A little over a week later, Duan Jiaze woke up to see a notification on his phone that the mission was complete. He lay in bed and claimed the reward. He was a veteran at this now, completely unworried, and had already given his employees a heads-up.

Everyone already knew he had contracted the land, so they weren't surprised to hear a construction team was coming. They just thought how great it was to be rich. They had no idea where the boss found this construction team, but the previous one he'd hired required almost no communication, worked incredibly fast, and was very professional. It was such a relief.

Duan Jiaze checked again; there was no new dispatched animal yet.

The last two times, the dispatched animal had arrived at almost the same time as the mission reward, but Duan Jiaze had asked and was told that this wasn't a regular occurrence. Those two times were probably just a coincidence.

He had dodged a bullet for now. Duan Jiaze knew more dispatched animals would arrive in the future; he just hoped for fewer troublemakers.

Mission complete. After lazing in bed for a while, Duan Jiaze finally got up and ambled downstairs. It wasn't opening time yet, but the employees had already arrived. In the first-floor finance office, Xiao Su and Huang Qi were both there, their keyboards clattering as they were already at work on their computers.

Duan Jiaze walked over to take a look. Xiao Su was processing pictures for a promotional post. Huang Qi was chatting with someone on QQ, but it wasn't an idle chat. He was inquiring about suitable film, TV show, or commercial shoots to recommend for Lingyou Zoo.

So many TV shows, movies, and commercials were planned each year, and quite a few involved zoos or animal concepts. Lingyou Zoo's renovations were top-notch, but not every project would be a good fit.

It was a two-way street, so Huang Qi said it would take some time, but he was very confident. He did have quite an extensive network from before, and many people were willing to do him a favor.

"So diligent," Duan Jiaze remarked with emotion. "The construction team should be reporting in today. I want them to work at night and stop during the day. What do you guys think?"

Xiao Su said earnestly, "You have money, you call the shots."

Duan Jiaze: "..."

Huang Qi thought for a moment and said, "That does indeed depend on how rich you are..."

Duan Jiaze: "..."

Every time he was called rich, Duan Jiaze felt particularly guilty. He felt like his schizophrenic state of being rich one moment and poor the next would be exposed sooner or later.

Huang Qi said, "If it's possible, it's of course better not to disturb the visitors during the day. Our environment here is a major selling point."

The pseudo-tycoon Duan Jiaze was very embarrassed. "Alright... I'll discuss it with the construction team then."

Objectively, this construction team would listen to his opinions. So, when the team arrived and sought out Duan Jiaze to look at the blueprints, he made this request. The construction team readily agreed. As long as Duan Jiaze didn't care about the schedule, it didn't matter to them if they didn't work day and night.

The blueprints indicated the names of the new exhibition halls to be built, expanding upon the existing ones and including some types that couldn't be built before. However, there was still no Aquarium. Duan Jiaze was a little disappointed, but it was within his expectations. They couldn't bite off more than they could chew right now.

Building an aquarium, by normal standards, would require at least ten to twenty acres of land. They couldn't afford that configuration yet. However, Duan Jiaze was confident they could achieve it in the future.

After looking over the blueprints again, Duan Jiaze noticed something was off. "Can I change the blueprints? There's no office area on here. I hope to build a staff dormitory and a new office building. You see that building of mine? It's been roasted by visitors and employees countless times. Just tear it down and build a new one for me."

The two-story building was not only ugly but also cramped. The first floor was all offices, reception rooms, and break rooms, plus a temporary warehouse originally used to store the System-issued feed. Now that Hu Dawei was in charge of that, it had been moved to the real warehouse.

The second floor had been mostly converted into living quarters. Now, there were only two empty rooms left. Huang Qi was still sleeping in the infirmary. If two more dispatched animals arrived, those rooms would be taken. If he didn't build a new building, was he really going to make Luya share a room with someone?

The person in charge of the construction team said with a smile, "I'm sorry, but our contract states that we are only responsible for constructing exhibition halls."

