Chapter 5
First Day of Work
Newcomers who came to work in the zoo usually had a probation period, and the probation period was different for different positions.
During the probation period, the newcomer had to be familiar with the various matters with the current staff. If the newcomer felt that it was hard during this period, he could give up. If he could persist, he could sign a formal labor contract with the zoo.
Xia Xin did not know if she was lucky, but Xia Xin was assigned to the panda exhibit.
The panda exhibit was one of the largest exhibits in the zoo. In addition, three pandas in the zoo had just given birth. The current staff of the panda exhibit was busy taking care of the cubs, so there was not enough manpower to take care of the other pandas.
Ten minutes later, Xia Xin arrived at the third exhibition area of the panda exhibit.
Li Li, a senior employee in the third exhibition area, took Xia Xin around the exhibition area while introducing her to today’s work tasks.
“There are a total of three pandas in our exhibition area, Bao, Dodo, and Pipi. Dodo is the most popular and is a famous panda on the Internet. Therefore, when Dodo goes to the outer area, there will be a lot of tourists. You have to pay attention to whether the behavior of the tourists will affect Dodo.
“Pipi is also very popular. It is Dodo’s younger brother. This cub is the naughtiest panda in the entire panda exhibit. It usually likes to climb the wall and has even climbed out before. Mr. Lu raised the wall a few days ago, but Pipi has been trying to climb over the wall for the past few days.
“As for Bao, it’s the youngest. Its two hind legs are disabled and it can’t stand up. It usually likes to hide in a corner and is very obedient. As long as you give it a ball, it can play in the corner for a day,” said Li Li.
At the mention of Bao, Li Li revealed a distressed expression. She sighed and continued, “I’ve written everything else down on the paper. Also, the feeding time is from 8 to 9 in the morning and 2 to 3 in the afternoon. Bao can’t move easily, so he needs to be fed alone.”
Xia Xin remembered every word Li Li said and nodded seriously.
“Alright, you can go over after you change into your work clothes.” After Li Li finished speaking, Xia Xin was instantly extremely excited and was about to turn around and leave.
Li Li stopped her and added, “Wait a minute. When the zoo opens, many tourists will take photos or videos. If you’re not used to it, put on a mask and a hat.”
Xia Xin nodded. Seeing that Li Li seemed to be thinking seriously, she asked cautiously, “Ms. Li, is there anything else I should pay attention to?”
The man who brought Xia Xin to the panda exhibit said that Li Li’s memory was not particularly good and she might forget something important.
Li Li smiled gently and said, “No, you can go.”
Only then did Xia Xin leave with relief in her heart. After changing her clothes, and putting on her hat and mask, Xia Xin went to the inner court.
The staff living in the panda exhibit had already brought the pandas to the outer court. At this moment, there were no pandas in the inner court.
However, Xia Xin’s work today started from the inside. She picked up the cleaning tools and went to the room where the giant pandas lived.
Xia Xin saw a pile of messy mixtures on the ground, including bamboo leaves and a lot of feces left by the giant pandas.
The first thing Xia Xin had to do today was to clean up the panda’s excrement.
Lu Yuan told Xia Song that Xia Xin did not come to the panda exhibit to enjoy herself and play with the animals every day. She would definitely suffer a lot when she came here to work. He wanted Xia Xin to be mentally prepared. If she felt that it was hard, she could give up as soon as possible.
Obviously, Lu Yuan underestimated Xia Xin’s love for animals. Especially now that the animal she was in charge of was the giant pandas.
Not many people in the country had the chance to hold a panda.
Xia Xin now had the opportunity to hug a panda casually. So, there was nothing wrong with shoveling a panda’s poop. She just treated them as raising a big cat.
Xia Xin cleaned up the pile of the mixture and poured it into the bag. Then, she weighed the bag and recorded the weight of each bag of feces.
This was because the feces of giant pandas could indicate their health status to a certain extent. If a panda had too little feces, the caretaker would have to consider giving the panda extra food.
After Xia Xin had finished cleaning up the feces, the sun had completely risen outside. When she listened carefully, she seemed to hear the noise of the crowd in the distance. Then, she knew the zoo must have begun to receive tourists.