Chapter 145: Chapter 145: Hot and Sour Stew Noodles
After treating the wound, Lü Jiamu picked up White Brow and locked it in a small cage, measuring 50cm in length, width, and height.
The Monkey Mountain exhibit was quite old, and so was the back house; there was only one large room. If they wanted to separate a macaque, the only option was to isolate it in a small cage, where it couldn't even stretch its tail out.
When the old Monkey Mountain was first built, there was no consideration given to various needs of the macaques, such as sickness. The mindset was that they were not like more precious class one protected animals, like tigers, which required separate enclosures. Macaques were prefixed as common— if one died, they'd simply buy another.
White Brow realized that after the treatment it wasn't set free, but instead was locked in a cramped cage. It immediately went berserk, frantically leaping up and down inside and amidst enraged, loud squealing, violently rattled the iron door of the cage.
"Let me out! Let me out! I want to see my wife!"
"Ah, the poor sap."
Fang Ye, feeling helpless, asked Lü Jiamu, "Has that tourist who fed White Brow been blacklisted?"
"Yes, because the situation seemed okay at the time, so we only blacklisted them for half a year."
"Half a year isn't enough, blacklist them for three years!" Fang Ye, watching White Brow scream and rage incessantly, threw a soothing skill at it. The mental power became like a hand stroking over the top of its head, "I've avenged you, okay!"
Animals don't have self-control. Whether the food they're fed is edible or what impact it has on their health, these are things they do not know. If they see someone feeding them, they naturally will eat. Chips are actually not so bad— the worst is those who throw plastic bags in, which the animals consume without hesitation.
If it's a small piece of plastic bag that can't be digested but is excretable, that's still manageable. However, an entire plastic bag getting tangled within the intestines and not being expellable requires surgery, and one misstep could mean death.
White Brow, having been soothed, immediately quieted down and relaxed considerably.
Once relaxed, its weariness was fully exposed—it sat inside the cage huddled up, with a listless expression.
It was already feeling uncomfortable and had forced itself to fight with Black Claws; its body was indeed suffering.
It wasn't that they didn't use the soothing skill earlier; it was just that it wouldn't be of much use. The animosity between the two monkeys was too great. As soon as Fang Ye left and the soothing effect wore off, they would continue to fight, so separation was necessary.
Fang Ye wanted to feed it some spiritual water, but spiritual water is not a panacea. It could only slightly improve the animal's condition. White Brow was old, with declining function in various aspects of its body, and recovery would definitely take some time.
Seeing White Brow hunkering down in such a tiny cage evoked pity—keeping it locked up until it recovered felt somewhat like torment, but the pet hospital and new monkey exhibit were not yet completed.
Thus, he said, "Let's send it to the back house of the red panda exhibit instead, and talk to Guan Shan about assigning a separate partition for it."
Although the red pandas might not be too fond of having such a noisy neighbor, there was no choice. This would have to do for the time being.
Lü Jiamu's worried brows relaxed a bit, and he nodded earnestly, "Okay!"
He had always taken care of these macaques and knew their emotions. He had a deep fondness for and emotional attachment to the macaques, and the thought of lessening White Brow's suffering made him feel more at ease.
Lü Jiamu's apprentice, who had been pondering since the start, now spoke up, "Considering White Brow's welfare, why not lock up Black Claws too? Wait until White Brow is healed and then let them both out together."
Lü Jiamu glanced at him, "What are you thinking? It's not that simple, or rather, it's not that complicated. If you lock up Black Claws, do you think other monkeys won't want to be the Monkey King? At first only one suffers, but with Black Claws locked up, two would suffer, and the situation would be even more complex when they are released."
The apprentice scratched his head, "Yeah, you're right."
Fang Ye explained, "Who becomes the Monkey King is something the monkeys decide themselves using their own methods. We need to respect the individual, as well as their community relations. Only when excessive aggressive behavior occurs do we need to intervene."
Despite the commotion not being a serious issue, it was still quite exhausting.
Lin Ying checked Lü Jiamu once more to confirm that he hadn't been scratched, then the veterinary team took the emergency kit and headed back to the office building.
The monkeys were still in the outdoor exhibit area, not back in their enclosure, so the animal keeper team had more work to do, guiding the monkeys back and cleaning the exhibit area.
Fang Ye shuffled along in his slippers, relaxing his mind by looking at the roadside flowers and trees. He let out a sigh and decided not to dwell on the troublesome matters any longer as he leisurely strolled to the cafeteria.
He tapped his fingers on the windowsill, "Old Zhang, one bowl of spicy minced pork noodles, please!"
The plump, round face of Old Zhang appeared at the window, smiling warmly, "Just a moment!"
He squinted at the price list hanging on the wall, punched a few buttons on the machine, and then went to cook the noodles.
Fang Ye pulled out a card from his pocket and scanned it.
"Beep, Director's Card!"
The last three words were the sound effects he added in his mind.
As the number of employees increased, it was starting to seem inappropriate to be as casual as when there were only a dozen or so staff members. The cafeteria hence became more formal and adopted a payment system.
There were many internet companies in the Linhai technology park, so setting up a cafeteria payment system was quite straightforward.
Employees had separate meal allowances that were not included in their salaries. The allowances varied by position; for animal keepers, they generally covered three meals a day. If one wanted an extra serving of meat or was craving a midnight snack like crayfish, they would have to pay out of their own pocket.
He sat down at his usual spot against the wall, which didn't have his name on it, but the staff knew of his habit and respectfully kept it vacant for him.
Lan Li was slurping her noodles. She looked up, saw Fang Ye, and blinked, "Director, you're here! I waited for you for a while but then started eating when you didn't show up. Why are you so late today?"
Fang Ye sighed and began telling her about the recent incident, "It's frustrating. A visitor threw a can of potato chips into Monkey Mountain, and the old Monkey King ate them and started feeling unwell. Its rival noticed and the two monkeys got into a fierce fight. Brother Lü was having a hard time handling it."
"Ah!" Lan Li's eyes widened with concern, "Is everything alright?"
"I hurried over to break it up. The old Monkey King got some minor injuries from the fight, but those are trifles. The main issue is the discomfort from the potato chips; it needs some treatment."
Lan Li patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief, "Phew, that's good."
"Eh, it's not that simple..."
Fang Ye continued to explain the complications that followed the incident. While Lan Li listened intently with her hands propping her cheeks, her noodles were served, brought over by a chef.
The noodle soup was vibrant, red, fresh, and glossy, with minced meat, tender green scallions, pristine tofu cubes, and thinly sliced wood ear mushrooms floating on top—it was truly appetizing.
Fang Ye first gently sniffed it, blew away the steam, then took a sip of the soup, finding the slightly hot and sour broth incredibly refreshing.
He exhaled with satisfaction, his stomach stimulated by the tangy taste and becoming lively.
As he slurped down the noodles, Lan Li comforted him, "It's okay, we'll just take it one step at a time."
"You're quite the optimist," Fang Ye laughed, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, where would be a good place to go for fun if someone wanted to go out?"