He Kao: "It's illegal to use explosives for fishing now."
Huang Xiaopang: "We could find a secluded river bend with no surveillance, blast it, scoop up the fish, and then just run... Were all these firecrackers found in your house? How come the police didn't confiscate them?"
He Kao: "I stored them in the small room on the third floor. The police searched pretty lazily, and that's not what they were looking for."
Huang Xiaopang: "Maybe the informant got it wrong, or perhaps your aunt got the tip-off and moved the stuff in advance."
He Kao glanced at Xiaopang and nodded: "Yeah, that's probably it."
Huang Xiaopang: "Why are you thinking of making Bamboo Thunders again?"
He Kao: "Just making a few to have on hand, just in case. This might be a bit illegal too, so don't report me."
Huang Xiaopang chuckled: "Give me a few and I won't rat you out."
He Kao: "I haven't made the fuses yet. Let's talk about it the day after tomorrow, and we can drive out to a deserted place to test them."
Huang Xiaopang: "I know a stretch of riverbank where people often set off fireworks and shoot short clips; let's try there."
The next day was Sunday, and He Kao went out to buy some things, then stayed in all day. After work on Monday, he drove with Xiaopang to the northern outskirts of the city, found a quiet riverbank, and pulled a backpack from the trunk.
He Kao took out a small bamboo tube, unscrewed the lid, pressed something inside, screwed it back on, and then threw it with force. The tube fell into the river, a muffled sound was heard, and a splash appeared on the surface, but no fish floated up.
The sound was not very loud due to the water's absorption, and the power didn't seem strong either. This wasn't a grenade after all, but if it exploded nearby, its lethal force wouldn't be negligible.
Huang Xiaopang eagerly said: "Let me throw one to try."
He Kao: "Unscrew the lid and press inside... the time until explosion is no less than four seconds, no more than five. If it's not thrown into the water, you don't need to screw the lid back on.
Try throwing one without gunpowder on the bare ground first, to get a feel for it and avoid accidentally blowing yourself up."
Huang Xiaopang practiced with an empty bamboo tube, familiarizing himself with the operation. He asked: "Isn't this different from the Bamboo Thunders you made when you were a kid?"
He Kao: "What I made back then was manually ignited; this one uses electric spark ignition."
Huang Xiaopang: "An upgrade! Where'd you get so many electric ignition devices?"
He Kao: "Disposable lighters—they have them. They're only a dollar each, and I've dismantled quite a few."
Gunpowder doesn't need air for combustion; its oxidizer is saltpeter. The fuse, soaked in a saltpeter solution and dried, can ignite in an airless environment. He Kao needed to calculate the burning speed correctly.
The advantage of the industrial era is the easy access to a large number of cheap parts.
The small bamboo tube wasn't big, even handheld it could be hidden; it had a cap like a safety lock, which needed to be unscrewed, and then a contact inside pressed—a spark would ignite the fuse... He Kao worked hard to successfully make this little device.
If thrown into water, the lid could be screwed back to prevent the fuse from extinguishing.
Huang Xiaopang practiced with the empty Bamboo Thunder many times before skillfully throwing two real ones into the river, unbelievably bringing up a turtle.
The Great River has been under a fishing ban for years, and its ecological resources have recovered well. Wild turtle soup is delicious, but they didn't have a fishnet, and it was too far to reach, so they just watched the turtle float away under the flashlight beam.
Huang Xiaopang eagerly wanted to play more, but He Kao dissuaded him: "Don't waste them. It took a lot of effort to make these, so save them."
Altogether, He Kao only made over thirty small bamboo tubes, and Huang Xiaopang took half; then they drove back to the apartment.
On the way, He Kao threw out a large bag of trash, including various scattered parts, a hot pot restaurant apron, and shoe covers. Actually, the backpack wasn't usable either, or it would likely fail security checks at places like airports.
They had fun by the river, but back in the city center, He Kao's newly rented apartment was infiltrated yet again by Old Qian. Qian Guran found nothing new this time; the processed Bamboo Thunders and remaining scattered items were taken with He Kao.
Qian Guran seemed to sense a faint gunpowder scent but didn't think much of it, assuming it was from He Kao's old house and didn't suspect anything else—most people wouldn't think of it.
After moving to a new apartment, over a month went by without incident, and Qian Guran didn't act unusually either, leaving He Kao puzzled. Was it all just a misunderstanding? It felt like a hazy dream that suddenly dissolved.
However, the recording really existed, and the people mentioned in it were real, including Gao Xue'e and his father Zhou Du. How to explain all that?
What seemed like calmness to He Kao was thrilling for Qian Guran. During this month or so, He Kao's new apartment was practically like an inn, with frequent unannounced visitors, even many late-night callers.
Qian Guran felt secretly relieved that he had already acquired the item, which was He Kao's regular wear, the Beast Claw Pendant. This happened a week after He Kao moved, during a department team building.
Many leaders love organizing team buildings, from small company bosses to big company managers, often under the guise of building corporate culture. The staff felt mixed about it, depending on the circumstances.
To drag the entire company or department out for some drills, leaders might feel a subconscious sense of satisfaction, even a way to relieve anxiety—I can command so many people, and they have to listen to me.