Do You Know What the Shi Star Governs?

'What a scam,' flashed through Duan Jiaze's mind in capital letters. This Lord of the Blazing Star must be getting revenge on him for the recent case of mistaken identity, right?

Duan Jiaze said, a bit sadly, "Then when you said she was playing in the water just now, don't tell me she was..."

Zhu Feng said, "Don't you guys have a lake in here?"

That's right, the waterfowl lake. Duan Jiaze had guessed it was there. And to think he had assumed Jingwei was from an aquatic tribe, or at the very least, fond of water. Now that he knew the truth, he wanted to cry. How could this be considered being fond of water?

"I'll go find Her Highness Jingwei first. It's almost closing time. I'll introduce you to your colleagues in a bit." Duan Jiaze didn't know Jingwei either, so he troubled Zhu Feng to accompany him.

However, as soon as they reached the waterfowl lake, Duan Jiaze recognized Jingwei without needing Zhu Feng to point her out.

A young girl of about fourteen or fifteen was sitting by the lake, hugging her knees. She wore a white long-sleeved cardigan, a black dress, and a pair of dark red leather boots. The inner layers of her hair were a gradient of various colors like light gray, grayish-green, and grayish-red, which showed since her hair was tied up.

He couldn't see her face from behind, only a pile of stones next to her. She was tossing them into the water one by one, and the stones zipped across the surface, skipping seven or eight times.

Passing tourists saw this and remarked, "Hey, that little girl is really good at skipping stones!"

Duan Jiaze: "..."

'Isn't that the truth? She's been practicing for who knows how many years...'

Duan Jiaze walked over and said sheepishly, "Are you Her Highness Jingwei?"

Jingwei glanced up at Duan Jiaze, her hands not stopping. Even without looking, the stone zipped far across the water's surface. "Yes, hello."

Although her hair with its dyed inner gradient, much like Luya's, made her look like a hairstyling enthusiast, her face was one of classical beauty. Her willow-like brows were slightly furrowed, as if her heart was perpetually shrouded in sorrow.

"I'm Duan Jiaze, the Zoo Director here." Duan Jiaze extended his hand and shook Jingwei's. "I heard you were coming, our humble zoo is truly honored... The dispatched employees are about to get off work, and I'd like to invite you to meet everyone."

Jingwei didn't insist on continuing to throw stones as Duan Jiaze had imagined. Instead, she stood up and said lightly, "Alright, let's go then."

Duan Jiaze carefully tried to make conversation with Jingwei. This girl looked fourteen or fifteen, but her actual age was greater than the existence of Donghai City itself. Just imagine, back when Donghai City was a vast, boundless ocean, the sea she was trying to fill might have been this very one. The ground everyone was treading on now could be the earth and stones she had tossed back then...

"Your Highness, do you still spend your free time skipping stones?" Duan Jiaze asked.

Hearing the words "skipping stones," Jingwei paused for a moment before realizing that Duan Jiaze was euphemistically referring to her filling the sea.

With a hint of sorrow, she said, "After the Three Realms were separated, I filled the Heavenly River every day in the Immortal Realm. Although it wasn't the East Sea, it was better than nothing. After being complained about several times, I had to force myself to quit this hobby."

Zhu Feng chuckled from the side. "So you came down this time to get your fix?"

Jingwei: "Yes."

Duan Jiaze: "..."

Zhu Feng told Duan Jiaze that Jingwei's existence was a bit complicated. She was the Yan Emperor's daughter, Nüwa, who had drowned in the East Sea. Her unrelenting hatred transformed her into a bird to fill the sea, and then, with her father's help, she changed from her bird form into a human one.

One could say the entire meaning of her existence was revenge, with its most direct manifestation being her filling the sea. She couldn't really be considered the exact same person as the Nüwa of the past.

She was born to fill the sea, so of course she'd be depressed if she wasn't even allowed to skip stones. This wasn't something that could be solved by just telling her to let go of her hatred; it was part of her very nature.

The more Duan Jiaze listened, the more familiar it sounded. He couldn't help but say, "If only His Majesty the Yan Emperor had learned about animal enrichment..."

For example, he could have made a super-sized enrichment toy at home, simulating an environment like the East Sea for Jingwei to fill. Then Jingwei wouldn't have become so melancholic from having her nature suppressed for so long. It was a good thing she was mentally strong and didn't resort to self-harm out of frustration like a common animal.

Jingwei asked curiously, "What is animal enrichment?"

Duan Jiaze explained it to Jingwei, even using Lele and Chuguo as examples, then said, "The Immortal Realm must have many magical arts. You could create a fake East Sea at home to simulate your old environment. If you can't, you could take some holographic equipment back with you from the Human Realm..."

