"Wang—Wei—wei—hurry up!"

Wang Weiwei hurriedly finished applying her lipstick, grabbed her bag, and went out.

Her two classmates, Liu Xuefei and Mi Xiaomai, were already waiting, looking like they'd lost the will to live. Seeing her come out, they both sighed in relief, "Let's go, let's go, let's get a taxi."

A few days ago, Wang Weiwei had invited them, saying they were going to the zoo today. At the time, they were both a bit baffled. What was so great about a zoo? That was the kind of place elementary schools organized trips to; neither of them had been to a zoo since middle school.

But Wang Weiwei insisted, so they had no choice but to agree. Besides, the place was supposedly small, so it wouldn't take much time.

After getting into the taxi, Liu Xuefei gave the destination, "To Lingyou Zoo."

The driver was still stunned, "Huh?"

Wang Weiwei quickly said, "It's Cape Park!"

Upon hearing Cape Park, the driver finally understood, "Got it!"

It took about forty minutes to get from Wang Weiwei's house to Cape Park.

At this moment, the entrance of Lingyou Zoo was decorated with large billboards, some flower baskets, and many balloons, announcing to everyone that it was opening day.

However, the three of them, Wang Weiwei and her friends, weren't drawn in by these conspicuous objects. Instead, the first thing they saw was a handsome guy holding a large string of balloons, standing in the plaza in front of Lingyou Zoo.

His features were of a classical, handsome beauty, with sharp brows slanting up towards his temples and phoenix eyes slightly tilted. He had an incredibly cool and aloof air, and a lock of his bangs was even highlighted in golden-red.

It was no exaggeration to say he seemed to be glowing. From more than twenty meters away, Wang Weiwei and her friends couldn't help but stare at him. Not just in real life, but even on TV, they had never seen this type of handsome guy. He was like a male protagonist from a historical romance novel come to life.

Wang Weiwei and her friends had come for Lingyou Zoo, but a glance to the side told the whole story. Many girls who were originally headed to Cape Park for a barbecue had inexplicably changed course and were now walking towards the zoo.

Wang Weiwei was so focused on staring at the handsome guy's face that as she dazedly walked closer, she realized there were several birds perched on him, and one was even circling around him in the air.

At this distance, a smiling girl next to them said, "Hi ladies, would you like to visit the zoo? Our peacocks here love to fan their tails, and we have little sika deer, little monkeys, and newly arrived arctic foxes..."

Wang Weiwei had already planned to buy a ticket, but next to her was a group of university girls, still holding their barbecue supplies. They now had conflicted expressions; they had been drawn over by the handsome guy.

The girl pressed on, "It's our first day open, so tickets are only fifteen yuan. You'll have plenty of time to take a look around before you go for your barbecue."

As she spoke, the birds flew off the handsome guy. Some used their beaks to tug at the girls' clothes, pulling them towards the gate, while others flapped their wings from behind, herding them in.

"Aiya! Are these birds trying to solicit customers?"

"Oh my god hahaha, that's amazing!"

The super handsome guy holding the balloons noticed the birds' movements and glanced over coolly, making the students blush. However, he didn't start a sales pitch as they might have expected.

"If you buy a ticket, you can enter a lottery for a chance to have a cute little bird accompany you on your tour of the park! They're very well-behaved." The girl pitched again, and at that moment, they could see families with children buying tickets to enter.

This combination of the handsome guy and the little birds at the entrance basically ensnared all the women and children, making them unconsciously walk over to watch...

The university girls were a bit embarrassed. They looked at each other, tentatively suggesting:

"Should we go in? It's only fifteen yuan..."

"Anyway, it's still early. It seems fine to take a look and then go for our barbecue, what do you guys think?"

"Then let's go check it out. These birds are pretty interesting..."

Xiao Su let out a sigh of relief. Another success.

The road led straight to Cape Park, but who knows how many people were drawn over by Luya at the entrance of the adjacent Lingyou Zoo, or by the birds constantly "soliciting" customers. Then, whether out of interest or persuasion, they chose to buy a ticket and have a look inside.

Xiao Su thought to herself that if Brother Lu was willing to sacrifice his looks for the cause, the efficiency and success rate would surely be even higher than it was now. But, on second thought, this was a sign of Brother Lu's integrity. Our Zoo Director really knows how to raise them right.

......

Besides the visitors diverted from Cape Park on the spot, a considerable portion of the customers Lingyou Zoo received on its first day were those who had been attracted by their news and promotions beforehand.

For example, the Fan Haiping family. Today, Fan Haiping and her husband Zhao Zhengyi brought their son Zhao Bo and nephew Zhang Shun to have fun at Lingyou Zoo. Interestingly, they also planned to visit the neighboring Cape Park for some fresh air after seeing the animals.

"This place isn't small at all. They've built so many enclosures. The owner was really willing to spend money and go big," Fan Haiping commented as she handed a balloon to her husband and reached out to draw from the lottery. The balloon was given to her by that handsome guy at the entrance when she came in; everyone got one.

