The square, which used to be empty with the removal of the boy statue, now has several large trees with lush branches and leaves planted separately, surrounded by flower beds. As soon as you enter this area, you can smell the fragrance of fresh flowers.
Against the backdrop of the emerald green lawn, the bright flowers look even more vibrant, delighting the visitors' hearts and minds. If tired, one could sit on the benches by the flower beds, relaxing in the cool shade of the trees.
Walking down from the square, on the outside of the path, there is a large expanse of tender green lawn, fenced off with plain and natural wooden rails, attracting many visitors to pause and gaze.
"Yingying, look, peafowl!"
Liu Xueqing placed her hands under Yingying's armpits and gently lifted her daughter into her embrace, so that Yingying's head was at the same height as hers, broadening her view. Meanwhile, Yingying's father took out a camera from his backpack and became the faithful photographer behind them.
Yingying curiously turned her gaze toward the lawn in front, where several peafowl were quite a distance away, walking energetically and lightly between the trees and shrubs, looking vibrant. Their long tails were parallel to the ground, and their heads nodded with each step, occasionally bowing to search for any trace of insects.
Another one stood half a meter from the wooden fence, almost within arm's reach, confidently allowing the visitors to admire its beauty. The blue plumes on its neck were like smooth and soft silk, shimmering with a hint of greenish-gold.
Behind its neck was a patch of grass-green, the rest covered by wings folded on either side, with a striking pattern of black and white, but the most eye-catching feature was of course the tail feather skirt.
It held its head high, looking around at the visitors with pride, its feather crown on its head like a decorative flower, swaying with the movement of its head.
Liu Xueqing watched the peafowl, somewhat mesmerized. She, too, had visited the zoo with her mother when she was very young, but what she saw had been entirely forgotten. Seeing these peafowl today, while she was attracted by their confidence and beauty, and felt the long-missed breath of nature in the city, it also brought back memories.
Could it be that when she was little, her mother also held her like this, so she could get a better view of the animals?
Unfortunately, her elderly mother and father stayed home today. For such a beautiful zoo, she should have coaxed them to come along.
That way, she could have heard her mother talk about what they had seen and whether any interesting events had occurred.
"Mama, what's this called?" Yingying suddenly asked.
"It's a peafowl." Liu Xueqing took the opportunity to educate her daughter, "The one with the long tail that looks like a skirt is the male peafowl, and the one without is the female peafowl. In animals, male is for males, and female is for females."
Yingying was somewhat fuzzy about the concepts of male and female, but she knew the difference between boys and girls.
She asked in confusion, "Why does it wear a skirt if it's not a girl?"
Liu Xueqing frowned slightly, the sign next to her clearly stated, "Love me, don't feed me", it wasn't good to do this.
Little children don't know right from wrong; it is up to the adults to guide them appropriately. Otherwise, the child will form the wrong concepts.
Just as she hesitated about whether to speak up or not, suddenly a loudspeaker behind her made a sound that startled all the tourists: "Feeding animals in the zoo is prohibited. The parent wearing the grey shirt and black trousers, yes, there is no need to look around, it's you. Please ask your child to take the bread back, thank you for your cooperation..."
It turned out there were cameras and loudspeakers installed on the lampposts on one side, and that's where the voice came from.
The parent in the grey shirt, being watched by the strange gazes of many tourists, went red in the face, embarrassed as if he wished he could hide in a crack in the ground. He quickly pulled the child to walk out of the crowd.
The child asked in confusion, "Dad, what's wrong, what happened? I haven't fed the peacock yet."
The parent in grey shirt remorsefully said, "Feed, feed your head, didn't you hear they said not to feed... Let's go and see something else."
"Then I won't feed it, I'll just watch."
The parent in grey felt the surrounding gazes grow hotter, as if everyone was laughing at him. He slapped the child on the forehead and lowered his voice, "Stop talking nonsense, let's hurry up and go."
"Wow, no, I want to see the peacock..."
The child suddenly burst into loud cries, reluctantly looking back at the beautiful peafowl while being dragged away.
A few visitors who had thought of feeding but didn't were secretly relieved. It was a good thing that the parent in grey had acted as the scapegoat, serving as a negative example. Otherwise, they would have been the ones embarrassed.
At this time, He Yifei, wearing a work uniform, also came from the other side, arrived amongst the crowd, and patiently explained, "Sorry for the inconvenience, but please refrain from feeding the animals. Our animal keepers carefully arrange their diets according to their needs, and many human foods are not suitable for them. Feeding them at random can make them sick.
I'm sure everyone wants to see vibrant and beautiful animals, not ones that are sick and suffering in pain, right?
"Our zoo has also considered everyone's desire to get close to the animals, and we have specifically arranged a small ranch where you can get up close and feed alpacas and take pictures. Animal keepers will provide the feed there. Besides that area, all other places in the zoo are prohibited from feeding, and cameras are installed everywhere. Thank you all for your cooperation..."
"Applause..."
Someone started clapping, the visitors began clapping enthusiastically, and Liu Xueqing also couldn't help but join in the applause. Although Yingying didn't understand why they were clapping, she also imitated everyone and happily patted her small hands.