Usually going out early and returning late, Qin Ziwen didn't interact much with his neighbors upstairs and downstairs.
Taking advantage of today's opportunity, he met them by the way.
Upstairs was a middle-aged couple, the man with short hair and slightly chubby, his wife beside him wearing glasses, looking refined and gentle. A little girl was clinging behind the man, peeking out and timidly watching downstairs.
Perhaps Qin Ziwen's tone had been too harsh when talking with his brother earlier; after making eye contact with him, the little girl fearfully hid her head behind her father's clothes.
Downstairs was a medium-built man with graying hair, next to his son who was about the same height but had a youthful face, seeming like a high school student. After making eye contact with Qin Ziwen, his gaze became somewhat evasive.
Unit 501's door was tightly shut, with no movement at all from the apartment opposite.
The neighbor downstairs then took his son home; judging by the closing door sound, it should be Unit 401.
Just as Qin Ziwen was about to close his door too, the neighbor upstairs suddenly spoke: "Um... handsome guy, does your family have any extra food? I can exchange things for it."
Qin Ziwen shook his head. "Not much left."
The man's voice lowered a bit, pleading: "A few days ago when you killed the crocodile, I was right there watching. If I were younger, I might have joined in too, but I'm older now, with a wife and child at home..."
"What do you plan to exchange?"
The man asked hopefully: "Toilet paper, do you need any? My family also has some regular medicines - cold medicine, anti-inflammatory drugs, Yunnan Baiyao - all available."
Qin Ziwen didn't understand: "Couldn't you trade these downstairs? Medicines like these are considered hard currency."
The man smiled bitterly: "They are hard currency, but they're not essential for healthy people. Not many ask for them, but the prices are outrageous. Many people think a cold is a minor illness - just tough it out for a couple days, drink some hot water and it'll be fine. Plus, quite a few families already have some backup medicine at home anyway."
Qin Ziwen glanced at him. "My prices won't be high either."
The chubby-faced man forced a smile: "I know, I understand. As long as it's not too outrageous, I can accept it."
Qin Ziwen asked: "Do you have a thermometer?"
The man quickly nodded. "I have a mercury thermometer."
"Plus two boxes of cold medicine and two boxes of anti-inflammatory drugs. How long until their expiration dates?"
The man said: "They all have at least one year left before expiration."
"Three pounds of meat."
The upstairs man's smile became strained.
His wife's expression changed slightly; this price didn't meet his psychological expectations.
Fresh meat in the residential complex was indeed rare now, but it wasn't impossible to obtain if one put in effort.
After all, there was a river right nearby where you could fish, catch crabs and shrimp along the riverbank, and with good luck find snakes and eels in rock crevices. The grassy areas around the complex had field mice and insects, and the bolder ones even formed teams to set traps and hunt in more distant places.
Moreover, as long as one could overcome the psychological barrier, many cooked insects were excellent sources of protein.
The real difficulty was the large population in the complex - with so many people, the meat that reached each person's mouth averaged out to very little.
The couple had tried obtaining food from outside, but their ten-year-old child was growing and had a big appetite, plus there were two adults with healthy appetites in the household. After several days, their intake couldn't cover their consumption, and they were about to run out of food.
"Could you give a bit more?" He was a husband and a father; facing the two people he loved most in his family, the man was practically begging.
The little girl grabbed her father's arm and whispered, "Daddy, I'm not hungry..."
Qin Ziwen looked at the man. "Four pounds. I don't have much fresh meat left either. Xiao Wu, go get that piece of meat."
Qin Ziwu understood his older brother's meaning. When they hunted the male crocodile leader a few days ago, the two of them had gotten over ten pounds of meat.
After consumption and trading over the past couple days, not much fresh meat remained - only about four or five pounds, though they still had plenty of smoked meat.
Holding the reddish meat, Qin Ziwu weighed out four pounds on a scale in front of the upstairs family.
Looking at the separated four pounds of meat, the man felt somewhat dazed. Before the transmigration, buying four pounds of meat at the supermarket would have been easy, and his family would have finished it in two days.
But now, they could only obtain it through this kind of transaction.
Qin Ziwen said: "You need to eat this meat quickly. It's been over a day since it was cut. If you don't eat it soon, it'll probably spoil."
The man quickly nodded: "Understood."
After completing the transaction, Qin Ziwen placed the medicines and mercury thermometer at home.
These products of modern industry were basically collector's items now. Unless the daily settlement provided them, they would gradually diminish with use. Stocking some at home wasn't a bad idea. Having just moved in recently, he hadn't previously stocked up on medicines and such.
After these transactions, Qin Ziwen returned to the bedroom where the crowned eagle that had finished eating fish was preening its feathers.
"Brother, are we going to map the area today?"
"Yeah."
Qin Ziwu raised a finger: "I actually have a good idea."
"Go ahead."
Qin Ziwu put his hands in his pockets. "Hehe, this eagle can fly, right? If we hang a camera around its neck and have it fly around the area, wouldn't we get recorded video?"
"Hiss... You're actually using your brain now, let me think." Qin Ziwen felt his brother's idea sounded feasible at first hearing, and it could significantly reduce his workload and danger since he wouldn't need to personally go into the wilderness.
But there were two key points.
First, he didn't have a camera.
Second, how to securely fasten the camera to the crowned eagle so it wouldn't fall off.
The first point wasn't difficult - Qin Ziwen thought of his phone.
He could use the phone for recording anyway; it wasn't much use for anything else now, so it could serve this final purpose.
The second point was how to securely fasten the phone to the eagle so it wouldn't fall.
Qin Ziwen pondered: "How to make sure the phone doesn't fall..."
Qin Ziwu imagined wildly: "How about having it hold it?"
Qin Ziwen was speechless: "...I think having it carry you while flying would be more reliable."
Qin Ziwu chuckled awkwardly; he had just been casually suggesting it.
Looking at the crowned eagle's large claws.
They were long and sharp - definitely not stable for gripping a smooth phone, not to mention it would face strong air currents and need to change positions while flying.
"Let's make it a small X-shaped harness bag, placed on its chest with a small circular hole for the phone camera. Hmm, that should work. Best to sew it with needle and thread."
The more Qin Ziwen thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. However, he didn't know sewing, so he needed to find someone who did.
But that wasn't difficult. What he needed wasn't a high-difficulty project, nor did he have strong aesthetic requirements - just needed the right size and sturdy materials.
He then went upstairs to Deng Guang's home and, after inquiring, was pleasantly surprised to learn that Sister-in-law knew some sewing and even had needle and thread at home.
Qin Ziwen explained his request.
Xiao Meixue agreed immediately, then came to Qin Ziwen's home and saw the crowned eagle in the living room.
Although Xiao Meixue was surprised by the crowned eagle's presence, she didn't make a fuss, simply following Qin Ziwen's requirements by cutting jeans and unused old clothes with scissors, sewing together a small chest harness bag for the crowned eagle.
"Finished. See if anything needs adjustment?" Xiao Meixue stood up, wiping fine sweat from her forehead.
"Move around." Qin Ziwen patted the crowned eagle, which flapped several times in the cramped living room. The phone placed on its chest remained securely fixed in position.
......