Chapter 151: New Gear, A Ten-Thousand-Yuan Household

“What is it, bro?”
Lin Heng walked over curiously. His brother was standing in a mountain stream.

Holding a stone in his hand, Lin Yue looked stunned. “Lin Heng, check this out—it has a Bagua pattern on it! Do you think it’s worth anything?”

“Bagua pattern?”

Lin Heng walked over, puzzled. Looking closely, he saw a palm-sized smooth, pale yellow pebble. Etched clearly on its surface were dark brown markings in the shape of a Bagua diagram.

Lin Heng chuckled and explained, “This is probably a fossil. Some tree cores look like this when fossilized—it just happens to resemble a Bagua diagram.”

“A fossil? Is it worth anything?” Lin Yue asked eagerly.

As a kid, he’d be thrilled to find a stone this pretty and would show it off everywhere. Now, all he cared about was whether it was valuable.

“It’s worth a little—maybe a few yuan. But no one around here buys this stuff. You’d need to take it to Ancheng. If someone there likes it, you might get a good price,” Lin Heng replied with a smile.

He continued searching in the water and found two smaller stones. Though they didn’t have Bagua patterns, they featured bubble-like markings—another type of fossil. He hadn’t expected to find fossils up in the mountains.

“Then I’ll take it home and keep it. If I ever get the chance to go to Ancheng, I’ll bring it to sell,” Lin Yue grinned and resumed his search.

Father Lin looked baffled. “People actually buy this kind of junk rock? Are they just bored out of their minds?”

“Of course! There are buyers for everything—just like with jade, which is also just a type of stone,” Lin Heng nodded. These kinds of stones were actually quite popular in the future market.

Hearing this, Father Lin clapped his hands in regret. “I once picked up a blood-red stone. Could that have sold too?”

Lin Heng nodded. “Definitely. That’s probably cinnabar stone—it can sell for a good price, especially if it looks nice.”

Father Lin was immediately filled with regret. “Aiya! I found two pieces like that before. I thought they were unlucky, so I threw them into the river.”

Seeing his dad’s regretful expression, Lin Heng smiled and comforted him, “It’s okay, Dad. Just don’t throw them out next time.”

There were plenty of treasures in the mountains, but spotting them often required some knowledge. Without a trained eye, you could miss a gem right in front of you.

In this era, many valuable things in the countryside ended up being traded away for pots and pans by city folk—all because rural people lacked education and lived in isolated environments.

“Let’s keep looking. While we’re at it, we can check on the wooden cabin,” Father Lin said, now interested in stone hunting.

But such things were mostly down to luck. Even after climbing to the top of the mountain, they didn’t find much. Lin Heng did spot some beautiful stone irises growing on rocks. He tossed them—stone and all—into a wooden bucket.

The small wooden cabin on the mountain showed no signs of leaking. The stacked planks inside were nearly dry, though there was a bit more bird droppings.

This time when Lin Heng went to town, he planned to buy everything—paint, thermal insulation, and more—so he could finally finish building the little cabin he’d been dreaming about.

On the way home, the autumn breeze felt cool. After days of steady rain, the temperature had noticeably dropped.

Xiulan had already made breakfast. Lin Heng’s parents and older brother stayed to eat at their place, while his sister-in-law cooked for herself before heading into the mountains to collect medicinal herbs.

In the afternoon, Lin Heng didn’t do much. He placed the stone irises in the fish pond as decoration. He loved this plant—not only was it evergreen, but it also grew attached to rocks and gave off a subtle fragrance. It had a serene and elegant charm.

After arranging the stone irises and enjoying the view from the courtyard for a while, Lin Heng went to help harvest soybeans from Red Maple Mountain. Once those were collected, he could begin construction on the fish pond by the end of the month.

Harvesting soybeans was easy—just pull them up by the roots, bundle them, and carry them home.

The next morning, Lin Heng sorted through his stash of black truffles at home. Including the ones he’d dried earlier, he now had ten jin and seven liang (just over 10.35 pounds).

He kept seven liang (about 0.77 pounds) for personal use and packed the rest to take to Huangtan Town on horseback. The dirt road from Hongfeng Village to Huangtan Town had already been repaired, so he figured the road to the city should be in decent shape too.

When Wang Zhou saw Lin Heng arrive, he was thrilled. “Brother Lin, you’re finally here!”

