Our neighborhood has been transported again.

Chapter 70 Silver Ringed Snake

Arrive at the secondary bedroom expansion area and retrieve the Level 1 Iron Ore Card.

Integration and upgrading.

When the light faded, the new iron ore had changed dramatically compared to before.

First, the original entrance, supported by wood and stone, was replaced by a triangular roof support made of four thick round logs.

The horizontal wooden beams have simple grooves carved into them to hold the vertical beams in place and prevent them from collapsing.

The internal mine pit is more spacious, and the iron ore inside is brighter in color with a distinct metallic luster. The purity of the iron ore is a level higher than before the upgrade.

A wooden shelf was assembled inside.

On top of the shelf were two large bamboo baskets, each containing two mining picks, for a total of four.

On the lower shelf was a large earthenware urn filled with clear water, and it also had a large lid. Several rough earthenware bowls were stacked next to it.

Several wooden supports were nailed to the four walls, with torches inserted in them, allowing miners to work with peace of mind in the dark.

"The mine seems to have gotten deeper." Qin Ziwen stood on tiptoe, stretched out his arm, and barely touched the top of the mine pit.

Li Tieshan, who followed behind, picked up a piece of iron ore that had fallen to the ground and examined it by the light of the torch. “Sir, this iron ore is very pure. It only needs a little refining before it can be used.”

"How long will it take you to make an animal trap?"

Li Tieshan pondered, "If we don't rest, it will take eight hours of work."

"Okay, you can do it first."

Qin Ziwen went to the window to prepare for going up the mountain.

The cave is located halfway up the mountain, and it is difficult to make a round trip in a day if you are not familiar with the route.

Moreover, considering the special terrain of the mountains, some places may be impassable. Unless the route is planned in advance, it may be necessary to go up the mountain several times to finally determine the route that saves the most physical effort and time.

They went upstairs to look for Deng Guang and asked Xiao Xuemei before they learned that he was at the garage entrance.

Follow the trail to find it.

Soon, Deng Guang was spotted in the crowd. Zhao Pu was standing next to Deng Guang, and the two were talking quietly.

Upon seeing Qin Ziwen approaching, Deng Guang waved enthusiastically.

Standing next to Deng Guang, following his gaze, one could see that most of the water in the garage had been pumped out.

Qin Ziwen was somewhat surprised, "They acted so quickly."

Deng Guang said, "We've been pumping for over ten hours, and I estimate the water will be almost completely drained today."

Qin Ziwen asked, "Are there many fish in here?"

Deng Guang said, "I don't know, but there should be quite a few!"

He pointed to the water to the left of the entrance, "There were schools of fish over there just now, all black."

Qin Ziwen nodded: "Then you must have had a very good harvest."

Deng Guang's smile never stopped. "It's alright. I can probably get about one-tenth of it. I can't finish all this fish. It will go bad if I leave it for too long. I don't have salt at home to pickle it. It just rained heavily, and the air is very humid. It's not easy to smoke and dry it. You can help me get some later."

Qin Ziwen didn't stand on ceremony; this weather was difficult to handle. "Okay, you can leave any extra with me first."

"Cough cough cough." Someone in the crowd behind covered their mouth and coughed softly.

The person next to him glanced at him, and quickly explained, "It's gotten colder these past few days, so I caught a bit of a cold."

Qin Ziwen felt a little uncomfortable upon hearing this, took a few steps forward, and touched his nose.

Zhao Pu, who had been wearing a mask the whole time, took out three new masks from his pocket and handed them to Qin Ziwen, Qin Ziwu, and Deng Guang.

"It's better to be safe than sorry; viral colds are also contagious."

The water pump, which had been humming, suddenly stopped. Someone went over to check it, and after about ten minutes, the pump started working again.

As the water level continues to drop, fish can even be seen leaping out of the water in some places.

Many cars submerged in water had most of their bodies visible above the surface, with the water level only slightly above the tires. Some people couldn't wait and quickly put on rubber boots and went into the water.

