Hearing that the monkeys were making heart gestures, many tourists headed over with great interest. They had expected to see a situation where a keeper gave a command and the monkeys performed an action, but to their surprise, there was no keeper nearby at all, only a staff member maintaining order.

Those monkeys were amusing the tourists from behind the cage. Everyone knows that monkeys are clever, so no one was suspicious.

Monkeys are inherently intelligent animals. Boosted by the high-grade feed, their IQ had taken a leap, and they could now be called the sages among monkeys.

To give an example, they could distinguish that in the zoo, the one with the highest combat power was Luya, followed by Yousu, then the other humans. But the one in charge was the middling Duan Jiaze. Therefore, their attitude towards Luya was one of caution, while their attitude towards Duan Jiaze was one of fawning. One could say they were extremely clever.

With such intelligence, what was making a heart gesture?

They even knew to make heart gestures specifically at young girls. They pushed the hearts out one by one, just like idols seeing their fans. The more the tourists cheered, the more enthusiastic they became.

The tourists were also very supportive. They made heart gestures back at the monkeys, coaxing them to learn various other actions.

The most popular were the baby monkeys. Although they weren't very sensible yet, they had learned to make heart gestures under the guidance of their monkey parents. In any case, for the new generation of monkeys at Lingyou, all of them learned how to act cute before they even learned how to eat bananas.

The baby monkeys had soft, glossy, golden fur. Their bodies were tiny, and their eyes were large and moist. Held in their mothers' arms, they could still make heart gestures at the tourists. Or they would play with their own tails, or imitate the children outside by cupping their faces...

It was enough to make people faint from the cuteness.

This kind of interaction left the tourists greatly satisfied. It was interesting enough, yet lacked the discomfort of watching a trained animal performance.

......

At this moment, in the lion enclosure, Duan Jiaze was inspecting the entire zoo's situation and saw this scene.

The weather was good today, and the situation in the morning was not bad. So far, more than two hundred people had entered. With the help of his university classmates, maintaining order was not a problem, which allowed Duan Jiaze to relax a little.

It was just that his university classmates, especially the girls, had already pestered him with countless questions about Luya, leaving Duan Jiaze unsure how to answer and practically fleeing in disarray.

Right now, there were probably twenty to thirty tourists watching the lion inside. They were all captivated by this distinctive lion.

Normally, male lions are the laziest, spending most of their time sleeping and not bothering to move at all.

But the lion at Lingyou Zoo was a bit different. It usually ate high-grade feed, the kind filled with spiritual energy, and it couldn't digest it without a lot of activity. Thus, it was exceptionally energetic.

Moreover, for the grand opening, Duan Jiaze had asked Yousu to specially instruct the lion to act cute as much as possible, as a show of support for the zoo's initial work. This was also for the sake of everyone's long-term feed supply.

So, at this moment, this lion was trying its best to imitate a cat. Although they already had some similarities, there was probably no other lion that would learn to wiggle its butt first like a cat, then pounce forward, and even roll around on the ground...

As a result, it really did attract many tourists to stop and take out their phones to film.

A tourist outside the window waved at this big cat. The lion turned, let out a roar, and pounced towards the glass window!

Even though they knew it couldn't break through, everyone couldn't help but take a step back. A child even cried out in alarm, staring intently at the lion's movements.

The lion placed its two paws on the glass and pressed its face against it as well. However, its sharp claws were retracted into its pads, and its furry mouth was pressed so tightly that it flattened against the glass.

From the other side, even the distorted paths of its whiskers could be seen clearly, while its eyes stared at a strange angle at the humans outside who had inexplicably started to laugh loudly——

The Arctic fox enclosure had the most people. This was unexpected for Duan Jiaze, yet it also made sense.

In the enclosure, which was designed to look like a wild scene, a silver-gray Arctic fox was squatting on a tree stump, holding a steamed and dried fish with its front paws and eating it. It ate very meticulously, one could even say elegantly.

The Arctic fox ate the fish until only a complete skeleton was left, then it began to clean its paws, even washing them with potable water at the flowing water dispenser, while people's eyes followed its every move.

The atmosphere here was completely different from the lion enclosure. It was extremely quiet, but the people were just as focused, watching the Arctic fox go about its daily activities as if they would never get tired of it.

Duan Jiaze couldn't help but strike up a conversation with one of the tourists: "Is it nice to watch?"

The tourist, as if startled awake, glanced at Duan Jiaze and said like an obsessed fan, "Of course it is! I feel like I could watch it all day. It's as cute as a baby panda. Look at the way it curls up, and its face, when it squints it looks like it's smiling..."

