Probably because he had to bend down too much while building an ice wall during the day, Wang Qi felt a little sore in his back when he got up.
As usual, I spent an hour washing up and checking the safety of the floor. I won’t eat Xiaoqiang today, but instead have a different taste, acerola stew.
The needles can be used to make tea, although it doesn't have the refreshing properties of tea at all, at least it doesn't taste like water. In the same way, if you stew meat with needles, at least try to change the flavor, and grilling it all the time is not a problem.
Melt some frozen water and put the ingredients into the pot. The latter is more time-consuming. I took out the sand basin and continued the rust removal while staring at the pot.
I tried it after an hour and found it was not soft enough, so I continued to cook it for a while before eating it.
There is a grassy smell and the unique bitterness of the leaves, which makes the meat taste strange... I can't say it tastes better, and it's not particularly unpalatable.
The slightly failed attempt at flavor took almost two hours.
I really want to start the stay-at-home mode today, so I think about moving to the observation point, and plan to go bankrupt again.
Something has entered the compound!
Put on your travel backpack and carry the steel bars downstairs.
Just coming out of the underground garage, I didn't see any traces of unknown targets from outside. I first saw signs of my neighbors going out.
The footprints are relatively shallow, and the equipment and weight are only half of Wang Qi's.
After following the footprints for a few steps and going around to the roof of the garage, I discovered that my neighbor was following the traces of outsiders.
Look at the traces of outsiders.
Snow is a very special environment, especially with such thick snow, it is difficult to completely cover up any deep marks.
Looking at the traces on the ground, Wang Qi turned back and pulled his sled, trying to make the sled horizontal. After dragging, traces that were very similar to those on the snow appeared.
Be a survivor.
Why cover up the traces?
The easy-to-guess reason is that as time passes after a disaster, the relationship between people will become more and more like that of animals, and offending other people's territory may be an act close to a declaration of war. So when I saw the ice wall of the underground garage, I immediately decided to retreat and cover up the traces of the action.
Did the neighbor chase him and start a fight? is it necessary?
After thinking about it, I decided to go and have a look.
There is no need to do reconnaissance for cover-up traces, just follow your neighbor's small footprints.
The other party made additional route disguises about a hundred meters out of the compound. At the fork of the route, the neighbor's small footprints appeared reciprocating. He probably realized that he was pursuing the wrong direction.
Therefore, it is of little significance to camouflage any marks on the snow surface of this depth. Any camouflage methods such as dragging branches are only useful for very thin new snow and sand.
Continue to follow the footprints and turn to the west, then turn around two residential buildings and see the little figure.
The sound of walking in the deep snow was very loud, and the neighbor also saw him. This time he did not point the crossbow at him, but just bared his teeth at him, as if to declare ownership of the prey.
Wang Qi didn't move. The neighbor stayed in a stalemate for a while and looked at the traces in front of the residential building.
The four units in this residential building were all camouflaged, and obvious footprints could be seen. It was difficult to determine which building opening the target entered through. What was even more embarrassing was that the unit doors in the four building openings were all closed.
The neighbor now had the hand crossbow he had when he first met him, instead of the foot crossbow that looked a bit huge compared to his figure. Maybe it was because he couldn't support it physically, or maybe it was too much trouble to move around in the snow while carrying that thing on his back.
Now the neighbors are faced with several closed unit doors and are having difficulty choosing.
Wang Qi still inserted the steel bar behind him and tried to get closer.
The neighbor looked at him warily but did not raise the crossbow.
Wang Qi continued to approach, and when there was still about five meters away, the neighbor became obviously nervous and raised his crossbow.
Wang Qi raised his hands in a gesture of surrender and slowly backed away.
About seven meters away, the neighbor's crossbow turned diagonally downward and rested on the snow again.
Wang Qi took out a small piece of dried meat and threw it on the snow beside his neighbor.
The neighbor almost dodged because of this.
Baring her teeth at him, she looked at the snowy surface, and her attention was immediately attracted.
The neighbor hesitated, and when he saw Wang Qi retreating again, he made up his mind to pick up the pieces of meat.
He took a lick, narrowed his eyes, and put it in his pocket.
Black and white vision cannot identify colors and materials. We can only make preliminary judgments based on shape and texture. In addition, the feel may not be reliable. Licking meat is not a bad habit.
Wang Qi said: "Let's go back."
Seeing the neighbor's nervousness, I thought of the little strong adults that often disappeared inexplicably in the underground garage, and realized that this child might be outside for the first time.
