Duan Jiaze brought Luya with him into the aviary's enclosure.

The two reporters were still pondering, "Do they spread their tail feathers every day? If we were to wait here for a day, we might be able to film them doing it, right? Or do you have any videos taken with a phone? We could use those too."

As the two were talking, they heard Chen Wei give a short cry and immediately raise her camera.

Turning their heads to look, they saw that one of the peacocks' tails had vibrated a few times, and its tail feathers unfurled with a rustle.

The coverts, with a primary color scheme of blue and green and interwoven with yellow, red, and other colors, shimmered. As they quivered, sunlight shone down through the transparent roof, and the glossy feathers seemed to reflect the light with a cool metallic hue, incredibly moving.

The two gasped and quickly aimed their cameras at it as well.

The peacock shook its tail feathers, fully fanning them out. Only then did they realize that this peacock's train was astonishingly large, almost two meters by visual estimation. It filled their vision, making them hold their breath.

The other male peacock also started to put on a show. Since Chen Wei hadn't filmed the beginning of the first peacock's display, she slowly moved her camera away and aimed it at the other one, managing to capture the moment it too spread its tail feathers.

The people from Lingyou Zoo weren't lying. They didn't know if the peacocks here had any special hobbies, but they certainly loved to spread their tails.

The two peacocks occasionally turned their bodies, showing off their trains from all angles. It was a full few minutes before they slowly folded them back up.

"It's so magical," one reporter exclaimed with emotion. "Honestly, this is the first time I've seen a peacock spread its tail feathers in person. I've seen peacocks before, and I've seen pictures and videos of them spreading their tails, but it's nothing compared to the shock of seeing it in real life. It's just too beautiful!"

"I've seen peacocks spread their tails at other zoos, but never this beautiful. The camera can't capture these colors; its feathers look like they're glowing, and they're especially large."

The reporters were all very satisfied, not expecting to be so lucky as to film the peacocks spreading their tails today.

Next, they experienced the same treatment as the Tongxin Elementary School students. No bird feed was needed; as long as they opened their hands, the little birds would land on them.

The keepers also had little birds perched on them, feeding them by hand. Xiao Su, who was more aware of what was needed for the camera, said, "We and they are all one family. It's the same between them. See, how harmonious."

Different species of birds would also preen each other's feathers. A chubby little bird even rubbed its head against Xiao Su's cheek. Its fluffy head almost sank into its round, puffy body, looking unbearably cute. When it touched Xiao Su's cheek, it even closed its eyes contentedly, a very human-like action.

Xu Chenggong was a complete rookie, but since there weren't many people, he also had to be on camera. He was very nervous at first; he didn't know the birds at all. What if they pecked him?

But after he got the hang of it, he realized these birds were just naturally friendly.

He had never even fed them, yet a parrot stood on his shoulder, constantly bumping him with its body, as if asking him to play with it.

He was a bit stiff at first, as it was his first time on camera. But after discovering how proactive they were, Xu Chenggong forgot about the camera's existence, and a joyful smile appeared on his fierce-looking face.

The effect was similar to Xiao Su's, but achieved differently. Xiao Su was delicate and cute, and his interaction with the little birds was endearing. Xu Chenggong, a big man with a villain's face, playing with a parrot, was strangely touching.

After filming such a scene, the online media reporters decided to focus on the love between humans and animals and asked them to interact more.

Everyone was extremely satisfied with the footage they got. The keepers and birds in the shots got along especially harmoniously. Their interactions were full of love and spirit, with very few signs of artificiality, unlike interactions at other zoos which were basically keepers giving commands and birds performing tricks.

Although they slowly understood in their hearts that this must be the result of training, the ability to train them so brilliantly was a skill in itself!

Since the zoo could achieve this level, they would of course try to elevate it to the theme of "love." Although there weren't many species of animals here, there was love: If it weren't for love, how could the Zoo Director have spent his entire fortune to open this private zoo? If it weren't for love, how could the little birds and fish be so intimate with the keepers?

Then, the little birds showed off their indoor flying skills for more footage, leaving the reporters greatly satisfied.

Chen Wei said, reluctant to stop, "How am I supposed to edit this later? I feel like I could cut a half-hour segment."

She felt many of the shots were spectacular, but her theme wasn't as flexible as the online media's. She still had to focus on the people, so she asked Duan Jiaze to also step in and interact more with the animals.

Duan Jiaze then "performed" how he could let the birds fly out for a round and then have them voluntarily return in a line, arranged from largest to smallest. As they flew in through the door one by one in decreasing size, the girls watching felt an inexplicable joy in their hearts.

