I have a wildlife zoo

Lan Li blinked her eyes, "Director, what are you thinking about?"

Fang Ye stirred his chopsticks in the bowl to make the green vegetable and corn porridge emit heat faster, he took a slight sip, and said with a light smile, "I was thinking, if the zoo celebrates the Mid-Autumn Festival, we can let the animals join us! We could make some custom mooncakes for them to feel the festive atmosphere."

Making mooncakes for animals sounded like a lot of fun!

Lan Li's eyes sparkled with excitement and anticipation, "Wow, Director, that's a great idea! For the red pandas, we could make some bamboo and apple mooncakes, for the tigers and wolves, we could make some pure meat mooncakes, for the macaques and ring-tailed lemurs, we'd make some coarse grain mooncakes, and for the macaws, we could offer them mixed nuts mooncakes!"

Fang Ye's eyes took on a subtle expression, "Hehe, mixed nuts mooncakes, eh..."

Mixed nuts mooncakes also occupied a very unique position in the world of mooncakes!

How did it come to this, the once coveted and beloved mooncakes, only available during the festival, filled with crispy nuts such as walnuts, peanuts, sunflower seeds, and more, were the delightful merging of sweet mooncakes and crunchy nuts creating a greater deliciousness. They should have been dreamlike, wonderful mooncakes... but why did it turn out like this...

But the macaws should probably really like the mixed nuts mooncakes.

Fang Ye pondered, "As for the mooncakes, for the meat ones, we can directly cut the meat into the shape of mooncakes. It feels a bit too perfunctory to just shape the others into circles.

I think we could use their usual feed for the crust, put some fillings inside, and then bake it a bit to set the crust, although I'm not sure if this will work. I'll talk to Old Zhang later, let them try making it these next few days; if it doesn't work out, then we'll just have to manage by shaping the food into the form of mooncakes."

Mooncakes made for animals naturally couldn't be like those made for humans, with so much sugar and oil mixed into the crust—it would definitely be bad for the animals' health.

If the fillings were baked too much, that wouldn't be good either—for example, the apple mooncakes for the red pandas, if baked too much, who knows what they would taste like. The red pandas might really dislike them, which wouldn't do because the festival ought to be happier than usual.

Fang Ye mused, "If we're celebrating a festival at the zoo for the animals, people should also feel involved. How about we organize an event where everyone could make mooncakes for the animals? What do you think?"

"If everyone makes it, wouldn't that be too much?"

Fang Ye's eyes twinkled, "Then we could hold a raffle. Those who wish to participate can draw a lot, and those who win can take part. But since the Mid-Autumn Festival generally draws more visitors, perhaps limiting it to children would be better. Only children accompanied by their parents would be eligible for the raffle."

Adults participating in the event would just have their fun, take some photos to post on their social circle with a caption like, "Today I made mooncakes for the animals at the zoo—so much fun!"n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

But when children take part in such events, they not only learn about the dietary habits of animals, getting to know what animals usually eat, but seeing the mooncakes they made themselves being eaten by the animals would surely give them a great sense of achievement. As they grow up, the Mid-Autumn Festival spent at Linhai Zoo would become a beautiful childhood memory.

Lan Li looked on with utmost admiration—worthy of being the director who thought of everything from every aspect!

After they finished eating, Fang Ye and Old Zhang chatted for a bit, then he said, "Old Zhang, isn't the Mid-Autumn Festival coming up next week? I was thinking, should our zoo also hold an event, maybe make some mooncakes?"

Old Zhang's chubby and round face lit up with a smile as he patted his chest, "Director, don't you worry about that. Our cafeteria has been preparing mooncake materials recently, we have all kinds of fillings. By the time of the Mid-Autumn Festival, we will definitely let everyone have some tasty mooncakes!"

Fang Ye, impressed, gave a thumbs up, "I almost forgot when Mid-Autumn was, you guys are so attentive! But I have an idea, to make some mooncakes for the animals as well so that they can celebrate Mid-Autumn with us."

Old Zhang's eyes flashed with surprise, "Hey, making mooncakes for animals is a pretty fresh idea, I never thought of that. What are you planning on doing, Director?"

He thought to himself that the director always managed to come up with some innovative ideas!

The zoo had been stagnant like dead water before Fang Ye arrived, and it was precisely because the director had so many seemingly fanciful ideas that the zoo gradually became vibrant.

Fang Ye shared his earlier thoughts, "I wonder if corn, sorghum, bean meal, and wheat bran could be ground into powder to make the crust for the mooncakes? It shouldn't just fall apart upon touch but hold some shape."

Old Zhang wiped his sweat with a towel and thought for a moment before saying, "This should be doable, so let's try it out in the cafeteria for the next few days."

Fang Ye said with delight, "Great, then I'll leave it to you guys!"

...

The next morning.

Fang Ye was in the meeting room discussing with the clerical staff about how to prepare the educational displays for snakes when suddenly his phone rang.

Seeing it was He Yifei calling, Fang Ye slapped his forehead in dismay!

Ah, he had intended to check on the Eurasian eagle-owl yesterday morning, but got so caught up in the meeting that he completely forgot.

In the afternoon, he had to receive masters from other zoos to see the new animals, and with the new exhibits opening soon, he was incredibly busy; he nearly forgot again today.

All the staff looked at him with confusion!

Fang Ye stood up, apologized and said, "Please continue the discussion, everyone. I have to deal with something else right now."

The staff very understandingly said, "Go ahead, Director, you take care of it!"

"We'll give you a report after we finish discussing."

Once out of the meeting room, he answered the call and He Yifei said, "Hello, Director, the Eurasian eagle-owl is still perched on that log without flying off. It looks a bit wilted and doesn't shoo me away anymore; it's probably too weak from hunger!"

Fang Ye was immensely frustrated, "Eh, I know! I'll be there in a moment."

After hanging up, he called Bao and asked him to cut some meat and bring it over to the Peafowl Lawn.

It had been four whole days since the last time he fed the Eurasian eagle-owl on a rainy morning, and he didn't feed it that afternoon.

When he arrived at the Peafowl Lawn, the Eurasian eagle-owl was standing on the tree. As soon as it saw Fang Ye from a distance, it straightened up.

"Hmm?" He Yifei was wondering when he saw the Eurasian eagle-owl flap its wings and fly out! Stay updated via empire

Fang Ye quickly extended his arm, and the Eurasian eagle-owl perched on it, "woo-wooing" as it did, gazing at him with its large yellow eyes as if to say, I've been waiting so painfully for you!

Although He Yifei had seen this scene many times, he still found it amazing, "Director, and you say you're not a Druid!"

Fang Ye was not in the mood for jokes, he was very troubled: "Who knows what's going on with this owl?"

First, he used the Eye of Observation to check its health status.

[Eurasian Eagle-Owl

Mood: Excited

Health Status: Hungry/Thirsty]