Fish, What a Big Fish (Part 1)

Duan Jiaze was sitting in the break room with a bowl of plain congee and youtiao. Huang Qi, passing by, saw this and said in shock, "Is the Zoo Director living so frugally? You're not eating the Shennong's Five Grains congee?"

Duan Jiaze: "...Living simply and frugally. One can't eat good things every day."

Now, people came to Lingyou Zoo for breakfast early in the morning. Sometimes, if Duan Jiaze woke up a little late, there was none left for him, so he had to drink plain congee.

Huang Qi sat down and said, "I'm impressed. Remember, there are two people coming for an interview today. I've already done a phone screening with them." Lingyou Zoo didn't have an HR department, so Huang Qi was now handling the initial recruitment interviews. Truly, the more capable one is, the more work one does.

Duan Jiaze nodded and casually scrolled through his phone.

The Ling Xiao Hope Project app sent a new push notification, showing that a new dispatched animal was on its way.

There were two this time. Duan Jiaze figured it must be another case of nepotism, or at least one of them was. After all, based on previous experience, apart from someone like Xiao Qing who insisted on coming with her sister, they usually appeared one by one.

Moreover, the interval this time was shorter than before.

Having grown over this period, Duan Jiaze felt that nothing could scare him anymore. He could remain completely unfazed even if Mount Tai collapsed before him. So, he calmly closed the notification.

He had just one wish: he didn't mind nepotism, but please, send some real aquatic animals.

Duan Jiaze continued to open his social media feed, scrolling past the chicken-soup-for-the-soul posts shared early in the morning by Zhou Xintang, Jishan, and others—and man, they really woke up early, all posted around 5 AM. He then saw a news article shared by a reporter from the City TV Station whom he had added previously. The headline read, "Criminals in Donghai Serial Molestation Case Captured, Infighting Suspected..."

Duan Jiaze remembered that the local police had called to warn him about this a few days ago, and he had even notified all the employees. He didn't expect the case to be solved already. He clicked on it while drinking his congee.

The video first recapped the recent serial molestation case that had reportedly plunged Donghai City into a state of panic, followed by shots of the beach and a public restroom on Haibin Road.

The reporter said, "In the early hours of the 13th, two citizens went to a public restroom after having a late-night snack, only to find two men covered in bloody scratches lying inside the women's restroom. They immediately called for an ambulance. When the ambulance arrived and took the two men to the hospital, they gave conflicting accounts of their injuries during treatment."

There were also photos of bloodstains on the restroom floor, likely taken before it was cleaned, as well as photos of the men in the hospital. Both were wrapped up like mummies.

A doctor said in an interview, "One of them told me he was scratched by a Samoyed, while the other said it was a little girl. Their explanations for being in the women's restroom also differed. One said he went into the wrong one, the other said there was a snake in the men's room. Their statements were very confused. Just then, another man was brought in, who had been crushed by a huge rock on the beach. In the emergency room, they passed by each other, and I saw one of them seemed to recognize the man who was severely injured and unconscious, but he just stammered when I asked. I found it really strange, so I contacted the police."

The reporter stated, "After police interrogation, the two men confessed. They are the culprits behind the multiple molestation cases, and the man injured by the rock is their accomplice. They even requested to be imprisoned as soon as possible. However, after checking surveillance footage, the police found no Samoyeds on Haibin Road that night. It is suspected that the three criminals were injured due to infighting during the commission of a crime, which could lead to additional charges. There are currently no witnesses from that night, and the specifics of the case are still under investigation..."

After that, there was a mention of the three men's identities, their prior criminal records, and so on.

For a case to be solved because the criminals engaged in such brutal infighting was rather dramatic.

......

Duan Jiaze: "Wow, that's brutal. So two of them ganged up to crush the other one almost to death, and then they clawed each other to pieces? A real dog-eat-dog situation... Huh, Haibin Road, I think I was also having a late-night snack there that night."

Duan Jiaze recalled the date and confirmed the time, and his hair stood on end. To think that such a bloody incident had occurred nearby while they were eating! Who would have thought?

Huang Qi also commented, "Serves them right. Do enough bad things, and retribution will naturally follow."

"Yeah. By the way, what was with that guy who claimed a Samoyed did it?" Duan Jiaze said, speechless. "Luckily they checked and there were no Samoyeds around. He can't even make up a proper lie."

Pet management in Donghai City was quite strict; at least in the urban area, you basically wouldn't see unleashed dogs running around. Besides, in a place with so many people, a few questions would reveal whether there was a dog present that night. And even if there was a dog, it would be more likely to bite people, right?

The other one who mentioned a little girl was even more absurd. How could a little girl scratch a grown man up like that?

