Feng Shan was very satisfied after touring the wooden house.

After all, conditions were limited. The amount of work it took to build a house like this in the Far North Tundra was beyond words.

"Mr. Feng, are you satisfied with the house? Is there anything you’d like adjusted?" Jennifer asked with a smile. "We’ve performed a full thermal leakage inspection on the entire structure, and everything passed. The recirculating heating system can keep the interior at around fifteen degrees."

Fifteen degrees!

The fireplace on the bus had to burn all day just to maintain that temperature, and this house was a much, much larger space.

"It’s excellent." Feng Shan took out a check for the second payment on the house.

"Thank you. It’s been a pleasure working with you!"

Her payment received, it was time to take her leave, her work successfully completed.

Jennifer’s smile grew even wider. "Well, I’ll let you enjoy your new home. Contact me directly if you need anything."

After Jennifer left, only members of the Crown Territory were left in the house. Everyone let loose, and with Erica in the lead, they began to excitedly run all over the place.

"How are they?" Frank asked, looking at the five former vagrants he’d picked out, then turning to Feng Shan with a grin.

"Not bad!" Feng Shan rolled his eyes. ’He’s deliberately trying to get a rise out of me,’ he thought, recalling his own initial disdain when he first met them.

"Come on, let’s go out for a couple of drinks. Today is a great day. As they say in China, it’s a housewarming."

Frank affectionately slung an arm around Feng Shan’s shoulders and started walking toward the front door.

"Feng, can I have the spare bedroom?" Erica shouted, leaning over the second-floor railing.

Without looking back, Feng Shan gave her an OK sign with his hand and walked out the door.

Outside the house, sunlight spilled onto the green moss, where a lively party was already in full swing.

Colorful balloons swayed gently in the breeze, and cheerful music filled the air.

Having worked together for some time now, everyone knew each other well. They held glasses in their hands, chatting with broad smiles.

An enticing aroma wafted from the barbecue grill, and delicious food was laid out on the tables.

’It takes a professional team to organize a proper party in a place like the Tundra,’ Feng Shan thought.

’The power of the almighty dollar is truly something else.’

As Feng Shan walked into the crowd, everyone raised their glasses to congratulate him.

The smile on Old Swan’s face couldn’t quite hide his disappointment.

The five hangars and two fuel depots were complete, and it was almost time to return to Kivalina.

’He was truly reluctant to leave this magical land.’

He had brought up the matter of Kivalina’s relocation with Feng several times, but Feng kept avoiding the topic. The answer was already obvious.

Feng was unwilling to take in the people of Kivalina.

’Sigh!’

"Old Swan, thanks for all your hard work these past few days!" Feng Shan said, spotting him drinking gloomily in the crowd and walking over with his glass.

"Hard work? I got to eat reindeer meat every day. Congratulations on your beautiful new house." Old Swan raised his glass.

The two men lightly clinked their glasses.

"I’ll have Yves fly you all back to Kivalina this afternoon," Feng Shan said quietly, pulling a check from his pocket. "This is everyone’s pay. Don’t refuse. I know what you want to say, but just consider it a token of my appreciation."

Old Swan stared at the long string of numbers on the check. Words of refusal caught in his throat, but he couldn’t bring himself to say them. He couldn’t refuse on behalf of the others.

"Enjoy the party!" Feng Shan gave a small smile, raised his glass, and went to find the installation contractor.

The installation contractor was also leaving today, and his workers were eager to return to the warmer inland regions.

Likewise, the construction team that had built the airport runway was also finished and would be leaving today.

... 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The lively party continued into the afternoon.

The Wind-Rolling Grass Company plane landed on the new runway.

The time for goodbyes had arrived.

Feng Shan saw Jennifer and the installation workers onto the plane, after which Yves flew the residents of Kivalina Town out.

Next was the construction team from the North Slope Petroleum Company. Since seven or eight of their small construction vehicles required a CH-54 to be airlifted, the team could only wait in place.

A small excavator costs tens of thousands of dollars, while a CH-54 costs 100,000 US dollars per flight hour. A quick comparison showed it wasn’t cost-effective to haul the equipment back.

Jie Luo made an executive decision on the spot, gifting the small excavators and bulldozers to Feng Shan.

After Feng Shan saw everyone off, the once-bustling Glacial River Beach was left in silence and emptiness.

A cold wind blew gently, kicking up fine snowflakes with a soft SHUSH.

"Feng, you want some help moving?" Erica and all the members of the Crown Territory came speeding over on their snowmobiles.

Feng Shan put on a mock-angry expression. "Of course! Were you planning on making me do all the work myself?"

"If you treat us to some real Chinese food tonight, we’ll help you move in exchange!" Erica said with a sly grin.

Feng Shan shook his head helplessly and hopped on the back of Nash’s snowmobile. "Alright, you bunch of greedy guts. Deal!"

Everyone burst out laughing as they started their snowmobiles and sped off toward the bus camp.

He usually felt like he didn’t own much, but once they started digging it all out, the sheer amount of stuff was headache-inducing.

Food, equipment, animal hides, supplies, weapons...

The weapons alone numbered over thirty rifles and handguns, including two cases of fully automatic weapons and ammunition that had mysteriously arrived a few days ago.

’This stuff can’t fall into the wrong hands, especially that little minx, Erica. She’s been hunting with Nash lately and is always trying to sweet-talk him into letting her play with his guns.’

He packed the weapons into cases. As for the Russian Mosin-Nagant M91s, he also picked out several dozen of them to hang on the walls of the house.

’Just imagine,’ he thought, ’a guest walks into the house and is greeted by a neat row of Mosin-Nagant M91s. They’d be completely blown away.’