Seeing people go into the water, many elderly onlookers couldn't wait to grab big and small buckets, and some even took basins and wade into the water to catch fish.

"Hey, what are you trying to do?"

Huang Tao tried to stop him, but no one listened to him.

On the shore, Zheng Yuan couldn't stand it any longer and shouted, "The fish in this water all belong to those neighbors who donated gasoline! How could you do this!"

But the elderly people who went downstairs turned a deaf ear; unless it was pinpointed to an individual, they pretended not to hear it.

Seeing this scene, Deng Guang's blood pressure rose.

His face flushed red. "How could these people be like this?"

Zhao Pu's face was also very ugly, but he had actually expected this scene to happen.

As a doctor, he had seen all sorts of people, plus all sorts of gossip and rumors from his colleagues.

It can be said that hospitals are places where you can best witness the true nature of humanity, not only to patients, but also to former doctor colleagues.

"Let's go, let's go catch some fish too." Zhao Pu rolled up his trousers, ready to go into the water.

Suddenly, an old man in the crowd who had gone into the water cried out in pain, "Ouch! I've been bitten by a snake!"

The man quickly ran back.

Upon hearing that someone had been bitten, the others who were still slacking off quickly ran back.

Someone asked the old man if he had clearly seen what the snake looked like.

The old man covered his hand, saying, "I didn't see clearly. It looked like it was black and white. It bit me and ran away."

Black and white?
Upon hearing this, the others ran even faster.

Zhao Pu frowned: "Living in water, and being black and white, it's either a white-ringed snake or a silver-ringed snake."

Deng Guang asked, "I know about silver rings; they're highly poisonous. Are white rings poisonous?"

"White rings aren't poisonous," Zhao Pu said, but he still silently pulled his foot back.

After being bitten by a snake, the elderly man hurriedly borrowed a knife from someone nearby. Without even disinfecting it, he quickly wiped the wound with a piece of paper and then made a cross on his wrist.

He was squeezing blood, taking drugs, and even wearing a belt around his arm.

After doing all this, the old man sat down against the corner of the garage wall, closed his eyes, and leaned against the wall.

"What have you done! How come there are snakes in the garage!" The old man's wife pointed at Huang Tao and cursed.

Huang Tao's face darkened.

He tried to stop them from going into the water, and now they're blaming him? Do they think he's easy to bully?

Huang Tao and the men behind him walked over with dark faces.

The old woman's voice gradually faded. She looked around and, finding no one to speak up for her, automatically shut her mouth.

Huang Tao gave her a cold look. "Getting bitten by a snake is his own fault. Just pray that it was a white-ringed snake that bit him, not a silver-ringed snake."

The old woman had heard of the infamous banded krait and turned deathly pale. "How could there be a banded krait here? You, you..."

Frustrated, Huang Tao retorted, "It wasn't me who put it in, how the hell would I know?"

Since opening his carpentry studio and making a name for himself, he has earned a considerable amount of money.

But these customers are indeed difficult to please! Especially some people who would buy the carpenter's shed for the lowest possible price!
Even the most good-tempered person will become irritable after being exposed to these things every day.

　The banded krait is docile and generally does not bite people, but this is only because it has just experienced flooding and suffered stress. There are similar cases in reality where banded kraits hiding in bathrooms have attacked people after floods. I wrote this because I found similar cases.

　　Then there's the issue of logic. The author isn't an engineering expert, but to ensure basic logical consistency, this book was basically written while researching, spending just as much time researching as writing. For example, when researching water pumps, having never used them before, the author needed to find out if they used diesel or gasoline, which was common in residential communities, and their pumping speed. The author even consulted a sister-in-law who studied Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to find out which common ailments TCM could treat within the book's context, and what common medicinal herbs were easily collected in the wild—all to make the book slightly more plausible. However, achieving complete logical coherence is extremely difficult; otherwise, it wouldn't be literature, but a work of fact. All I can say is that, while maintaining the current writing style, I tried my best to make the book longer and better. Thank you for your support.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)