I am a local in North America

Chapter 26 What kind of suffering did he endure?
Judging from the current situation.

For Su Jerry, everything else was trivial; what truly mattered was undoubtedly buying "Beaver Ranch" as soon as possible.

To outsiders, this ranch might just be a scenic but remote business.

But in his eyes, the gold mines sleeping beneath the beaver ranch gave this land an irresistible allure.

However, the bonus hasn't arrived yet, and it's currently the Christmas and New Year holidays, so there's no rush.

Su Jierui had done his research beforehand and knew that the reason why Beaver Ranch had not been sold since it was listed last year was because its previous owner used it as a vacation estate.

Previously, they only raised a few horses, which lacked mature ranch facilities and stable and sustainable output. After acquiring them, they would need to invest a lot of money in development, which was far less efficient than directly investing money to acquire some well-developed farms, ranches, or forest farms.

In addition, the listing price of beaver ranches is a bit high. Even if you do nothing, you still need to pay about $4 in property taxes every year, which is why no one has been interested in them for a long time.

Beaver Ranch is located north of Olympic National Park in Washington State. The surrounding area is basically a poor place that few people outside of the locals visit. Apart from the spectacular national park and ocean views, it has no other advantages to offer.

This seaside ranch is located near Port Angelis, the largest city on the Olympic Peninsula. The surrounding area has a total population of only about 1.9, which is even smaller than the population of Yellowknife. The locals mainly make a living by fishing, farming, forestry and tourism.

There are very few potential buyers who can afford to spend three or four million dollars to purchase a beaver ranch.

Even if they could afford such a large sum of money, many people would still choose to move to major cities like Seattle, New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Although the land area in remote rural towns is large, it is really worthless, lacking liquidity and potential for appreciation.

So even though the beaver ranch covers an area of ​​1200 acres, equivalent to 4.85 square kilometers, which is the size of six or seven hundred football fields, the price is only three or four million US dollars.

The only buildings of any value inside, besides the old stables, are a holiday cottage built in the 70s.

Having just received his phone this morning, Su Jierui couldn't wait and immediately checked the Beaver Ranch's current status online, fearing that it might have been bought by someone else while he was filming "Living Alone in the Wilderness".

Clearly, he was overthinking it.

This beaver ranch is still listed on the trading forum as "for sale".

A white female agent named Ariel Connor advertised the beaver ranch everywhere through social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

A video reshot in October shows that the beaver ranch has a stream leading to the sea, as well as small lakes, dense forests, and large green meadows, which made Su Jerry increasingly excited.

Because of the gold mine underground, the ranch had almost no supporting facilities, could not generate any income every year, and had high development costs, but in his opinion, these were all minor problems.

Su Jerry was already itching to get started and had contacted Ariel Connor, the real estate agent who exclusively represented Beaver Ranch, through the YouTube platform.

Unfortunately, Ariel Connor accompanied her husband on vacation to the Bahamas in the Caribbean and will not return until January 4th.

There were still a few days of free time, so Su Jierui was in no hurry and planned to go to the Aleutian Islands to visit his parents as originally intended, and then go home to deal with the matter of buying a beaver ranch.

……

"Oh my goodness!"

"Young man, you look so healthy and energetic, you don't seem like someone who can't afford to eat. Tell your auntie, what happened to you that made you so hungry?"

“My husband has a big appetite. He usually only eats twenty or thirty dumplings. You’ve already made two plates of these, plus a dish of braised beef.”

"Young man, you know how to eat! You even know to pair it with Laba garlic. The foreigner actually thought my Laba garlic was moldy, and almost gave me a ticket during the inspection. He doesn't know anything..."

In a Northeastern dumpling restaurant in Huangdao Town.

Seeing Su Jierui wolfing down his food at a table near the cashier, the gray-haired proprietress, out of kindness, came over and asked him a few questions.

Faced with the proprietress's enthusiasm and the delicious food before him, Su Jierui knew that eating too much would cause indigestion, but the rare feeling of indulgence after his wilderness survival experience made him unable to resist. The delicious dumplings paired with a plate of fragrant braised beef brought him immense satisfaction; it was simply wonderful.

He found this Northeastern dumpling restaurant on a local Chinese forum, where many Chinese reviews praised the authentic taste of the dumplings.

Based on Jerry Su's life experience, if a Chinese restaurant in North America mainly serves non-Chinese customers and receives positive reviews, then the taste of the food has most likely been modified to cater to local tastes and has become less authentic.

Some long-established Chinese restaurants in Seattle even design two menus: one for foreigners and one for Chinese customers, so they can make money from both sides and expand their customer base.

We've just finished eating.

After letting out a burp and wiping his mouth with a tissue, Su Jierui smiled and replied to the landlady:

"It's nothing, I just haven't been eating well lately, and your dumplings are just too delicious."

Hearing his praise.

The proprietress was beaming from ear to ear, and then chatted casually:
"Of course, I bought the seasonings online from China. The shipping was really expensive, and it will take about a month to get them. You can't find this flavor at other dumpling restaurants."

“Young man, are you here for tourism? I saw you were constantly texting while eating. Your boss made you work overtime during the holiday, right? My son is the same. A few years ago, he went to Malaysia on a business trip and met a white Canadian woman. Then he came here with her.”

"She's so filial. Later, she brought us here to retire. Running this restaurant is quite busy. Although we've made a lot of money, we can't even find people to chat with most of the time. It's only a bit busier during the peak tourist season..."

"...I came here on some business, so it's kind of like a vacation."

“My in-laws run a travel agency. If you need anything, just call my son. Buying tickets, renting cars, booking rooms, etc., no problem. Don’t worry, we’re family, so the prices will definitely be lower than elsewhere.”

"Okay, but I don't think I need to. I'm leaving tomorrow."

"..."

Since his phone was turned back on, Su Jierui has been busy chatting with family, friends, and classmates.

Many people want to know whether he actually won the huge prize of $100 million.

Su Jierui gave a unified response, saying, "It involves the follow-up promotion of the program, and a confidentiality agreement has been signed, so it is not convenient to go into details," leaving a lot of room for imagination and saving everyone a lot of trouble.

Some acquaintances and classmates with whom they have only a casual relationship keep asking questions in a sarcastic tone, as if they need to get a definite answer, preferably one that admits "they didn't actually receive a huge bonus," before they feel at ease.

For these kinds of people, Su Jierui simply made an excuse to end the conversation, too lazy to bother with these "sour grapes".

Some of his friends, who love to join in the fun, were happy for Su Jerry and encouraged him to go back and throw a party to celebrate.

For example, Tang Jie, a childhood friend, even used Su Jierui as a "genie in a lamp" to make a wish, saying he wanted a concert ticket to Ariana Grande, an American singer born in the 90s.

It's only worth two or three hundred dollars.

Friends are generally mindful of boundaries when interacting, and such trivial requests are not excessive.

On the contrary, some guys who weren't very familiar with Su Jierui started asking for money after only a few words, or said they wanted to start a business and hoped to get investment funds from him.

If you ask what it's like to win a million-dollar prize, you can only say that while you're happy, it's also accompanied by a lot of minor troubles.

These trivial matters did not affect Su Jierui's good mood. When he encountered someone he disliked, he simply ignored them.

He chatted with the owner of the Northeastern dumpling restaurant for a while. The lady was very hospitable and even offered to give him a free meal, but he insisted on paying.

Afterwards, Su Jerry strolled around Yellowknife for a bit before quickly taking a taxi back to the hotel to make arrangements for the rest of the trip.
(End of this chapter)