan Xiangsong, he didn’t particularly enjoy teaching. He preferred to be with animals. He had been around them since childhood, and taking him away from them to a world full of people was uncomfortable for him.

Since becoming a spirit, Kong Bi’s perception of emotions had become very sensitive. She smiled discerningly, “Then you’ll be quite busy next. Shall we go give the green peacocks a check-up later?”

Quan Xiangsong immediately put aside his sentimental thoughts. “No problem! But… is it okay for me to get close to them?”

For the past week, everyone had tried to approach them, but this group had a strong sense of territory, and anyone who dared to enter their territory would be driven away. No one dared to anesthetize them, as they weren’t animals in need of rescue. So, in recent days, they could only watch Kong Bi approach them with envy, unable to do anything, and unable to obtain any data on the green peacocks.

Kong Bi said, “Isn’t there me? Let’s try it first.”

In fact, there were those who had thought about approaching Kong Bi these days, but Kong Bi had brushed them off with excuses. They didn’t press her, because in their view, the green peacocks’ arrival at the zoo was a coincidence, and their friendliness towards Kong Bi might also be a coincidence, or perhaps the large peacock had communicated with the green peacock group, which was why they were friendly to Kong Bi.

–More than one person speculated that perhaps the Kong family had been secretly feeding the large peacock, and with the leader setting an example, the green peacocks didn’t reject Kong Bi.

However, not many people took this theory seriously, as it had logical flaws. Besides, it wasn’t just the green peacocks that were friendly to her; almost all birds were kind to her, which everyone had witnessed.

In this world, there are people with a ‘cat-attracting’ constitution and a ‘dog-attracting’ constitution, so what’s so strange about having a ‘bird-attracting’ constitution?

“Alright, alright! Shall we go now?”  Quan Xiangsong rubbed his hands together, looking excited.