Chapter 25.1

The situation with Pimi was worse than Mu Ling had imagined.

Inside the black iron cage, the lion lay weakly on the soft bedding. Mu Ling had only gone to fetch a water basin and a food bowl, but by the time she returned, the cage already smelled foul.

“Roar, roar!” Qilin, uncomfortable with the scent of other beasts, growled irritably from its own cage. Across from them, Lightning pawed at the iron gate in frustration. Only the brown deer, at the bottom of the food chain in this sick ward, remained completely silent, trying its best to minimize its presence.

Standing outside Pimi’s cage, Mu Ling felt helpless. Pimi had soiled itself, right on the bedding.

It had lost control of its bowels and bladder.

“Director,” Wei Li called as he entered, noticing Mu Ling standing at the cage door. He paused, took a look inside, and fell silent.

Mu Ling turned to ask, “What’s up?”

Wei Li replied, “Colonel Song and his team are looking for you.”

Mu Ling nodded, “Got it.” She walked into the cage, put down the food and water bowls, and gently patted the lion’s head.

Pimi, exhausted, looked at her without resistance.

After standing up, Mu Ling walked out and said to Wei Li, “Brother Wei, please help me order some animal diapers online—ones big enough for Pimi. It’ll need to wear them for at least half a month until it regains control.”

Wei Li was surprised. “It’ll recover in just half a month?”

Mu Ling smiled. “As long as it takes its medicine and eats well, it should.”

Wei Li: “…”

But hadn’t Colonel Song said Pimi refused to eat or take its medicine?

However, remembering how Pimi had eaten earlier after some coaxing from the director, Wei Li reconsidered. Maybe it wasn’t so certain after all. Regardless, he decided to simply follow the director’s instructions without overthinking. “Alright, I’ll order them later.”

After leaving, Mu Ling initially thought Colonel Song wanted to say goodbye, but instead, he asked if he could stay the night.

Mu Ling was puzzled. “Stay at our zoo?”

Colonel Song, looking slightly embarrassed, explained, “With Pimi in such a bad state, I’m really worried. You don’t need to worry about me, Director Mu. I’ll just find a place to sit. I just want to stay near it, especially since it just went through an emergency rescue today.”

Understanding his feelings as Pimi’s former owner, Mu Ling nodded. “Sure, we have plenty of empty rooms. Brother Wei will show you to one. Stay as long as you like.”

Colonel Song let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Director Mu.”

Mu Ling waved it off, about to say it was no trouble, when the four employees from Happy Valley Zoo suddenly spoke up. “Uh, Director Mu, we’d like to stay the night too. Is that okay?”

Mu Ling was stunned. “You want to stay as well?”

The four employees, looking awkward, explained, “We’re also worried about Pimi. After all, it was once in our care, so we feel a bit responsible.”

Since they were all in the zoo business and might have future interactions, Mu Ling didn’t want to be rude. “Alright, Brother Wei will show you to your rooms too.”

The Happy Valley employees were thrilled and quickly offered, “We can help out too. If you need anything, just let us know. Oh, and we can transfer the adoption fee for Pimi now, if that’s convenient for you.”

Mu Ling was taken aback. “Adoption fee?”

One of the employees had already opened his light brain. “Yes, Pimi is a retired war beast. According to Federation regulations, when zoos take in retired war beasts, the government provides a subsidy. Our zoo obviously can’t keep this money now. Our manager instructed us to transfer the full amount to you. Should I send it to you directly or to your finance department? It’s a total of 150,000 star coins.”

“How much?” Mu Ling’s voice suddenly shot up, her eyes widening. “150,000 star coins?!”

The Happy Valley employee, startled by her reaction, stammered, “F-for an S-class retired war beast, it’s 150,000 star coins, Director Mu. If you don’t believe me, you can contact your local Forestry Bureau to verify.” They hadn’t pocketed a single cent.

Colonel Song chimed in to confirm. “That’s right, Director Mu. Pimi’s fostering fee is 150,000 star coins. But don’t worry, I know this amount isn’t enough. I’ll make regular donations to you every year. As long as Pimi can live well, I won’t let you bear the cost of caring for Pimi alone.”

After all, keeping a sick retired war beast that couldn’t be opened for public viewing was surely a losing proposition for the zoo. Although his salary wasn’t high, he could manage to set aside some money each year to buy medicine for Pimi. As long as Pimi could live, that was enough.

Mu Ling quickly waved her hands. “No, no, no, I’m not questioning it. I just…” She just didn’t know that taking in retired war beasts came with payment.

