Super Zoo

Copper Hammer breezed through the challenge with a smug smile on his face, "Never would've guessed I'd pass the first level this easily, my fiery biceps didn't even get to see action. Looks like the next levels will be a breeze too! Xiaomei, just wait for me to steal back some Da Sheng Liquor to cure your dad's illness!"

After "easily taking down" the first boss, King Jumper, both Copper Hammer and the audience began to relax.

The screen shifted, and Copper Hammer arrived at the entrance of another room.

"What could be inside this one?"

Before him was a giant wooden hut, about five or six meters tall, with its corners stacked full of liquor barrels—the monkeys rumored to have occupied the distillery had finally made their appearance!

Several white-browed gibbons wearing straw hats were carrying barrels on shoulder poles towards a corner, shouting chants as they walked.

In the center of the room, there sat a huge rectangular barrel three meters tall, surrounded by a crowd of macaques of varying sizes, among them a golden monkey and an old white-haired monkey standing out distinctively.

"Monkeys indeed! Dig into my big bananas!" Copper Hammer yelled as he quickly untied the banana hanging from his waist and hurled it at the monkeys.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—the room filled with scurrying monkey shadows, a large group of macaques forming a chain, each hanging by the tail of the one above, dangled from the edge of the barrel. They grabbed the incoming bananas with lightning speed, as though performing acrobatics, then tossed them into the large fermenting vat.
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"Hmm, more bananas... oh no, I want apples! Damn Copper Hammer, you've disrupted our brewing!"

The old Monkey King let out an angry roar, clearly dubbed by Jiao Shou.

No sooner had the old Monkey King's voice fallen than seven white-browed gibbons lined up neatly in front of Copper Hammer, tilting their straw hats, shouldering slanted, eyeing him with an unfavorable look like a gang of street punks.

Only then did everyone notice that these gibbons were clothed in human attire, specifically the kind of tunics worn in ancient times, complete with belts around their waists.

Each gibbon had a hatchet slanted in its belt!

"Brothers," commanded King Ukuku, standing on the edge of the barrel and howling to the sky while robustly thumping his chest, producing a drumlike 'thump, thump, thump,' "take this invader down!"

The seven gibbons moved in unison, pulling the hatchets from their belts and swinging their bodies left and right in time with the rhythmic thumping, inching closer to Copper Hammer.

The screen went black, followed by the agonized scream of Copper Hammer: "Oh no, my fiercely fiery biceps..."

Subsequently, subtitles appeared: Copper Hammer was brutally beaten and fled Great Sage Liquor Industry in disarray.

"Huh? It can't be over, can it?" Li Xiaomao looked at another girl who shook her head uncertainly, "It shouldn't be..."

When the screen lit up again, Copper Hammer's haggard face filled the screen once more, a large bandage wrapped around his head, his once prideful blazing biceps in plaster.

"My name is Copper Hammer. I'm a struggling bricklayer. I was concussed by a group of monkeys while trying to steal liquor from Great Sage Liquor Industry. Who would have thought that in the end I'd still get the Da Sheng Liquor, cure Xiaomei's father, and marry Xiaomei..."

Why was he still able to obtain the Da Sheng Liquor after being beaten by the monkeys?

The scene widened to reveal the backdrop behind Copper Hammer gradually come into focus.

It was a tobacco and liquor store, and on its shelves stood two rows of Da Sheng Liquor, a row of spirits, Da Sheng Pure Brew, and a row of fruit wine, Da Sheng Hundred Fruits Brew.

"They're available everywhere, who the hell told me I had to steal it from Great Sage Liquor Industry!" Copper Hammer yelled into the camera, "The bastard who tricked me, come out! I promise I won't kill you!"

"Then where can we buy it?" asked a voice off-screen. Clearly, it was also Jiao Shou.

Copper Hammer's expression suddenly changed, the anger on his face vanished in an instant, replaced by a sycophantic smile as if he was everyone's darling: "Yangchuan City's Da Sheng Liquor is available in all major stores in Yangchuan City, not for 998, not even for 888, just 488, direct sales from the manufacturer, contact number XXXXXX!"

Xiaomei popped out from the side, hugging Copper Hammer's shoulder with one hand and holding a bottle of Da Sheng Liquor with the other, cooing, "Yangchuan Great Saint Liquor, truly brewed by monkeys, the drink of youth, friendship, and health!"

Jiao Shou, playing the role of Xiaomei's father, appeared behind them with a fake beard obviously stuck on, a satisfied smile on his face, "This holiday season, no gift is expected, but if you're giving, let it be Great Saint Liquor!"

This episode concluded with a clear credit in the end credits, "Special thanks: Yangchuan City Zoo, Yangchuan Dasheng Distillery, for your great support!"

