Chapter 149 - 139: Day 29 Settlement
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
A knock came from the door.
Qin Ziwen thought it was Zhang Bo delivering fish or Xiao Xuemei returning with the Earth Cages.
But when he opened the door, he saw it was Li Yue.
"Brother Qin."
"Come in, have a seat."
From the moment he stepped inside, Li Yue looked preoccupied and distracted. Qin Ziwen teased him, "What’s wrong? Something you’re too embarrassed to say?"
Li Yue said, "Well, Brother Qin, I’m planning to move my apartment over here."
"Didn’t you spend a lot of money renovating that place?"
Li Yue explained his thoughts in a rush. "That doesn’t matter. I just feel like where I’m living now is a bit far from you all. Besides, I live alone, and I haven’t used a Card to build my Home yet, so there’s still time.
I want to move right over, find an empty apartment on your floor. That way, if anything happens in the future, I’ll be closer to you, Boss."
Qin Ziwen said, "As long as you don’t mind the trouble."
Li Yue smiled. "It’s no trouble at all. Besides, new residents are coming soon. I’m worried that if I wait, someone will snatch up the spot and there won’t be any left."
"Xiaowu just took the apartment upstairs. Right now, 801 and 202 on the floor below are left. Which one do you want? But I should warn you, people have died in both of them."
Li Yue shared his thoughts. "I’ll take 801! I can be neighbors with Deng Guang. 202 is too close to the first floor, and I’ve heard the lower floors aren’t safe.
Oh, right, Brother Qin, that genius running around the Gated Community with a loudspeaker—you found him, right? I told you my idea was pretty useful!"
"What?" Qin Ziwen was suspicious.
Soon, he fell silent.
In the distance, walking below Building Two, Guo Xiaochun had somehow found a long pole. Tied to it was a piece of yellow cloth with a large character for "Qin" painted on it. He was patrolling the Gated Community relentlessly.
He held a large loudspeaker in his left hand, which blared a looped message: "Come one, come all, don’t miss out! Qin Ziwen of Building Eight, Mr. Qin, is providing a bombshell piece of news for all our neighbors, free of charge! The next world traversal will be to the Gobi Map! Gobi Map! Gobi Map! Important things must be said three times. Everyone, please prepare a water supply. You must prepare a water supply!"
Along the way, people occasionally approached Guo Xiaochun to talk, presumably to confirm the authenticity of the news.
Guo Xiaochun spoke with animated gestures, and the people who inquired about the news quickly hurried away.
𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮
Some neighbors rushed out of their homes with buckets, heading for the river. It seemed they were going to fetch water.
"Brother Qin, see? I told you it would work," Li Yue said smugly. "At a time like this, nobody has the patience for fancy stuff. You have to be simple and direct."
Qin Ziwen sighed. "It’s not hard to think of this method. The hard part is putting it into practice. Li Yue, you and Guo Xiaochun would really get along—you’re two peas in a pod, partners in crime, thick as thieves."
"Ahem, Boss, those are all negative terms," Li Yue reminded him in a quiet voice, clearing his throat.
"I meant them as negative terms. Alright, let’s go to your place first and help you move."
Moving was too slow for Li Yue alone, so Qin Ziwen decided to call over a few more people.
Zhao Pu and Deng Guang welcomed Li Yue’s decision to move to Building Eight.
Wang Yun was tempted, but his wife was still recovering and hadn’t left the house recently, so he could only wait and see for now.
Yuan Ming had just gotten home not long ago.
Yuan Dajun asked him, "You mentioned last time that your captain’s surname is Qin?"
"Yeah, why, Dad?"
"This man... he’s not bad. He’s got vision."
...
Li Yue didn’t have much to move.
The apartment in 801 had been cleaned out once before, and the windows had been left open to air it out, so it didn’t smell.
After they finished moving everything, Li Yue thanked the group, then found Qin Ziwen in private. "Captain, are you going to redeem that Blank Expansion Card?"
Qin Ziwen shook his head.
Seeing this, Li Yue breathed a sigh of relief. "I have 7 contribution points right now. If I have good luck on the mountain tomorrow, I should be able to get the eight points needed to redeem it."
Qin Ziwen encouraged him, "Alright. Keep up the good work."
