As soon as Chen Wen and Hua Yun entered the small town, they headed straight to the accommodation provided by the program crew.

The inn here is more formal, and there are no crooked merchants.

However, the perfunctory smile on the other side and their silence in response to Chen Wen's questions left him somewhat annoyed.

"Hey, I'm starting to miss that crooked merchant boss."

Chen Wen said to Hua Yun in Chinese, "That old guy may be sly, but if you ask him something, he truly tells you the truth, unlike here."

Hua Yun nodded and said, "The culture here with foreigners is different from ours; their service is more standardized. But when we go to the fur trader later, we might be able to ask more."

The fur trader in the second small town is still around; the program crew just confirmed yesterday.

This will have to do.

Without acknowledging the perfunctory smile of the receptionist anymore, Chen Wen and Hua Yun began searching for the fur trader.

...

After coming out, Chen Wen found a local and asked about the fur trader's location.

This local was very talkative, he not only told Chen Wen the location of the fur trader but also talked about the strange events of this winter.

"Strange events?"

Chen Wen's curiosity was piqued. He glanced at Hua Yun.

Hua Yun nodded, indicating she could wait while he talked with this local.

Chen Wen listened intently: "Brother, tell us the details."

With a smile, the local said, "Speaking of which, this is actually related to your program crew. Initially, it was just that your staff came and stayed here for a long time. However, just as your people left to clear the road towards the canyon, a large group of people arrived."

"In the beginning, they said they were a tour group, but they didn't look like a tour group at all. They were all very strong men; they stayed here for a long time and left not too long ago, claiming to be a hunting team. But from a Yukon's perspective, they seemed more like gold prospectors."

As he mentioned this, the local seemed to recall something: "I remember my grandfather told me in my childhood that during the gold rush, there were always such groups. Honestly, I feel a new wave of gold rush might be coming. Maybe someone discovered a new gold vein. Are you interested in joining this gold rush?"

Chen Wen hesitated a bit, then nodded along with the conversation.

The local immediately said, "My store rents all kinds of gold panning equipment and sells various portable food, you're welcome to visit..."

Damn, so he's just a salesman.

Made up a whole story to sell; what nonsense!

Chen Wen's mouth twitched, almost swearing.

Hua Yun, seeing this, couldn't help but bend over with laughter.

Those sales tactics, simply brilliant.

The local chuckled and continued, "Although I don't know if they really came for gold, there's indeed such a group."

Chen Wen didn't bother with this shopkeeper anymore, turning to walk with Hua Yun towards the fur trader.

...

There are many fur traders in the second small town, but Chen Wen and Hua Yun were looking for one without a fixed store.

Honestly, Chen Wen felt such fur traders were somewhat unreliable.

No store at all, how can one trust them?

But the program crew assured them this fur trader was quite generous, both Hank and Jenny managed to exchange here for sufficient funds.

So Chen Wen still came.

The person lived in a residential house.

After knocking, a drunken man opened the door.

"Who are you?"

The tone was not very friendly.

But remembering what the crew said about generosity, Hua Yun amicably said, "We're recommended by the program crew to exchange furs."

The fur trader looked momentarily confused: "More? They didn't mention it to me?"

Chen Wen smiled and explained, "We came later, the other two groups left faster than us."

Three groups?

The fur trader mumbled, opened the door: "Come in."

Upon entering, the living room didn't resemble a typical fur trader's setup at all.

"What do you have?"

The person yawned, reeking of alcohol.

Hua Yun took out all the Arctic hare pelts and the processed Wolf Mink skin.

The fur trader, seemingly disdainful, flipped through the animal pelts and said, "Eh, your pelts are quite average."

Average?

Hua Yun was a bit dumbfounded.

She knew firsthand the quality of the pelts she had carefully crafted.

Not stunningly beautiful but definitely not ordinary either.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, I've seen the leather from those folks before, their rabbit pelts were much bigger and tougher than yours; your quality is truly not as good as theirs."

Hua Yun was speechless.

She began to doubt the person's real identity.

"I can roughly tell, our leather is indeed tanned to a degree, like these, but these haven't been tanned, are they like the ones you've seen before?"

Upon hearing this, the fur trader finally sat up and took a closer look.

Finally, somewhat impatiently: "Alright, alright, I'll take all the pelts, is this much money okay?"

The fur trader offered a price that infuriated Hua Yun.

The price was absurdly low!

If it had been the crooked merchant Laird, he would have offered at least thirty percent more than this person.

"Not selling, we're leaving!"

Hua Yun collected the pelts without saying much more.

Chen Wen withdrew his gaze from the wall, not saying a word, he directly opened the door and left with Hua Yun.

Seeing this, the fur trader shouted, "Hey! This is how much your stuff is worth, do you expect me to use my own money?"

This made Chen Wen pause.

What does he mean?

Could he be arranged by the program crew?

And judging from the information gathered from the photos on his wall, this person certainly didn't resemble a businessman.

Strange.

Chen Wen shook his head, closing the door with a bang.

...

"What should we do now? His offered price is way too low."

Hua Yun said helplessly.

Chen Wen didn't hurry to respond, instead, he found a local and inquired about other fur traders in town.

After a brief inquiry, Chen Wen's expression became somewhat odd.

He lowered his voice and told Hua Yun, "This person might be arranged by the program crew. According to the locals, this is a low season for purchasing furs; nearly all traders have gone out externally to sell animal hides, rarely staying in town during this time."

Hua Yun was surprised: "You mean? The program crew intentionally sent this guy to depress prices?"

"Yes, from the photos on his wall, there's nothing related to leather at all, rather he looks like a down-and-out middle-aged drifter."

Chen Wen said, "And I noticed, his wife—maybe his girlfriend—seems like a guide, with the home filled only with stuff related to outdoor activities."

"Your observation skills are really sharp."

Hua Yun said, "So, what now?"

"Let's try to trade with locals, maybe that farm, we could ask there."

Chen Wen said, "Later, you go to the farm first. I'll head to the street to purchase some food, let's leave this small town as soon as possible. I always feel there's something odd about this second small town."

Hua Yun nodded.

Indeed, quite strange.

After discussing, the two split to take action.

Chen Wen went to the shop of the boss who had just told him a story; seeing Chen Wen, the boss was quite delighted.

Just as the boss was about to craft another little story to coax Chen Wen into buying more stuff.

Chen Wen was straightforward: "I want to buy some canned food and portable meals."

The owner paused, then shook his head: "All you mentioned is out of stock."

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