Chapter 34: Processing the Ducks

When going out, always bring extra bags.

To bring back as many supplies as possible, everyone in Xia Xiaoman’s group carried bags of various sizes—large, medium, and small—in their backpacks.

With a swift slash to the throat and a twist of the neck, Xiao Zheyu opened one of the bags he had brought and carefully collected the duck blood.

As soon as one duck was drained, Xia Xiaoman grabbed the next one and efficiently slit its throat.

Sun Qing and Su Ran worked seamlessly as a team—one slaughtering the ducks, the other collecting the blood. Wen Jianfeng was in charge of storing the processed ducks properly.

Killing a duck took only a second, but draining the blood was a slow process. They worked all the way until after 5 PM before they were finally done processing all the ducks.

Back at the 15th floor, Ye Xiaojie was pacing anxiously on the balcony of unit 1502 as the sky grew dark and Sun Qing’s group hadn’t yet returned. She frequently picked up the binoculars to check the distance.

The twins sat on the balcony clinging to the railings like little statues, occasionally looking up to ask, “When is Daddy coming back?”

But Ye Xiaojie wasn’t the only one watching for the group’s return.

Many residents in the building were paying close attention to the 15th floor’s movements. In the shadows, people stirred restlessly.

Just as a few were on the verge of attempting to storm the 15th floor, Xia Xiaoman’s group finally returned.

Seeing them haul back what looked like a mountain of supplies, the rest of the building turned green with envy.

But once they realized it was “just” a pile of firewood, they felt somewhat reassured—seemed like the 15th floor didn’t always get lucky.

Little did they know that under those logs were more than 300 ducks.

Some of the onlookers began to disperse, but not all. Xia Xiaoman was wondering how to clear the remaining crowd when Sun Qing suddenly shouted, “What are you doing?! Put that down!”

An old man, an old woman, a young woman, and a child had just picked up some firewood and were trying to sneak away with it.

Sun Qing moved to stop them and reached for the wood, but before she could touch it, the old woman let out two loud wails and dramatically collapsed to the ground.

The kid instantly got into character, crying hysterically. The old man pointed at Sun Qing, yelling angrily, “You heartless girl! Just a few sticks of wood and you’d attack an old lady? What kind of person are you?!”

Sun Qing scowled. “Don’t try to scam me with your fake injuries. Put the stuff down! Just because I don’t hit old folks doesn’t mean I won’t beat a woman or a child!”

The old man shielded his daughter-in-law and grandson. “Scam? Who do you think you are? Worth scamming? I saw it with my own eyes—you attacked my wife! Pay up!”

“Grandpa! Save me!!” the boy screamed.

Hearing this, the old man spun around to help—but forgot the wood at his feet and tripped, falling flat on his face.

Xia Xiaoman lifted the brat by the neck and hurled him straight at the young woman, sending stars spinning in her eyes.

The “half-dead” old lady suddenly sprang up, full of energy. “You evil bitch! Dare to hurt my grandson?! If anything happens to him, I’ll make you pay—ARGH! MY LEG!”

Xia Xiaoman had stomped hard on the old woman’s shin, breaking it instantly due to her osteoporosis.

Just then, a man in the crowd charged forward. “You bastard! You hit my mom—I’ll kill you!”

Sun Qing, hesitant with elderly or children, had no such reservations with grown men. She smashed her fist into his gut and followed with a powerful elbow as he bent over. The man didn’t even scream—he just collapsed.

Seeing this brutal beatdown, the onlookers scattered quickly, afraid to get involved.

The troublesome family, now thoroughly intimidated, helped each other up and fled as fast as they could.

Xia Xiaoman let them go. Once the area cleared, the group carried the ducks—hidden among the logs—back to the 15th floor.

…

Once the stairwell door was shut tight, the 15th floor began distributing the goods. Five people had gone out, so they each got 70 ducks. That left 16 extra.

Ye Xiaojie got 10 ducks as a “home-guarding fee,” and the remaining 6 were cooked for a communal meal.

Xiao Zheyu and Su Ran, now grinning like fools with their 140 ducks, hadn’t yet considered the obvious issue.

Wen Jianfeng brought it up: “How do you plan to store that many ducks?”

Xiao Zheyu’s smile froze. “Oh right… we don’t have a fridge. How are we gonna keep them from spoiling?”

Xia Xiaoman smiled sweetly. “Easy. Clean them, rub on some salt to cure them, and smoke them over firewood into preserved duck.”

“I have lots of salt. It’s cheap—five packs of salt for one duck. Deal or no deal?”

Xiao Zheyu: “…”

Karma hit fast. Just days ago, he’d overcharged Xia Xiaoman for bean sprouts. Now the tables had turned.

Sun Qing and Ye Xiaojie discussed it and decided to trade 30 ducks for salt. The remaining 50 would be smoked into preserved duck.

They had never smoked meat before, so they weren’t sure how much firewood it would take—or how to even do it properly. If they failed, the ducks would go to waste. Better to trade part for salt and experiment with the rest.

Besides, smoking that many ducks would require lots of space and firewood, which they lacked. Fifty ducks was a manageable number.

Xiao Zheyu, Su Ran, and Zhou Qiuyang also discussed it and decided to keep 60 ducks, 20 each. The rest would be bartered for various supplies—not just salt.

Wen Jianfeng didn’t trade. Though 70 ducks sounded like a lot for one man feeding three mouths, he had experience and confidence. He knew multiple preservation methods and could turn them into all kinds of meat jerky.

What he was concerned about, though, was Xia Xiaoman. “Xiaoman, can you really handle all that alone?”

180 ducks was no joke—even Wen wasn’t sure he could process them all in time.

Xia Xiaoman nodded. “Don’t worry. I used to kill chickens and ducks all the time. Ten minutes per bird, tops.”

“Oh, and if you’re not planning to eat the duck intestines or innards, save them for bait. I saw fish in the water on our way back.”

“Fish?!” Xiao Zheyu’s eyes lit up.

Su Ran reminded him, “There are corpses in that water too.”

Xiao Zheyu’s excitement instantly dimmed. “Never mind. I’m not eating corpse-fed fish. Roast duck is safer.”

“What’s the big deal?” said Sun Qing. “It’s not like you’re eating the guts. If it really bothers you, just cut off the fish head and eat the body.”

She had also seen some large fish in the water—bigger than her arm. Easily 10 or 20 pounds each.

Such big fish… it’d be a shame not to use them for fish porridge, grilled fish, steamed fish, or spicy fish stew…