Afterward, Li Yue asked if he could borrow the Celestial Star Arrow Gallery to practice his archery. Qin Ziwen readily agreed.
But he was a little puzzled. "After I mentioned it last time, is this really your first time here? Are all of you too shy to come?"
Li Yue laughed. "Everyone’s probably just been busy these past two days."
When Qin Ziwu heard Li Yue was coming to practice archery, he decided to act as a coach.
The result was a major blow to his ego.
Li Yue’s Arrow Skill was actually a little better than his!
"Isn’t this your first time here?!" Qin Ziwu seethed through gritted teeth.
"Yeah, it’s my first time here," Li Yue replied with a completely serious face.
"Damn it! You’re a wolf in sheep’s clothing," Qin Ziwu raged.
"Brother Wu, I used to be into historical weapons, so of course I’ve used a Bow before. But my Arrow Skill is usually not this good. I don’t know why, but after coming here, I feel..." "Like you’ve been completely transformed, like you’ve leveled up twice, right?" Qin Ziwu cut him off. "That’s the building’s buff. Everyone who comes here to practice archery gets it. Don’t say another word. I thought my Arrow Skill ranking would go up by one, but instead, it’s dropped by one."
He sighed wistfully in the end.
Li Yue practiced with the Bow for a little over half an hour before excusing himself. It was nighttime, and it wasn’t appropriate to stay too long at someone else’s home.
But before he left, Li Yue suggested, "Brother Qin, this building is incredible. Even a complete novice who knows nothing could be trained into a seasoned veteran here. The effect is so powerful. I think you could charge a fee, Captain, either in contribution points or other resources."
Qin Ziwen waved his hand dismissively. "No fees for now. Let’s focus on improving the team’s combat strength first. Besides, you’re all dirt poor. We can talk about it after you’ve gotten richer."
As for whether they would still come to this building after they "got richer," that was a definite must.
’This is called cultivating a consumer habit.’ Once they obtained Recruitment Cards and had new subordinates, how could they, having experienced the miraculous effects of the Celestial Star Arrow Gallery, refuse to come back?
A little later, Xiao Xuemei came to the door with three fish and the Earth Cages.
One tiger fish and two crucian carp.
He put the tiger fish in a separate bucket and placed the two crucian carp into the Fish Pond.
That evening, Qin Ziwen put in another shift at the tavern but didn’t attract any customers.
After washing up, he went to bed.
「You have successfully survived in the wilderness for a twenty-ninth day. You have harvested Cards, and a large catch of fish... Overall Rating: 70 points」
「Reward granted: [Building Card] Level 1 Bow and Arrow Workshop x1, [Resource Card] Level 1 Nan Bamboo Forest x1」
’A Bow and Arrow Workshop. Finally, a building specifically for making ranged weapons.’
’And a Nan Bamboo Forest...’
’Bamboo is good stuff. Some can be used for spear shafts, some for bows, and some are suitable for arrows.’
’But there are many types of bamboo. I just don’t know what Nan bamboo is best for.’
The Level 1 Nan Bamboo Forest required a 30x30 plot of land, about one and a half mu, making it a real land hog. The Bow and Arrow Workshop, on the other hand, only needed a 5x10 area, which was much smaller.
When Qin Ziwen came out after washing up, he saw Du Yu in the living room practicing his morning exercises, with Zhang Meng copying him nearby.
’Looks like Du Yu won over Zhang Meng when they went up the mountain together yesterday.’
"My lord." Seeing him approach, Zhang Meng quickly stopped his movements.
"Do either of you know about Nan bamboo? What is this stuff good for?"
Zhang Meng quickly chimed in, "My lord, I know! Nan bamboo is straight and hard, perfect for making arrow shafts."
At this moment, Du Yu also slowly completed his form, replying with a steady breath, "Replying to my lord, Nan bamboo has thick walls and is quite heavy. It’s an excellent material for spear shafts. Its disadvantage is its relative weight, but that makes it more suitable for dealing with beasts."
"So it’s good for arrows and shafts. What about bows?"
Du Yu shook his head. "Nan bamboo lacks flexibility. A bow made from it would easily break and injure the archer."
Qin Ziwen was a little disappointed, but satisfied nonetheless.
’There’s no such thing as a perfect material, after all.’
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