Chapter 272: Chapter 271: Working 15 Hours a Day

“Of course there are little bugs on Snow Mountain.” Xu Ying snapped her fingers, “An ecosystem is a cycle, and no matter the environment, small ecological circles will form.”

She stood up and drew a perfect circle in the air with her fingers, “Just like our Snow Mountain, which seems cold and barren, but as long as there’s a single plant tenaciously growing, there will inevitably be pollinating collaborators.”

The tent was well-heated, with five guests seated around the rustic wooden table, still feeling satisfied after lunch.

“In cold environments, insects evolve special survival skills.” Xu Ying’s voice was clear and pleasant, “Some produce antifreeze proteins in their bodies, while others find small wind-sheltered holes to huddle together for warmth. And today, the main character we’re going to meet is considered the ’model worker’ of Snow Mountain.”

[Antifreeze proteins, aren’t those just a gimmick to make money in the beauty product industry?]

[This thing actually exists!]

Ye Jie showed a “so that’s how it is” expression. “Are we going to meet these little bugs today?”

—”Yes!”

“Please follow me to our workshop!” Xu Ying suddenly announced, magically pulling out a string of bronze keys from her pocket, which gleamed under the sunlight.

“Workshop?”

Everyone looked at each other in surprise and followed Xu Ying out of the tent, while Su Zhining grabbed a red cashmere shawl to wrap around her shoulders.

The mountain breeze carried the fresh scent of pine as the cable car descended slowly, just as the clouds cleared, bathing the snow peaks in golden light.

At the forest’s edge near the mountain’s base, a few wooden houses suddenly came into view. The roofs were covered with thick moss, and smoke wafted from the chimneys, like little cottages in a fairy tale forest.

“Is this another old scientific research site?”

Su Zhining covered her nose and exaggeratedly frowned, “The dust at that 1960s observation post this morning almost gave me allergies.”

Xu Ying smiled without saying a word as the key clicked into the lock.

When the wooden door swung open, everyone gasped—

In the 200-square-meter space, hundreds of flowers were in full bloom.

Pink and white tulips gracefully spread like ballerina skirts, orange-red gerberas scattered like a blanket of sunset, and blue-violet bellflowers swayed gently in the breeze.

Sunlight streamed through the glass dome, with dew on the petals casting rainbow-like halos.

“Wow! So beautiful!”

Ye Jie was the first to dash inside.

“There’s a bee!” she suddenly screamed, pointing with a trembling finger toward the flower bed.

The camera immediately zoomed in, revealing a few round bumblebees clumsily shuttling among the flowers.

Their fluffy bodies seemed covered in golden velvet, with black and yellow stripes more vibrant than ordinary bees, their transparent wings vibrating at high frequency, emitting a lower buzzing sound.

[Wow, bumblebees!]

[Cured my fear of insects, they’re just too cute]

[How do those tiny wings carry that fat body, hahaha]

Su Zhining grabbed one corner of her shawl, showing distaste, “These bees are so fat! Won’t they break the flower branches?”

As soon as she finished speaking, a particularly plump bumblebee “thudded” onto a tulip, immediately bending the entire flower ninety degrees, with its petals quivering violently, as if silently protesting.

The netizens burst into laughter:

[Flower: I bear a weight I shouldn’t have at this age]

[Bumblebee: I just wanted to collect some nectar, Flower: No you don’t]

[Flower: Other bees collect nectar, you’re collecting nectar and taking my life as well]

Xu Ying couldn’t help but laugh, gently lifting the overburdened tulip, “That’s the characteristic of bumblebees. They weigh ten times more than ordinary bees and are more than three times more efficient at collecting nectar.”

She pointed to a busy bee in the corner, “Look at the pollen basket on its hind legs, much larger than that of ordinary bees.”

“People always say bees are hardworking,” Xu Ying took a magnifying glass from the workbench and handed it to Yao Yingzhe, who was closest, “but bumblebees are the true overachievers. They can work in temperatures as low as 10℃, venture out even at 0℃, and labor for 15 hours a day. Some species can even raise their body temperature through muscle shivering to withstand the cold.”

Hearing about those work hours, everyone was astonished!

[15 hours?!]

[Working from 8 AM to 11 PM, I wouldn’t want to live either.]

[Isn’t this the insect version of 996?]

[Suddenly my overtime doesn’t seem so bad]

Yao Yingzhe looked through the magnifying glass at a bumblebee rolling on a gerbera, “They fly so slowly, their predators must easily catch them, right?”

“Indeed.” Xu Ying nodded. “Birds, as well as spiders and mantises, use bees as food. Mammals like bears and badgers also destroy bumblebee nests to get honey.”

She withdrew a hand-drawn illustration prepared by the showrunners from the wall, “Bee-eaters love using bumblebees as courtship gifts. A male bird needs to gather 20-30 bumblebees to win a female’s favor.”

The picture depicted colorful birds clutching chubby bumblebees, with a sneaky badger digging into a hive in the background.

[Bumblebee: Thank you! The early bird catches the worm, but the early worm gets caught by the bird.]

[It’s tough being a bee, working 15 hours and yet being courted as a bride price]

[Bumblebee: Am I just part of your play?]

Ye Jie squatted next to a clump of bluebells and suddenly looked up, “Why have I never seen these little chubby things in the South?”

“Good question.” Xu Ying unfolded a map like a magic trick, “Bumblebees mainly inhabit cold-temperate zones above 1500 meters in altitude. The Snow Mountains of Xizhou Province and the Northeast Forest Area are their paradises.”

Her finger swept across the different colored areas, “The southern plains are warmer and more suitable for ordinary bees to thrive.”

At this moment, three bumblebees suddenly performed a peculiar dance above a purple tulip. They first flew in a straight line, then swayed side to side to draw a lying ’8’, with sunlight casting a golden glow on their fuzz.

“Look!” Yao Yingzhe suddenly exclaimed, as if discovering a new continent, “It’s the waggle dance! Bees use it to inform companions about the location of nectar sources, with the angle of the straight flight corresponding to the sun’s position, and the number of waggles indicating distance!”

Xu Ying’s eyes lit up, “Teacher Yao is indeed very knowledgeable!”

Xu Ying smiled and introduced to the guests, “Everyone, please observe how there are 36 pots of blooming flowers neatly arranged in the four cardinal directions. Next, we’ll have an exciting challenge—identify the flowers containing the real nectar by observing the unique ’waggle dance’ of the bumblebees.”

“Each guest will receive a bee tag with a unique color. Once you find the target flower, you can plant your tag to ’claim’ it.”

“In the end, the guest with the most ’claimed’ flowers will be the champion of this segment!”

The staff handed out different colored tags to the four guests.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep