The next day.
At 6:30 in the morning, the alarm clock went off.
Fang Ye yawned, rubbed his eyes, washed and brushed his teeth, then leisurely walked downstairs.
The cafeteria was right across from the employee dormitory, and before he even entered, the delicious sll of stead buns wafted out slightly.
"Yo, Old Zhang, what's cooking today?"
Fang Ye sowhat reminisced, raised his voice and greeted as always, then casually found a table and sat down.
The cafeteria was empty except for him, making it feel very quiet and cool.
One reason was that there were few staff mbers; Linhai Zoo currently had no more than twenty employees—including ticket inspectors, security guards, and Old Zhang from the cafeteria.
Another reason was its distance from the city center which ant that visitors arrived later, so there wasn't any need to start work too early.
From the white ceramic service window, Old Zhang's chubby face suddenly erged, warmly greeting him with an accent, "Director is still up so early! This morning, we've got fried dough sticks, stead buns, eggs, tofu pudding, and pickles! Stir-fried potatoes, eggplants, bottle gourds, and pork for lunch! What'll it be?"
Fang Ye smiled and nodded, "A bowl of tofu pudding, with a sprinkle of green onions, two fried dough sticks, and so of your wife's pickled radish strips!"
"You got it!" Old Zhang's fleshy face showed two dimples, his eyes squinting until they almost disappeared, "If the Director likes it, I'll have her pickle so extra next ti!"
When Linhai Zoo was first established that year, Old Zhang beca an employee, a true veteran who had witnessed all its ups and downs—from the tis when the zoo was most popular and a ticket sold for 40!
Now, every day before dawn, he would drive that old van to the nearest farrs' market to buy fresh vegetables and at for the zoo—including the animals' als—and then he would return and cook breakfast with his wife, diligent and persevering.
That's why Fang Ye treated Old Zhang with great respect.
The pure white, soft chunks of tofu pudding were subrged in a dark brown sauce, gleaming oil bubbles glistened on the surface, garnished with vibrant green cilantro and scallions, giving off an enticing aroma that made one's mouth water.
He picked up a golden and crispy fried dough stick, dipped it into the soup, and while munching on it, opened the system panel, planning to take a casual look.
Huh?
Fang Ye bit into the sauce-dipped dough stick and suddenly froze.
Why did he subtly feel that sothing was amiss?
After so searching, he finally spotted the change and was stunned, "Popularity value 352??"
How did the popularity value get to 352? If he rembered correctly, wasn't it just 43 yesterday?
An increase in popularity value was undoubtedly a good thing; it signified a rise in the zoo's fa and could also be used for raffles. But the key question was why it had increased so unexpectedly?
Strange indeed.
Fang Ye frowned in thought, his mouth kept chewing during his distraction, inadvertently finishing off a dough stick and quietly picking up so pickled radish strips with his chopsticks.
...
Lan Li, heavy with thoughts, walked into the cafeteria.
She sat down cautiously across from him, her mouth opened slightly then closed, and she placed her hands neatly on her legs.
Fang Ye looked up and noticed a girl had joined him, chuckled and said, "Yo, Lan Li! You're with to clean the tiger enclosure later."
He stopped midway through his sentence, noticing sothing was off, "What's the matter, you look like a primary school student who's done sothing wrong."
Lan Li's face was gloomy, her fingertips fidgeting, struggling to say sothing difficult, and after a long pause she said, "Director, I'm sorry! I shared a photo of you with the tiger on my social dia without your permission! You… you can dock my pay!"
"Hey, it's no big deal," Fang Ye waved his hand dismissively, then suddenly his eyes lit up with a strange realization.
Oh, the mysterious growth in popularity value was your doing!
Had wondering for the longest ti.
Lan Li's face reddened a bit, eagerly explaining, "Director, it's not just about sharing on social dia… A friend, without asking , posted the photo on Weibo, and it spread quickly. Lots of netizens started sharing and comnting, which might have a negative impact on you… I didn't expect this, I'm really sorry, Director."
She too regretted it, not expecting that a few casually taken photos from her would cause such a stir online.
Cautiously raising the corners of his eyes, Lan Li was stunned to find that, upon hearing the news, Fang Ye's expression wasn't the anticipated anger but rather… delight?
"This is fantastic! I was just thinking about how to increase our zoo's fa. How many people have shared it?"
Fang Ye slapped his thigh enthusiastically and opened Weibo, imdiately searching for the keyword 'tiger' and started his inquiry.
"Um, a few dozen shares, a few hundred comnts…" Lan Li blinked uncertainly, "Director, are you sure it's okay?"
"Tsk, only a few dozen shares." Fang Ye frowned slightly in disappointnt, dissatisfied with the netizens' response.
But then again, he thought, it was unrealistic to expect a few photos to make Linhai Zoo an overnight sensation, and it wouldn't have been a good thing anyway.
Better to wait until the tiger exhibit was completed, to have sothing solid to showcase.
Seeing how nervous Lan Li was made Fang Ye reflect on how incredibly honest the kid was!
Talk about scaring the child.
He comforted him: "This is a good thing, and besides, it's not like you did it on purpose. Why would I punish you?"
"Really?"
"Yes!"
Finally, a smile appeared on Lan Li's face. He placed his hand on his chest and took a deep breath, feeling a wave of relief wash over him!
Old Zhang! Fix a bowl of tofu pudding, and throw in a stead bun!"
As for the search results, sorted by default relevance, Fang Ye switched to sorting by ti and the first post that ca up was his own.
Besides the one with Jiaojiao resting on his knees, there were others with him grinning while vigorously petting Jiaojiao's big head, embracing her neck, and so on.
The netizens below were buzzing with comnts!
"Big tiger is so cute!"
"Yi yi yi, will the big tiger bite, I'm scared!"
"Fake macho n attract attention by showing their muscles; real macho n smile while they pet tiger butts!"
"I had a friend who was as cool as him, now the grass over his grave is two ters tall!"
"This guy is so handso!"
Fang Ye chuckled: "Hey, stop telling such brutal truths!"
But just as Lan Li ntioned, there were plenty of doubtful and critical comnts!
"This photo is Photoshopped right? Who would dare to touch a tiger like that!"
"Maybe they started training it from when it was a cub, taming it."
"Malicious marketing! Resorting to death-defying stunts to draw attention, have they forgotten all the reports of tigers eating people?"
"/Anger/ - Nowadays, people would do anything for internet fa and traffic, completely disregarding their own lives!"
"As an animal researcher, I must tell you that this is extrely dangerous behavior! Although the scene looks warm, and the tiger seems gentle and obedient, it's all an illusion! Getting close to a wild animal without any protective asures is playing with your life, it could turn on you the next second!"
"Who is this guy, and why is he able to enter the tiger enclosure? Which zoo is this? The managent is so irresponsible!"
People on Blue Planet still have too little understanding.
Most of the news related to tigers are horrendous stories like "Terrifying! xx Zoo Tiger Maims Visitor" or "A man was eaten by a tiger, and the scene is shockingly grueso"…mostly negative.
In the minds of most people, there are only two types of relationships between humans and fierce beasts—conquering or being preyed upon!
Respect for nature and harmonious coexistence? Non-existent.
In their eyes, the idea of humans and tigers intimately interacting is indeed quite bizarre.
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