Chapter 655 - 544: Walking the Panda (2)

Chapter 655: Chapter 544: Walking the Panda (2)

He ran here and there, exploring everything with a sense of novelty.

The only ones suffering were the waterfowl, who couldn’t avoid being disturbed.

"Director, this is working out pretty well," Ma Tao said to Zhu Fengmao.

He comes when you call him.

And with no tourists around, the situation was safe and controllable.

Most importantly, Meng Lan himself was having a great time.

Zhu Fengmao nodded slightly. After a moment of thought, he told Ma Tao to keep a close eye on things.

He knew that many giant pandas in domestic zoos developed depression from being cooped up for too long.

If the experiment with Meng Lan was successful, perhaps they could share their experience with others.

It was also a new step in exploring how to better care for giant pandas.

Giant pandas are, after all, lazy creatures.

After a round of playing, Meng Lan got tired. He lay down on a large rock by the lake, gazing at his surroundings like a curious baby.

The waterfowl he had disturbed slowly flew back.

A few of them even approached him out of curiosity.

As he lay there, he simply drifted off to sleep.

He wouldn’t wake up no matter how much they called, sleeping soundly.

"Well, looks like we have to carry him back," Shen Xin said, shaking his head slightly.

It was just like when a child plays until they’re exhausted; the parents are the ones who have to deal with the aftermath.

Xu Haisheng didn’t mind at all. He called for someone to get a cart, then stroked Meng Lan’s head and said, "Honestly, Shen Xin, I haven’t seen Meng Lan this happy in a long time."

He had always been Meng Lan’s keeper, watching him grow up. They shared a deep bond, so if Meng Lan was happy, he was happy too.

This experiment could be considered a success.

For the next little while, Shen Xin and the others would stay behind every day after the zoo closed to take Meng Lan for a walk around the park.

The zoo was quite large, with hills, trees, and a river—plenty to keep him entertained for a while.

And it wasn’t just because Shen Xin was there. Shen Xin had tested it; even when Xu Haisheng was with him alone, Meng Lan would still come when called.

That meant that after Shen Xin left, Xu Haisheng would still be able to manage Meng Lan on his own.

With Meng Lan’s escape attempts preliminarily solved, Shen Xin turned his attention back to Walnut.

This day, after the zoo closed, Meng Lan was ready to go for his walk without needing to be prompted.

He was especially interested in the few black bears on Bear Mountain and the three polar bears in the Polar Hall. He was particularly curious why the polar bears were pure white.

"Not so fast."

Shen Xin grabbed the dashing Meng Lan and led him next door.

In the adjacent enclosure, Walnut was huddled in a corner, staring blankly.

"Walnut, want to go out and play?" Shen Xin called out.

No response.

Although Walnut’s affinity had increased by another point these past few days, reaching a level of 6, he still gave Shen Xin the cold shoulder.

It felt like he knew what was going on and could tolerate Shen Xin’s pestering, but he just didn’t want to engage.

"Meng Lan, you talk to him. Ask if he wants to go out and play," Shen Xin said, patting Meng Lan beside him.

’You’re the same species. You two communicate.’

Meng Lan looked up at Shen Xin and barked.

[Don’t bring him.]

"Go on, hurry up." It had taken a great deal of effort for Shen Xin to persuade the zoo to let him try taking Walnut out for a walk.

Seeing the novel world outside was still causing Meng Lan’s affinity level to rise.

Naturally, Shen Xin wanted to apply this same experience to Walnut.

After all, his purpose for coming here had always been Walnut.

Yang Zeran and the others were working themselves to the bone in Longzhou; he couldn’t afford to slack off either.

Meng Lan ambled over and called out to Walnut.

’They should be communicating now.’

[Don’t go out.]

[It’s dangerous outside.]

Shen Xin gave Meng Lan an exasperated swat. ’You’re trying to pull a fast one on me, huh?’

Only then did Meng Lan invite Walnut out as Shen Xin had requested.

Walnut reacted.

He was the king of his castle; when he returned to his enclosure was entirely up to him.

So, he had seen Meng Lan wandering around outside before, back when he’d been lingering in the outer yard.

With a shift of his rear, Walnut stood up.

Shen Xin’s eyes lit up. ’There’s a chance!’

