A sudden shout startled Wen Youning.
In contrast, the crocodile was quite calm, its mouth still slightly open, not even blinking an eye.
“Didn’t I teach you not to bite! Let go! Open your mouth! What did I teach you? Let the person go now!”
The staff member pulled the curtain aside and shut the door behind them while quickly stepping forward and warning the crocodile.
That sudden shout nearly scared the life out of me.
Crocodile: Are you blind! Was it me who bit her?!
She was the one who put her hand in my mouth!
[Good thing Sister Wen only touched the crocodile’s face and didn’t really put her hand in.
Otherwise, if the crocodile was startled and instinctively closed its mouth, it would’ve bitten her hand.
The crocodile’s emotions are way more stable than the keeper’s. Reliable. I want one.
…
Wen Youning pulled her hand back and wiped the water off with a tissue.
“I came with Qian Nuo from the Aviary Garden to see the crocodile.
She went to buy some meat and will be here soon.”
To avoid any misunderstanding, Wen Youning briefly explained and didn’t mention that she was trying to talk to the crocodile and ask about the situation.
“Doesn’t matter who brought you, even if the zoo brought you in,
if you get too close to the crocodile, it’ll still bite.”
The keeper placed his hands on his hips.
The crocodile doesn’t care who you are ,
if meat is placed in front of its mouth, it will eat.
Wen Youning nodded slightly, “Mm.”
The keeper’s hair was slightly puffed up. When he came in and saw someone feeding themselves to a crocodile, he was so anxious he couldn’t even speak straight.
But now facing Wen Youning, who wasn’t at all difficult and was calmly listening to him, he didn’t even know what to say next.
If it had been a stubborn tourist arguing back,
he could’ve scolded them without holding back.
But now…
The keeper cleared his throat and patted the aquarium: “It’s just that this crocodile is dumb.
If you ran into a more reactive one, you wouldn’t even have time to call for help.”
The crocodile squinted and glanced over.
‘Get lost.’
Wen Youning turned her eyes to the side, huh?
Now it’s reacting a little slow.
Qian Nuo came in pushing a small cart.
“Ms. Wen, do you think this meat is enough?”
She looked up as she entered the room and saw there was someone else there.
“Xiao Zhao? What are you doing up here? Isn’t your show next?”
“Mm, just came to check on Songbai.”
Zhao Ze glanced at Wen Youning.
“And this is…”
“Future colleague Wen Youning, Ms. Wen.”
Qian Nuo playfully introduced with a smile.
“She came up with Brother Sun to see the crocodile.
He approved it.”
Upon hearing that, Zhao Ze realized he misunderstood.
“Sorry, I thought you were a visitor who wandered in by mistake.
But next time, don’t get so close and touch the crocodile again.”
Even though they often performed with crocodiles,
and sometimes even put their heads into the open mouths of crocodiles,
no matter how familiar they were with the act, or how many times it was repeated,
it could never guarantee absolute safety.
Let alone someone like Wen Youning who had not been trained.
Qian Nuo: “???”
She just left for a bit—what did she miss?
Wen Youning said seriously, “You’re right.
That shouldn’t be done.”
That line sounded more like she was addressing her livestream viewers.
Who in their right mind would casually pet a crocodile, huh?!]\
Wen Youning asked, “Is this crocodile yours?”
“Yeah. The previous keeper who was taking care of it resigned, so it’s under my care now.”
Zhao Ze pointed at the meat Qian Nuo had brought in.
“That’s for Songbai? Go ahead and feed it.”
There was a feeding area by the crocodile pool.
Because of the distance, food is tossed from above,
and the chance of the crocodile biting a visitor’s hand was zero.
But this wasn’t the case here.
This area wasn’t originally intended for public feeding.
Zhao Ze added,
“Look at your luck. Even in confinement, someone personally brings you meat.”
“You guys even put crocodiles in confinement?
That’s strict management.”
Wen Youning was hearing about crocodile confinement for the first time and couldn’t help but feel curious. This crocodile didn’t look particularly dangerous,
what kind of serious offense got it confined to the second floor?