She immediately looked toward Brother Xiang and Brother Wei, only to see Xiang furrowing his brow and Wei looking completely surprised.

Well, that made sense. Xiang and Wei were both animal keepers. When they received war beasts before, they would only have been responsible for settling the animals. The financial matters would have been handled by those above them.

Mu Ling quickly opened her light brain and eagerly held out her wrist device. “You can transfer it to me. I manage the zoo’s account.”

The Happy Valley employee quickly transferred the money and had Mu Ling sign the handover document. With her signature, it indicated that both the animal and the money had been received by Bi Ke Animal Zoo, officially concluding the transfer.

After signing, Mu Ling looked at the long string of zeros in her account balance and felt her heart racing. She instantly became enthusiastic, “Brother Wei, quickly, show everyone to their rooms. It’s so late already. Get some drinks for everyone, and remember to buy breakfast for them tomorrow morning.”

She then said to Colonel Song and the others, “Please, stay as long as you like. Make yourselves at home. Don’t hesitate to let us know if you need anything.”

Colonel Song and the Happy Valley employees felt that Director Mu was truly kind and sincere.

After Wei Li led them away, Mu Ling hurried back to the sick ward.

Looking at Pimi now, Mu Ling couldn’t help but think this was the most adorable incontinent lion she had ever seen.

But its bottom was dirty and needed to be cleaned.

“Pimi, is your tummy still uncomfortable?” Mu Ling crouched beside the lion, placing her hand on its belly and gently rubbing.

The stomach is an extremely sensitive area for animals. Pimi initially wanted to resist, but Mu Ling’s rubbing didn’t feel unpleasant. After hesitating for a moment, it didn’t resist and just lay still.

Xiang Bie entered at this time, and Mu Ling said, “Brother Xiang, can you bring me two basins of warm water? I’ll wash Pimi’s bottom in a bit. I’ll go get some medicine for it first. After taking the medicine, it shouldn’t have diarrhea tonight.”

Xiang Bie looked at the lion’s miserable state, grunted in acknowledgment, and went outside.

Mu Ling brought seven pills for Pimi, all for protecting the digestive system. But just feeding them like that, only a fool would eat them. So Mu Ling hid the pills in canned meat paste. Wearing protective gloves, she directly grabbed a ball of meat paste and pushed it to the lion’s mouth. “Come on, Pimi, eat a little.”

Pimi kept its mouth firmly shut and even closed its eyes.

Mu Ling bent down, bringing her mouth close to its ear, and whispered, “Just eat a tiny bit, Pimi, be good. If you don’t take medicine, your condition will get worse. Pimi, say ‘ah’ for big sister, ah, ah.”

Pimi remained motionless, as if asleep.

Mu Ling continued whispering in its ear, “Pimi, ah, ah.”

Pimi, annoyed by the pestering, started to lose its temper. It suddenly opened its mouth, intending to growl low.

“Mmph!”

As soon as it opened its mouth, Mu Ling, who had been waiting for this chance, quickly stuffed the meat paste in.

Pimi: “…”

With a mouthful of meat paste, caught between spitting it out and swallowing, Pimi finally swallowed it down, as it took less effort than spitting. It gulped down the meat paste, clearly unhappy.

Then…

“Pimi, ah, say ‘ah’ for big sister.”

Pimi felt it should get up and lie down somewhere else.

But it couldn’t get up at all. After trying several times, it had no choice but to open its mouth again.

Only after Pimi had eaten all the meat paste containing the medicine did Mu Ling remove her gloves and lean down to kiss its forehead. “Such a good boy.”

Pimi didn’t look at Mu Ling at all. It just lowered its eyelids, its whole face drooping in a very world-weary expression.

Mu Ling gently stroked it again, but suddenly she sensed something. She raised her head in confusion and instantly met two pairs of eerie beast eyes.

One pair of cold, brownish-green beast eyes.

One pair of cool, emerald green beast eyes.

Mu Ling: “…”

Looking at Qilin and Lightning quietly staring at her through several layers of iron bars, Mu Ling inexplicably felt a bit guilty. She awkwardly said, “Don’t be like that, you two. Pimi came with capital, it brought a whole 150,000. Before we officially open and start making money, our whole family has to rely on it for support. It’s our sugar daddy.”

Of course, the tiger and panther couldn’t understand Mu Ling’s words.

The tiger just lay down where it was, resting its chin on its two front paws, its body flattened into a tiger pancake, staring at Mu Ling with puppy eyes.

On the other side, Lightning remained sitting upright, but its long, pitch-black tail kept swishing towards Mu Ling.