American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 114 The Covenant for Hunting Dol Sheep
"How about it?"

Old George proudly patted the sturdy body of the band saw, his eyes looking at it like he was looking at his own child.

"This guy has been with me for almost ten years. I replaced his engine with a more powerful Honda GX390 engine and even installed an automatic lubrication system myself."

"As long as you feed it wood, it can spit out any size plank you want, with an error of no more than two millimeters!"

Lin Yu'an's eyes also lit up with interest. He stepped forward and carefully examined every detail of the band saw.

After touring the equipment, old George turned around and looked at Lin Yu'an again, a sly smile on his face.

He said, "Alright, kid, now let's talk about the terms."

"My saw, my mixer, and my old bones of experience can all help you."

“I won’t take your money. That’s too boring. I’m not short of that kind of money in my life.”

He paused for a moment, then proposed a very "Alaskan-style" condition.

"In exchange, I want you to help me with something that I'm no longer able to do."

His gaze fell upon the distant, rolling Brooks Mountains.

"I want you to come with me to the mountains to hunt after the snow melts in July. My target is a fully grown Dol goat!"

“Not just any sheep, I want the king ram, the most cunning and with the most beautiful horns, who lives on the steepest cliff.”

"These old bones of mine haven't climbed those cliffs for years; my knees won't allow it. But my marksmanship hasn't deteriorated!"

"I need a strong, good guy like you to help me carry my gear, find and spot targets, and even track them."

He looked at Lin Yu'an with burning eyes: "I want the most beautiful, complete pair of ram horns to hang on the wall of my fireplace."

Old George's gaze fell on his wife's photograph on the wall: "This was my wife's wish; she always wanted to hang a pair of ram horns above the fireplace."

"If possible, I hope that at my funeral, the priest can tell everyone, 'Old George fulfilled his wife's last wish.'"

Looking at the old man's longing for his wife, Lin Yu'an immediately understood that this was not just a condition for exchange, but also a trust and entrustment.

His answer was concise and forceful, without the slightest hesitation, as he extended his right hand: "George, don't worry, I have an Alaskan resident hunting license, and all the tags are in order."

"Let's make a deal: we'll set off after the snow melts in July!"

"Hahaha! Good lad! It's settled then!"

Old George gripped his hand tightly, and Lin Yu-an's first "Northernmost Alliance" was thus reached.

At the same time, a temporary "foundation engineering team" was officially established.

They immediately began discussing specific construction plans.

Old George took out paper and pen, drew a professional pile foundation layout diagram, and listed the approximate amounts of sand, gravel, 425 grade cement, and rebar needed.

"Portland cement, construction grade rebar, 16mm and 20mm, eight tons of dry river sand, and well-graded crushed stone."

“You have to ship all these materials from Fairbanks.”

"Then you need to break through two meters of active permafrost and then go four or five meters into the permafrost layer. Your loader can do that."

"However, you'll need a auger drill attachment; you'll have to go back to Fairbanks to rent one."

By the time everything was settled, it was already dark.

Lin Yu-an and Stan bid farewell to old George.

Lin Yu-an and David Mike plan to spend the night in their rented cabin and do not intend to return to the camp.

Stan rode his all-terrain motorcycle with ease across the snow.

Lin Yu-an drove the Zongshen tricycle, while David and Mike sat in the back.

When they arrived, they found the tricycle novel and interesting.

But now, as the sun sets and the temperature plummets, the biting wind pours into the open cargo bed from all directions, and the situation becomes completely different.

"Oh my god... Lin! Aren't you cold?"

David's voice trembled like a sieve in the cold wind. He wrapped himself tightly in his designer down jacket, but he still felt the chill seeping into him.

"Not bad," Lin Yu'an's voice came from the front.

"Not...not bad?"

Mike couldn't help but join the conversation: "I feel like my bones are freezing! We're wearing down jackets that are at minus thirty degrees Celsius!"

