Landlord in the Arctic-Chapter 44: The Delivery

While waiting for the plane, Feng Shan shot a total of seven wild rabbits, which Prince dragged back one by one, huffing and puffing.

In autumn, wild rabbits prepared for the coming winter by eating voraciously, causing each one to weigh four or five pounds. For the Tundra Hunters of the Arctic Circle, hunting rabbits wasn’t worth the effort unless absolutely necessary.

For the same amount of energy expended, a rabbit only yielded two hind legs worth eating. To a Hunter, this made hunting reindeer a much more rewarding endeavor.

But for Feng Shan, wild rabbit was a rare delicacy.

Dry-Pot Rabbit, Spicy Diced Rabbit, Spicy Rabbit Head, Hand-Shredded Rabbit...

’I can make over a dozen different rabbit dishes.’

Feng Shan picked up a wild rabbit and tossed it to Prince, to get it used to eating raw meat and awaken its wild instincts. After all, this was the Far North Tundra, with predators hiding everywhere. Without a fierce nature, it wouldn’t be able to survive.

RUMBLE RUMBLE!!

A deafening roar of propellers came from the sky, shattering the tranquility of the barren Tundra.

Feng Shan raised his head to look and saw several faint black dots slowly appearing amidst the heavy, lead-gray clouds.

As time passed, the black dots grew closer, and their silhouettes gradually became clearer.

Five bush planes of varying sizes, like valiant eagles, broke through the layers of clouds and mist, speeding toward Crown Territory.

Feng Shan quickly returned to the empty runway and waved his arms to guide the group of planes.

The group of planes was like a swift gale, whistling past over Feng Shan’s head. The powerful downdraft whipped up the hem of his clothes and sent his hair into a frenzy.

Afterward, the planes circled in the air, seemingly arranging their landing order.

A large, barrel-shaped bush plane was the first to begin its descent. It touched down smoothly, its wide tundra tires bouncing a few times on the runway before it slowly came to a stop.

Following that, the other four smaller bush planes landed in an orderly fashion. Each plane used a high angle of attack for its landing, touching down with a precision and fluidity that showed the pilots were all experts.

A bald pilot jumped down from his plane, yanking open the cabin door. It was stuffed to the brim. "That’s Feng. Hurry and unload this stuff. I’m in a rush to get back to Fairbanks."

"That’s me!" Feng Shan hurried forward, looked around, and said, "Where’s Tom? Isn’t he on one of the planes?"

"That bastard is on one of the planes behind. Dog shit, he made me load up on nothing but rice and flour. Do you know how much gas that wastes?" the bald pilot cursed. Suddenly noticing Feng Shan’s expression, he quickly added, "Hey buddy, I wasn’t cursing at you. I meant that bastard Tom."

"I couldn’t agree more. He really is a bastard!" Feng Shan nodded, grabbing a sack of rice and a sack of flour and stacking them on the edge of the runway.

After the other planes came to a stop, the pilots pitched in to help unload the supplies from the cabins.

"Feng, you doing okay?" Tom’s voice came from behind one of the bush planes. Feng Shan, who had just set down a sack of rice, looked up. He was puzzled. The plane Tom had flown wasn’t his usual beat-up, second-hand clunker.

"Buddy, you broke the Liberty. I had to borrow a plane," Tom said, looking heartbroken.

’Broke it?’

’No, I was saving you.’

’That clunker of yours rattles from top to bottom when it flies. It’s louder than the propellers. It could have turned into a firework show in the sky at any moment.’

Feng Shan couldn’t be bothered to call Tom’s bluff.

"Your friends were looking for you, so I brought them along," Tom said, remembering something. He turned his head and pointed to the plane he had flown.

’Friends?’

’I have friends in Fairbanks?’

’Frank doesn’t count. He’s a stud.’

Feng Shan looked in the direction Tom was pointing and was surprised to see the family of three he had helped at the restaurant.

However, the man was on his knees, retching his guts out, while the woman stood beside him with a worried look on her face. The little boy, on the other hand, spotted Feng Shan and ran over excitedly.

