"Ao——"
"Ao~~"
Howling and howling, the two wolves started to nuzzle each other again.
Charcoal took to gnawing on Mizzle's head before sticking close, and they walked off side by side.
Tang Xiaoxin saw how wolves showed affection for the first time and found it quite novel, snapping two photos with a click-click.
"So interesting! I'll take a couple of pictures and tell my parents and friends about it when I get back!"
Fang Ye was speechless, those two wolves never got tired of each other!
He patiently waited for her to finish taking photos and then they continued on their way.
After a while, Tang Xiaoxin stopped again, curiously gazing in a certain direction!
It was where the peafowl's enclosure was located.
Fang Ye, understanding as always, said, "Shall we go see the peafowl first?"
"Yeah!" the little girl nodded.
It's an observation that Fang Ye himself made as a zookeeper.
Little boys prefer animals that are fierce and lively, like tigers, monkeys.
And little girls are more into the ones that are pretty or adorably cute, such as peafowl, alpacas.
So the pair headed over to the peafowl's enclosure.
This cage was a bit different, the spacing between the bars was wider, and there were no metal nets wrapped around the bars.
Metal nets are used to contain carnivorous animals with a tendency to attack, like wolves and tigers, to prevent visitors from getting hurt.
But there was no such worry with peafowl.
The bars were slightly wider, which also made it easier for visitors to take photos.
There were five peafowls in the enclosure, three males and two females.
It was easy to distinguish the males from the females; the males were the ones with long tails trailing behind them, like they were wearing evening gowns.
The peafowls lifted their feet, slowly strutting around the enclosure, and one of the male peafowls lazily sat on the ground, seemingly out of spirits as it had lost more feathers recently.
Tang Xiaoxin looked around, puzzled, "Zookeeper, why aren't the peafowls displaying thier plumes?"
To see peafowl is to see them fan their tails, right?
But that wasn't all!
One of the peafowl took a step forward, its head leaning out as its body dipped slightly, the huge fan tilting backwards.
With another slow step, its body suddenly rose, the neck lifting as the tail fan "whooshed" upright.
The gossamer tail fan, from lowered to raised, swayed with the body's movements, each plume waving enigmatically like undulating underwater plants, seductively dancing!
Another, with its tail raised, sprinted like a whirlwind in a quick spinning turn!
Each peafowl displayed their proudest dance, vying to show off.
Amid the soft "rustling" sounds, brilliant emerald waves shimmered, thousands of blue gems dazzled, sparkling and gleaming under the golden sunshine.
Tang Xiaoxin was dazzled, deeply captivated by the sparkling dance steps.
"Wow! Ah! Ahh!"
The peafowl began to sing loudly, like wandering minstrels, chanting opulent verses with variegated inflections.
Their calls were loud and soaring, quite peculiar, a bit like the sound of elephants and as if spread through a megaphone, carrying a slight, lingering echo.
For a while.
The peafowl "whooshed" their grand tail fans closed again.
Those that strutted did just that, and the subdued ones slumped, their ordinary appearance belying any hint of their former colorful rivalry.
"How about it, nice, right?" Fang Ye said gleefully.
The little girl nodded vigorously: "Beautiful! Director, didn't you say peafowl display their tails in spring? Why did they suddenly spread their tails just now?"
Fang Ye made up something on the spot: "Because you're so pretty, these peafowl have never seen such a cute little girl. They were astounded, unable to help themselves, wanting to show you their charm."
Of course, it was because he had used his affable skill.
"Director, you're fibbing~"
Tang Xiaoxin's face seemed to grow redder as her eyes spun: "Definitely, it's because you've trained these peafowl, right?"
The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became, and she immediately started shaking Fang Ye's hand: "Hey hey hey, Director, can you make them display their tails again, please?"
Fang Ye was speechless, using the skill took mental effort! You think it's as easy as giving out an order.
"No use nagging, even if you nag, it won't help. Peafowl don't just display their tails all the time, they're tired after just showing a dance."
The little girl could only reluctantly accept this truth, then suddenly remembered something and said dismally, "Ah, I forgot to take pictures just now!"
Fang Ye laughed: "To be able to witness such a beautiful peafowl display scene, you're already very lucky, aren't you? Come and visit more often, and you will surely see it again. Later, when you see White Tiger, I'll remind you to take pictures, okay? You can take as many as you like."