Alaska Gold Rush Diary

Looking at the gleaming gold in the bottle, Zhou Xin smiled with satisfaction.

All the hard work during this period was worthwhile; this place is definitely a goldmine.

At this rate, they can harvest at least ten ounces of gold a day. If this mine can support them panning for a month, they can reliably harvest 300 ounces of gold.

Moreover, Zhou Xin could assert that there was definitely more than just this one gold deposit in the river. As long as they continued upstream and found the next sharp bend, they would likely discover the next mineral deposit.

"Indeed, it seems we have found a large mine this time."

Edward said, "As long as we keep the gold mine running, we're sure to have a bumper harvest!"

"Moreover, Alo and I are working together better and better, and now our efficiency is close to being maximized."

Zhou Xin said to A Luo, who was working hard shoveling sand in the distance, "Come and take a break."

Alo wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled, "I'm not tired yet."

"Don't push yourself too hard. Stop and rest when you're tired. Overworking yourself will only affect your efficiency," Zhou Xin reminded him.

Alo nodded: "Understood."

Edward returned to work, while Zhou Xin started cooking.

Since the two of them worked so hard, Zhou Xin naturally couldn't neglect their stomachs.

He first took out some flour, added water and kneaded it well, then let it rise before starting to process the bird he had just shot.

Fearing that the smell of blood would attract crocodiles, he did not process the blood directly in the river, but instead drew water and washed the blood away from the riverbed.

Of course, the internal organs also need to be carefully buried, otherwise they may attract predators in the jungle.

After plucking the feathers and cleaning the internal organs of the four birds, they weighed approximately one pound.

He then cleaned the various mushrooms he had collected and soaked the dried wood ear mushrooms he had found earlier in water.

He made three dishes today: stir-fried palm heart with wood ear fungus, stewed wild sparrow with mushrooms, and deep-fried crispy baby crabs.

As for the staple food, it is stone-baked flatbread.

After the flour has risen, roll it into flatbreads.

Heat the stones near the fire until they are hot, then spread the dough on them.

Under the heat of the stones and the scorching heat of the flames, the surface of the flatbread gradually turns yellow and emits an enticing aroma.

After a flurry of activity, the dishes and steamed buns were ready.

He used the lid of a shipping container as a table, put all the food on it, and then called Edward and Alo to come and eat.

Looking at the sumptuous food on the table, the two, who had been working hard all day, stared wide-eyed.

At Zhou Xin's command, the two began to eat heartily.

The baked buns have a crispy exterior and a soft, fragrant interior; they taste very good.

For Edward, this was a bread with a unique flavor.

Stir-fried palm heart with wood ear mushrooms is very refreshing. The sweet stir-fried palm heart and the crisp and smooth wood ear mushrooms create a very special flavor.

Wild sparrow stew with mushrooms is a hearty dish. The wild sparrow meat is tender, and the mushrooms add even more flavor. It is especially suitable to be eaten with baked buns.

Deep-fried crispy baby crabs are considered a snack. Since the crabs are relatively small, they are cleaned of their shells and internal organs and then deep-fried until golden brown and crispy. When eating them, you can just throw the whole crab into your mouth. They taste fresh and delicious.

Seeing Edward and Alo enjoying their meal so much, Zhou Xin couldn't help but smile.

After finishing their meal and resting briefly, Edward and Alo resumed their work.

After Zhou Xin finished cleaning up the dishes, he began to tinker with installing the Starlink equipment himself.

Fortunately, installing the Starlink equipment was not complicated, and he quickly and successfully installed it by following the instructions.

After connecting to the internet, he made a video call to Zhang Jianing as agreed.

He showed Zhang Jianing their gold mining factory and introduced her to Alo.

Seeing Zhang Jianing greet him politely, A Luo awkwardly and shyly returned the greeting.

"It seems you're making good progress!" Zhang Jianing finally relaxed, a bright smile spreading across her face.

"It's definitely on the right track now, and all the effort has finally been worthwhile," Zhou Xin replied with a smile.

"Aren't you working with them?" Seeing the other two busy with their hands, while Zhou Xin seemed quite relaxed, Zhang Jianing couldn't help but feel curious.

"The two of them are enough. Right now, the main work is done by the ore washing machine, so their work is not very heavy."

He was telling the truth. Apart from the initial manual shoveling of dry sand from the riverbank into the machine, once the sand suction machine was started, the two of them only needed to ensure that the machine was running normally and to check the tail trough to collect the gold from the gold suction blanket.

"Looks like you've become a boss now, with two subordinates handling the grassroots work," Zhang Jianing joked.

"No, to be precise, it's three. Don't forget, you said you were the third member of the gold mining team."

Zhang Jianing giggled and said, "You're right, Mr. Zhou, when are you going to pay my salary?"

"Salary is nothing, we'll give you bonuses later!"

After chatting for a while, Zhou Xin hung up the phone and started leading the mule to graze.

These two mules are very important; they will continue to play a vital role as we travel to other mining sites.

Compared to the jungle, the grass on the riverbank is much more lush, making feeding the mules much easier.

However, Zhou Xin also understood that mules were fine eating grass normally, but when they were doing heavy work, they had to be fed food with higher calories.

Mules are usually fed grains, but this clearly doesn't satisfy them.

What they actually need to replenish is carbohydrates, or more precisely, starch.

Based on this, Zhou Xin immediately came up with a solution.

This solution comes from a popular dessert: sago pudding.

Sago is not actually rice, but is made from starch extracted from the trunk of palm trees.

Of course, not all palm trees can be used to extract starch to make sago. Only palm trees with high starch content, such as sago palms and sago palms, are worth harvesting.

And in this jungle, there are many sago palm trees.

By simply cutting down a few large trees and extracting the starch from their trunks, they can become food for mules.

Moreover, this can also be their staple food.

In addition, starch can be extracted from cassava, and if a special type of cassava that does not contain hydrogen sulfide toxins is found, it can be used directly to feed mules.

After making up his mind, Zhou Xin decided to go into the jungle to look for sago palm trees and cassava whenever he had free time.

During this period, the mules will stay at the camp and will not need to carry heavy loads, so they can eat grass.

The current priority should be finding the next mining site.

Of course, there's also the daily routine of finding food for the three of them.

Although he could survive on just cassava and fish, he still hoped that the food could be as varied as possible.

As usual, he took Logan with him and continued walking along the river.