"Bro, should we join?" Qin Ziwu frowned. He didn't really like people with Huang Tao's personality, finding him too slick.
Qin Ziwen shook his head. "The people here aren't even a tenth of the residents in the Gated Community. Besides, this so-called alliance of his most likely won't work out. He doesn't have enough prestige; people won't listen to him."
"People in modern society all have their own ideas. Unless there's a real, tangible benefit, who's going to follow him based on empty promises? Plus, he can't possibly provide that much food. In a few days, when everyone's starving, no one will pay him any mind."
Qin Ziwen paused for a moment before continuing, "I don't think his goal is to form an alliance for the entire Gated Community. It's more likely he's planning to use the property management's supplies as bait to rope in a group of people."
Following behind, Qin Ziwu's tone grew uncharacteristically serious. "Anyway, I'll only listen to you. I don't respect anyone else. After Mom and Dad's accident, you were the one who paid for my education, Big Bro. You had good enough grades to get a postgraduate recommendation..."
Qin Ziwen kicked him in the ass. "What're you yapping about? I'm your brother. If I don't look after you, who will? I'll beat you up if you keep whining."
Qin Ziwu chuckled and quickened his pace. "Oh, holy shit! Bro, come quick! The trap caught something!"
"Keep your voice down. You want everyone to hear?"
Walking over, Qin Ziwen immediately recognized the creature caught in the wall-hugging snare trap.
It looked like a yellow mouse.
Sensing the humans' approach, the yellow mouse struggled desperately.
"Looks a bit like a field mouse. It's pretty fat, too."
Qin Ziwen crouched down, lifted the rope, and after a careful look, confirmed, "It is a field mouse. Good. We're having meat tonight."
Hearing they were going to eat a mouse, Qin Ziwu's pupils contracted.
He knew it wasn't a city sewer rat; these field mice that ate plant roots and small insects were relatively clean.
But he still felt a little squeamish. However, having not tasted meat in two days, he was also getting hungry. He stared conflictedly at the field mouse dangling from Qin Ziwen's hand.
Qin Ziwen said, "Gutting it and cleaning out the organs is your job."
Qin Ziwu's eyes widened in shock. "What!"
Qin Ziwen gave him a calm look. "A young man needs to see a little blood. If you don't even have the guts to kill a mouse that weighs a pound or two, how are you going to kill something that's over a hundred pounds later on?"
Qin Ziwu: "..."
Qin Ziwen picked up a rock and brought it down on the field mouse's head.
The struggling field mouse went still.
He picked it up by the tail and tossed it into Qin Ziwu's backpack.
"Let's go. We'll check the other trap."
When they arrived at the second trap, it had also been triggered. But the trap was empty, and some short, grayish-brown fur was left at the scene.
They looked around the area but found no trace of the prey.
"What a shame." Qin Ziwu crouched down and picked up the grayish-brown fur from the ground.
Qin Ziwen examined it for a moment and found chew marks on the rope. "The prey must have been very cautious. There are no signs of crushed grass or plants nearby, which means it couldn't have been too big."
Qin Ziwen righted the branch and reset the trap. "It's fine. Catching one field mouse was already more than I expected. As long as we got something, that's what matters. Let's go dig for wild vegetables first."
As dusk began to fall, the wild vegetables around the Gated Community grew scarcer.
The ranks of people digging for vegetables had also swelled. The easily discoverable wild fruits and vegetables around the Gated Community had been picked clean.
If they wanted to keep digging, they would have to go farther out. Out of caution, Qin Ziwen decided to head back for now.
"Let's go get some water."
By the river, the crowd of fishermen had grown even larger.
But a strange sight had also formed.
The elevated, rocky part of the riverbank was packed with people.
Those who weren't on the rocks also kept a certain distance from the water, staying in open areas.
Moreover, most were in groups; there were very few lone fishermen.
"There's a crocodile! A crocodile's coming over!"
one of the fishermen shouted, pointing at the river's surface.
"Hit it!"
The person next to him picked up a rock and hurled it at the crocodile's head.
"SPLASH!"
The water churned. Perhaps hurt by the rock, the crocodile swished its tail and swam toward the deeper parts of the river.
Qin Ziwen walked to the river's edge with his bucket. Observing it up close, he saw it was a shallow, east-west flowing river, about a hundred meters wide. The current was gentle, the riverbed was rocky, and the banks were a mix of weeds and mud, interspersed with shrubs.
Qin Ziwen skirted the muddy areas, stepping on rocks to get to the water's edge. He watched cautiously for a moment, making sure no sneaky predators like crocodiles or water snakes were hiding in the clear water before him. Then he bent down and filled the bucket.
He carried the bucket back to the bank.
"Let's go. We're heading back."
Back home, he first let the bucket of water sit for twenty minutes. Once the water at the top had cleared, he used a clean, washed piece of clothing as a filter and slowly poured out about half of the water.
Qin Ziwen took the field mouse out of the backpack.
"SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK."
The field mouse, which had just been playing dead, began to struggle violently once it was in his hand. Qin Ziwen took his knife and struck it hard on the head with the spine of the blade.
The field mouse went completely still. Tossing it on the ground, Qin Ziwen said, "I'm going to go gather some firewood. You deal with this."
A troubled look crossed Qin Ziwu's face. "I've never done it before."
"It's simple. Skin it, gut it, and wash it."
Qin Ziwu's eyes darted around, and he had a sudden idea. "Right! Bro, we don't have a fire at home."
"Are you an idiot? How do you think I made the fire to cook the noodles at lunch?" Qin Ziwen said with a half-smile, pulling a magnesium fire starter from his pocket.
Not wanting to ask where the fire starter came from, Qin Ziwu's face fell. "Fine. I'll handle it."
That evening, the two of them ate hot, roasted field mouse along with some bread.
There wasn't much meat. After removing the organs, bones, and head, there was only enough left for the two of them to get a taste.