Reborn in 78, I made my fortune by working in the mountains, supporting three families on my own.

The top layer was covered with a bamboo canopy to block the water vapor seeping down from the cliff.

After the frame was set up, Zhao Lei went back to the woodshed and moved the nest of wild bees over.

Zhao Lei took off his handkerchief and carefully transferred the queen bee and worker bees together into a newly woven bamboo basket on the shelf.

The bottom of the basket was lined with dry grass, and then covered with a layer of fine bamboo strips.

When the swarm of bees entered the new nest, they buzzed around for a while and circled the cliff face several times.

Zhao Lei and Jiang Xinyue stood at a distance, watching, not daring to get too close.

After a while, the swarm of bees gradually calmed down and began to crawl into the bamboo basket.

Jiang Xinyue breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Zhao Lei, saying, "It should be fine now. Once the queen bee goes in, the worker bees will follow and settle down."

Zhao Lei stood at the foot of the cliff, looking at the beehive. The setting sun shone through the gaps in the trees at the top of the cliff, warming the bamboo basket to a golden hue.

"How long will it take to harvest honey from this beehive?"

Jiang Xinyue thought for a moment: "Native bees produce honey more slowly than foreign bees. They need to establish a stable nest and build a hive for the first month. Only after the queen bee lays eggs and new bees emerge, and there are more bees, can we collect honey in large quantities. It will take at least one or two months before we can harvest honey."

"However, beekeeping can't be rushed. It's good if you can harvest honey in the first year. The key is for the bee colonies to survive the winter. If they can survive this winter, they can swarm and expand the colony next spring."

Zhao Lei nodded.

Two months, Zhao Lei mentally calculated the time.

Deputy Factory Director Li is also waiting for the quota, so we might as well take advantage of this time to get this done.

"So, you're in charge of this beehive?" Zhao Lei asked Jiang Xinyue.

"Okay. I'll talk to Sister Xia about it later, and I'll come over to check on things in a few days."

Qin Bowen, rubbing his face, chimed in, "Brother-in-law, now that the beehive is up and running, does that mean we'll have honey to eat every day?"

Zhao Lei glanced back at him and said, "Get your face down before you talk about eating honey."

Qin Bowen pursed his lips, and everyone laughed.

On the way back from the back mountain, the sky gradually darkened.

Wisps of smoke drifted slowly into the sky from the village.

Zhao Lei and Jiang Xinyue walked in front, while Qin Bowen walked at the very back, applying an egg to his face.

The group said goodbye to the two Zhang brothers at the fork in the road.

"Brother Lei, we'll head back now. We'll be going out to work in a few days."

"Did San Gong get a house repair job?"

"Yes, thanks to your housewarming party, Brother Lei, we managed to build relationships with Boss Wang and Boss Deng. This business deal was introduced by them."

"Okay, thank you for your help today."

"Oh, Brother Lei, you're being too polite."

"Why don't you come to my house for dinner? We brothers can have a drink before you head out."

"It's too late today, let's do it another day."

"OK."

After saying goodbye to the Zhang brothers, the group returned to their new home.

Zhao Lei thought to himself that beekeeping was just a small part of his business; he couldn't make a fortune from it, but it was a way to make a steady, long-term income.

A jar of honey can sell for two yuan in the town, but for three yuan in the county seat.

If you raise them well and expand to several more boxes, you can save up a considerable income over the course of a year.

Furthermore, entrusting the bee colony to Liu Hongxia would also earn them a favor, making it easier for the Zhao family to deal with things in the village in the future.

Jiang Xinyue suddenly spoke up: "Zhao Lei, do you want me to get a job at the textile factory?"

"I heard you talking to Deputy Factory Director Li at the banquet today."

Zhao Lei nodded and said, "I think it's too unfair for you to stay at home. Going to work in a factory is a proper job where you can make the most of your strengths."

"Surely it costs a lot of money to grease palms?"

Zhao Lei didn't reply and continued walking forward.

