"Two barrels of honey, a total of 96 catties. We bought bottles from the grocery store Boss to package it, one catty per bottle, selling for one yuan eighty cents each, totaling 172.8 yuan. Malted milk extract is three yuan fifty cents a bottle, rice..."

Shi Lin wasn't very nervous; he calmly calculated the accounts for Lao Die and Mother to hear.

After listening to his narration, Shi Zhengang and Ye Meihui also understood. Those two barrels of honey actually sold for 172 yuan and eighty cents!

Then this prodigal son spent it all at once, over fifty yuan, buying the contents of these two barrels.

"You prodigal son, over fifty yuan, and you just spent it when I told you to spend it?

You're so wasteful with money; this money can't be left in your pocket.

Don't you know our family can't even earn fifty yuan in two months now?!"

Hearing that the two barrels of stuff they carried back cost over fifty yuan, Ye Meihui's heart ached terribly.

"There's still so much cornmeal at home, where do we need to buy this white flour?"

"We don't need rice either; usually eating some coarse grain porridge is fine, isn't it?"

"How can country folk be so particular? You even got two barrels of malted milk extract, and there are no children at home!"

"And dogs, we just gave away four dogs, why did you bring back another puppy?!"

"You prodigal son, you're really trying to anger me to death! Can't you save the money you earn? Doesn't marrying a wife cost money?!"

After all was said and done, his Mother just couldn't bear to spend money and wanted to save it for him to marry a wife later.

In the past, if he kindly bought such good things for the family and still got criticized, he would definitely retort a few sentences.

But now, Shi Lin wasn't anxious. Instead, he smiled and explained:

"Money, well, you can earn it again.

Eating coarse grains occasionally is fine, but eating them every day really scratches your throat. Fine grains are still tastier.

Look at our family, everyone is sallow and thin, clearly malnourished. We need to eat more meat, eggs, and milk, especially since Dad is still recovering..."

First, he tried to persuade them. The core argument was that if they weren't willing to spend money on nutrition now, they would have to pay for medical treatment later, which wasn't cost-effective.

After persuading them, Shi Lin also talked about his honey business with Feng Si from the grocery store, saying he would deliver honey to sell again in a couple of days, and there would be more money.

Finally, seeing that everyone's expressions had softened after his words, he picked up the Little Black Bear, smiled, and handed him to his Lao Die.

"Lao Die, look at this Bear Cub, identify him, is it worth the four yuan I spent to buy him back?"

"What? A local puppy, you spent four yuan?!"

Hearing this price, the emotions Ye Meihui had just calmed down immediately became a little agitated again.

Their family had raised four dogs before, so they knew the price of local puppies very well. Normally, a local puppy like this costs around 2 yuan.

Some dog breeds were famously good and would cost at most 3 yuan, that's the absolute limit. But he actually spent four yuan on this one; he was ripped off!

Shi Yuying also pouted, "Even our family's former lead dog Big Yellow's puppies only sold for three yuan each. You actually bought this one for four yuan, are you stupid? You can even get ripped off like this!"

Only Shi Zhengang in the family wasn't rushing to a conclusion. He felt that the Bear Cub in Shi Lin's hand seemed strange.

He reached out and took the Bear Cub from Shi Lin's hand. The moment he held him, the Old Man immediately discovered the problem.

"This isn't a puppy? This is a Little Black Bear!"

Huh?

Little Black Bear?

Both Ye Meihui and Shi Yuying were stunned when they heard Old Shi's words.

"Lao Die, is this really a Little Black Bear? He looks just like a puppy?" Shi Yuying asked, feeling doubtful.

Ye Meihui also had a look of confusion.

Old Shi chuckled and pulled out the Little Black Bear's front paw.

"Look at his paw. Dogs have four claws, bears have five. This is the most obvious difference. Also, his kneecap is different from a dog's..."

After Old Shi's explanation, the two female Comrades finally understood the difference between a Little Black Bear and a Black Dog.

Hearing that Shi Lin had bought a Little Black Bear instead of a Black Dog, they all felt a sense of joy at finding a bargain, feeling like they had made a huge profit.

Shi Yuying asked, "Lao Liu, did that Boss know this was a Little Black Bear? How could he sell him to you for 4 yuan?"

"Of course he didn't know. He even lied and said he saw his own dog give birth to him..."

Saying this, Shi Lin recounted the process of buying the Little Black Bear to everyone.

The whole family burst into laughter upon hearing this. That Old Man wanted to sell a local puppy at a high price to deceive a young person like Shi Lin who didn't know the market, little did he know that Shi Lin had stumbled upon a huge bargain.

"So what should we do with this Little Black Bear now? Should we raise him? Or catch him and sell him? How much can he sell for? We didn't lose money on the four yuan, did we?"

After holding the Bear Cub in her hands and playing with him for a while, Shi Yuying looked at her Lao Die and asked the crucial question.

