Having witnessed Chu Mingcheng successfully subdue the saltwater crocodile, Noah was exceptionally quiet on the drive that night, a complete departure from his usual talkativeness.
Chu Mingcheng also leaned back in his seat to rest quietly. He hadn't felt it while wrestling the croc, but now he realized how exhausted he was. The muscles in both his arms were sore and weak.
His groin, in particular, was still aching.
He slipped his hands into his pockets, secretly checking himself over.
Fortunately, there was no real problem—just a bit sore from being straddled over the rough hide.
Suddenly, Noah slapped the steering wheel. His expression was serious, as if he had made a montous decision. "Cheng, I've decided to join your crew. You need my experience, and I can make more money following you."
"Oh, damn, who can refuse more money?"
"You've made the right decision, Noah," Chu Mingcheng said with a smile, opening his eyes.
One successful hunt had significantly boosted Noah's confidence in him.
anwhile, the various hunting thods from the videos had made Chu Mingcheng realize he didn't need to learn that much.
He was most familiar with fishing, and crocodiles could be fished for as well. That ant he could use this capture thod indefinitely.
Therefore, once he had accumulated enough experience by hunting a few two-ter-plus saltwater crocodiles on his own, Noah would beco optional.
At that point, it would be impossible for him to still demand a twenty percent cut of the profits. No matter how well they were cooperating now, it just wasn't realistic.
Arriving at the log cabin, Chu Mingcheng took a look at the interior and decided to spend the night in the car.
It wasn't that he found it dirty, but the cabin had only two small rooms. Lesia took one, leaving the three n to share the other.
Chu Mingcheng had no desire to squeeze in with two grown n. Not to ntion, Noah and Viktor, who hadn't showered and had tried to cover their body odor with cologne, slled awful. He couldn't stand it.
Australia has no large terrestrial carnivores; the few ferocious ones live in Tasmania. As a result, sleeping in the car, he didn't encounter any brown bears trying to claw their way in during the night.
Although there were still the calls of various animals and insects, Chu Mingcheng slept quite well.
This was probably the main reason Lesia had wanted to stay the night here and wasn't afraid of so fierce predator stealing the crocodile from the truck.
However, the cramped space in the car ant his arms hadn't recovered very well by the ti he woke up. He used Life Conversion once to get himself back into optimal condition.
He observed his surroundings before getting out of the car. Seeing no danger, he took a bottle of mineral water to rinse his mouth, then ate a piece of bread to fill his stomach.
A little while later, Lesia erged from the log cabin.
She was a bit surprised to see Chu Mingcheng already up and stretching. "Cheng, you're up so early? Didn't sleep well last night?"
"I slept alright. I'm just used to getting up this early," Chu Mingcheng replied, continuing his stretches without stopping just because Lesia had co out.
The loose-fitting T-shirt he'd worn last night was soaked with seawater and sweat from subduing the saltwater crocodile, so he had changed in the car during the night.
The shirt he was wearing now was a slightly tighter short-sleeve, which his physique stretched taut, clearly revealing a pair of powerful pectoral muscles.
This made Lesia, while eating her breakfast, steal occasional glances at him.
A handso face and a strong body—it was all incredibly attractive to a woman like her, who often lived on the edge of danger.
Unfortunately, from what she'd witnessed the night before and heard from Noah, Chu Mingcheng was a family man and extrely responsible, which was a great regret for her.
Noah and Viktor weren't late sleepers either. Around seven o'clock, they erged from the cabin at almost the sa ti.
And so, the group drove back, looking forward to a delicious dinner that evening and a good night's sleep in a soft bed.
They arrived back in the city a little after two in the afternoon.
Chu Mingcheng first went with them to the City Council. The crocodile Lesia had caught had a history of attacking people, so after a strict investigation and confirmation, the municipal governnt had issued a bounty.
To his great surprise, the bounty was a full twenty thousand Australian dollars—he hadn't expected it to be so much.
However, before the bounty could be collected, Viktor had to submit the video he'd fild. After it was reviewed, the bounty would be deposited into Lesia's account within seven working days.
Alternatively, she could also co and collect the cash in person.
Of course, even for crocodiles without a bounty, once captured, they had to be brought to the City Council for inspection imdiately.
Chu Mingcheng had thought the crocodile would be handed over to the municipal governnt, but to his surprise, after they marked the crocodile, they were told to take it to the saltwater crocodile trading market to be disposed of.
Following that, the group drove to the trading market, which wasn't far from the City Council.
As Chu Mingcheng walked in, he discovered that only crocodile hunters and rchants with the proper credentials were allowed inside. The controls were extrely strict.
On second thought, it made sense. If first-hand crocodiles could be bought and sold freely, the saltwater crocodile population in Australia wouldn't be so rampant. There would surely be a great many poachers.
The crocodile at sold in regular shops and restaurants was all purchased from these rchants.
He learned from Noah that, apart from a very small number of live saltwater crocodiles bought for zoos, all the others captured in Australia were slaughtered.
The crocodile skins were exported to Europe to be made into bags, and the at was exported to Southeast Asian countries, where crocodile at was popular.
Perhaps because the peak crocodile hunting season hadn't started yet, the trading market was nearly empty, and Chu Mingcheng didn't see any particularly large crocodiles.
Therefore, Lesia's three-ter-plus crocodile quickly attracted a crowd.
The process of buying and selling crocodiles was sowhat similar to that of tuna. They needed to be weighed and the freshness of the at checked before an appraised price was given.
