I am a local in North America

Chapter 57 Grandpa, save me...

To Su Jerry, these words from the staff of the Bass Bass Fishing Tournament were tantamount to—

"Give up! You're not going to win that $20 prize!"

Even though I remembered the bass fishing competition a few days ago, it was too late; registration had already closed in early December last year.

So although Su Jierui felt sorry for her, there was nothing he could do.

He gazed at the grey-blue sea outside the ferry, thinking that since there were several events held every year across the United States, he could try his luck next time and see if he could win the ultimate million-dollar grand prize.

On the ferry deck, Su Jierui and his sister Arou dreamed about the future.

Su Jerry wanted to include everything, including woodland off-roading, camping areas, fishing areas, fruit and vegetable farms, resorts, and more.

At this moment, Arou said again:

"If the number of cattle and sheep raised increases, the beaver ranch will definitely have a strong odor, which will affect tourists' vacation experience."

"Let me take some time to study it and see how best to balance the 'tourist area' and the 'grazing area'. I'll make a conceptual blueprint for you first."

"As for the resort, the investment is too large; it's best to slow it down..."

Su Jierui snapped his fingers and shook them:
"There are ways to save money."

“I saw on YouTube that some people buy portable camping cabins and capsule rooms directly from China. The designs are also very novel and beautiful.”

"Then all you need to do is build the infrastructure like water, electricity, sewage, and lighting. This will save you a lot of labor and material costs, and you won't need to go through the complicated procedures of registering and applying for development..."

"...Using prefabricated modular buildings? That's actually a good idea. I'll look for some online for you later."

Arou agreed.

She acted like a designer working for a client, constantly refining the requirements step by step through communication with Su Jierui.

All I can say is that many ideas are wonderful, but wanting everything leads to ever-increasing development budgets.

But she didn't dampen her enthusiasm. Instead, she thought that by prioritizing different areas and proceeding step by step, she could theoretically build a mature and popular tourist ranch in one or two decades.

Arou quickly did some mental calculations. This timeline was based on the fact that she needed to repay over $100,000 in bank loans and pay $35,000 in property taxes each year, plus miscellaneous expenses. She was lucky if she could have enough money left for cash flow by the end of the year.

Many other farmers and ranchers have also accumulated their wealth little by little over the years in the same way.

While Su Jierui verbally agreed, he was already thinking about searching for videos to see how others made their fortunes.

He knew perfectly well that there was a gold mine buried underground, so his thoughts were naturally different from Arou's.

"Just extracting the surface enrichment layer is enough to complete the initial construction."

Su Jerry thought optimistically:

"If we just convert the gold underground into US dollars, the overall development of the beaver ranch will proceed quite quickly..."

------------

The car drove off the ferry and along the road for a while.

"Hey, wasn't that intersection where you were supposed to turn? Brother, you must have gone the wrong way," Arou asked, pointing to the intersection they had just missed.

Su Jierui looked straight ahead and explained:
“I know you have something on your mind. If you don’t resolve it soon, you’ll have trouble sleeping tonight. I’ll take you to your grandparents’ house for a meal.”

"...Could you take me home first? I'd like to look up some information about that military castle for you. If any historical figure lived or worked there, it might become very valuable after it's restored."

Arou isn't afraid of her parents getting angry; she's more afraid of her grandfather.

Knowing the truth but not reporting it, she accompanied Su Jierui without saying a word, and suddenly went to pay the $5 deposit. Of course, she knew how serious the consequences of this matter were!

At this moment, all I want to do is extricate myself from the situation to avoid being implicated by my brother.

Su Jierui, of course, refused, only replying with a smile:
"Ah Rou... I've raised you for a thousand days, and the crucial moment to use you is approaching. Come with me today and be my shield. In the future, I'll build you a vacation cottage at the Beaver Ranch. Isn't that a fair deal?"

The price was indeed very reasonable. Reaching this conclusion in a flash, Arou decisively said:

"Okay, no need to spend any more money. Once you move to the seaside castle, you can leave me the little wooden house by the lake occasionally."

"make a deal!"

"I hope you can still smile later," Arou muttered to herself.

Northwest corner of Bellevue, Seattle.

Even without knowing the property prices in this area, just looking at the villas of various styles and the luxury cars like Bentleys and Lamborghinis parked in front of the houses, you can tell that this is definitely a wealthy neighborhood.

The old house where Su Jierui's grandparents now live is in a pretty good location, but it looks rather ordinary and is obviously far inferior to the mansions nearby that were built at great expense.

I parked the car easily in front of my grandparents' house. I could see salted pork drying in front of the garage. It's not healthy to eat too much of this stuff, but it tastes especially good when used to make soup or rice.

After going around the house to the back garden, I saw Grandma tending to a wintersweet tree, and there were many broken icicles on the ground.

Meanwhile, Grandpa Su was sitting on his private little dock by the lake, fishing with a rod in his hand. Next to him was a small stove, steaming hot, as if he were boiling water to make tea and warming himself up at the same time.

Upon seeing the two siblings, Grandma's face immediately lit up with joy. She asked, "You've come to visit! Have you had lunch yet? I just prepared some meat filling and was about to make some dumplings tonight!"