"Uncle, Liangliang came to find the doggy! Where’s the doggy?"

"He’s over there eating some meat. Don’t go and pet him, he’ll get angry," Feng Shan said, pointing to Prince, who was tearing at a wild rabbit on the edge of the runway. He made a point of warning the little boy.

Oh!

The little boy nodded as if he understood and ran towards Prince.

After the man finished throwing up, he walked over slowly with his wife’s support. When he saw Tom, he couldn’t help but ask.

"Mr. Tom, in your country, are pilots allowed to drink while flying?"

"Buddy, stop nagging like a woman over such a small thing. We landed safely, didn’t we?" Tom pursed his lips dismissively.

"You..." Zhang Kai was so angry he wanted to curse, his eyes wide as he glared at Tom.

’Don’t you know I’m here representing China’s major tourism companies to scout out travel routes? Even your state government has to greet me with a smile, because I’m the one who brings them business!’

’And you! My whole family of three was on that plane, and you fucking dared to drink and fly? You flew that thing like a drunken bee, swerving all over the place!’

’Believe it or not, I can make one phone call and have you grounded for good!’

Feng Shan knew that if he didn’t intervene, Tom would be in deep trouble. At best, his flight operations would be suspended; at worst, his license would be revoked outright. The man depended entirely on flying for his livelihood.

"Hello. Tom thought you were a friend of mine and was just putting on a special show for you. He didn’t expect to frighten you. I apologize on his behalf."

He could refuse to give face to others, but he couldn’t refuse to give face to Feng Shan. After all, the man had saved his wife and child.

At this thought, Zhang Kai’s expression softened a little, though he still shot Tom an angry glare. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Fine. But don’t let it happen again."

"Hello, Mr. Feng. I’m Zhang Kai. I made this trip specifically to express my gratitude."

After speaking, Zhang Kai glanced at his wife’s empty hands, then hurried back to the plane. When he returned, he was carrying two gift boxes.

"It was nothing. When we’re abroad, we countrymen should look out for each other. You don’t have to do this," Feng Shan said, waving his hand to refuse the gift.

"This is Mingqian Longjing tea I brought from China. I’d planned to give it to some foreigners during a project negotiation, but they don’t have the taste for good green tea. It’d be a waste. I can’t take it back, so I’d rather give it to you—it’s better to keep the good stuff for our own people."

Zhang Kai spoke with such tact that Feng Shan couldn’t refuse, so he accepted it with a smile.

By this time, all the supplies had been unloaded from the planes.

The pilots said their goodbyes and, one by one, flew their planes out of Crown Territory.

"Brother Feng Shan, looks like you’re planning to live here permanently!" Zhang Kai asked curiously, seeing the piles of various supplies on the edge of the runway.

"Yeah. This land was left to me by my grand-uncle." Feng Shan made a broad, casual gesture with his hand, not specifying how large it was.

But in Zhang Kai’s eyes, that casual gesture encompassed at least a hundred-odd acres of land.

Buying land abroad wasn’t unusual, as long as you had the money. But to be able to stick it out in such a desolate place was something else entirely.

"Hey, what are you two talking about? Why can’t you speak English?" Tom, still unaware he’d just been saved from the unemployment line, stood to the side, feeling like an idiot listening to the two of them converse in their native language.

"Hmph. Feng says all this land is his," Zhang Kai said. Although he wasn’t going to report Tom, he certainly hadn’t forgiven him.

Tom nodded with a serious expression and picked up the thread of the conversation.

"That’s right. All the land here belongs to Feng. Feng is the biggest landowner in Alaska, with 500,000 acres of private land, including those three snow-capped mountains."

Huh?

Zhang Kai’s eyes went wide.

’My last comment was meant to provoke Tom, to show him that my fellow countryman owned a huge piece of land while he was just a pilot.’

’Who would have thought it would lead to such an earth-shattering revelation?’

’Five hundred thousand acres of private land.’

’The biggest landowner in all of Alaska.’

Holy crap!

’How could someone this amazing be completely unheard of back in China?’

.....