"What? I can't choose to swap it myself?" Duan Jiaze pulled out his phone to confirm. The previous mission description did indeed say the reward was exhibition hall construction, but he thought the construction team was pretty easy to talk to, so a swap should be fine, right?

"Of course you can swap it, but you'll have to amend the contract first. We do everything according to the contract," the person in charge said.

"Where am I supposed to go to amend the contract? I'm not the one who signed it," Duan Jiaze said, his head aching.

The person in charge said innocently, "I don't know about that."

Duan Jiaze thought about it. The most likely possibility was that he had to apply to the Ling Xiao Hope Project office, which would take another sixty or seventy years. The thought alone made him angry.

Duan Jiaze glanced at his rustic two-story building again. "So we can only continue to live there..."

He had even told his employees they could have a new office soon. He had also mused that since they'd started with Huang Qi, building a staff dormitory would allow Xiao Su and the others to move in too, saving them rent and the hassle of commuting.

Now it seemed he'd either have to wait for a future mission to reward a staff dormitory or build one himself.

But with the current profits, after setting aside for daily expenses and reserving funds for turnover, and also calculating the cost of bringing in new animals, there was simply no money to build two new buildings at the moment.

No Aquarium, no new office building, and no new dorms. It was painful.

Sorrow drenched Duan Jiaze. He gazed lifelessly at the land where construction was beginning. The feeling of hope being ignited only to be extinguished was just too disheartening.

......

Duan Jiaze went out in high spirits and came back wilted.

Xiao Su asked cautiously, "Zoo Director, what's wrong? The construction team won't stop work during the day?"

Duan Jiaze said dejectedly, "No, it's just that we can't build a new office building for now."

Xiao Su: "Huh? Why?"

Duan Jiaze covered his face. "I'm so sad, I don't want to talk about it..." In truth, he couldn't explain it.

Not daring to provoke him, Xiao Su comforted him: "Actually, it's fine as it is. We have everything we need, it's just a little ugly."

Huang Qi also changed the subject, "Zoo Director, didn't you say we were going to bring in new animals? I did some research and think we can get a pair of alpacas. The price is reasonable, and they're quite appealing. Currently, no zoo in Donghai City has alpacas. A zoo in the neighboring Leyou City has a herd, and they're very popular. We can contact a zoo or an alpaca farm to purchase them. The cost should be controllable within fifty to eighty thousand."

Duan Jiaze's attention was indeed diverted. "Oh, those do seem to be quite popular in recent years. Most importantly, Donghai City doesn't have any yet. We can't dominate in quantity right now, so we have to dominate in novelty. I think it's a good idea."

The zoo didn't have a professional acquisitions department. Previously, Duan Jiaze had gone to the Forestry Bureau and the City Zoo to negotiate himself. Now, Huang Qi consciously took on the responsibility. "Shall I make the contacts then?"

Duan Jiaze had great trust in Huang Qi's abilities. He hadn't been running a zoo for many months longer than Huang Qi, but Huang Qi had several more years of work experience and had been very successful. He nodded and said, "Alright, I'll approve eighty thousand for you first. If there are travel expenses, fill out a form for approval."

Huang Qi could go out now. Duan Jiaze had casually mentioned it to Luya, and the vengeful spirit outside had been sent off to be reincarnated.

Duan Jiaze went back online to look up information about alpacas to get a better idea. At that moment, the app on his phone released a new mission. He closed his eyes for a moment, then tapped open the new mission.

Mission Description: To fly to greater heights, please expand your strength as soon as possible! Within three months, acquire eighteen species of Class II nationally protected animals, with a total number of no less than fifty. Note: One Class I nationally protected animal can be counted as three Class II nationally protected animals.

Mission Reward: Upon completion, you will receive six months of feed for all animals in the park, and a comprehensive Aquarium covering an area of eighteen acres.

Duan Jiaze fell to his knees right then and there.

Didn't he want an Aquarium? It was really being given to him, but would he live to see it?

