Qin Ziwen swept the clothesline pole in his hand through the grass a few times, silencing the chirping of insects.
Stepping out the gate, Qin Ziwu followed behind. "Brother, which way do we go?"
Qin Ziwen surveyed the surroundings first. Although the riverside might have more resources, to be on the safe side, "Let's look around nearby first, don't stray too far from the community."
Qin Ziwu, following behind, spotted something interesting, pointing to a large, green grasshopper crawling on a broad leaf not far away. "Is that a grasshopper? It's almost the size of my palm."
Qin Ziwen looked in the direction of the voice: "These things look really good roasted, the protein content is sixteen times that of beef."
"Then I'll catch one and try it." Qin Ziwu tiptoed closer, but before he had taken two steps, the grasshopper leaped and darted into the grass further back. Qin Ziwu ran after it, and the grasshopper disappeared into the depths of the grass with a few more leaps.
To avoid being bitten by snakes, Qin Ziwen walked slowly, sweeping the clothesline pole across the path every two steps.
A rustling sound came from beneath their feet, and a small, yellowish-brown creature darted past.
Qin Ziwen gave chase, but the bushes and weeds were too dense, and he lost track of it after only a few steps.
Qin Ziwu also spotted a similar small, yellowish-brown creature, but it was too agile to catch. "These things are too nimble,"
Qin Ziwen said, wiping the sweat from his brow. "They look a bit like mice; we'll have to set a trap. Let's look for fruit trees first."
The sun slowly rose, baking the surrounding vegetation with a faint, grassy fragrance, and the air grew increasingly hot.
Qin Ziwen and his brother had already walked around the neighborhood once, and more and more families were searching the area like them.
"Xiaowu, come and take a look. Are these mulberries?" Qin Ziwen looked up, pointing to the tree in front of them.
Qin Ziwu was certain, "It's a mulberry tree. We used to pick mulberries on the mountain back home."
Qin Ziwen said, "Okay, then you climb the tree and pick some. I'll watch over it from below."
Qin Ziwu didn't say a word, obediently climbing the tree with his schoolbag on his back.
The mulberry tree they found was in a somewhat hidden location, nestled among several surrounding trees. At first, no one noticed it, but it wasn't far from the residential area. After picking for a short while, an old man passing by saw it and quickly went back to call for help.
"Okay!" The younger brother, Qin Ziwu, was full of energy, climbing the tree as nimbly as a monkey.
Qin Ziwen reminded him, "Be careful, don't climb too high."
The old man who had gone back to call for help brought four or five people with him.
Among the newcomers, an older woman with permed hair glanced at Qin Ziwen and said sarcastically, "There are mulberries over here. You two young men are being unethical, finding them without even saying anything, just secretly picking them here."
Qin Ziwen retorted without hesitation, "It's none of my business if you're slow to find them."
A thin old man next to the woman pointed at Qin Ziwen, "How can you talk like that, young man!"
A hint of impatience flashed in Qin Ziwen's eyes. He raised his spear and took a step closer, causing the group's arrogance to wane.
One of the young men quickly tried to deflect the question, "Buddy, that's not what my family meant. Mom, these things in the wild belong to whoever finds them first."
Perhaps intimidated by the "weapon" in Qin Ziwen's hand, the woman reluctantly looked away, her gaze falling on her daughter, "Zihan, you go pick them."
The high school-aged girl's eyes widened.
Me?
She glanced fearfully at the spear in Qin Ziwen's hand, clearly unwilling.
The older woman urged, "You brat, what are you standing here for? Just go! This older brother isn't unreasonable; would he bully you?"
The girl was speechless.
The older woman said to her daughter, "Besides, these mulberries don't last long. You have to eat them the same day you pick them, or they'll spoil the next day. How many can these two handsome guys eat? Hurry up." The girl
took a few hesitant steps forward, glancing timidly at Qin Ziwen.
Qin Ziwen ignored her.
The girl grew a little bolder, and wearing sweatpants, she hugged the tree trunk and slowly climbed up. The skinny old man went over and gave her a push.
At this moment, two more families arrived one after another.
Qin Ziwu jumped down from the tree and handed his schoolbag to his older brother, "The others are a bit harder to pick."
Qin Ziwen glanced at his younger brother's schoolbag, which was about half full.
This mulberry tree hadn't been picked much before; the fruit was plump and juicy, and Qin Ziwu had already searched the easy spots.
"Let's go."
They zipped up their bags, slung their schoolbags over their shoulders, and walked back.
"A crocodile!"
"Someone's been bitten by a crocodile!"
"There's a crocodile in this river!"
Shouts came from the riverbank not far away, someone crying for help.
Qin Ziwen and his younger brother exchanged a glance and walked towards the riverbank simultaneously.
