Song Tan's Notes

Chapter 1652. The Bear's Substitute

Cucumbers are entering their peak fruiting season, producing not only tender and crisp fruits but also bright yellow flowers.

One after another, they bloom among the leaves, a sight to behold.

Clearly, this spring and summer, the bees in my house have enjoyed an unprecedentedly wonderful life.

Bees often buzz around in front of the live stream camera. Yunduo is from the village, so even if she sees them, she knows not to bother them and they generally won't sting.

So he openly took out his phone and followed Qiaoqiao back and forth in the cucumber patch.

However, once the comments section moved away from Sanbao and Sanbao Zai, it gradually went off-topic.

At this moment, someone started muttering again:
It's been a long time since I've seen Big Bear.

This sparked a lot of discussion, with some fans showing a particularly deep affection for the bear.

After all, Qiaoqiao's first batch of fans were attracted by the big bear's furry butt.

This kind of borderline behavior is something that many subsequent rural livestreamers have tried to imitate but couldn't, and have been criticized countless times behind the scenes.

I thought to myself, this family's script is so cunning!
Yun Duo watched silently from the side, utterly baffled by the aesthetics and thoughts of contemporary young people.

As more and more people asked, she reminded Qiaoqiao:

"Everyone says they haven't seen Big Bear in a long time."

Qiaoqiao sighed, "It's getting hot."

He frowned in distress, but his hands kept picking cucumbers: "Big Bear doesn't like working in the heat."

I don't believe it. I don't like working in this heat either, so why am I still working?

Is that what Big Bear decides? Isn't it because you spoiled him?

[Didn't Teacher Qiao Qiao say that Big Bear had to work all day long just to fill his stomach? Why isn't he working anymore?]

Do bumblebees really live that long? Could Big Bear be dead already?

This comment only flashed by for a moment, but everyone actually got tense!

[That's possible. The giant bumblebee is the queen, and her lifespan is longer than that of a regular bumblebee, so it would probably be around a year.]

Yes, it's been a year and a half now.

Is the bear really...?

[If the bear really passes away, there's nothing we can do. It's the lifespan of the species, and it has nothing to do with the streamer.]

I know, it's just so heartbreaking. I've never seen such a unique bumblebee before.

[The main point is that you might only ever see one bumblebee in your entire life...]

As everyone chatted, the atmosphere suddenly turned melancholic, and even Qiaoqiao picking cucumbers in front couldn't attract anyone's attention.

Yunduo looked a little confused: "Isn't Big Bear perfectly fine?"

Her words were heard by everyone, causing another burst of excitement in the live stream:
[Really? Host, I checked online, and it really only lasts about a year. You're not kidding me.]

[Big Bear is gone, we know, it's not the streamer's fault.]

Let's skip the stand-in thing...

However, Yun Duo thought to herself that she had been specially taken to see the big bear when she joined the company.

Sometimes Qiaoqiao would secretly give them extra food, and she knew about it.

Big Bear is really doing well!

It's just... it's just getting fatter.

The holes that were previously made in the beehives were no longer enough for the wasps to crawl in and out easily, but if the holes were made larger, the wasps could enter as if they were in an empty space.

Song Tan was also quite helpless.

In short, when I first got it, I didn't realize it was such a lazy and gluttonous creature.

The entire bumblebee colony I'm raising is now quite lethargic.

Apart from putting in some effort in the greenhouse during the winter, during the rest of the beautiful spring, summer and autumn seasons, they can't even feed themselves with pollen, let alone accept offerings from bees.

Especially Big Bear; the entire bumblebee clan is struggling to feed themselves, so they can't afford to look after it.

It is entirely fed by bees.

Now...

When Yunduo first met the big bear, she was scared. It was such a big bee, and even though it was furry, it was still a bee.

But looking at that chubby, fluffy, black and yellow striped body, and then at those pitiful little wings that were so light, thin, and small they couldn't possibly support its weight, and the big bear slowly crawling on my finger...

Damn!

Who would be afraid of a bumblebee like that!

Now, looking back at what everyone said in the live stream, I can actually understand it now.

However, since everyone seemed uninterested in the story of Da Xiong's stand-in, she hesitated for a moment. Seeing that Qiao Qiao was still focused on picking cucumbers ahead, she had no choice but to send a message to Song Tan.

Song Tan never expected her fans to be so loyal!

But given the bear's condition, saying it's dead would be a real shame.

If it hadn't died, and this bumblebee had lived for so long, what if another entomologist came along? She wouldn't have been able to handle it.

Therefore, he said, "Let me tell you all that the bear's offspring have successfully inherited its queen's position and are now just like it."

If fans don't want those stand-in stories, then this kind of stand-in story should be okay.

Moral character

Yun Duo carefully considered these two words, but ultimately said them to the live stream exactly as they were.

Everyone was filled with righteous indignation!

How can we use the word "virtue" to describe the wonderful character of our Big Bear?

[Exactly! If the bees are willing to feed it, how can that be the bear's fault?]

【Our great bears have inherent genetic limitations, which is why they eat a lot but can't fly fast. They work all day but can't accumulate a single drop of honey…】

[Stop talking about the previous parts, it feels like I'm talking about myself.] [Waaaaah, Big Bear is me, with no savings, waaaaah!]

