Zhao Bo cherished the parrot perched on his shoulder. Every so often, he would look at it and stroke it. The parrot was also very well-behaved. When Zhao Bo petted it, it would rub its head against his hand, making Zhao Bo incredibly excited.

Leaving the aviary, they went to see the monkeys.

There were over a dozen monkeys in the zoo, including two young ones, all of them the most common macaques. They used to be terribly thin, but after eating the food provided by the System these past few days, their spirits were incredibly high.

They could be considered old friends of the students. Many of them had specially brought corn, apples, and other things picked from their own fields, ready to feed the monkeys.

"Don't, don't feed them!" Duan Jiaze was caught off guard. Seeing the children tossing food through the gaps in the enclosure, he didn't even have time to stop them.

He had only just started learning about animal care and knew that when the animals had a fixed daily diet, it was best not to let visitors feed them other food.

However, after receiving the food, the monkeys didn't eat it as they usually would. After all, their food these days was exceptionally good, better than what even the Zoo Director could afford. After scratching their heads and wagging their tails for a moment, led by their leader, they actually threw all the food out.

And it was definitely no coincidence that they threw it all toward Duan Jiaze, as if they understood he was the one in charge.

Seeing this, Teacher Zhao exclaimed, "These monkeys are so smart!"

In Teacher Zhao's eyes, Lingyou Zoo had trained even its birds and lions so well; it wasn't surprising that the even smarter monkeys could do something like this.

Duan Jiaze, however, broke into a sweat. Only he knew that he hadn't trained a single animal in the zoo. Ever since he switched to the food provided by the System, not only had the various animals' spirits and physical health improved greatly, but their intelligence also seemed to have increased a little.

Of course, the birds' intelligence hadn't yet increased to the point where they could perform those earlier actions on their own; those were still commanded by Luya, that old bird.

But the monkeys' current actions were something they had figured out themselves. Duan Jiaze fed them quite a lot, so perhaps because of this, they understood his status.

Given that, according to Luya, the food absorbed more spiritual energy than that of the Human Realm, it didn't seem strange that their intelligence would increase a bit after eating it. Moreover, Duan Jiaze had asked; this food could make them smarter, but it was impossible for them to turn into demons, at least not within the review period.

The students of Tongxin Elementary School had more fun than on any previous occasion. Compared to before, these monkeys were much more interactive; they not only threw the food back but also imitated their actions.

One student did a handstand, and the monkeys copied him, also doing handstands, but their movements were much more agile.

In such an atmosphere, when Teacher Zhao and Teacher Yan gave their educational lesson, the effect was much better.

A king of mischief like Zhao Bo would never have paid attention to the explanations during past extracurricular activities, but now he was listening with great interest, frequently raising his hand to ask questions, looking more like a model student than any of the others.

After the monkeys, they went to see the sika deer.

The process wasn't boring at all, as everyone had their own exclusive "bird companion." This fulfilled their wildest fantasies, allowing them to create little scenes in their minds.

The two elementary students fortunate enough to be accompanied by two peacocks were especially proud. Their companions were the largest and had the most impressive appearance. Although they couldn't perch on their shoulders, wherever they went, the peacocks followed, behaving incredibly well.

Zhang Shun watched, extremely envious. An idea struck him. He took the Zebra Finch from his shoulder, tossed it into the air, and ran forward, shouting, "Come on, come on, chase me!"

The Zebra Finch circled twice in the air, then sure enough, it targeted Zhang Shun, dove down, and landed on his head again.

Seeing that it really recognized him, Zhang Shun beamed with joy. His actions also gave the other students ideas, and they started various games, taking care not to harm the little birds.

Of course, even if they wanted to harm them, it would be very difficult. After their abilities had improved in all aspects, the already agile birds were now even sharper. Besides, their old ancestor Luya was right there.

When they reached the sika deer enclosure, before Duan Jiaze could say anything, Xiao Su smartly reminded the children not to feed the sika deer the food they had brought.

There were only two sika deer in the zoo, a mother and daughter pair. It was unknown whether the father had died or what had happened to him.

As a girl, Xiao Su was quite fond of these cute animals. She had fed the sika deer before. She stepped forward, put her hand through the fence, and held up some fodder to call the deer.

The little deer trotted over and stretched out its neck to eat the fodder in Xiao Su's hand. Xiao Su stroked its head, and it didn't resist at all. Its large eyes were glistening, and its brown fur looked soft and glossy.

Many of the children pulled on Teacher Zhao, saying they wanted to feed the little deer too.

Teacher Zhao asked Duan Jiaze, and after receiving an affirmative reply, he picked two students and had them follow Xiao Su to feed the sika deer.

......

After half a day, they had finished touring the small zoo. The two teachers led the dozens of students to say their goodbyes.

