American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 144 Arya Arrives!
The interior decoration of the log cabin was completed in mid-September.

Alaska's short summer is drawing to a close, the leaves in the birch forests are beginning to turn golden, and a crisp autumn air is starting to fill the air, foreshadowing the long winter to come.

That afternoon, Lin Yu'an was on the porch of the wood forest, carefully maintaining a newly completed children's rocking chair that Eli had taught him to make, using a soft cloth soaked in walnut oil.

This rocking chair, made of birch wood, with every mortise and tenon joint fitting perfectly and its surface polished to a silky smooth finish, is the first gift he is preparing to give to the children.

Whiskey and honey lay quietly at his feet, dozing.

After a month of growth, they have transitioned from puppyhood to the awkward adolescence, weighing over 13 kilograms each, with longer limbs, but still retaining a childlike innocence on their faces.

Suddenly, the two Bernese Mountain Dogs, who were dozing off, jerked their heads up almost at the same time!
Their furry ears stood up alertly, turning towards the distance like two radars, while their noses sniffed the air intently.

Then, a low, wary, and slightly confused "woofing" sound came from their throats, unlike any they had ever made before.

Lin Yu'an immediately stopped what he was doing. He observed the two dogs every day and knew their every bark and body language inside and out.

He knew this was definitely not Stan's or Old George's car, because the reaction between whiskey and honey was completely different.

Their body language no longer conveys the excitement of "having deer liver to eat," but rather a genuine alertness that "a strange target is approaching."

He showed no panic, but calmly got up, took out his most familiar Glock 19 pistol from his storage space, checked the magazine, and skillfully tucked it into the quick-draw holster on his lower back.

He returned to the porch, leaned against a sturdy pillar, and fixed his gaze, like that of a hawk, on the muddy path in the distance that was the only way to the highway.

A few minutes later, a muffled yet extremely familiar roar of a diesel engine could be faintly heard.

Immediately afterwards, a black pickup truck with more muscular lines than the one he had rented before roared over the last stretch of muddy road and came into his view!

Lin Yu'an's pupils contracted instantly.

It was a Ford F-150! But he immediately noticed that it looked very similar to his own 2017 used Ford F-150, but it looked more powerful and "armed to the teeth".

He was stunned, and countless possibilities flashed through his mind in an instant.

The F-150 slowly came to a stop in the open space in front of the cabin, and its massive engine fell silent after emitting a final, satisfied roar.

The driver's side door opened, and a tall, burly figure jumped down.

The man was wearing a thick Carhart work jacket, and his face showed signs of fatigue from a long journey, but his eyes were unusually bright.

It was none other than my third brother-in-law, Bo!

Lin Yu'an's tense body relaxed instantly, but a greater question arose in his mind: How could Bo be driving such a beast here?
Immediately afterwards, the passenger door opened as well.

A familiar figure, carrying a baby wrapped in a thick blanket, carefully stepped down from the tall vehicle.

It's Arya!

At the same time, Bo quickly went around to the back of the car and took out another baby, also wrapped up tightly, from the spacious child seat in the back.

When Lin Yu'an finally saw the face he had longed for day and night, and the two small figures that haunted his dreams, he felt as if his heart had been seized by something, and all his vigilance and wariness melted away in an instant.

He could no longer remain calm and rushed down the porch.

"Aria!"

"Forest!"

Arya saw him too. She handed the child in her arms to Bo who was standing next to her, then opened her arms and ran towards him.

The two embraced tightly in front of the wooden house. Lin Yu'an used all his strength to hold the real, warm body in his arms, feeling the faint scent of milk and the smell of travel-worn clothes.

It was as if she wanted to completely absorb all the longing and concern of the past few months into her body.

"Why did you come? Why did you drive here instead of flying? It's been over 3,000 kilometers, you must be very tired." Lin Yu'an's voice was a little hoarse from excitement.

"I want to take the children to see for themselves how long their father's journey to build their kingdom really is." Arya raised her head, her pale green eyes sparkling with excitement.

