This led to the opening scene.

Duan Jiaze, who had officially become the Zoo Director of Cape Zoo, came here and used his key to open the gate. One could see that the inside was just as desolate as its exterior. The occasional animal cries did not lend a lively atmosphere, but instead made it feel even more lonely.

As Duan Jiaze passed the animal enclosures, he saw lions that were skin and bones in cramped quarters, listless peacocks, and dispirited monkeys, among other animals. All of them were dirty, thin, and sickly.

Cape Zoo didn't have many animals, at most a dozen or two species, but many of them required rather spacious habitats. The enclosures here, however, were all built quite small. Some were vacant, as if a batch of animals had already died off.

The enclosures were also quite old-fashioned, unlike many zoos that had switched to glass windows for easier viewing. Under the current conditions, these animals were truly suffering.

Furthermore, during this period without an owner, the zoo's original employees had long been dismissed. Lawyer Wang had hired some idle members of the community to periodically feed the animals. Clearly, these people were neither dedicated nor professional in their care, and they even skimped on the animals' food rations.

The office building was also very crude—a small, two-story building that had only been roughly painted and also served as a dormitory.

Walking through all this, Duan Jiaze felt his own spirits sink. He opened the Ling Xiao Hope Project app and tapped on "My Tasks." He didn't know if the system had just calculated the task or if it had detected his arrival at the zoo, but the previously grayed-out tasks section finally lit up with one item—the Novice Task.

Duan Jiaze's spirits lifted. Typically, novice tasks were very simple and would grant things like a novice gift pack.

Duan Jiaze tapped open the Novice Task and, sure enough:

Task Description: A catchy and distinctive name is the foundation for a successful enterprise's launch. Give your zoo a new, great name!

Task Reward: Upon completion, you will receive a 30-day supply of high-grade feed for all animals in the zoo, distributed daily.

Ling Xiao Support: The foundation of a zoo is a wide variety of animals. Your zoo currently possesses only twenty-three species. The Ling Xiao system will dispatch an employee to an animal post to add color to your zoo!

Duan Jiaze breathed a sigh of relief. Not bad. He knew nothing about animal husbandry and taming. Having to purchase food for each of these animals would be a real hassle, especially since he didn't have a single employee at the moment.

The task reward was high-grade feed, and it even solved his storage problem.

Acquiring new animals was also a problem. Duan Jiaze had no connections or channels, so even if the zoo had money, it would be difficult to introduce new animals in the future. But this Hope Project's support system had very thoughtfully replaced the dispatched employees with animals. How considerate.

'People are everywhere on the street; employees are (comparatively) easy to hire. But rare animals that attract customers aren't so easy to get.'

There was no time to lose. Duan Jiaze immediately opened a search engine to look for a good new name for Cape Zoo.

Novice tasks were usually the easiest to complete. Duan Jiaze even felt that he could probably pass just by picking any random name.

...

Half an hour later, Duan Jiaze filled in the zoo's new name in the system: Lingyou. Baidu said it was the name of the first zoo in ancient times, which sounded very classy.

The system graciously approved it, but the task wasn't marked as complete.

Duan Jiaze thought for a moment and understood the issue. He likely had to wait for all the official procedures to be completed for the name change to be formally recognized, which would then complete the novice task.

Without delay, Duan Jiaze immediately found the contact information and address for a factory online. He first called to make an appointment, then called the relevant government department to inquire about the name change procedures.

After the calls, he took another look and saw a change under "Ling Xiao Support." The dispatched animal section could now be expanded. This was probably the novice gift pack. The first animal dispatch had already begun, though the status just showed it was still in transit!

'An animal sent by such an awesome project must be awesome too, right? I wonder which logistics company is delivering it? Or is it direct spatial transport?'

While his imagination ran wild, Duan Jiaze ran to the enclosure area, pinched his nose, and cleaned out a new enclosure, preparing it for the new animal's residence.

He didn't know what kind of animal was being sent, whether it was a bird or a beast, so he prepared an enclosure first. In any case, a bird's dwelling would be easier to tidy up.

Duan Jiaze also thought that there would probably be tasks to upgrade the living conditions later. Right now, the animals' food and housing were just too poor.

