Chapter 122: Settlement on Day 26 |
"My lord, I've finished making the perch for the Crowned Eagle. Take a look." After Wang Yun left, Li Tieshan found Qin Ziwen. He was carrying several thick branches, then right in front of Qin Ziwen, he inserted these branches into the sand in an X-shape.
Then he took out some wire to secure the connection points of the two branches, and finally placed a crossbeam between the two X-shaped supports.
The Crowned Eagle tentatively landed on the crossbeam, its claws gripping the beam perfectly. It flapped its wings a few times, then gradually adapted to the stability.
"Does this have to be inserted into the sand?" Qin Ziwen pointed at the supports.
Li Tieshan shook his head. "No, I can forge an iron base for it later. That way it can be fixed without needing to be stuck in the sand."
"Thoughtful. How many spearheads have you made?" Qin Ziwen inquired.
Li Tieshan quickly replied, "My lord, I finished hammering out two spearheads today. As soon as we find suitable spear shafts, they can be turned into finished products immediately."
Qin Ziwen looked at the new burn scars on Li Tieshan's arm. "You've worked hard."
After a moment of thought, Qin Ziwen continued asking, "Is there anything you want? Or anything you need for your work?"
Qin Ziwen said, "I'll note your contributions for now. When conditions improve later, I'll make it up to you."
"Yes, my lord!" Hearing these words from his lord, Li Tieshan felt the fatigue from a whole day's work vanish. He even felt like going to forge a few more wrought iron ingots to celebrate.
After leaving the sandy area, Qin Ziwen came to his own Level 2 Field. He took out two Level 1 Field Cards and used both cards simultaneously.
The entire area was enveloped in white light.
When the light faded, the black soil field had undergone some kind of change. The soil was still black, but it seemed to have become more "viscous."
Qin Ziwen squatted down and grabbed a handful of soil.
It felt like grabbing a clump of moist earth, but as he rubbed it between his fingers, the soil crumbled and fell back into the field. His fingertips weren't stained with much moisture.
He cast Insight on the field.
【Level 3 Field: Level 3 Growth Acceleration, Level 3 Fertility】
No new traits were added, but the original two traits had both been upgraded to Level 3.
To record the field's amplification speed on crops, Qin Ziwen found a small wooden stick and stuck it next to a spinach plant. Then he made a white mark on the stick as a reference point.
On the other side, everyone was also systematically gathering items, busy all the way until evening.
The main trading partners for gasoline were the other residents of Building 8, Unit 2.
Upon learning they could trade gasoline for meat, most people decisively agreed. A small minority tried to find excuses to jack up the price.
Behind the door of apartment 701, watching Qin Ziwu leave with a stony face.
The woman of the house behind the door asked her husband worriedly, "They won't stop buying, will they?"
The man of 701 said with certainty, "Impossible. They'll definitely come back to buy. Even though I don't know what they want the gasoline for, if they need it, they'll definitely return."
The woman still felt her husband's price-gouging behavior just now was a bit excessive. "What if they don't buy from us and go to others? It's not like only we have gasoline in the residential complex."
Hearing this possibility his wife mentioned, the man felt a pang of panic in his heart. That wasn't an impossibility. He realized he might have made a mistake.
But he didn't want to back down in front of his wife. "It's fine. If he comes back, I'll just agree to his price. Besides, I heard his family got a lot of food, and last time they even carried back a whole wild boar. We're all neighbors, what's wrong with them sharing a bit more with me?"
Looking at her husband's stubborn temper, the woman sighed inwardly. She felt the other party probably wouldn't be coming back.
"Tap, tap, tap." Suddenly, footsteps coming up the stairs sounded from downstairs.
Seeing this, the man became smug. "What did I tell you?" "I'm telling you, even if it's cheaper, we won't buy a single drop of oil from your house! From now on, we won't do any business with your family at all!" Qin Ziwu grew angrier the more he thought about it, and finally rushed back to deliver this harsh warning.
"You!" The man's face turned livid with anger.
After leaving 701, Qin Ziwu went to the neighboring Unit 1 to find people to trade with.
Not long after, he gathered the required amount of gasoline.
Returning home, Qin Ziwu found his older brother and told him about the frustrating encounter during the gasoline trade. Most people were fine, but there were always a few odd ones.
"Brother, three families tried to jack up the price. The one in 701 was the worst. They think because our family has a lot of meat, we should give them more. Isn't that just bullying honest people?" Qin Ziwu said indignantly when mentioning this.
After listening to his younger brother's account, Qin Ziwen pointed out the problem with his handling of the situation. "You're still too young, too impulsive. Since you left, there was no need to specifically go back and deliver a warning. If they don't want to trade, just forget it. Some things, you just need to know yourself; there's no need to say them out loud. Even if the deal falls through, goodwill remains. There might still be opportunities for cooperation in the future."
Qin Ziwu looked at his brother suspiciously. "Brother, is this something you would say?"
Hearing this, Qin Ziwen laughed in exasperation. "I can't say that? Do you see me as some ruthless, vicious person who wipes out entire families over a disagreement?"
Qin Ziwu muttered something quietly. Qin Ziwen didn't catch it clearly, but he could guess it wasn't anything good. He lightly smacked his brother's head. "Alright, come with me to the rooftop to make Molotov cocktails."
Then Qin Ziwen took Qin Ziwu to the rooftop. As soon as they arrived, they smelled the strong scent of gasoline in the air.
A flashlight was on, illuminating this area of the rooftop.
They didn't use open flames. Under Wang Yun's instruction, everyone quickly got the hang of making Molotov cocktails.
Because the Giant Toad's back skin might be relatively soft, the Molotov cocktails might not shatter upon impact. So, these cocktail bottles were pre-filled with some small, angular stones or metal pieces to increase the breakage rate upon hitting the target.
They worked until almost midnight to finish. Because an additional ambush point had been set up, they made a total of 80 Molotov cocktails.
In addition, there were three sealed buckets of gasoline.
After finishing the work, they returned to their residence. Qin Ziwen had just finished showering and was lying in bed when he heard the daily score settlement in his ear.
「You have successfully survived safely in the wilderness for the twenty-sixth day, and have obtained two cards... Comprehensive Score: 72 points」
「Rewards Obtained: 【Building Card】 Level 1 Laundry Shop1, 【Building Card】 Level 1 Brewery Workshop1, 【Expansion Card】 Blank Expansion Card (Small)*1」
Laundry Shop? Brewery Workshop?
Qin Ziwen silently shook his head. These two buildings, how to put it... saying they're useful isn't exactly accurate.
Saying they're useless isn't right either, but as the residential complex develops, these two functional buildings are indeed an indispensable part.
After all, clothes need to be washed. It's just that currently, due to environmental reasons, basically every household washes their own. No one can afford the luxury of sending clothes to someone else to wash yet.
Then there's the Brewery Workshop.
What normal person has surplus grain to make alcohol? Unless brewing can create greater value than the grain itself, or unless the alcohol brewed in the Brewery Workshop has special effects.
But... Qin Ziwen thought of his own Tavern.
Most of the food prices in the Tavern aren't very expensive. What's expensive is mainly the alcohol.
If he could later obtain a building that uses currency for transactions, then the Field, Brewery Workshop, Tavern, and that unknown new building could be linked into a complete industrial chain.
However, that's a matter for later. At this stage, his own family's food supply isn't even guaranteed to be sufficient.
Although the scale of the Home is getting larger, as more and more people join, the daily food consumption is also increasing.
Thinking of this, Qin Ziwen felt perhaps he could try expanding into a new business, such as trading coarse salt!
But if he starts trading coarse salt, it means his team and Zhang Bo will have conflicting interests.
Either engage in a price war, or both sides agree on a unified price... or one side swallows up the other!
......