"And I want to give you a surprise! Do you like it?"

"I love it. This is the best surprise I've ever received." Lin Yu'an lowered his head and planted a deep kiss on his lips.

Whiskey and Honey also realized what was happening. After smelling Arya and their little master's scent, all their vigilance turned into frenzied joy.

They circled around Arya's legs, wagging their tails incessantly, nuzzling her affectionately with their big heads, and making soft, whimpering noises.

“Oh, my little darlings!” Arya crouched down, took one in each hand, and hugged their necks.

"You've all grown so much! Thank you for taking good care of your owner."

Lin Yu'an released Ailiya and quickly walked to Bo. Bo was holding one child in each arm and a safety basket in the other, looking somewhat flustered.

Hey, Lin!

Bo grinned and handed him one of the babies in his arms: "Hold your daughter, she must miss you a lot."

Lin Yu'an carefully took his daughter Olivia. The little one was already over six months old and looked much stronger than she did in the video.

She was wearing an adorable pink jumpsuit, and with her big, light green eyes just like her mother's, she curiously looked at the man in front of her who was both familiar and unfamiliar.

The little one made "ya ya" sounds and stretched out its chubby little hands, trying to grab his face.

Lin Yu'an then took her son Ethan from Alia's hands.

He held the two children tightly in his arms, one in each hand, feeling their heavy weight and warm body temperature, his heart filled with an unprecedented sense of satisfaction.

All his previous hardships and battles took on a concrete meaning at this moment.

After everyone calmed down a bit, Lin Yu'an pointed at the huge F-150 and asked the question that had been bothering him: "Bo, what exactly is going on here?"

Bo laughed and patted the F-150's sturdy body, which was covered with a scratch-resistant coating: "How about that? Not bad, right? I've made some minor upgrades to your vehicle to make it better suited to this damn Alaskan environment."

As he spoke, he led Lin Yu'an around the car, introducing it to her as if she knew it intimately: "First of all, the range. I know that gas stations are harder to find than moose here." He patted the side of the car: "I installed a 150-liter auxiliary fuel tank for you and connected it to the main fuel tank. It has an independent electronic pump that can switch between them."

"Now, this thing can go more than 1,500 kilometers on the highway on a full tank, enough for you to drive from here to Anchorage and back without having to find a gas station in between."

"and this."

He pointed to the roof, where a rooftop luggage platform made of thick aluminum alloy tubing was welded: "It can bear a static load of up to half a ton. I've installed high-power LED spotlights and strip lights on all sides."

Then he walked to the front of the vehicle and pointed to the huge steel bumper: "This WARN winch is good, but I upgraded it. I replaced it with a stronger synthetic fiber cable, which is lighter than steel cable, stronger, and won't rust."

“It won’t stiffen like a steel cable even in low temperatures. I’ve also provided you with a complete rescue kit, including tree straps, pulleys, and soft shackles, all of which are in the toolbox at the back.”

Finally, he opened the driver's side door, pointed to a newly added screen on the center console, and said, "Look here, I've installed a professional communication system for you, integrating a high-powered car radio and an Iridium satellite phone signal amplifier. As long as you're in this car, you'll never lose contact with the outside world."

Extended range, lighting, rescue, communication... every modification Bo made precisely addressed the core pain points of survival in the Alaskan wilderness.

As he spoke, he went around to the back of the vehicle, opened the hatch of the cargo bed, and took out a long, exquisite hard-shell gun case.

"And this too, Dad asked me to bring it along, your custom-made weapon, you must really want it!" Bo handed the gun case to Lin Yu'an.

Lin Yu'an took the gun case, where his brand-new Winchester M70 hunting rifle, with its elegant yet powerful lines, lay quietly on the velvet padding.

David and Mike carried a camera and recorded the whole thing.

Lin Yu'an led Ailiya and Bo on a tour of the house, which had been fully renovated and was ready for immediate occupancy.

When Arya saw the wooden house with her own eyes, which was even more magnificent and exquisite than the design drawings, the shock and happiness in her eyes were beyond words.

