I have a wildlife zoo

Early in the morning, the familiar alarm clock sounded.

Fang Ye hit the snooze button and crawled out of bed, groggily starting his morning routine.

Squeezing the toothpaste, he brushed his teeth in front of the mirror while pondering, "First I'll read for a bit, then head to the cafeteria for breakfast, followed by a tour of the exhibits..."

"Ding~"

Just then, a WeChat notification chirped from his phone. Fang Ye picked it up and saw it was from Lan Li.

"Has the director woken up yet?"

"Are we having breakfast at the cafeteria today, or shall we head to the city Ψ(￣∀￣)Ψ"

"Want to try something different for once?"

Fang Ye was startled and suddenly remembered that he had made plans to go out today.

He had almost forgotten, a zoo director so deeply engrossed in his work every day was truly a spectacle to behold!

Hastily rinsing his mouth, "gurgle, gurgle, gurgle, ptui!"

He typed hurriedly on his phone, "Just woke up and saw your message. Let's go eat in the city then?"

He hadn't bought train tickets to Pingjiang because for short-distance cities like this, trains heading in various directions usually pass through and tickets aren't hard to come by.

So the plan was to just go to the train station and pick whichever train was leaving soonest.

Lan Li, wearing a bathrobe and sitting on the chair, swung her fair and slender legs back and forth, unable to help but smile sweetly as she replied, "Sure, sure."

"I'm already done freshening up. Let's meet downstairs now."

"Eh!!? Director, didn't you just get up? How can you be so fast!"

"I'm not ready yet! Wait for me, half an hour, no, just twenty minutes will do!"

Fang Ye was speechless. Why were girls always so troublesome, he hadn't noticed her dawdling like this before.

Doesn't taking the bus take time? Doesn't traveling to the city take time? Doesn't eating take time?

Although it was only 6 o'clock, at this pace, they probably wouldn't be done with breakfast in the city until 9.

Taking the train, it'll take another two hours to get to Tourism Expo Park, which means it would be noon by the time they arrive.

After touring the wildlife park, they'd still have to catch the train back in the evening. What if they were delayed and missed the last train?

There wasn't that much time to waste.

"You'd better hurry..."

He was tempted to urge her, but after typing a few words, he deleted them and resignedly sent, "All right, I'll wait, no rush... I'll be by the pond."

"Huuuh~"

In a flurry, Lan Li rushed to her wardrobe, panicked that she might leave a bad impression on her first date with the director!

In fact, she had already gotten up at 5 a.m., took a bath, used some fragrant shower gel, blow-dried her hair, and then started to put on makeup.

As an animal keeper who worked with animals, she usually only wore simple, light makeup and used safe, pregnancy-friendly nail polish.

Today, she had taken extra care with her makeup, but she still hadn't chosen what to wear!

Oh my goodness! What on earth should she wear?

She took out each garment and held it up to her chest, comparing them in front of the mirror to see the overall effect.

The black one, seemed too solemn, too serious! No good!

This green one looked a bit too frivolous. No good!

A blue outfit? Her uniform was blue; she certainly couldn't wear blue today!

This one with pleats at the sleeves didn't look bad, but could it be a bit too old-fashioned? It looked like something an auntie would prefer...

After half a day of selecting, Lan Li glanced at the time again, anxiety nearly bringing her to tears.

No matter, this one it is!

Hurriedly, she changed into her clothes.

...

Fang Ye sat on the bench next to the small pond under the dormitory building, legs crossed in a "figure-four", waiting for Lan Li to come down with a hint of boredom.

He scrolled through his phone, casually checking the news, and occasionally glanced at the entrance of the dormitory.

Suddenly, he saw a calico cat poke its head out of the bushes, its white cheeks mottled with black patches.

It was the same one he'd fed before, its presence occasionally spotted in the park; it now looked much better than its frail appearance in the past.

Fang Ye immediately bent down and put on a surprised expression, "Yo, Meow Meow!"

Startled by the human voice, the calico cat's head retracted a bit. At first wary but upon recognizing Fang Ye, it relaxed.

It was already quite familiar with Fang Ye!

Making eye contact with him, it lazily meowed as if saying good morning.

The cat hopped out of the bushes, sauntered up to his side, flipping its ears and stretching out its body, squinting its eyes, pushing out its rear and extending its paws forward as if tensing like a bowstring. It held this pose for a few seconds before relaxing.

Fang Ye chuckled and crouched down, unceremoniously petting the cat.

The calico cat rolled over, rubbing against his hand, looking thoroughly pleased, its body trembling with a content "purr purr" sound.

Often petting large cats, it felt pretty good to stroke a small one for a change!

"Director?"

That's when a somewhat trembling voice rang out.

Fang Ye looked up inadvertently and immediately saw Lan Li, who was dressed up carefully.

She wore a pale-yellow blouse with a pure and fresh temperament today, printed with light pink flowers, and her short sleeves featured two layers of cake ruffle. She carried a small handbag with a yellow and white striped cartoon cat metal clasp.

Her water-blue checkered skirt, cute white socks, and black leather shoes made her look youthful and adorable.

With her wavy hair reaching her shoulders, decorated with a white floral hairpin, her cheeks were rosy, her eyes darting around with a mixture of anticipation and nervousness, much like a shy deer hiding behind a tree.

As the calico cat heard another person's voice, it got up from the ground and scampered away in a flash.

Fang Ye stared at Lan Li, a light fresh scent reached him, and an odd term popped into his head: fresh and delicious.

Had he never noticed how beautiful Lan Li was before?

Was something off with the way the world started today? It felt like he was seeing a completely different person.

Snapping back to reality, he stood up from the ground and casually said, "Let's go then, we should walk a bit faster."

He couldn't let other employees see such a beautiful Lan Li!

Otherwise, it would lead to further misunderstandings about their relationship.

Moreover, seeing how carefully Lan Li had dressed up and realizing he hadn't paid attention to this before, dressing as usual in his camouflage green director's uniform, he felt a smidgen of shame...

But the director's uniform, a system product, was breathable and soft, quite comfortable to wear!

"Oh, okay!"

Lan Li agreed, walking beside Fang Ye, her heart faintly disappointed, her fingers gently touching the cartoon cat on her handbag, the metal clasp cool to the touch.

Didn't he have anything to say about her appearance today?

Without any remark, did he find her just okay, or unattractive?

"You look quite pretty today."

"Eh?"

Lan Li turned her head in surprise but saw Fang Ye looking calmly ahead as if he had said nothing.

Her heart suddenly filled with doubt; was she so full of anticipation that she had hallucinated?

Fang Ye couldn't help but sigh, "Hey, walking together like this, doesn't it feel a bit like putting a fresh flower next to dung? It's a bit embarrassing. Should I go back and change my clothes?"

Lan Li giggled, a sweet smile blossoming on her face like a flower, "No need, Director, you look very handsome like this!"