Chapter 39: Got Stung

Chapter 39: A Sting

Qiaoqiao's wish to touch the bee went unfulfilled. He crouched there, looking on with wide, yearning eyes

"Why can't I?"

The beekeeper was acquainted with Song Sancheng and knew Qiaoqiao's situation, so he spoke as if coaxing a small child

"Because you aren't familiar with them yet. If you reach out, the bees will think you're trying to hit them, and they'll sting you."

He closed the beehive securely before adding a warning: "Don't go touching them randomly. A bee sting hurts a lot, but for the bee, a single sting can be fatal. These little things are quite pitiful."

"Besides," he said, holding out his own hand for them to see, which was covered in thick calluses and had heavy joints, "my skin is thick and tough; I got used to it long ago."

Qiaoqiao looked at his hand, then held out his own palm—Ulan was a clean person and had kept him well-groomed since he was a child. Now, his hand was delicate and fair, with clearly defined knuckles.

If not for the slight coarseness from doing farm work recently, he would likely still look like a pampered young master.

Qiaoqiao let out a long, long, long sigh of disappointment and turned his head to look elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Song Sancheng and Song Tan inspected the beehives one by one and inquired about the price—in short, 560 yuan per box was non-negotiable!

Song Sancheng hesitated: "Will we have other flowers once the Chinese milk vetch is finished? If there aren't as many flowers later on, we shouldn't get so many hives."

Song Tan, however, was calculating: *Since we're already here, and the hives aren't expensive, I can just use spiritual energy to nourish them! Honey is a precious thing, after all!*

She began counting on her fingers: "We have the milk vetch for these two months, then the chestnut trees will bloom. The pink peaches and white pears in our village will also provide enough for them. After June or July, when it gets hot, the bees can rest a bit. There are vegetables in the garden, and I'm planning to plant a field of sunflowers..."

With this plan, she could certainly afford to keep them.

Song Sancheng felt a headache coming on—his daughter did the talking, but the father did all the legwork!

Chestnuts, sunflowers... his farm work this year was going to be relentless!

"Fine, fine, fine, you call the shots!"

Song Tan made her decision: "Five boxes!"

The beekeeper smiled—this would bring in nearly three thousand yuan.

However, he still offered a word of advice: "Keeping bees is simple; just place the hives properly. If any problems arise, don't go messing around blindly. Call me, and I'll come over to take a look."

Just as the payment was settled, a sudden wail erupted from the other side!

"Auuu..."

Qiaoqiao ran out of the woods, his once-fair face streaming with tears and snot.

He held one hand in a loose fist; the base of his palm was red, swollen, and shiny, clearly having been stung.

Song Tan didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Didn't I tell you not to touch the bees?"

Feeling wronged, Qiaoqiao cried even louder

"I picked up a very, very fat one..."

"This fat one... can work... the Queen..."

He was clearly remembering the handful of bees the beekeeper had caught earlier.

The beekeeper froze: "That's impossible. How could the Queen have left the hive..."

Muttering to himself, he leaned forward to look.

He saw Qiaoqiao carefully using his other hand to loosely cup his palm, slowly opening his swollen fist—

In the center of his palm, a round, plump bee about the size of a thumbnail was perched cautiously. Its body was covered in fuzzy yellow and black stripes; it was indeed large, round, and fat.

It was actually quite cute.

...

The beekeeper let out a chuckle. "Oh, this one is fine! This is a bumblebee, and its temperament is just as good as our honeybees. As long as you don't grab it, it generally won't sting. It's okay to touch it occasionally."

Qiaoqiao didn't quite understand, but he thrust his red, swollen palm forward.

The beekeeper laughed again. "It'll definitely sting a bit, though. I'll have some medicine to rub on it for you in a moment—this should be a newly emerged queen, which is why she's so big."

"Ordinary bumblebees are a little smaller than this one."

Song Tan was also quite interested.

She flicked a trace of spiritual energy from her fingertip. The queen bee, which had been fluttering its wings to fly, suddenly wobbled and stumbled, clinging to Song Tan's finger.

Song Sancheng jumped in fright: "Oh my!"

Song Tan quickly reassured him: "Dad, it's fine! Look, she didn't sting me—she's so cute!"

A fuzzy, chubby little ball, crawling around on her finger, it was truly adorable.

Qiaoqiao watched with unblinking eyes, having completely forgotten the grudge of the sting.

The beekeeper brought some medicine from his house. While applying it to Qiaoqiao, he glanced at the bumblebee again and instructed

"Play with it for a while and then let it go. This queen is waiting to lay eggs and hatch."

Song Tan thought for a moment: "Can we raise this one? Does she produce much honey?"

The beekeeper laughed. "Raise them? Of course you can. One queen can produce over a hundred workers. They are even more hardworking and resilient than honeybees!"

"There's just one thing: they earn a lot, but they eat a lot too. If you raise them, you won't get a single ounce of honey out of them all year round—it won't even be enough to feed them!"

"If they go even an hour without pollen or nectar, they'll collapse. It's just like our hypoglycemia; if they don't eat, they'll die."

At this, even a hint of a smile appeared in Song Sancheng's eyes

"This isn't a bumblebee, it's more like a little piglet, isn't it?"

But Qiaoqiao had already heard this.

Though he didn't fully understand, it didn't stop him from blinking his eyes and looking over pitifully

"Sister, I want to raise it..."

He watched the bumblebee crawling around on Song Tan's finger, finding it extremely cute. Having forgotten the pain once the wound had healed, he reached his hand out once more.

However, the smell of the medicinal oil on his hand was too strong, and the bumblebee flew up with a "buzz."

After circling twice, still lingering over that tiny bit of spiritual energy, it crawled back onto his finger.

The beekeeper also laughed—

"If you want to raise it, go ahead. Just find a small box, prepare some sugar water for it, and you won't have to worry about anything else."

"This queen, as soon as she emerges, will start laying eggs. She'll secrete beeswax in the box, forming a little pot bit by bit. All the eggs will be in that little pot."

"Then she'll sit on it, constantly vibrating and shaking. Once the temperature rises, the worker bees will hatch. It's quite interesting to raise them."

But he added one last caveat: "But it really doesn't make money; they eat too much."

"And they aren't as steady as honeybees. They might just fly away one day."

Song Tan moved her finger, seeing that the bumblebee was clinging firmly to it. She smiled with confidence

"Does it still hurt, Qiaoqiao?"

Qiaoqiao looked at the bumblebee, then at his own palm, and sniffled: "It hurts."

"Will you grab things randomly next time?"

Qiaoqiao sobbed, tears falling again in grievance.

Song Sancheng's heart melted; he quickly began to coax him: "No more grabbing next time, no more grabbing next time."

Song Tan gave a soft chuckle. She asked the beekeeper for a small wooden box and placed the bumblebee inside. Then, she pressed the box into Qiaoqiao's hands

"Hold it tight. You're not allowed to open it to look, or you might scare her and she'll run away."

***

*Um... should I post three chapters today?*

*This bumblebee is super cute and has a good personality (but I still don't recommend touching it; I'm not responsible if you get stung). It's Qiaoqiao's little companion mentioned last time!*

*(End of Chapter)*