Super Zoo

"Thanks, then consider it a purchase from me for five hundred bucks," Suming took the bucket containing the fragments of the beehive, then pulled out five hundred yuan and stuffed it into Li's hands.

"I can't take this, how can I accept the money!" Li was initially stunned, then hurriedly refused, insisting on not taking the money no matter what.

Even though the guy was somewhat clumsy at work and not the sharpest tool in the shed, he was incredibly honest. Suming had helped him and even saved him; these broken beehive pieces were meant as a thank you to Suming, so how could he take money for them?

But Suming insisted, forcefully stuffing the money into his hand before picking up the bucket and running off without a trace.

"What a good person!" Clutching the money, Li was moved to tears once again.

...

Suming carried a large load of broken beehive back to Fengshui Pavilion, took out a few pieces, and sniffed them under his nose, smelling a faint fragrance coming from within the hive.

Breaking off a small piece, he found the hive still contained quite a bit of honey and royal jelly.

He broke apart almost the entire half bucket of beehive, then found a knife and scraped off the remaining royal jelly from the pieces of the broken beehive, like spreading butter, smearing it all onto a separate, slightly larger piece of beehive.

"Er Gouzi, go, call a few wasps over, big ones!" Suming snapped his fingers and directed Er Gouzi, who was resting on a beam in the room.

Er Gouzi sure knew how to enjoy life. In less than a day, it had built a small nest on a horizontal beam on the ceiling of the first floor of the pavilion, a place to rest that also served as a hideout for catching mosquitoes, flies, spiders, and other small insects.

It flew out of the pavilion leisurely, heading towards the mountain behind, and before long, it returned with more than a dozen brawny Asian Giant Hornets.

"Take this to the bees, and don't you dare snack on it on your way!"

Suming handed over the piece of beehive smeared with royal jelly to the hornets, who swarmed over it, grabbed the hive, and buzzed back towards the mountain again.

The bee colony had suffered a terrible loss this time, with the Queen Bee gone, and they would need some time to recover. According to the rules of the colony, they would certainly produce a new Queen Bee, and the growth of a Queen Bee required the consumption of royal jelly. The royal jelly he had scraped off was specially prepared by Suming for the new Queen Bee.

With this ready supply of royal jelly, both the Queen Bee's growth and the colony's recovery rate would be significantly accelerated.

About a quarter of the broken beehive was left in the bucket, and Suming smashed it all up, then poured the crumbs into a plastic bucket filled with purified water, and went to buy two bottles of vinegar from a small store.

"Are you having dumplings for dinner?" the store owner asked.

"No, I'm getting some vinegar in case someone's having dumplings, so I can ask for some," Suming said with a shake of the vinegar bottle and a smile.

Store Owner: "..."

After returning, he poured both bottles of vinegar into the plastic bucket, screwed on the lid, and placed it in a ventilated, cool spot on the second floor to ferment.

The last time Nangong Yan came for an interview, she mentioned a minor issue, and he hadn't had any solution to offer at the time, but now these beehives came in handy.

The bee episode was finally over, and Suming shifted his focus back to the contracted pedal boats on the artificial lake.

He had planned to discuss this with Mr. Song when he returned yesterday, but the unexpected bee incident had delayed him.

"Su, your timing is perfect!" Mr. Song saw Suming and, even before Suming could speak, took out a bright red certificate from his desk.

There was also several hundred yuan included with the certificate.

"What's this?" Suming opened the red certificate to find an award, which read 'Yangchuan City Zoo First Half-Year Outstanding Worker, Comrade Su Ming.'

Suming was startled. Without rhyme or reason, how did I become an "outstanding employee"?

It dawned on him then. No wonder Mr. Dong was talking about commendation yesterday, it turns out it was foreshadowing for this matter.

In private companies, the honor of being an outstanding worker doesn't mean much, not even as practical as a bonus.

But in public institutions, it's completely different.

Behind the honor implies that leadership might be considering promoting you, which means it's a capital for promotion.

At the very least, it signifies that the qualifications of the honoree are important, and in state-owned units, qualifications are very important.

That's why Suming was surprised. How could a temporary worker like himself receive the title of an outstanding employee for the first half of the year? This honor was essentially the highest a regular zoo employee could obtain.

Mr. Song, the zoo director, seemed to have noticed Suming's confusion and explained with a smile, "Although you haven't been here long, your work performance is there for all to see. In just one month, you not only did your job well, but also made the boat business thrive. Moreover, you handled two emergency incidents in a row, saving a tourist the first time and risking yourself to prevent colleagues from getting hurt the second time. Thus, the zoo's leadership team has collectively decided to bestow this honor upon you!"

Zoo leadership team? Suming thought to himself, all the old staff at the zoo have been at Mr. Song's beck and call for decades. Isn't everything in the zoo ultimately decided by your words alone? What 'leadership team'?

The money tucked inside the certificate of honor was quite a sum, a neat stack of a thousand, which for the cash-strapped zoo, a thousand yuan award could be considered 'a hefty sum'.

"Su, have you ever considered taking on some greater responsibilities?" The old director asked leisurely.

"Ah? Greater responsibilities?" Suming's eyes widened.

"Honor is always accompanied by responsibility," the old director said with seemingly good intentions, guiding Suming, "Look, your boat business is doing well, and the zoo, well, we just take a basic management fee. Your income for the month has been quite substantial."

"What do you mean?" Suming asked tentatively.

Hearing the director's tone, it seemed like he was thinking along the same lines as himself.

However, since the director brought it up first, he wasn't in a hurry to speak.

"I think Whisperwind Pavilion has too few boats to meet visitor demand. Shuijun Lake has a large surface area, perfectly suitable for investing in a few more boats to expand your business. If you're willing to take on the lease, the zoo can contract Shuijun Lake out to you as well," the director said.

'Shuijun Lake' is the largest man-made lake in the zoo, the very one Suming had his eyes on, also the paradise from the alligator turtle's dream.

Legend has it that before Cao Cao attacked Chi Bi, he had trained his navy at Yangchuan, hence the lake was named 'Shuijun'.

But it was just a legend after all. Yangchuan City was quite a distance from Chi Bi, and unless Cao Cao had his head caught in a door, he wouldn't likely train his troops here.

Yet you never know. With things a thousand years ago, it's hard to be certain, and Cao Cao, usually as clever as a ghost, occasionally did things as if his head had been pinched by a door. It wouldn't be a surprise.

"What do you think? There's also a Whisperwind Pavilion near Shuijun Lake, which the government spent several million to build. It's a famous site. If managed well, it has great potential," Mr. Song spoke calmly, yet in Suming's eyes, it seemed like Mr. Song was enticing him to lease that area.

Suming felt amused. The old director always appeared rather staid, but when it came to the zoo's development and future, he instantly transformed, becoming shrewd and calculating.

"Director, I've thought it over, and I'm willing to take on the lease of Shuijun Lake."

Suming nodded his head, "However, I have a condition!"

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