Previously, Zhao Zhengyi, Zhao Bo, and Zhang Shun hadn't won anything. Although the girl selling tickets didn't say, they felt the odds were probably low.

Fan Haiping looked at the card in her hand. It actually said, "Congratulations, you have won a bird companion for your tour"!

"Oh my god, I won!" although it wasn't a big prize, Fan Haiping still shrieked with excitement.

"Wow—" Zhao Bo and Zhang Shun both loudly expressed their envy.

Some nearby tourists who were originally uninterested couldn't help but stop and watch.

"What's a bird companion? Do they tie a bird to you?"

"Doesn't the City Zoo have something like that? They let a parrot or something sit on your shoulder, right?"

As they were discussing, a staff member came out of a room. A Goldfinch was perched on his hand, but there were no restraints on the bird. After walking up to Fan Haiping, he gave the Goldfinch's bottom a little push, and it flew onto Fan Haiping's shoulder.

Although there were two children with her, it was precisely because there were two that Fan Haiping felt it was better not to give the opportunity to just one of them, so she decided to take it herself.

After the Goldfinch landed on her shoulder, Fan Haiping held her breath, not daring to move for fear of scaring the little bird away.

At this moment, there were also people hired by Lingyou Zoo nearby, capturing exciting moments with their cameras.

Onlookers watched as the Goldfinch hopped a few times on Fan Haiping's shoulder, then actually started to nuzzle against her with its head. It even spread its wings as if it wanted to hug her head.

"Ooh—"

"Hey, this bird is really cute."

"It's like a person."

The children all had looks of envy.

Let alone them, even Fan Haiping herself felt her heart melting. Why was this bird being so affectionate?

A staff member explained the rules to Fan Haiping—no hurting or feeding it, and so on—and also provided a disposable raincoat. And so, from now until she left the zoo, she could enjoy her companion's company.

Walking through the zoo with a Goldfinch on her shoulder, Fan Haiping herself found it incredible.

"Mom, let me see! I want to pet it too!" Zhao Bo shouted.

Fan Haiping squatted down. "Why don't you ask if it's willing?"

"Of course it is, I've seen it before!" Zhao Bo said, carefully reaching out and gently stroking the Goldfinch twice. The bird didn't resist.

Zhang Shun also leaned in, gave it a light pat, and even started coaching Fan Haiping, "Auntie, if you run, it can fly along with you!"

As a beta-test visitor, he was quite proud.

"Can I pet it?" a male tourist who had witnessed the scene asked from the side. Without waiting for Fan Haiping to reply, he reached out to touch it.

However, the Goldfinch was very sharp. Before his hand could touch it, it flapped its wings and flew to Fan Haiping's other shoulder.

Failing to touch the Goldfinch and earning a glare from Fan Haiping, the male tourist muttered resentfully, "So it plays favorites," and walked over to a small shop to buy some bread for breakfast, planning to eat while he walked.

He took the bread, walked into the courtyard, and had just torn it open when a row of sparrows that had been perched on a tree collectively dived down and began pecking at the bread in his arms.

"Ah! What the heck!" Caught completely off guard, the male tourist was swarmed by a flock of sparrows. Some of them accidentally pecked his hand, which hurt quite a bit.

The people nearby instantly formed a circle and started filming with their phones.

"Oh my god hahahaha, these sparrows will snatch food!"

"Thief birds, amazing. I have to post this on my Moments."

"No wonder they said they don't sell food for the animals. You get mobbed for eating bread; you'd get straight-up robbed if you bought animal feed..."

Everyone watched this bizarre scene with great curiosity until a staff member from the shop ran over and helped the man shoo the sparrows away.

By this point, the male tourist was already looking like he'd lost the will to live, with a ravaged expression.

"What is wrong with your zoo!" He really wanted to lose his temper and, deep down, wanted to curse out the onlookers who only filmed and didn't help, but he was afraid of getting beaten up if he yelled at so many people.

The staff member said weakly, "Those aren't ours, they're wild sparrows from Cape Mountain..."

The male tourist was speechless. That was true, wasn't it? It wasn't one of the zoo's animals that stole his food.

"Forget it, forget it," the male tourist grumbled, still unwilling to let it go. "How come I've never been pecked by sparrows before when I came to Cape Mountain..."

And yet, although the male tourist got a scare, the other visitors were suddenly struck with a bold idea...

Even if they couldn't feed the zoo animals, they could still feed the sparrows. They just had to be a little more careful and not be caught off guard like that guy.

......

A crowd of people, satisfied after watching the great show of a tourist battling sparrows, was interrupted when a child from some family rushed over and shouted, "Auntie! Come quick! The monkeys over there can make a heart sign!"

The crowd, whose minds had just been buzzing with ideas, immediately went: Ooh ooh ooh?