"What happened?"
Deng Guang walked over from a short distance away, his expression changing slightly when he saw the body was gone.
"The body was carried away? Was it around here?"
"It was here."
"That was fast, gone in just a few hours."
"Judging by the tracks, it was probably a big one."
Deng Guang looked in the direction the tracks were spreading: "Judging by the location, it seems to be heading towards the river."
Qin Ziwen said, "It was probably done by a crocodile in the river."
Deng Guang wondered, "Do those things have such a keen sense of smell?"
Qin Ziwen pondered: "It shouldn't be too far off, but be careful anyway."
The two families searched around but couldn't find a suitable place to smoke meat.
Too far from the residential area was unsafe, and too close was crowded with people. Everyone was out looking for food, and smoking meat in public under these circumstances would attract too much hatred.
So, the two families finally decided to take some wet wood to the rooftop of the residential building to smoke meat.
Although the rooftop also had risks—giant birds in the sky—it wasn't impossible to avoid them if they were careful.
Qin Ziwen took the opportunity to check his two snare traps. Both traps were triggered, but there was no prey.
He spotted a familiar grayish-brown short feather in one of the traps.
The other trap had been violently destroyed.
Qin Ziwu was furious when he saw the destroyed trap. "Who's so rude! This is just hurting others and not getting anywhere!"
Qin Ziwen simply removed both traps. He planned to set up snare traps in a more distant location
later. The rooftop of the residential complex wasn't locked, and many clotheslines had been tied there for residents to hang their clothes.
Looking at the clotheslines on the rooftop, Qin Ziwen suddenly had an idea.
He went home and brought up a large bed sheet, then spread it out, covered the clotheslines, and clipped the four corners in place. A simple sunshade was ready.
"That bird looks down from above. If we cover this up, unless it has thermal imaging, it won't be able to see us."
After a busy morning, Qin Ziwen finally turned all his small meat strips into jerky.
He picked one up; the meat strip, roasted all morning, had become dry and hard on the outside.
Qin Ziwen took a piece and put it in his mouth, chewing slowly. The meat was cooked, the outside dry and hard like wood, but upon closer chewing, it still had a moist, salty-sweet taste inside.
"Try it, is it smoked properly?"
Qin Ziwen handed one to his younger brother.
Qin Ziwu put it in his mouth, chewed slowly, and finally swallowed. "It's pretty good."
Qin Ziwen kicked him in the butt. "I asked if it was smoked properly, not how it tastes."
Qin Ziwu was aggrieved. "How should I know? I've never smoked meat before."
Qin Ziwen thought of someone. "Looks like I'll have to ask a professional."
He took a small bag, about half a pound of dried meat, downstairs. He
went up to the second floor and knocked on the door.
"Who is it?"
Qin Ziwen humbly said from outside the door, "Grandma Li, I'm a resident on the fifth floor. I'd like to ask you some questions."
"Oh~"
The door opened directly, and Grandma Li let Qin Ziwen in. "Come in, have a seat."
Qin Ziwen handed over the smoked meat strips. "Grandma Li, these are the meat strips I smoked. Do you think they're done? How long can they be stored?"
Grandma Li took the dried meat out of the bag, smelled it first, then slowly broke it open, and asked Qin Ziwen, "I'll just taste a little bit to see if it's dry inside."
Qin Ziwen explained, "This whole bag is for you. You can eat it directly."
Grandma Li quickly shook her head, "I have other food. Don't be so polite."
She put it in her mouth and chewed slowly. Grandma Li said, "The taste is fine, and the smoking is okay, but if you leave it outside directly, it might still get moldy because it's still damp inside."
"In the past, when we smoked meat in the countryside, after smoking it, we had to hang it in a cool, ventilated place to air dry, or hang it directly on the stove so that the smoke from cooking would keep it smoking. That's how you make meat last longer.
When you break this dried meat open, and it's completely dry inside and out, like a wooden stick that you can easily break with your hands, then it's good. If you store this kind of meat well, it can last for a year or two without any problems."
Qin Ziwen pondered, "Can I put it in a cellar to continue air drying?"
"A cellar? Any kind with good ventilation will do. The basement parking lot in our community is suitable, but don't put it in the parking lot. Yesterday, I heard someone say that someone saw snakes and rats in there."
Qin Ziwen thought of his family's grain cellar, where the temperature was lower than outside, and it seemed to be well-ventilated. He had felt it when he went in before.
Qin Ziwen stood up and thanked her, "Thank you."
Granny Li got up, found the clothesline, and took down a string of sausages hanging on the wall. "I still have some sausages I made before the New Year. You can take them."
Qin Ziwen politely declined, "No, you can keep them for yourself. I have plenty of meat at home."
Granny Li found a black bag, put the sausages in it, then grabbed Qin Ziwen's hand and insisted on giving it to him, "Take it, I can't eat that much."
Back on the rooftop, Qin Ziwen put all the smoked meat strips in the cellar, set up a rack, and hung them all on it.
After finishing, it was past noon.
He cooked four bags of noodles, added the smoked meat strips and wild vegetables to the noodles, and ate heartily with his younger brother.
He spread a mat on the ground, lay down on it, and took out the fragment of the mountain plant guide he had received as a reward last night.
It was called a fragment, but it was actually two pages torn from a picture book.
The paper had two sides, each side recording a different plant and accompanied by a picture.
There were four kinds in total on the two pages.
Moonlight moss, gray sweet potato, rock mushroom, and yellow-leaved daisy.
In summary, two are edible, and two are not.
Moonlight moss: It likes to grow in forests, usually covering tree roots in damp environments. It is edible, and long-term consumption can improve eyesight. However, direct sunlight should be avoided, as it will turn bitter after exposure.
Gray sweet potato: Also known as "mud sweet potato," it is a tuberous plant that grows in swampy environments. Its leaves are inedible and slightly poisonous. Its tubers, hidden at the bottom of the mud, are edible, have a bland taste, are very filling, and are harvested twice a year.
Rock mushroom: It grows in caves, is plump and juicy, with a rubbery texture, difficult to chew, inedible, and poisonous.
Yellow-leaved daisy: Slightly poisonous, inedible, and can cause dizziness and diarrhea. Its petals can stain.
The other three were hard to find, so Qin Ziwen focused his attention on the gray sweet potato.
Moonlight moss needs to be found at night. Stone mushrooms and yellow-leaved daisies are inedible. Only gray sweet potato seems reliable; it grows in muddy areas, and there are mudflats along the riverbank. If you're lucky enough to find it, you can bring it back and plant it.
I've arranged to go fishing with Old Deng this afternoon, so I'll check it out while I'm at the river.
(End of Chapter)