Super Zoo

Suming drove with Nangong Yan to a famous restaurant where they feasted heartily on Japanese cuisine. The so-called "ryori" or cuisine in Japanese, which means 'to process' in Chinese, stands for 'dish' in Japanese. In contrast to the focus on color, aroma, and taste in Huaxia's gourmet food, Japanese cuisine prioritizes visual enjoyment as well as the delicacy and beauty of the food presentation and the harmonization of ingredients and crockery.

In other words, it was not filling at all. A large table of beautifully presented small dishes reminiscent of an art exhibit, but alas, the amount of food in each dish wasn't even enough to feed a cat.

Not only was it unsatisfying in terms of portion size, but sitting was also uncomfortable, feeling the squish against one's stomach when seated cross-legged on the tatami mats. Suming thought he'd rather squat to eat…

"Try this, it's really special, the taste of their sashimi. You get what you pay for..." Nangong picked up a piece of fish, as thin as a cicada's wing with her small silver chopsticks, dabbed it with wasabi, and placed it on the small lacquer plate in front of Suming.

Suming had yet to judge the quality of the food, but the prices were definitely steep. He had dined in quite a few upscale restaurants with Zhao Yun, and in terms of price, this place was by no means inferior.

After a taste, Suming suddenly laughed, "Don't you find this taste very familiar?" He often ate fish from Shuijun Lake and was more than familiar with the taste of fish raised in waters of great "spiritual power". The moment this piece of sashimi hit his taste buds, they screamed an unmistakable signal: it was a product of Shuijun Lake.

"No way!" Nangong Yan's eyes widened in surprise. She picked up a small piece without dipping it in any sauce and savored it carefully in her mouth.

"I couldn't possibly be mistaken. In the whole city, the only fish with this taste comes from Shuijun Lake, nowhere else," Suming asserted.

"This is outrageous!" Nangong Yan slammed her chopsticks down on the table, upset, "The menu clearly stated it was black tuna!"

Black tuna, also known colloquially as 'black Skipjack', is not widely recognized by either of those names. However, people are familiar with its common Chinese names 'bluefin tuna' or just 'tuna'.

This fish is known for its rich and delicious flesh and high nutritional value, making it a top-grade ingredient for sashimi. Also, because of overfishing and subsequent scarcity, its price has skyrocketed.

The most expensive dish on the table ordered by Nangong was this plate of black tuna sashimi.

But in Shuijun Lake, only four major species of fish and blackfish were raised—no black tuna was to be had. If it was as Suming said, and the sashimi on the plate originated from some kind of fish in Shuijun Lake, then the restaurant was switching the real for the fake, tricking consumers.

"Forget it, it's just a small amount of money. There's no need to make a fuss and ruin the meal," Suming stopped Nangong Yan, who was about to confront the restaurant staff.

A few hundred bucks was no big deal, and the taste wasn't bad after all. He was actually quite curious about this counterfeit black tuna fish slice.

In theory, the flesh of black tuna, whether in terms of color or texture, is noticeably different from the lake's major species and blackfish, and a connoisseur could tell at a glance. Even an experienced food lover like Nangong Yan should have been able to identify it easily.

The restaurant must have used some clever slicing technique to make the two kinds of fish appear similar.

The key was the taste. If Suming wasn't so familiar with the fish from Shuijun Lake, he might have been completely fooled. It wasn't until Suming pointed it out that Nangong Yan noticed something was amiss.

"If I'd known it'd be like this, I might as well have grabbed a couple of fish straight from Shuijun Lake." Nangong Yan blinked her large eyes earnestly, "Instead of letting these swindlers make money, why don't you just open your own restaurant? After all, the fish from Shuijun Lake taste so good, surely you won't lack customers."

"I'd love to open a big restaurant," sighed Suming, shrugging, "but I don't have the money!"

Though lacking funds to open a grand restaurant, he had plenty for shopping, and that afternoon they hit Wanda Plaza for a spree. Amid the current economic downturn, except for the dining establishments, Wanda Plaza stores were staffed more heavily than patronized—Suming and Nangong practically had half a floor to themselves. After a round of shopping, Suming bought a watch and Nangong a bag. They left with a strange feeling, as if something wasn't quite right.

"I bought a watch today…" murmured Suming.

"And I bought a bag today…" echoed Nangong from the passenger seat.

The two turned their heads to look at each other and simultaneously burst out laughing, "This is just too absurd!"

...

Early the next morning, just as Suming arrived at the office, Mrs. Tong came knocking on the door, followed by Hou, the bashful keeper from Monkey Mountain, hanging his head.

Seeing their demeanor, Suming sensed there was trouble again, "What's the matter? Sit down, Mrs. Tong, and you too, Hou."

Hou glanced nervously at Mrs. Tong, who glared at him, "Just speak up when you're told to, you're so big, yet act like a shy girl."

"Deputy Director, I made a mistake at work... please chastise me..." Hou said, hanging his head low.

"You haven't said anything yet, how can the leader criticize you! Besides, the Deputy Director isn't that kind of unreasonable person!" Mrs. Tong said from the side.

Suming realized then that Hou must have done something wrong. At the last meeting, when the new zoo regulations were announced and work discipline was emphasized, Hou must have been afraid of being punished, so he brought Mrs. Tong along to intercede for him.

