Capítulo 3: Chapter 3 Trouble Brewing!
After receiving two text messages, Suming hesitated for a moment.
Had it been before, he wouldn't even need to think about it; he definitely would have chosen the medical company.
On one hand, it matched his major, and even starting as the lowest level technician, as long as nothing unexpected happened, he could gradually climb the ladder over time.
On the other hand, working in medical technology offered much better conditions than a zoo, and being a "technical worker" carried more prestige.
Although the zoo was a public institution, the nation had been transforming in recent years, with public institutions gradually aligning themselves with enterprises, and new employees even had to pay their own insurance, so public institutions were no longer as attractive as they used to be.
As a charitable organization, the zoo might be in somewhat better shape, but official staffing quotas were definitely tight.
In fact, the zoo's recruitment information had clearly stated that they were hiring contract workers, without formal employment quotas.
One option offered good treatment, a promising future, perfectly matched his major, and had a respectable title of "scientific and technological worker"; the other was a temporary job doing odd jobs at a zoo, not at all on the same level. As long as his brain wasn't damaged, the choice would be easy to make.
But now Suming felt an instinctual aversion to the medical company, especially to working in its technology department.
For research on new drugs, testing drug effects, and other reasons, medical companies generally used small animals for experiments, and most were live experiments.
Suming had conducted experiments using small animals like mice and rabbits back in the university lab. He initially had some psychological barriers, but he got used to it over time.
There was no helping it; they couldn't use living people for experiments, after all.
But having acquired the "Animal Friend" ability, allowing him to communicate with animals, Suming instinctively felt a sense of closeness to them.
Animals are animals, and certainly not as important as humans. But if Suming had to personally dissect a group of creatures that could "communicate" with him, he just couldn't bring himself to do it.
After hesitating, he finally decided to apply for the job at the zoo, putting the medical company on hold for the moment, to revisit it if necessary.
...
"Yangchuan City Zoo, located on the outskirts of Yangchuan City, is fifteen kilometers from the city center. Backed by mountains and facing the water, it nestles at the edge of a Qinling Mountains branch and overlooks the Huating Reservoir, with a beautiful and pleasant geographical environment...
The zoo was initially established in '76, and after more than forty years of continuous development, it covers 120 hectares. Within the park, there's an artificial lake, a garden area, a botanical garden, and a free-range animal area, with undulating terrain, lush vegetation, and fresh air. Currently, the zoo exhibits over 100 species and more than 3,000 animals, including...
..."
On the bus to the zoo for the interview, Suming looked through the official website of Yangchuan Wildlife Park on his phone, glancing over the zoo's introduction.
It was possible that during the application process he would be asked questions related to the zoo, so cramming some last-minute information was better than going in completely unprepared.
Suming, who had studied in Yangchuan City for several years, had visited the wildlife park a few times and knew a little about it.
The wildlife park had been in Yangchuan for decades. Initially a modest little zoo, it gradually expanded and became an essential childhood memory for the local people of Yangchuan.
The zoo's location was indeed excellent, just like the official website described: backed by mountains, facing water, and with fresh air. In today's cities where half the year is smoggy, the zoo was absolutely a great leisure destination. Not only were there animals, but also woodlands, artificial mountains, and lakes in the park. One could climb mountains and tour lakes nearby, and transportation was convenient—a half-hour bus ride from the city center, almost a part of the city itself.
However, on Suming's previous visits, the operational condition of the wildlife park seemed fairly average, not as thriving as described on the official site. It might have been due to management and state funding issues, as there was a lot of empty space in the park, and many animals appeared listless. On his last visit, the tigers were so emaciated that it was heart-wrenching to see their ribs protruding.
This also fit the characteristics of a non-profit public institution: mediocre performance, neither rising nor falling, comfortably stable, getting by one day at a time.
Suming soon arrived at the zoo and, after explaining his purpose to the security guard, was directed to a three-story building in the northeast part of the zoo.