“Everything okay at the shop?” Lin Heng dismounted and clapped him on the shoulder.

Wang Zhou shook his head. “All good. We got another batch of mushrooms in, but we’re down to just over fifty yuan in cash—it’s a bit tight.”

“No problem. Weigh this and set it aside,” Lin Heng said, handing over the bag of black truffles.

“Black truffles!!” Wang Zhou froze the moment he opened the bag. “Brother Lin, did you collect these yourself?”

Lin Heng grinned, showing his white teeth. “Yup, dug them up myself.”

Wang Zhou’s jaw dropped. “Oh my god… Brother Lin, your foraging must be making more money than the procurement station and convenience store combined!”

Lin Heng chuckled and patted him on the back. “Only now and then.”

Wang Zhou was speechless. He took the bag, weighed it—exactly ten jin—and logged it in the ledger.

Lin Heng took the ledger and carefully checked everything, cross-referencing the numbers and inspecting the collected items. He didn’t want to give Wang Zhou the impression that he was careless—it was a good way to prevent unnecessary trouble.

After checking the books, Lin Heng found that the past month and a half had actually exceeded expectations. The procurement station had generated over 580 yuan in profit—200 yuan more than projected.

The convenience store brought in 150 yuan, which was 30 yuan less than the expected 180. That was because some items had sold out and others hadn’t sold at all. After adjusting inventory this month, things should improve next month.

Making money in the countryside wasn’t easy. If something wasn’t essential, people were unlikely to spend. They saved every penny.

So even with discounts at the convenience store, sales were still limited—but the store’s profits were already more than double that of regular shops, thanks to the high foot traffic.

After tying up the red jujube horse in the backyard, Lin Heng came back out and said directly, “Let’s go rent a tractor—we’re heading to the city.”

“A tractor?” Wang Zhou blinked.

“Yup. I’ve got a lot to buy, and we’ll need a tractor to haul it all,” Lin Heng nodded.

With Wang Zhou in tow, Lin Heng went to rent a vehicle from Wang Zhou’s former boss again, and the driver was the same Uncle Li as last time.

“Boss Lin!” The driver gave Lin Heng a sheepish smile. He still felt embarrassed about what happened last time with the horse sale.

“Thanks for the help today,” Lin Heng replied with a polite smile, his expression calm and neutral.

“No problem.” Uncle Li nodded, found some cardboard for Lin Heng and Wang Zhou to sit and lean on, then drove the tractor toward the city.

By around ten o’clock, they had reached the city. They stopped outside the Administration for Industry and Commerce, where Lin Heng went in and smoothly picked up his business license.

After that, he went to meet with Jin Fuqiang, successfully signed the contract, and arranged for someone to pick up the mountain goods the next day.

After treating Qian Fuqiang to lunch, Lin Heng headed off to meet the wholesaler Li Chengguo, signed a contract with him, and handed over a product list based on a month’s worth of sales data.

Once everything was signed, Li Chengguo grinned and said, “Boss Lin, how about we grab a bite to eat?”

“No need. I’ve got other things to do.” Lin Heng waved it off.

After a moment’s thought, he added, “By the way, Boss Li, let me ask you something. Do you know where I can buy a modern compound bow?”

Although he’d spent a lot of time in Taibai City in his past life, he didn’t have all the channels and info down, so he figured it was worth asking. Who knew—he might get lucky.

“Huh, actually I do know someone,” Li Chengguo said with a wide smile. “I can take you to ask him, but I’m not sure if he’s selling.”

“Then I appreciate it.”

Lin Heng smiled and gave Wang Zhou a heads-up before hopping onto Li Chengguo’s motorcycle. They rode to a nearby residential compound.

“I’ll go check first—wait here a sec,” Li Chengguo said with a grin once they arrived.

Lin Heng nodded and waited.

Not long after, a tall and lanky young man in his twenties came out with Li Chengguo, carrying a black bow case on his back.

“Lin Heng, let me introduce you. This is Ge Qingshan,” Li said with a smile.

Lin Heng reached out with a friendly smile. “Nice to meet you.”

Ge Qingshan shook hands with him, smiling as well. “Nice to meet you. I bought this bow in Ancheng, just for fun. It wasn’t cheap—three hundred yuan. It can shoot over three or four hundred meters.”

“Mind if I take a look?” Lin Heng asked.

