Chapter 92 - 88: Alliance Mutual Aid Association
"Let me try." Qin Ziwu took it excitedly.
A heavy weight settled into his palm.
Anyone who has lifted a nine-pound dumbbell knows that lifting it with one hand isn’t hard, and doing it a dozen times in a row isn’t very difficult either.
But if you tried to wield it as a weapon, swinging it quickly and repeatedly with one hand, you would feel a heavy, sluggish drag.
Qin Ziwu gripped the hilt with both hands and chopped forward, the blade cutting through the air with a powerful WHOOSH.
"I can use it with two hands, but it’s still pretty difficult with one," Qin Ziwu said in amazement. ’Just how strong is Du Yu, to be able to swing a heavy single-handed blade like it’s a toy?’
Du Yu instructed, "Technique is crucial when using a blade. You can’t just swing with brute force. You have to learn to borrow momentum, to unify your waist and body—it’s not just about your wrist..."
Following Du Yu’s guidance, Qin Ziwu felt the blade become much lighter when he swung it again.
He couldn’t help but look at Du Yu with admiration. "Thank you for the guidance, Brother Du!"
Du Yu said softly, "It’s nothing. If there’s anything you don’t understand, just ask me."
Qin Ziwen took the blade from his brother. His palm sank with the weight, but he found it manageable.
He swung it a few times. Although he couldn’t wield it as effortlessly as Du Yu, he could still use it properly. He noticed that swinging the blade was different from using a Long Spear. The Long Spear was more for thrusting and piercing, while the blade was for chopping and slashing.
The feel of a one-handed weapon was completely different from a two-handed one.
...
Going downstairs, Qin Ziwen headed to Wei Zhaohua’s apartment.
"Have a seat." Wei Zhaohua greeted him warmly. Because of the three Earth Cages, the two elders in his family had found something to do, and they had spoken highly of Qin Ziwen to him. As a result, he now considered Qin Ziwen a friend.
Qin Ziwen got straight to the point. "Brother Wei, I’d like to procure some fruit seeds from you. Do you have any recommendations?"
"Fruit seeds? What kind are you looking for?" Wei Zhaohua thought for a moment, asking for Qin Ziwen’s preferences.
Qin Ziwen said directly, "Something easy to grow and quick to bear fruit. If the growing time is too long, then forget it."
"Easy to grow... and quick to fruit... let me think." Wei Zhaohua pondered for a moment. "Actually, fruits like tangerines, oranges, and mangoes are all easy to grow, but they take several years to grow from a seedling to a fruit-bearing tree. I haven’t planted many myself because it takes too long. As for things that fit your requirements, I have tomatoes, chili peppers, winter melons, and pumpkins."
"Wait here a moment." Wei Zhaohua turned and went into a room, emerging shortly after with two potted plants.
In his left hand was a green plant nearly twenty centimeters tall, and in his right was one about ten centimeters tall.
He first placed the twenty-centimeter-tall potted plant on the table.
"This is a tomato plant. It has a short growth cycle—only two to three months from sowing to harvest. The yield isn’t bad, either. Even a potted plant can produce several fruits.
If you want to plant them for transplanting later, you can take the seed sacs from the middle of a tomato, dig a hole, and cover them with soil. Don’t go too deep, about a centimeter is fine. Drop two or three seeds at a time. In this weather, they should sprout in two or three days. Just make sure they get plenty of sunlight."
Then he placed the ten-centimeter-tall potted plant on the table.
"This is a green pepper plant. It’s drought-tolerant but dislikes waterlogging, so don’t water it too much. A single plant can yield twenty to thirty peppers."
"I don’t need the finished plants, just sell me some more seeds."
"You want seeds?" Wei Zhaohua didn’t ask any more questions. He turned, went back into the room, and came out a moment later carrying a few small bags of seeds.
