"Let me try." Qin Ziwu eagerly took the knife.
His hand immediately felt the weight.
Anyone who has lifted an eight-pound dumbbell knows that lifting it with one hand isn't particularly difficult, and doing it a dozen times in a row isn't terribly hard either.
But if you treat it like a weapon, swinging it rapidly and continuously with one hand, you'll feel a heavy, clinging sensation.
Qin Ziwu gripped the handle with both hands and swung it forward in a chop, creating a distinct whooshing sound in the air.
"You can use it with two hands, but using it one-handed is still pretty tough." Qin Ziwu exclaimed in amazement. Just how strong was Du Yu to be able to wield such a heavy single-handed knife like a toy?
Du Yu offered guidance. "Knife technique is very important. You can't just rely on brute force to swing it. You need to learn to leverage force, to unify your waist and body. It's not just about the wrist..."
Following Du Yu's pointers, Qin Ziwu tried it and felt the knife become much lighter and easier to handle on his next swing.
He couldn't help but look at Du Yu with admiration. "Thank you for the guidance, Brother Du!"
Du Yu said softly, "No trouble at all. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask me."
Qin Ziwen took the knife from his brother's hand. His palm sank, but the weight felt manageable.
He swung it several times. While he wasn't as effortless as Du Yu, he could still use it normally. He also felt that wielding this knife was different from using the long spear. The spear was more about thrusting and stabbing, while the knife was about chopping and slashing.
The feel of using a single-handed weapon was completely different from using a two-handed weapon.
......
Arriving downstairs, Qin Ziwen headed to Wei Zhaohua's home.
"Have a seat." Wei Zhaohua welcomed him warmly. Because of the three fish traps, the two elderly people in his household had found something to do and had said many good things about Qin Ziwen in his ear, so he considered Qin Ziwen a friend.
Qin Ziwen got straight to the point. "Brother Wei, I'd like to buy 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 thoughts.
Qin Ziwen said directly, "Easy to grow, ones that bear fruit easily. If the growing time is too long, then forget it."
"Easy to grow... and must bear fruit easily. Let me think." Wei Zhaohua pondered for a bit. "Actually, fruits like oranges, tangerines, and mangoes are all easy to grow, but they take several years from seedling to a mature, fruit-bearing tree. I haven't really grown them myself; the time required is too long. What fits your requirements from what I have here are tomatoes, peppers, and winter melon or pumpkin."
"Wait a moment." Wei Zhaohua turned and went into the house. Not long after, he came out carrying two potted plants.
In his left hand was a green plant nearly twenty centimeters tall. In his right was a green plant about ten centimeters tall.
He first placed the twenty-centimeter potted plant on the table.
"This is a tomato. It has a short growth cycle. From sowing to bearing fruit, it only takes two to three months, and the yield isn't low. Even in a pot, it can produce several fruits."
"If you want to sow and then transplant later, you can take the seed sacs from the middle of a tomato, dig a hole directly in the soil, cover it up—not too deep, about one centimeter is fine. Drop two or three seeds at a time. In the current weather, they'll sprout in two or three days. Keep them in ample sunlight."
Then he placed the ten-centimeter potted plant on the table.
"This is a green pepper. It's drought-tolerant but fears waterlogging. Don't water it too much. A single plant can produce twenty to thirty fruits."
"I don't want the finished plants. Just sell me more seeds."
"You want seeds?" Wei Zhaohua didn't ask further. He turned and went back into the house. Shortly after, he came out holding several small bags of seeds.
"These are seeds for tomatoes, peppers, and pumpkins. Take them back and plant them first. These types of seeds are all suitable for sowing in the current temperature. After they sprout, keep them in sunlight, don't put them in shady spots. Pumpkin seedlings need more watering."
"Alright, Brother Wei, what's the price for these seeds? I'll make it up to you later."
Wei Zhaohua waved his hand. "No need. Take them. I can't even use up all these seeds myself. There's no space at home to plant them. It's not like they're valuable things."
Qin Ziwen shook his head. "They might not be valuable to you, but to me, they are valuable."
Wei Zhaohua laughed heartily. "Then when you grow them, just pick a pumpkin for me to taste, see how your skills are."
"Okay, I'll pick the biggest one for you then."
Qin Ziwen carried the seeds home. His brother told him that after he went downstairs earlier, Xiao Meixue had come by, bringing an eel and two fish as their share of the catch from the past two days.
"One of the fish isn't small. I think it must be four or five pounds."
"Let me see." Walking to the water bucket, Qin Ziwen leaned over and took a look. Besides the eel, there was a large black fish and a slender loach in the bucket.
"Wow, this fish is quite big. We'll eat it tonight."
After giving instructions, Qin Ziwen took the seeds to the field and started planting.
Following Wei Zhaohua's instructions, he planted the seeds of different varieties in separate areas.
Combined with the first batch of crops planted earlier, nearly 1/2 of the area was now filled.
Afterward, he returned to the bedroom, took out paper and pen, and, based on the route from daytime and the videos he took, began hand-drawing a map of the mountain.
Soon, a winding mountain route map vividly appeared on the paper.
"This route's value isn't low at all—a path leading to a high-level altar." Qin Ziwen clicked his tongue, talking to himself. "What decent person draws maps?"
If it weren't to improve his daily settlement rating, he wouldn't have drawn out such an important route.
This kind of route should just be kept in his own memory. Drawing it out was really unnecessary.
Once he got the rating reward, he would burn this map. Then he'd draw it again tomorrow to see if he could repeatedly exploit the bug.
Outside the bedroom door, his brother knocked. "Big brother, dinner is ready."
"Coming." Qin Ziwen stood up, casually crumpling the map into a ball and putting it in his pocket.
The four of them finished dinner. Qin Ziwen rubbed his slightly overstuffed stomach. The fish soup today tasted good, quite fresh.
It was quite lively downstairs.
There was the sound of gongs and drums, not sure what the commotion was about.
Knock, knock, knock.
Deng Guang knocked on the door, asking Qin Ziwen if he wanted to go downstairs together to take a look.
"Go where?"
Xiao Meixue said, "I heard it's the Alliance Mutual Aid Society. They're having some kind of founding event tonight."
Qin Ziwen remembered. Yesterday, this Alliance Mutual Aid Society had approached him, but today he had to go to the high-level altar on the mountain, so the timing conflicted and he didn't go.
He couldn't help but ask, "Sister-in-law, did they approach you guys later?"
Xiao Meixue shook her head. "No. The people from the Alliance Mutual Aid Society didn't come to us today. But in the morning, they held a speech event near the south gate. I went to listen. It was basically promoting their mutual aid society."
After a moment of contemplation, Qin Ziwen said, "Let's go downstairs and take a look."
Putting on their jackets, the group went downstairs and headed towards the area below Building 2.
From a distance, they could hear the gongs and drums.
There was also a voice coming from a loudspeaker: "...The power of the collective is infinite! Understand? Applause!"
Clap, clap, clap, clap~
Many elderly onlookers kept clapping.
Below Building 2, a raised platform had been set up. On the platform stood a man in a suit, holding a loudspeaker in his left hand and raising his right hand high. "Let me say it again! Our Alliance Mutual Aid Society is dedicated to building a Great Harmony Society! What is a Great Harmony Society? It is resource sharing! Information sharing! Benefit sharing!"
......