Back then, he had bought birds to fool the System, but now it had specified: they wanted protected animals. Relying on handouts from the Forestry Bureau and the City Zoo was definitely not enough. He would have to acquire them from other zoos or breeding centers, which would cost money.

Buying two alpacas already cost tens of thousands, and funds were already tight. How many tickets would he have to sell to get fifty Class II protected animals!

Fly higher? More like fall to his death.

......

Heartbroken, Duan Jiaze went to find Yousu. At this time, there were no visitors in the exhibition hall. He sat down on the floor, leaning his head against the glass wall. "There's another mission. I want to die..."

Every time Duan Jiaze struggled for a period and was full of confidence, ready to make the zoo bigger and stronger, the System would knock him down a peg.

Three months to save enough money, run all over the country to negotiate acquisitions, and find fifty Class II protected animals of eighteen different species. This was deliberately trying to kill him. Even if he completed the mission, he'd be dead from exhaustion.

Yousu had comforted him last time, and here he was again, back for another counseling session.

After asking about the mission's content, Yousu comforted Duan Jiaze: "Zoo Director, at worst, I can just go to the mountains and catch some more protected animals..."

Duan Jiaze said sadly, "Sis, a zoo needs approval from the provincial authorities to capture and tame Class II protected animals. Besides, that's not very good, is it?"

Yousu: "It'll be fine. I'll just catch the ones that have become spirits. Look how willing Hu Dawei was."

Duan Jiaze: "..."

Yousu's logic was always so impeccable. Now that Duan Jiaze had a backup plan, he got up, wiped his face, and said, "M-maybe I'm feeling a bit better now. I'll get back to work."

......

Pagoda Mountain, on the path up the mountain.

A young man holding a selfie stick was panting from exhaustion. He plopped down on a stone step and said to the camera, "I can already see the mountain gate, but this streamer is about to collapse. Taking a short break."

The screen was flooded with bullet comments like "Go, streamer, get up there quickly," "Pan down, these steps are so damn high and steep," "Claiming the panting Bird Bro," "Tough work, love you, mwah," "Bro, hurry up, I'll send you a plane."

This young man's name was Bai He. His screen name was Baihe, and he was a streamer specializing in outdoor live streams.

In this era of nationwide live streaming, his job was to run around everywhere. Wherever his viewers most wanted to see, he would go. In the process, he might also have to satisfy their requests to eat this or that, play with this or that, or even sing and dance. Everyone said being a streamer was easy money, but at least Bai He found it truly exhausting.

Due to his rather goofy streaming style and his constant efforts to crack jokes, Bai He's income was not bad. His live stream viewership was basically stable at sixty to eighty thousand, sometimes breaking a hundred thousand.

Bai He was from the provincial capital. This time, he had specifically taken the high-speed rail to Donghai City to live stream the famous Daoist temple, Donghai's Linshui Temple. He started the stream as soon as he began climbing the mountain, and his followers gradually trickled into the stream room.

By eleven in the morning, when Bai He reached the summit, the number of viewers in the stream room had already climbed to fifty thousand. He believed that after noon, the numbers would continue to grow.

Bai He first did a lap, showing the viewers the exterior of Linshui Temple. He had done his homework before coming. "This guest-welcoming pine is so tall. It's said to be eight hundred years old, planted by a famous poet and the temple master during a visit. Very meaningful... Alright, I'm going to buy a ticket."

Bai He walked to the ticket office, looked up at the price list, and let out a sound of surprise, "Huh?" He raised his phone. "Look at this, you can buy a combo ticket here, but what it's combined with is... how is it a zoo?"

Dense bullet comments also flew across the screen:

"I don't get it, a Daoist temple and a zoo selling a combo ticket?"

"Impressive..."

"There's definitely some shady deal going on."

"Do the animals in that zoo practice Daoism?"

"Bird Bro, go check it out this afternoon. You definitely won't spend the whole day at Linshui Temple, don't waste the high-speed rail ticket."

"Seconded, I want to see cute little animals."

"The combo ticket is cheaper..."

