Chapter 36.2

Mu Ling glanced toward the mountain path outside the garage. “The two employees in our park who can handle mutant beasts aren’t here right now. We’ve been quite busy these past couple of days, so they’ll probably be exhausted when they return.”

Major Chang understood immediately. “Got it. I’ll send someone over to pick it up shortly.”

Mu Ling smiled. “Thank you, I appreciate it.”

An hour later, a young soldier sent by Major Chang arrived. Mu Ling handed over the snake in a bag.

Half an hour after that, Major Chang contacted her again. “I asked around. Among this batch of reinforcements, two soldiers have war birds—one is an A-class Red-Crested Crane, the other is a B-class Tri-Colored Pigeon. The one capable of carrying off the snake definitely wouldn’t be the pigeon—it’s only palm-sized. The Red-Crested Crane is possible, but we can’t be certain. It tends to disappear mid-flight and reappear elsewhere shortly after.”

Despite this, Major Chang still apologized and promised to increase supervision. Mu Ling quickly reassured him it was no problem and asked when their mountain-clearing operation would finish.

“In two days,” Major Chang replied.

Mu Ling breathed a sigh of relief.

Once the operation was over, there wouldn’t be any more war birds wandering around the back mountain, and this sort of thing wouldn’t happen again.

As long as it didn’t happen again, Mu Ling wasn’t too concerned.

After hanging up, she touched her stomach. She had been so preoccupied that she hadn’t even realized she was hungry.

Mu Ling headed to the kitchen to make some noodles. Just as the water began to boil, she heard a car outside. Turning to look, she saw that Brother Xiang had returned.

Seeing someone in the kitchen, Xiang Bie walked in. Noticing Mu Ling cooking, he took off his jacket, draped it over a chair, and silently approached her.

Mu Ling was putting noodles into the pot and smiled at him. “Brother Xiang, you’re back. How did it go today?”

“Mm.” Xiang Bie washed his hands, then took the remaining noodles from her and started cooking himself. “And you?” he asked.

Knowing her cooking skills weren’t great, Mu Ling didn’t argue. She chuckled, “Everything went well for me, just had a bit of an unexpected incident on the way back.”

She explained the situation with the snake and added, “Major Chang said it might’ve been their A-class Red-Crested Crane and promised to strengthen supervision.”

Xiang Bie suddenly fell silent.

Mu Ling noticed his stillness and tilted her head to look at him. “Brother Xiang?”

He turned to her and asked, “Did the snake still have its gallbladder?”

“Gallbladder?” Mu Ling thought for a moment and then shook her head. “I didn’t pay attention to that, but its vital spot was definitely bitten through.”

“What about the photo?” he asked, referring to the one Mu Ling had sent to Major Chang.

Mu Ling quickly pulled up the photo and showed it to Xiang Bie.

After looking at it for a moment, he pursed his lips. “It might not have been the Red-Crested Crane. It could have been Tayun.”

Mu Ling’s eyes widened. “Our Tayun? But Tayun can’t fly—its wings…”

Stirring the noodles in the pot, Xiang Bie explained, “Snake gallbladders clear heat and detoxify. The soft-wing injection we gave Tayun essentially introduced a toxin into its body. It’s been in the park for a year now. If it’s been secretly eating snake gallbladders this whole time, it’s possible its wings have regained the ability to fly.”

He glanced back at her. “Although it can fly, it’s probably still unstable. That’s why it dropped the snake, and you found it.”

Mu Ling was astonished. “Is that even possible? What do we do? Will it fly away? What if it crashes mid-flight? Should we give it another soft-wing injection?”

Xiang Bie fished the noodles out of the pot, added the seasonings, and placed the bowls on the counter. After wiping his hands, he said, “I’ll go check on it. I know a few of Tayun’s usual perches. Maybe I can bring it back.”

“How?”

“Tranquilizer.”

With that, Xiang Bie grabbed his jacket and headed out.

Mu Ling called after him, “But it’s so late!”

Xiang Bie didn’t answer; he had already left the cafeteria.

Mu Ling stood there, staring at the steaming noodles in front of her, then looked back at the now-empty doorway, exhaling deeply.

What a mess this all is.

As if things weren’t busy enough already…

Mu Ling waited until very late that night, but Xiang Bie still hadn’t returned.

Early the next morning, the job applicants arrived. Mu Ling had no choice but to start the interviews first.

