Looking at the crucian carp still gasping with moving gills under the crowned eagle's feet, such a fresh fish clearly just caught from the river.
Qin Ziwen's voice turned serious. "I told you to come straight back. Why did you go catch a fish from the river? What if you got bitten by a crocodile?"
Hearing the displeasure in its master's tone, the crowned eagle shrunk its neck, wanting to sneak away quietly.
Then it was grabbed by the neck and held in place.
"Stand properly."
The crowned eagle let out small whimpers, trying to awaken its master's paternal affection.
Qin Ziwen stared at it for a moment before his tone softened. He rubbed its fluffy large head. "Forget it, you just arrived. It's normal you didn't understand my meaning clearly. Just coming back safely is fine. Your performance during tonight's fight was good. This fish will be your meal tomorrow."
"Remember, hunting means catching fish, eating, consume, use your mouth..." Qin Ziwen pointed at its beak, then at the fish, patiently teaching it commands.
The crowned eagle seemed confused, sometimes shaking its head, sometimes gently stepping on the fish with its claws. It was unclear if it understood, acting like a child with attention issues.
Wrapping the fish in a plastic bag and storing it in the cellar.
Qin Ziwen came to the living room. The gray sweet potato brought back during the day had already been planted in the plastic barrel stool.
The previously planted wild vegetables had been removed, and the gray sweet potato was buried inside.
He specifically placed it beside the spring, as putting it on the balcony was too conspicuous. This location was safest.
He planned to dig more soil tomorrow and gather some stones to simply build a "soil platform."
As night fell, Qin Ziwen prepared to sleep. The crowned eagle didn't want to sleep in the living room and secretly slipped into the bedroom.
The bedroom was empty, with smooth, clean floors. Its claws felt unstable standing on the surface.
It shifted through several positions, none seeming comfortable.
Qin Ziwen gathered a pile of firewood usually accumulated in the kitchen and arranged it into a simple nest shape. Then he spread several of his unwanted clothes over it.
The crowned eagle carefully moved inside, its claws hooking onto the wooden sticks. After slightly adjusting its position, the atmosphere here made it feel at ease. Slowly, it squatted down, folded its wings, crouched in the nest, and closed its eyes.
In the middle of the night, the crowned eagle opened its eyes slightly.
Looking toward the door.
After a short while, as the sounds in the hallway disappeared, the crowned eagle slowly closed its eyes again.
...
Early morning, after waking up, Qin Ziwen's first task was checking the settlement.
「You successfully survived safely in the wilderness for the eighth day. Today you harvested two nets from fish traps, caught four fish by angling, raised a rabbit group, eliminated malicious individuals coveting the fish traps, discovered wild gray sweet potatoes in the wild and transplanted them home, and your raised crowned eagle captured one crucian carp. Comprehensive score: 31 points」
「Rewards obtained: [Expansion Card] Blank Expansion Card (Micro)1, [Resource Card] Level 1 Spring1, Bag of Salt*1」
Thirty-one points!
Qin Ziwen thought to himself.
Indeed, as long as daily positive feedback actions increase, even without events like hunting crocodiles or other large beasts, high scores can still be obtained.
Moreover, from the settlement, it appears that rewards from recruited units are also included in the scoring criteria.
Going to the bathroom, Qin Ziwen used the blank expansion card on the empty space. A large new area continued expanding outward.
With two more cards, he would have enough area to build farmland.
Taking out the Level 1 Spring card, the moment he obtained the card, he received feedback from Home.
Two resources with the same name could merge into a higher-level resource. Of course, he could also choose to build a second Level 1 Spring in other areas of Home.
Without much hesitation, Qin Ziwen directly chose the former.
His Home wasn't large now, so there was no need to build two springs. Moreover, he was curious about what a Level 2 resource looked like.
The Level 1 Spring card transformed into light and merged with the already constructed spring nearby.
When the light faded.
The spring's appearance and size showed no changes.
Approaching with curiosity.