......

After finishing the filming with the birds, they went to the lion's area.

Xiao Su and the others didn't dare, so Duan Jiaze went in himself and had a close encounter with the lion. The lion wagged its head and tail at Duan Jiaze and rubbed its head against his calf, just like a big cat.

Chen Wei asked with interest, "After the opening, will the lion be available for interaction like the birds?"

"Only the birds will. Lions are different, after all," Duan Jiaze replied. 'What a joke,' he thought. 'Letting people play with every animal? Does Luya even get to rest? Is it not enough for him to be the main attraction, does he have to lead a team too? Better to just let them show off on their own.'

Chen Wei nodded in understanding, but the interaction between Duan Jiaze and the lion was also very impactful. The image was very persuasive, and Chen Wei had a feeling that the news report would have a great effect after it aired.

Afterward, they went to a few other animal enclosures to shoot more footage. The keepers and the Zoo Director all had individual interviews.

At noon, the reporters had a home-cooked meal here, personally prepared by Director Duan. The filming didn't completely wrap up until after three o'clock.

"Director Duan, thank you for your cooperation today!" Chen Wei said. "If there are no surprises, the TV news should air at eight o'clock the day after tomorrow. You can ask your friends and family to tune in. As for the new media report..." She looked at the two online media reporters.

The two of them thought for a moment and said, "We'll go back and edit the photos later. It should be out tomorrow at the earliest. Let's add each other as friends, and we'll send you the link then."

Duan Jiaze quickly thanked them along with the sub-district and community staff for helping with the promotion. With his limited funds, Chen Wei's and the others' arrival had greatly eased his pressure, so he had been as cooperative as possible during the interview.

......

After the reporters left, Duan Jiaze let Xiao Su and the other two leave work early as well. Today's work was done anyway, and everyone had worked hard for the shoot, so it was better to go home early.

Exhausted yet satisfied, Duan Jiaze returned to the office building.

Luya had also changed back to his human form and was sitting next to the Aquarium, staring at the fish inside, which was very strange. The fish, meanwhile, were all huddled in the opposite corner, trembling.

A chill ran down Duan Jiaze's spine. "Daoist Lord, we're all colleagues. You can't eat them even if you're hungry..."

Luya shot him a glare, and Duan Jiaze immediately chickened out, lowering his head to play on his phone.

Just then, the Ling Xiao Hope Project app sent a notification. A new mission had arrived. At the same time, the Ling Xiao Support Group section lit up, indicating that after Luya, another special employee was about to arrive.

Duan Jiaze tapped open the mission to take a look:

Mission Description: The grand opening is imminent. To take the first step towards soaring success, please achieve a minimum of two thousand visitors in the first week after opening.

Mission Reward: Upon completion, you will receive a 30-day supply of high-grade feed for all zoo animals and one visitor service center building.

......

Duan Jiaze looked at the requirement and immediately felt immense pressure.

Two thousand people in seven days, an average of less than three hundred people per day, didn't sound like much.

However, for a place like a zoo, business was usually slow from Monday to Friday and busier on weekends, when people didn't have to work or go to school and had time for leisure.

For a newly opened zoo like theirs, even with local media helping to promote it, it was hard to say how many visitors they could attract in the first weekend.

It wasn't as if a national TV station was promoting them, and theirs wasn't the only place to see animals. Besides, these days, there were too many entertainment venues; a zoo was not most people's first choice.

Whether the content shown in the promotion could attract people to come to the zoo right away was a real question. Perhaps people would be satisfied with a "cloud tour" or would want to wait and see for a while?

A zoo was different from a shopping mall. They couldn't run discount promotions to attract customers. Their ticket prices were already low enough, and the place was quite far away. Even at half price, not many people would come all this way for that little bit of money.

—Even on the premise that they had enough visitors, there were still problems.

Many exhibition areas in Lingyou Zoo were empty. With only so many animals, it could easily get crowded if they weren't careful. The visitors' experience would suffer, and the pressure of maintaining their safety would also increase.

He only had three employees. The System said a minimum of three. Seeing that he didn't have many animals and not expecting to receive many visitors at the beginning, he hadn't hired more to save some money.

Now, Duan Jiaze realized something was wrong; the System had no intention of letting him take it slow. And to complete the mission for the first week of opening, the minimum of three employees mentioned by the System probably meant three employees worked to death...

Therefore, Duan Jiaze now had two problems that he had to solve within a week.

First, ensure a sufficient number of visitors; second, ensure sufficient manpower.