As one by one, incidents unfolded within the park, both visiting tourists and online viewers were deeply impressed.
At the same time, discussions on the internet about Animal City never ceased.
However, not all feedback was positive; there were also quite a few negative reviews.
"One star, not for anything else, but because I couldn't get a ticket."
"Why can't we stay overnight? I spent the whole day here and most of it petting cats, boohoo."
"I want to report police officer dog, ID number 14, for pooping on the street."
"One star, both orangutan security guards have partners, and I don't."
"Everyone else is giving bad reviews, so I'll give one too, just to make it seem like I've been to Animal City."
Yet, when Yang Lin saw these negative reviews, he could only smile faintly.
For him, the first day of official operation was clearly a great success.
Not only were all 2,000 tickets sold out, but all 100 animal suites were also booked.
Coupled with the sales of other merchandise within the park, the revenue was almost on par with Xihong Zoo.
With the subsequent sales of peripheral products and some business collaborations, surpassing Xihong Zoo in profitability would only be a matter of time.
Seeing such results, Yang Lin was naturally overjoyed.
What was once a unfinished building had now transformed into its current state under his management.
But this was far from enough; vast tracts of undeveloped land surrounded Animal City.
In the previous plan, Yang Lin intended to develop it following the same model as Xihong Zoo.
However, inspired by Animal City, he decided to change his strategy.
He would transform all these blank areas into natural landscapes such as mountains, forests, and lakes.
These would then completely encircle Animal City and Xihong Zoo, turning the entire area into a true urban oasis, an urban forest.
Just as Yang Lin was preparing to embark on this grand dream, the subsequent impacts of Animal City's opening and the release of Zootopia began to arrive wave after wave.
The first to be affected was Xihong Zoo itself, which was operating at near full capacity almost every hour of every day.
All peripheral merchandise in online stores was completely sold out.
Secondly, the sales of businesses that had established commercial partnerships with Xihong Zoo also experienced explosive growth.
And if there was one major winner, it was undoubtedly the Ningnan government.
Almost overnight, Ningnan, a city that barely ranked among provincial capitals, shot to the top of the list of popular tourist cities.
Major travel agencies hastily organized new tour routes to Ningnan overnight.
On the media front, it had already entered the top five most livable cities.
Watching the GDP surge, the high-ranking officials of Ningnan seemed to glimpse a bright future.
As the biggest contributor, Yang Lin naturally received a series of favorable treatments.
The very next morning, Yang Lin was awarded Ningnan City's Outstanding Individual of the Year.
Before he could even catch his breath, Xihong Zoo was recognized as the Outstanding Unit of the Year.
Just when Yang Lin thought it couldn't get any more exaggerated, titles like Outstanding Young Entrepreneur, Municipal Labor Model, and Advanced Taxpayer Unit were successively bestowed upon Xihong Zoo.
When Yang Lin looked at the thick stack of certificates and trophies displayed on his desk, he fell into deep contemplation.
"Am I really this outstanding already?"
As Yang Lin was dazed by this series of honors, an employee rushed in frantically.
"Director, a lot of soldiers have arrived outside, and they're bringing gongs and drums. I also saw quite a few city leaders."
"Oh, and lots of cars."
Hearing this, Yang Lin's eyes widened.
"Again? Do they have to be this polite? What award are they planning to give me this time?"
At this moment, he had already guessed something.
But when he arrived at the entrance of Xihong Zoo, he was still shocked by the scene before him.
On the open space in front of the zoo, several vehicles with military license plates were parked.
Beside them stood a group of Chinese soldiers in uniform, along with some city leaders who looked familiar but whose names he couldn't recall.
In addition, there was a gong and drum troupe performing a lion dance.
He had only seen such a grand scene on television.
As Yang Lin stood there stunned, a middle-aged leader in plain clothes walked towards him.
"Director Yang, you've truly brought honor to our Ningnan this time."
"The military specifically contacted us to commend you for your great contribution to our nation's defense."
"What?" At this moment, Yang Lin was truly bewildered.
After thinking for a while, he finally remembered that he had recently salvaged an unmanned submersible. It was the only thing that would warrant such a grand gesture from the military.
But before he could verify this, two soldiers carried a plaque covered with a red cloth slowly walked towards him.
As they approached, the red cloth was slowly lifted.
The next second, the words "Guardian of the Ocean" appeared before his eyes.
He was left speechless.
"They said National Pillar, Pillar of the State? Even a Family of Heroes would do."
"First it was 'Peacekeeper,' now 'Guardian of the Ocean.' It won't look good if this is what's carved on my tombstone."
Yang Lin couldn't help but picture a scene.
Many years later, his child, in front of the entire class, would loudly proclaim:
"My dad is a Peacekeeper, a Guardian of the Ocean."
As the image appeared, he quickly shook his head.
"Wake up, you don't even have a partner, where are you going to get kids?"
"Director Yang, besides this plaque personally presented by the Navy, the state will also award you a merit bonus of 5 million yuan as encouragement."
Yang Lin, who had been somewhat distracted, immediately became energized.
"Five million! That much?"
As soon as he said this, the middle-aged leader smiled.
"Not much, not much. We heard that the weapons research department, after taking back the unmanned submersible, immediately overcame some of its technical challenges."
"It's already nearing the research and production stage. I believe it won't be long before our country possesses its own Orca-class unmanned submersibles to protect our territorial waters."
After hearing the middle-aged leader's explanation, Yang Lin suddenly understood.
If that was the case, then a reward of 5 million yuan was indeed not much.
And just as this thought crossed his mind, another surprise quickly arrived.
"Director Yang, in addition to the military's acknowledgment, our Ningnan municipal government has also prepared a small token of our appreciation, consider it a New Year's gift for the park's animals."
Hearing this, Yang Lin's eyes lit up.
At the same time, he couldn't help but feel a strong sense of curiosity.
And at this very moment, a line of large trucks began to drive towards Xihong Zoo.