American Landowners: Starting with Hunting in Alaska

beep...beep...

The busy tone before the call connected kept ringing in the car.

Marshmallow raised her little head and looked at Suwei with her ice-blue eyes.

After three busy tones, the call was connected.

"Feed?"

A hoarse, rough male voice came through the receiver, sounding impatient.

It's Old Jack.

"It's me, Suwei."

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.

Then, old Jack's tone immediately changed.

The previous impatience vanished, replaced by a false sense of closeness.

"Oh! Suvi! Good boy! I knew you would call me!"

Old Jack lowered his voice and said furtively, "You've figured it out? That's right! People live for money, not for an animal! Listen, I've thought about it carefully, and your fox is indeed very rare, and it's wild! The price should definitely be higher."

Su Wei remained silent for a moment, simply listening quietly.

Old Jack thought he was interested and his words were full of determination.

"I'll give you a new price, twelve thousand US dollars! Cash! Kid, that'll give you a much-needed reprieve! How about it? Bring that little thing over here, and you can take the money right away!"

"Old Jack."

Su Wei finally spoke, his tone calm.

"Hmm? You tell me!"

Old Jack's voice was urgent.

Clearly, he really wanted the marshmallow.

Otherwise, given his stingy and unscrupulous businessman nature, he wouldn't have offered such an exorbitant price.

However, reality was clearly not as he wished.

He'll probably never get a cotton candy in his lifetime.

"You'll never get your hands on that fox in this lifetime."

Su Wei's confident words instantly extinguished old Jack's enthusiasm.

The other end of the phone fell silent once again.

A few seconds later, old Jack roared.

"You fucking kidding me? Su Wei, you penniless wretch with a mountain of debt, don't push your luck!"

"What do you want from me?! If you can't give me a reason, you'll lose Old Jack's friendship forever! Do you know what that means?!"

"I'm here to do another business deal," Su Wei said, ignoring his anger.

"Business? What kind of business could you possibly have?" Old Jack scoffed.

"What, got lucky again, found a moldy mushroom on some rotten tree stump? Kid, I don't have time for your childish games!"

A blue-eyed albino red fox that had been discovered with great difficulty; they thought they could make a fortune.

But that damned brat Su Wei just wouldn't let go!

He's still clinging to idealism; he's too young.

They don't understand the importance of money.

He is not a qualified hunter either.

They still harbored feelings of affection for their pets.

That wasn't a hunting dog, nor was it his loyal companion.

It's just a pet, isn't it more attractive than money?

You should know that he is currently heavily in debt!

Not to mention, his parents' death insurance has been dragging on for ages!

This has become the norm.

In America, that's what those wicked insurance companies are like.

They only care about swallowing the insurers' money, completely disregarding their lives.

But old Jack was different; he had lived far too long.

One must approach money with respect.

He didn't want his body to be unable to be properly buried after he died.

This is also why he was not very satisfied with Suwei.

Su Wei started the pickup truck at a leisurely pace.

With a roar from the old engine, the car slowly turned around.

"You'll definitely be interested in this one."

"I'm interested in so many things!" Old Jack roared impatiently.

"Gold, diamonds, or some rich woman's inheritance! Do you have any? If not, get out!"

Su Wei gripped the steering wheel with one hand, and the car merged into the sparse traffic in the town.

He spoke four words into the receiver.

"Devil's Claw"

……

……

All sound on the other end of the phone vanished instantly.

Old Jack's microphone seemed to have been turned off, or something must have been binding his throat, preventing him from making a sound.

After a moment, old Jack's heavy, rapid breathing finally came out.

"What...what did you just say?"

Old Jack's voice was trembling.

"Say that again! What the hell did you find?!"

"Devil's Claw," Suwei repeated calmly, "Alaskan ginseng, quite old, and in excellent condition."

"Hold!"

A roar exploded from the phone, and Su Wei instinctively moved the phone away from him.

He could imagine that old Jack had probably already jumped up from his shabby sofa by now.

"Where are you?! Are you in your cabin right now? Don't move! I'm coming right now! If you dare to lie to me, I swear I'll tear your bones out one by one!"

Old Jack spoke rapidly, his greed almost overflowing.

Devil's Claw! Wild! Very old!

This stuff is harder to find than gold in Kodiak!

Those rich people are willing to pay exorbitant prices for this thing!

You can make several times or even ten times the profit by simply reselling it!

Compared to this thing, that white fox is nothing!

"Don't rush," Su Wei interrupted him calmly.

"The stuff is in my garage, it can't be gone."

He glanced out the car window; the sky was beginning to darken.

"Besides this, there's also a freshly hunted adult black-tailed deer, its fur intact and the meat already prepared."

On the other end of the phone, you could hear Old Jack swallowing hard.

A whole black-tailed deer, plus devil's claws of sufficient age...

If it's all true, he has to admit that he underestimated this kid.

The fact that he hunted a black-tailed deer all by himself is enough to prove that he has successfully proven himself to be a hunter.

A qualified Alaskan hunter.

He's mastered it.

And if all of this is true, especially the Devil's Claw.

Then he will make a lot of money!

"Drive your pickup truck over here," Suwei said bluntly.

"My car can't hold it all."

"Okay, okay! I'll be right there..."

"Six o'clock in the afternoon," Su Wei set the time. "Be at my cabin on time. Latecomers will not be waited for."

"Why six o'clock? I can do it right now..."

"Because I'm just getting back from town, Jack," Sue said, frowning at the car turning around. "And I need time to prepare. My time is precious."

He paused for a moment, then added, "This is just a transaction. My family doesn't provide dinner, and we don't have any extra chairs."

This reminded old Jack of what happened at Suwei's house last time.

He recalled his own rude manner and that condescending remark, "For the sake of your dead father."

Now, the situation is completely reversed.

Old Jack's face flushed red. He opened his mouth, and finally squeezed out through gritted teeth, "Fine! You're quite the pathetic little rascal!"

"I, old Jack, have never shortchanged you on a single meal!"

He cursed, but he knew perfectly well what was going on in his heart.

This kid is no longer the pushover he used to be.

He is now the seller with a valuable asset, while I am the buyer begging for a share.

"Six o'clock it is! I'll be there on time! You'd better have everything you mentioned, otherwise..."

"All you need to bring is money."

After Su Wei finished speaking, he hung up the phone immediately, too lazy to listen to Old Jack's threats any longer.

The carriage returned to silence.

Su Wei tossed his phone onto the passenger seat and looked at the road ahead, illuminated by the car headlights.

A debt of $160,000 is still weighing on my head.

Now, he has finally found his first breakthrough.

Old Jack, that greedy fellow, was his best tool.

The pickup truck rolled over the snow, the roar of its engine carrying far into the twilight as it drove toward the lakeside cabin.

There, the Soviet Union would make its second fortune.

And all of this was a gift from the mountains.