It’s over. Can’t let anyone in.
Such a big incident, of course, they need to cordon off the area.
Wen Youning wanted to call Qian Nuo, but when she picked up her phone, she realized she didn’t have Qian Nuo’s contact information.
They had only communicated through private messages on a live-streaming platform.
Private messages didn’t have a calling function,
so calling was impossible.
“Teacher Wen!”
Before Wen Youning could think of a solution,
she heard a voice from inside.
A girl, calling out from a distance, shouted,
“You’re here to see the knob-billed swans, right?
You can come right in.
Qian Nuo said it’s fine for you to enter.
I have the keys.”
The girl waved the keys in her hand,
“I also have the key to the little garden door.
I’ll let you in.”
Wen Youning followed the girl.
“How did you know I was coming?”
The girl smiled and said,
“I was watching your live stream.
The park manager shared your live link in our work group.”
The park manager’s exact words were:
“Everyone, let’s all learn from the way the streamer interacts with the animals.”
“Whoo!”
Through the small garden door’s gap,
you could see the knob-billed swan’s claws,
anxiously pacing back and forth inside.
Upon hearing Wen Youning’s voice, one of them flapped its wings,
pecked at the door, and seemed a bit urgent.
The girl, unlocking the door, positioned herself with one leg forward and her upper body leaning against the door,
clearly preparing to run at any moment.
Seeing her posture, Wen Youning chuckled and teased,
“Have the knob-billed swans ever attacked you?”
“Almost.”
The girl recalled the scene when workers came to install cameras,
and the swans had pecked at them when they tried to open the door.
“The white feathers were flying everywhere.
The knob-billed swans can be terrifying when they’re upset.”
“They’re as fierce as the geese back home,”
the girl shuddered, remembering the chaos.
Wen Youning asked,
“Did you manage to install the cameras?”
The girl shook her head regretfully,
“They pecked at everything.
Even the installers got pecked several times,
and we had to leave the equipment behind.”
“Do you still have the surveillance equipment?
I can help put it back.”
Wen Youning thought the surveillance was very necessary for the swans.
The girl’s eyes lit up.
“Really? You’re a big help.
I’ll get the technician to bring the equipment right away.”
“Alright.”
After Wen Youning spoke, the girl unlocked the door,
taking a step back. She didn’t pull the door immediately.
With a loud thud, the door swung open and slammed against the walls.
The two knob-billed swans spread their wings and rushed out,
directly flying into Wen Youning’s arms.
Having held them before,
this time the swans seemed familiar with the routine and immediately snuggled into her embrace.
“Whoo!”
The knob-billed swans flapped their wings around her,
as if hugging her and rubbing their heads against her.
“Teacher Wen…”
The girl hesitated but couldn’t help herself.
The next moment, both swans’
eyes shot toward her.
The girl swallowed nervously, forcing herself to suppress her fear of the geese.
“If you need anything, just call me, I’ll leave now.”
“Okay.”
Wen Youning, still holding the swans, walked into the small garden.
Compared to last time, the place was messier,
with feathers from the knob-billed swans scattered on the ground, along with some small down feathers.
The previous scuffle seemed intense, as even the grass was turned up.
I remember being chased by a big goose at home and having it bite my butt.
The big goose’s beak is serrated with sharp, tooth-like edges, so I know that the knob-billed swan must be just as fierce.
“Alright, alright, calm down.”
Wen Youning found a relatively clean rock to sit on, holding both enthusiastic knob-billed swans.
“I have some good news for you.”
Leaning against a large tree, Wen Youning gently ran her fingers through the swans’ feathers.
“I found one of the goose eggs.
We’ll be able to take it back soon.”
“Whoo!” The swan, which had been rubbing against her,
suddenly stopped and looked up, its call rising in excitement.
‘Really?’
When speaking to animals, there was no need to hide anything from them.
Wen Youning was certain that the egg would hatch successfully, and her tone was just as confident.
“Of course. Right now, everyone is busy catching the thief,
and I’m sure there will be more discoveries.”
The knob-billed swan tilted its head, resting against Wen Youning’s chest, its eyes moist.
“Whoo…”
‘So nice.’
Wen Youning, holding one swan in each arm, set up her phone with the back stand,
which she stuck into the grass.
The sunlight was soft and warm, filtering through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground.
The air conditioning adjusted with the temperature,
but the space here was large, and the overall temperature was quite comfortable.
Although they’re indeed trying to catch someone,
is it really okay to broadcast all this so openly?
I was thinking, while she was still live and the thief hadn’t left the zoo,
what if the thief was watching her stream?
Wouldn’t that give him a heads-up?
Well, if it’s an insider, they’ve probably left their shift by now.
If it’s… well, if the egg thief could have escaped,
they wouldn’t have been stuck at the zoo for five days, right? They’d have run off.
Seems like nothing’s wrong with her telling them she’s going after the thief.
It would make the thief nervous and maybe they’ll run away.
The knob-billed swans, worried about the egg thief for so long, were mentally exhausted.
Now, resting in Wen Youning’s embrace and hearing that an egg had been found, they felt some comfort.
Wen Youning gently stroked the swans.
“I should have brought a comb.”
The feathers on their bodies were mostly smooth,
but their necks and chests were still full of fluffy down that could use a little tidying.
