I went to the mall and bought a lot of gifts, from TVs to whole boxes of cigars, to be distributed as year-end gifts to the ranch staff.

The Cleveland Ranch changed owners, and began to cooperate with Wal-Mart, the welfare of those employees was raised again, and this time Daddy Zhang prepared $20,000 to purchase year-end prizes, which successively filled the rear body of the pickup truck.

Christmas is just around the corner, and it's the most anticipated holiday of the year for Americans, mainly because its arrival also means a long holiday.

The father and son were the bosses for the first time, and after thinking about it, they felt that it was better to be generous and win the love of the employees.

After shopping, I drove home and drove along the West Coast Shore Highway to Oregon, where there were not many cars on the road.

Daddy Zhang held the cigar in his left hand and put his hand on the car window, he didn't smoke this thing much, but when he bought the cigar, the clerk gave a gift, which was said to be of very good quality.

Zhang Xiaokai sat in the passenger seat and asked casually: "Didn't you come yesterday, why did you go during the day?"

"Visiting some friends, calling them out for dinner last night, visiting us in Washington State, and then going to the Cleveland Ranch, it makes sense to say thank you to them. Knowing that my health was not as good as before, I finally didn't force me to drink anymore, but it was still a bit much, and I slept until half past ten in the morning. ”

"Oh, I also invited my friends to dinner, where are you going to go during the holidays, travel, or just stay in the ranch. ”

Turning his head to look at his son, his father asked, "What, do you want to travel?" I probably can't leave, most of the cattle and sheep are slaughtered, but there are still some left, and in more than ten days, the 31st will be able to start fishing Dungeness crabs. Now that I'm leaving, I'm worried that there will be fishing boats coming to steal fish, and anyway, it can be sold after a few days of freezing, and someone can do this kind of costless thing. ”

Probably afraid that his son would be disappointed, he quickly added after speaking: "Kenny and his family seem to be going to drive to Las Vegas, Nevada, if you are interested, I will give you some money, and you can take Kenny and them with you." ”

"No, I'll play around in the future, I want to take a few days off this holiday, I've been busy preparing for college entrance exams in recent months, and I'm exhausted......"

Most of the time there was silence, songs were playing on the radio, father and son occasionally chattered, and most of the way seemed desolate.

The Cleveland Ranch is still the same.

It's similar to when Zhang Xiaokai first came here, the grass and trees are yellow, and there are no cattle and sheep in sight.

A herd of wild boars came out of the woods, and in the autumn they gave birth, and now they number more than a dozen of them, and there are also owls that cross from low altitudes, and there is no vegetation to cover them, so it is more convenient to hunt mice and rabbits, and marmot pups occasionally encounter poisonous hands.

Owls and foxes eat rats and balance the number of marmots, and their presence is not a bad thing for the ranch, so no one cares about them, and most of the time they live in harmony.

Passing by the river, Zhang Xiaokai subconsciously looked at a certain place, and the golden bird was thrown there by him, but the weather was cold in this season, and it was more difficult to dive and get it back.

In winter, there is little rain and the water level in the river drops, but unless you look for it, it is very unlikely that someone else will find it.

Afraid of trouble, it takes several hours to toss back and forth, and Zhang Xiaokai has never been back since the school started in September.

It feels very different to set foot on this land again.

What used to be the old man's ranch is now his own, at least nominally.

Zhang Xiaokai called Ronald Sr. several times, and his grandfather is now on a cruise ship and has sailed to the Mediterranean.

At that time, the funds in the account were taken away by the old man, and more than 300,000 US dollars were enough for him to be free for a period of time to pursue the so-called "new life".

……

A white fat bear is resting in a haystack, in a semi-hibernation state.

There is no shortage of food in this environment, so I don't sleep too deeply, and I take four or five hours a day out to forage for food and take a walk.

The ordinary white spirit bear weighs only one or two hundred kilograms, and its weight is obviously overweight, it is only a little more than a year old, and its weight has soared to three hundred and twenty kilograms.

There is more body fat, more hardy, a face is round to cute, the white bear Mocha sleeps, and the fat cat Tom also sleeps on its back, and he has eaten well recently, and seems to have gained weight again.

Smelling something in the air, Mocha opened his eyes suddenly, his little ears moved, and he got up and ran out of the barn.

It's hard to imagine such a fat guy being so flexible.

Fat Tom, who was lying on its back, was so frightened that he meowed, and in order not to be thrown off, he grabbed its fur tightly with his paws, and his fat face was full of horror, and his thick tail stood up!

Little Mocha almost didn't feel its presence, and ran all the way out of the barn, and as soon as Zhang Xiaokai entered the house, he heard its roar, like a welcome to reunite after a long absence.

Holding the head of the white fat bear, Zhang Xiaokai took care of it for several months, and his feelings were there, but at first glance, he was so fat that he almost didn't recognize it.

Tom was much calmer than the jumping white bear, jumping off its back, and because of its weak legs, the big face hit the ground first, and then shook its head to stand up.

Because he was hungry, it was rare to show closeness to Zhang Xiaokai, the half of the master, and rubbed him with his head.

First go to help these two guys prepare food, a piece of raw beef was put into the microwave oven to thaw, take out the canned cat food meat from the bag, Zhang Xiaokai was busy feeding, and Daddy Zhang put the prize money into a red envelope, wrote some lottery numbers and put them in the iron box, and called the restaurant during the period, ready to go to a meal together in the evening.

"Daddy, where did Miss Logan go?"

"I didn't tell you about her pregnancy? Little Patrick's child, the two of them may get married early next year. ”

Daddy Zhang raised his head and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Didn't I resign from the hospital at that time, and I don't need anyone to take care of me now, so I gave her a job, helping with cooking, taking care of the vegetable garden, and also doing some milking and other work, and the salary is about the same as that of little Patrick." ”

"It's good that the two of them can work together. ”

Place the can in front of Tom to stop Mocha the White Bear from snatching it, then place the raw beef in front of him.

Wash your hands and help my dad count the money, this year's bonus to everyone is more than 10,000 US dollars, which is worth the usual three months' salary, although I feel a little distressed, but I don't think this money should be given, and I expect them to work harder next year.

If you are in a big city such as San Francisco and New York, 40,000 or 50,000 dollars a year may not be a big deal, but in a small place like Brookings, Wyoming, it is already a high-paying job, there are not many places to spend money, and the price is extremely low, so if you save a little, you can save a lot of money.

After finishing it, go upstairs first, put the clothes away, and the matter of applying for college will not start until April and May next year, Zhang Xiaokai does not need to be busy with things during this winter vacation, and is ready to do more fishing and shrimp and other work.

As for the cattle and sheep, the sheep will be sent first, and the calves will not be able to continue to be raised until after the beginning of spring.

I drove around first, and when I came to the dock, I found that the little gray whale was gone, it had been released into the sea, and Hank, Patrick Sr. and others were busy at the dock, sorting the fish into plastic baskets.

The bait cage has been idle for half a year, and now it has been reloaded onto the ship and will be ready to be put into the sea in a few days......