Chapter 13: The Wolf and the Fox

Peng Qing was an experienced zookeeper who had worked in the zoo since graduating from technical school, and had dedicated half his life to his job. He was hardworking and never complained, earning him a good reputation among the staff. Mr. Song, the zoo director, had assigned him to mentor Suming and be responsible for feeding the animals.

"Mr. Peng, good morning." Suming arrived at the warehouse and greeted a simple and honest-looking middle-aged man.

Mr. Peng, already dressed in his work uniform, was pushing a cart out of the warehouse. Seeing Suming, he smiled and said, "Morning. Go get changed, and then we can load the cart together and head out."

"Right away," Suming scratched his head. Though Mr. Peng hadn't said anything, Suming felt slightly embarrassed. It wasn't great having the master wait for his apprentice on the first day of work.

Suming entered the staff room next to the warehouse, took a blue coat off the wall, put it on, changed into a pair of rubber boots, and pocketed a pair of leather gloves. With an air of professionalism, he pushed out a small cart, fully equipped.

Then, under the guidance of Mr. Peng, the two selected food for the animals from the warehouse, mainly meat but supplemented with some fruit and coarse grains. The two small carts were loaded with ten large baskets.

"This is going to cost quite a bit."

Just this meal alone was probably a few thousand, and the zoo fed the animals more than once a day, with more keepers than just Mr. Peng and Suming.

This also showed why zoos were difficult to manage; the expenses for feeding animals were staggeringly high. Yangchuan City had several large parks, but only one zoo. Other cities were similar, and just the daily feeding of the animals was a massive burden. The modest ticket revenue was far from enough to cover expenses, making it a significant financial strain for the government. Moreover, the zoo housed many nationally protected animals, and any death would result in accountability.

Like other public venues, ordinary parks had it much better; they only required a one-time investment and had far fewer ongoing costs.

"This food is barely enough to keep the animals from starving; the budget is just not enough," Mr. Peng said with a wry smile, shaking his head. He led the way with his cart, saying, "Let's go to the Wolf Pen first."

The Wolf Pen was a semi-enclosed large cage. Two layers of wire mesh enclosed a space of over fifty square meters, divided into two parts. The front section was the wolves' activity area, where visitors could view the wolves through wire mesh over a railing about chest high. The rear half was the wolves' "sleeping and resting" area, enclosed by walls.

A large metal sign hung outside the Wolf Pen with an introduction.

"Mongolian Wolf, also known as the Steppe Wolf, belongs to the canine family. It is a subspecies of the Grey Wolf and is a national secondary protected species. Vigilant and suspicious by nature, its form is similar to dogs, highly intelligent, and able to communicate with its kin through scent and calls."

In the evolutionary process of ancient animals, the three most perfectly evolved carnivorous animals were the Titan Birds, Saber-toothed Tigers, and wolves. Today, the Titan Birds and Saber-toothed Tigers are extinct, leaving only the wolves.

In the Wolf Pen, a larger wolf was drinking from a trough. Although it had its head down, its legs were straight, and its ears were pointed high and forward, giving it an impressive stance.

Two other wolves stood not far from the trough, but they lacked the ferocity of the drinking wolf. Their fluffy tails curled slightly upward and swayed from time to time, suggesting a desire to please.

If he weren't in the zoo, Suming might have thought he was looking at two Huskies.

Several other wolves lay in the grass nests at the back of the pen.

"The one drinking water is the alpha," Mr. Peng explained with a smile, and then took out a key to open a small iron window beside the feeding trough on the cage.Alerted by the scent of a stranger, the alpha raised its head. Its long ears instantly laid back on its head, and its back fur bristled. It bared its sharp fangs by curling up its lips and arched its back to roar at Suming.

Even though Mr. Peng was closer to the alpha, the wolf roared at Suming and ignored Mr. Peng entirely.Mr. Peng explained, "Wolves are as smart as dogs, they know we're here to feed them. But since you're new, they don't recognize you. They'll get used to you after some time..."

Before he could finish, the alpha suddenly stopped roaring and calmly lay down where it was, splitting its lips, relaxing its ears to the side, sticking out its tongue, and yawning.

The other wolves also stopped showing hostility towards Suming, and one even rolled over on the spot, exposing its belly.

"What's going on?" Mr. Peng was taken aback and stopped feeding, looking at the wolves and then back at Suming with a puzzled expression."

The position of a wolf's ears indicates its attitude; ears pressed back indicate a threat and preparation to attack, whereas ears relaxed to the sides show a state of ease.

As for exposing the belly, it signifies extreme trust and even a hint of coaxing affection. For most animals, the belly is the most vulnerable part that needs to be protected.

At this moment, the alpha clearly had softened its aggression towards Suming, and the lean wolf rolling on the ground was showing a rare kindness to Suming.

This behavior wouldn't be surprising in dogs, but wolves were different. In theory, they only expose their belly while playing with their own kind.

Having fed the wolves for so many years, at most, they would just be indifferent to Mr. Peng's presence, far from being affectionate. As for exposing their bellies, that was something he had never even considered.

Suming chuckled and waved a piece of beef in his hand, "I'm here to feed them, so of course, they want to please me."

