CHAPTER 434: CHAPTER 404: THE GREAT CHINESE PATRIARCH

Indians, especially the men, were not very willing to open their hearts to outsiders.

Even if they were filled with anticipation towards the new wealthy arrival, they couldn’t directly express it; they could only convey their welcome through slightly awkward and simple actions after receiving a signal from Old Ruby.

Several Indian women took the initiative to help set up the tents with efficiency, causing Butcher who was watching to doubt whether the tent-pitching skills he learned in the military were even real.

Most of the men voluntarily headed to the dock to start unloading the goods.

Quida, who had been directing work at the dock, saw this group of people only now showing up and began to scold and loudly call them to work.

The last to remain was a middle-aged Indian man named Wayne Dort, with greasy long hair and a face bearing the marks of hardships...

His height was just a bit over 1.7 meters, but he was very sturdy, with calloused hands that were slightly deformed from years of toil and contact with icy water, yet his thick fingers seemed exceptionally powerful.

When Indians didn’t smile, their tall noses and the resultant creases would make them appear extraordinarily serious.

It was evident that Wayne Dort wanted to express his goodwill, but after trying a few times, he still couldn’t manage to smile naturally.

In the end, with a complex expression, he could only hesitantly present Mountain Eagle with a handmade wooden carving said to deter evil spirits, then stammered an invitation for him to visit their village to the north...

After finishing, the man turned and headed towards the reindeer they had brought along, seemingly wanting to use processing the reindeer as a way to ease his awkwardness...

A boy about ten years old tugged at the hem of Wayne Dort’s shirt anxiously and said, "Dad, what will we do if we run out of gasoline?"

Wayne Dort glanced at the boy, rubbed his head, and said, "There will always be a way."

The voices of the father and son weren’t loud, but Mountain Eagle’s hearing was excellent, so he heard everything clearly!

Mountain Eagle didn’t believe this was a scene they had rehearsed in advance. He shook his head, smiling wryly, and called out to the retreating figure of Wayne Dort, "Hey, Wayne, if I come to visit your place with gifts, will you let me go home hungry?"

Wayne Dort stopped in his tracks, turned to face Mountain Eagle, and said with a very serious tone, "The Indians of Alaska treat friends as family; we will share everything we have with our friends!"

Mountain Eagle, upon hearing this, responded with a smile, "I can’t do the same!

However, I have medicine, gasoline, bullets, fishing nets, fish hooks, and engine parts here; maybe in the future I’ll even have vegetables and rice...

When you come to visit me, you’ll never have to worry about fuel for the trip back home. If you need it, you can bring any extra meat or furs from your home to exchange for what you want here."

Saying this, Mountain Eagle pointed to where his tent was located and continued with a smile, "I don’t even have a clean house over here...

If you are willing to lend a hand in the work and help turn this camp into the place I envision, I am willing to provide a salary, or of course, anything else you might need..."

Wayne Dort looked at Mountain Eagle’s sincere face and said a bit excitedly, "Are you serious?"

Mountain Eagle took a few steps forward, reaching out his hand towards Wayne Dort, and said earnestly, "If you consider me a friend, then everything I just said is true!"

Wayne Dort looked at Mountain Eagle’s hand for a few seconds in silence, then with a serious expression, he stepped forward briskly and grasped Mountain Eagle’s hand firmly, saying, "I hope you consider us as friends!"

Feeling the strength in Wayne’s palm, Mountain Eagle returned the gesture with a smile. The moment his face thawed into warmth, he hugged this Indian man firmly and said, "Hurry up and prepare the reindeer, and I’ll show you how Chinese treat their friends!"

Saying that, Mountain Eagle looked at the curious boy beside him and smiled, "There’s a little bit of a time crunch, but a good meal is worth waiting for!

If anyone doesn’t eat well today, it’s my fault for being an inadequate host!"

The boy glanced at the excited expression on his father’s face and said to Mountain Eagle, "Sir, I have 5 fox furs, 5 beaver skins, and 6 reindeer skins. Can you sell me a rifle and some bullets?"

Mountain Eagle looked at the boy, who couldn’t have been more than eleven or twelve, and smiled, "What’s your name, and what do you need a rifle for?"

The boy said earnestly, "My name is Jesse. If I had a rifle, I could go hunting and protect my mom and the elders in the village."

Mountain Eagle glanced at Wayne and, seeing no objection, spread his hands and said, "I have a .22 rifle here. As soon as you bring the pelts, you can take it.

When you’re a little older, you can come to me, and then you can switch to one with a larger caliber."

The boy Jesse shook hands with Mountain Eagle, his expression serious, "Sir, please prepare a Garand Rifle for me. I will grow up soon..."

Mountain Eagle couldn’t help but laugh at the boy’s words and looked at Wayne a bit enviously, saying, "He’s a good kid..."

Wayne nodded and said, "Yes, last year Jesse hunted a black bear with my rifle. He’s bound to become a skilled hunter in the future!"

Mountain Eagle wasn’t too accustomed to this style of the westerners but still truly envied the relationship between Wayne and his son...

I don’t need to worry about the distant future or care whether he will be successful. All I need is to teach him what I know, then applaud his every success, and that’s enough!

Mountain Eagle, moved in his heart, bumped fists with Jesse, then clapped his hands and said, "Alright, Mr. Hunter, tell me which parts of the reindeer are the tastiest, and then I’ll try the Hua Country’s secret recipe. I hope I won’t disappoint everyone."

Hearing this, Jesse’s mouth watered, and he said, "I love the deer tongue and deer heart the most. But the meat from the front legs is also really great!"

