I have a wildlife zoo

Fang Ye focused his attention, carefully observing the surrounding shops, which all had rolled-up doors and no counters, making everything that was sold inside completely visible.

He walked forward another ten meters and suddenly discovered a crowd of about a dozen people gathered in a seafood shop. At once, he had a premonition that the protected animal he was looking for was right here!

He squeezed through the crowd to take a look, and there on the ground was indeed a big tortoise with a jet-black shell, roughly estimated to be 50 cm in length, its head withdrawn into its shell, its eyes blinking.

Upon seeing this tortoise, Fang Ye was startled!

This thing must be an Asian forest tortoise, right?

[Species: Asian forest tortoise

Gender: Male

Age: 30 years

Mood: Fearful/Terrified]

He activated the Eye of Observation, and sure enough.

Fang Ye's knowledge of tortoises began with the world's largest land tortoise—the Galapagos giant tortoise, which takes its name from the Galapagos Islands where it is found. These creatures are truly huge, the largest resembling a moving small hill, big enough for an adult to sit on.

The Galapagos Islands comprise several small islands, and due to the considerable differences in the ecological environments of these different islands, the tortoises there have evolved into various subspecies over the long course of time.

The most regrettable case is that of Lonesome George, the Pinta giant tortoise. By the time he was discovered, the island's environment had already been ravaged by invasive feral goats, leaving just him as the sole surviving Pinta giant tortoise.

People spent decades trying to find a genetically similar subspecies to mate with him, but all attempts failed, and George died in solitude, marking the permanent disappearance of the Pinta giant tortoise species from the Earth.

There's a loneliness scale, with things like shopping alone, eating hot pot alone, singing karaoke alone, with the highest level, level ten, being getting surgery alone.

What does that kind of loneliness account for compared to the loneliness of being the last of one's entire species?

After feeling a pang of sorrow for "Lonesome George," Fang Ye also took the opportunity to learn a bit about domestic tortoises, among which the Asian forest tortoise made the deepest impression on him due to its dark shell and the thick, hard scales on its limbs, reminiscent of the mythical Black Tortoise.

Seeing it now instantly reminded him of that.

Among the onlookers, someone squatted down and gently tapped the tortoise's hard shell with his knuckles, squinting and listening closely, such deft movements clearly those of someone seasoned at thumping watermelons.

Could it be that tapping a tortoise's shell could also reveal its age?

The onlookers were all marveling in amazement!

"What a huge tortoise!"

"If you made a soup out of this, it would feed the whole family for a day."

"Hey, tortoises this size used to be pretty common, but not so much anymore."

"You're just bluffing!"

"Definitely bluffing, a tortoise this big was rare even back then. But it was pretty common to see wild tortoises the size of two palms, sold in baskets during the market days. Plenty of people would buy them to make soup. Now, you can only find red-eared sliders, and the soup tastes so-so."

"Boss, where did you get this from?"

"Some local guy found it in the mountains!"

The shop owner was a man in his thirties or forties, with dark skin, sitting on a chair to the side, enjoying the surprised and admiring expressions of the crowd, his eyes brimming with pride, "Picked it up for fifty jin, cost me three thousand yuan."

"Boss got a sweet deal, wild ones are far more nourishing than farmed ones; easy to sell for seven thousand."

The dark-skinned shop owner snorted, "Seven thousand? I won't sell it for less than ten thousand! There are plenty of buyers."

Someone showed a look of regret, "It's a shame to make soup out of such a big turtle; better to keep it as a pet."

The dark-skinned shop owner was indifferent to whether it was eaten or kept as a pet, as long as he got the money: "Want to buy it? Ten thousand yuan and it's yours."

The man who had spoken earlier quickly shook his head, "Forget it, spending ten thousand to buy a turtle as a pet, my wife would have me kneel on a washboard!"

"Hahaha!" Everyone burst into laughter.

A middle-aged man with prayer beads seemed genuinely interested in buying, caressing the turtle shell a few times, "This shell, upon closer inspection, is quite beautiful; pitch black. I could buy it and put it in a big fish tank, raise it with goldfish as a feng shui turtle to bring safety and peace to the family. I'll take it, boss."

Everyone stared at the guy, impressed by the idea! If one were to spend ten thousand yuan just to play with it or eat it, it might seem wasteful, but using it as a charm for auspicious symbolism like wishing for smooth sailing and family safety felt suddenly justified.

"Ahem!"

Fang Ye, who had been observing from the back, finally couldn't help but cough twice, "Big brother, I advise you not to buy it, otherwise it won't be family safety you're getting, but big trouble coming your way!"

"Hm?" Hearing such a startling statement, the crowd immediately perked up, creating space between him and the prayer beads guy, making room for their debate.

The prayer beads guy frowned as if he were a parent taking their child to a temple to pray for good scores on a college entrance exam, only for a stranger to pop up and say, "Don't bother praying, it won't help, failing is failing." Are you supposed to just not care and not give hopes? Isn't that just plainly annoying?

Although unhappy, he still showed his good manners, bowing slightly, "Does this young brother understand feng shui too?"

The dark-skinned shop owner, seeing his business disrupted, naturally didn't look pleased and said stiffly, "If you don't understand, young man, don't talk nonsense."

"I really don't understand feng shui," Fang Ye admitted with a cheeky grin. Noticing the shop owner's face darkening even more, he spoke quickly before things could escalate, "But I do know a bit about animals."

He went on to explain, "I heard someone called this a 'big tortoise,' and I couldn't hold back. Although turtles and tortoises are similar in appearance, both belonging to the order Testudines, turtles are from the family Testudinidae, while tortoises are from the family Trionychidae; they are quite different. How can you tell them apart?
Read latest chapters at m_v-l'e|m,p| y- r

The simplest way is that turtles can retract their limbs and head into their shells, but tortoises can only retract their heads. For instance, tortoises have unpatterned shells, but turtles have patterned shells."

"Wow, the young brother sounds like a pro."

Some admired him, while others were dismissive, "Who cares about the specifics in everyday life? Just call it whatever."

Fang Ye smiled, "Tortoises are aquatic, while turtles are divided into aquatic and terrestrial. This turtle is a terrestrial one, and brother, to put a land turtle in a fish tank, I must say, you really have a talent."

The surrounding people couldn't help but laugh!

The older brother was stunned for a moment, then visibly relieved, he grabbed Fang Ye's hand and shook it vigorously, "Thank you, thank you. I was going to use this big turtle to bring good fortune to my home, but if it ended up dying once I got it, that would indeed bring bad luck. Guess I'll raise it in the backyard then!"

Fang Ye shook his head, "The disaster I was referring to isn't what you think. This turtle is an Asian forest tortoise, classified as a national second-class protected species. If you take it home, the police will come knocking on your door."

The dark-skinned shop owner could no longer stay seated, standing up from his chair in alarm, "Young man, don't talk nonsense. My turtle is bred, not wild."