Super Zoo

The refreshment stand was located right in the center of the zoo, just a few minutes' walk away. Curious tourists didn't even bother to look at other sights or animals along the way as they made a beeline for the stand, which they reached before long.

A long wooden table, four or five meters in length, was already set up at the entrance of the refreshment stand, piled with rows of sliced watermelon. The lady running the stand was standing by the table, just taking out a vibrantly green watermelon from the ice bucket, getting ready to cut it as she saw the tourists approaching and greeted them cheerily, "Help yourselves, one piece per person, no taking extra!"

June's heat was intense, and the tourists had just stood under the scorching sun, cheering and shouting for the fight between the two bears, sweating profusely. Now, seeing the juicy watermelon, many of them forgot all about their excitement, stepped forward briskly, picked up a big slice from the table, and squatted on the ground to hungrily munch away.

"Don't eat the seeds along with the watermelon, spit them out!" a mother glared at her son, scaring him by saying, "If you eat watermelon without spitting out the seeds, a watermelon tree will grow in your stomach!"

The child, with his mouth dripping with juice, had only the rind left of the watermelon slice in his hand as he had swallowed all the seeds. After belching contentedly, he pointed toward a row of objects hanging in the refreshment stand, "Mommy, I want that one!"

Following the direction he was pointing, inside the refreshment stand, there hung a line of oddly shaped clothes that looked strangely familiar...

Seeing these clothes, the tourists finally understood what the zoo's little surprise was: the garments and accessories hanging in the refreshment stand were identical to those worn by the animals during the fight, perfect for cosplay.

In addition to the cosplay outfits, the counter also had a new line of fluffy toys, representing the costumed Black Magical Beast and Magical Beast Yingying, in various poses.

While not abundant in quantity, a closer inspection revealed exquisite craftsmanship—they even included tiny details like fingernails and teeth, making them look very lifelike.

If one paid close attention, they would notice that every toy and each cosplay garment bore a small logo of 'Taoyuan Amusement'.

Some children saw them and, putting down the half-eaten watermelon, started clamoring for them...
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Toys like these are not only targeted at children; if made with high quality and realistic detail, they also appeal to adults as collectibles. Some younger tourists also stepped forward, curiously touching and examining them.

While the watermelon was free, the cosplay outfits and toys certainly weren't, but the prices were reasonable. A small toy could be bought for just over a dozen yuan, and even the two most expensive life-sized Martial Artist Panda and Black Magical Beast General were only a little over eight hundred yuan.

Eight hundred might sound like a lot, but one had to consider the merchandise. Both the Black Magical Beast General and the Martial Artist Panda were life-sized, wearing a full set of cosplay battle robes identical to those from the fight, with removable small trinkets and accessories, and came with two weapons: the panda held a lengthy bamboo staff, and the Black Magical Beast General gripped a halberd taller than an average person.

Similar-sized dolls and costumes were, to say the least, several thousand yuan on the market.

As announced earlier on the fighting stage, it was a small surprise. The cosplay outfits and toys didn't cause a sensational effect but were in line with the theme of the zoo's martial arts contest, which was quite interesting.

Ten yuan, a few dozen yuan, anyone could afford that; the new batch of toys and outfits displayed at the refreshment stand was sold out before noon. The two life-sized, fully-armed Martial Artist Panda and Black Magical Beast General were bought by two cosplay enthusiasts.

The refreshment stand's owner couldn't close her smile, counting money all afternoon, and by evening, she wore a friendly smile whenever she met someone's gaze. The goods were supplied by the zoo, and the refreshment stand got a 5% commission on the sales. With the way things were going, the commission she earned from one martial arts event at the zoo was almost catching up with her annual salary.

Just as she saw Suming passing by, the snack bar's big sister quickly grabbed a bottle of Mysterious Vigor from the freezer and rushed over with a cheery smile, "Director, have some water."

"Ah?" Suming was startled, took the bottle of water, and seeing the big sister's expression, he understood about seventy to eighty percent of what was going on, and asked with a grin, "Big sister, just speak plainly if you've got something to say, we're all family here. Would I ever short-change you for a bottle of drink?"

"Hehe, well, you do have a point there," the big sister said, rubbing her hands together and testing the waters, "Director, seeing as how the visitors are loving it so much, could we possibly hold this martial arts tournament more than once a year?"

The big sister, of course, wanted to hold it more often; if it were up to her, they would have tournaments every day, and all she'd have to do is count money every day, watching her income roll in and shoot up.

"Don't joke around, big sister; even in ancient martial arts circles, there was no such thing as daily duels. It's all about the novelty. If there were daily matches all year long, people would lose interest over time."

Suming chuckled and said, "However, big sister, you can rest easy, from now on, I'll leave the toy sales to you. Even without the martial arts tournaments, toys can still be sold, right?"

Suming had long been considering selling zoo toys. On one hand, it could provide the zoo staff with an additional source of income. But most importantly, this was part of the zoo's brand promotion, a component of the zoo's merchandise. In the future, every animal in the zoo would have a customized toy.

This martial arts tournament was an excellent opportunity to promote the toys, and even without future tournaments, the zoo would still need to push its marketing in various ways.

"All right then, I'll go back and return all those unsold little toys in the snack bar, clear out some space to put the plush toys in," said the big sister as she geared up for big business.

But there was still a slight regret: "Director, shouldn't we raise the prices a bit? They're too cheap. I see those plush toys are better quality than the ones that sell for several hundred in the stores, and we only sell them for a few tens of yuan..."

"No, let's keep selling them at this price."

Suming had his reasons for this; selling plush toys at the zoo was never about making money.

Famous characters from movies and TV, like Batman and Magical Beast, have legions of devoted fans. They develop merchandise like toys and cosplay outfits to cash in, transforming their influence into tangible income, which is why the prices are high.

In contrast, the zoo's goal was quite the opposite. With the current fame of the zoo not enough to add value to merchandise, pricing them too high would drive away purchasers. The main aim for the zoo was to have their animal plush toys enter thousands of households to advertise for the zoo in return.

Having a zoo plush toy at home, while its real counterpart resided in the zoo, was like placing a non-stop 24-hour parent-child advertisement in every household. Seeing the plush toy would immediately remind one of the zoo...

Suming's talk of consumer psychology was mostly lost on the big sister; it seemed profound but incomprehensible. Only the last sentence, about the effect being even better than placing an ad on the prime-time national news, was clear to her...

"Brilliant! Director, you really are brilliant!"

"Alright, big sister, wrap it up, I've got to go," Suming said with a smile, as he had a whole lot of work to do that evening.