Chapter 76. Dugong Herd

     At first glance, the Mermaid Square looks no different from an ordinary square, but its most unique feature is that it is built on the sea.

 

     This statement is not entirely accurate, because the northernmost end of Xingzhou Island is a group of reefs. When the tide is high, the sea water will submerge this place, so the Mermaid Square looks like it is built on the sea.

 

     When the tide recedes, the reef group will appear in front of everyone again. At this time, you can see a large number of seabirds staying on them, and there are many crabs, starfish, etc. moving in the cracks of the reefs, which makes tourists want to go to the sea.

 

     Some tourists also found that they could clearly see the turtles floating on the surface to breathe in the Mermaid Square. They excitedly took out their mobile phones to take pictures, and their attention was all in the sea.

 

     Only Zhou Bingyan quietly observed this square.

 

     The square is octagonal. Zhou Bingyan observed the lighthouse on the top of the mountain, which happened to be octagonal… The island owner really likes octagonal shapes!

 

     The floor tiles of the square are the kind of thick non-slip paving stones, and the gaps between the bricks are very thin, which shows that this square is built very carefully.

 

     The height of the railing is 1.2 meters, which is difficult for adults to climb over, let alone children. And it has more than one layer of protection. There is also a layer of glass at the bottom of the outer perimeter of the fence. Even if someone falls from the fence, there is still this half-meter wide glass to stand on.

 

     But this does not mean that tourists can climb over the railing at will and stand on that layer of glass. Once someone really breaks the rules, they will be blacklisted by Xingzhou Island.

 

     Suddenly, a tourist seemed to see something, and he shouted excitedly: “There is something in the sea, look!”

 

     Although Zhou Bingyan doesn’t like to join in the fun, there are few people at this time, so even if he goes over, he won’t squeeze with others, so he quietly walked to the railing.

 

     On the sea surface a hundred meters away, there was a group of large animals that looked like dolphins but had no dorsal fins swimming. They sometimes surfaced and sometimes dived into the sea. After careful counting, there were quite a few of them!^[1]Dugong Herd

 

     Zhou Bingyan recognized it, and he couldn’t help shouting: “It’s a ‘mermaid’!”

 

     The reason why he could recognize it was a dugong was that on the day when Director Fu’s crew came to Xingzhou Island to shoot, Zhou Qunfang and the crew saw the dugong through the “Haizi” together, and he remembered the appearance of the dugong from the picture Zhou Qunfang took for him.

 

     After checking on the Internet, I learned that dugong has a nickname of “mermaid”, which is the prototype of the “mermaid” mentioned in “Classic of Mountains and Seas”.

 

     Their appearance has nothing to do with humans. The reason for this nickname is that the movements of female dugongs when feeding are similar to those of humans. From a distance, it looks like a mother feeding. 

 

     Of course, there are other sayings, but these are not important. What gave him goosebumps was that the researchers had investigated before and didn’t see dugongs with their own eyes, but he actually saw them today!

 

     Zhou Bingyan didn’t have time to think about it at all. He saw several dugongs swimming closer and closer with his own eyes.

 

     Some tourists just recognized him and were distracted by his voice. For a moment, they didn’t know whether to be surprised that they met their idol or to be surprised by the appearance of dugongs… Or maybe, it was a double surprise? !

 

     The tourists’ shouts attracted more tourists. At this time, the security guards of Xingzhou Island hurried over and said, “Dugongs are shy by nature. You will scare them away if you shout like that!”

 

     The tourists immediately fell silent, but their faces were already red with excitement.

 

     Zhou Bingyan was no exception. His hands were shaking as he held the phone.

 

     This was big news. He actually encountered it. He could already imagine that he would be on the hot search again.

 

 

 

……

 

     Li Yaolin had received a reminder from the housekeeper when the dugong entered the waters under the jurisdiction of Xingzhou Island. She was slightly surprised: “Dugongs only appeared when the sea fire was released before. Now it is daytime. Why did they appear? And it seems that there is more than one!”

 

     Expecting that this incident would cause a great sensation, Li Yaolin did not bother to see the dugong first, but immediately arranged that the whole island would enter the emergency state during the National Day. Each department had its own duties, and all logistics and security personnel had to be alert. In addition, several security guards would be arranged to rush to the Mermaid Square to maintain order.

 

     Lin Hai did not question Li Yaolin’s decision, and immediately arranged five security guards and safety officers to drive patrol cars directly to the Mermaid Square.