“Sure, come this way.” Ge nodded and led him to a secluded area about seventy to eighty meters long—perfect for some archery practice.

“This is the bow. I bought it for fun, but I’m honestly not very good at it. Planning to sell it.”

Ge opened the hard case to reveal a black modern compound bow with pulleys and adjustable draw weight.

Lin Heng could tell right away this was a beginner-level model—not even close to the fully-loaded compound bow he’d owned in his past life that cost tens of thousands.

He picked it up and immediately saw that Ge didn’t really know what he was doing. The setup was all wrong.

First, the draw weight was set way too high—forty-five pounds, which equals about twenty kilos. That’s too much for a beginner to handle.

Then there was the arrow rest and the sight—they weren’t even mounted properly.

As Lin Heng deftly adjusted the accessories, Ge couldn’t help but ask, “Bro, you seem pretty experienced. Have you used a compound bow before?”

“Yeah, I’ve played around with them.” Lin Heng nodded.

After tuning it, he examined one of the arrows. Not bad—full carbon shaft with a standard practice broadhead.

Ge watched him curiously. “Can you hit the target at thirty meters?”

That was his personal limit.

Lin Heng glanced at him and smiled. “If it’s just about hitting the target, I can do it at a hundred meters. At this range, I should be able to hit at least the fifth ring.”

“Seventy-five meters and you’re claiming fifth ring? Come on, man, that’s BS.”

Ge’s eyes widened, craning his neck, clearly not buying it. He knew how hard archery actually was.

Lin Heng just smiled without replying. He looked at the target in the distance—about seventy-five meters—then attached his release aid and began aiming.

A release aid is a device used to pull and release the bowstring more accurately than using fingers alone.

Modern compound bows achieve precision through perfection in every detail. Every potential source of inconsistency is minimized with extra gear.

Still, no matter how good the bow is, it all comes down to the archer. A true master can land bullseyes with a wooden bow, while a noob with a top-of-the-line setup might not even hit a soda can at thirty meters.

Lin Heng was definitely in the former category. He had an extraordinary talent for archery.

He loosed the arrow, and it whistled through the air, striking the target with a loud thwack—dead center in the ninth ring.

“Ninth ring? Holy crap! You’re a sharpshooter!” Ge gasped. He couldn’t even dream of hitting the target at this distance, let alone the ninth ring.

Turns out Lin Heng wasn’t bluffing—if anything, he was being modest.

Even Li Chengguo gave him a thumbs up. “Damn impressive!”

He’d assumed Lin Heng was just a casual hobbyist. Now it was clear—this guy was a hidden master.

“This bow’s decent,” Lin Heng said, setting it down with a smile. “But the arrow rest’s not great, and the stabilizer and damper are average too.”

It had been a while since he’d touched a modern compound bow—he actually missed it a little.

Modern materials and technology really made a difference. Even an entry-level bow like this easily outperformed any traditional one.

With this bow, he felt confident he could hit a rabbit from over a hundred meters away.

Ge went to examine the target again—yep, ninth ring. No mistake.

“Master Lin, I want to be your student! Please teach me how to use a compound bow! I’ll sell you this bow for half-price if you do!”

Ge came running back, eyes shining with excitement. His attitude did a complete 180, practically ready to kneel and call Lin Heng his godfather.

He wasn’t short on money—what he lacked was a friend who knew how to use a compound bow. No one in Taibai City played with modern compound bows, and Ancheng was too far; his family wouldn’t let him run off on his own.

Even in Ancheng, very few people played with compound bows at this time.

Lin Heng glanced at him and smiled. “I can teach you, but I live up in the mountains and only come down once every month or two. I’m afraid I won’t have much time.”

“You live in the mountains? Do you go hunting often?” Ge Qingshan asked, surprised.

“Yeah, why? Is that a problem?” Lin Heng replied with a laugh.

Grabbing Lin Heng’s arm, Ge Qingshan pleaded, “Bro, I want to go hunting too! Using a bow for hunting just seems so cool. Please teach me!”

“You’d better work on your technique first,” Lin Heng shook his head. “Buy another bow and I can guide you once a month. Once you learn the basics, it’s all about practice.”

“Thank you, Lin-ge!” Ge Qingshan beamed.

“Just call me Lin Heng. I’ll take this bow,” Lin Heng said with a smile. Though it was an entry-level compound bow, it was already far superior to traditional ones. He wasn’t going to pass it up when it came his way.

