Chapter 114: There Must Be a Purpose!

Chapter 114: There Must Be a Purpose!

Zhao Jie stared at the black bear, whose mouth was open in a goofy grin, revealing its teeth. She was genuinely surprised when she saw a QR code under its robe.

"Xiao Jie, it's probably asking you to scan and pay!" Wu Ling reminded her.

Zhao Jie quickly reacted, took out her phone, and scanned the QR code, paying 10 yuan.

A voice from the black bear's body announced: "WeChat received 10 yuan!"

After Zhao Jie paid, the black bear continued to stare at her, its grin widening, and its teeth bared even more, as if it was about to bite her. She was completely baffled.

I just paid, didn't I?

At that moment, the black bear, under the shocked gazes of all the tourists, pointed at Zhao Jie with two of its paws.

Wu Ling immediately chimed in, "Xiao Jie, you took two bags of fruit, so you need to pay 20 yuan!"

"Ah?" Zhao Jie finally understood and looked at the black bear's extended paws in disbelief.

The tourists also burst into exclamations:

"Damn, this black bear has become a spirit, and it even knows when it hasn't been paid enough!"

"Didn't they say that animals can't become spirits after the founding of the People's Republic of China?"

"You're wrong. Did black bears become spirits after the founding of the PRC?"

"It became a spirit during the Tang Dynasty!"

"..."

The tourists were amused and started making jokes one after another.

Zhao Jie immediately took out her phone and scanned another 10 yuan. This time, the black bear spirit put down its robe and ignored her.

This piqued the interest of the other tourists. A male tourist stepped forward, took two bags of fruit, and looked at the black bear. Sure enough, the black bear ran over to him, lifted its robe, and revealed the QR code.

"Is it really a spirit?" the tourist asked in amazement, taking out his phone and scanning 20 yuan.

However, after paying 20 yuan, the black bear continued to stare at him, its robe still lifted, and its teeth bared even more.

"What's going on? I paid 20 yuan!" the tourist was puzzled, but then the black bear pointed at him with two paws.

"???" the tourist was confused.

A nearby tourist figured it out, "This bear probably doesn't understand the concept of 10 yuan or 20 yuan. It only understands the concept of one time or two times. One bag of fruit means one payment, two bags mean two payments!"

This made the tourist exclaim, "Isn't this bear a swindler? Never mind, never mind, I won't argue over 10 yuan with a bear. Put your teeth away."

With that, he took out his phone and scanned another 10 yuan.

This time, the black bear finally let him go, putting down its robe.

Zhang Zhao, who had been watching from the side, was very curious about where his cousin had found such a smart black bear.

Seeing his girlfriend taking pictures with her phone, he felt playful and stepped forward, taking two bags of fruit. When the black bear lifted its robe, he took another bag.

This made the black bear pause, and it started to count with its paws, but it seemed confused.

It looked like a child who couldn't figure out the math.

This scene made all the tourists burst into laughter.

The black bear was clearly smart, but its math skills were lacking.

Finally, the black bear seemed to figure it out and lifted its robe again, indicating that Zhang Zhao should pay.

Zhang Zhao smiled and deliberately paid 10 yuan.

The black bear indeed pointed at him with two paws, indicating he should pay twice.

Zhang Zhao paid another 10 yuan and joked to Zhao Li, "So, I should have made a profit of one bag of fruit, right?"

But as soon as he said that, the black bear bared its teeth and pointed at him with two paws again.

Zhang Zhao was stunned.

Seeing his inaction, the black bear got anxious and opened its mouth, as if urging him to pay.

"..." Zhang Zhao's face turned dark. With so many tourists watching, he quickly took out his phone and scanned the QR code twice, paying 20 yuan.

"You lost both your wife and your money!" Zhao Jie couldn't help but say.

The tourists around them burst into laughter, and some even started making jokes about 11 yuan + 2 yuan = 112 yuan.

Clearly, the black bear had become a hit among the tourists. The videos they took quickly went viral online, attracting a lot of attention and making it a trending topic.

Especially the series of funny moments involving the black bear asking for payment, which made many people choke on their food.

This further drew many people to buy tickets to see the black bear spirit.

Yucheng Tourism Bureau.

Zhao Han, who had returned from Zhang Lin's office, had been closely monitoring Liyuan Farm. After all, Mr. Zhang had mentioned that the number of tourists might increase, and at the very least, there would be new projects to maintain the farm, so he was curious about what those projects were.