Today’s luck was better – they finally filled all the positions. Mu Ling signed contracts with them, requiring them to start work tomorrow.

By eleven o’clock, the nine people who had signed contracts yesterday had arrived: three animal keepers, one ticket seller, one supermarket cashier, two supermarket stock clerks, and two restaurant servers.

Mu Ling handed all nine of them over to Wei Li for training.

During this time, Mu Ling kept glancing toward the mountain, occasionally trying to contact Brother Xiang through the light brain, but he never responded.

Mu Ling was getting worried.

At eleven-thirty, the new ticket seller, Miss Zhao, suddenly came to find Mu Ling. “Director, shouldn’t we start pre-selling tickets now?”

Bi Ke Zoo had become very popular, and many netizens were eager to get tickets for September 17th. Mu Ling had originally planned to open advance ticket sales two days before.

Now that Xiao Zhao had asked, Mu Ling replied, “I’ve scheduled it for tomorrow.”

But Xiao Zhao seemed concerned. “Director, won’t that be cutting it too close? If people from distant planets get tickets, they’ll need several days of starship travel. They might not make it in time…”

Mu Ling frowned and said, “That’s not a problem. If they can’t make it on the first day, they can come on the second or third day. The tickets are valid for seven days.”

Xiao Zhao’s round eyes immediately widened. “But being there on the first day is so prestigious! They’d be the envy of everyone’s social media feeds!”

Mu Ling: “…”

Xiao Zhao said seriously, “Director, do you realize how valuable our opening day tickets are?”

Mu Ling: “…”

Seeing how passionate this young woman was, Mu Ling thought for a moment and said, “Well then, let’s open sales today.”

Xiao Zhao nodded immediately. “Great! I’ll start preparing now. Director, what time do you want to start?”

Mu Ling checked the time. “How about this – I’ll start a livestream at noon. I promised our followers I’d raffle off three brushes and one Qingjiao plush toy. I’ve already made them and was planning to give them away during the ticket pre-sale livestream anyway. It’ll help promote our ticket sales.”

Xiao Zhao’s eyes lit up. “Director, you’re so business-savvy!”

Mu Ling: “…”

Looking at this somewhat impulsive young woman, Mu Ling suddenly began to doubt whether hiring her was the right decision. However, her resume credentials were impressive – so impressive that Mu Ling felt being a ticket seller might be beneath her qualifications.

Clearing her throat, Mu Ling said, “Get everything ready. I’ll send you the ticket sales link later. You’ll manage the backend and keep me updated on sales in real-time. We’re selling one thousand tickets for the first day. Give me a signal when we reach that number, got it?”

Xiao Zhao nodded quickly. “Got it.”

At 12 noon sharp, Mu Ling started her livestream.

At the same time, everyone following Bi Ke Zoo’s official account received a broadcast notification.

Since it was lunch break, both students and office workers were generally free, so a large crowd immediately flooded into Mu Ling’s livestream. Comments started scrolling rapidly.

「Ahhh, wifey!」

「Wifey didn’t post any videos yesterday, I was sad!」

「Saw the title about today’s raffle, is it for the brushes and plushies? I’m so excited!」

「How does the raffle work, wifey? Wait, where is this?」

Mu Ling caught this comment and smiled while responding, «Hello everyone, welcome to my livestream. Yes, we’re having a raffle today. This is our office, and the brushes and plushie are right here.»

As she spoke, Mu Ling went around to the inside of the desk, opened the drawer, and laid out the three handmade calligraphy brushes and one Qingjiao plushie.

Mu Ling said a bit shyly, «Since they’re entirely handmade, they’re not very refined. It’s just a small token of appreciation. I hope whoever receives them won’t mind.»

「We don’t mind! Wifey, pick me!」

「They look great! The Qingjiao plushie is so cute!」

「Please mass produce them!」

「I want to see Qilin, I want to see Lightning, I want to see Qingjiao. Can we see my babies today? Wuwuwu~」

Mu Ling picked up the four gifts and started walking out while saying, «I’ve seen a lot of comments about wanting to see Qilin and the others, so let’s go take a look now.»

As she spoke, Mu Ling glanced at Xiao Zhao beside her, who was acting as her little assistant.

Xiao Zhao was staring at the ticket sales window on her light brain. She nodded at Mu Ling, indicating she was ready.

