Super Zoo

The matter of the Yangtze finless porpoises came to a close, and before leaving Yangchuan City, Professor Chu specifically sought out Suming once more, asking him for a favor.

After hearing Professor Chu out, Suming nodded without any hesitation and then turned to Liang Shi, who was standing by, with a nod and a smile: "Don't worry, from now on you'll be in the zoo, if there's anything you don't understand, come to me."

"Thank you, Mr. Su!" Liang Shi said, scratching his head.

As mentioned before, Liang Shi's graduate thesis was centered on the study of wild Yangtze finless porpoises.

In the past, where could one find living wild Yangtze finless porpoises for study? Now that he had finally come across three, Liang Shi naturally didn't want to miss the opportunity and intended to stay at the zoo to observe the porpoises up close in order to better complete his thesis.

In fact, Professor Chu had another little consideration, which Suming didn't fail to notice.

He probably still wasn't completely confident in the zoo's technical capabilities, deliberately leaving Liang Shi there to help out. Although Liang Shi was a bit wooden and not good at socializing, his expertise in aquatic biology was quite high; among the younger generation in China, he was considered a notable figure.

Suming mentioned it to Mr. Song, then simply arranged for Liang Shi to stay in the zoo, living in Mingqing Residence with Mr. Peng. Mingqing Residence was quite spacious, and usually, there weren't many visitors. With Liang Shi moving in, it meant Mr. Peng would have company, and it could inadvertently boost the popularity of the place. Otherwise, Mingqing Residence would be as quiet as a haunted house come nightfall.

The conservation group of Yangchuan City had already been established, consisting of eight members, led by Wang Jian She as the head of the group. The actual person in charge was the deputy head, Mr. Song, along with a few other government department officials.

Bureau chiefs, division chiefs, they were all officials. The only plain citizen was Suming, who was therefore the only one actually responsible for doing things, tasked with taking care of the porpoises.

The three Yangtze finless porpoises were temporarily kept in Shuijun Lake, where the group had allocated some funds for their feed and care during this period. They also cordoned off an area of about ten acres on the lake, forbidding tourist boats from approaching to prevent the newly reopened boats from colliding with the porpoises.

Compared to an aquarium, ten acres of water is vast, but when compared to the original space the porpoises had in the reservoir, ten acres seems rather cramped.

Now, all three porpoises had learned bad habits from Suming; they stayed obediently in the protected area during the day, but at night, when no one was around, they'd leap out of the area and race around the lake.

During the last meeting, Wang Jian She conveyed instructions from higher-ups that Yangchuan City planned to build a small aquatic animal conservation center within the zoo for the future needs of the porpoises.

Even for a small conservation center, a significant amount of funding was required: some from the city, some from the province, some from the zoo, and for whatever shortfall remained, that was for Wang Jian She, the group leader, to worry about.

"A conservation center? That's not something a few or even several dozen acres can solve. Where in the zoo could we have enough land for that?" Suming thought for a long time but could not figure out where in the zoo would be suitable for building a conservation center.

The zoo had plenty of open land, but the vast majority was forest, not lakes. Since it was meant to be an aquatic animal conservation center, it would certainly need to be based around a lake.

Could it be that they had their sights on my Shuijun Lake? Suming's eyes flickered with thought.

"Don't make wild guesses. You're a hero in this, no matter whose land they take, they won't take it from you. Besides, those three porpoises only recognize you now. If they offend you, lad, nobody's going to have it easy," Mr. Song reassured, half-joking: "Heh, nobody anticipated that the porpoise dispute could actually be resolved. Wang made quite a name for himself in the city as the lead official; I heard he's going to join the city's municipal committee leadership. Let Wang worry about the land and money."

"Mr. Wang, joining the city committee at just over fifty?" Suming was taken aback.

"Being able to snatch a piece of meat from the provincial capital's mouth, Wang is riding high right now."

Mr. Song, the zoo director, was actually quite pleased with himself too. Wang Jian She was the zoo's supervising leader, and through the finless porpoise incident, they had developed a deep revolutionary comradeship. Now that Wang had been promoted, securing funding for the zoo would naturally become easier in the future. Even if there were restructuring, he could persuade Wang to fight for better terms and benefits.

"I called you here for an important matter."

Mr. Song took out several forms from the drawer and spread them on the table, "The establishment has come through, fill out these forms, and you'll be a formal employee of the zoo. Oh, and write a party membership application when you get back, I'll be your sponsor."

At the last meeting of the Yangchuan City Yangtze Finless Porpoise Conservation Group, the entire group was composed of government officials, with Suming being the only outsider.

After discussing official matters, Wang Jian She joked that such an outstanding young comrade like Su should not be left out of the organization and should be absorbed into it. And Mr. Song, your zoo as well, how come comrade Su is still a contracted temporary worker up till now. If it wasn't for Su's strong revolutionary stance last time, someone would have almost poached him.

With instructions given in a light-hearted manner by the senior leadership, the zoo's supervising leader, Mr. Song, already had this in mind, meaning Suming's official position and party membership had almost become a matter of course.

"Leader, didn't you say that formal workers with a fixed establishment can't easily take on contracted zoo industries?" Suming asked with some confusion.

"In theory, that's true, but who gets to explain the theory? The leaders, of course!" Mr. Song said with a laugh.

Suming nodded emphatically, feeling deeply the superiority of the system once again.

However, he was also aware that relying solely on 'the leaders' wouldn't suffice. Although Song and Wang had his back, Yangchuan had more than these two leaders. He understood the key was still to achieve results himself, as everything would be easier to discuss with results to show for it.

Furthermore, Suming had participated in two meetings, where he distinctly felt the sense of urgency concerning the zoo's restructuring, which was likely another reason.

Once the restructuring happened and self-financing was required, who would care whether the people handling zoo industries were established employees or temporary workers? By that time, everyone would be on contracts. Discover more content at m,v l'e-NovelBin.net@@novelbin@@

After his promotion, Suming's remuneration improved slightly, with an additional thousand yuan per month.

"Yay? Didn't they say equal pay for equal work? Why do established workers earn more than temporary workers?" Suming asked earnestly.

"Are you getting cheeky with me now? You don't want the raise, is that it?" Mr. Song glared at him before explaining, "Of course it's equal pay for equal work, but your job responsibilities have changed now, you don't have to be a feeder anymore."

Mr. Song knew Suming was busy, and it would be a waste to keep him on a fixed schedule feeding the animals, so he 'promoted' Suming.

Suming would no longer be responsible for feeding animals in a specific area but would act as an assistant to the zoo director, managing all the animals in the zoo. Specific tasks would be carried out by feeders at all levels; Suming only needed to make unscheduled inspections around the zoo and handle any emergencies that arose with the animals.

In other words, Suming was now considered Mr. Song's direct subordinate and a middle manager of the zoo, and so his salary was naturally increased.

He still wasn't part of the upper echelon. The real top brass of the zoo was Mr. Song alone, wielding both executive and political power. The zoo's official party secretary, rarely seen in person, had just held a nominal position, residing in the old cadre's sanatorium for three or four years already.

Speaking of a pay raise, Suming always felt as if he had forgotten something very important.