Arriving at the Elephant House!
Fang Ye first went to the back area and saw the keeper, Xiao Kong, pushing a cart loaded with bundles of hay.
Seeing Fang Ye, Xiao Kong greeted him, "Hello, Director! Do you need any help?"
Fang Ye glanced at the cart, realizing it was for feeding the elephants, and nodded, "No, carry on! By the way, is Xiao Qing around?"
"Yes, he's setting up mousetraps."
Fang Ye explained to the viewers, "We have a winch system around the elephant activity area. By filling nets with hay and lifting them, we encourage the elephants to move around and forage, increasing their activity levels."
Spotting Xiao Qing setting up mousetraps near the operations area, Fang Ye called out, "Xiao Qing, take a break and bring me some durians."
"Got it!"
Xiao Qing quickly ran off and soon returned with a bucket containing several large durians. "Director, these are fresh from the fridge!"
Fang Ye smiled, "Great, thanks!"
The viewers, seeing the beautiful durians, were practically drooling!
"I can smell the durian through the screen!"
"Durians fresh from the fridge must be delicious!"
"Enough talk, I'm off to the fruit store downstairs to buy a durian!"
"I'm so jealous! It's 20 yuan per pound here, too expensive. I can only afford durian candy!"
Fang Ye carried the bucket to the activity area to find the elephants.
Pingping was lying in a soft dirt pile!
With its face to the ground and back to the sky, it looked like it was sunbathing.
Adjusting its position, the massive body tilted to one side, pressing into the dirt pile.
The sunlight on its skin gave it a grayish-white hue. Its tail curled into a loop, playfully swishing back and forth.
Fang Ye called out, "Pingping! Pingping!"
Pingping flapped its large ears and lifted its head to look over.
It raised its trunk as if greeting him but seemed too lazy to get up!
It flopped back into the dirt.
Just about to nap, don't disturb!
Fang Ye laughed, "I brought durians. Still want to nap?"
Pingping paused, its eyes widening as it got up from the ground!
Wow, something tasty! Why didn't you say so earlier?
Bending its knees and front feet, almost like kneeling, it shuffled forward, pushing against the dirt to stand up.
It walked over to Fang Ye in large strides, clearly motivated by the food.
Fang Ye picked up a durian, which was already ripe, with a wide crack in the shell.
He braced one end of the durian against his chest and used his hands to pry it open along the crack.
As Fang Ye opened the durian, Pingping stood beside him, mouth wide open, trunk raised high, eager to eat!
Fang Ye pulled out a piece of creamy, yellow-white flesh, firm and plump, looking like a piece of cream cake. He showed it to the camera and laughed, "Here, fans, have a bite!"
"Thank you, Director!"
"Look at the poor elephant drooling!"
"Forget the elephant, I'm drooling just watching!"
Fang Ye held out the flesh, and Pingping, eyes wide, mouth open, "Ah! Ah!"
The viewers laughed at Pingping's impatient look!
But Fang Ye handed the flesh to Lan Li instead!
Lan Li blinked and obediently opened her mouth, "Ah~"
She chewed the durian, smiling sweetly, and mumbled, "It's soft and sticky, cold and refreshing! Sweeter than a banana."
Fang Ye picked up another piece, ate it with a crunch, and sucked the rest into his mouth, licking his fingers. He nodded, "It melts in your mouth, really delicious! By the way, remember, durian is great, but don't overeat! It can cause heatiness."
"My wallet won't let me overeat anyway /laughcry"
"Director, you're so mean, Pingping is getting anxious!"
Pingping watched them eating durian sweetly, waiting on the side, couldn't stand it anymore!
Wasn't I called here to eat durian? Why am I watching you two eat?
Did you forget about me?
Pingping nudged Fang Ye's shoulder with its trunk, almost like it was pleading!
I want to eat too!
It then took a few steps forward, squeezing between Fang Ye and Lan Li, blocking their view.
With its mouth wide open, trunk on its forehead, it looked expectant.
Lan Li had to step back and move to the side to get a clear shot of Fang Ye again, laughing, "The Director is definitely teasing Pingping on purpose to see its reaction.
By the way, don't tease elephants like this. The Director has a good relationship with Pingping, and Pingping has a good temper. If it were the temperamental Meiling, she might get angry and knock you over with her trunk. Elephants are very powerful."
Fang Ye patted Pingping's trunk and laughed, "Alright, alright, I won't tease you anymore."
He took out the flesh and tossed it into Pingping's mouth.
Pingping quickly swallowed the durian, looking like it wanted more.
Some viewers were disappointed, "Didn't you say elephants eat durian in a hardcore way, shell and all?"
Someone wondered, "Huh? The durian shell is covered in spikes. Won't the elephant get hurt?"
"No, in the wild, durians rely on elephants to spread their seeds!"
Fang Ye laughed, "Since this one is already open, there's no need to give it the shell. Let's give it an unopened one and see what it does."
This time, Pingping stepped on the durian with its broad foot, cracking it open. It then used its trunk to grab the flesh and started eating.
It seemed the durian's aroma had spread, as the other elephants noticed and gathered around!
"Don't worry, there's enough for everyone!"
Fang Ye gave each elephant a durian.
Meilan's durian seemed hard to open, only squashed but still intact.
Seeing Meiling's trunk reaching over to snatch it, Meilan gave up trying to open it and put the whole durian in its mouth.
The viewers were amazed to see Meilan eating the durian whole, shell and all!
"Wow, that's impressive!"
"They can really eat the whole thing!"
Though Fang Ye had mentioned it was easy for elephants to eat durian, seeing the spiky shell rolling in the elephant's soft mouth was still shocking.
Meilan quickly swallowed it whole.
Fang Ye saw Pingping extending its trunk towards him again, looking hopeful, and teased, "You've had one and a half. The others only had one. Isn't that enough?"
Pingping looked at him as if to say, of course not! Who would think delicious food is too much?
They wandered around the Elephant House, watching the elephants for a while.
Fang Ye said, "Alright, that's it for today. Goodbye, everyone!"
"Okay, goodbye, Director!"