Those Years I Opened A Zoo

Chapter 50 Ideology of the Immortal Realm Progressing Rapidly

For the citizens of East Sea City, that inter-religious exchange did not have the slightest impact on their lives, but it brought them a little entertainment.

Although the city was not large, there were more than two million people, and hundreds of religious representatives were here, which was inconspicuous at all. They were considered religious representatives, but in fact, most of them were just monks and priests. The insiders naturally understood the reasons behind the situation.

As a result, many people only got to realize that such a meeting was held in the East after going through social media.

——Hundreds of monks appeared together in Ling You Zoo.

When talking about exchange programmes, it was common to visit local attractions. Although the zoo did have a long history, it was booming recently, not to mention the relationship between the co-organizer Linshui View and Ling You Zoo selling ticket packages together.

The city’s TV station and newspapers both shared the news on the exchange programme, and sent reporters to follow up on the situation, including their tours at scenic spots.

When the monks were visiting the zoo that day, there were actually tourists who took photos and posted them on the Internet, stating that it was a bit interesting and that Ling You had not only conquered the Taoist priests, but the monks too.

Coincidentally, the provincial newspaper also sent reporters to do the forecast. One of them was the photojournalist who filmed “Tai Chi” last time.

The reporter captured a very Zen-like picture. In the new area of Ling You Zoo, clumps of black bamboo could be seen everywhere, and the monks that needed to rest sat on the floor.

The bamboo leaves fluttered in the wind. The monks sat on the grass or on the stone by the road to meditate or even chanted sutras to do their daily homework. They did not bother to care where they were, which made passer-by thought of a word when looking at them——Peace.

In addition, there were several pictures taken that were also very interesting. The monks were in groups of three or five while visiting the animals in the zoo. Outside the monkey mountain, there were little monkeys learning the movements of the monks, putting their palms together.

There was another one. The monk was watching the lion through the glass wall in the Lion and Tiger Pavilion. The word “Tai Chi” was next to it, which seemed like an interesting Easter egg.

Naturally, the reporter’s skills need not be mentioned. As a person who had won international awards, after the pictures of the group of monks visiting the zoo were released, they were reposted by netizens many times.

Netizens were all exclaiming that the photos were great captures. The Zen styles were obvious, and the texture was like a blockbuster, especially the one where the monks were sitting in bamboo forest, which could let the netizens imagine a big show in minutes.

There was a picture of more than a dozen monks, pointing to a Tibetan fox and talking together, as if they did not know the animal. It was full of life.

That kind of artwork seemed to fit everyone’s imagination about Buddhism, even if it was an official tour that was organized, it could show the ideology of Zen. They were not far from modern society, but it did not seem like the monks were just casually going to eat meat and drink after they got off work, but:

“Where I go, I stay a monk”

——A few days later, a rumor about the spiritual cure of bamboo shoots had made arguments: It must be because those bamboos have been blessed! Maybe the Taoist and monks have all been blessed!

…

In reality.

More than a dozen high-ranking monks from various temples gathered outside the Tibetan fox’s cage, pointing to it in an urging manner,

“This beast’s original shape must have changed, it can’t be so small.”

“Look at this spirit. It must have lived for at least a hundred years.”

“The fox spirits are the most cunning. Poor monk caught one in Yedu City last year, but it ran away. Sigh, I was so angry.”

“Senior, you are too careless, I usually catch it like this…”

The eminent monks happily discussed how to reduce demons.

Hu Dawei was trembling!

Why did he have to be threatened by those monks even after he recognised himself as Boss?

Across the dense bald-headed people, Hu Dawei could hardly see Immortal You Su. He thought that she must be eating nonchalantly or closing her eyes to rest. Those monks treated her like an ordinary fox though…

On the other side, Duan Jiaze and the employees gave water to the monks sitting on the ground. There were people paying for it anyways.

Among those monks, some could see things, and some could not if they did not have the sufficient level, so the black bamboos would only look like ordinary bamboo to them.

Duan Jiaze could still hear the disciples being taught a lesson by those disappointed old senior monks. He could even sum up to a conclusion of their words: You are the worst batch I have ever brought!

