Alaska Gold Rush Diary

Zhou Xin picked up some snake meat, put it in his mouth, chewed slowly, and made a satisfied sound.

It must be said that snake meat tastes really good; the meat is firm and elastic, and it also has a unique fresh aroma.

The bone structure of the snake bones has been completely extracted during stewing, and the soup is milky white, which looks very nourishing.

Seeing how much Edward enjoyed Zhou Xin's meal, his Adam's apple bobbing, Edward's resolve began to waver.

But thinking about what I had just said, I still felt a little embarrassed.

At this moment, Zhou Xin very considerately gave him a way out.

"This is my first time making snake meat soup. Please give me your feedback and suggestions. Try some, though. Besides, I can't possibly finish such a big pot."

Edward then slowly walked over, a reluctant look on his face.

"In that case, I'll try it for you."

He picked up the bowl and scooped it full.

Zhou Xin raised an eyebrow slightly. "You've tasted way too much, haven't you?"

Edward first carefully took a sip of the soup, and his face immediately showed an expression of extreme enjoyment.

He quickly realized his lapse in composure, composed himself, and picked up some snake meat shreds and put them in his mouth.

The next moment, the satisfied expression on his face could no longer be concealed.

Oh my, it smells so good!

Next, disregarding the fact that he had only said he would try a little, he quickly finished the whole bowl of snake meat soup.

Zhou Xin ignored him and continued eating.

Seeing that Zhou Xin didn't laugh at him, Edward finally felt relieved. He ladled out another large bowl and started eating it quickly.

Soon, the two of them finished off the whole pot of snake meat soup.

Finally, Edward even picked up the snake bones, which had hardly any meat on them, and greedily sucked on them, still wanting more.

"Xin, I never imagined snake meat could be so delicious!"

The "it smells so good" principle applies everywhere in the world.

……

Over the next two days, Zhou Xin and Edward dug together, harvesting 7.7 ounces on the first day and an astonishing 11.2 ounces on the second day!

Adding to all their previous finds, they have now mined a total of 51.7 ounces of gold since arriving in Western Australia!

"Shin, we're really going to be rich!" Edward shouted excitedly.

Zhou Xin was also quite satisfied with this figure; previously at Livinggood, he had harvested a total of 156.8 ounces over three months.

But now, in just over ten days, the harvest is already close to one-third of what it was before.

A major reason for this is the presence of Edward as a powerful ally.

He worked very hard. Many times, even when Zhou Xin wanted to go back to the camp to rest, he would still want to dig a little longer.

Indeed, many hands make light work. It seems I must establish the gold mining team as soon as possible!

On his way here, he had seen other people's professional mines from afar.

The sheer scale of it, and the daily gold production, was absolutely considerable.

No matter how much superpowers are added, human strength is ultimately limited and can never compare to a gold panning machine.

Another week has passed, and their harvest has reached 115.4 ounces.

But just then, trouble struck again.

That noon, the two were resting at their camp when an off-road vehicle drove into their camp area, and two uniformed personnel got out.

After getting out of the car, they immediately took a close look around the campsite, stopping frequently to take photos and record their observations.

Then the other party explained their purpose, and Zhou Xin immediately felt a headache coming on.

It turns out they were staff members from the Environmental Protection Bureau. They said they had received a report that someone was illegally cutting down protected tree species, so they came to investigate.

In this desolate place, who would be so bored as to come and report them?

After a moment's thought, Zhou Xin came up with the answer.

It must be that guy I had a conflict with before!

He was wronged and harbored resentment, so he found out where the two were in town and secretly followed them, observing them from a distance.

Zhou Xin didn't know when he arrived, since they had been focused on mining for gold and hadn't paid much attention to what was happening in the distance.

When he was building the camp, he did cut down a few local protected tree species in order to gather the materials for the camp as quickly as possible.

He was clinging to a sliver of hope, thinking that since the place was deserted, no one would pay attention, but little did he know that someone with ulterior motives would still seize upon his weakness.

As expected, carelessness led to the loss of Jingzhou. Zhou Xin was immediately filled with regret.

But what's done is done, and all we can do is try our best to resolve it.

"I'm so sorry, we're not very familiar with this area and didn't know those trees were protected species."

Zhou Xin apologized repeatedly, brought chairs for the two of them, and gestured for Edward to pour them some water.

At the same time, he took out all the certificates he had previously obtained and showed them to the staff in front of him one by one.

When dealing with government officials, one cannot be as forceful as before, otherwise they may lose the opportunity to continue hunting for gold here.

Seeing that he was very polite, the staff member's expression softened.

"Although you didn't cut it unintentionally, you still broke the law. According to regulations, you must go back and accept the investigation."

"We will definitely cooperate, but as you can see, we still have many valuables here. If they are all left, they may be lost."

The staff member looked around and said, "One of you can stay here, and the other can come back with us."

Zhou Xin quickly expressed his gratitude: "Thank you for your thoughtfulness. I'll pack up and go with you now."

Next, Zhou Xin made arrangements for Edward and Logan respectively.

He told Edward not to stray too far from the camp before he returned, lest the vengeful fellow sneak into the camp and cause trouble.

Meanwhile, he instructed Logan to stay at the camp and patrol the surrounding area more often to prevent anyone from secretly lurking in the distance.

After giving his instructions, he got into a car driven by two staff members and returned to Kurgadi.

He initially thought that paying some fines would resolve the matter, but he realized he had oversimplified things.

According to the regulations here, in addition to paying a fine, they must leave Kurgadi as soon as possible.

Zhou Xin negotiated with them for a long time, his lips were worn out from talking, but it was of no use.

Is this really how this gold-hunting trip is going to end?

If they hadn't found much gold this time, it would have been fine, but now they've discovered that there is indeed a rich deposit of gold here.

Having entered a treasure mountain, how could one leave empty-handed?

After much deliberation, he could only think of one solution: to ask Zhang Jianing for help.

He had already witnessed Zhang Jianing's extraordinary abilities when he was handling the procedures before, and if she could help, there might still be a chance for this matter to turn around.

He paid the fine as required and asked for two days' grace period to pack up and dispose of the camp supplies.

Seeing his good attitude, the staff of the Environmental Protection Bureau did not make things difficult for him and agreed to his request.

As soon as he left the Environmental Protection Bureau, Zhou Xin immediately dialed Zhang Jianing's number.

After telling Zhang Jianing what had happened, there was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, as if someone was thinking.

After a while, Zhang Jianing's voice came from the other end.

"This matter is a bit troublesome. I happen to be on vacation recently, so I'll come over in person to try and see!"