Super Zoo

Mr. Jiang from the provincial capital certainly couldn't call Suming directly in the meeting room. That would be far too disrespectful to the officials from Yangchuan City. In fact, after figuring out that Suming was still a temporary worker, Mr. Jiang had sent a text message to his secretary, instructing him to go directly to the zoo to find Suming.

While the meeting room participants were still squabbling, Mr. Jiang's secretary had already located Suming.

Any secretary to a leader must be adept at verbal gymnastics, writing, and social drinking – indispensable skills indeed.

If the secretary were female, there might even be an additional skill required.

However, this secretary was a man, very efficient at his job, and when he found Suming, he talked eloquently.

He started with the facts, analyzing Suming's current temporary worker status, saying how with Suming's talent and achievements, it was a shame for him to work in a precarious small zoo, merely feeding bears—as if casting pearls before swine. He expressed his profound pity for Suming, etc. Continue reading on m|v-l'e -NovelBin.net

This was laying out the facts, reasoning logically;

Next, the secretary swiftly changed tack, talking up the many wonderful development opportunities in the provincial capital, how much the leaders valued talent, and if Suming were willing to work in the provincial capital, what he could achieve, going through several benefits Mr. Jiang had promised, analyzing them one by one with Suming;

This was discussing conditions, making promises;

In the end, the secretary's tone took another sharp turn, becoming serious. He mentioned that the dispute over the Baiji Dolphin had already brought considerable negative impact to the governments of both places, and if it were not resolved quickly, it would greatly damage the government's reputation and significantly affect the friendship between the two cities.

The key to resolution lay in how you, Su, would choose. Comrade Su, you should prioritize the overall situation and make a wise choice, to contribute to the nation and relieve the government's worries, and so on;

This was about making clear the greater good, talking politics, and pressuring with a high hat.

The secretary used his three-pronged approach in succession, changing his manner rapidly, mixing soft and hard tactics—a surefire strategy against the general populace. He had expected that the young Suming, even if unable to make a decision on the spot, would at least be internally conflicted.

But who could have expected that Suming would sit there listening attentively from beginning to end, occasionally nodding his head and making sounds of agreement, yet not saying a word, not taking the bait no matter how attractively the secretary painted the picture or how dry his mouth and tongue became.

When the secretary finished, Suming instead offered him a glass of water with a grin, asking, "Bro, are you thirsty? Have some water, drink up."n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Caught off guard, the secretary stood holding the glass of water, dumbfounded for quite a while before he finally said, "Su, you need to make a decision quickly."

Suming laughed lightly, "Certainly, Mr. Jiang values me so much, I'm very touched. But this matter requires consultation with our zoo's leaders. No matter what, I am still an employee of the zoo after all."

With that said, the secretary most likely understood what Suming meant.

The zoo leader, Mr. Song, and then there was Mr. Wang above him – what could they possibly consult on?

Straight to the point, Suming had declined the offer in a manner that saved face for everyone involved.

"Leader, that kid is tough to handle!" After leaving the zoo, the secretary sent a text message to Mr. Jiang.

Mr. Jiang, who was still in a meeting, saw the message and his expression darkened slightly. For the sake of those few Baiji Dolphins, Old Jiang couldn't remember how many times his expression had darkened.

Seeing Mr. Jiang's expression suddenly change, Wang Jian She and Song from the Yangchuan side exchanged a smile. Wang Jian She said cheerfully, "Old Jiang, why don't we call Suming over and ask for his opinion?"

"That won't be necessary," Mr. Jiang said.

Mr. Song commented indifferently, "I know this kid, Su. He has a strong sense of loyalty and is very capable at his job. Unless he insists on leaving, our zoo would definitely not let him go."

This, the second meeting ended in a complete deadlock, and the problem was shelved again.

After the meeting, Mr. Jiang pulled Wang Jian She aside with a stern face and asked, "Wang, we can't keep dragging this out indefinitely. This issue must be resolved as soon as possible. Name your conditions. What do we need to do for you to let us take the river dolphins away?"

Wang Jian She thought for a moment and said, "Mr. Jiang, since it has come to this, I'll speak frankly with you. The river dolphins are a hot potato right now, and if you can take them, we won't stand in your way. But if you can't, then they must stay in Yangchuan City, just like you said; we can't keep going back and forth on this."

On his way back to the zoo, Mr. Song called Suming and learned from the phone that Mr. Jiang's secretary had visited.

"The bureaucrats from the provincial capital actually play such underhanded tricks, heh, Su, don't worry, you've shown loyalty, and I can't let you down either. After this is over, I will fight for your staffing issue and any rewards. Mr. Wang will also speak on your behalf, we won't let you suffer," Mr. Song said.

It wasn't about the staffing for Suming, as that had almost lost all its allure for him; nor did he care much for the tens of thousands in rewards.

Everyone has their personal accounts to settle. Mr. Jiang wasn't wrong in his thinking before; if it had been someone else, they probably would've agreed to transfer to the provincial Protection Center to work. But Suming had his own ideas.

First, although the zoo wasn't developing well and was financially strapped, with just a handful of big and small cats, no matter what, the total number and variety of animals were far beyond what that quiet, showroom-like Protection Center could compare with. That place, it was said, only had a few Baiji Dolphins at most, not conducive for nurturing one's ability to be a friend of animals;

Second, he had already made his mark in the zoo, had good relationships with everyone from top to bottom, the boat tours and fish farming businesses were making steady progress, and besides, he had leased Shuijun Lake for three years; leaving now would mean all the previous effort was for nothing;

Third, although people are naturally profit-driven, if someone is too inclined to sit on the fence, turning with every slight benefit like a weathervane, that person will never last long. The political world has its darker aspects, but that doesn't mean it lacks rules; no leader likes a subordinate who turns on them at the sight of a minor advantage. Political opportunists are unwelcome everywhere.

Suming's decision led to an extreme event occurring.

Early the next morning, just after seven o'clock and before the zoo was open for business, the truck with the container for transporting the river dolphins once again entered the zoo.

Professor Chu arrived with several students, followed by a group of medical staff.

The group headed straight for the temporary treatment room by the side of Shuijun Lake. Professor Chu stepped off the vehicle and immediately instructed the medical staff to take a tranquilizer gun out of the van.

At this stage, the authorities from the provincial capital were left with one last option: to sedate the river dolphins and transport them away. Surely a sedated dolphin wouldn't smash itself against the walls trying to commit suicide.

Mr. Song and Suming also received the news and hurriedly came from afar.

"Sorry, Song, but for the dolphins' sake, we have to take them away," Professor Chu raised a hand, and three tranquilizer darts, one large and two small, whizzed through the air.

Credit to the medical staff for their accuracy, not a single shot missed, hitting the three river dolphins squarely.

The family of dolphins turned to look at the darts embedded in their flesh, utterly bewildered.

The tranquilizer had started to take effect. After being hit, the dolphins didn't resist; they just floated motionlessly in the shallow water, quite peacefully, occasionally flicking their tails.

"Prepare for the transfer and be careful not to harm the dolphins!" Professor Chu directed the students to begin preparations as the small crane arm on the back of the container truck slowly extended.

Everything was ready; they just needed the dolphins to pass out before moving them onto the container truck.

Unexpectedly, they waited for a full twenty minutes!

The three dolphins were no different from how they were twenty minutes before, still good and healthy in the shallow water, occasionally twisting their bodies and looking up to call out to Suming, with no sign of fainting.

"What's going on?" Professor Chu was a bit dumbfounded.