The Ranch's Ownership

The matter of the sick Clamperl had finally come to an end. As long as nothing unexpected happened over the next few days, it would be settled. The thought made Zeno very happy.

Zeno planned to arrange the subsequent matters concerning the Clamperl ranch, so he asked Uncle Kam to gather everyone in the village.

"Zeno, is the Clamperl ranch nearly finished?"

"There are basically no problems left."

"That's wonderful."

Kam had never dreamed that Big Shell Village would one day open a marine ranch. They had never actively provoked the Pokémon in the sea, and the items they picked up were all naturally dropped by them. He truly had not expected something like pearls to be mass-produced.

After receiving Kam's message, the villagers had more or less guessed why they were being summoned. Although everyone was very interested in the marine ranch, they had not dared disturb Zeno and the others, afraid of causing them trouble.

Big Shell Village was a small fishing village with only fifty-three households and fewer than two hundred residents. Usually, there was hardly anyone in the village hall. Everyone only gathered there when the village chief was distributing money.

"The village chief said Zeno wanted to see everyone. I suppose the Clamperl matter is about to work out."

"Probably. That kid is really impressive. He went out once and came back having made such a huge move."

"Looks like studying really is important! I should've made my kid learn more back then. Sigh~"

"That depends on the person too. Plenty of people have read piles of books and still amounted to nothing."

"That's true."

"Alright, enough talking. Zeno's here."

The moment they saw Zeno, everyone stopped talking and looked at him with smiling faces.

"Uncles, elders, aunts, hello, everyone. I called you here today because our Clamperl Marine Ranch is almost complete. We'll be leaving in a few days, so I wanted to explain the arrangements going forward."

"Little Zeno really is capable. Ever since you were small, Grandpa knew you'd make something of yourself." Grandpa Kuchi looked at him with great satisfaction.

"Zeno, go ahead. We'll listen to you."

"Since going out to sea is very risky, this ranch was built for everyone from the beginning. So, I want to register it under the village's name. I'll have to trouble everyone to care for the Clamperl in the future. You can simply divide the ranch's earnings among yourselves."

"That won't do. We're already this old—how could we take advantage of a child like you?" Dazhuang was the first to object. Xiao Hai and Zeno were such good friends; he was not shameless enough for that.

"This ranch was built by Zeno and your senior brother. It should be registered under the two of your names instead," Grandpa Kuchi suggested.

"That's right, that's right. Uncle Kuchi is right. We don't want it." The villagers were all very principled.

"But everyone contributed too! You even built the houses over there!"

"You're too honest, kid. What does building a few little houses amount to?" Grandpa Kuchi did not want Zeno to lose out.

"Exactly, exactly. It was just a bit of labor. How much could that possibly be worth? What we did isn't even a tenth of what you two did."

"But my senior brother and I are leaving soon, and we won't have time to manage it." Zeno still wanted to hand the ranch over to them, and his senior brother had no objections either.

"What's the big deal? You two can focus on your own work, and we'll keep an eye on it for you. Just pay us a little salary when the time comes," Dazhuang said casually.

"Ah, but..."

"Alright, listen to everyone," Kam interrupted Zeno.

"Uncle Kam, you think so too?" Zeno had thought Kam would be on his side.

"I thought you were going to teach everyone how to care for Clamperl. Who knew you wanted to give the ranch away outright?" Kam understood the people in the village very well. Everyone was simple and honest; they would never take advantage of Zeno.

Unable to persuade everyone otherwise, Zeno could only accept the fact helplessly. Once it was settled, everyone dispersed. On the way back, Zeno remained preoccupied with the matter.

"Still thinking about the Clamperl ranch?"

"Yeah. I was planning to give it to everyone from the start. If it were for myself, I wouldn't have taken it so seriously. No, I wouldn't have started it at all."

"What are you thinking? Now that it's been built, of course it needs to be managed properly. With this ranch, everyone will have a stable source of income in the future. If it really bothers you, then once it starts making money, just pay them higher wages."

"Alright."

"Aren't you going to become a navigator someday? Buying a ship costs money—you saw that yourself at Kusunoki Shipyard. You'll be traveling everywhere, and you can't do it alone. Hiring people will cost money too. In short, there'll be plenty of things for you to spend money on later."

"I know, but I feel like everyone is being too polite with me."

"How are they being polite? You're the one being too polite. They genuinely acknowledge you, so they don't want to see you lose out."

Kam felt that Zeno had been influenced by the villagers. Zeno had received plenty of things from everyone since he was little; all the children in the village were like that, and the adults were used to it. Kam was very happy that Zeno had such consideration.

Since everyone refused, Zeno could only go find his senior brother. He had contributed a great deal, and Zeno felt he should receive the larger share.

With most things already handled, Gu Yan had been having a relaxing few days. He liked life in Big Shell Village very much. He had lived in Verdanturf Town for more than ten years since childhood, then had stayed at Littleroot Research Lab ever since. He had never experienced living by the sea.

When Zeno found him, he was taking his Pokémon for a walk along the shore. Aside from the ones Zeno had seen before, he spotted a Ninetales this time as well.

"Senior Brother, so you have a Ninetales too."

"Yeah. It was my starter Pokémon. It's usually a homebody and stays inside its Poké Ball whenever there's nothing going on."

"Do you only have these four, Senior Brother?"

"No, I have quite a few. They're all being raised in Teacher's ecological park. I just don't like bringing too many with me when I go out."

"Then remember to take me to see them sometime."

"No problem. Did you come to find me because something happened with the Clamperl?"

"Sort of. The villagers don't want the Clamperl Marine Ranch, so we can only split it between the two of us. I came to discuss it with you."

"I see. Keep it for yourself. I don't need it either."

"That doesn't seem right. You put in so much effort, Senior Brother. I can't let you help for nothing."

"I really don't need it. It's not like I'm short on this bit of money, and helping out was no big deal. You can return the favor later." Gu Yan appeared very calm. He had not come to help for money anyway.

"Hmph! If you don't want it, I'll give my share to Teacher!"

"I'm not trying to discourage you, but the revenue from your little ranch wouldn't even be enough to fill his teeth. The funding for any random project of his is far greater than this, and there are plenty of people lining up to give him money willingly."

"Ahhh, you people are driving me crazy! You won't even take money when it's offered. I need some time alone."