Super Zoo

Suming had always considered himself quite dedicated but next to Guo Zijian, he was just a lazy bum.

Moreover, Guo Zijian possessed a quality that was highly commendable: the film crew was a temporary team 'borrowed' by him, not involved in sharing profits, and everyone's income was calculated on a daily basis.

Although it was a 'friendly' rate, Guo Zijian's own daily wage wasn't low at all. The longer the shooting dragged on, the more money he could earn, but as soon as Suming expressed his hope to finish shooting and release the film as quickly as possible, Guo Zijian immediately threw himself into the work without intentionally delaying it to earn more money.

After making a call to Tony, who was messing around in some nightclub, screams and heavy metal music like a world war blared from the other end of the phone.

Before long, several red dots were seen steadily approaching in the night sky, and the sound of helicopter rotors filled the rooftop. Continue reading on My Virtual Library Empire

"Let's go, Mr. Guo, I'll show you a full view," Suming said with a smile, leading the way.

As they passed several other film crews' rooms along the hallway, lights were still on in those rooms, indicating that the entire crew had not rested.

Upon reaching the rooftop and seeing those two small helicopters, Guo Zijian's face lit up: "Su Sheng, are these planes rented or personally owned by you?"

"They're mine! What's up?" Suming shouted, climbing into the plane first and patting Tony's cheeks in the pilot's seat, "My dear lad, I hope you haven't drunk too much!"

"Boss, don't worry, this toy helicopter, I could fly it even in my sleep," Tony laughed heartily, "Just that my legs are a bit wobbly; those girls were too enthusiastic. Good thing you don't need to use your legs to press the gas or the brake when flying."

Suming: "..."

"Su Sheng, can we use this helicopter when we're filming?" Guo Zijian asked loudly.

"No problem, I'll do my best to accommodate all your needs," Suming answered loudly.

"Oh boss, if you said that in a gay bar, I bet a bunch of burly men would volunteer to work for you for free!" Tony said loudly.

"You damn well haven't drunk too much, have you?" Suming wondered if calling Tony to fly the helicopter might have been a mistake. Fortunately, he always carried a 'Tardigrade', a virtually indestructible recharging sphere with him, so even if the plane crashed... why say that, just a slip of the tongue.

The helicopter took off again, heading in the direction of the zoo.

The shooting location was not only limited to the zoo, but also included a large area of the back mountain, a part of the reservoir, and if not for the planes, it would have been quite difficult to manage with just cars.

...

Yangchuan City Armed Police Detachment.

The deputy commander Nangong Jian had been somewhat frustrated lately. Following the national directive, the provincial headquarters required police forces in all cities to thoroughly study the speeches from higher-ups and earnestly implement the 'joint police-civilian construction of a harmonious society'.

So, the unit was filled with various large and small meetings, summary reports, and speeches every day. Nangong Jian, previously a bona fide combatant, had mostly taken on administrative work after being transferred to the Armed Police Detachment and initially found it quite hard to adapt.

If it were just about attending meetings and making speeches, there wouldn't have been any issue. The office was staffed with a bunch of civilian officers who got in through connections, and speech drafts and summary reports could be delegated to them. Nangong Jian only needed to read them out during meetings.

But the superiors demanded 'concrete implementation', which couldn't be resolved by internal meetings alone—it required actual action.

A high-level directive becomes a guiding principle by the time it reaches the middle management, and by the time it filters down to the local cities, it evolves into a massive, complicated, and sometimes bloated theoretical system. Then, all the relevant units in each locality busily scramble to fulfill this theory in practice.

The higher-ups constantly deliver various speeches that get transformed into various guiding principles, which in turn give birth to various theoretical systems. Then the lower levels proceed to implement these. This cycle repeats day after day, year after year within the organization.

"All this talk is pointless! Let's just deal with the matter at hand!" The political commissar, who was Nangong Jian's old superior, heard Nangong Jian grumble a few times, gave him a stern look, and thought to himself: At his age, why can't he watch his mouth? Isn't this something a mature deputy commander of a municipal armed police detachment, an experienced leader, should refrain from saying?

"Squad leader, this is just..."

The political commissar was so angry that he slammed his teacup on the desk and gave a fierce glare.

"This mouth of mine, sigh!" Nangong Jian gestured dismissively and said, "What I mean is, how are we, the armed police forces, supposed to practice this 'police-community co-building'? The civilian police can visit the people and chat, warm up to them every other day; detectives can catch a few thieves, but we armed police have no way to do that. Are you suggesting I lead my troops to help elderly people across the streets? That's the traffic police's job."

What Nangong Jian said was indeed the reality; the armed police force had a tough job.

The national armed forces are, fundamentally speaking, the state's machinery of violence, divided between external and internal affairs. The military is for external affairs, whereas the armed police force, also known as the internal security forces, is for internal affairs, to suppress internal instability.

Frankly put, the main hypothetical enemy of the armed police are the people themselves. Of course, those would be the 'rebellious' citizens.

The armed police have their own garrisons and cannot leave their posts unless there's a mass incident or the police request assistance and support.

Now, trying to engage in this 'police-community co-building,' how should it be done? Without a large-scale natural disaster, such as floods or earthquakes, it's nearly impossible for the armed police to have contact with the ordinary populace.

Organizing activities to study various principles is part of the political commissar's duties, and Nangong Jian was one of his trusted followers. When the boss is rich, the subordinates benefit; when the boss has a task, the subordinates must exert effort. So, this task fell to Nangong Jian.

"Why can't you just shift your thinking?" The political commissar picked up his cup again and used the lid to scrape off the tea foam on the surface.

"Change my thinking?" Nangong Jian asked, perplexed.

The political commissar fell silent for a few seconds and then said, "Police-community co-building, it's not just the police, but also the community. Each has their duties within their roles, contributing to this grand goal. This isn't simply a one-sided matter for the armed police.

Nangong Jian picked up the water bottle and refilled the political commissar's cup. The political commissar then took out a pack of soft Zhonghua from the drawer, took one for himself, tossed one to Nangong Jian, and said slowly, "Nangong, conquering the world needs military might, but governing the world requires civil officials. We're in peacetime now, and your thinking needs to keep up. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yeah, I know you're looking out for me, squad leader." Nangong Jian clipped the cigarette to his ear, "I'll think about it when I get back."

"Good." Before Nangong Jian could reach the office door, the political commissar knocked on the desk from behind him and said, "Take that cigarette down! What kind of image is that!"

"Hehe." In front of the old squad leader, Nangong Jian, now in his forties, still acted the part of the mischievous rookie, scratching his head and taking the cigarette from his ear to put in his pocket.

However, the moment he stepped out of the office, Nangong Jian's expression changed instantly, regaining the dignity befitting of a leader in a municipal armed police detachment.

As soon as he returned to his own office, the phone rang. It was his second brother calling.

"Second brother, what's up?" Nangong Jian picked up the phone. "When will you have time to visit your future son-in-law? Oh, the one who's to fight with the Russian Army, right? I keep saying, second brother, you've picked quite an exaggerated son-in-law. Doesn't our country have an army? Why does he need to become a son-in-law to the Russian Army? Whose side will he be on if there's a conflict? Alright, alright, I understand. I probably can't recently; I'm quite busy with the police-community co-building stuff..."