Chapter 214: The Unemployed Director Chen

"Hey? Is this Sister Zhiyu? I'm outside your Pet Paradise now."

Where the Pet Paradise once stood, it was now sealed off by vast metal fences; only the entrance direction remained open, with scaffolding erected there, and a steady stream of construction vehicles entering and exiting the site, as if developing the land.

Seeing this scene, Aqing, after a brief moment of shock, pulled out her phone and called Chen Zhiyu to ask what had happened to the Pet Paradise.

"At the Pet Paradise?"

On the other end of the line, Chen Zhiyu frowned and said, "It's complicated there—hard to explain over the phone. In short, the Pet Paradise has moved. The original site was sold outright to a wealthy woman."

"I'll send you a location—come over! The new Pet Paradise is still laying down grass."

After saying this, Chen Zhiyu sent Aqing a location share via WeChat.

Aqing checked the WeChat location share—it was not far from where she was, about four kilometers away.

"Could they be building a zoo here?" An Sheng stared at the Pet Paradise with a strange expression.

He had vaguely heard Lin Ying say she bought land near Xia Dong to build a zoo.

It was called the Xia Dong Zoo, but its real purpose was to help An Sheng register his residence, and also to fulfill a long-unfulfilled wish of Lin Ying's daughter.

Lin Ying was extremely busy; though she had time to spend with her daughter, it was always fragmented, making it hard to plan enjoyable trips. She had promised her daughter she'd take her to the Long Dragon Wildlife World in the neighboring province, but an accident prevented her from keeping that promise.

Coinciding with An Sheng's situation, Lin Ying spent heavily to build a zoo in Xia Dong—to honor her daughter and to register An Sheng's residency.

The albino red fox of the Xia Dong subspecies couldn't be adopted with just paperwork—it required official qualifications.

Although Lin Ying's connections could easily get An Sheng affiliated with a Zhenggui zoo, giving him an official identity so he wouldn't be arbitrarily sent back to the mountains by forestry or other authorities,

still, having him affiliated with someone else's facility left Lin Ying with an odd, uneasy feeling.

It was like registering her own child under a stranger's household registration—utterly unnatural.

Combining Fuli's situation with her daughter's wish led to the current Changping Mountain Pet Paradise, under three-shift emergency construction.

…………

Aqing drove along the winding mountain road to Chen Village on Changping Mountain.

Though called a village, Chen Village on Changping Mountain was nearly the size of a small town, complete with markets and streets lined with rows of feed shops stretching inward.

"Sister Zhiyu!"

Aqing arrived near the location and immediately spotted Chen Zhiyu standing outside the veterinary hospital.

Since she didn't have to work, Chen Zhiyu dressed casually: a loose black T-shirt, denim shorts, and a pair of flip-flops.

With her sun-kissed skin, she looked at first glance like some local troublemaker—hard to imagine she was the renowned veterinarian.

"Over here!"

Chen Zhiyu waved at Aqing, then smiled and nodded respectfully toward Fuli Master.

"Sister Zhiyu, why did you sell the Pet Paradise? Weren't things going well before?" Aqing asked, walking with Chen Zhiyu into the veterinary hospital, her voice tinged with sadness.

The Changping Mountain Pet Paradise held deep sentimental value for Aqing.

It was full of small animals, where Xiao'an could find plenty of furry friends.

She herself had met many friends there too.

"The Pet Paradise didn't shut down," Chen Zhiyu's lips twitched slightly. "We originally started it to pivot into a new field—shifting from livestock farming to pet breeding, medical care, and boarding services."

"It's a market with huge potential—it could boost our village's GDP."

"But that wealthy woman offered so much money, my dad nearly called her Mom—it's insane."

The market potential was real enough.

But it was nothing against Lin Ying slapping a five-million-yuan check on the table.

Lin Ying proposed a contract for operation rights, not outright land purchase.

When Chen Zhiyu's father and the village committee saw the check slapped down, their eyes nearly popped out.

In a way, Lin Ying almost became Chen Zhiyu's nominal grandmother.

"So Sister Zhiyu is unemployed now? Are you starting over again?"

Sitting in the veterinary hospital's tea room, after hearing Chen Zhiyu's recent story, Aqing exclaimed in surprise.

"Starting over isn't quite right—the wealthy woman invited me to become the zoo's director and promised to set aside a section for me to train veterinarians. But pet boarding and funeral services will have to be separated now."

Chen Zhiyu shook her head.

The Pet Paradise originally offered a full package: leisure, pet breeding, medical care, boarding, and funeral services.

Now that it's being converted into a zoo, leisure and medical services can stay, but boarding and funeral services don't belong in a zoo.

"Mmm."

As the three chatted, the little fox that had run outside dashed back in, letting out a soft whimper.

"Huh? You mean… you spotted a fisherman?" Aqing frowned at Xiao'an. "This place is right by the river—people fishing isn't unusual, is it?"

"Fishing isn't unusual, but I just thought of a fun idea—it'd make great content. Want to come watch?"

An Sheng spoke with full confidence—he'd already greeted his river buddies and guaranteed that within a ten-kilometer radius, no fisherman would catch a single thing.

Aqing could easily livestream the fishermen's furious, helpless tantrums.

Besides greeting the river creatures, An Sheng had also alerted the town's dogs and the wild boars on the mountain to lend a hand.

On the way here to the Pet Paradise,

a suspicious black sedan had appeared.

It tried to pull up beside Aqing's car, but just as it stopped, our group happened to come down the mountain and spotted it—though it was probably just a coincidence.

Still, An Sheng felt instinctively wary.

If it was just a coincidence, fine. But if it was a member of that poaching gang, An Sheng couldn't imagine what they might do.

Remember, the parasite had merely stolen a pair of mules from the poachers and ended up with C4 powerful enough to blow up a highway toll station.

And hexogen used to counter drones afterward.

If those bastards stuck C4 onto Aqing's car, the consequences were unthinkable.

So…

An Sheng planned to temporarily distract Aqing by sending her to livestream the fishermen's failures, while he contacted Redtail, Jin Long, and the parasite, and spread the word to every fox and dog in the city to hunt down the poaching gang.

Doesn't matter if they're good or bad—if they act suspicious, give them a kick in the ass.

Today, all dining and cleaning duties are covered by the Anquan Bureau's logging crew!

(End of Chapter)