Ji Shan also came to the East in person, and at that moment, he said sadly to Duan Jiaze, “Mr. Duan, isn’t there a fated one?”

Duan Jiaze said apologetically, “There’s really none, abbot. I’m sorry, this is not my decision.”

The monks from every temple came to him, and he said the same.

Ji Shan secretly watched Duan Jiaze. Others would believe him, but he did not. If the director of that small zoo really had no influence, how could that Bhadanta choose to live there, and why would Linshui View have partnership to sell tickets?

He felt that it was better to have a good relationship with Director Duan first.

After thinking for a long time, Ji Shan suddenly said, “may I know if your zoo accepts foster care?”

Duan Jiaze said in a daze, “Foster what?”

Jishan smiled and said, “When a famous Buddhist temple in the Kingdom of Siam came to visit the Wuliang Temple, it gave many gifts, including a white Asian elephant, which has been taken care of in the temple. However, we are not professionals after all. We hope that it could be fostered by the zoo for life, giving it a better environment.”

A license was required to raise protected animals, even if it was an exchange gift. Wuliang Temple applied for a license and specially invited people to feed it. There was no question of whether there were professionals in the monks.

Duan Jiaze: “!!!”

How could he refuse? The Asian elephant was a first-class protected animal. If he accepted the offer, his task would be completed. If the monk said that it was lifelong foster care, he was actually giving a donation.

The Asian elephant was not only having the rare white skin, but it was also a religious gift from other countries. It had a special meaning and was definitely a highlight. It was impossible to get it in any breeding base.

Legend said that Samantabhadra was riding a white six-toothed white elephant. The elephant was powerful and supple, which coincided with the compassion and power of the Bodhisattva. In ancient times, the kingdom of Siam highly respected the white elephant and regarded it as a sacred object.

Ji Shan transferred the elephants to foster care in Ling You. On the surface, it was justified and well-founded for the elephants to live well. In fact, Ji Shan could also take the opportunity to get in touch with Ling You. He could even find an excuse to see the elephant in the future…

Even if You Su did not come to remind him, Duan Jiaze would surely agree. The monks could come but they could not find Luya anyways. All they could do was gnawing ion bamboo. But, if they did not know how to eat bamboo shoots, they could only buy Ling You Zoo’s tickets for nothing.

“Abbot, since you have taken a look around, I believe you know our conditions, so I won’t say more. Thank you for your trust. Now, let’s discuss the details…” Duan Jiaze immediately finalized the matter.

With a smile, Ji Shan and Duan Jiaze went to the office building to talk in detail.

Other monks looked at Ji Shan with envy and jealousy. In fact, the monks in every temple were now wondering. After the programme was over, they still had to find excuses to visit there.

It was just that their minds were not as flexible as Ji Shan. In fact, some of them had monkeys or lions in their temples. Some had licenses like Wuliang Temple, but some did not.

It was really annoying for them, why did that Bhadanta chose to live in the City of East Sea? If the Bhadanta was anywhere else, they would all be able to settle in. Otherwise, they even thought of opening a Buddhist academy there.

However, they were unsure if Linshui View would agree to it, or what conditions it would offer.

…

Duan Jiaze took Ji Shan to the sitting room of the office building and made a cup of tea for him.

Ji Shan curiously stared at two bents on the floor, one large and one small. The floor tiles were broken into the shape of a spider web.

Noticing his gaze, Duan Jiaze laughed awkwardly and explained, “It broke accidentally.”

Ji Shan thoughtfully said, “It must be a heavy object.”

Duan Jiaze and Ji Shan discussed in detail about the delivery of the white elephant. There was an exhibition area suitable for white elephants in his new area. If there were white elephants, Duan Jiaze wanted to recruit two more breeders who specialized in feeding white elephants.

Ji Shan also mentioned casually if he could contact the media to report on that kind of thing.

After the discussion, Ji Shan asked shyly, “I wonder if I can come and visit the white elephant often in the future?”

Duan Jiaze nodded, “Of course, I’ll talk about it with Chief Zhou.”

“Then, does Director Duan know if whether the brothers from other temples can come to the East in the future?” Ji Shan asked.