 

     The people in other departments were a little confused. When they learned that there were dugongs and they were not released by “Haizi”, they couldn’t help but want to join in the fun.

 

     However, they also knew that once the existence of dugongs was confirmed, the relevant departments would definitely come. They want to ensure that there will be no mistakes in the operation of Xingzhou Island during this period – they still remember that someone attacked the island owner last time, saying that Xingzhou Island’s development of diving and boat fishing projects scared away the dugongs.

 

     The security team did not stop tourists from watching the dugongs. They only needed to ensure that there would not be too many tourists rushing into the Mermaid Square at once, causing crowding and trampling.

 

     More and more tourists who heard the news gathered in the Mermaid Square.

 

     It was not until a dugong climbed onto the reef that people were sure that it was really a dugong!

 

     And this dugong was not as shy as the security guard said. Under the gaze of dozens of tourists, it stood on the “stage” openly and made the unique “grinding” sound of dugongs.

 

     It seemed like a natural musician, calmly performing a solo on the stage.

 

     After realizing that the dugong was not afraid of them, the tourists burst into joyful shouts: “Is it singing for us?”

 

     Some tourists disagreed: “Maybe it is warning us that this is their territory and asking us to leave.”

 

     “But haven’t they just arrived? They have just marked this place as their territory. Isn’t that too overbearing?”

 

     “Maybe it is greeting us?”

 

     “Maybe it is lecturing the members of the herd. I heard that a group of dugongs is called herd. From the six dugongs that appeared together this time, it can be found that this must be a herd!”

 

     No matter what the dugong’s voice represents, it proves that these visitors will set off a huge wave of discussion in Yóushì and even across the country.

 

     Soon, the staff of the reserve management station came over, the law enforcement officers of the fishery department also came, and even the news media heard the news.

 

     However, they were too late. The dugong returned to the sea after giving a speech. Although tourists can still see their moving figures in the clear sea water, they can’t interact with them.

 

     Li Yaolin arrived late after arranging all the work. Cen Yingda saw her and ran over excitedly, his face as red as an apple. He said, “Boss Li, dugong, dugong really appeared!”

 

     Li Yaolin still remembered how disappointed he was when he failed to find the dugong that appeared in “Haizi”.

 

     She smiled and nodded: “Yes, they are… the whole family is here, right?”

 

     Although Cen Yingda was puzzled about how she knew, it was not the time to discuss this. He said, “Can I ask Boss Li to support us with some manpower to help us carry out our work?”

 

     “Sure.” Li Yaolin called Lin Hai over. He is now in charge of the security work of Xingzhou Island, and Li Yaolin no longer needs to worry about arranging manpower.

 

     The arrival of the dugong has no impact on the daily operation of Xingzhou Island for the time being, so Li Yaolin walked to the Mermaid Square. She looked up at the mermaid statue, wondering how it could be so coincidental that the dugong appeared less than a day after the Mermaid Square was built.

 

     She called out the little mermaid: “When I release the ‘Sea Fire’, there will always be a dugong appearing. The ‘singing’ I heard was also from it, right? According to the data given by the little housekeeper, it seems that it is not in this group. But is the appearance of this dugong group related to it?”

 

     The little mermaid replied: “There is a certain connection. The island owner can explore it by herself!”

 

     Li Yaolin: “…”

 

     You said it as if you didn’t say anything!

 

     Li Yaolin speculated whether the appearance of the dugong mother and daughter projected in the “Hai Zi” was called by the dugong that appeared with the release of the “Sea Fire”?

 

     After the dugong mother and daughter found that the waters of Xingzhou Island were very suitable for survival, they left Xingzhou Island and returned to the group to bring them all over.

 

     This can explain why they left at that time.

 

     At this time, Li Yaolin, who walked to the edge of the fence, happened to see the dugong surfaced, right in front of her, and made a “cha cha” sound at her.

 

     Li Yaolin was sure that the dugong was greeting her, just like when she was diving, the sea turtles would actively run to her side to play with her.

 

     “Welcome to Xingzhou Island.” Li Yaolin said to the dugong.

 

     The dugong made a more excited cry, and people could feel its joy across species.

 

     The law enforcement officers and the staff of the reserve who were discussing how to carry out their work were dumbfounded. If they were not mistaken, was the dugong responding to the island owner?

 

     What made them feel even more magical was that the island owner waved to the dugong and the dugong would also respond happily with its flippers.

