Back when the two little black bears first arrived at Zhao Jun’s home, Cyan Dragon and a little lamb were already there.

A special den had been built for them in the storeroom, so the little black bears moved right in upon arrival.

But Zhang Zhanshan’s family hadn’t prepared, so they had a restless night.

The Zhao and Li Families, however, had a completely different experience. Each family received five hundred yuan. As the true heads of their respective households, Wang Meilan and Jin Xiaomei prepared a celebratory feast at home.

At Zhao Jun’s family home, after dinner ended, Zhao Jun went to his room to rest while Wang Meilan washed the dishes and cleaned up in the kitchen.

Zhao Youcai tiptoed out and sidled up to Wang Meilan, quietly watching his wife.

Wang Meilan turned, gave him a cold look, and asked, "What are you up to, sneaking around like that?"

Zhao Youcai gave a sheepish chuckle. "Meilan, honey, look... I was the one who brought that goat back. I fed those two bear cubs for so long. If it weren’t for me, they wouldn’t have sold for so much money..."

"Go back to your room!" Wang Meilan cut him off before he could finish. "I’ve let you rest for a couple of days. Have you forgotten your place already?"

Hearing this, Zhao Youcai didn’t say another word and turned to leave.

...

The next morning, Zhao Jun got up just after five. After eating breakfast, he went to Zhang Yuanmin’s house.

Although Zhao Jun was heading to No. 78 Logging Camp for scaling today, he first had to personally take Zhang Yuanmin to No. 77 Logging Camp. He needed to introduce him to Jiang Jinyou so they could partner up for felling trees and skidding logs.

"You have to take care of yourself. If things don’t work out there, just come home..." As she saw Zhang Yuanmin off, Yang Yufeng whispered reminders to him the whole way.

"Mhm, mhm, I’ll be fine." Zhang Yuanmin also reminded Yang Yufeng, "While I’m not home, you be careful. Any chores that aren’t urgent, just wait for me to get back to do them."

They walked him all the way to the village entrance. Zhao Jun and Zhang Yuanmin then headed into the mountains. Zhao Jun helped by carrying the chainsaw, while Zhang Yuanmin had a snakeskin bag slung over one shoulder and two large axes in his hand. If only he were a bit taller, he would have been a perfect stand-in for the Black Whirlwind.

When the two arrived at No. 77 Logging Camp, the Du brothers—Du Chunjiang and Du Chunlin—along with Jiang Jinyou, had already been waiting outside for some time, as they had been notified in advance.

Actually, Jiang Jinyou hadn’t wanted to stand at the entrance and freeze; he figured waiting in the shack was good enough. But Du Chunjiang, who was eager to curry favor with Zhao Jun, wouldn’t have it and insisted they wait outside.

Zhao Jun greeted Du Chunjiang, then introduced Zhang Yuanmin as his sworn older brother, asking Du Chunjiang to look out for him.

After Du Chunjiang agreed, Zhao Jun pulled Zhang Yuanmin and Jiang Jinyou aside.

Zhao Jun said, "Brothers, from now on you’ll be partners. Please look out for each other. If anything comes up, just send word to me."

"Alright, brother, don’t you worry," Zhang Yuanmin said with a smile. "Jiang and I will get along just fine."

On any other day, hearing him say that would have made Zhao Jun worry. But after Zhang Yuanmin’s clever sale of the little black bears yesterday, he had earned a lot of points in Zhao Jun’s eyes.

So when he said this, Zhao Jun actually felt relieved. He immediately bid farewell to the Du Brothers and headed for No. 78 Logging Camp.

After Zhao Jun left, Jiang Jinyou took Zhang Yuanmin to the log skidders’ shack and had him put down his luggage and bedding.

Then, he led Zhang Yuanmin with a sled into the forest, heading to Area 3 of Forest Class 77.

When Zhang Yuanmin got there, he saw that the timber in this part of the mountain was indeed excellent, just as Zhao Jun had said. The slope wasn’t steep either, making it safe to operate the sled.