......

That morning, Duan Jiaze interviewed two employees for the newly formed merchandise department. Both had work experience. One had worked in the merchandise department of a zoo in another city; he was a Donghai local who wanted to return to his hometown to work, named Peng Cheng. The other used to be a merchandise planner in the ACG field, named Zhou Yuyan. Both were men and had experience visiting factories.

Huang Qi was very reliable; both candidates were very suitable. Moreover, they weren't just looking for any job but were optimistic about Lingyou Zoo or had a good impression of it (one of them even particularly loved eating at Jiajia Restaurant), which was why they submitted their resumes and had a certain understanding of the zoo.

After looking at their past work, Duan Jiaze didn't hold back and hired them both.

"Alright, let's set the start date for the beginning of next month. You'll be able to move directly into the employee dorms then. Our dormitory building is already being renovated," Duan Jiaze said to Peng Cheng and Zhou Yuyan.

The new dormitory building, office building, and cafeteria were all being built on the inner side of the zoo. The original, super-ugly little white building was slated to be torn down and replaced with a warehouse.

Huang Qi said with emotion, "I can finally move out of the infirmary."

Duan Jiaze chuckled. He, on the other hand, didn't have to move into an exhibit hall to sleep. He didn't find living with Luya uncomfortable at all; after all, he had lived in dorms for a long time.

In a way, Luya was actually a pretty good roommate.

The fact that Duan Jiaze and Luya had been living together for quite some time was actually unknown to almost everyone except the dispatched animals. The monks lived in the village, and Huang Qi lived in the infirmary at the visitor center. The only people in the small earthen building were them, and Huang Qi had no reason to go up to Duan Jiaze's room on the second floor.

At the beginning of the next month, the new buildings were completed. After work, the employees who would be living on-site packed their luggage and also moved the offices. Duan Jiaze and the others were moving their luggage too, and it was only then that everyone else discovered Duan Jiaze dragging a suitcase out of Luya's room.

In this kind of old-fashioned building, you could see the doors to all the second-floor rooms just by looking up from the first floor.

Not to mention Luya was still haggling, "This is your stuff, carry it yourself."

The employees: =.=

Duan Jiaze, completely oblivious, turned around and saw a group of people watching from downstairs. He even shouted, "Liu Bin, come and help me move this."

Liu Bin blankly agreed and was about to go up when Huang Qi grabbed him, signaling for him to keep watching.

Duan Jiaze said to Luya, "Bro, I know you're not really that kind of person. You're so powerful, can't you give me a little hand?"

Luya acted reluctant for a moment, then easily picked up Duan Jiaze's other piece of luggage and carried it down.

Duan Jiaze: "Liu Bin, you don't need to come up anymore."

"..." Liu Bin glanced at Huang Qi, speechless, and felt a profound sense of his own shallowness.

......

The monks were not official employees and still lived in the village. Their accommodation, living expenses, and so on were covered by their respective temples' funds. Therefore, the employee dormitory building currently housed the staff of Lingyou Zoo, including the employees of Jiajia Restaurant.

Today was a joyous moving day, and two new members had officially joined. That evening, they all had a celebratory dinner together in the new cafeteria.

At the dinner table, Huang Qi introduced Peng Cheng and Zhou Yuyan to the old employees and vice versa, mainly clarifying that there were several types of people at Lingyou Zoo:

One type was official employees like themselves, each with their own duties; another type was the dozens of volunteers from all over the country, who were replaced when their term was up and could be identified by their hairstyles; the last type was the Zoo Director's group of friends and family, who lived at Lingyou Zoo permanently, mostly appeared at night, and occasionally helped out at the zoo, like Zhu Feng and Luya.

Among them, please remember that Luya's status was the highest. Sometimes even the Zoo Director couldn't win an argument against him and had to cook for him. The popular animal in the zoo, the Luya bird, was also named after him.

Peng Cheng and Zhou Yuyan nodded with partial understanding. As members of the new department, they were responsible for different tasks than everyone else. The others knew more or less that these two were here to create tourist merchandise and started asking what they could make.

Xiao Su said, "People ask on my official Weibo every day if we can release wooden carvings of the Great Immortal, so they can take them home to worship..."

It made her wonder whether they or Linshui Temple was the real religious site.

"Of course, we can! But we'll lean more towards practical items, like phone cases, card holders, hats, and so on," Peng Cheng said.

"Or something more fun," Zhou Yuyan said excitedly, "like making a Luya bird hand-warmer pillow, where you can stick your hands in through its beak and its butt respectively."

Everyone: "..."

Luya: "..."

