The next day, Qin Ziwen woke up to find his left hand touching something cold and hard.
He instinctively picked it up, feeling it was like an iron rod.
He sat up, his right hand touching a piece of paper.
He went to the windowsill and pulled back the curtains.
In the dim light, he could see the object in his hand clearly.
"This is... a magnesium flint? Why is there a flint on the bed all of a sudden?
Wait a minute." Qin Ziwen
's thoughts raced. He remembered the sound he heard in his dream last night. Strangely, after waking up this morning, he couldn't remember any other details of the dream, but he did remember a cold, discreet tone. The object in his hand matched that strange tone perfectly.
"Let me think." Qin Ziwen frowned. If the trap was set too close, it would be easily spotted by the residents, and the prey would likely be taken. If
it was set too far, it would be too dangerous; the round trip would be too risky.
So they needed to find a relatively secluded location around the residential area, and they also had to consider the possibility of animals passing by, since the purpose of setting the trap was to catch prey.
First, they ruled out areas near water sources and rivers; second, they avoided open areas; and finally, they avoided areas with overgrown vegetation or piles of rocks. Qin Ziwen remembered the large snake he had seen upstairs yesterday.
Finally, Qin Ziwen set up two rope traps: one near the bushes against the wall on the north side of the complex, and the other under a tree about eighty meters to the northwest, using mulberry berries as bait.
"Brother, what do you think of this?"
Qin Ziwu broke off a branch as thick as a baby's arm from somewhere.
It was long and straight, about two meters long, and had some elasticity.
Qin Ziwen took it and twirled it a couple of times; the impact felt good. "Great, you can tie a sharp object to the end and use it as a gun."
"Screech—"
A cry suddenly came from the sky.
A dark shadow approached at an exaggerated speed overhead.
It grew closer and larger.
Qin Ziwen quickly pulled his brother under the tree.
"Something in the sky!" someone shouted from afar, but it was too late.
A boy who couldn't dodge in time was hooked by the shoulder and pulled high into the air.
The giant bird was incredibly fast; the boy it had seized looked like a struggling lamb from afar.
Judging by the size of the bird compared to the human, its wingspan was at least six or seven meters wide.
It felt like humanity's position on the food chain had plummeted here.
Just the dangers he'd witnessed near the neighborhood in the past two days were numerous, not to mention the unseen dangers.
"Brother, where should we go now?"
Qin Ziwen asked. "Let's go to the riverbank. Try to stay close to the trees and avoid open areas."
Qin Ziwu nodded in understanding.
Under the shade of a tree ahead, a round-faced woman wearing glasses asked an older woman squatting down digging, "Auntie, is this wild vegetable?"
The older woman quickly shook her head, "I don't know, I'm just digging."
"That's not very considerate of you! We're all neighbors, what's wrong with asking?"
the older woman said angrily. "How can you talk like that? If you're so capable, go dig it yourself, don't bother me."
Saying this, the older woman put the plant she dug up, stems and leaves included, into a cloth bag and covered it with the cloth.
The round-faced woman reached out to grab it, about to lift the cloth.
The older woman quickly covered her hand, stood up, and scolded, "Have you no shame! How old are you, touching other people's things like that? Didn't your mother teach you anything?!"
The round-faced woman paused, glancing at Qin Ziwen and his brother who were passing by.
The older woman quickly grabbed Qin Ziwen's arm, "Young man, you be the judge, is it right to touch other people's things like that?"
Qin Ziwen looked down at the old hand gripping his arm, slowly raised his head, and met the older woman's gaze.
The older woman sensed something was wrong and let go.
Qin Ziwen laughed and said, "Of course she's wrong to do that. How can you just touch other people's things?"
The round-faced woman's face turned ashen, and she hurriedly left with her head down.
there was a river nearby, so in a sense they weren't short of water, there were crocodiles in the river, so fetching water wasn't necessarily safe.
After lunch, Qin Ziwen felt a little hungry; he hadn't eaten enough these past two days, and his body instinctively craved more meat and protein.
"You take a nap first, and this afternoon we'll go fetch water, then check the traps and pick wild vegetables."
When he woke up, it was past the hottest part of the day. Since there was no clock, he didn't know the exact time, but judging from the sky, it was probably around two or three o'clock.
There was a large green plastic bucket at home, and the two of them, carrying bags and buckets, came out of the building.
The nearest gate was the south gate, and as soon as they arrived,
they heard arguing and shouting inside.
On one side were property management staff in white security uniforms, and on the other side were several residents. Qin Ziwen spotted Huang Tao in a suit among the security guards.