Feng Shan, Nash, and Yves dragged the sleds full of weapons back to the new camp, making sure Erica didn’t see them.

The Wind-Rolling Grass Company had thoughtfully designed a hidden armory in the second-floor master bedroom. It was about fifteen square meters in size, and the walls were fitted with special gun racks, convenient for storing various rifles and handguns.

Feng Shan hung the shotguns, rifles, revolvers, and pistols on the racks.

A personal armory was gradually taking shape, though unfortunately, there were still many empty spots on the racks.

’I’ll have these racks filled up sooner or later.’

Feng Shan made a silent vow before turning and walking out of the bedroom.

Back at the bus camp, bags and bundles large and small were piled up all over the clearing. Most of it was the rice and flour that had been stored in the cave, along with other supplies like smoked and cured meats.

"Did you empty out the entire place? Are you planning to starve Frank?" Feng Shan was speechless. These guys had really cleaned house, not leaving a single thing behind for Frank.

Maria explained quietly, "Mr. Frank told us to take it all. He said he doesn’t need it."

"That’s right, I said it," Frank said, emerging from the bus with a reindeer blanket in his arms. "This stuff is useless to me. I don’t cook, so it just takes up space. Your house has a storage room."

"Alright, then!"

Since the new resident of the bus had said so himself, what more could Feng Shan say?

They loaded the supplies onto the sleds and hauled them back to the house, one trip after another.

Fortunately, Feng Shan had asked Old Swan to build a few storage sheds at the new camp, which were more than enough to hold everything.

With the members of the Crown Territory working like ants, the once-empty house was gradually filled with all sorts of items.

A comfortable sofa and coffee table were arranged in the living room, with soft animal-hide pillows tossed casually on the side.

The log walls were hung with antique rifles and that one exquisite oil painting, adding a touch of artistic flair to the house.

The kitchen was fully equipped with pots and pans, and the cupboards were stuffed with food and seasonings.

The bedrooms were also tidied up by Jenny and Maria with hide blankets. A laundry basket was placed by the door, so whenever Feng Shan tossed his clothes in, someone would come to collect them for washing.

"Food! Food!" Now that the work was done, Erica was so hungry she felt her stomach was stuck to her spine. She stood on the sofa, yelling.

"I know, I know!" Feng Shan shot her a look. ’She did the least work but is shouting the loudest.’ "Jenny, come help me in the kitchen."

"Okay!" Jenny placed a basket of dried reindeer jerky on the coffee table and walked into the kitchen with a smile.

On the kitchen counter sat a strange pot, the likes of which Jenny had never seen before.

It had a round, copper body with a hollow, cylindrical tube in the center, and a base underneath.

"Khilla, what kind of pot is this?"

"It’s a copper hot pot from my hometown. I bought it at a Chinese supermarket in Fairbanks. I’ll show you how to use it in a bit." Feng Shan took out a thoroughly frozen cut of musk ox neck and placed it on the counter to slice.

This particular cut, the neck roll, comes from the front of the shoulder, where it connects to the spine. It’s one of the most frequently exercised parts of the animal.

This makes the meat exceptionally tender and juicy, with a perfect balance of fat and lean, and clear, beautiful marbling.

It comes from the raised hump on the musk ox’s neck, which moves frequently, resulting in exceptionally tender meat. The texture is soft and fatty, and the flavor is fresh, sweet, and crisp.

The musk ox neck was frozen solid, but under Feng Shan’s top-tier slicing knife, it was like cutting tofu. One after another, perfectly thin slices of meat fell onto the plate.

Once a plate was full of sliced meat, Feng Shan looked at Jenny.

"Take this plate outside for me. The meat won’t be as good if it thaws."

"Of course." As a two-star Michelin chef, Jenny had no complaints about being relegated to a prep cook’s duties.

She picked up the plate and quickly walked out the back door of the kitchen.

Feng Shan continued slicing. Everyone in the house was a carnivore; one plate of meat wouldn’t even be enough to get stuck in their teeth.

After finishing the neck roll, there was still rib meat, ribeye, strip loin...

He ended up filling over a dozen plates, all piled high with meat. ’If I served this portion back in China,’ he thought, ’I’d definitely lose money.’

With the meat all sliced, Feng Shan then got busy stir-frying the ingredients for the soup base.

In weather this cold, a numbing and spicy red broth hot pot was the best choice. A clear broth just wouldn’t have the same kick.

First, he heated a mixture of oils, adding dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns to release their fragrance. Second, once the chilies were fully fried, he removed them and added musk ox tallow. Third, he added broad bean paste and stir-fried it until the oil turned red. Fourth, he seasoned it with an appropriate amount of salt, chicken powder, oyster sauce, and soy sauce.

Finally, he poured in a can of beer for extra flavor.

Once the mixture had cooked down until the beer reduced and the oils separated, it was ready to be scooped out.

By now, the numbing and spicy aroma of the hot pot base had drifted into the living room. Erica, with Maria and Tammy in tow, crouched at the kitchen doorway, sniffing the air repeatedly.

Feng Shan carried the copper hot pot out of the kitchen, set it down on the long dining table, and asked deliberately.

"Who’s going to grab some hot coals from the fireplace?"

Erica’s hand shot up. "I will!"

"Who can get some fresh water?"

Maria turned and ran for the kitchen. "I’ll get it!"

Only Tammy was left standing there, looking pitiful and left out.

Feng Shan said gently, "Who can help me bring in the meat from outside?"

"I will!" Tammy immediately raised her little hand happily and ran out of the house without a second glance.

...