Stan, who was on an ATV nearby, heard their conversation and burst into laughter, his voice ringing out loudly in the vast wilderness.

"Hey! You Hollywood guys! Your outfits are for drinking coffee in the city, Lin's is the real work clothes!"

David looked at Lin Yu'an's composed back, then at himself and Mike shivering from the cold, and finally came to terms with reality.

He shakily pulled out his satellite phone and, with a weak signal, made a call to the production crew's logistics department.

"Hans, two Arc'teryx down jackets! And matching pants too! Urgent! Send them to Fairbanks by the fastest courier! Mike and I are freezing to death here!"

Stan laughed even harder from the side: "Lin, well done. George is a stubborn man, and it's clear that you're to his liking. The fact that he's willing to help you means that he has accepted you."

"The Dol goats are not easy to deal with. The places they live in are more dangerous than bear territory. If you need help, count me in."

"Thank you, Stan." Lin Yu'an nodded, her heart filled with warmth.

Back in the cabin, they lit a fire and David and Mike immediately sat down by the fire to warm themselves.

David, having recovered, looked at the two sets of drawings and asked curiously, "Lin, today has been a very fruitful day! We met George and even borrowed a portable band saw."

"So, what are our next plans? Is your '100-day plan' entirely achievable?"

"You're right, David, you had a great day."

"Tomorrow's task is to safely transport the portable band saw back to our 'wood forest.' Then, large-scale timber processing will officially begin!"

"We must seize every day and turn all the wood into qualified building materials before the ground thaws and summer arrives!"

"You wouldn't want to face Alaskan mosquitoes in the forest during the summer, would you?"

The next day, before dawn, Lin Yu'an arrived at Old George's house again. He planned to transport the portable band saw while the roads were still relatively clear in the early morning.

"George, can you disassemble this machine? I'd like to ship it in batches."

"Of course, its track section is a standard two-meter segment, which can be disassembled by hand by unscrewing the bolts. The main unit and engine can also be separated. The heaviest main unit weighs only a little over 100 kilograms."

Lin Yu'an first used a professional socket wrench to skillfully disassemble the band saw's rail section by section.

"For the first trip, we'll transport the tracks."

Together with David, he lifted four two-meter-long steel rails onto the back of the tricycle and secured them firmly with professional ratchet straps.

Lin Yu'an drove the tricycle alone, easily making a round trip on the muddy dirt road, and transported all the tracks back to the camp.

The most difficult part is transporting the main engine head.

This behemoth, which integrates saw wheels, a lifting system, and various precision components, weighs only a little over 100 kilograms, but its irregular shape makes it difficult to control its center of gravity.

It took Lin Yu-an, David Mike, and the other two working together to steadily place the main unit into the center of the tricycle's cargo bed.

"Lin, what do we do when we get to the camp? Can you unload it all by yourself?"

"David, have you forgotten my loader?"

"Haha, I almost forgot you have such a powerful artifact."

Lin Yu-an drove with extra care on this trip.

He shifted the tricycle to the lowest gear, and the engine roared steadily and powerfully, moving slowly but surely through the mud like a tireless old ox.

Lin Yu'an intended to test the limits of this tricycle this time, so he did not use space to intervene.

After spending more than half a day, when all the parts of the band saw were safely transported to "Wood Forest Land" and initially assembled by Lin Yu'an, the three tough guys were exhausted.

Lin Yu-an took out the pork belly that had been buried in the refrigerator and decided to make braised pork to reward the hardworking camera crew.

They could have chosen not to help at all, but they still offered to, which warmed Lin Yu'an's heart and made her appreciate their efforts.

"Alright, you've both worked hard today." Lin Yu'an patted the dust off his hands.

"To celebrate our new progress and to reward you all, I'll cook a delicious dinner!"

David and Mike's eyes lit up instantly. He exaggeratedly clutched his stomach and said, "Oh, Lin, say it again! I can feel the aroma!"

