Animal Detective-Chapter 86: Parrots Cheat Too?
Stunned, Shen Xin immediately looked to Li Xiaobing, silently asking if he should stop them.
Li Xiaobing shook his head blankly.
"No need. They’re usually... unsuccessful."
"Unsuccessful?"
Shen Xin was taken aback.
’Broo’s moves look pretty practiced, though.’
Li Xiaobing explained, "The main reason is that the zoo isn’t a natural habitat. Plus, we bought these parrots as chicks, so they were all hand-reared."
"And parrot mating is... well, it’s complicated. It’s like docking a spaceship—the alignment has to be perfect."
"But the hand-reared ones are separated from their parents at a young age. Not only do they miss out on being taught, but some of them lose the mating instinct entirely."
"We’ve tried to breed them, but we’ve never been successful. If those two actually manage it, it’ll be a pleasant surprise."
Light dawned on Shen Xin.
’Seeing how "skilled" Broo is, he probably wasn’t a newly hatched chick like the zoo’s birds when Liu Laibin bought him. He must have been raised by his parents in the wild and smuggled in directly. That’s why he’s so proficient.’
"But didn’t you say parrots have lifelong mates?" Shen Xin asked.
Li Xiaobing scratched his head and lowered his voice. "Parrots are said to be monogamous, but studies show that affairs can happen."
"My guess is... maybe Steamed Bun isn’t very good in that department, so Huahua... is unsatisfied?"
He wore a strange expression.
Whenever parrots mate successfully, they start building a nest. Yet, the six blue-and-yellow macaws in the enclosure, all paired off, had never once shown any nesting behavior.
Shen Xin broke into a sweat, inexplicably reminded of Zhang Qin. He lowered his voice, just as Li Xiaobing had done.
’He’s probably afraid of disturbing the two parrots.’ 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
Shen Xin suggested that they should perhaps reconsider putting Broo and Huahua on public display together tomorrow.
"Think about it," he said. "If all the parrots are together and Huahua ditches Steamed Bun to get cozy with Broo, Steamed Bun is going to want to attack him."
In front of everyone, too. Steamed Bun would be absolutely furious.
Li Xiaobing nodded in profound agreement. Male parrots were naturally aggressive, and if he were to be cuckolded, Steamed Bun would surely try to peck Broo to death.
"I’ll report this to the director tomorrow. If those two actually manage to breed successfully, it’d be a huge cause for celebration. In China, there aren’t many cases of captive-bred King Kong Parrots successfully reproducing."
King Kong Parrots have very high standards for their breeding environment. Even established pairs have a hard time reproducing successfully.
While they were talking, Broo finished his business.
He squawked excitedly, looking invigorated.
Huahua’s reaction, however, was quite calm.
In Li Xiaobing’s words, it was impossible to tell if they’d been successful.
After all, docking a spaceship is a delicate operation.
He quickly went over, put Huahua back in her cage, and prepared to transfer her back to her own enclosure.
Shen Xin beckoned to Broo.
The parrot obediently landed on Shen Xin’s shoulder, head bobbing, bursting with excitement.
’The icon above his head suddenly shot up by four bars, reaching a five-bar favorability rating.’
’Looks like he was seriously pent-up.’
Shen Xin reached out to stroke his head. The parrot didn’t pull away; he even nudged affectionately against his hand.
Shen Xin gave his head a little scratch.
Like cats, they also have an itch that needs scratching.
"Do you know my name? I’m Shen Xin," Shen Xin said, trying to teach the parrot his name.
And Broo learned it instantly.
In a raspy, somewhat unclear voice, Broo squawked Shen Xin’s name.
’That settles it. This little guy is definitely smarter than I thought.’
"Do you miss Tingting? How about I bring her to play with you tomorrow?" Shen Xin added.
’Bringing Tingting over might help me raise his favorability even more.’
Broo grew even more excited, squawking Tingting’s name.