On a whim, Arou immediately stepped forward and took her grandmother's arm, saying in a tone that sounded like she was pleading:
"I'm a little hungry. Grandma, let's make dumplings together. I haven't had them in about a year. My mom's filling is too bland, not as good as yours."

"Of course! I've told your mother before, but she just wouldn't listen..."

"Grandma, let me help you knead the dough!"

As Arou spoke, she practically pushed her grandmother into the house, leaving Su Jierui with only a "good luck" look in her eyes.

"..."

Seeing that his sister ultimately chose to run away at the last minute, Su Jierui's lips twitched.

Hearing the commotion behind him, Grandpa Su turned around, smiled, and waved to Su Jerry, asking:
“Go to the garage and get a fishing rod. Shall we go fishing together? Didn’t you say you have exceptionally good fishing luck and caught a lot of big fish when you were on the show? There are quite a few fish in this Lake Washington…”

Once the real estate agent and the bank have finished dealing with the matter, Su Jierui, who is still a student for the time being, will need his family to help guarantee the loan. He will definitely need to communicate with his grandparents first.

Thinking that he could only hide for a while, but not forever, Su Jierui took a few deep breaths, forced a smile, and walked over.

Instead of grabbing the fishing rod, he sat down on the low stool next to his grandfather, his gaze wandering as he looked at the lake.

He gritted his teeth and hardened his heart, saying:

“Grandpa, save me… My mom asked me to look at houses, and I found a huge ranch near Port Angelis online. It’s 1208 acres! You can see snow-capped mountains and the ocean, and there’s a private beach. The scenery is absolutely gorgeous.”

“I originally just went to take a look, but I didn’t expect the seller to be having a discount promotion. The price was so good that I paid a deposit of $5.”

"But I don't have any income right now. I can use the money from running the ranch to repay the loan later. The problem is that I need someone to act as a guarantor for me so that the bank will be more willing to lend money. Otherwise, I'll have to spend another $5000 to create a fake income statement..."

"..."

The amount of information was overwhelming, and the smile on Grandpa Su's face gradually faded. He slowly put down his fishing rod and sat up straight.

After several seconds, his grandfather skipped over other unimportant details and went straight to the point:

"How much in total? Port Angelis is really beautiful; in winter, you can see the snow-capped mountains from afar. Sometimes the price for Dungeness crabs is even higher, and the fuel and maintenance costs are cheaper. I used to go there often and know the area quite well. Where exactly is it?"

Su Jerry said vaguely:
"With such a large area, the price is naturally not cheap."

"However, the real estate agent had previously had someone assess the value of the timber on the land, and it was estimated to be around $75, which was also included in this transaction."

"There's a military fortress by the sea, and an old pier, which was said to have been mainly used to check for smuggling and to dock coast guard patrol boats..."

Seeing that Su Jerry was unwilling to disclose the price, Old Master Su keenly sensed something was amiss. He stared intently at him and pressed further:
"Oh, there? I've been back and forth countless times. So how much did you pay for it? Did you talk to your parents about it?"

"Haha... I really love it. I make money as a content creator online, and my income has increased quite a bit recently."

Su Jierui chuckled twice, knowing he couldn't avoid it, and steeled himself to speak:

"A total of $350 million, I already have enough for the down payment..."

Upon hearing this astonishing figure, which was far beyond what was expected, Old Master Su's hand holding the teacup froze in mid-air.

He slowly turned his head and stared at Su Jierui, as if to confirm whether he had misheard.
At that moment, the expression on Old Master Su's face was as if he had seen his fishing rod reel in a diver, followed by a deep gasp and a throbbing vein on his forehead.

"How many?!"

The old man's voice suddenly rose, filled with disbelief and shock:
"$350 million?! You handled such a huge deal all by yourself?!"

The old man suddenly stood up, paced a couple of steps on the small dock, the wooden dock creaking as it did so.
Do you know how much money this is? Do your parents know? What do they think?

Su Jierui was startled by his grandfather's reaction, but still forced himself to say:
“I haven’t told them yet. Grandpa, I know I was impulsive, but this opportunity to buy the ranch is really good, and the deposit has already been paid…”

Grandpa Su stopped, turned his back to him, and gazed at the shimmering lake. His chest rose and fell slightly, clearly trying to calm his turbulent emotions.

I wasn't as angry as I had imagined.

Or rather, since it concerned his grandson's future, after the initial shock, other worries and considerations quickly took over.

After a long silence, Old Master Su finally asked:

"The deposit has already been paid? There's really no way to get a refund, right?"

"Ugh……"

His grandfather sighed deeply.

Having weathered so many storms over the years, the old man's character was indeed decisive and strong. As if making a huge decision, he quickly said:

"It's good that your generation... has come ashore. Your family has been fishing for generations, so you don't have to follow in our footsteps and avoid living in fear at home."

“I thought about this old house that your great-grandfather left us a few years ago, and then we could buy a small farm in the countryside and settle down. Now it seems there’s no need to keep it any longer, so let’s sell it.”

"I'll scrape together some money for you. When you take out a loan, borrow less from the bank. I heard the interest rates are too high lately. I can go with your grandma to build a small house, and I can help you out in the meantime..."

“1208 acres…tsk, young people are really bold. My friend moved to Darlington and bought a small farm, a total of over thirty acres, which I feel is already quite spacious…”

(End of this chapter)