Alaska Gold Rush Diary

Chapter 162 A New Teammate

Chapter 163 A New Teammate

"Come over and pet it, say hello," Zhou Xin said to the three of them with a smile.

Although the three looked somewhat scared, they were also excited.

With the sense of security provided by Zhou Xin, they slowly walked towards Bartholomew.

It was Alo who first mustered the courage to touch the bear's body.

Although he remained silent, he was already deeply impressed by Zhou Xin's feat of riding a bear.

He had always aspired to be a brave and reliable person like Mr. Zhou, and now that Zhou Xin had proposed this, he immediately did so without hesitation.

However, he still didn't dare to stroke the bear's head like Zhou Xin did, but instead touched its body.

Bartholomew did not react and let the stranger touch him.

It seems that it clearly knows that these people and the person on its back are companions.

Led by Alo, Zhang Jianing and Edward also came forward to have close contact with Bartholomew.

Edward touched the bear's body like Alo did, while Zhang Jianing mustered her courage and touched the bear's head directly.

Zhou Xin patted Bartholomew, and it immediately lowered its head, making it easier for Zhang Jianing to pet its head.

"It looks scary, but it's so cute!" Zhang Jianing stroked the bear's head with a look of amazement, no longer afraid of this mountain-sized giant beast.

"That's why I said it's a good bear!" Edward, now bolder, also came over and patted the bear's head.

Although he really wanted to suggest that he try riding it too, he ultimately couldn't muster the courage.

After all, it was Zhou Xin who rescued the bear and had been interacting with it amicably these past few days. Although it was a good bear, that doesn't mean anyone can ride it.

Zhou Xin was overjoyed to have a mount and was so excited that he didn't want to get off the bear.

But he also knew that although Bartholomew was strong enough, he would definitely feel tired if he carried him all the time.

So he leaped down from the bear's back, patted it on the back, and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Bartholomew. Go back to the woods and rest. Come find me if you want some honey!"

He made several gestures as he spoke, and Bartholomew quickly understood and turned to slowly walk out of the mine.

Zhou Xin thought it would return to the woods as usual, but to his surprise, it only went to the edge of the mine, to the place where he had treated its wounds, and then lay down there.

"What does this mean? Does it want to live here?" Edward asked in surprise.

"That must be it. It thought we wanted to chase it away, but it didn't want to leave, so it had no choice but to run there."

Seeing Bartholomew lying there all alone, Zhang Jianing couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him.

Zhou Xin wholeheartedly agreed with their conjectures.

Perhaps it was attracted by the free life of the honeybees here, or perhaps it had truly developed a certain affection for itself and regarded itself as a companion.

Regardless of the possibility, it seems this giant beast really wants to make this place its home.

"It seems we might need one more companion, no, one more," Zhou Xin said, and then walked towards Bartholomew again.

"Hey buddy, do you want to stay here?" Zhou Xin asked, pointing to the location of the mine.

Bartholomew looked up at him, stood up, and rubbed against him.

Zhou Xin was both amused and exasperated; it seemed this beast really wanted to make its home here.

Seeing Zhou Xin leading Bartholomew back, Edward asked, "Xin, are you really going to leave it at the mine?"

Zhou Xin smiled and said, "There's nothing we can do. It doesn't want to leave. Let it stay here for a couple of days and see how it goes."

Zhang Jianing chuckled softly, "At this rate, this place might turn into a zoo."

She glanced at Logan beside her as she spoke.

Logan remained wary of Bartholomew and did not approach it.

"I think maybe I can train it well and make it a very useful helper."

Zhou Xin was already plotting how to use the ferocious beast in front of him.

Of course, its most important function is to serve as one's mount.

In the future, when we go hunting in the mountains, besides bringing Logan, we can also ride it.

In addition, it can be trained to help carry supplies to places that vehicles cannot reach.

"This thing is so big, how much does it eat every day? Our food reserves probably won't last it for even a few days!"

Zhang Jianing is now in charge of logistics, so she naturally thought of this problem.

"Don't worry about that. It can forage for food in the mountains on its own every day. We just need to provide it with enough honey."

Zhou Xin could tell that Bartholomew was a very skilled hunter; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to bring them a large prey every now and then.

Zhang Jianing nodded: "But we need to find a place nearby to make a nest for it. Old Kent and the other man are both quite afraid of it, and it's really too big to put it in the living area."

"I'll figure out a way. We'll go back to the city tomorrow to purchase the necessary supplies. We also need to deal with the gold."

During this period, as all the soil around the gold mining factory was excavated, the mining area gradually expanded, and the routes for transporting soil became longer.

In such circumstances, gold mining plants sometimes cannot obtain soil for washing in time, and the gold mining efficiency begins to slow down. Previously, the harvest was five or six hundred ounces per month, but this month only more than 400 ounces were harvested.

To cope with this situation, Zhou Xin has purchased another dump truck.

He plans to join the gold mining operation himself, helping to transport the soil by truck to improve efficiency.

Today, their annual gold harvest has reached 1762.1 ounces.

But there are only two months left in the gold rush season, and Zhou Xin's annual target is 3000 ounces.

There is still a shortfall of more than 1200 ounces, so he must ensure that the gold mining plant operates at full capacity and maintains the highest gold mining efficiency.

It's already difficult to hire another driver, so he has to take matters into his own hands.

This means the next two months will definitely be very busy.

The next morning, Zhou Xin was surprised to find that Bartholomew was still lying in the same spot, but there were some fish scales on its mouth, probably because it had caught fish in the stream that night.

Next week, Xin and Zhang Jianing will drive back to Anchorage to buy materials needed to build Bartholomew's nest and to liquidate and store the gold they bought this week.

They first went to the mining bureau as usual to have the gold tested for purity and weighed.

Having dealt with them so many times, Zhou Xin has now become quite familiar with several of the staff members.

He applied his Chinese work habits here, sometimes giving these managers a red envelope (cash gift).

The principle of "he who takes a bribe is bound to be obligated to him" applies everywhere. After receiving numerous benefits, these managers treated Zhou Xin with great courtesy and prioritized his affairs.

"Mr. Zhou, your gains are decreasing."

The manager in charge of weighing the goods was always very clear about Zhou Xin's harvest, and at this moment he could tell at a glance that his harvest was not as good as before.

Zhou Xin didn't hide anything and told him about the current situation of the mine.

"Sigh, I'll be busy from now on, so I probably won't be able to come here every week anymore."

Now, my teammates have all grown up and the mine has been reinforced with security measures, making it relatively safe to store gold there.