Landlord in the Arctic

Chapter 373: Chapter 283: Celebrating the Holiday (2)

Just as the two of them rode their snowmobiles onto the tundra, Jenny’s voice came over the walkie-talkie.

She was calling everyone in the camp to the dining hall for a meeting. The main agenda was to discuss preparations for the upcoming Christmas holiday.

After all, Christmas is an extremely important holiday in the West, much like the Spring Festival in China. No matter how far people are from home, they always try their best to return and celebrate with their families.

But right now, the camp’s personnel were mainly divided into three groups.

The first group was the Chinese, led by Feng Shan, which included Feng Jun, Sun Jia, and four old men.

The second was the white contingent, led by Jenny, which included people like Yves, Erica, Demi, and Tammy.

The final group was the Indigenous People of Alaska: Nash, the Bear Tribe, and the Inuit.

These three groups made up the large, extended family of the Crown Territory.

By the time Feng Shan walked into the dining hall, the staff had already been trickling in. The room was suddenly abuzz with activity as people gathered in small groups, chatting and laughing about the upcoming Christmas holiday.

However, Feng Shan quickly noticed a problem.

The dining hall seemed lively, but a closer look revealed that everyone had unconsciously segregated themselves, forming several distinct cliques.

Feng Jun, the four old men, and Sun Jia had naturally congregated in one corner, chatting in their familiar Chinese and letting out occasional bursts of laughter.

The white members, led by Jenny, were gathered in another corner. Their topics of conversation and style of interaction were distinctly Western, and they were all familiar and chummy with one another.

Meanwhile, Nash and the members of the Bear Tribe, being Indigenous, stayed together. Not far off, Wawa and a few of the Inuit had also formed a huddle, conversing in low voices in their native tongue.

’The bigger the team, the harder it is to manage.’

Feng Shan sighed inwardly, his brow furrowed in thought.

He knew this obvious racial segregation wasn’t intentional. It was a product of their upbringing.

On this desolate land, the different races had been deliberately stratified into a pecking order.

White supremacy was the norm, with them enjoying the best benefits while the Indigenous People endured all sorts of discrimination. Growing up in such an environment, people began to subconsciously distinguish between races from childhood.

This was then passed down by word of mouth from one generation to the next, eventually becoming a habit ingrained to the bone.

Even though they all lived and worked in the same camp now, that subconscious division was difficult to erase overnight.

Soon, everyone in the camp had arrived, with the exception of a few Siberians who were busy with some bones over by the fire pit.

The camp might not have seemed very populated on a normal day.

But gathered together today, the entire dining hall was packed to the gills. A mix of voices created a boisterous and lively atmosphere.

Jenny walked confidently to the center of the hall.

The chattering crowd around her gradually turned their attention to her.

Then, Jenny raised her hand and clapped a couple of times. Slowly, everyone fell silent.

"Everyone, Christmas Eve is in seven days. This will be our first time celebrating it here in the Crown Territory, so I’ve called you all together to talk about how we want to spend the holiday."

Jenny’s voice was crisp and clear, echoing through the dining hall. She smiled as she spoke, her eyes sweeping across the crowd, filled with enthusiasm for the Christmas preparations.

"Whatever we do, let’s not have roast turkey. Turkey is so disgusting," Erica was the first to chime in, a pained look on her face.

Hearing this, the people around her nodded in agreement. "Yeah, yeah, no roast turkey."

While roast turkey might be an essential part of a traditional Christmas feast...

...its symbolic significance far outweighs its flavor. The meat is incredibly dry, and it’s impossible to get any flavor into it no matter how you cook it. Apart from looking good on the table, it’s basically useless.

Seeing the consensus, Jenny smiled and took out a notebook.

She carefully jotted down the suggestion, then lowered her head in thought for a moment. When she looked up again, her eyes were questioning, soliciting more opinions from the group.

"What if we replace the roast turkey with roast grouse or roast Thunderbird?"

"That’s a great idea! Grouse and Thunderbird are a hundred times tastier than turkey." Erica’s eyes lit up as she heard this, and she nodded enthusiastically.