 

     “Go and enjoy a happy holiday!”

 

     As the island owner said this, the dugong turned over and dived into the sea.

 

     The researcher who was about to approach it: “…”

 

     Everyone was horrified and looked at Li Yaolin in surprise.

 

 

 

     “Does it listen to you?!” A tourist on the side asked.

 

     Li Yaolin smiled and said, “It’s a coincidence. If you understand their habits, it’s not difficult to do these things.”

 

     Everyone suddenly realized and felt that it was mostly coincidence, so they didn’t take it to heart.

 

     Li Yaolin left the Mermaid Square and said to herself, “No wonder you said that this Mermaid Square landmark is most suitable here. If dugongs live here in the future, this square will be the best place to observe them.”

 

     With dugongs as a sign, there is no need to worry that this square will be unpopular.

 

 

 

…

 

 

     #Zhou Bingyan discovered a group of dugongs#

 

 

 

     When Xingzhou Island was once again on the hot search due to the appearance of dugongs, Zhou Bingyan was also on the hot search.

 

     Zhou Bingyan’s black fans scolded him for riding on the popularity, and some fans explained that Zhou Bingyan was now on vacation in Xingzhou Island and did not ride on the popularity at all.

 

     The black fan said again: “Does it mean that people have discovered a group of dugongs on Xingzhou Island? I am in Sichuan, so I discovered the panda?”

 

     The fan found that it was meaningless to argue with the black fan, so they simply threw out the picture of tourists accidentally taking photos of Zhou Bingyan when they were taking photos of the Mermaid Square and the sea view, and also took photos of him shouting “mermaid” uncontrollably.

 

     Now the Mermaid Square on the island is full of people who come to see the dugongs, and there are very few tourists in the video, which shows that Zhou Bingyan was indeed one of the first tourists to discover the appearance of dugongs.

 

     No matter how the black fans black him, his agency found an opportunity to market him, and a large number of passers-by did remember him because of this.

 

     When Zhou Qunfang saw the hot search, her eyebrows raised. If she remembered correctly, Zhou Bingyan was showing off to her that he had drawn a postcard with the island owner’s stamp before discovering the dugong…

 

     If this is a coincidence, then there is really something fishy!

 

     Zhou Qunfang now further confirmed that the reason why the postcard with the island owner’s stamp can become a limited edition is that it must have some kind of buff that increases the luck value!

 

     The reason why it was determined to be a stamp and not a signature was because Zhou Bingyan’s postcard only had a stamp but no signature.

 

     If this is a lucky postcard, does everyone have the opportunity to get good luck?

 

     Thinking of this, Zhou Qunfang’s heart was warmed, and she immediately sent a message to Zhou Bingyan, asking him to help bring back some blind boxes.

 

     However, thinking of Zhou Bingyan’s luck, she finally decided to wait a few more days and go to Xingzhou Island to celebrate the New Year the day before New Year’s Day. At that time, she would buy blind boxes herself!

 

     However, she told this to her agent. The agent was half-believing and half-doubting, but with the mentality of believing it is better to believe it than not, she decided to go to Xingzhou Island with Zhou Qunfang to celebrate the New Year.

 

     Zhou Qunfang reminded: “Sister Ying, you have to hurry up to buy tickets, otherwise you won’t be able to grab tickets.”

 

     Agent Sister Ying was about to buy with her, but then she remembered that she was an annual ticket member of Xingzhou Island, and she didn’t need to compete with ordinary people to buy tickets at all. For the first time, she envied her.

 

     It was thanks to Zhou Qunfang’s reminder that when she opened the mini program, the tickets for Xingzhou Island around New Year’s Day were almost sold out. She saw that there were only two tickets left, so she quickly grabbed them.

 

     “It’s winter now, why are there so many people going to the island in winter?!” Sister Ying couldn’t understand.

 

     “Why else? Of course it’s because of the ‘mermaid’!” 

 

     Zhou Qunfang lay on the sofa and said happily, “Fortunately Zhou Bingyan helped me book a holiday cabin in advance. Sister Ying will have nowhere to sleep when the time comes, so she can stay with me.”

 

     She glanced at Zhou Qunfang and didn’t want to be a light bulb. She opened the mini program to continue booking a holiday cabin, but found that it was fully booked.

 

     Sister Ying: “…”

 

     It’s understandable, after all, more than 3,000 tickets can be sold a day, but there are only 30 holiday cabins.