Zhang Lin had never expected that his boss would actually get two animals and start such an attraction.

The key was, where did the boss find such a smart black bear?

Just as he was paying attention, Wang Yu suddenly rushed in, "Director, we received a complaint from some parents. They claim that the black bear at Liyuan Farm's fruit stand doesn't have adequate facilities. What if the bear breaks out and scares the children? They also want to know if the black bear at Liyuan Farm has the necessary permits and certificates!"

"Are you sure it's from parents?" Zhao Han asked, frowning.

What's going on?

To report this?

Wang Yu said awkwardly, "It seems so. When the complainant was reporting, a child was crying nearby. It seems the black bear at Liyuan Farm was too captivating, and the child wouldn't leave. The parent, frustrated, decided to report Liyuan Farm to vent their anger."

"..." Zhao Han felt helpless when he heard this.

Some parents just don't know how to discipline their children. When their kids don't listen and keep watching cartoons, and they can't do anything about it, they blame the cartoons and try to get rid of them.

He heard that these parents even have a forum where they discuss how to manage their children and how to condemn things they think are harmful to kids. Yes, they believe if they can't manage their children, and the kids get obsessed with something, it must be harmful, so it should be eliminated.

For example, Ultraman was once reported and condemned by these parents.

However, while Ultraman is from Japan, and reporting it is one thing, some of these complaints are just too much.

Now, these parents, whose children were captivated by the black bear at Liyuan Farm, couldn't control their kids, so they decided to cause trouble for Liyuan Farm.

Since there was a complaint, the Tourism Bureau couldn't ignore it. Zhao Han had to visit Liyuan Farm to investigate.

Especially regarding the black bear's permits and certificates, he needed to clarify with Boss Zhang. Otherwise, if it got blown up online, it could become a real hassle.

Zhao Han quickly arrived at Liyuan Farm and met Zhang Lin, "Boss Zhang, your two animals have become quite famous."

"They are popular with the tourists," Zhang Lin smiled and pulled out a stack of farm tickets from his drawer, handing them to Zhao Han, "Director Zhao, you and your colleagues are welcome to come and give us some feedback!"

Zhao Han smiled at the stack of tickets. Boss Zhang was playing the game, but he wasn't surprised. The Tourism Bureau had plenty of tickets from various attractions in Yucheng, but many ended up in the trash.

Some attractions, even if the Bureau provided tickets, no one would go.

However, Liyuan Farm was different. His colleagues would likely want these tickets, so he might as well treat them as a perk.

"Director Zhao, you must have a reason for visiting, right?" Zhang Lin asked.

Zhao Han nodded, "Some parents have reported the black bear at your farm. I had to come and ask, mainly to check if all the necessary permits and certificates are in order. If not, we can help you apply for them quickly."

Zhang Lin smiled, "Director Zhao, rest assured. All the permits and certificates are in order, and they were issued by the provincial authorities."

"That's good to hear," Zhao Han said, feeling relieved, and then left.

Zhang Lin, knowing the situation, called Lin Muxue and instructed, "Senior Sister, some parents have reported our black bear fruit stand to the Tourism Bureau. I'll send you the black bear's permits and certificates. Post them on our social media account and add another fence to the fruit stand. The black bear fruit stand will be closed for the next two days for inspection."

"Someone actually reported this?" Lin Muxue was speechless.

Perhaps now she understood why shows like Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf were reported. This kind of reporting mentality is a form of sickness.

However, this matter did need attention. In the internet age, there are always people who will try to find fault with you, not for justice or reason, but because you have a following, and targeting you can gain them attention.

Soon, Liyuan Farm's social media account posted a new video: In response to a parent's complaint about the black bear fruit stand not meeting standards, Liyuan Farm has ordered the closure of the black bear fruit stand for the next two days for inspection and will add another fence!

The video immediately drew a lot of backlash.

Especially from those who had already bought tickets and made plans. "You're pulling this now?"

Why are there always so many parents reporting this and that?

Complaining about cartoons and games is one thing, but reporting a tourist attraction that doesn't bother them is another.

However, the black bear fruit stand had to be closed for the next two days. For today, it would continue as usual and remained a huge hit, trending on the platform.

The black bear and Bai Long operated for two hours in the morning, took a break, and then worked for another two hours in the afternoon before closing for the day.

