Alaska Gold Rush Diary

After this incident, Zhou Xin realized that his gold rush would definitely not be as peaceful as he had imagined.

Gold is such a tempting thing for people.

As for myself, I'll probably have to deal with gold for a long time until I earn enough money to live a life of leisure.

"A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime." No matter how careful or discreet you are, you might be targeted by someone with ulterior motives one day.

Just like this guy, if he hadn't remained calm under pressure and come up with a timely countermeasure, and if Edward hadn't provided such a great assist, the two of them would probably have ended up with nothing.

Therefore, it is essential to have a certain level of self-protection ability.

The simplest and most direct way to protect oneself is, of course, to rely on a gun.

But now his marksmanship is absolutely terrible, practically a human outline artist.

You must master marksmanship, not just be able to use it, but be proficient and powerful.

At the very least, one should train to the level of Django.

Or take it a step further and train to the level of Buster Scruggs, the white-clad cowboy gunslinger.

American Iaido is all about speed; drawing the gun, aiming, and firing are all done in one smooth, decisive motion.

No need for deliberate aiming, just draw the gun and fire – that's the charm of American Iaijutsu rapid fire.

Clearly, there is a very long way to go.

"Xin, don't just stand there. I think I need some treatment."

Edward's voice interrupted his thoughts, and Zhou Xin quickly took him back to the camp to bandage him.

Fortunately, it was just a superficial injury and the bones were not damaged.

To make bandaging easier, he simply shaved Edward's head completely bald.

The wound isn't very big; it should heal in about ten days.

It was not yet noon, but after the dangerous experience, Zhou Xin couldn't fall asleep.

So he told Edward to get some rest, and he drove to Kurgadi himself.

He wanted to buy a gun and start practicing American Iaijutsu.

However, he did not have a gun license in Australia, so he could not buy a real gun.

However, there is a type of replica gun here that is not regulated.

Typical toy BB guns have a range of only about 10 meters, while there are high-fidelity air guns that can be loaded with steel balls, with a range of up to 50 meters, almost comparable to real guns.

In Australia, air guns loaded with steel balls are also classified as toy guns and are not subject to regulation.

This gun is perfectly adequate for practicing basic American Iaijutsu.

He quickly found a toy store and bought a Beretta 92F replica pistol, a P229 pistol, and more than two thousand steel balls.

After practicing with over two thousand bullets, your marksmanship should improve significantly.

The wilderness is perfect for practicing shooting; you don't have to worry about accidentally injuring anyone, and there are plenty of birds to use as moving targets for practice.

After purchasing some supplies, he returned to the camp.

He decided that from now on, he would practice his marksmanship for two hours every morning after returning home at 7 a.m. before resting.

There's still about a month left until the end of the gold rush season, so you should at least be able to get the basics down.

Back at the camp, he was quite excited and took out his gun to test it on the birds in the distance.

The result was obvious: even though they were several meters off course, the birds didn't budge an inch.

He was not discouraged and continued practicing for a while before returning to the container to rest.

From then on, in addition to gold mining, he had an extra task every day: practicing shooting.

After arriving in the new area, the harvest was very poor for the first five days.

The situation only began to improve as they gradually moved from the north side of the camp to the east side.

For the previous five days, I could only dig up some small gold nuggets the size of mung beans each day. Although the quantity was not small, the effort I put in was clearly disproportionate to the reward.

As a result, during those days, the two of them could only dig up about one ounce of gold each day.

However, after arriving in the eastern region, the gold nuggets they dug up were much larger, and their harvest began to gradually increase.

By mid-December, their catch had reached 341.2 ounces, 58.8 ounces short of their annual target.

"It seems we definitely won't be able to achieve our goal before Christmas," Edward sighed.

Zhou Xin was also somewhat frustrated. Although his gains had increased somewhat during this period, there had been no significant leap forward.

Compared to the previous month's two harvests of nearly 180 ounces each, this month's harvest can only be described as dismal.

He originally planned to complete his goal before Christmas, then return to Miami to spend Christmas with Zhang Jianing.

—A few days ago, Zhang Jianing messaged him, saying she wanted to spend Christmas with him.

During this period, although the two could not contact each other frequently due to the time difference, Zhang Jianing would send him a message every day.

Occasionally, when both of them happen to be near their phones, she will make a video call.

Zhou Xin could clearly feel that the relationship between the two was gradually becoming closer.

This further solidified Zhou Xin's determination to work hard and make money.

Even if Zhang Jianing doesn't mind, he still hopes to become richer, because in this world, wealth represents strength and power.

He hoped that he would be strong enough when their relationship progressed further.

During this period, he also practiced American Iaijutsu diligently every day without interruption.

At first, he only practiced aiming, but he was immediately inspired by movies and began practicing the most basic drawing of a gun.

Being able to quickly draw a gun from its holster is also a very useful skill.

Like drawing a sword, the art of drawing a gun emphasizes speed.

The moment your opponent touches their gun, you already have it in your hand. This brief difference of a few seconds often determines the outcome of the battle.

Although the scenes in movies like Django Unchained seem exaggerated, they are not impossible to achieve.

Speed ​​and accuracy can both be improved through training.

After about ten days of practice, he could clearly feel that his ability to draw the gun was becoming smoother and smoother, and his accuracy in blind firing had also improved slightly. He could even hit the target occasionally, and he already had a bit of the feel of American Iaijutsu.

Of course, there is still a very long way to go.

He planned in his heart that once he returned to the United States, he would definitely find a good shooting instructor to receive systematic training.

That day, the generator ran out of fuel, and he had to return to Kurgadi to refuel.

Air conditioners consume a lot of electricity every day, so the fuel consumption rate is naturally much faster.

He went straight to the gas station and filled the gas can.

After filling up his tank, he went into the convenience store next to the gas station to see if there was anything he needed to buy.

As soon as he stepped into the convenience store, he felt a jolt and immediately sensed something was wrong.

Because he smelled a very strong scent—the scent of gold!

He quickly regained his composure and casually strolled around the convenience store while secretly observing the situation inside.

The convenience store was rather deserted. Apart from the clerk, there was only him and another male customer wearing a black and white checkered T-shirt and jeans, pulling a suitcase.

The male customer was wearing a baseball cap pulled low, so his face was obscured.

After several months of gold-hunting training, Zhou Xin's "smell for gold" has become extremely sharp.

He quickly pinpointed the source of the smell to the suitcase the male customer was pulling.