The swan tilted its head.
“Whoo…”
Wen Youning poked its head with her finger, creating a shallow dent in its feathers.
“The keepers seem to have lost weight recently.
You all need to eat more so you have the energy to take care of the eggs when they’re brought back.”
Hatching eggs may look simple just lie on top of the eggs and wait for them to hatch by themselves,
but there’s a lot more to it, and it’s very tiring.
The knob-billed swans, neglecting their meals, could end up harming their own health.
Wen Youning’s voice softened as she made a suggestion.
“How about I have the keeper bring you some fish?”
“Whoo?” Nian Nian, the swan in her arms,
lifted its head.
‘Are you hungry?’
‘Want fish!’
“Mm? You want fish?”
Wen Youning paused, and Nian Nian had already flapped its wings and flown to the pond.
Dian Dian followed closely behind.
With wings fully spread, the two knob-billed swans soared through the air like falling meteors,
their pure white tails trailing behind them as they dropped gracefully into the water.
The shimmering surface of the water and the pure white knob-billed swans formed a beautiful natural scene.
“Isn’t it pretty?”
Wen Youning adjusted the camera angle, making sure both swans were in the frame.
They floated on the water’s surface, their heads down as they observed the fish swimming below.
At the right moment, they dove into the water, creating ripples on the surface.
When they resurfaced, they had a live, wriggling fish in their mouths.
The fish was still struggling, thrashing its tail as the swan held it gently in its beak.
Dian Dian held the fish securely, shaking its head to shake off the water droplets,
floating lazily on the water.
In the distance, Nian Nian was chasing a large fish and managed to catch it on the return trip.
“Great job.”
Wen Youning smiled, her eyes twinkling with joy.
She was happy to see them hunting on their own;
it was a huge improvement in their mental recovery.
At least they didn’t seem lifeless anymore, filled with resistance to everything around them.
Encouraged by Wen Youning’s praise, the two knob-billed swans strutted toward her,
as if they had just won a battle.
However…
Wen Youning was suddenly confronted with two fish.
“???”
If she hadn’t reacted quickly, the fish would have already been shoved into her mouth.
Hahaha, knob-billed swans: Eat! Eat a big bite!
Those fluffy little ones caught you food, you can’t just eat it all up,
now they’re heartbroken.
Wen Youning held onto the necks of the swans.
“Alright, alright, you guys be good. Eat on your own, you’re hungry.”
She pressed down the tail of the still-flapping fish, wiping away the water that splashed onto her face.
“Go ahead and eat, while it’s fresh.”
“Whoo?”
‘Do you like it?’
The knob-billed swan’s eyes were filled with confusion. It tried pushing the fish forward a little more. “Whoo!”
‘It’s delicious!’
“This is raw,” Wen Youning rubbed its head.
“You can eat it, but you should only eat cooked food.”
The knob-billed swan didn’t quite understand the difference between raw and cooked food.
It squinted its eyes, not swallowing the fish as it usually would, but instead tossing it on the ground and nibbling at it.
It didn’t matter how it ate; as long as it was eating, that was good enough.
Seeing this, Dian Dian lowered its head and placed its fish beside Wen Youning.
Then, it squeezed in next to Nian Nian, both swans sticking close together and eating the same fish.
Wen Youning was left holding a live, wiggling fish, which she raised in front of the live stream camera to show its size.
It was about the same length as her forearm, so it must have been eaten by one of them.
“This one will be for the knob-billed swans to eat tonight.”
The swans ate slowly, pecking a little, then looking up at Wen Youning.
They would then lower their heads and continue eating,
rubbing their bodies against their companions.
Teacher Wen! Emergency!
Check your private messages!
Si Yi, asking for help in the live stream.
The barrage highlighted the broadcaster’s ID in bright blue text amidst a sea of black-and-white comments.
“Emergency?”
Wen Youning grabbed her phone,
about to open the private message,
but a live connection request popped up immediately
This was someone paying extra to skip the queue and send a big gift in the process.
She swiped her finger and accepted the call.
“Hello, are you the pet doctor?”
The host on the other side of the screen had tearful eyes,
her voice thick with nasal congestion as she sat in a moving vehicle,
the scenery outside rushing by.
“Can you help me check on my Mantou?”
Zhou Siyin raised the stuffed animal in her lap a little higher.
Wen Youning swiped her fingers across the screen to zoom in on the plush cat.
“What symptoms does it have?”
“It’s completely limp. A few days ago, it could walk normally, but today, after I finished streaming,
I found it suddenly couldn’t stand up, and it seemed like its consciousness was very blurry.
No matter how I called, it didn’t respond.”
Zhou Siyin shook the plush cat in her arms a few times as she spoke.
The plush cat was soft, almost as if it had fainted,
with no reaction whatsoever.
Seeing this, Zhou Siyin’s tears almost fell again.
“I just connected with an online pet doctor.
They said it might be a disease it was born with, and it’s just now acting up.
There’s no cure, it’s too late, it’s going to die.”
She had connected with a very popular vet,
one who had an offline clinic as well.
But the cat had been fine just a few days ago,
although a bit low-energy.
Suddenly, it had become an emergency,
how could anyone handle this?
“Genetic disease?”
Wen Youning quickly reviewed all the possible genetic diseases in her mind that might match the symptoms.