The sun set in the west, and at the office center, Zhang Lin arrived at the place where he had arranged for the black bear cub. He found Lin Mengyao and a few HR department girls gathered around, looking impressed. This included the newly hired Fanny Yuan and Lulu Lin, the two animal caretakers.

“What’s going on?” Zhang Lin asked, puzzled by their expressions.

“Mr. Zhang, look at this. This is what Little Black earned today,” Lin Mengyao said, handing over a specific account to Zhang Lin.

Seeing the balance, Zhang Lin was taken aback—5,460 yuan.

“So much?”

“Yeah, the game basically buys the fruit to scan Little Black’s QR code and take a video. It sells about one or two bags every minute. Today was only the first day, so it will only increase.”

“Wow, the little guy can make this much in a day.”

“Actually, it was only a total of four hours.”

Hearing this from Lin Mengyao, Zhang Lin felt that Little Black could indeed support himself and Bai Long, and even pay the salaries of the two caretakers.

After all, the fruit was cheap, with each small bag costing around 3 yuan. With 5,460 yuan in sales, the cost was roughly 1,000 yuan, leaving a net profit of over 4,000 yuan.

The HR girls were also quite impressed.

“Humans are no match for bears!”

“My monthly salary is only a bit more than what it earns in a day!”

“I suddenly want to be a bear too.”

Zhang Lin now understood why they were so dejected.

Everyone says earning money is hard, but to suddenly realize that a bear can easily earn in a day what a person earns in a month is quite a blow.

Moreover, Little Black’s way of earning money was really easy—just hold up a QR code, and sell a 3-yuan bag of fruit for 10 yuan. The profit margin was terrifying, and the tourists were more than willing to pay.

After all, spending 10 yuan to take a close-up video of a black bear cub begging for money and posting it on social media was definitely worth it.

The next day.

Little Black’s fruit stand officially went on hiatus, but the online buzz only grew stronger. There were even many posts criticizing irresponsible parents.

However, Zhang Lin wasn’t concerned about these matters; such complaints wouldn’t affect his farm.

After arriving at the office early in the morning, he began organizing the relevant documents. He planned to visit the local business administration office today to handle the acquisition of the Lin Investment Farm.

Just as he finished organizing the documents, Lin Muxue walked in and reported, “Mr. Zhang, two things. One is the application for separate Douyin accounts for Little Black and Bai Long, which needs your signature.”

Zhang Lin signed the application without even looking at it. This was something he could handle.

He had been paying attention to these matters and noticed that the newly hired caretakers, Fanny Yuan and Lulu Lin, had seized the opportunity to change their Douyin usernames to “Little Demon under Black Wind King Lulu” and “Little Demon under Black Wind King Fanny.”

“What’s the other thing?” Zhang Lin asked.

Lin Muxue continued, “Our black bear cub’s fruit stand was reported by parents yesterday, and today, a teacher who has played Sun Wukong criticized us, saying we are mocking a world-famous classic and disrespected ‘Journey to the West’ and the people who produced it. He believes this is something we need to apologize to the nation for!”

“???” Zhang Lin was taken aback. “Why does this sound so familiar? Teacher Liu?”

“It’s him!” Lin Muxue nodded and asked, “Should we respond?”

“Respond my foot. What does he have to do with us? Responding would just give him more attention!” Zhang Lin said irritably.

He couldn’t be bothered to deal with such people.

After saying that, he took the documents and left the office, heading to the county’s business administration office.

However, as soon as he entered the service hall and submitted the relevant documents, the staff member made a phone call to report.

Soon, a middle-aged man came down from upstairs and approached Zhang Lin, saying, “Mr. Zhang, I’ve been waiting for you. Don’t worry about the procedures; I’ve already taken care of everything. You just need to go upstairs and sign your name.”

The staff member immediately respectfully greeted the middle-aged man, “Director Zhong!”

This scene drew the attention of everyone in the hall, who began whispering to each other.

“Who is this young man? The director came out personally to greet him!”

“He’s not just greeting him; didn’t you hear that he’s already prepared all the procedures?”

“When can we achieve this level of treatment?”

“...”

While the people around were surprised, Zhang Lin was equally astonished. He knew that the director had no reason to treat him with such respect, so there must be some ulterior motive.

As for what that motive was, he would have to find out once they went upstairs.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end