Through their daily interactions, Shen Xin could sense that Walnut was also curious about the outside world and full of yearning for it.

Of course, with his personality, he certainly couldn’t be let out to roam freely like Meng Lan.

Shen Xin was prepared. He had put a panda transport cage on a flatbed cart and now guided Walnut into it.

Meng Lan tried to squeeze in as well but was shooed out by Shen Xin.

As soon as the cage door closed, Walnut realized he was in a cage again. He let out an angry roar and slapped the bars to show his displeasure.

"Easy now. If you can promise not to run off, I’ll consider letting you out."

Shen Xin quickly soothed him and pulled the cart. "Let’s go. I’m taking you out to play."

Walnut seemed to understand and settled down.

Shen Xin pulled him along for a tour of the park.

Meng Lan was already very familiar with the entire park. He scampered joyfully past the waterfowl area and headed for the Africa section.

He had recently taken a liking to watching the zebras.

Perhaps it was because he discovered they were black and white, just like him.

Shen Xin followed behind, pulling Walnut’s cart.

He keenly sensed that Walnut’s attention had been captured by the vibrant world outside. The panda was gripping the bars of his cage, looking out curiously.

He might not have been able to see clearly, but he had a highly developed sense of smell and hearing.

He could perceive everything around him.

A cold wind howled past, making the tree branches RUSTLE.

From time to time, there were calls of other animals.

This was a living, breathing world, not a cage the size of the sky seen from the bottom of a well.

The weather was cold, so the zebras had gone back inside to sleep.

Meng Lan called out a few times, but when there was no response, he paid it no mind and continued leading the way straight to the south.

At the southern boundary wall, right next to the security post, Shen Xin had specially built a set of steps for Meng Lan.

This way, Meng Lan could prop himself up on the wall and watch the hustle and bustle of traffic outside.

He had been taught not to climb over, so he would just watch curiously, counting the cars as they passed by one by one.

After Shen Xin built the steps for him, he would often lie there watching for a long time.

Shen Xin would stay beside him, watching with him.

Thankfully, there was a greenbelt separating them from the road. Otherwise, if someone passing by were to look up, hey, they’d see a panda head peeking over the wall.

As they watched, snowflakes began to drift down from the sky again.

It had started snowing that afternoon, and everything as far as the eye could see was a vast expanse of white.

Shen Xin turned his head to look at Walnut.

Stuck in the cage, he couldn’t see the world beyond the wall.

At that moment, he was tilting his head up, letting the snowflakes fall onto his body.

He stuck out his tongue, and specks of snow landed on it.

The icy coolness was a familiar sensation.

A certain memory deep within Walnut’s mind was stirred, and a figure appeared in his recollection.

It was... his mother.

He was huddled in a dark crevice, staring blankly at the heavy snowfall outside, waiting expectantly for his mother to return.

It was also a small, palm-sized patch of sky.

But with anticipation in his heart, even waiting was a form of happiness.

Until a splash of blood, as shocking as a clap of thunder, drowned everything out.

Walnut was jolted awake as if from a nightmare.

He let out a series of short huffs, a sound pandas make when they are angry or frightened.

Walnut rolled to his feet and began to beat against the iron cage, agitated and restless.

Shen Xin pulled Meng Lan down from the wall and handed him over to Xu Haisheng, then hurried to the front of the cage.

"Walnut, what’s wrong?"

Shen Xin called out to him urgently.

Walnut couldn’t hear him at all, his face contorted with ferocity as he slapped and slammed against the iron cage.

CLANG! CLANG! it rang out.

It took almost two full minutes before he finally settled down.

He was panting heavily, likely exhausted.

Only then could he seem to hear again. He turned his head to look at Shen Xin and let out a low, whimpering sound.

It was a sound like a person crying, one that pandas make when they are in pain or heartbroken.

Shen Xin didn’t dare reach out his hand. He just called Walnut’s name worriedly, asking him what was wrong.

Walnut moved closer and called out to Shen Xin through the bars of the cage.

In the next moment, the affinity icon above his head abruptly shot up by four bars all at once.

It maxed out, then faded, reappeared, and changed color.

It had advanced to the next stage.

Stage Two!

Shen Xin’s eyes widened. He had no idea what had just happened.