He paid Ge Qingshan 150 yuan, then gave him a rundown on how to use the bow, what accessories he’d need, and also asked him to help buy thirty hunting arrows.

At this point in time, China’s industrial capacity was still lacking—modern compound bows were all imported and extremely expensive. A single bow could cost an average worker a year or two of salary. Only the wealthy could afford the hobby.

Ge Qingshan had been thinking of giving it up, but now, full of hope again, he looked at Lin Heng and said with a smile, “Lin-ge, I’ll definitely get all the gear together by next month!”

“See you next month.” Lin Heng waved and left with the bow slung over his shoulder.

After riding back with Li Chengguo on his motorcycle, Lin Heng transferred to the tractor and went out to buy waterproof paint, flame-retardant insulation cotton, copper hot pots, wheat and rapeseed seeds, Yixing clay teapots and cups, and a whole lot of other things.

None of it was expensive—everything together cost less than 150 yuan.

Once everything was packed up, he headed back to Huangtan Town with Li Chengguo’s truck. This time, he bought another 500 yuan worth of goods—all carefully selected, easy-to-sell items.

After unloading and sorting the goods and leaving Wang Zhou behind, Lin Heng rode his horse back to the village, dragging the loaded tractor behind him.

The roar of the tractor once again drew attention in the village.

“Lin Heng, what’s all that stuff you’ve got there?” someone called out from a distance.

Lin Heng pointed to the insulation cotton stacked high on the trailer and laughed. “Just some insulation cotton. Not worth much.”

As he spoke, his father, Xiulan, and the others came out to help. They already knew Lin Heng would be bringing things back in the afternoon, so no one had gone out.

“That’s a lot of insulation cotton!” his father said, surprised at the mountain of it.

“I was worried I wouldn’t have enough, so I bought extra,” Lin Heng replied, already unloading the supplies.

Once the unloading was done and the driver sent off, Lin Heng returned to the courtyard where his parents and older brother were watching him.

“Did you get the business license?” his father asked.

Lin Heng nodded with a smile. “Got it. A truck’s coming tomorrow to pick up the goods.”

Hearing that, his father finally relaxed. “Good.”

He had been worried that the deal hadn’t gone through and all the mountain goods would spoil.

“Hey, little bro, what’s in that black bag of yours?” Lin Yue asked, pointing at the bow case on the bench.

“That’s a modern compound bow. It can shoot three to four hundred meters,” Lin Heng said with a grin, opening the case to show them.

“Three to four hundred meters? Isn’t that more powerful than a gun?” his father asked, eyeing the steel-and-pulley contraption with skepticism.

“It’s definitely better than a homemade shotgun, but nowhere near a real rifle,” Lin Heng replied.

After a pause, he added, “I can hit a rabbit from a hundred meters out with this. Hitting a muntjac or wild boar at two hundred meters is no problem. Its only downside is that it’s kind of heavy and awkward to carry.”

Even though it was a hunting model with shorter limbs, it was still tough to lug around.

“Wow, if it’s that good, you’re gonna strike it rich this winter,” Lin Yue said. At that range, most animals wouldn’t even know to run.

“Once I modify the arrowheads, I’ll test it in the mountains in a few days,” Lin Heng said with a smile.

“We can go with you to Daliang Mountain to hunt wild boars. There’s a patch of soybeans there that they’ve been ruining lately,” his father offered, clearly eager to see the bow in action up close.

“Sure, we’ll head out in a couple days,” Lin Heng agreed.

After chatting for a bit, his parents and brother left. Lin Heng, with a hint of ceremony, pulled a beautiful silk flower hairpin from his pocket and handed it to his wife. “This is for you.”

Xiulan blinked, surprised, then smiled warmly. “Thank you, hubby. It’s beautiful~”

The hairpin was made with light green silk as the base and blue silk petals forming a flower—delicate and elegant.

Wearing it, Xiulan looked even more graceful and gentle, and Lin Heng couldn’t take his eyes off her.

“Daddy, I want one too,” Xiaoxia pouted, hugging his leg, looking heartbroken.

“Did you prepare a gift for me?” Lin Heng crouched down and asked with a grin.

“I… I’ll give you a flower!” Xiaoxia blinked, then grabbed a chrysanthemum her mother had picked off the table and handed it to him.

