Chapter 105: Strange thing |
A knocking sound came from outside the bedroom door, along with Liu San's voice.
"Master, master, are you there?"
Qin Ziwen, who had just closed his eyes, was awakened. He opened his eyes. "What is it?"
"This humble servant has important matters to report."
Qin Ziwen sat up from the bed, put on his coat, and the Crowned Eagle jumped out of its nest, following behind him.
Opening the door, Liu San stood outside, bent at the waist.
Liu San shakily raised his hands, holding them up. "This old man was just about to fetch two buckets of brine before bed to pour into the salt drying area, but ended up pulling a treasure from the well. Please, master, examine it."
In the center of his palm lay an oval stone, bluish-grey in color.
Miraculously, the surface of this stone emitted a faint bluish fluorescent glow.
[Level 1 Curio] Salt Essence Stone (Can be embedded in salt mine or salt workshop-type buildings)
Apart from displaying this text, there was no other information. Even using Insight, the result was [Insufficient Permissions].
Qin Ziwen asked Liu San, "You just said you pulled this from the well?"
"Yes, this old man wouldn't dare deceive you, master."
Following Liu San to the side of the salt well, besides Liu San, the other three refugees were already lying on the straw mats in the Porridge Shed. Dazhuang lay on a mat, snoring thunderously.
"Fetch another bucket."
Liu San used the winch handle to lower the wooden bucket. A thud echoed from the bottom of the well as it hit the floor.
"Master, there's no brine at the bottom of the well."
Liu San said, "This salt well has a daily limit on the amount of brine that seeps out."
Qin Ziwen nodded to show he understood. What constrained the salt well's production was still the efficiency of brine seepage at the bottom, somewhat similar to the spring.
But this Salt Essence Stone could be embedded in a building. How exactly was it embedded? By digging a hole in the building and putting it in?
He took out the Salt Essence Stone. Suddenly, he felt the stone in his hand grow hot. Then, the salt well structure before his eyes became illusory. Some specks of light flew out from the structure, eventually coalescing into a transparent, illusory card.
The card automatically flipped over, revealing a hole on its back.
Qin Ziwen tentatively placed the Salt Essence Stone from his palm onto it.
The two directly fused into one.
[Level 1 Salt Well (Salt Essence Stone): Level 1 Rapid Evaporation, Level 1 Rapid Purification, Level 2 Brine Quality Enhancement]
Brine quality enhancement?
This curio could actually bestow new properties upon card buildings.
Qin Ziwen leaned over and peered into the salt well. At the bottom was a thin layer of brine; otherwise, it was empty.
Was this curio really fished out from down there?
Pondering this in his heart, Qin Ziwen still praised Liu San and rewarded him with one jin of cured meat.
Liu San was ecstatic, but then seemed somewhat troubled. He hoped to temporarily store the cured meat with Qin Ziwen. If he carried it on his person, the meat might not be secure.
Qin Ziwen readily agreed to Liu San's request.
......
After finishing all this, Qin Ziwen slept straight through until evening.
Upon waking, he went to wash up first. Everyone else had already started work one after another.
Liu San, Dazhuang, and the others were huffing and puffing as they used the salt well.
Li Tiezhu was in the Blacksmith, vigorously hammering away, forging the second Powerful Animal Trap.
Qin Ziwu had transplanted the Cudrania Wood they discovered earlier and planted it in the field.
Qin Ziwen yawned. "Why didn't you guys wake me?"
"I came to check on you midway and saw you sleeping so soundly, so I didn't call you," Qin Ziwu said while patting down the soil. "Oh, right, Brother Deng Guang came looking for you this afternoon. You were asleep at the time."
"He said the river is full of mayfly larvae, so you can't catch river delicacies. He wanted to go to the stream area. I saw you were still sleeping, so I didn't agree, saying we'd talk about it after you woke up."
Qin Ziwen said, "We still have half a bucket of the stream crabs we caught from the creek last time, right? Go take them to Deng Guang. Tell him we can head to the stream area together tomorrow."
"Ah, okay." Qin Ziwu nodded.
These stream crabs, after being caught and kept in a bucket, had died even with daily water changes.
It would be better to put them in the fish and shrimp ditch where they could survive.
Although fish ponds can support mixed farming of fish and crabs, it requires raising specific mid-to-upper water column fish species. The fry of bottom-dwelling fish would be eaten by the crabs.
Now, having used quite a few cards, he had gained a decent understanding of card properties. For this type of breeding-related building card, the environment inside was absolutely suitable for the corresponding organisms.
Qin Ziwu carried the bucket upstairs. Deng Guang opened the door and, upon learning this was Qin Ziwen's arrangement, his expression became complicated, tinged with shame. "That's not what I meant. You giving me the crabs... I feel undeserving."
"Just take them. This stuff doesn't have much meat, doesn't taste great. Frying them wastes oil, there's not much crab roe either. It's just for satisfying a craving." Qin Ziwu waved his hand. "Brother Deng Guang, my brother said we're going to the stream area tomorrow."
Deng Guang accepted the bucket with a complex expression. "Alright."
After leaving Deng Guang's home, Qin Ziwu happened to see Zhao Pu standing right in front of their own door.
"Doctor Zhao."
Zhao Pu was startled. He turned his head and, seeing it was Qin Ziwu, let out a sigh of relief. "You scared me, walking without a sound. I came to deliver something to your place."
As he spoke, he shook the bag in his hand.
"What's this?"
"Seeds."
Hearing they were seeds, Qin Ziwu immediately understood.
His older brother had been muttering during his free time these past couple of days about transplanting more crops.
If not for the height limitations of their home, he suspected his brother might even try to move that mulberry tree inside.
After opening the door, his older brother took the seeds from Doctor Zhao. The two exchanged pleasantries for a bit. In the end, Doctor Zhao didn't accept anything in return.
But Qin Ziwu understood: the most expensive things are the free ones.
Doctor Zhao not accepting meant he wanted something else even more.
Zhao Pu stared at Qin Ziwen's face and suddenly said, "Mr. Qin, your condition doesn't seem right."
"Really?" Qin Ziwen touched his own forehead, recalling that after getting up, he did feel somewhat drowsy.
Zhao Pu said, "Mhm. I recommend you use a thermometer to check if you have a fever."
"Okay." Qin Ziwen took out a mercury thermometer, clamped one end, shook it forcefully a few times, then tucked it under his armpit. He took it out five minutes later.
"37.9°C."
Hearing this number, Zhao Pu looked at Qin Ziwen with concern. "That's a low-grade fever. It should be in the early stages now."
Qin Ziwen frowned. He hadn't even felt like he had a fever.
It might be because he had used the Enhancement Card, and his physical constitution had received a boost once.
But hearing Zhao Pu say this, perhaps it was a psychological effect, Qin Ziwen started feeling an itch in his chest and a desire to cough.
"Doctor Zhao, if one accidentally gets infected, how should it be treated?"
"The earlier the treatment, the better. If you have antibiotics at home, you can take cephalosporin antibiotics. If not, boil honeysuckle and dandelion to drink. This infectious disease is a bacterial infection of the lungs." Zhao Pu paused, then said, "Cephalosporin is quite effective. After taking the medicine these two days, try to stay home as much as possible. Then you need to expel phlegm. You can boil water these days and inhale the steam to keep your respiratory tract moist. Don't hold in phlegm; spit it out. Clean up the phlegm you spit out regularly."
"And don't sweat it out by bundling up. Raising body temperature increases the burden on your body. Use a damp towel to wipe your body periodically. Eat more high-carb, high-protein foods. Don't eat anything spicy..."
......