After saying a brief farewell to the people of Sun Town, Suming, Su ng, and Old Dong set out on the highway back to Yangchuan City, accompanied by a group of snakes, so recently dug up morel mushrooms, and a family of nine white cats.
Old Dong drove the big truck, loaded with snake cages and morel mushrooms. Suming drove the minivan, folding down the back two rows of seats, and the python coiled up in the back of the van like a pet snake.
At the mont of getting into the vehicles, an unexpected incident took place that surprised Suming greatly.
Upon seeing the python, the mother cat imdiately assud an attacking posture, with a loud hiss, her back arched and fur bristled, and tail pointing straight up... In contrast, the eight newborn kittens, who had just learned to walk, showed absolutely no fear of the enormous creature. Far from being panicked, they approached it as if it were simply a fellow creature of a different form and confidently made their way onto the python's back. The python's scales were slick, causing two of the kittens to lose their footing and tumble over, but then they got up, raised their little paws, and climbed back onto the python, treating it like a log bridge.
The boldest of the kittens, a little white one, even climbed onto the python's head, wrapped its little legs around the python's neck, and slid down it like it was a slide. Upon seeing this, the other kittens imdiately began owing energetically, all vying to climb onto the python's head!
Both Suming and the mother cat were frightened! That python could easily swallow those kittens whole with just one bite!
After all, a python over five or six ters long could swallow a leopard without any difficulty!
Unexpectedly, however, the python's amber pupils rolled to the sides, and then it flicked out its long tongue, as if slling or licking, lightly touched the kittens, and then remained still without any other movent, allowing the kittens to play on its body without showing any hostility at all.
Confused, Suming used his spiritual power to probe both parties and discovered that the kittens innately held no animosity towards the python. Since the python had a gentle temperant and had already eaten its fill earlier, it did not attack. Sensing the spiritual power on the kittens, it seed to recognize them as acquaintances and let down its guard.
The mother cat quickly relaxed her vigilance against the python as well, and the two were able to coexist peacefully. However, unlike the playful kittens, the mother cat chose to lie down in a corner of the minivan's back seat and fell asleep on her own.
At the toll station on the highway while leaving Maoxi County, Suming suddenly rembered sothing. He hurriedly stopped the car and dashed to the supermarket next to the toll station, buying a large assortnt of local specialties.
Beyond that, the journey was uneventful.
Upon returning to the zoo, Suming first sent Liang Shi to the train station to receive the first group of workers that ca with them from Sun Town. This group consisted of only twenty individuals, all handed over to Liang Shi to enrich the fisheries company.
Although Suming kept Baldy around, none of the minor gangsters under him were kept. Each was given two months' salary and sent away.
With the new boss, there was a new ambiance. Baldy was kept because he was still useful and had earned his rit. But if all the previous gangsters were kept around, it wouldn't take long for the fisheries company to fall back into a decrepit state, perhaps even corrupting the new workers.
Suming didn't want the people from his hotown, who started working with him, to pick up bad habits like drinking, gambling, fighting, and causing trouble without learning any good skills.
Then he went to report to Mrs. Tong. As the head of the office and chairwoman of the zoo union, Mrs. Tong first gave Suming a token scolding, saying things like as a leading cadre, he shouldn't take long leaves of absence and didn't seem to care about the work of the zoo...
"Sister, you're absolutely right. I've been deeply reflecting on it all the way back, and I'm really troubled by it," Suming said as he talked nonsense, handing over a bag of walnuts: "Sister, I brought so local specialties from our hotown for you."
"Oh, this is great! Good for the brain!" Mrs. Tong imdiately forgot she had just been scolding Suming, happily took the walnuts, and then gave Suming a conspiratorial wink. Her tone shifted smoothly with no sense of abruptness, "How's that thing I asked you about last ti going?"
"What thing?" Suming was genuinely puzzled.
"Oi, you kid, it's about Hu," Mrs. Tong said, glaring.
Suming slapped his forehead, "Oh, right, I rember now. I asked him. Su ng has never been in a relationship, doesn't have much experience, but he doesn't mind Hu. I think we should just let it happen naturally."
"I get it, you young n just like to play too much and don't want to get married too early!" said Mrs. Tong.
That comnt wasn't appropriate for Su ng, but Suming felt it quite apt for himself.