Just then, Li Xiaobing returned. As he put Broo back in his cage, his face was a mask of disbelief.
"Officer Shen, what exactly are you investigating here?"
’A cop coming all the way out here to worry about a parrot’s love life... Talk about neglecting your duties.’
Shen Xin didn’t explain, merely saying he would be back tomorrow.
Li Xiaobing nodded. In truth, if Officer Shen wanted to play zookeeper for a while, it would certainly make his own job a bit easier.
’Five bars of favorability in one go. The progress is incredibly fast.’
After leaving the zoo, Shen Xin began plotting his next move to increase the favorability rating.
’Bringing Tingting here should add a bit more.’
’But that won’t be enough, especially since reaching the second stage is harder.’
’Maybe I should stage a little drama?’
’For instance, I could arrange for Steamed Bun to catch Broo and Huahua getting intimate. He’d attack Broo, and then I’d step in to help Broo win the fight.’
’That should definitely increase his favorability toward me.’
’Or... I could help Broo become the leader of the six parrots. Just like Da Mei, who loves the feeling of being the boss.’
’Poor Steamed Bun would get the short end of the stick, though.’
The next day, Shen Xin checked in with Sun Zhao, then set out with Ding Yuwei.
He didn’t really want to bring Ding Yuwei along, worried she’d think there was something wrong with him for fussing over a parrot.
But while detectives had a fair amount of autonomy, they couldn’t just ignore all organization and discipline. The two-person team rule still had to be observed.
"Are we heading to Shi Yanhua’s place?"
Ding Yuwei quickly recognized the route.
Shen Xin nodded without much explanation, and they soon arrived at Yangmu Bridge.
It happened to be a weekend.
Shi Yanhua must have worked hard late into the night, because even after they knocked for a good while, it was Wang Genping who finally opened the door.
He was shirtless and bleary-eyed. When he saw it was Shen Xin, he jumped in fright.
"Tingting."
The two adults were still sleeping in, but Liu Yuting was already neatly dressed and quietly doing her homework.
"Hello, sir. Hello, ma’am."
Liu Yuting greeted them politely.
Wang Genping gave a sheepish smile and hurried into the bedroom to wake Shi Yanhua.
She emerged with her hair a mess, wearing a lacy nightgown. "What do you want now?" she asked impatiently.
Shen Xin had just asked Liu Yuting and learned she hadn’t even eaten breakfast.
Suppressing his anger, he said to the irresponsible mother, "Shi Yanhua, we found Liu Laibin’s parrot. It’s at the zoo. If it’s all right with you, I’d like to take Tingting to see it. Let her play with the parrot for a bit, since it’s the weekend."
Shi Yanhua’s eyelids drooped, looking like she was still hungover. It took her a moment to process what Shen Xin had said. She frowned. "Are you nuts? It’s been years. You think a bird is going to remember someone?"
Just then, Liu Yuting said timidly, "Mom, I miss Broo. Can I please go see him?"
Shi Yanhua muttered "lunatic" again under her breath and waved a dismissive hand. "Do whatever you want. You’re the police, after all. It’s not like you’re going to lose her."
’You can rest assured on that front,’ Shen Xin thought. ’I’d get lost before she ever did.’
But Shi Yanhua had already gotten up and returned to the bedroom. A moment later, her voice called out, "Seriously, if you like the damn girl so much, just take her and raise her yourself. It’ll save her the misery of staying with me."
Ding Yuwei immediately covered Tingting’s ears, her face filled with rage.
’What kind of mother says something like that in front of her own child?’
Shen Xin suppressed his own anger, said they would bring Tingting back in the afternoon, and led the little girl away.
First, he took Tingting to a breakfast shop just outside the complex to get her something to eat.
The little girl was starving. She wolfed down her wontons, then looked up and asked, "Officer, it’s been so long... do you think Broo will have forgotten me?"
"Of course not. Broo has never forgotten you."
Shen Xin gently ruffled her hair and said with a warm smile.
