I am a local in North America

Chapter 2 Living Alone in the Wilderness
In early November 2019.

The Great Slave Lake region in northwestern Canada.

The cold morning wind swept across the withered yellow grass covered with ice and snow. The lake near the shore was already frozen. Looking around, one could see the pristine atmosphere of nature, tranquil and profound, without any trace of modern society.

A black bear was strolling leisurely along the shore, walking slowly forward. Judging from its weak state, it had rapidly burned off its fat reserves over the past two months to prepare for winter, and must have come out to hunt for food because it was hungry.

On the nearby hillside, a wisp of white smoke could be faintly seen, but it was blown away by the cold wind as soon as it emerged from the woods, disappearing without a trace.

In the dense forest.

A handsome, strong-looking young Chinese man, standing over 1.8 meters tall but with a scruffy beard and an air of homelessness, was standing by a large tree, surrounded by stones, snow, and withered grass.

He held a handful of freshly roasted pine nuts in his hand, which smelled of a mixture of aroma and burnt smell, and were still warm.

With his other hand, he held a small action camera, taking opportunities to film everyday scenes as required by the production team of the seventh season of "Living Alone in the Wild".

He squatted down to smash pine nuts with a stone and eat them, muttering to himself as he did so:
“Look, everyone! That adult black bear is here again. Ever since it smelled my smoked fish and smoked venison last month, it has been coming over every few days. It seems it hasn’t completely given up on my food reserves.”

"However... the wilderness beneath my feet originally belonged to them. I am the intruder who entered their territory. I haven't been in contact with friends and family for a full 80 days, except for the filming crew who came to check my health. This feeling is really unbearable. I don't know how many contestants are left, or how long I have to endure. Maybe it will exceed 100 days?"

“Every time I see this chubby bear that I named ‘Bell,’ I feel quite comfortable, like I can finally be with a living creature.”

The young Asian men stared at the black bear by the lake, remaining on high alert. They kept saying they felt a sense of "friendliness," but were ready to run for their lives and return to the shelter at any moment.

After all, it was a black bear weighing around 200 kilograms. If the two sides were to engage in a fight, the outcome would most likely be fatal.

He gently spat out the pine nut shell and continued in a low voice:
"Actually, I shouldn't have named this black bear. We've almost run out of venison and Arctic porcupine meat, and fishing has become much more difficult. This place is near the Arctic Circle, where the coldest temperatures can drop to minus 30 or 40 degrees Celsius. I need to get a lot of fat every day."

"My food supplies are dwindling, and I'm running out of food. I don't know how long the other contestants can last, or if they've caught any large prey. If it comes to a critical moment where I have no other choice, maybe I'll try to hunt this bear?"

"Of course, although I gave it a name, it is not my pet. Instead, it is always looking for opportunities to eat my food reserves. In its eyes, I am probably a delicious pastry. We are enemies."

"So... if I have no choice but to take action, I think I will really choose to hunt this black bear. After observing it for a while, I found that it likes to follow fixed routes, which gives me the opportunity to set up several large traps."

"Even just injuring it and slowing it down will increase my chances of successfully hunting it down."

"This is to keep me alive and to win the competition. Fish and venison have too little fat. I can feel my body fat percentage starting to drop. I hope to encounter some other prey, such as rabbits, grouse, or even moose..."

To avoid being hated by extreme animal rights activists after the show aired, he made a point of explaining to the camera, trying to show that he was in a difficult situation and not just hunting animals for fun.

In previous years, some contestants who participated in the "Living Alone in the Wilderness" competition were subjected to online abuse and their personal information was doxxed. He learned from these experiences and lessons, demonstrating his strong will to survive.

Living alone in the wilderness for too long inevitably leads to some strange symptoms, such as frequently talking to oneself and not being able to stop once one starts.

Even just talking to a small action camera can be stress-relieving, as if breaking the limitations of time and space and interacting with viewers in the future, sharing your thoughts with them.

Whether or not this nonsense will be edited out is not within his consideration.

Because of the limited program length, only some of the essential parts will be retained. Each episode is about an hour long, but it takes the contestants a week, or even two or three weeks, to film some footage worth editing. Viewers may think it's simple after watching it, but the actual experience is extremely grueling.

Filming for this season of "Living Alone in the Wilderness" began in mid-September 2019, and it is expected to be edited and broadcast in June next year. It's actually quite boring to be performing a one-man show in this godforsaken place all by myself.