“Next time pick one yourself, okay? I got you a bunny hairpin too,” Lin Heng said with a smile, retrieving a small bunny-shaped clip and pinning it to her forehead.

“Yay! I’m a little bunny now!” Xiaoxia jumped around the room excitedly.

Afraid she might fall, Lin Heng stood nearby, keeping a close watch.

Once she tired herself out, he finally sat down to fiddle with his arrows. The compound bow came with fifteen arrows, but he needed to modify the tips into hunting arrowheads.

These were typically flat triangular tips or three-edged designs—shapes that dealt far more damage to prey.

Normally, these arrowheads would be custom-made to match the bow’s draw weight and shooting range for better accuracy.

But that wasn’t realistic in a rural setting. Lin Heng would do the modifications himself, and any loss in precision wouldn’t matter much—his skill could more than make up for it.

At dinner, Lin Heng looked at Xiulan and asked with a smile, “Wife, want to come with me to town tomorrow?”

“Forget it, it’s not even market day. I need to help Mom thresh the soybeans,” Xiulan said, shaking her head.

“Alright then,” Lin Heng replied. “But don’t forget to use the hand cream and face cream I got you—don’t be stingy with it.”

Xiulan glanced at him and smiled. “Of course I’m using it. I’m afraid if I get ugly, you won’t want me anymore.”

Lin Heng rolled his eyes at her. “Good, as long as you know that. If you’re worried about that, then don’t overwork yourself—take it easy.”

“But don’t worry, no matter what, I’m keeping you,” he added with a grin.

Xiulan blinked but said nothing. She believed every word he said.

The next day, the 19th, early in the morning, Lin Heng rode his horse to Huangtan Town. A truck was scheduled to come pick up the mountain goods.

At ten in the morning, the truck from the city arrived. Lin Heng met with the driver, checked and tallied the goods, settled the accounts, and the payment was immediately transferred to his credit union account.

After seeing the truck off, Lin Heng took a look at his passbook. It showed a balance of 8,550 yuan. Including the 500 yuan cash he kept in the store, his savings were now back up to 9,100 yuan.

That was solid cash—not even counting the goods still in the shop worth about 700 yuan, or the 1,000 yuan the brick factory boss still owed him.

In the past month alone, he had spent around 1,800 yuan on clothes for the family, a chainsaw, digging a fish pond, buying a horse, lime, and other odds and ends. Xiulan still had two or three hundred yuan on her.

The bulk of his income came from black truffles, which brought in 1,400 yuan—his earnings from foraging in the mountains.

The procurement station and convenience store brought in another 650 yuan.

Altogether, he had made 2,050 yuan in just over a month.

While his cash savings stood at 9,100, his actual assets were already worth more than 13,000 yuan—solidly putting him in the ranks of the ten-thousand-yuan household.

Lin Heng took out 22 yuan along with a payslip and handed them to Wang Zhou with a smile. “Here—your wages for last month. The extra two yuan is a bonus. You’ve worked hard. Keep it up.”

“Thank you, Lin-ge!” Wang Zhou was overjoyed. He signed the payslip before carefully taking the money and counting it thoroughly.

Even though he’d handled over a thousand yuan of transactions over the past month, nothing felt quite as solid as these 22 yuan in his hand.

“Oh right,” Lin Heng added, “I’ll find some time to take you to meet the girl I mentioned. You can see if she’s a good match.”

As soon as Lin Heng mentioned a girl, Wang Zhou turned shy. “Lin-ge, whatever you say goes.”

Lin Heng gave him a light slap and said, speechless, “Like hell it does! I’m not the one marrying her. If you’re not into her, we’ll find someone else.”

Wang Zhou could only nod. “Alright then, just let me know when.”

Lin Heng nodded. If Wang Zhou and Liu Cihua hit it off, convincing the parents would be easy.

With things wrapped up, Lin Heng rode back home. On the way, he passed someone riding a traditional 28-inch heavy-frame bicycle—considered a sign of wealth.

He hadn’t bought a bike, thinking it was too inconvenient. Besides, riding a horse looked way cooler.

Once home, he tied up the horse and hurried to the old house to share the good news with his wife.

But as soon as he stepped inside, he saw his parents, Xiulan, and his eldest uncle sitting in the main hall, all with serious expressions, as if something big had happened.

“What’s going on? Did something happen?” Lin Heng froze in place, sensing that something was off.
(End of this chapter)