He didn't know how Huang Tao had gotten mixed up with the security guards.
A large crowd of residents had gathered to watch the commotion.
Listening to the surrounding conversations, he learned the cause and effect:
these security guards and property management staff had lived in the security guard dormitory when they time-traveled, and after arriving here, these rooms became their territory.
The property management fees for their Yujing Jiangcheng residential complex were not low; it consisted of low-rise buildings with two elevators serving two households per floor, and two units per building.
r 3 Giant Bird
Chapter 3 The Giant Bird
The next day, Qin Ziwen woke up to find his left hand touching something cold and hard.
He instinctively picked it up, feeling it was like an iron rod.
He sat up, his right hand touching a piece of paper.
He went to the windowsill and pulled back the curtains.
In the dim light, he could see the object in his hand clearly.
"This is... a magnesium flint? Why is there a flint on the bed all of a sudden?
Wait a minute." Qin Ziwen
's thoughts raced. He remembered the sound he heard in his dream last night. Strangely, after waking up this morning, he couldn't remember any other details of the dream, but he did remember a cold, discreet tone. The object in his hand matched that strange tone perfectly.
Daily settlement... normally, it should be divided at midnight.
He'd sleep a little later tonight, and by midnight he should be able to confirm it.
He went to his younger brother's room. Young people sleep so well; his heavy, booming voice was like thunder.
He first looked around the bed, making sure there was nothing extra on his brother's bed. Then he checked the living room and other areas of the house, making sure nothing was missed, before waking his brother. "Did you hear anything last night?"
"Huh? What? The bats came again?"
Qin Ziwu was startled awake and instinctively looked towards the window.
"No, did you hear anything last night? Like any noises in your dreams?"
Qin Ziwu shook his head blankly: "No."
Qin Ziwen pondered, "It's alright."
He walked to the balcony and spread out a diagram. It was a diagram for making a rope snare trap, with torn edges, as if it had been torn directly from a book.
The diagram detailed how to make a tripwire trap, which could capture small mammals and reptiles.
Qin Ziwu leaned closer, "This trap doesn't seem too difficult. All you need is wood and rope. Do we have any rope at home?"
"Yes."
Qin Ziwen looked up at the curtain cord above his head.
He found a stool, climbed up, and removed the curtain cord. He gripped it with both hands and pulled on it; it felt quite sturdy. The cord was a bit long, so he used a kitchen knife to cut it in two. He
also grabbed a small handful of mulberries from the balcony.
Then, he and his younger brother left the residential area together, carrying the cord.
As they went out, some residents were already leaving the area, and he even saw people fishing by the river.
The fishermen were all perched high on the rocks along the bank, so even if a crocodile came ashore, it wouldn't be able to attack them immediately.
"Brother, where should we set the trap?"
"Let me think." Qin Ziwen frowned. If the trap was set too close, it would be easily spotted by the residents, and the prey would likely be taken. If
it was set too far, it would be too dangerous; the round trip would be too risky.
So they needed to find a relatively secluded location around the residential area, and they also had to consider the possibility of animals passing by, since the purpose of setting the trap was to catch prey.
First, they ruled out areas near water sources and rivers; second, they avoided open areas; and finally, they avoided areas with overgrown vegetation or piles of rocks. Qin Ziwen remembered the large snake he had seen upstairs yesterday.
Finally, Qin Ziwen set up two rope traps: one near the bushes against the wall on the north side of the complex, and the other under a tree about eighty meters to the northwest, using mulberry berries as bait.
"Brother, what do you think of this?"
Qin Ziwu broke off a branch as thick as a baby's arm from somewhere.
It was long and straight, about two meters long, and had some elasticity.
Qin Ziwen took it and twirled it a couple of times; the impact felt good. "Great, you can tie a sharp object to the end and use it as a gun."
"Screech—"
A cry suddenly came from the sky.
A dark shadow approached at an exaggerated speed overhead.
It grew closer and larger.
Qin Ziwen quickly pulled his brother under the tree.
"Something in the sky!" someone shouted from afar, but it was too late.
A boy who couldn't dodge in time was hooked by the shoulder and pulled high into the air.
The giant bird was incredibly fast; the boy it had seized looked like a struggling lamb from afar.
After flying several dozen meters into the air, the bird released its grip, and the boy plummeted like a meteorite.
*Thud!
* A muffled thud echoed from afar.
The giant bird circled once before landing, its claws once more carrying a figure towards the northern mountains.
However, unlike before, this time the figure on its claws stopped struggling.
Qin Ziwen's heart sank.
Judging by the size of the bird compared to the human, its wingspan was at least six or seven meters wide.