The ground floor of the building housed a small store selling drinks and grilled sausages for visitors to rest their feet. However, the items were outrageously expensive; a bottle of mineral water that usually cost one yuan and fifty cents was priced at three yuan here.
Even so, the business was surprisingly good. The small store, only a few square meters in size, had attracted a crowd of over twenty people.
A middle-aged woman in her forties came out of the building holding a megaphone:
"Attention, those here for the job interview, please hand in your resumes to me and then proceed to Conference Room 103 for the first round of written tests. After the test, Mr. Song will personally conduct the interviews, and candidates will be selected based on the combined results of the tests and interviews."
Suming was taken aback. So these people weren't tourists but here to apply for jobs?!
Suming instantly felt immense pressure, a temporary position had actually attracted over twenty competitors, and with an unrelated major and no work experience, the fact that a written exam about the zoo was required only added to his cluelessness.
"Since I'm here, I might as well accept it." That was all he could think at the moment. Suming handed in his resume and joined a large group of competitors in conference room 103.
The conference room was nicely decorated, but Suming had no interest in looking at the surroundings; he focused on his phone, quickly Googled 'zoo written exam questions'.
"Guangzhou Zoo keeper interview questions"
"Are there any test questions for Suzhou Zoo recruitment exams? Is the test difficult?"
...
A long list of information came up, and just as Suming was about to click on one, the middle-aged woman from before walked in, carrying a stack of test papers in her arms.
"Comrades, we will now start distributing the test papers, please turn off your phones. During the written exam, no whispering, passing notes, or any form of cheating is allowed. Anyone caught will be disqualified immediately."
Suming could only turn off his phone and look around.
The conference room had a faint scent of naphthalene balls; with those around, snakes, bugs, rats, and other small creatures would all keep their distance—even the last glimmer of hope for cheating disappeared.
After receiving the test paper, Suming quickly glanced over it and nearly sprayed out a mouthful of blood in shock!
"The average lifespan of a giant panda, A 20 years B 25 years C 30 years D 40 years."
"Among the following animals, which are classified as national second-class protected species (multiple choice) A White stork B Japanese seabass C Golden snub-nosed monkey D Clouded leopard E Wild yak."
"Please describe, from the aspects of food preparation and environment, the caretaking points of attention during the rut of the sika deer."
...
This has got to be too specialized! Isn't Japanese seabass a dish? I don't even have a girlfriend, what do I care about sika deer in heat for? What's there to pay attention to, just do it...
Almost simultaneously, the conference room filled with a chorus of gasps as it seemed everyone was stumped.
Fortunately, Suming had plenty of experience with exams. For questions he didn't know, he had his own ways of coping; for multiple choice questions, he'd play eeny, meeny, miny, moe, and fill in the essays whether he knew the answer or not...
By blindly guessing and babbling nonsense, he finally managed to finish writing the entire paper.
Then came the interview.
Mr. Song, the zoo director, was in his fifties, but already had a head full of white hair, a severe and solemn expression, yet he spoke in a rather friendly tone.
Before coming, Suming had read about Mr. Song online; he had graduated from a renowned institution and was an authoritative figure in the field of animal research and conservation in China.
Mr. Song carefully reviewed Suming's resume and the written test, then talked with Suming for about ten minutes, asking common recruitment questions such as why he wanted to work at the zoo.
"Su, this position mainly involves the feeding and management of animals, and just having compassion might not be enough. Your major and experience still fall short of our requirements. As the zoo director, I must be responsible for the animals here, and I hope you can understand."
"I understand, I understand, thank you for your time."
Suming stood up with a bitter smile, the message was clear, he wasn't hired.
"However, you're still welcome to visit the zoo anytime. Nowadays, fewer young people like animals."
Mr. Song also stood up and nodded at Suming, "Please call the next candidate for me."
As Suming turned and opened the office door, before he could step out, the middle-aged woman from before rushed in, flustered, and bumped right into Suming.
The middle-aged woman didn't have time to apologize to Suming, her expression was extremely anxious, and her voice changed with emphasis, "There's big trouble, Mr. Song! A child has fallen into Monkey Mountain!"
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