“It was actually because of a precedent it set.”
Zhao Ze gritted his teeth slightly at the memory.
“There’s a wall in the free-range crocodile yard downstairs that was badly damaged.
This guy got out and nearly gobbled up a golden monkey.”
When he heard about this,
Zhao Ze was even more shocked than when he saw Wen Youning sticking her hand into the crocodile’s mouth earlier.
You’re a protected animal yourself, and yet you open your mouth wanting to eat a nationally protected first-class animal,
are you trying to get us all killed?
Qian Nuo: “Huh?”
Wen Youning looked puzzled. “Eat a golden monkey?”
‘Bull…shit.’
The crocodile cursed directly in its heart.
Wen Youning asked,
“Could there be some kind of misunderstanding here?”
“The bite marks on the wall match its teeth exactly , it was definitely it.”
The crocodile had tried to cross the line and snack on a golden monkey.
The evidence was conclusive, and it was captured on the spot.
“Good thing golden monkeys are pretty agile.
After checking every single one, none were injured.
Otherwise, things could’ve gotten really serious.”
Zhao Ze looked at the crocodile he had raised for so long and sighed.
“We’re waiting for the zoo to come to a decision.
Until the final decision is made, Songbai has to stay here.
Come on, have some meat.”
Though the crocodile’s temperament was mild…
A chubby crocodile like this was still pretty rare.
The crocodile bit into the meat that reached its mouth—
‘East… west…’
‘There’s… someone… there…’
‘Mon… keys… be…’
After struggling for a while, the crocodile finally swallowed the meat with a ‘gulp’.
Its briefly paused thoughts resumed: ‘Careful.’
Wen Youning’s eyes suddenly widened.
“You mean, someone went to Monkey Mountain, and you went there to warn the monkeys to be careful?”
Qian Nuo immediately caught on to what was being implied:
“Damn, turns out you were… doing a good deed.
A charitable… croc.”
Zhao Ze watched the two of them go back and forth, their conversation sounding increasingly bizarre,
yet somehow they still seemed to follow each other’s train of thought.
“What are you even talking about?”
Qian Nuo waved her hand,
it had already reached the most crucial moment,
and she felt like she was close to the final answer.
“So maybe the thief first went to the Aviary to steal eggs,
then got spotted by the crocodile, ran off to Monkey Mountain,
and then to Bear Ridge?”
Though the sequence felt a little off.
The correct order should be: Aviary → Bear Ridge → Monkey Mountain → Crocodile Pool.
But the egg thief seemed to have walked the whole path in reverse.
“How did the thief get out of the park?”
Once the egg theft was confirmed,
the Aviary staff and the surveillance team had already scoured every piece of footage.
There was no sign of the thief leaving the park.
Qian Nuo pouted.
“What, did they grow wings and fly out?”
“Is it possible… that the thief hasn’t left at all?” Wen Youning frowned. “If the footage didn’t catch them leaving, then maybe they didn’t.”
Qian Nuo: “?!!”
Bullet comments:
Wait, what?!
Aaaaah you’re creeping me out, goosebumps all over.
So the thief took the egg and ran to Bear Ridge, then to Monkey Mountain, then to the Crocodile Pool,
got scared off by the croc, and ended up hiding on Monkey Mountain?!
…
Wen Youning turned to Zhao Ze and asked,
“When exactly was Songbai caught at Monkey Mountain?”
Zhao Ze had heard something about the stolen goose egg incident.
He raised an eyebrow slightly.
“It was last Wednesday morning, around 6:30.
A colleague in the surveillance room saw the croc on Monkey Mountain,
and we rushed over to bring him back.”
Wen Youning pulled up a screenshot from her phone.
“The last footage captured by the surveillance camera was at 3 a.m. that Wednesday.”
So
That means the thief is still hiding on Monkey Mountain, just hasn’t been found yet.
After all, she had asked the golden monkeys before.