Of course, the price was negotiable. For a live crocodile, they basically just checked its weight and vitality.
After a fierce war of words, Lesia's live, three-ter-plus crocodile sold for thirty-five thousand Australian dollars, which was about two to three thousand more than a dead one.
This ant she had earned fifty-five thousand from this one crocodile. After deducting the shares for Viktor and Noah, she had personally made forty-four thousand Australian dollars.
But hunting a saltwater crocodile wasn't as simple as Chu Mingcheng had witnessed.
Lesia and Viktor had started three days earlier, first choosing a bounty mission and going to the location to conduct a field survey and film. Then they had to return to the City Council to apply. Only after the application was approved could they go hunting. In total, it took five days.
And this was in an area near the city. So places were more remote, which ant it would take even longer.
According to Noah, they would typically rest for two days after returning, so hunting one crocodile took at least a week.
Based on Lesia's current inco, she could earn over one hundred and sixty thousand Australian dollars a month.
Of course, bounty targets were not that common, and she generally didn't take on giant saltwater crocodiles over four ters, so her actual monthly inco was probably around one hundred thousand, maybe even a bit less.
But the saltwater crocodile hunting season usually lasted until mid-autumn in the second half of the year. Looking at it this way, Lesia was a bona fide rich woman!
Work hard for a few months a year and spend the rest of the ti living it up?
That kind of life sounded even better than his fishing.
Leaving the trading market, Chu Mingcheng and Noah went to a hotel and got two rooms, each heading back to shower.
After his shower, he started searching online for the possibility of having crocodile skin products made in Australia.
He had heard today that all the crocodile skins from Australia were exported to Europe, and he was worried he wouldn't be able to buy a suitable bag for himself here.
As it turned out, Chu Mingcheng discovered that if he wanted to give the won in his family crocodile skin bags, he would have to buy them from the local Hermès luxury store.
Wild crocodile skin products couldn't be brought back to China. Hermès bags were made from the skins of fard crocodiles, so that was fine.
However, it was also very troubleso. You had to provide proof of farming and so on, and both Australian and Chinese customs would conduct strict inspections.
After reading all that, Chu Mingcheng imdiately decided that the won in his family didn't seem to be short on bags and that there was no need to bring them new ones.
Besides, a slightly larger new crocodile skin bag cost over a hundred thousand. If he bought three, wouldn't all the money he earned from hunting crocodiles in Australia have to be spent on them?
He might as well just bring them a few nice cloth bags—cheap and practical.
A little while later, Noah, having finished his shower, knocked and ca in.
"Cheng, when are you planning to go solo?"
"Now, of course!" Chu Mingcheng said seriously, closing his laptop. "Lesia is a nice person and gave a chance to prove myself, but I have no interest in working for free."
Noah nodded, not surprised. "OK, I'll explain it to Lesia. But I think you'll need an experienced assistant. Perhaps we can continue to cooperate."
"Haha, you said last night you wanted to partner up. Why are you bringing it up again today? But I'm very happy you're willing to help !"
Noah's proactive offer brought a smile to Chu Mingcheng's face. Last night, he had been half-joking, but today, he was definitely serious.
It was just a twenty percent cut of the profits. In exchange for his own ease and convenience, he was naturally more than willing.
With the agreent made, Noah left the hotel, probably to explain the situation to Lesia.
With nothing to do, Chu Mingcheng made a video call to Jiang Luoluo.
She had been back in China for a while now and had already rented a comrcial apartnt.
It was similar to Chen Wanying's studio and needed to be renovated.
Two of the rooms were being combined into a dance studio, the living room was being converted into a communal office and a small dining area, and the last room would beco Zhang Ruoi's private office.
The kitchen could still be used for cooking, but according to Jiang Luoluo, hiring a housekeeper to cook might be troubleso if the food wasn't to everyone's taste. It was better to just let everyone order their own takeout.
Occasionally, if an employee didn't want to go out, they could cook sothing for themselves.
Besides, there was a street right downstairs, so grabbing lunch was very simple.
After a short while, Jiang Luoluo answered the call.
In the background, several workers could be seen renovating. She was clearly supervising the work.
"Ah-Cheng, are you off today?" It was just past noon in China. The early call clearly surprised Jiang Luoluo a little.
"Yeah, I'm off today. That's why I called, to see how things are going on your end."
"Mmm~! Everything else is fine, but I'm having a bit of a headache with the accommodation issue."
"What's the matter?"
"I originally planned to only hire employees who live in Xian. If I hire from other provinces, I'd have to arrange accommodation for them. But I found that even among the locals, most live quite far away."
"And I have a friend in Pengcheng whose dancing is amazing, and she's willing to join my team. I'm just struggling with whether to arrange a separate place for her or just rent a big house and have all the female employees live together."
After hearing her out, Chu Mingcheng felt like laughing. This wasn't a problem at all; the girl was purely sharing the latest happenings with him.
"How many choreographers are you hiring?"
Jiang Luoluo replied, "Just one for now. If possible, I plan to find two more dance students from a university to work as part-ti assistants."
"I think these students will have more creative ideas and are better at adapting to new things, so we might get so unexpected results."
"Since there's only one dance teacher, why don't you let her stay in my empty apartnt? When I get back from Australia, we'll go buy a house."
Chu Mingcheng's rented apartnt was just sitting empty. It was better to let soone stay there than to let it go to waste.
He was definitely going to buy a house when he got back. He'd even co to terms with the whole swimming pool issue.
At worst, he'd just start the club at the sa ti, and the pool problem would naturally be solved.
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