I have a wildlife zoo

An afternoon had passed by in a flurry of activity!

Arriving at the canteen, Fang Ye looked at the menu and struggled with indecision. What should he have for dinner tonight?

In the past, lunch and dinner were basically rice with a random selection of side dishes, which didn't require much choosing. Now, with the canteen's expanded offerings, which included porridge, rice, and noodles, making a choice seemed to take forever!

Old Zhang was at the counter, smiling at him like Maitreya Buddha.

After pondering for a moment, Fang Ye looked behind him, "Lan Li, you choose first!"

"Me first?" Lan Li was a bit surprised but quickly made up her mind, "Then give me a bowl of green vegetable and corn porridge, an oil cake, and a spicy rabbit leg, please!" Explore more stories at empire

Fang Ye immediately declared in a deep voice, "The same for me!"

Old Zhang smiled broadly, "Alright, I'll just get you guys a whole roasted rabbit then."

"Uh, half will do, a whole one is too much for me," Lan Li replied.

Old Zhang swiped their cards, because everything was available, he didn't make them wait and soon brought over two bowls of porridge, two oil cakes, and a plate of sliced rabbit meat, along with a small plate of crispy fried golden beans on a large tray.

Sitting in his designated seat against the wall, Fang Ye picked up a piece of the rabbit meat with his chopsticks and began eating. The fresh-out-of-the-pot rabbit was still steaming and very tender. It was spicy with a touch of sweetness, and although it was hot, it wasn't too overpowering. It tasted amazing, as if his taste buds were dancing!

He then picked up a golden, small and round golden bean, which easily crumbled in his mouth with a little pressure. Unlike the spicy-sweet rabbit meat, it was the bean's crispiness that brought out its sweetness.

Fang Ye licked his lips and exclaimed with satisfaction, "Oh my, our meals are getting better and better!"

Lan Li giggled, "Boss, following you, I always get to enjoy some extra treats!"

"As long as you don't mind putting on weight, you could order several roasted rabbits for yourself," he told her.

Fang Ye picked up another piece of spicy rabbit meat but then started to wonder if he had forgotten something.

Eh, whatever, eating is the most important thing. Eat, eat, eat.

That's when he overheard some employees at a nearby table discussing, "Yeah, I went to the city yesterday and noticed that supermarkets are already displaying mooncakes."

"That's right, Mid-Autumn Festival is just a week away."

Fang Ye felt somewhat lost and asked Lan Li, "Hey, when is Mid-Autumn Festival?"

Lan Li, holding some rabbit meat with her chopsticks, looked at him incredulously, "Wow, Boss, you really are out of touch with worldly matters, aren't you? You don't even think about festivals, Mid-Autumn is on September 21st."

Fang Ye spread his hands and said helplessly, "No one has taken leave, so how would I know about the holidays?"

Lan Li's eyes twinkled with anticipation, "The zoo must be bustling during Mid-Autumn Festival, right?"

Places like the zoo are busiest on holidays when everyone is out and about enjoying the festivities.

Curious, Lan Li asked again, "By the way, how do you plan to celebrate the festival, Boss? Will you go home?"

She knew that Fang Ye was not a local from Linhai!

Although the employees of the zoo had to work during the festival, as the Director, Fang Ye didn't need to stay there personally, he could leave if he wanted to.

"Ah, about that..."

Fang Ye couldn't help but recall the family of the original owner of his body and fell into contemplation!

Seeing Fang Ye with a worried expression, Lan Li was somewhat startled, wondering if she had asked a wrong question.

After all, the Director hardly ever mentioned his family, and he was also a rich second-generation heir; could there be some complex tale of love and hate involved? She had heard that the family relationships among the wealthy were often very chaotic...

Feeling a little nervous, she whispered, "Director, I'm sorry, just pretend I didn't ask that question."

Fang Ye came back to his senses and saw Lan Li's guilty expression as if in just a short while she had imagined dozens of episodes of tear-jerking family soap operas. He laughed and said, "Hey, what are you thinking about."

In fact, it was just the simple "If you don't manage the zoo well, you'll have to go home and inherit tens of millions in family property" problem!

The original owner's parents wanted him to be the successor to their family business. After graduation, he was supposed to work in the factory, but he found that kind of work boring. He loved animals and wanted to open a zoo to achieve his dreams, which even led to a quarrel with his parents, naturally straining their relationship.

After graduating, the original owner hadn't called his parents, stubbornly trying to achieve success to prove himself.

Unexpectedly, taking over the zoo brought so many troubles that he had to learn all kinds of unfamiliar knowledge every day like a sponge, staying up late into the night studying like a hermit, which resulted in his sudden death.

For Fang Ye, there was an additional barrier. His parents weren't the same as the parents of others on Earth. Although he inherited the original owner's memories and felt a sense of kinship, it was somewhat awkward to call his predecessors' parents, let alone ask them for money...

If the original timeline had continued without the sudden death and the original owner ran the zoo, he likely wouldn't have been able to develop it by himself and might have had to ask his parents for money or sadly step down and inherit the family business reluctantly.

In his old age, he would sit in a luxurious villa, looking at the sunset outside the window with melancholy.

His adorable grandson would ask with concern, "Grandpa, why are you upset?"

The elderly Fang Ye with greying hair would sigh and reminisce, "The happiest time for Grandpa was when he was penniless and started the zoo. He spent every day with the animals, and there was a very beautiful tiger there.

Unfortunately, the zoo didn't last very long before it closed, and I had to return to inherit the family business, working in the factory doing utterly boring work, it was like falling from heaven into hell. Then I was forcibly arranged to marry a beautiful wife I had never met..."

However, having crossed over and inherited the identity of the original owner, Fang Ye knew he would have to face some things eventually.

Fang Ye quickly understood and stopped dwelling on it. Anyway, he would call his parents during the Mid-Autumn Festival to ease the relationship a bit and foster some affection. He wouldn't consider returning home for the time being; he would see how he felt about it when the New Year came.

How to explain the zoo's great development? Well, he could just say it was all thanks to the city's support. The city just happened to want to develop the zoo to enhance the city's image, so he just took advantage of the situation and received strong support—that should work, right?

Fang Ye didn't feel it was right to explain to Lan Li that his family didn't really support the zoo venture; after all, the staff had their misconceptions.

So he simply said, "It's nothing; I've just realized it's been a long time since I've been home. But there's no need to go back during the Mid-Autumn Festival; a phone call home will do. Ah, my love for the zoo is real."

Lan Li smiled sweetly, "Of course the Director loves the zoo the most. We all know that!"

Having thought through his family issues, Fang Ye then contemplated the zoo's affairs. Speaking of which, should the zoo organize some special events for the Mid-Autumn Festival?