Xiong Zai didn’t help just anyone.
Despite his clumsy appearance, he knew exactly who treated him well.
This little one was good to him, and the old human in her family was also kind to him—it was just that their food wasn’t great.
When the little one fell while carrying water, Xiong Zai stepped in to help.
It definitely wasn’t because of the steamed bun.
With his immense strength, Xiong Zai helped the grandfather and granddaughter carry water and irrigate the wheat fields. That day, thanks to the efforts of the two humans and one bear, they earned full work points for the first time.
The old man was so moved that he brought Xiong Zai to Lin Zhen’s house to express his gratitude. The next day, he even brought Xiong Zai an egg.
Others tried to coax Xiong Zai into helping with food, but he refused.
Xiong Zai was easygoing, and Song Wei and the others never forced him to work.
The big guy only helped when he found it fun.
When he didn’t feel like working, he would lie down to sleep or eat.
Given his size, no one was foolish enough to try to bully him.
No matter how gentle his temperament, he was still a real bear.
The watermelon sales in Ping’an Brigade were booming, while Song Wei lay at home drooling with envy.
She could only eat one slice of watermelon every two days, and it was just the size of her palm.
The animals at home had it better—each got half a watermelon!
This year, many people in Ping’an Brigade had secretly planted a watermelon plant or two at home, including Lin Zhen and Song Wei.
With plenty of space and many animals to feed, they had planted three watermelon plants.
As long as no one reported it, such matters weren’t strictly monitored anymore.
So this year, everyone enjoyed watermelons grown at home without having to spend money.
Few people bought watermelons from the fields—most were consumed or shared locally.
Everyone was happy, except Song Wei.
Who could understand her agony of seeing but not being able to eat?
Of course, she had plenty of other fruits to enjoy.
Apples, grapes, mangoes, bananas—she had them all, and snacks were abundant too.
So, despite her cravings, she didn’t complain.
If people knew about her pregnancy diet—meat every few days, eggs, and a variety of fruits and snacks—they would be green with envy.
Lin Zhen walked in from outside and softened at the sight of her lying in the reclining chair, her large belly prominent.
“Does your foot hurt?”
Old Ji had said that pregnant women often experienced swelling, cramps, and back pain.
Song Wei’s feet didn’t appear severely swollen, though they were slightly fuller than before.
She hadn’t experienced cramps yet.
But her back was definitely sore.
After all, it was supporting such a large belly.
“My foot doesn’t hurt, but my back does.”
“Let me massage it for you.”
He held her in his arms and gently kneaded her lower back.
“I found a channel to sell a jar of Grand Uncle’s tea. You were right—this kind of thing needs to be sold to connoisseurs to fetch its true value.”
“How much did it sell for?”
Their family had also taken two jars of tea to test the waters.
Lin Zhen had spent quite some time inquiring before finally learning about a tea enthusiast in their city who particularly enjoyed collecting tea.
Of course, the transaction was done privately.
Lin Zhen brought their tea to him, and it was well-received, as hoped.
“How much for one jar?”
Their tea jar contained only three liang (approximately 150 grams). It didn’t sound like much, but tea leaves were light and not densely packed, so three liang still looked like a considerable amount.
Lin Zhen held up his fingers to indicate the price.
“Three hundred?”
Lin Zhen nodded.
“I’ll take the money to Grand Uncle’s house later.”
He hadn’t expected that the tea processed from those century-old tea trees would be so valuable.
Song Wei’s eyes lit up. “What if we save up to lease that mountain, then take cuttings from the old tea trees to propagate them? How would that work?”
Lin Zhen thought it was a great idea.
“Tea trees are rare in the north. After asking around, I learned that even if there are wild tea trees here, they’re usually for black tea. I haven’t heard of any other place in the north besides ours that grows green tea. So, I think the soil and environment around that tea mountain must be particularly suitable for tea tree growth.”
“Leasing that area would be good, but it’s too remote. Almost no one dares to go deep into those mountains, so cultivating and harvesting there would be challenging.”
Song Wei nodded. “That’s true. Maybe we could find a suitable spot elsewhere to cultivate tea trees artificially. Manually planted tea trees should survive. As for the wild ones, let’s not tell anyone else. We can just harvest leaves from the old tea trees there every year and keep them separate from the cultivated ones.”
Century-old wild tea trees—the value of their leaves was incomparable to that of cultivated tea trees.
Lin Zhen and Song Wei were already making plans for what to grow and raise once land and mountains could be leased.
After all, the future only grew brighter the more they envisioned it.
Lin Zhen delivered the money from the tea sale to Grand Uncle’s house and left.
That day, Grand Uncle’s family closed their doors and gathered for a family meeting.
They never imagined the tea could be so profitable.
One jar had sold for three hundred yuan!
“I’ve called everyone here today to discuss Lin Zhen’s matter. You all know he helped us sell the tea, right?”
The old man’s stern gaze swept over his sons, daughters-in-law, grandsons, and granddaughters-in-law. They all nodded.
“Dad, we know. We haven’t taken it to heart.”
The old man was fortunate to have married a sensible and educated wife.
He was upright himself, and the couple had raised their children well.
The wives they chose for their sons and grandsons had minor flaws but no major issues.
Overall, the family was united.
Although they felt a bit uneasy about Jiang Wenwu’s situation, they hadn’t let others’ gossip turn them against Lin Zhen or breed resentment.
Grand Uncle scanned the room, satisfied with everyone’s recent behavior.
Then, he took out three hundred yuan.
Everyone’s eyes fixed on the money.
“This is the money from selling the tea.”
The family was stunned.
Those tea leaves were worth that much?!
“Lin Zhen has been looking out for us. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have taken us into the mountains to pick tea or given us such a large share.”
The others nodded repeatedly, now completely free of any lingering jealousy.
The tea was incredibly valuable, and the location of the tea trees hadn’t even been disclosed to the production team leader’s family.
Lin Zhen truly was closest to their family.
“Out of this money, your mother and I will keep one hundred. The remaining two hundred will be split between the eldest and second son’s families. The second son’s family didn’t pick tea, but they handled all the household chores. Any objections?”
He had always been fair and just, ensuring the family avoided major conflicts.
“No objections!”
After distributing the money, the family was overjoyed. The next day, they brought eggs from home to visit Song Wei.
The bond between the two families grew even stronger.
Grandma also made a decision.
She asked the family to gather tree leaves and bamboo leaves after work each day. She planned to teach them how to process tea.
She even invited Song Wei and Lin Zhen to join.
The old lady stated bluntly, “These old bones of mine could give out any day.”
“Mom!”
“Grandma!”
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