My Manor

Indeed, before coming here, Jiang Hai did consider choosing this kind of clothing because it is really warm. Yesterday, he saw Bell wearing such clothes and was really envious. However, after coming here, he found that these clothes were the cheapest option. Jiang Hai was a little reluctant to buy them, although he did not like to compare himself to others.

But he is a rich man now. If all the clothes sold here were like this, he would buy them. However, he clearly saw better options, which made him unwilling to buy such clothes again.

"I want better ones." Waving his hand, Jiang Hai interrupted the young man and continued to speak.

"Better? Then look here..." Hearing what Jiang Hai said, the young man was stunned for a moment, and then the smile on his face became even wider. He took Jiang Hai to a counter next to him and began to introduce the clothes on display.

Basically, there are only three types of cold-proof clothes. The polyester ones mentioned above are on par with cotton. The better ones are down jackets. Each type of down jacket is different, so the price varies.

In fact, people who don't understand down might think it's just the feathers of ducks and geese, but that's not entirely true. There are many types of down. Generally speaking, goose down is better than duck down. The goose down available on the market is usually goose feathers—basically, the feathers are trimmed on both sides, and the stems in the middle are removed. The fine hairs formed in this way are the down in the down jackets sold outside.

However, this kind of down is not the highest quality. The best down comes from the fine hairs near the goose's body.

When Jiang Hai was in China before, he once heard Xu Wei say that a relative of Xu Wei's family was from the countryside and specialized in raising geese. In late autumn, foreign merchants would visit the village to collect this type of hair.

It is sold by liang. One liang of this kind of goose down is worth two or three hundred yuan. Don't think it's expensive—this kind of down might not be collected from even ten large geese. And a down jacket filled with this down only requires a few liang, making it very warm.

If such a down jacket is sold outside, it would cost six or seven thousand yuan, and anything of the best quality could go for tens of thousands, comparable to mink fur.

Of course, Americans don't care much about these things. Their down jackets are made without hair stems, and they aren't cheap. A nice down jacket can be sold for around three hundred dollars, equivalent to two thousand RMB.

Jiang Hai took a look at the down jackets and couldn't help but curl his lips. To be honest, he didn't think the price of these down jackets was worth it.

Perhaps noticing that Jiang Hai wasn't very satisfied with them, the young man couldn't help but smile.

"If you want something better than a down jacket, then there's only a leather jacket! But those can be cheap or expensive." The young man looked at Jiang Hai and said, and Jiang Hai became intrigued upon hearing this.

"Where are they?" Looking around, Jiang Hai saw that although the store was not small, there were no leather jackets on display.

"They're in the back. I'll bring them out for you. You don't know, the Animal Protection Association people are the most annoying. The country allows us to sell them, but these guys come to make trouble every few days, so we have to keep them hidden." The young man said helplessly as he walked in. Jiang Hai suddenly thought of dog lovers.

"Didn't they say that leather jackets are no longer allowed to be sold?" Jiang Hai asked curiously as he followed him.

"They're not allowed to sell wolf skins and bear skins, but other animal skins, like deerskin, mink, rabbit, and fox skins, are still allowed. I don't have mink skins here, but you can find them in larger malls. They're just more expensive there. It's impossible to buy a full mink leather jacket for less than three thousand US dollars." The young man continued to explain, seeing Jiang Hai's interest.

Although the United States has a population of 300 million, it is a vast country with a sparse population. In addition, wild animal protection is strong, and many animals in the U.S. have become a nuisance. For example, deer are not only a problem in Canada, but in the U.S. as well. They are allowed to be hunted, unlike in China, where wild game is considered a rare delicacy. People in the U.S. think wild animal meat is too lean, lacks flavor, and has a wild smell that's hard to remove. Most importantly, wild animals can carry parasites, making them dangerous to eat.

Thus, more than 98% of Americans do not consume wild animals, except for outdoor enthusiasts who might have it as a snack. However, wild animals like rabbits and deer are often killed, and while the meat and organs are discarded, the skins are made into leather clothing.

This is not sold openly, though, because the Animal Protection Association will strongly oppose it.