Jingwei found this fascinating and decided to learn about this "enrichment" to set something up for herself when she returned.

Duan Jiaze arrived with the two of them. Seeing this, Huang Qi asked, "This little sister isn't related to Luya, is she?"

Duan Jiaze gave him a deep look. "You didn't even ask about the man."

Zhu Feng: "??"

Huang Qi: "..."

After the visual assault from Yousu and the others, the employees had come to a consensus on the high level of attractiveness of Luya's relatives. Therefore, Huang Qi subconsciously felt that someone like Zhu Feng, who had failed to manage his figure, was unlikely to be related to Luya.

Duan Jiaze really wanted to say that for his species, the man was actually considered to have a good figure...

"Ahem," Duan Jiaze said, putting an arm around Jingwei's shoulders. "This one has nothing to do with Luya. She's my god-sister. Her parents are always away from home, so she's staying with me. Just call her Xiao Wei."

Huang Qi greeted Jingwei, "Xiao Wei should still be in junior high, right? There's another little sister here; you can play with her."

He saw that Duan Jiaze's "sister," despite her young age, always wore a faintly melancholic expression. Perhaps it was because her parents were always away. She should play more with a cheerful child like Yousu.

"She will, she will." Duan Jiaze laughed it off and changed the subject. "This is Big Brother Zhu Feng, a friend of mine. He's just staying here for a bit."

'He'll stay and stay and probably never leave...'

Huang Qi shook hands with Zhu Feng, thinking to himself that it must not be easy being the Zoo Director's friend. 'He probably thought the Director was some big shot and came to rely on him. I wonder what he felt when he discovered the Director's living quarters were worse than the animals' quarters.'

After Huang Qi got off work and left, Duan Jiaze took Jingwei and Zhu Feng to the break room to wait.

Duan Jiaze spent a good while searching for information about pigs on his phone. Most of the results were about things like postnatal care for sows. He finally found that some zoos did raise pigs, but they were wild boars, which were classified as dangerous animals.

Although wild boars weren't a protected species, they belonged to the "three-haves" category of wildlife, meaning "terrestrial wild animals that are beneficial or have important economic or scientific value."

Many familiar animals were on this list, such as the Chinese toad—commonly known as the warty toad—as well as sparrows, geckos, wild rabbits, and so on. Capturing them privately was illegal, and catching more than a certain number could even constitute a crime.

However, management in this area was not yet strict enough in Huaxia. Many people, far from being caught, didn't even know they weren't supposed to do it.

Duan Jiaze showed Zhu Feng a picture of a South China wild boar, and Zhu Feng transformed into one. It was huge, probably seven or eight hundred jin, with a coat of dark brown fur and long canines protruding from its mouth. It looked completely feral, nothing like a domestic pig.

"Excellent, just like this. Now, please take a look at the habits of a wild boar." Duan Jiaze then said to Jingwei, "Your Highness, I'll arrange for you to be at the waterfowl lake. For your form, if you transform to about this size, that should be about right."

The Aquarium was out of the question; that was the apple of Duan Jiaze's eye.

Duan Jiaze gestured to show Jingwei the size. Jingwei, however, didn't need to make any changes.

Her original form resembled a crow, just with some markings on her head, and her cry wasn't a "caw, caw" like a crow's (no offense to the Daoist Lord!), but a call of her own name, "Jingwei," "Jingwei."

Jingwei took a look and nodded without objection.

"The construction site next door is full of stones. You can use as many as you like." Since this was Jingwei's instinct, Duan Jiaze wanted to make her as comfortable as possible. At worst, he would just have to periodically fish the stones back out.

Just then, Yousu and the others returned and came face to face with Zhu Feng and Jingwei.

Zhu Feng changed back to his human form. He already knew who was here, and although they didn't normally run in the same circles, there was no need to sour relations since he was here on vacation. He politely cupped his hands and greeted each person as if he knew them all.

It was impossible to tell if Jingwei recognized anyone; she simply gave everyone a light bow.

The few people here were all quite shrewd. With a quick turn of their thoughts, they realized it. The Lord of the Blazing Star and Jingwei—one a veteran Heavenly Court civil servant, the other a second-generation immortal—this was hardly the lineup of someone being punished.

The truth, then, was obvious.

Zhu Feng told them what had happened in the Immortal Realm. The several individuals who had been punished for their mistakes and sent down to do good deeds listened with varied expressions.

Luya was disdainful, Yousu wore a playful expression, Bai Suzhen and Xiao Qing were calm and unconcerned, and Xiong Siqian even seemed a little delighted, as if he had gotten the better end of a deal.

Zhu Feng had the air of someone ready to be a good neighbor for the next few decades.