Jiang Xinyue didn't press the matter further.

The two walked to the courtyard gate, where the last glimmer of light on the horizon was fading.

Qin Yuchan poked half her body out of the kitchen and called out, "You're back? Dinner's ready! I stewed a pheasant today; it'll help nourish your swollen face, Bowen!"

Qin Bowen went into the kitchen with a bitter face.

Zhao Lei stood in the courtyard, looking back at the mountain behind him.

The bees have already made their home under the rocky cliff; the rest can only be done step by step.

After settling the wild bees on the back mountain, Zhao Lei spent several days dealing with odd jobs around the house.

There were still some corners in the new house that hadn't been properly tidied up, so Qin Yuchan directed Zhao Lei to rearrange the woodshed and then made two more trips to town to fetch supplies.

Jiang Xinyue went up the mountain to check on the bee colony every other day and told Zhao Lei that the colony had settled down and the worker bees had gone out to collect honey.

Upon hearing the news, Zhao Lei felt much more at ease.

Early that morning, before dawn, Qin Bowen arrived at the door carrying a bamboo basket.

Zhao Lei squatted by the kitchen door, eating porridge, and looked up at Qin Bowen: "Has the facial swelling gone?"

Qin Bowen leaned forward: "It's gone, brother-in-law, look, you can barely tell."

Zhao Lei examined it carefully; the swelling had subsided by more than half, but a yellowish bruise remained on his left cheek.

Zhao Lei finished his porridge in a few gulps, got up, slung his hunting knife over his shoulder, and said, "Let's go into the mountains to check on those snares."

Qin Yuchan poked her head out of the kitchen and instructed, "Go early and come back early. I'll save some lunch for you."

The two followed the old road into the mountains. The sun had not yet risen, and the mountain forest was very cold.

After walking for more than half an hour, they arrived at the ravine where the trap had been laid. Zhao Lei and Qin Bowen then separated to inspect it.

This time, their luck was terrible; they only caught two rabbits out of forty snares. Zhao Lei carefully collected the rabbits, repaired several loose snares, and set two new snares at the end of the ditch.

After finishing their work, the sun was high in the sky, and the woods gradually became stuffy and hot.

Zhao Lei walked down the ravine with his hands behind his back, then suddenly stopped.

The two traps that were set up a couple of days ago under the big camphor tree at the end of the ditch are gone.

Zhao Lei squatted down to observe the ground. There were signs of disturbance in the soil, the wooden stakes that secured the rope loops had been uprooted, and a pile of messy footprints were scattered on the ground.

Zhao Lei followed the footprints for a while, his face darkening.

Qin Bowen rushed over and saw Zhao Lei squatting on the ground examining the footprints. He asked, "Brother-in-law, what happened?"

Zhao Lei pointed to the marks on the ground: "Someone tampered with our condoms; two new ones were removed."

Qin Bowen squatted down to take a look, and his anger immediately surged: "Who did this? Stealing someone else's condoms?"

Zhao Lei continued forward, following the footprints.

There were three or four sets of footprints on the ground, of varying sizes, pointing towards the dense forest on the east side of the ravine.

That mountain forest is rarely visited. Beyond it lies another mountain peak, separated from the Peace Brigade by a mountain ridge.

"Let's go take a look." Zhao Lei got up and walked east.

Qin Bowen quickly followed: "Brother-in-law, should we call the villagers over?"

Zhao Lei waved his hand: "Let's find out who it is first."

The two walked through the mixed woods, and after about the time it takes to eat a meal, they heard voices ahead.

Zhao Lei stopped and peered out from behind the bushes.

Ahead lay a gentle slope, where three or four men were squatting on the ground, busy at work.

One person was skinning a wild rabbit, two people were tidying up ropes and iron traps, and another person was leaning against a tree trunk smoking.

The group of people were dressed in old gray clothes and wore tattered rubber shoes, and did not appear to be members of the village.

Several freshly skinned animal hides were laid out on the ground.