Closer to Revealing My True Self
Chapter 185 - 153: National Duck_2

Chapter 185: Chapter 153: National Duck_2

Feng Yi had thought that Wei Hongxun would contact the relevant departments and simply send someone to solve the problem here, but he didn’t expect Wei Hongxun to come over himself.

Some of the people who came were sent to investigate and follow up on the area where the ducks were active, while others erected signboards along the lake shore, with propaganda slogans and legal regulations, asking everyone to watch the ducks in a civilized manner and keep their distance, as there were Chinese mergansers wintering here.

Wei Hongxun spoke with the people there for a few moments before coming straight over to find Feng Yi. He didn’t even enter the house to sit, just walked around the courtyard, asking about the situation at the time.

Due to his job at the joint protection bureau, he had been to many places, seen impoverished areas as well as wealthy ones. Therefore, his expression didn’t change upon arriving at the famous villa district; whether the decor here was luxurious or simple didn’t matter to him, not nearly as much as a single duck feather.

Hearing from Feng Yi that the duck had landed directly in his koi pond and even caught several koi, Wei Hongxun had a complex expression.

"Your koi are a bit too fat. It was probably attracted by the koi. But this is also the first time I have heard of them flying into a human’s yard to eat koi. Generally, they are quite cautious and keep a distance from people."

"Are you familiar with this kind of duck?" Feng Yi asked.

"Not really familiar, but I was taken to Chang Bai Mountain by a senior during my internship period. That place is one of the breeding grounds for the Chinese mergansers. Back then, I followed and filmed the behavior of Chinese merganser ducklings leaving the nest, so I have some understanding of them."

"So, these ducks flew here from Chang Bai Mountain?"

"Yes, research teams provided more information that this flock migrating south from Chang Bai Mountain had mostly landed in the same places they wintered last year. However, this small group continued to fly south, drawing the attention of the observers. It has been confirmed that they are the group that continued to migrate south. Usually, they would not fly so far south; this is quite rare."

"I also saw on the identification page that they usually don’t winter in Yang City, so, is this group of ducks an exception?" Feng Yi was a bit worried.

When he was in Rong City, the migrating swans had already brought him some unnecessary attention, and he didn’t expect to encounter such a situation again after coming to Yang City.

Seeing Feng Yi frown, Wei Hongxun chuckled, "Although it’s uncommon, there are some cases. Don’t worry, actually, this is a good thing. The Chinese merganser is an ’ecological litmus paper’ for aquatic environments. Their presence here indicates that the water environment is very good; otherwise, they would not choose to land here. Looking at the current situation, they have decided to winter here this year. It’s not often we see them fly all the way down here and immediately appear in groups of more than twenty. Cui Lake has places suitable for their habitat, and the lakeshore area will be arranged accordingly. It allows people to watch the ducks, and the ducks to safely spend the winter. A harmonious coexistence is a win-win situation."

Thinking of something, Wei Hongxun added, "However, during their wintering period at Cui Lake, the local team will conduct random checks on vehicles and personnel entering and exiting the Cui Lake District. If there’s nothing else, the situation might become stricter if Cui Lake Observation Station receives abnormal reports. This increased surveillance is also to prevent illegal acts, like those using slingshots to shoot birds or set up traps; hefty fines for anyone caught."

"Oh, by the way!" Wei Hongxun said with a smile, "Congratulations, I heard you’ve been confirmed to join the expert team for the python hunting activity in Florida."

"Yes, my application was approved."

"Perform well! It’s a good opportunity for both fame and profit!"

After a brief chat, they returned to work mode. Wei Hongxun glanced around the clean courtyard.

"Did that duck drop any feathers while flying in your yard?" Wei Hongxun asked.

Feng Yi looked towards Ding.

Ding replied, "Half of one."

Ding then rummaged it out from a bag of trash.

Wei Hongxun took a transparent little bottle from his toolbox and placed the feather inside.

"We can analyze some data based on the feather."

Before leaving, Wei Hongxun said to Feng Yi, "Although they generally don’t come near human residences, a duck has already eaten koi in your house. I’m not sure if they will sneak over again. There are plenty of fish in Cui Lake, but if that duck finds the koi here tastier, it’s unpredictable. If the losses are significant, you can apply for compensation."

"Compensation isn’t necessary; they’re not any expensive variety," Feng Yi said.

When he initially visited the bird and flower market to buy fish, he had also been photographed, and this could easily be looked into—koi fish that cost ten yuan for a few. He bought them only to decorate the pond, never considering them as pets, so naturally, there wasn’t a deep emotional attachment.

Wei Hongxun suggested that Feng Yi could add some barriers above the koi pond, as long as they weren’t any traps or anything that would directly harm the scaly-sided mergansers, those would be acceptable.

"If there’s anything else, feel free to contact me directly."

After leaving the residential area, Wei Hongxun set off to understand the situation at Cui Lake.

In the evening, Feng Yi went online and saw a video posted on the local official social media account, which was filming the group of scaly-sided mergansers during their daytime activities at Cui Lake.

Feng Yi instantly spotted that duck among the group, the one with green feathers glistening in the sunlight, captivating yet profound.

That was the duck that had been grabbing the koi in his yard today.

It was also the leader of this small south-migrating team.

So...

"Jia, Ding, add a cover to the koi pond tomorrow!"

Feng Yi’s concerns were not superfluous.

The next day, the duck with the exceptionally green head led a small squad circling overhead, but probably realizing that the koi pond was now covered, reluctantly flew back towards Cui Lake.

Over the next few days, their silhouettes were frequently seen above Cui Lake Park, and occasionally they would fly over the residential area, but afterwards, they rarely approached areas inhabited by humans.

The flock of ducks only moved around Cui Lake Park.

And the news of more than twenty scaly-sided mergansers appearing at Cui Lake quickly sparked a heated discussion.

As Wei Hongxun had said, scaly-sided mergansers have high requirements for their habitat, and they can be considered an ecological litmus test for water quality. Their appearance in the Cui Lake District also indicated that the ecological environment there was excellent, a fact which the businessmen would not miss exploiting.

Thus, Cui Lake became the center of attention once more.

The people of Yang City, with their focus on the residential areas around Cui Lake District, found property developers launching a new round of promotional campaigns using this topic.

There were many who came purely for birdwatching, with quite a number of tourists visiting Cui Lake every day to see the ducks.

Others were just there to join in on the excitement, and even if they didn’t see any ducks, they would walk around the area, take a few pictures, and see for themselves what the place that attracted "national-grade ducks" to overwinter looked like.

And for netizens from other places...

"I heard that as soon as this group of ducks flew over there, they went to steal someone’s koi from their yard?"

"It’s said that it’s next to the famous luxurious Cui Lake villa area, right? People who live in that kind of place—wouldn’t the koi in their ponds be particularly expensive?"

"Hahaha! I wonder if the homeowner will cry!"

"So what if they’re expensive?! What’s the big deal if our national-grade ducks eat a few of your koi?! [dog head]"