While leading the camera to the veterinary station, Mu Ling started talking about the opening: «As you all know, our zoo will officially open on September 17th. Today we’ll open the ticket pre-sale link. If you want to buy tickets, you can click the shopping cart below in a moment.»

「Opening ticket sales today? Ahhhh, finally opening!」

「Can we really see Qilin and the others in person at the zoo?」

「Can we watch Qilin get her bandages changed live?」

「Can we also experience giving Qilin a medicinal bath? Previous visitors could. Wifey, you can’t play favorites!」

「Where’s the link? Where’s the link? Why hasn’t the link appeared yet?」

「So when are you releasing the link? Hurry, hurry!」

As Mu Ling was talking, she had already arrived at the veterinary station. She pointed the camera inside. As soon as she walked in, a large lion resting in the ward caught the audience’s attention.

「Oh, is that a lion? It looks so thin.」

「Haha, why is it wearing a diaper?」

「That’s kinda cute.」

「Qilin, Qilin! Lightning, Lightning! Qingjiao, Qingjiao! I want to see war beasts, I want to see war beasts, wife!」

「Yes, yes, yes! We can see lions anytime. I want to see war beasts, I want to see the war beasts I normally can’t see!」

Mu Ling walked up to Pimi’s cage and called out, “Pimi, say hello to the audience.”

The world-weary black-maned lion looked at Mu Ling with a disgruntled expression, then closed its eyes and went back to sleep.

「Oh, Pimi?」

「This lion’s name is pretty domineering.」

「Ah, Pimi couldn’t be the Pimi I’m thinking of, right?」

「No way, is it Pimi? The black-maned lion Pimi?」

「What what what, is this Colonel Song Cheng’s S-class black-maned lion Pimi? How is that possible? Wasn’t Pimi sent to Happy Valley Zoo for foster care? It was even on the news before.」

The comments were scrolling by too fast for Mu Ling to see the viewers’ questions. In fact, she was starting to have trouble reading the comments at all. She could only continue with what she had planned to say.

«Pimi is quite tired and doesn’t like to move much. Let’s go see Qilin first.»

Mu Ling turned the camera to the neighboring ward. In the frame, the golden tiger saw Mu Ling calling and slowly stood up, walking to the cage door. Its brown-green eyes held a hint of languor as it quietly gazed at Mu Ling.

Mu Ling reached her hand through the gap in the cage to pet Qilin’s head.

Qilin closed its eyes in comfort, slightly tilting its neck.

「Ahhhhh… Qilin so cute!」

「My Qilin is so beautiful! My favorite Qilin! I want to pet Qilin too!」

「Please, wifey, take more videos of Qilin. I can never get enough, I’ve watched the old ones so many times already!」

「Wait, so was that really the black-maned lion Pimi just now? It’s not just the same name, species and breed, right? Ahhhhh tell me quickly! This is really important to me!」

「I don’t think it is. I just searched for photos of Pimi, and it looks different from this lion. This lion is too thin.」

Just then, the camera casually panned to the right, landing on the cage next to Qilin’s.

Instantly, a white bear curled up in a ball entered the viewers’ sight.

「Bear… Sh*t, is that a bear?」

「What a beautiful white bear! Oh, it turned its body away. Wait, what happened to its back? How did it get so injured?」

Mu Ling finished petting Qilin and noticed the camera had turned to Moonlight. That troublemaker was facing its backside to her again. Mu Ling sighed helplessly and told the audience, «Moonlight is quite shy and generally doesn’t like interacting with people. Let’s not disturb it for now.»

As she said this, Mu Ling naturally turned the camera back to Qilin.

But the comments exploded again.

「What, Moonlight?」

「This can’t also be the same name, species and breed, right? Silver Snow Bear Moonlight? Is it the Silver Snow Bear Moonlight that was in the news for self-harming because it refused to be caged?」

「Refused to be caged?」

「Self-harmed and made the news?」

「Okay, case closed. This must be the same name, species and breed. Isn’t it in a cage right now? Can’t you all see that?」

「Actually, there’s one more thing I’ve been wanting to ask. Did you hear the background sound? Someone’s been reciting some kind of fairy tale. Listen carefully, isn’t that my wife’s voice?」

「Can we see Pimi and Moonlight again? I really want to get a clearer look! Let me see, ahhhhh! Please!!!!」