Chapter 1446: You Be the Director!
“That’s my father, Pan Yingjiu. However, he’s old and has very bad ears. He can’t hear what others are saying. He doesn’t communicate with people usually. He serves these animals all day long.”
“He’s not only the director of the zoo, but he’s also the purchaser, cleaner, ticket seller, vet, farm keeper, and interpreter… Every morning, he would take the tricycle to buy food for the animals at 5 AM. When he returned, he would clean the column, feed and water, and occasionally receive visitors. He would work from morning to night. That’s how he spent his days.”
“I like animals and often help him, but… he wants me to take over. I don’t think I can do it.”
“When my father is really a hundred years old, I might pack all of these animals up and send them to other zoos. I won’t do this anymore.”
Pei Qian asked, “Not good economic benefits?”
“It’s not just bad. It’s purely losing money.”
“The cost of keeping animals is too huge. pythons and crocodiles have to eat living things, be it chickens or fish. How much do they have to eat in a day? It’s relatively better for hides, horses, and monkeys, but my father doesn’t want to save money on it.”
“In addition to the income from the tickets, my father also put in a lot of his retirement fees so that these animals could eat well. However, that was all. It was not easy for them to eat well. As for renovating the column, I dare not think about it.”
“The key is that my father is living a worse life than animals. Do you see that lousy house next to the column? My father lives there usually. He can just deal with his meals. It would have been fine if he was tens of years younger. Now, he’s older. How can he continue to struggle like this?”
“When I was young, my parents got a huge part of the reason why they got a girlfriend in this zoo.
“To be honest, I’m quite conflicted. I know that it’s not easy for my father, so I’m trying my best to help him with his work. However, if I help him too much, he would always want me to take over.”
“However, I feel that there is no need for this zoo to continue existing.”
“In the past, this zoo was quite popular. That was because the environment was relatively closed. No one in this small county could go anywhere else to see animals. However, now that the economy has developed, let’s not talk about large-scale wild animals parks. Wouldn’t it be quite convenient to drive to Jingzhou’s zoo to see animals? Who would still come to this zoo?”
“The money for the entrance tickets is getting lesser and lesser. It’s enough to show that private zoos like this are no longer popular. They should be eliminated.”
“I like animals more, but I’m still human. I have to live normally. I can’t be like my father, spending thirty to forty years on these animals.”
“Sigh, I accidentally said too much. Actually, we shouldn’t talk about this. Come, Boss Pei, let me show you these animals.”
He brought Pei Qian to a few horses. They looked very energetic and were happily eating grass.
There was a brown horse that came over to him after seeing him. It happily snorted after being touched by him.
After that, he looked at the kiwi and pythons in the room. They looked very energetic, especially the monkeys. They were jumping up and down asking for food. They looked even livelier than the monkeys in large zoos. He did not know if it was an illusion.
However, inevitably, there was a strong taste. The entire environment was not good.
Even though Tuan Yingjiu cleaned every day, it was impossible for there to be good hygiene conditions under such conditions.
However, Pei Qian was not thinking about these now. He had been thinking about what Pan Xinzhang had said.
This was pure loss!
It was more optimistic than he had imagined!
Take this zoo for example. The entrance tickets were only 20 yuan. What could 20 yuan do in this day and age? What’s more, just eating these animals every day was a huge expenses. Many carnivores had to eat living animals. Their food expenses were higher than humans.
It would cost even more if these animals caused more problems.
Many people could not even afford to open a cat cafe. The difficulty of keeping wild animals was many times higher than the cat cafe.
On the other hand, Old Man Pan Yingjiu had persevered for thirty years. She had even raised lions and ostriches. She would definitely not be able to persevere if not for her strong will, beliefs, and love.
However, Pei Qian gained some inspiration from what he heard.
How could the zoo lose money?
The most important point was that it had to be small and not too big.
There were very few types of animals in the small zoo, so it did not look interesting. It was impossible to achieve a thin profit and quick turnover even if the ticket prices were lowered.
In the past, people would visit some small zoos because of their economic Development and poor transport. Now that transport was so advanced, not to mention the zoos in foreign or super first-tier cities, just the zoos in each prefecture city would be able to eat most of Handong Province’s needs.
Therefore, small zoos with few animals would only become more and more hopeless and gradually fall into a vicious cycle.
The old man had spent most of his life in this zoo. Of course, he was not willing to accept such a reality. However, he was a young man who saw things much clearer than his father.