Teacher Zhao shook Duan Jiaze's hand, thanking him repeatedly. He said it was a real eye-opener and that the animals here were so intelligent and well-trained, the zoo would surely be flooded with visitors in the future.

This time, when they were told they had to write a composition about the trip, the children who would usually groan were instead full of excitement, eager to immediately start writing their travelogues. This was all because they had had such a wonderful time at Lingyou Zoo.

"Then I hope your auspicious words come true." Duan Jiaze gently patted Luya on his shoulder.

Luya flapped his wings and took flight. The birds on the children's shoulders followed, taking off with a flutter of wings. They left together, heading back to the aviary, causing the children to cry out in disappointment as they stared at their retreating figures.

"Da Hua!" Zhang Shun called out the name he had given the Zebra Finch, extremely reluctant to let it go.

"It's okay," Zhao Bo said, putting an arm around his shoulder. "Next time I ask my parents to bring me, I'll have them bring you along too, and we can see them again!"

"Okay." Zhang Shun nodded forcefully, then waved. "Goodbye, Da Hua!"

The children's voices, bidding farewell to the little birds, rose and fell one after another.

Watching this scene of animals and children reluctantly parting, Teacher Zhao was quite moved. He wanted to say a few words to exhort everyone to care for animals, "Students—!"

Before Teacher Zhao could pour out his emotions, he saw, beneath the distant flock of birds, the two peacocks running frantically, flapping their wings from time to time. However, just like domestic chickens, they couldn't fly very high before falling back down...

Everyone: "..."

The elementary students burst out laughing. Teacher Zhao's heartfelt speech was choked back, and he awkwardly said goodbye to Duan Jiaze.

'A fly in the ointment...' Duan Jiaze thought. 'If I'd known, I would have arranged a more graceful exit.'

Waving goodbye to the students from Tongxin Elementary School, Duan Jiaze saw Xiao Su with her head buried in her phone. He patted her, "Let's go, Xiao Su. Time for lunch."

"Hey," Xiao Su looked up, her face all smiles, and handed him her phone. "Director, look."

Duan Jiaze took a look. It turned out Xiao Su had actually filmed that last scene as a short video and posted it to her social media feed. The camera started on the children as the birds on their shoulders took flight, then it panned up to film the flock flying in the sky, with the children's farewells audible off-screen.

Then, the two peacocks appeared very abruptly in the frame, dragging their heavy tail feathers as they ran after the flock, flapping wildly from time to time...

The short video had only been posted for a minute or two, but it had already received many likes and comments, all of them laughing hysterically. Some asked Xiao Su where this was and how the birds were so well-behaved, while others said the peacocks were hilarious.

Duan Jiaze watched it again and almost burst out laughing himself. "Why did you even film that?"

"Well, they are our first batch of visitors. I wanted to record it, but I didn't expect to catch something so funny." Xiao Su showed him her photo album; she had also taken pictures of the children during their tour. "I was planning to advertise on my social media feed anyway, hehe."

"Good job!" Duan Jiaze praised her. "I was planning to spend some money after we open to get some local media for publicity. If you take more photos, they can all be used as material."

......

After seeing off the beta test visitors, Duan Jiaze hurried to the aviary. Before he even got there, he heard dense, fierce bird calls, which gave him a start. 'Could it be that Luya is in a bad mood and is viciously beating up the little birds?' he thought.

When he got closer, he saw that the zoo's birds were chasing and pecking at a flock of wild sparrows. The two sides were tumbling through the air, the battle in full swing.

The zoo was backed by Cape Mountain, so there were plenty of sparrows around. But they usually minded their own business, so he didn't know how a fight had started.

From the looks of it, although Lingyou's flock of birds was smaller, their combat strength was not weak at all. Even the chubby Zebra Finches could pluck a sparrow's feather out in one peck.

Luya had already changed back into his human form and was leaning to the side, watching the battle with a grave expression.

Duan Jiaze humbly asked for guidance, "Bro, what's going on?"

Luya: "Do you know what those are?"

What? Aren't they sparrows?

Duan Jiaze was startled. "Could they be... sparrow demons?"

"What are you thinking," Luya glanced at Duan Jiaze scornfully. "They're thieves! I was careless. When we left just now, I didn't close the cage, and these wild birds came to steal our feed."

Duan Jiaze: "..."

Duan Jiaze was sweating profusely. "If you showed your might, wouldn't these sparrows be scared to death?" Why was there a need for them to fight so hard?

Luya said angrily, "You dare ask this venerable one to chase away sparrows for you?!"

"???" Duan Jiaze said, "Your logic is just too powerful."

But Luya's words did remind him. Duan Jiaze found a broom and shooed the sparrows away. Only then did the battle-eager birds return to their cage, swaggering proudly. He privately felt that they looked exactly like Luya.