Chapter 1 Twins Meet
"Hello, I want two pancakes with red bean paste filling."
A clear, baby-like voice rang out from the pancake stand at the zoo entrance.
The stall owner, who was lying on a recliner watching short videos, suddenly stood up and looked in the direction of the sound.
A little cub, about three years old, stood in front of the stall. The fluffy hood covering its round head swayed slightly as it tilted its head back, revealing a childish and adorable face. Its little hands were tucked into the crookedly sewn pockets of its trousers, and its short legs were standing steadily on the children's skateboard.
It was the first time the biscuit owner had seen such a sweet and cute baby. As he started frying pancakes, he smiled and asked, "Little boy, are you here with your parents at the zoo?"
"No." The child took out a few coins from his trouser pocket and put them on the lion. "My mother and I are here to treat the lion."
"...the big lion in the zoo?"
The child nodded.
The sesame cake owner looked at the pretty little girl, his mouth twitching, he seemed to want to say something but stopped himself. Finally, he silently packed the fried sesame cake and handed it to her, "Here, little girl, your sesame cake is ready."
Shang You took the pancake with both hands and said, "Thank you, uncle," then slid into the park on his skateboard.
She found a step near the bird garden inside the park and sat down, with one of her little feet diagonally placed on the slightly warped, worn skateboard, and tore open the wrapper to eat the pancake.
Four and a half hours ago, Shang You and her mother were squatting under a peach tree on the mountain, eating freshly picked sweet peaches.
Uncle Yan called in a hurry and said that something serious had happened at Grandma An’s Mingling Zoo. Only then did my mother take her down the mountain.
After arriving at the zoo, Uncle Yan brought people to pick up his mother in a hurry. Shang You planned to play in the park for a while before going to find his mother.
Shang You was biting the pancake that was bigger than her face. While eating, her ears suddenly moved and she took the pancake away to take a look.
A human child that looked about the same size as her suddenly appeared from under the steps where she was sitting.
Young Master He was wearing a pearly white suit. His small face with superior features was pale and sickly, his eyes were big, and he wore a string of thin green sandalwood Buddhist beads on his wrist. Because he had been weak and sickly since childhood, he even wore a natural medicine bag pendant made of fragrant wood around his neck all year round.
At this moment, he was staring at the greasy and crispy pancake in Shang You's hand without blinking.
Shang You lowered her little head, glanced away, not understanding the outfit, and continued to eat her cake in big mouthfuls.
Young Master He moved his little leather shoes calmly, changing to a closer angle, and continued to look at her.
And swallowed modestly.
“…”
After a while, Shang You seemed to finally be unable to bear it anymore. He freed one of his little hands to open his schoolbag, took out the other pancake that he had just stuffed in, and turned his little face to the side. "Take it, don't bother me here."
The young master's gaze shifted from Shang You's face to the sesame seed bun that her little hand handed to her.
There was still a noticeable greasy sheen on the transparent plastic bag, but the mysophobic Master He didn't reach out to take it immediately.
He first fished out a clean handkerchief from his small suit pocket, took the pancake with his small hands, wrapped the plastic bag with the handkerchief, and wiped the bag carefully. Then he gracefully lowered his head to take a small bite, chewed it slowly, and commented seriously: "Thank you, your pancake is crispy and delicious, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and it has a long aftertaste-"
Before he could finish his string of idioms, Shang You took another big bite and said vaguely with her mouth puffed out, "...I think you are the big one."
Young Master He tilted his head slightly to express his confusion. Just as he was about to say something else, he heard the bodyguard's anxious voice behind him, "Young Master is here!"
He Zhimo turned around and responded to the two bodyguards who came over.
He was about to introduce the friend he just met to the bodyguard, but when he turned back, the stairs were empty and the hooded child was no longer there.
"Young Master, the zoo said Ruibai was sent for a routine checkup today and might not be back in the building soon. How about coming back another day?"
He Zhimo looked at the stairs with a little disappointment and said, "Okay."
On the other side, in the lion house of the park.
In order to avoid his appearance from being too conspicuous, Shang Youqing temporarily changed his appearance before leaving the mountain.
On the way here with Old Yan, I heard him say that two major incidents had happened in the zoo recently, which made Old Mrs. An so anxious that she fell ill and was hospitalized.
"Xiao Shang, do you remember the little white lion you rescued before?"
Shang Youqing nodded, "I remember."
Last year, when she took her furry baby out for the first time to look out for the enemy, she unexpectedly encountered a white lion cub that was being attacked by a group of hyenas.
At that time, the little white lion was seriously injured and had no chance of survival. However, Shang Youqing could not bear to see her baby witness the cruel scene of the little white lion being eaten by hyenas on its first time going out, so she rescued the dying little white lion and injected her own spiritual energy into it to heal its wounds.
In the end, although the little white lion managed to survive, it was lame and could no longer survive in the wild. Shang Youqing asked Old Yan, who came to the mountain to visit her, to send it to Mrs. An's Mingling Zoo.
"Xiao Shang, you don't know this, but the old lady's zoo was actually on the verge of bankruptcy during that time. But thanks to the little white lion you sent, Mingling Zoo unexpectedly received a generous amount of public welfare adoption funds, which is why it has been able to operate until now."
Hearing this, Shang Youqing tilted his head and looked at him, a little confused. "Ah, is it because the little white lion is very popular with tourists?"
"No, no, no, quite the opposite. Because the little white lion has a disabled right leg and is ostracized by the other lions in the enclosure, it usually lies in a corner and doesn't move much. In fact, few visitors to the zoo are willing to see it."
"The turning point was that one day a big shot came to the zoo, Mr. He from Bindao."
"That day happened to be Mr. He's youngest son's birthday, and he specially brought the child to visit his wife's hometown. After arriving at Mingling Zoo, Mr. He was, for some reason, immediately attracted by the little white lion you rescued. The usually quiet little white lion even came over from the corner to give him a head pat."
"It is said that Young Master He has been in poor health since childhood and rarely shows interest in things outside of the world. When President He saw that the child liked the little white lion, he immediately offered to adopt it and regularly donate to Mingling Zoo to help improve the lion's conditions."
"Since then, the little white lion has been officially adopted by Young Master He and named Ruibai. Young Master He also takes the initiative to visit Ruibai every two months."
Shang Youqing nodded as he listened, "Then this young master is quite caring. So what is your point?"
At this point, Old Yan's face quickly fell again. "I don't know what happened recently, Ruibai has suddenly become seriously ill. I've consulted several veterinarians, but they are helpless. He is on the verge of death... If President He knew about this, he would spend so much money to raise an animal for his son and suddenly it would die. The zoo might have to close down tomorrow..."
"Besides, this isn't the worst. What's even worse is that another major incident happened right after these past two days!"
Just two days ago, Yunqing Group, controlled by He Cong, won the development project book in the northern suburbs of Ning City.
Mrs. An’s zoo was also included in the area for development and construction.
On the same day, Yunqing Group sent a manager to discuss the land acquisition compensation with Mrs. An, but the old lady was very stubborn and refused to sign. As a result, she was so angry that she was admitted to the hospital.
As Old Yan spoke, he showed Shang Youqing the final restriction notice from Yunqing Group and wiped his face helplessly.
"You know, this zoo is like the lifeblood of this old lady, but now the Yunqing Group is determined to take Mingling Zoo away. In a couple of days, they're going to send someone to take Ruibai back to the He family's manor... But Ruibai is half dead now, and I don't know how to explain it to them..."
Shang Youqing took the notice and glanced at it briefly, his eyebrows slightly curved, and he placed the notice back on Old Yan's forehead. "Don't worry, I have a solution."
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