Super Zoo

Suming had visited the construction site for the hot springs on the back hill that afternoon. The entertainment company had found a professional designer who, following Suming's intentions, created the electronic 3D model for the upcoming hot springs resort. Suming was quite satisfied with it after examining it and arranged for the construction crew to begin work near the hot springs.

From the initial Whisperwind Pavilion to the later Ancient Moon Xian Residence, Suming had always followed the vintage style route, and the design direction for this hot springs resort was no exception.

In the electronic 3D model, the future hot springs resort looked like a large, open-style ancient building, with the internal structure yet to be determined.

The only clear detail was a giant slab of stone at the entrance, more than two people tall, half-buried in the soil, with the exposed half covered in creeping vines. You could faintly make out three big characters etched in ancient seal script.

Lanruo Temple!

What terrible taste, Suming thought, already excited at the thought of the future scene. Imagine a flock of chicks in thin ancient-style dresses frolicking in the waters of Lanruo Temple Hot Springs, surrounded by wilderness and occasionally hearing the howl of wolves. Then a bunch of brutes charge into the hot springs, grab a girl, and just smack smack smack...

And then the Larno Temple Hot Springs would be shut down by the relevant authorities.

To be serious, though, while it's okay to have a gimmick like "A Chinese Ghost Story," everything must be legal!

Let me repeat that critical point three times, legal, legal, legal! If only it could be said fifteen hundred times, then I wouldn't have to do anything else in this chapter.

After making the rounds, he returned to the zoo office, and upon entering was met with a riot of colors.

A punk kid with rainbow-colored hair that made him look like a wild pheasant was loafing around, cigarette drooping from his mouth, squatting on the office chair, with several ambiguous large earrings in his ears and a series of punk-style metal rings on his fingers holding the cigarette—a typical non-mainstream rebellious youth.

Nangong sat on the sofa, her voice filled with disappointment as she scolded: "You're so grown up, why can't you save your great-uncle some worries, always getting into fights and even ending up at the detective squad! Do you know, if it weren't for my dad, you'd have been locked up for at least six months this time."

"Cousin, don't try to fool me, I know the law! Under eighteen only carries limited criminal responsibility, I didn't kill or start a fire, so no big deal," the youth retorted nonchalantly, shaking his leg.

Seeing Suming enter the office, both turned to look in his direction. Nangong said irritably to the youth with a nod, "This is my cousin, Nangong Huang. I'm leaving him in your care."

"Brother-in-law!" The wild punk turned his head and greeted Suming in a sly manner, then pulled out a cigarette and offered one to Suming. Enjoy new chapters from My Virtual Library Empire

The eccentrically named non-mainstream youth in front of Suming was indeed the cousin Nangong Yan often talked about, the only son of Nangong Yan's uncle. Not yet eighteen and having been a troublemaker since childhood, he was good at everything but proper conduct. In school, he was the headache-inducing troublemaker for the teachers. After joining a third-rate technical school, things escalated. He got involved in smoking, drinking, and fighting, and dressed himself up in a grotesque fashion, taking pride in his appearance.

Nangong Huang was supposed to graduate from technical school this year, and further schooling was out of the question. With his grades, he couldn't even recite the full English alphabet—usually forgetting everything after EFG, and on an exceptionally good day making it to LMN...

Therefore, finding a job for him was a huge problem. After years of schooling, he hadn't learned a thing, and looking the way he did, which workplace would want him? Getting him to do manual labor was out of the question too; Nangong Huang couldn't handle the hardship and would barely last two hours on an assembly line before complaining of misery.

Nangong's father had found him a job as an auxiliary police officer, but on the second day, while patrolling at night, the boy slacked off, sneaking into a beauty salon to chat and smoke with the hostesses, only to be filmed by a passerby and have the video uploaded online, resulting in him losing the job.

In Nangong's family, among the five brothers, it was only Nangong Huang who could carry on the family line. Although they were frustrated with his lack of ambition, they still treasured him as if he were a rare gem—especially Nangong's aunt who would burst into tears every family gathering at the mention of her son. The family couldn't stand by and watch him idle away his life, so Nangong turned to Suming in hopes of arranging a job for him at the zoo.

It wasn't about the money; it was important for Suming to keep an eye on the boy, lest he cause trouble. It's just a zoo with animals, and in any case, how ludicrous could the kid get—surely he wasn't going to bully tigers and lions.

"What brother-in-law? Is that what you should be calling him? Call him boss!" Nangong glared at him.

Nangong glared, and though Suming might be intimidated, Nangong Huang was not, shrugging his shoulders and saying, "Sis, no need to be embarrassed. We're living in modern times. You two have been dating so long, surely you've slept together by now. What, do you think I'm a kid who doesn't get it?"

"Look at that, just look at this damn behavior. I can't manage him; he's all yours," Nangong said to Suming, exasperated.

"We've all been through that age ourselves, haven't we?" Suming said with a smile, signaling to Nangong not to get upset. Then he took the cigarette from Nangong Huang's hand, glanced at the brand, and tossed it straight into the office trash can. He casually took out a pack of "95 Imperial," plucked one out, and tossed it to Nangong Huang, "Yours are too cheap, smoke mine."

Nangong Huang caught the cigarette mid-air, paused, then snickered with a grin, "Brother-in-law, you got style, huh? I've seen those cigarettes on TV, only corrupt officials can afford it—costs hundreds per pack, right?"

Corrupt official... Suming nearly smacked him then and there.

