PCJ – Chapter 234 Scolding the Tiger

“Jiaohua! Jiaohua!” Zhang Manyin, in a frenzy, rushed towards Zhang Jiaohua, even though Zhang Jiaohua was already surrounded by five tigers.

Several zoo trainers stood dumbfounded on the stage, thinking that the boy below was doomed to be tiger prey. Although these tigers were bred and raised in the zoo, they had gradually shed the bloody nature of their ancestors. They sometimes didn’t even know how to hunt live prey, eating only the meat fed to them by the trainers—only a step away from being fed cooked food.

However, the trainers knew that even after being domesticated for generations in the zoo, these former kings of the forest still carried the wild genes of their royal lineage. They never knew when the tigers might suddenly become ferocious, as happened today. These few emaciated, hungry tigers had gone berserk.

“Run? How could that be possible? How can a person on two legs outrun a beast on four? Moreover, these are former kings of the forest. That kid must be scared stiff,” a trainer coldly remarked, looking at the stage.

But Zhang Jiaohua was not scared stiff. He could keenly sense that these five tigers not only bore him no hostility but even had an inexplicable affection for him.

The big tiger roared twice towards the sides and then came to Zhang Jiaohua, lying down on the ground with its right paw raised as if to greet Zhang Jiaohua.

The other four tiger cubs, like adorable puppies, approached Zhang Jiaohua, gently nudging his legs with their heads. They weren’t attacking him; they wanted to play with him.

Zhang Jiaohua extended his right hand to hold the big tiger’s right paw. The sharp claws of the big tiger could easily scratch his tender little hand, but they didn’t.

This scene left the trainers wide-eyed. Even though they trained these tigers daily, none had ever shown such affection. They never dared to place their hands in the tiger’s paws. The tigers obeyed them purely out of conditioned reflex, established by meat and sticks.

Every time the trainer entered to train these tigers, he was always cautious, fearing he might meet the fate of his predecessor, who thought he had become friends with the tigers and got too close. The tigers suddenly turned violent, and he died under their claws. The zoo secretly dealt with that tiger, as any tiger that had tasted human blood would be dealt with secretly to prevent further incidents.

But a child could get so close to the tigers. The trainer was certain that even if the child had interacted with the tigers before, it couldn’t have been as frequent as he did. How did he manage to do it?

Xia Guoxi held Zhang Manyin, who was about to rush into the arena, tightly. “Uncle Zhang, calm down. If you go in now, you won’t be able to save Jiaohua, and it might make the tigers more violent, putting Jiaohua in more danger.”

“But what can we do? If something happens to Jiaohua, how can I explain it to his parents?” Zhang Manyin was in tears, willing to trade his life for his grandson’s.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. Look, the tigers seem to have calmed down. Jiaohua isn’t in danger!” Xia Guoxi, also very worried, pointed at the tigers circling around Zhang Jiaohua, who indeed looked a bit peculiar.

Zhang Jiaohua wasn’t scared; he was excited. He thought it would be so cool to raise a tiger in Meizi’ou. He didn’t know that raising tigers was illegal.

“You call yourselves the kings of the forest, but you’re trained to be like dogs. Especially you, so tall and no temper at all. My Zuan Shanbao is wilder than you,” Zhang Jiaohua criticized the five tigers, who obediently lay on the ground like children who had done something wrong.

“Get up. I’m going home today. I don’t know if I’ll have the chance to see you again. Stay in the zoo and perform your shows well,” Zhang Jiaohua felt sorry for the tigers but knew he couldn’t take them. They weren’t mountain dogs that he had taken away without anyone noticing, but tigers from a zoo. Taking them would cause chaos in Sanxiang City. Even a child like him knew it was illegal.

Zhang Jiaohua finished speaking and walked towards the entrance of the animal arena. Somehow, the trainers had run to the entrance and closed the iron gate.

The five tigers looked at Zhang Jiaohua reluctantly.

“Whimper…” The tiger cubs made a sound like they were crying, very mournful.

Zhang Jiaohua couldn’t bear it, turned back to look at them. The four tiger cubs thought he was calling them and happily chased after him. The big tiger’s eyes lit up, and it slowly walked towards Zhang Jiaohua.

“Go back. You can’t escape. I can’t save you. I’ll come to see you again,” Zhang Jiaohua couldn’t bear to see the tigers’ sad expressions. They were truly pitiful, once kings now trapped in a cage, humiliated.

The trainers had brought tranquilizer guns, ready to anesthetize the tigers if they rushed to the entrance and rescue the people inside.

“Comrade, the person is here. Open the door,” Xia Guoxi said to the zoo trainers as Zhang Jiaohua walked to the entrance.

“Open the door? Who will take responsibility if the tigers escape? Will you?” the trainer replied harshly.

“But there are still people inside. Who will take responsibility if something happens?” Xia Guoxi asked.

“Why didn’t you watch your kid? If something happens, it’s your responsibility, not the zoo’s,” the trainer said impatiently.

“You’d better open the door, or don’t blame me for being rude. Today’s incident is entirely your responsibility. Just because I’m talking nicely doesn’t mean I can’t handle you,” Xia Guoxi said, pointing at the trainer.

Xia Guoxi’s imposing manner made the trainer unsure of his identity. The trainer knew he was just a small trainer, not someone who could deal with anyone with a bit of background. If he had connections, he wouldn’t be a trainer. It might seem glamorous, but it wasn’t. Dealing with animals daily, his whole body reeked, even his wife and kids disliked him.