Duan Jiaze watched seriously for a while. It was cute, yes, but he couldn't at all comprehend the tourist's bewitched-like emotions, becoming mesmerized just by watching a fox wash its paws, as if watching a farming novel.

Not every tourist was this mesmerized, and he didn't know what condition determined it, but even those who weren't captivated would be infected by this mood, touring quietly or with a solemnity they themselves didn't notice.

Duan Jiaze couldn't help but suspect this was some kind of racial talent. He just didn't know why it was completely ineffective on him. Perhaps it was because of his status as the Zoo Director.

While Duan Jiaze was watching, the photographer also wandered over.

As soon as he entered, the photographer was startled. It was simply too quiet here. It didn't feel like a zoo, but more like a library. There were many people, but everyone was looking at something intently.

Looking closely, he saw that all these people, adults and children alike, were intently watching the Arctic fox inside the glass-walled enclosure. Even when taking pictures, they did so silently, occasionally sighing from the bottom of their hearts, "Mom, it's so cute..."

But there was absolutely no clamor or crowding; it was like a pilgrimage.

The photographer couldn't resist recording this scene. In his lens, the silver-gray Arctic fox, under the gaze of the crowd, looked as if it was radiating a holy light!

The photographer was very moved. In the past, he would try all sorts of ways to make his subjects look more outstanding, but today his only struggle was how to perfectly capture the characteristics of these animals and the atmosphere of the scene.

......

In the entire zoo, the only exhibit that allowed people to enter was the aviary.

Today, more than half of the small birds were either responsible for accompanying visitors or attracting them outside. The rest were here, waiting to be seen, including the two peacocks.

It was as if they had their own schedule, fanning their tails every hour, which would attract a crowd of adoring tourists who frantically photographed their magnificent tail feathers. For the rest of the time, the tourists tried every means to coax them into fanning their tails.

Some tourists would secretly try to feed the birds breadcrumbs, but the birds wouldn't eat them, being very particular. There was only one male keeper here, but he was only maintaining order and wasn't responsible for helping tourists get close to the birds. They would probably have to use their own methods to attract them.

Generally speaking, children and women were more popular. The birds were willing to get close to them, flying down from the high ceiling to land on their heads, shoulders, or hands. Or they would play together on the branches, not for the humans' amusement, but entirely according to their mood.

Duan Jiaze also took a turn here. After going out, he saw another scene that similarly showed the harmony between humans and birds.

There were almost as many tourists in the open space by the entrance as there were inside, only the ones they were interacting with were sparrows, not the other zoo birds. The birds inside didn't eat the food offered, but these ones did, satisfying the tourists' desire to feed them.

It was just that these sparrows were also more feisty than the ones inside, not as friendly and gentle.

Duan Jiaze's mouth twitched as he watched. He had already heard that a tourist had even been 'robbed'. The sparrows often came here looking for opportunities to steal feed, and now it had evolved into bullying and luring tourists. He didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing——

......

Throughout the day, according to the ticket office's rough estimate, they had received about seven hundred visitors. Duan Jiaze's university classmates were all tired and had gone back to rest. Xiao Su and the other two had also gotten off work, while Duan Jiaze still had to continue working with the photographer, copy editor, and others.

They had to compile the materials filmed in the zoo today, write a soft article, and then push it out.

Duan Jiaze and the photographer selected the photos together, while the editor wrote the text on the side. He had already mentally drafted it today, so it was very quick. Then they just needed to format the layout, wait for them to select and do some simple processing on the photos, and paste them in.

Even so, with the amount of material from today, they were busy from five in the afternoon until past eight at night.

Through the reporter who came to interview them last time, Duan Jiaze contacted a local online media account with a large number of followers. The photographer and editor were both employees there. As soon as the soft article was written and checked for errors, they used their account to publish it. This was precisely the peak time when many people were online and scrolling through their social media feeds.

The online media reporter who came last time had also told Duan Jiaze that if their content was well-edited, his side could also share it, as it was a follow-up to the report after all.

So after it was published, Duan Jiaze also contacted them and sent the article over to see if they could use it. The next step was to ask his own friends and classmates to help share it.

After doing all this and sending off the photographer and copy editor, Duan Jiaze finally collapsed into his seat.

'It's finally over...'

Do one's best and leave the rest to fate. Next was to wait for tomorrow, the arrival of the second peak day. The visitor traffic from today and tomorrow would basically determine whether this week's task could be completed.