Super Zoo

Early the next morning, the Yangchuan Zoo's large conference room was already packed with people, from the top leaders to the most basic level of janitors, security guards, and even temporary workers. Apart from a few posts that absolutely required attendance, where only one person was left on duty, everyone else was present at the meeting, to the point where there weren't enough chairs in the conference room, and many people were standing.

Even Secretary Chen, the party committee secretary of the zoo who had always been recuperating in the hospital and had never appeared before, attended the meeting.

Suming had been a bit worried that Secretary Chen, who had never shown himself before, might affect his succession. After all, organizationally speaking, the party committee secretary is the real top leader of the zoo. Even after the restructuring into a company, given the zoo's special nature, it wasn't possible to be purely private, and the party committee secretary still held a pivotal position in the zoo.

Before, Suming had discussed with Mr. Song whether to visit the secretary specifically. Now that he had seen Secretary Chen in person, Suming finally understood why this 'number one leader' never appeared at the zoo.

The old man was actually not old, not even sixty, and far from retirement. Yet, his health was not just poor it was terrible, he came in a wheelchair, his face full of age spots that only someone in their seventies or eighties would have. Behind him followed a nurse from the sanatorium, clearly there out of fear that the old man might have an emergency, so she could treat him promptly. Discover hidden content at empire

After he arrived, Secretary Chen placed an artificial larynx to his throat, first greeted Mr. Song, and then sat by the conference table like a Buddha, nodding off, purely symbolic.

"Old Chen came from the Korean War, where he was seriously wounded. After specializing, he worked in the zoo for two years and then his health failed him. He's been on the payroll as the party committee secretary ever since, while staying at the South Mountain Sanatorium," Mrs. Tong whispered to Suming, who sat beside her.

In the middle of the large conference room was a long oval table. Mr. Song sat at the head of the table, presiding over the meeting. Secretary Chen did not take a seat at the conference table; instead, the nurse pushed his wheelchair and sat him behind Mr. Song to listen. Next to Mr. Song on his left was Suming, followed by Mrs. Tong, Mr. Dong, the financial department, and a few other department heads.

Song was quite amiable; during his years as director, the atmosphere in the zoo had been relaxed. Aside from when work was assigned, there wasn't a significant hierarchy between ordinary employees and the so-called leaders. It wasn't like some places where the subordinates wouldn't dare to let out a peep in the presence of a leader...Of course, this didn't mean that zoo employees would casually fart just because Song was present...

The conference room was somewhat noisy. Today's restructuring meeting involved everyone's personal interests. Generally speaking, after a restructuring like the zoo's, some people would be laid off, and the first year or two would be tough, with a potential decrease in overall income. Therefore, everyone was murmuring about what the meeting would announce.

Actually, a slight reduction in income didn't bother most employees. Since Suming arrived at the zoo and initiated a few projects, he had provided many employees with extra income. People like Mr. Peng and the medical room staff had already exceeded their regular salaries. Even those who earned less were making a few hundred to nearly a thousand more per month, so even if their future salaries were slightly reduced, everyone could accept it.

The key concern was staff reduction. The zoo job was relatively easy and free, with no pressure, a good working environment, and relatively little infighting among colleagues—it was a rare good institution. There was previously one downside: the slightly low income. But with Suming's projects providing extra earnings, this shortcoming had been compensated for, and currently, most zoo employees' overall income was regarded as high among the salaried class.

"Quiet, please. The meeting is now starting!" Mr. Song said into the microphone, then exhaled, causing a 'whoosh...' sound to fill the room.

The entire room suddenly quieted down, dozens of pairs of eyes fixed on Song. Mr. Song turned back and said, "Secretary Chen, you go ahead and speak first..."

The conference room burst into laughter as everyone looked in the direction of Mr. Song's gaze, to where Secretary Chen was already half slumped over in his wheelchair, sleeping and emitting soft snores. The young nurse from the sanatorium behind him smiled and waved her hand, indicating it was best to let old Chen sleep.

Mr. Song coughed awkwardly and said, "Well then, I won't say much in the way of formalities. The zoo has been talking about restructuring for the past few years, and today it has finally been implemented. I will mainly convey the directives from the city."

The zoo was initially a public institution. However, public institutions vary, falling into three categories. The fully funded ones primarily provide social services without any commercial activities and are supported by national and local government funding; the second type is partially funded, which are semi-charitable and mainly provide social services with some engagement in commercial activities, but due to their charitable nature, the profits are relatively small and insufficient, thus requiring government financial support, like hospitals; the third type is self-sufficient public institutions with no charitable aspect, mainly engaged in commercial activities, independent of government finance.

Yangchuan City doesn't have many of the third type of public institutions, as they have mostly been restructured into enterprises. The zoo is the second type, a partially funded public institution.