The others also smiled in approval; clearly, the proposal was to everyone’s liking.

"All right then, we’ll swap the turkey for something else this time." Jenny turned to look at Feng Shan, who was sitting in the crowd. "Khilla, the grouse and Thunderbird will be up to you."

"No problem. Just tell me what kind of game you want," Feng Shan readily agreed with a smile and a nod. Hunting was his forte, after all.

"Nash, does your tribe need anything special? You can let us know now." Jenny’s gaze shifted toward the Bear Tribe, her smile friendly.

Since the Bear Tribe had migrated to the Crown Territory, their main job was herding on the ranch.

During this time, Feng Shan was the only one who could communicate with them fluently. As for everyone else in the camp, a certain degree of unfamiliarity remained between them.

Jenny had put in a lot of effort to help the Bear Tribe better integrate into the Crown Territory.

Judging by the results, her efforts hadn’t been very effective.

With the exception of Little Liu Lan, the members of the Bear Tribe still seemed wary of the camp.

After hearing Jenny’s question, Nash first glanced back at a middle-aged tribesman. With a solemn expression, the man quickly whispered something to him in their native language.

Nash nodded, then turned back to face Jenny.

"The tribe needs a supply of cornmeal to make cornbread for Christmas. That’s all."

"Okay," Jenny responded with a smile, jotting the request down in her notebook. Then she looked up, her gaze shifting toward Wawa. Her tone was just as gentle as she asked, "And you? Do you need any special provisions?"

Wawa shook his head gently. "Jenny, we don’t need anything. The village chief has already been in touch with me. He’s going to send over a batch of Kiviak, seal meat, and whale skin before Christmas."

Kiviak, seal meat, and whale skin!

’There it was again—the ultimate in Inuit "exotic" cuisine.’

’Just hearing the names made Feng Shan shudder inwardly as painful memories of Kivalina resurfaced.’

’The unique smell, the strange texture... he’d never forget it as long as he lived.’

Just as Feng Shan was lost in that less-than-pleasant memory, he suddenly felt someone tugging gently at his clothes.

The tug pulled him from his reverie, and he turned to look at Jeff beside him.

"Your girlfriend’s calling you," Jeff whispered, a teasing smile on his face.

"Feng. Feng."

Just then, Jenny’s voice sounded in his ear again. Feng Shan realized that everyone’s gaze seemed to be fixed on him. Feeling a little embarrassed, he quickly looked over at Jenny apologetically.

"Sorry, did you have an assignment for me?"

Jenny looked at Feng Shan and patiently repeated the tasks she needed him for.

"For Christmas, we need a Christmas tree and a bonfire built. As for ingredients, we’ll need reindeer, musk ox, grouse, Thunderbird, and snow rabbits. Can you take care of that?"

"No problem, leave it all to me." Feng Shan’s spirits lifted at the request, and he patted his chest in assurance.

As the tasks were finalized one by one, the plan for the Christmas celebration began to take shape.

Erica and Demi were in charge of drinks, Maria and Tammy were responsible for the vegetables, and Nash would handle the beef and mutton. The rest would assist according to their assigned roles.

With everyone assigned their respective duties, the entire camp was suddenly abuzz with a flurry of activity as they all began preparing for the upcoming Christmas holiday.

Meanwhile, Snow’s environmental survey had come to a successful conclusion. Though he was reluctant to go, it was time for him to leave.

As it happened, Feng Shan and Jeff were heading to the hangar, so they brought him along.

Before boarding the plane, Snow bid a reluctant farewell to Feng Shan.

"Feng, as soon as I get back, I’ll submit the survey report and get those animals sent to the Crown Territory as quickly as possible. Don’t you worry."

"Safe travels," Feng Shan said, patting Snow’s shoulder in thanks.

With that, Snow turned and boarded the plane.

The plane slowly started up, gradually ascending until it was flying off into the distance.

Feng Shan and Jeff stood there, watching until the plane disappeared over the dark horizon, before finally turning to walk toward the hangar.

...