"Here are tomato, chili pepper, and pumpkin seeds. You can take them back and plant them. These varieties are all suitable for sowing in the current temperature. After they sprout, make sure they get sunlight and aren’t kept in a shady spot. The pumpkin seedlings will need a lot of water."
"Alright, Brother Wei. What’s the price for these seeds? I’ll pay you back later."
Wei Zhaohua waved his hand. "No need. Just take them. I have more of these seeds than I can plant myself, and I don’t have the space at home. Besides, they’re not anything valuable."
Qin Ziwen shook his head. "They might not be valuable to you, but they are to me."
Wei Zhaohua laughed. "Well then, once you’ve grown something, just pick a pumpkin for me to try. We’ll see how good your skills are."
"Deal. I’ll pick the biggest one for you."
Qin Ziwen returned home with the seeds. His brother told him that after he had gone downstairs, Xiao Xuemei had stopped by. She brought an eel and two fish, which was their share of the catch from the past couple of days.
"One of the fish is pretty big. I’d say it’s four or five pounds."
"Let me see." Walking over to the water bucket, Qin Ziwen peered inside. In addition to the eel, there was a large black fish and some thin loaches.
"Whoa, this fish is pretty big. We’ll eat it tonight."
After giving his instructions, Qin Ziwen took the seeds to the farmland and began to plant.
Following Wei Zhaohua’s instructions, he planted the different types of seeds in separate areas.
Including the first batch of crops he had planted earlier, he had now filled nearly half of the area.
He then returned to his bedroom, took out a pen and paper, and began hand-drawing a map of the mountain path based on the route he took and the video he recorded during the day.
Soon, a winding route up the mountain came to life on the paper.
’This route is quite valuable, you know. It’s a path to an Advanced Altar.’ Qin Ziwen muttered to himself with a click of his tongue. ’Who in their right mind draws a map?’
If it weren’t for wanting to raise his daily settlement score, he wouldn’t have drawn out such an important route.
It was enough to keep a route like this in his head; drawing it out was really unnecessary.
’Once I get the score bonus, I’ll burn this map. Then I’ll draw it again tomorrow and see if I can exploit this bug repeatedly.’
Outside his bedroom door, his brother knocked. "Big bro, dinner’s ready."
"Coming." Qin Ziwen stood up, casually crumpling the map into a ball and stuffing it into his pocket.
The four of them finished dinner. Qin Ziwen rubbed his slightly overstuffed stomach. The fish soup today was good, very fresh and savory.
It was a bit noisy downstairs.
There was the sound of gongs and drums. He didn’t know what the commotion was about.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
Deng Guang was at the door, asking if Qin Ziwen wanted to go downstairs with them to check it out.
"Go where?"
Xiao Xuemei said, "I hear it’s the Alliance Mutual Aid Association. They’re holding some kind of founding event tonight."
Qin Ziwen remembered. The Alliance Mutual Aid Association had approached him yesterday, but he didn’t go because it conflicted with his trip to the Advanced Altar on the mountain today.
He couldn’t help but ask her, "Did they approach you guys after that?"
Xiao Xuemei shook her head. "No, the people from the Alliance Mutual Aid Association didn’t look for us today. But they held a sort of rally at the south gate this morning. I went over to listen for a bit. It was mostly them promoting their Mutual Aid Association."
After a moment of thought, Qin Ziwen said, "Let’s go downstairs and take a look."
They put on their jackets, went downstairs, and hurried toward the base of Building Two.
From a distance, they could hear the banging of gongs and drums.
And the sound from a large loudspeaker: "...The power of the collective is infinite! If you understand, give me some applause!"
CLAP CLAP CLAP~
Many of the elderly people in the crowd clapped nonstop.
At the base of Building Two, a high platform had been set up. A man in a suit stood on it, holding a loudspeaker in his left hand, his right hand raised high. "I’ll say it again! Our Alliance Mutual Aid Association is dedicated to creating a utopian society! And what is a utopian society? It is shared resources! Shared information! And shared welfare!"
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