While the members of the Flying Tigers were wreaking havoc everywhere, the Xihong Zoo was also bustling with activity.
After the second expansion phase, the entire park had reached an unprecedented scale.
The park, which could previously accommodate only 50,000 visitors daily, could now easily host 100,000.
Even with a hundred thousand people entering at the same time, the park didn't feel crowded; it was even somewhat empty.
This was because the park's area was simply too vast, leading to a new problem presented to Yang Lin.
"Director, we've just received another visitor feedback, saying there are too few transportation facilities in our park. We walked our legs off all day and only managed to see less than a third," one staff member reported.
"That's right. We only have 10 sightseeing carts in the entire park, and each can only carry twenty people. Their tires are practically worn out after a day's work," another added.
"Never mind the visitors; my daily step count is over 40,000. I was 170 jin when I first joined, and now I'm only 140 jin," a third chimed in.
"Director, this issue needs to be resolved. The visitors are very dissatisfied right now."
Listening to the reports from his management team, Yang Lin gradually realized the gravity of the situation.
Indeed, after Xihong Zoo established its nature reserve and encompassed several surrounding areas, its overall size had surpassed that of a typical town.
He, living within the park daily, didn't feel it, but the visitors and staff outside were suffering, their feet developing blisters after a single day's exploration.
"Director, why don't we apply to the city's public transportation company to open two bus routes inside the park?"
"A cable car would also work."
"A train! A train track circling the entire park. I think those black smoke-puffing steam trains would be quite atmospheric, like in Harry Potter."
"Riding a slow steam train through the forest, visitors wouldn't be able to resist."
"A subway. The subway would run underground and wouldn't disturb the animals."
Faced with the solutions proposed by everyone, Yang Lin's expression was anything but pleasant.
"Are you all crazy? Opening bus routes might be feasible to apply for, but building a subway! Do you know how much a kilometer of subway costs?"
"Eight hundred million per kilometer!"
"Ningnan currently only has three subway lines. How can our zoo possibly afford that?"
"Should I just build a space station then?"
"However, the steam train idea that Little Zhang just mentioned is worth considering. Perhaps switching the steam to electricity would be better. I don't want the entire zoo smelling like coal ash."
Yang Lin himself thought that traveling around the park by train could be a romantic experience.
"Add this plan to this year's development agenda. Once I figure out the cost, we can start construction."
"However, building a track that encircles the entire zoo will take a considerable amount of time. This won't solve our immediate problem. Do you have any other better ideas?"
Hearing Yang Lin's words, the people in the conference room began to discuss again.
Soon, a few more reasonable suggestions were put forward.
"Director, how about we introduce shared bicycles? They're cheap and environmentally friendly, though management will incur some costs."
"Shared bikes are too chaotic. The visitors'素质 hasn't reached that level yet. There will definitely be issues with random parking, and some areas aren't suitable for cycling."
"Then let's set up more stations and add some shuttle buses running between these stations. We can sell tickets and generate revenue."
"Convenience increases significantly, but entertainment decreases."
"How about letting visitors ride animals?"
As everyone was engaged in a heated discussion, a new employee timidly offered this idea.
Upon hearing his suggestion, everyone in the room turned their gaze towards him.
"How can that be allowed? If we launch this service, won't there be some obnoxious visitors complaining about animal abuse?"
"Exactly. Ebei Ocean World was cyberbullied for so long just because a stray cat earned its own food."
"You're still too young. Even people who ride sedan chairs on Mount Tai get cyberbullied. If animals are ridden, they'll dig up the Director's ancestors' graves."
Yang Lin: ???
"Stop, stop, stop! How did this escalate to my ancestors' graves?"
"I think the solutions you all proposed are actually feasible, including the idea of riding animals."
Yang Lin's statement immediately earned him a room full of admiring glances from his employees.
"Director, aren't you afraid of being cyberbullied?"
"Yes, those keyboard warriors are ferocious!"
"What I mean is, we can introduce a small number of shared bicycles. To avoid random parking issues, we can set up designated parking spots."
"Shuttle buses are also fine; they can be used for longer distances."
"As for riding animals, that's also fine, as long as we choose suitable animals."
"For example, horses, alpacas, ostriches, elephants. If you ride a dog, people might say you're abusing an animal, but if you ride a horse, no one should say anything, right?"
"Also, wild boars. We can use the day's operating revenue from these animals as a reward added to their feed, essentially them earning extra income for themselves."
Hearing Yang Lin's explanation, the employees who initially had concerns suddenly had their eyes light up.
"That's right, Director makes sense."
"The main difficulty is that these animals are not easy to train, but for Xihong Zoo, this difficulty seems non-existent."
"We just need to provide relevant training to visitors, and we can even earn training fees."
"Then won't the park be full of wild boar riders, ostrich riders, and alpaca riders? It'll be like a pure fantasy world."
"With small trains around the perimeter and various animal mounts in the middle, it sounds thrilling."
"Let alone the visitors, I can't resist. Who could refuse to ride a handsome wild horse to and from work within the park?"
As the staff were lost in their daydreams, Yang Lin made his decision.
He would transfer a portion of the large animals such as wild boars, alpacas, ostriches, and horses bred at Bear Tiger Villa.
At the same time, relevant training would be conducted for them.
Of course, the animals wouldn't be the only ones needing training.
With this thought, Yang Lin looked at the innocent-looking employees in the conference room.
"Since you all want to ride horses to and from work in the future, I will provide you with specialized equestrian training for the next week."
"Two hours every day, no absences allowed."
"Those who don't get their rider's license will have to go work in the various park sections shoveling manure."
Upon hearing Yang Lin's words, everyone's faces instantly fell.