Leaving Mrs. Tong's office, Suming then found Mr. Song. Song was reading a newspaper in his office and, seeing Suming enter, put down the paper and said with a chuckle, "I told you so, you couldn't have gotten lost. Who knows, there might even be so pleasant surprises. Where are those snakes now?"
Mr. Song had already heard about the large group of snakes Suming had brought back.
It was sowhat embarrassing to admit that the vast Yangchuan City Zoo didn't have any snakes! There had been over a hundred poisonous snakes many years ago, but later they'd all been sent to the Capital Zoo to support the capital's construction.
Together with Mr. Song, they headed to the large warehouse where the snakes were temporarily housed. The warehouse was used for storing animal feed and Suming's fish food; it was relatively cool and shaded, making it an ideal temporary ho for the snakes.
Dozens of cages were stacked on top of each other, creating what looked like a huge snake at restaurant.
"Very good, good snakes indeed," Mr. Song comnted as he inspected each cage with his hands behind his back, finally nodding in satisfaction.
Suming rolled his eyes, thinking to himself what does 'good snake' even an; couldn't the old man be a bit more imaginative and use a couple of fancier adjectives?
Adjectives weren't important; money was the key. Suming said to Mr. Song with a cheerful smile, "Boss, now that we have these snakes, how about we submit a report and ask the city for funds to establish a snake park or sothing?"
Mr. Song nearly laughed out loud at Suming's suggestion, "You're always thinking of plucking feathers from passing geese. Do you think the city has money to burn? I'm telling you, starting next week, I'll be attending the restructuring etings in the city. It'll last at least half a month or at the most a month, and then the zoo will officially begin its restructuring. Even if the city has money, they won't allocate more to the zoo at this ti; that would be like throwing ..."
Song seed to be in a good mood, almost slipping up, but halfway through his sentence, he realized what he was about to say was inappropriate, chuckled, and said, "However, your idea is in the right direction. The back hill is so vast and currently hosts only about a hundred dogs; it's empty anyway. Let's do this: the zoo will fund it, and we'll build a snake park. Do you want to take on the contract?"
Suming thought for a mont. Since the restructuring was imminent, and the specifics were still unclear, there was no need for him to invest his own money at this ti. Besides, he was a little tight on cash. He would wait and see before deciding whether to take on the contract for the snake park.
"Oh, your friend Zhao Yun has been looking for several tis to discuss a cooperation plan for jointly managing the future of Chen Youliang's tomb excavation," said Song, derailing his own conversation. "I told you, you're a lucky charm. Every ti you go out, you manage to bring back so surprises."
"Heh, just lucky," Suming replied. It wasn't him who had found the tomb; with such a large group of dogs with keen noses, any good things in the back hill could be dug up.
Actually, the wild boars had even more sensitive noses. If the boars had been there, perhaps the underground building complex would have been discovered even without being exposed by a flood.
Thinking of this, a light bulb went off in Suming's head. Once the wild boars were successfully bred, he might as well bring a few to the back hill. On one hand, as Song had said, the back hill's animal diversity was too limited; if it were to beco a wildlife park in the future, it wouldn't be enough. A few wild boars could enrich the biodiversity to so extent. Furthermore, the back hill was next to Qinling, which was rich in resources; maybe after the arrival of the wild boars, so precious treasures could be unearthed.
"Is Zhao Yun's excavation and preservation project of the tomb completed?" Suming asked curiously.
The excavation and renovation of Chen Family Town Ancient Architectural Complex, including Chen Youliang's tomb, was certainly not a small task.
"Almost done, I hear. The city governnt is taking it very seriously this ti, even assigning additional experts and staff who have been working overti during the New Year period. Zhao Yun says even if it's not complete yet, it's close," Song replied.
Song patted Suming's shoulder and said, "You probably don't know yet, but this underground complex has caused quite a stir nationwide; it's not an exaggeration to say it's attracted nationwide attention. If it really opens up as a tourist spot in the future, it should be quite profitable. However, I'll be attending restructuring etings in the city soon and won't have ti, so you'll have to discuss the matter with Zhao Yun."
Song's upcoming trip to the city for etings was one reason for his decision, but in his heart, he had already made up his mind that after the restructuring, he would gradually step back and hand over the managent of the zoo to Suming.
...
PS: A bit less today, one more small chapter in the evening.
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