Chapter 32 part 1

Regardless, Kong Bi considered this operation a successful conclusion.

Although the process differed somewhat from her expectations, Wang Tianba had at least managed to successfully pay her respects, which proved that she and Huajiao were not incompatible.

Therefore, she felt relieved and took Wang Tianba back to rest, also reminding her to come to her room that evening—without bringing any mice.

While Kong Bi wasn’t afraid of creatures like mice, the sight of a pile of dead rodents at her doorstep was more of a shock than a pleasant surprise.

“Goo?”

Wang Tianba did not understand why Kong Bi emphasized this point. Although the prey she usually hunted was not particularly delicious, it was at least not unpalatable. But thinking of the strange breakfast she had just tasted, she understood that there was still a big difference between her taste and Kong Bi’s.

When Kong Bi returned to the cafeteria, she found that the bowls and chopsticks had been cleared away. These experts who were not well-known in the outside world and had been working in various fields for a long time were not difficult to approach. Except for some quirks that might be difficult for ordinary people to understand, they looked like kind elders.

Seeing that there was nothing she needed to do, Kong Bi had to go back to the office to slack off. She ordered an arm guard and shoulder armor online, and also passionately ordered a few Hanfu clothes. Compared with letting Wang Tianba stay on her arm, Kong Bi wanted it to stay on her shoulder, after all, it was tiring to hold it with her hands.

Just imagine, going out with an owl perched on your shoulder – what an exciting sight that would be! Wouldn’t that be way cooler than an old man carrying a birdcage?

As for whether Wang Tianba is a bit too big…

If not Wang Tianba, you could always put something else up there, right? A green peacock would work, and if that doesn’t cut it, you can always put a cat on your shoulder, can’t you?

…

New employees are reporting in one after another.

Kong Bi sorted out the dormitory arrangements and other miscellaneous tasks. Several of the new employees were female, so they needed to be separated from the male dormitories. Fortunately, Peacock Mountain Zoo had previously accommodated forest rangers and research teams, and had built quite a few dormitories, which were sufficient for the moment. However, they lacked air conditioning, and the internet cables were only temporarily installed after Kong Bi’s arrival, making the living conditions rather poor.

Thankfully, the renovation team would arrive that evening, and the designer had even taken an earlier flight to meet Kong Bi, their important client. It was believed that with round-the-clock work, they could roughly complete everything before the hottest summer weather arrived.

Consequently, Kong Bi, who had been slacking off, became busy again.

The zoo currently had very few animals, making it the perfect time for renovation. After all, she wasn’t making minor changes but a near-complete overhaul. The noise generated by the renovation team could easily startle the animals. However, this also resulted in the newly arrived employees having very little to do.

Kong Bi skillfully delegated the procurement of medical equipment and pharmaceuticals to Wang Ling, then asked Shi Zhuo (the security team leader) to find a design company to create a complete set of work uniforms. She also gave the chef, Jiang Xiuli, the contact information for vendors whose food she had found acceptable over the past few days, and outlined her program requirements to the programmer, Gao Liang, keeping them all busy.

For new employees at a new company, being busy is definitely more reassuring than having nothing to do, especially when the company environment looks rather poor, as if it’s on the verge of collapse…

However, after going through this, Kong Bi realized she had hired too few people. Shouldn’t the purchasing department hire someone separately? And should they also hire someone for finance?

Although Kong Bi herself can do accounting, she had long been tired of this kind of work in her previous company, otherwise she would not have rushed out after seeing the game clearance rewards.

However, since the current staff was generally sufficient, Kong Bi wasn’t in a hurry. She sent all the videos she had accumulated over the past few days to Li Da in one go.

Although Kong Bi had the idea of creating a few animal internet celebrities after the video of her dancing with peacocks went viral online, in reality, she only remembered to film the interactions with the animals after the fact, realizing that the footage might be appealing. Therefore, the videos she could give to Li Da were all captured by surveillance cameras, with the only exception being the footage taken by Quan Xiangsong this morning.

As someone who frequently worked in the wild, Quan Xiangsong had a habit of “having a camera attached to his body.” After all, encounters with animals in the wild were often fleeting, and having a recording device was much more convenient. So, he specifically chose a phone with good pixel quality, ready to be used whenever needed.

Li Da reviewed the videos and said, “I suggest we focus on Wang Tianba as the main character for the initial promotion, and perhaps Chu Chu as a secondary character.”

Kong Bi paused, surprised, and asked, “Why?”

Li Da explained, “Although the green peacocks are very rare, they don’t have many memorable qualities that would capture the interest of online viewers. Like the dance that went viral before, people were more interested because you were involved, not just because the peacocks were beautiful. In today’s online environment, simple beauty isn’t enough to make them internet famous.”