If they had seen someone, they definitely would’ve told her someone was lurking around Monkey Mountain, unwilling to leave.
Wen Youning slightly raised her chin toward the stunned Qian Nuo.
“Let’s go notify the police.
The person is still on Monkey Mountain.
Make sure to check the places the golden monkeys could have access to.”
“Oh—okay!” Qian Nuo turned and ran out.
As she reached the door, she stumbled, fumbling to get the walkie-talkie to her mouth.
“Hello hello hello?
Where are you guys now…”
Qian Nuo broke into a cold sweat.
The person was still inside the zoo
who would’ve thought?
With no footage of them leaving, everyone had just assumed the thief must have escaped by now.
After all, they stole a protected animal’s egg.
Of course, they’d want to sell it quickly, and of course, they’d leave first chance they got.
But after all that searching for an exit trail, it turns out the thief never even left!
Whoa… we were all online looking up if any shady posts were trying to sell stolen goose eggs, and the thief didn’t even get the egg out of the zoo yet?
So they’ve been hiding in the zoo for four or five days? That’s insane. Could this be an inside job?
If it were an insider, they wouldn’t be dumb enough to wander around the Crocodile Pool and Bear Ridge. But Monkey Mountain , maybe.
This thief gives off serious “only knows how to avoid cameras by looking up” vibes.
Clearly unfamiliar with the zoo layout lol.
The egg thief thought they were clever because there were no cameras,
but little did they know, Wen Youning had already asked the monkeys.
Along the way, there were small animals acting as part-time surveillance.
…
Wen Youning didn’t follow the thief, though.
Catching the thief was up to the police.
The message had already been made clear, so she saved time by not investigating on the way.
The golden monkeys on Monkey Mountain had already moved out of the staff lounge.
Monkey Mountain, despite being a rather small area, still had many places where someone could hide.
It should be easy to find the thief.
Zhao Ze, processing the gossip he had just overheard, suddenly realized he might have misunderstood Songbai’s actions.
His face immediately turned sour.
“Damn it, if this is true, then I’ve really wronged Songbai.”
“Punished?”
“…When we captured it, we gave it a shovel.”
Zhao Ze covered half his face, feeling too embarrassed to face the crocodile now.
The key point was, the crocodile ran to Monkey Mountain, and now he had to say it was reporting back?
Who would believe that?
Who would?
So, at first, when they saw the crocodile, they thought it was after the golden monkeys.
After all, it had made a hole in the wall and had even widened it by biting.
The crocodile’s intentions to eat the golden monkeys were pretty obvious.
Now, after hearing Wen Youning’s confident words, and with Qian Nuo already going to find the police,
Zhao Ze felt like the sky was collapsing around him.
Maybe he should just let the crocodile eat him, then he wouldn’t have to deal with this.
Wen Youning: “…”
Crocodile Songbai: A single moment of weakness led to a lifetime of being misunderstood.
This is too much! We need to apologize to Songbai after we find out the truth!
It’s over now. Looking at Songbai, I feel like the crocodile is all gentle and innocent now.
What a kind-hearted angel of an animal.
…
The crocodile lazily blinked and let out a puff of air, creating bubbles in the water.
‘Tch.’
The wronged crocodile expressed its disdain for all the accusations.
“It looks like it realizes its mistake,” Wen Youning said as she moved to the other side of the tank.
She gently petted the crocodile’s head and checked for any injuries.
In other countries, crocodile trainers sometimes use tools like shovels or sticks to tap the crocodile. However, this approach is less common in China.
The crocodile’s ability to withstand hits was still incredibly strong.
Zhao Ze saw Wen Youning stretch out her hand again, and instinctively wanted to stop her,
but the words were swallowed back before he could speak them.
Earlier, when he entered, he had seen Songbai not attack Wen Youning. In his mind,
he had even praised the park’s crocodiles for their docile temperament.
Now, it seemed like that was actually the case.
Under Wen Youning’s hand, the crocodile seemed to relax and allowed her to pet it comfortably.
