Our neighborhood has been transported again.

Chapter 6 The Door-Blocking Crocodile
The sound of people walking down the stairs could be heard from the emergency exit; it was loud, and they were talking and laughing.

As the footsteps coming down the stairs reached his floor, Qin Ziwen opened the door, and his younger brother followed behind him.

As Qin Ziwen came out of the apartment building, he realized from the way they gathered that they were from two different families.

It's a very traditional modern family structure, with both the husband and wife around forty years old.

The family has two children who should be in high school, a boy and a girl.

Qin Ziwen stepped forward and struck up a conversation, "Uncle, did you see anyone in the hallway when you came down just now?"

The man who was approached was a man with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and medium build. He smiled and replied, "No, there was no one in the hallway when we came down."

He seemed to realize something and glanced at Qin Ziwen a few more times. "You two are the new neighbors who moved in on the fifth floor, right?"

"correct."

The man nodded and said "Oh".

A few seconds later, the man suddenly said, "The family in apartment 602 upstairs doesn't have a good reputation. They used to be involved in gangs. They used to often get drunk and cause trouble in the neighborhood. You guys should be careful."

"I heard he's been to jail before?"

The man shook his head. "Then I don't know."

The man's wife spoke up: "He has been to prison, and it seems that 602 and 501 also have an improper relationship."

The man was taken aback. "How did you know?"

The wife rolled her eyes: "All you do all day is go to work and go fishing. When have you ever cared about these things? Once, when I came home from grocery shopping, I saw the man in 602 use his key to open the door to 501. What do you think? There's only one woman living alone in 501."

Qin Ziwu, who was following behind his brother, frowned. If the man upstairs had a key to the apartment across the hall, wouldn't that mean they knew each other?
Why didn't that woman say anything last night, and why did both sides pretend they didn't know each other?

Unless they're acting.

Qin Ziwu felt he had guessed the truth!

Qin Ziwu secretly observed his elder brother's expression, only to find that his brother's expression remained unchanged.

The guy with thick eyebrows extended an invitation: "Hey bro, wanna go fishing? I've noticed there's a good catch in this river."

Qin Ziwen shook his head: "I don't have a fishing rod."

The man with thick eyebrows said, "It's okay, I have extra fishing rods."

Seeing Qin Ziwen's surprised expression, the older brother laughed and said, "I'm a fishing enthusiast. I used to love fishing, and I have a lot of fishing rods at home."

The older brother's wife found it amusing, saying, "You're just a loser; you have too many bad students."

"What does it mean to have a lot of bad stationery? It means that sometimes the fish won't bite when the weather is bad." The older brother turned to Qin Ziwen and asked, "How about it? Why don't you go fishing with me? In my experience, there are plenty of fish in this river. I guarantee we can have meat to eat every day."

Qin Ziwen agreed: "Sure, I'm a novice at fishing, so I'll need your guidance, brother."

The older brother laughed and said, "It's not about giving guidance, it's about working together. Besides, newcomers are usually quite lucky."

As he spoke, he patted the bag on his back, "I just happened to bring an extra pole, so you can come with me."

"Brother, shall we go fishing later?"

“Go, you should learn from him too.”

The man with thick eyebrows called out to the male owner of another family next door, "Old Liu, this young man is fishing with us too. More people means more excitement. Yesterday I saw someone catch two fish in a row on that steep bank over there, and then several people went over and took over the fishing spot."

Old Liu, who was tall and thin, said: "I have no objection. More people are better. You can decide, Brother Deng."

Qin Ziwen went out with the group. He hadn't considered fishing before because he lacked the equipment and experience. Now that someone was willing to guide him, he could give it a try. After all, fishing was an essential skill for wilderness survival.

Moreover, according to his observations, the daily settlement score is related to the day's harvest.

Yesterday's score of eight points was thanks to the benefits of foraging for wild vegetables.

Now that most of the wild vegetables have been harvested, the only way to replicate such a high rating is to go deeper into the forest, far away from the neighborhood.

Fishing by the river near the gate of the residential area is obviously much safer than going deep into the forest.

When I arrived at the entrance of the residential area, I found a lot of people standing on the ladder.

After squeezing in, they saw a giant crocodile lying still on the floor of the South Gate lobby. Its dark brown, hard skin was covered with bumps. Although it wasn't moving, the sheer size of its body made many people's legs go weak just by lying there.

"Wow, it's huge. I estimate it's at least five meters long."

"This size could probably swallow a person whole."

"What do we do if it's blocking the way? How do we get rid of it?"

"Why don't we just kill it? We're on land, and crocodiles aren't that agile."

Among the crowd, a young man wearing a food delivery helmet said, "I used to work at a zoo and was in charge of feeding crocodiles, so I have some understanding of their habits."

The crowd fell silent.

"This crocodile looks a bit like a saltwater crocodile, but its head is proportionally larger, which means it may have a stronger bite."

"Its weaknesses are its eyes, abdomen, and the back of its head near the spine, but never provoke it head-on. While it is not as fast on land as it is in water, its burst speed over short distances is not slow."

"A crocodile has a strong bite force, but the force with which it opens its mouth is far less than its bite force. In other words, if you can grab its mouth before it opens it, you might be able to prevent the crocodile from opening its mouth."

The others silently stared at the crocodile in the hall, which was longer than a small car.

"Of course, that's an ideal approach. This crocodile is even bigger than the largest crocodile I've ever seen in a zoo. I don't recommend attacking a crocodile of this size. Just try to drive it away. Crocodiles are generally not that bold."

Someone suddenly said, "If it were timid, would it still be lying here motionless? Dude, you're talking about Earth's crocodiles, this place isn't even on Earth anymore."

"Yeah, I feel like this crocodile doesn't even take us seriously."

“Didn’t someone fall into the water and get eaten by crocodiles that day? I suspect these crocodiles are mistaking us for prey.”

"Damn, that's too arrogant. With so many of us, are we afraid of a mere crocodile? I won't say anything about it in the river, but once it's on land, it's just a salted fish. Let's just kill it and share the meat!"

Old Liu joked with Old Deng, "Have you ever caught such a big fish? The one below is huge."

Old Deng, with his thick eyebrows and big eyes, chuckled, "If I caught one this big, I'd drive around the city twice."

Old Deng's wife gently patted him, "You're just talking nonsense. Don't be a show-off. If you see crocodiles coming into the river, just walk away. You can't catch all the fish. You're the pillar of the family."

Old Deng held his wife's hand and said, "Don't worry, I know."

The daughter, who was following behind, saw the couple's mushy scene and hugged her arm.

From the back of the crowd, someone pulled out a thick curtain from somewhere. "Here it comes! Make way, everyone else, don't block the way. Anyone planning to take on this crocodile? Let me make this clear: only those who fight will get the meat. Those who don't, don't try to take advantage!"

Qin Ziwen recognized the man holding the curtain as the bearded man who had confronted Huang Tao the night before when he returned home.

Beside him, I also saw Huang Tao and the group of people from the property management company.

(End of this chapter)