Yousu's eyes darted about, and she said to Duan Jiaze with a grin, "Zoo Director, do you happen to know what the Blazing's 'Shi' character in Lord of the Blazing Star stands for?"

Duan Jiaze was taken aback. Not only did he not know, he had never even considered it. The character 'Shi' had a special meaning?

Yousu said, "'Shi' comes from 'Yingshi,' which means 'to build a house.' The Shi Star governs construction, building, fortresses, weaponry, and the like. But its primary domain is in the 'Shi' itself, from a single room in a house to entire palaces and pavilions, influencing everything from the smoothness of construction to the livability of the space."

"Furthermore, this is a power of the stars, natural and innate, so even the Ling Xiao Hope Project's System cannot restrain it. Ai, what a pity that you, Zoo Director, are not in the real estate business. Otherwise, it would be hard for you not to get rich."

—In simple terms, Zhu Feng could not only ensure buildings were constructed quickly and well, but he could also make them infinitely play to their strengths, perfectly suiting their purpose. A residence would become more livable, a enclosure more exquisite.

After hearing this, Duan Jiaze grew depressed, wishing he could beat his chest and stomp his feet. "Exactly, why am I not in the real estate business!"

You can't buy foresight in this world. The Zoo Director had been so close to becoming a real estate tycoon!

Zhu Feng had initially been a bit dejected that Duan Jiaze didn't recognize him, but now, seeing his regretful expression, he felt much happier and was secretly pleased. 'Hehe, what a pity, what a true pity.'

As an animal, Zhu Feng seemed rather dispensable, unlike the others. Some, like Yousu and Luya, were traffic magnets. Others, like Bai Suzhen, Xiao Qing, and Xiong Siqian, could at least attract some tourists. Plus, the Purple Bamboo Xiong Siqian had brought was a huge help.

A wild boar, however, was not so cute, and neither was the Jingwei bird. Duan Jiaze had already accepted the fact that they had used connections to come here on vacation and that he shouldn't expect them to be of much use.

It was only with Yousu's prompting that Duan Jiaze realized—how could there be a truly useless dispatched animal! Even if they were here through connections, they still came from the Immortal Realm!

On a small scale, Zhu Feng could make their current living quarters more comfortable. On a larger scale, he could even...

"No, I refuse to accept this! I'm going to open a hotel!" Duan Jiaze declared, full of fighting spirit. "Our goal is to expand beyond Donghai and across the entire country. When tourists from all over start flocking here, we can open a resort hotel inside the park. With the Lord of the Blazing Star on our side, our hotel will surely be overflowing with guests!"

Even if he couldn't become a real estate tycoon, he couldn't just waste the Lord of the Blazing Star's ability. Wouldn't that be a terrible waste of a heavenly gift? Forget everything else, the dormitory building had to be rebuilt...

Zhu Feng had no idea things could be played this way in the Human Realm. He'd genuinely thought Yousu was just flattering him earlier.

Yousu led the applause for Duan Jiaze. "I'm very glad to see you have such ambition, Zoo Director. We all support you."

She glanced at Zhu Feng and Jingwei. 'Since you're here, don't even think about slacking off. Was she, the Nine-tailed Fox, really that kind?'

Yousu then smiled at Jingwei and said, "Her Highness Jingwei is the daughter of the Agricultural Emperor. Upon your descent to the mortal realm, did the emperor not give you anything to keep with you?"

The implication in her words was even more naked than before.

Jingwei was startled for a moment, then slowly took a silk pouch out of her cardigan pocket. "He just gave me some crop seeds. Father was worried I wouldn't be used to the food in the lower realm, so he gave them to me. It's just... this is probably only enough for me to have a snack now and then."

'I almost forgot,' Duan Jiaze thought. 'Jingwei may seem absorbed in skipping stones, but this second-generation immortal has Shennong as her father.'

"What a coincidence, isn't it?" Luya took the silk pouch from Jingwei's hand, weighed it, and then smoothly placed it into Duan Jiaze's. For once, he was on the same side as Yousu. "We still have some Willow Branch Nectar left. It's more than enough to sprout quite a lot."

It only took a drop of this Willow Branch Nectar to revive the Ginseng Fruit; the Purple Bamboo in Lingyou Zoo was cultivated with a version diluted many times over. So what to say of mere crops?

—Zhu Feng and Jingwei finally understood. Daoist Lord Luya and the Nine-tailed Fox were both making it clear they supported this human. For people like them who had come for a vacation, it wasn't enough to simply not cause trouble—they also had to make a contribution.

Zhu Feng couldn't help but cast another deep look at Duan Jiaze. It seemed he had underestimated this man after all.