Duan Jiaze: “This,I’m not sure about this, nor is it my choice…”

Ji Shan nodded, whether they could come or not, he already seized the opportunity  to visit in broad daylight anyways.

Ji Shan chatted with Duan Jiaze for a while, added their respective social media accounts, and left.

.

In the evening, after the monks reluctantly left, Duan Jiaze asked You Su what to do.

After the monks came, they were not satisfied. They still wanted to visit and their desires were even stronger. If Linshui View still blocked them, they might be able to tear it up. Zhou Xintang of Linshui View was very distressed now, expecting Ling You Zoo to give ideas.

However, Duan Jiaze could not think of how to resolve it reasonably, so he counted on You Su and others.

When You Su wanted to talk, she was interrupted by Luya, “Why do you always ask her? The darn fox always find profit for herself. Please think about it yourself!”

You Su glanced at Luya and did not say a word, but her eyes were still very disapproving.

Duan Jiaze was depressed. Did his heart ever make a good decision? The last person to receive that good treatment was the emperor.

Bai Suzhen also smiled and said, “The director can try talking about your opinions.”

After studying for a period of time, Duan Jiaze had no problems with introducing animals, dealing with relevant departments, and grasping propaganda plans. However, he was no longer good at doing things in that aspect. Every time, he always asked for You Su and Bai Suzhen’s suggestion.

Even Bai Suzhen had said so, Duan Jiaze had to use his head pitifully, “I’m not good at this… Let me think about it…”

…

Duan Jiaze was thinking, while Luya took out two feathers from his pocket and threw them to Duan Jiaze, awkwardly saying, “…today’s.”

Duan Jiaze: “………………”

Duan Jiaze was busy entertaining the monks and did not have time to go to Luya’s cage. Unexpectedly, Luya picked up the feathers and gave them to him.

Isn’t it touching? 😀

Duan Jiaze kept his feathers in his pocket respectfully and said, “Thank you, Luya.”

Only then did he realize that everyone else was looking at them weirdly.

Duan Jiaze: “…what?”

You Su said weirdly, “Taoist, are you gifting feathers to the director?”

With that expression, he knew what she was thinking. Duan Jiaze said, “It’s a misunderstanding. Luya gave it to me because I want to save it up for a pillow. It happens that he occasionally drops a few feathers. There’s no special meaning.”

Luya also looked like he was not guilty, “Yes, don’t use them, so I’m rewarding him.”

Lies, all lies! Everyone thought. Why don’t you reward us?

For example, if that happened among humans, it would be slightly like an ancient woman giving a bunch of her hair to others. Birds used feathers to attract the opposite gender, and they could also be used to cushion their nests. The feathers of the three-legged golden crow contained a certain amount of true fire power, which was of extraordinary significance.

Even if they insisted that there was no special meaning, if he could give that kind of thing away, wouldn’t they be considered true friends?

The others were either delicate or cunning with thoughts, but Xiao Qing said straightforwardly, “Really? I think this looks like a problem, didn’t Taoist always lack a practicing partner?”

Luya: “…”

Duan Jiaze: “…”

Duan Jiaze said with a bit of grief and anger, “Why do you people from the immortal realm have rapid progress of such ideology? When you see a feather drop, you immediately think of the feathers of your whole body, you immediately think of proposing, you immediately think of couples, you immediately think of gay relations, and you think of SM immediately…”

Everyone: “…”

Xiao Qing was also ashamed, as if the soul was seriously tortured and questioned. Xiao Qing admitted, “I was wrong, I just feel that Taoist usually scolds, but in fact, he and the director are quite good friends…”

He did not dare to say anything about practicing partners that time, let alone other people. Otherwise, Duan Jiaze would accuse them for being full of waste and thoughts.

Luya said with a green face, “Who’s being good friends with him!”

Duan Jiaze said quietly, “Then do you admit you like scolding…”

Luya: “…”

Everyone: “…”

The scene fell into an awkward silence. After a while, You Su broke the silence and asked, “Did Director thought of a plan?”

Duan Jiaze hesitated and said, “I have one. Let me talk about it, if you have any questions, just voice up.”

