"Transforming it into a miniature city with an animal theme?"
"Director Yang, how does your mind work?"
Upon hearing Yang Lin's idea, Designer Wu's face was full of surprise.
"There's no other way. The officials handed this project over to me, and I can't just let it sit there and rot. That would affect the Xihong Zoo to some extent."
"Besides, I think it's fitting for this development, which primarily consists of villas and low-rise apartments, to house smaller animals."
As he spoke, Yang Lin elaborated on his concept.
"My intention is to preserve the main structure of these buildings and decorate the exterior walls, ensuring each building has its own unique character."
"I plan to design this area on the left as the carnivore zone, and this area on the right as the herbivore zone."
"And then there will be a commercial street and residential areas."
As Yang Lin spoke, a rough outline of an animal city quickly formed in Designer Wu's mind.
"I understand your idea, Director Yang. With your concept, the renovation of the entire development won't be too difficult. After all, it's for animals, not humans, so there's no need for water, electricity, or gas, and even no need for interior decoration."
"But are you sure about setting up themed hotels in these animal habitats?" Designer Wu's face showed some uncertainty.
Meanwhile, Yang Lin's spirits instantly lifted.
"Of course. If possible, I even want to design those villas to have one side for animals and the other for people, separated by a large piece of bulletproof glass."
"Imagine living right next to a fierce Siberian tiger, with it just across the window from you. Isn't that a proper 'tiger view' room? I wouldn't be overcharging at 1888 yuan a night."
"Oh, well... that's certainly thrilling. It has a sort of bloody, raw beauty." Designer Wu was momentarily speechless.
The only thing she could be sure of was that if Yang Lin really offered such 'tiger view' rooms, a large number of tourists would rush to book them.
They could even launch a series of 'bear view' rooms, 'deer view' rooms, and 'lion view' rooms.
"Alright then, we can directly produce the design drafts for you..."
Before Designer Wu could finish speaking, Yang Lin interrupted, "Once the design drafts are ready, arrange for construction as soon as possible. I have the money now, no need to wait."
Although she didn't know why Yang Lin had suddenly become so generous, Designer Wu still nodded.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Yang Lin alone had boosted their entire design firm's performance for the latter half of the year.
Yang Lin had contributed to every cent of their year-end bonuses.
Where else could they find such a generous patron? Even if Yang Lin wanted to build a city for animals, or build a zoo in his own backyard, they would rack their brains to come up with solutions.
After Yang Lin finalized the renovation plan for the unfinished development, he didn't linger there.
Now that he had billions in his pocket, many things he had wanted to do but couldn't afford to do could now be slowly realized.
For example, the issue of marine animals.
With the aquarium about to officially open, he had to acquire some impressive marine animals before then.
The simplest method was to purchase them from third-party companies.
It wasn't just him; most marine and polar aquariums in the country bought their marine animals from companies specializing in marine fishing or breeding.
Only a very small portion were self-bred or imported from abroad.
The city zoo had previously bought two dolphins for a total of 500,000 yuan, and even the polar bear had cost 1 million yuan. It was a pity that Yang Lin hadn't had the capacity to house them then, and other zoos had benefited for free.
Thinking of this, Yang Lin immediately called Director Song.
"Hello, Director Song, it's Xiao Yang. Do you have any channels for purchasing marine animals?"
"There's a Japanese company that specializes in this, right? Okay, okay."
"If you have a chance to come to Ningnan, I'll treat you to a meal."
...
As the call ended, Yang Lin felt much more confident.
According to Director Song, there were related industries in their neighboring countries, Japan and Russia.
Forget buying dolphins; if you had the money, they could even get you whales.
Although this somewhat violated international wildlife protection laws, the Japanese didn't seem to care.
If they couldn't sell them, they usually ended up on their plates.
As for Russia, it was known for selling everything. Half of the polar bears in zoos worldwide were brought out of the Arctic by them.
"It seems these marine animals are living in dire straits. I need to hurry and rescue them."
As soon as he said this, Yang Lin began preparing for his sea voyage.
However, just as he was about to book his flight to Japan, an unexpected incident forced him to temporarily halt his plans.
"Director, something's happened at the construction site next door!"
When Yang Lin, who was in his office, heard this news, his face immediately changed.
The renovation project had just begun, and it would be disastrous if an accident occurred.
Fortunately, what the employee said next brought him a long sigh of relief.
"Just now, while they were excavating, a large hole suddenly appeared in the ground. There seemed to be some movement inside the hole, and the workers are now too scared to continue working."
"It just collapsed into a hole? What's there to make a fuss about? It's all karst caves underneath, it's normal to occasionally dig into one. As long as no one is hurt, it's fine."
From his previous experience with the underground river, Yang Lin had a good understanding of the terrain beneath the zoo, so he wasn't worried about the collapse.
Moreover, according to the original design plan, all the underground areas were supposed to be excavated anyway.
Having existing cavities would actually save them some effort.
The only thing that puzzled him was what kind of movement could be happening in these underground caves to scare the workers into stopping.
"Could there be an ancient tomb underneath? Is my zoo going to become a museum?"
With such questions, Yang Lin soon arrived at the construction site next to the Xihong Zoo.
Unlike the barren land before, this area had now become a major construction site, with various engineering vehicles everywhere.
However, all construction had come to a halt.
Hundreds of workers were gathered in front of a huge pit.
Before Yang Lin could get close, a faint, unusual sound drifted from the pit.
Upon hearing these strange noises, the construction workers, who already had grim expressions, all took a few steps back in unison.
Yang Lin, however, was different. Not only did he show no fear, but he also felt a sense of curiosity.
He had already realized that these faint strange sounds were not from any supernatural event but from some kind of creature.
And that creature was currently living in the karst cave below.