It's precisely because of this association's influence that only a few foreign luxury stores openly sell fur, while domestic stores only offer artificial fur, which is much cheaper than real fur.

If it weren't for Jiang Hai's oriental appearance, the clerk might not have shown him these leather jackets.

Not long after, the clerk returned from the warehouse with a large pile of leather jackets.

The styles of these leather jackets were quite simple. Unlike the various types in China, there weren't many patterns and styles. The only thing that surprised Jiang Hai was the thickness of the leather. In China, leather jackets would be stretched to some extent. The original 10-centimeter leather would be stretched to 20 or even 30 centimeters. However, the leather jackets here were only about one centimeter thick. Jiang Hai randomly picked one up and blew on it. This was how his mother taught him to distinguish the quality of a leather jacket when she was still alive. If the bottom was exposed, it was not a good leather jacket. If the bottom wasn't exposed, it was generally of better quality.

As expected, the bottom wasn't exposed. Upon closer inspection, Jiang Hai saw that it was densely packed with fur, making it solid.

"The leather jackets in our store aren't fancy. Their only advantage is that they're thick and affordable. These are made from deerskin. The price varies by size: small sizes are 400 US dollars, and extra-large sizes are 600 US dollars. I think a medium size would be best for you... These are made from fox fur, which is cheaper, at 200 US dollars each. Rabbit fur is even cheaper, around 100 US dollars..." As the young man explained, Jiang Hai couldn't help but curl his lips. At 100 or 200 US dollars each, he might as well buy a down jacket. The only appealing deerskin coat was just like a tweed coat, which wasn't Jiang Hai's style.

So he continued to browse through the leather jackets the young man had brought out. After a while, his eyes suddenly lit up. In front of him was a coat that caught his attention. It looked somewhat like deerskin and was yellow, but the fur was longer, giving it a rougher feel.

Jiang Hai couldn't help but pick it up. Upon noticing Jiang Hai's action, the young man, who had been talking, opened his mouth in surprise. He hadn't even noticed when Jiang Hai grabbed the coat.

"What kind of leather is this?" Jiang Hai asked curiously. From the feel of it, he noticed that the leather was much heavier than deerskin. Although the style was simple, it had an unusually heavy feel.

"This is mountain lion skin. To be honest, it's really not allowed to be sold." The young clerk shrugged helplessly when he saw Jiang Hai's eyes light up at the mention of mountain lion. This mountain lion had appeared in Winthrop earlier this year and injured two people. After the town police shot it, the town government had planned to sell the skin to subsidize government funds. This type of sale wasn't uncommon in small U.S. towns. A buyer was initially found, but after a female police officer reported it to the Animal Protection Association, the town had no choice but to keep the skin.

It had been sitting in this store for a year without being sold.

"Since you want to sell it, then sell it to me. I'm still interested in this skin." Holding the leather jacket, Jiang Hai tried it on. It was a little big, but overall, it wasn't bad. The most important thing was that Jiang Hai liked it.

"It's fine to sell it to you. After all, it was originally meant to be sold. But first of all, it's not cheap. Secondly, if the Animal Protection Association finds out, it's not our fault." The clerk said, and since Jiang Hai wasn't short on money and wanted to buy it, he agreed to sell it.

"No problem, but I just need to be clear—if I wear this outside, the police won't arrest me, right?" Jiang Hai thought about it for a moment. If he wore tiger or lion skin clothes in China, he would definitely be invited to have tea with the police. It might not be the same in the U.S., but he had to consider whether it was worth buying.

"Don't worry about that. The label inside your clothes has a registration number. It's the number the government uses to allow the sale of such things. The police won't bother you. The only thing you need to worry about is the Animal Protection Association," the young clerk explained, shrugging.

Hearing this, Jiang Hai felt relieved. The mountain lion fur coat cost him two thousand dollars, but he was happy with the purchase. He also bought a deerskin coat, a down jacket, a set of military-grade polyester fiber clothes, pants, shoes, and many other items.

"How do you sell this thing?" After confirming the clothes, Jiang Hai pointed to the bow hanging on the wall.