Alaska Gold Rush Diary

Chapter 168 Riding a Bear to Patrol the Mountain

Chapter 169 Riding a Bear to Patrol the Mountain

After the wooden hut was completed, Zhou Xin couldn't wait to bring Bartholomew over.

Bartholomew circled the cabin once and then slowly went inside.

It sniffed around inside, then lay down in the pile of dry grass, its eyes slightly narrowed, revealing a contented expression.

"It seems quite happy with its new home."

Zhou Xin was relieved, knowing that Bartholomew had completely made this place his home.

Brown bears hibernate. When the cold winter arrives, they enter a long period of hibernation, their metabolic rate slows down to the minimum, and their body temperature drops significantly.

They can often go without food or water and sleep for up to six months, and can even give birth in this state.

The hut that Zhou Xin built for Bartholomew was well-insulated and very suitable as a hibernation dwelling.

When winter comes and the gold rush season ends, Bartholomew can hibernate here.

Zhou Xin walked over and patted the bear's head, smiling, "Welcome to the team. From now on, you'll be our companion."

Logan wagged his tail and approached Bartholomew, sniffing him.

After spending time together, Logan had let down his guard against Bartholomew, and the wolf and the bear began to live together peacefully and amicably.

Thinking that he had unintentionally tamed two wild beasts, Zhou Xin felt a sense of emotion.

Bartholomew settled down in the mine. Every day, it would go out into the forest to forage for food and return to the mine after it had eaten its fill.

Gradually, even old Kent and Bowman let go of their fear of it and slowly got used to and accepted this new member.

It has a very gentle personality and always looks lazy. Occasionally, it will chase and play with Logan, showing a cute and cuddly side that is completely incongruous with its fierce appearance.

Zhou Xin's other dump truck has arrived at the site, and he has also started working on the gold panning project, making his daily life busier and more fulfilling.

No matter how busy he is, he always sets aside a few hours each day for physical and shooting training.

Edward initially struggled to keep going, but with Zhou Xin's encouragement, he persevered.

Through rigorous training, Zhou Xin has developed a well-defined physique.

That evening, Zhou Xin was in high spirits. After finishing his workout and taking a shower, he didn't go back to his own room but instead went straight into Zhang Jianing's boudoir.

Zhang Jianing lay languidly in his arms, her pretty face flushed as if drunk, satisfied and charming, her still-breathing gasps alluring and seductive.

She used her slender, jade-like fingers to sometimes draw circles on Zhou Xin's firm chest muscles, and sometimes gently and with a touch of heartache, stroked the scars on his chest from previous gunshot wounds.

"Xin, I love you so much." She said, resting her face on Zhou Xin's chest.

Zhou Xin put one arm around her smooth, fragrant shoulder and rested the other behind her head, saying softly, "I love you too. Let's go back to China after we've finished things here."

Because he was doing poorly before, going back would only cause his parents more trouble, so he tried to avoid going back as much as possible.

Now that he has achieved some success in his career and resolved his personal issues, he plans to return to China for the Chinese New Year to visit his parents and show them his filial piety.

At the same time, he also wanted to go back to China to find Chen Xiande's family and see if he could find out the secrets he was carrying.

He hadn't had time to examine Chen Xiande's hidden belongings, especially the cell phone, which might contain some crucial clues.

However, he had a vague feeling that he needed to go back to China and find Chen Xiande's family to find out the truth.

Zhang Jianing understood that his mention of returning to China meant meeting his parents, and her face showed both joy and worry.

I wonder if your parents will like me.

Zhou Xin smiled and said, "If they saw me bring back such a beautiful girlfriend, they'd be overjoyed!"

His marriage has indeed caused his parents a lot of worry. In his hometown, if a family's son reaches a certain age and still doesn't have a partner, the parents will feel inferior.

Zhang Jianing smiled sweetly, kissed him on the chest, and then hugged him tightly: "I don't care, even if they don't like me, I'm still with you!"

Feeling the warm, soft flesh in his arms, Zhou Xin's breathing became heavy again.

The next morning, Zhang Jianing, who was in charge of logistics, felt weak and didn't want to move, while Zhou Xin got up energetically to prepare breakfast for everyone.

Edward needed to maintain and repair the mining equipment today, and since he didn't need Zhou Xin's help to transport the soil, he decided to go for a walk in the mountains.

Today he plans to experience something completely new: riding a bear to patrol the mountains.

In the past few days, he has designed and sewn a saddle and bridle set for Bartholomew's back.

This way, he can ride more steadily on the bear's back without worrying about being thrown off.

Bartholomew was very compliant and did not show any dissatisfaction about having something on him.

Zhou Xin had a pistol tucked into his waistband, a Remington 870 shotgun hanging beside the saddle, and supplies such as a frying pan on the bear's back. Then, with a light flip, he mounted the bear.

He sat steadily on the bear's back, and with a wave of his hand, Logan followed.

"Today, I'm going to hunt some wild game for you. I won't be back until noon!"

Amidst the envious gazes of Edward and the others, he rode the brown bear Bartholomew toward the forest.

It must be said that riding a horse through the forest is a completely different experience from hiking. He no longer needs to pay close attention to his footing and can focus more on observing his surroundings.

At first, he would occasionally bump into tree branches lying in front of him, almost knocking them off.

But after Bartholomew was trained, it quickly learned to choose more open spaces to travel through, and this situation became much less frequent.

Bartholomew moved toward the depths of the forest under Zhou Xin's control. Although the speed was not fast, it was very stable.

Birds in the woods were occasionally startled and took flight, and Zhou Xin would occasionally draw his gun and fire.

Now, he can achieve a hit rate of over 50% when shooting at these moving birds.

It's just a pity that the birds in the forest suffered; perhaps they were shot and fell to the ground for no apparent reason.

Bartholomew remained calm after initially being stunned by the gunshot.

Logan would run over and retrieve the birds that had been hit, so Zhou Xin didn't have to get off the bear to pick them up.

"You two have really improved my hunting efficiency!"

Zhou Xin put the bird into the pocket beside Bartholomew's side, very satisfied with this hunting method.

He was certain that even the most experienced hunters in Alaska would be utterly impressed by his imposing and arrogant hunting style.

The land that Zhou Xin rented is over 500 acres, which is not a small area.

Although he had inspected this land before, it was obviously impossible for him to have visited every corner.

The mine's area has gradually expanded from the gold panning factory as its center, and about one-fifth of the land has already been excavated.

"Looks like we'll have to relocate the gold mining factory next year."

Besides practicing shooting and hunting, Zhou Xin was also carrying out an even more important task: to conduct a detailed survey of the gold distribution in various parts of the land in order to determine the location for the gold mining factory to be set up next year.

He rode the bear slowly forward, gradually sketching out a map of the golden distribution of this land in his mind.

Lost in thought, he had unknowingly walked quite a distance.

Soon, the trees ahead thinned out, and the sound of flowing water came from behind, revealing a wide stream lying across their path.