I have a wildlife zoo

Fang Ye placed the flowers in a cardboard box and carried the large box towards the exhibition area, setting it down at a distance from the pond.

"It's no good if they get wet from being too close to the water!"

Approaching the pond, he greeted cheerfully, "Jiaojiao, Ice Cake! I'm here to see you!"

Ice Cake got very excited seeing Fang Ye!

In the pond, it leaped like an unbridled pony, running and jumping spiritedly towards the bank.

However, as Fang Ye squatted down with arms opened, ready to welcome it, Ice Cake playfully turned its head and ran back, splashing water with its hind legs onto Fang Ye's face.

The white-striped lively little tiger frolicked unrestricted between Fang Ye and Jiaojiao, treating this as some sort of game or exercise, appearing to be having a great time and very happy!

Jiaojiao lay in the water, seemingly too comfortable to come out, lifting her big head to turn towards Fang Ye with her amber tiger eyes meeting his for a moment as a greeting, blinking and shaking off water drops from her chin before lying down again.

"Hey there, you little rascal, just watch—I'm not going to let you get away with this."

As Fang Ye was splashed by water droplets, his face stated something fierce, but the smile at the corners of his mouth could not be concealed; he scooped up a handful of water and splashed it towards Ice Cake!

Ice Cake, splashed with water, climbed out of the pond, shaking its head and fur like Jiaojiao. Before it was done shaking, it rubbed itself on Fang Ye's leg.

Fang Ye petted Ice Cake's head with a laugh, "Are you using my clothes as a rag now, huh?"

After all, the zookeeper's uniform provided by the system was waterproof and stain-resistant, so even if it got muddy, it would easily clean up after a wash, thus he let Ice Cake rub against him.

Seeing Ice Cake come out, Jiaojiao also stood up from the water, shook off the water two meters away from Fang Ye, licked her wet paws, and then lazily walked over.

She seemed quite happy about Fang Ye's arrival, snorting "purr purr, purr" from her nose. First, she rubbed against Fang Ye, then leaned her big head towards him, lowered it, and tilted into his embrace, rubbing her chest against him, squinting her eyes in a blissful expression.

"Good girl, did you miss me?"

Fang Ye admired Jiaojiao's clean and pretty white fur on her cheeks as he gently touched them, "Big cats are always so clean every day!"

He massaged Jiaojiao's broad head, then kissed her cheek, "Mua!"

Jiaojiao stretched out her tongue, wanting to lick Fang Ye, who quickly dodged, "Hey, hey, I get it, I get it, no need for the licking!"

His delicate skin couldn't stand being licked by a grown tiger—it hurt quite a bit.

What if he got scratched? That would spoil the fun when playing with friends later on.

While rubbing Jiaojiao's ears, the tiger's ears were black with a prominent circular spot, soft and elastic to the touch, springing back up whenever pressed.

For animals, ears are quite sensitive, but Jiaojiao's ears didn't press down; she relaxed and let Fang Ye caress and squeeze them, while a deep purring "woof woof" roared from her chest, indicating she was enjoying it.

As Fang Ye was enjoying himself, he suddenly felt a pain in his foot and discovered that Ice Cake had started to nibble on his toes.

"Hey, Ice Cake! Keep this up and you'll get a taste of the Magic Slippers!"

Wincing and sucking in a breath, Fang Ye quickly pulled his foot back, dragging Ice Cake along and lifting it by the scruff of its neck.

Ice Cake's blue eyes looked at him innocently, as if to say, what could a little kitty do wrong? It just liked nibbling on toes.

"You're still wet, give yourself a good lick."

Fang Ye set Ice Cake down next to Jiaojiao on the grass, and Jiaojiao obligingly helped Ice Cake lick its damp fur, still somewhat muddy from the water.

Initially, Ice Cake was a bit mischievous and kept trying to run away, but Jiaojiao pawed it back, eventually showing its belly, batting at Jiaojiao's face with its paws.

Hey hey hey!

After several repeated attempts, Jiaojiao opened her mouth wide and roared angrily at it.

"All you know is how to play! I'm trying to clean you!"

Ice Cake seemed to be frightened and finally calmed down, obediently lying down to let Jiaojiao lick its fur clean.

After its fur was clean, Ice Cake rolled over and stood up, once again a clean and adorable little striped pig.

Its little head obediently tilted up, and it touched noses with Jiaojiao, offering a kiss.

Jiaojiao also lowered her head, with a tender gaze fixed on Ice Cake.

The visitors in front of the glass curtain wall, seeing the scene at the water pond where Jiaojiao and Ice Cake were looking into each other's eyes, their nose tips touching, couldn't help but exclaim.

"Wow, that's so loving!"

"What a heartwarming mother and child!"

A child raised his head and said innocently and sweetly, "Mama, I want to kiss you! I love you!"

The mother, moved, replied, "Yes! Baby, I love you too!"

Once Jiaojiao had finished cleaning Ice Cake, Fang Ye picked Ice Cake up into his arms and, with a smile to Jiaojiao, said, "Let's go; there's a gift for you today!"

Jiaojiao followed behind Fang Ye and saw a big cardboard box.

She immediately became excited. Is this the gift prepared for me?

Perhaps those who keep cats at home have had this experience: they disregard expensive toys but are especially fond of playing with newly opened delivery boxes.

That's because cardboard boxes provide a sense of security to cats. Felids in the wild are predators who need to hide to observe and ambush their prey, and the confined space of a cardboard box can meet this need. It also serves to protect them from the wind and keep them warm.

Stuffing their bodies full into the box can give the cats a sense of psychological comfort!

For Jiaojiao, a golden Siberian tiger from the northeast, cardboard boxes were just as attractive, and they were commonly used enrichment props in Linhai Zoo for felids.

Ice Cake, already eager, struggled in Fang Ye's arms, wanting to jump into the box and ended up being tossed to the ground by him.

Seeing Jiaojiao also showing intense interest in the box, edging close to peek inside, Fang Ye smiled and stroked her head, saying, "Don't rush, there's still something inside."

He pulled out a beautiful bouquet of flowers from the box!

The flowers were lovely, with their bright purple and pink colors, and even gave off a faint fragrance.

If they were ordinary flowers, Jiaojiao might not be very interested. However, the fragrance of these flowers was so pleasant, reminding her of many beautiful things, like the green grassland and the clear sky, the warmth of the zookeeper's embrace, and the way Ice Cake played with her tail.

Her already happy mood became even more joyful, and she blissfully squinted her eyes.

The key was that all these things were now truly hers, unlike in the past when she could only dream about them.

With this thought, she couldn't help but lift her head to look at Fang Ye, rubbing her head against him.

"Wow!"

The visitors outside hurriedly took photos to record this precious scene, discussing enthusiastically, "Isn't this what they call 'bold as a tiger, but delicate in sniffing the rose'?"

"What special day is it today that they're giving flowers to the tiger? Could it be the tiger's birthday?"

"The zookeeper is quite romantic, and the tiger seems really happy too!"

"I just love Linhai Zoo! This is probably the only place you can see such a scene."