Hou usually had a very proper work attitude and was a responsible person, so Suming didn't rush to blame him for anything. He asked what had happened first, and only then did he learn that Monkey Mountain and the gibbon area were at it again.

Last time when the gibbons collectively threatened suicide as a form of protest, Suming had resolved the issue. It hadn't been long since then, and now there was unrest once more. Hou felt he had let down his leader's trust for not doing his job well.

"Wait, let me go take a look first," Suming said, curious. How could there be trouble again out of nowhere? Last time he took the gibbons up the mountain for a night of fun. They even held a wine-making competition with the monkey troop, which wasted quite a few fruit for brewing.

Arriving at Monkey Mountain, those white-browed gibbons were indeed lying on top of the cage again, howling towards Monkey Mountain; although this time, they refrained from using drastic measures like crashing into walls to commit suicide.

Seeing Suming had come over, the gibbons howled even more vigorously, shaking the cages hard and baring their teeth at Monkey Mountain. Some were even randomly gesturing with their hands.

With a slight probe of his spiritual power, Suming could sense the gibbons felt as though they had suffered a great injustice.

"Hm? How did the monkeys offend you again?" Suming was taken aback.

The last time the gibbons went mad, the monkeys on the other side were just onlookers, but now, Monkey Mountain was eerily quiet, completely lacking the usual buzz of monkeys frolicking everywhere. The vast expanse of Monkey Mountain had only a sparse few monkeys lazily lying on the ground, belly up, looking almost as if they were on their deathbeds. Most of the monkeys were nowhere to be seen, likely hiding in the various caves of Monkey Mountain.

The weather today was nice, with warm sunshine. Monkeys didn't have a habit of sleeping in, if it were a normal day, they would have already run out to play all over, basking in the sun, grooming for fleas, flirting. The current deserted scene obviously didn't fit the monkey troop's characteristics.

Initially, Hou, the animal keeper, only noticed the unusual commotion from the white-browed gibbons and had not paid attention to Monkey Mountain. Now following Suming and taking another look, he also realized something was off.

"Deputy Director, I'll go inside Monkey Mountain to check," Hou quickly volunteered. If something had happened on Monkey Mountain, as the manager, it would be inexcusable, and no amount of intercession would suffice. Moreover, there was a national treasure, the Qinling Golden Monkey, in the mountain. If anything happened to the little guy, it would be a serious incident of negligence.

Speaking of it, Hou felt quite depressed. His work was always diligent and honest, without any shirking or deception. How come both Monkey Mountain and the gibbons had developed problems at the same time?

"No need, it's not your fault, and you're not to blame. Alright, go do your work; I'll go down Monkey Mountain to take a look." Suming suspected that this must have something to do with the 'conflicts' between the gibbons and the monkey troop. Such matters had already surpassed the abilities of a regular animal keeper, and Hou couldn't be blamed. Discover stories at empire

Entering Monkey Mountain through the keeper's entrance, Suming strode towards a macaque lying on a large rock, basking its belly in the sun. Macaques always had a clever liveliness about them. Under normal circumstances, they would have scampered away as soon as someone approached and they detected the presence of people.

But until Suming walked up to it, the macaque didn't notice, sprawling like a pig with its belly facing upward, its cheeks as red as its bottom, actually asleep and emitting light snoring sounds. Bubbles were emerging from its mouth corner, and drool was trickling out.

"I go, who's the bored visitor that fed the monkeys alcohol?" After getting closer, Suming smelled a strong scent of alcohol from the macaque. It seemed this fellow was drunk!

The remaining few monkeys lying on the ground were the same, all dead drunk, sleeping sweetly and soundly, drooling profusely.

Walking deeper into Monkey Mountain, not surprisingly, the rest of the monkeys were all drunkenly sprawled inside the caves, with an overturned bamboo tube beside the Old Monkey King...

Suming picked up the bamboo tube to have a sniff, and it reeked of alcohol. It seemed it wasn't visitors who had fed the monkeys alcohol, but rather the monkeys themselves had stolen it and drunk it on their own.

"The Monkey Wine is ready?" Suming sniffed carefully again, and the wine in the tube didn't quite smell like Monkey Wine. Previously, Monkey Wine was low in alcohol content, similar to ordinary wine. But the scent from the bamboo tube was closer to that of mild liquor.

Primates have an affinity for alcohol and amour; it's not surprising that monkeys like to drink. But where did they get so much liquor? Could it be that this bunch of louts sneaked out in the middle of the night, swept a liquor supermarket clean, and then ate all by themselves, not sharing with the gibbons, which is why the gibbons were furious?

"Stop sleeping, stop sleeping," Suming lifted and shook the Old Monkey King, who was too self-centered. If they had swept through a tobacco and liquor supermarket, he knew only to steal alcohol, how could he not think of bringing back a few packs of good cigarettes?

The Old Monkey King woke up from Suming's shaking, squinting sleepily, and grinned at Suming, revealing a few yellow teeth, then went limp again, sliding down along the wall.

"Auk! Auk! Auk auk auk!" The angry calls of the gibbons came from behind, along with the sound of banging on the cages.

"What? They stole your alcohol?" Suming was startled.