Duan Jiaze firmly held Luya down and said, "Um, Zhou Yuyan, could you rein in your wild ideas? That one might be a little too twisted. We need to make things for all ages."

Zhou Yuyan readily accepted the advice, "Oh, oh, then a thin air-conditioner blanket is also a solid idea. The kind with a hood, which can be worn as a cape. Make it into a red bird head, and you transform into a bird when you put it on."

'Wow, why won't this guy leave Luya alone? Luya's really going to hit someone if he hears this,' Duan Jiaze thought.

Yousu said with a smile, "But the Luya bird is red. If you make it in that style, wouldn't it look more like a rooster?"

Luya: "..."

Luya: "It's still better than an arctic fox. Arctic foxes look like Samoyeds!"

Everyone burst out laughing, thinking that Brother Lu really was protective of the bird that shared his name. It seemed Brother Lu's choice for who was the top star of Lingyou Zoo was already very clear.

Only Huang Qi noticed that Duan Jiaze's expression seemed a bit off. He seemed to have zoned out after hearing Luya's words and was staring at little sister Yousu. He couldn't help but ask, "Zoo Director, what's wrong?"

"N-nothing," Duan Jiaze said, his mind dazed. "I just feel that I'm too ignorant..."

......

The previous task issued on the app included over 40 species of freshwater ornamental fish (1000+ individuals) and 50 species of saltwater fish and mammals (2000+ individuals). Thanks to Bai Haibo's enthusiastic help, the freshwater fish requirement was fully met and even exceeded, with over one thousand individuals already living in the Aquarium. As for the saltwater species, he also managed to bring in over three hundred, which wasn't a large number.

Bai Haibo wasn't too familiar with the marine aquatic community. Although the Baiji Dolphin had lived in the ocean many, many years ago, nowadays they didn't encroach on each other's territory and were even somewhat wary of one another. To be able to bring in over three hundred was already quite an achievement.

Therefore, while Bai Haibo worked on building connections, Duan Jiaze and Huang Qi, once the restaurant was stable, began to study the acquisition of saltwater species.

First, they had to be clear: of these fifty species, most were fish, but there were also crustaceans like shrimp and crabs, and reptiles like sea turtles.

An underwater tunnel was planned out, with each section designated for specific creatures. Duan Jiaze even set aside a section for jellyfish. Jellyfish are planktonic organisms, their bodies shaped like translucent umbrellas. Different species have various patterns, and some even look like egg yolks.

They are very beautiful when they gather in large numbers, making them perfect for viewing.

Once the general plan was set, acquiring them section by section became much simpler, especially since the scenery was already in place. Duan Jiaze and Huang Qi were on their phones with suppliers all day long, their dreams filled with all kinds of fish.

Duan Jiaze: "Do you know where I can get sharks? I want to get two, preferably cheap ones."

Supplier: "If you want cheap, then you should buy lemon sharks. There are plenty in the South China Sea..."

Duan Jiaze: "...Let me think about it."

Lemon sharks were cheap, a few thousand yuan each, but they weren't rare at all. They weren't even a protected species. Near their native habitats, people even kept them in their offices.

But the more famous and rarer sharks were quite expensive, which was a real headache.

Just then, Yousu passed by and casually asked, "What is the Zoo Director sighing about?"

Duan Jiaze bowed to her in mock prayer, even though he knew it was useless. "I just want a shark, a bigger one."

Yousu: "Good luck."

Yousu had just left when Duan Jiaze received a call from Bai Haibo. "Zoo Director, a shark spirit contacted me today. He can send over his child who hasn't taken human form yet. It's a rare deep-sea species, but precisely because it's a deep-sea species, it's very difficult to raise..."

Duan Jiaze looked at Yousu's retreating back in pleasant surprise. Could it be that the system's protection had failed, and praying to Yousu actually worked?

Duan Jiaze: "Who cares about that for now. A rare shark, let me see it first." Generally, deep-sea fish in aquariums require cold water and pressurized tanks; otherwise, they would die after leaving their high-pressure environment. He had no idea how deep this shark's habitat was, or how rare the species was.

Bai Haibo said, "Hold on, I'll have him send a selfie and forward it to you."

Duan Jiaze hung up the phone. A moment later, Bai Haibo sent a photo over via WeChat.

The first picture was probably a selfie. Two large, round eyes, very ugly. Deep-sea fish generally looked bizarre. But when Duan Jiaze swiped to the next one, he couldn't stand it. There was a comparison with a human hand, and the whole thing looked to be only about twenty-something centimeters long, like a piece of salted fish.

Duan Jiaze: "..."

All his hopes were popped by this palm-sized shark. It seemed the Zoo Director really couldn't get results from praying to Yousu.