When they were still dozens of meters away from the river, they heard the sound of churning water.
On the surface of the water, a huge crocodile was rolling around, splashing up large waves.
On the bank, a teenage girl was crying, "Dad! Please save my dad!"
Some people on the bank were carefully throwing stones at the crocodile, while others were hitting it with branches they had gathered.
After being attacked, the crocodile dragged the man away from the bank and swam towards deeper water, staining the water red with blood along the way. The man who had been bitten had stopped struggling, his legs dangling limply outside the river.
Qin Ziwu sighed, "What a huge crocodile! Probably at least four or five meters long. Luckily, I didn't go to the riverbank earlier; the animals here all seem quite large."
Qin Ziwen said in a low voice, "Have you forgotten about the bat from last night? Bats are usually social animals."
Hearing this, Qin Ziwu's scalp tingled. He thought of those scenes on TV where caves were teeming with bats; he couldn't even imagine them all being this size.
"Waaah!"
A girl on the bank knelt on the ground, sobbing, her mother hugging her.
An old man carrying a bucket shook his head on the bank, "Alas, this family is in trouble. The only male heir is gone."
Back home, Qin Ziwen emptied all the mulberries from his bag into an iron basin.
Having been picked for a while, the mulberries had softened.
He picked one up, smelled it, and tasted it slowly.
The taste had changed compared to when they were freshly picked.
Qin Ziwen frowned, "They spoiled so quickly."
He went outside, looking at the increasingly scorching sun.
Two suns, one on the left and one on the right, stood very close together, looking like two eyes hanging in the sky from a distance.
Gently wiping the moisture off the mulberries with tissue paper, Qin Ziwu selected the freshest and plump ones and spread them evenly on a cardboard sheet on the balcony.
Qin Ziwu squatted beside him, observing. "Brother, will this work?"
"Let's try it first. Dried mulberries have a longer shelf life, consider it an experiment."
Picking up the plate and looking at the remaining damaged and shriveled mulberries, Qin Ziwen gently wiped them with tissue paper, carefully picking out any impurities, and slowly chewed them.
The flesh was soft and juicy, with a slightly grainy texture, prominently sweet, and a perfectly balanced tartness.
The taste was quite good; he'd heard that these were rich in vitamins and could supplement many of the nutrients the body needed.
"Have some." He handed the plate to his younger brother.
Qin Ziwu took the plate, wiped off the dust, and popped it into his mouth. "Hmm, quite sweet."
It was too hot outside at noon, so Qin Ziwen didn't go out. He found a piece of paper and, based on his memory of the morning, drew a map on it. In the middle was a residential area. About a hundred meters south of the residential area, a river
ran east to west. The river was shallow and calm, with exposed rocks visible in some areas. It was about a hundred or two meters wide. To the north, the terrain was higher, with mountains in the distance and dense forests surrounding the area. He
paused, thought for a moment, and then drew a small circle to the northwest of where he had found the mulberry tree.
Putting down his pen and paper, he felt sleepy; he hadn't slept much last night and had been up all night.
Qin Ziwen yawned, "I'm going to take a nap. It's too hot outside now, let's not go out to avoid heatstroke. We'll go out in the afternoon when it cools down." Qin Ziwu nodded
; his older brother had always been a good student, so listening to him was always a good idea.
The bed was a bit hot, so Qin Ziwen simply pulled the sheet off and spread it on the floor, quickly falling asleep.
When he woke up, it was already 4:40 PM. The temperature had dropped; the temperature difference between day and night was quite large here.
His phone battery was only 24% left; it would probably shut down automatically in a little while.
So he simply turned off his phone.
After waking his younger brother, Qin Ziwen went to the balcony. Looking down, he saw some residents setting up stalls under the trees in the community below, selling various items.
Some people were exchanging unwanted or surplus items from their homes.
Qin Ziwen squatted down and flipped the mulberries on the balcony to prevent them from sticking to the cardboard.
He wasn't sure if he could make dried fruit this way; he'd seen others do it this way in videos before.
Qin Ziwu leaned against the balcony, still yawning. After watching for a while, he became very interested in the stalls downstairs, getting more and more energetic. He leaned on the railing, elbows on his elbows, craning his neck.
"Brother, I want to go down and take a look. Do you think I can find anything good?"
Qin Ziwen flipped the mulberries in his hand. "These things are all brought out by people themselves. They're not stupid. If you want to find something good, you'll have to wait a while. I guess you won't even have to spend any money by then."
Qin Ziwu understood his older brother's meaning and chuckled.
Qin Ziwen carefully turned over the last mulberry, stood up, and looked down at the bustling crowd below. "Right now, most households have enough to eat to maintain a semblance of dignity. Things will be different once the food runs out."