Mountain Eagle made an OK gesture with his hand and then smiled, "No problem, then I’ll get prepared. I hope I won’t let you down..."

After finishing, Mountain Eagle watched the father and son heading toward the reindeer. He looked around, roughly estimating the number of people present, then turned to Little Ruby, who’d been grinning beside him, and said, "Hey buddy, I need a couple of large wood stoves and a big oven..."

Little Ruby didn’t seem to care much about what to eat that night. He looked at Mountain Eagle curiously and said, "Boss, was everything you just said true?"

Mountain Eagle didn’t immediately catch on and frowned, "What’s true?"

Little Ruby gestured awkwardly and said, "Just let them exchange things for it..."

Mountain Eagle seemed to understand as he looked at the naive redhead before him. He smiled and nodded, "Of course it’s true!

This was a promise I made to your father when I bought this camp...

I’m okay with anything as long as I don’t have to deal with those fur and fish catches. Actually, Alaska’s fur is quite popular elsewhere, maybe I can even make some money."

Little Ruby blinked with a tangled expression on his face, wanting to say something, but Mountain Eagle stopped him just as he was about to speak...

"I will find a way for everyone to win, but now I need a few large stoves, you help me think of something..."

Little Ruby was stunned for a moment, then nodded and took a few steps before turning back and shouting to Mountain Eagle, "Boss, you definitely won’t regret it!"

After watching Little Ruby leave, Mountain Eagle turned to Daria beside him and said, "A child wants to have a gun to protect his family and village, why do you think that is?"

Daria knew what the boss wanted. She nodded and said, "Boss, I’m still sorting through the information provided by those travel companies and State Police. So far, we’ve only found a suspicious place upriver on the Yukon River near the Arctic Circle.

But it’s too far from the location of Arctic Fox’s base in Beisai...

This is the most suspicious place right now, maybe we should find an opportunity to go into the mountains and take a look!

Someone willing to spend millions to hire people like Black Fox must be dealing with a major issue or competing for a significant interest.

We’ll have the answers after we have a look!"

Mountain Eagle listened, smiled, and nodded, "You’re right, we’ll have the answers after a look..."

Saying that, Mountain Eagle watched Little Ruby set up two oil barrel stoves, and he asked with a smile, "How’s the knife working out for you?"

"What?"

Mountain Eagle looked at Daria who was slightly baffled and said with a smile, "I’m asking how the knife is working out for you?

I need a reliable little helper, otherwise I can’t keep up!"

Half an hour later, Mountain Eagle stood in front of a super-large cutting board temporarily made by Little Ruby, looking at a reindeer that had been skinned...

The reindeer’s head and viscera had been removed, only leaving behind the deer heart and deer liver...

Actually, Mountain Eagle was interested in the offal, but with so many people around, he didn’t dare to try rashly, so he could only watch helplessly as Wayne directed everyone to chop up the messy viscera and throw them into the river...

Mountain Eagle initially felt it was a bit of a waste, but when a bunch of kids each holding a fishing pole walked by, he realized what it meant to utilize everything.

In the true wilderness, nothing would be wasted!

Butcher, the real butcher, was pulled by Mountain Eagle in front of the cutting board. Following the boss’s instructions, Butcher quickly dissected the reindeer...

Mountain Eagle stood beside Butcher, separating the large reindeer ribs one by one, chopping them into roughly half-foot sections, then throwing them into an oversized plastic tub...

Then, at the cost of a bag of candies, he hired a little girl to rinse continuously with a hose, using flowing water to wash away the blood.

Apart from the rib racks, the spine and neck were treated the same...

The Chinese style of food preparation is vastly different from that in North America...

Mountain Eagle had never cooked reindeer, so he simply treated it like lamb.

The Indians were witnessing someone treating the less meaty deer spine and neck with such seriousness for the first time.

Little did they know that East had already developed the sheep spine into a famous dish called Scorpion!

In some places, sheep neck is even a dish on its own!

Mountain Eagle’s culinary skills honed at home were reliable, but this was his first time cooking for so many people.

He couldn’t manage the delicate methods, so he opted for a big-pot cooking style.

Ingredients like lamb chops were washed for half an hour and then blanched in a large pot. After skimming off the scant foam, Mountain Eagle put spices wrapped in cheesecloth, ten or so chopped onions and ginger into a sixty-centimeter diameter, one-meter-high stainless steel pot, and poured in a whole bottle of soy sauce and half a bottle of Butter...

Three reindeer’s ribs, spines, and necks just fit in one pot!

Next came the stewing!

To prevent not having enough, Mountain Eagle used his own beef, potatoes, and tomatoes to stew another big pot.

Mountain Eagle didn’t use the third pot right away but boiled a large pot of water for reserve...

Then, Butcher used a hammer to slightly break apart the sinews in the reindeer legs, smeared them with the various sauces prepared by Mountain Eagle, mixed them with celery and chopped onions prepared by Daria, wrapped them up in aluminum foil with big chunks of Butter, and placed them in the oil barrel converted into a large oven for roasting.

Finally, the deer tongue, liver, and heart, and tendons—which others thought were inedible—were cut into pieces by Mountain Eagle, blanched, then put into a pressure cooker to stew in the style of marinated dishes.

Honestly, while three deer seemed like a lot, the actual amount of food after preparation wasn’t particularly much.

Mountain Eagle wasn’t sure about how much everyone present could eat, so he lavishly used the Emperor Salmon Wayne and the others brought, slathered it with the remaining sauce, wrapped it in foil, set up a grill on the open ground, and told a group of children to have fun grilling.

As the atmosphere gradually became lively, Old Qiao called Little Ruby to move out a few large beer kegs and placed several bottles of whiskey beside them...