With just one glance he noticed the difference - ripples actually danced on the water surface. This was clearly a state produced by greatly increased water output speed, completely different from the previous condition.
As for the specific water output speed, he would know by checking the accumulated water level at noon or when returning in the evening.
Cupping his hands to scoop up two handfuls of clear spring water, drinking it brought sweet and refreshing coolness to his throat.
Then he added grass feed, rabbit food, and water for the rabbits in the beast cage.
After several days of captivity, the rabbits in the cage were no longer afraid of people.
Seeing Qin Ziwen enter, they no longer hid, just staring at him blankly.
Going to the cellar, he first took out the crucian carp caught by the crowned eagle yesterday and threw it to the bird.
"Eat well. After finishing, work seriously. Understand?"
The crowned eagle ate happily, softly humming in its throat.
Outside in the hallway, sudden door pounding sounds erupted.
"Bang bang bang!"
The crowned eagle got startled, sharply looking up toward the door, adopting a defensive attack posture.
"It's fine, keep eating. They're not here for us." Qin Ziwen gently patted its head, signaling it to continue eating.
He had already discerned the pounding wasn't on his door, but rather the unit opposite his.
"Open the door! Slut, open the door! You dare sleep around but won't open the door, right!"
"Proper people don't do this, yet you insist on being a whore."
"Filthy bitch, open this door for me, or I'll dump manure at your doorstep! I'll let the entire residential complex know what kind of person you are!"
In the hallway, a middle-aged woman shouted abuses with vigorous energy.
It seemed Wang Xiaoli's hidden profession had been discovered.
Qin Ziwen offered no comment on this. In the current environment, everyone made their own choices, as long as it didn't affect him.
"Bang bang bang."
He frowned, because this time the knocking was actually on his door.
"Hey, don't get excited, this is another neighbor's place." A man's voice came from outside.
"Shut up! I'll deal with you later." The middle-aged woman scolded him, but her knocking motions became lighter. "Anyone there? Is anyone in 502?"
His younger brother, who was burning firewood on the balcony preparing breakfast, stood up, conveniently holding the firewood splitting knife.
Having experienced the previous break-in by Xie Jun and his brother, Ziwu was particularly vigilant about this.
Qin Ziwen frowned. He locked the crowned eagle in the bedroom, walked behind the door, and looked through the peephole to see two people outside, a man and a woman.
The woman was tall and stout, probably weighing 160-170 pounds, while the man was thin and short, like a bamboo pole.
Qin Ziwen's tone was indifferent. "What do you want?"
Hearing someone inside, the woman outside said, "Someone's home. Could we come in for a moment? The unit opposite won't open, and I'd like to borrow your balcony."
"Not convenient."
Qin Ziwen flatly refused.
The woman's voice raised slightly. "Hey, what's wrong with you—"
Her words cut off abruptly.
The door suddenly opened. Qin Ziwu looked fierce, holding the firewood knife level and pointing at the two. "If you raise your voice at my brother again, I'll kill you! How dare you!"
The woman's face turned pale, her eyes panicked.
She had only said a few words - why did this person pull out a knife? When she argued with others before, they never acted like this.
The man behind her stepped forward, repeatedly apologizing, pressing his palms together. "Sorry, sorry. My wife is straightforward, sometimes speaks without thinking. I apologize on her behalf."
Qin Ziwen said coldly, "Your personal matters are none of my business. But don't disturb the other neighbors. Also, no dumping manure in the hallway, or I'll make you lick it clean."
By now, neighbors from upstairs unit 601 and downstairs fourth floor had come out to watch the spectacle, chiming in.
"Handle your conflicts yourselves, but dumping manure is too much. In this hot weather it'll stink terribly, and eventually we neighbors will have to clean it up."
"Miss, if I may say, you should focus more on controlling your husband. It takes two to tango."
The neighbors offered comments one after another.
The couple standing in the hallway turned pale then flushed.
Finally, the woman stormed off downstairs in anger, with the man quickly chasing after her.
...