It even tilted its head to welcome her hand, its eyes squinting in what appeared to be pleasure.
Even though the zookeepers and crocodiles had a good relationship,
they would never treat crocodiles as if they were small animals.
On the surface, they were still viewed as dangerous creatures.
Just like the Chinese alligator, some brave zookeepers might dare to try certain things.
But a crocodile the size of Songbai? It would be fatal to even try.
“Okay, okay, don’t be angry, Songbai.
You’re right.
I’ll get someone to send you back to the pool…
how about I get you your own private water tank?”
Zhao Ze was just a zookeeper, so his authority wasn’t very high.
But this matter involved their entire park, and Songbai deserved a reward.
He’d have to submit a request to higher-ups, and a separate water tank was a must.
The crocodile’s claws scratched at the shallow water, ignoring the zookeepers around it,
who were making a racket.
‘So… noisy.’
The crocodile turned its head and pushed itself up,
its front paws touching the water as it stood on the glass.
However, as soon as it stood, it slipped.
When its chin hit the edge of the glass tank,
Wen Youning quickly cupped her hand under its jaw to support it,
then placed a piece of meat in its mouth.
“If you want compensation, think it through and let me know.
I’ll pass the message along.”
The innocent crocodile had been wronged so badly,
and compensation was deserved. Besides that,
it also deserved a reward.
“Phew…!” The crocodile didn’t open its mouth but made a low growling sound in its throat.
‘Good.’
Wen Youning gently guided the crocodile’s head back to the glass tank.
“Let’s get you to a more spacious place.
This little glass tank is too cramped.”
The crocodile was too large; it was difficult for it to turn or adjust inside.
Thankfully, the water was clean, so it was probably being changed regularly.
“Alright, I’ll arrange it right now.”
Zhao Ze was feeling a little more confident now that the plan was clear.
“Leave it to me.”
After making the promise, he realized, wait, he was just the zookeeper.
Why was he making promises to Wen Youning?
Thank goodness for Wen Youning,
or the crocodile would have been wronged to death.
Exactly! Even if they catch the egg thief,
it’s hard to imagine that the crocodile would have torn down a wall to warn the golden monkeys.
Wen Youning is amazing. She thought of this possibility when no one else could.
…
Zhao Ze called for his colleagues, and together,
they lifted the entire glass tank and started moving it.
With more people, everyone took their positions, and with a unified shout,
they almost simultaneously lifted the tank.
The water inside the glass tank barely rippled.
The crocodile lay inside, trying to see Wen Youning through the gaps between the staff,
who were standing close together.
“See you next time.” Wen Youning also walked out, saying to the crocodile,
“If you feel dizzy or uncomfortable, just… slap your tail a couple of times.”
‘Okay…’
The crocodile responded lazily, as if it was in no hurry.
Wen Youning’s words seemed to be directed at the crocodile,
but they were really meant for Zhao Ze.
After all, it was Zhao Ze who would be in contact with her if anything happened to the crocodile.
Zhao Ze replied, “Don’t worry.
I’ll apply for a dedicated caregiver for it. If anything happens, I’ll send you a message immediately.”
Wen Youning watched as they carried the glass tank into the freight elevator.
As the elevator doors closed, she waved goodbye to the crocodile and turned to take the stairs down.
The performance on the first floor had just ended, and it was now cleaning time.
The area was filled with cleaning staff, tidying up the trash in neat rows.
Wen Youning bought a bottle of water from the vending machine, pondering,
“Let’s check on the swan next.”
The two knob-billed swans were showing signs of severe depression.
Wen Youning planned to have a conversation with them to help them understand what was happening.
She would pass by Monkey Mountain on the way back to the Bird Park.
Monkey Mountain was currently empty, and the golden monkeys weren’t out and about;
they had likely been moved indoors.
The outer perimeter was surrounded by a police cordon, blocking off half the entrance.
Some tourists, who had just entered the park, were curiously peering in,
trying to figure out what had happened.
Wen Youning walked through the crowd, and a police cordon also surrounded the Bird Park.