Everyone nodded their heads and listened intently.

Duan Jiaze was afraid that he would not be able to explain clearly, so he took a notebook and wrote a few words with a pen. He explained softly, “I got some ideas from You Su and Sister Bai from before. I’ll let these temples put up billboards and put up promotional videos about our zoo. I know that some temples are also tourist attractions, or in big cities, these are especially important.

“But our small zoo alone will certainly not attract many tourists from other places. Therefore, we still need to involve the Municipal Tourism Bureau and use those billboards to promote to the entire City of the East Sea. Some time ago, our aerial video was very popular, and the city seems to be deliberately creating the image of a tourism city.

“At the same time, through this advertisement, Ling You can also be shaped into a brand, so that foreign tourists have the impression that they must come to the East. In this way, more resources can be developed without restricting the residents of the city.

“In exchange, we have to negotiate with Linshui View about the monks coming to East Sea City. In order not to affect the harmony between the two sides, I think these temples can take turns and send people to Ling You to do volunteer work. To avoid suspicion, they don’t need to wear monks’ clothes, and they can’t preach, nor leave the scope of Ling You Zoo at will.

“That’s probably it…”

After Duan Jiaze finished speaking, he found that everyone was looking at him, not talking. He felt goose bumps for a while, so he scratched his head and said, “Why don’t you talk? By the way, I have another question. Is it a bad idea to not pay these monks?”

Everyone said in unison, “No!!!”

Bai Suzhen smiled and said, “Director has made a lot of progress. You made great considerations.”

You Su also applauded, “Yes, very suitable, everything is covered.”

That plan was not the kind of cruel method of letting each temple donate one million to the zoo, but it might indirectly cause more than one million profits, which was very good for the development of Ling You, and everyone was not at a loss. Even Linshui View would increase revenue due to the increase in tourists.

If they let the monks come to do volunteer work, at least they could sit in the bamboo forest for meditation. At the same time, being of the same realm of practicing, they would not have to worry about being exposed. And with their skills, even if they knew that the animals in the daytime would turn into human at night, they could only think that they were spirit beasts that were subdued by the Bhadanta, like Hu Dawei.

Even the pickiest Luya nodded in agreement.

…

…

When the inter-religious exchange programme was completed, the exchange of terms had been negotiated.

Linshui View did not reluctantly agreed, because it had no impact on itself, and there was potential for profit.

The Municipal Tourism Bureau would be happy, with free set-up of large billboards in more than one hundred cities, including many popular tourist cities and attractions, and broadcast advertising videos. Not to mention the cost. That was like the partnership of Linshui View and Ling You. Money could not be used anywhere.

The monks would also be happy, as long as they helped make an advertisement, they could send people to live there. Everyone had experienced the practice there, and there was a little more chance to get the guidance of the Bhadanta. They would not mind doing some work, because they had done work in the temple too.

Although only one person could go at a time and they needed to be divided into batches, they sent the bigger temples first. There were only three batches, each with forty people, one round a year, and it would soon be others’ turn. For a hundred people, it seemed that more than one monk came from each temple.

Since Wuliang Temple “fostered” the white elephant, the director was very happy, so they were given two additional places. The others had nothing to say.

The happiest one was Duan Jiaze after all. With free advertising and free labor, he also could have the monks to pay him living expenses.

Those monks would officially turn up next month. During that time, it was estimated that the various temples would have to filter the candidates. Those who were too old were not accepted, and they had no needs to come. Basically, they would only choose the most promising ones who were in their prime of life.

With so many people, it was impossible to live in the vacant exhibition hall for a long time, so Duan Jiaze planned to use some living expenses to rent a house in a nearby village. Many young people went to the city to work, so it was not a problem to resettle those dozens of people.

He had a lot of exchanges with the village because of land leases. Recently, they rented land for the aquarium again, so the rent that was not high turned cheaper too.

There was also the kindest abbot of Wuliang Temple, Abbot Ji Shan, who sent a significant Asian elephant, which made Duan Jiaze very excited.

With that kind of cheap offer, he really hoped future offers like that would keep on coming to his doorstep!