That was why he said that after his father passed away, he would close the zoo and send the animals to other zoos.
He was human as well. He had to live. At that time, even Tuan Yingjiu had gotten a marriage contract with the zoo. Given Tuan Xinzhang’s current situation, it was probably impossible for him to even get married if he continued to fight to the death with the zoo.
Pei Qian could not help but smile. Don’t you think this is a coincidence?
If you meet me, we can have a good talk!
Pei Qian walked around the zoo and nodded in satisfaction. “Yes, not bad.”
“I intend to move the entire zoo to Jingzhou. What do you think if you become the director?”
Tuan Xinzhang was shocked. “Huh?”
He had not expected Boss Pei to say something like that.
According to the most optimistic estimates, Boss Pei could have arranged for some employees to come and visit. Otherwise, if they felt sympathetic and decided to donate some money, it would already be very good for Tang Xinzhang.
What was the point of moving the zoo?
Anyone could tell that this zoo had no value at all.
These dilapidated houses should have been demolished a long time ago. As for the animals inside, there might be some wild animals but which zoo outside did not have them? They were not rare or precious.
What’s more, he was not fit to be the director.
The zoo director had to be at least a university graduate, right?
“Boss Pei, that’s not appropriate. If you want to set up a zoo, just do it. These animals are not rare. It’s not worth it.”
“As for the director, it’s even more inappropriate. If we start a zoo now, we have to pay attention to scientific feeding. We have to let professionals do it. My father and I are both unorthodox. We might have learned some knowledge on our own, but we’re still far from being the director of a large-scale zoo…”
If Boss Pei wanted to set up a zoo, it would definitely not be small. Otherwise, it would not fit Tengda’s style at all.
Pei Qian’s expression was serious. “Sigh, that’s not right.”
“Animals are not rare or rare. They are all equal. How can you favor one over the other? These animals have been with you and your father for so many years. No matter what, they have some feelings for you. It would be difficult for them to be treated like they are now if you send them to other zoos with so many animals.”
“My zoo is mainly meant to try things out in the beginning. I won’t rashly raise rare animals. I think these animals are quite good. They might be ordinary but they are very energetic and happy. That’s enough.”
“As for being the director, you don’t have to worry. I think the most important thing is to have a heart that truly loves animals. Professional knowledge is easy to deal with. I’ll arrange for a few professionals to assist you when the time comes. The breeds and vet are all professionals. If you need any advice, just ask.”
“You’re the director. You don’t have to worry about these minor details.”
“The key is the spirit of you father and son. I’m very touched!”
“Of course, I understand the current situation very well. Don’t worry, the place we are moving to this time is not far from Thriller Hostel. It might be in the outskirts of Jingzhou but it is quite lively nearby. Traffic is also convenient. When the time comes, the two of you will be Tengda’s official employees. The various benefits and benefits will not be lacking. These animals will also be better taken care of. At the very least, their food and living environment will be greatly improved.”
He looked confused.
This… of course, everything sounded good.
However, the question was, what was Boss Pei after?
No matter how he looked at it, this was a pure burning of money and completely meaningless behavior.
“How about this? You can sign the contract with Tengda first. Then, I’ll give you some funds. You can hire a few people to help Old Master manage the zoo here. When you arrive in Jingzhou, you can participate in the construction of the new zoo. That way, there’s nothing to worry about, right?” Pei Qian said seeing that Tuan Xinzhangwas still a little hesitant.
It was true after some thought.
He could not think of a reason why Boss Pei would do this, but he also could not think of a reason why he would reject it.
“Alright, Boss Pei. How about this? I’ll talk to my father about this and give him some thought. I’ll settle down in the zoo here and then go to Jingzhou to look for you.”
Pei Qian nodded. “Alright, you can contact me directly.”
Pei Qian did not delay any further after selecting the zoo director. He took a car back.
He might have decided on the director but he still had to think about the specific operating model of this zoo.
Even though the zoo was already losing money, Pei Qian did not intend to copy this model completely. After all, there were changes in the objective conditions.
If he continued to open this zoo, how much would he be able to burn even if he bought the entire place? That would be a drop in the ocean.
What Pei Qian was thinking was to move the zoo to Jingzhou and explore an expanded money-burning path. Once this model was successful, he would only need to continue expanding.. Then, he would be able to burn money indefinitely. Wouldn’t that be perfect?