The Ride Fish project hadn't officially launched yet, but it already garnered extensive dia coverage, attracting countless attentive eyes.
If it were just "riding fish," it wouldn't be that unusual of an activity.
Zoos and circuses have their dedicated trainers, among whom there are experts in dolphins, and with special training, riding fish isn't impossible.
But that could only be done by professionals, and it had to be in a designated area.
However, turning fish riding into an entertainnt activity, open to the general public so everyone could ride, suitable for all ages, was indeed a groundbreaking first!
Prior to this, Suming's "hunger marketing" coupled with overwhelming dia publicity, quickly started to fernt and show its effect. The photos and videos of Zhao Yun's family riding fish that day, along with the first video of Suming as the Blue Wave Knight, had astonishing numbers of views and comnts. On the Yangchuan forums, for the past few days, nearly all other topics were overshadowed by discussions about Yangchuan Zoo's new project.
Not only did riding fish possess entertainnt value, but it also held an auspicious symbolic aning in Huaxia's history, representing the achievent of enlightennt and a carefree, joyful existence.
Legend has it that during the Warring States period, there was a man from Zhao State nad Qin Gao, skilled in maneuvering through water and who lived for over two hundred years. One day, Qin Gao gathered his disciples and instructed them to bathe, burn incense, and wait at a riverside shrine he had told them to build. After saying this, Qin Gao dove into the great river and vanished from sight.
His followers did as instructed, setting up an altar by the water and waiting for several days. Suddenly, Qin Gao appeared, riding on a giant red carp, surfacing on the water. He then ascended to immortality on the fish, observed by a crowd of thousands.
Wang Anshi wrote a poem that said, "First learned of the water immortal riding a crimson carp, forever sought the mountain ghost with the scholarly fox." Water immortals and mountain ghosts are quasi-divine beings, while crimson carp and scholarly foxes represent aquatic and terrestrial spirits, symbolizing the mystical spirits of the mountains and waters.
Riding fish at the zoo obviously wouldn't turn you into an immortal, but those fish, dressed up as various mythical monsters, certainly gave off a cosplay vibe.
The zoo could almost be described with the words "the focus of public attention." Every day, there would be visitors specifically inquiring about the Ride Fish project. Mrs. Tong's office received multiple calls from dia outlets wanting to report and interview throughout the day. The few 'ard' fish even managed to steal the lilight from the river dolphins, which had been a hot topic until then, achieving a perfect coback.
Seeing that the montum was already built up, the Ride Fish project finally officially launched.
As soon as the zoo opened that morning, the queue of people waiting to buy entrance tickets extended all the way to the distant road. More than a dozen dia reporters had already arrived early at the main entrance, ready to rush into the zoo to gather firsthand information.
The five big fish were simply not enough to et demand; they were booked up in the blink of an eye by the visitors at the front of the line, and at a minimum, each booking was for an hour or more. The giant blue fish was even reserved by a tycoon for the whole day.
The crowd of visitors beca unhappy. Over a hundred people were lined up, waiting to ride the fish, and if everyone was going to book for over an hour, those at the back of the line wouldn't get a turn even if they waited all day.
As new visitors kept joining the queue, the lakeside beca noisy and chaotic. Just as the crowd was about to beco passionately excited, Suming made a tily appearance, introducing a new rule: during the opening month, each person could only ride for a maximum of twenty minutes to ensure that the majority of visitors could have a turn if they were willing to wait. This cald the angry crowd.
Tagging along with Suming was the alligator turtle.
The business of ride fish was booming beyond expectations. Suming, believing a noble alligator turtle shouldn't live off handouts while doing nothing, brought the turtle over to the site, much like the fish, to be ridden by people.
This guy looked fierce without any deliberate dressing up, already resembling a great monster, and Suming, for added entertainnt, had actually crafted a 'giant python' out of rubber and foam, which he coiled around the tortoise's body in layers.
"Thank you, friends, for your enthusiastic support. To show our gratitude, we've also introduced a surprise for today:"
He pointed to the tortoise, as large as a small hill, and said loudly through the loudspeaker, "That is the Xuan! Wu! Divine! Beast! Ten minutes for a hundred bucks!"
With the alligator snapping turtle in the shallow water, about the size of a table top, its limbs like sky-supporting iron columns, it cooperatively lifted its head towards the crowd on the shore and let out a low roar as Suming spoke, even shaking the rubber python tied around its body.
The visitors instinctively shrank back, but since everyone was clear that this was an entertainnt project launched by the zoo, akin to a haunted house — scary to look at but actually safe — no panic ensued.
Thus, the bootleg 'Xuanwu' joined the big fish brigade, with the six hefty creatures almost ceaselessly commuting between the diving area and the lake's surface every ten or twenty minutes, carrying the next group of visitors.
Despite their best efforts, the queue waiting to ride the fish grew even longer, and the visitors who had ridden the fish before beca walking advertisents for the attraction, posting photos on social networks and friends' circles after their ride, promoting the zoo for free.
By noon, seeing the long queue, Suming had an idea and dialed Mrs. Tong, "Mrs. Tong, have the snack bar whip up so boxed lunches to sell by Shuijun Lake!"
"Alrighty!" Mrs. Tong was thrilled as she hung up the phone, and after a while, Mrs. Sun from the snack bar showed up by Shuijun Lake with a cart full of boxed lunches, shouting, "Boxed lunches for sale, boxed lunches for sale, ten bucks each, one at, three veggies..."
Mrs. Sun made a tidy sum and after cleaning up the lunchbox trash, she found Suming and covertly handed him a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes, then left happily.
That's how the first day went by, with the six mounts never getting a mont of rest.
The next day, the queue was even longer than the first, and even ticket scalpers appeared!
A few shady-looking young n arrived early to stand in line, and after buying their tickets, they didn't get on the fish but began shouting to sell their spots for five to six tis the price to those lined up behind them.
Upon seeing this, Liang Shi didn't dare take any action on his own and hurriedly reported the situation to Suming.
"I hate scalpers the most!" Suming frowned and told Liang Shi, "Tell them, no reselling fish tickets. Anyone who doesn't wait in line and buys a ticket from soone else, it's null and void. We won't acknowledge it!"
Liang Shi did as Suming had instructed and inford those young n that reselling tickets was not allowed.
But the n, seeing Liang Shi's honest face, ignored him completely and even dragged him into a nearby grove, with the lead blond kid actually pulling out a knife and threatening Liang Shi, saying if they ssed with their business, they shouldn't bla them for not giving Liang Shi any respect...
"This kind of thing is happening! In the mighty Huaxia, a land of laws, daring to pull a knife on my turf, is there no king's law anymore!" Suming furiously exclaid upon hearing the news.
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