It felt like humanity's position on the food chain had plummeted here.
Just the dangers he'd witnessed near the neighborhood in the past two days were numerous, not to mention the unseen dangers.
"Brother, where should we go now?"
Qin Ziwen asked. "Let's go to the riverbank. Try to stay close to the trees and avoid open areas."
Qin Ziwu nodded in understanding.
Under the shade of a tree ahead, a round-faced woman wearing glasses asked an older woman squatting down digging, "Auntie, is this wild vegetable?"
The older woman quickly shook her head, "I don't know, I'm just digging."
"That's not very considerate of you! We're all neighbors, what's wrong with asking?"
the older woman said angrily. "How can you talk like that? If you're so capable, go dig it yourself, don't bother me."
Saying this, the older woman put the plant she dug up, stems and leaves included, into a cloth bag and covered it with the cloth.
The round-faced woman reached out to grab it, about to lift the cloth.
The older woman quickly covered her hand, stood up, and scolded, "Have you no shame! How old are you, touching other people's things like that? Didn't your mother teach you anything?!"
The round-faced woman paused, glancing at Qin Ziwen and his brother who were passing by.
The older woman quickly grabbed Qin Ziwen's arm, "Young man, you be the judge, is it right to touch other people's things like that?"
Qin Ziwen looked down at the old hand gripping his arm, slowly raised his head, and met the older woman's gaze.
The older woman sensed something was wrong and let go.
Qin Ziwen laughed and said, "Of course she's wrong to do that. How can you just touch other people's things?"
The round-faced woman's face turned ashen, and she hurriedly left with her head down.
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Seeing the woman leave, the older woman turned to leave as well, but Qin Ziwen stopped her. "We're neighbors, helping each other is only right."
The older woman suddenly realized her mistake; she shouldn't have dragged these two into this mess. She
forced a smile. "Yes, we're neighbors, we should help each other."
Qin Ziwen glanced at the tightly wrapped bag. "My brother and I went out early this morning and haven't eaten yet. Is this food edible?"
The older woman quickly pleaded, "Young man, I have an elderly man bedridden and an eight-year-old grandson at home. If you take it, our whole family is out of food."
Qin Ziwen waved his hand. "You're overthinking it. I won't take yours. I just wanted to see what wild vegetables look like. After all, the outside world is so vast; you can't possibly dig them all by yourself. Didn't you say neighbors should help each other?"
The older woman's face froze. What did I say? Didn't you say that?
But looking at the two burly young men, she felt it was better to say something than have her things stolen.
She opened the bag and took out the wild vegetables.
"This is purslane, this is bupleurum tips, and this is bracken."
Qin Ziwen noticed that he seemed to have seen many of these wild vegetables elsewhere.
He just didn't recognize them, so he hadn't picked them.
It seemed this area was richer in resources than he had imagined. He wished he had studied agriculture or botany in college.
The aunt, thinking she had already said everything, readily agreed, "These vegetables need to be blanched before eating, boiled for a few minutes. They can be used in cold dishes, stir-fries, or even fillings." She
hesitated for a moment, then added, "Although there are many wild vegetables, they can't be picked for more than a few days. If everyone picks them, they'll be all gone in a couple of days."
Qin Ziwen nodded. "Thanks, you can continue picking here." As
the two walked away, Qin Ziwu whispered, "Brother, look over there, isn't that person picking wild vegetables too?"
Following his brother's finger, Qin Ziwen saw an old man a few dozen meters away, his hands behind his back, carrying a bag, pretending to take a walk. Then he suddenly bent down and quickly put what he had picked into the bag.
After getting up, the old man casually looked around. Seeing the two brothers watching him not far away, he smiled at them and then leisurely continued walking forward. After a few steps, he suddenly quickened his pace and bent down.
Qin Ziwen smiled.
He simply took his younger brother and joined the wild vegetable picking team.
After a busy morning, the two of them went home several times and picked about ten kilograms of wild vegetables.
So many vegetables would spoil in a few days if left outside.
So he simply took some soil back with him, turned the plastic round stool upside down, filled it with soil, and planted some wild vegetables with relatively intact roots inside.
Looking down from above, the small space inside the round stool was densely packed with wild vegetables; as long as they could live for a couple more days, that would
be fine. "I'm so hungry, brother, can I eat more for lunch today?" Qin Ziwu rubbed his stomach.
"I'll go cook some noodles." Qin Ziwen opened a packet of spicy instant noodles, took out four packets. The two of them had worked hard all morning, and one packet was definitely not enough, so he also boiled a large handful of purslane.
