"Is this a statue of Xiaolan?"
Seeing the renderings in Sister Zhiyu's phone album, which perfectly resembled Xiaolan, Ah Qing was slightly taken aback, with a hint of confusion:
"Shouldn't a fishing resort build various statues of fish as its emblem or landmark? Why a fox statue?"
Sister Zhiyu's development plan was to utilize local fishery resources to develop the resort, and later it might also integrate pet-related industries.
But choosing a mascot for the resort with fishery resources as its selling point, neither fish nor fishing rods were selected as the mascot. Instead, an extremely counterintuitive fox was chosen, leaving Ah Qing stunned.
Seeing the rendering, not only was Ah Qing stunned, but even Qiu Lingling was somewhat puzzled.
Although foxes are cute.
But for a leisure resort, shouldn't the first choice mascot be the most symbolic and representative animal?
"Initially, we did consider using fish as the mascot..." Chen Zhiyu glanced at Ah Qing and Qiu Lingling, with a teasing smile, and said, "But later we thought about it, choosing fish as a mascot in a fishing ground felt too much like a hellish choice, as if choosing it would deduct our merits."
"So we ruled out the option of the fish, and then Dad said it's better to choose something with commemorative value."
From the start, choosing a fish wasn't really an option for the fishing ground's mascot; Chen Zhiyu was just making things up.
The initial mascot was a gold-plated little wild boar, which not only matched the historical background of the mountain villagers in Changping Village but also related to a story in Minnan coastal area, saying that if a pig cage was placed in water, water would flow from all directions into it.
Water symbolizes wealth, so the pig cage entering the water means wealth rolling in continuously.
Choosing an adorable little wild boar as the mascot for the Changping Resort was not only meaningful but also carried historical and cultural symbolism. It was an excellent choice.
However.
It wasn't Chen Zhiyu's dad paying up. Facing a mascot statue costing nearly a million, no matter how much he insisted on his choice, it was meaningless.
The account for payment was right there.
Whoever pays, what they say stands as the reason.
"If the choice of a mascot needs to be commemorative."
"The only thing I can think of, probably, is your family's little fox, Ah Qing..."
With a bright smile, Chen Zhiyu reached out to pinch Lord Fuli's little hand on the table, then looked earnestly at Ah Qing and said, "Because... I feel knowing you was a turning point in my destiny."
When Chen Zhiyu spoke, it seemed like she was talking to Ah Qing and Qiu Lingling.
But her arms rested on the table, the hand holding the phone was released, and both hands gently held Lord Fuli's paw. Ansheng looked at Chen Zhiyu with a peculiar expression.
"Shortly before you came to Pet Paradise, I met a rich woman who was interested in purchasing land, and it just so happened that my original Pet Paradise was suitable."
Chen Zhiyu looked at Lord Fuli, revealing a hint of sentiment in her eyes, and said, "That night, although there were minor twists, I reached financial freedom and could achieve my dreams."
"With over fifty million in cash, while considering where to invest, you and the little fox came to our veterinary hospital, and then, the fishery resources behind our hospital exploded..."
As Chen Zhiyu spoke, everyone sitting on the convenience store bench under the sunshade reflexively looked towards the newly excavated lake.
In the lake, without needing a closer look, large groups of big fish, plump and robust, seemed ready to leap out of the water at any moment, snatch the fishermen's bait while pulling out a knife.
It was as if all the big fish from the entire Changle River had gathered in the lake, posing attractively, irresistibly tempting the fishermen.
While underneath all appearances, in the deepest part of the lake's concrete pipeline,
there lay a strange fish basking in its nap. All fish shoals gathered in the lake obediently followed its command.
Lord Fuli gave the strange fish to Chen Zhiyu, and with the strange fish's diligence front and center, the unprecedented prosperity of Changping's fishing haven gradually formed, with all the big fish in the river coming to the lake for a buffet.
Even if the big fish was stuffed and hurt, going back to the river channel to recuperate,
the strange fish could still go to the estuary, summon some sea fish buddies for a cosplay session, startling the fishermen.
Orcas, seven or eight meters long, leapt from the Changle River into the lake, driving the fishermen wild.
The fish here!
Are weighed by 'tons'!
I frickin' caught a whale in the river!
Without the strange fish's aquatic network, there wouldn't be the current grand scene of the fishing sanctuary, but essentially, everything was thanks to Lord Fuli's help.
"Once could be a coincidence, but no way could such coincidence happen a second time, right?"
"So, I firmly believe that the little fox is definitely my good luck charm; hence, I patterned the resort mascot after Lord Fuli."
With a face full of smiles, Chen Zhiyu explained the process of finalizing the mascot. At the end of her words, she even jokingly mentioned Ansheng's moniker in the martial world in front of Ah Qing.
"Is... is that so?" Ah Qing stared wide-eyed at Sister Zhiyu.
But on a closer thought, it made perfect sense.
She had been to Pet Paradise to pet dogs before, but back then, everything at Pet Paradise was normal, without changes, yet when she took Xiaolan once, instead of going with Momo to pet the dogs again, Pet Paradise closed and transitioned into real estate development.
Then, she went to Sister Zhiyu's house, saying it was to pet those lizards worth thousands.
The result was a fishing frenzy here, and at that time, it was even live-streamed, which attracted local fishermen.
This is probably the third time she brought Xiaolan along, and the entire village of Sister Zhiyu's family was planning to relocate.
Every time, bringing Xiaolan here to Sister Zhiyu's place, Sister Zhiyu's life had a substantial leap forward.
It seemed...
Making Xiaolan the resort mascot, the entire logical chain was very smooth, with no flaws to pick.
But Ah Qing still felt something odd, but couldn't pinpoint exactly what.
While Ah Qing was contemplating this, Chen Zhiyu already began to pester Lord Fuli.
"Lord Fuli~"
Chen Zhiyu, with a faint expression of happiness on her cheeks, rubbed against Lord Fuli's neck, full of smiles, completely lacking the composure honed from years in the workplace.
"Squeak!"
Lord Fuli looked startled, hastily using its paws to block Sister Zhiyu's face, loudly squealing:
"Hey, hey, hey! Absorb Yang Qi all you want, but don't rub your sweat onto my hair! Shoo, shoo, go take a shower or turn on the AC before absorbing again..."
Seeing the little fox almost twisting into a coil on the table, Qiu Lingling looked at Ah Qing for a translation.
"Uh... Xiaolan says that Sister Zhiyu is all sticky, like she's treating him as a bath sponge." Ah Qing teased:
"He said if this continues, there'll be a charge, one ostrich leg per fox rub..."
"Hey! This little guy is quite a neat freak, huh! That's a great trait, so no worries about the little fox leaping into a mud pit, then rushing over with its tongue out, crashing into our arms..."
Qiu Lingling, with a heavy face, spoke to Ah Qing about a painfully learned lesson.
In summer, even walking the dog in the mountain ditch, you must keep it on a leash.
Otherwise, if the dog sees a ditch, it'll go crazy, and then jump into the owner's arms, driving both the person and dog bonkers.