It was then that the audience had their moment of realization. The scenes in this episode weren't specially constructed by the production crew but were actually from a real place akin to Taoyuan, "Yangchuan Dasheng Distillery"; and the animals in the drama weren't special effects but were trained by Yangchuan City Zoo!

...

After this episode of "Unbelievable" aired, Jiao Shou initially fell into a state of great anxiety, but then one piece of good news after another arrived!

"Jiao Shou, the view count has reached two million!"

"It's broken four million!"

"Ten million! My God, how is this possible? It's been only three days!"

"Jiao Shou, the data analysis team just sent their results. According to the current momentum, this episode's view count will soon surpass the first episode of the first season and break the previous viewing record! And it won't just break the single-episode record of "Unbelieable," it might set the highest viewing record for all web dramas to date!"

Receiving the continuous stream of good news, the entire creative team was in a state of extreme excitement. Several actors gave each other high-fives in celebration. Jiao Shou managed to remain calm and asked, "What about the audience comments? How are they?"

This was crucial. If the view count was high but the audience was cursing, then they would be in big trouble!

"Rave reviews! The frequency of comments is around 2.4 times that of any other episode when they're first released, and it's almost entirely positive praise, especially for the animals in it!"

Hearing the analysis team say this, Jiao Shou finally let the weight off his heart and logged into the "Unbelievable" official website from his computer in Suming's office to see for himself.

The comment section was nearly exploding with overwhelmingly positive feedback.

Many people said that this episode really achieved the "Unbelievable" effect!

From the moment that resembled the Great Sage Liquor Industry, which seemed like a nod to Storm Brewery, to Rabbit Sauce, a group of monkeys posing as the Axe Gang, and even the twist that Da Sheng Liquor could be casually bought alongside the road, the episode offered a breath of fresh air!

Of course, many viewers realized that the main goal of this episode was to market Da Sheng Liquor.

But this didn't affect the rave reviews.

Web series audiences are the most forgiving. They watch "Unbelievable" to have fun and relax. As long as the show meets these modest demands, they couldn't care less about the advertising—they don't mind it at all.

Most of the audience is rational too—they understand that the "Unbelievable" crew isn't running a charity program. They need to make money to continue their work, and the more they earn, the more motivated the creative team is. If they don't make money, how can the creators even feed themselves, let alone attract investment and effort for filming? So, advertising is a perfectly normal practice.

In short, as long as the audience finds it entertaining and their needs are met, they don't care whether you're advertising or not. What everyone dislikes are those boring ads created purely for product promotion.

While the comments and view count for this episode on the website were skyrocketing, Jiao Shou's personal Weibo follower count was also soaring.

For a blogger nearing eight million followers, due to the large base number, there's usually not a significant increase in normal circumstances. But now was clearly not a "normal circumstance." With every refresh, Jiao Shou's Weibo follower count shot up by hundreds, spring-loaded with growth.

"Thank you to Mr. Su, Deputy Director of Yangchuan City Zoo, for your tremendous help, and thanks to Yangchuan Dasheng Distillery for the friendly collaboration!" Jiao Shou returned the favor, mutual following with "Taoyuan Charm" account and shared the link to Taoyuan Charm.

"Deputy Director Su, I won't go on with thank-yous; honestly, no amount of thanks can convey the gratitude I feel right now!" Jiao Shou went up to Suming and gave him a big bear hug. "If there's a chance in the future, I hope we can have further opportunities to collaborate!"

"I hope we can collaborate again in the future, too. But next time, I can't offer just a friendly collaboration—I'll have to charge a substantial service fee," Suming said with a laugh.

"Absolutely!" Jiao Shou checked the time and said apologetically, "The investors are calling a meeting. There might be an increase in investment and comprehensive packaging for 'Unbelievable,' and perhaps even a feature film may be made in the future. I need to rush back for the meeting. I won't intrude any longer, Deputy Director Su. If you're free to visit the capital, I'll be your host!"

In recent years, there has been a trend of turning web series or popular variety shows into what are called major films. Once a web series or a variety show becomes wildly popular, someone will invest in making a related movie. These movies require little investment, are produced quickly, and due to a large fan base and light content, they often make a significant profit, offering a high return on investment.

Even if a web series becomes wildly popular, the creative team doesn't really make much money; but it's different with movies. According to the domestic revenue-sharing model, a movie that makes hundreds of millions at the box office can earn nearly hundreds of millions for the producers—absolute windfall!

Since Jiao Shou put it that way, Suming didn't feel right holding him back—that would be like cutting off his opportunities. He laughed and said, "Then I'll congratulate you in advance! Let's keep in touch at any time!"