The sound he made made the neighbors look in other directions warily again.
"Come back with me and I won't talk." This time his voice was a little louder. If the outside survivors were awake, they would be able to notice even the fifth and sixth floors.
After speaking, he took out a piece of dried meat, showed it to his neighbor on the palm of his hand, threw it on the snow beside him, and stepped back to give his neighbor a safe distance.
The neighbor looked up at the residential building where there was no clue at all, then looked around cautiously, hesitating, and finally approached Wang Qi and picked up the piece of meat on the snow, without licking it this time.
Wang Qi turned around and walked back for more than ten meters, then looked back at his neighbor.
The neighbor struggled for a while, then slowly approached.
At this time, the neighbor had left the doorway closest to the alley.
Wang Qi continued to move, and still maintained his behavior of turning back and waiting for his neighbors every step of the way.
The neighbor was very alert and strange, and actually followed him back.
What is the relationship between my predecessor and my neighbors?
Obviously, the neighbors have a certain level of trust in themselves. But being so wary...should it not be his own child, or could it be that he has a domestically violent father?
After a little thought, this possibility was overturned: both parties live in the same building. If the degree of domestic violence reaches the level of needing to shoot each other with bows and crossbows, the weaker party will have died long ago. Even if he is lucky enough to survive, he must have accumulated a lot of abuse. His hatred was inconsistent with the look his neighbors looked at him. Such a young child should not be able to learn to hide his hatred in a silent environment without media.
Although black and white vision cannot see the boundaries between the whites of the eyes and the pupils, the so-called expression has nothing to do with the eyeballs. It is just the changes in facial muscle groups such as eyelids and eyebrow arches. The darkness does not affect observation.
Returning to the relationship between Wang Qi and his neighbor, the neighbor looked at him nervously, calmly and curiously, with absolutely no hatred.
Now it seems that he and his neighbors have a relatively simple relationship. They may have met each other more than once and have not established enough mutual trust through joint actions. They are survivors of the same race who live in the same area.
Then a new problem comes again.
What about the neighbor's family? Where is the mother?
The neighbor went out alone to look for foreign survivors. Regardless of the purpose, there were no other footprints behind him. He had already returned to the base and saw no new footprints. It almost means that there was only such a solitary seedling on the neighbor's side. Even a slightly more reliable animal would not be able to let its larvae go out alone to face danger.
At least, this is the only one who has the ability to go out.
Judging from the confusion and hesitation of his neighbors during the operation, this was also the first time that he was close to other survivors, and it may even be the first time that he left the base building.
Is it possible to feed another incapacitated person by just catching a few adult chickens from neighbors?
Doubtfully, when the temperature is above ten degrees, if there is a large enough indoor vegetable garden, it may be possible to provide an extra person who does not need to work.
There is no need to think blindly, as long as we continue to contact each other, with the seemingly simple thinking ability of our neighbors, sooner or later we will break through the isolation barriers in the base.
Before they knew it, the two of them had returned to the underground garage.
The neighbor closed the door when he came out. After all, there should be various doors in the base building. Even if you have never seen a sliding door, its structure is very easy to understand.
Therefore, Wang Qi did not try to close the door when he came back, leaving enough psychological safety distance for his neighbors.
Before returning to the stairwell, Qi said again:
"Let me give you a name, just Li Xiang. Li Xiang, let me introduce you formally. I am Wang Qi, an architect. If you want to renovate a house, you can contact me, but the current conditions can only make wooden ones." It’s the same with simple renovations and building houses, but now we can only build wooden ones.”
Li Xiang is a very common homophonic name, used by both men and women. The homophony of this name also entrusts Wang Qi's good wishes, even if the neighbors can't understand it now.
Neighbor... Li Xiang hid by the pillar and watched Xiaoqiang, who was almost frozen. He didn't seem to hear Wang Qi's footsteps and didn't move forward.
Wang Qi ignored him and continued chanting:
"You have seen the changes in the underground garage. I will continue to improve Xiaoqiang's living conditions and let them reproduce faster. Try not to go out in winter, Xiaoqiang will have enough to eat."
After saying that, he stopped and went back to the stairwell on his side of the house.
Li Xiang looked at his back, then looked at Xiaoqiang who was leaning against the pile of carcasses for warmth, and touched the pieces of meat in his pocket. Finally, he let Xiaoqiang go and went back home.
