Super Zoo

Indeed, they were ugly. The newborn cubs resembled rats, or perhaps hairless crested dogs that had been scalded with boiling water. In short, anyone seeing them for the first time would never be able to associate these two little clowns with pandas. It's the same with human babies. Often in the maternity wards of hospitals, people say that the newborns are so beautiful and handsome, just like their parents, but they're basically flat-out lying. Newborns are wrinkled, with all their features squished together. If they actually looked like their parents, it would only be if their dad were Jack Ma… But indeed, the newborns brought joy to the few people present and to both pandas. The panda parents, having no experience at all, held the cubs in their paws, then carried them in their mouths, making Suming's heart race. The vet had never given birth to pandas, but he still had the most basic knowledge. After letting the pandas 'play' with the cubs for a while, he took the opportunity to decisively snatch the cubs away. "Ao ao ao…" The panda parents were not having it, crying out at the vet in great dissatisfaction. Newborn panda cubs are very fragile in terms of physical strength and immunity. If left to their parents, the survival rate would be very low. Pandas are quite oblivious, and a moment of inattention can harm the cubs. Just now, when Lele was turning over in her sleep, she almost caused an accident. Had it crushed the cubs, they would now be nothing but panda mush. "The nursery is ready over at the medical center. Let's take the cubs back first," said the vet before dashing behind Suming. "Using your superior as a human shield so blatantly, that's not very appropriate, is it?" Suming rolled his eyes, then glanced at the two unwilling adult pandas and gestured to them, "Come with us, but no messing around." The group snuck out of the back door of the panda exhibit, slinking along quieter paths. The two pandas were in the lead like watchdogs, sniffing around. Whenever they caught the scent of a stranger, they immediately turned a corner. After taking a long detour, they arrived at the zoo's medical center. After the zoo turned its losses into profits, the first thing they did was to allocate funds to expand the medical center. Now, it was a two-story building resembling a small hospital. The two pandas burst through the curtains into the medical center, startling the two nurses who were chatting. "They've been born?" Seeing Suming and the vet follow closely behind, with the vet holding a squirming bundle of cloth in his arms, the on-duty nurse Mr. Liao immediately understood what had happened and hurried to the second floor to open the door to the pre-prepared nursery. After the two pandas squeezed in through the door crack, nurse Liao quickly closed the door. "Damn, this feels like producing drugs," Suming sighed with relief once everything was secure. For once, nurse Liao wasn't gripping his belt the moment he saw Suming; instead, his attention was focused on the two panda cubs, performing a series of examinations. Both panda cubs were male, one weighing 426 grams and the other 395 grams; together they weighed less than a kilogram. Yingying and Lele were in the nursery for the first time and were full of curiosity about everything around them. They promptly forgot they had just become fathers, waddling around to look here and there. A scent of milk attracted their attention. Nurse Liao, holding a cub in each arm, was feeding them with small baby bottles. The cubs had tiny mouths, just big enough to fit the nipples, and lots of milk flowed out from their mouths. "Ao ao ao…" The pandas clung to nurse Liao's legs, whimpering for attention. The nurse, weighing less than the pandas, was pushed back repeatedly and helplessly looked to Suming for assistance. "Do you guys even have a clue?!" Suming was speechless. How could these two big guys have the nerve to fight over the milk meant for the cubs? He grabbed one in each hand, pulling Yingying and Lele back by their round ears. The pandas wouldn't have it and sprawled out on the ground, rolling around like two big meatballs, one moment here, the next moment there, making it impossible for anyone to stand in the nursery. "That's enough!" Suming was defeated. No wonder pandas aren't suited to nurture their own cubs. He nodded towards Nurse Liao and said, "Milk." "What?!" Nurse Liao was startled, instinctively protecting her chest, stammering "I... don't have milk..." Suming had a face full of black lines: "This early in the morning, can you not be off the wall? I'm talking about formula, Sister!" "Oh oh oh..." Nurse Liao handed Suming the formula with a red face. Suming found a bucket, dumped the entire bag of formula into it, and stirred up a bucket of milk with a bottle of boiling water. Smelling the scent of milk, the two pandas immediately stopped rolling and got up. They circled the metal bucket, not afraid of the heat, sticking out their tongues and licking ferociously. Their carefree behavior somewhat eased Suming's mind. When they eventually returned to Xiangjiang Ocean Park, they probably wouldn't suffer from separation anxiety. The two panda cubs still had no names, and the task fell on Suming's shoulders. Lacking talent in this area, he irresponsibly came up with two names that left people speechless: the bigger one was called Biggie, and the smaller one, Little. "Well, if the names are just off-the-cuff, then so be it." The vet pointed at Biggie and Little: "What's going to happen to these two in the future?" Yingying and Lele would soon return to Xiangjiang, and when the zoo suddenly presented two panda cubs, anyone with half a brain would guess what was up. They needed a backstory for the cubs, or it would be hard to explain things to Xiangjiang. Relations between the mainland and Xiangjiang were sensitive, and if they actually demanded the cubs back, there could be pressure from above. They needed an excuse, at least one that seemed plausible. Suming thought for a moment, then asked, "How long will these little guys take to look like pandas and have basic wilderness survival skills?" "In about thirty days, they'll look like panda cubs and can leave the nursery, but surviving on their own is definitely not possible," the vet said. "Right. Keep them in the nursery for now. When they're a bit bigger, we'll let them loose on the back mountain. I'll find someone to secretly take care of them. In a couple of months, once they've grown a bit, we can introduce them, claiming they were discovered on the back mountain. The back mountain is part of the Qinling range, so it's somewhat plausible to find two giant pandas there." "Alright, it's not like they're going to snitch," the vet said, watching the two adult pandas hugging the bucket and drinking milk. Suming, wearing protective gear to prevent bacterial infection, stayed in the nursery until the afternoon, until the two cubs had undergone a series of checks and were tucked into the incubator and fell asleep. Only then did he leave with Yingying and Lele. In the following days, Yingying finally got to live in an air-conditioned glass room, and Suming made time every day to visit the medical office. The panda cubs were doing well, growing nicely, and had gained size within a week, starting to resemble young pandas. Just coming out of the medical office that day, his phone rang; it was Jiao Shou calling. An overseas movie distribution company, one he had never heard of, wanted to discuss the international distribution rights for Terror Animal City with Suming.