"We definitely made a profit. I estimate maybe ten or twenty yuan. You can take him to Lao San Song and ask; he seems to buy Bear Cubs."

Shi Zhengang could only roughly guess the price; after all, he had never sold a Little Black Bear like this before.

"Hehe, as long as we made a profit." Shi Yuying was very happy, hugging the Little Black Bear and rubbing him vigorously.

Ye Meihui's face also carried a smile.

Running into an old trickster and unexpectedly finding a bargain was indeed very heartwarming.

Seeing the family happy, Shi Lin didn't mention his own plan.

He wasn't planning to sell this Little Black Bear. He was preparing to raise the Bear Cub as a reserve beast servant.

When he accumulated enough beast servant points later and didn't have a better contract target, he would contract this Bear Cub.

Although he was just a Black Bear, he was still a bear after all. When he grew up, his combat power would be very strong.

...

At noon, Shi Lin's family cooked white rice and stewed three or four catties of pork with pickled cabbage.

The whole family ate heartily.

Old Ye and Old Shi, the two Old Comrades, complained about Shi Lin wasting money, but when they were eating, their bodies were honest.

Bowl after bowl of rice, and they devoured the pork stewed with pickled cabbage. Where was there any hint of disgust?

Of course, Shi Lin and Shi Yuying weren't much better than them. The two young people also ate until their bellies bulged, their mouths greasy.

Their family used to have an Old Man who was a hunter, so they weren't short on meat, but Ye Meihui was a frugal person. If there were coarse grains to eat, she wouldn't buy rice or white flour.

Furthermore, after Old Shi's leg was injured, the family's main income source was cut off, and Ye Meihui became even more frugal. The meat at home disappeared, and staple foods also decreased, even changing from three meals a day to occasionally eating three meals...

It had been a long time since their family had eaten so heartily like these past two days.

After the meal, Shi Lin and Shi Yuying rested for a while, then picked up their equipment and went up the mountain to dig for honey.

With yesterday's experience, today they had an extra set of protective gear, which Ye Meihui had made for them while they were at the market in the morning.

Wearing two sets of protective gear, the siblings were much more efficient at digging for honey.

Shi Lin was mainly responsible for digging the honeycomb and taking the honey, while Fifth Sister Shi Yuying was responsible for the aftermath, fixing the bee holes to achieve a sustainable development strategy.

With Jin Yi (Golden-ringed Hornet) as a 'super honeycomb detector', digging for honey was really easy. The two were like going to their own apiary to collect honey.

In just over two hours, the four bags they brought were almost full.

Filled with about 130 catties of honey, it could sell for over two hundred yuan.

Shi Lin had just finished digging out the eighth honeycomb for the day, put the honeycomb into the bag, and said:

"Fifth Sister, all four bags are almost full. Let's stop here for today. If we dig more, we won't have bags to put it in."

Not only were there no bags, but it was also really heavy to carry back.

"Okay, I'll cover this bee hole properly, and then we'll go back."

Shi Yuying nodded, fed a bee pupa to Jin Yi (Golden-ringed Hornet), and picked up a hoe to start the cleanup.

Now Jin Yi (Golden-ringed Hornet) was their family's wealth-bringing beast, and Shi Yuying was extremely good to it.

At home, she cut meat for it to eat, brought it water when they went out, and caught bee pupae for it. She was completely raising it like a little ancestor, just short of worshipping it.

Even though Shi Lin said there was no need to be so good to it, that it could take care of itself, Shi Yuying still did as she pleased.

Putting the four bags filled with honeycomb together and tying the openings, Shi Lin nodded with satisfaction and leaned against a nearby tree to rest.

Two consecutive days of high-intensity labor were still somewhat stressful for him.

At this moment, whenever he raised his arm, he would feel a sore ache.

However, the results were also very pleasing. Besides the honey he dug up, he also gained quite a few beast servant points today.

His ambition to contract large fierce beasts and traverse the mountains had taken another step forward.

He opened the system.

【beast servant points: 42】

【Beast servant: Jin Yi (Golden-ringed Hornet)】

The eight honeycombs he dug today added 20 beast servant points for him. At this rate of increase, it was quite fast.

As long as he dug one or two more honeycombs, he should be able to accumulate 46 points, enough to contract the Little Black Bear Cub at home.

However, that Bear Cub was currently only in his reserve queue. He wasn't planning to contract him yet, after all, he was too small, and contracting him wouldn't be of much help.

What he needed now was a beast servant who could actually help him, just like Jin Yi (Golden-ringed Hornet), who could take them everywhere to dig for honey, help him earn money, and earn beast servant points.

'Or maybe I can contract another hornet? Like a Jin Er?'

Shi Lin leaned against the tree, thinking about the feasibility of contracting another hornet.

Suddenly, he received a strong emotional fluctuation. Jin Yi (Golden-ringed Hornet), who was originally eating heartily, immediately buzzed and flew up in an emergency.

Danger approaching!