She walked barefoot on the warm oak floor, her fingers gently gliding over the living room wall made of huge stacked logs, feeling its rough yet warm texture.

"Lin...this...this is our home?" Her voice was tinged with excitement.

Her gaze finally settled on the enormous stone fireplace that occupied the heart of the entire living room.

She stepped forward and reached out to touch the gneiss that Lin Yu'an had personally mined and pieced together from the mountains. The stone was rough and hard, but it conveyed a sense of profound comfort.

“I watch the videos every day, but I never imagined it would look like this in person.”

Arya turned around and looked at Lin Yu'an, her eyes shining brighter than the flames in the fireplace: "It's not just a house, Lin, it's a fortress with a soul!"

Meanwhile, San Ge Bo, a tough guy who is more interested in mechanics and structures, expressed his awe in his own way.

He ignored the exquisite decorations and went straight to the massive beam supporting the second floor, where he punched it hard.

"Bang! Bang!"

The dull, solid sound reveals its unparalleled structural strength.

Bo looked up at the perfectly fitted mortise and tenon joints and exclaimed sincerely, "Wow! Lin, your work is even better than the best log cabin builders in Montana! If Dad saw this, he would be so proud that he would call the whole town to come and see it!"

Lin Yu'an shrugged and smiled, then led them on the tour.

When Aria entered the master bedroom prepared for her and Lin Yu'an, and saw the crib that had been prepared in advance with soft bedding, and the rocking chair that Lin Yu'an had made by hand next to the crib, she could no longer hold back and hugged him tightly.

“Honey, it’s a hundred times better than I imagined…”

"Thank you for building such a perfect home for us."

Lin Yu'an kissed Alia and said, "Darling, this is just our first home. In the future, there will be a second, a third, and even our own farm!"

Arya's eyes sparkled with anticipation; she looked forward to the day when they would have their own farm.

They gently placed the two sleepy little ones into the crib.

Ethan and Olivia fell asleep almost immediately in the brand-new little bed, as if they had always belonged there.

After touring all the rooms, the three sat on a beige fabric sofa in front of the fireplace.

Bo took out several bottles of chilled beer from the refrigerator and handed one to Lin Yu'an.

Bo clinked bottles with him and said in a more serious tone, "Alright, Herman, let's get down to business. I'm not just here to bring Arya, but also because my father sent me."

"He wanted me to ask you what you think. Are you really planning to settle down in Alaska? It's too far from Montana."

"Robert initially thought you were just participating in a show, but now it seems like you really intend to settle down here."

"If you're only staying for a short period, it's perfectly fine. After all, Alaska's scenery is more beautiful than Montana's, but its environment and climate are also worse!"

"So, Lin, I need to hear your thoughts."

Lin Yu'an fell silent. After taking a big gulp of beer, he slowly said, "Bo, I'm sorry, I can't answer your question right now. I really enjoy life in the wilderness, but I also know that the environment here may not be suitable for a child's growth."

"So, I probably plan to live in Alaska until the children are fully old enough to understand. Where I might go later, only time will tell."

Bo also took a big gulp of beer; "Okay, then we'll talk about this later, but Robert still hopes that you can have your own farm in Montana. He can give you a farm in Montana, as long as you go back to live in Montana."

"Please thank Robert for me. If we go back to Montana in the future, I believe we will be able to buy our own farm."

Bo didn't say anything more, but simply raised the bottle as a gesture, then took a big gulp, and Lin Yu'an followed suit with a big gulp.

Lin Yu'an stood up. "Alright everyone, I have some Dolman goat meat here. You must try it tonight!"

Dinner ended amidst everyone's praise, especially from Bo and David, who raved about the Chinese dipping sauce.

The only pity was Mike, the poor kid was allergic to sesame and peanuts, so he could only eat them with soy sauce. But foreigners really haven't eaten good food before, even with soy sauce, he ate it as if it were an absolute delicacy.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

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(End of this chapter)