Bai Haibo asked on WeChat, "I don't know much about it either. They said it's called a spined pygmy shark. It's really rare. Zoo Director, should we raise it?"

Duan Jiaze replied with a voice message, "I'd have to be crazy to raise it. It's not even as long as my forearm. The loss would kill me..."

This kind of pygmy shark, once you put it in the water, it would dive in, and visitors wouldn't even be able to see it clearly from a short distance away. On top of that, it had high environmental requirements. A deep-sea environment of that level would be very difficult to simulate with current technology. He didn't even know how much the maintenance alone would cost. No matter how rare it was, he couldn't raise it.

It seemed Bai Haibo's relationship with the saltwater fish really wasn't good, especially with those from the deep sea. The farther the distance, the more distant the relationship. After all this effort, only this pocket-sized shark had recommended itself. Duan Jiaze was extremely disappointed.

Deeply disappointed, Duan Jiaze went to rest.

......

Early the next morning, before Duan Jiaze was fully awake, he was woken up by Xu Wen, who said that two people were looking for him and claimed to know Xiong Siqian. All sleepiness vanished from Duan Jiaze. He quickly got up. "Bring them to the reception room. I'll be right down."

Duan Jiaze quickly washed up and got dressed. Even so, by the time he got down to the reception room, the two visitors were already sitting upright inside.

After entering the room, Duan Jiaze quickly sized them up. There were two of them. One was a man with long hair, looking somewhat androgynous, and wearing a light orange-red shirt.

The other was a little boy about the same age as Yousu. He looked as cute as a porcelain doll, with big, dark eyes, and he sat upright with his hands on his knees, appearing very well-behaved. But a few more glances would reveal that his expression was a bit too calm, even a little gloomy.

"Hello, you two. I'm Duan Jiaze, the director of this zoo." Duan Jiaze walked over and shook hands with them. The two of them shook his hand readily, and he only felt that their hands were cold.

For some reason, after sitting down, Duan Jiaze felt like he could smell the faint scent of lotus flowers, but he looked around and couldn't tell where it was coming from.

Looking at the little boy again, Duan Jiaze's scalp suddenly tingled. "Th-that, excuse me, little immortal boy, is your surname Li..."

The little boy gave Duan Jiaze an indifferent glance, as if he didn't know why he was asking. "Hm?"

Duan Jiaze was about to cry. "I think I smell lotus flowers. Aren't you Li Nezha..."

This apparent age, and with a lotus scent—who else could it be but Nezha, whose body was fashioned from lotus root?

This Hope Project was too much of a scam! First, they sent Jingwei to fill the Aquarium, which was one thing. Now, the aquatic creature he was hoping for didn't arrive, and instead, they sent Nezha to wreak havoc in the Aquarium, was that it?

The long-haired man beside him smiled. "Ah, my apologies. I'm the one who brought the lotuses."

Duan Jiaze's eyes widened slightly. What was going on?

He flicked his long hair and explained, "I am Xiong Siqian's colleague, Linggan. What you smell is probably the scent of my magic weapon, which was originally refined from lotus flowers..."

Duan Jiaze: "..."

Duan Jiaze said, his thoughts a mess, "...Does no one from Mount Putuo want to work there anymore? Then who is this? Is he a dispatched employee or a virgin boy you've abducted?"

Upon hearing the name, he knew this was the Great King Linggan. His true form was a goldfish spirit who had attained the Dao by listening to scriptures in Guanyin's lotus pond. His magic weapon, the Nine-Petal Red Copper Hammer, was forged from lotuses. He had once secretly run off to the Tongtian River to be a monster, impersonating a god and demanding sacrifices of virgin boys and girls before being captured and taken back.

Xiong Siqian came, and now Great King Linggan had come too. Duan Jiaze inexplicably felt that the Great Bodhisattva Guanyin must be very tired.

Besides, what use would he be coming here? A single goldfish... he'd feel embarrassed to even put him in the freshwater section. At most, he could just be released into the waterfowl lake, right?

Right, if he could grow some lotuses and produce lotus roots, that could be a new dish for Jiajia Restaurant...

While Duan Jiaze's thoughts were running wild, the little boy said faintly, "Your Aquarium is about to open, so the Hope Project has sent me to lend a hand."

Duan Jiaze's spirits lifted. "So you're not a nepotism case, and you're also an aquatic creature? Excellent! To be honest, we're short on aquatic creatures here, especially large ones. May I ask what your true form is?"

The little boy asked in return, "A body that spans several thousand li, that stirs the water for three thousand li when it moves, and that soars ninety thousand li into the air—does that count as large?"

......

Duan Jiaze was stunned. "...A Kunpeng?"