Since he was here, it was time to get to work.

Zhang Yuanmin took out his chainsaw and went for the biggest one first, immediately selecting a huge Korean pine.

This Korean pine was incredibly thick. Near the base of the trunk, it was about a hundred centimeters in diameter.

Zhang Yuanmin started felling the tree while Jiang Jinyou acted as his assistant, clearing away the messy branches and dry grass around the pine. Then, just as the massive tree was about to fall, Jiang Jinyou bellowed at the top of his lungs, "Timber! Timber!"

This was the logger’s call, shouted for the Mountain God to hear, and also for any people nearby. If anyone was passing through and heard the call, they’d know to get out of the way to avoid being crushed by the tree.

The tree came crashing down. Zhang Yuanmin and Jiang Jinyou, each holding a large axe, moved in to chop off the smaller branches. Then Zhang Yuanmin picked up the chainsaw and began bucking the log.

He made a quick estimate and decided to cut the Korean pine into three sections. Since the base was thicker, that section could only be three meters long, or else the horse wouldn’t be able to pull it.

Further up, the middle section of the trunk was slightly thinner than the base, so it could be cut to four meters.

The two of them worked with fiery enthusiasm. Jiang Jinyou was quite pleased; Zhang Yuanmin was a quick and diligent worker who wasn’t afraid of hardship.

This was very important, especially since he had come on a friend’s recommendation. If Zhao Jun had introduced someone who was no good at the work, it would have been an awkward situation for Jiang Jinyou.

They worked straight until noon, then hitched the three-meter section of Korean pine to the sled and started heading from Area 3 back to the logging camp.

Their plan was to haul this log down, wait at the camp for lunch, and then come back up for the other two sections after their midday break.

And so, as they drove the sled into the Log Pile Yard, a few of the log-stacking workers came over to move the timber. Among them was Liu Hanshan.

"Big Pants!" Upon seeing Zhang Yuanmin, Liu Hanshan blurted out instinctively before asking, "What are you doing here?"

Liu Hanshan had a loud voice, and his shout was heard by everyone around.

Hearing someone call out the nickname "Big Pants," many people turned to look, eager for a bit of entertainment.

They saw a man, short in stature—about five-foot-two—dressed in simple clothes, much like the other laborers.

His pants, however, were another story.

In those days, having pants tailor-made to your own measurements was not a luxury an ordinary person could afford.

This was especially true for Zhang Yuanmin, whose family was struggling financially. Many of his pants were hand-me-downs from relatives.

Shirts were one thing, but pants were a problem.

Even if pants didn’t fit, you could usually manage. If the waist was too big, you could fold it over and stitch it. If the legs were too long, you could cut off a section and hem the edge.

But Zhang Yuanmin seemed to have been born without hips. People with the same waist size as him could fill out the seat of their pants just fine.

But without hips, the area between his waistband and his crotch was mostly empty space.

As a result, he could never fill out his pants.

And the crotch area was impossible to alter.

So no matter what pair of pants Zhang Yuanmin wore, the crotch always dangled loosely, never filled out.

When he walked, the excess fabric of the crotch would get caught between his legs.

This constant chafing against his inner thighs was certainly uncomfortable. Consequently, Zhang Yuanmin walked with a waddle, shuffling his feet—similar to the injured Zhang Laibao, though not nearly as bad.

When everyone saw that massive, empty crotch between his legs, they thought the nickname was a perfect fit.

And so, on Zhang Yuanmin’s very first day at No. 77 Logging Camp, his nickname "Big Pants" had already spread throughout the entire camp.

By evening, as the exhausted workers lay on the large, heated kang bed before sleep, chatting amongst themselves in the shack, the name "Big Pants" became known to one and all by the next morning.

Throughout all of No. 77 Logging Camp, from the log skidders to the log stackers, everyone knew they had a colleague called "Big Pants." But if you were to ask them if there was a Zhang Yuanmin at the camp, ninety percent of them would surely shake their heads.