Super Zoo

Mrs. Su didn't bother explaining as she pulled Suming upstairs, shut the room door, peered out the window to make sure no one was at the door, and then asked in a whisper, "Tell me the truth, what's really going on? Although your father can train animals, he doesn't have as much talent as you do."

Suming knew he couldn't hide it from his mother.

To others, he could claim that the skill of training animals was passed down in the family, but that excuse didn't work for his mother. Having been married to his father for over a decade, how could she not know the level of his father's abilities?

However, Suming wasn't planning on telling his mother about his 'Animal Friend' ability. Such mysterious powers would be too much for an elderly person to take in all at once. Revealing it would only needlessly worry her.

"Mom, haven't you heard the saying, 'The student becomes better than the teacher'? It's not just the skills Dad taught me. During my time working at the zoo, I also learned a lot. Besides, I often like to research this kind of thing. I buy books and look up information on the internet. Did you know that some people even swim with crocodiles abroad? Riding a wild boar is nothing," Suming said.

This explanation did seem plausible. A mother's rambling isn't always about seeking the truth but rather an uncontrollable expression of concern. Taking it too literally and arguing point for point could backfire. Coming up with a few acceptable reasons to put her mind at ease was all that was needed.

Indeed, once she learned that there were activities more dangerous than riding wild boars, Mrs. Su's attention quickly shifted, and she found the prospect of riding wild boars acceptable, warning him, "Forget the wild boar. What I'm telling you is, you must never swim with crocodiles. Even if you're confident, it's too dangerous!"

After talking for a while, Mrs. Su opened the door and said, "Go on, Mr. Wu has something to ask you. It's about the wild boars; the town is planning to farm them."

"Raising wild boars?" Suming was taken aback.

After going downstairs, it turned out that Mr. Wu was indeed waiting for him at the entrance. The first floor was noisy and crowded, so Mr. Wu took Suming back upstairs to his room and closed the door. Read new chapters at empireNôv(el)B\\jnn

Suming, going up and down the stairs, was confused when Mr. Wu got straight to the point, "I need your advice on something. You're well-read and worldly; help me analyze it."

After speaking, he told Suming about his talk with Mr. Hong on raising wild boars.

"The terms discussed with Mr. Hong, I don't quite trust them. Our townsfolk are fine with work and managing households, but when it comes to negotiation and business dealings, they falter, experiencing too little of the world. I thought it over and over, and decided to talk to you. Plus, you know how to train wild boars; you're an expert technically," Mr. Wu said hesitantly.

Mr. Hong planned to use a bank loan to build the pig farm, which would require only minimal initial investment. But doing business isn't just about having money. Give a Sun Town farmer ten million, and ask him to do business, he is likely to end up losing money or even being scammed. The reason for seeking investment isn't just for the money but also for the experience, connections, management, and sales channels that successful businessmen bring to the table.

It would mean that investors, taking advantage of Sun Town's cheap labor, favorable natural environment, and generous policies, would lead the people of Sun Town to prosperity.

After hearing Mr. Wu finish, Suming pondered for a moment, then furrowed his brows and asked, "Making omelets without breaking eggs? What exactly does he plan to do?"

"Mr. Hong's intention is to get land approval from the town and the county. He then invests a small amount of money to build the beginnings of a facility that can house two hundred wild boars. After that, he uses the farm to secure a bank loan of around two million to enhance the farm, pay staff wages, buy breeding pigs and feed, and so on in order to expand the scale of farming," Mr. Wu explained.

Upon hearing this, Suming felt something was off.

Investing a hundred thousand or so to start the pig farm and then adding the land provided by the town, borrowing one or two million doesn't seem unreasonable.

But raising hundreds of pigs?

"What's wrong? Do you see a problem?" Mr. Wu asked urgently when he saw Suming frowning.

"Let me think..." Suming stood up and paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back.

Tens of thousands, one or two million, two hundred pigs, expanding the farm… A series of keywords flickered through his mind like a carousel.

"That's it, I've figured out what's off!" Suming had an epiphany and stopped in his tracks.

"Tell me, I haven't signed a contract with him yet, so if there are loopholes, there's still time to fix them."

"It's not about loopholes; his statement is contradictory!"

Suming sat down again and said, "Mr. Wu, do you know the habits of wild boars?"

Mr. Wu wasn't sure what specific aspect Suming meant and shook his head, "Just tell me directly; I'm all ears."

"Wild boars, even those that are crossbred, are extremely unruly by nature and simply can't be kept in enclosures! Even wild boars as young as one or two months old will bolt towards the cage at the sight of humans! Therefore, they're very difficult to keep alive if they're all penned in."

"But those two wild boars downstairs, don't they listen to you well?"

As soon as Mr. Wu finished speaking, he smacked his forehead, remembering that Suming had the skill to train wild boars, but Mr. Hong didn't. Besides, training animals definitely consumes time and energy; just like a circus beast tamer, it's feasible to train a few wild animals, but who can train several hundred at the same time?

"Exactly," Suming paused before continuing, "But even if Mr. Hong had someone skilled in beast taming, think about it: wild boars fetch a high price precisely because they roam in the mountains with a lot of activity, eating only natural herbs and mountain springs, which makes their meat better than that of domestic pigs. If they're raised in such small pens, what's the difference from domestic pigs?"

"Are you suggesting that Mr. Hong's talk of establishing a farm is just a front?" Mr. Wu asked, somewhat surprised.

"I can't be sure of what Mr. Hong is really up to, or if he's a fraud, but having worked at the zoo for so long, I know the habits of wild boars. I've also heard about raising wild boars, and to raise them well, they must be let roam free in the wild. Pen raising is definitely not going to work," said Suming with certainty.

The so-called contradiction lies in: pen raising wild boars is unfeasible, while free-range requires much less initial investment. The costs of feed and pens can be saved by simply fencing off a mountain with the cheapest wire and hiring some people to watch over it occasionally.

"Then do you think it's possible that Mr. Hong himself doesn't know the technique and believes that wild boars can be pen-raised?"

Mr. Wu had finally found someone willing to invest and from the bottom of his heart, he hoped that Mr. Hong was genuine and not a swindler, merely negligent because of a lack of technical knowledge. Holding onto a sliver of hope, he said, "He's agreed to mortgage the restaurant to us. If he's really a scammer, he might flee, but the restaurant can't just run away, right?"

"Well, that's true," Suming was also a bit baffled. If Mr. Hong was indeed after a loan of one or two million to abscond, the court could auction off his restaurant after he fled. Furthermore, Mr. Wu was representing the government, and the court wouldn't make things difficult for Sun Town.

Listening to Mr. Wu's description, the restaurant Mr. Hong was willing to mortgage could easily fetch one or two million, even at a discounted rate.

Just because Suming couldn't figure out the problem didn't mean others couldn't. Each profession has its own expertise; legal matters should of course be consulted with professionals. The legal advisor hired by Taoyuan Fisheries Company for three hundred thousand a year was certainly not just for show!

"Mr. Wu, I need to make a couple of calls."