After the transmigration, electricity and internet were completely cut off.
Without the internet, time seemed to slow down.
Qin Ziwen said to his younger brother, "We need to prepare more weapons, food, and water. Our advantage right now is that we are two adult men. We should try not to get sick. If we need to drink water, we must boil it first, and we should eat cooked food as much as possible."
"Then why did you give me a mulberry just now!"
"Don't argue with me!" Qin Ziwen turned around and gave him a flick on the forehead.
Qin Ziwu: "Brother, do we have a lighter at home?"
"I don't smoke."
"Me neither! Then where will we get a fire?"
"You don't know how to make fire by friction?"
"I don't."
"It's okay, I'll teach you."
Coming out of the apartment building, Qin Ziwen noticed the somewhat oppressive atmosphere in the neighborhood.
People were gathered in small groups.
I overheard other people talking and learned that someone in Building 6 had been bitten by a venomous snake that afternoon. When they were brought back, their body was covered in purple bruises, and they were already cold.
Counting the resident of Building 4 who was eaten by a crocodile that morning, two people had died in the community before the day was even over, causing widespread panic.
Nearby, at a stall under a tree, an old man in a gray vest asked the stall owner, "How much is this lighter?"
The stall owner replied, "Five liters of clean water, or enough food for one meal."
The old man was startled. "Are you crazy, kid! A one-yuan lighter for such a high price!"
The stall owner sneered, "This is fire! How can you cook without fire, eating raw food? Besides, this lighter is new; if you use it sparingly, it will last you a long time."
"That's too expensive. Can you make it cheaper? How about this, I have half a bottle of mineral water at home that I haven't finished. How about I trade this for it?" Saying this, the old man squatted down and took the lighter.
The stall owner, a tall, fat man, grabbed the old man's hand. "I haven't agreed yet, are you trying to steal?"
"Ouch, you're hitting me! You're hitting me!" The old man lay down on the ground.
The tall, fat man laughed angrily, rolling up his sleeves. "There are no police around here. You really want a beating, don't you?"
Hearing this, the old man rolled to his feet. "Young man, your words are so sarcastic and disrespectful to elders."
The tall, fat man's lips moved, but no sound came out, though Qin Ziwen recognized the three words.
The tall, fat man turned to Qin Ziwen beside him. "Brother, want to buy a lighter?"
Qin Ziwen smiled and waved.
He took his younger brother for a walk around the neighborhood. The things the neighbors sold were all sorts of things.
Most were luxury goods or electronic products, and some were gold jewelry. There were very few things that could actually help with survival, and even those that were overpriced were mostly for food.
Qin Ziwen suddenly stopped. He saw a crowd gathered at a stall not far ahead.
He went over and found that someone was selling fishing rods.
Qin Ziwu lowered his voice and whispered, "Brother, this is a good thing! There's a river right here, you can fish with this rod."
Qin Ziwen listened for a while and silently shook his head, "Too expensive."
Scarcity drives up the price; several families are vying for this fishing rod, there's no way you can get a bargain.
Besides, the most important thing in fishing is never the rod, but the bait.
The bait attracts the fish; you can catch them with a twig, a thin line, and a needle tied to it.
"Brother, sell it cheaply, I really want it. There are crocodiles in this river, fishing isn't safe. If the hook falls into a crocodile's mouth, the rod is ruined."
"This is a Daiwa, a brand name product!"
A man in a suit said, "Brother, I have five packs of biscuits, I'll trade with you. You'll really get a good deal. These biscuits have a long shelf life, you can keep them for months. After a few months, you won't even be able to exchange two packs for ten."
"No, no, it's too cheap. You can add a few more packs."
Qin Ziwen recognized the man in the suit as Huang Tao, the resident of Building 7 who had called everyone to cooperate.
Leading his younger brother out of the crowd, Qin Ziwen continued searching the area around the neighborhood.
Unfortunately, they couldn't find any fruit trees resembling mulberry trees, but they did find a mousetrap next to the entrance of what looked like a rat hole, likely hidden there by a resident.
Remembering the location, Qin Ziwen returned home, drew all the curtains, and closed all the doors and windows.
After eating four small bread rolls and half a bottle of water for dinner, Qin Ziwen was still a little hungry. He lay flat on the bed, conserving food as much as possible until he found a new source.
It was getting dark outside.
Without the internet, going to bed so early for the first time felt a little strange.
But after walking around all day, he was exhausted and soon fell asleep.
In his sleep, he vaguely heard a voice.
"You have successfully survived the first day in the wilderness, collected a small amount of fresh fruit, and drawn a simple map. Overall score: 3 points."
"You have received the following rewards: 1 flint and steel, 1 simple trap crafting blueprint (fragment)."
(End of Chapter)