"The director said you had a way with animals. It seems he was right," Mr. Peng laughed, tossing beef into the wolf enclosure.

Of course, this was due to the "animal friend" attribute.

Because of the "animal friend's" spiritual power, the most simple and direct way, and also the most effective in gaining an animal's trust, the effect it had even surpassed the relationship Mr. Peng had established with the wolves through long-term feeding.

After all, wolves only made guesses based on their habits about Mr. Peng's behavior. For the naturally suspicious wolves, this kind of guesswork couldn't completely dispel their doubts and concerns, whereas Suming's use of psychic abilities could achieve and even surpass the effect of "communication among their own kind."

The wolves weren't stupid, especially those in the zoo, which had picked up some of the "merchant-like cunning" of humans. Given that they understood Suming was there to feed them, it was understandable for them to demonstrate some appeasing behaviors that were quite uncharacteristic of "wolfish nature."

The lead wolf still cared about its pride, and its attitude toward Suming shifted from hostile to somewhat indifferent, maintaining its dignity as a leader; the rest of the wolves, particularly the weakest one, outright flipped over to show their bellies in a fawning manner, completely abandoning their integrity.

However, for Suming to control these wolves, especially that one, was nearly impossible.

Suming helped Mr. Peng feed them, and in the blink of an eye, more than ten pounds of meat had disappeared into the wolves' stomachs.

The wolves still seemed unsatisfied, forming a circle around Suming under the lead wolf's direction, all giving him a cold and threatening stare, as if to say, "If you don't feed us, believe me, I'll bite you to death."

"Really ungrateful wolves..." Suming rolled his eyes.

Interacting with animals is sometimes similar to interacting with people. Everyone has a different personality. With warm-hearted people, you can quickly become friends, but with those who are naturally solitary and indifferent, it takes much longer to build a friendship.

In human terms, some animals are easy to get along with, like monkeys, while others, like wolves and those damned alligator snapping turtles, are more challenging!

With the gift of being an animal friend, Suming could in theory become 'friends' with any animal, or even their master, as long as his psychic power was strong enough.

"Just take it slow. As the saying goes, the journey tests a horse's strength and time reveals a wolf's heart..."

Just as Suming was about to throw some more meat down, Mr. Peng stopped him and scooped up a small basin of mushy strawberries to sprinkle into the Wolf Pen.

"Wolves eat strawberries?" Suming asked in surprise.

"Wolves mostly eat meat, but they also need to eat fruits. It helps balance their diet and provides additional nutrients."

Suming got an eye opener, watching the wolves sniff the strawberries and then devour them eagerly, splattering juice as they bit into each berry. After finishing, they even licked the strawberry juice around their mouths with their tongues.

From outside the cage, they looked just like a bunch of perfectly sane Huskies.

After feeding the wolves, Suming followed Mr. Peng to the adjacent Red Fox area.

The Red Fox, commonly referred to as 'fox', had big, round eyes and bushy tails for balance. Its fiery red fur had become somewhat messy and dull due to the zoo's lacking nutrition.

Red foxes are also class two nationally protected animals, but unlike wolves, these adorable-looking creatures are typical loners, rarely gathering with their kind.

Through psychic communication, Suming discovered that red foxes were even more difficult than wolves to deal with.

Wolves are like cold and proud swordsmen. They are hard to approach, but once you earn their trust, you can share a bond of life and death.

The red fox, however, was like a cunning and fickle maiden, afflicted with generalized anxiety disorder, suspicious and uncertain about everything around her.

The expression 'sly as a fox' comes from this behavior.

This little lady's disposition could also be rather vicious. Mr. Peng told Suming that red foxes enjoyed 'overkilling'. Regardless of whether they could eat all their prey, they would kill any living creature they encountered.

Like all little ladies, the red foxes particularly liked fruits and snacks such as 'little birds'. Suming threw an apple into the enclosure, and the red fox quickly held the apple with its little paws, scurried to a dark corner, and started munching on it, occasionally lifting its head to watch Suming warily from a distance.

...

Having walked almost all morning and fed more than a dozen animals, such as leopards, wild boars, and others, Suming also visited the aviary and fed a Haidong Qing several pieces of meat.

Suming tried to communicate with every animal using his psychic power, intending to 'make friends and get acquainted,' and he noted that each animal's personality was quite unique, even among those of the same species.

After feeding the animals, Suming and Mr. Peng returned the cart to the storeroom. After changing clothes, Mr. Peng patted Suming on the shoulder, smiling and said, "I live near Mingqing Residence. I have a big space there and grow some cabbage and cucumbers. If you don't have time to buy groceries, come over and pick some for a fresh bite."

"Thank you, Mr. Peng," Suming said, nodding with a smile.

After a busy morning, his psychic power had also slightly increased. Suming hurried back to Whisperwind Pavilion, curious about the condition of his neighbor, the giant catfish, and whether it was recovering well.

If possible, Suming of course wished for the creature to survive and thrive.

Returning to Whisperwind Pavilion, Suming hadn't even entered when he heard some rustling inside the room!

"Could it be a thief, or could it be Mr. Wang?"