The two men were arguing fiercely.
The salt-and-pepper haired man saw someone coming upstairs and quickly pulled them over to mediate.
Deng Guang and Qin Ziwu both looked at Qin Ziwen simultaneously.
Qin Ziwen didn't think there was much to argue about with this kind of issue: "If the contract states who owns the rooftop, then it belongs to that person. If it's not specified, then it's a public space shared by all residents of the residential complex."
The short, stocky middle-aged man, seeing they had more people, left resentfully. "Hmph, fine, I won't lock it. With so many people in this building, I'll see how you divide it up."
Seeing the man from the top floor had left, the middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair greeted Qin Ziwen. "My surname is Zhao, single character Pu."
"Hello, I'm Qin Ziwen, and this is my younger brother Qin Ziwu." Qin Ziwen nodded politely.
Zhao Pu hesitated for a moment, then said: "I used to be a surgeon. If you ever have symptoms like fever, colds, or bruises and sprains, you can come find me."
Qin Ziwen was somewhat surprised: "You're a doctor."
Zhao Pu said with embarrassment: "I used to be."
After hesitating, Zhao Pu continued: "By the way, does your family have extra food? I can exchange some medicine with you."
"Sure, do you want wild rice stems?"
Qin Ziwen had his brother take off the backpack, which contained half a bag of harvested wild rice stems.
He took out two stems from inside. Zhao Pu took them, smelled them, then nodded: "These are quite fresh, that works. Please wait a moment."
Zhao Pu turned and entered unit 401, emerging a short while later with a small plastic bag containing three boxes of medicine.
Ibuprofen, montmorillonite powder, loratadine, and a bottle of alcohol.
Zhao Pu explained seriously: "Ibuprofen is anti-inflammatory and reduces fever, montmorillonite powder can stop diarrhea, loratadine fights allergies, and alcohol can disinfect wounds. These are all quite commonly used here."
"Old Deng, do you want any?" Qin Ziwen looked at Deng Guang, who waved his hand. "I have some common medicines stocked at home."
Qin Ziwen opened his backpack, which was nearly half full. After thinking for a moment, he took out fifteen stems and gave them to Old Deng, totaling about three jin.
Then he took out all the remaining wild rice stems from the bag, approximately another three jin.
He also took out two jin of kiwifruit from his own bag, plus the two large crabs from the bucket.
"Is this acceptable?"
Zhao Pu quickly nodded: "Yes, that's enough, that's plenty."
He hadn't expected to exchange for so much food and looked at Qin Ziwen with eyes full of gratitude.
After receiving the food, the worry between Zhao Pu's brows dissipated considerably. He explained: "Before the transmigration, I sprained my ankle and was recuperating at home. It's just me and my child at home. We couldn't go out to find food the past few days, and our household food was almost gone."
Qin Ziwen nodded in understanding. During the first two days after transmigration, whether digging for wild vegetables around the area, participating in crocodile hunting, or teaming up with neighbors to explore the surroundings and gather fruits and vegetables—all were viable options.
Although there were risks, resources were also abundant.
Now that over a week had passed, the surrounding land had been thoroughly scavenged. Finding edible things wasn't as easy anymore.
There were still fish in the river, but crocodiles were also there, so the danger hadn't been eliminated.
To go deep into the forest, you basically needed to form a team.
"Alright, we'll head back now." Qin Ziwen waved.
Watching their retreating figures, Zhao Pu seemed to want to say something but stopped himself. But since they weren't familiar, he just watched them go upstairs and close the door.
After returning home in the evening, Qin Ziwen first opened the window to let the Crowned Eagle in, then placed the crabs from the bucket into a water basin to keep them alive, and put the wild rabbit and field mouse into the Beast Cage.
The livestock inside was growing steadily—now totaling five wild rabbits, three field mice, and one hedgehog.
The newly caught wild rabbit was initially somewhat nervous, but after entering the cage and interacting with the other four rabbits, it gradually calmed down.
Then he took out the remaining kiwifruit from the bag and piled them in a box, waiting for them to ripen naturally.
After dinner, Qin Ziwen and his brother went downstairs together for a walk.
As they walked, they arrived at the south gate.
He hadn't been to this area for some time, recently entering and exiting the residential complex through the east gate.
Quite a few people were gathered at the south gate, coming and going.
In the empty space outside the complex, circles had been built with stones. Inside was burned soil, looking like earthen mounds from a distance, with thick smoke seeping through the gaps between stones and soil.
There were several of these "earthen mounds," with some bare-chested men working enthusiastically.
Nearby, people holding containers waited to collect the soil.
A tall, thin man wearing a hat was directing: "Take it slow, take it slow, everyone don't rush, form a line. Those interested in buying burned soil or purchasing seedlings can come find me. preferential prices, currently at discounted rates."
Qin Ziwen stood nearby secretly learning the soil-burning steps. The process wasn't difficult, mainly labor-intensive. Several men shoveling soil continuously added firewood inside, then mixed the plant ash with the burned soil.
He recalled the process of "picking worms" from soil that he and his brother had done before—it was truly exhausting and troublesome, and not necessarily thorough. For example, some weed seeds in the soil couldn't be removed. This method seemed relatively simpler.
After secretly learning, Qin Ziwen looked around and noticed quite a few people observing closely like him.
The soil-burning business probably wouldn't last long—it was physically demanding but not highly technical, easily imitated.
So this group's real purpose was to cultivate the habit of growing fruits and vegetables among the residential complex residents?
No, even without them, some residents were actually already planting. They were "catalyzing" and "accelerating" this process, so they must have another purpose.
He shook his head inwardly—whatever their purpose had nothing to do with him.
He had his own goals, as long as they didn't conflict with his.
Returning to the residential complex, Qin Ziwen went to Building 9 again, climbed to the fourth floor, and found one of the doors open. Above the door hung a wooden plaque carved with three large characters: Renhe Hall, though judging by the plaque's condition, it didn't seem recently carved.
The room emitted a faint medicinal fragrance.
Several clay pots were brewing herbal medicine.
The living room layout had been converted into a simple clinic.
Behind a desk, a silver-haired elderly man with a serene expression was taking the pulse of a middle-aged woman.
"Are you here to see a doctor?" A young man noticed Qin Ziwen standing at the door.
Qin Ziwen was momentarily stunned, then smiled and said: "I came because of its reputation, just to look around."
"Haha, good, feel free to look around." The young man seemed quite accustomed to this, lowering his head to continue sweeping garbage.
After watching for a while, Qin Ziwen returned home.
After arriving home, he lay in bed, planning to sleep early and rise early since he needed to go out very early tomorrow.
The Crowned Eagle carefully approached, making sounds in its throat, "Coo coo~"
Perhaps from staying with him for so long, the Crowned Eagle had learned to lower its voice when interacting with people.
Qin Ziwen smiled and rubbed its head. "Good night."
......