The water in the pot wasn't much, just enough to cover the noodles.
After cooking, about a third of the turkey noodle sauce packet was added, followed by a little soy sauce and MSG.
Water resources are scarce now, and eating too spicy food would waste a lot of water.
Although they had a flint and steel and there was a river nearby, so in a sense they weren't short of water, there were crocodiles in the river, so fetching water wasn't necessarily safe.
After lunch, Qin Ziwen felt a little hungry; he hadn't eaten enough these past two days, and his body instinctively craved more meat and protein.
"You take a nap first, and this afternoon we'll go fetch water, then check the traps and pick wild vegetables."
When he woke up, it was past the hottest part of the day. Since there was no clock, he didn't know the exact time, but judging from the sky, it was probably around two or three o'clock.
There was a large green plastic bucket at home, and the two of them, carrying bags and buckets, came out of the building.
The nearest gate was the south gate, and as soon as they arrived,
they heard arguing and shouting inside.
On one side were property management staff in white security uniforms, and on the other side were several residents. Qin Ziwen spotted Huang Tao in a suit among the security guards.
He didn't know how Huang Tao had gotten mixed up with the security guards.
A large crowd of residents had gathered to watch the commotion.
Listening to the surrounding conversations, he learned the cause and effect:
these security guards and property management staff had lived in the security guard dormitory when they time-traveled, and after arriving here, these rooms became their territory.
The property management fees for their Yujing Jiangcheng residential complex were not low; it consisted of low-rise buildings with two elevators serving two households per floor, and two units per building.
Therefore, security was usually quite good. The property management had a dedicated floor with all the necessary tools,
including fire axes, riot shields, and steel forks.
Several residents wanted to get some tools from the property management, but the security guards refused, leading to the conflict.
People nearby were pointing and whispering, "These security guards have teamed up with a few residents, forming a small clique."
"The things in the property management warehouse are all bought with our property management fees, we can't let a few people take them all."
"Yeah, those security guards from the property management are really arrogant."
Huang Tao stepped forward, raising his hands in a calming gesture: "Neighbors, please calm down, don't be impulsive, let's communicate calmly, okay? Conflict won't solve anything."
"I'm a member of the community like everyone else. What's going on? Our whole community has been transported to this godforsaken place, there are crocodiles, poisonous snakes, and those man-eating birds outside! You are all the pillars of your families, it's very unwise for yourselves to fight at a time like this."
A man with a thick beard across from them said impatiently, "Stop babbling, just tell me if you'll give us the things or not, one word!"
Huang Tao patiently explained, "The tools in the property management warehouse belong to everyone, not just one household, and the quantity is limited, we can't give every household one. If you urgently need them, just take them out..." "But what if you take it and keep it for yourself?"
the bearded man cursed. "I paid my property management fees!"
Huang Tao said calmly, "Everyone paid theirs! Like I just said, I suggest we keep these supplies and establish a public supplies supervision group. If any household needs them, they can use them under the supervision of everyone in the community, and then return them afterward.
Our community has ten buildings in total. I suggest each building send a representative, and then the property management staff also send a representative, for a total of eleven representatives. The minority should obey the majority; as long as more than half vote in favor, the application will be approved. What do you all think?"
Huang Tao looked at the others present.
Some people looked disdainful, but others were interested, especially the elderly.
Huang Tao said to the bearded man, "Everyone here is a civilized person. If anyone really needs something, like going out to chop wood, make traps, or build weapons for self-defense, they should apply. They
should register their name, building number, apartment number, what they need, and when they
'll return it. It should be returned in its original condition after use. If it's broken or lost, we'll discuss a compensation mechanism. And everyone remembers that big bird that caught someone this morning, right? Who knows if something else will fly in or get into the community tonight? Our community can't be without guards at night. I think we can divide into groups based on apartment buildings, and then..." Taking turns on night duty makes everyone feel safer at night.
In this place, going it alone won't work. We need to stick together to survive! Anyone interested can come to the property management office to find me privately. My name is Huang Tao, and I live in Building 7.
Brother, I see you're an honest person. If you need anything, come find me later. These four security guards don't have their families around, and they're missing their loved ones, so their tone was a bit harsh—absolutely nothing more."
These last words completely shut down the bearded man opposite him. What did he mean by "not having their families around and being a bit harsh because they miss their loved ones"? This was clearly a threat! Those with nothing to lose aren't afraid of those wearing shoes!
Looking around at the others, the bearded man snorted coldly. "You're all just watching the show, aren't you?
" He simply said, "Fine, let's talk later."
(End of Chapter)