Alaska Gold Rush Diary

Chapter 53 Adjustment Strategy

With one person suddenly gone, Zhou Xin and Edward felt a little unaccustomed to it.

"It doesn't feel as lively anymore since Hathaway left," Edward remarked.

"We're here to dig for gold, not for a vacation."

Edward gave him a strange look, then said with a half-smile, "But I feel that some people are even more reluctant to part with her than I am!"

"I've decided, I'm having millennium egg salad for dinner tonight!"

"Ah, no!"

……

That night, Zhou Xin and Edward moved into Zhang Jianing's shipping container.

"It's been so long since I've slept in a bed, it feels so good!"

Edward rolled around on the narrow single bed, almost falling off.

Zhou Xin lay on Zhang Jianing's fragrant and soft bed, feeling very comfortable.

"Now that we can rest better, we need to work harder and improve our efficiency even further."

He hugged Zhang Jianing's pillow, pondering the areas and routes to be searched next.

"Don't worry, I feel full of energy right now, I wish I could stay up all night and go dig for gold."

Edward's words reminded Zhou Xin.

Yes, we can actually mine for gold at night too!

They already had headlamps, and since it was cooler at night, it was actually more comfortable to work than during the day.

Zhou Xin had already marked all the locations, saving the search process, so there was no difference between digging during the day and digging at night.

Moreover, at night, under the light, gold reflects light, making it easier for them to find.

In addition, since they can now rest in air-conditioned containers during the day, they can easily adjust their work hours to the evening.

The only thing to watch out for is venomous snakes.

With the current hot weather, snakes, being cold-blooded animals, naturally prefer to come out and be active at night.

Moreover, visibility is poor at night, making them even harder to spot.

They could only be more careful and carry the snake repellent powder in a sachet-like container.

Fortunately, they have a clear goal and won't wander around aimlessly. As long as they remain vigilant and are wearing snake-proof boots, there shouldn't be any major problems.

After weighing the pros and cons, Zhou Xin decided to switch to mining gold at night from now on.

Edward agreed, noting that the cooler nighttime temperatures would greatly improve efficiency.

Because they need to adjust to the time difference, they plan to sleep until 3 a.m. today and work until 10 a.m.

We got up at 6 p.m., set off to dig for gold at 7 p.m., and continued until 7 p.m. the next day.

From now on, I will work from 7 pm to 7 am.

For late-night snacks, we bring our own lunchboxes. We need to meet deadlines, so we can't be too picky about the food.

At three o'clock that night, the two set off under the moonlight.

The wilderness at night was quiet and cool.

The only inconvenience is that the red flag becomes less conspicuous at night, so you have to be very careful, or you might miss it.

"It seems I need to buy some reflective strips to stick on the flags so that the markers will be very clear at night," Zhou Xin thought to himself.

It has to be said that in such a quiet environment at night, one naturally becomes more focused on work.

Although the two were not far apart, they rarely spoke; the only sounds in the wilderness were the digging and the buzzing of the probes.

By the time the sun rose above the horizon, both of them had already made considerable gains.

And they've been very lucky; they haven't encountered any snakes so far.

It seems that digging for gold at night is indeed a worthwhile endeavor.

At 10 a.m., before the temperature had fully risen, they returned to the camp.

"Xin, this strategy is fantastic! I feel it's much more efficient than mining gold during the day!"

Edward shook the contents of the glass jar, looking quite pleased.

"It looks like if we step up our efforts, we might actually be able to achieve our goal before Christmas," Zhou Xin said.

Zhou Xin cooked some frozen dumplings and ate them, then the two of them went into the container to rest.

When Zhou Xin woke up in the afternoon, she received a message from Zhang Jianing that she had returned to Miami.

"I hope you achieve your goal and return to America soon. I think we can spend Christmas together!"

She said at the end of the message.

Zhou Xin smiled and replied, "Okay."

He quickly received a reply from Zhang Jianing; clearly, she saw his message and responded immediately.

Due to the time difference of more than ten hours between Western Australia and the United States, it should still be three or four in the morning in Miami.

She first sent an angry emoji, then said:

"You didn't reply to my messages for ages, I thought you wouldn't talk to me anymore once I left!"

Zhou Xin replied: "We've adjusted our strategy now. We sleep during the day and mine gold at night, which is more efficient."

"Oh, then you all must be careful tonight!"

Zhou Xin replied with "Received," then suddenly remembered the time difference issue:

"It's still early morning where you are, right? You've been flying all day and have to go to work tomorrow, why aren't you resting?"

After a while, he received Zhang Jianing's reply:

I'm waiting for your reply~

Zhou Xin's heart skipped a beat, and she replied with a smile, "Okay, go get some sleep, otherwise it'll be hard to get through work later." She added a head-patting emoji.

Zhang Jianing replied, "Mmm~" followed by a cute emoji.

……

When Zhou Xin finished washing up, Edward drove back.

It turns out he had gotten up early and then drove to Kurgadi to buy reflective strips.

"Well done, Edward! Now those prime spots are completely exposed under the lights!"

Zhou Xin expressed high praise for his work enthusiasm and initiative.

Afterwards, Zhou Xin simply cooked two dishes and ate them with Edward, and also prepared two large sandwiches as a late-night snack.

"Let's go! Hopefully, I can find a huge gold nugget tonight!" Edward said with high spirits.

And so, the two began a life of working day and night, resting during the day and digging for gold at night.

In the blink of an eye, another month has passed.

During this period, because the area around the camp had been completely excavated, they had to relocate the camp once in order to reduce the distance they had to walk each day.

As December arrived, the weather became even hotter, and it was almost impossible to go out during the day.

By this time, their total harvest had reached 314.5 ounces!

There is now only an 85.5-ounce shortfall from Zhou Xin's annual target of 400 ounces.

However, after moving their camp to the new land, they discovered that the gold content here was much lower than in the previous area.

To be more precise, the area was previously exceptionally rich in gold, while this place is now at a normal level.

In the previous month, the two of them had a harvest of 178.3 ounces and had also dug up several large nuggets, which made up for Edward's previous regrets.

This achievement far exceeds the average level.

Upon arriving in the new area, they clearly felt that not only were there fewer gold spots, but the gold nuggets they harvested were also smaller, almost all being small karaomi.

This drastically reduced their harvest; sometimes the two of them wouldn't even dig up an ounce in a whole night.

The achievement of the annual goals seems to have become uncertain again.