[Let's not get off topic. This matter of character can't be blamed on Big Bear, can it?]

Yes, bees are willing! Why don't we see them raising other types of bumblebees? Why don't we see them raising wasps?

Clouds: ...

Listen to what you're saying! Bees raising wasps? How come working people don't work for their bosses? Oh.

The working class is really living on retirement savings.

Anyway!

She had indeed heard of Big Bear's great achievements.

But if I remember correctly, Kumamon only attacked once, using its weight to knock down several wasps.

From then on, it settled into being the queen, occasionally going out to collect a few baskets of pollen, but never relying on it to support itself again.

It is not self-reliant, not inspiring, and not in line with values.

So everyone just likes to reap without sowing, right?

The live stream chattered for a while longer, but then it had nothing to do with Yun Duo anymore, so she simply kept quiet.

Now that the sun is higher and the temperature is rising, Qiaoqiao, her cheeks flushed and sweating, looks at the three large baskets of cucumbers in front of her and says to Yunduo, who is holding a phone:
"Children, let's go home."

"These cucumbers need to be cooled quickly before being packaged and shipped out. Fengfeng Express can deliver to many places the next day now, so eat them as soon as you receive them."

Only after he said that did everyone realize—

Oh! They still have cucumbers today!
Then just wait to receive the goods—

Wait a minute! Your link isn't working!!!

People quickly started flooding the screen with messages:
[Link coming soon!]

[Quick, quick, I need to grab it! Hurry, I need to do it before everyone notices...]

But the phone, held aloft by the clouds, was already burning hot.

Qiaoqiao calmly walked ahead, deftly placing cucumbers onto the tricycle, completely ignoring the comments on the screen.

Everyone:...

Okay, okay, so you're ignoring us again, huh? We'll see where you send your stuff later.

But before this harsh statement could be uttered, Yun Duo's voice rang out:

"Oh dear, my phone is too hot and the battery is dead. Let's end the broadcast now."

The next moment, the live stream went black.

Everyone:...

No, where are my cucumbers? Who did you sell them to?!
After a period of chaos, everyone calmed down again.

They weren't in a hurry at all; they were confident. They even discussed it in the group chat, and in the end, they chatted happily.

As is typical, once the cucumbers are harvested, we need to start preparing the shipping labels.

When the orders are placed, oh dear, there's no such order!
The link will appear.

People were also discussing how unreliable the new assistant was...

[Wages deducted.]

[It's so hot outside, and that girl works in the fields every day. It's so cruel to deduct her wages—we have to make her put in a good word for us next time so we can sell another basket.]

That makes sense. By the way, could we be friends? If you have any freebies you could resell to me?

Wow, you're so good at using an abacus! Do you think I can't do that?

The fans went off to chat and boast happily again.

However, we waited and waited.

An hour has passed, why hasn't anyone contacted us yet?

……

In fact, these fruits and vegetables need to be pre-cooled when it's hot. However, since there were only a few cucumbers, vacuum pre-cooling was not used. Instead, they were placed in plastic baskets and put into a low-temperature cold storage room to be cooled by cold air.

This process takes two to three hours.

With so much time, the three baskets of cucumbers only weighed a total of 200 jin (100 catties), which is negligible compared to Brother Zhang's daily order volume.

The only problem is that the amount of cardboard boxes needed every day is very large. The villagers had already finished cleaning up the sweet potato stems, so they started sealing the cardboard boxes again.

For a moment, the factory was filled with the sound of tape being torn apart.

Qiaoqiao didn't like hearing that. Since she had already completed her task, she simply took her phone and went home.

After charging for an hour, Brother Zhang finally asked, "Will we be able to load the goods in another hour? Have you printed the shipping labels yet? I'll put them on now."

That's the good thing about shipping to Qiaoqiao's family; everyone has the same weight, so we can pack everything in advance without having to distinguish who's who or worry about making mistakes.

Yun Duo responded, and just as she opened the backend, she suddenly remembered something:
Huh, did they put it on sale this morning? Why don't I see everyone frantically buying it, or complaining about not being able to get it?

Let's go over the morning's schedule again...

Cloud: ...!!!
She was so busy discussing the big bear that she forgot to upload the link!
Help! I've only been working for a short time, how come I keep making these mistakes?
Upon entering the group chat again, I saw countless people tagging their assistant.

The group messages went through thousands of layers, allowing me to witness firsthand the entire process: from laughter and various jokes to preparations, to fruitless preparations, to panic, to urging each other on, and finally to anxiety.

孽 孽!
Why are you just playing with the fans' feelings?

She quickly called Song Tan again to tell him about it, feeling truly ashamed.

Although the cucumbers won't go unsold, it will definitely negatively impact the fans' viewing experience.

Song Tan didn't expect this either!

She had no choice but to try to salvage the situation: "Then you should tell Qiao Qiao to go live and apologize, and then upload the link."

"While you're at it, let's also take you to see Big Bear—Big Bear's cub."

Here it comes! Today's word count is 3000.