But there's no way around it. If they don't talk to the camera, they'll be enveloped by a huge emptiness and loneliness. Besides going hungry, this is the second biggest challenge faced by the contestants of "Living Alone in the Wilderness".

The Asian young man's name is Su Jierui, and his English name is also "Jerry".

At 23 years old, he is still a graduate student and will graduate from the University of British Columbia in Canada next June. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Seattle, which is relatively close to his home. As the only college student in this season of "Solo Survival in the Wild," Su Jerry has limited wilderness survival experience. He has only learned how to hunt, make fire, and build shelters from videos made by bloggers online.

During the training camp in preparation for filming, the production team specifically spoke with Su Jierui, asking him to try interacting with his compatriots across the Pacific and to showcase more Chinese elements in the program, thereby bridging the gap between him and the audience.

From the interview conversation at the time, it was vaguely apparent that the production team of "Living Alone in the Wilderness" had licensed the broadcasting rights to a certain video website in China, and must have sold it for a good high price.

To please the sponsor, the executives of the company that created the "Living Alone in the Wilderness" program racked their brains to try and win him over, which allowed Jerry Su to find a loophole and get the valuable opportunity to participate in the program as a Chinese-American.

Because the competition is located near the Arctic Circle, it is more difficult than previous seasons of "Solo in the Wilderness," and the prize money has been increased to an unprecedented $1 million!
Ultimately, only one winner will emerge, and that winner must remain in the camp for at least 100 days.

When the program announced its first half of the year, countless people went crazy. In a short period of time, it attracted tens of thousands of applicants, all of whom dreamed of becoming the lucky winner of the $100 million grand prize.

The same goes for Su Jierui.

Besides being a student, he is also a well-known YouTuber. He helps his parents with chores on weekends and during winter and summer vacations, making videos of his daily life, such as fishing and catching king crabs at sea. Over two years, he has accumulated 160,000 followers and occasionally earns advertising revenue to supplement his school expenses.

Compared to other experienced survivalists, Su Jierui always felt that the show's producers chose him more like they wanted to find a newbie to fill the quota.

After all, the prize money for this season is very high. If they find some experienced wilderness survival experts to come, they might be willing to endure hardship for two or three years for the $100 million prize.

From the perspective of program effect and return on investment, this is clearly not in the interests of the production team.

The production team prefers to compress the filming period to three or four months, showcasing more exciting footage rather than wasting time meaninglessly and causing viewers to gradually lose interest.

Therefore, when selecting contestants, the "Living Alone in the Wilderness" program team will specifically look for some runners who are not determined enough or have little experience to make up the numbers.

Despite his relatively weak resume, Su Jierui, a college student who is also a "Chinese-American internet celebrity," successfully secured an admission ticket.

But probably no one could have imagined that he could endure the pressure day after day until now, a full 80 days have passed. Even though the nighttime temperature has dropped to minus ten degrees Celsius and the weather is getting colder, it has not driven him away.

When we first arrived at Great Slave Lake by helicopter to take photos, the surrounding vegetation was still lush and green, making it easy to pick berries and fish in the river.

That's no longer possible. The water is freezing cold, the berries have all withered, and it's becoming increasingly difficult to obtain food.

After the bear left.

Su Jerry looked numb and went back to camp to brush his teeth with charcoal as toothpaste.

The freshly fallen snow was ankle-deep, crunching underfoot. Even the breath he exhaled condensed quickly, instantly sticking to Su Jierui's stubble and forming tiny ice crystals. His ears, which had developed frostbite last week, were now red and burning, so itchy he couldn't help but want to scratch them.

Fortunately, wearing a hat prevented the chilblains from worsening, and applying some precious deer oil relieved the itching symptoms somewhat.

Having stockpiled a large amount of firewood in advance, there was no need to worry about firewood for the time being. I rinsed my mouth with the warm water left over from drinking water in the morning, and then put away the toothbrush that had already bristled.

Su Jierui reached out and scratched his oily, itchy scalp, then continued speaking to the action camera:
"The weather is getting gloomy, and it looks like it's going to snow again soon. I'll go check the gillnets again; hopefully, I can catch a few big fish."

"The water temperature near the shore is too low, and the fish have all swum to the deeper waters, making fishing difficult. Before the lake freezes completely, I will risk rowing out again to try my luck."

"Before that, I need to check the firewood on the shore. If it falls into the icy lake water, it will start to lose heat in minutes and become fish food. Sigh, I'm already missing my bed in the dorm. Even though my roommates play games and shout at night and often go out with girls, disturbing my sleep, it's still a million times more comfortable than here."

　(You're back!)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)