Imagine if others didn't know Da Pang's secret and actually sent him to the cafeteria.
By the time he was gutted, they discovered that beneath the pig's skin was a human corpse. Tang Tang couldn't even bear to think about the scene.
Ning Wei only realized it belatedly and immediately spat, "I feel like the braised pork belly today doesn't smell as good anymore."
Hearing her say that, Tang Tang felt like she wouldn't be able to eat pork, or any meat, from now on!
When the two of them arrived at the cafeteria, the specials of the day were braised pork belly and sweet and sour pork ribs. Unfortunately, because of Ning Wei's comment, their imaginations ran wild, and neither girl could eat.
The head chef couldn't believe his excellent cooking was rejected and coldly served them a portion of sour and spicy shredded potatoes.
He expected them to regret it and beg him for some meat dishes. Instead, Ning Wei and Tang Tang turned and left with their potatoes.
Approaching Mei Nan, he thought the two girls were not eating well for the sake of their figures. He kindly advised, "Food is essential for life. Not eating enough can lead to low blood sugar. You two are thin enough; you don't need to lose more weight."
Ning Wei and Tang Tang exchanged glances and then chuckled in unison.
"What's wrong? Am I not saying it right?" Mei Nan asked, confused.
"Yes, yes, yes, we'll definitely eat more from now on." Seeing the meat on Mei Nan's plate, Ning Wei couldn't bring herself to tell him what she had just thought.
The two of them ate a spoonful of rice with their shredded potatoes. While eating, Ning Wei told Mei Nan about her discovery last night, asking him to relay it to others.
"So the big boss is the park director?" Mei Nan couldn't believe it.
The director was around his age, and he couldn't imagine why someone his age would do such perverted things.
"The skin-peeling ghost admitted it. And Fu Chengwei also disappeared after being called away by him."
"Then you've seen two skin-peeling ghosts. Could one of them be Fu Chengwei?" Mei Nan continued to ask.
Ning Wei shook her head. "Neither of those two skin-peeling ghosts were tall, so it couldn't have been him."
Mei Nan breathed a sigh of relief. As long as they hadn't seen the ghost, there was still a glimmer of hope. He hoped that the chatty Fu Chengwei would be luckier and hadn't been skinned by the director yet.
After discussing important matters, Ning Wei returned to the panda enclosure and wandered around, not doing any actual work.
Chen Qi was displeased and frowned, ordering Ning Wei to prepare food for the giant pandas.
After Ning Wei finished her tasks, she sat by the fence watching the pandas. Chen Qi and the others returned from the cafeteria, but Xiao Qi was nowhere to be seen.
She felt a sense of suspicion and proactively asked Chen Qi, "Am I still solely responsible for maintaining order outside this afternoon? Why hasn't Xiao Qi come to work yet?"
"Xiao Qi has resigned. I'll arrange for someone else to work with you later. You can go out now."
She had just finished her night shift, and the next day Xiao Qi was supposedly on vacation, but today she was told she had resigned. Could it be too much of a coincidence?
Ning Wei remembered the new skin-peeling ghost she saw last night and had a bad premonition.
Da Pang was disobedient, so the director planned to replace him with someone else. However, the skin-swapping failed, and Xiao Qi was directly killed.
Of course, this was just her speculation. She would find out more when she went to find the skin-peeling ghost tonight.
A moment later, the person Chen Qi mentioned arrived. His name was Deng Bing, and he was an old-timer at the zoo, though not as senior as Chen Qi.
He was a bit of a hothead and looked down on people like Ning Wei who thought they liked animals and came to work at the zoo, only to give up after a couple of days, wasting his time in training them.
For example, Xiao Qi, when interviewed, claimed to love giant pandas so much, yet she couldn't handle it after only two overtime shifts.
Ning Wei listened to Deng Bing's rambling and realized that he was not only a hothead but also a chatterbox.
However, there was a benefit to this: no matter what Ning Wei asked, he answered without reservation.
Ning Wei first inquired about Deng Bing's background. He had come to the zoo three years ago and had worked in several enclosures before finally choosing to stay in the panda enclosure.
Deng Bing became very excited when he talked about his experiences, as he had handled tigers and black bears.
Ning Wei feigned admiration, saying, "How did you get to touch tigers? Were they cubs?"
Deng Bing snorted, as if Ning Wei were a mere rookie. "Cubs are nothing. I'm talking about adult tigers, the kind that could kill you with a single paw."
Ning Wei sneered inwardly, wishing she could slap this arrogant idiot to death.
To gather more information, Ning Wei felt she had endured too much.
"How could anyone touch an adult tiger? I don't believe it."
Deng Bing got agitated. "Why couldn't you? Half a year ago, a tiger got sick. The director took it out for treatment for a month. When it was brought back, it was fully anesthetized. It was then that I, Chen Qi, and others carried it. If you don't believe me, go ask Chen Qi."
A month, another month.
It seemed this skin-swapping technique required a month to succeed.
"Speaking of which, do you know about the pig that escaped from the pet park a couple of days ago? I heard its name was Da Pang, and it's supposedly dead."
Deng Bing rolled his eyes. "Of course I know. I'm an old employee here. I know things you don't even know."
Ning Wei pressed further. "Then what do you know? Does this zoo have any other secrets?"
Deng Bing mysteriously looked left and right, ensuring no one was around, and then whispered in Ning Wei's ear, "This zoo is haunted!"
Ning Wei's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately asked fearfully, "Are you kidding me? You can't just say things like that!"
Seeing that she didn't believe him, Deng Bing recounted his sightings and experiences in detail.
A year ago, he went to the cold storage to get frozen meat and saw a red figure flash past. Not only he saw it, but several other people had also privately claimed to have seen it.
Some people resigned out of fear, but Deng Bing was brave. Not only was he not afraid, but he was also very curious and wanted to chase after it.
As a result, the red figure disappeared into the office building. Speaking of this, Deng Bing seemed very regretful that he hadn't seen the ghost's true appearance.
"You're really brave," Ning Wei said sincerely.
Deng Bing scratched his head. "I heard that ghosts wearing red are malevolent spirits, and most of them are beautiful women who committed suicide for love, so I..."
Ning Wei was speechless. If Deng Bing knew that what he saw wasn't red clothing, but a ghost after being skinned, would he still have that look of longing?
Indeed, it was good to be a little foolish, Ning Wei thought.
They chatted enthusiastically all afternoon.