After a pause, he added, “Of course, if you could get the green peacocks to cooperate with you in various dances, then promoting them as the main attraction would be fine.”

“Impossible!” Kong Bi flatly refused. “I won’t do any animal performances, unless they’re interested themselves, and besides, I couldn’t do that anyway.”

The last sentence is of course false. But Kong Bi was adamant about refusing animal performances. While she was capable of getting animals to perform without using violence or coercion, unlike how others trained them, it didn’t mean the animals would be happy. Performance itself went against their nature, and only a tiny minority of animals with a strong desire to perform would be interested.

Of course, all of this applied to regular animals. The monster, however, still had to work. At the very least, they couldn’t slack off during working hours and had to be visible to the tourists, lest visitors come to the park and see nothing.

The demon king’s family wasn’t wealthy, and if the little monster didn’t work, how could the demon king still drive a Ferrari like before?

Li Da was not surprised by Kong Bi’s refusal when he heard this: “So it’s better to promote Wang Tianba as the main character. It’s a bird of prey that humans don’t know about, and it looks like what netizens like now. It also has a lot of selling points. It can open locks, repay favors, and is talkative.”

Many animals aren’t particularly interested in talking. Some Up master’s cats might not even meow a few times a year. So, in Li Da’s opinion, Wang Tianba, who often cooed, had quite a few selling points.

Kong Bi grumbled, unconvinced, “My Hua Jiao also repays kindness, and the things it brings are all edible for me.”

Li Da said helplessly, “It’s best if we focus on making one popular first before considering another. From my experience, Wang Tianba is easier to make popular than the green peacocks.”

“I trust your experience,” Kong Bi nodded, then asked, puzzled, “What about Chu Chu?”

Li Da replied, “There are many cat lovers online. We can use it to lure people in, and it has a great sense of the camera, which makes it easier for me to find promotional opportunities.”

If you don’t find promotion, the birth of an Internet celebrity will be full of uncertainty, but how to make the promotion not offensive depends on the ability of the operator. The best way is to brush some playback comments first, and then find relevant bloggers to recommend. Compared with owls, there are undoubtedly many more cat-related ups.

Upon hearing this, Kong Bi waved her hand and said, “Then let’s do as you say. I’ll approve…” She paused, thinking, “Is 100,000 yuan enough?”

Li Da looked at Kong Bi in shock. Was this what it was like to be a second-generation rich kid? Running an animal park in this remote wilderness for fun, and approving 100,000 yuan in one go?!

Seeing Li Da’s expression, Kong Bi said awkwardly, “Then, another 50,000? The zoo isn’t open yet, and I’m not aiming for them to be super famous, just a little bit of recognition. I’ll spend more when the renovations are done and I have more funds…”

Kong Bi tried to paint a hopeful picture of the future.

“Enough, enough,” Li Da didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, “We’re not celebrities, we don’t need that much for promotion. The initial investment probably won’t even reach tens of thousands.”

“Oh, okay…” Kong Bi relaxed upon hearing this. The recent expenses had been so high that she was feeling some pressure. After all, the renovations alone would cost who knew how much, and if the deficit was too large, she’d have to consider selling a house or a car to recoup the losses.

Currently, Kong Bi hadn’t felt the pinch of being short on money, but she had to think about the future. Private zoos were different from public zoos. Public zoos were government institutions, and they didn’t have to worry about the zoo’s profits and losses. But private zoos had to cover all their expenses, and if they couldn’t make a profit and were constantly spending money without any income, they would go bankrupt.

Although Kong Bi had relied on her family’s wealth before, a monthly expense of tens of thousands of yuan was nothing to them. However, pouring money into the zoo was a different story. Staff salaries, the zoo’s daily maintenance, animal feed… all of this added up to hundreds of thousands of yuan per month, and that was without keeping large carnivores. No matter how wealthy her family was, they couldn’t sustain that kind of constant spending.

Fortunately, the animals she kept were monster. Otherwise, Kong Bi wouldn’t dare spend so much. It’s very difficult for a regular animal to become an internet celebrity, but monster could cooperate with the business, making it much easier. Not to mention, the abnormalities of monster were more eye-catching than those of regular animals.

Humans are strange creatures. If you try to hide something, they might suspect something’s amiss. But if you show it to them openly, even if Kong Bi personally admitted they were all spirits, no one would believe her, as long as they didn’t actually speak.

With the chef in place, Kong Bi finally enjoyed a delicious meal after a long time.

Neither Kong Bi nor those experts could honestly say their cooking was delicious. At best, it was barely passable. Of course, one could make do, but given a choice, no one would want to eat it every day.