"99." Suming pointed to the bandage on Nangong Huang's arm, "Also, to set you straight, 'limited criminal responsibility' is for those under 16, it doesn't apply to you. What trouble did you get into this time?"

"At his age, what else could he be involved in but jealousy and fighting? He got into a brawl at a food stall last night over a girl, smashed someone's head in with a bottle until it was a bloody mess," said Nangong, fuming with anger.

"Can you blame me when that jerk talked dirty, telling our female classmate to go 'get a room' with him? Just look at his face, even Zhu Bajie would give thanks to the heavens for being born better looking. If they hadn't outnumbered us, I would have turned his brains into mush," Nangong Huang cursed resentfully, revealing his venomous side.

"Playing the hero to save the damsel in distress, eh? Did you win the fight in the end?" Suming leaned back in his chair, asking with a chuckle.

"They had more people. I had barely smashed one bottle when someone sucker-punched me from behind, and I was on the ground. Brother-in-law, I'm not just shooting my mouth off, but I didn't let that old bastard have an easy time either; he's still in the hospital right now," bragged Nangong Huang proudly.

"To still have the face to say that, you're about to drive the whole family crazy! Why didn't you call the police? You do realize your entire family works in law enforcement, right?" Nangong was so furious it looked like she might explode.

Suming also thought this kid probably had a screw loose.

The Nangong family is a family of law enforcement, with an uncle in the traffic police, her father in the criminal police, one uncle in the armed police, another uncle as a civilian police officer, and the youngest uncle apparently a member of the legendary national security... Several sisters also hold clerical positions in various bureaus. Faced with trouble, Nangong Huang chose not to call the police but to take matters into his own hands, effectively shooting himself in the foot.

"I hate you cops the most, fed but do nothing worthy. Oh sis, I'm not talking about you, you're not a cop," said Nangong Huang disdainfully.

Seeing that Nangong was about to fly off the handle again, Suming quickly changed the subject and asked Nangong Huang, "What's your major in technical school, and what kind of job do you want to do?"

"What I majored in doesn't matter because I didn't learn anything."

Nangong Huang declared without any sense of shame, "As for the job, brother-in-law, you can decide for me. Um, just make sure it's not too strenuous, there's no need for clocking in on time, no overtime, no business trips, and it would be best if I don't have to report to an office. Oh, and I've grown used to my freedom, so better no one bosses me around except you. Oh, I saw some empty houses on the way to your zoo, how about arranging a dormitory for me? A big one with air conditioning and heating, please. As for the salary, you can decide, but no matter what, I'm your brother-in-law, my salary can be lower than yours but can't be lower than other people's, or it wouldn't look good for you. That's pretty much it. I'm not fussy, you see, just sort it out, brother-in-law, I'll listen to you."

If this were Suming's own brother, he would have already hurled an ashtray at his head. How braindead does one have to be to say something like this and think it's perfectly fine?

"Don't listen to his nonsense. He trained in Chinese cuisine, graduated from Dongfang Culinary School.," said Nangong, jumping in.

Dongfang Culinary School is nationally renowned. If you study diligently, you can really learn some skills... but as for this brother-in-law in front of Suming, he wasn't holding out much hope. A kid from a family of cops enrolling in a culinary school was already proof of a few screws loose.

However, there was a position that was a perfect fit. Suming thought for a moment and said, "How about this, the zoo is planning to open a restaurant catering specifically to visitors, you can work there. It pays well, the work is easy, no one overseeing you, and upstairs, there are several empty floors that can be your dormitory, plenty spacious."

The zoo's snack bar mainly serves internal staff, selling snacks and drinks. Only on holidays when there are too many visitors do they sell box lunches, and that's not a regular occurrence. Normally visitors who want a decent meal have to go to restaurants outside the zoo.

With the increasing flow of visitors and new additions to the park, the zoo management had a meeting and felt it necessary to open a restaurant within the premises. With so much unused land in the zoo, it seemed wasteful not to. A restaurant would generate revenue and provide convenience for visitors, a win-win move.

Besides, the zoo was bound to expand in the future, moving towards a one-stop entertainment complex. It wouldn't do without distinct dining options.

The fish from Shuijun Lake are ready-to-eat, even tastier than those from reservoirs, sometimes not even purchasable in the market. Suming had asked around, and the first batch of wild boars had been born in Sun Town and would be ready for the table in about half a year. There were also various types of mushrooms being cultivated on the back mountain, all very unique ingredients.

Next week there's a fishing trade meeting at the Changjiang in Huayin County, and who knows, maybe some good ingredients will come out of that too.

So Suming decided to convert the bottom two floors of the long-empty Whisperwind Pavilion into a restaurant for lunch service. It was a shame to waste such a magnificent structure, standing idle for years. With Xiaomei and Jiao Shou gone, the pavilion was vacant once more.

Designed in a classic, elegant style, Whisperwind Pavilion stands beside Shuijun Lake. Using it as a restaurant, where diners can enjoy the lake and mountain views while eating, couldn't be more perfect.

Now, what was missing was a good chef. Mrs. Sun from the zoo snack bar, along with the two aunts from the staff canteen, had skills that barely surpassed home-cooking, and at best matched the level of a simple food stall. There was still a long way to go before opening a full-fledged restaurant.

"How good are your cooking skills, really?" asked Suming.

Nangong Huang replied in a carefree manner, "Not bad, I suppose."

—————— Divider ——————

Which is the best for chef training? Which is the best for excavator training?