Jingwei was indifferent to this. She even had a rather favorable impression of Duan Jiaze because he had educated her on the concept of enrichment. One could also say Jingwei was naturally single-minded; her thoughts were mainly preoccupied with filling the sea, so she paid little attention to worldly matters.

As for Zhu Feng, with Luya present, he wouldn't dare object. This was a troublemaker who feared neither heaven nor earth.

So, just as Duan Jiaze was feeling a bit embarrassed about Luya forcibly taking her pouch, Jingwei had already said airily, "Go ahead and plant them then."

Zhu Feng also said with a broad smile, "Although I handed this work off to my subordinate star officials long ago, I haven't forgotten how. I am at the Zoo Director's disposal."

......

Duan Jiaze received Zhu Feng's promise and Jingwei's pouch. The space inside the pouch seemed larger than it appeared, but even so, the poured-out grains were only enough to fill a single bucket. Jingwei truly hadn't been exaggerating; it was just enough for her to satisfy an occasional craving.

"There are no vegetable seeds, only grains?" Duan Jiaze asked as he sifted through them. He had been hoping for some vegetables or fruits.

"Aren't the five grains enough?" Luya rolled his eyes. "These were personally planted by Shennong. Your human varieties could be improved for another thousand years and still not taste as good as these."

Duan Jiaze said, "Don't look down on the modern Human Race. We've spent years researching food. It's not just about improving grain varieties; there are also many vegetables, fruits, and derivative products that you've never even seen."

"Do you know what potato chips are? Do you know what latiao is? For us nowadays, no matter how delicious plain grains are, we still need side dishes to go with them, or they need to be made into something else."

And processing them into other forms was a bit of a hassle. If they were to open a restaurant or hotel, it would add several more steps to the process.

Luya said disdainfully, "You know nothing of Shennong's power."

Duan Jiaze: "..."

Duan Jiaze pulled a book from the shelf, one left behind by the previous owner. "How do I know nothing? See this? 'Traditional Chinese Myths'! It even has stories about your family in it, enough to scare you to death!"

Luya: "..."

"Alright, stop bickering, you two." Bai Suzhen stepped in to smooth things over. "Zoo Director, should we open the restaurant first?"

"Of course. The effects of the advertisements haven't shown yet, and a hotel needs food and beverage services anyway, so opening a restaurant is the priority."

Duan Jiaze thought for a moment. He had learned a lot about the surrounding area recently, so he spoke smoothly. "Several of the nearby villages have a fair amount of arable land. There are also some more remote plots on the barren hills, where the soil isn't fertile and nobody plants anything. We can lease that land to grow the five grains. We'll adjust the dilution of the Willow Branch Nectar as needed, and we just need to be careful about concealment. Don't we have illusionary arts? We'll use them."

In both the initial and later stages, it would be impossible to supply these grains in unlimited quantities, served freely like rice in a cafeteria. They could only be offered as limited menu items. The only difference is that later on, when the Willow Branch Nectar ran out, the growth rate would slow, and the supply would become even more scarce.

After all, their main business was still a zoo; there was no need to contract a huge amount of land to go crazy planting grains. However, since they were going to be farming anyway, they might as well plant more of Xiong Siqian's Purple Bamboo and use the bamboo shoots for dishes.

With more manpower now, everything from farming to opening a restaurant suddenly became much simpler.

There was a shortcut for farming, and the monks could help with the restaurant—one of them had even studied at New Oriental.

This time, they would have to build it themselves, with no mission reward. But with the Lord of the Blazing Star presiding, there was no fear of poor construction. He could even give the restaurant an aura that would subtly make the space more suited for dining. And while they were at it, they might as well rebuild the dormitory and the office building too.

So, he didn't need to worry about the rest. He just had to go through the bureaucratic process, get the relevant permits, and then pay for it. If he was short on money, he'd borrow it and pay it back once he made a profit.

Duan Jiaze was in high spirits. He took out a notebook to write down his plans: "Alright, the Aquarium is currently under construction. I'll leave the acquisition of the fish to Huang Qi. I'll step away to handle matters like leasing land for planting and opening the restaurant. After that's settled, I'll finish up the remaining tasks for the Aquarium."

"The restaurant will have an ecological theme, just like the exhibits. As for the name... we might open several more themed restaurants in the future, so it shouldn't share the zoo's name. Let's call it—"

Everyone looked at Duan Jiaze.

Duan Jiaze suddenly felt immense pressure. He could feel the oppressive weight in both Yousu's and Luya's stares. Even the seemingly casual glance they exchanged was filled with sparks.

They could make two T-shirt designs, but a restaurant couldn't have two names, could it?

In the end, who was the real TOP star of Lingyou Zoo?

......

"Let's call it Jiajia Restaurant," Duan Jiaze said. "This Director is the greatest."