Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 513 Preparations Complete

She continued walking forward, and the points of light also moved forward. Some points of light moved faster, and some moved slower, but they all moved in the same direction: downstream to the riverbank.

She knew in her heart that these people might not be going to the same place as her. The downstream riverbank was so long and wide that everyone would have their own judgment.

After walking for about forty minutes, it began to get light.

The surrounding environment changed from pitch black to a hazy outline, with trees, bushes, and distant mountain shadows slowly emerging.

She turned off her flashlight and continued walking by the light of day.

Those people were still ahead, so she quickened her pace, wanting to see where they were going.

After walking for about twenty minutes, she caught up with the person who had fallen behind.

It was a man, in his forties, wearing an old military green cotton-padded jacket, carrying a net on his shoulder and a large fish basket on his back.

Hearing footsteps behind him, the man turned around and glanced at Xu Xiaoyan. His gaze lingered on the net on her body for two seconds before he turned back and continued walking.

The two walked one after the other for more than ten minutes without saying a word.

At a fork in the road, the man turned onto a small path on the left, while Xu Xiaoyan continued straight. The two went their separate ways, and the green figure gradually disappeared behind the bushes.

She continued downstream and encountered several more groups of people, some carrying fish baskets and nets, others pushing bicycles with several large plastic buckets tied to the back.

Everyone was in a hurry, occasionally glancing at each other without speaking, as if they had reached some kind of tacit understanding.

I know what you're going to do, and you know what I'm going to do, but let's go our separate ways and not bother each other.

Fortunately, these groups of people all headed towards the nearby area, and after walking for a while, they turned around and didn't follow her downstream.

By the time they got there, it was already bright outside, and there was no one around.

She glanced at the time on her phone; she had been walking for almost two hours. The third checkpoint was just ahead, so she quickened her pace.

After walking for about fifteen more minutes, she saw the few crooked willow trees in the distance. The delta was behind the willow trees, hidden by their canopies, with only a small section of the riverbank edge showing.

Her heart started racing, and her steps quickened until she was almost running.

Then she froze. There were people on the delta!

A military green tent was pitched on the highest flat area of ​​the delta, with a folding table set up outside the tent.

On the table were a kettle, a lunchbox, a pack of cigarettes, and a portable gas stove.

Next to the tent was a handcart with several large plastic buckets and two fish baskets tied to it. There were three or four landing nets leaning against the trunk of a willow tree.

The tent flap was open, and inside sat a man in his fifties, bald, wearing a dark blue windbreaker, drinking tea from an enamel mug.

He wasn't surprised at all when he saw Xu Xiaoyan emerge from behind the willow tree. He even raised the teacup in his hand to her, as naturally as if they were old acquaintances greeting each other.

Xu Xiaoyan stood there, her expression changing from surprise to speechlessness.

Tent? Why didn't she think of that?

Setting up a tent and staying here in advance to secure a spot is much smarter than her rushing over from Qing City in the early hours of the morning.

They arrived yesterday, had a good night's sleep, and in the morning they made themselves a cup of tea and waited for the dam to release water.

And what about her? She got up before dawn, walked for almost two hours, only to find that the place had already been taken when she arrived.

They've already set up their tents and folding tables; we can't just forcibly take them.

She wasn't an overbearing person, and she wouldn't get into conflicts with others over a fishing spot.

Besides, that bald guy didn't look like someone to be trifled with. He was quite bold to pitch a tent alone in the middle of nowhere.

She turned and left without saying another word.

She has a second position.

Xu Xiaoyan quickened her pace, almost jogging along the riverbank.

She was afraid that the second spot would also be occupied, and that when she got there she would see another tent.

If that's the case, she'll have to go to the first position, and even that might be taken by someone else.

Fortunately, when she arrived at the second location, panting, the riverbank was deserted.

Xu Xiaoyan stood on the edge of the riverbank, panting heavily.

My eyes quickly scanned the entire location. It wasn't a big place; the winding ditch plus the surrounding riverbank area totaled only about twenty or thirty square meters.

The widest part, which is the opening where the ditch connects to the main river channel, is about three meters wide.

If you set up the fish basket and landing net, plus the space she's standing in, there's only room for a maximum of three people.

She immediately struck first.

Xu Xiaoyan didn't rush to take out her fishing gear. Instead, she walked around the spot to make sure no one else was hiding nearby.

Then I walked several dozen meters upstream and downstream of the main river channel to see if anyone was heading this way.

The riverbank was quiet; there was nothing but the sound of the wind and the water.

After confirming that it was safe, she returned to the riverbank and chose the most suitable spot, the inner side of the junction between the ditch and the main river channel.

The terrain there is slightly higher, offering a good view, and it's situated right at the entrance to the ditch.

Xu Xiaoyan took out the single tent from her spatial storage and set it up in the most conspicuous spot on the riverbank, which was the highest flat area inside the ditch.

After setting up the tent, she took out a folding stool from her storage space and placed it next to the tent along with the landing net.

They then spread out the fish basket, placing one end on the bank and the other end in the shallow water of the ditch.

To make the effect more realistic, she even took out an old water glass from her space, poured more than half a glass of water into it, and placed it on the ground next to the stool, with faint steam rising from the mouth of the glass.

She took a few steps back, looked at the "battleground" she had set up, and couldn't help but give herself a high score in her mind.

Tent, stool, landing net, fish basket, water cup – this combination makes it clear to anyone that someone has been keeping watch here all night.

She refused to believe that anyone would have the nerve to come down and steal a spot.

Xu Xiaoyan sat down on the stool and breathed a sigh of relief.

Now we're just waiting for the dam to release water, for the fish to be washed down, and for all this hard work to turn into baskets full of big fish.

She took out the sweet potato noodles she had made earlier from her storage space and slowly began to eat them.

The warm rice noodles slid down her throat, warming her from the inside out. She let out a small burp and took a sip of water from her thermos.

Shortly after we finished eating, we heard footsteps coming from above the riverbank.

It wasn't just one person's footsteps; it was several people's, a jumbled cacophony of voices and laughter.

Xu Xiaoyan perked up her ears, tilted her head slightly, and looked out through the gaps in the reeds.

There were three people, two men and one woman, all of whom looked to be in their thirties or forties.