"Have you brought everything? Don't lose your phone, and remember to bring your ID card?"
"I've brought everything."
Upon exiting the subway station, the mother and son, who were visiting Beijing for the first time, were both a little reserved and uneasy. Although they were from a province near Beijing, this was their first time actually visiting the capital.
Because it was my first time visiting Chen Xuan's workplace, I felt a little uneasy. The woman was a teacher at an institution, where the work was slightly lighter and the hours more flexible than at a school. She usually bore the heavy burden of taking care of her son, until that incident happened, which cast a shadow over the entire family.
Fortunately, the emergence of the All Souls Zoo changed everything.
The salary that was two or three times higher made life much more comfortable, which is why the wrinkles around her eyes had decreased significantly. The cloth bag she carried contained pickled sauerkraut and homemade chili sauce, all of which were her husband's favorite foods.
After several transfers, the two finally arrived at the Palembang Zoo.
The high school senior usually carries an old-fashioned mobile phone to school, which only has the functions of making and receiving calls and sending messages, but cannot access the Internet. Therefore, he knows nothing about Wanling Zoo. In his stereotypical impression, zoos seem to be all the same: some animals kept in cages are skin and bones, while others are so fat that they pant when they walk. In short, they don't smell very good. The smell of feces and urine mixed together evaporates into everyone's nasal cavity under the scorching sun.
There are people who sell food packaged in plastic bags to feed the animals. This kind of interaction is incredibly cliché. He looked at the animals trapped in cages and felt no emotion whatsoever.
Looking at the zoo in front of them, they found it to be very beautiful. Just from the magnificent entrance, they knew that this zoo was different from ordinary zoos. They used an internal ticket, which was only valid for the families of zoo employees. After scanning their faces to enter, they discovered that the environment inside the zoo was much better than they had imagined.
The boy was going through puberty, and his voice was a bit deep: "Does Dad usually work around here?"
The woman was also a little uncertain: "It seems to be this place... Wanlin Zoo. If we weren't working here, how could we have gotten in by facial recognition? I didn't buy a ticket."
Both mother and son were somewhat surprised and uncertain. They had been to zoos before, but this was the first time they had ever seen one so magnificent and dreamlike. They would be willing to work in such an environment, even if the salary was slightly lower. Moreover, judging from the salary Chen Xuan transferred to them each month, it was clear that the zoo not only had a good working environment but also excellent benefits.
The boy hesitated for a moment, "Should we go to the zoo now or go find Dad?"
He looked around the zoo; it was bustling with activity. Many people were participating in the activities, and quite a few children were wearing strange masks. The designs were all similar, but the colors seemed to be hand-painted, resulting in some masks looking incredibly handsome while others looked rather comical.
His nerves, stretched taut from studying non-stop, finally relaxed, a hint of anticipation in his eyes. He hadn't truly relaxed in ages. Although their school was in a third- or fourth-tier city, the workload was immense. From the very first day of high school, the school leaders had repeatedly emphasized the need to stay vigilant. Meals were rushed, and bathroom breaks were limited to just a few minutes. Accustomed to this high-pressure academic life, even at home, he would habitually set aside time to do practice problems.
Birds sing and flowers bloom, the temperature is like spring.
When they arrived, they were all wearing down jackets, but now they were quickly enveloped in a thin layer of warmth. Their fingers, which had been red from the cold, gradually warmed up. The woman also saw the longing in her son's eyes. She smiled and said, "Your dad and I can see him anytime. Let's go to the zoo first."
There were quite a few people like this; basically all the zoo staff brought their families.
Night gradually falls. Winter days are naturally short, and before the sky is completely dark, beneath the surface of the bustling world, the lights are as bright as day, with twinkling yellow lights everywhere. There is no glaring light pollution like in big cities, only the purest lights, as if one has traveled back a thousand years in an instant, and one can faintly hear the sound of an ancient zither being played.
The crowd hadn't dispersed yet. This was the first time I'd ever seen a zoo at night, and I couldn't miss this opportunity. I was initially worried that the zoo at night would be similar to other tourist attractions, with all sorts of lanterns, but I never expected it to be so beautiful.
The pavilions and terraces are faintly visible in the dark water, where you can choose to enjoy the various lights or interact with the animals.
Whether it's the former or the latter, it's a good strategy.
An elderly man with a full head of white hair in the crowd suddenly looked surprised, his cane slipped from his hand, and his whole body began to tremble uncontrollably. His eldest daughter, who was beside him, quickly supported him: "Dad! What's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?"
With tears in his eyes, the old man listened intently to the faint music drifting from afar. His face flushed red, his lips trembled violently, and for a moment he was speechless.
His daughter looked down at him, and from the shape of his lips, she could make out a few indistinct words: "Lost...this is the long-lost 'Lotus Picking Song'..."
My father was a professor at a music academy and had done a lot of research in this field. He was particularly obsessed with ancient musical scores. Whenever archaeologists went on an excavation, he would accompany them. If he came across a fragment, he would lock himself in his room and never see anyone else.
“If you want to ask, there are a lot of people now, so you can contact the zoo manager later.” His eldest daughter held his cold hand, waiting for him to calm down.
This little incident didn't attract much attention, but someone filmed it and posted it online.
Suddenly, a series of sounds came from the sky. Under the bright moonlight, the river was shrouded in mist like a light veil. Because it was close to the sea, the sound of the tide could even be heard.
Su Zhou exhaled a breath of stale air and told the employees to go and accompany their families. As for the patrol duties, he assigned the Wanling construction team to temporarily take over.
Fortunately, everything was proceeding in an orderly manner. Su Zhou kept a close eye on her phone screen, ready to stop anything from happening at any moment.
The wires moved with the wind, and the fluttering petals, along with the twinkling stars, scattered onto people's faces. Some people looked up and suddenly realized that under the bright moon, there was someone ethereal as a cloud, perfectly embodying the phrase "fairy-like".
"Holy crap, there's a fairy! Everyone look up! There's a fairy, wait, there's also a fairy man."
"Never mind, let's look at the beauty."
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