Super Zoo

For a whole week, Suming devoted himself entirely to the treatment of the Yangtze River dolphin. Although the schedule was supposed to be three times a day, one hour each time, in reality, he was almost always in the treatment room from morning to night, staying with the dolphin.

The River dolphin's recovery speed far exceeded everyone's expectations. By Saturday, it had almost completely healed, but for safety's sake, it still needed to be observed for a few more days.

So, today Suming finally got some free time, taking the two little ones out on the lake.

After the arrival of the River dolphin and those big fish, the number of tourists exploded. Even though the boat tours were temporarily suspended, the feed business boomed tremendously. As the feed was mostly made of Mixed Sea Fish, it was not only suitable for feeding ordinary domestic fish, but the young river dolphins also liked it. Occasionally, with good luck, it could even attract those huge fish weighing over tens of pounds, causing a wave of exclamations from the tourists.

In these few days, tons of feed were sold daily, and the income compensated for the losses from the boat business. Just within a week, the income earned by the three nurses from the health clinic and Mr. Peng and his colleagues from selling feed amounted to what they usually made in a month.

When Suming entered the treatment room, Liang Shi was holding a notebook, observing the River dolphin, and making some records, preparing for his graduation thesis.

Seeing Suming, Liang Shi hurriedly put down his notebook and greeted him, "Mr. Su, you're here!"

Suming nodded, touched the River dolphin's head, and immediately, it turned over, belly up towards Suming, and wiggled its stomach to act spoiled.

"How's the recovery going?" Suming asked, partly addressing the River dolphin and partly Liang Shi.

"Hmm, very good. It can completely stop the medication tomorrow. Mr. Tang is writing a summary report for the higher-ups."

"What about your thesis? With three River dolphins as your subject material, you shouldn't have any problems now, should you?" Suming asked with a smile.

Liang Shi scratched his head and grinned naively, "Shouldn't be any problem now. Many domestic experts who specialize in River dolphin research don't get this kind of opportunity. I was just lucky this time, thanks to Mr. Tang and you, Mr. Su. Speaking of which, I've caused you trouble during this time and even affected your business. Once it's off the medication, Chu will arrange for it to be transported to the provincial capital to be raised together with the other Baiji Dolphins."

"What, it's going to be moved?" Suming frowned slightly.

"Yes," Liang Shi said as if it were a matter of course, "We can't keep it in Shuijun Lake forever, can we?"

"Why not?" Suming pointed to the waters outside, saying, "This area is large enough, and the water quality is quite good. There shouldn't be any problem keeping them here."

Liang Shi shook his head, "The facilities and conditions in Yangchuan City are relatively poor. The provincial capital has a large conservation center with complete settings and staff. Generally, any endangered or injured aquatic creatures are sent to the conservation center in the provincial capital. The future feeding, breeding, and training for release into the wild will also be done by the provincial side."

Hearing this, Suming suddenly became a bit annoyed. After all the hard work, was he just making a wedding dress for someone else?

Seeing Suming's darkened expression, Liang Shi didn't know what to say. He was just a student, and he had no say in such a big matter. Even if he wanted to help, he was powerless.

"Don't get me wrong, this has nothing to do with you. You do what you need to do."

Seeing that Liang Shi's expression wasn't great, Suming waved his hand at him, signaling him not to feel guilty about it or anything, and then turned and left the treatment room, heading straight for Mr. Song's office.

After giving Mr. Song a brief overview of the situation, Mr. Song also let out a wry smile after hearing it.

"You think I don't want to keep the river dolphins at the zoo? What a joke. I'd love nothing more! Our zoo doesn't even have a handful of national first-class protected animals, and even fewer aquatic ones. Look around, we don't even have a small aquarium! If we could keep these three river dolphins, it would be a tremendous help to the development of our zoo!"

"Then, can't you speak to the higher-ups to keep the river dolphins here?" Suming said, holding a water bottle and filling up Mr. Song's cup with water.

Mr. Song picked up the cup and took a sip of water before continuing, "It's useless! There are some things you probably don't know about. Yangchuan City and the provincial capital are both top-ranking cities in our province. Because the provincial capital is administratively higher than Yangchuan, it has always implicitly held sway over Yangchuan City. And Yangchuan? They don't really take orders from the provincial capital either. Both sides have always been openly and covertly competing in all aspects, including the ownership of these river dolphins."

"The river dolphins were found in Huating Reservoir; they should definitely belong to Yangchuan City!" Suming said.

"You might say that, but the provincial capital has other ideas. Huating Reservoir is connected to the Yangtze River, and it's clear these dolphins swam into the reservoir from the Yangtze when the gates were opened. Why should they definitely belong to Yangchuan City? Besides, the river dolphins are a shared treasure of Huaxia, even of the Earth, not just a single locality's. Once they throw that big hat down, what can you say?" Mr. Song had probably experienced many such incidents before and spoke with some indignation.

"Damn it, if they can pull rank, can't the leaders of Yangchuan City do the same?" Suming cursed and muttered.

Mr. Song gave a bitter smile, "Just in terms of protecting the river dolphins alone, we can't compete with the provincial capital. The provincial conservation center's hardware and software surpass anything in Yangchuan City or any other wildlife conservation agency. It's truly first-rate. The dolphins would be better cared for there. Also, Liang Shi told you, didn't he? It's standard practice for endangered animals to be sent to the provincial conservation center," he said with a sigh.

"There are so many reasons; it's already a done deal that the river dolphins will be sent to the provincial capital..." Mr. Song sighed.

"Even Mr. Wang doesn't care..." Suming said irritably. After all, it was a feather in Wang Jian She's cap, too; how could he just resign himself to giving it away?

Mr. Song shook his head slightly, lowering his voice before saying, "Actually, if you paid close attention, you should have noticed some signs. Take, for example, the head of this special team is our own Mr. Wang from Yangchuan City, but from the beginning to the end, he has only shown up two or three times and hasn't been too concerned with the team's affairs. On the other hand, Professor Chu from the provincial agricultural college, the deputy team leader, and his students are the ones actually handling the team's work. Think about why that is."

Suming originally thought that this was because Professor Chu was a professional, but after hearing what Mr. Song said, he pondered for a moment and then had a sudden realization.

"Oh, I see now. The provincial agricultural college is in the provincial capital, and that conservation center is also managed by the college. Mr. Wang knew all along that even if the river dolphins were found, they would end up going to the provincial capital in the end. It's not that Yangchuan City wouldn't get any credit, but the lion's share of the credit, and all the benefits that the dolphins would bring, would actually go to the provincial capital. So, he just didn't bother to invest much effort in this matter, just going through the motions."
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Mr. Song nodded, "In fact, Chu and his team, like me, are scholars at heart and still have a passion for protecting animals. They probably haven't thought so much about it, but in reality, it's just like you said! Think about it: you, me, Mr. Wang, even the city officials, we would all like the river dolphins to stay in Yangchuan City. These animals are even rarer than the giant pandas. If managed well, they could become a major feature of Yangchuan City, but nobody's taking the lead on it. Why not? Because everyone knows, even if they raise the issue, it wouldn't make a difference!"

"So you're saying there's absolutely nothing we can do? If all else fails, can't we keep the two younger river dolphins?" Suming asked.

"That's even less likely," Mr. Song replied helplessly, shaking his head, "Suming, don't think too much about it. No matter what, even if the river dolphins are sent away, your contributions can't be erased."