In the internet age, information exploded. Everyone received countless pieces of information every day, so just by looking at the name, no one recognized that this was the zoo whose arctic foxes and pythons had gone viral online. After all, it wasn't a piece of news that was spammed everywhere.

Bai He glanced at the bullet comments and made up his mind. "Then I'll buy a combo ticket. If there's time after we finish here, we'll go check out the zoo. For now, let's go tease the little Daoist priests. Hehehe."

......

After live streaming a tour of Linshui Temple, it was just past one in the afternoon. "There's still time, so now let's go to this Lingyou Zoo and use my combo ticket."

Bai He took a direct bus to Lingyou Zoo. When he got to the final stop, he first saw Cape Park. "Isn't this Cape Mountain? I checked the guides, and it seems to be worth a visit too, but let's go to the zoo first. As you can see, it's the weekend, and there are quite a few people. And there's a bird over there, probably used to attract customers."

At the entrance of Lingyou Zoo, a parrot was on duty today. It was quite large with brilliant plumage. A few flaps of its wings were enough to attract many children to follow it.

Bai He walked a little closer, and the parrot took the initiative to land on his hand. He teased it with great interest, "Can you talk?"

The parrot hopped on Bai He's hand a few times and actually spoke, "Come on, come on."

Parrots are naturally quite smart and have a strong ability to mimic speech. Even if it wasn't one raised at Lingyou, there are many parrots with huge vocabularies. This wasn't strange at all.

Bai He pointed the camera at the parrot. "Can you hear that? It's saying: 'Come on, come on.'"

As he spoke, he stroked the parrot.

Bullet Comments:

"Shocking! Famous streamer plays with his bird in public..."

"Plays with his bird 2333333"

"Damn, I'm so jealous. This bird isn't even leashed."

"Are zoos this awesome nowadays? You can even play like this!"

"I wonder what this bird's salary is..."

Bai He teased the bird for a while, trying unsuccessfully to get it to recite ancient poetry, then went to scan his ticket and enter.

As Bai He panned the camera, the viewers expressed their thoughts:

"This zoo is decorated quite high-end."

"Not bad, very well-designed..."

"What the hell is with that building? It's so out of place sandwiched in the middle!"

"Is it the restroom?"

That two-story building was indeed jarringly rustic, like a relic from the last century. Bai He walked on, saying, "I don't think it's likely to be a restroom, maybe a warehouse or something. Hey, wait, it looks like there's a large-scale public bird-playing event over there."

Bai He was referring to the many people feeding sparrows in an open area. He showed it to the viewers in his stream room, and everyone demanded that he also buy something to feed the sparrows. Bai He excitedly went into the visitor service center and bought a loaf of bread.

"Now I'm going to play with birds again. Look, first I'll open the bread..."

Bai He propped up his selfie stick and unwrapped the bread. In his excitement, he paid no attention to the sign nearby, nor did he notice that the others feeding the birds were very skillful, preparing crumbs first, then scattering them handful by handful, all while keeping a close eye on their surroundings to avoid attracting the birds onto themselves. And those visitors who didn't plan to feed the birds would absolutely not open a food package to eat here.

And so, the seventy-thousand-plus viewers in the stream room saw a flock of sparrows take flight and lunge toward the screen.

"Holy crap, streamer, look up!"

"Ahhhhhh, Big Bro Baihe!"

"High-energy ahead?"

The next second, a flock of sparrows swooped down on Bai He, fighting over the bread in his hand. The camera lens was a mess of flying feathers, the image shook violently, and the sound of chirping birds mingled with the streamer's screams.

"My heart is calm, I even feel like laughing..."

"This flock of sparrows is so vicious, my condolences to Baihe 2333333"

"Shocking, streamer tried to play with the birds but got played instead!"

"Damn, not good, not good, he's gonna die!"

"I see the ending..."

Following a violent spin, the stream went black, symbolizing that the streamer had finally gone too far and had his phone knocked out of his hand and broken by the pecking sparrows, thus ending the live stream prematurely...