From doing a good deed to becoming a zookeeper, what was supposed to be a fleeting engagement had morphed into a month-long commitment. This made Yan Fei get a vague sense of unease: was he going to be stuck taking care of these animals indefinitely?
It’s not like he’d never been to a zoo before. It’s a fairly small place to begin with. Each savage beast like tigers or lions didn’t have more than twenty square meters to themselves—they even had to divide this small space into two zones: one for sleeping and the other for feeding while being observed by visitors.
One could say that the zoo made full use of every inch of its space, even the paid Reptile Pavilion was shoved into a corner. Moreover, the pavilion was just a row of low-roofed houses, probably four or five of them, with a corridor in front that barely allowed two people to walk side by side.
How could such a tiny zoo absorb so many creatures? Yan Fei doubted it was really feasible.
All these issues would become clear in a month. Worring about it now wouldn’t help. Better to plan what to bring his wife-to-be for New Year’s Day!
There wasn’t much work left to do in the two greenhouses, and with New Year’s Day the day after tomorrow, Yan Fei decided to set off early.
He loaded up a bunch of things to take to the cattle farm. When he told Heizi, who was coming to keep watch that night, Heizi sneakily pulled him aside, "I’ve collected quite a few antiques, do you want to sell them?"
Yan Fei was indifferent, "Sure, bring them out and I’ll take them. When I have time, I’ll go to the antique city to check it out."
There really were a lot of items. There was a big sack of copper coins, a common thing in Sancha River. There were also other odds and ends, which together filled half a sack. Yan Fei didn’t bother examining them closely. He was just about to carry them off when he flipped over a few books and suddenly fell silent, "Are these storybooks also considered antiques? ’Seven Heroes and Five Righteousness’? ’Water Margin’? ’General Yue Fei’?"
Heizi explained confidently, "Why wouldn’t they count? Look, in ’General Yue Fei’, you have to flip from the back to the front! The book is thread-bound, and the characters are traditional. They must be antiques. I’ve read all these books. Look at the printing date, it’s been twenty or thirty years."
Can books from twenty or thirty years ago be considered antiques? Yan Fei couldn’t be bothered to argue with him. He stuffed the items in, but then remembered he had promised to bring wine to Xiao Wu, the manager of the antique city. He had forgotten all about this every time he went, too focused on his fiancee. He must remember this time.
"Alright, I’ll take these with me. When I go to the provincial city, I’ll see how much they are worth. I’ll reward you with a tiger to play with when I return! Oh yes, tell Gao Rui once I’m back, he should leave. I’ll give him some travel expenses, tell him not to rush," Yan Fei said. Gao Rui deserved praise for his dedication to his work.
"Don’t worry, he’s not in a hurry. He has food and drink here with only the tasks to do. He doesn’t know how comfortable his life is. Now he’s even teaching the mute how to do his Kung Fu. He said the mute, being a big, straightforward guy, is perfect for learning his Kung Fu." Heizi sneered disdainfully. "What a pair of big oafs..."
"Whether or not they’re fools is none of your business. I’m leaving. Remember to watch the greenhouses..." Yan Fei said, preparing to leave with his belongings.
"Mm-mm, you go.....Wait, wait, what did you just say? You said you’ll reward me with a tiger?" As it turned out, he hadn’t been indifferent to the talk of the tiger—he just hadn’t been listening! It only registered now.
"Yes!" Yan Fei answered as he got on his bike. "You better not let it slip. The police station uncovered a big case last night. Someone was smuggling tigers and got caught. Now I am keeping one in a different place for now. When I return, I’ll bring you one to play with!"
"Sure thing, I’ll keep it a secret. Tell me, what kind of tiger is it? A real wild tiger?" Seeing Yan Fei about to leave, Heizi became instantly anxious. "At least tell me if it’s big or small, male or female?"
"Bigger than you! You can treat it like a brother but it wouldn’t be your wife..." Yan Fei’s bike was so fast that it could probably go 100 kilometers in less than 10 seconds. He teased Heizi before vanishing in the blink of an eye.
"Always talking about his wife, in such a hurry to see her, revolving his whole life around her. He’s got no prospects..." Heizi watched as Yan Fei’s bike disappeared from view, a disgruntled expression on his face. "I need to go deliver some eggs..."
Yan Fei wasn’t headed straight to his fiancee. He made a detour to the county, bringing his parents some eggs, fish, and vegetables. While there, he asked his father whether his classmate still wanted a dog.
After finding out they might take the dog during the New Year’s holiday, he told his father: I’m heading to the provincial city to see my fiancee. You can take the dog yourself! It would be best if, after deciding on a puppy, you had Heizi discreetly take it outside. With the two adult dogs present, it’d be impossible for anyone else to get away with a puppy.
He missed dinner and slipped away amidst his mother’s chiding and laughter.
He found a secluded spot in the county to take off. Out of habit, he scanned over Dinosaur World before he appeared at the river’s estuary in the Dinosaur World.
This was the territory of the Suchomimus he had once beaten up. Now, the leader of the Suchomimus was alone at a puddle on the riverbank, circling a large turtle!
This was a large sea turtle with no claws, only four fins for limbs and a small tail and head. It must have ended up onshore due to the tide or something else. It was now using the terrain of the puddle as an advantage, cautiously on guard against the Suchomimus leader circling it.
However, the situation was not optimistic. The sea turtle was quite large—its shell was four or five meters long and five or six meters wide—a room in a normal house would just about match its size.
But compared to a Suchomimus over ten meters long with the mouth of a crocodile, there was still a significant difference. Even with the advantage provided by the puddle, the sea turtle was in imminent danger.
When Yan Fei saw it, a large wound had already been bitten into one of its back fins, almost severing it.
With such a wound, even if it managed to evade the Suchomimus and return to the sea, its chances of survival would be slim.
Seeing Yan Fei appear not far away, the Suchomimus immediately became alert, even adopting a contemplative posture, reflective of human behavior. It then backed away a few steps, as if indicating it’s willing to give up the prey to Yan Fei.
Yan Fei, amused at its seemingly considerate behavior, chuckled and then hunched over. His body rapidly enlarged, and scales appeared. In the blink of an eye, the mighty Sarcosuchus appeared before the Suchomimus and the sea turtle.
Then, the Sarcosuchus lunged toward the sea turtle, its enormous body causing ripples in the puddle with its every move.