Duan Jiaze originally had no interest in managing a zoo, but seeing the listless and miserable-looking animals, he felt deep sympathy. Since there was no way to set them free, it would be good to at least upgrade their living conditions.

In the afternoon, Duan Jiaze went to the factory. He ordered a large, light-up sign, along with some smaller signs for the park grounds, having the design work done there as well. They agreed that the factory would deliver them to his door upon completion, with a separate charge for installation.

In the days while waiting for the signs to be delivered, besides handling the paperwork, Duan Jiaze first went over the various documents from the lawyer. He only gave the ledgers a cursory flip-through; he already knew there was less than two hundred thousand yuan in cash left. Business had been dismal for years, leading to a huge deficit.

Although it wasn't much money, he still needed to hire staff first. The hundred-thousand-plus yuan could last for a while. Of course, he couldn't hire many people, nor could he afford high-salaried positions for the time being.

Duan Jiaze wasn't familiar with the operations of a zoo, so he followed his own instincts and posted a recruitment notice online, planning to hire a few keepers to start.

Over the next few days, Duan Jiaze supervised the villagers Lawyer Wang had hired as they fed the animals and cleaned the enclosures. Now that he was in charge, he changed their pay to a daily, in-person settlement, making it impossible for them to cut corners.

These were all idle villagers from the nearby villages. They weren't dissatisfied with Duan Jiaze's supervision; on the contrary, they asked if he was hiring.

Given their prior record, and the fact that they were all from the same village and might easily form cliques, Duan Jiaze politely declined.

Three or four days later, the new signs were delivered.

The old sign had fallen down, so Duan Jiaze stood at the entrance to meet the workers from the factory and watched as they installed the new one.

The factory's driver struck up a conversation with Duan Jiaze, "So this is a new zoo?"

Duan Jiaze nodded. "Yeah, it's the old Cape Zoo. We're renaming and reopening."

The driver said, "Ai, what was your director thinking? It'd be better to open one in a park in the city. The one that was here before already went out of business."

There were already several so-called "zoos" in the city, none of them very large. Most were attached to amusement parks or public parks. The only independent one, the Donghai City Zoo, was a relatively proper establishment.

The old Cape Zoo's business had been poor not just because of its own bad conditions and few animals, but also because of its poor location.

Although the adjacent Cape Park was popular, this location was remote. People who traveled all the way out to Cape Park were focused on picnics and barbecues, making it difficult for this little zoo to benefit from the foot traffic. If they wanted to visit a zoo, most people preferred to go to the ones in the city.

Duan Jiaze was too embarrassed to admit he was the director, so he said with forced confidence, "We're planning to expand in the future. There isn't this much land in the city..."

The driver said teasingly, "Aiyo, it sounds like your director is planning something big. He should just lease the land on Cape Mountain and open a wildlife park."

Duan Jiaze nodded absentmindedly. "Good idea."

'However big the heart, so is the dream. What if he really pulled it off?'

The workers quickly installed the sign and tested the lights. Duan Jiaze paid the installation fee, and they left.

Duan Jiaze stood at the entrance, admiring the sign. He felt pretty good about it and began to ponder what activities he could hold after the grand opening to attract visitors...

"Is this Lingyou Zoo?"

Duan Jiaze heard a clear, cold voice suddenly speak from behind him and turned to look.

A man in a black shirt was standing about five paces away, one hand in his pocket, the other resting on the handle of a suitcase at his feet.

He was taller than Duan Jiaze by more than half a head, with features so perfect they transcended gender. From the arch of his brows and the corners of his eyes to the line formed by his thin, pursed lips, he exuded a cold arrogance.

The few streaks of golden-red highlights in his hair were beautiful, but they also raised a bit of doubt. A cold and aloof male god like him didn't seem like the type to be a fan of hairstyling.

However, under his intimidating aura, that little bit of doubt... well, Duan Jiaze didn't dare to voice it anyway.

Duan Jiaze was only stunned for a moment. After he turned, the man opened his lips to ask a second question, his voice now clearly tinged with displeasure, "Are you Duan Jiaze?"

Duan Jiaze showed his surprise. "I am. May I ask who you are?"

Faced with this question, the expression on the man's handsome face changed, his cold tone containing an explosive fury and a lingering humiliation. "I am Luya, dispatched by the Ling Xiao Hope Project... animal."

Duan Jiaze: "...............?!"