Inside a five-star hotel a kilometer away from the Diannan Zoo, Yang Lin awoke feeling completely refreshed.
Apart from the soreness in his muscles, he felt as if he had been resurrected with full health.
He glanced at his phone and realized that ten hours had passed.
And in those ten hours, he had missed dozens of calls, some from zoo employees like Chen Kexin, and others from his friends.
They were clearly all worried about his condition.
Thinking of this, his heart warmed, and he immediately dialed Chen Kexin’s number to let her know he was safe.
As soon as the call connected, Chen Kexin’s voice came through.
“Hello, are you from Diannan Hospital? Has my cousin been successfully rescued?”
“Don’t worry, we’ve already prepared for the worst. Even if he didn’t make it, we can accept it.”
“By the way, did he leave any will or anything?”
Hearing Chen Kexin’s words, Yang Lin was somewhat bewildered.
When was he sent for rescue?
What was going on with not making it?
“Kexin, it’s me, it’s your cousin.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a sound of a dropped phone came from the other end.
It took a while for her voice to return.
“Cousin, you were rescued?”
“Rescued? I wasn’t even in the hospital.”
“You weren’t in the hospital? But I saw you being carried into an ambulance on the live stream.”
“Not just me, the whole country saw it.”
“Ah, I was lying to the media. I’m perfectly fine.”
During their conversation, Yang Lin explained the whole story.
“Alright, that’s all for now. I’ll be back in a couple of days. You all manage the zoo well, and call me if anything comes up.”
After saying that, Yang Lin hung up the phone.
After hanging up, he made several more calls and then changed into fresh clothes.
Once everything was settled, he left the hotel and walked towards the nearby Diannan Zoo.
As soon as he entered the zoo, Director Song appeared.
“Director Yang, are you feeling rested? We’re really indebted to you this time.”
“We’ve already checked through satellite monitoring, and the elephant herd’s situation is very stable. They should settle within the reserve.”
Hearing Director Song’s words, Yang Lin nodded gently.
“That’s good.”
“By the way, where have Tuan Tuan and the others been sent?”
“Director Yang, you don’t need to worry about that. We’ve made proper arrangements for them.”
“Once Tuan Tuan has rested a bit, we’ll arrange for her to meet Ya Ya.”
However, as soon as Director Song finished speaking, Yang Lin continued to press.
“I’m not worried about Tuan Tuan. I’m worried about that little pangolin and those four little owls.”
“I rescued them. You can’t keep them.”
Hearing this, Director Song finally reacted and chuckled.
“Director Yang, you’re worried about that. Don’t worry, I understand.”
“Even if I wanted to keep them, I doubt the whole country’s viewers would agree. I don’t want to be cyberbullied.”
“By the way, Director Yang, you haven’t eaten yet, have you? Let me take you to eat something.”
As soon as he heard this, Yang Lin’s stomach rumbled, and he realized he hadn’t eaten for over ten hours.
Just as he expected Director Song to take him for a feast, Director Song turned and walked into the zoo.
A moment later, an employee cafeteria appeared before him.
“No way, are all zoo directors like me?”
Just as Yang Lin was thinking this, Director Song showed an embarrassed expression.
“Please forgive us, Director Yang. Our Diannan Zoo is not like Xihong Zoo. Although we are also self-funded, we’ve been operating at a loss for five years. Even when leaders come for inspections, we can only treat them to cafeteria meals.”
Hearing Director Song’s words, Yang Lin looked puzzled.
“Isn’t Diannan known as the kingdom of wildlife? Is the zoo’s operation so bleak?”
But as soon as he finished speaking, Director Song’s expression became even more wry.
“Precisely because Diannan has so many wild animals, the number of animals in our zoo is several times that of other zoos. We have over ten thousand wild animals, and the food expenses alone are an astronomical figure each year.”
“Furthermore, the people of Diannan have frequent opportunities to encounter wild animals, so they aren’t very interested in them. Most of our visitors are tourists from out of town.”
After hearing Director Song’s explanation, Yang Lin’s face showed surprise.
He knew that Diannan Zoo had more animals than other zoos, but he hadn’t expected them to have that many.
At its peak, Ningnan City Zoo had over 2,500 animals, and he thought that was a lot at the time. Yet, Diannan Zoo had more than four times that number.
As for Xihong Zoo, there was no comparison. They had only a little over 250 animals, not even a tenth of the number.
It was a miracle that the zoo wasn’t bankrupt. If it were him, he probably couldn’t afford to keep these animals.
Of course, he also noticed another point Director Song mentioned: Diannan locals weren’t very interested in visiting zoos.
It made sense. It was like someone who lived by the sea year-round would probably be tired of eating seafood.
However, after the initial surprise, Yang Lin couldn’t help but have some ideas.
Since the allied unit was facing such difficulties, it would be a bit too much not to help.
But he didn’t voice this thought at the moment.
After they finished their meal, Director Song led him towards the panda enclosure again.
On the way to the panda enclosure, Yang Lin finally witnessed the grandeur of Diannan Zoo.
Herds of peacocks, hundreds of various raccoons, and large black bears enough to form several football teams.
There were also monkeys of different species everywhere, and even the extremely rare golden snub-nosed monkeys were as common as macaques here.
The most astonishing thing was the hundreds of tigers of various breeds in their tiger enclosure.
Even normally rare white tigers could be seen in abundance.
Even more unusual creatures like ligers and tigons were easily spotted.
After only walking halfway, Yang Lin felt his heart greatly stimulated.
It was like a small landlord from a humble background suddenly entering the city.
At that moment, he deeply realized how poor he was.
Recalling what he had said to Director Song earlier, he felt his face flush.
But it also strengthened his resolve to bring back some Diannan specialties.
Not only bring them back, but bring a lot.
ps: I have to wake up early tomorrow, so I'll only update six chapters today.
Good night everyone, I'll start my sourcing trip tomorrow.