Lin Yu'an smiled, said nothing, and walked directly to his supply box.

He took out several pieces of pork belly and flour, which were neatly packaged in vacuum bags, from a refrigerator. He had bought these in Fairbanks.

Then, he took out a special spice box containing star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, dried chili peppers, rock sugar, and a bottle of dark soy sauce that he had brought from China.

He brought out the huge Chinese iron pot, which combined the pot and stove, and started a fire to heat it up.

"Lin, what are you making? Boiled pork?" David asked curiously, like a food show host, constantly asking questions from the side.

While skimming off the foam that kept rising from the pot with a long spoon, Lin Yu'an explained, "This is called 'blanching' in Chinese cuisine."

"Its main purpose is to remove blood and impurities from the meat and eliminate the fishy smell."

Once the water in the pot boils again, remove all the meat pieces, pour out the water, heat the pot, add oil, and then throw in a handful of rock sugar.

"Now, it's time to caramelize the sugar; that's what gives the dish its beautiful color."

He stirred the pan with a spatula, and the rock sugar melted quickly in the hot oil, turning from pale yellow to amber.

Lin Yu'an poured all the previously prepared pork belly back into the pot and quickly stir-fried it, coating each piece of meat evenly with a glistening caramel color.

Immediately afterwards, he threw all the spices, including star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, and dried chili peppers, into the pot, and then poured a large amount of soy sauce along the edge of the pot.

Lin Yu'an added enough boiling water to cover all the meat pieces, and planned to add the chopped potato pieces when it was almost done cooking. He then covered the pot and let them simmer slowly.

While doing all this, he took out flour and yeast, dissolved the yeast in warm water, and then mixed it with flour to form a smooth dough.

He placed the dough in a large bowl, covered it with a damp cloth, and put it next to the cast iron furnace to ferment.

Lin Yu'an vigorously kneaded the risen dough on a simple work surface to release the air.

Then divide it into evenly sized portions, and knead each portion into a smooth, round, and plump steamed bun.

He placed a steamer basket on another large iron pot and put the raw steamed buns inside.

Half an hour later, Lin Yu'an lifted the lid of the pot.

On the steamer, the small dough balls had transformed into plump, white steamed buns, looking incredibly springy and elastic.
A pot of braised pork and potatoes, with its bright red color and tender texture, was also served, along with steaming hot steamed buns, on a simple dining table.

David picked up a piece of braised pork and exclaimed, "Lin! This is so delicious! It's even better than what I've had at Michelin-starred restaurants!"

"Try this, it's Chinese bread, you can dip it in soup." Lin Yu'an handed him a hot steamed bun.

David followed his example, breaking open the soft steamed bun and dipping it in the bright red, sticky braised pork broth on the plate.

“Incredible! Absolutely incredible! This tastes like God’s gift!” David exclaimed indistinctly.

Mike remained silent, holding a piece of braised pork in his left hand and half a steamed bun in his right, his mouth stuffed full, but he kept giving Lin Yu'an a thumbs up.

Seeing their exaggerated reactions, Lin Yu'an laughed and said, "It's not that exaggerated. In China, this is just a very ordinary home-style dish, served with the most basic staple food."

This meal was not only a treat, but also Lin Yu-an's way of expressing gratitude and building friendships.

At the dinner table, fueled by delicious food, the relationship between the three of them moved from being mere work partners to becoming true friends.

After dinner and a short rest, Lin Yu'an did not stop.

Using the headlights, he began assembling the band saw, a process that once again demonstrated his solid foundation in mechanical engineering.

He first carefully calibrated each section of track with a level before piecing them together into a straight base.

Then, the main unit head was steadily installed on the track, and the gap of each roller was carefully adjusted to ensure that the main unit head moved smoothly and without any shaking when moving on the track.

Finally, he installed a brand new band saw blade and made final adjustments.

The first test run of the band saw began the next morning, amidst everyone's anticipation!
(End of this chapter)